cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neonatal palliative care.

Purpose of review A significant number of newborns are affected by life-limiting or life-threatening conditions. When prolongation of survival is no longer a goal, or prognosis is uncertain, a plan of care focused on the infant's comfort is essential. The aim of this article is to review the most recent and relevant literature regarding neonatal palliative care (NPC). Recent findings A variety of perinatal and NPC programs are described, but most programs focus exclusively on end-of-life care. Moreover, there is a great need to standardize practices and obtain follow-up quality measures.Guidelines to address infants' basic needs, to achieve a state of comfort, are proposed. A multidisciplinary team addressing the infants' medical and nonmedical needs, parental grieving process, and providers' distress is recommended. Summary NPC is a unique multidisciplinary approach for the care of newborns affected by life-limiting or complex medical conditions with uncertain prognosis. Standardized guidelines should be implemented with the goal of achieving a state of comfort for newborns throughout the course of illness. Further studies are warranted to assess whether NPC effectively promotes newborns' comfort and parents and providers' satisfaction.
Evaluation of Epstein-Barr Virus Serologic Analysis in North American Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma and in Comparison Groups

This prospective cooperative study was initiated in 1978 to determine the value of serologic tests related to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), including the antibody response to the EBV membrane antigen as measured by the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) assay, in North American patients with different histopathologic types of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Serologic testing is a useful diagnostic aid for patients with NPC, particularly those in whom the tumors are small and submucosal (difficult to see or occult). A large body of clinical evidence, histopathologic data, and more recently immunologic studies supports the concept that carcinomas of the nasopharynx constitute two distinct diseases. Today, these are classified as WHO type 1 tumors and combined WHO types 2 and 3 tumors. The ADCC titers obtained at diagnosis often predict the clinical course of patients with WHO types 2 and 3 NPC regardless of the stage of the disease. A low ADCC titer at diagnosis portends a poor prognosis, and the determination of antibody titers identifies patients in whom recurrent disease is likely to develop after conventional irradiation therapy.
High resolution thermal imaging of pre-breakdown in power AlGaN/GaN MOSHEMTs

Thermoreflectance imaging microscopy is demonstrated for pre-breakdown thermal and material analysis of power AlGaN/GaN MOSHEMTs stressed to catastrophic break-down. Optical and thermal images with submicron spatial resolution reveal evolution of self-heating and mechanical degradation on the MOSHEMT gate metal for both the full-ON and full-OFF operating states, with V D up to 155 V. Strong correlation was observed between localized hot spots/cold spots under bias and material breakdown at the fail site. Results demonstrate rapid quantitative in situ imaging of HEMT pre-breakdown phenomena with broad implications for reliability and design optimization.
Evaluation of the Enhanced LEU Fuel (ELF) Design for Conversion of the Advanced Test Reactor to a Low-Enrichment Fuel Cycle

AbstractA conceptual low-enrichment uranium (LEU) fuel design has been developed for the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory. The ATR is currently fueled with a high-enrichment fuel but is slated to be converted to LEU under programs led by the National Nuclear Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy. A conceptual LEU fuel design, the Enhanced LEU Fuel (ELF), has been developed assuming power peaking control through the use of variable fuel meat thicknesses and no use of burnable poison. In initial work, this design was shown to satisfy performance requirements for ATR operation. Following these design calculations, a safety analysis process was initiated to demonstrate that the ELF design would successfully meet safety limits for postulated accident conditions. Those calculations, performed using RELAP5 and ATR-SINDA, require physics analysis to provide spatial power distributions and kinetics parameters for various core operations configurations. This article descri...
What matters to health care executives? Assessing the job attributes associated with their staying or leaving

A total of 522 affiliates of the American College of Health Care Executives were surveyed to determine job attributes which might be considered in their decisions to remain in, or leave, their current position. Both decisions were highly influenced by intrinsic job attributes such as freedom in decision-making, opportunities for personal growth / self-development, caliber of the management team, and opportunities for advancement / promotion. There was a high degree of correlation between the rankings of attributes affecting both the retention and the recruitment decisions. However, financial attributes such as salary and the financial condition of the organization were more influential in the recruitment decision than in the retention decision. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Stratified Probabilistic Bias Analysis for Body Mass Index-related Exposure Misclassification in Postmenopausal Women.

