cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Global Infant Mortality: Correcting for Undercounting

Summary The UN Millennium Development Goals highlight the infant mortality rate (IMR) as a measure of progress in improving neonatal health and more broadly as an indicator of basic health care. However, prior research has shown that IMRs (and in particular perinatal mortality) can be underestimated dramatically, depending on a particular country’s live birth criterion, vital registration system, and reporting practices. This study assesses infant mortality undercounting for a global dataset using an approach popularized in productivity economics. Using a one-sided error, frontier estimation technique, we recalculate rates and concurrently derive a measure of likely undercount for each country.
New constraints on source processes of volcanic tremor at Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica, using broadband seismic data

Broadband seismic data recorded 2.3 km from the active vent of Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica, provide new constraints on tremor source processes. Arenal's tremor contains as many as seven harmonics, whose frequencies vary temporally by up to 75 percent, from initial values of 1.9 Hz for the first peak immediately following explosive eruptions to 3.2-3.5 Hz several minutes later. We infer that gas bubble concentration is variable within the conduit and also changes as a function of time, thereby changing the acoustic velocity. We infer that the source is a shallow, 200- 660 m-long, vertically oriented 1-D resonator with matched boundary conditions, radiating seismic energy from a dis- placement antinode. Polarization analyses show that particle motion azimuths abruptly rotate, which may be explained by a decrease of the incidence angle. We suggest that energy is radiated predominantly from a displacement antinode that is changing position with time. Tremor consists mainly of transverse waves that travel at speeds of about 800 m/s. P waves in the magma conduit will couple very efficiently into S waves in the surrounding medium when there is virtually no impedance contrast between the two media for these two types of waves. The tremor at Arenal is similar to tremor at nine other volcanoes.
Attentional disturbance after pediatric closed head injury.

The influence of severity of closed head injury and age on attentional functioning was prospectively investigated in 36 children (age range, 7 to 16 years) 6 months after injury. Children were placed into mild, moderate, and severe injury groups using established neurologic criteria. Each child received the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised Digit Span subtest and a continuous performance test. Children with severe closed head injury demonstrated significantly poorer continuous performance test scores than mildly or moderately injured children. Injury severity had no effect on Digit Span scores. Younger children exhibited more pronounced impairment on the continuous performance test relative to uninjured age peers. These results extend the persistence of attentional impairments beyond those of previous reports. Closed head injury is not associated with preferential sparing of sustained attention in younger children 6 months after injury. Brain injury earlier in life may result in delayed vul...
Exploring Current Issues on Shared Governance.

A number of significant studies of shared governance have been carried out in the last decade.
Lessons on objectivity in clinical studies.

Clinical assessments made with measuring devices are generally considered “objective” and “accurate” and are, therefore, more discriminating than subjective assessments. We show that the choice of measuring devices or non-standardized landmarks to be used with the measuring devices affect the “accuracy” of the “objective” findings. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Cognitive remediation in schizophrenia: proceed ... with caution!

The apparent neglect of neuropsychologic deficits in schizophrenia as the basis for therapeutic intervention, together with only isolated attempts at remediating them, probably reflect the nature of impairments, the functional significance of which is uncertain. A critique of the limitations inherent in the appealing cognitive remediation of the closed-head injured is followed by positive suggestions for the restructuring of cognitive schema that appear to underlie schizophrenic disability in social and vocational functioning.
Different circuits for different pain: Patterns of functional connectivity reveal distinct networks for processing pain in self and others

The ability to empathize with the suffering of others is critical for maintaining relationships and engaging in prosocial behavior. Recently, a series of studies have demonstrated that while watching other people experience pain (other pain), participants engage the anterior insula (AI) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), brain regions involved in the direct experience of pain (self pain). Here we test the hypothesis that common activity in ACC and AI may reflect the operation of distinct but overlapping networks of regions that support perception of self or other pain. To address this possibility, we scanned participants using fMRI while they received noxious thermal stimulation (self pain) or watched short videos of other people sustaining painful injuries (other pain). We isolated overlapping regions for self and other pain in the ACC and AI and then used them as seed regions for two kinds of functional connectivity analyses. These analyses identified areas whose activity co-varied with ACC and AI activity during self or other pain either across time (intra-individual connectivity) or across participants (inter-individual connectivity). Both connectivity analyses identified clusters in the midbrain and periaqueductal gray with greater connectivity to the AI during self pain as opposed to other pain. The opposite pattern was found in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, that showed greater connectivity to the ACC and AI during other pain than during self pain using both types of analysis. Intra-individual connectivity analyses also revealed regions in the superior temporal sulcus, posterior cingulate, and precuneus that became more connected to ACC during other pain as compared to self pain. Together, these data demonstrated that regions showing similar activity during self and other pain may nonetheless be part of distinct functional networks. These networks could not have been detected in prior work that examined overlap between self and other pain in terms of average activity, but not connectivity.
The Lymphovascular Embolus of Inflammatory Breast Cancer Expresses a Stem Cell-Like Phenotype

