cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Anti-arrhythmic agents

A review of the patent literature for anti-arrhythmic agents is presented for the period of 1995 - 1996. Potassium channel blockade or Class III anti-arrhythmic agents have remained the main focus for this period. This emphasis is the result of the CAST clinical trials in 1989 which discouraged the pursuit of the Class I agents because of increased patient mortality. Multicentre clinical studies have sought to define the utility of the Class III agents. Compounds have been disclosed during this review acting through the blockade of rapidly activating delayed rectifier (Ikr), and slowly activated delayed rectifier (Iks) channels and compounds causing potassium channel blockade in addition to secondary pharmacological actions. Programmes seeking alternate biochemical mechanisms of actions have also been pursued, such as, sodium/hydrogen exchange inhibition and adenosine receptor modulation.
Pericles and the Plague: Civil Religion, Anomie, and Injustice in Thucydides*

This paper examines thc problems of "civil rcligion,""anfvmie," and injustice in Athenian society as presented in Thucydides's narrative of the Peloponnesian war. Thucydides juxtaposes Pericles's funsral oration, as an embodiment *)f Athenian civil religion, with his description of Atherlian denwraliyation and anomie during the subsequent plague. These c(mcepts are lirQd to thc problem of injustice in the Melian Dialogue, which describes Athenian imperial behavior toward this small islarul people. The paper shows how Thucydides knks these ideas to the notion of Fortune in the ultimate collapse of the Athenian war effort. Thucydides is a pi(meer in the systenzatic use of these sc)ciological concepts and he is compared briefly to more recent sociologxsts, such as Durkheim, Mert(m, a7v1 Bellah. The concepts of "civil religion" and "anomie" are closely associated with the work of Emile Durkheim, although both have been subsequently developed in new directions by a host of writers, including Merton, Warner, Bellah, and others. From a systematic standpoint, the two concepts have a symmetrical quality. While "civil religion" points to the highest level of religio-political ritual and symbolism unifying a people, "anomie" reveals the fragility of social integration and asks us to examine the sources and manifestations of social dislocation and the collapse of the moral order. Indeed, the two concepts seem to work well when paired with one another. This paper examines these two concepts, along with several related ideas, as they appear in Thucydides's history of the Peloponnesian war. This text contains one of the most famous historical illustrations of "civil religion," Pericles's funeral oration. In his discussion of the effects of the wartime plague on Athenian society, Thucydides also provides a vivid historical account of "anomie" as well as one of the first instances of this term's (i.e., anomia's) sys tematic use in the human sciences. Moreover, in the so-called "Melian Dialogue," Thucydides presents the problem of justice and injustice in the individual as well as in the relations among Greek states, in a manner which echoes many of the themes of the funeral oration and the plague narrative.
Stability of Baroclinic Flows in a Zonal Magnetic Field: Part I

Abstract Because of its possible applications to the solar differential rotation, hydromagnetic dynamo theory, and the geomagnetic secular variation, the dynamics of baroclinic, geostrophic β-plane flow in a zonal (toroidal), magnetic field are studied. The equations describing the flow in the absence of a magnetic field are the same as those formulated by Charney and Stern and by Pedlosky. Due to the horizontal magnetic field, potential vorticity is no longer conserved. Vertical magnetic fields can be produced, but the scaling excludes their feedback on the motions and horizontal fields. Thus, the system in its present simplest form can not complete a dynamo cycle, but suitable relaxation of some scaling restrictions may overcome this difficulty. The scaled equations are perturbed about a steady axially symmetric zonal flow and zonal (toroidal) magnetic field. Changes in the initial state are inferred from products of perturbation quantities. These include the growth in the meridional plane of axially sy...
Excess particulate and gaseous bromine at a remote coastal location

Abstract Samples were collected at remote sites on the Isle of Harris, off the northwest coast of Scotland, to determine levels of particulate Br and gaseous Br trapped on base-impregnated filters. Lead and Na were also measured so that an estimate of the Br contribution from sea salt and vehicular pollution could be made. Particulate Br levels of more than double this estimated amount were recorded, with ‘excess’ Br concentrations of up to 54 ng m −3 being measured. Gaseous Br (believed to be mainly in the form of HBr) was found in similar, or somewhat higher, concentrations as particulate Br, with a mean of 28 ng Br m −3 , compared with the mean particulate level of 21 ng m −3 . It is conjectured that a similar situation exists at these sites as has been observed in the Arctic spring, where it appears that biochemically produced organobromine gases are photolyzed, with the subsequent removal of O 3 and formation of both particulate Br and gaseous HBr. This may represent an important global source of reactive Br and a potential O 3 sink in the marine troposphere.
All-Time Existence of Smooth Solutions to PDEs of Mixed Type and the Invariant Subspace of Uniform States

