cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
WHAT DETERMINES SEO OFFER‐DAY RETURNS?

We examine seasoned equity offering (SEO) initial-day returns after controlling for the dilution effect from the SEO discount and new shares offered. Contrary to the existing literature that ignores the effect of dilution, we find that initial-day returns are not consistently positive. Modeling adjusted initial-day returns, we show that dilution-adjusted initial-day returns respond to partial price adjustments reflecting both private and public information. Additional determinants of SEO offer-day returns include lockup length, discount reversal, prior operating performance, and underwriter reputation. Long-run tests reveal that adjusted initial-day returns are not predictive of postissuance long-term performance.
A Review of Literature Concerning Odors, Ammonia, and Dust from Broiler Production Facilities: 1. Odor Concentrations and Emissions

Abstract Odors from broiler production facilities are the consequence of odorant molecules produced by microbial activity in the litter. The impact of odor on the public can be evaluated by the frequency, intensity, duration, and offensiveness of the odors. Currently, much of the work reported in the scientific literature is directed toward measurement of odor intensity by determination of the odor concentration through threshold olfactometry. Several researchers have reported values for odor concentration in or near broiler production facilities, ranging from 80 to 2,000 odor units, and some researchers have reported odor emission rates. This paper briefly reviews measurement methods for odor concentration and intensity, summarizes the values reported in the literature for odor concentration for broiler houses, discusses the relationship between odor concentration measurements and odor intensity, and reviews the literature to determine if a correlation between odor concentration and ammonia and dust emissions exists.
Commentary: The evolutionary biology of the paternal age effect on telomere length

Telomeres are repeating sequences of DNA found at the ends of chromosomes, that shorten in most proliferating tissues as we age and our cells replicate. Shortened telomeres result in a reduced capacity for cell proliferation, and in adults have been shown to predict increased morbidity and earlier mortality. Whereas telomeres tend to shorten with cell replications in most tissues, sperm telomere length appears to run counter to this trend by increasing with each cell division, leading to a lengthening of sperm telomeres as men age. As a result, offspring of older fathers have longer telomere lengths. This finding suggests that the age at which a man conceives his offspring might have important influences on his children’s health and longevity by altering the length of telomeres that they inherit. Abraham Aviv and Ezra Susser are leaders in considering this paternal age at conception (PAC) effect on offspring telomere lengths, and their article in this issue is an important review of this topic. In addition to discussing the basic molecular biology and health implications of the PAC effect, they also briefly consider some of the evolutionary dynamics that are implied by this unusual phenomenon. Here we elaborate on the evolutionary significance of the PAC effect and note some points where our interpretations of the literature differ slightly from those of Aviv and Susser.
A generalized Newton method for absolute value equations

A direct generalized Newton method is proposed for solving the NP-hard absolute value equation (AVE) Ax − |x| = b when the singular values of A exceed 1. A simple MATLAB implementation of the method solved 100 randomly generated 1,000-dimensional AVEs to an accuracy of 10−6 in less than 10 s each. Similarly, AVEs corresponding to 100 randomly generated linear complementarity problems with 1,000 × 1,000 nonsymmetric positive definite matrices were also solved to the same accuracy in less than 29 s each.
Comparison of collagen propeptides as growth markers in children with inflammatory bowel disease

The serum concentrations of the carboxy-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen and the amino-terminal propeptide of type III procollagen as biochemical markers of growth activity were compared in 46 children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease. Significant correlations were noted between growth velocity and type I procollagen (r = 0.65; P less than 0.001) and type III procollagen concentrations (r = 0.64; P less than 0.001). Although the serum concentration of type I procollagen was generally about 15 times greater than that of type III, the respective serum concentrations were highly correlated (r = 0.66; P less than 0.001) at all growth velocities. The use of daily corticosteroid therapy was associated with significantly lower concentrations of both propeptides (P less than 0.01) than was alternate-day or no corticosteroid therapy, respectively. Children with growth arrest (0.0 cm/mo) had type I and type III procollagen concentrations similar to those found in adults. These observations indicate that the serum concentrations of both collagen propeptides reflect growth activity in children with inflammatory bowel disease and suggest that routine measurement of collagen propeptides may have clinical value in monitoring normal and abnormal growth. The data suggest that the measurement of one propeptide does not offer an advantage over the other.
Workshop on childhood obesity: summary of the discussion

