cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Why a Marketing Research Code of Ethics

Obtaining consumer opinions through organized marketing research is essential to modern marketing. But this implies fairness to consumers, and not abuse of their confidence.The Marketing Research C...
Striated populations in disordered environments with advection

Abstract Growth in static and controlled environments such as a Petri dish can be used to study the spatial population dynamics of microorganisms. However, natural populations such as marine microbes experience fluid advection and often grow up in heterogeneous environments. We investigate a generalized Fisher–Kolmogorov–Petrovsky–Piscounov (FKPP) equation describing single species population subject to a constant flow field and quenched random spatially inhomogeneous growth rates with a fertile overall growth condition. We analytically and numerically demonstrate that the non-equilibrium steady-state population density develops a flow-driven striation pattern. The striations are highly asymmetric with a longitudinal correlation length that diverges linearly with the flow speed and a transverse correlation length that approaches a finite velocity-independent value. Linear response theory is developed to study the statistics of the steady states. Theoretical predictions show excellent agreement with the numerical steady states of the generalized FKPP equation obtained from Lattice Boltzmann simulations. These findings suggest that, although the growth disorder can be spatially uncorrelated, correlated population structures with striations emerge naturally at sufficiently strong advection.
The Ambrosia Symbiosis: From Evolutionary Ecology to Practical Management

The ambrosia beetle–fungus farming symbiosis is more heterogeneous than previously thought. There is not one but many ambrosia symbioses. Beetle-fungus specificity is clade dependent and ranges from strict to promiscuous. Each new origin has evolved a new mycangium. The most common relationship with host trees is colonization of freshly dead tissues, but there are also parasites of living trees, vectors of pathogenic fungi, and beetles living in rotten trees with a wood-decay symbiont. Most of these strategies are driven by fungal metabolism whereas beetle ecology is evolutionarily more flexible. The ambrosia lifestyle facilitated a radiation of social strategies, from fungus thieves to eusocial species to communities assembled by attraction to fungal scent. Although over 95% of the symbiotic pairs are economically harmless, there are also three types of pest damage: tree pathogen inoculation, mass accumulation on susceptible hosts, and structural damage. Beetles able to colonize live tree tissues are mos...
Global protein-RNA interaction mapping at single nucleotide resolution by iCLIP-seq.

Eukaryotic genomes encode a large number of RNA-binding proteins, which play critical roles in many aspects of gene regulation. To functionally characterize these proteins, a key step is to map their interactions with target RNAs. UV crosslinking and immunoprecipitation coupled with high-throughput sequencing has become the standard method for this purpose. Here we describe the detailed procedure that we have used to characterize the protein–RNA interactions of the mRNA 3′ processing factors.
Onychomys torridus (Southern grasshopper mouse)

Identification of the X chromosome is unequivocal, but identification of the Y is not. Several pairs of small acrocentric autosomes are indistinguishable from the Y chromosome.
Effect of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor activation on cardiac fibroblasts:A mechanism underlying RV fibrosis associated with cigarette smoke exposure

Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is associated with numerous smoking-related illnesses, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), in which it is present even in the absence of pulmonary hypertension. It is unknown whether exposure to cigarette smoke (CS) has direct effects on RV function and cardiac fibroblast (CF) proliferation or collagen synthesis. In this study, we evaluated cardiac function and fibrosis in mice exposed to CS and determined mechanisms of smoke-induced changes in CF signaling and fibrosis. AKR mice were exposed to CS for 6 wk followed by echocardiography and evaluation of cardiac hypertrophy, collagen content, and pulmonary muscularization. Proliferation and collagen content were evaluated in primary isolated rat CFs exposed to CS extract (CSE) or nicotine. Markers of cell proliferation, fibrosis, and proliferative signaling were determined by immunoblot or Sircol collagen assay. Mice exposed to CS had significantly decreased RV function, as determined by tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion. There were no changes in left ventricular parameters. RV collagen content was significantly elevated, but there was no change in RV hypertrophy or pulmonary vascular muscularization. CSE directly increased CF proliferation and collagen content in CF. Nicotine alone reproduced these effects. CSE and nicotine-induced fibroblast proliferation and collagen content were mediated through α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and were dependent on PKC-α, PKC-δ, and reduced p38-MAPK phosphorylation. CS and nicotine have direct effects on CFs to induce proliferation and fibrosis, which may negatively affect right heart function.
Are growth rings accurate fingerprints of plant age in a stem-succulent, drought-deciduous shrub growing in the Chihuahuan Desert?

