cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Action recognition with exemplar based 2.5d graph matching

This paper deals with recognizing human actions in still images. We make two key contributions. (1) We propose a novel, 2.5D representation of action images that considers both view-independent pose information and rich appearance information. A 2.5D graph of an action image consists of a set of nodes that are key-points of the human body, as well as a set of edges that are spatial relationships between the nodes. Each key-point is represented by view-independent 3D positions and local 2D appearance features. The similarity between two action images can then be measured by matching their corresponding 2.5D graphs. (2) We use an exemplar based action classification approach, where a set of representative images are selected for each action class. The selected images cover large within-action variations and carry discriminative information compared with the other classes. This exemplar based representation of action classes further makes our approach robust to pose variations and occlusions. We test our method on two publicly available datasets and show that it achieves very promising performance.
Prostaglandin F2α and Progesterone Synthesis in Vitro by Bovine Corpora Lutea of Early Pregnancy

The rapid regression of the bovine corpus luteum at the 17th–19th day of the estrous cycle requires the presence of the uterus and appears to be mediated by estrogen and one or more uterine luteolysins acting locally on the ipsilateral corpus luteum (1,2). Little information is available as to how the presence of a viable embryo in the uterus causes maintenance of the bovine corpus luteum. Del Campo et al. (3) suggested a local relationship between a gravid uterine horn and the adjacent ovary in the pregnant cow. Although the corpus luteum is necessary for maintenance of pregnancy in the cow, at least until Day 236 (4), the transition of the cyclic corpus luteum to the corpus luteum of pregnancy occurs before the embryo implants. Staples et al. (5) showed that very rapid elongation of the trophoblast occurs at about Day 15, just prior to the time of cyclic corpus luteum involution. Mesoderm formation also begins at Day 15, and the bi-nucleated giant cells of the trophoblast (6) first appear at this time (5). Greenstein et al. (7) suggested that these cells may play a role in stimulating maintenance of the corpus luteum of pregnancy. These facts suggest that the developing embryo either inactivates the normal uterine luteolytic mechanism, or produces a potent luteotrophin that overcomes this mechanism.
Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition and Low Temperature Combustion of Fischer-Tropsch Fuel Blended with n-Butanol

Abstract LTC was researched by introducing an 80% mass fraction of n-butanol in reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) mode. A 60% mass fraction of n-butanol was port fuel injected (PFI) and the additional 20% was directly injected through a blend of n-butanol (Bu) with Fischer-Tropsch gas to liquid synthetic paraffinic kerosene (GTL) or ULSD as reference. The blended fuels GTL20-Bu80 and ULSD20-Bu80 have reduced cetane for improved combustion phasing control compared to the reference RCCI mode with direct injection of neat ULSD and n-Butanol PFI (ULSD40-Bu60). RCCI strategies delayed ignition and increased peak heat release rates due to prolonged mixing time and reactivity stratification, inducing faster flame speeds. In RCCI mode, the ringing intensity (RI) increased up to 85% higher than in CDC. NOx and soot were reduced up to 90% with ULSD40-Bu60 compared to CDC. The butanol blends decreased CO by 25% compared to ULSD RCCI. CO levels overlayed each other for GTL20-Bu80 and ULSD20-Bu80 across loads, suggesting that the butanol was the influencing factor. ULSD and ULSD20-Bu80 RCCI increased mechanical efficiencies compared to CDC by 3–4% across loads. ULSD20-Bu80 had the lowest cetane and displayed the greatest improvement in the overall emissions and efficiencies in RCCI compared to CDC.
Leveraging Implementation Science to Address Health Disparities in Genomic Medicine: Examples from the Field

The integration of genomic data into screening, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for clinical and public health practices has been slow and challenging. Implementation science can be applied in tackling the barriers and challenges as well as exploring opportunities and best practices for integrating genomic data into routine clinical and public health practice.In this article, we define the state of disparities in genomic medicine and focus predominantly on late-stage research findings. We use case studies from genetic testing for cardiovascular diseases (familial hypercholesterolemia) and cancer (Lynch syndrome and hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome) in high-risk populations to consider current disparities and related barriers in turning genomic advances into population health impact to advance health equity. Finally, we address how implementation science can address these translational barriers and we discuss the strategic importance of collaborative multi-stakeholder approaches that engage public health agencies, professional societies, academic health and research centers, community clinics, and patients and their families to work collectively to improve population health and reduce or eliminate health inequities.
RNA-Sequencing of Umbilical Cord Blood to Investigate Spontaneous Preterm Birth: A Pilot Study

