cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Performance of "kits" used for clinical chemical analysis of calcium in serum.

Twenty kits for clinical chemical analysis of calcium in serum were evaluated and compared with the. atomic absorption reference method. One kit performed as well as the reference method and five other kits performed acceptably according to arbitrary performance criteria. None of the kits provided completely adequate literature. Normal values, when provided, were frequently not applicable to the kit itself. There was reasonably good agreement between evaluators studying seven different kits in two different laboratories.
Cognitive Behavioral Approaches for Substance Use Disorders

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are prevalent, complex medical conditions that are frequently encountered in primary care, mental health, and specialty care settings. Individuals with SUDs vary considerably in clinical severity, accompanying medical sequelae, and degree of functional impairment, and often struggle with comorbid psychiatric conditions. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an intuitive, theory-driven psychotherapeutic approach that has been shown to be effective in reducing the harm associated with substance use and increasing the chances of remission. This chapter highlights the theoretical rationale for cognitive behavioral interventions for SUD, describes how to implement CBT based on a simplified model of substance use behavior, and provides an illustrative case example of using CBT to treat SUD. As periods of relapse are common along the path to full remission and recovery from SUD, ongoing behavioral management and monitoring using cognitive behavioral approaches is likely to be helpful.
Investigation on iodine nutritional status in Hangzhou area

Objective: In order to implement the strategy of constructing "healthy city of Hangzhou" and guide the residents of Hangzhou to supplement iodine scientifically,we surveyed the content of iodine in the edible salt.Methods: We selected 117 samples from saltworks and 390 samples from residents of Hangzhou,and measured the content of iodine according to the national standard.Results: The percent of pass for the samples from the saltworks is 95.7% and the content ranged from 16.3 to 47.2 mg/kg;for the sample from residents the pass rate is 94.4%,and the content ranged from 0 to 53.0 mg/kg.Conclusion: The results are above the standard that has been stated but there exists the problem that the content of iodine is asymmetry,so more attention should be paid.
EXERGY TRANSFER ANALYSIS FOR CENTRIFUGAL COMPRESSED HIGH POWER HEAT PUMP DEVICE

According to exergy transfer theory, establishment of the exergy transfer mode of unit and device for an online high power centrifugal compressed heat pump is focused on. Some criterions to analyze and evaluate the devices and equipments such as exergy exchange rate, exergy power degressive rate, exergy fluid density degressive rate, and exergy resistance coefficient are raised and defined. The calculation formulas for each criterion are presented also. Using these model and criterions, through an exergy transfer analysis on the energy quality activities during the process of the energy exchange and transfer in the heat pump, the results show that exergy power degressive rate is the highest in throttle and compressor because the flow speed and flow state have the instant drastic changes in the process of flow throttle, which cause the significant loss of exergy, and some deficiencies exist for the compressor mechanism performance and thermophysical properties of refrigerants performance. The exergy resistance coefficient is the highest in evaporator, which reflects that the structure design has the distinct limitation. Exergy power degressive rate and exergy fluid density degressive rate have the same value in the throttle which indicate that the structure factors of the equipment and the time conditions have the same impacts on the throttle. The results of exergy transfer analysis reveal the influence degree of structure design and thermodynamics property of the main equipment, and thermophysical properties of refrigerants impact the process of energy usage in the devices, and indicate the structure design of compressor can be improved further. The method by flow throttling and intensity of pressure decreasing is not appropriate in terms of the significant impacts on the rational energy usage of the devices; the primary problem of the evaporator is caused by the refrigerant factor but not its structure design. From the calculation of the energy analysis and exergy analysis on the devices, it is indicated that energy analysis only reflects the quantitative energy utilizing, and exergy analysis is only the static analysis of energy activities. However, in terms of the dynamic analysis, exergy transfer analysis provides the new information including not only the design parameters for the heat pump device and principle equipments, but also the impacts on the performance of energy usage under the situation with the random running of the equipment system. Therefore, it can provide the detailed suggestions to improve on the heat pump unit designs and direct the device operation.
New therapeutical options for heavy gastrointestinal bleeding

Die Zahl der Patienten mit der Einnahme neuer oraler Antikoagulanzien ist steigend, damit ist auch die Zahl der schweren Blutungsereignisse steigend. Die Entscheidung zur Durchfuhrung einer prokoagulatorischen Therapie ist schwierig zu treffen. Mit Idarucizumab und Andexanet Alfa sind spezifische Antidots sowohl gegen direkte Thrombininhibitoren als auch gegen direkte Faktor Xa-Inhibitoren entwickelt worden. In der endoskopischen Therapie schwerer gastrointestinaler Blutungen stehen mit topisch aufzutragenden Substanzen und neuen Hamostase-Clips alternative Therapieoptionen zur Verfugung. Besonders in der rezidivierenden Ulkusblutung konnen die neu entwickelten Clips eine Hamostase erreichen und eine operative Vorgehensweise verhindern.
Behavioral Economic Laboratory Research in Tobacco Regulatory Science.

