cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Facing an uncertain future: A prospective analysis of trade policy on coastal communities in northwest Newfoundland

Abstract The Great Northern Peninsula (GNP) of Newfoundland has undergone much social and economic change since the downturn in the groundfish fishery in the early 1990s. The Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) has been promoted as one area of opportunity for revitalizing the GNP but the short and long-term effects of the agreement are not yet known. Assessing the impact of CETA on domestic fishery policy and coastal communities requires a comprehensive examination of the region's governance, as well as an understanding of the entire fisheries system. Following interactive governance theory, this study examines how CETA, as a transnational economic institution, interacts with the existing governing systems at the national, provincial, and regional levels. It further explores the effects that this trade agreement might have on the viability of coastal communities in the GNP, given the natural and social characteristics of the fisheries systems. The research reveals that although the principles and policies of CETA do not directly influence fisheries management, it has implications for the governing system of the region. Specifically, CETA affects the function and structure of the governing system through increased market access and domestic policy changes, with the latter contributing to modifying the interactions between the governing system and coastal communities. Further attention is needed on how local and regional governance systems can build capacity to leverage benefits and minimize potential negative impacts from new modern economic institutional arrangements, like CETA.
Cyclical Regression Covariates remove the major confounding effect of cyclical developmental gene expression with strain-specific drug response in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum

Background: The cyclical nature of parasite gene expression in the intraerythrocytic development cycle (IDC) in human blood confounds the accurate detection of specific transcriptional differences due to drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum. Here, we propose the use of cyclical regression covariates to eliminate the major confounding of developmentally driven transcriptional changes with changes due to drug response. We show that elimination of this confounding can reduce both Type I and Type II errors, and demonstrate the effect of approach on real data. Results: We apply this method to two publicly available datasets, and demonstrate its ability to reduce the potential confounding of differences in expression due the species-specific intraerythrocytic development cycle from strain-specific differences in drug response. We show that the application of cyclical regression covariates has minimal impact on the pool of transcripts identified as significantly different in a dataset generated from single timepoint clinical blood samples with low variance for developmental stage and a profound impact on another clinical data set with more variance among the samples for developmental stage. Conclusions: Cyclical regression covariates have immediate application to studies where in-vitro synchronization of all samples to the same developmental timepoint is not feasible, primarily parasite transcriptome sequencing direct from clinical blood samples, a widely used approach to frontline detection of emerging drug resistance.
Permittivity of 3D Printed NinjaFlex Filament for use in Conformal Antenna Designs up to 20 GHz

NinjaFlex is a flexible (compliant) 3D printing filament which allows the creation of non-rigid objects. Flexible substrates are valuable for antenna design; from consumer products to avionics to biomedical applications, conformality allows antennas to perform in new locations. Key to the antenna design and simulation process are the material properties of the non-conductive substrate layer. To inform and support the design of microwave antennas at higher frequencies, we present a material preparation and measurement method as well as permittivity results for NinjaFlex filament at various infill densities, at frequencies up to 20 GHz.
Using Evidence: A Nursing Assessment Protocol for Acute Geropsychiatric Patients

Introduction:The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 20% of the United States population lives with at least one mental health issue. The most common mental illn...
Cooperative Multirobot Systems for Military Applications

We seek to review recent and current research efforts by the US military in the field of robotics. We present background on research arms and current overall strategy in developing autonomous and robotic systems. We also discuss specific projects undertaken by the different research arms and service branches. The US military has widely used remote piloted systems for 25 years. That has shifted to systems that are capable of autonomous deployment and navigation but are overseen by human operators. Current research thrusts include increasing the amount of decision-making these systems are capable of and allowed to make. Recent research also focuses on developing new and novel tactics enabled by autonomous systems and ensuring that these systems can work well with each other and with human teammates. Robotics and autonomous systems are central to the long-term plans of the U.S. Military. Each service branch is pursuing research according to its mission and culture. Multirobot systems and increased levels of autonomy are key research thrusts, though human oversight will remain for the near future.
Disclosure of Private Environmental Governance Risks

This Article identifies a gap in the securities disclosure regime for climate change and demonstrates how filling the gap can improve financial disclosures while accelerating climate change mitigation. Private climate initiatives have proliferated in the last decade. Often led by advocacy groups, these private climate initiatives have used naming-and-shaming campaigns and other means to induce investors, lenders, insurers, retail customers, corporate supply chain customers, and employees to pressure firms to make and implement climate change mitigation commitments. Based on an empirical assessment of the annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Fortune 100 firms and the largest firms in several fossil fuel-heavy sectors, the Article concludes that roughly a third of these firms disclose the risks and opportunities posed by private climate initiatives. But the assessment also finds that disclosures vary substantially among similar firms and among similar sectors. The Article argues that this heterogeneity in disclosure is not surprising given that the SEC’s 2010 climate guidance and other disclosure regimes do not call sufficient attention to private climate initiatives, and many lawyers, accountants, business managers, and policymakers were trained to think of environmental risks only in the context of government regulatory measures. The securities disclosure literature focuses principally on whether non-material climate risks should be disclosed, but in so doing it overlooks the importance of the material risks and opportunities posed by private climate initiatives. Revisions to the SEC guidance and other disclosure regimes to account for private initiatives can be adopted more quickly, produce more complete financial disclosures, and yield greater and more durable emissions reductions than many other regulatory approaches.
Thirty Minutes Before the Dawn

