cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optical Emission and Energy Transfer in Nanoparticle−Nanorod Assemblies: Potential Energy Pump System for Negative Refractive Index Materials

Gold nanorods (NRs) in different arrangements represent the most plausible system for the creation of negative refractive index materials (NIMs) in the optical frequency range. Among other challenges, one of the major limitations of present day NIMs is their large amount of energy dissipation which frustrates the restoration of near field modes. To take advantage of exciton−plasmon interactions, an optical system consisting of semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs) and Au NRs can continuously pump energy into the NIM resonator. Superstructures with promising properties were achieved by assembly of CdTe nanoparticles on the surface of nanorods by using streptavidin−biotin bioconjugation where NP→NR energy transfer occurs with great efficiency. On the initial layer of bioconjugated NPs, the second layer is formed due to nonspecific interactions, which is manifesting in unusual spectral behavior and dependence of lifetime on NP concentration. By varying the ratio of NPs per NR, the amount of energy transfer can b...
Coding of prediction residual in MPEG-4 standard for lossless audio coding (MPEG-4 ALS)

We describe two alternative schemes for encoding of the prediction residual adopted in the MPEG-4 ALS (audio lossless coding) standard for lossless audio coding. We explain choices of algorithms used in their design and provide both analytical and experimental analysis of their performance.
Creating teachers' perceptual, behavioral, and attitudinal change using professional development workshops

As part of an on‐going project designed to impact teacher quality at the pre‐service, induction, and professional development levels, this paper summarizes the parametric results of a series of four different workshops conducted in the summer of 2007. In an effort to glean a better understanding of their knowledge, attitudinal, perceptual, and behavioral changes as a result of workshop attendance, pre‐test and post‐test measures were administered to all participants immediately before and upon completion of each entire workshop. Findings are summarized in light of literature pertaining to professional development in general, and the workshop format of teachers' professional development, specifically.
Two-stage stepup procedures controlling FDR

Abstract A two-stage stepup procedure is defined and an explicit formula for the FDR of this procedure is derived under any distributional setting. Sets of critical values are determined that provide a control of the FDR of a two-stage stepup procedure under iid mixture model. A class of two-stage FDR procedures modifying the Benjamini–Hochberg (BH) procedure and containing the one given in Storey et al. [2004. Strong control, conservative point estimation and simultanaeous conservative consistency of false discovery rates: a unified approach. J. Roy. Statist. Soc. Ser. B 66, 187–205] is obtained. The FDR controlling property of the Storey–Taylor–Siegmund procedure is proved only under the independence, which is different from that presented by these authors. A single-stage stepup procedure controlling the FDR under any form of dependence, which is different from and in some situations performs better than the Benjamini–Yekutieli (BY) procedure, is given before discussing how to obtain two-stage versions of the BY and this new procedures. Simulations reveal that procedures proposed in this article under the mixture model can perform quite well in terms of improving the FDR control of the BH procedure. However, the similar idea of improving the FDR control of a stepup procedure under any form dependence does not seem to work.
Cadmium sulfide thin film deposition: A parametric study using microreactor-assisted chemical solution deposition

Cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films are commonly used as buffer layers in thin film solar cells and can be produced by a number of solution and vacuum methods. We report the continuous solution deposition of CdS on fluorine-doped tin oxide coated glass substrates using Microreactor-Assisted Solution Deposition (MASD TM ). A flow system consisting of a microscale T-mixer and a novel adjustable residence time microchannel heat exchanger has been utilized in this study. The CdS thin film synthesis involves a multistage mechanism in which an undesirable homogeneous reaction competes with the desired heterogeneous reaction. A microchannel heat exchanger with an adjustable residence time unit has been developed to optimize the reaction residence time and favor heterogeneous growth. Optimization of CdS reaction solution residence time facilitates improved control of CdS synthesis by minimizing the homogeneous reaction and subsequently improving key parameters for process scaleup such as yield and selectivity. The present study indicates that a residence time range of 13–20 s at a solution temperature of 90 1C and deposition time of 3 min yields � 40 nm thick CdS film. The CdS films were characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy, SEM–EDS, TEM, and X-ray diffraction. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Focal shift in Laguerre-Gaussian beams

The shift in the plane of best focus away from the geometrical focal plane is calculated for a Laguerre–Gaussian beam. It is found that the plane of best focus is closer to the focusing lens than predicted by geometrical optics by an amount dependent not only on the Fresnel number of the field at the exit plane of the lens but also on the mode order.
Deployment Issues And Security Concerns With Wireless Local Area Networks: The Deployment Experience At A University