Inflammatory breast carcinoma (IBC) is a particularly lethal form of breast cancer characterized by exaggerated lymphovascular invasion, which is a phenotype recapitulated in our human xenograft MARY-X. MARY-X generated spheroids in vitro that resemble the embryonal blastocyst. Because of the resemblance of the spheroids to the embryonal blastocyst and their resistance to traditional chemotherapy/radiotherapy, we hypothesized that the spheroids expressed a stem cell-like phenotype. MARY-X spheroids expressed embryonal stem cell markers including stellar, rex-1, nestin, H19, and potent transcriptional factors, oct-4, nanog, and sox-2, which are associated with stem cell self-renewal and developmental potential. Most importantly, MARY-X spheroids expressed a cancer stem cell profile characterized by CD44+/CD24−/low, ALDH1, and most uniquely, CD133. A significant percentage of single cells of MARY-X exhibited distinct proliferative and morphogenic potencies in vitro. As few as 100 cells derived from single-cell clonogenic expansion were tumorigenic with recapitulation of the IBC phenotype. Prototype stem cell signaling pathways such as notch3 were active in MARY-X. The stem cell phenotype exhibited by MARY-X also was exhibited by the lymphovascular emboli of human IBC cases independent of their molecular subtype. This stem cell-like phenotype may contribute to the aggressive nature of IBC but also may lend itself to selective targeting.
Application of Quality Assurance Principles: Teaching Medication Error Reduction Skills in a "Real World" Environment

Objectives. To create an instructional sequence that would encourage students to acquire the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to decrease medication errors in the pharmacy practice setting. Methods. A course on medication error reduction was developed for third professional year pharmacy students. Students (N=157) were divided into 30 project teams and assigned to a preceptor in a community or health-system pharmacy. Teams met with their preceptors and, using concepts learned in class, developed site-specific medication error reduction projects. Students collected, analyzed, and evaluated data to measure plan impact, presented their results at a poster forum, and self-evaluated their knowledge, skills, and abilities. Results. Students demonstrated improvement in the following areas: (1) awareness of medication error impact on patient health, (2) motivation to implement methods to decrease errors, (3) knowledge of methods to reduce errors, (4) ability to identify errors, and (5) ability to impleme...
Government Legitimacy and Political Stability

It is generally assumed that widespread public confidence in the government is essential for political stability in the U.S. and other advanced capitalist democracies. This legitimacy-stability thesis implies that individuals with little confidence in the government would be particularly prone to support political protest. However, theoretical and empirical considerations suggest that this thesis must be revised to include a third, interacting factor-the preexistence of an organized protest movement: low confidence in the government is likely to translate into protest support only when such a movement is present. Using data from a 1972 national survey, only moderate associations are found between several indices of confidence in the government and support for political protest, and these associations are significantly reduced when salient structural factors (e.g., race, unemployment, community involvement) are taken into account. These results are not expected under the widely accepted, unrevised, legitimacy-stability thesis. However, consistent with a revised version of the thesis, it is found that low confidence in the government is strongly associated with protest support among those groups whose interests were being actively promoted by visible protest movements. State legitimacy, the widespread public belief that the society's governing institutions and political authorities are worthy of support, is commonly held to be a precondition for political stability in advanced capitalist democracies. In fact, Lipset (a) has argued that a regime's legitimacy may even be a more important determinant of political stability than how well the regime actually performs. The legitimacy-stability relationship has become a central tenet of most contemporary analyses of American society, including both structural-functionalist and neo-Marxist formulations. Talcott Parsons, for instance, contends that without citizen faith in the political system, the government is incapable of attaining the society's collectively *The authors' names are in arbitrary order, as this was a collaborative effort. The data used in this paper were made available by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research; the authors, however, take sole responsibility for the analysis and interpretation of these data. We are grateful to Gordon Fellman, Joseph Helfgot, Richard Wilsnack, Yoram Neumann, and two anonymous readers for valuable comments on an earlier draft.
Classifying foliations of 3-manifolds via branched surfaces

Abstract We use branched surfaces to define an equivalence relation on C 1 codimension one foliations of any closed orientable 3-manifold that are transverse to some fixed nonsingular flow. There is a discrete metric on the set of equivalence classes with the property that foliations that are sufficiently close (up to equivalence) share important topological properties.
Conducting cross-cultural research in teams and the search for the "culture-proof" variable.

