cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Endurance exercise performance: the physiology of champions

Efforts to understand human physiology through the study of champion athletes and record performances have been ongoing for about a century. For endurance sports three main factors – maximal oxygen consumption , the so-called ‘lactate threshold’ and efficiency (i.e. the oxygen cost to generate a give running speed or cycling power output) – appear to play key roles in endurance performance. and lactate threshold interact to determine the ‘performance ‘ which is the oxygen consumption that can be sustained for a given period of time. Efficiency interacts with the performance to establish the speed or power that can be generated at this oxygen consumption. This review focuses on what is currently known about how these factors interact, their utility as predictors of elite performance, and areas where there is relatively less information to guide current thinking. In this context, definitive ideas about the physiological determinants of running and cycling efficiency is relatively lacking in comparison with and the lactate threshold, and there is surprisingly limited and clear information about the genetic factors that might pre-dispose for elite performance. It should also be cautioned that complex motivational and sociological factors also play important roles in who does or does not become a champion and these factors go far beyond simple physiological explanations. Therefore, the performance of elite athletes is likely to defy the types of easy explanations sought by scientific reductionism and remain an important puzzle for those interested in physiological integration well into the future.
Neural Activity Underlying the Effect of Approach-Motivated Positive Affect on Narrowed Attention

Positive affects high in approach motivational intensity narrow attention. The present study extended this recent finding by testing whether a neural activation associated with approach-motivation intensity--relative left frontal-central activity--would underlie the effect of appetitive stimuli on narrowed attention (as measured by local attentional bias). It also tested whether individual differences in approach motivation relate to this attentional narrowing. Results supported predictions, suggesting a common association of relative left frontal hemispheric processing for approach-motivational processes and narrowed attention.
Applying a resilience systems framework to urban environmental education

A growing body of literature on community gardening, watershed restoration, and similar ‘civic ecology’ practices suggests avenues for integrating social and ecological outcomes in urban natural resources management. In this paper, we argue that an environmental education programme in which learning is situated in civic ecology practices also has the potential to address both community and environmental goals. Further, we suggest that civic ecology practices and related environmental education programmes may foster resilience in urban social‐ecological systems, through enhancing biological diversity and ecosystem services, and through incorporating diverse forms of knowledge and participatory processes in resource management. By proposing interrelationships among natural resources management, environmental education, and social‐ecological systems, we hope to open up discussion of a research agenda focusing on the role of environmental education in systems processes and resilience.
Selective availability of protein bound estrogen and estrogen conjugates to the rat kidney.

Estrogen glucuronides are selectively cleared by the kidney as compared to estrogen sulfates. The selective trafficking of circulating serum estrogen conjugates to kidney and urine may arise from differential transport properties of the various estrogen conjugates in the renal microcirculation. In the present study, the effects of glomerular and peritubular permeability barriers, and plasma protein binding on the influx of unconjugated and conjugated estrogens into rat kidney were studied. Experiments were carried out utilizing an in vivo double isotope, single injection, timed tissue sampling technique. The extractions of these steroids by the renal cortex were examined utilizing inulin as the reference substance, as it is freely permeable through the glomerular and tubular capillary permeability barriers, but not extracted by tubular epithelial cells. The method was validated by studying the extraction of para-amino hippuric acid (PAH) before and after probenecid treatment. In the absence of plasma proteins, all the estrogens and estrogen conjugates readily diffused through both the glomerular and peritubular capillary permeability barriers and were extracted by tubular epithelia. The addition of 4% albumin to the injection solution led to significant inhibitions of extraction of estradiol (E2) and estrone sulphate (E1-S) only. The extraction of E1-S was reduced to a value less than that of inulin; the extraction of E2 was less than that of control value but significantly more than that of inulin. The addition to the injection solution of human pregnancy sera containing sex hormone binding globulin and albumin was associated with a reduction in the extraction of all estrogens and estrogen conjugates except estriol and E1-S to values approximating that of inulin. The extraction of E1-S was similar to that seen with 4% albumin. These results suggest that the major unconjugated estrogens and some of their principle conjugates are extracted by the kidney in the absence of serum proteins and the extent of plasma protein binding of estrogens and conjugates is an important factor in determining the differential renal clearance of the sulfate and glucuronide conjugates of the estrogens.
Calnexin induces expansion of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells that confer immunity to fungal ascomycetes via conserved epitopes

