cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Embedded Economies: Social Relations as Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Central and Eastern Europe

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is considered a powerful catalyst in market transition. However, FDI flows vary greatly across Central and East European transition countries. I compare and contrast current approaches, which consider country characteristics as determinants of FDI, with a relational approach that emphasizes institutional, political, economic, and cultural connections between investor and host countries. Regression analyses of FDI flows in country dyads provide little evidence for the effects of country characteristics. Political, migration, trade, and cultural relations between investors and hosts have strong positive effects on FDI flows, and they add considerably to the proportion of the explained cross-national variance. These findings highlight the utility of a relational understanding of macroeconomic processes, as well as the importance of examining how substantively different social relations shape economic exchange.
Ethical Challenges Come Home

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is becoming a Rashomon-like touchstone for how health system reforms are expected to affect primary care. While PCMH pilot programs nationwide are serving as test cases for how reforms might play out, primary care advocates also tend (a) to see in them the ideals we want to see, and (b) to not see some ways they might challenge us.1 In a position paper in this month’s Journal,2 the American College of Physicians (ACP) Professionalism, Ethics and Human Rights Committee begins to address these issues, opening a crucial conversation by asking the question: Does the PCMH promote Beauchamp and Childress’ four core principles of medical ethics (namely: respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and justice)?3 To answer this question, the Committee compared the Joint Principles of the Patient Centered Medical Home, developed by the ACP and several other primary care-oriented specialty groups,4 and a similar set of “key attributes” of patient-centered primary care, with the four principles of medical ethics. Their answer is a qualified, but still loud, “Yes!” In particular, they note that patient engagement in care decisions and patient-centeredness more generally (two sine qua non features of an ideal PCMH) are directly supportive of autonomy, beneficence and nonmaleficence. A third PCMH feature, access to a personal physician, is seen as supporting the ethical requirement that physicians seek to ensure access to care for all, a derivative of the principle of justice. Finally, the PCMH focus on systematic efforts to improve safety and quality is recognized as supporting nonmaleficence and beneficence. It is not surprising that the authors conclude the PCMH is largely consistent with Beauchamp and Childress’ four principles. After all, the Joint Principles read very much like a list of general principles for excellent medical practice—medical care in any setting is better when it is patient-centered, safe, easy to access, engages patients in care decisions, exchanges information readily, continuously improves quality, and so on. So the PCMH, as a concept defined by these aspirational principles, is bound to support the traditional four principles of biomedical ethics. We propose to extend the Committee’s analysis in two ways. First, the rubber hits the road when broad principles are used to guide practical decisions. There are ethical implications in defining what comprises a PCMH, measuring its success, and paying for its implementation. Second, ethical analyses based on principlism don’t always force us to ask the toughest questions about our own contributions to ethical problems. Specifically, as Arend et al. have noted, the transformation to PCMH practice forces physicians to develop “new mental models of patient care.”5 Our own willingness to accept the deeply challenging implications of adopting PCMH ideals in our professional lives might prove the highest hurdle of all.
Unfolding Story of Inclusion-Body Myositis and Myopathies: Role of Misfolded Proteins, Amyloid-β, Cholesterol, and Aging:

Sporadic inclusion-body myositis and hereditary inclusion-body myopathies are progressive muscle diseases leading to severe disability. We briefly summarize their clinical pictures and pathologic diagnostic criteria and discuss the latest advances in illuminating their pathogenic mechanism(s). We emphasize how different etiologies might lead to the strikingly similar pathology and possibly similar pathogenic cascade. On the basis of our research, several processes seem to be important in relation to the still speculative pathogenesis, including (a) increased transcription and accumulation of amyloid-beta precursor protein and accumulation of its proteolytic fragment amyloid-beta; (b) abnormal accumulation of components related to lipid metabolism, for example, cholesterol, accumulation of which is possibly owing to its abnormal trafficking; (c) oxidative stress; (d) accumulations of other Alzheimer's disease-related proteins; and (e) a milieu of muscle cellular aging in which these changes occur. We discuss a potentially very important role of unfolded and/or misfolded proteins as a possible mechanism in the formations of the inclusion bodies and other abnormalities.
Drug-Drug Interactions Among Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Medications

One-fourth of individuals diagnosed with the human immunodeficiency virus concomitantly have the hepatitis C virus infection. Since the discovery of highly active antiretroviral therapy, liver complications have become the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in HIV-HCV coinfected individuals. Optimal treatment in this patient population is critical, as coinfection has been linked to deterioration of both disease states. The objective of this review article is to highlight the current literature on drug-drug interactions between HIV and HCV treatments. The management of the treatment of coinfection patients has been covered extensively in numerous other publications.
Performance on the PPVT-III and the EVT: applicability of the measures with African American and European American preschool children.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine whether two vocabulary measures were appropriate for the evaluation of African American children and children whose mothers have low education lev...
Pareto-Based Multi-Objective Optimization of Recuperated S-CO2 Brayton Cycles

