cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Self-Employment, Women, and Precarious Work: The Scope of Labour Protection

This paper begins by examining the stereotype of self-employment and how it is distinguished from employment in order to develop a more complex and accurate typology of subordination and autonomy in employment relationships. The next section turns to the ILO, and traces its approach to self-employment. Since 1990, the ILO has attempted to fashion an entente between employees' representatives, employers' representatives, and governments around the scope of employment protection and the coverage of self-employed workers. The next section begins the case study and presents some of the recent Canadian data on self-employment, and examines it along the dimensions of subordination and dependency identified in the typology. It also explores the extent to which women's self-employment is precarious, and how women's self-employment is shaped by their responsibility for domestic labour. The scope of employment in labour-related law and legislation in the common-law jurisdictions in Canada is mapped in the next section, and it is compared to the reality of women's self-employment. A key question is whether the scope of legal protection of employment contributes to the precarious nature of self-employment for women. The paper concludes by considering what effect the ILO's approach is likely to have on access to labour and social protection for self-employed women in Canada. Women's self-employment demonstrates the need to go beyond employment to consider self-employment and unpaid caring labour in order to develop policies and laws that promote women's equality.
Dimethyl fumarate treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis influences B-cell subsets.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that dimethyl fumarate (Tecfidera, BG-12) affects B-cell subsets in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Methods: Peripheral blood B cells were compared for surface marker expression in patients with RRMS prior to initiation of treatment, after 4–6 months, and at more than 1 year of treatment with BG-12. Production of interleukin (IL)–10 by RRMS patient B cells was also analyzed. Results: Total numbers of peripheral blood B lymphocytes declined after 4–6 months of BG-12 treatment, due to losses in both the CD27+ memory B cells and CD27 neg B-cell subsets. Some interpatient variability was observed. In contrast, circulating CD24 high CD38 high (T2-MZP) B cells increased in percentage in the majority of patients with RRMS after 4–6 months and were present in higher numbers in all of the patients after 12 months of treatment. The CD43+CD27+ B-1 B cells also increased at the later time point in most patients but were unchanged at 4–6 months compared to pretreatment levels. Purified B cells from 7 of the 9 patients with RRMS tested after 4–6 months of treatment were able to produce IL-10 following CD40 ligand stimulation, and the amount corresponded with the combined levels of T2-MZP and B-1 B cells in the sample. None of the patients with RRMS in this study have had a relapse while taking BG-12. Conclusions: These data suggest that BG-12 differentially affects B-cell subsets in patients with RRMS, resulting in increased numbers of circulating B lymphocytes with regulatory capacity.
Affective Scaffolds, Expressive Arts, and Cognition.

Some theorists have argued that cognitive agents engineer their environment to sustain and amply their cognitive abilities, and also that elements of the surrounding world sometimes play a crucial role in evoking and sustaining emotion. Such insights raise an interesting question about the relationship between cognitive and affective scaffolding: in addition to enabling the realization of specific affective states, can an affective niche also enable the realization of certain cognitive capacities? In order to gain a better understanding of this relationship between affective scaffolding and cognition, I will examine the use of expressive arts in the context of psychotherapy and peacebuilding. In these settings, environmental resources and interpersonal scaffolds not only evoke emotion and encourage the adoption of particular bodily-affective styles, but also support the development of capacities for self-awareness and interpersonal understanding. These affective scaffolds play a crucial role in therapy and peacebuilding, in fact, insofar as they facilitate the development of self-knowledge, enhance capacities associated with social cognition, and build positive rapport and trust among participants. I will argue that this is because affectivity is linked to the way that subjects frame and attend to their surroundings. Insofar as the regulation and modulation of emotion goes hand in hand with opening up new interpretive frames and establishing new habits of mind, affective scaffolds can contribute significantly to various modes of cognition.
Vibrational modes of multilayered ceramic capacitors

Micron-scale spacing of interleaved electrodes and high-dielectric ceramics in multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) provide exceptionally high capacitances in small volumes. This has led to MLCCs being the preferred type of capacitor in a wide range of applications where size and weight are critical factors. However, crack-related failures of MLCCs remain a significant issue. Resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) and resonant nonlinear ultrasonics are being pursued as nondestructive techniques for detecting subsurface cracks that can evolve into performance-degrading electrical pathways during service. This paper presents finite-element calculations of the vibrational modes of MLCCs. The geometric symmetry in the finite-element model was orthorhombic, with three orthogonal mirror planes, and the detailed internal structure of interleaved metallic and ceramic materials was included in the model. The assumption of three mirror planes enabled an analysis of the normal modes of the full model through calculations on a mesh spanning just one eighth of the full volume. The computational load was further reduced by separating the problem into eight modal-symmetry sets with different boundary conditions for each set. The first three non-zero frequencies are presented for each modal symmetry set. In addition, displacement plots are presented for the two or three lowest-frequency modes of each symmetry set. These results provide information on the frequency ordering and symmetries of vibrational modes that can be used in the analysis of ultrasonic resonance measurements of MLCCs. HighlightsWe perform finite-element calculations on a multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC).We present at least two frequencies and mode shapes for each modal-symmetry set.Resonant frequencies are not greatly affected by variations in endcap geometry.The frequencies presented range from 0.354MHz (first EV) to 1.418MHz (third EX).Results will aid in interpreting resonant ultrasound spectroscopy measurements.
Mineral Processing Product Cost Forecasting Model Based on ANFIS

