cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Advertising—A Critic's View:

Has advertising degenerated into wasteful and sometimes deceptive promotion of brand rivalry? Since the author of the present article says, “Yes,” it might be well to point out that an old-fashione...
Spatial positioning of CFTR’s pore-lining residues affirms an asymmetrical contribution of transmembrane segments to the anion permeation pathway

The structural composition of CFTR’s anion permeation pathway has been proposed to consist of a short narrow region, flanked by two wide inner and outer vestibules, based on systematic cysteine scanning studies using thiol-reactive probes of various sizes. Although these studies identified several of the transmembrane segments (TMs) as pore lining, the exact spatial relationship between pore-lining elements remains under debate. Here, we introduce cysteine pairs in several key pore-lining positions in TM1, 6, and 12 and use Cd2+ as a probe to gauge the spatial relationship of these residues within the pore. We find that inhibition of single cysteine CFTR mutants, such as 102C in TM1 or 341C in TM6, by intracellular Cd2+ is readily reversible upon removal of the metal ion. However, the inhibitory effect of Cd2+ on the double mutant 102C/341C requires the chelating agent dithiothreitol (DTT) for rapid reversal, indicating that 102C and 341C are close enough to the internal edge of the narrow region to coordinate one Cd2+ ion between them. We observe similar effects of extracellular Cd2+ on TM1/TM6 cysteine pairs 106C/337C, 107C/337C, and 107C/338C, corroborating the idea that these paired residues are physically close to each other at the external edge of the narrow region. Although these data paint a picture of relatively symmetrical contributions to CFTR’s pore by TM1 and TM6, introducing cysteine pairs between TM6 and TM12 (348C/1141C, 348C/1144C, and 348C/1145C) or between TM1 and TM12 (95C/1141C) yields results that contest the long-held principle of twofold pseudo-symmetry in the assembly of ABC transporters’ TMs. Collectively, these findings not only advance our current understanding of the architecture of CFTR’s pore, but could serve as a guide for refining computational models of CFTR by imposing physical constraints among pore-lining residues.
316 NEEDLE INFILTRATIONS OF ARTERIOVENOUS FISTULAS IN HEMODIALYSIS: RISK FACTORS AND CONSEQUENCES.

Long-term use of an arteriovenous (AV) fistula for dialysis requires the ability of the dialysis staff to cannulate the fistula with large-bore needles three times a week. One complication of unsuccessful fistula cannulation is a needle infiltration, resulting in development of a subcutaneous hematoma, and precluding fistula use until resolution of the hematoma. Needle infiltrations of fistulas may result in the temporary inability to use the fistula for dialysis and may lead to fistula thrombosis, necessitating tunneled catheter use for maintenance hemodialysis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk factors for fistula infiltrations, and the clinical consequences arising from this complication. Using a prospective, computerized vascular access database, we identified all hemodialysis patients who suffered a fistula infiltration during a 5-year period (1/1/00-12/31/04) severe enough to require a follow-up diagnostic test, surgery appointment, or an intervention. This patient group was compared to a control group without fistula infiltrations. We also quantified subsequent access outcomes in patients with infiltrations. During a 5-year period, we identified 62 patients with fistula infiltrations, representing a 7% annual rate. On multiple variable regression analysis, the likelihood of fistula infiltration was strongly associated with patient age (odds ratio 1.038 per each year increment, 95% CI 1.014 to 1.063, p = .001). Fistula infiltration was not associated with sex, race, diabetes, presence of peripheral vascular disease, location of fistula, or body mass index. New fistulas (# 6 months in age) were more likely among patients with infiltrations as compared to a cross-section of patients without infiltrations (43.5% vs 20.5%; odds ratio 2.98, 95% CI 1.61 to 5.54, p = .0004). The 62 infiltrations resulted in 128 procedures or appointments. Fistula thrombosis occurred in 12 patients (or 19%). Prolongation of tunneled catheter dependence occurred in 48 (or 77%) patients with infiltrations, for a median of 97 days. Needle infiltration of fistulas occurs more commonly in older patients and in new fistulas. These infiltrations result in numerous procedures and prolongation of catheter dependence. Prospective studies are needed to evaluate the causes of increased infiltrations in new fistulas, the relationship of dialysis nurse experience to infiltrations, and the role of fistula infiltration in causing thrombosis.
Four-week rapamycin treatment improves muscular dystrophy in a fukutin-deficient mouse model of dystroglycanopathy