In this paper, two configurations of the S-CO2 Brayton cycles (i.e., the single-recuperated and recompression cycles) are thermodynamically modeled and optimized through a multi-objective approach. Two semi-conflicting objectives, i.e., cycle efficiency (ηc) and cycle specific power (Φsp) are maximized simultaneously to achieve Pareto optimal fronts. The objective of maximum cycle efficiency is to have a smaller and less expensive solar field, and a lower fuel cost in case of a hybrid scheme. On the other hand, the objective of maximum specific power provides a smaller power block, and a lower capital cost associated with recuperators and coolers. The multi-objective optimization is carried out by means of a genetic algorithm which is a robust method for multidimensional, nonlinear system optimization. The optimization process is comprehensive, i.e., all the decision variables including the inlet temperatures and pressures of turbines and compressors, the pinch point temperature differences, and the mass flow fraction of the main compressor are optimized simultaneously. The presented Pareto optimal fronts provide two optimum trade-off curves enabling decision makers to choose their desired compromise between the objectives, and to avoid naive solution points obtained from a single-objective optimization approach. Moreover, the comparison of the Pareto optimal fronts associated with the studied configurations reveals the optimum operational region of the recompression configuration where it presents superior performance over the single-recuperated cycle.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Adsorption of platinum on the stoichiometric RuO2(110) surface.

Density functional theory was used to calculate the geometries and electronic structures of Pt adsorption on the stoichiometric RuO2(110) surface at different coverages. The calculated results revealed that the Pt atoms strongly adsorb on RuO2, and two-dimensional growth up to 1.25ML deposition is energetically favorable. At low coverage, the binding between Pt and RuO2 is very strong, accompanied by a significant transfer of electron density from Pt to the support and a large downshift of the d-band compared to that of the unsupported Pt. At high coverage, a weak interaction of RuO2 with the Pt cluster is observed, and the electronic structure of Pt is only slightly modified with respect to that of the unsupported material. Our results suggest that among the systems investigated, the RuO2-supported Pt at a coverage of 1ML may become one of the best alternatives to pure Pt as a catalyst because it combines a high stability and a moderate activity similar to Pt.
A Liang–Zeger Method for Modeling Dyadic Interdependence in the Analysis of Social Networks

This article introduces a modified Liang-Zeger method for the estimation of the variance-covariance matrix of parameter estimates for models of social network data that include variables to characterize dyadic nonindependence. While the pseudolikelihood method has been used recently to estimate parameters for such models, the issue of estimating their standard errors, or the variance-covariance matrix more generally, has been neglected. This article addresses the issue by proposing a method for such estimation and also presents an illustrative application of the method to empirical social network data.
Prediction of in vivo background in phoswich lung count spectra.

Phoswich scintillation counters are used to detect actinides deposited in the lungs. The resulting spectra, however, contain Compton background from the decay of [sup 40]K, which occurs naturally in the striated muscle tissue of the body. To determine the counts due to actinides in a lung count spectrum, the counts due to [sup 40]K scatter must first be subtracted out. The [sup 40]K background in the phoswich NaI(Tl) spectrum was predicted from an energy region of interest called the monitor region, which is above the [sup 238]Pu region and the [sup 241]Am region, where photopeaks from [sup 238]Pu and [sup 241]Am region, where photopeaks from [sup 238]Pu and [sup 241]Am occur. Empirical models were developed to predict the backgrounds in the [sup 238]Pu and [sup 241]Am regions by testing multiple linear and nonlinear regression models. The initial multiple regression models contain a monitor region variable as well as the variables gender, (weight/height)[sup [alpha]], and interaction terms. Data were collected from 64 male and 63 female subjects with no internal exposure. For the [sup 238]Pu region, the only significant predictor was found to be the monitor region. For the [sup 241]Am region, the monitor region was found to have the greatestmore » effect on prediction, while gender was significantly only when weight/height was included in a model. Gender-specific models were thus developed. The empirical models for the [sup 241]Am region that contain weight/height were shown to have the best coefficients of determination (R[sup 2]) and the lowest mean squares for error (MSE).« less
Maternal Mortality in the United States - Why Is It Important and What Are We Doing About It?

