cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ventilator Alarms in Intensive Care Units: Frequency, Duration, Priority and Relationship to Ventilator Parameters

Background: We evaluated the frequency, duration, and type of ventilator alarms occurring in adult intensive care units (ICUs) and examined determinants of alarm settings. Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted in three ICUs — cardiovascular surgical (CVSICU), medical (MICU), and neurosciences critical care unit (NCCU) in a U. S. tertiary care university teaching hospital. Results: During 18 consecutive days, alarms were triggered 10, 933 times over 1, 555 ventilator-hours, averaging 7.0 alarms per ventilator-hour. Each alarm resulted in up to 8 notifications depending on alarm duration and acknowledgement by personnel. In the CVSICU and NCCU, initial alarm notifications via ventilator were duplicated via nurse call system, whereas in the MICU, a 60-s delay reduced duplicate notifications to 2.5%. Initial alarm conditions that did not resolve in ≤15 s triggered an additional notification cascade to respiratory therapists and nurses via hospital middleware. Forty percent of the alarms triggered such notification cascade, leading to 2.8 additional notification sequences per ventilator-hour for a total of 9.8 per ventilator-hour. The most common alarms were high inspiratory pressure (34. 2%), high breathing frequency (17.7%), and low expired mandatory tidal volume (12.9%). Alarm settings were independent of corresponding ventilator parameters for respiratory rate and minute volume in all ICUs. Conclusions: Ventilator alarms are highly prevalent, and notification systems amplify alarm burden by generating a cascade of messages about the same alarm. Prioritization of alarms varies between ventilator types owing to a lack of standardized classification. Alarm limits are arbitrarily set and not individually adjusted.
Transonic Vortical Flow

Transonic flow is generally associated with the inviscid fluid effects when a flow with a freestream Mach number M ∞ ≃ 1 accelerates to locally supersonic velocities, or decelerates to locally subsonic velocities, as it moves streamwise past a body. However, transonic flows can occur in many other circumstances such as on high lift devices at low M ∞, at the tips of helicopter blades, and around corners in ducts. In this paper, a class of transonic flows for slender, highly swept wings at high angle of attack (α ≥ 10°) will be considered. Under these conditions, leading edge vortices generally form as shown schematically in Figure 1. If M ∞ ~ 1, the streamwise flow can be transonic in the classical sense, leading to mixed subsonic-supersonic flow and shock waves on the wing. However, the leading edge vortices create additional transonic cross flow effects due to the high swirl velocities associated with them.
Interspecies pedagogy: What could a horse teach me about teaching

This article explores experiential learning through a more-than-human perspective. It builds on my earlier study of young children’s experiential learning, which revealed the biological predispositions or”embodied capacities” that young children have to learn from experience. In this current investigation, I identify some characteristics of a horse’s experiential learning and maintain that understanding these experiences is relevant for teaching beyond human perspectives. I also seek to understand how a teacher can motivate experiential learning. The article presents an ethnographic case study of myself and my horse Zvekki. Zvekki’s sophisticated predispositions for experiential learning have become visible over the years I have been pursuing a relationship of mutual trust between us. Daily interactions with Zvekki have challenged my communicative and other skills to the full and facilitated conditions for both her and my own experiential learning. The joint learning has also been a process of gaining more respect for the horse and gradually moving away from the anthropocentric position where, I realise retrospectively, I started from. What my horse taught me is relevant for teaching different subjects within teacher education programmes because every learning process and form of teaching is an experience in itself. The article focuses on the qualities of learning experiences and skills that are required from teachers who genuinely want to understand learning processes of their students and seek to provide conditions for holistic forms of learning.
Size-Dependent Switching Properties of Spin-Orbit Torque MRAM With Manufacturing-Friendly 8-Inch Wafer-Level Uniformity

We have developed a manufacturing-friendly spin-orbit torque magnetic random access memory (SOT-MRAM) technology in CMOS compatible 8-inch fab process. The proposed SOT-MRAM process technology resolves etching non-uniformity and reduction of high resistivity heavy-metal nanowire resistance issues. Besides, we present device size-dependent switching current threshold in the proposed SOT-MRAM cell structure. To realize the potential of our fabricated SOT-MRAM, wafer-level uniformity, cycling and temperature dependence SOT switching have been comprehensively investigated. Furthermore, the thermal stability factor (△) was calculated from temperature-dependence SOT switching to fulfill the thermal stability criteria, i.e., > 10 years of this emerging SOT-MRAM technology.
Hidden Gems: Do Compensation Disclosures Reveal Performance Expectations?

