cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Customers’ dissatisfaction with banking channels and their intention to leave banks: The moderating effect of trust and trusting beliefs

Banks have the challenging task of managing customer experience across many traditional and technological channels in today’s financial services world. Recent studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that many customers are dissatisfied with their experiences across channels that are supposed to provide a seamless experience. This customer dissatisfaction potentially diminishes a financial service organization’s customer base, and requires the firm to rely on a more fickle customer mix and erodes its reputation. This paper investigates the relationship between individuals’ dissatisfaction with their primary bank channel and their intention to leave their bank in the future. The first study examines individuals’ overall trust in their bank as a potential moderator in the relationship that reduces customers’ likelihood to leave the bank even though they are dissatisfied with a particular banking channel. The second study goes one step further and examines the effect of three trusting beliefs about the bank potentially held by the customer: competence, integrity, and benevolence beliefs. Findings indicate that when customers have a high level of trust in their banks, they are less likely to leave their banks even though they are dissatisfied with their primary banking channel. Furthermore, while competence and benevolence beliefs about the bank have a similar moderating effect, integrity beliefs do not.
Knowledge Elicitation Methods for Developing Insights into Team Cognition During Team Sports

Team cognition is beginning to be realized as an important facet of team sports. As we continue to articulate the role of team cognition during team sports, we need to understand how to measure team cognition. In this paper, we present multiple knowledge elicitation methods to measure team cognition. We also propose new elicitation methods that account for the dynamic nature of team sports.
Grounding action parameters from demonstration

When a robot is deployed to a new setting, it must reason about how to accomplish the goals of domain-appropriate tasks within the environment it is situated. We investigate the problem of enabling robots to interactively learn how to perform known tasks in new environments. Each task is composed of a sequence of parameterized actions, which we assume are given to the robot in the form of a task recipe. In order to learn how to ground the task in a new environment, our learner builds classifiers to model each of the parameters (i.e. all unique objects and semantic locations) associated with the task. In evaluation for two tasks across three different environments, our results show that these groundings are both (1) capable of being learned efficiently from demonstrations, and (2) necessary to learn for each new environment.
DC Offset Removal Algorithm for Improving Location Estimates of Momentary Faults

Fault location algorithms require the input of voltage and current phasors when estimating the distance to a fault. In the case of momentary faults, phasor calculations are often complicated by the presence of an exponentially decaying dc offset. Fourier filters and cosine filters, popularly used by most phasor estimation algorithms in relays, are successful in filtering out most, but not all, of the exponentially decaying dc offset. This dc offset affects the accuracy of voltage and current phasors and may result in a significant error in location estimates. Therefore, this paper presents a dc offset removal algorithm to improve the fault location estimates of momentary faults. The algorithm uses the rms-wavelet method for fault detection and estimates voltage and current phasors using non-linear least squares methods. The proposed method uses variable window size in calculating phasors and estimates a single, but more accurate fault location than multiple locations estimated by the Fourier and cosine filters. The method is validated using simulated and actual field data. The location estimates are shown to be accurate within 5.6% in all cases.
Hedge Fund Attributes, Insider Behavior, and IPO Volatility

In this study, we use regression analysis to explore the influence of hedge fund and insider attributes on the volatility in the excess stock returns for 707 initial public offerings (IPOs). For these tests, we separate stock price volatility into systematic volatility (SVOL) and idiosyncratic volatility (IVOL). Our sample period is for 2004–2010 and thus encompasses the subprime mortgage crisis from 2007 to 2009. During this latter period, the number of hedge funds rose 36% despite the fact the overall size of hedge fund assets fell 38%. We find that hedge funds are more likely to influence systematic volatility and insider behavior is more likely to affect idiosyncratic volatility. SVOL is reduced when there are more hedge funds in the market, hedge fund returns are higher, hedge funds have more assets under management, and the proportion of hedge funds using the relative value (arbitrage) and event driven investment strategies are reduced. A reduction in IVOL is correlated with smaller insider ownership after the offering and greater declines in insider ownership due to the IPO. Our findings are valuable in helping investors and government regulators understand the role hedge funds and other insiders have on stock price volatility.
A deviation based assessment methodology for multiple machine health patterns classification and fault detection

Abstract Successful applications of Diffusion Map (DM) in machine failure detection and diagnosis have been reported in several recent studies. DM provides an efficient way to visualize the high-dimensional, complex and nonlinear machine data, and thus suggests more knowledge about the machine under monitoring. In this paper, a DM based methodology named as DM-EVD is proposed for machine degradation assessment, abnormality detection and diagnosis in an online fashion. Several limitations and challenges of using DM for machine health monitoring have been analyzed and addressed. Based on the proposed DM-EVD, a deviation based methodology is then proposed to include more dimension reduction methods. In this work, the incorporation of Laplacian Eigen-map and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) are explored, and the latter algorithm is named as PCA-Dev and is validated in the case study. To show the successful application of the proposed methodology, case studies from diverse fields are presented and investigated in this work. Improved results are reported by benchmarking with other machine learning algorithms.
The Relationship Between Flame Structure and Burning Rate for Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellants

The burning rate of a propellant is one of the most desired pieces of information for rocket motor design. Propellant burning rate is known to be linked to the microscale flame structures located just above the propellant surface. Flame structure and burning rate for an ammonium perchlorate composite propellant depend in large part on three factors: ammonium perchlorate particle size, propellant formulation, and pressure. Propellant burning rates are in general higher with decreasing AP particle size and increasing pressure. When the microscale flame structures sit higher, on average, above the propellant surface, the propellant will have slower burning rates due (in part) to decreased heat feedback to the propellant surface. The addition of burning rate modifiers to the propellant will also change the flame structure, and therefore the burning rate. Currently, propellants are developed using iterations of mixing and testing to obtain burning rates and physical parameters for computer models. However, this method is not optimal due to the large amount of time and cost involved with this highly empirical approach. Ideally, modelers would be able to make a priori predictions of formulation burning rates, but we are far from that currently. Modelers do desire to create high-fidelity computer models to simulate burning rocket propellants, and much progress has been made in recent years; however, relatively little is known about the actual flame structure in composite propellants which has had limited advances. Knowledge of the variation of flame structure with pressure and propellant formulation will not only assist in the validation of these high-fidelity computer models but will also provide insight to propellant formulators as they seek to use alternate ingredients and methods. This chapter seeks to describe the current data we have on the flame structures in ammonium perchlorate composite propellants and how microscale flame structure affects global burning rate. We review the status of current modeling, diagnostics that have been applied, simplified configurations that have been considered, and recent in situ measurements that are now available for at least the final diffusion flame. Although much remains to be done, significant advancement has been made to reach the ultimate goal of truly predictive propellant simulation and design.
Perioperative Considerations in the Management of Jugular Paragangliomas

Surgical extirpation of jugular paragangliomas (JPs) can present a complex challenge in the perioperative setting. Because of the vascular nature of these tumors and the close proximity to critical neurovascular structures, specific challenges in perioperative management must be anticipated prior to surgery. Additional concerns arise because of the potential for these tumors to secrete catecholamine and serotonin metabolites or be associated with pheochromocytoma. Appropriate management often employs a multidisciplinary approach partnering endocrinologists, anesthesiologists, and surgeons in the perioperative period. The goal of this chapter is to discuss specific challenges that JP presents in the perioperative setting by presenting an algorithm for the evaluation and management of patients through the entire surgical process, from initial workup to surgical resection and into the immediate postoperative period. Long-term postoperative management, including cranial nerve rehabilitation, and medical therapy of secreting tumors will be discussed in detail in other chapters.
Esthesioneuroblastoma: A Patterns-of-Care and Outcomes Analysis of the National Cancer Database.

BACKGROUND The available literature to guide treatment decision making in esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) is limited. OBJECTIVE To define treatment patterns and outcomes in ENB according to treatment modality using a large national cancer registry. METHODS This study is a retrospective cohort analysis of 931 patients with a diagnosis of ENB who were treated with surgery, radiation therapy, and/or chemotherapy in the United States between the years of 2004 and 2012. Log-rank statistics were used to compare overall survival by primary treatment modality. Logistic regression modeling was used to identify predictors of receipt of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT). Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to determine the survival benefit of PORT. Subgroup analyses identified subgroups that derived the greatest benefit of PORT. RESULTS Primary surgery was the most common treatment modality (90%) and resulted in superior survival compared to radiation (P < .01) or chemotherapy (P < .01). On multivariate analysis, PORT was associated with decreased risk of death (hazard ratio [HR] 0.53, P < .01). PORT showed a survival benefit in Kadish stage C (HR 0.42, P < .01) and D (HR 0.09, P = .01), but not Kadish A (HR 1.17, P = .74) and B (HR 1.37, P = .80). Patients who received chemotherapy derived greater benefit from PORT (HR 0.22, P < .01) compared with those who did not (HR 0.68, P = .13). Predictors of PORT included stage, grade, extent of resection, and chemotherapy use. CONCLUSION Best outcomes were obtained in patients undergoing primary surgery. The benefit of PORT was driven by patients with stages C and D disease, and by those also receiving chemotherapy.
Awareness of the Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy among Older non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics.