Following dramatic reductions between the early 1900s and the early 1980s, the maternal mortality ratio began to rise, reaching a peak of almost 17 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Although this number pales in comparison with that found in sub-Saharan Africa and India, the troubling rise in the United States is a surrogate for medical care in general and obstetrical care in particular. Both Healthy People 2010 and the United Nations Millennium Goals were aimed at reducing maternal mortality worldwide. This presentation will review the trends in maternal mortality along with the efforts some jurisdictions, along with the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, have taken to address this obstetrical tragedy. Although maternal death is the tip of the iceberg, thousands more women suffer a "near-miss" but survive to deal with lifelong medical consequences. Finally, you will be reminded that each maternal death is not just an isolated medical event but rather it permanently affects an ever-enlarging circle of society.
Scale invariant cosegmentation for image groups

Our primary interest is in generalizing the problem of Cosegmentation to a large group of images, that is, concurrent segmentation of common foreground region(s) from multiple images. We further wish for our algorithm to offer scale invariance (foregrounds may have arbitrary sizes in different images) and the running time to increase (no more than) near linearly in the number of images in the set. What makes this setting particularly challenging is that even if we ignore the scale invariance desiderata, the Cosegmentation problem, as formalized in many recent papers (except [1]), is already hard to solve optimally in the two image case. A straightforward extension of such models to multiple images leads to loose relaxations; and unless we impose a distributional assumption on the appearance model, existing mechanisms for image-pair-wise measurement of foreground appearance variations lead to significantly large problem sizes (even for moderate number of images). This paper presents a surprisingly easy to implement algorithm which performs well, and satisfies all requirements listed above (scale invariance, low computational requirements, and viability for the multiple image setting). We present qualitative and technical analysis of the properties of this framework.
Synthesis of B- and P-Heterocycles by Reaction of Cyclic Acetals and Ketals with Borinium and Phosphonium Ions.

Tricoordinated cyclic boron cations result from gas-phase ion/molecule reactions of dicoordinated borinium ions with neutral acetals and ketals and thiazolidine. The reaction, which proceeds via initial cationic binding to a heteroatom followed by a consecutive ring-opening and ring-reclosing process, resembles the Eberlin transacetalization of acylium ions (Eberlin, M. N.; Cooks, R. G. Org. Mass Spectrom. 1993, 28, 679). The cyclic structure of the tricoordinated boron cation is demonstrated by tandem mass spectrometry and further confirmed by comparison with authentic cyclic tricoordinated boron cations. The five-membered cyclic boron cations dissociate by ethylene oxide loss to thus reform the reactant-dicoordinated borinium ion; the six-membered boron cations fragment instead by ethylene loss. Consistent with the proposed mechanism, the ion/molecule reaction efficiency falls in the order CH3OB+C2H5 > CH3OB+OCH3 ≫ CH3B+CH3; i.e., the higher the nucleophilicity of the borinium ion, the higher the reacti...
Occurrence rates of fires in nuclear power plants

Abstract The time histories of fires in nuclear power plants are examined. Occurrence rates and expected number of fires vs. time are obtained. The time dependence analysis is modelled as a non-homogeneous Poisson process with Weibull occurrence rate. Confidence bounds on the model parameters are determined and the appropriateness of the model is evaluated using various statistics. The results are expected to be useful for application to risk studies.
Deuterium Oxide: Direct Action on Sympathetic Ganglia Isolated in Culture

Immature ganglia from chicks and rodents were maintained as organized, developing cultures for 2 months or more, during which time they were continuously exposed to deuterium oxide in their medium. Observations of the living cell communities with the light microscope indicated that deuteration within viable limits (up to 25 percent) accelerates and increases the growth of sympathetic neurons and favors their repeated subdivision as a very large size is attained, thus inducing them to recapitulate cyclically the early stages of neurogenesis. Living deuterated cells appear more opaque and heteromerous than control neurons; furthermore, electron micrographs reveal an unusual abundance of granular and fibrillar elements in the nuclei of both neurons and supporting cells. Sheaves of complexly organized fibrillar components appear in the neuronal perikaryon; and ribosomes, Golgi elements, and microtubules are conspicuously numerous. Both fine structure and function of these ganglia therefore appear to have been modified directly by action of the deuterium isotope.
Internal Controls in State, Local, and Nonprofit Agencies

This study analyzes 127 cases of losses of internal accounting controls in state, local, and nonprofit agencies in North Carolina. The reasons for losses in control are identified and discussed along with ways of preventing such incidents.
Expression of epidermal growth factor-receptor related protein (ERRP) in human colorectal carcinogenesis

We hypothesize that ERRP (EGFR-related protein), a recently identified negative regulator of EGFR may modulate EGFR function in colorectal carcinogenesis. The expression of ERRP and EGFR in normal and neoplastic colorectal tissue was examined. ERRP was highly expressed in normal colonic mucosa and benign colorectal adenomas, but lower in colorectal cancer. Mean scores for ERRP expression decreased significantly across well differentiated, moderately well differentiated and poorly differentiated (P=0.002) tumors, respectively. ERRP expression became more attenuated in polyps with increasing grades of dysplasia. In contrast, expression of EGFR was inversely related to ERRP in representative samples of normal and neoplastic tissues.
Correlates of Risky Injection Practices among Past-Year Injection Drug Users among the US General Population

