cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ENDOGENOUS TRADE POLICY: A TIME‐SERIES APPROACH*

This paper provides a time-series analysis on the relationship between the extent of endogenous trade policy and both political and economic variables. The chosen trade policy indicator is the number of foreign-trade regulations passed each year for the benefit of a single firm or industry. The data are from Uruguay, 1925–1983. This country, which experienced an impressive economic decline, is an outstanding example of the rent-seeking society. The paper shows that endogenous regulations increased with discretionary policies, with adverse macroeconomic shocks and under dictatorship. It also shows that these regulations had a negative long-run effect on the growth rates of output and exports. The short-run effect was positive however.
Identification of static and dynamic components of reflex sensitivity in spastic elbow flexors using a muscle activation model

Static and dynamic components of the stretch reflex were studied in elbow flexors of 13 hemiparetic brain-injured individuals. Constant-velocity joint rotations were applied to the elbow, and the resulting stretch reflex torque and electromyographic responses were recorded in the biceps brachii and brachioradialis muscles. Ten elbow extension velocities between 6 and 150 ° s-1 were applied in random order. The resulting reflex torque response was plotted as a function of elbow angle and fitted with a mathematical model designed to depict elbow flexor activation. We found that four of the six model parameters were essentially independent of test velocity. Conversely, 73% (19/26) of cases involving the other two model parameters were dependent on velocity of joint extension (p<0.05). We conclude from these results that four of the model parameters reflect the static reflex response while the two remaining velocity-dependent parameters reflect the dynamic reflex response. To describe overall velocity dependence of stretch reflexes in spastic elbow muscles, the two dynamic reflex parameters were fitted to a fractional exponential function of velocity, similar to a model previously used to describe spindle firing rate in the cat hindlimb. We found that the mean velocity exponent of the dynamic reflex parameters was 0.24 + 0.17 (s.d.) (N = 13), a value similar to that for muscle spindle velocity sensitivity in reduced animal preparations. We conclude that both static and dynamic reflex sensitivities can be measured by examining different aspects of the torque/angle relation associated with the reflex response to a large-amplitude ramp stretch of the elbow. © 2001 Biomedical Engineering Society.
Rare cause of right heart failure: contained rupture of a sinus of Valsalva aneurysm associated intraventricular septal aneurysm

Sinus of Valsalva aneurysm (SVA) is a rare congenital lesion described first in 1840 by John Thurnam (Cited by Boutefou JM, Moret PR, Hahn C, Hanf E. Aneurysms of the sinus of Valsalva: report of seven cases and review of the literature. Am J Med 1978;65:18-24). In most cases unruptured Sinus of Valsalva aneurysm (SVA) is clinically silent; however, if it progressively enlarges it may cause coronary artery compression, complete heart block, or right ventricular outflow tract obstruction (Meier JH, Seward JD, Miller FA, Oh J, Sarano ME. Aneurysms in the left ventricular outflow tract: clinical presentation, causes, and echocardiographic features. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 1998;11:729-45; D'Silva SA, Dalve BV, Lokhandwala YY, Kale PA, Tendolkar AG. Unruptured congenital aneurysm of the left sinus of Valsalva presenting as acute right heart failure. Chest 1992;101:578-79) or is a potential source of cerebrovascular emboli. (Shahrabani RM, Jairaj PS. Unruptured aneurysm of the sinus of Valsalva: a potential source of cerebrovascular embolism. Br Heart J 1993;69:266-67). In this report, we describe a case of right coronary sinus of Valsalva aneurysm with a contained rupture. The containing rupture is in intraventricular septal aneurysm; the patient presents with right-sided heart failure.
The minimum crystal size needed for a complete diffraction data set.

In this work, classic intensity formulae were united with an empirical spot-fading model in order to calculate the diameter of a spherical crystal that will scatter the required number of photons per spot at a desired resolution over the radiation-damage-limited lifetime. The influences of molecular weight, solvent content, Wilson B factor, X-ray wavelength and attenuation on scattering power and dose were all included. Taking the net photon count in a spot as the only source of noise, a complete data set with a signal-to-noise ratio of 2 at 2 A resolution was predicted to be attainable from a perfect lysozyme crystal sphere 1.2 µm in diameter and two different models of photoelectron escape reduced this to 0.5 or 0.34 µm. These represent 15-fold to 700-fold less scattering power than the smallest experimentally determined crystal size to date, but the gap was shown to be consistent with the background scattering level of the relevant experiment. These results suggest that reduction of background photons and diffraction spot size on the detector are the principal paths to improving crystallographic data quality beyond current limits.
On the design of large degree-of-freedom digital mechatronic devices based on bistable dielectric elastomer actuators

