cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Innovative productivity and returns to scale in the pharmaceutical industry

This study shows that firms in the pharmaceutical industry experience decreasing returns to scale in R & D as the level of R & D expenditures rises. The paper presents the results of our study of the innovative output of 16 pharmaceutical firms over a 19 year period. Given the strong correlation between R & D budgets and firm size, our study suggests the wave of mergers in the industry may yield less innovative productivity than managers expect.
TalkZones: section-based time support for presentations

Managing time while presenting is challenging, but mobile devices offer both convenience and flexibility in their ability to support the end-to-end process of setting, refining, and following presentation time targets. From an initial HCI-Q study of 20 presenters, we identified the need to set such targets per 'zone' of consecutive slides (rather than per slide or for the whole talk), as well as the need for feedback that accommodates two distinct attitudes to time management. These findings led to the design of TalkZones, a mobile application for timing support. When giving a 20-slide, 6m40s rehearsed but interrupted talk, 12 participants who used TalkZones registered a mean overrun of only 8s, compared with 1m49s for 12 participants who used a regular timer. We observed a similar 2% overrun in our final study of 8 speakers giving rehearsed 30-minute talks in 20 minutes. Overall, we show that TalkZones can encourage presenters to advance slides before it is too late to recover, even under the adverse timing conditions of short and shortened talks.
Statistics of natural images and models

Large calibrated datasets of 'random' natural images have recently become available. These make possible precise and intensive statistical studies of the local nature of images. We report results ranging from the simplest single pixel intensity to joint distribution of 3 Haar wavelet responses. Some of these statistics shed light on old issues such as the near scale-invariance of image statistics and some are entirely new. We fit mathematical models to some of the statistics and explain others in terms of local image features.
Making Sense of the Relationship of Reason and Sensibility in Kant's Ethics

In this essay, I look at some claims Anne Margaret Baxley makes, in her recent book Kant's Theory of Virtue: The Value of Autocracy, about the relationship between reason and sensibility in Kant's theory of virtue. I then reflect on tensions I find in these claims as compared to the overall goal of her book: an account of Kant's conception of virtue as autocracy. Ultimately, I argue that interpreters like Baxley (and myself) who want to welcome a more robust role for feeling in Kantian ethics must, in order to achieve our purposes, move beyond the general account of the limits for the role of the moral feeling of respect in the grounding of Kant's ethics which Henry Allison established in his influential Kant's Theory of Freedom.
Ethical and legal issues associated with substance abuse by pregnant and parenting women

The many pressing medical, psychological, legal, and ethical problems associated with substance abuse by pregnant and parenting women present daunting challenges. One approach is to adopt a legal perspective where the rights of mothers, fetuses, and children are pitted against one another in courtrooms and state legislatures. Another approach is to embrace a public health perspective, characterized by treating pregnant and postpartum substance abusers, protecting at-risk fetuses and children, and strengthening broken families. Both ethical concepts and legal tenets must be considered to develop new paradigms designed to help at-risk mothers and children and to protect the rights claimed by all involved.
Lability of Arterial Pressure After Baroreceptor Denervation Is Not Pressure Dependent

The mechanisms of increased arterial pressure lability after sinoaortic deafferentation remain unknown. We have shown previously in rats with chronic sinoaortic deafferentation (7-14 days after sinoaortic deafferentation) that ganglionic blockade significantly reduced mean arterial pressure and arterial pressure lability. The present study investigated the possibility that lability is related to the level of arterial pressure. Rats were instrumented chronically and heart rate and mean arterial pressure were sampled every 5 seconds in the conscious, freely moving state. Graded sustained increases in pressure (+10 to +82 mm Hg) produced by constant infusion of angiotensin II, phenylephrine, or vasopressin did not affect lability (standard deviation of 30-minute sampling period); whereas, graded hypotension (-10 to -70 mm Hg) produced by infusions of adenosine, nitroprusside, or nisoldipine appeared to reduce lability. Analysis of covariance and orthogonal polynomial curve fitting demonstrated a significant correlation between the decrease in mean arterial pressure and the decrease in lability produced by nisoldipine but not by adenosine or nitroprusside. Lability does not appear to be solely dependent on the level of arterial pressure because lability was reduced by adenosine when pressure was maintained at control levels by simultaneous infusion of phenylephrine. We conclude that 1) arterial pressure lability is not influenced by elevation of arterial pressure but can be reduced when pressure is lowered by certain vasodilators and 2) pressure alone does not appear to be the major determinant of lability because it can be attenuated by vascular smooth muscle relaxants even when pressure is maintained.
Younger women with breast carcinoma have a poorer prognosis than older women.