The Trinity test of July 16, 1945, marked the scientific apex of the Manhattan Project. Often recognized as the symbolic birth of the nuclear age, Trinity’s multifaceted legacy remains just as capt...
The Apparent Dilational Viscoelastic Properties of Fluid Interfaces

Abstract Previous experimental data concerning the dilational rheological properties of fluid interfaces in longitudinal wave surface viscometers are reexamined in order to obtain new values of the compositional surface elasticity of surfactant solutions. Values of the elasticity as well as other equation of state parameters determined from these dynamic measurements are compared with thermodynamic values. The results are encouraging. The present analysis considers the effect of the surfactant adsorption-desorption rate processes in longitudinal wave experiments. The present analysis may be considered as an extension of the earlier work of Lucassen and van den Tempel and more recent work of Goodrich to monolayers, both of which are limited to diffusion-controlled cases.
Assessment of stormwater impacts on an urban stream with a detention pond.

Impacts of urban development on a small creek with an on-stream stormwater pond, which was built to mitigate the effects of a 13-ha commercial plaza on creek flows, were assessed by investigations of the creek-pond system hydrology, water and sediment chemistry and toxicity, and benthic communities. The hydrology and conventional pollutant loadings of this system were dominated by the creek catchment (4.5 km 2 ), which contributed more than 95% of the total flow; the rest was contributed by the plaza runoff which was less polluted than typical residential runoff. Conventional bioassays ( Daphnia magna , Microtox™) did not indicate any confirmed acute toxicity in the creek flow, plaza drainage, or pond outflow. However, sediments accumulated in the pond were rather polluted and several sediment bioassays (including Sediment Microtox™) indicated their severe toxicity. In benthic community assessments, taxa richness and total counts of benthic organisms did not change much when moving from upstream to downstream of the pond. Thus, the pond accumulates sediments and toxicants and thereby prevents further degradation of the creek condition downstream of the plaza drainage outfall.
AND/OR branch-and-bound search for pure 0/1 integer linear programming problems

AND/OR search spaces have recently been introduced as a unifying paradigm for advanced algorithmic schemes for graphical models. The main virtue of this representation is its sensitivity to the structure of the model, which can translate into exponential time savings for search algorithms. In this paper we extend the recently introduced AND/OR Branch-and-Bound algorithm (AOBB) [1] for solving pure 0/1 Integer Linear Programs [2]. Since the variable selection can have a dramatic impact on search performance, we introduce a new dynamic AND/OR Branch-and-Bound algorithm able to accommodate variable ordering heuristics. The effectiveness of the dynamic AND/OR approach is demonstrated on a variety of benchmarks for pure 0/1 integer programming, including instances from the MIPLIB library, real-world combinatorial auctions and random uncapacitated warehouse location problems.
A new pteridine from Tetrahymena.

Abstract Ciliapterin, a new unconjugated pteridine, has been isolated from the ciliated protozoan, Tetrahymena pyriformis. It has been determined by alkaline permanganate oxidation to be a 2-amino-4-hydroxy-6-substituted pteridine and by acid hydrolytic treatment to possess no labile bonds (such as glycosidic or phosphoester). The substitution at position 6 is dihydroxypropyl, as shown by the identification of acetaldehyde as one of the products of periodate oxidation. Although its absorbance spectrum is identical with that of biopterin, its fluorescence and activation spectra are similar, but not identical, with those of biopterin. Mobilities on paper with a number of solvent systems and its elution patterns from cation and anion exchange columns together with its biological activity in the Crithidia system indicate that it is 2-amino-4-hydroxy-6-(threo-dihydroxypropyl)pteridine. Its biological activity suggests that it may be the l-threo compound. The origin of this pteridine has been shown, by the use of both guanine-2-14C and uniformly labeled guanosine monophosphate-14C in the culture medium, to be entirely from guanosine. No hydroxymethylpteridine could be detected, indicating the inability of this organism to produce the pteridine precursor of folic acid.
Selective Replication of Bacteriophage φ29 Deoxyribonucleic Acid in 6-(p-Hydroxyphenylazo)-Uracil-Treated Bacillus subtilis

Abstract Phage 29 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) replicated under conditions where semiconservative DNA production in Bacillus subtilis host cells was blocked with 6-(p-hydroxyphenylazo)-uracil (HPUra). The time of initiation of 29 DNA replication was not affected by HPUra, and normal quantities of viable phage were produced in the presence of the inhibitor. Studies with conditional lethal mutants of phage 29 demonstrated the usefulness of HPUra for detection of viral-specific DNA production.
Space Colonization Using Space‐Elevators from Phobos