Abstract Background With an estimated 1 million active injection drug users (IDUs), injection drug use continues to be a public health concern in the United States. Risky injection practices have been associated with the transmission of HIV, Hepatitis B and C, as well as other skin and soft tissue infections. Methods We used data from 463 respondents, aged 18 and older, who were past-year IDUs in the 2005–2008 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). We investigated correlates of risky injection behavior among these recent IDUs. Results Older age (≥35 versus 18–25) was associated with reusing one's own needle at last injection (aOR = 1.80 [1.02–3.17], as were past year heroin (aOR = 2.59 [1.18–5.66]) and cocaine injection (aOR = 2.17 [1.13–4.15]). Past year crack cocaine use was positively associated with not cleaning needles with bleach (aOR = 2.18 [1.10–4.33]). Past year cocaine injection was associated with obtaining needles in a risky manner (aOR = 2.29 [1.23–4.25]). Methamphetamine injection was associated with obtaining needles in less risky ways (aOR = 0.41 [0.20–0.84]). Conclusion Our findings indicate that some IDUs are continuing to engage in high risk injection behaviors. The identification of potential at-risk populations of IDUs may have implications for harm reduction interventions and HIV prevention programs.
THE EFFECTS OF CALCIUM, AGMATINE, AND PHOSPHATE ON MITOSIS IN NORMAL AND IRRADIATED POPULATIONS OF RAT THYMOCYTES.

Abstract Increasing the concentration of calcium in a simple glucose-salts medium colchicine increased the rate of entry of normal and irradiated (50 R) rat thymocytes into mitosis and their accumulation at metaphase. The rate of accumulation of cells in metaphase in both normal and irradiated thymocyte suspensions was also markedly increased by the polyamine agmatine; the optimal acceleration was produced by 2.5 mM agmatine. Substitution of increasing amounts of phosphate for chloride in the medium did not reduce mitosis in unirradiated cell suspensions until the phosphate concentration exceeded 10 mM. However, irradiated cells were much more sensitive to changes in the phosphate concentration and phosphate concentrations between 5.0 and 20.0 mM strongly reduced mitosis. It is proposed that calcium and agmatine accelerate mitosis by promoting chromosome coiling while phosphate reduces mitosis by causing uncoiling, or disaggregation, of chromosomes.
Robustness of Design Through Minimum Sensitivity

The problem of designing mechanical systems or components under uncertainty is considered. The basic idea is to ensure quality control at the design stage by minimizing sensitivity of the response to uncertain variables by proper selection of design variables . The formulation does not involve probability distributions. It is proved, however, that when the response is linear in the uncertain variable, reduction in sensitivity implies lesser probability of failure. The proof is generalized to the non-linear case under certain restrictions. In one example, the design of a three-bar truss is considered. The length of one of the bars is considered to be the uncertain variable while cross-sectional areas are the design variables. The sensitivity of the x-displacement is minimized. The constrained optimization problem is solved using a nonlinear programming code. A criterion which can help identify some of the problems where robustness in design is critical is discussed.
The orientable genus is nonadditive

A graph G is a k-amalgamation of two graphs G1 and G2 if G = G1 ∪ G2 and G1 ∩ G2 is a set of k vertices. In this paper we construct 3-amalgamations Gn = Hn ∪ Hn such that γ(Gn) = 5n and γ(Hn) = 3n, where γ denotes the orientable genus of a graph. Thus γ(G1 ∪ G2) may differ from γ(G1) + γ(G2) by an arbitrarily large amount for amalgamations over 3 (or more) vertices. In contrast, an earlier paper shows that the nonorientable genus of a k-amalgamation differs from the sum of the nonorientable genera of its parts by at most a quadratic on k.
Covariance of Moore-Penrose inverses with respect to an invertible matrix

Abstract Given an invertible complex matrix T , a description is given of those matrices A with Moore-Penrose inverse A † such that ( TAT -1 ) † = TA † T -1 .
Effects of 2 at.% rare-earth additions on the γ ⇄ α electronic transformation of cerium

Abstract Individual additions of 2 at.% of the various trivalent rare earths to cerium were found, through electrical resistivity measurements, to lower both the γ → α and α → γ electronic transformation temperatures of cerium by about 20°K. Addition of a similar amount of divalent ytterbium caused the amount of lowering to be increased to about 40°K. The results for normally divalent europium suggest that it is divalent when dissolved in γ- but is trivalent as a solute in α-cerium. A slight trend toward higher γ ⇄ α transformation temperatures with higher atomic number of the trivalent rare-earth solute was observed and is attributed to the effect of size difference between the solvent cerium and the solute.
Methylmalonic Acid in Ruminant Urine — A Re-Evaluation