Background:There is widespread concern about the use of body mass index (BMI) to define obesity status in postmenopausal women because it may not accurately represent an individual’s true obesity status. The objective of the present study is to examine and adjust for exposure misclassification bias
Beyond the Supreme Court decision: nursing perspectives on end-of-life care.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To describe nurses' views of care of the terminally ill. DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional survey. SAMPLE: 300 nurses who completed a survey published in Nursing98 and Nursing Management and 2,033 nurses randomly selected from the Oncology Nursing Society (N = 2,333). METHODS: Mailed end-of-life (EOL) care survey. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Dilemmas, barriers, and effectiveness of EOL care and education and attitudes regarding assisted suicide and euthanasia. FINDINGS: EOL care dilemmas are common in nursing practice, and many barriers exist to providing quality EOL care. Issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide are particularly significant to nurses who struggle to provide pain and symptom relief amid a system characterized by deficiencies in EOL care. CONCLUSIONS: Improved care is contingent on adequate education of nurses as the primary caregivers of patients and families who are facing the end of life. Study findings provide direction for improved care of the terminally ill. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Oncology nurses are centrally involved in care of the terminally ill. Major reform is needed to provide quality EOL care. Language: en
The biology of Kaposi's sarcoma.

The idea that KS might have an infectious cause is an old one that derives from several sources. First, the complex histology of the lesion, its multicentric nature, the indolent character of the disease (in its classical form), its occasional spontaneous regression and the evidence for oligo-or poly-clonality (see below) all suggest that KS is not a traditional malignancy. As early as the 1970’s speculation abounded that the African form was linked to cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection1-3a notion that was ultimately disproven. Suspicions of a viral etiology were again aroused in the AIDS era, since HIV-positive subjects appeared to be at enormous risk for developing this once-rare condition4. Although it was natural to wonder whether HIV itself might be the proximate cause of KS, this notion was complicated by the finding that KS spindle cells do not harbor HIV DNA. This led to suggestions that HIV-infected cells might provide factors in trans that stimulate KS spindle cells to grow, a notion for which there is considerable in vitro evidence (see below). But epidemiological studies of AIDS-KS in the US and Europe soon established the decisive fact that even among HIV-positive subjects there were wide differences in KS risk4. Male homosexuals with HIV are 20-30 times more likely to develop KS than HIV-infected hemophiliacs or IV drug users and KS is rarer still in children with vertically-acquired HIV. These seminal observations suggested that a second, possibly sexually transmitted, factor was a critical determinant of KS risk and precipitated a search for potential pathogens in KS tissue.
Nickel–copper supported on a carbon black hydrogen oxidation catalyst integrated into an anion-exchange membrane fuel cell

This work introduces the first practical platinum group metal-free (PGM-free) electrocatalyst for the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) in alkaline membrane fuel cells (AMFCs), based on nickel-rich Ni95Cu5-alloy nanoparticles supported on Ketjenblack (KB) family carbon blacks. The catalyst synthesis is scalable and results in an expected true alloy of NiCu, which is thoroughly characterized by XRD, microscopy and XPS. The reactivity of the catalyst towards the HOR is studied by cyclic voltammetry and explained in view of its composition and structure. This catalyst showed the highest specific activity compared to previously reported NiCu electrocatalysts and was successfully integrated into an AMFC membrane electrode assembly (MEA) using a commercially available state-of-the-art membrane and an ionomer. Single MEA fuel cell tests have demonstrated a power density of 350 mW cm−2 at 80 °C, which sets a technical record for a PGM-free anode in realistic operating conditions. The MEA with the NiCu/KB anode catalyst layer was evaluated by in situ nano- and in operando micro-X-ray computed tomography (CT) and the results suggest that the nickel state in NiCu is hydrophobic in nature, where the NiCu surface may be isostructural with β-Ni(OH)2. The hydrophobic nature of the electrocatalyst allows for improved water distribution in the MEA and overall fuel cell as observed by in operando micro-X-ray CT.
Terrorist Expatriation: All Show, No Bite, No Future

Expatriation measures adopted by a handful of countries are ill-advised and possibly unlawful. Denationalisation of terror suspects clearly merits the attention of scholars and activists; after decades of disuse, states are now stepping back into the practice of forced expatriation. But denationalisation is increasingly anachronistic and toothless in the face of diminished conceptions of citizenship as an institution and changed locations of allegiance. The expatriation measures are empty gestures, a kind of counter-terror bravado to make up for the deficiency of more important material responses.
The effects of varying class distribution on learner behavior for medicare fraud detection with imbalanced big data

Healthcare in the United States is a critical aspect of most people's lives, particularly for the aging demographic. This rising elderly population continues to demand more cost-effective healthcare programs. Medicare is a vital program serving the needs of the elderly in the United States. The growing number of Medicare beneficiaries, along with the enormous volume of money in the healthcare industry, increases the appeal for, and risk of, fraud. In this paper, we focus on the detection of Medicare Part B provider fraud which involves fraudulent activities, such as patient abuse or neglect and billing for services not rendered, perpetrated by providers and other entities who have been excluded from participating in Federal healthcare programs. We discuss Part B data processing and describe a unique process for mapping fraud labels with known fraudulent providers. The labeled big dataset is highly imbalanced with a very limited number of fraud instances. In order to combat this class imbalance, we generate seven class distributions and assess the behavior and fraud detection performance of six different machine learning methods. Our results show that RF100 using a 90:10 class distribution is the best learner with a 0.87302 AUC. Moreover, learner behavior with the 50:50 balanced class distribution is similar to more imbalanced distributions which keep more of the original data. Based on the performance and significance testing results, we posit that retaining more of the majority class information leads to better Medicare Part B fraud detection performance over the balanced datasets across the majority of learners.
Decoding Speech from Intracortical Multielectrode Arrays in Dorsal “Arm/Hand Areas” of Human Motor Cortex

