cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The American Society of Anesthesiologists' Physical Status: category V revisited.

Abstract Study Objective: To determine the perioperative mortality and intraoperative morbidity according to operative procedure and postoperative period for American Society of Anesthesiologists' Physical Status (ASA-PS) V category patients. Design: Retrospective chart review. Setting: University-affiliated medical center. Measurements and Main Results: The perioperative records of 111,051 consecutive anesthetized patients, from 1990 to 1997 were retrospectively reviewed. Data were collected and analyzed to determine ASA-PS classification, perioperative mortality, intraoperative morbidity, mortality according to operative procedure, and mortality postoperatively for ASA-PS V patients. At the University of Florida, 0.37% of our patients were ASA-PS V. Most had anesthesia for abdominal (26.2%), cardiothoracic (27.9%), cranial (12.3%), or diagnostic procedures (11.6%). The overall mortality rate decreased in 1993–1995 and 1995–1997, compared to 1990–1993, from 64.16 ± 4.53 (±SD) to 46.7 ± 9.5 and 56.8 ± 1.1, respectively. The mortality rate decreased in the immediate postoperative period from 15.7 ± 5.1 to 4.6 ± 1.5 and 4.1 ± 2.8 intraoperatively, and from 42.5 ± 1.8% to 22.1 ± 5.1 and 26.8 ± 1.8 within 24 hours postoperatively. The mortality rate increased from 0 ± 0 to 7.4 ± 3.9 and 15.5 ± 4.9 ( p 2 weeks, during hospitalization). Intraoperative morbidity (untoward events) was significantly higher for ASA-PS V patients than for ASA-PS IV patients only in emergency cases (11.1 ± 4.8% vs. 5.5 ± 1.4%). Conclusions: The ASA-PS V classification is determined subjectively rather than objectively, and can be variable within its parameters, depending on the individual interpretation of ASA classification, patient population, case severity, surgical and anesthesia factors, and the year of the study. Even though immediate perioperative mortality decreased in our patient population, late postoperative mortality increased during the same time period, possibly demonstrating a shift in mortality time rather than an absolute decrease in overall mortality. Although the ASA-PS V category was never intended to be a predictor of outcome, it correlates with perioperative mortality as well as or even better than other classifications of mortality and morbidity. The decreased mortality in the ASA-PS V patient population may be related to different factors, which are beyond the scope of this study.
Safety of Endovascular Treatment in High-Cardiac-Risk Patients with Limb-Threatening Ischemia

Vascular surgery can be safely performed in approximately 60% of patients with advanced peripheral vascular disease, because of the high frequency of concomitant coronary artery disease and consequent increased risk of perioperative cardiac complications. The aim of this study was to validate the hypothesis that endovascular revascularization could be safely applied to high-cardiac-risk patients with a lower incidence of perioperative cardiac complications. One hundred and fourteen patients with peripheral vascular disease referred for revascularization underwent preoperatively a clinical and echocardiographic evaluation, at rest and under dipyridamole stress test, to assess the cardiac risk. Patients with high clinical score (according to Goldman and Detsky), or low left ventricular ejection fraction at rest, or positive dipyridamole stress test, were considered at high cardiac risk. To record adverse cardiac events, all patients were monitored during surgery, postoperatively, and followed up for 18 months after hospital discharge. Forty-eight patients (42%) were found to be at high cardiac risk. In this high-cardiac-risk group, endovascular surgery was performed in 37/48 patients (77%) (group A), while the remaining 11/48 patients (23%) were bypassed with open surgery (group B). Postoperative cardiac complications occurred in 16% of patients in group A and in 45% of patients in group B with two deaths (p < 0.05). At follow-up, 51% of patients in group A and 44% of patients in group B had suffered late cardiac events (p = ns), with 10 deaths in group A and three deaths in group B (p = ns). Limb salvage rate was similar in the two groups (95% group A, 100% group B; p = ns). These data show that high-cardiac-risk patients with limb-threatening ischemia have significantly less perioperative cardiac complications when treated by endovascular procedures instead of bypass surgery. Follow-up data on cardiac events confirm the severity of concomitant coronary artery disease in patients with peripheral vascular disease.
Protection against hyperoxia by serum from endotoxin treated rats: absence of superoxide dismutase induction.

