cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Insulin-like growth factor-I action on glucose transport in acute renal failure.

Insulin resistance is common in acute renal failure (ARF). Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I has insulin-like actions. The present study was undertaken to determine whether effects of IGF-I on glucose transport are maintained in rats with ARF and to compare these actions of IGF-I with those of insulin. ARF was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats by bilateral ureteric ligation, and vascular catheters were inserted at the same time in all animals. Sham-operated controls were pair fed, and metabolic studies were performed 48 h later. ARF rats had higher serum creatinine (1.3 +/- 0.2 mg/dl vs. 0.3 +/- 0.1), lower arterial pH (7.15 +/- 0.03 vs. 7.35 +/- 0.02), and higher fasting serum glucose (150 +/- 13 vs. 123 +/- 12 mg/dl) compared with control rats (P < 0.001 in all cases). The hypoglycemic effects of insulin and IGF-I were compared using euglycemic clamps. In control rats, rates of total body glucose uptake were not different during euglycemic insulin clamps at 2 mU.kg-1.min-1 and euglycemic IGF-I clamps at 5 micrograms.kg-1.min-1. In rats with ARF, total body glucose uptake during euglycemic insulin clamps at 2 mU.kg-1.min-1 was significantly reduced (6.5 +/- 0.5 mg.kg-1.min-1) compared with controls (10.5 +/- 1.5 mg.kg-1.min-1, P < 0.01). In contrast, total body glucose uptake during euglycemic IGF-I clamps at 5 micrograms.kg-1.min-1 in ARF rats (10.1 +/- 1.2 mg.kg-1.min-1) was not different from the corresponding value in control animals (10.3 +/- 1.3 mg.kg-1.min-1). Hepatic glucose production was suppressed by insulin equally but not suppressed by IGF-I in both groups. In a second experiment, ARF was induced by bilateral renal ischemia. The following groups of animals were studied: ARF + NaCl, ARF + NaHCO3, and control + NaCl. Insulin and IGF-I clamps were performed as above. Correction of acidosis partially corrected insulin resistance but did not affect IGF-I sensitivity. Thus the capacity of IGF-I infusion to stimulate glucose uptake is maintained in ARF rats, which are insulin resistant.
Exciting things happen @ your library: ACRL advertisements in the Chronicle of Higher Education

L'association ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) a fait paraitre dans la revue Chronical of Higher Education des publicites en vue de rappeler aux lecteurs de cette revue (administrateurs, membres de l'enseignement superieur...) la contribution apportee par les bibliotheques universitaires
COMPARING TWO VERSIONS OF THE REALS

Schweber [10] defined a reducibility that allows us to compare the computing power of structures of arbitrary cardinality. Here we focus on the ordered field ${\cal R}$ of real numbers and a structure ${\cal W}$ that just codes the subsets of ω . In [10], it was observed that ${\cal W}$ is reducible to ${\cal R}$ . We prove that ${\cal R}$ is not reducible to ${\cal W}$ . As part of the proof, we show that for a countable recursively saturated real closed field ${\cal P}$ with residue field k , some copy of ${\cal P}$ does not compute a copy of k .
Staphylococcal Food Poisoning

Abstract Staphylococcal food poisoning results from ingestion of a relatively heat stable protein enterotoxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus while growing in contaminated food. Shortly after ingestion of the toxin, the principal symptom is vomiting. The genes encoding the 25 known enterotoxin types are accessory genes, with only certain strains producing enterotoxins. The regulation of these genes and consequently the amount of enterotoxin produced is variable. In addition to emesis-inducing activity, most enterotoxins possess superantigenic properties and function to disrupt immune responses of the host to infection by S. aureus. The source of the contaminating staphylococci is usually the human food handler. The heat- and protease-resistant properties of the enterotoxin facilitate survival of the protein from ingestion to passage of the toxin out of the stomach and into the intestinal tract. Improvements in animal models to study enterotoxin activity should lead to better measures to prevent staphylococcal food poisoning.
Aneurysm treatment practice patterns for newly appointed dual-trained cerebrovascular/endovascular neurosurgeons: Comparison of open surgical to neuroendovascular procedures in the first 2 years of academic practice.

BACKGROUND The practice patterns of a hybrid open cerebrovascular/neuroendovascular (CVNV) neurosurgeon in early academic practice is unknown. METHODS We performed a multi-institutional retrospective cohort study of patients with cerebral aneurysms that were treated within the first 24 months of the neurosurgeon's practice. RESULTS A total of 533 aneurysms were treated by the three senior authors within the first 24 months of their academic practice. Of these aneurysms, 172 were treated with microsurgical clipping, 191 with coiling, and 170 with flow diversion. Treatment in the setting of acute subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) occurred in 23% (122/533) of the aneurysms. Majority of the clipped aneurysms (70%, 121/172) were anterior cerebral artery (ACA), anterior communicating artery (ACOM), or middle cerebral artery (MCA) in location. In comparison, only 23% (82/361) of aneurysms treated with coiling or flow diversion therapy were ACA, ACOM, or MCA in location (P < 0.05). Additionally, majority of the flow diverted aneurysm (65%, 111/170) were cavernous or ophthalmic/paraophthalmic in location. During the second year of practice, there appeared to be a trend towards more aneurysms treated with neuroendovascular techniques (22% increase), particularly in flow diversion. CONCLUSION Although the CVNV neurosurgeon treats cerebral aneurysms more commonly with neuroendovascular techniques, a third of the cerebral aneurysms are still selected for microsurgical clipping. Aneurysms located along the ACA/ACOM or MCA are the most frequent aneurysms reserved for microsurgical clipping. The CVNV neurosurgeon must be prepared to manage a high percentage of ACA/ACOM or MCA aneurysms microsurgically.
Synthesis and Characterization of Amorphous Bibenzoate (Co)polyesters: Permeability and Rheological Performance