Binary actuation has been proposed to reduce complexity in robotic and mechatronic systems. However, a relatively large number of binary actuators are required to achieve the accuracy necessary for practical applications. Conventional actuators are not practical for such large degree-of-freedom (DoF) devices. Here, a dielectric elastomer (DE) actuator is developed for these applications. It is shown that DE actuators have high energy densities, light weight, low cost, and large displacements. Hence they could potentially make large DoF binary systems practical. DE actuators proposed here consist of thin electrically sensitive elastomer films that are mounted in a flexible frame that incorporates a passive bistable element. The frame prestrains the film and provides a restoring force that allows the actuator to operate bidirectionally. A simple experimental prototype 6-DoF binary manipulator demonstrates the concept
Optical microscopic image processing of dendritic spines morphology

This paper describes an integrated neuroinformatics system, called NeuronIQ (neuronal image quantitator), for processing, archiving, and analyzing 3D neuronal images obtained from high resolution optical microscopy. While this paper focuses on single channel images, multichannel images can also be acquired for neurons, glial cells, blood vessels, and other neurological structures by using different staining agents.
Industrial Cooperatives in the Ukrainian S.S.R.

The writer is former Chief Economist of United Nations Relief and Rehabflitation Mission in the Ukraine in 1946–47, and Director of the “Cooperative Project” of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, in 1937–42; at present lecturer on Soviet economics at Columbia University, N.Y.C., and on consumber cooperatives at the Graduate School of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Nelson Mandela: Partisan and Peacemaker

To analyze Nelson Mandela's personal attributes relevant to peacemaking and negotiation, the study considers personality traits derived from biographical data rather than quantitative content analysis. Since Mandela's personality eludes ready characterization in terms of high or low levels of a given trait and also comprises traits apparently in tension, the analysis offered here highlights ostensibly opposing characteristics, and the evolution of Mandela's personal characteristics over time, with specific attention to his self-identity, interpersonal orientation, and political outlook. It identifies distinctive aspects of Mandela's peacemaking practice, as well as aspects that may be common among accomplished peacemakers and negotiators. It concludes that Mandela's seemingly contradictory personality traits and high degree of cognitive complexity enabled him to fulfill the different roles of partisan negotiator and of mediator/peacemaker, and equipped him, more so than other revolutionaries, for the transition to post-liberation leader.
Eplerenone: A Selective Aldosterone Receptor Antagonist for Patients with Heart Failure

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, safety, and clinical use of eplerenone in heart failure (HF).DATA SOURCES:English-language MEDLINE searches were performed from 1966 to May 2004. Key words included eplerenone, aldosterone receptor antagonist, heart failure, myocardial infarction, left-ventricular dysfunction, and cost-effectiveness. Additional references were identified from bibliographies of selected articles.STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION:Human trials evaluating the efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of aldosterone receptor antagonists in HF were evaluated.DATA SYNTHESIS:Eplerenone is the first selective aldosterone receptor antagonist. The drug is indicated to improve the survival of stable patients with left-ventricular systolic dysfunction (ejection fraction <40%) and clinical evidence of HF following acute myocardial infarction. Efficacy and safety in this population have been demonstrated in a large, randomized clinical trial. Eplerenone is associated with severe...
Cerebrovascular disease and dementia

Cerebrovascular disease is a major contributor to later-life dementia, accounting for up to 20% of cases of dementia. Atherosclerotic and arteriolosclerotic mechanisms account for most of the burden of disease. Cerebrovascular disease may take several forms. Macrovascular disease in the form of large vessel and larger arteriole infarcts produce a wide spectrum of clinical syndromes. Single strategic infarctions, multiple bilateral infarctions and multiple lacunar infarctions can lead to cognitive dysfunction that spans a large range of both severity and type of cognitive deficits. Microvascular disease almost certainly plays a role in the pathogenesis of dementia. Small vessel disease, which is not evident radiographically, often coexists with macrovascular disease and also with Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid angiopathy is relevant in cognitive disorders in the elderly and causes microhaemorrhages and large haemorrhages. Other much less common aetiologies include vasculitides and CADASIL (cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy). Neuroimaging plays a critical role in the diagnosis of vascular dementia. There is no framework for rating the extent of cerebrovascular pathology that is validated against increasing cognitive impairment. Although advances in imaging have increased our recognition of cerebrovascular disease in the elderly, vascular dementia is still inadequately recognized in clinical practice.
Racialized Coverage of Congress: The News in Black and White. By Jeremy Zilber and David Niven. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2000. 160p. $60.00.

