cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bracketing Theory in Leonardo’s Five Grotesque Heads

Among the thousands of pages of manuscript and drawings by Leonardo da Vinci that still survive, a class of images has been much discussed lately — the grotesque heads.1 These actually comprise a whole gamut of types grouped because they are not beautiful girls or youths, beautiful women or handsome men. Many, indeed most, are old; many are ugly; some are senile; some are ridiculous. For all their oddities, Ernst Gombrich has observed: “Passing them in review one cannot get rid of the feeling that plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose. Far from being free improvisations the grotesque heads look like frantic avoiding actions, almost desperate struggles to get away from the compulsion of once more repeating the features of the `nut-cracker head’ ” (a profile of an old man with open mouth that Leonardo sketched repeatedly).2 It is the purpose of the following study to determine if there might not be another reason why Leonardo drew so many grotesque faces that have an underlying similarity. In order to demonstrate my argument, I have divided this paper into four parts, given in headings below. Since the argument is based on an analogy with an argument based on a forthcoming paper on the sheet of heads at Windsor, RL 12495,3 the so-called Five Grotesque Heads, the argument of that paper is included here.4
Discrete sets of coherent states and their use in signal analysis

We discuss expansions of L2-functions into {φmn; m,n∈Z}, where the φmn are generated from one function φ, either by translations in phase space, i.e. \(\phi _{mn} (x) = e^{imp_0 x} \phi (x - nq_0 )\), (p0, q0 fixed), or by translations and dilations, i.e. φmn(x)=a 0 −m/2 φ(a 0 −m x−nb0). These expansions can be used for phase space localization.
Upper Airway and Abdominal Motor Output During Sneezing: Is the In Vivo Decererate Rat an Adequate Model?

While numerous studies have focused on identifying and characterizing the neural mechanisms mediating upper airway defense reflexes in the anesthetized or decerebrate adult cat, little is known about these behaviors in in vivo rodent models. The current study was undertaken to investigate whether the in vivo decelerate adult rat might serve as an acceptable model for studying these behaviors. To begin to address this possibility, we examined multiple respiratory motor activities in response to mechanical stimulation of the anterior nasal cavity (sufficient to elicit fictive sneezing) in in vivo decerebrate adult rats. We found that the neural activities observed during nasal stimulation were consistent with those previously reported during fictive sneezing in the adult cat model. We suggest that the in vivo decerebrate rat is an acceptable model for studying the sneezing reflex.
Gene Therapy and Free Flaps for Therapeutic Reconstructive Surgery

Surgery, whether alone or in combination with adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy, is a major component in the treatment of oncological disease. Patients with ablative defects following surgical resection may undergo reconstructive surgery, with the aim of returning the patient to a premorbid level, for example, a mastectomy for cancer clearance and a breast reconstruction for chest wall reconstruction. However, despite multidisciplinary involvement, aggressive surgical margins, and additional therapy, tumor recurrence may occur. Autologous tissue used for reconstruction may provide a potential therapeutic source to patients and promote long-term tumor eradication by secreting therapeutic factors. This review focuses on gene therapy as a means of ex vivo transduction of autologous tissue and describes how reconstructive tissue can offer both reconstructive and therapeutic roles in the form of therapeutic flaps.
Caste and control in schools: A systematic review of the pathways, rates and correlates of exclusion due to school discipline

Abstract In recent decades, school discipline policies and practices in K-12 education resulting in school exclusion have garnered substantial attention and represent an important challenge with significant policy and equity implications. Given the central role that school exclusion plays in discipline policies and practices, it is important to critically assess the pathways, rates, and harms associated with school exclusion. This study provides a systematic review of the interdisciplinary literature on the relationship between school exclusion and students' short- and long-term educational and life outcomes. Although there are a handful of possible pathways, the most frequent pathway though which school discipline results in school exclusion are suspensions. The results of this systematic review indicate that school exclusion is not an efficacious response to student misbehavior given the short and long term correlates with negative student educational and life outcomes. There are several plausible mechanisms through which school exclusion may affect student outcomes but there is little empirical evidence on these mechanisms.
Mechanical and Biodegradation Properties of Nanostructured Polymer Composites Under Degradation Behavior

Abstract Polymeric systems may exhibit exceptional properties owing to the presence of structural entities with nanometer-range dimensions. Nanostructured polymeric composites and nanocomposites with different morphologies and spatial organizations have a wide range of uses in the biomedical field. This chapter presents the behavior of nanostructured polymer-based composites and nanocomposites under mechanical, thermal, and biodegradation. Nanostructured polymer-based nanocomposite systems have also been generated by reinforcing nanofillers such as nanodiamonds, graphene, carbon nanotubes, nanoclays, nanocellulose, hydroxyapatite, wollastonite, zinc, and titania nanoparticles. Such nanomaterials have remarkable characteristics and exciting possibilities for recent advances in biomedical relevance such as tissue engineering, bone tissue regeneration, cellular response, regenerative medicine, drug and gene delivery, and biosensors.
Shift Work and Working at Night in Relation to Breast Cancer Incidence.

