cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Administrative Skill as Competitive Advantage – Extending Porter's Analytical Framework

Competitive advantage is produced by resources that allow a firm to become more profitable than its competitors. Strategic management studies based on Porter's competitive strategy model assume that such resources are based on competitive positioning, i. e., on cost leadership or differentiation strategies, or on strategic group membership bolstered by mobility barriers. The theme of this study is that administrative skills - particularly the ability to align an organization's structure, strategymaking, and environment – provide an important, but neglected, source of competitive advantage. Consistent with a resource-based view of the firm, it is shown that these skills meet all the criteria for a strategic resource– they not only produce economic value, but are also scarce, imperfectly imitable, and imperfectly tradeable in factor markets. In an empirical study, it is shown that administrative skills account for a significant proportion of profitability variance, over and above the proportions accounted for by industry or strategic group membership.
Theorizing about group support systems

Theory is critical to science. Group support systems (GSS), as a field of scientific inquiry is no exception. The important issue about theory in GSS is then not why theory, but where should theory come from (or how should theory be developed) and how to assess it (or evaluate its usefulness). This paper expounds on these issues by considering various approaches to theorizing about GSS, and delves into prototypical efforts by the GSS research community under each approach. The typical theoretical product of each approach is analyzed in terms of its conceptual and logical structure, and pitted against the criteria of relevance (Thomas and Tymon, 1982). It is hoped that an increased awareness of the processes of theorizing and critical evaluation of the resulting theory substance would provide useful directions for promoting the development of better theory and hence advancing the state of GSS theory.
Role of primary care providers in a pandemic – conflicting views and future opportunities

In pandemic situations, primary care providers may be involved in a variety of roles related to disease surveillance, diagnosis and treatment, prevention, and patient education. This commentary describes the contextual factors that may influence primary care providers’ perspectives on their pandemic roles and responsibilities. These factors include the natural evolution of the pandemic situation, with early uncertainty affecting decision-making and communication; the variation in typical practice patterns and clinical expertise across and within primary care providers; and the lack of representation of practicing primary care providers in pandemic planning and decision-making bodies.
Grassland Composition Affects Season Shifts in Seed Preference by Pogonomyrmex barbatus (Hymenoptera: Myrmicinae) in the Edwards Plateau, Texas

The effects of season and community composition as generated by livestock herbivory of differing intensity on seed species preference by Pogonomyrmex barbatus (F. Smith) were studied in a semiarid savanna on the Edward's Plateau, TX. Seasonal differences in nutrient requirements of the colony could lead to differential preferences for seeds harvested in spring and fall. Field cafeteria studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that late successional species, with their high nutrient content, would be chosen regardless of grazing intensity or season. Commercial seeds of known nutrient content were used to test the hypothesis that high protein levels would be chosen in spring and high carbohydrate levels in the fall. Naturally occurring seeds were differentially harvested and some were preferred regardless of relative availability. Total seed harvest in cafeteria experiments was higher in spring than in fall. Commercial seeds were harvested equally among treatments within a season; thus, nutrient selection was indistinguishable. Preference for native species was significantly different in both seasons but was influenced by a significant interaction with grazing treatments. Bouteloua curtipendula, a late successional mid-grass, was harvested significantly more in the spring than the fall and at higher rates in the heavily grazed treatment, rejecting the hypothesis that they would be chosen regardless of treatment or season. Seed preference for late successional grasses within heavily grazed communities may slow succession after grazing. During disturbance recovery, late successional species may be reduced by forager preference and rates of spring harvest.
Patient Examination and Assessment

This chapter will take a step-by-step look at the parameters for a comprehensive patient examination and assessment.
High Gain DC–DC Converter Based on the Cockcroft–Walton Multiplier

Recent advancements in renewable energy have created a need for both high step-up and high-efficiency dc–dc converters. These needs have typically been addressed with converters using high-frequency transformers to achieve the desired gain. The transformer design, however, is challenging. This paper presents a high step-up current fed converter based on the classical Cockcroft–Walton (CW) multiplier. The capacitor ladder allows for high voltage gains without a transformer. The cascaded structure limits the voltage stresses in the converter stages, even for high gains. Being current-fed, the converter (unlike traditional CW multipliers) allows the output voltage to be efficiently controlled. In addition, the converter supports multiple input operation without modifying the topology. This makes the converter especially suitable for photovoltaic applications where high gain, high efficiency, small converter size, and maximum power point tracking are required. Design equations, a dynamic model, and possible control algorithms are presented. The converter operation was verified using digital simulation and a 450-W prototype converter.
Abstract 4721: Airway basal cell signature predicts aggressive phenotype of human lung adenocarcinoma