Melt polycondensation of bibenzoate dimethyl esters with ethylene glycol enabled the synthesis of polyesters containing linear (4,4′-bibenzoate (4,4′BB)) and kinked (3,4′-bibenzoate (3,4′BB)) repeating units. Novel 3,4′BB:4,4′BB (co)polyesters with ethylene glycol (EG) showed an onset of weight loss (Td,5%) above 350 °C. 1H NMR spectroscopy confirmed 4,4′BB:3,4′BB incorporation, and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) revealed high molecular weights. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) revealed glass transition temperatures (Tg) approaching 121 °C, crystallization and melting transition temperatures (Tc and Tm), and sub-Tg β-relaxations. 4,4′BB incorporation below ∼45 mol % afforded an amorphous morphology, while 4,4′BB incorporation above 45 mol % induced crystallinity. Melt rheology elucidated the effect of structure on flow behavior, and time–temperature superposition (TTS) revealed distinct flow transitions. TTS analysis also provided insight into the structur...
On quantization and delay effects in nonlinear control systems

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that a unified study of quantization and delay effects in nonlinear control systems is possible by merging the quantized feedback control methodology recently developed by the author and the small-gain approach to the analysis of functional differential equations with disturbances proposed earlier by Teel. We prove that under the action of a robustly stabilizing feedback controller in the presence of quantization and sufficiently small delays, solutions of the closed-loop system starting in a given region remain bounded and eventually enter a smaller region. We present several versions of this result and show how it enables global asymptotic stabilization via a dynamic quantization strategy.
Mechanisms of Adsorption and Strength of Retention

As addressed in the preceding chapters, ammonia can be adsorbed on the surface of adsorbents in various ways. These processes can be classified according to several criteria such as the strength of retention (weak/strong), the specificity of ammonia interactions with the adsorbent (specific/non-specific), the reversible or irreversible character of the adsorption interactions (usually related to the strength of adsorption) or the types of interactions (e.g. acid–base reactions). In this chapter, we intend to summarize/classify the different mechanisms of adsorption addressed above. These various paths of adsorption are discussed according to the type of interactions involved. For each type of mechanism, we try to indicate its specificity and strength, along with the materials for which the mechanism is observed. A more in-depth and quantitative analysis of the strength of retention is also proposed at the end of this chapter.
Cystotomy, temporary urinary diversion and bladder packing in the management of severe cyclophosphamide-induced hemorrhagic cystitis.

Abstract Severe hemorrhage from cyclophosphamide-induced cystitis sometimes requires aggressive open management when conventional endoscopic and intravesical therapies have failed. We present 2 patients with intractable hematuria who were managed by open cystotomy, temporary urinary diversion via external ureteral stents, and continuous postoperative bladder packing with gauze and hemostatic agents. Both patients had a dramatic improvement in the hematuria immediately postoperatively and 1 with prolonged followup has no urological disability. We suggest that this procedure be considered for management of severe hemorrhagic cystitis as an alternative to more aggressive surgical therapies, such as formal urinary diversion with cystectomy. (J. Urol., 143:1006-1007, 1990)
Various Results on Representations as Sums of Squares

In [54] Dickson lists about 70 mathematicians who have made contributions to the problem of representations of integers by sums of five or more squares and to that of relations between the numbers of those representations. It is not possible to quote all these results, but in order to convey the flavor of some of them, we shall mention a few without proofs.
Modeling impacts of Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control on mixed traffic flow in multi-lane freeway facilities

Abstract Modeling impacts of Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) on multi-lane freeway traffic can be challenging. It requires accurate description of the formation and disengagement of CACC vehicle strings when CACC vehicles are mixed with manually driven vehicles in the traffic stream. It also needs to depict the behaviors of CACC vehicles under the influence of CACC operation strategies such as the CACC vehicle managed lane (ML) and implementing the Vehicle Awareness Devices (VAD), which are intended to enhance the CACC string operations. To address these challenges, we extended a state of the art CACC modeling framework to incorporate new algorithms that are essential to describe the interactions among the CACC vehicles and manually driven vehicles in mixed traffic. The updated modeling framework adopts a new vehicle dispatching model to generate the high-volume traffic flow expected to exist due to the CACC string operation. The framework also includes new lane changing rules and automated speed control algorithms that ensure realistic CACC vehicle behaviors at freeway on/off-ramp areas where traffic disturbances might frequently interrupt the CACC string operations. With the model updates, we can further reproduce traffic flow dynamics under the influence of the CACC operation strategies. The modeling capability of the presented framework has been verified via case studies on a simple 4-lane freeway segment with an on-ramp and an off-ramp and a complex 18-kilometer freeway corridor. The case study results indicate that the presented modeling framework not only quantifies the mobility improvements for the study sites under different CACC market penetrations and CACC operation strategies, but also discloses the mechanism that governs the improvement. This study creates a methodology that can estimate detailed kinematics of connected automated vehicles under realistic traffic environments. Findings produced by the methodology are helpful for the future development, implementation and management of the advanced transportation technologies.
Introduction: Whose civility?:

This article is an introduction to this special issue on civility. It asks what can anthropological insights contribute to debates about civility? We propose to understand civility as a “worldly co...
Quantifying place: Analyzing the drivers of pedestrian activity in dense urban environments

Abstract Understanding pedestrian behavior is critical for many aspects of city planning, design, and management, including transportation, public health, emergency response, and economic development. This study bridges in-situ observations of pedestrian activity and urban computing by integrating high-resolution, large-scale, and heterogeneous urban datasets and analyzing both fixed attributes of the urban landscape (e.g. physical and transit infrastructure) with dynamic environmental and socio-psychological factors, such as weather, air quality, and perceived crime risk. We use local pedestrian count data collected by the New York City (NYC) Department of Transportation (DOT) and an extensive array of open datasets from NYC to test how pedestrian volumes relate to land use, building density, streetscape quality, transportation infrastructure, and other factors typically associated with urban walkability. We quantify, classify, and analyze place dynamics, including contextual and situational factors that influence pedestrian activity at high spatial–temporal resolution. The quantification process measures the urban context by extracting rich, yet initially fragmented and siloed, urban data for individual geolocations. Based on these features, we then construct contextual indicators by selecting and combining features relevant to pedestrian activity, and develop a typology of place to support the generalizability of our analysis. Finally, we use multivariate regression models with panel-corrected standard errors to estimate how specific contextual features and time-varying situational indicators impact pedestrian activity across time of day, day of the week, season, and year. The results provide insights into the key drivers of local pedestrian activity and highlight the importance accounting for the immediate urban environment and socio-spatial dynamics in pedestrian behavior modeling.
Dynamic impact response of lithium-ion batteries, constitutive properties and failure model

Use of lithium-ion batteries in transportation necessitates understanding of the cell mechanical response in case of a vehicle accident. Many researchers have access to test equipment to characterize the behavior of cells at low speeds. However, testing batteries at high speeds requires special setups that are not available for many interested parties. In this research, a methodology is proposed for predicting the material response and failure patterns of lithium-ion batteries subjected to high impact based on the experimental results at lower velocities. For this purpose, a constitutive law was proposed and parameters were calibrated for two types of lithium-ion cells, pouch and elliptical. Test results at lower impact velocities (up to 0.5 m s−1) were used for calibrating the constitutive response and the failure criteria. The test data at higher impact velocities of up to 5 m s−1 were used for validation. A Johnson–Cook type strain rate sensitivity model could successfully capture the strain rate hardening response of both cell types. Finite element models were developed for each cell type and empirical linear relationships were found between failure strain and strain rate. For the case of pouch cells, this correlation was negative, whilst there was a positive correlation for elliptical cells. The FE models closely followed the experiments in terms of load-displacement behavior and predicted the peak load and punch displacement at the onset of short circuit with good accuracy.
CMR and CT of the Patient With Cardiac Devices: Safety, Efficacy, and Optimization Strategies

Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and cardiac CT (CCT) have evolved into powerful diagnostic tools in the evaluation of patients with cardiovascular diseases. However, the use of these imaging techniques poses potential safety concerns for patients with implanted cardiac devices. These concerns result from the potential for electromagnetic interaction between the device and the CMR field or CCT x-ray radiation, which could lead to device heating, malfunction, or dislocation. Additionally, the presence of cardiac devices may induce significant image artifacts due to local magnetic field inhomogeneities (CMR) or photon starvation/beam hardening (CCT). In this review summarizes the safety issues regarding imaging in patients with cardiac devices. Optimization strategies to mitigate image artifacts and to improve imaging efficacy are discussed.
MicroRNA-655-3p and microRNA-497-5p inhibit cell proliferation in cultured human lip cells through the regulation of genes related to human cleft lip

