cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Wither the Nation-State? A Comparative Analysis of Nationalism in Textbooks

What happens to the historic nationalizing purpose of schooling in an era of pervasive globalization? We address this question by examining patterns and predictors of nationalist emphases in 576 secondary school social science textbooks from 78 countries published between 1955 and 2011. Our descriptive and multilevel analyses show that nationalist narratives in textbooks persist into the recent globalization era and on average are not diminished in countries that are more economically, politically, or socially globalized. However, countries that occupy a dominant position in world society—either through Western cultural status or deeper embeddedness in international non-governmental organizations (INGOs)—tend to display lower levels of nationalism in their textbooks. Our examination contributes to the sociology of education by highlighting that the relationship between the global and the national is not a zero sum game: even in our globalized world, nationalist educational narratives are alive and well. We further contribute to the world society perspective by highlighting a tension between recent world cultural shifts toward individual rights and cosmopolitanism and the continued centrality of the nation-state model in world society. Our results suggest that attenuation of nationalist celebrations in schooling may be easiest for globally dominant countries whose legitimacy as nation-states is not in question.
Aristotelischer Naturalismus als Phänomenologie

Die Entwicklung der zeitgenossischen neoaristotelischen Ansatze zur Ethik hat auf zwei Ebenen stattgefunden. Auf der einen Ebene haben neoaristotelische Denkerinnen wie Elizabeth Anscombe (1958) und Philippa Foot (2002) metaethische Perspektiven hinsichtlich bestimmter Fragen der moralischen Ontologie und Erkenntnistheorie (zum Beispiel in Bezug auf die Tatsache-Wert-Unterscheidung und das Realismus-/Antirealismusproblem), der Moralpsychologie (zum Beispiel uber die Rolle der Emotionen im Bereich der moralischen Erfahrung), und der praktischen Vernunft entwickelt.
Xinjiang and the modern Chinese state

Justin Jacobs’s book examines the political history of Xinjiang in the 20th century. Special focus is given to the Han Chinese governors in Xinjiang and their ethnic or nationality policies. Contin...
Polycystic ovary syndrome in adolescence: diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

Controversy continues about the underlying etiopathogenesis, diagnostic criteria, and recommendations for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in adolescents. Recent literature has recognized these deficiencies and evidence based expert recommendations have become more available. The purpose of this chapter is to offer primary care providers a practical understanding and approach to the diagnosis and treatment of PCOS in adolescents. Although the presence of polycystic ovary morphology (PCOM) is included as a key diagnostic criterion of PCOS in adults, it is currently not recommended for the diagnosis in adolescents. As such, the diagnosis of PCOS in adolescents currently hinges on evidence of ovulatory dysfunction and androgen excess. Recommended evidence of ovulatory dysfunction includes: consecutive menstrual intervals >90 days even in the first year after menstrual onset; menstrual intervals persistently 45 days 2 or more years after menarche; and lack of menses by 15 years or 2–3 years after breast budding. Recommended evidence of androgen excess include: moderate to severe hirsutism; persistent acne unresponsive to topical therapy; and persistent elevation of serum total and/or free testosterone level. Importantly, a definitive diagnosis of PCOS is not needed to initiate treatment. Treatment may decrease risk of future comorbidity even in the absence of a definitive diagnosis. Deferring diagnosis, while providing symptom treatment and regular/ frequent follow-up of symptomology, is a recommended option. The treatment options for PCOS should be individualized to the presentation, needs, and preferences of each patient. Goals of treatment are to improve quality of life and long-term health outcomes. Lifestyle modifications remain first-line management of overweight and obese adolescents with PCOS. Combined oral contraceptives (COC) are first line pharmacotherapy for management of menstrual irregularity and acne, and metformin is superior to COCs for weight reduction and improved dysglycemia. COCs and metformin have similar effects on hirsutism, but often need to be paired with other treatment modalities to achieve further improvement of cutaneous symptoms. Clinicians should be cognizant that PCOS is associated with significant metabolic and psychological comorbidity and screen for these issues appropriately.
Methamphetamine use and heart failure: Prevalence, risk factors, and predictors.

