cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Unleashing competition in EU business services

n most EU member states, the business services industry has booked no productivity growth during the last two decades. The industry’s performance in the other member states was weaker than that of its US counterparts. Exploring what may be causing this productivity stagnation, this policy brief reports that weak competition has contributed to the continuing malaise in European business services. The study analyzed the persistence (over time) of firm-level inefficiencies. The evidence further suggests that competition between small firms and large firms in business services is weak. Markets for business services work best in countries with flexible regulation on employment change and with low regulatory costs for firms that start up or close down a business. Countries that are more open to foreign competition perform better in terms of competitive selection and productivity. ‘Business services’ is a catchword for a heterogeneous group of services industries. It includes not only professional services (accountancy, legal, engineering, marketing, tax and management consultancy, architects), but also IT, software services, technical testing, contract research, labour search services (temporary work, headhunting), industrial cleaning and security services. Business services are mainly used as inputs by other firms. The policy simulations in this paper show that greater import openness strengthens competition in business services markets. The largest positive impact comes from lower regulatory barriers for growing and shrinking firms. More particularly, competitive selection would be fostered by a reduction of administrative and regulatory costs related to labour contracts, bankruptcy and start-up requirements. A key element of the European Commission’s Europe-2020 strategy is the Single European Market for Services. Business services form one of the largest industries in Europe – and given its productivity stagnation, it deserves to be a priority target of the Europe-2020 strategy. Improving the way the business services market functions may have large positive knock-on effects for the EU economy.
INFECTIONS AND VIRILIZING ADRENAL HYPERPLASIA

PHYSICIANS who treat children with virilizing adrenal hyperplasia frequently question the proper course of therapy that should be followed when these patients are exposed to infectious diseases. Misconceptions have developed because of a tendency to confuse these patients, who need adrenocorticosteroids only for replacement therapy, with patients having other syndromes who are receiving suppression therapy. Children with virilizing adrenal hyperplasia are given long-term treatment with physiologic amounts of adrenocorticosteroids to replace those steroids which their adrenal glands are unable to produce. It is hoped that their abnormally large adrenal glands can thus be reduced to a normal size. This is replacement therapy. Children with asthma, leukemia, nephrosis, etc., may be given large doses of steroids in an empiric effort to induce remissions in these diseases.
An antibody to dihydropyridine calcium entry blockers. A comparison with the calcium channel receptor in skeletal muscle.

Abstract Antibodies that recognize dihydropyridine (DHP) calcium entry blockers were elicited from rabbits. A sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay for dihydropyridines was developed and its specificity compared to the DHP binding site in skeletal muscle membranes. The antibody bound [ 3 H]nitrendipine with a higher affinity ( K D = 0.155 nM) than did the DHP receptor of skeletal muscle ( K D = 1–3 3 nM); however, in contrast to the DHP receptor, the antibody recognized only those DHP drugs with meta-nitrophenyl substituents at the 4-position on the DHP ring. Both the antibody and receptor exhibited stereospecificity, with each site recognizing the (+)-isomer of nicardipine as the more potent. This antibody should prove useful in our studies of some potentially irreversible DHP molecules.
Measurement errors - a location contamination problem in discriminant analysis

The random shift model for location contamination of two normal distributions with equal covariance matrices is introduced. Performance of Fisher1s linear discriminant rule in separating the two contaminated populations is essentially the same as for uncontaminated normal distributions.
NOx Adsorber Aging on a Heavy-Duty On-Highway Diesel Engine - Part One

A 5.9-liter medium-heavy-duty diesel engine, equipped with a diesel exhaust emission control system consisting of catalyzed diesel particulate filters and NO x adsorber catalysts arranged in a dual flow path configuration was evaluated with the goal of studying the thermal aging characteristics of a number of NO x adsorber formulations. These adsorbers were tested with near zero sulfur fuel and low sulfur engine oil to minimize the impact of sulfur poisoning on the test results. Testing was performed at a high temperature engine operating mode to provide accelerated but not abusive aging. The test duration ranged from 100 to 250 hours depending on the severity of the aging at the 100 hour mark. The initial "zero" sulfur testing screened the NO x adsorber formulations for future testing and established a thermal aging baseline.
Ethnicity and Electoral Politics

Are ethnic parties and ethnicity a threat to or a blessing for new and maturing democracies? How can we explain that there was ethnic violence in Bosnia, a rather destabilizing factor for democrati...
Pre-restoration assessment, Big Sunflower River, Mississippi: Where to Begin?

