cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A NMR relaxation study of lithium motion in superionic LixAl1−x with x = 0.49, 0.50 and 0.51☆

Abstract The temperature dependence of the 7 Li spin-lattice relaxation time (T 1 ) measured at 7 and 4.3 MHz in Li x Al 1−x reveals that: (1) the T 1 behavior depends strongly on the composition; (2) the T 1 minimum at low temperatures has a double minimum structure; and (3) a third T 1 minimum appears at high temperatures. The deconvolution of the temperature dependence of 1/T 1 has led to the following conclusion: the 7 Li motion arising from vacancies loosely bound to the antisite Li Al defect is independent of composition below 50.7 atom% Li. The diffusion of 7 Li arising from the motion of free vacancies increases below 50.7 atom% Li with increasing free V Li concentration.
Percutaneous hemodynamic support with Impella 2.5 during scar-related ventricular tachycardia ablation (PERMIT 1).

Background— Percutaneous left ventricular assist devices (pLVADs) are increasingly being used to facilitate ablation of unstable ventricular tachycardia (VT), but the safety profile and hemodynamic benefits of these devices have not been described in a systematic, prospective manner. Methods and Results— Twenty patients with scar VT underwent ablation with a pLVAD. Neuromonitoring using cerebral oximetry was performed to evaluate a cerebral desaturation threshold to guide the duration of activation/entrainment mapping. The efficacy of pLVAD support was tested in a controlled manner with simulated VT. Complete procedural success was achieved in 50% (n=8) of patients, who were initially inducible for sustained VT, and partial procedural success in 37% (n=6). Using a cerebral desaturation level of 55% as a lower safety limit to guide the duration of sustained VT, 3 patients (15%) developed mild acute kidney injury (all resolved), and 1 (5%) patient developed mild cognitive dysfunction. During fast simulated VT (300 ms), cerebral desaturation to ≤55% occurred in more than half (53%) of patients tested without pLVAD support, compared with only 5% with full pLVAD support ( P =0.003). Conclusions— In a consecutive series of patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction, pLVAD-supported scar VT ablation was safe and feasible. During fast simulated VT, a miniaturized axial flow pump imparted a more favorable hemodynamic profile compared with pharmacological agents alone. Cerebral oximetry is a complimentary monitoring modality during scar VT ablation, and avoidance of cerebral desaturations below a threshold of 55% may safely guide the duration of mapping during unstable VT.
Effects of Shelf‐Life Enhancers on E. coli K12 Survival in Solutions Used to Enhance Beef Strip Steaks

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of enhancement solutions containing sodium lactate or sodium lactate/sodium diacetate on E. coli K12 transmission to beef strip steaks and in purge. Solutions containing salt, phosphate, and shelf-life enhancers were injected to 10% over initial weight of the steaks. Lactate or lactate/diacetate addition to a solution inoculated with 6 log10E. coli K12 CFU/mL was equally effective in limiting growth resulting in a 1-2 log10 CFU/g reduction when compared to salt/phosphate in steaks. When inoculation level was 3 log10 CFU/mL in the enhancement solution, microbial growth was detectable only in the purge of steaks enhanced with salt/phosphate only. Lactate increased CIE L* value and b* and decreased a* values when compared to the control. Lactate-/diacetate-containing solutions decreased L* values when compared to lactate alone. Lactate/diacetate also reduced purge loss from steaks compared to lactate and salt/phosphate solutions.
Surface structure determination of W(001)p(1 × 1)-2H: Chemisorption induced substrate relaxation

Abstract Surface structural parameters for the full coverage W(001)p(1 × 1)-2H system have been determined using new LEED measurements and model calculations for bridge-bonded hydrogen. The technique is shown to be clearly sensitive to hydrogen position at the surface with the H-W layer spacing determined to be 1.17 ± 0.04 A resulting in a H-W bond length of 1.97 A. The distance between the top two tungsten layers has been determined to be less than 2% contracted relative to bulk termination which is less contraction than measured the for clean W(001) surface by other studies.
Digital photography assessment of 1,750 elementary and middle school student lunch meals demonstrates improved nutrition with increased exposure to hands-on cooking and gardening classes

To investigate a scalable version of a global nutrition education model by a novel assessment of the impact of hands-on cooking and gardening classes, Edible Schoolyard (ESY), on the eating patterns of elementary and middle school students. Lunches (n = 1,750) by students (n = 479) including 8,750 food components in an urban charter school in New Orleans, Louisiana, were analyzed over one week using a validated digital photography protocol. Univariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression according to school class were performed. Compared to less ESY exposed grades, eighth graders consumed less saturated fat (2.4 vs. 2.8 g, p < 0.0274), less total fat (11.9 vs. 13.5 g, p = 0.0324), and more fruits (100 vs. 68 %, p = 0.0047). After controlling for caloric intake, this class was nearly twice as likely to consume less than 1,000.0 mg sodium per meal compared to other grades (OR = 1.94, 95 % CI 1.0137–3.7140, p = 0.045), however, eighth graders failed to meet the 650.0 mg sodium target of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. We report lower sodium and fat but higher fruit consumption in students with greater exposure to hands-on nutrition education. This is the first known application of an accurate digital photography protocol to demonstrate dietary improvements of elementary and middle school students with increased exposure to a hands-on cooking, gardening, and nutrition education curriculum. This study suggests that such a curriculum is thus scalable through schools for improving child health.
Analytics for Operational Visibility in the Retail Store: The Cases of Censored Demand and Inventory Record Inaccuracy

