cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bunker’s Ecologically Unequal Exchange, Foster’s Metabolic Rift, and Moore’s World-Ecology: Distinctions With or Without a Difference?

Bunker, Foster, and Moore all address the unjust manner in which dominant actors in the capitalist world-system simultaneously exploit labor and nonhuman or biophysical nature while undermining sustainability. In the context of recent, largely one-sided criticism of Moore by Foster, this chapter highlights fundamental agreements regarding ecologically unequal exchange across all three of these sociologists. Then, it unpacks distinctions regarding capitalism as causing degradation, nature’s ontology, epistemology and dialectical analysis, and possible futures that might overturn the current unsustainable situation. The conclusion reiterates the importance of Bunker’s foundational work, peripheral vantage point, dialectical view of socio-nature, and realistic future vision, partly based in his posthumously published The Snake with Golden Braids.
Theoretical Issues in Old French Inflectional Morpho(phono)logy

This contribution applies the theoretical concepts of iconicity, system congruity, and paradigmatic leveling to data from Old French nominal and verbal morpho(phono)logy. It is an attempt to revisit well-known (traditional) philological material and to offer a modern theoretical interpretation of the phenomena under consideration. It will be demonstrated that the combination of philological research and theoretical insights leads to the most complete understanding of the Old French data involved. Two areas of Old French inflectional morphology will be examined. First, the Old French case system is given a thorough analysis in terms of the concepts of iconicity and system congruity, parts of the theory of Natural Morphology. The loss of the Old French case system is attributed to a ‘heavy’ presence of counter-iconicity, which becomes apparent by means of the cube constellation representation of this system. Second, the Old French verbal system is shown to include both invariance and final consonant alternation (FCA), which make up its system congruity. It is argued that this account should be considered ‘concrete’ and ‘functional’, as opposed to ‘abstract’ and ‘formal’ in today’s linguistic theorizing. In the last section of this paper, considerations based on Ockham’s Razor will be incorporated into a discussion of this dichotomy.
On the Structure of Inner and Outer Spielraum — the Play Space of the Schizophrenic Child

Play has been described as the language of the child and, like the adult’s dream, may be considered the royal road to his unconscious (Erikson, 1950). Play, like language, serves an intrapsychic as well as an interpersonal function; it is a means by which the child resolves inner conflicts; it enables him to master the passively experienced traumatic events of his macrocosmic real world by actively repeating them in his microcosmic play world. Play is also a means of communicating these inner events and is thus object-directed, particularly in instances where the child has already achieved the capacity for more advanced object relations. Play helps develop and strengthen structures capable of delay functions, and thus furthers the future development of adaptive goal-oriented behavior. Play can be described in terms of its content—the play, as well as its structure—the Spielraum, or play space (Erikson, 1940). Through his play and through his playing, the child recreates his life space, the meaningfully cathected experiences of both his inner and outer worlds, in the microcosmos of the play space. The child’s earliest autoplay with his body can be understood in terms of the beginning individuation experience, and his playing, with the notion that there is a self and object; fingers and toes that are “me-here,” a nipple and milk that are “her-there.” Somewhat more advanced play was described when Freud (1955) observed a child roll a spool of thread back and forth, accompanied by the words, “gone; there,” thus reflecting the child’s attempts to master the notions of separation and reunion. Such playing indicated that the child had begun to establish a capacity for object constancy, so that out of sight was not completely out of mind; in fact, was helped to remain in mind, so to speak, through the very act of playing. Parenthetically, that play was expressed on a particular level of communication—that of play action—(Ekstein and Friedman, 1966) in which fantasies are woven around a toy. Such play reflects a fairly advanced level of psychic structure and functioning that is not always available to the schizophrenic child. Ekstein and Friedman (1966) refer to a schema for ordering different levels of communication, indicating the progressive development of the capacity for goal-oriented thought as it evolves and advances from the initial phase of pure impulse expression to higher levels, such as acting out, role play, and rational fantasy.
Phase i clinical trial of locoregional administration of the oncolytic adenovirus ONYX-015 in combination with mitomycin-C, doxorubicin, and cisplatin chemotherapy in patients with advanced sarcomas

Despite many advances in cancer therapy, metastatic disease continues to be incurable in the majority of cancer patients. There is an need for more efficient and less toxic treatments in this setting. Oncolytic virotherapy represents a novel promising direction in the treatment of cancer. Based on preclinical and clinical data, combination with standard chemotherapy has the potential to further increase the antitumor activity of oncolytic virotherapy in a synergistic manner. We present the design of a phase I clinical trial combining intratumoral injections of the oncolytic adenovirus ONYX-015 with systemic chemotherapy in patients with advanced sarcomas.
What Professionals Want: Union and Employer Tactics in Representation Elections of Professional Workers:

Using matched data from an original survey administered to organizers throughout the United States and election reports from the National Labor Relations Board, the author analyzes organizing campa...
A synthetic model of the nonheme iron–superoxo intermediate of cysteine dioxygenase

A nonheme Fe(II) complex (1) that models substrate-bound cysteine dioxygenase (CDO) reacts with O2 at −80 °C to yield a purple intermediate (2). Analysis with spectroscopic and computational methods determined that 2 features a thiolate-ligated Fe(III) center bound to a superoxide radical, mimicking the putative structure of a key CDO intermediate.
Global Surgery - Redirecting Strategies for a Global Research Agenda Comment on "Global Surgery - Informing National Strategies for Scaling Up Surgery in Sub-Saharan Africa".