We prove a general result concerning the all-time existence of smooth solutions of the space-periodic Cauchy problem for a class of PDEs which involve the coupling of a linear with a nonlinear operator. The initial data are assumed to have small deviations from a constant state. Cases of particular interest are hyperbolic-parabolic systems. For their linear part, we develop simple algebraic conditions which guarantee the applicability of our general all-time existence result. Applications include a complex model of magnetogasdynamics, including dispersion due to Hall currents. Results for standard MHD and gasdynamic systems follow as special cases. We also treat multidimensional viscous Boussinesq equations, which are of third order in space. In these applications, the modes corresponding to spatially uniform states will not decay with increasing time, but are associated with a finite dimensional invariant subspace consisting of all constant states. This subspace may consist solely of stationary states or may contain nontrivial dynamics. An example of the latter is provided by the Boussinesq system if Coriolis forces are included. In either case, the technical complications arising from the invariant subspace of constant states makes our result different from corresponding all-time existence results on the whole space or with other boundary conditions.
Amino Acid Supplementation of Low Protein Turkey Starting Rations

Abstract Turkey poults fed rations containing 22.1% protein had a much slower rate of growth when compared with poults receiving a ration containing 29.8% protein. Methionine supplementation had no effect on body weight and mortality to 18 days of age. Supplementation of the 22.1% protein diet with lysine (0.2%) significantly improved growth rate over the unsupplemented 22.1% protein diet. The addition of methionine to the 22.1% protein diet supplemented with lysine (0.2%) produced slight additional response in body weight; however, the drop in mortality was much more dramatic as increments of methionine were added to the 22.1% protein diet supplemented with lysine (0.2%).
Combination therapy with an aminoglycoside for Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis and/or persistent bacteremia is associated with a decreased rate of recurrent bacteremia: a cohort study.

Purpose Although limited data exist on the efficacy and potential risk of synergistic aminoglycoside therapy for persistent Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and endocarditis, aminoglycosides are frequently used in clinical practice.
Accelerated Lysis of Blood Clots

IN a recent article1, we described a class of compounds which specifically inhibited cross-linking of the sub-units of the clot network. The possibility arose that clot lysis by the proteolytic enzyme system of blood (plasmin) might be greatly enhanced if clotting were allowed to take place in the presence of the foregoing inhibitors, of which glycineamide is a simple example. (Of eight glycyl dipeptides so far examined, only those of L-isoleucine, L-valine and glycine showed appreciable effect, emphasizing the specific nature of the inhibition of cross-linking of the clot (unpublished data by L. Lorand and K. Konishi).) In order to test the effect of this substance on clot lysis, the following experiment was performed. 0.8 ml. aliquots of freshly drawn (cubital vein) human blood was mixed in glass tubes: (a) with 0.1 ml. of 0.2 M neutral glycineamide and 0.1 ml. of purified urokinase (a gift from Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, Illinois) containing 90 units of the plasminogen activator in 0.15 M neutral sodium chloride; (b) with 0.1 ml. each of 0.2 M glycineamide and 0.15 M sodium chloride; (c) with 0.1 ml. each of neutral 0.2 and 0.15 M sodium chloride solutions; and finally (d) with 0.1 ml. of 0.2 M sodium chloride and 0.1 ml. of the urokinase solution containing 90 units of activity.
Study on two-stage hot embossing microreplication: Silicon to polymer to polymer

Hot embossing microfabrication has been used for the replication of a mold onto a polymer substrate for the past decade, with the molds usually made using techniques like wet etching, CNC machining, and laser writing. Fabricating a male mold using a laser and CNC machining consumes a lot of resources in mold design, mold fabrication time, and smooth surface finish of the mold. In this work, a novel approach called two-stage embossing that is a slight modification of the existing process is proposed. This process still requires a primary mold (of the same shape as the final desired part) that is used to emboss on a polymer of higher glass transition temperature than the substrate to be used for the second stage embossing. Finally this polymer secondary mold is used for the final replication on the desired substrate. Preliminary experimental results focusing on mold quality with respect to the number of embossing cycles of the secondary mold, the embossing quality of the final substrate as compared to the primary silicon mold, and the life of the secondary mold are presented. The experimental results confirm the viability of the process as a candidate process for hot embossing microreplication applications.
An Instrument for Assessing the Organizational Benefits of IS Projects

This paper reports the development of an instrument to measure the organizational benefits of IS projects. The basis for this instrument was a published framework that suggests three categories of such benefits: strategic, informational, and transactional. In a cross-sectional study of 178 IS projects proposed and approved for development, this framework was operationalized and empirically tested using the measurement model of LISREL. The analysis culminated in the validation and refinement of the these categories. The final instrument offers items under three separate subdimensions of strategic benefits: competitive advantage, alignment, and customer relations. Informational benefits are similarly comprised of information access, information quality, and information flexibility. Finally, transactional benefits are also shown to be of three types: communications efficiency, systems development efficiency, and business efficiency. Implications of this multidimensional instrument for IS practitioners and researchers are discussed.
RECOGNIZING YOUNG CHILDREN IN NEED OF MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT: DEVELOPMENT AND PRELIMINARY VALIDITY OF THE EARLY CHILDHOOD SCREENING ASSESSMENT