We find that a new compensation disclosure item on expected payouts from performance-based stock grants contains incremental information of a firm’s future performance. Firms that disclose the most optimistic expected payment significantly outperform over the next two years, while the least optimistic firms underperform. Investors and analysts are slow to process the embedded information and are later surprised around earnings announcement days. A portfolio long stocks of the most optimistic firms and short the least optimistic ones earns significant positive post-disclosure abnormal returns. The result is more pronounced when the embedded “soft” information differs from the more visible earnings news.
HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for Conception Among HIV Serodiscordant Couples in the United States: A Cohort Study

Practice guidelines on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV serodiscordant couples recommend PrEP when the viral load of the partner living with HIV is either detectable or unknown. However, adh...
Blind Inference of Eigenvector Centrality Rankings.

We consider the problem of estimating a network's eigenvector centrality only from data on the nodes, with no information about network topology. Leveraging the versatility of graph filters to model network processes, data supported on the nodes is modeled as a graph signal obtained via the output of a graph filter applied to white noise. We seek to simplify the downstream task of centrality ranking by bypassing network topology inference methods and, instead, inferring the centrality structure of the graph directly from the graph signals. To this end, we propose two simple algorithms for ranking a set of nodes connected by an unobserved set of edges. We derive asymptotic and non-asymptotic guarantees for these algorithms, revealing key features that determine the complexity of the task at hand. Finally, we illustrate the behavior of the proposed algorithms on synthetic and real-world datasets.
Vitamin D Binding Protein as a Potential Biomarker for Heart Failure in Myocarditis: Translational Animal Model Reveals Mechanism

Introduction An estimated 3.1 million cases of myocarditis/cardiomyopathy were diagnosed in 2017. Myocarditis, inflammation of the myocardium, is a leading cause of sudden death from heart failure in children and young adults worldwide. Patients can progress to dilated cardiomyopathy, heart and heart transplant. Studies have found that Vitamin D binding protein (DBP) could be instrumental in response to tissue injury and activation of the immune response. This chemotaxis activation has been shown to be due to activation of the complement cascade via C5a. The involvement of DBP in disease has never been assessed for myocarditis or other cardiovascular diseases. Hypothesis We hypothesized that DBP activates the immune response by altering the complement cascade in a sex-specific manner leading to increased myocarditis. The overall goal of this study was to examine the role of DBP and complement in patients with myocarditis and determine the mechanism in which DBP alters cardiac inflammation in a translational animal model of viral myocarditis. Methods We utilized a translational animal model of viral myocarditis to assess the mechanism in which DBP could be altering disease pathway activation and increasing acute myocarditis. We also utilized stored serum samples from myocarditis patients and patient data to assess the relationship between DBP levels in patient sera to ejection fraction (EF) by sex and age. Results We found that DBP was upregulated 45-fold in men with myocarditis compared to women and correlated to %EF in women (p = 0.0004). Additionally we found that men with myocarditis had significantly higher levels of complement C3, C4b, C8 (p Conclusion Our translational animal model of viral myocarditis has revealed that DBP can increase inflammation, myocarditis, by upregulating the complement cascade. We found that having a mechanistic understanding of circulating DBP in patients and mice could be used to predict disease severity in patients with myocarditis and potentially other forms of heart failure.
Analyses of Audio and Video Recordings for Detecting a Honey Bee Hive Robbery

Honey bee hive robbery is a common phenomenon that occurs during a period when nectar sources are scarce. In such a case, the hives that are not strong enough to defend themselves and have stored resources such as honey or nectar may be robbed by bees from the nearby hives. Beekeepers often try different approaches to prevent or stop a robbery or take some measures to keep the robbed hive alive, but most of these efforts fail and the targeted hive will eventually collapse. This paper presents some results from the analysis done on audio and video recordings obtained at a hive before and after a robbery. The targeted hive was a top-bar hive and was robbed by the bees from its neighboring hives. Our analyses indicate that there are sufficient clues on the development and progress of a robbery that might be helpful in preventing it.
Dynamical Systems and Group Actions

This volume contains cutting-edge research from leading experts in ergodic theory, dynamical systems and group actions. A large part of the volume addresses various aspects of ergodic theory of general group actions including local entropy theory, universal minimal spaces, minimal models and rank one transformations. Other papers deal with interval exchange transformations, hyperbolic dynamics, transfer operators, amenable actions and group actions on graphs.
Student Stress Management and Wellness Programs among Colleges of Pharmacy.

Objective: To describe the programmatic stress-related interventions that colleges of pharmacy are providing for their students. Methods: A paper-based questionnaire was distributed to 80 college teams who attended two consecutive offerings of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy institute focused on promoting student well-being. The five-part questionnaire consisted of: 1) tracking and assessment of perceived student stress levels, 2) the types and formats of stress-coping interventions that are offered, 3) the measured impacts of any stress-coping interventions, 4) the level of faculty/staff training and involvement in student stress remediation, and 5) institutional demographics. Results: Of the 40 college teams responding to the survey there were similar numbers of private (44%) and public (56%) institutions. More than half (57.5%) reported measuring student stress levels. The most common interventions offered were counseling (95%), academic advising (82%), physical exercise support (77%), and relationship building activities (70%). Topics offered in the curriculum were most often related to handling substance abuse (50%), time-management (45%), and finances (40%). A majority (79.5%) of schools reported they do not offer formal training on student stress and mental health to faculty and staff and do not formally assess the impact of stress and coping interventions. Conclusion: Colleges of pharmacy are addressing student stress and well-being, yet variability exists in terms of assessment, interventions, and didactic offerings. Multiple barriers to improvement remain and mediating barriers and determining assessments for coping and interventions may be next steps for Colleges of Pharmacy.
David Oliver: A public covid-19 inquiry tomorrow shouldn't stop action today.