Neural prostheses are being developed to restore speech to people with neurological injury or disease. A key design consideration is where and how to access neural correlates of intended speech. Most prior work has examined cortical field potentials at a coarse resolution using electroencephalography (EEG) or medium resolution using electrocorticography (ECoG). The few studies of speech with single-neuron resolution recorded from ventral areas known to be part of the speech network. Here, we recorded from two 96- electrode arrays chronically implanted into the ‘hand knob’ area of motor cortex while a person with tetraplegia spoke. Despite being located in an area previously demonstrated to modulate during attempted arm movements, many electrodes’ neuronal firing rates responded to speech production. In offline analyses, we could classify which of 9 phonemes (plus silence) was spoken with 81% single-trial accuracy using a combination of spike rate and local field potential (LFP) power. This suggests that high-fidelity speech prostheses may be possible using large-scale intracortical recordings in motor cortical areas involved in controlling speech articulators.
Efficient synthesis of monoacyl dipyrromethanes and their use in the preparation of sterically unhindered trans-porphyrins.

The condensation of an aldehyde with a dipyrromethane bearing a sterically unhindered aryl substituent at the 5-position typically results in low yield and a mixture of porphyrin products derived from acidolytic scrambling. We have developed a concise nonscrambling synthesis of such trans-porphyrins that takes advantage of the availability of multigram quantities of dipyrromethanes. This route involves the selective monoacylation of the dipyrromethanes with a pyridyl thioester, reduction of the monoacyl dipyrromethane to the corresponding carbinol, and self-condensation of the carbinol to form the porphyrin. The monoacylation procedure has wide scope as demonstrated by the preparation of a set of 15 diverse monoacyl dipyrromethanes in good yield at the multigram scale. The dipyrromethanecarbinol self-condensation reaction is extremely rapid (<3 min) under mild room-temperature conditions and affords the trans-porphyrin in 16−28% yield. Analysis by laser-desorption mass spectrometry (LD-MS) of samples from...
PM synchronous machine drives

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss techniques for analyzing and controlling the electrical performance characteristics of permanent magnet (PM) synchronous machines (PMSMs) based on electrical equivalent circuit models for the machine derived in the synchronously rotating reference frame. Representation of the d- and q -axes components of the key machine variables as complex vectors provides a powerful means of graphically illustrating the amplitudes and spatial orientations of these key variables in the machine. This complex-plane representation of the machine-phase currents will be used to investigate the performance limits of the machine at high speeds when operating from a source that is restricted by maximum voltage and current limits.
An agronomic overview of US cereal cropping systems

Abstract Major cereal crops namely rice (Oryza sativa L.), maize (Zea mays, L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), oats (Avena sativa L.), and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor, L.) are important agronomic crops for food security. The United States is one of the largest cereal exporters in the world. Cereal crops are produced in nearly every part of the United States; they are the largest US crops in terms of value and harvested area. Cereal productions have varying differences in yields and cropping practices of regional climatic differences. This chapter provides an overview of US cereal production and highlights major differences in production practices that impact environmental sustainability. Cereal cropping is characterized by broadcast seeding or seeding in a row or seedbed on a moist to wet soil and fertilized based on plant's nutrient requirements, soil test results, and climatic conditions. Nitrogen is a critical nutrient for maximum grain yields and slight deficiencies could cause a yield penalty. Methane is largely emitted from flooded rice fields and contributes to the increase in greenhouse gas emission. This review provides information necessary to develop research goals toward addressing yield gaps and efficient crop management practices.
A Multi-Institutional Review of College Campus Adapted Intramural Sports Programming for College Students With and Without a Disability:

This study examined factors surrounding the development and advancement of campus intramural programming for college students with physical disabilities. Campus recreation staff from 164 universiti...
Effects of Recent Modeling Developments in Prompt Burst Hypothetical Core Disruptive Accident Calculations

