cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluating Salt Marsh Restoration in Delaware Bay: The Response of Blue Crabs, Callinectes sapidus, at Former Salt Hay Farms

Marshes are important habitats for various life history stages of many fish and invertebrates. Much effort has been directed at restoring marshes, yet it is not clear how fish and invertebrates have responded to marsh restoration. The blue crab,Callinectes sapidus, uses marsh habitats during much of its benthic life. We investigated the response of blue crabs to marsh restoration by comparing crab abundance (catch per unit effort), mean size and size frequency distribution, sex ratio, and molt stages of crabs in recently restored marshes that were former salt hay farms to that of adjacent reference marshes with similar physical characteristics in the mesohaline portion of Delaware Bay. Field sampling occurred monthly (April–November) in 1997 and 1998 using replicate daytime otter trawls in large marsh creeks and weirs in smaller intertidal marsh creeks. Blue crabs were either equal or more abundant, the incidence of molting was in most months similar, and population sex ratios were indistinguishable in restored and reference marshes, suggesting that the restored areas attract crabs and support their growth. Site location had a greater effect on the sex ratio of crabs such that marshes closer to the mouth of the bay contained a higher percentage of adult female crabs. In each annual growing season (April–July), the monthly increase in crab size and, in some months (June–July), the incidence of molting at the restored sites was greater than the reference sites, suggesting that the restored sites may provide areas for enhanced growth of crabs. These results suggest that blue crabs have responded positively to restoration of former salt hay farms in the mesohaline portion of Delaware Bay.
Biomolecular Shuttles Under Dielectrophoretic Forces

The concept of biomolecular shuttles using interactions of myosin (the motor) and actin filament (F- actin, the shuttle) is that they can be used to transport micro or nano-sized cargos to a desired destination at nanoscale in synthesized environment. To utilize their ability to transport, dielectrophoretic forces which are generated by induced polarization under a nonuniform electrical field are introduced as a viable candidate to control the direction of their random movement. Under an AC electric field, actin filaments which slide on a heavy meromyosin coated surface show perpendicularly bidirectional movement between embedded electrodes and the aligned movement depends on the strength of dielectrophoretic forces. This paper explores the behaviors of F-actin movement under dielectrophoretic forces. Furthermore, the velocity and orientation of F-actin movement under the AC electric field are measured with various AC voltages, frequencies and distances between electrodes.
Effect of creatine loading on neuromuscular fatigue threshold.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of creatine (Cr) loading on the onset of neuromuscular fatigue by monitoring electromyographic fatigue curves from the vastus lateralis...
The Case for Ethical Autonomy in Unmanned Systems

Abstract The underlying thesis of the research in ethical autonomy for lethal autonomous unmanned systems is that they will potentially be capable of performing more ethically on the battlefield than are human soldiers. In this article this hypothesis is supported by ongoing and foreseen technological advances and perhaps equally important by an assessment of the fundamental ability of human warfighters in today's battlespace. If this goal of better-than-human performance is achieved, even if still imperfect, it can result in a reduction in noncombatant casualties and property damage consistent with adherence to the Laws of War as prescribed in international treaties and conventions, and is thus worth pursuing vigorously.
Techniques to Improve Urinary Continence Following Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy

Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) is rapidly gaining popularity in the urologic community. Since its advent, this technique has benefited patients by achieving quicker convalescence. However, this improvement has also driven efforts to improve the functional outcomes after RARP with promising early results. This cutting edge approach provides advantages including enhanced visualization, dexterity, and instrumentation. However, specific techniques to minimize the anatomic and neuro-physiologic risks need to be further elucidated.
Repression of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) Phosphatase-1 by Anthracyclines Contributes to Their Antiapoptotic Activation of p44/42-MAPK

Anthracyclines are commonly used chemotherapeutics, and in some models enhance p44/42-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway signaling by effects on upstream kinases. To evaluate the impact of anthracyclines on p44/42-MAPK in breast cancer, A1N4-myc human mammary and BT-474 and MDA-MB-231 breast carcinoma cells were studied. Treatment with doxorubicin or epirubicin resulted in increased phospho-p44/42-MAPK levels in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. This was associated with p44/42 activation, as reflected by increased p90 ribosomal protein S6 kinase and Bad phosphorylation. Activation of p44/42 appeared to be antiapoptotic, since MAPK stimulation with epidermal growth factor or a dominant-positive p42 construct inhibited apoptosis. Modest activation of the upstream MAPK kinase MEK was noted under some conditions, but inhibition of MEK did not abolish p44/42 activation, suggesting a contribution from another mechanism. Anthracyclines were found to decrease expression of MAPK phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) both in vitro and in vivo. MKP-1 mRNA levels were decreased in anthracycline-treated cells, and transcription from the MKP-1 promoter was repressed. Inhibition of MKP-1 expression through the use of small interfering RNAs decreased the ability of anthracyclines to induce phospho-p44/42. Wild-type mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) treated with doxorubicin showed increased phospho-p44/42-MAPK levels, but MEFs from MKP-1 heterozygous and homozygous knockout mice had blunted p44/42 activation. These studies support the ability of anthracyclines to activate antiapoptotic p44/42-MAPK phosphorylation in breast cancer, and indicate that this occurs in part through the novel mechanism of repression of MKP-1 transcription.
Waldron on the Regulation of Hate Speech

