cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Development and validation of an automated ventilator-associated event electronic surveillance system: A report of a successful implementation.

Background Surveillance is an important tool for infection control; however, this task can often be time-consuming and take away from infection prevention activities. With the increasing availability of comprehensive electronic health records, there is an opportunity to automate these surveillance activities. The objective of this article is to describe the implementation of an electronic algorithm for ventilator-associated events (VAEs) at a large academic medical center Methods This article reports on a 6-month manual validation of a dashboard for VAEs. We developed a computerized algorithm for automatically detecting VAEs and compared the output of this algorithm to the traditional, manual method of VAE surveillance. Results Manual surveillance by the infection preventionists identified 13 possible and 11 probable ventilator-associated pneumonias (VAPs), and the VAE dashboard identified 16 possible and 13 probable VAPs. The dashboard had 100% sensitivity and 100% accuracy when compared with manual surveillance for possible and probable VAP. We report on the successfully implemented VAE dashboard. Workflow of the infection preventionists was simplified after implementation of the dashboard with subjective time-savings reported. Conclusions Implementing a computerized dashboard for VAE surveillance at a medical center with a comprehensive electronic health record is feasible; however, this required significant initial and ongoing work on the part of data analysts and infection preventionists.
Investigating Black-White disparities in gynecologic oncology: Theories, conceptual models, and applications

Within gynecologic oncology are two of the top five widest Black-White mortality gaps among all cancer diagnoses in the United States. A rich body of work from the social sciences, including anthropology, sociology and social epidemiology, have broadened the understanding of and research approaches to the study of health and healthcare inequity experienced by Black Americans. Yet, these intellectual advancements in understanding are virtually absent from the gynecologic oncology literature. The goal of this analytic essay will be to introduce three current frameworks of studying racial inequity: The Ecosocial Theory of Disease Distribution, The Fundamental Cause Theory, and The Public Health Critical Race Praxis. Applications of each conceptual model to gynecologic oncology are illustrated. The Ecosocial Theory, in particular the concept of embodiment, can be used to design and interpret racial differences in molecular and genetic studies. The Fundamental Cause Theory explains the relationship of socioeconomic position with the evolving treatability of a given disease over time, and provides understanding to the contrast in racial disparities within ovarian, endometrial, and cervical cancers. The Public Health Critical Race Praxis is an iterative methodology that helps frame how to study the impact of racism on healthcare delivery. Different analytic approaches that account for the interaction of race and socioeconomic factors are reviewed. Finally, considerations for racial equity research in gynecologic oncology are proposed.
Potential “Savings” of Medicare: The Analysis of Medicare Advantage and Accountable Care Organizations

Medicare faces significant financial challenges because of rising health care costs. In response, Medicare reform efforts have been testing various payment and service delivery models, including ac...
Reversal time of jump-noise magnetization dynamics in nanomagnets via Monte Carlo simulations

The jump-noise is a nonhomogeneous Poisson process which models thermal effects in magnetization dynamics, with special applications in low temperature escape rate phenomena. In this work, we develop improved numerical methods for Monte Carlo simulation of the jump-noise dynamics and validate the method by comparing the stationary distribution obtained empirically against the Boltzmann distribution. In accordance with the Neel-Brown theory, the jump-noise dynamics display an exponential relaxation toward equilibrium with a characteristic reversal time, which we extract for nanomagnets with uniaxial and cubic anisotropy. We relate the jump-noise dynamics to the equivalent Landau-Lifshitz dynamics up to second order correction for a general energy landscape and obtain the analogous Neel-Brown theory's solution of the reversal time. We find that the reversal time of jump-noise dynamics is characterized by Neel-Brown theory's solution at the energy saddle point for small noise. For large noise, the magnetization reversal due to jump-noise dynamics phenomenologically represents macroscopic tunneling of magnetization.
Recent Perspectives on the Use of Radiolabeled Monoclonal Antibodies for Immunotherapy

Recent advances in hybridoma technology have led to the development of specific monoclonal antibodies to a variety of tumor-associated antigens. The high degree of specificity of such reagents has rekindled interest in their application to immunotherapy of malignancies. In-vitro culture studies and experiments in various in-vivo animal models have usually shown that monoclonal antibodies, even in the presence of complement, are rarely alone sufficiently cytotoxic and therefore usually ineffective for tumor destruction (1,2). This ineffectiveness of monoclonal antibodies when used in unmodified forms has been partially attributed to the heterologous distribution of tumor-associated antigens on tumor cell surfaces which therefore results in an insufficient attachment of monoclonal antibodies to different tumor cells; more to those cells which have a significant number of binding sites for the antigen but none to other tumor cells that are devoid of binding sites for the specific antigen (3). Thus, while tumor cells which express the specific antigen may under appropriate circumstances undergo lysis, those which are negative for the antigen are spared and continue to proliferate. Monoclonal antibodies directed to tumor-associated antigens which are coupled to various toxins suffer from the same shortcomings that have been described for unmodified antitumor monoclonal antibodies.
The Effect of Breaking Gravity Waves on the Distribution of Trace Species in the Middle Atmosphere