Within weeks of the first UK death from covid-19 in 2020, calls began for an official inquiry into the government’s pandemic preparedness and response.1 These calls culminated in the Queen’s speech on 11 May 2021, when Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, promised to launch a full public inquiry within a year.2 The evidence on the covid crisis given to MPs on 26 May by his former special adviser, Dominic Cummings, further revealed a system not fit for purpose and renewed calls for a public inquiry without delay.3 We undoubtedly need such an inquiry to determine what happened, why, and who was to blame4—but shouldn’t we also focus on meaningful …
Preferences for community benefits for offshore wind development projects: A case study of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, U.S.

As offshore wind energy development gains a foothold, the possibility of conflict between local communities and developers may become increasingly common. Coastal communities within the viewshed or...
Non-English Primary Language is Associated with Emergency Surgery for Diverticulitis.

ABSTRACT Background Language barriers can limit access to care for patients with a non-English primary language (NEPL). The objective of this study was to define the association between primary language and emergency versus elective surgery among diverticulitis patients. Materials and Methods Retrospective cohort study of adult patients from the 2009-2014 New Jersey State Inpatient Database. Patients were included if they had primary language data and underwent a partial colon resection for diverticulitis. Primary language was dichotomized into NEPL versus English primary language (EPL). The primary outcome was surgical admission type – urgent/emergent (referred to as “emergency”) versus elective. Descriptive and multivariable analyses were performed. Results A total of 9,453 patients underwent surgery for diverticulitis, of which 592 (6.3%) had NEPL. Among NEPL patients, 300 (51%) had Spanish as primary language and 292 (49%) had another non-Spanish primary language. Patients with NEPL and EPL were similar in age (median age 58 versus 59 years; P = 0.54) and sex (52% versus 53% female; P = 0.45). Patients with NEPL were less likely to have commercial insurance (45% versus 59%; P Conclusion Patients with NEPL have higher odds of emergency versus elective surgery for diverticulitis compared to patients with EPL. Further research is needed to examine differences in referral pathways, patient-provider communication, and health literacy that may hinder access to elective surgery in patients with diverticulitis.
Genome-Wide Analysis of Cadmium-Induced, Germline Mutations in a Long-Term Daphnia pulex Mutation-Accumulation Experiment

Background: Germline mutations provide the raw material for all evolutionary processes and contribute to the occurrence of spontaneous human diseases and disorders. Yet despite the daily interactio...
"Total" Current Control of Brushless DC Motors with Sinewave Drive

A unique single current loop control method has been developed to control the torque of sine commutated brushless DC motors. The method was developed for use on the Space Station Freedom Solar Array Beta Gimbal. This method is novel compared to previous methods of controlling a three phase brushless motor's torque in that normally, three current control loops with three current sensors are used. The method described here simplifies the control down to a single current measurement and control loop with no degradation in torque control. A single current control loop is used in conjunction with a "blind" (no control loops) commutator. The resulting control of the motor's torque is independent of shaft position, winding imbalance, and motor resistance variations. With the simplified control scheme, there is less error buildup and higher reliability. The method has been developed to make optimum use of a digital controller, where easy control of the motor's torque allows a digital position loop to be implemented. The implementation of this method is described as incorporated on the Space Station Freedom's Solar Array Beta Gimbal Controller under contract for NASA Lewis Research Center.
Extraction of Cell-Wall Polysaccharide Antigen from Streptococci

Abstract Slade, Hutton D. (Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Ill., and Max-Planck Institut fur Immunbiologie, Freiburg, Germany). Extraction of cell-wall polysaccharide antigen from streptococci. J. Bacteriol. 90:667–672. 1965.—The carbohydrate grouping antigens in the cell walls of streptococci belonging to groups A, E, G, L, and T were extracted with 5% trichloroacetic acid at 90 C. The antigens were removed also from dry whole cells by extraction with trichloroacetic acid followed by treatment with phenol-water. Details of the methods are presented. The antigens obtained by use of either of these procedures were suitable for studies on immunological specificity and chemical structure. Quantitative enzymatic and chemical analyses of two group E antigens and one group T preparation showed the presence of l-rhamnose (22 to 44%), d-glucose (7 to 22%), d-galactose (T antigen only, 26%), glucosamine (2 to 16%), and galactosamine (T antigen only, 3%). In addition, analyses of A and G antigen preparations are presented. The protein and phosphate content of the A and E antigens were about 1% each. Quantitative precipitin curves of these antigens are presented.
Understanding Reproductive Health among Burmese Refugees in Greeley, Colorado: An Ethnographic Account

