cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Differential gauging and tracer tests resolve seepage fluxes in a strongly-losing stream

Summary The Pajaro River, central coastal California, consistently loses 0.2–0.4 m 3 /s of discharge along an 11.42-km experimental reach late in the water year, when discharge is ⩽4.5 m 3 /s. Channel loss occurs throughout this reach, but is greatest in magnitude near the bottom of the reach. Water isotopic data and other observations suggest that channel loss results mainly from streambed seepage, as opposed to evapotranspiration. If it occurs throughout the year, the channel loss along this short stream reach could contribute 6–13 × 10 6 m 3 of annual aquifer recharge, or ∼20–40% of current sustainable basin yield. We performed a series of tracer injections along this reach to determine if hydrologic exchange occurs within this strongly-losing stream. We found that during periods of high channel loss, there were also comparable storage exchange fluxes and lateral inflow of tracer-free water. Within upper and lower parts of the experimental reach, storage exchange fluxes are about 10 times greater than lateral inflow. The former are associated with the movement of water between the main channel and surface or subsurface storage zones. In this system, it is likely that the latter are primarily associated with spatially- or temporally-long subsurface flow paths within the shallow streambed, as opposed to inflow of ground water from deeper in the basin. Along both upper and lower parts of the experimental reach, lateral inflow tends to increase as channel discharge decreases. In contrast, storage exchange fluxes increase with decreasing discharge along the upper parts of the reach, but decrease with decreasing discharge along the lower parts. Gauging and tracer test results suggest that subsurface storage exchange and loss may occur simultaneously, and that the lateral inflow of tracer-free water can be caused by long-scale subsurface flow as well as ground water making its first appearance in the channel.
Attentional control of texture orientation judgments.

Abstract Recent models of texture processing use low level, spatially parallel computations to extract texture properties. The rapid, preattentive nature of texture segregation suggests that these computations are bottom–up in nature. However, the immunity of texture judgments to top–down influences remains to be tested. Here we investigate the degree to which judgments of texture orientation are susceptible to top–down attentional control. Observers view a brief display composed of variously luminant texture elements (line segments) alternately (in checkerboard arrangement) oriented up/right (at 71.5°) or up/left (at 108.5°), and are asked to make various judgments. In a given task, the observer attempts on each trial to judge which oriented population of line segments has an intensity histogram that best matches a given target histogram. Performance demonstrates adaptive flexibility across different tasks, suggesting that observers are able to exercise significant top–down control over texture orientation computations. Specifically, observers can attend selectively to positive contrast texture elements, to negative contrast texture elements, or to high (positive and negative) contrast texture elements. More generally, observers perform well if the target histogram can be approximated by a weighted average of positive and negative half-wave rectifiers. Performance is poor for histograms that cannot be captured in this way. These results suggest that attentional control in these tasks is limited to adjusting the relative gain of the on- and off-center systems.
The neurochip BCI: towards a neural prosthesis for upper limb function

The Neurochip BCI is an autonomously operating interface between an implanted computer chip and recording and stimulating electrodes in the nervous system. By converting neural activity recorded in one brain area into electrical stimuli delivered to another site, the Neurochip BCI could form the basis for a simple, direct neural prosthetic. In tests with normal, unrestrained monkeys, the Neurochip continuously recorded activity of single neurons in primary motor cortex for several weeks at a time. Cortical activity was correlated with simultaneously-recorded electromyogram (EMG) activity from arm muscles during free behavior. In separate experiments with anesthetized monkeys, we found that microstimulation of the cervical spinal cord evoked movements of the arm and hand, often involving multiple muscles synergies. These observations suggest that spinal microstimulation controlled by cortical neurons could help compensate for damaged corticospinal projections.
Origin of the Creep‐Crack Growth Threshold in a Glass‐Ceramic

The growth threshold, Kth, of large creep cracks in a glass-ceramic has been investigated to determine the causes of the arrest and nonpropagating behaviors below a characteristic stress intensity, K, value. Using replication techniques, the dominant creep demage mechanisms during creep-crack growth, which included grain-boundary cavity and microcrack formation, were identified as a function of K levels and crack extension rates. Quantitative measurements of cavity density, D(r), and microcrack density, Ψ(r), revealed that the values of D(r) and Ψ(r) both decrease with the K level and with increasing distance, r, from the crack tip at a given K level. At K values below Kth, the cavity density became zero as preexisting grain-boundary cavities were sintered, suggesting that the growth threshold originated from sintering of creep cavities. At K levels above Kth, microcracks located in the wake of the main crack were observed to be sintered also. Possible mechanisms responsible for the apparent self-healing of microcracks and creep cavities in the glass-ceramic are provided, together with theoretical and experimental support.
Functional Consequences of Mutations in the Early Growth Response 2 Gene (EGR2) Correlate with Severity of Human Myelinopathies

