cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Transboundary Dispute Over the Waters of the Silala/Siloli: Legal Vandalism and Goffmanian Metaphor

The waters of the Silala/Siloli, located in the hyper-arid Atacama Desert dividing Bolivia and Chile, originate in Bolivia, flow for a mere four kilometers before entering Chile, and flow for four more kilometers before commingling with the San Pedro tributary and debouching into the Pacific Ocean. And yet this tiny basin, located in one of the most remote and inhospitable places on earth, forms what the United Nations calls one of the most hydropolitically vulnerable basins in the world. Bolivia claims that a Chilean concessionaire artificially diverted the waters in 1908 and Chile now illegally draws from the waters, long after Bolivia terminated the concession agreement. Chile claims the waters form a natural transboundary watercourse that would flow as a servitude into Chile even if the waters never had been augmented or directed by the canals. Questions of law and fact blur the legal status of these waters, their possible relationship to a transboundary aquifer, and the customary application of equitable and reasonable use standards regarding a river, if indeed the Silala/Siloli is a river. As the case heads toward The Hague for consideration by the International Court of Justice, this Article concentrates on the evolving relationship between these historically troubled riparians, borrowing from the sociological framework analysis of Erving Goffman to investigate how international dispute settlement mechanisms may indeed be challenged by ceremonial forms of dramaturgy that play more to domestic audiences than pacific settlement outcomes. In the Anthropocene age, acute concerns about fresh water and non-navigable watercourses now have the potential to erupt into major conflicts between states. These conflicts draw critical attention to the evolving relationship between groundwater and surface water regimes, certainly in the great hydrographic basins of the world and, as this case details, in one of the smallest and most remote catchments on earth.
Cosmological discordances II: Hubble constant, Planck and large-scale-structure data sets

We examine systematically the (in)consistency between cosmological constraints as obtained from various current data sets of the expansion history, Large Scale Structure (LSS), and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) from Planck. We run (dis)concordance tests within each set and across the sets using a recently introduced index of inconsistency (IOI) capable of dissecting inconsistencies between two or more data sets. First, we compare the constraints on $H_0$ from five different methods and find that the IOI drops from 2.85 to 0.88 (on Jeffreys' scales) when the local $H_0$ measurements is removed. This seems to indicate that the local measurement is an outlier, thus favoring a systematics-based explanation. We find a moderate inconsistency (IOI=2.61) between Planck temperature and polarization. We find that current LSS data sets including WiggleZ, SDSS RSD, CFHTLenS, CMB lensing and SZ cluster count, are consistent one with another and when all combined. However, we find a persistent moderate inconsistency between Planck and individual or combined LSS probes. For Planck TT+lowTEB versus individual LSS probes, the IOI spans the range 2.92--3.72 and increases to 3.44--4.20 when the polarization data is added in. The joint LSS versus the combined Planck temperature and polarization has an IOI of 2.83 in the most conservative case. But if Planck lowTEB is added to the joint LSS to constrain $\tau$ and break degeneracies, the inconsistency between Planck and joint LSS data increases to the high-end of the moderate range with IOI=4.81. Whether due to systematic effects in the data or to the underlying model, these inconsistencies need to be resolved. Finally, we perform forecast calculations using LSST and find that the discordance between Planck and future LSS data, if it persists as present, can rise up to a high IOI of 17, thus falling in the strong range of inconsistency. (Abridged).
A Brief History of Evidence-Based Practice

This chapter takes a look at the history of evidence-based treatments (EBT) in psychotherapy from the 1950s to the present, specifically in child psychotherapy. The American Psychological Association (APA) and other government task forces have put mandates in place for treatments to be “empirically supported” with at least one randomized control trial (RCT) in an effort to make sure that children are receiving the empirically supported treatments that are shown to be effective. This EBP movement has ensured that people are receiving treatments that were actually designed to work for them, and those treatments have received more funding. In turn, clinicians and mental health agencies have been implementing practice of these evidence-based treatments for children. While there are still challenges related to implementing empirically supported treatments, we may be on the right track to providing children with psychotherapeutic interventions that really work.
Politeness and pseudo-intimacy in a food radio call-in program

Abstract Food radio call-in program offers a mediated public forum for home cooks to ask experts culinary questions. Both the expert host and the caller risk face; the expert host must be able to answer the caller to save his reputation and business, and the caller does not want be seen as an inept home cook. In a case study of an American food radio and podcast, this article proposes that a pseudo-intimacy is created by both the host and callers through interactional and politeness strategies including small talk, expressions of gratitude, humor, and compliments. It is argued that pseudo-intimacy mitigates judgment of the expert host and alleviates the fears of home cooks. Ultimately, the food radio call-in exchange positively frames home cooking, which opens up the conversation and cooking to all listeners.
Holistic Teaching and Holistic Learning, Exemplified Through One Example from Linear Algebra