Accurately predicting product cost is meaningful to cost control of mineral processing production process. Complex factors which influence product cost affect each other and the coupling phenomenon exists,so it is important and difficult to predict the product cost. Mineral processing product cost forecasting model built by using Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System(ANFIS),and T-S fuzzy model identified by subtractive clustering,least squares and gradient descent algorithm. Simulation analysis made to test the forecast effect of the proposed model based on the data of integration fine iron mine cost and its influence factors,results of simulation show the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Monte Carlo Simulation of Three-Dimensional Nonisothermal Grain-Microstructure Evolution: Application to LENS Rapid Fabrication

A stochastic three-dimensional (3-D) model for grain-microstructure evolution during transient nonisothermal annealing of metallic materials is developed, validated, and applied to the LENS (Laser-Engineered Net Shaping) advanced rapid fabrication process. The model is based on the assumption that the main driving force for microstructure evolution is the reduction in energy contribution arising from the grain boundaries. A temperature-dependent grain-boundary mobility factor is introduced into the expression for the transition probability in order to account for nonisothermal effects, such as those induced by the rastering laser during LENS-based manufacturing. The grain-boundary mobility factor and its temperature dependence are determined using the available experimental isothermal-annealing data. The simulation of grain growth (under nonisothermal annealing conditions encountered in the LENS process) is carried out by coupling a Monte Carlo method for microstructure evolution with a finite difference-based solution to the three-dimensional (3-D) transient energy equation. In response to the computational challenges of the simulations, a highly efficient interprocessor communications methodology is developed, which greatly reduces the simulation time on parallel computers. The results obtained show that under isothermal annealing conditions, the kinetics of grain growth is governed by a temporal power-law behavior and that, after an initial transition period, the grain-size distribution (normalized with respect to the average grain size) becomes time invariant. Furthermore, the application of the model to the LENS process is found to enable establishment of the relationships between process parameters (the laser power, beam rastering velocity, etc.) and the microstructure (grain size distribution, depth of the heat-affected region, etc.) of the deposited material.
Glass Scrapers from Historic North America

with the wooden tool. However, the hardwood tool would only cut a single block before requiring resharpen ing, which was done with the machete. Limestone veins in the travertine were difficult to cut and quickly dulled the wooden tool. Sharpening activity with stone tools available to the prehistoric and poorer Colonial in habitants would have increased the cutting time. Fire hardening the tip of the wooden tool might decrease the time loss due to sharpening, but we did not test this. An additional problem with the wooden tool was the necessity of using a wide, somewhat dull point to give the cutting edge strength. Thin, finely sharpened points dulled immediately. The impact of the broad, dull pointed tool was responsible for the high incidence of breakage. Impact frequently produced a percussion break rather than the smooth cut characteristic of the machete. However, it should be noted that neither of the workmen had ever cut travertine with wooden tools before. We can assume that they could improve their breakage factor and cut the blocks at a faster rate with practice. Experimentation has proved that travertine building blocks can be shaped with cutting tools made of tropical hardwoods. Preliminary comparison of the relative utili ty of using wooden tools over metal tools indicates that cutting travertine blocks with wooden tools takes over twice as long as with metal ones. In addition, the wooden tools must be frequently resharpened, which significant ly decreases their utility as cutting tools. Additional ex perimentation is planned to test the cutting etticiency ot tools made from a range of different tropical hardwoods We will also experiment with different blade shapes and test the effect of fire hardening.
Renewable Natural Resource Shocks and Conflict Intensity: Findings from India’s Ongoing Maoist Insurgency

An interesting stream of the civil conflict literature has identified an important subset of civil conflicts with disastrous consequences, that is, those that emerge as a consequence of shocks to renewable natural resources like land and water. This literature is, however, reliant on qualitative case studies when claiming a causal relationship leading from renewable resource shocks to conflict. In this article, we seek to advance the literature by drawing out the implications of a well-known formal model of the renewable resources–conflict relationship and then conducting rigorous statistical tests of its implications in the case of a serious ongoing civil conflict in India. We find that a one standard deviation decrease in our measure of renewable resources increases killings by nearly 60 percent over the long run.
Intensity control of individual DBD plasma filament. I. Experiment with a needle electrode