Molecular changes in the airway epithelium are central to the pathogenesis of lung cancer. Human airway epithelium is composed of 4 major cell types including ciliated, columnar, secretory and basal cells (BC), with the BC representing the stem/progenitor population. Although BC have been considered as putative tumor-initiating cells of squamous cell lung carcinoma, there is little evidence with regard to the contribution of BC to human lung adenocarcinoma (ADC). Given that a subset of smokers develop ADC and smoking increases BC proliferation, we hypothesized that BC-associated molecular features are enriched in ADC smokers contributing to a distinct, more aggressive clinical phenotype. BC were purified from the freshly isolated airway epithelium of healthy individuals by a cell culture-based method. Genome-wide gene expression analyses of BC (n=4 nonsmokers; n=4 smokers) compared with the intact large airway epithelium (LAE; n=21 nonsmokers; n=31 smokers) were performed separately for nonsmokers and smokers using HG-U133 Plus 2.0 array to identify the normal and smoking-associated BC signatures, respectively, based on the following criteria: (1) P call of “Present” in ≥50% of BC samples; (2) p 5-fold higher expression level in BC vs complete airway epithelium. ADC samples (n=167) were derived from patients undergoing lung resection. ADC genes related to smoking status were identified by genome-wide comparison of ADC smokers (ADC-S; n=131) and ADC nonsmokers (ADC-NS; n=36). Multivariate survival analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazards model. The BC signature included 1,623 and 2,408 probe sets in healthy nonsmokers and smokers, respectively. Among the ADC-S up-regulated genes, 44% (46 of 105) overlapped with BC signature genes, including 32 smoking-associated BC signature genes compared to 25 BC signature genes among 614 ADC-NS up-regulated genes (4%). ADC patients with high expression of the ADC-S up-regulated BC signature (n=97) exhibited a distinct clinical phenotype with a poorer tumor differentiation grade (p Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4721. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4721
Effects of vitamin B12 and penicillin on thiouracil action in chicks.

Summary1. White Leghorn male and Rhode Island Red chicks of both sexes were fed a vit. B12-dencient ration which was supplemented with 0.1% thiouracil and/or 0.5 to 4.0μ% vit. B12 or 2 mg procaine penicillin G per lb of food. After a preliminary depletion period of one and 2 weeks, respectively, on the vit. B12-dencient diet, the chicks were fed the above supplements for an additional 4 or 3 week period. 2. Thiouracil markedly reduced body weight gains and food intake in both breeds of chicks, and increased the grams of food required for each gram of gain in body weight. Vit. B12 and penicillin partially or completely counteracted this growth depression and increased appetite. The larger doses of vit. B12 were more effective in these respects than the smaller doses, 3. The large increase in thyroid weight and severe inhibition of comb growth induced by thiouracil were not influenced by the vitamin or antibiotic. 4. In general, these results corroborate previous data on the effects of vit. B12 and antibiot...
Speculations about the diet and digestive physiology of herbivorous dinosaurs

Like living herbivorous lizards, chelonians, birds, and mammals, plant-eating dinosaurs probably relied on a symbiotic gut microflora, housed in a hindgut fermentation chamber, to break down plant cell wall constituents. Large body sizes in most herbivorous dinosaurs resulted in low mass-specific metabolic rates and low rates of digesta passage through the gut; the effects of large body size were probably enhanced by the low metabolic rates of large dinosaurs as compared with large mammals. The long residence time of digesta in the gut permitted long exposure of refractory plant materials to the microflora, probably enabling even those dinosaurs with unsophisticated dentitions to survive on fodder with high fiber content. Large herbivorous dinosaurs probably fed on plants whose allelochemical defenses were geared more toward reducing digestibility than attacking the herbivore's metabolism directly, obviating the need for a foregut fermentation chamber and permitting these large herbivores to take advantage of the energetic benefits of hindgut fermentation for digestion of low-quality fodder. Differences in dentitions among the groups of herbivorous dinosaurs may correlate with differences in standard metabolic rate, activity level, body size, or food quality, or combinations of these factors, but the relative importance of each is difficult to assess. Because the mass of the fermentation contents was probably large in big herbivorous dinosaurs, the heat of fermentation may have been a significant source of thermoregulatory heat for these reptiles.
In vitro blastogenesis of porcine peripheral blood lymphocytes.

A microculture technique was used for the in vitro blastogenesis of pig lymphocytes. The effects of some variable on the stimulation of L luminal diameter culture were compared. A cell concentration of 4 x 10(6) cells/well gave an optimal stimulation index (S.I.) of 121.3, with 50 micrograms/ml of concanavalin A (Con A), whereas cell concentration of 5 x 10(5) and concanavalin concentration of 100 micrograms/ml gave the lowest stimulation of 1.61. Good stimulation was observed in almost all cultures incubated for 48 hrs and labelled with 1 Mci triated thymidine (3HTdr) for the last 8 hrs. The highest S.I. were in the range of 66.3 to 121.3 (73,223 to 133,893 counts per minute) for the pig lymphocytes derived from whole blood culture.
Arsenic Selenide (As2Se3)

