cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reducing Stigma Towards Substance Users Through an Educational Intervention: Harder Than It Looks

Stigma towards people with substance use disorders is pervasive and imbedded in our US culture. Prejudicial attitudes that are part of a health care practitioner’s value system are a barrier to people accessing health care and substance use treatment. This study aimed to reduce stigmatizing attitudes of graduate health care professional students by implementing an innovative curriculum combining multiple teaching methods. Physician assistant students received a 3-h educational intervention that consisted of lecture and discussion sessions, direct interaction with a recovering substance user, viewing a film portrayal of addiction and addiction treatment, and written self-reflection. Changes in student attitudes were measured using a subscale of the Attitudes to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) instrument and analysis of coded written reflections. A follow-up focus group resulted in additional qualitative insight into attitudes. Post-intervention scores for the “heroin” AMIQ vignette significantly improved compared to pre-test scores (p < 0.007), but the effect was small and the mean post-test scores still reflected very negative attitudes. Students’ neutral attitude towards alcohol use did not change as a result of the intervention. Written reflections demonstrated that this sample of students continued to harbor stigma towards people with substance use following the intervention. Focus group data suggested students believed that stigma beliefs about substance use were common among health care professionals, though they believed that their own level and quality of care would not be influenced by these beliefs. The persistence of negative attitudes following this and others’ educational interventions suggests the need for a new approach to changing health care professionals’ stigma towards substance users.
Role of atomic variability in dielectric charging: A first-principles-based multiscale modeling study

We present a dielectric charging model that combines ab initio calculations of trap levels with a continuum-level transport model and apply it to interpret charging currents in amorphous silicon nitride. Density functional theory calculations on an ensemble of structures predict a distribution of electron trap levels up to 1.8 eV below the conduction band edge and provide insight into the physical trapping mechanisms. Incorporating this information in the continuum model, as opposed to the standard approach of a single adjustable trap level, not only leads to a more accurate description of experimental current transients in metal-insulator-metal capacitors, but also to a more precise and physical determination of associated material properties such as metal-dielectric barrier height.
(ii) Factors contributing to non-union of fractures

Summary Non-union of a fracture can be caused by various factors. This review summarizes current concepts of systemic conditions (malnutrition, diabetes, nicotine usage, osteoporosis and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) usage) and local factors (infection, vascularity, biomechanical instability, poor bone contact, iatrogenic factors and magnitude of injury) that may be of etiological relevance. Key points for assessing non-unions include checking for malnutrition and peripheral neuropathy, advising smoking cessation, avoiding NSAIDs, and identifying clinical and radiological signs of delayed healing at the earliest possible instance. The prevention of non-union is preferable to the treatment of non-union.
Normalization strategies for nasal acceleration to assess velopharyngeal function

Velopharyngeal function is essential for intelligible speech production, but can often be impaired. Current clinical care could be improved with the use of reliable and objective methods of assessment appropriate for home use. This paper explores the use of a combined nasal acceleration and acoustic sensor to assess velopharyngeal function. Speech production data in nasalized and non-nasalized contexts is recorded from N=6 healthy participants and three normalization strategies are assessed. Normalizing data to maximally nasal productions results in a reduction of between-speaker variability. Using a filtered speech signal can reduce the effects of intra-speaker variability caused be differences in loudness. The normalization strategies pursued show high discriminability of nasalization in vowels with an inexpensive sensor appropriate for home use.
Workers' disability and return to work.

ABSTRACTA severe injury on the job often results in a medical recovery period requiring either a temporary or long-term absence from work. Rehabilitation interventions emphasizing return to work may facilitate recovery and prevent workers from becoming unemployed. A review of the current literature
Studies in the resolving power of photographic emulsions. IV. The effect of development time and developer composition

Three types of emulsion were studied for resolving power as a function of development time, and one type was studied with six developers. In all cases the relation described in the recent literature was confirmed, namely, a rapid rise to a maximum, followed by a slight drop to an approximately constant value. An inverse logarithmic relation between exposure and the development time required to give maximum resolving power was found to hold for a moderate range of development times, but the constant of proportionality varied with the photographic material. When the materials were developed to the customary fractions of their gamma-infinities, however, the exposure required for best resolution was practically independent of development time. Except for a certain thiocyanate developer, all the developers studied gave substantially the same resolving power for practical gammas. At extremely low gammas, the resolving power was about 20 percent higher than for practical gammas except in the cases of the borax and the thiocyanate developers, for which the values were about 40 percent higher. The drop in resolving power with increase in gamma was slowest for the thiocyanate developer, but at the highest gammas attainable with this developer the resolving power was the same as for the others.
Die Reaktion von Natrium‐bis‐trimethylsilyl‐amid mit Carbonylchloriden

