cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A magnetic micropore chip for rapid (<1 hour) unbiased circulating tumor cell isolation and in situ RNA analysis

The use of microtechnology for the highly selective isolation and sensitive detection of circulating tumor cells has shown enormous promise. One challenge for this technology is that the small feature sizes – which are the key to this technology's performance – can result in low sample throughput and susceptibility to clogging. Additionally, conventional molecular analysis of CTCs often requires cells to be taken off-chip for sample preparation and purification before analysis, leading to the loss of rare cells. To address these challenges, we have developed a microchip platform that combines fast, magnetic micropore based negative immunomagnetic selection (>10 mL h−1) with rapid on-chip in situ RNA profiling (>100× faster than conventional RNA labeling). This integrated chip can isolate both rare circulating cells and cell clusters directly from whole blood and allow individual cells to be profiled for multiple RNA cancer biomarkers, achieving sample-to-answer in less than 1 hour for 10 mL of whole blood. To demonstrate the power of this approach, we applied our device to the circulating tumor cell based diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. We used a genetically engineered lineage-labeled mouse model of pancreatic cancer (KPCY) to validate the performance of our chip. We show that in a cohort of patient samples (N = 25) that this device can detect and perform in situ RNA analysis on circulating tumor cells in patients with pancreatic cancer, even in those with extremely sparse CTCs (<1 CTC mL−1 of whole blood).
Ashamed and Alone: Comparing Offender and Family Member Experiences With the Sex Offender Registry

Originally intended to decrease sexual victimization by increasing community awareness of convicted sex offenders, sex offender registration and notification laws have been shown to produce numerou...
Examining variability in parent feeding practices within a low-income, racially/ethnically diverse, and immigrant population using ecological momentary assessment.

Abstract Background Current measures of parent feeding practices are typically survey-based and assessed as static/unchanging characteristics, failing to account for fluctuations in these behaviors across time and context. The current study uses ecological momentary assessment to examine variability of, and predictors of, parent feeding practices within a low-income, racially/ethnically diverse, and immigrant sample. Methods Children ages 5–7 years old and their parents (n = 150 dyads) from six racial/ethnic groups (n = 25 from each; Black/African American, Hispanic, Hmong, Native American, Somali, White) were recruited for this mixed-methods study through primary care clinics. Results Among parents who used restriction (49%) and pressure-to-eat (69%) feeding practices, these feeding practices were utilized about every other day. Contextual factors at the meal associated with parent feeding practices included: number of people at the meal, who prepared the meal, types of food served at meals (e.g., pre-prepared, homemade, fast food), meal setting (e.g., kitchen table, front room), and meal emotional atmosphere (p Conclusions Parent feeding practices varied across the week, indicating feeding practices are more likely to be context-specific, or state-like than trait-like. There were some meal characteristics more strongly associated with engaging in restriction and pressure-to-eat feeding practices. Given that parent feeding practices appear to be state-like, future interventions and health care providers who work with parents and children may want to address contextual factors associated with parent feeding practices to decrease restriction and pressure-to-eat parent feeding practices.
Ontogeny of Sensory Systems

The branch of neuroscience seeking relationships between the structural development of the sensory systems and the emergence of their function is still in its infancy. Although such relationships have been found, current knowledge is restricted to simple generalizations about functional capacities, such as the onset of vision or the onset of audition, and the most obvious of structural changes, such as the formation of synaptic connections between the eye or the ear and the brain. The inability to show more complicated relationships is due in part to difficulties in testing a wide variety of sensory functions in immature animals and in part to the subtlety of many of the developmental changes in the structure of neurons. Accordingly, this chapter is divided into two sections, the first focusing on anatomical structure and the second on function, both physiological and perceptual.
Influence of wettability due to laser-texturing on critical heat flux in vertical flow boiling

Abstract The critical heat flux (CHF) marks the upper limit of safe operation of heat transfer systems that utilize two-phase boiling heat transfer. In a heat-flux-controlled system, exceeding the CHF results in rapid temperature excursions which can be catastrophic for system components. Recent studies have focused on the influence of surface wettability on the departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) through surface modifications and coatings, though many of these studies are limited to pool boiling systems. In this study, the surface wettability influence is studied on the boiling curves and specifically the point of DNB. A femtosecond laser is used to texture the surface to change the wettability from hydrophilic to hydrophobic. A parametric study is performed with mass flux, pressure, and inlet subcooling in a vertical rectangular channel that is heated from one side. CHF excursions are triggered under various system conditions and are compared with existing models. For the experimental conditions considered, the hydrophobic surface showed delayed onset of nucleate boiling compared to the hydrophilic surface, shifting the boiling curves to higher wall superheat. The hydrophobic surface also showed significantly lower CHF for the same system conditions and less sensitivity to changes in subcooling.
Is transparency a good thing? How online price transparency and variability can benefit firms and influence consumer decision making

