cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Teaching Effectively Means Learning from Our Students

Jennifer’s dilemma is one that novice teachers face every day. The teacher in her tells her to follow a well-organized plan. She had designed the plan carefully around the district’s curriculum goals. She had included the content she knew the children would need to move on to later topics. But she cannot ignore the subtle signals the students are sending her: they seem to be bored and disaffected, many keep glancing at the clock on the wall, and twice they needed to be reminded what they were supposed to do. Should Jennifer implement the plan she designed to meet the instructional goals she had previously determined her students needed? Or should she abandon the plan and listen to what the children are telling her they need, instructionally, at the moment?
Multinational Corporations and Stock Price Crash Risk

A nascent literature in finance and accounting on tail risk in individual stock returns concludes that bad news hoarding by corporate managers engenders sudden, extreme crashes in a firm’s stock price when the bad news is eventually made public. This literature finds that firm-specific crash risk is higher among firms with more severe asymmetric information and agency problems. A hitherto disjointed literature spanning the fields of international business, finance, and accounting suggests that geographic dispersion in a firm’s operations, and especially dispersion across different countries, gives rise to organizational complexities and greater costs of monitoring that can exacerbate asymmetric information and agency problems. Motivated by the confluence of arguments and findings from these two strands of literature, this paper examines whether stock price crash risk is higher among multinational firms than domestic firms. Using a large sample of U.S. headquartered firms during 1987-2011, we find robust evidence that multinational firms are significantly more likely to crash than domestic firms. Moreover, we show that the difference in crash risk between multinational and domestic firms is most acute among firms with weaker corporate governance mechanisms, including weaker shareholder rights, less independent boards, and less stable institutional ownership. Our analysis indicates that stronger monitoring from each of these three governance mechanisms significantly attenuates the positive relation between crash risk and multinationality. Our findings are robust to the use of alternative measures of crash risk and to controlling for known determinants of crash risk identified in prior studies. Our study offers new insights that should hold value for scholars and market participants interested in understanding the implications of heighted agency problems that multinational firms are likely to encounter and scholars and market participants interested in developing models that more accurately predict tail risk in the equity returns of individual firms.
A novel H/sub /spl infin// based controller for wind turbine applications operating under unbalanced voltage conditions

Doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) based wind turbines are highly susceptible to grid voltage imbalances. Normally the turbines are disconnected from the grid in the event of even moderate imbalances which contribute to poor utilization of the turbine. In this paper, a control strategy to use the grid-side converter in the rotor circuit of the DFIG to compensate for the grid voltage imbalance is presented. A robust Hinfin controller is synthesized to minimize the adverse effects of the imbalances even while providing reactive power support to the grid. The control scheme is tested on a small-scale DFIG prototype and the results are presented
The Ideological Nationalization of Mass Partisanship: Policy Preferences and Partisan Identification in State Publics, 1946–2014

Since the mid-20th century, elite political behavior has increasingly nationalized. In Congress, for example, within-party geographic cleavages have declined, roll-call voting has become increasingly one-dimensional, and Democrats and Republicans have diverged along this main dimension of national partisan conflict. The existing literature finds that citizens have displayed only a delayed and attenuated echo of elite trends. We show, however, that a very different picture emerges if we focus not on individual citizens but on the aggregate characteristics of geographic constituencies. Using estimates of the economic, racial, and social policy liberalism of the average Democrat, Independent, and Republican in each state-year 1946–2014, we demonstrate a surprisingly close correspondence between mass and elite trends. Specifically, we find that: (1) ideological divergence between Democrats and Republicans has increased dramatically within each domain, just as it has in Congress; (2) economic, racial, and social liberalism have become highly correlated across state-party publics, just as they have across members of Congress; (3) ideological variation across state-party publics is now almost completely explained by party rather than state, closely tracking trends in the Senate; and (4) senators’ liberalism is strongly predicted by the liberalism of their state-party subconstituency, even controlling for their party affiliation and their state public’s overall liberalism. Taken together, this correspondence between elite and mass patterns suggests that members of Congress are actually quite in synch with their constituencies, if not with individual citizens.
Gender Role Attitudes: Native Americans in Comparative Perspective

Native Americans have often been idealized as more egalitarian than other race and ethnic groups today, particularly with respect to the roles of women. Using data from the General Social Surveys 1972-1996, we test the hypothesis that Native Americans will be more egalitarian than other ethnic/racial groups on attitudinal measures of gender equality due to their cultural history of egalitarianism. Native Americans are not statistically significantly more egalitarian than whites when other variables are controlled, but Hispanics and Blacks have significantly lower scores. Interesting differences emerge from separate analyses of Native Americans and the other race and ethnic groups. For example, family income is less important for the Native Americans, while the role of keeping house appears to be more important. Age was less important for Hispanics. However, the structure of the regression equations is similar for all of the groups, with education, age, year of survey, religious intensity and sex emerging as the most important variables. Even though the Native Americans are the most egalitarian, they are influenced by these structural variables in much the same manner as the other groups.
Some Observations on the Medical Aspects of the Shroud of Turin

(1987). Some Observations on the Medical Aspects of the Shroud of Turin. The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 54, No. 2, pp. 58-62.
Post-operative management of perforated appendicitis: Can clinical pathways improve outcomes?