In the past four years, over 1,000 Burmese refugees have settled in Greeley, Colorado, but little is known about their conceptualizations of health or their experiences with local medical institutions. This paper investigates Burmese refugee women’s reproductive health beliefs and interactions with biomedical professionals. Through ethnographic interviews and participant observation, I show that a lack of mutual understanding between the two groups contributes to issues in communication and difficulties in promoting medical care. Medical anthropological research shows that culture has important implications for the experience and outcome of illness, as well as for the utilization of medical services and likelihood of successful treatment and recovery. Burmese women and biomedical professionals carry cultural constructions of health and illness that impact patient-doctor relationships as well as health professionals seeking culturally inclusive treatment. The development of effective systems of reproductive health care must include Burmese women’s understandings of community health resources. Keywords : refugee, cultural competency, Burma, Karenni, biomedicine, ethnomedicine, medical professionals, reproductive health, belief systems of health and illness
The Most Needed Building Foundations Research Products

This paper describes a research program targeted towards the significant potential for energy savings from improved residential building foundations design. A recent study at the University of Minnesota estimates that less than 5% of foundations in the present building stock are optimally insulated. In addition, this study indicates that the potential national savings from upgraded basements, crawl spaces, and slab-on-grade foundation systems in residential and small commercial buildings is about 0.5 quads/year (0.523 X 10 1 8 J/year). This research program is based upon a research needs assessment developed by the Building Foundations Research Review Panel. This panel was established by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to assist in the formulation of DOE foundations research policy and the development of a technology transfer strategy to get this research to the marketplace. Half of the panel members are from private industry. One of the first tasks the panel addressed was to formulate a prioritized list of building foundation research needs. Building foundations research needs include: widescale dissemination of existing information on good practices for energy-efficient construction and retrofit, accurate characterization of the thermal properties of soils, validated foundation heat and mass transfer algorithms coupled into whole-building simulation models, an experimental data base from one or more well-characterized test sites, and design tools to effectively transfer the results of research into practice.
Delta hepatitis within the Veterans Affairs medical system in the United States: Prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes.

Background & Aims Low hepatitis delta prevalence estimates in the United States are likely biased due to low testing rates. The objectives of this study were to quantify the prevalence of testing and identify factors associated with hepatitis D positive status among chronic hepatitis B patients in the Veterans Health Administration. Methods We performed a nationwide retrospective study of all veterans who tested positive for HBsAg from October 1999 to December 2013. Hepatitis D antibody testing results were used to stratify patients into three groups: HDV-positive, HDV-negative, and HDV-not tested. Demographics, comorbidities, additional laboratory data and clinical outcomes were compared across these groups of patients using standard statistical approaches. Results Among 25,603 patients with a positive hepatitis B surface antigen, 2175 (8.5%) were tested for HDV; 73 (3.4%) patients tested positive. Receiving HDV testing was associated with receipt of testing for HBV, HIV, and HCV. Predictors of positive HDV results included substance abuse and cirrhosis. Fitting a predefined high-risk profile (abnormal ALT with suppressed HBV DNA titers) was strongly associated with testing positive for HDV (OR 3.2, 95%CI 1.4–7.5). Most (59%) of HDV-positive patients were HCV co-infected. HDV-positive subjects had higher risks of all-cause mortality. Incidence rates of HCC were 2.9 fold higher in HDV-positive relative to HDV-negative individuals ( p =0.002). In adjusted analyses, HDV was independently associated with HCC (OR 2.1, 95%CI 1.1–3.9). Conclusions Testing rates for hepatitis delta in chronic hepatitis B patients in the United States are inappropriately low. Approaches to increase testing for HDV particularly in high-risk subsets should be explored.
The Nature of the Interlayer Interaction in Bulk and Few-Layer Phosphorus

Sensitive dependence of the electronic structure on the number of layers in few-layer phosphorene raises a question about the true nature of the interlayer interaction in so-called "van der Waals (vdW) solids". We performed quantum Monte Carlo calculations and found that the interlayer interaction in bulk black phosphorus and related few-layer phosphorene is associated with a significant charge redistribution that is incompatible with purely dispersive forces and not captured by density functional theory calculations with different vdW corrected functionals. These findings confirm the necessity of more sophisticated treatment of nonlocal electron correlation in total energy calculations.
Transcript profiling of salinity stress responses by large-scale expressed sequence tag analysis in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum.

