cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Role of ethnicity in risk for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis C and cirrhosis

Background & Aims: In the United States, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is more common among Asians and African Americans than Caucasians, with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection accounting for up to half of the patients. Our study examined ethnicity as a potential risk factor for HCC among patients with chronic hepatitis C. Methods: We conducted a case-control study of 464 patients with chronic hepatitis C and cirrhosis (207 cancer patients and 257 controls) using medical records and pathology records at 4 medical centers. We estimated odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals by using conditional logistic regression on case-control sets, matched within study centers and study period on sex and age groups (≤45, 46–55, 56–65, >65 yr). To control for potential confounding caused by severity of cirrhosis and residual confounding caused by age, we also included Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) scores and age (continuous variable) in all regression analyses. Results: Compared with Caucasians, the cancer risk was increased significantly among Asians (adjusted odds ratio, 4.3; 95% confidence interval, 2.1–9.0 for men, and 4.6; 1.2–18.5 for women) and somewhat increased among African-American men (adjusted odds ratio, 2.4; 95% confidence interval, 0.9–6.3). Conclusions: This study suggests that, among patients with chronic hepatitis C and cirrhosis, liver cancer risk is increased 4-fold in Asians and may be doubled in African-American men, compared with Caucasians. These results need confirmation in larger studies from racially diverse populations, but, if confirmed, these results point to high-risk populations that should be targeted for screening and preventive efforts.
Specification-based testing with buchi automata: Transition coverage criteria and property refinement

Buchi automaton is instrumental in linear-temporal logic model checking. It has been used in formalizing linear temporal requirements as well as in designing model checking algorithms. In this work we extend Buchi automaton to the domain of specification-based testing. We developed test criteria and techniques essential for testing a system with formal requirements in Buchi automata. At the core of our approach are two Buchi-automaton-based test criteria that select test cases based on their relevancy to a requirement in Buchi automaton. The relevancy is based on the notion of transition coverage on Buchi automaton. We define "weak" and "strong" variants of transition coverage criteria that reflect the non-deterministic nature of a Buchi automaton. Our experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed transition coverage criteria by measuring cross-coverage of these transition coverage criteria versus other existing test criteria. To improve test efficiency, we provide model-checking-assisted algorithms that fully automate test vector generations for the transition coverage criteria. In addition, we propose property refinement using the feedback from the test generation algorithm. The benefits of our approach are two-fold: (1) it enables the effective and efficient testing with formal requirements in Buchi automata; and, (2) our approach is capable of not only finding bugs in a system, but also identifying deficiency in its requirements via property refinement.
Smash Mouth Football Identity Development and Maintenance on a Women’s Tackle Football Team

Opportunities for women to participate on professional women’s football teams have expanded over the past decade. Still the experiences of these players have largely gone unnoticed by the general p...
Surface Potential and Longitudinal Electric Field Measurements in the Aerodynamic Plasma Actuator

We present the results of a series of measurements in which an array of capacitive V-dot probes are used to determine the surface potential in a single dielectric barrier discharge plasma operated as an aerodynamic plasma actuator. From these measurements, we determine the longitudinal electric field in the plasma. The results show that the surface immediately (within the first alternating current cycle of the plasma discharge) acquires a net positive surface charge, so that the electric field in the plasma is asymmetric, the magnitude of the maximum field being more than 50% larger in the negative than the positive polarity. The measurements also show that there is a region several millimeters downstream from the exposed electrode edge over which the electric field maintains a constant positive (downstream) polarity over the course of the discharge cycle.
Prevalence of tracheal collapse in an emphysema cohort as measured with end-expiration CT.

Rationale and Objectives To retrospectively investigate the prevalence of tracheal collapse in an emphysema cohort. The occurrence of a large degree of tracheal collapse may have important implications for the clinical management of respiratory symptoms and air trapping in patients with emphysema. Materials and Methods Paired full-inspiratory and end-expiratory thin-section volumetric computed tomographic scans were available for 1071 long-term smokers with clinically and physiologically confirmed emphysema. The percentage reduction in the cross-sectional tracheal luminal area from full-inspiration to end-expiration was automatically computed at 2.5-mm intervals along the centerline of the trachea using customized software. Results Maximal tracheal collapse did not follow a normal distribution in the emphysema cohort ( P P Conclusion This study offers insights into the prevalence of tracheal collapse in a cohort of patients with emphysema; future work is needed to determine the possible relationship between tracheal collapse and air trapping in subjects with emphysema.
Giant cell tumors of the jugular foramen

