cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Demand and Supply of College Students' Unemployment Insurance in China

This paper studies the demand and supply of college students' unemployment insurance in China by adopting questionnaire survey,qualitative and quantitative analysis.The findings are: there is a great potential demand for college students' unemployment insurance.The majority of the surveyed college students have high purchase intention,they,however,wait and see the fair and reasonable insurance premium and unemployment benefits.On the supply side,the existing pilot "minimum living benefits" scheme is both inequity and lack of incentive.The private insurance is not feasible.Based on the characteristics of unemployment insurance and the current situations in China,a development model of college students' unemployment insurance and the related supporting policies are suggested.
There are differences in cytogenetic abnormalities among histologic subtypes of the non-Hodgkin's lymphomas

Although many recurring chromosome abnormalities have been found in malignant lymphoma (ML) in recent years, their relationship to histology remains largely undefined. We have correlated, in the same tumor mass, chromosome findings with histology, defined by the International Working Formulation for Clinical Usage, in 120 patients. We find differences among histologies in the frequency of normal metaphases and the modal number of the predominant abnormal clone. In addition, most histologies have been significantly (P less than .01) associated with specific chromosome abnormalities. In particular, ML, follicular, predominantly small cleaved cell was associated with t(14;18)(q32;q21); ML, follicular, mixed small cleaved cell and large cell with t(14;18)(q32;q21) and trisomy 8; ML, follicular, predominantly large cell with trisomy 7 and breaks in 17q21-q25; ML, diffuse, mixed small cell and large cell with breaks in 11p; ML, diffuse, large cell with trisomy 21 and breaks in 2q and 9q; ML, large cell, immunoblastic with breaks at 6q21; and ML, small noncleaved cell with t(8;14)(q24;q32). Only the associations with t(14;18) and t(8;14) have been previously reported. The associated chromosome abnormality usually occurred in 30% to 70% of a given histology, raising the possibility that cytogenetics may add important prognostic information in lymphoma as it does in the acute leukemias.
3D nanostructured inkjet printed graphene via UV-pulsed laser irradiation enables paper-based electronics and electrochemical devices

Emerging research on printed and flexible graphene-based electronics is beginning to show tremendous promise for a wide variety of fields including wearable sensors and thin film transistors. However, post-print annealing/reduction processes that are necessary to increase the electrical conductivity of the printed graphene degrade sensitive substrates (e.g., paper) and are whole substrate processes that are unable to selectively anneal/reduce only the printed graphene—leaving sensitive device components exposed to damaging heat or chemicals. Herein a pulsed laser process is introduced that can selectively irradiate inkjet printed reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and subsequently improve the electrical conductivity (Rsheet ∼0.7 kΩ □−1) of printed graphene above previously published reports. Furthermore, the laser process is capable of developing 3D petal-like graphene nanostructures from 2D planar printed graphene. These visible morphological changes display favorable electrochemical sensing characteristics—ferricyanide cyclic voltammetry with a redox peak separation (ΔEp) ≈ 0.7 V as well as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) amperometry with a sensitivity of 3.32 μA mM−1 and a response time of <5 s. Thus this work paves the way for not only paper-based electronics with graphene circuits, it enables the creation of low-cost and disposable graphene-based electrochemical electrodes for myriad applications including sensors, biosensors, fuel cells, and theranostic devices.
hERG1 Channel Blockers and Cardiac Arrhythmia

A prolonged QT interval and increased risk of arrhythmia is a dangerous side effect of several antiarrhythmic agents and noncardiac medications. In most clinically relevant cases, drug-induced QT prolongation is caused by a block of the cardiac rapid delayed rectifier K+ current (I Kr), a current that is conducted by hERG1 channels and is a key determinant of phase 3 repolarization of ventricular cardiomyocytes. Some drugs do not block I Kr, but instead disrupt the trafficking of channels to the cell membrane. Because hERG1 channel block is a serious side effect that is associated with structurally diverse drugs, it is now common practice to screen for hERG1 channel block early in the drug development process. This screening process has also discovered compounds that activate hERG channels – these compounds could theoretically be used to treat long QT syndromes. The molecular determinants of hERG1 blockers and activators have been elucidated and these studies are the focus of this chapter.
The Effects of an Intervention on the Gross and Fine Motor Skills of Hispanic Pre-K Children from Low SES Backgrounds

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a motor skill intervention on gross and fine motor skill performance of Hispanic pre-K children from low SES backgrounds. One hundred and forty-nine pre-K children were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 74) and control group (n = 75). All children were assessed on fine and gross motor skills using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 before and after a 16-week intervention. The children in the experimental group received 800 min of skills-based instruction to target gross and fine motor skills. The control group children received 800 min of play-based lessons with no instruction provided. A repeated measures analysis of variance revealed a significant difference between the experimental and control group children on stationary and visual-motor subtests after the 16-week intervention. These results suggested that children in the treatment group benefited from a planned motor intervention program on their gross and fine motor skills. The findings of this study have implications for delivery of instruction for motor skills for young children. Educators and practitioners should provide structured lessons with feedback to promote the development of these important skills.
Correlating Photoluminescence Heterogeneity with Local Electronic Properties in Methylammonium Lead Tribromide Perovskite Thin Films