A novel approach is examined for creating an industrial civilization beyond Earth. The approach would take advantage of the unique configuration of Mars and its moon Phobos to make a transportation system capable of raising mass from the surface of Mars to space at a low cost. Mars would be used as the primary location for support personnel and infrastructure. Phobos would be used as a source of raw materials for space‐based activity, and as an anchor for tethered carbon‐nanotube‐based space‐elevators. One space‐elevator would terminate at the upper edge of Mars’ atmosphere. Small craft would be launched from Mars’ surface to rendezvous with the moving elevator tip and their payloads detached and raised with solar powered loop elevators to Phobos. Another space‐elevator would be extended outward from Phobos to launch craft toward the Earth/Moon system or the asteroid belt. The outward tip would also be used to catch arriving craft. This approach would allow Mars to be colonized, and allow transportation of people and supplies from Mars to support the space industry. In addition, large quantities of material obtained from Phobos could be used to construct space habitats and also supply propellant and material for space industry in the Earth/Moon system as well as around Mars.
Water permeation and dielectric breakdown. Water permeability in Pub Tedlar. Pub/Tedlar as a function of temperature and humidity

Moisture transport and dielectric breakdown of polyvinyl butyral (PVB), Tedlar, and PVB/Tedlar composites were addressed. Data for the temperature range between 20 and 80 C showed that the moisture flux through the composite is governed by the slower material; and that the composite permeability is intermediate to those of the component material, as predicted by theory. Data for Tedlar at 71 C, showing the dependence of moisture flux on relative humidity, was also presented. Dielectric breakdown data were less precise and less conclusive. The generally applied theoretical model does not match the experimental data. The PVB/Tedlar composite exhibited greater voltage breakdown resistance than either component. Testing of EVA and EVA/Tedlar composites is underway.
β-Amyloid Mediated Nitration of Manganese Superoxide Dismutase: Implication for Oxidative Stress in a APPNLh/NLh X PS-1P264L/P264L Double Knock-In Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease is a multifactorial, progressive, age-related neurodegenerative disease. In familial Alzheimer's disease, Aβ is excessively produced and deposited because of mutations in the amyloid precursor protein, presenilin-1, and presenilin-2 genes. Here, we generated a double homozygous knock-in mouse model that incorporates the Swedish familial Alzheimer's disease mutations and converts mouse Aβ to the human sequence in amyloid precursor protein and had the P264L familial Alzheimer's disease mutation in presenilin-1. We observed Aβ deposition in double knock-in mice beginning at 6 months as well as an increase in the levels of insoluble Aβ1-40/1-42. Brain homogenates from 3-, 6-, 9-, 12-, and 14-month-old mice showed that protein levels of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) were unchanged in the double knock-in mice compared to controls. Genotype-associated increases in nitrotyrosine levels were observed. Protein immunoprecipitation revealed MnSOD as a target of this nitration. Although the levels of MnSOD protein did not change, MnSOD activity and mitochondrial respiration decreased in knock-in mice, suggesting compromised mitochondrial function. The compromised activity of MnSOD, a primary antioxidant enzyme protecting mitochondria, may explain mitochondrial dysfunction and provide the missing link between Aβ-induced oxidative stress and Alzheimer's disease.
Pioneer 10, 11 observations of evolving solar wind streams and shocks beyond 1 AU

Observations between 1 and 5 AU by Pioneers 10 and 11 have led to the identification of large numbers of interplanetary shocks. Both forward and reverse shocks, which begin to develop beyond 1.5 AU and which frequently appear as shock pairs, are found to accompany solar wind streams. The number of forward shocks continues to increase out to at least 5 AU. Reverse shocks are seen less often than forward shocks and, in some instances, disappear at larger distances. There is evidence that the shocks are corotating in the solar frame, as anticipated theoretically. The evolution of solar wind streams beyond 1 AU is profoundly affected by the shocks. A thick interaction region, with large enhancements in density, temperature, field strength and fluctuation level, forms in the region originally characterized by a positive velocity gradient. The solar wind and magnetic field properties adjacent to, and within, the interaction regions have been studied to determine their qualitative behavior and characteristic changes with distance. Several interplanetary shocks generated by solar flares have also been identified and analyzed.
Triviality and Higgs Mass Bounds: A Status Report

We present a survey of theoretical bounds on the masses of the Higgs boson and the top quark, focussing on the results that stem from triviality. Background material is supplied in the form of a review of the hypercolor/technicolor alternative—with its freedom from triviality—to the canonical methodology; the clumsy theoretical structure of the scenario is underlined and the temptation to wield Ockham’s razor is noted; that the subject is nonetheless of great experimental interest is also emphasized. Included in the extended introductory remarks is a brief exegesis of the subject of triviality; the purpose is to shed light on some aspects that lend themselves to clarification, and thereby eliminate misconceptions that have been the source of much pointless disputation; while this still leaves the bulk of the subject shrouded in darkness, it permits identification of a rich assortment of challenges and opportunities.
Flexible, Dye-Sensitized Nanocrystalline Solar Cells Employing Biocatalytically Synthesized Polymeric Electrolytes

