cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Demystifying the "July Effect" in Plastic Surgery: A Multi-Institutional Study.

Background The "July Effect" refers to a theoretical increase in complications that may occur with the influx of inexperienced interns and residents at the beginning of each academic year in July. Objectives We endeavored to determine if a July Effect occurs in plastic surgery. Methods Plastic surgery procedures were isolated from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program registry. Cases involving residents were grouped as either having occurred within the first academic quarter (AQ1) or remaining year (AQ2-4). Groups were propensity matched using patient/operative factors and procedure type to account for baseline differences. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses assessed differences in overall complications, surgical and medical complications, individual complications, length of hospital stay, and operative time. A comparison group comprised of procedures without resident involvement was also analyzed. Results There were 5967 cases with resident involvement, 5156 of which successfully matched. Both univariate and multivariate regression analyses revealed no significant differences between AQ1 and AQ2-4 in terms of overall, surgical, medical and individual complications, or length of hospital stay. There was a statistically significant, albeit not clinically significant, increase in operative time by 10 minutes per procedure during AQ1 in comparison to AQ2-4 (P = 0.001). For procedures lacking resident participation, there were no differences between AQ1 and AQ2-4 in terms of these outcomes. Conclusions A July Effect was not observed for plastic surgery procedures in our study, conceivably due to enhanced resident oversight and infrastructural safeguards. Patients electing to undergo plastic surgery early in the academic year can be reassured of their safety during this period.
Racial Discrimination and Health Outcomes Among Racial/Ethnic Minorities: A Meta‐Analytic Review

In this meta-analysis, the authors reviewed 105 studies on the relationships between racial discrimination and health outcomes among racial/ethnic minority Americans. The authors tested for moderator effects of measurement strategies, cultural factors, substance use, gender, and racial group differences. Findings indicate a statistically significant effect size between racial discrimination and health, with the largest effect for mental health and strongest for studies with multi-item measures. En este metaanalisis, los autores revisaron 105 estudios sobre las relaciones entre la discriminacion racial y los resultados para la salud entre americanos pertenecientes a minorias raciales o etnicas. Los autores examinaron los efectos moderadores de las estrategias de medicion, los factores culturales, el uso de sustancias, el genero y las diferencias entre grupos raciales. Los hallazgos indican un efecto de tamano estadisticamente significativo entre la discriminacion racial y la salud, con el maximo efecto observado en la salud mental y el mas fuerte en estudios con mediciones multiples.
Associations of Calcium and Dairy Products with All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Prospective Cohort Study

Associations of calcium and dairy product intakes with cardiovascular disease risk and cancer mortality are controversial. We investigated associations of calcium and dairy product intakes with mortality in the prospective REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study (n = 30,239). Of 2,966 total deaths, 32.3% were from CVD and 28.8% from cancer. For those in the upper relative to the lowest quintile of intakes, from Cox proportional hazards regression models, the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for all-cause mortality were 1.13 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.95-1.35; P-trend 0.004) for whole milk, and 0.75 (CI 0.61-0.93; P-trend 0.001) for nonfat milk; for CVD mortality the corresponding HRs were 0.80 (CI 0.55-1.16; P-trend 0.80) and 0.72 (CI 0.49-1.05; P-trend 0.06); and for cancer mortality they were 1.56 (CI 1.17-2.08; P-trend 0.006) and 0.89 (CI 0.62-1.28; P-trend 0.86). Calcium (total, dietary, supplemental) and total dairy product intakes were not associated with all-cause, cardiovascular, or cancer mortality. These results suggest that whole milk consumption may be directly associated with cancer mortality; non-fat milk consumption may be inversely associated with all-cause and cardiovascular- and cancer-specific mortality; and calcium intake independent of milk product intakes may not be associated with mortality.
Toleration of Diverse and Even Inconsistent Outcomes

In any complex political structure, the ideal or universal audience to which legal as well as political arguments are addressed must confront the question of the extent to which it is prepared to tolerate different and often even conflicting answers to similar problems. “Subsidiarity” has become almost a shibboleth in recent years. It seems to be almost universally accepted that, in a democratic political structure, decisions that affect human beings should be made at the lowest political level possible. But much of the euphoria for “subsidiarity” assumes that the decision made at the local level will be the same as that which would have been made at the higher and more centralized level. What if it is not? How would an ideal audience then react? This is a problem that is not confined to what we may call the political arena. The same problem arises in the law and how it is resolved has crucial significance for the nature and form of legal argumentation, that is on the style of legal argument and on what we perceive as the purpose of legal decisionmaking.
Experimental test on intentional islanding of diesel generator — PV microgrid (# 1894)

This paper describes the dynamic performance of and inverter- and machine-based microgrid during intentional islanding. Herein, it is desired that the microgrid which consists of a 20 kVA diesel generator, a 12 kW photovoltaic system and a passive resistive-inductive load, continue to operate when after disconnecting from the grid. Experiments were conducted by separating the microgrid from the local grid under different power import/export conditions. Inverter ride through times during voltage and frequency abnormalities were expanded (as allowed by the recently updated interconnection standard) to improve microgrid power quality and reliability.
A field guide to cinetherapy: on celluloid psychoanalysis and its practitioners.

