cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Let Me Speak: Officer Perceptions of Community Members in Ghana

Recognizing a gap in the African policing literature created due to the lack of research on police officers attitudes toward the public, the present study was conducted to bridge this gap by examining officers perceptions of the public and to determine whether such perceptions influence officers behavior on the street and their perception of effectiveness. Using a randomized sample of 145 police officers selected from five police districts in Accra, Ghana, the study found that police officers in Ghana generally hold negative views of the public they serve. Findings also revealed that officers perception of public cooperation significantly predict their behavior and perception of effectiveness in controlling crime in the community. However, officers perceptions of public recognition and compliance with the rule of law were not found to predict their behavior and perception of effectiveness. Policy implications of the findings were discussed.
A PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS OF STRADDLE OPERATIONS IN THE FUTURES MARKETS: AN APPLICATION OF THE EXPECTED RETURNS‐VARIANCE OF RETURNS HYPOTHESIS

STRADDLE OPERATIONS are those in which participants simultaneously take both short and long positions in the same market. While operations of this nature frequently occur in the commodity-futures markets, little attention has been devoted to providing a rationale for this form of speculative activity. The purpose of this study is to establish a theoretical rationalization for the observed behavior of speculators in the commodity-futures market with particular reference to the phenomenon of straddle operations. Attempts to provide a systematic account of the basic theory of commodity-futures trading have often assumed the condition of certainty. As any theory of futures trading is intimately bound up with uncertainty, any meaningful theory of this activity must take it into account. The methodological approach taken in the present study is closely related to that developed in the literature surrounding the expected returns-variance of returns hypothesis of investment behavior. Certain characteristics of the commodityfutures market make it particularly suited to such an analysis, leading to some theoretical extensions of this hypothesis. The basic model of asset choice under uncertainty is expanded by recognizing the existence of borrowing, short sales, straddle transactions, and the holding of assets with negative expected rates of return. The suggested procedure for determining the investor's optimal position in the commodity-futures market is both a maxim for investment behavior and a hypothesis consistent with observed behavior. Futures traders may not consciously operate according to these procedures, but they act as if they do. In addition to rationalizing the existence of straddle operations, this work includes an analysis of the apparent differences in the actions of small and large commodityfutures speculators when they are viewed as two distinct groups. The study also includes a rigorous differentiation of hedging and speculation which clears up some confusion in the literature regarding the nature and purposes of a hedge. The idea that a speculative element exists in many hedging operations arises, in part, from the fact that many such operations do not consist of equal offsetting positions in the spot and futures markets. This model shows that generally a hedger would minimize, but not eliminate, risk by taking unequal positions in the two markets. Thus no speculative motive can be imputed to the hedger who fails to match his position in the spot market with an equal but offsetting position in the futures market. The model of speculative activity developed here establishes conditions leading to the rational holding of a particular future with a negative expected rate of return. Such action on the part of the investor is rational when the holding of the particular future on which he expects to suffer a loss sufficiently reduces the risk associated with
Isolating neural correlates of conscious perception from neural correlates of reporting one's perception

To isolate neural correlates of conscious perception (NCCs), a standard approach has been to contrast neural activity elicited by identical stimuli of which subjects are aware versus unaware. Because conscious experience is private, determining whether a stimulus was consciously perceived requires subjective report: e.g., button-presses indicating detection, visibility ratings, verbal reports, etc. This reporting requirement introduces a methodological confound when attempting to isolate NCCs: The neural processes responsible for accessing and reporting one’s percept are difficult to distinguish from those underlying the conscious percept itself. Here, we review recent attempts to circumvent this issue via a modified inattentional blindness paradigm (Pitts, Martinez, & Hillyard, 2012) and present new data from a backward masking experiment in which task-relevance and visual awareness were manipulated in a 2x2 crossed design. In agreement with our previous inattentional blindness results, stimuli that were consciously perceived yet not immediately accessed for report (aware, task-irrelevant condition) elicited a mid-latency posterior ERP negativity (~200-240ms), while stimuli that were accessed for report (aware, task-relevant condition) elicited additional components including a robust P3b (~380-480ms) subsequent to the mid-latency negativity. Overall, these results suggest that some of the NCCs identified in previous studies may be more closely linked with accessing and maintaining perceptual information for reporting purposes than with encoding the conscious percept itself. An open question is whether the remaining NCC candidate (the ERP negativity at 200-240ms) reflects visual awareness or object-based attention.
Experimental approaches to protein folding based on the concept of a slow hydrogen exchange core