Purpose: To review the diagnosis and treatment of giant cell tumors of the jugular foramen. Materials and methods: A typical case is reported. Symptoms, signs, and diagnostic studies are reviewed. Photomicrographs and angiographic studies showing the differences between these and glomus jugulare tumors are provided. A coherent approach to their management is presented. Results: These hypervascular, traditionally radioresistant tumors may cause pulsatile tinnitus, conductive hearing loss, and lower cranial nerve paresis. Angiographic studies showed a hypervascular lesion supplied by numerous small branches of the external carotid artery, making embolization difficult. Complete resection was achieved by an infratemporal fossa approach with preoperative embolization. Conclusion: Giant cell tumors of the temporal bone may mimic glomus jugulare tumors with respect to anatomic location, cranial nerve deficits, and vascularity.
Protected programs at NSF

Many scientists and science administrators say they are disturbed by the fact that Congress “protected” funding for some National Science Foundation (NSF) programs in the fiscal year (FY) 1987 budget at a cost to other NSF programs. Especially disturbing to some was the notion that the earmarking reportedly occurred as a result of special interest lobbying efforts by their fellow scientists. The favored programs, and those that were cut back to compensate for them, were mostly related to geophysics. The protection of these programs is likely to have some impact on the size and number of grants awarded in some other areas.
Generation of human induced pluripotent stem cells by simple transient transfection of plasmid DNA encoding reprogramming factors

The use of lentiviruses to reprogram human somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells could limit their therapeutic usefulness due to the integration of viral DNA sequences into the genome of the recipient cell. Recent work has demonstrated that human iPS cells can be generated using episomal plasmids, excisable transposons, adeno or sendai viruses, mRNA, or recombinant proteins. While these approaches offer an advance, the protocols have some drawbacks. Commonly the procedures require either subcloning to identify human iPS cells that are free of exogenous DNA, a knowledge of virology and safe handling procedures, or a detailed understanding of protein biochemistry. Here we report a simple approach that facilitates the reprogramming of human somatic cells using standard techniques to transfect expression plasmids that encode OCT4, NANOG, SOX2, and LIN28 without the need for episomal stability or selection. The resulting human iPS cells are free of DNA integration, express pluripotent markers, and form teratomas in immunodeficient animals. These iPS cells were also able to undergo directed differentiation into hepatocyte-like and cardiac myocyte-like cells in culture. Simple transient transfection of plasmid DNA encoding reprogramming factors is sufficient to generate human iPS cells from primary fibroblasts that are free of exogenous DNA integrations. This approach is highly accessible and could expand the use of iPS cells in the study of human disease and development.
The effect of withdrawal of drugs treating intermittent claudication.

Abstract Background: Pharmacologic treatment for intermittent claudication is a management option. This study evaluated the effect of withdrawal of drug therapies, cilostazol and pentoxifylline, on the walking ability of peripheral artery disease patients. Methods: Single-blind placebo crossover from a randomized, double-blind trial; 45 claudication patients received either cilostazol 100 mg orally twice daily (n = 16), pentoxifylline 400 mg orally three times daily (n = 13), or placebo (n = 16) for 24 weeks. After 24 weeks of double-blind therapy, treatment for all groups was placebo only, and follow-up continued through week 30. Treatment efficacy was established with treadmill testing. Results: Profile analysis demonstrated a highly significant loss of treatment benefit after crossover ( P = 0.001) for cilostazol-treated patients, but no significant change after crossover was observed with pentoxifylline. Conclusions: Drug withdrawal worsened the walking of claudicants who had benefited from cilostazol therapy. This decline with crossover to placebo suggests that the initial improvement with cilostazol treatment was due to the drug's action. Withdrawal of pentoxifylline did not adversely affect walking.
The dielectric and electrooptical properties of a molecular crystal-hexamine

The crystal growth, dielectric properties, optical properties, and electrooptic effect of the cubic molecular crystal, hexamine, were examined. The fact that the dielectric constant is not a function of frequency at least to 22 Gc/sec and temperature between 77°K and 300°K has been interpreted in terms of a “squashing” vibration of the tetrahedron which forms part of the molecule. A model for an electrooptic effect in molecular crystals in terms of the effect of electric fields on molecular absorptions (Stark effect) was utilized. An expression for the electrooptic coefficient was derived which yielded excellent agreement between the theoretical value of 13.2 × 10−10 cm/V and the best experimental value of 4.18 × 10−10 cm/V for hexamine. A comparison of hexamine to various known electrooptic materials such as KDP, ADP, CuCl, ZnS, GaAs was made, and it was concluded that this material does possess certain advantageous properties.
Velar activity and timing of eustachian tube function in swallowing.