Objective To analyze the transcriptomic gene expression of umbilical cord blood leukocytes using RNA-sequencing from preterm birth (PTB) and term birth (TB). Study Design Eight women with spontaneous PTB (sPTB) and eight women with unlabored TB were enrolled prospectively. The sPTB and TB cohorts were matched for maternal age, race, mode of delivery, and fetal sex. Cord blood RNA was extracted and a globin depletion protocol was applied, then sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq 4000. Raw read counts were analyzed with DESeq2 to test for gene expression differences between sPTB and TB. Results 148 genes had significant differential expression (q Conclusion Compared with term, preterm fetuses have higher cell cycle/metabolism gene expression, suggesting metabolic focus on growth and development. Immune function gene expression in this pilot study is lower in the sPTB group compared with term and differs in AA compared with NHW infants.
Interhospital Transfer: Transfer Processes and Patient Outcomes

Though often undertaken to provide patients with specialized care, interhospital transfer (IHT) is associated with worse outcomes for select patients. Certain aspects of the transfer process have been suggested as contributors to these outcomes. We performed a retrospective cohort study including patients ≥ 18 years who underwent IHT to a tertiary care hospital between January 2005 and September 2013. We examined the association between "weekend" transfer, "nighttime" transfer, "time delay" between transfer acceptance and arrival, and admission team "busyness" on the day of transfer, and patient outcomes, including transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU) within 48 hours and 30-day mortality. We utilized multivariable logistic regression models, adjusting for patient characteristics. Secondary analyses examined detailed timing of transfer and evaluated 30-day mortality stratified by service of transfer. Among the 24,352 patients who underwent IHT, the nighttime transfer was associated with increased adjusted odds of ICU transfer (odds ratio [OR] 1.54; 95% CI 1.38, 1.72) and 30-day mortality (OR 1.16; 95% CI 1.01, 1.35). Secondary analyses confirmed the association between nighttime transfer and ICU transfer throughout the week and demonstrated that Sunday (and trend towards Friday) night transfers had increased 30-day mortality, as compared with Monday daytime transfer. Stratified analyses demonstrated a significant association between transfer characteristics and adjusted odds of 30-day mortality among cardiothoracic and gastrointestinal surgical service transfers. Our findings suggest high acuity patients have worse outcomes during off-peak times of transfer and during times of high care team workload. Further study is needed to identify underlying reasons to explain these associations and devise potential solutions.
Regulators of G protein Signaling (RGS) proteins (version 2019.4) in the IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology Database

Regulators of G protein signalling (RGS) proteins display a common RGS domain that interacts with the GTP-bound Gα subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins, enhancing GTP hydrolysis by stabilising the transition state [29, 419, 418], leading to a termination of GPCR signalling. Interactions through protein:protein interactions of many RGS proteins have been identified for targets other than heteromeric G proteins. Sequence analysis of the 20 RGS proteins suggests four families of RGS: RZ, R4, R7 and R12 families. Many of these proteins have been identified to have effects other than through targetting G proteins. Included here is RGS4 for which a number of pharmacological inhibitors have been described.
Optimising unrelated parallel machine scheduling in job shops with maximum allowable tardiness limit

Motivated by the practical scheduling problem of job shops, this study evaluates unrelated parallel machine scheduling models. The researchers proposed a new mixed integer linear programming model considering effects of maximum limit on the allowable tardiness. An efficient solution technique was developed in MATLAB to minimise computational time. The model was validated using real-life data from local aircraft industry. It was shown that the proposed model leads to lower cost compared to the current models (i.e., without any limit on tardiness) in the literature. In addition, reduction in computational time enables corporate scheduling staff to use the model efficiently.
The Danger in Metaphor: “Dismembering Resemblances” in Dunbar and King Lear

Dunbar, Edward St. Aubyn’s novelistic adaptation of King Lear, re-presents the role of metaphor in Lear’s madness as an experience of disorientation. Abused by his two older daughters, Dunbar finds...
Characterizing Early Inpatient Death After Trauma.

Abstract Background There is a paucity of data to predict early death or futility after trauma. The objective of this study was to characterize the laboratory values, blood product administration, and hospital disposition for patients with trauma who died within 72 h of admission. Methods All deaths within 72 h of admission over a 5-y period at a level I trauma center were reviewed. Blood transfusion within the first 4 h of arrival and patient disposition from the emergency department to the operating room (OR), surgical intensive care unit, or the neuroscience intensive care unit (NSICU) were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier curves were generated to determine time to death. Results A total of 622 subjects were identified; 39.5% died in the emergency department, 10.6% went directly to the OR, 13.6% were admitted to the surgical intensive care unit, and 29.7% admitted to the NSICU. Of these subjects, 201 (32.2%) patients received blood within the first 4 h. By 24 h, early blood transfusion was associated with more rapid death for patients who were admitted to the NSICU (80% versus 60% mortality, P = 0.01) but not for patients taken directly to the OR (80% versus 70% mortality, P = 0.2). Admission coagulopathy by international normalized ratio (P Conclusions Our data demonstrate that admission coagulation derangement and need for early blood product transfusion are the two factors most associated with early death after injury, particularly in those patients with traumatic brain injury. These data will help construct future models for futility of continued care in patients with trauma.
KDM6B promotes oncogenic CDK4/6-pRB-E2F pathway via maintaining enhancer activation in high-risk neuroblastoma