The early growth response 2 gene (EGR2 )i s a Cys2His2 zinc finger transcription factor which is thought to play a role in the regulation of peripheral nervous system myelination. This idea is based partly on the phenotype of homozygous Krox20 (Egr2) knockout mice, which display hypomyelination of the PNS and a block of Schwann cells at an early stage of differentiation. Mutations in the human EGR2 gene have recently been associated with the inherited peripheral neuropathies Charcot‐Marie‐ Tooth type 1, Dejerine‐Sottas syndrome and congenital hypomyelinating neuropathy. Three of the four EGR2 mutations are dominant and occur within the zinc finger DNA-binding domain. The fourth mutation is recessive and affects the inhibitory domain (R1) that binds the NAB transcriptional co-repressors. A combination of DNA-binding assays and transcriptional analysis was used to determine the functional consequences of these mutations. The zinc finger mutations affect DNA binding and the amount of residual binding directly correlates with disease severity. The R1 domain mutation prevents interaction of EGR2 with the NAB co-repressors and thereby increases transcriptional activity. These data provide insight into the possible disease mechanisms underlying EGR2 mutations and the reason for varying severity and differences in inheritance patterns.
The Image of Women in Abnormal Psychology: Professionalism versus Psychopathology

A survey of sex stereotyping in photographs was made for major current-edition textbooks of abnormal psychology published in the United States. In photographs of contributors to the field, women were significantly underrepresented, amounting to less than 5% of the contributors pictured. There was no overall difference in the frequency with which men and women were pictured as patients, although women were overrepresented in the field's largest selling textbook. Analysis of this text's editions since 1950 revealed this overrepresentation to be a recent reversal of a previous male stereotype of psychopathology. Possible causes of this reversal are (a) the changing nature of clinical practice and training; (b) changes in the process by which textbooks are produced and published; and (c) factors related to sex differences in the epidemiology of common psychopathologies.
Phenotypic variation in fossil samples: modeling the consequences of time-averaging

Abstract Fossil samples almost always accumulate on timescales much longer than the life spans of individual organisms. This time-averaging has the potential to inflate the variability of fossil samples because phenotypic changes may occur during the interval of sample accumulation. Although many have realized that this effect may increase the variance of fossil samples, only qualitative predictions have been possible thus far. In this paper, I assume a simple but general Markovian model of evolution to derive expressions that predict the effects of time-averaging on trait variance and covariance. For lineages evolving as an unbiased random walk, phenotypic variance in samples increases linearly with the duration of time-averaging, at a slope that is proportional to the evolutionary rate. Although based on a very simple model of specimen input into time-averaged samples, the expressions relating variance, time-averaging, and evolutionary rate prove to be robust or adaptable to more realistic assumptions. ...
Where Does It Fit In? The Use of Print Reference in Upper Division Library Instruction

The purpose of this research study is to identify whether academic librarians teach upper-division students about print reference resources, and how they teach students to use them. Questionnaires were sent to library instruction and reference services e-mail discussion lists. After analyzing results, researchers found that responses focused on the themes of pro-print, pro-electronic, relevance to instruction, collection development, and marketing. Using print reference in library instruction is related to the type of research assignment and electronic format availability. Librarians may want to consider engaging students in hands-on use of print and electronic reference material, so students are able to navigate the breadth of information sources.
Mutual Fund Investor Fees and Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Retail mutual fund investors appear to pay higher fees than institutional investors. Critics attribute the apparent fee differential to competitive market failure among retail fund investment advisers. Several appellate court opinions have expressed support for using such fee disparities to test whether retail mutual fund investment advisers have breached their fiduciary duty to fund investors. We discuss existing theories of anti-competitive pricing in the mutual fund industry; present empirical findings consistent with price competition; and review conflicting appellate court opinions on the factors to consider when assessing whether an adviser has breached its fiduciary duty to fund investors. We then analyze the basic economics of mutual fund investor fee differentials. We find that investor fee differentials reflect important features of retail and institutional adviser supply (cost) and buyer demand, consistent with price competition in both retail and institutional fund sectors. Our analysis indicates that if courts engage in de facto mutual fund rate regulation, as fee critics implicitly call for, using institutional fees as a competitive benchmark, retail fund investors will experience higher fees, contrary to the law's intent, and institutional investors will have fewer advisers to choose from.
Maximizing the electromagnetic and chemical resonances of surface-enhanced Raman scattering for nucleic acids.