Secondary dystroglycanopathies are a subset of muscular dystrophy caused by abnormal glycosylation of α-dystroglycan (αDG). Loss of αDG functional glycosylation prevents it from binding to laminin and other extracellular matrix receptors, causing muscular dystrophy. Mutations in a number of genes, including FKTN (fukutin), disrupt αDG glycosylation. We analyzed conditional Fktn knockout (Fktn KO) muscle for levels of mTOR signaling pathway proteins by Western blot. Two cohorts of Myf5-cre/Fktn KO mice were treated with the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor rapamycin (RAPA) for 4 weeks and evaluated for changes in functional and histopathological features. Muscle from 17- to 25-week-old fukutin-deficient mice has activated mTOR signaling. However, in tamoxifen-inducible Fktn KO mice, factors related to Akt/mTOR signaling were unchanged before the onset of dystrophic pathology, suggesting that Akt/mTOR signaling pathway abnormalities occur after the onset of disease pathology and are not causative in early dystroglycanopathy development. To determine any pharmacological benefit of targeting mTOR signaling, we administered RAPA daily for 4 weeks to Myf5/Fktn KO mice to inhibit mTORC1. RAPA treatment reduced fibrosis, inflammation, activity-induced damage, and central nucleation, and increased muscle fiber size in Myf5/Fktn KO mice compared to controls. RAPA-treated KO mice also produced significantly higher torque at the conclusion of dosing. These findings validate a misregulation of mTOR signaling in dystrophic dystroglycanopathy skeletal muscle and suggest that such signaling molecules may be relevant targets to delay and/or reduce disease burden in dystrophic patients.
A temporal bracketing perspective on the internationalisation propensity of SMEs from post-communist transition economies

We develop a temporal bracketing perspective on the internationalisation propensity of incumbent and start-up small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from post-communist transition economies. Prior research has yielded mixed findings on whether SMEs from transition economies are more likely to internationalise with age. We reconcile these mixed results by decomposing the SMEs' age into two adjacent institutional brackets: communist legacy and reform legacy. We propose and find that while a longer communist legacy unlocks entrepreneurial mechanisms of self-help that increase the incumbent SMEs' current competitive aspirations to internationalise, a longer reform legacy raises the costs of financing, monitoring, and information search for both incumbent and start-up SMEs, reducing their current competitive aspirations to internationalise. Using the probit methodology, we find support for our framework on a sample of 388 SMEs from nine post-communist transition economies during 2008-2009. Our findings caution managers to carefully adjust their temporal expectations of competitive aspirations for internationalisation based on their length of communist and reform legacies.
Large Morel-Lavallée lesion presenting as fungating mass with skin ulceration.

A Morel-Lavallee lesion, a type of soft tissue degloving injury that has also been referred to as a chronic expanding hematoma, is a relatively rare condition that usually develops following traumatic injury. Here, we present a case of a 60-year-old male with a Morel-Lavallee lesion diagnosed over 5 years after a traumatic injury of the hip. He presented with a large fungating mass and overlying skin ulceration, which was highly suspicious for sarcoma. However, lack of other systemic findings and constitutional complaints, as well as negative imaging studies, did not support a diagnosis of malignancy. This information, combined with the history of remote trauma to the affected area, instead led us to suspect the alternative diagnosis of a Morel-Lavallee lesion. The diagnosis was later confirmed by pathology showing a chronic expanding hematoma. To our knowledge, a Morel-Lavallee lesion presenting as a fungating mass has not been previously described.
Rhodium(I), rhodium(III) and iridium(III) carbaporphyrins

Treatment of a benzocarbaporphyrin with [Rh(CO)2Cl]2 in refluxing dichloromethane gave a rhodium(I) dicarbonyl complex, and further reaction in refluxing pyridine afforded an organometallic rhodium(III) derivative. The carbaporphyrin also reacted with [Ir(COD)Cl]2 and pyridine in refluxing p-xylene to generate a related iridium(III) compound. These novel metalated porphyrinoids retained strongly diatropic characteristics and were fully characterized by XRD.
Determination of Aliphatic Thiols by Fluorometric High-Performance Liquid Chromatography After Precolumn Derivatization with 2-(4-N-Maleimidophenyl)-6-Methylbenzothiazole

A sensitive, fluorometric high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the detection of aliphatic thiols, following pre-column derivatization with 2-(4-N-maleimidophenyl)-6-methylbenzothiazole, has been developed. The N-maleimide, the acid and the methyl ester derivatives of the commercially available 2-(4-aminophenyl)-6-methylbenzothiazole were synthesized and found to be equally effective for the precolumn derivatization procedure. The resulting fluorescentic derivatives of aliphatic thiols were separated on a reversed-phase column (Ultrasphere-ODS) using 0.1% hexane-sulfonic acid in 10 mM potassium hydrogen phosphate: acetonitrile (65:35) as a mobile phase and were detected fluorometrically (excitation 320 nm; emission 405 nm). The method is highly sensitive (femtomole range) and is easily applied for determination of SH-containing drugs and endogenous thiols in biological samples.
Densification Behavior of Al2O3 Powders Containing ZrO2 Inclusions

Densification experiments using ZrO2 single-crystal particles in an Al2O3 powder matrix were performed to examine the microstructural changes produced by constrained densification. Observations showed the formation of large, lowdensity regions within a denser material network. Enlargement of pores by desintering of necks between grains was observed during grain coarsening within these low-density regions. This pore opening behavior was also investigated in a model experiment.
Political Economy and Contract Law