Here we discuss ways to teach and learn holistically. The holistic method encourages student curiosity and respects student input fully, however qualified. A teacher’s holistic approach leads to open discussions and deep learning in class. Using the students’ innate desire to understand drives the course of such a class. The teacher’s role is to guide and adjust the course as the subject matter, experience, and—in mathematics courses—as the algebraic, geometric and logic rules of mathematics dictate. Holistic Teaching respects and adheres to the ‘necessity principle’ of learning and it applies the ‘holistic management principle’ that is successfully used for many other complex systems to achieve a comprehensive teaching and learning experience for both teachers and students. Teaching holistically is exemplified by one extended in-class study of how to measure angles in \(\mathbb {R}^n\) from first principles of both Geometry and Linear Algebra .
Homoleptic uranium and lanthanide phosphinodiboranates

Here we report a new class of homoleptic f-element borohydride complexes called phosphinodiboranates. Treating UI3(1,4-dioxane)1.5, NdI3, or ErI3, with three equiv. of K(H3BPtBu2BH3) in Et2O yielded M2(H3BPtBu2BH3)6, where M = U, Nd, and Er. All three complexes form solid-state dimers, but exist as mixtures of monomers and dimers in solution.
An Open-Label Trial of Theophylline for Functional Chest Pain

Visceral hypersensitivity may play a role in the pathogenesis of functional chest pain, although the underlying mechanism(s) is unknown. We investigated the effects of theophylline, an adenosine receptor antagonist, on sensory perception and biomechanical properties of esophagus in patients with functional chest pain. Esophageal balloon distention was performed using impedance planimetry in 21 consecutive patients with functional chest pain. Patients found to have a hypersensitive esophagus received intravenous theophylline and balloon distension was repeated. If the hypersensitivity improved, oral theophylline was prescribed for three months as an open label trial. Balloon distension reproduced typical chest pain in 16 (76%) patients at thresholds suggestive of hypersensitivity. After theophylline infusion, pain thresholds increased in 12 (75%) patients. Median threshold pressures for discomfort and pain improved (P < 0.01). Cross-sectional area increased (P < 0.05) and the tension/strain association shifted to the right (P < 0.01). Seven of eight patients reported sustained improvement in pain after oral theophylline. Theophylline may ameliorate chest pain in patients with hypersensitive esophagus, possibly by altering adenosine-mediated nociception.
3D skeletal muscle fascicle engineering is improved with TGF-β1 treatment of myogenic cells and their co-culture with myofibroblasts

Background Skeletal muscle wound healing is dependent on complex interactions between fibroblasts, myofibroblasts, myogenic cells, and cytokines, such as TGF-β1. This study sought to clarify the impact of TGF-β1 signaling on skeletal muscle cells and discern between the individual contributions of fibroblasts and myofibroblasts to myogenesis when in co-culture with myogenic cells. 3D tissue-engineered models were compared to equivalent 2D culture conditions to assess the efficacy of each culture model to predictively recapitulate the in vivo muscle environment. Methods TGF-β1 treatment and mono-/co-cultures containing human dermal fibroblasts or myofibroblasts and C2C12 mouse myoblasts were assessed in 2D and 3D environments. Three culture systems were compared: cell monolayers grown on 2D dishes and 3D tissues prepared via a self-assembly method or collagen 1-based hydrogel biofabrication. qPCR identified gene expression changes during fibroblast to myofibroblast and myoblast differentiation between culture conditions. Changes to cell phenotype and tissue morphology were characterized via immunostaining for myosin heavy chain, procollagen, and α-smooth muscle actin. Tissue elastic moduli were measured with parallel plate compression and atomic force microscopy systems, and a slack test was employed to quantify differences in tissue architecture and integrity. Results TGF-β1 treatment improved myogenesis in 3D mono- and co-cultures containing muscle cells, but not in 2D. The 3D TGF-β1-treated co-culture containing myoblasts and myofibroblasts expressed the highest levels of myogenin and collagen 1, demonstrating a greater capacity to drive myogenesis than fibroblasts or TGF-β1-treatment in monocultures containing only myoblasts. These constructs possessed the greatest tissue stability, integrity, and muscle fiber organization, as demonstrated by their rapid and sustained shortening velocity during slack tests, and the highest Young's modulus of 6.55 kPA, approximate half the stiffness of in situ muscle. Both self-assembled and hydrogel-based tissues yielded the most multinucleated, elongated, and aligned muscle fiber histology. In contrast, the equivalent 2D co-culture model treated with TGF-β1 completely lacked myotube formation through suppression of myogenin gene expression. Discussion These results show skeletal muscle regeneration can be promoted by treating myogenic cells with TGF-β1, and myofibroblasts are superior enhancers of myogenesis than fibroblasts. Critically, both TGF-β1 treatment and co-culturing skeletal muscle cells with myofibroblasts can serve as myogenesis accelerators across multiple tissue engineering platforms. Equivalent 2D culture systems cannot replicate these affects, however, highlighting a need to continually improve in vitro models for skeletal muscle development, discovery of therapeutics for muscle regeneration, and research and development of in vitro meat products.
Computing Supersingular Isogenies on Kummer Surfaces