The etiology of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P), a common congenital birth defect, is complex and involves the contribution of genetic and environmental factors. Although many candidate genes have been identified, the regulation and interaction of these genes in CL/P remain unclear. In addition, the contribution of microRNAs (miRNAs), non-coding RNAs that regulate the expression of multiple genes, to the etiology of CL/P is largely unknown. To identify the signatures of causative biological pathways for human CL/P, we conducted a systematic literature review for human CL/P candidate genes and subsequent bioinformatics analyses. Functional enrichment analyses of the candidate CL/P genes were conducted using the pathway databases GO and KEGG. The miRNA-mediated post-transcriptional regulation of the CL/P candidate genes was analyzed with miRanda, PITA, and TargetScan, and miRTarbase. Genotype-phenotype association analysis was conducted using GWAS. The functional significance of the candidate miRNAs was evaluated experimentally in cell proliferation and target gene regulation assays in human lip fibroblasts. Through an extensive search of the main biomedical databases, we mined 177 genes with mutations or association/linkage reported in individuals with CL/P, and considered them as candidate genes for human CL/P. The genotype-phenotype association study revealed that mutations in 12 genes (ABCA4, ADAM3A, FOXE1, IRF6, MSX2, MTHFR, NTN1, PAX7, TP63, TPM1, VAX1, and WNT9B) were significantly associated with CL/P. In addition, our bioinformatics analysis predicted 16 microRNAs (miRNAs) to be post-transcriptional regulators of CL/P genes. To validate the bioinformatics results, the top six candidate miRNAs (miR-124-3p, miR-369-3p, miR-374a-5p, miR-374b-5p, miR-497-5p, and miR-655-3p) were evaluated by cell proliferation/survival assays and miRNA-gene regulation assays in cultured human lip fibroblasts. We found that miR-497-5p and miR-655-3p significantly suppressed cell proliferation in these cells. Furthermore, the expression of the predicted miRNA-target genes was significantly downregulated by either miR-497-5p or miR-655-3p mimic. Expression of miR-497-5p and miR-655-3p suppresses cell proliferation through the regulation of human CL/P-candidate genes. This study provides insights into the role of miRNAs in the etiology of CL/P and suggests possible strategies for the diagnosis of CL/P.
Predictors of efficacy for combination oral and topical corticosteroids to treat patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps

BACKGROUND A short-course oral corticosteroid taper and topical intranasal corticosteroids may be used to maximize the success of medical management for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). In this study, we sought to identify characteristics that would be predictive of efficacy for this combination regimen. METHODS Sixty-four patients with CRS, bilateral polyps, a polyp score of at least 3, and a 22-item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) score ≥20 were prospectively enrolled and uniformly treated with a 15-day prednisone taper and twice daily dilute budesonide irrigations. Participants were assessed at enrollment and at follow up, 2 to 5 months later. Clinical and demographic characteristics were assessed at enrollment. At both time points, CRS symptoms were assessed with SNOT-22, and polyp score (range, 0 to 6) was assessed endoscopically. Associations were determined with regression. RESULTS Pretreatment SNOT-22 score (adjusted β = -0.83; 95% CI, -1.08 to -0.58; p < 0.001) and comorbid asthma (adjusted β = 15.75; 95% CI, 4.74 to 26.75; p = 0.007) were associated with a change in SNOT-22 experienced over the study period. Achieving a greater-than-1 minimal clinically important difference (MCID) improvement in SNOT-22 score was also associated with pretreatment SNOT-22 score (adjusted OR = 1.09; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.14; p < 0.001) and comorbid asthma (adjusted OR = 0.13; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.72; p = 0.019). SNOT-22 score ≥47 had 81.5% sensitivity and 78.4% specificity to detect patients experiencing 1 MCID improvement. Pretreatment polyp score was not associated with any outcome metric. CONCLUSION In treatment of CRSwNP with prednisone and budesonide irrigations, pretreatment endoscopy was not informative of treatment response. Pretreatment SNOT-22 and comorbid asthma may be more predictive.
On the transient thermal response of thin vapor chamber heat spreaders: Optimized design and fluid selection

Abstract Vapor chambers provide highly effective heat spreading to assist in the thermal management of electronic devices. Although there is a significant body of literature on vapor chambers, most prior research has focused on their steady-state response. In many applications, electronic devices generate inherently transient heat loads and, hence, it is critical to understand the transient thermal response of vapor chambers. We recently developed a semi-analytical transport model that was used to identify the key mechanisms that govern the thermal response of vapor chambers to transient heat inputs (Int. J. Heat Mass Trans. 136 (2019) 995–1005). The current study utilizes this understanding of the governing mechanisms to develop design guidelines for improving the performance of vapor chambers under transient operating conditions. Two key aspects of vapor chamber design are addressed in this study: first, a parametric optimization of the wall, wick, and vapor-core thicknesses; and second, the selection of the working fluid. A protocol is demonstrated for selecting these parameters given the external vapor chamber envelope dimensions and boundary conditions. The study helps provide a framework for designing vapor chambers subject to transient heat loads, and to differentiate such design from the practices followed traditionally for steady-state operation.
Original ArticleArthroscopic Laser Meniscectomy in a Gas Medium