Using the French riots in the spring of 2006 over a proposal to introduce a type of employment at will as an example, the paper argues that some very important differences in contract law reflect significant differences in political economy among such countries as France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. From employment at will, the paper extends the argument to include other obviously regulatory aspects of contract law: price controls, consumers' cancellation rights, and regulation of standard terms. The paper then extends the argument to more fundamental, less obviously regulatory aspects of contract law: the bargain theory of consideration, contract remedies, and termination for breach. The paper concludes with a plea for real, sympathetic understanding of these significant differences in political economy.
Modeling and simulation of gas transport in carbon-based organic nano-capillaries

Abstract Modeling of transport of fluids in organic nanopores of shale is associated with complexities due to existence of ultratight pores and strong fluid–solid interactions. In this study, adsorption and transport of three different gases (argon, methane, and neon) are investigated by performing molecular simulations of identical setups of nano-scale carbon capillaries made up of smooth graphite sheets. The simulations are performed for capillaries with 2, 4, 6, and 8 nm diameters for a wide range of pressures and pressure gradients. The velocity, density, diffusion coefficients, and viscosities of the gases are computed and compared. Based on the molecular simulation results, as the pressure of the system increases, amount of the adsorbed gas molecules on the capillary walls increases to reach the saturation state. Computed velocity profiles show that for all gases in the capillaries, velocity profiles are plug-shaped. Computed gas velocities from molecular simulations are compared with the velocities predicted by regularized 13-moment model by adjusting the tangential momentum accommodation coefficients (TMAC). The calculated TMAC values are found to be between 0.03 to 0.18 for the pressure range tested. It is found that as the Knudsen number increases, the molecules reflect more specularly in the capillaries. We also investigated the effect of adsorption on TMAC values and found that the TMAC values can be predicted by including the effect of adsorption surface coverage into consideration. Furthermore, it is found that the Knudsen diffusion model underestimates the molecular fluxes in the capillaries by at least one order of magnitude. The corrected and transport diffusivity coefficients decrease as pressure increases and approach one another at low pressures. The viscosity of the gases are calculated for different fugacities and Knudsen numbers based on self-diffusivity coefficients for two capillary sizes of 2 and 4 nm. The computed viscosities of all gases decrease as pressure increases. For all gases, the viscosity under confinement are lower than their nominal values. Viscosity values for argon and methane increase approximately linearly with fugacity for both capillaries. The viscosity values of neon for the capillaries are almost the same for fugacities less than 90 atm. It is also shown that the viscosity models for gases under confinement are not good candidates to be used in organic nanopores due to adsorption of gases to pore surface.
At the Electronic Crossroads Once Again: The Myth of the Modern Computer Utility in the United States

The term "computer utility" has been perennially present in the history of computing, though a precise definition of the term has been fleeting, even when it first appeared in the Mid-1960s. The recent resurgence of interest in the remote provision of computing power has brought with it the historical jumble of definitions that make up that term, and "computer utility" is once again being applied to computer architectures though with little justification or exposition given regarding this use. This article attempts to determine whether past and present applications of the term share any commonalities and in doing so questions whether there has ever existed a true "computer utility." To do so, incarnations of the "computer utility" are examined in two time periods--the 1960s and the 1970s--during which time computer time-sharing enjoyed significant prosperity and now as cloud computing has become increasingly popular and prolific.
Biogeochemistry Of Uranium And Selenium - Regional Problem Of Ecology

Kyrgyzstan is rich in different aspects of mineral resources (more than 10 thousands). The reason that Kyrgyzstan occupies a unique position is a geological feature of Eurasia (majority Tian-Shan). Metalogenic the specialisation has promoted the formation of numerous shallow accumulations both several giant fields infrequent and rare earths, that has caused the shaping of appropriate geochemical anomalies. Due to the scientists weapon since 1955, Kyrgyzstan was the largest producer of uranium for former USSR (Mailyy- Syy, Min-Kysh, Kadji-Saj etc.). The concern from this problem and the decision of new strategic tasks still remains unsolved. However, owing to inefficient extraction and unsafe waste-handling of mineral resources, on the territory of the republic (600 million. m3) in dumps and scraps of waste-handling of mineral raw materials the are a great many elements of potentially of dangerous chemical elements and their by products. The condition of these dumps and storage sites is so pitiable, that radioactive waste, heavy metals and toxiferous materials contaminate the environment.
On a property of gaussian wavefunctions

Abstract Short-range behavior of gaussian wavefunctions is analysed in terms of momentum expectation values. Qualities and properties of some functions, which illustrate the various schemes generally used to build up gaussian basis sets, are discussed in detail for some atomic systems.
Subjectivity as “evidence”: an exploration of medication adherence in the treatment of schizophrenia using in-depth interviews