Gravity wave temperature amplitudes will increase upward into the middle atmosphere due to decreasing ambient density and will grow rapidly approaching a critical level. Waves will break when their amplitudes are so large that they become convectively unstable. Above the breaking level turbulence will mix tracers in the vertical and the mean flow will accelerate toward the phase speed of the wave as the wave is absorbed. A parameterization of these effects is employed in a two dimensional model of the middle atmosphere. Results from this coupled dynamical-radiative-photochemical model are used to review the effects of breaking gravity waves on the mean circulation and on the meridional distribution of trace species.
Luminescence of Polypeptides and Proteins

It is frequently advantageous to consider the evolution of ideas and results when surveying a particular area of reseach since the early results often contain the fundamental outlines of a problem which subsequently become obscured by the later accumulation of detailed knowledge. The history of the development of protein fluorescence followed a logical pattern and so is quite suitable to discuss with a linear time scale. Because there are many experimental complications presented to investigators of the luminescence of biological macromolecules, each advance in knowledge was and is intimately associated with technological breakthroughs in measurement rather than with advances in theory. Also, because of considerable inherent difficulties in luminescence measurements, many of the initial observations announced were later shown to be in error. So, with apologies to friends and former colleagues for remembering the errors, it is hoped that a brief account of the development of the field will prove to be of value to those who are tempted to enter this difficult area, which is one so susceptible to serious errors.
Inducing maximal localization with fractal waveguide arrays

The ability to transmit light through an array of closely packed waveguides while minimizing interwaveguide coupling has important implications for fields such as discrete imaging and telecommunications. Proposals for achieving these effects have involved phenomena ranging from flat bands to Anderson localization. An approach based on Anderson localization is beneficial since every eigenstate localizes and this localization is applicable to arbitrarily large propagation distances, even in the presence of perturbations such as higher-neighbor couplings. However, the localization lengths can be large so that sites within a given finite region can exhibit significant crosstalk. Here, we pose an optimization problem in which we seek to maximally confine the eigenstates. We demonstrate that, for strongly detuned waveguides arranged in an equally spaced lattice in one dimension (1D) and a square lattice in two dimensions (2D), optimal eigenstate localization can be achieved by fractal potentials. We further show that these structures possess a localization-delocalization phase transition in both 1D and 2D. The structures are related to a more general family of self-similar potentials that can be constructed on the class of $k$-partite lattices satisfying the property that each sublattice forms a rescaled copy of the original lattice. The structures may also be approximated by a family of periodic structures, and we characterize the performance of these approximations in comparison to the full aperiodic structures.
Intramolecular condensation reactions of {alpha},{omega}-bis(triethoxysilyl)alkanes. Formation of cyclic disilsesquioxanes

In this paper, we used mass spectrometry and {sup 29}Si NMR spectroscopy to discover that the length of the alkylene-bridging groups had a pronounced effect on the competition between cyclization and polymerization of {alpha},{omega}-bis(triethoxysilyl)alkanes and on the formation of polymeric gels. While the intramolecular reaction clearly slows gelation, the cyclic disilsesquioxanes are still tetrafunctional monomers theoretically capable of forming polymeric gels. If the ring structures, which bear a striking resemblence to carbohydrates, are preserved through the polymerization, the resulting poly(cyclic disilsesquioxane) gels may have structural similarities to branched or cross-linked carbohydrates, such as cellulose or chitosan. Under base-catalyzed sol-gel polymerization conditions, 3 and 4 (six- and seven-membered cyclic disilsesquioxanes, respectively) quickly reacted to give gels with significant ring opening as determined from the {sup 29}Si chemical shifts in solid-state (CP MAS) NMR spectra. However, gels prepared under acidic conditions reveal some or all of the cyclic disilsesquioxane functionality was preserved in the polymers. 13 refs., 1 fig.
Mental Health Disorders in Older Adult Populations

As the geriatric population continues to grow in the United States, explorations into understanding the role of mental health for this age group have become increasingly paramount. Many mental health problems within the geriatric population are experienced at a higher rate than adult normative samples, including certain psychiatric and neurocognitive disorders. Among these, one of the most highly prevalent psychiatric disorders experienced in older age is depression. As mental health can affect a range of different spheres including social relationships and medical outcomes, careful evaluation and treatment of psychiatric concerns and behavioral issues can help optimize factors and potentially improve quality of life. Also, recognition of the historical context of mental health concerns in the elderly is important in setting the stage for improved understanding of current mental health concerns in this population. This chapter will review a brief history of mental health with a focus on key aspects related to geriatric issues, explore some common mental health concerns experienced within elderly populations, and provide an overview of depression in the elderly. Also included is an overview of mental health treatment options and future directions for research.
Spatially-aware Parallel I/O for Particle Data