Velar motion for dry and liquid swallows was investigated. as well as velar activity in speech, based on X-ray microbeam pellet tracking data. Electromyographic recordings for tensor and levator veli palatini were obtained simultaneously. Velar pellet trajectories for swallowing were more complex than for speech, since there was a highvelocity anterior component in swallowing. For some swallows this anterior component was integrated with velar elevation (especially in liquid swallows), but in other cases initial velar elevation occurred considerably earlier (chiefly in dry swallows). The burst of tensor and levator veli palatini activity characteristic of swallowing was associated with the anterior component of velar pellet motion, but not consistently with velar elevation per se. The conventional view on timing of tensor veli palatini contraction in a swallow, which governs Eustachian tube opening, is that this is associated with velar closure. The X-ray microbeam data suggest rather that Eustachian tube ventilation is more closely associated in time to the onset of pharyngeal peristalsis, which may or may not coincide with initial velar elevation.
Preliminary Supersonic Analysis Methods Including High Angle of Attack

The problems associated with predicting the aerodynamic loads for moderate supersonic Mach number, highangle-of-attack flows and for high supersonic Mach number flows are addressed. For these large-disturbance flows, commonly used prediction methods based on linearized theory or on the tangent-wedge method are shown to be generally inadequate. For the preliminary analysis of aerodynamic shapes subjected to these type flows, two methods have recently been developed by combining features of the linearized theory and the tangentwedge method. These two new methods are discussed and, through extensive comparisons with experimental data, are shown to offer an improved prediction capability. Nomenclature b = wing span c = local wing chord CD — drag coefficient CL = lift coefficient Cm = pitching moment coefficient Cp = pressure coefficient ACp =net load coefficient, lower surface Cp— upper surface Cp M = Mach number x = distance behind the wing leading edge, measured streamwise
Why social networks are different from other types of networks

We argue that social networks differ from most other types of networks, including technological and biological networks, in two important ways. First, they have nontrivial clustering or network transitivity and second, they show positive correlations, also called assortative mixing, between the degrees of adjacent vertices. Social networks are often divided into groups or communities, and it has recently been suggested that this division could account for the observed clustering. We demonstrate that group structure in networks can also account for degree correlations. We show using a simple model that we should expect assortative mixing in such networks whenever there is variation in the sizes of the groups and that the predicted level of assortative mixing compares well with that observed in real-world networks.
Sonographic visualization of the fetal upper airway.

Laryngeal obstruction is a life-threatening condition which can sometimes be diagnosed by prenatal ultrasound examination. Dilatation of the fetal trachea is an important finding in these cases. Sonographic studies to evaluate the fetal upper airway were performed in 120 consecutive patients. The diameters of the trachea and pharynx were measured and our ability to visualize the trachea and the larynx was evaluated. The diameter of the trachea increased from a mean of 2.4 mm at 18 weeks to 4.6 mm at 38 weeks. The mean diameter of the pharynx increased from 4.4 mm at 18 weeks to 8.8 mm at 38 weeks. The fetal larynx was adequately visualized in 67%) of the cases, while the entire trachea was seen in 47% of the cases. Our success in visualizing the larynx and trachea was best between 20 and 30 weeks' gestation. This study shows that it is possible to obtain excellent views of the fetal airway in a high percentage of cases and reports the range of normal values for tracheal diameter. Early visualization of a diluted trachea may allow better management of a fetus with laryngeal obstruction.
Gauging Academic Growth of Bachelor Degree Recipients: Longitudinal vs. Self-Reported Gains in General Education.

Using measures of longitudinal learning that are widely available to institutional researchers, this study found several important biases associated with learning gains self-reported by university graduates.
FDA Perspective on the DSM-5 Approach to Classification of “Cognitive” Disorders

Primary "cognitive" disorders (e.g., Alzheimer's disease) often have behavioral features, just as primary behavioral disorders (e.g., schizophrenia) often have cognitive features. Drug research in recent years has expanded into targeting the full range of symptoms of both types of disorders. DSM-5 should include these associated features of each type of disorder, because acknowledging the full range of symptoms for each type of disorder has important research and treatment implications.
Economics of production

I ESTEEM it no small honor to be invited to give this memorial lecture; and it is a great personal pleasure for me to do what little I can to keep green the memory of the great scientist, humanist, and engineer in whose honor these lectures have been founded. It was my great privilege to be quite well acquainted with Doctor Steinmetz and, as you know, to be acquainted with him at all was to admire him unreservedly.
Effects of Neonatal Ethanol Exposure on Cholinergic Neurons of the Rat Medial Septum

The objective of this study was to determine the long-term effects of neonatal ethanol exposure on the cholinergic neurons in the medial septum (MS) of the rat. On postnatal day 4 (P4) pups were assigned to one of three groups: an ethanol-receiving, gastrostomized group (EtOH); a pair-fed, gastrostomized control group (GC); and a dam-reared suckle control group (SC). Gastrostomized pups were infused with ethanol-containing or control diet as a 9.1% v/v solution for two feedings on each day from P4 to P10. Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) immunocytochemistry was analyzed at P60. Ethanol treatment resulted in long-lasting microencephaly in P60 EtOH animals. Ethanol exposure did not directly reduce ChAT-expressing (ChAT+) neuronal number, nor were changes noted in MS volume, mean area/section, or cell density as a result of ethanol treatment. Ethanol exposure reduced ChAT+ neuronal size in EtOH males compared with GC males but not SC males. No differences in ChAT+ neuronal size were noted in females. Thus, neonatal ethanol exposure, whereas producing long-lived microencephaly, has little effect on the cholinergic neurons of the adult rat MS.
Inductive inference of formal languages from positive data