Abstract The common ice plant, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, is a halophytic (salt-loving) member of the Aizoaceae, which switches from C3 photosynthesis to Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) when exposed to salinity or water-deficit stress. CAM is a metabolic adaptation of photosynthetic carbon fixation that improves water use efficiency by shifting net CO2 uptake to the night, thereby reducing transpirational water loss. To improve our understanding of the molecular genetic underpinnings and control mechanisms for Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) and other salinity stress response adaptations, a total of 9733 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from cDNAs derived from leaf tissues of well-watered and salinity-stressed (0.5 M NaCl for 30 and 48 h) were characterized. Clustering and assembly of these ESTs resulted in the identification of a total of 3676 tentative unique gene sequences (1249 tentative consensus sequences and 2427 singleton ESTs) expressed in leaves of ice plant under unstressed and salinity stressed conditions. The same number (2782) of ESTs from each library (total=8346 ESTs) were randomly selected and analyzed to compare expression profiles among the control and salt stressed leaf tissues. EST frequencies for transcripts encoding CAM-related enzymes, pathogenesis-related, senescence-associated, cell death-related, and stress-related proteins such as heat shock proteins (HSPs), chaperones, early light-inducible proteins, ion homeostasis, antioxidative stress, detoxification, and biosynthetic enzymes for osmoprotectants increased 2–12-fold in cDNA libraries constructed from salt stressed plants. In contrast, the frequency of ESTs encoding light-harvesting and photosystem complexes and C3 photosynthetic enzymes decreased 4-fold overall following salinity stress with transcripts for ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) subunits decreasing 7-fold. Moreover, stressed plants contained a higher percentage of ESTs encoding novel and/or functionally unknown proteins. The rapid discovery of both known and unknown genes related to stress responses in M. crystallinum demonstrates the great utility of EST analysis in unraveling the complex set of adaptive mechanisms contributing to water use efficiency (CAM) and salinity tolerance.
Self-efficacy mediates the relationship between behavioral processes of change and physical activity in older breast cancer survivors

The degree to which breast cancer survivors use behavioral processes of change has not been investigated. Additionally, the relationship between behavioral processes and other theory-based mediators of adult physical activity behavior has not been extensively studied among breast cancer survivors. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine the extent to which breast cancer survivors use behavioral processes associated with physical activity behavior change, and (2) examine the inter-relationships between behavioral processes, self-efficacy, and physical activity behavior among breast cancer survivors. Sixty-nine breast cancer survivors completed surveys examining behavioral processes and exercise-specific self-efficacy. Six months later they completed a self-report physical activity questionnaire. Findings showed the majority of breast cancer survivors did not use approximately half of the behavioral processes on a regular basis, and self-efficacy completely mediated the relationship between behavioral processes and physical activity. Health care professionals may help enhance self-efficacy and ultimately increase physical activity behavior in breast cancer survivors by teaching behavior skills such as enlisting social support.
When worlds collide!: an interdisciplinary course in virtual-reality art

The use of virtual reality technologies as a medium for artistic expression requires the combined talents of artists and computer scientists working in concert. We created a course to bring together students and faculty from these two diverse worlds, both to create artistic virtual environments and to foster skills needed to work on interdisciplinary teams. This paper describes this course, the art works created and discuses some of the issues that arise when such worlds collide.
Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage: retrospective review of clinical outcome in allogeneic transplant recipients treated with aminocaproic acid.

Abstract Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is often fatal. Standard therapy with high-dose corticosteroid is not always effective. There is paucity of data in the literature about other potentially useful agents, such as aminocaproic acid (Amicar) in the post-transplantation setting. We retrospectively reviewed our data on 115 consecutive patients who underwent HSCT and had pulmonary complications, with the aim of determining the overall clinical outcome in recipients of allogeneic transplants and in the subgroup of these patients who were treated with concomitant Solu-Medrol and aminocaproic acid. Aminocaproic acid was added at the discretion of the attending physician. We identified 14 allogeneic transplant recipients (median age, 41 years) with 15 episodes of DAH who were treated with Solu-Medrol (250 mg to 1 g intravenously per day). Of these, 8 patients also received concomitant aminocaproic acid at 1000 mg intravenously every 6 hours. Failure to improve was the most common reason for adding aminocaproic acid. The incidence of DAH was 12.2% (10.3% in myeloablative versus 1.9% in nonmyeloablative recipients). The overall 100-day DAH mortality and median transplantation survival were 60% and 99 days, respectively. Among the subset of patients treated with the combination of Solu-Medrol and aminocaproic acid, we observed a 100-day DAH mortality and median transplantation survival of 44% and 167 days, respectively, compared with 83% and 96.5 days in those treated with Solu-Medrol alone. The median time to DAH was 40.5 days, and the median time to death was 53 days in the combined treatment group compared with 29.5 days in those treated with steroid alone. There were no significant differences in coagulation parameters between subsets. Infections (yeast, respiratory syncytial virus, herpes simplex virus, and parainfluenza) were isolated and treated from 6 diagnostic bronchial alveolar lavage samples and were more common in the subgroup treated with Solu-Medrol only. Respiratory failure was the documented cause of death in 89% of patients. There were no clinically significant side effects from aminocaproic acid. Although these historically lower DAH outcomes are intriguing, prospective studies are needed to confirm the role of aminocaproic acid in DAH occurring in the allogeneic transplantation setting.
Causal empiricism and mental events