Armed with a number of modern and emerging visibility technologies and facing increased competition from the internet channel, retail managers are seeking ever deeper visibility into store operations. We review two established streams of operations management research that try to overcome shortcomings of common retail data sources. The first is demand estimation and inventory optimization in the presence of data censoring, where imperfect data may cause significant estimation biases and inventory cost inefficiencies. The second is inventory record inaccuracy, where intelligent replenishment and inspection policies may be able to reduce inventory management costs even without real-time tracking technologies like radio frequency identification (RFID). Common themes of these literatures are that lack of visibility can be costly if not properly accounted for, that intelligent analytical approaches can potentially substitute for visibility provided by technology, and that understanding the best possible policy without visibility is needed to properly evaluate visibility technologies. We include a survey of modern and emerging visibility technologies and a discussion of several new avenues for analytical research.
Evaluation of the sexually abused child, including the role of colposcopy.

Abstract: The magnification and excellent lighting provided by the colposcope make it an excellent diagnostic tool when enhanced direct observation is required. What can be accomplished with this tool in a pediatric or adolescent patient depends upon the examiner understanding how to best perform the examination related to these age groups and knowing what they see. This article describes common techniques used in the examination of the young gynecologic patient and common normal and abnormal findings. This knowledge should be especially helpful to the practitioner who is called upon to perform a sexual abuse examination in this population.
Comparison of oxygen uptake kinetics and oxygen deficit in severely overweight and normal weight adolescent females.

The purpose of this study was to determine if differences in oxygen uptake kinetics and oxygen deficit existed between normal weight and severely overweight adolescent girls. Subjects included 10 normal weight and 8 severely overweight girls. The participants performed a leg cycling VO2 peak test and a constant load leg cycling test at 80% of the ventilatory threshold (T-vent). In the constant workload test O2 kinetics as indicated by Phase I (VO2 L at 20 sec) and Phase II time constants (t) were determined. Also, the O2 deficit (VO2 L) was measured. As expected significant differences were noted in body composition and VO2 peak relative to mass with normal weight body mass averaging 55.3 ± 7.0 kg, severely overweight 90.5 ± 18.0 kg, % fat normal weight 27.3 ± 3.9%, severely overweight 49.7 ± 4.9% and VO2 peak (ml·kg-1·min-1) normal weight 32.0 ± 2.7 and severely overweight 22.0 ± 5.3. VO2 peak (l·min-1) and T-vent (%VO2 max) were similar between groups. Results revealed similar O2 kinetic responses between groups; phase I kinetics normal weight 0.72 ± 0.15 L; severely overweight 0.75 ± 0.13L, phase II (t) normal weight 41.5 ± 21.3 sec; severely overweight 33.9 ± 22.7 sec. However, the O2 deficit was significantly higher in the severely overweight (0.75 ± 0.15L) when compared to the normal weight group (0.34 ± 0.13L). Correlations ranged from r = -0.15 to 0.51 between VO2 peak (L·min-1) or fat weight and phase I, t and O2 deficit. These data generally support previous research concerning the independence of O2 uptake response and body size. Key Points VO2 (L·min-1 ) similar between the severely overweight and normal weight female youth Phase I and II O2 kinetic responses similar between severely overweight and normal weight female youth O2 deficit was significantly greater in the severely overweight participants
Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker Electronic Structure Method for Space-Filling Cell Potentials

The multiple scattering theory (MST) method of Korringa, and of Kohn and Rostoker for determining the electronic structure of solids, originally developed in connection with potentials bounded by non-overlapping spheres (muffin-tin (MT) potentials), is generalized to the case of space-filling potential cells of arbitrary shape through the use of a variational formalism. This generalized version of MST retains the separability of structure and potential characteristic of the application of MST to MT potentials. However, in contrast to the MT case, different forms of MST exhibit different convergence rates for the energy and the wave function. Numerical results are presented which illustrate the differing convergence rates of the variational and nonvariational forms of MST for space-filling potentials.
High performance torque and flux control for multilevel inverter fed induction motors

This paper presents a high-performance torque and flux control strategy for high-power induction motor drives. The control method uses the torque error to control the load angle, obtaining the appropriate flux vector trajectory from which the voltage vector is directly derived based on direct torque control principles. The voltage vector is then generated by an asymmetric cascaded multilevel inverter without need of modulation and filter. Due to the high output quality of the inverter, the torque response presents nearly no ripple. In addition, switching losses are greatly reduced since 80% of the power is delivered by the high-power cell of the asymmetric inverter, which commutates at fundamental frequency. Simulation and experimental results for 81-level inverter are presented.
Adjunctive therapies in nutritional support