The Big Sunflower River in northwestern Mississippi drains about 8,000 km 2 , is a low-gradient slowly-moving stream, and has historically provided a valuable ecological, navigational and recreational resource. However, present conditions are characterized by depauperate physical habitat, depressed baseflows linked to falling groundwater levels, elevated turbidity, and chronically low dissolved oxygen levels. Eight 200-m long reaches were sampled biannually (spring and fall) for three years. Two reaches were located downstream from major weirs; three reaches were located in a channelized reach with a trapezoidal cross-section; and three reaches were in a reach with natural morphology. Fish were collected with boat-mounted electroshockers, and bed material types, water depths, and current velocities were sampled using an acoustic Doppler current profiler. Limited water quality data were collected for comparison with data provided by others. Fish populations appear to be primarily limited by degraded water quality. Low-head weirs support relatively dense and diverse fish assemblages and thus provide local habitat enhancement, but may create stagnant zones upstream due to backwater effects that exacerbate low dissolved oxygen problems.
Resistance to Insulin Convulsions in Fasted Mice

The unexplained resistance of fasted subjects to insulin reactions prompted a comparison of the central nervous system convulsants strychnine and pentylenetetrazol with insulin—hypoglycemia. This was done to determine if fasting made the brain less susceptible to the effect of CNS irritants in general or only to glucopenia. The dose of insulin necessary to produce convulsions in 50% of the mice was determined before and after 48–hr fasting and found to be 5 times greater in the fasted animals (1.91 vs 10.6 U/kg bw.) Fasting did not produce a significant change in the incidence of convulsions due to strychnine and pentylenetetrazol. Percent decreases of glucose from base line at the 30– and 60–min interval were nearly identical in fed and fasted mice although absolute nadirs in glucose concentrations were lower with fasting. The findings suggest that in fasting the brain adapts to utilization of non—glucose fuels and consequently acute severe glucopenia fails to precipitate the usual CNS manifestations. (E...
Scalable Multicore Motion Planning Using Lock-Free Concurrency

We present PRRT (Parallel RRT) and PRRT* (Parallel RRT*), sampling-based methods for feasible and optimal motion planning designed for modern multicore CPUs. We parallelize RRT and RRT* such that all threads concurrently build a single motion planning tree. Parallelization in this manner requires that data structures, such as the nearest neighbor search tree and the motion planning tree, are safely shared across multiple threads. Rather than rely on traditional locks which can result in slowdowns due to lock contention, we introduce algorithms based on lock-free concurrency using atomic operations. We further improve scalability by using partition-based sampling (which shrinks each core’s working data set to improve cache efficiency) and parallel work-saving (in reducing the number of rewiring steps performed in PRRT*). Because PRRT and PRRT* are CPU-based, they can be directly integrated with existing libraries. We demonstrate that PRRT and PRRT* scale well as core counts increase, in some cases exhibiting superlinear speedup, for scenarios such as the Alpha Puzzle and Cubicles scenarios and the Aldebaran Nao robot performing a 2-handed task.
Development of new daylight glare analysis methodology using absolute glare factor and relative glare factor

Abstract Many glare analysis methods have been developed and utilized for predicting and quantifying discomfort glare issues inside a building. However, the existing methods have not been able to accurately evaluate glare issues when extremely bright glare sources are involved. As luminance values of glare sources get extremely high, the impact of the absolute luminance value begins to dominate the impact of the contrast ratio. This type of glare should be classified as absolute factor glare which is different from relative factor glare in terms of glare analysis. There are many existing luminance thresholds and contrast ratios that address these two factors, but they are not consistent. Due to the inconsistency and inaccuracy issues, the existing glare analysis methods have been barely utilized in design practice. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a more accurate methodology that separates the absolute glare component from the relative glare component. This approach can increase the accuracy of glare evaluation and simplify glare evaluation procedures. This paper makes clear definitions of the absolute and relative glare factors and also suggests three different luminance ranges for absolute glare factor, relative glare factor, and no-glare based on the results of this preliminary study.
Separation and characterization of peanut phospholipid molecular species using high-performance liquid chromatography and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry

Total lipid extracts from peanut seed were separated on a silica column into a triacylglycerol fraction and a polar lipid fraction by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The polar fraction containing the phospholipids was retained on the precolumn, and the triacylglycerol fraction was eluted to a waste flask by a special valve arrangement. Phospholipids were eluted from the precolumn and separated into various classes on a silica analytical column. Each phospholipid class was manually collected and subsequently subjected to reversed-phase HPLC in tandem with a fast atom bombardment mass spectrometer. Phosphatidylethanolamine was separated into five molecular species. Phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylcholine were each separated into six molecular species.
Solid Helium-3

Research on solid 3He is reviewed beginning with the first predictions of expected behavior, which were made even before sufficient quantities were available for experimentation. The main emphasis is on the magnetic properties and physical quantities such as the melting pressure that are intimately related to magnetic properties. The discussion follows the historical sequence of discovery from the earliest experiments that were limited by cooling technology. Our understanding of the magnetically ordered phases, including the ferromagnetically ordered hcp phase is presented, concluding with some current research. Only bulk 3He is discussed, which omits many topics of recent interest such as confined geometries, adsorbed films, and helium surfaces. Brief comments are made on the connection between research on solid 3He and the research interests of Olli Lounasmaa. PACS numbers: 65.40.Gn, 65.40.-b, 67.80.Gb, 67.80.Jd, 75.30.Ds, 75.30.Et, 75.30.Kz.
Optimal observer framework and categorization observer framework for three-class ROC analysis