More than three years have passed since the publication of the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery and its recommendations on scaling up surgery in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). An important gap, the voice of the districts as well as lack of contextualized research, has been noted in its support of national surgical plans that run the risk of being at best, aspirational. Moreover, a ‘one-size-fits-all approach’ may not adequately address country-specific challenges on the ground. There is a need to redirect attention, effort, and funding in creating a global mechanism to gather baseline country information documenting every single district level government health facility’s ability and readiness to provide safe surgical, obstetric, trauma, and anesthesia care using the World Health Organization (WHO) Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) tool to aid in directing country-specific efforts in surgical systems strengthening and ensuring that a basic package of essential surgical and anesthesia services is made available to each citizen with adequate financial protection by 2030. This global mechanism will enable benchmarking, accountability, and streamlining of the work of the global surgical community to achieve true progress in scaling up surgery not only in SSA, but for the rest of the developing world.
Structure-property correlations in thermally processed epitaxial LSMO films

Abstract Mixed-valence perovskites have drawn significant research interest in the past due to their exotic properties. Lanthanum Strontium Manganese Oxide (LSMO) shows a ferromagnetic ordering that can be tuned with the control of defects and strain. Here, experiments were performed to decouple the effects of strain and oxygen content, which together control the magnetic properties of the LSMO (La0.7Sr0.3MnO3). In this work, thermal treatments show promise in effectively controlling the ferromagnetic response of LSMO films. A set of three samples were grown on the same substrate-buffer (Al2O3/MgO) platform with different oxygen partial pressures and annealed above their deposition temperature (∼900 °C) in air. The physical and structural properties were measured and showed overall decrease in magnetization saturation as well as decrease in out-of-plane lattice spacing with decreasing oxygen partial pressure. A second anneal at lower (∼700 °C) temperature with flow of pure oxygen was performed for six hours to allow for defect annihilation and grain growth. All three films remained epitaxial allowing for direct correlation of magnetic measurements with defect concentration. Partial recovery of the magnetic properties and a slight increase in interplanar spacing was observed. The inability of the films to fully recover their original magnetic properties suggests irreversible strain relaxation during the initial, high-temperature air anneal. This hypothesis was further supported by the in-situ XRD that showed a linear increase in the interplanar spacing with temperature until ∼520 °C for LSMO and ∼690 °C for MgO. With further increase in temperature, the films experienced both loss of oxygen and irreversible defect nucleation and recombination. High resolution high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) images showed uniform thickness and no interfacial mixing with subsequent annealing treatments while electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) showed a loss of characteristic pre-peak A in oxygen indicating formation of oxygen vacancies. Parallel annealing experiments in high vacuum instead of atmosphere were performed, which showed complete loss of crystal structure in the LSMO films due to significant loss of oxygen in the lattice that irreversibly collapsed the perovskite structure. Furthermore, a low-temperature (∼500 °C) oxidation anneal was performed on a pristine sample with no change in the interplanar spacing observed indicating no change in the strain state of the film due to annealing below the deposition temperature. The reversibility of magnetic properties, which is observed as long as the crystal structure of the films is preserved, indicates the importance of bridging oxygen in controlling the magnetic behavior of mixed valence perovskites. Finally, it was determined that the highest magnetization saturation in the films is achieved with a high oxygen partial pressure during growth and subsequent thermal annealing below the deposition temperature.
Model-Informed Drug Development: Current US Regulatory Practice and Future Considerations

Model-informed drug development (MIDD) refers to the application of a wide range of quantitative models in drug development to facilitate the decision-making process. MIDD was formally recognized in Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) VI. There have been many regulatory applications of MIDD to address a variety of drug development and regulatory questions. These applications can be broadly classified into four categories: dose optimization, supportive evidence for efficacy, clinical trial design, and informing policy. Case studies, literature papers, and published regulatory documents are reviewed in this article to highlight some common features of these applications in each category. In addition to the further development and investment in these established domains of application, new technology, and areas, such as more mechanistic models, neural network models, and real-world data/evidence, are gaining attention, and more submissions and experiences are being accumulated to expand the application of model-based analysis to a wider scope.
Inequality in the Promised Land: Race, resources, and suburban schooling