The Early Childhood Screening Assessment (ECSA) is a primary care screening measure developed to identify very young children (1½-5 years old) who need further emotional or behavioral assessment. The ECSA was developed specifically to meet the logistical constraints of primary care settings. This study assessed the preliminary psychometric properties of the ECSA by comparing it with extant validated measures of young children's emotional and behavioral development, comparing it with a diagnostic interview, and measuring test-retest reliability. In the study, 309 mothers in two primary care clinics completed the ECSA and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; T. Achenbach & L. Rescorla, 2000). A subset (n = 69) also completed the Diagnostic Interview for the Preschool Age (DIPA; M. Scheeringa & N. Haslett, 2010). ECSA score correlated significantly and strongly with the CBCL Total Problem T score (Spearman's rho = 0.86, p ⩽ .01). The ECSA was 86% sensitive and 83% specific in identifying DIPA diagnoses. Internal consistency of the ECSA was 0.91. Test-retest reliability at 10 days was excellent (Spearman's rho = 0.81, p ⩽ .01). The ECSA is an easy-to-use screening measure that demonstrates strong convergent validity, criterion validity, and test-retest reliability in the pediatric setting. It shows potential as a feasible and psychometrically strong tool for busy primary care providers to identify preschoolers who need further socioemotional assessment.
Accounting service-learning experiences and the IRS volunteer income tax assistance programme: a teaching note

This paper discusses two service-learning experiences in academic accounting programmes in the USA. The Campus Compact (2000) and professional accounting organizations have called for experiences that bridge the gap between academic preparation, the professional workplace and volunteerism. In addition, employers are increasingly placing importance on experience for entry-level positions. After reviewing the service-learning literature in general as well as the sparse literature in accounting education service-learning, this paper compares the experiences of two US universities' service-learning opportunities utilizing Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programmes. Positive outcomes are discussed along with some of the pitfalls and concerns educators have concerning service-learning.
New observations and analyses of the laser excited fluorescence of the A1Σu+-X1Σg+ bands of the Na2 molecule☆

A medium power (∼50 mW, 6328 A) HeNe laser is used to excite the A1Σu+-X1Σg+ fluorescence of the Na2 molecule in a crossed heat pipe oven. The spectrum in the region 5800–8500 A is recorded both photographically (3.4 M Ebert) and photoelectrically (GaAs detector) with an emphasis on accurate relative intensities and on the observation of higher vibrational levels in the ground state close to the dissociation limit. P and R doublets in four series originating from (v′ = 14, J′ = 45), (v′ = 16, J′ = 17), (v′ = 22, J′ = 86), and (v′ = 25, J′ = 87) levels are observed and identified. The first two series, known from earlier work, are extended further to longer wavelengths to include 13 to 17 additional ground-state vibrational levels. The latter two series are observed for the first time. They originate from higher J′ levels and span a wide range of v″ levels (0 ≤ v″ ≤ 48). Effective RKR potentials for specific J″ (= 17, 45, 86, and 87) quantum numbers of the ground state are constructed and from them the true (rotationless) potential energy curve (for X1Σg+) is derived which (a) reproduces the RKR curve previously given by Kusch and Hessel and (b) extends the curve from 5.77 to 7.26 A (outer turning point). The dissociation energy De is estimated from these data to be 6022 ± 21 cm−1.
An Efficacy Trial of an Intervention Program for Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

Children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) are at high risk for adjustment problems, especially internalizing disorders. Few evidence-based interventions are available to address internalizing behavior problems in this population. An efficacy trial compared outcomes for 4–6 year old children randomly assigned to a program designed to address the effects of exposure to IPV with those allocated to a waitlist comparison condition. Mothers (N = 120) and children from the United States and Canada were assessed at baseline, 5 weeks later (post-intervention) and at 8-month follow-up. The evaluation compared rates of change over time for child internalizing problems. Results were analyzed using both intent-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) approaches. ITT analyses indicated the program reduced internalizing problems for girls at follow-up. PP analyses indicated the program reduced internalizing problems for both boys and girls at post-intervention. In this study, child internalizing problems were significantly reduced through an intervention for the mother and the child.
Steady action model and inter-agent communication method to lead the user to an alternative action

As the ubiquitous society matures, mobile phones are equipped with agents, which support users in selecting the appropriate course of actions, for example, by giving guidance on where to change trains. However, since human society becomes more and more complex and sophisticated, agents capable of understanding the situation of each user (action plan, preferences, location, etc.) and providing support accordingly are still at the research stage. This paper defines the normal action model from the user's action history, proposes the configuration of an agent that can propose an alternative action and lead the user to take that action when the user encounters a situation not conceived in the normal action plan. In addition, the TupleSpace is applied to inter-agent communication. It has been confirmed using an evaluation system that tuple-based communication can be used to communicate information about an unexpected event.
How One's Hook Is Baited Matters for Catching an Analogy

