cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sources of Data for Econometric Models

HE statistician should have a good understanding of the purposes served, or that could be served, by the statistics which he produces in order to provide statistics that are appropriate and reliable, and to adjust to the changing demands for data. Users or analysts of statistics should be familiar with the sources, definitions, and accuracy of statistics in order to use and interpret the statistics intelligently. Thus, the importance of agricultural statisticians and economists being in close communication to study and interpret changing needs for data is recognized. From the point of view of a producer of agricultural statistics, there are three broad categories of estimates that should be considered with reference to econometric models, because the requirements, limiting conditions, and costs of data collection and assembly vary substantially among these three categories; and the range of possibilities for the construction of models also differs substantially. The three broad categories
Physiological roles for butyrylcholinesterase: A BChE-ghrelin axis

Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) has long been regarded as an "orphan enzyme" with no specific physiological role other than to metabolize exogenous bioactive esters in the diet or in medicines. Human beings with genetic mutations that eliminate all BChE activity appear completely normal, and BChE-knockout mice have been described as "lacking a phenotype" except for faster weight gain on high-fat diets. However, our recent studies with viral gene transfer of BChE in mice reveal that BChE hydrolyzes the so-called "hunger hormone," ghrelin, at a rate which strongly affects the circulating levels of this peptide hormone. This action has important consequences for weight gain and fat metabolism. Surprisingly, it also impacts emotional behaviors such as aggression. Overexpression of BChE leads to low ghrelin levels in the blood stream and reduces aggression and social stress in mice. Under certain circumstances these combined effects contribute to increased life-span in group-housed animals. These findings may generalize to humans, as recent clinical studies by multiple investigators indicate that, among patients with severe cardiovascular disease, longevity correlates with increasing levels of plasma BChE activity.
Anemia and risk for cognitive decline in chronic kidney disease

Anemia is common among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) but its health consequences are poorly defined. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between anemia and cognitive decline in older adults with CKD. We studied a subgroup of 762 adults age ≥55 years with CKD participating in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) study. Anemia was defined according to the World Health Organization criteria (hemoglobin <13 g/dL for men and <12 g/dL for women). Cognitive function was assessed annually with a battery of six tests. We used logistic regression to determine the association between anemia and baseline cognitive impairment on each test, defined as a cognitive score more than one standard deviation from the mean, and mixed effects models to determine the relation between anemia and change in cognitive function during follow-up after adjustment for demographic and clinical characteristics. Of 762 participants with mean estimated glomerular filtration rate of 42.7 ± 16.4 ml/min/1.73 m2, 349 (46 %) had anemia. Anemia was not independently associated with baseline cognitive impairment on any test after adjustment for demographic and clinical characteristics. Over a median 2.9 (IQR 2.6–3.0) years of follow-up, there was no independent association between anemia and change in cognitive function on any of the six cognitive tests. Among older adults with CKD, anemia was not independently associated with baseline cognitive function or decline.
Stroke due to large vessel atherosclerosis: Five new things

Abstract Purpose of review: Extracranial (EC) and intracranial (IC) large vessel atherosclerosis account for about 20% of ischemic stroke cases. In recent years, new treatments have emerged for treatment of both EC and IC disease. Recent findings: The stroke rate in patients with carotid stenosis is decreasing with modern medical therapy. For patients with asymptomatic stenosis, the stroke rate is likely Summary: Recent data and emerging concepts regarding large vessel atherosclerosis are provided.
Fully coherent triple sum frequency spectroscopy of a benzene Fermi resonance.

In this paper we present a new multiresonant coherent multidimensional spectroscopy (CMDS) technique employing a pathway that is both fully coherent and necessarily unique. This technique is based on a Triple Sum Frequency (TSF) coherence pathway with three excitation pulses having frequencies ω1, ω2, and ω3 and the phase matching condition k1 + k2 + k3. Two-dimensional spectra are created by independently tuning the ω1 and ω2 pulses across vibrational resonances while monitoring the intensity of a visible output beam created by a Raman transition induced by the ω3 pulse. Two-dimensional plots of the coherent dynamics are created by independently scanning the τ21 and τ31 delay times between the different frequency excitation pulses over all time orderings. TSF CMDS separates fundamental and overtone/combination band states uniquely onto the ω1 and ω2 axes when τ21 ≠ 0. TSF is valuable in its ability to probe states of complementary parity to those seen in Doubly Vibrationally Enhanced Four-Wave Mixing ...
Laboratory Toxicity of Commonly-Used Pesticides in California Citriculture to Euseius hibisci (Chant) (Acarina: Phytoseiidae)

Laboratory bioassays were conducted on leaf discs to determine the impact of 20 pesticides on two strains of Euseius hibisci (Chant) colonized from citrus. The herbicides and fungicides tested were modestly lethal to both E. hibisci strains. However, paraquat, glyphosate, and dikar expressed toxicity to E. hibisci . Laboratory bioassays showed that E. hibisci ’s tolerance to chlorobenzilate was moderate for both strains as compared with dicofol. Azinphosmethyl, methidathion, and sulfur exhibited moderate acaricidal activity to the RH strain as compared with our standard LAB strain. E. hibisci was very susceptible to methomyl. Dimethoate was the only OP which caused high mortality in both strains. Although the resistance level of the RH strain to dimethoate was considerably lower than the recommended field dosage, it was 22-fold that of the LAB strain.
Presence of a growth inhibiting substance in raw soybeans.