Anti-psychotic medication is considered one of the most efficaciousinterventions for the treatment of severe schizophrenia, yet ratesof adherence are notoriously and consistently low despite volume...
Gradient temperature heat treatment for efficient study of phase precipitation in a high-temperature Fe-Cr-Mo ferritic steel

Abstract An easy-to-implement gradient temperature heat treatment process was developed to effectively study the phase precipitation in a Fe-Cr-Mo high-temperature ferritic steel over a wide range of temperatures. The natural temperature gradient across a Fe-Cr-Mo steel bar that was placed at an open-end of a tube furnace led to microstructure variations and hardness changes as a result of the difference in phase precipitation. SEM and TEM characterizations showed that the Chi-phase was the dominant phase at temperatures higher than 785 °C and a metastable Laves phase precipitated prior to the Chi-phase at temperatures below 785 °C. Vickers microhardness was measured at locations across the steel bar, and the Ashby-Orowan equation was found to hold well in correlating the microhardness values to the average particle size and inter-particle spacing obtained from quantitative image analysis.
Understanding Coding and Payment for Psychiatrists' Services: How We Got Here and Where We're Going.

The APA Committee on RBRVS, Codes, and Reimbursement authored this article to help psychiatrists gain a better understanding of the current coding and reimbursement structure for psychiatric servic...
Know Me Before You Speak for Me: Substantive Public Representation Among Nonprofits

Nonprofit and public administration scholars have increasingly turned attention to the wide variety of channels by which nonprofit organizations may influence public policy, raising critical questi...
A High-Efficiency GaN-Based Single-Stage 6.78 MHz Transmitter for Wireless Power Transfer Applications

A single-stage 6.78 MHz transmitter is proposed, which directly converts a utility ac input to a regulated, high-frequency (6.78 MHz) ac output for wireless power transmission. The topology integrates a totem-pole rectifier operating in a discontinuous conduction mode and an asymmetrical voltage cancellation controlled full-bridge inverter. Compared with the traditional cascaded multistage transmitters, this single-stage approach achieves high power efficiency over the full load range, utilizes fewer fast-switching devices, and shrinks the size of the converter. Constant current behavior at the output of the transmitter enables a fast response to a sudden load change. The operation and theoretical analysis of the single-stage transmitter is verified using a 100 W, GaN-based prototype. Experimental results demonstrate the capability of the converter to provide high power factor, low total harmonic distortion of the input current, and high conversion efficiency over the whole power range. The resulting prototype is suitable for implementation in wireless power systems where multiple consumer electronics loads are charged from a single transmitter.
Introduction on nanotechnology and carbon nano tubes to reduce air pollution on large scale emissions and strategic analysis of climate change

Air Pollution is one of the major problems that are not only hard to overcome but also it rsquo s becoming overwhelming to humans and other living beings Contamination of air depends on different factors such as burning of fossil fuels coal oil natural gas gasoline etc and also one of the vital aspects is emissions from vehicles that only increase day by day unless we are using electric cars or water powered vehicles This paper shows rough information to reduce air pollution through nanotechnology and strategically analysis of the climate change in the span of eighty to hundred years Although there are various ways to reduce air pollution but the basic concept remains same that is to separate specific elements and molecules from a mixture of atoms and molecules in the atmosphere at molecular level
Three-dimensional, soft neotissue arrays as high throughput platforms for the interrogation of engineered tissue environments.

Abstract Local signals from tissue-specific extracellular matrix (ECM) microenvironments, including matrix adhesive ligand, mechanical elasticity and micro-scale geometry, are known to instruct a variety of stem cell differentiation processes. Likewise, these signals converge to provide multifaceted, mechanochemical cues for highly-specific tissue morphogenesis or regeneration. Despite accumulated knowledge about the individual and combined roles of various mechanochemical ECM signals in stem cell activities on 2-dimensional matrices, the understandings of morphogenetic or regenerative 3-dimenstional tissue microenvironments remain very limited. To that end, we established high-throughput platforms based on soft, fibrous matrices with various combinatorial ECM proteins meanwhile highly-tunable in elasticity and 3-dimensional geometry. To demonstrate the utility of our platform, we evaluated 64 unique combinations of 6 ECM proteins (collagen I, collagen III, collagen IV, laminin, fibronectin, and elastin) on the adhesion, spreading and fate commitment of mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) under two substrate stiffness (4.6 kPa, 20 kPa). Using this technique, we identified several neotissue microenvironments supporting MSC adhesion, spreading and differentiation toward early vascular lineages. Manipulation of the matrix properties, such as elasticity and geometry, in concert with ECM proteins will permit the investigation of multiple and distinct MSC environments. This paper demonstrates the practical application of high through-put technology to facilitate the screening of a variety of engineered microenvironments with the aim to instruct stem cell differentiation.
Justifying the Use of Ordinal Methods

In Chapter 3 the contention was illustrated that any social decision function which does not take into consideration the strengths of preference of the members of the social choice situations in determining the social action to be taken may produce unsatisfactory results.
Epistemic risks in cancer screening: Implications for ethics and policy.