Abstract Ocotillo ( Fouquieria splendens ), an iconic plant of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts in the United States and Mexico, has the reputation of being a long-lived shrub capable of attaining ages of two centuries or more. However, evidence of this potential longevity is lacking given that 104 years has been the oldest confirmed age recorded. The recent finding that growth rings can be accurately counted in the woody trunks of ocotillo has provided an opportunity to determine whether these rings merely identify the punctuated, sporadic growth common in this plant, or whether they actually represent ocotillo age. In seedlings studied for 22 years in southern New Mexico, growth rings enumerated in their trunks equaled total plant age. This apparent equivalence between growth rings and age was in spite of the fact that no measurable stem elongation occurred in up to nine of the 22 years of study in an ocotillo that also had no stem elongation in four consecutive years. A mature ocotillo harvested at this site that had 107 growth rings further supports the reality of a century-plus lifespan for ocotillo. The puzzle of longevity in this distinctive shrub of the desert Southwest can now be addressed with future research, but the possibilities go beyond the determination of maximum lifespan. These possibilities include dendrochronological studies that may well allow important analyses of patterns related to climate change in deserts where biological monitors of change are not always present or obvious.
Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia on Sleep-Related Cognitions Among Patients With Stable Heart Failure

Objective/Background: Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) improves insomnia and fatigue among chronic heart failure (HF) patients, but the extent to which sleep-related cognitions exp...
Patient-related risk factors for requiring surgical intervention following a failed injection for the treatment of medial and lateral epicondylitis.

Objectives: To identify risk factors for failure of a therapeutic injection leading to operative management of both medial and lateral epicondylitis.Methods: A national database was used to query M...
Skull base plasmacytoma: A unique case of POEMS syndrome with a plasmacytoma causing craniocervical instability.

Abstract Introduction Plasmacytomas, considered to be the solitary counterparts of multiple myeloma, are neoplastic monoclonal plasma cell proliferations within soft tissue or bone. Plasmacytomas often present as a collection of findings known as POEMS-syndrome (Polyneuropathy, Organomegaly, Endocrinopathy, M-Protein spike, and Skin changes). Case description We present a report of a 47 yo male diagnosed with POEMS-syndrome secondary to a skull base plasmacytoma. The mass resulted in marked instability of the cranio-cervical junction due to bony erosion. Following an induction course of chemotherapy, he showed clinical improvement with a marked reduction in tumor size and underwent an autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplant for systemic treatment of his POEMS-syndrome. Following completion of systemic treatment, he then underwent a definitive occipital-cervical fusion without complications. His neurologic exam upon dismissal was stable with subjective improvement in left upper extremity strength. Postoperative radiographs confirmed spinal alignment and pathological examination of a small biopsy from C1 revealed benign fibrous tissue. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a skull-base plasmacytoma associated with POEMS-syndrome, causing cranio-cervical instability. The approach of systemic therapy combined with temporary external fixation, followed by definitive occipital cervical fusion resulted in a good outcome for this patient.
On the Understanding of Drug Potency

It is not difficult to find a novel compound possessing biological activity, but the discovery of a compound with sufficient potency to be considered for introduction to medical practice is a much rarer event. Nevertheless, weakly active compounds are valuable in that their chemical structures may be modified as a means to discover more potent congeners. One of the more common modifications employed is the addition of substituent groups at various positions of an aromatic system. Physical organic chemists have long appreciated the large effects that substituents can have upon the rate and equilibrium constants of organic reactions; in a like manner medicinal chemists have long recognized the often dramatic changes in potency that accompany substitution. The basic problem then is to discover which substituents produce the most advantageous effects in the biological profile of a series. Normally, the purpose of the substituent is to alter the physicochemical characterstics of the parent system; it is these changes that are associated with the altered biological response.
Dielectric Response of Polypyrrole at Microwave and Infrared Frequencies

We report measurements on the dielectric properties of Polypyrrole doped with the tosylate anion in the far infrared (FIR) and microwave frequency regimes. DC electrical conductivity measurements were performed on the polypyrrole samples with a four-point probe. The samples were prepared electrochemically providing control of the doping level through reduction of the as grown film. Thin films varying in thickness from 10 to 50 microns were synthesized with dc conductivities in the range of 1 to 100 S/cm.
Infranomics Simulation: Supporting System of Systems Understanding by Gaming

This contribution evaluates serious gaming as a mean to better educate decision makers that have to manage system of systems. Systems of systems are understood to be operationally and managerially independent, geographically distributed, are developed evolutionary, and show emergence. Each infrastructure is constrained by the principles of infranomics, embracing the totality of the technical components, stakeholders, mindframes, legal constraints, etc. In simulation, the agent-based paradigm has been identified to support systems that can best support such an environment for a game.
High pain intensity after total shoulder arthroplasty.