OBJECTIVES Research that can provide a scientific foundation for the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tobacco policy decisions is needed to inform tobacco regulatory policy. One factor that affects the impact of a tobacco product on public health is its intensity of use, which is determined, in part, by its abuse liability or reinforcing efficacy. Behavioral economic tasks have considerable utility for assessing the reinforcing efficacy of current and emerging tobacco products. METHODS This paper provides a narrative review of several behavioral economic laboratory tasks and identifies important applications to tobacco regulatory science. RESULTS Behavioral economic laboratory assessments, including operant self-administration, choice tasks and purchase tasks, can be used generate behavioral economic data on the effect of price and other constraints on tobacco product consumption. These tasks could provide an expedited simulation of the effects of various tobacco control policies across populations of interest to the FDA. CONCLUSIONS Tobacco regulatory research questions that can be addressed with behavioral economic tasks include assessments of the impact of product characteristics on product demand, assessments of the abuse liability of novel and potential modified risk tobacco products (MRTPs), and assessments of the impact of conventional and novel products in vulnerable populations.
Batson Ethics for Prosecutors and Trial Judges

This article discusses how conscientious prosecutors and trial judges may effectively implement the ban on race-based peremptory challenges. The author begins by observing a disturbing anomaly: that prosecutors do not seem to treat their Batson obligations as seriously as they treat other constitutional obligations favoring defendants. The article traces this problem to a failure in Supreme Court opinion writing: that in condemning the previously accepted practice of racial strikes, Batson and its progeny provide no practical guide to what kind of strikes are legitimate. Worse, later cases blur the rationale of Batson by shifting the focus from the defendant's right at trial to a citizen's right to jury service. As a result, the author contends, even well-motivated prosecutors and trial judges treat the Batson obligation as a narrow and technical rule requiring only a plausible non-race reason for exercising a strike. Courts therefore permit prosecutors to justify strikes by factors that are highly correlated with and barely distinguishable from race. Addressing herself to conscientious prosecutors and trial judges, the author articulates a broader vision of the Batson obligation and provides a concrete ethical standard for assessing when a strike violates that obligation.
Mondragon: An Economic Analysis

(1982). Mondragon: An Economic Analysis. Journal of Economic Issues: Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 1149-1152.
Women's responses to stereotypical media portrayals: An fMRI study of sexualized and domestic images of women

Women tend to be portrayed in a sexualized or domestic manner in mainstream advertising; importantly this trend holds not only for ads targeting men but also for those targeting women themselves. Such a focus on sexualized portrayals in particular may not seem strategic given a wealth of evidence suggesting that women evaluate these portrayals quite negatively. Consumer attitudes toward domestic portrayals are more mixed but, unsurprisingly, vary according to how much a woman identifies as traditional. If female consumers do not evaluate these common portrayals positively, why might they persist? Past work suggests a disconnect between reported attitudes toward general visual sexual stimuli and physiological and neural responses; therefore, it is plausible that neural responses to stereotypical female portrayals in advertising may be at odds with reported attitudes and may have a bigger impact on consumer behavior. The current study exposed women to sexualized, domestic, and control images in a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner as an initial test of this idea. We found that participants reported liking both domestic and control images more than sexualized images. In contrast, they showed more activity in regions associated with reward and arousal (ventral striatum and amygdala, respectively) while viewing sexualized images relative to both control and domestic images. Surprisingly, ventral striatum response to sexualized ads was stronger for women who endorsed traditional attitudes than those who reported less traditional attitudes. These results suggest that despite reporting negative attitudes toward sexualized portrayals, women may in fact have a favorable response to these images. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Heterogeneous current collector in lithium-ion battery for thermal-runaway mitigation

Current collector accounts for more than 90% of the electric conductivity and ∼90% of the mechanical strength of the electrode in lithium-ion battery (LIB). Usually, current collectors are smooth metallic thin films. In the current study, we show that if the current collector is heterogeneous, the heat generation becomes negligible when the LIB cell is subjected to mechanical abuse. The phenomenon is attributed to the guided strain concentration, which promotes the separation of the forward and the return paths of internal short circuit. As the internal impedance drastically increases, the stored electric energy cannot be dissipated as thermal energy. The modification of current collector does not affect the cycling performance of the LIB cell. This finding enables advanced thermal-runaway mitigation techniques for high-energy, large-scale energy storage systems.
Low voltage Flash memory design based on floating gate SOFFET

Flash memory is widely used, especially for mobile applications, as nonvolatile memory storage. In this paper, we present a Flash memory design based on Silicon on Ferroelectric-Insulator FET (SOFFET) device. This device has shown tremendous potential for various ultra-low-power (ULP) applications. SOFFET has the potential to provide high performance, multi-V T design, strong threshold voltage control, low voltage operation, and below 60mV/decade subthreshold swing. The proposed approach utilizes conventional floating gate on SOI architecture with an additional ferroelectric insulator layer. The threshold voltage of the device is influenced by the charge accumulation on the floating gate as well as a control voltage. Due to the ferroelectric layer which allows the formation of negative capacitance effect inside a transistor, the presented Flash memory cell can be turned at a lower electric field. As a result, both program and erase operations can be performed at a lower voltage, making it ideal for low-power application. Moreover, the proposed Flash memory is compatible with conventional SOI fabrication process with minor adjustment.
Micropropagation of Gas Plant (Dictamnus albus L.)