ABSTRACT The H3K27me2/me3 histone demethylase KDM6B is over-expressed in neuroblastoma and essential to neuroblastoma cell survival. While the KDM6B inhibitor, GSK-J4, has shown activity in in vitro and in vivo preclinical models, the mechanism of action remains poorly defined. We demonstrate that genetic and pharmacologic inhibition of KDM6B downregulate the pRB-E2F transcriptome and MYCN expression. Chemical genetics analyses show that a high E2F transcriptome is positively correlated with sensitivity of cancer cells to the KDM6 inhibitor GSK-J4. Mechanistically, inhibition of KDM6B activity reduces the chromatin accessibility of E2F target genes and MYCN. GSK-J4 alters distribution of H3K27me3 and broadly represses the enhancer mark H3K4me1, which may consequently disrupt the long-range chromatin interaction of E2F target genes. KDM6B inhibition phenocopies the transcriptome induced by the specific CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib. Overexpression of CDK4/6 or Rb1 knockout not only confers neuroblastoma cell resistance to palbociclib but also to GSK-J4. A gene signature targeted by KDM6B inhibition is associated with poor survival of patients with neuroblastoma regardless of the MYCN status. These data indicate that KDM6B activity promotes an oncogenic CDK4/6-pRB-E2F pathway in neuroblastoma cells via H3K27me3-dependent enhancer-promoter interactions, providing a rationale to target KDM6B for high-risk neuroblastoma.
Synthesis, Characterization and Process Optimization of Bone Whitlockite.

Whitlockite, being the second most abundant bio-mineral in living bone, finds huge applications in tissue regeneration and implants and its synthesis into its pure form has remained a challenge. Although precipitation of whitlockite phase has been reported recently in many publications, effects of various parameters to control such phase as well as conditions for the bulk preparation of this extremely important bio-mineral have not been investigated so far. In this work, we report the precipitation of pure whitlockite phase using common precursors. As reported in the literature, whitlockite is stable in a narrow pH range, therefore; optimization of pH for the stabilization of whitlockite phase has been investigated. Additionally, in order to narrow down the optimum conditions for the whitlockite precipitation, effect of temperature and heating conditions has also been studied. The obtained solids were characterized using powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). From PXRD analysis, it was observed that heating the precursor’s mixture at 100 °C with subsequent aging at the optimized pH resulted in the precipitation of pure whitlockite phase. These results were further confirmed by TGA, SEM and Raman spectroscopy analysis and it was confirmed that the conditions reported here favor whitlockite precipitation without formation of any secondary phase. These reaction conditions were further confirmed by changing all the parameters like aging, heating time, feed rate of precursors one by one. From PXRD analysis of these samples, it was concluded that not only pH but temperature, heating time, aging time and feed rate effect simultaneously on the precipitation of pure whitlockite phase and a subtle change in any of these parameters could lead to the formation of undesired stable secondary calcium phosphate phases.
Derechos sociales y políticas publicas

Este articulo resena: Samuel Moyn. Not enough, human rights in an unequal world, Harvard University Press, London 2018.
Sex Work and the Law in South Africa, Sweden and New Zealand: an evidence-based argument for decriminalization

Sex workers face a myriad of intersecting health and safety concerns including HIV transmission, access to health and social services, violence via clients, police harassment, social stigma and economic insecurity. A growing demand for the universal decriminalization of sex work has garnered significant media attention and has brought about heavy public scrutiny. The countries of South Africa, Sweden and New Zealand all employ different legal approaches to the sex trade, subscribing to prohibition, partial decriminalization and legalization, respectively. The impact of the three legislative models on the health and wellbeing of sex workers vary accordingly. This article considers South Africa, Sweden and New Zealand as proxies of the three legal paradigms, assesses the varying outcomes on the lives of female sex workers, and concludes that the overwhelming body of evidence points to a positive association between decriminalization and improved health and working conditions for sex workers. This article appraises the impacts of the various systems, analyzes pervasive themes and provides a brief assessment of innovative approaches used to address social stigma and health disparities.
Improving Timely Antibiotic Administration in Pediatric Sepsis and Septic Shock in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Background: Since 2016, our hospital joined the Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes (IPSO) initiative, a national effort to improve pediatric sepsis care by incorporating bundled standardized care into the Emergency Department, Inpatient and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) settings. Early administration of antibiotics is a hallmark of appropriate sepsis care. Delay in antibiotic administration correlates to morbidity and mortality in pediatric patients. Our PICU baseline time from antibiotic order to administration (AOTA) was 82 minutes. Objectives: We aimed to reduce …
Adherence to healthy food choices during the COVID-19 pandemic in a U.S. population attempting to lose weight.