We apply Scholten’s construction to give explicit isogenies between the Weil restriction of supersingular Montgomery curves with full rational 2-torsion over \(\mathbb {F}_{p^2}\) and corresponding abelian surfaces over \(\mathbb {F}_{p}\). Subsequently, we show that isogeny-based public key cryptography can exploit the fast Kummer surface arithmetic that arises from the theory of theta functions. In particular, we show that chains of 2-isogenies between elliptic curves can instead be computed as chains of Richelot (2, 2)-isogenies between Kummer surfaces. This gives rise to new possibilities for efficient supersingular isogeny-based cryptography.
Is There a Momentum-Reversal Process in Stock Returns?

This paper studies the link between momentum and long-term reversals in stock returns. I find that stocks that are making a long-term reversal generate more than 70% of the momentum portfolio's profit. Stocks that have had extreme long-horizons returns but not reversed diminish the momentum portfolio's profit and eventually cause the momentum portfolio to reverse over long-horizons. A combined momentum-reversal strategy has double the profit of momentum, persists over long-horizons and is profitable in both good and bad economic states. These results are consistent with a broad set of behavioral theories, which predict a momentum-reversal process in stock returns.
Cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy is associated with loss of tolerance to profilin.

Childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (cALD) is a devastating manifestation of ALD accompanied by demyelination, inflammation, and blood brain barrier (BBB) disruption with shared characteristics of an auto-immune disease. We utilized plasma samples pre- and postdevelopment of cALD to determine the presence of specific auto-antibodies. Mass spectrometry of protein specifically bound with post-cALD plasma antibody identified Profilin1 (PFN1) as the target. In a screen of 94 boys with cALD 48 (51%) had anti-PFN1 antibodies, whereas only 2/29 boys with ALD but without cerebral disease, and 0/30 healthy controls showed anti-PFN1 immunoreactivity. Cerebral spinal fluid from those with cALD showed higher levels of PFN1 protein compared with non-cALD samples (324 ± 634 versus 42 ± 23 pg/mL, p = 0.04). Boys that were anti-PFN positive had a significant increase in the amount of gadolinium signal observed on MRI when compared to boys that were anti-PFN1 negative (p = 0.04) possibly indicating increased BBB disruption. Anti-PFN1 positivity was also associated with elevated levels of very long chain fatty acids (C26 of 1.12 ± 0.41 versus 0.97 ± 0.30 mg/dL, p = 0.03) and increased plasma BAFF (973 ± 277 versus 733 ± 269 pg/mL, p = 0.03). In conclusion, anti-PFN may be a novel biomarker associated with the development of cALD in boys with ALD.
MR Imaging of Normal Brain Development.

Normal brain development is best evaluated by MR imaging in the fetal and pediatric patient. As the developing brain grows, myelinates, and sulcates rapidly, understanding the normal appearance of the brain throughout development is critical. The fetal brain can be evaluated by MR imaging after 16 weeks gestational age, both morphologically and biometrically. Sulcation of the fetal brain lags behind premature neonates of equivalent gestational age. Sensory axons generally myelinate before motor axons with central to peripheral and dorsal to ventral myelination gradients. By 2 years of age, the brain has a near adult appearance by conventional anatomic MR imaging.
VALIDATED UV-VISIBLE SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC METHOD FOR THE ESTIMATION OF FENOFIBRATE IN PURE AND PHARMACEUTICAL FORMULATION USING MBTH REAGENT

A simple, sensitive and reproducible UV visible spectrophotometric method has been developed for the quantitative determination of fenofibrate in bulk drug and pharmaceutical dosage forms using MBTH reagent. The method is based on the measurement of absorbance of fenofibrate in methanol (0.5% MBTH in 0.5% HCl and 1% FeCl3 in 0.5% HCl) at 596 nm. Beer’s law is obeyed over the linear range 2-5µg /ml of fenofibrate for the method with apparent molar absorptivity value of 1909.5905 L mol-1cm-1. The method was validated in accordance with the current ICH guidelines. The precision results, expressed by reproducibility (RSD  1.7%) and repeatability (RSD  1.5%), were satisfactory. The accuracy is also satisfactory (RSD  0.200532%). The result demonstrated that the proposed method is accurate, precise and reproducible.
Overlay tool for aCGHViewer: an analysis module built for aCGHViewer used to perform comparisons of data derived from different microarray platforms.