Filamentary volume dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) produces patterned plasma structures that are currently being explored for reconfigurable metamaterial applications. In this work, the presence and intensity of a single filament (within an array of filaments) are controlled by biasing a low voltage needle electrode by less than 7% of the driving voltage. The current, voltage, and time-averaged normalized light intensity were measured while varying the needle voltage through self-biasing resistors. For a 7.5 kV, 3.2 kHz DBD in air, the needle-controlled filament intensity varies from 80% to 0% of the light intensity of surrounding filaments. When the biased voltage prevents a filament from forming, the voltage difference across the air gap and between the electrodes remains well above the breakdown voltage. Redistributed charge inside the DBD rather than the cross-gap voltage difference is the mechanism which controls the filament intensity when surrounding filaments are present. This work presents a m...
The role of women in payment for environmental services programs in Osa, Costa Rica

AbstractCosta Rica was the first country in the world to implement a nation-wide payment for environmental services (a.k.a. ‘payment for ecosystem services’), or PES, system in 1996. This research investigates the role of women in PES programs in Costa Rica’s Osa peninsula in response to the current dearth of such gendered research on this topic. Osa, one of the least-developed regions of the country, is still heavily forested and replete with properties under PES contracts which are aimed at forest conservation. Extended, structured interviews of 80 landowners in Osa (40 women and 40 men) culled both quantitative and qualitative information about PES participation, environmental perceptions, and both economic and conservation goals. Salient results were, first, that women see current levels of PES funding as more helpful and useful than do men. Second, women much more often perceive themselves as the sole entity responsible for protecting the environment. Third, women more commonly than men listed ‘helpi...
How does taking a Canadian Studies course influence how American students think about Canada

In this article, I discuss what American students think about Canada before and after taking a Canadian Studies course. I reflect on what I am trying to convey when I teach Canadian Studies courses regarding how Canada differs from the United States and why it is important for Americans to study Canada. The article reports results from a survey of students who have taken Introduction to Canadian Studies in past semesters. These results are discussed in the broader contexts of what American students think about Canada and how taking the course influences these views.
Who’s Teaching Which Languages Online? A Report Based on National Surveys

This paper describes findings from recent national surveys on online language education (OLE) within a broader context of national surveys of post-secondary online education and world language enrollments. The surveys discussed and compared are the 2012 CARLA Survey by Johnshoy and BOLDD Surveys by Murphy-Judy (2014 & 2015). The findings reported here include: types and sizes of institutions; demographics of the teaching corps (CARLA data only); and, the mix of languages and levels. This work aims to provide useful information on online language education as it emerges as an important field in world language teaching and learning in the 21 st century.
The Adhesion Strength of Metal/Polyimide and Polyimide /Silicon Interfaces as Determined by the Blister Test

In this work we discuss the design and application of a blister test for the study of adhesion of a polyimide (PMDA-ODA) to several metals (Au, Cu and AI) and of two polyimides (PMDAODA and BPDA-PDA) to silicon. In this test, one injects a fluid at constant rate at the interface between a rigid substrate and a flexible overlayer to create a blister. The fluid pressure and blister geometry are measured as functions of time. An analysis predicts three independent means of calculating the adhesion energy, Ga, from the data. The reproducibility of the data was found to be exceptionally good and allowed determination of very small adhesion energies inaccessible in conventional peel tests. The selfconsistency of Ga determined by the different methods in this study shows that it can be calculated reliably from the pressure data alone without using the blister geometry. The relative adhesion strengths for the polymer/metal pairs studied are in qualitative agreement with trends suggested by interface structure studies using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The work demonstrates that the blister test can provide a reliable means of relating macroscopic adhesion energies to microscopic interfacial structure.
Technique for insulated and non-insulated metal liner X-pinch radiography on a 1 MA pulsed power machine

Broadband, high resolution X-pinch radiography has been demonstrated as a method to view the instability induced small scale structure that develops in near solid density regions of both insulated and non-insulated cylindrical metallic liners. In experiments carried out on a 1-1.2 MA 100-200 ns rise time pulsed power generator, μm scale features were imaged in initially 16 μm thick Al foil cylindrical liners. Better resolution and contrast were obtained using an X-ray sensitive film than with image plate detectors because of the properties of the X-pinch X-ray source. We also discuss configuration variations that were made to the simple cylindrical liner geometry that appeared to maintain validity of the small-scale structure measurements while improving measurement quality.
Barriers to Nursing Home Care for Nonelderly Rural Residents

Rural residents experience higher disability, mortality, and poverty rates than their urban counterparts; they also have more barriers to accessing care, including nursing home care. Meanwhile, the...
AIBP protects against metabolic abnormalities and atherosclerosis