ROC analysis has been an important tool for system evaluation and optimization in medical imaging. Despite its success in evaluating binary classification tasks, ROC analysis does not provide a direct way for evaluating performance on classification tasks that involve more than two diagnostic alternatives. We have previously developed a three-class ROC analysis method that provides a practical way to evaluate three-class task performance. Based on two-class ROC analysis and the proposed three-class ROC analysis method, this work proposes two frameworks, the optimal observer framework and the categorization observer framework, for three-class ROC analysis. The optimal observer framework seeks three-class decision rules and decision variables based on a formal decision strategy; it provides a ROC surface for system comparison on the basis of optimal performance with respect to this strategy. A categorization procedure is the generalization to 3-D of a 2-alternative forced choice procedure and is an important concept in the categorization observer framework. The categorization observer framework seeks three-class decision rules, decision variables and ROC surface such that task performance as measured by volume under the ROC surface (VUS) and the percent correct on the categorization procedure are equal. We then show that how our previously-proposed three-class ROC method fits into both frameworks.
B1 Sequence-based real-time Quantitative PCR: A sensitive method for direct measurement of mouse plasma DNA levels after gamma irradiation

Purpose Current biodosimetric techniques for determining radiation exposure have inherent delays, as well as quantitation and interpretation limitations. We have identified a new technique with the advantage of directly measuring circulating DNA by amplifying inter-B1 regions in the mouse genome, providing a sensitive method for quantitating plasma DNA. Methods and Materials Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect levels of DNA by amplifying inter-B1 genomic DNA in plasma samples collected at 0–48 h from mice receiving 0–10 Gy total- or partial-body irradiation ( 137 Cs γ-ray source at ≈1.86 Gy/min; homogeneity: ± 6.5%). Results The correlation coefficient between DNA levels and the threshold cycle value (C T ) was 0.996, and the average recoveries of DNA in the assay were 87%. This assay revealed that when BALB/c mice were exposed to 10 Gy total-body irradiation (TBI), plasma DNA levels gradually increased beginning at 3 h after irradiation, peaked at 9 h, and returned to baseline within 48 h. Increased plasma DNA levels were also detected following upper-torso or lower-torso partial-body irradiation; however, TBI approximately doubled those plasma DNA levels at the same radiation dose. This technique therefore reflects total body cell damage. The advantages of this assay are that DNA extraction is not required, the assay is highly sensitive (0.002 ng), and results can be obtained within 2.5 h after collection of plasma samples. Conclusions A radiation dose–dependent increase of plasma DNA was observed in the dose range from 2 to 10 Gy, suggesting that plasma DNA may be a useful radiation biomarker and adjunct to existing cell-based assays.
Measuring V ub in inclusive B decays to a charm

We propose a novel method of measuring the CKM matrix element V{sub ub}, via inclusive B decays to ''wrong sign'' charm. This process is mediated by the quark level decay b{yields}uc(bar sign)s{sup '}. When normalized to the inclusive semileptonic decay rate, the theoretical expression is very well behaved, with small uncertainties from unknown quark masses and no leading renormalon ambiguity. We compute the decay rate for this process, including the leading perturbative and nonperturbative corrections. (c) 1999 The American Physical Society.
Relative velocity of accretion of weight and height using the Benn index in the first nine years of life.

Summary: Using the power ponderosity index of Benn, weigh (W)/height (H)p, (W/Hp) where the value of p is determined so that the correlation of height and W/Hp is zero, a set of p values was obtained from longitudinal data of 630 healthy, white, middle class children ranging in ages from birth to 9 years. Our data revealed two turning points in the relative velocity of change of height and weight not previously recognized by separate studies of velocity changes in weight and height related to chronological age. The value of p increased from birth (1.72) until about 1 month (2.39) for girls, and 5 months for boys (2.30), the first turning point, and then fell to a nadir at age 18-21 months for girls (1.75) and 21-24 months for boys (1.73), the second turning point. This fall to the nadir represents the greater influence of velocity change in height over weight. From then to age 9 years, there was a gradual and steady increase in p, greater for girls than for boys, representing the greater influence of velocity change in weight over height. The values of p have now been estimated for white, middle class children over the ages of birth to 9 years and may have utility in studies which compare obesity indicators.
Differential modulation of carbachol and trans-ACPD-stimulated phosphoinositide turnover following traumatic brain injury