This paper addresses the strange bedfellowship between psychoanalysis and cinema since the century's turn. Its specific focus is the idiosyncratic psychoanalysis/psychotherapy "practised" in mainstream cinema and television. "Cinetherapists" have consistently fallen into one of three categories: Dr. Dippy, a focus of derision, weirder than his patients; Dr. Evil, Hollywood's psychiatric version of the mad, bad scientist; and the unfailingly benevolent, self-sacrificing Dr. Wonderful. The prevalence of these stereotypes has waxed and waned according to shifting cultural circumstances. The study concludes with reflections on the possible impact, deleterious or otherwise, of distorted filmic images of the "impossible profession."
Health Outcomes of Youth in the United States Exposed to Parental Incarceration: An Integrative Review.

In the United States, parental incarceration (PI) has been increasingly recognized as an understudied adverse childhood experience. In response, a rapidly expanding body of research has begun to investigate the effects of PI on youth mental and physical health outcomes. Objective The purpose of this integrative review was to synthesize recent quantitative evidence investigating the effects of PI on youths' mental and physical health outcomes. Design and measures Electronic strategies were used to find relevant quantitative articles published between September 2006 and 2016 using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-Equity guidelines. Articles in the review (N = 17) varied in study design and methodologic rigor, complicating the analysis. Results In general, U.S. youth exposed to PI are more likely than their unexposed peers to exhibit internalizing and externalizing behavioral difficulties. There is substantially less evidence on the associations between PI and the physical health of youth, in addition to the proposed linkages between exposure to PI and poor health. Overall, there is limited inclusion of contextual specifics of PI (e.g., type and duration of incarceration, relationship quality), which hampers generalizability. Conclusion Future research could investigate the biological and social linkages between PI and health outcomes. Forensic nurses could help build supportive environments and meaningful behavioral health interventions to assist the health of those youth with a parent incarcerated.
Presence of Invasive Devices and Risks of Healthcare-Associated Infections and Sepsis.

The present study evaluated the daily risk of healthcare-associated infections and sepsis (HAIS) events in pediatric intensive care unit patients with invasive devices. This was a retrospective cohort study. Invasive devices were associated with significant daily risk of HAIS (p
Selected Contribution: Time-dependent hypoxic respiratory responses in female rats are influenced by age and by the estrus cycle

Age affects time-dependent respiratory responses to episodic hypoxia in male rats, particularly long-term facilitation (LTF), a serotonin-dependent respiratory “memory” [Zabka AG, Behan M, and Mitc...
Psychosocial Factors Associated with Noncardiac Chest Pain and Cardiac Syndrome X

Cardiac syndrome X, the triad of angina pectoris, positive exercise electrocardiogram (ECG) for myocardial ischemia and angiographically smooth coronary arteries, is associated with increased psychological morbidity, debilitating symptomatology and a poor quality of life. Patients with noncardiac chest pain (NCCP) are often similarly affected. The psychological morbidity noted among this patient population has been linked with a number of psychosocial factors, including impaired social support, traumatic life events, the negative impact of menopause among female sufferers, and an awareness of a family history of coronary heart disease (CHD). Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), group support, physical activity and relaxation techniques have been investigated as treatments for psychological morbidity among this patient group with varying degrees of success. While clinicians should be aware of the psychological aspect of patients with NCCP and cardiac syndrome X, further research is needed in order to establish a comprehensive physiological and psychological treatment regimen.
Metallothionein: a bifunctional chelator for the radiolabeling of biologically active molecules.

The promise of radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies (MAb’s) as site-specific radiopharmaceuticals in medical diagnosis and therapy (1) has increased the need for bifunctional chelators which couple MAb’s with diagnostic and/or therapeutic radionuclides. A bifunctional chelator combines a metal-sequestering ligand with a functional group which can be covalently linked to a biologically active molecule. Because MAb’s generally do not bind metals, bifunctional chelators are needed to attach one or more metallic radionuclides to these important proteins. Metallothioneins (MT’s) bind as many as twenty atoms of a wide variety of metals and thus offer unique potential as bifunctional chelators.
Cardiac Catheterization in the Pediatric Critical Care Setting