ABSTRACTUsing nationally representative data from the Health and Retirement Study, this study examined (1) whether awareness of the Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) varies by race and ethnicity among beneficiaries age 65 and older (N = 1,504), and (2) the impact of factors associated with health benefits knowledge and need for assistance on LIS awareness. Logistic regression results showed that compared with older non-Hispanic Whites, older non-Hispanic Blacks (odds ratio [OR] = .61, p < .001) and Hispanics (OR = .55, p < .01) were less likely to be aware of the LIS. Ethnic differences in LIS awareness were largely explained by language or Spanish-speaking preference (OR = 1.07, p = .808). However, accounting for demographics, health and socioeconomic status, and language did not reduce racial disparities (OR = .63, p < .01). Differences in LIS awareness among racial and ethnic minority groups highlight the need for culturally and linguistically sensitive community-based education, communication, ...
Interference of Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies With Routine Serum Protein Electrophoresis and Immunofixation in Patients With Myeloma: Frequency and Duration of Detection of Daratumumab and Elotuzumab

Objectives We investigated the frequency and pattern of detection of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (t-mAbs) daratumumab and elotuzumab by routine serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) and immunofixation (IF) in treated patients with myeloma. Methods Detection of t-mAb was assessed in 22 patients by retrospective review of SPE/IF ordered prior to, during, and after 26 individual courses of therapy. Results t-mAb was distinguishable from M-protein in 16 of 26 courses, with daratumumab detected in nine of nine and elotuzumab in six of seven patients. t-mAb was detected on first follow-up SPE/IF in 12 patients, with earliest detection 7 days after therapy initiation and latest detection 70 days after therapy. t-mAb persisted throughout induction therapy in most patients, with loss of detection during maintenance daratumumab. Conclusions When distinguishable from M-protein, t-mAbs are detectable in 93% of treated patients as soon as 7 days after the initial dose and are consistently observed throughout induction therapy, warranting increased monitoring and careful interpretation of SPE/IF.
Transitional dynamics of household food insecurity impact children’s developmental outcomes

ABSTRACT:Objective:To determine how transitions into and out of varying degrees of food insecurity impact children's academic competencies, executive functioning, and social skills (i.e., self-control, interpersonal skills, externalizing behaviors, and internalizing behaviors).Method:Data come from
Optimisation du partage de ressources pour les réseaux cellulaires auto-organisés

Cette these s'interesse aux problemes d'allocations des ressources et de puissance dans les reseaux cellulaires de quatrieme generation (4G). Pour faire face a la demande continuellement croissante en debit des utilisateurs mobiles, les operateurs n'ont d'autre choix que de densifier leurs infrastructures d'acces au reseau radio (RAN), afin de maximiser l'utilisation de la bande passante disponible dans l'espace. Un des defis de cette nouvelle architecture est la coexistence de nombreuses cellules voisines et la gestion des interferences co-canal qu'elles generent entre elles. De telles contraintes ont amene la communaute scientifique a s'interesser aux reseaux auto-organises et auto-optimises (SON), qui permettent aux reseaux de s'optimiser localement via des decisions decentralisees (sans planification statique). L'interet principal de tels reseaux est le passage a l'echelle des algorithmes distribues et la possibilite de s'adapter dynamiquement a de nouveaux environnements. Dans cette optique, nous proposons l'etude de deux problemes d'allocation de ressources. La premiere partie de cette these se concentre sur l'optimisation de l'usage des ressources, dans un contexte de transmission coordonnee par plusieurs stations de base (CoMP). Les performances de la coordination de stations de base sont evaluees, selon le critere de capacite uniforme, ainsi que le compromis entre l'efficacite spectrale et l'equite entre les utilisateurs. Nous proposons egalement une methode generalisee et distribuee de selection de l'ensemble de stations en cooperation, afin d'optimiser le compromis efficacite-equite. Dans une seconde partie, nous nous interessons a l'optimisation de l'allocation des ressources et de puissance, dans le but de minimiser la consommation electrique du reseau. Nous presentons deux algorithmes dont les decisions sont decentralisees. Le premier est base sur une optimisation stochastique (via l'echantillonneur de Gibbs) et permet une optimisation globale du systeme. Le second quant a lui est base sur l'adaptation de la theorie du controle et utilise des modeles predictifs et la poursuite de cibles pour allouer les ressources et les puissances dans un contexte de canaux et d'interferences dynamiques. Dans de nombreux cas, plusieurs objectifs concurrents sont a considerer pour evaluer les performances d'un reseau (capacite totale, equite, consommation electrique, etc.). Dans le cadre de cette these, nous nous efforcons a presenter les resultats sous la forme de compromis multi-objectifs.
Picking a loser: Strategic surprise in a design and development game

We take a setting in which upstream players produce design ideas and downstream players select among these ideas to develop finished products. Design diversity is valuable at the upstream stage and coordination is valuable at the downstream stage. However, this outcome is not always realized. We show that an intermediary between upstream and downstream can improve on equilibrium outcomes by acting as a coordination and commitment device whose optimal policy must sometimes reward inferior ideas. We apply the model to technology standards, trend‐driven industries, political primaries, and the management of process innovation. We discuss incentives to vertically integrate.
The Great War in post-memory literature and film

Even as the world commemorates the centenary of the Great War in sundry shapes and forms, there is the lamentable danger that one may ignore, in the 100-year look, the many years intervening. In th...
Chromosomal rearrangements at hypomethylated Satellite 2 sequences are associated with impaired replication efficiency and increased fork stalling