Laboratory investigations demonstrate the theoretical feasibility of utilizing CO2 laser energy for arthroscopic resection of the knee meniscus. Infrared light of 10.6 μm wavelength is sufficiently absorbed by fibrocartilage with byproducts of heat, water vapor, and a small residue of carbon ash. The remaining meniscus rim demonstrates viable chondrocytes in close proximity to the margin of resection, and gross collagen fiber architecture is preserved. The depth of penetration of the laser beam can be controlled by limiting the duration of exposure. Arthroscopic application of CO2 laser energy requires a gas medium. Carbon dioxide and nitrogen have proven to be satisfactory insufflation agents, with no lasting untoward effects noted in a clinical series of diagnostic arthroscopic procedures. The cost of laser generators and the lack of an ideal delivery system are limiting factors in clinical applications of this cutting mode for meniscectomy.
Large trees establish more rapidly when transplanted bare root

Large trees have been transplanted bare root for centuries, and the method is again being used more frequently as air excavation tools have reduced the labour required. The diameter of the woody ro...
Editorial for TDMR Editor Oscar Huerta

Iam glad to introduce Dr. Oscar Huerta as a new TDMR Editor. Dr. Huerta is an expert on device physics, degradation, reliability, characterization, and modeling. He got his Ph.D. title for INAOE, Mexico, in 2019, with the thesis “ Charge-trapping dynamics in MOSFETs: An experimental approach with magnetic fields. ” He has seven years of experience in academia and industry, and has spent time at the Tempere University of Technology, Finland, and the University of Granada, Spain. He is currently with GlobalFoundries, Malta, NY, USA, working for the reliability team on advanced CMOS technologies.
Pain management in patients with chronic kidney disease and end-stage kidney disease.

Purpose of review This review evaluates current recommendations for pain management in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) with a specific focus on evidence for opioid analgesia, including the partial agonist, buprenorphine. Recent findings Recent evidence supports the use of physical activity and other nonpharmacologic therapies, either alone or with pharmacological therapies, for pain management. Nonopioid analgesics, including acetaminophen, topical analgesics, gabapentinoids, serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, and TCA may be considered based on pain cause and type, with careful dose considerations in kidney disease. NSAIDs may be used in CKD and ESKD for short durations with careful monitoring. Opioid use should be minimized and reserved for patients who have failed other therapies. Opioids have been associated with increased adverse events in this population, and thus should be used cautiously after risk/benefit discussion with the patient. Opioids that are safer to use in kidney disease include oxycodone, hydromorphone, fentanyl, methadone, and buprenorphine. Buprenorphine appears to be a promising and safer option due to its partial agonism at the mu opioid receptor. Summary Pain is poorly managed in patients with kidney disease. Nonpharmacological and nonopioid analgesics should be first-line approaches for pain management. Opioid use should be minimized with careful monitoring and dose adjustment.
Novel Analog Implementation of a Hyperbolic Tangent Neuron in Artificial Neural Networks

Recently, enormous datasets have made power dissipation and area usage lie at the heart of designs for artificial neural networks (ANNs). Considering the significant role of activation functions in neurons and the growth of hardware-based neural networks like memristive neural networks, this work proposes a novel design for a hyperbolic tangent activation function (Tanh) to be used in memristive-based neuromorphic architectures. The purpose of implementing a CMOS-based design for Tanh is to decrease power dissipation and area usage. This design also increases the overall speed of computation in ANNs, while keeping the accuracy in an acceptable range. The proposed design is one of the first analog designs for the hyperbolic tangent and its performance is analyzed by using two well-known datsets, including the Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) and Fashion-MNIST. The direct implementation of the proposed design for Tanh is proposed and investigated via software and hardware modeling.
Dissecting the dynamics of signaling events in the BMP, WNT, and NODAL cascade during self-organized fate patterning in human gastruloids

During gastrulation, the pluripotent epiblast is patterned into the three germ layers, which form the embryo proper. This patterning requires a signaling cascade involving the BMP, WNT and NODAL pathways; however, how these pathways regulate one another in space and time to generate cell-fate patterns remains unknown. Using a human gastruloid model, we show that BMP signaling initiates a wave of WNT signaling, which, in turn, initiates a wave of NODAL signaling. While WNT propagation depends on continuous BMP activity, NODAL propagates independently of upstream signals. We further show that the duration of BMP signaling determines the position of mesodermal differentiation while WNT and NODAL synergize to achieve maximal differentiation. The waves of both WNT and NODAL signaling activity extend farther into the colony than mesodermal differentiation. Combining dynamic measurements of signaling activity with mathematical modeling revealed that the formation of signaling waves is inconsistent with WNT and NODAL forming a stable spatial pattern in signaling activities, and the final signaling state is spatially homogeneous. Thus, dynamic eventsin the BMP, WNT, and NODAL signaling cascade, in the absence of a signaling gradient, have the potential to mediate epiblast patterning.
Leadership Matters: Police Chief Race and Fatal Shootings by Police Officers

Objective This study analyzes the relationship between the race of a city's police chief and the incidence of fatal shootings by police officers. Methods The Washington Post's “Fatal Force Database” is used to calculate per‐capita rates of fatal shootings by police officers occurring between January 1, 2015 and June 1, 2020 for the 100 largest cities in the United States. I compare fatal shooting rates for cities with police chiefs of different races, both unadjusted and adjusted for differences in city characteristics. Results Rates of fatal shootings by officers are almost 50 percent higher in cities with police forces led by white police chiefs than in cities with black police chiefs. Of the 30 cities with the highest rates of fatal shootings, 23 have police departments led by whites and only four have departments led by blacks, while of the 30 cities with the lowest rates, 16 have police departments led by blacks and only 11 are led by whites. Differences in fatal shooting rates persist after controlling for city characteristics. Conclusion Leaders in the highest position of authority may have a powerful effect on the culture of a police department and its resulting behavior.
Innovation Policy in Theories of Knowledge Diffusion and Selection

