cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Development Of Central Banking And The Financial Crises In Mexico

THE BANKING SYSTEM of Mexico was virtually destroyed by the Mexican Revolution ( 1910-18) and the Mexican money supply was reduced to the insufficient metal currency of the nation. The victorious leaders of the Revolution desired to create a governmentcontrolled central bank as the center of a new banking system. Lack of funds or credit compelled them to delay this action until 1925. The Bank of Mexico was established in 1925 and the government purchased a majority of the stock. The Bank functioned, for the first five years of its life, both as a central bank and as a commercial bank. Gradually, thereafter, it evolved into an effective central bank and gave up its commercial banking activities. The Bank of Mexico gradually increased its strength and its service to the nation largely as a result of its responses to a series of crises in the Mexican economy. Its first response to depression, in the 1930’s, was to restrict the expansion of silver money in order to maintain the exchange rate. At the same time the public began to accept Bank of Mexico notes in significant quantities. The Bank was then in a position to employ an expansionary policy based upon note issues. Such a policy was adopted in 1932 and contributed much to the growth of the Mexican economy, but it left the peso largely unsupported on the foreign exchange markets. In 1935 there was a rise in the price of silver. When this price exceeded seventy-two cents per ounce, Mexican silver coins were worth more as a commodity than as money. Mexico demonetized silver and called it in with the hope of selling it. Bank of Mexico notes became the only legal tender money in Mexico and the position of the Bank was greatly strengthened. With the passage of the law of 1936 the Bank of Mexico became an effective central bank with the power and authority to influence the economy significantly. In the late 1930’s the Mexican government was engaged in a program of development and reform. Land was redistributed to the villages, foreign-held oil properties were expropriated, and the rail-
Empirical and Clinical Methods in the Assessment of Personality and Psychopathology: An Integrative Approach for Training.

School psychologists have a critical role in identifying social-emotional problems and psychopathology in youth based on a set of personality-assessment competencies. The development of competencies in assessing personality and psychopathology is complex, requiring a variety of integrated methods and approaches. Given the limited extent and scope of formal preparation in personality assessment in school psychology training programs, it is important to develop models using multiple methods of assessment. It is proposed that an integrated paradigm associated with a combination of empirical and clinical methods serve as a framework for the development of school psychology practice competencies in personality assessment. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 513–526, 2006.
HDAC1 activates FoxO and is both sufficient and required for skeletal muscle atrophy

The Forkhead box O (FoxO) transcription factors are activated, and necessary for the muscle atrophy, in several pathophysiological conditions, including muscle disuse and cancer cachexia. However, the mechanisms that lead to FoxO activation are not well defined. Recent data from our laboratory and others indicate that the activity of FoxO is repressed under basal conditions via reversible lysine acetylation, which becomes compromised during catabolic conditions. Therefore, we aimed to determine how histone deacetylase (HDAC) proteins contribute to activation of FoxO and induction of the muscle atrophy program. Through the use of various pharmacological inhibitors to block HDAC activity, we demonstrate that class I HDACs are key regulators of FoxO and the muscle-atrophy program during both nutrient deprivation and skeletal muscle disuse. Furthermore, we demonstrate, through the use of wild-type and dominant-negative HDAC1 expression plasmids, that HDAC1 is sufficient to activate FoxO and induce muscle fiber atrophy in vivo and is necessary for the atrophy of muscle fibers that is associated with muscle disuse. The ability of HDAC1 to cause muscle atrophy required its deacetylase activity and was linked to the induction of several atrophy genes by HDAC1, including atrogin-1, which required deacetylation of FoxO3a. Moreover, pharmacological inhibition of class I HDACs during muscle disuse, using MS-275, significantly attenuated both disuse muscle fiber atrophy and contractile dysfunction. Together, these data solidify the importance of class I HDACs in the muscle atrophy program and indicate that class I HDAC inhibitors are feasible countermeasures to impede muscle atrophy and weakness.
American and Anglo perspectives

Abstract In this chapter, the author starts by describing recent reform initiatives in England and the United States. The changes in educational structure in those two countries are compared with secular changes in general. Some possible implications for developing countries are also considered.
Analysis of a simple successive interference cancellation scheme in a DS/CDMA system

Compensating for near/far effects is critical for satisfactory performance of DS/CDMA systems. So far, practical systems have used power control to overcome fading and near/far effects. Another approach, which has a fundamental potential in not only eliminating near/far effects but also in substantially raising the capacity, is multiuser detection and interference cancellation. Various optimal and suboptimal schemes have been investigated. Most of these schemes, however, get too complex even for relatively simple systems and rely on good channel estimates. For interference cancellation, estimation of channel parameters (viz. received amplitude and phase) is important. We analyze a simple successive interference cancellation scheme for coherent BPSK modulation, where the parameter estimation is done using the output of a linear correlator. We then extend the analysis for a noncoherent modulation scheme, namely M-ary orthogonal modulation. For the noncoherent case, the needed information on both the amplitude and phase is obtained from the correlator output. The performance of the IC scheme along with multipath diversity combining is studied. >
Optimal force control of a vibro-impact system for autonomous drilling applications