Background As reimbursement becomes increasingly tied to quality and patient experience, there is growing interest in alleviation of postoperative pain combined with optimal opioid stewardship. We characterized predictors of severe inpatient pain after elective total shoulder arthroplasty and evaluated its association with opioid use, operative time, hospital length of stay, discharge disposition, and cost. Methods We identified 415 patients undergoing elective primary total shoulder arthroplasty between 2016 and 2017 from our registry. Severe postoperative pain was defined as peak pain intensity ≥75th percentile. Multivariable logistic regression modeling was used to determine preoperative characteristics associated with severe pain, including demographics, emotional health, comorbidities, and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score. Opioid consumption was expressed as oral morphine equivalents (OMEs). Costs were calculated using time-driven activity-based costing. Results In decreasing order of magnitude, the predictors of severe postoperative pain were greater number of self-reported allergies, preoperative chronic opioid use, lower American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score, and depression. Patients reporting severe pain took more opioids (202 vs. 84 mg OMEs), stayed longer in the hospital (2.9 vs. 2.0 days), used postacute inpatient rehabilitation services more frequently (28% vs. 10%), and were more likely to be high-cost patients (23% vs. 5%; all P Conclusions Efforts to address psychological and social determinants of health might do as much or more than technical improvements to alleviate pain, limit opioid use, and contain costs after shoulder arthroplasty. These findings are important in the redesign of care pathways and bundling initiatives.
Self-control, emerging adulthood, and desistance from crime: a partial test of Pratt's integrated self-control/life-course theory of offending

Although self-control and life-course perspectives are often viewed as competing, if not incompatible, theoretical traditions, Pratt (European Journal of Criminology, 13, 129–146, 2016) argues that the two perspectives are in many ways complementary. In his new integrated theory, self-control is viewed as a dynamic factor that is subject to change and that influences behavior over the life course, including the decreases in crime that typically come with age. Further, it is argued that increases in self-control reduce the likelihood of offending, in part, because they influence the social environments that individuals find themselves in, the activities they pursue, and their cognitive mindsets. In this study, we conduct a partial test of the integrated self-control/life-course theory, with a special focus on the theory’s relevance to desistance during emerging adulthood. Longitudinal data from a large study of serious young offenders are used to examine within-person changes in self-control and other variables related to desistance from crime. Although certain variables fail to behave as predicted, the overall pattern of results is consistent with the general thrust of the integrated theory, highlighting the role of self-control in the desistance process. We find that absolute increases in self-control exert both direct and indirect inhibiting effects on offending, with the indirect effects operating through various life-course variables. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.
Experiences of Stigma and Spirituality of Older Black Men Living with HIV

Previous research on HIV stigma and the use of spirituality by people living with HIV/AIDS is scarce. Moreover, the research with older Black men who have sex with men is scant. This study aimed to...
Real-time 3D image fusion system for valvular interventions based on echocardiography and biplane x-ray fluoroscopy.

Fluoroscopic imaging provides good visibility of prosthetic valve stent frames during transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures. Recently, efforts have been made to perform 3D tracking of valve frames based on biplane fluoroscopic imaging; however, x-ray-based imaging lacks contrast in the soft tissue structures of the heart. The purpose of this work was to develop a system for real-time 3D visualization of transcatheter prosthetic valve frames and cardiac soft tissue anatomy using the fusion of biplane fluoroscopy and echocardiography. The system is a workstation that accepts real-time image streams from commercial biplane x-ray and echocardiography systems. The image datasets can be registered based on an x-ray visible fiducial apparatus attached to the echocardiography probe, or alternatively, manually registered. During the procedure, a real-time display shows the 3D valve representation together with adjustable cut-planes through the real time 3D ultrasound data. To validate the system, a phantom with cylindrical cavities was created using an agar-graphite mixture. Dual-modality fiducials were attached to the phantom for manual registration and evaluation of registration error. At maximum speed, the frame rate of the fusion system was 24.6 fps. The fiducial registration error between the ultrasound and x-ray imaging systems was 1.3 mm. The target registration error between the 3D prosthetic valve model reconstructed from biplane x-ray and a reference CT acquisition was 1.2 mm. The proposed system works with commercially available angiography and ultrasound systems and provides a novel 3D visualization of the prosthetic valve within the ultrasound image space in real-time.
Discovering Optimal Variable-length Time Series Motifs in Large-scale Wearable Recordings of Human Bio-behavioral Signals

Continuously-worn wearable sensors produce copious amounts of rich bio-behavioral time series recordings. Exploring recurring patterns, often known as motifs, in wearable time series offers critical insights into understanding the nature of human behavior. Challenges in discovering motifs from wearable recordings include noise removal, pattern generalization, and accounting for subtle variations between subsequences in one motif set. In this work, we introduce a time series processing pipeline to summarize an optimal set of variable-length motifs in a real-world wearable recording data-set collected in a hospital workplace setting. We propose the use of the Savitzky-Golay filter for noise removal without significant data distortion. We then combine the previously developed HierarchIcal based Motif Enumeration (HIME) algorithm with a principled optimization approach to obtain the most repetitive patterns in long-term wearable time-series. We also describe challenges in using just a single method to detect motifs in wearable time series in our experiments. We demonstrate our pipeline can effectively identify meaningful variable-length motifs in large-scale heart rate signals collected continuously from over 100 individuals both at and outside their workplace over 10 weeks through two machine learning experiments.
The impact on stock prices of deferral and elimination of internal control audit requirement for small firms