Particle data are used across a diverse set of large scale simulations, for example, in cosmology, molecular dynamics and combustion. At scale these applications generate tremendous amounts of data, which is often saved in an unstructured format that does not preserve spatial locality; resulting in poor read performance for post-processing analysis and visualization tasks, which typically make spatial queries. In this work, we explore some of the challenges of large scale particle data management, and introduce new techniques to perform scalable, spatially-aware write and read operations. We propose an adaptive aggregation technique to improve the performance of data aggregation, for both uniform and non-uniform particle distributions. Furthermore, we enable efficient read operations by employing a level of detail re-ordering and a multi-resolution layout. Finally, we demonstrate the scalability of our techniques with experiments on large scale simulation workloads up to 256K cores on two different leadership supercomputers, Mira and Theta.
Boost Effect of Water-soluble Polymers on Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Lignocellulosic Biomass

Supplementation of surface-active additives during enzymatic saccharification of biomass helps to increase the activity of cellulase and thus reduces the enzyme dosage in the bioconversion processes. To evaluate the boost effect of additives on enzymatic hydrolysis, five different water-soluble polymers were studied in this work including: polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), polyethylene glycol (PEG), cationic polyacrylamide (C-PAM), and polyethyleneimine (PEI). Lignin-containing substrates and lignin-free substrates were used in enzymatic hydrolysis tests. It was found that an addition of 10 mg polymer/g-substrate leads to up to a 25.4% increase in glucan hydrolysis and a 13.2% increase in xylan hydrolysis depending on the types of the substrate and polymer. Glucan digestibility achieved from low enzyme loading of 5 FPU/g-glucan with polymer is comparable to that from 15 FPU/g-glucan enzyme loading. Reducing the amount of enzyme required could make biomass conversion more cost-effective...
EARLY RECOVERY WITH SUCCESSFUL TRIPLETON PREGNANCY IN A CANCER SURVIVOR WITH LATE DOXORUBICIN-INDUCED CARDIOMYOPATHY AND POST ALLOGENEIC STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION (ASCT)

Doxorubicin is an important but cardiotoxic chemotherapy used to treat and/or cure various malignancies. There are no guidelines for management of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in pregnant patients due to minimal data in this population. A 31 year old female with a history of nasal NK/T cell
Annals Clinical Decision Making: Translating Population Evidence to Individual Patients.

This paper in the Annals Clinical Decision Making series explains a practical approach to evaluating whether the conclusions of studies involving many patients or whole populations may be confident...
Epidemiologicai characteristics of 717 variceila broken cases in Fengtai from 2008 to 2010

水痘是由水痘-带状疱疹病毒感染引起的发热出疹性疾病,严重影响儿童的身体健康.北京市于2006年将水痘纳入免疫规划管理,随着水痘管理的逐渐规范化,突破病例越来越受到关注.为了解水痘疫苗接种后突破病例发病特点及规律,本研究对2008-2010年北京市丰台区水痘疫苗接种后发生的突破病例资料进行了分析。
Nupcialidad, matrimonio y familia en Jaén en tiempos del segundo de los Felipes

In this article we will analyze the different variables related to marriage, marriage and the family in the city of Jaen throughout the 16th century based on the information extracted from different information sources: the parish books, the synodal constitutions, marriage records and notarial protocols. However, we intend to learn first hand about trends, scope, the behavior of this institution both from demographic orbit as well as the sociological.
Brazil’s Boom and Bust in Tanzania: A Case Study of Naivety?

Brazil experienced a dramatic see-saw in relations with Africa in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. Booming ties in diplomacy, development cooperation and trade saw Brazil established as a major partner for the continent under the leadership of Lula’s PT administration. Subsequent governments increasingly dismantled many of the policies supporting this boom. However, this collapse, and what it signifies about Brazil’s Africa relations, is still little understood, and more widely, there are few detailed case studies of this trend. This chapter tackles both gaps with a study of Brazil-Tanzania, which mirrored the wider boom and bust. Its analysis demonstrates the degree to which the spread of ties beyond lusophone countries was state-initiated, with diplomacy playing a central role, but then implemented by companies who shaped what occurred ‘on the ground’. This created a weakness in Brazil-Africa relations, given Brazil’s presidential system and its influence over foreign policy priorities and development cooperation spending. Additionally, the chapter introduces the concept of naivety amongst Brazilian actors, as a misreading of Tanzanian politics prevented infrastructure companies from establishing projects. However, the chapter concludes by arguing that any understanding of Brazil-Africa must appreciate the crucial role of African agency. As demonstrated here by Tanzanian politicians and government officials, countries on the continent fundamentally shape the processes, activities and successes of Brazilian involvement.
The Effect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on the Choice between Traditional and Roth IRAs