A variety of tethered PEGylated polymers were synthesized using a mild, environmentally benign, and highly selective biocatalytic approach for preparing a quasi-solid electrolyte system for dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cells (DSSC). The biocatalytic approach developed is based on immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B (Novozyme-435)-catalyzed copolymerization reactions; the polymeric materials thus-obtained were further functionalized with hydrophobic and hydrophilic side chains using mild chemical reactions. All these polymeric materials were used in formulating quasi-solid electrolyte compositions and incorporated into flexible DSSCs, and solar conversion efficiency of as high as 4.6% was obtained.
Horace A.P . 128–30: The Intent of the Wording *

CO. Brink's discussion of these lines takes five pages in the body of his commentary, and is continued in an appendix of nine pages at the end. But the passage has for so long caused such sore vexation that his treatment of it seems actually compendious rather than long, and deserves our gratitude. With the main part of his solution, which is to understand communia as ‘generalities to which individual features must be given’ (p. 196), I fully agree.
Capturing the Roles of Attraction and Shape in Nonpolar Solvation

We present a new approach to computer modeling of solvation free energies of oil in water. Informed by the behavior of TIP3P waters around simple Lennard-Jones spheres, Semi-Explicit assembly is a fast implicit approach for computing the nonpolar solvation properties of arbitrary solutes. By summing interactions from whole regions of the solute molecule, this method solves problems that appear as nonadditivities in traditional γ A approaches. Semi-Explicit assembly involves little parameter fitting because the solute and water properties come from existing force fields. We test the predictions on alkanes, alkynes, linear and planar polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and on a general set of 504 molecules previously explored by explicit solvent simulations. We find that not all hydrocarbons are the same. Hydrocarbons have ‘hot spots’, places where first-shell waters interact more strongly with the molecule than at other locations. By accounting for these ‘hot spots’, Semi-Explicit assembly attains the physical accuracies of explicit solvent models, but because of the pre-computations and the regional additivities, it is nearly as fast to compute as γ A methods.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint Slide
Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer of the Discriminative Stimulus Effects of Nicotine and Ethanol in Rats

To date, only 1 study has evaluated the impact of a Pavlovian drug conditional stimulus (CS) on operant responding. A within-subject operant 1-lever go/no-go (across sessions) design was used to evaluate the impact of Pavlovian contingencies on the discriminative stimulus effects of nicotine (0.4 mg/kg) and ethanol (800 mg/kg) in male Sprague Dawley rats. Drugs were administered 10 min before each acquisition and test session. One drug predicted sessions of food reinforcement and the other drug predicted sessions of non reinforcement; stimulus roles were counterbalanced. In Experiment 1 (n = 7), operant lever pressing was initially maintained on a VI-30 s schedule of food reinforcement. This phase was followed by 20 (CS+ vs. CS-) Pavlovian drug discrimination training sessions without the levers present. Two extinction tests revealed significantly more operant lever pressing under the CS+ drug conditions compared to the CS- drug conditions, suggesting evidence for Pavlovian-instrumental transfer. Operant training significantly strengthened stimulus control. In Experiment 2 (n = 7), the drugs functioned as operant drug discriminative stimuli first. Next, the predictive roles of the drug S D s and S Δ S were reversed under Pavlovian CS- and CS+ contingencies, respectively. The original stimulus control was significantly undermined but was not reversed. These studies suggest that Pavlovian drug-reinforcer contingencies embedded within the operant 3-term contingency may play a partial role in mediating the discriminative stimulus effects of drugs.
Additive bijections of C(X)

For compact Hausdorff spaces X and Y, the Stone–Banach theorem asserts that surjective linear isometries H:C(X)→C(Y) are of the form Hf(y)=f(h(y))H1(y) (f∈C(X),y∈Y and 1(x)≡1) where h:Y→X is a homeomorphism and |H1(y)|≡1. Omitting the requirements that h be a homeomorphism and that |H1(y)|≡1, maps of this type f↦(f∘h)H1 are called `weighted composition maps' where H1∈C(Y) is the `weight' function. Instead of K=R or C, suppose (K,||) is a valued field. We now consider K-valued continuous functions C(X,K) and C(Y,K). Now linear isometries H:C(X,K)→C(Y,K) may take different forms. Indeed, if (K,||) is non-Archimedean (i.e., |a+b|≤max(|a|,|b|)), a linear isometry H:C(X,K)→C(Y,K) is a weighted composition if and only if it is separating in the sense that, for all f,g∈C(X,K),fg=0⇒HfHg=0. We weaken linear to additive and isometry to separating bijection and consider what forms such a bijection H:C(X,K)→C(Y,K) can have for K=R,C or a non-Archimedean valued field. We show in Theorem 18 that an additive separating bijection H:C(X,K)→C(Y,K) is automatically continuous; it is a weighted composition map with a homeomorphism if K=R or Qp the p-adic numbers) and `almost' a weighted composition if K=C (see Theorem 18(b)).
Light scattering from an irregular particle behind a plane interface

