cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Appropriate real-time PCR reference genes for fluoride treatment studies performed in vitro or in vivo

Abstract Objective Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) is routinely performed for experiments designed to identify the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of dental fluorosis. Expression of reference gene(s) is expected to remain unchanged in fluoride-treated cells or in rodents relative to the corresponding untreated controls. The aim of this study was to select optimal reference genes for fluoride experiments performed in vitro and in vivo . Design Five candidate genes were evaluated: B2m , Eef1a1 , Gapdh , Hprt and Tbp . For in vitro experiments, LS8 cells derived from mouse enamel organ were treated with 0, 1, 3 and/or 5 mM sodium fluoride (NaF) for 6 or 18 h followed by RNA isolation. For in vivo experiments, six-week old rats were treated with 0 or 100 ppm fluoride as NaF for six weeks at which time RNA was isolated from enamel organs. RNA from cells and enamel organs were reverse-transcribed and stability of gene expression for the candidate reference genes was evaluated by qPCR in treated versus non-treated samples. Results The most stably expressed genes in vitro according to geNorm were B2m and Tbp , and according to Normfinder were Hprt and Gapdh . The most stable genes in vivo were Eef1a1 and Gapdh . Expression of Ddit3 , a gene previously shown to be induced by fluoride, was demonstrated to be accurately calculated only when using an optimal reference gene. Conclusions This study identifies suitable reference genes for relative quantification of gene expression by qPCR after fluoride treatment both in cultured cells and in the rodent enamel organ.
Lodovico Settala’s Aristotelian Problemata Commentary and Late-Renaissance Hippocratic Medicine

Renaissance physicians, influenced by humanism and spurred by their increased knowledge of Hippocratic and Galenic writings, attempted to assimilate these medical works with Aristotelian thought. The similarities between the Aristotelian Problemata and the Hippocratic Airs, Waters, Places allowed Girolamo Cardano and Lodovico Settala, among others, to blur the distinctions between natural philosophical and medical authorities. Philological and historical considerations of these texts as well as judgments about authenticity were colored by the belief that these works were useful for humoral physiology and offered insights into the unity of ancient and modern knowledge.
Visions of Not-Earth: Space Arts

Dreams of space – of not-Earth – have inspired humanity over the ages. Dream-inspired humans made space travel a reality. Without our dreams, there would be no space programs anywhere. Artistic, religious, philosophical, and ethical perspectives are not frills or mere add-ons to space activities. They are absolutely essential parts of all aspects of all space endeavors. At the same time, without the science and technology that enables humans to loose the bonds of Earth, humans would still only be dreaming of space while never going to the Moon and beyond. But science and technology are themselves the products of human dreams and desires. Dreams, beliefs, science, and technology – along with natural and human resources harnessed by human will and labor – are all required to attain and maintain space activities.
The General Concepts of Gene Mapping: Linkage, Association, Linkage Disequilibrium and Marker Maps

In the absence of genetic data at the molecular level, the results of heritability, aggregation and/or segregation analysis provided the first hints about the presence of genetic effects and, consequently, the existence of a disease gene. Without information on the etiology of the disease or gene functionality, the next natural question is: ‘Where is the disease locus located in the genome?’ Although disease genes have now been located for most very rare Mendelian disorders, the search for the genomic location of disease genes for complex disorders has proven to be a difficult task.
Impact of regionalized care on concordance of plan and preventable adverse events on general medicine services

BACKGROUND Dispersion of inpatient care teams across different medical units impedes effective team communication, potentially leading to adverse events (AEs). OBJECTIVE To regionalize 3 inpatient general medical teams to nursing units and examine the association with communication and preventable AEs. DESIGN Pre-post cohort analysis. SETTING A 700-bed academic medical center. PATIENTS General medicine patients on any of the participating nursing units before and after implementation of regionalized care. INTERVENTION Regionalizing 3 general medical physician teams to 3 corresponding nursing units. MEASUREMENTS Concordance of patient care plan between nurse and intern, and adjusted odds of preventable AEs. RESULTS Of the 414 included nurse and intern paired surveys, there were no significant differences pre- versus postregionalization in total mean concordance scores (0.65 vs 0.67, P = 0.26), but there was significant improvement in agreement on expected discharge date (0.56 vs 0.68, P = 0.003), knowledge of the other provider's name (0.56 vs 0.86,P < 0.001), and daily care plan discussions (0.73 vs 0.88, P < 0.001). Of the 392 reviewed patient medical records, there was no significant difference in the adjusted odds of preventable AEs pre- versus postregionalization (adjusted odds ratio: 1.37, 95% confidence interval: 0.69, 2.69). CONCLUSIONS We found that regionalization of care teams improved recognition of care team members, discussion of daily care plan, and agreement on estimated discharge date, but did not significantly improve nurse and physician concordance of the care plan or reduce the odds of preventable AEs. Our findings suggest that regionalization alone may be insufficient to effectively promote communication and lead to patient safety improvements. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2016. © 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine
Empirically Evaluating the Counter-Majoritarian Difficulty: Public Opinion, State Policy, and Judicial Decisions Before Roe v. Wade