Abstract Background We sought to decrease organ space infection (OSI) following appendectomy for perforated acute appendicitis (PAA) by minimizing variation in clinical management. Objective A postoperative treatment pathway was developed and four recommendations were implemented: 1) clear documentation of post-operative diagnosis, 2) patients with unknown perforation status to be treated as perforated pending definitive diagnosis, 3) antibiotic therapy to be continued post operatively for 4–7 days after SIRS resolution, and 4) judicious use of abdominal computed tomography (CT) scanning prior to post-operative day 5. Patient demographics and potential clinical predictors of OSI were captured. The primary end point was development of OSI within 30 days of discharge. Secondary endpoints included length of stay (LOS), readmission rate, other complications and secondary procedures performed. Results A total of 1246 appendectomies were performed and we excluded patients Conclusions The implementation of and compliance with a post-operative protocol status post appendectomy for PAA demonstrated a trend towards diminishing readmission rates and decreased utilization of CT imaging, but did not affect OSI rates. Additional approaches to diminishing OSI following management of perforated appendicitis need to be evaluated.
RCube: A Power Efficient and Highly Available Network for Data Centers

Designing a cost-effective network for data centers that can deliver sufficient bandwidth and provide high availability has drawn tremendous attentions recently. In this paper, we propose a novel server-centric network structure called RCube, which is energy efficient and can deploy a redundancy scheme to improve the availability of data centers. Moreover, RCube shares many good properties with BCube, a well known server-centric network structure, yet its network size can be adjusted more conveniently. We also present a routing algorithm to find paths in RCube and an algorithm to build multiple parallel paths between any pair of source and destination servers. In addition, we theoretically analyze the power efficiency of the network and availability of RCube under server failure. Our comprehensive simulations demonstrate that RCube provides higher availability and flexibility to make trade-off among many factors, such as power consumption and aggregate throughput, than BCube, while delivering similar performance to BCube in many critical metrics, such as average path length, path distribution and graceful degradation, which makes RCube a very promising empirical structure for an enterprise data center network product.
Amorphous silicon carbide ultramicroelectrode arrays for neural stimulation and recording.

Objective: Foreign body response to indwelling cortical microelectrodes limits the reliability of neural stimulation and recording, particularly for extended chronic applications in behaving animals. The extent to which this response compromises the chronic stability of neural devices depends on many factors including the materials used in the electrode construction, the size, and geometry of the indwelling structure. Here, we report on the development of microelectrode arrays (MEAs) based on amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC). Approach: This technology utilizes a-SiC for its chronic stability and employs semiconductor manufacturing processes to create MEAs with small shank dimensions. The a-SiC films were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and patterned by thin-film photolithographic techniques. To improve stimulation and recording capabilities with small contact areas, we investigated low impedance coatings on the electrode sites. The assembled devices were characterized in phosphate buffered saline for their electrochemical properties. Main results: MEAs utilizing a-SiC as both the primary structural element and encapsulation were fabricated successfully. These a-SiC MEAs had 16 penetrating shanks. Each shank has a cross-sectional area less than 60 µmlsupg2l/supg and electrode sites with a geometric surface area varying from 20-200 μmlsupg2l/supg. Electrode coatings of TiN and SIROF reduced 1 kHz electrode impedance to less than 100 kΩ from ~2.8 MΩ for 100 µmlsupg2l/supg Au electrode sites and increased the charge injection capacities to values greater than 3 mC/cmlsupg2l/supg. Finally, we demonstrated functionality by recording neural activity from basal ganglia nucleus of Zebra Finches and motor cortex of rat. Significance: The a-SiC MEAs provide a significant advancement in the development of microelectrodes that over the years has relied on silicon platforms for device manufacture. These flexible a-SiC MEAs have the potential for decreased tissue damage and reduced foreign body response. The technique is promising and has potential for clinical translation and large scale manufacturing.
Hydrogen: What's Different Now [Technology Leaders]

This is an exciting time for hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). They seem to be on the verge of a major market breakthrough. However, those of us who have been working in the hydrogen and FC industry for a while are familiar with the boom and bust cycle of FCEV hype-it feels like we have been here before. The first FC automobile was designed as far back as the 1960s. NASA was using FCs to power its spacecraft, and, in 1966, General Motors (GM) used this space-age technology in the prototype GM Electrovan. The Electrovan used the body and chassis of GM's Handivan, their production utility van at the time. The FC and hydrogen components for this vehicle filled nearly the entire available space of the van. At this point, FCs were clearly too expensive and impractical for production vehicles.
Spinal Cord Transection

