cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acute Kidney Allograft Rejection Precipitated by Lenalidomide Treatment for Multiple Myeloma

Patients who develop malignancy after kidney transplantation typically undergo a reduction in immunosuppression and referral to an oncologist for chemotherapeutic considerations for the management of their malignancy. Traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy agents can result in kidney transplant injury, but the decision about which agents to be used has largely been determined by oncologists without the involvement of nephrologists. More recently, several classes of drugs with immunomodulatory actions have been approved for the treatment of cancer, including multiple myeloma. Activation of the immune system against malignant cells may have unintended consequences in solid-organ transplant recipients, who require suppression of the immune system to avoid transplant rejection. In this report, we present a case of acute kidney transplant rejection in a 65-year-old woman following administration of the newer immunomodulatory agent lenalidomide for the treatment of multiple myeloma. A greater awareness of the mechanisms of newly introduced chemotherapy agents and discussion with the treating oncologist and patient are paramount in caring for patients who develop malignancy following transplantation.
Forward osmosis using draw solutions manifesting liquid-liquid phase separation

Abstract Desalination via forward osmosis using draw agents whose regeneration is aided via liquid-liquid phase separation has gained much attention in recent years. In the present study, mixtures of two different glycol ethers, tripropylene glycol methyl ether and tripropylene glycol n-butyl ether, have been studied as potential draw agents. Water activity, viscosity and diffusion coefficient of draw solutions have been measured at different mixture compositions, concentrations and temperatures. Osmotic pressures of these draw solutions decreases strongly with increasing temperature. Forward osmosis experiments performed with these draw solutions reveal appreciable initial loss of trans-membrane water flux, reverse solute flux and severe concentration polarization.
Two-Month Visit

Harry is brought into the pediatrician’s office by his mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Harry weighed 3.6 kg (7 lb 9 oz) at birth and was 51 cm (20.4 in.). His head circumference was 36 cm (14.4 in.), putting him in the 50th percentile for weight, length, and head circumference at birth. Upon discharge at 72 h after birth, Harry weighed 3.24 kg. His current weight is 5.4 kg (11.8 lb); current length is 58 cm (23.2 in.) and his current head circumference is 48 cm (inches) (19.2 in.), still in the 50th percentile. Harry is being breastfed. His mother is excited that Harry is smiling and cooing and in general responding to her when she talks to him. Harry’s father is wondering when he will sleep through the night. Harry sleeps in his own crib and likes to look at a mobile when he is awake. Mother has been breastfeeding Harry every 2–3 h and the baby is sleeping most of the day. Mrs. Smith is concerned that Harry is sleeping too much and has short frequent waking periods during the day. Mrs. Smith’s sister-in-law keeps telling her that she should be giving the baby a pacifier between feeds. Harry has four yellow pasty stools a day and seven wet diapers. Mrs. Smith wants to know when Harry will start getting shots for immunization.
Phosphorus and Phosphates

Phosphate rock extraction from its ore, and its subsequent conversion into fertilizer materials and industrial chemicals, is a relatively mature art. While production of phosphoric acid from sedimentary phosphate rock via the “wet process” dominates the industry, the geology and mineralogy of source rock varies, and many processing choices are available. Changing global economics, social and environmental pressures affect modern market conditions. This chapter discusses phosphate mineralogy, deposits, mining, beneficiation, production, value, chemical processing technologies, products, by-products, and environmental factors.
Function-Based Approach to Designing an Instructional Environment

Teachers are faced with the challenge of selecting interventions that are most likely to be effective and best matched to the function of problem behavior. This article will define aspects of the i...
Variations in consumers’ use of brand online social networking: A uses and gratifications approach

Abstract The purpose of this study is threefold: (1) to identify consumers’ motivations to participate in brand online social networking (BOSN); (2) to examine the effects of BOSN motives on relational outcomes within a community (i.e., BOSN commitment) and at an extended level (i.e., brand attachment); and (3) to examine variations in uses and gratifications of BOSN among diverse groups of BOSN participants. The data were collected by means of a self-administered web-based survey, and samples were drawn from participants of Facebook brand pages. Findings identified information, incentives, entertainment, and connectedness as major BOSN motives. The results showed that gratifications of BOSN participants’ need for entertainment and connectedness predict BOSN commitment, which, in turn, strengthens brand attachment. The results confirmed variations among different groups of participants based on their gender and business types. Implications and limitations are discussed.
The relevance of moral dialogs for policy studies and political science

Political scientists and public policy scholars looking to Etzioni's essay on the moral dialog (MD) model for guidance in this chaotic political and historical moment can find elements to employ, r...
Synthesis of 13C-labeled 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-D-[13C5] ribofuranosyl 5'-monophosphate