The optimal force control solution for second-order vibro-impact systems with and without friction nonlinearity is introduced and explicitly solved herein. In particular, a finite-step algorithm is developed which generates open-loop force control laws which are designed to minimize the expended control energy per impact cycle, while ensuring that each impact occurs with sufficient impact velocity. When electromagnetic motors are employed to realize the control forces, the performance of the percussive unit becomes heat-limited. The article demonstrates that the controls needed to drive the hammering mechanism with a minimal amount of dissipated energy is a solution that can be derived in closed form. A closed-loop control architecture based on this result is introduced.
Gestational ethanol consumption on tissue amino acid levels: decreased free histidine and tryptophan in fetal tissues with concomitant increase in urinary histamine excretion.

The effects of ethanol consumption during pregnancy on maternal, placental, and fetal tissue amino acid levels and metabolism were investigated. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were given 35% ethanol-calorie liquid diet, ad libitum, from gestation day 7 to 21. Control rats were pair-fed with isocaloric sucrose substituted for ethanol. Ethanol consumption decreased fetal body weight and increased placental weight. Twenty-four amino acids were determined in six tissues (maternal plasma and liver, placenta, fetal plasma, liver, and brain) by HPLC with orthophthalaldehyde derivatization. The effects of ethanol on free amino acid levels differed from tissue to tissue. In general, ethanol affected more amino acids in maternal plasma, fetal plasma, and liver. Maternal liver, placenta, and fetal brain amino acids were more resistant to ethanol effect. Two essential amino acids, histidine and tryptophan, were consistently decreased in fetal tissues by maternal ethanol consumption. The values (ethanol vs. control, nmole/ml or g, mean ± SEM, N= 20) of fetal Plasma, liver, and brain for histidine were 51.8 ± 6.0 vs. 85.3 ± 4.5 (p= 0.001), 269.0 ± 26.4 vs. 503.7 ± 47.3 (p= 0.0004), and 117.9 ± 7.7 vs. 154.6 ± 8.7 (p= 0.0055), respectively; and for tryptophan were 105.7 ± 3.1 vs. 132.2 ± 4.1 (p= 0.0001), 128.8 ± 3.7 vs. 144.3 ± 6.0 (p= 0.0407), and 83.4 ± 7.2 vs. 103.6 ± 3.2 (p= 0.0198), respectively. Histidine was also decreased in placenta by ethanol (138.1 ± 6.6 vs. 189.1 ± 11.8 nmole/g, p= 0.0014). By contrast, the concentrations of histidine and tryptophan in maternal plasma and liver were either unaffected or increased by ethanol. Histidine and tryptophan are the precursors of neurotransmitters, histamine and serotonin, respectively, and since FAS has a high incidence of CNS dysfunction, it is suggested that reduced levels of histidine and tryptophan in fetal brain from ethanol group may have significant implication. Placenta transport study with 14C-histidine observed no inhibitory effect of ethanol. Histamine excretion was increased in the urine from the ethanol-treated rats as compared with the controls. On gestation day 20, the increase was 173% (mean ± SEM, 674 ± 52 vs. 247 ± 32 μg/24 hr urine, N= 20, p < 0.0001). Significant, negative correlations between urinary histamine and fetal and placental histidine were observed. Thus, the decreased histidine contents observed in fetal and placenta tissues from the ethanol-treated group could be the result of enhanced production of histamine depleting the histidine pool.
A Minimum Description Length-Based Image Segmentation Procedure, and its Comparison with a Cross-Validation-Based Segmentation Procedure