A review of spinal cord transection is presented. Traumatic spinal cord transection causes complex changes in the spinal cord such as ischemia, the secondary inflammation cascade, and scarring. After this type of transection, adult mammals recover minimum function related to axonal regeneration. Plasticity appears to underlie the emergence of abnormal reflexive responses.
STATISTICAL MISSPECIFICATION AND THE RELIABILITY OF INFERENCE: THE SIMPLE T-TEST IN THE PRESENCE OF MARKOV DEPENDENCE

The aim of this paper is to consider the problem of unreliable statistical inference caused by the presence of statistical misspecification, and discuss the merits of alternative ways to address the problem like invoking generic robustness results or/and using nonparametric inference. For simplicity the discussion focuses on the t-test for hypotheses concerning the mean in the context of the simple Normal model, with the misspecification coming in the form of Markov Dependence (MD). By deriving explicitly the nominal and actual error probabilities, it is shown that the presence of MD turns the t-test into an unreliable procedure. It is argued that invoking traditional robustness arguments can often be very misleading and, in general, this strategy does not address the unreliability of inference problem, even if one were to use the actual error probabilities. A more appropriate strategy is to respecify the original statistical model to account for the misspecification, and test the hypotheses of interest using an inference procedure that is optimal in the context of the respecified model. It is shown that the presence of MD gives rise to the Autoregression (AR(1)) as the respecified model, and one can test the original hypotheses concerning the mean. The optimal t-test in the context of the AR(1) is shown to be related but different from the original and the modified t-tests.
Pain Management Testing by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

For appropriate pain medication monitoring, the analytical method must be sensitive enough to detect the prescribed medication and metabolites at a sufficiently low concentration to recognize compliance, even with a low-dose prescription. The method must also provide excellent selectivity to identify simultaneously present drugs even with similar chemical structures. The analytical method should uncover common illicit drugs/nonprescribed medications. Traditional immunoassays cannot satisfy these criteria, but liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry can. It requires expensive instrumentation, careful test design, and extensive validation and produces a large amount of data that must be interpreted according to the clinical context.
Resistance Training Frequency Confers Greater Muscle Quality in Aged Individuals: A Brief NHANES Report

Background: Sarcopenia, the age-related decline in skeletal muscle mass, results in a loss of strength and functional capacity, which subsequently increases the risk of disease, disability frailty, and all-cause mortality. Skeletal muscle quality (MQ), i.e., strength per unit muscle mass, is the ability of muscle to perform its functions, and evidence indicates it is a more influential variable underlying age-related declines in muscle function than losses in muscle mass. Resistance training (RT) is known for enhancing skeletal MQ, improving health span, and reducing mortality; however, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have examined the relationship between RT frequency and MQ in an aged population. Thus, this study was designed to test the hypothesis that greater MQ in older individuals is associated with RT frequency. Methods: Utilizing data from 2,391 older adults in the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES; 1999-2002), a secondary analysis of data was performed to see if an association existed between RT frequency and MQ in persons aged 55 years and older. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with three different models. Individuals were stratified into two groups based on how many days per week they performed RT: Insufficient (i.e., 0.05 for all). When partitioned according to those 55 to 64 years of age and those 55 to 79 years, a statistically significant association was again observed (p 0.05 for all). Conclusions: Sufficient amounts of RT are associated with greater MQ in selected older individuals. A need exists for future randomized controlled trials that examine the dose-response relationship between resistance training and MQ in older adults.
Herpetic Panophthalmitis: A Diagnostic Dilemma.

Purpose: To describe an uncommon presentation of ocular infection caused by human herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2).Methods: Case report.Results: A 32-year-old female with no prior history of mucocuta...
Smithsonian Folkways and the Associated Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

Smithsonian Folkways and the associated Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections were created in 1988 as a vehicle to collect world music record labels and disseminate the recordings in a number of ways. In addition to the recordings of the 50 years of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival which has included participants from all over the world, the Smithsonian Institution has been collecting the recordings of independent record companies, 13 to date. This includes Folkways, Arhoolie, Paredon, Cook, the Mickey Hart World Music Collection and the UNESCO labels. The plan of collecting record labels allows us to gain all the intellectual property rights. This assures we can legally distribute the recordings and see that the musicians, informants, and communities receive their due royalties. The recordings as distributed as commercial CDs or LPs, streaming audio, or downloads. One can download tracks through our website or services like Itunes. We have created over 400 new recordings since 1988 and have over 4000 recordings in our catalog. Our robotic Micro-Tech machine can create compact discs of the 4000 titles. The roughly 4400 commercial recordings are about 15% of what exists in the Rinzler Archives. The rest consists of festival recordings and outtakes from the recording labels. This paper hopes to share a brief glimpse into our processes.
DILATED CARDIOMYOPATHY AND ATRIAL ARRHYTHMIA IN A PATIENT WITH A PRIOR REPAIRED ATRIAL SEPTAL DEFECT: DON'T LET THE HISTORY FOOL YOU