Abstract Objectives To compare methamphetamine users who develop heart failure to those who do not and determine predictors. Methods Patients presenting over a two-year period testing positive for methamphetamine on their toxicology screen were included. Demographics, vital signs, echocardiography and labs were compared between patients with normal versus abnormal B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP). Results 4407 were positive for methamphetamine, 714 were screened for heart failure, and 450 (63%) had abnormal BNP. The prevalence of abnormal BNP in methamphetamine-positive patients was 10.2% versus 6.7% for those who were negative or not tested. For methamphetamine-positive patients, there was a tendency for higher age and male gender with abnormal BNP. A higher proportion of Whites and former smokers had abnormal BNP and higher heart and respiratory rates. Echocardiography revealed disparate proportions for normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and severe dysfunction (LVEF Conclusion Methamphetamine-positive patients have a significantly higher prevalence of heart failure than the general emergency department population who are methamphetamine-negative or not tested. The methamphetamine-positive subgroup who develop heart failure tend to be male, older, White, former smokers, and have higher creatinine, heart and respiratory rates. This subgroup also has greater biventricular dysfunction, dimensions, and higher pulmonary arterial pressures.
Low-power and high-frequency ring oscillator design in 65nm CMOS technology

Symmetrical load ring oscillator design and analysis is presented for Bluetooth front-end applications. High frequency waveform in the range of 4.9 GHz ∼ 5 GHz with low power consumption of 2mW is generated by this oscillator. A wide frequency tuning range of 3.7 ∼ 6.5 GHz and high value of Kvco are provided with 1 V power supply. The biasing network is realized to control the embedded current source to improve the high-frequency behavior of ring VCO and full range output buffer. The proposed ring oscillator is designed in TSMC 65 nm RF CMOS technology.
Resource availability, propagule supply, and effect of nonnative ungulate herbivores on Senecio madagascariensis invasion

Nonnative invasive herbivores can create complex biotic interactions by differentially feeding on native and nonnative invasive plant species. The herbivores may act as enemies of nonnative plants and prevent them from becoming invasive, or they may facilitate invasion by having a greater negative impact on native plants compared with nonnative plants. It is also possible that within the same ecosystem nonnative herbivores could either facilitate or inhibit invasion under different abiotic or biotic conditions. In this study we experimentally investigated how abiotic (soil nutrients) and biotic (propagule density) conditions influence the effect of invasive generalist herbivores on Senecio madagascariensis, an invasive plant species in Hawaiian dry forest plant communities. We used fenced exclosures to manipulate presence or absence of invasive ungulates (feral goats and sheep), and we used seed addition to manipulate propagule supply of S. madagascariensis. The experiment was replicated in a recently burned and an unburned site to examine how a resource pulse following fire may alter plant-herbivore interactions. There were very few seeds of S. madagascariensis in the seed rain of both sites, and recruitment was four times higher when seeds were experimentally added, suggesting that S. madagascariensis is dispersal limited in this area. Recruitment of S. madagascariensis was five times higher in the burned site compared to the unburned site, suggesting that increased resources promote recruitment. Recruitment was three times higher when herbivores were present compared to when they were excluded, but plants were much smaller when herbivores were present. We conclude that herbivores can alter S. madagascariensis recruitment, even during dry conditions, and that propagule availability influences where S. madagascariensis can become established.
Enhancing energy transport in conjugated polymers

The conversion of light into usable chemical energy by plants is enabled by the precise spatial arrangement of light-absorbing photosynthetic systems and associated molecular complexes ( 1 ). In organic solar cells, there is also the need to control intermolecular spacing and molecular orientation, as well as thin-film crystallinity and morphology, so as to enable efficient energy migration and photoconversion ( 2 ). In an organic solar cell, light absorption creates excitons, tightly bound electron-hole pairs that must be efficiently dissociated into their component charge carriers in order to create an electrical current. Thus, long-range exciton migration must occur from the point of photogeneration to a dissociating site. On page 897 of this issue, Jin et al. ( 3 ) report on a conjugated polymer nanofiber system that yields exciton diffusion lengths greater than 200 nm. In comparison, organic solar cells are typically constructed with materials having exciton diffusion lengths one order of magnitude smaller than this value, which limits device thickness and optical absorption. Their approach exploits a sequential synthesis method that enables measurement of this long exciton diffusion length (see the figure).
Neodymium YAG Laser for the Treatment of Anal Condylomata

Anal condylomata are common problems in proctological practice. Condylomata acuminata are caused by the human papilloma virus.While the papilloma virus belongs to the same papavavirus family as the common skin wart virus, there are epidemiological, biochemical and immunological differences (1). It is now plain that human papilloma virus shows differences in strains according to the site of recovery.
Entscheidungsunterstützung durch konzerneinheitliches Rechnungswesen

Du Pont ist eine internationale Chemie- und Energiegruppe mit einem Jahresumsatz von 32,9 Mrd. U.S. Dollars (1988), einem Jahresgewinn von 2,2 Mrd. U.S. Dollars und rund 145.000 Mitar beitern. Sie ist in vier Regionen unterteilt. Vom Umsatz entfallen z.Zt. 55 %. auf die Vereinigten Staaten, 30 %. auf Europa und die restlichen 15 %, auf die Regionen in Sudamerika/Kanada und Asien/Pazifik. Die Vielzahl von Produkten ist zu etwa 1.700 Produktgruppen zusammengefast, diese wiederum zu etwa 100 Haupt produktlinien, die schlieslich zu sechs Unternehmensbereichen. Von der Konzernbelegschaft sind 108.000 Mitarbeiter bei der Muttergesellschaft in den Vereinigen Staaten, 18.000 in Europa und weitere 15.000 in den beiden anderen Regionen beschaftigt.
Assessing activist fiscal policy in advanced and emerging market economies using real-time data