Abstract A comparison of two methods of measuring methylmalonic acid in urine indicated that an indirect technique overestimates that acid in ruminant urine due to the conversion of unknown compounds to propionic acid. When it was examined by mass spectrometry, the more direct technique with which it was compared also was in error because of interference from oxalic and benzoic acids. Published amounts of methylmalonic acid for normal cattle urine, and in some cases possibly also sheep urine, are too high. This raises a question whether there is currently available a method appropriate for rapid routine analysis of this acid in urine of ruminant animals.
Removal of immunoglobulin-bearing lymphocytes by anti-immunoglobulin-coated columns.

Abstract As measured by several immunochemical techniques, lymphocytes can be divided into two categories: those with easily detectable surface immunoglobulin and those with undetectable immunoglobulin. This paper describes a technique by which mouse spleen cell populations can be depleted of these immunoglobulin-bearing cells. By utilizing anti-immunoglobulin-coated plastic bead columns, we have been able to deplete cell populations of immunofluorescent-positive cells. This depletion was about 90% effective after a single passage through an anti-immunoglobulin-coated column. while serial passage of the cells through several columns resulted in a 99.8% depletion. In addition, two sets of experiments demonstrated that these columns deplete cell populations of certain immunocompetent cells. First, preexisting direct and indirect plaque-forming cells are specifically retained by these columns; and second, a population of cells which is necessary for reconstitution of lethally irradiated mice is removed from normal mouse spleens by these columns.
The Development of Pseudocapacitive Properties in Nanosized-MoO2

Pseudocapacitive charge storage materials offer the opportunity to bridge the gap between high energy density battery materials and high power density electrical double layer capacitor materials through the rational design of transition metal oxide nanoscale architectures. The research reported in this paper describes the origins and development of pseudocapacitance in MoO2. Micron-size particles of MoO2 exhibit a reversible monoclinic to orthorhombic phase transition upon lithium insertion/deinsertion, however, this phase transformation is suppressed when using 15 nm nanocrystals of MoO2. The nanoscale MoO2 exhibits pseudocapacitive behavior and achieves substantially better energy storage kinetics than the corresponding bulk material. Such size-dependent electrochemical behavior is an essential feature of an extrinsic pseudocapacitor material. The high power capability of nanoscale MoO2 is improved further by synthesizing hybrid materials in which MoO2 nanoparticles are grown on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) scaffolds. Electrode architectures containing MoO2-RGO hybrid materials preserve the pseudocapacitance of MoO2 as lithium capacities of nearly 150 mAh g−1 are obtained at a rate of 50 C. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 License (CC BY-NC-ND, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is not changed in any way and is properly cited. For permission for commercial reuse, please email: oa@electrochem.org. [DOI: 10.1149/2.0141505jes] All rights reserved.
Modelling the charring behaviour of structural lumber

Charring rates for large-section timber based on experimental data have been generally established. The established rates may not be appropriately used for the prediction of failure times of lumber members which are small by comparison. It is questionable whether a constant rate can be safely assumed for lumber members since the rate is likely to increase once the centre-point temperature of the members starts to rise. This paper presents an empirically based model of charring rates for Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF) Machine-Stress-Rated (MSR) 2X4 lumber subjected to a constant-temperature exposure of 500 degrees C, on the basis of test results on 55 specimens. In order that the model can be used with reliability analysis, one of the two model parameters was treated as a Lognormal random variable to explain variations observed in the charring rates. Furthermore, the model has been extended to permit evaluations for other lumber sizes and under exposures such as ASTM E119 fire conditions. The model was compared with existing models and used to predict char data found in the literature.
Story Constellations: A Narrative Approach to Contextualizing Teachers' Knowledge of School Reform.

Abstract This article traces the roots of narrative research in the social sciences and education, then centers on ‘story constellations,’ a version of narrative inquiry that uncovers teachers’ knowledge of school reform in context. A fluid form of investigation that unfolds in a three-dimensional inquiry space, story constellations consists of a flexible matrix of paired narratives that are broadened, burrowed, and restoried over time. The adaptability of this narrative inquiry approach is then made visible through introducing four story constellations separately, then laying sketches of the individual story constellations side-by-side. When analyzed in a conjoined fashion, these sketches illustrate how the particularities of place and human agency in the living of school reform played out differently in differing school contexts, despite the fact that the four school sites had one story of reform in common. In the end result, the illustrations demonstrate how the use of the malleable approach drew distinctive story constellations to the surface, spotlighting teachers’ knowledge of school reform as it developed in context over time. In this way, ‘story constellations’ as a method and as a form of inquiry is illuminated.
Irrational beliefs in the cause and treatment of emotional distress: A critical review of the rational-emotive model