In the fluid percussion model of traumatic brain injury (TBI), we examined muscarinic and metabotropic glutamate receptor-stimulated polyphosphoinositide (PPI) turnover in rat hippocampus. Moderate injury was obtained by displacement and deformation of the brain within the closed cranial cavity using a fluid percussion device. Carbachol and (+/-)-1-Aminocyclopentane-trans-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (trans-ACPD)-stimulated PPI hydrolysis was assayed in hippocampus from injured and sham-injured controls at both 1 hour and 15 days following injury. At 1 hour after TBI, the response to carbachol was enhanced in injured rats by up to 200% but the response to trans-ACPD was diminished by as much as 28%. By contrast, at 15 days after TBI, the response to carbachol was enhanced by 25% and the response to trans-ACPD was enhanced by 73%. The ionotropic glutamate agonists N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), and alpha-amino-3 hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate (AMPA), did not increase PPI hydrolysis in either sham or injured rats and injury did not alter basal hydrolysis. Thus, hippocampal muscarinic and metabotropic receptors linked to phospholipase C are differentially altered by TBI.
Phenotypic consequences of β1-tubulin expression and MAP4 decoration of microtubules in adult cardiocytes

In pressure-overload cardiac hypertrophy, microtubule network densification is one cause of contractile dysfunction. Cardiac transcriptional upregulation of β1-tubulin rather than the constitutive ...
AN EVALUATION OF TEACHING-FAMILY (ACHIEVEMENT PLACE) GROUP HOMES FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS

Juvenile crime is a serious problem for which treatment approach has been found to be reliably effective. This outcome evaluation assessed during and posttreatment effectiveness of Teaching-Family group home treatment programs for juvenile offenders. The evaluation included the original Achievement Place program, which was the prototype for the development of the Teaching-Family treatment approach, 12 replications of Achievement Place, and 9 comparison group home programs. Primary dependent measures were retrieved from court and police files and included number of alleged offenses, percentage of youths involved in those alleged offenses, and percentage of youths institutionalized. Other dependent measures were subjective ratings of effectiveness obtained from the program consumers, including the group home residents. The results showed difference during treatment favoring the Teaching-Family programs on rate of alleged criminal offenses, percentage of youths involved in those offenses, and consumer ratings of the programs. The consumer ratings provided by the youths and their school teachers were found to be inversely and significantly correlated with the reduction of criminal offenses during treatment. There were no significant differences during treatment on measures of noncriminal offenses (e.g., truancy, runaway, and curfew violations). In the posttreatment year, none of the differences between the groups was significant on any of the outcome measures. The results are discussed in terms of measurement and design issues in the evaluation of delinquency treatment programs and in relation to the evaluation; of Teaching-Family group homes by Richard Jones and his colleagues.
VELOCITY AND TEMPERATURE PROFILES IN A WALL JET

Abstract Conditions approximating those of the wall jet have been obtained by operating a system, involving tangential air injection into a turbulent boundary layer, with very low values of the free stream velocity. Under such conditions the flow is essentially produced by the injected air and measurement of the velocity profiles shows correspondence to the theory for the turbulent wall jet. With some alternation of the eddy diffusivity of that theory the measured temperature profiles can also be predicted and these, together with the velocity profiles, are shown to agree generally with the measured values of the adiabatic wall temperature. The measured heat transfer coefficients are related to the hydrodynamic characteristics by a formulation of the Colburn type.
New microbial fuel cell power system for efficiency improvement

This paper presents a power management system for energy harvesting with multiple microbial fuel cells (MFCs), devices that can generate electricity in water environments using electro-chemical reactions caused by bacteria. The system first connects a capacitor to each MFC in parallel so that the capacitors are charged by the MFCs. Then the system disconnects the capacitors from the MFCs, connects all the capacitors in series, and connects all the series-connected capacitors to a boost converter. As a result, the boost converter receives sufficient voltage and energy from the capacitors and starts up, providing high enough voltage and current to the load. The system allows low voltage low current MFCs to be used to power high voltage high current electronic devices deployed in the water. The system was tested in the lab.
Taipei Is Cold Tonight, or Finding Fate in Taiwanese Karaokes

Drawing on the contradictions between the lyrical modes of karaoke and the situation of karaoke performance, this article examines the role of colonial nostalgia and the vernacular concept of fate in contemporary Taiwan. Stressing that colonial nostalgia is a formal property of karaoke lyrics and performance, I attend to the relationship of karaoke to the problem of finding truth in human voices, particularly as a complication of urban life.
CEP Equation Exact to the Fourth Order

ABSTRACT: An alternative method is presented for determining circular error probable (CEP), in particular, one that is exact to the fourth order in the correlation coefficient and does not utilize one or more awkward empirical formulae. The motivation for this analysis is that for many guided weapon systems, CEP is used as a measure of terminal accuracy, especially when establishing overall system specifications. It is thus desirable to have a closed-form, highly accurate single CEP expression to evaluate weapon system accuracy in system performance simulations. In this paper, the accuracy of the derived CEP equation is tested for various values of the correlation coefficient from 0.05 to 0.95, in each case varying the sigma ratio (ratio of smaller to larger standard deviation) from 0.01 to 0.99. It is found that the deviation of the derived CEP equation from the exact value is less than 2 percent over the range of parameters tested. By comparison, no single empirical CEP expression yields this accuracy over the same range of parameters.
Can the electric field gradient probe lattice stability

