cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cost Analysis of Following Up Incomplete Low‐Risk Fetal Anatomy Ultrasounds

Objectives To examine the clinical utility and cost of follow-up ultrasounds performed as a result of suboptimal views at the time of initial second-trimester ultrasound in a cohort of low-risk pregnant women. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of women at low risk for fetal structural anomalies who had second-trimester ultrasounds at 16 to less than 24 weeks of gestation from 2011 to 2013. We determined the probability of women having follow-up ultrasounds as a result of suboptimal views at the time of the initial second-trimester ultrasound, and calculated the probability of detecting an anomaly on follow-up ultrasound. These probabilities were used to estimate the national cost of our current ultrasound practice, and the cost to identify one fetal anomaly on follow-up ultrasound. Results During the study period, 1,752 women met inclusion criteria. Four fetuses (0.23% [95% CI 0.06–0.58]) were found to have anomalies at the initial ultrasound. Because of suboptimal views, 205 women (11.7%) returned for a follow-up ultrasound, and one (0.49% [95% CI 0.01–2.7]) anomaly was detected. Two women (0.11%) still had suboptimal views and returned for an additional follow-up ultrasound, with no anomalies detected. When the incidence of incomplete ultrasounds was applied to a similar low-risk national cohort, the annual cost of these follow-up scans was estimated at $85,457,160. In our cohort, the cost to detect an anomaly on follow-up ultrasound was approximately $55,000. Conclusions The clinical yield of performing follow-up ultrasounds because of suboptimal views on low-risk second-trimester ultrasounds is low. Since so few fetal abnormalities were identified on follow-up scans, this added cost and patient burden may not be warranted.
Introduction to Patient Safety and Quality

Healthcare is complicated. It is people working in a complex environment often with limited resources. The environment is complex as it involves the patient, the people, the technology, the policies—the system factors and the latent factors—the place the work occurs and the workload. This chapter will highlight some basic tools and examples of everyday scenarios that face a hospitalist.
A Seminar for School Psychology Students

This study describes a seminar created to prepare school psychology students to work with second language learners. Third year interns who are themselves bilingual attend a series of four sessions led by a practicing Spanish speaking school psychologist to discuss cases and best practices. At the end of the first year of implementation, students described the experience positively and were making plans to continue meeting throughout the following year. A focus group was held to determine what factors made this an effective educational approach for these graduate students in their school practices. The factors cited were an experienced leader who is fluent in two languages, a process oriented teaching approach, timing of the seminar during the full-time practice year for students so discussions can address real issues, and a structured schedule of sessions placed in an informal setting.
Connected political consumers: transforming personalized politics among youth into broader repertoires of action

ABSTRACTThis study explores political consumerism motivations in an effort to understand the complex ways in which this lifestyle practice fits into the broader participation repertoires of young citizens. We begin by outlining the psychological motivations for political consumerism, and theorize how they might orient political consumers toward (and away from) online expressive, political, and civic participation. In particular, we examine how the desire to gratify distinct psychological needs shapes navigation of the digital media environment in search of information and connection, and how this, in turn, shapes participation. Results of a national survey of young adults show that value-expressive, social-identification, and social-approval motivations for green living relate differently to participation, and that online community embeddedness mediates these relationships. The findings suggest that connecting to likeminded others via digitally-enabled communities can transform individual concerns into co...
Subepidermal Calcinosis in the Ocular Adnexa: A Systematic Review.

Purpose To review the clinical and histopathologic findings associated with subepidermal calcinosis of the eyelids. Methods A systematic review of the literature on subepidermal calcinosis of the eyelids was performed. Cases included were idiopathic in nature and met the histologic criteria for subepidermal calcinosis with calcium deposits in the dermis of the skin. Results Twenty-one publications presenting 53 cases of subepidermal calcinosis involving the eyelids were published between 1970 and 2016. Males were affected more than females (67% vs. 33%), and 89% of patients were 21 years of age or younger. A total of 63% were non-Caucasian. Most cases involved a single lesion (82%), and lesions were most frequently located on the upper eyelid (63%). In 81% of cases, the lesion was less than 5 mm in diameter. When reported, the treatment of choice was complete surgical excision. Conclusions Subepidermal calcinosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of idiopathic lesions on the eyelid, particularly in young males with no history of systemic disease or laboratory abnormalities. These nodules usually present as painless, small, firm, mobile solitary cutaneous lesions with a predilection for the upper eyelid. Diagnosis is confirmed by histopathology, and treatment is with surgical excision.
Historiography and Historical Thought: Current Trends