BACKGROUND It is controversial whether breast cancer in young women is more aggressive than in older women. This study was initiated to determine age-associated outcome of women with breast carcinoma. METHODS Patients with breast carcinoma, who were identified in a statewide tumor registry, were divided into age groups based on 10-year intervals (ages 40 and younger, 41 to 50, 51 to 60, 61 to 70, 71 to 80, and older than 80 years). Age at diagnosis, American Joint Committee on Cancer classification, 5-year disease free (5DFS) and cancer specific (5CSS) survival estimates using Kaplan-Meier analysis were determined. RESULTS Between 1985 and 1992, 3722 women were diagnosed with invasive breast carcinoma. Approximately 5.6% (210) of the women were 40 years old or younger. The youngest age group had the worst 5CSS of 69.7%, followed by the oldest age group (>80, 5CSS = 71.45%). The age groups 41 to 50, 51 to 60, 61 to 70, and 71 to 80 years had 5CSS of 80.305, 78.45%, 82.06%, and 84.27%, respectively. The oldest age group (>80) had the worst 5DFS (39.88%) followed by the youngest age group (;cc40, 5DFS = 60.79%). The age groups 41 to 50, 51 to 60, 61 to 70, and 71 to 80 years had 5DFSs of 73.22%, 66.87%, 71.53%, and 63.11%, respectively. Analyzed by stage, young (;cc40 years) women had a worse 5CSS when compared with the other age groups, except for those with Stage I disease. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that women 40 years of age and younger have a worse 5CSS than their older counterparts. This difference in survival is not solely a reflection of more advanced disease but may reflect differences in tumor biology. Cancer 1996;77:97-103.
Framework for Information Sharing Across Multiple Government Agencies under Dynamic Access Policies

One of the government missions identified by the federal enterprise architecture is to use computer and networking technologies to develop infrastructure to support information sharing within government organizations as well as with external stakeholders. Currently, considerable information is being maintained at individual organizations in the form of large repositories/digital libraries with no efficient means of sharing it with other government organizations and with other external user communities, including the general public. A major obstacle to information sharing is the lack of a framework and an infrastructure that allows government organizations to share information selectively with different user groups. Lack of such a framework creates unwillingness among government organizations to share their digital content. A mechanism needs to be in place where policy makers can specify which documents can be moved from one organization to another organization and/or who can access these transferred documents. Furthermore, a system is needed that enforces these policies in realtime when external events dictate a change of policies. In this paper, we propose a framework for specification, management and enforcement of dynamic access policies across multiple geographically distributed organizations. The framework can be instantiated to integrate with individual digital library systems and provide the necessary infrastructure to provide policy controlled access control management
Diabetic lipaemia complicating acute pancreatitis.

Abstract Profound hyperlipaemia was observed in a patient with acute pancreatitis. Tests done during the acute illness and during convalescence indicated that pancreatitic inflammation was sufficiently severe to cause a transient but reversible state of insulin deficiency, symptomatic diabetes mellitus, and an acquired form of fat-induced lipaemia (type I) due to impaired assimilation of dietary fat (chylomicrons).
Racial differences in prostate-specific antigen levels in patients with local-regional prostate cancer

BACKGROUND Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a good objective measure of tumor cell burden or virulence of disease, or both, in prostate cancer. Many differences between whites and African Americans (AA) have been noted in prostate cancer in the United States, including a poorer outcome in African Americans. To study whether AAs present with more tumor cell burden or more virulent disease, or both, at presentation, serum PSA levels between whites and African Americans are compared. METHODS Ninety-two patients were seen during April 1988–August 1993 at Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia; these patients were identified from computer registration records in 1994. Fifty-five patients were AAs and 37 were whites: 14, 55, 15, and 8 had stage A, B, C, or D1 disease, respectively, and 29, 45, and 17 had grade 1, 2, or 3 tumors. Because of positive skewing of actual PSA values, logarithmic transformation was used in statistical analysis. Two sample t-tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used as appropriate. RESULTS In univariate analysis, stage (P = 0.043), grade (P = 0.03), and race (P = 0.029) were correlated with the PSA levels; higher-stage and -grade patients and those of African American ethnicity had higher mean PSA levels; type of biopsy and age did not influence PSA levels. On multivariate analysis, race retained its statistical significance (P = 0.05), whereas other factors lost their significance. White patients had 0.51 times lower PSA levels than those of African Americans with comparable stage and grade tumors. Using ANOVA, an average white patient with stage B, grade 1 tumor is likely to have a PSA value of 7.92 ng/ml, compared to 13.9 ng/ml in an African American of similar stage and grade tumor. CONCLUSIONS The findings of the study confirm previously reported, similar findings in the greater Chicago area. The causes of such racial differences are unknown and require study with individual-level socioeconomic status adjustments, although preliminary studies suggest sociological causes. An ongoing Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) study will determine whether such differences exist at the national level and will adjust for individual levels of socioeconomic status. Prostate 31:42–46, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
An Experimental Investigation of the Positive and Negative Effects of Mutual Observation