Jeremy Zilber and David Niven bolster a brief but cogent argument with evidence that news coverage of Congress has been “racialized” to the detriment of African-American congressmen and congresswomen, that African-American members of Congress are less favorably portrayed, less likely to be associated with a diverse agenda, and portrayed as more marginal than Caucasian members, factors other than race being equal (p. 90). By implication, the argument extends to all minority political activists and public officials. It also implies that constituencies represented by African-American politicians are greatly disadvantaged in the political process.
A “Mini-Max”: A Research Strategy for Establishing Subgroups of the Schizophrenic Syndrome

It is suggested that a large sample of people exhibiting the schizophrenic syndrome be "repetitively sifted," in an attempt to find etiologic and pathogenic subgroups. For this purpose, epidemiological, biochemical, neurophysiological, psychodynamic, genetic, and other "sieves" should be used. Instead of expecting one factor to hold true for all schizophrenics, one might then hypothesize that a viral factor is the relevant one for a fraction of those born in inclement months, while a pathogenic life history might play the primary role in another fraction. Even within groups, one might find fractions, such as patients for whom the dopamine hypothesis is supported, and others for whom it does not seem to play a role. It is unlikely that one single factor plays the necessary and sufficient role in anyone with the schizophrenic syndrome. Therefore, the method of repetitive sifting should be combined with a "mini-max" model: That is, not only should the group as a whole be sifted, but each individual patient should be searched for different contributing factors, and then a rank-order system of the importance of various factors for each given patient should be established. Such a method of identifying multiple etiologies and pathogeneses would then be a rationale for prevention, treatment, and prognosis.
Filtering 2008 US presidential election news on YouTube by elites and nonelites: An examination of the democratizing potential of the internet

The goals of this study are to explore several claims about the democratizing potential of the internet and to extend gatekeeping theory into user-generated content (UGC) domain. A quantitative content analysis of the most popular YouTube political news videos during the 2008 US presidential election was conducted to investigate the degree to which nonelites were able to partake in mainstream public discourse. We found that elites dominated first and second filters (news sourcing and news production) in the flow of online news, while nonelites dominated the third filter (news distribution). These results suggest that an update to the traditional gatekeeping model is needed to reflect the realities of today’s user-driven communication environment.
The Ability of Escherichia Coli and Serratia Marcescens to Survive 62.8°C., for Thirty Minutes in Milk

Summary Of the 23 cultures of Escherichia coli ( Bacterium coli ) studied only one was found repeatedly to withstand heating in sealed tubes for 30 minutes at 62.8°C, the temperature of experiment. This one strain was found to survive only 21 and 30 minutes in open containers. Of the 8 strains of Serratia marcescens ( Bacillus prodigiosus ) tested none survived heating for more than nine minutes by any of the methods used. Of the four sporous, lactose-fermenting forms two were found very resistant both in twenty-four hours and in seven-day old cultures; the other two strains were destroyed in three minutes in both cases. The strain which formed spore-like structures after a few days' incubation was no more resistant in a week-old culture than in a twenty-four hour culture, being killed within three minutes at 62.8°C. in either case. On the whole, results by the three methods of treatment–in sealed tubes, in open flasks, and in litmus milk tubes–checked fairly closely. The actual time of survival was in most cases shorter in the open flasks than in the sealed tubes. No constant relation could be observed between the concentration of organisms and the time of survival. Although neither the Escherichia coli ( Bacterium coli ) cultures nor the Serratia marcescens ( Bacillus prodigiosus ) strains used proved to be very good as indicators of efficiency of pasteurization by the holder process, for several reasons the Escherichia coli ( Bacterium coli ) would probably prove to be more accurate as such an indicator. It seems fair to assume, in view of the results obtained, that Escherichia coli , in concentrations in which it occurs in milk, would be destroyed by exposure to 62.8°C. for 30 minutes, yet there is always the possibility of encountering resistant strains or cultures containing some resistant cells.
Health Care Financial Management for Nurse Managers: Merging the Heart With the Dollar

Janne Dunham-Taylor, Joseph Z. Pinczuk. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett; 2006. Paperback, 896 pages. ISBN: 0–7637–3149–8.
Physiologic imaging in acute stroke: Patient selection

Treatment of acute stroke is changing, as endovascular intervention becomes an important adjunct to tissue plasminogen activator. An increasing number of sophisticated physiologic imaging techniques have unique advantages and applications in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment-decision making of acute ischemic stroke. In this review, we first highlight the strengths, weaknesses, and possible indications for various stroke imaging techniques. How acute imaging findings in each modality have been used to predict functional outcome is discussed. Furthermore, there is an increasing emphasis on using these state-of-the-art imaging modalities to offer maximal patient benefit through IV therapy, endovascular thrombolytics, and clot retrieval. We review the burgeoning literature in the determination of stroke treatment based on acute, physiologic imaging findings.
Alcohol and Apoptosis: Friends or Foes?

