cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Subjectivity and the Self

One of the most bewildering points that Levinas makes concerns subjectivity and the self. He says that primordially the self or person is passive because it is responsible before anything else. First and foremost, I am summoned and called into question. In Kantian terminology, the self is heteronomous before it is autonomous. It is passive before it is active. Subjectivity is accusation, hostage, obsession, and the like. These features are likely to seem so strange that one can hardly grasp what they mean or even what they might mean. This chapter is our opportunity to discuss them and to show that they are extreme and provocative but not at all as bizarre and unintelligible as they first appear. Shortly, we shall have to consider the story of how modern culture, at least from the seventeenth century, has come to enshrine the subject, the individual, the autonomous, free, rational self, as the fountainhead of knowledge, morality, politics, culture, and even religion. Levinas does not ignore or denigrate this self or this conception of the self as the autonomous, rational individual, but he does reconsider its most fundamental dimension, its essential character, and how that dimension reverberates throughout its existential and historical career. To be sure, he believes that this new understanding of the unique individual person as passive and responsible echoes from the ancient past, but in the modern world it is preempted by another view – modern, individualist, and powerful.
A chapter a day: Association of book reading with longevity.

Although books can expose people to new people and places, whether books also have health benefits beyond other types of reading materials is not known. This study examined whether those who read books have a survival advantage over those who do not read books and over those who read other types of materials, and if so, whether cognition mediates this book reading effect. The cohort consisted of 3635 participants in the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study who provided information about their reading patterns at baseline. Cox proportional hazards models were based on survival information up to 12 years after baseline. A dose-response survival advantage was found for book reading by tertile (HRT2 = 0.83, p < 0.001, HRT3 = 0.77, p < 0.001), after adjusting for relevant covariates including age, sex, race, education, comorbidities, self-rated health, wealth, marital status, and depression. Book reading contributed to a survival advantage that was significantly greater than that observed for reading newspapers or magazines (tT2 = 90.6, p < 0.001; tT3 = 67.9, p < 0.001). Compared to non-book readers, book readers had a 23-month survival advantage at the point of 80% survival in the unadjusted model. A survival advantage persisted after adjustment for all covariates (HR = .80, p < .01), indicating book readers experienced a 20% reduction in risk of mortality over the 12 years of follow up compared to non-book readers. Cognition mediated the book reading-survival advantage (p = 0.04). These findings suggest that the benefits of reading books include a longer life in which to read them.
Numerical investigation of a novel hypothesis for fracture termination and crossing, with applications to lost circulation mitigation and hydraulic fracturing

Abstract We investigate a novel hypothesis regarding the process of hydraulic fracture termination against a preexisting frictional interface. According to current understanding, crossing occurs when small tensile fractures form ahead of the crack tip, on the other side of the frictional interface, before the concentration of stress at the crack tip causes slip along the interface. Slip blunts the concentration of stress at the crack tip and causes termination. Existing crossing criteria assume that the incipient fractures ahead of the crack tip form instantaneously once the effective stress is sufficiently tensile. However, there is a poroelastic response that causes a reduction in pressure in response to opening. This is counteracted by flow into the crack from the surrounding matrix. In very low matrix permeability formations (shale, coalbed methane, etc.), flow of fluid inward from the matrix is slow, and the opening of these incipient fractures may require a non-negligible amount of time. Using the hydro-mechanical discrete fracture network simulator CFRAC, we performed a series of numerical simulations to qualitatively investigate this process. The simulations confirm that poroelastic response could affect incipient fracture initiation and hydraulic fracture crossing. Based on this mechanism, we developed a heuristic modification to an existing crossing criterion. We applied the new criterion to investigate an injection sequence for prevention of lost circulation in fractured, low matrix permeability formations. Lost circulation occurs if wellbore fluid pressure exceeds the minimum principal stress, causing fluid loss due to propagation of a hydraulic fracture. In our proposed injection sequence: (1) injection is performed at high rate to create near wellbore fracture network complexity and then (2) viscous fluid is injected into the newly formed fractures to create resistance to flow. The simulations show that this sequence may be able to mitigate lost circulation and create a stress cage around the wellbore.
Political Moral Hazard and Bureaucratic Autonomy