This paper analyzes the impact of the tax cuts and jobs act on the income taxeffectiveness of the Roth IRA versus the traditional IRA for investors who maximizetheir contributions prior to retirement. Since the tax cuts and jobs act reduced marginalincome tax rates, the tax benefits gained from a traditional IRA decrease compared toa Roth IRA. Based on set investment parameters, an investor makes monthly paymentsto the IRAs for a specific period and the tax savings obtained from the traditional IRAare reinvested into a separate taxable account. The after-tax accumulation of wealth ineach account is calculated to determine which IRA produces the largest available aftertax withdrawals after retirement. A break-even analysis is also constructed to determinethe marginal income tax rate and investment return that makes an investor indifferentbetween the two IRAs. The results illustrate that the decision to invest in a traditionalIRA versus a Roth IRA depends on both the rates of return and whether the marginalincome tax rate is the same or different during the contribution and withdrawal periods.
The Management of beef breeding programs

In addition to characteristic "thrombo," Haemophilus somnus infection may result in acute respiratory disease or chronic stiffness of feedlot cattle. Unless the bovine practitioner performs very complete post mortem examinations, he may entirely miss the lesions of this disease, or mistake them for those of shipping fever or clostridial infection. Clinical signs and lesions characteristic of field cases may be experimentally reproduced in susceptible calves by either intravenous or intra tracheal innoculation with pure Haemophilus somnus cultures. Complement fixation tests confirm the widespread incidence of this infection. Development of immunizing agents for use in feedlot cattle may be warranted.
Investigate the potential of UAS-based thermal infrared imagery for maize leaf area index estimation

Leaf area index (LAI) is an important phenotypic trait closely related to plant vigor and biomass. It is also a key parameter used in crop growth modeling. However, manually measuring LAI in the field can be slow and labor intensive. High resolution remote sensing, such as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), has been explored for LAI estimation but with limited data sources, usually RGB and multispectral imagery. As UAS-based thermal infrared (TIR) imaging becoming readily available in agriculture, it is worth investigating the potential of its role in improving LAI estimation. In this study we evaluated the importance of canopy temperature measured by UAS-based TIR and multispectral imagery on maize LAI quantification within a breeding context (23 genotypes). Five plot-level features (canopy temperature, structure and two common vegetation indices) were extracted from the images, and used as inputs of machine learning models for the LAI estimation. The performance of the estimation was evaluated with a 5-fold cross validation with 30 random repeats for 162 samples. Results showed that, canopy temperature, together with canopy structure as model predictors, slightly improved LAI estimation (root mean square error, RMSE of 0.853 m2/m2 and coefficient of determination, R2 of 0.740) than those models without temperature difference (RMSE of 0.917 m2/m2 and R2 of 0.706) for the various genotypes included in this study. In addition, canopy temperature showed moderate and more stable significance in estimating LAI than plant height and image uniformity. Its contribution to the estimation was comparable or even higher than those from vegetation indices when being modeled with random forest in this study. These relationships may be changed with a single or less genotypes which can be explored in future studies.
Organic compounds in vent fluids from Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming

Abstract Hydrothermal fluids were collected over a three-year interval (2016–2018) from two sublacustrine vent fields in Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming: Stevenson Island Deep Hole (YL16 and YL17 series in 2016 and 2017, respectively) and West Thumb (YL18 series in 2018). The TOC content in SI Deep Hole vent fluids varies from 2.7 mg/L to 6.3 mg/L in YL16 and 5.0 mg/L to 16.2 mg/L in YL17. Compared to YL16, the average TOC value of YL17 has more than doubled. The range of TOC is from 7.3 mg/L to 13.7 mg/L in the West Thumb samples. A positive correlation between TOC and dissolved CO2 concentration is observed in most samples, suggesting their close relationship with sublacustrine heat and mass transfer processes. The organic compounds detected at both vent fields are diverse in molecular structure. In the SI Deep Hole, complex cyclic and unsaturated organic compounds are dominant, with cyclic hydrocarbons having the highest abundance, followed by carboxylic acids, PAHs, and alcohols. At West Thumb vents, propanol is most abundant, followed by alcohols, PAHs, alkanes, and carboxylic acids. This difference in structural complexity and relative quantity of organic compounds may be attributed to the involvement of hydrothermal processes. The vapor-dominated hydrothermal system and extensive fluid-rock interactions in SI Deep Hole facilitate alteration/decomposition of organic precursors. While CO2(aq) is predominant in vent fluids, dissolved CH4 is much less abundant. In SI Deep Hole, the carbon isotopic composition of CH4 in most samples ranges from −20.4‰ to −38.0‰, with values of less than −60‰ in three samples, while CO2 ranges from −4.4‰ to −10.5‰. A temporal variation of δ13C values was obtained for CO2, with the average increasing from −9.2‰ (YL16) to −5.2‰ (YL17). In West Thumb, the δ13C value of CO2 and CH4 fall in a similar range, with an average of −10.5‰ and −19.0‰, respectively. There are multiple sources for observed carbon species: the interaction of vent fluids with subsurface rocks and lake sediments is the predominant process, followed by thermal decomposition of organic matter. Microbial activity on the lake floor may contribute to methane formation, while magmatic degassing is the major process that produces CO2. The connection between vapor-dominated hydrothermal alteration, elevated TOC contents and dissolved CO2 in vent fluids, and enrichment of 13C in CO2 in YL17 in SI Deep Hole suggests an interplay of geological, chemical, and biological processes and their imprints on vent fluids, all of which make significant contribution to the carbon cycle in the Yellowstone Lake ecosystem.
Problems of Routine Propeller Balancing