This paper presents and discusses various issues pertaining to the deployment of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). The popularity of WLANs has steadily increased in the last two years and has led to their deployment in a variety of organizations. Yet, making a business case for WLANs is an important step in their deployment. In addition to highlighting the need for a business case for WLAN deployment, the paper outlines the reasons for, benefits of, and security problems associated with, their deployment. The latter part of this paper presents a case study about the deployment of a WLAN at the University of Akron. Therein, it discusses the context for the deployment, the process that was used to justify the deployment, and the efforts made to protect users’ information from security deficiencies of wireless networks.
Montague Grammar, Mental Representations, and Reality

Over the past ten years or so, there has been a notable convergence of interest between linguists and philosophers on issues in semantic theory and the semantic description of natural languages. Within the line of development in which Montague’s work is an important milestone, a key feature has been the influence of the formal semantic theories of logicians on the semantic analysis of natural languages, and the equally important influence of natural language semantic description on the elaboration and enrichment of formal semantic theories. Although this development is in many ways similar to the development of syntax under Chomsky and other generative grammarians in the past two decades, a development marked at least at the outset by the mutual influence of progressively refined formal syntactic theories and progressively formalized syntactic descriptions of natural language phenomena, nevertheless there remains considerable skepticism among some linguists toward the applicability of formal logical models to natural language semantics. In my own previous work I have argued for the appropriateness of a suitably constrained Montague-type possible worlds semantics as a candidate for a linguistic theory of semantics; in this paper I wish to raise what I perceive to be certain fundamental problems in the application of Montague’s theory to the goals of linguistics.
Preparing Ectoderm/Endoderm Chimeras

To produce chimeric hydra consisting of ectoderm from one strain and endoderm from a different strain. The procedure involves vital staining, grafting, and microsurgery. Nitrogen mustard-treated host animals are used to support the growth of small chimeras.
Hypothesis: do voltage-gated H+channels in alveolar epithelial cells contribute to CO2 elimination by the lung?

Although alveolar epithelial cells were the first mammalian cells in which voltage-gated H+ currents were recorded, no specific function has yet been proposed. Here we consider whether H+ channels ...
Analysis of Salmonella surveillance in patients with acute diarrhea in Jinshan District(2006-2010)

Objective To understand the situation of Salmonella infection and distribution of various Salmonella serotypes in acute infectious diarrhea patients in Jinshan District.Methods Stool specimens of patients with diarrhea from the hospitals under surveillance were collected,traditional methods were used for detection of Salmonella,epidemiological investigation was carried out in the Salmonella-positive patients.Results Among the 4 105 cases of diarrhea,181cases were infected by Salmonella,the positive rate of infection was 4.41%;twenty-two serotypes were identified,in which 60 isolates were Salmonella enteritidis,52 were Salmonella typhimurium and other Salmonella;107 cases had suspicious dietary history,accounting for 62.57%.Conclusions The surveillance of Salmonella infection in the diarrhea OPD should be strengthened to prevent and control the foodborne diseases;and the relevant departments should enhance the intensity of the supervision of meat and other meat markets to ensure food hygiene and safety.
Effect of fasting and dexamethasone on binding characteristics of canine erythrocyte insulin receptors

Insulin binding characteristics of canine erythrocyte insulin receptors were studied before and after a 72-hour fast, and one and three days following glucocorticoid (dexamethasone) administration. The 72-hour fast tended to increase maximum insulin binding, but no significant differences were found. The administration of dexamethasone resulted in an increased maximum binding of insulin to its receptors which, at day 1, was due to an increase in receptor concentration, and at day 3, to an increased insulin binding affinity of the receptor. These data suggest that the erythrocyte insulin receptor may be useful in clinical and experimental studies in the dog.
Surfactant-promoted reactions of Cl2 and Br2 with Br- in glycerol.

Gas–liquid scattering experiments are used to explore reactions of gaseous Cl2 and Br2 with a 0.03 M solution of the surfactant tetrahexylammonium bromide (THABr) dissolved in glycerol. At thermal collision energies, 79 ± 2% of incident Cl2 molecules react with Br– to form Cl2Br– in the interfacial region. This reaction probability is three times greater than the reactivity of Cl2 with 3 M NaBr–glycerol, even though the interfacial Br– concentrations are similar in each solution. We attribute the high 79% uptake to the presence of surface THA+ ions that stabilize the Cl2Br– intermediate as it is formed in the charged, hydrophobic pocket created by the hexyl chains. Cl2Br– generates the single exchange product BrCl in a 1% yield close to the surface, while the remaining 99% desorbs as the double exchange product Br2 over >0.1 s after diffusing deeply into the bulk. When NaCl is added to the surfactant solution in a 20:1 Cl–/Br– ratio, the Cl2 reaction probability drops from 79% to 46 ± 1%, indicating that ...
Abstract 2599: Association of periodontal disease and breast health in women undergoing screening mammography