From the redistributive societies of ancient Egyptian dynasties through the slavery system of the Greek and Roman world to the medieval manor, there was persistent tension between the ownership structure which maximized the rents to the ruler (and his group) and an efficient system that reduced transaction costs and encouraged growth . – Douglass North (1981, 25) BRACKED May 13, 2005, was known as “BRAC Friday” around the country, as the Pentagon revealed the selection of 33 major military installations to be closed. These closings, together with significant reductions at 29 other bases, would result in a net loss of more than 10,000 military positions and 18,000 civilian positions. Many of the bases had a Cold War mission; others were just outdated or had missions that could be accomplished more effectively elsewhere. The Department of Defense (DoD) regarded these closures as a boon to operational efficiency and essential to its goal of shifting resources in such a way as to get the most national security benefits for the buck. With the security challenges posed by 9/11, wars being waged in Iraq and Afghanistan, and threats from Iran, North Korea, and other hot spots, providing an adequate level of national security required the efficient use of every dollar. Legislators saw these base closings differently from the DoD. One base scheduled for closing was Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine. Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, not someone known for purple prose, called the recommendation a “travesty and a strategic blunder of epic proportions on the part of the Defense Department” (CNN, 2005). Other bases scheduled to be shut down were Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota and Pascagoula Naval Station in Mississippi; legislators from these locations were equally vehement in their opposition to the plan. Base closings are an example of political moral hazard: the incentives for political actors to take actions that aggregate to inefficient outcomes. National security is the classic example of a public good. Effective protection against external and terrorist threats is non-exclusionary – everyone gets the benefits of an effective national security apparatus if anyone does. Although the benefits of national security go to all, the costs of closing useless military bases are local.
Childhood Vaccination: Implications for Global and Domestic Public Health

The role of vaccination in the control and prevention of endemic and emerging diseases cannot be overemphasized. Induction of host protective immunity may be the most powerful tool and effective strategy in preventing the spread of potentially fatal disease and emerging illnesses, in particular in susceptible immunologically naive hosts. The strategy for vaccination programs is engrained in population studies recognizing benefit for the health and economic welfare of at-risk indigenous populations. Worldwide collaboration is a necessary aspect of vaccine-preventable diseases recognizing that even a small number of wild-type cases of an eradicated disease in one region presents opportunities for re-emergence of the disease in geographically remote areas.
Generation of a concise gene panel for outcome prediction in urinary bladder cancer

C40 The primary clinical management of urothelial carcinoma (UC) of the bladder is still based on the TNM staging system that relies on subjective pattern recognition and nomenclature for reporting specimens.The current need is to complement UC staging with molecular correlates that can accurately predict clinical outcome while also acting as novel therapeutic targets. This study used standardized quantitative RT-PCR to quantify absolute expressions of 69 genes involved in crucial carcinogenic pathways in relation to a fixed quantity of the ACTB housekeeping gene on frozen bladder specimens from 58 UC subjects (stages Ta-T4) and 5 normal controls. After log transformation of the gene expression levels, all tumor transcripts values beyond two standard deviations from the mean expression level of that gene in normal urothelium were designated as over or underexpressed, and all gene expression values within two standard deviations of the mean expression level in normal urothelium were designated as normally expressed. By univariate log-rank analysis, STAT3, IGF1, JUN, SOD1, MAP2K6 (all P 3/4 or
Active microwave observations of diurnal and seasonal variations of canopy water content across the humid African tropical forests

A higher frequency of severe droughts under warmer temperatures is expected to lead to large impacts on global water and carbon fluxes and on vegetation cover—including possible widespread mortality. Monitoring the hydraulic state of vegetation as represented by the canopy water content will allow rapid assessment of vegetation water stress. Here we show the potential of active microwave backscatter observations at Ku band for monitoring the diurnal and seasonal variations of top-of-canopy water content. We focus on the humid tropical forests of Central Africa and examine spatiotemporal variations of radar backscatter from QuikSCAT (2001–2009) and RapidScat (2014–2016). Diurnal variations in RapidScat backscatter demonstrate the occurrence of widespread midday stomatal closure in this region. Increases in backscatter during the dry seasons in humid forests could be explained by both dry season leaf flushing (as supported by canopy structure) and vapor pressure deficit-driven increases in evapotranspiration rates.
Born a crime: stories from a South African childhood

In March 2015, Comedy Central announced that South African Trevor Noah would replace Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show, the popular news satire television program. Noah, who was born in Johanne...
ETYMOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS ON SOME ACCOUNTING TERMS

Selected on the basis of their etymological appeal to the author, eighteen accounting terms are traced to their earliest ascertainable form and meaning in the family of languages to which they belong. Such an investigation not only reveals something of our past, but also helps energize the conceptual landscape of our vocabulary.a
Risky Sexual Behavior and Condom Use among Youth in Botswana

AbstractThis paper examines the risky sexual behavioral patterns and condom use among the young people in Botswana. A multi-stage sampling design was adopted in selecting a sample of 331 (129 males and 202 females) students aged 17-24 years old at the University of Botswana Gaborone, Botswana. The data were collected through a structured self-administered questionnaire. Two-thirds of the sample (N=217; 66%) reported that they were sexually active. Almost half and a quarter of the sexually active respondents had multiple sexual partners and casual sex respectively in the year prior to the study. Also, a third had unprotected sex during the month prior to the survey. Perceived condom use self-efficacy (M = 24.32, SD = 4.09) differed among those who had urban verses rural upbringing t(3.915, df = 205, p<.001). There is an urgent need to include the avoidance of risky sexual behaviors in the ongoing HIV/AIDS campaign for the young people in Botswana.
Early fundoplication is associated with slower decline in lung function after lung transplantation in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease

Abstract Objectives Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is prevalent after lung transplantation. Fundoplication slows lung function decline in patients with GERD, but the optimal timing of fundoplication is unknown. Methods We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent fundoplication after lung transplant at our center from April 2007 to July 2014. Patients were divided into 2 groups: early fundoplication ( 1 ) was analyzed. Results Of the 251 patients who underwent lung transplantation during the study period with available pH data, 86 (34.3%) underwent post-transplantation fundoplication for GERD. Thirty of 86 (34.9%) had early fundoplication and 56 of 86 (65.1%) had late fundoplication. Median time from lung transplantation to fundoplication was 4.6 months (interquartile range, 2.0-5.2) and 13.8 months (interquartile range, 9.0-16.1) for the early and late groups, respectively. The median DeMeester score was comparable between groups. One-, 3-, and 5-year actuarial survival rates in the early group were 90%, 70%, and 70%, respectively; in the late group, these rates were 91%, 66%, and 66% (log rank P = .60). Three- and 5-year percent predicted FEV 1 was lower in the late group by 8.9% (95% confidence interval, −30.2 to 12.38; P = .46) and 40.7% (95% confidence interval, −73.66 to −7.69; P = .019). A linear mixed model showed a 5.7% lower percent predicted FEV 1 over time in the late fundoplication group ( P Conclusions In this study, patients with early fundoplication had a higher FEV 1 5 years after lung transplantation. Early fundoplication might protect against GERD-induced lung damage in lung transplant recipients with GERD.
Universal folding pathways of polyhedron nets

Low-dimensional objects such as molecular strands, ladders, and sheets have intrinsic features that affect their propensity to fold into 3D objects. Understanding this relationship remains a challenge for de novo design of functional structures. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the refolding of the 24 possible 2D unfoldings ("nets") of the three simplest Platonic shapes and demonstrate that attributes of a net's topology-net compactness and leaves on the cutting graph-correlate with thermodynamic folding propensity. To explain these correlations we exhaustively enumerate the pathways followed by nets during folding and identify a crossover temperature [Formula: see text] below which nets fold via nonnative contacts (bonds must break before the net can fold completely) and above which nets fold via native contacts (newly formed bonds are also present in the folded structure). Folding above [Formula: see text] shows a universal balance between reduction of entropy via the elimination of internal degrees of freedom when bonds are formed and gain in potential energy via local, cooperative edge binding. Exploiting this universality, we devised a numerical method to efficiently compute all high-temperature folding pathways for any net, allowing us to predict, among the combined 86,760 nets for the remaining Platonic solids, those with highest folding propensity. Our results provide a general heuristic for the design of 2D objects to stochastically fold into target 3D geometries and suggest a mechanism by which geometry and folding propensity are related above [Formula: see text], where native bonds dominate folding.
Post-adolescent Female Acne

While acne has been traditionally considered an adolescent disorder, recent studies show a significant prevalence among adults. The mean age of presentation for acne treatment is 24 years with 21 % of acne office visits by patients 25–34 years old and 15 % of these visits by patients 35 years and older [1]. In adults, acne occurs more frequently among women than men [2]. The characteristic clinical picture is mild to moderate deep-seated inflammatory papules and nodules on the face, especially the chin, jawline, and neck. Most commonly, this is “persistent” acne, which began in adolescence and has continued to adulthood, although a “late-onset” form also occurs. Recognizing acne in this population and providing treatment is essential since acne scarring can be correlated with duration of disease [3].
Using ensemble modeling to determine causes of multifactorial disorders

Multifactorial disorders are diseases whose underlying causes may be due to a combination of factors, including genetics, environmental influences, and lifestyle. Deconvoluting the factors responsible for such issues can be tremendously challenging. However, evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are particularly well suited to address this class of problem. EAs may be used to generate populations of solutions to carry out ensemble-based analyses of mathematical models that can determine which factors may have the largest impact on a particular disease state. In this work, a commonly utilized mathematical model for bone physiology was used to explore the underlying mechanism responsible for secondary hyperparathyroidism due to renal failure. Using a genetic algorithm (GA), a population of parameter sets for the bone model were generated based on a clinical data set. The average result of the best five GA-based models was compared to the standard bone model prediction as reported in the literature. The GA-based models manipulated several parameters simultaneously while the standard literature model manipulated only the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) parameter. The GA model resulted in a superior fit of the clinical data. It further indicated that six of the 108 parameters were significantly changed from what would be expected of a healthy individual. The GFR parameter was among the six significantly changed parameters. The remaining significantly changed parameters involved phosphate imbalances. Interestingly, hyperphosphatemia has been recognized as one of the primary causes of secondary hyperparathyroidism. These results would appear to corroborate the effectiveness of the GA in better understanding multifactorial disorders.
El impacto clínico de los efectos fisiológicos de la eritropoyetina y de los agentes estimulantes de la eritropoyetina en la incidencia de malignidad, trombosis e hipertensión: más allá de la anemia