Abstract The rational-emotive model of emotional adjustment and psychotherapy (Ellis, 1962) has had a significant impact in clinical psychology during the past two decades. This model has generated a substantial body of research concerning the role of irrational beliefs in the cause and therapeutic alteration of emotional distress. While this body of literature is often cited as supportive evidence for the rational-emotive model, recent criticism of such conclusions have underscored the need for a more critical review of this literature. The present review represents an attempt to critically evaluate the literature concerning the assessment of irrational beliefs, the role of irrational beliefs in causing emotional distress, and the role of irrational beliefs in the treatment of emotional distress. While little disconfirming evidence is found in this literature and a substantial amount of the research findings are consistent with the rational-emotive model, methodological problems and gaps in the literature preclude more than tentative conclusions regarding the model's accuracy. These methodological problems and gaps in existing research as well as suggestions for future research and theory are discussed.
Properties of "neural" adaptation in components of the frog electroretinogram.

Abstract Both the b-wave and the PIII component of the electroretinogram of the isolated, perfused frog retina show rapid recovery of sensitivity following exposure to dim adapting lights. As the adapting intensity increases, recovery becomes more prolonged, requiring up to 50 min with the brightest adapting lights used. The recovery process appears to be unassociated with visual pigment regeneration, and it is not influenced by perfusion with 10 −7 M ouabain or decrease in the temperature of the retina by 14°C. Ionic diffusion down a transmembrane gradient is a possible explanation for the dark adaptation observed in these experiments.
Periodicals: print or electronic?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe how the tipping point may have been reached with regard to the transition of periodicals between print and electronic.Design/methodology/approach – The literature search encompassed articles on the transition of periodicals between print and electronic status.Findings – Libraries will soon have to decide, based on budget, what is affordable in terms of periodicals. Vendors are integral to this process and libraries need to negotiate skillfully with them in order to keep costs in line. Electronic resources will serve researchers well, since they provide easy computerized access (searching, cut and paste) to materials previously only found in print.Research limitations/implications – There is a dichotomy of feelings represented in the literature on the transition of journals from print to electronic. Most of the literature seems to indicate that the move to electronic journals is good for researchers.Practical implications – The move to electronic resources...
Morbidity and mortality after total gastrectomy for gastric malignancy using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database

Background Frequent perioperative morbidity and mortality have been observed in randomized surgical studies for gastric cancer, but specific patient factors associated with morbidity and mortality after total gastrectomy have not been well characterized. Methods We queried the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database (2005–2011) for all patients with a gastric neoplasm undergoing total gastrectomy. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with an increased risk of morbidity or mortality. Results In 1,165 patients undergoing total gastrectomy, 416 patients (36%) experienced a complication, and 55 died (4.7%) within 30 days of operation. In a reduced multivariate model, age >70 years, preoperative weight loss, splenectomy, and pancreatectomy were associated with morbidity, whereas age >70 years, weight loss, albumin Conclusion Total gastrectomy for malignancy is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Identification of high-risk factors may allow more rational patient selection or sequencing of therapy.
AUTOMATIC, RAPID GENERATION OF DESIGN PROTOTYPES FROM LOGIC SPECIFICATIONS

This article is on a methodology for eliciting and verifying the correctness of domain knowledge using propositional logic. The domain knowledge is further structured and organized into subdomains of objects to facilitate an automatic and rapid development of design prototypes. The philosophy of the design paradigm is threefold: 1) focus the development of software requirements specifications on a set of objects and a set of relationships; 2) establish theorems about the interrelationships of the objects, prove the correctness of the theorems, construct software architectural models based on the transitivity of the theorems, and decompose the models into clusters of objects; and 3) employ object-oriented design techniques to generate prototypes of object classes from the resultant clusters. A prototype generator has been implemented to realize these goals. The significant contributions of this paper are: 1) limiting the contents of the specifications to objects and relationships and mapping this dual basis approach into formalisms of logic to derive and verify the abstract interdependencies of the objects; and 2) modeling, decomposing, and clustering the objects into common classes to facilitate a modular design.
SOME PHOTOSYNTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS OF A NATURALLY OCCURRING POPULATION OF OSCILLATORIA AGARDHII GOMONT1,2