Apolipoprotein A-I binding protein (AIBP) has been shown to augment cholesterol efflux from endothelial cells and macrophages. In zebrafish and mice, AIBP-mediated regulation of cholesterol levels in the plasma membrane of endothelial cells controls angiogenesis. The goal of this work was to evaluate metabolic changes and atherosclerosis in AIBP loss-of-function and gain-of-function animal studies. Here, we show that Apoa1bp-/-Ldlr-/- mice fed a high-cholesterol, high-fat diet had exacerbated weight gain, liver steatosis, glucose intolerance, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and larger atherosclerotic lesions compared with Ldlr-/- mice. Feeding Apoa1bp-/-Ldlr-/- mice a high-cholesterol, normal-fat diet did not result in significant differences in lipid levels or size of atherosclerotic lesions from Ldlr-/- mice. Conversely, adeno-associated virus-mediated overexpression of AIBP reduced hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis in high-cholesterol, high-fat diet-fed Ldlr-/- mice. Injections of recombinant AIBP reduced aortic inflammation in Ldlr-/- mice fed a short high-cholesterol, high-fat diet. Conditional overexpression of AIBP in zebrafish also reduced diet-induced vascular lipid accumulation. In experiments with isolated macrophages, AIBP facilitated cholesterol efflux to HDL, reduced lipid rafts content, and inhibited inflammatory responses to lipopolysaccharide.jlr Our data demonstrate that AIBP confers protection against diet-induced metabolic abnormalities and atherosclerosis.
Differential Occupancy of Two GA-Binding Proteins Promotes Targeting of the Drosophila Dosage Compensation Complex to the Male X Chromosome.

Summary Little is known about how variation in sequence composition alters transcription factor occupancy to precisely recruit large transcription complexes. A key model for understanding how transcription complexes are targeted is the Drosophila dosage compensation system in which the male-specific lethal (MSL) transcription complex specifically identifies and regulates the male X chromosome. The chromatin-linked adaptor for MSL proteins (CLAMP) zinc-finger protein targets MSL to the X chromosome but also binds to GA-rich sequence elements throughout the genome. Furthermore, the GAGA-associated factor (GAF) transcription factor also recognizes GA-rich sequences but does not associate with the MSL complex. Here, we demonstrate that MSL complex recruitment sites are optimal CLAMP targets. Specificity for CLAMP binding versus GAF binding is driven by variability in sequence composition within similar GA-rich motifs. Therefore, variation within seemingly similar cis elements drives the context-specific targeting of a large transcription complex.
A Bibliometric Analysis of the Landscape of Cancer Rehabilitation Research (1992–2016)

Cancer rehabilitation research has accelerated as great attention has focused on improving survivorship care. Recent expert consensus has attempted to prioritize research needs and suggests greater focus on studying physical functioning of survivors. However, no analysis of the publication landscape has substantiated these proposed needs. This manuscript provides an analysis of PubMed indexed articles related to cancer rehabilitation published between 1992 and 2017. A total of 22 171 publications were analyzed using machine learning and text analysis to assess publication metrics, topic areas of emphasis, and their interrelationships through topic similarity networks. Publications have increased at a rate of 136 articles per year. Approximately 10% of publications were funded by the National Institutes of Health institutes and centers, with the National Cancer Institute being the most prominent funder. The greatest volume and rate of publication increase were in the topics of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies and Psychological Interventions, followed by Depression and Exercise Therapy. Four research topic similarity networks were identified and provide insight on areas of robust publication and notable deficits. Findings suggest that publication emphasis has strongly supported cognitive, behavioral, and psychological therapies; however, studies of functional morbidity and physical rehabilitation research are lacking. Three areas of publication deficits are noted: research on populations outside of breast, prostate, and lung cancers; methods for integrating physical rehabilitation services with cancer care, specifically regarding functional screening and assessment; and physical rehabilitation interventions. These deficits align with the needs identified by expert consensus and support the supposition that future research should emphasize a focus on physical rehabilitation.
Occupy Online: Facebook and the Spread of Occupy Wall Street