Endotoxin greatly reduces lung injury and pleural effusions in adult rats exposed to normobaric hyperoxia (> 98% oxygen for 60 hours). This study reports that serum from endotoxin treated donor rats protects serum recipients against hyperoxic lung injury without altering lung superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Rats pretreated with endotoxin alone were protected and exhibited an increase in lung SOD activity as previously reported by others. Protection by serum was not due to the transfer of residual endotoxin or SOD. These results show, that protection from oxygen toxicity can occur in rats without an increase in lung SOD and suggest that a serum factor may be involved.
Real-time trust evaluation in integrated circuits

The use of side-channel measurements and fingerprinting, in conjunction with statistical analysis, has proven to be the most effective method for accurately detecting hardware Trojans in fabricated integrated circuits. However, these post-fabrication trust evaluation methods overlook the capabilities of advanced design skills that attackers can use in designing sophisticated Trojans. To this end, we have designed a Trojan using power-gating techniques and demonstrate that it can be masked from advanced side-channel fingerprinting detection while dormant. We then propose a real-time trust evaluation framework that continuously monitors the on-board global power consumption to monitor chip trustworthiness. The measurements obtained corroborate our frameworks effectiveness for detecting Trojans. Finally, the results presented are experimentally verified by performing measurements on fabricated Trojan-free and Trojan-infected variants of a reconfigurable linear feedback shift register (LFSR) array.
Two-Dimensional Gel Mapping and N-Terminal Sequencing of LMW-Glutenin Subunits

Low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits from the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar 'Chinese Spring' were mapped using two dimensional electrophoresis (isoelectric focusing versus SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). Protein spots were electroblotted on to polyvinylidene difluoride membrane and characterized by N-terminal amino acid sequencing. Most of the proteins that had accessible N-termini gave sequences in agreement with known sequences for low-molecular-weight glutenins, a-type gliadins, and y-type gliadins. Two variants which have not been seen in direct sequencing before were found. The glutenin starting material was also reduced, alkylated, and partially fractionated by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography. Sequencing of these fractions, each of which contained a mixture of proteins, confirmed the presence of the glutenin variants found in the spot sequencing.
Given the Science on Malnutrition, How Does the Clinician Respond? Practical Lessons for and Application to the Dialysis Patient

Nephrologists are only too accustomed to watching functional decline in patients who undergo long-term hemodialysis. This decline is the consequence of a complex series of biochemical and pathophysiologic processes that lead to decreased appetite, reductions in serum proteins, and loss of muscle mass and often results in fatigue, as well as reductions in stamina, exercise tolerance, and overall quality of life. This constellation of problems has been referred to by a variety of terms: protein-energy malnutrition, cachexia, muscle wasting, or simply malnutrition. This lack of precision in nomenclature surely adds to uncertainty in recognition and diagnosis. In most of cases, though, underlying causes are complicated and clearly not simply due to insufficient caloric intake. This may be a major reason that we as physicians have not been particularly successful in preventing or ameliorating these problems in our patients with ESRD. Here we review the potential causes of this functional decline at the molecular level and the current therapeutic approaches for prevention and treatment. It is our hope, of course, that extending our basic molecular knowledge of these processes will translate into better markers and more directed therapies for the catabolic dialysis patient in the not-too-distant future. The fundamental issue underlying the malnutrition that is seen in the ESRD population is that these patients are catabolic , meaning rates of protein breakdown outstrip production of new body protein. Isotope studies in experimental animals and humans with uremia show that overall rates of protein synthesis generally are unchanged, whereas rates of protein degradation tend to increase (1,2). Because the rates of protein turnover in cells are very high (3.5 to 4.5 g protein/kg per d) (3), more than three times the average daily protein intake, even small increases in proteolysis can cause marked protein depletion. Because most body stores of …
Effect of bifunctional comonomers on mechanical strength and water sorption of amorphous calcium phosphate- and silanized glass-filled Bis-GMA-based composites.

Abstract This study seeks to elucidate structure–property relationships in a series of unfilled dental copolymers and their composites. The copolymers/composites were derived from photo-activated binary monomer systems based on 2,2-bis[p-2′-hydroxy-3′-methacryloxypropoxy)phenyl] propane (Bis-GMA) and equimolar amounts of a bifunctional, surface-active comonomer, i.e., 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), glycerol dimethacrylate (GDMA) or ethylene glycol methacrylate phosphate (PHEMA). Triethyleneglycol dimethacrylate, a widely used comonomer for Bis-GMA, was used as a control. Two types of fillers were investigated: (1) a hydrophilic, silica-modified amorphous calcium phosphate (Si-ACP) and (2) a more hydrophobic, silanized nanosized silica (n-SiO2). Both the unfilled copolymers and their composites were evaluated for biaxial flexure strength (BFS), both dry and wet after 30 days immersion in buffered saline, and for water sorption (WS) and their WS kinetic profiles. The Bis-GMA copolymers and composites derived from HEMA and GDMA had BFS and WS values, as well as WS kinetic profiles, similar to the controls. Copolymers and composites based on Bis-GMA/PHEMA had lower BFS and higher WS values. Si-ACP composites had significantly lower BFS values (that were further diminished on soaking) than their copolymers. WS increased as the level of this filler was increased except for Bis-GMA/PHEMA composites. With n-SiO2 as the filler, a more moderate reduction in BFS occurred compared to the unfilled copolymers. By contrast to Si-ACP composites, the WS of all the n-SiO2 composites decreased with increasing filler level. From this study it is evident that both the chemical structure of the polymer matrix and the type of filler system can have significant effects on the strength and water-related properties of dental composites.
Multilevel segmentation for food classification in dietary assessment

