cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Gastric Enterovirus Infection: A Possible Causative Etiology of Gastroparesis

Gastroparesis (GP) is a disabling chronic gastroenterologic disorder with high morbidity that severely impacts patients’ quality of life. GP can present acutely after a viral-like gastrointestinal illness resulting in speculation that in some patients, neurologic damage caused by the infection might underlie the pathogenesis of idiopathic gastroparesis (IGP). The aim of this study is to document case reports of Enterovirus (EV) infection as a possible cause of IGP. Eleven patients referred with a diagnosis of GP underwent workup to exclude known causes of GP. Those with a history of flu-like symptoms or gastroenteritis prior to onset of GP symptoms had gastric biopsies taken during upper endoscopy to assess for the presence of gastric mucosal EV infection. Data on presenting symptoms, extra-intestinal symptoms and conditions, prior nutritional support requirements, upper endoscopy findings, and response to therapy were cataloged. Eleven patients were diagnosed as IGP. Nine had active EV infection on gastric biopsies and were included (7/9 female, mean age 43 years). Eight out of nine received EV treatment with antivirals and/or immune therapies, with a wide degree of variability in treatment regimens. Four out of eight who received EV treatment had symptomatic improvement. One patient had stable symptoms. Three patients are currently undergoing therapy. Gastric EV infection was frequently detected (82 %) in patients undergoing investigation for IGP. Antiviral and/or immune therapies against EV seem to be favorable, as most of our patients had resolution of their GP symptoms after treatment. This is the first study to identify EV as a possible infectious etiology of IGP.
‘Stability on the Borders’: The Ukraine Crisis and the EU's Constrained Policy Towards the Eastern Neighbourhood

The Ukraine crisis itself is, to some extent, the result of a flawed approach on the part of the EU to the strategic question of its relationships with its Eastern neighbours, an approach rendered more fraught by the parallel American enlargement of NATO. The EU has found itself constrained in its reaction to the Ukraine crisis by policies adopted over previous decades. In the first part, this article will situate the crisis in the historical context of the twin enlargements of the EU and NATO. Secondly, it will assess the consequences of the European neighbourhood policy in fostering the crisis. In the third part, this article will argue that, during the crisis itself, the EU acted in ways that were more constraining than enabling. Finally, the article will evaluate the EU's response in terms of the criteria laid out in the Introductory Framework to this Special Issue.
Selective Sulfation Roasting of Rare Earths from NdFeB Magnet Scrap

Rare earth magnets play an increasingly important role in high end technology, and the manufacture of rare earth magnets, such as the NdFeB type, consume a large amount of the rare earths produced. Recycling of this material could provide an important domestic source for these materials. A selective sulfation roast has been proposed; the central principle of which is to take advantage of the differing stabilities of the rare earth sulfates as compared to those of iron under an air/SO2 atmosphere. Experiments show iron is found to be stable as an oxide, however, neodymium is found to form an oxy-sulfate phase.
DACA on the Docket

The essay explains the important role DACA serves in the administration of the U.S. immigration system. Namely, DACA helps relieve some of the stress endured by the immigration courts caused by an enormous case backlog.
Psychocutaneous disease : Pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy

Building a strong therapeutic alliance with the patient is of utmost importance in the management of psychocutaneous disease. Optimal management of psychocutaneous disease includes both pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. This article reviews psychotropic medications currently used for psychocutaneous disease, including antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and anxiolytics, with a discussion of relevant dosing regimens and adverse effects. Pruritus management is addressed. In addition, basic and complex forms of psychotherapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and habit-reversal training, are described.
A Web3D forest geo-visualization and user interface evaluation

In this study, we developed a workflow for the construction of WebGL rendering and interactive visualization of forest landscapes from GIS and forest simulation datasets. We constructed a realistic virtual forest environment for our study site in Virginia. This Web3D virtual environment, built with X3DOM and HTML5, is capable of fast real-time rendering and walk-through simulation based on two Level of Details (LOD) switching techniques, and interactive over mainstream web browsers without a plugin. We explored the performance of a navigation aid and two types of LOD cut-off functions in the forest geo-visualization. We used a hunting game search task to test the effect of our user interface features. According to the paired t-test results, the navigation aid significantly increasing participants' performance, while the exponential cut-off and linear cut-off functions showed no significant difference from participants' perspective.
Community-level characteristics and environmental factors of child respiratory illnesses in Southern Arizona

Lower respiratory illnesses (LRIs) and asthma are common diseases in children 0.05). Our study revealed complex, multi-factorial associations between predictors and outcomes. Findings indicate that many rural areas with lower SES have distinct factors for childhood respiratory diseases that require further investigation. County-wide differences in maternal characteristics or agricultural land uses (not tested here) may also play a role in Pima County residence protecting against hospitalizations, when compared to Maricopa County. By better understanding this and other relationships, more focused public health interventions at the community level could be developed to reduce and better control these diseases in children <5 years, who are more physiologically vulnerable.
Binge-pattern cocaine administration causes long-lasting behavioral hyperarousal but does not enhance vulnerability to single prolonged stress in rats.