Basic assumptions that have guided Western historiographical thought and practice since the eighteenth century have been increasingly questioned in the last third of the twentieth century. The first of these assumptions held that an objective study of the past was possible and that this study revealed history as a coherent process culminating in the civilization of the modern West. Recent discussions have stressed the literary and imaginative aspects of historical writing that resist the reduction of historical study to a predominantly scientific or scholarly enterprise. Moreover, they have pointed at the function which professional historiography has served in buttressing existing power relations such as the imperialistic sway of the West over non-Western cultures and the domination of men over women. New historical approaches have stressed the multiplicities of histories, the need to replace macro-histories of social processes with micro-histories focusing on the life experiences of little people previously neglected, and the diversity of cultures. Much of this critique has been accepted by practicing historians but not the radical rejection by postmodernist thinkers who have questioned the very possibility of any distinction between fact and fiction and of rational criteria of historical knowledge.
Violent Subjects and Rhetorical Cartography in the Age of the Terror Wars, by Heather Ashley Hayes

All too often in rhetorical studies, the term “violence” is left undefined or enthymematic—kept in play within a broad range of phenomena including instances such as the threat or risk of physical ...
Effect of cell configuration on the compositional homogeneity of electrodeposited Cu-Zn-Sn alloys and phase purity of the resulting Cu2ZnSnS4 absorber layers

Abstract Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) absorber layers were synthesized by electrodeposition of Cu-Zn-Sn (CZT) alloys using horizontally or vertically oriented electrodes, followed by sulfurization. A significant improvement in compositional homogeneity was observed for the horizontal vs. vertical deposition configuration, most probably due to the absence of buoyancy-induced convection and the improved uniformity of the current distribution in the former. The morphology of the two CZT films is similar, but the films grown from the horizontal, facing down electrode, show some pinholes related to the adhesion of hydrogen bubbles. The horizontally grown and sulfurized CZTS films show also a better homogeneity and improved phase purity, as demonstrated by EDS mapping and imaging. The disorder due to anti-site defects in as-sulfurized CZTS films is decreased by gentle annealing, which also results in improved crystallinity. Liquid junctions were utilized to measure film photoactivity, showing that the horizontally grown films exhibit twice as much the photocurrent from the vertically grown ones; the dark current however was higher in the former, probably owed to the presence of pinholes that provide a short circuit between the electrolyte and substrate.
Несколько заметок о моральности всеобщей избирательной привилегии. Дополнительные материалы (The Few Notes on Universal Suffrage Morality. Supplementary Materials)

Russian Abstract: Дополнительные материалы к заметкам о моральности всеобщей избирательной привилегии содержат исторические примеры, данные и ссылки на источники по темам связанным с культурой зависимости избирателя и подкупа избирателя за счет бюджета, во имя раздувания последнего и получения новых полномочий бюрократами. English Abstract: Supplementary materials to the notes on the Universal Suffrage's morality contain cases, data and literature sources on the following issues. "Culture of dependency", bad incentives of dependent voters, bribery of the voters, funded from the governmental budget.
Block management in solid-state devices

Solid-state devices (SSDs) have the potential to replace traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) as the de facto storage medium. Unfortunately, there are several decades of spinning-media assumptions embedded in the software stack as an "unwritten contract" [20]. In this paper, we revisit these system-level assumptions in light of SSDs and find that several of them are invalidated by SSDs, breaking the unwritten contract and resulting in poor performance and lifetime. The underlying cause is the incorrect division of labor between file systems and storage. Block management must be removed from the file system and delegated to the SSD to prevent further accumulation of storage-specific assumptions. We find that object-based storage is an appropriate way to achieve this.
Krishna and Neha

I want to go with my sister and get admission at her normal school. However, the school officials told my parents that I cannot receive education in any normal schools as I am retarded. I do not know what retarded means?, but am sure it is a bad word to address people like me. My belief is that I will spend my entire life with my parents while attending a special school.
Others Share this Message, So We Can Trust It? An Examination of Bandwagon Cues on Organizational Trust in Risk

Abstract Consideration of social media use for issues of risk communication has received rapid attention in the scholarly literature. However, specific features of social media and their relevance for risk communication warrant continued investigation. The current study examines how system-generated cues available in social media impact perceptions of trust at the organizational level. After viewing one of three mock Twitter pages from an organization that varied the number of retweets concerning the risk of contaminated food in grocery stores, participants were asked to report their perceived trust in the organization. Data indicate a reverse bandwagon or snob effect, such that having too many retweets results in lower judgments of organizational trust. Results are discussed in addition to limitations and future directions for research.
Effects of blocking integrin β1 and N-cadherin cellular interactions on mechanical properties of vascular smooth muscle cells