5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-D-[13 C5 ] ribofuranosyl 5'-monophosphate ([13 C5 ribose] AICAR-PO3 H2 ) (6) has been synthesized from [13 C5 ]adenosine. Incorporation of the mass-label into [13 C5 ribose] AICAR-PO3 H2 provides a useful standard to aid in metabolite identification and quantification in monitoring metabolic pathways. A synthetic route to the 13 C-labeled compound has not been previously reported. Our method employs a hybrid enzymatic, and chemical synthesis approach that applies an enzymatic conversion from adenosine to inosine followed by a ring-cleavage of the protected inosine. A direct phosphorylation of the resulting 2',3'-isopropylidine acadesine (5) was developed to yield the title compound in 99% purity following ion exchange chromatography.
Delayed Mutation as a Cause of Genetic Disease in Man: Achondroplasia and the Wiedemann-Beckwith Syndrome

The concept of delayed mutation was developed by Auerbach1 (1956) to explain the sudden occurrence of the same autosomal dominant mutation in collateral relatives. Auerbach postulated that the “connecting” unaffected ancestors of the affected individuals transmitted a labile premutated allele which, by delayed mutation, gave rise to the (fully) mutant allele. In unaffected offspring of such carriers the premutated allele could either have remained premutated or have reverted to a stable allele with normal phenotype. Auerbach had observed this phenomenon previously in Drosophila; she noted a pedigree of human extrodactyly when she suggested the possibility also in man.l Here we should like to describe some general aspects of the model of delayed mutation, using achondroplasia and the Wiedemann-Beckwith syndrome as specific examples.
Priapism in hypogonadal men receiving gonadotropin releasing hormone.

AbstractTo our knowledge we report the first 2 cases of priapism occurring in hypogonadal men receiving gonadotropin releasing hormone therapy. Hypogonadal patients receiving hormonal therapy should be informed about the possibility of priapism and the importance of early urological consultation.
Other Connective Tissue Tumors

A lipoma is a benign fatty tissue neoplasm that usually arises from soft tissue, but occasionally from bone. These lesions may be single, or multiple, small or large masses.
Glaube und Aberglaube

In der zweiten Halfte des 20. Jahrhunderts waren wissenschaftliche Darstellungen des 18. Jahrhunderts weitgehend von der Annahme einer sich verstarkenden Sakularisierungsdynamik gepragt, der zufolge sich, wie Ulrich Beck es ausdruckte, religiose Glaubensinhalte »im Sichtschatten schonender Gleichgultigkeit und im Lichte wissenschaftlicher Kritik [auf ]los[t]en […] wie Gletscher bei der Klimaerwarmung «. In den letzten Jahren jedoch, insbesondere nach den Terroranschlagen des 11. September 2001 und der Erfahrung von religios motiviertem Terrorismus, ruckte die Rolle des Glaubens im offentlichen Leben wieder verstarkt ins Zentrum der Aufmerksamkeit. Damit ging oft eine historische Umwertung einher, die sich unter anderem auch mit dem der Aufklarung innewohnenden religiosen und aberglaubischen Gedankengut beschaftigte.
Xenotransplantation, trust, and trustworthiness: Ethical issues for African Americans

Summary Xenotransplantation , i.e., the transplanting of organs, cells or tissue from one species to another, is a constantly expanding quest to provide treatment for those with end-stage organ failure. The limited availability of donor organs is decreasing in comparison to the amount of people placed on the donor registry annually. Genetically modified donor pigs, working in concert with recipient treatment, can be in greater abundance since they are bred for this purpose. These genetically engineered pigs are bred to lack specific proteins that are antagonistic to the host/recipient. There are at least two basic ethical problems with xenotransplantation: animal rights ethics and trust ethics. Animal rights ethics asserts the equality of animals with humans, thus there is never a good reason for disregarding the interests or suffering of an animal since there can be no absolute argument prioritizing one species’ pain over another's. Nonetheless, if one can overcome the animal rights objection—i.e., speciesism is inherently unethical—objections derived from a historical and epidemiological tendency toward racism would have to be resolved. Recent clinical trials data show that African Americans have a (justifiable) distrust of medical research, clinical trials, and certain healthcare providers. Unless the governance of these systems can show themselves trustworthy, African Americans would have no good faith basis to trust them. Thus, African American mortality and morbidity rates would increase as the potential genius of xenotransplantation would fail to thrive in their communities. “We must study, we must investigate, we must attempt to solve; and the utmost that the world can demand is, not lack of human interest and moral conviction, but rather the heart-quality of fairness, and an earnest desire for the truth even despite its possible unpleasantness.”—W.E.B. Dubois, The Philadelphia Negro.
Systematic Review of Hormonal Contraception and Risk of Venous Thrombosis.