We examine activist fiscal policy in advanced and emerging economies using an innovative methodology. We contribute to the existing literature on fiscal policy cyclicality by conducting real-time data analysis for a broad set of countries that include 23 advanced and 30 emerging market economies. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to extend the real-time data analysis to countries other than advanced economies. We also examine the impact of the global financial crisis. Our main findings show that discretionary fiscal policy in advanced economies is planned as countercyclical before the global financial crisis, but its implementation turned procyclical after the crisis. The emerging economies had weakly countercyclical discretionary fiscal policy plans, which enabled them to implement countercyclical fiscal policy after the global financial crisis.
The impact of state intervention and bankruptcy authorization laws on local government deficits

Local governments in the United States can file for bankruptcy to restructure their debt if allowed by state laws. While some states legislate an unconditional authorization, others conditionally permit local filings, do not give authorization, or intervene in local crises. This paper investigates the impact of state policy adoption on local governments’ revenue to expense ratio, a measure of deficit. While bankruptcy authorizations do not show an impact at the mean, a median locality decreases the revenue–expense ratio after the state adopts an authorization unconditional on state intervention, suggesting a moral hazard effect. Localities with conditionally high deficits, however, increase the ratio upon the adoption of a conditional authorization, possibly because they want to avoid being subjective to conditions placed by states.
Marine Drugs Best Paper Award 2014

Marine Drugs initiated a “Best Paper Award” in 2013 [1] to recognize outstanding papers published in our journal in the area of research, development and production of drugs from the sea, including marine natural product chemistry. We are pleased to announce the second “Marine Drugs Best Paper Award” for 2014. Nominations were selected by the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors and Editorial Board Members of Marine Drugs from all papers published in 2010; reviews and articles being evaluated separately. [...]
Using cooperative learning teams to improve exam scores in the introduction to operations management class

The introduction to operations management course is a historically difficult course for students. The novelty of the topics, quantitative rigor and difficult concepts makes this course challenging for students. To combat this problem, we implemented a unique cooperative learning program over two different semesters at an AACSB accredited business school. Although the cooperative learning program was voluntary, 41% of the students participated in the program. Exam scores were measured for students who participated in weekly learning groups versus those students who did not participate. The findings show that students who participated in the weekly cooperative learning groups scored significantly better than non-attended students on all three exam across two semesters. The positive outcomes are numerous including higher pass rates for the course, students learning to work in groups and fewer students visiting office hours during the semester.
Clinical Predictors for Optimal Forward Elevation in Primary Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty.

BackgroundFew studies in the literature analyze clinical factors associated with superoptimal and suboptimal forward elevation in primary reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA). We investigate ...
User Perception of Situated Product Recommendations in Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) interfaces increasingly utilize artificial intelligence systems to tailor content and experiences to the user. We explore the effects of one such system — a recommender syste...
Walking on another world

There's nothing like crash-landing on an alien planet, especially a carefully crafted world containing a big mystery to solve. Just watch out for the chicken, says Jacob Aron
Development of a FRET-Based Assay for Analysis of mAbs Internalization and Processing by Dendritic Cells in Preclinical Immunogenicity Risk Assessment

Treatment-emergent antidrug antibodies (TE-ADA) pose a major challenge to the development of biotherapeutics. The antidrug antibody responses are highly orchestrated and involve many types of immune cells and biological processes. Biological drug internalization and processing by antigen-presenting cells (APCs) are two initial and critical steps in the cascade of events leading to T cell-dependent ADA production. The assays thus far described in literature to evaluate immunogenicity potential/risk as a function of APC activity mainly focus on internalization of labeled drug candidates in vitro. Herein, we describe a high-throughput Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET)-based assay for assessing both internalization and processing using CD14+ monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) as APCs. Antigen-binding fragment F(ab')2 against IgG fragment crystallizable gamma (Fcγ) was labeled with the activatable FRET pair TAMRA-QSY7 as a universal probe for antibodies and proteins with a fragment crystallizable (Fc) domain. The assay was qualified using six mAbs of known clinical immunogenicity and one IgG1 isotype antibody using Design of Experiment (DoE). Correlation analysis of internalization and clinical immunogenicity data showed that this FRET-based internalization assay was able to detect clinically immunogenic antibodies. This method provides a tool for analyzing/screening the immunogenicity risk of biological candidates by assessing one of the critical components of the ADA formation process within the broader context of an immunogenicity risk assessment strategy.
Perspectives for Polymer Electrolytes: A View from Fundamentals of Ionic Conductivity