Experimental measurements of cellular mechanical properties have shown large variability in whole-cell mechanical properties between cells from a single population. This heterogeneity has been observed in many cell populations and with several measurement techniques but the sources are not yet fully understood. Cell mechanical properties are directly related to the composition and organization of the cytoskeleton, which is physically coupled to neighboring cells through adherens junctions and to underlying matrix through focal adhesion complexes. This high level of heterogeneity may be attributed to varying cellular interactions throughout the sample. We tested the effect of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions on the mechanical properties of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in culture by using antibodies to block N-cadherin and integrin β1 interactions. VSMCs were cultured on substrates of varying stiffness with and without tension. Under each of these conditions, cellular mechanical properties were characterized by performing atomic force microscopy (AFM) and cellular structure was analyzed through immunofluorescence imaging. As expected, VSMC mechanical properties were greatly affected by the underlying culture substrate and applied tension. Interestingly, the cell-to-cell variation in mechanical properties within each sample decreased significantly in the antibody conditions. Thus, the cells grown with blocking antibodies were more homogeneous in their mechanical properties on both glass and soft substrates. This suggests that diversified adhesion binding between cells and the ECM is responsible for a significant amount of mechanical heterogeneity that is observed in 2D cell culture studies.
Perceived duration of auditory oddballs: test of a novel pitch-window hypothesis

Unexpected oddball stimuli embedded within a series of otherwise identical standard stimuli tend to be overestimated in duration. The present study tested a pitch-window explanation of the auditory oddball effect on perceived duration in two experiments. For both experiments, participants listened to isochronous sequences consisting of a series of 400 Hz fixed-duration standard tones with an embedded oddball tone that differed in pitch and judged whether the variable-duration oddball was shorter or longer than the standard. Participants were randomly assigned to either a wide or narrow pitch-window condition, in which an anchor oddball was presented with high likelihood at either a far pitch (850 Hz) or a near pitch (550 Hz), respectively. In both pitch-window conditions, probe oddballs were presented with low likelihood at pitches that were either within or outside the frequency range established by the standard and anchor tones. Identical 700 Hz probe oddballs were perceived to be shorter in duration in the wide pitch-window condition than in the narrow pitch-window condition (Experiments 1 and 2), even when matching the overall frequency range of oddballs across conditions (Experiment 2). Results support the proposed pitch-window hypothesis, but are inconsistent with both enhanced processing and predictive coding accounts of the oddball effect.
Static spatial growth restriction micropatterning of endothelial colony forming cells influences their morphology and gene expression.

Background Endothelialization of small diameter synthetic vascular grafts is a potential solution to the thrombosis and intimal hyperplasia that plague current devices. Endothelial colony forming cells, which are blood-derived and similar to mature endothelial cells, are a potential cell source. Anisotropic spatial growth restriction micropatterning has been previously shown to affect the morphology and function of mature endothelial cells in a manner similar to unidirectional fluid shear stress. To date, endothelial colony forming cells have not been successfully micropatterned. This study addresses the hypothesis that micropatterning of endothelial colony forming cells will induce morphological elongation, cytoskeletal alignment, and changes in immunogenic and thrombogenic-related gene expression. Methods Spatially growth restrictive test surfaces with 25 μm-wide lanes alternating between collagen-I and a blocking polymer were created using microfluidics. Case-matched endothelial colony forming cells and control mature carotid endothelial cells were statically cultured on either micropatterned or non-patterned surfaces. Cell elongation was quantified using shape index. Using confocal microscopy, cytoskeletal alignment was visualized and density and apoptotic rate were determined. Gene expression was measured using quantitative PCR to measure KLF-2, eNOS, VCAM-1, and vWF. Results Endothelial colony forming cells were successfully micropatterned for up to 50 hours. Micropatterned cells displayed elongation and actin alignment. Micropatterning increased the packing densities of both cell types, but did not affect apoptotic rate, which was lower in endothelial colony forming cells. KLF-2 gene expression was increased in micropatterned relative to non-patterned endothelial colony forming cells after 50 hours. No significant differences were seen in the other genes tested. Conclusions Endothelial colony forming cells can be durably micropatterned using spatial growth restriction. Micropatterning has a significant effect on the gross and subcellular morphologies of both cell types. Further study is required to fully understand the effect of micropatterning on endothelial colony forming cell gene expression.
Students Are Formed in Head, Heart and Hands: Examining the Role of Religious Education, Practicum Experiences and Self-Efficacy Beliefs.