Cancer cells, aging cells, and cells from patients with the developmental disorder Immunodeficiency, Centromeric instability, and Facial anomalies (ICF) syndrome frequently display a striking loss of DNA methylation (hypomethylation) that is accompanied by increased DNA damage and chromosomal rearrangements. Despite the robust link, the mechanism by which hypomethylation leads to genomic instability is poorly understood. We report that the human pericentromeric repeat sequence Satellite 2 (SAT2) poses challenges to the DNA replication machinery when hypomethylated. Loss of methylation at SAT2 is associated with increased frequencies of chromosomal abnormalities and DNA damage. Hypomethylation of SAT2 is associated with elevated levels of replication stress signaling, and chromosomal abnormalities involving SAT2 are enhanced by low levels of aphidicolin-induced replication stress. To investigate the basis for these chromosomal abnormalities, we developed a single- molecule approach employing DNA combing to examine the progress of replication forks through SAT2 at the resolution of a single DNA molecule. Our analysis of replicating SAT2 molecules provides in vivo evidence that hypomethylation of SAT2 strongly decreases the efficiency of replicating these sequences suggesting that hypomethylation results in the formation of barriers to the replication machinery. Consistent with increased frequency of fork stalling at these sequences, we find increased levels of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding protein RPA2 as well as asymmetric progression of sister replication forks within hypomethylated SAT2 sequences. Together these findings indicate that impaired replication triggers the formation of chromosomal aberrations observed at hypomethylated SAT2 sequences and also suggests a mechanistic basis for how the loss of DNA methylation may contribute to genomic instability in diverse pathological conditions.
Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder in the Acute Hospital Setting: a Critical Review of the Literature (2014–2019)

Patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) often have concomitant medical conditions requiring hospitalization. This review describes the treatment of patients with OUD in acute care hospitals. Topics addressed include screening hospitalized patients for OUD, hospital initiation of medications for OUD (MOUD), Addiction Medicine Consult Services (AMCS), managing infectious complications of intravenous opioid use, and clinical innovations. Management of opioid withdrawal and initiation of MOUD in hospitalized patients improves engagement in post-discharge addiction treatment. Implementation of an AMCS improves patient and provider outcomes. Care models that promote seamless transitions from the inpatient to outpatient setting for patients with OUD can improve patient outcomes and reduce health care utilization. Comprehensive addiction care for hospitalized patients with OUD improves patient, provider, and health care outcomes. Future studies should define the essential components of this integrated care and establish a new standard for the hospital care of patients with OUD.
Mechanisms of Racial Health Disparities: Evidence on Coping and Cortisol from MIDUS II

Blunted patterns of daily cortisol, an indicator of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis stress response system dysregulation, are implicated in poor health outcomes and racial health disparities. It is unknown how coping—an important, but understudied, component of the stress-health disparities relationship—relates to these biological mechanisms of health. This study investigated relationships, including racial differences, between 12 coping strategies and early-day cortisol changes (diurnal cortisol slopes from peak to before lunch) among 700 35–85-year-old Black and White male participants in the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) II. Cognitive-oriented (e.g., positive reinterpretation, denial, religious/spiritual) and behavioral (e.g., stress eating, substance use) coping strategies were examined. Overall, Black and White men used similar coping strategies. Most coping strategies were not associated with men’s cortisol slopes. Religious/spiritual coping was associated with steeper (more robust) cortisol slopes among White (b = − 0.004, t = − 3.28, p = 0.001) but not Black men. Drug use was associated with steeper cortisol slopes among Black (b = − 0.095, t = − 2.87, p = 0.004) but not White men. This exploratory study increases our understanding of relationships between coping and stress-related biological mechanisms underlying racial health disparities among men in later life. With some notable exceptions, men’s coping strategies were not associated with their diurnal cortisol slopes. This suggests that the coping strategies currently used by older Black and White men may not be important factors, as determinants or intervention targets, in disparities in diurnal cortisol slopes and associated health outcomes among men in this age group.
The Effect of Tactile Biofeedback on the Wrist to Suppress Hand Tremors

Tremor is characterized by involuntary muscle contractions that can result in shaking in one or more body parts. Currently, there is no cure for tremor, which affects millions of people across the world. Conventional treatments include invasive surgery or medication that can cause severe side-effects. Another option is biofeedback therapy, which may be used to help patients better control normally involuntary bodily processes and may provide relief to patients of tremor. However, its effectiveness is uncertain. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of tactile biofeedback on the wrist to suppress hand tremors. The frequency of the patients’ hand tremor is first characterized using an accelerometer. Then, the frequency is applied to the patients’ wrist as tactile biofeedback while holding an accelerometer to quantify changes in the tremor. Presented are the details of the user study plan towards the application of tactile biofeedback for tremor mitigation.
“Voyages Out: Postcolonial Desires and the Female Victorian Traveler/Adventurer”

In this chapter, Renk argues that some Victorian women travelers are highly critical of the worlds that they encounter; neo-Victorian women writers, such as Ahdaf Soueif, in The Map of Love and Kate Pullinger in The Mistress of Nothing, choose to have their protagonists value the new worlds that they encounter; in doing so their characters transform themselves from socially restricted British women to what they perceive to be freer “Middle Eastern” individuals, often cross-dressing to attain a semblance of power or adapting themselves to wearing local garb and thus inhabiting seemingly new identities. In addition, both novels posit the “harem,” not as a sexualized space, a projection of male fantasy on the East, but as a female space of habitation, a social and sometimes intellectual utopia.
A New Vaccine to Battle Covid-19.

