cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Transient dispersion regimes

Characterizing scalar dispersion is a key concern in a wide variety of applications, including both steady-state and time-dependent studies of wastewater outfalls, salinity distribution in estuaries, and the spreading of pollutants from industrial spills. As the size of a scalar plume grows with respect to the size of the containing water body, the effective dispersion varies, from the well-known behaviour for a plume enveloped in a region of linear shear, to the behaviour at the limit of a laterally well-mixed plume. We introduce an additional regime in which the plume extends across the full range of the available shear, but is not significantly affected by the lateral bounds of the water body. Through an analytic treatment we show that this regime exhibits a behaviour, independent of lateral mixing coefficient. Particle tracking results in an idealized, tidal channel–shoal basin demonstrate this regime as particle clouds straddle the channel–shoal interface. Quantitative analysis of spatial moments as plumes transition between regimes show good correlation between the observed parameters and parameters predicted by the analytic framework.
Novel Chewable Sustained‐Release Tablet Containing Verapamil Hydrochloride

The aim of this research is to produce a compactable self‐sealing chewable tablet of verapamil hydrochloride. Tablets were prepared by compressing beads coated with multiple layers including drug, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, polyethylene oxide, ethylcellulose, lactose, and sodium starch glycolate. Dissolution studies were carried out according to the USP XXII paddle method for 14 h. A new tablet formulation was evaluated in three different forms: 1) whole tablet, 2) crushed tablet using a commercial tablet crusher, and 3) tablet chewed in the mouth and then expelled into dissolution fluid. Sustained release from the new formulation was maintained and was similar in all three different treatments, and similar to drug release from intact commercially available Isoptin SR®, but crushing or chewing destroyed the sustained release property of Isoptin SR® (as expected). This new formulation can be administered either by swallowing the whole tablet or by first crushing or chewing the tablet. Controlled releas...
Neural Coding of the Location and Direction of a Moving Object by a Spatially Distributed Population of Mechanoreceptors

A neural code for the location and direction of an object moving over the fingerpad was constructed from the responses of a population of rapidly adapting type I (RAs) and slowly adapting type I (SAs) mechanoreceptive nerve fibers. The object was either a sphere with a radius of 5 mm or a toroid with radii of 5 mm on the major axis and either 1 or 3 mm on the minor axis. The object was stroked under constant velocity and contact force along eight different linear trajectories. The spatial locations of the centers of activity of the population responses (PLs) were determined from nonsimultaneously recorded responses of 99 RAs and 97 SAs with receptive fields spatially distributed over the fingerpad of the anesthetized monkey. The PL at each moment during each stroke was used as a neural code of object location. The angle between the direction of the trajectory of the PL and mediolateral axis was used to represent the direction of motion of the object. The location of contact between the object and skin was better represented in SA than in RA PLs, regardless of stroke direction or object curvature. The PL representation of stroke direction was linearly related to the actual direction of the object for both RAs and SAs but was less variable for SAs than for RAs. Both the SA and RA populations coded spatial position and direction of motion at acuities similar to those obtained in psychophysical studies in humans.
NetLord: a scalable multi-tenant network architecture for virtualized datacenters

Providers of "Infrastructure-as-a-Service" need datacenter networks that support multi-tenancy, scale, and ease of operation, at low cost. Most existing network architectures cannot meet all of these needs simultaneously.In this paper we present NetLord, a novel multi-tenant network architecture. NetLord provides tenants with simple and flexible network abstractions, by fully and efficiently virtualizing the address space at both L2 and L3. NetLord can exploit inexpensive commodity equipment to scale the network to several thousands of tenants and millions of virtual machines. NetLord requires only a small amount of offline, one-time configuration. We implemented NetLord on a testbed, and demonstrated its scalability, while achieving order-of-magnitude goodput improvements over previous approaches.
Model Predictive Control of Central Chiller Plant With Thermal Energy Storage Via Dynamic Programming and Mixed-Integer Linear Programming

This work considers the optimal scheduling problem for a campus central plant equipped with a bank of multiple electrical chillers and a thermal energy storage (TES). Typically, the chillers are operated in ON/OFF modes to charge TES and supply chilled water to satisfy the campus cooling demands. A bilinear model is established to describe the system dynamics of the central plant. A model predictive control (MPC) problem is formulated to obtain optimal set-points to satisfy the campus cooling demands and minimize daily electricity cost. At each time step, the MPC problem is represented as a large-scale mixed-integer nonlinear programming problem. We propose a heuristic algorithm to obtain suboptimal solutions for it via dynamic programming (DP) and mixed integer linear programming (MILP). The system dynamics is linearized along the simulated trajectories of the system. The optimal TES operation profile is obtained by solving a DP problem at every horizon, and the optimal chiller operations are obtained by solving an MILP problem at every time step with a fixed TES operation profile. Simulation results show desired performance and computational tractability of the proposed algorithm.
Mechanisms of MAPK signalling specificity

MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signalling pathways contribute to the regulation of diverse responses, including normal and pathological aspects of cell growth, division, differentiation and death. Their ubiquity and versatility raise the issue of how they achieve specific coupling of signal with cellular response. How do the kinases in the cascade distinguish their correct substrates from the vast excess of incorrect substrates? Furthermore, how do different signals elicit distinct responses when they are transmitted by the same components? This short review highlights several mechanisms that can promote specificity in MAPK signalling, including tethering interactions between MAPKs and their substrates and regulators mediated by docking sites, feedback loops and cross-pathway regulatory circuits, and the selective activation of scaffold proteins.
Vibration Control of a Flywheel Energy Storage Device Using a DC Motor as a Radial Force Actuator

This paper presents a technique for vibration suppression in a rotordynamic system. The approach implemented involves using a DC motor for simultaneous torque and radial force actuation. Here, the rotor is supported via passive permanent magnetic bearings. The permanent magnets are arranged so that, for small motions, the rotor can be treated as a spinning top that is supported radially by linear springs. The device includes an axial flux, three phase, brushless DC motor that is used to produce a torque. The same motor is also used to develop radial forces to control the vibration of the rotor. This is accomplished by using two phases of the motor for torque generation, and one phase to produce radial forces. The paper develops a set of equations that can be used to predict the radial force generated by the motor coils. These equations are used to implement a feedback control system to regulate the radial position of the rotor. Experiments are conducted to verify the coil force equations and demonstrate the effectiveness of the feedback control scheme.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Hormonal Regulation of P450scc (20,22-desmolase) and P450cl7 (17α-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase) in Cultured Human Granulosa Cells

Conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone in man is mediated by a single enzyme, P450scc. To study possible regulation of the single P450scc gene in ovarian steroid synthesis, we incubated human granulosa cells with potential hormonal stimulators, measured P450scc mRNA accumulation by hybridization to 32P-labeled human P450scc cDNA, and compared the results to secretion of progesterone into the culture medium. Primary cultures of human granulosa cells were optimally responsive after 8-14 days of culture. Incubation with hCG (1.0-100 ng/ml), FSH (1.0-50 ng/ml), and (Bu)2cAMP (0.02-2.0 mM) increased P450scc mRNA accumulation and progesterone secretion in dose-dependent fashions. Maximal stimulation increased P450scc mRNA accumulation and progesterone secretion to 490% and 240% of control values, respectively, with hCG, to 166% and 168% with FSH, and to 495% and 380% with (Bu)2cAMP. PRL (to 100 ng/ml), ACTH (10(-6) M), and butyric acid (2 mM) had no significant effect on progesterone secretion or P450scc mRNA accumulation. These data indicate gonadotropin-specific stimulation of cAMP-mediated regulation of P450scc mRNA accumulation in human granulosa cells, presumably mediated by increased P450scc gene transcription. Ovarian estrogen synthesis may require both thecal and granulosa cells, although this two-cell theory of estrogen synthesis is unproven in man. To examine this theory, we probed the same blots used in the experiments described above with 32P-labeled human P450c17 cDNA (P450c17 is the single enzyme mediating both 17 alpha-hydroxylase and 17,20-lyase activities). Only miniscule amounts of P450c17 mRNA were found in the human granulosa cells, and the amounts did not increase in response to any of the above stimuli. These data strongly support the two-cell theory of human ovarian estrogen synthesis.
Synovial osteochondromatosis of the elbow.

We present 12 patients with synovial osteochondromatosis of the elbow treated by synovectomy. Histological review showed that seven cases were primary and five secondary osteochondromatosis. The patients with primary disease had a mean improvement in the flexion arc from a preoperative value of 40° to 123° to 5° to 128° when reviewed at a mean of nine years after operation. The secondary group had a mean improvement in the flexion arc from a preoperative value of 21° to 98° to 4° to 131° at a mean of 6.8 years after operation. There was recurrence in two of seven patients in the primary group and three of five in the secondary group. Osteoarthritis developed in six elbows in the primary and in three in the secondary group. Osteoarthritis secondary to synovial osteochondromatosis is progressive. In the established condition, the distinction between primary and secondary disease may be of greater histological than clinical relevance.
The learning parsimony of projection pursuit and back-propagation networks

The learning parsimony is studied for two types of feedforward network learning methods for model-free regression problems. One is back-propagation learning (BPL) and the other is projection pursuit learning (PPL). Algorithmically, both the BPL and the PPL parametrically form projections of the data in directions determined from interconnection weights. However, unlike BPL, which uses a fixed set of nonlinear nodal functions to perform an explicit parametric estimate of all the weights simultaneously at each iteration, PPL non-parametrically estimates the unknown nonlinear mapping sequentially at each iteration. In terms of learning efficiency, both methods have comparable training speed while the PPL is more parsimonious. >
Pituitary Gland: Neuropeptides, Neurotransmitters and Growth Factors