It is well established that chronic and persistent inflammation contributes to cancer development. Chronic inflammation is often associated with periodontal disease, or gum disease. Periodontal disease, which can be prevented or ameliorated by following proper oral hygiene, is known to be associated with various systemic disorders including coronary heart disease and some cancers, including head and neck cancer and pancreatic cancer. However, little is known about its potential association with breast cancer, with only one report in which periodontal disease was a positive predictor for breast cancer in a Swedish cohort. To examine if a potential link exists between periodontal disease and breast cancer in a separate cohort, mammography patients from the UC Irvine Athena Breast Health Network cohort were recruited to participate in a survey that included questions about their periodontal health. Diagnosis of invasive breast cancer, DCIS, and benign breast diseases was determined through data extraction from electronic medical records. There was no association between periodontal disease and DCIS or invasive breast cancer. However, there was a significant difference in the frequency of breast cysts among women with periodontal disease compared to women without periodontal disease (p Citation Format: Hannah Lui Park, Teofilia Acheampong, Kathleen Nguyen, Cindy Nguyen, Argyrios Ziogas, Richard Kelly, Andrea Alvarez, Kathryn M. Larsen, Deborah Goodman, Hoda Anton-Culver. Association of periodontal disease and breast health in women undergoing screening mammography. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2599.
Behavioral Circuit Models of Data Clocked and Reference Clock Driven Retimers for Signal Integrity Transient Simulation

Two different behavioral circuit models are proposed in this paper, one for the data clocked retimer and the other for the reference clock driven retimer. Instead of two or more piping simulations, the proposed retimer behavioral models can be used in any general purpose transient simulation tools by a single transient simulation. The proposed retimer behavioral circuit models are in a sub-circuit form and can be used directly and independently. The retimer behavioral circuit models include several new building block models such as a behavioral circuit model of signal rise-fall edge trigged latch, a behavioral circuit model of the reference clock driven latch, a behavioral circuit model of the CDR based on the jitter transfer function of the applied clock architecture, a behavioral circuit model of the lossy clock channel, and a behavioral circuit model of the clock frequency N-multiplier. The proposed retimer models also include some existing models such as a behavioral circuit models of a time-domain jitter to data stream modulator, a bidirectional single-ended-mode to mixed-mode transformer, and behavioral circuit models for CTLE, DEF, and pre-emphasis Tx. To include the low frequency periodic jitter, a time-frequency scaling method is proposed to use a much shorter circuit time for affordable signal integrity transient simulations. The transient circuit simulation for eye-diagram by using the proposed retimer behavioral circuit models can include the periodic, ISI induced, and crosstalk induced jitters in signal and/or clock channels. The proposed retimer behavioral circuit models are tested in transient circuit simulation on packaging systems including active twinaxes and on printed circuit board wires. No convergence problem appears during the test simulations. The simulation results look reasonable and have been verified by different methods.
Integrated genomic analysis of survival outliers in glioblastoma

Background To elucidate molecular features associated with disproportionate survival of glioblastoma (GB) patients, we conducted deep genomic comparative analysis of a cohort of patients receiving standard therapy (surgery plus concurrent radiation and temozolomide); "GB outliers" were identified: long-term survivor of 33 months (LTS; n = 8) versus short-term survivor of 7 months (STS; n = 10). Methods We implemented exome, RNA, whole genome sequencing, and DNA methylation for collection of deep genomic data from STS and LTS GB patients. Results LTS GB showed frequent chromosomal gains in 4q12 (platelet derived growth factor receptor alpha and KIT) and 12q14.1 (cyclin-dependent kinase 4), and deletion in 19q13.33 (BAX, branched chain amino-acid transaminase 2, and cluster of differentiation 33). STS GB showed frequent deletion in 9p11.2 (forkhead box D4-like 2 and aquaporin 7 pseudogene 3) and 22q11.21 (Hypermethylated In Cancer 2). LTS GB showed 2-fold more frequent copy number deletions compared with STS GB. Gene expression differences showed the STS cohort with altered transcriptional regulators: activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)5a/b, nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), and interferon-gamma (IFNG), and inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK1), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2, and estrogen receptor (ESR)1. Expression-based biological concepts prominent in the STS cohort include metabolic processes, anaphase-promoting complex degradation, and immune processes associated with major histocompatibility complex class I antigen presentation; the LTS cohort features genes related to development, morphogenesis, and the mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway. Whole genome methylation analyses showed that a methylation signature of 89 probes distinctly separates LTS from STS GB tumors. Conclusion We posit that genomic instability is associated with longer survival of GB (possibly with vulnerability to standard therapy); conversely, genomic and epigenetic signatures may identify patients where up-front entry into alternative, targeted regimens would be a preferred, more efficacious management.
Family Structure and Economic Success Across the Life Course