Abstract Cancer screening is the subject of much debate; while screening has the potential to save lives by identifying and treating cancers in early stages, it is also the case that not all cancers cause symptoms, and the diagnosis of these cancers can lead to unnecessary treatments and subsequent side-effects and complications. This paper explores the relationships between epistemic risks in cancer diagnosis and screening, the social organization of medical research and practice, and policy making; it does this by examining 2018 recommendations by the United States Preventative Services Task Force that patients make individualized, autonomy-based decisions about cancer screening on the basis of discussions with their physicians. While the paper focuses on prostate cancer screening, the issues that it raises are relevant to other cancer screening programs, especially breast cancer. The paper argues that prostate cancer screening—and, more generally, the process of risk assessment for prostate cancer—is pervaded by epistemic risks that reflect value judgments and that the pervasiveness of these epistemic risks creates significant and under-explored difficulties for physician-patient communication and the achievement of autonomous patient decision making.
IMPACT OF SEVERE MALE INFERTILITY ON CHROMOSOMAL STATUS OF EMBRYOS AND PREGNANCY OUTCOME IN YOUNGER WOMEN

The relationship between severe male infertility and embryo aneuploidy has long been a subject of interest and there have been a limited number of studies. Our study used next generation sequencing (NGS), to evaluate the chromosomal status of blastocyst stage embryos and evaluated embryo morphokinetics and pregnancy outcomes in young women ( Severe male factor (SMF) is defined as sperm concentration below 5 million per ml. This covers a very wide range from 5 million down to non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA), in which sperm production is severely impaired. In our study, SMF cases were divided into the following 5 subgroups according to sperm concentration; 1) between five million and one million, 2) between one million and one hundred thousand, 3) less than one hundred thousand (cryptozoospermia), 4) Obstructive Azoospermia (OA) and 5) Non-obstructive Azoospermia (NOA). The control group was composed of males with normal sperm parameters (>39 million and >40% motile sperm in the ejaculate). 228 severe male infertility cases and 67 control cases with normal sperm parameters. In all groups female age was The PGT-A results showed that the overall aneuploidy rate of patients with SMF was 55.3% and the mosaicism rate was 13.2%. In the control group these figures were 55.8% and 6.7% respectively, a significantly higher mosaicism rate (p=0.001) was observed in the SMF group. Significantly higher chromosomal aneuploidy rates were found in couples with cryptozoospermia, in patients with OA and in patients with NOA compared to other male subgroups. Furthermore, embryo morphokinetic evaluation was carried out using time lapse imaging to investigate embryo development. NOA patients reached the first cleavage significantly later than the control group (27.78h vs. 26.55h, respectively; p=0.0347). There was also a difference between obstructive and non-obstructive azoospermia patients in the time to reach blastocyst, OA patients achieving a blastocyst significantly earlier than NOA (tB= 102.20h vs. tB=104.91h, respectively; p=0.0297). The cumulative live birth rates of SMF groups were compared. Significantly lower cumulative live birth rates were found in couples with cryptozoospermia (43.7%), in patients with OA (46%) and in patients with NOA (46.1%) compared to other SMF subgroups with five million and one million (58.1%) and between one million and one hundred thousand (71.4%) subgroups. In conclusion, the chromosomal status of embryos in severe male infertility cases with young female partners (
Relationship between Atomic Scale Structure and Reactivity of Pt Catalysts: Hydrodeoxygenation of m-Cresol over Isolated Pt Cations and Clusters

Atomically dispersed late transition-metal cations have attracted significant attention as next-generation heterogenous catalysts. However, relationships between the catalytic behavior of atomicall...
Lamb wave-based mapping of plate structures via frontier exploration.

Abstract Substantial improvements in material processing and manufacturing techniques in recent years necessitate the introduction of effective and efficient nondestructive testing (NDT) methods that can seamlessly integrate into day-to-day aircraft and aerospace operations. Lamb wave-based methods have been identified as one of the most promising candidates for the inspection of large-scale structures. At the same time, there is presently a high level of research in the field of autonomous mobile robotics, especially in simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). Thus, this paper investigates a means to automate Lamb wave-based NDT by positioning sensors along a planar structure through mobile service robots. To this end, a generalized method for the mapping of plate structures using scattered Lamb waves by means of frontier exploration is presented such that an autonomous SLAM-capable NDT system can become realizable. The performance of this novel Lamb wave-based frontier exploration is first evaluated in simulation. It is shown that it generally outperforms a random frontier exploration and may even perform near-optimal in the case of an isotropic, square panel. These findings are then validated in laboratory experiments, confirming the general feasibility of utilizing Lamb waves for SLAM. Furthermore, the versatility of the developed methodology is successfully demonstrated on a more complexly shaped stiffened panel.
The effect of categories on relative encoding biases in memory-based judgments