Childhood obesity is rapidly emerging as a global epidemic that will have profound public health consequences as overweight children become overweight adults. To address this problem, action is needed at national and international levels. However, well-documented evidence of the trends in and global prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents is required to develop sound public health policies. There is no internationally acceptable index to assess childhood obesity nor is there an established cutoff point to define overweight in children. The purpose of the workshop was to establish a reasonable index with which to assess adiposity (overweight) in children and adolescents worldwide. We present here a summary of the discussion on the establishment of an index. The participants concluded that although body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2) is not a perfect measure in children because it covaries with height, it has been validated against measurements of body density. Because a consistent and pragmatic definition for overweight in children and adolescents is required, BMI may therefore be appropriate. However, other alternatives may be considered in the future. The group suggested a scheme for cutoff points for children and adolescents based on internationally accepted BMI cutoff points for adult morbidity of 25 and 30 to identify grade 1 and grade 2 overweight, respectively. Use of these cutoff points would provide a new approach to identifying childhood obesity and make the definition for children and adolescents consistent with that for adults.
Replication of Human Cytomegalovirus in Severe Combined Immunodeficient Mice Implanted with Human Retinal Tissue

Because human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection and replication are limited to human cells, few animal models can be used to specifically examine the biology of HCMV in vivo. In these studies, fetal human retinal tissue was implanted into the anterior chamber of the severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mouse eye and subsequently was inoculated with HCMV. Viral replication, localized to glial cells in the xenografts, was first detected 7 days after infection. Thereafter, HCMV replication increased to peak levels through days 21-28 and then gradually decreased to undetectable levels by 8 weeks after infection. The clinical isolate Toledo replicated to higher titers than did strain AD169 or Towne. A comparison of implant age indicated that older tissue could support higher levels of HCMV replication than could younger implants. SCID mice implanted with human retinal tissue provide an excellent model for evaluation of HCMV infection of an ocular structure in vivo.
Is Inflation Effective for Liquidating Short-Term Nominal Debt?

The possibility of reducing the real value of domestic nonindexed government debt through inflation is studied. A central result is that this kind of debt liquidation is possible even though prices are sticky and government bonds are short term. A policy implication is that short bond maturities are no safeguard against surprise devaluations intended to lower the burden of the debt. If devaluation incentives are present, nominal nonindexed bonds could give rise to situations in which devaluations are a consequence of self-fulfilling expectations cycles.
Operator performance at network scheduling with dynamic pricing and limited capacities

As organizations become increasingly reliant on their network infrastructures for competitive advantage, it becomes apparent that network policies must be dynamically adapted to reflect organizational goals. Human operators often prove to be better suited to handling the ambiguity and unquantifiable phenomenon present in this sort of dynamic environment. Thus, this paper examines the effect of user interface design on an operator's ability to effectively schedule network jobs. Specifically, the relative merit of the Mind's Eye Planner (MEP) design methodology is examined through experimentation. The MEP methodology employs analogies and an ecological epistemology to construct dynamic GUIs. In this experiment a WAN simulation with dynamic pricing and limited link capacities was developed to compare subject performance using MEP and conventional interfaces. Subjects were measured on their ability to schedule jobs on time, on budget, and to maximize throughput. In each of these categories, subjects showed superior performance when using the MEP interface.
Simulation of wind driven ventilative cooling systems for an apartment building in Beijing and Shanghai

Abstract This paper presents a performance evaluation of two passive cooling strategies, daytime ventilation and night cooling, for a generic, six-story suburban apartment building in Beijing and Shanghai. The investigation uses a coupled, transient simulation approach to model heat transfer and airflow in the apartments. Wind-driven ventilation is simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Occupant thermal comfort is accessed using Fanger’s comfort model. The results show that night cooling is superior to daytime ventilation. Night cooling may replace air-conditioning systems for a significant part of the cooling season in Beijing, but with a high condensation risk. For Shanghai, neither of the two passive cooling strategies can be considered successful.
Time/utility function decomposition techniques for utility accrual scheduling algorithms in real-time distributed systems