This paper examines the role that family structure plays in long-run economic outcomes across the life course. Using nearly 30 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, we ...
Tail, Tusk, and Trunk: An Examination of What Different Metrics Reveal about Racial Disproportionality in School Discipline

There are substantial racial disparities in school discipline but little agreement on how best to measure them. The choice of metric can influence fundamental conclusions about the magnitude of racial disproportionality and which interventions are likely to address it. To inform the choice of metrics, this study used discipline data from a national sample of schools (N = 4,512) to examine the strengths and weaknesses of two common (risk ratio, risk difference) and three relatively novel (standardized effect size, raw differential representation, and discipline rate) approaches to assessing racial disproportionality. The raw number of students-of-color differentially disciplined was the most stable metric and captured the widest range of information. None of the metrics captured all relevant aspects of disproportionate discipline. Researchers and policy makers should be as deliberate as possible about their specific aims in measuring disproportionality and carefully select metrics that provide the information most responsive to their goals.
Evidence for a Carrier-Mediated Mechanism for Thiamine Transport to Human Jejunal Basolateral Membrane Vesicles

Recent studies from our laboratory have demonstrated the presence of a pH-dependent, amiloride-sensitive, electroneutral carrier-mediated exchange for thiamine absorption in the human small intestinal brush-border membrane vesicles. However, the mechanism of thiamine transport across the human small intestinal basolateral membrane is not understood. The present study was aimed to characterize the mechanism of thiamine transport across the basolateral membranes of the human jejunum. Basolateral membrane vesicles (BLMV) were purified from mucosal scrapings of organ donors, utilizing a Percoll continuous density gradient centrifugation technique. The results showed [3H] thiamine uptake into BLMV to be: (1) markedly stimulated in the presence of an outwardly directed H+ gradient (pH 5.5in/7.5out); (2) significantly inhibited by amiloride in a dose-dependent manner; (3) sensitive to temperature and medium osmolarity and insensitive to changes in membrane potential; (4) not influenced by the addition of 1 mM Mg(2+)-ATP, inside and outside the vesicles in the presence of Na+ and K+; (5) inhibited by structural analogs-amprolium, oxythiamin, and unlabeled thiamine (100 microM); (6) not affected by organic cations, eg, TEA, N-methyl-nicotinamide (NMN), and choline; and (7) saturable as a function of concentration (apparent Km of 0.76 +/- 0.21 microM and a V(max) of 1.38 +/- 0.35 pmol/mg protein/10 sec). These results indicate the presence of a proton gradient-dependent specialized carrier-mediated exchange mechanism for thiamine transport across the human jejunum basolateral membranes.
MittOS: Supporting Millisecond Tail Tolerance with Fast Rejecting SLO-Aware OS Interface

MittOS provides operating system support to cut millisecond-level tail latencies for data-parallel applications. In MittOS, we advocate a new principle that operating system should quickly reject IOs that cannot be promptly served. To achieve this, MittOS exposes a fast rejecting SLO-aware interface wherein applications can provide their SLOs (e.g., IO deadlines). If MittOS predicts that the IO SLOs cannot be met, MittOS will promptly return EBUSY signal, allowing the application to failover (retry) to another less-busy node without waiting. We build MittOS within the storage stack (disk, SSD, and OS cache managements), but the principle is extensible to CPU and runtime memory managements as well. MittOS' no-wait approach helps reduce IO completion time up to 35% compared to wait-then-speculate approaches.
Recursive partitioning analysis is predictive of overall survival for patients undergoing spine stereotactic radiosurgery

Spine stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) offers excellent radiographic and pain control for patients with spine metastases. We created a prognostic index using recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) to allow better patient selection for spine SRS. Patients who underwent single-fraction spine SRS for spine metastases were included. Primary histologies were divided into favorable (breast/prostate), radioresistant (renal cell/sarcoma/melanoma) and other. Cox proportional hazards regression was done to identify factors associated with overall survival (OS). RPA was performed to identify factors to classify patients into distinct risk groups with respect to OS. A total of 444 patients were eligible. Median dose was 16 Gy (range 8–18) in 1 fraction and median follow-up was 11.7 months. At time of analysis, 103 (23.1%) patients were alive. Median OS was 12.9 months. RPA identified three distinct classes. Class 1 was defined as KPS > 70 with controlled systemic disease (n = 142); class 3 was defined as KPS ≤ 70 and age < 54 years or KPS ≤ 70 age ≥ 54 years and presence of visceral metastases (n = 95); all remaining patients comprise class 2 (n = 207). Median overall survival was 26.7 months for class 1, 13.4 months for class 2, and 4.5 months for class 3 (p < 0.01). Our analysis demonstrates that there is considerably variability in survival among patients undergoing spine SRS. We created an objective risk stratification via RPA for spine SRS. Given the safety and efficacy of spine SRS and good survival in class 1 and 2 patients, this RPA can help clinicians identify patients who may benefit from upfront spine SRS.
A fuzzy condition monitoring system suitable for machine tool spindle motor considering dynamic speed characteristics

