cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Why does Hydrogen Loss Rate Correlate with How Strongly Hydrogen Inhibits Ion Beam Mixing

Previous studies have shown that the presence of hydrogen in multilayer samples containing Ti reduces ion beam mixing rates. The present study sought to determine why the magnitude of this effect depends on which metal is mixed into Ti and why it is correlated to the rate at which hydrogen leaves the sample during mixing. Hydrogen loss rates of multilayers were compared with those of bilayer samples designed to minimize the effect of mixing. For bilayers, hydrogen loss rates were smaller and did not depend on which metal was mixed into Ti in the same way that multilayer loss rates do. This suggests that hydrogen leaves the multilayer samples because it is bound less strongly in the mixed regions than in the Ti. The primary cause of hydrogen loss is mixing rather than ion beam induced desorption.
The Morphology of Tribosphenomys (Rodentiaformes, Mammalia): Phylogenetic Implications for Basal Glires

We provide the first full description of the rodentiaform Tribosphenomys minutus from the late Paleocene Bayan Ulan locality of Inner Mongolia, China. All material presently referable to the taxon is treated, including the holotype plus more recently discovered teeth, jaws, and postcranial elements. To elucidate the phylogenetic placement of Tribosphenomys, a suite of 82 osteological characters across 36 terminal taxa was sampled and analyzed. A data matrix was generated and subjected to phylogenetic analyses using parsimony. The results of the analyses confirm the outgroup placement of Tribosphenomys relative to Rodentia (in the crown-clade restricted sense of that name). Other results include a sister-group pairing of lagomorphs and rodents (Glires), with various extinct taxa interposed as sequential outgroups to each of these crown clades. The phylogenetic definitions of names attaching to major clades of gliroid mammals are reviewed, with new ones being proposed.
Cause and countermeasure of the reputation lapse of private enterprise in our country

As reform and opening-up has gone deep constantly,the private enterprises in our country have achieved outstanding success and become a critical role in the development of Chinese economy.At present the reputation lapse of private enterprise is more serious.Through analyzing the appearance and cause of the reputation lapse of private enterprise,this thesis puts forward and manages its countermeasure with insufficient reputation fundamentally,further promotes reputation of private enterprise in our country,and makes private enterprise enter into the orbit of favorable development.
Rapid Determination of Melamine in Pet Food by LC-MS/MS

Rapid and sensitive LC-MS/MS method was established to analyze melamine in pet food,comparison was made with USFDA recognized GC-MS and LC methods,it turned out that the current technique is superior with easy sample preparation,the sensitivity and selectivity was found satisfactory.
An Algorithm for Point Inclusion in Free-formsurface’s Closed Gauss Map Query

An algebraic algorithm reformed paper is presented.When running it,point-in-segment inclusion query did before finding intersect segment or using dichotomy to find to parabola segment. The algorithm complexity is o(n·ln m), and accelerates the test for nn·m.
Investigating Human Vascular Tube Morphogenesis and Maturation Using Endothelial Cell-Pericyte Co-cultures and a Doxycycline-Inducible Genetic System in 3D Extracellular Matrices

Considerable progress has occurred toward our understanding of the molecular basis for vascular morphogenesis, maturation, and stabilization. A major reason for this progress has been the development of novel in vitro systems to investigate these processes in 3D extracellular matrices. In this chapter, we present models of human endothelial cell (EC) tube formation and EC-pericyte tube co-assembly using serum-free defined conditions in 3D collagen matrices. We utilize both human venous and arterial ECs and show that both cell types readily form tubes and induce pericyte recruitment and both ECs and pericytes work together to remodel the extracellular matrix environment by assembling the vascular basement membrane, a key step in capillary tube network maturation and stabilization. Importantly, we have shown that these events occur under serum-free defined conditions using the hematopoietic stem cell cytokines, SCF, IL-3, and SDF-1α and also including FGF-2. In contrast, the combination of VEGF and FGF-2 fails to support vascular tube morphogenesis or pericyte-induced tube maturation under the same serum-free defined conditions. Furthermore, we present novel assays whereby we have developed both human ECs and pericytes to induce specific genes using a doxycycline-regulated lentiviral system. In this manner, we can upregulate the expression of wild-type or mutant gene products at any stage of vascular morphogenesis or maturation in 3D matrices. These in vitro experimental approaches will continue to identify key molecular requirements and signaling pathways that control fundamental events in tissue vascularization under normal or pathologic conditions. Furthermore, these models will provide new insights into the development of novel disease therapeutic approaches where vascularization is an important pathogenic component and create new ways to assemble capillary tube networks with associated pericytes for tissue engineering applications.
Tissue Distribution, Excretion and Pharmacokinetics of the Environmental Pollutant Dibenzo[def,p]chrysene in Mice

