cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Transitory variation in investment and output

Abstract Although the permanent-income model is a cornerstone of macreoconomics, the evidence for its assumption that output has a transitory component is mixed. This paper documents transitory variation in GNP. The story centers on the variation in investment, relative to consumption. Consumption behaves like a random walk. In the long term, investment moves one-for-one with consumption. In the near term, however, investment takes strong transitory swings away from the random walk it shares with consumption. These surges in investment, relative to consumption, are not offset by Government Expenditures. Transitory variation in investment thus becomes transitory variation in GNP.
Periodic Table of Virus Capsids: Implications for Natural Selection and Design

Background For survival, most natural viruses depend upon the existence of spherical capsids: protective shells of various sizes composed of protein subunits. So far, general evolutionary pressures shaping capsid design have remained elusive, even though an understanding of such properties may help in rationally impeding the virus life cycle and designing efficient nano-assemblies.
Responsiveness in Urban Service Delivery: The Case of Policing

This article explores current conceptualizations of responsiveness, and argues that, while several levels of responsiveness (e.g., access, policy) are identified in the literature, the responsivene...
Mechanisms of long-term potentiation: EPSP/spike dissociation, intradendritic recordings, and glutamate sensitivity.

Synaptic efficacy is modified following a brief train of high-frequency stimulation (HFS) to a cell's afferent fibers (long-term potentiation; LTP). An alteration in the postsynaptic response to endogenous neurotransmitter, as a result of an increase in the number of postsynaptic receptors, has been proposed (Baudry and Lynch, 1980). We tested this hypothesis in the CA1 hippocampus by intracellularly recording the postsynaptic response to localized application of glutamate before and after induction of LTP. When LTP was produced, there was no corresponding change in neuronal sensitivity to glutamate application. These findings are not consistent with the hypothesis that HFS of fibers in CA1 stratum radiatum induces an increase in the number of postsynaptic glutamate receptors in CA1 pyramidal cells. Previous reports concerning LTP have indicated a dissociation between the degree of potentiation in the population EPSP and population spike. Simultaneous recordings of the CA 1 population EPSP and population spike in hippocampal slices confirmed that the degree of potentiation of the population spike was not predicted by the degree of potentiation in the population EPSP. Intradendritic impalements were obtained to more accurately assess changes in the intracellular EPSP following HFS. When the population EPSP was potentiated, there was also a potentiated intradendritic EPSP. When the population spike was potentiated following HFS, however, the intradendritic EPSP was often unchanged; in the same cell, there was an increased probability of action potential discharge to stimulation which was originally (i.e., pre-HFS) subthreshold for spike initiation. These results indicate that the EPSP (intracellular or extracellular) may be potentiated following HFS, but this potentiation is not a prerequisite for, or a correlation of, potentiation in the population spike. Furthermore, these findings suggest that LTP is composed of 2 independent components--a synaptic component and an EPSP-to-spike coupling component.
Vitamin D and autoimmune diabetes

The biologically active form of vitamin D, 1,25(OH)(2)D(3), is a potent modulator of the immune system as well as a regulator of bone and mineral metabolism. Vitamin D-deficiency in infancy and vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms may be risk factors for insulin-dependent Diabetes mellitus (IDDM). 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) and its analogs significantly repress the development of insulitis and diabetes in the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse, a model of human IDDM. 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) may modulate IDDM disease pathogenesis by repression of type I cytokines, inhibition of dendritic cell maturation, and upregulation of regulatory T cells. The function of vitamin D as a genetic and environmental determining factor for IDDM, the protective role of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) and its analogs in a mouse model of IDDM, and the possible mechanisms by which this protection occurs will be reviewed.
DeskBench: Flexible virtual desktop benchmarking toolkit

The thin-client computing model has been recently regaining popularity in a new form known as the virtual desktop. That is where the desktop is hosted on a virtualized platform. Even though the interest in this computing paradigm is broad there are relatively few tools and methods for benchmarking virtual client infrastructures. We believe that developing such tools and approaches is crucial for the future success of virtual client deployments and also for objective evaluation of existing and new algorithms, communication protocols, and technologies. We present DeskBench, a virtual desktop benchmarking tool, that allows for fast and easy creation of benchmarks by simple recording of the user's activity. It also allows for replaying the recorded actions in a synchronized manner at maximum possible speeds without compromising the correctness of the replay. The proposed approach relies only on the basic primitives of mouse and keyboard events as well as screen region updates which are common in window manager systems. We have implemented a prototype of the system and also conducted a series of experiments measuring responsiveness of virtual machine based desktops under various load conditions and network latencies. The experiments illustrate the flexibility and accuracy of the proposed method and also give some interesting insights into the scalability of virtual machine based desktops.
Spatially homogeneous gelation in liquid composite molding