Publisher Summary The chapter describes various aspects of the room temperature optical constants—namely, refractive index n and extinction coefficient k for arsenic selenide (As2Se3). In the context of crystalline As2Se3, the results are incomplete, with the major part of the experimental work done by reflectance in the one-phonon region, 200 μm to 20 μm and in the electronic absorption region, 1.24 μm to 0.089 μm by Zallen et al. There are also transmission measurements in limited portions of both of these ranges. In the infrared region of the spectrum, reflectance measurements are also made. Because the samples are opaque, this yields one-surface reflectivity that is fitted with a Lorentz oscillator model. The fitting procedure is supplemented by including transmission measurements on weaker absorption bands to fix the position and strength of these bands. The root-mean-square uncertainty of the reflectance is also quoted. The vitreous form of As2Se3 is widely explored. The material is isotropic and thus possesses only one set of n and k .
Cognitive Transformation, Social Ecological Settings, and the Reentry Outcomes of Women Offenders

Of theoretical interest to research on reentry and desistance is the intersection of cognitive transformation and the ecological contexts to which offenders return. The majority of offenders released from prisons in the United States return to impoverished neighborhood settings. However, there is a limited understanding of how offenders with different cognitive commitments to change interpret and negotiate the prosocial and illicit features situated in their environments. Drawing on different lines of theoretical research, we examine how cognitive commitments are affected by the lures and prosocial features of impoverished neighborhoods and how the intersection of these conditions affects success and failure in the post-release period. We use original survey and in-depth qualitative interviews with 37 incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women from St. Louis, Missouri. Findings suggest that an integrated examination of cognitive mechanisms and residential environments clarifies how offenders who return ...
Characterization of the High-Efficiency Neutron Detector Array (HENDA)

Two new pixellated neutron detectors developed at the Semiconductor Materials and Radiological Technologies Laboratory (SMART Lab) at Kansas State University, for eventual use at Oak Ridge National Laboratory Spallation Neutron Source, were tested for resolution, count rate and efficiency.
Home cardiorespiratory polygraphy studies in children: A new service

Background Cardiorespiratory polygraphy (CRP) is used to diagnose sleep disordered breathing. UK standard practice is for inpatient CRP but this is costly and often inconvenient. In the research setting home CRP provides adequate data (Moss, D. el al. Pediatr Res 2005; 58: 958-65). Aims and objectives To determine the success and acceptability of a new clinical home CRP service . Methods Families self-selected inpatient or home CRP using the SomnoTouch (SMed, UK) device. It records data on airflow, chest/abdominal wall movement, oxygen saturations, video and sound alongside transcutaneous CO 2 recording (SenTec, Switzerland). A sleep physiologist taught families how to use the equipment and telephone advice was offered until 11pm. Success was defined as 4 hours of artefact free data with an episode of active sleep. Families completed a feedback form. This included a Likert scale from 1 (very easy) to 5 (very difficult) on ease of using the equipment. Results From 03/2015 to 01/2016 71 studies were performed (mean age 8.0 yrs [range 0.4 - 19.5 yrs]). 24 children had had previous CRP (9 home, 15 hospital). 57 (80%) of all CRP were successful, increasing to 22/24 (92%) if the child had had a previous CRP. Of 14 failed studies 3 were due to poor equipment tolerance and 11 due to insufficient data. 50 feedback forms were returned. 32 families (64%) rated equipment use very easy or easy. Only 3 (6%) rated it difficult. 25/28 (89%) responses stated they would prefer a home CRP in future. Conclusions Families prefer home CRP. It is a useful adjunct to a hospital based clinical service. It was very successful in children who had a study previously, and may be most beneficial for children having repeated clinical studies.
Nanoscale Ion Pump Derived from a Biological Water Channel

Biological molecular machines perform the work of supporting life at the smallest of scales, including the work of shuttling ions across cell boundaries and against chemical gradients. Systems of artificial channels at the nanoscale can likewise control ionic concentration by way of ionic current rectification, species selectivity, and voltage gating mechanisms. Here, we theoretically show that a voltage-gated, ion species-selective, and rectifying ion channel can be built using the components of a biological water channel aquaporin. Through all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, we show that the ionic conductance of a truncated aquaporin channel nonlinearly increases with the bias magnitude, depends on the channel’s orientation, and is highly cation specific but only for one polarity of the transmembrane bias. Further, we show that such an unusually complex response of the channel to transmembrane bias arises from mechanical motion of a positively charged gate that blocks cation transport. By combining...
Crustal heat production and estimate of terrestrial heat flow in central East Antarctica, with implications for thermal input to the East Antarctic ice sheet