In a review of protein hydrogen exchange, we concluded that the slow exchange core is the folding core. By this we mean that the elements of secondary structure carrying the slowest exchanging backbone amides will tend to be the elements of secondary structure to fold first, that partially folded proteins will tend to be most organized in the core, and that peptides made to mimic the slow exchange core will tend to show nativelike structure. These generalizations have led us to ask several experimental questions that will be examined here: (1) In partially folded and unfolded proteins, how do the dynamics and structure of core regions differ from noncore regions? (2) Can we make protein 'core modules' as peptides corresponding to the slow exchange core? Can core modules be covalently linked to make a native state in which one conformation is significantly more stable than all other accessible conformations? (3) In a mutant perturbed outside the core, what are the effects on hydrogen exchange and folding?
CRM 1-Mediated Degradation and Agonist-Induced Down-Regulation of β-Adrenergic Receptor mRNAs

Abstract The β1-adrenergic receptor (β1-AR) mRNAs are post-transcriptionally regulated at the level of mRNA stability and undergo accelerated agonist-mediated degradation via interaction of its 3′ untranslated region (UTR) with RNA binding proteins, including the HuR nuclear protein. In a previous report [Kirigiti et al. (2001). Mol. Pharmacol. 60:1308–1324], we examined the agonist-mediated down-regulation of the rat β1-AR mRNAs, endogenously expressed in the rat C6 cell line and ectopically expressed in transfectant hamster DDT1MF2 and rat L6 cells. In this report, we determined that isoproterenol treatment of neonatal rat cortical neurons, an important cell type expressing β1-ARs in the brain, results in significant decreases in β1-AR mRNA stability, while treatment with leptomycin B, an inhibitor of the nuclear export receptor CRM 1, results in significant increases in β1-AR mRNA stability and nuclear retention. UV-crosslinking/immunoprecipitation and glycerol gradient fractionation analyses indicate that the β1-AR 3′ UTR recognize complexes composed of HuR and multiple proteins, including CRM 1. Cell-permeable peptides containing the leucine-rich nuclear export signal (NES) were used as inhibitors of CRM 1-mediated nuclear export. When DDT1MF2 transfectants were treated with isoproterenol and peptide inhibitors, only the co-addition of the NES inhibitor reversed the isoproterenol-induced reduction of β1-AR mRNA levels. Our results suggest that CRM 1-dependent NES-mediated mechanisms influence the degradation and agonist-mediated down-regulation of the β1-AR mRNAs.
An analysis system for DNA gel electrophoresis images based on automatic thresholding an enhancement

Gel electrophoresis, a widely used technique to separate DNA according to their size and weight, generates images that can be analyzed automatically. Manual or semiautomatic image processing presents a bottleneck for further development and leads to reproducibility issues. In this paper, we present a fully automated system with high accuracy for analyzing DNA and proteins. The proposed algorithm consists of four main steps: automatic thresholding, shifting, filtering, and data processing. Automatic thresholding, used to equalize the gray values of the gel electrophoresis image background, is one of the novel operations in this algorithm. Enhancement is also used to improve poor quality images that have faint DNA bands. Experimental results show that the proposed technique eliminates defects due to noise for average quality gel electrophoresis images, while it also improves the quality of poor images.
Selecting Nuclear Sequences for Fine Detail Molecular Phylogenetic Studies in Plants: A Computational Approach and Sequence Repository

Abstract When studying the phylogenetic relationships of closely related species, it is often difficult to find nuclear DNA regions that are both easy to amplify across taxa and contain informative characters. To address this problem, we have created a database of gene sequences specifically selected to greatly increase both the likelihood of amplification across the species of interest and the likelihood of retrieving nuclear regions that are variable among these species. This result is achieved by designing primers flanking putative intron splicing sites within highly conserved genes. Over 40 species were sampled spanning rosids (14 taxa), asterids (12 taxa), grasses (seven taxa) and other angiosperms, as well as several gymnosperms, a moss, and a green alga.
Discrimination of Visual Patterns Protracted in Time: A Preliminary Report on the VS Test

(1945). Discrimination of Visual Patterns Protracted in Time: A Preliminary Report on the VS Test. The Journal of Psychology: Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 113-134.
A Methodology for Worst-Case Analysis of Integrated Circuits

Worst-case analysis is one of the most often used techniques for verifying that the sensitivity of integrated circuit (IC) performances to changes in manufacturing conditions is minimized. However, worst-case analysis is often carried out in terms of a correlated set of parameters, which results in a design that is unnecessarily pessimistic. This paper presents a new approach to the worst-case analysis of integrated circuits that results in more realistic estimates of variations in device and circuit performances. In particular, worst-case analysis is performed in terms of a set of statistically independent process disturbances. A software package for worst-case analysis is described and illustrated by a number of examples. The results of the proposed worst-case analysis method are compared to Monte Carlo simulations.
Information Patterns in Discrete-Time Linear-Quadratic Dynamic Games