This essays reviews and evaluates the arguments in Jeremy Waldron's book "The Harm in Hate Speech" (Harvard University Press, 2012). We may summarize the argument for Waldron’s titular view as follows. First, the “harm in hate speech” results primarily from speech that is written rather than spoken. Second, the harm in question is damage to the “dignity” of vulnerable people based on defamation related to certain characteristics they share with a group, such that they are then deprived of the “assurance…that they can count on being treated justly” (85) in daily life because they are deemed to be “not worthy of equal citizenship” (39). Third, this harm to “the dignitary order of society” (92) is distinct from the individual offense hateful speech may cause, the latter not constituting a ground for regulation on Waldron’s view. Fourth, although regulating to prevent this harm may have some costs, the benefits justify the normal practice in democratic societies of regulating such speech (e.g., 151 ff.). I argue two main points: first, that Waldron's distinction between harm to dignity versus offense is neither stable nor clear; and second, that Waldron's failure to explain why harm to the dignitary order of society is the particular harm of speech that warrants legal redress raises a variety of questions about his view. If the moral urgency animating Waldron's case is the need to protect the vulnerable from harm, why limit that to the harm of losing assurance of "equal standing" or (as he sometimes says) the psychological harm of "distress"? Consider, for example, what I call "the Ryan case: a powerful congressman, Paul Ryan, proposes to eviscerate and eventually eliminate Medicare, thus threatening to deprive millions of vulnerable, elderly people of essential healthcare. Surely assurance of access to healthcare when in need is at least as important as assurance of dignity in public. Why is this harm, then, not also a candidate for legal redress? I argue that Waldron's view does not have the resources to distinguish the Ryan case, but I do not offer that as a reductio of his position. To the contrary, it seems to me a virtue of Waldron's book is that by making an often vivid case for the harm that the content of speech can inflict on the vulnerable, Waldron forces us to take seriously Herbert Marcuse's old worry: namely, that while the toleration of harmful speech "in conversation, in academidc discussion...in the scientific enterprise, in private religion" is justified, perhaps "society cannot be indiscriminate where the pacification of existence, where freedom and happiness themselves are at stake." Waldron does not explore that implication of his argument, but it is one that warrants renewed consideration if one shares Waldron's core intuition that harm to the vulnerable, even harm inflicted by speech, deserves legal notice.
Exotic Mammal Laparoscopy

Laparoscopy is an evolving field in veterinary medicine, and there is an increased interest in using laparoscopic techniques in nondomestic mammals, including zoo animals, wildlife, and exotic pets. The aim of this article is to summarize the approach to laparoscopic procedures, including instrumentation, patient selection and preparation, and surgical approaches, and to review the current literature on laparoscopy in exotic mammals.
Theoretical Calculations on Small Amino Acids

The smallest amino acid, glycine, was among the first amino acids to be investigated by theoretical methods. Its small size makes it particularly suitable for ab initio treatment, even with large basis sets. The results of the ab initio geometry optimization of glycine (1) first suggested the existence of a state undiscovered by microwave spectroscopic studies. This state is the S (extended) state of glycine. Since only the C state (Figure 2.1) had been observed experimentally, it was concluded that the theoretical results were at fault (2). Accordingly, Sellers et al. (3) and Schafer et al. (4) used the gradient method of Pulay (5), with the 4-21G basis set at Hartree-Fock level and found indeed the S structure to be more stable than the C. This theoretical result was confirmed experimentally by the microwave study of Suenram and Lovas (6).
SU(3) ⊗ U(1) gauge theory of weak and electromagnetic interactions

We describe an SU(3) \ensuremath{\bigotimes} U(1) gauge theory of weak and electromagnetic interactions and study its experimental implications. In this theory all nonsinglet fermions are assigned to triplet representations of SU(3). The theory satisfactorily accounts for the trimuon events recently observed in neutrino reactions. Furthermore, the model naturally ensures quark-lepton and $e\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\mu}$ universality, absence of right-handed currents in $\ensuremath{\beta}$ and $\ensuremath{\mu}$ decay, and absence of $s\ensuremath{-}d$ neutral currents to order ${G}_{F}\ensuremath{\alpha}$. Various discrete symmetries play an important role in maintaining these properties. The model allows for $\ensuremath{\mu}$- and $e$-type lepton-number nonconservation at a naturally strongly suppressed level. The weak contributions to the anomalous magnetic moments of the electron and muon are calculated and shown to be in accord with experimental bounds. The predictions of the model for most neutral-current reactions are in good agreement with the data on these processes. Other features of the theory include the prediction of an absolutely stable massive neutral lepton, the absence of a sizable high-$y$ anomaly in antineutrino charged-current reactions, and the absence of large parity violation in heavy atoms.
Aligning restoration science and the law to sustain ecological infrastructure for the future