The glycoprotein hormone erythropoietin is an essential viability and frowth factor for the erythrocytic progenitors. EPO signaling involves tyrosine phosphorylation of the homodimeric EPO receptor and subsequent activation on intracellular proteins, kinases and transcription factors. Treatment with recombinant human EPO(rHu EPO) is efficient and safe in improving the management of the anemia associated with chronic kidney disease, and allowing avoidance of transfusions with blood products. however, the unanticipated increase in mortality found in recent randomized studies is prompting a reassessment of this view. The present review will show what is known about the physiology of this plasma factor that, it is now clear, is more than just an erythrocyte production factor, and its pleitropic effects influencing the incidence of malignancy, thrombosis, hypertension and retinopathy.
High-elevation mountain hemlock growth as a surrogate for cool-season precipitation in Crater Lake National Park, USA

Abstract Snow dominates the hydrology and climate of the United States’ central Pacific Coast, but because local measurements of snowpack and winter precipitation often extend back only a few decades, observations by themselves are not adequate to describe potential amplitude of wintertime conditions. Here we present a set of updated and extended mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana [Bong.] Carr.) tree-ring width records from Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, and use these data to make inferences about snowpack prior to the start of instrumental monitoring. In July and August 2013, we collected cores from 228 trees at seven high-elevation hemlock stands that surround the crater’s rim. The oldest tree had an inner ring date of CE 1474, and the longest ring-width chronology maintained a satisfactory common signal back to the middle of the 16th century. The growth of high-elevation mountain hemlock is strongly and inversely related to cool-season precipitation, making these records some of the most southerly examples of a robust inverse cool-season moisture signal in North American tree rings. The growth of these snow-limited forests does not appear to have been affected by the substantial decline in spring snowpack observed in the past two decades across the broader Cascade Range, and we did not find any indication of changing relationships between tree growth and either monthly or seasonal winter precipitation since the early 1990s. The exceptional three-year sequence in Crater Lake tree rings between CE 1809 and 1811, which includes the narrowest ring since CE 1540 and anatomical abnormalities produced by cold weather, leads us to conclude that 1809–1810 was the most snowy and severe winter to affect south-central Oregon during the past four and a half centuries.
Automated Glider Tracking of a California Undercurrent Eddy Using the Extended Kalman Filter

AbstractAutomated feature tracking and vehicle navigation have the potential to facilitate autonomous surveys of ocean eddies by increasing sampling quality and/or decreasing operator workload. Dur...
Employment status and the association of sociocultural stress with sleep in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL)

STUDY OBJECTIVES We examined the association of sociocultural stress severity (i.e. acculturation stress, ethnic discrimination) and chronic stress burden with multiple dimensions of sleep in a population-based sample of US Hispanics/Latinos. We also explored whether employment status modified stress-sleep associations. METHODS We conducted survey linear regressions to test the cross-sectional association of sociocultural stress severity and stress burden with sleep dimensions using data collected between 2010 and 2013 from individuals who participated in both the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Sueno and Sociocultural Ancillary studies (N = 1192). RESULTS Greater acculturation stress (B = 0.75, standard error [SE] = 0.26, p < .01) and chronic psychosocial stress burden (B = 1.04, SE = 0.18, p < .001) were associated with greater insomnia symptoms but were not associated with actigraphic measures of sleep. Ethnic discrimination was not associated with any of the sleep dimensions. The association of acculturation stress with insomnia severity was greater in unemployed (B = 2.06, SE = 0.34) compared to employed (B = 1.01, SE = 0.31) participants (p-interaction = .08). CONCLUSIONS Acculturation stress severity and chronic stress burden are important and consistent correlates of insomnia, but not actigraphically measured sleep dimensions. If replicated, future research should test whether interventions targeting the resolution of sociocultural stress improve sleep quality in Hispanics/Latinos.
When Should Iatrogenic Polypharmacy Be Considered a Disease

This case of an elderly patient taking 17 medications, who presents with new neurological symptoms, raises multiple philosophy of medicine questions, including, What is a disease? And what would it mean to treat iatrogenic polypharmacy? Polypharmacy can obscure whether a patient like the one in this case has a neurological disease. I argue that, insofar as polypharmacy is likely to have caused, or at least contributed to, this patient's symptoms, her physician should treat it as a disease.
Segregation and racial disparities in post-stop outcomes: insights from New York City

ABSTRACTThis research assesses the relationships of five dimensions of racial segregation with the likelihood of being subject to frisk, search, police force, and arrest in New York City. Specifica...
Content Externalism, Truth Conditions, and Truth Values