Information – who knows what, when – plays a critical role in game theory, and, in particular, in dynamic games. Thus, dynamic game theory is an ideal vehicle for exploring the interplay of dynamics and information. We confine our attention to discrete-time Linear-Quadratic Dynamic Games (LQDGs) which have the distinct advantage of readily being amenable to analysis without having to overcome conceptual and technical difficulties, closed-form results are possible, and one is in tune with modern digital signal processing techniques. In this chapter a hierarchy of discrete-time LQDGs are characterized by a sequence of information patterns which increase in complexity is analyzed and an insight into the Dynamics of Information Systems is obtained.
Preliminary Evaluation of Robotic Needle Distal Tip Repositioning

Advances in medical imaging now provide detailed images of solid tumors inside the body and miniaturized energy delivery systems enable tumor destruction through local heating powered by a thin electrode. We have developed a robot for accurately repositioning the distal tip of a medical instrument such an ablation probe to adjacent points within tissue. The position accuracy in ballistics gelatin was evaluated in a 2D experimental setup with a digital SLR camera that was fixed to a rig that also contained the gelatin. The robot was mounted to the rig in such a way that the stylet was deployed in a plane parallel the camera's lens. A grid paper attached to the back of the box containing the gelatin provided a stationary reference point for each of the pictures taken and also served as a coordinate system for making measurements. The measurement repeatability error was found by taking a stylet tip position measurement five times for two different pictures and found to be 0.26 mm. For a stylet with a radius of curvature of 31.5 mm and a diameter of 0.838 mm, the targeting accuracy was found to be 2.5 ± 1.4 mm at points that were approximately 38 mm lateral from the cannula axis.
Housing and Employment Insecurity among the Working Poor

While social scientists have documented severe consequences of job loss, scant research investigates why workers lose their jobs. We explore the role of housing insecurity in actuating employment insecurity, investigating if workers who involuntarily lose their homes subsequently involuntarily lose their jobs. Analyzing novel survey data of predominately low-income working renters, we find the likelihood of being laid off to be between 11 and 22 percentage points higher for workers who experienced a preceding forced move, compared to observationally identical workers who did not. Our findings suggest that initiatives promoting housing stability could promote employment stability.
Demography of the Shore Fly, Scatella picea (Walker) (Diptera: Ephydridae)

Life table analysis of Scatella picea (Walker) indicates this shore fly has a high intrinsic rate of population growth, rm, when compared with other insect species. It is hypothesized that this high value of rm is an adaptation to S. picea 's ephemeral and unpredictable habitat. Other ephydrids which have habitats that are not ephemeral do not appear to have a reproductive potential as great as that of S. picea . These observations suggest that the Ephydridae may be an excellent family for the testing of hypotheses relating reproductive adaptations to different types of habitats, both unstable and ephemeral and stable and long lasting.
‘Strangely Handled in all Her Lyms’: Witchcraft and Healing in Jacobean England

Is it still possible to gain fresh insights about witchcraft beliefs in Tudor and Stuart England? I think so. Despite the vast amount of research completed by scholars on the subject in the past decades, there remain areas of discourse that are virtually unexplored. Until recently many historians approached their material with a mixture of romanticism and indignation, of fascination and horror. Hugh TrevorRoper was typical in characterizing witchcraft beliefs as an expression of the "mental rubbish of peasant credulity and feminine hysteria."1 More recently, another historian has complained how hard it is "to reconstruct the inchoate prejudices of the illiterate multitude," mired as they are in "the trivia of folk beliefs."2 Such reservations have not prevented a gaggle of historians from looking at all levels of witchcraft beliefs as a key to understanding many dimensions of early modern life, including pagan survivals, heresy, class conflict, religious tensions, the relationship between science and magic, individual and social psychopathology, changing social norms, and absolutist pretentions.3 It was not until eighteen years ago, however, with the publication of Keith Thomas's Religion and the Decline of Magic (1971) and Alan Macfarlane's Witch? craft in Tudor and Stuart England (1970), that the study of witchcraft was brought down to the level of community and social dynamics and the beliefs of ordinary men and women.4 Thomas and Macfarlane opened a world of popular mentality that begs for further elucidation and refinement. With the increasing interest among scholars in exploring the complex connections among various cultural strata, their analyses are more relevant than ever and need to be revitalized with new evidence and fresh theoretical insights.5 Both authors employed theoretical frameworks from social anthropology in order to offer a structuralist and functionalist account ofthe dynamics of witchcraft at the local level. Their interpretation was leavened with an appreciation of the distinctiveness of English witchcraft beliefs and prosecutions compared to those of the continent. Not witches riding brooms, nor kissing the devil's behind, nor cannibalizing babies but simple maleficium characterized English witchcraft. Thomas focused on the lowest level of discourse he could find to get at the heart of witch beliefs, and from the accusations of simple villagers he constructed a profile of accuser and accused. The theoretical model he constructed emphasized the growth of community tension brought about by the conflict of values between the older, caring, communitarian ethics and a new, more individualistic pattern of thought accompanying the Reformation and the quickening tempo of eco? nomic change. Thomas alleged that most people who accused someone of witchcraft did so out ofa feeling of guilt after having denied that person some act of charity. Witchcraft beliefs were a double-edged sword, then, offering psycho-
The EMF-Temperature Coefficient of "Acid" Standard Cells of the Saturated Cadmium Sulfate Type from 15 to 40° C.