This paper presents a fuzzy state monitoring system for a machine tool spindle motor, which includes the statistical characteristics of the dynamic speed. Therefore, we use statistical methods for vibration signal mining, and find the corresponding actual speed value from the spectrum. Then the statistical properties of each machine state are defined from the distribution of significant indexes, and the rules of fuzzy inference system. The experimental results show that the proposed strategy not only effectively identifies the different states of the spindle motor, but also has the adaptability under the frequency conversion.
A methodology for structural health diagnosis and assessment using machine learning with noisy and incomplete data from self-powered wireless sensors

This study presents a novel methodology for structural health monitoring (SHM), using a self-powered sensing concept, within the context of machine learning (ML) and pattern recognition (PR). The proposed method is based on the interpretation of data provided by a self-powered discrete analog wireless sensor used to measure the structural response along with an energy-efficient pulse switching technology employed for data communication. A system using such an energy-aware sensing technology demands dealing with power budgets for sensing and communication of binary data, resulting in missing and incomplete data received at the SHM processor. Numerical studies were conducted on an aircraft wing stabilizer subjected to dynamic loading to evaluate and verify the performance of the proposed methodology. Damage was simulated on a finite element model by decreasing stiffness in a region of the stabilizer’s skin. Several features, i.e., patterns or images, were extracted from the strain response of the stabilizer. The obtained features were fed into a ML methodology incorporating low-rank matrix decomposition and PR for damage diagnosis of the wing. Different ML algorithms, including support vector machine, k-nearest neighbor, and artificial neural networks, were integrated within the learning methodology to assess the performance of the damage detection approach. Different levels of harvested energy were also considered to evaluate the robustness of the damage detection method with respect to such variations. Further, reliability of the proposed methodology was evaluated through an uncertainty analysis. Results demonstrate that the developed SHM methodology employing ML is efficient in detecting damage from a novel self-powered sensor network, even with noisy and incomplete binary data.
Review and current state of radiation therapy for locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic cancer is characterized by a high rate of metastatic spread and overall poor prognosis. Yet 30% of patients have progressive local disease at the time of death, and local progression can cause significant morbidity. Approximately 30–40% of patients present with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) that is not surgically resectable, and the optimal treatment for these patients continues to evolve. The role of radiation in the management of LAPC is an area of controversy, and the recent LAP07 randomized trial reported no survival benefit of radiation following gemcitabine plus or minus erlotinib. However, the efficacy of modern systemic regimens has improved since the design of the LAP07 study, and radiation therapy may be of greater benefit in the context of more effective systemic therapy. Advances in radiation delivery including the increasing use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) have the potential to improve outcomes through dose escalation and better treatment tolerability. In addition, the combination of radiation therapy and immune therapy is an area of promising research. These advances suggest that radiation therapy will continue to play an integral role in the management of LAPC.
Non-vacuum Preparation of wse2 Thin Films via the Selenization of Hydrated Tungsten Oxide Prepared using Chemical Solution Methods

It is known that tungsten oxide may be reacted with selenium sources to form WSe2 but literature reports include processing steps that involve high temperatures, reducing atmospheres, and/or oxidative pre-treatments of tungsten oxide. In this work, we report a non-vacuum process for the fabrication of compositionally high quality WSe2 thin films via the selenization of tungsten oxide under milder conditions. Tungsten source materials were various hydrated WO3 and WO2.9 compounds that were prepared using chemical solution techniques. Resulting films were selenized using a two-stage heating profile (250 oC for 15 minutes and 550 oC for 30 minutes) under a static argon atmosphere. Effects of the starting tungsten oxide phase on WSe2 formation after single and double selenization cycles were investigated using Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). After two selenization cycles, hydrated WO3 was converted to (002)-oriented WSe2 that exhibits well-resolved peaks for E12g and A1g phonon modes. Only a single selenization cycle was required to convert amorphous WO2.9 to WSe2. All selenizations in this work were achieved in non-reducing atmospheres and at lower temperatures and shorter times than any non-laser-assisted processes reported for WO3-to-WSe2 conversions.
Action Spectra and Their Role in Solar UV-B Studies

Action spectrum studies have provided historic milestones in the identification of key chromophores for biological activity. Perhaps the best early example was the identification of photoreceptors responsible for photosynthetic reactions. Other milestones of special note were Gates’(1930) observation that the absorption maximum peak for DNA was the same as the maximum wavelength for killing bacteria and Stadler’s (1942) discovery that the action spectrum for mutation in maize was the same as the absorption spectrum for DNA.
Formalin: Architectural Support for Power & Performance Aware GPU