Abstract Cocaine use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) commonly co-occur. This could be due to vulnerability to post-traumatic symptoms conferred by previous exposure to cocaine. Therefore, we combined chronic binge-pattern cocaine with a model of psychological trauma (single prolonged stress) to determine whether the behavioral effects of psychological trauma are enhanced in cocaine-sensitized individuals. Adult male Sprague Dawley rats received 14 days of cocaine (15 mg/kg/injection) or saline in a binge pattern (3 injections per day, 1 h apart). Seven days after the last injection animals were exposed to traumatic stress or a control procedure. Seven days after stress, activity and anxiety-like behaviors were measured. Binge-pattern cocaine increased locomotor activity in the open field and elevated plus maze, and both cocaine and SPS exposure increased the rapidity with which rats moved through grooming sequences. Neither binge-pattern cocaine nor SPS increased anxiety-like behaviors, and no interactions were found between binge-pattern cocaine exposure and SPS exposure. A behavioral phenotype categorization approach demonstrated that cocaine-exposed groups expressed a high incidence of hyperactivity-like symptoms. These results suggest that binge-pattern cocaine exposure causes a long-lasting hyper-exploratory phenotype but does not make individuals more vulnerable to a later traumatic stress exposure.
Modulation of cellular response to antigens by uteroglobin and transglutaminase.

Inflammation and immunity are intimately related processes and in the vertebrate species most inflammatory responses have an immunological component (1). This concept also applies to transplantation biology where an acute or chronic rejection may be biologically very similar to an inflammatory response, although the basis of rejection of a graft is immunologically mediated. It is now well accepted that in vertebrate species isografts and autografts are usually endured, but allografts and xenografts (heterografts) are uniformly rejected. A few exceptional circumstances exist in nature where an allograft is normally accepted by the host, at least for a prolonged period of time. One of these unusual allograft tolerances in nature occurs routinely during mammalian pregnancy.
Monoclonal Antibodies of Mammalian Cytochrome Oxidase and its Protein Subunits

Balb/c mice were immunized with cytochrome oxidase holoenzyme and individual subunit-precipitated nitrocellulose paper strips, and their spleen cells were fused with myeloma cells. After selection of hybrids, the cultures were initially screened for whole oxidase and subunit antibody titers using microplate ELISA procedures. The positive clones were expanded and screened again. Identification and confirmation of subunit specific monoclonal antibodies were carried out with Western blot techniques. To date, we have been able to obtain about 25 different hybridoma cell lines that produce antibodies directed against the whole oxidase, subunits I through VII individually and also lines that react with more than one subunit (e.g., VIa, VIb, and VIIa,b,c on highly resolved gels). Many antibodies exhibit inhibition of electron transport activity of both solubilized oxidase and oxidase vesicles. However, some lines inhibit the soluble oxidase to a greater extent than that of vesicular oxidase while others show the opposite, indicating different epitope and/or subunit locations in the vesicular oxidase. In addition, some antibodies improve the respiratory control index of the vesicular oxidase, possibly due to a decrease of proton leaks and more tightly-coupled vesicles in the presence of the antibodies. By using these specific monoclonal antibodies together with other experimental results, a more complete picture on the structure and function of this complex membrane-bound enzyme and its protein subunits is emerging.
Affirmative Consent: What Do College Student Leaders Think about "Yes Means Yes" as the Standard for Sexual Behavior?.

ABSTRACTAffirmative consent (AC) is becoming the standard for sexual behavior between students. However, little is known about how college students interpret and practice AC. We conducted in-depth, semistructured interviews with a purposeful sample of 31 undergraduate students to understand students' perceptions of AC and how it was practiced in their sexual relationships.Despite knowledge about AC, many student leaders thought that it was an unrealistic expectation for students. This suggests that college sexual health education needs to clearly articulate actions that are consistent with AC and indicate how these can be incorporated into students' sexual behavior.
The Madagascan Maastrichtian bryozoans of Ferdinand Canu – Systematic revision and scanning electron microscopic study

Abstract In 1922, the first taxonomic work on Maastrichtian bryozoans from Madagascar was published in the Annales de Paleontologie by Ferdinand Canu. Canu described 25 species, 17 of which were regarded as new but the material has never been revised until now. Here we employ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to illustrate Canu's material and revise the taxonomy. Based on this revision, 23 species, comprising eight cyclostomes and 15 cheilostomes, are recognized. A new genus, Fehiborypora, is introduced for the cribrimorph Cribilina (?) labiatula, and two new species are described: ‘Plagioecia’ antanihodiensis sp. nov. and ‘Escharoides’ charbonnieri sp. nov. Galeopsis parvipora is synonymized with Crustoporina prona Stoliczka. All bryozoan species found are encrusters on echinoids or oysters.
Hematologic engraftment and immune reconstitution posttransplantation with anti-B1 purged autologous bone marrow