We consider Real-Time CORBA 1.2's distributable threads (DTs), whose time constraints are specified using time/utility functions (TUFs), operating in legacy environments. In legacy environments, system node resources - both physical and logical - are shared among time-critical DTs and local applications that may also be time-critical. Hence, DTs that are scheduled using their propagated TUFs, as mandated by Real-Time CORBA 1.2's Case 2 approach, may suffer performance degradation, if a node utility accrual (UA) scheduler achieves higher locally accrued utility by giving higher eligibility to local threads than to DTs. To alleviate this, we consider decomposing TUFs of DTs into "sub-TUFs" for scheduling segments of DTs. We present five decomposition techniques, called UT, SCEQF, SCALL, OPTCON, and TUFS, which are specific to different classes of UA scheduling algorithms, such as those that use utility density and those that use deadline as their key decision metric. Our experimental studies identify the decomposition technique that performs best for each class of UA scheduling algorithms. In particular, our studies show that OPTCON and TUFS perform best for utility density-based UA algorithms, while SCEQF and SCALL perform best for deadline-based UA algorithms.
Functional indicators and outcomes of undernutrition.

The advantages and limitations of using functional methods are discussed in the context of identifying undernutrition and hunger in children in the united States. At this time many of these methods have been used only in developing countries where undernutrition is more serious. However, there is great need to investigate whether, when and how undernu trition in the United States affects children's develop ment. Functional measures can detect undernutrition and hunger in some situations where biochemical or clinical measures cannot. J. Nutr. 120:924-932, 1990.
Encoding and retention factors in the early development of recall

A serial recall task was used to investigate the role of encoding and retention in early age differences in recall. Two age groups of preschool children (3 years 3 months and 4 years 9 months) were tested. Older children shown greater improvements over trials than younger children, but the two age groups showed comparable declines in performance over the testing sequence. It was concluded that increases in the rate of encoding of information in memory contribute to early improvements in recall, but rate of forgetting is relatively invariant.
Expression and Functional Domains of Rabbit Liver UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 2B16 and 2B13

Southern blot analysis has demonstrated that the 5′ portion of the rabbit liver dexamethasone-inducible UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 2B13 RNA is related in sequence to a family of UGT genes (Tukey, R. H., Pendurthi, U. R., Nguyen, N. T., Green, M. D., and Tephly, T. R. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 15260-15266). To identify these additional gene transcripts, rabbit liver cDNA libraries were screened with a 5′ conserved 330-base pair UGT2B13 cDNA fragment, resulting in the isolation and characterization of several rabbit liver UGT cDNAs. One such clone, called pGT11, encodes a putative glycoprotein that is 78% similar to rabbit UGT2B13. The new UGT has been designated UGT2B16. The UGT2B16 gene is expressed as a single 4200-base RNA transcript that is regulated only in adult rabbits. The predicted NH2-terminal 25 amino acids of UGT2B16 are identical to that of rabbit liver UGT2B13, with the remainder of the protein being 77% similar to UGT2B13. Expressed UGT2B16 protein in COS-1 cells was active toward 4-hydroxybiphenyl, similar to that of UGT2B13. However, UGT2B16 efficiently conjugated 4-hydroxyestrone and 4-tert-butylphenol, substrates that are not efficiently catalyzed by UGT2B13. To further characterize the structural domains of UGT2B16 and UGT2B13, a series of chimeric cDNAs were constructed that contained portions of both UGT2B16 and UGT2B13. Chimeric 2B163002B13531, which contained the amino-terminal UGT2B16 amino acids 1-300 followed by amino acids 301-531 of UGT2B13, as well as chimeric 2B163582B13531 and 2B164342B13531 proteins, catalyzed the glucuronidation of 4-hydroxyestrone, indicating that the carboxyl terminus of UGT2B13 could substitute for those same regions on UGT2B16. However, the replacement of the carboxyl end of UGT2B13 with 2B16300-531 or 2B16434-531 dramatically impaired the catalytic function of the chimeric proteins. These results indicate that the carboxyl end of UGT2B13 plays an important role in the functional and possible conformational state of the protein.
Correlation Attenuation Due to Measurement Error: A New Approach Using the Bootstrap Procedure