Background:Hormonal contraception (HC) is widely used throughout the world and has been associated with venous thrombosis (VT) such as deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary emboli, and cerebral VT.Object...
Binder mediated enhanced surface adhesion of cured dry solid lubricant on bearing steel for significant friction and wear reduction under high contact pressure

Abstract A new thermally cured polymer-graphene-zinc oxide-based solid lubricant is developed that reduces friction and wear significantly during the sliding wear of bearing steel under extreme contact pressure and long duration. The dry solid coating composite was made from a mixture of graphene, zinc oxide, and a specific industrial binder and then laminated on the surface of 52100 steel disks using the spin-coating technique. A ball-on-disk apparatus set to 1 GPa Hertzian pressure and a sliding distance of 500 m was used to examine the tribological properties of the coating. After ∼3000 cycles, the 15 μm thick coating created a significant reduction in the steel's coefficient of friction (approximately 82%) and wear loss compared to the uncoated surfaces. Following the triboligical examination, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy were conducted to determine the topography and morphology of the composite coating and resultant wear scars. It is revealed that the persistent protective coating on the disk surfaces was attributed to the adhesion influence of interfacial zinc oxide and graphene on the contact surfaces. Scratch testing of the new composite demonstrated a significant improvement in its adhesive properties on bulk interfacial surfaces compared to previously studied coatings.
Physiological assays of suprathreshold hearing are consistent with widespread deafferentation of the human auditory periphery

Multiple animal models have robustly shown the effects of noise-exposure and aging can have on the afferent synapses between the cochlea and the auditory nerve. This cochlear synaptopathy can affect responses to suprathreshold stimuli while leaving audiometric thresholds intact. However, currently, there is much debate on whether these same changes occur in humans with significant noise-exposure or with middle age. Our study examined two different physiological responses in which these afferent synapses are a crucial component, the auditory brainstem response (ABR) and the middle ear muscle reflex (MEMR). Versions of these measures were completed in both a clinical setting and a laboratory. Responses to both measures in both testing environments demonstrated significant age and noise-exposure effects. Moreover, these effects remained significant even after statistically accounting for variability in audiometric sensitivity and otoacoustic emissions, suggesting that despite clinically normal audiograms, cochlear synaptopathy may be a widespread occurrence in humans with both acoustic-overexposure and normal aging. Finally, our results suggest that a battery combining ABR and MEMR measures may be viable as a non-invasive assay of synaptopathy and can help examine the perceptual sequelae of such damage. Multiple animal models have robustly shown the effects of noise-exposure and aging can have on the afferent synapses between the cochlea and the auditory nerve. This cochlear synaptopathy can affect responses to suprathreshold stimuli while leaving audiometric thresholds intact. However, currently, there is much debate on whether these same changes occur in humans with significant noise-exposure or with middle age. Our study examined two different physiological responses in which these afferent synapses are a crucial component, the auditory brainstem response (ABR) and the middle ear muscle reflex (MEMR). Versions of these measures were completed in both a clinical setting and a laboratory. Responses to both measures in both testing environments demonstrated significant age and noise-exposure effects. Moreover, these effects remained significant even after statistically accounting for variability in audiometric sensitivity and otoacoustic emissions, suggesting that despite clinically normal audiograms, c...
Identification of neural stem and progenitor cell subpopulations using DC insulator-based dielectrophoresis

Neural stem and progenitor cells (NSPCs) are an extremely important group of cells that form the central nervous system during development and have the potential to repair damage in conditions such as stroke impairment, spinal cord injury and Parkinson's disease degradation. Current schemes for separation of NSPCs are inadequate due to the complexity and diversity of cells in the population and lack sufficient markers to distinguish diverse cell types. This study presents an unbiased high-resolution separation and characterization of NSPC subpopulations using direct current insulator-based dielectrophoresis (DC-iDEP). The properties of the cells were identified by the ratio of electrokinetic (EK) to dielectrophoretic (DEP) mobilities. The ratio factor of NSPCs showed more heterogeneity variance (SD = 3.4-3.9) than the controlled more homogeneous human embryonic kidney cells (SD = 1.1), supporting the presence of distinct subpopulations of cells in NSPC cultures. This measure reflected NSPC fate potential since the ratio factor distribution of more neurogenic populations of NSPCs was distinct from the distribution of astrogenic NSPC populations (confidence level >99.9%). The abundance of NSPCs captured with different ranges of ratio of EK to DEP mobilities also exhibit final fate trends consistent with established final fates of the chosen samples. DC-iDEP is a novel, label-free and non-destructive method for differentiating and characterizing, and potentially separating, neural stem cell subpopulations that differ in fate.
Liability for Natural Resource Damages from Oil Spills: A Survey