Abstract People are very good at making relative judgments (determining where a stimulus ranks in a distribution) but not very good at making absolute judgments (determining the absolute properties of the stimulus independent of context). Thus, when evaluating various stimuli, people tend to encode ordinal rank rather than objective quality. This leads to a robust bias in memory-based judgments: when the nature of the distribution shifts, people fail to update their memories of ordinal rank, and thus incorrectly judge a stimulus that is at the top [bottom] of the distribution at Time 1 to also be at the top [bottom] of a different distribution at Time 2. In two studies, we demonstrate a crucial moderator of the relative encoding bias on memory-based judgments: category saliency at the time of encoding. More specifically, we reveal that this memory-based judgment bias is reduced if it is made salient at the time of encoding that the stimuli from Time 1 and Time 2 are from different categories and thus different distributions.
Service utilization and association with recurrences of child maltreatment post-reunification

About 30% of children referred to child protective services each year in the US experience recurring maltreatment. Maltreatment has been linked to a myriad of negative developmental outcomes for ch...
Oceans as the Paradigm of History

The temporality of historical flows can be understood through the paradigm of oceanic circulations of water. Historical processes are not linear and tunneled but circulatory and global, like oceani...
Future Skill Requirements in Transportation Engineering and Implications for Graduate Curriculum Design

AbstractThe transportation engineering field is currently experiencing a profound transformation driven by technological evolution, which highlights the importance of preparing students for the typ...
Laser induced damage to thallium arsenic selenide (TAS)

We present results of a study of the laser induced damage thresholds of T13AsSe3 at 10 pm using nanosecond and picosecond pulses. The damage threshold was found to be ne 10 J/cm2 with 130 ns (FWHM) and no damage was observed using 60 ps pulses.
Protest Patterns in Provincial Russia: a Paired Comparison of Company Towns

Following the Soviet Union’s collapse, Russia implemented reforms aimed at transitioning to a market economy and devolving power to regional and municipal levels of government. Although it is well known that these reforms created significant uncertainty, economic crises, and protest, most existing studies do not explore the considerable variation in protest patterns across localities. This article asks why, despite similar pressures, some cities have experienced protests that are consistently larger and more intense than others. Focusing on the context of the many company towns that emerged during Soviet industrialization, I construct a paired comparison of two average-sized company towns using process tracing through interviews and archival documents. This article also employs an original protest database created through newspaper analysis that tracks not only the instances of protest but also protest size, demands, and targets. What emerges are two pathways that explain the divergent protest structures in the two company towns studied. In Cherepovets, a city that is less dependent on the central state, local elites pursued strategies of co-optation and suppression, limiting the opportunity structure for contentious politics to small-scale, local protests. In Komsomolsk-na-Amure, a city where the primary industry is in decline and dependent on support from the center, local elites converged with opposition groups to improve their bargaining position vis-a-vis the central government; this produced protests that were larger and more extreme and targeted the system as a whole.
Fluctuations of Mid-to-High Frequency Acoustic Waves in Shallow Water

Abstract : The long-term goal of this project is quantitative understanding of the physics governing the broadband frequency (50 Hz to 50 kHz) acoustic signal propagation, reflection, refraction and scattering in shallow water and coastal regions in the presence of temporal and spatial ocean variability. The complications presented by this variability in the ocean and the seabed environment are significant and must be considered for application development.
On evaluation of the equations for the growth kinetics of ellipsoidal precipitates

Grain boundary allotriomorphs are probably most accurately modeled as double spherical caps. A reasonable approximation of the model is provided by the oblate ellipsoid of revolution. The ellipsoidal growth problem has been solved by Ham and by Horvay and Cahn. However, both the relationship from which the parabolic rate constants are evaluated and that used to calculate the solute concentration profile about the growing precipitate include an integral which must be evaluated either numerically or by means of series expansions, with different ones being employed for aspect ratios near zero (representing the infinite plane) and near unity (the sphere). In this Letter, it is shown that equations for ellipsoidal precipitates can be simplified to avoid a cumbersome integral and obtain instead the easier to evaluate error function.
Novel Graphical Comparative Analyses of 7 Prehospital Stroke Scales (S5.007)