Yli-Vakkuri (2018) offers a deductive argument for Content Externalism that primarily appeals to two main principles he says should be adopted by all parties to the debate. Sawyer (2018) criticizes this argument on the grounds that there are internalist theories that are not consistent with the two principles he offers, although she takes no issue with the derivation itself. While Sawyer’s critique is insightful and largely correct, there is a more fundamental problem with the original argument. The formal proof given in the original paper begs the question. The informal argument is enthymematic, and all the possible valid reconstructions require assumptions that can be legitimately rejected by content internalists. This is significant to point out as someone might think that the internalist views that Sawyer says are not consistent with the two principles that drive Yli-Vakkuri’s argument can be successfully challenged and thereby the original argument defended.
Pediatric pituitary adenomas

Pediatric pituitary adenomas are a rare medical entity that makes up a small portion of intracranial tumors in children and adolescents. Although benign, the majority of these lesions are secreting functional tumors with the potential for physiological sequela that can profoundly affect a child’s development. In this review, we discuss the medical and surgical management of these tumors with a focus on clinical presentation, diagnostic identification, surgical approach, and associated adjuvant therapies. We will also discuss our current treatment paradigm using endoscopic, open, and combined approaches to treat these tumors. The management of pituitary tumors requires a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, endocrinologists, and neuroanesthesiologists as well as neurocritical care specialists to deliver comprehensive care.
Expertise at Our Fingertips

This column contrasts the economics behind yesterday’s compendium of expertise and today’s crowd-sourced wiki. Any comparison, even a coarse one, will show that prices fell dramatically.
An Introduction to the Trump Effect on the Future of Global Dispute Resolution

Following World War II, the international community crafted a new worldview. Driven by a philosophy of transnationalism, States designed a modern framework for international relations. They collectively agreed to no longer tolerate unilateral tactics, such as coercion, sanctions, or sheer force, to compel submission to individual ambitions and desires. Instead, States adopted transnational rules. These are derived from multilateral and bilateral agreements, systems of global trade, established international norms, and decisions by international tribunals. U.S. leadership was key to establishing and encouraging acquiescence to this system. On many levels this transnational legal system has been a success. It informs approaches to international affairs, human rights, foreign policy, business transactions, and related disputes. Yet recent years have seen an increasing return to unilateralism and “go it alone” attitudes. Perhaps history will show that, here too, the U.S. has been a leader. Since January 2017, the policies and ideologies of the Trump Administration have consistently challenged the modern transnational legal system and the future of global dispute resolution.
Associating dose-volume characteristics with theoretical radiobiological metrics for rapid Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery plan evaluation.

PURPOSE To examine general dose-volume characteristics in Gamma Knife (GK) plans which may be associated with higher tumor control probability (TCP) and equivalent uniform dose (EUD) using characteristic curve sets. METHODS Two sets of dose-volume histograms (DVHs) were exported alongside an analytical purpose-generated DVH: (a) single-shot large collimator (8 or 16 mm) emulated with multiple shots of 4 mm collimator. (b) shot-within-shot (SWS) technique with isodose lines (IDLs) of 40-75%. TCP, average dose, EUD in single-fraction (EUDT ) and 2 Gy fractionated regimens (EUDR ) were examined for trends with cumulative DVH (cDVH) shape as calculated using a linear-quadratic cell survival model (α/β = 10.0 Gy, N0 = 1 × 106 ) with both α = 0.20 Gy-1 and α = 0.23 Gy-1 . RESULTS Using α = 0.20 Gy-1 (α = 0.23 Gy-1 ), plans in the analytical set with higher shoulder regions had TCP, EUDT , EUDR increased by 180%, 5.9%, 10.7% (11.2%, 6.3%, 10.0%), respectively. With α = 0.20 Gy-1 (α = 0.23 Gy-1 ), plans with higher heels had TCP, EUDT , EUDR increased by 4.0%, <1%, <1% (0.6%, <1%, <1%), respectively. In emulating a 16 (8) mm collimator, 64 (12) shots of the small collimators were used. Plans based on small collimators had higher shoulder regions and, with α = 0.20 Gy-1 (α = 0.23 Gy-1 ), TCP, EUDT , EUDR was increased up to 351.4%, 5.0%, 8.8% (270.4%, 5.0%, 6.8%) compared with the single-shot large collimator. Delivery times ranged from 10.2 to 130.3 min. The SWS technique used 16:8 mm collimator weightings ranging from 1:2 to 9.2:1 for 40-75% IDL. With α = 0.20 Gy-1 (α = 0.23 Gy-1 ), the 40% IDL plan had the highest shoulder with increased TCP, EUDT , EUDR by 130.7%, 9.6%, 17.1% (12.9%, 9.1%, 16.4%) over the 75% IDL plan. Delivery times ranged 6.9-13.8 min. CONCLUSIONS The magnitude of the shoulder region characteristic to GK cDVHs may be used to rapidly identify superior plan among candidates. Practical issues such as delivery time may require further consideration.
Sexuality attitudes of Iowa secondary teachers