Abstract Memory provides an ocean of possibilities, so it is necessary to find good ways to bait one's hook to ensure catching something worthwhile. Intelligent action requires linking useful, previously learned examples with current problems, which very often means intelligent action requires retrieving analogies. We already know that effectively encoding the underlying structure in examples during initial learning facilitates later retrieving them as analogies. My colleagues and I have recently found that it is also possible to facilitate retrieving analogies by effectively encoding the example serving as a probe to memory, without relying on any special encoding of the stored examples. Thus, people do not have to learn examples well initially to still make good use of them, a finding with useful implications for problem solving, creativity, and acquiring domain knowledge.
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Microwave Radiometers : an Overview

This paper describes 1) the progress of the work of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRSS) Instrumentation and Future Technologies Technical Committee (IFT-TC) Microwave Radiometer Working Group and 2) an overview of the development of interferometric synthetic aperture microwave radiometers as an introduction to a dedicated session.
Practical Applications of the Kramers-Kronig Relations

Abstract A technique is presented for using the Kramers-Kronig (KK) relations to evaluate the consistency of impedance data that do not exhibit a DC limit. The approach presented here differs from ...
Mid and Late Outcomes Support Use of Contemporary Continuous Flow Left Ventricular Assist Devices in the Elderly

difference in mortality (Figure 1) or other clinical outcomes (Table 1). Age > 65 was not a risk factor for mortality (HR 1.2, 95% CI 0.6-2.6, p= 0.5) however redo surgery was (HR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.9, p= 0.04). Sensitivity analyses at age thresholds found significant divergence in survival curves at 70 years, however age did not emerge as an independent predictor of mortality and the cohort sample was not sufficient for meaningful conclusions. Conclusion: This is a large cohort of contemporary patients with CF LVADs with the longest follow-up in the literature. CF LVADs are an effective safe option in elderly; age is less likely an issue versus poor protoplasm or complex operations such as redo cardiac operation.
Palliative Treatment of Cancer of the Pancreas

The American Cancer Society estimated that in 1992 cancer of the pancreas would occur in 28 300 people in the United States and that 25 000 Americans would die from the disease in the same year. The incidence of cancer of the pancreas in 1920 was 3 per 100 000 and has been 9 per 100 000 since 1970. The incidence increases with age, and the median survival is approximately 6 months. The survival is 8% at 1 year and 3% at 5 years. The cancer is rarely discovered early: 90% of patients will have positive regional nodes and 60%–80% will have liver metastases at the time of diagnosis. The disease is rare in patients aged below 40 years; 90% of the malignancies are ductal cell adenocarcinomas, and 60% of the cancers occur in the head of the pancreas.
Quadruple-well CMOS for VLSI technology

A novel process has been developed to fabricate high-density CMOS with four wells. These wells are self aligned to increase packing density. Two of them are relatively deep wells used to optimize both n- and p-channel active devices. The other two are shallow wells under field oxide to form channel stops for both device types. The channel stops provide rigorous isolation among similar devices and between the devices of the opposite polarity. Subthreshold leakage currents in isolation regions are <0.05 pA/µm when devices are biased at <16.5 V. The channel stops also suppress lateral parasitic bipolar action. To reduce the vertical bipolar gain, a new process technique employing a double-retrograde well and transient annealing has been established. For the CMOS structure with 2-µm p+-to-p-well spacing, we have eliminated latchup by suppressing the beta product to below unity. Moreover, the quadruple-well approach has produced active n- and p-channel FET's with excellent characteristics such as low threshold voltage (∼±0.5 V), low subthreshold slope (≲95 mV/dec), low contact resistivity (∼10-7Ω-cm2), and high channel mobility (620 and 210 cm2/V . s).
Irish Home Rule and the Social Basis of the Great Separation in the Liberal Party in 1886

Though Mr Gladstone was speaking of the opposition to home rule in the country, rather than in the parliamentary Liberal party alone in the statement quoted above, this has become the rather standard interpretation of the great separation in the Liberal party in 1886. As one modern historian of the Liberal disruption puts it, ‘a striking characteristic of modern British history has been the class alignment of political parties… The Liberal Unionist party (those who seceded on the home rule question) was a half-way house, which entertained for a time much of the wealth and territorial influence which had been Liberal and was to be Conservative.’ One of the most influential historians of late-nineteenth-century Britain puts the issue in broader terms. The origins of Conservative dominance as well as the leakage of the landed and business classes to the Conservative party, Sir Robert Ensor argues, are to be found in the undermining of English and Irish agriculture by the invasion of North American wheat. This produced, in turn, agrarian revolution in Ireland, the rise of violent nationalism in Ireland, the growth of social and political conflict, and, ultimately, the rejection of Irish political demands by the English. Yet another attributes the fall of Gladstone's third ministry to a general revolt against the Liberal party by railway directors and other businessmen who had been alerted to the dangers to property which the government's railway policies implied. This theme has been taken up and many have come to argue that class voting emerged in 1886 when the upper – and middle-class Liberals, taking home rule as an excuse, departed to the Conservatives in a reaction against growing social radicalism.
Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Promoting Change in the Quality of Teacher–Child Interactions