Abstract Background and aims Food preferences are often modified in populations during stressful, unanticipated events. We examined how a U.S. population's food choices changed during the beginning of the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, specifically during the spring of 2020. Methods and results Daily dietary intake data from a digital behavior change weight loss program, which includes an interface for logging meals, beverages, and snacks, were analyzed to assess self-reported food choices from March 5-March 11, 2020 ("Start-COVID") and during the first week of the COVID-19 lockdown (March 12-March 18, 2020; "during-COVID"). The final sample consisted of 381,564 participants: 318,076 (83.4%) females, the majority who were aged 45–65 years (45.2%). Results indicate that self-reported servings of fresh fruit and vegetable intake decreased from start-to during-COVID, while intake of red meat and starchy vegetables increased. More men than women increased their intake of red meat and processed meat. Less overall change in fruit and vegetable consumption was seen in those 66 and older, compared to aged 18–35. Lean meat and starchy vegetable intake increased in older participants, but the change was negligible in younger subjects. More subjects aged 18–35 years reduced their intake of caffeine, desserts, lean meat, and salads compared to older participants. No changes were observed in snack or alcohol intake logged. Conclusion This study revealed that particular food groups were altered according to age and gender during the first weeks of COVID lockdown. Understanding changes in food choices during a crisis may be useful for preparing supply chains and public health responses.
Ethical Principles and Laws Governing Clinical Research

Clinical research involves the study of human beings in a systematic investigation of health and illness. It is designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. The goals of clinical research are gathering knowledge through a set of activities that tests hypotheses and permits conclusions useful in understanding human health and illness, and improving medical care. Furthermore, it aims to develop safe and effective interventions to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease. As such, research serves the common good that the individual subject participating in clinical research may or may not benefit from participation. The standard of conduct for scientific researchers is governed by research ethics. The adherence to ethical principles is fundamental to the protection of welfare, rights, and the dignity of research participants. This chapter aims to summarize the history of clinical research ethics, the codes of research ethics, and the seven ethical principles that guide clinical research ethics and particular ethical challenges in randomized controlled trials.
Impact of Colonial Institutions on Economic Growth and Development in India: Evidence from Night Lights Data

We study the implications of two historical institutions, direct British rule, and the heterogeneous land tenure institutions implemented by the British, on disparity in present day development using district level data from India. Using nightlights per capita as a proxy for district level per capita income, we find that modern districts that were historically under direct British rule had 39.47% less nightlights per capita in 1993 relative to modern districts that were historically under indirect British rule. The large gap persists even after including other controls such as educational attainment, health, and physical infrastructure. Looking at the growth pattern during 1993 to 2013, directly ruled districts had a 1.84% lower annual growth rate compared to indirectly ruled districts. As well, directly ruled districts were converging at a rate of 2% per year while indirectly ruled districts were converging at a rate of 5.7% per year. Much of the development gap between areas under indirect rule and direct rule can be accounted for by the adverse effect of landlord-based revenue collection system in the directly ruled areas.
Effect of Maternity Pen Management on Morbidity and Mortality in Dairy Heifer Calves from Birth to 90 Days of Life

Risk factors for calf morbidity and mortality have been well characterized. Type of maternity housing and where calves are born have been shown to influence the likelihood of morbidity and mortality suffered by calves during the preweaning period. Proper management and hygiene of maternity pens may help reduce the frequency of early calfhood diseases in calves. The objective of this study was to determine whether heifer calves born in individual maternity pens will have a lower risk for experiencing calfhood diseases versus heifer calves born in a multiple cow maternity housing area.
Why Are Older Workers Moving Less While Working Longer

Older workers’ labor force participation (LFP) and migration across state lines have been trending in opposite directions, counter to conventional economic wisdom. This paper investigates what might explain this puzzle using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) and Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Descriptive analysis identifies several factors that may explain the decline in migration, including greater housing price dispersion, fewer opportunities for wage arbitrage, and greater geographical sorting. I employ a series of empirical tests to examine how older workers’ LFP, retirement, and migration decisions respond to income and housing wealth losses by exploiting job losses to identify individual income shocks, and shocks to specific labor markets to identify housing wealth losses using an import competition shock that began in 2001 after Congress ratified permanent normalized trade relations with China in October 2000. The puzzle appears to be driven by composition effects. In response to a housing wealth shock, non-college educated homeowners (the largest subgroup of older workers) reduce their two-year migration rate by 54% but only slightly reduce their labor supply, while college-educated renters (the smallest subgroup) increase their labor supply by 13% but only weakly increase their propensity to move.
A discussion of competing events in epidemiologic studies of air pollution

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Adverse health impacts of air pollution are well-documented in epidemiologic studies. However, one inferential challenge in estimating the effect of air pollution on chronic con...
The Posterior Interosseous Artery Fasciocutaneous Flap