Although surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has previously been performed with nucleic acids, the measured intensities for each nucleic acid have varied significantly depending on the SERS substrate and excitation wavelength. We have demonstrated that the charge-transfer (CT) mechanism, also known as the chemical enhancement of SERS, is responsible for the discrepancies previously reported in literature. The electronic states of cytosine and guanine attached to silver atoms are computationally calculated and experimentally measured to be in the visible range, which leads to a resonance Raman effect at the corresponding maximum wavelengths. The resulting SERS measurements are in good agreement with the simulated values, in which cytosine-silver shows stronger enhancement at 532 nm and guanine-silver shows stronger enhancement at 785 nm. An atomic layer of aluminum oxide is deposited on substrates to prevent charge-transfer, and corresponding measurements show weaker Raman signals caused by the supp...
The Role of Public Knowledge, Resources, and Innovation in Responding to the Ebola Outbreak.

Since the beginning of the recent Ebola outbreak, a sense of fear has developed among the public due to the novelty of our exposure to the virus and the ill-equipped nature of our health care systems. Media sensationalism, coupled with improper knowledge of Ebola, may have contributed to mass hysteria. Most support to tackle Ebola has been direct monetary aid. However, others are working on innovative methods to control the epidemic, including the development of rapid detection methods, experimental treatments, and a viable vaccine. Rapid screening and vaccine ideas are promising, but it is unlikely that they will be ready in the coming months. This raises the question of what other tools and technological innovation can be developed to effectively stem the spread of the outbreak. Although we hope the continued outpouring of aid and health care workers to West Africa will greatly reduce the impact of Ebola, communication, screenings, treatment, and vaccine are of central importance to stop this outbreak. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:595–597)
A study of insect repellents. 1. Effect on the flight and approach by Aedes aegypti.

Four insect repellents, deet, ethyl hexanediol, DMP (dimethyl phthalate), and Indalone® (butyl 3,4-dihydro-2,2-dimethyl-4-oxo2 H -pyran-6-carboxylate), were studied for their effect on the behavior of Aedes aegypti (L.). The behavioral parameters studied were: takeoff, flying activity, and oriented approach to the repellent-coated Human palm, warm-moist surface, and an inert surface. Three different distances between the mosquitoes and the target studied were sued. Deet affected the mostquitoes most in takeoff, flying and approach, and Ind alone® the least. Ethyl haxanediol was the most irritating of the four, yet not the best. Considering the effectiveness over distance and overall efficiency, the 4 repellents could be rated as follows: deet > ethyl hexanediot > DMP > Ind alone. The interaction of attractant And repellent molecules in affecting mosquito behavior is discussed.
Rickets in children.

A brief survey of rickets is presented. Specific biochemical determinations establish whether rachitic changes are primary or secondary to systemic disease. If no underlying disease is present, the most likely diagnosis is vitamin D-refractory rickets. The difficulties in management of this form of the disease are emphasized. The rare disease hypophosphatasia is described.
Pharmacist-managed Helicobacter pylori clinic

A pharmacist-managed Helicobacter pylori assessment clinic for ambulatory patients is described. The pharmacy service at a 400-bed Veterans Affairs Medical Center established a pharmacist-managed clinic to assess patients who were receiving long-term acid-suppressive medications (histamine H2-receptor antagonists, sucralfate, or omeprazole). Patients with active ulcer disease and those receiving ulcer prophylaxis are screened for the presence of H. pylori. Those who test positive are treated with combinations of the following agents: omeprazole, clarithromycin, amoxicillin, tetracycline, and metronidazole. The pharmacist also may adjust or discontinue acid-suppressive drug regimens. The pharmacist is responsible for ordering all appropriate laboratory tests, monitoring patients for adverse effects, collecting data on patient outcomes, and providing patient education. The clinic provides opportunities for pharmacists to study the clinical effectiveness and pharmacoeconomics of various regimens for treating H. pylori-associated disease and for pharmacy students and residents to interact with patients. As of fall 1994, 20 patients had been evaluated at the clinic: 12 tested positive for H. pylori and were treated with antimicrobials and all were pain-free without medication at the end of treatment. An H. pylori assessment clinic enabled pharmacists to assume a primary care role, document improvement in patient outcomes, and study the effectiveness of various antimicrobial regimens.
Smart Grid and Smart Energy Resource Grid

