cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bruhat cells which contain only regular elements

ABSTRACTLet G be a connected reductive algebraic group defined over an algebraically closed field &#x1d53d;. Let T be a maximal torus of G and let B be a Borel subgroup of G containing T. Let W denote the Weyl group of G and let ẇ denote an element in the preimage of the natural map from NG(T) to W. We investigate what conditions are necessary and sufficient for the double cosets BẇB (called Bruhat cells) to contain only regular elements. An application is provided on how this information about Bruhat cells can be used to determine character values for certain Hecke algebras.
Novel treatment of lateral ankle sprains using the Mulligan concept: an exploratory case series analysis

AbstractObjective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the Mulligan Concept (MC) Mobilization with movement (MWM) in the treatment of clinically diagnosed acute lateral ankle sprains in competitive athletes.Methods: A prospective case series of 5 adolescent patients, ages ranging from 14 to 18 years (mean = 15.8 ± 1.64), that suffered an acute lateral ankle sprain (LAS). Patients were treated with the MC lateral ankle MWM. Mobilization was directed at the distal fibula or, using a modified MWM, 2–3 inches proximal to the distal fibula. Using paired t-tests and descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) results were analyzed.Results: Treatment lasted an average of 9 days (mean = 9.2, ±SD 3.96) from intake to discharge. During that time frame, patients reported decreases in pain on the numeric pain rating scale (NRS), disability on the Disablement in the Physically Active (DPA) scale and an increase in function on the patient-specific functional scale (PSFS); and an immediate de...
Nursing Home Response to Nursing Home Compare: The Provider Perspective

Nursing Home Compare (NHC) publishes composite quality ratings of nursing homes based on a five-star rating system, a system that has been subject to controversy about its validity. Using in-depth interviews, we assess the views of nursing home administrators and staff on NHC and unearth strategies used to improve ratings. Respondents revealed conflicting goals and strategies. Although nursing home managers monitor the ratings and expend effort to improve scores, competing goals of revenue maximization and avoidance of litigation often overshadow desire to score well on NHC. Some of the improvement strategies simply involve coding changes that have no effect on resident outcomes. Many respondents doubted the validity of the self-reported staffing data and stated that lack of risk adjustment biases ratings. Policy makers should consider nursing home incentives when refining the system, aiming to improve the validity of the self-reported domains to provide incentives for broader quality improvement.
Computational Evaluation of Mixtures of Hydrofluorocarbons and Deep Eutectic Solvents for Absorption Refrigeration Systems.

We used computational tools to evaluate three working fluid mixtures for single-effect absorption refrigeration systems, where the generator (desorber) is powered by waste or solar heat. The mixtures studied here resulted from combining a widely used hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerant, R134a, with three common deep eutectic solvents (DESs) formed by mixing choline chloride (hydrogen bond acceptor, HBA) with urea, glycerol, or ethylene glycol as the hydrogen bond donor (HBD) species. The COSMOtherm/TmoleX software package was used in combination with refrigerant data from NIST/REFPROP, to perform a thermodynamic evaluation of absorption refrigeration cycles using the proposed working fluid mixtures. Afterward, classical MD simulations of the three mixtures were performed to gain insight on these systems at the molecular level. Larger cycle efficiencies are obtained when R134a is combined with choline chloride and ethylene glycol, followed by the system where glycerol is the HBD, and finally that where the...
Natural Science and the Future of Metaphysics

Does physical science, in its employment of such terms as ‘electron’, ‘photon’, and’ space-time’, make claims about what exists? The immediate reply of common sense would undoubtedly be affirmative; and yet powerful philosophical forces have aligned themselves against this view, however obvious it may appear at first glance. For, it has been urged, such terms as the above are ‘theoretical’; and whatever meaning they may have either is, and must be, wholly exhausted by some set of ‘observation terms’, or else, if there is any additional component of meaning of such terms - if, that is, they are only ‘partially interpreted’ in observational terms, - that surplus meaning does not, and could not, consist in reference to any ‘unobservable’ entities behind the scenes of, and causing, the scientist’s experiential data. The use of such terms, it is concluded, does not involve any claim that something referred to by them (other than a set of observed or observable data) literally exists. Still more generally and more positively, the allegation is that any scientific terms which appear to refer to unobservable entities - and ‘electron’, ‘photon’, and’ space-time’ are said to be such terms — serve a function other than making claims about existence, a function which I will summarize by saying that they are alleged to be mere conceptual devices. Other writers have used more specific names for such terms or the ideas they represent, among them ‘logical constructs’, ‘convenient fictions’,’ shorthand summaries’, ‘intervening variables’, ‘models’, ‘abstractions’, ‘idealizations’, ‘instruments’ - all, often, prefixed by a rather pejorative ‘mere’.
Opioid Analgesic Use and Risk for Invasive Pneumococcal Diseases: A Nested Case–Control Study