Abstract Image segmentation is a very important problem in image analysis, as quite often it is a key component of a good practical solution to a real-life imaging problem. It aims to partition a digital image into a set of nonoverlapping homogeneous regions. One approach to segmenting an image is to fit a piecewise constant function to the image and define the segmentation by the discontinuity points of the fitted function. The article's first contribution is to present a new and automatic segmentation procedure which follows this piecewise constant function fitting approach. This procedure is based on Rissanen's minimum description length (MDL) principle and consists of two components: (a) an MDL-based criterion in which the “best” segmentation (i.e., the “best” fitted piecewise constant function) is defined as its minimizer and (b) a fast-merging algorithm that attempts to locate this minimizer. As a second contribution, the new MDL-based procedure is compared with a cross-validation based segmentation...
Expression of Heat Shock Protein 70 After Heat Stress During Pupal Diapause in Rhagoletis mendax (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Expression of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) is widely regarded and used as an indicator of cellular stress. However, recent data suggest that insect diapause may inhibit the increased expression of Hsp70 typical of the heat stress response. Here, we evaluated Hsp70 expression after heat stress in relation to diapause, in blueberry maggot, Rhagoletis mendax Curran (Diptera: Tephritidae), pupae. First, the respiration rates of laboratory-reared pupae were measured to estimate the limits of diapause. Then, toward the beginning and completion of diapause, pupae in prediapause, diapause, and postdiapause were exposed to similar periods of heat stress consisting of 1 h at 25 (control), 36, 40, and 44°C. Pupae were immediately frozen, and Hsp70 expression was determined by SDS-PAGE, Western blot, and immunodetection using a monoclonal antibody specific for heat-inducible Hsp70. Hsp70 was present at normal temperature (25°C) in diapausing pupae both toward the beginning and completion of diapause. Expression of Hsp70 always increased after heat stress irrespective of the diapause status of the pupae. These data support previous findings suggesting the presence of Hsp70 throughout diapause and indicate that even during diapause Hsp70 expression is responsive to heat stress. These results support the use of Hsp70 expression to study differential adaptation to heat stress during pupal diapause.
Source‐Goal Asymmetries in Motion Representation: Implications for Language Production and Comprehension

Recent research has demonstrated an asymmetry between the origins and endpoints of motion events, with preferential attention given to endpoints rather than beginnings of motion in both language and memory. Two experiments explore this asymmetry further and test its implications for language production and comprehension. Experiment 1 shows that both adults and 4-year-old children detect fewer within-category changes in source than goal objects when tested for memory of motion events; furthermore, these groups produce fewer references to source than goal objects when describing the same motion events. Experiment 2 asks whether the specificity of encoding source/goal relations differs in both spatial memory and the comprehension of novel spatial vocabulary. Results show that endpoint configuration changes are detected more accurately than source configuration changes by both adults and young children. Furthermore, when interpreting novel motion verbs, both age groups expect more fine-grained lexical distinctions in the domain of endpoint configurations compared to that of source configurations. These studies demonstrate that a cognitive-attentional bias in spatial representation and memory affects both the detail of linguistic encoding during the use of spatial language and the specificity of hypotheses about spatial referents that learners build during the acquisition of the spatial lexicon.
COMPOSITIONAL BIAS, CHARACTER-STATE BIAS, AND CHARACTER-STATE RECONSTRUCTION USING PARSIMONY

Compositional bias, the occurrence of the four bases in unequal proportions, is a common feature of nucleotide sequences. We analyzed patterns of character-state reconstruction using maximum parsimony in two empirical data sets exhibiting compositional bias. For each case in which the inferred reciprocal numbers of changes for a pair of bases differed substantially, the two bases also differed markedly in relative abundance and the asymmetry of reconstructed transformations favored changes from the common state to the rare state. In addition, the compositional biases of the inferred ancestral sequences were more extreme than that seen in the terminal taxa, having an excess of common states relative to the terminals. Both of these features suggested that patterns of character-state reconstruction might be systematically dis? torted when compositional bias results in unequal representation of character states within a character, a condition we term character-state bias. Character-state bias is essentially composi? tional bias within a character. Simulation studies showed that highly asymmetric patterns of character-state reconstruction can be produced in the face of an underlying symmetry of char? acter-state transformations in the presence of compositional bias. Rates of change are also im? portant. The asymmetry of transformations produced in the simulations matched the pattern found in empirical data sets, with transformations from the common state to the rare state being more abundant. Rare states tend to be autapomorphic, typically requiring a change to the rare state on a tree. Conversely, changes from rare states to common states are systematically lost. These results are significant for methods that rely on character-state reconstruction using max? imum parsimony, for example, to develop weighting schemes for phylogenetic analysis or to study patterns of correlated character evolution. Techniques that rely on character-state recon? struction may often be compromised by the distorting influence of character-state bias. (Com? positional bias; character-state bias; character-state reconstruction; parsimony.)
New-Onset Bipolar Disorder in Late Life: A Case of Mistaken Identity

A 60-year-old, right-handed, previously successful and psychiatrically healthy businessman was brought by his family to a university hospital neuropsychiatry service for consultation regarding behavioral and personality changes. When he was age 55 years, his customarily excellent financial and social judgment began to decline. Over the next 4 years, his attention to personal hygiene deteriorated, his business decisions became financially and ethically unsound, his range of social interests narrowed dramatically, and he developed an insatiable “sweet tooth.” In the year preceding the consultation, his ability to maintain sleep diminished, he began spending money recklessly and impulsively and became unable to appreciate the feelings and concerns of others, and his speech and behavior took on a perseverative quality. Concurrently, he developed unprovoked, brief, frequent, and excessively intense episodes of tearfulness and laughing. These episodes lasted minutes at most, after which he would return to his usual euthymic emotional state. One month before the neuropsychiatric consultation, he had received a diagnosis of late-onset bipolar disorder and had begun treatment with lithium carbonate. When his serum lithium level reached the therapeutic range, his cognitive, behavioral, and motor function declined precipitously, prompting the consultation for a second diagnostic opinion. Is this patient’s presentation consistent with late-onset bipolar disorder? What assessments are needed to clarify his diagnosis?
Virginia Woolf: Twentieth Century Psychology and Modern Fiction:

The present study attempts to trace parallel developments between early twentieth century psychology and the evolution of modern fiction. I have chosen the work of Virginia Woolf to illustrate the ...
Long-Term Changes in Nutrient Loading and Stoichiometry and Their Relationships with Changes in the Food Web and Dominant Pelagic Fish Species in the San Francisco Estuary, California

Nutrient enrichment is an important stressor in coastal ecosystems. This analysis tests the hypothesis that changes in nutrient loads, imbalances in nitrogen:phosphorus, and changes in nitrogen form, especially shifts to increasing loads of chemically reduced, rather than oxidized nitrogen, can have major impacts on food webs, from primary producers through secondary producers to fish. The application of cumulative sums of variability, the running total of deviations from normalized values over time, is a sensitive method for comparing rates of change between and among all parameters, including organisms of all trophic levels. This approach was applied to the San Francisco Estuary, California, demonstrating that abrupt changes in nutrient loads and nutrient form over the past several decades were correlated with food web changes, including pelagic fish collapse. Remediation of pelagic fish populations should be centered on reduction of nitrogen loads and reestablishment of balanced nutrient ratios deliver...
Combating Concentrated Poverty in Urban Neighborhoods

Appearing a few months after the 25th anniversary of the publication of The Truly Disadvantaged, this article critically reflects on some of the more important research on the nature of concentrate...
Improving efficiency and reliability of building systems using machine learning and automated online evaluation

A high percentage of newly-constructed commercial office buildings experience energy consumption that exceeds specifications and system failures after being put into use. This problem is even worse for older buildings. We present a new approach, ‘predictive building energy optimization’, which uses machine learning (ML) and automated online evaluation of historical and real-time building data to improve efficiency and reliability of building operations without requiring large amounts of additional capital investment. Our ML approach uses a predictive model to generate accurate energy demand forecasts and automated analyses that can guide optimization of building operations. In parallel, an automated online evaluation system monitors efficiency at multiple stages in the system workflow and provides building operators with continuous feedback. We implemented a prototype of this application in a large commercial building in Manhattan. Our predictive machine learning model applies Support Vector Regression (SVR) to the building's historical energy use and temperature and wet-bulb humidity data from the building's interior and exterior in order to model performance for each day. This predictive model closely approximates actual energy usage values, with some seasonal and occupant-specific variability, and the dependence of the data on day-of-the-week makes the model easily applicable to different types of buildings with minimal adjustment. In parallel, an automated online evaluator monitors the building's internal and external conditions, control actions and the results of those actions. Intelligent real-time data quality analysis components quickly detect anomalies and automatically transmit feedback to building management, who can then take necessary preventive or corrective actions. Our experiments show that this evaluator is responsive and effective in further ensuring reliable and energy-efficient operation of building systems.
Teaching Conceptually Referenced Core Vocabulary for Initial Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Individuals with significant intellectual disabilities who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) often fail to acquire large vocabularies. To maximize the functionality of a small vocabulary, AAC users' initial vocabulary typically consists of words that can be used frequently across contexts and functions (i.e., core vocabulary). For many AAC users, core vocabulary often references concepts rather than concrete items. For individuals with severe intellectual disabilities, however, initial AAC vocabulary often consists of concretely referenced words instead. There is little evidence that these individuals can learn to use conceptually referenced words in initial AAC. A variation of a single subject multiple baseline design across four stimuli was used to demonstrate that an individual with severe intellectual disabilities could learn to use conceptually referenced words as an initial AAC vocabulary. As a result of the intervention (a modified PECS procedure), a 9-year-old boy with multiple disabilities, including intellectual disability and deaf-blindness, learned to make appropriate use of three conceptually referenced tactile symbols for the concepts of more, done, and new as an initial communication vocabulary.
BLACK VISIBILITY, CITY SIZE, AND SOCIAL CONTROL*