Ecological restoration as grounded in modern science is based on a systems perspective – it seeks to recover ecological systems characteristic of past or least-disturbed contemporary landscapes. This requires recovery of organisms along with the ecosystem features and dynamic processes that support them. Since self-sustainability is the goal, it also requires a landscape and environmental context that supports recovery of the system. As restoration becomes more widely practiced, so too are many specialized forms of environmental intervention, such as those associated with reducing the impacts of development, promoting recovery of endangered species, and achieving compensatory mitigation. These may be valuable and may also be informed by ecological science but they differ substantially from ecological restoration because they are not necessarily focused on recovery of a self-sustaining living system characteristic of past or least-disturbed landscapes. The US legal system has failed to make this distinctio...
Efficacy, Safety, and Out-of-pocket Costs are the Most Important Factors to Patients in Choosing a Psoriasis Therapy.

Objective: To determine which factors (i.e., cost, efficacy, safety, and method of delivery) influence choice of psoriasis treatment by patients and how patients obtain information regarding treatment options. Design: Anonymous survey. Setting: Specialty Psoriasis Clinic at an academic dermatology department over a six-month period. Participants: Convenience sample of 40 psoriasis patients. Measurements: Participant demographics, psoriasis treatment history, sources of information about treatment options, factors influencing treatment choices, and knowledge of treatment costs. Results: The mean (±SD) patient age and duration of psoriasis was 50 (±17) and 19 (±17) years, respectively. Factors influencing patient’s choice of psoriasis treatment were, in order of importance: efficacy (90% very important), safety/side effects (65%), patient’s own cost (53%), then total treatment cost (46%), frequency of use (37%), and method of medication delivery (i.e., topical, oral, or injection; 17%). Eighty percent of patients reported not knowing the total cost of any psoriasis treatments. The patient’s dermatologist was identified as both the most important (90%) and the most influential (75%) source of information for selecting psoriasis treatments, with the internet being the second most important source. Conclusion: Patients, in large measure, are unaware of the costs for different psoriasis treatments. Efficacy, safety, and out-of-pocket costs are the most important factors to patients in deciding on a psoriasis treatment.
Research-Informed Development for Interactive Media

ABSTRACTThis case study investigates how the research-informed development model affects the pedagogical learning outcomes and design solutions of university students responsible for creating interactive advertising and news content for television and the iPhone mobile device. An interdisciplinary group of three professors and 31 undergraduates from advertising, computer science, journalism graphics, and telecommunications employed a research-informed development process to create interactive design products and collect feedback from target users about the interactive advertising, news content, and interface designs and functionality. Students used the feedback from user focus groups to revise and improve the design work before each of three rounds of usability tests.
Carbon Dioxide on the Penetration and Distribution of Phosphine through Wheat

Aluminum phosphide was applied with and without CO2 (dry ice) to the top of 4.15-m towers containing soft red winter wheat. Amounts were calculated based on the total volume of the towers to produce theoretical concentrations of 1.74 g PH3/m3 and 5% (by vol) CO2, Concentrations of PH3 and CO2 were determined periodically during the 6-d experiments. When CO2 was applied with aluminum phosphide, phosphine penetrated the column of wheat faster and accumulated in higher concentrations than when aluminum phosphide was applied alone. Effects of the CO2 were more pronounced as the depth in the column increased. At the end of the exposure time, concentrations of phosphine were more evenly distributed when CO2 was applied with the aluminum phosphide.
On the development of a high-performance tool for the simulation of CO2 injection into deep saline aquifers

We report on the development of a multiscale parallel simulator for porous media ﬂow problems. We combine state-of-the-art numerical techniques in a new object-oriented, high-performance simulation tool. The new multiscale parallel software will adapt itself to the type and number of available processing cores. The combination of: physically based operator splitting for multiscale time discretization of nonlinear systems of partial differential equations arising in multiphase flows in porous media, domain decomposition for the parallel solution of elliptic and parabolic problems, and semi-discrete central finite volume schemes for hyperbolic systems allows us to produce new very accurate simulations of multiphase flow in porous media problems that are of interest in many areas of science and technology, such as petroleum reservoir and environmental engineering. The new simulation code may aid the assessment and monitoring of CO 2 sequestration projects by providing accurate predictions of the migration and trapping of injected CO 2 plumes.
26 Mg(t, 3 He) reaction and a spherical-shell-model description of 26 Na

