cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of alcohol-based hand sanitizer on hands soiled with dirt and cooking oil

Handwashing education and promotion are well established as effective strategies to reduce diarrhea and respiratory illness in countries around the world. However, access to reliable water supplies has been identified as an important barrier to regular handwashing in low-income countries. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) is an effective hand hygiene method that does not require water, but its use is not currently recommended when hands are visibly soiled. This study evaluated the efficacy of ABHS on volunteers' hands artificially contaminated with Escherichia coli in the presence of dirt (soil from Tanzania) and cooking oil. ABHS reduced levels of E. coli by a mean of 2.33 log colony forming units (CFU) per clean hand, 2.32 log CFU per dirt-covered hand, and 2.13 log CFU per oil-coated hand. No significant difference in efficacy was detected between hands that were clean versus dirty or oily. ABHS may be an appropriate hand hygiene method for hands that are moderately soiled, and an attractive option for field settings in which access to water and soap is limited.
Research and Welfare Reform

Social science research had an important but limited effect on welfare reform, meaning recent enactments that imposed work requirements on family welfare. Policymakers sometimes ignored findings, but the features of research also limited its influence. Most academics did not accept the conservative goals of reform, many of their predictions proved to be incorrect, and research also lacked sufficient policy content to interest government. These features reflect the recent development of the social sciences. For research to have more influence, it must become more catholic about goals and more realistic, and it must offer more governmental content. Especially, inquiry should rely less on the statistical analysis of databases and more on field observation of how poor communities live and programs operate.
Psychological effects and management of perinatal loss

Serious short-term and long-term psychological sequelae may result from unresolved loss. It is now recognized that perinatal loss presents a situation where the early activation of the grief process may be prevented by the circumstances of the loss. Some theoretical aspects of the management of perinatal loss are considered together with a description of a program that has been set up to try and help to create some reality out of an unreal situation. The possible sequelae of unresolved loss are briefly reviewed.
Children’s Cultural Capital and Teachers’ Assessments of Effort and Ability: The Influence of School Sector

Bourdieu (1973) theorized that differences in social background correspond to differences in possession of cultural resources (cultural capital), as well as the orientation to those resources (habitus). Additionally, Bourdieu argued that struggles for power occur in different settings (fields). His essay reviews Bourdieu’s main ideas and describes how they may apply to the American educational system. In particular, two setting are considered; public elementary schools and Catholic elementary schools. Based in analyses using data form the Early Childhood, Longitudinal Study (ECLS), Catholic school kindergartners are more likely to participate in arts activities, and their parents are more likely to be involved in and comfortable with the school environment. Regression analysis show that arts lessons and attendance at arts events do not affect teachers’ perceptions of the effort or ability of students in either public or Catholic schools. Parents’ orientation toward school has more of an effect in public than in Catholic schools. In public schools, attending open houses and conferences, volunteering, and feeling unwelcome at school all affect teachers’ evaluations of students’ effort and ability, while only attendance at school events and conferences affect teachers’ perceptions in Catholic schools. These findings suggest that the traditional definition of cultural capital may not be appropriate for young American children, that parents’ orientation toward schooling should be included in future studies of educational stratification, and that more research is needed in the examination of public-Catholic school differences in cultural resources.
Nutritional Management of Liver Disease

The provision of adequate nutrition to the patient with liver disease is a challenge. The practitioner must avoid overwhelming the remaining metabolic capabilities of the damaged organ. The ability of the liver to regenerate and the patient to recover depends on the availability of sufficient nutrients. There is no default diet for the patient with liver disease. Each patient must be evaluated individually, with consideration given to the type and origin of the liver disease, the current extent of hepatic dysfunction, and the patient's previous dietary history. Efforts should be directed at the provision of an energy intake adequate to maintain body weight and a protein intake as close to normal as can be tolerated without precipitating signs of hepatic encephalopathy.
T1r3 taste receptor involvement in gustatory neural responses to ethanol and oral ethanol preference

Elevated alcohol consumption is associated with enhanced preference for sweet substances across species and may be mediated by oral alcohol-induced activation of neurobiological substrates for sweet taste. Here, we directly examined the contribution of the T1r3 receptor protein, important for sweet taste detection in mammals, to ethanol intake and preference and the neural processing of ethanol taste by measuring behavioral and central neurophysiological responses to oral alcohol in T1r3 receptor-deficient mice and their C57BL/6J background strain. T1r3 knockout and wild-type mice were tested in behavioral preference assays for long-term voluntary intake of a broad concentration range of ethanol, sucrose, and quinine. For neurophysiological experiments, separate groups of mice of each genotype were anesthetized, and taste responses to ethanol and stimuli of different taste qualities were electrophysiologically recorded from gustatory neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract. Mice lacking the T1r3 receptor were behaviorally indifferent to alcohol (i.e., ∼50% preference values) at concentrations typically preferred by wild-type mice (5-15%). Central neural taste responses to ethanol in T1r3-deficient mice were significantly lower compared with C57BL/6J controls, a strain for which oral ethanol stimulation produced a concentration-dependent activation of sweet-responsive NTS gustatory neurons. An attenuated difference in ethanol preference between knockouts and controls at concentrations >15% indicated that other sensory and/or postingestive effects of ethanol compete with sweet taste input at high concentrations. As expected, T1r3 knockouts exhibited strongly suppressed behavioral and neural taste responses to sweeteners but did not differ from wild-type mice in responses to prototypic salt, acid, or bitter stimuli. These data implicate the T1r3 receptor in the sensory detection and transduction of ethanol taste.
Significant improvement of heart function by cotransplantation of human mesenchymal stem cells and fetal cardiomyocytes in postinfarcted pigs.