Objective: To illustrate novel graphical methods of comparing the operating characteristics of different prehospital stroke scales. Background: Stroke patients unrecognized in the field experience delayed hospital care. Numerous stroke scales have been created to aid in prehospital identification of stroke but these scales have never been compared graphically. Methods: Separate two by two tables of performance measures for each stroke scale were entered in the Meta-DiSc software. Sensitivities and false positive rates were compared on a receiver operating curve (ROC) plane. For stroke scales reviewed in more than two studies, we graphed the symmetric summary ROC (SSROC) and area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. The methodology for generating SSROC was chosen based on the measured between-study heterogeneity, as calculated by the inconsistency index (I2) and tau squared (τ2), with I2 > 50% or τ2 > 1 pointing towards substantial statistical heterogeneity. Results: We reviewed studies validating Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS), Los Angeles Prehospital Stroke Screen (LAPSS), Melbourne Ambulance Stroke Screen (MASS), Face Arm Speech Test (FAST), Ontario Prehospital Stroke Screening (OPSS), Medic Prehospital Assessment for Code Stroke (Med PACS) and Recognition Of Stroke in the Emergency Room (ROSIER). On the ROC plane, Med PACS, ROSIER and FAST were closest to the line of an uninformative test (sensitivity + specificity = 1). In contrast, point estimates of LAPSS, OPSS and MASS were concentrated in the upper left corner of the graph, suggesting better performance. We could plot SSROC only for CPSS and LAPSS and, because they reported considerable heterogeneity (CPSS: I2 =97.8%, τ2 = 4.33, LAPSS: I2 =96.8%, τ2 = 4.16), we used the DerSimonian and Laird methodology to generate SSROC. AUC for CPSS was 0.813±SE 0.129 and for LAPSS 0.964±SE 0.028. Conclusion: Robust graphical and statistical comparison of the performance of different prehospital stroke scales would help emergency medical services directors, vascular neurologists, and state health departments involved in prehospital stroke care choose the best screening method. Disclosure: Dr. Sharma has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sinert has nothing to disclose. Dr. Levine has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for MedLink. Dr. Levine has received royalty payments as editor of a book. Dr. Brandler has nothing to disclose.
The Passions of Law

The Passions of Law is the first anthology to treat the role that emotions play, don't play, and ought to play in the practice and conception of law and justice. Lying at the intersection of law, psychology, and philosophy, this emergent field of law scholarship raises some of the most profound and interesting questions at the heart of jurisprudence. For example, what role do emotions ranging from disgust to compassion play in the decision-making processes of judges, lawyers, juries, and clients? What emotions belong in which legal contexts? Is there a hierarchy of emotions, and, if so, through what sources do we identify it? To what extent are emotions subject to change or tutelage? How can we evaluate the role of emotion in such disparate contexts as death sentencing, laws about same sex marriage, hate crime legislation, punitive damages or shaming penalties? Consisting of original essays by leading scholars of law, theology, political science, and philosophy, The Passions of Law contributes to ongoing efforts to humanize law and reveals how this previously unacknowledged aspect of decision-making exerts a much greater impact on justice and the practice of law than most tend, or like, to think. Learn more about Susan Bandes
Math and Science Instructors' Perceptions of Their American Indian Students at a Sub- Baccalaureate Technical College: A Delphi Study

Scholars have argued for many years that American Indian students have unique values, beliefs, attitudes, goals, and needs that instructors at the college level must take into account if they want their students to be successful (Jackson & Smith, 2001;James, 1992;O‘Brien, 1990;Pottinger, 1990;Scott, 1985;Swisher, 1994;Wilson, 1998). However, too few faculty members have understood, respected, and acted upon these needs, and their attitude has contributed to high non-completion rates among Native students (Dodd, Garcia, Meccage, & Nelson, 1995;Pewewardy & Frey, 2004;Tate & Schwartz, 1993).
Efficient don't care computation for hierarchical designs

In this paper, we describe a BDD-based hierarchical don't care computation algorithm. In contrast to traditional don't care computation techniques, our method retains the hierarchy in the design netlist during the don't care computation. Although this may reduce some of the flexibility inherent in the optimization process, it allows our technique to handle large designs. Our method computes don't cares at input and output interfaces of different modules in the hierarchy by an image computation process. In case an exact image cannot be computed, our method computes the largest approximate image. Once the don't cares at the input and output interfaces are computed, the hierarchical instances are optimized separately using a traditional optimization flow. Experimental results demonstrate that our technique can achieve a 36% reduction in literal count for large hierarchical designs, with reasonable runtimes. Our method can complete for several examples in which flattened optimization fails.
Smoke and Mirrors: Public Uncertainty, Psuedo-Opinions and the Illusion of Public Perceptions of Budget Forecasts

This research looks into how individuals form their opinions about state-level budget projections. It is based on an experimental survey conducted by the survey firm Knowledge Networks that addresses voters’ perceptions of incumbent politicians’ efforts to deal with the current financial crisis when developing future state budgets. The research design of the experiment evaluates whether individuals’ perceptions of budget forecasts exhibit patterns of a fiscal illusion: Namely, it tests if individuals tend to misperceive the costs and benefits of key fiscal parameters which “distort fiscal choices” among the electorate (Oates 1988, 65). Preliminary findings from the survey’s results suggest that respondents’ perceptions of budget forecasts tend to be conditioned by contextual factors and scenarios which are part of the budget process. The survey does not find evidence of the types of behavior characteristic of the Fiscal Illusion among individuals. Rather, the survey’s findings indicate that short-term information stimuli condition a type of fiscal shirking among individuals during periods of financial crisis: Fiscal shirking is defined as an increasing desire for individuals to find any, or all, alternate sources of revenue — increasing income taxes on households of earning $250,000 or more per year, sin taxes, gasoline taxes, and/or federal aid, etc. — in which to pay for public expenditures. This finding implies that policymakers are able to shape the public’s perceptions of the incumbent government’s fiscal competence. And as a result, public perceptions of the budget projection process reveal which party has been more successful in influencing the public’s attitudes of an incumbent’s financial management, rather than revealing any actual evaluation of the effectiveness of budget forecasts.
Reflections on Collaborative Teaching of Science Information Literacy and Science Writing: Plans, Processes and Pratfalls.