Two inventories were developed to assess public-high-school teachers' attitudes toward teaching sexuality education and sexuality. The first was the Attitudes Toward Teaching Sexuality nventory. This inventory's factors were Personal Preparedness and School and Community Influences. The second inventory was the Human Sexuality Questionnaire that comprised the factors of Personal Sexuality Feelings, Sexual Behavior Code, and Body Image. All factors except one had reliabilities of .64 or greater. The inventories provide data useful to individuals in planning continuing education for sexuality educators in public-high schools.'
Taxation’s Summer Blockbuster: A Review of Michael Keen & Joel Slemrod, Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue: Tax Follies and Wisdom through the Ages

In Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue, Michael Keen and Joel Slemrod have written a fantastic book that collects and loosely organizes a treasure trove of anecdotes about tax systems, trivia, and events around the world and throughout history. In many respects the book, which endeavors to include stories about any type of tax, in any type of tax system, in any period in history, is overly ambitious. Nevertheless, Keen and Mick identify several common themes that persist over time. More contextualization might have revealed an omitted theme – the effect of societal changes on the development and adaptation of tax systems – but the book’s main contribution is in taking readers on a raucous ride through tax history that will leave them convinced that taxation is not only important, but exciting as well.
Machine learning predicts translation initiation sites in neurologic diseases with expanded repeats

Abstract A number of neurologic diseases, including a form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and others associated with expanded nucleotide repeats have an unconventional form of translation called repeat-associated non-AUG (RAN) translation. Repeat protein products accumulate and are hypothesized to contribute to disease pathogenesis. It has been speculated that the repeat regions in the RNA fold into secondary structures in a length-dependent manner, promoting RAN translation. Additionally, nucleotides that flank the repeat region, especially ones closest to the initiation site, are believed to enhance translation initiation. Recently, a machine learning model based on a large number of flanking nucleotides has been proposed for identifying translation initiation sites. However, most likely due to its extensive feature selection and limited training data, the model has diminished predictive power. Here, we overcome this limitation and increase prediction accuracy by a) capturing the effect of nucleotides most critical for translation initiation via feature reduction, b) implementing an alternative machine learning algorithm better suited for limited data, c) building comprehensive and balanced training data (via sampling without replacement) that includes previously unavailable sequences, and, d) splitting ATG and near-cognate translation initiation codon data to train two separate models. We also design a supplementary scoring system to provide an additional prognostic assessment of model predictions. The resultant models have high performance, with 85.00-87.79% accuracy exceeding that of the previously published model by >18%. The models presented here are then used to identify translation initiation sites in genes associated with a number of neurologic repeat expansion disorders. The results confirm a number of experimentally discovered sites of translation initiation upstream of the expanded repeats and predict many sites that are not yet established.
The Current State of Traumatic Brain Injury Biomarker Measurement Methods

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality partially due to the limited tools available for diagnosis and classification. Measuring panels of protein biomarkers released into the bloodstream after injury has been proposed to diagnose TBI, inform treatment decisions, and monitor the progression of the injury. Being able to measure these protein biomarkers at the point-of-care would enable assessment of TBIs from the point-of-injury to the patient's hospital bedside. In this review, we provide a detailed discussion of devices reported in the academic literature and available on the market that have been designed to measure TBI protein biomarkers in various biofluids and contexts. We also assess the challenges associated with TBI biomarker measurement devices and suggest future research directions to encourage translation of these devices to clinical use.
Stress exposure and well-being: correlates of meeting criteria for bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, or both.

Bipolar and borderline personality disorders share similar features, are challenging to differentiate and sometimes co-occur in the same individual. This paper compares people with bipolar, borderline, both or neither, analyzing sociodemographic characteristics, lifetime exposure to stressors, and emotional, social, and physical wellbeing to illuminate differences in life experiences associated with expressing symptoms consistent with bipolar, borderline, or both. Data were analyzed from the 2012–13 National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC-III), N = 36,309. Survey participants were classified as bipolar (N = 488, 1.3%), borderline (N = 1758, 4.8%), both (N = 388, 1.1%), or neither (N = 33,675, 92.8%). Differences between these groups regarding demographics, adverse childhood experiences, recent stressors, lifetime trauma, psychiatric co-morbidities, and emotional, social, and physical wellbeing were assessed with the adjusted Wald F test. People with bipolar were more likely to also have borderline (44.3%) than the reverse (18.1%). People with both disorders were least advantaged socioeconomically, most exposed to stressors and traumas across the life course, and had the worst wellbeing emotionally, socially, and physically. Differences between people with both disorders vs. borderline only were smaller than between people with borderline vs. bipolar, although bipolar disorder was associated with considerable hardship relative to having neither disorder. Borderline personality disorder alone or in combination with bipolar is associated with worse economic, social, and health outcomes than bipolar alone. Borderline can resolve with evidence-based treatment, and it is critical to correctly differentiate between the two conditions, so people with borderline and/or bipolar have the optimum chance for recovery.
Reason's Grief: An Essay on Tragedy and Value