On-line mixing of the resin with its curing agents prior to injection into a mold is a common industrial technique for fabricating composite parts. For vinyl-ester resins that cure via free radical polymerization, the concentrations of retarder, accelerator, and initiator are pre-selected and cannot be changed during the injection. Hence, the resin that enters the mold the earliest has cured longer than the resin that enters the mold later, since the gel time for the resin is the same, owing to the fixed ratio of the curing agents. This approach leads to inhomogeneous cure of the resin and consequently to longer residence time of the resin in the mold. It requires an additional 50 to 75 percent of the filling time before a part can be de-molded. In this study, it is shown that by adjusting the concentration of curing agents during the injection, a more homogeneous gel time throughout the mold can be achieved. The time to de-mold is reduced to 18-24 percent of the filling time. Sensors that measure the conductivity of the resin were used to detect the location and monitor the cure of vinyl-ester. This approach could be extended to other resin systems to control the spatial curing of the resin in the mold.
Chest Pain and Progressive Miliary Infiltrates in an Elderly Man

(CHEST 2009; 135:578–582) A n 81-year-old man presented with persistent dyspnea and left pleuritic chest pain for 2 months following a left lower lobe pneumonia treated at another institution. He denied undergoing thoracentesis or pleural catheter drainage during treatment of the pneumonia. He reported resolution of cough, and denied hemoptysis, fever, night sweats, or weight loss. His exposure history included working on a farm as a teenager and in iron mines for 4 years in the 1950s, and retail sales work thereafter. He was a life-long nonsmoker, had no significant travel history outside of Minnesota, and his only pets were two cats and a dog. He specifically denied exposure to tuberculosis, asbestos, or silica. His medical history was significant for hypertension, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and prostatic adenocarcinoma (Gleason grade 3 4, score 7), treated with radiation therapy 5 years previous, with a currently normal serum prostate specific antigen. His medications included atenolol, felodipine, hydrochlorothiazide, lisinopril, omeprazole, and entericcoated acetylsalicylic acid. Physical examination revealed small mobile cervical adenopathy, decreased breath sounds at the left lung base, and no edema or
CULTURAL CONSUMPTION AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: LEISURE ACTIVITIES, MUSICAL TASTES, AND SOCIAL LOCATION

This article examines the extent to which different cultural preferences are associated with occupational class and other stratifying dimensions in contemporary American society. Building on existing research that tends to analyze leisure activities and cultural tastes separately, I construct cultural profiles that combine participation in leisure activities and tastes in music. Using this method allows me to go beyond the common highbrow/lowbrow distinction. I analyze data from the 1993 culture module of the General Social Survey and find four cultural types: highbrow, popular, outdoor nature, and youth music. I discuss the association of the four culture types with different dimensions of stratification. The findings support the conclusion that, while class indeed matters, the main determinants of cultural preferences are race, gender, education, and age.
Stability-constrained model predictive control

This paper presents a new approach to guaranteeing stability of model predictive control (MPC). A stability constraint is computed and propagated forward at each stage as a constraint on the magnitude of the predicted state vector for a state-space controllable-form realization. It is shown that asymptotic stability is guaranteed for the case of constrained multi-input linear time-invariant systems under full-state measurement or with state estimation for any prediction horizon and any optimization objective function.
Maximum-likelihood synchronization of a single user for code-division multiple-access communication systems

Code-division multiple access (CDMA) has emerged as an access protocol well-suited for voice and data transmission. One significant limitation of the conventional CDMA system is the near-far problem where strong signals interfere with the detection of a weak signal. Multiuser detectors assume knowledge of all of the modulation waveforms and channel parameters, and exploit this information to eliminate multiple-access interference (MAI) and to achieve near-far resistance. A major problem in practical application of multiuser detection is the estimation of the signal and channel parameters in a near-far limited system. We consider maximum-likelihood estimation of users delay, amplitude, and phase in a CDMA communication system. We present an approach for decomposing this multiuser estimation problem into a series of single-user problems. In this method the interfering users are treated as colored non-Gaussian noise. The observation vectors are preprocessed to be able to apply a Gaussian model for the MAI. The maximum-likelihood estimate (MLE) of each user's parameters based on the processed observation vectors becomes tractable. The estimator includes a whitening filter derived from the sample covariance matrix which is used to suppress the MAI, thus yielding a near-far resistant estimator.
Strain criterion in nonlinear creep and recovery in concentrated polymer solutions

