cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Telecommuting and Earnings Trajectories Among American Women and Men 1989–2008

While flexibility in the location of work hours has shown positive organizational effects on productivity and retention, less is known about the earnings effects of telecommuting. We analyze weekly hours spent working from home using the 1989-2008 panels of the National Longitudinal Study of Youth. We describe the demographic and occupational characteristics of the employees engaged in telecommuting, then track their earnings growth with fixed-effects models, focusing on gender and parental status. Results show substantial variation in the earnings effects of telecommuting based on the point in the hours distribution worked from home. Working from home rather than the office produces equal earnings growth in the first 40 hours worked, but "taking work home" or overtime telecommuting yields significantly smaller increases than overtime worked on-site. Yet most observed telecommuting occurs precisely during this low-yield overtime portion of the hours distribution. Few gender or parental status differences emerged in these processes. These trends reflect potentially widespread negative consequences of the growing capacity of workers to perform their work from any location. Rather than enhancing true flexibility in when and where employees work, the capacity to work from home mostly extends the work day and encroaches into what was formerly home and family time.
Admixture effects in the traditional linkage analysis of admixed families.

INTRODUCTION Families of admixed ancestry are routinely excluded from traditional linkage analysis (LOD score) or are analyzed as deriving from a homogeneous population of the proband's ethnicity. Using traditional linkage analysis methods to analyze these families is complicated due to the admixture of different disease rates and allele frequencies that occurs. The presence of admixture violates the key assumptions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) and linkage equilibrium (LE) invoked in the current methods of linkage analysis. If one or both of these assumptions are violated, incorrect inference for linkage could result. DESIGN AND METHODS We propose a pooling procedure to correct for inflated estimates of the recombination fraction that can result from admixture when performing traditional linkage analysis. Data were simulated with 30 families per each of 200 replications for a dominant, highly selective, linked disease locus model in order to conduct further testing for allelic LE and HWE, while using an allele pooling procedure to account for allele frequency differences between the 2 populations. The differences in allele frequencies between the populations for the polymorphic loci were 0.05, 0.10 and 0.14. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Our pooling procedure does not eradicate all disequilibrium, because those replicates in which the disequilibrium exists are no longer affected by the disequilibrium in terms of maximization for linkage. Furthermore, our pooling procedure was able to exclude uninformative families or families far removed from HWE and/or LE that their LOD scores were unreliable.
Designing a robust single-molecule switch

In molecular electronics, researchers combine atomic control of molecular structure with high-precision nanofabrication techniques to connect individual molecules to tiny electrodes ( 1 ). The aim is to understand electrical transport, such as conductivity in individual molecules, and to uncover phenomena with practical utility in nanoelectronic devices. On page 1443 of this issue, Jia et al. ( 2 ) report robust, room-temperature optoelectronic switching of a single molecule connected to conducting carbon (graphene) contacts. In terms of the magnitude of the switching effect, its reversibility, and stability at room temperature, the results represent the state of the art for single-molecule electronics.
Studies on the interaction of ouabain and other cardio-active steroids with sodium-potassium-activated adenosine triphosphatase.

The combination of ouabain with (Na+ + K+)-ATPase is essentially irreversible at physiological temperature and pH. The rate of inhibition of the enzyme by different cardioactive steroids varies widely. The amount of steroid bound parallels the inhibition of enzyme activity. Mg2+, Na+, K+, nucleotides, and orthophosphate markedly influence the rate of interaction. In the presence of nucleotides, the rate is accelerated by Mg2+ and Na+ and retarded by K+. In the presence of orthophosphate, Mg2+ increases, K+ slows, and Na+ markedly decreases the rate of interaction. The ratio of ouabain binding to Na+-dependent phosphorylation is 0.50 for Electrophorus electric organ ATPase. In contrast to the native enzyme, the ouabain-treated enzyme rapidly incorporates orthophosphate. Cardioactive steroids appear to inhibit (Na+ + K+)-ATPase by reducing the difference between the conformational energies ot the phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated forms of the enzyme.
Catalytic Partial Oxidation

Publisher Summary This chapter deals with catalytic partial oxidation. Catalytic partial oxidation (CPOX) is an attractive option to produce H2 and CO from hydrocarbon fuels for fuel cell applications. It is suitable for compact or mobile fuel-processing systems integrated with solid oxide fuel cells due to similarity of operating conditions and the utilization of currently available infrastructure fuels. Following this, the study presents the reaction mechanisms and kinetics of CPOX, discussing two mechanisms for the CPOX of methane: direct and indirect. Under this, it analyzes several factors that impact the reaction. Higher hydrocarbons generally exhibit the indirect mechanism. It also provides a brief discussion of the reaction mechanism for oxygenates, analyzing several kinetic studies for methane. It also illustrates examples to demonstrate some of the approaches that have been taken and to highlight a few issues that must be considered when developing a mechanistic and kinetic model. Furthermore, it deals with hydrocarbons. In this regard, it discusses the CPOX of light hydrocarbons for many catalyst and support systems. It also examines base metal, and noble metal catalysts for hydrocarbon conversion and selectivity to H2 and CO (syngas). The effects of several support systems are analyzed, and the effect of different promoters is evaluated. The role of the support structure on enhancing catalytic performance is also investigated, and the bimetallic catalyst approach is considered. Finally, it shed light on some future development and applications for CPOX.
Die Anwendung des Subsidiaritätsprinzips in der öffentlichen Verwaltung