Hematologic engraftment and immune reconstitution were examined in patients who received cyclophosphamide and total body irradiation therapy followed by infusion of autologous bone marrow purged with anti- B1 monoclonal antibody (MoAb) and complement as therapy for non- Hodgkin's lymphoma. Hematologic engraftment was prompt with return of greater than or equal to 0.5 X 10(3)/microL granulocytes and greater than or equal to 2 X 10(4)/microL platelets at a median of 26 and 29 days posttransplant, respectively. Immunologic reconstitution, in contrast, was prolonged. Normal numbers of circulating B cells were consistently noted by five months posttransplant, whereas return of normal immunoglobulin levels in some patients did not occur for one year. Normal numbers of T cells were evident within the first month posttransplant, but a reversed T4:T8 ratio persisted in some patients up to three years. In vitro responses of either B cells to triggers of activation or of T cells to mitogens and antigens were not normal for at least three months posttransplant. Natural killer (NK) cells predominated early after transplant and may demonstrate cytotoxicity against tumor cells. Our studies demonstrate that transplantation with anti-B1 purged autologous bone marrow results in complete hematologic and delayed immunologic engraftment. No significant acute or chronic clinical toxicities have been observed.
Introduction to Confounding

1. Confounding is an important limitation of observational studies. 2. Confounding alters the interpretation of study results, obscuring whether the exposure is a cause of the outcome. 3. A confounder is classically defined as a factor that is: a. associated with the exposure, b. associated with the outcome, and c. not in the causal pathway of association. 4. Study data are used to judge whether a potential confounder is associated with the exposure and the outcome. 5. Biological and clinical knowledge are used to judge whether a potential confounder is in the causal pathway of association. 6. Confounding-by-indication occurs when the specific indication for a medication confounds the association between the use of that medication and the study outcome.
Assessing the Needs of Mothers with Mentally Retarded Offspring: An Empirical Approach

This exploratory study assesses the needs of mothers with retarded offspring living at home. Previous studies have focused on meeting those parental needs which would benefit their retarded offspring. This study does not limit parental needs to those needs, which if met would benefit the retarded child, and defines parents as an independent group with
Resolving America's Human Capital Paradox: A Jobs Compact for the Future

It is widely recognized that human capital is essential to sustaining a competitive economy at high and rising living standards. Yet acceptance of persistent high unemployment, stagnant wages, and other indicators of declining job quality suggests that policymakers and employers undervalue human capital. This paper traces the root cause of this apparent paradox to the primacy afforded shareholder value over human resource considerations in American firms and the longstanding gridlock over employment policy. I suggest that a new jobs compact will be needed to close the deficit in jobs lost in the recent recession and to achieve sustained real wage growth.
Stacker: an autonomic data movement engine for extreme-scale data staging-based in-situ workflows

Data staging and in-situ workflows are being explored extensively as an approach to address data-related costs at very large scales. However, the impact of emerging storage architectures (e.g., deep memory hierarchies and burst buffers) upon data staging solutions remains a challenge. In this paper, we investigate how burst buffers can be effectively used by data staging solutions, for example, as a persistence storage tier of the memory hierarchy. Furthermore, we use machine learning based prefetching techniques to move data between the storage levels in an autonomous manner. We also present Stacker, a prototype of the proposed solutions implemented within the DataSpaces data staging service, and experimentally evaluate its performance and scalability using the S3D combustion workflow on current leadership class platforms. Our experiments demonstrate that Stacker achieves low latency, high volume data-staging with low overheads as compared to in-memory staging services for production scientific workflows.
Mass defect filtering for suspect screening of halogenated environmental chemicals: A case study of chlorinated organophosphate flame retardants