Transient and steady-state rheological data are reported for several anionic polystyrene solutions in tritolylphosphate (1. 6 < cM/ρMc < 7). Here c is the concentration of the solution, M is the molecular weight, ρ the density of the undiluted polymer, and Mc the molecular weight between entanglements as determined from zero-shear viscosity. The polystyrene used had Mw = 410,000 and Mw/Mn < 1.06. Data are also given for solutions of polyisobutylene and poly(vinyl acetate) with larger Mw/Mn. The results give a critical strain γ′ ∝ c−1 such that linear viscoelastic behavior was obtained in a simple shear deformation with shear less than γ′. A simplified version of the constitutive equation of Bernstein, Kearsley, and Zapas is used with an empirical strain function F (γ) which contains γ′ as a parameter to discuss transient and steady-state behavior in terms of the distribution of relaxation (or retardation) times determined for linear viscoelastic responce. Features of the dependence of the steady-state viscosity ηk, recoverable compliance Rk, the first-normal stress function Nk(1) on shear rate k are discussed in terms of F (γ) and the distribution of relaxation times to conclude that the latter plays a dominant role in the behavior observed in the range of k usually studied. The results predict that the reduced functions ηk/η0, Rk/R0, and Nk(1)/N0(1) should depend on η0R0k, and that the functional form depends markedly on the distribution of relaxation times, at least in the range η0R0k < 102. Comparison with the mechanistic model of Doi and Edwards shows a similar F (γ) but substantial differences in the reduced functions caused by a very narrow distribution of relaxation times in the model.
Inflammatory and Hormonal Mediators of Cachexia

Body composition is a reflection of the metabolic state of the organism. However, because the time course of change in body composition is slower than that of metabolic processes, measurement of body composition offers a unique way of assessing the organism's physiologic status. The hormonal and immune mediators that control metabolism, and thus body composition, can be divided into three categories: day-to-day regulators (insulin and glucagon), life cycle-related hormones (estrogens and androgens, growth hormone, prolactin, thyroid hormones, catecholamines, corticosteroids) and immunologic mediators (the cytokines interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor, and interleukin-6). Although the cytokines can clearly drive metabolism and thus body composition in various illnesses, it is not yet clear whether they also play a homeostatic role in the age-related changes in body composition that we now call sarcopenia.
Comment on “PSHA Validated by Quasi Observational Means” by R. M. W. Musson

In his recent paper, “PSHA Validated by Quasi Observational Means,” Musson (2012) intended to confirm the validity of Cornell–McGuire probabilistic seismic-hazard analysis (PSHA) by “quasi-observational means.” However, Musson proved exactly the opposite (i.e., PSHA is invalid). Musson’s attempts to prove the validity of Cornell–McGuire PSHA were founded on confusion between probability (a dimensionless quantity) and frequency (a dimensional quantity with unit of per year [1/yr]) and a misunderstanding and misuse of statistics. PSHA is a mathematical formulation derived from a rigorous probability analysis on the statistical relationships of earthquake magnitudes, locations, and ground-motion attenuation. The basic formulation of PSHA was introduced by Cornell in 1968 and computer coded by McGuire in 1976 (hence, the so-called Cornell–McGuire PSHA; McGuire, 1976). Although PSHA has been widely used in seismic-hazard assessment, it inherits intrinsic problems (Wang et al. , 2003; Wang and Ormsbee, 2005; Wang and Zhou, 2007; Wang, 2009). Particularly, PSHA contains a mathematical error (Wang, 2011). In his landmark paper, “Engineering Seismic Risk Analysis,” Cornell (1968) determined that the probability that intensity I exceeds a given value i at a site over an interval of time t from a seismic source as 1 − F I max t ( i ) = 1 − e − ν P [ I ≥ i ] t , (1)where ν is the average occurrence rate (per year) of events (earthquakes), …
SEXUAL ASSAULT EDUCATION PROGRAMS: A META‐ANALYTIC EXAMINATION OF THEIR EFFECTIVENESS

Meta-analyses of the effectiveness of college sexual assault education programs on seven outcome measure categories were conducted using 69 studies that involved 102 treatment interventions and 18,172 participants. Five of the outcome categories had significant average effect sizes (i.e., rape attitudes, rape-related attitudes, rape knowledge, behavioral intent, and incidence of sexual assault), while the outcome areas of rape empathy and rape awareness behaviors did not have average effect sizes that differed from zero. A significant finding of this study is that longer interventions are more effective than brief interventions in altering both rape attitudes and rape-related attitudes. Moderator analyses also suggest that the content of programming, type of presenter, gender of the audience, and type of audience may also be associated with greater program effectiveness. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Acute Profound Thrombocytopenia following Abciximab Therapy

OBJECTIVE:To report a case of acute, profound thrombocytopenia (APT), defined as an abrupt drop in platelet count to <20 000/mm3 that occurred within 24 hours of administration of an abciximab bolus, to summarize other abciximab-associated APT cases reported in the literature, to review the postulated mechanisms behind this reaction, and to emphasize the importance of periodically monitoring platelet counts after initiating abciximab therapy.DATA SOURCES:MEDLINE and Index Medicus searches restricted to English-language literature from 1993 through June 1999 were conducted. MeSH headings included abciximab, ReoPro, thrombocytopenia, and glycoprotein IIb-IIIa (GP IIb-IIIa) inhibitors. References of the articles obtained were also reviewed.DATA EXTRACTION:Search and evaluation were focused on published case reports and reviews of abciximab-induced APT, as well as the incidence of thrombocytopenia from the drug compared with that from other GP IIb-IIIa inhibitors.DATA SYNTHESIS:Platelet aggregation has been i...
Capturing geometry rationale for collaborative design