The $^{26}\mathrm{Mg}(t,^{3}\mathrm{He})$ reaction at an incident energy of 23.5 MeV has been used to measure the ground-state mass and the energies of the excited states of $^{26}\mathrm{Na}$. The measured mass excess (-6.903 \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{} 0.020 MeV) is in agreement with that measured using the $^{26}\mathrm{Mg}$($^{7}\mathrm{Li}$, $^{7}\mathrm{Be}$) reaction and with the most recent $\ensuremath{\beta}$-decay end-point measurement. The spectrum of low-lying levels together with a recent assignment of ${3}^{+}$ for the ground-state spin are not consistent with a rotational interpretation for $^{26}\mathrm{Na}$. These data, however, can be explained in terms of the spherical shell model.
Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair Therapies: Evolution, Status and Challenges

Mitral regurgitation is a common cardiac valve lesion, developing from primary lesions of the mitral valve or secondary to cardiomyopathies. Moderate or higher severity of mitral regurgitation imposes significant volume overload on the left ventricle, causing permanent structural and functional deterioration of the myocardium and heart failure. Timely correction of regurgitation is essential to preserve cardiac function, but surgical mitral valve repair is often delayed due to the risks of open heart surgery. Since correction of mitral regurgitation can provide symptomatic relief and halt progressive cardiac dysfunction, transcatheter mitral valve repair technologies are emerging as alternative therapies. In this approach, the mitral valve is repaired either with sutures or implants that are delivered to the native valve on catheters introduced into the cardiovascular system under image guidance, through small vascular or ventricular ports. Several transcatheter mitral valve technologies are in development, but limited clinical success has been achieved. In this review, we present a historical perspective of mitral valve repair, review the transcatheter technologies emerging from surgical concepts, the challenges they face in achieving successful clinical application, and the increasing rigor of safety and durability standards for new transcatheter valve technologies.
Timing of abnormal interventricular septal motion after cardiopulmonary bypass operations. Lack of injury proved by preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative echocardiography.

Abnormal interventricular septal motion after cardiopulmonary bypass is a widely known occurrence. The cause and exact tuning of this phenomenon remain unclear. We have studied 21 patients prospectively with preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative two-dimensional and M-mode echocardiograms. Intraoperative studies were obtained with the pericardium closed and open and after completion of procedures performed with cardiopulmonary bypass. Fourteen patients had coronary artery bypass graft operations alone. Six patients had valve replacement with or without coronary bypass, and one patient had removal of a left atrial myxoma. All patients had normal interventricular septal motion before the operation, and none had abnormal septal motion intraoperatively. Four to eight days postoperatively, the septum still thickened normally in all patients, with five patients having normal, nine patients abnormal, and seven patients paradoxical interventricular septal motion. Studies in 11 patients 1 to 4 months postoperatively showed no change from the early postoperative study. The pericardium was left open postoperatively in all patients. Six patients were studied a few hours after sternal closure and all had abnormal interventricular septal motion. We conclude that abnormal interventricular septal motion after cardiac operations is not due to injury of the septum, adhesion formation, or loss of pericardial constraint Closure of the chest wall itself, with the pericardium left open, is associated with this abnormality.
Teaching Management: Case method: fostering multidimensional learning

Thinking is the mind talking to itself. – Plato It can be said flatly that the mere act of listening to wise statements and sound advice does little for anyone. In the process of learning, the learner's dynamic cooperation is required. Such cooperation from students does not arise automatically, however. It has to be provided for and continually encouraged. – Charles I. Gragg Case method refers to instruction that utilizes descriptions of actual situations to provide a basis for discussion among students and instructor. These descriptions are usually written, but they may be oral, videotape, CD-ROM, or Web-based. The underlying intent of the case method is to narrow the gap between theory and practice by placing students in the midst of a real situation they are likely to encounter, then to press them to analyze the situation, make a decision regarding a course of action to take, and then defend that decision in the midst of their peers. Cases were first used in medical instruction, then in law. The approach was adapted for use in business instruction early in the twentieth century (see Garvin, 2003). In a typical case-method course, students are given a written case in advance of each class. The case may or may not be accompanied by an additional reading requirement that introduces a theory or an analytical framework that the students can apply to the case. Sometimes, the instructor will present the theory in lectures either before, during, or after the case discussion.
Introduction and Overview of Technological Advances and Predictive Assays

The goal of this chapter is to introduce modern technologies in molecular toxicology, which have the power to transform the design, execution, and interpretation of toxicology studies. Toxicologists have begun to integrate systems biology approaches into toxicology studies in efforts to elucidate the role of mRNA, protein, and metabolites in toxicity. As a result, the predictive value of data generated in the future has the potential to greatly amplify current practices.
Wave-Body Interactions Among an Array of Truncated Vertical Cylinders