This paper gives the results of new measurements of the effect of temperature on the electromotive force of standard cells of the saturated cadmium sulfate type. Measurements were made over the temperature range of 15 to 40 °C. Twelve cells of NBS manufacture and twenty-four cells supplied by two different commercial manufacturers were used in the studies. Final results were analyzed by the method of least squares using computer programs. The relation between emf and temperature for NBS, company 1, and company 2 cells was found to be given, respectively, by: Et=E20°C-[40.44(t-20)+0.921(t-20)2-0.00866(t-20)3]×10-6VEt=E20°C-[40.14(t-20)+0.888(t-20)2-0.00668(t-20)3]×10-6VEt=E20°C-[39.28(t-20)+0.986(t-20)2-0.00943(t-20)3]×10-6V Values for the entropy and heat-capacity changes for the cell reaction in "acid" standard cells are also given.
GPU-Accelerated Simulation of Two-Phase Incompressible Fluid Flow Using a Level-Set Method for Interface Capturing

Computational fluid dynamics has seen a surge of popularity as a tool for visual effects animators over the past decade since Stam’s seminal Stable Fluids paper [1]. Complex fluid dynamics simulations can often be prohibitive to run due to the time it takes to perform all of the necessary computations. This project proposes an accelerated two-phase incompressible fluid flow solver implemented on programmable graphics hardware. Modern graphics-processing units (GPUs) are highly parallel computing devices, and in problems with a large potential for parallel computation the GPU may vastly out-perform the CPU. This project will use the potential parallelism in the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations in writing a GPU-accelerated flow solver. NVIDIA’s Compute-Unified-Device-Architecture (CUDA) language will be used to program the parallel portions of the solver. CUDA is a C-like language introduced by the NVIDIA Corporation with the goal of simplifying general-purpose computing on the GPU. CUDA takes advantage of data-parallelism by executing the same or near-same code on different data streams simultaneously, so the algorithms used in the flow solver will be designed to be highly data-parallel. Most finite difference-based fluid solvers for computer graphics applications have used the traditional staggered marker-and-cell (MAC) grid, introduced by Harlow and Welsh [2]. The proposed approach improves upon the programmability of solvers such as these by using a non-staggered (collocated) grid. An efficient technique is implemented to smooth the pressure oscillations that often result from the use of a collocated grid in the simulation of incompressible flows. To be appropriate for visual effects use, a fluid solver must have some means of tracking fluid interfaces in order to have a renderable fluid surface. This project uses the level-set method [3] for interface tracking. The level set is treated as a scalar property, and so its propagation in time is computed using the same transport algorithm used in the main fluid flow solver.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Fee Practices of Different Psychotherapeutic Orientations

As part of a larger study on the relationship between therapists' and their patients' attitudes toward money (Sitkowski, 1989), descriptive data were gathered on fee practices for three theoretical orientations. This is of interest because fee surveys do not customarily perform an analysis by theoretical orientation. In this case there were 45 therapists, 15 psychodynamic, 15 behavioral, and 15 eclectic. The categories were based on concurrence between self-designation and scores on the Therapeutic Attitudes, Skills, and Techniques Scale (Wogan & Norcross, 1985). To qualify for the sample all therapists had to be licensed psychologists with at least five years in private practice, spend at least 10 hours per week in practice, and work primarily with adults in individual theraov. . , The eclectic therapists had the most experience (21 yr) compared to 13 For psychodynamic and 12 for behavioral therapists, while the time spent in private practice per week was approximately the same, between 22 and 24 hours. The standard fee was quite similar For psychodynamic ($86) and eclectic ($88) therapists, and somewhat lower for behavioral therapists ($81). AU psychodynamic and 14 of the eclectic therapists used a sliding scale, while 10 of the behavioral group did. Of the behaviorists who used the sliding fee scale, they had the largest average range, $56, with the lowest ($35) and highest ($91) average fees relative to the other groups. Eclectics had an average range of $50, from $49489, while psychodynamic therapists had the smallest average range of $35, from $55-$90. The major difference in fee practices was charging for missed sessions, practiced routinely by 73% of psychodynamic therapists, but by none of the other groups. The sample was small, 15 in each orientation, and more representative of men than women, 12 to 3, in the behavioral and eclectic orientations. Respondents were also from the New York Metropolitan Area, and therapists as well as their patients appeared to be middle to uppet-middle class. The only policy that seemed tied to theoretical orientation was charging for missed sessions. The more general policies, as the standard fee and use of a sliding scale, seemed determined by socioeconomic variables and the discipline involved, namely, psychology as opposed to psychiatry or social work. The potential for producing income in private practice does not seem related to the theoretical orientation of the therapist, although these were experienced and well-established therapists as compared to beginners. It is certainly possible that market conditions may favor one approach over another, as short-term compared to long-term, but orientations may anticipate such change, as for example, the recent development of shortterm psychodynamic therapies.
California & the fictions of capital