We present a brief overview of current developments in the field of polymer electrolytes, with the focus on single-ion conducting polymers. The latter have significant advantages relative to electr...
Frequent Emergency Department Visitors Associated With a Pain-Discharge Diagnosis

Abstract Background Emergency departments (EDs) have experienced an increase in annual patient visits and length of stay over the past decade. Management of frequent-user patients with pain-related diagnoses are challenging in a time-limited setting. Objective The purpose of this study was to describe characteristics of frequent ED users with pain-related diagnoses. Methods This was a retrospective longitudinal cohort study of hospital ED visits from two EDs in using encounters from September 2016 to August 2018. Frequent users were characterized as having four or more visits in a 1-year period and were further classified into three categories based on the number of pain-related visits in the study period. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis results are reported for all demographic and clinical characteristics for index encounters, patient level data, and pain subgroups. Results Of all patients, 11.3% (n = 5174) were identified as frequent users, accounting for 38.9% (n = 91,114) of all ED visits. Overall, frequent pain users were more likely to be of middle age (odds ratio [OR] 1.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.80–1.72), female (OR 2.43, 95% CI 1.79–3.29), have commercial insurance (OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.37–2.66), and have 10 or more ED encounters (super user status) in a 12-month period (OR 23.66, 95% CI 17.12–32.71). Conclusion Understanding characteristics of ED frequent users with pain-related diagnoses may inform community-based interventions designed to reduce episodic care and thereby improve care coordination and management.
Generalizing experimental results by leveraging knowledge of mechanisms

We show how experimental results can be generalized across diverse populations by leveraging knowledge of local mechanisms that produce the outcome of interest, only some of which may differ in the target domain. We use structural causal models and a refined version of selection diagrams to represent such knowledge, and to decide whether it entails the invariance of probabilities of causation across populations, which then enables generalization. We further provide: (i) bounds for the target effect when some of these conditions are violated; (ii) new identification results for probabilities of causation and the transported causal effect when trials from multiple source domains are available; as well as (iii) a Bayesian approach for estimating the transported causal effect from finite samples. We illustrate these methods both with simulated data and with a real example that transports the effects of Vitamin A supplementation on childhood mortality across different regions.
Pharmacologic IRE1/XBP1s Activation Promotes Systemic Adaptive Remodeling in Obesity

In obesity, overexpression of the IRE1-regulated transcription factor XBP1s protects against metabolic dysfunction by stimulating adaptive remodeling of multiple tissues, most notably the liver. This observation suggests that pharmacologically increasing IRE1/XBP1s signaling might be an attractive approach to mitigate pathologies in obesity and its associated complications. Here, we tested this notion by treating diet-induced obese (DIO) mice with the pharmacologic IRE1/XBP1s activator IXA4. We show that IXA4 treatment selectively activated protective IRE1/XBP1s signaling in livers of DIO mice without inducing obesity-linked pathologies associated with IRE1 hyperactivity, such as liver inflammation and fibrosis. Chronic IXA4 treatment improved systemic glucose metabolism and feeding-induced insulin action in the liver of DIO mice. These improvements were linked to IRE1/XBP1s-induced remodeling of the liver transcriptome, which dampened glucose production and reduced hepatic steatosis. Further, we show that IXA4 treatment enhanced pancreatic beta cell function and insulin homeostasis, indicating that systemic activation of IRE1/XBP1s signaling engendered multi-tissue benefits that integrated to mitigate systemic metabolic dysfunction in DIO mice. Our findings show that selective pharmacological activation of protective IRE1/XBP1s signaling reprograms multiple metabolic tissues, such as liver and pancreas, and represents a potential strategy to correct metabolic alterations in obesity.
The SARS-CoV-2 S1 spike protein mutation N501Y alters the protein interactions with both hACE2 and human derived antibody: A Free energy of perturbation study

Abstract The N501Y mutation in Covid-19 arise many question but a small amount of data are currently available. An urgent understanding of N501Y mechanism of action at molecular level is highly required. Here, we present the preliminary results of our Free energy perturbation (FEP) and Molecular dynamics (MD) calculations for the interaction of the spike S1 receptor binding domain (RBD) with both the ACE2 receptor and an antibody, STE90-C11, derived from COVID-19 patients. The results shown that the S1 RBD-ACE2 interaction was increased whereas those with the STE90-C11 antibody significantly decreased (over about 160 times). This may explain the observed in UK more spread of the virus but also emerge an important question about the possible human immune response and already available vaccines. Indeed, the latter may still act well but our data indicate some possible reduction of their effect. Further studies of N501Y mutation are need.
Health Care Costs and Utilization Predictions by the Skilled Nursing Facility Readmission Risk Instrument.