A formulation is derived by which the light scattered from an irregular particle behind a plane interface can be found. The only knowledge required of the particle is its scattering coefficients when the plane interface is not present. It is sufficiently general that the particle can be composed of inhomogeneous media or of multiple subparticles. The solution is derived by expanding the fields in terms of vector spherical harmonics and translating them between the coordinate systems of the particle and the image particle. In this way, the boundary conditions on both the particle and the plane interface can be satisfied. Scattering curves from small spheroids behind an interface are used to illustrate the theory.
Evaluating the morphological competence of children with severe speech and physical impairments.

Reports present mixed findings on the extent to which the development of receptive language skills in children with severe speech and physical impairments (SSPI) is compromised by their difficulty with speaking (V. W. Berninger & B. M. Gans, 1986; D. V. M. Bishop, B. Byers Brown, & J. Robson, 1990; O. Udwin & W. Yule, 1990). In this study, grammaticality judgments were used to measure the sensitivity of 4 school-age children with SSPI to different morphological errors. These errors included violations of agreement between the subject and auxiliary verbs (e.g., she are falling), the marking of aspect (e.g., she is play the horn), and the marking of past tense on regular and irregular verbs (e.g., he jump, he fall, he falled). Performance of the participants with SSPI was compared to groups of typically developing children and adults. Results indicated that children in the SSPI and control groups made similar judgments. All groups showed high levels of sensitivity to agreement violations, aspect-marking err...
Abelian group pairs having a trivial coGalois group

Torsion-free covers are considered for objects in the category q2. Objects in the category q2 are just maps in R-Mod. For R = ℤ, we find necessary and sufficient conditions for the coGalois group G(A → B), associated to a torsion-free cover, to be trivial for an object A → B in q2. Our results generalize those of E. Enochs and J. Rado for abelian groups.
Long‐Term Habitat Selection and Chronic Root Herbivory: Explaining the Relationship between Periodical Cicada Density and Tree Growth

Abstract: Periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.) are insect herbivores that feed on host tree roots, but their distribution among hosts is determined largely by the oviposition of female cicadas in the previous generation. A pattern of decreasing tree growth rates with increasing cicada densities is predicted when considering the costs of chronic root herbivory, but the opposite pattern is expected when considering adaptive habitat selection. Here, we report observations indicating that the relationship between periodical cicada densities and host tree growth rates is hump shaped. We suggest that both herbivory and habitat selection are likely to be key processes explaining this pattern, resulting in regions of positive and negative correlation. These results suggest that the effects of cicada herbivory are most apparent at relatively high cicada densities, while habitat selection tends to distribute cicada herbivory on host trees that are able to compensate for cicada root herbivory up to threshold cicada ...
Influencing solvent miscibility and aqueous stability of aluminum nanoparticles through surface functionalization with acrylic monomers.

With growing interest in the development of new composite systems for a variety of applications that require easily processable materials and adequate structural properties with high energy densities, we have pursued the chemical functionalization of oxide-passivated aluminum nanoparticles (nAl) using three acrylic monomers, 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS), 2-carboxyethyl acrylate (CEA), and phosphonic acid 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate ester (PAM), to provide chemical compatibility within various solvent and polymeric systems. Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy suggest that attachment of MPS and PAM monomers occurs through the formation of bonds directly to the passivated oxide surface upon reaction with surface hydroxyls, whereas CEA monomers interact through the formation of ionic carboxylate binding to aluminum atoms within the oxide. The coated particles demonstrate enhanced miscibility in common organic solvents and monomers; MPS and PAM coatings are additionall...
Hospitalized patients and alcohol: who is being missed?

Research and clinical experience have shown that alcohol use disorders are neither sufficiently identified nor addressed in hospitalized patients. This study sought to quantify and localize these missed opportunities. The setting was an urban medical center with a Level 1 trauma designation. The only eligibility requirement was a Blood Alcohol Level (BAL) greater than 300 ng/dl upon hospital admission, a “nonsubtle” value more than three times the legal intoxication limit. Charts [58] were retrospectively reviewed for treating service (medical, trauma services, or psychiatric) and evidence of psychological signs or behavioral symptoms of withdrawal. Also assessed were the presence or absence of withdrawal monitoring, withdrawal prophylaxis orders, inpatient addictions consultation, and referral for addictions aftercare. Numerous patients with admission BALs >300 failed to be identified as needing assessment for alcohol-related disorders. Patients admitted to medical or psychiatric services were significantly more likely to be diagnosed than those on trauma services (P = .02). Patients on medical or psychiatric services were also more likely to be assessed for withdrawal and referred for after-care (P < .0001) than those cared for on trauma services. The delivery of care for alcohol-related disorders was deficient, particularly for patients with traumatic injuries, even among patients severely intoxicated at admission. Failure to identify such patients represented a missed opportunity to address this vital contributor to trauma. It is suggested that both the origins of this shortfall and its resolution depend not just upon trauma providers but upon the entire medical system.
The political economy of Chinese health reform.