The need for new therapeutic approaches to improve the metabolic and clinical efficacy of nutritional therapy has been increasingly emphasized. The field of nutrition support of catabolic, malnourished, or hospitalized patients is rapidly evolving in response to the beneficial effects observed with adjunctive therapies in animal models and in emerging clinical investigations. Enteral nutrition is being increasingly administered, and enteral diets are being tested to improve gut structure and function. Adjunctive therapies in enteral and parenteral nutrition are being actively investigated. These include administration of recombinant growth factors and anabolic steroid hormones (e.g., growth hormone, oxandrolone); conditionally essential amino acids (e.g., arginine, glutamine); novel lipid products (e.g., structured lipids, fish oils); nutrient antioxidants (e.g., vitamins C and E); and combinations of these approaches. It is likely that current methods of enteral and parenteral nutrition support will evolve in response to the results of these research studies.
Upgrading arcs to minimize the maximum travel time in a network

In transportation and telecommunication systems, the performance of the underlying network can often be improved by upgrading some of the arcs in the network. If an arc is upgraded, the travel time along this arc is reduced by a discount factor α, 0 ≤ α < 1. With respect to different minimax network objectives, we define a series of problems that involve finding the best q arcs in a network to upgrade. We show that these problems are NP-hard on general graphs, but polynomially solvable on trees. Finally, we compare three heuristic solution approaches for complete graphs based on these polynomial results and find one to far outperform the others. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NETWORKS, Vol. 47(2), 72–80 2006
From d-tubocurarine to sugammadex: the contributions of T. Cecil Gray to modern anaesthetic practice

One hundred years after Morton's demonstration of the anaesthetic effects of ether, T. Cecil Gray revolutionized anaesthesia with his introduction of balanced general anaesthesia. Gray's technique involved i.v. induction, administration of a neuromuscular blocking agent (curare), tracheal intubation, controlled ventilation, maintenance of unconsciousness with a light inhaled anaesthetic (supplemented with opioids if necessary), and reversal of neuromuscular blocking agent at the conclusion of the anaesthetic. In the 65 yr since his seminal papers, our drugs have changed, and i.v. anaesthetics suitable for maintenance of anaesthesia have been introduced, but the basic principles of general anaesthesia today are those set forward by Gray 65 yr ago.
The relation between radionuclide angiography and Doppler echocardiography during contractile changes with infusions of epinephrine

Abstract To define the quantitative relations between radionuclide and Doppler measures of systole during sympathetic activation with epinephrine, 10 young normal men were studied with simultaneous radionuclide angiography and M-mode and Doppler echocardiography during graded infusions of epinephrine (10, 25 and 50 ng/kg/min for 12 minutes each). During a nine-fold increase in circulating levels of epinephrine in arterialized plasma (94 ± 59 to 879 ± 310 pg/ml, P P P −1 , the peak aortic outflow velocity as measured with Doppler techniques increased from 98 ± 13 to 147 ± 25 cm/sec, and the aortic outflow acceleration velocity increased from 11 ± 3 to 27 ± 7 m/sec 2 (all P r = 0.82), between the radionuclide peak ejection rate and M-mode peak dimension shortening ( r = 0.80) and between the radionuclide peak ejection rate and the Doppler peak aortic outflow velocity ( r = 0.90) (all P We conclude that corresponding radionuclide and Doppler echocardiographic measurements of systolic function are altered similarly during increased sympathetic activation with epinephrine.
Patients' reports of health care practitioner interventions that are related to communication during mechanical ventilation.

BACKGROUND: The literature supports nursing interventions to maximize communication in mechanically ventilated patients, yet limited research exists on patients’ perceptions of the helpfulness of health care practitioner interventions to enhance communication. In addition, the level of frustration experienced by these patients has not been reported. Thus, further research is necessary to examine patients’ perspectives of the helpfulness of health care practitioner interventions that enhance communication of the mechanically ventilated patient. OBJECTIVES: This study describes the level of frustration experienced by mechanically ventilated patients and ascertains the helpfulness of methods used by health care practitioners to meet the communication needs of the mechanically ventilated patient. METHODS: A total of 29 critically ill patients, extubated within the last 72 hours, were included in this descriptive study using qualitative and quantitative methods. Subjects participated in an average 30-minute audiotaped interview session consisting of questions pertinent to their perceived level of frustration in communicating and the interventions practitioners used to meet their communication needs. Transcripts were analyzed by question and for overall themes. RESULTS: It was found that 62% of patients (n 5 18) reported a high level of frustration in communicating their needs while being mechanically ventilated. There was no significant difference between the duration of intubation and the level of frustration (Spearman r 5 .109, P 5 .573) or between the diagnosis and the level of frustration ( P 5 .932). Patients who received anxiolytics (n 5 23, 79% of the sample) had a lower level of frustration (mean 3.26) than those who did not receive anxiolytics (n 5 6, 21% of the sample, mean 4.33). This difference trended toward significance ( P 5 .084). Patients cited health care practitioner behaviors, characteristics, and attributes that both facilitated communication (kind, informative, and physically present at the bedside) and impeded their ability to communicate (mechanical, inattentive, and “absent” from the bedside). Patients reported problems and stresses associated with communication difficulties that can be alleviated by the health care practitioner. CONCLUSIONS: Mechanically ventilated patients experience a high level of frustration when communicating their needs, and health care providers have a significant impact on the mechanically ventilated patient’s experience. Further research is needed to explore and measure methods of facilitating communication that increase patient satisfaction, reduce patient anxiety, and obtain optimal pain management. (Heart Lung® 2004;33:308–21.)
Significant differences in fecal microbiota are associated with various stages of glucose tolerance in African American male veterans