This paper presents a control strategy for managing the performance and power consumption of a graphics processing unit (GPU). GPUs are an attractive target for control because they have ample sources of feedback and support multiple actuators. The key challenge is that GPUs are increasingly tasked with running general purpose computations and it is extremely difficult to build a single model that captures all possible workloads' responses to available actuators. To overcome this challenge we propose a hierarchical control structure. During GPU application execution, a global controller sets performance goals for individual application components (or kernels). A local controller then ensures that those goals are met for the kernel while respecting the power budget. The local controller relies on an integral control strategy that can explore actuator response online. We implement this strategy and observe that it meets performance and power goals with low error while saving energy compared to commonly used heuristic strategies.
BeWell: quality assurance health promotion pilot.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the experience participating in a health promotion program for refugee and asylum seekers and torture survivors in a safety net clinical setting. Design/methodology/approach Refugee and asylum seeker torture survivors participated in a seven-week health promotion program at a safety-net clinic. Participants interviewed before, during and after the program was designed to improve and maintain health promotion program quality. Findings Six major themes emerged: social networks; tools/techniques/skills; wellness planning; spiritualism; health maintenance; and social/group interaction. Preliminary results suggest that this multi-pronged approach is feasible and acceptable to foreign-born torture survivors. Research limitations/implications Torture impacts many facets of one’s life. A program which addresses health from a multidisciplinary perspective has promise to facilitate healing. Practical implications The impact of torture and human rights violations significantly affects many facets of peoples’ lives including emotional, social, physical and spiritual dimensions. Therefore a program which utilizes a multidisciplinary integrated bio-psychosocial and spiritual approach has the potential to simultaneously address many domains facilitating healing. Originality/value BeWell, a bio-psychosocio-spiritual health promotion strategy aimed at improving health service quality and increasing patient satisfaction to support positive health outcomes by implementing in-classroom/person modules for patients, to the authors’ knowledge is unique in its efforts to encompass multiple domains simultaneously and fully integrate an approach to wellbeing.
The effects of leadership satisfaction on employee engagement, loyalty, and retention in the hospitality industry

This research investigates the role of leader satisfaction on employee engagement, loyalty, and intention to stay. The results demonstrate that leadership satisfaction has a direct effect on employ...
On the Public Finance of Capital Punishment

A capital trial is a costly affair. When a local government bears the expense of trial, it must raise funds or reallocate them from other sources. In Texas, among other states, the cost of trial is borne primarily at the county level. A panel of Texas county spending over the last decade, constructed from audited financial statements, shows counties meet the expense of trial by raising property tax rates and by reducing public safety expenditure. Property crime rises as a consequence of the latter. The death penalty may therefore impede criminal deterrence if its finance is left to local, rather than centralized government.
Evaluation of Trap Cropping for Control of Diamondback Moth (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) in a Broccoli Production System

Trap cropping, in which a trap crop is planted near a cash crop, has been used successfully for reducing pest damage in some agricultural systems. We used a meta-analysis of extensive data on two trap cropping systems, diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus), exploiting cabbage and Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) exploiting maize, to show that oviposition preference for, and high larval mortality on trap crops are important indicators of effectiveness of trap cropping systems. We then evaluated Indian mustard (Brassica juncea var. juncea L. Czern.) (Capparidales: Brassicaceae) and yellow rocket (Barbarea vulgaris W. T. Aiton) (Brassicales: Brassicaceae) as trap crops for protecting broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica Plenck) (Capparidales: Brassicaceae) against diamondback moth in Yuma, AZ, using planting configurations compatible with current practices for commercial production and without use of insecticides. In oviposition choice tests, both yellow rocket and Indian mustard were highly preferred over broccoli in the field. Furthermore, the number of larvae and pupae was significantly lower on yellow rocket and Indian mustard compared to broccoli, indicating relatively high mortality on these trap crops. Nevertheless, during the fall and spring growing seasons, no significant differences in the number of individuals on broccoli or proportion of broccoli crowns infested at harvest occurred between plots with trap crops relative to plots exclusively planted to broccoli. Thus, with the plant density and planting patterns used and without use of insecticides, there was no evidence that trap cropping was effective for reducing diamondback moth infestation of broccoli.
Mentorship Through Research: A Novel Approach to Increasing Resident and Medical Student Research Competency Through an Institutional Database.