The relationship between the electrostatic force acting on the nucleus and the electric field gradient measured by nuclear methods is discussed. Particular attention is paid to the proper application of the Laplace equation. This point is unclear in several standard textbooks on Mossbauer spectroscopy.
Thermal deformations in a high flux beam position monitor

Abstract Beam position monitors in three of the X-ray beam lines at the National Synchrotron Light Source employ a pair of metal blades at predetermined gaps. The thin blades intercept the fringes of the photon beam and generate an electrical signal which determines the relative beam position. The beam power deposited on the blades is removed by heat pipes to a heat exchanger outside the vacuum vessel. In this paper, we present results from nonlinear finite element analyses to describe temperature and deformation fields in a position monitor blade subassembly designed for a high flux soft X-ray beam line. These analyses show that, for the worst case of beam exposure, one of the blades would be subjected to high temperature gradients. The resulting thermal stresses can then exceed the temperature-dependent yield stress of the blade material, causing substantial plastic deformations. We compare the analysis results for two different blade materials, namely, tungsten, and a molybdenum alloy (TZM).
Formal Paradox in Quantum Electrodynamics

The formal paradox concerning the vanishing of the photon self-mass, obtained by a formal manipulation, is examined in K\"all\'en's formulation of electrodynamics. It is suggested that this difficulty can be removed, and the formal manipulation retained, by a regularization of the Heisenberg operators. An alternate method of obtaining the spectral function of the photon commutator is described, and a possible consequence of regularization, in connection with the proof of the renormalization constants' divergence, is briefly discussed.
Respiratory viral infections among hospitalized adults: experience of a single tertiary healthcare hospital

Background Following the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, there have been a large number of studies focusing on the epidemiology and outcomes of influenza A infection; however, there have been fewer studies focused on other respiratory viral infections. Objectives To define the epidemiology and outcomes of non-influenza respiratory viral infections in hospitalized adults. Patients/Methods Data on all patients ≥18 years of age with a positive molecular respiratory viral assay who were hospitalized at a single tertiary healthcare system in Chicago, IL, from retrospectively collected and analyzed. Results Over the study period, 503 of 46 024 (1·1%) admitted patients had a positive RVP result. Human rhinovirus was the most commonly detected virus followed by influenza A, human metapneumovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, and parainfluenza virus, adenovirus, and influenza B, respectively. Infection in immunocompromised patients was associated with a higher rate of progression to pneumonia and death. Conclusions Non-influenza respiratory viral infections are commonly detected among adults admitted to the hospital and can cause serious illness. The data can inform the prioritization of research into novel antiviral therapies for these infections.
A performance analysis of the ATM multiplexer with selective discarding of the cells during congestion

Abstract In this paper, we present a discrete-time queuing analysis of the ATM multiplexer fed by independent binary Markov sources with two priority classes of cells. Each source alternates between On , Off periods and each On period consists of a random number of sub-periods. Each sub-period generates geometrically distributed number of cells, first cell of a sub-period is assigned high-priority while remaining cells are assigned low-priority. During normal operation the system delivers both high- and low-priority traffic while during congestion delivers only high-priority cells to their destinations and discard low-priority cells. We determine the performance of the system before and after discarding of the low-priority cells. We determine probability generating function of the queue length in both cases under infinite buffer assumption. Then, the mean delay for infinite buffer and approximate cell loss probabilities for the finite buffer cases are presented as a function of the percentage of the high-priority traffic load.
Environmental lighting and neuroendocrine function: relationship between spectrum of light source and gonadal growth.

Broad spectrum light sources effects on mammalian endocrine apparatus development and function determined in rats
The presence of Ti(II) centers in doped nanoscale TiO2 and TiO2−xNx

Abstract Unusual trends are observed in the Ti (2s, 2p) XPS spectra of Fe(II) doped TiO2 and TiO2−xNx. The binding energy of Ti (2s, 2p) initially decreases with increasing Fe(II) concentration, as expected, but increases at higher Fe(II) doping levels. Density functional theory is used to analyze the results. The observed VB-XPS and core level XPS spectra are consistent with the facile charge transfer sequence Ti(IV) + Fe(II) → Ti(III) + Fe(III) followed by Ti(III) + Fe(II) → Ti(II) + Fe(III). The formed Ti(II) sites may be relevant to nanoparticle catalysis on TiO2 surfaces.
Effect of Feeding Desiccated Thymus upon Growth