The importance of gut microbiota in pathogenesis of diabetes remains unknown. This study investigated the relationship between microbiota and metabolic markers in African American men (AAM) with prediabetes and hypovitaminosis D. The study was ancillary to a randomized trial of vitamin D supplementation with weekly ergocalciferol (50,000 IU) conducted in AAM veterans over 12 months (D Intervention in Veterans Affairs). Glycemic groups (Gr) were characterized based on changes in oral glucose tolerance between baseline and exit. Subjects with stable normal glucose tolerance were assigned to Gr-1 and those with stable prediabetes (impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose) to Gr-2. Microbiota composition was analyzed in stool collected at the exit (n = 115) and compared between Gr-1 and Gr-2, as well as between the lowest and highest quartiles of dietary intake of energy and fat, hemoglobin A1c, and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) level. Differences between Gr-1 and Gr-2 included the Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes and Bacteroidales/Clostridia ratios and differences in genera such as Ruminococcus and Dialister. Changes in specific taxa associated with the lowest and highest quartiles of 25(OH)D (eg, Ruminococcus, Roseburia, Blautia, Dorea) were clearly distinct from those of dietary intake (eg, Bacteroides, Bacteroides/Prevotella ratio) or A1c (eg, Faecalibacterium, Catenibacterium, Streptococcus). These findings suggest a novel interaction between microbiota and vitamin D and a role for microbiota in early stages of diabetes development. Although results suggest that specific taxa are associated with glycemic stability over time, a causative relationship between microbiota makeup and dysglycemia is still to be demonstrated.
Commentary: Does the spectre of ecologic bias haunt epidemiology?

Beginning students of epidemiology learn that non-differential exposure misclassification biases results (on average) toward the null. Ecologic studies are one of the most interesting exceptions. As shown by Brenner et al. in 1992, ecologic studies are biased away from the null when exposure is non-differentially misclassified with the same sensitivity and specificity in each group. 1 In this issue, Bjork and Stromberg 2 extend this result in an interesting and disconcerting direction: ecologic bias in an important type of occupational study. In an individual-level study, investigators measure outcome, exposure and covariates for each subject. In contrast, ecologic studies measure these variables at the group level. Mixed designs are also possible. For example, one might measure exposure at the group level but outcome and covariates at the individual level. Such partially ecologic studies are actually rather common. In occupational and environmental epidemiology measurement of exposure for each individual is often infeasible. Instead, exposure is assigned based on group membership, for example job title or pollution as measured at central monitors. These types of partially ecologic studies have been designated semi-individual by some authors. 3,4
The Chemistry of Regulation of Genes and Other Things

Abstract "(T)he truth of a theory lies in the deductive methods used to establish it and the experimental demonstration of its fundamental premises and consequences." — Jacques Monod I had the good fortune, early on, to be gripped by a scientific problem — gene regulation — that had ramifications beyond what I imagined. Its unfoldings have kept me enthralled ever since. We began with bacteria — and especially with bacteriophage lambda (λ) — and then moved to work with yeast and mammalian cells. We always sought coherent descriptions, ideas that would apply to apparently disparate cases — regulation of prokaryotic and eukaryotic genes, for example, despite the fact that the latter, but not the former, are sequestered in a nucleus and wrapped in nucleosomes. My goal here is to put the various stages of our understanding, from the beginning of my involvement, in an overarching context. I might not say anything that has not been said by others or me, but my hope is that otherwise obscure connections and simplifications will be made clear. I hope I avoid distortions, but I cannot cite all the important contributions of others. More detailed explanations for various experiments and arguments, along with more extensive references, can be found in my two books and in the references here (1, 2). Where I refer to "we", I of course mean to include the crucial roles of this or that student or postdoctoral fellow. They are identified in the reference list but not in the text.
International Mergers and Acquisitions: A Review of Some Current Issues