The main objective of the development of multifield, multicomponent thermohydrodynamic computer codes is the detailed study of hypothetical core disruptive accidents (HCDAs) in liquid-metal fast breeder reactors. The main contributions such codes are expected to make are the inclusion of detailed modeling of the relative motion of liquid and vapor (slip), the inclusion of modeling of nonequilibrium/nonsaturation thermodynamics, and the use of more detailed neutronics methods. Scoping studies of the importance of including these phenomena performed with the parametric two-field, two-component coupled neutronic/thermodynamic/hydrodynamic code FX2-TWOPOOL indicate for the prompt burst portion of an HCDA that: (1) Vapor-liquid slip plays a relatively insignificant role in establishing energetics, implying that analyses that do not model vapor-liquid slip may be adequate. Furthermore, if conditions of saturation are assumed to be maintained, calculations that do not permit vapor-liquid slip appear to be conservative. (2) The modeling of conduction-limited fuel vaporization and condensation causes the energetics to be highly sensitive to variations in the droplet size (i.e., in the parametric values) for the sizes of interest in HCDA analysis. Care must therefore be exercised in the inclusion of this phenomenon in energetics calculations. (3) Insignificant differences are observed between the use of space-time kinetics (quasi-staticmore » diffusion theory) and point kinetics, indicating again that point kinetics is normally adequate for analysis of the prompt burst portion of an HCDA. (4) No significant differences were found to result from assuming that delayed neutron precursors remain stationary where they are created rather than assuming that they move together with fuel. (5) There is no need for implicit coupling between the neutronics and the hydrodynamics/thermodynamics routines, even outside the prompt burst portion.« less
Reversible Switching of Organic Diradical Character via Iron-Based Spin-crossover

Organic diradicals are uncommon species that have been intensely studied for their unique properties and potential applicability in a diverse range of innovative fields. While there is a growing class of stable and well-characterized organic diradicals, there has been recent focus on how diradical character can be controlled or modulated with external stimuli. Here we demonstrate that a diiron complex bridged by the doubly oxidized ligand tetrathiafulvalene-2,3,6,7-tetrathiolate (TTFtt2-) undergoes a thermally induced Fe-centered spin-crossover which yields significant diradical character on TTFtt2-. UV-vis-near-IR, Mossbauer, NMR, and EPR spectroscopies with magnetometry, crystallography, and advanced theoretical treatments suggest that this diradical character arises from a shrinking TTFtt2- π-manifold from the Fe(II)-centered spin-crossover. The TTFtt2--centered diradical is predicted to have a singlet ground state by theory and variable temperature EPR. This unusual phenomenon demonstrates that inorganic spin transitions can be used to modulate organic diradical character.
Public Housing With Services for Older Adults With Developmental Disabilities: Differences in Efficacy Among Asian and White Communities

This study examined the efficacy of a culturally responsive housing with services model for Asian-American older adults and persons with developmental disabilities separately, and with both for an ...
The Effect of Teachers’ Union Contracts on School District Efficiency: Longitudinal Evidence From California:

While the effect of teachers’ unions on school districts continues to be debated, the research literature provides few definitive conclusions to guide these discussions. In this article, we examine...
Value added by the doctorate of social work: professional satisfaction, scholarly leadership, and practice-informed research

As social work doctoral programs are undergoing a substantive shift, in the United States, more institutions of higher education are trending towards a resurgence of a doctorate of social work degr...
Extracellular vesicles in the treatment of neurological disorders.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small, cell-derived membranous particles containing various nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids that play essential roles in intercellular communication through the transfer of their cargos. Current evidence suggests that part of the regenerative benefit from stem cell therapy arises through EVs released from transplanted cells, which generated interest in using EVs for clinical applications. EVs from various cellular sources, including mesenchymal stem cells, neural stem cells, and glia, are efficacious in models of neurological disease. In these models, EVs attenuate reactive gliosis, neuronal death, pro-inflammatory signaling, as well as reduce cognitive, behavioral, and motor deficits. An advantage of using EVs is that they are naturally permeable to the blood-brain barrier and can be modified to contain molecules of interest, thereby serving as a vehicle to transport therapeutics into the brain. This review summarizes the current state of research using EVs as a therapeutic system in models of neurological disorders and highlights considerations for future research.
The cholesterol metabolite 25-hydroxycholesterol restrains the transcriptional regulator SREBP2 and limits intestinal IgA plasma cell differentiation

Summary Diets high in cholesterol alter intestinal immunity. Here, we examined how the cholesterol metabolite 25-hydroxycholesterol (25-HC) impacts the intestinal B cell response. Mice lacking cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H), the enzyme generating 25-HC, had higher frequencies of immunoglobulin A (IgA)-secreting antigen-specific B cells upon immunization or infection. 25-HC did not affect class-switch recombination but rather restrained plasma cell (PC) differentiation. 25-HC was produced by follicular dendritic cells and increased in response to dietary cholesterol. Mechanistically, 25-HC restricted activation of the sterol-sensing transcription factor SREBP2, thereby regulating B cell cholesterol biosynthesis. Ectopic expression of SREBP2 in germinal center B cells induced rapid PC differentiation, whereas SREBP2 deficiency reduced PC output in vitro and in vivo. High-cholesterol diet impaired, whereas Ch25h deficiency enhanced, the IgA response against Salmonella and the resulting protection from systemic bacterial dissemination. Thus, a 25-HC-SREBP2 axis shapes the humoral response at the intestinal barrier, providing insight into the effect of high dietary cholesterol in intestinal immunity.
An evolutionary perspective on oxytocin and its behavioral effects