Dibenzo[def,p]chrysene (DBP), a representative example of the class of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), is known to induce tumors in multiple organ sites including the ovary, lung, mammary glands, and oral cavity in rodents. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that the levels of DBP and its metabolites that reach and retain the levels for an extended time in the target organs as well as the capacity of these organs to metabolize this carcinogen to active metabolites that can damage DNA may account for its tissue selective tumorigenicity. Therefore, we used the radiolabeled [3H] DBP to accurately assess the tissue distribution, excretion, and pharmacokinetics of this carcinogen. We also compared the levels of DBPDE-DNA adducts in a select target organ (ovary) and nontarget organs (kidney and liver) in mice treated orally with DBP. Our results showed that after 1 week, 91.40 ± 7.23% of the radioactivity was recovered in the feces; the corresponding value excreted in the urine was less th...
China’s New Foreign Policy and the West: The Case of the European Debt Crisis

China’s new self-confidence on the international stage is mirrored by its new foreign policy rhetoric. Since bilateral free trade agreements with Island in April 2013 and, more importantly, with Switzerland in July 2013 after two years of intense negotiations, have created spearheads in Europe’s center, many on the “old continent” fear that in the long term, not only national debts, but parts of the entrepreneurial and infrastructural core of Europe’s economic and technological performance may be step by step bought up by China, a nation with more than one and a half times the population of the Western nations combined and eager to reach similar levels of innovation. And this, so these critics warn, could happen also to the United States, the biggest foreign debtor to China: a slow, but steady sell-out of crown jewels to China’s banks and its globally operating, government-controlled corporations. But does China really want to “buy up” the West?
Spectroscopic ellipsometry determination of optical and electrical properties of aluminum doped zinc oxide

Abstract An aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) thin film is prepared on soda lime glass by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. Optical properties of ZnO:Al in the form of complex dielectric function ( e = e 1 + i e 2 ) spectra are studied from 0.4 to 6 meV and 0.035 to 5.89 eV using spectroscopic ellipsometry. The film is found to have an optical band gap of 3.62 ± 0.01 eV and an extrapolated DC dielectric constant of 9.072. Resistivity, scattering time, mobility, and carrier concentration are found to be (2.250 ± 0.007) × 10 −3 Ω-cm, 5.1 ± 0.7 fs, 20.8 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , and 1.3 × 10 20 cm −3 respectively. Resistivity and scattering time resulting from fitting to measurements are found to depend on the spectral range modeled, such that the inclusion of increasingly longer wavelengths results in a convergence to direct electrical property measurements.
Tailored algorithms for hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance: Is one-size-fits-all strategy outdated?

Current clinical practice guidelines recommend regular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surveillance with biannual ultrasound with or without serum alpha-fetoprotein uniformly applied to all patients with cirrhosis. However, clinical implementation of this one-size-fits-all strategy has been challenging as evidenced by very low application rate below 20% due to various reasons, including suboptimal performance of the surveillance modalities. Newly emerging imaging techniques such as abbreviated MRI (AMRI) and molecular HCC risk biomarkers have increasingly become available for clinical evaluation and implementation. These technologies may have a potential to reshape HCC surveillance by enabling tailored strategies. This would involve performing optimized surveillance tests according to individual HCC risk and allocating limited medical resources for HCC surveillance based on cost-effectiveness. Tailored HCC surveillance could lead to achievement of precision HCC care and substantial improvement of the current dismal patient prognosis.
Ultrasonographic Validation of Anatomical Landmarks for Localization of the Tendon of the Long Head of Biceps Brachii

Objectives. To establish anatomical landmarks for biceps tendon groove localization based on intrinsic anatomical relations and to validate the localization with ultrasonographic measurement. Design. Perspective, observational, single-blinded pilot study. Participants. 25 healthy male and female volunteers ages 24–50 years. Methods. We used two anatomical landmarks, the medial epicondyle vertical line related landmark and the coracoid process landmark. The distance from the groove skin mark to the medial epicondyle vertical line and the coracoid process was measured horizontally and was measured at 0° and 45° of shoulder external rotation, respectively. Results. Medial epicondyle vertical lines were 9.3 mm/21.5 mm medial to the groove at 0°/45° of shoulder external rotation, respectively. Correlation coefficients were 0.04/0.10, 0.32/0.42, and 0.26/0.37 for weight, height, and BMI in 0°/45° of shoulder external rotation, respectively. The distance between the coracoid process and the groove was 44.0 mm/62.2 mm in 0°/45° of shoulder external rotation, respectively. Correlation coefficients were 0.36/0.41, 0.36/0.54, and 0.18/0.12 for weight, height, and BMI in 0°/45° of shoulder external rotation, respectively. Conclusions. The medial epicondyle vertical line and the coracoid process landmark are both useful anatomical landmarks to localize the biceps groove. The anatomical landmark based localization is essentially not correlated with subject’s weight, height, or BMI.
The Way It Used to Be: Exploring Cultural Heritage through the Augmented Reality Story of a Neighborhood Soul Food Restaurant