Background: Night shift work has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a probable carcinogen in humans. Several studies have assessed night shift work in relation to breast cancer risk, with inconsistent results. Methods: In the prospective Sister Study cohort, current and past occupational history was collected for 48,451 participants. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate adjusted HRs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between baseline work schedule characteristics and incident breast cancer. Results: During follow-up (mean = 9.1 years), 3,191 incident cases were diagnosed. We observed little to no increase in risk associated with work schedule characteristics (ever working rotating shifts: HR = 1.04, 95% CI, 0.91–1.20; ever working rotating night shifts: HR = 1.08, 95% CI, 0.92–1.27; ever working at night: HR = 1.01, 95% CI, 0.94–1.10; and ever working irregular hours: HR = 0.98, 95% CI, 0.91–1.06). Although short-term night work (>0 to 5 years vs. never: HR = 1.12; 95% CI, 1.00–1.26) and rotating shift work at night (>0 to 5 years vs. never: HR = 1.30; 95% CI, 1.05–1.61) were associated with increased breast cancer risk, working nights for more than 5 years was not associated with risk. Conclusions: Overall, we observed little evidence that rotating shift work or work at night was associated with a higher risk of breast cancer, except possibly among those who participated in such work for short durations of time. Impact: This study indicates that if night shift work is associated with breast cancer, the increase in risk is small.
ICAS: an Extensible Framework for Estimating the Susceptibility of IC Layouts to Additive Trojans

The transistors used to construct Integrated Circuits (ICs) continue to shrink. While this shrinkage improves performance and density, it also reduces trust: the price to build leading-edge fabrication facilities has skyrocketed, forcing even nation states to outsource the fabrication of high-performance ICs. Outsourcing fabrication presents a security threat because the black-box nature of a fabricated IC makes comprehensive inspection infeasible. Since prior work shows the feasibility of fabrication-time attackers’ evasion of existing post-fabrication defenses, IC designers must be able to protect their physical designs before handing them off to an untrusted foundry. To this end, recent work suggests methods to harden IC layouts against attack. Unfortunately, no tool exists to assess the effectiveness of the proposed defenses, thus leaving defensive gaps.This paper presents an extensible IC layout security analysis tool called IC Attack Surface (ICAS) that quantifies defensive coverage. For researchers, ICAS identifies gaps for future defenses to target, and enables the quantitative comparison of existing and future defenses. For practitioners, ICAS enables the exploration of the impact of design decisions on an IC’s resilience to fabrication-time attack. ICAS takes a set of metrics that encode the challenge of inserting a hardware Trojan into an IC layout, a set of attacks that the defender cares about, and a completed IC layout and reports the number of ways an attacker can add each attack to the design. While the ideal score is zero, practically, we find that lower scores correlate with increased attacker effort.To demonstrate ICAS’ ability to reveal defensive gaps, we analyze over 60 layouts of three real-world hardware designs (a processor, AES and DSP accelerators), protected with existing defenses. We evaluate the effectiveness of each circuit–defense combination against three representative attacks from the literature. Results show that some defenses are ineffective and others, while effective at reducing the attack surface, leave 10’s to 1000’s of unique attack implementations that an attacker can exploit.
Should adenosquamous esophageal cancer be treated like adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND Esophageal adenocarcinoma (AC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) have distinct outcomes, treatment strategies, and response profiles to therapy. Adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) is thought to behave more aggressively than each of its counterparts. The aim of this study is to determine ifASC is best managed as AC or SCC. METHODS National Cancer Database (2004-2015) was queried for patients with nonmetastatic esophageal ASC. The analysis was stratified by clinical node-negative (cN0) or clinical node-positive (cN1-3). Treatment was categorized into chemoradiation alone, surgery alone, or preoperative chemoradiation followed by surgery. The primary outcome was 5-year overall survival (OS). RESULTS Among 352 patients, 43% were cN0 (n = 151), 57% were cN1-3 (n = 201) and 55% had chemoradiation alone (n = 194), 15% surgery alone (n = 53), and 30% preoperative chemoradiation (n = 105). Among patients who had preoperative chemoradiation, 20% had pathologic complete response (n = 17). For either cN0 or cN1-3, Charlson-Deyo Comorbidity Index did not differ among the treatment groups(all p > 0.05). On Kaplan-Meier analysis for cN0, treatment with surgery alone had comparable OS to preoperative chemoradiation (47% vs 34%; P = .5) and each had improved OS compared to chemoradiation alone (30%; P = .02; P = .06). On univariate analysis for cN0, clinical T category was not associated with OS. For cN1-3, however, preoperative chemoradiation was associated with improved OS when compared to chemoradiation alone or surgery alone (27% vs 19% vs 0%; P < .001). This persisted when accounting for age and clinical T category (hazard ratio: 0.45; P < .001). CONCLUSION Esophageal ASC behaves more like AC in response to chemoradiation and survival based on treatment modality. A complete response to chemoradiation is only 20% unlike what has been shown for SCC, where chemoradiation is an acceptable definitive therapy. Esophageal ASC should be managed more like AC.
Double-loaded suture anchors in the treatment of anteroinferior glenohumeral instability