Abstract The internet has empowered consumers and changed the way they search and shop for products and services by increasing the availability and transparency of pricing and other comparative information. However, what is less clear from a managerial perspective is just how transparent pricing information should be. While it might seem that increasing price transparency would reduce consumer search, we find that it may actually increase search and delay. In this article, we review the use of firms’ application of price transparency in practice and propose that specific types of information can influence how transparent prices are to consumers, and how such transparency can influence consumer decisions in a way that is beneficial for the firm. We focus on a specific form of transparency: whether or not the consumer knows the range of pricing. We also discuss whether a high variability pricing approach versus a low variability pricing approach influences consumer decision making—and whether this influence is moderated by transparency.
GENERATION AND TRAPPING OF N-ACYLIMINIUM IONS DERIVED FROM ISOMUNCHNONE CYCLOADDUCTS. A VERSATILE ROUTE TO FUNCTIONALIZED HETEROCYCLES

A series of 2-diazo-N-hept-6-enoylmalonamides were prepared and treated with a catalytic amount of rhodium(II) perfluorobutyrate. The resultant carbenoids underwent facile cyclization onto the neighboring amide carbonyl oxygen atom to generate isomunchnone-type intermediates. Subsequent 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition across the pendant olefin afforded intramolecular cycloadducts in high yield. The cascade sequence is simple, direct, and extremely tolerant of structural diversity. Exposure of these cycloadducts to Lewis acids resulted in oxabicyclic ring opening. N-Acyliminium ions of wide structural variety can be easily generated by this sequence of reactions. Different cyclization pathways become available depending on the nature of the substituent group attached to the amide nitrogen. When the tethered group is electrophilic in nature, proton loss from the initially formed N-acyliminium ion occurs rapidly to give an acyl enamide which undergoes a subsequent cyclization at the electrophilic center.
MODERNITY AND THE VERNACULAR

The vernacular in medieval literature, jazz, and rock and roll, as an avant-garde practice, a search for a sociality in the absence of pre-existing rules. Contrast between modernist experimentation (which is teleological and project-oriented) and the vernacular encounter with sheer chance. The social poetics of the vernacular as a way of rethinking the relation between literature and society.
Pulmonary Atresia, Intact Ventricular Septum

Pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum is a rare, initially ductal-dependent congenital cardiac lesion. It occurs at a rate of 4 per 100,00 live births [1]. There are many associated intracardiac anomalies that may occur in pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum. It generally occurs in a patient with atrioventricular and ventriculo-arterial concordance. There are varying right ventricular morphological changes, and depending on what is present management may vary. The presence of deleterious coronary anomalies presents a major challenge to the management of such patients. In fact, extremes of patient may be offered cardiac transplantation from the very beginning.
Endemic Fungi in Transplant and Immunocompromised Hosts: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention

Dimorphic endemic fungi exist as mold and yeast forms at room and body temperature within the host, respectively. Primary infection can arise from new environmental exposure and less frequently through organ transplantation. Reactivation of latent infection can occur when immunosuppression is introduced or intensified. Transplant and immunocompromised hosts (ICH) represent important populations at risk for complicated and disseminated forms of endemic mycoses (EM). Diagnosis is challenging as immunosuppression contributes to insidious clinical presentations resulting in diagnostic and treatment delays. Herein, we present updated diagnosis and prevention strategies for EM in the potential organ donor, transplant candidate and recipient, and ICH. Several EM have previously been considered as restricted to a limited geographical area; however, factors such as global warming, changing precipitation patterns, and increased travel are actively expanding the geographical distribution of endemic fungi. Serological testing, often used in the immunocompetent host, has significant limitations in transplant recipients and ICH. Fungal molecular methods have emerged as an important complementary diagnostic strategy for EM but would benefit from greater standardization and wider availability. High clinical suspicion and a multipronged diagnostic approach are recommended for timely diagnosis and prevention of complications. In ICH, combining diagnostic methods increases diagnostic yield for EM. Immunosuppression-specific risk assessment, laboratory monitoring, and targeted antifungal prophylaxis are pivotal to reduce EM burden. The use of molecular methods for early diagnosis and the role of newer azoles and immunomodulation in the management of EM require further investigation.
In response to complement anaphylatoxin peptides C3a and C5a, human vascular endothelial cells migrate and mediate the activation of B-cells and polarization of T-cells