This article documents the planning, creation, and user testing of a situated mobile story using the ARIS platform. The game, “Getting a Job at Nikki’s Place,” focuses on a neighborhood restaurant in Orlando, Florida and the life of its current owner, Nick Aiken. Our team used the historical and community aspects of soul food to connect Aiken’s story to the broader story of urban revitalization in the Parramore neighborhood. This article illustrates the knowledge our team gained from the experience of mobile storytelling and articulates it into a call for educators to create digital stories with their own students
Do Routine Preoperative and Intraoperative Urine Cultures Benefit Pediatric Vesicoureteral Reflux Surgery

Objective. To determine if routine preoperative and intraoperative urine cultures (UCx) are necessary in pediatric vesicoureteral (VUR) reflux surgery by identifying their association with each other, preoperative symptoms, and surgical outcomes. Materials and Methods. A retrospective review of patients undergoing ureteral reimplant(s) for primary VUR at a tertiary academic medical center between years 2000 and 2014 was done. Preoperative UCx were defined as those within 30 days before surgery. A positive culture was defined as >50,000 colony forming units of a single organism. Results. A total of 185 patients were identified and 87/185 (47.0%) met inclusion criteria. Of those, 39/87 (45%) completed a preoperative UCx. Only 3/39 (8%) preoperative cultures returned positive, and all of those patients were preoperatively symptomatic. No preoperatively asymptomatic patients had positive preoperative cultures. Intraoperative cultures were obtained in 21/87 (24.1%) patients; all were negative. No associations were found between preoperative culture results and intraoperative cultures or between culture result and postoperative complications. Conclusions. In asymptomatic patients, no associations were found between the completion of a preoperative or intraoperative UCx and surgical outcomes, suggesting that not all patients may require preoperative screening. Children presenting with symptoms of urinary tract infection (UTI) prior to ureteral reimplantation may benefit from preoperative UCx.
Baroreflex function and centrally acting antihypertensive drugs

The baroreflex is a neural circuit that has powerful effects on blood pressure and heart rate. First recognized in the 1920s (Koch and Mies 1929), it is now known to involve sensory endings (arterial baroreceptors) in both the carotid sinus and the aortic arch. These produce afferent impulses which are transmitted via the glossopharyngeal (carotid) and vagus (aortic) nerves to synapses within the nucleus tractus solitarius of the medulla. Ultimately, blood pressure and heart rate are affected by parallel sympathetic and parasympathetic modulation. Following the initial description of the baroreflex, it was speculated that a primary disturbance of its function might lead to hypertension in man. This speculation remains active today, supported by observations that impairment of the baroreflex function can produce hypertension in animals and in man. The development of centrally acting antihypertensive drugs, including clonidine hydrochloride, has provided further information about the neurophysiology of the baroreflex, including evidence that baroreflex modulation may be a component action of such drugs.
A review of game theory applications in natural disaster management research

Research for efficiently planning and responding to natural disasters is of vital interest due to the devastating effects and losses caused by their occurrence, including economic deficiency, casualties, and infrastructure damage. Following the large breadth of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, we observe a growing use of game theoretic models in the research concerning natural disaster management. In these models, government agencies and private companies interact as players in a disaster relief game. Notable research in these areas has studied multi-player games and multi-agency collaboration, among others, to provide insights into optimal decisions concerning defensive investment and private–public partnerships in the face of disaster occurrence. This paper aims to increase the comprehension of game theory-based research in disaster management and to provide directions for future research. We analyze and integrate 57 recent papers (2006–2016) to summarize game theory-based research in natural disaster and emergency management. We find that the response phase of disaster relief has been researched most extensively, and future research could be directed toward the other phases of disaster management such as mitigation, preparedness, and recovery. Attacker–defender games to be utilized relatively frequently to model both mitigation and response for a disaster. Defensive resource allocation and sequential/simultaneous games to model the interaction between agencies/individuals in light of a disaster are two other common ways to model disaster management. In addition to academia, the targeted audience of this research includes governments, private sectors, private citizens, and others who are concerned with or involved in disaster management.
Collapse indicators for existing nonductile concrete frame buildings with varying column and frame characteristics