The Overlay Tool© has been developed to combine high throughput data derived from various microarray platforms. This tool analyzes high-resolution correlations between gene expression changes and either copy number abnormalities (CNAs) or loss of heterozygosity events detected using array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH). Using an overlay analysis which is designed to be performed using data from multiple microarray platforms on a single biological sample, the Overlay Tool© identifies potentially important genes whose expression profiles are changed as a result of losses, gains and amplifications in the cancer genome. In addition, the Overlay Tool© will incorporate loss of heterozygosity (LOH) probability data into this overlay procedure. To facilitate this analysis, we developed an application which computationally combines two or more high throughput datasets (e.g. aCGH/expression) into a single categorized dataset for visualization and interrogation using a gene-centric approach. As such, data from virtually any microarray platform can be incorporated without the need to remap entire datasets individually. The resultant categorized (overlay) data set can be conveniently viewed using our in-house visualization tool, aCGHViewer© (Shankar et al. 2006), which serves as a conduit to public databases such as UCSC and NCBI, to rapidly investigate genes of interest.
Kupffer Cell Release of Platelet Activating Factor Drives Dose Limiting Toxicities of Nucleic Acid Nanocarriers

Abstract In vivo nanocarrier-associated toxicity is a significant and poorly understood hurdle to clinical translation of siRNA nanomedicines. In this work, we demonstrate that platelet activating factor (PAF), an inflammatory lipid mediator, plays a key role in nanocarrier-associated toxicities, and that prophylactic inhibition of the PAF receptor (PAFR) completely prevents these toxicities. High-dose intravenous injection of siRNA-polymer nano-complexes (si-NPs) elicited acute, shock-like symptoms (vasodilation and vascular leak) in mice and caused a three-fold increase in blood PAF levels. PAFR inhibition completely prevented these toxicities, indicating PAF activity is a primary driver of systemic si-NP toxicity. Pre-treatment with clodronate liposomes fully abrogated si-NP-associated increases in blood PAF and consequent toxicities, suggesting that nanoparticle uptake by Kupffer macrophages is the source of PAF. Assessment of varied si-NP chemistries further confirmed that toxicity level correlated to relative uptake of the carrier by liver Kupffer cells and that this toxicity mechanism is dependent on the endosome disruptive function of the carrier. Finally, the PAF toxicity mechanism was shown to be generalizable to commercial delivery reagent in vivo-jetPEI® and an MC3 lipid nanoparticle formulated to match an FDA-approved siRNA nanomedicine. Greater sensitivity to the PAF mechanism occurs in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice, a mammary tumor model known to exhibit increased circulating leukocytes and potential to respond to inflammatory insult. These results establish Kupffer cell release of PAF as a key mediator of in vivo nucleic acid nanocarrier toxicity and identify PAFR inhibition as an effective prophylactic strategy to increase maximum tolerated dose and reduce nanocarrier-associated adverse events. Significance Non-viral nucleic acid nanocarriers can enable in vivo gene therapy, but their potential interaction with innate immune cells can cause dose-limiting toxicities. Nanoparticle toxicities are currently poorly understood, making it difficult to identify relevant design criteria for maximizing nanoparticle safety. This work connects nanoparticle-associated toxicities to the release of platelet activating factor (PAF) by liver Kupffer cells. Small molecule inhibition of the PAF receptor (PAFR) completely prevents severe adverse events associated with high doses of multiple polymer-based formulations and a lipid nanoparticle matching the composition of the first clinically-approved siRNA nanomedicine. This study identifies PAF as a toxicity biomarker for future nanomedicine discovery programs. Further, PAFR inhibition should be explored as a strategy to expand the therapeutic index of nanomedicines.
Phenomenology through the Lens of Personal Construct Psychology

Through this work, Zahavi was able to create a rich yet comprehensive blueprint for readers of all kinds. From the novice students of phenomenology, intrigued yet mystified by the teachings of the ...
Envisioning the Rural Practicum: A Means to Positively Affect Recruitment and Retention in Rural Schools

Recruitment and retention of teachers in rural areas continue to dominate educational narratives across the country. School districts, state agencies, and university schools of education have instituted strategies including financial incentives, alternative standards and licensure criteria, and grow-your-own programs that target underemployed locals and paraprofessionals for accelerated licensure. While each strategy may enjoy situational success, none is a panacea for all circumstances. However, there is growing interest in the development of university and school district partnerships in creating innovative solutions to rural recruitment and retention issues. This study investigates the efficacy of a partnership between several small rural districts and a state university partnering to create and test a contextualized clinical practice model. The Montana State University rural practicum placed 13 preservice teachers in a week-long, immersive clinical practice in rural, remote schools in Montana, for them to authentically experience the rural context and for researchers to determine if such an experience might positively affect recruitment and retention efforts. The study used a community-based participatory research method to ensure equal participation of both university and rural school partners in co-creating the experience and in collecting and analyzing data. Results suggest that the rural practicum experience positively affected preservice teacher perceptions of rural teaching and rural communities. Rural school leaders and university personnel also agreed that the model held promise for recruiting and retaining teachers in rural areas.
Influence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection on the Management and Outcomes of Acute Myocardial Infarction With Cardiogenic Shock.