The vascular endothelium has been discovered in the past several years to be important in shaping the cellular immune response. During the immune response the vascular endothelium is constantly perturbed by biologically potent molecules, including the complement activation peptides, C3a and C5a. Despite the importance of C3a and C5a in inflammation and immunity, their role in modulating lymphocyte function via activation of vascular endothelial cells is unknown. Accordingly, we investigated the regulated expression of the C3a and C5a receptors (complement anaphylatoxin C3a receptor [C3aR] and complement anaphylatoxin C5a receptor 1 [C5aR1]) on human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) and examined how C3a or C5a activation of HUVECs affects the activation and polarization of lymphatic cells. Our findings demonstrated that C3a and C5a increase C3aR and C5aR1 expression by HUVECs as well as directing their cellular transmigration and spreading through transwell filters. Moreover, C3a- or C5a-stimulated endothelial cells: (1) caused activation of B-lymphoblasts with significant increase in Fas Ligand (CD95L) (FasL), CD69, and IL-R1 expression, and (2) skewed T-lymphoblast cells toward a Th1 subtype, (CD4+ /CCR5+ ) that correlated with significant increase of IFN-γ. Collectively, these data indicate that C3a and C5a signaling is important in the activation and polarization of lymphocytes as they traffic through the vascular endothelium during the immune response.
Association of Emergency Department Opioid Administration With Ongoing Opioid Use: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Patients With Back Pain

Opioids are commonly administered in the emergency department (ED) and prescribed for the treatment of back pain. It is important to understand the unintended consequences of this approach to inform treatment decisions and the consideration of alternative treatments. Recent evidence has shown that ED opioid prescriptions are associated with future opioid use. The objective of this study was to measure the association of opioid administration in the ED to patients treated for back pain with future opioid use. Methods This is a retrospective study of opioid naive adults discharged from the ED with a diagnosis of back pain. Patients were stratified by opioid therapy (none, ED administration only, prescription only, or ED administration + prescription). Relative risks of ongoing opioid use (filling >90-day supply in 180 days following ED visit as documented in the prescription drug monitoring program) were calculated for each opioid therapy group and compared to no the no opioid group. Results We identified 24,487 opioid naive back pain patients.. The median age was 38 years, 55% were female and 56% were non-Hispanic white. 41% received no opioid, 10% were only administered an ED opioid, 18% only received a prescription, and 31% received an ED opioid + prescription. The adjusted relative risks of ongoing use compared to the no opioid group were: ED only 1.9, prescription only 2.1, ED+ prescription 2.3. The increased risk persisted for other definitions of ongoing use and after adjustment for baseline pain scores. Conclusions For opioid naive patients with back pain, both ED opioid administration and opioid prescriptions are associated with a doubling of the risk of ongoing opioid use compared to patients not treated with opioids. This supports the consideration of minimizing exposure to opioids while treating back pain in the ED.
Waste to high performance materials: Self-assembly of short carbon fiber polymer composites

Abstract Traditional manufacturing of carbon fiber/polymer composite parts is restricted to non-complex geometries and remains expensive due to costly carbon fiber production, laborious processing steps, and generates 20–30% short fiber waste. We present an inexpensive method of aligning and consolidating short (waste) fibers into needle-like building blocks for composite part manufacturing that capitalizes on the anisotropy of short fibers. The method consists of mixing suspended short fibers with a secondary phase that induces self-assembly of the short fibers into an overlapping needle-like bundle with polymer binder distributed in the interstitial sites. The process can achieve high volume fraction of fiber comparable to that of high-performance composites. These self-assembled building blocks can be consolidated to form large scale parts, and they offer several advantages over traditional continuous fiber manufacturing, such as forming complex geometries, utilizing less expensive short fibers, simplifying processability, and increasing fiber recyclability.
The relationship between portable school-based oral health prevention services and subsequent oral health treatment.

Author(s): Pourat, Nadereh; Chen, Xiao; Spetz, Joanne | Abstract: ObjectivesThis study examines whether a portable, school-based, preventive oral health program was associated with reduced use of treatment services over time.MethodsWe obtained encounter data from Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC) in Connecticut that operates such a program. We followed cohorts of children for 4 years, examining change in ratio of treatment to total services in the fourth year, following receipt of portable preventive care in the prior 3 years. The sample included 3,006 children 4.5 to 15 years old on their first visit during 2005-2015. We used structural equation path models to assess change in the dependent variable, controlling for available demographics and service use patterns. We conducted additional sensitivity analyses to assess robustness of our findings.ResultsWe found a reduction in ratio of treatment (particularly restorative) to total services in the fourth year, given receipt of portable preventive care in the third year (direct impact) and receipt of portable preventive care in prior years (indirect impact). Older children and those covered by Medicaid (versus privately insured) had a higher ratio of treatment to total services in the fourth year.ConclusionsOur retrospective analysis showed CHC portable dental program may reduce the use of treatment services over time among underserved children. This program is an example of a viable approach that could be emulated elsewhere if regulations allow remote supervision of hygienists and reimbursement levels are adequate.
Palliative Care in MCS Patients: Insights into Current Practice and Outcomes