ABSTRACT: We use two experiments to test predictions about the positive and negative impacts of allowing analysts to revise their forecasts in light of the consensus forecasts. We find that such mutual observation not only facilitates information aggregation, but also induces free riding, which offsets the benefits of information aggregation unless incentives for accuracy are high. In our second experiment, we find that participants acting as investors anticipate these effects in the consensus and adjust their own forecasts accordingly. Our study demonstrates that the positive and negative effects of mutual observation are more complex than typically portrayed in the debate about analyst independence, and provides a framework that can be used in future research on the interactive nature of public forecasting.
Interconnected linear multivariable systems with delays: System properties and input-output stability

We consider an arbitrary interconnection of linear, time-invariant, distributed, multivariable subsystems; each subsystem is represented either by a strictly proper rational transfer function or by a finite sum of pure delay terms. Such models occur in transportation systems, in chemical processes, in production systems, in communication systems, and in models of boilers in nuclear power plants. Allowing inputs to be applied to any interconnection point, we show that, except for a special case, the input-output transfer function of such a system is in a class extensively stuided in the literature. Next we obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for input-output stability. An example illustrates the application of the test.
Experimental autoimmune glomerulonephritis in chickens: I. Influence of source of antigen, dose and adjuvant.

Autoimmune glomerulonephritis was induced in chickens by immunization with human, bovine, turkey or chicken glomeruli in CFA. The influence of dose and of the pertussis vaccine was evaluated in two other separate experiments. The highest incidence of glomerulonephritis was observed in chickens immunized with human glomeruli, followed in descending order by bovine, chicken and turkey glomeruli. Capsular adhesions were seen in the last three groups. Epithelial crescents were seen only in the group immunized with chicken glomeruli. Interstitial lymphocytic infiltration was seen in 54% and 71% of chickens immunized with bovine and chicken glomeruli, respectively. The severity of the disease increased with time and the number of immunizations. IgG deposits on the GBM were seen in 92% (22/24), 54% (13/24), 50% (12/24) and 33% (8/24) of animals immunized with human, bovine, turkey and chicken glomeruli, respectively.Severity of disease was directly related to the amount of glomeruli injected. However, IgG deposi...
Duty, Virtue and the Victim’s Voice

It is generally thought that duty-based ethics and virtue ethics are mutually exclusive theories or, at least, fundamentally disparate ways of thinking about morality; thus, any discussion of the relationship between virtue and duty is problematic. However, both ethics illuminate the normative dimension of our shared human existence and this commonality encourages us to think they may be related in additional ways. Minimally, it can be argued that virtue ethics supplement duty-based ethics and vice versa. This potential complementarity, however, is often minimized or ignored by those who argue, instead, for the clear primacy of one ethic, which often implies that the other must be wrong or mistaken.
Arthritis—An Example of Inflammation Based on Particles

Exudative leukocytes from synovial fluids of patients with several types of arthritis were examined by light microscopy, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy. The fine structure of these leukocytes andtheir associated intracellular particles was examined in rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and pseudogout. Immune complexes and crystals served as examples of disease-related particles. A variety of particulate materials was observed within the neutrophils from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. These were segregated in phagosomes. Intraleukocytic crystals of sodium urate observed only in gouty arthritis were frequently not contained within a membrane-bounded vacuole. In contrast, crystals of calcium pyrophosphate found only in pseudogout were consistently within membrane-limited vacuoles at their intraleukocytic location. Other particles such as fibrin flakes and cytoplasmic buds shed from the exudative leukocytes were not disease related. Neutrophil granules interacted with each of these intracellular particles. A unifying concept of joint inflammation is presented which illustrates interrelationships between the various types of arthritis when particles serve as the common denominator.
History of circumcision: a religious obligation or a medical necessity

Circumcision is the oldest documented surgical procedure. Practiced for ritual religious and likely medical purposes, it seems to have emerged in Egypt and was adopted by the western Semitic tribes. In biblical times, circumcision became a religious doctrine described in the Covenant between God and Abraham in the book of Genesis. Although some claim that there are medical advantages to being circumcised, available data do not support a medical benefit for circumcision.
Adjusted Kuk's model using two non sensitive characteristics unrelated to the sensitive characteristic

ABSTRACTIn this paper, we adjust the Kuk (1990) model for both protection and efficiency by making use of proportions of two non sensitive characteristics which are unrelated to the main sensitive characteristic of interest. Various situations, where the proportions of the two non sensitive characteristics in the population of interest are known and that when these proportions are unknown, have been investigated. We compared the adjusted model and Kuk's model through a simulation study from both the protection and efficiency points of view.
Determination of 3-dimensional defect structures in gallium arsenide epilayers on silicon using white beam synchrotron radiation topography in both transmission and grazing Bragg-Laue geometry