A central question in the normative and positive evaluation of the judiciary is the extent to which courts are counter-majoritarian institutions. In this paper I examine the relationship between public opinion, state policy, and judicial review to conduct a quantitative evaluation of the "counter-majoritarian difficulty," by examining the role of courts in adjudicating constitutional challenges to state abortion statutes in the period before the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. Using new measures of judicial review and state-level opinion on abortion reform, I find considerable heterogeneity in the relationship between opinion and policy -- in many states where sizable majorities favored reform, the status quo remained in place. I then find a strong correlation between public opinion and the likelihood of judicial invalidation of state abortion statutes. Judicial decisions striking down state statutes tended to occur in states where support for reforming policy was high, and courts did not strike down statutes in states where majority opinion was firmly in favor of the status quo. These results contribute to a growing body of evidence that suggests that the traditional view of judicial review as being fundamentally counter-majoritarian does not adequately capture the political realities in which courts operate.
Deflecting the CNN effect: public opinion polling and Livingstonian outcomes

Can the analysis and dissemination of public opinion polling be organized in such a way as to shift public debate and help reframe an issue that has been strongly influenced by CNN-like mediated ac...
Lithium Peroxide Surfaces Are Metallic, While Lithium Oxide Surfaces Are Not

The thermodynamic stability and electronic structure of 40 surfaces of lithium peroxide (Li2O2) and lithium oxide (Li2O) were characterized using first-principles calculations. As these compounds constitute potential discharge products in Li–oxygen batteries, their surface properties are expected to play a key role in understanding electrochemical behavior in these systems. Stable surfaces were identified by comparing 23 distinct Li2O2 surfaces and 17 unique Li2O surfaces; crystallite areal fractions were determined through application of the Wulff construction. Accounting for the oxygen overbinding error in density functional theory results in the identification of several new Li2O2 oxygen-rich {0001} and {1100} terminations that are more stable than those previously reported. Although oxygen-rich facets predominate in Li2O2, in Li2O stoichiometric surfaces are preferred, consistent with prior studies. Surprisingly, surface-state analyses reveal that the stable surfaces of Li2O2 are half-metallic, despi...
Is there a need for new antiarrhythmic drugs

Currently available antiarrhythmic drugs were developed at a time when the basic mechanisms underlying most arrhythmias were conjectural at best. Indeed, the molecular targets upon which drugs act to prevent (or to exacerbate) arrhythmias are only now being defined. Thus, recent advances in the treatment of patients with arrhythmias have emphasized non-pharmacologic approaches, which use new information on the pathophysiology of specific arrhythmias to deliver targeted therapies. For some arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation, it seems likely that drug therapy will remain an important part of treatment. With increasing cellular and molecular understanding of the determinants of normal and abnormal cardiac electrogenesis, it should be possible to develop effective and safer drugs for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias.
A simulation platform for energy-efficient dynamic commuter transit using electric vehicles

This paper presents a simulation platform for energy-efficient dynamic commuter transit using a fleet of electric vehicles (EVs). A mathematical model of the extended pickup and delivery problems is implemented to determine optimal routing and charging choices for all participating EVs in an urban network. The overall objective is to explore the optimal routes for a fleet of EVs while considering the requirements of all passengers and local/global constraints (e.g. battery state-of-charge and charging station availability). The simulation platform allows the commuter transit service provider to predict and evaluate every EV's performance (e.g., travel distance and travel time) under a variety of realistic scenarios. The proposed purpose-driven 1-click-solution helps to provide EV driver's assistance and improve the driving experience. Ultimately, the integrated solution or platform that can move the service provider's and driver's decision making process from being data-intensive to information-directed.
Tritium measurement using ionization chambers.

The detection and measurement of radiation by means of ionization chambers involves a very simple process. When radiation interacts with gaseous matter, ionization of the gas molecules occurs. If the ions or electrons so produced are collected on an insulated probe, the collected charge represents an electrical voltage or current. This voltage or current can then be measured by an electrometer, which is merely a sensitive voltage or current measuring device. If all the ions produced in a chamber of definite volume are collected on a probe, the current produced is directly proportional to the amount of radiation. In practice, it is easy to collect nearly all the ions produced by moderate to rather large amounts of radiation, so ion-chamber calibration curves are usually nearly straight lines [1, 2, 3].
Tissue Transglutaminase Enhances Fibrin-Dependent Angiogenesis and Extracellular Matrix Formation by Altering Gene Expression during Wound Healing.