Corporate history has featured a number of approaches to restructuring, both internal and external to the firm. External restructuring has taken place through a variety of mechanisms, including mergers, acquisitions, consolidations, divestitures, leveraged buyouts, and spinoffs. Restructuring has been especially prevalent on worldwide basis since the 1980s. In addition to developments in western industrialized economies, the presence of the phenomenon within the world business system has been augmented by the transition of so many previously planned economies to a new market‐based framework.
Solution-derived sodalite made with Si- and Ge-ethoxide precursors for immobilizing electrorefiner salt

Abstract Chlorosodalite has the general form of Na8(AlSiO4)6Cl2 and this paper describes experiments conducted to synthesize sodalite with a solution-based approach to immobilize a simulated spent electrorefiner salt solution containing a mixture of alkali, alkaline earth, and lanthanide chlorides. The reactants used were the salt solution, NaAlO2, and either Si(OC2H5)4 or Ge(OC2H5)4. Additionally, seven different glass sintering aids (at loadings of 5 mass%) were evaluated as sintering aids for consolidating the as-made powders using a cold-press-and-sinter technique. This process of using alkoxide additives for the Group IV component can be used to produce large quantities of sodalite at near-room temperature as compared to a method where colloidal silica was used as the silica source. However, the small particle sizes inhibited densification during heat treatments.
ACETABULAR DEVELOPMENT AFTER REDUCTION OF CONGENITAL DISLOCATION OF THE HIP: A FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF FIFTY HIPS.

Fifty hips with congenital dislocations were followed by serial measurements of the acetabular angle. An attempt was made to determine the time after reduction during which the acetabulum can be expected to improve. Also, the age at the time of reduction was correlated with the final acetabular angle and the clinical result.
A Movement Society Evaluated: Collective Protest in The United States, 1960-1986

In an attempt to make sense of shifts in the social movement sector and its relationship to conventional politics over the past forty years, some have proposed that Western nations are increasingly becoming "movement societies." Accordingly, there are four key characteristics of the movement society: (1) over time expansion of protest; (2) over time diffusion of protest; (3) over time institutionalization of protest; and (4) over time institutionalization of state responses to protest. Using newly available data on over 19,000 protest events occurring in the U.S. between 1960 and 1986, we evaluate these four claims. Our findings suggest that movement society scholars are correct in some respects: the size of protest events has grown over time, the percentage of events at which at least one social movement organization is present has increased over time, the number of distinct protest claims has increased over time, and violent forms of protest policing have decreased over time. However, our findings call ...
Student Driven Digital Signage

Digital Signage has been used Siena College since 2004, in the Financial Trading Lab. Expansion was initially limited to a single display in the Lobby of the college's signature building. The purpose was a medium for Academic affairs to disseminate academic events to the community. While the value of digital signage was known by a limited group at the institution, there was no movement to increase the presence of digital signs around campus. This changed in 2013 when the Student Senate championed a pilot project by providing funding for the hardware. Information Technology Services, ITS, provided support and the free to use, Rise Vision Content Management platform. We will present the lessons learned and continue to learn through this pilot implementation. We will discuss the hardware used as well as the use of the Rise Vision Platform.
A Rapid, Self-confirming Assay for HIV: Simultaneous Detection of Anti-HIV Antibodies and Viral RNA.

Objective: We developed a microfluidic system to simultaneously detect host anti-HIV antibodies and viral RNA in the same specimen in order to satisfy two important diagnostic criteria, especially within resource-limited settings. First, the system can detect acute HIV infection and allow immediate confirmation of a seropositive screening result by detection of HIV RNA. It also addresses the well-known "seroconversion window" during early HIV infection when antibodies are not yet detectable and viral loads are at their highest. Methods: We first developed and optimized two separate manual assays for the detection of host anti-HIV antibodies and viral RNA and then converted them to the microfluidic system. We optimized a commercially available serologic assay to run within the microfluidic device while we incorporated the isothermal LAMP assay to detect the presence of viral RNA. The microfluidic device and instrumentation were developed to simultaneously perform both assays without any user intervention. Results: The finalized system consists of a disposable injection molded and film-laminated microfluidic CARD disposable device and a portable, software controlled instrument, which together can automatically perform all steps of both assays without any user intervention after the initial loading of samples and reagents. The microfluidic CARD cartridge has multiple microchannels, valves, pumps and reservoirs, which perform the immunoassay, isolates viral RNA for detection by magnetic bead based purification, and Reverse Transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP). The microfluidic system was able to detect host anti-HIV antibodies and viral RNA in either a blood or saliva sample. Conclusion: The ability to detect antibodies and simultaneously confirm a seropositive HIV-RNA result provides healthcare workers with a complete and accurate appraisal of a patient's infection status in the earliest stages of the disease and represents an important tool for the "Test and Treat" and "Treatment as Prevention" approaches for controlling the HIV epidemic.
Polymer Mediated Depletion Attraction and Interfacial Colloidal Phase Behavior