Abstract This paper examines the cumulative market reaction to the events related to deferral of internal control audit requirement under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and its elimination under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 for nonaccelerated filers (small firms). We document that small firms experienced negative cumulative abnormal returns around these events; and the differences between the cumulative abnormal returns for small firms and the two control groups (accelerated and large accelerated filers) were negative and significant at the 1% level. These results support the notion that market participants value the reliability of financial information irrespective of the firm size. Within the small firms, we find no firm characteristic significantly explains the market reaction to the events considered. That is, all small firms lost market value in reaction to the events that delayed and eliminated their internal control audit requirement.
Silicon Photonic Single-Sideband Generation with Dual-Parallel Mach-Zehnder Modulators

We demonstrate the first silicon photonic single-sideband (SSB)modulator with dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs)operating near 1550 nm with a measured carrier suppression of 27 dB and at least 12 dB sideband suppression at 1 GHz. © 2019 The Author(s)
Gun Violence Prevention and Mental Health Policy

How are gun violence and mental health problems connected (or not connected)? How effective are current laws designed to prevent firearm-related violence and suicide in the United States? What other feasible measures could be taken to meaningfully reduce the number of firearm injuries and deaths, without stigmatizing people with mental illnesses or unduly curtailing the rights of law-abiding gun owners? This chapter addresses such questions broadly from a public health perspective, examining key federal and state regulatory approaches to preventing intentional firearm-related injury—particularly as these approaches intersect with mental health policy. We describe the nature and scope of the problem and the unique challenge that it poses in the American context, where mass shootings continue to shape popular views of mental illness and public safety goals collide with individual gun rights concerns. We summarize empirical evidence for the effectiveness and shortcomings of mental-health-based gun restrictions at the point of sale. We describe a new generation of risk-based, non-criminalizing, time-limited, preemptive gun-removal laws as an important piece in the policy puzzle of gun violence and suicide prevention in the United States. Expert consensus recommendations on selected policies to reduce gun violence and suicide are discussed.
Transcutaneous and Transconjunctival Surgical Approaches to the Orbit

There are numerous indications for performing surgery in the orbit, including repair of orbital fractures, biopsy or excision of orbital tumors, drainage of orbital abscesses, and orbital decompression. Anterior orbitotomy can be performed through both transconjunctival and transcutaneous approaches. Commonly utilized approaches include the inferior conjunctival fornix incision, the transcaruncular incision, lateral canthotomy and cantholysis, and the upper eyelid crease incision.
Líderes, jefes y seguidores: trabajo en armonía

Resumen Todas las enfermeras tienen el potencial y la responsabilidad de efectuar un cambio positivo en la practica de enfermeria y en los cuidados de salud. Este articulo describe las caracteristicas de lideres y seguidores eficaces y aclara que uno no tiene por que ocupar un cargo directivo para ejercer de lider.
An overview on interference in clinical immunoassays: A cause for concern

Immunoassays are rapid, simple, cost-effective, robust and sensitive laboratory techniques that are extensively used in many important areas of clinical medicine such as diagnosis, prevention, treatment and management of diseases. Universally, it is one of the most extensively used in vitro diagnostic testing methods, and its demand has been increasing exponentially over the past four decades. Routinely, these methods can quantify minute amounts of diverse analytes such as hormones, antibodies, proteins and drugs present in highly complex biological fluids, such as serum, urine, sweat, meconium and cerebrospinal fluid. Immunoassays are successful techniques that can detect up to picomolar concentrations using antigen–antibody reactions without the need of prior extraction. Although immunoassays are useful techniques that help physicians to take quick decisions, they too are subjected to interference from both exogenous and endogenous sources, resulting in false-positive and false-negative results. When the immunoassay results do not appear to fit the clinical picture, it becomes a great challenge to a clinical biochemist, alarms clinicians and confounds immunoassay manufacturers. Sometimes, these results can mislead or miss a diagnosis, resulting in unnecessary investigations and mental trauma to the patient and families. Hence, it is very important for one to be aware of the limitations of this immunoassay, to have knowledge about them and to take necessary actions or precautions to get the right result. There is no single procedure that can rule out all interferences. Furthermore, it is difficult for the laboratorians to identify antibody interference with immunoassay, and thus, physicians should be encouraged to communicate specifically with the laboratory about discordance between results and clinical findings. If there is any suspicion of discordance between the clinical and the laboratory data, an attempt should be made to reconcile the difference. Procedures should be put in place when interference is suspected. Constant communication is required between physician and laboratory about unexpected immunoassay results. Manufacturers can also be communicated to identify the presence of interfering antibody.
Tracking Prejudice: A Mouse-Tracking Measure of Evaluative Conflict Predicts Discriminatory Behavior:

Explicit evaluations of racial out-groups often involve conflict between opposing evaluative tendencies. Yet this type of conflict is difficult to capture with standard measures of evaluative proce...
Effect of platinum sensitivity on the efficacy of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer.