Inequality in the promised land: Race, resources, and suburban schooling is a well-written book by L’ Heureux Lewis-McCoy. The book is based on Lewis-McCoy’s doctoral dissertation, that included an ethnographic study in a suburban area named Rolling Acres in the Midwestern United States. Lewis-McCoy studied the relationship between families and those families’ relationships with schools. Through this study, the author explored how invisible inequality and racism in an affluent suburban area became the barrier for racial and economically minority students to grow up academically. Lewis-McCoy also discovered the hope of the minority community for raising their children for a better future.
One-Pot Quantitative Top- and Middle-Down Analysis of GluC-Digested Histone H4

Histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) have been intensively investigated due to their essential function in eukaryotic genome regulation. Histone modifications have been effectively studied using modified bottom-up proteomics approaches; however, the methods often do not capture single-molecule combinations of PTMs (proteoforms) that mediate known and expected biochemical mechanisms. Both middle-down mass spectrometry (MS) and top-down MS quantitation of H4 proteoforms present viable access to this important information. Histone H4 middle-down has previously avoided GluC digestion due to complex digestion products and interferences; however, the common AspN digestion cleaves at amino acid 23, disconnecting K31ac from other PTMs. Here, we demonstrate the effective use of GluC-based middle-down quantitation and compare it to top-down-based quantitation of proteoforms. Despite potential interferences in the m/z space, the proteoforms arising from all three GluC products (E52, E53, and E63) and intact H4 are chromatographically resolved and successfully analyzed in a single LC-MS analysis. Quantitative results and associated analytical metrics are compared between the different analytes of a single sample digested to different extents to reveal general concordance as well as the relative biases and complementarity of each approach. There is moderate proteoform discordance between digestion products (e.g., E52 and E53); however, each digestion product exhibits high concordance, regardless of digestion time. Under the conditions used, the GluC products are better chromatographically resolved yet show greater variance than the top-down quantitation that are more extensively sampled for MS2. GluC-based middle-down of H4 is thus viable. Both top-down and middle-down approaches have comparable quantitation capacity and are complementary.
Soil disturbance and stream-adjacent disturbance from tethered logging in Oregon and Washington.

Abstract Over the past century, the primary method for harvesting trees on steep slopes in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) was felling with chainsaws and yarding with cable systems, such as towers. Concerns over safety and higher logging costs on steep slopes have caused a shift in felling and/or yarding to ground-based machines tethered to an anchor, generally at the top of the slope. With the recent shift to tethered operations, there has been growing interest in the potential impact of machinery on steep slopes on streams and site productivity. We compared soil disturbance and stream-adjacent disturbance of tethered logging and conventional cable harvest methods on steep slopes in Oregon and Washington, USA. We sampled 30 harvest units that included either conventional (n = 15) or combination units with tethered (n = 15) harvesting systems to examine soil disturbance within a harvest unit and along stream channels. We compared potential impacts to stream adjacent-disturbance, erosion, and site productivity both between harvesting types within a harvest unit and between conventional versus combination units with tethered operations. We found that combination units with tethered operations had more stream-adjacent disturbance and soil disturbance than conventional cable-harvesting systems, but overall effects were below applicable regulatory thresholds for stream-adjacent disturbance and soil disturbance. Further, at the entire harvest-unit and within-unit scale, tethered operations had similar amounts of soil disturbance as mechanized harvesting systems. We did not find evidence of strong relationships between stream-adjacent disturbance or soil disturbance with either slope or soil depth. Across a wide variation of local site conditions in the PNW, tethered harvesting operations did not have extensive negative impacts on either soil disturbance or stream-adjacent disturbance, but further research could contribute to evolving best management practices and aligning forest practice regulations with current technologies.
Datalink: A Structural Laboratory Data System

A new DATALINK system for the automatic acquisition, reduction, storage and display of experimental data in a structural laboratory is described. The parts of the system are a data acquisition system, an IBM 1620 computer, and a problem-oriented language computer program. After a description of the equipment and operating procedures, two example experimental problems are presented.
Guessing the Trigger Point for a U.S. Debt Crisis

Leading authorities in the United States, including the Congressional Budget Office, use the term unsustainable to describe the long-term fiscal outlook. By the year 2080, spending on entitlements alone could exceed total federal tax revenues. In the very long run (meaning from the year 2035 through 2080), the problem is primarily one of excess costs in health care, meaning the tendency for health spending to grow faster than the rest of GDP. However, in the medium run, meaning from 2010 through 2035, the aging of the U.S. population is the dominant factor.This paper explores the possibility of the U.S. experiencing a debt crisis in the medium run, meaning somewhere between 2015 and 2035. It is impossible to state precisely the trigger point for a crisis. At best, we can make guesses about some of the key parameters
Species level identification of Antillogorgia spp. recruits identifies multiple pathways of octocoral success on Caribbean reefs