Abstract Background Viable cardiomyocytes after myocardial infarction (MI) are unable to repair the necrotic myocardium due to their limited capability of regeneration. The present study investigated whether intramyocardial transplantation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) or cotransplantation of hMSCs plus human fetal cardiomyocytes (hFCs; 1:1) reconstituted impaired myocardium and improved cardiac function in MI pigs. Methods and results Cultured hMSCs were transfected with green fluorescent protein (GFP). Six weeks after MI induction and cell transplantation, cardiac function was significantly improved in MI pigs transplanted with hMSCs alone. However, the improvement was even markedly greater in MI pigs cotransplanted with hMSCs plus hFCs. Histological examination demonstrated that transplantation of hMSCs alone or hMSCs plus hFCs formed GFP-positive engrafts in infarcted myocardium. In addition, immunostaining for cardiac α-myosin heavy chain and troponin I showed positive stains in infarcted regions transplanted with hMSCs alone or hMSCs plus hFCs. Conclusions Our data demonstrate that transplantation of hMSCs alone improved cardiac function in MI pigs with a markedly greater improvement from cotransplantation of hMSCs plus hFCs. This improvement might result from myocardial regeneration and angiogenesis in injured hearts by engrafted cells.
Reports of recovery in chronic fatigue syndrome may present less than meets the eye

The definitions of recovery in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are numerous, as are the amount of intervention and naturalistic studies designed to assess illness recovery.1 In a recent systematic review of 22 studies, recovery percentages ranged from 0% to 66%.1 White et al report a recovery rate of 22% to 23% in their active behavioural intervention conditions. This rate corresponds with findings of a previous intervention study in CFS that used similar recovery criteria.2
Structure sensitivity via decoration of low-coordination exposed metal atoms: CO oxidation catalysis on Pt clusters

Abstract The effects of CO and O 2 concentrations on turnover rates and 18 O 2 – 16 O 2 exchange rates during catalysis are used to assess the relevant elementary steps and the consequences of Pt coordination for CO oxidation catalysis at moderate temperatures (700–800 K) on supported Pt clusters 1.8–25 nm in diameter. Turnover rates, measured under conditions of strict kinetic control, are proportional to O 2 pressure and inhibited by CO; these data are consistent with kinetically-relevant O 2 dissociation steps on cluster surfaces covered partially by chemisorbed CO (CO * ). O 2 dissociation also limits CO oxidation rates at higher temperatures, which lead to bare Pt surfaces, and at lower temperatures, where saturation CO * coverages require O 2 dissociation to be assisted by CO * because of a dearth of vacant sites. At the intermediate temperatures used here, kinetic coupling between irreversible O 2 activation and CO * reactions with O * causes edge and corner atoms to become decorated by unreactive O * species; consequently, turnovers occur predominantly on exposed low-index planes, which account for a decreasing fraction of exposed atoms with increasing metal dispersion. These decoration effects confer the appearance of structure sensitivity to the prototypical structure insensitive reaction by rendering only a fraction of exposed metal atoms able to turnover. These active sites, residing at exposed low-index planes, show similar CO * binding energies on large and small Pt clusters, but their relative abundance decreases as clusters become smaller, leading to a sharp decrease in turnover rates with increasing Pt dispersion. These trends stand in marked contrast with the absence of cluster size effects on CO oxidation rates at low temperatures, where high CO * coverages dampen the intrinsic site non-uniformity of metal clusters, and at high temperatures, where all Pt atoms remain accessible irrespective of coordination and active for catalytic turnovers.
Microscopic calculations of low-energy reaction cross sections.