We consider inductive inference of formal languages, as defined by Gold (1967) , in the case of positive data, i.e., when the examples of a given formal language are successive elements of some arbitrary enumeration of the elements of the language. We prove a theorem characterizing when an indexed family of nonempty recursive formal languages is inferrable from positive data. From this theorem we obtain other useful conditions for inference from positive data, and give several examples of their application. We give counterexamples to two variants of the characterizing condition, and investigate conditions for inference from positive data that avoids “overgeneralization.”
Energy disposal in the hot hydrogen atom Isotope exchange reaction (H, HD)

Abstract Data are presented which demonstrate that the hot hydrogen atom isotope exchange reaction H + HD → H 2 + D furnishes a deuterium atom which is hot.
Magnetism in the few-monolayers limit: A surface magneto-optic Kerr-effect study of the magnetic behavior of ultrathin films of Co, Ni, and Co-Ni alloys on Cu(100) and Cu(111).

The surface magneto-optic Kerr effect (SMOKE) was used to investigate the magnetic properties of epitaxial thin films of Co, Ni, and their alloys grown on Cu(100) and Cu(111). The Curie temperature ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{C}}$ is higher for the same films of a given thickness on Cu(111) than on Cu(100). All the films show a change in the power-law exponent \ensuremath{\beta} of the magnetization density M\ensuremath{\sim}(1-T/${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{C}}$${)}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\beta}}}$ with reducing film thickness. Ni films on Cu(100) undergo a particularly abrupt crossover at \ensuremath{\sim}7 monolayers (ML) from three-dimensional Heisenberg (\ensuremath{\beta}=0.37) to finite-size two-dimensional XY (\ensuremath{\beta}=0.23) behavior as the film thickness is reduced. The characteristic power-law exponent \ensuremath{\beta}=0.23 of these films appears to be an experimental realization of Kosterlitz-Thouless behavior over a restricted temperature range. A similar, but more gradual crossover occurs for the Ni films on Cu(111) at 8 to 12 ML. The finite-size scaling behavior in the few-monolayers-thickness range is compared with that reported for Ising thin-film behavior. In all instances ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{C}}$ extrapolates with decreasing thickness to zero at one monolayer. The dimensionality crossover and finite-size scaling behavior is discussed in the light of our current understanding of spin-wave quantization, anisotropy, and film microstructure.
A natural outcrossing swarm of Tetranychus urticae.

The organophosphorus resistance response of a rose House strain of the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urlicae Koch, was used as a marker to follow the mixing with a susceptible phenotype found adjacent to the green-house. This out crossing swarm is a potential source of resistance to the control measures used inside the green-house.
Prostaglandin production by human blood monocytes and mouse peritoneal macrophages : Synthesis dependent on in vitro culture conditions

The pattern of prostaglandin synthetase products from human peripheral blood monocytes was examined. Thromboxane and prostaglandin E were found to be the major products released by monocytes/macrophages on day one of culture following cell adherence. If these cells were studied 24h after cell adherence had occurred, then thromboxane synthesis was noted to be markedly reduced and PGE was the major secretory product. A day one type pattern, i.e. high thromboxane, high PGE could be elicited from day two cultured cells if cell adherence was delayed until day two of culture. Inflammatory stimuli caused a consistent rise in PGE release from day one and day two cultures, no consistent change in thromboxane was observed. It is suggested that activation of the thromboxane synthetase pathway in monocytes and macrophages is primarily a consequence of cell adherence. Prostaglandin E and prostacyclin (PGI) appear to be the major products released in response to inflammatory stimuli. These data demonstrate that the pattern and sequence of prostaglandins synthesized are in part a function of the in vitro culture conditions, time in culture and the species studied. Further, these findings offer a possible explanation to the discrepant reports in the literature.
On the Pursey-Pauli invariants in the theory of beta decay

The assumption of a vanishing neutrino mass leads to a group of transformations on the neutrino field which transform the Β-decay interaction into equivalent interactions. By physical observations one cannot distinguish between equivalent interactions. The results of observations can be expressed in terms of nuclear matrix elements and combinations of the coupling constants which are invariant under the group. These invariants have recently been put forward by Pursey and on a more general basis by Pauli. They are explored further in this paper. Their mathematics is studied and relations between them are established. The conditions for invariance with respect to reflections in space, charge conjugation, and time reversal are expressed in terms of these invariants. Interactions which conserve lepton charge and/or couple to only two components of the neutrino field are characterized by relations between the invariants. (For a reader who does not want to follow the detailed arguments the main results are summarized in the last section.) In the Appendix possible experiments on Β-decay are expressed in terms of the invariants.
Comparison of [111] and [001] B-site stacking order in PZN-type relaxor ferroelectrics