One of the most obvious sources of vibration in an airplane is the engine-propeller combination. For greater passenger and crew comfort plus reduced maintenance, vibration must be kept to a minimum. All types of vibration equipment depend upon mechanical forced vibrations in some structure, which is caused to vibrate by the engine-propeller combinations. The amplitude of vibration may be determined either electrically or mechanically, and the direction of the unbalance may be determined either by a strobotron, electrically, or by the addition of added unbalance to the various propeller blades. Propellers are usually balanced upon the airplane but have been successfully balanced several times upon a test stand. Small factors affect the propeller balance. However, large factors such as the loss of a tip of a propeller have gone unnoticed. I t is recommended that propeller manufacturers should build into the propeller a device for balancing propellers. Propeller balancing equipment should be further developed to be accurate, simple, and easy to use.
The Impact of Acculturation Style and Acculturative Hassles on the Mental Health of Somali Adolescent Refugees

Refugee adolescents often immigrate to a new society because of experiences of persecution and trauma, which can have profound effects on their mental health. Once they immigrate, many refugees experience stressors related to resettlement and acculturation in the new society. The current study examined relationships among acculturation styles and hassles and the well-being of young refugees as well as the role of gender. Data were collected from 135 young refugees (M age = 15.39, SD = 2.2; 62 % male) from Somalia resettled in the United States The findings from our study indicate that in addition to trauma history, acculturative hassles and acculturation style impact the wellbeing of Somali refugee adolescents. These findings indicate the need to understand both past experiences as well as current challenges. Potential areas for intervention are discussed.
GlobalMind: Automated Analysis of Cultural Contexts with Multicultural

The need for more effective communication between people of different countries has increased as travel and communications bring more of the worldâ€™s people together. Communication is often difficult because of both language differences and cultural differences. Attempts to bridge these differences include many attempts to perform ma-chine translation or provide language resources such as dictionaries or phrase books; however, many problems related to cultural and conceptual differences still remain. Automated mechanisms to analyze cultural similarities and differences might be used to improve traditional machine translators and as aids to cross-cultural communica-tion. This article presents an approach to automatically compute cultural differences by comparing databases of common-sense knowledge in different languages and cultures. GlobalMind provides an interface for acquiring databases of common-sense knowledge from users who speak different languages. It implements inference modules to compute the cultural similarities and differences between these databases. In this article, the design of the GlobalMind databases, the implementation of its inference modules, as well as an evaluation of GlobalMind are described.
Glucosyl- and Acetyltransferases Involved in the Biosynthesis of Glycolipids from Candida bogoriensis

Abstract 1. Crude extracts prepared by sonicating Candida bogoriensis cells contained glucosyltransferases catalyzing the transfer of glucose from UDP-[14C]glucose to 13-hydroxydocosanoic acid (HDA) (transferase 1) and methyl 13-glucopyranosyloxydocosanoate (methyl GlcHDA) (transferase 2) when these lipids were added as acceptors. The enzymatic products were characterized by thin layer chromatographic and gas-liquid chromatographic comparison to derivatives of GlcHDA and 13-glucopyranosylglucopyranosyloxydocosanoate (Glc2HDA) prepared from cultures of C. bogoriensis. 2. The transferases were purified 20- and 30-fold, respectively, with no separation of the two activities and with a constant ratio of the two activities obtained in successive peak fractions from a DEAE-Sephadex column, a hydroxyl-apatite column, a gel filtration column, and a disc gel electrophoresis fractionation. 3. Both transferases were specific for UDP-glucose, showing apparent Km values of 104 and 88 µm, respectively, for this compound. 4. Glucosyltransferase 1 showed 4- to 5-fold greater activity with HDA than with its methyl ester. A series of hydroxystearate isomers also showed acceptor activity. The activity with 9-hydroxystearate was 60% of that with HDA, whereas the acceptor activity decreased as the hydroxyl group was moved toward either the methyl or carboxyl end of the fatty acid chain. 5. Glucosyltransferase 2 exhibited severe substrate inhibition with GlcHDA as acceptor and a much higher reaction velocity when the methyl ester of GlcHDA was utilized as acceptor. 6. Crude extracts of C. bogoriensis also contained acetyltransferase(s) catalyzing incorporation of [14C]acetate from [14C]acetyl coenzyme A into Ac2Glc2HDA (the diacetate of Glc2HDA) characterized by thin layer chromatographic comparison with the glycolipid isolated from C. bogoriensis cultures. 7. Acetone extraction of the lyophilized extracts, followed by DEAE-Sephadex chromatography, freed the acetyl-transferase(s) of endogenous acceptor, making activity dependent upon added methyl Glc2HDA or its monoacetate as acceptor. Methyl GlcHDA was a poor acceptor for the acetyl groups. 8. In fermentor cultures the peak of glucosyltransferase 1 and 2 activities was reached in 1½ days and the peak of acetyltransferase activity was reached in 3 days. This time course is consistent with involvement of these enzymes in the biosynthesis of extracellular Ac2Glc2HDA, and with the tentative conclusion that extracellular AcGlc2HDA and Glc2HDA were formed by deacetylation of Ac2Glc2HDA.
Rational control of PONV--the rule of three.

