cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of a Medical Home and Shared Savings Intervention on Quality and Utilization of Care

Importance Published evaluations of medical home interventions have found limited effects on quality and utilization of care. Objective To measure associations between participation in the Northeastern Pennsylvania Chronic Care Initiative and changes in quality and utilization of care. Design, Setting, and Participants The northeast region of the Pennsylvania Chronic Care Initiative began in October 2009, included 2 commercial health plans and 27 volunteering small primary care practice sites, and was designed to run for 36 months. Both participating health plans provided medical claims and enrollment data spanning October 1, 2007, to September 30, 2012 (2 years prior to and 3 years after the pilot inception date). We analyzed medical claims for 17 363 patients attributed to 27 pilot and 29 comparison practices, using difference-in-difference methods to estimate changes in quality and utilization of care associated with pilot participation. Exposures The intervention included learning collaboratives, disease registries, practice coaching, payments to support care manager salaries and practice transformation, and shared savings incentives (bonuses of up to 50% of any savings generated, contingent on meeting quality targets). As a condition of participation, pilot practices were required to attain recognition by the National Committee for Quality Assurance as medical homes. Main Outcomes and Measures Performance on 6 quality measures for diabetes and preventive care; utilization of hospital, emergency department, and ambulatory care. Results All pilot practices received recognition as medical homes during the intervention. By intervention year 3, relative to comparison practices, pilot practices had statistically significantly better performance on 4 process measures of diabetes care and breast cancer screening; lower rates of all-cause hospitalization (8.5 vs 10.2 per 1000 patients per month; difference, −1.7 [95% CI, −3.2 to −0.03]), lower rates of all-cause emergency department visits (29.5 vs 34.2 per 1000 patients per month; difference, −4.7 [95% CI, −8.7 to −0.9]), lower rates of ambulatory care–sensitive emergency department visits (16.2 vs 19.4 per 1000 patients per month; difference, −3.2 [95% CI, −5.7 to −0.9]), lower rates of ambulatory visits to specialists (104.9 vs 122.2 per 1000 patients per month; difference, −17.3 [95% CI, −26.6 to −8.0]); and higher rates of ambulatory primary care visits (349.0 vs 271.5 per 1000 patients per month; difference, 77.5 [95% CI, 37.3 to 120.5]). Conclusions and Relevance During a 3-year period, this medical home intervention, which included shared savings for participating practices, was associated with relative improvements in quality, increased primary care utilization, and lower use of emergency department, hospital, and specialty care. With further experimentation and evaluation, such interventions may continue to become more effective.
Transoceanic infragravity waves impacting Antarctic ice shelves

[1] Long-period oceanic infragravity (IG) waves (ca. [250, 50] s period) are generated along continental coastlines by nonlinear wave interactions of storm-forced shoreward propagating swell. Seismic observations on the Ross Ice Shelf show that free IG waves generated along the Pacific coast of North America propagate transoceanically to Antarctica, where they induce a much higher amplitude shelf response than ocean swell (ca. [30, 12] s period). Additionally, unlike ocean swell, IG waves are not significantly damped by sea ice, and thus impact the ice shelf throughout the year. The response of the Ross Ice Shelf to IG-wave induced flexural stresses is more than 60 dB greater than concurrent ground motions measured at nearby Scott Base. This strong coupling suggests that IG-wave forcing may produce ice-shelf fractures that enable abrupt disintegration of ice shelves that are also affected by strong surface melting. Bolstering this hypothesis, each of the 2008 breakup events of the Wilkins Ice Shelf coincides with wave-model-estimated arrival of IG-wave energy from the Patagonian coast.
Targeting of green fluorescent protein to mitochondria.

Publisher Summary This chapter describes green fluorescent protein (GFP) marker proteins that are correctly targeted to different mitochondrial compartments: the matrix, the inner and outer membranes, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in cells of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These marker proteins can be used not only for the study of their sorting patterns both in vegetatively growing cells and in zygotes but also for the examination of other interesting phenomena, such as dynamic changes in mitochondrial morphology, including fusion and fission events, as well as distribution and motility of mitochondria and mtDNA. The laboratory has made extensive use of specific fusion proteins to analyze the sorting of mitochondrial constituents in zygotes of synchronously mated cells. Such studies confirm that mtDNA is preferentially transmitted to the emerging diploid bud. These findings suggest that mtDNA transmission is nonrandom and governed by segregation machinery that assures its faithful inheritance to daughter cells. As haploid parental mitochondrial components are initially resolved spatially in young zygotes, this experimental system has provided insights into the dynamics of mitochondrial components that would have been more difficult, if not impossible, to resolve by analysis of vegetatively growing cells. Finally, mitochondrial GFP markers described in the chapter is especially useful to analyze mutants defective for mitochondrial fusion.
Employment for Persons with Physical Disabilities and Related Technology