A natural metalimnetic population OF the filamentous blue-green Oscillatoria agardhii showed diurnal variation in net production of oxygen. The population was incubated during a series of 2-hr periods during daylight hours on 7 August 1967, while suspended at several depths in Lake Itasca, Minnesota (47“ N lat, 95” W long). The net rate of oxygen production varied with light intensity, reaching light saturation at near 10% of the maximum insolation (the incident intensity, IO, at solar noon). Productivity curves for depths corresponding to 100, 60, 30, 17, 11, 8, and 4% IO were obtained. High rates of production occurred during twilight at the surface, but near solar noon at the 6 and 4% levels. The variation, over the range of depths investigatecl, of oxygen per unit volume represents the shape of a photosynthesis-depth profile for a homogeneously distributed population. The highest production is at 30% IO. The rate-light intensity curve for the OsciZZatoriu population is similar in shape to that for certain cultures of marine algae, using the ICC technique. Distribution of points on the rate-light intensity curve suggests that light quality, as well as intensity, is important, and that the filtering effect of lake water enhances subsurface oxygen production even at relatively high light intensities (80% of the solar noon lo value).
Understanding unavailability in a world of constant connection

telephone or IM, which provided mediated co-presence when one was in the vicinity of a landline phone or PC, today’s mobile devices provide constant co-presence. Instant messaging is often combined with text messaging or proprietary messaging clients (e.g., BlackBerry Messenger, Apple’s iMessage, etc.), such that today’s teens send hundreds of messages per day to stay in touch with family and friends [3]. People are assumed to be constantly co-present, and thus, constantly available for conversation. This is taking a toll. There is evidence that all of these opportunities for interaction cause overload and stress. A recent Pew report suggests that nearly a third of respondents periodically turn off their phones just to take a break from all of the interaction opportunities they provide [4]. Sherri Turkle’s recent book suggests we are paying more attention to our devices than to each other [5]. Others report feeling disco-presence (i.e., being on the phone at the same time) could offer a similar experience. And one could inquire about another’s availability for mediated co-presence by calling in a more modern sense; namely, by dialing the phone and waiting for a response on the other end [1]. Instant messaging (IM) and chat systems, which became very popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, changed this process again [2]. With these systems, one had a list of contacts who were co-present at any given time. Co-presence, for many users of these systems, suggested availability for conversation and was often reason enough to start one. The contact list made co-presence even easier to coordinate. More recently, there has been a larger socio-technical shift that we believe has significant consequences for how people coordinate around communication. In contrast to Historically, the problem of coordinating opportunities for real-time communication has been dominated by the problem of co-presence. Before there was any interactive media, people had to be in the same place to talk. Visiting somebody’s house (“calling,” in the early sense) to see if they were available or scheduling a time to meet were both good ways of coordinating. Early media such as the telephone changed this process a bit, in that people no longer needed to be physically co-present to talk. Mediated Understanding Unavailability in a World of Constant Connection
A tactical model for planning the production and distribution of fresh produce

We present an integrated tactical planning model for the production and distrib- ution of fresh produce. The main objective of the model is to maximize the revenues of a producer that has some control over the logistics decisions associated with the distribution of the crop. The model is used for making planning decisions for a large fresh produce grower in Northwestern Mexico. The decisions obtained are based on traditional factors such as price estimation and resource availability, but also on factors that are usually neglected in traditional planning models such as price dynamics, product decay, transportation and in- ventory costs. The model considers the perishability of the crops in two different ways, as a loss function in its objective function, and as a constraint for the storage of products. The paper presents a mixed integer programming model used to implement the problem as wells as the computational results obtained from it.
Nutritional and metabolic effects and significance of mild orotic aciduria during dietary supplementation with arginine or its organic salts after trauma injury in rats

The effects of acute food deprivation and subsequent refeeding with isonitrogenous oral liquid diets supplemented with arginine (ARG), ARG alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG), or ARG alpha-ketoisocaproate (AKIC) were examined in a Sprague-Dawley rat trauma model (bilateral femur fracture). Both control and trauma rats were starved for 2 days and then pair-fed for 4 days with one of four liquid isonitrogenous diets: diet 1 was a basal casein-based diet, and diets 2, 3, and 4 were the basal diet in which 10% of the nitrogen was replaced by ARG, AKG, or AKIC nitrogen. Two days of starvation resulted in a 13% loss of body weight and also a 27% decrease in the excretion of orotic acid (OA) in control and trauma rats. Although the ARG content of diets 2, 3, and 4 was the same, ARG- and AKIC-supplemented rats excreted significantly (P < .05) more OA than AKG-fed rats. The low level of OA excretion in AKG-fed rats indicates greater use of ARG for metabolic purposes, including efficient urea cycle operation. The metabolic adaptation and nutritional efficacy, i.e., Increased nitrogen retention, larger weight gain, and altered amino acid (AA) metabolism, of AKIC rats seem to be better than in ARG- or AKG-fed rats.
Bone mineral loss at the proximal femur in acute spinal cord injury.