Obwohl in der europapolitischen Debatte inflationar benutzt, sind die Begriffe Subsidiaritat und Europa rechtlich schwer zu fassen. Aufgefullt mit subjektiven Erwartungen und Einschatzungen werden sie mit unterschiedlichsten Bedeutungen verwendet und tragen nicht zuletzt dazu bei, die Politik der Europaischen Union schwer verstandlich und nachvollziehbar zu machen.
Analyses of Chemical Bonds

The analysis of a system composed of two or more interacting subsystems is often pursued, in ab initio studies, by taking as hamiltonian the same hamiltonian used for atomic systems but with the inclusion of more than one nucleus; the nuclei are kept at fixed positions as is done in atomic computations (Born-Oppenheimer approximation). Thus, the system contains as particles, the m nuclei and n electrons; we briefly designate it as the m,n-system. For example, in considering the interaction of NH3 with HCl, a reaction path was obtained (53) by considering a number of different relative positions for the two subsystems, NH3 and HCl, and by repeating standard SCF-LCAO-MO computations at each position; however, nowhere in the hamiltonian is there an explicit reference to the decomposition of the two subsystems. In recent years this method has been called “supermolecule approach”, a rather unnecessary and inappropriate name, in our opinion, since the term “molecule” has a very precise definition that conflicts with the implications in the term “supermolecule”.
Customizing Functionality and Payload Delivery for Receptor-Engineered T Cells

Adoptive immunotherapy using receptor engineering to achieve specific tumor targeting by T cells holds much promise for advancing cancer therapy. Here, two studies by Boice et al. and Roybal et al. provide distinct and potentially complimentary approaches to improve the efficacy and curb potential toxicities of this approach.
Rentier Consumption and Neoliberal Capitalism

Abstract:This article puts forward a theoretical model and some empirical evidence arguing that a central contradiction of neoliberal capitalism arises from changes in financial structure and corporate governance that have simultaneously effected a massive redistribution of income from workers toward corporate profits and the incomes of C-level executives while diverting corporate managers from the forms of real investment spending that could potentially relieve the shortages of aggregate demand that are inevitably generated when real wage growth becomes uncoupled from productivity growth. As a result, the neoliberal model of capitalism relies on the consumption spending of a capitalist class responding rentier-style to wealth effects from a rising and historically high corporate valuation or q-ratio. This model of capitalism has proved to be unworkable at the zero lower bound on interest rates, which explains the emergence of secular stagnation.
The electricity bill charge risk analysis in power supply company based on a novel predicting method

Risk Analysis of electricity bill charge has been both challenging and important in the field of electricity power supply in China. In this paper, a novel electricity bill charge risk predicting method is proposed. The SMOTE (synthetic minority oversampling technique) algorithm is first used to under-sampling the majority class and over-sampling the minority class, and then it is combined with some state-of-the-art classification methods to predict the electricity charge risk based on an imbalanced data set obtained from a power supply enterprise. The results of the empirical analysis demonstrate that a combination of SMOTE algorithm with Random Forest method achieves better classification performance under several criterions. Furthermore, five important variables are listed for power supply enterprises to take corresponding measures to avoid charge risk.
Special Districts, Sovereignty, and the Structure of Local Police Services

Local public services are increasingly provided by special districts — independent, single-purpose governments — and not by cities, towns and counties. Policing, however, stands alone as completely resistant to this trend. Uniquely, policing is a local service essentially never provided by special districts. Using national data, this Article demonstrates for the first time the anomalous absence of special police districts. Three state case studies show that special police districts are missing even where they would be most expected or most useful and even though they are legally and practically possible. Special police districts could — and theoretically should — exist, but do not. Although scholars have put forward many theories of why special districts are formed, none adequately explains why they would not be used for policing. This is because policing is a special kind of service. Policing is an act of sovereignty, a use of the state’s monopoly on legitimate violence. Special districts are not used for policing because they are not sovereign. This new descriptive finding about the structure of local government also provides new answers to two central questions in local government law: what municipalities do and what constitutional status they hold. First, municipalities are traditionally understood to provide taxing and zoning powers, while special districts are thought able to produce all other public services. This Article identifies policing as a third role reserved for general-purpose local governments. Second, formal doctrine treats all local governments, special district or general-purpose, as mere creations of the state, equally lacking in legal autonomy. But this Article demonstrates that traditional local governments are, in practice, more sovereign than special districts: only they provide policing.
Self-Report Study of Predictors of Physician Wellness, Burnout, and Quality of Patient Care.