Summary Fungal infections remain a threat due to the lack of broad-spectrum fungal vaccines and protective antigens. Recent studies showed that attenuated Blastomyces dermatitidis confers protection via T cell recognition of an unknown but conserved antigen. Using transgenic CD4 + T cells recognizing this antigen, we identify an amino acid determinant within the chaperone calnexin that is conserved across diverse fungal ascomycetes. Calnexin, typically an ER protein, also localizes to the surface of yeast, hyphae, and spores. T cell epitope mapping unveiled a 13-residue sequence conserved across Ascomycota. Infection with divergent ascomycetes, including dimorphic fungi, opportunistic molds, and the agent causing white nose syndrome in bats, induces expansion of calnexin-specific CD4 + T cells. Vaccine delivery of calnexin in glucan particles induces fungal antigen-specific CD4 + T cell expansion and resistance to lethal challenge with multiple fungal pathogens. Thus, the immunogenicity and conservation of calnexin make this fungal protein a promising vaccine target.
Optimal Intervention in Asynchronous Genetic Regulatory Networks

There is an ongoing effort to design optimal intervention strategies for discrete state-space synchronous genetic regulatory networks in the context of probabilistic Boolean networks; however, to date, there has been no corresponding effort for asynchronous networks. This paper addresses this issue by postulating two asynchronous extensions of probabilistic Boolean networks and developing control policies for both. The first extension introduces deterministic gene-level asynchronism into the constituent Boolean networks of the probabilistic Boolean network, thereby providing the ability to cope with temporal context sensitivity. The second extension introduces asynchronism at the level of the gene activity profiles. Whereas control policies for both standard probabilistic Boolean networks and the first proposed extension are characterized within the framework of Markov decision processes, asynchronism at the profile level results in control being treated in the framework of semi-Markov decision processes. The advantage of the second model is the ability to obtain the necessary timing information from sequences of gene-activity profile measurements. Results from the theory of stochastic control are leveraged to determine optimal intervention strategies for each class of proposed asynchronous regulatory networks, the objective being to reduce the time duration that the system spends in undesirable states.
Advancing sex and gender competency in medicine: sex & gender women’s health collaborative

Research conducted to date has deepened our understanding of sex and gender differences in the etiology, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for many conditions that affect both women and men. The Sex and Gender Women’s Health Collaborative (SGWHC) is supported by the coordinated efforts of our founding partners: the American Medical Women’s Association, the American College of Women’s Health Physicians and Society for Women’s Health Research to address the gaps in medical education with regard to sex and gender competency in the care of women. The SGWHC initiated and continues to build a novel digital resource library of sex and gender specific materials to be adopted and adapted into medical education and clinical practice, residing @ http://www.sgwhc.org. This article presents a case for the inclusion of sex and gender focused content into medical curricula and describes a means for students, faculty, and practitioners to access a centralized, interactive repository for these resources.
High-yield cell separations using magnetic nanowires

Ferromagnetic nanowires are demonstrated as a new tool in performing high-yield, single step cell separations on cultures of mammalian cells. The nanowires are made by electrochemical deposition in nanoporous templates, and when added to cultures of 3T3 mouse fibroblast cells, the nanowires can readily bind to the cells. The effectiveness in cell separations of Ni nanowires 350 nm in diameter and 5-35 /spl mu/m long in field gradients of 40 T/m were compared to commercially available superparamagnetic beads. The percentage yield of the separated populations is found to be optimized when the length of the nanowire is matched to the diameter of the cells in the culture. Magnetic cell separations performed under these conditions achieve 80% purity and 85% yield, a four-fold increase over the beads.
Nuclear effective field theory without pions

Effective field theories without explicit pion fields have been developed for the description of weakly-bound nuclei. I review continuum results for systems with up to four nucleons, a novel no-core-shell-model-basis calculation of larger systems, and the extension to halo nuclei.
RETRIEVAL IN VERBAL LEARNING

Investigation of verbal learning by repeated attempts to recall all of the items in a list (in any order), without any further presentation of items that have been recalled once, allows spontaneous retrieval to demonstrate previous storage (on or before the last presentation of an item) and subsequent retention (despite any recall failures), in addition to showing the spontaneous increase of recall without further presentation. Spontaneous retrieval from long-term storage does not improve prior to the abrupt onset of perfectly consistent retrieval, indicating that random and consistent retrieval represent different stages of (item and list) learning and that recall increases during verbal learning because more items reach the stage of consistent retrieval (list learning). This amplifies the analysis of verbal learning in terms of storage for random retrieval (item learning), random retrieval, initial storage for consistent retrieval (initial list learning), and additional list learning (as consistent retrieval replaces random retrieval).
On-chip test circuitry for a 2-ns cycle, 512-kb CMOS ECL SRAM

On-chip test circuitry that provides 8-b-deep emitter-coupled logic (ECL) level patterns to 12 input pads of a 512-kb CMOS ECL static RAM (SRAM) at cycle times as fast as 1.4 ns has been built in a 0.8- mu m CMOS technology with L/sub eff/=0.5 mu m. A unique approach for synchronizing the input signals to the chip-select signal in order to provide an optimum setup time and data-valid windows as the operating frequency changes is described. Measured results and extensive simulation demonstrate the stability of the on-chip test circuitry for cycle times of 1.4-50 ns. The on-chip test circuitry makes it possible to test the SRAM chip at its pipelined cycle time. In addition, the speed of the on-chip test circuitry will track future technology improvements, making it possible to generate test patterns as SRAM performance continues to improve. >
4-HYDROXY-2-NONENAL LEVELS INCREASE IN THE PLASMA OF PATIENTS WITH ADULT RESPIRATORY DISTRESS SYNDROME AS LINOLEIC ACID APPEARS TO FALL

Gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry has been applied to the analysis of plasma linoleic acid and one of its oxidation products, 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), in adult patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Peak areas of total ion chromatograms showed there to be negative correlations between loss of linoleic acid and formation of HNE (measured by selective ion monitoring) in 7 out 10 patients studied. When HNE was quantitated by selective ion monitoring, with reference to a pure standard of HNE and an internal standard of nonanoic acid, ARDS patients showed significantly increased levels of HNE (0.412 +/- 0.023 nmol/ml) compared with normal healthy controls (0.205 +/- 0.018 nmol/ml).
A hierarchical Bayesian approach to the classification of C3 and C4 grass pollen based on SPIRAL δ13C data

Di!erentiating C 3 and C4 grass pollen in the paleorecord is di"cult because of their morphological similarity. Using a spooling wire microcombustion device interfaced with an isotope ratio mass spectrometer, Single Pollen Isotope Ratio AnaLysis (SPIRAL) enables classification of grass pollen as C3 or C4 based upon d 13 C values. To address several limitations of this novel technique, we expanded an existing SPIRAL training dataset of pollen d 13 C data from 8 to 31 grass species. For field validation, we analyzed d 13 C of individual grains of grass pollen from the surface sediments of 15 lakes in Africa and Australia, added these results to a prior dataset of 10 lakes from North America, and compared C4-pollen abundance in surface sediments with C4-grass abundance on the surrounding landscape. We also developed and tested a hierarchical Bayesian model to estimate the relative abundance of C3- and C4-grass pollen in unknown samples, including an estimation of the likelihood that either pollen type is present in a sample. The mean (±SD) d 13 C values for the C3 and C4 grasses in the training dataset were ! 29.6 ± 9.5& and ! 13.8 ± 9.5&, respectively. Across a range of % C4 in samples of known composition, the average bias of the Bayesian model was <3% for C4 in samples of at least 50 grains, indicating that the model accurately predicted the relative abundance of C4 grass pollen. The hierarchical framework of the model resulted in less bias than a previous threshold-based C3/C4 classification method, especially near the high or low extremes of C4 abundance. In addition, the percent of C4 grass pollen in surface-sediment samples estimated using the model was strongly related to the abundance of C4 grasses on the landscape (n = 24, p < 0.001, r 2 = 0.65). These results improve d 13 C-based quantitative reconstructions of grass community composition in the paleorecord and demonstrate the utility of the Bayesian framework to aid the interpretation of stable isotope data. ! 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Differential repression of human and mouse TERT genes during cell differentiation

Differential regulation of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) contributes to the distinct aging and tumorigenic processes in humans and mice. Here, we report that the hTERT gene was strongly repressed during differentiation of human cells, whereas modest mTERT expression was detected in terminally differentiated and post-mitotic cells. The stringent hTERT repression depended on the native chromatin environment because transiently transfected hTERT promoters were not repressed in differentiated cells. Conversely, the transiently transfected mTERT core promoter was repressed during cell differentiation, suggesting that the repression of mTERT promoter did not require its endogenous chromatin structures. To understand the mechanisms of this differential regulation, we examined chromatin structures of the endogenous TERT loci during cell differentiation. In both human and mouse cells, repression was accompanied by the loss of multiple DNase I hypersensitive sites at the TERT promoters and their upstream regions, revealing positions of potential regulatory elements. Interestingly, the hTERT locus was located within a nuclease-resistant chromatin domain in human cells, whereas a corresponding chromatin domain was not detected for the mTERT locus. Taken together, our study indicated that, unlike the repression of mTERT gene, the condensed native chromatin environment of hTERT locus was central to its silencing during cell differentiation.
HEMOLYTIC ANEMIA AND ACUTE RENAL FAILURE ASSOCIATED WITH TEMAFLOXACIN-DEPENDENT ANTIBODIES