Given a dataset of images, we seek to automatically identify and locate perceptually similar objects. We combine two ideas to achieve this: a set of segmented objects can be partitioned into perceptually similar object classes based on global and local features; and perceptually similar object classes can be used to assess the accuracy of image segmentation. These ideas are implemented by generating multiple segmentations of each image and then learning the object class by combining different segmentations to generate optimal segmentation. We demonstrate that the proposed method can be used as part of a new dietary assessment tool to automatically identify and locate the foods in a variety of food images captured during different user studies.
Understanding the Mobilization of Professionals

This article develops a Professional Mobilization Framework to guide research and discussion of the mobilization of nonprofit professionals in issue politics. We use the framework, together with literature on women clergy, to develop expectations about the issue interests and political mobilization of women clergy. We use qualitative interview data and aggregate survey data from 54 women clergy to test the expectations developed in the framework. The results of the study show that the women’s issue agendas focus on racism and intolerance, poverty, and gay rights, while their action agendas stress poverty, community organizing, and reproductive rights. Organizational mobilization and ease of entry appear to push women clergy into far more poverty and community-organizing activities than would be expected based on their interest in these issues alone. Meanwhile, organizational demobilization appears to result in less activity than interest on issues such as gay rights, women’s rights, and racism.
Cocaine's effect on plasma oxytocin concentrations in the baboon during late pregnancy

Abstract OBJECTIVE: The hypothesis for this investigation was that intravenous cocaine would result in an elevation of maternal plasma oxytocin levels in the baboon during late pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: Five gravid chronically instrumented baboons had timed arterial blood samples obtained before and after an intravenous bolus cocaine infusion at least 5 days after surgery. Plasma oxytocin concentrations were measured by specific radioimmunoassays, and baseline samples were compared with postcocaine samples. RESULTS: The plasma oxytocin concentrations were significantly elevated at all sampling times after the 1.0 mg/kg cocaine dose ( p CONCLUSION: The increased oxytocin concentrations after cocaine use may be responsible for the increased incidence of preterm labor. (AM J OBSTET GYNECOL 1996;174:1026-7.)
Quality of Life with Macular Degeneration Is Not as Dark as It May Seem: Patients' Perceptions of the MacDQoL Questionnaire.

To determine the perceived relevance and value of an individualized measure of the impact of macular degeneration on quality of life (QoL) for elderly people with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) in the USA, through the assessment of the suitability of the measure’s domains and by gaining a deeper insight into the impact of AMD on patients’ QoL vis-a-vis these domains, community-dwelling older adults in the metropolitan Salt Lake City, Utah area were interviewed using the macular degeneration on quality of life (MacDQoL) instrument. Participants felt that the MacDQoL was a relevant instrument for use in this US study population, though it could be improved by adding items pertaining to transportation, and independent driving, in particular, as an important QoL indicator. The emerging theme from analysis of the respondent’s commentary was that, in spite of AMD, these respondents were committed to engage in, and enjoy life. This is an important concept for clinicians and those who offer support programs to integrate into their care planning and reinforce in messaging to patients with the condition.
Educational justice and the gifted

This article examines two basic questions: first, what constitutes a gifted person, and secondly, is there justification in making special educational provision for gifted children, where special provision involves spending more on their education than on the education of `normal' children? I consider a hypothetical case for allocating extra resources for the gifted, and argue that gifted children are generally denied educational justice if they fail to receive an education that adequately challenges them. I further argue that an adequately challenging education is essential to human flourishing, but that most children can be adequately challenged in schools in ways that promote flourishing without doing so at the expense of other children.
TOWARD A SOCIOLOGY OF ORGANIZATIONAL CRIME

This paper identifies as organizational crimes those illegal actions taken in accordance with operative organizational goals which do serious harm either physical or economic, to employees, consumers, or the general public. The idea of whitecollar crime is insufficient to deal with this phenomenon because it seldom recognizes physical impact or the peculiar features of crime in an organizational setting. Public evaluation of the seriousness of an offense is based on the seriousness of its effect. But legally these offenses are judged by their potential rather than their actual consequences so that, in sharp contrast to common crime, parties are seldom held accountable for harmful acts. Organizational illegality is shielded by difficulties attendant on efforts to establish criminal intent, to determine individual responsibility, and to apply traditional civil-criminal distinctions. We survey patterns of physical impact of illegal and dangerous organizational behavior upon their victims, which suggest the magnitude of the problem, the failure to perceive its social risks, and the need to develop data sources and do further research in this area.
On Differentially Private Inductive Logic Programming

We consider differentially private inductive logic programming. We begin by formulating the problem of guarantee differential privacy to inductive logic programming, and then prove the theoretical difficulty of simultaneously providing good utility and good privacy in this task. While our analysis proves that in general this is very difficult, it leaves a glimmer of hope in that when the size of the training data is large or the search tree for hypotheses is “short” and “narrow,” we might be able to get meaningful results. To prove our intuition, we implement a differentially private version of Aleph, and our experimental results show that our algorithm is able to produce accurate results for those two cases.
Existence of time lag in crystalline to smectic A (K–SmA) phase transition of 4-decyl-4-biphenylcarbonitrile (10CB) liquid crystal