This paper provides an overview of the role of oil spill liability in policy at the state, national, and international levels. The primary focus is on damages to publicly owned natural resources from oil spills and associated legislation, policy, and economics. Both US and International Law have evolved over time to provide strict liability for an ever more inclusive set of oil spill damages, including what is termed "pure environmental" damages. This represents arguably the most expansive implementation of the "Polluter Pays Principle", which makes those who pollute financially responsible for the damages. Under both US and International Law, the primary form of compensation is a set of cost-effective actions to restore environmental damages, which has been termed resource-based compensation, as opposed providing to monetary compensation to injured parties. The framework under US law for liability for publicly owned natural resource damages requires quantification of causal linkages from a spill event, to injury to natural resources, to damages to the public, to natural recovery to baseline conditions, and accelerated recovery under alternative sets of restoration programs. In principle, this is a logical framework to ensure that the public is compensated for spill-related environmental damages. However, carrying out such a program may strain the state-of-the-science at each stage, given the many limitations of our scientific understanding of complex environmental systems. Thus, assessing liability for oil spill damages is a highly challenging endeavor and enormous uncertainties exist at nearly every stage in the process. Furthermore, litigation for oil spill damages is often a high stakes game, where the parties that are principally involved in assessing damages also receive benefits from, or pay the costs of, the damage awards. Thus, the process of assessing damages cannot be viewed as an objective analysis by impartial third parties. Furthermore, this damage assessment process is costly and time consuming, and neither assessment costs nor litigation costs contribute to compensating victims or restoring environmental damages. This raises the question of whether we as a society should rethink the framework for compensation for natural resource damages in future oil spill legislation. Standardized alternatives to traditional tort law exist which may reduce the time and financial costs of litigation and may thereby expedite restoration actions. Furthermore, standardized approaches may not necessarily reduce the accuracy of damage assessments, given the great scientific uncertainties and the financial interests of the parties involved in the damage assessment process.
Management of Nonpregnant Women Presenting to the Emergency Department With Iron Deficiency Anemia Caused by Uterine Blood Loss: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Abstract Background Women with abnormal uterine bleeding are commonly encountered in the emergency department (ED). Contemporary management of severe iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in this setting may be inadequate and expose patients to unnecessary blood transfusions. Objective We sought to describe the characteristics and management of women presenting to the ED with moderate to severe anemia caused by uterine bleeding. We hypothesized that blood transfusions were frequently administered to stable patients without severe symptoms or active bleeding. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study of women presenting to the ED from October 31, 2018 to March 31, 2019 with IDA from uterine bleeding. Eligible subjects were adult females with IDA caused by uterine blood loss, hemoglobin ≤10 g/dL, and who were discharged from the ED. Results One hundred twenty-seven encounters (117 unique patients, mean 40 years of age) met the eligibility criteria. No patients were hemodynamically unstable and clinically significant active bleeding was rare (6%). Blood transfusion was administered during 70 (55%) encounters, with ≥2 units given to more than half (53%) of those transfused. Subsequent ED visits (14%) and transfusions (16%) during the follow-up period were common. Conclusion In this cohort of adult females with moderate to severe IDA caused by uterine bleeding, blood transfusion was often administered in the absence of hemodynamic instability or active hemorrhage, iron deficiency was inadequately treated, and a high rate of subsequent transfusions occurred. Future studies should investigate optimal indications for transfusion and emphasize adequate iron supplementation.
The Mediating Role of Innovation in Knowledge Process Outsourcing

Conducting knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) for sophisticated global clients is a learning curve and a complex journey that many emerging market-based service providers must navigate. In this study we establish a mediating framework, arguing that a KPO service provider’s internal and external knowledge process integration enhance its competitive performance through firm-level and product-level innovation. Drawing on the theories of organizational learning and dynamic capabilities, our empirical analysis of 205 KPO firms based in India suggests that the impact a KPO service provider’s knowledge process integration on performance is mediated through its firm-level and product-level innovation. This study contributes to the much-needed efforts in studying KPO, a new and fast-growing cross-border professional service activity, and provides helpful managerial implications to practicing global clients and offshore PSO service providers on how to successfully manage the outsourcing process to achieve expected benefits.
Emotion Co-Regulation Among Mother-Preschooler Dyads Completing the Strange Situation: Relations to Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms

Emotion co-regulation between parents and children has recently emerged as a powerful correlate of children’s psychosocial adjustment. However, most studies on this topic have focused exclusively on parents’ responses to children’s negative emotion displays. The current study employed a dynamic systems approach (State Space Grid) to mothers’ moment-by-moment positive and negative emotion co-regulation with their preschoolers prior to and following a stressor to the relationship (a separation within a standardized paradigm, the Strange Situation Procedure [SSP]). This study combined newly coded behavioral data from video archives of the 36-month SSP with secondary data from one site of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. There were 80 mother–child dyads in the study with the majority of mothers being Caucasian (81.3%), married (72.7%), and having a college education or higher (78.9%). Hierarchical regressions were conducted to test the predictors of 36-month positive/negative emotion co-regulation and its relationships with children’s 54-month internalizing and externalizing symptoms after adjusting for covariates in this longitudinal study. The results revealed that 24-month infant attachment security predicted higher 36-month positive and lower negative emotion co-regulation following the separation. Further, children in dyads with higher post-separation positive co-regulation and lower negative emotion co-regulation at 36 months had lower internalizing symptoms at 54 months. Lastly, 36-month post-separation positive/negative emotion co-regulation mediated the relationship between 24-month infant attachment security and internalizing symptoms at 54 months. The results highlight the unique contribution of positive/negative emotion co-regulation following stress for children’s adjustment.
Clinician involvement in research on machine learning-based predictive clinical decision support for the hospital setting: A scoping review.