Rationale Organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) are a class of flame retardants widely found in environmental and biological matrices that have been extensively studied due to their adverse health effects in humans. OPFRs are loosely bound chemicals that can detach from treated products and be released into indoor and outdoor environments, where they have the potential to further undergo transformation and degradation processes, in particular the chlorinated OPFRs (Cl-PFRs). Their detection remains a moving target for analysts, and traditional targeted mass spectrometry methods are suitable only for those compounds with authentic standards. Methods Mass defect filter (MDF) is a strategy to filter molecular features using thresholds applied to the mass defect value of a target ion or molecular feature of interest. We have developed an MDF strategy for the detection and tentative identification of twelve potential Cl-PFR transformation products in a study mixture of six known Cl-PFRs using MS/MS data acquired on a high-resolution mass spectrometer. Most compounds in the Cl-PFRs family share a ClO4 P group as a core structure, of which modification results in a significant shift in the exact masses of the resulting compounds but show only a minimal shift in their mass defects. Subsequently, the MDF strategy was employed to tentatively identify Cl-PFRs retrospectively in six human urine samples that had previously been analyzed. Results MDF in combination with product ion filtering for the characteristic [H2 O3 P]+ and [H4 O4 P]+ ions and neutral loss filtering for the characteristic Cn H2n-x Clx group resulted in revealing suspects and homologues in the Cl-PFRs family. Furthermore, the MDF of the product ions detected additional Cl-PFR-related compounds that differed significantly in the exact masses of both precursor and product ions but had minimal shift in the mass defects of product ions. The mass defect of one or more common product ions helped to detect a few Cl-PFR analogs that had not been identified by MDF of the core structure precursor ion. Conclusions MDF helped to detect some Cl-PFRs present in lower concentrations, which went undetected without data filters. MDF also helped to detect chromatographic peaks for Cl-PFR homologues that are likely structural analogs that resulted from impurities and/or derivatives and transformation products. The methodology was applied to demonstrate and tentatively detect known and suspect Cl-PFRs in human urine samples retrospectively.
Penalties and Rewards for Safety Net vs Non-Safety Net Hospitals in the First 2 Years of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model.

This study compared monetary penalties and rewards among safety net vs non–safety net hospitals under Medicare’s Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model, a bundled payment plan for hip and knee replacements intended to incentivize health care quality and savings, in 2016 and 2017.
In-Plane Thorium(IV), Uranium(IV), and Neptunium(IV) Expanded Porphyrin Complexes.

Here we report the first series of in-plane thorium(IV), uranium(IV), and neptunium(IV) expanded porphyrin complexes. These actinide (An) complexes were synthesized using a hexa-aza porphyrin analo...
College students’ perceptions of mindfulness-based interventions: A narrative review of the qualitative research

Mindfulness-based interventions are thought to attenuate stress and anxiety while improving focus and awareness. College students are at risk for and often experience increased stress and anxiety. Consequently, college students may benefit from mindfulness-based interventions. The purpose of this systematic review of the qualitative literature was to understand and explain how college students perceive and depict mindfulness-based interventions. A thematic synthesis approach was used to analyze the literature. Nineteen qualitative studies were included, and four overarching themes identified: awareness, barriers to meditation, improved focus, and facilitator’s role. Awareness included three subordinate themes: emotion regulation, tools for future use, and relationship with others. Students stated that mindfulness-based interventions were overall beneficial and described them as a coping mechanism that attenuated their stress, anxiety, and emotions, improved learning, build relationships, and provided tools for future careers. Findings of this synthesis indicate that mindfulness-based interventions should be developed that specifically meet the needs of college students. Moreover, future researchers should examine the component of mindfulness-based interventions that students perceived as most beneficial and the differences in perceptions based on college major. Our review is a bridge to understanding the vital components of mindfulness-based interventions in college students.
A Singularity Analysis of Integrability and Chaos in Dynamical Systems

The analysis of movable singularities in the complex time plane of n first order, ordinary differential equations has led to a better understanding of the real time behavior of the solutions of dynamical systems. The requirement that these singularities be poles, with n-1 free constants, i.e. the so-called Painleve property, has identified many new completely integrable dynamical systems having, of course, no chaotic behavior whatsoever. On the other hand, the violation of the Painleve property with the introduction of logarithmic terms at higher orders in the series expansions has identified many dynamical systems with only “weakly chaotic” behavior. In this paper, I review these results and discuss the methods of singularity analysis with the aid of illustrative examples.
A 25-Year Overview of AgrAbility Demographics.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) AgrAbility Program was established as part of the 1990 Farm Bill. It functions through partnerships bet...
Perceived Gratitude, Role Overload, and Mental Health among Spousal Caregivers of Older Adults.

Objectives We investigated whether spousal caregivers' greater perception of being appreciated by their partner for their help was associated with caregivers' better mental health, and whether caregivers' higher role overload was related to their poorer mental health. We further evaluated whether spousal caregivers' greater perceived gratitude buffered the association between their role overload and mental health. Method We examined 306 spousal caregivers of older adults with chronic illness or disability, drawn from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study and National Study of Caregiving. We defined mental health as better psychological well-being and less psychological distress (i.e., fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms). Hierarchical regression models were estimated to test hypotheses. Results Greater perceived gratitude was associated with better psychological well-being, and higher role overload was related to poorer psychological well-being and greater psychological distress. In addition, greater perceived gratitude buffered the associations between role overload and anxiety symptoms as well as psychological well-being. Discussion Findings suggest that spousal caregivers' role overload may be a strong risk factor for their poorer mental health, especially when caregivers feel less appreciated by their partner. Couple-oriented interventions to improve spousal caregivers' mental health could be aimed at reducing their role overload and enhancing perceived gratitude.
Learning and confirming a class of treatment responders in clinical trials.