The research reported in this article tests the hypothesis that the relationship between the public fiscal commitment to policing and minority group size is not the same in small cities as it is in large cities. The results of a comparison of all cities in the United States that were greater than 50,000 in population in 1970 with those that were between 25,000–50,000 at that time indicates that the impact of the relative size of the black population on social control efforts differs in both strength and form in the two subpopulations. In large cities percent black has a significant impact on the level of resources devoted to policing, and a curvilinear impact on capital policing expenditures even after other determinants of policing expenditures have been controlled. In small cities the relationship is insignificant or weak. These results suggest that blacks are perceived as a greater threat to the social order in large cities than they are in small cities. It is possible that the anonymity and lower level of informal social control characteristic of large cities increases both fear of crime and the degree of threat represented by the minority group. The higher level of social cohesion and informal surveillance characteristic of smaller cities could be inhibiting the extent to which blacks are perceived as a threat to the existing order, and thereby preventing the iink between percent black and formal social control efforts that is found in large cities.
Intra‐ and inter‐plant variation in xylem cavitation in Betula occidentalis

A modified version of a method that uses positive air pressures to determine the complete cavitation response of a single axis is presented. Application of the method to Betula occidentalis Hook, gave a cavitation response indistinguishable from that obtained by dehydration, thus verifying the technique and providing additional evidence that cavitation under tension occurs by air entry through interconduit pits. Incidentally, this also verified pressure-bomb estimates of xylem tension and confirmed the existence of large (i.e. >0·4 MPa) tensions in xylem, which have been questioned in recent pressure-probe studies. The air injection method was used to investigate variation within and amongst individuals of B. occidentalis. Within an individual, the average cavitation tension increased from 0·66±0·27 MPa in roots (3·9 to 10·7 mm diameter), to 1·17±0·10 MPa in trunks (12 to 16 mm diameter), to 1·36±0·04 MPa in twigs (3·9 to 5 mm diameter). Cavitation tension was negatively correlated with the hydraulically weighted mean of the vessel diameter, and was negatively correlated with the conductance of the xylem per xylem area. Native cavitation was within the range predicted from the measured cavitation response and in situ maximum xylem tensions: roots were significantly cavitated compared with minimal cavitation in trunks and twigs. Leaf turgor pressure declined to zero at the xylem tensions predicted to initiate cavitation in petiole xylem (1·5 MPa). Amongst individuals within B. occidentalis, average cavitation tension in the main axis varied from 0·90 to 1·90 MPa and showed no correlation with vessel diameter. The main axes of juveniles (2–3 years old) had significantly narrower vessel diameters than those of adults, but there was no difference in the average cavitation tension. However, juvenile xylem retained hydraulic conductance to a much higher xylem tension (3·25 MPa) than did adult xylem (2·25 MPa), which could facilitate drought survival during establishment.
Constrained iterative speech enhancement with application to speech recognition

The basis of an improved form of iterative speech enhancement for single-channel inputs is sequential maximum a posteriori estimation of the speech waveform and its all-pole parameters, followed by imposition of constraints upon the sequence of speech spectra. The approaches impose intraframe and interframe constraints on the input speech signal. Properties of the line spectral pair representation of speech allow for an efficient and direct procedure for application of many of the constraint requirements. Substantial improvement over the unconstrained method is observed in a variety of domains. Informed listener quality evaluation tests and objective speech quality measures demonstrate the technique's effectiveness for additive white Gaussian noise. A consistent terminating point of the iterative technique is shown. The current systems result in substantially improved speech quality and linear predictive coding (LPC) parameter estimation with only a minor increase in computational requirements. The algorithms are evaluated with respect to improving automatic recognition of speech in the presence of additive noise and shown to outperform other enhancement methods in this application. >
Elliptical head tracking using intensity gradients and color histograms

An algorithm for tracking a person's head is presented. The head's projection onto the image plane is modeled as an ellipse whose position and size are continually updated by a local search combining the output of a module concentrating on the intensity gradient around the ellipse's perimeter with that of another module focusing on the color histogram of the ellipse's interior. Since these two modules have roughly orthogonal failure modes, they serve to complement one another. The result is a robust, real-time system that is able to track a person's head with enough accuracy to automatically control the camera's pan, tilt, and zoom in order to keep the person centered in the field of view at a desired size. Extensive experimentation shows the algorithm's robustness with respect to full 360-degree out-of-plane rotation, up to 90-degree tilting, severe but brief occlusion, arbitrary camera movement, and multiple moving people in the background.
Degradation of nucleic acid in aqueous solution by ionizing radiation. I. Loss of ultra-violet absorption of solutions of thymine or thymine derivatives on X-irradiation.