SummaryA substance which inhibits the growth-promoting properties of proteins in rats is present in raw soybeans. The hubstance is non-dialyzable, precipitated by d t, and inactivated by heat. I t appears, therefore, to be a protein, which has been 5homn to be concentrated in the acid-soluble (pH 4.2) fraction of the soybean protein. These results are in agreement with those presented by Ham, Sandstedt, and Musseh for the chick
Managing the Conflicting Duties of Nominee Directors

If any of your board members are nominated or elected by others, you will be interested in this article on the resulting potential for conflicts of interest from David Gibbs, Lecturer in Company and Commercial Law at the University of Hertfordshire School of Law in the United Kingdom. He explores the implications from the perspective of boards in the UK corporate sector, but the basic principles and lessons are relevant for all.
Nanoscale Measurement of Laser-Induced Temperature Rise and Field Evaporation Effects in CdTe and GaN

The measurement of laser-induced temperature change and its influence on the field evaporation behavior in nanoscale CdTe and GaN specimens was assessed through systematic studies using laser pulsed atom probe tomography. For CdTe, the laser was shown to induce a linear thermal response in the material. Using the determined relationships, a phase map of the field evaporation behavior was created. This shows that at high base temperatures, high laser energies, or low fields, significant Cd sublimation occurs, leading to apparently Te-rich measured compositions. In contrast, the highest fields result in simultaneous evaporation of multiple Te species, leading to apparently Cd-rich measured compositions. For GaN, increasing laser energy reduced the applied bias necessary for a given detection rate, whereas base temperature changes produced no significant effect on the evaporation behavior, indicative of a largely athermal evaporation mechanism. Similarly, the laser energy and bias affected the measured compo...
Surveillance of measles antibody level among healthy population in Shijingshan district of Beijing,2012

Objective To understand the measles antibody level of healthy population in Shijingshan District,so as to provide scientific strategies for disease elimination. Methods Random sampling method was enrolled in subject selecting. Serological survey was conducted among 244 healthy persons in 2012. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay( ELISA) was used in measles antibody detection. Results The positive rate of measles antibody was 82. 79%. The average concentration of antibody was 1 647. 02 IU / L. The antibody levels between different genders showed significant difference( F = 8. 638,P = 0. 004). The positive rate of antibody among vaccinated persons was over 92%,and the rate reached 100% among persons with 3-5 doses of vaccines. Conclusion Although the total positive rate of measles antibody was high in the whole population,the levels in some areas and some age groups were still low. Further measures including the improvement of routine and timely vaccination should be taken. The supplementary immunization activities among pre-school scattered children and adults also should be taken into consideration.
Professional dental education ... the beginnings.

From very humble beginnings, professional dental education for the world began in 1840 at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, the site of the 46th meeting of the American Academy of the History of Dentistry. Most all countries today have professional dental education facilities or require formalized professional education of those permitted to the legal practice of dentistry. Throughout the world, most dental educational institutions historically can trace their beginnings, directly or indirectly, to the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery.
Reefs Through Time: An Evolutionary View

Although reef-like structures formed in the Neoproterozoic, reefs built by metazoans did not appear until the early Paleozoic. From then until the Recent, reefs diversified, underwent extinctions many times and then diversified again. Reef-inhabiting organisms included many different groups from algae to vertebrates as well as enigmatic, extinct suprageneric taxa. Evolution of these groups continued unabated and sometimes resulted in significant changes in the communities making up reefs. These reef groups varied over geologic time with extinction events commonly marking dramatic changes in the biotas. Paleozoic reefs consisted of sponges, corals, foraminifera, algae, bryozoans, and brachiopods, among others. The major extinction event at the end of the Paleozoic eliminated these forms as reef constituents and new groups (e.g., the first scleractinian corals) appeared in the Triassic. The Mesozoic was dominated by sponges, corals, rudist bivalves, and algae, most of which were eliminated in the end-Cretaceous extinction event. The Cenozoic reef biotas included red algae, foraminifera, sponges, corals, various invertebrates, and fish.
A genetic algorithm for reliable distribution system design