Abstract Gas plant.(Dictamnus albus L.) was successfully micropropagated from greenhouse-grown plants capable of flowering. Stems from initial spring growth were surface disinfested and two- node sections were placed horizontally on modified Murishige and Skoog medium with 1 μM (0.2, ppm) benzyladenine (BA). A dose response to BA at 1,5 and 10 μM (0.2, 1.1,2.3 ppm) indicated that the greatest number of usable microshoots was observed in cultures from horizontally placed explants treated with 1 μM (0.2 ppm) BA. These cultures initiated between 7.6 and 9.5 shoots per culture with approximately 70% of the shoots greater than 2 cm (0.8 in). Microcuttings rooted poorly in vitro even with indolebutyric acid in the medium. However, microcuttings rooted between 71 and 86 percent under ex vitro conditions. Microcuttings either untreated or treated with indolebutyric acid (5,000 or 10,000 ppm) as a quick dip produced 1.8 to 2.6 roots per rooted cutting after being directly stuck in a peat-lite medium (Metro-Mix or ...
Occupational Diversity in Polish Politics, 1991–2011

Candidates running for the Polish Sejm are increasingly drawn from a wider group of occupations (1991–2011). As the percents of intelligentsia and farmers decline in the candidate pool they are rep...
Parental attitudes and expectations towards receiving genomic test results in healthy children.

Little evidence is available to guide returning genomic results in children without medical indication for sequencing. Professional guidelines for returning information on adult-onset conditions are conflicting. The goal of this study was to provide preliminary information on parental attitudes and expectations about returning medically actionable genomic results in children who have been sequenced as part of a population biobank. Four focus groups of parents with a child enrolled in a population biobank were conducted. A deliberative engagement format included education about professional guidelines and ethical issues around returning results to children. Parents were presented two scenarios where their healthy child has a pathogenic variant for: (a) a medically actionable childhood condition; (b) a hereditary cancer syndrome with no medical management until adulthood. Thematic analysis was conducted on verbatim transcripts. Regardless of the scenario, parents stated that the genomic information was important, was like other unexpected medical information, and disclosure should be tailored to the child’s age and result. Parents wanted the results in their child’s medical record. Reasons for learning adult-onset results in their healthy children included to prepare their child for necessary medical action in adulthood. Parents also provided suggestions for program design. This preliminary evidence suggests that parents desire genomic results and expect to use this information to protect their child’s health. More empirical research on psychosocial adjustment to such information with continued engagement of parents and children is needed to further inform how to best support families in the communication and use of genomic information.
SETD7 Drives Cardiac Lineage Commitment through Stage-Specific Transcriptional Activation

Cardiac development requires coordinated and large-scale rearrangements of the epigenome. The roles and precise mechanisms through which specific epigenetic modifying enzymes control cardiac lineage specification, however, remain unclear. Here we show that the H3K4 methyltransferase SETD7 controls cardiac differentiation by reading H3K36 marks independently of its enzymatic activity. Through chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq), we found that SETD7 targets distinct sets of genes to drive their stage-specific expression during cardiomyocyte differentiation. SETD7 associates with different co-factors at these stages, including SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling factors during mesodermal formation and the transcription factor NKX2.5 in cardiac progenitors to drive their differentiation. Further analyses revealed that SETD7 binds methylated H3K36 in the bodies of its target genes to facilitate RNA polymerase II (Pol II)-dependent transcription. Moreover, abnormal SETD7 expression impairs functional attributes of terminally differentiated cardiomyocytes. Together, these results reveal how SETD7 acts at sequential steps in cardiac lineage commitment, and they provide insights into crosstalk between dynamic epigenetic marks and chromatin-modifying enzymes.
Adaptive Interplanetary Navigation Using Genetic Algorithms

This study illustrates an automated approach for filter tuning (via model optimization) using a genetic algorithm (GA) coupled with an extended Kaiman filter. In particular, the solar radiation pressure (SRP) model of the Mars Pathfinder (MPF) spacecraft is investigated using a three month span of tracking data during the cruise phase of the mission. The results obtained in this study are compared to the best model obtained by the MPF navigation team. The GA based approach does not require gradient information about neighboring model options, hence it is capable of examining filter models of varying structure. The GA operates on a population of individuals that are selected (initially at random) from the design space. In this study, the selected design space includes 1.44E+17 possible SRP models. Each individual selected from the design space processes the tracking data set using the filter. The basis for the GA’s fitness function is a normalized sample statistic of the output residual sequence. Using the fitness values computed for each individual, the GA selects the parent population via a tournament method. For crossover, several strategies are investigated to determine the best method for quick convergence of the GA to a near optimal solution. The results show that the GA is able to determine an SRP model with a fitness value that is ~6% better than the model selected by the MPF navigation team, and produces predicted residuals that are more stable.
Characterizing Tolerable Disturbances for Transient-State Safety in Power Networks