This study explores the presence of time lag in crystalline to smectic A (K–SmA) phase transition of 4-decyl-4-biphenylcarbonitrile (10CB) liquid crystal. A non-isothermal heating and cooling study were performed for 10CB liquid crystal using calorimetric technique where heating scan was performed from 250 to 350 K, and cooling scan was performed from 350 to 250 K. A clear difference in K–SmA phase transition was observed between heating and cooling scans. An attracting inclination effect in K–SmA transition was observed on cooling which is completely absent on heating. The inclination of the K–SmA transition peak increases and shows an existence of time lag during cooling, whereas other family member shows no effect i.e., 8CB. K–SmA peak shows a lower enthalpy with higher activation when compared with 8CB. The presence of time lag and increase in activation can be explained in terms of the density and nature of the material.
Cortical Responses to Invisible Faces: Dissociating Subsystems for Facial-Information Processing

Perceiving faces is critical for social interaction. Evidence suggests that different neural pathways may be responsible for processing face identity and expression information. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we measured brain responses when observers viewed neutral, fearful, and scrambled faces, either visible or rendered invisible through interocular suppression. The right fusiform face area (FFA), the right superior temporal sulcus (STS), and the amygdala responded strongly to visible faces. However, when face images became invisible, activity in FFA to both neutral and fearful faces was much reduced, although still measurable; activity in the STS was robust only to invisible fearful faces but not to neutral faces. Activity in the amygdala was equally strong in both the visible and invisible conditions to fearful faces but much weaker in the invisible condition for the neutral faces. In the invisible condition, amygdala activity was highly correlated with that of the STS but not with FFA. The results in the invisible condition support the existence of dissociable neural systems specialized for processing facial identity and expression information. When images are invisible, cortical responses may reflect primarily feed-forward visual-information processing and thus allow us to reveal the distinct functions of FFA and STS.
Changing teaching techniques and adapting new technologies to improve student learning in an introductory meteorology and climate course

Responding to the call for reform in science education, changes were made in an introductory meteorology and climate course offered at a large public university. These changes were a part of a larger project aimed at deepening and extending a program of science content courses that model effective teaching strategies for prospective middle school science teachers. Therefore, revisions were made to address misconceptions about meteorological phenomena, foster deeper understanding of key concepts, encourage engagement with the text, and promote inquiry-based learning. Techniques introduced include: use of a flash cards, student reflection questionnaires, writing assignments, and interactive discussions on weather and forecast data using computer technology such as Integrated Data Viewer (IDV). The revision process is described in a case study format. Preliminary results (self-reflection by the instructor, surveys of student opinion, and measurements of student achievement), suggest student learning has been positively influenced. This study is supported by three grants: NSF grant No. 0202923, the Unidata Equipment Award, and the Lucia Harrison Endowment Fund.
PRAP: an ab initio software package for automated genome-wide analysis of DNA repeats for prokaryotes

Motivation: Prokaryotic genome annotation has been focused mainly on identifying all genes and their protein functions. However,530% of the prokaryotic genomes submitted to GenBank contain partial repeat features of specific types and none of the genomes contain complete repeat annotations. Deciphering all repeats in DNA sequences is an important and open task in genome annotation and bioinformatics. Hence, there is an immediate need of a tool capable of identifying full spectrum repeats in the whole genome. Results: We report the PRAP (Prokaryotic Repeats Annotation Program software package to automate the analysis of repeats in both finished and draft genomes. It is aimed at identifying full spectrum repeats at the scale of the prokaryotic genome. Compared with the major existing repeat finding tools, PRAP exhibits competitive or better results. The results are consistent with manually curated and experimental data. Repeats can be identified and grouped into families to define their relevant types. The final output is parsed into the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)/GenBank feature table format for reading and displaying in Artemis, where it can be combined or compared with other genome data. It is currently the most complete repeat finder for prokaryotes and is a valuable tool for genome annotation.
Reasoned assumptions and rational psychology

Logical epistemology unduly sways theories of thinking that formulate problems of nonmonotonic reasoning as issues of nondeductive operations on logically phrased beliefs, because the fundamental concepts underlying such reasoning have little to do with logic or belief. These formulations make the resulting theories inappropriately special and hide the characteristic structures of nonmonotonic reasoning amid many unrelated structures. We present a more direct mathematical development of nonmonotonic reasoning free of extraneous logical and epistemological assumptions, and argue that the insights gained in this way exemplify the benefits obtained by approaching psychology as a subject for mathematical investigation through the discipline of rational psychology.
A chemically driven visible laser transition using fast near-resonant energy transfer