hypothalamic releasing and release-inhibiting factors into the hypophyseal portal circulatory system. The afferents can modulate the activity of the hypothalamic neurons by forming synapses on the neuronal cell body, on the nerve terminals in the median eminence or both. The chemicals most frequently used as neurotransmitters are the biogenic amines, including the catecholamines (norepinephrine, dopamine and epinephrine), serotonin, acetylcholine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The stirnulatory influence of norepinephrine, serotonin, and acetylcholine on the secretion of corticotropin (ACTH) in rodents and man will be discussed, whereas GABA exerts an inhibitory effect on the secretion of ACTH in both man and rodents. These effects appear to be mediated by changes in the secretion of the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and vasopressin into the hypophyseal portal circulation. Numerous neuropeptides appear to alter the secretion of ACTH in the rat. We will discuss the stirnulatory actions of neuropeptide Y (NPY), angiotensin 11, and peptides of immune cell origin on the secretion of ACTH and CRH. The opioid peptides inhibit the secretion of CRH into the portal blood, however, they exert a potent stirnulatory effect on prolactin secretion in the rat and man. We will discuss the receptor subtypes involved in mediating these effects and the interactions of the opioid peptides with the neurotransmitter-containing neurons which project to the hypothalamus. This discussion will focus on the factors which impinge on the releasing factor-containingneurons in the hypothalamus and how they can be studied under in viso and in vitro conditions.
Oxygen Therapy for Patients With COPD: Current Evidence and the Long-Term Oxygen Treatment Trial

Long-term use of supplemental oxygen improves survival in patients with COPD and severe resting hypoxemia. However, the role of oxygen in symptomatic patients with COPD and more moderate hypoxemia at rest and desaturation with activity is unclear. The few long-term reports of supplemental oxygen in this group have been of small size and insufficient to demonstrate a survival benefit. Short-term trials have suggested beneficial effects other than survival in patients with COPD and moderate hypoxemia at rest. In addition, supplemental oxygen appeared to improve exercise performance in small short-term investigations of patients with COPD and moderate hypoxemia at rest and desaturation with exercise, but long-term trials evaluating patient-reported outcomes are lacking. This article reviews the evidence for long-term use of supplemental oxygen therapy and provides a rationale for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Long-term Oxygen Treatment Trial. The trial plans to enroll subjects with COPD with moderate hypoxemia at rest or desaturation with exercise and compare tailored oxygen therapy to no oxygen therapy.
Effect of obesity on neonatal outcomes in pregnancies with preterm premature rupture of membranes.

Background Maternal obesity is associated with increased systemic inflammation and an increased risk of preterm premature rupture of membranes. There is an established association between an inflammatory intrauterine environment and adverse neonatal outcomes that is independent of gestational age and mediated by the fetal inflammatory response. It is unknown whether the maternal systemic inflammation that is present in obese women influences the intrauterine environment and predisposes the fetus to adverse neonatal outcomes after preterm premature rupture of membranes. Objective The purpose of this study was to determine whether maternal obesity is associated with adverse neonatal outcomes in pregnancies that are complicated by preterm premature rupture of membranes. Study Design This was a secondary analysis of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network Randomized Clinical Trial on the Beneficial Effects of Antenatal Magnesium Sulfate. Women with singleton pregnancies that were affected by preterm premature rupture of membranes who delivered live-born infants between 24 + 0 and 33 + 6 weeks of gestation were included. An adverse neonatal outcome was defined as a composite outcome of neonatal death, severe necrotizing enterocolitis, respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, or severe intraventricular hemorrhage. The rates of the composite outcome were compared between obese (body mass index, ≥30 kg/m 2 ) and nonobese women. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate the independent effect of obesity on neonatal outcomes. Magnesium sulfate administration, steroid administration, maternal diabetes mellitus, gestational age at delivery, indomethacin exposure, birthweight, and chorioamnionitis were all considered as possible covariates in the multivariable regression models. Results Three hundred twenty-five of the 1288 women (25.2%) who were included were obese, and 202 of these women (62.2%) had neonates with adverse outcomes. In univariable analysis, maternal prepregnancy obesity was associated with increased odds of an adverse neonatal outcome (odds ratio, 0.30, 95% confidence interval, 1.00–1.68). However, in our multivariable logistic regression model, gestational age at delivery (odds ratio, 0.93, 95% confidence interval, 0.92–0.94 per day), but not maternal obesity (odds ratio, 1.02, 95% confidence interval, 0.75–1.38), was associated with adverse neonatal outcomes. Obese African American women experienced preterm premature rupture of membranes (189 vs 196 days; p p Conclusions Maternal obesity was not associated independently with adverse neonatal outcomes in pregnancies that were affected by preterm premature rupture of membranes after adjustment for gestational age at birth. However, obese African American women rupture and deliver earlier than other women, which causes increased neonatal morbidity.
Theory of Random Filler Dispersions in Rubber