Background Although certain opioid analgesics have immunosuppressive properties and increase the risk for infections in animals, the clinical effects of prescription opioid use on infection risk among humans are unknown. Objective To test the hypothesis that prescription opioid use is an independent risk factor for invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Design Nested case-control study. Setting Tennessee Medicaid database linked to Medicare and Active Bacterial Core surveillance system databases (1995 to 2014). Patients 1233 case patients with IPD aged 5 years and older matched to 24 399 control participants by diagnosis date, age, and county of residence. Measurements Opioid use was measured on the basis of pharmacy prescription fills. Invasive pneumococcal disease was defined by the isolation of Streptococcus pneumoniae from a normally sterile site. The odds of current opioid use were compared between the case and control groups, accounting for known IPD risk factors. Secondary analyses categorized opioid use by opioid characteristics, applied an IPD risk score to assure comparability between exposure groups, and analyzed pneumonia and nonpneumonia IPD cases separately. Results Persons in the case group had greater odds than control participants of being current opioid users (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.62 [95% CI, 1.36 to 1.92]). Associations were strongest for opioids that were long acting (aOR, 1.87 [CI, 1.24 to 2.82]), of high potency (aOR, 1.72 [CI, 1.32 to 2.25]), or were used at high dosages (50 to 90 morphine milligram equivalents [MME]/d: aOR, 1.71 [CI, 1.22 to 2.39]; ≥90 MME/d: aOR, 1.75 [CI, 1.33 to 2.29]). Results were consistent when the IPD risk score was taken into account and pneumonia and nonpneumonia IPD were analyzed separately. Limitations Unmeasured confounding and measurement error, although sensitivity analyses suggested that neither was likely to affect results. Actual opioid use and other nonprescription use (such as illicit opioid use) were not measured. Conclusion Opioid use is associated with an increased risk for IPD and represents a novel risk factor for these diseases. Primary funding source National Institutes of Health.
Cereal rye cover crop suppresses winter annual weeds

Cover crop (CC) adoption has increased in North America corn and soybean production areas. The objective was to evaluate the impact of cereal rye CC on winter annual weeds. Cereal rye reduced winter annual weed density and biomass by >90% at time of spring termination, showing potential as a component of an integrated weed management program.
BECKETT'S WAITING FOR GODOT AS ALLEGORY

In a tradition of phenomenological readings of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, critics argue that the play stands in mimetic or even symbolic relation to “the human condition”,1 an argument that tacitly depends upon the romantic valorization of the symbol, upon an intrinsic unity between appearance and essence which retains a quasi-sacred function. In such readings, the play has a symbolic relation to existential phenomenology, and existential phenomenology itself is assumed to have a transparent relation to the human condition. Phenomenological critics imply or even contend that “the value of negative images becomes transmuted through Beckett’s artistry into a positive affirmation of human dignity”2 thus participating in what Leo Bersani calls the “culture of redemption”, which assumes that “a certain type of repetition of experience in art repairs inherently damaged or valueless experience”.3
Education for Citizenship in Public and Catholic Schools in the United States

The founders of the United States of America knew that the democratic nation they were creating could survive only if the people of the nation took their citizenship rights and responsibilities seriously. For more than a century and a half, the American public and private education systems were designed to form good citizens – both relied on some religious education to accomplish this end.
Path Length Problems and Dynamic Programming

This is the first of a pair of chapters that deal with optimization problems on “directed networks.” This chapter is focused on path-length problems, the next on network-flow problems. Path-length problems are ubiquitous. A variety of path-length problems will be posted in this chapter. They will be solved by linear programming and, where appropriate, by other methods.
1008. Cluster Analysis to Define Distinct Clinical Phenotypes Among Septic Patients With Bloodstream Infections

Background Prior attempts at identifying outcome determinants associated with bloodstream infection have employed a priori determined classification schemes based on readily identifiable microbiology, infection site, and patient characteristics. We hypothesized that even amongst this heterogeneous population, clinically relevant groupings can be described that transcend old a priori classifications.
Validation of a Mesoscale Fiber Kinking Model Through Test and Analysis of Double Edge Notch Compression Specimens