BACKGROUND There are limited data on the outcomes of acute myocardial infarction-cardiogenic shock (AMI-CS) in patients with HIV infection and AIDS. SETTING Twenty percent sample of all US hospitals. METHODS A retrospective cohort of AMI-CS during 2000-2017 from the National Inpatient Sample was evaluated for concomitant HIV and AIDS. Outcomes of interest included in-hospital mortality and use of cardiac procedures. A subgroup analysis was performed for those with and without AIDS within the HIV cohort. RESULTS A total 557,974 AMI-CS admissions were included, with HIV and AIDS in 1321 (0.2%) and 985 (0.2%), respectively. The HIV cohort was younger (54.1 vs. 69.0 years), more often men, of non-White race, uninsured, from a lower socioeconomic status, and with higher comorbidity (all P 0.05). The cohorts with and without HIV had comparable rates of coronary angiography (70.2% vs. 69.0%; P = 0.37) but less frequent early coronary angiography (hospital day zero) (39.1% vs. 42.5%; P < 0.001). The cohort with HIV had higher unadjusted but comparable adjusted in-hospital mortality compared with those without [26.9% vs. 37.4%; adjusted odds ratio 1.04 (95% confidence interval: 0.90 to 1.21); P = 0.61]. In the HIV cohort, AIDS was associated with higher in-hospital mortality [28.8% vs. 21.1%; adjusted odds ratio 4.12 (95% confidence interval: 1.89 to 9.00); P < 0.001]. CONCLUSIONS The cohort with HIV had comparable rates of cardiac procedures and in-hospital mortality; however, those with AIDS had higher in-hospital mortality.
Small business response to regulation: incorporating a behavioral perspective

The use of behavioral economics in policy-making and public administration has neglected the heuristics that affect those who must comply with regulations. These heuristics affect the decision to comply with a regulation, and therefore they affect the effectiveness of regulations, and more generally the attitude of the regulated community toward government. In a survey and in interviews, small business owners described their compliance activities and their attitudes toward government. The business owners demonstrated the availability heuristic in their hatred of paperwork requirements, the bandwagon effect in seeking out reinforcement of negative reactions toward regulation, the anchoring of attitudes in particularly unpleasant interactions with government, and the impact of their economic well-being on their reaction to regulation. They also demonstrated the ineffectiveness of some information disclosure requirements. Incorporation of these behaviors and heuristics into the evaluation and enforcement of regulation may improve compliance and business relations with regulatory agencies.
Abstract 16699: The Mayo Cardiac Intensive Care Unit Admission Risk Score Predicts One-Year Mortality

Introduction: The Mayo Clinic Cardiac Intensive Care Unit Admission Risk Score (M-CARS) has been shown to predict hospital mortality in the CICU population better than conventional critical care sc...
International Differences in Crime Reporting: A Multilevel Exploration of Burglary Reporting in 35 Countries:

Our knowledge about crime, and the ability to help victims, is only as good as the information that is shared with us. However, crime reporting is known to be variable, and much research has been d...
Diabetes burnout among emerging adults with type 1 diabetes: a mixed methods investigation

Feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and frustrated by the daily demands of diabetes management has been referred to as diabetes burnout. The goal of the study was to develop a measure of diabetes burnout and to link this measure to psychological health and diabetes outcomes. Emerging adults with type 1 diabetes (n = 88, average age 27) completed an online questionnaire and an HbA1c assessment; a subset was interviewed by phone to obtain a more in-depth understanding of burnout. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three burnout domains: exhaustion, detachment, and powerlessness. Burnout was related to higher psychological distress, higher diabetes distress, and poorer diabetes outcomes. Burnout independently predicted higher HbA1c, independent of diabetes distress. Qualitative interviews revealed that participants defined burnout in terms of exhaustion and powerlessness and resolved burnout by acceptance and utilization of social resources. Prevention and intervention efforts might target resilience as a way to mitigate burnout.
Bioinspired and biomimetic membranes for water purification and chemical separation: A review

Bioinspired and biomimetic membranes that contain biological transport channels or attain their structural designs from biological systems have been through a remarkable development over the last two decades. They take advantage of the exceptional transport properties of those channels, thus possess both high permeability and selectivity, and have emerged as a promising solution to existing membranes. Since the discovery of biological water channel proteins aquaporins (AQPs), extensive efforts have been made to utilize them to make separation membranes-AQP-based membranes, which have been commercialized. The exploration of AQPs’ unique structures and transport properties has resulted in the evolution of biomimetic separation materials from protein-based to artificial channel-based membranes. However, large-scale, defect-free biomimetic membranes are not available yet. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art biomimetic membranes and summarizes the latest research progress, platform, and methodology. Then it critically discusses the potential routes of this emerging area toward scalable applications. We conclude that an appropriate combination of bioinspired concepts and molecular engineering with mature polymer industry may lead to scalable polymeric membranes with intrinsic selective channels, which will gain the merit of both desired selectivity and scalability.
On confidentiality preserving monitoring of linear dynamic networks against inference attacks