Objective The study sought to describe the prevalence and nature of clinical expert involvement in the development, evaluation, and implementation of clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) that utilize machine learning to analyze electronic health record data to assist nurses and physicians in prognostic and treatment decision making (ie, predictive CDSSs) in the hospital. Materials and methods A systematic search of PubMed, CINAHL, and IEEE Xplore and hand-searching of relevant conference proceedings were conducted to identify eligible articles. Empirical studies of predictive CDSSs using electronic health record data for nurses or physicians in the hospital setting published in the last 5 years in peer-reviewed journals or conference proceedings were eligible for synthesis. Data from eligible studies regarding clinician involvement, stage in system design, predictive CDSS intention, and target clinician were charted and summarized. Results Eighty studies met eligibility criteria. Clinical expert involvement was most prevalent at the beginning and late stages of system design. Most articles (95%) described developing and evaluating machine learning models, 28% of which described involving clinical experts, with nearly half functioning to verify the clinical correctness or relevance of the model (47%). Discussion Involvement of clinical experts in predictive CDSS design should be explicitly reported in publications and evaluated for the potential to overcome predictive CDSS adoption challenges. Conclusions If present, clinical expert involvement is most prevalent when predictive CDSS specifications are made or when system implementations are evaluated. However, clinical experts are less prevalent in developmental stages to verify clinical correctness, select model features, preprocess data, or serve as a gold standard.
Teachers caring for students and students caring for math: The development of culturally and linguistically diverse adolescents' math motivation.

This study utilized growth curves and change models to understand the impact of student perceptions of teacher caring on the development of math motivation for an ethnically and linguistically diverse sample of adolescents in middle school (N = 1926) and high school (N = 1531). Using an expectancy-value framework, growth curves revealed declining math motivation for both middle school and high school cohorts. However, perceived teacher caring buffered against these declines and was positively associated with math self-efficacy and subjective task values. Change models revealed that perceived teacher caring at the beginning of the school year increased math motivation by the end of the year. The results shed light on the important role that student-teacher relationships play in influencing math motivation during adolescence.
Aerial Vehicle Protection Level Reduction by Fusing GNSS and Terrestrial Signals of Opportunity

A method for reducing the protection levels (PLs) of aerial vehicles by fusing global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) signals with terrestrial signals of opportunity (SOPs) is developed. PL is a navigation integrity parameter that guarantees the probability of position error exceeding a certain value to be bounded by a target integrity risk. For unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), it is desirable to achieve as tight PLs as possible. This paper characterizes terrestrial cellular SOPs’ measurement errors from extensive UAV flight campaigns, collected over the past few years in different environments and from different providers, transmitting at different frequencies and bandwidths. Next, the reduction in PLs due to fusing terrestrial SOPs with a traditional GNSS-based navigation system is analyzed. It is demonstrated that incorporating terrestrial SOP measurements is more effective in reducing the PLs over adding GNSS measurements. Experimental results are presented for a UAV traversing a trajectory of 823 m, during which the VPL of the GPS-based and GNSS-based navigation systems were reduced by 56.9% and 58.8%, respectively, upon incorporating SOPs; while the HPL of the GPS-based and GNSS-based navigation systems were reduced by 82.4% and 74.6%, respectively, upon incorporating SOPs.
Tuning in scene-preferring cortex for mid-level visual features gives rise to selectivity across multiple levels of stimulus complexity

The scene-preferring portion of the human ventral visual stream, known as the parahippocampal place area (PPA), responds to scenes and landmark objects, which tend to be large in real-world size, fixed in location, and inanimate. However, the PPA also exhibits preferences for low-level contour statistics, including rectilinearity and cardinal orientations, that are not directly predicted by theories of scene- and landmark-selectivity. It is unknown whether these divergent findings of both low- and high-level selectivity in the PPA can be explained by a unified computational theory. To address this issue, we fit hierarchical computational models of mid-level tuning to the image-evoked fMRI responses of the PPA, and we performed a series of high-throughput experiments on these models. Our findings show that hierarchical encoding models of the PPA exhibit emergent selectivity across multiple levels of complexity, giving rise to high-level preferences along dimensions of real-world size, fixedness, and naturalness/animacy as well as low-level preferences for rectilinear shapes and cardinal orientations. These results reconcile disparate theories of PPA function in a unified model of mid-level visual representation, and they demonstrate how multifaceted selectivity profiles naturally emerge from the hierarchical computations of visual cortex and the natural statistics of images.
Political Philosophy: An Introduction

This book by Richard G. Stevens is a comprehensive introduction to the nature of political philosophy. It offers definitions of philosophy and politics, showing the tension between the two and the origin of political philosophy as a means of resolution of that tension. Plato and Aristotle are examined in order to see the search for the best political order. Inquiry is then made into political philosophy's new tension brought about by the growth of revealed religion in the Middle Ages. It then examines the changes introduced by modernity and gives an overview of postmodern political thought. The book covers the most influential philosophers and directs readers to the classics of political philosophy, guiding them in studying them. It is an approachable introduction to a complex subject, not just a history of it. It is a point of entry into the subject for students and for others as well.
Disestablishment as Legal Paideia: Assessing Michael McConnell's Educational and Religious Pluralism