Alcohol abuse causes 79,000 deaths stemming from severe organ damage in the United States every year. Clinical manifestations of long-term alcohol abuse on the cardiac muscle include defective contractility with the development of dilated cardiomyopathy and low-output heart failure; which has poor prognosis with less than 25% survival for more than three years. In contrast, low alcohol consumption has been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, however the mechanism of this phenomenon remains elusive. The aim of this study was to determine the significance of apoptosis as a mediating factor in cardiac function following chronic high alcohol versus low alcohol exposure. Adult rats were provided 5 mM (low alcohol), 100 mM (high alcohol) or pair-fed non-alcohol controls for 4–5 months. The hearts were dissected, sectioned and stained with cresyl violet or immunohistochemically for caspase-3, a putative marker for apoptosis. Cardiomyocytes were isolated to determine the effects of alcohol exposure on cell contraction and relaxation. High alcohol animals displayed a marked thinning of the left ventricular wall combined with elevated caspase-3 activity and decreased contractility. In contrast, low alcohol was associated with increased contractility and decreased apoptosis suggesting an overall protective mechanism induced by low levels of alcohol exposure.
Symmorphosis and skeletal muscle V̇O2 max : in vivo and in vitro measures reveal differing constraints in the exercise‐trained and untrained human

The concept of symmorphosis postulates a matching of structural capacity to functional demand within a defined physiological system, regardless of endurance exercise training status. Whether this concept applies to oxygen (O2 ) supply and demand during maximal skeletal muscle O2 consumption (VO2 max ) in humans is unclear. Therefore, in vitro skeletal muscle mitochondrial VO2 max (Mito VO2 max , mitochondrial respiration of fibres biopsied from vastus lateralis) was compared with in vivo skeletal muscle VO2 max during single leg knee extensor exercise (KE VO2 max , direct Fick by femoral arterial and venous blood samples and Doppler ultrasound blood flow measurements) and whole-body VO2 max during cycling (Body VO2 max , indirect calorimetry) in 10 endurance exercise-trained and 10 untrained young males. In untrained subjects, during KE exercise, maximal O2 supply (KE QO2max ) exceeded (462 ± 37 ml kg(-1) min(-1) , P 0.05) Mito VO2 max (364 ± 16 ml kg(-1) min(-1) ). Conversely, in trained subjects, both KE QO2max (557 ± 35 ml kg(-1) min(-1) ) and KE VO2 max (458 ± 24 ml kg(-1) min(-1) ) fell far short of Mito VO2 max (743 ± 35 ml kg(-1) min(-1) , P < 0.05). Although Mito VO2 max was related to KE VO2 max (r = 0.69, P < 0.05) and Body VO2 max (r = 0.91, P < 0.05) in untrained subjects, these variables were entirely unrelated in trained subjects. Therefore, in untrained subjects, VO2 max is limited by mitochondrial O2 demand, with evidence of adequate O2 supply, whereas, in trained subjects, an exercise training-induced mitochondrial reserve results in skeletal muscle VO2 max being markedly limited by O2 supply. Taken together, these in vivo and in vitro measures reveal clearly differing limitations and excesses at VO2 max in untrained and trained humans and challenge the concept of symmorphosis as it applies to O2 supply and demand in humans.
Sensor fouling prevention in an acoustic current meter, MAVS

Coatings to inhibit attachment of marine organisms to sensors were applied to acoustic velocity sensors and tested for seven months in near-surface waters in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and found to effectively prevent attachment of fouling organisms to substrates of ABS plastic, epoxy, urethane, and to a lesser degree to stainless steel. This treatment was effective longer than biocides generally have been in these conditions. The material in the coatings, silicone in some form, prevents the organisms from getting a tight grip and they either do not manage to settle or are washed off by natural low-velocity currents and waves in the mooring field in Eel Pond harbor.
Rethinking International Human Rights: Some Basic Questions

This article assesses the first 25 years of post-UN Charter international human rights activities, raising questions as to whether these kinds of approaches offer substantial promise of achieving human rights goals. It notes that, despite all of these efforts, the condition of human beings throughout the world seems, at best, little improved; examples of oppression, intolerance, hypocrisy, double-standards and indifference to human rights continue to proliferate; and the human rights concept seems at times even perverted to intolerant and violent ends.Consequently, it may be useful to re-examine more realistically - and perhaps more skeptically - the validity of some of the assumptions underlying our current international human rights efforts. Among the questions the article addresses are: (1) What is “the human rights problem”? (2) Why are human rights an international problem? (3) How can international efforts help governments willing to promote human rights? (4) What can international efforts accomplish with respect to governments unwilling to promote human rights? (5) What is the role of various legal techniques in promoting human rights? and (6) What strategies have the most hope of success in attaining international human rights objectives?The article concludes by suggesting, inter alia: (1) the need for a diversity of approaches to different types of human rights problems, tailored to particular needs, conditions, resources and possibilities; (2) an awareness that the achievement of human rights is ultimately the responsibility of each society itself and that no international program can promote or protect human rights unless the society involved is itself prepared to demand, work for, and defend them; and (3) the need for patience and steadfastness in our pursuit of human rights goals. The usefulness of current international human rights efforts may lie, not only in whatever immediate gains may be achieved, but also in the gradual universal acceptance of the human rights idea by peoples and their governments - the recognition that every human being is inherently entitled to be treated with decency, fairness and respect.
Thermal Sensitivity of Aggression in Two Terrestrial Salamanders, Plethodon cylindraceus and P. montanus