Distributed information sharing in dynamic networks is ubiquitous. It raises the concern that confidential information of dynamic networks could be leaked to malicious entities and further exploited in direct attacks. In this paper, we formulate the problem of competitive confidentiality preserving monitoring of linear dynamic networks against inference attacks. We show that the unstructured l 0 minimization is NP-hard. We then provide a SDP equivalence for the structured l 2 minimization.
The Effect of Stylet Choice on the Success Rate of Intubation Using the GlideScope Video Laryngoscope in the Emergency Department

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2012; 1–4 © 2012 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Abstract Objectives: The objective was to determine whether the using the GlideRite rigid stylet (GRS) compared with a standard malleable stylet (SMS) affects the success rate of intubation using the GlideScope in emergency intubations. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected continuous quality improvement (CQI) data based on intubations performed in an academic emergency department (ED) over a 4-year period. Following each intubation the operator completed a data form regarding multiple aspects of the intubation, including the device used, type of stylet used, procedural complications, outcome of the intubation, difficult airway predictors (DAPs), and the operator’s postgraduate year (PGY). Intubation was considered successful if the GlideScope was used as the initial device and resulted in successful intubation of the trachea. Results: Over the 4-year study period, the GlideScope video laryngoscope (GVL) was used for 473 intubations. Of these, 322 (68%) used the GRS, while 151 (32%) used the SMS. When the GRS was used, operators were ultimately successful in 93.5% of cases (301 of 322), whereas when the SMS was used, operators were successful in 78.1% of cases (118 of 151; p < 0.0001). The first-attempt success rate for the GRS group was 82.9% (267 of 322) and for the SMS group was 67.5% (102 of 151; p < 0.001). The mean (± standard deviation [SD]) complication rate was 0.25 (±0.5) in the GRS group and was 0.47 (±0.7) in the SMS group (p = 0.0003). In the GRS group, 18% of patients (58 of 322) had oxygen desaturation, while in the SMS group, 31% of patients (46 of 151) had oxygen desaturation (p = 0.003). The mean number of DAPs was 2.0 (±1.5) in the GRS group and 2.0 (±1.5) in the SMS group (p = 0.65). The mean (±SD) PGY of the operator was 2.2 (±0.8) years in the GRS group and 2.2 (±0.8) years in the SMS group (p = 0.79). Conclusions: Both first-attempt and ultimate success rates were higher with GlideScope intubations in the ED when the rigid stylet was used compared to the malleable stylet. The number of complications and, in particular, the incidence of oxygen desaturation were lower in the GRS group than in the SMS group. The two stylet groups were similar regarding difficulty of the airway and experience level of the operator.
Bankruptcy Contracting Reviewed

Western bankruptcy systems have two relevant features: (a) The systems are mandatory, that is, parties are required to use the state supplied system; and (b) each system has a number of mandatory rules. Until recently, reformers took these features as givens. The reformers' goal has been to improve the mandatory bankruptcy system and the mandatory rules within it.' Some scholars now contest the first relevant feature, arguing that requiring parties always to use one bankruptcy system is inefficient. In a recent essay,' I challenged both of these features. I made these claims:
A Hierarchical Feature Based Deformation Model Applied to 4D Cardiac SPECT Data

In this paper we describe a statistical model for the observation of labeled points in gated cardiac single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images. The model has two major parts: one based on shape correspondence between the image for evaluation and a reference image, and a second based on the match in image features. While the statistical deformation model is applicable to a broad range of image objects, the addition of a contraction mechanism to the baseline model provides particularly convincing results in gated cardiac SPECT. The model is applied to clinical data and provides marked improvement in the quality of summary images for the time series. Estimates of heart deformation and contraction parameters are also obtained.
Interference Detection Between Curved Objects for Computer Animation

We present algorithms for collision detection between curved objects moving in a dynamic environment and modeled using B-spline or piecewise algebraic surfaces. The problem of contact determination is formulated using algebriac constraints and the resulting algorithms are based on the geometry of the models. In particular for a convex surface, the algorithms use polyhedral approximations and proceed by keeping track of closest features between the polyhedral approximations, thereby utilizing geometric coherence between successive time steps in a dynamic environment. In general, the performance of the algorithm is independent of the combinatorial complexity of the polyhedral mesh. For general spline surfaces, the algorithm for contact determination uses the geometric formulation of surfaces along with algorithms for solving algebraic equations.
Erratum to: Enhancing the Role and Effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reports: The Missing Element of Content Verification and Integrity Assurance