ConclusionsThe addition of a significant amount of desiccated beef liver or kidney to the diet of the albino rat impairs slightly the rate of growth. The deleterious influence of desiccated beef thymus is more pronounced. These effects are probably due to the nuclear material in these tissues for their influence is related to their content of purine nitrogen.
The Six-Item Screener and AD8 for the Detection of Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Emergency Department Patients

Study objective We evaluate the diagnostic test characteristics of the Six-Item Screener and the AD8 to detect cognitive dysfunction in adults older than 65 years and using the emergency department (ED) for any reason. Methods We conducted an observational cross-sectional cohort study at a single academic urban university-affiliated hospital. Subjects were consenting, non–critically ill, English-speaking adults older than 65 years and receiving care in the ED. We quantitatively assessed the diagnostic test characteristics of the Six-Item Screener and AD8 by using the Mini-Mental State Examination score less than 24 as the criterion standard for cognitive dysfunction. Results The prevalence of cognitive dysfunction was 35%, but only 6% of charts noted a pre-existing deficit. The Six-Item Screener was superior to either the caregiver-administered AD8 or the patient-administered AD8 for the detection of cognitive dysfunction. Conclusion The Six-Item Screener was superior to the caregiver- or patient-administered AD8 to identify older adults at increased risk for occult cognitive dysfunction.
A Choreography of the Universe: The Afro‐Brazilian Candomble as a Microcosm of Yoruba Spiritual Geography

The Candomble, the basis of Bahian spiritual and cultural life, is based on Yoruba religion recreated in Brazil. Nineteenth-century civil wars made the Yoruba in West Africa especially vulnerable to enslavement, and the particularisms of the Yoruba religious presence reflects the results. The Orishas, the spiritual beings of the Yoruba, were associated with natural features and localized human groups in Africa. In Brazil they were grouped together in religious institutions based on new organizational principles created in the alien context of slavery. The Catholic church unwittingly contributed to the perpetuation of Yoruba religion. In attempting to Christianize the Africans, the church provided them with the camouflage of the saints for the continuation of the worship of the Orishas. This practice continues in the form of public festivities for the saints, the real meanings of which are based on the Candomble.
Comparison of Clinical Targeted Next-Generation Sequence Data from Formalin-Fixed and Fresh-Frozen Tissue Specimens

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has emerged as a powerful technique for the detection of genetic variants in the clinical laboratory. NGS can be performed using DNA from FFPE tissue, but it is unknown whether such specimens are truly equivalent to unfixed tissue for NGS applications. To address this question, we performed hybridization-capture enrichment and multiplexed Illumina NGS for 27 cancer-related genes using DNA from 16 paired fresh-frozen and routine FFPE lung adenocarcinoma specimens and conducted extensive comparisons between the sequence data from each sample type. This analysis revealed small but detectable differences between FFPE and frozen samples. Compared with frozen samples, NGS data from FFPE samples had smaller library insert sizes, greater coverage variability, and an increase in C to T transitions that was most pronounced at CpG dinucleotides, suggesting interplay between DNA methylation and formalin-induced changes; however, the error rate, library complexity, enrichment performance, and coverage statistics were not significantly different. Comparison of base calls between paired samples demonstrated concordances of >99.99%, with 96.8% agreement in the single-nucleotide variants detected and >98% accuracy of NGS data when compared with genotypes from an orthogonal single-nucleotide polymorphism array platform. This study demonstrates that routine processing of FFPE samples has a detectable but negligible effect on NGS data and that these samples can be a reliable substrate for clinical NGS testing.
A Note on the Variability of Barium and Antimony Levels in Cartridge Primers and its Implication for Gunshot Residue Identification

Abstract The use of predetermined threshold levels of barium and antimony to identify the presence of gunshot residue is challenged. Priming mixtures are found to have widely varying barium and antimony compositions, which precludes the establishment of a practical threshold for either or both metals.
Designing Power-Aware Collective Communication Algorithms for InfiniBand Clusters

Modern supercomputing systems have witnessed a phenomenal growth in the recent history owing to the advent of multi-core architectures and high speed networks. However, the operational and maintenance costs of these systems have also grown rapidly. Several concepts such as Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) and CPU Throttling have been proposed to conserve the power consumed by the compute nodes during idle periods. However, it is necessary to design software stacks in a power-aware manner to minimize the amount of power drawn by the system during the execution of applications. It is also critical to minimize the performance overheads associated with power-aware algorithms, as the benefits of saving power could be lost if the application runs for a longer time. Modern multi-core architectures such as the Intel “Nehalem” allow for DVFS and CPU throttling operations to be performed with little overheads. In this paper, we explore how these features can be leveraged to design algorithms to deliver fine-grained power savings during the communication phases of parallel applications. We also propose a theoretical model to analyze the power consumption characteristics of communication operations. We use microbenchmarks and application benchmarks such as NAS and CPMD to measure the performance of our proposed algorithms and to demonstrate the potential for saving power with 32 and 64 processes. We observe about 8% improvement in the overall energy consumed by these applications with little performance overheads.
The divergent online news preferences of journalists and readers