Unrepaired sinus venosus ASD is a rare but recognized congenital cardiac lesion. Modern multimodality imaging is required for comprehensive diagnosis and to direct surgical management. A 58 year old male with history of remote surgical ASD closure presented with dilated cardiomyopathy thought to be
Impact of Managers’ Traits and Compensation Structure on R&D Investments

This study examines the relationships between the characteristics of top management and a firm’s R&D expenditure level. We measure management entrenchment using executives’ tenures, ages, cash compensation, and dual roles as a chairman. The result suggests that firms with less entrenched management (i.e., younger, newer, and non-chairman executives with less cash compensation) invest more in R&D. Our result also shows that executives whose compensation has a higher sensitivity to stock volatility are associated with higher degree of R&D expenditures implying that executives’ compensation structures tend to influence R&D decisions.
Investigating Multilingual Identities and Ideologies among Iranian Communities in Contexts of Mobility

In this chapter, I focus on the ways Iranians in indigenous and diasporic contexts draw on their bilingual resources and ideologies in order to (co-)construct their identities and negotiate their social positionings relative to the notions of language and identity. Specifically, I provide a comparative study of Farsi-English bilingual speakers’ metapragmatic commentary in Iran and the U.S. to investigate how mobility across time and space impacts their identities as well as their bilingual practices and language-ideological discourses. The findings suggest that Farsi-English code-switching serves as an act of differentiation in the indigenous context of Iran and an act of solidarity in the diasporic context of the U.S.
Reducing length of stay for infant sepsis evaluations via low-cost/high-impact intervention did not lead to missed serious bacterial infections

Reducing Excessive Variability in Infant Sepsis Evaluation (REVISE), is an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)-led multicenter quality improvement project focusing on infants 7-60 days old presenting with fever. Goals included reducing length of hospitalization, increasing proportion of appropriate hospitalizations (and appropriate use of inflammatory markers), increasing the proportion of infants who have urinalysis performed, decreasing inappropriate use of chest x-rays, and improving antibiotic choice. From these goals, we identified two most needing improvement via a 12-month baseline data analysis at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH): length of stay (LOS) and …
Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) and other disorders of ‘follicular occlusion’

Abstract Hidradenitis Suppurativa is a chronic inflammatory disease often confused with an immune deficiency due to the chronic draining sinus tracts. Related conditions affect additional regions of skin. The pathophysiologic basis is over production of inflammatory mediators and the treatments are usually directed at restoring the balance of inflammatory pathways. Typically sporadic and episodic in nature, features of these syndromes can occur in association with inborn errors of immunity.
Reducto: On-Camera Filtering for Resource-Efficient Real-Time Video Analytics

To cope with the high resource (network and compute) demands of real-time video analytics pipelines, recent systems have relied on frame filtering. However, filtering has typically been done with neural networks running on edge/backend servers that are expensive to operate. This paper investigates on-camera filtering, which moves filtering to the beginning of the pipeline. Unfortunately, we find that commodity cameras have limited compute resources that only permit filtering via frame differencing based on low-level video features. Used incorrectly, such techniques can lead to unacceptable drops in query accuracy. To overcome this, we built Reducto, a system that dynamically adapts filtering decisions according to the time-varying correlation between feature type, filtering threshold, query accuracy, and video content. Experiments with a variety of videos and queries show that Reducto achieves significant (51-97% of frames) filtering benefits, while consistently meeting the desired accuracy.
Emergency department care coordination strategies and perceived impact under Maryland's hospital payment reforms.

Abstract Background Emergency department (ED) care coordination plays an important role in facilitating care transitions across settings. We studied ED care coordination processes and their perceived effectiveness in Maryland (MD) hospitals, which face strong incentives to reduce hospital-based care through global budgets. Methods We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews to examine ED care coordination processes and perceptions of effectiveness. Interviews were conducted from January through October 2019 across MD hospital-based EDs. Results were reviewed to assign analytic domains and identify emerging themes. Descriptive statistics of ED care coordination staffing and processes were also calculated. Results A total of 25 in-depth interviews across 18 different EDs were conducted with ED physician leadership (n = 14) and care coordination staff (CCS) (n = 11). Across all EDs, there was significant variation in the hours and types of CCS coverage and the number of initiatives implemented to improve care coordination. Participants perceived ED care coordination as effective in facilitating safer discharges and addressing social determinants of health; however, adequate access to outpatient providers was a significant barrier. The majority of ED physician leaders perceived MD's policy reform as having a mixed impact, with improved care transitions and overall patient care as benefits, but increased physician workloads and worsened ED throughput as negative effects. Conclusions EDs have responded to the value-based care incentives of MD's global budgeting program with investments to enhance care coordination staffing and a variety of initiatives targeting specific patient populations. Although the observed care coordination initiatives were broadly perceived to produce positive results, MD's global budgeting policies were also perceived to produce barriers to optimizing ED care. Further research is needed to determine the association of the various strategies to improve ED care coordination with patient outcomes to inform practice leaders and policymakers on the efficacy of the various approaches.
Cardiovascular Deaths During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States.