We conduct correlated laser scanning confocal photoluminescence (PL) microscopy, scanning kelvin probe microscopy, and conductive atomic force microscopy (c-AFM) to understand the origins and effects of local heterogeneity in films of the hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite semiconductor methylammonium lead tribromide (MAPbBr3). We compare PL between perovskite films deposited on glass and on hole-transporting contacts. In both systems, we observe heterogeneous PL, but this heterogeneity is due to different mechanisms. On glass substrates, we observe that the PL maps are dominated by lateral carrier diffusion, and on hole-transporting contacts, we observe an anticorrelation between PL and local hole injected current as measured by c-AFM. We conclude that the local variations are due to heterogeneous electronic coupling at the perovskite–electrode interface. We also show that correlated PL and AFM studies are expected to play a key role in studying the electronic heterogeneities in the perovskite itself, w...
Multicollinearity Caused by Specification Errors

The advantages of using linear least squares regressions induce us to adopt functions which are linear in parameters. Often this imposes unrealistically rigid constraints which may create multicollinearity. Using more realistic non‐linear forms and non‐linear least squares regressions is likely to overcome this problem as shown in a study of a production function.
First report of Loricifera from the North East Pacific Region, with the description of two new species

Loricifera is a phylum of free-living, marine animals of microscopic size, which are distributed worldwide across an extensive range of depths. The loriciferan fauna of the North East Pacific Region, however, has never been studied. In the present contribution, we describe Rugiloricus californiensis sp. nov. and Urnaloricus ibenae sp. nov. collected from deep-sea localities off the coast of California and Oregon, respectively. The female of R. californiensis sp. nov. is characterized by, among other features, a mouth cone relatively long with a conical distal section and three long oral stylets surrounding the mouth opening; an introvert with nine rows of scalids, including the first row of eight clavoscalids, four dorsal broad, and four ventral club-shaped and slender; fourth row with 15 leg-shaped spinoscalids alternating with 15 hook-shaped scalids with a terminal claw with a tricuspid end; eighth row with 30 extremely long, unsegmented spinoscalids with swollen bases and ventral serration; ninth row with 30 short beak-like scalids alternating with 30 small round plates each with a minute spine projecting posteriorly; neck with 15 single trichoscalids of identical structure but differing slightly in length; end-cone with unique, lateral oval structures. As for the second species described here, the Higgins larva of U. ibenae sp. nov. differs from its congener in having an introvert with eight two-segmented clavoscalids; a thorax with nine transverse folds, in which the first fold is a protoscalid-devoided collar; a pair of anterior lateroventral setae with single thick spike and a pair of anterior midventral setae ramified, with two curved branches; a pair of toes with spine-like ends that are longer than the body; posterolateral setae with ball-and-socket bases, and posterodorsal setae with oval bases; and, internally, by a mouth cone containing an internal armature and a pharyngeal bulb. We discuss our findings and compare R. californiensis sp. nov. and U. ibenae sp. nov. with their respective congeners. In addition, we provide information about further unidentified loriciferan specimens found at the study sites.
Behavioral treatment of automatically reinforced SIB: 1982 - 2015

Some individuals diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities engage in automatically reinforced self-injurious behavior (SIB). For these individuals, identifying effective treatments may be difficult due to the nature of the reinforcement contingency. The purpose of this study was to review the literature on the treatment of automatically reinforced SIB to determine commonalities in procedures that produced effective and ineffective treatment outcomes, as well as historical trends in the treatment of this class of SIB. Results of this review indicated that there were many high-quality studies on this topic, but also a wide range in the quality of studies. As for effective treatments, noncontingent reinforcement (the most common treatment component) was found to be more effective when informed by a competing stimulus assessment rather than a preference assessment. Suggestions to improve the quality of the published record and areas in which additional research is needed are discussed.
Noncoherence and Two-Phase Heat Transfer in LMFBR Fuel-Coolant Interaction

Models were developed for the analysis of non-coherent mixing of fuel and sodium, reduction in two-phase heat transfer between fuel and sodium, and heat loss from sodium to cladding during a fuel-c...
Risk stratification after myocardial infarction. Clinical overview