This paper develops methods to compute the set of disturbances on a power network that do not tip the frequency of each bus and the power flow in each transmission line beyond pre-defined bounds. For a linearized AC power network model, we consider scenarios with varying degree of knowledge about the form of the disturbance. We propose a sampling method to provide inner and outer approximations with tunable accuracy of the set of tolerable disturbances. The complexity of computing such set approximations is a function of the number of sampling points. We introduce an error metric to measure the gap between the approximations and design an algorithm that finds, for fixed number of sampling points, the sampling sequence that minimizes its value. Simulations on the IEEE 39-bus power network illustrate our results.
Decision Support Systems Implementation Research: Review of the Current State and Future Directions

Decision supports systems have been researched since the early 1970’s. The architecture of DSS has been heavily shaped and influenced by Sprague and Carlson (1982) and Keen and Scott Morton (1978). Sprague and Carlson’s roles in building the DSS architecture have been in the areas of studying data, dialogue, and model components of a decision support system (also known as the data-dialogue-model (DDM) paradigm). Meanwhile, Keen and Scott Morton have laid the foundation for the study of various issues in designing, implementing, and evaluating decision support systems from an organizational perspective.
Harnessing the human in knowledge discovery

Knowledge, the primary goal of data analysis and exploration, is most often discovered by generating information (structure) from data, and then abstracting non-trivial patterns (rules or associations for example) from the information. The discovery process can be done using numerous means that share the same goal: visualization, data mining, statistics, neural networks, or mathematical modeling and simulation [2].
Factors affecting Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and regeneration of sweet orange and citrange

Epicotyl explants of sweet orange and citrange were infected with Agrobacterium strain EHA101 harboring binary vector pGA482GG, and factors affecting the plant regeneration and transformation efficiency were evaluated. Increasing the wounded area of explants by cutting longitudinally into two halves, and optimization of inoculation density, dramatically enhanced both regeneration and transformation frequency. Inclusion of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in the explant pretreatment medium and the co-culture medium improved the transformation efficiency by decreasing the escape frequency. More than 90% rooting frequency of transformed citrange shoots was achieved by two-step culture: first on media supplemented with auxins, and then on media without hormones. Inclusion of 20 mg l−1 kanamycin in rooting medium efficiently discriminated transformed shoots from non-transgenic escaped shoots. Shoot grafting in vitro was used to regenerate transformed plants, due to the slow growth of most sweet orange shoots.
Manuring of rice crop with Azolla

Field experiments conducted for 3 years (1978–1980) in wet (Kharif) seasons under neutral soil conditions for determining the efficacy of Azolla as compared to urea revealed that (i) response of rice to N was 24, 15 and 10 kg N/ha at 25, 50 and 75 kg N/ha applied as urea, respectively, (ii) response to 6 t/ha of Azolla alone (incorporated) was equivalent to 36 kg N/ha, (iii) response to Azolla (inoculation, growing in situ and incorporated) was equivalent to 24 kg N/ha.
Celestial current algebra from Low's subleading soft theorem

The leading soft photon theorem implies that four-dimensional scattering amplitudes are controlled by a two-dimensional (2D) $U(1)$ Kac-Moody symmetry that acts on the celestial sphere at null infinity ($\mathcal{I}$). This celestial $U(1)$ current is realized by components of the electromagnetic vector potential on the boundaries of $\mathcal{I}$. Here, we develop a parallel story for Low's subleading soft photon theorem. It gives rise to a second celestial current, which is realized by vector potential components that are subleading in the large radius expansion about the boundaries of $\mathcal{I}$. The subleading soft photon theorem is reexpressed as a celestial Ward identity for this second current, which involves novel shifts by one unit in the conformal dimension of charged operators.
Establishment and optimization of epithelial cell cultures from human ectocervix, transformation zone, and endocervix optimization of epithelial cell cultures

Cervical cancer is a major public health problem and research using cell culture models has improved understanding of this disease. The human cervix contains three anatomic regions; ectocervix with stratified squamous epithelium, endocervix with secretory epithelium, and transformation zone (TZ) with metaplastic cells. Most cervical cancers originate within the TZ. However, little is known about the biology of TZ cells or why they are highly susceptible to carcinogenesis. The goal of this study was to develop and optimize methods to compare growth and differentiation of cells cultured from ectocervix, TZ or endocervix. We examined the effects of different serum-free media on cell attachment, cell growth and differentiation, and cell population doublings in monolayer culture. We also optimized conditions for organotypic culture of cervical epithelial cells using collagen rafts with human cervical stromal cells. Finally, we present a step-by-step protocol for culturing cells from each region of human cervix.
Endoscopic ultrasound-guided transmural gallbladder drainage in malignant obstruction using a novel lumen-apposing stent: a case series (with video)