Abstract Introduction Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy following cytoreductive surgery (CRS) is a treatment strategy that has been evaluated in recurrent ovarian cancer. The aim of this study was to examine if survival was similar regardless of platinum sensitivity. Methods A retrospective study of women with recurrent platinum sensitive or resisteant epithelial ovarian cancer who were treated with cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and HIPEC between the years 2010–2018 was performed. Recurrence free (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results Thirty-five (72.9 %) were platinum sensitive (PS) and 13 (27.1 %) were platinum resistant (PR). The complete cytoreduction (R0) rate was higher in the PS patients as compared to PR (85.7 % vs 53.8 %; p = 0.017). Median follow-up was 16.9 (range, 11.7–34.5) months. The median recurrence free survival in the patients who had a R0 resection was 22.3 months in PS and 11.1 months in PR patients (p = 0.017), respectively. Median overall survival was 26.9 months in the PR patients, while it had not been reached in the PS patients. In the patients with PS recurrence, the mean treatment free interval (TFI) prior to HIPEC was 1.6 years and following HIPEC, 40 % of those patients were recurrence free at 2 years. In the patients with PR recurrence, the mean TFI prior to HIPEC was 4.6 months and following HIPEC, 61.5 % of those patients had a longer TFI, with a mean increase of 10.1 months. Conclusion Although surgery is not considered standard treatment in PR ovarian cancer, in carefully selected patients, surgery with HIPEC could extend the treatment-free interval.
Rigid Religious Faith Promotes Selective Exposure to Attitude-Congruent Political Information

When seeking political information, people are motivated to selectively seek information that is congruent with their prior attitudes. However, some individuals may do so more than others, and not much is known about what factors affect such individual differences. Rigid religious faith is one variable that may promote selective exposure. Messages of the importance of rigid faith—the idea that religious beliefs must be held firmly and not doubted—could encourage a habit of selective exposure to information that supports existing religious beliefs. As a side effect, this habit of selective exposure might be applied outside the context of religion. In this study, an information-search task on a non-religious political issue is used to demonstrate that subjects prefer to read a greater number of arguments that are congruent with their prior attitudes on the issue, and this effect of prior attitudes on information-search behavior is found to be stronger among individuals who have rigid religious convictions. A scrambled-sentence task is used to prime half the subjects with religious concepts prior to completing the information-search task. This experiment demonstrates that increased salience of religious faith causes an increase in selective exposure to attitude-congruent political information.
Ahead of the Curve: Responses From Patients in Treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder to Coronavirus Disease 2019

Alongside concern about the physical health impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, public health officials have also raised concerns about the potential for massive mental health impact. This has led many to wonder, how are individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and especially those with contamination fears, doing in the era of COVID-19? We present data from eight patients in our residential treatment program for OCD who were admitted prior to any COVID-19 restrictions and continued in treatment at the facility during the pandemic. Much like the general population, our patients varied in the ways they were impacted by COVID-19, yet the majority experienced improvements in OCD symptoms despite the context. This is not to downplay the many ways in which our patients were personally affected by COVID-19. Rather our patients' relatively resilient responses mirror our program's treatment model, which emphasizes exposure and response prevention (ERP) within the complementary framework of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The intention of this article is to challenge the notion that by definition this population will fare worse than the general public or that ERP cannot proceed effectively during this time. In contrast, we underscore that effective OCD treatment can and should continue in the era of COVID-19.
How to transition incrementally to microservice architecture

A field study examines technological advances that have created versatile software ecosystems to develop and deploy microservices.
Evaluating existing water supply reservoirs as small-scale pumped hydroelectric storage options – A case study in Connecticut