A semi-analytical method is developed to investigate water-wave radiation and diffraction by an array of truncated vertical cylinders as a model for a point-absorber wave farm. Each cylinder can have independent movements in six modes. The method of matched eigenfunction expansions is applied to obtain the velocity potential for the fluid. To achieve fast computation, the effects of evanescent modes of locally scattered waves from one cylinder are neglected in the near fields of the neighboring cylinders. Wave-exciting forces and moments on an individual cylinder or a group of cylinders, situated among an array, are evaluated by a new, generalized form of Haskind relation that is applicable to an array configuration. In results, hydrodynamic coefficients and wave-exciting loads are presented for arrays of different configurations. Comparisons between wave-exciting loads obtained from the generalized Haskind relation and those from direct diffraction solutions show excellent agreements.Copyright © 2016 by ASME
Addiction and the Concept of Disorder, Part 1: Why Addiction is a Medical Disorder

In this two-part analysis, I analyze Marc Lewis’s arguments against the brain-disease view of substance addiction and for a developmental-learning approach that demedicalizes addiction. I focus especially on the question of whether addiction is a medical disorder. Addiction is currently classified as a medical disorder in DSM-5 and ICD-10. It is further labeled a brain disease by NIDA, based on observed brain changes in addicts that are interpreted as brain damage. Lewis argues that the changes result instead from normal neuroplasticity and learning in response to the intense rewards provided by addictive substances, thus that addiction is not a brain disease and by implication not a medical disorder at all. I argue that even if one accepts Lewis’s reinterpretation of the brain evidence, his conclusions do not follow. Relying on my harmful-dysfunction analysis of medical disorder, I defend the view that substance addiction is in fact a medical disorder and a brain disorder. In Part 1, I identify five arguments Lewis puts forward against the brain-disease view and evaluate them as arguments that addiction is not a disorder: (1) Addiction is not a chronic, relapsing condition; (2) There is no clear boundary between addiction and other strong desires; (3) Negative consequences are not unique to disorders; (4) The brain disease model does not account for behavioral addictions; and, (5) Addiction is like love. I argue that Lewis’s arguments are invalid because they fail to take account of the context of addiction and its relation to biological design.
Are We There Yet? Evaluating Nonprofit Management as a Profession for Program Accreditation

Educators in the field of nonprofit management are debating the value of academic program accreditation. To evaluate the argument objectively, they must ask, “Is nonprofit management a unique profession?” This essay examines the field of nonprofit management using the six characteristics presented by Pugh (1989) to distinguish public administration as a unique profession. Authors believe that nonprofit management firmly meets the first five criteria. The sixth criteria, a hall of fame, is questionable. However, a case for the YMCA as the father of nonprofit management was made. If educators accept that the YMCA meets the criteria for a hall of fame, all six criteria are met to consider nonprofit management a profession unto itself. Scholars and practitioners will need to determine what implications this uniqueness has for the sector. Some guiding questions are offered for consideration in moving the accreditation conversation forward.
Functional photoacoustic tomography for neonatal brain imaging: developments and challenges

Transfontanelle ultrasound imaging (TFUSI) is a routine diagnostic brain imaging method in infants who are born prematurely, whose skull bones have not completely fused together and have openings between them, so-called fontanelles. Open fontanelles in neonates provide acoustic windows, allowing the ultrasound beam to freely pass through. TFUSI is used to rule out neurological complications of premature birth including subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), intraventricular (IVH), subependimal (SEPH), subdural (SDH) or intracerebral (ICH) hemorrhages, as well as hypoxic brain injuries. TFUSI is widely used in the clinic owing to its low cost, safety, accessibility, and noninvasive nature. Nevertheless, the accuracy of TFUSI is limited. To address several limitations of current clinical imaging modalities, we develop a novel transfontanelle photoacoustic imaging (TFPAI) probe, which, for the first time, should allow for non-invasive structural and functional imaging of the infant brain. In this study, we test the feasibility of TFPAI for detection of experimentally-induced intra ventricular and Intraparenchymal hemorrhage phantoms in a sheep model with a surgically-induced cranial window which will serve as a model of neonatal fontanelle. This study is towards using the probe we develop for bedside monitoring of neonates with various disease conditions and complications affecting brain perfusion and oxygenation, including apnea, asphyxia, as well as for detection of various types of intracranial hemorrhages (SAH, IVH, SEPH, SDH, ICH).
Spectrum and Power Allocation for Vehicular Communications With Delayed CSI Feedback

Channel state information (CSI) at the base station (BS) is critical to resource allocation design for wireless networks, but it is hard to obtain accurate CSI in a high mobility vehicular environment. In this letter, we study the spectrum and power allocation problem in device-to-device-enabled vehicular networks, where CSI of vehicular links is only reported to the BS periodically. We maximize the sum throughput of all vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) links while guaranteeing the reliability of each vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) link with the delayed CSI feedback. We propose a low-complexity algorithm to find the optimal spectrum sharing strategy among V2I and V2V links and properly adjust their transmit powers. Its desirable performance is confirmed by computer simulation.
Mergers and Acquisitions: A Financial Performance Analysis of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) and Reliance Petrochem Ltd. (RPL)