Background We describe a novel research database development project to increase resident and medical student scholarly ability and mentorship skills. We collected data on 3147 facial fractures treated at our institution over a 12-year period. This data was used to publish novel research on multiple types of facial fractures and outcomes. Methods We learned about key database aspects that led to its high level of research quality and output volume through over 6 years of database development and expanded research output. A retrospective review was completed to compile the total research produced during this time period. Results Research resulted in 20 manuscripts, 17 podium presentations, and 11 posters. 16 medical students, 5 residents and 3 faculty members were authors on at least one project. The average number of published manuscripts was 5.17 overall and 2.9, 7.0, and 14.0 for medical students, residents, and faculty, respectively. Four residents matched into fellowship, 7 medical students matched into residency, and one faculty member was promoted academically. Conclusions A database focused on a common and under-researched pathology can result in a high volume of novel research output. Additional program benefits include increased scholarly and mentorship ability in engaged residents and medical students.
Endothelin-1 Induces Production of the Neutrophil Chemotactic Factor Interleukin-8 by Human Brain-Derived Endothelial Cells

Increased levels of endothelin-1 (Et-1), a potent vasoconstrictor, have been correlated with hypertension and neuronal damage in ischemic/reperfusion injury. The presence of polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) in the brain has been shown to be directly responsible for this observed pathology. To address the question of whether Et-1 plays a role in this process, human brain-derived endothelial cells (CNS-ECs) were cultured with Et-1. The results demonstrate that Et-1 induces production of the neutrophil chemoattractant interleukin-8 (IL-8) twofold to threefold after 72 hours; mRNA was maximal after 1 hour of stimulation. Conditioned culture medium derived from Et-1-stimulated CNS-ECs induced a chemotactic response in the PMN migration assay. The inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) and IL-1beta functioned additively with Et-1 in increasing IL-8 production. In contrast, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), but not IL-10, completely abolished the effect of Et-1 on IL-8 production. However, Et-1 did not modulate intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression. These data demonstrate that Et-1 may be a risk factor in ischemic/reperfusion injury by inducing increased levels of the neutrophil chemoattractant IL-8.
Resilience During Pregnancy by Race, Ethnicity and Nativity: Evidence of a Hispanic Immigrant Advantage.

The similar socioeconomic position of black and Hispanic women coupled with better birth outcomes among Hispanic women is termed the “Hispanic Paradox.” However, birth outcome disparities among Hispanic women exist by maternal nativity. Persistent unequal exposure over time to stressors contributes to these disparities. We hypothesized that variation in maternal resilience to stressors also exists by race, ethnicity, and nativity. We utilized data from the Spontaneous Prematurity and Epigenetics of the Cervix study in Boston, MA (n = 771) where resilience was measured mid-pregnancy using the Connor Davidson Resilience Scale 25. We assessed resilience differences by race/ethnicity, by nativity then by race, ethnicity, and nativity together. We also assessed the risk of low resilience among foreign-born women by region of origin. We used Poisson regression to calculate risk ratios for low resilience, adjusting for maternal age, education, and insurance. Resilience did not differ significantly across race/ethnicity or by foreign-born status in the overall cohort. US-born Hispanic women were more likely to be in the low resilience tertile compared with their foreign-born Hispanic counterparts (adjusted RR 3.52, 95% CI 1.18–10.49). Foreign-born Hispanic women also had the lowest risk of being in the low resilience tertile compared with US-born non-Hispanic white women (aRR 0.33, 95% CI 0.11–0.98). Resilience did not differ significantly among immigrant women by continent of birth. Overall, foreign-born Hispanic women appear to possess a resilience advantage. Given that this group often exhibits the lowest rates of adverse birth outcomes, our findings suggest a deeper exploration of resilience among immigrant Hispanic women.
The Power of Flexibility for Mitigating Supply Chain Risks

Lee [2004. The triple - a supply chain. Harvard Business Review 102–112] articulated that alignment, adaptability, and agility are the basic ingredients for managing supply chain risks. While it is clear that flexibility (agility) enhances supply chain resiliency, it remains unclear how much flexibility is needed to mitigate supply chain risks. Without a clear understanding of the benefit associated with different levels of flexibility, firms are reluctant to invest in flexibility especially when reliable data and accurate cost and benefit analysis are difficult to obtain. In this paper, we present a unified framework and 5 stylized models to illustrate that firms can obtain significant strategic value by implementing a risk reduction program that calls for a relatively low level of flexibility. Some of our model analyzes are based on or motivated by models presented in recent literature. Our findings highlight the power of flexibility, and provide convincing arguments for deploying flexibility to mitigate supply chain risks.
Mitochondrial energy dysfunction induces remodeling of the cardiac mitochondrial protein acylome