Quinine-ingestion has been associated with immune-mediated recurrent pancytopenia, hemolysis, and renal failure. The structure of fluoroquinolone antibiotics is similar to the structure of quinine. Over a 3 month period, three patients at our institution developed hemolysis and renal failure following ingestion of the fluoroquinolone antibiotic temafloxacin. Two of the three patients required hemodialysis. Following withdrawal from the drug, the hemolysis resolved and the renal function eventually returned to normal in all three patients. One patient also had a transient mild thrombocytopenia. Sera from all three patients were tested for drug-dependent antibodies to red blood cells, platelets, and neutrophils. Temafloxacin-dependent red cell antibodies were detected in one patient, and temafloxacin-dependent red cell and neutrophil antibodies were detected in a second patient. No temafloxacin-dependent antibodies were detected in the third patient. Sera from all three patients were also tested for quinine and quinidine-dependent antibodies to red cells, platelets, and neutrophils. Sera from the patient without temafloxacin-dependent red cell antibodies reacted with red cells in the presence of quinine. These results suggest that, at least in some patients, the toxicities associated with temafloxacin are immune mediated.
Leptospirosis in a Caver Returned from Sarawak, Malaysia

This article describes a case of leptospirosis in a man who returned from caving in Sarawak, Malaysia, and includes a discussion of epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. The patient presented with symptoms of leptospirosis, which was confirmed by microhemagglutination titers. He became infected despite taking doxycycline daily for malaria prophylaxis. Leptospirosis is an important consideration in any returned traveler with fever. The spirochete spreads from animals to humans via water. Caving in tropical endemic zones may increase exposure risk due to the combination of multiple skin abrasions with immersions. Water in caves may increase infection risk because of increased water pH. Standard prophylaxis may be inadequate in cases of high-risk exposures.
Force production characteristics in Parkinson's disease.

This experiment examined the preparation and the production of isometric force in Parkinson's disease (PD). PD patients, elderly, and young subjects generated force levels that were a percentage of their maximum (15, 30, 45, and 60%). Subjects were cued on the upcoming target force level and they were asked to produce the required response as fast as possible. PD patients showed a similar progression of force variability and dispersion of peak forces to that of control subjects, implying they have an accurate “internal model” of the required forces. Force production impairments were seen, however, at the within-trial level. PD patients had more irregular force-time curves that were characterized by changes in the rate of force production. The results suggest a more “noisy” output from the motor system and an inability to produce smooth forces. PD patients were also substantially slower in initiating a force production and the delay was localized in the pre-motor reaction time.
Statistics of Light Scattered by Non-Gaussian Fluctuations

In most scattering experiments the scattered light field represents a chaotic superposition of fields scattered from a large number of individual scatterers and therefore obeys Gaussian statistics [1]. That is, the amplitude distribution of the fluctuating scattered field is Gaussian. It is the purpose of this paper to investigate the single time-interval statistics of the scattered light when the number of scatterers is not large. Under these conditions the scattered field is not Gaussian.
An Elective Course Exploring Occupational Justice Through Occupational Storytelling and Story Making

The purpose of this study was to examine whether second-year Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) students who enroll in the elective course “Occupation in Long-Term Care (LTC)” would be able to apply concepts of occupational justice in the nursing home environment through engaging residents in occupational storytelling and story making in order to facilitate resident self-advocacy for participation in a valued occupation. The occupational therapy elective course was developed and implemented with students alternating between the classroom and the nursing home environments. Outcome evaluation measurements included analysis of student reflective journaling to obtain qualitative data. The researcher found that students are able to understand the concepts and issues of occupational justice in the nursing home population and apply knowledge to facilitate the resident’s participation in meaningful occupations.
Aspartame and Behavior in Children

The purpose of the present chapter is to review what actual evidence exists on the relationship between aspartame and behavior in children. Nine challenge studies employing about 10 mg/kg of aspartame found no difference in children’s behavior or cognitive performance challenged with aspartame or sugar (sucrose or fructose). One study found no effect even with a larger dose of 30 mg/kg. These studies do not support a concern that aspartame has adverse effects on the behavior of children, but they were limited because they only examined short-term effects. The effects of chronic ingestion of large doses of aspartame remains unknown.
A Non-Metabolic Model of Acifluorfen Activity

Dans le modele presente les herbicides du type ether diphenylique interagissant avec les carotenoides et/ou les chlorophyllides dans les membranes des plantes pour former un complexe qui genere par photochimie de l'oxygene singulet ou des radicaux peroxydants les lipides
The Market for Innovation in the United States and Japan: Venture Capital and the Comparative Corporate Governance Debate

To date, the comparative corporate governance debate has focused on the reduction of agency costs rather than the ability of a given economic system to encourage the funding and monitoring of innovative new businesses. This paper explores the linkage between corporate governance and innovation by examining the different institutional environments for venture capital in the United States and Japan. The paper begins by outlining the practical and theoretical importance of venture capital, which has been largely overlooked in legal literature. It then profiles the venture capital markets of the United States and Japan, showing that U.S. venture capital funds are larger and more independent, hold larger equity stakes in and take a more active role in the management of portfolio companies, make more early-stage investments, and invest more heavily in new technologies than their Japanese counterparts. The paper traces the sources of these differences to prevailing traits of the corporate governance systems of the two countries, isolating five traits of the U.S. market-oriented governance system that increase the supply of and demand for risk capital, and showing why these traits are not found in Japan's bank-oriented system. The paper concludes that the venture capital market in Japan is constrained by the very institutional framework that is applauded by commentators working from an agency cost perspective, underscoring the need to include innovation in the comparative corporate governance debate.
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to assess molecular-level changes in microorganisms exposed to nanoparticles