Natrium-bis-trimethylsilyl-amid reagiert mit Carbonylchloriden unter Bildung der entsprechenden N-Trimethylsilyl-carbimidsaure-trimethylsilylester: Darstellung und Eigenschaften einer Reihe von Verbindungen werden beschrieben und die Struktur auf Grund der in Abhangigkeit von der Temperatur auf-genommenen NMR- und IR-Spektren diskutiert.
Isolation of an activator of multiple forms of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase of rat cerebrum by isoelectric focusing

Abstract An isoelectric focusing technique was used to isolate multiple forms of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase from a 105 000 × g soluble supernatant fraction of sonicated rat cerebrum. These separated peaks of activity had isoelectric points of 5.1, 5.6, 6.0, 6.6, 8.0, and 9.0. The activities were not stimulated by an endogenous activator of the enzyme but were inhibited by EGTA treatment. However, activator-sensitive forms of the enzyme could be separated from brain if the preparation of rat cerebrum was dialyzed against an EGTA containing buffer prior to electrofocusing. The procedure was also used to isolate a column fraction that stimulated maximum velocities of cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP hydrolysis. This fraction was itself devoid of phosphodiesterase activity and had an isoelectric point of 4.7.
Proteins of metaphase chromosomes and interphase chromatin

Abstract Metaphase chromosomal and interphase chromatin proteins from cells of two species have been compared by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Consistent, common changes in the quantitative distribution of the nonhistone chromosomal proteins are observed in both species. Proteins of ca. 65,000 and 68,000 MW are enriched in interphase chromatin while proteins of ca. 50,000 and 200,000 are more prominent components of metaphase chromosomes. A group of proteins of 90,000-100,000 are also increased in metaphase chromosomes compared to interphase chromatin. By two dimensional gel analysis, the most abundant proteins from chromosomes of both cell types are similar, suggesting a structural role for these nonhistone proteins (1).
Prostate Specific Antigen in the Expressed Prostatic Fluid of Men with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia and Prostate Carcinoma

AbstractPurpose: We tested the hypothesis that the histochemically demonstrated prostate specific antigen (PSA) content of prostate carcinoma cells does not necessarily reflect PSA production and secretion by evaluating expressed prostatic fluid.Materials and Methods: Expressed prostatic fluid and serum from 152 men with clinical benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), 132 with histologically proved BPH and 46 with prostate carcinoma were analyzed with the Hybritech PSA assay.Results: Expressed prostatic fluid PSA levels from carcinoma patients (median 1.70 mg./ml., mean 2.25) were significantly higher than in the histologically proved BPH group (median 1.28 mg./ml., mean 1.42, p less than 0.05).Conclusions: PSA concentration is increased in the expressed prostatic fluid of prostates of men with carcinoma compared to those with histological BPH. This finding may be a functional manifestation of a field change or paracrine effects within the prostate.
Profit maximising goes global: the race to the bottom

We explore four decades of cyclical and long-run dynamics in income distribution and economic activity for a panel of 13 OECD countries, as measured by the wage share and output gap. When modeled as predator–prey dynamics, economic activity in OECD countries is weakly profit-led. Convergence to a long-run equilibrium is relatively slow delaying the profit-squeeze stage for many years. Our ‘race to the bottom’ model suggests that the OECD countries have been engaged in undercutting each other’s real unit labour costs. An extension of the model shows that the long-run equilibrium has been shifting south-west towards a lower wage share. It may even be that this race has the undesirable consequence of decreasing economic activity.
The Anthropology of Credit and Debt

Whether concerned with kinship or with kula, anthropology's interest in credit and debt goes back to the very beginnings of the discipline. Nevertheless, this review dedicates itself primarily to more recent research trends into credit and debt's powerful nature and effects. Following Mauss, credit and debt are treated as an indissoluble dyad that contributes to diverse regulatory mechanisms of sociality, time, space, and the body. Anthropology's overarching contribution to this field of inquiry rotates around its refusal to segregate the moral from the material, seeing the ubiquitous moral debates surrounding credit and debt in various ethnographic settings as coconstitutive of their material effects.
Persistent γ-herpesvirus Infections What Can We Learn from an Experimental Mouse Model?

The human γ-herpesviruses, EBV (or HHV-4) and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV or HHV-8) are oncogenic viruses that induce a readily controlled lytic infection followed by the establishment of life-long latency. This quiescent state is maintained by the host immune system. In most
BIOGEOGRAPHIC PATTERNS OF MONTANE MEXICAN AND CENTRAL AMERICAN CARABIDAE (COLEOPTERA)