Abstract Background Although the direct toll of COVID-19 in the United States has been substantial, concerns have also arisen about the indirect effects of the pandemic. Hospitalizations for acute ...
Estimation of P-wave anisotropy parameters from 3D vertical seismic profile with distributed acoustic sensors and geophones for seismic imaging in the CO2CRC Otway Project

ABSTRACT The quality and accuracy of a seismic image can be significantly affected by anisotropy. When anisotropy is significant, neglecting it can lead to smearing of the image, dispositioning of reflections and distortion of amplitudes. Thus, it is imperative to estimate anisotropy and take it into account, especially for long‐offset or wide‐azimuthal seismic data. This study estimates P‐wave anisotropy parameters at the Otway site (Victoria, Australia). A wide range of available offsets acquired within the CO2CRC Otway Project provides a unique opportunity for anisotropy estimation from 3D vertical seismic profile data. We estimate P‐wave anisotropy from direct‐wave arrivals in vertical seismic profile data acquired with geophones and distributed acoustic sensors installed in two wells. Data analysis reveals seismic anisotropy of the subsurface with a significant presence of both polar and azimuthal anisotropy. We estimate key parameters such as normal moveout velocity, azimuthal ellipticity, polar anellipticity and fast‐velocity azimuth by nonlinear fitting of the analytical travel‐time approximation to observed direct P‐wave travel times from 3D vertical seismic profile data. Obtained anisotropy parameters show that polar anellipticity remains almost constant and equal to 0.1 for the whole depth range, while azimuthal anisotropy changes significantly with depth: it is relatively weak in the shallow section then increases significantly below a depth of 600 m. The fast‐velocity azimuth coincides with the orientation of the maximum horizontal stress in the study area. The results show that despite their low sensitivity for large offsets, the distributed acoustic sensor receivers provide sufficient information on anisotropic travel times over the entire length of the well, which is critical for reflection imaging from both vertical seismic profile and surface seismic data.
Evolution of Low-Noise Avalanche Photodetectors

This paper reviews materials and structural approaches that have been developed to reduce the excess noise in avalanche photodiodes and increase the gain-bandwidth product.
The Fundamental Theorem of Quantification Theory

There is one very basic result in Quantification Theory which appears to be less widely known and appreciated than it should be. It results from the cumulative efforts of such workers as Herbrand, Godel, Gentzen, Henkin, Hasenjaeger and Beth. We have referred to it in [2] as a form of Herbrand’s theorem, though this is perhaps unfair to the other workers mentioned above. This theorem is indeed Herbrand-like in that it gives a procedure which associates with every valid formula of Quantification theory a formula of propositional logic which is a tautology. This theorem easily yields the completeness theorem for the more conventional axiomatization of First Order Logic (which we study in the next chapter), but it yields far more. The beauty of this theorem is that it makes absolutely no reference to any particular formal system of logic; it is stated purely in terms of a certain basic relationship between first order satisfiability and truth-functional satisfiability. In view of all those considerations, we feel justified in referring to this theorem as the Fundamental Theorem of Quantification Theory.
A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Job Stressors and Reactions Among Employees Holding Comparable Jobs in Two Countries

The present study examined occupational stress in a cross-cultural context with a sample of female clerical employees from an Eastern and a Western culture, namely, India and the United States. An open-ended methodology was used to study occupation-specific stress. Two other variables that researchers have studied in the job stress process, locus of control and social support, were also examined. Large differences were obtained in the perception of the source of stress, the coping mechanisms, and reactions to the stressor. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Constrained max-min bandwidth allocation for the available bit rate ATM service

The available bit rate (ABR) is an ATM service category that provides an economical support of connections having vague requirements. An ABR session may specify its peak cell rate (PCR) and minimum cell rate (MCR), and available bandwidth is allocated to competing sessions based on the max-min policy. In this paper, we investigate the ABR traffic control from a different point of view: Based on the decentralized bandwidth allocation model studied in [9], we prove that the max-min rate vector is the equilibrium of a certain system of noncooperative optimizations. This interpretation suggests a new framework for ABR traffic control that allows the max-min optimality to be achieved and maintained by end-systems, and not by network switches. Moreover, in the discussion, we consider the constrained version of max-min fairness and develop an efficient algorithm with theoretical justification to determine the optimal rate vector.
Sperm storage across multiple scales--a reply to Marques, García, and Ames.