Since Occupy Wall Street began in New York City on September 17th, the movement has spread offline to hundreds of locations around the globe. Social networking sites have been critical for linking potential supporters and distributing information. In addition to Facebook pages on the Wall Street Occupation, more than 400 unique pages have been established in order to spread the movement across the US, including at least one page in each of the 50 states. These Facebook pages facilitate the creation of local encampments and the organization of protests and marches to oppose the existing economic and political system. 'Based on data acquired from Facebook, we find that Occupy groups have recruited over 170,000 active Facebook users and more than 1.4 million “likes” in support of Occupations. By October 22, Facebook pages related to the Wall Street Occupation had accumulated more than 390,000 “likes”, while almost twice that number, more than 770,000, have been expressed for the 324 local sites. Most new Occupation pages were started between September 23th and October 5th. On October 11th, occupy activity on Facebook peaked with 73,812 posts and comments to an occupy page in a day. By October 22nd, there had been 1,170,626 total posts or comments associated with Occupation pages. The density of Facebook activism is highest in college towns and in state capitals. Major uses for Facebook within the movement include the recruitment of people and resources to local occupations; information sharing and story telling; and across-group exchanges. While the focus of Occupy Wall Street is on mobilizing individual’s offline, online activities greatly facilitate these efforts.
Laparoscopic Resection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The current treatment of HCC is truly multidisciplinary. Notwithstanding, surgical management remains the gold standard which other therapies are compared to. Operative management is divided into transplantation and resection; the latter is further subdivided among open and laparoscopic approaches. Resection has become safer, remains superior to locoregional treatments, and can be a life-prolonging bridge to transplantation. The decision to pursue laparoscopic resection for HCC is driven by safety and a view toward the long-term management of both the malignancy and the underlying liver disease. For patients with a solitary HCC <5 cm in segments 2, 3, 4b, 5, and 6, no evidence of extrahepatic tumor burden, compensated liver disease, and the absence of significant portal hypertension, laparoscopy has an important role. Under these circumstances, resection can be performed with reduced mortality and morbidity and equivalent oncologic outcomes, disease-free survival, and overall survival when compared with similarly selected cirrhotic patients undergoing open resection. Blood loss and transfusion requirements are low, and laparoscopy itself does not expose the patient to complications and does not increase the risk of cancer recurrence or dissemination. Finally, because HCC recurrence remains high in the cirrhotic liver, treatment following surgical resection mandates routine surveillance and treatment by locoregional therapy, reresection, or transplantation as required—the latter two of which are facilitated by an initial laparoscopic resection.
In vitro effects of the chemotherapy agent water-soluble micellar paclitaxel (Paccal Vet) on canine hemangiosarcoma cell lines

Paccal Vet (Osamia Pharmaceuticals) is a water-soluble nanoparticle micellar formulation of the drug paclitaxel that is well tolerated in dogs. This study evaluated the in vitro effect of Paccal Vet on two canine hemangiosarcoma (HSA) cell lines and their expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). Paccal Vet caused HSA cell death in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50 ) for the two HSA cell lines were 7 to 610 ng/mL, which are clinically achievable. Cell cycle analysis through flow cytometry showed cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase. Annexin-V and caspase 3/7 activity assays showed significant increases in apoptosis in correlation with the IC50 in each cell line. Reverse transcriptase-PCR was performed on the cell lines to validate the gene expression of VEGF and bFGF. Results obtained from this study support future studies involving the use of paclitaxel (micellar) for treatment of canine HSA.
Covert Timing Channels Exploiting Cache Coherence Hardware: Characterization and Defense

Information leakage of sensitive data has become one of the fast growing concerns among computer users. With adversaries turning to hardware for exploits, caches are frequently a target for timing channels since they present different timing profiles for cache miss and hit latencies. Such timing channels operate by having an adversary covertly communicate secrets to a spy simply through modulating resource timing without leaving any physical evidence. In this article, we demonstrate a new vulnerability exposed by cache coherence protocols where adversaries could manipulate the coherence states on certain cache blocks to alter cache access timing and communicate secrets illegitimately. Our threat model assumes the trojan and spy can either exploit explicitly shared read-only physical pages (e.g., shared library code), or use memory deduplication feature to implicitly force create shared physical pages. We demonstrate a template that adversaries may use to construct covert timing channels through manipulating combinations of coherence states and data placement in different caches. We investigate several classes of cache coherence protocols, and observe that both directory-based and snoopy protocols can be subject to covert timing channel attacks. We identify that the root cause of the vulnerability to be the existence of access latency difference for cache lines in read-only cache coherence states: Exlusive and Shared. For defense, we propose a slightly modified cache coherence scheme that will enable the last level cache to directly respond to read data requests in these read-only coherence states, and avoid any latency difference that could enable timing channels.
The Costs of Hepatitis C by Liver Disease Stage: Estimates from the Veterans Health Administration.

The release of highly effective but costly medications for the treatment of hepatitis C virus combined with a doubling in the incidence of hepatitis C virus have posed substantial financial challenges for many healthcare systems. We provide estimates of the cost of treating patients with hepatitis C virus that can inform the triage of pharmaceutical care in systems with limited healthcare resources. We conducted an observational study using a national US cohort of 206,090 veterans with laboratory-identified hepatitis C virus followed from Fiscal Year 2010 to 2014. We estimated the cost of: non-advanced Fibrosis-4; advanced Fibrosis-4; hepatocellular carcinoma; liver transplant; and post-liver transplant. The former two stages were ascertained using laboratory result data; the latter stages were ascertained using administrative data. Costs were obtained from the Veterans Health Administration’s activity-based cost accounting system and more closely represent the actual costs of providing care, an improvement on the charge data that generally characterizes the hepatitis C virus cost literature. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate and predict costs per liver disease stage. Missing data were multiply imputed. Annual costs of care increased as patients progressed from non-advanced Fibrosis-4 to advanced Fibrosis-4, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver transplant (all p < 0.001). Post-liver transplant, costs decreased significantly (p < 0.001). In simulations, patients were estimated to incur the following annual costs: US $17,556 for non-advanced Fibrosis-4; US $20,791 for advanced Fibrosis-4; US $46,089 for liver cancer; US $261,959 in the year of the liver transplant; and US $18,643 per year after the liver transplant. Cost differences of treating non-advanced and advanced Fibrosis-4 are relatively small. The greatest cost savings would be realized from avoiding progression to liver cancer and transplant.
Stereochemistry of the Carbometallation of Alkynylsilanes by Alkyl (Chloro)Bis-η 5 -Cyclopentadienyltitanium and the Initiation of Ethylene Polymerization by Homogeneous Ziegler-Natta Catalysts