Tests and analyses were conducted on a series of geometrically-scaled double edge notch compression specimens to validate the capability of the fiber-kinking model in the NASA continuum damage mechanics code for progressive damage analysis, CompDam. The tests and analyses focused on the fiber-kinking damage mechanism, which is of critical importance for predicting accurately longitudinal compression failure in carbon fiber reinforced polymer laminates. The fiber-kinking model in CompDam was augmented with a new capability to represent a hardening response once a kink band has fully formed, enabling prediction of band broadening. Correlation of the test and analysis results showed agreement in stiffness and strength with less than 10% error. The analysis predicts the same sequence of events leading to ultimate failure that was found in the test. The overall excellent correlation in terms of stiffness, strength, and failure process validates the capability of the model for predicting longitudinal compression failure in notched laminates with cross-ply layups.
Orality and Textuality: The Alexius Legend and the Brothers Grimm

Da Silva and Tehrani’s (Roy Soc 2016, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150645 ) article using statistical phylogenetic analyses to trace the ancient roots of Indo-European folktales was widely reported in the popular press as proof that the Brothers Grimm were “right after all.” Its conclusion that some folktales had been passed down orally for 6000 years within individual Indo-European language families and had not spread geographically through trade or migration seemed to reassure readers that the beloved Grimms’ Fairytales were “authentic.” Findings of scholars who had argued for later origins and text-based transmission seemed to have shaken the foundations of beliefs held since childhood in a secure cultural patrimony. Other arguments that tales passed back and forth between oral and written forms, being told and retold in various versions were not comforting and tended to pit folklorists and philologists against one another. The present study seeks an alternative approach by conducting a case study of an actual Brothers Grimm tale that dates back 1500 years and can be traced in various media back to a fifth-century Semitic text. The investigation traces how the tale of The Holy Man of Edessa migrated from the Near East throughout Western Europe, being retold and rewritten in multiple languages as it was reshaped to appeal to different audiences. Examples reveal the role played by redactors who reshaped the story to address their own concerns along with those of audiences. It concludes that examining examples in specific historical and social contexts clarifies the process of how and why folktales developed as they did.
Distanced graphs

This paper studies model theoretic conditions that arise in the study of distanced graphs. These are graphs with additional relation symbols for finite distances. Every embedding of distanced graphs is an isometric embedding. The conditions we study are the version of homogeneity, injectivity and universality for distanced graphs. There is a countable graph which isometrically embeds every countable graph. There is a unique countable distace homogeneous graph with this universal property. Its first-order theory is the model completion of the theory of distanced graphs. It has a unique countable connected model, but it has more than one connected model of each uncountable cardinality.
Goal disturbance in early-stage breast cancer survivors.

Purpose: Cancer-related goal disturbance can influence long-term outcomes in cancer patients and survivors; however, few studies have examined the factors that contribute to goal disturbance in ear...
Becoming a Guest: Christology and Ecclesiological Identity

The question of ecclesiological identity is a pressing one in the contemporary context, particularly in the light of the church’s increasing marginalization or relative insignificance within Western society. This question of ecclesiological identity is explored by way of engagement with the guest Christology of the Nigerian Presbyterian theologian Enyi Ben Udoh, and by way of John Koenig’s New Testament Hospitality. The result is a suggestive and constructive vision of the church that prioritizes its status as guest, in relation to the Christ who comes to the human family as guest, then kin, then Lord. The implications of this guest Christology for the church are sketched in conclusion.
Estimating Pareto Optimum Fronts to Determine Knob Settings in Electronic Design Automation Tools

The ability to configure physical design tools is often dependent on the experience and knowledge of the physical designer (PD). Technology node sizes are ever decreasing, digital design sizes vary drastically, and design constraints change based on the needs of the application. As these changes occur frequently and physical design times can be extensive, the need for accurate quality of design results early in the design process is crucial. Collecting these metrics is computationally expensive, creating a need to determine how to best create and extract information as design flows change. This paper describes the use of estimated Pareto optimal trade-off sets to provide designers with the capability of visualizing the results of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tool configuration settings, or “knobs”, that will offer an optimal post detail route design based on two design metrics, critical path length and core area. We will show that when given a set of design constraints by creating a point that occurs along the Pareto front, the knob settings used are optimal. With only 38 samples per design, we were able to produce estimated detail routed design metrics with a worst case error (WCE) of less than 10%.
Application of Microelectrode Array Approaches to Neurotoxicity Testing and Screening