Hypothesis The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical outcomes of arthroscopic labral repair for anteroinferior glenohumeral instability with the use of double-loaded suture anchors. Methods This study evaluated a series of consecutive patients treated after the senior author changed from single- to double-loaded suture anchors for the treatment of anteroinferior glenohumeral instability with a minimum follow-up period of 2 years. We collected the following outcomes at final follow-up: visual analog scale pain score, Simple Shoulder Test score, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score, and instability recurrence data. Results A total of 41 consecutive patients underwent arthroscopic labral repair with double-loaded anchors, of whom 30 (71%) were able to be contacted at a minimum of 2 years postoperatively. These patients included 4 contact or collision athletes (13%). The patients had an average of 12 ± 13 prior dislocations over an average period of 56 ± 57 months preoperatively. Mean glenoid bone loss measured 16% ± 10%, and 67% (18 of 27 patients) had glenoid bone loss ≥ 13.5%. Intraoperatively, 3.2 ± 0.4 anchors were used. No posterior repairs or remplissage procedures were performed. At an average of 6.7 ± 2.7 years' follow-up, the visual analog scale pain score was 0.8 ± 1.4; Simple Shoulder Test score, 11 ± 2; and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score, 90 ± 14. Patients with bone loss Conclusion Arthroscopic labral repair with double-loaded anchors provides satisfactory clinical results at early to mid-term outcome assessment when glenoid bone loss is
Borderline (Patient) Personality

This article describes the borderline personality disorder (BPD) as defined in the DSM-IV and DSM-V classification system and points to the present major shift in the conceptualization of personality disorders. The present, dimensionally oriented classification of personality disorders stresses the pathology of the self and of the relationship with others as central organizing concepts regarding the severity of these disorders. Borderline personality organization is described as the structural intrapsychic organization of experience that explains the pathology of self and object relations characteristic of the BPD. The clinical differential diagnosis of this disorder, its etiological features, and treatment approaches with psychotherapeutic methods and psychopharmacological intervention completes this overview.
Skilling and the Pursuit of Healthcare Fraud

I. THE PROBLEM OF HEALTH CARE FRAUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 R II. SKILLING AND THE SHRINKING WORLD OF HONEST SERVICES FRAUD . . . . . . . . . 373 R A. Criticism of the Doctrine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375 R 1. UNDERLYING FIDUCIARY RELATIONSHIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 R 2. NATURE OF PROHIBITED CONDUCT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 R 3. HARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 R 4. INTENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378 R 5. EFFECT OF BREACH ON VICTIM’S INTERESTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378 R B. Skilling’s Place in the Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379 R III. THE RELEVANCE OF SKILLING TO HEALTH CARE FRAUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381 R A. Limited Case Law to Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 R B. Implications for the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387 R IV. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 R
Association of Spinal Alignment Correction With Patient-Reported Outcomes in Adult Cervical Deformity: Review of the Literature.

OBJECTIVE Adult cervical deformity (ACD) is a debilitating spinal condition that causes significant pain, neurologic dysfunction, and functional impairment. Surgery is often performed to correct cervical alignment, but the optimal amount of correction required to improve patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are not yet well-defined. METHODS A review of the literature was performed and Fisher z-transformation (Zr) was used to pool the correlation coefficients between alignment parameters and PROs. The strength of correlation was defined according to the following: poor (0 < r ≤ 0.3), fair (0.3 < r ≤ 0.5), moderate (0.5 < r ≤ 0.8), and strong (0.8 < r ≤ 1). RESULTS Increased C2-7 sagittal vertical axis was fairly associated with increased Neck Disability Index (NDI) (pooled Zr = 0.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.03 to 0.58). Changes in T1 slope minus cervical lordosis poorly correlated with NDI (pooled Zr = -0.04; 95% CI, -0.23 to 0.30). Increased C7-S1 was poorly associated with worse EuroQoL 5-Dimension (pooled Zr = -0.22; 95% CI, -0.36 to -0.06). Correction of horizontal gaze did not correlate with legacy metrics. Modified Japanese Orthopedic Association correlated with C2-slope, C7-S1, and C2-S1. CONCLUSION Spinal alignment parameters variably correlated with improved health-related quality of life and myelopathy after corrective surgery for ACD. Further studies evaluating legacy PROs, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement System, and ACD specific instruments are needed for further validation.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on neuroimaging scan volumes at a teaching hospital.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic led to a widespread socioeconomic shutdown, including medical facilities in many parts of the world. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact on neuroimagi...
P116 Using Facebook to Promote Healthy Eating Behaviors Among Low-income American Caregivers of Young Children