Abstract Fibrin deposition triggers an injury response that involves the migration of inflammatory cells formation of new blood vessels and the synthesis of extracellular matrix (ECM). Tissue transglutaminase (TTG) is a calcium dependent enzyme that covalently crosslinks a wide variety of ECM proteins producing a protease resistant matrix. TTG is secreted by inflammatory and endothelial cells, involved in activating transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF beta-1) and expressed during wound healing response. In this study, we investigated how TTG modulated fibrin-dependent wound healing and the associated angiogenic response. We used an animal model consisting of fibrin Z-chambers (F-ZC, dual porous plexiglass chambers containing fibrin), implanted into the subcutaneous tissue of rats and harvested subsequently for quantitative assessment of granulation tissue formation (wound healing) and microvessel density (angiogenesis). We found that local administration of recombinant TTG into F-ZC resulted in a dose-dependent, 2-fold increase in granulation tissue thickness by day 6 of wound healing (p
Bradykininogen Synthesis by Liver

Kininogen disappears from peripheral blood after hepatectomy or intoxication with carbon tetrachloride (1), a point that suggests that kininogen is synthesized by the liver. In the present study we have tested this possibility by perfusing the isolated liver with Krebs-Henseleit solution containing 14C-arginine and 14C-proline. The radioactive protein formed by the isolated liver reacts with a specific kininogenase (2) to produce a radioactive peptide indistinguishable from bradykinin. We interpret our data to mean that kininogen is synthesized by the liver.
In Search of Engram Cells

One of the most fascinating aspects of an animal's brain is its ability to acquire new information from experience and retain this information over time as memory. The search for physical correlates of memory, the memory engram, has been a long-standing question in modern neurobiology. Recent advances in transgenics and optogenetic tools have enabled the identification, visualization, and manipulation of natural, sensory-evoked, engram ensembles unique to individual brain regions, and specific learning events. We suggest that these recent studies are paving the way not only to understand memory mechanisms in unprecedented detail but also to engineer the memory-mediated state of mind and behaviors.
Firearm suicide: pathways to risk and methods of prevention

Firearms are utilized in approximately half of all US suicides, making them a serious public health concern and a target of suicide prevention efforts. Practical capability influences the transition from suicidal ideation to action and is particularly relevant to firearm suicide. Firearm ownership, experience using firearms, unsafe firearm storage, and high cultural acceptability of firearms increase risk for death by firearm suicide. Means safety strategies, which emphasize the reduction of practical capability for suicide through the limitation of access to and safe storage of firearms, are effective in preventing suicide and include interventions such as lethal means counseling, firearm legislation, and promoting safe storage practices. Public health interventions aimed at reducing firearm suicide are critical topics for continued research.
Isolated aphasia in the emergency department: The likelihood of ischemia is low.

Abstract Objective Aphasia is a common presentation of ischemic stroke, often diagnosed in the acute setting using tools such as the NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Due to the vascular distribution of the middle cerebral artery, it is often accompanied by other symptoms such as weakness, sensory loss, or visual changes. Isolated aphasia due to ischemia is possible, but language problems mimicking aphasia syndromes can also be seen with other diagnoses such as metabolic abnormalities or dementia. In this study, we determine the incidence of aphasia-only strokes using the NIHSS, and factors associated with a higher likelihood of ischemia. Patients and methods Over a 2 year period, 788 patients presented to our Emergency Department with symptoms of acute stroke. Data were collected regarding patient demographics, medical history, presenting symptoms (based on NIHSS), work-up results, and final diagnosis. The incidence of aphasia-only stroke was calculated. Student’s t-tests and chi square analysis were used to determine factors associated with ischemia. Results Of 788 patients, 21 (3%) presented with isolated “aphasia”. None of the 21 had infarcts on neuroimaging. Three (14%) were diagnosed with possible transient ischemic attacks and the rest with stroke mimics. Toxic/metabolic disturbances were the most common mimics (39%). Prior history of stroke or transient ischemic attack was associated with ischemia over mimic (p = 0.023). Conclusions Strokes affecting language without motor or sensory deficits are uncommon. In the acute setting, isolated “aphasia” is most often due to a stroke mimic; however can occur rarely, particularly in those with prior history of ischemia.
Clinically advancing and promising polymer-based therapeutics.

Abstract In this review article, we will examine the history of polymers and their evolution from provisional World War II materials to medical therapeutics. To provide a comprehensive look at the current state of polymer-based therapeutics, we will classify technologies according to targeted areas of interest, including central nervous system-based and intraocular-, gastrointestinal-, cardiovascular-, dermal-, reproductive-, skeletal-, and neoplastic-based systems. Within each of these areas, we will consider several examples of novel, clinically available polymer-based therapeutics; in addition, this review will also include a discussion of developing therapies, ranging from the in vivo to clinical trial stage, for each targeted area of treatment. Finally, we will emphasize areas of patient care in need of more effective, accessible, and targeted treatment approaches where polymer-based therapeutics may offer potential solutions.
Childbirth, Childcare, and Working-Class Women