Carbometallation in Organic Synthesis The addition of organometallic reagents to carbon-heteroatom unsaturated functional groups (C=O, C=N, CEN and C=S) has long been recognized as a versatile method for constructing carbon skeletons. Over one hundred years ago, in the l860’s, Butlerow and his school demonstrated the value of zinc alkyls for the synthesis of secondary and tertiary alcohols from carbonyl substrates [2]. Subsequent work by Grignard with magnesium reagents [3] and by Ziegler with lithium alkyls [4] established such carbometallations as indispensable synthetic reactions. The finding by Ziegler and coworkers in 1950’s that unsolvated aluminum alkyls add to unconjugated C=C and C=C linkages [5] not only broadened the scope of carbometallation, but also opened up new possibilities for stereochemical synthesis. Since Grignard reagents readily add to unconjugated carbon-carbon unsaturation only with anchimeric assistance [6–9] and since organolithium reagents often metallate and polymerize unsaturated hydrocarbons during attempted carbometallation [10], aluminum alkyls offer the synthetic chemist the complementary possibility of elaborating carbon skeletons from olefinic or acetylenic intermediates.
Surgical cure of clarithromycin resistant Mycobacterium chelonae breast implant infection: A case report and review of the literature.

Clusters of patients who obtain cosmetic surgeries abroad have developed surgical site infections due to rapid growing non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). These are usually treated with a combination of surgery and months of anti-mycobacterial therapy, but poor outcomes, including permanent scarring are common. We present a case of a 36-year-old female who developed a clarithromycin-resistant M. chelonae (CRMC) infection after undergoing breast augmentation in the Dominican Republic. She underwent debridement and explant of her silicone implants, but due to a series of complications including discordant antimicrobial susceptibility testing profiles, GI side effects, and then pregnancy, she was unable to receive typical multidrug anti-mycobacterial therapy after surgery. She received close clinical follow up and demonstrated full recovery without any evidence of recurrence of infection at 9 months of follow up. We searched the literature for cases of NTM surgical site infection after breast surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of confirmed NTM breast implant infection being cured with surgery alone, and only the second report of clarithromycin resistant M. chelonae in a patient without disseminated infection or pre-exposure to macrolides. The increasing prevalence of drug resistant NTM infections is an emerging concern for clinicians treating patients with complications related to medical tourism.
Painting a Way Out of a Corner: An Assessment of the Relationship of Public Art with Neighborhood Violence:

This study examines the relationship of blight reduction with violent crime in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We examine whether an initiative to paint murals in high-crime areas was associated with decli...
Tardiness Bounds for Sporadic Gang Tasks Under Preemptive Global EDF Scheduling

Following the trend of increasing autonomy in cyber-physical systems, parallel embedded architectures have enabled devices to better handle the large streams of data and intensive computation required by such autonomous systems. However, while the explosion of highly-parallel platforms has seen a proportional growth in the number of applications/devices that utilize these platforms, the embedded systems community’s understanding of how to build time-predictable, safety-critical systems with parallel platforms has not kept pace. As a well-motivated but challenging parallel scheduling model, gang scheduling requires all parallel threads of each parallel task to simultaneously execute in unison, which is in contrast to traditional, multi-threaded parallel scheduling, where a parallel task may spawn multiple threads, and each thread will be scheduled independently of other threads of the same task. While increasing research efforts on hard real-time (HRT) gang scheduling have recently been seen, the problem of gang scheduling in the context of soft real-time (SRT) systems, where provably bounded deadline tardiness can be tolerated, has hardly been studied yet. In this article, we derive and prove the first tardiness bounds for sporadic gang task systems under preemptive GEDF scheduling. A total utilization bound for SRT-schedulability is required for ensuring such tardiness bounds but it is shown to be tight with respect to the platform capacity and maximum parallelism-induced idleness. Furthermore, we also empirically evaluate the effects of different degrees of task parallelism upon the SRT-schedulability.
The Effects of Pulsed Electrical Stimulation on the Quadriceps Femoris Muscle Prior to Exercise