Objective The goal of this self-report study was to examine the relation of work variables, self-rated health and mental health status, and perceived social support to physician wellness, physician burnout, and quality of patient care. Methods We administered a demographics questionnaire, the Physician Wellness Inventory, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Patient Care Scale to a random sample of full physician members of the American Academy of Family Physicians. We performed regression analyses on self-reported health status, work variables, and social support data as predictor variables and the subscales from the Physician Wellness Inventory, Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Patient Care Scale as the outcome variables. Results The response rate was 22%. Self-reported mental health status significantly predicted all of the wellness scales, the burnout scales, and the quality of patient care. The ability to manage the workload was the second strongest predictor of multiple scales. Conclusions More work should be done to explore the factors related to physicians' self-ratings of mental health status and what that means to them. Also, it is important to study whether self-rated mental health status is related to objective patient care quality measures.
High-resolution nondestructive testing of multilayer dielectric materials using wideband microwave synthetic aperture radar imaging

Fiber Reinforced Polymer or Plastic (FRP) composites have been rapidly increasing in the aerospace, automotive and marine industry, and civil engineering, because these composites show superior characteristics such as outstanding strength and stiffness, low weight, as well as anti-corrosion and easy production. Generally, the advancement of materials calls for correspondingly advanced methods and technologies for inspection and failure detection during production or maintenance, especially in the area of nondestructive testing (NDT). Among numerous inspection techniques, microwave sensing methods can be effectively used for NDT of FRP composites. FRP composite materials can be produced using various structures and materials, and various defects or flaws occur due to environmental conditions encountered during operation. However, reliable, low-cost, and easy-to-operate NDT methods have not been developed and tested. FRP composites are usually produced as multilayered structures consisting of fiber plate, matrix and core. Therefore, typical defects appearing in FRP composites are disbondings, delaminations, object inclusions, and certain kinds of barely visible impact damages. In this paper, we propose a microwave NDT method, based on synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging algorithms, for stand-off imaging of internal delaminations. When a microwave signal is incident on a multilayer dielectric material, the reflected signal provides a good response to interfaces and transverse cracks. An electromagnetic wave model is introduced to delineate interface widths or defect depths from the reflected waves. For the purpose of numerical analysis and simulation, multilayered composite samples with various artificial defects are assumed, and their SAR images are obtained and analyzed using a variety of high-resolution wideband waveforms.
Education Level, Occupational Classification, and Perceptions of Differences for Blacks in the United States

A random sample of 1,276 U.S. adults were surveyed about their perceptions of differences for Blacks in the United States based on discrimination, ability to learn, opportunities for education, and willpower. Those with little education and extensive education were more aware of discrimination for Blacks. Higher levels of education as well as professional and managerial work increased awareness that Blacks have the same ability to learn as Whites and that Blacks lack equitable opportunities for an education. Those with less education and those employed in technical and manual labor were the most likely to say Blacks lacked willpower.
Neonatal infections: group B streptococcus

Introduction One in three women carry group B streptococci vaginally, which can infect the amniotic fluid even if the membranes are intact, or can infect the baby during delivery, causing sepsis, pneumonia, or meningitis. Very-low-birthweight infants are at much higher risk of infection or mortality, with up to 3% infected, and mortality rates of up to 30% even with immediate antibiotic treatment. Late-onset group B streptococcal infection begins after 7-9 days, and usually causes fever or meningitis, but is less often fatal compared with early infection.
Trends, predictors, and outcomes of cerebrovascular events related to percutaneous coronary intervention: a 16-year single-center experience

Objectives We sought to determine trends, predictors, in-hospital and long-term outcomes of cerebrovascular events (CVE) related to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) over a 16-year period. Background Despite a temporal increase in patient risk profile and procedural complexity, rates of PCI-related mortality and myocardial infarction have decreased. Temporal trends, characterization, and outcomes after PCI-related CVE in the contemporary era remain unknown. Methods We performed a retrospective study of 24,126 PCI hospitalizations in 19,165 unique patients, between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 2009, and compared those who suffered an in-hospital PCI-CVE with the remaining control population who did not. Results The incidence of CVE was 0.37% (n = 89), of which 22% were transient ischemic attacks. Temporal analysis showed no significant trend in incidence over 16 years (p = 0.47). Multiple clinical and angiographic predictors of PCI-CVE were identified. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed age, female sex, myocardial infarction within 7 days before PCI, and history of prior CVE as independent predictors of PCI-CVE, with a 19-fold increase in incidence in patients over 80 with a prior CVE history. In-hospital mortality was 19% after PCI-CVE versus 2% in controls (p Conclusions The incidence of PCI-related CVE has remained steady over a 16-year period, despite an increase in the baseline risk profile. Age and prior history of CVE were the strongest independent demographic predictors. PCI-CVE had a markedly adverse impact on early and late outcomes.
The Impact of LINE-1 Retro transposition on the Human Genome

