cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Takeover Threats, Job Security Concerns, and Earnings Management

Exploiting the staggered adoption of country-level takeover laws that increased takeover threats, this paper examines whether the resulting increase in CEOs’ job security concerns leads to greater earnings management. Using a difference-in-difference design, I find that the enactment of laws designed to promote takeover activity is associated with greater earnings management activities (abnormally high accruals, target beating, and poor accruals quality). Furthermore, these activities contribute to increased opacity, as liquidity declines significantly (increased bid-ask spread, percentage of zero-return days, and price impact of trades) following takeover regulation. Impact on earnings management is most pronounced for managers facing the greatest risk of termination at the time of takeover law implementation – those who had been leading firms with poor performance, displaying higher inherent turnover risk, working in a merger intense industry, or working in a country-industry with heavy product market competition. However, strong institutions that can limit CEOs’ ability to manipulate accounting information mitigate the earnings management effects of takeover laws. Overall, my results suggest that reforms aimed at enhancing the monitoring role of governance have unintended consequences because these reforms increase CEOs’ job security concerns and thereby lead to greater earnings management and a more opaque information environment.
Performance assessment of an optimal load control algorithm for providing contingency service

In prior work, the Distributed Gradient Projection (DGP) algorithm was proposed to allow loads or load aggregators to provide contingency service to the grid using local frequency measurements. The DGP algorithm was shown to perform well in linear simulations. The goal of this work is to evaluate the performance of the DGP algorithm in more realistic scenarios and its robustness to issues of practical implementation, such as time delay, model mismatch, measurement noise, and stochastic disturbance. Simulation results from the IEEE 39-bus system indicate that the DGP algorithm performs well in mitigating the effects of contingencies and that it is robust to issues of practical implementation.
‘I have it just in case’ — Naloxone access and changes in opioid use behaviours

Abstract Background The past decade has seen over a four-fold increase in deaths from opioid overdose in the United States. To address this growing epidemic, many localities initiated policies to expand access to naloxone (a drug that reverses the effects of opioids); however, little is known how naloxone access affects opioid use behaviours. Methods The present qualitative study used semi-structured, in-depth interviews with inpatients at a substance use treatment centre. All patients who met study inclusion criteria (in treatment for opioid use, between the ages of 18 and 40, able to speak and understand English, and had not previously completed an interview with the research team) were invited to participate. Interviews were conducted until thematic saturation was reached (N=20) and covered the participant's naloxone knowledge, access, and attitudes, as well as experience(s) with opioid use and opioid overdose, and their naloxone use in the context of opioid overdose. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze interview transcripts. Results Five main themes were uncovered during analysis; first, awareness about naloxone, including, content knowledge and source information for naloxone. Naloxone awareness was very common among opioid users; however, depth of knowledge varied; some participants did not make any efforts to have naloxone available, and others felt that it was "just as important as a clean needle." The second theme explored how naloxone access intersects with drug selling. The third theme explored naloxone availability while using, including attitudes about naloxone, occasions with no naloxone availability, when naloxone is "good to have," and when naloxone is a priority for users. The fourth theme examined changes in opioid use behaviours associated with naloxone access. Primarily, participants discussed changing how much heroin they used in a given situation to achieve a bigger high. The final theme explored naloxone behaviours that alter overdose mortality risk, such as how users distinguish when to use naloxone, dis-incentives to naloxone use, and solo opioid use. Conclusion Results indicate that though naloxone awareness was high, there was great variation in the associated attitudes and practices. Participants generally described naloxone as an important resource, but not all were inclined to carry or use it appropriately. Future research needs to examine why different groups of opioid users access naloxone differently, particularly to identify those at risk for experimental opioid use while carrying naloxone.
The Management of Nonpalpable Circumscribed Breast Masses

Circumscribed breast masses are usually benign. The most important step in ensuring that a patient with a newly discovered, nonpalpable breast mass receives appropriate care is correct categorization of the mass. The proper workup and management of mammographically detected circumscribed breast masses will be described in this chapter.
Current Status of the Motive Concept