Mergers and Acquisitions is considered as one of the strategies for growth which have emerged as a natural process of business restructuring throughout the world. Companies intensely working in competitive business environment have to change fast as per the evolving dynamics in their industry of operation. The principal benefits from mergers and acquisitions can be listed as increased value generation, increase in cost efficiency and increase in market share. Mergers and Acquisitions may generate tax gains, can increase revenue and can reduce the cost of capital. Recently, Mergers and Acquisitions have gone up manifold with unprecedented pressure because of falling margins leading to an unparalleled restructuring in the manufacturing sector - RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTD and RELIANCE PETROCHEM LTD is experiencing a continuing mind-boggling figure of combinations. The present study is an attempt to find out the difference in post merger financial performance compared with pre merger in terms of profitability and generating more value than the separate firms, resulting in consolidation, refocusing and restructuring of the industry with a motive of faster mechanism.
The role of trust in human-robot interaction

As robots become increasingly common in a wide variety of domains—from military and scientific applications to entertainment and home use—there is an increasing need to define and assess the trust humans have when interacting with robots. In human interaction with robots and automation, previous work has discovered that humans often have a tendency to either overuse automation, especially in cases of high workload, or underuse automation, both of which can make negative outcomes more likely. Frthermore, this is not limited to naive users, but experienced ones as well. Robotics brings a new dimension to previous work in trust in automation, as they are envisioned by many to work as teammates with their operators in increasingly complex tasks. In this chapter, our goal is to highlight previous work in trust in automation and human-robot interaction and draw conclusions and recommendations based on the existing literature. We believe that, while significant progress has been made in recent years, especially in quantifying and modeling trust, there are still several places where more investigation is needed.
Amazon’s Mechanical Turk as a Viable Source for Organizational and Occupational Health Research

Crowdsourcing is an increasingly popular method for organizational and occupational health research. Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is at the forefront of this trend, but few studies have examined the labor market characteristics of MTurk workers (Turkers) or results of organizational and occupational health data as compared to published benchmarks. To address these gaps, we review the current MTurk literature and present the results of a multi-wave study of Turker labor characteristics and organizational and occupational health variable relationships. We found Turkers to be broadly distributed across the labor market, indicating MTurk is a viable option for both generalizable and understudied samples, as well as a source for targeted occupational sectors. Additionally, we found effect size magnitudes to be comparable to published benchmarks, and data displayed high levels of test-retest reliability and stability of relationships across time. Our results support the use of MTurk as a viable source for organizational and occupational health research assuming general methodological concerns and validity threats are addressed (see Cheung et al. Journal of Business and Psychology 1–15, 2016).
ROLE OF EXPATRIATES ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED BEACH HOTELS IN SOUTH COAST, KWALE COUNTY

This thesis focused on how well expatriates had done and what could be added on their roles to improve the output in the hotel sector in South Coast of Kenya. Three objectives were identified from the study which involved the roles that expatriates’ played in the hotels. The scope was hotels within the southern part of Kwale County which involved Shimoni, Tiwi, Funzi, Wasini Island, Msambweni, Diani and Ukunda towns among others. Three theories were used to discuss the study namely u-curve, stress management and evolutionary personality. The study used descriptive research design. The total population was 109. Census method was used for sampling thus 109 respondents were used from all the 109 hotels in south coast Kwale County hotels. Human Resource managers were used as respondents because they were the ones that dealt with the employment of expatriates and handled all their documentation. The thesis also used questionnaires for primary data. 109 questionnaires were sent and collected from the H.R managers in the hotels. Journals, internet, newspapers and books were used as secondary data sources. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 and a regression equation was formed. Variance analysis and coefficient equation were also done. Cronbach alpha was used to test reliability and it was noted that all the variables were liable for research. Figures were represented in well elaborated tables for the data that was collected and analyzed. Knowledge transfer, Coordination and control and market access were all seen to have a positive relationship with performance. It was noted that all the variables were important to the performance of the hotels. Expatriates in a nutshell contributed positively to the performance of the hotels. In comparison, it was noted that with the presence of expatriates, performance was highly rated. When expatriates were not employed, the performance was poor. Therefore in conclusion, there was a difference in performance when expatriates came in. Various recommendations were made as suggested in the study. The researcher also indicated areas where further research could be conducted so as to contribute to the growth of the subject matter. Key Terms: Market Access, Expatriate, Host Country, Knowledge Transfer
Patient Experience Data in US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Regulatory Decision Making:: A Policy Process Perspective.