Issues with correlation attenuation due to measurement error are well documented. More than a century ago, Spearman proposed a correction for attenuation. However, this correction has seen very lit...
Postchallenge Hyperglycemia in a National Sample of U.S. Adults With Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE —Postchallenge hyperglycemia (PCH) is known to contribute to suboptimal glycemic control in adults with non–insulin-requiring type 2 diabetes. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of PCH among individuals with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988–1994) in adults aged 40–74 years with diabetes who were not using insulin (i.e., they used oral hypoglycemics or received no pharmacological therapy). Each respondent underwent a standard 75-g oral glucose tolerance test. PCH was defined as a 2-h glucose level ≥200 mg/dl. RESULTS —Overall, PCH was present in 74% of those with diagnosed diabetes. Although it was present in virtually all (99%) of the diabetic adults under suboptimal glycemic control (HbA1c ≥7.0%), PCH was also common (39%) among those under optimal control (HbA1c <7.0%). Likewise, among sulfonylurea users, PCH was present in 99% of those under suboptimal control and in 63% of those under good control. Similar patterns were observed in those with undiagnosed diabetes. Isolated PCH (2-h glucose ≥200 mg/dl and fasting glucose <126 mg/dl) was present in 9.8% of the adults with diagnosed diabetes. CONCLUSIONS —These data suggest that PCH is common among diabetic adults in the U.S., even in the setting of “optimal” glycemic control and sulfonylurea use. Interventions designed to lower postprandial glucose excursions may help improve overall glycemic control in the general population of U.S. adults with diabetes.
HIV: Cure by killing

Two bi-specific protein constructs have been designed that direct the body's T cells to kill HIV-infected cells. The feat provides a step on the path to removing the latent virus reservoir that persists in patients on antiretroviral therapy.
Use of hematopoietic colony-stimulating factors: the American Society of Clinical Oncology survey. The Health Services Research Committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

PURPOSEDissemination of use of the hematopoietic colony-stimulating factors (CSFs) is unprecedented in oncology, with almost all physicians having experience with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) or granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) shortly after the drugs received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 1991. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Health Services Research Committee sought to assess patterns of use of CSFs before dissemination of its first-ever publication of ASCO guidelines.METHODSA questionnaire describing clinical scenarios was mailed to American oncologists and hematologists who practice medical oncology. In each scenario, the physician was asked whether he would prefer to use a CSF to prevent or treat neutropenia.RESULTSThe response rate to the mailed survey was 49% (N = 475). Most physicians preferred to use CSFs for secondary prophylaxis in patients receiving chemotherapy at rates of 44% to 85%, rather than reduce doses. Pattern...
Inflation Characteristics of Unvulcanized Gum and Compounded Rubber Sheets

Abstract The inflation of rubber compound membranes to fill molds has a long history in rubber processing. There have, however, been few basic experimental studies of this topic. This free inflation of vulcanized rubber sheets was studied by Treloar and Rivlin and Saunders during the 1940's and 50's where it was used to investigate the form of the stress-strain relationship. Rivlin and Saunders sought to fit nonlinear elastic constitutive equations to data obtained at small inflation levels. In the early 1970's Denson and his coworkers utilized the inflation of unvulcanized polyisobutylene membranes to apply this as a procedure to evaluate biaxial and planar extensional viscosities. Similar studies were made by Maerker and Schowalter. These studies all involve free inflation of membranes. These studies of inflation of raw gum polyisobutylene sheets only looked at relatively small deformation levels where a hemispherical shape or less was achieved. Failure mechanisms in similarly inflated vulcanized SBR 15...
Streaming birefringence in extensional flow of polymer solutions