UCH has been said about postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) these recent years. Indeed, significant improvement towards a rational control of PONV has been achieved mainly due to two research activities. First, a large amount of the gigantic literature on efficacy and harm of antiemetic interventions has been systematically reviewed, critically appraised, and quantitatively synthesized. Today, we know for many antiemetic interventions whether they work or not; more importantly, we know how well they work and what their adverse effect profile is. This new information acquisition has profound impact on both the way anesthesiologists treat their patients, and the way the research agenda is defined; for most antiemetic interventions, for instance, further clinical studies have become obsolete. A second important step towards a rational control of PONV has been the identification and validation of some predictive factors for PONV. Today, we understand better who is likely to vomit or to be nauseous after surgery and who is not. Obviously, there will always be patients who vomit although they should not and others who don’t despite the fact they should. However, the main benefit of risk scores is that prophylaxis may be targeted towards those who actually need it. This is likely to have economical implications and will also help to decrease the likelihood of adverse drug reactions. Recently, an international expert panel tried to pull
An Organizational Objective To Incorporate Social Responsibility

Organizational leaders are continuously making decisions and plans that will affect the long-term value of their firms. Organizational strategic plans without corporate social responsible determinants, such as Enron’s and MCI Worldcom’s accounting policies, affected thousands of employees, stakeholders, and the firm’s overall reputation throughout the world. I proclaim that corporate social responsibility enhances organizations’ overall competitive strength in their markets. Thus, a firm who adopts, teaches and creates ethical business practices within the organization’s internal environment and promotes those strategies in their remote environment, through their value chains, will create profitable long-term value for the organization. Michael Porter’s work of the 1980’s, “Competitive Strategies,” is a method that should be utilized to enhance ethical practices for an organization, through strategic development; however, a research question has emerged.
Generalized control of persistent thumbsucking by differential reinforcement of other behaviors

Abstract Thumbsucking exhibited by an 8-yr-old girl was effectively reduced in the laboratory by reinforcing thumbsucking-free intervals of increasing length with pennies (escalated DRO) while she watched television. Generalization-to-home techniques included having the mother administer the reinforcements in the lab, conduct the DRO sessions at home, and record thumbsucking rate during bedtime storytelling sessions. A DRO “spot-check” method was instated to control thumbsucking during all other times. Thumbsucking was completely eliminated, with no return of the behavior reported during any of 12 monthly follow-up calls. Discussion includes emphasis on transition of treatment from clinic to home.
Crystal structure of the calcium release-activated calcium channel Orai.

The plasma membrane protein Orai forms the pore of the calcium release–activated calcium (CRAC) channel and generates sustained cytosolic calcium signals when triggered by depletion of calcium from the endoplasmic reticulum. The crystal structure of Orai from Drosophila melanogaster , determined at 3.35 angstrom resolution, reveals that the calcium channel is composed of a hexameric assembly of Orai subunits arranged around a central ion pore. The pore traverses the membrane and extends into the cytosol. A ring of glutamate residues on its extracellular side forms the selectivity filter. A basic region near the intracellular side can bind anions that may stabilize the closed state. The architecture of the channel differs markedly from other ion channels and gives insight into the principles of selective calcium permeation and gating.
An enhanced altitude correction technique for improvement of WAM position accuracy

Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) is being considered as one of the primary backup sources of air traffic surveillance to Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) in the National Airspace System (NAS). Radar is currently the primary source of air traffic surveillance, with ADS-B poised to succeed radar leading into the FAA ADS-B Out mandate in 2020. WAM service could serve as both a transition to full ADS-B service and a cost-saving backup surveillance alternative to radar maintenance and expansion. One of the challenges associated with WAM is the accuracy of the aircraft's reported altitude. After engaging in a trade study to investigate various alternatives to correcting aircraft altitudes in a wide region for the FAA Colorado WAM Phase II program, Exelis determined that the aircraft altitude errors could be reduced significantly (less than 200') by integrating the Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) weather data grid generated by NOAA. The altitude correction trade study for WAM approach and results are discussed and analyzed.
Crop yield variation associated with Coastal Plain soil map units.