At present a new tendency appears in the research,development and implementation of smart grid,that is,the research,development and implementation of smart grid are extending to related industries and interacting with them,and a high-level smart energy resource grid will be built in China. On the basis of expounding the idea of smart grid,following items,such as the research and development courses for smart grids home and abroad,the extension of smart grid to related industries and the interaction of smart grid with them as well as the preparation for building smart energy resource grid in China,are analyzed and discussed to propose some notable problems,which are favorable for the conformity of smart grid with smart energy resource grid.
Patterns of care for HIV-related Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in a university medical program: a case study.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE Previous studies have identified large variations in patterns of in-hospital acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) care among groups of hospitals and physicians. We evaluated the patterns of care for patients with AIDS-related Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) care at a single university program with patients treated at an adjacent county and Veterans' Administration (VA) hospital. All medical care was provided by physicians in a single residency program, but attending physician staffs were separate. SETTING AND PATIENTS A randomized sample of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related PCP from the two hospitals who received care between 1987 and 1990. RESULTS During the study years, the VA hospital provided care for approximately one fourth as many AIDS patients as the county hospital. Patients at the VA hospital had a higher bronchoscopy rate (39.7% versus 27.7%, P = .05), higher intensive-care unit (ICU) rate (11.8% versus 2.9%, P = .008), longer hospitalizations (mean length of stay of 18.9 versus 13.9 days, P = .004), but delayed initiation of anti-PCP therapy (median of day 2 versus day 1, P < .05). The odds of death were significantly different between the VA and county hospitals, even after adjusting for differences in important patient characteristics. CONCLUSION Patterns of in-hospital PCP care differed between the two hospitals of this medical school. Possible explanations include organizational differences related to level of attending physician HIV experience, hospital case loads of AIDS patients, or specific hospital considerations such as concerns over tuberculosis exposure.
Pancreatic cancer metastatic to a limited number of lymph nodes has no impact on outcome.

Background The purpose of this study was to determine the association of the extent of metastatic lymph node involvement with survival in pancreatic cancer.
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: An Adjunct in the Management of the Neonate with Severe Respiratory Distress and Congenital Urinary Tract Anomalies

AbstractSevere respiratory distress is the major cause of perinatal mortality associated with congenital urinary tract anomalies or severe obstructive uropathy, and is often accompanied by oligohydramnios. In the past the prognosis in these high risk cases was extremely poor. We review our recent experience in 3 neonates with severe respiratory distress and congenital urinary tract anomalies who were successfully managed with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, of whom 2 had posterior urethral valves and 1 had bilateral solid renal dysplasia. The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for life threatening respiratory distress in the neonate associated with congenital uropathy is not limited to our experience. A review of the National Neonatal Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Registry for neonates with urological indications for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation revealed 10 interventions with 9 survivors, for a survival rate of 90%. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation may provide cardiopulmonary ...
Low-power all-analog circuit for rectangular-type analog joint source channel coding

A low-complexity and low-power all-analog circuit is proposed to perform efficiently Analog Joint Source Channel Coding (AJSCC). The proposed idea is to adopt Voltage Controlled Voltage Source (VCVS) to realize the rectangular-type mapping in AJSCC. The proposal is verified by Spice simulations as well as via breadboard and Printed Circuit Board (PCB) implementations. Field testing results indicate that the design is feasible for low-complexity and low-power systems such as wireless sensor networks for environmental monitoring.
Interoceptive Awareness Moderates the Relationship Between Perceived and Physiological Genital Arousal in Women

Abstract Introduction In general, laboratory studies have shown low correlations between subjective (ie, self-report) and physiologic (ie, vaginal pulse amplitude) measurements of sexual arousal in women. One explanation for this presumed low concordance is that women might not be attending to their genital responses and/or might be unable to accurately perceive their genital responses. Aim To examine the extent to which women can perceive their genital arousal sensations, the role that interoceptive awareness plays in this ability, and whether interoceptive awareness influences sexual concordance in women. Methods Twenty-six sexually functional women viewed an erotic film while their physiologic and perceived genital sexual arousal levels were measured continuously. Self-report measurements of sexual function and bodily awareness also were administered. Main Outcome Measures Physiologic sexual arousal was measured with a vaginal photoplethysmograph, and perception of genital arousal was measured with an arousometer. Degree of bodily awareness was measured with the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness questionnaire. Results Women exhibited a significant degree of agreement between physiologic and perceived genital arousal ( P P P Conclusion Women can perceive their genital response, and interoceptive awareness influences this ability and the relation between subjective and physiologic sexual arousal. Increasing bodily awareness could be a plausible route for treatment development.
Morphology-defined interaction of copper phthalocyanine with O2/H2O

Copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) is an important hole transport layer for organic photovoltaics (OPVs), but interaction with ambient gas/vapor may lead to changes in its electronic properties and limit OPV device lifetimes. CuPc films of thickness 25 and 100 nm were grown by thermal sublimation at 25°C, 150°C, and 250°C in order to vary morphology. We measured electrical resistance and film mass in situ during exposure to controlled pulses of O2 and H2O vapor. CuPc films deposited at 250°C showed a factor of 5 higher uptake of O2 as detected by a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), possibly due to the formation of β-CuPc at T>200°C which allows higher O2 mobility between stacked molecules. While weight-based measurements stabilize after ∼10 min of gas exposure, resistance response stabilizes over times >1 h, suggesting that mass change occurs by rapid adsorption at active surface sites whereas resistive response is dominated by slow diffusion of adsorbates into the bulk film. The 25 nm films exhibit higher resistive response than 100 nm films after an hour of O2/H2O exposure due to fast analyte diffusion down to the film/electrode interface. We found evidence of decoupling of CuPc from the gold-coated QCM crystal due to preferential adsorption of O2/H2O molecules on gold.
Dynamic synchrophasor estimation with modified hybrid method