Microscopic calculations of nuclear reaction cross sections and total reaction probabilities are compared with measurements for the {ital d}+Si, {sup 3,4}He+Si, and {ital d}+Ge systems at energies ranging from 2 to 53 MeV/nucleon. Good agreement is obtained, except for {sup 3}He+Si at the very lowest energies, when zero-range nucleon-nucleon forces are assumed and realistic nuclear density distributions are used in the tail regions, where the models are most sensitive. The agreement is less good for finite-range forces. A strong absorption model gives much poorer agreement with the recent {sup 4}He+Si measurements than do the microscopic models.
A fern in amber: Risk management in research with humans

Scientific and scholarly research with human subjects presents an array of hazards and benefits that are ideally suited to holistic management. Yet the regulation of this research, particularly in the United States, follows a risk management model that was academically discredited decades ago. This system, although staffed by able federal officials and conscientious Institutional Review Board members, has produced disappointing results; it does protect subjects but through a process that is deeply flawed. The failure of this ethics review system is based on an underlying defect: it is implicitly modeled on the risk management practices of the time it was created, 50 years ago. Its major flaws are best understood as risk management failures. (i) Review committees are not permitted to focus on the most significant risks. (ii) The theory under which review is conducted is unbalanced, emphasizing subject protection to the near exclusion of research’s value to society. (iii) Senior institutional officials are prohibited from overturning a negative decision by their own review committee. (iv) Government oversight emphasizes rote compliance and exacerbates the system’s lack of balance. (v) The system cannot adapt to changing circumstances. The system is, like a fern in amber, frozen in time.
Synergist Differences as an Alternate Interpretation of Carbaryl-Piperonyl Butoxide Toxicity Data

Laboratory studies of carbaryl metabolism after piperonyl butoxide application to alfalfa leafcutting bees, Megachile pacifica (Panzer), suggested that synergist differences were more useful than synergist ratios in estimating levels of mixed function oxidases in vivo in insects.
Strain Relaxation During Growth Of Epitaxial Fe on Cu(O01)/MgO(001)

The strain relaxation of sputter-deposited epitaxial Fe on Cu(001)/MgO(001) was observed in-situ for coverages of 1 to 200 equivalent monolayers of Fe. Grazing incidence x-ray scattering (GIXS) with synchrotron radiation allowed the precise determination of the in-plane strain in the Fe film. The highest observed elastic strain for the Fe was −10.3% which is in agreement with the lattice parameter mismatch between Fe and Cu for both (001)- and {211}-oriented growth. In-plane rocking curves revealed a bifurcation of the Fe(110) and Fe(220) peaks which is due to the rotation of islands to reduce strain energy. The angle of rotation of these islands was found to depend upon the amount of strain relaxation that had occurred in each island, in agreement with a simple theory for strain relaxation via the creation of a misfit dislocation network. The absence of Fe(200) intensity at small Fe thicknesses, coupled with out-of-plane symmetric and pole figure scans, suggest that Fe islands are tilted out of the plane of the sample about the Fe axes by an angle consistent with Fe{211}-oriented growth. At larger thicknesses Fe(001) growth becomes dominant.
Fluorescence Coupling for Direct Imaging of Electrocatalytic Heterogeneity

Here we report the use of fluorescence microscopy and closed bipolar electrodes to reveal electrochemical and electrocatalytic activity on large electrochemical arrays. We demonstrate fluorescence-enabled electrochemical microscopy (FEEM) as a new electrochemical approach for imaging transient and heterogeneous electrochemical processes. This method uses a bipolar electrode mechanism to directly couple a conventional oxidation reaction, e.g., the oxidation of ferrocene, to a special fluorogenic reduction reaction. The generation of the fluorescent product on the cathodic pole enables one to directly monitor an electrochemical process with optical microscopy. We demonstrate the use of this method on a large electrochemical array containing thousands or more parallel bipolar microelectrodes to enable spatially and temporally resolved electrochemical imaging. We first image molecular transport of a redox analyte in solution using an array containing roughly 1000 carbon fiber ultramicroelectrodes. We then carry out a simple electrocatalysis experiment to show how FEEM can be used for electrocatalyst screening. This new method could prove useful for imaging transient electrochemical events, such as fast exocytosis events on single and networks of neurons, and for parallel, high-throughput screening of new electrocatalysts.
Alternative Estimation Methods for Conjoint Analysis: A Monté Carlo Study:

Conjoint analysis has been applied in a large number of commercial projects as well as in many noncommercial studies. Often MONANOVA, a nonmetric technique, is applied to a preference rank order ob...
Quantification of abdominal aortic aneurysm stiffness using magnetic resonance elastography and its comparison to aneurysm diameter