When an artifact is designed, the typical output consists of documents describing the final result of a long series of deliberations and tradeoffs by the participants of collaborative design (a.k.a. concurrent engineering) teams. The underlying intent and logical support (i.e. the rationale) for the decisions captured therein is usually lost, or is represented at best as a scattered, difficult-to-access collection of paper documents and designers' recollections. This is particularly true for a geometric, as opposed to a preliminary, design rationale. Rationale information is critical, however, for important collaborative design functions such as team memory, design retrieval and negotiation. This paper describes an evolving Web-based tool designed to greatly improve the capture and access of preliminary and geometric design rationale in concurrent engineering teams, based on a marriage of rationale capture, the World Wide Web, CAD and feature-based design technology.
Influence of hydralazine administration on oxygenation in spontaneous and transplanted tumor models.

Abstract Purpose: To examine the effects of hydralazine on vascular perfusion and hypoxia in spontaneous vs. first generation and long-term transplanted murine tumor models. Methods and Materials: Total anatomic blood vessels were quantified using image analysis of CD31 stained frozen sections, perfused vessels by i.v. injection of fluorescent DiOC 7 , and tumor hypoxia was measured using the EF5 hypoxia marker. KHT sarcomas, spontaneous mammary carcinomas, and first generation transplants of the spontaneous tumors were evaluated before and after i.p. administration of 5 mg/kg hydralazine. Results: Although anatomic and perfused vessel spacings were similar among untreated tumors, response to hydralazine varied widely among the three tumor models. In KHT tumors, perfused vessel numbers decreased significantly at 30 min post-hydralazine, then recovered somewhat by 60 min. First-generation transplants showed a less substantial decrease in perfused vessels following hydralazine, which tapered off slightly by 60 min. Finally, spontaneous tumors had only a modest decrease in perfused vessel numbers, with complete recovery at 60 min. Although response of individual tumors varied widely, overall hypoxic marker uptake was significantly increased in both KHT and first generation tumors, and slightly reduced in the spontaneous tumors. Conclusion: Response to hydralazine varies substantially between transplanted and spontaneous tumor models. Results suggest that increased tumor pressure may be a critical factor in tumor response to hydralazine, possibly explaining tumor volume dependent variations.
Impacts from invasive plant species and their control on the plant community and belowground ecosystem at Rocky Mountain National Park, USA

We assessed the effects of changes in the plant community and belowground soil ecosystem in a mountain meadow, from the invasion of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) and Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense L.), and the subsequent management efforts to remove them. Sampling included three paired sites containing areas where herbicides and mechanical means had been employed and which were still dominated by leafy spurge, and areas where herbicides had not been applied and where very little (<0.03%) or no leafy spurge or Canada thistle existed. Plant species diversity, frequency, and percent cover were estimated. Decomposition rates were assessed by use of litterbags placed on the sites and retrieved after 1 year. Vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculum potential was used as an index for mutualistic associations. Soil microarthropod densities were used as an index for the detrital food web. Significantly greater (P � 0.05) richness of plant species and significantly higher percent relative cover of herbs, sedges, lichen, moss, and fallen litter was found on non-invasive plots compared to plots with invasive species. Plots where herbicides had been applied, and which still possessed leafy spurge, showed a significantly higher percentage of bare ground. Mycorrhizal inoculum potential did not differ between plots. Overall soil arthropod densities and densities of specific suborders of Acari were significantly lower (P � 0.05) in invasive species plots. There was no significant difference in decomposition rates between non-invasive and invasive plots, but there were site differences in losses of lignin, phosphorus, and trace elements from litter placed on invasive and non-invasive plots. When differences were observed, loss rates were always less in invasive plots. Our results indicate that the establishment of leafy spurge and Canada thistle and the subsequent management practices to control them has altered the plant community structure by facilitating the establishment of other exotic species, which has resulted in a change in the composition and functioning of the belowground community. # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Wood Anatomy of Aextoxicaceae and Berberidopsidaceae Is Compatible with Their Inclusion in Berberidopsidales