Abstract It has recently been shown that single-crystal solid solution ferroelectric crystals can have dramatically improved electromechanical properties compared to conventional transducer materials. This discovery has stimulated research aimed at understanding the atomic structures of these materials and identifying parameters controlling the growth of large crystals. We have investigated PZN-type relaxors with the stoichiometry Pb(Zn 1/3 2+ Nb 2/3 5+ )O 3 , using the first-principles ab initio projector mixed-basis method. We have analyzed well-converged structures and energetics of both P4/mmm space group [001] stacking vs. P3m1 [111] stacking. The atomic positions in each compositional structure are relaxed using calculated forces and a velocity-based MD relaxation method. The calculations reveal a preference for P3m1 [111] stackings.
Economic Bases of Revolution and Repression in the Late Ottoman Empire

Central to late Ottoman history is a series of events that marks a milestone in the emergence of modern forms of political thought and revolutionary action in the Islamic world. The sequence opened with the rise of the Young Ottoman ideologues (1865) and the constitutional movement of the 1870s. It continued with the repression of these forces under Abdulhamid 11 (1876–1909). It culminated with the resurgence of opposition in the Young Turk movement of 1889 and later, and especially with the revolution of 1908. Studied so far mostly in political and intellectual terms, the sequence seems well understood. The emergence of the Young Ottomans—the pioneers of political ideology, in any modern sense, in the Middle East—appears to result from the introduction of Western ideas and from stresses created within the bureaucracy by the political hegemony of the Tanzimat elite (ca. 1839–71). The repression under Abdulhamid follows from the turmoil of the late 1870s, the weaknesses of the constitution of 1876, and the craft of the new sultan in creating a palace-dominated police state. The emergence of the Young Turks shows that terror ultimately fostered, rather than killed, the opposition. Too, their eventual revolutionary success shows how much more effective than the Young Ottomans they were as political mobilizers.
An investigation of the stability of the Bondi-Hoyle model of accretion flow

The Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton (1944) accretion model is considered which involves accretion onto a massive body moving at a high Mach number with respect to the ambient medium and the production of a high-density accretion column along the axis where particle orbits intersect. The stability of steady-state solutions with respect to short-wavelength perturbations is analyzed using the WKB approximation, and the accretion column is shown to be unstable toward such perturbations. It is noted that this instability is not affected by the position of the stagnation point in the steady-state solution.
What About Literary Values

M1Y TOPIC might easily cause me to spend my time in an effort to convince the convinced. I think I need not contend that literary values exist, and I think we are all certain that they should be presented to students. I mean "presented" because that is precisely the way in which they are most effectively introduced. The student must become acquainted with a segment of world culture to which he is practically a stranger. He has to learn the fundamental similarities between this strange segment and the segment within which he has grown, but he must learn them along with the many dissimilarities which prohibit his being at home in his new environment. He is introduced to the new segment of culture at a relatively advanced age and, therefore, simply does not have the time to assimilate it that has been required for his identification with his natural environment. Our problem, then, becomes a problem of presentation, and we must decide what values may be introduced when, and how we may cause these values to be accepted. Certainly if our objectives are going to include how to live as well as how to make a living, an acquaintance with what men have written is necessary. I am sure that we are all convinced of this within ourselves. But can we convince other people? Can we make our students feel the same necessity? How can we express ourselves? Given time to choose the right words, I could tell you just what literature means to me. I could transmit to you the calm pleasure that is often mine, the exaltation, and the ecstasy that I derive from beauty of expression and beauty of idea. It might even be an inspiring address. You, in turn, would be quite as capable of transmitting your feelings to me. We would be talking to each other, the speaker explaining something that the listener understood already. Our only accomplishment would be mutual encouragement. But we don't need encouragement-we need interested students-and we shall have to make them for ourselves. The teacher's enthusiasm is to a certain extent contagious, but enthusiasm must be supported by something more than a mere telling of how the teacher feels about his work. If we feel the necessity of our work better than we can express it, it is a logical assumption that we must teach our students that feeling. It must be done by calling our students' attention to the values that we feel they should recognize--not by obtuse questioning, but by the simplest and most direct questions that will guide their attention
Clinical utilization patterns of alvimopan in a contemporary cohort of patients undergoing radical cystectomy