These essays on California's economy, culture, and literature between the 1880s and 1920s show how rural places were made over in the image of capital. The story told here is of the real and imaginary spaces that capital occupied, including its encounters with the realities and representations of race, gender, and class. Beginning with the geography and political economy of agrarian capitalism, Henderson moves on to examine the celebratory, if fretful, ruminations on economy in novels by Frank Norris, Mary Austin, and many other writers drawn to rural California before John Steinbeck redefined the scene in the 1930s.
Forensic Psychiatry and Forensic Psychology: Ethics of Psychiatry

When consulting to courts and providing expert witness services, mental health professionals encounter circumstances and demands that pose ethical challenges not encountered in ordinary clinical practice. Rather than seeking to help individual patients, forensic experts aim to fulfill abstract obligations involving candor, truthfulness, scientific accuracy, and professional integrity. This chapter summarizes several ethical issues that arise when mental health professionals serve as consultants to courts and other agencies that implement legal rules. The chapter also describes how several authors conceptualize the overarching moral framework within which forensic mental health professionals conduct evaluations and provide other services to the legal system.
Guanethibine Sulfate in the Prevention of Autonomic Hyperreflexia

AbstractAutonomic hyperreflexia constitutes the only medical emergency seen in spinal cord injury patients. Uncontrolled hypertension and bradycardia can result in seizures and death. The acute treatment of the syndrome has ranged from medical ganglionic blockers to topical anesthetic agents to surgical procedures. The oral use of 10mg. guanethidine sulfate 3 times daily successfully prevented the major symptoms of the syndrome in 200 spinal cord injury patients with lesions above T5. Toxicity has been mild and the drug is recommended until the patients are voiding and are capable of self-care.
Incidental Carcinoma of the Prostate: Significance of Staging Transurethral Resection

AbstractWe compared the results of staging by a second circumferential transurethral resection and/or transperineal needle biopsy in 42 patients with stage A prostatic adenocarcinoma on initial transurethral resection (defined as tumor of low grade, Gleason sum 2 to 4, and low volume, less than 5 per cent of the specimen or less than 3 foci). Transurethral resection only was done in 16 patients, transperineal needle biopsy only in 2 and both procedures in 24. In the 24 patients who underwent both procedures residual carcinoma was identified by transurethral resection in 6 and confirmed by transperineal needle biopsy in only 1.Thirty-two patients (76 per cent) had no residual carcinoma. Of the 10 patients (24 per cent) with residual carcinoma 5 underwent radical prostatectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy, 1 had interstitial irradiation with pelvic lymphadenectomy and 1 had pelvic lymphadenectomy only. No lymphatic metastases were detected; persistent carcinoma confined to the prostate was noted in all 5 pat...
Russian Roulette; Rejoinder to Robins

This paper is an attempt to understand and elaborate upon libertarian punishment theory. It is completely non-controversial, even amongst non-libertarians, that the criminal must be forced to return his ill-gotten gains to the victim. At least among libertarians, it is agreed upon, in addition, that the punishment for the criminal must be proportionate to his crime. This, typically, implies that what he did to the victim should be done to him. For example, if A steals a car from B, A must be compelled to return that automobile to B, and, then, to give B a vehicle owned by A. But what about the fact that A scared B when he committed his dastardly crime? Should punishment theory take that into account too, and, if so, how? That is the subject of the present paper.
Prevention and Treatment of Arterial Thromboembolism

Arterial thromboembolism leads to debilitating diseases such as cerebrovascular injury and cardiac infarction. In many instances, pharmacologic anticoagulation is the primary means of prevention. The CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc predictive tools (defined below; Tables 1, 2, and 3) allow for risk stratifying patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who may require anticoagulation. Patients with high CHADS2 scores but without anticoagulation can have up to 18.2 % risk for thromboembolic disease (Gage et al. 2001). These individuals benefit from a 62 % risk reduction when started on therapeutic anticoagulation.
An experimental study on the aeromechanics and wake characteristics of a novel twin-rotor wind turbine in a turbulent boundary layer flow