We report direct measurements of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) mediated depletion attraction between colloids and surfaces using total internal reflection microscopy (TIRM) and in quasi-2D colloidal phase behavior using video microscopy (VM). PEO concentration dependent particle-wall depletion attraction is accurately quantified by a modified Asakura–Oosawa (AO) potential. The modified AO potential employs an equation of state, depletion length, and partition coefficient computed using results from renormalization group (RG) theory. Quasi-2D phase behavior measurements are in excellent agreement with Monte Carlo (MC) simulations using the same modified AO potential. The analytically simple modified AO depletion potential accurately captures depletion attraction for a realistic excluded volume polymer system, which suggests it can be generalized to other material systems.
Ontological orientation and the practice of rhetoric: A perspective from the Bhagavad Gita

The practice of rhetoric is often conceived of as persuasion. This conception normally entails certain beliefs about persons and the speaking situation, which constitute the ontological orientation toward the communicative situation. Such orientations are often adopted and advocated in an unreflective manner. This study attempts to analyze this often overlooked aspect to the practice of rhetoric. Problems with the orientation assumed by the standard, persuasion‐centered approach to rhetorical practice will be explored. The apparent alternative offered by the invitational approach also will be examined as to what it leaves unjustified. Using the ancient Indian text, the Bhagavad Gita, an alternate ontological orientation is offered that reconciles and tempers both the persuasion‐centered and invitational approaches. The proposed orientation also provides justification for the ontological assumptions that can be made by the rhetor in her approach to the speaking situation.
Ten years after Katrina: critical perspectives of the storm’s effect on American culture and identity

A decade after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the southern US coastline, this collection of scholarly essays processes critical views on the storm’s deep impacts on American culture and identit...
Polymer Free Volume and Its Connection to the Glass Transition

In this Perspective we summarize the most widely used definitions of free volume and illustrate the differences between them, including the important distinction between total free volume and excess free volume. We discuss the implications when alternative estimates for free volume are inserted into relationships that connect experimentally measured properties (e.g., the viscosity) to free volume, such as those proposed by Doolittle, Fox and Flory, Simha and Boyer, Cohen and Turnbull, and Williams, Landel, and Ferry. Turning to the results of our own locally correlated lattice (LCL) model, we demonstrate, by analyzing data for a set of over 50 polymers, that our calculations for total percent free volume not only lead to a predictive relationship with experimental glass transition temperatures but also allow us to place the different definitions of free volume within a physical picture of what the proposed contributions represent. We find that melts go glassy upon reaching a “boundary” of minimum (total) ...
Workers’ Compensation Experience Rating and Return to Work

AbstractIn workers’ compensation schemes, experience rating is used to provide employers with incentives to invest in the safety of workers. However, the impact of experience rating on return-to-work outcomes for injured workers is largely unknown. Self-insurance, which by definition implies perfect experience rating, is sometimes used as a proxy for experience rating in empirical work. We used data on permanent partial disability claimants in the California workers’ compensation system to assess the association between self-insurance and return to work after a permanently disabling workplace injury. We found that workers injured at self-insured firms have significantly improved return to work up to five years after their injury. Future research should investigate which mechanisms lead to improved return-to-work outcomes by self-insured firms and whether experience rating could be used to help extend these to a broader sample of firms.
Effect of Prescription Drug Coupons on Statin Utilization and Expenditures: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Importance Drug coupons are widely used, but their effects are not well understood. Objective To quantify the effect of coupons on statin use and expenditures. Design Retrospective cohort analysis of IMS Health LRx LifeLink database. Setting U.S. retail pharmacy transactions. Participants Incident statin users who initiated branded atorvastatin or rosuvastatin between June 2006 and February 2013. Main Outcomes and Measures Monthly statin utilization (pill-days of therapy), switching (filling a different statin), termination (failure to refill statin for 6 mo), and out-of-pocket and total costs. Results Of 1.1 million incident atorvastatin and rosuvastatin users, 2% used a coupon for at least one statin fill. At 1 year, compared with noncoupon users, those who used a statin coupon on their first fill were dispensed an equal number of monthly pill-days (23.7 vs 23.8), were less likely to switch statins (14.4% vs 16.3%), and were less likely to have terminated statin therapy (31.3% vs 39.2%). At 4 years, coupon users were more likely to have switched (45.5% vs 40.8%) and less likely to have terminated statin therapy (50.6% vs 61.1%) compared with noncoupon users. Those who used greater numbers of coupons were substantially less likely to switch and terminate statin therapies. Monthly out-of-pocket costs were lower among coupon than noncoupon users at 1 year ($9.7 vs $15.1), but total monthly costs were qualitatively similar ($115.5 vs $116.9). At 4 years, monthly out-of-pocket costs among coupon users remained lower ($14.3 vs $16.6) compared with noncoupon users. Sensitivity analyses supported the main results. Conclusions Coupons for branded statins are associated with higher utilization and lower rates of discontinuation and short-term switching to other statin products.
Abstract 2544: Association between flame-broiled fish consumption and breast cancer: A case-control study in women with high familial risk