The steps needed in distribution system design for reliability (DFR) are defining, assessing, and optimizing a criterion. Until recently, distribution design has been largely left to engineering judgment without the help of analytical tools. This paper proposes an economic reliability criterion, an analytical assessment method, and then applies genetic algorithms to help place switches and protective devices to minimize the total cost of reliability. The distribution system DFR is then applied to an existing utility distribution feeder and the results are discussed.
Methods to Resolve Heel Stress for Ultra Thin QFN Small Package

The current and future market demand for small, portable, compact and multi functional electronic products raises a great challenge to the semiconductor industries for small and thin package size, high quality, and high performance. The drive for package thickness thinning and package size reduction has created new challenges for current wire bonding technology which has led to small ball and low loop profile with largest possible wire size for the advantage of electrical performance. In the course of qualifying one of the ultra thin QFN (Quad Flat No-lead) small packages, gross heel stress was found at certain wire location in a high defect rate. First attempt in optimizing the wire bond power does not solve the heel stress problem. This indicates the complexity of the issue with existence of other significant influencing factors. DMAIC Methodology has been used to approach the problem in detail level. Several statistical analysis, design of experiment (DOE) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) have been performed in order to narrow down to vital few. The FEA analysis in wire resonance has led the team to detail experiments in wire bonding sequence. Thorough analysis (through DOEs and statistical analysis) has been performed to identify the most optimized looping profile in distributing the ultrasonic power effectively. Package layout is fully explored as well to identify opportunities in improving the robustness of wire bonding. This paper explains in detail the hypothesis, statistical analysis, DOEs and FEA that have been performed to identify the root causes of this particular heel stress issue using DMAIC methodology. It is proven that the convergence of data driven and experience driven analysis through DMAIC methodology is the key to the success of this project. The convincing result shows that lead frame design, wire bonding direction, sequence, and loop profile are significant factors. This paper also illustrates all the solutions employed not only to eliminate the heel stress problem, but to enhance robustness in wire bonding as well.
The effects of a transcontinental flight on markers of coagulation and fibrinolysis in healthy men after vigorous physical activity

ABSTRACTPurpose: Athletes and military service members are known to undergo strenuous exercise and sometimes have to take long haul flights soon afterwards; however, its combined effect on many physiological functions is relatively unknown. Therefore, we examined the combined effects of a full-body muscle-damaging workout and transcontinental flight on coagulation and fibrinolysis in healthy, resistance trained men. We also determined the efficacy of a full-body compression garment in limiting their coagulation responses. Materials and Methods: Nineteen healthy, resistance trained men flew from Connecticut (CT) to California (CA), performed a full-body muscle-damaging workout and then flew back to CT. Ten participants wore full-body compression garments (FCG) for the duration of both flights and during all other portions of the study except during workouts and blood draws, when they wore loose clothing. Nine controls wore loose clothing (CON) throughout the study. Blood samples were collected at 16 h and ...
‘Willful Sadness’: American Decadence, gender, and the pleasures and dangers of pessimism

AbstractAt the end of the nineteenth century in America, there emerged groups of writers, artists and intellectuals identifying themselves with Decadence. In light of the chaos and human misery brought by the rapid transformations of the world around them, which presaged the end of an empire, if not of the world, they made a deliberate decision to turn away from genteel, bourgeois ideals of happiness and pleasure. The response to a crumbling civilization was a search for pleasure and beauty in the strange, the perverse, the sick and the diseased. One of the most striking features of Decadence, especially for its detractors, was its deliberately affected pessimism. This willful sadness and the criticism it created, suggest a facet of the way that affect, gender, health, nation and empire were connected at this historical moment. Willful sadness marked Decadents as gender transgressing, unhealthy and a threat to both the gender order and America’s national self-image.
Adaptive hierarchical classification networks

Hierarchical decomposition enables increased number of classes in a classification problem. Class similarities guide the creation of a family of course to fine classifiers which solve categorical problems more effectively than a single flat classifier. High accuracies require precise configurations for each of the family of classifiers. This paper proposes a method to adaptively select the configuration of the hierarchical family of classifiers. Linkage statistics from overall and sub-classification confusion matrices define categorical groupings for an efficient and accurate classification framework. Depending on the number of classes and the complexity of the problem, an adaptive configuration manager chooses between a multi-layer perceptron or a deep convolutional neural network, then selects the complexity of each. Experiments on CalTech101, CalTech256, CIFAR100 and the ImageNet datasets demonstrate performance of adaptive hierarchical models on an image classification task.
Do the most efficient accountable care organizations earn shared savings