Integration of palliative care with heart failure has historically been inadequate partly due to poor prognostication. The advent of mechanical circulatory support and LVAD destination therapy identified a new patient population that may benefit from palliative care. The palliative care team assists patients and caregivers prior to receiving mechanical circulatory support through preparedness planning. Preparedness planning differs from traditional advance care planning due to its specific focus on possible treatment complications including infection, cerebrovascular events, device malfunction, and bleeding. A proficient understanding of these complications is necessary to effectively prepare patients before implantation as well as support them in the event they occur. Palliative care may also help with transitions of care at the end of life. Communication with patients, family members, and the medical team during these transitions is vital. Most patients with mechanical circulatory support die in the hospital, and palliative providers must be comfortable with VAD deactivation. Greater palliative care involvement along the continuum of care may lead to a higher rate of hospice referral to better support patient and families at the end of life.
Antigen-Specific Adaptive Immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in Acute COVID-19 and Associations with Age and Disease Severity.

Limited knowledge is available on the relationship between antigen-specific immune responses and COVID-19 disease severity. We completed a combined examination of all three branches of adaptive immunity at the level of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell and neutralizing antibody responses in acute and convalescent subjects. SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were each associated with milder disease. Coordinated SARS-CoV-2-specific adaptive immune responses were associated with milder disease, suggesting roles for both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in protective immunity in COVID-19. Notably, coordination of SARS-CoV-2 antigen-specific responses was disrupted in individuals ≥ 65 years old. Scarcity of naive T cells was also associated with aging and poor disease outcomes. A parsimonious explanation is that coordinated CD4+ T cell, CD8+ T cell, and antibody responses are protective, but uncoordinated responses frequently fail to control disease, with a connection between aging and impaired adaptive immune responses to SARS-CoV-2.
Plasma sheath and presheath development near a partially reflective surface

This work addresses one-dimensional evolution of a collisionless plasma next to a solid surface that is immersed into the plasma instantaneously. In particular, we consider how the self-similar rarefaction wave (Allen & Andrews, J. Plasma Phys., vol. 4, 1970, pp. 187–194) establishes dynamically and how the electron reflection from the surface modifies the structure of the rarefaction wave and the Debye sheath. We demonstrate that a sufficiently strong reflection eliminates the Debye sheath and changes the wall potential and the plasma flow parameters significantly. The paper presents numerical results that illustrate the developed analytical theory.
Multicentric study of patients receiving 50 or 100 mSv in a single day through CT imaging-frequency determination and imaging protocols involved.

To assess the magnitude and characterization of CT imaging protocols of patients receiving 50 or 100 mSv in a single day. In this multicentric retrospective study covering up to 279 hospitals from January 2015 to December 2019, the effective dose (E) as estimated by dose management system from dose length product of patients was filtered and grouped into per-day dose bands (≤ 20, > 20–50, > 50–70, > 70–100, > 100–200, > 200 mSv). Information on patient’s age and imaging protocol was noted. The data were analyzed to determine the frequency of occurrence in each dose band. Top 20 CT imaging protocols that led to patients with a dose of ≥ 50 mSv in a single acquisition were identified and their relative frequency was estimated. A total of approx. 4.3 million (4,283,738) CT exams were performed in approx. 3.9 million (3,880,524) patient-days indicating 9.41% had more than one CT exam in a single day. There were 31,058 (0.8%) patient-days with ≥ 50 mSv and 1191 (0.03%) with ≥ 100 mSv. Nearly 1/3rd patient-days reaching ≥ 50 mSv were of patients aged 50 years or younger. The top 20 CT imaging protocols that led to ≥ 50 mSv in a single day belonged to the body region (chest or abdomen and pelvis) and nearly one-third were angiographic studies. In the first study of its kind, we report that patients with 50 mSv+ in a single day or a single exam are not rare. The information on imaging protocols leading to such doses and their frequency has been provided to help develop dose management strategies. • Our study of 4,283,738 CT exams performed in 3,880,524 patient-days indicates 0.8% with 50 mSv+ and 0.03% with 100 mSv+ in a single day. • A total of 9.41% underwent more than one CT exam in a single day; nearly 1/3 rd of those with 50 mSv+ were ≤ 50 years of age. • Identified top 20 CT imaging protocols that led to 50 mSv+ doses in a single exam. All belong to chest or abdomen and pelvis and nearly 1/3 rd were angiographic studies.
Painless loss of vision: rapid diagnosis of a central retinal artery occlusion utilizing point-of-care ultrasound

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become an essential part of the evaluation of vision loss among emergency physicians in the emergency department (ED). It is frequently used to evaluate for vitreous hemorrhage, foreign bodies, retinal detachment, optic neuritis and posterior vitreous detachment; however, it can also be used to evaluate for a central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO). A POCUS can reveal a hyperechoic density in the optic nerve sheath just proximal to the retinal surface, and this is referred to as a retrobulbar 'spot sign' (RBSS). We present the case of an 88-year-old male that presented to our community ED with a painless loss of vision to his right eye. A POCUS revealed an RBSS of the central retinal artery and he was subsequently diagnosed with a CRAO. At his 1-month follow-up, he has regained light perception and 15% of his vision, however, remains with significant visual impairment.
HTNN: deep learning in heterogeneous transform domains with sparse-orthogonal weights