Reading between the lines of the thematic gap between the supply and demand of online news.
Optically in accessible core excited states of Li and Na

Abstract The first observations of a number of optically inaccessible core-excited autoionizing states of lithium and sodium have been made. For example, the (1s2s 2 ) 2 S and (1s2p 2 ) 2 D states of Li have excitation energies of 56.31±0.03 and 61.04±0.03 eV, respectively.
The effect of time between X-irradiation and chemotherapy on the growth of three solid mouse tumors. III. Cis-diamminedichloroplatinum

Abstract Experiments have been carried out to detemine the effect of different time intervals between the administration of X-irradiation (1200 rad) and cis -diamminedichloroplatinum ( cis -DDP) (7 mg/kg) on the growth delay produced in three mouse tumors. The tumors used were the EMT6 tumor in BALB/c mice and the KHT and RIF-1 sarcomas in C3H mice. All tumors were grown intramuscularly in the gastrocnemius muscle and treatment was carried out at a mean tumor weight of 450 mg. Time to reach 2X (for KHT) or 4X (for EMT6 and RIF-1) treatment volume was used as the endpoint of response. The drug was administered by the intraperitoneal route either 24, 6, or 2 hr before radiation, immediately before the start of radiation, or 3, 6, or 24 hr after radiation. All irradiations were carried out in unanesthetized mice. The growth delays due to the drug alone were 2, 10, and 2 days for the EMT6, RIF-1, and KHT tumors, respectively. In the RIF-1 and KHT tumors, the combined modality groups tend to show longer growth delays than predicted by the addition of the growth delays for the single agents. For the EMT6 tumor, however, the trend is in the opposite direction. There is no particular timing between irradiation and drug administration which appears to produce consistently longer or shorter growth delays from system to system.
Germ-cell mutagenesis and GSH depression in reproductive tissue of the F-344 rat induced by ethyl methanesulfonate

Abstract Sensitivity of male F-344 rats to the dominant lethal (DL) mutagenic effect of ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) was studied in conjunction with an evaluation of EMS-induced depression of glutathione (GSH) in testis, epididymis and vas deferens. At the maximal effect, during week 3 (days 15–19 post-EMS), a dosage of 50 mg/kg caused 13.3% fetal death (FD) vs. 3.3% in controls, while 100 mg/kg caused 56.6% FD in the same interval. EMS maximally depressed GSH to 33%, 54% and 77% of control in vas, epididymis and testis respectively. The slope of the DL dose-response curve for EMS in rats shows a 3–4-fold greater sensitivity than that reported for mice. The steepness of this curve suggests that small perturbations in endogenous protective mechanisms, such as GSH depression, may exert a greater proportional effect on germcell mutagenesis in rats which should be more readily observable than in mice. EMS and other electrophilic toxicants may thus influence their own primary reproductive toxicity and/or that of other agents by depression of GSH in male reproductive tissue.
Morphologic changes associated with functional adaptation of the navicular bone of horses

Failure of functional adaptation to protect the skeleton from damage is common and is often associated with targeted remodeling of bone microdamage. Horses provide a suitable model for studying loading-related skeletal disease because horses are physically active, their exercise is usually regulated, and adaptive failure of various skeletal sites is common. We performed a histologic study of the navicular bone of three groups of horses: (1) young racing Thoroughbreds (n = 10); (2) young unshod ponies (n = 10); and (3) older horses with navicular syndrome (n = 6). Navicular syndrome is a painful condition that is a common cause of lameness and is associated with extensive remodeling of the navicular bone; a sesamoid bone located within the hoof which articulates with the second and third phalanges dorsally. The following variables were quantified: volumetric bone mineral density; cortical thickness (Ct.Th); bone volume fraction, microcrack surface density; density of osteocytes and empty lacunae; and resorption space density. Birefringence of bone collagen was also determined using circularly polarized light microscopy and disruption of the lacunocanalicular network was examined using confocal microscopy. Remodeling of the navicular bone resulted in formation of transverse secondary osteons orientated in a lateral to medial direction; bone collagen was similarly orientated. In horses with navicular syndrome, remodeling often led to the formation of intracortical cysts and development of multiple tidemarks at the articular surface. These changes were associated with high microcrack surface density, low bone volume fraction, low density of osteocytes, and poor osteocyte connectivity. Empty lacunae were increased in Thoroughbreds. Resorption space density was not increased in horses with navicular syndrome. Taken together, these data suggest that the navicular bone may experience habitual bending across the sagittal plane. Consequences of cumulative cyclic loading in horses with navicular syndrome include arthritic degeneration of adjacent joints and adaptive failure of the navicular bone, with accumulation of microdamage and associated low bone mass, poor osteocyte connectivity, and low osteocyte density, but not formation of greater numbers of resorption spaces.
Growth and structure of water on SiO2 films on Si investigated by Kelvin probe microscopy and in situ X-ray Spectroscopies

