cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
More Than Money: Motivating Physician Behavior Change in Accountable Care Organizations.

Policy Points: For accountable care organizations (ACOs) to be successful they need to change the behavior of their physicians. To stimulate this change, a broad range of motivators are being used, including ways to see a greater impact on patients (social purpose) and opportunities to be a more effective physician (mastery), in addition to personal financial incentives. From our analysis of case studies, it does not appear that the full range of motivators is being deployed by ACOs, which suggests an opportunity to develop more sophisticated and wider-ranging portfolios of motivators for greater impact. Context There are approximately 800 accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the United States. In order to achieve the ACO goals of reduced cost, improved outcomes of care, and better population health, it is critical to change how physicians within ACOs deliver care. While knowledge of ACO development and evolution is growing, relatively little is known about the motivational drivers that are being used to effect change among participating physicians. Methods We synthesized 9 well-established and empirically tested theories of motivation into an overarching framework of 6 motivator domains. This framework was then used to explore the types of motivators that leaders use to stimulate change within 4 case study ACOs. We explored the organizational characteristics, strategies, and motivators for changing physicians’ behaviors through in-depth interviews and document review. Findings The case study ACOs more strongly emphasized nonfinancial motivators for changing physician behavior than financial incentives. These motivators included mastery and social purpose, which were used frequently across all case study sites. Overall, the ACO case studies illustrated variability across all motivational domains. While there was evidence of changing motivators as a result of the ACO, the case study ACOs found it difficult to comprehensively change the use of motivators, in part due to dispersed managerial attention and the complexity and diversity of programs and contracts that fragmented efforts to improve. Conclusions Motivating behavior change within ACOs goes beyond financial incentives. ACOs are using a broad range of motivators, including creating ways to make a greater impact on patients and opportunities to be a more effective physician. Overall, it does not appear that ACOs are deploying the full range of available motivators. This suggests an opportunity to develop more sophisticated and wider-ranging portfolios of motivators to drive behavior change.
Anishinaabe Law and The Round House

This paper addresses the Indian country criminal justice system’s difficulties through the context of the Great Lakes Anishinaabeg’s traditional customs, traditions, and laws, and their modern treatment of crime. Louise Erdrich’s The Round House expertly captures the reality of crime and fear of crime in Anishinaabe Indian country, and offers a bleak view of the future of criminal justice absent serious reform in the near future.
Assessing Psychological Toxicity and Patient-Reported Distress as the Sixth Vital Sign in Cancer Care and Clinical Trials

As the number of available cancer therapies continues to grow, there is increasing interest in their impact on cancer patients' lived experiences. Screening for distress is one way to measure psychological dimensions of cancer patients' experiences, and doing so is increasingly part of standard operations at major cancer centers across the US. To date, however, most clinical trials have not adequately captured patients' experiences as part of their outcome assessments, so clinicians lack data needed to guide their responses to psychological features of patients' illness experiences. As distress becomes the "sixth vital sign" in routine cancer care, we argue that clinical trials should assess patients' experiences in the same way that they robustly screen for adverse events and toxicities. New interventions are needed to address distress.
Molecular Surveillance of Cronobacter spp. Isolated from a Wide Variety of Foods from 44 Different Countries by Sequence Typing of 16S rRNA, rpoB and O-Antigen Genes

Cronobacter spp. are emerging infectious bacteria that can cause acute meningitis and necrotizing enterocolitis in neonatal and immunocompromised individuals. Although this opportunistic human-pathogenic microorganism has been isolated from a wide variety of food and environmental samples, it has been primarily linked to foodborne outbreaks associated with powdered infant formula. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration use the presence of these microbes as one of the criteria to assess food adulteration and to implement regulatory actions. In this study, we have examined 195 aliquots of enrichments from the nine major categories of foods (including baby and medical food, dairy products, dried food, frozen food, pet food, produce, ready-to-eat snacks, seafood, and spices) from 44 countries using conventional microbiological and molecular techniques. The typical colonies of Cronobacter were then identified by VITEK2 and real-time PCR. Subsequently, sequence typing was performed on the 51 recovered Cronobacter isolates at the 16S rRNA, rpoB and seven O-antigen loci for species identification in order to accomplish an effective surveillance program for the control and prevention of foodborne illnesses.
An integrated theoretical and experimental investigation of insensitive munition compounds adsorption on cellulose, cellulose triacetate, chitin and chitosan surfaces

This manuscript reports results of combined computational chemistry and batch adsorption investigation of insensitive munition compounds, 2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN), triaminotrinitrobenzene (TATB), 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethene (FOX-7) and nitroguanidine (NQ), and traditional munition compound 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) on the surfaces of cellulose, cellulose triacetate, chitin and chitosan biopolymers. Cellulose, cellulose triacetate, chitin and chitosan were modeled as trimeric form of the linear chain of 4C1 chair conformation of β-d-glucopyranos, its triacetate form, β-N-acetylglucosamine and D-glucosamine, respectively, in the 1➔4 linkage. Geometries were optimized at the M062X functional level of the density functional theory (DFT) using the 6-31G(d,p) basis set in the gas phase and in the bulk water solution using the conductor-like polarizable continuum model (CPCM) approach. The nature of potential energy surfaces of the optimized geometries were ascertained through the harmonic vibrational frequency analysis. The basis set superposition error (BSSE) corrected interaction energies were obtained using the 6-311G(d,p) basis set at the same theoretical level. The computed BSSE in the gas phase was used to correct interaction energy in the bulk water solution. Computed and experimental results regarding the ability of considered surfaces in adsorbing the insensitive munitions compounds are discussed.
Outcome of Antenatally Presenting Posterior Urethral Valves (PUV) in Children.