Evidence is obtained which demonstrates the potential for developing purely chemical visible lasers based on rapid near-resonant energy transfer from metastable excited triplet states of germanium and silicon monoxide (a/sup 3/ Sigma /sup +/,b/sup 3/ Pi ) to select metal atoms. In this study, the Group IIIA metal atoms were chosen as the energy receptors for the energy transfer-pump sequence. Excited triplet states were generated from the Ge-O/sub 3/, Ge-N/sub 2/, Si-N/sub 2/O, and Si-NO/sub 2/ reactions; the bulk of the experimental results was obtained with a germanium-based system. The energy stored in the long-lived triplet states is transferred to pump X/sup 2/P/sub 1/2/ thallium, indium, and gallium atoms to their lowest lying /sup 2/S/sub 1/2/ states. The authors observe a system of temporal behavior which suggests the creation of a population inversion producing a gain condition and forming the basis for full cavity oscillation on the Tl 7/sup 2/S/sub 1/2/-6P/sub 3/2/ transition at 535 nm. >
A developmental analysis of children’s equivalence-class formation and disruption

Developmental differences in children’s conditional discrimination learning, equivalenceclass formation, and equivalence-class disruption were investigated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, children between 2 and 9 years of age demonstrated age-related differences across a series of preliminary training steps, such that time to acquisition was more variable for younger than for older children on an initial identity matching and category matching task. However, upon completion of the preliminary training, there were no age-related differences in time to acquisition of the two arbitrary conditional discriminations that would serve as the basis for equivalence-class formation, nor were there differences in time to demonstrate stable equivalence classes (Experiment 2). Also in Experiment 2, children between 2 and 14 years of age were exposed to a potential challenge to the demonstrated equivalence classes; the reinforcement contingency for the AC conditional discrimination was reversed (i.e., given A1, A2 or A3, reinforcers were produced by selecting C2, C3, or C1 respectively). While there was little change in performance on reflexivity or BA symmetry tests following the challenge, age-related differences were obtained for CA symmetry and combined tests for equivalence. The older children were more likely to demonstrate an orderly change in equivalence-class membership consistent with the reversal training, while the younger children showed either little change or substantial disruption in their equivalence patterns. These data are considered in relation to more traditional investigations of children’s category formation, as well as their implications for the study of equivalence-class formation and flexibility.
Scheduled and nonscheduled access in a distributed system based upon a functional communication model

Request-response communication is studied in the framework of the functional communication model. A scheme that uses the channel access algorithm for distributed scheduling is investigated. A timed token protocol is used to control the two access modes, the scheduled access, with communication initiated by a server, and the nonscheduled access when a client sends a request to a functional group without prior consent from any of the servers in the group. In case of scheduled communication, the server guarantees the acceptance of the request. >
Improved Outcomes With Higher Doses for Salvage Radiotherapy After Prostatectomy

Purpose To evaluate relapse-free survival with higher doses for patients receiving salvage radiotherapy (RT) after radical prostatectomy (RP). Patients and Methods A total of 122 patients with pathologically negative lymph nodes received salvage RT after RP from 1984 to 2004. Median prostate bed dose was 60 Gy for 38 patients and 70 Gy for 84 patients. Four months of total androgen suppression and whole-pelvic RT were given concurrently to 68 and 72 patients, respectively. The median follow-up was >5 years. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards multivariable analyses were performed for all clinical, pathologic, and treatment factors predicting for biochemical relapse-free survival (bRFS). Results There were 60 biochemical failures after salvage RT, with a median time to failure of 1.2 years. A dose response was observed, with a 5-year bRFS rate of 25% vs. 58% for prostate bed doses of 60 Gy vs. 70 Gy ( p p = 0.016), and for those receiving prostate-bed-only RT it was 23% vs. 66% ( p = 0.037) for doses of 60 Gy vs. 70 Gy, respectively. On multivariate analysis a prostate bed dose of 70 Gy ( p = 0.012, hazard ratio [HR] 0.48 [95% Confidence Interval (CI), 0.27–0.87]), pre-RT prostate-specific antigen value ≤1 ng/mL ( p p = 0.009, HR 0.44 [95% CI, 0.26–0.77]) remained independently significant. Conclusions A clinically significant dose response from 60 Gy to 70 Gy was observed in the setting of salvage RT after prostatectomy. A dose of 70 Gy to the prostate bed is recommended to achieve optimal disease-free survival.
Measurements of large optical surfaces with a laser tracker

Surface measurements represent a significant part of the cost for manufacturing large aspheric optics. Both polished and rough ground surfaces must be measured with high precision and spatial resolution. We have developed a system that couples a commercial laser tracker with an advanced calibration technique and a system of external references. This system was built to measure the off-axis primary mirror segments for the Giant Magellan Telescope where it will guide loose abrasive grinding and initial polishing. The system is further expected to corroborate the optical interferometric tests of the completed mirrors, in several low-order aberrations. The design, analysis, calibration, and measured performance of this system will be presented.
Delay of Gratification as a Function of Race of the Experimenter.