A great deal of attention has been focused on issues surrounding the employment of persons with significant cognitive disabilities. Today there exists a vocational training technology (task analysis, prompting, reinforcement) aimed at teaching tasks and work-related skills to able-bodied persons who are challenged to learn and perform the discriminations required by tasks. This technology has been systematically evaluated and widely disseminated to rehabilitation programs and personnel. l 4 Only recently have efforts been made to address the employment challenges encountered by persons who experience significant physical disabilities.5loThis lack of attention has in part stemmed from the inadequacy of the existing training technology for these persons. The current approaches have focused on closing thegap between the requirements of a job and an individual's ability to meet these requirements by increasing the employee's skills via training. Persons with physical disabilities require another type of technology, one that is aimed at decreasing the physical demands of the job, such as assistive devices and job-site modifications. During the past decade there has been a significant growth in the development oftechnologies aimed at enhancing the ability of persons with physical disabilities to function independently. 1 1-13 However, to date the application of these technologies for the purpose of increasing these persons' employment opportunities has been limited.I416 The passage of p.L. 100-407, the Technology Related Assistance Act of 1988, provides the impetus to utilize existing technologies as well as to develop new innovations to enhance and increase the employment options afforded persons with physical disabilities. The purpose ofthis article is to provide the reader with a familiarity with technologies that currently exist that can be used to assist persons with physical disabilities to access employment. In addition, the employment challenges encountered by persons who experience severe physical and multiple disabilities and the role of technology in meeting these challenges will be addressed.
Postoperative Management of the Geriatric Patient

Taking care of the geriatric patient is extremely rewarding, but this population also poses specific challenges, especially in the surgical practice of Urology. Many times the benefits of surgery outweigh the risks. The patient’s history needs to be carefully reviewed prior to making any decision for surgical intervention. Some of the most significant concerns include the patient’s medical comorbidities, cognitive function, functional status, social support, and living arrangements. Physiological changes of aging, also called “homeostenosis,” further diminish their ability to cope with postoperative physiologic stresses. This chapter focuses on clinical care of the geriatric urologic patient in the postoperative period.
Channel diagonalization through orthogonal space-time coding

Space-time block codes from orthogonal designs were proposed in Tarokh et al. (1999) for communication over fading channels with multiple transmit and receive antennas. These codes require no knowledge of the channel at the transmitter, and linear processing at the receiver achieves maximum-likelihood decoding. This paper presents an alternative approach to code design, where the code criterion is such that the transmitter and receiver operations essentially "diagonalize" any arbitrary matrix channel. Such diagonalization greatly simplifies decoding. The transmitter is assumed to have no knowledge of the channel. The desired properties of such a code are derived. It is shown that with some additional constraints, the resulting class of codes is identical to the codes introduced in Tarokh et al. Hence, an alternative interpretation of space-time block codes from orthogonal designs is given. The alternative code construction criteria that are derived may facilitate the design of more general classes of codes.
The new Christian right and the humanist response: Reciprocated diatribe

This is a case study of the interaction in the debate between the New Christian Right and its opponents. Because these groups argue from incompatible premises, they are unable to understand one another's position within a common moral framework. The result has been a reciprocated diatribe in which invective is typical. The case illustrates a common problem in contemporary communication that is characteristic of a number of ideological conflicts in which disputants' beliefs are bolstered by their interpretations of the responses of the other side.
Response to Comments on "Managing Soil Carbon"

We agree with Renwick et al . ([ 1 ][1]) and Van Oost et al . ([ 2 ][2]) that the magnitude of organic carbon lost from cultivated soils by erosion and mineralization processes is uncertain. The uncertainty is especially large with respect to the fate of carbon transported, redistributed over the
Self-harm in adolescence

Self-harm is a common yet frequently concealed activity among adolescents. GP trainees are likely to encounter young people who self-harm, not only in primary care, but also during placements in Accident and Emergency or general medicine. The type of self-harm seen in each situation is likely to vary and the approach to it may need to change accordingly. However, some themes remain constant and as self-harm is a prevalent phenomenon among adolescents, it is an area with which GPs should be familiar.
Recovery of gold(III) from multi-elemental solutions by alfalfa biomass

Abstract The increasing demand for gold has encouraged the development of cost effective and environmentally friendly techniques to recycle and recover this precious metal from waste liquors. Earlier experiments have shown the appreciable ability of alfalfa shoot biomass to accumulate Au(III) from aqueous solutions. Likewise, alfalfa biomass is able to bind other metal ions in noticeable amounts. Thus, experiments with solutions containing multiple metal ions were performed in order to determine the effect of other ions on gold accumulation by alfalfa biomass. Batch laboratory experiments showed that Au(III) binds in a rapid and pH-independent-like manner in the presence of other metal ions, which agrees with experiments using solutions containing only Au(III). In addition, Au(III) was found to have one of the highest metal binding affinities to the alfalfa biomass compared to Pb(II), Cr(III), Cu(II), Zn(II), Ni(II), and Cd(II), even at the optimum binding pH for the other metal ions (pH 5.0). A similar behavior for Au(III) accumulation was observed under flow conditions. Nevertheless, it was determined that the selectivity of the immobilized alfalfa biomass could be shifted towards Au(III) by decreasing the pH of the multi-metal solution to 2.0 (similar to mining and industrial environments where aqueous gold is found). Alfalfa biomass was also found to accumulate Au(III) efficiently even when Ca and Mg ions were added to the multi-metal solutions at concentrations up to 10 000 times higher than Au(III). These results will aid the development of a novel method to recover gold ions from aqueous solutions utilizing alfalfa biomass.
Isonicotinic acid hydrazide as an inhibitor of transpeptidation: relevance for blood coagulation.