Objective: To evaluate the clinical utilization patterns and outcomes of alvimopan, a peripherally-acting µ-opioid receptor antagonist, after radical cystectomy (RC) and urinary diversion at a high-volume cancer center. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively identified 130 consecutive patients who underwent RC and urinary diversion for bladder cancer at our institution from October 2013 to September 2014. Demographic, clinical, and postoperative outcomes were compared between patients who did and did not receive alvimopan using the Kruskal-Wallis test for medians and the chi-square test for proportions. Predictors of 30-day complications and prolonged length of stay (LOS) were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: Perioperative alvimopan was given to 81 patients (62.3%) during the study period although in 17 patients (13.1%) it was indicated but not given. The most common absolute or relative contraindication for alvimopan usage was prior consumption of opioids for more than 7 consecutive days (n=18; 13.8%). Patients who received alvimopan had a better performance status (p=0.06), less comorbidities (p=0.08), and were more likely to have minimally-invasive surgery (p=0.07) although these differences did not reach statistical significance. Alvimopan usage was independently associated with less postoperative 30-day complications (odds ratio [OR]: 0.35, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.15 – 0.82; p=0.015), less high-grade complications (OR: 0.12, 95% CI: 0.044 – 0.34; p 10 days (OR: 0.28, 95% CI: 0.11 – 0.72; p=0.008). Conclusions: Despite its clinical benefits, alvimopan was under-utilized in RC patients, especially in those with worse baseline health. We recommend its incorporation into standardized protocols to optimize perioperative care.
The explanatory foundations of relationship marketing theory

Purpose – Drawing on resource‐advantage theory and a diverse literature base, this article seeks to further the development of the explanatory foundations of relationship marketing theory by proposing, and then providing, tentative answers to three “why?” questions in relationship marketing: why is relationship marketing so prominent now? Why do firms and consumers enter into relationships with other firms and consumers? Why are some efforts at relationship marketing more successful than others?Design/methodology/approach – Before addressing the three questions, the paper begins by discussing the different forms of relationship marketing.Findings – Although relationship marketing is a relatively young field of inquiry, relationship marketing theory is an extremely rich area of research. Relationship marketing can take many forms and, as a result, relationship marketing theory has the potential to increase one's understanding of many aspects of business strategy.Research limitations/implications – The answ...
A tale of two citations

Are scientists publishing more duplicate papers? An automated search of seven million biomedical abstracts suggests that they are, report Mounir Errami and Harold Garner. A literature trawl using the text-similarity search engine eTBLAST ( http://tinyurl.com/2ex4ey ) has uncovered a worrying trend: duplication, co-submission and plagiarism are on the increase. Mounir Errami and Harold Garner estimate the extent of the problem, and map out techniques that could be used to clean up our collective act. Chief among them, the convergence of journals' electronic submission systems with the new computational tools being developed to detect duplications.
Optically detected conformational changes in haemoglobin single crystals.

THERE is considerable X-ray evidence that the haem stereochemistry is different in oxy- and deoxyhaemoglobin1–3. This structural change is an important part of the oxygenation process, because it is believed to induce conformational changes in the surrounding protein that are responsible for cooperativity. We have investigated conformational changes in the haem region by measuring polarised absorption spectra on single crystals. Using this technique we have detected changes in porphyrin plane orientation associated with an alteration of the ligand, spin, and oxidation state of the haem iron, factors which influence haem stereochemistry. Our results not only show for the first time that contacts between the porphyrin and amino acid side chains change upon oxygenation, but they are also consistent with the Hoard-Perutz hypothesis on the nature of the stereochemical trigger1–3.
Different strokes for teaching folks

What differentiates technology-using teachers from the rest of your users? How can you best address their special needs? How will you know if you are successful in your approach? This session will take a look at three major considerations for supporting users who apply computer technology to their classroom teaching. 1. Classroom use of technology is time sensitive and mission critical. Staff can help minimize in-class technical crises by providing a comprehensive array of services to prepare faculty to use computers in the classroom and offer backup resources for veteran users. 2. Faculty members’ technology development time must be conserved to cultivate their long-term interest. The initial increase of time required to develop technology applications for teaching can be held in check by strategically deploying self-service tools and closely monitoring faculty efforts. 3. As the number of those teaching with technology continues to grow faster than the size of support staffs, resource leveraging and continual assessment become more crucial than ever. Sustaining a shared vision for faculty support can add focus to collaborative efforts between campus support units.
A radiographic evaluation of the periapical status of teeth treated by the gutta-percha-eucapercha endodontic method ; a one year follow-up study of 458 root canals