Political economy studies of health policy offer more than simple economic or political studies. Politics can have a greater influence on health policy decisions and their implementation than either economic or health considerations. Politics constrain how much of an optimal economic or health programme can be adopted and implemented. At the same time, the economic interests of the stakeholders drive their political positions on any potential policy change. We need more political economy studies to understand how to craft and execute politically viable ‘best’ health policies. This editorial uses the decision choices facing China’s health reform to illustrate the importance of political economic analysis and argues for more integrated political economy studies, particularly ones examining the roles of the health bureaucracy and the medical profession.
A randomized study of financial incentives to increase physical activity among sedentary older adults

Abstract Objective Less than half of all U.S. adults meet public health recommendations for physical activity, and even fewer older adults (aged 50 years and over) are sufficiently active. Because inactivity increases the risk of costly medical complications, successful efforts to increase physical activity among older adults may potentially be cost-effective. We sought to test if financial incentives for walking could increase physical activity among sedentary older adults. Methods We conducted a 4-week randomized controlled study using pedometers. A total of 51 adults age 50+ from the Raleigh–Durham area of North Carolina participated in the study in April–May 2007. Individuals were randomized into one of two arms. The control group received a fixed payment of $75; the intervention group received a fixed payment of $50 plus up to $25 more per week depending on the number of weekly aerobic minutes, defined as 10+ minutes of continuous walking or jogging. Results The control group logged 2.3 h per week, on average. The intervention group logged 4.1 h per week and received an additional weekly payment of $17.50, on average. Conclusion Modest financial incentives tied to aerobic minutes are an effective, and potentially cost-effective, approach for increasing physical activity among sedentary older adults.
Providing advice to parents for women at acutely high risk of periviable delivery.

During the last several decades, neonatal care has made such substantive advances that newborns who were not able to survive now routinely do so.1–3 At present, there have been reports of neonatal survival at gestational ages as young as 22 weeks.4 Yet, even if survival is possible at such a young gestational age, it is by no means assured. Indeed, the gestational age period from 22–26 weeks, a period commonly considered “periviable”, is one during which uncertainty about survival, as well as morbidity-free survival, predominates.3–5 This uncertainty is particularly relevant when a parturient in the periviable period presents with signs and symptoms that indicate she is at high risk to deliver in the near future. In a very short time, she and her family will be confronted with an enormous volume of information concerning the range of possible treatments and outcomes that she and her child (or children, in the case of multiple gestations) could have. The discussion of these treatments and outcomes is of great importance for several reasons. First, this discussion can help a family prepare for, and begin to cope with, the possible adverse medical outcomes they may experience after delivery. Additionally, the discussion can assist a family in their choice of obstetric interventions for fetal indications and pediatric interventions with regard to life support. The potential ramifications of the discussion and the related decision making that must occur in the periviable period only serve to emphasize how important it is that it be conducted in as optimal an environment as possible. Yet, there have been few evaluations of the actual discussions that occur and the circumstances that need to be present to enhance the value of these discussions. We hypothesized that qualitative investigation of the participants who engaged in actual periviable situations and decision making would help to better understand preferred approaches that health care professionals could employ when caring for expectant parents who are at risk for giving birth to an extremely premature infant.
An Improved General Procedure for the Synthesis of N,N' ‐ Bisacrylyldiaminoalkanes

Abstract Recently our laboratory has attempted the synthesis of a beaded poly (dimethylacrylamide) support for use in solid phase peptide synthesis. The preparation of this resin requires the ready availability of N,N'-bisacrylyl-1,2-diaminoethane. To date the only literature preparation of this monomer(1) requires very cold temperatures, ion exchange chromatography, and several recrystallizations resulting in a moderate overall yield. We wish to report here a simple and fast general procedure for the synthesis of N,N'-bisacrylyldiamino-alkanes which results in high yields of pure products.
A crumb rubber modified syntactic foam

Abstract In this study, the impact response and residual strength of a crumb rubber modified syntactic foam, which contained up to 20% by volume of crumb rubbers, were investigated. The foam had a hybrid microstructure bridging over several length scales. It was formed by dispersing hollow glass beads and crumb rubber particles into a microfiber and nanoclay filled epoxy matrix. Sandwich beam specimens were prepared using the hybrid foam as core and fiber reinforced epoxy as facings. A low velocity impact test using an instrumented drop tower impact machine was conducted on the sandwich beams and control beams made of the foam only. Four-point bending tests were conducted on the impact damaged specimens and control specimens without impact damage. The effect of the hybrid foam on the low velocity impact response and residual strength was evaluated based on the test results. The stress field interaction was evaluated using a finite element analysis. It was found that the rubberized syntactic foam possessed a higher capacity to dissipate impact energy and to retain bending strength. There was a positive composite action between the hollow glass bead particles and crumb rubber particles by means of stress field interaction and reduction in stress concentration.
Force- and moment-generating capacities of muscles in the distal forelimb of the horse.