Long interspersed element-1 (LINE-1 or L1) is an abundant retrotransposon that comprises approx 17% of human DNA. L1 retrotransposition events can lead to genome diversification and individual genetic variation by serving as insertional mutagens and by providing recombination substrates either during or long after their insertion. L1 retrotransposition also generates genomic variation by mobilizing DNA derived from its flanks, non-autonomous retrotransposons (e.g., Alu elements), and cellular mRNAs to new genomic locations. Together, these sequences comprise approx 15% of human genomic DNA. Thus, L1-mediated retrotransposition events are responsible for at least one-third of our genome. In this chapter, we discuss how innovative assays developed in recent years have increased our understanding of L1 biology and the impact of L1 on the human genome.
CHEMICALLY INDUCED DYNAMIC NUCLEAR POLARIZATION, A TOOL IN RADICAL CHEMISTRY

The radical pair theory of chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization is presented in terms of an effective field model. Qualitative and semiquantitative relationships useful to predict spectra are developed and their applications are demonstrated with examples from the authors laboratory.
Extraintestinal Manifestations and Concurrent Autoimmune Disorders in Pouch Patients

Abstract Restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) remains the treatment of choice for patients with medically refractory ulcerative colitis (UC) or UC with dysplasia. There are risks of complications following IPAA including chronic pouchitis. Chronic pouchitis is associated with extraintestinal manifestations and autoimmune disorders, suggesting overlap in the disease pathogenesis. Pouchitis encompasses a spectrum based on the response or lack of response to antibiotic therapy. There is also emerging evidence of autoimmunity in a subgroup of patients with pouchitis, including patients with concurrent primary sclerosing cholangitis, patients with high serum immunoglobulin G4, or infiltration of immunoglobulin G4-expressing plasma cells in the pouch mucosa. It appears that in a subgroup of patients with chronic antibiotic refractory pouchitis (CARP), there is association with autoimmune factors. It is unclear whether the antibodies play any role in the pathogenesis of CARP or result of an epiphenomenon. However, the presence of these antibodies is useful as biomarkers in identifying patients with immune-mediated pouchitis (IMP), who are thereby more likely to be resistant to standard antibiotic therapy and more likely to respond to immunosuppressive therapies. Further studies are needed to determine if IMP and “non-IMP” types of CARP are distinct clinical entities, and if they are associated with differing clinical outcomes and response to medical therapies.
Pharmacotherapy for onychomycosis: new and emerging treatments.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Onychomycosis is the most common nail disorder seen in clinical practice. It is not merely an aesthetic disorder and may cause significant disability and affect the quality of life. There are no strict guidelines for onychomycosis therapy. Therefore, medical management is individualized based on drug efficacy, taken together with clinical presentation, infecting organism, co-morbidities, concomitant medications, and patient preferences.Areas covered: This review provides a clinically oriented critical perspective on the pathophysiology of onychomycosis, infecting organisms, and prognostic factors, and how these play a role in choosing optimal pharmacotherapy. Clinical and pharmacological considerations are described in explaining the optimal medical management of onychomycosis.Expert opinion: Onychomycosis is a common nail disorder with significant burden; yet, there are only six Food and Drug Administration approved medical therapies for this indication. When therapy is applied to s...
Hepatitis B Virus as an Environmental Carcinogen

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most common and interesting human viruses. Investigation of HBV during the 1970s revealed unique antigenic, ultrastructural, molecular, and biological features which distinguished it from members of all of the recognized virus groups. One of the most notable features of this virus was its DNA structure. Virions contain small circular DNA molecules (1) that are partly single-stranded (2–4) and a DNA polymerase in the virion (5,6) can repair the DNA to make it fully double-stranded (2,3). Among the unique biological features are its liver tropism (7) and the common occurrence of persistent infection with viral antigen and infectious virus in high concentrations in the blood (8–11) continuously for years. This pattern of infection accounts for the transmission of HBV by percutaneous transfer of serum and serum-containing material. Several disease syndromes in addition to acute hepatitis may occur during acute and chronic HBV infection. Included are a serum sickness-like syndrome, membranous glomerulonephritis, and necrotizing vasculitis (polyarteritis), all probably related to viral antigen-antibody complex mediated tissue injury (12). In addition, persistent infection can be associated with a normal liver or with chronic hepatitis. The latter may be severe and progressive, and lead to cirrhosis and in some cases hepatocellular carcinoma (13). Its narrow host range (confined to man and a few higher primates) and failure so far to infect tissue culture cells have made it difficult to investigate some questions about HBV.
Percutaneous exclusion of post-transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) induced aortic pseudoaneurysm using an Amplatzer Vascular Plug 2 (AVP2).