The United States and many parts of the world have now lost control of the Covid-19 pandemic owing to the respiratory spread of SARS-CoV-2 and to inconsistent adherence to effective public health m...
Recipe for Relevance

One reason for calling Classical literature Classical is that it is supposed to be always relevant, meaningful, regardless of the historical period in which it is read and studied. And the reason that this literature, Roman and Greek, has not only survived over two and a half millennia but has served as source, model, and inspiration for later literatures and ideas is that this supposition has turned out to be true. Yet somehow the educated public of the United States today is more willing to see the relevance of Greek literature than that of Roman, especially in the matter of war and peace in the currently highly fashionable theme of love, which is so “relevant” that in the words of a song popular about a generation ago, it “is busting out all over.” This must be recognized as a serious problem for Classics teachers since most of them teach Latin, if they are still in the field in this era of dwindling enrollments in foreign languages when many young people are beginning to turn away even from modern languages. The problem, I submit, is in part of our own making and in part the result of related educational and cultural history.
Novel versus Conventional Antipsychotic Drugs

Novel antipsychotic agents differ from conventional ones in several key characteristics, including effectiveness, adverse reactions, and receptor-binding profile. Most of the newer agents have an affinity for the serotonin 5HT 2 receptor that is at least 10 times greater than that for the dopamine D 2 receptor. This increased affinity for the serotonin receptor may be responsible for another distinguishing characteristic of novel antipsychotic agents-decreased frequency of extrapyramidal side effects. These side effects, which include pseudoparkinsonism, acute dystonias, and akathisia, frequently are the reason for noncompliance with conventional drug therapy. The newer drugs are often effective in patients resistant to treatment with conventional agents. They also appear to reduce the negative symptoms of schizophrenia in many patients.
From the Pen of the Editor

January 4th 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille. Braille became blind in one eye at the age of four while working at his father’s shop. Braille was sent to the Royal Institute for the Blind in Paris for his studies. In 1821 an officer in the French Army, Charles Barbier, shared with Braille a secret “night writing” code system the army had devised for communicating in the dark at night without speaking. It was this series of raised dots that Braille at the age of fifteen in 1824, that he turned into the now famous system of writing and reading. Braille taught his system at the Institute until his death from tuberculosis at the age of forty-three in 1852.
BU48: A Novel Buprenorphine Analog That Exhibits δ-Opioid-Mediated Convulsions but Not δ-Opioid-Mediated Antinociception in Mice

N -Cyclopropylmethyl-[7α,8α,2′,3′]-cyclohexano-1′[ S ]-hydroxy-6,14- endo -ethenotetrahydronororipavine (BU48) is a novel, ring-constrained analog of buprenorphine. In vivo, BU48 (0.1–10 mg/kg s.c.) produced brief, nonlethal convulsions in mice followed by brief Straub tail and a short period of catalepsy characteristic of BW373U86 and other nonpeptidic δ-receptor agonists. BU48-induced convulsions were sensitive to antagonism by naltrindole (10 mg/kg s.c.) and were also prevented by administration of the putative δ1 antagonist 7-benzylidenenaltrexone and the putative δ2 antagonist naltriben, with the latter being more potent. In the abdominal stretch assay in the mouse, only low-efficacy antinociceptive activity of BU48 (0.1–10 mg/kg) was seen. This was reversed by the κ-opioid antagonist norbinaltorphimine (32 mg/kg s.c.) but not by the δ-opioid antagonist naltrindole (10 mg/kg s.c.). BU48 (10 mg/kg s.c.) acted as a δ-antagonist in this assay. In mouse brain homogenates, BU48 had high (nanomolar) binding affinity for all three opioid receptors in the order μ > δ = κ. In vitro, the compound acted as a potent (EC50 = 1.4 nM) κ-opioid agonist in the guinea pig ileum and a potent (EC50 = 0.2 nM) δ-opioid agonist in the mouse vas deferens but showed partial agonist activity at the rat cloned δ-opioid (40%) and human cloned κ-opioid (59%) receptors with very low efficacy at the rat cloned μ-opioid receptor (10%); findings consistent with its in vivo profile. BU48 is the first described compound that produces δ-opioid-mediated convulsions without any evidence of δ-opioid-mediated antinociception and will be a useful tool in investigations of the δ-opioid receptor.
Mid-gestation pregnancy is not disrupted by a 5-day gastrointestinal mucosal cytoprotectant oral regimen of misoprostol.