The stress and birefringence in liquid filaments undergoing an extensional flow were measured in an isothermal filament-spinning apparatus. In conjunction with these measurements, an experimental arrangement is described which, as subsequent analyses show, overcomes the difficulties associated with the measurement of birefringence in this geometry. The fluids studied were 1 1/2% and 2 1/2% solutions of two polyacrylamides (Separan AP 30 and Separan AP 273) in a 1 : 1 water/glycerol mixture and a 5% solution of polystyrene (Styron 686) in Aroclor 1254. For all solutions studied, the measured birefringence exhibited a non-linear relation to the principal stress difference. In addition, for the polystyrene/Aroclor solution, the birefringence measured in extension was nearly two orders of magnitude higher than the birefringence in shear at comparable deformation rates. These observations imply a greater degree of molecular orientation is produced by the extensional flow than the shear flow and suggest that birefringence data obtained in shear and extension are useful complements to depict a wider range of stress-optical behavior.
Analog circuit topological feature extraction with unsupervised learning of new sub-structures

This paper presents novel techniques to automatically extract the topological (structural) features in analog circuits. The extracted features include basic building blocks, structural templates and hierarchical structures. Finding structural features is important for tasks like circuit synthesis and sizing, design verification, design reuse, and design knowledge description, summarization and management. The paper presents algorithms for supervised feature extraction and unsupervised learning of new block connections. Experiments discuss feature extraction for a set of 34 state-of-the-art analog circuits.
Universal Versus Targeted Screening for Lynch Syndrome: Comparing Ascertainment and Costs Based on Clinical Experience

Strategies to screen colorectal cancers (CRCs) for Lynch syndrome are evolving rapidly; the optimal strategy remains uncertain. We compared targeted versus universal screening of CRCs for Lynch syndrome. In 2010–2011, we employed targeted screening (age < 60 and/or Bethesda criteria). From 2012 to 2014, we screened all CRCs. Immunohistochemistry for the four mismatch repair proteins was done in all cases, followed by other diagnostic studies as indicated. We modeled the diagnostic costs of detecting Lynch syndrome and estimated the 5-year costs of preventing CRC by colonoscopy screening, using a system dynamics model. Using targeted screening, 51/175 (29 %) cancers fit criteria and were tested by immunohistochemistry; 15/51 (29 %, or 8.6 % of all CRCs) showed suspicious loss of ≥1 mismatch repair protein. Germline mismatch repair gene mutations were found in 4/4 cases sequenced (11 suspected cases did not have germline testing). Using universal screening, 17/292 (5.8 %) screened cancers had abnormal immunohistochemistry suspicious for Lynch syndrome. Germline mismatch repair mutations were found in only 3/10 cases sequenced (7 suspected cases did not have germline testing). The mean cost to identify Lynch syndrome probands was ~$23,333/case for targeted screening and ~$175,916/case for universal screening at our institution. Estimated costs to identify and screen probands and relatives were: targeted, $9798/case and universal, $38,452/case. In real-world Lynch syndrome management, incomplete clinical follow-up was the major barrier to do genetic testing. Targeted screening costs 2- to 7.5-fold less than universal and rarely misses Lynch syndrome cases. Future changes in testing costs will likely change the optimal algorithm.
Pricing During Inflationary and Shortage Conditions

Inflationary and scarcity conditions will continue to be an integral part of present-day business environment. The intensity of such conditions may vary from time to time, but the main trend will persist as inflationary pressures strengthen and weaken, and the world’s consumption of certain materials outstrips the rate of replacement.
An Overview of the Sirocco Parallel Storage System

Sirocco is a massively parallel, high performance storage system that breaks from the classical Zebra-style file system design paradigm. Its architecture is inspired by peer-to-peer and victim-cache architectures, and emphasizes client-to-client coordination, low server-side coupling, and free data movement and placement. By leveraging these ideas, Sirocco natively supports automatic migration between several media types, including RAM, flash, disk, and archival storage.
Tissue engineering a blood vessel

There are many challenges that must be faced if a biological substitute blood vessel is to be developed. Even though it is clear that much progress has been made in just the last decade, there is still much to be done. The result is that one is still approximately a decade away from the day when tissue-engineered substitute blood vessels are clinically used routinely as vascular grafts in coronary bypass surgery. There also continues an additional vascular need, the tissue engineering of prosthetic heart valves.
New Mechanistic Insight from Substrate- and Product-Bound Structures of the Metal-Dependent Dimethylsulfoniopropionate Lyase DddQ.