SummaryIrradiation of solutions of thymidine or ammonium thymidylate with 250 kV X-rays at neutral pH results in more rapid loss of ultra-violet absorption under inert atmosphere than in air. The opposite behaviour with respect to the presence of oxygen is manifested by thymine solution. The effect of oxygen during irradiation on the ultra-violet absorption of solutions of poly d-T is more like its effect on thymidine or thymidylate solutions than on solutions of thymine.
Uncoupling of initiation and reinitiation rates during HeLa RNA polymerase II transcription in vitro

RNA polymerase II transcription is influenced both by how rapidly a gene is induced and by the rate at which continuous reinitiation occurs after induction. We show here that in vitro the rates of these two critical steps need not be the same. For activator GAL-AH-dependent HeLa transcription, the rate of assembling a preinitiation complex is significantly slower than the rate of reinitiation. Although reinitiation is rapid, it still requires ATP hydrolysis. This unexpected uncoupling of the rates of initiation and reinitiation implies that in regulating mammalian promoter activity, one must consider separately the controls on initiation during induction and the controls on the subsequent reinitiation events.
Abstract WMP65: The Quality of Pre-hospital Acute Stroke Care: Data from a Pilot Surveillance System

Background: Evaluation of prehospital stroke care quality has been limited by the inability to link EMS and hospital data. The Prehospital Acute Stroke Surveillance System (PASSS) is designed to assess prehospital stroke care in Kent Country, Michigan through linkage of EMS and hospital data for patients transported with suspected or confirmed stroke. Methodology: EMS transported patients were eligible for inclusion if stroke was suspected by EMS dispatchers or providers prehospital or confirmed after hospital admission. Electronic records containing data elements derived from the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) were obtained from all three EMS agencies in the county and manually linked to in-hospital data from 2 stroke center hospitals. Outcome measures included the accuracy of prehospital stroke recognition by EMS dispatchers and providers and the proportion of runs with documentation of symptom onset time, scene time ≤ 10 minutes, pre-hospital stroke screen, blood glucose, and hospital pre-notification. Results: In the first three months, 167 EMS transported patients were entered into PASSS; 58 (35%) were confirmed as stroke cases after admission. Emergency dispatchers missed 36% (n=21) of confirmed strokes and EMS providers missed 22% (n=13). The false positive rate for stroke identification was 69% (82/119) among dispatchers and 54% (53/98) among EMS providers. Among 98 cases identified by EMS as suspected stroke, documentation rates were 82% for symptom onset time, 86% for prehospital stroke screen, 87% for blood glucose, 10% for scene time ≤10 minutes, and 61% for hospital prenotification. Among 26 patients with a positive prehospital stroke screen and onset of symptoms Conclusions: The PASSS illustrates that substantial opportunities for improvement in EMS prehospital stroke care exist, including stroke recognition and compliance with quality measures. The high rate of false-positive prehospital stroke identification has important implications for the development of regional stroke systems.
Dolasetron versus ondansetron as single-agent prophylaxis for patients at increased risk for postoperative nausea and vomiting: a prospective, double-blind, randomized trial.

ABSTRACT This study identified 100 ambulatory surgery patients receiving general anesthesia who were at increased risk for postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and randomly assigned them to receive single-agent prophylaxis (12.5 mg of dolasetron or 4 mg of ondansetron) 15 to 30 minutes before the end of surgery. Data were collected in the postanesthesia care unit, and patients completed a questionnaire 24 hours after surgery. No statistically significant difference existed between study groups in demographic features, history of PONV, history of motion sickness, or type and duration of surgery and anesthesia. No statistically significant difference existed in satisfaction with the medication used for PONV prophylaxis (dolasetron, 70.9 of 100 mm; ondansetron, 67.9 of 100 mm; p = 0.69). No statistically significant difference existed in satisfaction with the overall surgical experience (dolasetron, 87.9 of 100 mm; ondansetron, 85.3 of 100 mm; p = 0.36). Cost-minimization strategies should be considered ...
Articles : “Evading Suspicion and Shirking Responsibility”: The Politics of Official Discord in Qing Taiwan, 1725-1726

This article examines the political and social networks that bound officials in the Qing bureaucracy and their role in concealing abuses and bribery, as well as the Yongzheng Emperor`s attempts to inculcate proper political behavior and bureaucratic accountability. The essay begins with a brief discussion of the state of affairs in Fujian and Taiwan under officials appointed by the Kangxi Emperor. It then turns to the Yongzheng Emperor`s efforts to revitalize what he perceived to be a moribund bureaucracy in the region through the pursuit of a case of corruption. The trial that resulted from a censor`s accusation revealed a complex web of patronage, manipulation, malfeasance, and mutual recrimination among officials and provides us a glimpse into the workings of Qing field administration under pressure from a reformist emperor. The corruption case in Taiwan was important to the emperor not on its own merits, but as an object lesson in proper political behavior and bureaucratic accountability.
Some Consideration About Fluid Substitution Without Shear Wave Velocity

Summary When S-wave velocity is absent, approximate Gassmann equation using P-wave modulus is recommended by Mavko (1995) to calculate the fluid saturation effects. Using both lab data and log data, our study shows that the approximate Gassmann equation might introduce significant error in fluid saturation effect prediction except for unconsolidated rocks. Using S-wave velocity estimated by existing techniques, with same input parameters, the exact Gassmann equation should provide more reliable estimation of fluid saturation effect than that predicted by approximate Gassmann equation.
Algorithms in the diagnosis and management of exotic diseases. XVII. Amebiasis.