Successful recruitment is critical to the maintenance and resilience of populations and may be at the core of the transition from scleractinian- to octocoral-dominated faunas on some Caribbean reefs. For sessile invertebrates, recruitment incorporates the composite effects of larval supply, settlement and survival. The relative success of these processes differs between species, and successful recruitment may be achieved through different life history strategies. Recruitment of six abundant and widespread Antillogorgia spp. was assessed at six sites on Little Bahama Bank from 2009–2012. Identification of recruits to species level, based on microsatellite analyses, revealed differences in recruitment and survival between species, sites and years. The broadcast spawning species, A. americana and A. acerosa, had low rates of early recruitment and post-settlement survival. Higher levels of recruitment success were achieved among brooding and surface brooding species following somewhat different patterns of early recruitment and survival. The internal brooder A. hystrix had the highest recruitment at five of the sites, but low survival dramatically reduced its abundance and after a year it had similar densities as the surface brooding species, A. elisabethae and A. bipinnata. The brooders have smaller colonies and produce fewer larvae than the broadcast spawning species, but they release competent larvae, which may account for their higher recruitment rates. The Antillogorgia illustrate the diversity of successful reproductive strategies exhibited by octocorals, and differences in the life history strategies among these congeners are best characterized by their mode of larval development.
Edwardsiella tarda as a Cause for Limb- and Life- threatening Soft Tissue Infections: What All Plastic Surgeons Need to Know

Edwardsiella tarda (ET), a Gram-negative bacterium, causes an extremely uncommon, yet highly aggressive, soft tissue infection. Although plastic surgeons are frequently involved in the primary care, debridement, and secondary reconstruction of difficult soft tissue infections, infections caused by ET have received scant attention in the plastic surgery literature, perhaps because of the rarity of occurrence. We present a case of a 58-year-old man with alcohol abuse and hepatitis C who developed an upper extremity soft tissue infection after a catfish injury, which rapidly deteriorated to cause multiorgan failure and death within 5 days of admission. We will discuss the management of this rare but potentially lethal infection as well as the review of the current literature.
Optimal Distribution Rules for Defined Contribution Plans: What Can the United States and Australia Learn from Other Countries?

The United States and most other industrialized nations have multi-pillar retirement systems that include a public component and a private component. Increasingly, the private component is an employer-provided defined contribution plan or other privately-managed individual retirement savings account. In order to get adequate retirement income from these defined contribution plans, employees need to ensure that significant contributions are made to these plans (contribution phase), that those contributions are invested well and retained until retirement (accumulation phase), and that the accumulated retirement savings are used to provide benefits throughout retirement (distribution phase). This paper focuses on the rules governing that distribution phase.At the outset, this article discusses the current rules governing benefit distributions from defined contribution plans in the United States and other countries. Next, this article explains the various types of financial products that can be used to provide defined contribution plan participants with lifetime retirement income. Finally, this article considers how distribution rules and regulations can be used to encourage retirees to take their defined contribution plan distributions in the form of annuities or other lifetime income products. Pertinent here, longevity risk — the risk of outliving one’s retirement savings — is probably the greatest risk facing current and future retirees with defined contribution plans. As life expectancy increases, accumulated retirement savings in individual accounts will need to finance an ever-greater portion of retirees’ ever-longer retirements. In that regard, traditional lifetime annuities offer one approach for spreading retirement savings out over a lifetime. Another popular approach is for retirees to commit to systematic withdrawals of, say, 4 percent of their account balances each year — a strategy that has a relatively low risk of ruin (running out of money before death). Another alternative involves buying longevity insurance, for example, buying a deferred annuity at age 65 that starts making annual payments only if the annuitant lives past age 85. Finally, retirees can invest in variable annuities with guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits — funds that provide guaranteed systematic withdrawals for life, with guaranteed minimums that kick in if the underlying investment funds are ever depleted due to long life and/or poor investment returns.Today, relatively few countries have distribution rules that encourage retirees to take their defined contribution plan distributions in the form of annuities or alternate lifetime income products. Ultimately, this article seeks to identify the optimal set of distribution rules to encourage individuals to select lifetime retirement income products that can insure against longevity risk.
Effect of extended-release naltrexone on alcohol consumption: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aims The aims of this study were to (1) estimate the effect of extended-release naltrexone compared with placebo on alcohol consumption in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and (2) conduct pre-planned subgroup analyses to test whether being abstinent when initiating treatment (lead-in abstinence) or the duration of treatment improves treatment efficacy. Design Systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis of blinded randomized placebo-controlled trials reporting the effect extended-release naltrexone on alcohol consumption. Setting Outpatient clinics. Participants Seven trials evaluating a total of 1500 adults with AUD receiving monthly injections of either placebo or extended-release naltrexone at doses of 150-400 mg for 2-6 months and some form of behavioral therapy. Measurements Pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) in drinking days per month and heavy drinking days per month. Findings The WMD was -2.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) = -3.4, -0.6; P = 0.03] in favor of extended-release naltrexone for drinking days per month and -1.2 (95% CI = -0.2, -2.1; P = 0.02) for heavy drinking days per month, indicating that treatment resulted in two fewer drinking days per month and 1.2 fewer heavy drinking days per month compared with placebo. Trials not requiring lead-in abstinence and those lasting longer than 3 months reported larger reductions in heavy drinking days per month; WMD -2.0 (95% CI = -3.52, -0.48; P = 0.01) and -1.9 (95% CI = -3.2, -0.5; P = 0.01), respectively. In all cases, the I2 statistics (0-7.2%) did not suggest substantial heterogeneity. Conclusions Extended-release naltrexone reduces drinking days and heavy drinking days per month compared with placebo. Reductions are larger with a longer duration of treatment.
Hepatitis C Treatment Knowledge and Practice Among Family Medicine Physicians in Wisconsin During the Current Hepatitis C Epidemic.