Here we present a novel repair strategy of a rare aortic complication following transcatheter aortic valve repair (TAVR). A 73-year-old man with a history of mitral valve replacement secondary to endocarditis underwent a TAVR for severe aortic insufficiency at an outside hospital (Medtronic Evolut R
Tuning the catalytic properties of P22 nanoreactors through compositional control

Enzymes are biomacromolecular protein catalysts that are widely used in a plethora of industrial-scale applications due to their high selectivity, efficiency and ability to work under mild conditions. Many industrial processes require the immobilization of enzymes to enhance their performance and stability. Encapsulation of enzymes in protein cages provides an excellent immobilization platform to create nanoreactors with enhanced enzymatic stability and desired catalytic activities. Here we show that the catalytic activity of nanoreactors, derived from the bacteriophage P22 viral capsids, can be finely-tuned by controlling the packaging stoichiometry and packing density of encapsulated enzymes. The packaging stoichiometry of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (AdhD) was controlled by co-encapsulating it with wild-type scaffold protein (wtSP) at different stoichiometric ratios using an in vitro assembly approach and the packing density was controlled by selectively removing wtSP from the assembled nanoreactors. An inverse relationship was observed between the catalytic activity (kcat) of AdhD enzyme and the concentration of co-encapsulated wtSP. Selective removal of the wtSP resulted in the similar activity of AdhD in all nanoreactors despite the difference in the volume occupied by enzymes inside nanoreactors, indicating that the AdhD enzymes do not experience self-crowding even under high molarity of confinement (Mconf) conditions. The approach demonstrated here not only allowed us to tailor the activity of encapsulated AdhD catalysts but also the overall functional output of nanoreactors (enzyme-VLP complex). The approach also allowed us to differentiate the effects of crowding and confinement on the functional properties of enzymes encapsulated in an enclosed system, which could pave the way for designing more efficient nanoreactors.
Sampling density and date influence spatial representation of tree ring reconstructions

Abstract. Our understanding of the natural variability of hydroclimate before the instrumental period (ca. 1900 in the United States; US) is largely dependent on tree-ring-based reconstructions. Large-scale soil moisture reconstructions from a network of tree-ring chronologies have greatly improved our understanding of the spatial and temporal variability in hydroclimate conditions, particularly extremes of both drought and pluvial (wet) events. However, certain regions within these large-scale reconstructions in the US have a sparse network of tree-ring chronologies. Further, several chronologies were collected in the 1980s and 1990s, thus our understanding of the sensitivity of radial growth to soil moisture in the US is based on a period that experienced multiple extremely severe droughts and neglects the impacts of recent, rapid global change. In this study, we expanded the tree-ring network of the Ohio River Valley in the US, a region with sparse coverage. We used a total of 72 chronologies across 15 species to examine how increasing the density of the tree-ring network influences the representation of reconstructing the Palmer Meteorological Drought Index (PMDI). Further, we tested how the sampling date influenced the reconstruction models by creating reconstructions that ended in the year 1980 and compared them to reconstructions ending in 2010 from the same chronologies. We found that increasing the density of the tree-ring network resulted in reconstructed values that better matched the spatial variability of instrumentally recorded droughts and to a lesser extent, pluvials. By sampling tree in 2010 compared to 1980, the sensitivity of tree rings to PMDI decreased in the southern portion of our region where severe drought conditions have been absent over recent decades. We emphasize the need of building a high-density tree-ring network to better represent the spatial variability of past droughts and pluvials. Further, chronologies on the International Tree-Ring Data Bank need updating regularly to better understand how the sensitivity of tree rings to climate may vary through time.
Self-assembly of hypervalent iodine through primary and secondary bonding

The self-assembly of two hypervalent iodine compounds to trimers was studied using molecular orbital calculations. The driving force for the self-assembly is the formation of secondary bonding interactions between molecules and in the second case a rearrangement of primary and secondary bonding around iodine to place the least electronegative substitutent in the equatorial position for every iodine in the trimer.
DEPERSONALIZATION/DEREALIZATION DISORDER: JENNIFER’S RECOVERY STORY

Depersonalization/derealization disorder is not commonly known. A nursing student experienced depersonalization/derealization attack just as she was taking her pharmacology examination at the end of the first year of nursing school. She was brought up in a supportive family. She reports no history of abuse or substance use. She succeeded well in high school and have had no serious panic episodes throughout her childhood and teen years. Jennifer tells the story of how on April 24th, 2017 her life changed.
Epinephrine and glucose regulation of leptin synthesis and secretion in a teleost fish, the tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus).