Accuracy of synchrophasor measurements is one of the key issues directing the application of synchrophasor/PMU technologies in both transmission and distribution systems. This paper introduces a dynamic phasor estimation method for PMUs/IEDs based on modified time domain hybrid method. Dynamic phasor is estimated using Taylor expansion, where frequency deviation is derived directly from fitting parameters to avoid magnification of fitting errors. Using the samples from less than 1.2 cycles, the proposed method constructs three windows and then performs recursive DFT on both signal samples and modeled signal for parameter estimation. By scrutinizing the position for time-tagging and approximation, the precision of hybrid method is further improved and the implementation is made easier. This method is essentially rendered immune to harmonics by incorporating DFT in synchrophasor estimation. Performance of the method is investigated through simulations that prove high precision under both static and dynamic signals from real power system scenarios.
Case 47: An Airway Problem During Monitored Anesthesia Care

A 48-year-old female (84 kg, 5 ft 8 in.) is scheduled for a rectal exam under ­monitored anesthesia care (MAC). Her main complaint at the moment is bleeding hemorrhoids. Her past history is relevant for hypertension, turbinate cancer ­(primary) which has been treated but she still gets occasionally epistaxis, hypothyroidism, noninsulin-dependent diabetes, and glaucoma. You see her in the preoperative area and place an IV and sedate her with 4 mg of midazolam. She is placed in a prone jackknife position on the operating table. You give her 50 μg of fentanyl and start a propofol infusion of 100 μg/kg/min. The surgeon uses a liberal amount of lidocaine and the surgery starts. Unfortunately, the procedure lasts longer than you have expected and it is now 1 h after the start and the patient is getting restless. You increase the propofol infusion, but to your dismay, you discover that the patient develops an upper airway obstruction. The oxygen saturation is falling. Things are not easy, as she is in the prone position. You turn the propofol off, place a facemask, and do a one-handed jaw thrust with one hand, while ventilating with the other hand. The oxygen saturation improves but only to 84%. You attempt to insert a Guedel airway but can’t open her mouth.
Optical applications of biomolecules

Abstract: From kinematics to molecular machines, biologically inspired technologies harness and enhance the intrinsic properties of naturally occurring materials and systems for applied technologies. Bacteriorhodopsin (BR) represents the most studied protein for photonic applications, and has found use in artificial retinas, associative and volumetric memories, optical limiters, photovoltaic cells and other devices. The native BR protein is rarely optimal for device applications, and genetic engineering plays an important role in the optimization process. In addition, new retinal proteins such as proteorhodopsin and channelrhodopsin-2 have been discovered which provide new options and opportunities.
Co-trimoxazole Prophylaxis, Asymptomatic Malaria Parasitemia, and Infectious Morbidity in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Exposed, Uninfected Infants in Malawi: The BAN Study.

Background Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-exposed infants are disproportionately at risk of morbidity and mortality compared with their HIV-unexposed counterparts. The role of co-trimoxazole preventive therapy (CPT) in reducing leading causes of infectious morbidity is unclear. Methods We used data from the Breastfeeding, Antiretrovirals and Nutrition (BAN) clinical trial (conducted 2004-2010, Malawi) to assess the association of (1) CPT and (2) asymptomatic malaria parasitemia with respiratory and diarrheal morbidity in infants. In June 2006, all HIV-exposed infants in BAN began receiving CPT (240 mg) from 6 to 36 weeks of age, or until weaning occurred and HIV infection was ruled out. All HIV-exposed, uninfected infants (HEIs) at 8 weeks of age (n = 1984) were included when CPT was the exposure. A subset of HEIs (n = 471) were tested for malarial parasitemia using dried blood spots from 12, 24, and 36 weeks of age. Cox proportional hazards models for recurrent gap-time data were used to examine the association of time-varying exposures on morbidity. Results CPT was associated with a 36% reduction in respiratory morbidity (hazard ratio [HR], 0.64 [95% confidence interval {CI}, .60-.69]) and a 41% reduction in diarrheal morbidity (HR, 0.59 [95% CI, .54-.65]). Having asymptomatic malaria parasitemia was associated with a 40% increase in respiratory morbidity (HR, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.13-1.74]) and a 50% increase in diarrheal morbidity (HR, 1.50 [95% CI, 1.09-2.06]), after adjusting for CPT. Conclusions CPT may have an important role to play in reducing the leading global causes of morbidity and mortality in the growing population of HEIs in malaria-endemic resource-limited settings.
Hierarchical control framework for integrated coordination between distributed energy resources and demand response