Objective: Cross-cultural research must always deal with the problem that meaning systems and behaviors cannot be readily compared from one culture to the next because the sociocultural context can vary so widely. Design: The organizers of Project AGE: Age, Generation, and Experience, a multicultural study of aging, recognized this problem and devised instruments for studying age that allowed for cultural variation as well as comparability at higher levels of abstraction. The principal investigators of Project AGE and the individual researchers made every effort to gain an emic understanding (understanding based on categories recognized by the local respondents) of people’s attitudes about aging in the several cultures in which we worked. For comparison to take place, we needed to use similar question frames to elicit comparable information across societies of different types. Results: Many questions put to people about their attitudes toward their own and other persons’ aging were readily understood by our respondents. But some topics proved difficult to investigate systematically across cultures. Conclusions: In hindsight, we could have achieved additional value from our interviews if we had incorporated some independent measures of physical health and capacity. Such data would have added depth to our discussion of within-site and across-site differences on both the independent measures themselves and their possible correlation with attitudinal data
The role of memory in visually guided reaching.

People can be shown to use memorized location information to move their hand to a target location if no visual information is available. However, for several reasons, memorized information may be imprecise and inaccurate. Here, we study whether and to what extent humans use the remembered location of an object to plan reaching movements when the target is visible. Subjects sequentially picked up and moved two different virtual, magnetic target objects from a target region into a virtual trash bin with their index fingers. In one third of the trials, we perturbed the position of the second target by 1 cm while the finger was transporting the first target to the trash. Subjects never noticed this. Although the second target was visible in the periphery, subjects' movements were biased to its initial (remembered) position. The first part of subjects' movements was predictable from a weighted sum of the visible and remembered target positions. For high contrast targets, subjects initially weigh visual and remembered information about target position in an average ratio of 0.67 to 0.33. Over the course of the movement, weight given to memory decreased. Diminishing the contrast of the targets substantially increased the weight that subjects gave to the remembered location. Thus, even when peripheral visual information is available, humans use the remembered location of an object to plan goal-directed movements. In contrast to previous suggestions in the literature, our results indicate that absolute location is remembered quite well.
Two Models of High Frequency Chest Compression Therapy: Interaction of Jacket Pressure and Mouth Airflow

High frequency chest compression (HFCC) therapy assists clearing the secretions in the lung. This paper presents two mathematical models: 1) HFCC jacket function model (JFM) and 2) respiratory function model (RFM). JFM predicts the variation of the jacket pressure (Pj) from the respiratory pattern of mouth airflow (Fm). RFM predicts the HFCC induced mouth airflow (Fm) from the HFCC pulse pressures at the jacket (Pj). Fm and Pj were measured from a healthy subject during HFCC therapy. JFM, which was implemented with 2nd order system using prediction error method, shows the existence of breathing pattern at Pj. RFM, which was implemented with amplitude modulation technique, shows how the HFCC pulses affects to the Fm, JFM calculations match 78% of the measured respiratory pattern of Pj. RFM calculations match 90% of measured HFCC induced Fm. These models can be used to test new breathing patterns before designing studies on patients having chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.
A study on rush hour vehicular communication blockage

Future Vehicles will deeply rely on frequent data exchange among themselves to facilitate applications such as road safety, congestion control and route planning. Therefore a precise description of the propagation properties is crucial. In this paper, we present a study on the rush hour propagation blockage scenarios on-road, taking into account realistic traffic in the same lane.
Rigorous analysis of back-flashover outages caused by direct lightning strokes to overhead power lines

In estimating the lightning-caused outage rate, insulator voltage is at present computed by neglecting the induction effects of the electromagnetic fields of the lightning channel and the magnetic fields of the tower travelling current waves. An analytical method is proposed to take these effects into account. The induction effect of the lightning channel significantly increases the insulator voltage, whereas that of the tower travelling current waves decreases the insulator voltage. However, the overall effect is to increase the insulator-string voltage, giving an outage rate higher than that by currently used methods. The proposed method of estimating the outage rate by backflash should provide a better tool for the design of the lightning performance of overhead power lines.
Influence of hot isostatic pressing on microstructure and mechanical behaviour of nanostructured Al alloy

AbstractAluminium alloy AA 5083 [Al–4·4Mg–0·7Mn–0·15Cr (wt-%)], powder was ball milled in liquid nitrogen via the cryomilling method to obtain a nanocrystalline (NC) structure. Samples of the powder were hot vacuum degassed to remove interstitial contaminants, then consolidated by hot isostatic pressing (HIPing) at six temperatures (from 0·46Tm to 0·89Tm), before being high strain rate forged (HSRF) to produce plate material. The microstructure was analysed at the different processing stages. The compressive properties of the as HIPed material, plus tensile properties of the final product were studied. Despite grain growth during HIPing, an ultrafine grain (UFG) structure was retained in the consolidated material, which consequently had increased strength over conventionally processed AA 5083. As the HIP temperature was increased, the density increased. Strength changes were minimal in compression and tension with varying HIP temperature, once near full density was attained at 275°C (∼0·64TM). Yield stren...
Curbing Rent-Seeking by Activist Shareholders: A British Approach