Abstract Many existing reinforced concrete moment frame buildings in high seismic regions around the world, including the U.S., were built without adequate seismic detailing. Quantifying the relationship between a set of quantitative parameters, known as collapse indicators, and collapse risk metrics can facilitate efficient identification, classification and retrofit of the most collapse-prone buildings. This paper investigates three collapse indicators: (1) the column-to-beam strength ratio, (2) the ratio of lateral (shear) strengths in adjacenot stories, and (3) the ratio of column flexural to shear strength. Each collapse indicator is varied separately through a parametric study of 36 idealized buildings, and nonlinear simulation models are dynamically analyzed for a suite of ground motions to assess the collapse performance. The results establish the relationship between the variation of the collapse performance of the building as a function of each collapse indicator, and identify the range over which variation of the collapse indicator significantly influences collapse performance, as well as upper and lower bounds beyond which the indicator is not significant. The results show that the deficiency associated with the column-to-beam strength ratio and the ratio of shear strengths in adjacent stories can be defined efficiently as the average of the associated values in the components at critical floor/story. For the collapse indicator related to the ratio to column flexural to shear strength, the collapse performance is strongly related to the average values in the critical story, and also the location of the most shear critical columns. The study also shows that the gradient of the collapse performance with respect to the three collapse indicators is similar.
Semiconducting Metal Oxides for High Performance Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract Revolutionary progress in power conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cell from 10% to 22.1% has accompanied significant advances in materials engineering, processing, and device architectures. Increasing fundamental studies unveiled superior intrinsic optoelectronic properties of perovskite materials, while development of customized fabrication processes enabled to full utilization of the advantageous optoelectronic properties. Although such progress has resulted in simplified planar heterojunction architecture, selection of proper selective contacts is still critical for high efficiency and long-term stability. In this chapter, we address the role of the semiconducting metal oxide transporting layer in perovskite solar cell with two major device architectures (n-i-p and p-i-n structure). The role of the semiconducting metal oxide materials in the charge transport process of perovskite solar cell is discussed in details, particularly the historical evolution of device configuration. Finally, future directions for further improvements on issues such as stability, hysteresis, and processability are provided.
Regulation of Nuclear Calcium Concentration

Transient increases in nuclear calcium concentration have been shown to activate gene expression and other nuclear processes. It has been suggested that nuclear calcium signals are controlled by a mechanism that is independent of calcium signalling in the cytosol. This would be possible if calcium diffusion is slow and a separate calcium release mechanism is localized to the nuclear region. Alternatively, the nuclear envelope could act as a diffusion barrier for calcium ions released either inside or outside the nucleus. It has also been proposed that inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) can be generated inside the nucleus and that there are calcium release channels in the inner membrane of the nuclear envelope. Most of the experimental evidence supporting these hypotheses is based on the calibration of nuclear and cytosolic calcium concentrations. However, recent studies suggest that the local calibration of calcium indicators may not be accurate. We propose that nuclear calcium signals can be investigated by a different approach that does not rely on accurate calibration of indicators. We have developed calcium indicators that minimize facilitated calcium diffusion and are localized to either the nucleus or the cytosol. Using the diffusion coefficient of calcium ions, and measuring the delay between cytosolic and nuclear calcium increases, we show that the nuclear envelope is not a substantial barrier for calcium ions in PC12 (phaeochromocytoma) cells. This suggests that nuclear and cytosolic calcium signals equilibrate rapidly in these cells.
Metabolism of Exogenous Alkaloids

While knowledge about the metabolism of alkaloids in the plants that synthesize them has only recently begun to be developed, pathways of alkaloid degradation by other organisms have been studied for many years, and in a few cases considerable detail is available. The special interest in this area arises, of course, from pharmacological effects of alkaloids, and therefore most studies relate to mammalian metabolism and to alkaloids of widespread use. It is frequently suggested that administered drugs are metabolically converted to the real physiologically active compounds. The metabolism of drugs is a subject of frequent review articles [28,76,134]; and since many drugs are either natural alkaloids or structurally related compounds, these reviews often include information pertinent to the present discussion. There are also two books dealing with the mammalian metabolism of foreign compounds in general [58,116]. Where not specifically annotated, information in this chapter has been derived from these five reviews. The metabolism of alkaloids by microorganisms has received less attention than their mammalian metabolism, but there is practical reason for such studies, since products of microbial transformation of alkaloids may in some cases themselves be pharmacologically valuable or serve as intermediates for chemical syntheses. There is one review in this area [68].
Intralipid Compatibility Study

Twenty-five parenteral agents were combined individually with an investigational lipid emulsion (Intralipid®) to assess what effect they would have on the pharmaceutical stability of the emulsion. Of the agents tested, calcium gluconate, tetracycline hydrochloride, 10 percent Hyprotogen, and diphenylhydantoin resulted in a pharmaceutically unacceptable preparation.
Complex Vector Bundles; Connections

Throughout this section we will denote by M a C∞ differentiable manifold, and we will develop the properties of complex vector bundles over M. For economy the adjective “complex” is sometimes omitted.
Pharmacological Treatment of Acute, Experimental Spinal Cord Injury

Various pharmacologic agents have been reported to be effective in the treatment of acute experimental spinal cord injury. Their mechanism(s) of action is problematic. However, based on the pathophysiology of acute spinal cord injury, it is suggested that compounds with substantial antioxidant and/or antilipolytic activity should have significant therapeutic potential for spinal cord injury. Other agents, like naloxone and TRH, may also protect a subpopulation of neurons by preventing the specific consequences of postinjury opioid elevation in spinal cord tissue. Alternatively, the megadoses required for effectiveness of all of these compounds (except U-74006F) may indicate a nonreceptor-mediated protection of damaged tissue. It is unlikely that any one drug will provide maximum protection. Rather, a combination of compounds, expeditiously administered, may be required in the clinical setting to ameloriate functional return in spinal cord injured patients.
Spectrophotometric absorbance of follicular fluid: a predictor of oocyte fertilizing capability.