The marine microbial catabolism of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) by the lyase pathway liberates ∼300 million tons of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) per year, which plays a major role in the biogeochemical cycling of sulfur. Recent biochemical and structural studies of some DMSP lyases, including DddQ, reveal the importance of divalent transition metal ions in assisting DMSP cleavage. While DddQ is believed to be zinc-dependent primarily on the basis of structural studies, excess zinc inhibits the enzyme. We examine the importance of iron in regulating the DMSP β-elimination reaction catalyzed by DddQ as our as-isolated purple-colored enzyme possesses ∼0.5 Fe/subunit. The UV–visible spectrum exhibited a feature at 550 nm, consistent with a tyrosinate–Fe(III) ligand-to-metal charge transfer transition. Incubation of as-isolated DddQ with added iron increases the intensity of the 550 nm peak, whereas addition of dithionite causes a bleaching as Fe(III) is reduced. Both the Fe(III) oxidized and Fe(II) reduced spe...
Competition Aspects of Digital Financial Services

This study enumerates a sampling of competition issues stemming primarily from access to, and the use of technology in, the digital financial services (DFS) ecosystem from the perspective of its stakeholders. Stakeholders include regulators, technical service providers and aggregators, payment switches, agent networks, mobile network operators (MNOs), independent banks, payment service provider (PSP)-affiliated banks, MNO-affiliated banks, MNO-affiliated PSPs, mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), and independent PSPs. Market imbalances may result from unequal policy frameworks or from market conduct. The former may be from regulatory bans on or restricted access to: DFS ecosystems; disproportionate and unequal compliance and capital requirements; and inconsistent and disproportionate tax regimes. The latter could relate to a market participant’s access to fair reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms to technology; critical and scarce infrastructure, services used for channel or wholesale access, discriminatory pricing of services, cross-subsidization of services, quality of service, and access to big data. The report outlines competition issues that have been identified by the author based on publicly available and ventilated examples and studies of DFS ecosystems worldwide, as of January 2017. Insights from market participants, analysts, and regulators participating in the ITU Focus Group on DFS are also included. Regulatory capacities and potential types of interventions to deal with these and other related competition and market balance concerns are detailed, as are the technical and commercial methods that have been employed by market participants to deal with competition-related issues in the absence of regulatory intervention. Country examples are from: Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Georgia, Ghana, India, Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In some instances, multiple competition-related issues in the DFS ecosystem in a country may manifest.
Teaching Analytical Method Transfer through Developing and Validating Then Transferring Dissolution Testing Methods for Pharmaceuticals.

Analytical method transfer (AMT) and dissolution testing are important topics required in industry that should be taught in analytical chemistry courses. Undergraduate students in senior level analytical chemistry laboratory courses at Kennesaw State University (KSU) and St. John Fisher College (SJFC) participated in development, validation, and transfer of two dissolution testing methods for pharmaceuticals. These experiments were transferred between the two schools and underwent method equivalency testing by a different set of undergraduate students to validate the AMT. Student learning outcomes addressed at both SJFC and KSU include (1) significant learning gains across all 3 years of the study; (2) confidence in method development, writing standard operating procedures, and laboratory transfer of validated methods; (3) increased understanding of AMT and dissolution testing; (4) ability to operate dissolution testers, UV–vis, and flame atomic absorption spectrophotometers; and (5) improved knowledge an...
Recurrent Yeast Infections and Vulvodynia: Can We Believe Associations Based on Self-Reported Data?