Abstract Demand response represents a significant but largely untapped resource that can greatly enhance the flexibility and reliability of power systems. This paper proposes a hierarchical control framework to facilitate the integrated coordination between distributed energy resources and demand response. The proposed framework consists of coordination and device layers. In the coordination layer, prior to each scheduling period, each coordinator receives the aggregated utility or cost functions as well as the power operating ranges from aggregators or device controllers. Then, various resources or their aggregations are optimally coordinated in a distributed manner to achieve the system-level objectives. The obtained regulation signals are sent back to aggregators or device controllers for real-time control. In the device layer, at the scheduling stage, the controller at each device reports to coordinators (directly or through aggregators) the required information for optimal coordination, and receives the regulation signals from its commander once the coordination is completed. During the real-time operation, individual resources are controlled to follow the optimal power dispatch signals. For practical applications, a method is presented to determine the utility functions of controllable loads by accounting for the real-time load dynamics and the preferences of individual customers. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is validated by detailed simulation studies.
External triggering and triggered targeting strategies for drug delivery

Drug delivery systems that are externally triggered to release drugs and/or target tissues hold considerable promise for improving the treatment of many diseases by minimizing nonspecific toxicity and enhancing the efficacy of therapy. These drug delivery systems are constructed from materials that are sensitive to a wide range of external stimuli, including light, ultrasound, electrical and magnetic fields, and specific molecules. The responsiveness conferred by these materials allows the release of therapeutics to be triggered on demand and remotely by a physician or patient. In this Review, we describe the rationales for such systems and the types of stimuli that can be deployed, and provide an outlook for the field. Externally triggered drug delivery systems use both new and established materials that are sensitive to various stimuli. These systems provide opportunities to improve the treatment of many diseases.
Stability of UV/ozone-treated thermoplastics under different storage conditions for microfluidic analytical devices

Thermoplastics are becoming a popular material for fabricating microfluidic devices and there is an increasing need for robust surface modification strategies. UV/ozone (UVO) treatment is a simple and effective method for making plastic surfaces more hydrophilic. Prior reports on the stability of UVO-treated plastics are limited to four weeks, which is not sufficient for applications requiring long-term storage. Here, we present new findings on the long-term stability of UVO-treated plastics for up to 16 weeks and show that the storage condition has a significant impact on the surface stability. Static contact angle measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were performed on UVO-treated cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), polycarbonate (PC) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) stored in air, dehumidified and vacuum conditions. We found that the hydrophobic recovery of UVO-treated COC and PC can be inhibited by storing them in dehumidified or vacuum conditions, whereas the stability of PMMA is not significantly influenced by the storage condition. Protein adsorption studies were carried out and showed that there is a significant reduction in the amount of protein adsorption on UVO-treated plastics compared with untreated plastics. Lastly, UVO-treated PMMA microchannels were fabricated and used for capillary-driven flow, which revealed that longer treatment durations generate faster flow rates. These collective results offer new insights into the utility of UVO-treated plastics for microfluidic analytical applications.
‘Art is not just about entertainment’: the social activism and cultural production of Chicago’s Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN)

As cities compete for a ‘global city’ designation to attract capital, urban policy discourses emphasise fostering ‘creative industries’ and attracting a ‘creative class’. In these discourses, glari...
Delivery performance improvement in two-stage supply chain

Abstract This paper investigates strategies of supply chain delivery performance improvement. The performance is measured using a cost-based analytical model which evaluates the expected penalty cost for early and late delivery. The results demonstrate strategies for improving delivery performance when a supplier uses an optimally positioned delivery window to minimize the expected penalty cost. The effect of the width of the delivery window and penalty costs for early and late deliveries on the optimal position of the delivery window and the expected penalty cost are explored in general case. In addition to that, the effect of a mean and variance parameters of a normal delivery time distribution are revised. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.
Regulation of fatty acid trafficking in liver by thioesterase superfamily member 1.

Thioesterase superfamily member 1 (Them1) is an acyl-CoA thioesterase that is highly expressed in brown adipose tissue, where it functions to suppress energy expenditure. Lower Them1 expression levels in the liver are upregulated in response to high-fat feeding. Them1−/− mice are resistant to diet-induced obesity, hepatic steatosis, and glucose intolerance, but the contribution of Them1 in liver is unclear. To examine its liver-specific functions, we created conditional transgenic mice, which, when bred to Them1−/− mice and activated, expressed Them1 exclusively in the liver. Mice with liver-specific Them1 expression exhibited no changes in energy expenditure. Rates of fatty acid oxidation were increased, whereas hepatic VLDL triglyceride secretion rates were decreased by hepatic Them1 expression. When fed a high-fat diet, Them1 expression in liver promoted excess steatosis in the setting of reduced rates of fatty acid oxidation and preserved glycerolipid synthesis. Liver-specific Them1 expression did not influence glucose tolerance or insulin sensitivity, but did promote hepatic gluconeogenesis in high-fat-fed animals. This was attributable to the generation of excess fatty acids, which activated PPARα and promoted expression of gluconeogenic genes. These findings reveal a regulatory role for Them1 in hepatocellular fatty acid trafficking.
Niche Overlap and Invasion of Competitors in Random Environments II. The Effects of Demographic Stochasticity