Follicular fluid volume, scoring of the oocyte-cumulus-corona-complex (OCCC), and spectrophotometric absorbance of the follicular fluid were separately compared between a group of fertilized (n=53) and unfertilized oocytes (n=35). Scoring of the OCCC and follicular fluid volumes was not found to be statistically different between the two groups. Spectrophotometric analysis of the follicular fluid in the visible spectrum demonstrated two peaks of maximum absorbance at 415nm and 455nm. The group of oocytes that fertilized was associated with follicular fluids that had significantly higher absorbances at 415nm and 455nm. In conclusion, follicular fluid volume and scoring of the OCCC were poor predictors of fertilizing capability; however, spectrophotometric absorbance, particularly at 455 nm, was positively correlated with oocyte fertilization.
Extending existing inference tools to mine dynamic APIs

APIs often feature dynamic relations between client and service provider, such as registering for notifications or establishing a connection to a service. Dynamic specification mining techniques attempt to fill gaps in missing or decaying documentation, but current miners are blind to relations established dynamically. Because they cannot recover properties involving these dynamic structures, they may produce incomplete or misleading specifications. We have devised an extension to current dynamic specification mining techniques that ameliorates this shortcoming. The key insight is to monitor not only values dynamically, but also properties to track dynamic data structures that establish new relations between client and service provider. We have implemented this approach as an extension to the instrumentation component of Daikon, the leading example of dynamic invariant mining in the research literature. We evaluated our tool by applying it to selected modules of widely used software systems published on GitHub.
Platelet Rich Plasma: Biology and Clinical Usage in Orthopedics

Biological research in the areas of skeletal, cartilaginous, tendinous, and muscular tissues has led to the advancement of various products designed to augment healing. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been in clinical use and researched since the 1970s because of its regenerative properties. In this chapter, we will first define PRP and its components and discuss various methods of preparation and isolation. The second section will focus on the clinical applications of PRP on tissue specific pathologies including tendinopathy, ligamentous injuries, osteoarthritis, and muscle injuries in the field of orthopedic surgery and sports medicine. Lastly, the latest progress in PRP research will be briefly listed and some promising future directions will be discussed.
Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Receipt of Electroconvulsive Therapy for Elderly Patients With a Principal Diagnosis of Depression in Inpatient Settings.

Abstract Objective Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is underused despite being among the most effective treatments for older adults with severe, pharmacotherapy-resistant mood disorders. Furthermore, those in minority groups are even less likely to receive ECT. The objective of this study was to examine racial and ethnic disparities in the receipt of ECT in older adults. Methods We used survey-weighted log-binomial regression to generate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) that represented the associations between race/ethnicity and receipt of ECT during hospitalization at an ECT-available hospital. We used data from the 2002–2015 National Inpatient Sample, the largest all-payer inpatient database in the United States. The analysis was restricted to hospitalizations of adults aged 65–95 with depression as a principal diagnostic code. The primary exposure was patient race/ethnicity, and the primary outcome was receipt of ECT during hospitalization, restricted to ECT-available hospitals. Results Among the 685,939 patients included in the analysis, 45% received care at an ECT-available hospital, and among those, 17% received ECT. Non-Hispanic (NH) blacks were nearly half as likely to receive ECT as NH whites (aPR: 0.56 [0.47–0.81]; t: −6.42; df: 1,327; p Conclusion This national cross-sectional study of racial/ethnic disparities in receipt of ECT among depressed elderly patients confirms prior literature and reveals the potential worsening of disparities for racial/ethnic minorities blacks.
Iron and copper metabolism in cancer, as exemplified by changes in ferritin and ceruloplasmin in rats with transplantable tumors.

Iron and copper are crucial to the metabolism of all eukaryotic cells and are often linked in their functions (17). Both elements are associated with electron transport and in mammals are required for the formation of hemoglobin in erythropoisis. Iron and copper are stored in the liver of the fetus during the first part of gestation for utilization during the first part of life when the diet (milk) contains little of these elements.
The Nyquist Issue in Linear Inverse Modeling

AbstractLinear inverse modeling (LIM) is a statistical technique based on covariance statistics that estimates the best-fit linear Markov process to a multivariate time series. An integral, often-i...
Direct Support Professionals' Perspectives on Ambulatory Health Care Processes and Quality