Abstract Ideal mixing results in random filler distributions in rubber, in which case the number of particles in a field follows the Poisson distribution deduced from probability theory. There should be no advantage in continuing the mixing after a random distribution has been achieved. The closeness of the approach to a Poisson distribution is to be ascertained by counting the number of particles in many small fields. Random configurations of particles may sometimes be deceptive in suggesting the existence of attractive forces between the particles. The frequency distribution for the thickness of the rubber matrix between the particles in a random distribution is derived by use of a suitable model and probability considerations. The frequency of occurrence decreases exponentially with increase in thickness and is a function of the particle diameter and the volume loading. In theory, the same thickness distribution can be obtained for fillers differing in average particle diameter by suitable variations i...
Fungal treatment of corn processing wastewater in an attached growth system

Corn processing wastewater was treated in an attached growth system of Rhizopus oligosporus fungi. The effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT) and plant-based components in the support media were evaluated in 1 L reactors under non-aseptic conditions. Plastic composite support (PCS) tubes, composed of 50% (w/w) polypropylene (PP) and 50% (w/w) agricultural products were used as support media or, as a test, PP only. A maximum chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of 78% was achieved at a 5 h HRT with a biomass yield of 0.44 gVSS/gCOD removed . The biomass yield increased to 0.48 gVSS/gCOD removed while COD removal reduced to 70% at a 2.5 h HRT. Competitive bacterial growth was reduced at the shorter HRT. A lower HRT of 1.25 h led to biomass wash out from the reactor. Significantly lower COD removal of 28% and biomass yield of 0.19 gVSS/gCOD removed were observed in a biofilm reactor with PP tubes alone, indicating that the agricultural components in PCS media were essential for better biofilm formation and organic removal.
A Successive-Approximation Switched-Capacitor DC–DC Converter With Resolution of $V_{\text{IN}}/{2^N}$ for a Wide Range of Input and Output Voltages

A fully integrated successive-approximation (SAR) switched-capacitor (SC) DC–DC converter is presented that overcomes the coarse output voltage resolution limitation of traditional SC converters. An SAR SC converter cascades multiple stages of 2:1 SC converters, and achieves a fine-grained conversion ratio resolution of ${V_{{\rm IN}}}/{2^N}$ , where ${V_{{\rm IN}}}$ is the input voltage and $N$ is the number of stages. As the SAR SC converter generates the output voltage through SAR, each stage of 2:1 SC converter provides a fixed voltage level, requiring minimal configuration change for regulation. Analysis shows that the SAR SC converter has a slow-switching-limit output impedance increasing proportionally to ${\text{log}}_{2}$ (number of resolution), and switching loss of bottom-plate parasitic capacitor decreasing with the number of stages. As a test chip, an SAR SC converter with 7 b resolution is fabricated in 180 nm CMOS process and implemented by cascading 4:1 and five 2:1 two-phase interleaving SC stages. It achieves 31.25 mV voltage resolution with output voltages over 0.4 V at ${V_{{\rm IN}}} = 4\,{\text{V}}$ . Using this fine grain voltage regulation approach, line and load regulations are implemented with a feedback/feedforward controller with peak efficiency of 72% for load currents from $0\,{\text{to}}\;300\,{\upmu \text{A}}$ . The test chip occupies $1.69\,{\text{m}}{{\text m}^{2}}$ and utilizes on-chip capacitors of 2.24 nF in total.
Use of Mechanical Devices to Reduce Stroke in Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation is common, and its incidence is increasing. The preponderance of strokes occurring in non-valvular atrial fibrillation is attributable to thromboembolism from clot formed within the left atrial appendage (LAA). Current standard of care involves long-term oral anticoagulation to decrease the risk of clot formation; however, this strategy is complicated by a narrow therapeutic window with a significant incidence of bleeding complications. Early evidence suggests that surgical obliteration of the left atrial appendage reduces stroke risk, and more recently several percutaneous approaches to left atrial appendage treatment have been developed aimed at eliminating the appendage cavity to reduce stroke risk through plugging or ligation. The most studied device, the Watchman device (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA), has been shown to be non-inferior to adjusted-dose warfarin in non-valvular atrial fibrillation at reducing the risk of stroke. Unanswered questions surround optimal patient selection criteria for device occlusion of the left atrial appendage and comparison with novel oral anticoagulants. Moreover, multiple devices are in development and early stages of evaluation. Device-based occlusion of the left atrial appendage is a promising alternative to long-term oral anticoagulation to reduce stroke risk in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.
Structure Property Relationships of Carboxylic Acid Isosteres

The replacement of a carboxylic acid with a surrogate structure, or (bio)-isostere, is a classical strategy in medicinal chemistry. The general underlying principle is that by maintaining the features of the carboxylic acid critical for biological activity, but appropriately modifying the physicochemical properties, improved analogs may result. In this context, a systematic assessment of the physicochemical properties of carboxylic acid isosteres would be desirable to enable more informed decisions of potential replacements to be used for analog design. Herein we report the structure-property relationships (SPR) of 35 phenylpropionic acid derivatives, in which the carboxylic acid moiety is replaced with a series of known isosteres. The data set generated provides an assessment of the relative impact on the physicochemical properties that these replacements may have compared to the carboxylic acid analog. As such, this study presents a framework for how to rationally apply isosteric replacements of the carboxylic acid functional group.
Immunologie und klinische Bedeutung der Autoantikörper