The period from 1968 until the early 1980s was not a prosperous one for personality psychology. There was growing disenchantment with the traditional individual differences paradigm and with the apparent lack of theoretical progress being made in the field. Authors of the Annual Review chapters on personality regularly bemoaned the state of the field. Apparently feeling a seven-year itch, the most trenchant critiques appeared at septimal intervals (Adelson, 1969; Rorer & Widiger, 1983; Sechrest, 1976). The major reason for the dissatisfaction was the failure of trait measures to predict specific behaviors and the failure of trait indicators to correlate appreciably with each other. The most popular solution to the behavioral consistency controversy, the person X—situation interaction approach, was misguided from the start. Personologists since the time of Allport argued that situations and persons are not independent of each other, that people seek out and avoid situations on the basis of their psychological propensities. This has now been demonstrated in several empirical studies (Diener et al., 1984; Emmons & Diener, 1986; Emmons et al.,1986; Snyder & Ickes, 1985). Clearly it makes no sense to partition variance to persons and situations when those situations are to a great degree a function of the individuals who inhabit them. Furthermore, it has been proposed that stability and consistency in personality may be due in large part to the selection, evocation, and manipulation of environments congruent with the self (Buss, 1987; Emmons & Diener, 1986).
Research on Student Learning in Science: A Wittgensteinian Perspective

This chapter considers Wittgenstein’s philosophy, particularly as elaborated in Philosophical Investigations and later works, as it has obtained relevance in science education research. The specific focus is on contributions related to students’ learning of science. Wittgenstein’s writings have been used in science education in several ways: to argue for an alternate conception of rationality in theories of learning science, to support theories examining the discursive and social nature of learning, to advocate for investigations of science classrooms that parallel ethnographic and sociological investigations of professional science labs, and to develop alternative research methodologies. An examination of this influence in science education necessitates discussion of the frequent implicit attempts made to reconcile Wittgenstein’s analytic philosophy with empirical habits firmly grounded in a cognitivist tradition. Particular attention is given to the way in which a typical focus in science education on students’ “meaning making” is likely at odds with Wittgensteinian philosophy. It is argued that the exemplars provided in his later work suggest that conceptual clarity is necessary for coherence in asking empirical questions and interpreting results and that they imply an alternative, descriptive orientation for researchers.
Working with College Students to Improve Their Improvisation and Composition Skills: A Self-Study with Music Teacher Educators and a Music Theorist:

The purpose of this self-study of teacher education practices was to examine and improve improvisation and composition teaching practices for three university professors at the same institution. Pr...
Introduction: an overview of the shock problem.

Shock is a problem that has interested surgeons and physiologists for a long time, but now internists, immunologists, and biochemists are becoming heavily involved. I note that the organizers of this symposium have invited eighteen surgeons, ten physiologists and eight internists, plus experts from several other fields to participate. I was interested in reviewing the questions which 23 of the participants said they would like to discuss, or hear discussed. The largest number dealt with endogenously released vasoactive agents, including catecholamine release. The “lung lesion” interested four participants. Effects upon cellular energy metabolism also stimulated interest, among other subjects relative to the shock state.
Thermodynamic costs of dynamic function in active soft matter

Abstract Living matter combines complex structures and dissipative processes to achieve dynamic functions that rely on material organization in space and time. In this Review, we discuss recent progress in creating synthetic material systems capable of four such functions–keeping time, powering motion, building structures, and making copies. Chemical oscillators coordinate the temporal activity of material assemblies; molecular motors and active colloids convert chemical energy into mechanical forces and motions; chemical activation of self-assembling components provides temporal control over dissipative structures; information-rich nanomaterials replicate their structures in exponential fashion. These and other dynamic functions cannot be achieved at thermodynamic equilibrium but instead require flows of energy and matter to create and maintain spatiotemporal order. Such systems are captured within the framework of stochastic thermodynamics, which describes the fluctuating thermodynamic quantities of driven systems. Even far from equilibrium, these quantities obey universal relations, which establish fundamental trade-offs between the rate of energy dissipation and performance metrics such as precision, efficiency, and speed. For each function considered, we present a simple kinetic model that offers general insights that inform the design and creation of dissipative material systems capable of dynamic functions. Overall, we aim to bridge experimental efforts in active soft matter and theoretical advances from stochastic thermodynamics to inform future research on material systems inspired by living matter.
Experimental Determination of PV Inverter Response to Grid Phase Shift Events

With the continued growth of renewable energy resources which interface to the electric grid via inverters, the understanding of such devices becomes ever more important to the safe and reliable operation of the bulk power system. This work investigates the specific response of a utility-scale PV inverter to grid voltage phase shift-type disturbances which sometimes occur during grid fault events. The role of the PV inverter’s phase-locked-loop (PLL) is identified as important to modeling the response. Switching-level simulations of a utility-scale PV inverter with a modeled PLL show a characteristic response when phase shift disturbances require the PLL to track what appear as fast frequency changes. Additionally, in this work a full-scale laboratory testing was carried out using the Opal real time (RT) OP5142 real time simulator and a large grid simulator to create phase shift disturbances with a high degree of repeatability. A photovoltaic (PV) inverter was connected to a grid simulator, and phase shifts were instantaneously implemented on the simulated grid, the results of the currents were then obtained. The experimental results obtained were validated with simulation results obtained from MATLAB/Simulink.
Chapter 21.6 MolProbity: all-atom structure validation for macromolecular crystallography