Direct support professionals (DSPs) frequently accompany persons with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (IDD) to their health care appointments and could offer valuable insights into potential target areas for health-care improvement. DSPs completed surveys assessing healthcare processes and quality immediately following 118 ambulatory health care encounters involving their patients with IDD. Although DSPs generally judged the quality of health care as good (44%) or excellent (52%), they also observed that physicians directed questions to the DSP that the patient could have answered in 22% of encounters, and noted that physicians failed to ask critical psychosocial information in 24% of encounters. Competency-based training of DSPs around health-care advocacy could significantly improve the quality of health care provided to persons with IDD.
Hospital Image Repair Strategies, Organizational Apology, and Medical Errors: An Analysis of the CoxHealth Brain Over-Radiation Case

Medical errors are currently ranked the third leading cause of death in United States; however, hospital responses when one occurs have been left out of organizational crisis and image repair literature. This article reports an image repair analysis of the 2010 CoxHealth radiation medical error case, when 76 patients accidentally received fatally high doses of radiation for the treatment of brain cancer. CoxHealth used a variety of image repair strategies including shifting the blame, minimization, bolstering, and corrective action. Moreover, CoxHealth heavily used transcendence to transform the conversation from the error to activism to frame themselves as change agents championing for patient safety.
Synthesis and characterization of layered Nb2C MXene/ZnS nanocomposites for highly selective electrochemical sensing of dopamine

Abstract MXenes, due to their exceptional properties, are tagged as materials of future in the field of two dimensional (2D) materials. Niobium carbide (Nb2C) is an important member of MXene family having vast application in the field of lithium ion batteries and supercapacitors. However, its applications in the field of sensing have not been explored yet. This research work reports the synthesis and application of Nb2C/ZnS nanocomposite for the sensing of dopamine (DA) for the first time. The etching of Nb2C from parent MAX phase (Nb2AlC) was performed at 55 °C. The application of Nb2C electrode for the electrochemical sensing of DA was employed through differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Zinc sulphide (ZnS) nanoparticles were synthesized hydrothermally to enhance the electrochemical properties of Nb2C. The characterization of these prepared samples was done with the help XRD, SEM, EDS, and of FTIR spectroscopy. The MXene-ZnS nanocomposite modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) proved to be a very effective electrode material to detect dopamine electrochemically with a wide linear detection range of 0.09–0.82 mM, a very low detection limit of 1.39 μM and excellent sensitivity of 12.1 μAμM-1. The modified glassy carbon electrode also proved to be exceptionally selective towards dopamine in the presence of interfering agents like ascorbic acid, citric acid and glucose.
Mid-Term Survival after Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair by Indication in the Medicare Population.

Background Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is indicated for treatment of aneurysms, dissections, and traumatic injury. We describe mid-term mortality and reintervention rates in Medicare beneficiaries undergoing TEVAR. Study design Patients who underwent TEVAR between 2006 and 2014 were identified by CPT codes in a 20% Medicare sample. Indication for aortic repair (aneurysm, dissection, trauma) was ascertained via ICD-9 codes. Follow-up was evaluated until 2015. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression were used to compare mortality, with reintervention and mortality rates expressed as a composite outcome in a hazard ratio with 95% confidence interval (hazard ratio [HR] 95% CI). Results There were 3,095 patients who underwent TEVAR during the study period: 1,465 (47%) for aneurysm, 1,448 (47%) for dissection, and 182 (5.9%) for trauma. Mean patient age was 74.4 years, and 44.5% were female. Median follow-up was 2.7 years. The overall 30-day, 1-year, and 5-year, and 8-year survival rates were 93%, 78%, 49%, and 33%, respectively. Thirty-day mortality was highest in traumatic indications, but overall mortality was highest in patients undergoing TEVAR for aneurysm. Freedom from combined reintervention and mortality at 30 days, 1 year, 5 years, and 8 years was 89%, 73%, 43%, and 29%, respectively. Reintervention was highest in patients undergoing TEVAR for dissection (12.8%), followed by aneurysm (10.0%) and trauma (5.5%). Advanced age (HR 1.03 per year, 95% CI 1.02–1.03), congestive heart failure (CHF) (HR 1.48, 95% CI 1.33–1.65), dementia (HR 1.40, 95% CI 1.14–1.28), and rupture (HR 1.38, 95% CI 1.24–1.54) were associated with mortality. Conclusions Midterm survival is lower in patients who undergo TEVAR for dissection and aneurysm compared with trauma. Aneurysmal disease, advanced age, CHF, dementia, and aortic rupture are associated with mortality and reintervention in TEVAR.
German Americans on the Middle Border: From Antislavery to Reconciliation, 1830-1877

Review of: German Americans on the Middle Border: From Antislavery to Reconciliation, 1830–1877, by Zachary Stuart Garrison.
Hunting Garbage Collection Related Concurrency Bugs through Critical Condition Restoration

With the increasing popularity of multi-core processors and multi-thread languages/frameworks, race conditions -- which are non-deterministic by nature -- are becoming a main root cause for concurrency bugs. It opens doors to malicious attacks such as remote code execution and denial of service attacks, potentially putting millions of users in danger. Yet, such non-deterministic racing conditions are often difficult to identify or reproduce in standard program testing. In this paper, we focus on the Garbage-Collection (GC) feature, which is known to be a frequent victim of concurrency bugs in many software systems. We develop a new approach to facilitate the testing of GC-related bugs through critical condition restoration. In particular, we propose a risk-score mechanism to quantify the risk of GC-related bugs in target functions and leverage the score to select appropriate testing parameters and garbage generation strategy, with a higher chance of producing the critical condition. Our experimental results show that the proposed approach could significantly improve the probability of finding GC-related bugs (from 0 in condition-oblivious testing to 14.8 bugs identified in our experiment) while incurring only around 26% execution overhead.
Increased thickness of lumbar spine ligamentum flavum in wild-type transthyretin amyloidosis.