Carabid taxa inhabiting the montane forests of Mexico and Central America are analyzed using cladistic biogeographic methods. Taxa exhibiting the Nearctic, Meso-American Montane, and Paleo-American distributional patterns are included in the analysis. Widespread taxa are assumed to indicate that the areas of endemism they inhabit are closely related, and the general pattern of area relationships is determined using parsimony analysis. Of the nine areas of endemism recognized in the analysis, the Sierra Madre Oriental is considered the most distinct. The northern Sierra Madre Occidental, Arizona Mountains, and Sonoran Desert comprise one monophyletic set of areas, as do the more southerly areas of the Sierra Transvolcanica, Sierra Madre del Sur, Chiapan–Guatemalan highlands, and Talamancan Cordillera. The southern Sierra Madre Occidental area of endemism is equivocally related to both areas to the north and areas to the south. Biogeographic information derived from widespread species is as congruent with the general area cladogram as information derived from groups with precinctive species, indicating that the same biogeographic barriers often limit distributions of both widespread species and more inclusive clades comprising precinctive species. Taxa exhibiting the Meso-American Montane Pattern are more congruent with the general area cladogram than those representing the Nearctic Pattern, even though they exhibit less fidelity to highland habitats.
Ten Theses on Monsters and Monstrosity

A simultaneously embodied and disembodying epistemology of Monsters, this is a manifesto of monstrosities through poetry, philosophy, and rhetoric—an encyclopedia in miniature of monsters and their ontologies.
Hemogram Changes in Lactating Dairy Cows Given Human Recombinant Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor (r-MethuG-CSF)

As a prelude to mammary gland challenge experiments, this investigation was implemented to assess the hematologic changes in lactating dairy cattle induced by two dosage regimes of human recombinant colony stimulating factor (Hr-GCSF). This study documents the capability of the human recombinant colony stimulating factor to produce hematologic changes in both a time and dose dependent manner when administered to the adult lactating bovine. A screening dose of 1 pglkg of Hr-GCSF administered to three study subjects produced a three- to four-fold increase in peripheral blood mature neutrophil counts (P < 0.043) by day 12 of the trial. The priming dose treatment group of four lactating cows (3 pglkg of Hr-GCSF) exhibited a three- to five-fold increase in peripheral blood mature neutrophil counts (P < 0.05) and two- to three-fold increases in white blood cell counts by day 5 of the trial. Hematologic examinations of the control group (n = 4; no Hr- GCSF administration) did not detect significant changes in their neutrophil counts over baseline values. The milk somatic cell counts did not statistically shift over baseline values in any of the control or Hr-GCSF treatment groups. When attempting to alter the course of infectious disease processes, potential applications of colony stimulating factors provide interesting speculations about new therapeutic modalities.
Integrated Flexible Ocular Coil for Power and Data Transfer in Retinal Prostheses

A microfabricated and fully-implantable coil for use as a power and data transfer component for retinal prostheses is presented. Compared with traditional hand-made ocular coils, this parylene-based device is thin and flexible with 10 turns of thin-film metal wires and a thickness of less than 10 mum. In addition, the entire coil structure can be heat-formed on a mold to match the eye's curvature for extraocular implantation. Because it is made using parylene thin-film technology, this coil can be directly integrated with multielectrode arrays and with parylene-based packages incorporating application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or discrete electrical components such as chip capacitors. This coil thus enables the fabrication and implantation of a fully microfabricated system for retinal prostheses
Vitamin Supplement Use and Diabetes Mellitus Incidence among Adults in the United States

In some studies, use of vitamin supplements has been inversely associated with the risk of several chronic diseases, but little is known about whether vitamin use affects the risk of diabetes mellitus. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study, the author examined whether vitamin use was related to diabetes incidence in a cohort of United States adults aged 25--74 years. In the analytic sample of 9,573 participants, 1,010 participants developed diabetes mellitus during about 20 years of follow-up. A smaller percentage of participants with incident diabetes (21.4%) reported using vitamins during the previous month at baseline compared with participants who remained free of this disease (33.5%) (p < 0.001). After multiple adjustment, the hazard ratios for participants using vitamin supplements were 0.76 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.63, 0.93) for all participants, 0.70 (95% CI: 0.54, 0.92) for men, and 0.84 (95% CI: 0.64, 1.11) for women. Sex did not modify the association between vitamin use and diabetes incidence. Whether specific vitamins or other factors closely correlated with vitamin use account for this observation is unclear.
A Miniature Mobile Robot for Navigation and Positioning on the Beating Heart

Robotic assistance enhances conventional endoscopy; yet, limitations have hindered its mainstream adoption for cardiac surgery. HeartLander is a miniature mobile robot that addresses several of these limitations by providing precise and stable access over the surface of the beating heart in a less-invasive manner. The robot adheres to the heart and navigates to any desired target in a semiautonomous fashion. The initial therapies considered for HeartLander generally require precise navigation to multiple surface targets for treatment. To balance speed and precision, we decompose any general target acquisition into navigation to the target region followed by fine positioning to each target. In closed-chest, beating-heart animal studies, we demonstrated navigation to targets located around the circumference of the heart, as well as acquisition of target patterns on the anterior and posterior surfaces with an average error of 1.7 mm. The average drift encountered during station-keeping was 0.7 mm. These preclinical results demonstrate the feasibility of precise semiautonomous delivery of therapy to the surface of the beating heart using HeartLander.
Design and characterization of microfabricated piezoresistive floating element-based shear stress sensors