During the 1980s, large shareholders, such as Sir James Goldsmith, abused their positions in public corporations to extract “greenmail.” In one case, Goldsmith extracted $90 million in greenmail from the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Today, the federal government has discouraged such behavior by imposing a 50 percent excise tax on greenmail. However, similar behavior remains unimpeded by state corporation law, thereby inviting another federal intervention. First, the article will analyze current restrictions on rent-seeking by activist shareholders. Second, the article will survey the United Kingdom's Companies Act of 2006 to identify mechanisms that limit rent-seeking by activist shareholders. And finally, the article will provide prescriptions against rent-seeking by activist shareholders based upon the results of the survey of the Companies Act.
Exploring Word Order Universals: a Probabilistic Graphical Model Approach

In this paper we propose a probabilistic graphical model as an innovative framework for studying typological universals. We view language as a system and linguistic features as its components whose relationships are encoded in a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). Taking discovery of the word order universals as a knowledge discovery task we learn the graphical representation of a word order sub-system which reveals a finer structure such as direct and indirect dependencies among word order features. Then probabilistic inference enables us to see the strength of such relationships: given the observed value of one feature (or combination of features), the probabilities of values of other features can be calculated. Our model is not restricted to using only two values of a feature. Using imputation technique and EM algorithm it can handle missing values well. Model averaging technique solves the problem of limited data. In addition the incremental and divide-and-conquer method addresses the areal and genetic effects simultaneously instead of separately as in Daume III and Campbell (2007).
The Origin in Atherosclerotic Lesions of Extracellular Lipid and Debris and their Elimination during Regression

Atherosclerotic lesions accumulate extracellular lipid and cell debris derived from many generations of smooth muscle cells and macrophages that become injured and that, on their death, release lipid inclusions in various stages of digestion into the lesions (Imai and Thomas, 1968; Geer and Haust, 1972; Stary, 1977). In some advanced human lesions, extracellular lipid and cell debris are pooled in extensive central cores or excavations, obliterating and displacing normal supportive arterial structures. Besides accounting for a variable proportion of the obstructive bulk of the lesions, these soft central excavations are dangerous points of weakness within the vascular wall and predispose to ulceration of the intimal surface and to thrombosis.
Organized Crime and the State: The Political Economy of Illicit Markets

Why do some states cooperate with organized criminal groups while others do not? Furthermore, how should we characterize these cooperative/competitive relationships? This paper develops a typology of criminal group-state relationships based on the statebuilding and organizational strategies of both groups. This typology is explored in four mini-case studies of interwar Turkey, Finland, Japan, and Britain.
μ-Oxido-bis-[hydridotris(tri-methyl-phosphane-κP)iridium(III)](Ir-Ir) bis-(tetra-fluorido-borate) dihydrate.

The title compound, [Ir2H2O(C3H9P)6](BF4)2·2H2O, was isolated from the reaction between [Ir(COD)(PMe3)3]BF4 and H2 in water (COD is cyclo­octa-1,5-diene). The asymmetric unit consists of one IrIII atom bonded to three PMe3 groups, one hydride ligand and half an oxide ligand, in addition to a BF4− counter-ion and one water molecule of hydration. The single oxide ligand bridging two IrIII atoms is disordered across an inversion center with each O atom having a 50% site occupancy. Each IrIII atom has three PMe3 groups occupying facial positions, with the half-occupancy O atoms, a hydride ligand and an Ir—Ir bond completing the coordination sphere. The Ir—Ir distance is 2.8614 (12) A, comparable to other iridium(III) metal–metal bonds. Two water mol­ecules hydrogen bond to two BF4− anions in the unit cell.
Effect of wall stretch on coronary hemodynamics in isolated canine interventricular septum

The effects of stretch on coronary pressure-flow relations are not well understood. To examine the role of wall stretch per se on coronary hemodynamics, we studied arterially perfused isolated canine interventricular septa in a noncontracting state with vasodilated vessels. We compared the hemodynamic parameters of zero-flow pressure and resistance during passive stretching in the circumferential and the base-to-apex directions alone as well as during simultaneous biaxial stretching in both directions. Even in the unloaded state the zero-flow pressure was positive. Any type of stretching significantly increased the zero-flow pressure and the resistance from their unloaded values. The pressure-flow responses also showed directional dependence. When stretches with matched strains or stresses in each direction were applied sequentially, the resistance increases corresponded to the direction of higher stress. Conversely, the zero-flow pressure response increase corresponded to the direction of greater strain. However, neither response correlated with a measure of global tissue stiffness. Thus there is a complex and tight mechanical interaction between the vessels and the surrounding tissue. These interactions, but not the tissue stiffness, are important determinants of coronary pressure-flow responses during stretch.
Self-assembled block copolymer-nanoparticle hybrids: interplay between enthalpy and entropy.