MolProbity is a structure-validation web service that provides broad-spectrum solidly based evaluation of model quality at both the global and local levels for both proteins and nucleic acids. It relies heavily on the power and sensitivity provided by optimized H-atom placement and all-atom contact analysis, complemented by updated versions of covalent-geometry and torsion-angle criteria. Some of the local corrections can be performed automatically in MolProbity and all of the diagnostics are presented in chart and graphical forms that help guide manual rebuilding. X-ray crystallography provides a wealth of biologically important molecular data in the form of atomic three-dimensional structures of proteins, nucleic acids and increasingly large complexes in multiple forms and states. Advances in automation, in everything from crystallization to data collection to phasing to model building to refinement, have made solving a structure using crystallography easier than ever. However, despite these improvements, local errors that can affect biological interpretation are widespread at low resolution and even high-resolution structures nearly all contain at least a few local errors such as Ramachandran outliers, flipped branched protein side chains and incorrect sugar puckers. It is critical both for the crystallographer and for the end user that there are easy and reliable methods to diagnose and correct these sorts of errors in structures. MolProbity is the authors’ contribution to helping solve this problem and this chapter reviews its general capabilities, reports on recent enhancements and usage, and presents evidence that the resulting improvements are now beneficially affecting the global database. Keywords: all-atom contacts; clashscore; automated correction; KiNG; MolProbity; ribose pucker; Ramachandran plots; side-chain rotamers; model quality; systematic errors; database improvement
Public Support for a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Trends and Predictors

Although researchers have explored policy attitudes in domains that require expertise (e.g., medicine), less research has explored policy attitudes related to economic policies that also require expertise to understand. This paper examines public opinion about a balanced budget amendment (BBA) to the U.S. Constitution. Using data from 38 national public opinion polls conducted over 36 years, we find that support for a BBA is related to respondent and contextual factors. Support for a BBA has become more polarized along party and ideological lines over time, and implications of a BBA for other policies affect people's support for an amendment.
VARIABILITY IN EXPRESSION OF TMEM163 IN BRAIN CORTEX IS ASSOCIATED WITH RESILIENCE TO MULTIPLE BRAIN DAMAGE PHENOTYPES IN A BIOBANK POPULATION

Background Resilience to brain damage describes the imperfect correlation between clinical symptoms and the extent of brain injury, whether traumatic, degenerative, or vascular in origin. DNA samples linked to electronic medical records (biobanks) offer unique opportunities to identify genes that underlie multiple brain resilience phenotypes. We use Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) as our discovery phenotype, since over 8 million Americans sustain a TBI annually, and the pathology underlying TBI is hypothesized to overlap that of other neurological diseases, ranging from persistent headache to dementia. Methods We report the first GWAS of TBI risk, conducted in the Vanderbilt University Biobank, BioVU, which includes >270,000 patients. Results from single SNP analyses can be difficult to interpret and pay a heavy multiple testing burden. We therefore applied a gene-based tool, PrediXcan, to predict gene expression levels in 9155 European-ancestry BioVU patients from genome-wide genotype data in the target sample (BioVU) and a reference transcriptome dataset (GTEx). We tested 11005 genes in whole blood and 9164 genes in brain cortex for association with TBI defined by CDC criteria as one or more ICD codes for ‘Cerebral laceration and contusion’, ‘Concussion’, ‘Intracranial hemorrhage following injury’, ‘Skull fracture’, and ‘Other intracranial injury’. Analyses were adjusted for sex, age (at first TBI or at last ICD code in the medical record), and principal components 1–3. Genes significantly associated with TBI were tested for association with 1309 phenotype codes in a Phenome-Wide Association Analysis (PheWAS). Results TBI was diagnosed in 503 of 9155 patients. The median age at first TBI was 51.7 years, 6.8% of patients were Discussion Our analyses suggest that TMEM163 expression in cortex is associated with resilience to multiple types of brain damage. Further research is warranted to disentangle the complex temporal and potentially confounding relationships between phenotypes.
Defining the plasma folate concentration associated with the red blood cell folate concentration threshold for optimal neural tube defects prevention: a population-based, randomized trial of folic acid supplementation.