The growth of water on thin SiO2 films on Si wafers at vapor pressures between 1.5 and 4 Torr and temperatures between −10 and 21 °C has been studied in situ using Kelvin probe microscopy and X-ray photoemission and absorption spectroscopies. From 0 to 75% relative humidity (RH), water adsorbs forming a uniform film 4−5 layers thick. The surface potential increases in that RH range by about 400 mV and remains constant upon further increase of the RH. Above 75% RH, the water film grows rapidly, reaching 6−7 monolayers at around 90% RH and forming a macroscopic drop near 100%. The O K-edge near-edge X-ray absorption spectrum around 75% RH is similar to that of liquid water (imperfect H-bonding coordination) at temperatures above 0 °C and is ice-like below 0 °C.
The effect of chelating agents on the excretion of endogenous metals.

Abstract The effect of various chelating agents on the urinary elimination of several endogenous metals was determined in male Swiss Webster mice. The chelating agents diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), penicillamine (PEN), sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC), nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), and 2,3-dimercaptopropanol (BAL) were administered once daily for 3 consecutive days or twice daily for 7 consecutive days at a dose equivalent to one-fourth of their respective LD50 values. Neither treatment protocol produced significant pathological lesions visible by light microscopic examination of heart, liver, skeletal muscle, small intestine, and kidney. However, marked weight losses were observed in mice given EDTA or DTPA twice daily for 7 days. The concentrations of Zn, Cu, Mg, Mn, Fe, and Ca were determined in daily urine from mice given chelators once daily for 3 consecutive days. DTPA significantly increased the urinary elimination of Cu, Fe, Zn, and Mn. The urinary excretion of Fe, Zn, and Mn was increased by EDTA. Treatment with DMSA or BAL increased the urinary elimination of Fe. Administration of NTA had no effect on the urinary elimination of any of the metals studied. None of the chelators significantly affected the excretion of Mg or Ca. Thus, certain chelating agents were shown to produce marked effects on the excretion of endogenous metals which suggests that chronic therapy with these agents may be accompanied by possible depletion of essential metals.
Electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometry of diesel particulate matter

Abstract Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometry has been used to study diesel particulate matter. The EPR signals for a graphitized carbon black and particles collected from two different diesel engines have been compared. Variations in the line widths and signal intensities due to various chemical and physical pretreatments of the particles were observed. The EPR signals for the diesel particulates were shown to be sensitive to oxygen, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and ultraviolet and visible radiation. These results suggest that EPR may be a convenient means for characterizing particles from different sources or for demonstrating particle reactivities. The demonstrated photochemical reactivities of the airborne particles have significant environmental health implications.
Cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses of behavioral marital therapy as an addition to outpatient alcoholism treatment.

Thirty-six newly abstinent married male alcoholics, who had recently begun outpatient individual alcoholism counseling, were randomly assigned to a no-marital-therapy control group or to 10 weekly sessions of a behavioral marital therapy (BMT) or an interactional couples group. The cost-benefit analysis of BMT plus individual alcoholism counseling showed (a) decreases in health care and legal costs in the 2 years after as compared to the year before treatment, (b) a positive cost offset, and (c) a benefit-to-cost ratio greater than 1 indicating that health and legal system cost savings (i.e., benefits) exceeded the cost of delivering the BMT treatment. None of the positive cost-benefit results observed for BMT were true for participants given interactional couples therapy plus individual alcoholism counseling for which posttreatment utilization costs increased. Thus, adding BMT to individual alcoholism counseling produced a positive cost benefit, whereas the addition of interactional couples therapy did not. Individual counseling both alone and with BMT added showed substantial and significant cost savings from reduced utilization that substantially and significantly exceeded the cost of delivering the treatment; and the two treatments did not differ significantly on these cost savings and cost offsets. Individual counseling alone did have a significantly more positive benefit-to-cost ratio than BMT plus individual counseling due to the lower cost of delivering the individual counseling which was about half the cost of delivering BMT plus individual counseling. Cost-effectiveness analyses indicated that BMT plus individual counseling was less cost effective than individual counseling alone and modestly more cost effective than interactional therapy in producing abstinence from drinking. When marital adjustment outcomes were considered, the three treatments were equally cost effective except during the active treatment phase when BMT was more cost effective than interactional couples therapy. Study limitations are discussed.
Enhanced sensitization after cordocentesis in a rhesus-isoimmunized pregnancy

It has been suggested that the optical density at 450 nm may be an unreliable predictor of the severity of fetal anemia in the midtrimester of pregnancy; therefore fetal blood sampling, rather than amniotic fluid evaluation, should be performed in all isoimmunized pregnancies with elevated maternal antibody titers in the midtrimester. Potential complications of such an approach are discussed and an alternative plan of management is offered.