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) achieved great success on various tasks in recent years. Their applications to low power and low cost hardware platforms, however, have been often limited due to extensive complexity of convolution layers. We present a new class of transform domain deep neural networks (DNNs), where convolution operations are replaced by element-wise multiplications in heterogeneous transform domains. To further reduce the network complexity, we propose a framework to learn sparse-orthogonal weights in heterogeneous transform domains co-optimized with a hardware-efficient accelerator architecture to minimize the overhead of handling sparse weights. Furthermore, sparse-orthogonal weights are non-uniformly quantized with canonical-signed-digit (CSD) representations to substitute multiplications with simpler additions. The proposed approach reduces the complexity by a factor of 4.9– 6.8 $\times$ without compromising the DNN accuracy compared to equivalent CNNs that employ sparse (pruned) weights. The code is available at https://github.com/unchenyu/HTNN.
Identifying Cell-Type-Specific Metabolic Signatures Using Transcriptome and Proteome Analyses.

Studies in various tissues have revealed a central role of metabolic pathways in regulating adult stem cell function in tissue regeneration and tumor initiation. The unique metabolic dependences or preferences of adult stem cells, therefore, are emerging as a new category of therapeutic target. Recently, advanced methods including high-resolution metabolomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics have been developed to address the growing interest in stem cell metabolism. A practical framework integrating the omics analyses is needed to systematically perform metabolic characterization in a cell-type-specific manner. Here, we leverage recent advances in transcriptomics and proteomics research to identify cell-type-specific metabolic features by reconstructing cell identity using genes and the encoded enzymes involved in major metabolic pathways. We provide protocols for cell isolation, transcriptome and proteome analyses, and metabolite profiling and measurement. The workflow for mapping cell-type-specific metabolic signatures presented here, although initially developed for intestinal crypt cells, can be easily implemented for cell populations in other tissues, and is highly compatible with most public datasets. © 2021 The Authors. Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Intestinal crypt isolation and cell population purification Basic Protocol 2: Transcriptome analyses for cell-type-specific metabolic gene expression Basic Protocol 3: Proteome analyses for cell-type-specific metabolic enzyme levels Basic Protocol 4: Metabolite profiling and measurement.
The Elementary Theory of. Stressed Skin Construction: The Second of a Series of Articles on the Stressing of Modern Aeroplane Structures

A STRUCTURE is, or at least should be, the result of purposive design. It is there‐fore rational and the principles of its functioning should be apparent after a little study. Its purpose is to carry certain types of load and its ‘appreciation’ consists in unravelling all the various ways in which it can achieve its purpose. The appreciation of structures is largely a matter of experience, but the following lines of attack are often useful.
Which Eurasians Can Speak? Elite Politics, the Lower Classes and Contested Eurasian Identity

Through a poem entitled ‘The Eurasian Anthem,’ published in a colonial journal in 1826, this chapter explores the historic identity formation of the mixed-race Anglo-Indian community and its fault lines. By examining the anonymous authorship of the poem, its form, historic context and resonances, what emerges is an account of the hidden power dynamics between elite and subaltern Anglo-Indians embedded in the carefully crafted collective Anglo-Indian identity put forward by the ‘Anthem’ and directed toward colonial authorities. The ‘Anthem’ is unmistakably political, foreshadowing the ways in which the Anglo-Indian identity project would always be a state-ward facing political project but with intra-communal tension over power and voice. While the ‘Anthem’ is an early articulation of Anglo-Indian identity, this chapter traces some of the dynamics it reveals up to Indian Independence in 1947.
Prometheus Unbound: The BP Gulf Coast Claims Facility as a Means for Resolving Mass Tort Litigation -- A Fund Too Far