Abstract. Terrestrial heat flow is a critical first-order factor governing the thermal condition and, therefore, mechanical stability of Antarctic ice sheets, yet heat flow across Antarctica is poorly known. Previous estimates of terrestrial heat flow in East Antarctica come from inversion of seismic and magnetic geophysical data, by modeling temperature profiles in ice boreholes, and by calculation from heat production values reported for exposed bedrock. Although accurate estimates of surface heat flow are important as an input parameter for ice-sheet growth and stability models, there are no direct measurements of terrestrial heat flow in East Antarctica coupled to either subglacial sediment or bedrock. As has been done with bedrock exposed along coastal margins and in rare inland outcrops, valuable estimates of heat flow in central East Antarctica can be extrapolated from heat production determined by the geochemical composition of glacial rock clasts eroded from the continental interior. In this study, U, Th, and K concentrations in a suite of Proterozoic (1.2–2.0 Ga) granitoids sourced within the Byrd and Nimrod glacial drainages of central East Antarctica indicate average upper crustal heat production (Ho) of about 2.6 ± 1.9 µW m−3. Assuming typical mantle and lower crustal heat flux for stable continental shields, and a length scale for the distribution of heat production in the upper crust, the heat production values determined for individual samples yield estimates of surface heat flow (qo) ranging from 33 to 84 mW m−2 and an average of 48.0 ± 13.6 mW m−2. Estimates of heat production obtained for this suite of glacially sourced granitoids therefore indicate that the interior of the East Antarctic ice sheet is underlain in part by Proterozoic continental lithosphere with an average surface heat flow, providing constraints on both geodynamic history and ice-sheet stability. The ages and geothermal characteristics of the granites indicate that crust in central East Antarctica resembles that in the Proterozoic Arunta and Tennant Creek inliers of Australia but is dissimilar to other areas like the Central Australian Heat Flow Province that are characterized by anomalously high heat flow. Age variation within the sample suite indicates that central East Antarctic lithosphere is heterogeneous, yet the average heat production and heat flow of four age subgroups cluster around the group mean, indicating minor variation in the thermal contribution to the overlying ice sheet from upper crustal heat production. Despite these minor differences, ice-sheet models may favor a geologically realistic input of crustal heat flow represented by the distribution of ages and geothermal characteristics found in these glacial clasts.
A Contingency Approach to the Innovation Impact of Star Employees

High-achieving employees, the innovative “stars” of an organization, are widely credited with supplying the overwhelming preponderance of value- enhancing contributions. Strategic human resource ma...
Permutationally Invariant Potential Energy Surfaces.

Over the past decade, about 50 potential energy surfaces (PESs) for polyatomics with 4–11 atoms and for clusters have been calculated using the permutationally invariant polynomial method. This is a general, mainly linear least-squares method for precise mathematical fitting of tens of thousands of electronic energies for reactive and nonreactive systems. A brief tutorial of the methodology is given, including several recent improvements. Recent applications to the formic acid dimer (the current record holder in size for a reactive system), the H2—H2O complex, and four protonated water clusters [H+(H2O)n=2,3,4,6] are given. The last application also illustrates extension to large clusters using the many-body representation. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Physical Chemistry Volume 69 is April 20, 2018. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
Perinatal and childhood exposure to environmental chemicals and blood pressure in children: a review of literature 2007-2017.

Exposure to environmental chemicals during periods of renal development from embryogenesis to birth and through childhood can inform critical windows of nephrotoxicity, including changes in childhood blood pressure. This review assessed recent studies that examined the relationship of air pollution, metals, and other organic pollutants with children’s blood pressure outcomes. We restricted this review to peer-reviewed studies published in English between January 2007 and July 2017. We identified a total of 36 articles that estimated associations with childhood blood pressure, of which 14 studies examined the effects of air pollution, 10 examined metals, and 12 examined other organic pollutants including phthalates (n = 4), Bisphenol A (n = 3), polychlorinated biphenols (n = 2), organophosphate pesticides (n = 2), or perfluoroalkyl acids (n = 1). Similar to the established relationship between tobacco smoke exposure and childhood blood pressure, the majority of studies that examined air pollutants, particularly exposure to PM10 and PM2.5, reported associations with increased childhood blood pressure. The literature reported conflicting evidence for metals, and putative evidence of the effects of exposure to phthalates, Bisphenol A, polychlorinated biphenols, and pesticides. Overall, our review underscores the need for additional studies that assess the impact of nephrotoxicant exposure during early life, particularly the perinatal period, and blood pressure in childhood.
Distributed Resource Allocation

Distributed resource allocation, where a set of agents must assign their resources to a set of dynamic tasks, is a challenging, open problem in current multi-agent systems research. In this article, we present three advances in addressing distributed resource allocation. First, we propose a systematic formalization of the problem and a general solution strategy that maps a formal model of resource allocation into a key problem solving paradigm, namely, distributed constraint-based reasoning (DCR). Such formalizations are necessary to understand the complexity of different types of problems and to develop solution strategies that translate across domains. Second, we present a new algorithm for distributed constraint-based reasoning, called Adopt. Adopt has several novel characteristics necessary for addressing distributed resource allocation including the ability to deal with both soft and hard constraints. Finally, we investigate how our theoretical results and algorithm (developed on abstract problems), can be applied to the real-world resource allocation problem of target tracking in distributed sensor networks. In particular, we introduce a two-layered architecture, where the higher layer uses the DCR algorithm, while a lower layer uses a probabilistic representation of resources and tasks to deal with uncertainty and dynamics.
PEL-C is the Major Pectate Lyase Produced by Erwinia Chrysanthemi (EC16) in Vitro and in Plant Tissue