Objective Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) wall stiffness has been suggested to be an important factor in the overall rupture risk assessment compared with anatomic measure. We hypothesize that AAA diameter will have no correlation to AAA wall stiffness. The aim of this study is to (1) determine magnetic resonance elastography (MRE)-derived aortic wall stiffness in AAA patients and its correlation to AAA diameter; (2) determine the correlation between AAA stiffness and amount of thrombus and calcium; and (3) compare the AAA stiffness measurements against age-matched healthy individuals. Methods In vivo abdominal aortic MRE was performed on 36 individuals (24 patients with AAA measuring 3-10 cm and 12 healthy volunteers), aged 36 to 78 years, after obtaining written informed consent under the approval of the Institutional Review Board. MRE images were processed to obtain spatial stiffness maps of the aorta. AAA diameter, amount of thrombus, and calcium score were reported by experienced interventional radiologists. Spearman correlation, Wilcoxon signed rank test, and Mann-Whitney test were performed to determine the correlation between AAA stiffness and diameter and to determine the significant difference in stiffness measurements between AAA patients and healthy individuals. Results No significant correlation ( P > .1) was found between AAA stiffness and diameter or amount of thrombus or calcium score. AAA stiffness (mean 13.97 ± 4.2 kPa) is significantly ( P ≤ .02) higher than remote normal aorta in AAA (mean 8.87 ± 2.2 kPa) patients and in normal individuals (mean 7.1 ± 1.9 kPa). Conclusions Our results suggest that AAA wall stiffness may provide additional information independent of AAA diameter, which may contribute to our understanding of AAA pathophysiology, biomechanics, and risk for rupture.
When ligand becomes receptor--tolerance via B7 signaling on DCs.

CTLA-4–Ig is used to block the costimulation of T cells to interfere with their activation. This reagent may actually be working by provoking DCs to catabolize tryptophan, thereby depriving T cells and contributing to their demise.
Cobra: a light-weight tool for static and dynamic program analysis

Static source code analysis tools have become indispensable for the development of reliable software applications. The best analyzers can reveal subtle flaws in a code base, but they can also be slow. In part this is due to the collection of detailed information about the possible data and control flow of an application to support the broadest possible range of analyses. For larger code bases it is not unusual that even the best of breed static analyzers can take an hour or more to complete an analysis. In this paper we describe a framework for a much faster, but more light-weight type of static analysis that can support interactive use for standard types of queries. The Cobra tool we designed for this purpose can scale to explore millions of lines of code interactively. The tool is mostly language agnostic, and can therefore easily be configured to resolve even dynamic program analysis queries.
A Rationale for Public Library Civics Instruction

ABSTRACTStatistics bear out the dire need for civic education and engagement within our nation’s libraries, those free and “equalizing” institutions that traditionally afforded opportunities assisting in the development of civically astute individuals. Per our founding principles, libraries and librarians remain responsible for instituting programming that assists in the development of capable citizens who actively participate in political life, hence ensuring the perpetuation and positive evolvement of our governmental system and its resulting law. Public and school libraries must return to a targeted emphasis on the provision of services that develop critical thinking opportunities steeped in civic intent and purpose. Examples include civic-oriented instruction, debate, communication, service and public policy facilitation, and forum building.
Pseudo-geometric Formulation for Fitting Equidistant Parallel Lines

We present a novel pseudo-geometric formulation for equidistant parallel lines which allows direct linear evaluation against fitted lines in the image space thus providing improved robustness of fit and avoids the need for non-linear optimization. The key idea of our work is to determine an equidistant set of parallel lines which are at minimum orthogonal distance from the edge lines in the image. The comparative results on simulated and real datasets show that a linear solution using the pseudo-geometric formulation is superior to the previous algebraic solution and performs close to the non-linear solution of the true geometric error.
The interaction between physical activity and obesity gene variants in association with BMI: Does the obesogenic environment matter?

Abstract Little is known about how obesity susceptibility single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) interact with moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in relation to BMI during adolescence, once obesogenic neighborhood factors are accounted for. In race stratified models, including European (EA; N=4977), African (AA; N=1726), and Hispanic Americans (HA; N=1270) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (1996; ages 12–21), we assessed the evidence for a SNPxMVPA interaction with BMI-for-age Z score, once accounting for obesogenic neighborhood factors including physical activity amenities, transportation and recreation infrastructure, poverty and crime. Eight SNPxMVPA interactions with suggestive significance (p
Dispersal of the orchid bee Euglossa imperialis over degraded habitat and intact forest

Fragmentation of habitat can decrease resource availability and restrict movement among geographic areas. Persistence in fragmented landscapes depends on the maintenance of connectivity among populations, without which genetic diversity may decrease and lead to population declines. Bees are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of low genetic diversity so it is important to understand patterns of dispersal for native bees living in fragmented areas. I used population genetic techniques to characterize patterns of genetic diversity and dispersal for the orchid bee Euglossa imperialis within and among forest fragments in southern Costa Rica, in which the furthest two fragments were 226 km from one another. In addition, I compared results of population genetic analyses conducted with all bees sampled, and results from analyses conducted with a reduced dataset containing only one individual per full sibling family from each site. For both datasets genetic diversity was low within forest fragments, with expected heterozygosity averaging 0.28 for the full dataset and 0.29 for the dataset containing only one full sibling per site. I found no evidence that deforested areas restricted dispersal; pairwise estimates of genetic differentiation $$F_{\text{ST}}^{\prime }$$ among forest fragments averaged 0.01 for the full dataset, and 0 for the dataset containing only one full sibling per site. Genetic distance among sites within forest fragments was significantly correlated to geographic distance for the full dataset, but there was no significant correlation for the dataset that contained only one individual from each full sibling family. This suggests that family structure can drive results of analyses of genetic structure, although reductions in sample sizes following removal of full siblings may have reduced power to detect genetic structure. Despite no evidence for restricted dispersal, the low genetic diversity found suggests that E. imperialis may be an important candidate for future conservation monitoring.
Micromechanically Based Constitutive Laws and Random Fields in Solid Mechanics: Elasticity, Plasticity, and Fracture