The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between characteristics of early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC) and changes in the quality of teacher–child interactions. One hundred forty-one early childhood teachers, serving 3- to 5-year-olds in publically funded early education programs in the state of Arkansas, participated in this study. All childcare sites and preschool programs participating in the study received ECMHC through the Arkansas Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Project over a period of 3 years. Findings from this study suggest that teachers exposed to ECMHC through their employment at one of the project sites made significant gains toward high-quality teacher–child interactions relative to their initial levels of quality. In particular, delivery aspects of ECMHC and teachers’ experiences of ECMHC predicted change in quality of teacher–child interactions. Findings suggest that ECMHC may be a promising professional development intervention for teachers in early childhood settings and that specific characteristics of consultation may be particularly influential in impacting change in those settings.
Stimulation of Bone Formation and Bone Resorption by Fluoride in Thyroparathyroidectomized Rats

In TPTX as well as sham-operated rats, F increased periosteal bone formation, decreased endosteal bone formation and endosteal osteoid maturation rate, and increased endosteal bone resorption. Serum iPTH was not affected by F treatment. Thus, the effects of F on bone are not mediated by PTH.
Everybody's Doin' It (Right?): Neighborhood Norms and Sexual Activity in Adolescence

Abstract A neighborhood’s normative climate is linked to, but conceptually distinct from, its structural characteristics such as poverty and racial/ethnic composition. Given the deleterious consequences of early sexual activity for adolescent health and well-being, it is important to assess normative influences on youth behaviors such as sexual debut, number of sex partners, and involvement in casual sexual experiences. The current study moves beyond prior research by constructing a measure of normative climate that more fully captures neighborhood norms, and analyzing the influence of normative climate on behavior in a longitudinal framework. Using recently geo-coded data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS), we analyze the effect of normative climate on adolescents’ sexual behaviors. Results indicate that variation in neighborhood normative climates increases adolescents’ odds of sexual debut and casual sex, and is associated with their number of sex partners, even after accounting for neighborhood structural disadvantage and demographic risk factors.
Syngas Chemical Looping Process: Dynamic Modeling of a Moving-Bed Reducer

The syngas chemical looping process coproduces hydrogen and electricity with iron oxide based oxygen carriers in a circulating moving bed system. In this article, a one-dimensional (1-D) dynamic model is developed to simulate the countercurrent gas–solid reactive flow in the moving-bed reducer. This model is validated by TGA and bench-scale experiments. Both the steady state and dynamic composition profiles are obtained to help understand the reaction and reactor behaviors. Numerical simulation on the effects of reactor length is conducted to optimize the moving-bed reducer design. It is also found that minor variations in the feed rate ratio near a critical point that is represented by the reaction equilibrium could yield a significant difference in the time required for the reactions to reach a steadystate operation. Such a difference has an important practical implication in that the moving-bed reducer should be designed and operated to circumvent the critical point. V C 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 3432-3443, 2013
Effect of Risk Preferences on Incorporation of Double-Crop Soybeans into Traditional Rotations

Six enterprise combinations, four including a double-crop sequence of wheat followed immediately after harvest by soybeans, were evaluated for southeastern Kansas given the requirements for participation in the government commodity program. Stochastic dominance analysis was used to select the preferred combination under six different classes of risk preferences. A two-year sequence of wheat double-cropped with soybeans followed by full-season soybeans was the preferred combination for all classes of risk preferences analyzed. Sensitivity analysis indicated that if labor, machinery, or field time constraints limit the number of acres of double-cropped soybeans and/or if farm yields are sufficiently less than those included in the data set, results would either favor rotations that do not double-crop or those that double-crop less than the maximum number of acres each year.
The modal argument for hypercomputing minds

We now know both that hypercomputation (or super-recursive computation) is mathematically well-understood, and that it provides a theory that according to some accounts for some real-life computation (e.g., operating systems that, unlike Turing machines, never simply output an answer and halt) better than the standard theory of computation at and below the "Turing Limit." But one of the things we do not know is whether the human mind hypercomputes, or merely computes--this despite informal arguments from Godel, Lucas, Penrose and others for the view that, in light of incompleteness theorems, the human mind has powers exceeding those of TMs and their equivalents. All these arguments fail; their fatal flaws have been repeatedly exposed in the literature. However, we give herein a novel, formal modal argument showing that since it's mathematically possible that human minds are hypercomputers, such minds are in fact hypercomputers. We take considerable pains to anticipate and rebut objections to this argument.
Improving Immunization Rates Using Lean Six Sigma Processes: Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Centers National Initiative III Project