WE have found that isonicotinic acid hydrazide, a widely used drug1, is a potent inhibitor of the crosslinking of fibrin. This reaction constitutes the terminal step in normal blood coagulation and proceeds by way of an enzyme catalysed transpeptidation by forming inter-fibrin γ-glutamyl-e-lysine bonds2,3. Compounds which resemble the donor (amine) or the acceptor (carbonyl) side-chain functions of fibrin specifically inhibit the crosslinking reaction without, however, interfering with gel formation—that is, clotting time—itself.
Acid-enzyme converted corn syrup in infant feeding

Summary Milk feeding mixtures made with acid-enzyme corn syrup were fed to morethan 2,000 infants of diverse ages and states of health and illness. The syrup proved highly satisfactory as a feeding supplement. It was palatable, nonlaxative, nonallergenic, provoked no gastrointestinal distress, and appeared to be efficiently digested and absorbed.
Dynamics of Plectonemic Supercoils along Stretched DNA by Brownian Dynamics

Interwound DNA structures (plectonemes) arise from processes such as replication, transcription and the nearly 10000-fold compaction of long DNA molecules into the cell nucleus. These supercoils can enhance or repress cellular processes such as replication, transcription, and recombination. In fact, an increased frequency of DNA-DNA juxtapositions within plectonemic supercoils facilitates DNA looping. Although plectonemes have been studied with recent single molecule techniques, little is known about their dynamic formation, diffusion, rearrangement, and dissolution. In fact, single molecule assays often are confounded by the relatively slow dynamics of a large magnetic or optical bead used to manipulate the DNA. To characterize plectoneme dynamics, we employ Brownian dynamics simulations of stretched supercoiled DNA. Here we consider a range of system parameters describing length, extension, and superhelical density. Our model incorporates viscous drag, thermal fluctuations, bending, torsion, extension, and electrostatics. Additionally, we employ periodic boundary conditions to prevent plectonemes from diffusing off the ends of linear DNA. Our simulations reveal that both the number and size of plectonemes vary with time. Interestingly, this precludes the characterization of plectoneme motion with a diffusion constant. To quantify plectoneme dynamics, we define τ as the median time for first juxtaposition of two sites on a DNA molecule separated by a prescribed distance. Here we show that τ depends on system parameters as well as separation distance and ranges from milliseconds to seconds. Our simulations shed light on processes requiring juxtaposition (e.g. DNA looping) as well as processes in which supercoils are transmitted along DNA (e.g. transcription).
sl(2) tangle homology with a parameter and singular cobordisms

We construct a bigraded cohomology theory which depends on one parameter a, and whose graded Euler characteristic is the quantum sl.2/ link invariant. We follow Bar-Natan’s approach to tangles on one side, and Khovanov’s sl.3/ theory for foams on the other side. Our theory is properly functorial under tangle cobordisms, and a version of the Khovanov sl.2/ invariant (or Lee’s modification of it) corresponds to aD 0 (or aD 1/: In particular, the construction naturally resolves the sign ambiguity in the functoriality of Khovanov’s sl.2/ theory. 57M27, 57M25; 18G60
Sample size calculations for failure time random variables in non-randomized studies

Summary. In non-randomized studies, sample size calculations for failure time random variables are often computed on the basis of the unadjusted log-rank test which assumes that the variable designating group membership is independent of other patient covariates. We show that by extending the methods proposed by Lipsitz and Parzen to time-to-event random variabes the power derived from the unadjusted log-rank test overestimates the true power of the comparison when the variable of interest is correlated with other covariates. We model the hazards by using exponential regression and derive the sample size formulae for both censored and uncensored data. We also present results of a simulation study to assess the validity of the derived formulae when the intended method of analysis is the proportional hazards regression model and the data continue to have an exponential distribution. We apply the methods proposed to the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma prognostic factors project data set.
Relaxation energies for photoionization of tellurium

Abstract The energies of the 3p, 3d, 4s, 4d, 5s and 5p photopeaks and of the M4, 5 NN and M4, 5 NO Auger peaks have been measured for tellurium metal. The associated relaxation energies were computed by two different methods, first, by comparing the measured binding energies with those calculated theoretically employing Koopman's theorem, and second, by a method devised by Shirley and co-workers. The merits of these two methods are examined by comparing measured MNN, MNO and KLL Auger energies with those calculated using the predicted relaxation energies.
The Making of the Reliably Religious Boy