Abstract Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are increasing in number and coverage of beneficiaries. In 2016, over 400 ACOs participated in the CMS initiative with contracts covering an estimated 8 million Medicare beneficiaries. However, in 2014, less than one-third of ACOs achieved requirements to earn shared savings. The aim of the study was to determine whether the most technically efficient ACOs realized earned savings. A contingency theory framework helps explain how variation in two factors, use of electronic health records (EHRs) by primary care providers and inclusion of specialists, may affect the operational performance of ACOs. This inaugural study of ACOs using data envelopment analysis found less than one-fifth of ACOs in the Medicare Shared Savings Program efficient with an average efficiency score of 0.803 for results from 2014. The most efficient ACOs are not restricted to those achieving earned savings. Of the 39 ACOs identified as efficient in this analysis, only 12 realized earned savings. The remaining 49 ACOs that earned savings in 2014 were not among the most efficient. Greater adoption of EHRs by primary care providers and expanded participation by specialists are associated with higher levels of operational efficiency.
Phonological markers of Oxytocin and MDMA ingestion

Speech data has the potential to become a powerful tool to provide quantitative information about emotion beyond that achieved by subjective assessments. Based on this concept, we investigate the use of speech to identify effects in subjects under the influence of two different drugs: Oxytocin (OT) and 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), also known as ecstasy. We extract a set of informative phonological features that can characterize emotion. Then, we perform classification to detect if the subject is under the influence of a drug. Our best results show low error rates of 13% and 17% for the subject classification of OT and MDMA vs. placebo, respectively. We also analyze the performance of the features to differentiate the two levels of MDMA doses, obtaining an error rate of 19%. The results indicate that subtle emotional changes can be detected in the context of drug use.
Language profile and syntactic change in two multilingual communities

This paper explores variables that can explain contact-induced linguistic variation and change in a situation where diachronic data is lacking and number of speakers is small. For example, in contexts involving language endangerment traditional sociolinguistic variables such as age, gender, and social class will not apply due to small number of participants. Furthermore, additional sociolinguistic variables such as degree of language use, language attitudes, etc. are needed to explaining contact-induced variation. The target language is Transylvanian Saxon (hereafter TrSax), an endangered language that coexists with German and Romanian in Romania and in emigre communities in Germany. I collected sociolinguistic and questionnaire data from two groups of trilingual speakers of TrSax, German, and Romanian. Six participants are from Viscri, Romania and six participants are part of a community of Transylvanian Saxons from Viscri, who moved to Nuremberg, Germany approximately 30 years ago. I illustrate the methodology I used for identifying the variables that distinguish the two groups and I discuss how these variables can be applied to analyze contact-induced variation in TrSax on hand of preliminary production data.
Psychodynamics, Gestalt Psychology, and Personality Theory at Harvard

For almost half a century, from the day Edwin G. Boring first walked into the halls at Harvard to assume his teaching duties in 1921, to the day that he died in 1967 in Stillman Infirmary, the status and relevance of dynamic theories of personality as a legitimate science played a central role in defining what was even allowed to be called psychology at the University. Boring was against the molar, the psychodynamic, and a science that was person centered because he judged them to be unscientific and he spent his entire career defending that principle. What hung in the balance, insofar as Harvard contributes to the gold standard of what happens in institutions of higher learning in the West, was the more ethereal fate of such theories in the academy and in the wider discipline of psychology at large, both nationally and internationally, influencing their status, then as today.
Segmental bone replacement via patient-specific, three-dimensional printed bioresorbable graft substitutes and their use as templates for the culture of mesenchymal stem cells under mechanical stimulation at various frequencies.

The treatment of large segmental bone defects remains a challenge as infection, delayed union, and nonunion are common postoperative complications. A three-dimensional printed bioresorbable and physiologically load-sustaining graft substitute was developed to mimic native bone tissue for segmental bone repair. Fabricated from polylactic acid, this graft substitute is novel as it is readily customizable to accommodate the particular size and location of the segmental bone of the patient to be replaced. Inspired by the structure of the native bone tissue, the graft substitute exhibits a gradient in porosity and pore size in the radial direction and exhibit mechanical properties similar to those of the native bone tissue. The graft substitute can serve as a template for tissue constructs via seeding with stem cells. The biocompatibility of such templates was tested under in vitro conditions using a dynamic culture of human mesenchymal stem cells. The effects of the mechanical loading of cell-seeded templates under in vitro conditions were assessed via subjecting the tissue constructs to 28 days of daily mechanical stimulation. The frequency of loading was found to have a significant effect on the rate of mineralization, as the alkaline phosphatase activity and calcium deposition were determined to be particularly high at the typical walking frequency of 2 Hz, suggesting that mechanical stimulation plays a significant role in facilitating the healing process of bone defects. Utilization of such patient-specific and biocompatible graft substitutes, coupled with patient's bone marrow cells seeded and exposed to mechanical stimulation of 2 Hz have the potential of reducing significant volumes of cadaveric tissue required, improving long-term graft stability and incorporation, and alleviating financial burdens associated with delayed or failed fusions of long bone defects.
Being Scholar-Practitioners – Wisdom in Action