Sixth-grade black and white students were offered one 45-rpm record as an immediate reward for completing a locus of control measure or three records if they would wait for the experimenter, either a black or a white male, to return 3 weeks later. About 80% of the white students chose the delayed, more valuable reward, regardless of the race of the experimenter. Thirty-three percent of the black students chose the delayed reward from the white experimenter, and 56% chose from the Negro experimenter. Black students were more likely to be assessed as external than whites. While no relationship was found between locus of control and delay behavior among blacks, internal white students chose more delayed rewards than external white students. Results are discussed in terms of the mistrust of the white experimenter on the part of the black students. Zytkoskee, Strickland, and Watson (1971),
Optimal Land Development with Endogenous Environmental Amenities

A spatially explicit model of the optimal timing and location of land development is presented that incorporates dynamic interactions between land development and water quality. Ignoring two-way interactions leads to a lower level of water quality, more development, and lower social welfare. The optimal pace and pattern of development can be achieved through the assessment of an impact fee that internalizes pollution damages and irreversibility costs. Our results demonstrate the importance of accounting for the spatial dimension of land use, the interdependence between land use and environmental quality, and development irreversibility in models of urbanization and amenity-driven growth. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.
Gender Differences in Treatment Outcomes Among Participants in a Mixed-Gender Substance Abuse Aftercare Program

This study examined gender and gender-related predictors in multiple outcomes of substance abuse aftercare treatment among 78 females and 141 males enrolled in a mixed-gender aftercare program in Massachusetts from 1994 to 1996. Female participants entered the program with higher needs than their male counterparts, showing a worse condition in almost all baseline characteristics, of which many are statistically significant. The generalized estimating equations (GEE) model revealed significant gender differences in the two treatment outcomes of employment income and illegal activity days. Also, many significant gender-related predictors and interaction variables were found.
A new data analysis method to determine binding constants of small molecules to proteins using equilibrium analytical ultracentrifugation with absorption optics

Abstract In principle, equilibrium analytical ultracentrifugation (AU) can be used to quantify the binding stoichiometry and affinity between small-molecule ligands and proteins in aqueous solution. We show here that heteromeric binding constants can be determined using a data-fitting procedure which utilizes a postfitting computation of the total amount of each component in the centrifuge cell. The method avoids overconstraining the fitting of the radial concentration profiles, but still permits unique binding constants to be determined using measurements at a single wavelength. The computational program is demonstrated by applying it to data obtained with mixtures of a 500-Da molecule and interleukin-2, a 16-kDa protein. The 1:1 binding stoichiometry and heteromeric dissociation constants ( K ab ) determined from centrifuge data at two different wavelengths are within the 4–9 μM range independently determined from a functional assay. Values for K ab have been obtained for ligands with affinities as weak as 500 μM. This AU method is applicable to compounds with significant UV absorbance (∼0.2) at concentrations within ∼5- to 10-fold of their K ab . The method, which has been incorporated into a user procedure for IgorPro (Wavemetrics, Oswego, OR), is included as supplementary material.
Responses of soybeans and wheat to elevated CO2 in free-air and open top chamber systems

Abstract With increasing demand for agricultural products, more confidence is needed concerning impacts of rising atmospheric CO 2 on crop yields. Despite debate about the merits of free-air CO 2 enrichment (FACE) and open top chamber (OTC) systems, there have been no reports comparing crop yield responses to elevated CO 2 in FACE and OTC systems using the same cultivar and location. In this study soybeans and winter wheat were grown for two years in FACE and OTC systems at the same time and location. An elevated CO 2 treatment of ambient plus ∼200 μmol mol −1 was applied 24 h per day for one cultivar of each species in the first year, and two cultivars of each species in the second year. Leaf area index, and midday leaf gas exchange rates were measured periodically, and total above ground biomass and seed yield were determined at maturity. In soybean, seed yield was increased by elevated CO 2 in both FACE and OTC in both cultivars and years. However, the ratio of seed yield at elevated CO 2 to that at ambient CO 2 averaged significantly higher in OTC (1.49) than in FACE (1.27). In wheat, grain yield was increased by 15–30% by elevated CO 2 for both cultivars and years in the OTC, but was not increased in either cultivar or year in the FACE system. No differences in midday photosynthetic rates occurred between OTC and FACE in either species for either CO 2 treatment, except one season in wheat, but stomatal conductance was more reduced by elevated CO 2 in OTC than in FACE. Short-term temporal variation in CO 2 concentration was larger in FACE than in OTC. It is not clear from these results which method produces plant responses equivalent to those which may occur with increased atmospheric CO 2 .
Do Incumbents Manipulate Access to Finance During Banking Crises