A stochastic formulation of constitutive laws in solid and structural mechanics, as is typically needed in the setting up of stochastic finite elements and differences [1, 2, 3], has to be based on micromechanical analyses. In this paper we give an account of our recent studies on the development and use of such laws in three areas: elasticity, plasticity and fracture/damage phenomena.
MSD-MAP: A Network-Based Systems Biology Platform for Predicting Disease-Metabolite Links.

Background: Cancer-associated metabolites result from cell-wide mechanisms of dysregulation. The field of metabolomics has sought to identify these aberrant metabolites as disease biomarkers, clues to understanding disease mechanisms, or even as therapeutic agents. Objective: This study was undertaken to reliably predict metabolites associated with colorectal, esophageal, and prostate cancers. Metabolite and disease biological action networks were compared in a computational platform called MSD-MAP (Multi Scale Disease-Metabolite Association Platform). Methods: Using differential gene expression analysis with patient-based RNAseq data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, genes up- or down-regulated in cancer compared to normal tissue were identified. Relational databases were used to map biological entities including pathways, functions, and interacting proteins, to those differential disease genes. Similar relational maps were built for metabolites, stemming from known and in silico predicted metabolite-protein associations. The hypergeometric test was used to find statistically significant relationships between disease and metabolite biological signatures at each tier, and metabolites were assessed for multi-scale association with each cancer. Metabolite networks were also directly associated with various other diseases using a disease functional perturbation database. Results: Our platform recapitulated metabolite-disease links that have been empirically verified in the scientific literature, with network-based mapping of jointly-associated biological activity also matching known disease mechanisms. This was true for colorectal, esophageal, and prostate cancers, using metabolite action networks stemming from both predicted and known functional protein associations. Conclusion: By employing systems biology concepts, MSD-MAP reliably predicted known cancermetabolite links, and may serve as a predictive tool to streamline conventional metabolomic profiling methodologies.
Donald Trump as a Cultural Revolt Against Perceived Communication Restriction: Priming Political Correctness Norms Causes More Trump Support

Donald Trump has consistently performed better politically than his negative polling indicators suggested he would. Although there is a tendency to think of Trump support as reflecting ideological conservatism, we argue that part of his support during the election came from a non-ideological source: The preponderant salience of norms restricting communication (Political Correctness – or PC – norms). This perspective suggests that these norms, while successfully reducing the amount of negative communication in the short term, may produce more support for negative communication in the long term. In this framework, support for Donald Trump was in part the result of over-exposure to PC norms. Consistent with this, on a sample of largely politically moderate Americans taken during the General Election in the Fall of 2016, we show that temporarily priming PC norms significantly increased support for Donald Trump (but not Hillary Clinton). We further show that chronic emotional reactance towards restrictive communication norms positively predicted support for Trump (but not Clinton), and that this effect remains significant even when controlling for political ideology. In total, this work provides evidence that norms that are designed to increase the overall amount of positive communication can actually backfire by increasing support for a politician who uses extremely negative language that explicitly violates the norm.
Discovering Potential Influence via Information Bottleneck

Discovering a potential influence from one variable to another variable is of fundamental scientific and practical interest. While existing correlation measures are suitable for discovering average influence, they fail to discover potential influences. To bridge this gap, (i) we postulate a set of natural axioms that we expect a measure of potential influence to satisfy; (ii) we show that the rate of information bottleneck, i.e., the hypercontractivity coefficient, satisfies all the proposed axioms; (iii) we provide a novel estimator to estimate the hypercontractivity coefficient from samples; and (iv) numerical experiments demonstrate that this proposed estimator discovers a potential influence for various indicators of WHO datasets, robust in discovering gene interactions from gene expression time series data, and is statistically more powerful than the estimators for other correlation measures in binary hypothesis testing of canonical potential influences.
Detection Rate and Clinical Relevance of Ink Tattooing during Balloon-Assisted Enteroscopy.