Abstract In a part-time endodontic practice, the senior author (D.R.M.) completed nonsurgical endodontic therapy by the gutta-percha-eucapercha method on 585 procedural accident-free teeth. Of these teeth, 220 with 458 root canals were available for recall (mean follow-up time, 12.1 months). Other teeth that failed for nonendodontic reasons (for example, caries, periodontal disease, fracture) were not evaluated. Radiographic analysis by one of the authors (J.V.E.) (who was not involved in the treatments) revealed the following: (1) The overall success rate was 94.5 percent for teeth and 95.2 percent for canals; (2) upper and lower teeth had equivalent success (95.1 percent versus 93.8 percent); (3) anterior and posterior teeth also showed equivalent success (95.1 percent versus 94.3 percent), but there was a trend toward a better success rate for premolars over molars (98.1 percent versus 92.5 percent); (4) cases originally diagnosed as vital-inflamed showed a trend toward a better success rate than those originally diagnosed as nonvital (teeth, 98.2 percent versus 93.3 percent; canals, 98.4 percent versus 94.0 percent); (5) teeth with radiolucent areas showed a trend toward a better success rate than teeth without “areas” (94.5 percent versus 89.5 percent), but canals with “areas” showed a significantly better success rate than canals without “areas” (96.4 percent versus 86.7 percent, p
Six Sigma engages physicians in achieving strategic performance improvement at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center

Driven largely by a desire to improve the safety and quality of its healthcare services, a large medical center has achieved dramatic and sustained improvement in core clinical processes, in part by getting residents and attending physicians involved in Six Sigma process improvement teams and change leadership. SFMC aligned the Six Sigma management system with its strategy and other performance improvement methods; implemented a 100-day plan to launch the initiative; and built credibility through significant sustained improvements in nonclinical processes that mattered to physicians, before successfully extending the effort into the clinical and academic arenas to support evidence-based care. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Toward a model of psychological health empowerment: implications for health care in multicultural communities

Abstract This article presents a model of health empowerment from an individual psychological perspective. Building on Menon's (2001) model of psychological empowerment in organizations, psychological health empowerment is developed as a construct to capture the individual community member's feelings of empowerment with regard to health and health care. The context for health empowerment is first conceptualized as an interactive system of three elements, namely, the individual community member, health service providers, and the regulatory environment consisting of health policy and systems. The individual manages his or her own health on a daily basis, interacts with health service providers when in need of specialized medical assistance, and is affected by the ‘health policy and systems’ element. Perceived control, perceived competence, and goal internalization, the three facets of Menon's empowerment model, are then adapted to the health context. A scale for measuring psychological health empowerment is also proposed. The implications of this approach for health care in multicultural communities are then explored.
The Social Shaping of Commission Reports

We know that conceptual models, or frames, are more than simply angles of vision or approaches. Each is comprised of theories, assumptions, and categories that influence where we look and what we find. Frames shape how questions are asked, what is taken as evidence, the conclusions drawn, and subsequent actions. In this paper, I consider the frame, identification of root causes, and policy recommendations of the 9/11 Commission report by comparing it with two others: The report of the presidential commission that investigated the space shuttle Challenger accident (1986) and the investigation board's report on the Columbia accident (2003). In making the comparison, I am not equating the three incidents. Terrorist attacks taking the lives of nearly 3000 and resulting in war are vastly different in immediate impact and long-range consequences from the two space shuttle accidents. There is a logic to the comparison, however. Having analyzed the social causes of the Challenger accident (Vaughan, 1996) and subsequently worked on the staff of the Columbia
Pressure-volume relations for the alkali metals from shock-wave measurements

Abstract Plane-wave explosive systems were used to generate shock waves in the alkali metals. A photographic technique was used to measure associated velocities which are converted into pressurecompression data. Maximum pressures attained vary from about 265 kbar in Li to about 410 kbar in Cs. The experimental data is used together with an estimate of the volume variation of the Gruneisen ratio to calculate curves of pressure vs. compression at 0°K.
Mapping the Nerve Architecture of Diabetic Human Corneas

Objective To investigate the entire human corneal nerve architecture of donors with different durations of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Design Experimental study. Participants and Controls Sixteen fresh human eyes from 8 diabetic donors (aged 43–66 years, with IDDM for 2–17 years) and 12 eyes from 6 normal donors (aged from 44–67 years) were obtained from the National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI). Methods After fixation, corneas were stained with mouse monoclonal anti-β-Tubulin III antibody, and images were acquired to build a whole view of the corneal nerve architecture. The same corneas were used for both whole-mount and cross-section examination. Main Outcome Measures Corneal epithelial nerve density was calculated on the basis of the whole-mount view of the central area. The number of stromal nerves was calculated by counting the nerve trunks at the corneoscleral limbus of the entire cornea. Differences between diabetic and normal corneas in epithelial nerve densities and main stromal nerve numbers were compared by paired-samples t test. Results The diabetic eyes presented numerous neuropathies in areas where the epithelial nerve bundles emerged. A striking pathologic change was the presence of abundant nerve fiber loops in the stroma. These loops seemed to form by resistance presented by the basement membrane, which may prevent penetration of stromal nerve branches into epithelia. There was no difference in the numbers of main stromal nerve trunks between corneas from diabetic and normal donors, but there was a significant decrease in central epithelial nerve density in the diabetic corneas. We did not find an age effect on this decrease. Instead, it was significantly affected by 5 or more years of IDDM. Conclusions This is the first study to show an entire view of the nerve architecture in human diabetic corneas. The decreased epithelial nerve density may result from the abnormalities of stromal nerve architecture and is affected by 5 or more years of IDDM. Although compensation for some nerve regeneration takes place, the alterations in the stromal nerves can explain the poor healing and persistent epithelial defects seen in diabetic patients. Financial Disclosure(s) The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
Explicit Gibbs free energy equation of state applied to the carbon phase diagram