Variation among soil map units needs to be quantified so farmers can implement more economically and environmentally acceptable production practices. We conducted a 4-yr field study at an 8-ha research site near Florence, SC, to quantify yield variation for a southeastern Coastal Plain field. Nineteen soil map units, classified as Ultisols and representing seven soil series were identified by Soil Conservation Service cooperators. Corn (L.) was grown in 1985, 1986, and 1988, while in 1987 wheat (L.) and grain sorghum [ (L.) Moench] were double-cropped. All soils received conventional disk tillage, fertilization based on soil-test recommendations, and uniform planting rates. Crop yield was measured by harvesting transects throughout the field and subsequently identifying soil map units for each plot. Average corn yield among soil map units ranged from 3.7 to 8.0 Mg ha in 1985, 0.1 to 2.8 Mg ha in 1986, and 1.1 to 5.0 Mg ha in 1988. Yields were lower in 1986 because of severe drought. Wheat yield ranged from 3.5 to 6.2 Mg ha, while sorghum yield ranged from 1.7 to 5.2 Mg ha in 1987. Extractable P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, and Zn; soil organic matter and pH; and depth to an argillic horizon (Bt) were measured to identify causes for yield variation among soil map units. Depth to Bt had the best statistical relationship between crop yield and soil map unit, but yield variation within an individual map unit was almost as large as variation between map units. Our results demonstrate how measurements of crop yield by soil map unit can be determined and used to study soil variation. They also provide a data base that can be used to evaluate plant growth and soil management models for individual soil map units.
Photon yield of O2 evolution and chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics at 77 K among vascular plants of diverse origins.

Photon yields of oxygen evolution at saturating CO2 were determined for 44 species of vascular plants, representing widely diverse taxa, habitats, life forms and growth conditions. The photonyield values on the basis of absorbed light (φa) were remarkably constant among plants possessing the same pathway of photosynthetic CO2 fixation, provided the plants had not been subjected to environmental stress. The mean φa value ±SE for 37 C3 species was 0.106±0.001 O2·photon-1. The five C4 species exhibited lower photon yields and greater variation than the C3 species (φa=0.0692±0.004). The φa values for the two Crassulaceanacid-metabolism species were similar to those of C3 species. Leaf chlorophyll content had little influence on φa over the range found in normal, healthy leaves. Chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics at 77 K were determined for the same leaves as used for the photon-yield measurements. Considerable variation in fluorescence emission both at 692 nm and at 734 nm, was found 1) among the different species; 2) between the upper and lower surfaces of the same leaves; and 3) between sun and shade leaves of the same species. By contrast, the ratio of variable to maximum fluorescence emission at 692 nm (Fv/FM, 692) remained remarkably constant (The mean value for the C3 species was 0.832±0.004). High-light treatments of shade leaves resulted in a reduction in both φa and the Fv/FM, 692 ratio. The extent of the reductions increased with time of exposure to bright light. A linear relationship was obtained when φa was plotted against Fv/FM, 692. The results show that determinations of the photon yield of O2 evolution and the Fv/FM, 692 ratio can serve as excellent quantitative measures of photoinhibition of overall photosynthetic energy-conversion system and of photochemistry of photosystem II, respectively. This is especially valuable in field work where it is often impossible to obtain appropriate controls.
An experimental study of energy absorption in impact on sandwich plates.

Summary An experimental study of the impact of blunt strikers with a diameter of 1.85 in. (47mm) on both bare honeycombs and sandwich plates with honeycomb cores is described. Both of these targets were supported by a rigid backing, whereas the latter was also examined under simply-supported conditions. The lateral extent of the samples was greater than the contact area, but the thickness of the cores was limited to 0.75 in. (19mm) and that of the sandwiches was less than 1.0 in. (25 mm). Cell dimensions and face plate thickness were substantially smaller than the striker diameter. Impact velocities, which ranged from 33 to 131 ft/s (10–40m/s) were designed to just attain densification of the targets, i.e. a condition that stopped short of further loading of the plate when complete crushing of the core had been achieved. The best correlation of energy absorption capacity without considering areal density was found to be the energy absorbed per unit of crush.
Group‐Based Compensation in Professional Service Firms: An Empirical Analysis of Medical Group Practices

ABSTRACT: This study investigates factors influencing the use of group‐based compensation in professional service partnerships and the relation between group‐based compensation and performance. I use data on 11,971 physicians in 935 medical groups to expand the extant literature on group incentives by providing some of the first large‐sample, empirical evidence on the role of task interdependence, income risk, mutual monitoring, and group size in a firm's choice of compensation contract. Consistent with agency theory, I find that group incentives are more prevalent in medical partnerships that practice highly task‐interdependent specialties and those that face greater malpractice risk. Group‐based incentives are also more common in relatively small groups in which homogeneity in training, experience, and gender facilitate mutual monitoring. Tests relating individual physician productivity to compensation method suggest that productive benefits induced by group incentives offset reductions in output associ...
An application of functional analysis to time optimal control of linear discrete systems with output constraints

Abstract The problem of time optimal control of linear discrete systems with output constraints is formulated as an L-problem in the theory of moments. The solution to this latter problem is well known and is obtained from a finite-dimensional minimization. This procedure allows us to handle constraints not easily treated by other methods.
On misunderstanding ‘understanding’