White beam synchrotron topography in both transmission and grazing Bragg-Laue geometries has been used to reveal the 3-dimensional defect structure in MBE grown GaAs epilayers on Si. Defects observed and characterized include substrate threading dislocations and interfacial dislocations. Dislocation line direction and Burgers vector analysis was performed on transmission topographs. The relationship between substrate threading dislocations and interfacial dislocations was established. In the grazing Bragg-Laue case, manipulation of geometry enabled depth profiling of defect structures in the epilayer. The position of the interfacial dislocations was verified by correlating penetration depth analysis with the visibility of the dislocations under different diffraction conditions. This technique affords a rapid and non-destructive way of quantitatively characterizing processing induced damage in such systems.
Nucleation of Rhn (n = 1–5) Clusters on γ-Al2O3 Surfaces: A Density Functional Theory Study

The interaction of Rhn (n = 1–5) clusters with nonhydrated γ-Al2O3(100), hydrated γ-Al2O3(100), and hydrated γ-Al2O3(110) surfaces has been investigated using density functional theory methods. On ...
Determination of 14 organophosphorus pesticides and 7 pyrethroids pesticides in five kinds of food by GPC and GC-MS /MS

Objective To establish a method for determining 14 organophosphorus pesticides( OPs) and 7 pyrethroids pesticides( PPs) in 5 kinds of food by GPC and GC-MS /MS,and find the advantages of GPC and GC-MS /MS in analyzing pesticide residues in food. Methods Five kinds of food including leeks,Chinese cabbage,pepper,pork and fish were pretreated with GPC,and the samples were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by GC-MS /MS. Results The linear correlation coefficients of 14 OPs and 7 PPs were above 0. 995. The limit of quantification was in the range of 0. 002-0. 034 mg /kg. The relative standard deviation( RSD) was 2. 9-10. 2%,and the rates of recovery were 78. 6-108. 3% for leek and pork samples spiked with 0. 05,0. 10 and 0. 20 mg /kg of 14 OPs and 7 PPs. Conclusion The method was widely used,highly sensitive,reliable,accurate,and suitable for analysis of pesticide residues in many kinds of food.
A Flaw Sizing Method Using the Zeroes in the Ultrasonic Scattering Amplitude

In this paper we report a new method for determining the size of flaws using the zeroes in the real and imaginary parts of the ultrasonic scattering amplitude [1]. It is observed that, for a wide class of flaws, the wavenumbers or frequencies at which the real and imaginary parts of the scattering amplitude go through zero are closely related to the flaw dimension in the scattering direction. This relationship remains remarkably stable for different interrogation directions and thus may serve as a basis for flaw sizing and reconstruction. In the decomposition of the scattering amplitude into its real and imaginary components, this method requires that the phase reference (or the “zero of time”) be placed at the centroid of the flaw. In many respects the method of flaw sizing using the zeroes is similar to the one-dimensional version of the inverse Born approximation (1-D IBA) [2], In fact, it employs the same input data as the 1-D IBA and consequently also shares certain common limitations such as the sensitivity of the sizing results to the zero of time determination and the available bandwidth of the scattering data [3,4]. However, flaw sizing using the zeroes is simpler and more straight forward because the sizes are obtained directly from the frequencies where the zeroes occur.
The Association of Significant Renal Anomalies with Turner’s Syndrome

Abstract: The incidence of significant renal anomalies in 38 patients with Turner’s syndrome was 26 per cent (10 of 38 cases). An additional 11 per cent of the patients have insignificant renal abnormalities and 63 per cent apparently have normal excretory urograms. In this series there seemed to beni) correlation of the incidence of abnormalities with either the phenotypic or karyotypic expression of Turner’s syndrome, that is the 45/XO pattern of the mosaic variants. Therefore, clinicians should be aware that any patient with Turner’s syndrome must receive a thorough clinical and radiologic evaluation of the urogenital tract.
Online Consumer Perceptions of Retailer Familiarity and Price Discrimination

Online shopping has become popular and consumers commonly encounter an unfamiliar online retailer who practices an array of price discrimination strategies. Previous research suggests that price strategies are important for product and service differentiation for online businesses. By integrating two theories, the theory of Planned Behavior and the Technology Acceptance Model, this study investigates how consumers’ pre-perceptions toward online and online transactions affect consumers’ online retailer trust, price fairness perceptions, and purchase intentions. The proposed model comprises seven construct: Internet usage for shopping (IS), Perceived Web Risk (PWR), Structural Assurance of the Web (SAW), Online Transaction Trust (OTT), Online Retailer Trust (ORT), Price Fairness (PF), and Purchase Intention (PI). This study views online pre-perceptions including IS, PWR, SAW, and OTT as exogenous constructs of ORT. ORT influences PF and PIN. PF influences PIN. Online retailer familiarity and Price discrimination are operationalized as experimental variables.
Angular-spectrum and multipole expansions