Abstract This paper presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of unique piezoresistive microfabricated shear stress sensors for direct measurements of shear stress underwater. Sidewall-implanted piezoresistors measure lateral force (integrated shear stress) and traditional top-implanted piezoresistors detect normal forces. In addition to the oblique-implant technique, the fabrication process includes a hydrogen anneal step to smooth scalloped silicon sidewalls left by the deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) process. This step was found to reduce the 1/ f noise level by almost an order of magnitude for the sidewall-implanted piezoresistors. Lateral sensitivity was characterized using a microfabricated silicon cantilever force sensor. Out-of-plane sensitivity was evaluated by laser Doppler vibrometry and resonance of the plate element. In-plane sensitivity and out-of-plane crosstalk were characterized, as well as hysteresis and repeatability of the measurements. TSUPREM-4 simulations were used to investigate the discrepancies between the theoretical and experimental values of sidewall-implanted piezoresistor sensitivity. The sensors are designed to be used underwater for studies of hydrodynamic flows.
In vitro and in vivo pre-clinical analysis of a F(ab')2 fragment of panitumumab for molecular imaging and therapy of HER1-positive cancers

The objective of this study was to characterize the in vitro and in vivo properties of the F(ab')2 fragment of panitumumab and to investigate its potential for imaging and radioimmunotherapy. The panitumumab F(ab')2 was generated by enzymatic pepsin digestion. After the integrity and immunoreactivity of the F(ab')2 was evaluated, the fragment was radiolabeled. In vivo studies included direct quantitation of tumor targeting and normal organ distribution of the radiolabeled panitumumab F(ab')2 as well as planar γ-scintigraphy and PET imaging. The panitumumab F(ab')2 was successfully produced by peptic digest. The F(ab')2 was modified with the CHX-A"-DTPA chelate and efficiently radiolabeled with either 111In or 86Y. In vivo tumor targeting was achieved with acceptable uptake of radioactivity in the normal organs. The tumor targeting was validated by both imaging modalities with good visualization of the tumor at 24 h. The panitumumab F(ab')2 fragment is a promising candidate for imaging of HER1-positive cancers.
Concomitant cocrystallization on engineered surfaces

Engineered self-assembled monolayer (SAM) substrates were successfully illustrated as a high throughput polymorph screening method for cocrystals. In this study, we have obtained new polymorphs of the cocrystals of caffeine and oxalic acid (2 : 1 molar ratio). This is evidenced by the Raman spectra, which showed new peaks at 1076, 1588 and 1602 cm−1. In addition, the XRD diffraction pattern exhibited a new peak at 30.0°, further confirming the presence of new polymorphs.
Monetary Problems in Spain and Spanish America 1731–1800

The sixteenth-century Price Revolution in Spain induced by the gigantic stream of Mexican and Peruvian silver was followed by a century of alternate inflation and deflation resulting from wars and weak governments. But in spite of frequent, long, and unsuccessful wars, monetary stability characterized the first half of the eighteenth century. Then a sharp rise in the output of the precious metals, particularly of Mexican silver, increased the Spanish monetary stock and forced prices upward by almost one third in the next three decades of comparative peace. To finance a bitter conflict with England in 1779–83, Spain was compelled to resort to her first issues of paper money. The paper currency depreciated rapidly during the war but rose to par after the conclusion of peace and remained there throughout the Nootka Sound controversy.
Rural Families and Income from Migration: Honduran Households in the World Economy

The process of proletarianization that is occurring among the peasantry in developing countries associated with migration and working for wages in labor markets is analyzed. The data concern migration among rural farm households in southern Honduras since 1950 and were obtained in interviews undertaken in the field in the 1980s. The results show that migration has become a vital component of household survival strategies because of the failure of any single activity to provide an adequate living. The significance of environmental constraints population growth and low returns to labor is noted.
Effect of reproductive factors on stage, grade and hormone receptor status in early-onset breast cancer

Women younger than 35 years who are diagnosed with breast cancer tend to have more advanced stage tumors and poorer prognoses than do older women. Pregnancy is associated with elevated exposure to estrogen, which may influence the progression of breast cancer in young women. The objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between reproductive events and tumor stage, grade, estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor status, and survival in women diagnosed with early-onset breast cancer. In a population-based, case–case study of 254 women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer at age under 35 years, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression with tumor characteristics as dependent variables and adjusting for age and education. Survival analyses also examined the relationship between reproductive events and overall survival. Compared with nulliparous women, women with three or more childbirths were more likely to be diagnosed with nonlocalized tumors (OR = 3.1, 95% CI = 1.3–7.7), and early age (<20 years) at first full-term pregnancy was also associated with a diagnosis of breast cancer that was nonlocalized (OR = 3.0, 95% CI = 1.2–7.4) and of higher grade (OR = 3.2, 95% CI 1.0–9.9). The hazard ratio for death among women with two or more full-term pregnancies, as compared with those with one full-term pregnancy or none, was 2.1 (95% CI = 1.0–4.5), adjusting for stage. Among parous women, those who lactated were at decreased risk for both estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor negative tumors (OR = 0.2, 95% CI = 0.1–0.5, and OR = 0.4, 95% CI = 0.2–0.8, respectively). The results of the present study suggest that pregnancy and lactation may influence tumor presentation and survival in women with early-onset breast cancer.
Heterogeneity in the three-year course of major depression among older adults