The aim of this study was to explore preservice teachers’ religion self-efficacy beliefs and the relationship those beliefs have with regard to their internship experiences. In this paper, we examined participants who are education majors at a religious university. The measure selected for this study included a reflection journal. Qualitative methods were used to evaluate how internships impacted the participants’ perceptions of their abilities to teach religion. Results indicated that preservice teachers at religious universities should be given opportunities to teach pedagogical methods in religion.
Gamma Ray, Electron Beam, and X-ray Irradiation

Ionizing irradiation is a non-thermal processing technology that has been used to improve microbial safety and reduce food loss. This chapter reviews the fundamentals and current status of food irradiation technology. Topics covered include a comparison of three types of radiation technologies (gamma ray, electron beam and X-ray) in terms of advantages and disadvantages, dose unit and dosimetry, irradiation facilities, optimization to achieve desirable benefits, interaction of radiation with food components, mechanisms for microbial inactivation, factors affecting irradiation efficacy of inactivating human pathogens, impact on product quality, and labeling and consumer acceptance of irradiated foods.
The relative coding strength of object identity and nonidentity features in human occipito-temporal cortex and convolutional neural networks

ABSTRACT Any given visual object input is characterized by multiple visual features, such as identity, position and size. Despite the usefulness of identity and nonidentity features in vision and their joint coding throughout the primate ventral visual processing pathway, they have so far been studied relatively independently. Here we document the relative coding strength of object identity and nonidentity features in a brain region and how this may change across the human ventral visual pathway. We examined a total of four nonidentity features, including two Euclidean features (position and size) and two non-Euclidean features (image statistics and spatial frequency content of an image). Overall, identity representation increased and nonidentity feature representation decreased along the ventral visual pathway, with identity outweighed the non-Euclidean features, but not the Euclidean ones, in higher levels of visual processing. A similar analysis was performed in 14 convolutional neural networks (CNNs) pretrained to perform object categorization with varying architecture, depth, and with/without recurrent processing. While the relative coding strength of object identity and nonidentity features in lower CNN layers matched well with that in early human visual areas, the match between higher CNN layers and higher human visual regions were limited. Similar results were obtained regardless of whether a CNN was trained with real-world or stylized object images that emphasized shape representation. Together, by measuring the relative coding strength of object identity and nonidentity features, our approach provided a new tool to characterize feature coding in the human brain and the correspondence between the brain and CNNs. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This study documented the relative coding strength of object identity compared to four types of nonidentity features along the human ventral visual processing pathway and compared brain responses with those of 14 CNNs pretrained to perform object categorization. Overall, identity representation increased and nonidentity feature representation decreased along the ventral visual pathway, with the coding strength of the different nonidentity features differed at higher levels of visual processing. While feature coding in lower CNN layers matched well with that of early human visual areas, the match between higher CNN layers and higher human visual regions were limited. Our approach provided a new tool to characterize feature coding in the human brain and the correspondence between the brain and CNNs.
Implementing PBB: Conflicting Views of Success

A modern budget reform, performance-based budgeting (PBB) emphasizes the measurement of government performance by agencies and public servants. In this article we define PBB as requiring strategic planning regarding agency mission, goals and objectives, and a process that requests quantifiable data that provide meaningful information about program outcomes. Performance-based budgeting requirements are now pervasive in the states. Of forty-seven states with PBB requirements, thirty-one have legislated the process to be conducted, while sixteen have initiated the reform through budget guidelines or instructions. What remains unknown, yet of vital interest to state administrators, their staff, legislators, and citizens, regards implementation status of PBB systems. How many states are utilizing a PBB process as prescribed by law or administrative directive? And if PBB has been implemented, has it been successful regarding improvement of agency effectiveness and decision making about spending? Perhaps most importantly, has PBB influenced appropriation decisions?. This research is based on responses to a mail survey of executive and legislative budgeters regarding the PBB system established in their state. Results discussed in this article consider budgeters' response about PBB implementation status and effectiveness as conducted. We find that there are differing perceptions across the branches of government regarding both the extent of PBB implementation as well as its success. Results show that states with better-known PBB systems have not necessarily realized greater success in terms of effectiveness from this budget reform than states with less popularly known systems, at least as perceived by the budgeters included in this article.
Seeking a handle on climate change: Examining the comparative effectiveness of energy efficiency improvement and renewable energy production in the United States

Abstract This study examines the comparative effectiveness of two important proposed solutions to climate change—energy efficiency improvement and the development and use of renewable energy sources. We focus specifically on their impacts on carbon dioxide emissions by conducting fixed effects regression analysis of panel data pertaining to U.S. states. The analysis reveals a negative relationship between both remedies and carbon dioxide emissions. Although the effects of these potential solutions are statistically equivalent, renewable energy production has a slight edge. Reflecting upon these findings and the larger environmental problem, we caution against exclusive reliance on efficiency improvement and renewable energy to the neglect of other important actions, such as lifestyle modifications. A broad range of social changes, which incorporate the remedies investigated in this paper, are needed to limit long-term global temperature increases to the desired level.
School Leaders’ Use of Social-Emotional Learning to Disrupt Whiteness:

Purpose: This article examines how school leaders connect Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) with anti-racist practices. Current literature has yet to explain how leaders support race conscious approa...
Results and Conclusions

The resistance of dense suspensions to intruding objects has typically been associated with shear thickening, but in this thesis we have shown that dynamic jamming of the suspension is the cause. In this final chapter, we review and gather all of the evidence we have found to support this claim, as well as give an outlook for future questions and experiments.
Gales and the Constructive Dimension of Individual Sequences

A constructive version of Hausdorff dimension is developed and used to assign to every individual infinite binary sequence A a constructive dimension, which is a real number cdim(A) in the interval [0, 1]. Sequences that are random (in the sense of Martin-Lof) have constructive dimension 1, while sequences that are decidable, r.e., or co-r.e. have constructive dimension 0. It is shown that for every Δ20-computable real number α in [0; 1] there is a Δ20 sequence A such that cdim(A) = α. Every sequence's constructive dimension is shown to be bounded above and below by the limit supremum and limit infimum, respectively, of the average Kolmogorov complexity of the sequence's first n bits. Every sequence that is random relative to a computable sequence of rational biases that converge to a real number β in (0, 1) is shown to have constructive dimension H(β), the binary entropy of β. Constructive dimension is based on constructive gales, which are a natural generalization of the constructive martingales used in the theory of random sequences.
Fast Algorithms for Independent Domination and Efficient Domination in Trapezoid Graphs

The weighted independent domination problem in trapezoid graphs was solved in O(n2) time [1]; the weighted efficient domination problem in trapezoid graphs was solved in O(n log log n + m) time [8], where m denotes the number of edges in the complement of the trapezoid graph. In this paper, we show that the minimum weighted independent dominating set and the minimum weighted efficient dominating set in trapezoid graphs can both be found in O(n log n) time. Both of the algorithms require only O(n) space. Since m can be as large as Ω(n2), comparing to previous results, our algorithms clearly give more efficient solutions to the related problems.
The Generality Problem for Reliabilism

Etude des differentes solutions apportees au probleme de la generalite qui se pose au theories de la justification des croyances vraies fondees sur la fiabilite des processus. Examinant les types de processus relevant du sens commun (A. Goldman), de la science (W. Alston, R. Baergen) et des contextes, tels que les especes naturelles, le realisme psychologique, la specificite maximale et la causalite etroite, l'A. examine les reponses particulieres apportees par F. Schmitt et M. Heller a partir des contraintes et des contextes, d'une part, et conclut a l'impossibilite du faibilisme processuel, d'autre part
Paid Organ Donation and the Constitutionality of the National Organ Transplant Act

A person can buy a handgun for self-defense but cannot pay for an organ donation to save her life because of the National Organ Transplantation Act’s (NOTA) total ban on paying “valuable consideration” for an organ donation. This article analyzes whether the need for an organ transplant, and thus the paid organ donations that might make them possible, falls within the constitutional protection of the life and liberty clauses of the 5th and 14th amendments. If so, government would have to show more than a rational basis to uphold NOTA’s ban on paid donations.The article begins with an examination of Flynn v. Holder, a 2012 9th Circuit case, that found that NOTA ban paying for bone marrow donations by aspiration was constitutional under rational basis review, even though bone marrow was renewable tissue and donation involved comparable risks to the paid blood, sperm, and egg donations which are excluded from NOTA’s ban. It then argues that some form of heightened scrutiny should apply to laws banning paid bone marrow, kidney, and cadaveric donations as well as bans on paid kidney and cadaveric donations. It bases that argument on the resurgence of constitutional interest in self-defense seen in the Second Amendment handgun cases and in a substantive due process right to life and liberty. Together those developments form the basis of a constitutional right of medical self-defense (a negative right to use a safe and established medical treatment when reasonably necessary to protect a person’s life), despite the narrow test for recognition of new rights contained in Washington v. Glucksberg and Abigail Alliance v. Eschenbach. Applying heightened scrutiny to four situations involving paid organ donation, the article shows that banning paid donation may be rational based on speculation or conjecture about harm to donors, unsafe organs, crowding out of altruism, exploitation of the poor, or moral distaste at paying for body parts. But those concerns hardly satisfy the heightened scrutiny that interference with a person’s right to life should require. A highly regulated private system of paying donors should be found constitutional when government is unwilling to act.
Stability of large horizontal-axis axisymmetric wind turbines