The aeromechanic performance and wake characteristics of a novel twin-rotor wind turbine (TRWT) design, which has an extra set of smaller, auxiliary rotor blades appended in front of the main rotor, was evaluated experimentally, in comparison with those of a conventional single-rotor wind turbine (SRWT) design. The comparative study was performed in a large-scale wind tunnel with scaled TRWT and SRWT models mounted in the same incoming turbulent boundary layer flow. In addition to quantifying power outputs and the dynamic wind loadings acting on the model turbines, the wake characteristics behind the model turbines were also measured by using a particle image velocimetry system and a Cobra anemometry probe. The measurement results reveal that, while the TRWT design is capable of harnessing more wind energy from the same incoming airflow by reducing the roots losses incurred in the region near the roots of the main rotor blades, it also cause much greater dynamic wind loadings acting on the TRWT model and higher velocity deficits in the near wake behind the TRWT model, in comparison with those of the SRWT case. Due to the existence of the auxiliary rotor, more complex vortex structures were found to be generated in the wake behind the TRWT model, which greatly enhanced the turbulent mixing in the turbine wake, and caused a much faster recovery of the velocity deficits in the turbine far wake. As a result, the TRWT design was also found to enable the same downstream turbine to generate more power when sited in the wake behind the TRWT model than that in the SRWT wake, i.e., by mitigating wake losses in typical wind farm settings.
Management of Bleeding Peptic Ulcer Disease

Bleeding from peptic ulcers can have severe consequences. Most patients are managed with fluid resuscitation and when necessary hemostasis can be achieved via an endoscopic approach. While rebleeding after a successful endoscopic procedure is rare it may require a repeat endoscopy. Patients who do not respond to this initial approach may benefit from direct surgical control of the bleeding with oversewing of the ulcer with or without additional acid-suppressing procedures such as the vagotomy and antral resection. Patients who are deemed too high risk for surgery may benefit from angiographic embolization of the bleeding ulcer that has continued to bleed or has failed other measures.
Quantitative electroencephalography in a swine model of blast-induced brain injury.

AbstractObjective: Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to examine brain activity abnormalities earlier after blast exposure using a swine model to develop a qEEG data analysis protocol.Methods: Anaesthetized swine were exposed to 420–450 Kpa blast overpressure and survived for 3 days after blast. EEG recordings were performed at 15 minutes before the blast and 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 2 hours and 1, 2 and 3 days post-blast using surface recording electrodes and a Biopac 4-channel data acquisition system. Off-line quantitative EEG (qEEG) data analysis was performed to determine qEEG changes.Results: Blast induced qEEG changes earlier after blast exposure, including a decrease of mean amplitude (MAMP), an increase of delta band power, a decrease of alpha band root mean square (RMS) and a decrease of 90% spectral edge frequency (SEF90).Conclusions: This study demonstrated that qEEG is sensitive for cerebral injury. The changes of qEEG earlier after the blast indicate the potential of utilization of multiple...
The Benefit of FVIII Measurement: Tailored Treatment with Obi-1, a Recombinant Porcine Sequence Factor VIII, in Subjects with Acquired Hemophilia a

Introduction: A significant unmet need in the management of acquired hemophilia A (AHA) is a replacement therapy that can be used without consideration of anti-human FVIII titer and allows for the ability to measure FVIII levels. The ability to measure FVIII levels during treatment: (1) identifies treatment response and leads to the ability to individually tailor treatment; (2) reduces treatment safety concerns; and (3) optimizes the utilization of therapy during treatment to minimize cost impact. OBI-1 is a recombinant porcine sequence FVIII developed to meet this need. Objective : To determine the impact of FVIII monitoring on OBI-1’s utilization during the treatment phase in the OBI-1 Phase 2/3 trial in AHA. Methods: A post-hoc analysis of the utilization data from the prospective, open label, Phase 2/3 study of OBI-1 in AHA was conducted. Subjects were administered an initial dose of 200U/kg of OBI-1 and subsequent doses were based on subject’s post-infusion FVIII activity levels and clinical assessments. The impact of FVIII monitoring on OBI-1’s utilization was evaluated by comparing: (A) the initial administered dose to the subsequent doses infused in the treatment period; and (B) the initial total administered dose within the first 24 hours of treatment to the doses infused in the subsequent 24-hour period(s) in the treatment period. The magnitude and the statistical significance of the dose adjustment were determined using non-parametric statistics (signed rank test). Results: Of the 29 subjects enrolled in the study, 65.5% (n=19) were males and median (range) age was 70 (42-90) years. Twenty-eight of the enrolled subjects had AHA while presence of anti-human FVIII titer could not be confirmed in the twenty-ninth subject. Of the subjects with AHA, 27 had a serious bleeding episode while one was enrolled for hemostatic cover for a planned surgery. Two subjects (7.1%) successfully responded requiring only the initial administered dose (100U/kg; 200U/kg). Two additional subjects were successfully treated within the first 24 hours. After the initial dose, subsequent doses indicated a median (IQR) dose reduction of 41.2% (50%) [n=26, p Conclusion: Study data indicate a significant reduction in the treatment dose after the initial dose or subsequent daily dosing after the first 24 hours. The ability to measure and monitor FVIII activity levels allow for the tailoring of OBI-1’s treatment dose and regimen. This measurability likely has a significant impact on dosing decisions to control the bleed. Disclosures Oladapo: Baxter Healthcare Corporation: Employment. Epstein: Baxter Healthcare Corporation: Employment. Novack: Baxter Healthcare: Employment. Farin: Baxter Healthcare: Employment.
INFORMATION THEORETIC APPROACHES IN ECONOMICS