Oxytocin (OT) has received a tremendous amount of attention from psychologists and neuroscientists over the past decade, most notably through OT administration studies. An understanding of OT's evolved functions in humans, however, requires an understanding of the circumstances under which people are designed to release OT. A phylogenetic perspective suggests that OT's effects in social contexts were evolved from its adaptive regulation of maternal behavior. More generally, OT may function to and gear motivational systems toward maintaining and regulating valued but at-risk relationships of various types, including romantic relationships. A general framework for understanding endocrine hormones suggests that OT may more generally have been shaped by selection to modulate allocation of limited resources.
The Amino Acid Sequence of the A Protein (α Subunit) of the Tryptophan Synthetase of Escherichia coli II. AMINO ACID SEQUENCES OF TWO LARGE TRYPTIC PEPTIDES

Abstract The amino acid sequences of two large tryptic peptides of the tryptophan synthetase A protein (α subunit) of Escherichia coli are presented. These two peptides plus those described previously account for all the known tryptic peptides of the A protein. One of the peptides, the largest obtained from the A protein, was purified by gel filtration and paper chromatography. The other peptide could not be obtained intact in sufficient quantities for sequence analyses, but was isolated as two fragments from tryptic digests of cyanogen bromide-treated protein.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF FORCES ON PILES

In the design of a pile structure exposed to surface waves of a given height and period, some of the factors involved in the problem and studied herein are the size, shape and spacing of the piles and the moment distribution on uniform and non-uniform piles. Theoretical and experimental investigations have shown that the force exerted by surface waves on a pile consists of two components — a drag force and an inertia force. The drag force is proportional to the fluid density, the projected area and the square of the fluid particle velocity. The inertia force, including the virtual mass, is proportional to the fluid density, the volume of the object and the fluid particle acceleration. The virtual mass is the apparent increase of the displaced mass of fluid necessary to account for the increase in force resulting from the acceleration of the fluid relative to the object. This factor is included in the coefficient of mass term in the force calculations.
Life and death within germinal centres: a double-edged sword.

LILIANA GUZMAN-ROJAS, JENNIFER C. SIMS-MOURTADA, ROBERTO RANGEL &HECTOR MARTINEZ-VALDEZ Department of Immunology, The University of TexasMD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USASUMMARYWithin germinal centres, B lymphocytes are destined to die by apoptosis via Fas signalling, unlessthey are positively rescued by antigen and by signals initiated by CD40–CD154 interactions. Thus,while the germinal centre microenvironment can become a virtual graveyard for most B lympho-cytes that fail to bind antigen with high afﬁnity, it concomitantly provides the necessary stimuli forthe survival of cells that successfully accomplish afﬁnity maturation. Such dichotomy in thephysiology of germinal centre reaction that results in survival of the functional B-cell repertoire andthe elimination of abnormal cells, dictates the fate towards B-cell homeostasis or disease.Consequently, the death and survival-signalling arms within germinal centres predominantlyreside on the timely and controlled expression of Fas and its ligand (FasL), and CD40 andCD154, respectively. In keeping with this notion, lymphoproliferation or deﬁcient immunity aredocumented landmarks of inactivation of either the Fas/FasL or CD40/CD154 signalling pathways.The present review considers two different scenarios in the control of B-cell survival and deathwithin germinalcentres. Theﬁrst is anidealistic scenario, inwhicha discriminatory andco-ordinatesignalling initiated by the CD40/CD154 and Fas/FasL pairs, respectively, leads the rescue of thefunctional B-cell repertoire and the elimination of the abnormal phenotype. The second is a gloomyscenario in which both the lack and the hyperexpression of either receptor/ligand pairs, are seen asequally deleterious.INTRODUCTIONJust like a good education in a prestigious university campus,the acquisition of B-cell memory from nai¨ve cells takes placewithin a highly specialized microenvironment, namely thegerminal centres (GC) of the secondary lymphoid organs.The screening process for recruitment of GC candidates isinitiated by the induction of immunoglobulin (Ig)M
Textual Feedback Analysis: Review

Internet has become a more popular medium of sharing the opinions or feedback about particular topics. The feedbacks are often in the form of numerical ratings and text. Numerical ratings are easily processed but waste amount of unstructured textual data present on the internet in the forms of web blogs, emails, customer experiences, tweets etc that is left unprocessed. This data should be processed in order to retrieve more specific opinions that will be helpful in making more appropriate decision. In this paper we reviewed all the different approaches that are used for processing the text data. The different approaches help us to identified challenges and scope present in the textual feedback analysis.
Group Consensus, Individual Consent