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) is a spectroscopy method that can identify variations in the total composition of microorganisms through the determination of changes in functional groups in biomolecules. FTIR measures the vibration and rotation of molecules influenced by infrared radiation at a specific wavelength. This technique allows the identification of structural changes in the molecular binding between microorganisms and metal atoms, which can provide information about the nature of their interactions. In this review article, we will describe the state of the art in current uses of FTIR for the elucidation of bacteria–nanoparticle interactions. We will describe advantages for the application of FTIR in the field of nanotoxicology, including higher signal-to-noise ratio, high energy throughput, as well as high accuracy and stability which are applicable to solid phase samples but not recommended for assays in the liquid phase. Limitations such as multiple background scans and post-processing analysis are not deniable. Comparison of FTIR with other commonly used tools such as Raman spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is also discussed. Finally, we present an application of FTIR for the assessment of bacterial changes in response to the exposure to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The results showed that the AgNPs-induced structural changes in the peptide and amino acids region may lead to alterations of conformation and/or composition of Amid B and Amid III. These results showed that bacteria developed resistance toward AgNPs and resulted in changes in the genotype and expression in the phenotype. Here, ATR–FTIR provided the evidence of the AgNPs cytotoxicity-induced intracellular level alterations in bacteria.
Germline Analysis from Tumor–Germline Sequencing Dyads to Identify Clinically Actionable Secondary Findings

Purpose: To evaluate germline variants in hereditary cancer susceptibility genes among unselected cancer patients undergoing tumor–germline sequencing. Experimental Design: Germline sequence data from 439 individuals undergoing tumor–germline dyad sequencing through the LCCC1108/UNCseq™ (NCT01457196) study were analyzed for genetic variants in 36 hereditary cancer susceptibility genes. These variants were analyzed as an exploratory research study to determine whether pathogenic variants exist within the germline of patients undergoing tumor–germline sequencing. Patients were unselected with respect to indicators of hereditary cancer predisposition. Results: Variants indicative of hereditary cancer predisposition were identified in 19 (4.3%) patients. For about half (10/19), these findings represent new diagnostic information with potentially important implications for the patient and their family. The others were previously identified through clinical genetic evaluation secondary to suspicion of a hereditary cancer predisposition. Genes with pathogenic variants included ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CDKN2A, and CHEK2. In contrast, a substantial proportion of patients (178, 40.5%) had Variants of Uncertain Significance (VUS), 24 of which had VUS in genes pertinent to the presenting cancer. Another 143 had VUS in other hereditary cancer genes, and 11 had VUS in both pertinent and nonpertinent genes. Conclusions: Germline analysis in tumor–germline sequencing dyads will occasionally reveal significant germline findings that were clinically occult, which could be beneficial for patients and their families. However, given the low yield for unexpected germline variation and the large proportion of patients with VUS results, analysis and return of germline results should adhere to guidelines for secondary findings rather than diagnostic hereditary cancer testing. Clin Cancer Res; 22(16); 4087–94. ©2016 AACR. See related commentary by Mandelker, p. 3987
Fiber Based Approaches as Medicine Delivery Systems.

The goal of drug delivery is to ensure that therapeutic molecules reach the intended target organ or tissue, such that the effectiveness of the drug is maximized. The efficiency of a drug delivery system greatly depends on the choice of drug carrier. Recently, there has been growing interest in using micro- and nanofibers for this purpose. The reasons for this growing interest include these materials’ high surface area to volume ratios, ease of fabrication, high mechanical properties, and desirable drug release profile. Here, we review developments in using these materials made by the most prevalent methods of fiber fabrication: electrospinning, microfluidics, wet spinning, rotary spinning, and self-assembly for drug delivery purposes. Additionally, we discuss the potential to use these fiber based systems in research and clinical applications.
Three-Phase Circuits

This chapter contains sections titled: Three-Phase Quantities Wye-Connected Generator Wye-Connected Loads Delta-Connected System Three-Phase Power Measurement Per-Unit System Symmetrical Components Application Examples ]]>
Coupled orbital-thermal evolution of the early Earth-Moon system with a fast-spinning Earth