Background and Aims. Balloon-assisted enteroscopy (BAE) is a well-established tool in the diagnosis and therapy of small bowel diseases. Ink tattooing of the small bowel is used to mark pathologic lesions or the depth of small bowel insertion. The purpose of this study was to determine the safety, the detection rate, and the clinical relevance of ink tattooing during BAE. Methods. We performed a retrospective analysis of all 81 patients who received an ink tattooing during BAE between 2010 and 2015. Results. In all patients, ink tattooing was performed with no complications. 26 patients received a capsule endoscopy after BAE. The tattoo could be detected via capsule endoscopy in 19 of these 26 patients. The tattoo of the previous BAE could be detected via opposite BAE in 2 of 11 patients. In 9 patients, ink tattooing influenced the choice of approach for reenteroscopy. In 7 patients, the tattoo was used for intraoperative localization and in 3 patients for intraoperative localization as well as for reenteroscopy. The intraoperative detection rate of the tattoo was 100%. Conclusion. Ink tattooing of the small intestine is a safe endoscopic procedure to mark the depth of scope insertion or a pathologic lesion during balloon-assisted enteroscopy.
The Implied Long-Term Growth Rate in the Discounted Cash Flow Model during the last ten years

This paper presents a methodology of evaluating stocks based on their growth prospects, rather than the traditional relative valuation criteria. Briefly, the proposed approach considers prices as endogenous to the model and solves for the Implied Growth Rate (IGR) which satisfies the Terminal Value Multiple (TVM) in the Discounted Cash Flow model. In order to facilitate the implementation of the proposed approach by finance colleagues we have included some applications for the last ten years. The results are intriguing and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed valuation methodology as an investment criterion. Assuming a pre-established benchmark for IGR and TVM, one can determine whether a stock (or an Index of stocks) is fairly priced, under-priced or overpriced. For example, during the recent financial crisis period, the IGR was as low as 1.17% in the Spring of 2007, confirming the broad under-pricing of stocks. Using a five-year DCF approach with an expected return on the market portfolio of 12.3% and a risk-free rate of 3.7%, we find that the equilibrium long-term Implied Growth Rate in equities is around 6%. Obviously, a standard ten-year DCF approach would imply a smaller IGR. Using the Mehra and Prescott methodology (1985) we provide evidence that the long-term IGR should be around 4%.
Animal models of ex vivo lung perfusion as a platform for transplantation research.

Ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) is a powerful experimental model for isolated lung research. EVLP allows for the lungs to be manipulated and characterized in an external environment so that the effect of specific ven tilation/perfusion variables can be studied independent of other confounding physiologic contributions. At the same time, EVLP allows for normal organ level function and real-time monitoring of pulmonary physiology and mechanics. As a result, this technique provides unique advantages over in vivo and in vitro models. Small and large animal models of EVLP have been developed and each of these models has their strengths and weaknesses. In this manuscript, we provide insight into the relative strengths of each model and describe how the development of advanced EVLP protocols is leading to a novel experimental platform that can be used to answer critical questions in pulmonary physiology and transplant medicine.
Blue-Green Agricultural Revolution

New networks of cross-movement coalitions are creating alignments of political, social, and economic action around the issues of sustainable development and renewable food systems. These diverse and transformative coalitions cross boundaries to come together and address the integration of three spheres– environmental (natural resource use and environmental management), economic (cost/benefit calculations and research and development), and social (community- based dialogue and action that addresses standard of living, education, and human rights). To succeed, this chapter argues that effective sustained coalitions will need to improve upon their record of citizenship and governance. Coalitions will need to demand that governments put forth macro-policies that address such issues as intergenerational inequity, market prices that do not reflect ecological damage, and human rights violations. A pre-analytic is called for; one that admits that the crucial ecological issue of successful sustainable planning means that transcendence (compassion, wisdom, understanding, and empathy) will be needed. Tensions between competing perspectives cannot always be solved by the logic and method of neoclassical economics.
Transport of Inorganic Ions by Renal Tubules

This chapter considers tubular transport of sodium and chloride, potassium, hydrogen ion, calcium, phosphate, magnesium, and sulfate. For each inorganic ion, it examines the direction or directions of transepithelial transport, the tubule sites of transport, and the cellular and molecular mechanisms of transport, so far as they are known in nonmammalian vertebrates. For sodium and chloride, substantial quantitative information on net fluxes is provided. In addition, the electrical properties of the tubule segments measured to date in nonmammalian and mammalian vertebrates are provided and are related particularly to transport of sodium, chloride, and potassium. In so far as possible for each of these inorganic ions, the chapter describes and discusses the cellular and molecular characteristics of the transport steps at both the luminal and peritubular membranes of the renal tubule cells in the various tubule segments. These steps are very poorly defined for the renal tubule cells of many nonmammalian vertebrates, but it is often possible to suggest cellular and molecular processes by analogy with those found in mammals and a few nonmammalian vertebrates and to propose avenues of future research. Finally, the chapter considers hormonal, neural, and other regulatory factors of the transport steps of these inorganic ions, insofar as they are understood in nonmammalian vertebrates.
The Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition

The most severe outcome of any energetic material accident is a detonation of a large fraction of the material. Although the total energy available for any configuration is fixed by the type and the total mass of energetic material, the difference in power output between burning and detonation is so large as to completely change the nature of the event should detonation occur. In the later half of the twentieth century, a great deal of scientific and engineering effort went into analysis, experimentation, and modeling of the accidental release of the energy in explosives and propellants.
Area under the distance threshold curve as an evaluation measure for probabilistic classifiers

Evaluation for probabilistic multiclass systems has predominately been done by converting data into binary classes. While effective in quantifying the classifier performance, binary evaluation causes a loss in ability to distinguish between individual classes. We report that the evaluation of multiclass probabilistic classifiers can be quantified by using the area under the distance threshold curve for multiple distance metrics. We construct our classifiers for evaluation with data from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Lung Image Database Consortium (LIDC) for the semantic characteristic of malignancy. We conclude that the area under the distance threshold curve can provide a measure of the classifier performance when the classifier has more than two classes and probabilistic predictions.
SEISMIC: SEcure In-lined Script Monitors for Interrupting Cryptojacks

A method of detecting and interrupting unauthorized, browser-based cryptomining is proposed, based on semantic signature-matching. The approach addresses a new wave of cryptojacking attacks, including XSS-assisted, web gadget-exploiting counterfeit mining. Evaluation shows that the approach is more robust than current static code analysis defenses, which are susceptible to code obfuscation attacks. An implementation based on in-lined reference monitoring offers a browser-agnostic deployment strategy that is applicable to average end-user systems without specialized hardware or operating systems.
Application of hazard and operability analysis for safeguardability of a pyroprocessing facility

Abstract Pyroprocessing treats nuclear fuel using electrochemical techniques for a variety of applications, whether to process used uranium oxide fuel for back-end management, or to reprocess used metallic fuel for an advanced fuel concept. Since there are proliferation risks associated with special nuclear material (SNM) processed in a pyroprocessing facility, the high reliability safeguards (HRS) methodology has been developed to implement safeguards, safety, and physical security (3S) together with operations from a design-driven perspective. This paper suggests the design strategies by integrating a hazard and operability (HAZOP) analysis. It is a process hazard analysis, essential for identifying hazards, operability issues, severe accident scenarios, and for mitigating consequences with the corresponding protection methods. It is a preliminary step for an eventual quantitative, probabilistic risk analysis, which may be needed for obtaining an operating license for a commercial pyroprocessing facility. The focus of this HAZOP analysis was on major pyroprocessing subsystems; voloxidation, electroreduction, electrorefining, electrowinning, and the argon atmosphere control system. Deviations were analyzed from normal operating conditions, and methods were thoroughly prepared to prohibit or mitigate off-normal situations. Importantly, pressure buildup or high temperature in the systems can increase the risk of initiating fire/explosion, which may eventually release radiation to the outside. Safety relief valve installations, valve actuation and heater automatic shutdown systems, etc., would be helpful to alleviate operational problems. This enhanced HAZOP also suggests a strong safeguards design for the facility by proposing nuclear material accounting (NMA) locations for the purpose of reducing potential proliferation risks.
A software controlled audiometric setup to predict types of hearing loss from types of response delays

Diagnosis of certain types of non-organic hearing loss is often confused with organic hearing loss. A software controlled audiometric setup has been designed by the authors for this purpose. Its salient features are (1) partially randomized step sizes, (2) partially uncorrelated increase and decrease in the stimulus intensity after each response or no response of the subject, (3) recording of corresponding response delays of the subject, and (4) providing audio-visual feedback. Its sensitivity, specificity, and applications in clinics and the industry will be discussed.
Comparison of 30-day postoperative outcomes of open and minimally invasive pyeloplasty utilizing the prospective National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric database

Summary Introduction Open pyeloplasty (OP) has traditionally been the standard for the operative management of ureteropelvic junction obstruction in children. With advances in minimally invasive pyeloplasty (MIP) techniques, it is quickly becoming a popular alternative in both adult and pediatric population. Objective To evaluate the differences in outcomes between MIP and OP for the surgical correction of ureteropelvic junction obstruction in children. Study design Data were obtained from the pediatric National Surgical Quality Improvement Program 2012–2017. We identified 1280 patients who underwent MIP and 1190 patients who underwent OP between 2012 and 2017. Propensity score matching was utilized to adjust for baseline differences. Univariate and multivariable regression were performed to assess odds of complications and procedure-related readmission. Results Patients who underwent OP had a significantly decreased operative time (192.42 vs 142.00 min, p Discussion Although recent small, retrospective institutional studies have found decreased hospitalization time of MIP as compared to OP, in our large prospective database, we found no such association. While some studies suggest a higher rate of wound complications in the OP group, this was not reproduced in our study as well. MIP was, in fact, associated with higher rate of readmissions as compared to the OP group, which may act as a surrogate of long-term complications in these patients. Conclusion MIP offers an alternative to OP in the pediatric population with similar rates of peri-operative complications. However, our study shows decreased odds of procedure-related readmission in OP, which may serve as a surrogate for less postoperative complications in these patients.
Pulsatile or continuous infusion of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone and hormonal concentrations in prepubertal beef heifers.