This paper treats a class of models and approximations that are useful for describing the dynamics of a rare species attempting to invade a community consisting of established resident competitors. Such dynamics are a central feature of faunal buildup via immigration and thus bear on the theory of island biogeography as well as the theory of the limiting similarity of competitors. The purpose of the models is to study the joint effects of interspecific competition, demographic stochasticity, and environmental stochasticity. Here “demographic stochasticity” refers to random individual to individual variation in offspring production; whereas “environmental stochasticity” refers to random variation in the mean per capita growth rate for the population as a whole.
Subcarrier allocation in LTE network deployment with mobility

Long Term Evolution (LTE) femtocells operate in three access modes based on subcarriers allocated to guaranteed and non-guaranteed users. In this paper, we conduct simulations and study the LTE network performance with femtocells. We define network productivity which measures the network performance based on reward associated with new call arrival and penalty accounted for forced call termination due to handoff failure. Using specific parameter setup for reward and penalty weights for each network deployment from previous simulations, we present the effects of call mobility on subcarrier allocation for each femtocell deployment. We also determine the subcarrier allocation reserved for guaranteed users that yields maximum network throughput for a given blocking probability vector.
Daily and Seasonal Influences on Dietary Self-monitoring Using a Smartphone Application

Abstract Objective To examine within-person variation in dietary self-monitoring during a 6-month technology-supported weight loss trial as a function of time-varying factors including time in the study, day of the week, and month of the year. Methods Smartphone self-monitoring data were examined from 31 obese adults (aged 18–60 years) who participated in a 6-month technology-supported weight loss program. Multilevel regression modeling was used to examine within-person variation in dietary self-monitoring. Results Participants recorded less as time in the study progressed. Fewer foods were reported on the weekends compared with weekdays. More foods were self-monitored in January compared with October; however, a seasonal effect was not observed. Conclusions and Implications The amount of time in a study and day of the week were associated with dietary self-monitoring but not season. Future studies should examine factors that influence variations in self-monitoring and identify methods to improve technology-supported dietary self-monitoring adherence.
Application of Quality Management Tools in the Evaluation of Websites: The Case of Sports Organizations

Past research has established the importance of the Web across industries, output types, and customers and the role of quality in this context. In addition, WebQual has emerged as a prominent tool ...
Process Research on Strategic Decisions: A Personal Perspective

Process research on strategic decisions is the body of reports, studies, and investigations focused on that task. This chapter reports on the progress of that work from the perspective of one researcher involved continuously from relatively early on in the process. While the aim is to provide a complete and objective survey, the personal point of view is both clear and limiting. It is significantly shaped by the context of the Harvard Business School. The first section deals with the somewhat distracted intellectual context within which the field developed; the second with some of the halting steps by which process research evolved; the third examines where we are today, and the fourth what might be done to improve the contribution of process research in the future by taking a more disciplined and collective approach.
Myofibroblast-Specific TGFβ Receptor II Signaling in the Fibrotic Response to Cardiac Myosin Binding Protein C-Induced Cardiomyopathy.

Rationale: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurs with a frequency of about 1 in 500 people. Approximately 30% of those affected carry mutations within the gene encoding cMyBP-C (cardiac myosin binding...
Physical Disability and Health Disparities

Individuals with ambulatory disabilities or mobility limitations comprise approximately 7% of the US population ages 5 and older. Persons with mobility limitations/physical disabilities are more likely to experience health disparities such as increased rates of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes than persons without mobility limitations. Factors that increase health disparities include both upstream and downstream causes. Upstream causes include poverty, stress, and stigma. Downstream causes include lack of access stemming from insufficient resources to acquire needed care, equipment and space access, transportation challenges, and limited training for healthcare providers on providing appropriate care for individuals with disabilities. Addressing the key causes of health disparities includes policy-level changes that address poverty, ensuring access barriers are addressed through statute such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, improving data to enhance evidence-based decision-making, better training of healthcare providers, and including people with disabilities in public health campaigns.
Novel alanine serine cysteine transporter 2 (ASCT2) inhibitors based on sulfonamide and sulfonic acid ester scaffolds