Objective The objective of this research was to identify distinct trajectories of recovery in older depressed patients in order to identify optimal samples and points for interventions. Methods The sample was 368 patients ages 60 years and older diagnosed with major depression and enrolled in a naturalistic treatment study and followed for up to 3 years. Results A model with four trajectory classes fit the data best: a quick recovery class (43%), a persistent moderate symptom class (27%), a persistent high symptom class (15%), and a slow recovery class (15%). Compared with patients in the quick recovery class, patients in the persistent moderate symptom class had more instrumental activities of daily living/mobility limitations and lower levels of subjective social support. Patients in the persistent high symptom class had higher levels of perceived stress and lower levels of social support compared with those with a quick recovery. Patients in the slow recovery class had a younger age of onset compared with those in the quick recovery group. In multinomial logistic regression, levels of perceived stress and social support at baseline significantly differed across classes controlling for demographic and health variables. Conclusions Older patients diagnosed with major depression can have varying patterns of response to treatment. Interventions targeting those patients with higher levels of perceived stress and lower levels of subjective social support at the time of the index episode may lead to more favorable long-term trajectories. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The application of infinite-order perturbation theory to biological polymers.

Quantum mechanical perturbation theory of infinite order is applied to an infinitely long biological polymeric chain. The resulting ensemble-averaged density of electronic states is approximately calculated by truncation according to a method introduced by S. Y. Wu [(1974) J. Math. Phys.15, 947–949]. The results are found to require reasonable computational facilities and the method may be applied to a study of mutagenicity.
Operating characteristics of argonne's 50 μs RF particle separator beam

An RF separated beam line, Beam 10, for the 12-ft bubble chamber has been constructed at Argonne's ZGS Complex. It utilizes two copper S-band RF deflecting structures, currently separated by a drift length of 31.25 m. The structures are excited from a central high-power RF modulator station, which can provide up to 10 MW of 50 1Ls pulsed RF power to each structure. The beam is instrumented with proportional wire chambers and scintillation counters. The first use of this beam was in taking 100,000 pictures in the 12-ft bubble chamber of 7.14 GeV/c protons where the rejected Π+ contamination was 7%. Currently, tuning studies to provide a separated K-beam at 6.52 GeV/c are taking place. Some pictures of interesting K- interactions in the 12-ft chamber are included. A unique feature of this beam is the use of a fast RF diode switch to turn off the low power RF drive and, consequently, stop the beam when a maximum number of tracks (typically about 10) have entered the chamber. This feature has resulted in an improvement of the picture taking rate of the chamber by 30% o for the 7.14 GeV/c proton run.
On-step synthesis of a bifunctional BINOL ligand for the highly enantioselective cyanation of aliphatic aldehydes.

An efficient one-step synthesis of the optically active bifunctional BINOL ligand (S)-3 has been developed. It was found that (S)-3 in combination with Me2AlCl is a highly enantioselective catalyst for the addition of TMSCN to aliphatic aldehydes of diverse structures and is also among the most practical ones. A remarkable positive nonlinear effect was found for this chiral ligand.
Political Appointees and the Competence of Federal Program Management

In this article, we use the Bush administration’s management grades to analyze whether programs administered by senior executives are better managed than those administered by political appointees requiring Senate confirmation. We explain the administration’s management grading scheme and how it can be informative for evaluating comparative management quality. We explain why senior-executive-run programs should be better managed than appointee-run programs and test our claim with data on 234 federal programs. We find that political-appointee-run programs earn systematically lower grades in most management areas. We conclude that a systematic review of the proper role of political appointees in federal program management should be considered.
The influence of arbuscular mycorrhizae and light on Wisconsin (USA) sand savanna understories 2. Plant competition