A detailed musculoskeletal model of the distal equine forelimb was developed to study the influence of musculoskeletal geometry (i.e. muscle paths) and muscle physiology (i.e. force-length properties) on the force- and moment-generating capacities of muscles crossing the carpal and metacarpophalangeal joints. The distal forelimb skeleton was represented as a five degree-of-freedom kinematic linkage comprised of eight bones (humerus, radius and ulna combined, proximal carpus, distal carpus, metacarpus, proximal phalanx, intermediate phalanx and distal phalanx) and seven joints (elbow, radiocarpal, intercarpal, carpometacarpal, metacarpophalangeal (MCP), proximal interphalangeal (pastern) and distal interphalangeal (coffin)). Bone surfaces were reconstructed from computed tomography scans obtained from the left forelimb of a Thoroughbred horse. The model was actuated by nine muscle-tendon units. Each unit was represented as a three-element Hill-type muscle in series with an elastic tendon. Architectural parameters specifying the force-producing properties of each muscle-tendon unit were found by dissecting seven forelimbs from five Thoroughbred horses. Maximum isometric moments were calculated for a wide range of joint angles by fully activating the extensor and flexor muscles crossing the carpus and MCP joint. Peak isometric moments generated by the flexor muscles were an order of magnitude greater than those generated by the extensor muscles at both the carpus and the MCP joint. For each flexor muscle in the model, the shape of the maximum isometric joint moment-angle curve was dominated by the variation in muscle force. By contrast, the moment-angle curves for the muscles that extend the MCP joint were determined mainly by the variation in muscle moment arms. The suspensory and check ligaments contributed more than half of the total support moment developed about the MCP joint in the model. When combined with appropriate in vivo measurements of joint kinematics and ground-reaction forces, the model may be used to determine muscle-tendon and joint-reaction forces generated during gait.
Mass transfer between a flowing fluid and a solid wavy surface

This paper considers the transfer of mass or heat between a fluid and a small amplitude solid wavy surface. A periodic variation of the transfer rate can occur because of wave induced variations of the normal convective flow and of the properties of the turbulence. Solutions of the mass balance equations are presented for the laminar flow at a large Schmidt number or Prandtl number and for turbulent flow at large and small wave numbers. For turbulent flows at intermediate wave numbers, the prediction is limited by inadequacies of present theories that model the wave induced variation in the turbulent diffusion of heat or mass. In order to provide guidance for this modeling, new measurements on the variation of the mass transfer rate along a solid wavy surface are presented for a Schmidt number of 729. An analogy between momentum and mass transfer is explored as a means for evaluating the turbulent diffusion terms. The amplitude of the function describing the mass transfer variation is found to decrease with decreasing wave number and the phase to increase with decreasing wave number. The phase angle and the amplitude of the variation in the mass transfer rate relative to the average mass transfer rate are insensitive to changes in Schmidt number or Prandtl number. For turbulent flows, the phase change can be large enough that the maximum in the mass transfer rate can exist somewhere in the trough of the wave. This result is of considerable significance in interpreting wavelike dissolution patterns.
Disseminated Nocardia Otitidiscaviarum Infection in a Woman with Sickle Cell Anemia and End-Stage Renal Disease

Nocardia otitidiscaviarum is an uncommon human pathogen and a rare cause of pulmonary infection and bacteremia. We report a case of N. otitidiscaviarum bacteremia and pulmonary infection in a patient with end-stage renal disease (chronic kidney disease, stage 5) and sickle cell anemia. The epidemiology, pathogenesis, and treatment of Nocardia infections are discussed.
Effect of Ecuador's cash transfer program (Bono de Desarrollo Humano) on child development in infants and toddlers: a randomized effectiveness trial.