For internally-fertilizing animals, sperm storage is a nearly ubiquitous trait that has enormous evolutionary implications. Female sperm storage (FSS) may influence the degree of pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection as well as the ability of females to time reproduction with periods of resource availability, thereby ensuring an ample supply of sperm when encountering males is unpredictable. In our recent opinion article [1] we developed a framework for studying FSS in a comparative way both by suggesting criteria that distinguish the different selective processes responsible for FSS and by developing an sperm-storage index that can offer insights into the strength of selection acting on this trait.
Patient computer use to prompt doctor adherence to diabetes management guidelines.

Rationale, Aims and Objectives Doctor compliance with diabetic care guidelines is low and may be improved with system-wide changes that include patient involvement. The objective of this study was to determine if patients in an internal medicine teaching clinic would use a touch-screen computer to receive personalized information regarding their need for diabetes care. Outcomes included determining if this intervention would improve resident doctor compliance with diabetic guidelines. Methods In this prospective study a computer was available for patients to use independently in one clinic, while another computer was placed in a second clinic with nursing support. Patients responding they were diabetic to the first screen received screens covering HbA1c, blood pressure, cholesterol, foot, eye examinations and compliance with having labs drawn. Non-diabetic patients received three general health screens. A response-based report was printed for patients to share with their doctor. Chart reviews were conducted to assess diabetic health care delivery. Results The computer was used voluntarily by 20.6% of patients in the primary clinic and by 100% of patients in the nurse-assisted clinic. A total of 104 patients from both clinics responded they were diabetic; over 50% did not know what HbA1c meant and a minority responded their HbA1c, blood pressure and cholesterol were at good levels. Significantly more HbA1c tests conducted within 6 months were documented in patients' charts. Discussion Patients used the computer effectively without direction in the primary clinic. In this initial study, implementation of the computer program increased the number of HbA1c tests ordered. Future studies incorporating refinements may increase both usage and efficacy of this intervention.
Creating wildlands in Costa Rica: Historical ecology of the creation of Corcovado National Park

La mitad de las areas silvestres actuales, se encuentran en los paises tropicales y se crearon despues de 1970. Sin embargo, las actividades humanas han alterado gravemente las areas silvestres protegidas tropicales y el 75% de las areas silvestres de America Latina carece de proteccion efectiva, planes largo plazo y recursos economicos para garantizar una gestion eficaz. Una causa parcial es que las areas protegidas fueron concebidas utilizando el modelo conservacionista de EE.UU. de apartar habitats no alterados “para el disfrute de las generaciones actuales y futuras”, sin tomar en cuenta la poblacion local. El objetivo de este trabajo es documentar la ecologia historica de la creacion del Parque Nacional Corcovado en la Peninsula de Osa, Costa Rica. Este articulo presenta una reconstruccion historica de como se creo el area, los actores involucrados y sus interacciones, en busca de una mejor planificacion nacional de conservacion. Considerando su tamano, el parque es uno de los sistemas ecologicos mas diversos del mundo, pero esta expuesto a problemas relacionados con la extraccion de madera, fauna y oro. La comunicacion abierta y la busqueda de situaciones beneficiosas para todos fomento la creacion del Parque Nacional Corcovado, y puede ser la clave para su sostenibilidad.PALABRAS CLAVEConservacion, historia, Costa Rica, sistema de parques, conservacion tropical, Peninsula de Osa.
The Effect of Relative Performance Information Under Different Compensation Contracts on Performance in a Production Task

Using Social Comparison Theory as the framework, I experimentally investigate whether relative performance information (RPI) fosters performance improvement in a real-effort task. The experiment employed a 2 (RPI: yes or no) by 4 (contract type: straight piece-rate, modified piece-rate, quota, or fixed-wage contract) between-subjects factorial design with 181 student participants assuming the role of production workers. Results revealed a strong and consistently positive effect on task performance of providing ranked relative performance information, regardless of contract type. Results also revealed that the performance enhancing value of RPI was most pronounced for low performers compared to moderate and high performers. The effects of RPI were more pronounced under a fixed pay contract relative to variable pay contracts. The results of this study suggest that organizations can benefit by configuring their systems to report relative performance information on a frequent basis.
Heteroepitaxial growth and structural analysis of epitaxial α-Fe2o3(1010) on TiO2(001)

We grew epitaxial α–Fe2O3 $$(10\overline{1}0)$$ on TiO2(001) rutile by oxygen plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), and x-ray diffraction pole figures confirm that the film is composed of four different in-plane orientations rotated by 90° relative to one another. For a given Fe2O3 unit cell, the lattice mismatch along the parallel [0001]Fe2O3 and [100]TiO2 directions is nominally +67%. However, due to a 3-fold repetition of the slightly distorted square symmetry of anion positions within the Fe2O3 unit cell, there is a coincidental anion alignment along the [0001]Fe2O3 and [100]TiO2 directions, which results in an effective lattice mismatch of only −0.02% along this direction. The lattice mismatch is nearly 10% in the orthogonal $$(11\overline{2}0)_{Fe_{2}{O_{3}}}$$ and [100]TiO2 directions. The film is highly ordered and well registered to the substrate despite a large lattice mismatch in one direction. The film grows in registry with the substrate along the parallel [0001]Fe2O3 and [100]TiO2 directions and nucleates dislocations along the orthogonal $$(11\overline{2}0)_{Fe_{2}{O_{3}}}$$ [100]TiO2 directions.
MEDIUM-DEPTH CHEMICAL PEELS