Genetic data have revealed an important role of E. chrysanthemi (EC16) pectate lyases in plant tissue maceration. This bacterium, like other E. chrysanthemi strains, produces several pectate lyases, some of which are encoded by different structural genes. However, little is currently known about the distribution of each of the pectate lyases and their regulation, export, and effects on plant tissue. To better understand the physiology of production and ecological significance, we purified three extracellular pectate lyases (PEL-A, PEL-B and PEL-C) from strain EC16 and produced antibody against the purified PEL-C. Anti-PEL-C antibody was highly specific since it did not precipitate purified PEL-A or PEL-B or inhibit their enzymatic activities. These observations were confirmed by using pectate lyases produced by E. coli strains carrying cloned pel genes of EC16. The antibody completely blocked the activity of PEL-C produced by E. coli/pPL742, yet it had no effect on PEL-A and PEL-B activities in E. coli/pPL3 and PEL-A activity in E. coli/pAKC307. Antigen titration data indicated that PEL-C contributed about 50–60% of the total pectate lyase activity produced by E. chrysanthemi (EC16) in potato tuber tissue and in culture under induced conditions.
Harder Than I Thought: A Qualitative Study of the Implementation of a Total Quality Management Approach in Business Education

After a brief discussion of the role of Total Quality Management (TQM) in higher education, this article analyzes factors impacting its adoption in the Management Department at Central Missouri State University (Central). In examining the program at Central a brief history of the program is presented along with the results of a qualitative analysis of interviews of the faculty engaged in the program. This information provides useful insights to the development of TQM processes in education. Several key factors are identified including outcomes, the educational process, and student assessment.
Manipulating Metabolic Plasticity By Targeting Pyruvate Kinase M2 in Platelets Inhibits Arterial Thrombosis

Abstract Background: Most of the cellular responses initiated upon platelet activation are energy consuming. Like normal cells, resting platelets rely primarily on oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to generate ATP, whereas activated platelets exhibit a high level of aerobic glycolysis (conversion of glucose to lactate in the presence of oxygen, a phenomenon referred to as the Warburg effect in tumor cells) suggesting that metabolic plasticity exists in activated platelets. Although aerobic glycolysis yields less total ATP when compared to OXPHOS, the rate of ATP generation is faster in aerobic glycolysis compared to OXPHOS, which is well suited for high-energy demands during platelet activation. Pyruvate kinases (PKs) catalyzes the final step of glycolysis, the formation of pyruvate and ATP from phosphoenolpyruvate and ADP. Four PK isoforms exist in mammals: L and R isoforms are expressed in the liver and red blood cells; the M1 isoform is expressed in most adult tissues that have high catabolic demands including muscle and brain; M2 is expressed in cells including activated platelets and leukocytes. While PKM1 and tetrameric PKM2 favor ATP production from OXPHOS through the TCA cycle, dimeric PKM2 drives aerobic glycolysis. Objective: We tested an innovative concept that by manipulating the energy demand of activated platelets (metabolic plasticity), by targeting PKM2, will inhibit platelet function and thrombosis. Methods: Using a specific inhibitor of PKM2 (inhibits PKM2 dimerization and stabilizes tetramers) and standardized platelet in vitro assays, we determined the mechanistic role of PKM2 in modulating platelet function in human and mice. To provide definitive evidence, we generated a megakaryocyte or platelet-specific PKM2-/- mouse (PKM2fl/flPF4Cre). Lactate assay was performed in WT and PKM2 null platelets. Susceptibility to thrombosis was evaluated in vitro (microfluidics flow chamber) and in vivo (FeCl3-induced carotid artery thrombosis and laser injury models) by utilizing intravital microscopy. Results: We found that PKM2 is relatively highly expressed compared to PKM1 in human and murine platelets. Transmission electron microscopy (immunogold staining) revealed that PKM2 is found in the cytoplasm and a- granule in resting platelets, whereas most of PKM2 translocated to cytoplasm upon activation. Human and mouse platelets pretreated with PKM2 inhibitor exhibited decreased platelet aggregation to sub-optimal doses of collagen and convulxin but not to thrombin. In microfluidics flow chamber assay, human and whole mouse blood pretreated with PKM2 inhibitor formed small thrombi when perfused over collagen for 5 min at an arterial shear rate of 1500s-1 (P Conclusions: Our results suggest that dimeric PKM2 regulates platelet function and arterial thrombosis most likely via GPVI signaling pathway. We suggest that manipulating metabolic plasticity by targeting dimeric PKM2 may be explored as a novel strategy to inhibit platelet function and arterial thrombosis. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: The Reemergence of Subtypes.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) reflects several important changes related to our knowledge of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disord...
Food addiction prevalence: Development and validation of diagnostic tools