In recent DNA-based cladograms of dicotyledons, Aextoxicaceae (one sp., Chile) and Berberidopsidaceae (three spp., Chile and Australia) form an isolated clade, Berberidopsidales, basal to rosids and asterids. Until recently, Aextoxicaceae had been placed in Euphorbiales, Berberidopsidaceae in Violales. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies of wood of the two families show numerous shared primitive features: perforation plates with numerous bars and extensive pit-membrane remnants, lateral wall pitting of vessels scalariform to transitional, tracheids present; long vessel elements and tracheids, low F/V ratio; diffuse axial parenchyma; and Heterogeneous Type I rays. Features reported for the first time include crystals with various degrees of encapsulation in ray cells (Aextoxicon), pit membrane remnants in perforations (Berberidopsis, previously reported in Aextoxicon), and presence of narrow latewood vessels the perforation plates of which can bear pit membranes (Berberidopsis). Probable synapomorphies of the two families include marked difference between multiseriate parts (cells procumbent only) and uniseriate parts (cells square to upright), and presence of dark-staining deposits in axial parenchyma and rays. Cladistics does not use symplesiomorphies, which are numerous between the two families, to group closely-related families at clade tips. Ecological and habital adaptations of woods of the two families are briefly considered.
Kissing brides and loving hot vampires: children’s construction and perpetuation of heteronormativity in elementary school classrooms

This paper explores notions of (hetero)sexuality circulating in elementary school classrooms through an analysis of students’ own talk and interactions. Data collected during a multi-site ethnography in a diverse set of elementary schools demonstrate that while curricular silences and teachers contribute to heteronormative classroom environments, children also take up and perpetuate heteronormative ideals in their own interactions both through explicitly anti-gay talk and by silencing of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ)-inclusive perspectives, thereby maintaining the heteronormativity of schools. Findings show (hetero)sexuality to be a constitutive part of classroom life, present even in the formal teaching/instructional time of elementary schools and even in the talk/activities of children themselves. Uninterrupted, these discourses intersect with the official curriculum and reify schools as places in which LGBTQ people/perspectives are not welcome or valued, creating social and acad...
Evidence on the Usefulness of Alternative Depreciation Measures

This study provides evidence on the potential usefulness of depreciation accounting to investors. We first document the extent to which depreciation numbers reported in accordance with current accounting standards improve accounting earnings as a source of information for valuing firms' ownership claims. We then investigate the relative usefulness of two alternative depreciation measures that are representative of those proposed by critics of conventional financial accounting practice. The first of these, which we refer to as "price-adjusted depreciation," restates reported depreciation for past price changes. The second, current period capital expenditures for plant and equipment, is implicitly viewed as a substitute for reported depreciation by those who advocate "free cash flow" rather than accounting earnings as a statistic for valuation. For each of these depreciation measures, we estimate cross- sectional regressions relating equity values to depreciation and components of reported earnings other than depreciation. We assess the relative contributions of the three measures to the usefulness of earnings for valuation by making comparisons of explanatory power across these regressions. We draw several conclusions from these comparisons. First, including reported depreciation numbers in the computation of accounting earnings substantially enhances the usefulness of earnings as an indicator of firm values. Second, substituting price-adjusted depreciation for reported depreciation improves the usefulness of earnings for valuation at best only modestly. Finally, substituting current capital expenditures for reported depreciation substantially reduces the usefulness of accounting earnings as an indicator of values.
Chemically activatable viral capsid functionalized for cancer targeting

Aim: To design a theranostic capsule using the virus-like nanoparticle of the hepatitis E virus modified to display breast cancer cell targeting functional group (LXY30). Methods: Five surface-exposed residues were mutated to cysteine to allow conjugation to maleimide-linked chemical groups via thiol-selective linkages. Engineered virus-like nanoparticles were then covalently conjugated to a breast cancer recognized ligand, LXY30 and an amine-coupled near-infrared fluorescence dye. Results: LXY30-HEV VLP was checked for its binding and entry to a breast cancer cell line and for tumor targeting in vivo to breast cancer tissue in mice. The engineered virus-like nanoparticle not only targeted cancer cells, but also appeared immune silent to native hepatitis E virus antibodies due to epitope disruption at the antibody-binding site. Conclusion: These results demonstrate the production of a theranostic capsule suitable for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics based on surface modification of a highly stable viru...
Isoelectric Focusing of Hemoglobins on Thin-layer Agarose

Isoelectric focusing on thin layers of agarose was used to separate several human hemoglobin variants in narrow pH range (pH 6-9). Problems with gel flooding and distortions due to electroendosmotic flow were solved by altering the casting and processing of the gel, by modifying the focusing apparatus, and by utilizing commercial agarose that had been chemically modified to reduce electroendomosis. Hemoglobins C, O-ARAB, A2, and E were distinguished from one another, as were hemoglobins S, D-LOS ANGELES, G-PHILADELPHIA, F. A, I, and J. The technic is rapid, simple, and relatively inexpensive. The agarose is nontoxic, has excellent gelling properties, and possesses large pores, yet gives resolution equivalent or superior to that obtained on thin layers of polyacrylamide gel, making it preferable to polyacrylamide for thin-layer isoelectric focusing.
Dissociation of conditioned emotional and avoidance responses due to ECS

Eight daily passive avoidance trials were given to two groups of rats punished either with footshock or electroconvulsive shock. The rats were compared in the learning of conditioned emotional responses and avoidance learning. The results indicated a greater conditioning of emotionality under ECS than footshock. ECS, however, seemed to produce a dissociation between emotionality and avoidance since rats avoided ECS only slightly in comparison to footshock. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical relevance.
Assessing Effectiveness of Supply Chain Collaboration: An Empirical Study