This is a grounded theory study of how scholar-practitioners work effectively in the knowledge work world in which we live. Through a set of 41 interviews, it examines the roles of scholar-practiti...
Recipient HO‐1 inducibility is essential for posttransplant hepatic HO‐1 expression and graft protection: From bench‐to‐bedside

By documenting potent antioxidative and anti-inflammatory functions, preclinical studies encourage heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1)-inducing regimens in clinical orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). We aimed to determine the importance of recipient-derived HO-1 in murine and human OLTs. Hepatic biopsies from 51 OLT patients were screened for HO-1 expression (Western blots) prior to put-in (basal) and post reperfusion (stressed) and correlated with the hepatocellular function. In parallel, livers from HO-1 proficient mice (WT; C57/BL6), subjected to ex vivo cold storage (18 hour), were transplanted to syngeneic myeloid HO-1 deficient (mHO-1 KO) or FLOX (control) hosts, and sampled postreperfusion (6 hour). In human OLT, posttransplant but not pretransplant HO-1 expression correlated negatively with ALT levels (P = .0178). High posttransplant but not pretransplant HO-1 expression trended with improved OLT survival. Compared with controls, livers transplanted into mHO-1 KO recipient mice had decreased HO-1 levels, exacerbated hepatic damage/frequency of TUNEL+ cells, increased mRNA levels coding for TNFα/CXCL1/CXCL2/CXCL10, higher frequency of Ly6G+/4HN+ neutrophils; and enhanced MPO activity. Peritoneal neutrophils from mHO-1 KO mice exhibited higher CellRox+ ratio and increased TNFα/CXCL1/CXCL2/CXCL10 expression. By demonstrating the importance of posttransplant recipient HO-1 phenotype in hepatic macrophage/neutrophil regulation and function, this translational study identifies recipient HO-1 inducibility as a novel biomarker of ischemic stress resistance in OLT.
Impact of dentifrice abrasivity and remineralization time on erosive tooth wear in vitro.

PURPOSE To investigate the in vitro effects of simulated dentifrice slurry abrasivity (L-low, M-medium and H-high) and remineralization time (0, 30, 60 and 120 minutes) on erosive tooth wear. METHODS Enamel and root dentin specimens were prepared from bovine incisors (n= 8) and submitted to a cycling protocol including erosion, remineralization at the test times, and brushing with each of the tested slurries, for 5 days. Dental surface loss (SL) was determined by optical profilometry. Data was analyzed using mixed-model ANOVA and Fisher's PLSD tests (alpha= 0.05). RESULTS SL generally increased along with the increase in slurry abrasive level, with significance dependent upon the specific substrate and remineralization times. H showed the highest SL on both enamel and dentin; remineralization for 30 minutes reduced SL significantly (P< 0.05), but only for enamel. M showed intermediate SL values, with remineralization benefit clearly seen only after 120 minutes of remineralization (P< 0.05). L caused the least SL for both enamel and dentin, which was further reduced after remineralization for 120 and 30 minutes, respectively (both P< 0.05). Overall, root dentin had significantly higher SL than enamel. Less abrasive dentifrice slurries were able to reduce toothbrushing abrasion on both enamel and root dentin. This protection was enhanced by remineralization for all abrasive levels on enamel, but only for L on root dentin. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE High-risk erosion patients should avoid highly abrasive toothpastes, as remineralization can only partially compensate for their deleterious effects on eroded dental surfaces. Lower abrasive toothpastes are recommended.
Understanding the Impact of State Supreme Courts: An Event History Analysis of Same-Sex Marriage Amendments

This paper assesses the impact of state supreme courts on controversial public policies by studying the enactment of state constitutional amendments prohibiting same-sex marriage. I find that institutional differences among state supreme courts and state constitutional systems can account for when same-sex marriage amendments are likely to pass. For example, I show that states are more likely to approve same-sex marriage amendments when state supreme court justices are elected, since the public has less confidence in elected justices and is less likely to support their decisions on controversial issues. I also show that same-sex marriage amendments are more likely to pass when states permit citizens to propose constitutional amendments directly through the initiative process. My findings suggest that the impact of state supreme courts is not constant but variable depending on attributes of state courts and state constitutional systems.
The vapor pressure and vaporization enthalpy of squalene and squalane by correlation gas chromatography

Abstract Vapor pressures and vaporization enthalpies of both squalane and squalene are evaluated by correlation gas chromatography using n-alkanes as standards. Vapor pressures as a function of temperature from T = (298.15–600) K are fit to a second order polynomial. Vaporization enthalpies of (134.4 ± 2.4 and 139.8 ± 2.4) kJ mol−1 and vapor pressures of p = ((15 ± 5.4) and (3.7 ± 1.3))·10−7 Pa at T = 298.15 K are evaluated for squalane and squalene, respectively. Vapor pressures are compared with existing literature data. Enthalpies of interaction with the column are evaluated for all analytes and are found to be endothermic at the mean temperatures of the chromatography.
Being Gifted in Turkey: Educational and Social Experiences of High-Ability Students.