Background The impact of nutrition education-related Facebook pages on the food-related behaviors of low-income caregivers of young children is unknown. Given the popularity of Facebook and the restricted opportunities for off-line activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, assessment of this question could generate important results to shape future interventions. Objective To evaluate the impact of the Cooking Matters (CM) Facebook page on healthy eating behaviors among low-income caregivers of young children. Study Design, Setting, Participants A pre-post survey of new CM Facebook followers in early 2020 was used. A convenience sample was recruited from low-income app users and the CM Facebook page. The baseline survey included 397 low-income caregivers of a child younger than 5 who never followed CM Facebook; 184 of them completed the follow-up survey. Measurable Outcome/Analysis Paired t test and McNemar-Bowker tests were conducted to compare the outcomes before and after following CM Facebook. A binary indicator was developed to measure whether the outcomes were improved (1 = Improved; 0 = Not improved). Multi-variate logistic regressions were applied to examine the relationship between whether the outcome was improved with reference to the baseline socio-demographics. Results New followers had active exposure to CM Facebook content. About 75% of new followers viewed the CM page at least a few times a week. Additionally, 28.7% of followers commented on CM posts and 48.5% of followers watched CM videos. Approximately 60% of respondents rated CM as having impacted them "somewhat" or "a great deal." Single-parent families were more likely to achieve improvement in attitude toward cooking and younger age caregivers were more likely to achieve improvement in preparing healthy meals with the time available (P Conclusion The CM Facebook page could be an important platform to improve the attitudes or healthy eating behaviors among certain low-income caregivers of young children.
Radiolabeling and PET-MRI microdosing of the experimental cancer therapeutic, MN-anti-miR10b, demonstrates delivery to metastatic lesions in a murine model of metastatic breast cancer.

In our earlier work, we identified microRNA-10b (miR10b) as a master regulator of the viability of metastatic tumor cells. This knowledge allowed us to design a miR10b-targeted therapeutic consisting of an anti-miR10b antagomir conjugated to ultrasmall iron oxide nanoparticles (MN), termed MN-anti-miR10b. In mouse models of breast cancer, we demonstrated that MN-anti-miR10b caused durable regressions of established metastases with no evidence of systemic toxicity. As a first step towards translating MN-anti-miR10b for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, we needed to determine if MN-anti-miR10b, which is so effective in mice, will also accumulate in human metastases. In this study, we devised a method to efficiently radiolabel MN-anti-miR10b with Cu-64 (64Cu) and evaluated the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of the radiolabeled product at two different doses: a therapeutic dose, referred to as macrodose, corresponding to 64Cu-MN-anti-miR10b co-injected with non-labeled MN-anti-miR10b, and a tracer-level dose of 64Cu-MN-anti-miR10b, referred to as microdose. In addition, we evaluated the uptake of 64Cu-MN-anti-miR10b by metastatic lesions using both in vivo and ex vivo positron emission tomography–magnetic resonance imaging (PET–MRI). A comparable distribution of the therapeutic was observed after administration of a microdose or macrodose. Uptake of the therapeutic by metastatic lymph nodes, lungs, and bone was also demonstrated by PET–MRI with a significantly higher PET signal than in the same organs devoid of metastatic lesions. Our results demonstrate that PET–MRI following a microdose injection of the agent will accurately reflect the innate biodistribution of the therapeutic. The tools developed in the present study lay the groundwork for the clinical testing of MN-anti-miR10b and other similar therapeutics in patients with cancer.
The Impact of Pathology Grossing Protocol Measures to Improve Pathologic Nodal Staging in Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVE Accurate assessment of lymph node (LN) status is essential for proper staging of resected lung cancer specimens. Here, we assessed pathology-centric interventions to increase the number of peribronchial LNs identified and evaluated in anatomic lung cancer resection specimens as part of a quality improvement initiative. MATERIALS AND METHODS All non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) anatomic resection specimens from 2017 to 2020 were evaluated, comprising two years pre-intervention and one year post-intervention. We instituted 3 measures to increase peribronchial LN yield: 1) educational grossing sessions for pathology assistants and residents, 2) directions to submit additional peribronchial tissue if no LNs were identified grossly, and 3) a hard-stop prior to sign-out by the attending pathologist if no peribronchial LNs were identified. RESULTS Of the total 227 resection specimens for NSCLC, 107/151 (70.9%) of specimens prior to the intervention had peribronchial LNs identified, whereas after the intervention significantly more (66/76, 86.8%, p < 0.01) specimens had peribronchial LNs identified. In addition, the mean number of peribronchial LNs identified significantly increased from 2.7 ± 3.3 pre-intervention to 4.3 ± 4.0 post-intervention (p < 0.001). Further analysis revealed a strong correlation between peribronchial LN metastases with both overall tumor size and invasive component size (for adenocarcinomas), correlation coefficient 0.974, p < 0.0001. CONCLUSION Establishing focused grossing measures by pathology led to a significant increase in the number of peribronchial LNs identified and assessed during histopathologic evaluation of anatomic lung cancer resection specimens. Larger tumors are more likely to have occult peribronchial LN metastases, which may warrant more aggressive peribronchial LN assessment for larger tumors.
Characterizing copper and zinc content in forested wetland soils of North Carolina, USA.