Neurotoxicity can be defined by the ability of a drug or chemical to alter the physiology, biochemistry, or structure of the nervous system in a manner that may negatively impact the health or function of the individual. Electrophysiological approaches have been utilized to study the mechanisms underlying neurotoxic actions of drugs and chemicals for over 50 years, and in more recent decades, high-throughput patch-clamp approaches have been utilized by the pharmaceutical industry for drug development. The use of microelectrode array recordings to study neural network electrophysiology is a relatively newer approach, with commercially available systems becoming available only in the early 2000s. However, MEAs have been rapidly adopted as a useful approach for neurotoxicity testing. In this chapter, I will review the use of MEA approaches as they have been applied to the field of neurotoxicity testing, especially as they have been applied to the need to screen large numbers of chemicals for neurotoxicity and developmental neurotoxicity. In addition, I will also identify challenges for the field that when addressed will improve the utility of MEA approaches for toxicity testing.
Profitability, risk, and investment in conceptual plant design: Optimizing key financial parameters rigorously using NPV%

Abstract Recent fundamental work with discounted cash flow methods shows that an alternative metric for evaluating profitability and risk, one different from Internal Rate of Return (IRR) —namely the annualized and non-dimensionalized Net Present Value (NPV%)— can make evaluating project profitability easier yet more informative. It provides a simple and transparent strategy to optimize a design's key financial dependent variables (capital investment, profitability, risk). 1 Both traditional and exo-parametric modeling methods developed by the author are linked to this metric, providing an efficient and precise mechanism to organize and carry out the financial/optimization search procedures in process design. Design engineers want to know what is the optimum size of investment (TI) that meets projected market conditions? What is the expected long-term (NPV) return? What metric can be used to maximize them, consistent with the need to recover capital as quickly as reasonably possible (i.e., to bound the “short-term risk”)? The proposed approach answers all three questions simultaneously, with a precise min-max solution obtained transparently.
HEPATIC MICROSOMAL ETHANOL OXIDIZING SYSTEM: ISOLATION AND RECONSTITUTION

ABSTRACT The NADPH-dependent microsomal alcohol oxidizing system which metabolizes methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol was separated from both catalase and alcohol dehydrogenase activities by column chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. Activity of the microsomal system was recovered in fractions containing NADPH-cytochrome c reductase, phospholipids as well as three different forms of cytochrome P-450, as judged by cyanide titration. The microsomal ethanol oxidizing system was reconstituted with partially purified cytochrome P-450 and NADPH-cytochrome c reductase in the presence of a synthetic phospholipid.
Higher Body Mass Index Associated with Decreased Exchange-Free Survival at One Year in Patients with Left Ventricular Assist Devices

Introduction Heart failure and obesity are two growing epidemics in the United States with significant overlap in patient populations. Morbid obesity is currently a relative contraindication to cardiac transplantation as previous data has shown decreased survival with extremes of body mass index (BMI). However, there is limited data that explores the relationship between BMI and adverse outcomes following left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. This study aims to determine if there is an association between higher BMI and exchange-free survival at one year post LVAD implantation. Methods This was a single-center, retrospective cohort study with patients who had undergone LVAD implantation at Barnes-Jewish Hospital between 2005 and 2018. Patients with age Results We examined 734 patients who underwent LVAD implantation, including 574 HeartMate II devices (78%), 124 HeartWare HVAD devices (17%), and 36 HeartMate III devices (5%). Compared to BMI Conclusion In this cohort, higher BMI is associated with decreased exchange-free survival in LVAD patients. Further studies are needed to clarify impact of BMI on adverse clinical outcomes.
Inferring Pareto-optimal reconciliations across multiple event costs under the duplication-loss-coalescence model

Reconciliation methods are widely used to explain incongruence between a gene tree and species tree. However, the common approach of inferring maximum parsimony reconciliations (MPRs) relies on user-defined costs for each type of event, which can be difficult to estimate. Prior work has explored the relationship between event costs and maximum parsimony reconciliations in the duplication-loss and duplication-transfer-loss models, but no studies have addressed this relationship in the more complicated duplication-loss-coalescence model. We provide a fixed-parameter tractable algorithm for computing Pareto-optimal reconciliations and recording all events that arise in those reconciliations, along with their frequencies. We apply this method to a case study of 16 fungi to systematically characterize the complexity of MPR space across event costs and identify events supported across this space. This work provides a new framework for studying the relationship between event costs and reconciliations that incorporates both macro-evolutionary events and population effects and is thus broadly applicable across eukaryotic species.
Prioritizing mangrove conservation across Mexico to facilitate 2020 NDC ambition

There is a scale mismatch between mangrove conservation and carbon emission mitigation policies despite mangroves contributing disproportionally to global carbon sequestration. Using Mexico as a case study in the integration of these scales, we estimate mangrove carbon value and deforestation rates at the municipio (local government) scale and develop a prioritization model that indicates where to focus conservation efforts. By using previously published global models of carbon stocks, Mexico-specific carbon sequestration data, and calculating gross deforestation, we found that the current rate of deforestation will result in a social cost of 392.0 (± 7.4) million US$ over the next 25 years. The prioritization model identified 26 municipios of 175, where if all mangroves are conserved, 50% of this cost could be avoided. Bridging the gap between research and governmental action using local initiatives will be paramount for the effective management of mangrove carbon.
Operating a Commercial Building HVAC Load as a Virtual Battery Through Airflow Control