Summary Reasons for performing study: To investigate effects of a 5-day oral misoprostol regimen recommended for use in horses as a gastrointestinal mucosal cytoprotectant during colic on mid-gestation pregnancies. Objectives: To monitor cervical tone, ultrasonographic characteristics of the uterus, cervix and conceptus, as well as serum progesterone and oestrone sulphate concentrations, and observations of general health, behaviour and comfort of mid-gestation mares given a 5-day course of misoprostol or control treatment. Methods: Eleven light horse and pony mares with known breeding dates were administered 5 µg/kg bwt misoprostol orally, twice daily for 5 days. General health and pregnancy status were monitored daily during treatment via general physical examination, as well as palpation and ultrasonography per rectum of the uterus, cervix and conceptus. Jugular serum was obtained during and for 5 days following treatment for assay of progesterone and oestrone sulphate concentrations. Additionally, daily 12 h video samples of the mares were obtained to evaluate behaviour and comfort. Results: All findings, including cervical tone, ultrasonographic characteristics of the uterus, cervix and conceptus, as well as progesterone and oestrone sulphate concentrations, and observations of general health, behaviour and comfort, were similar during misoprostol and control treatment. Conclusions: Treatment of pregnant mares with a gastrointestinal mucosal cytoprotectant regimen of oral misoprostol for 5 days did not disrupt pregnancy, nor adversely affect the general health and comfort of these mares. Additional investigation of treatment at earlier and later stages of gestation, for longer-term treatment, as well as evaluating neonates for developmental disturbances, would add further information on safety of misoprostol during gestation. Potential relevance: These results provide some assurance of safety of a 5-day gastrointestinal mucosal cytopretectant regimen of oral misprostol in mid-gestation pregnant mares.
China, business and sustainability: understanding the strategic convergence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to argue that, despite the attention given to China's rising importance in the international marketplace, there has not been a corresponding attention given to the sustainability dimensions i.e. social and environmental dimensions of this economic development trajectory. Specifically, what type of business strategy can and will best serve the economic, environmental and social needs of China, and what role if any can the private sector play facilitating the development of such a strategy?Design/methodology/approach – The paper first examines the evolving relationship between business and sustainable development. Second, the sustainability challenge within the regional context in the Asia‐Pacific region is outlined. Third, the sustainability challenges posed by China's rise in the global economy are analyzed and the impacts of these challenges on current and future business strategies examined. Findings.– In order to fully understand the strategic convergence between ...
PQ/PMMA holographic filters for OCDMA over CWDM applications

Multiple users could be multiplexed into a single Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM) channel of metropolitan area networks using an Optical Code Division Multiple Access (OCDMA) scheme increasing the total number of users of the system. Thermally tunable holographic filters operated using an edge illuminated transmission hologram configuration, can provide a compact and tunable solution for this application. The filters are realized by a thick unslanted grating. The gratings are recorded in PQ (phenanthrenequinone)-doped PMMA (poly methylmethacrylate) photopolymer substrate in a holographic setup. The gratings are designed to filter light from the propagation direction for specific segments of a CWDM channel. The filters can be thermally tuned using thermoelectric cooler plates to change the period of the grating. In this paper we present the construction and performance characteristics of these filters.
Applications of relational data structure models in man-machine systems

A character string manipulation language has been created, on a pilot study basis, in order to investigate the use of associative data structures in man-machine communication. The data structure, implemented by hash coding, is used to model the environment in which communication is carried out. Examples are given which indicate that much more flexible man-machine systems can be achieved through use of such models.
Effects of Social Interaction on Growth of Juvenile Hybrid Sunfish Held at Two Densities

Abstract The effects of competitive social interaction on cumulative food consumption (CC), absolute growth rate (AGR), gross growth efficiency (GGE), and development of interindividual weight variation were quantified for juvenile hybrid sunfish (F1: Female green sunfish Lepomis cyanellus × male bluegill L. macrochirus) held in low-density (5 fish in 25 L) and high-density (20 fish in 25 L) groups for 50 d. Individually held hybrid sunfish without social interaction were used as controls. All groups were fed a commercial diet to apparent satiation three times daily. Mean CC, AGR, and GGE declined 7% and 24%, 21% and 34%, and 14% and 15%, in the low- and high-density groups, respectively, relative to controls. Patterns of declining CC and GGE with increasing fish density indicated that elevated activity and stress from social interaction caused much of the growth decline at the low density, while reduced food consumption caused the additional growth loss at the high density. Coefficients of weight variati...
Management of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the uterine cervix (cylindroma). Report of six cases and reappraisal of all cases reported in the medical literature