Clinical trials require substantial effort and time to complete, and regulatory agencies may require two successful efficacy trials before approving a new drug. One way to improve the chance of follow-up success is to identify a subpopulation among whom treatment effects are estimated to be beneficial, and enrolling future studies from this subpopulation. In this article we study confirmable responder class (CRC) learning, where the objective is to learn in a random half of the dataset (training set) a subpopulation among whom the predicted conditional ATE (CATE) suggests clinically meaningful benefit, with maximum power of being confirmed via hypothesis test in the other half (test set). We studied a set of CRC learners across simulated datasets in which either all patients benefited, or only some did. Performance metrics included the rate of confirmation in the test set, and the classification accuracy of the CRC compared with the group with true CATE>0. In trials where all patients benefitted, only two learners were able to consistently identify most of the population as the CRC. One of these also performed especially well when only some patients benefitted, having relatively high confirmation rates, and showing robustness to the dimension of the covariate vector and population characteristics. This learner is based on cross-validation, and is a possible avenue for further development of model selection criteria for CRC learning. We also show that the performance of all methods can be improved by using both halves of the original dataset as training and test sets in turn.
Shippy Express: Augmenting accounting education with Google Sheets

Abstract The purpose of this teaching case is to provide you with an exercise that uses cloud-based Google Sheets as an alternative to Microsoft Excel to learn spreadsheet functions from a managerial accounting perspective. Specifically, you will use fictitious data from Shippy Express, a shipping company seeking advice from your accounting firm, to develop managerial summaries of their financial transactions to help them make training decisions. You will be supported with instructional YouTube videos intended to guide you at any level of expertise. The case is particularly useful for asynchronous learning as it provides you and your instructors with real-time access to your work-in-progress, versioning audit trails, and a dynamic set of feedback functionalities that augment student-instructor collaboration. It will operate well when integrated into an accounting information systems or managerial accounting course.
Evaluation of A Fourth-Year Student Pharmacist Research Process in A Community Teaching Health System.

Objective. Doctor of pharmacy programs are encouraged to incorporate research training in their curricula, but literature is lacking describing health system student research support. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a process supporting fourth-year student pharmacist research in a health system affiliated with a school of pharmacy. Methods. In 2017, clinical non-tenure track faculty transitioned from facilitating a fourth-year research elective to implementing a new student research process which matches students to research preceptors at the beginning of the academic year and provides training and resources throughout the year. This institutional review board approved pre-post study evaluated student pharmacist research participation, dissemination, and position placement at the time of graduation, comparing 3 years before to 3 years after new process implementation. Results. Thirty-three fourth-year students assigned to the health system graduated during 2015-2017, and 31 graduated 2018-2020. The percent of students who completed research projects increased significantly (48.5% vs 87.1%, p=.0013), the number of projects increased significantly (18 vs 35, p=.0047), presentations increased significantly (29 vs 63, p=.0001), and publications increased numerically (9 vs 16, p=.0699). Notably, the percent of research students who pursued postgraduate training increased (68.8% vs 96.3%), as well as the rate of placement into training programs (81.8% vs 92.3%); for non-research students, the percent who pursued training also increased (17.6% vs 75%), but the rate of placement remained the same (66.7%). Conclusion. The new fourth-year pharmacy student research process supported increased research productivity.
Overexpression of the Bt cry2Aa2 operon in chloroplasts leads to formation of insecticidal crystals

In nuclear transgenic plants, expression of multiple genes requires introduction of individual genes and time-consuming subsequent backcrosses to reconstitute multi-subunit proteins or pathways, a problem that is compounded by variable expression levels. In order to accomplish expression of multiple genes in a single transformation event, we have introduced several genes into the chromoplast genome. We confirmed stable integration of the cry2Aa2 operon by PCR and Southern blot analyses in T0 and T1 transgenic plants. Foreign protein accumulated at 45.3% of the total soluble protein in mature leaves and remained stable even in old bleached leaves (46.1%), thereby increasing the efficacy and safety of transgenic plants throughout the growing season. This represents the highest level of foreign gene expression reported in transgenic plants to date. Insects that are normally difficult to control (10-day old cotton bollworm, beet armyworm) were killed 100% after consuming transgenic leaves. Electron micrographs showed the presence of the insecticidal protein folded into cuboidal crystals. Formation of crystals of foreign proteins (due to hyperexpression and folding by the putative chaperonin, ORF 2) provides a simple method of purification by centrifugation and enhances stability by protection from cellular proteases. Demonstration of expression of an operon in transgenic plants paves the way to engineering new pathways in plants in a single transformation event.
Interstate conflicts: 1815–1965