To analyze the outcome of children with posterior urethral valves who presented with antenatal hydronephrosis. A 10-year retrospective review of records of 70 children with posterior urethral valves. The mean (SD) gestational age at diagnosis was 34 (4.48) weeks, and age at intervention was 130.5 (170.9) days. The nadir creatinine was significantly raised (>1.2 mg/dl) in children with oligohydramnios and diversion. All boys with antenatally detected hydronephrosis need postnatal evaluation to rule out posterior urethral valves. Short term outcome is improved with postnatal treatments, and longer follow-up is needed to ensure a favourable outcome.
Novel inter and intra prediction tools under consideration for the emerging AV1 video codec

Google started the WebM Project in 2010 to develop open source, royalty- free video codecs designed specifically for media on the Web. The second generation codec released by the WebM project, VP9, is currently served by YouTube, and enjoys billions of views per day. Realizing the need for even greater compression efficiency to cope with the growing demand for video on the web, the WebM team embarked on an ambitious project to develop a next edition codec AV1, in a consortium of major tech companies called the Alliance for Open Media, that achieves at least a generational improvement in coding efficiency over VP9. In this paper, we focus primarily on new tools in AV1 that improve the prediction of pixel blocks before transforms, quantization and entropy coding are invoked. Specifically, we describe tools and coding modes that improve intra, inter and combined inter-intra prediction. Results are presented on standard test sets.
The Emerging Global Gender Equality Regime from Neoliberal and Constructivist Perspectives in International Relations

A global gender equality regime has emerged, identifiable by its norms, principles, legal instruments and compliance mechanisms. I suggest that neoliberal theories of international regimes provide ...
TAp63 as a guardian of female germ line integrity.

A new study reveals how the oocyte-specific transcription factor TAp63 ensures female germ line fidelity and describes approaches to circumvent premature ovarian insufficiency in women receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy.
Pulsatile Hormone Secretion: Mechanisms, Significance and Evaluation

Secretion of anterior and posterior pituitary hormones, adrenal glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids and catecholamines, gonadal sex steroids, parathormone, insulin and glucagon is pulsatile (burst-like or episodic). Neuronal inputs, cellular excitability and feedback with time delays constitute proximate mechanisms driving recurrent pulses. Both the amplitude and frequency of gonadotropin, thyrotropin, prolactin and sex-steroid pulses determine their mean concentrations. In contradistinction, primarily the amplitude of growth hormone, adrenocorticotropin, cortisol, parathormone and insulin pulses controls their average values. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone and growth-hormone pulses convey unique signaling information to target tissues. Evaluation of the mechanisms that govern pulsatile hormone secretion requires simultaneous quantification of the number, size and shape of secretory bursts, underlying nonpulsatile (basal) secretion and associated elimination kinetics. The necessary methodology is termed deconvolution analysis. More complex ensemble models are used to interlink neurohormone signals by estimating endogenous dose-response curves noninvasively. The approximate entropy statistic is a specific and sensitive measure of feedback fidelity within an ensemble system, Implications of neurohormone pulsatility include regulation of somatic growth, reproduction, muscle and bone mass, visceral fat burden, glucose metabolism, parturition, and sodium and water balance.
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and Personality Assessment Inventory

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and its revision the MMPI-2 have been the subjects of well over 10,000 published studies investigating their use and properties. There are many summary studies of validity and reliability issues (Cottle, 1950; Dahlstrom & Welsh, 1960; Dahlstrom, Welsh, & Dahlstrom, 1975; Gravitz & Gerton, 1976; Hathaway & McKinley, 1942; Hathaway & Meehl, 1951; Holzberg & Alessi, 1949; Horn, Wanberg, & Appel, 1973; Johnson, Klingler, & Williams, 1977; Kroger & Turnbull, 1975; McKinley & Hathaway, 1942, 1944; Mehlman & Rand, 1960; Ritter, 1974), including metaanalytic studies (Atkinson, 1986; Hiller, Rosenthal, Bornstein, Berry, & Brunell-Neulieb, 1999; Parker, Hanson, & Hunsley, 1988). Although the MMPI is one of the most frequently used and researched instruments, psychometric weaknesses have been identified such as those discussed in David Rogers’ review of the original MMPI in The Seventh Mental Measurements Yearbook (1972).
Metabolism of hexoses in the intact mosquito: exclusion of glucose and trehalose as intermediates.