Virtual battery (VB) is an innovative method to model flexibility of building loads and effectively coordinate them with other resources at a system level. Unlike a real battery with a dedicated power conversion system for charging control, methods are required for operating building loads to deviate from the baseline to respond to grid signals. This article presents a VB control for a commercial heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to follow the desired power consumption in real-time by adjusting zonal airflow rates. The proposed method consists of two parts. At the system level, a mixed feedforward and feedback control is used to estimate the desired total airflow rate. At the zone level, two priority-based algorithms are then proposed to distribute the total airflow rate to individual zones. In particular, a zonal airflow limit estimation method is proposed using machine-learning techniques, in contrast to physics-based thermal models in existing studies, to more accurately capture zonal thermal dynamics and improve temperature control performance. An office building on the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory campus is implemented in EnergyPlus, and used to illustrate and validate the proposed control.
Beyond Hyperbole: The Meaning of the Trump–Kim Dialogue

The words and actions of leaders are more than expressions of national interest, they are acts of communication that signal the valence (positive or negative) of their relationships, hopes for the future, or adversarial intent. This chapter presents a quantitative discourse analysis designed to get past rhetorical flourishes and provide a more objective and testable assessment of the relationship between President Donald Trump of the United States and Chairman Kim Jong-un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The content of the leaders’ speeches, the President’s tweets, the “What If?” video, and political actions are analyzed to identify possible changes in political strategies and their results.
Collegiality and Racism in Something the Lord Made (2004)

Institutional diversity is an important aspect of healthcare delivery, while institutionalized racism is a potent healthcare ethics issue that has led to health disparities ranging from medical education to healthcare delivery and patient care.
Efficiency of the Summer Monsoon in Generating Streamflow Within a Snow-Dominated Headwater Basin of the Colorado River

Author(s): Carroll, RWH; Gochis, D; Williams, KH | Abstract: The North American Monsoon occurs July–September in the central Rocky Mountains bringing significant rainfall to Colorado River headwater basins. This rain may buffer streamflow deficiencies caused by reductions in snow accumulation. Using a data-modeling framework, we explore the importance of monsoon rain in streamflow generation over historical conditions in an alpine basin. Annually, monsoon rain contributes 18n±n7% water inputs and generates 10n±n6% streamflow. The bulk of rain supports evapotranspiration in lower subalpine forests. However, rains have the potential to produce appreciable streamflow at higher elevations where soil moisture storage, forest cover, and aridity are low and rebound late season streamflow 64n±n13% from simulated reductions in spring snowpack as a function of monsoon strength. Interannual variability in monsoon efficiency to generate streamflow declines with low snowpack and high aridity, implying the ability of monsoons to replenish streamflow in a warmer future with less snow accumulation will diminish.
Race and ethnicity-related differences in neuroimaging markers of neurodegeneration and cerebrovascular disease in middle and older age

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Numerous neuroimaging studies demonstrated racial and ethnic disparities in brain health at older ages. It remains unclear whether racial and ethnic disparities increase with aging and whether they are already apparent in midlife. METHODS We investigated differences in MRI markers of aging and cerebrovascular disease in 969 participants from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project (WHICAP; mean age: 75 years) and 496 participants from the Offspring study (mean age: 55 years) across race and ethnicity (white, Black, Latinx). RESULTS Older whites had greater cortical thickness compared with Latinxs, who also had greater thickness than Blacks. Cortical thickness was similar across race in the middle-aged cohort. Regarding white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume, Blacks had disproportionately greater WMH volume compared to both whites and Latinxs at older ages. Racial disparities are already apparent in midlife, where Blacks have disproportionately greater WMH than whites. Discussion These findings suggest that racial disparities in WMH volume are already apparent in midlife.
Identifying coarse- and fine-scale drivers of avian abundance following prescribed fires