Diagnostic catheterization is required for either hemodynamic assessment or specifi c anatomic defi nition if other less-invasive methods leave important questions unanswered. The most common single indication for a diagnostic catheterization is assessment of pulmonary artery pressure and resistance. The single-ventricle patient population, before ongoing surgical palliation, still has the greatest need for diagnostic catheterization. Measurement of pulmonary vascular resistance and assessment of pulmonary artery anatomy before the Glenn and Fontan procedures are usually required for these patients. However, some centers are relying increasingly on noninvasive testing alone in univentricular patients thought to be at low risk for fi ndings that would prove to be contraindications for further palliative surgical intervention. Diagnostic cardiac catheterization is rarely indicated for the two-ventricle patient population with shunt lesions (such as ventricular septal defects and atrioventricular canal defects). However, if such patients present beyond infancy, or substantial questions remain regarding pulmonary vascular resistance after noninvasive testing, then catheterization would be indicated to determine pulmonary vascular responsiveness (to agents such as inhaled oxygen or nitric oxide) and to further stratify risk before surgical correction. Finally, a large role for diagnostic cardiac catheterization remains for patients with pulmonary vascular occlusive disease. With the advent of newer and relatively effective palliative medications for this disease process, assessments of vascular responsiveness are important before long-term vasodilator therapy is instituted and response to treatment is evaluated.
Operation and Performance Assessment of Grid-Connected PV Systems in Operation in Maui, Hawaii

Numerous assessments have been conducted around the world to characterize using the performance ratio (PR) the energy production (energy rating) of different PV technologies and manufacturers. Experimental results vary between locations and the single PR criterion is not enough to understand the performance variability. Using present modelling tools, energy rating is possible but there are still uncertainties requiring additional data collection and analysis especially in terms of the effects of spectrum, angle-of-incidence and degradation. The Hawaii Islands have high solar resource, spectrum rich in short wavelength and a hot and humid environment expected to rise degradation rate. Testing in Hawaii provides an ideal environment to support research on PV technologies. A PV test platform, commissioned on the island of Maui in February 2016, tests side by side 15 grid-connected PV systems. A new energy rating analysis is proposed where PR is separated into current (IP) and voltage (VN) performances. These additional criteria help understand the performance differences between PV modules and locations which will lead to better select the PV technology to certain environment. This approach also helps identify the parameters of operation to dissociate the impacts of the environmental and operating conditions (soiling, shading). At the Maui test platform, the yearly average PR is estimated between 87% to 98% depending on the PV systems, with 2 thin films (CIGS, CdTe) over performing the standard and high efficient crystalline modules. IP is evaluated between 95% and 100% for most PV manufacturers except for one low (91%, CIGS) and one high (104%, CdTe) performer. VN ranges between 87% and 98%, the CIGS exhibiting high voltage performance compared to the other technologies.
Pilot study: an intensive care unit sleep promotion protocol

Purpose Disturbances, such as in-room activity and sound, are significant sources of sleep disruption among critically ill patients. These factors are potentially modifiable. We tested the impact of an intensive care unit (ICU) sleep promotion protocol on overnight in-room disturbance. Methods Our protocol restricted non-urgent bedside care from 00:00 to 03:59. Patients were assigned to usual care (n=30) or the sleep protocol (n=26). The primary outcomes were measures of in-room activity, sound and light. These three types of disturbance were compared between arms during a baseline time block (20:00–23:59) and a rest time block (00:00–03:59). We assessed the sleep protocol effect with generalised linear models. Results Usual care and sleep protocol patients had equivalent levels of in-room activity, sound and light during the baseline time block (20:00–23:59). In contrast, during the rest time block (00:00–03:59), the sleep protocol arm had 32% fewer room entries (rate ratio (RR) 0.68, p=0.001) and 9.1 fewer minutes of in-room activity (p=0.0002). Also, the length of time between room entrances increased from 26.4 to 45.8 min (p=0.0004). The sleep protocol arm also had lower sound during the rest time block. Mean A-weighted sound was 2.5 decibels lower (p=0.02), and there were 36% fewer peaks (RR 0.64, p=0.02). Light levels were highly variable and not changed by the sleep protocol. Conclusions Sleep promotion protocols can improve in-room activity and sound. This provides a better sleep opportunity and may, therefore, improve ICU sleep. Trial registration number 1112009428
Regulation of thrombomodulin expression by all-trans retinoic acid and tumor necrosis factor-alpha: differential responses in keratinocytes and endothelial cells

Thrombomodulin is a cell-surface anticoagulant glycoprotein expressed by vascular endothelial cells and epidermal keratinocytes. Thrombomodulin expression in endothelial cells is regulated by retinoic acid and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF), agents that also modulate epidermal differentiation. We examined thrombomodulin function and regulation of thrombomodulin expression by all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and TNF in human keratinocytes and endothelial cells. Untreated keratinocytes and endothelial cells expressed thrombomodulin of comparable activity and apparent thrombin affinity. Incubation of keratinocytes with 10 mumol/L ATRA for 24 hours increased thrombomodulin activity 5.4 +/- 0.9-fold (mean +/- SE), with equivalent increases observed in thrombomodulin protein (5.5 +/- 2.1-fold) and mRNA (4.2 +/- 1.2-fold). Incubation of keratinocytes with 1.0 nmol/L TNF markedly increased expression of keratinocyte transglutaminase, but had no effect on thrombomodulin activity, protein, or mRNA. In endothelial cells, ATRA produced a small increase in thrombomodulin activity (1.9 +/- 0.1-fold), and incubation with TNF for 24 hours decreased thrombomodulin activity 83% +/- 7%. The activity profile of keratinocyte thrombomodulin exhibited a distinct maximum near 1.0 mmol/L Ca2+. These results demonstrate that keratinocyte thrombomodulin is regulated by retinoids and Ca2+, but not by TNF, and that regulation of thrombomodulin expression differs in keratinocytes and endothelial cells.
Neurophysiology of Electroacupuncture Analgesia