Acute stress is regulated through the sympathetic adrenergic axis where catecholamines mobilize energy stores including carbohydrates as a principal element of the endocrine stress response. Leptin is a cytokine critical for regulating energy expenditure in vertebrates and is stimulated by various stressors in fish such as fasting, hyperosmotic challenge, and hypoxia. However, little is known about the regulatory interactions between leptin and the endocrine stress axis in fishes and other ectothermic vertebrates. We evaluated the actions of epinephrine and glucose in regulating leptin A (LepA) in vivo and in vitro in tilapia. Using hepatocyte incubations and a homologous LepA ELISA, we show that LepA synthesis and secretion decline as ambient glucose levels increase (10-25 mM). By contrast, bolus glucose administration in tilapia increases lepa mRNA levels 14-fold at 6 hours, suggesting systemic factors regulated by glucose may counteract the direct inhibitory effects of glucose on hepatic lepa mRNA observed in vitro. Epinephrine stimulated glucose and LepA secretion from hepatocytes in a dose-dependent fashion within 15 minutes but had little effect on lepa mRNA levels. An in vivo injection of epinephrine into tilapia stimulated a rapid rise in blood glucose which was followed by a 4-fold increase in hepatic lepa mRNA levels at 2.5 and 6 hours. Plasma LepA was also elevated by 6 hours relative to controls. Recombinant tilapia LepA administration in vivo did not have any significant effect on plasma epinephrine levels. The results of this study demonstrate LepA is negatively regulated by rises in extracellular glucose at the level of the hepatocyte but stimulated by hyperglycemia in vivo. Further, epinephrine increases LepA. This, along with previous work demonstrating a hyperglycemic and glycogenolytic effect of LepA in tilapia, suggests that epinephrine may stimulate leptin secretion to augment and fine tune glucose mobilization and homeostasis as part of the integrated, adaptive stress response.
PRADA: portable reusable accurate diagnostics with nanostar antennas for multiplexed biomarker screening

Precise monitoring of specific biomarkers in biological fluids with accurate biodiagnostic sensors is critical for early diagnosis of diseases and subsequent treatment planning. In this work, we demonstrated an innovative biodiagnostic sensor, PRADA: portable reusable accurate diagnostics with nanostar antennas, for multiplexed biomarker detection in small volumes enabled in a microfluidic platform. Here, PRADA simultaneously detected two biomarkers of myocardial infarction, cardiac troponin I, which is well accepted for cardiac disorders, and neuropeptide Y, which controls cardiac sympathetic drive. We envision low-cost PRADA will have tremendous translational impact and amenable to resource-limited settings for accurate treatment planning in patients.
Where language meets attention: How contingent interactions promote learning

Abstract Contingent interactions between caregivers and infants, in which caregivers respond promptly and meaningfully to infants’ behaviors, lay a foundation for language learning. Three pathways have been proposed for how contingent interactions promote the development of language skills: temporal, semantic, and pragmatic. Here, we argue that these pathways act through a reciprocal relation between infant attention and contingent interactions. We present evidence that attention facilitates contingent interactions to help infants understand communicative intent and, in turn, contingent interactions promote attention to allow infants to better learn from the language directed to them. This new framework suggests that contingent interactions operate through domain-general skills, thereby establishing a foundation for learning more broadly.
Allocation of National Institutes of Health Funding by Disease Category in 2008 and 2019.

Importance Prior research suggests an association between burden of disease and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. The allocation of NIH funding should reflect, to some extent, the health needs of the population, along with other factors. Objective To examine the factors associated with NIH funding in 2019 for 46 diseases. Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study used disability-adjusted life-years to measure the 2008 and 2019 US burden of disease and compared them with NIH categoric funding for 46 diseases. Exposures Disability-adjusted life-years to measure the 2008 and 2019 US burden of disease, 2016 health spending, and 2008 NIH funding levels for 46 diseases. Main Outcomes and Measures 2019 NIH funding levels for 46 diseases. Results The 46 diseases accounted for 62 392 713 of 94 399 784 disability-adjusted life-years (66.1%) in 2008 and 75 706 718 of 111 074 472 disability-adjusted life-years (68.2%) in 2019, representing more than 66% of all disability-adjusted life-years in both years. By dollar volume, Alzheimer and dementia increased the most, with approximately $1.8 billion more funding in 2019 than 2008 (from $530 million in 2008 to $2398 million in 2019, a 352% increase), whereas interpersonal violence had the greatest decrease, $95 million, in 2019 NIH funding (from $236 million in 2008 to $141 million in 2019, a 40% decrease). For the 46 diseases in this study, the variable with the greatest association with NIH funding in 2019 was the level of NIH funding in 2008, with a simple correlation of 0.88. Burden of disease and changes in burden of disease were not statistically significantly associated with NIH funding levels once the prior level of funding was included in the model. The models suggested that a 1% higher level of NIH funding in 2008 was associated with a 0.91% higher level of NIH funding in 2019. Conclusions and Relevance In this study, NIH spending for most diseases seemed to be based primarily on the level of NIH spending more than 10 years earlier, despite changes in burden of disease. Congress and the NIH should examine the allocation process to ensure NIH investments are responsive to changes in the health of the population.
Massive duodenal variceal hemorrhage in a patient with prior Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