Many patients with an acute myocardial infarction can be stratified into subgroups that are at high risk for morbidity and mortality on the basis of clinical characteristics that indicate recurrent myocardial ischemia, persistent left ventricular dysfunction, and/or recurrent cardiac arrhythmias. In patients with uncomplicated myocardial infarction the assessment of symptoms, physical findings, and ECG changes during predischarge exercise testing often identifies patients at increased risk for further cardiac events. Because of the suboptimum sensitivity and specificity of the exercise ECG for detecting myocardial ischemia, myocardial perfusion imaging with 201Tl and/or assessment of global and segmental ventricular function by two-dimensional echocardiography or radionuclide cineangiography during or immediately after exercise are often added to the predischarge risk stratification.
I, teacher: using artificial intelligence (AI) and social robots in communication and instruction*

Human–machine communication has emerged as a new relational context of education and should become a priority for instructional scholarship in the coming years. With artificial intelligence and rob...
Prediction of microemulsion phase behavior from surfactant and co-solvent structures

Abstract A predictive model was developed that captures quantitative structure-property relationships between the molecular structures of surfactants and co-solvents and microemulsion phase behavior. Both the optimum salinity and the optimum solubilization ratio (and thus the interfacial tension) are modeled as a function of both monovalent and divalent cations in the brines. A dataset consisting of 685 microemulsion phase behavior experiments with 24 unique crude oils, 85 surfactants (internal olefin sulfonates, alkylbenzene sulfonates, alcohol alkoxy sulfates and alcohol alkoxy carboxylates) and 18 co-solvents (alcohols and alcohol alkoxylates) was used for the model development and validation. Variations in the type of hydrophobe (carbon number, degree of branching, polydispersity, and aromaticity), number of propylene oxide groups, number of ethylene oxide groups, and the type of head group (sulfonate, benzene sulfonate, sulfate, carboxylate, hydroxyl) were studied. The oils were characterized using their equivalent alkane carbon number. The model includes the effect of soaps generated from the neutralization of acidic crude oils. The interfacial concentration of co-solvent is calculated using the pseudophase model. Previous models for optimum salinity have not included the effects of divalent cations, soap, and co-solvents among other limitations. Most importantly, the new model can be used to predict interfacial tension as well as optimum salinity and provide a better understanding of the impact of molecular structures on microemulsion phase behavior. The model is sufficiently accurate to provide a useful guide to experimental testing programs for the development of chemical formulations for enhanced oil recovery and other similar applications requiring low interfacial tension.
Motivation and opportunity for conflict-induced migration: An analysis of Syrian migration timing:

How do civilians decide when to leave their homes during conflict? Existing research emphasizes the role of violence in driving civilian migration decisions. Yet, migration timing often does not co...
To Monitor or to Trust: Observing Robot's Behavior based on a Game-Theoretic Model of Trust.

In scenarios where a robot generates and executes a plan, there may be instances where this generated plan is less costly for the robot to execute but incomprehensible to the human. When the human acts as a supervisor and is held accountable for the robot's plan, the human may be at a higher risk if the incomprehensible behavior is deemed to be infeasible or unsafe. In such cases, the robot, who may be unaware of the human's exact expectations, may choose to execute (1) the most constrained plan (i.e. one preferred by all possible supervisors) incurring the added cost of executing highly sub-optimal behavior when the human is monitoring it and (2) deviate to a more optimal plan when the human looks away. While robots do not have human-like ulterior motives (such as being lazy), such behavior may occur because the robot has to cater to the needs of different human supervisors. In such settings, the robot, being a rational agent, should take any chance it gets to deviate to a lower cost plan. On the other hand, continuous monitoring of the robot's behavior is often difficult for humans because it costs them valuable resources (e.g., time, cognitive overload, etc.). Thus, to optimize the cost for monitoring while ensuring the robots follow the safe behavior, we model this problem in the game-theoretic framework of trust. In settings where the human does not initially trust the robot, pure-strategy Nash Equilibrium provides a useful policy for the human.
Los retos de la política económica

ResumenEste articulo analiza los retos de la politica economica del nuevo gobierno, poniendo enfasis en el imperativo de acelerar el crecimiento economico como precondicion para revertir las tendencias adversas en la distribucion del ingreso, la pobreza y la movilidad social. Se analiza como un mayor crecimiento contribuiria a generar los recursos para ello y se discuten los cambios en la politica monetaria, cambiaria y fiscal necesarios para detonar a corto plazo un mayor crecimientoAbstractThis paper examines the economic policy challenges facing Mexico´s new government, emphasizing the imperative of accelerating economic growth as a precondition to counteract adverse trends in income distribution, poverty and social mobility. The paper examines how faster economic growth would contribute to generate resources for that purpose and discusses the monetary, exchange rate and fiscal policy changes necessary to ignite faster growth in the short run
Portrait of a ‘real’ marero: Fantasy and falsehood in stories of gang violence:

In 21st-century Guatemala transnational gangs (or maras) have become erstwhile emissaries of extreme peacetime violence, distilling in spectacular fashion the fear, rage, and trauma swirling around...
Theoretical Unity in Epistemology