This paper studies the efficiency of process and product innovation in a model that nests many previous theories of knowledge diffusion and selection. It characterizes the equilibrium and optimal allocations, and derives a set of taxes and subsidies that achieve the latter. In the presence of knowledge spillovers, the endogenous exit decision of an incumbent firm generates externalities for other firms. These externalities further lead to a new source of misallocation in investments in process and product innovation across incumbent firms. This is because the return to these investments is heterogeneous and depends on the expected lifetime of before exit. The fact that exit decisions are optimal only from the perspective of the private firm leads to a heterogeneous gap between private and social return to process innovation. A calibration of the model to firm-level data from US manufacturing and retail trade suggests that these misallocations may be quantitatively large and constitute an important consideration for the design of innovation policy.
Predicting the need for palliative thoracic radiation after first-line chemotherapy for advanced nonsmall cell lung carcinoma†

BACKGROUND: The objective of this secondary analysis was to identify patients with selected stage IIIB/IV nonsmall cell lung carcinoma and good performance status who were at high risk for requiring subsequent palliative thoracic radiotherapy after initial treatment with first-line chemotherapy. METHODS: The authors conducted a pooled analysis of patients at a single institution who enrolled onto 10 prospective phase 2 and 3 clinical trials that involved first-line, platinum-based chemotherapy. Baseline lung-related characteristics before trial enrollment were analyzed as possible prognostic factors for freedom from pulmonary events (defined either as subsequent thoracic radiation or as a new collapsed lung, which is an indication for thoracic radiation). RESULTS: Of 244 consecutive patients who were reviewed, 42 patients received a palliative course of thoracic radiation, 40 exhibited evidence of new lobar collapse on follow-up chest imaging, and 14 received thoracic radiation for lobar collapse. On univariable analysis, pulmonary symptoms (P = .043) or pneumonia at presentation (P = .0001), increasing size of hilar disease (P 3 cm (hazard ratio, 1.8; P = .003) and prechemotherapy pneumonia (hazard ratio, 2.1; P = .009) were associated with pulmonary events; patients who had both risk factors or hilar disease >5 cm in greatest dimension exhibited a >50% risk of subsequent events. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with bulky hilar disease and a history of pneumonia at presentation were at high risk for requiring palliative thoracic radiation. The authors propose studying these patients to determine whether early thoracic radiation may be beneficial by preserving quality of life and performance status. Cancer 2011. © 2011 American Cancer Society.
The New Treaty Makers

The "erosion of sovereignty" that is said to characterize globalization is not generally associated with any deviation from the fundamental principle that states must freely consent before they can be said to be bound by any international agreement. With few exceptions, as with respect to Iraq in the wake of the Gulf War, states are rarely told that they must adhere to any particular treaty-despite emerging notions of "global governance." The initiation and conclusion of modern treaties is still generally seen as the affirmation of sovereignty, rather than its diminution. Modern treaties, the only source of international obligation said to emerge from conscious attempts to make law and still requiring the unambiguous, genuine consent of states, remain the embodiment of sovereignty as classically understood. This Article challenges this view by examining how international organizations have altered the methods by which treaty negotiations are initiated as well as the final results achieved through such negotiations. If state sovereignty has been "eroded" or transformed in the wake of World War II, the new forms of treaty making and the new treaty makers are part of that story.
Experimental Determination of Ionicity in MnO Nanoparticles

Phonons are exquisitely sensitive to finite-length scale effects in complex materials because they are intimately connected to charge, polarizability, and structure, and a quantitative analysis of their behavior can reveal microscopic aspects of chemical bonding. To investigate these effects in a model correlated oxide, we measured the infrared vibrational properties of 8-nm particles of MnO, compared the results with the analogous bulk material, and quantified the phonon confinement with a calculation of the Born effective charge. Our analysis reveals that the Born effective charge decreases by {approx}20%, compared to the bulk material. Moreover, this change impacts both ionicity and polarizability. Specifically, we find that MnO nanoparticles are {approx}12% less ionic than the corresponding bulk. This discovery is important for understanding finite-length scale effects in this simple binary oxide and the more complicated functional oxides that emanate from this parent compound.
Higher oxidation states of silver—I

Abstract Aqueous solutions of the silver salts AgNO3, Ag2SO4, AgClO4, AgF and AgC2H3O2 have been ozonized, the black crystalline products isolated and partially characterized by their composition, oxidizing power, magnetic properties and X-ray powder diffraction patterns.Oxidized products of the above compounds were found to have the empirical formulas Ag7O8NO3, Ag7O8SO4, Ag4O5, AgO and AgO, respectively. The nitrate and the new sulphate were found to be relatively stable in air, but they both decomposed to AgO upon being suspended in boiling water. Their X-ray patterns were indexed as face-centred cubic, with the sulphate having the slightly larger cell constant. The Ag4O5 compound was quite unstable, decomposing on standing within minutes. It was indexed with a simple cubic lattice and lines were also present due to AgO, which is monoclinic. All samples were paramagnetic except the AgO compounds obtained from AgF and AgC2H3O2, which were diamagnetic. Partial replacement of silver was effected only with Cd2+ although Ba2+, Mg2+ and Zn2+ were also tried. Suggestions are made concerning the formulation and structure of some of the higher oxides.
Hyperinsulinism and premenstrual tension: report of a case of hyperplasia of the islets of Langerhans.