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is a commonly employed modality for rehabilitation and is growing in utilization due to its physiological effect in muscular activation. Recent comparative studies have examined utilizing stimulation versus isometric exercise and differences between genders on the effects of administering NMES after physical activity for recuperative purposes, but very little information exists regarding the effects of pre-stimulation to specific muscle groups for strength enhancement. This study aimed to answer this question by pre-stimulating the quadriceps femoris muscle prior to resistance training to determine if there is greater improvement in overall strength performance of the lower body. Fifteen healthy, recreationally and/or competitively active college students (male and female, ages 21 + 3 years, weight 152.8 + 42.2 lbs, height 66.1 + 6 inches) with at least 2 years of resistance training experience performed a 8-week strength training program targeting the quadriceps femoris muscle and its synergists (gluteus maximus, adductor magnus, soleus, gastrocnemius) for three nonconsecutive days each week. Individuals were randomly selected for placement in either the experimental (n=7) or control group (n=8). The experimental group received pulsed NMES prior to the workout for 15 minutes. Training volume for each participant was collected weekly to measure participants’ progress, and 1-repetition maximums were collected before and after the workout program to quantitatively determine any impact on strength from pulsed NMES. A Mann-Whitney U-test was used to statistically compare the improvements in strength performance between groups. The results indicated that pre-stimulation of the quadriceps muscle before exercise will result in enhanced strength performance. This study shows that administering NMES prior to resistance training is an efficient method of pre-activating muscle fibers, conditioning the muscle to tolerate longer and more forceful contractions during exercise, and allow for greater improvement in strength to be achieved more quickly.
Feminism and the politics of resilience: essays on gender, media and the end of welfare: by Angela McRobbie, Oxford, Polity Press, 2020, vi + 153 pp., US$22.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-5095-2507-2

Angela McRobbie’s Feminism and the Politics of Resilience: Essays on Gender, Media and the End of Welfare offers a scathing account of anti-welfare neoliberalism, normative femininity, and the stan...
Modulation of CD22 protein expression in childhood leukemia by pervasive splicing aberrations: implications for CD22-directed immunotherapies

Downregulation of surface epitopes causes post-immunotherapy relapses in B-lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Here we demonstrate that mRNA encoding CD22 undergoes aberrant splicing in B-ALL. We describe the plasma-membrane-bound CD22 Δex5-6 splice isoform resistant to CAR-T cells targeting the third immunoglobulin-like domain of CD22. We also describe splice variants skipping the AUG-containing exon 2 and failing to produce any identifiable protein; therefore, this event could be rate-limiting for epitope presentation. Indeed, forcing exon 2 skipping with Morpholino oligonucleotides reduced CD22 protein expression and conferred resistance to the CD22-directed antibody-drug conjugate inotuzumab in vitro. Furthermore, among inotuzumab-treated pediatric B-ALL patients, we identified one non-responder in whose blasts Δex2 isoforms comprised the majority of CD22 transcripts. In a second patient, a sharp reduction in CD22 protein levels during relapse was driven entirely by increased CD22 exon 2 skipping. Thus, dysregulated CD22 splicing is a major mechanism of epitope downregulation and ensuing resistance to immunotherapy.
Confronting the Violence Committed by Armed Opposition Groups

¶1 Human rights groups have limited their role to monitoring and protesting human rights violations committed by state actors. With the emergence of armed opposition groups—such as the Sendero Luminoso in Peru and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka—that murder, torture, and destroy civil society in their respective regions, human rights entities must question whether they should broaden their mandate to include abuses committed by such groups. Focusing on the context of India, this article: (1) develops arguments encouraging human rights groups to critique abuses perpetrated by armed opposition groups; (2) suggests potential problems that may be encountered in making such criticisms; and (3) raises some reasons for caution by human rights organizations that condemn the actions of armed opposition groups.
Pitfalls in the diagnosis and management of systolic hypertension.

BACKGROUND Systolic blood pressure (SBP) is even more important than diastolic blood pressure (DBP) with regard to the risk of cardiovascular complications. METHODS AND RESULTS Pitfalls in the diagnosis of systolic hypertension include the auscultatory gap, use of the proper size cuff (obese adult size for mid-arm circumference >33 cm and child's cuff for mid-arm circumference <23 cm), a "white coat" effect of about 17 mm Hg, regression toward the mean, and a tendency to focus only on hypertension rather than all of the cardiovascular risk factors. Pitfalls in the pharmacologic management of systolic hypertension include being too aggressive with "acute" therapy, too fast in up-titration, too complacent about adverse effects, too unaware of important drug or food interactions, and too content with the achieved level of SBP. CONCLUSION In treated hypertensives, SBP is typically less well controlled than DBP. Clinicians must not generally be content with partial control of SBP.
A Review of “Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival”

In this fascinating, most readable and engaging book, Anderson Cooper takes the reader with him on his journey as a reporter covering some of the world's most horrific crises. Dispatches from the E...
Progress and Problems in Understanding Turbulent Shear Flows