Epistemology is more than the theory of knowledge. It involves reflection on and theorizing about cognitive successes from a purely theoretical or intellectual point of view, one that brackets other concerns such as practical, moral, and aesthetic ones. Knowledge is certainly one success of this sort, but not the only one. In addition, there are the great achievements of understanding and wisdom, as well as the ordinary accomplishments of having rational opinions and justified beliefs. Multiplicity, however, can lead to fragmented theorizing. Fragmentation can arise by ignoring much of the theoretical landscape, as when one limits one’s theorizing in epistemology to the theory of knowledge. Fragmentation can also arise by addressing more (or even all) of the landscape, but not in a unified fashion. For example, one might be a Chisholmian foundationalist about justification while also being a virtue epistemologist about knowledge. Fragmentation is disappointing. Just as it is disappointing to be told that the laws of terrestrial motion have little in common with the laws of celestial motion, so too is disunity in epistemology something to lament. It is worthwhile, then, to compare some possible ways of avoiding such fragmentation, to see whether there is any hope for greater unification regarding the variety of items in our epistemological landscape. My goal will be to argue in a very tentative way for the superior prospects for unity found by taking the theory of confirmation as fundamental to epistemological theorizing, at least when compared to the extant rivals of a knowledge-first approach and a reasons-based account.
Management of Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency in Children

The diagnosis of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) can be difficult, as symptoms may be nonspecific. A delayed diagnosis of EPI can negatively impact health through poor weight gain, impaired growth, and malabsorption of nutrients. Because of active growth and development, children are more vulnerable to the consequences of untreated EPI. Pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy is the cornerstone of management and offers both symptomatic relief and improvement in clinical outcomes. Additionally, a high-energy diet with unrestricted fat and supplementation with fat-soluble vitamins is often required to optimize growth and prevent nutrition deficiencies. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common condition in children that causes EPI, and improvement in nutrition management is associated with improved pulmonary function and increased survival. Currently, the management of other conditions leading to EPI in children is not well studied, and inferences from the CF literature are often necessary in caring for these patients.
Combined overexpression of SIRT1 and knockout of GCN5 in adult skeletal muscle does not affect glucose homeostasis or exercise performance in mice.

Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) and general control of amino acid synthesis 5 (GCN5) regulate mitochondrial biogenesis via opposing modulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator 1α (PGC-...
Solubility and thermodynamic functions for a 3–2 salt, samarium sulfate, in water and sulfuric acid solutions at temperatures to 350°C☆

Abstract To broaden the types of salts studied in high temperature aqueous systems, solubilities of 3-2 samarium sulfate hydrates have been determined in water (25–350°C) and in aqueous sulfuric acid (150–250°C). The values in water for the octahydrate decrease from 0·033 m at 25°C to 8 × 10 −6 m for a lower hydrate at 350°C. Assumptions of several sets of ionic species saturating the sulfuric acid solutions have been tested by extended Debye-Huckel theory, which suggests that the 3-2 samarium sulfate may behave predominantly as a 2-2 sulfate at high temperatures, thus producing Sm 2 (SO 4 ) 2 2+ and SO 4 2− ions in solution. Similar treatment of Lietzke and Stoughton's solubilities of lanthanum sulfate in sulfuric acid at 135–160°C is not inconsistent with this suggestion. Based on behavior as a 2-2 salt, thermodynamic functions for the solubility of samarium sulfate hydrate at 150–250°C are presented, together with some comparisons from the solubilities of lanthanum sulfate hydrate.
Democratic librarianship: the role of the medical library in promoting democracy and social justice

Evidence suggests that Erich Meyerhoff was one of the first practitioners of democratic librarianship throughout his long and productive life. This essay defines democratic librarianship in the context of democratic ideals and social justice and posits actions that the profession should be taking to thrive and lead in a multicultural environment, including being a place for active engagement, crucial conversations, and debate. Democratic librarianship is broader than social justice but incorporates social justice ideals in promoting a socially just and democratic society.
Mathematical Modeling of Emulsion Solvent Diffusion for Spherical Crystallization: How To Deconvolute Primary Crystal Size Distribution from Agglomerate Size Distribution?

Spherical crystallization (SC) is a novel process intensification strategy, which can substantially reduce the manufacturing cost for solid oral dosage forms. However, although the manufacturabilit...
Eliciting Student Scratch Script Understandings via Scratch Charades

With many school districts nationwide integrating Computer Science (CS) and Computational Thinking (CT) instruction at the K-8 level, it is crucial researchers closely inspect the relationship between program expression and student understandings. In this study, we propose and report on our use of Scratch Charades, a game in which students act out Scratch scripts while others build them. The purpose of Scratch Charades is to familiarize students with scripts and blocks without the cognitive overhead of the complex user interface. However, in this study, we also used it to elicit student understandings about Scratch blocks and scripts to design mnemonics to help students debug their code. We propose two building and/or debugging strategies based on our observations.
An Update on the Complexity and Importance of Accurately Diagnosing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Comorbid Traumatic Brain Injury:

As awareness for diagnosing and screening patients for trauma has grown, more effective evidence-based treatments are available to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite these gains, ...
Ionization and Dissociation of Fast H 2 Molecules Incident on H 2 Gas

The yield cross sections ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{{{\mathrm{H}}_{2}}^{+}}$, ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{{\mathrm{H}}^{+}}$, and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\mathrm{H}}$ for production of fast ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}^{+}$ and ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$ ions and H atoms resulting from the ionization and dissociation of fast ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ molecules in single collisions with ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ gas molecules have been measured in the 6- to 120-keV energy range (collision velocity 0.7 to 3.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{8}$ cm/sec). The neutral primary beam contained a fraction of H atoms which was determined by proportional counter analysis. Secondary particles produced by the H atoms in the primary beam were determined in separate H beam experiments and subtracted from the composite (H,${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$) neutral beam data to yield the production of secondaries due to ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ primaries alone. Cross section ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{{{\mathrm{H}}_{2}}^{+}}$ increases monatonically from 0.5 to 2.0 ${\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{2}$ in the energy range 6 to 120 keV while ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{{\mathrm{H}}^{+}}$ increases from 0.28 ${\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{2}$ at 7.5 keV to a maximum of 0.70 ${\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{2}$ at 50 keV. Cross section ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\mathrm{H}}$, measured only at 10 keV, was found to have an approximate value of 2.5 ${\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{2}$ based on an assumed shape of the H atom angular distribution at small angles. The results are compared with data on a number of collision processes in the same velocity range involving various species of hydrogen ions and H atoms incident on ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ gas molecules.
Voice as a mediator of mothers’ and daughters’ feminist attitudes and psychological outcomes: An application of silencing the self theory and social cognitive theory of gender development and differentiation

This research investigated the associations between mothers’ and their young adult daughters’ feminist attitudes, voice (i.e., their ability to speak their mind in close relationships), and psychol...
Social media impact in the Match: A survey of current trends in the United States.

Background Applicants to integrated plastic and reconstructive surgery (PRS) residency in the United States spend exorbitant amounts of time and money throughout the interview process. Outside of first-hand experience through a visiting rotation, applicants utilize various resources in learning about a program. Today's applicants are "Millennials," the demographic cohort raised during the information age and proficient with digital technology. The authors evaluated whether programs have a presence on social media, and whether applicants are following these accounts. Methods An online survey was sent to applicants to a single integrated plastic surgery program evaluating basic demographics, social media utilization, and sources of information accessed throughout the residency application process. A manual search of popular social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) was performed in October 2019. Accounts affiliated with integrated PRS programs were identified and analyzed. Results Eighty-four of 222 applicants (37.8%) completed the survey. Ninety-six percent of applicants were within the Millennial demographic. Ninety-six percent of applicants had some form of social media presence, with Facebook (90%) and Instagram (87%) being the most popular platforms. Seventy-three percent of applicants reported following a PRS residency social media account. As of October 2019, 59 integrated residency programs (73%) have active Instagram accounts. Conclusions Applicants still rely on the program website when researching potential residencies, but social media is being rapidly adopted by programs. Program social media accounts should be used as a dynamic form of communication to better inform applicants of program strengths and weaknesses.
Symptoms of COVID-19 infection and magnitude of antibody response in a large community-based study

Abstract Background The majority of COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic, or minimally symptomatic with management in the home. Little is known about the frequency of specific symptoms in the general population, and how symptoms predict the magnitude of antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods We quantified IgG antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) in home-collected dried blood spot samples from 3,365 adults participating in a community-based seroprevalence study in the city of Chicago, USA, collected between June 24 and November 11, 2020. Results 17.8% of the sample was seropositive for SARS-CoV-2. A cluster of symptoms (loss of sense of smell or taste, fever, shortness of breath, muscle or body aches, cough, fatigue, diarrhea, headache) was associated with stronger anti-RBD IgG responses among the seropositives. 39.2% of infections were asymptomatic, and 2 or fewer symptoms were reported for 66.7% of infections. Total number of symptoms was positively but weakly associated with IgG response: Median anti-RBD IgG was 0.95 ug/mL for individuals with 3 or more symptoms, in comparison with 0.61 ug/mL for asymptomatic infections. Conclusion We document high rates of asymptomatic and mild infection in a large community-based cohort, and relatively low levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody in the general population of previously exposed individuals.
High Health Care Premiums in Charlottesville: Who Is to Blame? And What Should Be Done?