We provide a simple explicit form for the Gibbs free energy $G(P,T)$ of diamond, graphite, and liquid carbon. The Gibbs free energy function is shown to reproduce the known equation of state properties of carbon up to pressures of 600 GPa (6 MBar) and temperatures of 15 000 K. Recent experiments on graphite melting suggest the presence of a first-order liquid-liquid phase transition at roughly 6 GPa. We show that such a transition is consistent with shock compression data at higher pressures. We reanalyze experiments on the diamond-liquid melting line with our equation of state. Our analysis suggests that the diamond-liquid melting line may have a more positive slope as a function of pressure than previously estimated. A maximum in the diamond melting line is predicted by the model, in agreement with recent ab initio simulations.
Comparison of vegetation indices derived from NOAA/AVHRR data for Sahelian crop assessments

Abstract Channel 1 and Channel 2 reflectance data from the advanced very high resolution radiometers (AVHRR) of the NOAA satellites are becoming an increasingly important source of information for crop condition assessments. Vegetation indices condense satellite spectral data, discriminate vegetation from non-vegetation, and aid in the assessment of crop conditions for a very large range of agricultural and meteorological conditions. In this paper, three vegetation indices (ratio vegetation index, normalized difference vegetation index and difference vegetation index) based on Channel 1 and Channel 2 NOAA/AVHRR data are compared to determine which is most appropriate for operational assessments in the Sahel and Sub-Sahel region of Africa. The indices were tested for the effect of changing solar zenith angle, for discrimination between vegetation and non-vegetation, and for response to the presence of clouds. It was found that similarities among the indices make it possible to use any of the indices for assessments in the Sahel, but using the RVI has slight advantages over the other two indices.
N-soliton solutions for the integrable modified KdV-sine-Gordon equation

In this work, we study the modified Korteweg?de Vries-sine-Gordon (MKdV-sG) equation. The MKdV-sG equation is integrable subject to specific conditions that relate the parameter of the dispersion term to the parameter of the nonlinear term. Moreover, the MKdV-sG equation describes the propagation of few-cycle-pulse optical solitons in Kerr media. We use the simplified Hirota method to derive multiple soliton solutions.
Model reduction in the presence of uncertainty in model parameters

Abstract This short note describes how to extend a certain class of existing model reduction techniques to take into account uncertainty in model parameters. The key idea of this extension is that the reduced-order model should not only contain the model parameters, but that the reduction procedure itself has to be geared for dealing with parametric uncertainty. This goal is achieved by augmenting the vector of inputs to the system with the uncertain parameters and by performing model reduction on the augmented system. It is shown that error bounds for the reduced-order model can be computed if the underlying system is linear with respect to the states, parameters, and inputs. A comparison between the presented technique and a conventional approach is made via two examples.
Nonlinear evolution of secondary instabilities in boundary-layer transition

Methods of nonlinear stability theory are applied to analyze the evolution of disturbances in the three-dimensional stage immediately preceding the breakdown of a laminar boundary layer. A perturbation scheme is used to solve the nonlinear equations and to develop a dynamical model for the interaction of primary and secondary instabilities. The first step solves for the two-dimensional primary wave in the absence of secondary disturbances. Once this finite-amplitude wave is calculated, it is decomposed into a basic-flow component and an interaction component. The basic-flow component acts as a parametric excitation for the three-dimensional secondary wave, while the interaction component captures the resonance between the secondary and primary waves. Results are presented in two principal forms: amplitude growth curves and velocity profiles. Our results agree with experimental data and the few available results of transition simulations and, moreover, reveal the origin of the observed phenomena. The method described establishes the basis for physical transition criteria in a given disturbance environment.
Understanding major life decisions : a life history approach

Abstract Life decisions of the sort that provoke major life-structural transformations provide excellent material for the analysis of ideological processes at the level of the individual personality. Over the past two decades, cognitive and behavioral approaches to decision making have obscured the symbolic, semiotic, and sociocultural processes that govern the deciding consciousness, particularly when major life involvements are at stake. Such approaches lead logically to instrumentalistic “life management” strategies which further reduce the possibility that the fantasies, desires, and meanings of particular dilemmas and decisions will be reflected upon and understood critically. The ideological processes that structure life choices “from behind our backs” are thus given free entry into one of the important spaces where subjectivity might find expression. This article presents excerpts from depth interviews with a woman struggling with autonomy issues to illustrate a critical-interpretive approach to decision making in the context of the life history.