Background Quality improvement education and work in interdisciplinary teams is a healthcare priority. Healthcare systems are trying to meet core measures and provide excellent patient care, thus improving their Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems scores. Crittenton Hospital Medical Center in Rochester Hills, MI, aligned educational and clinical objectives, focusing on improving immunization rates against pneumonia and influenza prior to the rates being implemented as core measures. Improving immunization rates prevents infections, minimizes hospitalizations, and results in overall improved patient care. Teaching hospitals offer an effective way to work on clinical projects by bringing together the skill sets of residents, faculty, and hospital staff to achieve superior results. Methods We designed and implemented a structured curriculum in which interdisciplinary teams acquired knowledge on quality improvement and teamwork, while focusing on a specific clinical project: improving global immunization rates. We used the Lean Six Sigma process tools to quantify the initial process capability to immunize against pneumococcus and influenza. Results The hospital9s process to vaccinate against pneumonia overall was operating at a Z score of 3.13, and the influenza vaccination Z score was 2.53. However, the process to vaccinate high-risk patients against pneumonia operated at a Z score of 1.96. Improvement in immunization rates of high-risk patients became the focus of the project. After the implementation of solutions, the process to vaccinate high-risk patients against pneumonia operated at a Z score of 3.9 with a defects/million opportunities rate of 9,346 and a yield of 93.5%. Revisions to the adult assessment form fixed 80% of the problems identified. Conclusions This process improvement project was not only beneficial in terms of improved quality of patient care but was also a positive learning experience for the interdisciplinary team, particularly for the residents. The hospital has completed quality improvement projects in the past; however, this project was the first in which residents were actively involved. The didactic components and experiential learning were powerfully synergistic. This and similar projects can have far-reaching implications in terms of promoting patient health and improving the quality of care delivered by the healthcare systems and teaching hospitals.
Incidence of Acute Traumatic Patellar Dislocation Among Active-Duty United States Military Service Members

BackgroundAlthough some studies have reported an increased incidence of patellar dislocations within active populations, few studies have reported incidence rates and examined risk factors for this injury.PurposeTo examine the incidence of patellar dislocation injuries and the influence of demographic and occupational risk factors associated with injury among active-duty United States (US) service members between 1998 and 2007.Study DesignCohort study; Level of evidence, 3.MethodsUsing the Defense Medical Surveillance System, a search was performed for International Classification of Disease, 9th Revision (ICD-9) code 836.3 among all US service members on active duty during the study period. Multivariable Poisson regression analysis was used to estimate the rate of patellar dislocation per 1000 person-years at risk to injury. Incidence rates (IRs) and incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for patellar dislocation along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by gender, age, race, branch of military serv...
Learning word meanings during reading by children with language learning disability and typically-developing peers

This study investigated whether children with language learning disability (LLD) differed from typically-developing peers in their ability to learn meanings of novel words presented during reading. Fifteen 9–11-year-old children with LLD and 15 typically-developing peers read four passages containing 20 nonsense words. Word learning was assessed through oral definition and multiple-choice tasks. Variables were position of informative context, number of exposures, part of speech, and contextual clues. The LLD group scored lower than same-aged peers on oral definition (p < .001) and multiple-choice (p < .001) tasks. For both groups, there was no effect for position of informative context (p = .867) or number of exposures (p = .223). All children benefitted from contextual clues. The findings suggested difficulty inferring and recalling word meanings during reading and pointed to the need for vocabulary intervention in the upper elementary years for children with LLD.
Beyond Love: A Critical Race Ethnography of the Schooling of Adolescent Black Males.

(2002). Beyond Love: A Critical Race Ethnography of the Schooling of Adolescent Black Males. Equity & Excellence in Education: Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 131-143.
A double blind trial of the effect of cromolyn sodium on exercise-induced bronchospasm.

Abstract Nineteen children with atopic airway disease who had a demonstrable post-exercise decrease in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV 1 ) using a standardized stress on a cycloergometer were treated with disodium cromoglycate (cromolyn sodium) in a double blind crossover study with a placebo control. Significant reduction of post-exercise bronchospasm was obtained by a single dose of 20 mg. of the drug inhaled one hour before exercise; the effect of the single dose was enhanced if preceded by 3 weeks of daily medication. No side effects were detected during the prolonged use of the drug. The significance of cromolyn's effect on the phenomenon is discussed.
Comparative Genome Analysis in the Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) System

Comparative genome analysis is critical for the effectiveexploration of a rapidly growing number of complete and draft sequencesfor microbial genomes. The Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) system(img.jgi.doe.gov) has been developed as a community resource thatprovides support for comparative analysis of microbial genomes in anintegrated context. IMG allows users to navigate the multidimensionalmicrobial genome data space and focus their analysis on a subset ofgenes, genomes, and functions of interest. IMG provides graphicalviewers, summaries and occurrence profile tools for comparing genes,pathways and functions (terms) across specific genomes. Genes can befurther examined using gene neighborhoods and compared with sequencealignment tools.
Do dietary fatty acids affect endothelial cell production of growth factors? How might these factors relate to thrombogenesis?