The dispersion of nanoparticles in ordered block copolymer nanostructures can provide control over particle location and orientation, and pave the way for engineered nanomaterials that have enhanced mechanical, electrical, or optical properties. Fundamental questions pertaining to the role of enthalpic and entropic particle–polymer interactions remain open and motivate the present work. We consider here a system of 10.6 nm silica nanoparticles (NPs) dispersed in ordered cylinders formed by hydrated poly(ethylene oxide)–poly(propylene oxide) block copolymers (Pluronic P105: EO37PO56EO37). Protonation of silica was used to vary the NP–polymer enthalpic interactions, while polar organic solvents (glycerol, DMSO, ethanol, and DMF) were used to modulate the NP–polymer entropic interactions. The introduction of deprotonated NPs in the place of an equal mass of water did not affect the lattice parameter of the PEO-PPO-PEO block copolymer hexagonal lyotropic liquid crystalline structures. However, the dispersion ...
Disulfide-toxicity relationship of botulinal toxin types A, E, and F.

SummaryBotulinal toxins (types A, E and F), in forms of two chain proteins of MW 150,000, lost more than 99% of their toxicity when incubated with the disulfide reducing agent dithiothreitol. Type E progenitor toxin, which is a single chain protein of MW 150,000, showed a comparable loss of toxicity during similar treatment. Results indicate the importance of disulfide bonds in holding these proteins in the configuration that is critical for their biological activity.The authors thank Mrs. Kaoruko Mizutani for her excellent technical assistance and Dr. E. J. Schantz for the crystalline type A toxin. Research was supported by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, by Grant FD-09000 of the U.S. Public Health Service and contributions from various food companies.
Health care retail clinics: current perspectives

incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php). Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Health 2016:3 47–55 Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Health Dovepress
Nitrate Photochemistry on Laboratory Proxies of Mineral Dust Aerosol: Wavelength Dependence and Action Spectra

Nitrate ion adsorbed on the surface of mineral dust particles from heterogeneous reaction of nitric acid, nitrogen pentoxide, and nitrogen dioxide is thought to be a sink for nitrogen oxides. However, it has the potential to release gas-phase nitrogen oxides back into the atmosphere when irradiated with UV light. In this study, the wavelength dependence of nitrate ion photochemistry when adsorbed onto model laboratory proxies of mineral dust aerosol including Al2O3, TiO2, and NaY zeolite was investigated using FTIR spectroscopy. These proxies represent non-photoactive oxides, photoactive semiconductor oxides, and porous aluminosilicate materials, respectively, present in mineral dust aerosol. Nitrate photochemistry on mineral dust particles is governed by the wavelength of light, physicochemical properties of the dust particles, and the adsorption mode of the nitrate ion. Most interestingly, in some cases, nitrate ion adsorbed on oxide particles can undergo photochemistry over a broader wavelength region ...
Coupled Evaluation of Below- and Aboveground Energy and Water Cycle Variables from Reanalysis Products over Five Flux Tower Sites in the United States

AbstractReanalysis products are widely used to study the land–atmosphere exchanges of energy, water, and carbon fluxes and have been evaluated using in situ data above or below ground. Here, measurements for several years at five flux tower sites in the United States (with a total of 315 576 h of data) are used for the coupled evaluation of both below- and aboveground processes from three global reanalysis products and six global land data assimilation products. All products show systematic errors in precipitation, snow depth, and the timing of the melting and onset of snow. Despite the biases in soil moisture, all products show significant correlations with observed daily soil moisture for the periods with unfrozen soil. While errors in 2-m air temperature are highly correlated with errors in skin temperature for all sites, the correlations between skin and soil temperature errors are weaker, particularly over the sites with seasonal snow. While net short- and longwave radiation flux errors have opposite...
Mitigation of Heat Release from Film Cooling in Fuel-Rich Environments

A result of higher combustor temperatures and pressures is the potential for unconsumed radical species or fuel-rich gas to enter the turbine. When these gases encounter the cool, oxygen-rich cooling air, the potential for a secondary reaction and subsequent augmented heat transfer to the airfoil arises. Depending on the goal of the cooling-flow designer, two different mitigation strategies were proposed and investigated in this effort. The first set of cooling arrangements of holes was conceived with the objective to quickly consume the fuel-rich radicals and decrease the reaction zone size. The tradeoff with these concepts was that the local heat load to the airfoil was expected to be enhanced. The second set of configurations aimed to buffer the reactions off the wall and thus reduce the local augmentation of heat load to the wall. The drawback to these schemes was that the fuel-rich species would not be completely consumed, thus resulting in the potential for further reactions downstream. In addition ...
Path Integrals and Greeks