The legal doctrine of “disestablishment” plays a central role in U.S. law and culture as a touchstone for thinking about religion and public life. As such it serves as a sort of legal paideia, shaping the character of both citizens and law. But can the concept of disestablishment extend to other areas of public life beyond religion? Jurist and scholar Michael McConnell has argued that the U.S. educational system ought to be “disestablished” in a fashion analogous to religious disestablishment of the early national period. This would entail universal school vouchers, funded by the public but redeemable at any school that meets minimal criteria (curricular, civic, health, and safety), including religious schools; it would also mean abandoning the sort of democratic control of education proposed by Amy Gutmann and others. McConnell suggests all this in service of creating a “pluralist” educational system that truly respects religious freedom by giving parents real choices about their children’s education. His argument is compelling and clever, but as I shall argue, it is also deeply flawed and at times misguided.
Fracture of a sublaminar stainless steel cable in the upper cervical spine with neurological injury: Case report

Sublaminar cables have been used to stabilize bone grafts for arthrodesis in the cervical spine in recent years. Previous accounts of their use have indicated no instances of breakage or neurological injury. This report is of a delayed cable fracture that resulted in penetration of the dura with neurological injury in a patient who had undergone atlantoaxial fusion for rheumatoid subluxation. The cable fracture occurred in the epidural space beneath the attempted arthrodesis and resulted in uncoiling of the cable, which penetrated spinal canal and caused a one-sided sensory deficit.
Effects of turbulence on hydraulic heads and parameter sensitivities in preferential groundwater flow layers

[1] A conduit flow process (CFP) for the Modular Finite Difference Ground-Water Flow model, MODFLOW-2005, has been created by the U.S. Geological Survey. An application of the CFP on a carbonate aquifer in southern Florida is described; this application examines (1) the potential for turbulent groundwater flow and (2) the effects of turbulent flow on hydraulic heads and parameter sensitivities. Turbulent flow components were spatially extensive in preferential groundwater flow layers, with horizontal hydraulic conductivities of about 5,000,000 m d−1, mean void diameters equal to about 3.5 cm, groundwater temperature equal to about 25°C, and critical Reynolds numbers less than or equal to 400. Turbulence either increased or decreased simulated heads from their laminar elevations. Specifically, head differences from laminar elevations ranged from about −18 to +27 cm and were explained by the magnitude of net flow to the finite difference model cell. Turbulence also affected the sensitivities of model parameters. Specifically, the composite-scaled sensitivities of horizontal hydraulic conductivities decreased by as much as 70% when turbulence was essentially removed. These hydraulic head and sensitivity differences due to turbulent groundwater flow highlight potential errors in models based on the equivalent porous media assumption, which assumes laminar flow in uniformly distributed void spaces.
Abstract 304: Nonfatal Outcomes Following Incident Atrial Fibrillation: A Community Study

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia in current clinical practice. Yet, contemporary community data on adverse outcomes, such as ischemic stroke (IS) and heart failure (HF), are scarce. Methods: We assembled a community-based cohort of incident AF among Olmsted County, MN residents ≥18 years of age from 2000-2010. IS, transient ischemic attack (TIA), and incident HF occurring through 12/31/2012 were identified using diagnosis codes and were manually validated. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to determine age- and sex-adjusted predictors of IS/TIA and HF, as well as the association of year of AF diagnosis with these outcomes after adjustment for demographics and comorbidities. Results: Among 3315 incident AF (mean age 72.6 years, 52% male), 346 (10%) developed a subsequent IS (n=230) or TIA (n=116) over a mean follow-up of 4.2 years. In the 2807 AF patients without prior HF, 782 (28%) developed HF over a mean of 3.9 years. Differences in the predictors of subsequent IS/TIA and HF were observed (Figure). Increasing age, female sex, and prior IS/TIA were associated with an increased risk of IS/TIA, whereas increasing age, obesity, smoking, prior myocardial infarction, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peripheral vascular disease, prior IS/TIA, and renal disease predicted the development of HF after AF. The risk of subsequent IS/TIA or HF did not differ by year of AF diagnosis. Compared to those diagnosed with AF in 2000-2003, the adjusted hazard ratios (HR) (95% CI) for ischemic IS/TIA were 0.84 (0.65-1.08) and 1.02 (0.76-1.36) for those diagnosed with AF in 2004-2007 and 2008-2010, respectively (Ptime trend=0.58); similar results were observed for IS alone. The corresponding HRs for HF were 0.99 (0.83-1.16) and 0.93 (0.76-1.13) for those diagnosed with AF in 2004-2007 and 2008-2010 compared to 2000-2003 (Ptime trend=0.43). Conclusions: In the community, adverse outcomes are frequent after AF, and HF occurs more frequently than IS/TIA. Risk factors differed for IS/TIA and HF, suggesting that pathways to the occurrence of these outcomes, as well as prevention strategies, may differ. Finally, the occurrence of these outcomes did not decline over the last decade, highlighting the importance of continued rigorous surveillance of adverse outcomes in AF. ![][1] [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
Educational Research and the Interests of the State: The Divisive Case of Generalizability