The Green-function solution to the radiation problem given in Eq. (2.23) of Chapter 2 represents this solution in terms of a superposition of outgoing spherical waves with each spherical wave being weighted by the source amplitude at that point. This solution was derived starting from the fact that the Helmholtz equation is linear and, hence, can be represented as a superposition of elementary solutions to the equation when excited by delta functions; i.e., as a convolution of the source term with a Green function that satisfies the same outgoing-wave condition, namely the Sommerfeld radiation condition (SRC), as is satisfied by the radiated field. Alternative representations of the field can also be obtained by making use of the linearity of the Helmholtz equation and the fact that the radiated field satisfies the homogeneous Helmholtz equation everywhere outside the source region τ 0 . In particular, as we have seen in the last chapter, it is possible to represent the field in such regions in terms of an expansion of eigenfunctions of the homogeneous Helmholtz equation such as the plane waves or multipole fields. Indeed, in Examples 3.3 and 3.5 of Chapter 3 we expanded outgoing-wave fields such as the radiated field in a plane-wave expansion and a multipole expansion, respectively, with the expansion coefficients (planewave amplitudes and multipole moments) determined directly from boundary values of the field. We continue with this task in this chapter, where we develop plane-wave and multipole expansions for the radiated field directly in terms of the source Q rather than in terms of the boundary value of the radiated field.
An Overly Permissive Extension.

In this article, I describe how the current practice of classifying as a stressor any event that is accompanied by a change in any of a number of biological or behavioral measures—even when it is not accompanied by a long-term compromise in an organism’s health or capacity to cope with daily challenges—has limited the utility of this concept. This permissive posture, which began with Selye’s writings more than 65 years ago, is sustained by the public’s desire for a simple term that might explain the tension generated by the threat of terrorists, growing economic inequality, increased competiveness in the workplace or for admission to the best universities, rogue nuclear bombs, and media reports of threats to health in food and water. I believe that the concept stress should be limited to select events that pose a serious threat to an organism’s well-being or discarded as too ambiguous to be theoretically useful.
The Impact of Face and Self-construal on SST and Interpersonal Service Orientations

The increased attention received by the widespread deployment of self-service technologies (SSTs) is well documented in the literature (Meuter et al. 2000; Collier and Kimes 2013). SSTs include technologies such as automated hotel checkouts, restaurant kiosks, ATMs, and pay-at-the-pump services. A key facet of SSTs is their ability to enhance customer co-production of services. Specifically, customers are able to direct and control their service outcomes using technological devices like kiosks/tablets, etc. Service settings often provide customers the choice of an SST and human interaction, which we term as interpersonal interaction hereafter. While the customer’s decision to choose one over the other is likely to be influenced by operational factors (potential wait times, etc.), it is also influenced by individual personality traits/characteristics (desire for control, social interaction preferences, etc.)
Temporally Distinct Developmental Waves of Erythropoiesis from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Abstract Mammalian erythropoiesis during embryogenesis occurs in several distinct stages or "waves" that vary according to timing, site of production, gene expression and physiology. The ontogeny of mammalian erythropoiesis is most thoroughly studied in mice where the earliest circulating erythroblasts released from the yolk sac are termed primitive. Later, the first definitive erythroid lineage is established by erythro-myeloid progenitors (EMPs) that originate in the yolk sac and migrate to the fetal liver for terminal differentiation. A second wave of definitive erythropoiesis is established from hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells that originate in the dorsal aorta and migrate to later stage fetal liver for terminal differentiation. Finally around birth, definitive erythropoiesis shifts to the bone marrow. The ontogeny of erythropoiesis overlaps in mice and humans, although less is known about the latter, as hematopoietic tissues from precisely staged early human embryos are difficult to obtain. We hypothesized that the initial steps of human erythroid ontogeny could be recapitulated by induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) induced to undergo hematopoietic differentiation. We used a serum- and feeder-free protocol to differentiate iPSCs into embryoid bodies (EBs) that produced two sequential waves of distinctly different erythroid precursors. At day 8 of differentiation, EBs began to release hematopoietic precursors. Thereafter, erythroid precursors were released from the EBs in the presence of stem cell factor (SCF), erythropoietin (EPO) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Erythroid precursors produced during wave 1 (days 12-23 of differentiation) were relatively large and expressed embryonic-type globins (zeta and epsilon), resembling those produced during primitive erythropoiesis. In contrast, wave 2 erythroblasts (day 27 and later) were smaller and expressed mainly gamma and alpha globins with some beta globin, suggestive of fetal-type definitive erythropoiesis. To investigate further the similarity of wave 1 and wave 2 erythroblasts to cells at the primitive and definitive stages of ontogeny, respectively, we used Affymetrix Genechips to analyze the global transcriptomes of stage-matched (CD235+ CD71high) cells. As primary human primitive erythroblasts were not available for comparison, we compared the transcriptomes from the iPSC-derived erythroblasts with those of primary murine definitive and primitive erythroblasts that were flow cytometry-purified from embryonic day 15.5 (E15.5) fetal liver and E10.5 bloodstream, respectively. The comparisons showed that wave 1 erythroblasts from human pluripotent cells resembled more closely the erythroid primitive lineage from mice, while wave 2 erythroblasts from the human cells resembled the erythroid definitive lineage of mice (P-value Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
The Development of Pediatrics as a Specialty