This paper reports the creation of a data set of 256 cases of international conflict between 1815 and 1965. These conflicts consisted of (1) international disputes and crises in which the use of force appeared likely, (2) the unreciprocated use of violence, and (3) the reciprocated use of violence. The paper includes some statistics describing patterns in the data and contains an Appendix listing the data set.
Improved Theory of Single-Particle Properties Using Sea-bosons

In this article, we combine the ideas introduced by us earlier in various proportions to arrive at a simple and yet powerful means of studying single-particle properties of homogeneous Fermi systems in detail without making assumptions regarding the validity or otherwise of Fermi-liquid theory. Novelties include the exact forms of the momentum distribution and spectral functions in the intermediate density regime and a dielectric function that is sensitive to significant qualitative changes in single-particle properties. This time, care is taken to include the particle-hole mode by interpreting the sum over modes as a weighted sum with the dynamical structure factor appearing as the weight.
Distribution substation bus design for optimal reliability and economics

The purpose of this paper is to formulate, document and present a novel optimal distribution substation bus design methodology considering reliability and economics. A simple test system is used to evaluate and compare four common distribution substation bus configurations. Capital, maintenance and operating costs including the costs of system losses as well as the expected customer outage costs have been considered in the formulation. A standard 115 kV/12.47 kV sample system having two alternative configurations for the high voltage side and two alternatives for the low voltage side has been used with this formulation. The results for the optimal design selections have been presented.
Of Non-vital Interest: Art, Mimicry, and the Phenomenon of Life

My aim in this essay is to explore certain parallels—concerning anthropomorphism—in the work of Roger Caillois, Hans Jonas, Theodor Adorno and Sigmund Freud. Both Caillois (a thinker closely connected to French Surrealism and an important source for Jacques Lacan) and Jonas (philosopher and one-time student of Heidegger) take issue with the ban on anthropomorphism—an anathema that is the legacy of Western science. Part of the thesis in Jonas’ major work, The Phenomenon of Life, is that freedom is not exclusively a human quality but a potential within the simplest organic forms, even within inorganic matter. Anthropomorphism may be the legacy of a primitive stage in human development in which the whole of creation was endowed with a soul, but this attitude, Jonas argues, is the more natural one. Whereas in the early phases of humanity death was the stranger in a world that was fundamentally alive, modern thinking made life the riddle within a world of neutral matter and mechanistic principles. Freud’s own theory of the death-drive (“an urge inherent in organic life to restore an earlier state of things which the living entity has been obliged to abandon under the pressure of external disturbing forces”) seems quite consistent with the primacy of death over life instituted by modern thought. I have a general interest in comparing Freud’s theory of the death drive, the aim of which is the restoration of an original equilibrium, with music, whose traditional structure (via the cadence) is to relieve tonal tension through a restoration of the keynote (Grundton). This bears upon the problem of anthropomorphism in that “classical” music since the seventeenth century has cast expression in terms of simulated human emotions: we hear music and perceive love, longing or fear, not to mention (in the case of pastorale) the “cheer” of birdsong or the “rage” of a thunderstorm. Adorno’s critique of this tradition, in which true expression is replaced by mere images of expression, theorizes what he calls a “tendency of the material,” extolling the composer whose sheer mastery of technique enables the material to go where it “wants” to go. What Adorno means by “material” is not merely the inventory of sounds available to the musician but the historical experience sedimented within musical convention. Nonetheless, I would like to attempt an argument whose parameters are Adorno’s “tendency of the material” and Jonas’ idea that freedom must be conceived as a “genuine potency” within physical substance.
Preparation of some mono- and diesters of n,n-disubstituted amides and their evaluation as plasticizers

Mono- and diesters of fatty acid- and aromatic acid-derived N,N-disubstituted amides were prepared in which the acid moieties were alternately substituted to function as the basic amide moiety or the terminal ester moiety. Several of the esteramides were evaluated as plasticizers for polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The plasticized stocks exhibited properties that equaled, and in some instances were superior to PVC plasticized with the common plasticizer, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DOP). The monoesters were more compatible than the diesters. Thermal stability was enhanced by the presence of the benzoic acid moiety in the molecule. Brittle point temperatures were shown to be a predictable characteristic for specific terminal groups, based on structural similarity of the basic molecule.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE BREEDING OF THE PALILA PSITT1ROSTRA BA1LLEUI OF HAWAII