Understanding the abiotic and biotic mechanisms regulating species distributions is an important area of study for ecologists. Increasingly, studies have begun to focus on the influence of abiotic conditions on biotic interactions. Numerous examples of interspecific aggression exist within the terrestrial salamander genus Plethodon and many occur between montane endemics and lowland conspecifics. Here, we explore how variation in temperature might influence aggressive interactions between two Plethodon species that have relatively broad elevational overlap, P. cylindraceus and P. montanus. We found that both species increased aggressive acts with increasing temperatures. We also found that the pattern of variation in aggression across test temperatures differed between species. Interestingly, we found that the lowland congener, P. cylindraceus, was more aggressive than the montane endemic, P. montanus, a pattern opposite of previous observations within Plethodon. The large range of sympatry observed between these species may be a result of a reverse of what is expected based on previous research with congeners in similar systems and not the result of temperature-specific outcomes.
Workplace violence in municipal occupations

Although workplace homicide rates are decreasing, violent events in the workplace remain a high risk in many occupations. The number of violent victimizations in the workplace has been estimated to be as high as 2 million per year among workers. Many municipal workers are at high risk because they provide services and enforce regulations, often in unsecured environments. Compared to other causes of workplace death, homicides and other violent events are relatively new areas of formal study for occupational safety and health specialists. However, there is a growing body of knowledge about the types of interventions that are effective in reducing workplace violence. This chapter examines trends in workplace violence, risk factors for municipal workers, and approaches to prevention.
Stress Wave Propagation in Rods and Beams

Publisher Summary The problem of the response of structures to dynamic loading is of great importance in a wide variety of technical applications. The loading of a structure can be classified broadly from the viewpoint of time variations. The dynamic loads themselves may be of widely differing kinds depending on the total duration of the pulse, the pulse shape, and the time of rise to a maximum value. This chapter is restricted to discussions of the propagation of elastic and plastic waves. Viscous stresses are not discussed in detail in the chapter. In view of an excellent survey by Davies, which gives a complete account of experimental techniques in common use, this chapter discusses experimental results rather than methods. Of the two types of wave transmission in rods discussed in this paper, the longitudinal wave is the simpler to analyze.
Customer Relationship Management: An Analysis Framework and Implementation Strategies

Customer relationship management is a buzzword around businesses. “CRM comprises a set of processes and enabling systems supporting a business strategy to build long term, profitable relationships with specific customers.” There are a few components of CRM implementation, most importantly, the IT component. While revolutionary in many respects, CRM is also a natural and predictable extension of how marketing and sales have evolved over the years and, in many ways, are coming full circle. The Customer Relationship Management Cycle consists of an evaluation phase, a planning phase, an implementation phase, and a review phase. Several intrinsic business reasons are driving a great number of companies going onto the CRM highway. Companies can overlay their own data to better understand customer attributes and get better results. The most substantial impacts from CRM transitions fall into the category of information support. Customer information and the associated technology tools are the foundation upon which...
Metabolism fine-tunes macrophage activation

A signaling pathway that rewires metabolism in macrophages to trigger changes in gene expression has been identified.
Pelvic Floor Anatomy and Pathology

The pelvic organs are held in place by the combined actions of the levator ani muscles and connective tissue attachments of the organs to the pelvic sidewalls. The lateral attachment of the vagina and uterus to the pelvic sidewalls divides the pelvis into an anterior and posterior compartment. Prolapse of the pelvic organs occurs through a hiatus in the levator ani muscles. The anterior compartment contains the bladder and urethra and the posterior compartment, while the posterior compartment contains the rectum and anus. Normally the constant tone of the levator ani muscle holds the hiatus closed. In this situation, increases in abdominal pressure in the two compartments are equal and cancel each other out resulting in no net downward force. Birth-related levator ani muscle injury can impair the muscle’s ability to maintain closure of the hiatus. This injury involves the pubococcygeal, but not the puborectal portion of the muscle. When this injury happens or when weak connective tissue attachment is present, the anterior or posterior vaginal wall will move downward. The vaginal walls then move downward into a position where they become exposed to a pressure differential between abdominal and atmospheric pressure. The force created by the pressure differential pulls down more on the vagina and uterus, stressing the cardinal and uterosacral ligaments. These suspending “ligaments” are mesentery-like neurovascular structures that also contain some smooth muscle. When subjected to excessive force, over time this leads to their lengthening and further prolapse.
Who “laid him in a manger”?: Biblical Women in Herbert, Vaughan and Traherne