Background and aims Current endoscopic methods of biliary decompression in malignant pancreatic neoplasms are often limited by anatomical and technical challenges. In this case series, we report our experience with endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided placement of an electrocautery-enhanced, lumen-apposing self-expandable metallic stent (LAMS) via transmural gallbladder drainage. Methods This is a retrospective case series of nine patients (five male, mean age 63.1 years) who underwent EUS-guided LAMS placement for malignant, obstructive jaundice in the pancreatic head. All nine cases were performed by an experienced interventional endoscopist at a single, tertiary medical center. We review the technical and clinical success rates as well as the incidence of procedural adverse events across the nine patients. Results LAMS placement was technically successful in all cases and there were no procedural adverse events. Seven of nine (77.78 %) patients showed clinical and laboratory improvement immediately following the procedure. One case required re-intervention with interventional radiology guided biliary drain placement. The mean fluoroscopy time was 1.02 minutes. Conclusions EUS-guided LAMS placement for transmural gallbladder drainage in malignant obstruction appears to be a safe and effective technique, allowing patients to proceed to surgery, chemotherapy, or hospice care.
Coherent-Image Reconstruction Using Convolutional Neural Networks

We describe a technique for incorporating convolutional-neural-network models into a comprehensive approach for coherent-image reconstruction in the presence of noise and phase errors using the consensus equilibrium framework.
Developmental Nicotine Exposure Alters Synaptic Input to Hypoglossal Motoneurons and Is Associated with Altered Function of Upper Airway Muscles.

Abstract Nicotine exposure during the fetal and neonatal periods (Developmental nicotine exposure, DNE) is associated with ineffective upper airway protective reflexes in infants. This could be explained by desensitized chemoreceptors and/or mechanoreceptors, diminished neuromuscular transmission or altered synaptic transmission among central neurons, as each of these systems depend in part on cholinergic signaling through nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). Here we showed that DNE blunts the response of the genioglossus muscle to nasal airway occlusion in lightly anesthetized rat pups. The genioglossus muscle helps keep the upper airway open and is innervated by hypoglossal motoneurons (XIIMNs). Experiments using the phrenic nerve-diaphragm preparation showed that DNE does not alter transmission across the neuromuscular junction. Accordingly, we used whole cell recordings from XIIMNs in brainstem slices to examine the influence of DNE on glutamatergic synaptic transmission under baseline conditions and in response to an acute nicotine challenge. DNE did not alter excitatory transmission under baseline conditions. Analysis of cumulative probability distributions revealed that acute nicotine challenge of P1-P2 preparations resulted in an increase in the frequency of nicotine-induced glutamatergic inputs to XIIMNs in both control and DNE. By contrast, P3-P5 DNE pups showed a decrease, rather than an increase in frequency. We suggest that this, together with previous studies showing that DNE is associated with a compensatory increase in inhibitory synaptic input to XIIMNs, leads to an excitatory-inhibitory imbalance. This imbalance may contribute to the blunting of airway protective reflexes observed in nicotine exposed animals and human infants. Significance statement The number one risk factor for sudden infant death (SIDS) is maternal smoking. While the use of nicotine delivery devices such as e-cigarettes is increasing among women of childbearing age, reflecting the belief that the use of nicotine alone is safer than tobacco, SIDS deaths are not decreasing, suggesting that nicotine is the link between maternal smoking and SIDS. Here we show that perinatal nicotine exposure alters a major motor pathway responsible for upper airway patency during sleep. We also introduce an animal model that is well suited to probing the mechanisms underlying the link between maternal nicotine consumption and SIDS, and a phenotype that nicely models key aspects of the events believed to give rise to SIDS.
Aldous Huxley and Alternative Spirituality

The current revival of interest in psychedelics, coupled with the death late last year of Ram Das (Richard Alpert), make for a fitting occasion to look back again at the origins of the psychedelic ...
SHOT THROUGH THE HEART: ACUTE SEVERE MITRAL REGURGITATION FROM CHORDAL RUPTURE FOLLOWING A MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT

Blunt trauma to the chest is more frequently associated with cardiac contusion and aortic injury. However, in rare occasions patients can present with rupture of the mitral valvular apparatus. A 67-year-old male with a past medical history of hypertension presents with 4 days of progressively
The Agency Costs of Sellside Deal Protection: An Empirical Analysis of Reverse Termination Fees