The posterior interosseous artery (PIA) flap was first described in the 1980s by Masquelet and Zancolli and has been used predominantly for the reconstruction of hand defects. It is an axial flap that derives its blood supply from the posterior interosseous artery. It is most commonly used as a reversed flow pedicled flap to reconstruct defects of the dorsal hand. However, it has been used as a direct flow pedicled flap to reconstruct more proximal defects of the arm or the elbow, or even as a free flap when other options are not available. Its main advantage is that it does not require the sacrifice of the two main vessels of the hand, namely, the radial and the ulnar artery. It is a good option when the patient does not have an intact palmar arch or has had previous procedures where the radial artery or ulnar artery has been sacrificed due to the danger of developing hand ischemia postoperatively. Examples would include coronary artery bypass graft harvest, complications from radial artery canalization, or previous use of a radial or ulnar forearm flap. Based on body habitus, the skin of the PIA flap is most often thin and pliable, making secondary debulking procedures less likely. It has a long pedicle and will reach far enough to provide soft tissue coverage to the MCP joints and the first webspace. This flap is used for small defects (<5 cm wide). For larger defects, other local pedicled flaps or free flaps represent a more reliable option. Finally, prior to deciding on the use of the PIA flap, one must ensure that there are no previous injuries to the wrist or forearm that may have damaged the posterior interosseous artery. The anastomosis between the anterior and posterior interosseous artery at the level of the wrist needs to be intact since the reversed pedicled PIA flap derives its blood supply through this anastomosis after the proximal PIA ligation.
Subsite Mapping of Enzymes

Our earlier subsite mapping studies led us to believe that ground state distortion occurred when a gluco- pyranoside ring filled the site which held the substrate monomer unit transferred to water during hydrolysis. We tested this hypothesis by performing double inhibitor studies on two amylases (EC 3.2.1.1) of bacterial origin. A general theory for multiple inhibition of this type is developed and applied to these two enzymes. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that ground state strain occurs when substrates are bound to carbohydrases. An explanation is offered to account for the fact that monomers give strictly competitive inhibition patterns. The subsite model predicts that noncompetitive or mixed inhibition patterns can occur.
Organizational Standards Strategy

Standardization of innovative technology can create great competitive advantage for organizations. In addition, the consequences of interactions between organizations as they implement their standards strategies can have great socio-economic impact, especially with the current convergence in information and communications technology. The existing research on standards uses economic theories to explain how economic factors stimulate technology standardization and game theory to analyze how organizations collaborate on standardization, but these theories both overlook the issue of how organizations make decisions about their standards strategies and the results of their interactions with other actors. Thus, the main part of the research question is: how do organizations reach their strategies for standards, during and after the standardization process? To answer this question, we need a holistic perspective to analyze the context of organizational standards strategy, including the situation of any given organization and how the organization interprets its situation to choose or develop a strategy for standards. This paper presents a framework based on combining two theories, ANT (Actor Network Theory) and Self-Organized Complexity.
The asymmetric relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and earnings management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between earnings management (EM) and subsamples of corporate environmental responsibility (CER).Design/methodology/approach – KLD data are used to generate subsamples of environmental “strengths” and “concerns”. Differences in EM are studied across subsamples, using discretionary accruals to proxy for EM. The samples consist of 2,171 US firms.Findings – Firms with at least one environmental strength do not exhibit statistically different levels of EM, relative to environmentally neutral firms, while firms with at least one environmental concern do exhibit statistically greater EM (greater income‐increasing discretionary accruals), relative to other sample firms. Further, firms with multiple environmental concerns exhibit greater EM than firms with a single environmental concern. These findings do not support the political cost hypothesis per the CER/EM literature, but they do support the institutional hypothesis (in the case of environmen...
Endogenous Group Formation

While the rules governing the formation of groups engaging in collective action may have significant impact on group size and behavior of members, most experiments on public goods have been conducted with the subjects in fixed groups or of fixed sizes. We study endogenous formation of groups in a public-goods provision game by allowing subjects to change groups under three sets of rules: free entry and exit, restricted entry and free exit, and free entry and restricted exit. We find that the rules governing entry and exit do have a significant impact on individual behavior and group-level outcomes.
Empirical Analysis of COTS Activity Effort Sequences

Empirical data has revealed that COTS based application (CBA) development lifecycles are unique and differ from traditional software development processes. Each project will vary considerably in the particular amount of effort expended on COTS assessment, COTS tailoring, and COTS glue-code development. As such, there are wide variations in cost/schedule/quality factors, risk items, and project decision process profiles. Previous work has described these variations and provided a composable COTS decision framework that models how such variations emerge within the COTS application development process. We expand on this work by elaborating the sequence in which COTS assessment (A), tailoring (T), glue-code (G), and custom development (C) activities are performed. These sequences provide a “genetic code” for a CBA development project and are useful in characterizing the uniqueness of a CBA development lifecycle and enabling tactical decision support such as identifying high-risk development patterns, effort and schedule planning, options valuation. Other applications include analyzing the effects of risks on COTS activity and validating the composable COTS decision framework motioned above. We present CBA activity effort sequences from 9 USC e-service projects and their relationship to reported project risks. In addition, we present an initial set of “anticipated” and “un-anticipated” CBA effort sequence patterns. Anticipated sequences are patterns that have been observed within our case studies and are rationalized with respect to COTS risk-reduction on a project. One would expect to see such patterns on a well-managed, successful CBA development project. Unanticipated sequences are patterns that have not been observed, or when they have been observed, have correlated strongly with high risk and perhaps project failure.
Putting the enterprise into the enterprise system