The influence of patient advocates on FDA regulatory decision making has increased. Despite enhanced engagement with FDA, there remain challenges to achieving the regulatory goals of patients within FDA’s regulatory framework. Gaps exist between patient advocates’ knowledge of the agency’s processes and FDA’s need for rigorous, clinically meaningful patient experience data. This study examined the policy process in which patient experience data are collected by patient advocates and provided to FDA for regulatory decision making. Semistructured, narrative interviews were conducted with 14 professionals working in patient advocacy or at FDA. The purpose was to examine, in depth, participants’ perceptions and experiences regarding this new regulatory process. Interviews were coded and examined for themes. The use of patient experience data by FDA is an evolving regulatory process. Participants identified a number of barriers and contributors to regulatory success. Well-organized and sophisticated patient advocacy groups with access to scientific and policy expertise are more likely to find success meeting FDA’s patient experience data requirements. A conceptual model of this regulatory process was developed. Use of patient experience data by FDA has the potential to positively influence the regulation of medical products in the United States. Success within this new regulatory process will depend on clear guidance from FDA regarding the collection, analysis, and use of patient experience data. Patient advocacy groups must enhance internal capacity and expertise while engaging in substantive collaborations with FDA and other stakeholders in order to meaningfully contribute to the regulatory review of new therapeutics.
Ranibizumab and Other VEGF Antagonists for Diabetic Macular Edema

Vision loss from diabetic retinopathy has a tremendous impact on society as it is the most prevalent cause of vision loss in the working-age population of developed countries. By 2025, it is expected that there will be more than 300 million people worldwide with diabetes. While severe loss can be caused by vitreous hemorrhage or tractional retinal detachment, diabetic macular edema (DME) is the most common cause of moderate vision loss. The prevalence of DME is estimated at 10–25% of the diabetic population, with this percentage being higher in those patients with more severe retinopathy.
Business, Ethics and the Hope of Society in Hannah Arendt: The Notion of Responsible Business Entrepreneurship

The portrayal by Hannah Arendt of business is admittedly bleak and stark, owing much to the activities that business entrepreneurs undertook in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Their desire to expand for expansion’s sake adversely influenced and affected the political sphere, which assimilated this ideology and expressed it as imperialism and colonization. But is this interpretation the only possible understanding of business that we can get from Arendt? Are there other possible ways to construe the role of business in society? In this chapter I argue that even from Arendt’s historical perspective, business entrepreneurs can be the engines of progress and development that propel society forward in better, more sustainable ways. To achieve this, however, they need to adopt perspective drawing primarily on the Arendtian threefold distinction of human activity as Labor, Work and Action. Regarding themselves as entrepreneurs and seeing activities as Action, businessmen must return to the inception of their ventures when they reflected on those deep-seated values that inspired and guided their founding. They must also appreciate and provide for the long-term consequences of their actions through voluntary, endogenous contracts with those who affect and are affected by their decisions. Clearly, this Arendtian notion has much insight and value to provide to business practitioners as they navigate through the myriad of business issues that they face everyday.
Mindless accuracy: on the ubiquity of content in nature

It is widely held in contemporary philosophy of mind that states with underived representational content are ipso facto psychological states. This view—the Content View—underlies a number of interesting philosophical projects, such as the attempt to pick out a psychological level of explanation, to demarcate genuinely psychological from non-psychological states, and to limn the class of states with phenomenal character. The most detailed and influential theories of underived representation in philosophy are the tracking theories developed by Fodor, Dretske, Millikan and others. Tracking theorists initially hoped to ‘naturalize’ underived representation by showing that although it is distinctively psychological it is not irreducibly so, yet they ended up developing theories of representation that by their own lights don’t pick out a distinctively psychological phenomenon at all. Burge (Origins of objectivity, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010) sets out to develop a theory of underived representation that does pick out a distinctively psychological phenomenon. His theory promises to vindicate the Content View and the various philosophical projects that depend on it. In this paper I argue that Burge’s theory dementalizes representation for the same reason tracking theories do: These theories hold that representations are states with underived accuracy conditions, yet such states are found in all sorts of mindless systems, like plants.
Use of an Optical Scanning Device to Monitor the Progress of Noninvasive Treatments for Chest Wall Deformity: A Pilot Study

Background The nonsurgical treatment of chest wall deformity by a vacuum bell or external brace is gradual, with correction taking place over months. Monitoring the progress of nonsurgical treatment of chest wall deformity has relied on the ancient methods of measuring the depth of the excavatum and the protrusion of the carinatum. Patients, who are often adolescent, may become discouraged and abandon treatment. Methods Optical scanning was utilized before and after the intervention to assess the effectiveness of treatment. The device measured the change in chest shape at each visit. In this pilot study, patients were included if they were willing to undergo scanning before and after treatment. Both surgical and nonsurgical treatment results were assessed. Results Scanning was successful in 7 patients. Optical scanning allowed a visually clear, precise assessment of treatment, whether by operation, vacuum bell (for pectus excavatum), or external compression brace (for pectus carinatum). Millimeter-scale differences were identified and presented graphically to patients and families. Conclusion Optical scanning with the digital subtraction of images obtained months apart allows a comparison of chest shape before and after treatment. For nonsurgical, gradual methods, this allows the patient to more easily appreciate progress. We speculate that this will increase adherence to these methods in adolescent patients.
Distance Education for Master's Students with Visual Impairments: Technology and Support:

Master's degree students with visual impairments preferred alternative teleconferencing to the use of real-time Internet for the delivery of distance education courses, although most did not have t...
Cognition in Schizophrenia

Cognitive deficits are a core feature of schizophrenia. This chapter covers the comprehensive assessment of cognition, with emphasis on cognitive domains that are almost always affected in schizophrenia: attention, memory, and executive function. Available treatments are reviewed, including the limited efficacy of antipsychotics for cognition and the unclear role of cognitive remediation. The importance of social cognition for good community function is emphasized, including the benefits from social skills training to increase social competence.
Symptom burden, functional status, and clinical outcomes of hospitalized patients with advanced genitourinary cancers.

42Background: Patients with advanced genitourinary (GU) cancers are often hospitalized for complications of their cancer and symptom management. Yet, little is known about the symptom burden, funct...
Finding the crowd after exogenous shocks: Exploring the future of crowdfunding

Abstract As ventures around the world begin to resume operations as the COVID-19 pandemic eases, entrepreneurs face new complexities and challenges especially among crowdfunding efforts. In this paper, we offer research-based insights focused on the three stages in a post-crisis recovery (i.e., business resumption, crisis impact analysis, and future evaluation and modification) to shed light on new trends in the crowdfunding context. The goal of this communication is to offer a forward-looking reflection of how crowdfunding has changed following the COVID-19 pandemic. We also offer recommendations to researchers as they attempt to understand the new landscape of crowdfunding.
Prediction of Anaerobic Power From Standing Long Jump in NCAA Division IA Football Players.

ABSTRACT Mann, JB, Bird, M, Signorile, JF, Brechue, WF, and Mayhew, JL. Prediction of anaerobic power from standing long jump in NCAA Division IA football players. J Strength Cond Res 35(6): 1542-1546, 2021-Despite the popularity of the standing long jump (SLJ), limited research has explored the estimation of power developed during this test. The purpose of this study was to determine SLJ power from jump distance and selected anthropometric measures in NCAA Division IA football players. Height (Ht), body mass (Wt), thigh length, and lower leg length (LL) were measured in 58 players, allowing calculation of leg ratios of thigh length·Ht-1, LL·Ht-1, and TL·SL-1. Players performed 2-3 maximal familiarization trials of SLJ followed by 2 maximal jumps from a 3-dimension force plate sampling at 1,000 Hz. Standing long jump distance (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.944) and power (ICC = 0.926) calculated from resultant force and velocity vectors were highly reliable. Standing Ht (r = 0.40), Wt (r = 0.36), lower leg length (r = 0.43), total leg length (thigh + LLs) (r = 0.38), and best SLJ (r = 0.52) were significantly related (p < 0.05) to peak power, but none accounted for more than 27% of the common variance. Step-wise multiple regression identified SLJ and body mass as the only significant variables necessary to predict peak power (Power [W] = 32.49·SLJ [cm] + 39.69·Wt [kg] - 7,608, R = 0.86, SEE = 488 W, CV% = 9.3%). Standing long jump contributed 56.8% to the known variance, whereas Wt contributed 43.2%. Thus, a combination of SLJ and Wt can be used to effectively estimate explosive power in Division IA college football players.
Evaluating Campaign Quality: Can the Electoral Process be Improved?

Preface 1. Campaign reformers: optimists, skeptics, and rejectionists 2. Dissemination of campaign practices 3. Impact on campaign conduct 4. Impact on campaign discourse 5. Impact on public perceptions 6. Improving the system Appendices: A. Data and methodology B. Public opinion survey C. Consultant survey D. Focus group protocol.
Epistemological and Ontological Propositions

In this chapter it is suggested that the reader keep in mind the comparison between a person-to-person transaction in contrast to a person-to-object transaction (as discussed in Chapter 2). The question addressed is what makes understanding of another person or persons possible. As stated earlier the construction of a discursive, person-to-person relationship starts in early childhood and is a progressive, gradually evolving complex learning process, especially in its contrast with the operational person-to-object transaction that the child soon learns to master. (Often there is confusion between the two during early childhood). In the person-to-object relationship Euclidean geometry prevails while the person-to-person relationship is based on hyperbolic space in which movement (behavior) changes not only the positions of persons vis-a-vis one another, but also modifies the person in the process. In other words, the identity of a person at the beginning of a discourse and at the end of the discourse is not the same.