Abstract Background Wild-type transthyretin (ATTRwt) amyloid deposits have been found in the ligamentum flavum of patients undergoing surgery for spinal stenosis. The relationship between ATTRwt and ligamentum flavum thickness is unclear. We used pre-operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to analyze ligamentum flavum thickness in lumbar spinal stenosis patients with and without ATTRwt amyloid. Methods We retrospectively identified 178 patients who underwent lumbar spine surgery. Ligamentum flavum thickness of 253 specimens was measured on T2-weighted axial MRI. Amyloid presence was confirmed through Congo red staining of specimens, and ATTRwt was confirmed using mass-spectrometry and gene sequencing. Results Twenty four of the 178 patients (13.5%) were found to have ATTRwt in the ligamentum flavum. Forty ATTRwt specimens and 213 non-ATTRwt specimens were measured. Mean ligamentum flavum thickness was 4.92 (±1.27) mm in the ATTRwt group and 4.00 (±1.21) mm in the non-ATTRwt group (p Conclusion Patients with ATTRwt had thicker ligamentum flavum compared to patients without ATTRwt. Further studies are needed to investigate the pathophysiology of ATTRwt in ligamentum flavum thickening.
Implicit causality biases and thematic roles in American Sign Language

Implicit causality (IC) biases, the tendency of certain verbs to elicit re-mention of either the first-mentioned noun phrase (NP1) or the second-mentioned noun phrase (NP2) from the previous clause, are important in psycholinguistic research. Understanding IC verbs and the source of their biases in signed as well as spoken languages helps elucidate whether these phenomena are language general or specific to the spoken modality. As the first of its kind, this study investigates IC biases in American Sign Language (ASL) and provides IC bias norms for over 200 verbs, facilitating future psycholinguistic studies of ASL and comparisons of spoken versus signed languages. We investigated whether native ASL signers continued sentences with IC verbs (e.g., ASL equivalents of ‘Lisa annoys Maya because…’) by mentioning NP1 (i.e., Lisa) or NP2 (i.e., Maya). We found a tendency towards more NP2-biased verbs. Previous work has found that a verb’s thematic roles predict bias direction: stimulus-experiencer verbs (e.g., ‘annoy’), where the first argument is the stimulus (causing annoyance) and the second argument is the experiencer (experiencing annoyance), elicit more NP1 continuations. Verbs with experiencer-stimulus thematic roles (e.g., ‘love’) elicit more NP2 continuations. We probed whether the trend towards more NP2-biased verbs was related to an existing claim that stimulus-experiencer verbs do not exist in sign languages. We found that stimulus-experiencer structure, while permitted, is infrequent, impacting the IC bias distribution in ASL. Nevertheless, thematic roles predict IC bias in ASL, suggesting that the thematic role-IC bias relationship is stable across languages as well as modalities.
Hip hop : beyond beats and rhymes

Women’s Studies Program Light rshments erved Kean University Byron Hurt is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, a published writer, and an anti-sexist activist. His documentary, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. It was later broadcast nationally on the Emmy award-winning PBS series Independent Lens, drawing an audience of more than 1.3 million viewers. To date, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes has been selected to appear in more than 50 film festivals worldwide and The Chicago Tribune named it "one of the best documentary films in 2007."
Multivariate Probit Analysis

Probit analysis is used in the environmental toxicology field as a procedure to study the dosage response relation in a population of biological organisms, where randomly chosen population members are exposed to various levels of applied stimulus and quantal response is assessed as either dead or alive. In some instances more than one organ or physiological system is affected by the stimulus leading to tests of so-called main effects and side effects.
A heterogeneous solution for improving the return on investment of requirements traceability

This work describes a best-of-breed approach to traceability, in which the return-on-investment of the requirements traceability effort is maximized through the strategic deployment of a heterogeneous set of traceability techniques. This contrasts with typical traceability practices that tend to utilize a single technique such as a matrix or tool embedded into a requirements management package even though it may not provide the optimal solution for the traceability needs of a diverse set of requirements. The proposed solution, named TraCS (traceability for complex systems), defines project level trace strategies for categories of requirements and establishes links strategically in order to optimize returns of the traceability effort and minimize the risk inherent to software evolution. The paper provides a rationale for heterogeneous traceability, describes an extensible traceability framework, and then defines the process for establishing project level trace strategies. It concludes with an example drawn from a system to control chemical reactions at a catalyst plant.
Professionals Play Minimax