Abstract Food addiction has become a topic of growing scientific and public interest in the past two decades as rates of obesity have continued to rise globally. However, unlike existing substance-use disorders, the consumption of food is necessary for survival, and the highly processed foods that seem to be most associated with addictive-like eating are abundant in the environment without regulation. Thus, one of the central challenges in this line of research is to operationalize a behavioral phenotype of clinically significant addictive-like eating behavior. In the current chapter, we will (1) consider initial approaches to identifying addictive-like eating, (2) discuss the development of the most established measure of food addiction (i.e., Yale Food Addiction Scale) and the prevalence of its “diagnostic” threshold score, (3) consider an alternative framework for conceptualizing addictive-like eating, and (4) outline future research directions that may advance understanding of the clinical relevance of food addiction.
Finding the Mode of a Kernel Density Estimate.

Given points $p_1, \dots, p_n$ in $\mathbb{R}^d$, how do we find a point $x$ which maximizes $\frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^n e^{-\|p_i - x\|^2}$? In other words, how do we find the maximizing point, or mode of a Gaussian kernel density estimation (KDE) centered at $p_1, \dots, p_n$? Given the power of KDEs in representing probability distributions and other continuous functions, the basic mode finding problem is widely applicable. However, it is poorly understood algorithmically. Few provable algorithms are known, so practitioners rely on heuristics like the "mean-shift" algorithm, which are not guaranteed to find a global optimum. We address this challenge by providing fast and provably accurate approximation algorithms for mode finding in both the low and high dimensional settings. For low dimension $d$, our main contribution is to reduce the mode finding problem to a solving a small number of systems of polynomial inequalities. For high dimension $d$, we prove the first dimensionality reduction result for KDE mode finding, which allows for reduction to the low dimensional case. Our result leverages Johnson-Lindenstrauss random projection, Kirszbraun's classic extension theorem, and perhaps surprisingly, the mean-shift heuristic for mode finding.
Intraplate deformation of oceanic crust near the Rio Grande Rise in the South Atlantic

Abstract Globally, oceanic crust has relatively uniform thickness and structure compared to continental crust, with typical ocean crust being ~5–8 km thick. However, a substantial proportion of oceanic crust is thickened outside the normal range in the form of oceanic plateaus and crust affected by hotspots. The Rio Grande Rise (RGR) is the most prominent bathymetric feature in the western South Atlantic Ocean, and was thickened by activity of the Tristan hotspot. We use multichannel seismic data collected along the eastern margin of the RGR to investigate the relationship history between the thickened crust of the RGR and the adjacent normal crust. We find numerous normal faults spatially coincident with the region where oceanic crust begins to thicken from normal to RGR crust. Using crosscutting relationships and superposition, our interpretation supports protracted extensional deformation at the eastern margin of the RGR, including recent activity that appears to deform the modern seafloor. We attribute the faulting to differential subsidence linked to crustal thickness variations between the thickened RGR and ‘normal’ oceanic crust. Given the fundamental processes we attribute to the cause of faulting and the proportion of thickened oceanic crust globally, it is possible that regions of many oceanic plates experience intraplate deformation after formation.
An Autonomous Electrical Signature Analysis-Based Method for Faults Monitoring in Industrial Motors

Rotating machines are widely used in industries, manufacturing, and oil and gas plants as a critical component for process availability. The inadvertent failure of these rotating machines causes significant process downtime and incurs higher repair costs and loss of revenue. These failures can belong to electrical, thermal, or mechanical fault categories. Early detection of all these faults is very much critical for avoiding complete failure of these machines and requires continuous 24/7 online monitoring using sensors or intelligent electronic devices (IEDs). However, an affordable low-cost and efficient online monitoring is desired to practice specifically for medium-voltage (MV) machines which have a larger install base. Electrical signature analysis (ESA) technology offers such flexibility and requires measuring just current and/or voltage at a motor control panel for machine health diagnosis, unlike vibration analysis (VA) requiring installation of sensors and its wiring on the machine. Furthermore, an intelligent, self-reliable, and autonomous ESA procedure is required for monitoring the machines due to the lack of ESA standards in practice unlike for VA. This article proposes a new autonomous electrical signature analysis (AESA)-based measurement technique implemented in IED, that is, Protection Relay, offering 24/7 online monitoring. The proposed technique implemented in Relay not only avoids dependence on standalone ESA hardware but also provides earlier detection of failures using peak and energy magnitudes computation approach at fault frequencies. To validate the proposed method, various tests were performed on the actual 1000- and 300-HP motors with/without mechanical faults in a machine repair shop and the results are discussed. The performance of the proposed method is also compared with the commercially available third-party ESA device results proving the efficacy.
Understanding ureteral access sheath use within a statewide collaborative and its effect on surgical and clinical outcomes.