Abstract 1. 1. The metabolism of glucose was compared with that of fructose, mannose and galactose in the mosquito Aedes sollicitans. 2. 2. Precursor-product relationships were determined by injection into the hemolymph of a massive dose of two sugars: a labeled precursor and an unlabeled presumed intermediate. 3. 3. Trehalose is not an intermediate in the utilization of hexoses for glycogen synthesis and respiration. 4. 4. Glucose is not an intermediate between fructose, mannose or galactose and the products trehalose and glycogen. 5. 5. The efficiency of fructose, mannose and galactose as a precursor for trehalose and glycogen is not diminished by glucose. 6. 6. Injected glucose-6-phosphate is hydrolyzed and is not the immediate precursor of trehalose.
Exploring the evolutionary history of the differentially expressed genes between human populations: action of recent positive selection.

Though debates exist on the early human evolutionary models such as the “Out of Africa” theory, which hypothesizes that modern humans migrated from Africa to Europe about 50,000 to 100,000 years ago, Africans and Europeans were geographically separated with minimal gene flow for tens of thousands of years. The variations between the current European and African populations, therefore, should have evolved during this timeframe. To gain more insights into the evolutionary history of human phenotypes including gene expression, it is critical to tell how recent positive selection has played a role in the variations observed in the current populations. Using the list of differentially expressed genes we previously identified between the HapMap samples derived from individuals of African (from Ibadan, Nigeria) and European (from Utah, USA) ancestry, we searched for evidence of selection among these differential genes. We found that 27 differentially expressed genes (out of 356 tested) between these two European and African populations have been under recent positive selection. Our findings suggest that the variation between these two populations appears to be affected primarily by neutral genetic drift and/or stabilizing selection and to a lesser degree by positive selection. Further annotation enrichment analyses showed that these 27 genes under selection were overrepresented in certain Gene Ontology biological processes, molecular functions and cellular components such as transcription, lipid binding and lysosome. Our results can provide unique insights into the evolutionary history of the variation in the gene expression phenotype between these two human populations.
Malignant Cells in Cerebrospinal Fluid and Their Clinical Significance

Examination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the presence of malignant cells is a time-honored and widely used technique. Since DuFour8 first identified malignant cells in CSF in 1904, a number of reports have attested to the usefulness of CSF cytology in assisting in the diagnosis of primary and metastatic central nervous system (CNS) tumors.
The Mechanism of Actin-Filament Assembly and Cross-Linking

Actin is one of the major proteins in eukaryotic cells, and actin filaments are the major structural element of both the contractile apparatus and the “cyto-skeleton” of most cells. In their role as a contractile protein, filaments of actin are thought to interact with myosin to generate the force for cellular motility, much like they do in muscle contraction. The role of actin as a structural protein is less well defined, but probably no less important. The general idea is that the cytoplasm contains a three-dimensional network of actin filaments that can be cross-linked to form a gel. This network forms an internal scaffolding that traps the organelles (see Mast, 1926), distributes local contractile forces throughout the cytoplasm to the cell surface, and may also provide a scaffolding for certain enzyme systems (Clark and Masters, 1975).
David and Goliath: Jewish Conversion and Philo-Semitism in Late-Eighteenth-Century English Millenarian Thought

Long struggling with the “Jewish question,” Christian writers have historically asked what should Christians do about the Jews’ persistent rejection of Jesus as their Messiah. Many Christians, however, still retained lingering hopes that the Jews would some day appreciate the supersession of the Old by the New Testament and thus convert to Christianity. In late-eighteenth-century England, this question profoundly resonated when growing millenarian longings permeated the writings of several ministers and political theorists like Joseph Priestley, a founder of the Unitarian church and the modern science of chemistry and an unrelenting critic of English government and politics. Among the Dissenting element’s most prolific writers, Priestley’s theological and miscellaneous works, which alone compromise over twenty-six printed volumes and do not include his scientific writings, were well-respected and wellknown.1 Despite his work in chemistry, electricity, and physics or his publications highlighting his opposition to the politics of the English government and his approval of the American and French Revolutions, Priestley’s primary concern was with the inexorable movement of time to the fast approaching millennium.2 He saw this movement in the Americans’ quest for liberty and independence in the 1770s and he was convinced that the leaders of revolutionary France and later even Napoleon himself forecast the beginning of the end of time. For Priestley, Jewish conversion heralded Jesus’s Second Coming and the ignition of last days. Little did he know that once he tried to convince English Jews to convert, his arguments would be competently and courageously met by the Jew, David Levi, a poor shoemaker-turned-hatter, who forcefully and articulately revealed the underlying weaknesses of Priestley’s claims.
The French Revolution and Napoleon: Crucible of the Modern World. By Lynn Hunt and Jack R. Censer. (London, UK: Bloomsbury, 2017. Pp. xiii, 236. $24.99.)

Sixteen years after collaborating on an earlier survey, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, that celebrated the cultural turn in French Revolutionary historiography, Lynn Hunt and Jack R. Censer present...
Psychological Interventions for Late-life Insomnia: Current and Emerging Science.