Abstract Duodenal variceal bleeding is a rare form of variceal bleeding which may be fatal if left untreated. There are no specific guidelines available for their treatment. Medical management, surgical, endoscopic, and interventional radiological procedures have been utilized with varied outcomes. In this case summary we report the successful management of duodenal variceal bleeding in a patient with prior Roux-en-Y gastric bypass . The patient with history of cirrhosis presented with acute gastrointestinal bleeding. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy could not locate the source of bleeding. Computed tomography of the abdomen demonstrated a large duodenal variceal complex. Interventional radiology (IR) treated the patient with a combination of percutaneous transhepatic embolization and subsequent transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt . No recurrence of gastrointestinal bleeding was noted at follow up. This case demonstrates that percutaneous transhepatic embolization along with transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt may be effective treatment of duodenal variceal bleeding.
Biophysical questions: Relating Marxism to physical geography:

This intervention is to delineate an alternative to a largely capitalism-accommodating physical geography by discussing the relevance of Marxism. To illustrate this, I elaborate on major Marxist co...
Roman surgical and medical instruments from La Cañada Honda (Gandul)

This article presents a catalogue of a significant group of Roman medical/surgical instruments discovered in a necropolis of incineration burials at La Canada (Gandul, Sevilla) excavated by George E. Bonsor between 1908 and 1910 and now in the collections of the Hispanic Society of America. The variety of types of instruments indicares the existence of an adequate medical profession in the area during the second half of the first century and first half of the second century A.D.
Assessing Instructional Technology

In a relatively short time, educational technology has become a basic component of instructional life at almost every college or university around the world. Its effects on teaching and learning, however, have not yet been assessed satisfactorily. Throughout the 1998–1999 academic year, the Wellesley Technology Assessment Committee (or WTAC) researched the instructional use of technology at Wellesley College. The committee’s work told us that we wanted to know more, and to know differently, about how technology was affecting the nature of teaching and learning in our classrooms. We wanted to examine what was happening in human domains affected by the machine: inside human minds engaged in teaching and learning; in human social interaction; and in disciplinary knowledge, wherever and however such knowledge might be encoded. This paper details Phase I of a multi-year project. We believe that both the process we developed and the findings of this preliminary phase will interest those responsible for implementing technology plans on their campuses, and we urge other educational institutions to see our process as a model.
On the Density of PBH's in the Galactic Halo

Calculations of the rate of local Primordial Black Hole explosions often assume that the PBH's can be highly concentrated into galaxies, thereby weakening the Page-Hawking limit on the cosmological density of PBH's. But if the PBH's are concentrated by a factor exceeding $c/(H_\circ R_\circ) \approx 4 \times 10^5$, where $R_\circ = 8.5$ kpc is the scale of the Milky Way, then the steady emission from the PBH's in the halo will produce an anisotropic high latitude diffuse gamma ray intensity larger than the observed anisotropy. This provides a limit on the rate-density of evaporating PBH's of $\lesssim 0.4$~pc$^{-3}$yr$^{-1}$ which is more than 6 orders of magnitude lower than recent experimental limits. However, the weak observed anisotropic high latitude diffuse gamma ray intensity is consistent with the idea that the dark matter that closes the Universe is Planck mass remnants of evaporated black holes.
Crowding Out and Competition in the Religious Marketplace

We examine charitable spending by faith-based organizations on community services. We find that government spending on such activities has a depressing or "crowding out" effect as initially found in Hungerman (2005). However, we also find that competition from other faith-based organizations also plays an important role. Specifically, we find that beyond a threshold level, greater concentration in the religious marketplace leads to less church social spending per member. This is true with respect to both inter- and intra-denominational competition. Spending on charitable services appears to be a mechanism by which churches compete.
Superconducting tunneling into the A15 Nb/sub 3/Al thin films

Single-particle (Giaever) tunneling has been performed on A15 Nb/sub 3/Al thin films with good-quality junctions formed by oxidized amorphous-silicon barriers. The tunneling measurement is used as a diagnostic probe for assessing the material properties of Nb/sub 3/Al, including changes in the progressive film growth. The electron-phonon spectral function a/sup 2/F(w) and related physical parameters are generated by the proximity-effect inversion analysis of the tunneling density of states. We find that Nb/sub 3/Al is a strong-coupled superconductor with 2D/k/sub B/T/sub c/> or =4.4 only when the composition approaches the A15 phase boundary (24 at. % Al). A difference in the low-frequency behavior of a/sup 2/F(w), observed between two junctions of different coupling strength, strongly suggests the importance of a mode softening mechanism, and implies that the average 's are rather sensitive to composition, or perhaps disorder. The lattice of Nb/sub 3/Al being softer than Nb/sub 3/Sn and V/sub 3/Si contributes significantly to the large l and the high T/sub c/ of Nb/sub 3/Al.
Radio-X-Ray Connection for X-Ray Transients and Binaries