Enterprise systems present a new model of corporate computing. They allow companies to replace their existing information systems, which are often incompatible with one another, with a single, integrated system. By streamlining data flows throughout an organization, these commercial software packages, offered by vendors like SAP, promise dramatic gains in a company's efficiency and bottom line. It's no wonder that businesses are rushing to jump on the ES bandwagon. But while these systems offer tremendous rewards, the risks they carry are equally great. Not only are the systems expensive and difficult to implement, they can also tie the hands of managers. Unlike computer systems of the past, which were typically developed in-house with a company's specific requirements in mind, enterprise systems are off-the-shelf solutions. They impose their own logic on a company's strategy, culture, and organization, often forcing companies to change the way they do business. Managers would do well to heed the horror stories of failed implementations. FoxMeyer Drug, for example, claims that its system helped drive it into bankruptcy. Drawing on examples of both successful and unsuccessful ES projects, the author discusses the pros and cons of implementing an enterprise system, showing how a system can produce unintended and highly disruptive consequences. Because of an ES's profound business implications, he cautions against shifting responsibility for its adoption to technologists. Only a general manager will be able to mediate between the imperatives of the system and the imperatives of the business.
The Many Faces of Overcriminalization: From Morals and Mattress Tags to Overfederalization

Introduction 748 I. Setting the Stage: The States Retain Laws Regulating Morals, and the Federal Government Criminalizes Virtually Everything ...750 A. State Morals Legislation: Old Laws That Stay on the Books 750 B. Federal Criminal Law: Many New Laws and Many More Prosecutions 753 II. Why It Matters: The Vices of Morals Legislation and Too Many Federal Criminal Laws 756 A. Amanda Smisek, Kobe Bryant, James Yee, and Morals Charges 756 B. James McFarland, Andre Curtis, and Federalizing Everyday Crime 760 C. The Common Vices of Both Morals Legislation and Overbroad Federal Criminal Law 766
Leveraging coupled multi-index for scalable retrieval of mammographic masses

Content-based image retrieval techniques have shown great value in computer-aided diagnosis of mammographic masses. Many existing approaches adopt several features to better characterize mammographic regions. However, most of them fuse features through feature concatenation or result-level combination, which cannot fully exert the discriminative power of different features and also sacrifices the overall computational efficiency. To address these drawbacks, we propose to utilize coupled multi-index for index-level feature fusion. Specifically, complementary local features are extracted from the same locations of mammographic regions. Then, they are separately quantized using the “bag of words” (BoW) approach. Finally, quantized features are inserted into a two-dimensional inverted index, with each feature corresponding to one dimension. Experiments are carried out on a large dataset constructed from the digital database for screening mammography (DDSM). Results demonstrate that our approach not only achieves better retrieval precision and diagnostic accuracy than individual features do, but also improves the overall efficiency and scalability.
Portrayals of Colombian and Venezuelan Immigrant Organisations in the United States

This article compares the public images of Colombian and Venezuelan immigrant organisations in the United States. Immigrant organisations’ webpages and the expression of their main aims and goals serve to identify their major concerns as they create public images not only for the organisation but for the immigrant community itself. To interpret the immigrant organisations’ public images and their goals, we offer a multilevel study that considers immigrants’ contexts of exit, which are related to the motivation of migrate and the particular sociodemographic makeup of immigrant groups. This paper adds the Venezuelan immigrant experience to the literature on immigrant organisations.
Forest Development and Carbon Dynamics After Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreaks

Mountain pine beetles periodically infest pine forests in western North America, killing many or most overstory pine stems. The surviving secondary stand structure, along with recruited seedlings, will form the future canopy. Thus, even-aged pine stands become multiaged and multistoried. The species composition of affected stands will depend on the presence of nonpines and outbreak severity, among other factors, and can range from continued dominance by pines to hastened conversion to more shade-tolerant species. The loss of mature host trees results in reductions of ecosystem carbon productivity. The surviving and recruited stems, however, grow more quickly in response to the reduced competition, and carbon productivity and live basal area recover to preoutbreak levels within a few years or decades. Infestations may result in system carbon storage reductions, relative to storage among undisturbed developmental trajectories, mostly because of the temporary decrease in carbon productivity. Carbon losses in infested stands are slow as a result of recalcitrance of snags and coarse woody debris. Recalcitrant dead pools combined with recovering live pools results in fairly stable total ecosystem carbon storage among infested stands. Infested stands may switch from net carbon sinks to net carbon sources but typically recover within 5–20 years.
Functional polyelectrolyte multilayer assemblies for surfaces with controlled wetting behavior