Endothelial cells (ECs) can secrete potent growth factors and chemoattractants for neighboring connective-tissue cells ( 1). This EC function may be critically important in such processes as vessel neogenesis, both during embryogenesis and during the development of collateral circulation in adult animals, and in wound repair, in which ECs may orchestrate temporal. wellregulated secretion ofpolypeptide mitogens for local fibroblasts. Uncontrolled secretion ofparacrine growth factors may represent a triggering mechanism for proliferative lesions developing in tissue. Atherosclerotic plaque development involves hyperplasia of intimal smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in response to an undetermined stimulus. We proposed that inappropriate expression
Marginal Deep Water Areas of the USA, Potential to Alleviate the Energy Crisis

Metamorphic processes in a non-oxydizing environment converts organic matter in sedimentary rocks into hydrocarbons. Whether this process is a biological, chemical or physical process or combinations of these is still the subject of continuing basic research.
A Second Life For Scraps: Making Biogas From Food Waste.

In 2010 an estimated 31% of the food in U.S. stores and homes went uneaten, and Americans shipped approximately 34 million tons of food waste to landfills.1 When food decomposes under anaerobic conditions—for instance, buried beneath other waste in a landfill—it produces methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas.1 According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, landfills are the third largest producer of methane in the United States, accounting for about 18% of methane emissions in 2013.2 In recent years U.S. policy makers have begun to take action to reduce the flow of food into landfills, in part to stem greenhouse gas emissions but also to save businesses the cost of disposal. In 2011 Connecticut became the first state to initiate such action, prohibiting the landfilling of food waste by entities that generate at least two tons per week and are located within 20 miles of a food-recycling facility.3 In 2012 Vermont initiated a ban similar to Connecticut’s but included a phase-in schedule in which smaller waste generators will face bans in coming years.3 In October 2014 Massachusetts launched the toughest, most ambitious such plan in the country by banning the landfilling of food waste by all entities that produce at least one ton of food waste per week.4 And as of 1 January 2015, Seattle requires that food waste make up no more than 10% by volume of any resident’s or business’s trash.5 Biodigesters use organic waste to produce methane, a relatively clean fuel. Since 2013 Kroger grocery stores have sent this facility all the food they can’t sell or donate. But if food is banned from landfills, where can it go? The primary options have been to give unsold food to food pantries or ship it to composting facilities. But recently anaerobic digestion has been drawing attention as a method that can not only accomplish greenhouse gas reduction but also use the food waste as an energy source.
The Agricultural Exemption in Interstate Trucking

STATISTICS show that, year by year, more and more products of S agriculture are being hauled by truck. The truck may belong to the farmer himself, his neighbor, or a for-hire carrier. But, no matter who owns it, the truck is of great significance to the farmer, both in operating his farm and in disposing of his produce. Regulations pertaining to trucks, therefore, are of interest to the farmer as well as to economists dealing with farm problems. In 1935 legislation was passed bringing the interstate motor carrier industry under regulation by the Interstate Commerce Commission. The Motor Carrier Act of 1935, as this law was called, became Part II of the Interstate Commerce Act. Under the law, the Interstate Commerce Commission exercises two types of control over motor carriers: (1) Economic regulation-which includes control over who may engage in trucking, the routes or areas to be served, and the rates to be charged; (2) Safety regulation-which includes rules laid down by the Commission respecting qualifications and maximum hours of service of employees and safety of operation and equipment. Several different types of motor carriers were specifically exempt from economic regulation-among them, haulers of agricultural commodities. It is this exemption granted agricultural haulers with which we concern ourselves here.1 It has been the subject of controversy almost from the time of its enactment.
Indians Playing Indians

Native Americans portray themselves with post-Holocaust humor on the contemporary stage. In 1972 the American Indian Theater Ensemble premiered Hanay Geiogamah's Body Indian at the La Mama Experimental Theater Club, New York City. This Kiowa playwright challenges natively noble and savage stereotypes that trace back through John Ford westerns, past Bill Cody's Wild West Show, to the sixteenth-century French court masquerading in Rouen as Tupinamba natives. So Body Indian sets the stage for Indians to play Indians, after five hundred years of historical stand-ins.1 There are elements of 1960s street theater in the social and political dimensions of Geiogamah's work. Brecht's sense of carnival, the Marquis de Sade's surreal theater, and the grim historical humor of Kopit's Indians (1970) salt the play with contemporary irony. Yet Body Indian seems distinctive to itself-a pan-Indian drama, dangerously humorous, something akin to dark comic theater of conscience. Laughter in the face of terror is crucial to survival, and Indian jokes, culturally woven into tribal societies, serve as secular prayers to ground and revitalize native peoples. Historically, the Indian capacity for humor has been a "blessing," Geiogamah says. "[It's] one of the fundamental miracles of our lives, ...part of our religion" (see MELUS interview p. 79). Body Indian dramatizes "off"-reservation Indians on the Oklahoma skids, drinking away meager lease payments, mooching al-hong-ya (money), scamming, laughing, singing "49" (social gathering) songs at powwows, and stealing from each other to stay alive. For a native dramatist to portray Indians so candidly on the off-beat side of tribal visions tests the limits of "permitted disrespect," to cite Mary Douglas on the social contexts of cultural humor.2 Such comic license turns on
Exchange of Hypophysis Hormones in Parabiotic Amphibians.