This discussion will be focussed on the plane turbulent mixing layer, featured in the illustration on the front of the program of this meeting. Another example of it is shown in Figure 1, while Figure 2 is a diagram which defines the basic parameters of this simplest of turbulent shear flows. Throughout this discussion the higher speed U1 will always be in the upper part of the diagram. The speed ratio U2/U1 will therefore always be less than unity, but the density ratio ρ2/ρ1 may be less than or greater than unity. In high-speed flow the Mach numbers M1 and M2 would also be parameters. In fact, our interest in this problem was initially addressed to the question of how the characteristics of the flow depend on the density ratio, it having been supposed by many investigators that this was the parameter governing the observed, strong variations of spreading angle in the shear layer at the edge of a supersonic flow (M1 > 1, M2 = 0).
New Manifestations of Solitons

In spite of the fact that the concept of the soliton is twenty-five years old, new manifestations of solitons, both in physics and mathematics, are being discovered. We summarize here the occurrence of solitons for three interesting situations: For the nonlinear Schrodinger equation on the half-line, for the Davey-Stewartson equation with non-zero boundary conditions, and for a special type of cellular automaton.
The Affordable Care Act Decision: Philosophical and Legal Implications

Introduction Fritz Allhoff and Mark A. Hall Unit 1: Context and History 1. NFIB v. Sebelius: Five Takes Glenn H. Reynolds and Brannon P. Denning 2. Popular Constitutionalism and the Affordable Care Act Josh Blackman 3. Metaphysical Philosophers and the 'Practical Statesmanship' of Supreme Court Justices in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius Brian E. Butler 4. By Any Means Necessary? The Constitutionalisation of Healthcare in the United States of America, United Kingdom, and Brazil Jane Marriot and Jamie Fletcher Unit 2: Analyzing the Opinions 5. Fractured Group Speech Acts and the Holding of NFIB v. Sebelius Caleb Mason 6. A Strategy of Increasing Judicial Power in NFIB v. Sebelius Tonja Jacobi 7. The Health Insurance Mandate Really is a Tax, and That's a Good Thing Too Paul Gowder 8. Activity, Inactivity, and Production: Roberts' Commerce Clause Argument Nathan Stout Unit 3: Individual Liberty 9. Autonomy and the ACA Individual Mandate JB Coleman 10. Employers' Rights and the ACA Jessica Flanigan 11. Moral Pluralism and Federal Authority Jacob Affolter 12. The ACA and Religious Liberty: Principles of Adjudication R. Mary Lemmons Unit 4: Medicaid 13. Fiscal Objections to Expanded Health Coverage: A Case Study of the ACA Alex Rajczi 14. In Defence of the ACA's Medicaid Expansion Ishani Maitra and Brian Weatherson 15. Coercion, Political Accountability, and Voter Ignorance: The Mistaken Medicaid Expansion Ruling in NFIB v. Sebelius Alexander A. Guerrero 16. Was the Medicaid Expansion Coercive? I. Glenn Cohen Unit 5: Future Implications 17. Conditional Spending and the Conditional Offer Puzzle Mitchell N. Berman 18. The Health of the Commerce Clause: The Sebelius Decision and the Future of Federal Power Marcus Schulzke and Amanda Cortney Carroll 19. Reflections on the Rule of Law After NFIB v. Sebelius Christopher Boom 20. "The Alien Exclusion: ACA and the Oblique Rights of Those on the Margins" Jill Hernandez
SEROEPIDEMIOLOGIC SURVEY OF CORONAVIRUS (STRAIN 229E) INFECTIONS IN A POPULATION OF CHILDREN

The indirect hemagglutination (IHA) test for coronavirus 229E antibodies was used for serodiagnostic and seroepidemiologic studies in a population of children. Subjects ranged in age from 5 to 19 years and lived in a home which participated in a longitudinal surveilance of respiratory illness (1960-1968). During this period 1477 respiratory illnesses were observed; 63 (4%) were associated with sero-response (fourfold or greater antibody rises) to 229E. An additional 105 sero-responses were associated with unreported or subclinical illness. The frequency of these infections was cyclical, and 229E and coronavirus OC 43 infections peaked in different years among the same population. Sero-responses occurred mainly in the fall, winter and spring quarters. Preexisting antibody was demonstrated in one-third of the children with 229E sero-responses. Clinical studies indicated that the most frequent complaints with 229E infections were sore throat, coryza and cough, and the most frequent findings were pharyngeal injection, coryza and fever.
TSH-treatment of thyroid slices increases the amount of DNA released from nuclei by mild DNase-I digestion

Nuclei from TSH-treated and control thyroid slices were subjected to very limited digestion by DNase I, and then centrifuged at 1200×g. The amount of DNA released into supernatants was increased significantly by TSH when <0.1% to 3% of total DNA was rendered acid-soluble. This effect could be detected in buffers containing 2mM Mg++ (with chromatin condensed) or <0.05mM Mg++ (chromatin decondensed). Gel electrophoresis showed that the length of the majority of the DNA fragments in the supernatants (<0.1% of DNA acid-soluble) was greater than 4 kilobases; no TSH-dependent shift in size distribution was observed. We speculate that TSH may affect specific DNase I-hypersensitive sites in chromatin.