Wetlands are often located in landscape positions where they receive runoff or floodwaters, which may contain toxic trace metals and other pollutants from anthropogenic sources. Over time, this can lead to the accumulation of potentially harmful levels of metals in wetlands soils. To assess the potential risk of Cu and Zn buildup in wetland soils in North Carolina, soil data from 88 wetlands were analyzed. In a subset of 16 wetlands, more intensive sampling was conducted. Samples were analyzed for Mehlich 3 Cu and Zn, and a subset of the samples was analyzed for total Cu and Zn. Overall, Mehlich 3 Cu and Zn were low, with mean values of 0.9 mg/kg for Cu and 3.2 mg/kg for Zn. Warning levels for Mehlich 3 Zn were only exceeded in three of the 88 sites; elevated Mehlich Cu was not observed. Total Cu and Zn were also low, with only a few sites having elevated levels; however, there was not a strong linear relationship between Mehlich 3 and total metals. Mean levels of Mehlich 3 Cu and Zn in wetlands were much lower than for human-impacted upland soils and background threshold concentrations that might be indicative of disturbance were much lower than warning levels for agricultural soils. The very low mobile Zn and Cu in most of these wetlands indicated that these metals do not pose a risk to the biota in most North Carolina wetlands, but wetlands with a direct and significant anthropogenic source of metal contamination could be exceptions.
Intellectual Property Protection and Agricultural BiotechnologyA Multidisciplinary Perspective

This invited contribution, which is written for a non-legal, social policy audience, begins by addressing the complex relationship between intellectual property and the ag-biotechnology industry. This section presents a detailed examination of the value chain in the ag-biotech industry and its implications for intellectual property protection. The value chain in the ag-biotechnology industry is becoming increasingly multilayered and complex. As a result, a system that permits downstream players in the ag-biotech value chain to not only reap the rewards of innovation but also share in the significant risks associated with R&D must be developed. A patent system is an effective way of achieving coordination and sharing of the risks and benefits of R&D among the various players in the ag-biotech value chain. Stated alternatively, it is critical to design IP regimes that adequately reward the inventor for her efforts and provide economic stability to promote R&D investment by understanding and capturing the downstream economic benefits of innovation. On the other hand, as the fruits of biotechnology are becoming an integral part of our daily living, the social welfare benefits of the intellectual property system for the consumer population and society at large must also be carefully defined. Satisfying both these objectives is the central policy challenge in the relationship between intellectual property protection and ag-biotechnology.
Proteins and Peptides Purification in Pharmaceuticals Analysis

The biopharmaceutical market has exploded in the last 10 years, with annual sales easily exceeding a billion dollars per year. Analysis and purification are essential components in the production of therapeutic proteins and peptides, and chromatography is at the core of all pharmaceutical separations. The more popular chromatographic techniques used in the purification of proteins and peptides are reversed-phase chromatography (RPC), hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC), ion-exchange chromatography (IEC), affinity chromatography (AC) and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). In order to meet the challenges of the future it is essential to understand the fundamentals of each technique. In this article an overview of the more popular chromatographic techniques employed to purify biomolecules is presented. Relevant examples are also given and a discussion of detection and scale-up is provided.
Broad-bandwidth THz pulse characterization through electro-optic sampling with narrow-bandwidth probe pulses

A novel electro-optic THz pulse diagnostic is presented [1]. Experiments are conducted with a 0.11-THz-bandwidth optical probe on a broadband THz source (0–8 THz detection bandwidth) rich in spectral features. The validity and technical details are discussed.
Interactive Poster: Visual Mining of Business Process Data

Business process data is inherently large and complex, most often too complex to be directly visualized. Usually the business operations consist of many steps and alternatives and every data instance may take a different path through the process. In Figure 1, we show a fraud analysis process schema. Note that this business process is a very simple one; realistic business processes are at least 10 times larger.
Amino Acid Catabolism and Malic Enzyme in Differentiating Dictyostelium discoideum

Amino acids produced from protein degradation are the major energy source for differentiation and aging in Dictyostelium discoideum. Considering the reactions involved in the conversion of amino acids from an average protein into tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, a route from a cycle intermediate (probably malate) to acetyl coenzyme A is required for the complete utilization of amino acids. Citrate was isolated from cells pulse-labeled with 14C-labeled amino acids and was cleaved with citrate lyase. When cells were pulse-labeled with [U-14C]-glutamate the specific radioactivity of the acetate and oxaloacetate portions of citrate were consistent with the conclusion that one-third of the carbon flowing through the tricarboxylic acid cycle is removed for the synthesis of acetyl coenzyme A. The data were also consistent with the patterns of carbon flux required to maintain steady-state levels of cycle intermediates in cells catabolizing amino acids. It is suggested that the malic enzyme (EC 1.1.1.40) catalyzes the synthesis of acetyl coenzyme A from malate and is responsible for the observed citrate labeling pattern. In cell extracts the activity of this enzyme increased markedly with the onset of differentiation. The properties of partially purified (40-fold) malic enzyme isolated at culmination indicated that the enzyme was allosteric and was positively affected by aspartate and glutamate. Thus, amino acid production from protein degradation would stimulate a reaction essential for the efficient utilization of these amino acids for energy.
Effective Psychotherapy for Asian Americans: From Cultural Accommodation to Cultural Congruence