Path integrals are useful and general. Here we show how to calculate Greeks using path integrals. In particular we exhibit the solution to an otherwise troublesome calculation – gamma for a digital option. A subsequent paper will present more detail.
America's Economic Way of War: The economics of war

Economics is a very unsatisfactory science. But it would have to be much more unsatisfactory than it is if such an event as a war, however extensive and destructive, sufficed to upset its teaching. Schumpeter 1954, 1146 Before beginning the discussion of individual wars, it will be helpful, at least for some readers, to review the ways in which the basic principles of economics can be applied to war economies. As the quote above by the distinguished Austrian and American economist Joseph Schumpeter indicates, there is a tendency to assume that economic ideas don't apply in wartime, perhaps because non-pecuniary motives for human action, such as patriotism, take precedence over mere maximization of income. But as I will try to show here, and in more detail in subsequent chapters, the principles of economics can be extremely helpful in understanding the important economic and financial questions posed by America's decisions to go to war. The economic causes of America's wars Untangling the complex forces that have propelled Americans into war has perplexed political scientists, historians, and economists. Nevertheless, it is frequently argued that wars were the result of economic forces.
Eliminating blurry bands in gels with a simple cost-effective repair to the gel cassette

Gel electrophoresis and subsequent imaging using phosphorimagers is one of the most important and widely used techniques in RNA and DNA analysis. Radiolabeling nucleic acids with 32P and detecting bands using a phoshorimager are useful both in a qualitative sense for nucleic acid detection and in a quantitative sense for structural, kinetic, or binding-based assays. Because of this, good resolution of gel bands based on molecular weight and size of RNA or DNA is essential for analysis. The appearance of blurry gel bands of 32P-labeled RNA and DNA thus represents a serious problem in the laboratory. A quick search on the Internet uncovers numerous reports begrudging the appearance of blurry bands, as well as attempts to fix them without success. Indeed, our laboratories were beset by the intermittent problem of blurry gels for over one year before we found a solution. Herein we describe a simple and cost-effective solution to a problem that we show originates from the phosphorimager cassettes rather than the integrity of the gel itself. We hope that the information provided here will lead to immediate help for other laboratories experiencing similar issues with labeled nucleic acid gel-based assays. The improvement in the clarity of the gels is nothing short of astonishing in many instances and will lead to higher resolution images for analysis and publications.
Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Treated with Endovascular Repair; Does Decompressive Laparotomy Result in Improved Clinical Outcomes?

There is distinct lack of high grade evidence for guiding surgeons in the management of abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) following endovascular repair (EVAR) for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (rAAA). Patients who developed ACS after EVAR for a rAAA demonstrate a high morbidity and mortality. Conversely, performing a decompressive laparotomy is not without inherent risks. We therefore sought to evaluate the clinical outcomes of decompressive laparotomy in the treatment of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms to answer the question: in patients with a ruptured AAA treated with EVAR, does decompressive laparotomy improve clinical outcomes? Knowledge of the physiologic and clinical risk factors for the development of ACS is important for the management of this complication.
Hydrogeochemical Modelling of Forming of Geothermal Waters in the Synclinorium of Łódź

The Synclinorium of Łodź, is one of the most prospective areas of geothermal water in central part of Poland. Currently there are two geothermal centers in this region in Uniejow and Poddebice. Moreover, the use of geothermal energy projects have been developed for Łodź, Poddebice, Kleszczow, Piotrkow Trybunalski, Radom, Zdunska Wola and Rogoźno. Geothermal water in the Synclinorium of Łodź may be used for the purpose of balneology, recreaction and heating. This unit has an asymmetric structure, which comprises permian-mesosoic sediments placed on the older rocks. First of the all thermal waters are accumulated in the Lower Cretaceous, where the temperature is more than 700C and Lower Jurassic formations with a temperature of about 1000C. Hydrogeochemical zonation of the study area is characterized by the increase of water mineralization and the water chemical type change: HCO3-Ca→ HCO3-Na→Na-Cl→ Cl-Na. All the waters studied have total dissolved solids TDS from 0,2 to 157 g/dm3. Minerals regulating the hydrogeochemical equilibrium in thermal waters in the basin of Łodź are principally quartz and calcite. The hydrogeochemical modelling study of these thermal waters can be explained by the polygenetic origin. In general, the chemical composition of thermal waters in this region is determined by the interaction between the groundwaters (meteoric waters of modern hydrological cycle), the rock environment and the brines from leaching chloride salt ions. The process may depend on pH, mineralization and the occcurrence of other ions and temperature.
Exercise timing and blood lactate concentrations in individuals with type 2 diabetes

The purpose of this study was to characterize how resistance exercise prior to or after a meal alters fasting and postprandial blood lactate concentrations in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Obes...
Identification of glyphosate resistance in Salsola tragus in north-eastern Oregon.