Background: Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are mutagenic pro-carcinogens formed when meat is cooked using high temperature methods that involve direct heat over an open flame (i.e. pan-fried, grilled or broiled). A number of studies have reported a positive association between flame-broiled (FB) red meat intake and breast cancer (BC) incidence, however data regarding FB chicken and fish are less consistent. Therefore, we examined the associations of FB chicken, meat, and fish with BC incidence in a case-control study among women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer and/or a BRCA1/2 mutation. Methods: Cases and controls were identified from the BOSS cohort (N = 1400) at Johns Hopkins, a clinic-based cohort of individuals at high familial risk. Women diagnosed with incident stage 0-III BC within 2 years prior to enrollment (N = 212) were matched 1:1 to cancer-free controls on age and year of enrollment (+/-1 year). Current and past intake of FB chicken, meat, and fish were ascertained at baseline. Data was also collected on BC risk factors (age at menarche, BRCA status, family history, physical activity, hormone therapy, oral contraceptive use) and fruit/vegetable intake. Multivariable conditional logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between overall FB meat intake per day and BC risk, and separately for FB chicken, meat, and fish. Results: The mean age of cases and controls was 49 years; 55% of controls and 42% of cases were premenopausal and 16% of cases and 14% of controls were positive for a BRCA1/2 mutation. Fifty two percent of cases and 56% of controls ate FB chicken, meat, or fish ≥once/wk. In multivariable analyses, BC risk was significantly elevated among women who consumed FB fish >once/wk (O.R. 2.68, 95% CI 1.24, 5.82) compared to those who ate it Conclusion: This is the first study to examine FB chicken, meat, and fish consumption, modifiable risk factors, in women with a familial risk of BC. Our findings that FB fish is associated with an increase in BC are consistent with laboratory findings and are particularly important given the high prevalence of frequent FB fish intake (>50%) in our high risk population. Further prospective studies are needed to validate our findings. Citation Format: Alpana Kaushiva, Betty May, Deborah Armstrong, Jennifer Axilbund, Kala Visvanathan. Association between flame-broiled fish consumption and breast cancer: A case-control study in women with high familial risk. [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 2544.
Rethinking Mormonism's Heavenly Mother

When feminists interrogate the symbolic realm of religion, they often expose much of theological discourse as an idealized projection of a masculine subjectivity. In response to androcentric theological discourse, some feminists’ approaches have reframed religion in support of feminine subjectivity. For example, Luce Irigaray experienced an important, constructive turn to religion in her writings in the 1980s and 1990s following her early criticism of phallogocentric Western philosophy. She argued provocatively: Monotheistic religions speak to us of God the Father and God made man; nothing is said of a God the Mother or of God made Woman, or even of God as a couple or couples. Not all the transcendental fancies, or ecstasies of every type, not all the quibbling over maternity and the neutrality (neuterness) of God, can succeed in erasing this one reality that determines identities, rights, symbols, and discourse. Elsewhere, she contends: “as long as woman lacks a divine made in her image she cannot establish her subjectivity or achieve a goal of her own. She lacks an ideal that would be her goal or path in becoming.” For Irigaray, “to become divine” means to become a subject, as opposed to being a term that defines the other. Fertility, motherhood, and female genealogies are central to Irigaray's divine woman as a way to establish female subjectivity.
Encountering Ellis Island: How European Immigrants Entered America. By Ronald H. Bayor. (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014. Pp. x, 184. $22.95.)

For many undergraduate students, the American immigrant experience at the turn of the century is either swathed in Hollywood romance or a complete mystery. Ron Bayor's Encountering Ellis Island, wh...
Online monitoring and adaptive routing for aging mitigation in NoCs

Scalability of Network-on-Chip (NoC) as a promising solution for many-core systems can be jeopardized due to reliability challenges such as aging in advanced silicon technology. Previous mitigation techniques to protect NoC are either offline, while aging is strictly influenced by runtime operating conditions, or impose significant overheads to the system. This paper presents an online monitoring method through a Centralized Aging Table (CAT) for routers in NoCs. Router's capacity in flits, which are the main stimuli in routers, is predictable and limited for a given period of time. Consequently, stress rate and temperature, which are the major sources of aging mechanisms such as Bias Temperature Instability (BTI) and Hot Carrier Injection (HCI), will be in the predictable ranges, as well. Hence, our methodology uses CAT which is populated by values that represent aging degradation for each different pairs of stress and temperature ranges during a given period of time. Furthermore, utilizing CAT, we propose an online adaptive aging-aware routing algorithm in order to avoid highly aged routers which eventually leads to age balancing between routers. Additionally, our proposed routing algorithm reduces maximum age of routers by changing the shortest paths between source-destination pairs adaptively, considering routers' ages across them in each given period of time. Extensive experimental analysis using gem5 simulator demonstrates that our online routing algorithm and monitoring methodology, CAT, improves delay degradation of maximum aged router and aging imbalance on average by 39% and 52% compared to XY routing, respectively. The impact of our proposed methodology on network latency, Energy-Delay-Product (EDP) and link utilization is negligible.
Comparison of flocked and rayon swabs for the molecular detection of selected equine viruses and bacteria from nasal secretions of healthy horses