Background For women of reproductive age, a population-level red blood cell (RBC) folate concentration below the threshold 906 nmol/L or 400 ng/mL indicates folate insufficiency and suboptimal neural tube defect (NTD) prevention. A corresponding population plasma/serum folate concentration threshold for optimal NTD prevention has not been established. Objective The aim of this study was to examine the association between plasma and RBC folate concentrations and estimated a population plasma folate insufficiency threshold (pf-IT) corresponding to the RBC folate insufficiency threshold (RBCf-IT) of 906 nmol/L. Methods We analyzed data on women of reproductive age (n = 1673) who participated in a population-based, randomized folic acid supplementation trial in northern China. Of these women, 565 women with anemia and/or vitamin B-12 deficiency were ineligible for folic acid intervention (nonintervention group); the other 1108 received folic acid supplementation for 6 mo (intervention group). We developed a Bayesian linear model to estimate the pf-IT corresponding to RBCf-IT by time from supplementation initiation, folic acid dosage, methyltetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genotype, body mass index (BMI), vitamin B-12 status, or anemia status. Results Using plasma and RBC folate concentrations of the intervention group, the estimated median pf-IT was 25.5 nmol/L (95% credible interval: 24.6, 26.4). The median pf-ITs were similar between the baseline and postsupplementation samples (25.7 compared with 25.2 nmol/L) but differed moderately (±3-4 nmol/L) by MTHFR genotype and BMI. Using the full population-based baseline sample (intervention and nonintervention), the median pf-IT was higher for women with vitamin B-12 deficiency (34.6 nmol/L) and marginal deficiency (29.8 nmol/L) compared with the sufficient group (25.6 nmol/L). Conclusions The relation between RBC and plasma folate concentrations was modified by BMI and genotype and substantially by low plasma vitamin B-12. This suggests that the threshold of 25.5 nmol/L for optimal NTD prevention may be appropriate in populations with similar characteristics, but it should not be used in vitamin B-12 insufficient populations. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00207558.
Designing Trustworthy Monitoring Systems: Forensic Readiness for Safety and Security

A monitoring system is typically used to report on the resources and performance of a single system or a network of systems, and itself. Particularly in large, distributed networks, heavy reliance is placed upon monitoring systems to guide human behavior. For instance, the monitoring systems use special indicators to signal an impending or actual event. To address the growing instances of safety and security events in critical infrastructure, monitoring systems are increasingly being designed to target traditional attack vectors. However, consideration must be given to emerging events described as cyber-pranks, which are deliberate actions used to merely mimic an attack that could cause panic or even severe safety events accidentally triggered by the reactive actions of employees. For this paper, a cyber-prank is simulated on an I&C system, then the corrective actions based on the triggered event and the implications of these actions are examined. Modeling of all safety and security related artefacts is needed to assess and simulate the impact of security events on functional safety and nuclear safety. Discussions focus on measures to discern a cyber-prank from an actual attack, and how forensic-readiness can provide additional support in guiding incident response.
Nurturing care framework and implementation science: Promoting nutrition, health and development among infants and toddlers globally

The first 1,000 days are a critical period in children's early growth and development, with long lasting negative consequences for children who do not reach their developmental potential. The nurturing care framework has been proposed as a blueprint for policies, programs, and services to provide an enabling environment for caregivers and communities to ensure that young children receive the nutrition, healthcare, early learning opportunities, responsive caregiving, and safety and security that they need to reach their developmental potential. In traditional academic research, the translation of research-to-practice is rarely the target of investigation and is often left to policy makers or program implementers to determine how to implement evidence-based interventions. Implementation science is the scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research into practice. This chapter reviews how implementation science can be used to enhance nutrition education through the nurturing care framework and advance children's early growth and -development.
Closest conjunct agreement in replacives: Experimental evidence from Estonian

The phenomenon of closest conjunct agreement (CCA) has been documented cross-linguistically in conjunctions (“X and Y”) and disjunctions (“(either) X or Y”), and agreement patterns with feature-mismatching coordination have been shown to be variable, both across constructions and speakers. The present work addresses agreement patterns with replacives subjects (“not X but Y”) in Estonian, where subjects can occur pre- or postverbally. Replacives differ from other forms of coordination by having a single asserted subject. A series of two speeded acceptability experiments with postverbal subject replacives, and a relative naturalness rating experiment comparing replacives to disjunctions showed that both CCA and a bias towards agreeing with the asserted subject (ASA) play a role in determining verbal agreement with replacive subjects. Additionally, there is evidence for less featurally marked 3rd person verb forms being preferred, particularly when there are conflicting pressures on agreement from CCA and ASA, and for person mismatches being fully repaired by morphological syncretism.
Asymmetric Stiff Slab Waveguide Actuation With Footprint-Optimized Mechanical Platform