primnary habitat of E. histolytica is the gastrointestinal tract, where in the majority of cases the protozoa appear to be largely confined to the lumen. Under as yet unknown circumstances, which may involve either host or parasite factors, E. histolytica invades the intestinal mucosa, often leading to diarrhea or dysentery. From the intestines the organisms may also pass to other organs, particularly the liver, where they can initiate abscess formation.
Analysis and Improvement of Firing Control System in 300 MW Unit

Combined with the commissioning of new units in Jiangsu Taicanggang Environmental Protection Power Co. Ltd.,the dynamic characteristics of the controlled target in the process of 300 MW unit firing and current basic theme of unit load control are introduced,mainly boiler following generator method and boiler following generator coordination method . Focusing on shortage of quantity of reserved heat in boilers when the condition of grid load changed rapidly,resulting in the problem concerning regular operation due to great pressure fluctuation,the improvement of feedforward of combustion regulator is introduced. Its improvement effect is proven to be practical,and the units can use AGC method. Meanwhile,the control of air flow,furnace negative pressure and primary air flow are introduced.
A behavioral economic perspective on smoking persistence in serious mental illness.

Abstract Serious mental illness (SMI) is associated with disproportionately high rates of cigarette smoking. The identification of factors that contribute to persistent smoking in people with SMI may lead to the development and adoption of tobacco control policies and treatment approaches that help these smokers quit. This commentary examines factors underlying smoking persistence in people with SMI from the perspective of behavioral economics, a discipline that applies economic principles to understanding drug abuse and dependence. Studies, conducted in the Northeastern US within the past 30 years, that compare the reinforcing effects of nicotine and the costs of smoking in smokers with and without schizophrenia and depression are discussed, and interventions that may reduce the reinforcing efficacy of nicotine and increase the costs of smoking in people with SMI are described.
The Association of D-Group Chromosomal Translocations and Defective Spermatogenesis *

D-group chromosome translocations have been associated in isolated cases with infertility in males. In this study, we demonstrated the effect of a translocated D-group chromosome on spermatogenesis as it had segregated among three male members of one family. Although the father, who carried the translocation, was obviously fertile, the effects of the translocations on his sperm were noted in the morphologic examination. This study demonstrates the need for more careful evaluation of patients with chromosomal abnormalities for effects on spermatogenesis. Furthermore, it shows the possibility of autosomal chromosomal influences on testicular function.
Health and Health Care in BRIC Nations

The largest cities in the wealthy nations all face an unprecedented challenge: how to meet the needs of a population that lives longer, has a declining birth rate, is generally healthier, but also increasingly beset by the rise of chronic illness. The World Cities Project (WCP) has produced two books and numerous articles based on comparisons among, and within five of the world's most dynamic cities: New York, Paris, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. These cities are centres of economic growth and finance, culture and media, sophisticated transportation systems and innovations of all kinds. They are renowned for their centres of excellence in medical care, top-ranking medical schools, institutes of bio-medical research, and public health infrastructure. Likewise, they attract some of the wealthiest, as well as the poorest populations of their nations, which forces their health care systems to confront the challenge of confronting glaring inequalities and redesigning their health care systems.
Physician spending and risk of malpractice claims: defensive medicine may not be as common as we think

Jena and colleagues start with the premise that defensive medicine is common.1 It is clear, however, that the physician surveys they cite cannot be taken at face value.2 3 Defensive practice may be just one reason that physicians practice “resource intensive medicine.” …
Optical Logic for Computers

The year 1960 marked the advent of the integrated circuit and solidification of the conviction that silicon microelectronics contained enormous potential. Transistors rapidly became the dominant device in the logic circuitry of computers. Large research and development efforts devoted to miniaturization and increasing integration of transistors were launched and met with great success, making a procession of ever larger and faster machines available. Within a decade, silicon transistors had evolved to dominate memory technology and extended computing to a new regime of cost and availability in the form of the microprocessor chip.
Thallium Oscillator Strengths and 6 d D 3 2 2 State hfs