Although female figures from the Bible are largely absent from the poetry of George Herbert, Henry Vaughan, and Thomas Traherne, a few poems treat female biblical characters in a substantive way. Yet even in these poems, biblical women are more passive and more silent than in the Bible, and each of these poems must be considered in the context of a poetic corpus which reinforces female passivity and silence. Overall, in drawing from the biblical narrative the poets follow two patterns: the omission of biblical women, leaving the corresponding male figures; and a treatment of the remaining female figures in which they are usually rendered passive, sometimes objectified, and always silenced.
Isopiestic determination of the osmotic and activity coefficients of aqueous Lu2(SO4)3 at 25°C

Osmotic coefficients have been measured for aqueous Lu2(SO4)3 solutions from 0.12402 to 0.89631 mol-kg−1 at 25°C by use of the isopiestic method; these measurements extend into the supersaturated molality region. Since there was a lack of activity data for Lu2(SO4)3 solutions at lower molalities, they were approximated by equating them to results for La2(SO4)3 from freezing temperature depression measurements. The combined osmotic coefficients were then used to derive mean molal activity coefficients for Lu2(SO4)3 solutions. The osmotic coefficients decrease to 0.307 as their minimum value and the mean molal activity coefficients decrease to 0.0069. When these activities were combined with our previously reported solubility of 0.6260±0.0017 mol-kg−1 for Lu2(SO4)3·8H2O, a thermodynamic solubility product of 2.3×10−10 was obtained. This value yields the Gibbs energy of formation ΔGf° (Lu2(SO4)3·8H2O, cr)=−5518.9±16.4 kJ-mol−1.
Neurologic manifestations of fluid and electrolyte disturbances.

Fluid and electrolyte disturbances occur frequently in clinical practice and produce a variety of characteristic neurologic manifestations affecting the central and peripheral nervous system. These manifestations reflect either nervous system depression or irritability. The early neurologic consequences of fluid and electrolyte disorders reflect functional, rather than structural, alterations and therefore are usually reversibie with appropriate therapy. A pattern between fluid and electrolyte abnormality and major symptom complex exists that aids in clinical recognition and prompt treatment.
Measurement of branched chain amino acids (BCAA) in milks and protein supplements

The amount of money spent on nutritional supplements by Americans is in the billions per year. Protein supplements, which are often made from whey in milk, boast of high levels of BCAA. There are m...
Visual Associations in Augmented Keyboard Performance.

What is the function of visuals in the design of an augmented keyboard performance device with projection? We address this question by thinking through the impact of design choices made in three examples on notions of locus of attention, visual anticipation and causal gestalt to articulate a space of design factors. Visuals can emphasize and deemphasize aspects of performance and help clarify the role input has to the performance. We suggest that this process might help thinking through visual feedback design in NIMEs with respect to the performer or the audience.
Chapter 12 – Nucleic Acids for Reagentless Biosensors

Publisher Summary Reagentless biosensors are sensors that can detect a target analyte in a homogenous format, that is, without the addition of reagents other than the sample. A reagentless biosensor has many advantages over conventional diagnostic assays. The most obvious advantage is its simplicity and ease of use. Functional nucleic acids can be engineered, based largely on an appreciation of their secondary structures and chemically synthesized in bulk. It has proven remarkably easy to incorporate aptamers and ribozymes into reagentless biosensors that directly transduce ligand recognition to optical signals. By simply cleaving apart or adjoining flurophores and quenchers on oligonucleotide substrates, one can potentially construct reagentless rizozyme or aptazyme chips that could simultaneously report the concentration of multiple different analytes. Prototypes of such chips have now been made. While reagentless nucleic acid biosensors may ultimately prove less sensitive or robust than the reagentless protein biosensors, it is nonetheless likely that nucleic acid biosensors are much more amenable to generation by high-throughput selection method.
Anthropology in Agricultural Health and Safety Research and Intervention.

Agriculture remains a dangerous industry, even as agricultural science and technology continue to advance. Research that goes beyond technological changes to address safety culture and policy are needed to improve health and safety in agriculture. In this commentary I consider the potential for anthropology to contribute to agricultural health and safety research by addressing three aims: (1) I briefly consider what the papers in this issue of the Journal of Agromedicine say about anthropologists in agricultural health and safety; (2) I discuss what anthropologists can add to agricultural health and safety research; and (3) I examine ways in which anthropologists can participate in agricultural health and safety research. In using their traditions of rigorous field research to understand how those working in agriculture perceive and interpret factors affecting occupational health and safety (their "emic" perspective), and translating this perspective to improve the understanding of occupational health professionals and policy makers (an "etic" perspective), anthropologists can expose myths that limit improvements in agricultural health and safety. Addressing significant questions, working with the most vulnerable agricultural communities, and being outside establishment agriculture provide anthropologists with the opportunity to improve health and safety policy and regulation in agriculture. Language: en
Helping learners level up with cognitive supports.