Abstract A case is presented which illustrates marked aggravation of hypoglycemia in the premenstrual period by a functioning hyperplasia of the islets of Langerhans. Oral glucose tolerance curves before and after the onset of menses were totally dissimilar; surgical resection of two-thirds of the pancreas resulted in a reversal of symptoms, and a temporary mild diabetogenic state. An estrogen-progesterone imbalance is thought to be a factor in premenstrual hypoglycemia; the mechanism whereby a relative excess of estrogens may depress the blood sugar level is briefly discussed.
Relationship between plasma and muscle concentrations of ketone bodies and free fatty acids in fed, starved and alloxan-diabetic states.

1. Concentrations of ketone bodies, free fatty acids and chloride in fed, 24–120h-starved and alloxan-diabetic rats were determined in plasma and striated muscle. Plasma glucose concentrations were also measured in these groups of animals. 2. Intracellular metabolite concentrations were calculated by using chloride as an endogenous marker of extracellular space. 3. The mean intracellular ketone-body concentrations (±s.e.m.) were 0.17±0.02, 0.76±0.11 and 2.82±0.50μmol/ml of water in fed, 48h-starved and alloxan-diabetic rats, respectively. Mean (intracellular water concentration)/(plasma water concentration) ratios were 0.47, 0.30 and 0.32 in fed, 48h-starved and alloxan-diabetic rats respectively. The relationship between ketone-body concentrations in the plasma and intracellular compartments appeared to follow an asymptotic pattern. 4. Only intracellular 3-hydroxybutyrate concentrations rose during starvation whereas concentrations of both 3-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate were elevated in the alloxan-diabetic state. 5. During starvation plasma glucose concentrations were lowest at 48h, and increased with further starvation. 6. There was no significant difference in the muscle intracellular free fatty acid concentrations of fed, starved and alloxan-diabetic rats. Mean free fatty acid intramuscular concentrations (±s.e.m.) were 0.81±0.08, 0.98±0.21 and 0.91±0.10μmol/ml in fed, 48h-starved and alloxan-diabetic states. 7. The intracellular ketosis of starvation and the stability of free fatty acid intracellular concentrations suggests that neither muscle membrane permeability nor concentrations of free fatty acids per se are major factors in limiting ketone-body oxidation in these states.
Ox-LDL induces apoptosis in human coronary artery endothelial cells: role of PKC, PTK, bcl-2, and Fas

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) plays a critical role in the development of atherosclerosis. Recent studies show that ox-LDL may induce apoptosis of cultured rabbit smooth muscle cells an...
Fibronectin–collagen binding and requirement during cellular adhesion

Fibronectin isolated from human plasma and from the extracellular matrices of cell monolayers mediates the attachment in vitro and spreading of trypsin-treated cells on a collagen substratum. Fibronectin-dependent kinetics of cellular attachment to collagen were studied for several adherent cell types. It was shown that trypsin-treated human umbilical-cord cells, mouse sarcoma CMT81 cells, endothelial cells, and human fibroblasts from a patient with Glanzmann's disease were completely dependent on fibronectin for their attachment to collagen, whereas guinea-pig and monkey smooth-muscle cells and chick-embryo secondary fibroblasts displayed varying degrees of dependence on fibronectin for their attachment. Radiolabelled human plasma fibronectin possessed similar affinity for collagen types I, II and III from a variety of sources. The fibronectin bound equally well to the collagens with or without prior urea treatment. However, in the fibronectin-mediated adhesion assay using PyBHK fibroblasts, a greater number of cells adhered and more spreading was observed on urea-treated collagen. Fibronectin extracted from the extracellular matrix of chick-embryo fibroblasts and that purified from human plasma demonstrated very similar kinetics of complexing to collagencoated tissue-culture dishes. Fibronectin from both sources bound to collagen in the presence of 0.05-4.0m-NaCl and over the pH range 2.6-10.6. The binding was inhibited when fibronectin was incubated with 40-80% ethylene glycol, the ionic detergents sodium dodecyl sulphate and deoxycholate, and the non-ionic detergents Nonidet P-40, Tween 80 and Triton X-100, all at a concentration of 0.1%. From these results we proposed that fibronectin-collagen complexing is mainly attributable to hydrophobic interactions.
Emotionships: Examining People’s Emotion-Regulation Relationships and Their Consequences for Well-Being