Acute upper respiratory tract infections of horses are a common medical entity caused by a variety of viral and bacterial pathogens. While such infections are often considered a self-limiting condition affecting predominantly young horses, the financial impact through temporary loss of use, cancellation of horse events, costs and labour associated with biosecurity protocols, and direct treatment costs seem relevant to the equine industry.1 Therefore, timely laboratory diagnostics are needed to determine the aetiological agent(s), institute infection control measures and improve surveillance. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) has become the diagnostic tool of choice based on its high sensitivity and specificity, quick turnaround time, cost-effectiveness and panel testing.2 Given the clinical relevance of respiratory pathogens, it is important to use the best collection system that would provide the highest detection yield in nasal secretions. While standard rayon swabs are routinely used for the collection of nasal secretions in horses, flocked swabs have demonstrated superior performance for the detection of human respiratory, vaginal and gastrointestinal pathogens.3–5 The aim of this study was to determine if there is a difference in the performance of flocked swabs over standard rayon swabs in detecting nasal carriage of ubiquitous viruses and bacteria among healthy adult horses. Thirty-one healthy adult horses presented to the William R Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California at Davis, for routine dental care were enrolled in this study. Each horse was swabbed once with a flocked swab (Becton, Dickinson and Company, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, USA) and a standard rayon swab (Puritan Products, Guilford, Maine, USA) using opposite nasal passages in randomised order. All the nasal swab collections were performed by the same experienced veterinarian as follows: each nasal ventral passage was swabbed by circulating each swab five times while rotating the swab and exerting …
On The Identity Of The Chariticas [Sarh Rikka]:: Dog Eating And Pre-Horse Adaptation On The High Plains

Examination of the documents using the term "Dog Eater" (Charitica, phonetically ISarri rikkal) sug gests that, contrary to the accepted view, the name was not restricted to theArapahos, but included some Athapaskan as well This suggests that the term Chariticas was, at first, a general one applied by Shoshonean speakers, when beginning their dispersal onto the Plains, to people of "Plains-like" adapta tion (i.e., adaptation[s] different than that of the Shoshoneans) with whom they immediately came into contact. On the northern and central parts of the western Plains, the Shoshones and Comanches found both some Athapaskan and theArapahos, whom they characterized as "Dog Eaters." The hypothesis is advanced that dog eating had crucial adaptive significance to (at least) the late prehistoric and early his toric pedestrian nomads of the High Plains. There is a need to test this hypothesis archaeologically, but such testing will be difficult.
Safe Nonlinear Trajectory Generation for Parallel Autonomy With a Dynamic Vehicle Model

High-end vehicles are already equipped with safety systems, such as assistive braking and automatic lane following, enhancing vehicle safety. Yet, these current solutions can only help in low-complexity driving situations. In this paper, we introduce a parallel autonomy , or shared control, framework that computes safe trajectories for an automated vehicle, based on human inputs. We minimize the deviation from the human inputs while ensuring safety via a set of collision avoidance constraints. Our method achieves safe motion even in complex driving scenarios, such as those commonly encountered in an urban setting. We introduce a receding horizon planner formulated as nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC), which includes the analytic descriptions of road boundaries and the configuration and future uncertainties of other road participants. The NMPC operates over both steering and acceleration simultaneously. We introduce a nonslip model suitable for handling complex environments with dynamic obstacles, and a nonlinear combined slip vehicle model including normal load transfer capable of handling static environments. We validate the proposed approach in two complex driving scenarios. First, in an urban environment that includes a left-turn across traffic and passing on a busy street. And second, under snow conditions on a race track with sharp turns and under complex dynamic constraints. We evaluate the performance of the method with various human driving styles. We consequently observe that the method successfully avoids collisions and generates motions with minimal intervention for parallel autonomy. We note that the method can also be applied to generate safe motion for fully autonomous vehicles.
Guided Skill Practice as an Adaptive Scaffolding Strategy in Open-Ended Learning Environments

While open-ended learning environments (OELEs) offer powerful learning opportunities, many students struggle to learn in them. Without proper support, these learners use system tools incorrectly and adopt suboptimal learning strategies. Typically, OELEs support students by providing hints: suggestions for how to proceed combined with information relevant to the learner’s situation. However, students often ignore or fail to understand such hints. To address this problem, we present an alternative approach to supporting students in OELEs that combines suggestions and assertions with guided skill practice. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach through an experimental study that compares students who receive suggestions, assertions, and guided skill practice to students who receive no such support. Findings indicate that learners who received the scaffolds approached their tasks more systematically.