Topic This column describes strategies for helping educators and trainers address common problems with executive functioning and memory for their audiences, to better facilitate learning. Purpose The purpose of the article is to suggest strategies for maximizing learning and goal achievement for students in academic settings, as well as for building employee knowledge and skills in the psychiatric rehabilitation workforce through worksite-based training. Sources used The content in this column is drawn from the professional experience of the authors as well as available literature. Conclusions and implications for practice Educators and trainers encounter many challenges when assisting people to achieve desired learning objectives. Attending to the cognitive needs of all learners, by supporting their planning, attention, memory, and reasoning skills, can minimize some of these challenges. Educators and trainers may implement the strategies described to better engage with their audiences, whether in an academic or clinical practice environment. Implementation of specific strategies to offset limitations will positively affect all learners, who benefit both from maximized knowledge and skill acquisition as well as improved job performance. Improved learning will likely translate to better practitioner skill over time, which should lead to improved outcomes for service users in the field of psychiatric rehabilitation. (PsycINFO Database Record
Visual attention distracter insertion for improved EEG rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) target stimuli detection

This paper† describes a technique in which we improve upon the prior performance of the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) EEG paradigm for image classification though the insertion of visual attention distracters and overall sequence reordering based upon the expected ratio of rare to common “events” in the environment and operational context. Inserting distracter images maintains the ratio of common events to rare events at an ideal level, maximizing the rare event detection via P300 EEG response to the RSVP stimuli. The method has two steps: first, we compute the optimal number of distracters needed for an RSVP stimuli based on the desired sequence length and expected number of targets and insert the distracters into the RSVP sequence, and then we reorder the RSVP sequence to maximize P300 detection. We show that by reducing the ratio of target events to nontarget events using this method, we can allow RSVP sequences with more targets without sacrificing area under the ROC curve (azimuth).
Issue linkage across international organizations: Does European countries' temporary membership in the UN Security Council increase their receipts from the EU budget?

What explains the outcome of interstate negotiations in international organizations (IOs)? While existing research highlights member states’ power, preference intensity, and the IO’s institutional design, this paper introduces an additional source of bargaining power in IOs: Through issue linkage members of an IO leverage privileged positions in other IOs to obtain more favorable bargaining outcomes. Specifically, European Union members are more successful in bargaining over the EU budget while they hold a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Inside the UNSC EU members can promote security interests of other European countries, and they can use their influence to secure side-payments from the EU budget. The study tests this argument by investigating new EU budget data, and it shows that EU members obtain 1.7 billion Euro in additional net receipts during a two-year UNSC term, on average. Thus, bargaining processes in the EU and the UN are intricately linked.
Plastic scintillator enhancement through Quantum Dot

Plastic scintillators such as Polyvinyl Toluene (PVT) are used for radiation detection but due to their poor performance they are not widely implemented. In order to circumnavigate this, dopants are added to enhance scintillation by energy transfer otherwise lost through non-radiative processes. In this work, we exploit the effects of energy transfer through the use of short wavelength emission Cadmium Sulfide Quantum Dots (QD) as the transfer stimulant. Scintillation enhancement was observed as Cadmium Sulfide QD with scintillating dyes are embedded in PVT polymer matrix for beta and gamma radiation. Energy transfer was observed between Quantum Dots, scintillating dye, and the host polymer. Different concentrations of QD and 2,5-diphenyloxazole (PPO) dye are investigated to characterize the energy transfer.
Rethinking Science Policy.

Industry is now investing heavily and at an increasing rate in research and development. The government's responsibility should be to assure that this industrial spending is paralleled by real growth in its support of basic research. Such growth is realistic, even in times of budgetary constraints, given a proposed compact between the scientific community and the government, in which, inter alia, a small percentage of the funds spent on development would be reprogrammed for basic research.
ATMOSPHERIC ACOUSTICS NEAR THE GROUND: A NOTE

Sound travels faster at higher temperatures and relative humidities. It can be heard at a greater distance with a temperature inversion or when the wind direction is toward the listener. Snow and water vapor absorb sound and thus decrease the intensity and distance over which sound can be heard. [Key words: atmospheric acoustics, temperature, relative humidity, temperature lapse rate, wind speed and direction, absorption, snow.]
INCIDENCE OF ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION AND HURRICANE KATRINA: FOUR-FOLD INCREASE ELEVEN YEARS AFTER THE STORM

We aimed to evaluate the incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in New Orleans during the eleven years since Hurricane Katrina. This was a single-center, retrospective study performed at Tulane University Health Sciences Center of patients admitted for AMI during the two years before
Legislative Apportionment in Washington