Despite a rise in the number of personal-injury and product-liability cases consolidated through multi-district litigation, a decline in class-certification motions, and several newsworthy nonclass settlements such as the $4.85 billion Vioxx settlement and estimated $700 million Zyprexa settlements, little ink has been spilled on nonclass aggregation’s unique issues. Sections 3.17 and 3.18 of the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation are a noteworthy exception. This Article uses those principles as a lens for exploring thematic questions about the value of pluralism, group cohesion, governance, procedural justice, and legitimacy in nonclass aggregation.Sections 3.17 and 3.18 make some scholars nervous because they substitute individual consent to a settlement for individual consent to a process. But the process itself plays a vital function; when process is coercive or consent is tainted those flaws undermine systemic legitimacy and can affect subsequent compliance with the outcome. To be sure, process should enable the enforcement of substantive laws. Yet, we can't achieve justice solely through maximizing welfare or ensuring that plaintiffs have free choice. Rather, process can enable plaintiffs to reason together about the right thing to do and give rise to moral obligations that help balance the uneasy union between the collective and the individual.
Adaptive Fault Diagnosis using Self-Referential Reasoning

The problem is to determine which processors are reliable in a remote location by asking“Yes or No” questions. The processors are of three types: those that always tell the truth, those that always lie, and those the sometimes tell the truth and sometimes lie. Using self-referential reasoning, along with earlier techniques, we can regard both the truth-tellers and liars as reliable and thus the tackle situations when fewer than half the processors are truth-tellers.
Multi-decadal trends in the advection and mixing of natural carbon in the Southern Ocean

[1] Multi-decadal trends in the advection, mixing, and airsea flux of natural carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Southern Ocean are investigated using output from a hindcast simulation of a non-eddy-resolving ocean model. Particular emphasis is placed on the model’s improved eddy-induced advection parameterization. From 1958 to 2007, the model predicts a significant increase in the outgassing of natural CO2 from the Southern Ocean, congruent with a positive trend in the wind speed over this period. The natural CO2 flux trend is largely driven by enhanced Eulerian-mean advection and diapycnal mixing of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) into the Southern Ocean surface. The natural CO2 flux trend would be larger, if not for an increase in the eddy-induced advection of DIC out of the Southern Ocean surface, caused by the multi-decadal increase in the model’s eddy-induced advection coefficient. Citation: Lovenduski, N. S., M. C. Long, P. R. Gent, and K. Lindsay (2013), Multi‐decadal trends in the advection and mixing of natural carbon in the Southern Ocean, Geophys. Res. Lett.,40,139–142, doi:10.1029/2012GL054483.
Competence and Ability

It is nearly universally thought that the kind of decision-making competence that gives one a strong prima facie right to make one's own medical decisions essentially involves having an ability (or abilities) of some sort, or having a certain level or degree of ability (or abilities). When put under philosophical scrutiny, however, this kind of theory does not hold up. I will argue that being competent does not essentially involve abilities, and I will propose and defend a theory of decision-making competence according to which one is competent only if one possesses a certain kind of rationality in making treatment decisions.
On the Three-Dimensional Structure of the Observed Transient Eddy Statistics of the Northern Hemisphere Wintertime Circulation

Abstract The three-dimensional structure of temporal mean, variance and covariance fields of the Northern Hemisphere wintertime circulation is documented by making use of twice-daily hemispheric analyses at 10 pressure levels (1000–100 mb) for 11 winters (1965–76). The Northern Hemisphere is partitioned into seven longitudinal sectors which correspond, respectively, to 1) the entrance regions of the two principal jet streams; 2) the two major oceanic storm tracks (areas with pronounced geopotential height variability in the 2.5–6 day period range); 3) the western portions of the North American and Eurasian land masses; and 4) the central part of the Asian continent. Meridional cross sections of various seasonal mean statistics averaged over meridians comprising these individual sectors are displayed. The fields presented in this manner include 1) time-averaged zonal wind and temperature; 2) temporal variance statistics of zonal and meridional wind components, temperature, and geopotential height; 3) merid...
PK/PD approach to dose selection