Abstract Several new scenarios of the Moon-forming giant impact have been proposed to reconcile the giant impact theory with the recent recognition of the volatile and refractory isotopic similarities between Moon and Earth. Two scenarios leave the post-impact Earth spinning much faster than what is inferred from the present Earth-Moon system's angular momentum. The evection resonance has been proposed to drain the excess angular momentum, but the lunar orbit stays at high orbital eccentricities for long periods in the resonance, which would cause large tidal heating in the Moon. A limit cycle related to the evection resonance has also been suggested as an alternative mechanism to reduce the angular momentum, which keeps the lunar orbit at much lower eccentricities, and operates in a wider range of parameters. In this study we use a coupled thermal-orbital model to determine the effect of the change of the Moon's thermal state on the Earth-Moon system's dynamical history. The evection resonance no longer drains angular momentum from the Earth-Moon system since the system rapidly exits the resonance. Whereas the limit cycle works robustly to drain as much angular momentum as in the non-thermally-coupled model, though the Moon's tidal properties change throughout the evolution.
The Association Between Prolonged Breastfeeding and Poor Growth

The smaller size of breast fed children in infancy and thereafter in malnourished and well-nourished populations has resulted in rushes to judgement that have been shown to be ill-advised. The reasons for the smaller size in malnourished populations is due to retaining the small and sickly child at the breast (reverse causality) and the consequent continuing sickliness of this breast fed child (negative confounding). Once the reverse causality and negative confounding have been taken into account breast feeding improves growth, at least through the second year of life. Thus prolonged breastfeeding should always be fostered, especially in malnourished populations. An exception remains when breast milk may transmit disease to the suckling child. In well-nourished populations the magnitude of the difference between breast fed and weaned children is much less than in malnourished populations, is observed to increase over the first year of life, but to have disappeared by the end of the second year. One may never-the-less be concernedthat complimentary feeding practices are not adequate for these children.
Cartel Deterrence in Chile: A Survey of Legal Opinion of the Law, Economics and Social Perceptions That Influence Decision-Makers to Collude

From a consequentialist perspective, the deterrence of undesirable behavior is one of the main functions of a legal system. For antitrust law, the deterrence of cartel behavior is its least controversial goal. Cartels harm markets economies with static and dynamic inefficiencies. And jurisdictions look — often misguidedly — to render collusive behavior unprofitable so that firms do not engage in collusive practices. This article analyzes the Chilean experience in terms of economic and social factors that can induce decision-makers to collude. This study departs from prior work that has emphasized the limits of black box theories to deter corporate crime; the limits of optimal fines in cartel cases; and how social perceptions can also explain the proliferation of criminal behavior. Against this background, I surveyed lawyers in Chile to test how corporate and individual fines, as well as social influence impact people’s disposition to collude. The results shed light on the limits of current cartel deterrence practice. Corporate and individual fines do not deter. Some of these results can be explained according to conventional economic arguments. However, social influence provides further explanations. The main conclusion of this work is that cartel criminalization is advisable for economic and sociological reasons.
Reassessment of the Lateral Torsional Buckling Resistance of I-Section Members: Uniform-Moment Studies

AbstractThe I-section member lateral torsional buckling (LTB) resistance equations of the unified provisions underlying the current AISC and AASHTO specifications are a fit to a large body of experimental test data. It has been observed that finite-element (FE) test simulations commonly predict smaller capacities than the AISC/AASHTO LTB equations, especially in the inelastic LTB region. One reason for this disconnect is the fact that the residual stresses and geometric imperfections are often approximated by conservative nominal values in test simulations. Another reason for the discrepancy is the common lack of consideration of inelastic effective length effects within calibrations to experimental test results. This paper recommends improvements to the current LTB resistance equations to address these shortcomings. The impact of inelastic end restraint in representative beam LTB experimental tests is illustrated through FE test simulations. In addition, extensive test simulation results are presented, b...
UV Light–Induced Aggregation of Titania Submicron Particles

In this study, aggregation of TiO2 (rutile and anatase) submicron particles in deionized (DI) water under ultra-violet (UV) light irradiation was investigated. While no aggregation was observed in the dark, rutile and anatase submicron particles started aggregating upon application of UV light and ceased aggregation in about 2 and 8.4 h, respectively. It has been demonstrated that UV light directly mitigated the particle mobility of TiO2, resulting in a neutralization effect of the Zeta potential. It was also observed that rutile particles aggregated much faster than anatase particles under UV radiation, indicating that the Zeta potential of as-prepared rutile is less than that of anatase in deionized (DI) water. In addition, the interaction energy of rutile and anatase particles was simulated using the Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (DLVO) model. The results showed a significant reduction of barrier energy from 118.2 kBT to 33.6 kBT for rutile and from 333.5 kBT to 46.1 kBT for anatase, respectively, which further validated the remarkable influence of UV irradiation on the aggregation kinetics of rutile and anatase submicron particles. This work presents a further understanding of the aggregation mechanism of light-controlled submicron particles and has a promising potential application in environmental remediation.
Geraden auf gekrümmten Flächen

Wir wurden es lieber vermeiden, diese Frage ernsthaft zu beantworten, aber um Satze beweisen zu konnen, brauchen wir prazise Definitionen.
Using the Borg CR10 Physical Exertion Scale to Measure Patient-perceived Vocal Effort Pre and Post Treatment.