The stability of large horizontal axis, axi-symmetric, power producing wind turbines was examined. The analytical model used included the dynamic coupling of the rotor, tower and power generating system. The aerodynamic loading was derived from blade element theory. Each rotor blade was permitted tow principal elastic bending degrees of freedom, one degree of freedom in torsion and controlled pitch as a rigid body. The rotor hub was mounted in a rigid nacelle which may yaw freely or in a controlled manner. The tower can bend in two principal directions and may twist. Also, the rotor speed can vary and may induce perturbation reactions within the power generating equipment. Stability was determined by the eigenvalues of a set of linearized constant coefficient differential equations. All results presented are based on a 3 bladed, 300 ft. diameter, 2.5 megawatt wind turbine. Some of the parameters varied were; wind speed, rotor speed structural stiffness and damping, the effective stiffness and damping of the power generating system and the principal bending directions of the rotor blades. Unstable or weakly stable behavior can be caused by aerodynamic forces due to motion of the rotor blades and tower in the plane of rotation or by mechanical coupling between the rotor system and the tower.
CHAPTER 46 – Organophosphate Pharmacokinetics

This chapter presents an overview of the pharmacokinetic principles that are of major importance in understanding the toxicology of organophosphate (OP) insecticides in animals and humans. Organophosphates constitute a large family of insecticides that are structurally related, pentavalent phosphorus acid esters. Their insecticidal as well as toxicological mode of action is primarily associated with their ability to target and inhibit the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The acute toxic effects of OP insecticides are associated with the capacity of the parent chemical or an active metabolite to inhibit AChE enzyme activity within nerve tissue. Numerous pharmacokinetic approaches have been applied to OP insecticides: application of pharmacokinetics to understand the overall disposition and clearance of OPs; development and application of pharmacokinetic models for quantitative biological monitoring to assess OP insecticide exposure in humans; and studies that facilitate extrapolation of dosimetry and biological response from animals to humans, and the assessment of human health risk. To illustrate the utility of pharmacokinetics in addressing the health concerns associated with OP insecticides, several examples of these types of pharmacokinetic studies with OP insecticides are used in the chapter to illustrate both their utility and their limitations.
Optimal-in-expectation redistribution mechanisms

Many important problems in multiagent systems involve the allocation of multiple resources to multiple agents. If agents are self-interested, they will lie about their valuations for the resources if they perceive this to be in their interest. The well-known VCG mechanism allocates the items efficiently, is incentive compatible (agents have no incentive to lie), and never runs a deficit. Nevertheless, the agents may have to make large payments to a party outside the system of agents, leading to decreased utility for the agents. Recent work has investigated the possibility of redistributing some of the payments back to the agents, without violating the other desirable properties of the VCG mechanism.We study multi-unit auctions with unit demand, for which previously a mechanism has been found that maximizes the worst-case redistribution percentage. In contrast, we assume that a prior distribution over the agents' valuations is available, and try to maximize the expected total redistribution. We analytically solve for a mechanism that is optimal among linear redistribution mechanisms. The optimal linear mechanism is asymptotically optimal. We also propose discretization redistribution mechanisms. We show how to automatically solve for the optimal discretization redistribution mechanism for a given discretization step size, and show that the resulting mechanisms converge to optimality as the step size goes to zero. We also present experimental results showing that for auctions with many bidders, the optimal linear redistribution mechanism redistributes almost everything, whereas for auctions with few bidders, we can solve for the optimal discretization redistribution mechanism with a very small step size.
HIV prevention and sex workers: an international lesson in empowerment

This article examines the impact and influence of advocacy on HIV prevention efforts among sex workers in India. A novel project initiated in Songachi a red-light district in Calcutta was instrumental in reducing the rate of new infections among sex workers and increasing the use of condoms to significant levels. The Songachi Project utilised methods and techniques that empowered this stigmatised exploited and disenfranchised segment of the population. The impact of this World Bank-aided project was far-reaching; a key benefit is that it can be duplicated in developing countries around the world. Social workers involved in harm reduction initiatives and HIV/AIDS prevention efforts with at-risk groups like sex workers can develop their own prevention programmes utilising this model as presented here. (authors)
Instructions, Illusory Self-Tilt and the Rod-and-Frame Test:

If an illusion of self-tilt is involved in rod-and-frame test performance, then instructions to adjust the rod to the body midline (egocentric instructions) should result in less rod adjustment error than the standard instructions for the rod-and-frame test to adjust the rod to the gravitational vertical. Two experiments were designed to examine this possibility. The results of the first experiment indicate that the tilted rod-and-frame display induces an illusion of self-tilt in the opposite direction. Significant differences between instructional conditions were found in the second experiment as expected. Other rod-and-frame studies are discussed in view of these findings.
Stimulatory effect of water stress on plant regeneration in aromatic Indica rice varieties.