In Men, Religion, and Melancholia: James, Otto, Jung, and Erikson (D. Capps, 1997) and Men and Their Religion: Honor, Hope, and Humor (D. Capps, 2002), I argued that men are no less religious than women, but their religiousness is different from that of women because it has its psychological origins in the emotional separation between a boy and his mother around the ages of three to five. Employing Freud’s “Mourning and Melancholia” (S. Freud, 1917/1963) essay, I suggested that their religiousness is rooted in an ontological state of melancholy (which is different from the psychological state of depression). In Men and Their Religion I identified the religions of honor and of hope as the primary forms of male melancholic religion, and suggested that humor is a third form that may come to one’s assistance when one experiences the limitations of the other two religions. In this article, I focus on my own early adolescent years (age 11–14) and explain how one boy became reliably religious, that is, how he embraced or internalized the religions of honor and of hope. In the companion article, I will explain how these two religions were relativized—and thereby preserved—by the religion of humor.
Informational loss in bundled bargaining

We analyze a legislative bargaining game over an ideological and a distributive issue. Legislators are privately informed about their ideological positions. Communication takes place before a proposal is offered and majority-rule voting determines the outcome. We compare the outcome of the ‘bundled bargaining’ game in which the legislators negotiate over both issues together to that of the ‘separate bargaining’ game in which the legislators negotiate over the issues one at a time. Although bundled bargaining allows the proposer to use transfers as an instrument for compromise on the ideological issue, we identify two disadvantages of bundled bargaining under asymmetric information: (i) ‘risk of losing the surplus’ (failure to reach agreement on ideology results in the dissipation of the surplus under bundled bargaining, but not under separate bargaining); (ii) ‘informational loss’ (the legislators may convey less information in the bundled bargaining game). Even when there is no risk of losing the surplus, the informational loss from bundling can be sufficiently large that it makes the proposer worse off.
‘Loser wins’: Outsider art and the salvaging of disinterestedness

Abstract This paper describes the emergence of a new field within the U.S. visual art world - twentieth century folk and outsider art - and endeavors to explain the more ideological features of its legitimation. The study argues that twentieth century folk art provided a generation of academically trained artists with two promising means of ‘position-taking’. First, through their advocacy of eccentric amateurs, artists newly trained or employed at universities in the provincial U.S. could propose a non-New York model of credibility. Secondly, in championing outsider artists, striving newcomers might pursue their artistic ambitions while simultaneously proffering themselves as retainers of an embattled art world principle - the ethos of disinterestedness. The study considers several indicators - museum membership and acquisitions, new specialty galleries, and increasing numbers of exhibitions - to suggest the field's expansion through the 1970s. Using Bourdieu's conceptualization of disinterestedness as ‘the inversion of ordinary economies’, this paper examines how folk and outsider artists came to represent disinterestedness in a period of normalization and careerism. It also contends that, in accord with this principle's demands, the development of this cultural field has required of artists ever more stringent demonstrations of social ostracism and personal frailty.
Six-year-old children's understanding of sentences adjoined with time adverbs.

The adjoining of clauses with temporal links is the basis for many sentences that convey sequence of events. The present study attempts to delineate 6-year-old children's (N=30) understanding of the meaning sequences imparted by sentences adjoined with “after”, “before”, and “until”. Their performance of the meaning sequence for each of 24 carefully constructed sentences is compared to an adult model. Analysis of the results (using a Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Rank Test) indicated that: (1)Ss understood sentences adjoined with “after” according to an adult model more frequently than “before” adjoined sentences (P<0.01); (b) “Until” adjoined sentences with a negative marker in the main clause were understood according to an adult model more often than “until” adjoined sentences with no such negative element, but the difference was not significant at a=0.01; (3)Ss understood “before” adjoined sentences according to an adult model more often than “until” adjoined sentences, but the difference was not significant at a=0.01. In general, the results indicated that 6-year-olds have not yet completed development of an “adult grammar” with respect to adjoining clauses with temporal links, “after”, “before”, and “until”.
Interconversion of light olefins—aromatics over zeolite catalysts

Improved yield in light olefins and aromatics from methanol conversion was observed on Zn and Mn loaded ZSM-5 zeolite—asbestos catalysts. The best results in terms of conversion into hydrocarbons were obtained with a Zn content not exceeding 0.6% wt/wt. The light olefins/aromatics ratio in the products varied with the Mn content in the catalyst, the cumulative light olefinic and aromatic production being kept constant at a high value. On observe un rendement ameliore en olefines legeres et aromatiques dans la conversion du methanol lorsqu'on incorpore le Zn et le Mn dans les catalyseurs a base de zeolite ZSM-5 et composites zeolite ZSM-5 – amiante. Les meilleurs resultats regardant la conversion en hydrocarbures sont obtenus avec un contenu en Zn inferieur a 0,6% pds/pds. Le rapport olefins legeres/aromatiques varie avec le contenu en Mn du catalyseur, la production cumulee de ces deux categories de produits etant maintenue constante a une valeur elevee.
Are hovercraft a major cause of disturbance to intertidal invertebrates

Abstract The densities of intertidal invertebrates in areas within and outside the hovercraft flightpath were compared by analysis of variance and least significant range tests. No evidence was found to suggest that the hovercraft had significantly reduced the density of invertebrates in the flightpath area. Only five species groups ( Nereis diversicolor , Spionid spp., Bathyporeia spp., Macoma balthica and Arenicola marina ) had significantly different densities between areas, and in each case there was a density gradient alongshore. In three species groups (Spionid spp., Bathyporeia spp. and Macoma balthica ) density was related to the percentage of fine sand (4–5 φ) at each site.
Direct photo-affinity labeling of cyclic nucleotide binding proteins with guanosine-3',5'-monophosphate.