Abstract Considering the reduction of steep power ramps caused by renewable energy penetration, the present study evaluates the potential of utilizing existing water supply infrastructure as small-scale pumped-hydroelectric storage (PHS) units. A novel methodology is developed that estimates the total storage capacity via the available space in five water supply systems in Connecticut (United States), by solely employing water level measurements and considering a water release schedule that favors power-demand peak reduction. The study culminates in the estimation of optimal areal requirements for hypothesized solar farms neighboring the studied systems, based on deficit minimization between storage capacity and energy generation over the study period. Analysis reveals that, in most cases, the seasonal pattern of the storage capacity is in accordance with the behavior of the corresponding hydraulic head timeseries, showing higher values in winter/autumn. Given certain assumptions regarding the infrastructure, a yearly average of approximately 95 MWh/day can be stored as an intersystem aggregate, illustrating that the amalgamation of existing water supply reservoirs could provide significant energy storage capacity to complement substation variability. Finally, the area covered by PV arrays increases proportionally with the storage capacity, while the calculated solar energy output demonstrates significant variability relative to the PHS storage potential.
How many babies is too many?: Census Data from a Newborn Rounder Service

Background: Pediatric hospitalists are increasingly responsible for routine newborn care in the newborn nursery. Newborn encounters differ from pediatric encounters in their perceived level of acuity versus amount of time spent with a family. A significant amount of time is needed for counseling, documentation, and communication with outpatient providers. Ideal staffing models are not yet known for this type of work. Objective: To determine the average number of newborn patient encounters seen by a newborn pediatric hospitalist, and determine a volume saturation point for patient care. Design/Methods: Newborn billing data from …
Direct Monitoring of Battery SOC Utilizing GMI-IDT Magnetic Sensor

A novel micromagnetic sensor is designed and optimized for direct and non-invasive measurement of the State of Charge (SOC) (via magnetic properties) of Li-ion batteries. Potential applications include (Hybrid) Electric Vehicles (EV) and other electric battery-driven systems. A single surface acoustic wave (SAW) interdigital transducer (IDT) is used as the sensing platform shunt loaded with amorphous microwires based on Giant Magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect. The sensor design has been optimized to achieve maximum sensitivity, linearity, and repeatability required for battery cell measurement, and for the first time, the response of the proposed sensor in monitoring of actual EV cell properties is presented. The results are a promising first step towards a sensor device for direct battery SOC measurement and open an opportunity in gaining information about the remaining charge capacity and battery performance.
Homeowners willingness to pay to reduce wildfire risk in wildland urban interface areas: Implications for targeting financial incentives

Abstract This study estimated homeowner's willingness to pay for public and private fuel reduction programs in wildland urban interface areas using a choice experiment implemented in California. A multinomial logit (MNL) model was estimated and indicated that homeowners living in subjectively perceived high-risk areas would pay for new wildfire risk mitigation programs. This suggests the importance of risk perceptions in adoption of risk mitigation behavior. Prior research has indicated that demographic factors influence risk perceptions. Therefore, the heterogeneity of homeowner preferences regarding wildfire risk perceptions and mitigation behavior, not explicitly revealed in the basic MNL model, was investigated using Latent Class (LC) and Random Parameter Latent Class (RPLC) models. Results from the LC model indicated that homeowners with lower income/education levels are more likely to ignore risk factors in making wildfire mitigation decisions, and generally prefer the status quo to paying the costs of new wildfire risk mitigation programs. Similar results were found in the RPLC model, except for gender is no longer significant. These results suggest that many low income/education level homeowners in the study area will require accessible and persuasive information on wildfire risk as well as significant financial incentives to undertake private wildfire risk mitigation efforts on their property and to support broader public efforts to protect communities. In contrast, many higher income/education households are more sensitive to risk factors when making wildfire mitigation decisions and would pay a substantial amount for public and private programs, making the existing cost share approach for these types of households workable.
New Research Paradigms in Tourism Geography

1. Introduction to the new Tourism Geographies RESEARCH FRONTIERS 2. Evolutionary economic geography: a new path for tourism studies? 3. What's political ecology got to do with tourism? 4. Scale, change and resilience in community tourism planning 5. Tourism and the Millennium Development Goals: perspectives beyond 2015 6. Using indicators to assess sustainable tourism development: a review RESEARCH ARTICLES 7. Towards an economic-geographical approach to the globalisation of the hotel industry 8. Understanding tourist encounters with nature: a thematic framework 9. Measuring tourist activities in cities using geotagged photography 10. Typologies of tourists' time-space consumption: a new approach using GPS data and GIS tools 11. Linking tourism, retirement migration and social capital 12. Tourism and toponymy: commodifying and consuming place names
Pharmaceutical Activation or Genetic Absence of ClC-2 Alters Tight Junctions During Experimental Colitis.