Abstract Objectives Health care providers at hospitals and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) are increasingly expected to optimize care of post-acute patients to reduce hospital readmissions and contain costs. To achieve these goals, providers need to understand their patients’ risk of hospital readmission and how this risk is associated with health care costs. A previously developed risk prediction model identifies patients’ probability of 30-day hospital readmission at the time of discharge to an SNF. With a computerized algorithm, we translated this model as the Skilled Nursing Facility Readmission Risk (SNFRR) instrument. Our objective was to evaluate the relationship between 30-day health care costs and hospital readmissions according to the level of risk calculated by this model. Design This retrospective cohort study used SNFRR scores to evaluate patient data. Setting and Participants The patients were discharged from Mayo Clinic Rochester hospitals to 11 area SNFs. Methods We compared the outcomes of all-cause 30-day standardized direct medical costs and hospital readmissions between risk quartiles based on the distribution of SNFRR scores for patients discharged to SNFs for post-acute care from April 1 through November 30, 2017. Results Mean 30-day all-cause standardized costs were positively associated with SNFRR score quartiles and ranged from $9199 in the fourth quartile (probability of readmission, 0.27-0.66) to $2679 in the first quartile (probability of readmission, 0.07-0.13) (P ≤ .05). Patients in the fourth SNFRR score quartile had 5.68 times the odds of 30-day hospital readmission compared with those in the first quartile. Conclusions and Implications The SNFRR instrument accurately predicted standardized direct health care costs for patients on discharge to an SNF and their risk for 30-day hospital readmission. Therefore, it could be used to help categorize patients for preemptive interventions. Further studies are needed to confirm its validity in other institutions and geographic areas.
The Association between Early Country-level Testing Capacity and Later COVID-19 Mortality Outcomes

ABSTRACT Background The COVID-19 pandemic has overrun hospital systems while exacerbating economic hardship and food insecurity on a global scale. In an effort to understand how early action to find and control the virus is associated with cumulative outcomes, we explored how country-level testing capacity affects later COVID-19 mortality. Methods We used the Our World in Data database to explore testing and mortality records in 27 countries from December 31, 2019 to September 30, 2020; we applied ordinary-least squares regression with clustering on country to determine the association between early COVID-19 testing capacity (cumulative tests per case) and later COVID-19 mortality (time to specified mortality thresholds), adjusting for country-level confounders, including median age, GDP, hospital bed capacity, population density, and non-pharmaceutical interventions. Results Higher early testing implementation, as indicated by more cumulative tests per case when mortality was still low, was associated with longer accrual time for higher per capita deaths. For instance, a higher cumulative number of tests administered per case at the time of 6 deaths per million persons was positively predictive of a longer time to reach 15 deaths per million, after adjustment for all confounders (β=0.659; P=0.001). Conclusions Countries that developed stronger COVID-19 testing capacity at early timepoints, as measured by tests administered per case identified, experienced a slower increase of deaths per capita. Thus, this study operationalizes the value of testing and provides empirical evidence that stronger testing capacity at early timepoints is associated with reduced mortality and better pandemic control.
Financial Stressors During the Great Recession and Subsequent Risk of Early Mortality.

Objective The Great Recession in 2008 was a period of severe economic upheaval and myriad financial stressors. Financial stress is associated with poorer health, but for whom is this stress the most health-relevant? The current study examined the association between financial stressors and mortality, as well as whether this association varied based on people's financial status. Methods Participants from the Midlife in the United States study (n = 2760) were assessed before (2004-2005) and after (2013-2014) the Great Recession (2008). Mortality status was then tracked from 2013 to 2017. Results People who experienced more financial stressors during the Great Recession were at greater risk of early mortality over the 4-year follow-up (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.14 [1.00-1.29], p = .046). This association was moderated by the importance of financial security (B = 0.34 [0.08-0.59], p = .009). Financial stressors were more strongly associated with mortality among people who reported that financial security was important to their well-being (HR = 1.29 [1.08-1.54], p = .006) compared with people who reported it was not (HR = 1.02 [0.82-1.26], p = .89). Household income and subjective financial status did not moderate the association between financial stressors and mortality. Conclusions Experiencing financial stressors during the Great Recession was associated with increased mortality over the 4-year follow-up period, particularly for people who reported financial security was important to their well-being. Interventions designed to reduce financial stress to improve health may benefit from targeting people for whom such stressors are particularly important.
Genome-wide identification and analysis of prognostic features in human cancers