[Clin Psychol Sci Prac 18: 242–245, 2011] Hall, Hong, Zane, and Meyer present mindfulness and acceptance psychotherapies as promising treatment modalities for Asian Americans, address possible cultural discrepancies, and propose to adapt the diverging elements into culturally syntonic ones. In this commentary, we discuss how the heterogeneity among Asian Americans suggests the existence of a wide variation of individual differences despite group similarities. We point out the importance of cultural accommodation in psychotherapy, where the therapist accommodates for differences in beliefs, values, and norms implied in the existing theory. Finally, we propose that the underlying principle of effective psychotherapy with ethnic and racial minority clients is cultural congruence, or identifying and selecting culturally congruent processes and therapeutic elements by incorporating both cultural and individual variations.
Guiding the user to continuous‐path control

Continuous‐path motion means moving a robot arm from A to B to C without stopping. Some of the concepts for generating such motions in present‐day robots are presented here, and in a following article. The emphasis is on day‐to‐day operation, path teaching, and recovery from anomalies like emergency stop, rather than on mathematical detail. This article discusses how simple single‐segment motions are performed.
Probing the Nucleotide Binding Sites of Axonemal Dynein with the Fluorescent Nucleotide Analogue 2‘(3‘)-O-(-N-Methylanthraniloyl)-adenosine 5‘-Triphosphate†

MantATP [2‘(3‘)-O-(-N-methylanthraniloyl)-adenosine 5‘-triphosphate] was employed as a fluorescence probe of the nucleotide-binding sites of dynein from sea urchin sperm flagella. MantATP binds spe...
Public offers in the market for lemons with large discounting

I show that bargaining impasse in Horner and Vieille (2009) can be interpreted as the limit of bargaining delay: the maximal duration of the game increases unboundedly as the seller’s discount factor approaches the threshold level above which bargaining impasse occurs.
Need norm, demographic influence, social role, and justice judgment

The relationships of distributive justice norms (equity, equality, and need), social role, and demographic variables to judgments of fairness, satisfaction, employer obligation, and employee entitlement were investigated. Subjects functioning as recipient's co-workers, allocators, or observers responded to a need-based salary allocation situation. Multiple regression analyses showed that endorsement of the need norm was most important. Justice norms and demographics each predicted significant unique variance in all of the criterion judgments. Social role yielded significant differences for fairness judgments. The findings indicate that where a situation increases the salience of nonequity factors other justice norms, such as recipient needs, may become more important than the equity norm. The results also suggest the importance of respondent social roles and demographic characteristics in the study of justice judgments.
Inhalation Toxicity of Phosphine for Fischer 344 Rats and B6C3F1 Mice

AbstractBecause of the potential increased use of phosphine (PH3) as a fumigant and the lack of adequate toxicity data, short-term inhalation studies were conducted to characterize the toxicity of PH3 for Fischer 344 (F344) rats and B6C3F1 mice. Male rats and mice were exposed to 0, 1, 5, or 10 ppm PH3 for up to 4 days, and males and females to 0, 1.25, 2.5, or 5 ppm for 2 wk. In the 4-day study, all rats died by the end of the third exposure to 10 ppm, and all mice were euthanized in moribund condition after the fourth exposure to 10 ppm. Clinical pathology data were obtained only for mice, due to early mortality of rats. There were no significant treatment-related effects in hematological indices in mice exposed to 1 or 5 ppm; at 10 ppm there was a moderate anemia, and leukocyte counts were significantly decreased. There were significant biologically relevant increases in serum activity of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) and in the concentration of urine nitrogen (UN) at ...
Sexual development and performance in boars exposed prenatally to triamcinolone

The objectives of this study were 1) to investigate the effects of triamcinolone exposure prenatally upon the gonadotropin-gonadal system and 2) to determine whether prenatal exposure affects the onset of puberty and postpuberal development in boars. Two or four litter-mate Yorkshire boars were randomly selected from five litters from sows fed unsupplemented diets and from seven litters from sows fed triamcinolone-supplemented diets. The boars were studied from birth through 30 wk of age. During this 30-wk period, the boars were bled once every 4 wk and testicular and body weight measurements were taken every 2 wk. From weeks 20 to 30 the boars were exposed weekly to an estrous gilt. During this time, the onset and frequency of mounting and ejaculation were recorded and the quality of the semen collected was evaluated. At slaughter, additional data on the male reproductive tract were collected. The prepartal feeding of triamcinolone to sows did not affect either the boars' weight gain or testicular volume during the 30-wk experimental period. Plasma concentrations of testosterone or cortisol also did not differ (P > 0.10) between the groups of boars. However, mounting and ejaculation occurred earlier in triamcinolone-exposed boars, suggesting that prepartal treatment of sows with triamcinolone may have enhanced the development of sexual behavior and onset of puberty in their offspring.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy at high temperatures in industrial boilers and furnaces

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was applied (1) near the superheater of an electric power generation boiler burning biomass, coal, or both; (2) at the exit of a glass-melting furnace burning natural gas and oxygen; and (3) near the nose arches of two paper mill recovery boilers burning black liquor. Difficulties associated with the high temperatures and high particle loadings in these environments were surmounted by use of novel LIBS probes. Echelle and linear spectrometers coupled to intensified CCD cameras were used individually and sometimes simultaneously. Elements detected include Na, K, Ca, Mg, C, B, Si, Mn, Al, Fe, Rb, Cl, and Ti.
Identification of endoglycan, a member of the CD34/podocalyxin family of sialomucins.