Photonic integrated circuits combined with micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) introduce a new range of tunable photonic devices that can either enhance the functionality of existing technologies or allow a wide range of entirely new applications. This paper presents both numerical and experimental analysis of an optimized MEMS platform to bend an asymmetric stiff slab waveguide. The MEMS platform can be employed in many passive photonic designs to make them tunable.
Quantitatively solitary wave tuning strategies based on one-dimensional cylindrical granular chains

Abstract One-dimensional (1D) granular systems support solitary wave propagation; however, solitary wave tuning, which serves as an effective strategy in stress wave control to achieve highly intelligent and efficient wave attenuation, still lacks. Herein, we design a 1D cylindrical granular system and comprehensively investigate solitary wave tuning strategies based on the system through mass, modulus, and thickness mismatch. We establish the experiment setups by using a vertical sliding track to observe the basic solitary wave traveling behavior as well as to validate the numerical simulation model. By considering the three governing wave tuning strategies, i.e., mass, modulus, and thickness mismatch, we parametrically explore the relations between the compression ratio and the mismatch values of different indicators. Based on the simple single-layer 1D chain, we further design a multi-layered 1D chain where the middle layers serve as tuning layers such that both “strong–weak” and “weak–strong” interfaces are created. A full tuning range is obtained by coupling different strategies based on the multilayer granular chains. Particularly, for a single layer granular chain, a mechanism map is established based on a normalized Ashby plot and numerical results of compression ratios, providing insights into precisely designing new attenuation systems. Results unlock the unique solitary wave tuning mechanism and provide design guidance for next-generation signal measurement, detection, and monitoring system.
Density functional theory calculation of helium segregation and decohesion effect in W110/Ni111 interphase boundary

Density functional theory is employed to study the preferential distribution and decohesion effect of He in a W–NiFe composite consisting of W particles embedded in an Ni-based solid solution matrix. A slab containing {110}⟨100⟩W//{111}⟨110⟩Ni interface is used as a surrogate model for the W–NiFe system. First, the fracture energy of the W/Ni interphase boundary (IB) (4.37 J/m2) is higher than the cleavage energy of Ni{111} (3.82 J/m2) and lower than the cleavage energy of W{110} (6.60 J/m2). The comparison shows that the cohesion of the IB is stronger than the Ni{111} planes that are away from the IB. However, the cohesion between the Ni{111} planes adjacent to the IB is found to be the weakest in this system, with a cleavage energy of 3.11 J/m2. Subsequently, the formation energy of He is calculated in the Ni slab, W slab, and various interstitial sites in the IB. The calculations show that He is significantly more stable in Ni than in W by about 1.75 eV. Interestingly, He does not prefer to segregate at the IB as compared to bulk Ni. Nevertheless, it prefers to segregate to the region between the Ni{111} planes adjacent to the IB and decreases the cohesion of the already weakest region. Based on an estimated amount of He gas production in 5 years under first wall neutron irradiation (neutron flux of 1.04 × 1015 n/cm2/s), He will decrease the cleavage energy of the weakest region by 21.2%, 15.4%, and 12.2% at 800, 1000, and 1200 °C, respectively.
Development of an optical sensor for measuring opacity changes in polyvinyl toluene scintillators

Abstract Polyvinyl toluene (PVT) based detectors are used in radiation portal monitors (RPMs) throughout the world to detect the trafficking of illicit nuclear material. PVT scintillators, which are normally optically clear, have been observed to suffer internal fogging throughout their volume due to prolonged exposure to varying environmental conditions. These changes could lead to reduced performance for RPMs that utilize plastic scintillators. In this research, a proof of concept system, consisting of different color light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a single optical sensor (OS), were used to examine the change in light transmission through a PVT scintillator. This Optical Monitoring System (OMS), coupled with an environmentally exposed PVT detector, was tested in an environmental chamber where it was subjected to changes in temperature and humidity ranging from 55 °C at 100% relative humidity to −20 °C at 40% relative humidity. At temperatures below 10 °C, light transmission was reduced by 81% ± 8% for blue LEDs, 84% ± 5% for yellow LEDs, and 49% ± 4% for green LEDs. Similar reductions in detected light were not recorded when the OMS was tested with only air between the LEDs and OS. Therefore, the significant reductions in transmitted light were attributed to changes occurring within the PVT scintillator. These results indicate that a significant reduction in PVT opacity occurs due to wide environmental changes. A device such as the OMS could be used to track these changes and provide users an early indication that a portal monitor is suffering from reduced performance.
Quantitative proteome-based standards for intrinsic disorder characterization