Even though collaboration has obtained increasing popularity in the supply chain (SC) arena, its effectiveness has not been measured empirically at a national level. In this paper, we refine, validate, and then employ an instrument that measures (1) the extent of information sharing, joint planning, goal congruence, personal interaction, and trust between SC partners and (2) manager perception of the effectiveness of this collaborative relationship. These factors along with several firm- specific variables that the literature has suggested (i.e., number of employees, annual sales revenue, percent of partners involved in collaboration, years in collaboration, and length of current agreement) are used to explain the effectiveness of SC collaboration using regression analysis.
HIV infection status and related risk factors in men who have sex with men in Jinan,Shandong

Objective To understand the HIV infection status and related risk factors in men who have sex with men(MSM) in Jinan,Shandong province and provide evidence for the HIV/AIDS prevention and control in MSM.Methods Questionnaire survey and HIV and syphilis antibodies tests were conducted among 300 MSM visiting the clinic of voluntary counsel and test for HIV in Jinan CDC from November 2012 to. March 2013. The data were entered with EpiData software and the logistic regression analysis was conducted with SPSS17. 0 software. Results Thirty one HIV positive MSM were detected(10. 33%). Multivariate analysis indicated that the HIV infection risk factors included the first sex at age 20years and inconsistent condom use in sex with men during the past 6 months. Conclusion HIV infection in MSM increased in recent years and homosexual contact has become the most common HIV transmission route in Jinan. It is important for the AIDS prevention and control to persuade MSM to reduce sex partners and use condom in each sex.
Understanding the biosimilar approval and extrapolation process—A case study of an epoetin biosimilar

The World Health Organization defines a biosimilar as "a biotherapeutic product which is similar in terms of quality, safety and efficacy to an already licensed reference biotherapeutic product." Biosimilars are biologic medical products that are very distinct from small-molecule generics, as their active substance is a biological agent derived from a living organism. Approval processes are highly regulated, with guidance issued by the European Medicines Agency and US Food and Drug Administration. Approval requires a comparability exercise consisting of extensive analytical and preclinical in vitro and in vivo studies, and confirmatory clinical studies. Extrapolation of biosimilars from their original indication to another is a feasible but highly stringent process reliant on rigorous scientific justification. This review focuses on the processes involved in gaining biosimilar approval and extrapolation and details the comparability exercise undertaken in the European Union between originator erythropoietin-stimulating agent, Eprex(®), and biosimilar, Retacrit™.
Feasibility of an iPad application for studying menopause-related symptom clusters and women's heuristics.

Purpose: To evaluate feasibility, including usability and utility, of the Computerized Symptom Capture Tool for Menopause (C-SCAT-M), a symptom heuristics application (app) for the iPad, with midlife women.Methods: Thirty midlife women aged 40–60 and experiencing symptoms they associated with menopause were recruited through flyers posted on a university campus, primary care and women’s health clinics. The C-SCAT-M guided participants to identify symptoms they experienced, draw temporal and causal relationships between symptoms and identify symptom clusters. Women were encouraged to think aloud as they encountered questions or problems and their comments were audio recorded. After completing the C-SCAT-M, they completed a 22-item acceptability survey and a demographic survey. Data were downloaded from catalyst website and analyzed using SPSS.Results: Women completed the C-SCAT-M with minimal difficulty, with most indicating that using the app was very/extremely easy and most (57%) preferred using the iPad...
Intersectoral Experiences: Nonprofit Managers and Sector Influences in Child Welfare Agencies

ABSTRACTTheory supports the notion that the societal sectors are blurring and blending and therefore questions the usefulness of employing the sectors as a theoretical construct. This paper grapples with this critique of the sectors as theoretically beneficial by using nonprofit, child-welfare administrators’ perspectives on how normative institutions and values espoused by and through government, for-profit, and nonprofit organizations inform decision-making priorities. Through examining data from approximately 147 managers, this paper will show how administrators identify with and may be compelled to conform to pressures that result from their relation to government, for-profit, and other nonprofit organizations.
Interferon-gamma primes neutrophil-mediated gastric surface cell cytotoxicity