Der franzosische Kliniker Widal sah den Nachweis von Antikorpern gegen Typhusbacillen im Serum von Typhuskranken als beweisend fur das Vorliegen der Erkrankung an. Im Gegensatz hierzu deuteten Gruber und Durham das Auftreten von Antikorpern gegen Typhusbacillen im Serum vom Kaninchen, denen diese Bacillen injiziert worden waren, als Ausdruck der Immunitat. Heute erkennen wir in dem Auftreten von Antikorpern nach Infektionen oder kunstlicher Immunisierung eine wichtige physiologische Funktion des lebenden Organismus, namlich eine Reaktion gegen Antigene in Form fremder Eiweise oder anderer parenteral zugefuhrter hochmolekularer Substanzen. (Hatte man diese selben Substanzen per os zugefuhrt, dann waren sie von Fermenten des Darmtraktes zerstort worden, ohne das eine Antikorperbildung zu ihrer Beseitigung notwendig gewesen ware.)
Tetrahydroprotoberberine alkaloids with dopamine and σ receptor affinity

Two series of analogues of the tetrahydroprotoberberine (THPB) alkaloid (±)-stepholidine that (a) contain various alkoxy substituents at the C10 position and, (b) were de-rigidified with respect to (±)-stepholidine, were synthesized and evaluated for affinity at dopamine and σ receptors in order to evaluate effects on D3 and σ2 receptor affinity and selectivity. Small n-alkoxy groups are best tolerated by D3 and σ2 receptors. Among all compounds tested, C10 methoxy and ethoxy analogues (10 and 11 respectively) displayed the highest affinity for σ2 receptors as well as σ2 versus σ1 selectivity and also showed the highest D3 receptor affinity. De-rigidification of stepholidine resulted in decreased affinity at all receptors evaluated; thus the tetracyclic THPB framework is advantageous for affinity at dopamine and σ receptors. Docking of the C10 analogues at the D3 receptor, suggest that an ionic interaction between the protonated nitrogen atom and Asp110, a H-bond interaction between the C2 phenol and Ser192, a H-bond interaction between the C10 phenol and Cys181 as well as hydrophobic interactions of the aryl rings to Phe106 and Phe345, are critical for high affinity of the compounds.
Critical Reflections on Post-Positivism in International Relations

Yosef Lapid clarifies the nature of recent critical reflection on international theory and contributes to opening the discourse on the subject. However, he understates the diversity, the historicism, and the critical nature of post-positivist inquiry and exaggerates the extent to which pluralism, perspectivism and relativism have taken root in international relations. He is also insufficiently critical of post-positivism and does not say enough about the problem of criteria for evaluating alternative explanations. His article is essentially a preface to a larger project, one yet to be undertaken, a project which will need more concrete, self-reflexive, nuanced research that takes post-positivist criticisms seriously and constructs plausible alternative explanations of important subjects.
Reduced Order Modeling of Parachute Systems Using Large Scale Finite Element Models

In recent years, autonomously guided parachute systems have been developed with the goal of increasing the landing accuracy of airdrop operations. These precision airdrop systems utilize an onboard global positioning system (GPS) coupled with a guidance, navigation and control (GNC) system to continuously monitor and correct the flight path of the parachute system during descent. A critical component of the GNC system is an algorithm that predicts the response of the system to various aerodynamic forces in real-time that are typically based on a low-order multi-degree of freedom (DOF) dynamics model. Reduced order modeling is the process of representing a complex dynamic system with many DOF with a model having relatively few DOF. The goal of this study is to examine the use of large scale finite element models to construct and calibrate Reduced Order Models (ROM) for parachute systems. The resulting ROM would provide parachute designers with a simple tool to examine parachute behavior under various operating conditions. The use of numerical simulations to calibrate the ROM would help to eliminate the number of physical tests needed to characterize a parachute system’s properties. In this study, a 6 degree of freedom ROM is adopted. The system dynamic properties for the ROM and the resultant forces and moments acting on the ROM are obtained from finite element simulations. The 6 DOF model originally proposed by Cockrell and Doherr and later used by Dobrokhodov is adopted for the ROM. The finite element (FE) code, TENSION, is used to perform the large scale simulations and extract the ROM dynamic properties and resultant forces. Several examples are performed that verify the ROM procedure by comparing ROM predictions to FE simulations for various parachute system trajectories. The performance of the ROM is shown to be excellent for in-plane motion under an oscillating wind field. It is shown, however, that the ROM procedure deteriorates as the FE model is refined by adding more DOF. It is demonstrated that, for highly deformable FE models with many DOF, more sophisticated ROM procedures are needed.
Qualifying Special Items: An Identification and Examination of Lower-Quality versus Higher-Quality Income-Decreasing Special Items