Frequency of regeneration of fertile plants from cell suspensions was significantly increased using water stress treatments in two commercially cultivated Indian aromatic rice varieties, Basmati 385 and Pusa Basmati 1. The water stress treatments included the use of 1.0% (w/v) agarose instead of 0.5% (w/v) for medium solidification, inclusion of mannitol (0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 M) in regeneration medium, or 24 h partial desiccation of calli. When the agarose concentration of the regeneration medium was increased from 0.5% to 1.0% (w/v), the frequency of shoot formation in Pusa Basmati 1 from cell suspension-derived calli increased by over eightfold, to 86%. Mannitol, at 0.1 to 0.2 M concentration, stimulated the frequency of shoot regeneration in Pusa Basmati 1 by fivefold but had no effect in Basmati 385. Mannitol at 0.4 M concentration completely inhibited shoot regeneration but promoted embryogenesis. These calli regenerated shoots with greater frequencies when transferred to mannitol-free medium. Partial desiccation of rice calli resulted in an up to threefold increase in the shoot regeneration frequency. Best regeneration frequencies (54–98%) were obtained when 24 hdesiccated calli were grown on regeneration medium with 1.0% (w/v) agarose. A similar stimulatory effect of water stress on plant regeneration was observed in another Indica rice variety, IR43, and a Japonica rice variety, Taipei 309.
Can phenytoin lower plasma fibrinogen concentrations

A strong, independent and positive association between plasma fibrinogen concentrations and cardiovascular disease has been established. To determine if phenytoin lowers fibrinogen levels we measured plasma fibrinogen levels in a subset of participants enrolled in arandomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial. Participants received placebo or 100 mg, 200 mg, or 300 mg/day of phenytoin for 14 weeks. Fifty-six subjects had post-treatment and 20 had pre- and post-treatment fibrinogen measurements. The phenytoin-treated subjects with post-treatment measurements had a 0.24 g/l (8%) reduction in mean fibrinogen levels compared to placebo (p=0.3). Phenytoin may be capable of producing meaningful reductions in fibrinogen levels.
Reversible Melting in Polymer Crystals Detected by Temperature-Modulated Differential Scanning Calorimetry

A small amount of locally reversible melting and crystallization in poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) has been detected by temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC). Extended-time TMDSC was used in the quasi-isothermal mode. Studied were melt-crystallized, quenched, and a biaxially-oriented film of PET in temperature steps of 2 K from 320 to 560 K. The integral of the endothermic and exothermic latent heat contributions to the reversible melting and crystallization is less than 10% of the total heat of fusion and decreases further with time over many hours. The new observations support the concept that “molecular nucleation” is the reversible and rate-determining step in crystallization. On TMDSC, partially-melted chains remain on the surface of higher-melting crystals to permit crystallization during the cooling cycle without supercooling.
Putting the turing into manufacturing: recent developments in algorithmic automation

As global labor costs increase and product life cycles decrease, there is renewed interest in research in automated manufacturing systems that can be reliably and rapidly configured. Inspired by Turing's abstractions for computing, Algorithmic Automation explores mathematical abstractions and algorithms that allow the functionality of assembly lines and manufacturing automation systems to be designed independent of their underlying implementations. Abstractions based on minimal sets of geometric primitives can provide the foundation for formal specification, analysis, design, optimization, and verification. Algorithmic Automation is characterized by: (1) formal specification of sets of admissible inputs (eg, polyhedra) and operations (eg, parallel-jaw grasps), (2) complete algorithms that compute all solutions or terminate with a report that no solution exists, and (3) bounds on complexity as a function of input size. This extended abstract summarizes selected results and open problems.
Community respiratory virus infections in bone marrow transplant recipients: The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center experience

Abstract Community respiratory virus (CRV) infections are common among bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients during community outbreaks. At M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC), experience with CRV infection in this population over the past decade suggests that BMT recipients in the preengraftment phase are at special risk of progression of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) to pneumonia. After pneumonia is established, no currently available therapy substantially reduces mortality. For BMT recipients with respiratory syncytial virus URTIs, treatment with ribavirin and intravenous immunoglobulin may be helpful in preventing progression to pneumonia and thus in reducing mortality, but this approach requires confirmation in controlled clinical trials. Prevention of CRV infection in this vulnerable patient population is crucial to reducing morbidity and mortality. Aggressive infection control precautions, which have been in effect at MDACC since 1994, have reduced nosocomial transmission of these potentially lethal infections. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2001;7 Suppl:8S-10S.
1853: The End of Bimetallism in the United States