Summary Objectives Reduction of vocal effort is a therapeutic goal in resonant voice therapy and in the treatment of a variety of voice disorders. The Borg CR10 is a perceived effort scale that is widely accepted across a wide variety of disciplines. The purpose of the present study was to examine (1) the utility of an anchored, adapted Borg CR10 in observing treatment-related vocal effort reduction and (2) the convergent validity of the Borg CR10 in its relation to Voice Handicap Index (VHI) item 14. Study Design This is a pretest-posttest experimental design. Methods A total of 36 individuals with phonotraumatic hyperfunctional voice disorders completed item 14 of the VHI and the Borg CR10 at the start and completion of four sessions of resonant voice therapy treatment. Results Scores from the Borg CR10 significantly differentiated pre- from post-therapy perceived effort levels. Convergent validity was demonstrated through significant associations with scores from item 14 of the VHI. Conclusion The anchored Borg CR10 is an easy to use clinical tool to capture treatment-related vocal effort reduction. Whereas VHI item 14 indicates how frequently increased perceived effort is experienced, the Borg CR10 captures the severity of perceived effort used. Thus, the two measures complement each other.
Resale Price Maintenance after Leegin: Behavioral, Evolutionary, and Institutional Insights for Advancing the Free Rider Thesis:

AbstractResale price maintenance (RPM) is a controversial channel pricing strategy that restricts the price at which a product can be resold. Contemporary understanding of RPM is derived mainly from economics, in which various perspectives have been applied to explain its use and effects. Motivated by a recent Supreme Court decision that altered prior restrictions on the use of minimum RPM, the authors propose three new perspectives and related theoretical propositions to enhance understanding of the primary procompetitive explanation of minimum RPM: the free rider thesis. The perspectives and propositions advance knowledge of RPM in ways that are important to academic scholarship, public policy, and managerial practice.
Nanomechanistic properties of reclaimed asphalt pavement modified asphalt binders using an atomic force microscope

AbstractIn recent years, the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) in pavement construction has become a common practice in the U.S. Addition of RAP with virgin asphalts alters the properties of base binders, resulting in a different in-service performance. Superpave tests are routinely used to characterise modified asphalt binders even though they are applicable for unmodified binders and cannot capture properties of modified asphalts. Recently, several researchers used Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) techniques to characterise asphalt binders at an atomic level. In this study, binders from two field RAP samples collected from I-40 and I-30 in Arkansas were recovered using a Rotavapor (AASHTO T 319-08). Different amounts (25, 40, and 60%) of RAP binders were blended with a Performance Grade (PG 64-22) binder. Selected microscale (stiffness) and nanoscale (e.g. morphology and elastic modulus) properties of the blended binders were evaluated in the laboratory through test results obtained from selected Sup...
After Brown: The Challenge to Attain an Equal Unitary Education System

Among citizens and educational reformers a central belief exists that the nationâ€™s public schools are failing. One reality underlying this perception is that while school administrators and political leaders no longer create a separate school system by law (de jure), a de facto dual system still operatesâ€”inferior inner-city schools largely for minority children and superior suburban schools for white children. This paper examines reasons for the dual system, as well as recent Supreme Court decisions holding that school boards are not responsible for desegregating public schools that are virtually one race due to de facto causes. The ability of magnet schools to alleviate the dual system is explored.
Distributed Adaptive Model Predictive Control of a Cluster of Autonomous and Context-Sensitive Body Cameras

Increasing deployment of body cameras by the law enforcement agencies makes us rethink the relation between the camera and the public. In contrast to current implementations of a body camera that use a power-hungry default configuration and can only be turned on and off by an officer, we propose an idea that the camera should be autonomous and active all the time. By leveraging the information from an on-board inertial measurement unit (IMU), these autonomous cameras should dynamically adjust their configuration in order to keep the device under the desired energy budget. To enable such a system, we propose a distributed adaptive model predictive controller for a system of body cameras, which allows the collaboration between multiple cameras which is currently not available in existing implementations.
Kinetic study of spontaneous deposition process of molybdenum oxides

A study of the rate of spontaneous deposition of molybdenumoxides on zinc in ammonia solutions was carried out. Effects of solution pH, disk rotational speed, molybdenum concentration and temperature were evaluated. The process was divided in two stages.The rate of stage 2 was lower than the rate of stage1, this was attributed to the nature of the film formed on zinc surface. The unreacted core model indicates a mixed control, controlled by diffusion through the liquid film and chemical reaction, nevertheless, the results were inconsistent with the diffusion of MoO4-2 because of the rate of the process increases with the decrease in the concentration of molybdate.
Nitroprusside: a potpourri of biologically reactive intermediates.