The frequency of special items has increased dramatically over time, both because of the underlying economics of firms, but also because of inappropriate misclassification of recurring expenses as non-recurring. Building on prior research, we propose a method to identify the higher- and lower-quality components of special items. We find that approximately two-thirds of the magnitude of the reported special items reflects appropriately classified, economically driven, transitory items that are not associated with future expenses, cash outflows, or restatements related to special items. The remaining one-third, however, we classify as lower-quality in that they are more likely to contain opportunistically misclassified recurring expenses that should have been recognized as such in prior, current or future periods. These lower-quality special items are associated with lower future earnings, lower future cash flows, and future restatements related to special items. We conclude that this portion of special items is more likely to contain expenses that would be better characterized as recurring. Our additional analyses examine the incentives to misclassify expenses (to meet the analyst forecast which generally excludes special items), as well as the effect of external monitoring on the prevalence of lower-quality special items (where more external monitoring is associated with fewer lower-quality special items). Finally, although our main models use future information, we present a modification that eliminates the need for forward-looking data and performs reasonably well. Thus, we provide meaningful partitions of special items that should be useful to investors, analysts, creditors, auditors and regulators, as each of these parties must assess the future implications of special items.
Managing Technical Debt

If you have worked long enough as a software developer, you have definitely wished that you could start a project totally from scratch. Throw away all the messy code and build it from scratch with all the knowledge you have now. But why is it that code becomes messy? We even have specific terms to describe it—code rot, big ball of mud, spaghetti code. These terms all describe that code will become a mess when not carefully controlled and monitored.
Editorial commentary: The continuing evolution of primary PCI and clinical guidelines ☆

Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (“primary PCI”) has undergone a remarkable evolution over the past quarter century and is the preferred reperfusion strategy in STsegment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) [1,2]. Primary balloon angioplasty was introduced in the early 1980s and evolved over the subsequent decade. Compared with fibrinolytic therapy, primary balloon angioplasty resulted in higher rates of restoration of TIMI 3 flow and lower rates of recurrent ischemia, reinfarction, stroke, and death [3]. The use of coronary stent implantation in STEMI was first introduced in the 1990s. Utilization of coronary stents in primary PCI, compared to balloon angioplasty alone, reduced the incidence of target vessel revascularization [4,5]. Use of drug-eluting stent (DES) instead of bare-metal stenting further reduced the rate of target vessel revascularization [4,6]. Paralleling these advances have been advances in adjunctive pharmacotherapy, adjunctive devices, and our knowledge of optimal patient management. In this issue of Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine, Thomas and Bates [7] provide an excellent update on primary PCI, including use of radial artery access, aspiration thrombectomy, antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy, and the issue of non-culprit artery PCI at the time of primary PCI.
Reconstruction Following Amputation of the Penis in Children

AbstractWe report 2 cases of traumatic amputation in which penile reconstruction was done by mobilization of the remaining erectile tissue.
Role of emergency thoracotomy in the resuscitation of moribund trauma victims: 100 consecutive cases.

Summary (1) Emergency thoracotomy can be a lifesaving procedure in critically injured patients who present with no detectable pulse or blood pressure. (2) Emergency thoracotomy is nonproductive if cardiac electrical activity is absent., (3) Best results are achieved in patients with chest injuries and the worst results in those with isolated blunt abdominal injury. (4) Survival was better if patient was taken directly to the operating room with ongoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation. (5) Pre hospital airway control, volume resuscitation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation play a significant role in improving the outcome in traumatized patients who undergo emergency thoracotomy.
Invasion of the Epidermis and Cortex of Apple Roots by Actinomycetes

Apple replant disease (ARD) results in delayed establishment of apple transplants in soils previously planted to apple or pear. The lesion nematode Pratylenchus penetrans has been implicated as a cause of this disease. However, another agent as yet unidentified can fully reproduce the symptoms of ARD. Thus, it is unclear whether one or more organisms are involved. During studies of the etiology of ARD, an actinomycete was observed parasitizing young apple roots. The present study provides evidence that may implicate an actinomycete as an etiological agent of ARD.
Aging Women and the Age Mystique: Age Anxiety and Body Shame in the Contemporary Culture of Appearances

“Aging Women and the Age Mystique: Age Anxiety and Body Shame in the Contemporary Culture of Appearances” provides an introduction to shame theory and then offers a comprehensive analysis of the horrible cost that gendered ageism exacts on aging and old women in our shame-based and ageist culture in which the intense focus on, and even obsession with, all things youthful leads to a pervasive shaming of aging and old women. As this chapter investigates the shame dynamics of sexageism and the social devaluation of the identities of older women and the stigmatization of their bodies, it covers representative works by second-wave feminists, age studies and women studies scholars, and feminist gerontologists, including Erica Jong, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Betty Friedan, Carolyn Heilbrun, Kathleen Woodward, Martha Holstein, Lynne Segal, Toni Calasanti, Margaret Cruikshank, Margaret Morganroth Gullette, Frida Furman, and Laura Hurd Clarke.
Neural Networks, Human Time, and the Soul