Late-life insomnia is a serious medical condition associated with many untoward consequences. The high prevalence of late-life insomnia, along with the concomitant risks inherent in the use of hypnotic medications in older adults, necessitates non-pharmacological (i.e., psychological) treatment options. We aim to summarize and evaluate the state-of-the-science of psychological treatment options for late-life insomnia. Cumulative scientific evidence suggests the efficacy of psychological treatment of late-life insomnia. During the previous decade, trials of psychological treatments for insomnia have begun to test various modifications to treatments that have the potential to improve access for older adults, along with expanding their focus to include individuals with comorbid conditions that are common to older adults. While these modifications represent positive advances in the science of treatment for late-life insomnia, the evidence is still largely explanatory/efficacious in nature. Psychological strategies represent the best approaches for the treatment of late-life insomnia. Future investigations would be wise to progressively move towards increasingly pragmatic/effectiveness investigations, adding to the literature base regarding the treatment of late-life insomnia under usual/real-world conditions as opposed to ideal/artificial conditions.
Ramp initiation in fold-thrust belts: Insight from PIV analysis of sandbox models

Abstract Do forethrust ramps propagate up-section from the tip line of a detachment or do they initiate within the deforming strata, connecting later with the detachment? To address this question, we acquired cross-sectional digital images of a sand layer undergoing shortening, in a sandbox analog model. Analysis of a succession of images, using particle-image velocimetry (PIV), defines spatial and temporal variations in strain and vorticity in the sand layer during shortening. Results show that the foreland edge of layer-parallel shortening in the sand layer defines the location of the detachment's tip line, and that initiation of a new forethrust ramp begins within the layer above the detachment, well to the hinterland of the detachment tip. Once initiated, the ramp grows both up-dip and down-dip until it links to the detachment to define a new branch line. As the forethrust ramp grows, the position of the tip line of the active detachment migrates to the hinterland, so that previously active portions of the detachment stop slipping. Once the ramp intersects the detachment, displacement on the detachment to the foreland of the new branch line ceases temporarily, while slip on the ramp accommodates all shortening.
Developing a lessons library for teaching version control

This paper describes the process for developing a sharable lessons library to support cross-cutting concerns in a computer science curriculum. The approach supports the creation of lessons that can be shared across courses, that can be updated quickly as new technologies are introduced, that allow new faculty the benefits of tested lessons, and that allow the lessons to be taught in courses with students employing different operating systems, technology stacks, and development environments. Focusing on core outcomes, the lessons can be adapted as the field evolves. The paper applies the process to the development of a lesson library for teaching collaborative coding with Git, a distributed version control system, across a variety of courses.
Effect of nursing intervention for patients with hand skin defect treated by free skin flap transplantation

Objective To explore the effect of nursing intervention for patients with hand skin defect treated by free skin flap transplantation. Methods Eighty patients, who suffered hand skin defect and treated by the free flap transplantation in our hospital during the period of April 2012 to April 2013, were randomized into control group (routine nursing) and experimental group (nursing intervention) on average. The flap survival rate and nursing satisfaction degree in the two groups were observed and compared. Results Compared with the control group, the flap survival rate was significantly increased (97.5% vs 80.0%) and the satisfaction degree was obviously improved (92.5% vs 72.5%) in the experimental group with statistical difference (χ2=4.51, 5.54, respectively; P<0.05). Conclusions For the patients with hand skin defect, the effective nursing intervention during the treatment of free flap transplantation can significantly improve the flap survival rate and satisfaction degree, and is worthy of clinical promotion. Key words: Nursing care; Free flap transplantation; Hand skin defect
Extreme Low-Temperature Combustion Chemistry: Ozone-Initiated Oxidation of Methyl Hexanoate

The accelerating chemical effect of ozone addition on the oxidation chemistry of methyl hexanoate [CH3(CH2)4C(═O)OCH3] was investigated over a temperature range from 460 to 940 K. Using an externally heated jet-stirred reactor at p = 700 Torr (residence time τ = 1.3 s, stoichiometry φ = 0.5, 80% argon dilution), we explored the relevant chemical pathways by employing molecular-beam mass spectrometry with electron and single-photon ionization to trace the temperature dependencies of key intermediates, including many hydroperoxides. In the absence of ozone, reactivity is observed in the so-called low-temperature chemistry (LTC) regime between 550 and 700 K, which is governed by hydroperoxides formed from sequential O2 addition and isomerization reactions. At temperatures above 700 K, we observed the negative temperature coefficient (NTC) regime, in which the reactivity decreases with increasing temperatures, until near 800 K, where the reactivity increases again. Upon addition of ozone (1000 ppm), the overall reactivity of the system is dramatically changed due to the time scale of ozone decomposition in comparison to fuel oxidation time scales of the mixtures at different temperatures. While the LTC regime seems to be only slightly affected by the addition of ozone with respect to the identity and quantity of the observed intermediates, we observed an increased reactivity in the intermediate NTC temperature range. Furthermore, we observed experimental evidence for an additional oxidation regime in the range near 500 K, herein referred to as the extreme low-temperature chemistry (ELTC) regime. Experimental evidence and theoretical rate constant calculations indicate that this ELTC regime is likely to be initiated by H abstraction from methyl hexanoate via O atoms, which originate from thermal O3 decomposition. The theoretical calculations show that the rate constants for methyl ester initiation via abstraction by O atoms increase dramatically with the size of the methyl ester, suggesting that ELTC is likely not important for the smaller methyl esters. Experimental evidence is provided indicating that, similar to the LTC regime, the chemistry in the ELTC regime is dominated by hydroperoxide chemistry. However, mass spectra recorded at various reactor temperatures and at different photon energies provide experimental evidence of some differences in chemical species between the ELTC and the LTC temperature ranges.
Antimicrobial stewardship considerations in beef production