Intrinsically disordered proteins fail to adopt a stable three-dimensional structure under physiological conditions. It is now understood that many disordered proteins are not dysfunctional, but instead engage in numerous cellular processes, including signaling and regulation. Disorder characterization from amino acid sequence relies on computational disorder prediction algorithms. While numerous large-scale investigations of disorder have been performed using these algorithms, and have offered valuable insight regarding the prevalence of protein disorder in many organisms, critical standards that would enable the objective assessment of intrinsic disorder in a protein of interest remain to be established. Here we present a quantitative characterization of numerous disorder features using a rigorous non-parametric statistical approach, providing expected values and percentile cutoffs for each feature in ten eukaryotic proteomes. Our estimates utilize multiple ab initio disorder prediction algorithms grounded on physicochemical principles. Furthermore, we present novel threshold values, specific to both the prediction algorithms and the proteomes, defining the longest primary sequence length in which the significance of a continuous disordered region can be evaluated on the basis of length alone. The standards presented here are intended to improve the interpretation of intrinsic disorder protein content and continuous disorder predictions.
Opportunities to Improve Women's Health: Engaging Racial/Ethnic Diverse Women to Provide Biospecimens for Research

Purpose: Inclusion of women in biomedical cancer research have the potential to close gaps in cancer health disparities and improve adjuvant therapies for women; yet samples needed to advance this ...
The profession of marriage counseling as viewed by members of four allied professions : a study in the sociology of occupations

in the other activities. The irritations, the energy drains, the conflicts between social expectations and professional realities, the vast amount of accumulating knowledge on marriage and individual dynamics and institutional pressures directly relating to marriage counselingall these needs are complicated enough for the marriage counselor without the addition of relatively unrelated demands from other professions. I am willing to grant that there are now some unusually gifted part-time marriage counselors in the field who have demonstrated their capabilities in handling two or more professions. But our knowledge of the individual and society and marital interactions is snowballing, and even the clinical geniuses of the future will probably greatly curtail their effectiveness by a failure to channel their talents.
Medications for Smoking Cessation: Guidelines from the American Thoracic Society.

The American Thoracic Society (ATS) published guidelines for medication initiation in tobacco-dependent adults based on a systematic review.
Seeds of equity: cultivating critical food literacy in the land-grant undergraduate classroom

This pedagogical piece reports on the successes and challenges of developing and teaching an undergraduate “critical food literacy„ course in a land-grant university’s college of agriculture. The U...
Crisis Interventions in Corporate Insolvency

We model the optimal resolution of insolvent firms in general equilibrium. Absent externalities, the optimal corporate-insolvency system encourages lending by letting banks assign liquidations ex-post. We show that a social planner optimally intervenes in such a system during a crisis because of two pecuniary externalities. First, liquidation waves create fire-sale discounts, motivating a subsidy for liquidation-preventing loans to insolvent firms. However, a loan-price externality arises when collateral-constrained banks allocate scarce capital to averting liquidations rather than bolstering healthier firms, motivating a subsidy for liquidating insolvent firms. Efficient intervention can thus encourage or discourage liquidation, depending on the crisis. Our model sheds light on recent crisis-motivated policy proposals.
Malrotation of Long Bones

Rotational malreduction is a common yet underreported postoperative complication following intramedullary nailing of long bone fractures. In most situations, this can be prevented at the time of initial surgery with meticulous preoperative planning, careful use of intraoperative fluoroscopy, and awareness of risk factors for malrotation. However, rotational alignment remains difficult to assess by clinical examination so a high index of suspicion is always necessary. Here, the authors review the literature on this complication and report on 3 such cases of femoral and the tibial malrotation, methods for calculating femoral version and tibial torsion, and techniques for correcting these deformities.
Castaneroxy A From the Leaves of Castanea sativa Inhibits Virulence in Staphylococcus aureus.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) represents one of the most serious infectious disease concerns worldwide, with the CDC labeling it a “serious threat” in 2019. The current arsenal of antibiotics works by targeting bacterial growth and survival, which exerts great selective pressure for the development of resistance. The development of novel anti-infectives that inhibit quorum sensing and thus virulence in MRSA has been recurrently proposed as a promising therapeutic approach. In a follow-up of a study examining the MRSA quorum sensing inhibitory activity of extracts of Italian plants used in local traditional medicine, 224C-F2 was reported as a bioactive fraction of a Castanea sativa (European chestnut) leaf extract. The fraction demonstrated high activity in vitro and effective attenuation of MRSA pathogenicity in a mouse model of skin infection. Through further bioassay-guided fractionation using reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography, a novel hydroperoxy cycloartane triterpenoid, castaneroxy A (1), was isolated. Its structure was established by nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry and X-ray diffraction analyses. Isomers of 1 were also detected in an adjacent fraction. In a series of assays assessing inhibition of markers of MRSA virulence, 1 exerted activities in the low micromolar range. It inhibited agr::P3 activation (IC50 = 15.86 µM), δ-toxin production (IC50 = 31.72 µM in NRS385), supernatant cytotoxicity to HaCaT human keratinocytes (IC50 = 7.93 µM in NRS385), and rabbit erythrocyte hemolytic activity (IC50 = 7.93 µM in LAC). Compound 1 did not inhibit biofilm production, and at high concentrations it exerted cytotoxicity against human keratinocytes greater than that of 224C-F2. Finally, 1 reduced dermonecrosis in a murine in vivo model of MRSA infection. The results establish 1 as a promising antivirulence candidate for development against MRSA.
Ecologically Unequal Exchange and Environmental Load Displacement