Abstract The utility of a given outcome is the subjective value of that outcome. Decisions differentially affect the probabilities (not the utilities) of possible outcomes. The expected utility of a decision is the average utility of all possible outcomes consequent upon that decision, each one weighted by its probability under the decision. The optimal decision maximizes expected utility. Whilst utilities are subjective, the probabilities of outcomes are objective. Thus, the goal of empirical investigation of dose response should be to provide the particular probability distributions of outcomes as a function of dosage regimen that are required to compute optimal (dosing) decisions. Given the presence of an indication for treatment, and the decision to treat with a given drug, the probability distributions in question are functions not only of dosage (amount and timing), but also of clinical circumstances, i.e., factors that affect individual pharmacokinetics (PK) and/or pharmacodynamics (PD). Let the set of these distributions be called, collectively, the response surface for the drug. Given a mapping from responses to utilities, the response surface is clearly a sufficient condition for optimal dosage decisions. Just as clearly, however, regulatory authorities cannot require a purely empirical estimate of it, as this would entail studying all practically realizable dosage regimens in all possible clinical circumstances, a manifestly impractical task. Perhaps because of the success of empirical hypothesis testing as a means of establishing drug efficacy, that same paradigm has been applied to regulatory requirements for dosing (labeling), with unfortunate results: given that the desired goal is impractical, ad hoc and incomplete strategies have evolved as substitutes. A scientific model-based view, which represents the response surface as parsimonious parametric functions of key PK/PD features, and estimates the surface by pooling data across many different studies despite their different designs resolves the conflict between the empirical demand for data and the decision-theoretic demand for a complete and continuous response surface.
Alterations of Mental Status and Thyroid Hormones after Thermal Injury

In 16 burn patients, mean values for serum T4 and T3, their T3 uptake-derived free indices (FT4I and FT3I) and dialysis-derived free concentrations (FT4 and FT3) were depressed all P < 0.001) compared to respective means in 13 normal subjects. In the patients, the free hormone indices were relatively more depressed below control values than were the free hormone concentrations. However, within the group of burn patients, variation in FT4I reflected that of FT4 (r = 0.91), and variation in FT3I reflected that of FT3 (r = 0.93). We then studied serum T4, T3, and their free indices in 134 patients (burn size, 6−96% of the skin area), including 45 nonsurvivors, none of whom received steroid, dopamine, or iodine treatment. At each sampling, the level of obtundation (LO) was determined on a 6−point scale from normal to deep coma. Whereas initially low mean FT4I values rose in survivors, they remained lower in nonsurvivors than in survivors until death in the nonsurvivors. In nonsurvivors, mean LO worsened in th...
Paramagnetism of Fe Impurities in Transition Metals

Hyperfine splitting of Fe/sup 57/ nuclei as a function of an external field H and of temperature was studied. The internal fleld is proportional to the (time) average of the z component of the Fe/sup 57/; measurements of the splitting permit determination of the electronic polarization of Fe. ln certain metals, the splitting vanishes in zero external field at 1.5 to 4 deg K and increases as the external field is increased to saturation, corresponding to complete polarization, at large fields and low temperatures. The splitting is a function of H/T, and may be represented by Brillouin functions. The local magnetic moment, the associated angular momentum, and the saturated internal field are parameters of the Brillouin function. (L.N.N.)
Rate constant for the OH + CO reaction: Pressure dependence and the effect of oxygen

The effect of pressure on the rate constant of the OH + CO reaction has been measured for Ar, N2, and SF6 over the pressure range 200-730 torr. All experiments were at room temperature. The method involved laser-induced fluorescence to measure steady-state OH concentrations in the 184.9 nm photolysis of H2O-CO mixtures in the three carrier gases, combined with supplementary measurements of the CO depletion in these same carrier gases in the presence and absence of competing reference reactants. The effect of O2 on the pressure effect was determined. A pressure enhancement of the rate constant was observed for N2 and SF6, but not for Ar, within an experimental error of about 10 percent. The pressure effect for N2 was somewhat lower than previous literature reports, being about 40 percent at 730 torr. For SF6 a factor of two enhancement was seen at 730 torr. In each case it was found that O2 had no effect on the pressure enhancement. The roles of the radical species HCO and HOCO were evaluated.
Conversion of the phytoestrogen coumestrol into a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) by attachment of an amine-containing sidechain

Abstract The naturally occurring estrogen mimetic coumestrol has been shown to stimulate proliferation of MCF-7 mammary tumor cells and to cause uterotrophic effects in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Attachment of a basic amine-containing sidechain to C-6 of coumestrol converts this estrogen agonist into an antagonist in breast and uterine tissue, while maintaining its estrogen-like activity as a hypocholesterolemic agent.
Combined top-down and bottom-up proteomics identifies a phosphorylation site in stem–loop-binding proteins that contributes to high-affinity RNA binding

The stem–loop-binding protein (SLBP) is involved in multiple aspects of histone mRNA metabolism. To characterize the modification status and sites of SLBP, we combined mass spectrometric bottom-up (analysis of peptides) and top-down (analysis of intact proteins) proteomic approaches. Drosophilia SLBP is heavily phosphorylated, containing up to seven phosphoryl groups. Accurate Mr determination by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR)-MS and FTICR-MS top-down experiments using a variety of dissociation techniques show there is removal of the initiator methionine and acetylation of the N terminus in the baculovirus-expressed protein, and that T230 is stoichiometrically phosphorylated. T230 is highly conserved; we have determined that this site is also completely phosphorylated in baculovirus-expressed mammalian SLBP and extensively phosphorylated in both Drosophila and mammalian cultured cells. Removal of the phosphoryl group from T230 by either dephosphorylation or mutation results in a 7-fold reduction in the affinity of SLBP for the stem–loop RNA.
Circular dichroism of the nucleic acid monomers.