Abstract Clinical decisions in cancer rely on precisely assessing patient risk. To improve our ability to accurately identify the most aggressive malignancies, we constructed genome-wide survival models using gene expression, copy number, methylation, and mutation data from 10,884 patients with known clinical outcomes. We identified more than 100,000 significant prognostic biomarkers and demonstrate that these genomic features can predict patient outcomes in clinically-ambiguous situations. While adverse biomarkers are commonly believed to represent cancer driver genes and promising therapeutic targets, we show that cancer features associated with shorter survival times are not enriched for either oncogenes or for successful drug targets. Instead, the strongest adverse biomarkers represent widely-expressed housekeeping genes with roles in cell cycle progression, and, correspondingly, nearly all therapies directed against these features have failed in clinical trials. In total, our analysis establishes a rich resource for prognostic biomarker analysis and clarifies the use of patient survival data in preclinical cancer research and therapeutic development.
Aspirin Thromboprophylaxis Is Associated With Less Major Bleeding Events Following Total Joint Arthroplasty.

Abstract Background There is ongoing debate on what is optimal prophylactic agent to reduce venous thromboembolism (VTE) following total joint arthroplasty (TJA). Although many studies assess the efficacy of these agents in VTE prevention, no attention is given to their adverse effect on major bleeding events (MBEs). This study compared the incidence of MBE in patients receiving aspirin as VTE prophylaxis vs other chemoprophylaxis. Methods A single-institution, retrospective study of 35,860 patients undergoing TJA between 2009 and 2020 was conducted. Demographic variables, co-morbidities, type of chemoprophylaxis, and intraoperative factors were collected. MBE was defined using the 2010 criteria for major bleeding in surgical patients presented by the Scientific and Standardization Committee of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis. To enhance capture rate, comprehensive queries utilizing MBE keywords were conducted in clinical notes, physician dictations, and phone call logs. Univariate followed by multivariate regression was performed as well as propensity score matched analysis. Results Overall, 270 patients (0.75%) in this cohort developed MBE. The MBE rate was 0.5% in the aspirin group and 1.2% in the non-aspirin group. After adjusting for confounders, multiple logistic regression and propensity score matched analysis revealed almost 2 times lower odds of MBE in patients who received aspirin. Variables independently associated with increased MBE risk included increasing age, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, revision surgery, peptic ulcer disease, coagulopathy, intraoperative blood transfusion, and active smoking. Conclusion Administration of aspirin for VTE prophylaxis, compared to other chemoprophylaxis agents may have an association with lower risk of major bleeding following TJA. Future randomized controlled trials should examine these findings.
Self-Rated Health and Health Care Access Associated With African American Men's Health Self-Efficacy.

Health self-efficacy, a measure of one’s self-assurance in taking care of their own health, is known to contribute to a range of health outcomes that has been under examined among African American ...
More Power to the Pill: The Impact of Contraceptive Freedom on Women's Labor-Force Participation

The release of Enovid in 1960, the first birth control pill, afforded U.S. women unprecedented freedom to plan childbearing and their careers, yet little is known about the impact of the pill on women's labor-force participation. This paper uses plausibly exogenous variation in state consent laws to evaluate the causal impact of oral contraception on the timing of first births and extent and intensity of women's market work. Using compiled legal data and the Current Population Surveys, my results suggest that early legal access to the pill significantly reduced the likelihood of a first birth before age 22. Among women in their twenties, early access increased the number of women in the paid market as well as the number of annual hours and weeks worked. The results suggest that birth control may have accelerated the growth in younger women's labor-force participation in the U.S. after 1970.
Social Heterogeneity and the Number of Presidential Candidates

How do changes in the heterogeneity of society affect one important facet of democratic political competition: the fragmentation of the party system? Another way of phrasing the question that we grapple with in this paper is whether or not new groups of citizens added to democratic societies by processes such as border changes, immigration and extensions of the franchise will successfully form their own sectarian political parties. These are newly formed political parties that seek to represent new social groups to the exclusion of existing groups. Drawing from the literature, this paper will argue that the electoral system has an important role to play in this process. But it will also make the case that our explanatory leverage is greatly increased if we take into account two additional variables. Focusing on the electoral system alone leaves us unable to explain whether or not increases in social heterogeneity will lead to party system fragmentation in most real world situations, i.e., whether or not sectarian parties will successfully emerge to represent new social groups. An example is Israel, where some groups of Jewish immigrants have successfully obtained sectarian representation in the legislature but others have not. At the same time, however, none of these new social groups formed sectarian party labels to contest elections for the prime ministership during the brief period in the late 1990s and early 2000s when Israel employed a president–parliamentary type of political regime. Moreover, both the existence and electoral success of sectarian parties seeking to represent these new social groups in Israel have varied over time. Yet Israel has had an extremely proportional electoral system throughout its history, which means that the electoral system cannot help us to explain the outcomes of the Israeli case. Accordingly, this paper attempts to contribute to the debate about the relationship be- tween social heterogeneity and party system fragmentation by theoretically drawing attention to two additional factors that condition this relationship: the type of political regime, or the size of the prize, and the prior or initial social heterogeneity of the polity. It also attempts to clarify the causal mechanism underlying the relationship in the context of what we believe is a superior unit of analysis, given the data limitations that we currently face: presidential — as opposed to legislative — elections. Empirically, its contribution is to test its hypotheses using a more encompassing, and hence preferable, measure of social heterogeneity that goes beyond the ethnic structure of a society. Using a quantitative analysis of post-World War II, minimally democratic presidential elections and this new measure, the paper finds support for the hypothesized relationship between social heterogeneity and party system fragmenta- tion, here operationalized as the number of presidential candidates, as conditioned by the size of the presidential prize and the prior heterogeneity of the polity.
Finding natural clusters having minimum description length