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting by large corporations has witnessed phenomenal growth over the last two decades. The voluntary nature of these disclosures, however, has led to inconsistencies in reporting formats, treatment, and inclusion of various contextual elements, and a lack of robust measures pertaining to the quality and accuracy of the reports’ content. Efforts to address these drawbacks such as Global Reporting Initiative and ISO 26000 have proven unsatisfactory due to their primary emphasis on process for creating CSR reports without similar attention on measurement criteria to ensure robust implementation, or verify accuracy of information. This paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature. It uses a new framework—called the CSR-Sustainability Monitor®—of analyzing and evaluating the contents of CSR reports in a manner that allows for a single report to be compared with any other single group, and groups of reports based on industry, country-of-origin, and similar other groupings. Using data from the CSR reports of 614 large corporations worldwide, this study analyzes the character and scope of integrity assurance contained in these CSR reports. The analysis is further extended to explore some external factors that would explain variations in the assurance decision and the quality of integrity assurance in these reports.
Issues in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Screening Programs

Unlike test sensitivity and specificity, the false positive and negative predictive values (probabilities of mislabeling an individual being tested) depend heavily on the prevalence of the infection of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as well as the quality of the kit. A consequence of this dependence is that the false positive predictive value can reach a high magnitude such as 0.9; that is, 90% of the positive tests are false. This raises many important issues pertaining to the current practice of HIV screening such as to how to control these misclassification errors, how to interpret test results, and how to estimate prevalence using test results. These issues are examined in detail here by considering the factors that dictate the quality of a screening program. Some real data examples are used to illustrate the importance of this consideration in designing programs to achieve the desired goals. The rationale behind the common two-step sequential protocol in HIV screening is examined to point out its limitations under practical situations. Finally, the use of entropy in evaluating the informativeness of a screening program is discussed.
Challenges of the Capacity Evaluation for the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatrist

Assessing medical decision-making capacity is a clinical skill required of all medical professionals, but it is particularly essential for consultation- liaison psychiatrists. Medical decision-making capacity, often confused with competency, is evaluated by assessing 4 standards, which include whether a patient (1) can understand his or her medical situation, (2) can manipulate the information, (3) can evidence a choice about the proposed treatment, and (4) can appreciate the situation and its consequences. Multiple myths and pitfalls may be encountered during capacity evaluations; many of these can be avoided by proper education and training. We discuss the case of a 71-year-old man who presented to the emergency department by ambulance and was refusing non-emergent neurosurgery after a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was evaluated for medical decision-making capacity, specifically on whether he had the capacity to refuse neurosurgery and accept intravenous antibiotic treatment. In discussing this case, which illustrates the elements, challenges, and ethical dilemmas of the capacity evaluation, we review several mental illnesses that may prevent individuals from having medical decision-making capacity. Myths and pitfalls of capacity evaluations and possible methods for avoiding them are proposed. Specifically, we emphasize the importance of communication between the primary team and the consultationliaison psychiatry service and describe possible solutions to common communication problems that may arise between services. It is hoped that this case presentation and review will help educate psychiatry residents and other physicians so that they are well prepared to perform a medical decision-making capacity evaluation.
CONTINUUM PLATE FINITE ELEMENTS FOR VIBRATION ANALYSIS AND FEEDBACK CONTROL OF SPACE LATTICE STRUCTURES

Abstract A variety of research projects are being pursued involving the dynamics and control of large space platforms made up of lattice-type truss structures. A method involving finite element modeling of an equivalent continuum formulation based on matching the strain energy and kinetic energy is developed. The method is shown to give modal results consistent with those obtained using detailed finite element modeling of the space lattice structure, even for structures with fairly small numbers of repetitions of an identical unit cell. Feedback controllers designed using reduced system models derived from these modal results using Modal Cost Analysis are shown to perform as well as controllers designed using the detailed analysis results.
Sex Hormones Regulate Tenofovir-Diphosphate in Female Reproductive Tract Cells in Culture

The conflicting results of recent pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) trials utilizing tenofovir (TFV) to prevent HIV infection in women led us to evaluate the accumulation of intracellular TFV-diphosphate (TFV-DP) in cells from the female reproductive tract (FRT) and whether sex hormones influence the presence of TFV-DP in these cells. Following incubation with TFV, isolated epithelial cells, fibroblasts, CD4+ T cells and CD14+ cells from the FRT as well as blood CD4+ T cells and monocyte-derived macrophages convert TFV to TFV-DP. Unexpectedly, we found that TFV-DP concentrations (fmol/million cells) vary significantly with the cell type analyzed and the site within the FRT. Epithelial cells had 5-fold higher TFV-DP concentrations than fibroblasts; endometrial epithelial cells had higher TFV-DP concentrations than cells from the ectocervix. Epithelial cells had 125-fold higher TFV-DP concentrations than FRT CD4+ T cells, which were comparable to that measured in peripheral blood CD4+ T cells. These findings suggest the existence of a TFV-DP gradient in the FRT where epithelial cells > fibroblasts > CD4+ T cells and macrophages. In other studies, estradiol increased TFV-DP concentrations in endometrial and endocervical/ectocervical epithelial cells, but had no effect on fibroblasts or CD4+ T cells from FRT tissues. In contrast, progesterone alone and in combination with estradiol decreased TFV-DP concentrations in FRT CD4+ T cells. Our results suggest that epithelial cells and fibroblasts are a repository of TFV-DP that is under hormonal control. These cells might act either as a sink to decrease TFV availability to CD4+ T cells and macrophages in the FRT, or upon conversion of TFV-DP to TFV increase TFV availability to HIV-target cells. In summary, these results indicate that intracellular TFV-DP varies with cell type and location in the FRT and demonstrate that estradiol and/or progesterone regulate the intracellular concentrations of TFV-DP in FRT epithelial cells and CD4+ T cells.
Appropriate Control Groups in Feminist Research