The study of time is seductive, and like most seductions, confusing. Despite the fact that we cannot ‘cut time’ into pieces, we establish and fix units like seconds, minutes, and hours or years. We measure time; we lose time; we kill time; we waste and fill time up as though it were quantifiable, able to be contained or a container able to be filled. As Augustine said: ‘It is not the past, present, and future], which now are not, that I measure, but something in my memory, which there remains fixed. It is in…my mind that I measure times.’2 It is as though time were a completely interior process, a product purely of human thinking and feeling.
Accounting for the rise in unfunded public pension liabilities: faulty counterfactuals and the allure of simple gain/loss summations*

This paper provides a methodological critique of an influential method for assessing the impact on the Unfunded Accrued Liabilities (UAL) of the gap between assumed and actual investment returns over extended periods, and offers a sound replacement. The method in question simply sums over time the components of the annual actuarial gain/loss report. This implicitly assumes that in the counterfactual exercise, the interest on the additional UAL is covered dollar-for-dollar by amortization. But under actual funding formulas amortization usually varies less than interest. This means there are large intertemporal interactions between the gap in investment returns and subsequent shortfalls between contributions and interest. Using the actual funding formula in the counterfactual can lead to much higher estimates of the UAL impact of the gap in investment returns because it does not assume away these interactions. This method can more accurately inform policy-makers, regarding the importance of cutting the assumed rate of return.
Close-space sulfurization of sputtered metal precursors for Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 thin-film solar cells

Close-space sulfurization (CSS) of sputtered metal precursors is developed for the first time to fabricate Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin-film solar cells. To optimize the CSS parameters, a series of CZTS thin films are prepared by sulfurizing stacked metal precursors with various sulfurization temperatures and durations. These films are studied by different characterization techniques and then fabricated into solar cell devices. According to the XRD, Raman and SEM, single-phase CZTS thin films with densely packed large grains are formed after CSS. The best cell performance with an efficiency of 5.2% is achieved for the CSS at 590°C for 30 min.
rDNA insulin glargine U300 - a critical appraisal.

Background As the first once-daily basal insulin analog, insulin glargine 100 U/mL (Gla-100; Lantus®) rapidly evolved into the most commonly prescribed insulin therapy worldwide. However, this insulin has clinical limitations. The approval of new basal insulin analogs in 2015 has already started to alter the prescribing landscape. Objective To review the available evidence on the clinical efficacy and safety of a more concentrated insulin glargine (recombinant DNA origin) injection 300 U/mL (Gla-300) compared to insulin Gla-100 in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T1DM and T2DM). Methods The following electronic databases were searched: PubMed and MEDLINE (using Ovid platform), Scopus, BIOSIS, and Google Scholar through June 2016. Conference proceedings of the American Diabetes Association (2015-2016) were reviewed. We also manually searched reference lists of pertinent reviews and trials. Results A total of 6 pivotal Phase III randomized controlled trials known as the EDITION series were reviewed. All of these trials (n=3,500) were head-to-head comparisons evaluating the efficacy and tolerability of Gla-300 vs Gla-100 in a diverse population with T1DM and T2DM. These trials were of 6 months duration with a 6-month safety extension phase. Conclusion Gla-300 was as effective as Gla-100 for improving glycemic control over 6 months in all studies, with a lower risk of nocturnal hypoglycemia significant only in insulin-experienced patients with T2DM. Overall, patients on Gla-300 required 10%-18% more basal insulin, but with less weight gain compared with Gla-100.
The Fathers in North Carolina

Emilio, Carlos and Alfredo live together in a house across the street from La Fogata, the American style Mexican restaurant where they work. It is an easy commute and a safe one because by walking instead of driving, they avoid being detected and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as has already happened to two of their co-workers.
The GRB–SLSN connection: misaligned magnetars, weak jet emergence, and observational signatures

Multiple observational lines of evidence support a connection between hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) and long duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Both events require a powerful central energy source, usually attributed to a millisecond magnetar or an accreting black hole. The GRB-SLSN link raises several theoretical questions: What distinguishes the engines responsible for these different phenomena? Can a single engine power both a GRB and a luminous SN in the same event? We propose a new unifying model for magnetar thermalization and jet formation: misalignment between the rotation (${\bf \Omega}$) and magnetic dipole (${\bf \mu}$) axes thermalizes a fraction of the spindown power by reconnection in the striped equatorial wind, providing a guaranteed source of "thermal" emission to power the supernova. The remaining un-thermalized power energizes a relativistic jet. In this picture, the GRB-SLSN dichotomy is directly linked to ${\bf \Omega \cdot \mu}$. We extend earlier work to show that even weak relativistic jets of luminosity $\sim10^{46}$ erg s$^{-1}$ can escape the expanding SN ejecta hours after the explosion, implying that escaping relativistic jets may accompany many SLSNe. We calculate the observational signature of these jets. We show that they may produce transient UV cocoon emission lasting a few hours when the jet breaks out of the ejecta surface. A longer-lived optical/UV signal may originate from a mildly-relativistic wind driven from the interface between the jet and the ejecta walls. This provides a new explanation for the secondary early-time maximum observed in some SLSNe light curves, such as LSQ14bdq. This scenario also predicts a population of GRB from on-axis jets with extremely long durations, potentially similar to the population of "jetted tidal disruption events", in coincidence with a small subset of SLSNe.
Plasmonic nanoparticles-decorated diatomite biosilica: extending the horizon of on-chip chromatography and label-free biosensing.