An aesthetic prelude 1. The problem of tragedy 2. The dubious ubiquity of reason 3. Nihilism 4. Pessimism 5. Monism: an epitaph 6. Moralism and the inconstancy of value 7. Moralism and the impurity of value 8. Best life pluralism and reason's regret 9. Tragic pluralism and reason's grief 10. Postscript on the future: the idea of progress and the avoidance of despair.
Culture of the terminally differentiated ventricular cardiac muscle cell: Characterization of exogenous substrate oxidation and the adenylate cyclase system

Oxidation of several exogenous substrates by cultured adult rat ventricular cardiac muscle cells has been assessed. Unlike freshly isolated cardiac muscle cells which oxidize glucose preferentially, the cultured cells more closely resemble metabolically the in situ heart and the isolated perfused heart, in that their preference for exogenous substrates is in the order of fatty acid greater than glucose. This switch in metabolic preference from glucose to fatty acid is complete within 12 h after placing freshly isolated cells in culture. Glucose oxidation is stimulated by insulin and isoproterenol and inhibited by beta-hydroxybutyrate and octanoate. The adenylate cyclase system has also been examined in these cultured cells. Isoproterenol, norepinephrine and epinephrine stimulate the accumulation of cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) in a concentration-dependent manner. The order of potency is isoproterenol greater than norepinephrine approximately equal to epinephrine. This stimulation is potentiated by 1-isobutyl-3-methylxanthine and inhibited by 1-propranolol.
Corruption and the Optimal Use of Non-Monetary Sanctions

This article presents a model of non-monetary sanctions with corruption. It is a well-known result in the law enforcement literature that in the absence of corruption, non-monetary sanctions, such as imprisonment, should be imposed infrequently. We show that, in the presence of corruption, it is still sometimes optimal to use non-monetary sanctions. In fact, it may be optimal to use them more often. Corruption transforms a non-monetary sanction into a monetary bribe. While this reduces deterrence, it also lowers the social cost of non-monetary sanctions, because they are seldom actually imposed. In addition, non-monetary sanctions can be beneficial in a corrupt environment, because they allow officials to extract higher bribes, thus restoring some deterrence.
Algebras of operators and closed range

We consider operators T such that every operator in the norm closed algebra generated by T has closed range. Examples in a triangular AF algebra are constructed.
Visibility: a new metric for protocol design

This paper proposes a new sensornet protocol design goal: visibility. Visibility into behaviors at the network level will simplify debugging and ease the development process. We argue that increasing visibility is the responsibility of the network protocols themselves, and not solely the responsibility of existing debugging tools. We describe a quantitative visibility metric to evaluate and compare protocols, where visibility is defined as the energy cost of diagnosing the cause of a behavior in a protocol. The design and evaluation of Pull Collection Protocol, a novel multi-hop collection protocol, is an example of how to design for visibility without sacrificing throughput or node-level fairness. We also describe our optimizations for an existing protocol, Deluge, to increase its visibility and efficiency.
Rat liver 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase

3 alpha-HSD appears to be a multifunctional enzyme. In addition to its traditional role of catalyzing early steps in androgen metabolism, it will also oxidoreduce prostaglandins and detoxify trans-dihydrodiols (proximate carcinogens). Since these novel reactions have been quantified using homogeneous enzyme it is necessary to interpret the role of the enzyme in these processes in vivo with some caution. However, it is rare that such observations on a purified hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase have led to such important questions. Is the 3 alpha-HSD the only steroid dehydrogenase that transforms prostaglandins and trans-dihydrodiols? Are hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases and prostaglandin dehydrogenases the same enzymes in certain tissues? Does 3 alpha-HSD protect against chemical carcinogenesis in vivo? The inhibition of the purified dehydrogenase by therapeutically relevant concentrations of anti-inflammatory drugs also deserves comment. Is this hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase really an in vivo target for anti-inflammatory drug action? Could these drugs exert some of their pharmacological effect either by preventing glucocorticoid metabolism in some tissues or by preventing the transformation of PGF2 alpha (non-inflammatory prostanoid) to PGE2 (a pro-inflammatory prostanoid)? Could these drugs, by inhibiting trans-dihydrodiol oxidation, potentiate the initiation of chemical carcinogenesis? These and other important questions can be answered only by developing specific inhibitors for the dehydrogenase to decipher its function in vivo.
Matching messages to the values underlying value-expressive and social-adjustive attitudes: reconciling an old theory with a contemporary measurement approach