The present paradox illustrates a deep interconnection between two superficially unrelated metaphysical problems: the nature of mental events and the analysis of causation. I have not tried to resolve the paradox, but only to explain it and to describe the available tactics for resolving it. Although I have also mentioned some of the various considerations that might be advanced in the pursuit of these tactics, I do not claim to have canvassed all such considerations. Since the list of tactics itself is exhaustive, however, and since the four propositions of the paradox are jointly inconsistent, it follows that at least one of these tactics must be correct.
Protecting integrity at the local level: the role of anticorruption and public management networks

This article argues that anti-corruption agencies at the local-level have been successful in a way that can be evaluated and emulated. A related contention is that corruption control is most effective when the central public integrity agency is part of both a local anticorruption network and a local public management network. Quite reasonably, the international anti-corruption project has focused most time and energy on advocating and assessing efforts made to ensure public integrity at the national level. Baseline studies by scholars and supra-national integrity nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) identify the form of corruption control (if any) adopted by the central government. Key considerations in assessing the status of national anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) are the ones mentioned in the introduction to this special issue: political independence, scope of authority, investigatory powers, position in the national legal/political network, durability, and use of effectiveness measures. Similar taxonomies are deployed by OLAF, Transparency International, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and by scholars on corruption control.
Left Main Coronary Artery Disease: Cardiac Arrest Following Stress Echocardiography

A68-year-old man presented with epigastric burning associated with exercise. A stress echocardiogram was ordered. Baseline ECG (top panel, Rest) and echocardiographic images (bottom panel, Rest) were within normal limits. During stage I of the Bruce protocol, the patient’s blood pressure became unattainable. The test was terminated. …
χ2 AND POISSONIAN DATA: BIASES EVEN IN THE HIGH-COUNT REGIME AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

We demonstrate that two approximations to the χ2 statistic as popularly employed by observational astronomers for fitting Poisson-distributed data can give rise to intrinsically biased model parameter estimates, even in the high-count regime, unless care is taken over the parameterization of the problem. For a small number of problems, previous studies have shown that the fractional bias introduced by these approximations is often small when the counts are high. However, we show that for a broad class of problem, unless the number of data bins is far smaller than , where Nc is the total number of counts in the data set, the bias will still likely be comparable to, or even exceed, the statistical error. Conversely, we find that fits using Cash's C-statistic give comparatively unbiased parameter estimates when the counts are high. Taking into account their well-known problems in the low-count regime, we conclude that these approximate χ2 methods should not routinely be used for fitting an arbitrary, parameterized model to Poisson-distributed data, irrespective of the number of counts per bin, and instead the C-statistic should be adopted. We discuss several practical aspects of using the C-statistic in modeling real data. We illustrate the bias for two specific problems—measuring the count rate from a light curve and obtaining the temperature of a thermal plasma from its X-ray spectrum measured with the Chandra X-ray observatory. In the context of X-ray astronomy, we argue the bias could give rise to systematically miscalibrated satellites and a ~5-10% shift in galaxy cluster scaling relations.
Cationic environment and secretin secretion in canine duodenal mucosa in vitro.

Abstract We examined the effects of the divalent cation calcium (Ca 2+ ) and the monovalent cations potassium (K + ) and sodium (Na + ) and different modalities that affect the fluxes of these cations on immunoreactive secretin (IRS) secretion from canine duodenal mucosa in vitro . In the absence of extracellular Ca 2+ , the basal IRS secretion was inhibited by 29%. Increased uptake of Ca 2+ by passive diffusion and facilitated uptake of Ca 2+ by ionophore A23187 had no effect on basal IRS secretion. However, Ca 2+ channel blocking agents, LaCl 3 and verapamil, inhibited basal IRS secretion by 18 and 33% respectively. High concentrations of extracellular K + caused a dose-dependent but delayed stimulation of IRS secretion. K + -stimulated IRS secretion was not neurally mediated. Similarly, 9-aminoacridine, which blocks K + exchange, mimicked the effects of K + Valinomycin (10 −6 M) inhibited both K + -stimulated and 9-aminoacridine-stimulated IRS secretion. In the absence of extracellular Na + , there was a delayed inhibition of both basal and K + stimulated IRS secretion. These results suggest that changes in cationic environment are associated with alterations in the secretion of IRS. High extracellular K + concentration is conducive, and the absence of extracellular Na + and Ca 2+ is inhibitory to IRS secretion.
Third world incomes before world war I: Further evidence