CD34 and podocalyxin are structurally related sialomucins, which are expressed in multiple tissues including vascular endothelium and hematopoietic progenitors. These glycoproteins have been proposed to be involved in processes as diverse as glomerular filtration, inhibition of stem cell differentiation, and leukocyte-endothelial adhesion. Using homologies present in the cytoplasmic tails of these proteins, we have identified a novel member of this family, which we designate endoglycan. This protein shares a similar overall domain structure with the other family members including a sialomucin domain, but also possesses an extremely acidic amino-terminal region. In addition, endoglycan contains several potential glycosaminoglycan attachment sites and is modified with chondroitin sulfate. Endoglycan mRNA and protein were detected in both endothelial cells and CD34+ bone marrow cells. Thus, CD34, podocalyxin, and endoglycan comprise a family of sialomucins sharing both structural similarity and sequence homology, which are expressed by both endothelium and multipotent hematopoietic progenitors. While the members of this family may perform overlapping functions at these sites, the unique structural features of endoglycan suggest distinct functions for this molecule.
The transition from childhood giftedness to adult creative productiveness: Psychological characteristics and social supports

The purpose of this article is to examine the sources of differences in motivation and other psychological characteristics, specifically the role of childhood environments, in engendering or promoting adult creative productive achievement. A model is presented in which it is proposed that the environmental conditions of creative producers result in responses that include the development of several key personality characteristics or coping strategies such as a preference for time alone, an ability to cope with high levels of anxiety or tension, freedom from conventionality, and the use of intellectual activities to fulfill emotional needs. The conditions in the environment often result from some kind of stress within the family, which is in part, a function of characteristics of the family, the broader context surrounding the family, and characteristics of the child.
Optical properties of reactively sputtered a-SiHx films

Abstract We have measured the refractive index and its energy dispersion as well as the optical absorption edge energy for a matrix of reactively rf sputtered a-SiHx films. The major deposition variables were pH2 at fixed pAr and visa versa. The resonant 15N reaction has been used to profile the hydrogen content in the films. We have fitted the broad SiH stretch absorption band to two Gaussian peaks centered at 2008 cm−1 and 2100 cm−1, and computed the fraction of H bonded as dihydride (XD). As pH2 was increased from 0.4 to 3.0 mTorr at fixed pAr of 7 mTorr, XD increased from 0.57 to 0.77, while H content increased from 22.4 to 27.1 atomic percent. Eg′, the optical gap normalized to 22% H, shows a marginally significant increase with XD. The films deposited at pAr = 20–40 mTorr displayed progressively lower refractive indices but insignificant changes in optical gaps. An optically computed void fraction of 25% was found for the 40 mTorr film.
Too Big To Fail: The Role of For-Profit Colleges and Universities in American Higher Education

Although for-profit colleges and universities have had a long history in the United States, they have garnered significant attention only in the last decade. In the early 20th century, career colle...
Venous Thromboembolism after Breast Reconstruction in Patients Undergoing Breast Surgery: An American College of Surgeons NSQIP Analysis

Background Given the grave consequences of venous thromboembolic (VTE) events, we examined the impact of breast reconstruction on VTE incidence in patients undergoing breast operations and, secondarily, assess the risk factors associated with VTE. Study Design Patients undergoing breast operations were identified in the 2007 to 2011 American College of Surgeons NSQIP database. The patients were divided into the following treatment categories: lumpectomy, mastectomy, mastectomy with reconstruction, and reconstruction. Missing data were imputed and propensity score weighting was used to balance confounders in each group. Venous thromboembolism incidence was compared across the groups and risk factors for VTE were analyzed using stepwise multivariate logistic regression. Results Overall, 68,285 patients were identified. The global incidence of VTE was 0.27%. The incidence of VTE was highest in the reconstruction and mastectomy with reconstruction groups (0.41% and 0.52% compared with 0.13% in the lumpectomy and 0.29% in the mastectomy groups; p Conclusions Breast reconstruction, higher BMI, increased operative time, operation within 30 days preceding breast surgery, and nonsmoking status are independent risk factors for VTE. The association of lower VTE rates with smoking is counterintuitive and might represent more aggressive VTE prophylaxis in this patient population. Additional investigation is warranted to understand this relationship.
Valve-sparing root reimplantation and leaflet repair in a bicuspid aortic valve: Comparison with the 3-cusp David procedure