Ecologically unequal exchange theory and the concept of environmental load displacement contribute two important global, political economic approaches to environmental sociology. In this chapter, we first introduce these two concepts. We then trace the intertwined but distinct historical roots of these two ideas, which have now coalesced into a more unified body of research. Next, we discuss early foundational theoretical development and empirical research. Then we review the most current research to date, including several special issues of journals and a recently published book on these perspectives. We conclude with thoughts on future directions.
Cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain and opioid use disorder

Abstract Chronic pain and opioid use disorder (OUD) are prevalent and interrelated chronic medical conditions. Patients with chronic pain and OUD often have medical and psychiatric comorbidities. While substance use disorders and chronic pain were traditionally treated by separate providers in different settings, they experience similar clinical management challenges. The optimal treatment for comorbid chronic pain and OUD is an interdisciplinary approach that uses a biopsychosocial model combining medication for opioid use disorder with nonopioid pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, and other nonpharmacological pain management interventions. One promising psychotherapy is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for chronic pain and OUD, which was designed to improve coping skills to address common clinical problems experienced by patients with these conditions. A core task of CBT is to interrupt the “Pain-OUD Dysfunction Cycle,” whereby patients manage pain or associated distress with illicit opioid and other substance use, leading to negative consequences, which fuel poor pain management.
Seasonal Sea Ice Prediction with the CICE Model and Positive Impact of CryoSat-2 Ice Thickness Initialization

Abstract. The Los Alamos sea ice model (CICE) is being tested in standalone mode for its suitability for seasonal time scale prediction. The prescribed atmospheric forcings to drive the model are from the NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR). A built-in mixed layer ocean model in CICE is used. Initial conditions for the sea ice and the mixed layer ocean in the control experiments are also from CFSR. The simulated sea ice extent in the Arctic in control experiments is generally in good agreement with observations in the warm season at all lead times up to 12 months, suggesting that CICE is able to provide useful ice edge information for seasonal prediction. However, the ice thickness forecast has a positive bias stemming from the initial conditions and often persists for more than a season, limiting the model’s seasonal forecast skill. In addition, thicker ice has a lower melting rate in the warm season, both at the bottom and top, contributing to this positive bias. When this bias is removed by initializing the model using ice thickness data from satellite observations while keeping all other initial fields unchanged, both simulated ice edge and thickness improve. This indicates the important role of ice thickness initialization in sea ice seasonal prediction.
Rapid flux in plant genomes

The sizes of plant genomes vary remarkably  the well-studied Arabidopsis genome is 108 base pairs while those of some lilies are over one thousand times this size1, 2. Genome sizes vary even among closely related plants. The plum genome, for example, is three times larger than that of peaches (both are members of the genus Prunus ), suggesting that fluctuations in genome size occur over relatively short periods of evolutionary time. While transposon insertion is recognized as a force underlying genome fluidity, the pace at which it contributes to genome evolution has remained obscure. On page 43, Phillip SanMiguel and colleagues document the rapidity by which transposons can restructure genomes; by analysing retrotransposon end-sequences, they have determined that an eruption of transposon activity over the past six million years has led to the plethora of transposons that currently litter the maize genome3.
Abstract 1839: LKB1 deficiency enhances sensitivity to energetic stress induced by erlotinib treatment in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA The tumor suppressor LKB1 is inactivated in 20-30% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient tumors. Because LKB1 is the master kinase phosphorylating the energy-sensing kinase AMPK, dysregulation of the LKB1-AMPK signaling axis causes loss of cellular homeostasis in response to metabolic inhibition or external stress-induced mitochondrial insults. Erlotinib is used clinically in NSCLC patients to target mutationally activated EGFR and is known to induce mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis. We investigated the metabolic response and mitochondrial function of LKB1-deficient NSCLC cells treated with erlotinib. LKB1-deficient cells exhibited enhanced sensitivity to erlotinib treatment in vitro and in vivo despite having wild-type EGFR. We found that this enhanced response was due to altered energetic metabolism and mitochondrial dysfunction in LKB1-deficient cells, which prevents homestatic maintenance of ATP and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in response to erlotinib treatment. Despite negative regulation of mTOR activity by LKB1-AMPK signaling, erlotinib effectively blocked mTOR signaling in LKB1-deficient cells, resulting in inhibition of cell growth, as well as activation of apoptosis. These findings will be important for designing targeted treatments for LKB1-deficient NSCLC patient tumors harboring wild-type EGFR, which disrupt metabolic and signaling pathways known to regulate energy metabolism in these cells. Citation Format: Young Mi Whang, Serk In Park, Irina A. Trenary, Changki Lee, Jacob M. Kaufman, David P. Carbone, Jamey D. Young. LKB1 deficiency enhances sensitivity to energetic stress induced by erlotinib treatment in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1839. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1839
Characterizing dilute combustion instabilities in a multi-cylinder spark-ignited engine using symbolic analysis