BACKGROUND Farmers in the low-rainfall region of eastern Oregon rely on repeated applications of non-selective herbicides, predominately glyphosate, to control Salsola tragus in no-till fallow systems. Reports of poor glyphosate effectiveness have increased in recent years. Reduced efficacy is often attributed to dust, water stress, or generally poor growing conditions during application. Inadequate control also may be the result of the evolution of glyphosate resistance. Therefore, studies were undertaken to determine if glyphosate-resistant S. tragus populations occur in Oregon. RESULTS Results from dose response studies confirmed of glyphosate resistance in three of ten Oregon Salsola tragus populations. The ratio I50R/I50S from dose–response curves was on average 3.1 for the relative dry biomass per plant and 3.2 for the percent of surviving plants per pot in these three populations. Plant mortality at recommended glyphosate doses for the resistant populations was less than 30% three weeks after treatment. CONCLUSIONS Glyphosate resistance in S. tragus highlights the imperative need to diversify weed control strategies to preserve the longevity and sustainability of herbicides in semi-arid cropping systems of the Pacific Northwest.
Mexican-American Recreation Activities: A Reply to McMillen

The analysis of Mexican-American and Anglo groups observed in Chicago public parks indicates substantive and systematic differences in the social organization of recreation activities between the t...
Shape memory response of porous NiTi shape memory alloys fabricated by selective laser melting.

Porous NiTi scaffolds display unique bone-like properties including low stiffness and superelastic behavior which makes them promising for biomedical applications. The present article focuses on the techniques to enhance superelasticity of porous NiTi structures. Selective Laser Melting (SLM) method was employed to fabricate the dense and porous (32–58%) NiTi parts. The fabricated samples were subsequently heat-treated (solution annealing + aging at 350 °C for 15 min) and their thermo-mechanical properties were determined as functions of temperature and stress. Additionally, the mechanical behaviors of the samples were simulated and compared to the experimental results. It is shown that SLM NiTi with up to 58% porosity can display shape memory effect with full recovery under 100 MPa nominal stress. Dense SLM NiTi could show almost perfect superelasticity with strain recovery of 5.65 after 6% deformation at body temperatures. The strain recoveries were 3.5, 3.6, and 2.7% for samples with porosity levels of 32%, 45%, and 58%, respectively. Furthermore, it was shown that Young’s modulus (i.e., stiffness) of NiTi parts can be tuned by adjusting the porosity levels to match the properties of the bones.
Playing with Streakiness in Online Games: How Players Perceive and React to Winning and Losing Streaks in League of Legends

Streakiness refers to observed tendency towards consecutive appearances of particular patterns. In video games, streakiness is oftentimes inevitable, where a player keeps winning or losing for a short period. However, the phenomenon remains understudied in present online game research. How do players perceive streakiness? How does it impact player experience (PX)? How should streakiness be taken into consideration for the design of PX? In this paper, we address these questions through a qualitative study of player discussions about streakiness in League of Legends. We found that players developed various ways to describe a streak. Both winning and losing streaks negatively impacted PX. Players devised numerous strategies to manage streakiness, among which disengagement was a primary means. We analyze streakiness as a social construct through which players coped with complex game systems. We discuss design implications for managing streakiness in online games.
Network Analysis as a Grand Unifier in Biomedical Data Science

Biomedical data scientists study many types of networks, ranging from those formed by neurons to those created by molecular interactions. People often criticize these networks as uninterpretable diagrams termed hairballs; however, here we show that molecular biological networks can be interpreted in several straightforward ways. First, we can break down a network into smaller components, focusing on individual pathways and modules. Second, we can compute global statistics describing the network as a whole. Third, we can compare networks. These comparisons can be within the same context (e.g., between two gene regulatory networks) or cross-disciplinary (e.g., between regulatory networks and governmental hierarchies). The latter comparisons can transfer a formalism, such as that for Markov chains, from one context to another or relate our intuitions in a familiar setting (e.g., social networks) to the relatively unfamiliar molecular context. Finally, key aspects of molecular networks are dynamics and evolut...
Judging Children's Drawings as Measures of Art Abilities

This paper includes a brief review of a past study of children's drawings and a discussion of a new measurement and research instrument, Clark's Drawing Abilities Test (CDAT). The specific use of CDAT as a screening and identification instrument for high ability art students is examined together with significant findings on its relationship to scores on Children's Embedded Figures Test (CEFT) and to teachers' rankings of students' abilities. General use of the instrument as an indicator of ability levels for all students is discussed briefly.
Teacher training in GIS: what is needed for long-term success?