Philosophers of Science have recently put a good deal of energy into locating the precise methodological boundaries between the natural and the social sciences. The methodological affinities of the latter with certain aspects of the humanities have been as yet too little explored. A convenient starting point for this discussion, and one which is adopted in this paper, is a reconsideration of the role and nature of interpretive understanding in the social sciences. However, before a serious examination of this issue can be undertaken, a clearing operation on the encrusted misunderstandings which are part of the legacy of logical positivism is necessary. In this paper I argue that the neo-positivistic account of understanding rests on a misunderstanding of the concept; that a more adequate conception of the issues involved - and one closer to the traditional Verstehen problematic of Dilthey et al. - can be gleaned from the work of Peter Winch; and that this development is furthered in a number of important respects by recent work done in hermeneutic philosophy - especially that of H.-G. Gadamer. The discussion of Gadamer suggests that the problem of locating the boundaries with the humanities might be as serious a problem for the theory of the social sciences as has been that concerning the natural sciences. The paper concludes with several suggestions as to the implications of the analysis of understanding for the thesis of the methodological unity of the sciences.
Cardiologic manpower resources and their distribution: a challenge for the future.

Abstract All of us have some familiarity with the cardiology manpower study that has been published. 1 The results of this study must in large measure serve as the data base for the deliberations of this Symposium and for our planning for the future. Let me start, therefore, with a rather selective overview of the data pertinent to our task. Let us remember that, although I shall use the present tense, the data base refers to 1972–1973.
An Integrated Information System Approach for Performance Based Logistics

In today's Department of Defense environment there is significant focus to optimize the output of the Logistic Supply Chain system. The DoD's mission support strategy is to implement knowledge based logistics to support the war-fighter through automated asset visibility and management. The customer requires a single, fully integrated Life Cycle Support (LCS) solution. Under a Performance Based Logistics (PBL) program, the warfighter enters requisitions for failed items into the unit's requisitioning system. The requisitions are routed to a receiving point (usually a Depot), which in turn forwards replacement parts directly to the warfighter from PBL inventory. The failed items are returned to the Depot and are inducted for repair or modification as needed to maintain availability fill rates. This paper discusses efficient and effective PBL processing using Raytheon's Enhanced Automatic Graphical Logistic Environment (EAGLE?) Maintenance Management Information System (MMIS?) to integrate asset management, documentation control, Supply Material Availability (SMA), FRACA data capture, SMART transportation and electronic WAWF processing for active PBLs. For the AEGIS and NATO PBL's using the MMIS approach, asset fill rates have jumped from below 75% before PBL to greater then 95% today. New UID and RFID requirements are currently being integrated into the PBL MMIS process to enhance the customer's asset visibility as well.
A Case for Amplify–Forward Relaying in the Block-Fading Multiple-Access Channel

This correspondence demonstrates the significant gains that multiple-access users can achieve from sharing a single amplify-forward relay in slow-fading environments. The proposed protocol, namely, multiple-access amplify-forward (MAF), allows for a low-complexity relay and achieves the optimal diversity-multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) at high multiplexing gains. Analysis of the protocol further reveals that it outperforms both the compress-forward strategy at low multiplexing gains and the dynamic decode-forward protocol at high multiplexing gains. An interesting feature of the proposed protocol is that, at high multiplexing gains, it resembles a multiple-input single-output (MISO) system, and at low multiplexing gains, it provides each user with the same DMT as if there were no contention for the relay from the other users.
Synthesis of specifically deuterated decanoic acids and decanols

Abstract Methyl [7- 2 H 2 ]-, [9- 2 H 2 ]- and [10- 2 H 3 ]decanoates and the corresopnding deuterated decanols have been synthesized. The 7,7-dideuterodecanoate was prepared starting from methyl 7-oxodecanoate. Reduction with sodium borodeuteride to methyl 7-hydroxy-[7- 2 H]decanoate followed by bromination yielded methyl 7-bromo-[7- 2 H]decanoate, further reduction with sodium borodeuteride in hexamethylphosphoramide gave methyl [7- 2 H 2 ]decanoate with only 7% reduction of the ester group. [7- 2 H 2 ]Decanol was also prepared from the bromo ester by lithium aluminum hydride reduction followed by lithium aluminum deuteride-lithium deuteride reduction. Exchange of sodium 10-undecanoate in deuterium oxide gave 10-[2- 2 H 2 ]undecenoic acid without double bond migration. [9- 2 H 2 ]Decanoic acid was obtained by two-stage reduction of the carboxyl to CH 3 and oxidative cleavage of the double bond. [10- 2 H 3 ]Decanol was prepared from 10-hydroxydecanoic acid by protecting the hydroxyl as the methoxyethoxymethoxy ether and reducing the carboxyl to CD 3 , in two stages, with lithium aluminum deuteride; chromic acid oxidation gave [10- 2 H 3 ]decanoic acid. The 7- 2 H 2 - and 9- 2 H 2 -labelled acids and alcohosl were at least 96% dideuterated and [10- 2 H 3 ]acid and alcohol were 97% trideuterated.