Abstract Suppression of historic fire regimes in North America has altered successional stages and shifted vegetation communities, negatively impacting wildlife diversity in forests. Prescribed fire is often used to increase habitat for wildlife populations and diversity but monitoring of responses does not always capture nuanced differences in habitat that influence wildlife communities over a range of ecological conditions and processes. We matched avian point count data with extensive vegetation sampling of unburned plots and plots that burned 12–16 months prior to evaluate the effects of coarse- and fine-scale habitat variables on the abundance of a suite of avian indicator species and nesting guilds. We estimated abundance conditional on detection probability based on repeated sampling over time intervals using N-mixture models and assessed support for coarse- and fine-scale habitat variables using multimodel inference and AIC. Six of 10 species demonstrated different abundances on burned and unburned plots. Abundances of three species were influenced solely by coarse variables, one species by fine-scale vegetation, and five species were dependent on a mix of coarse- and fine-scale variables. Even fine-scale vegetation characteristics did not fully capture the ecological processes stimulated by fire and compensatory community differences including interactions among species such as competition and predator avoidance should be considered in predicting species responses to prescribed fire. Shrub nester abundance was much higher on plots that burned the year prior, but the effect sizes of other variables were small for ground, tree, and cavity nesters, even though there were strong differences in abundances of individual species within those guilds. Detection probability was most often affected by conditions during the count including start time, temperature and wind, but also burn status and observer, suggesting potential bias in findings that do not account for heterogeneity in detection probability. We suggest variable responses of individual species within nesting guilds may obscure identification of responses in the avian community and inhibit assessment of management and restoration actions. Understanding species-specific responses to fine-scale habitat variables in the context of coarse ecological typology and the associated vegetative and wildlife community will provide the greatest insight to how prescribed fire characteristics interact to produce wildlife responses, and thus enhance its use as a restoration tool.
A Black mother’s counterstory to the Brown–White binary in dual language education: toward disrupting dual language as White property

There is a rich body of Dual Language (DL) research documenting, primarily, how Latinx students are marginalized in DL programs for the benefit of White students. We refer to this as the Brown–White binary, in which race relations are over-simplified between two racial groups to the exclusion of nuance of other racial categories. This is similar to the ways race relations have often been oversimplified in the United States (U.S.), due to its earlier histories of understanding race through a Black–White binary. In this article, we present Critical Race Theory counterstory research by considering how racialized inequality is perceived and lived from one Black mother in a Southeastern U.S. DL program in a Title I elementary school. Through two years of co-participative storying with this highly engaged African American DL parent/co-author—who also served at the time as the school’s parent-teacher association (PTA) president—we demonstrate a case of how Black families may also be marginalized in U.S. DL programs by White parents, teachers, and administrators. Three overarching themes/processes relating to both neighborhood and metaphorical gentrification of DL emerged for this Black DL PTA president. First, Whiteness was enacted as a property right by other parents in the PTA; resulting in racial battle fatigue, the second theme. Blanton ultimately found forms of resistance and self-care to navigate the physical and discursive gentrification in her school and PTA, the final theme in this research. We also provide recommendations for schools and districts to actively work to promote equity through DL, instead of for the defaulting benefit of White accrual of property.
Impact of sickle cell disease on postoperative outcomes following total hip arthroplasty

Introduction:Osteonecrosis (ON) of the femoral head is a common complication of sickle cell disease (SCD), frequently necessitating total hip arthroplasty (THA). Although THA is a common procedure ...
Social benefits of transit : Case study of Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority

Advocates of transit suggest that there are several important social benefits of transit systems-savings in pollution, congestion, and general social costs. Estimates of such savings have been limited to general comparisons with the personal occupancy vehicle (POV) mode usually on a vehicle-miles-traveled basis. Those savings are simulated in the context of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). It is estimated that between 1980 and 1994, MARTA generated about $2:2 billion in total social cost savings by diverting POV riders to transit. Compared with the POV alternative, MARTA generates an average of about $107 million annually in savings to society even after considering society's subsidies to transit. Shortcomings of the analysis and policy implications are discussed.
Public reporting of patient satisfaction vs objective quality measures why must we choose? Can patients have both?

As physicians and surgeons, we believe patients are fully rational human beings who make the same health care decisions we would if they had optimal data. Unfortunately, this is not the case. We all know patients, colleagues, friends, family members, and even ourselves who continue to smoke tobacco, drink alcohol in excess, abuse drugs, avoid exercise, and eat unhealthy diets. Roughly 40% of all deaths in the United States are related to patient behavioral choices. 1 Patients may not make scientifically valid choices; however, in the rubric of patient-centered care, that is okay. Patients should individualize their medical care based on personal priorities, beliefs, and preferences. One may think it is irrational to have a pancreaticodoudenenctomy or esophagectomy at a low-volume hospital or performed by a low-volume surgeon because the data are overwhelming that important outcomes (eg, mortality or complications) are dramatically worse. But what about the patient’s perspective? How difficult is it to travel 400 miles for multiple pre- and postoperative visits? Who will watch the patient’s children if his wife wants to stay with him after surgery? How lonely will he be during recuperation if no family or friends visit? What are the added out-of-pocket costs for out
Burns and Inhalation Injury