This paper tests the hypothesis that during systemic banking crises, access to finance is opportunistically tightened by incumbents to eliminate or weaken competition from mainly young firms. We find this to be especially true in more corrupt countries. To do so, we employ a methodology similar to Rajan and Zingales (1998) on three digit manufacturing industry-level data provided by the United Nations Statistics Division for about 15 developed and developing countries in over 20 industries on average. We show that price-cost margins in externally more financially dependent industries are higher during crisis than in externally less dependent industries in countries with higher levels of corruption. We find the opposite relationship for the change in the industry-level number of establishments during a crisis. The results withstand an array of robustness checks, including using different indices of corruption, different controls, and robust estimation techniques.
The Sus operon: a model system for starch uptake by the human gut Bacteroidetes

Resident bacteria in the densely populated human intestinal tract must efficiently compete for carbohydrate nutrition. The Bacteroidetes, a dominant bacterial phylum in the mammalian gut, encode a plethora of discrete polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs) that are selectively activated to facilitate glycan capture at the cell surface. The most well-studied PUL-encoded glycan-uptake system is the starch utilization system (Sus) of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. The Sus includes the requisite proteins for binding and degrading starch at the surface of the cell preceding oligosaccharide transport across the outer membrane for further depolymerization to glucose in the periplasm. All mammalian gut Bacteroidetes possess analogous Sus-like systems that target numerous diverse glycans. In this review, we discuss what is known about the eight Sus proteins of B. thetaiotaomicron that define the Sus-like paradigm of nutrient acquisition that is exclusive to the Gram-negative Bacteroidetes. We emphasize the well-characterized outer membrane proteins SusDEF and the α-amylase SusG, each of which have unique structural features that allow them to interact with starch on the cell surface. Despite the apparent redundancy in starch-binding sites among these proteins, each has a distinct role during starch catabolism. Additionally, we consider what is known about how these proteins dynamically interact and cooperate in the membrane and propose a model for the formation of the Sus outer membrane complex.
Racism in Medicine: Shifting the Power

Medicine has historically been a field where the provider of the service (physician, nurse) has a significant amount of power as compared with the recipient of the service (the patient). For the most part, this power is relatively consistent, and the power dynamic is rarely disrupted. In this essay, I share a personal experience in which a racist rant by a patient seemingly reverses the power dynamic. As the physician, I faced the realization that I may not have as much power as I believed, but fortunately I had some tools that allowed for my resilience. It is my hope that this paper will strengthen other family physicians and professional minorities that are victims of racism, discrimination, and prejudice for their race, sex, ability, sexual orientation, religion, and other axes of discrimination.
Trigonometric potentials arising from the spheroidal equation: Supersymmetric partners and integral formulas

We construct supersymmetric partners of a quantum system featuring a class of trigonometric potentials that emerge from the spheroidal equation. Examples of both standard and confluent supersymmetric transformations are presented. Furthermore, we use integral formulas arising from the confluent supersymmetric formalism to derive new representations for single and multiple integrals of spheroidal functions.
Inhibition of a Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel by Propofol Involves Modulation of Slow Inactivation

Voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs), critical for action potential generation and propagation in the central nervous system, are inhibited by clinically relevant concentrations of many general anesthetics. The molecular mechanism for this inhibition, however, is still largely unclear. Here, we investigated the electrophysiological response of the bacterial voltage-gated sodium channel NaChBac to the widely used injectable anesthetic propofol at concentrations near the clinically relevant EC50. At 2 μM, propofol induces a −7.0 ± 1.1 mV leftward shift of the steady-state inactivation curve (V½ control = −49 ± 2.2 mV, V½ 2μM = −56 ± 2.3 mV, n=3) and a ∼24% decrease in the time constant of inactivation at −10 mV (τ control = 188 ± 26 ms, τ 2μM = 142 ± 11 ms, n=3). 5 μM propofol induces a −7.0 ± 1.3 mV leftward shift of the steady-state inactivation curve (V½ control = −55 ± 0.6 mV, V½ 5μM = −62 ± 1.2 mV, n=8) and a ∼37% decrease in the time constant of inactivation at −10 mV (τ control = 187 ± 8.7ms, τ 5μM = 117 ± 5.5 ms, n=8). Consistent with behavior in response to isoflurane (Ouyang et al., 2007) and sevoflurane (Barber et al., 2014), propofol inhibits channel function by promoting and stabilizing the inactivated state. Structurally diverse general anesthetics might inhibit NaChBac by acting on slow inactivation, a mechanism also present in mammalian Navs that possibly involves the pore domain. Therefore, to assess the role of slow inactivation in the mechanism of general anesthetic action, we are evaluating sites in the S6 helix that alter inactivation kinetics (G219, T220, and F227). Furthermore, aided by molecular dynamics simulations, we are validating putative general anesthetic binding sites in the pore domain of NaChBac.
Estimating contemporary effective population size in non-model species using linkage disequilibrium across thousands of loci