The T lymphocyte product interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) upregulates or primes polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) oxidative responses to the receptor-initiated stimulant N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) but not to the transduction-mediated stimulant phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). We sought a functional correlation between IFN-gamma-induced oxidative priming of PMNs and PMN-mediated cytotoxicity, using an in vitro assay of 51Cr release from rabbit gastric surface cells. Compared with control PMNs, IFN-gamma-primed PMNs exhibited a significant increase in cytotoxicity when stimulated with FMLP, but not when stimulated with PMA. IFN-gamma-induced, FMLP-stimulated, PMN-mediated cytotoxicity was reduced by adding superoxide dismutase to scavenge superoxide anion or by adding catalase or glutathione peroxidase to scavenge hydrogen peroxide. Cytotoxicity was also reduced by inhibiting myeloperoxidase activity with azide or scavenging HOCl with alanine or methionine. Cytotoxicity was blocked by a monoclonal antibody against the CD11/CD18 integrin of PMNs. The results indicate that the immunoregulatory lymphokine IFN-gamma primes the FMLP-stimulated cytotoxic activity of PMNs via the increased generation of reactive oxygen metabolites and indicate that cytotoxicity may require effector-target cell adherence. Therefore, T lymphocyte-derived IFN-gamma may have a role in the pathogenesis of PMN-mediated injury to gastric and gastrointestinal tract mucosa.
Measurement of nonthermal illumination-enhanced self-diffusion in silicon

There has long been suspicion that the strong lamp illumination required for annealing after ion implantation may non-thermally influence the diffusion of dopants . Identification of such effects is difficult in conventional RTA geometries because lamps provide both heating and photostimulation, and because the interpretation of conventional dopant diffusion experiments is impeded by complex dopant-defect interactions. We have circumvented these problems with a new experimental design in which heating and illumination can be decoupled. Data interpretation has been simplified by examining the motion of isotopically labelled /sup 30/Si tracer in an epitaxial /sup 28/Si matrix using SIMS depth profiling. Results show that for n-type Si, self-diffusion rates are increased non-thermally by more than an order of magnitude for modest illumination intensities of 0.7 W/cm/sup 2/. There is no comparable effect for p-type material, however.
Trends of Bilateral Salpingectomy During Vaginal Hysterectomy With and Without Laparoscopic Assistance Performed for Benign Indications in the United States.

Abstract Study Objective To estimate the recent temporal trends of concurrent bilateral salpingectomy (BS) during vaginal hysterectomy (total vaginal hysterectomy [TVH] and laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy [LAVH]) in the United States. Design A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample, including all female patients 18 years and older whose inpatient discharge record indicated a TVH or LAVH performed for benign indications between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2011. Joinpoint regression was used to identify statistically significant changes in overall and subgroup temporal trends of TVH and LAVH as well as concomitant BS during the 14-year study period (Canadian Task Force Classification II). Setting Not applicable. Patients All patients who underwent TVH and LAVH from 1998 to 2011 registered in the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample database. Interventions Not applicable. Measurements and Main Results Regarding TVH, between 1998 and 2001, there was a steep negative trend with an annual percentage change of −5.2 (95% confidence interval [CI], −8.8 to −2.2). From 2001 to 2011, the negative trend was still observed but with a more gradual 2% annual decrease (95% CI, −2.4 to −1.3). Conversely, the rate of LAVH increased at a rate of 4.4% each year (95% CI, 3.7–5.0). From 1998 to 2004, the national rate of BS during TVH increased sharply with an annual increase of 42.8% (95% CI, 22.7–66.3). Beginning in 2004, the BS rate during TVH decreased and remained stable. During LAVH, the rate of concomitant BS increased an estimated 15% each year during the entire study period (95% CI, 11.9–17.8). Conclusion The proportion of annual LAVH with concomitant BS procedures performed across the nation is on the rise while TVH is declining with a stable rate of concomitant BS.
The Jewish Chronopolis and “Temporal Identity” Politics

Social temporality is the time that difference makes. By means of it, diasporized ethnic communities experience the difference that time makes. The social temporalities of ethnic communities are diasporized because these immigrants establish themselves outside the confines of their homeland. A diasporic week thus is a temporal outpost of the homeland that is linked to it, directly through transnational relations, symbolically through the uniformity of religious practices undertaken on Sabbath day and during holy days, or both. In New York City, the Jewish weekly cycle is diasporic because it did not originate there, but came into being as a result of the immigration of the population into the United States. This temporal identity is not homogeneous because of the diverse background of the Jewish population (Israeli, European, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Latin American, and so on), because of ideological divisions within the population (secular Jews versus Orthodox, Reform or Conservative Jews), and because of the diversity within these categories. Nevertheless, in spite of or because of this diversity, Jewish identity in New York is a node in transglobal networks that connects that local expression to other diasporic sites and to Israel.
Models of Relationship Disengagement

This entry reviews known problems with models of relationship disengagement that were based on out-of-date methods and assumptions that reflected contemporary circumstances. They are no longer applicable to relationships in the modern world of social media, increasing gender equality, and changing views of morality. Nowadays, such classic works, therefore, prove unreliable and uninformative, yet are often cited in modern work. Cautioning researchers about the inherent risks of accepting such approaches as truly applicable in today's environment for relationships, the entry offers suggestions for entirely new styles of approach. Keywords: divorce; interpersonal communication; personal relationships; relationship disengagement
Persistent Inflammation, Immunosuppression and Catabolism Syndrome