Abstract— Radioactivity from [3H]-guanosine-3′,5′-monophosphate was shown to become stably linked to proteins in testis extracts during ultraviolet irradiation. Adenosine-3′,5′-monophosphate competitively inhibited incorporation into these proteins. Guanosine-3′,5′-monophosphate had a lower affinity for binding sites than did adenosine-3′,5′-monophosphate. Similar peptides were photo-labeled with [3H]-guanosine-3′,5′-monophosphate and [3H]-adenosine-3′,5′-monophosphate. Guanosine-3′,5′-monophosphate was more efficiently incorporated than was adenosine-3′,5′-monophosphate. Extracts from a number of tissues incorporated both cyclic nucleotides photochemically.
Involvement of the circadian system in photoperiodic regulation of insect antifreeze proteins

Several species of insects produce proteins in the winter that depress the hemolymph freezing and supercooling points thereby functioning as antifreezes. These proteins produce a thermal hysteresis (difference between the freezing and melting points). This study concerns the environmental and physiological mechanisms that regulate the seasonal production of antifreeze proteins in the beetle, Dendroides canadensis. Larvae collected in early fall from a natural population and acclimated to a short photoperiod (8L/16D at 20°C, 90% RH) elevated levels of thermal hysteresis proteins (THPs), whereas those individuals maintained on a long (16L/8D) photoperiod did not. “Resonance” experiments showed that circadian rhythmicity is involved in the photoperiodic timing mechanism used by Dendroides to control antifreeze production. These results suggest that an important aspect of insect seasonality - i.e., winter hardening - includes complex biological timing processes of circadian nature.
Aging Research—Where Do We Stand and Where Are We Going?

The 40 th anniversary of Cell coincides with that of the National Institute on Aging (NIA). Indeed, Cell papers on NIA-funded research helped move the field into a genetic and molecular era. Now is a fair time to ask whether we are far down a trail leading to a deep understanding of aging or whether we are still tiptoeing cautiously at the trailhead.
A multiband planar monopole antenna for mobile communication applications

A planar multiband antenna is proposed for mobile communication applications. The antenna performance is achieved by splitting a planar monopole antenna into two radiating elements. The combination of both halves generates the lower band by means of a meandered slot in the left side and rectangular slots in the right side while upper band resonances are, respectively, attained by each of these radiating elements separately. The antenna can be directly printed onto a circuit board at low cost and requires an area of 50 × 25 mm2. The manufactured antenna is experimentally verified and covers 11 wireless communication bands, namely, GSM850, GSM900, DCS, PCS, IMT-2000, UMTS, UMTS-2110, WLAN, ISM/Bluetooth, and WiMAX (2500–2690 MHz and 3400–3600 MHz) with acceptable omnidirectional radiation patterns. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26227
Investing in Creativity: A Study of the Support Structure for U.S. Artists

The report presents the overall findings of Investing in Creativity: A Study of the Support Structure for U.S. Artists. A major contribution of the study is a new comprehensive framework for analysis and action, which views the support structure for artists in the U.S. as a system made up of six key dimensions of the environment in which an artist works. This builds on previous and ongoing Urban Institute work to measure characteristics of place that make a culturally vibrant community. The study provides information on the status of various dimensions of the artists' support structure--both nationally and in specific sites.
Cracking of Alloy C-276 in an Acidic Environment

Austenitic Alloy C-276 has been identified as a structural material for application in hydrogen generation using nuclear heat. Fracture-mechanics-based pre-cracked and wedge-loaded double-cantilever-beam (DCB) specimens have been tested in an acidic solution at ambient temperature for 15 and 30 days. Three levels of initial stress intensity factors (K1 ) were used to determine crack propagation following exposure of the DCB specimens to the test environment. The results indicate that the magnitude of K1 was substantially reduced after testing, the extent of reduction being more pronounced with specimens tested for a longer duration. Three different types of failures namely, striations, cleavage and ductile, respectively were noted in the tested specimens, as determined by scanning electron microscopy.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
High compositional homogeneity of CdTexSe1−x crystals grown by the Bridgman method