Spark-ignited internal combustion engines have evolved considerably in recent years in response to increasingly stringent regulations for emissions and fuel economy. One new advanced engine strategy ustilizes high levels of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to reduce combustion temperatures, thereby increasing thermodynamic efficiency and reducing nitrogen oxide emissions. While this strategy can be highly effective, it also poses major control and design challenges due to the large combustion oscillations that develop at sufficiently high EGR levels. Previous research has documented that combustion instabilities can propagate between successive engine cycles in individual cylinders via self-generated feedback of reactive species and thermal energy in the retained residual exhaust gases. In this work, we use symbolic analysis to characterize multi-cylinder combustion oscillations in an experimental engine operating with external EGR. At low levels of EGR, intra-cylinder oscillations are clearly visible and appear to be associated with brief, intermittent coupling among cylinders. As EGR is increased further, a point is reached where all four cylinders lock almost completely in phase and alternate simultaneously between two distinct bi-stable combustion states. From a practical perspective, it is important to understand the causes of this phenomenon and develop diagnostics that might be applied to ameliorate its effects. We demonstrate here that two approaches for symbolizing the engine combustion measurements can provide useful probes for characterizing these instabilities.
APL and finite elements for solving convection-diffusion problems, with examples from gas bearing design

The increasing popularity of finite element techniques to solve fluid flow problems has been due, in large part, to its geometric flexibility and adaptability. APL shares that property. Therefore, it is a natural companion to finite element modelling. The closeness of control that APL allows during algorithm and program development is especially welcome during the pre-processing stages of the solution of field problems, in particular during grid generation. This leads to very reasonable “door-to-door” solution times, especially for problems that occur in a R&D environment, where a large percentage of the time is spent formulating, changing and maintaining code.Using examples from engineering practice, the adaptability of APL is illustrated in gas bearing design, as applied to magnetic sliders in hard disk files and laser mirror scanners in electrophotographic printers. APL was also used to teach finite element techniques and grid generation. It proved effective in affording a more immediate view of the key steps of finite element modelling, such as assembly of the stiffness matrix, and the effect of node numbering on the bandwidth of the sparse linear system.
Dissociative pumping of the alkanes using nonevaporable getters

The pumping speed of a standard Zr–Al getter was measured over a temperature range of 110 to 640 °C for the gaseous members of the alkane series (CnH2n+2) extending from methane through n‐butane. For a given member of the series, the pumping speed increases monotonically with temperature. The strength of the temperature dependencies decreases with increasing alkane mass. These data are in qualitative agreement with the predictions of a model which assumes that dissociation is the rate limiting process.
An Analysis of West African Dynamics Using a Linearized GCM

Abstract This study utilizes a linear, primitive equation spherical model to study the development and propagation of easterly wave disturbances over West Africa. Perturbations are started from an initial disturbance consisting of a barotropic vortex and the governing equations are integrated forward in time. The perturbations are introduced into basic states corresponding to the observed dynamical and thermodynamical characteristics of two wet years in the Sahel and two dry years. The model simulations show consistent contrasts in wave activity between the wet and dry years. The waves are markedly stronger in the wet years and show a barotropic structure throughout the troposphere. The waves tend to extend throughout the troposphere to the level of the tropical easterly jet (TEJ) in the wet years, but not in the dry years. The upper-tropospheric shear, which is stronger in wet years, appears to be a key factor in wave development. This shear is dependent on the intensity of the TEJ, suggesting that the T...