This paper empirically examines what corporate governance, financial and transaction variables lead target companies to negotiate for reverse termination fees (RTFs) in mergers and acquisitions. RTFs, which must be paid by buyers if they walk away from a merger, are used by target companies to reduce transaction uncertainty. We examine 1518 merger agreements for the period from 2010 to 2019, and find that 44.86 percent of these transactions included RTFs. First, we find that larger and more mature target companies with higher market capitalizations and lower cash ratios are more likely to successfully negotiate for RTFs. Second, the presence of a controlling shareholder increases the size of an RTF and ensures it is “efficiently” priced, suggesting that these actors play a monitoring role. Third, targets with dual class stock are less likely to efficiently price RTFs. Finally, deals with private equity acquirers are more likely to feature RTFs, and these RTFs are larger and more efficiently priced. These findings have implications for practitioners involved in crafting deal protection mechanisms, as well as Delaware courts considering how to view RTF provisions in merger litigation.
Vascular Access in Critically Ill Children

* Abbreviations: ED — : emergency department miniMAGIC — : Michigan Appropriateness Guide for Intravenous Catheters in Pediatrics NTCVAD — : nontunneled central vascular access device PED — : pediatric emergency department PICC — : peripherally inserted central catheter PIVC — : peripheral intravenous catheter VAD — : vascular access device Vascular access devices (VADs) are commonly inserted, often in a time sensitive manner, in critically ill children to provide life-sustaining therapy, including but not limited to fluid resuscitation, antibiotics, vasopressors, or parenteral nutrition, and for hemodynamic monitoring. Among children admitted to the pediatric emergency department (PED), VAD selection is limited to peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC), intraosseous device, and nontunneled central vascular access device (NTCVAD). VAD selection is more varied in the PICU and includes peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC), midline catheter, tunneled cuffed central VAD, and totally implanted venous device in addition to those that are available in the PED. Regardless of setting of care, currently there is no evidence-based guidance for VAD selection. In general, PIVCs are the mainstay for critically ill children in the PED, and PIVC and NTCVAD are the mainstays for those in the PICU. However, given the concerns of central line–associated bloodstream … Address correspondence to Sarah B. Kandil, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, 333 Cedar St, New Haven, CT 06520. E-mail: sarah.kandil{at}yale.edu
Evaluation of Patient Preference and Perception Regarding the Clinical Use of Autologous Versus Allogeneic Cell Therapy in Orthopedic Surgery

Background: Cell therapy has become a hot topic in orthopedics, with significant research dedicated to improving physicians’ understanding of its efficacy. However, little is known about patients’ ...
Controlling Greenhouse Gases from Highway Vehicles

This article discusses the program aimed at increasing the efficiency of highway vehicles that is administered by the EPA under the Clean Air Act and by the Department of Transportation.
Decentralised Job Matching

This paper studies a decentralised job market model where firms (academic departments) propose sequentially a (unique) position to some workers (Ph.D. candidates). Successful candidates then decide whether to accept the offers, and departments whose positions remain unfilled propose to other candidates. We distinguish between several cases, depending on whether agents' actions are simultaneous and/or irreversible (if a worker accepts an offer he is immediately matched, and both the worker and the firm to which she is matched go out of the market). For all these cases, we provide a complete characterization of the Nash equilibrium outcomes and the Subgame Perfect equilibria. While the set of Nash equilibria outcomes contain all individually rational matchings, it turns out that in most cases considered all subgame perfect equilibria yield a unique outcome, the worker-optimal matching.
Blood pressure responses of sedentary African American women during cycle and treadmill exercise.

At fixed HR values, after adjusting for baseline BP, BMI, and age, BP reactivity is mode dependent and greater for cycling than treadmill exercise at both low and moderate exercise intensity. Baseline SBP is inversely related to the magnitude of SBP reactivity after controlling for the effects of BMI and age.
Improving Convergence of Back-Propagation by Handling Flat-Spots in the Output Layer

Abstract Back-propagation (BP) [9, 5] is one of the most widely used procedures for training multi-layer artificial neural networks with sigmoid units. Though successful in a number of applications, its convergence to a set of desired weights can be excruciatingly slow. Several modifications have been proposed for improving the learning speed [2, 4, 8, 1, 6]. The phenomenon of flat-spots is known to play a significant role in the slow convergence of BP [2]. The formulation of the BP Learning rule prevents the network from learning effectively in the presence of flat-spots. In this paper we propose a new approach to minimize the error such that flat-spots occurring in the output layer are appropriately handled, thereby permitting the network to learn even in the presence of flat-spots. The improvement provided by the technique is demonstrated on a number of standard benchmark data-sets. More importantly, the speedup in learning is obtained with little or no increase in the computational requirements of each iteration.
Efficient coefficient extraction from doublet resonances in microphotonic resonator transmission functions

We develop a computationally efficient and robust algorithm to automatically extract the coefficients of doublet resonances and apply this technique to 418 resonances in ring resonator transmission data with a mean RMS deviation of 7.28 × 10−4.
TEMPORAL VARIATIONS OF LOW -ENERGY COSMIC-RAY PROTONS ON DECADAL AND MILLION YEAR TIME-SCALES: IMPLICATIONS TO THEIR ORIGIN*

We discuss the present day information on the prehistoric proton radiation in the solar system at 1 AU based on activation of lunar surface materials, in relation to our present day knowledge of their contemporary fluxes in solar flare events and during quiet time. The bulk of the prehistoric radiation can be attributed to its origin in solar flares. Its energy spectrum is, however, harder than the solar flare radiation observed during solar cycles 19, 20, and 21 (1954–1986). The implications of the data to other sources of particles and/or acceleration mechanisms in the interplanetary region are discussed.
Designing SoTL Studies—Part II: Practicality

This chapter suggests solutions to common practical problems in designing SoTL studies. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of different types of designs are discussed.
High-content aminoglycoside disks for determining aminoglycoside-penicillin synergy against Enterococcus faecalis.