We report 6 new cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma (cylindroma) of the uterine cervix (5, invasive cancer and 1, in situ cancer). All 6 patients were elderly women and 5 were hypertensive. Additionally, 3 (Patients 1, 2, and 4) were obese and 1 (Patient 3) had diabetes mellitus. Three patients were seen because of post-menopausal vaginal bleeding and 3 were found to have malignant cells on routine exfoliative cytologic examination. Histologically, the tumor cells were relatively uniform, with scanty cytoplasms and a palisading pattern at the periphery of the tumor masses. Round cystic spaces were found in all 6 cases and hyaline nodules were present in some of the cystic spaces in 2. The tumors were found in Stages IA, IB, IIB, IIB, and IIIB (cases 1–4 and 6 respectively), and were treated with irradiation only. There have been only 38 cases of invasive adenoid cystic carcinoma of the cervix reported in the world medical literature. We review the treatment and survival for all 38 cases previously reported and add 5 new cases.
ABNORMAL RECTOANAL FUNCTION IN CHILDREN RECOVERED FROM CHRONIC CONSTIPATION AND ENCOPRESIS

Anal sphincter function is decreased in children with chronic constipation and encopresis, but no information is available for children after long-term treatment for CE. We compared anal tone and anal sphincter relaxation on rectal distension (RSR) in 20 healthy children (C) and 20 children with CE (Pts). Measurements were obtained using an intraluminal pressure transducer and a balloon for rectal distension prior to treatment with laxative, and were repeated in 11 Pts recovered and 9 Pts not recovered from CE after 2.5-4 years of therapy and follow-up. The anal resting tone (ART) was defined as the tone in mm Hg at the low points of the rhythmical waves, and the highest ART in the anal canal was used. Anal pressure (APr) was recorded by rapidly pulling the transducer through the anal canal. APr is the pressure difference in mm Hg between the peak of the pressure tracing and atmospheric pressure, and is computed as the average of six measurements at rest. The highest amplitude of RSR in mm Hg for distension of the rectal balloon with 60 ml of air and the lowest volume in ml to elicit RSR of ≥ 5 mm Hg (RSRT) were determined. ART, APr, and RSR60 were significantly lower in Pts than in C, and remained lower even in the recovered patients (p < 0.05). RSRT was similar in Pts and C. It appears that abnormal anorectal function is the underlying cause of CE.
Racial/ethnic differences in microalbuminuria among adults with prehypertension and hypertension: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1999-2006.

BACKGROUND Microalbuminuria, a biomarker of endothelial dysfunction, is associated with increased cardiovascular, renal, and cerebrovascular morbidity and mortality, especially among ethnic minorities. METHODS A total of 16,567 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 through 2006 were categorized according to JNC 7 blood pressure (BP) definitions. Microalbuminuria was defined as spot urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) of 30-299 mg/g. Logistic regression estimated the odds of having microalbuminuria among BP categories compared with normal BP after adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, sex, education level, smoking status, body mass index (BMI), systolic BP, and diabetes. RESULTS Prevalence of microalbuminuria was 4.5% for normal BP, 6.3% for prehypertension, 12.4% for stage 1 hypertension, 25.3% for stage 2 hypertension, and 11.3% among those with treated, controlled hypertension. Compared with participants with normal BP, the adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for microalbuminuria were 1.3 (1.0-1.7, P = 0.03) for those with prehypertension, 2.3 (1.8-3.0, P < 0.01) with stage 1 hypertension, 4.8 (3.7-6.3 P < 0.01) with stage 2 hypertension, and 1.6 (1.3-2.1, P < 0.01) with treated, controlled hypertension. The treated controlled hypertension group exhibited the strongest race-ethnicity gradient. CONCLUSIONS Participants with hypertension and prehypertension had a higher likelihood of microalbuminuria than those with normal BP, especially ethnic minorities, suggesting greater target organ damage. Our observations suggest that further research is necessary to determine whether microalbuminuria can be used as a screening tool in adults with prehypertension, to identify adults at highest risk for cardiovascular disease or decline in renal function.
THE IMPACT OF PROBABILISTIC INFORMATION ON DECISION BEHAVIOR AND PERFORMANCE IN AN EXPERIMENTAL GAME

This research presents the results of a longitudinal experiment using experimental gaming. The results suggest that probabilistic information did change decision behavior and improve subject performance in the experiment. Moreover, there appeared to be a learning effect associated with the use of probabilistic information. Finally, the source of information (externally supplied by the researcher or generated by the subjects themselves) had an impact on decision behavior and performance in the experiment.
The Human Genome as Common Heritage: Common Sense or Legal Nonsense?:

This essay identifies two legal lineages underlying the common heritage concept, and applies each to the human genome. The essay notes some advantages and disadvantages of each approach, and argues that patenting of human genes would be allowable under either approach.
LENMODEL: a forward model for calculating length distributions and fission-track ages in apatite