Experiments of Burns1 and the author2 on gonad development in parabiotic amphibians gave evidence of interesting variations in the mode of hormonic response in heterosexual combinations, which partly, are due to different hormone concentrations. Unfortunately the development of these reactions can not be followed satisfactorily in live pairs. In this respect conditions are much more favorable in the study of the exchange of hormones of the hypophysis, because of the marked external effects which they produce as controllers of metamorphosis and chromatophore reaction.The Californian newt, Triturus torosus, Ordinarily metamorphoses at about 5 months old. After hypophysectomy it becomes a perennibranchiate. As in other amphibians complete hypophysectomy causes also the contraction of the epidermal melanophores. The incomplete operation, however, leaves either the color unchanged or the larva becomes very dark. In the latter case the persisting intermediate lobe which, according to allen,3 controls the melano...
A Detailed Exploration Into the Association of Prescribed Opioid Dosage and Overdose Deaths Among Patients With Chronic Pain

Background:High opioid dosage has been associated with overdose, and clinical guidelines have cautioned against escalating dosages above 100 morphine-equivalent mg (MEM) based on the potential harm and the absence of evidence of benefit from high dosages. However, this 100 MEM threshold was chosen s
Pf Filamentous Phage Requires UvrD for Replication in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

ABSTRACT Pf is a lysogenic filamentous phage that promotes biofilm development in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Pf replicates by a rolling circle replication system which depends on a phage-encoded initiator protein and host factors usually involved in chromosome replication. Rep, an accessory replicative DNA helicase, is crucial for replication of filamentous phages in Escherichia coli. In contrast, here we show that, instead of depending on Rep, Pf replication depends on UvrD, an accessory helicase implicated in DNA repair. In this study, we also identified the initiator protein of Pf and found that it shares similarities with that of Vibrio phages CTXφ and VGJφ, which also depend on UvrD for replication. A structural comparative analysis of the initiator proteins of most known filamentous phages described thus far suggested that UvrD, known as a nonreplicative helicase, is involved in rolling circle replication of filamentous phages in diverse bacteria genera. This report consolidates knowledge on the new role of UvrD in filamentous phage replication, a function previously thought to be exclusive of Rep helicase. IMPORTANCE Biofilm development is a key component of the ability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to evade host immune defenses and resist multiple drugs. Induction of the filamentous phage Pf, which usually is lysogenized in clinical and environmental isolates of P. aeruginosa, plays an important role in biofilm assembly, maturation, and dispersal. Despite the clinical relevance of Pf, the molecular biology of this phage is largely unknown. In this study, we found that rolling circle replication of Pf depends on UvrD, a DNA helicase normally involved in DNA repair. We also identified the initiator protein of Pf and found that it shares structural similarity with that of Vibrio cholerae phages CTXφ and VGJφ, which also use UvrD for replication. Our results reveal that, in addition to DNA repair, UvrD plays an essential role in rolling circle replication of filamentous phages among diverse bacteria genera, adding a new, previously unrecognized function of this accessory helicase.
Epidemiological Survey of Silicosis in Granite Stone Material Processing Industry

[Objective]To investigate the incidence and pathogenesis regularity of silicosis in granite stone material processing industry,to predict the epidemic trend,and provide scientific evidence for developing control measures. [Methods]The retrospective survey was adopted to collect the silicosis case data from this industry during January 1963-December 2010 with survey plan.The data were used to form a database and analyzed with SPSS 17.0. [Results]During 47 years,the number of accumulative reported cases in the industry was 118,Among them,78(66.10%) were pneumoconiosis stage I,35(29.66%) of stage II,and 5(4.24%) of stage III.The types of work with risk of silicosis were stonecutter(81.51%),drillman(9.24%),haulageman(1.68%) and other works(7.56%).The average service length of onset was about 34 years,and the average onset age was about 55 years. [Conclusion]The number of sillicosis cases increased during 1960-1980,and significantly decreased from 1990,and no new cases appeared after 2000.It suggests that the monitoring and risk control of dust hazard must be enhanced,and health surveillance system should be established for dust exposure population.
Designing Cybersecurity into Defense Systems: An Information Economics Approach

Hackers have compromised the designs of numerous major US weapon systems. Safeguarding mission-critical systems requires effective network security and secure firmware and software. To achieve this, the US Defense Department should carefully screen contractors based on their past cybersecurity prowess and provide incentives for them to produce and maintain secure systems.