The circumstances resulting in the Coinage Act of February 21, 1853 support Harry Johnson's thesis that historically fiduciary money has been substituted “for commodity-money in response to the interaction of scarcity of the latter and ingenuity in devising the former.” The Act of 1853 replaced bimetallism in the U.S. with a Composite Legal Tender System composed of a subsidiary small silver coinage adjunct to a de facto gold standard. After 1853 bimetallism remained only as a legal fiction which was finally terminated twenty years later.
Environmental drivers and reproductive consequences of variation in the diet of a marine predator

article i nfo Ocean conditions can greatly impact lower trophic level prey assemblages in marine ecosystems, with effects of ocean state propagating to higher trophic levels. In many regions throughout their range, common murre (Uria aalge) exhibit narrow dietary breadth in feeding chicks and therefore are vulnerable to recruitment failures of dominant prey species during the breeding season. Contrastingly, common murres nesting in the northern California Current off Oregon, exhibit high species diversity and variability in dominant prey consumed. We studied the diets of common murres over 10 years between 1998 and 2011, a period in which the northern California Current experienced dramatic interannual variability in ocean conditions. Likewise, murre diets off Oregon varied considerably. Interannual variation in murre chick diets was influenced by environmental drivers occurring before and during the breeding season, and at both basin and local scales. While clupeids (likely Pacifi ch erring,Clupea pallasii) were an important diet component throughout the study period, in some years murre diets were dominat- ed by Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus) and in other years by osmerids (likely whitebait smelt, Allosmerus elongatus and surf smelt, Hypomesus pretiosus). Years in which the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and local sea surface temperatures were higher during summer also showed elevated levels of clupeids in murre diets, while years with higher North Pacific Gyre Oscillation index values and greater local winter ichthyoplankton biomass had fewer clupeids and more sand lance or smelts. Years with higher values of the Northern Oscillation Index during summer and an earlier spring transition showed higher proportion of smelts in the diets. Nesting phenology and reproductive success were negatively correlated with gradients in sand lance and clupeids, respectively, reflecting
Rapid growth responses of dark‐grown wheat seedlings to red‐light irradiation. II. Kinetic studies on the growth of different coleoptile zones

Continuous recordings of the effect of red light on the over-all and zonal growth responses were made on intact, dark-grown wheat (Triticum aestivum L., cv. Hatri) seedlings selected 70 or 90 h after sowing. The over-all growth response of intact coleoptiles induced by bilateral continuous red light (660 nm, 17 W m−2) was complex and resulted from the overlapping of different zonal growth responses. During a 5 h investigation period, these responses can be divided into two phases. The first phase (short-term response) was a transient growth inhibition. After a lag period of ca 15 min, the rate of extension decelerated to a minimum value at ca 60 min, after which an acceleration was seen. This response was qualitatively the same in all coleoptile zones investigated (tip, subapical zone, base) and independent of coleoptile age. The second phase (delayed response) became measurable between 1.8 and 3 h after onset of red light irradiation and exhibited zonal-specific growth promotion or inhibition, dependent on the coleoptile age. A persistent growth promotion was observed only in the tip region of coleoptiles selected 70 h after sowing and became detectable about 3 h after the onset of red light.
Thermal Decomposition of Europium Hydroxide

The thermal decomposition of europium hydroxide in an air atmosphere was investigated by means of weight-loss measurements, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and electron microscopy. These studies showed that EU(OH)° decomposed at temperatures between 225° and 300°C into EuOOH, which was stable up to about 425°C. Between 435° and 465°C this compound decomposed into cubic Eu2O3, which was stable until its inversion to the high-temperature monoclinic form. X-ray diffraction data were collected for Eu(OH)3 and EuOOH and showed that the trihydroxide has a hexagonal crystal structure and the oxyhydroxide is possibly orthorhombic. The Eu(OH)2, EuOOH, and cubic EunOa powders contained particles up to several microns in size consisting of agglomerates of crystallites in the size range 200 to 400 A. The single monoclinic Eu2O3 sample studied contained crystallites whose average size was greater than 2000 A.
United States–India Nuclear Relations Post-9/11: Neo-Liberal Discourses, Masculinities, and Orientalism in International Politics

In this article I explore how the post-9/11 neo-liberal climate of globalization has served as the context within which is articulated masculinist and orientalist forms of nuclear discourses between India and the United States (US). To this extent, I draw from feminist international relations (IR), that security is a gendered phenomenon, to explore the linkages between masculinities and nuclear weapons as underpinning the nuclear security discourses between India and the US. Yet considering issues of international hierarchy and power relations between India and the US, I also draw from Edward Said’s Orientalism to explore how assumptions of orientalism are also sustained in these masculinist nuclear discourses. My contribution lies in enriching feminist IR with a post-colonial angle by suggesting that feminist IR continue to engage with post-colonial feminist perspectives to comprehend the masculinist and orientalist forms of identity politics that underpin security relations/discourses between Western an...