Wisconsin (USA) oak savannas are endangered plant communities that have remarkably high plant species diversity. To investigate factors underlying this richness, we experimentally investigated the potentially interacting effects of light gradients and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on plant competition in the greenhouse, using a fully randomized block design. We used four plant species, soil, and AMF from a remnant sand savanna, under two light and five AMF treatments. Plants were grown four per pot under two competition treatments (either one or four species per pot) for 20 weeks. Using ANOVA, we found that all species showed significant treatment effects on total and shoot biomass, primarily due to differences in competition and light, less to AMF. However, effects were the opposite of predictions. Putatively mycorrhizal plants showed neutral to negative responses to AMF, and a nonmycorrhizal species outcompeted AMF species in infected pots. We concluded that our experimental setup of small pots, sandy soil, and long growing period had induced parasitism by the AMF on susceptible hosts. This unexpected result is consistent with field data from the sand savanna, and may help explain how nonmycorrhizal plants can compete successfully with AMF species in established, species-rich communities.
Mergers in Medicare Part D: Decomposing Market Power, Cost Efficiencies, and Bargaining Power

We examine horizontal mergers amongst Part D insurers with the aim of decomposing market power, cost efficiency, and bargaining power effects. We apply a differences-in-differences identification strategy to panel data on plans offered between 2006 and 2012 to analyze the effects of mergers on plan premiums and coverage characteristics related to drug access and drug pricing. The results reveal significant market power raising premiums, but only in markets where the merging firms overlap. Mergers alter the bargaining process with drug suppliers, invoking a tradeoff between drug access and drug pricing. Large, across-the-board bargaining gains only occur when the merging firms consolidate their existing plans. Plan consolidation also stimulates cost efficiencies, even when carried out organically by non-merging insurers. Otherwise, mergers have no cost efficiency effects.
Pediatric Drug Eruptions of the Skin

Cutaneous adverse cutaneous drug reactions (CADRs) are common among the pediatric population. Although they are rarely considered serious, CADRs account for approximately 35 % of all adverse drug reactions. Because viral exanthems are extremely common in children, clinicians are often faced with a diagnostic dilemma when children are taking many medications and present with a rash. If a child is taking numerous medications, establishing causality to a specific drug can be multifaceted and difficult. We discuss the most common pediatric drug eruptions according to the pattern of the cutaneous eruption: urticarial, exanthematous, pustular, and vesicobullous. We also include a miscellaneous group for completeness. Proper management of a CADR requires an efficient method of accurately estimating the probability of a drug association, determining the likelihood of a relapse with drug re-challenge, and relaying this information to patients and their families. A hasty diagnosis of a drug “allergy” will follow a child through his or her life, and possibly increase their exposure to more toxic medications unnecessarily. Unless a re-challenge is performed, the vast majority of CADRs in children can only be considered as possibly associated with a drug.
Overseas Expansion And Shareholders Wealth

The effects of overseas expansion on shareholders wealth were studied in this paper. The results for a sample of 179 announcements of overseas expansion showed positive and significant cumulative average residuals (CARs). The results for initial overseas expansion were more positive than for subsequent overseas expansion. Five different methods of expansion were examined. Announcements of exports results in the highest, positive and significant CARs. CARs for licensing, opening an overseas subsidiary and acquiring a growing concern were marginally significant, while CARs associated with joint venture announcements were positive but insignificant. The results did not indicate that any differences were associated with the degree of industrialization of the host country.
A Non-parametric Approach to the Multi-channel Attribution Problem

Multi-channel marketing attribution modeling is a two-stage process. First, the value of exposure from different marketing channel needs to be estimated. Next, the total surplus achieved needs to be assigned to individual marketing channels by using the exposure effects from the first stage. There has been limited work in exploring possible choices and effects of determining the value of exposure to different marketing channels in the first stage. This paper proposes novel non-parametric and semi-parametric approaches to estimate the value function and compares it with other natural choices. We build a simulation engine that captures important behavioral phenomenon known to affect a customer's purchase decision; and compare the performance of five attribution approaches in their ability to closely approximate the known ground truth. Our proposed method works well when marketing channels have high levels of synergy. We apply the proposed approaches on two real-world datasets and present the results.
In vitro conversion of thiocyanate to cyanide in the presence of erythrocytes.

SummaryThe conversion of thiocyanate to cyanide was confirmed, and evidence was presented indicating that this reaction occurs rapidly in vitro in the presence of a red blood cell constituent, possibly an enzyme. Physiologically significant concentrations of cyanide were observed in the blood of patients with serum thiocyanate values even below therapeutic levels. The evidence was felt to support the suggestion that the biological effects generally ascribed to thiocyanate may be caused in part by cyanide.The authors gratefully acknowledge the advice and assistance of Dr. George A. Perera.
Realtime Query Expansion and Procedural Interfaces for Information Hierarchies

We demonstrate the use of two user interfaces for interacting with web hierarchies. One uses the dependencies underlying a hierarchy to perform real-time query expansion and, in this way, acts as an in situ feedback mechanism. The other enables the user to cascade the output from one interaction to the input of another, and so on, and, in this way, supports procedural information-seeking tasks without disrupting the flow of interaction.
Direct and Indirect Associations Between Social Anxiety and Nicotine Dependence and Cessation Problems: Multiple Mediator Analyses