In recent years, electroacupuncture (EA) analgesia has been the focus of intense multidisciplinary research. This research has been very productive, leading to the publication of numerous studies that have added to our understanding of the neurophysiology of pain perception and pain modulation. This article will review the results of some of these studies, from which the central roles in pain modulation played by the endorphins and various monoamines (serotonin, in particular) will become apparent. In conclusion, an integrated neurophysiological model of EA analgesia will be proposed.
INFLUENCE OF FLOODING AND TIDES ON NUTRIENT EXCHANGE FROM A TEXAS MARSH

Abstract: The brackish water marshes of Lavaca Bay, Texas were investigated for the mechanisms of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus transport from the marsh to adjacent waters and for the magnitude of the areal exchange rates. This study, carried out in the summer of 1974, shows the importance of freshwater flooding and wind tides to nutrient exchange in contrast to the solunar tidal mechanism which dominates East Coast estuaries. In addition, the irregular cycle of inundation by floodwaters or wind tides, the growth of algae during inundation and the subsequent drying of these algae during dewatering with their physical transport out of the marsh during the next inundation period appear to provide as important a source of nutrients in the brackish marshes as the emergent plants.
Biogeography of Macrophyte Elemental Composition: Spatiotemporal Modification of Species-Level Traits

The elemental composition of primary producers represents a potentially important pathway for linking ecosystem scale, climate-driven changes in nutrient supply to ecological processes at the population and community scales. However, such cross-scale linkages may also be dampened by conservation of species-specific differences in tissue stoichiometry. We investigated biogeographic patterns of elemental composition (%N, %C, and C:N ratio) of four ecologically dominant and functionally diverse marine intertidal macrophyte species (the brown algae Fucus distichus and Hedophyllum sessile, the red alga Mazzaella splendens, and the surfgrass Phyllospadix scouleri) along 900 km of coastline of the California Current System over a 10-year period. We used a nested hierarchical design to identify the dominant spatial and temporal scales of elemental composition variability and to test the sensitivity of macrophyte stoichiometry to changing ocean conditions in upwelling, the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO), and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Elemental composition was highly conserved at the species level but was also sensitive to the environment, displaying marked species-dependent responses to spatial and temporal variation in ocean conditions. Moreover, the effects of local and seasonal processes were strong and with conserved species-specific differences, likely limited coherent cross-species sensitivity to climate variability from ENSO, NPGO and PDO. Unanticipated long-term steady increases in %C and bimodal increases in %N in brown algae and similar decreases in elemental composition of the red alga generated trimodal changes in C:N for these species. These changes may reflect responses of macrophyte communities to continuing changes in carbonate chemistry from ocean acidification.
Temperature Effects on the Ground State Absorption Spectra and Electron Transfer Kinetics of Bacterial Reaction Centers

It has been a general finding that the rates of many of the electron transfer processes in bacterial reaction centers are rather insensitive to temperature.1,2 In fact, often the rates actually increase slightly as the temperature is reduced. This is observed, for example, in Rb. sphaeroides reaction centers for electron transfer from P* to I (BPhL),3 from I− (BPhL −) to the primary quinone QA,4 and for the charge recombination reaction P+QA − → PQA.5–7 (P is the dimer of BChl molecules.) These findings have been taken to suggest that these reactions are activationless, or nearly so.
Metabolic Heterogeneity and Cross-Feeding in Bacterial Multicellular Systems

Cells in assemblages differentiate and perform distinct roles. Though many pathways of differentiation are understood at the molecular level in multicellular eukaryotes, the elucidation of similar processes in bacterial assemblages is recent and ongoing. Here, we discuss examples of bacterial differentiation, focusing on cases in which distinct metabolisms coexist and those that exhibit cross-feeding, with one subpopulation producing substrates that are metabolized by a second subpopulation. We describe several studies of single-species systems, then segue to studies of multispecies metabolic heterogeneity and cross-feeding in the clinical setting. Many of the studies described exemplify the application of new techniques and modeling approaches that provide insights into metabolic interactions relevant for bacterial growth outside the laboratory.
Using “Make & Take Quizzes” to Improve Exam Performance and Engage Students in Effective Study Strategies:

Background:Most students rely on ineffective study habits to learn material instead of using evidence-based strategies known to improve learning.Objective:The purpose of this study was to examine t...
Obesity is Associated with Longer Survival Independent of Sarcopenia and Myosteatosis in Metastatic and/or Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Purpose:Obesity (body mass index 30 kg/m2 or greater) is associated with better overall survival in metastatic prostate cancer. Conversely, low muscle mass (sarcopenia) and low muscle radiodensity ...
Connecting computational thinking in everyday reasoning and programming for elementary school students

Computational thinking (CT) has been advocated as an essential problem solving skill students need to develop. Emphasizing on CT applied in both programming and everyday contexts, we developed a hu...
Hospitalizations for opioid-related overdose and timing of concurrent opioid and benzodiazepine use: A nested case-control study

BACKGROUND Concurrent opioid and benzodiazepine (BZD) use is a prevalent high-risk prescribing behavior that increases the risk of opioid overdose. However, there is limited evidence on the relationship between timing of concurrent use and risk of opioid overdose. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the likelihood of opioid-related overdose across levels of duration, recency, and daily dose of concurrent use. DESIGN A nested case-control study was conducted using Truven MarketScan claims data (2009-2018). PARTICIPANTS Commercially insured adults (age 18-64 years old) with a new opioid dispensing in 2010-2018. MAIN MEASURES Cases of opioid-related overdose were identified based on hospitalization diagnosis codes. Controls were matched to cases in a 10:1 ratio by age, sex, opioid start date, and cancer history. Concurrent use was classified based on duration, timing, and daily dose of overlapping opioids and BZDs during 90 days before the event. Conditional logistic regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between concurrent use and opioid-related overdose. KEY RESULTS Among 11,137,866 dispensed a new opioid, a total of 3388 patients experienced opioid-related overdose and were matched to 33,893 controls. Cases and controls were 34 years old on average and 54% female. Patients with concurrent use were significantly more likely to have opioid-related overdose compared to patients receiving opioids, BZDs, or neither (OR 9.28; 95% CI 7.87, 10.93). Longer concurrent use of 1-7, 8-30, and 31-90 days was associated with 4.6, 12.1, and 26.7-fold higher likelihood of opioid-related overdose (p < 0.01). Patients with overlapping prescriptions during previous 0-30, 31-60, and 61-90 days were 13.2, 6.0, and 3.2-times more likely to experience an overdose (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Patients with an opioid-related overdose were more likely to be prescribed concurrent opioid and BZD across all levels of duration, timing, and daily dose. Future policies and quality measures should be pursued to prevent concurrent use unless medically necessary.
Discovery of Small-Molecule Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 Proteins Using a Computational and Experimental Pipeline

A rapid response is necessary to contain emergent biological outbreaks before they can become pandemics. The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19 was first reported in December of 2019 in Wuhan, China and reached most corners of the globe in less than two months. In just over a year since the initial infections, COVID-19 infected almost 100 million people worldwide. Although similar to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 has resisted treatments that are effective against other coronaviruses. Crystal structures of two SARS-CoV-2 proteins, spike protein and main protease, have been reported and can serve as targets for studies in neutralizing this threat. We have employed molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and machine learning to identify from a library of 26 million molecules possible candidate compounds that may attenuate or neutralize the effects of this virus. The viability of selected candidate compounds against SARS-CoV-2 was determined experimentally by biolayer interferometry and FRET-based activity protein assays along with virus-based assays. In the pseudovirus assay, imatinib and lapatinib had IC50 values below 10 μM, while candesartan cilexetil had an IC50 value of approximately 67 µM against Mpro in a FRET-based activity assay. Comparatively, candesartan cilexetil had the highest selectivity index of all compounds tested as its half-maximal cytotoxicity concentration 50 (CC50) value was the only one greater than the limit of the assay (>100 μM).
Cleft capitalism: The social origins of failed market-making in Egypt: by Amr Adly, Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press, 2020, 336 pp., 30 USD (paperback), ISBN 9781503612204

Why did market-based development fail in Egypt? It is not that the country implemented too much or too little economic reform or that neoliberal development models are inherently flawed. Rather, it...
'There Is No Such Thing as an Illegal Strike': Reconceptualizing the Strike in Law and Political Economy

In theorizing the lack of strikes in recent decades, legal scholars have focused on the rules that make striking difficult, even counterproductive, for workers. But while American law on striking is ambivalent at best, the impact of legal restrictions on labor protest has always been mediated by broader political economy. One hundred years ago, as the critique to Gilded Age inequality raged, strikes by emergent labor unions made the stakes of the “labor question” apparent. These strikes were subject to massive legal repression, and in the shorter term, were often seen as failures. In the longer term, though, they laid the foundation for the New Deal order and its modest compression of economic inequality. That order—built in part on a depoliticization of unions’ role in the workplace—proved unable to withstand the neoliberal turn. Yet, in today’s new Gilded Age, workers are tentatively rediscovering the power of the strike, bad law notwithstanding. Labor activists have long proclaimed, “There is no such thing as an illegal strike, only an unsuccessful one,” inviting the question of how strikes can be successful today, in spite of an inhospitable legal regime. Strikes are not just “economic weapons”; they are political protest. And the success of strikes today should be measured not only by their immediate economic wins, but also by their longer-term sociopolitical ones—to the extent they help upend the dominant regulatory and discursive impulses of recent decades, and like the strikes of the Progressive Era, legitimate a new vision of law and political economy.
The PerformanceStat Potential: A Leadership Strategy for Producing Results