The recent report of the National Research Council (NRC), Scientific Research in Education, entered the world of educational research on a note of surprise and terror. The report was created in an environment of political controversy surrounding the proper role of the state in funding educational research. In legislation to reauthorize the OERI (H.R. 4875, the “Castle bill”), conservative politicians had drafted controversial definitions stipulating what should count as “scientific” research. In response, the NRC committee was asked to provide a more informed perspective on the nature of scientific practice. In the NRC report, the council offered a description of science that differed from the proposed legislation. Rather than identifying science by a particular method, the report suggested that science is best distinguished by several general characteristics. But the NRC’s description of science has also been hotly contested. Some say that science should not be normatively characterized at all; others take issue with specific aspects of the report’s description of science. The report’s fifth characterization of science, that it should be in the business of replication and generalization, has been particularly controversial.
Fast carrier dynamics in novel GaAs deep-centers for high-efficiency light-emitters for 1.3um-1.5um fiber optics

We demonstrate the first LEDs at 1.3-1.5um using GaAs deep-centers having higher (90%) efficiencies and larger Einstein B-coefficients than bulk InGaAs. An observed absence of deep-center self-absorption (from a Franck-Condon shift) could make possible near-zero threshold lasers. The fast capture (15- 40fs) of free holes by deep-centers, as well as the Einstein B-coefficient, are deduced from a combination of photoluminescence and electroluminescence measurements.
Development and Application of a Serum C-Telopeptide and Osteocalcin Assay to Measure Bone Turnover in an Ovariectomized Rat Model

Biochemical markers applicable to the ovariectomized rat model can provide important tools for studying the bone remodeling process in this animal model of postmenopausal osteoporosis. We describe the development and application of two biochemical markers, a C-telopeptide (of type-I collagen) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for measuring bone resorption and an osteocalcin radioimmunoassay (RIA) for measuring bone formation in rat serum. The C-telopeptide ELISA is based on an affinity purified polyclonal antibody generated against human sequence DFSFLPQPPQEKAHDGGR. The antibody epitope involves amino acid sequence, which is similar in rat and human carboxyl terminal peptide of type-I (alpha 1) collagen. Sensitivity of the ELISA was 0.3 ng/ml. The averaged intra- and interassay variation was CV <7%. Averaged dilution and spiked recoveries were 91% and 105%, respectively. The second marker developed is a synthetic peptide-based osteocalcin RIA, which does not require isolation and purification of intact osteocalcin from rat bone. Osteocalcin antiserum used in the RIA was generated in rabbits against a synthetic peptide comprising amino acids 33–49 of the rat osteocalcin sequence. The sensitivity of the RIA was 0.15 ng/ml of peptide. The averaged intra (n = 10) and interassay variations for two controls were CV <9% and 12%, respectively. The averaged dilution and spiked recoveries were 99.6%. In vivo validation of the C-telopeptide ELISA and osteocalcin RIA was performed in an ovariectomized (OVX) rat model. In 12-week-old OVX Sprague Dawley rats, the C-telopeptide and osteocalcin concentrations were approximately 65% and 40%, respectively, higher than the sham group. Estradiol repletion significantly lowered the C-telopeptide and osteocalcin concentration to the levels of the sham group. In addition, changes in serum C-telopeptide concentration correlated negatively with trabecular BMD measured by pQCT (r =−0.51, P < 0.001). In conclusion, the C-telopeptide ELISA and osteocalcin RIA exhibited required sensitivity, accuracy, and adequate discriminatory power to be used for measuring bone resorption and bone formation in the ovariectomized rat model.
Similarity of the discriminative stimulus effects of ketamine, cyclazocine, and dextrorphan in the pigeon

Separate groups of pigeons were trained to discriminate the IM injection of ketamine, cyclazocine, or dextrorphan from saline. Each of the training drugs and phencyclidine produced dose-related, drug-appropriate responding in each group of birds. In contrast, ethylketazocine and nalorphine generally produced responding appropriate for saline. These results indicate that common elements of discriminable effects exist among ketamine, cyclazocine, and dextrorphan, structurally dissimilar compounds that are generally considered to belong to distinct pharmacological classes.
Ripstein procedure is an effective treatment for rectal prolapse without constipation.