BACKGROUND We have previously reported that the ClC-2 chloride channel has an important role in regulation of tight junction barrier function during experimental colitis, and the pharmaceutical ClC-2 activator lubiprostone initiates intestinal barrier repair in ischemic-injured intestine. Thus, we hypothesized that pharmaceutical ClC-2 activation would have a protective and therapeutic effect in murine models of colitis, which would be absent in ClC-2 mice. METHODS We administered lubiprostone to wild-type or ClC-2 mice with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) or 2, 4, 5-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced colitis. We determined the severity of colitis and assessed intestinal permeability. Selected tight junction proteins were analyzed by Western blotting and immunofluorescence/confocal microscopy, whereas proliferative and differentiated cells were examined with special staining and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS Oral preventive or therapeutic administration of lubiprostone significantly reduced the severity of colitis and reduced intestinal permeability in both DSS and trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced colitis. Preventive treatment with lubiprostone induced significant recovery of the expression and distribution of selected sealing tight junction proteins in mice with DSS-induced colitis. In addition, lubiprostone reduced crypt proliferation and increased the number of differentiated epithelial cells. Alternatively, when lubiprostone was administered to ClC-2 mice, the protective effect against DSS colitis was limited. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests a central role for ClC-2 in restoration of barrier function and tight junction architecture in experimental murine colitis, which can be therapeutically targeted with lubiprostone.
Detection of Chlamydia psittaci by immunofluorescence.

Abstract A direct fluorescent-antibody (FA) test was developed to detect Chlamydia psittaci in dural impressions from specimen-inoculated mice. Technical procedures for the test were compared. C. psittaci was found in mice after infection as early by the FA technique as it was by cytochemical staining methods usually used. The lymphogranuloma venereum organism was also stained by conjugated antibody to C. psittaci. A distinctive advantage of the described FA test is that organisms are identified immunologically as members of the genus Chlamydia simultaneously with their detection.
Physical activity and metabolic syndrome in liver transplant recipients

There is a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome in liver transplant recipients, a population that tends to be physically inactive. The aim of this study was to characterize physical activity and evaluate the relationship between physical activity and metabolic syndrome after liver transplantation. A cross-sectional analysis was performed in patients more than 3 months after transplantation. Metabolic syndrome was classified according to National Cholesterol Education Panel Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines. Physical activity, including duration, frequency, and metabolic equivalents of task (METs), was assessed. The study population consisted of 204 subjects, with 156 more than 1 year after transplantation. The median time after transplantation was 53.5 months (range = 3-299 months). The mean duration of exercise was 90 ± 142 minutes, and the mean MET score was 3.6 ± 1.5. Metabolic syndrome was observed in 58.8% of all subjects and in 63.5% of the subjects more than 1 year after transplantation. In a multivariate analysis involving all subjects, metabolic syndrome was associated with a time after transplantation greater than 1 year [odds ratio (OR) = 2.909, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.389-6.092] and older age (OR = 1.036, 95% CI = 1.001-1.072). A second analysis was performed for only patients more than 1 year after transplantation. In a multivariate analysis, metabolic syndrome was associated with lower exercise intensity (OR = 0.690, 95% CI = 0.536-0.887), older age (OR = 1.056, 95% CI = 1.014-1.101), and pretransplant diabetes (OR = 4.246, 95% CI = 1.300-13.864). In conclusion, metabolic syndrome is common after liver transplantation, and the rate is significantly higher in patients more than 1 year after transplantation. The observation that exercise intensity is inversely related to metabolic syndrome after transplantation is novel and suggests that physical activity might provide a means for reducing metabolic syndrome complications in liver transplant recipients.
Tidally induced groundwater fluctuations in aquifers located near the Kenai River, Alaska

Defining the influence of ocean tides on coastal rivers and aquifers is useful for many engineering problems, including analysis of groundwater and surface water interactions. This study demonstrates a correlation between Cook Inlet tides and observed ground-water fluctuations in wells near the Kenai River of Alaska. Through application of the Fourier transform, this study shows that a repeatable relationship exists between water level fluctuations in the surface water and underlying aquifers, and that there is a hydraulic exchange between the Kenai River and these aquifers. Through spectral analysis, the dominant tidal frequencies are isolated for several data sets. The inverse Fourier transform of the filtered signals generates the dominant tidal constituents for each data set on a vertically translated and common axis. When data from each aquatic system are compared, the signals are similar, but display a delay and attenuation of the tidal signal.
Design and Implementation of Fuzzy Logic Controllers for a Heat Exchanger in a Water-for-Injection System

Although many industrial applications of fuzzy logic control have been reported, few of them start with an existing industrial process under conventional PID control implemented with programmable logic controllers PLCs. This article aims to illustrate to practicing engineers and academic researchers the usefulness of fuzzy logic control through the design and implementation of an industrial heat exchanger in a water-for-injection WFI system. After a basic FLC was designed and tested, this article shows how its rule base evolved to achieve superior system performance by utilizing additional low-cost sensing information in the process and its environment. A method for the implementation of FLCs into the existing PLC is also reported. The system performance of the five designed FLC rule bases is compared with that of the original PID controller. This article concludes that better performance can be achieved by using the fuzzy logic control technology. It reports the authors' experience in FLC design and implementation. Finally, this article discusses some blocking problems in widespread industrial applications of FLCs and the possible solutions to them.
Next Generation Knee Replacements: A New Approach to Replicate the Function of the ACL