This phenomenological study explored the educational and social experiences of eight gifted middle school students from Turkey. Data were collected from in-depth semi-structured interviews. The fin...
Use and Outcomes Associated With Perioperative Amiodarone in Cardiac Surgery

Background In randomized controlled trials, perioperative administration of amiodarone has been shown to reduce the incidence of postoperative atrial arrhythmias and length of stay (LOS) among pati...
X-Ray Studies of Lyotropic Liquid Crystals

There are two broad classes of liquid crystalline systems, the thermotropic and the lyotropic. The historical difference between these two is that the lyotropic systems are always mixtures (or solutions) of unlike molecules in which one is a nonmesogenic liquid. Solutions of soap and water are typical examples of lyotropics. Their mesomorphic phases appear as a function of either concentration or temperature. In contrast, the thermotropic systems are usually formed from a single chemical component, and the mesomorphic phases appear primarily as a result of temperature changes. The molecular distinction between the two is that one of the molecules in the lyotropic solution always has a polar hydrophilic part, often called the “head group”, and one or more hydrophobic alkyl chains called “tails”. Although these molecules can form mesogenic phases as single component systems, they more easily do so in solution with either water or oil. This is due to a competition between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions, as well as other things such as packing and steric constraints1,2. The molecules that form thermotropic liquid crystalline phases also have hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts, the disparity in the affinity of these parts for either water or oil is much less and most of these molecules are relatively insoluble in water. Nevertheless, it is interesting that different parts of typical thermotropic molecules do have some of the same features as the lyotropic molecules. For example, although the rod-like thermotropic molecules always have an acyl chain at one or both ends of a more rigid section, the chain lengths are rarely as long as those of the lyotropic molecules. Also, the solubility of different parts of the thermotropic molecules, when separated, are not as disparate as those of the lyotropic molecules, are definitely different.
A case of uterine incarceration with unrecognized uterine torsion.

Abstract Fetal imagers are tasked with diagnosing complex fetal anomalies, but maternal abnormalities that may impact the pregnancy are also of utmost importance to recognize and report. Two rare obstetrical complications are uterine incarceration and torsion which can lead to increased maternal/perinatal mortality. Uterine incarceration occurs secondary to a retroverted uterus that becomes retroflexed and entrapped within the pelvis during the first trimester of pregnancy. Uterine torsion is rotation of more than 45° around its long axis. We report a rare case of an incarcerated uterus with presumed spontaneous resolution on follow-up MRI that was ultimately recognized to be uterine torsion at the time of delivery. Knowledge of these entities may help aid in timely detection and diagnosis of complex imaging presentations and avoid downstream complications.
Racial/ethnic disparity in habitual sleep is modified by caloric intake in adolescents

Abstract Study objectives We investigated the moderation of caloric intake on the association between race/ethnicity and habitual sleep in adolescents. Methods We analyzed the data obtained from 324 adolescents who completed the follow-up examination of the Penn State Child Cohort study. We collected actigraphy-measured sleep duration on 7 consecutive nights and computed their mean and standard deviation as habitual sleep duration (HSD) and habitual sleep variability (HSV), respectively. We also measured participants’ daily intakes of total calorie, total fat, carbohydrates, and protein, through the Youth/Adolescent Food Frequency Questionnaire. Adjusted mean HSD and HSV among non-Hispanic whites and racial/ethnic minorities were compared by using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), while controlling for age, sex, BMI percentile, total caloric intake, and socioeconomic status. The significance of the interaction between race/ethnicity and caloric intake was further tested in ANCOVA models. Results The study sample consisted of 79.3% non-Hispanic whites, 13.0% African American, 4.6% Hispanics, 2.2% Asian, and 0.9% American Indian. Adolescents who are racial/ethnic minorities showed shorter HSD (mean (SE): 6.80 (0.10) vs. 7.07 (0.05) hours/night, p = 0.02) and higher HSV (mean (SE): 1.31 (0.07) vs. 1.15 (0.04) hours/night, p = 0.04) than non-Hispanic whites. Racial/ethnic differences in HSV were significantly more pronounced among adolescents with high caloric intake (p interaction = 0.01), especially from carbohydrates (p interaction = 0.03) and fat (p interaction = 0.05). Conclusion Adolescents who are racial/ethnic minorities slept objectively shorter and with greater night-to-night variability than non-Hispanic whites. The racial/ethnic disparity in habitual sleep variability was more pronounced among adolescents with high caloric intake, particularly from carbohydrates and fat.
Operating Room In Situ Interprofessional Simulation for Improving Communication and Teamwork.