Circular dichroism spectra of the nucleic acid monomers have been measured in aqueous solution and extended into the vacuum ultraviolet region to about 166 nm. Measurements were made on ribo and deoxyribo derivatives of adenine, guanine, hypoxanthine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil derivatives both with and without the 5′-phosphate (with the exception of ribosyl thymine 5′-phosphate). Absorption spectra of the deoxyribonucleotides measured to about 175 nm are also presented. The results demonstrate that both the circular dichroism and absorption spectra observed below 200 nm are no more complicated than the spectra normally recorded above 200 nm. In most cases, the circular dichroism spectra of the various derivatives of a given base are similar, indicating that the conformations are similar. On the other hand, the differences among the circular dichroism spectra of the various derivatives of a given base are sufficient to identify a particular derivative. The average circular dichroism for the deoxyribonucleotides is compared with the circular dichroism of native E. coli DNA. The comparison reveals that the circular dichroism of DNA below 200 nm is due principally to the interaction between the bases rather than the intrinsic circular dichroism of the monomers. The monomer transitions are discussed in relationship to the absorption and circular dichroism spectra presented.
A cryogenic cavity optomechanics system for membrane microresonators

We have constructed a monolithic Fabry-Perot cavity optomechanical system. From cryogenic temperatures we significantly damp a Si 3 N 4 -membrane and achieve conditions suitable for cooling MHz mechanical resonators from ∼ 4 K into the quantum regime.
Spatiotemporal Tension Distribution of Individual Stress Fibers at the Cell-Matrix Interface

Actomyosin stress fibers (SFs) enable cells to exert traction on planar extracellular matrices (ECMs) by tensing focal adhesions (FAs) at the cell-ECM interface. While it is widely appreciated that the spatiotemporal distribution of these tensile forces play key roles in polarity, motility, fate choice, and other defining cell behaviors, virtually nothing is known about how an individual SF quantitatively contributes to tensile loads borne by specific molecules within associated FAs. We address this key open question by using femtosecond laser ablation to sever single SFs in cells while tracking tension across vinculin using a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) -based molecular optical sensor. We show that disruption of a single SF reduces tension across vinculin in FAs located throughout the cell, with enriched vinculin tension reduction in FAs oriented parallel to the targeted SF. Remarkably, however, some subpopulations of FAs exhibit enhanced vinculin tension upon SF irradiation and undergo dramatic, unexpected transitions between tension-enhanced and tension-reduced states. These changes depend strongly on the location of the severed SF, consistent with our earlier finding that different SF pools are regulated by distinct myosin activators. To unify these findings, we present a structural model in which central SFs are more interconnected and mutually reinforced than peripheral SFs due in part to the presence of transverse actomyosin structures that link central SFs into a cohesive network. Tension released upon compromise of a central SF is thus broadly redistributed to other stress fibers and focal adhesions, resulting in cell shape stabilization. These studies represent the most direct and high-resolution intracellular measurements of SF contributions to tension on specific FA proteins to date and offer a new paradigm for investigating regulation of adhesive complexes by cytoskeletal force. (Chang and Kumar, J Cell Sci 2013)
Cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP: Studies utilizing immunohistochemical techniques for the localization of the nucleotides in tissue

Antibodies to the cyclic nucleotides initially were utilized in radioimmunoassays for cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP which might be present in mammalian tissues. allowed measurement of the nucleotides on small amounts of tissue in physiologic studies. To gain further insight into the relative roles of cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP in cell function, these antibodies have been applied to immunohistochemical studies for the localization of the cyclic nucleotides in tissues and cells. This methodology is useful for determining in which cell type in a heterogeneous tissue increases in cyclic nucleotide concentrations occur. In addition, within individual cells, staining patterns for cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP are usually quite distinct. Cyclic GMP in canine thyroid is located to the follicular cell membrane while cyclic AMP is ubiquitously distributed in follicular cell cytoplasm. In both rat adrenal cortex and testis, there is prominent nuclear localization of cyclic GMP, suggesting a role for the nucleotide in growth regulation. These studies provide histologic evidence suggesting diverse roles for cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP in mammalian physiology. It is anticipated that this technique will also be useful in the ultrastructural localization of the cyclic nucleotides and for the identification of other cyclic nucleotides which might be present in mammalian tissues.