Summary Thisstudyusedquantitativecomputedtomography to assess changes in bone mineral at the proximal femur after acute spinal cord injury (SCI). Individuals with acute SCI experienced a marked loss of bone mineral from a combina- tion of trabecular and endocortical resorption. Targeted thera- peutic interventions are thus warranted in this population. Introduction SCI is associated with a rapid loss of bone min- eral and an increased rate of fragility fracture. Some 10 to 20 % of these fractures occur at the proximal femur. The purpose of this study was to quantify changes to bone mineral, geometry, and measures of strength at the proximal femur in acute SCI. Methods Quantitative computed tomography analysis was performed on 13 subjects with acute SCI at serial time points separated by a mean of 3.5 months (range, 2.6-4.8 months). Changes in bone mineral content (BMC) and volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) were quantified for integral, trabec- ular, and cortical bone at the femoral neck, trochanteric, and total proximal femur regions. Changes in bone volumes, cross-sectional areas, and surrogate measures of compressive and bending strength were also determined. Results During the acute period of SCI, subjects experi- enced a 2.7-3.3 %/month reduction in integral BMC (p< 0.001) and a 2.5-3.1 %/month reduction in integral vBMD (p<0.001). Trabecular BMC decreased by 3.1-4.7 %/month (p<0.001) and trabecular vBMD by 2.8-4.4 %/month (p< 0.001). A 3.9-4.0 %/month reduction was observed for corti- cal BMC (p<0.001), while the reduction in cortical vBMD was noticeably lower (0.8-1.0 %/month;p≤0.01). Changes in bone volume and cross-sectional area suggested that cortical bone loss occurred primarily through endosteal resorption. Declines in bone mineral were associated with a 4.9- 5.9 %/month reduction in surrogate measures of strength. Conclusions These data highlight the need for therapeutic interventions in this population that target both trabecular and endocortical bone mineral preservation.
Designing Photoresist Systems for Microlithography in Carbon Dioxide

Currently, the microlithography industry creates large amounts of organic and aqueous wastes in the production of semiconductors. Using carbon dioxide can possibly eliminate the majority of these waste solvents as well as eliminate the image collapse problems shown with aqueous base development. We will discuss the use of carbon dioxide to replace the most solvent intensive steps of the microlithography process, spin coating, developing, and stripping. However, before CO 2 can replace conventional solvents, photoresist systems must be designed and synthesized to be compatible with CO 2 . These photoresist systems must be soluble in liquid CO 2 to insure that thin-uniform coatings can be produced by spin coating while maintaining characteristics of conventional resist systems such as low absorbance, high sensitivity, solubility contrast, good resolution, and etch resistance. Using our CO 2 compatible resist system, we will demonstrate the ability of CO 2 to spin coat uniform thin-films which (after exposing and PEB) can be developed using scCO 2 to produce lithography features that may be stripped in CO 2 . Thus, revealing the enormous potential of CO 2 to provide the microlithography industry an opportunity to escape its water and organic solvent dependence as it moves toward 157nm lithography.
National industrialisation strategies and their influence on patterns of HR practices

This article uses a framework developed by Kuruvilla (1995a) that hypothesised a very close link between industrialisation strategies of Southeast Asian nations and industrial relations systems. That framework is used here to argue that the industrialisation strategy adopted by nations also influences the development of firm level IR/HR practices. Using case studies of firms in the ‘import substitution industrialisation’(ISI) and ‘export oriented industrialisation’(EOI) sectors in Malaysia and the Philippines, the author finds that in both countries, the ISI sector is characterised by firm level IR/HR practices that are passive, pluralistic and paternalistic in nature, while the EOI sectors in both economies are characterised by IR/HR practices that can be termed aggressive, flexible, and dynamic in nature. In addition, given that Malaysia and the Philippines are currently at different stages of export oriented industrialisation, the cases demonstrate that workplace practices in the EOI sector in Malaysia are more dynamic and advanced than those of the Philippines. Thus, the article shows that the industrialisation strategies of nations create distinct patterns of industrial relations and human resource practices within the economy, controlling for other factors such as business strategies and the technological processes of firms that also cause such variation in IR/HR patterns.
RNA interference in biology and disease

RNA interference (RNAi) is a conserved biologic response to double-stranded RNA that results in the sequence-specific silencing of target gene expression. Over the past 5 years, an intensive research effort has facilitated the rapid movement of RNAi from a relatively obscure biologic phenomenon to a valuable tool used to silence target gene expression and perform large-scale functional genomic screens. In fact, recent studies reported in this journal and others have demonstrated success using RNAi to address the role of oncogene expression in leukemia cell lines and to validate the therapeutic potential of RNAi for treating these blood disorders. In order to advance these applications and gain an appreciation for the future of RNAi both in basic research and in the treatment of diseases caused by aberrant gene expression, it is important to have an understanding of the process of RNAi and its limitations.