Stewards oversee and protect something of value. On the subject of antimicrobial drugs, veterinarians must be stewards of antimicrobial effectiveness and availability. Lack of antimicrobial effectiveness or loss of the use of antimicrobial drugs would lead to increased animal illness and suffering. Lack of antimicrobial effectiveness as a result of transfer of resistance genes from animal-carried bacteria to human pathogens would lead to increased human illness, and potentially to loss of confidence in veterinary care. Therefore, veterinarians need to continue to be stewards of antimicrobial drugs for human and animal health. Our lead professional associations have committed to antimicrobial stewardship with the approval of stewardship guidance: American Veterinary Medical Association Core Principles and American Association of Bovine Practitioners Key Elements.
The Color of Discretion: How Personal Characteristics of Urban Planners Affect Minority Communities

City planners are influential agents in shaping the culture of communities. Planners design short and long-term projects for housing, transportation, community conservation, and city expansion. They also are tasked with engaging the public on planning decisions such as hosting a town hall meeting. Although planners are vital to the political and social processes of community living, political science research on planning is scarce. Planner can be viewed as a bureaucrats situated in diverse, networked environments where they leverage information asymmetries to influence policy. Using the theory of representative bureaucracy, I observe how the individual characteristics of urban planners affect organizational policy. Data was collected from a survey of public city planners who participated in the Social Capital Benchmark Survey. I find evidence that gender and race are correlated to the organizational policies that positively affect communities of color.
Effective Preventive Care Management of Multiple Chronic Conditions

Clinical practice guidelines do not sufficiently address the needs of patients with multiple chronic conditions (MCC) as these guidelines focus on single disease management and ignore unique patient-specific conditions. As a result, a non-personalized approach for the management of the patients with MCC leads to adverse events and increases the financial burden on the health care system as over 150 million Americans experience MCC. To this end, we develop a stochastic modeling framework to personalize the management of MCC and provide an exact solution algorithm. We consider the optimal management of preventive care for an index disease (e.g., breast cancer, colorectal cancer, HIV, etc.) while accounting for the existence of a chronic condition (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, etc.) Our modeling framework is particularly useful for the cases where the chronic condition affects the risk of the index disease. In a case study using real breast cancer epidemiology data, we demonstrate how our modeling framework can be used to personalize breast cancer screening for women with type 2 diabetes. In addition to providing a personalized breast cancer screening schedule for diabetic women, we find some important policy insights that were not previously recognized by the medical community. More specifically, we find that compared to non-diabetic women, diabetic women should be screened less aggressively but screening should end at similar ages. We also find that adherence to the optimal screening policy is more crucial for diabetic women compared to non-diabetic women. Our main insight on screening recommendations also has important resource implications as it leads to fewer screening mammograms. That is, compared to the current national breast cancer screening guidelines, the optimal breast cancer screening policy for diabetic women could save the health care system approximately 2.6 million mammograms annually which translates to $405 million of annual cost savings.
Proton-hole induced bands in odd-odd Sb 1 1 8 , 1 2 0

Negative parity ..delta..J = 1 bands were observed in /sup 118,120/Sb with (/sup 7/Li,3n..gamma..) and (/sup 11/B,3n..gamma..) reactions. Bandhead and level spacing properties are consistent with the g/sub 9/2/ proton-hole collectivity and a decoupled h/sub 11/2/ neutron. These bands decay to the low-lying (..pi..d/sub 5/2/,..nu..h/sub 11/2/)/sup 8 -/ isomers via several high-spin states, one of which, 7/sup(/sup +/) in /sup 118/Sb, had a measured t/sub 1/2/ = 22.4 +- 0.5 ns. Comparisons to ..pi..g/sub 9/2/ /sup -1/ ..delta..J = 1 bands in odd-mass Sb nuclides are made.
Paleobiological Perspectives on Early Microbial Evolution

Microfossils, stromatolites, and chemical biosignatures indicate that Earth became a biological planet more than 3.5 billion years ago, making most of life's history microbial. Proterozoic rocks preserve a rich record of cyanobacteria, including derived forms that differentiate multiple cell types. Stromatolites, in turn, show that microbial communities covered the seafloor from tidal flats to the base of the photic zone. The Archean record is more challenging to interpret, particularly on the question of cyanobacterial antiquity, which remains to be resolved. In the late Neoproterozoic Era, increasing oxygen and radiating eukaryotes altered the biosphere, with planktonic algae gaining ecological prominence in the water column, whereas seaweeds and, eventually, animals spread across shallow seafloors. From a microbial perspective, however, animals, algae, and, later, plants simply provided new opportunities for diversification, and, to this day, microbial metabolisms remain the only essential components of biogeochemical cycles.
Visual cycle in the mammalian eye. Retinoid-binding proteins and the distribution of 11-cis retinoids