An experiment was conducted to determine if exogenous luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) administered iv intermittently as pulses (P) or by continuous sc infusion (I) using osmotic minipumps could sustain pulsatile LH release and induce estrous cyclicity in prepubertal heifers. Prepubertal heifers were assigned randomly to: 1) receive pulses of LHRH (n = 6; 2.5 micrograms LHRH/2 h for 72 h), 2) be infused with LHRH (n = 11; 1.25 micrograms LHRH/h for 72 h), or 3) serve as controls (n = 16). Blood was collected at 20-min intervals for 8 h (0900 to 1700 h) from six heifers in each group on d 1, 2, 3 (during treatment), and on d 4 (during 8 h after terminating LHRH treatments). Heifers given LHRH had higher (P less than .01) LH concentrations than controls. Preovulatory-like LH surges occurred in three I, two P and no control heifers during treatment. Pulse frequencies of LH (no. LH pulses/8 h) were greater (P less than .001) for P heifers than for I and control heifers due to pulsatile LHRH treatment. Serum estradiol was higher (P less than .01) during treatment for LHRH-treated heifers than for controls. Serum follicle-stimulating hormone, cortisol, and progesterone were unchanged during treatment. High levels of cortisol on d 1 declined (P less than .001) to baseline by d 2. Characteristic progesterone rises or short luteal phases occurred within 10 d of treatment initiation in more (P less than .05) LHRH-treated heifers (I = 45%, P = 33%) than controls (6%), although days to first observed estrus and first ovulation were unaffected by treatments. Although both continuous and pulsatile administration of LHRH successfully induced LH and estradiol release as well as preovulatory-like LH surges in some heifers, earlier initiation of estrous cycles was not achieved. Estrous cycles appeared to be delayed by exposure to continuous LHRH infusions during the peripubertal period.
Legislative representation and gender (bias)

ABSTRACTIn nearly all countries, women are underrepresented and men are overrepresented in national legislatures. This distortion in representation might occur for several reasons. One set of expla...
Flipping the classroom with econlowdown.org

In this article, the authors describe two independent efforts at “flipping” introductory economics courses employing econlowodown.org resources from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. From an i...
Holocaust Shoes: Metonymy, Matter, Memory

Drawing on recent studies in Holocaust literary, memorial, and material cultures, this chapter tells the story of Holocaust shoes. As material objects with changing functions before, during, and after the war, Holocaust shoes have a “social life” of their own, to use Arjun Appadurai’s phrase. Yet as Holocaust “things,” in Bill Brown’s terms, their “secret life” is the murderous power of the Nazi regime, so that their later function as memorial objects breaks down. I argue that despite their powerful sensory effects, remnant Holocaust shoes serve as impossible metaphors for the past, because they bear only imagined traces of the humans whose feet once wore them and whom they are presumed to represent. To invoke such traces as representatives of the past, such objects need words, narrative, description, lists, figures of speech, or poems. Representational shoes, by contrast—poetic, sculptural, or otherwise re-imagined—function more effectively as metonymic vehicles that invoke, rather than stand in for, larger wholes: victims, witnesses, and even accomplices to genocidal crimes. Representational Holocaust shoes not only signify well beyond their object function, they provide us a memorial vernacular for the Holocaust past and a cultural legacy for reimagining Jewishness in relation to that past.
A pilot study comparing the neutropenic diet to a non-neutropenic diet in the allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation population.

Background Historically, dietary restrictions imposed on patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) were severe and limited to prevent exposure to foodborne organisms. With improvements in supportive care and anti-infective agents, the necessity of the neutropenic diet for this population has been in question. Objectives This study aimed to determine whether the incidence of infection differs and to analyze the nutritional status in patients undergoing myeloablative allogeneic HSCT with a neutropenic diet as compared to those with a diet without restrictions. Methods This study was a randomized, controlled prospective pilot study beginning within the first 24 hours of the start of the conditioning regimen. Patients were randomized to receive a neutropenic diet or a diet without restrictions. All patients received care in a high-efficiency particulate air-filtered room on the inpatient adult blood and marrow transplantation unit (ABMTU). All patients received antibacterial and antifungal prophylaxis. Patients were followed until the end of neutropenia (defined as absolute neutrophil count of greater than 500 for three days) or until discharge from the inpatient ABMTU. Findings In 46 evaluable patients, no significant difference was found between infection rates or nutritional status. The neutropenic diet did not offer a protective effect against infection in patients undergoing myeloablative allogeneic HSCT. No differences were found in nutritional status between the two groups.