This article explores teacher training in geographic information system (GIS) and hopes to uncover the necessary elements required for long-term and sustained use of GIS in the K-12 classroom. A va...
Ambiguity Remains: Lessons About Toxic Shock Syndrome

This article is a comment on Olesen's article “Analyzing Emergent Issues in Women's Health: The Case of the Toxic-Shock Syndrome,” which is reprinted in this issue. This essay discusses how Olesen'...
Heritability and complex segregation analysis of diabetes mellitus in American Eskimo Dogs.

Author(s): Cai, Stephen V; Famula, Thomas R; Oberbauer, Anita M; Hess, Rebecka S | Abstract: BackgroundHeritability and mode of inheritance of spontaneous diabetes mellitus (DM) in American Eskimo Dogs (AED) are unknown.ObjectiveInvestigate the heritability and mode of inheritance of DM in AED.AnimalsAn extended family of AED including 71 AED without DM, 47 AED with an unknown phenotype, and 38 AED with spontaneous DM.MethodsRetrospective evaluation of inheritance. A logistic regression model was formulated to evaluate the heritability of DM, including effects of sex and neuter status. Subsequently, complex segregation analysis was employed to investigate the inheritance pattern of DM in AED. Six plausible models were considered, and the Akaike Information Criterion was used to determine the best of the biologically feasible models of inheritance of DM in AED.ResultsHeritability of DM in AED is estimated at 0.62 (95% posterior interval 0.01-0.99). Predicted DM probabilities for neutered females (NF), intact females (IF), neutered males (NM), and intact males (IM) were 0.76, 0.11, 0.63, and 0.12, respectively. There was no overlap between the 95% posterior intervals of disease probabilities in NF and IF or in NF and IM. Complex segregation analysis suggested that the mode of inheritance of DM in AED is polygenic, with no evidence for a single gene of large effect.Conclusions and clinical importanceThe estimated heritability of DM in AED is high but has low precision. Diabetes mellitus transmission in AED appears to follow a polygenic inheritance. Breeders could successfully implement a breeding program to decrease the incidence of DM in AED.
Discrepancies between parent and child ratings of anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Co-occurring anxiety is common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, inconsistencies across parent and child reports of anxiety may complicate the assessment of anxiety in this population. The present study examined parent and child anxiety ratings in children with ASD with and without anxiety disorders and tested the association between parent-child anxiety rating discrepancy and ASD symptom severity. Participants included children aged 8-16 years in three diagnostic groups: ASD with co-occurring anxiety disorders (ASD + Anxiety; n = 34), ASD without co-occurring anxiety disorders (ASD; n = 18), and typically developing healthy controls (TD; n = 50). Parents and children completed ratings of child anxiety using the Multidimensional Anxiety Rating Scale. Patterns of parent and child anxiety ratings differed among the three groups, with parent ratings exceeding child ratings only in the ASD + Anxiety group. Parents reported higher levels of child anxiety in the ASD + Anxiety versus ASD group, whereas children reported comparable levels of anxiety in the two groups. Among children with ASD, ASD symptom severity was positively associated with the degree to which parent ratings exceeded child ratings. Results suggest that children with ASD and co-occurring anxiety disorders endorse some anxiety symptoms but may underreport overall levels of anxiety. In addition, ASD symptom severity might increase discrepancies in parent-child anxiety ratings. These findings suggest a unique and valuable role of child anxiety ratings and suggest that both parent and child anxiety ratings should be considered in light of children's ASD symptom severity and used to guide further assessment. Autism Res 2020, 13: 93-103. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly experience anxiety; yet, their perceptions of their anxiety might differ from their parents' perceptions. This study found that, while children with ASD and anxiety disorders acknowledge some anxiety, their parents report them as having higher levels of anxiety. Also, child and parent perceptions of anxiety may differ more for children with more severe ASD symptoms. How these findings may guide research and clinical practice is discussed.
How Concerned Should We Be About Algorithmic Tacit Collusion? Comments on Calvano et al.

A recent study by four economists (Calvano et al, 2019) has undoubtedly refueled the public and academic interest in algorithmic tacit collusion. In this study, the researchers find that their “algorithms consistently learn to charge supra-competitive prices, without communicating with one another… this finding is robust to asymmetries in cost or demand, changes in the number of players, and various forms of uncertainty.” Not surprisingly, this research has since been reported in a number of outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, MIT Tech Review, among others. What does the study say about the likelihood of algorithmic collusion in the real world? Does it fundamentally change how we should think about tacit collusion in general? These are the questions I address in this note.