Following advances in critical care, in-hospital multiple organ failure-related mortality is declining. Consequently, incidence of chronic critical illness is increasing. These patients linger in the intensive care unit, have high resource utilization, and poor long-term outcomes. Within this population, the authors propose that a substantial subset of patients have a new phenotype: persistent inflammation, immunosuppression, and catabolism syndrome. There is evidence that myelodysplasia with expansion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells, innate and adaptive immune suppression, and protein catabolism with malnutrition are major contributors. Optimal care of these patients will require novel multimodality interventions.
Analysis of Velázquez’s solution to the mean curvature flow with a type II singularity

Velazquez in 1994 used the degree theory to show that there is a perturbation of Simons’ cone, starting from which the mean curvature flow develops a type II singularity at the origin. He also show...
Orthogonal Synthetic Zippers as Protein Scaffolds

Protein scaffolds have proven useful for co-localization of enzymes, providing control over stoichiometry and leading to higher local enzyme concentrations, which have led to improved product formation. To broaden their usefulness, it is necessary to have a wide choice of building blocks to mix and match for scaffold generation. Ideally, the scaffold building blocks should function at any location within the scaffold and have high affinity interactions with their binding partners. We examined the utility of orthogonal synthetic coiled coils (zippers) as scaffold components. The orthogonal zippers are coiled coil domains that form heterodimers only with their specific partner and not with other zipper domains. Focusing on two orthogonal zipper pairs, we demonstrated that they are able to function on either end or in the middle of a multiblock assembly. Surface plasmon resonance was employed to assess the binding kinetics of zipper pairs placed at the start, middle, or end of a construct. Size-exclusion chr...
Interchangeability of counts of cases and hours of cases for quantifying a hospital's change in workload among four-week periods of 1 year

Abstract Study objective Recent studies have made longitudinal assessments of case counts using State (e.g., United States) and Provincial (e.g., Canada) databases. Such databases rarely include either operating room (OR) or anesthesia times and, even when duration data are available, there are major statistical limitations to their use. We evaluated how to forecast short-term changes in OR caseload and workload (hours) and how to decide whether changes are outliers (e.g., significant, abrupt decline in anesthetics). Design Observational cohort study. Setting Large teaching hospital. Measurements 35 years of annual anesthesia caseload data. Annual data were used without regard to where or when in the year each case was performed, thereby matching public use files. Changes in caseload or hours among four-week periods were examined within individual year-long periods using 159 consecutive four-week periods from the same hospital. Main results Series of 12 four-week periods of the hours of cases performed on workdays lacked trend or correlation among periods for 49 of 50 series and followed normal distributions for 50 of 50 series. These criteria also were satisfied for 50 of 50 series based on counts of cases. The Pearson r = 0.999 between hours of anesthetics and cases. Conclusions For purposes of time series analysis of total workload at a hospital within 1-year, hours of cases and counts of cases are interchangeable. Simple control chart methods of detecting sudden changes in workload or caseload, based simply on the sample mean and standard deviation from the preceding year, are appropriate.
The helper virus envelope glycoprotein affects the disease specificity of a recombinant murine leukemia virus carrying a v-myc oncogene.

Many retroviruses that carry oncogenes (acute transforming viruses) are generally replication-defective and therefore require co-infection with a replication competent 'helper' retrovirus for infectivity. The helper virus provides the retroviral proteins necessary for particle production and infection. These include the envelope glycoproteins that specifically bind to cell surface receptors and mediate viral adsorption and entry. Thus, a particular helper virus may influence the nature of disease induced by an oncogene-containing retrovirus due to tissue tropism of the helper. In a previous study, a replication-defective recombinant Moloney murine leukemia virus containing the v-myc oncogene was generated (M-MuLV(myc); Brightman B.K., Pattengale P.K., and Fan H., J Virol 60: 68-81, 1986). When M-MuLV(myc) was inoculated into mice using the non-pathogenic amphotropic murine leukemia virus (Am-MuLV 4070) as a helper, T- and B-lymphoblastic lymphomas resulted with the following two surface phenotypes, namely, (1) Thy 1.2+, B220- and (2) Thy 1.2-, B220+. Thy 1.2 surface antigen is characteristic of cells of the lymphoid lineage, whereas B220 surface antigen is characteristic of cells of the B-lymphoid lineage. In these experiments, to assess the influence of the helper virus on the disease specificity of M-MuLV(myc), two weakly pathogenic ecotropic helper MuLVs that interact with different cell surface receptors than Am-MuLV (Mo+PyF101 and AKV MuLV) were used to pseudotype M-MuLV(myc). In both cases, when inoculated into mice, these pseudotypes induced only T-lymphoblastic lymphoma. These results indicate that for M-MuLV(myc) the types of the tumors induced are influenced by the helper virus utilized, and they suggest that different lymphoid cells may express different levels of retroviral receptors.