In 2001, in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Congress enacted legislation to create the World Trade Center Victims’ Compensation Fund. In ensuing years, this fund approach was widely heralded as a fair, expeditious means for resolving mass tort claims. However, a number of scholars subsequently have raised serious challenges with regard to the legitimacy of the WTC Fund. With the recent creation of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and BP Gulf Oil spill, the various criticisms of the WTC Fund have even more powerful resonance. If the WTC Fund represented a movement towards the embrace of fund-mechanisms for resolving mass tort claims, then the Gulf Coast Claims Facility not only has expanded on this model, but advanced the model in an even more radical, less lawful direction. In this view, it is difficult to discern any basis for legitimacy for the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. For those concerned with the rule of law, equity, and fundamental fairness, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility ought to be a cause for concern. As this article suggests, the arc of special master and GCCF administrator Ken Feinberg’s career neatly demonstrates the evolution of at least three different fund models, progressing from arguably the most legitimate to the arguably the least legitimate (and most lawless). This evolution illustrates a seamless progression from (1) a judicially-approved and managed class action fund to (2) a Congressionally-mandated and supervised fund, to (3) a defendant-created and directed fund. In the haste to embrace the fund approach to mass claim resolution, little attention has focused on how these “funds” have evolved from entities governed by the rule of law to a model essentially unconstrained by law. This paper compares several dimensions of the World Trade Center Victims’ Compensation Fund with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. By focusing on various aspects of fund creation and implementation, the purpose is to draw attention to the ways in which the Gulf Coast Claims Facility is unlike the WTC Fund. After this lengthy exploration of these two funds, the article concludes with a discussion of the concept of a “fund approach” to the resolution of mass tort litigation, and raises concerns about this model. This final assessment considers the Gulf Coast Claims Facility in the context of other fund resolutions of mass claims, returning to the theme that the Gulf Coast Claims Facility represents a radical and troubling departure from other fund resolutions of mass claims, about which rule-of-law advocates ought to be concerned.
The Causes of Growth in Prison Admissions and Populations

The explosive growth in the US prison population is well documented, but its causes are poorly understood. In this paper I exploit previously-unused data to define precisely where the growth is occurring. In short, the growth in prison populations has been driven almost entirely by increases in felony filings per arrest. All other possible sites of growth — arrests, admissions per filing, convictions per filings and admissions per conviction, and even (perhaps most surprisingly) time served per admission — have barely changed over the past four decades. But the growth in filings tracks that of admissions almost perfectly. This paper demonstrates the importance of felony filings and considers some of the possible explanations for their growth.
A process model of discretionary service behavior

Abstract Managing the service behavior of contact employees (service agents) who work with customers is of increasing concern and importance to employers. We present a theoretical framework and model that explicates the cognitive process influencing service agent behavior during customer service encounters, which we describe as discretionary service behavior (DSB). The DSB model takes a contract management approach, incorporating agents' perceived organizational support (based on their evaluation of their psychological contract status and resultant fairness perceptions), their intentions to perform DSB, and their perception of the feedback they receive from customers (and its joint influence on DSB). We define DSB, examine potential antecedents, present research propositions related to the model, and discuss potential organizational outcomes.
Abstract W P209: Trends in Hospital Certification and EMS Utilization of Primary Stroke Centers

Objective: In December 2003, the Joint Commission began certifying primary stroke centers (PSCs). Preferential routing of suspected stroke cases by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to PSCs is recommended by the American Heart Association and Philadelphia EMS officially enacted such a policy in October 2011. We assessed trends in hospital bypass over time and estimated the time cost of bypassing the nearest hospital. Methods: Data from the Philadelphia EMS database was used to identify patients with a prehospital impression of stroke, defined by EMS provider impression, between January 2004 and December 2013. PSC status and date of initial certification was determined for each of the 22 hospitals in the region. Travel distances and estimated transport times from the scene to all area hospitals were calculated. Results: The number of PSCs increased over time from 1 hospital in 2004 to 17 in 2013. There were a total of 15,034 cases. The proportion of cases arriving at PSCs increased from 6.3% in 2004 to 87.6% in 2013. There was an increase in the total proportion of cases in which EMS bypassed the closest hospital, 36.9% in 2004 to 41.4% in 2013, p=.006. As more hospitals became PSCs, bypass of the closest hospital to arrive at non-PSCs decreased while bypass of the closest hospital to arrive at PSCs increased (Figure 1). Hospitals that would eventually become certified as PSCs received 79.8% of stroke cases in 2004 and 87.6% in 2013, p<.001. Patients who bypassed the closest hospital for a PSC had longer mean transport times than patients transported to the closest, non-PSC, 9.0 vs. 5.0 minutes, p<0.001. Conclusions: EMS bypass of the closest hospital was common before there was an official destination policy and has only modestly increased over the study period. Increasing numbers of patients were treated at PSCs over time, primarily due to increasing numbers of PSCs. ![][1] [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
Religion as a coping mechanism for global labor: Lessons from the South Asian Shia Muslim diaspora in the US

Purpose – This paper seeks to analyze the manner in which an immigrant community (South Asian Shia Muslims) deploys religious institutions as a coping mechanism to survive in a demanding and culturally alien environment.Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is derived from an ethnographic examination of a community of South Asian Shia Muslims in the United States.Findings – The paper focuses on three elements of organizational coping. First, communities struggle with the promises and perils of transnationalism. Second, the coming of age of children, whose life experiences do not involve dislocation, produce interesting generational engagements. Finally, the community is often challenged by the nuanced task of political engagement with the broader society.Research implications – An in‐depth focus on employment‐related experiences of Shia Muslim diaspora in the West may be a fruitful area for future research.Practical implications – Employers and governments ought to pay attention to internal heterogen...
Social Choice and Individual Liberties