Summary The behavioural ecology and breeding biology of the endangered Palila Psittirostra bailleui was studied from 1971 to 1975. The most intensive breeding occurred from June to August, and coincided with peak production of mamane Sophora chrysophylla seeds, the bir?s major food source. The Palila was able to make adjustments in its breeding to compensate for yearly differentiation in the timing and abundance of this food supply. Sexual chasing and courtship feeding were the most frequently encountered pre-nesting behaviours. Territory was a mate-defended area, which later in the nesting sequence was confined to the nest site. A total of 26 nests was found; most were placed on larger branches of mamane trees. Nest construction occurred primarily in the morning hours and lasted up to 20 days. Both sexes took part in nest construction, albeit the male role was minimal. Unless the nest was placed in the terminal fork of a tree, it usually contained a large stick base. The modal clutch size was two; eggs were laid early in the morning and in all cases one per day. Incubation sometimes began with the first egg and lasted 15–16 days. Only the female incubated, and she covered the eggs for about 75% of the daylight hours and throughout the night. Egg hatching was asynchronous, with the first young emerging early in the morning and the second not until later that same day. Only the female brooded, and the rate declined until day 15 when essentially it stopped. Both parents fed the young by regurgitation, and the number of feedings per hour decreased slightly over the nestling period. It is thought that insects and finely masticated plant material formed the bulk of the nestling diet until about day 5 when mamane seeds became important. Helpers were found at one nest. Young developed slowly and did not leave the nest until 21–27 days old. It is believed that these prolonged nestling periods were able to evolve because of the (former) absence of ground predators. After fledging, young remained with their parents for at least 30 days. Productivity was regulated by small clutch size, low population numbers and by the length of an individual nesting sequence (in that a pair could potentially raise only one brood each year). The primary reason for the endangered status of this bird appears to be the effect of habitat alteration upon a specialist, coupled with the fact that the small effective breeding population and low dis-persability of the species may have resulted in decreased genetic fitness.
Did Falling Wages and Employment Increase U.S. Imprisonment

This paper studies the effects of wages and employment on men's prison admission rates in the United States from 1983 to 2001. Research on the effects of the labor market on incarceration usually examines national- or state-level data, but our analysis studies prison admission among black and white men in specific age-education groups. We find a significant increase in educational inequality in incarceration; nearly all the growth in the risk of imprisonment was confined to non-college men. Regression analysis of prison admission rates shows the negative effects of wages and employment on black men's incarceration, and the negative effects of wages on white men's imprisonment. If 1980s' wage and employment levels had persisted through the late 1990s, the estimates suggest that prison admission rates would be 15 to 25 percent lower for all non-college men.
Psychologism and Humeanism

In Practical Reality (Oxford 2000), Jonathan Dancy argues that our reasons for action are not psychological states, but things we take to be facts about the world, and shows that the reasons themselves are not causes. Dancy concludes that intentional actions are not explained by beliefs and desires, and that explanations of action in terms of reasons are not causal explanations. I show that these further conclusions are unwarranted by sketching an alternative theory of reasons according to which what it is for an action to be done for a reason is for certain beliefs and desires to cause the action. Our reasons for action are the contents of those beliefs and desires. This theory is not only compatible with the facts about reasons Dancy has established, but explains many things that Dancy's theory does not account for. I make no claim here about the precise adequacy of the simplified theoretical definitions I present. My goal is to show that a systematic theory along these lines is a promising approach to understanding an important aspect of human nature.
Aragonite-to-calcite transformation during fresh-water diagenesis of carbonates: Insights from pore-water chemistry

Dissolved strontium and calcium concentrations in fresh-water lenses (FWL) and associated mixing zones (MZ) on two small, Holocene ooid-sand islands in the Schooner Cays, Bahamas, were monitored during a 1-yr period to quantitatively analyze the transformation of aragonite to calcite. The observed characteristics of this mass transfer are functions of climate and hydrology. Aragonite-to-calcite transformation in all hydrologic zones is primarily associated with meteoric recharge. The transformation occurs throughout the FWL and in the MZ to relative salinities of 19% and 36% sea water on the two islands. Rates of transformation are rapid in all zones and are greatest in the FWL. A limestone composed of 100% calcite should form from an aragonite precursor within 4,700 to 15,600 yr in the FWL, and within 8,700 to 60,000 yr in the upper MZ. Efficiencies of transformation can vary between hydrologic zones due to PCO2 effects; yet, the efficiency of the entire system (FWL + MZ) is high (87%). This indicates that most CaCO3 derived from aragonite dissolution is reprecipitated as calcite somewhere in the fresh-water system or upper mixing zone. CO2 effects, fresh-water-sea-water mixing, and the differing solubilities between aragonite and calcite all drive the mass transfer. The latter is the most significant, accounting for up to nine times more mass transfer than CO2 effects and at least ten times more mass transfer than fresh-water-sea-water mixing. Differing solubilities should also cause mass transfer to occur throughout the hydrologic cycle, but it apparently becomes ineffective after the rainy season, possibly due to the inhibition of calcite precipitation.
The Government of Kenya’s cash transfer program reduces the risk of sexual debut among young people age 15-25.