The disruption of homeostasis caused by a major burn injury provides one of the greatest challenges in clinical patient care. The loss of integrity of the skin destroys the barrier between the balanced inner environment and that of the external world, leading to loss of body temperature, fluids, proteins, and electrolytes, and at the same time allowing ingress of foreign material and invasion by microbes. However, the local tissue damage and the response to it is only the external sign of what quickly becomes a massive systemic response leading to fluid loss in uninjured tissues and dysfunction of distant tissues and organs. From a teleological perspective, the injured human being has not evolved to survive such a massive insult, and therefore it is only in recent years that advances in resuscitation, infection control, and wound care have allowed survival to the point that the full expression of the body to such an injury can be recognized. Success in caring for these patients has come in a stepwise fashion and provides demonstrable support for the value of continuing investigation and the advantages of integrated multidisciplinary care of seriously ill patients.
Reinforcing Multiliteracies Through Design Activities

Now, more than ever, the need to incorporate literacies into instructional strategies is important. As an instructional strategy, design activities bring together available resources to encourage students through the process of constructing new meanings and motivate students to take ownership of the media and content they transform into new creations. Two examples of design activities include digital stories and comic book creation. Digital stories provide a unique outlet for students to find a voice and share their stories with one another. Creating comic books, specifically, draws upon the visual nature of the medium and blends writing activities with design activities. This chapter explores the ideas of design activities and provides general guidance for educators seeking to incorporate design activities as an instructional strategy.
Abstract 75: PKR cooperates with an MDS driver mutation to worsen cytopenias and promote acute leukemia

The interferon-inducible, dsRNA-dependent protein kinase, PKR, is activated by cellular stresses to inhibit protein synthesis and initiate apoptosis. Recently, we reported that expressing human PKR (TgPKR) in mouse hematopoietic tissues induced peripheral blood cytopenias and dysplastic changes in the bone marrow. Additionally, these findings were associated with reduced numbers of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) consistent with a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)-like phenotype. We have now tested whether TgPKR expression in HSPCs may cooperate with the Nup98-HoxD13 (NHD13) driver transgene. This NHD13 transgene induces a highly penetrant form of MDS with progression to acute leukemia in mice. TgPKR or PKR knockout (PKRKO) mice were crossed with the NHD13 transgenic mouse to generate TgPKR-NHD13 and PKRKO-NHD13 mice that were aged. The development of pancytopenia/MDS and evolution to acute leukemia were compared to NHD13 mice or to normal WT control mice. Beginning at 5 months and persisting through 8 months of age, the TgPKR-NHD13 mice developed reduced WBC and platelet counts compared to NHD13 controls (WBC mean 2.6 vs. 3.5 x10 3 cells/µl, [p: 3 platelets/µl). Both cell types were significantly lower than WT controls. By contrast, PKRKO-NHD13 mice maintained higher WBC counts beginning at age 6 months (n=4) compared to NHD13 controls (n=13) (mean 7 vs. 2.5 x10 3 cells/µl, [6 mos.], 11.6 vs. 3.7 x10 3 cells/µl [7 mos.], 9.62 vs. 3.5 x10 3 cells/µl [8 mos.], p: To date, 1 of 13 of the NHD13 mice, aged 7-10 months, has developed acute leukemia. Of the TgPKR-NHD13 mice, 7 of 18 have died due to either acute leukemia (4/7), MDS with anemia requiring euthanasia (1/7), or due to unknown causes (2/7). By contrast, none of the PKRKO-NHD13 (n = 19) or WT mice (n= 11), both aged up to 9 months, have developed symptomatic MDS requiring euthanasia or acute leukemia These data indicate that PKR may cooperate with the NHD13 driver oncogenic mutation to create a more aggressive MDS-like phenotype characterized by deeper peripheral blood cytopenias and an increased rate of evolution to AML. Alternatively, inhibition of PKR expression/activation may delay or forestall evolution of MDS/AML in the NHD13 background. These findings suggest that PKR may be a potential novel therapeutic target in the treatment of MDS and its evolution to acute leukemia. Citation Format: Michael T. Byrne, Richard L. Bennett, Xiaodong Cheng, W. Stratford May. PKR cooperates with an MDS driver mutation to worsen cytopenias and promote acute leukemia. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 75. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-75
Early small bowel obstruction complicating hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy: an uncommon etiology.

Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy is gaining widespread acceptance as a minimally invasive technique for kidney donation. Although it has been associated with decreased patient morbidity and more rapid recovery, it exposes patients to possible complications inherent in its transperitoneal route. We report a case of a small bowel obstruction secondary to midjejunal intussusception occurring on the third postoperative day after a hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy. The intus-susception proved to be idiopathic since no lead point was identified. The patient recovered without significant sequela after reduction of the intussusceptum. Postoperative ideopathic intussusception is an uncommon cause of bowel obstruction in adults. Surgeons that perform laparoscopic donor nephrectomy will need to remain vigilant for complications that can be associated with the intraperitoneal route of this technique.
Almost P 0 -matrices and the class Q

This paper demonstrates that within the class of thosen × n real matrices, each of which has a negative determinant, nonnegative proper principal minors and inverse with at least one positive entry, the class ofQ-matrices coincides with the class of regular matrices. Each of these classes of matrices plays an important role in the theory of the linear complementarity problem. Lastly, analogous results are obtained for nonsingular matrices which possess only nonpositive principal minors.
Taming the Employment Sharks: The Case for Regulating Profit-Driven Labor Market Intermediaries in High Mobility Labor Markets

The Article presents an argument for reclassifying and regulating commercial staffing agencies, most importantly the temporary help staffing agency. We conclude that a new legal status for profit-driven labor market intermediaries (LMIs) is essential to building a regulatory regime that can end the super-exploitation and second class status of the millions of workers deployed by profit-driven LMIs. The current legal classification of for-profit LMIs - as employers under federal and state laws - is dubious and, at best, incomplete. We argue that the legal status of commercial LMIs is a major factor contributing to the exploitation and second class status of workers deployed in labor markets through profit-driven intermediaries. First, we recount the legal history of profit-driven labor market intermediaries. This begins with the successful labor struggles and legislative efforts that first led to their regulation in the Progressive Era and closes with the campaign by the nascent temporary help service industry to place itself outside state laws which regulated the exploitative fees charged workers for access to the labor market through commercial intermediaries. Second, we contrast the unregulated legal environment for commercial staffing agencies with the extensive federal regulatory regime governing union hiring halls, labor's answer to the temporary staffing agency and the regulated structure of state-supported LMIs representing home health care aides. Based on this, we propose a new legal status for commercial LMIs that can serve as a statutory foundation for the regulation of the job-brokering functions of commercial LMIs by introducing transparency for its deployment functions and creating a legal limit on the 'hidden fees' that commercial staffing agencies charge to deployed temporary workers.
Evaluation of Sampling Plans to Detect Cry9C Protein in Corn Flour and Meal

StarLink is a genetically modified corn that produces an insecticidal protein, Cry9C. Studies were conducted to determine the variability and Cry9C distribution among sample test results when Cry9C protein was estimated in a bulk lot of corn flour and meal. Emphasis was placed on measuring sampling and analytical variances associated with each step of the test procedure used to measure Cry9C in corn flour and meal. Two commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits were used: one for the determination of Cry9C protein concentration and the other for % StarLink seed. The sampling and analytical variances associated with each step of the Cry9C test procedures were determined for flour and meal. Variances were found to be functions of Cry9C concentration, and regression equations were developed to describe the relationships. Because of the larger particle size, sampling variability associated with cornmeal was about double that for corn flour. For cornmeal, the sampling variance accounted for 92.6% of the total testing variability. The observed sampling and analytical distributions were compared with the Normal distribution. In almost all comparisons, the null hypothesis that the Cry9C protein values were sampled from a Normal distribution could not be rejected at 95% confidence limits. The Normal distribution and the variance estimates were used to evaluate the performance of several Cry9C protein sampling plans for corn flour and meal. Operating characteristic curves were developed and used to demonstrate the effect of increasing sample size on reducing false positives (seller's risk) and false negatives (buyer's risk).
Vale: Global Expansion in the Challenging World of Mining (B)

In 2009 the management of Vale, a Brazilian diversified mining company and the largest iron ore producer in the world, was under pressure from at least two fronts. First, the emergence of China as the most important consumer of iron ore in the last few years had changed the pricing system for iron ore from long-term contracts based on negotiated "benchmark prices" to contracts based on spot prices, usually forcing mining companies to pay for shipping. Second, for Brazil's charismatic president, Lula, a former union leader, Vale's layoffs during the global financial crisis and its perceived move away from Brazil (as Vale increased its exports to China and purchased Chinese vessels to ship iron ore to Asia) were reasons to start an open campaign to pressure Vale and Agnelli to invest in integrated steel mills in Brazil. In October of 2009, the CEO of Vale, Roger Agnelli was going to meet with Lula and had to decide what to do to attenuate these political pressures. What could Agnelli do to deal with political pressures at home? Was the purchase of large vessels to ship iron ore to Asia a good decision at a time when the shipping industry had spare capacity?