Sen's characterization of an essential feature of libertarianism is examined and found fatally flawed. The impossibility of a Paretian liberal (Sen (1970)) follows from putting an existential claim, Condition L, to a universal test. The failure to specify those elements for which Condition L is true leads to a series of logical errors culminating in the Paretian epidemic (Sen (1976)). Decisive liberties co-exist because they pertain to choices that are not mutually exclusive. Indecisive liberties co-exist through mutual consent. The liberal partition limits the scope of personal liberties to personal choices.
Alpha-particle emission from the deep-inelastic reaction 1354 MeV /sup 165/Ho+/sup 181/Ta

The in-plane correlation between projectile-like fragments and ..cap alpha..-particles has been studied over a broad range of angles for the system 1354 MeV /sup 165/Ho+/sup 181/Ta. These data unambiguously indicate that the dominant sources of ..cap alpha..-particles are the fully accelerated fragments.
Lawsone Derivatives IV. 3-ω-substituted Alkyllawsones and Related Compounds

This paper reports the preparation of two 3-alkyllawsones in which there is a nitrogen mustard function in the ω -position. In addition, a potentially general route to the preparation of 3- ω -aminoalkyllawsones is described. The method involves introduction of an ω -amino group via an ω -azido group.
Bone Marrow-Derived Cells Exhibiting Lung Epithelial Cell Characteristics Are Enriched In Vivo Using Methylguanine DNA Methyltransferase-Mediated Drug Resistance

Previous studies have suggested that donor bone marrow-derived cells can differentiate into lung epithelial cells at low frequency. We investigated whether we could enrich the number of donor-derived hematopoietic cells that have type II pneumocyte characteristics by overexpression of the drug resistance gene methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT). MGMT encodes O6-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase (AGT), a drug resistance protein for DNA damage induced by N,N′-bis(2-chloroethyl)-N-nitrosourea (BCNU), and the mutant P140K MGMT confers resistance to BCNU and the AGT inactivator O6-benzylguanine (BG). For this study, we used two MGMT selection models: one in which donor cells had a strong selection advantage because the recipient lung lacked MGMT expression, and another in which drug resistance was conferred by gene transfer of P140K MGMT. In both models, we saw an increase in the total number of donor-derived cells in the lung after BCNU treatment. Analysis of single-cell suspensions from 28 mice showed donor-derived cells with characteristics of type II pneumocytes, determined by surfactant protein C (SP-C) expression. Furthermore, an increase in the percentage of donor-derived SP-C cells was noted after BCNU or BG and BCNU treatment. This study demonstrates that bone marrow cells expressing MGMT can engraft in the lung and convert into cells expressing the type II pneumocyte protein SP-C. Furthermore, these cells can be enriched in response to alkylating agent-mediated lung injury. These results suggest that expression of MGMT could enhance the capacity of bone marrow-derived cells to repopulate lung epithelium, and when used in combination with a gene of interest, MGMT could have therapeutic applications.
Photoemission spectroscopy investigation of magnesium–Alq3 interfaces

The formation of interfaces between magnesium (Mg) and the organic molecular semiconductor tris(8-hydroxy-quinoline) aluminum (Alq3) is studied via ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy. The morphology and electronic structure of Mg-on-Alq3 and Alq3-on-Mg interfaces are compared. The energy of the Alq3 molecular levels is determined in both cases with respect to a reference Fermi level as a function of interface formation. The difference in injection characteristics between the two interfaces is examined in terms of differences in interface morphology and of electronic gap states induced by the diffusion of Mg at the Mg/Alq3 interface.
Simulations of impact ejecta and regolith accumulation on Asteroid Eros

Abstract We have carried out a set of Monte Carlo simulations of the placement of impact ejecta on Asteroid 433 Eros, with the aim of understanding the distribution and accumulation of regolith. The simulations consisted of two stages: (1) random distribution of primary impact sites derived from a uniform isotropic flux of impactors, and (2) integration of the orbits of test particle ejecta launched from primary impact points until their re-impact or escape. We integrated the orbits of a large number of test particles (typically 10 6 per individual case). For those particles that did not escape we collected the location of their re-impact points to build up a distribution on the asteroid surface. We find that secondary impact density is mostly controlled by the overall topography of the asteroid. A gray-scale image of the density of secondary ejecta impact points looks, in general, like a reduced-scale negative of the topography of the asteroid's surface. In other words, regolith migration tends to fill in the topography of Eros over time, whereas topographic highs are denuded of free material. Thus, the irregular shape of Eros is not a steady-state configuration, but the result of larger stochastic events.
Effects of rapid antigen degradation and VEE glycoprotein specificity on immune responses induced by a VEE replicon vaccine.