During the last few decades game theory has contributed to a reshaping of important aspects of the methodology of Economics and other social sciences. In large part this is because the language, concepts, and techniques of noncooperative game theory have become central to many areas of the discipline. Undoubtedly, studying the interaction of ideally rational players greatly aids our understanding of the behavior of real individuals, firms and other agents. Moreover, as Kreps (1991) remarks, "studying the former should aim at understanding the latter. The point of game theory is to help economists understand and predict what will happen in economic, social and political contexts." Theoretical contributions should thus feed back to empirical analysis. However, testing the implications of the theory has proven extremely difficult in the literature. The primary reason is that many predictions often hinge on properties of the utility functions and the values of the rewards used. Even when predictions are invariant over classes of preferences, data on rewards are seldom available in natural settings. Moreover, there is often great difficulty in determining strategy sets and in measuring individuals� choices, effort levels, and the incentive structures they face. As a result, even the most fundamental predictions of game-theoretical models have not been supported empirically in real situations yet.
Extracellular Hsp90 mediates an NF-κB dependent inflammatory stromal program: implications for the prostate tumor microenvironment.

BACKGROUND The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays an essential role in supporting and promoting tumor growth and progression. An inflammatory stroma is a widespread hallmark of the prostate TME, and prostate tumors are known to co-evolve with their reactive stroma. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) within the reactive stroma play a salient role in secreting cytokines that contribute to this inflammatory TME. Although a number of inflammatory mediators have been identified, a clear understanding of key factors initiating the formation of reactive stroma is lacking. METHODS We explored whether tumor secreted extracellular Hsp90 alpha (eHsp90α) may initiate a reactive stroma. Prostate stromal fibroblasts (PrSFs) were exposed to exogenous Hsp90α protein, or to conditioned medium (CM) from eHsp90α-expressing prostate cancer cells, and evaluated for signaling, motility, and expression of prototypic reactive markers. In tandem, ELISA assays were utilized to characterize Hsp90α-mediated secreted factors. RESULTS We report that exposure of PrSFs to eHsp90 upregulates the transcription and protein secretion of IL-6 and IL-8, key inflammatory cytokines known to play a causative role in prostate cancer progression. Cytokine secretion was regulated in part via a MEK/ERK and NF-κB dependent pathway. Secreted eHsp90α also promoted the rapid and durable activation of the oncogenic inflammatory mediator signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT3). Finally, eHsp90 induced the expression of MMP-3, a well-known mediator of fibrosis and the myofibroblast phenotype. CONCLUSIONS Our results provide compelling support for eHsp90α as a transducer of signaling events culminating in an inflammatory and reactive stroma, thereby conferring properties associated with prostate cancer progression. Prostate 74:395–407, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Operation principles of bidirectional isolated AC/DC converter with natural clamping soft switching scheme

The bidirectional isolated AC/DC converter is widely used in the past decades. Most of the topologies are based on voltage source converter. However, the performance of the voltage source based converter is significantly limited by the bulky energy storage element, the range of soft switching, the leakage inductance of the transformer and so forth. A current fed isolated AC/DC converter is studied in the paper. A novel soft switching control scheme is used in this topology, which could achieve the natural clamping and the zero current commutating. Instead of causing the voltage spike problem, the leakage inductance of the transformer could be utilized to assist the soft switching. The natural voltage clamping and the soft switching could be achieved without limiting the operating range of the inductor into discontinuous current mode. The control scheme and PWM generation scheme is analyzed in this paper. Simulation results are used to validate the operation of the novel control scheme in this topology.
Performative Neoliberal-Parasitic Economies: The Chicago Case

In-migrants moving into US cities from Mexico today confront a new punishing reality: neoliberal-parasitic economies. This article examines the daily, ritualized production of knowledge by these temporary labor agencies, day-labor hirers, check cashers, payday lenders and pawnshops that functions to normalize their existence and actions. A focus on the largest Mexican community in the American Midwest, Chicago’s Little Village, chronicles two points. First, these economic institutions actively produce knowledge in potentially controversial and volatile circumstances that helps legitimize their existence and actions. This production of knowledge centers on two constructs: who these entrepreneurs are as beings and who their customer base is. Secondly, this knowledge is grounded in offers of key spatial imaginaries that provide form and substance to these presentations of entrepreneurs and customers. Two spatial imaginaries are most important: the tumultuous Mexican barrio and the idealized Mexican ethnoscape. These results show a turbulent and precarious economy in Little Village that is performative, rhetorically charged, and deploys imaginary spaces.
Arthroscopic repair for traumatic posterior shoulder instability.

Background:The role of arthroscopic repair in the treatment of posterior shoulder instability remains poorly defined.Purpose:To evaluate the results of arthroscopic repair of posterior Bankart lesi...