Economics has seen a recent rise in interest in information theory as an alternative framework to the conventional notion of equilibrium as a fixed state, such as Walrasian market-clearing general equilibrium. The information theoretic approach is predicated on the notion of statistical equilibrium (SE) that takes a distribution over all possible states as an equilibrium, and therefore predicts the endogenous fluctuations of the system along with its central tendency simultaneously. For this reason, SE approaches can explain the observed data without relying on arbitrary assumptions about random noise and provide useful insights for many interesting economic problems that conventional methods have not been able to satisfactorily deal with. In this paper, we review the key elements of information theory focusing on the notions and applications of entropy and SE in economics, particularly paying attention to how entropy concepts open up a new frontline of economic research.
Astrocyte spreading and migration on aggrecan–laminin dot gradients

The surface concentration gradient of two extracellular matrix (ECM) macromolecules was developed to study the migratory and morphological responses of astrocytes to molecular cues typically found in the central nervous system injury environment. The gradient, prepared using microcontact printing, was composed of randomly positioned micrometer-sized dots of aggrecan (AGG) printed on a substrate uniformly coated with laminin (LN). AGG dots were printed in an increasing number along the 1000 μm long and 50 μm wide gradient area which had on each end either a full surface coverage of AGG or LN. Each dot gradient was surrounded by a 100 μm-wide uniform field of AGG printed over laminin. Seeded astrocytes were found to predominantly attach to LN regions on the gradient. Cellular extensions of these cells were longer than the similar processes for cells seeded on uniform substrates of AGG or LN serving as controls. Astrocyte extensions were the largest and spanned a distance of 150 μm when the cells were attached to the mixed AGG+LN patches on the gradient. As evidenced by their increased area and perimeter, the cells extended processes in a stellate fashion upon initial attachment and maintained extensions when seeded in AGG+LN regions but not on uniform laminin controls. The cells migrated short distances, ∼20–35 μm, over 24 h and in doing so preferentially shifted from AGG areas to higher LN surface coverage regions. The results indicated that presenting mixed ECM cues caused astrocytes to sample larger areas of the substrate and made the cells to preferentially relocate to a more permissive ECM region.
The Similarity-Based Brain: Evolutionary and Neurological Bases of Transfer

This chapter presents a provisional explanation of transfer based on the evolution and structure of the brain. Biologists of human behavior and ethologists who study animal behavior, often trace current behavior patterns to evolutionary antecedents, and view current behaviors as higher level homologies or manifestations of more primitive behavior patterns. With an evolutionary decrease in genetic programming in the human species and the subsequent need for coping with an increasing amount of information from the environment, human brain must have evolved a mechanism for reducing and compressing this wealth of information to manageable proportions. Nobel Laureate Gerald Edelman has suggested that the brain has evolved so that it doesn't directly learn from the external world but instead innately recognizes the vast array of input from the world. The structure of the brain has evolved to capture as many regularities of the human environment as possible and its neural structures not only allow for rapid and efficient learning, but also enable a system to generalize its learned behavior to new instances. Another current explanation of how the brain works is the modularist view, according to which the mind is made up of a series of separate modules, with each specialized for a particular task. The modular nature of the human mind tends to encapsulate experience and learning.
Infraclavicular versus axillary nerve catheters: A retrospective comparison of early catheter failure rate.

Abstract Study objectives Continuous brachial plexus catheters are often used to decrease pain following elbow surgery. This investigation aimed to assess the rate of early failure of infraclavicular (IC) and axillary (AX) nerve catheters following elbow surgery. Design Retrospective study. Setting Postoperative recovery unit and inpatient hospital floor. Patients 328 patients who received IC or AX nerve catheters and underwent elbow surgery were identified by retrospective query of our institution's database. Measurements Data collected included unplanned catheter dislodgement, catheter replacement rate, postoperative pain scores, and opioid administration on postoperative day 1. Catheter failure was defined as unplanned dislodging within 24 h of placement or requirement for catheter replacement and evaluated using a covariate adjusted model. Main results 119 IC catheters and 209 AX catheters were evaluated. There were 8 (6.7%) failed IC catheters versus 13 (6.2%) failed AX catheters. After adjusting for age, BMI, and gender there was no difference in catheter failure rate between IC and AX nerve catheters (p = 0.449). Conclusions These results suggest that IC and AX nerve catheters do not differ in the rate of early catheter failure, despite differences in anatomic location and catheter placement techniques. Both techniques provided effective postoperative analgesia with median pain scores
The Nature of Soul: The Property-Thing