When Karl Quist, a resident of Charlottesville, Virginia, looks at the rate increases in his unsubsidized, individual-market Affordable Care Act (ACA) health care insurance premiums in November 2017, he realizes that they have nearly tripled from the year before and that he will have to spend over $35,000 during the year in premiums for coverage that will entitle him to a benefit only after he has spent another $14,400 in deductible payments. Astonished, Quist starts asking questions. He connects with others experiencing the same situation and reaches out for meetings with the Virginia Commissioner of Insurance and Board of Insurance to understand and explore possible solutions. This case covers the basic history of the ACA; explains how pricing is set for both ACA and non-ACA policies; and discusses risk pools, medical loss ratios, area rate factors, allowable adjustments, and self-insured employer plans. It provides a deep dive into the continued rise in cost of health care premiums and asks, "Who is to blame?" This case is suitable for graduate or undergraduate business classes with a focus on the health care industry, leading health care organizations, ethics, government and public policy, or industry regulation. Excerpt UVA-E-0439 Mar. 16, 2020 High Health Care Premiums in Charlottesville: Who Is to Blame? And What Should Be Done? November 2017: Sticker Shock Karl Quist, a resident and local business owner in Charlottesville, Virginia, recalled his incredulity when he logged on during the health insurance open enrollment period in November 2017 to find out what his monthly premium bill would be the following year. Quist was an entrepreneur and a sole proprietor without the minimum number of full-time employees that might qualify him for small-group insurance rates. So, for nearly 10 years, he had purchased an individual health insurance policy to cover himself, his wife, and his growing family. Prior to the 2010 introduction of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the associated open market for ACA-compliant health care plans (launched in 2014), he had purchased his individual policy directly from an insurance company such as Anthem. He had accepted and learned to absorb the astonishing increase in premium rates that he inevitably saw from year to year—which usually landed somewhere in the range of 10% to 30%. . . .
Variability in Sleep Is Associated with Trait-Based and Daily Measures of Bipolar Spectrum Psychopathology.

Introduction: Although sleep disturbances are well documented in bipolar spectrum disorders (BSDs), significantly less research has examined whether these disturbances are present in those at risk ...
Antagonistic effect of dexamethasone in temozolomide-induced apoptosis in human malignant glioblastoma T98G cells

4040 The use of a steroid as supportive therapy in the treatment of brain tumors can effectively attenuate the increases in intracerebral blood pressure, which impairs regional blood flow. Steroid, however, may modulate the sensitivity of tumor cells to chemotherapeutic agents, which are used subsequently for induction of apoptotic death in tumor cells. Dexamethasone (DXM) is a steroid and commonly used as a supportive therapy to reduce the inflammation and cerebral edema associated with the growth of glioblastoma, which is the deadliest and most prevalent brain tumor in humans. Human patients with glioblastoma are frequently treated with DXM prior to chemotherapy. Many conventional chemotherapeutic agents remain mostly ineffective in controlling the malignant growth of glioblastomas. A new alkylating agent temozolomide (TMZ) has recently been found efficacious in the clinical trials in patients with various advanced malignancies, including glioblastomas. Under the physiological conditions, TMZ is spontaneously hydrolyzed to its active metabolite for methylation of DNA, triggering apoptotic death. But, any modulatory effect of DXM on the chemotherapeutic action of TMZ has not yet been evaluated experimentally in the cell culture or animal models. Therefore, in our current study, we have examined whether DXM acts as a synergistic or antagonistic agent during TMZ-induced apoptosis in human glioblastoma T98G cells in culture. T98G cells were pretreated with various doses of DXM followed by TMZ. The cell viability after 24 and 48 h was assessed by the trypan blue dye exclusion test. Wright staining and TUNEL assay were conducted to identify occurrence of apoptotic cell death based on the morphological and biochemical (DNA fragmentation) features, respectively. More biochemical features of apoptotic death, such as upregulation of Bax:Bcl-2 ratio, calpain activity, and caspase-3 activity were assessed by the Western blot analyses. A significant number of T98G cells committed apoptosis following treatment with 200 μM TMZ. However, a pretreatment of T98G cells with 100 μM or 200 μM DXM protected against TMZ-induced apoptosis, concomitantly decreasing the Bax:Bcl-2 ratio, calpain activity, and caspase-3 activity. These experimental results clearly indicate that DXM works as an antagonistic agent in combination with TMZ. Therefore, our investigation strongly implies that the combination of DXM and TMZ may be counteractive in treating human glioblastoma. Future studies should be conducted with the xenografted and allografted animal models of glioblastoma to confirm the in vivo antagonistic effect of DXM on TMZ action. Also, clinical studies in glioblastoma patients may shed new light in the controversial use of DXM in palliation of glioblastoma patients. This investigation was supported in part by the R01 grants from the NCI and NINDS of the NIH (Bethesda, MD), and also a grant from the State of SC.
Abstract P200: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Post-Stroke Chronic Aphasia: A Double Blind Randomized Controlled Study

Background: There is growing evidence even amongst those with chronic aphasia that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with behavioral speech therapy could boost language. Howev...
Uncommon presentation and complications of herpes zoster infection involving the cervical, vagus and accessory nerves which caused a delay in diagnosis and treatment