Introduction: Ureteral access sheaths (UASs) are frequently used during ureteroscopy (URS), but their use is not without potential risk. We investigated patterns of UAS use and associated outcomes ...
Personal bias in nutrition advice: A survey of healthcare professionals’ recommendations regarding dairy and plant-based dairy alternatives

Objective: To examine the relationship between health professionals9 personal dietary preferences and their professional nutrition advice on dairy and plant-based dairy alternatives. Design: Cross sectional web-based survey. Survey examined health professionals9 personal dietary preferences, including milk preference, (plant-based or dairy milk), dietary pattern (vegetarian or omnivore), and if they followed a "plant-based" diet, and examined if they would advise patients to consume dairy and/or plant-based dairy alternatives. Logistic regression models examined if health professionals9 personal dietary preferences were associated with their willingness to recommend either product. Setting: Sample of U.S. health professionals. Participants: Non-probability convenience sampling recruited registered dietitian nutritionists, physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, dentists, dental hygienists, and students in any of these degree programs holding Junior standing and above. 331 respondents completed relevant survey questions and were included in analyses. Results: Most respondents would recommend dairy (81%) and dairy alternatives (72%) to their patients. Half (49%) reported a preference for plant-based milk, about 40% identified as having a dietary pattern that reduces animal product intake, and about 40% reported following a plant-based dietary pattern. Plant-based milk preference (OR 4.52; 95% CI 2.31 to 8.82, p<0.001) and following a vegetarian dietary pattern (OR 1.91; 95% CI 1.11 to 3.27, p=0.019) were associated with greater odds of recommending dairy alternatives to a patient. Plant-based milk preference (OR 0.16; 95% CI 0.07 to 0.35, p<0.001), following a vegetarian dietary pattern (OR 0.45; 95% CI 0.25 to 0.82, p=0.009), and following a plant-based dietary pattern (OR 0.41; 95% CI 0.22 to 0.76, p=0.005) were associated with lessor odds of recommending dairy to a patient. Dietetics professionals were more likely than all other health professionals to recommend both dairy and dairy alternatives to patients. Conclusions: Healthcare professionals9 nutrition recommendations appear to reflect their personal nutrition habits, despite dairy being an important source of essential nutrients for patients who are willing and able to consume it. Improved nutrition training focusing on evidence-based nutrition recommendations, reducing personal bias in practice, and routinely including registered dietitians on interprofessional healthcare teams may improve the quality of nutrition advice given to U.S. consumers.
Reynolds Stress Closure in Hybrid RANS-LES Methods

The feasibility of using the elliptic blending Reynolds stress model (EB-RSM) in hybrid RANS-LES methods is investigated in this paper. The advantage of the EB-RSM is that it does not use any geometrical wall distance or wall normal vector information which makes it well suited for application in flows with complex wall geometries. A slight modification to the original EB-RSM is proposed to improve the performance for flows with separation. The model is also extended to a sub-grid scale model for fully resolved LES and several possibilities for use as a hybrid RANS-LES model are presented. The RANS EB-RSM model performed overall well in plane channel flows, the periodic hill flow and the flow over a NACA 4412 airfoil with trailing edge separation. In LES, the EB-RSM model provided very good results in a plane channel flow at low Reynolds number. When used as a zonal hybrid RANS-LES model, the EB-RSM displayed a significant log-layer mismatch although the relevance of the modeled and resolved stresses switched right at the prescribed interface.
Health Behavior Research and Social Work

The distinctiveness of social work in health care settings is that people served are clients rather than patients; that the focus of work is on the social effects of illness, not illness; that problem formulation and intervention rests on clear understanding of social cause, social manifestation, and social intervention as group phenomena. (Falck, 1984, p. 167)
Mode of action of hypoglycemic agents. IV. Control of the hypoglycemic activity of phenethylbiguanide in rats and guinea-pigs.

Abstract Phenethylbiguanide (PEBG) is a more active hypoglycemic agent in guinea-pigs than in rats. The rat metabolizes the compound to the hypoglycemically inactive p-hydroxyphenethylbiguanide derivative to a greater extent than the guinea-pig. To determine if para-hydroxylation is the controlling factor in the differential response of rats and guinea-pigs to phenethylbiguanide, guinea-pigs were treated with 3,4-benzpyrene to induce microsomal hydroxylation. Phenethylbiguanide lowered blood glucose to 73 per cent of control in these guinea-pigs as compared to 45 per cent of control in those receiving only phenethylbiguanide. Rats given phenethylbiguanide and 2,4-dichloro-6-phenylphenoxy-ethyl-diethylamine HBr (Lilly (18947) to inhibit microsomal hydroxylation had blood glucose levels 65 per cent of control compared to 90 per cent of control for those receiving only phenethylbiguanide. Isolated perfused rat livers produced glucose from lactate at only 46 per cent of the rate of controls when phenethylbiguanide and Lilly 18947 were added to the perfusate as compared to 95 per cent of control when only phenethylbiguanide was added. The presence of Lilly 18947 in the perfusate had no effect on glucose production. It inhibited the para-hydroxylation of phenethylbiguanide. In the perfused rat liver system, Lilly 18947 had no effect on the inhibition of the rate of glucose production from lactate by the non-metabolized hypoglycemic biguanide, 1,1-dimethylbiguanide. Also, the para-substituted compound, p-fluorophenethylbiguanide, was a more effective inhibitor of gluconeogenesis in the perfused system than phenethylbiguanide. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the hydroxylation of phenethylbiguanide is a major controlling factor in the differential response of rats and guinea-pigs to this drug.
The Scope of Social Work Practice