The discovery of the association between relativistic radio jets and X-ray events in GRS 1915+105 (Mirabel and Rodriguez, 1994) and GRO J1655-40 showed that strong radio flares (Harmon et al, 1994) in general, and jet ejection (Hjellming and Rupen, 1994) in particular, could be identified with features in hard X-ray events. This has caused us to re-think the interpretation of the radio events in X-ray transients, and has made multi-wavelength observations even more important. In this paper the focus is on the connection between X-ray and radio events as seen since 1994 in GRS 1915+105, GRO J1655-40, GRO J1719-24, GRO J1739-278, Cyg X-3, Cyg X-l, and Sco X-l.
Velocity and Attenuation Structure of the Tibetan Lithosphere Under the Hi-CLIMB Array From the Modeling of Pn Attributes

Using seismic data from regional earthquakes in Tibet recorded by the Hi-CLIMB experiment, Pn attributes are used to constrain the velocity gradient and attenuation structure of the Tibetan lithosphere under the Hi-CLIMB array. Numerical modeling is performed using the spectral-element method (SEM) for laterally varying upper-mantle velocity and attenuation, and the seismic attributes considered include the Pn travel-time, envelope amplitude, and pulse frequency. The results from the SEM modeling provide two alternative models for the upper-mantle beneath the Hi-CLIMB array in Tibet. The first model is derived from the 3D velocity model of Griffin et al. (Bull Seism Soc Am 101:1938–1947, 2011) with a constant upper-mantle velocity gradient, and laterally varying upper mantle attenuation. The second model has a laterally varying upper-mantle velocity gradient, and constant upper-mantle attenuation. In both cases, the Qiangtang terrane is distinguished from the Lhasa terrane by a change in Moho depth and upper-mantle velocities. The lower upper-mantle velocities, as well as higher Pn attenuation, suggest hotter temperatures beneath the Qiangtang terrane as compared to the Lhasa terrane. Although the fits to the Pn amplitude and pulse frequency data are comparable between the two models, the first model with the constant upper-mantle velocity gradient fits the travel times somewhat better in relation to the data errors.
Enhancing Parent Leadership Through Building Social and Intellectual Capital

Inequality of access to educational resources by different social classes has been widely documented, and schools have instituted parent programs to ameliorate this situation. However, lacking are theoretically based studies that explain how and why a program may be effective in bringing about change. The authors studied a 12-week parent leadership program for Hispanics that provided opportunities for interaction, knowledge exchange, leadership development, trust building, and collective action—important components of social and intellectual capital. Their research shows that when parents participate in leadership development, they are empowered to effect changes that benefit their children through individual and collective actions. Some parent graduates founded organizations that continue to affect the educational system. The authors argue that the concepts of social and intellectual capital can inform parent involvement research and practice because they explain a community’s capability to engage in new...
Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analyses of a Pebble Bed HTGR Loss of Cooling Event

The Very High Temperature Reactor Methods Development group at the Idaho National Laboratory identified the need for a defensible and systematic uncertainty and sensitivity approach in 2009. This paper summarizes the results of an uncertainty and sensitivity quantification investigation performed with the SUSA code, utilizing the International Atomic Energy Agency CRP 5 Pebble Bed Modular Reactor benchmark and the INL code suite PEBBED-THERMIX. Eight model input parameters were selected for inclusion in this study, and after the input parameters variations and probability density functions were specified, a total of 800 steady state and depressurized loss of forced cooling (DLOFC) transient PEBBED-THERMIX calculations were performed. The six data sets were statistically analyzed to determine the 5% and 95% DLOFC peak fuel temperature tolerance intervals with 95% confidence levels. It was found that the uncertainties in the decay heat and graphite thermal conductivities were the most significant contributors to the propagated DLOFC peak fuel temperature uncertainty. No significant differences were observed between the results of Simple Random Sampling (SRS) or Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) data sets, and use of uniform or normal input parameter distributions also did not lead to any significant differences between these data sets.
Masticatory movements of the jaw measured at angles of approach to the occlusal plane.

D I resent reconstruction methods stress the importance of border movements of the jaw. Tracing instruments such as pantographs are available to the clinician for recording border movements. In contrast, little rationale and few apparati exist for specifying the range of functional movements within the border paths. This is a report of an investigation of measurement of masticatory movements; namely, the angles of approach. Measurements of angles of approach to the occlusal plane were recorded at the incisal edges between the lower incisors. Sagittal closing angles in relation to frontal closing angles of approach are reported throughout a full range of function.