ABSTRACT Mitochondria are increasingly recognized as signaling organelles because, under conditions of stress, mitochondria can trigger various signaling pathways to coordinate the cell’s response. The specific pathway(s) engaged by mitochondria in response to defects in mitochondrial energy production in vivo and in high-energy tissues like the heart are not fully understood. Here, we investigated cardiac pathways activated in response to mitochondrial energy dysfunction by studying mice with cardiomyocyte-specific loss of the mitochondrial phosphate carrier (SLC25A3), an established model that develops cardiomyopathy as a result of defective mitochondrial ATP synthesis. In heart tissue from these mice, mitochondrial energy dysfunction induced a striking pattern of acylome remodeling, with significantly increased post-translational acetylation and malonylation. Mass spectrometry-based proteomics further revealed that energy dysfunction-induced remodeling of the acetylome and malonylome preferentially impacts mitochondrial proteins. Acetylation and malonylation modified a highly interconnected interactome of mitochondrial proteins, and both modifications were present on the enzyme isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2). Intriguingly, IDH2 activity was enhanced in SLC25A3-deleted mitochondria, and further study of IDH2 sites targeted by both acetylation and malonylation revealed that these modifications can have site-specific and distinct functional effects. Finally, we uncovered a novel crosstalk between the two modifications, whereby mitochondrial energy dysfunction-induced acetylation of sirtuin 5 (SIRT5), inhibited its function. Because SIRT5 is a mitochondrial deacylase with demalonylase activity, this finding suggests that acetylation can modulate the malonylome. Together, our results position acylations as an arm of the mitochondrial response to energy dysfunction and suggest a mechanism by which focal disruption to the mitochondrial energy production machinery can have an expanded impact on global mitochondrial function.
Design and development of a web-based EPANET model catalogue and execution environment

Within the field of environmental and hydrologic modelling, there is a growing recognition of the scientific and educational value of sharing both model programs (i.e. the codes that formulate a mo...
Yes Virginia, Equity Premium is Predictable

In this paper, I take up the Goyal and Welch challenge to develop a model that can successfully predict time periods when equity premium will be significantly higher than average, in real time (out of sample). I build on the economic insight that risk premium is higher during recessions because the risk bearing capacity of investors is lower during recessions. While several authors have documented the "in sample" countercyclical behavior of equity premium, that observation alone is not enough predict stock returns "out of sample." In fact, as Jeremy Siegel points out in his book, being in the market during recessions is not a good idea. The average excess return on the S&P 500 during NBER recessions is negative: - 16 bp/m during the 7 recessions in 1959-2003. In contrast, the average excess return is 58 bp/m during expansions in 1959-2003. Excess stock returns being negative during recessions is due to the uncertainty about the severity and duration of a recession even after the economy starts contracting -- in fact, stock prices fall during the initial phase of a recession. Later in the recession, when investors believe that the worst is over and recovery is in sight, stock prices would start rising. Furthermore, when the economy is out of the recession, risk premium declines as investors' risk bearing capacity improves. Stock prices rise even more. Therefore, the best time to enter the stock market to realize the high returns is when investors expect that the worst is over, i.e., the economy is in a recession and stock prices have started to rise. The time to exit the stock market is when the economy is out of the recession, or when stock prices start falling again. Based on this insight, I derive a novel nonlinear model to identify when to enter and exit the stock market during a recession in real time. In the sample period 1959 - 2003, the model identifies 22 months during the 6 latter recessions as having higher than average equity premium. The average excess return on the S&P 500 during those 22 months identified by my model is 359 bp/m - in contrast, the average excess return on the S&P 500 during the entire sample period is only 49 bp/m.
The potential role of stress and sex steroids in heritable effects of sevoflurane

Most surgical procedures require general anesthesia, which is a reversible deep sedation state lacking all perception. The induction of this state is possible because of complex molecular and neuronal network actions of general anesthetics (GAs) and other pharmacological agents. Laboratory and clinical studies indicate that the effects of GAs may not be completely reversible upon anesthesia withdrawal. The long-term neurocognitive effects of GAs, especially when administered at the extremes of ages, are an increasingly recognized health concern and the subject of extensive laboratory and clinical research. Initial studies in rodents suggest that the adverse effects of GAs, whose actions involve enhancement of GABA type A receptor activity (GABAergic GAs), can also extend to future unexposed offspring. Importantly, experimental findings show that GABAergic GAs may induce heritable effects when administered from the early postnatal period to at least young adulthood, covering nearly all age groups that may have children after exposure to anesthesia. More studies are needed to understand when and how the clinical use of GAs in a large and growing population of patients can result in lower resilience to diseases in the even larger population of their unexposed offspring. This minireview is focused on the authors' published results and data in the literature supporting the notion that GABAergic GAs, in particular sevoflurane, may upregulate systemic levels of stress and sex steroids and alter expressions of genes that are essential for the functioning of these steroid systems. The authors hypothesize that stress and sex steroids are involved in the mediation of sex-specific heritable effects of sevoflurane.