Is it better to have a few relationships that can fulfill all our emotion-regulation needs or to have a more diverse relationship portfolio, in which different individuals serve distinct emotion-re...
Modeling complex reservoir geometries with multiple-point statistics

Large-scale reservoir architecture constitutes first-order reservoir heterogeneity and dietates to a large extent reservoir flow behavior. It also manifests geometric characteristics beyond the capability of traditional geostatistical models conditioned only on single-point and two-point statistics. Multiple-point statistics, as obtained by scanning a training image deemed representative of the actual reservoir, if reproduced properly provides stochastic models that better capture the essence of the heterogeneity. A “growth” algorithm, coupled with an optimization procedure, is proposed to reproduce target multiple-point histograms. The growth algorithm makes an analogy between geological accretion process and stochastic process and amounts to restricting the random path of sequential simulation at any given stage to a set of eligible nodes (immediately adjacent to a previously simulated node or sand grain). The proposed algorithm, combined with a multiple-grid approach, is shown to reproduce effectively the geometric essence of complex training images exhibiting long-range and curvilinear structures. Also, by avoiding a rigorous search for global minimum and accepting local minima, the proposed algorithm improves CPU time over traditional optimization procedures by several orders of magnitude. Average flow responses run on simulated realizations are shown to bracket correctly the reference responses of the training image.
The impacts of terrorism: perceptions of faculty and students on safety and security in tourism.

Abstract After the downturn spiral in travel resulting from the Gulf War, marketing professionals had to become extremely creative in trying to attract travelers back to the recreation and tourism markets of the world. However, the events of September 11 inflicted far greater damage to the domestic travel market in the United States than did the Gulf War. The purposes of the study were to examine the perceptions and attitudes of people toward (1) the awareness and acceptance of security measures in travel and tourism, (2) the effects of the September 11 attacks on the tourism industry and industry responses, and (3) the changes of people's travel and recreation behaviors such as destination and activity choices. The individuals surveyed were asked questions concerning their perceptions regarding the effects of the September 11 attacks on the tourism industry and government/business responses, the relative importance of safety in destination/activity choice, security measures at airports, and the changes o...
Iron Porphyrin-Catalyzed Olefination of Carbonyl Compounds with Ethyl Diazoacetate

Iron(II) meso-tetraphenylporphyrin is an efficient catalyst for the selective olefination of a variety of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes with use of ethyl diazoacetate in the presence of triphenylphosphine. These reactions gave olefin products in excellent yields (>85%) with high selectivity for the E-isomer (>90%). For the olefination of ketones, the reactions were generally slow and the selectivities were low compared with those observed with aldehydes. Iron(III) meso-tetraphenylporphyrin chloride, reduced in situ, could be used as an olefination precatalyst to produce similar yields and selectivities. The olefination mechanism was investigated and the likely pathways are discussed.
A Fatigue Model for Discontinuous Particulate-Reinforced Aluminum Alloy Composite: Influence of Microstructure

In this paper, the use of a microstructure-sensitive fatigue model is put forth for the analysis of discontinuously reinforced aluminum alloy metal matrix composite. The fatigue model was used for a ceramic particle-reinforced aluminum alloy deformed under conditions of fully reversed strain control. Experimental results revealed the aluminum alloy to be strongly influenced by volume fraction of the particulate reinforcement phase under conditions of strain-controlled fatigue. The model safely characterizes the evolution of fatigue damage in this aluminum alloy composite into the distinct stages of crack initiation and crack growth culminating in failure. The model is able to capture the specific influence of particle volume fraction, particle size, and nearest neighbor distance in quantifying fatigue life. The model yields good results for correlation of the predicted results with the experimental test results on the fatigue behavior of the chosen aluminum alloy for two different percentages of the ceramic particle reinforcement. Further, the model illustrates that both particle size and volume fraction are key factors that govern fatigue lifetime. This conclusion is well supported by fractographic observations of the cyclically deformed and failed specimens.
Regional Ensemble Forecasts Using the Ensemble Transform Technique

A computationally inexpensive ensemble transform (ET) method for generating high-resolution initial perturbations for regional ensemble forecasts is introduced. The method provides initial perturbations that (i) have an initial variance consistent with the best available estimates of initial condition error variance, (ii) are dynamically conditioned by a process similar to that used in the breeding technique, (iii) add to zero at the initial time, (iv) are quasi-orthogonal and equally likely, and (v) partially respect mesoscale balance constraints by ensuring that each initial perturbation is a linear sum of forecast perturbations from the preceding forecast. The technique is tested using estimates of analysis error variance from the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Atmospheric Variational Data Assimilation System (NAVDAS) and the Navy's regional Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) over a 3-week period during the summer of 2005. Lateral boundary conditions are provided by a global ET ensemble. The tests show that the ET regional ensemble has a skillful mean and a useful spread-skill relationship in mass, momentum, and precipitation variables. Diagnostics indicate that ensemble variance was close to, but probably a little less than, the forecast error variance for wind and temperature variables, while precipitation ensemble variance was significantly smaller than precipitation forecast error variance.