Sodium nitroprusside, Na2[Fe(CN)5NO], (SNP) has been recognized as a potent, directly acting vasodilator for over a half-century. More recently, it has been found also to inhibit blood platelet aggregation and adhesion. These biologicial activities are ascribed to the nitrosyl ligand on SNP which is thought to activate guanylate cyclase by binding to its critical heme group. c-GMP in turn initiates a cascade of kinase reactions which result in the utimate biological effects. Thus, SNP is one of the compounds known as the nitric oxide (NO) vasodilators (Ignarro, 1989) which mimic the effects of the so-called endothelium-derived relaxing factor (Furchgott and Zawadzki, 1980), an endogenous mediator which many are convinced is identical to NO. The same or a similar factor is believed to play in role in excitatory amino acid transmission in the central nervous system, and to be the cytotoxic factor synthesized by neutrophils and macrophages (Collier and Valiance, 1989).
Complication rates of trainee- versus attending-performed upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.

Background Although esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is usually the first procedure trainees learn, it is not known whether the involvement of a trainee affects the procedure's complication rate, a key quality and safety indicator. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the complication rate of fellow-performed upper endoscopy differs from that of attending gastroenterologists, and whether that difference varies with the level of training. Methods Emergency room visits within 14 days of an outpatient EGD deemed to be probably or definitely related to the EGD were categorized as complications. Complication rates were calculated for attending- and trainee-performed gastrointestinal endoscopies, the latter stratified by level of training. Results Forty-five attendings and 43 fellows performed 21,899 EGDs during the study period. There were 43 complications (1.96 per 1000 EGDs). Procedures performed by any fellow were more likely to have a complication than those performed by an attending (odds ratio [OR] 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17-4.6). This difference was driven by a higher rate of complications among fellows who had completed general gastroenterology training and were in advanced training (OR 3.8, 95%CI 1.76-8.04); all of these complications involved trainees in interventional endoscopy. Fellows in any year of general gastroenterology training were not more likely to cause complications than attendings. Conclusions The rate of complications from EGDs performed by fellows in their general gastroenterology training does not differ from that of attending endoscopists. The complication rate of advanced trainees exceeded that of attendings, but this is likely to be attributable to the higher-risk interventions undertaken by fellows in interventional endoscopy.
Chapter 15: The Elusive Ideal of Market Competition in United States' Health Care

This chapter, in the book Health Care and EU Law (TMC Asser Press 2011), explores how market competition has both driven and (somewhat ironically) undermined U.S. health reform efforts over the past few decades. More than its peers, the U.S. health care system looks to market-inspired theories and policy instruments, even in public programs like Medicare. But decades of promoting market ideals has not given Americans the health care system we desire. Still, the market question remains the basic dividing line in U.S. health policy. This chapter explores how the U.S. health care system remains an international outlier, exploring American exceptionalism in health care. Although many EU member states have embraced market mechanisms in recent health reform initiatives, they do so from a baseline of universal coverage and social solidarity. The U.S. system, in contrast, organizes itself (using the term "organizes" very loosely) around market-based principles, without a baseline of universal coverage or solidarity. Market-based interventions thus may work in EU member states but exacerbate problems in the United States, given these different baselines. The chapter concludes by considering the appropriate role for market competition in health care, given its limitations, highlighting market-based theories embodied in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
Microwave Plasma-Enhanced and Microwave Heated Chemical Reactions

Microwave plasma technology is revolutionizing reaction engineering fields such as methane dry reforming, chemical synthesis, biomass conversion, and waste treatment. Microwave generated plasma offers sustainable, cleaner and efficient operations compared to conventional methods. Microwave plasma reactions are more efficient when integrated with catalysts. In this article, a thorough categorization and comparison of microwave plasma-assisted catalytic reactions are presented, while highlighting their contribution to an energy efficient and sustainable future in chemical processing. An introduction on commercial applications of microwave plasma technology is also presented to emphasize its advantages in modern industries. Microwave irradiation can be used as a source of heat or plasma. The addition of heterogeneous catalyst to either microwave heated or microwave enhanced plasma systems can lead to complex pathways in reaction systems. A final section in this article is dedicated to comprehend this complexity in chemical reactions occurring in microwave heated and microwave plasma-enhanced catalytic systems.
Reachable Power Flow

This letter introduces reachable power flow ( ReachFlow ), a formal method providing a provably over-approximated enclosure of the complete set of the power flow solutions that “can be reached” under various uncertainties. The novelty of ReachFlow lies in: (1) an ordinary differential equation (ODE) formulation which maps the iterative power flow solving process into a virtual dynamic; (2) a reachability analysis of the virtual ODE model which enclose all possible (infinite) power flow solutions under uncertainties in one calculation. Case studies verify the efficacy of ReachFlow as a formal method and, in particular, its capability of handling islanded droop-based microgrids under uncertainties.