Abstract Background Effective teamwork and communication are correlated with improved patient care quality and outcomes. The belief that each team member contributes to excellent patient care in the operating room (OR) leads to a more productive work environment. However, poor teamwork and communication lead to poorer OR outcomes. We qualitatively and quantitatively explored perspectives of three OR professions (nursing, anesthesiology, and surgery) on teamwork and communication in the OR preinterprofessional and postinterprofessional in situ OR simulation. Materials and methods One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted; 14 pre-in situ simulations during July-October 2017 (three surgery, four anesthesiology, and six nursing staff), and 10 post-in situ simulations during August-November 2017 (five surgery, four anesthesiology, and one nursing staff). Themes were identified inductively to create a codebook. The codebook was used to consensus code all interviews. This analysis informed the development of a quantitative survey distributed to all contactable interviewees (22). Results Presimulation and postsimulation interview participants concurred on teamwork and communication importance, believed communication to be key to effective teamwork, and identified barriers to communication: lack of cordiality, lack of engagement from other staff, distractions, role hierarchies, and lack of familiarity with other staff. The large majority of survey participants—all having participated in simulations—believed they could use effective communication in their workplace. Conclusions Establishing methods for improving and maintaining the ability of OR professionals to communicate with each other is imperative for patient safety. Effective team communication leads to safe and successful outcomes, as well as a productive and supportive OR work environment.
Trophic ecology of sympatric batoid species (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea) assessed by multiple biogeochemical tracers (δ13C, δ15N and total Hg).

Abstract Aquatic pollution is known to reduce biodiversity and disrupt wildlife populations. Mercury (Hg) pollution is pervasive worldwide, contributing to the degradation of ecosystems, and causing deleterious effects to exposed organisms and populations. Batoids have a life history linked to the benthic substrate of coastal areas and occupy upper trophic levels. These combined with large bodies, long lifespan, and slow growth rates contributes to increased uptake and accumulation of Hg. However, mechanisms governing these associations are not well understood. Using multiple biogeochemical tracers (δ13C, δ15N and total Hg), we describe trophic interactions of three sympatric batoid species inhabiting an urbanized estuary and identify diet sources that contribute to Hg accumulation and trophic position among these mesopredators. We also use the Bat-ray (Myliobatis californica) as a model species, to compare diet composition, trophic position, and isotopic niche between two populations in two Californian bays. Trophic plasticity in M. californica was characterized by isotopic niche, diet proportions, and trophic position estimates using Bayesian statistics. We found diet and local contamination background strongly associated with Hg accumulation, and Hg levels that exceed EPA water quality criterion (
Are U.S. teacher salaries competitive? Accounting for geography and the retransformation bias in logarithmic regressions

Abstract Using data from the American Community Survey for 2012-2016, I estimate relative earnings differentials between teachers and observationally equivalent non-teachers. Two concerns at primary issue in the paper are adequately controlling for differing geographic locations of teachers and non-teachers, and addressing the bias that can arise in the use of logarithmic specifications of earnings regressions to estimate average wage differentials. I find that both issues are of relevance: while ignoring disparate location biases the differential away from zero, failing to account fully for differences in the distribution of earnings for teachers and non-teachers biases it towards zero. An analysis of data from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey suggests that that the magnitude of the teacher pay differential has increased since that time. Other suggested corrections, based on earlier research on differential time misreporting and benefit differences, lead to a smaller but still economically significant differential.
Thermoregulation and Water Balance

Temperature and humidity act in concert in their effects on the lives of vertebrates; only in fishes and aquatic amphibians can temperature be considered separately from humidity. In aerial environments humidity may have several effects. In amphibians, the skin of which is a major site of water loss, evaporation is in inverse proportion to absolute humidity of the surrounding air; the same relationship occurs in reptiles, birds and mammals, but in those animals it is less critical. Humidity in the soil, as after a rain or with melting snow, can lower soil temperatures substantially if the atmospheric humidity is low, and lower soil temperatures can retard activity not only of such vertebrates as snakes and lizards but also of the invertebrates on which they feed. Also, when humidity occurs in the form of fog or clouds, solar radiation is retarded, depressing air and ground temperatures.
A Great Divide? Religion and Political Change in U.S. National Elections, 1972–2000