The operation of choice for complete rectal prolapse is controversial. We reviewed 169 patients undergoing 185 surgical procedures for rectal prolapse over a 27-year period. The most common surgical procedure employed was the Ripstein procedure (n=142) and is the focus of this report. Other surgical procedures used included resection rectopexy (n=18), anterior resection (n=7), Altemeier's (n=9), Delorme's (n=2), and anal encirclement (n=7). The median age was 59 years (range, 12–94 years), and the female-to-male ratio was 5∶1. The incidence of fecal incontinence, solitary rectal ulcer syndrome, and prior surgery elsewhere for rectal prolapse was 40 percent, 12 percent, and 19 percent, respectively. Operative mortality was 0.6 percent; morbidity was 16 percent. Median follow-up was 4.2 years (range, 1–15 years). Complete recurrence of prolapse after the Ripstein procedure was 8 percent; one-third of these patients recurred 3 to 14 years after surgery. Fecal incontinence improved after the Ripstein procedure or resection rectopexy in about half the patients. Persistence of prior constipation was more common after the Ripstein procedure than after resection rectopexy (57 percent vs. 17 percent;P=0.03, chi-squared). Fifteen patients developed constipation for the first time after the Ripstein procedure. About one in three patients, irrespective of surgical procedures, remained dissatisfied with the final outcome despite anatomic correction of the prolapse. The Ripstein procedure has proven to be a safe procedure with good anatomic repair of the prolapse and may improve continence. In the presence of constipation, procedures other than the Ripstein procedure may be preferable.
Band-Spectrum Analysis of Mercury Hydride*

The emission spectrum of mercury hydride has been photographed in the second and third orders of a 21-ft concave grating in the region 2930–4550 A. The light source was an electrodeless discharge tube containing a drop of mercury in an atmosphere of hydrogen and argon. Twenty-six bands of the A-X system and four bands of the B-X system have been analyzed, most of them to their predissociation limits. A table of these bands and a vibrational energy-level diagram are given. The behavior of the lambda-type doubling in the 2Π state for which the electronic coupling is Hund’s case a is compared with the theoretical prediction.
Time-Resolved Spectroscopic Studies of B12 Coenzymes: The Photolysis of Methylcobalamin Is Wavelength Dependent

Femtosecond to nanosecond transient absorption spectroscopy has been used to investigate the primary photochemistry of the B12 coenzymes, methylcobalamin and 5‘-deoxyadenosylcobalamin. Photolysis at excitation wavelengths in the near UV (400 nm) and visible (520−530 nm) are compared. Measurements were performed with femtosecond time resolution covering time delays of up to 9 ns. The photochemistry of methylcobalamin is found to depend strongly on excitation wavelength, while the photochemistry of adenosylcobalamin is essentially wavelength independent over the range studied. Excitation of methylcobalamin at 400 nm results in a partitioning between prompt bond homolysis and formation of a metastable cob(III)alamin photoproduct as reported earlier [Walker, L. A., II; Jarrett, J. T.; Anderson, N. A.; Pullen, S. H.; Matthews, R. G.; Sension, R. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 3597−3603]. Excitation of methylcobalamin at 520 nm in the visible αβ-band results only in formation of the metastable cob(III)alamin p...
Nonparametric functionals of spectral distributions and their applications to time series analysis

There is a close analogy between empirical distributions of i.i.d. random variables and normalized spectral distributions of wide-sense stationary processes. Herein we make use of this analogy to develop nonparametric comparisons of two spectral distributions and nonparametric tests of stationarity versus change-point alternatives via spectral analysis of a time series.
Thermal diffusivity measurements of thin films with a pyroelectric calorimeter

The use of pyroelectric polyvinylidene fluoride calorimeters for the measurement of thermal diffusivities of thin films is described. The potential of this detection scheme combined with photothermal excitation is demonstrated on polymer films with thickness in the 1 μm range.
Encephalopathies: the emerging diabetic complications

Diabetic encephalopathies are now accepted complications of diabetes. They appear to differ in type 1 and type 2 diabetes as to underlying mechanisms and the nature of resulting cognitive deficits. The increased incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in type 2 diabetes is associated with insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia, and commonly accompanying attributes such as hypercholesterolemia, hypertension and obesity. The relevance of these disorders as to the emergence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is discussed based on epidemiological studies. The pathobiology of accumulation of β-amyloid and tau the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease are discussed based on experimental data. Type 1 diabetic encephalopathy is likely to increase as a result of the global increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes and its occurrence in increasingly younger patients. Alzheimer-like changes and dementia are not prominently increased in type 1 diabetes. Instead, the type 1 diabetic encephalopathy involves learning abilities, intelligence development and memory retrieval resulting in impaired school and professional performances. The major underlying component here appears to be insulin deficiency with downstream effects on the expression of neurotrophic factors, neurotransmitters, oxidative and apoptotic stressors resulting in defects in neuronal integrity, connectivity and loss commonly occurring in the still developing brain. Recent experimental data emphasize the role of impaired central insulin action and provide information as to potential therapies. Therefore, the underlying mechanisms resulting in diabetic encephalopathies are complex and appear to differ between the two types of diabetes. Major headway has been made in our understanding of their pathobiology; however, many questions remain to be clarified. In view of the increasing incidence of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, intensified investigations are called for to expand our understanding of these complications and to find therapeutic means by which these disastrous consequences can be prevented and modified.