A two-step procedure that finds natural clusters in geometric point data is described. The first step computes a hierarchical cluster tree minimizing an entropy objective function. The second step recursively explores the tree for a level clustering having minimum description length. Together, these two steps find natural clusters without requiring a user to specify threshold parameters or so-called magic numbers. In particular, the method automatically determines the number of clusters in the input data. The first step exploits a new hierarchical clustering procedure called numerical iterative hierarchical clustering (NIHC). The output of NIHC is a cluster tree. The second step in the procedure searches the tree for a minimum-description-length (MDL) level clustering. The MDL formulation, equivalent to maximizing the posterior probability, is suited to the clustering problem because it defines a natural prior distribution. >
System security track chair's message

The objectives of the System Security track of the 2nd International Conference on Distributed Computing and Internet Technology were to discuss in depth the current state of the research and practice in computer security with emphasis on network and distributed systems security, enable participants to benefit from personal contact with other researchers and expand their knowledge and disseminate the research results. This volume contains the 10 papers that were presented at the System Security track of the conference. These papers which had been selected from 77 submissions were rigorously reviewed by members of the Program Committee comprising of internationally recognized researchers in the area of computer security. The topics covered include a broad range of sub-areas – from emerging areas such as security issues in mobile and ad-hoc networks, security policy integration and code fingerprinting, to more traditional areas such as digital watermarking, intrusion detection and defense against virus and worms. These papers, the program committee believes, address some of the most pressing needs of the day for computer security. We would like to thank all the authors for submitting reports of their leading edge research to this conference and making it a success. A special thank you goes to the members of the System Security track program committee and other external reviewers who helped with the review process in spite of their busy schedule.
Development of mustard oil-induced hyperalgesia in rats

Abstract Age-dependent changes in nociceptive responses were investigated using either the electromyogram (EMG) recorded from the hamstring muscle in response to electrical stimulation of the hind foot in spinal transected rats or measurement of the tail-flick (TF) reflex latency in intact rats. The development of hyperalgesia produced by topical application of mustard oil was subsequently studied. In experiments involving EMG recordings, rats were tested from day 2 to day 34 after birth (4-day interval) and as adults. In experiments involving measurement of the TF reflex, rats were tested from day 5 to day 30 after birth (5-day interval) and as adults. It was found that the latency and the duration of an early component of the EMG decreased with an increase in animal age, and was similar to adult animals at approximately 18 days after birth. The thermal tail withdraw threshold was lower in pups in comparison with older rats, and took more than 30 postnatal days to become similar to that of adult rats. Although nociceptive behaviors such as biting, body movement, and vocalization could be produced in intact rats by mustard oil in rats as young as 5 days old, the intensities of these responses were subjectively less than those of adult rats. Mustard oil application enhanced significantly the EMG response to electrical stimulation and the effect increased with increasing age. Similarly, mustard oil applied to a hind leg facilitated the TF reflex (decreased response latency). In both experiments, it took approximately 34–40 postnatal days for mustard oil-produced hyperalgesia to become similar to that of adult rats. These data confirm that nociceptive processing is not mature in the young animal and that a developmental period after birth is required for hyperalgesia-related mechanisms to mature.
ENSO diversity in the NCAR CCSM4 climate model

[1] In this study we examine ENSO diversity in a 500 year control simulation of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Climate System Model version 4 (CCSM4), focusing on warm events. Standard and modified Nino3 and Nino4 indices are used to identify different event types. CCSM4 shows a rich diversity of El Nino flavors with characteristics that are comparable to what was found in observations, the SODA 2.0.2/3 ocean reanalysis, and the GFDL CM2.1 model, a climate model whose ENSO characteristics have been extensively analyzed. In agreement with previous studies available in the literature, warm events peaking in the central/western Pacific are characterized by wind stress and precipitation fields confined to the western side of the basin, and show weak or absent recharge/discharge thermocline processes. A heat budget analysis of four different El Nino flavors, peaking at different longitudes, confirms the leading role of the thermocline and zonal advective feedbacks in the Nino3 and Nino4 regions, respectively. However, the growth of events centered further west appears to be controlled by nonlinear zonal advection, a result that differs from what was found in the GFDL CM2.1 model, but that is consistent with some observational evidence.
Mechanochemical coupling in cilia.