Objective Valve-sparing root reimplantation (VSRR) in tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) patients is well established, but in bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) patients, it has been less widely adopted. We assessed whether valve type affects midterm outcomes with VSRR. Methods A retrospective review was performed of 186 patients who underwent an aortic valve-sparing root reimplantation operation between 2004 and 2013. Of these, 129 patients underwent elective VSRR with the David V technique. Outcomes were compared in this cohort by valve type: TAV (n = 89) versus BAV (n = 40). Results Demographics were similar in the 2 groups. BAV patients had a higher degree of aortic insufficiency (AI) at presentation ( P P = .06). All BAV patients required primary leaflet repair (6% in the TAV group; P P P = .6). Three patients in the entire cohort have had AI grade >2+ on follow-up (n = 1 in the BAV group; n = 2 in the TAV group). Conclusions Even though BAV patients present with higher AI grade and require concomitant primary valve repair, the VSRR David V technique offers excellent midterm outcomes with both the BAV and TAV valve types.
Ultrastructure of a hemangiopericytoma and a glomus tumor

A comparative ultrastructural study of a case of hemangiopericytoma and one of glomus tumor is presented. The study revealed the hemangiopericytoma cells to be large with large irregular nuclei. The intercellular spaces are filled with light osmiophilic material resembling basement membrane. In the glomus tumor, two types of cells are identified. The more frequent cells are epithelioid smooth muscle cells with large ovoid nuclei and cytoplasm filled with fine filaments. The second type of cell is less frequent and is recognized as a mast cell. It is suggested that the release of mast cell granules plays an important role in the contraction of epithelioid smooth muscle and therefore controls the flow of blood in the glomus structure.
Some New Results on Factor Indeterminacy.

Some relations between maximum likelihood factor analysis and factor indeterminacy are discussed. Bounds are derived for the minimum average correlation between equivalent sets of correlated factors which depend on the latent roots of the factor intercorrelation matrix ψ. Empirical examples are presented to illustrate some of the theory and indicate the extent to which it can be expected to be relevant in practice.
Simple and Cost-Effective Restriction Endonuclease Analysis of Human Adenoviruses

Restriction endonuclease analyses (REAs) constitute the only inexpensive molecular approach capable of typing and characterizing human adenovirus (HAdV) strains based on the entire genome. However, the application of this method is limited by the need for time-consuming and labor-intensive procedures. We herein developed a simple and cost-effective REA for assessing HAdV. The method consists of (1) simple and cost-effective DNA extraction, (2) fast restriction endonuclease (RE) digestion, and (3) speedy mini agarose gel electrophoresis. In this study, DNA was isolated according to the kit-based method and 21.0 to 28.0 μg of viral DNA was extracted from prototypes (HAdV-1, HAdV-3, HAdV-4, and HAdV-37) in each flask. The amount of DNA ranged from 11.4 to 57.0 μg among the HAdV-3 () isolates. The obtained viral DNA was found to be applicable to more than 10 types of REAs. Fast-cut restriction endonucleases (REs) were able to digest the DNA within 15 minutes, and restriction fragments were easily separated via horizontal mini agarose gel electrophoresis. The whole procedure for 10 samples can be completed within approximately six hours (the conventional method requires at least two days). These results show that our REA is potentially applicable in many laboratories in which HAdVs are isolated.
Studies on Incubator Hygiene IV A Note on the Virucidal Effect of Formaldehyde on Fowl Pox Virus

Abstract TO NOTE the virucidal effect of formaldehyde on fowl pox virus a series of 10 fumigations was conducted with the humidity and temperature of the incubator 1 being the same as in pullorum disease fumigation. Fowl pox virus-contaminated cotton squares as well as chicks were employed; the former, for the reason that in previous studies, 2 S.pullorum on cotton squares subjected to fumigation, displayed a resistance comparable to S. pullorum on the down of day-old chicks. In all fumigations wherein fowl pox virus was exposed to formaldehyde the routine cheesecloth method of releasing the formaldehyde was employed, while the fumigated materials were removed at intervals from the incubator through false doors and windows (see Fig. 1). Fumigation 1. Cotton squares (see Fig. 2) were dipped in 1 percent aqueous suspension of fowl pox virus and placed in the incubator in (1) the false door by means of tightly fitting rubber stoppers, and . . .
Dendrochronologic Calibration of the Radiocarbon Time Scale

Extensive radiocarbon analyses have been made of dendrochronologically dated wood. The resultant radiocarbon data are not in total agreement with the conventional solar calendar as exemplified by the tree-ring chronology. The discrepancy reaches a maximum between 4060 B.C. to 7350 B.C. when radiocarbon dates are too young by 800 to 870 yr. Using a compatible set of 549 dated samples as a working base, a calibration table has been derived for conversion of conventional radiocarbon dates to calendar dates. This conversion table covers the period of time from A.D. 1600 to 5400 B.C. Data are also given to facilitate the calculation of the accuracy of the corrected date by a simple, illustrated method.
Purification and partial characterization of tyrosinase isoforms from cap flesh of portabella mushrooms

Tyrosinase was isolated from the cap flesh of Portabella mushrooms. Several mg of enzyme were isolated with an overall yield of 18%. Large DEAE ion exchange columns and selective pooling of fractions, followed by chromatography of pooled fractions on hydroxylapatite columns resulted in the isolation of highly purified tyrosinase. The isolated enzymes had apparent subunit molecular weights of approximately 48–50 kDa and pIs from 5.1 to 5.3. The purification scheme can be carried out rapidly and has the potential to separate different groups of tyrosinase isoforms.