Abstract This work was designed to provide an insight into the mammalian visual cycle by investigating the possible function of retinoid-binding proteins in this system, and the distribution and type of 11-cis retinoids present in the interphotoreceptor matrix and the cytosols of the retinal pigment epithelium and retina. The total retinol and retinal in the soluble fractions from these three compartments was 8% (3.31 nmol/eye) of the retinyl palmitate and stearate stored in the pigment epithelium membrane fractions (39 nmol/eye). Only small amounts of retinoids were detected in the rod outer segment cytosol. The insoluble fractions also contained retinol, nearly all of which was found in the retina. The retinoids in the soluble fractions appeared to be bound to cellular retinol-binding protein (CRBP), cellular retinal-binding protein (CRA1BP) and interstitial retinol-binding protein (IRBP, a high-Mr glycoprotein). Using immunospecific precipitation, immunoblot and immunocytochemical techniques it was demonstrated that IRBP was localized in the interphotoreceptor matrix and was synthesized and secreted by the retina, a process that did not require the protein to be glycosylated. The amount of retinol bound to IRBP increased if the eyes were exposed to light, when it was estimated that the protein carried up to 30% of its full capacity for all-trans retinol. In addition to all-trans retinol, IRBP carried smaller amounts of 11-cis retinol. The proportion of 11-cis retinol was frequently higher in eyes that had been protected from illumination, suggesting that IRBP plays a role in rhodopsin regeneration during dark-adaptation. Additionally, endogenous 11-cis retinoids in the retina and RPE cytosols were bound to an Mr 33,000 protein tentatively identified as CRA1BP. The 11-cis retinoid in the retina cytosol was mainly in the form of retinol, while in the RPE cytosol it was mainly in the form of retinal. Substantial amounts of 11-cis retinol were also found in the insoluble (membrane) fraction from the retina. It is suggested that in the mammalian retina 11-cis retinol is generated from all-trans retinol (possibly in the Muller cells). Lack of an 11-cis retinol oxidoreductase in the retina prevents it from being utilized for rhodopsin regeneration until it has been transported to the pigment epithelium, where it is converted to 11-cis retinal and returned to the rod outer segments. It is also suggested that IRBP may be implicated in the transport of retinoids between the rod outer segments, the Muller cells and the pigment epithelium. Proteins that are immunoreactive with anti-bovine IRBP have Mr grouped between 124,000 and 144,000 in amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Two species of teleost fish had a similar immunoreactive protein in their IPM, but the Mr was about half that of the other species, i.e. 67,000.
Boundaries as Contours of Optimal Appearance and Area of Support

Bayesian boundary models often assume that the evidence for each contour is derived from the entire image. Consequently, the normalization term in the Bayes rule is the same for every contour and becomes irrelevant when seeking the optimal. However, in practice these models only use the vicinity of a contour, making the normalization term contour-specific. We propose a formulation that acknowledges the normalization term and includes it in the optimization. We show that it can be interpreted as a confidence measure promoting contours which are far better than other nearby candidate contours. We validate our approach in an interactive boundary delineation setting and demonstrate that complex boundaries can be extracted with significantly smaller amount of user input than when traditional Bayesian models are employed.
A random-field model for ferroelectric domain dynamics: analysis by stretched exponential functions

Polarization reversal and domain dynamics have been investigated in 0.7Pb(Mg/sub 1/3/Nb/sub 2/3/)O/sub 3/-0.3PbTiO/sub 3/ using a method of current transients. Investigations were performed as a function of applied electric field. The kinetics of the transients have been modeled to a stretched exponential type function. We believe that nucleation of polar clusters with a reversed polarization occurs under applied field in the vicinity of randomly quenched defects.
Ionic Liquids in Analytical Chemistry, Edited by Dr. Mihkel Koel

An ionic liquid is a salt-like material that forms stable liquids below 100°C. The entities comprising an ionic liquid are predominantly ions and ion-pairs. Ionic liquids are miscible with water or...
Abstract P1-10-03: NSABP B-43 is unlikely to produce a cost-effective treatment strategy for HER2+ DCIS