Contents 1. CompStat and its PerformanceStat Progeny 2. Searching for PerformanceStat 3. Clarifying PerformanceStat 4. Distinguishing CompStat's Effects 5. Committing to a Purpose 6. Establishing Responsibilities plus Discretion 7. Distinguishing PerformanceStat's Effects 8. Selecting and Collecting the Data 9. Analyzing and Learning From the Data 10. Conducting the Meetings 11. Carrying Out the Feedback and Follow-Up 12. Creating Organizational Competence and Commitment 13. Learning to Make the Necessary Adaptations 14. Thinking about Cause and Effect 15. Appreciating Leadership's Causal Behaviors 16. Making the Leadership Commitment
Child Psychotherapy Process Research

Unfortunately, process research, in the adult and especially in the child area, has not progressed to a stage where it can focus its intellectual and monetary resources on just a few remaining minor but irksome issues. Instead, process research, in each of its myriad of forms, remains tentative, slipshod, or merely exploratory without systematic development and painstaking verification. In fact, process researchers have tended to skirt the foundational tasks of precisely defining the proper scope and content of their domain of research. Correlatively, process research is most often characterized by the use of simplistic or inappropriately borrowed methodologies and procedures to tackle rather local, not vital, questions and concerns. Of course there are exceptions, but given this general state of affairs, it is not surprising that progress in process research is slow, results from process research are unconfirmed or unconfirmable, and the practical utility of process research is nearly nil in terms of its current impact on common treatment practices. Over 50 years old, process research is still in its infancy, however prodigal it may appear in reviews by its apologists and most productive investigators.
Hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis from ingestion of a chloride-deficient infant formula: outcome 9 and 10 years later.

In 1978 and 1979 two infant formulas, Neo-Mull-Soy and Cho-Free, were found to be deficient in chloride. The Centers for Disease Control received reports that hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis (HMA) had developed in 141 children as a result of exposure to these formulas. Thirty-five of these children were examined at 9 and 10 years of age and compared with a group of 32 children who were exposed to the chloride-deficient formulas but were not reported to experience HMA and a group of 61 children who received chloride-sufficient soy formulas in infancy. The control children were matched to the HMA children on sex, race, age, and maternal education. Growth characteristics, performance on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), the Boston Naming Test, the Rey-Osterrieth Test, the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Revised (CELF-R), and subtests from several other speech and language tests were compared across the groups. After adjustment for family income and the level of the father's education, significantly lower scores were observed in the HMA children on the WISC-R Arithmetic subtest (mean = 10.5) compared with the soy control children (mean = 12.0, P less than .05) and on the WISC-R Coding subtest (mean = 9.0) compared with the soy control children (mean = 10.8, P less than .01). All the WISC-R subtest scores were, however, within the normal range. Although no significant differences occurred on the CELF-R between groups, the risk of an HMA child falling below the range expected for a standard population was increased on the CELF-R Composite Total, Receptive, and Expressive Language scores: risk ratios = 2.14, 2.14, and 3.03 respectively. Significant differences were observed between the children exposed, both HMA and non-HMA children, and the soy control children for behavioral problems as determined by the Achenbach Childhood Behavioral Checklist. It is concluded that as a group, children with documented HMA appear to have recovered from their growth failure and have normal cognitive development. They may, however, be at risk for deficits in language skills that require expressive language abilities.
A Generic Approach to Automatic Deobfuscation of Executable Code

Malicious software are usually obfuscated to avoid detection and resist analysis. When new malware is encountered, such obfuscations have to be penetrated or removed ("deobfuscated") in order to understand the internal logic of the code and devise countermeasures. This paper discusses a generic approach for deobfuscation of obfuscated executable code. Our approach does not make any assumptions about the nature of the obfuscations used, but instead uses semantics-preserving program transformations to simplify away obfuscation code. We have applied a prototype implementation of our ideas to a variety of different kinds of obfuscation, including emulation-based obfuscation, emulation-based obfuscation with runtime code unpacking, and return-oriented programming. Our experimental results are encouraging and suggest that this approach can be effective in extracting the internal logic from code obfuscated using a variety of obfuscation techniques, including tools such as Themida that previous approaches could not handle.
A social quantum model of organizations and decision-making