We obtained high-quality CdTexSe1−x (CdTeSe) crystals from ingots grown by the vertical Bridgman technique. The compositional uniformity of the ingots was evaluated by X-ray fluorescence at BNL’s National Synchrotron Light Source X27A beam line. The compositional homogeneity was highly uniform throughout the ingot, and the effective segregation coefficient of Se was ∼1.0. This high uniformity offers potential opportunity to enhance the yield of the materials for both infrared substrate and radiation-detector applications, so greatly lowering the cost of production and also offering us the prospect to grow large-diameter ingots for use as large-area substrates and for producing higher efficiency gamma-ray detectors. The concentration of secondary phases was found to be much lower, by eight- to ten fold compared to that of conventional CdxZn1−xTe (CdZnTe or CZT).
Direct and indirect effects of plant genetic variation on enemy impact

. 1 The Tritrophic and Enemy Impact concepts predict that natural enemy impact varies: (a) among plant genotypes and (b) may depend on the abundance of heterospecific herbivores, respectively. I tested these predictions using three herbivore species on potted, cloned genotypes of Salik sericea Marshall in a common garden experiment. 2 Densities of the leaf miner (Phyllonorycter salicifoliella (Chambers)) and two leaf galling sawflies (Phyllocolpa nigrita (Marlatt) and Phyllocolpa eleanorae Smith and Fritz) varied significantly among willow clones, indicating genetic variation in resistance. 3 Survival and natural enemy impact caused by egg and larval parasitoids and/or unknown predators differed significantly among willow clones for each of the three herbivore species, indicating genetic variation in survival and enemy impact. 4 Survival of Phyllonorycter was negatively density-dependent among clones. 5 Survival of Phyllonorycter and Phyllocolpa eleanorae were positively correlated with densities of heterospecific herbivores among clones and parasitism of these species were negatively correlated with densities of the same heterospecific herbivores among clones. 6 At least for Phyllonorycter this positive correlation may suggest either facilitation of survival between herbivore species, which do not share natural enemies, or an apparent interaction caused by host plant genetic variation. 7 Among clones, egg parasitism of Phyllocolpa eleanorae was weakly positively correlated with density of Phyllocolpa nigrita. Since these species share the same Trichogramma egg parasitoid, this interaction could support the hypothesis of apparent competition.
Resource-constrained management of heterogeneous assets with stochastic deterioration

We consider a collection of heterogeneous assets which exhibit independent stochastic behavior, but are economically interdependent due to resource constraints on management decisions. We represent the collection of assets as a network of nonhomogeneous Markov decision processes linked by side constraints. To facilitate a procedure for obtaining nonrandomized decision policies, we express the resource limitations as integrated chance constraints and relax them into the objective function within a Lagrangian penalty term. We utilize subgradient optimization to establish upper bounds and a greedy randomized Lagrangian repair heuristic to obtain feasible solutions. We empirically validate the tightness of these a posteriori upper and lower bounds with computational experiments on a pair of applications. For pavement maintenance, we examine the effect that the reward structure of each constituent MDP has on the maintenance policy in the presence of budget constraints. For equipment replacement, we consider constraints on two resource types.
Increased susceptibility to hippocampal and amygdala kindling following intrahippocampal kainic acid

Abstract The effects of unilateral intrahippocampal injection of kainic acid, a potent neuroexcitant and neurotoxin, on subsequent susceptibility to kindling of the contralateral hippocampus or contralateral amygdala were investigated in albino rats. At the chosen doses (0.20 to 1.25 μg dissolved in physiologic saline), the kainic acid-induced lesion was confined to the injected hippocampus and in two cases the ipsilateral entorhinal cortex; never were there contralateral lesions. Approximately 2 to 6 weeks post-injection, each animal received daily afterdischarge-producing electrical stimulations until stage 5 kindled limbic seizures occurred. Kindling in pretreated animals was significantly accelerated compared with controls; the hippocampal kindling rate decreased from 13.2 stimulations to 3.7, the amygdala kindling rate from 7.8 stimulations to 3.0. Many treated animals had first-stimulation stage 5 seizures, compared with none for controls. Importantly, this facilitation of kindling was not reversed by suppression of the acute, induced seizures with the anticonvulsants, diazepam and phenobarbital, which have repeatedly been demonstrated to effectively suppress limbic kindling. Such results, considered together with findings from the literature, suggest that partial kindling does not occur during kainic acid-induced seizures, and that the observed susceptibility to kindling and other epileptogenic agents subsequent to kainic acid treatment may in fact be related to neurophysiologic and neurochemical consequences of kainic acid-induced lesions.
Pituitary dysfunction in granulomatosis with polyangiitis: the Mayo Clinic experience.