We investigated the use of high-content aminoglycoside disks for determining Enterococcus faecalis susceptibility to aminoglycoside-penicillin synergy. The susceptibility of the organisms to synergy was established by 24-h time-kill studies performed with streptomycin, kanamycin, amikacin, gentamicin, and tobramycin, alone and in combination with penicillin. A total of 20 isolates that were susceptible to all drug combinations and 20 strains that were resistant to each aminoglycoside-penicillin combination were selected for testing against high-content disks. Disk-agar diffusion was performed on Mueller-Hinton agar, with and without 5% sheep blood, by using disks that contained either 300 or 2,000 micrograms of streptomycin and either 120 or 2,000 micrograms of kanamycin, amikacin, tobramycin, or gentamicin. Zone size results obtained for each aminoglycoside, except amikacin, could be used to differentiate between synergy-susceptible and -resistant isolates. No overlap occurred between the zone sizes of susceptible and resistant strains. Susceptibility to amikacin-penicillin synergy could reliably be tested with kanamycin, but not amikacin, disks. When the disks containing 120 micrograms were tested, a narrow zone size range of 6 to 7 mm could be used to identify all resistant strains. In contrast, when the disks containing 2,000 micrograms were used, the zone size ranges for resistant isolates varied widely with the aminoglycoside being tested. The presence of blood in the medium did not appreciably affect the disk test results. To detect resistance to every aminoglycoside-penicillin combination that may be considered for therapy, E. faecalis isolates need to be tested against a maximum of three different high-content disks (i.e., streptomycin, gentamicin, kanamycin). The disk-agar diffusion test performed with high-content aminoglycoside disks can provide laboratories with a convenient and reliable method for detecting E. faecalis isolates that are resistant to aminoglycoside-penicillin synergy.
Ergonomics in the Operating Room: Protecting the Surgeon

Abstract Study Objective To review elements of an ergonomic operating room environment and describe common ergonomic errors in surgeon posture during laparoscopic and robotic surgery. Design Descriptive video based on clinical experience and a review of the literature (Canadian Task Force classification III). Setting Community teaching hospital affiliated with a major teaching hospital. Subjects/Audience Gynecologic surgeons. Intervention Demonstration of surgical ergonomic principles and common errors in surgical ergonomics by a physical therapist and surgeon. Measurements and Main Results The physical nature of surgery necessitates awareness of ergonomic principles. The literature has identified ergonomic awareness to be grossly lacking among practicing surgeons, and video has not been documented as a teaching tool for this population. Taking this into account, we created a video that demonstrates proper positioning of monitors and equipment, and incorrect and correct ergonomic positions during surgery. Also presented are 3 common ergonomic errors in surgeon posture: forward head position, improper shoulder elevation, and pelvic girdle asymmetry. Postural reset and motion strategies are demonstrated to help the surgeon learn techniques to counterbalance the sustained and awkward positions common during surgery that lead to muscle fatigue, pain, and degenerative changes. Conclusion Correct ergonomics is a learned and practiced behavior. We believe that video is a useful way to facilitate improvement in ergonomic behaviors. We suggest that consideration of operating room setup, proper posture, and practice of postural resets are necessary components for a longer, healthier, and pain-free surgical career.
Lateral projections of the medial preoptic area are necessary for androgenic influence on urine marking and copulation in rats

Abstract Male rats were scored for urine marking and copulatory behavior in 4 time periods: before surgery, directly following surgery, after an 11 week wait to allow recovery from any transient effects of the surgery, and after implantation of silastic capsules of testosterone. At surgery, each animal received bilateral knife cuts in the sagittal plane between the MPO-AH and the MFB, or a corresponding sham brain surgery. Each animal was also castrated or sham castrated. Castration and knife cuts each caused about a 50% reduction in urine marking. Testosterone implants caused a sharp increase in marking in castrates and in intact males, but had no effect on the marking activity of knife cut or knife cut-castrated males. Thus, sagittal knife cuts blocked all influence of androgen on urine marking. However, knife cut males did not average less urine deposition than castrate males; it thus appears that the cuts do not block other lines of information that support marking. Therefore, the medial preoptic area does not appear to be an integrative area mediating several influences on urine marking, and may mediate only the effects of testosterone. The same cuts that blocked the effect of androgen on urine marking also eliminated copulation during 20 weeks of post surgical testing, although control groups also showed reduced copulatory levels during this period. In contrast, the cuts did not block an androgen induced weight increase.
COMPUTATIONAL STUDY OF BRIDGE-MEDIATED INTERVALENCE ELECTRON TRANSFER II: COUPLINGS IN DIFFERENT METALLOCENE COMPLEXES