Current total knee replacements solve the problem of arthritic knee joints, but the evidence is that normal patterns of knee motions are not restored (1) In addition; paradoxical anterior sliding of the femur on the tibia can occur in the first half of the flexion range (2). Achieving natural motion is likely to be important for daily activities which involve higher angles of flexion, in terms of restoring normal soft tissue lengths and patello-femoral mechanics. Studies have shown the damaging effects of anterior femoral slide on the tibia affecting both the patella and the patellar tendon (3). Our paper examines new knee replacement designs which incorporate geometrical features to regain anatomical knee motion.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Atomic Physics and Related Subjects.: Communications to Nature.: Structure of Naphthalene and Anthracene.

I BELIEVE Dr. Banerjee's structure to be essentially correct. It has been clear to me for some time that the last two sections of my paper to which Dr. Banerjee refers must be amended as regards the distribution of the scattering centres in the a and b directions. During last summer, Sir William Bragg made ‘absolute’ measurements of the intensities of the reflections from a number of anthracene planes. These measurements were expressed as ratios between the structure factors actually found, and the structure factor to be expected if all the atoms were in the reflecting planes. It was intended that these results and deductions therefrom should be incorporated with my paper, the publication of which was to be delayed for the purpose: unfortunately, owing to my absence from England, there was some confusion during the revision of the proofs and this was not done. Sir William Bragg's figures lead to a structure resembling Dr. Banerjee's so closely that it is interesting to give the following quotation from a letter which he wrote to me. It is in the form of notes upon a table of structure factors:
Nonischemic cardiomyopathy substrate and ventricular tachycardia in the setting of coronary artery disease

Background Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) may have ventricular tachycardia (VT) from a separate nonischemic process. Catheter ablation in these patients can be misguided by abnormalities of coronary arteries. Objective To identify (1) the prevalence of unanticipated nonischemic VT in patients with known CAD presenting with VT and (2) the substrate and VT characteristics of this unique subset of patients. Methods We examined consecutive patients referred for VT catheter ablation who had a history of myocardial infarction and angiography documented CAD with presumed ischemic VT. Patients with low-voltage zones and/or VT origin inconsistent with CAD distribution were included for further analysis. Results Of 732 patients, 9 (1.2%) (7 men; median age 74 years; ejection fraction 30%) fulfilled inclusion criteria. Endocardial left ventricular scar inconsistent with CAD distribution was found in 8 patients. In 1 patient, only epicardial left ventricular scar was found. The distribution of low voltage ( Conclusions A small but important subgroup of patients with CAD and VT has a nonischemic substrate/etiology for VT. The presence of multiple VTs with basal origin suggests a potential nonischemic perivalvular substrate and possible need for epicardial VT ablation.
Guest Editor's Introduction to Parts I and II

(2009). Guest Editor's Introduction to Parts I and II. Journal of Russian & East European Psychology: Vol. 47, No. 1, pp. 3-19.
A Retrospective Study of Cavernous Sinus Syndrome in 4 Dogs and 8 Cats

Cavernous sinus syndrome (CSS) is characterized by deficits in more than one of the cranial nerves (CN) that traverse the cavernous sinus at the base of the cranial vault: CN III (oculomotor), IV (trochlear), VI (abducens), and the first two branches of CN V (trigeminal). Records from 4 dogs and 8 cats with CSS diagnosed over a 14-year period were reviewed. The most common clinical signs were ophthalmoparesis or ophthalmoplegia, mydriasis with no direct or consensual pupillary light reflexes, ptosis, decreased corneal sensation, and decreased retractor oculi reflex. All cats had initial signs referable to a left CSS lesion (one had bilateral CSS), whereas in all dogs the lesions were localized to the right cavernous sinus. Median ages at diagnosis were 9 and 10 years of age for dogs and cats, respectively. Cerebel lomedullary cisternae cerebrospinal fluid analysis in 6 animals was useful as a sensitivebut nonspecific diagnostic test of an intracranial inflammatory or neoplastic lesion. Magnetic resonance imaging scans provided a more definitive diagnostic test in all dogs, revealing a contrast-enhancing mass on T1 weighted scans in the region of the cavernous sinus. A definitive pathological diagnosis was obtained in 2 dogs: a primary intracranial neoplasm and a metastatic intracranial neoplasm. A definitive diagnosis was obtained in 6 cats: metastatic neoplasm (n = 1), primary intracranial neoplasm (n = 1), primary intracranial infectious disease (n = 2), and associated systemic infectious disease (n = 2). The prognosis associated with CSS in dogs and cats was considered guarded to poor.