The scope of social work practice continues to increase as old and new bio-psycho-socio-economic and political needs require consideration. The growth of social work knowledge, skills, and technologies are driven by both internal and external demands that have dramatically expanded practice approaches, settings and roles of the profession. The purpose of this entry is to provide a descriptive overview of the scope of social work practice with consideration of the changing environment and historical foot prints that have helped lead the way. Keywords: post-modern social work practice; conceptual frameworks; purpose of practice methods; research in practice; fields of practice; future trends
Architecture of Sysperanto: A Model-Based Ontology of the IS Field

The challenge of defining the domain and core concepts of the IS field is a perennial topic at major IS conferences. This paper describes the architecture of Sysperanto, a model-based ontology of the IS field. Sysperanto is being developed as part of an ongoing effort to create methods that typical business professionals can use to analyze systems and system-related projects for themselves at whatever level of depth is appropriate. The name Sysperanto is meant as a metaphor combining generality (covering the IS field), vocabulary (identification of terms), and structure (internally consistent organization) to create an ontology more powerful and useful than a list of keywords or propositions. Sysperanto’s architecture provides an organizing framework for codifying the disparate and inconsistent propositions, methods, and findings that constitute the current state of IS knowledge and, in combination, form a major obstacle to knowledge accumulation and use in the IS field. Instead of yet another discussion of whether the IS field lacks a conceptual core and what might be the consequences of such a shortcoming, this paper proposes an architecture and preliminary details of a plausible set of core concepts for the IS field. It starts by summarizing Sysperanto’s goals and explaining why work system concepts, rather than information system concepts, are the core of Sysperanto. It presents Sysperanto as a terminological ontology and explains the underlying meta-model. The meta-model is designed to support tools for analyzing systems from a business viewpoint and to help in codifying and organizing knowledge in the IS field. It uses a conceptual map based on extensiveness and guidance in application to compare Sysperanto with other efforts to organize ideas in the IS field. It may be several years before a complete version of Sysperanto is tested through its use in a formal method for analyzing systems or through comparison with other attempts to codify knowledge in the IS field. Nonetheless, its architecture is well enough defined to be compared to the architecture (or lack of architecture) in previous and future approaches for understanding and organizing the basic concepts about information systems.
Fiscal Capacity: An Overview of Concepts and Measurement Issues and Their Applicability in the Russian Federation

Intergovernmental fiscal relations in the Russian Federation have evolved significantly since the onset of economic reforms in 1991. Since then, the Russian government has set out to replace the old Soviet system of expenditure norms and negotiated transfers with a more stable and transparent system of fiscal federalism that is compatible with a free market economy. Fundamental to the development of a system of intergovernmental transfers is an understanding of the concepts of fiscal capacity and fiscal effort. These concepts are presented in Section II. In Section III, this note will discuss a variety of ways in which fiscal capacity and effort can be measured; benefits and shortcomings of each of these measures will be discussed in detail. Section IV will provide a summary and make some concluding remarks. The next technical note on fiscal capacity will conduct an analysis of the measures available to the Government of the Russian Federation based on currently available data and techniques.
Osteoarticular Infections in Children

For a child with a suspected bone or joint infection, knowledge of the workup and initial therapy is important to provide quality care. Fever and pain are hallmarks of a pediatric osteoarticular infection, although occasionally the signs and symptoms can be more subtle. The use of C-reactive protein to diagnose and validate effective management of treatment has become standard. Multiple reports confirm the success of much shorter intravenous (IV) courses than traditionally taught. The ideal IV and oral antibiotic duration, as well as defining the markers indicating need for surgical intervention, are questions yet to be answered.
Youthful Arrest and Parental Support: Gendered Effects in Straining the Parent–Child Relationship

Much research confirms the importance of the quality of the parent–child relationship on youth involvement in delinquency. Yet, few have examined this in reverse order, that is, how an arrest for delinquency impacts the parent–child relationship. This article explores the effects of arrest on the child’s perceived level of parental support using youth survey data for the nation. Among non-arrested youth, parental support experiences a gradual decline during the early teen years, and a considerable rebound in the late teen years. Among arrested youth, support shows sharper drops and recoveries over the teen years. Controlling for a set of social, legal, and demographic items, we examine the effects of the number of arrests on parental support with multinomial logistic regression, noting several gender effects. First, we find that arrests predict lower levels of support for mothers, but not for fathers. An equally noteworthy finding is that boys report more parental support than girls do, regardless of pare...