Examines the philosophy behind development of two team-taught courses in scientific writing: one for first-year students, the second for advanced students preparing for graduate and professional careers in science. Using student self-evaluations, course evaluations, and anecdotal evidence, chronicles some strengths and weaknesses of our ten-year experience with collaborative instruction and elaborates on both successful and unsuccessful pedagogies.
Evaluation of alternative counting methods for radioimmunoassay of hepatitis-associated antigen (HB-Ag).

Alternative counting methods for the Abbott "Aus-RIA" hepatitis-associated antigen test have been devised and evaluated. These methods involve solubilization of the tube-bound radiolabeled complex with glacial acetic acid, transfer of the eluate to a counting vial of choice, and measurement by either a gamma scintillation or a liquid scintillation system. These methods, when compared to the direct counting of the AusRIA tube for sera from more than 250 patients and controls, gave a correlation coefficient of 0.94 to 0.99. Iodine-125 counting efficiencies averaged 65% both for direct counting of the AusRIA tube and for gamma counting of the eluate. By liquid scintillation counting, iodine-125 counting efficiency averaged 50%. This method avoids high background, chemiluminescence, and quench, and is easy to perform. By using glacial acetic acid to solubilize the labeled material, the eluate can be counted by various types of gamma counters as well as by liquid scintillation systems.
The quantitative spectrographic analysis of the rare earth elements; determination of samarium in neodymium; determination of europium in samarium.

Spectrographic methods applicable to the determination of small amounts of rare earth impurities in other rare earths are described. The specific examples discussed are the determination of samarium in neodymium and of europium in samarium. The procedures involve the high current d.c. arc excitation of rare earth oxide-graphite mixtures. Selected lines of the major rare earth constituent are used as internal standards. The experimental error of these methods is about 4 percent. Studies on the variation of the analytical intensity ratio during excitation and the effect of large changes in arc current, percent graphite, and weight of sample charge on the intensity ratio values are included.
Saxagliptin and Metformin in Fixed Combination for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in Adults

Type 2 diabetes affects millions of people worldwide and significantly contributes to morbidity and mortality of those affected by it. Current guidelines recommend individualized treatment regimens following first line metformin therapy. Saxagliptin, a dipeptidyl-peptidase 4 inhibitor, provides a secondary mechanism of action to decrease hyperglycemia when used in combination with metformin. The combination of metformin and saxagliptin has shown improvements in hemoglobin A1c and fasting plasma glucose in greater efficacy than when either agent is used alone. Adverse effects of combination therapy are similar to when these agents are used individually, and are rated as tolerable by patient satisfaction scores. Overall, the combination use of saxagliptin in addition to metformin is an attractive option for clinicians to use in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
Mechanics of balsa (Ochroma pyramidale) wood

Abstract Balsa wood is one of the preferred core materials in structural sandwich panels, in applications ranging from wind turbine blades to boats and aircraft. Here, we investigate the mechanical behavior of balsa as a function of density, which varies from roughly 60 to 380 kg/m3. In axial compression, bending, and torsion, the elastic modulus and strength increase linearly with density while in radial compression, the modulus and strength vary nonlinearly. Models relating the mechanical properties to the cellular structure and to the density, based on deformation and failure mechanisms, are described. Finally, wood cell-wall properties are determined by extrapolating the mechanical data for balsa, and are compared with the reduced modulus and hardness of the cell wall measured by nanoindentation.
Extremal Kähler metrics and complex deformation theory

Let (M, J, g) be a compact Kahler manifold of constant scalar curvature. Then the Kahler class [ω] has an open neighborhood inH 1,1 (M, ℝ) consisting of classes which are represented by Kahler forms of extremal Kahler metrics; a class in this neighborhood is represented by the Kahler form of a metric of constant scalar curvature iff the Futaki invariant of the class vanishes. If, moreover, the derivative of the Futaki invariant at [ω] is “nondegenerate,” every small deformation of the complex manifold (M, J) also carries Kahler metrics of constant scalar curvature. We then apply these results to prove new existence theorems for extremal Kahler metrics on certain compact complex surfaces.
A Useful Method For Model-Building

A simple technique useful in iterative model-building is described. In this a statistical analysis is applied to the estimated parameters rather than to the observations directly. This mode of procedure pinpoints the source and nature of possible inadequacies and these, interacting with the experimenter's special knowledge of the problem, can suggest what modifications are necessary for improvement. The cycle may be repeated till an adequate model, which should of course be checked by additional critical experiments, is found.