Diatomite consists of fossilized remains of ancient diatoms and is a type of naturally abundant photonic crystal biosilica with multiple unique physical and chemical functionalities. In this paper, we explored the fluidic properties of diatomite as the matrix for on-chip chromatography and, simultaneously, the photonic crystal effects to enhance the plasmonic resonances of metallic nanoparticles for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) biosensing. The plasmonic nanoparticle-decorated diatomite biosilica provides a lab-on-a-chip capability to separate and detect small molecules from mixture samples with ultra-high detection sensitivity down to 1 ppm. We demonstrate the significant potential for biomedical applications by screening toxins in real biofluid, achieving simultaneous label-free biosensing of phenethylamine and miR21cDNA in human plasma with unprecedented sensitivity and specificity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time demonstration to detect target molecules from real biofluids by on-chip chromatography-SERS techniques.
Is everyone really breathing 20 times a minute? Assessing epidemiology and variation in recorded respiratory rate in hospitalised adults

Background Respiratory rate (RR) is an independent predictor of adverse outcomes and an integral component of many risk prediction scores for hospitalised adults. Yet, it is unclear if RR is recorded accurately. We sought to assess the potential accuracy of RR by analysing the distribution and variation as a proxy, since RR should be normally distributed if recorded accurately. Methods We conducted a descriptive observational study of electronic health record data from consecutive hospitalisations from 2009 to 2010 from six diverse hospitals. We assessed the distribution of the maximum RR on admission, using heart rate (HR) as a comparison since this is objectively measured. We assessed RR patterns among selected subgroups expected to have greater physiological variation using the coefficient of variation (CV=SD/mean). Results Among 36 966 hospitalisations, recorded RR was not normally distributed (p Conclusions The observed patterns suggest that RR is inaccurately recorded, even among those with cardiopulmonary compromise, and represents a ‘spot’ estimate with values of 18 and 20 breaths per minute representing ‘normal.’ While spot estimates may potentially be adequate to indicate clinical stability, inaccurate RR may alternatively lead to misclassification of disease severity, potentially jeopardising patient safety. Thus, we recommend greater training for hospital personnel to accurately record RR.
Myths of meritocracy: caste, karma and the new racism, a comparative study

The discourse of karma (behaviour), confounded with inherent psychic and material substance of the person/group (guna), was at the heart of India’s caste ideology. This systematic and intuitive, al...
A quaternary sodium superionic conductor - Na10.8Sn1.9PS11.8

Abstract Sulfide-based Na-ion conductors are promising candidates as solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) for fabrication of solid-state Na-ion batteries (NIBs) because of their high ionic conductivities and low grain boundary resistance. Currently, most of the sulfide-based Na-ion conductors with high conductivities are focused on Na3PS4 phases and its derivatives. It is desirable to develop Na-ion conductors with new composition and crystal structure to achieve superior ionic conductivities. Here we report a new quaternary Na-ion conductor, Na10.8Sn1.9PS11.8, exhibiting a high ionic conductivity of 0.67 mS cm−1 at 25 °C. This high ionic conductivity originates from the presence of a large number of intrinsic Na-vacancies and three-dimensional Na-ion conduction pathways, which has been confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and first-principles calculations. The Na10.8Sn1.9PS11.8 phase is further evaluated as an electrolyte in a Na-Sn alloy/TiS2 battery, demonstrating its potential application in all-solid-state NIBs.
Bimetallic Cobalt Nanoparticles (Co–M): Synthesis, Characterization, and Application in the Fischer–Tropsch Process

General synthesis schemes for size and composition controlled, bimetallic Co–M (M = Mn, Cu, Ru, Rh, Re) nanoparticles is reported. Characterization was carried out on the single particle level using scanning/transmission electron microscopy to confirm the bimetallic nature of the nanoparticles. In-situ synchrotron spectroscopy followed the near surface composition of the nanoparticles during oxidation and reduction treatments, as well as reactant gas conditions. The effect of the second transition metal on the Co reduction and Co surface concentration was studied, with Re being the most effective promoter to reduce the Co. The Co–M nanoparticles were tested for their CO hydrogenation (Fischer–Tropsch process) ability at industrial conditions of 20 bar and 250 °C, to understand the effect of a promoter in intimate contact with Co.