The major unsolved problem in understanding the social interaction experimentally or mathematically, dating from the 1920's, is the lack of social-psychological or mathematical means to distinguish an aggregation of individuals from a group constituted of the same individuals, primarily due to the focus of theories and agents based on the rational individual perspective. In contrast, the social quantum model (SOM) has made progress in understanding social interaction with social-psychological evidence and a mathematical model of two primary factors of action and observational uncertainty based on the entangled members of a group. We have since made two extensions, to organizational theory and to argument. Previous results are reviewed; in addition, a formulation of entanglement is proposed for future research.
Sampling Hypersurfaces through Diffusion

We are interested in efficient algorithms for generating random samples from geometric objects such as Riemannian manifolds. As a step in this direction, we consider the problem of generating random samples from smooth hypersurfaces that may be represented as the boundary $\partial A$ of a domain Ai¾? i¾?dof Euclidean space. Ais specified through a membership oracle and we assume access to a blackbox that can generate uniform random samples from A. By simulating a diffusion process with a suitably chosen time constant t, we are able to construct algorithms that can generate points (approximately) on $\partial A$ according to a (approximately) uniform distribution. We have two classes of related but distinct results. First, we consider Ato be a convex body whose boundary is the union of finitely many smooth pieces, and provide an algorithm (Csample) that generates (almost) uniformly random points from the surface of this body, and prove that its complexity is $O^*(\frac{d^4}{\epsilon})$ per sample, where i¾?is the variation distance. Next, we consider Ato be a potentially non-convex body whose boundary is a smooth (co-dimension one) manifold with a bound on its absolute curvature and diameter. We provide an algorithm (Msample) that generates almost uniformly random points from $\partial A$, and prove that its complexity is $O(\frac{R}{\sqrt{\epsilon}\tau})$ where $\frac{1}{\tau}$ is a bound on the curvature of $\partial A$, and Ris the radius of a circumscribed ball.
Greater Downside Risk Aversion

Although investors are concerned foremost with mean and variance, they are also sensitive to downside risk. In this paper, we introduce an index of downside risk aversion to distinguish risk aversion from higher-order aspects of risk preference, including prudence. We show that the index of downside risk aversion S increases with monotonic downside risk averse transformations of utility, thereby directly linking S to the definition of downside risk aversion introduced by Menezes et al. (American Economic Review, 70, 921–932, 1980). Although the index S applies equally to risk averse and risk loving decision makers, for a given positive degree of risk aversion, S is greater when the index of prudence is greater and vice versa.
G proteins in development

The focus of developmental biologists has expanded from the analysis of gene expression to include the analysis of cell signalling. Heterotrimeric G proteins (G proteins) mediate signalling from a superfamily of heptahelical receptors (G-protein-coupled receptors) to a smaller number of effector units that include adenylyl cyclases, phospholipase C and various ion channels. The convergence of developmental biology with cell signalling has now revealed overlaps in which G proteins mediate complex pathways in embryonic development.
Central Limit Theory

The sum of a large number of none too large independent random variables is approximately normally distributed. This important result enables the normal distribution to be used in a wide range of approximately valid procedures. The history of the central limit theorem is outlined, and various versions for different conditions on the random variables are described. Topics discussed include rates of convergence, a functional central limit theorem, results for dependent random variables, and stable laws for convergence to nonnormal distributions. Keywords: convergence; large samples; sum; De Moivre; Laplace; Lindeberg; Feller; martingale; functional; stable law; Cauchy; infinitely divisible
A Measure of Systems Engineering Effectiveness in Acquisition of Complex Information Systems: A Bayesian Belief Network Approach

In this paper, the authors present an innovative means of gauging systems engineering (SE) effectiveness. This paper describes the development of a SE relative effectiveness index model that can be used to identify and analyze SE patterns and subsequently predict possible areas of SE performance risk in the acquisition and deployment of complex information systems. The approach employs a Bayesian belief network to model causal relationships in SE activities that can be used to assess SE performance in projects and organizations.
Exposure to Childhood Poverty and Mental Health Symptomatology in Adolescence: A Role of Coping Strategies

Childhood poverty is associated with stress dysregulation which contributes to psychological illness in later ages. The adverse effects of childhood poverty on stress regulation may be mediated in part by the use of disengaging strategies to cope with stress. However, the relations among childhood poverty, coping strategies and psychopathology throughout childhood to adolescence have not been explored. This prospective, longitudinal study included 185 low- and middle-income adolescents at age 17. Chronic exposure to poverty from birth to early adolescence (age 13) was prospectively associated with increases in the use of disengagement versus engagement coping four years later. Increased use of disengagement coping between the ages of 13 and 17 explained the indirect link between poverty exposure since birth and both externalizing and internalizing symptoms at age 17. The findings provide evidence for a coping pathway underlying the link between prolonged exposure to childhood poverty and mental health sequelae. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Direct Effects of HIV-1 Tat on Excitability and Survival of Primary Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons: Possible Contribution to HIV-1-Associated Pain