Genetic vaccines are engineered to produce immunogens de novo in the cells of the host for stimulation of a protective immune response. In some of these systems, antigens engineered for rapid degradation have produced an enhanced cellular immune response by more efficient entry into pathways for processing and presentation of MHC class I peptides. VEE replicon particles (VRP), single cycle vaccine vectors derived from Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEE), are examined here for the effect of an increased rate of immunogen degradation on VRP vaccine efficacy. VRP expressing the matrix capsid (MA/CA) portion of SIV Gag were altered to promote rapid degradation of MA/CA by various linkages to co-translated ubiquitin or by destabilizing mutations and were used to immunize BALB/c mice for quantitation of the anti-MA/CA cellular and humoral immune responses. Rapid degradation by the N-end rule correlated with a dampened immune response relative to unmodified MA/CA when the VRP carried a glycoprotein spike from an attenuated strain of VEE. In contrast, statistically equivalent numbers of IFNγ+ T-cells resulted when VRP expressing unstable MA/CA were packaged with the wild-type VEE glycoproteins. These results suggest that the cell types targeted in vivo by VRP carrying mutant or wild type glycoprotein spikes are functionally different, and are consistent with previous findings suggesting that wild-type VEE glycoproteins preferentially target professional antigen presenting cells that use peptides generated from the degraded antigen for direct presentation on MHC.
Some Effects of Initial Attitude Importance on Attitude Change

Summary Twenty students holding either important or moderately important initial attitudes wrote counterattitudinal essays to provide a test of competing predictions derived from Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory and Bem's self-perception theory. As expected by self-perception theory, subjects holding important initial attitudes showed less attitude change after counterattitudinal advocacy than did subjects holding moderately important initial attitudes. Additional data suggested that this differential attitude change was not attributable to a subject selection bias or to the production of differentially persuasive essays across the two importance conditions.
Chaucer and Petrarch: “S’amor non è” and the Canticus Troili

The scholastic ambience of S’amor non e ( Rvf 132) is not accidental; in it Petrarch demolishes the medieval cornerstone of knowledge by contradicting Aristotle’s law of non-contradiction. When Chaucer, however, translated the sonnet in the Troilus , he had to ponder its pensive U-turns within the framework of Boccaccio’s Filostrato . From this perspective, Troilus’s “If no love is” is less a retort to the law of non-contradiction than an interrogation of the law of the excluded middle. Chaucer’s Pandarus simultaneously substantiates the law and gives it the lie.
Behavioral effects of chronic narcotic antagonist administration to infant rats

Abstract Rat pups were given daily subcutaneous injections of Naltrexone, an opiate antagonist, throughout infancy. Compared to saline-treated controls, the ontogeny of reflex behavior and body growth was not altered by the chronic drug treatment. However, the latency to morphine-induced analgesia was shorter in Naltrexone-treated pups 9 days following their last injections of Naltrexone.
An approximate approach to design and analysis of fixed-bed catalytic reactors

An approximate approach is proposed for the design and analysis of fixed-bed catalytic reactors in which the intraphase diffusion is important. This approach makes it possible to transform the design and analysis problem of nonisothermal reactors with inter- and intraphase mass and heat transfer resistance into one of simply integrating a single equation with respect to concentration. This transformation is applicable to general from of kinetics. Exceptions are reaction rate forms that can exhibit empirical or approximate negative order behavior. The transformation is based on a generalized effectiveness factor or a reactor point effectiveness factor. While the design and analysis of two-dimensional reactors requires simultaneous solution of conservation equations for mass and heat which are transformed into the equivalents of homogeneous reactors, the problem of one-dimensional reactors with axial dispersion involves simple integration of a single mass conservation equation.
Structure of the class IV adenylyl cyclase reveals a novel fold.

The crystal structure of the class IV adenylyl cyclase (AC) from Yersinia pestis (Yp) is reported at 1.9 {angstrom} resolution. The class IV AC fold is distinct from the previously described folds for class II and class III ACs. The dimeric AC-IV folds into an antiparallel eight-stranded barrel whose connectivity has been seen in only three previous structures: yeast RNA triphosphatase and two proteins of unknown function from Pyrococcus furiosus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Eight highly conserved ionic residues E10, E12, K14, R63, K76, K111, D126, and E136 lie in the barrel core and form the likely binding sites for substrate and divalent cations. A phosphate ion is observed bound to R63, K76, K111, and R113 near the center of the conserved cluster. Unlike the AC-II and AC-III active sites that utilize two-Asp motifs for cation binding, the AC-IV active site is relatively enriched in glutamate and features an ExE motif as its most conserved element. Homologs of Y. pestis AC-IV, including human thiamine triphosphatase, span the three kingdoms of life and delineate an ancient family of phosphonucleotide processing enzymes.