Contemporary effective population size (Ne) can be estimated using linkage disequilibrium (LD) observed across pairs of loci presumed to be selectively neutral and unlinked. This method has been commonly applied to data sets containing 10-100 loci to inform conservation and study population demography. Performance of these Ne estimates could be improved by incorporating data from thousands of loci. However, these thousands of loci exist on a limited number of chromosomes, ensuring that some fraction will be physically linked. Linked loci have elevated LD due to limited recombination, which if not accounted for can cause Ne estimates to be downwardly biased. Here, we present results from coalescent and forward simulations designed to evaluate the bias of LD-based Ne estimates ([Ncirc ]e). Contrary to common perceptions, increasing the number of loci does not increase the magnitude of linkage. Although we show it is possible to identify some pairs of loci that produce unusually large r(2) values, simply removing large r(2) values is not a reliable way to eliminate bias. Fortunately, the magnitude of bias in [Ncirc ]e is strongly and negatively correlated with the process of recombination, including the number of chromosomes and their length, and this relationship provides a general way to adjust for bias. Additionally, we show that with thousands of loci, precision of [Ncirc ]e is much lower than expected based on the assumption that each pair of loci provides completely independent information.
Science and Engineering Labor Force in the US

“Graduate education in science and engineering (S&E) contributes to global competitiveness, producing the highly skilled workers of the future and the research needed for a knowledge-based economy,” asserts the 2014 Science and Engineering Indicators report, published by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) (National Science Foundation 2014, Chap. 3). In 2010, the most recent year for which cross-national data are available, more than 200,000 S&E doctoral degrees were earned worldwide. The United States awarded the largest number of S&E doctoral degrees of any country (about 33,000), followed by China (about 31,000), Russia (almost 16,000), Germany (about 12,000), and the United Kingdom (about 11,000). About 58,000 S&E doctoral degrees were earned in the European Union (National Science Foundation 2014, Chap. 4).
UV-RNA Immunoprecipitation (UV-RIP) Protocol in Neurons

With the many advances in genome-wide sequencing, it has been discovered that much more of the genome is transcribed into RNA than previously appreciated. These nonprotein-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) come in many different forms, and they have been shown to have a variety of functions within the cell, influencing processes such as gene expression, mRNA splicing, and transport, just as a few examples. As we delve deeper into studying their mechanisms of action, it becomes important to understand how they play these roles, in particular by understanding what proteins these ncRNAs interact with. This protocol describes one technique that can be used to study this, ultra-violet light cross-linking RNA immunoprecipitation (UV-RIP), which uses an antibody to pull down a specific protein of interest and then detects RNA that is bound to it. This technique utilizes UV light to cross-link the cells, which takes advantage of the fact that UV light will only cross-link proteins and nucleic acids that are directly interacting. This approach can provide key mechanistic insight into the function of these newly identified ncRNAs.
Dissolved organic matter composition of Arctic rivers: Linking permafrost and parent material to riverine carbon

Recent climate change in the Arctic is driving permafrost thaw, which has important implications for regional hydrology and global carbon dynamics. Permafrost is an important control on groundwater dynamics and the amount and chemical composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) transported by high-latitude rivers. The consequences of permafrost thaw for riverine DOM dynamics will likely vary across space and time, due in part to spatial variation in ecosystem properties in Arctic watersheds. Here we examined watershed controls on DOM composition in 69 streams and rivers draining heterogeneous landscapes across a broad region of Arctic Alaska. We characterized DOM using bulk dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, optical properties, and chemical fractionation and classified watersheds based on permafrost characteristics (mapping of parent material and ground ice content, modeling of thermal state) and ecotypes. Parent material and ground ice content significantly affected the amount and composition of DOM. DOC concentrations were higher in watersheds underlain by fine-grained loess compared to watersheds underlain by coarse-grained sand or shallow bedrock. DOC concentration was also higher in rivers draining ice-rich landscapes compared to rivers draining ice-poor landscapes. Similarly, specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA254, an index of DOM aromaticity) values were highest in watersheds underlain by fine-grained deposits or ice-rich permafrost. We also observed differences in hydrophobic organic acids, hydrophilic compounds, and DOM fluorescence across watersheds. Both DOC concentration and SUVA254 were negatively correlated with watershed active layer thickness, as determined by high-resolution permafrost modeling. Together, these findings highlight how spatial variations in permafrost physical and thermal properties can influence riverine DOM.
Australian Examples of Coastal Caves

Rottnest Island and Kangaroo Island, eolianite-containing islands off Australia’s west and southern coasts, respectively, display extensive coastal caves and karst that contain valuable geologic information. On Rottnest Island, Late Quaternary eolianites contain flank margin caves formed during MIS 5e, and may contain flank margin caves developed during the mid-Holocene sea-level highstand. Pit cave development, with subsequent cementation of infilling deposits, results in inversion of topography following surficial denudation. Pseudokarst forms such as sea caves and tafoni, and surficial polygonal structures, complicate karst interpretations. On Kangaroo Island, flank margin caves in Quaternary eolianites are preferentially preserved in protected embayments. Flank margin caves at ∼30 m elevation indicate much greater uplift rates and magnitudes than previously believed. As with Rottnest Island, sea caves and tafoni complicate karst interpretations and provide a cautionary note to those working on coastal caves and karst.