The constrained density functional theory (CDFT) was used to study bridge-mediated electron transfer processes in mixed-valence systems with two identical metallocene (cobaltocene, ruthenocene, and nickelocene) moieties linked by various bridge structures. Based on the electronic coupling matrix elements obtained from the CDFT calculations, the relationship between the bridge linkage and the effectiveness of intervalence transfer was discussed.
Promoting Self-Determination: Using Take Action To Teach Goal Attainment.

Transition programs that teach self-determination skills must provide students the opportunity to practice these skills. Teaching students goal attainment skills and providing them the opportunity ...
Loss of the inducible Hsp70 delays the inflammatory response to skeletal muscle injury and severely impairs muscle regeneration

Skeletal muscle regeneration following injury is a highly coordinated process that involves transient muscle inflammation, removal of necrotic cellular debris and subsequent replacement of damaged myofibers through secondary myogenesis. However, the molecular mechanisms which coordinate these events are only beginning to be defined. In the current study we demonstrate that Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) is increased following muscle injury, and is necessary for the normal sequence of events following severe injury induced by cardiotoxin, and physiological injury induced by modified muscle use. Indeed, Hsp70 ablated mice showed a significantly delayed inflammatory response to muscle injury induced by cardiotoxin, with nearly undetected levels of both neutrophil and macrophage markers 24 hours post-injury. At later time points, Hsp70 ablated mice showed sustained muscle inflammation and necrosis, calcium deposition and impaired fiber regeneration that persisted several weeks post-injury. Through rescue experiments reintroducing Hsp70 intracellular expression plasmids into muscles of Hsp70 ablated mice either prior to injury or post-injury, we confirm that Hsp70 optimally promotes muscle regeneration when expressed during both the inflammatory phase that predominates in the first four days following severe injury and the regenerative phase that predominates thereafter. Additional rescue experiments reintroducing Hsp70 protein into the extracellular microenvironment of injured muscles at the onset of injury provides further evidence that Hsp70 released from damaged muscle may drive the early inflammatory response to injury. Importantly, following induction of physiological injury through muscle reloading following a period of muscle disuse, reduced inflammation in 3-day reloaded muscles of Hsp70 ablated mice was associated with preservation of myofibers, and increased muscle force production at later time points compared to WT. Collectively our findings indicate that depending on the nature and severity of muscle injury, therapeutics which differentially target both intracellular and extracellular localized Hsp70 may optimally preserve muscle tissue and promote muscle functional recovery.
Manure pit temperatures and relative humidity of Pennsylvania high-rise poultry houses and their relationship to arthropod population development.

Abstract Air temperature and relative humidity (RH) in the manure pits of five central Pennsylvania high-rise poultry houses were measured for at least one year to evaluate the role of the pit environment in the development of manure breeding flies and litter beetles. Pit air temperatures had weekly means ranging between 18.1 and 22.2 C. Seasonal temperature trends were similar at all farms, decreasing in winter and rising in summer. Maximum pit temperatures ranged from 31.7 to 33.3 C and minimum temperatures from .6 to 5.6 C, but these extremes were rare. Three houses had weekly mean RH ca 65%, one ca 61%, and one ca 72%. No seasonal RH trends were evident. Daily temperature fluctuations were lowest at ca 0600 to 0700 h, peaked ca 1700 h, and varied inversely with RH. Pit air temperatures dropped below house fly reproductive thresholds for several weeks during the winter, but were adequate for their survival all year around. Manure temperatures were affected by the shape of the manure pile, depth of the manure, and seasonal air temperature patterns. Manure temperatures differed significantly between houses with either shallow (without scraper boards, χ ca 16 to 19 C) or deep (with scraper boards, χ ca 30 to 40 C) manure profiles. Shallow manure profile temperatures severely limit fly larvae and litter beetle development.
Stem cell recruitment after injury: lessons for regenerative medicine

Tissue repair and regeneration are thought to involve resident cell proliferation as well as the selective recruitment of circulating stem and progenitor cell populations through complex signaling cascades. Many of these recruited cells originate from the bone marrow, and specific subpopulations of bone marrow cells have been isolated and used to augment adult tissue regeneration in preclinical models. Clinical studies of cell-based therapies have reported mixed results, however, and a variety of approaches to enhance the regenerative capacity of stem cell therapies are being developed based on emerging insights into the mechanisms of progenitor cell biology and recruitment following injury. This article discusses the function and mechanisms of recruitment of important bone marrow-derived stem and progenitor cell populations following injury, as well as the emerging therapeutic applications targeting these cells.