Control groups in psychological research reveal the outlines of the investigator's theoretical framework. They identify variables which are assumed to affect the causal relationship between independent and dependent variable and, by implication, those which are not. This role of control groups is implicitly denied when they are discussed simply as a methodological issue. Feminist psychologists can use the inevitable interpenetration of methodological and theoretical issues to promote new theoretical perspectives under the guise of sounder methodology. One result may be to move the psychology of women outside (beyond-?) a conceptualization of science in which the notions of experimentation and control are central.
Spatial and temporal variations in aluminum chemistry of a dilute, acidic lake

Elevated concentrations of Al have been observed in acidic surface waters. An assessment of the chemistry of aqueous Al is of interest because of its role as a toxicant to aquatic organisms, a pH buffer, and an adsorbent of orthophosphate and organic carbon. In this investigation we evaluated the spatial and temporal fluctuations of Al forms in an acidic drainage lake.
A universal adapter for chemical synthesis of DNA or RNA on any single type of solid support

Use of a novel nucleotide adapter, 2′(3′)-O-dimethoxytrityl-3′(2′)-O-benzoyluridine-5′-O-(2-cyanoethyl N, N-diisopropylphosphoramidite) eliminates the need to have eight separate solid supports for synthesis of all possible oligoribo- and oligodeoxyribonucleotides.
Matching rules and growth rules for pentagonal quasicrystal tilings

We show that finite-range matching rules and growth rules exist for an infinite set of 2D pentagonal tilings other than the original Penrose tilings. There is a natural ordering of these tilings based on the range required for the rules. The results have implications for the determination of the atomic structure of icosahedral alloys.
Application of intrinsic viscosity and the interaction coefficient to some ionic galacturonan dispersions

Abstract Aqueous dispersions of a number of galacturonans, commercially called pectins, were made to contain different concentrations of ethanol, and the corresponding slope ([η]2k′) of the viscosity number versus concentration graphs was factored into intrinsic viscosity ([η]) and an interaction coefficient (k′). Factoring was also done for purely aqueous dispersions at different temperatures. Low-OMe pectins appeared to be more susceptible to ethanol and heat than high-OMe pectins. This susceptibility is believed to arise from a tendency toward greater hydrogen bonding which in turn is quite sensitive to solution (dispersion) forces. At ethanol concentrations of 15–25%, all pectins exhibited large increases in [η]2k′, a development that is attributable to OMe—OMe bonding and a consequent increase in the frictional component of viscosity. Squaring or multiplication of small numerical differences in [η] and k′ leads to the conclusion that the slope is a more reliable index of dispersion behavior than is [η] or k′ separately. Although [η] is basically an inherent molecular property, theoretically free of interference in a given solvent system, and k′ is an independent property of that pectin-solvent system, any numerical value acquired by one will automatically impose a limit on the other. Comparisons of [η] or k′ under variable conditions are therefore meaningless without an appraisal of the impact of those conditions on the other parameter. Ageing the dispersions did not show any trend in either factor, but it was expected that OMe—OMe contacts would increase as a pre-condition of fractional deposition of solute.
Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory - Real-Time Information Management for a Coastal Ocean Observing System

The Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) provides virtually unlimited power and gigabit Ethernet fiber connections, enabling in situ control of instruments and an ability to conduct long-term collection of large amounts of real time environmental data. The MVCO has been operational since 2001, monitoring atmospheric and oceanographic conditions such as wind speed, heat flux, relative humidity, air pressure, solar and infrared radiation, wave parameterization, water temperature, current profiles, tides, and salinity. MVCO not only monitors these core parameters, it also hosts several scientific projects each year, necessitating a flexible and manageable data distribution system. Applications have been developed to control the system power distribution, to provide users with utilities to control and monitor individual instruments, to log data, to monitor operational information and to process and serve the data to scientists and the public. Described in this document are the applications and associated systems integration techniques, which enable the distribution of the data and control of the observatory resources. A brief presentation of evolving initiatives and recommended enhancements is also presented. Data loggers, either in situ or in the shore lab, provide the back bone for the data distribution, imposing minimal requirements on the user, while requiring enough information to bind the data with a common reference time and a unique instrument package ID for system-wide processing and distribution.Graphical interfaces were developed to control power distribution and communications protocol, allowing each interface (port) to be configurable for the user's specific needs.