Background Curative treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) exists, making elimination of HCV possible. However, most people with HCV have not received treatment. One barrier is limited access to treatment providers. HCV treatment can be effectively provided by primary care providers and, since 2017, Wisconsin Medicaid allows nonspecialists to prescribe treatment. We surveyed family medicine physicians in Wisconsin to evaluate capacity for the provision of HCV treatment. Methods We mailed a survey to family medicine physicians in Wisconsin from June 25, 2018 through September 7, 2018. Physicians were asked whether they prescribe HCV treatment and about their knowledge regarding HCV treatment and relevant statewide Medicaid policy. Using multivariable logistic regression, we evaluated physician characteristics associated with prescribing HCV treatment. Results Of 1,333 physicians surveyed, 600 (45%) responded. Few respondents reported prescribing HCV treatment independently (1%; n = 4) or in consultation with a specialist (6%; n = 35). Only 6% (n = 36) reported having a "great deal" of knowledge about HCV treatment. Most (86%; n = 515) were not aware that family medicine physicians can now prescribe HCV treatment covered by Medicaid. Physicians who practiced in offices affiliated with health systems were less likely to prescribe HCV treatment than physicians who practiced in an independent office or a Rural Health Clinic. Conclusions Among family medicine physicians in Wisconsin, experience with and knowledge of HCV treatment was limited. Developing knowledge and skills among primary care providers is needed to expand treatment access and make progress toward HCV elimination. Studies are needed to evaluate treatment access in primary care offices affiliated with health systems.
Towards Human Haptic Gesture Interpretation for Robotic Systems

Physical human-robot interactions (pHRI) are less efficient and communicative than human-human interactions, and a key reason is a lack of informative sense of touch in robotic systems. Interpreting human touch gestures is a nuanced, challenging task with extreme gaps between human and robot capability. Among prior works that demonstrate human touch recognition capability, differences in sensors, gesture classes, feature sets, and classification algorithms yield a conglomerate of non-transferable results and a glaring lack of a standard. To address this gap, this work presents 1) four proposed touch gesture classes that cover an important subset of the gesture characteristics identified in the literature, 2) the collection of an extensive force dataset on a common pHRI robotic arm with only its internal wrist force-torque sensor, and 3) an exhaustive performance comparison of combinations of feature sets and classification algorithms on this dataset. We demonstrate high classification accuracies among our proposed gesture definitions on a test set, emphasizing that neural net-work classifiers on the raw data outperform other combinations of feature sets and algorithms. The accompanying video is here: this https URL
Unbundling the Dynamics of MV Implementation: Voluntary Versus Reluctant Adoption of MV as a Source of an Omitted-Variable Bias

This essay argues that management's resistance to majority voting bylaws (MV), could have caused an omitted-variable bias in testing MV effects on votes withheld. By resisting MV bylaws - either by attempting to exclude shareholder proposals, relying on strict votes counting rules, or refusing to implement proposals that were voted favourably - managers could have both delayed an MV, and provoked frustrated shareholders into withholding their votes in annual elections, but only as long as resistance persisted. The very reason for the reported decline in withhold votes rates following MV implementation, thus, could have merely been an eventual shift in management resistance to MV. While this response focuses on MV bylaws, it has general implications for testing the effect of shareholder' sponsored governance changes.
Nurse Practitioners’ Perception of Temporary Full Practice Authority during a COVID-19 Surge: A Qualitative Study