The vast majority of people living with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) have pain syndrome, which has a significant impact on their quality of life. The underlying causes of HIV-1-associated pain are not likely attributable to direct viral infection of the nervous system due to the lack of evidence of neuronal infection by HIV-1. However, HIV-1 proteins are possibly involved as they have been implicated in neuronal damage and death. The current study assesses the direct effects of HIV-1 Tat, one of potent neurotoxic viral proteins released from HIV-1-infected cells, on the excitability and survival of rat primary dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. We demonstrated that HIV-1 Tat triggered rapid and sustained enhancement of the excitability of small-diameter rat primary DRG neurons, which was accompanied by marked reductions in the rheobase and resting membrane potential (RMP), and an increase in the resistance at threshold (RTh). Such Tat-induced DRG hyperexcitability may be a consequence of the inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) activity. Tat rapidly inhibited Cdk5 kinase activity and mRNA production, and roscovitine, a well-known Cdk5 inhibitor, induced a very similar pattern of DRG hyperexcitability. Indeed, pre-application of Tat prevented roscovitine from having additional effects on the RMP and action potentials (APs) of DRGs. However, Tat-mediated actions on the rheobase and RTh were accelerated by roscovitine. These results suggest that Tat-mediated changes in DRG excitability are partly facilitated by Cdk5 inhibition. In addition, Cdk5 is most abundant in DRG neurons and participates in the regulation of pain signaling. We also demonstrated that HIV-1 Tat markedly induced apoptosis of primary DRG neurons after exposure for longer than 48 h. Together, this work indicates that HIV-1 proteins are capable of producing pain signaling through direct actions on excitability and survival of sensory neurons.
X-ray-absorption near-edge structure of laser-dressed neon

Using an improved value for the energy splitting between the $1{s}^{\ensuremath{-}1}3s\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}^{1}S_{0}$ and $1{s}^{\ensuremath{-}1}3p\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}^{1}P_{1}$ states, electromagnetically induced transparency for x rays at the $1s\ensuremath{\rightarrow}3p$ resonance in Ne is reassessed. The energy splitting between the $1{s}^{\ensuremath{-}1}3s\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}^{1}S_{0}$ and $1{s}^{\ensuremath{-}1}3p\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}^{1}P_{1}$ states is calculated with two independent approaches. In the first approach, first-order nonrelativistic many-body perturbation theory is employed. In the second approach, the Dirac-Fock method is combined with the relativistic configuration interaction method. Both approaches give an energy splitting of $1.88\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{eV}$. The calculated x-ray absorption near-edge structure of laser-dressed Ne agrees closely with an earlier prediction. It may therefore be expected that at a laser intensity of ${10}^{13}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{W}∕{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$, the $1s\ensuremath{\rightarrow}3p$ x-ray absorption cross section of Ne is suppressed by more than an order of magnitude.
Neonatal dexamethasone on day 7 in rats causes behavioral alterations reflective of hippocampal, but not cerebellar, deficits.

Abstract Developmental glucocorticoid treatment in rats has been shown to cause body and brain weight decrements concurrent with behavioral alterations. Here, Sprague–Dawley rats were treated with the synthetic glucocorticoid, dexamethasone (DEX), on postnatal day (PND) 7 (1.5 mg/kg, sc, injected in the morning and afternoon). Behavioral assessments of negative geotaxis, locomotor activity (open field, maze exploration, residential running wheel, residential figure 8 maze), open-field activity response to amphetamine, acoustic startle, prepulse inhibition (PPI) of acoustic startle, juvenile play behavior, anxiety (emergence tests), motor coordination (rotarod performance), spatial learning (Morris water maze and food-reinforced complex maze), and operant performance (time estimation and response inhibition) were assessed in male rats. Body weight was decreased beginning at PND 43 until sacrifice on PND 127. Whole and regional brain weights were less, especially hippocampus, cerebellum, brainstem, and cortical remnant. Indications of delayed development were apparent; specifically, DEX-treated rats took significantly longer to turn on PND 8, but not PND 9, in the negative geotaxis test. DEX treatment induced deficits in the Morris water maze that were similar to hippocampal deficits. Open-field activity changes were inconsistent; however, DEX-treated rats were hyperactive during the dark period in running wheel tests. There were no indications of changes in reactivity or emotionality.
The 29 June 2000 Supercell Observed during STEPS. Part II: Lightning and Charge Structure

Abstract This second part of a two-part study examines the lightning and charge structure evolution of the 29 June 2000 tornadic supercell observed during the Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study (STEPS). Data from the National Lightning Detection Network and the New Mexico Tech Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) are used to quantify the total and cloud-to-ground (CG) flash rates. Additionally, the LMA data are used to infer gross charge structure and to determine the origin locations and charge regions involved in the CG flashes. The total flash rate reached nearly 300 min−1 and was well correlated with radar-inferred updraft and graupel echo volumes. Intracloud flashes accounted for 95%–100% of the total lightning activity during any given minute. Nearly 90% of the CG flashes delivered a positive charge to ground (+CGs). The charge structure during the first 20 min of this storm consisted of a midlevel negative charge overlying lower positive charge with no evidence of an upper positiv...