Expanding on the previous chapter, this chapter examines the efforts of voluntary groups, the Bombay Municipality, and Indian millowners to prevent infant mortality. These included campaigns to medicalize childbirth, establish creches, and organize informal education in mothercraft for working-class women. Voluntary groups and the Bombay Municipality collaborated to appoint “scientifically” trained midwives and health visitors in working-class areas and created maternity homes in mill localities to reduce the dominance of “untrained” traditional midwives. Despite inadequate funds, the creation of infant welfare centers and an employer-funded maternity hospital accelerated the attempts to medicalize childbirth and provide antenatal and post natal care for working-class women and their infants. Simultaneously, the Bombay Baby and Health Week Association regularly organized Baby Weeks in the mill districts to showcase “appropriate” methods of infant care. These informal educational programs highlighted the role of mothercraft in making healthy working-class babies and deemphasized structural factors such as poverty and the lack of sanitary infrastructure that endangered infant health.
Residency Training: The Review Committee for Neurology: Revisions to the Common Program Requirements.

As part of a scheduled review of the Common Program Requirements, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) recently implemented amendments to Section VI, “Resident Duty Hours in the Learning and Working Environment,” which went into effect on July 1, 2017.1 Prior to July 1, changes to Section VI of the Common Program Requirements were last implemented by the ACGME in 2011. The purpose of this review is to discuss the recent changes to Section VI of the ACGME Common Program Requirements.
Progress and Problems in Extending the STEP Standard

The International Standard STEP (ISO 10303) is intended to facilitate the exchange of data between CAD systems. The first (1994) release of the standard allows the transfer of geometric product models in terms of geometry and topology plus configuration data (version numbers, etc). Since most CAD systems now allow the creation of variational models with parametrization, constraints and features, it is necessary to extend STEP to take into account these newer capabilities. This task is being addressed by the STEP Parametrics Group, working within ISO TC184/SC4. Progress on this task is reviewed as the first of the new standard documents begins to take shape.
'Our Energy, Our Rights': National Extraction Legacies and Contested Energy Justice Futures in Bangladesh

Abstract Energy poverty remains an enduring challenge in Bangladesh, with 41 million people lacking electricity. Foreign states, corporations, and financial institutions have historically shaped the form and terms of the country’s energy system, which is predominantly fossil fuel based. Shifting geographies of energy extraction and processing continue to reflect this past and influence current national energy debates in Bangladesh. The Rampal coal-fired energy project, a joint initiative with India, exemplifies these tensions. Opposition to the Rampal plant, proposed in the ecologically sensitive Sundarbans region, and other controversial energy extraction and processing projects led some activists and impacted stakeholders to promote the idea of “our energy, our rights.” The articulation of an energy rights discourse asserts that Bangladesh should extract and control national energy resources in a manner that respects rights and provides the basis for analyzing the energy justice landscape in the nation and beyond. The rights discourse rejects the nation’s legacy of poor energy decisions, and the associated realities of energy poverty. Contributing to emerging ideas around the geographies of energy justice, this research paper explores the practical application by activists and stakeholders of rights discourses to contested energy projects in Bangladesh. It shows how distributional energy justice activism critiques the historical political economy of economic liberalization and energy exploitation in the country and centers the rights concerns of energy poverty while also considering climate change vulnerabilities.
Simulation of Microstructure Evolution on High-Performance Parallel Computer Architectures: Communication Scheduling Strategies for CDL-BIEM

Microstructure evolution in suspensions as a result of the movement of an assembly of rigid particles through a viscous fluid is solved by a boundary integral method in terms of a completed doubly layer potential. As discussed in BETECH90, the resulting CDL-BIEM leads to a Fredholm integral equations of the second kind, which after deflation of the outermost eigenvalues, reduces to a contraction mapping that can be solved by rapid iteration to the fixed-point solution. The resulting algorithm is well-suited for parallel computing since the computations are readily divided into parallel tasks of equal size. For very large problems to be tackled on emerging massively parallel architectures, O(N 2) communication scaleups must be avoided. We show how how asynchronous iteration strategies that incorporate physical concepts such as the multipole expansion and Debye screening naturally lead to decomposition strategies for projected memory hierarchies of scalable computer architectures.
Stripmap SAR Pulse Interleaved Scheduling