Abstract Background At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, 22 state governors temporarily waived physician supervision of nurse practitioners to expand access to health care during the state of emergency. Objective We examined the nurse practitioner perception of the simultaneous scope of practice changes and the exigent pandemic demands during the initial COVID-19 surge in Massachusetts. Methods Qualitative descriptive design using content analysis of open-ended responses to a web-based survey of Massachusetts nurse practitioners conducted in May & June 2020. Results Survey response rate was 40.6 percent (N = 389). Content analysis identified four themes including: 1) State waivers enabled more control over practice and more expedited care, 2) State waiver did not change practice either because of pre-established independence or employers not changing policy, 3) Perception of nurse practitioner role as both versatile and disposable and 4) Telehealth increased access to care and created an autonomous setting. Conclusions Although findings suggest fewer barriers in some areas, the temporary removal of state-level restrictions alone is not sufficient to achieve immediate full scope of practice for nurse practitioners. There is a need for regulatory frameworks that optimize the capacity of the advanced practice nursing workforce to respond to global health emergencies. US-based policymakers and healthcare organizations should revise outdated scope of practice policies and capitalize on telehealth technology to utilize the full extent of nurse practitioners. Likewise, nursing leaders should be a voice for nurse practitioners to more effectively and safely maximize the nurse practitioner contribution during emergency responses. In countries where the role is under development, regulators can leverage these findings to establish modernized nurse practitioner scope of practice policies from the outset.
VIKING IV-AN 87 MPG SPORTS CAR

The Viking IV experimental sports car has achieved an average of 2.693 litres/100 kilometers @ 88.5 kph (87.32 mpg @ 55 mph) in a cross-country economy competition. This mileage is possible because of a radically streamlined body (drag coefficient .30) and a lightweight aluminum structure 630.5 kilograms (1390 lbs.). Viking IV is powered by a 1500 cc turbocharged diesel and meets 1980 emission standards while retaining acceleration (0 to 60 mph in 13 seconds) and top speed (177 kph (110.07)).
Separation of Syntrophomonas wolfei from Methanospirillum hungatii in Syntrophic Cocultures by Using Percoll Gradients.

Percoll gradient centrifugation effectively separated Syntrophomonas wolfei cells from Methanospirillum hungatii cells, resulting in a 70- to 80-fold enrichment of S. wolfei cells relative to M. hungatii cells. The separated S. wolfei cells were viable. Gram quantities of cellular protein which was enzymatically active and had low levels of contamination by the methanogenic cofactor, factor420, were obtained.
On the Nature of Syntax

There is a tendency in science to proceed from descriptive methods towards an adequate explanatory theory and then move beyond its conclusions. Our purpose is to discover the concepts of computational efficiency in natural language that exclude redundancy, and to investigate how these relate to more general principles. By developing the idea that linguistic structures possess the features of other biological systems this article focuses on the third factor that enters into the growth of language in the individual. It is suggested that the core principles of grammar can be observed in nature itself. The Faculty of Language is an efficient mechanism designed for the continuation of movement in compliance with optimization requirements. To illustrate that, a functional explanation of syntactic Merge is offered in this work, and an attempt is made to identify some criteria that single out this particular computational system as species-specific.
Abstract P106: Infant Sleep Problems Increase the Odds of Childhood Overweight at Grade 6: Differential Effects of Commonly Used Definitions of Sleep Problems

Introduction: Infant sleep problems have been defined using a variety of definitions. No study has assessed the association between infant sleep problems and childhood overweight or obesity using different definitions of sleep problems. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that the effect of infant sleep problems on childhood overweight or obesity would differ based on the definition of sleep problems used. Methods: In the multi-site study of Early Child Care and Youth Development of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, sleep problems were assessed using Lozoff and colleagues (night waking occurring more than 3 times per week accompanied by parental report of disturbance), Richman and colleagues (waking 5 or more nights per week for the past 3 months in addition to one of the following: co-sleeping with parents, waking 3 or more times per night, or waking event lasting at least 20 minutes), and Zuckerman and colleagues (waking 3 or more times per night, waking event lasting at least 1 hour, or parental report of severe disturbance) definitions. Infants ( Results: The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity at grade 6 was 15.6% and 19.0%, respectively. The prevalence of having sleep problems during infancy was 24.9% (Zuckerman definition), 12.6% (Richman definition), and 20.6% (Lozoff definition), per different definitions used. Infants with history of having sleep problems were found more likely to be overweight at grade 6 using either Zukerman’s (Odds ratio (OR) = 1.68; 95% Confidence interval (CI) = 1.11-2.55) or Richman’s definition (OR = 1.76; 95% CI = 1.05-2.97), but not using Lozoff’s definition of sleep problems. Conclusion: Infant sleep problems increased the odds of childhood overweight (but not obesity) at grade 6. However, the observed associations varied according to the definition of sleep problems used. More research is needed to construct a single definition of infant sleep problems in order to more accurately predict overweight or obesity later in life.
Geodesics and Maximal Tori