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the mechanochemical coupling (the conversion of chemical energy to mechanical energy) in cilia and flagella. It examines the cytoskeletal core of the simple eukaryotic cilia and flagella, called the “axoneme.” The “9 + 2” microtubular structure of the axoneme, the cytoskeletal core of eukaryotic cilia and flagella, is found widely among eukaryotes. The structural complexity of the axoneme is matched by the corresponding biochemical complexity. Vanadate is a potent inhibitor of dynein ATPase and axonemal motion, which inhibits dynein by acting as a phosphate analog in the dynein-product complex. The two aspects of axonemal motion which are sensitive to mechanical influence are bend propagation and beat frequency. Different types of mechanical perturbations have been used to study the mechanical influence on axonemal motion. The type of perturbation affects the axoneme differently and may be interpreted to have significantly different effects on the axoneme. Bend propagation is the process by which a bend is formed, typically at the base of the axoneme and is propagated distally. This normally occurs with relatively little change in shape or size of the propagating bend. Once a bend is produced, whether naturally or by external mechanical stimuli, that bend will propagate given sufficient MgATP concentration.
Extrapolation of bandlimited signals from finite samples via moments

Techniques are developed for extrapolation of bandlimited signals from a finite number of samples. This arises in such applications as radar, power spectral density functions, and spatial temporal mode estimation in arrays of sensors. The techniques are based on the use of prolate spherical functions, certain results from interpolation via the classical moments, and approximation theory. The results also yield solutions to the trigonometric moment problem. A more direct extrapolation approach is given in terms of both trigonometric and classical moments, which does not require interpolation but which requires approximation of the Fourier transforms of prolate spherical functions. >
Achieving better Cloud access experience with server virtualization

Cloud computing is changing the way we work and the way we live. Cloud providers host their Clouds at their data centers. However, the data centers might be far away from end users. The end users would experience long response latency. Client-side proxy servers are close to the end users. They are widely deployed around the Internet. They are the ideal platforms to cache/replicate Cloud applications. However, current proxy servers do not support caching and execution of Cloud applications. In this paper, we utilize virtualization technology to expand the functionalities of proxy servers to support caching and execution of Cloud applications. Specifically, we propose a system model that consists of a virtualization server, a Cloud access request interception mechanism, proxy server extension modules, and a migration protocol. Heterogeneous services hosted by different Cloud providers can be migrated from the Clouds to the virtualization server at the proxy server side. Also, a migration cost function is designed to assist service migration decision making. With our approach, Cloud applications can be moved close to the end users. Our approach can reduce the user perceived response latency and thus it can achieve better user experience during Cloud access. We have utilized the industrial standard e-commerce benchmark TPC-W to conduct experimental studies. The experimental results show that our approach significantly reduces client response latency.
The Celestial Fire of Conscience: Physicians, Pharmacists and Conscience Clauses

Largely as artifacts of the abortion wars, at least 45 states have “conscience clauses” on their books - laws that balance a physician’s conscientious objection to performing an abortion with the profession’s obligation to afford all patients nondiscriminatory access to services. In most cases, the provision of a referral satisfies one’s professional obligations. But in recent years, with the abortion debate increasingly at the center of wider discussions about euthanasia, assisted suicide, reproductive technology, and embryonic stem-cell research, nurses and pharmacists have begun demanding not only the same right of refusal, but also - because even a referral, in their view, makes one complicit in the objectionable act - a much broader freedom to avoid facilitating a patient’s choices.
On-line communities as a vehicle for developing secondary mathematics educators

The Internet is another powerful resource for providing pre-and in-service training of mathematics teachers. The traditional boundaries of time and distance are gone as teachers communicate in global learning communities to review content, teaching practices, and share new ideas and concepts for teaching secondary mathematics. The ability to use Newsgroups, MOOS, MUDs, and the World-Wide-Web presents great opportunities for mathematics educators as schools enter the new millennium. One example is NetAdventure developed by the Concord Consortium. The design and content of NetAdventure offers a powerful model for adults studying to become secondary mathematics teachers. As the power and impact of the Internet widens, global interaction of teachers will provide a future forum for exciting and effective on-line learning communities to develop the skills and practices of secondary mathematics educators.