Peter English’s ‘“Not Miniature Men and Women‘: Abraham Jacobi’s Vision of a New Medical Specialty a Century Ago” [1] provides important insights into the history of pediatrics. Using the writings and speeches of early pioneers in American pediatrics, he has described some of the arguments these leaders used to convince fellow physicians and the public of the need for a medical specialty whose sole concern was children. In recounting how early leaders in pediatrics demonstrated that children were not “miniature men and women,” Dr. English necessarily covers a number of topics in a short space. He gives a very close-up view, from the perspective of the participants themselves. In this commentary, I will take a few steps back and survey more of the scene to gain a sense of how the arguments English presents fit into the larger picture of turn-of-the-century medicine and society.
Optimized Finite Element Method for Acoustic Scattering Analysis With Application to Head-Related Transfer Function Estimation

Obtaining Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) is a challenging task, in spite of its importance in localizing sound in a 3D environment or improving the performance of hearing aids, among their various applications. In this paper, an optimized finite element method through adaptive dimension size based on wavelength (frequency) for acoustic scattering analyses using ANSYS is presented. Initial investigation of the validity of our method is conducted by simulating scattered sound field for a solid sphere exposed to a far-field plane sound wave at 100 (equally spaced in logarithmic scale) frequencies between 20 and 20k Hz. Comparison of the equivalent HRTF results between the two methods shows a maximum deviation of less than 0.6 dB between our method and the analytical solution depending on the angle of rotation of the sphere with respect to sound source.
The Conversion of tert-Butyl Esters to Acid Chlorides Using Thionyl Chloride

The reaction of tert-butyl esters with SOCl2 at room temperature provides acid chlorides in unpurified yields of 89% or greater. Benzyl, methyl, ethyl, and isopropyl esters are essentially unreactive under these conditions, allowing for the selective conversion of tert-butyl esters to acid chlorides in the presence of other esters.
Generation of Internal Solitary Waves by Lateral Circulation in a Stratified Estuary

AbstractInternal solitary waves are commonly observed in the coastal ocean where they are known to contribute to mass transport and turbulent mixing. While these waves are often generated by cross-isobath barotropic tidal currents, novel observations are presented suggesting that internal solitary waves result from along-isobath tidal flows over channel-shoal bathymetry. Mooring and ship-based velocity, temperature, and salinity data were collected over a cross-channel section in a stratified estuary. The data show that Ekman forcing on along-channel tidal currents drives lateral circulation, which interacts with the stratified water over the deep channel to generate a supercritical mode-2 internal lee wave. This lee wave propagates onto the shallow shoal and evolves into a group of internal solitary waves of elevation due to nonlinear steepening. These observations highlight the potential importance of three-dimensionality on the conversion of tidal flow to internal waves in the rotating ocean.
Describing Democracy Dynamically

What is the best way to describe democracy? In the modern era, this is a difficult issue. Democracy is a term used to represent a large number of different ideas and values. As George Orwell observed: In the case of a word like democracy, not only is there no agreed upon definition but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides ... the defenders of any kind of regime claim that it is a democracy and fear that they might have to stop using the word if it were tied down to any one meaning.1
Trans-endocytosis of Planar Cell Polarity Complexes during Cell Division.

To coordinate epithelial architecture with proliferation, cell polarity proteins undergo extensive remodeling during cell division [1-3]. A dramatic example of polarity remodeling occurs in proliferative basal cells of mammalian epidermis whereupon cell division, transmembrane planar cell polarity (PCP) proteins are removed from the cell surface via bulk endocytosis [4]. PCP proteins form intercellular complexes, linked by Celsr1-mediated homophilic adhesion, that coordinate polarity non-autonomously between cells [5, 6]. Thus, the mitotic reorganization of PCP proteins must alter not only proteins intrinsic to the dividing cell but also their interacting partners on neighboring cells. Here, we show that intercellular Celsr1 complexes that connect dividing cells with their neighbors remain intact during mitotic internalization, resulting in an uptake of Celsr1 protein from interphase neighbors. Trans-internalized Celsr1 carries with it additional core PCP proteins, including the posteriorly enriched Fz6 and anteriorly enriched Vangl2. Cadherin-mediated homophilic adhesion is necessary for trans-endocytosis, and adhesive junctional PCP complexes appear to be destined for degradation upon internalization. Surprisingly, whereas Fz6 and Vangl2 both internalize in trans, Vangl2 proteins intrinsic to the dividing cell remain associated with the plasma membrane. Persistent Vangl2 stabilizes Celsr1 and impedes its internalization, suggesting that dissociation of Vangl2 from Celsr1 is a prerequisite for Celsr1 endocytosis. These results demonstrate an unexpected transfer of PCP complexes between neighbors and suggest that the Vangl2 population that persists at the membrane during cell division could serve as an internal cue for establishing PCP in new daughter cells.
Legal Quandaries in the Alabama Senate Election of 2017

President Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions as his Attorney General resulted in a vacancy in the Senate and triggered a special election. The special election, however, revealed the many complexities of the Seventeenth Amendment, special elections generally, and Alabama state law specifically. This Article traces a series of legal quandaries that arose from the special election, some of which remain open questions for future Alabama elections, and for United States Senate elections more generally. Part I examines the scope of the Alabama Governor’s power to call for a special election under the Seventeenth Amendment and state law. Part II scrutinizes the complications for replacing a late-withdrawing candidate and for counting votes cast for a candidate who resigns. Part III identifies proposed gambits, from postponing the election to write-in campaigns, that never came to fruition. Part IV examines the timing surrounding certification of election results in Alabama. Part V looks at gaps in Alabama’s recount and election contest procedures. Finally, Part VI identifies the most significant opportunities to clarify Alabama law and to properly interpret the Seventeenth Amendment to avoid uncertainty in future elections.
Three Regimes of Polymer Surface Dynamics under Crowded Conditions

Single-molecule tracking was used to characterize the mobility of poly(ethylene glycol) chains at a solid–liquid interface over a wide range of surface coverage. Trajectories exhibited intermittent motion consistent with a generalized continuous time random walk (CTRW) model, where strongly confined “waiting times” alternated with rapid flights. The presence of three characteristic regimes emerged as a function of surface coverage, based on an analysis of effective short-time diffusion coefficients, mean-squared displacement, and CTRW distributions. The dilute “site-blocking” regime exhibited increasing short-time diffusion, less confined behavior, and shorter waiting times with higher surface coverage, as anomalously strong adsorption sites were increasingly passivated. At intermediate values of surface coverage, the “crowding” regime was distinguished by the exact opposite trends (slower, more confined mobility), presumably due to increasing intermolecular interactions. The trends reversed yet again in ...
Incidence and predictors of 30-day readmissions in patients hospitalized with chronic pancreatitis: A nationwide analysis.

Abstract Background Patients with chronic pancreatitis are prone to frequent readmissions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the rate and predictors of 30-day readmissions in patients with chronic pancreatitis using the Nationwide Readmission Database (NRD). Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of all adult patients with the principal discharge diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis from 2010 through 2014. We excluded patients who died during the hospitalization. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression was performed to identify demographic, clinical, and hospital factors that associated with 30-day unplanned readmissions. Results During the study period, 25,259 patients had the principal discharge diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis and survived the index hospitalization. Of these, 6477 (26.7%) were readmitted within 30 days. Younger age group, males, length of stay >5 days, admission to a large, metropolitan hospital, and several comorbidities (renal failure, rheumatic disease, chronic anemia, heart failure, depression, drug abuse, psychosis, and diabetes) were independently associated with increased risk of 30-day readmission. ERCP, pancreatic surgery, and obesity were associated with lower risk. The most common reasons for readmissions were acute pancreatitis (30%), chronic pancreatitis (17%), pseudocyst (2%), and abdominal pain (6%). Conclusions One in four patients with chronic pancreatitis is readmitted within 30 days (26.7%). Pancreatic disease accounts for at least half of all readmissions. Several baseline comorbidities and characteristics are associated with 30-day readmission risk after index admission. Knowledge of these predictors can help design interventions to target high-risk patients and reduce readmissions and costs of care.
EXPANSION OF CONTAMINATED AMALGAMS ASSESSED BY PHOTOELASTIC RESIN

OBJECTIVE Eight amalgam alloys, 6 high-copper and 2 low-copper, were assessed for expansion via photoelastic resin. METHOD AND MATERIALS The photoelastic resin sheet was sectioned into 20 x 25-mm blocks, and two 4 x 8-mm holes were drilled into the resin. The amalgam alloys were hand condensed into the prepared holes. Test conditions for each alloy were (1) uncontaminated, (2) contaminated with 5 microL of Ringer's solution, and (3) contaminated with 5 microL of cell culture medium. RESULTS Contaminated high-copper amalgam alloys may exhibit expansion to varying degrees but do not show the classic delayed expansion. One spherical, nonzinc high-copper alloy showed no expansion, whether it was uncontaminated or contaminated, and 3 high-copper alloys with different amounts of zinc (0% to 1%) showed slight expansion when contaminated. One low-copper alloy displayed delayed expansion; within 17 days after initial expansion in the photoelastic resin, it had exceeded the greatest stress observed in any contaminated, high-copper zinc-containing alloy at 3 months. CONCLUSION Contamination of dental amalgam is to be avoided, but a zinc-containing high-copper amalgam will not exhibit classic delayed expansion even if contaminated.
Getting Started — Building the Scalable Warehouse the Right Way