"At the general election held in the state of Washington on November 4, 1930, the voters approved, by a small majority, Initiative Measure No. 57, which provides for a general reapportionment of seats in the State Legislature. For twenty-nine years there had been developing a problem of representation in Washington, and since 1910 the situation had grown steadily worse. Yet in the face of an increasingly exasperating state of affairs the Legislature, unmindful of its duty under the constitution, persistently declined to act."
Selenium, deiodinases and endocrine function

The three iodothyronine deiodinases catalyze the initiation (D1, D2) and termination (D3) of THyroid hormone effects in vertebrates. A 3-dimensional model predicts that these enzymes share a similar structural organization and belong to the thioredoxin (TRX) fold superfamily. Their active center is a selenocysteine-containing pocket defined by the β1-α1-β2 motifs of the TRX fold and a domain that shares strong similarities with the active site of iduronidase, a member of the clan GH-A fold of glycoside hydrolases. While D 1 and D3 are long-lived plasma membrane proteins (t 1/2 10–12 h), D2 is an endoplasmic reticulum resident protein that is inactivated by selective conjugation to ubiquitin, a process that is mediated by WSB-1, a Hedgehog-inducible gene. Remarkably, D2 ubiquitination is reversible and activity restored after deubiquitination by the pVHL-interacting deubiquitinating enzymes (VDU1 and VDU2). Deiodinases play a major role in development as well as in adults as critical players in Thyroid hormone homeostasis, particularly during hypo- and hyper Thyroidism. In addition to playing an important part in energy homeostasis, changes in deiodinase activity explain the alterations in Thyroid economy observed during illness and in the recently described syndrome of consumptive hypo Thyroidism.
Realizing the Photoene Reaction with Alkenes under Visible Light Irradiation and Bypassing the Favored [2 + 2]-Photocycloaddition

The textbook photoreaction between two alkenes is the [2 + 2]-photocycloaddition resulting in functionalized cyclobutanes. Herein, we disclose an unusual reactivity of alkenes that favor photoene reaction over the [2 + 2]-photocycloaddition.
Challenging AJCC 8 Staging for Soft Tissue Sarcoma Using the NCDB.

Purpose To determine whether the new American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8 grouping of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) with nodal disease (N1M0) and metastatic disease (M1) as stage IV correctly represents the prognosis of these previously separate patient groups, using the National Cancer Database. Methods and Materials Adults with STS identified in the 2004 to 2014 National Cancer Database, classified by the World Health Organization 2013 system into 10 histologic subgroups, were grouped according to AJCC 8 staging and analyzed according to demographic characteristics, histology, primary site, disease extent, and adjuvant treatment. Primary retroperitoneal sites, “other/unusual” histologic subgroups, and those with delays in therapy (>180 days from diagnosis) were excluded. We used χ2 tests, Cox proportional hazard models, and propensity-score matched analyses. Results Of 82,987 patients identified, 55,417 met inclusion criteria; 29,855 (53.9%) were male, and 25,262 (46.1%) were female. Median age was 60 years (range, 18-90 years). Overall survival (OS) of STS of all sites was significantly different between N1M0 and N0-1M1 patients at 5 years (34.4%; [95% confidence interval {CI}, 30.1%-38.8%] vs 10.1% [95% CI, 9%-11%], respectively) and 10 years (27.3% [95% CI, 22.5%- 32.2%] vs 5.4% [95% CI, 4.5%-6.5%], respectively; log-rank test, P Conclusions In adult STS, including those of the trunk and extremity, OS is superior with N1M0 compared with N0-1M1 disease. These results suggest that the AJCC 8th edition grouping of N1 and M1 patients into stage IV may obscure the more favorable prognosis of patients with N1M0 disease.
Viruses of Human Hepatitis A and B

Viral hepatitis is one of the diseases earliest recognized by man to be infectious. Hippocrates described infectious icterus more than 2000 years ago, and epidemic jaundice has been widely recognized since the Middle Ages. Hepatitis has occurred frequently in military and civilian populations during wars, and it sometimes approached the importance of plague and cholera as a cause of pandemics in Europe in past centuries. Apart from recognition of their contagious nature, little was known about the infectious agents until well into the present century.
Blind Deconvolution Methods for Estimation of Multilayer Tissue Profiles with Ultrawideband Radar

Sensors that can rapidly assess physiology in the clinic and home environment are poised to revolutionize research and practice in the management of chronic diseases such as heart failure. Ultrawideband (UWB) radar sensors provide a viable and unobtrusive alternative to traditional sensor modalities for physiological sensing. In this paper, we consider the problem of estimation of multilayer tissue profiles using an ultrawideband radar sensor. We pose the joint estimation of the ultrawideband pulse waveform and the multilayer tissue profile as a blind deconvolution problem. We show that constraints on the pulse waveform (bandwidth and time duration) and the structure of tissue range profile (sparsity) can be used to regularize the inversion. We derive both convex and non-convex algorithms for the joint estimation of the pulse waveform and the tissue reflectivity profile and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods with measured and simulated data experiments.