The aim of this study is to assess whether the Government of Kenya's Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (Kenya CT-OVC) can reduce the risk of HIV among young people by postponing sexual debut. The program provides an unconditional transfer of US$20 per month directly to the main caregiver in the household. An evaluation of the program was implemented in 2007–2009 in seven districts. Fourteen Locations were randomly assigned to receive the program and fourteen were assigned to a control arm. A sample of households was enrolled in the evaluation in 2007. We revisited these households in 2011 and collected information on sexual activity among individuals between 15–25 years of age. We used logistic regression, adjusted for the respondent's age, sex and relationship to caregiver, the age, sex and schooling of the caregiver and whether or not the household lived in Nairobi at baseline, to compare rates of sexual debut among young people living in program households with those living in control households who had not yet entered the program. Our results, adjusted for these covariates, show that the program reduced the odds of sexual debut by 31 percent. There were no statistically significant effects on secondary outcomes of behavioral risk such as condom use, number of partners and transactional sex. Since the CT-OVC provides cash to the caregiver and not to the child, and there are no explicit conditions associated with receipt, these impacts are indirect, and may have been achieved by keeping young people in school. Our results suggest that large-scale national social cash transfer programs with poverty alleviation objectives may have potential positive spillover benefits in terms of reducing HIV risk among young people in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Kinetics of Radical Polymerization of Vinyl Acetate Initiated by 1-Azobisphenylethane

Vinyl acetate was polymerized using high concentrations of 1-azobisphenyl-ethane (APE) as the initiator. Its polymerization rate was 30 times slower than that initiated by 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile, although the production rates of primary radicals were the same for both initiators. Such a slow rate can be explained kinetically on the assumption that the rate constant (ki) for the addition of phenylethyl radicals to the monomer is much smaller than the propagation rate constant (kp), where kti/kikp=6.07×10−11exp (12500/T) dm3 mol−1 s−1, (kti, primary radical termination rate constant and T, absolute temperature). The molecular weights of the polymers were controlled by the transfer of propagating radicals to APE where the transfer constant was estimated to be CtrC=31exp(−1860/T).
Chromophore fluorination enhances crystallization and stability of soluble anthradithiophene semiconductors.

We report dramatic improvements in the stability and crystallinity arising from partial fluorination of soluble anthradithiophene derivatives. These fluorinated materials still behave as p-type semiconductors but with dramatic increases in thermal and photostability compared to the non-fluorinated derivatives. The triethylsilyl-substituted material forms highly crystalline films even from spin-cast solutions, leading to devices with maximum hole mobility greater than 1.0 cm2/V s. In contrast, the triisopropylsilyl derivative forms large, high-quality crystals that could serve as the substrate for transistor fabrication. For this compound, mobility as high as 0.1 cm2/V s was measured on the free-standing crystal.
Early Evolution and Higher-Level Phylogeny of Sauropod Dinosaurs

Although sauropods played a major role in terrestrial ecosystems during much of the Mesozoic Era, little effort has been directed toward diagnosing Sauropoda and establishing higher-level interrela...
Cost Effectiveness, System Effectiveness, Integrated Logistics Support, and Maintainability

The cost effectiveness concept covers the measure of a system in terms of total dollar value. Cost effectiveness encompasses the elements of system effectiveness (a quantitative measure of a system's technical ability) as well as cost. One of the elements of system effectiveness is maintainability. Maintainability is an effective mechanism for the accomplishment of planned maintenance during the early design and development phases of a system. Planned maintenance is an element of integrated logistics support. The intent of this paper is to outline the basic elements associated with cost effectiveness, system effectiveness, and integrated logistics support, to outline the interrelationships of these concepts, and to cover the discipline of maintainability as an element of each concept.
Hoshin kanri and hoshin process: A review and literature survey

This research is based on a comprehensive survey and review of hoshin kanri (HK) literature. In the research, the lists of elements that characterize HK and elements that distinguish it from the conventional strategic planning are compiled and presented. The seven steps of the hoshin process developed by the GOAL/QPC Research Committee are extended to ten. Discussions of the results of the survey and review are based on these ten steps. This enables us to cover all the key elements of the Western-type or modern HK in our discussions. Many interesting findings are obtained from the research. Most of the findings relate to the shortcomings of modern HK. These shortcomings have their roots in the ways modern HK and its processes are generally presented in literature. Modern HK is greatly shortchanged in its presentations by Western scholars. Most published works on it and its processes fail to adequately cover all the key elements and characteristics that can give it superiority and advantage over the Japane...