Stripmap SAR is a radar mode used to image terrain from an airborne platform; it does so by transmitting and receiving a series of electromagnetic pulses. Pulse interleaving attempts to execute two or more stripmap tasks simultaneously by transmitting pulses for additional tasks while waiting for the pulses from other tasks to return, where a task is simply an area on the ground to image. Other research has done this by dividing the front-end of the radar into separate sections and aiming the energy into different beams, each pointing in a different direction or devoted to a separate area to image. This research focuses on utilizing the same beam for pulse interleaved scheduling. This research identifies a method for creating a schedule using pulse interleaving when given a set of stripmap tasks. Scheduling is not done in real time, but is instead done before the schedule will be executed. Interleaving is performed on multiple tasks overlapping in execution time in the following way. The PRFs of the tasks are altered within their allowable limits so that they match. Then, the sent pulses and return envelopes, the times when the pulses might return based on the aircraft's distance to the target and its dimensions, are separated temporally by adding delays, where needed, to the tasks' transmitted pulses. Doing this removes the possibilities of transmitting a pulse for one task while receiving the pulse from another task, needing to transmit for multiple tasks at the same time, or receiving pulses from multiple tasks at the same time. This process allows multiple tasks to be scheduled to execute in the same block of time. To compare the results of the interleaved scheduler, several greedy algorithms in which no interleaving is permitted were also created. In every case, the interleaved scheduler significantly outperformed the greedy algorithms. Several situations were created to simulate different flight conditions as well as radars with varying duty factor limits and output power capability. The performance of the interleaved scheduler was consistent in all situations. This research demonstrates the benefits of pulse level interleaving when scheduling multiple stripmap SAR tasks in a short period of time.
Legal cynicism: Independent construct or downstream manifestation of antisocial constructs? New evidence.

Abstract Researchers have found that legal cynicism is a significant predictor of crime. Although legal cynicism developed as a form of anomie, it is also plausible that legal cynicism is itself a deviant rationalization to justify one's criminal behavior. As such, legal cynicism might be a derivative manifestation of other individual-level constructs that bear on criminal propensity. We test this possibility by controlling for temperament traits related to antisocial behavior and psychopathic personality features in a sample of residentially incarcerated youth (N = 253). Results from negative binomial models revealed that legal cynicism was significantly associated with self-reported delinquency (including violence), but not total arrests. The significant associations with general delinquency and violence held even when controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. However, the associations were rendered either non-significant or greatly attenuated when we included temperament and psychopathy measures in the models. Overall, findings are convergent with the notion that legal cynicism is a consequence or product of antisocial traits and criminal propensity.
Quantitative analysis of intrahepatic hepatitis B (HBV) DNA and cccDNA and their impact on survival posthepatectomy in HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.

e14583 Background: Little is known about the prognostic significance of total intrahepatic HBV DNA (ihHBV DNA) and cccDNA, a stable episome that accumulates in the nuclei and serves as the template...
Unredeemed Land: An Environmental History of Civil War and Emancipation in the Cotton South. By Erin Stewart Mauldin. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. 244. $35.00.)

While there is a growing number of environmental histories examining different periods of the nineteenth‐century American South, Erin Mauldin's Unredeemed Land is the first to bridge the antebellum...
Effects of daily treatment with acid suppressants for stress ulcer prophylaxis on risk of ventilator-associated events

Objective:To estimate the effects of continuous daily treatment with different acid suppressants on the risk of ventilator-associated events in critically ill patients.Design:Retrospective cohort study.Patients:Adult critically ill patients who underwent mechanical ventilation for ≥3 days during an inpatient admission between January 2006 and December 2014.Methods:We estimated the 30-day cumulative risk ratios (RRs) for ventilator-associated events comparing daily proton pump inhibitor (PPI) versus daily histamine-2-receptor antagonist (H2RA) strategies while controlling for time-fixed and time-varying confounding and accounting for competing events.Results:Of 6,133 patients, on ventilation day 3, 58.8% received H2RAs, 26.1% received PPIs, and 4.1% received sucralfate. Patients frequently changed treatment throughout follow-up. Among 4,595 patients receiving PPIs or H2RAs on day 3, we found no differences in risk estimates for ventilator mortality and extubation alive comparing daily PPI versus daily H2RA strategies: RR, mortality, 1.03 (95% CI, 0.89–1.22); extubation alive, 1.00 (95% CI, 0.96–1.03). We found similar results after accounting for PPI dose. For possible ventilator-associated pneumonia (PVAP) and infection-related ventilator-associated complication (IVAC), point estimates were larger, but the 95% CIs crossed 1.0: RR PVAP, 1.25 (95% CI, 0.80–1.94); IVAC, 0.89 (95% CI, 0.64–1.17). The magnitude of effect estimates depended on PPI dose. The RR for PVAP, high-dose PPI versus H2RA, was 1.53 (95% CI, 0.82–2.51), and for low-dose PPI versus H2RA, the RR was 0.97 (95% CI, 0.47–1.63). For IVAC, high-dose PPI versus H2RA, the RR was 1.01 (95% CI, 0.66–1.42), and for low-dose PPI versus H2RA, the RR was 0.78 (95% CI, 0.50–1.11).Conclusions:We estimated no effect of daily PPI versus daily H2RA on risk of mortality or extubation alive in critically ill patients. Further investigation with larger samples is warranted for PVAP and IVAC.
Partial replacement of dietary casein with soy protein isolate can reduce the severity of retinoid-induced hypertriglyceridemia.