Abstract The program LENMODEL is a forward model for annealing of fission tracks in apatite. It provides estimates of the track-length distribution, fission-track age, and areal track density for any user-supplied thermal history. The program approximates the thermal history, in which temperature is represented as a continuous function of time, by a series of isothermal steps of various durations. Equations describing the production of tracks as a function of time and annealing of tracks as a function of time and temperature are solved for each step. The step calculations are summed to obtain estimates for the entire thermal history. Computational efficiency is maximized by performing the step calculations backwards in model time. The program incorporates an intuitive and easy-to-use graphical interface. Thermal history is input to the program using a mouse. Model options are specified by selecting context-sensitive commands from a bar menu. The program allows for considerable selection of equations and parameters used in the calculations. The program was written for PC-compatible computers running DOS TM 3.0 and above (and Windows TM 3.0 or above) with VGA or SVGA graphics and a Microsoft TM -compatible mouse. Single copies of a runtime version of the program are available from the author by written request as explained in the last section of this paper.
An Analysis of the Status and Stability of the Behaviors of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties

Students with emotional and behavioral problems are placed in a variety of classroom settings, presumably where their needs can be best served. Little attention, however, has been dedicated to monitoring their behavioral progress in these settings. This study analyzed data on student engagement, disruption, and destruction during 10 types of instructional activities. Data were collected at two times across one academic year in Pennsylvania and California in 90 classrooms, ranging from grades 1 to 12. Tests of mean comparisons (i.e., independent samples and paired t-tests) and the association between variables (i.e., bivariate correlation analysis) were conducted to address a number of concerns regarding the status and stability of classrooms for students with EBD. Independent paired sample t-tests showed a lack of significant improvement in behaviors across time, and the correlational data reflect a significant relationship between student engagement and classroom activity. Findings are discussed in light of limitations and directions for future research. In addition, practical implications are noted.
Evaluation of techniques used in the preparation of diesel extract samples for mutagenicity studies

Diesel exhaust particles were used to compare methods and techniques used in the preparation of particulate matter for microbial mutagenesis testing. Investigated in this study were extraction, concentration, and solvent exchange methodologies as they affected recovery of mutagenic material from diesel samples using a Salmonella typhimurium plate incorporation assay. Solvent removal methods applicable for use in determining the mass concentration of extracts were also evaluated. Results indicated that particle samples Soxhlet extracted with dichloromethane yielded higher levels of mutagenic activity than did comparative samples utilizing sonication. No difference was seen between rotary evaporation or Kuderna-Danish macro concentration of extracts to volumes > 50 mL. In comparison of micro concentration techniques to volumes < 10 mL, vortex evaporation was found to be more efficient than a modified micro Kuderna-Danish method in recovery of mass and mutagenicity. Solvent exchanged samples were found to yield higher recoveries of mutagenic activity than samples taken to dryness and then reconstituted in the bioassay solvent. A dry mass weighing procedure utilizing desiccation was found to be more acceptable than either the use of an infrared heat lamp or nitrogen blowdown for solvent removal.
An Approach to the Patient with Multiple Physical Symptoms or Chronic Disease

Doctors diagnose and treat disease; illness is the experience of, and response to, a disease by patients and the people in their lives. Discrepancies between disease and illness (eg, adjustment to the sick role, treatment-related difficulties, denial of medical illness, and psychiatric co-morbidity) are prevalent, as are somatoform disorders and other conditions in which patients are invested in being understood as medically ill. This article reviews suggestions for physicians' responses to these patients and their dilemmas.
MYOCARDIAL HYPOXIA DURING ISOPROTERENOL INFUSION IN AN ANIMAL MODEL: POSSIBLE CAUSE OF MYOCARDIAL DYSFUNCTION IN CYANOTIC CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE

MYOCARDIAL HYPOXIA DURING ISOPROTERENOL INFUSION IN AN ANIMAL MODEL: POSSIBLE CAUSE OF MYOCARDIAL DYSFUNCTION IN CYANOTIC CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE
Topics in nonparametric comparative statics and stability

This paper presents the analysis of the Jacobian matrix of a small, macroeconomic model to determine the robustness of the model's comparative statics. The values of the model's coefficients are assessed with respect to seven alternative estimation strategies such as ordinary least squares or two-stage least squares. For each alternative version, the invertibility and stability of the Jacobian matrix is studied. The model is robust to the degree that these characteristics are shared by any matrix with the same sign pattern or other similar nonparametric conditions on its entries. One way to address the relative success of the different estimation strategies is through the robustness of the comparative statics of the resulting model.
Effects of surface roughness on backscattering spectra

Abstract The effect of surface roughness on backscattering spectra has been examined for 2.0 MeV He ions incident on cobalt samples with surface roughness of 0.02, 0.13, 0.62, and 1.3 μm. Data has been obtained for scattering angles of 90°, 135°, and 165° mainly for sample orientations in which either the incident beam or the outgoing particle trajectory is at small angles to the surface. Grazing emergence spectra show large differences in shape as a function of surface roughness. This sensitivity to surface condition decreases at less grazing orientations of the target and at larger scattering angles. Grazing incidence spectra display only slight differences in shape as a function of surface roughness, scattering angle, and target orientation.