Abstract Building on J. Hanson (1988, Explorations in Economic History, 25 , 323–336), I compare several sets of estimates of per capita income or product in the Third World before World War I, using consistency with independent evidence as the standard of evaluation. Specifically, each set of estimates is correlated with 1913 exports per capita and literacy rates early in the 20th century. The estimates derived from the work of the United Nation International Comparison Project, which are the highest in the group, are found to be the most plausible based on these tests.
Study of Adenovirus Production in Serum-Free 293SF Suspension Culture by GFP-Expression Monitoring

The red-shifted S65T mutant green fluorescent protein (GFP) was used to compare the adenovirus (Ad) production and post-infection survival of 293SF and 293S cells in serum-free and serum-containing flask cultures, respectively. The GFP-expressing vector permitted the quantification of both the level of GFP expressed by infected cells and the infectious viral content of the cultures by flow cytometry in a simple, fast, sensitive, and reliable way. The GFP has the main advantage of fluorescing without any substrate addition. Infected cultures showed the coexistence of two populations of fluorescent cells, high-fluorescence cells (HFCs) and low-fluorescence cells (LFCs), in proportions that varied between 20 and 75 hpi. The gradual increase in the number of LFCs at the expense of HFCs correlated well with the increase in the number of dead cells. This relationship could be used for the continuous measure of a culture's viability with the appropriate on-line instrumentation. The post-infection death rate of infected 293SF cells was higher than that of infected 293S cells, but the level of GFP fluorescence in viable, highly fluorescent cells was similar in the two infected cell lines. The number of infectious viral particles (IVPs) was quantified in less than 24 h by an infection assay of 293S cells in wells with viral particles extracted from the culture samples, and the results were more reproducible (±10% variation) than those generally reported for conventional plaque assay titrations or end-point dilutions. The viable cell-specific IVP concentrations were for most experiments similar, indicating again that the difference between the two cell lines was their unequal post-infection viabilities, not the virus production by the infected living cells.
The vagal release of 5-hydroxytryptamine from enterochromaffin cells in the cat.

Enterochromaffin cells (EC) from the cat duodenum were studied before and after electrical efferent stimulation of the cervical vagal by means of electron microscopy and fluorescence histochemistry according to the Hillarp-Falck technique. From the same animals portal blood plasma was assayed for serotonin (5-HT) at various stages of the nerve stimulation. Within 15 min after the onset of vagal nerve stimulation there was a more than twofold increase of the portal 5-HT levels, which returned to normal after cessation of stimulation. There was also a pronounced reduction in the fluorescence intensity of EC demonstrating a lowered intracellular 5-HT level. Ultrastructurally there was evidence for basal exocytosis as well as for a release of osmiophilic material from the EC directly into the gut lumen after nerve stimulation. Together, these observations strongly suggest a vagally induced 5-HT release from EC in the cat.
Intellectual Innovation or Intellectual Retrofitting: On Agency, Culture and Access to Science Education.

A great challenge in education research involves the difficulty of differentiating between studies that apply commonly understood theoretical perspectives and recognizing studies that merely rename old theoretical frameworks. This conflict between intellectual innovation and intellectual retrofitting emerges as central to Basu, Calabrese-Barton, Clairmont, and Lock’s exploration of the relationship between critical agency and student identity development in science.
Influence of recC and uvrD on ultraviolet-induced mutation to valine resistance in E. coli K12

The production of mutants in E. coli exposed to ultraviolet light is initiated by photochemical reactions, and completed by metabolic processes controlled by recA and other genes. Ultraviolet-induced mutagenesis to valine resistance was measured in cells carrying recC, uvrD, or both recC and uvrD. The spontaneous and UV-induced mutagenesis was slightly greater in those carrying uvrD, as compared to recC or wild-type. At low doses, UV mutagenesis in the recC uvrD double mutant was greater than in either recC or wild-type, and was comparable to that in the uvrD strain, although this double mutant was very UV-sensitive and showed poor survival at doses above 2 J/m2.
Attenuation of α-Adrenergic Responsiveness in Hypoxic Shr

Chronic exposure to hypoxia reduces the severity of hypertension in SHR. This study explored the possibility that hypoxic moderation of spontaneous hypertension is caused by a decrease in vascular responsiveness. In vitro studies were conducted with thoracic aortic rings obtained from SHR and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats maintained under hypoxic (H; simulated altitude = 3658 m) and normoxic (N; laboratory altitude = 1520 m) conditions. Vessels were removed prior to the rapid development of hypertension (5 weeks of age; 3 days of altitude exposure), during the rapid hyperteneiondevelopment stage (10 weeks of age; 5 weeks of altitude exposure), and during the established hypertension stage (18 to 20 weeks of age; 11 to 13 weeks of altitude exposure). Dose-response curves were obtained using a non-specific vasoconstrictor (KC1) and an α-adrenergic agonist, phenylephrine. At all ages, WKY vessels developed greater maximal contraction to vasoconstrictor stimuli, whereas vessels from the two older groups of SHR were...
Active optical detection of biological agent aerosols

Optical detection of threat-like aerosol particles can provide early warning of a potential biological agent attack. It can provide sensitive and fast response to threat aerosols as well as discrimination against common background aerosols.
Transradial iliac artery intervention with dual downstream embolic protection

We report a case of a thrombotic common iliac lesion with concern for elevated risk of downstream embolization during intervention. In this case, a transradial approach enabled the novel, simultaneous deployment of two embolic protection devices, one in the internal iliac artery and the other in the common femoral artery, for complete downstream protection during intervention. An endovascular stent, which accommodates a 0.035-inch wire lumen, was able to be delivered over both 0.014-inch protection device wires simultaneously and was successfully deployed with evidence of captured embolic material.
High-resolution anion exchange chromatography of the glucocorticoid receptor from WEHI-7 cells.