The neutral amino acid transporter alanine serine cysteine transporter 2 (ASCT2) belongs to the solute carrier 1 (SLC1) family of transport proteins and transports neutral amino acids, such as alanine and glutamine, into the cell in exchange with intracellular amino acids. This amino acid transport is sodium dependent, but not driven by the transmembrane Na+ concentration gradient. Glutamine transport by ASCT2 is proposed to be important for glutamine homoeostasis in rapidly growing cancer cells to fulfill the energy and nitrogen demands of these cells. Thus, ASCT2 is thought to be a potential anticancer drug target. However, the pharmacology of the amino acid binding site is not well established. Here, we report on the synthesis and characterization of a novel class of ASCT2 inhibitors based on an amino acid scaffold with a sulfonamide/sulfonic acid ester linker to a hydrophobic group. The compounds were designed based on an improved ASCT2 homology model using the human glutamate transporter hEAAT1 crystal structure as a modeling template. The compounds were shown to inhibit with a competitive mechanism and a potency that scales with the hydrophobicity of the side chain. The most potent compound binds with an apparent affinity, Ki, of 8 ± 4 µM and can block the alanine response with a Ki of 40 ± 23 µM at 200 µM alanine concentration. Computational analysis predicts inhibitor interactions with the binding site through molecular docking. In conclusion, the sulfonamide/sulfonic acid ester scaffold provides facile synthetic access to ASCT2 inhibitors with a potentially large variability in chemical space of the hydrophobic side chain. These inhibitors will be useful chemical tools to further characterize the role of ASCT2 in disease as well as improve our understanding of inhibition mechanisms of this transporter.
Use of statin medications following diagnosis in relation to survival among women with ovarian cancer

Background: It has been suggested that the likelihood of survival among women with ovarian cancer could be increased by postdiagnosis statin use. This study examines the potential association between postdiagnosis statin use and cancer-specific mortality among women with ovarian cancer. Methods: This cohort study used SEER-Medicare data on women ≥66 years of age diagnosed with ovarian cancer during 2007 to 2012 who were enrolled in Medicare parts A, B, and D during the year after diagnosis. Statin use was defined as two or more fills for a statin during the year after diagnosis. Ovarian cancer–specific death was assessed starting 1 year after diagnosis. Marginal structural Cox models were used, adjusting for the inverse probability of treatment weighting and censoring weighting. Treatment weights and censoring weights were calculated using logistic regression models with a priori–defined covariates. Results: Among 2,195 women with ovarian cancer, 489 (22%) used statins within 1 year after their diagnosis. Over a mean follow-up of 2.2 years, 796 (36%) women died from ovarian cancer. The adjusted HR for ovarian cancer mortality comparing statin users to nonusers was 0.74 (95% confidence interval, 0.61–0.91). Conclusions: Findings from this and prior work suggest statin use following a diagnosis with ovarian cancer is associated with a lower risk of cancer death. Impact: Because, in most women, statin administration has limited side effects, a randomized trial of statins among patients with ovarian cancer may be warranted.
Modeling injection/extraction in a fracture network with mechanically interacting fractures using an efficient displacement discontinuity method

Abstract The displacement discontinuity method (DDM) is frequently used for modeling the behavior of fractures in reservoir modeling. However, the DDM is not computational efficient for large systems of cracks, limiting its application to small-scale situations. Recent fast summation techniques such as the Fast Multipole (FM) Method accelerate the solution of large fracture problems, demanding linear complexity O ( N ) in memory and execution time with very modest computational resources. In this work we use the FM-DDM method to simulate fracture response while considering fluid flow through the fracture network. This is a novel and efficient approach for solution of large scale coupled fluid flow-geomechanical problem in naturally fractured reservoirs. Several case studies involving fracture networks with several hundred thousands of boundary elements are presented. The results show a good level of accuracy and computational efficiency compared to the conventional DDM. In addition, the approach is shown to be very useful for the design of exploitation strategies in large-scale fracture network situations. The relative positions between injectors and producers and the fracture permeability variation with injection/extraction play an important role on the distribution of stresses in the fracture network, which in-turn, influence the conditions for the fluid-flow such as fluid pressure and fracture permeability.
Terminology and Conceptualization of Opioid Use Disorder and Implications for Treatment

Using accurate terminology has implications for clinical care, research, and public policy relevant to opioid use disorder. Some less accurate terms can also be stigmatizing and have negative effects on patients. For example, there is international agreement that the term “abuse” be avoided. Furthermore, opioid use is not the same as opioid use disorder. Opioid use disorder can be a chronic condition. As such, for many, acute care and care without follow-up is wholly inadequate. Terminology that ascribes undesirable characteristics, particularly terms that suggest the patient is responsible for causing his/her illness, is not only inaccurate but stigmatizing, leading to poor care and poor outcomes. The spectrum of unhealthy use ranges from use that risks health consequences to use with consequences that meet criteria for opioid use disorder. Dependence can be a confusing term as it can indicate disease in international systems but can also simply refer to a physiological state that happens with regular use. This chapter also discusses terminology for testing and treatment, such as “dirty urines” and “medication-assisted treatment,” both of which have implications for treatment.