Functional theory defines value-expressive attitudes as attitudes that are formed to aid in the achievement of one's values, and social-adjustive attitudes as attitudes that are formed from the desire to affiliate with others. The current investigation argues that both functions are based in a person's values, with the social-adjustive function being a specific form of a value-expressive attitude. Contemporary approaches to this theory have argued that these attitude functions can be inferred from scores on the self-monitoring scale, thus eliminating the need to measure the values underlying these functions. The current investigation argues that the success of studies using the self-monitoring scale to infer these functions should be due to the covariance of the other-directedness dimension of the scale with the values underlying those attitudes. Overall, the findings of the investigation indicate that the formation of these functional attitudes depends more on the match between the value-content of the p...
Neutron-Electron Interaction in Cutoff Theory

The perturbation-theoretic result for the neutron-electron interaction, as calculated by Salzman in the Chew no-recoil theory, is in serious disagreement with experiment. The main part of the experimental interaction (\ensuremath{\sim}4.2 kev) is accounted for by the Foldy term (4.08 kev). But the latter is not included in the no-recoil approximation, where one calculates only the electron interaction with the static pion cloud of the physical neutron. For this part of the interaction the no-recoil perturbation result is too large by a factor of at least twenty. We investigate here the possibility that higher order corrections drastically alter the pion cloud charge distribution. Using the techniques developed by Miyazawa, one can express the higher order corrections in terms of weighted integrals over the pion-nucleon interaction cross sections. It is found that the higher order effects indeed reduce the pion cloud contribution, but only by 20 percent. Because of certain ambiguities involved in treating the cutoff function, it cannot be stated that this represents the true content of Chew's theory; but it seems unlikely that any reasonable treatment of the cutoff could reduce the discrepancy much further.
A Cross‐Functionally Integrated Undergraduate Business Core Curriculum

In the summer of 1993, a faculty team from the College of Business at Northern Illinois University began working to develop a cross‐functionally integrated undergraduate business principles core curriculum. This paper describes the integrated curriculum, which is comprised of a nine‐hour integrated lecture covering business principles and a three‐hour applications seminar. Both of these courses,which are team taught, are described in the paper. The aper also discusses numerous lessons and issues that should be taken into consideration throughout comprehensive integration efforts.
MATERNAL SENSITIVITY TO CHILDREN IN PROBLEM SITUATIONS

Sixty mothers and their preschool children were placed in interactions structured to involve a problem situation for the child, the mother, or both. Maternal sensitivity and insensitivity were measured to test a number of parent effectiveness constructs. Results indicate that mothers were more insensitive than sensitive to their children, and that some major assumptions of the parent effectiveness model lack sufficient support to justify its training procedures.
The tall buildings initiative for alternative seismic design

Whereas current building codes legally apply to the seismic design of tall buildings, their prescriptive provisions do not adequately address many critical aspects. The alternative provisions clause of building codes provides an alternative to the prescriptive provisions through a performance-based approach. Application of performance-based procedures requires a clear definition of performance objectives, procedures for selecting and scaling earthquake ground motions for design, nonlinear modelling and simulation methods that produce reliable estimates of the design demands, criteria for measuring whether calculated demands are acceptable, and a framework for the design and review of alternative-design buildings. The Tall Buildings Initiative was initiated among a consortium of interested parties to develop the required information, including written guidelines, through a series of research tasks and workshops. The activities of the Tall Buildings Initiative are described. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Olfactory bulb lesions in alzheimer's disease

The olfactory bulb (OB), with its comparatively simple and well-delineated connectivity, presents an interesting system for examining cell-specific pathology in neurologic degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). We have found that in AD the large, efferently projecting neurons (mitral cells) of the OB degenerate, typically without classical Alzheimer neurofibrillary changes. In some cases, with less severe neocortical pathology, the terminal arborizations of olfactory nerve appear hyperplastic and are associated with focal accumulations of A-4 (beta-amyloid) immunoreactivity that are not detectable by standard amyloid stains. These abnormalities may represent a pathologic manifestation of normally occurring plasticity in the olfactory system.
NQR detection using a meanderline surface coil

14N pure NQR detection in a thin-layer sample using a meanderline, or zig-zag, surface coil is reported. The RF magnetic field of the meanderline drops off approximately as exp−πhb), where b is the conductor spacing and h is the distance from the plane of the coil, and therefore is ideally suited for NQR detection in thin, planar samples. A meanderline with 11 conducting strips of 4 cm spacing was used to observe the 14N ν-resonance line in sodium nitrite at sample distances up to 1.6 cm, where the RF field has dropped to less than 1e. The meanderline results are compared with those obtained using a solenoid of comparable dimensions. It is also shown that the sensitivity of NQR detection using surface coils is greatly enhanced by using fast-pulsing techniques such as the strong off resonance comb, which can produce an order-of-magnitude or better improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio over more conventional (T1-limited) techniques.