Background. National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-43 is an ongoing randomized clinical trial that compares breast conserving surgery, radiation therapy, and two infusions of trastuzumab to breast-conserving surgery and radiation only for HER2+ ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). We sought to identify, from a societal perspective, the level of risk reduction observed in this trial that would be required to make treating HER2+ DCIS patients with trastuzumab cost-effective. Methods. We developed a Markov decision-analytic model to evaluate these treatment strategies in terms of life expectancy, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), costs, and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) over 15 years. The results of NSABP B-43 are pending. We therefore assumed the hazard reduction to be 36%, based on the statistical considerations of the trial protocol and explored this in sensitivity analyses. A series of one and two-way sensitivity tests were conducted. Results. The baseline ICER for switching from a breast-conserving surgery and radiation strategy without trastuzumab treatment to a breast-conserving surgery and radiation strategy with trastuzumab treatment is $1.57 million per life-year gained and $299,616.73 per QALY gained. Compared to a societal willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000 per QALY gained, adding Herceptin treatment is not cost-effective in the treatment of DCIS under these baseline conditions. In a one-way sensitivity test, we found that the Herceptin strategy only became cost-effective at an 88.3% risk reduction for local recurrence. The model was not sensitive to any costs or probabilities within 20% of baseline values. The model was sensitive to the utilities of having had breast-conserving surgery and radiation with and without trastuzumab treatment. It was not sensitive to other utilities within 0.05 of baseline values. Conclusions. High risk DCIS treated with breast-conserving surgery and radiation has a low risk of local recurrence as demonstrated in multiple randomized trials. The addition of a costly drug in order to reduce this small risk further is very unlikely to be cost-effective and could be considered overtreatment of a non-fatal disease that is sufficiently managed with local treatment. Prospective cost-effectiveness analyses have the potential to guide allocation of valuable resources for breast cancer research, and should be regularly integrated into the protocol design of large clinical trials. Citation Format: Michael D Alvarado, Mitchell T Hayes, Rajni Sethi, Elissa Ozanne. NSABP B-43 is unlikely to produce a cost-effective treatment strategy for HER2+ DCIS [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2014 Dec 9-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(9 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-10-03.
Ramm- und Ziehgeräte

Die zum Rammen und Ziehen ublichen Gerate sind eine Kombination aus Rammen oder Ziehgeraten in Verbindung mit einem Tragergerat. Dies konnen Hydraulikbagger oder Seilbagger sein. Gerammt und gezogen werden Spundbohlen, Tragerprofile und Rohre, die zur Absicherung von Erdkorpern, Baugruben und Graben dienen. Rammgerate sind heute uberwiegend hydraulisch angetriebene Vibrationsrammen die mit gerichteten Schwingungen auf das Rammgut wirken. Durch eine stufenlose Regelung kann die Vibrationsenergie den verschiedenartigen Bodenarten angepasst werden. Vibrationrammen konnen auch zum Ziehen von Profilen verwendet werden. Mit der notigen Zugkraft des Tragergerates und gleichzeitigem Einwirken der Vibration wird der Reibungswiderstand am Rammgut uberwunden und der Ziehvorgang moglich.
Binary to quaternary encoding in clocked CMOS circuits using weak buffer

A binary-to-quaternary encoder is presented for four-valued signaling of buses in clocked CMOS integrated circuits. It uses a new CMOS circuit called the weak buffer. A weak buffer takes a conventional binary input and produces two stable output voltage levels of intermediate magnitudes that lie between the conventional 0 and 1 levels for binary circuits. Thus, the conventional binary voltage levels and the output levels of the weak buffer constitute a set of quaternary logic values. The encoder uses a binary-to-quaternary mapping different from the mappings used by other such encoder designs. Use of the new mapping and the weak buffer leads to 30%-56% savings in transistor count compared with previously reported designs. SPICE simulation results verifying its operation are presented. It is fairly insensitive to small variations in process parameters, and hence suitable for practical use. The circuit has been layed out using MAGIC and has been submitted to MOSIS for fabrication. >
Effects of Running Distance and Performance on Incident Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Purpose: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is generally not considered a preventable condition. Our goal is to assess whether running (a vigorous physical activity) and 10-km race performance (an indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness) reduce BPH risk. Methods: Prospective cohort study of incident BPH in 28,612 nonsmoking, nonvegetarian, nondiabetic men. Results: The 1899 men (6.64%) reported physician-diagnosed incident BPH during (mean +/- SD) 7.74 +/- 1.84 yr of follow-up. Survival analyses showed significantly lower risk with both longer distance run (km[middle dot]wk-1; P =4.0 m[middle dot]s-1) had 32% lower risk than the slowest men ( =4 m[middle dot]s-1) having significantly lower risk than the penultimate fastest category (3.5-4.0 m[middle dot]s-1; P = 0.03). The decline in BPH risk with running distance was independent of performance. BPH incidence was more strongly related to the average of the baseline and the follow-up distance run than to concurrent changes in running distance between baseline and follow-up. Incident BPH was significantly lower in men who ran >16 than 32 than 16-32 km[middle dot]wk-1 (P = 0.02), and >48 than 32-48 km[middle dot]wk-1 (P = 0.04). Conclusions: Greater distances run per week may reduce BPH risk independent of BMI, 10-km performance, and diet. If the relationship is causal, then this health benefit accrues at greater exercise doses and intensities than the minimum guideline levels currently recommended.
Direct detection of neutralino dark matter in nonstandard cosmologies

We compute the neutralino direct detection rate in nonstandard cosmological scenarios where neutralinos account for the dark matter of the Universe. Significant differences are found when such rates are compared with those predicted by the standard cosmological model. For b-ino-like neutralinos, the main feature is the presence of additional light (m Χ ≤ 40 GeV) and heavy (m Χ ≥ 600 GeV) neutralinos with detection rates within the sensitivity of future dark matter experiments. For Higgsino-like and W-ino-like neutralinos lighter than m Χ ∼ 1 TeV, enhancements of more than 2 orders of magnitude in the largest detection rates are observed. Thus, if dark matter is made up of neutralinos, the prospects for their direct detection are in general more promising than in the standard cosmology.
THE MUTATION RATE IN DROSOPHILA AFTER HIGH DOSES OF GAMMA RADIATION.