A 70-year-old man with a history of invasive anal squamous cell carcinoma treated with excision and chemoradiation presented to the emergency department with right-sided neck pain and submandibular lymphadenopathy. CT imaging of the head and neck was unrevealing. The patient eventually developed cranial nerves X and XI dysfunction, manifesting as severe vocal cord paralysis (dysphonia), dysphagia, asymmetric palate elevation/deviation and trapezius muscle atrophy, in addition to scalene muscle atrophy. After an extensive workup, the patient's symptoms were determined to be due to sequelae of varicella zoster infection, which was confirmed with antibody titers. The patient's dysphagia and dysphonia eventually improved with vocal cord medialisation injection and Botox injection. However, despite delayed treatment with acyclovir and valacyclovir, the patient continued to have neuropathic pain and exhibit signs of CN X and CN XI paresis, in addition to scalene muscle atrophy.
Estimating the Returns to Insider Trading: A Performance-Evaluation Perspective

This paper uses performance-evaluation methodology to estimate the returns earned by insiders when they trade their company's stock. Our methods are designed to estimate the returns earned by insiders themselves and thereby differ from the previous insider-trading literature, which focuses on the informativeness of insider trades for other investors. We find that insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year, and insider sales do not earn significant abnormal returns. We compute that the expected costs of insider trading to noninsiders are about 10 cents for a $10,000 transaction.
Fighting the Establishment: The Need for Procedural Reform of Our Paternity Laws

Every state and the District of Columbia use voluntary acknowledgments of paternity. Created pursuant to federal law, the acknowledgment is signed by the purported biological parents and establishes paternity without requiring court involvement. Intended to be a “simple civil process” to establish paternity where the parents are unmarried, the acknowledgment is used by state governments to expedite child support litigation. But federal policy and state laws governing the acknowledgments do not sufficiently protect the interests of those men who have signed acknowledgments and who subsequently discover that they lack genetic ties to the children in question. A signatory who learns that he is not the child’s biological father and who wishes to challenge the validity of the acknowledgment must navigate a difficult process for relief. The very act of signing an acknowledgment may subsequently prevent him from offering any scientific evidence of the absence of a biological connection to the child. As a result, he may be obligated to pay child support for years on the basis of that erroneous paternity acknowledgment, and a parent-child relationship may be imposed even if it is not in the child’s best interests. Using the District of Columbia as a model to highlight the need for procedural reform, this Article examines the federal and D.C. legislation that created voluntary acknowledgments of paternity as well as the process for either rescinding or challenging their validity. The Article then analyzes the practical implications of these processes and discusses why the presumptive weight of the acknowledgment, a conclusive presumption of paternity, is problematic. In particular, the Article questions the need for a conclusive presumption of paternity, a difficult evidentiary burden for a challenger to overcome, and whether the conclusive presumption of paternity runs afoul of constitutional protections. Finally, the Article offers possible solutions to improve the establishment process. * B.A., May 1999 Wellesley College; J.D., May 2003 University of Pennsylvania Law School; LL.M, August 2013, The George Washington University Law School.
A Discrete-Time Robust Vehicle Traction Controller Design

A discrete-time robust vehicle traction control algorithm, which includes anti-skid braking and anti-spin acceleration, is proposed. It is a nonlinear feedback scheme and can be designed via classical digital control theory. From a practical viewpoint, it is easy to tune and to modify to incorporate higher order dynamics, which may be unique in particular hardware setup. The robust controller in this paper provides stable and reliable performance under a vast amount of uncertainties involved in the vehicle/brake system, which are either difficult to measure or costly to obtain. The effectiveness of this new scheme is demonstrated by experiments on anti-skid braking.
Intelligent Control for an Acrobot

The acrobot is an underactuated two-link planar robot that mimics the human acrobat who hangs from a bar and tries to swing up to a perfectly balanced upside-down position with his/her hands still on the bar. In this paper we develop intelligent controllers for swing-up and balancing of the acrobot. In particular, we first develop classical, fuzzy, and adaptive fuzzy controllers to balance the acrobot in its inverted unstable equilibrium region. Next, a proportional-derivative (PD) controller with inner-loop partial feedback linearization, a state-feedback, and a fuzzy controller are developed to swing up the acrobot from its stable equilibrium position to the inverted region, where we use a balancing controller to ‘catch’ and balance it. At the same time, we develop two genetic algorithms for tuning the balancing and swing-up controllers, and show how these can be used to help optimize the performance of the controllers. Overall, this paper provides (i) a case study of the development of a variety of intelligent controllers for a challenging application, (ii) a comparative analysis of intelligent vs. conventional control methods (including the linear quadratic regulator and feedback linearization) for this application, and (iii) a case study of the development of genetic algorithms for off-line computer-aided-design of both conventional and intelligent control systems.
Perspectives on Membranes and Separators for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Devices