An important theorem of Cartan asserts that any two maximal tori in a compact Lie group are conjugate. There are different ways of proving this. We will deduce it from the surjectivity of the exponential map, which we will prove by showing that a geodesic between the origin and an arbitrary point of the group has the form \(t\mapsto {\mathrm{e}}^{tX}\) for some X in the Lie algebra.
Number of P‐Wave Fragmentations on P‐SAECG Correlates with Infiltrated Atrial Fat

Background Although atrial fibrillation (AF) triggers are known, the underlying AF substrate is less well understood. The goal of our study was to explore correlations between electrophysiological and structural characteristics of atria in patients with paroxysmal AF and individuals at AF risk.
Hysteresis phenomena in excitable cardiac cells analyzed by a microcomputer system

The authors test the hypothesis that hysteresis phenomena may exist in normally depolarized cardiac cells when an external stimulation parameter is allowed to changed. The underlying assumption is that cardiac cells may have intrinsic properties involving the memory of past events, independent of pacemaker and nonpacemaker interactions. This kind of behavior is found in 11 of 14 quiescent sheep Purkinje fibers which were rhythmically driven by depolarizing pulses, and in 13 of 14 isolated guinea-pig ventricular myocytes in which transmembrane potentials were recorded by the whole-cell current-clamp technique. Changes of pulse duration and temperature modulated the degree of hysteresis. The authors conclude that hysteresis may express some kind of memory in cardiac cells, probably enhancing stability against noise in the vicinity of threshold, while allowing cardiac cells to remain excitable at the lowest possible level of energy expenditure. >
Age-dependent alterations in the inflammatory response to pulmonary challenge

The aging lung is increasingly susceptible to infectious disease. Changes in pulmonary physiology and function are common in older populations, and in those older than 60 years, pneumonia is the major cause of infectious death. Understanding age-related changes in the innate and adaptive immune systems, and how they affect both pulmonary and systemic responses to pulmonary challenge are critical to the development of novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of the elderly patient. In this observational study, we examined age-associated differences in inflammatory responses to pulmonary challenge with cell wall components from Gram-positive bacteria. Thus, male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 6 months or greater than 18 months (approximating humans of 20 and 55-65 years), were challenged, intratracheally, with lipoteichoic acid and peptidoglycan. Cellular and cytokine evaluations were performed on both bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) and plasma, 24 h post-challenge. The plasma concentration of free thyroxine, a marker of severity in non-thyroidal illness, was also evaluated. The older animals had an increased chemotactic gradient in favor of the airspaces, which was associated with a greater accumulation of neutrophils and protein. Furthermore, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), an inflammatory mediator and putative biomarker in acute lung injury, was increased in both the plasma and BAL of the older, but not young animals. Conversely, plasma free thyroxine, a natural inhibitor of MIF, was decreased in the older animals. These findings identify age-associated inflammatory/metabolic changes following pulmonary challenge that it may be possible to manipulate to improve outcome in the older, critically ill patient.
The Affordable Care Act and Expanded Insurance Eligibility Among Nonelderly Adult Cancer Survivors.

Background Cancer survivors may face barriers to accessing health insurance and experience financial hardship because of medical expenditures. We examined potential improvements in access to insurance for cancer survivors through adult Medicaid expansions and premium tax credits in the new insurance marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Methods Eligibility for Medicaid and premium tax credits was simulated for cancer survivors age 18 to 64 years in the 2008 to 2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey using a detailed deterministic model. Financial hardship was determined as: 1) delays or unmet need for medical, prescription, or dental care because of cost or insurance issues and/or 2) family out-of-pocket medical spending that was 20% or more of gross income. Descriptive analyses were stratified by whether the state of residence chose to expand Medicaid by January 2015. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results Overall, 14.7% of 9.44 million cancer survivors were uninsured, with 18% reporting financial hardship. Under the ACA, 19% overall, 30% of the uninsured, and 39% of those reporting financial hardship would be Medicaid eligible. An additional 10% would be eligible for premium tax credits, with the remainder able to participate in the Marketplace without tax credits. However, 21% of uninsured cancer survivors in states not expanding Medicaid would be ineligible for assistance with coverage. Conclusions Under the ACA, many of the uninsured and a larger proportion of survivors facing financial hardship will be eligible for Medicaid or premium tax credits in the Marketplaces. ACA implementation will dramatically enhance insurance availability and is likely to reduce financial hardship for vulnerable cancer survivors.
Adolescent Caffeine Use, ADHD, and Cigarette Smoking

The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of adolescent caffeine use and its association with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and cigarette smoking. A total of 448 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 21 years consecutively presenting for routine, well-child care were studied. Twenty-four percent had a pre-existing diagnosis of ADHD, and 47% reported a positive lifetime history of cigarette smoking. Eighty-five percent of participants reportedly consumed a caffeinated beverage within the past 30 days; 38% had consumed 1+ cups of caffeinated coffee, and 78% had consumed 1+ glasses of another caffeinated beverage other than coffee (e.g., tea or soft drinks). After controlling for sociodemographic and other potential confounding factors, an ADHD diagnosis and a positive lifetime smoking history were significantly associated with caffeine use: Adolescents with ADHD were nearly twice as likely to use more caffeine than were adolescents without ADHD (odds ratio [OR] = 2.08; 95% ...
Indigenous internationalism: native rights and the UN