Data are presented from a study of the sex-linked mutation rate in mature sperm of D. melanogaster at seven dosage levels of cobalt-60 gamma radiation in the 300 r to 12.5 kr range. Lethal chromosomes from ihe lowest and highest doses were analyzed genetically, and the results are compatible with the interpretation that a Poisson-like accumulation of lethal mutations occurred throughout this dosage range, with an average increase of 2 per cent lethal mutations per kr. (auth)
Water Stress and Protein Synthesis III. Subcellular Distribution of Inhibition of Protein Synthesis

Summary Water stress — induced inhibition of total protein synthesis in Avena coleoptile sections is well distributed among all the subcellular fractions examined. Results are discussed in the light of known effects of water stress. The potential use of the technique employed is also discussed.
Oxygen electrode characteristics of Pr2NiO4 + δ-infiltrated porous (La0.9Sr0.1)(Ga0.8Mg0.2)O3–δ

Abstract Pr2NiO4 + δ was wet infiltrated into porous LSGM scaffolds to form solid oxide cell oxygen electrodes on LSGM-electrolyte symmetrical cells. The minimum calcination temperature required to form this nickelate phase was between 950 °C and 1000 °C. X-ray diffraction measurements of electrodes tested at 650 °C showed little evidence of any phase change, in contrast to 650 °C annealed Pr2NiO4 + δ powders that decomposed to Pr4Ni3O10 and Pr6O11. Polarization resistance followed an Arrhenius temperature dependence with an activation barrier of 1.40 eV, and a value as low as 0.11 Ω ∙ cm2 was observed at 650 °C for a Pr2NiO4 + δ loading of 14 vol.%. The present resistance values appear to be the lowest reported to date for a Ruddlesden–Popper phase electrode, and are competitive with perovskite-structure electrodes. The low resistance, combined with the good stability of infiltrated Pr2NiO4 + δ and the advantages of being Co- and Sr-free, make this an exciting new contender for intermediate-temperature solid oxide cell applications.
Comparison of the dimensional accuracy of a combined reversible/irreversible hydrocolloid impression system with other commonly used impression materials.

Summary An investigation was conducted to compare the difference in dimensional accuracy of a combined reversible/irreversible hydrocolloid impression system and the dimensional accuracies of other commonly used impression systems. No statistically significant difference's were found between the measurements of the various materials tested and those of the master model, which leads to the conclusion that the dimensional accuracies of all the materials tested were similar. The advantages and disadvantages of each material observed during the study were reported.
Legal Readings: Employee Interpretation and Mobilization of Law

Organizational scholars have studied the impact of employment law on the structure of formal organizations but have given little attention to how law affects everyday life within work organizations. Here we propose a “legal readings model” of how law is received and mobilized by employees. This posits that law within organizations is composed of employees' beliefs about law and mobilization of law, which develop from interaction with employers' law-related actions. Employees' legal readings function much like a prism, redirecting legal rules in multiple and sometimes unanticipated directions.
Effect of cigarette smoking on coronary patency after thrombolytic therapy for myocardial infarction

Abstract Smokers have been reported to have an improved short-term prognosis after myocardial infarction when compared with nonsmokers. This study examines the effect of smoking status on infarct-related artery potency, a determinant of outcome, following thrombolytic therapy for aade myocardial infarction (AMI). To evaluate potency outcome by smoking status, the database of the Secand Thrombolytic Trial of Eminase in Acute Myocardial Infarction was reviewed, and baseline characteristics were compared with infarct-related artery potency early (90 to 240 minutes) after thrombolysis in smokers versus nonsmokers. Smokers were younger (mean age 53 vs 59 years, p = 0.0001), more likely to be men (86 vs 73%, p = 0.008), nonnotensive (74 vs 58%, p = 0.004), to have an inferior infarction (66 vs 51%, p = 0.007), and tended to have higher hematocrits and fibrinogen levels than nonsmokers. Smokers had a significantly greater chance of achieving complete perfusion (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction trial grade 3) (66 vs 51% p = 0.007) than nonsmokers, although the combination of grades 2 and 3 did not differ. After correcting for imbalances in baseline and angiographic variables, multivariate logistic regression identified smoking (odds ratio 1.8, p = 0.01) and infarct location (odds ratio 1.7, p = 0.03) as independent predictors of achieving grade 3 flow. The independent predictive component of smoking for achieving grade 3 potency after thrombolysis suggests the hypothesis that more active thrombogenic mechanisms may be operative in smokers, leading to a larger thrombus component that is more susceptible to lytic therapy.