Abstract A simple refinement of the current methods of DEAE chromatography of steroid receptors has been developed which takes advantage of the characteristics of Fast Flow DEAE Sepharose (Pharmacia). The approach provides a convenient and inexpensive means to carry out high-resolution chromatography of the glucocorticoid receptor. Using this method, at least five separate species of receptor have been detected within the single so-called “low salt” peak normally seen using the current methods of receptor anion exchange chromatography.
Two- and three-dimensional distributions of opioid receptors on NG108-15 cells visualized with the aid of fluorescence confocal microscopy and anti-idiotypic antibodies.

Abstract Polyclonal anti-idiotypic antibodies previously shown to be specific for μ- and δ-opioid receptor subclasses on rat brain membrane preparations using radioreceptor assays have been labeled with fluorescent conjugates of avidin. The resulting complexes have been used to study the distribution and properties of opioid receptors on living and fixed NG108-15 cells using normal fluorescence, and confocal fluorescence, microscopy. From the confocal data three-dimensional views of immunofluorescent distributions have been obtained using a computer transformation of the data. From experiments involving co-incubation with media containing naloxone, selective opioid peptides and stereoisomeric synthetic opioid analogs as blocking agents, the specificity and stereospecificity of immunofluorescent binding is reported. The effects on immunofluorescent binding by co-incubation with media containing a sulfhydryl reagent, 100 m m -NaCl and sodium azide are also reported. The results have implications concerning the use of immunoprecipitation in the biochemical isolation of the receptors. Finally, the confocal two-dimensional sections and two-dimensional reconstructions obtained from fixed cells show internal immunofluorescence in the form of cytoplasmic clusters. The reagents and methods should be applicable to visualizing native opioid receptor distributions on neurons.
Effects of lowered dissolved oxygen concentration on the toxicity of 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene to fathead minnows

The primary objective of this study was to determine if the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration affects the toxicity of 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene (1,2,4-TCB) to fathead minnows, Pimephales promelas, exposed during the embryonic-to-larval-juvenile development stage. This stage in the growth of the fathead minnow and several other species of fish has been found to be the most sensitive, or among the most sensitive, to chemical pollutants in life-cycle toxicity tests. The chemical 1,2,4-TCB has been identified as a priority pollutant by the US Environmental Protection Agency. It is used as an intermediate in the synthesis of a number of herbicides and insecticides and has been found as a contaminant in fish. It was selected as the chemical stressor in this study in order to provide information useful to the Agency in deriving water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life.
Analytical Study of Effects of Truck Tire Pressure on Pavements with Measured Tire-Pavement Contact Stress Data

Truck tire inflation pressure plays an important role in the tire-pavement interaction process. As a conventional approximation method in many pavement studies, tire-pavement contact stress is frequently assumed to be uniformly distributed over a circular contact area and to be simply equal to the tire pressure. However, recent studies have demonstrated that the tire-pavement contact stress is far from uniformly distributed. Measured tire-pavement contact stress data were input into an elastic multilayer pavement analysis program to compute pavement immediate responses. Two asphalt concrete pavement structures, a thick pavement and a thin pavement, were investigated. Major pavement responses at locations in the pavement structures were computed with the measured tire-pavement contact stress data and were compared with the conventional method. The computation results showed that the conventional method tends to underestimate pavement responses at low tire pressures and to overestimate pavement responses at...
The Role of Earthquake Hazard Maps in Loss Estimation: A Study of the Northridge Earthquake

Abstract Local‐scale seismic hazard maps are an important component of loss estimation because they provide information on possible site effects. This paper evaluates how well seismic hazard maps predicted damage in the Northridge earthquake. Normalizing for residential density, the research found that structures built on several geologic map units shown on pre‐1994 hazard maps had significantly more damage than the area‐wide average. Specifically, buildings on fine‐grained Holocene alluvium, hillside bedrock, and “moderate” and “very high” liquefaction susceptibility zones were 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to be damaged than the area average. Pipes were four times more likely to break in “very high” liquefaction susceptibility zones than in the area as a whole. The use of hazard maps in loss estimation can help state and local governments to set priorities in managing land use, enforcing building codes, conducting seismic strengthening programs for existing structures, and planning for emergency response...