INTRODUCTION Little empirical work has evaluated why socially anxious smokers are especially vulnerable to more severe nicotine dependence and cessation failure. Presumably, these smokers rely on cigarettes to help them manage their chronically elevated negative affect elicited by a wide array of social contexts. METHODS The current study examined the direct and indirect effects of social anxiety cross-sectionally in regard to a range of smoking processes among 466 treatment-seeking smokers. Negative affect and negative affect reduction motives were examined as mediators of the relations of social anxiety with nicotine dependence and cessation problems. RESULTS Social anxiety was directly and robustly associated with perceived barriers to smoking cessation and problems experienced during past quit attempts. Social anxiety was also associated with greater nicotine dependence and smoking inflexibility indirectly through negative affect and negative affect smoking motives. Negative affect and smoking to reduce negative affect mediated these relations. CONCLUSIONS These findings document the important role of negative affect and negative affect reduction motives in the relationships of social anxiety with nicotine dependence and cessation problems.
Controlling Basin Breakout for Robots Operating in Uncertain Flow Environments

We present the development and experimental validation of an autonomous surface/underwater vehicle (ASV/AUV) control strategy that leverages the environmental dynamics and noise to efficiently navigate in a stochastic fluidic environment. In this work, we assume the workspace is composed of the union of a collection of convex regions, each bounded by Lagrangian coherent structures (LCS). LCS are dynamical features in the flow field that function like invariant manifolds in general non-autonomous dynamical systems and they denote regions in the flow field where more escape events occur. We show through theory and simulation that a vehicle’s likelihood of transition between adjacent LCS-bounded regions can be manipulated by the proposed control strategy, resulting in effective navigation strategies from one region to another. In addition, we show how optimal escape trajectories with respect to the transition probability between adjacent LCS-bounded regions can be determined. These trajectories correspond to energy-efficient trajectories since they leverage the inherent dynamics of the surrounding flow field. We experimentally show that the proposed control strategy exhibits a predictable exponential scaling of escape times and is effective even in situations where the structure of the flow is not fully known, there exist significant stochastic fluctuations, and control effort is costly.
Adherent lymphokine-activated killer cells in chronic myelogenous leukemia: a benign cell population with potent cytotoxic activity.

We generated a homogeneous population of cells with cytotoxic activity termed “adherent lymphokine-activated killer” (ALAK) cells from the peripheral blood of nine patients in the chronic phase of Ph1 positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The selective enrichment of CML ALAK cells depended on their propensity to adhere to plastic and proliferate when cultured in the presence of recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2) for 14 days. Culture of peripheral blood mononuclear cells under these conditions resulted in growth of a uniform population of cells with morphologic characteristics of large granular lymphocytes. The NKH1+/CD3- phenotype associated with IL-2-stimulated natural killer (NK) cells was present on 79% +/- 9% of cells. Absence of colony formation in conditions promoting the growth of CFU-GEMM indicated that the CML ALAK population was not contaminated with viable hematopoietic progenitors. Cytogenetic analysis of the CML ALAK population revealed 119/120 Ph1 negative metaphases and l/120 Ph1 positive metaphase in six patients. Southern blot analysis of CML ALAK failed to demonstrate a bcr gene rearrangement in seven patients known to have a bcr gene rearrangement in myeloid cells. Comparison of ALAK populations derived from peripheral blood of CML patients and normals revealed similar cytotoxicity against the NK-sensitive K562 cell line (104 +/- 36 LU v 88 +/- 19 LU; P = NS) and the NK-resistant Raji cell line (93 +/- 26 LU v 98 +/- 28 LU; P = NS). The proliferative capacity of CML ALAK cells (101 +/- 33 fold expansion) exceeds the growth potential of the normal ALAK cells (22.3 +/- 3 fold expansion; P = .02). Direct comparison of equal numbers of CML ALAK cells and a CML LAK cell population produced by incubation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in rIL-2 for 14 days without adherence revealed that the CML LAK population had significantly lower lytic activity against K562 and Raji cell lines. We are able to expand CML peripheral blood mononuclear cells to provide a population of ALAK cells with potent cytotoxic activity. The CML ALAK population is relatively homogeneous, not contaminated with viable stem cells, not derived from a malignant lineage, and more cytotoxic than equal numbers of CML LAK cells. Further studies are underway to determine if this ALAK population may be effective in autologous killing of chronic myelogenous leukemia stem cells.
Force, length, and Ca(2+)-troponin C affinity in skeletal muscle.