Context: Pituitary involvement in granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) has been described in case reports. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical presentation and outcomes of pituitary disease in patients with GPA evaluated at a tertiary referral center. Setting: A retrospective review of patients with GPA-related pituitary disease seen at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Patients: A total of 637 patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies-associated vasculitis were followed at our institution from 1996 through 2011. Eight patients (1.3%) with clinically confirmed pituitary involvement formed the basis of this study. Interventions: None. Measurements: Pituitary function was assessed with hormonal testing, including TSH, free T4, cortisol, ACTH, prolactin, FSH, LH, estradiol, T, IGF-1, and simultaneous serum and urine osmolalities. Results: Secondary hypogonadism and diabetes insipidus were the predominant manifestations of pituitary disease (87.5 and 75% of patients, respecti...
Energizing the School Community: A Research Approach to Practical School Improvement

There is a temptation among school practitioners to use standard recipes (Lieberman and Miller 1986; Purkey and Degen 1985) for improving schools. Evidence suggests that this temptation results from a lack of understanding of the theory of organization development and the process of change. This lack of understanding weakens the potential outcomes of school reform. What is needed is a systematic approach for promoting change in schools. The organization development approach emphasizes the restructuring of individuals' norms, values, and beliefs in producing an enhanced organizational culture. This approach also emphasizes the significant roles groups play in organizations and attempts to create new structures to improve withinand between-group collaboration (Fullan, Miles, and Taylor 1980). Thus, organization development is the attempt to improve the effectiveness of an organizational whole through a focus on its parts.
MicroRNA regulation of NAC-domain targets is required for proper formation and separation of adjacent embryonic, vegetative, and floral organs.

Abstract Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are ∼21 nucleotide (nt) RNAs that regulate gene expression in plants and animals. Most known plant miRNAs target transcription factors that influence cell fate determination, and biological functions of miRNA-directed regulation have been reported for four of 15 known microRNA gene families: miR172, miR159, miR165, and miR168. Here, we identify a developmental role for miR164-directed regulation of NAC-domain genes, which encode a family of transcription factors that includes CUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON1 ( CUC1 ) and CUC2 . Results: Expression of a miR164-resistant version of CUC1 mRNA from the CUC1 promoter causes alterations in Arabidopsis embryonic, vegetative, and floral development, including cotyledon orientation defects, reduction of rosette leaf petioles, dramatically misshapen rosette leaves, one to four extra petals, and one or two missing sepals. Reciprocally, constitutive overexpression of miR164 recapitulates cuc1 cuc2 double mutant phenotypes, including cotyledon and floral organ fusions. miR164 overexpression also leads to phenotypes not previously observed in cuc1 cuc2 mutants, including leaf and stem fusions. These likely reflect the misregulation of other NAC-domain mRNAs, including NAC1 , At5g07680 , and At5g61430 , for which miR164-directed cleavage products were detected. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that miR164-directed regulation of CUC1 is necessary for normal embryonic, vegetative, and floral development. They also show that proper miR164 dosage or localization is required for separation of adjacent embryonic, vegetative, and floral organs, thus implicating miR164 as a common regulatory component of the molecular circuitry that controls the separation of different developing organs and thereby exposes a posttranscriptional layer of NAC-domain gene regulation during plant development.
Utility of transbronchial lung biopsy in diagnosis of cavitary lung lesion in a patient with HIV infection.

A 49-year-old man with advanced AIDS (CD4 count=8 cells/mm3; HIV-1 viral load=660 000 copies/mL) was admitted with fever and cough. CT of the chest demonstrated a 3×1 cm cavitary lesion in the right upper lobe. Bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) failed to yield a diagnosis. The patient was non-adherent to medical care and left the hospital against medical advice while on treatment. He was readmitted 3 weeks later and CT of the …
Improved Projection for Cylindrical Algebraic Decomposition

McCallum?s projection operator for cylindrical algebraic decomposition (CAD) represented a huge step forward for the practical utility of the CAD algorithm. This paper presents a simple theorem showing that the mathematics in McCallum?s paper actually point to a better projection operator than he proposes?a reduced McCallum projection. The reduced projection has the potential to not simply speed up CAD computation for problems that are currently solvable in practice, but actually increase the scope of problems that can realistically be attacked via CADs. Additionally, the same methods are used to show that McCallum?s projection can be reduced still further when CAD is applied to certain types of commonly occurring quantifier elimination problems.
Theological Prelude to the Prologue of John's Gospel

Professor Joachim Jeremias has raised the question of the logos problem. He calls attention to the change in the Septuagint (LXX) from the vocalisation of to and its translation with λόγος in Hab. 3:5, the personified logos in Wis. 18:14–16, and the unmistakable closeness of Rev. 19:11–16 to the latter passage. He notes that the logos title in the New Testament is limited to the Johannine writings (John 1:1, 14; 1 John1:1; Rev. 19:13). Jeremias says that in dealing with the logos problem in New Testament investigation it has become customary to begin with the prologue of John and that this is an error since the absolute use of ὁ λόγος, ‘the Word’, in John 1:1, 14 (in contrast to , ‘the word of life’, in 1 John 1:1 and , ‘The word of God’, in Rev. 19:13) warrants the assumption that the title was known to the readers and that it already had a Christian prehistory behind it when the Johannine prologue was formed. Jeremias concludes that the unmistakable closeness of Rev. 19:11–16 to Wis. 18:14–16 must be noted; that the logos title might have originated in Hellenistic Judaism and so applied to Jesus Christ as a title of the returning Lord; that, on the other hand, John 1:1, 14 and 1 John 1:1–31, where the title is extended to the pre-existent and earthly Jesus, already represent an advanced stage of the Christian usage of the logos title.
Review of various approaches to address high currents in SRF electron linacs