The lifetime of the $7^{2}S_{\frac{1}{2}}$ state of thallium has been measured by the optical-double-resonance technique, with the result $\ensuremath{\tau}=7.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}9}$ sec, and by the level-crossing technique, with the result $\ensuremath{\tau}=7.6\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}9}$ sec. The intensity ratio of the $7^{2}S_{\frac{1}{2}}\ensuremath{-}6^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}$ and $7^{2}S_{\frac{1}{2}}\ensuremath{-}6^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2}}$ lines radiated by an optically pumped thallium beam was measured to establish the oscillator-strength ratio for these two transitions. The result is $\frac{{A}_{5350}}{{A}_{3776}}=1.16\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05$. The lifetime and hfs of the thallium $6^{2}D_{\frac{3}{2}}$ state were measured by the level-crossing technique. The results are $\ensuremath{\tau}=6.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}9}$ sec and $\frac{|a|}{h}=41\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{6}$ sec. (The ${\mathrm{Tl}}^{205}$ and ${\mathrm{Tl}}^{203}$ hfs were not resolved in the experiment.) A table of thallium oscillator strengths has been constructed from our results and from some of the oscillator-strength ratios reported in the literature. The values in the table are compared to those in the remainder of the literature in order to collect and comment on equivalent values from other experiments. The oscillator-strength values in the table are also compared to the predictions of Bates and Damgaard's and Vainshtein's approximation methods. It was found that when ${{n}_{p}}^{*}l2$, the $s\ensuremath{-}p$ transition probabilities calculated by extrapolating the tables of Bates and Damgaard are quite different from the values directly calculated using their theory. The directly calculated Bates-Damgaard values are in much better agreement with the experimental results (the average difference is 17% for 20 thallium transition). Vainshtein's calculated $7^{2}S_{\frac{1}{2}}$ to $6^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2},\frac{3}{2}}$ oscillator strengths differ from our experimental values by an average of 15%. The measured $6^{2}D_{\frac{3}{2}}$ state hfs is in excellent agreement with the prediction of the Fermi-Segr\`e formula if $a$ is assumed positive. Nonetheless, configurational mixing is expected to influence this hfs, and the effect of $s{s}^{\ensuremath{'}}d$ and $s{p}^{2}$ configurational mixing has been calculated in terms of unknown mixing co-efficients. From estimates of the magnitudes of these coefficients, it would appear that the above agreement is coincidental, and the Tl $D$ state hfs should be quite sensitive to the amount of mixing.
Emission enhancement via local symmetry distortion in lanthanide-based upconverting nanoparticles

Lanthanide-based upconverters exhibit great potential for photovoltaic and bioimaging applications but have been traditionally plagued by prohibitively low quantum efficiencies. One reason largely responsible is the parity-forbidden nature of the electronic transitions which comprise upconversion. Ionic cosubstitution is used as a means to influence and distort the local symmetry environments of emitting ions without disturbing the global structure of the host lattice. Upconversion emission intensity is shown to increase more than 2× with a modest degree of cosubstitution. This enhancement is obtained without any changes to particle size or global structure.
Analysis of hierarchically related image segmentations

Describes an approach for producing high quality hierarchically related image segmentations and some first steps towards exploiting the information content of the segmentation hierarchy. Hierarchically related image segmentations are a set of image segmentations at different levels of detail in which the less detailed segmentations can be produced from specific merges of regions contained in the more detailed segmentations. After a general overview of other approaches to image segmentation, the Hierarchical Segmentation (HSEG) algorithm is presented, along with its recursive formulation (RHSEG). Finally, an approach is outlined for exploiting the information content from the segmentation hierarchy based on changes in region features from one hierarchical level to the next. Comparative results are presented with Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data.
The Size of Government, Capital Accumulation, and the Tax Base

A central tax policy concern is the role of particular tax bases in either stimulating or discouraging capital accumulation. While the consumption tax has been proposed as superior to the income tax in terms of its treatment of saving, the literature has shown that whether a consumption or income-based tax system is associated with greater capital accumulation is theoretically indeterminate. This article incorporates the role of public accumulation and changing government activities into its analysis of capital accumulation, which enables this ambiguity to be resolved. An examination of U.S. data for the 1929–1978 period suggests that had inflation adjustment of the income tax been adopted it would, contrary to the implication of several tax reform proposals, have resulted in greater accumulation than the implementation of a consumption tax.
PCOS: Animal models for PCOS - not the real thing

Although animal models have been used to understand the aetiologies of polycystic ovary syndrome, these models are possibly not the best tool to study the underlying causes of this syndrome, as the disorder is uniquely human and does not occur naturally in animals. A recent study illustrates this point.
The Articulation of the Principle of Free and Informed Consent in Human-Rights Documents

After World War II it became evident that scientific research needed international oversight in order to eliminate or at least to curtail abuses of human subjects. Here I will briefly examine several documents that seek to achieve this goal. The principle of informed consent occupies an essential position in each of them. Yet, given the rapid development of medical science as well as its close connection to law, politics, and demographics in diverse cultural and economical milieus, the position of informed consent may vary from one document to another. What is more, it might be argued that the principle itself, so clearly and sharply articulated in the Nuremberg Code, has been gradually devalued with the passing of time. Regardless of its articulation in human-rights documents and its strong legal status in the United States and in many countries of Western Europe, the principle has also been compromised even to the point of open violation in the post-World War II era.