The combination medium-depth chemical peel (Jessner's solution +35% TCA) has been accepted as a safe, reliable, and effective method for the treatment of moderate photoaging skin. This article discusses the procedure in detail, including postoperative considerations.
Infections by Renibacterium salmoninarum and Nanophyetus salmincola Chapin are associated with reduced growth of juvenile Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum), in the Northeast Pacific Ocean

We examined 1454 juvenile Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum), captured in nearshore waters off the coasts of Washington and Oregon (USA) from 1999 to 2004 for infection by Renibacterium salmoninarum, Nanophyetus salmincola Chapin and skin metacercariae. The prevalence and intensities for each of these infections were established for both yearling and subyearling Chinook salmon. Two metrics of salmon growth, weight residuals and plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor-1, were determined for salmon infected with these pathogens/parasites, both individually and in combination, with uninfected fish used for comparison. Yearling Chinook salmon infected with R. salmoninarum had significantly reduced weight residuals. Chinook salmon infected with skin metacercariae alone did not have significantly reduced growth metrics. Dual infections were not associated with significantly more severe effects on the growth metrics than single infections; the number of triple infections was very low and precluded statistical comparison. Overall, these data suggest that infections by these organisms can be associated with reduced juvenile Chinook salmon growth. Because growth in the first year at sea has been linked to survival for some stocks of Chinook salmon, the infections may therefore play a role in regulating these populations in the Northeast Pacific Ocean.
Factors Associated with a Need for Resuscitation in Term Deliveries 807

Background: Numerous factors alert the perinatal team to the possibility of a newborn who will need resuscitation and it will be advantageous to be able to identify and prioritize these factors.
CD44 Interaction with Na+-H+ Exchanger (NHE1) Creates Acidic Microenvironments Leading to Hyaluronidase-2 and Cathepsin B Activation and Breast Tumor Cell Invasion

We have explored CD44 (a hyaluronan (HA) receptor) interaction with a Na+-H+ exchanger (NHE1) and hyaluronidase-2 (Hyal-2) during HA-induced cellular signaling in human breast tumor cells (MDA-MB-231 cell line). Immunological analyses demonstrate that CD44s (standard form) and two signaling molecules (NHE1 and Hyal-2) are closely associated in a complex in MDA-MB-231 cells. These three proteins are also significantly enriched in cholesterol and ganglioside-containing lipid rafts, characterized as caveolin and flotillin-rich plasma membrane microdomains. The binding of HA to CD44 activates Na+-H+ exchange activity which, in turn, promotes intracellular acidification and creates an acidic extracellular matrix environment. This leads to Hyal-2-mediated HA catabolism, HA modification, and cysteine proteinase (cathepsin B) activation resulting in breast tumor cell invasion. In addition, we have observed the following: (i) HA/CD44-activated Rho kinase (ROK) mediates NHE1 phosphorylation and activity, and (ii) inhibition of ROK or NHE1 activity (by treating cells with a ROK inhibitor, Y27632, or NHE1 blocker, S-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl) amiloride, respectively) blocks NHE1 phosphorylation/Na+-H+ exchange activity, reduces intracellular acidification, eliminates the acidic environment in the extracellular matrix, and suppresses breast tumor-specific behaviors (e.g. Hyal-2-mediated HA modification, cathepsin B activation, and tumor cell invasion). Finally, down-regulation of CD44 or Hyal-2 expression (by treating cells with CD44 or Hyal-2-specific small interfering RNAs) not only inhibits HA-mediated CD44 signaling (e.g. ROK-mediated Na+-H+ exchanger reaction and cellular pH changes) but also impairs oncogenic events (e.g. Hyal-2 activity, hyaluronan modification, cathepsin B activation, and tumor cell invasion). Taken together, our results suggest that CD44 interaction with a ROK-activated NHE1 (a Na+-H+ exchanger) in cholesterol/ganglioside-containing lipid rafts plays a pivotal role in promoting intracellular/extracellular acidification required for Hyal-2 and cysteine proteinase-mediated matrix degradation and breast cancer progression.
Ion-photon entanglement and Bell inequality violation with ^138Ba^+

We report on the demonstration of ion–photon entanglement and Bell inequality violation in a system of trapped Ba138+ ions. Entanglement between the Zeeman sublevels of the ground state of a single Ba138+ ion and the polarization state of a single 493 nm photon emitted by the ion with a fidelity of 0.84±0.01 was achieved, along with a Bell signal of 2.3, exceeding the classical limit of 2 by more than eight standard deviations. This system is a promising candidate for a loophole-free Bell inequality violation test using long-range ion–ion entanglement as the wavelengths of the transitions of Ba138+ are in the visible region and thus suitable for long-range transmission over fiber optic cable.
LASER SPECTROSCOPY OF ELECTRONIC RESONANCES: AN ELECTRO-OPTIC TECHNIQUE FOR PROBING COHERENT AND INCOHERENT DECAY PROCESSES*