Abstract The combination of high-brightness electron sources and high-current SRF Energy Recovery Linacs (ERL) leads to a new emerging technology: high-power, high-brightness electron beams. This technology enables extremely high average power free-electron lasers, a new generation of extreme brightness light sources, electron coolers of high-energy hadron storage rings, polarized electron–hadron colliders of very high luminosity, compact Thomson scattering X-ray sources, terahertz radiation generators and much more. What is typical for many of these applications is the need for very high current, defined here as over 100 mA average current, and high brightness, which is charge dependent, but needs to be in the emittance range of between submicron up to perhaps 50 μm, usually the lower – the better. Suffice it to say that while there are a number of projects aiming at this level of performance, none is anywhere near it. This work will review the problems associated with the achievement of such performance and the various approaches taken in a number of laboratories around the world to address the issues.
Occurrence of 3-MCPD and glycidyl esters in edible oils in the United States

Fatty acid esters of 3-monochloropropanediol (3-MCPD) and glycidol are processing contaminants found in a wide range of edible oils. While both 3 MCPD and glycidol have toxicological properties that at present has concerns for food safety, the published occurrence data are limited. Occurrence information is presented for the concentrations of 3-MCPD and glycidyl esters in 116 retail and/or industrial edible oils and fats using LC-MS/MS analysis of intact esters. The concentrations for bound 3-MCPD ranged from below the limit of quantitation (<LOQ) to 0.09 mg kg⁻¹ (ppm) in 22 unrefined oils and from 0.005 to 7.2 mg kg⁻¹ (ppm) in 94 refined oils. The concentrations for bound glycidol ranged from <LOQ to 0.03 mg kg⁻¹ (ppm) in unrefined oil samples and from <LOQ to 10.5 mg kg⁻¹ (ppm) in processed oil samples. The highest concentrations for both 3-MCPD and glycidol were seen in refined palm oil and palm olein samples. Palm olein samples also contained a higher percentage of 3-MCPD in mono-ester form than any other type of oil.
Cost-effectiveness of treatment for chronic hepatitis C.

Abstract Concerns about the variable natural history of untreated chronic hepatitis C and the costs and benefits of current therapy for this disease have been addressed by the techniques of cost-effectiveness analysis. The methodologies of decision analysis and Markov computer simulation, and available data on natural history, costs of care, and response to treatment, have been utilized to project the long-term costs and benefits of treatment. These models indicate that interferon monotherapy and combination therapy (interferon plus ribavirin) for previously untreated patients, for retreatment of patients who relapse after interferon treatment, and for retreatment of those who are non-responders to interferon monotherapy have calculated cost-effectiveness ratios that fall within the bounds of other widely accepted therapies or are cost-saving. Even empirical treatment, without liver biopsy, HCV RNA quantitation, or HCV genotyping, has an acceptable cost-effectiveness.
Characterization of a Plumbylplumbylene: An Isomeric Form of a “Diplumbene”

The synthesis and characterization of the first stable example of a substituted lead analogue of methylmethylene, a valence isomer of ethylene, are reported. The title compound features a bond between a divalent and a tetravalent lead center and is stabilized by the incorporation of the lead−lead bond into a stabilizing ring structure. It was synthesized fortuitously and in low yield by the “activation” of the diplumbyne [PbArTrip2]2, where ArTrip2 = −C6H3−2,6-(C6H2-2,4,6-iPr3)2, with trimethylsilyl azide, N3SiMe3, and it was characterized via NMR spectroscopy and by single-crystal X-ray crystallography.
Epithelioid variant of haemangiosarcoma in a gelding

Summary This case report provides a clinical description of an epithelioid variant of haemangiosarcoma in a horse. Haemangiosarcomas are rare neoplasms in equids, and only recently have the pathological aspects of the epithelioid variant in horses been described. Despite performance of cytology and surgical biopsy, the ante mortem diagnosis was incorrect in this case, demonstrating the common problem with diagnosing this neoplasm due to the lack of overt vascular differentiation. Due to the deteriorating condition of the patient, no antineoplastic treatment was attempted. A post mortem computed tomography helped characterise the invasive nature of the tumour. Only with post mortem sampling was the diagnosis of epithelioid variant of haemangiosarcoma discovered.
The Effects of Social Class, Class Size and Prekindergarten Experience on Early School Adjustment.

Children's adjustment and achievement during the early school grades can have implications for the children's long‐term educational progress. In the present study, the effects of children's socioeconomic status (SES), class size in kindergarten, and prior prekindergarten experience on early school adjustments was examined. Kindergarten achievement and attendance were used as measures of early school adjustment. 1,573 children from a large urban school district participated in the study. Results of the analysis indicated that all main effects were significant as well as a number of interactions. A significant finding was that a number of potentially negative effects associated with SES were ameliorated if the children had a prekindergarten experience and/or were in smaller class sizes in kindergarten (below 20). Implications for policy and practice are discussed.