We examined the effects of Ecuador's Bono de Desarrollo Humano (BDH)--an unconditional cash transfer program that was rolled-out using a randomized design--on health and development outcomes in very young children. Communities that were randomly assigned to the treatment group began receiving the BDH in 2004 and those randomly assigned to the comparison group began receiving benefits two years later. Families enrolled in the BDH received a monthly cash stipend ($15USD) representing an approximate 6-10% increase in household income. Participants analyzed in this study are children aged 12-35 months from treatment (n = 797) and comparison (n = 399) communities in rural and urban Ecuador. Main outcomes measured were language skills (the Fundacion MacArthur Inventorio del Desarollo de Habilidades Comunicativas-Breve), height-for-age z-score, and hemoglobin concentration. Results indicate that in rural areas, being randomized to receive the BDH in very early childhood led to significantly better performance on the number of words a child was saying, and on the probability that the child was combining two or more words. There were no significant effects on language development for children in urban areas and there were no effects on height-for-age z-score or hemoglobin concentration in rural or urban areas. A limited number of potential pathways with respect to cognitive/language stimulation, health behaviors, and parenting quality were also explored. Findings indicate that compared to children in comparison areas, rural children in treatment areas were more likely to have received vitamin A or iron supplementation and have been bought a toy in the past six months. This study provides evidence for significant benefits of an unconditional cash transfer program for language development in very young children in rural areas.
Comment on ‘Near critical phase behaviour of dilute mixtures’

The recently published (Gude, M. T., and Teja, A. S., 1994, Molec. Phys., 81, 599) expression for (∂P/∂x 2)∞ ρ, T is demonstrated to be valid only at the solvent critical point, and the more general microscopic connection is shown between the isothermal-isochoric finite pressure change (∂P/∂x 2)∞ ρ, T and the rearrangement of the solvent structure around an infinitely dilute solute. Finally, there is discussion of some properties of this derivative and some theoretical implications in the interpretation of solvation at near critical conditions.
Predictors of von Willebrand disease in children

Background Bleeding and bruising are common symptoms for which children are referred to a pediatric hematologist. Although bleeding scores have been validated to quantify bleeding risk in adults, there are no similar definitive data in children. The aim was to describe presenting bleeding symptoms in children and evaluate if these bleeding symptoms were predictive of von Willebrand disease (VWD) or low von Willebrand factor (VWF). Procedure We performed a retrospective chart review of consecutive pediatric patients referred for perceived bleeding symptoms to the coagulation clinic at The Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. All underwent a uniform bleeding symptom inventory and hemostatic testing. Single and multiple variable logistic regression models were created to predict either VWD, low VWF, or nonspecific defective platelet aggregation, using the predictor variables of family bleeding history, mucocutaneous bleeding, cutaneous bleeding, and surgical bleeding, based on The International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis (ISTH) bleeding definitions. Results Of 298 pediatric patients evaluated, 8% had VWD (VWF:RCo and VWF:Ag ≤30 IU/dl) and 34% had low VWF (VWF:RCo and VWF:Ag 30–50 IU/dl). Further, 16% had a nonspecific platelet aggregation disorder, 41% had normal hemostatic testing, and 1% had factor VIII or IX deficiency. In single and multiple variable logistic regression analysis, neither a personal or family bleeding history at presentation, nor the presence of two or more bleeding symptoms were predictive of VWD, low VWF, or nonspecific defective platelet aggregation. Conclusions These findings suggest that qualitative assessment of bleeding symptoms alone is not useful in children. Pediatr Blood Cancer © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Ab initio molecular dynamics with maximally localized Wannier functions

We present a novel formulation of ab initio molecular dynamics that should be useful to simulate insulating systems. In this scheme maximally localized Wannier functions instead of delocalized Bloch states evolve on the fly during nuclear dynamics. Localized Wannier orbitals offer several advantages over orbitals that are delocalized in the entire simulation cell. In fact, at variance with the latter, they provide a picture of the electronic bonds consistent with simple chemical intuition. In addition, by taking advantage of their exponential localization it should be possible to develop ab initio molecular dynamics schemes having a computational cost that scales linearly rather than cubically with system size. We show that maximally localized Wannier functions can be calculated efficiently within Car–Parrinello dynamics and use water in gas and liquid phase as a test system to demonstrate our scheme and illustrate its usefulness. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2003
CBP1 function is required for stability of a hybrid cob-oli1 transcript in yeast mitochondria

The nuclear gene product CBP1 stabilizes cytochrome b transcripts in yeast mitochondria. In cbp1 mutant strains, cytochrome b gene (cob) transcripts are not detectable by Northern blot analysis. The results of previous studies led to the hypothesis that CBP1 interacts with the 5′-untranslated sequence of the cob mRNA, or pre-mRNA, to stabilize the message. To determine what portion of the cob leader is sufficient for interaction with CBP1, we have investigated the stability of transcripts from a novel hybrid gene, cob-oli1, in which the 5′-terminal third of the cob leader sequence was fused to the coding sequence of the gene for ATP synthase subunit 9, oli1. The hybrid cob-oli1 transcript was stale in a strain wild-type at the CBP1 locus, but was undetectable in the cbp1 mutant background. That the cob-oli1 transcript was translated to produce ATP synthase subunit 9 in CBP1 strains containing the cob-oli1 gene was verified by 35S-methionine labeling of mitochondrial proteins. We conclude that the 5′-terminal portion of the cob message is sufficient for CBP1 function and discuss the hypothesis that CBP1 interacts directly with this region of the transcript to promote cob mRNA stability.