This article is a perspective that introduces the theme of this issue of Polymer Reviews, that being polymeric membranes and fuel cells for battery (energy storage) and fuel cell (energy conversion) applications. This short article reviews the need for batteries and fuel cells, the key properties of membranes/separators for such devices, the R&D steps required for the fabrication of new a membrane/separator, and the importance of the five review articles in this issue, in addressing cutting-edge research topics.
Promoting organizational and scholarly transformation

A pioneer of the “videocase” describes the contents, development and impact of his module on the space shuttle Challenger disaster, highlighting key dimensions which have contributed to its effectiveness as a tool for managerial education and development. Critical lessons from the development of the videocase are identified in order to provide insights and guidelines for scholars and others interested in creating similar resources.
Towards Unifying Database Scheduling and Concurrency Control: A Frontier Approach

Real-time databases have numerous applications, including commodities trading, military command and control, patient monitoring, air traffic control, and flexible manufacturing. All of these applications require that data be processed in such a way that the data and output of the database remains logically consistent. They also require that deadlines imposed on database operations are met (temporal consistency). Thus, the ultimate goal of scheduling and concurrency control for real-time databases is to maintain both temporal and logical consistency of the transactions and of the data. In situations, such as overload, where both temporal consistency and logical consistency cannot be met, a transaction scheduler may have to sacrifice one requirement for the other and make a trade-off between the two. For example, suppose that a transaction t read is reading some sensor data in a real-time database, and another transaction, t update , needs to update that data in order to maintain the temporal consistency of the data and/or the transaction. If t update were allowed to execute, the logical consistency of t read would be violated, but if t update were blocked, the temporal consistency of the sensor data or of t update could be violated. Thus, one requirement must be traded-off for the other.
Stationarity, homogeneity and isotropy in the coherence theory of the electromagnetic fields

The concepts of stationarity, homogeneity and isotropy are introduced in terms of the invariance of certain expectation values under time translations, under space translations and under space rotations respectively. Some consequences of homogeneity and isotropy on the forms and relations among second-order correlation tensors of the electromagnetic field are derived. It is shown that, if the second-order correlation tensors are invariant under space translations, they are also invariant under time translations. Further it is also shown that in such cases the trace of the electric correlation tensor is identical to the trace of the magnetic correlation tensor. General forms of the second-order electromagnetic correlation tensors are derived for fields which are both isotropic and homogeneous. Both quantum and classical descriptions of coherence are considered and the restrictions which stationarity, homogeneity or isotropy impose on the density operator in quantum description and on the probability distributions in classical description are deduced.
Considerations when performing ultrasound-guided supraclavicular perineural catheter placement.

To the Editor: Drs Heil et al have presented an interesting case series describing ultrasound-guided supraclavicular perineural catheters for perioperative analgesia.1 Ultrasound guidance has increased the popularity and success rate, as well as decreased the complication rate, of supraclavicular brachial plexus blocks and perineural catheters.2–7 In this series, 1 of 10 catheters (10%) was inadvertently dislodged on the first postoperative day. Over the last few years, many of our supraclavicular catheters have become unintentionally dislodged before the intended date of removal. We attribute this to the curved contour of the location of supraclavicular catheter placement and the difficulty in securing the catheter on this nonflat surface. Both the shallow nature of this block, much like the interscalene block, and using a catheter-through-needle technique lead to leakage around the catheter and also contribute to dislodgement. We have also found that it can be difficult to pass the catheter using the lateral-to-medial approach described in this article. A medial-to-lateral needle direction provides a more anatomic approach to catheter threading along the brachial plexus, and the catheters usually pass easily without complication. The authors describe the use of minimal sedation for the placement of supraclavicular catheters compared to past studies, which have described heavy procedural sedation for infraclavicular catheters.8,9 We have performed both supraclavicular and infraclavicular catheter placements and found that they both require similar minimal sedation to prevent patient discomfort. Further studies may be necessary to confirm the use of less procedural sedation for placement of infraclavicular catheters over amounts used for similar procedures. Our preference for continuous brachial plexus anesthesia for the elbow, forearm, and hand remains the infraclavicular approach. Not only is catheter affixed on a “flat” surface, but this approach also has the advantage of the catheter being secured by the pectoral muscles, and the added depth decreases leakage of local anesthetic to the surface. Last, in young women (and men), using an infraclavicular approach may also be preferable because the scar from needle insertion is not as apparent. Whichever approach chosen, we have found that affixing catheters with 2-octyl cyanoacrylate (Dermabond topical skin adhesive; Ethicon, Inc, West Somerville, NJ) and a transparent adhesive dressing with an integrated gel pad containing chlorhexidine gluconate (Tegaderm chlorhexidine gluconate dressing; 3M Health Care, St Paul, MN) have contributed to our increased success in providing continuous postoperative analgesia.