The evidence for the attributivist nature of form or soul is far from trivial, which helps explain attributivism’s current domination of the scholarship. Prominent among this evidence is Aristotle’s tendency to speak about form as a ‘predicate’ of its material ‘subject’, and especially impressive in this respect are his opening remarks on his own view of the nature of soul in De Anima 2.1, in which he speaks about soul as if it were a predicate of its material or bodily ‘subject’ (412a16–19). The ‘predicative’ nature of form and its dependence upon its subject contribute to the impression that the asymmetry between matter and form, which Aristotle stresses in Metaphysics Z. 17, amounts to a distinction in type, which is just what attributivism would call for in its characterization of form as a property. Moreover, there is the strongest evidence for attributivism, which it is unlikely that substantialism will ever explain away in its own favor, and thus for good reason substantialists tend to ignore this evidence or at least they fail to stress it. This evidence is Aristotle’s own definition of soul as the ‘first actuality’ of a body possessed of organs, which he defines in terms redolent of dispositionalism. Aristotle presents the definition, not as an aside in an insignificant spot, but formally and with considerable elaboration in De Anima 2.1, at the inauguration of the exposition of his own theory of the soul (412a21–b16). Furthermore, the argument for the subjecthood of form, which takes form to be the subject of the sorts of properties that belong to the composite substance, and which is an important feature of the substantialist position as it is usually prosecuted, turns out to be fairly weak upon scrutiny, and, in particular, seems to be faced with the difficult hurdle of the ‘celebrated Rylean passage’ of De Anima 1.4, which in general favors attributivism.
Towards an Indigenous Leadership Paradigm for Dismantling Ableism

The purpose of this article is to propose an Indigenous leadership paradigm for dismantling ableism. I begin by defining ableism within the context of school leadership, then apply an Indigenous ontological and epistemological framework to strategies educational leaders can use to dismantle cultures of ableism within school communities. Login for full text: [Word] [PDF] [TXT] Towards an Indigenous Leadership Paradigm for Dismantling Ableism by Hollie J. Mackey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Based on a work at https://rdsjournal.org/index.php/journal/article/view/803. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://www.rds.hawaii.edu.
The Temple University Hospital Digital Pathology Corpus

Digital pathology is a relatively new field that stands to gain from modern big data and machine learning techniques. In the United States alone, millions of pathology slides are created and interpreted by a human expert each year, suggesting that there is ample data available to support machine learning research. However, the relevant corpora that currently exist contain only hundreds of images, not enough to develop sophisticated deep learning models. This lack of publicly accessible data also hinders the advancement of clinical science. Our digital pathology corpus is an effort to place a large amount of clinical pathology images collected at Temple University Hospital into the public domain to support the development of automatic interpretation technology. The goal of this ambitious project is to create a corpus of 1M images. We have already released 10,000 images from 600 clinical cases. In this paper, we describe the corpus under development and discuss some of the underlying technology that was developed to support this project.
Targeted Early Detection of Citrus Huanglongbing Causal Agent ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ Before Symptom Expression

Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB) is the most severe disease of citrus plants caused by 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' and transmitted by the insect vector Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). No effective curative measure is available against HLB. For citrus production areas without HLB or with low HLB disease incidence, removal of 'Ca. L. asiaticus' inoculum is critical to prevent HLB spread. Such a strategy requires robust early diagnosis of HLB for inoculum removal to prevent ACP acquisition and transmission of 'Ca. L. asiaticus'. However, early diagnosis of HLB is challenging, because the citrus trees remain asymptomatic for several months to years after 'Ca. L. asiaticus' transmission by ACP. In this study, we report a new method for targeted early detection of 'Ca. L. asiaticus' in cultivar Valencia sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) before HLB symptom expression. We take advantage of the fact that 'Ca. L. asiaticus' remains around the ACP feeding site immediately after transmission into the young flush and before flush maturation. ACPs secrete salivary sheaths at their feeding sites, which can be visualized using Coomassie brilliant blue staining owing to the presence of salivary sheaths secreted by ACP. Epifluorescence and confocal microscopy indicate the presence of salivary sheaths beneath the blue spots on ACP-fed leaves. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and conventional PCR assays are able to detect 'Ca. L. asiaticus' in the ACP feeding surrounding areas as early as 2 to 20 days after ACP feeding. This finding lays a foundation to develop much-needed tools for early diagnosis of HLB before symptom expression, thus assisting 'Ca. L. asiaticus' inoculum removal and preventing HLB from spreading.
Copper Speciation in Marine Waters

The properties of a naturally occurring copper-organic complex have been examined. Two binding sites for copper were found and their protonation and copper-binding properties characterized. The parameters thus obtained have been used to develop a pH-dependent speciation model for dissolved copper in seawater. The resulting predictions of free and labile copper concentrations are examined and discussed with respect to copper’s toxicity, adsorption, and voltammetric analysis.