Many managers have been inundated with information about the benefits of a Data Warehouse but little has been written to help the banker navigate through some rather treacherous waters. Where and how to start, why bother and what about all the hype? Isn’t it all about databases? We have them, so what’s the big deal!? This article introduces some of the ways to move towards your very own knowledge repository (your own data warehouse) and how it can help you better understand your business and support your decision-making. I will also look at some of the benefits and some of the ways other banks have moved forward successfully. Yes there have been failures but these are often the result of not getting the best advice you can and accepting that everything is a technology issue — it’s not!
Guidelines for Research and Development in Biotechnology

The new biotechnology offers an array of technics for overcoming the conventional biological constraints of the large size of trees and the delayed sexual processes common to woody species. By providing mechanisms for identifying, isolating and transferring single or complex genetic units it is now possible to accelerate tree improvement activities. However, this new ability to rapidly move genes between and among like and unlike organisms has created concern and debate among scientists and the public. To address these issues the U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed a set of research guidelines for the management of the new biotechnologies. The basic concept of the guidelines is that the end product of genetic engineering is no different from those developed by traditional genetics and that there are safe and responsible means of conducting biotechnical research. In the fall of 1987 detailed research guidelines for laboratory research, containment and field testing genetically engineered organisms, including trees, were made available. If followed the research and testing of genetically engineered trees will pose no hazard to the public or the environment.
The knit wit of Einstein

Albert Einstein famously said, “True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the artist.”1 Contemplating the deceptively ordinary yet compelling appearance of Einstein's brain, I could not but help have a desire to reimagine his famous cerebrum, both as a neurologist and an avid knitter (figure). As a cognitive behavioral neurologist, I marveled at his gyri and sulci and sought to recreate them using a variety of knitting and crocheting techniques, including a cerebellum and spinal cord, down to the cauda equina. I was partly inspired by the promotion of brain hats with the March for Science.
The civility of strangers? Caste, ethnicity, and living together in postwar Jaffna, Sri Lanka:

The question asked by this article is as follows: How do different kinds of people live together in a hierarchical world that has been challenged and transformed through the leveling effects of dee...
Effect of volatile–char interactions on PM10 emission during the combustion of biosolid chars under air and oxyfuel conditions

Abstract This study reports the significant effect of volatile–char interactions on the emission of particulate matter (PM) during the combustion of biosolid chars in drop-tube furnace at 1300 °C under air and oxyfuel conditions. Slow and fast heating chars were prepared from biosolid pyrolysis and then interacted with the volatiles produced in situ from the pyrolysis of polyethylene (PE) and double acid-washed biosolid (DAWB) in a novel two-stage quartz reactor at 1000 °C (limited by the operating temperature of quartz). The results clearly show that under the experimental conditions, the interactions between chars and small non-oxygenated reactive species in both volatiles substantially decrease the yield of PM with aerodynamic diameter
Measuring Snow Specific Surface Area with 1.30 and 1.55 μmBidirectional Reflectance Factors

Abstract. Snow specific surface area (SSA) is an important physical property that directly affects solar absorption of snow cover. Instrumentation to measure snow SSA is commercially available for purchase, but these instruments are costly and/or remove and destroy snow samples during data collection. To obtain rapid, repeatable, and in situ surface snow SSA measurements, we mounted infrared light emitting diodes and photodiode detectors into a 17 cm diameter black styrene dome. By flashing light emitting diodes and measuring photodiode currents, we obtain accurate 1.30 and 1.55 micron bidirectional reflectance factors (BRFs). We compare measured snow BRFs with X-ray micro computed tomography scans and Monte Carlo photon modeling to relate BRFs to snow SSA. These comparisons show an exponential relationship between snow 1.30 micron BRFs and SSA from which we calculate calibration functions to approximate snow SSA. The techniques developed here enable rapid retrieval of snow SSA by a new instrument called the Near-Infrared Emitting and Reflectance-Monitoring Dome (NERD).
Rigid Oligomer from Lignin in Designing of Tough, Self-Healing Elastomers

Converting lignin into well-defined compounds is often challenged by structural complexation and inorganic contamination induced by the pulping process. In this report, instead of breaking down lignin into small molecules, we extracted a uniform and rigid oligomer from the lignin waste stream. The multifunctional polyphenol oligomer containing carboxylic acid, alcohol, and phenol groups is highly reactive and brings stiffness into the material matrix. Tough and self-healing elastomers are economically prepared from this oligomer by a reaction with epoxy-terminated polyethylene glycol, without needing any solvent. Specifically, the polyaromatic backbone’s rigidity enhances the elastomer’s toughness, and the multiple polar substituents form a network of hydrogen bonding that heals the elastomer. Many other applications, including adhesives, hydrogels, coating, and metal scavengers, are envisioned based on this oligomer’s unique properties.