Since 1980 most social scientists have found little evidence in support of popular and recurring commentaries that identify religion (and evangelical Protestants, in particular) as a major source of conservative political trends in the United States. But in the past several years a new line of research has reported results suggesting that earlier studies underestimated evidence that partisan change among specific religious groups has contributed to an emerging Republican electoral advantage. We assess this latter body of research, presenting the most comprehensive analysis to date of the effects of religious group memberships on political outcomes in national elections from 1972 through 2000. We address the limitations of past studies by incorporating advances in the measurement of religious denomination, adjudicating competing statistical models of the changing interrelationship of religion and voter alignments and extending previous investigations by simultaneously considering the impact of religion on (1) voting behavior, (2) partisanship, and (3) the representation of religious groups within the Democratic and Republican parties' electoral coalitions. Our results refine and extend past studies of religion and political change, providing evidence of limited changes in group-specific voting coupled with much larger changes in religion-based partisanship and party coalitions.
Obscenity with a View: Baudrillard's Revenge of the Crystal and Film Studies

Jean Baudrillard _Revenge of the Crystal: Selected Writings on the Modern Object and its Destiny, 1968-1983_ London: Pluto Press, 1999 ISBN: 0-7453-1443-0 198 pp.
Ratification Processes and Conflict Termination

Three sets of assumptions about elite and constituent relations prevail in approaches to conflict termination. The 'Interest-based', 'Identity-based', and 'Timing' approaches offer important insights into conflict termination processes but differ in how they conceive of the locus and direction of domestic political power during conflict termination. Despite such important differences, these contending approaches have not been tested comparatively. In this paper, I introduce the Dynamic Group approach and test it against these current approaches. The Dynamic Group approach differs from these others in that it is grounded in the two-level perspective on negotiation. The Dynamic Group approach treats the domestic locus and direction of power as variable (1) across cases and (2) across conflict stages within a given case. Accommodating such variation introduces the concept of domestic ratification as an important determinant of the success or failure of conflict settlement attempts. The Dynamic Group approach offers greater generalizability than the current approaches. Specifically, I demonstrate (1) that whereas these three contending approaches apply only to cases in which elite's and constituent's interests are consonant, the Dynamic Group approach covers cases of elite and constituent interest dissonance, and (2) that whereas the three approaches apply to no more than two stages of conflict termination, the Dynamic Group approach comprehends differential effects of four distinct stages. I demonstrate that the Dynamic Group approach best accounts for conflict-stage effects in the 1973 and 1985 attempts to settle the Northern Ireland conflict.
Determinants of Aortic Pressure Variation During Positive-Pressure Ventilation in Man

Study objectives To define the relation between systolic arterial pressure (SAP) changes during ventilation and left ventricular (LV) performance in humans. Design Prospective repeat-measures series. Setting University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Operating Room. Patients Fifteen anesthetized cardiac surgery patients before and after cardiopulmonary bypass when the mediastinum was either closed or open. Interventions Positive-pressure ventilation. Measurements and results SAP and LV midaxis cross-sectional areas were measured during apnea and then were measured for three consecutive breaths. SAP increased during inspiration, this being the greatest during closed chest conditions (p Conclusions In this patient group, changes in SAP reflect changes in airway pressure and (by inference) intrathoracic pressure (as in a Valsalva maneuver) better than they reflect concomitant changes in LV hemodynamics.
A POSITIVE DYNAMIC APPROACH TO INDUSTRIAL DECISION‐MAKING PROCESSES

This paper proposes and tests a decision-making process of entrepreneurs. History of many industries shows that rapid changes in technology, accompanied by large investments and accumulations of capital occur. One production method is replaced by another as newer cost reducing techniques become available. It seems that the fate of any particular production technique can be better understood in the context of such dynamic factors as changes in technical knowledge, factor prices, demand composition together with decision-making process of the entrepreneurs. A recursive programming technique is presented that reflects the fact that entrepreneurial decisions are conditioned by interaction between technical, economic, and non-economic factors. Recursive programming technique is a recent addition to the inventory of decision-making analysis. This method is applied to the Japanese Iron and Steel Industry. Results suggest that this technique is a very promising tool of decision-making analysis.
An Incentive Mechanism for M/M/1 Queues with Selfish Users

In this paper, we study an incentive mechanism design problem for network congestion control. We investigate the behavior of a single store-and-forward router (a.k.a. "server" in this work). The scenario is modeled as an M/M/1 queueing game with each packet generator (a.k.a. "player") optimizing the throughput-delay tradeoff in a selfish distributed manner. We first show that the original game has an inefficient unique Nash Equilibrium (NE). In order to improve the outcome efficiency, we propose a packet dropping scheme that can be easily implemented at the server. We then show that if the packet dropping scheme is a function of the sum of arrival rates, this new M/M/1 queueing game is a potential game with unique NE. We further propose a linear packet dropping scheme, which is similar to the Random Early Detection (RED) algorithm used with TCP. Our investigation shows that with this RED-like mechanism, the social welfare (summation of utilities of all players) at the equilibrium point can be arbitrarily close to the social welfare at the global optimal point.