Previous research carried out in an animal model of retinoid-induced hypertriglyceridemia – rats fet a 13-cis retinoic acid (13cRA)-containing diet having casein as the protein source – has demonstrated that the complete replacement of dietary casein with soy protein isolate (SPI) can decrease the severity of this condition. In this study, the effect of partially replacing dietary casein with SPI was investigated. Five groups of male Fischer 344 rats were used in a 14-day study, with two groups being fed diets having casein as the protein source, without or with 13cRA (groups A and B, respectively), and three groups being fed 13cRA-containing diets in which SPI was used to bring about the isonitrogenous replacement of 25, 50, or 100% of the casein in the formula for the diet used for group B (groups C-E, respectively). Serum triglyceride concentration for group B was significantly different ( p < 0.05) from that of groups A, D, and E (5.41 vs 2.62, 4.04, and 2.66 mmol/l, respectively). Serum cholesterol concentrations for groups D and E were significantly lower ( p < 0.05) than for groups A and B (1.63 and 1.60 vs 2.00 and 2.14 mmol/l, respectively). Thus, the isonitrogenous replacement of 50% of dietary casein with SPI can reduce the severity of retinoid-induced hypertriglyceridemia while decreasing the serum concentration of cholesterol.
The Future of Sexual Harassment Policies at U.S. Colleges: From Repeal of the 2011 DOE-OCR Guidelines to Launch of the #MeToo Movement on Social Media

On September 22, 2017, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“DOE-OCR”), under the leadership of U.S. President Donald Trump, repealed the previous administration’s sexual harassment prevention guidelines that had required colleges to appoint a Title IX compliance officer and prosecute sexual harassment claims under a “preponderance of the evidence” standard (the “2011 Guidelines”). Although some college administrators have praised the DOE-OCR’s efforts to overturn the 2011 Guidelines, others have described the Trump administration’s repeal as “a disgrace and a disservice to everyone who has worked to address sexual violence.” Opponents of the repeal, in particular, have pointed to U.S. President Donald Trump’s own history of alleged sexual harassment and the burgeoning #MeToo social media campaign as signs that American institutions, including its colleges, need to do far more to help eradicate sexual harassment. This article argues that, even though the DOE-OCR has repealed its 2011 sexual harassment guidelines, colleges–in light of the #MeToo movement–need to maintain the gravamen of their safeguards against sexual harassment. Part I of this Article introduces Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 and the subsequent DOE-OCR interpretive guidelines. Part II discusses recent efforts by society to expose the sustained prevalence of sexual harassment, including through the #MeToo movement. Part III discusses three prevailing criticisms of the DOE-OCR’s 2011 Title IX Guidelines. Finally, Part IV suggests best practices for how colleges should respond to the DOE-OCR’s repeal of its 2011 Guidelines, especially in light of the #MeToo movement.
Dynamically Collected Local Density using Low-Cost Lidar and its Application to Traffic Models

This article demonstrates the use of traffic density observations collected dynamically in the vicinity of probe vehicles. Fixed position sensors cannot capture the longitudinal evolution of local ...
Surprise Out-of-Network Bills for Hand and Upper Extremity Trauma Patients.

Purpose Patients may receive surprise out-of-network bills even when they present to in-network facilities. Surprise bills are common following emergency care. We sought to characterize and determine risk factors for surprise billing in hand and upper extremity trauma patients in the emergency department (ED). Methods We used IBM MarketScan data to evaluate hand and upper extremity trauma patients who received care in the ED from 2010 to 2017. Our primary outcome was the surprise billing incidence, defined as encounters in in-network EDs with out-of-network claims. We used descriptive and bivariate analyses to characterize surprise billing and used multivariable logistic regression to evaluate independent factors associated with surprise billing. Results Of 710,974 ED encounters, 97,667 (14%) involved surprise billing. The incidence decreased from 26% in 2010 to 11% in 2017. Mean coinsurance payments were higher for surprise billing encounters and had double the growth from 2010 to 2017 compared to those without surprise billing. Receiving care from different provider types—especially therapists, radiologists, and pathologists , as well as hand surgeons—was associated with significantly higher odds of surprise billing. Transfer to another facility was not significantly associated with surprise billing. Conclusions Although the incidence of surprise billing decreased, more than 10% of patients treated in an ED for hand trauma remain at risk. Coinsurance for surprise billing encounters increased by twice as much as encounters without surprise billing. Patients requiring services from therapists, radiologists, pathologists, and hand surgeons were at greater risk for surprise bills. The federal No Surprises Act, passed in 2020, targets surprise billing and may help address some of these issues. Clinical relevance Many hand and upper extremity patients requiring ED care receive surprise bills from various sources that result in higher out-of-pocket costs.
Methodology for Effluent Water Quality Prediction

A methodology for the prediction of effluent water quality from the disposal of dredged material in confined areas is presented. The computation method is based on the use of laboratory determination of contaminants in different particle size fractions together with the application of Hazen's theory of sedimentation for longitudinal basins. Hazen's equation is applied to each particle size fraction. The removal efficiency of each parameter can be obtained from the data of suspended solids removal and its concentration in that size fraction. The validity of this methodology has been verified in three active disposal sites.
Nanoengineering bioinformatics: nanotechnology paradigm and its applications