AbstractSince 1982, with the creation of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, the UN has taken steps toward addressing the violations of indigenous human rights around the globe that have characterized the colonization of indigenous peoples by western nations since the 15th century. This article explores the question of whether actions taken by the WGIP and other UN bodies promise to relieve this legacy; or whether the UN, as the proper overseer of international law concerning human rights today, continues that legacy in revised form, as some analysts have claimed. A brief overview of positions taken by key figures in the history of international law concerning indigenous peoples since the early 16th century provides a background against which to compare the work of the UN. My conclusion is that while the UN has in some ways sustained the inherited order of neglect of indigenous rights, it has, more importantly, created openings which make it possible for indigenous peoples to assert their claims....
A small viral RNA is required for in vitro packaging of bacteriophage phi 29 DNA

A small RNA of Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage phi 29 is shown to have a novel and essential role in viral DNA packaging in vitro. This requirement for RNA in the encapsidation of viral DNA provides a new dimension of complexity to the attendant protein-DNA interactions. The RNA is a constituent of the viral precursor shell of the DNA-packaging machine but is not a component of the mature virion. Studies of the sequential interactions involving this RNA molecule are likely to provide new insight into the structural and possible catalytic roles of small RNA molecules. The phi 29 assembly in extracts and phi 29 DNA packaging in the defined in vitro system were strongly inhibited by treatment with the ribonucleases A or T1. However, phage assembly occurred normally in the presence of ribonuclease A that had been treated with a ribonuclease inhibitor. An RNA of approximately 120 nucleotides co-purified with the phi 29 precursor protein shell (prohead), and this particle was the target of ribonuclease action. Removal of RNA from the prohead by ribonuclease rendered it inactive for DNA packaging. By RNA-DNA hybridization analysis, the RNA was shown to originate from a viral DNA segment very near the left end of the genome, the end packaged first during in vitro assembly.
Elicitation of Macrophages from the Peritoneal Cavity of Channel Catfish

Abstract Four chemicals were evaluated for elicitation of macrophages in peritoneal cavities of 250–300-g healthy channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus. Cellular exudates were collected at 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 20 d following intraperitoneal injections with squalene, Freund's incomplete adjuvant (FIA), goat serum, thioglycollate, or as a control, phosphate-buffered saline. Injection with either squalene or FIA induced significantly greater (P ⩽ 0.0001) macrophage recruitment than the other chemicals. The effectiveness of squalene and FIA was compared further by macrophage collection daily for 7 d. Squalene and FIA elicited similarly high macrophage responses (P ⩽ 0.0450), the highest being 3.43 × 106 macrophages/mL (SE, 2.4 × 106) at 99% purity at day 2 and 2.1 × 106 macrophages/mL (SE, 0.7 × 106) at day 14 at 80% purity, respectively. In both experiments, the time after injection was not statistically significant, nor was there an interaction between time and chemicals. The occurrence of cells other than ma...
Activation of excitatory amino acid inputs to supraoptic neurons. II. Increased dye-coupling in maternally behaving virgin rats.

Electrical stimulation of the lateral olfactory tract (LOT) has been shown to excite, monosynaptically, supraoptic nucleus (SON) neurons in slices of hypothalamus taken from male, virgin female or lactating rats. Only in the last of these, however, did 10 min of 10 Hz stimulation produce an increase in the incidence of Lucifer yellow dye-coupling, an indicator of electrotonic interactions. This coupling is virtually exclusively dendrodendritic. Since virgin females that have been induced to show full maternal behavior have altered dendritic morphology reminiscent of lactating animals (but different from males and untreated virgins) we investigated the effects of LOT stimulation in slices from maternally behaving virgins. Similar to the data for lactating rats, electrical stimulation of this tract, the terminals of which release excitatory amino acid transmitter, increased the incidence of dye-coupling by 112% (P < 0.01). Also similar to lactating rats, the coupling was dendrodendritic and the increase was due entirely to increasing the number of neurons coupled to the injected neuron. No increase in coupling was seen in stimulated slices from pup-exposed control rats. We conclude that the maternal behaviors engaged in by both real mothers and induced virgins ‘primes’ the supraoptic neurons to increase coupling in response to olfactory system stimulation. This priming may occur via olfactory and vomeronasal stimulation during such behaviors as sniffing and anogenital licking of the pups. That coupling increased in tissue from maternally behaving virgins comparably to that from nursing mothers further suggests that SON neurons may play a role in maternal behavior independent of its well-documented role in the milk ejection reflex.