Controlled wetting at surfaces and interfaces is an important area of research with numerous potential commercial applications. Both superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity can be used to enable applications such as self-cleaning, dropwise condensation, or antifogging. Many strategies for creating such surfaces center around biomimicry, replicating the structure of the lotus leaf, for example. Given the potential impact, creating surfaces with these properties using any number of fabrication is of great interest. One very promising fabrication technique, however, for creating these surfaces is the layer-by-layer (LbL)-directed self-assembly of polyelectrolytes and other charged materials. LbL is a sequential adsorption technique wherein a surface is exposed to first a solution of one charge and then a solution of the opposite charge. LbL has many advantages, including the ability to incorporate many different types of materials and therefore functionality, the ability to conformally coat substrates of complex geometry, and environmentally friendly aqueous processing. This review describes recent progress in using LbL to create surfaces with controlled wetting. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 42767.
Down-regulation of brain and spinal cord κ-opiate receptors in spontaneously hypertensive, Wistar-Kyoto normotensive, and Sprague-Dawley rats by chronic treatment with U-50,488H

Abstract The effects of chronic administration of U-50,488H, a κ-opiate receptor agonist, on the binding of [ 3 H]ethylketocyclazocine ([ 3 H]EKC) to κ-opiate receptors on the cerebral cortical and spinal cord membranes of spontaneously hypertensive (SHR), Wistar-Kyoto normotensive (WKY), and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were determined. Age-matched (10 weeks old) male rats of each strain were injected twice daily for 7 days with either U-50,488H (25 mg/kg, i.p.) or its vehicle. On day 8, the rats were killed. The cerebral cortex and the spinal cord were isolated for binding studies. The systolic blood pressure and heart rate of SD and WKY rats did not differ but the blood pressure of SHR rats was higher than that of SD and WKY rats. The receptor density ( B max ) and apparent dissociation constant ( K d ) values of [ 3 H]EKC binding to the spinal cord of WKY and SHR rats did not differ. However, the spinal cord of SD rats had higher B max and K d values than WKY or SHR rats. The cortex of the SD rats had a lower B max value than the other two strains. Treatment with U-50,488H decreased the B max value of [ 3 H]EKC in spinal cord of SD rats, increased the K d value in SHR rats, and had no effect in WKY rats. Decreases in the B max value were produced in the cortex of all strains of rats, but a greater effect was observed in WKY and SHR rats than in SD rats.
A partition of unity method for a class of fourth order elliptic variational inequalities

Abstract We consider a partition of unity method (PUM) for a class of fourth order elliptic variational inequalities on convex polygonal domains that include obstacle problems of simply supported Kirchhoff plates and elliptic distributed optimal control problems with pointwise state constraints as special cases. By including singular functions in the local approximation spaces we are able to show that the partition of unity method converges optimally. Numerical results that corroborate the theoretical estimates are also presented.
A model simulation of Pinatubo volcanic aerosols in the stratosphere

A one-dimensional, time-dependent model is used to study the chemical, microphysical, and radiative properties of volcanic aerosols produced by the Mount Pinatubo eruption on June 15, 1991. Our model treats gas-phase sulfur photochemistry, gas-to-particle conversion of sulfur, and the microphysics of sulfate aerosols and ash particles under stratospheric conditions. The dilution and diffusion of the volcanic eruption clouds are also accounted for in these conditions. Heteromolecular homogeneous and heterogeneous binary H2SO4/H2O nucleation, acid and water condensational growth, coagulation, and gravitational sedimentation are treated in detail in the model. Simulations suggested that after several weeks, the volcanic cloud was composed mainly of sulfuric acid/water droplets produced in situ from the SO2 emissions. The large amounts of SO2 (around 20 Mt) injected into the stratosphere by the Pinatubo eruption initiated homogeneous nucleation which generated a high concentration of small H2SO4/H2O droplets. These newly formed particles grew rapidly by condensation and coagulation in the first few months and then reach their stabilized sizes with effective radii in a range between 0.3 and 0.5 micron approximately one-half year after the eruption. The predicted volcanic cloud parameters reasonably agree with measurements in term of the vertical distribution and lifetime of the volcanic aerosols, their basic microphysical structures (e.g., size distribution, concentration, mass ratio, and surface area) and radiative properties. The persistent volcanic aerosols can produce significant anomalies in the radiation field, which have important climatic consequences. The large enhancement in aerosol surface area can result in measurable global stratospheric ozone depletion.
Palladium(0)-mediated desymmetrization of meso tetraols: an approach to the C3-C17 bis-oxane segment of phorboxazoles A and B.