This paper examines engineering bioinformatics as a meaningful paradigm to complement modern nanotechnology. We consider bioinformatics as a coherent abstraction in devising, prototyping, design, optimization and analysis of complex nanosystems. Nano- and microscale biological systems exist in nature in enormous variety and sophistication. We are applying complex biological patterns in order to devise, analyze and examine distinct systems. One cannot blindly copy biosystems due to the fact that many complex phenomena and effects have not been comprehended, and system architectures and functionalities have not been fully examined. Typical examples include unsolved problems to comprehend the simplest Escherichia coli (E.coli) and Salmonella typhimurium bacteria that integrate three-dimensional biocircuitry, computing-processing-networking nanobioelectronics, nanobiomotors, nanabio-sensors, etc. Correspondingly, attention should be concentrated on devising novel paradigms in systematic synthesis through bioinformatics with the ultimate objective to fabricate these systems applying nanotechnology. This will allow one to derive new operating principles examining functionality of different subsystems, researching novel structures, studying advanced architectures (topologies) and characterizing distinct systems, subsystems, and devices reaching the nanoarchitectronics horizon. This paper examines complex patterns in biosystems because superior systems can be devised and designed through engineering bioinformatics. Our ultimate objective is to provide the focused study of engineering bioinformatics and systematic design. These are far-reaching frontiers of modern nanoscience and nanoengineering. The synergetic paradigm reported is demonstrated researching biosystems and coherently examining distinct nanostructures, complexes and subsystems.
Metamathematics Of Contexts

In this paper we investigate the simple logical properties of contexts. We describe both the syntax and semantics of a general propositional language of context, and we give a Hilbert style proof system for this language. A propositional logic of context extends classical propositional logic in two ways. Firstly, a new modality, ist(κ,p), is introduced. It is used to express that the sentence,p, holds in the context, κ. Secondly, each context has its own vocabulary, i.e. a set of propositional atoms which are defined or meaningful in that context. The main results of this paper are the soundness and completeness of this Hilbert style proof system. We also provide soundness and completeness results (i.e., correspondence theory) for various extensions of the general system. Finally, we prove that our logic is decidable, and give a brief comparison of our semantics to Kripke semantics.
Measurements of the upper critical field of K3C60 and Rb3C60 powders to 60 T.

The onset of the upper critical field ${\mathit{B}}_{\mathit{c}2}$(T) measured up to 60 T in powdered single-phase ${\mathrm{K}}_{3}$${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ and ${\mathrm{Rb}}_{3}$${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ yields ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}$=19.5 and 28.4 K, ${\mathit{B}}_{\mathit{c}2}$(4.2 K)=30 and 55 T, (${\mathit{dB}}_{\mathit{c}2}$/dT${)}_{\mathit{T}=\mathit{T}\mathit{c}}$=-2.80 and -3.85 T/K, and Ginzburg-Landau coherence lengths at 0 K of 31 and 24 \AA{}, respectively. ${\mathit{B}}_{\mathit{c}2}$(T) appears to be that of a ``conventional'' superconductor showing paramagnetic limiting. These measurements are compared with earlier data and qualitative and quantitative differences are discussed.
Performance Benefits From Providing Assistance in Networks: Relationships That Generate Learning:

Social network scholarship emphasizes that receiving resources from others in a network can benefit an individual’s job performance. Yet this paradigm rarely considers the effects on the provider of assistance. Outside the networks literature, scholars have been increasingly attentive to factors that affect motivations to provide help (i.e., prosocial motivation). However, the performance effects associated with providing help have been mixed. We concentrate specifically upon assistance that has the potential to enhance the providers’ learning and knowledge base and, hence, their performance. Using a bounded-network survey in a large consulting firm, we show that providing problem-solving assistance to many others on task-related matters increases the provider’s own work performance. We then consider how this learning may be affected by other relational and contextual factors. In so doing, we shift the predominant network perspective that people accrue performance advantages from receiving assistance to s...
Expression of oxidative stress-responsive genes and cytokine genes during caerulein-induced acute pancreatitis

Oxidative stress and the inflammatory response may play roles in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis. Herein, we characterized pancreatic expression of oxidative stress-responsive genes [c-fos, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), and metallothionein-I (MT-I)] and cytokine genes [interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)] during caerulein-induced acute pancreatitis in the mouse. c-fos, HO-1, and MT-I mRNAs were coordinately and rapidly (3-7 h) upregulated, and HO-1 and MT-I protein levels were increased slightly in the pancreas during acute pancreatitis. In addition, IL-1 beta, IL-6, and TNF-alpha mRNAs were rapidly (7 h) upregulated in the pancreas, and intrapancreatic IL-1 beta and IL-6 protein levels rapidly increased (3-fold and 6.4-fold, respectively) during acute pancreatitis. These studies suggest that oxidative stress and inflammation each occur in the pancreas during the early stages of acute pancreatitis. However, under a limited set of experimental conditions, we found that an insult that causes pancreatic oxidative stress (diethylmaleate) or one that induces an inflammatory response (bacterial lipopolysaccharide), or a combination of these agents, did not cause the changes characteristic of acute pancreatitis. Therefore, simply inducing oxidative stress and/or inflammation may be insufficient to initiate acute pancreatitis.
A new approach to understanding the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal

The purpose of this study is to examine a method of predicting and understanding torture during international conflicts by applying and linking two established theoretical approaches to the Abu Ghraib case. The first theoretical approach is based on the circumplex model of family functioning focusing on cohesion, flexibility, and communication (Olson, 1995, 2000; Olson and DeFrain, 1997). In this model, social groups at the extreme points on the flexibility and cohesion dimensions have the highest level of risk for violence. The second approach is based on violentisation theory (Athens, 2003). The four stages of the violentisation process include: brutalisation, defiance, violent dominant engagements, and virulency. Extreme virulency was added as another stage. Using qualitative content analysis, the data demonstrated that the perpetrators moved through the violentisation process as their social environment moved toward the chaotic and disengaged extremes of the circumplex model. Study limitations and suggestions for further research are also addressed.
On Notation and Definition of Terms Related to a Class of Complete Orthogonal Functions

This paper recommends a set of standards for notation and nomenclature that would assist prospective authors interested in submitting papers in the area of nonsinusoidal, complete, orthogonal sets of functions and their applications.
Complexation of Li+, Na+, and K+ by water and ammonia

Abstract The energetics of complexation and the resulting polarization of solvent molecules were investigated for complexation of lithium, sodium, and potassium cations with water and with ammonia molecules. The mono-, di-, and tri-complexes were investigated using a double-zeta, polarized, diffuse, and balanced basis at both the molecular and atomic levels, using subsystem quantum mechanics. The stabilization at the molecular level during complexation results from large gains in the attractive energies overcoming the increases in repulsion. The cation–solvent interactions are closed-shell and involve only small transfers of electronic charge to the cations. On the atomic level, the cations are stabilized by inter-atom attraction, whereas the heavy atoms of the solvent molecules are destabilized by a small withdrawal of charge to the cation. Additional solvation continues to stabilize the cations, but each additional solvent molecule is less stabilized because of competition among solvent molecules. The solvent molecules are dipole polarized by a transfer of electronic charge from the bonded hydrogen atoms towards the heavy atom, a polarization that decreases with each additional solvent molecule and with increasing cation size.
Near-field thermal transport in a nanotip under laser irradiation

We report on a systematic study of highly enhanced optical field and its induced thermal transport in nanotips under laser irradiation. The effects on electric field distribution caused by curvature radius, tip aspect ratio, and polarization angle of the incident laser are studied. Our Poynting vectors’ study clearly shows that when a laser interacts with a metal tip, it is bent around the tip and concentrated under the apex, where extremely high field enhancement appears. This phenomenon is more like a liquid flow being forced/squeezed to go through a narrow channel. As the tip‐substrate distance increases, the peak field enhancement decreases exponentially. A shift of field peak position away from the tip axis is observed. For the incident light, only its component along the tip axis direction has a contribution to the electric field enhancement under the tip apex. The optimum tip apex radius for field enhancement is about 9 nm when the half taper angle is 10 ◦ . For a tip with a fixed radius of 30 nm, field enhancement increases with the half taper angle when it is less than 25 ◦ . The thermal transport inside the nanoscale tungsten tips due to absorption of incident laser light is explored using the finite element method. A small fraction of light penetrates into the tip. As the polarization angle or apex radius increases, the peak apex temperature decreases. The peak apex temperature goes down as the half taper angle increases, even though the mean laser intensity inside the tip increases, revealing a very strong effect of the taper angle on thermal transport. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)
Normal sensitivity of Na+/K+-ATPase isolated from brain and kidney of spontaneously hypertensive rats to sodium, ouabain or mercury

Genetically hypertensive rats are excellent animal models for investigating putative Na+/K(+)-ATPase alterations associated with the disease. Highly purified Na+/K(+)-ATPase preparations from these animals have not yet been examined. Na+/K(+)-ATPases of two strains of spontaneously hypertensive rats, the Milan hypertensive strain (MHS) and the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) were characterized in comparison with enzymes isolated from their matched normotensive controls; the sensitivity to Na ions as well as the shape and span of the inhibition curves for ouabain and mercury of the isolated Na+/K(+)-ATPases were compared. No functional changes between the purified 'normotensive' and 'hypertensive' Na+/K(+)-ATPases from brain and kidney were detected ruling out drastic structural alterations of the transport system in these two organs of diseased animals.