A new technique is presented for measuring the incoherent resonance decay (IRD) and the coherent optical ringing of selectively (5 MHz) prepared electronic states. The method utilizes electro-optic switching of a single laser mode that is on or off resonance with respect to the homogeneous molecular packets in the excited ensemble. The technique was applied to a variety of systems (gases at low pressures, gases at relatively high pressures, and solids at low temperatures) to give information about their phase memory (optical T2 processes), radiative and radiationless decay (optical T1 processes), and to measure directly their optical transition moment between the ground state and the prepared electronic state. The theory of coherent and incoherent states is also given.
Prevention of K-Ras - and Pten -mediated intravaginal tumors by treatment with camptothecin-loaded PLGA nanoparticles

Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the vagina is an uncommon disease that often exhibits few symptoms before reaching an advanced stage. Topical intravaginal therapies for resolving precancerous and cancerous vaginal lesions have the potential to be non-invasive and safer alternatives to existing treatment options. Two factors limit the testing of this approach: lack of a preclinical intravaginal tumor model and absence of safe and effective topical delivery systems. In this study, we present both an inducible genetic model of vaginal squamous cell carcinoma in mice and a novel topical delivery system. Tumors were generated via activation of oncogenic K-Ras and inactivation of tumor suppressor Pten in LSL-K-RasG12D/+PtenloxP/loxP mice. This was accomplished by exposing the vaginal epithelium to a recombinant adenoviral vector expressing Cre recombinase (AdCre). As early as 3 weeks after AdCre exposure exophytic masses protruding from the vagina were observed; these were confirmed to be squamous cell carcinoma by histology. We utilized this model to investigate an anticancer therapy based on poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles loaded with camptothecin (CPT); our earlier work has shown that PLGA nanoparticles can penetrate the vaginal epithelium and provide sustained CPT release. Particles were lavaged into the vaginal cavity of AdCre-infected mice. None of the mice receiving CPT nanoparticles developed tumors. These results demonstrate a novel topical strategy to resolve precancerous and cancerous lesions in the female reproductive tract.
Altered hippocampal circuit function in C3H α7 null mutant heterozygous mice

The alpha7 subtype of nicotinic receptor is highly expressed in the hippocampus where it is purported to modulate release of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The alpha7 receptor-mediated release of GABA is thought to contribute to hippocampal inhibition (gating) of response to repetitive auditory stimulation. This hypothesis is supported by observations of hippocampal auditory gating deficits in mouse strains with low levels of hippocampal alpha7 receptors compared to strains with high levels of hippocampal alpha7 receptors. The difficulty with comparisons between mouse strains, however, is that different strains have different genetic backgrounds. Thus, the observed interstrain differences in hippocampal auditory gating might result from factors other than interstrain variations in the density of hippocampal alpha7 receptors. To address this issue, hippocampal binding of the alpha7 receptor-selective antagonist alpha-bungarotoxin as well as hippocampal auditory gating characteristics were compared in C3H wild type and C3H alpha7 receptor null mutant heterozygous mice. The C3H alpha7 heterozygous mice exhibited significant reductions in hippocampal alpha7 receptor levels and abnormal hippocampal auditory gating compared to the C3H wild type mice. In addition, a general increase in CA3 pyramidal neuron responsivity was observed in the heterozygous mice compared to the wild type mice. These data suggest that decreasing hippocampal alpha7 receptor density results in a profound alteration in hippocampal circuit function.
The Impact of Processing Time Knowledge on Dynamic Job-Shop Scheduling

The goal of this paper is to determine if the results for dynamic job-shop scheduling problems are affected by the assumptions made with regard to the processing time distributions and the scheduler's knowledge of the processing times. Three dynamic job-shop scheduling problems including a two-station version of Conway et al.'s 1967 nine-station symmetric shop are tested under seven different scenarios, one deterministic and six stochastic, using computer simulation. The deterministic scenario, where the processing times are exponential and observed by the scheduler, has been considered in many simulation studies, including Conway et al.'s. The six stochastic scenarios include the case where the processing times are exponential and only the mean is known by the scheduler, and five different cases where the machines are subject to unpredictable failures. Two policies were tested, the shortest expected processing time SEPT rule, and a rule derived from a Brownian analysis of the corresponding queueing network scheduling problem. Although the SEPT rule performed well in the deterministic scenario, it was easily outperformed by the Brownian policies in the six stochastic scenarios for all three problems. Thus, the results from simulation studies of dynamic, deterministic job-shop scheduling problems may not carry over to the more realistic setting where there is unpredictable variability.