On the basis of isotopic methods it has been found that force generation promotes increased Ca2+ binding to troponin C in cardiac muscle [P. Hofmann and F. Fuchs. Am. J. Physiol. 253 (Cell Physiol. 22): C541-C546, 1987] but not in skeletal muscle (J. Muscle Res. Cell Motil. 6: 477, 1985). However, studies with skinned rabbit psoas muscle fibers containing substituted fluorescent troponin C analogues indicate that force-generating cross bridges do promote increased Ca2+ binding in skeletal muscle (K. Guth and J. D. Potter. J. Biol. Chem. 262: 13627-13635, 1987). We have reexamined this question using a modified contraction-relaxation protocol in which Ca2+ binding to detergent-treated rabbit psoas fibers was measured either during steady-state force development or after relaxation was induced by one of two myosin ATPase inhibitors, vanadate or 2,3-butanedione monoxime. A standard double-isotope technique was used to measure Ca2+ binding. Another set of experiments was done in which force was reduced by releasing muscle fibers from sarcomere lengths of 2.4-2.6 microns to 1.5-1.7 microns, and bound Ca2+ was determined either before or after the release. No statistically significant effect of force generation or sarcomere length on Ca(2+)-troponin C affinity was observed. Thus the discrepancy remains between results obtained with isotopic and fluorescence methods. It is possible that in skinned fibers emission from fluorescence probes is more closely related to protein-protein interactions than to the amount of Ca2+ bound to troponin C.
Neural Representations of Direction (Head Direction Cells)

Many animals possess a sense of direction, thought to be essential for navigation. The neural basis for this may be provided by neurons known as head direction (HD) cells, located in the limbic system. Each HD cell fires only when the individual faces one particular direction, relative to the surrounding environment. Different HD cells have different firing directions. Analytical work has revealed that the cells are controlled both by the animal’s own angular head motion as well as by learned connections with environmental landmarks. Ring-like attractor networks which integrate angular motion signals have been developed to explain these HD cells.
The Need for Accountability in Education in Developing Countries

Despite the rapid growth in enrollment rates across the developing world, there are major concerns about the quality of education that children receive. Across numerous developing countries, recent learning assessments have revealed that children are not able to develop basic numeracy and literary skills. These low levels of learning are the result of a number of interrelated factors, many of which reflect the low levels of accountability across multiple levels of the education system. In this paper, I document the main education challenges facing developing countries, including the lack of accountability among teachers and school management. I also review recent literature that documents the effectiveness of interventions aimed at addressing these accountability issues. Finally, I assess the potential for the market to improve accountability in the education sector in developing countries.
Threats to Wild Echinacea Populations

Habitat loss is one of the bigger potential threats to Echinacea populations with loss of native prairie due to agriculture having the largest historic impact. The Echinacea market for wild-harvested roots can be a threat if the demand is too large, and some examples are given from the late 1990s when Echinacea harvest was like a Gold Rush. The conservation status, rare plant rankings, and the At-Risk listing are also discussed in context of wild harvesting, but overall, the threat of overharvest in the wild is currently not a huge concern.
Character Traits, Social Psychology, and Impediments to Helping Behavior

In a number of recent papers, I have begun to develop a new theory of character which is conceptually distinct both from traditional Aristotelian accounts as well as from the positive view of local traits outlined by John Doris. On my view, many human beings do have robust traits of character which play an important explanatory and predictive role, but which are triggered by certain situational variables which preclude them from counting as genuine Aristotelian virtues. Like others in this discussion, I have focused on helping behavior in particular, and have gone on to argue that much of the social psychology literature is compatible with this new approach. The goal of this paper is to develop the model as it pertains to helping behavior further by examining how helping-relevant traits can serve as impediments to helping behavior.
Making the Grade: Levels of Leadership

Leaders can be classified and graded on the basis of their capabilities. While this may make you (and some of them) uncomfortable, understanding this is a key to many of the issues we are covering in this book: are your leaders great? If so why, if not then what can be done to help them? Are you up to the task of being leader? How will you decide if you should continue being a leader and if so how can you become better?
Can Social Media Use Produce Enduring Social Ties? Affordances and the Case of Katrina Bloggers

Can previously unacquainted, grieving individuals who use social media to organize and participate in decentralized mobilizations build strong, lasting social ties? If so, how? What is it about particular social media technologies and platforms that might explain the strength and longevity of their social ties? Drawing on a case study of New Orleans bloggers who took part in a variety of contentious and non-contentious mobilizations after hurricane Katrina, we find that people who mobilize through social media like blogs can form strong and lasting social ties. We argue that this is partly because of the types of communication and interaction that blogs afford. We identify two types of affordances, mechanical and cultural, as distinct qualities of social media like blogs, and illustrate how they enable the building of strong, digitally mediated social ties among grieving people.
Putting it all together: intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms governing proteasome biogenesis

Background The 26S proteasome is at the heart of the ubiquitin-proteasome system, which is the key cellular pathway for the regulated degradation of proteins and enforcement of protein quality control. The 26S proteasome is an unusually large and complicated protease comprising a 28-subunit core particle (CP) capped by one or two 19-subunit regulatory particles (RP). Multiple activities within the RP process incoming ubiquitinated substrates for eventual degradation by the barrel-shaped CP. The large size and elaborate architecture of the proteasome have made it an exceptional model for understanding mechanistic themes in macromolecular assembly.