meso-Tetraol bis(allylic acetates) 2 and 5 were synthesized via two-directional chain elongation. A palladium-mediated, ligand-controlled desymmetrization provided the desired bis-oxanes in greater than 98% ee. Bis-oxanes 1 and 4 represent potential synthetic intermediates for the C3−C17 subunits of phorboxazoles A and B.
Variational calculations with a hyperspherical basis on atomic helium

We have recently formulated an expansion of the N electron wavefunction in an appropriate set of harmonics on the 3 N-dimensional hypersphere. Angular correlation appears in the usual way, while radial correlation appears as a “generalized angular” correlation. Calculations on1S helium have been performed to explore the convergence of this expansion. Energies for various angular approximations have been compared with Bunge's angular limits and show a fractional error <3.5× 10−4. A theoretical contraction procedure is shown to usefully reduce basis size without forfeiting accuracy.
Hamiltonian and lagrangian bond graphs

Abstract The more difficult portions of models of physical systems often are appropriately approached through the use of Lagrange's or Hamilton's equations. It is seen that such a region can be integrated into a conventional bond graph with a simple macro symbol, a more reticulated Hamiltonian bond graph, or in many cases a highly reticulated Lagrangian bond graph. Nonholonomic constraints can be inserted and recognized. A set of examples illustrates the conceptual and computational advantages of the various approaches.
Formation of Gas-Phase Dianions and Distonic Ions as a General Method for the Synthesis of Protected Reactive Intermediates. Energetics of 2,3- and 2,6-Dehydronaphthalene

New methods for the regioselective formation of radical anions are described. Dicarboxylates are generated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and lose carbon dioxide and an electron upon collision-induced dissociation to afford distonic ions. These radical anions also can be synthesized via laser desorption, chemical ionization, and electron ionization of dibenzyl esters. Subsequent fragmentation of the remaining CO2 affords new radical anions corresponding to neutral reactive intermediates. By measuring the proton affinities and electron binding energies of these species, quantitative energetic information on carbenes, biradicals, and other transient molecules can be obtained. This approach is demonstrated by measuring the heats of formation of 2,3- and 2,6-dehydronaphthalene, ancillary thermochemical data also are derived, and the results are compared to either o- or p-benzyne.
Flat plate heat transfer for laminar transition and turbulent boundary layers using a shock tube

Heat transfer results are presented for laminar, transition, and turbulent boundary layers for a Mach number of 0.12 with gas temperatures of 425 K and 1000 K over a flat plate at room temperature. The measurements were made in air for a Reynolds number range of 600 to 6 million. The heat transfer measurements were conducted in a 70-ft long, 4 in. diameter shock tube. Reflecting wedges were used to reflect the incident shock wave to produce a flow Mach number of 0.12 behind the reflected shock wave. Thin film platinum heat gages were mounted on the plate surface to measure the local heat flux. The laminar results for gas temperatures of 425 K to 1000 K agree well with theory. The turbulent results are also close to incompressible theory, with the 1000 K flow case being slightly higher. The transition results lie between the laminar and turbulent predictions.
Differentiation of allelic frequencies at quantitative trait loci affecting locally adaptive traits.

σ 2 t 5 (1 1 Fst)σ 0 , Direct comparisons of population differentiation obwhere σ w, σ b, and σ t are the within-population, beserved in neutral loci with that seen in quantitative traits tween-population, and total genetic variances in the trait, have revealed discordant patterns, most commonly that respectively, and σ 0 is the genetic variance for the trait quantitative traits are more differentiated than single expected if the populations formed a single panmictic neutral loci. For example, body size has a greater prounit (Wright 1951, 1952; Lande 1992). Thus an estimate portion of genetic variation attributable to amongof population differentiation for quantitative traits population differences than do presumed neutral allo(termed Qst by Spitze 1993) can be computed as zymes in both Drosophila buzzatii (Prout and Barker
Evaluating preterm infants with the Bayley-III: Patterns and correlates of development

Abstract This study investigates the Third Edition of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (Bayley-III) and: (1) early patterns of neurodevelopmental performance among preterm infants 8–12 months of age; and (2) correlations between known risk factors and neurodevelopmental outcome of preterm infants in this cohort. Mean Language Index (LI; 91 ± 15) and Motor Index (MI; 94 ± 17) were significantly lower than the Cognitive Index (CI; 102 ± 15, p
UPS investigation of poorly crystallized MoS2

We have performed photoemission studies on samples of poorly crystallized MoS2 prepared in situ by thermal decomposition of (NH4)2MoS4 in a UHV‐compatible chamber under mixed H2S/H2 gas conditions. The results reveal new electronic states which are not present on crystalline MoS2. These states are observed as a band tail above the dz2 band of MoS2. These tail states are presumably ‘‘chemically active’’ as shown by reversible oxygen adsorption–desorption.