Abstract Objective: We determined whether self-reported new or recurrent yeast infections were a risk factor for and/or consequence of vulvodynia and then determined the extent to which various levels of misclassification of self-reported yeast infections influenced these results. Materials and Methods: In this case–control study we retrospectively assessed self-reported new and recurrent yeast infections prior and subsequent to first vulvar pain onset among 216 clinically confirmed cases and during a similar time period for 224 general population controls. Results: A history of >10 yeast infections before vulvodynia onset was strongly but imprecisely associated with currently diagnosed vulvodynia after adjustment for age, age at first intercourse, and history of urinary tract infections [adjusted odds ratio = 5.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7–17.8]. Likewise, a history of vulvodynia was associated with a twofold risk of subsequent new or recurrent onset of yeast infections after adjustment for age, a...
Relationships Among Rivals (RAR): A Framework for Analyzing Contending Hypotheses in Process Tracing

Methodologists and substantive scholars alike agree that one of process tracing’s foremost contributions to qualitative research is its capacity to adjudicate among competing explanations of a phenomenon. Existing approaches, however, only provide explicit guidance on dealing with mutually exclusive explanations, which are exceedingly rare in social science research. I develop a tripartite solution to this problem. The Relationships among Rivals (RAR) framework (1) introduces a typology of relationships between alternative hypotheses, (2) develops specific guidelines for identifying which relationship is present between two hypotheses, and (3) maps out the varied implications for evidence collection and inference. I then integrate the RAR framework into each of the main process-tracing approaches and demonstrate how it affects the inferential process. Finally, I illustrate the purchase of the RAR framework by reanalyzing a seminal example of process-tracing research: Schultz’s (2001) analysis of the Fashoda Crisis. I show that the same evidence can yield new and sometimes contradictory inferences once scholars approach comparative hypothesis testing with this more nuanced framework.
The Influence of Neoliberalism on Economic Liberalization in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan

This chapter looks into the following five major aspects of the neoliberal economic model: privatization and private ownership of the means of production, price deregulation, trade liberalization, tax cuts for businesses, and government spending on social welfare. The chapter shows that the influence and impact of neoliberalism in the economic sphere are strong and pervasive. This chapter further sheds light on the capitalist nature of the post-Soviet transitions of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
In defense of phenomenological approaches to communication studies: an intellectual history

This essay offers an intellectual history of the emergence of phenomenological philosophy in the field of communication studies. The essay traces the early contours of phenomenology both in Contine...
Miles to Go Before We Sleep: Advancing the Understanding of Psychotherapy by Modeling Complex Processes

One of the main debates in the study of psychotherapy is whether specific techniques are best indicated for different problems or whether “common factors” better account for the efficacy of psychotherapy. Evidence for the superiority of specific techniques is mixed and limited to a handful of diagnoses. By contrast, evidence for the importance of common factors is riddled with methodological weaknesses and may be of limited clinical utility. The stagnation in this debate may reflect that the research methods heretofore employed have reached a plateau in their ability to advance knowledge regarding psychotherapy processes. The articles of the special issue move beyond simple bivariate relationship and attempt to model the real-world complexity involved in the process of psychotherapy. It is argued that these types of investigations, which model the interactions of patient characteristics as well as multiple specific and “common factors,” are the best way to advance the state of knowledge regarding psychotherapy processes.
Osteochondral Tissue Engineering: Translational Research and Turning Research into Products.

Osteochondral (OC) defect repair is a significant clinical challenge. Osteoarthritis results in articular cartilage/subchondral bone tissue degeneration and tissue loss, which in the long run results in cartilage/ostecochondral defect formation. OC defects are commonly approached with autografts and allografts, and both these options have found limitations. Alternatively, tissue engineered strategies with biodegradable scaffolds with and without cells and growth factors have been developed. In order to approach regeneration of complex tissues such as osteochondral, advanced tissue engineered grafts including biphasic, triphasic, and gradient configurations are considered. The graft design is motivated to promote cartilage and bone layer formation with an interdigitating transitional zone (i.e., bone–cartilage interface). Some of the engineered OC grafts with autologous cells have shown promise for OC defect repair and a few of them have advanced into clinical trials. This chapter presents synthetic osteochondral designs and the progress that has been made in terms of the clinical translation.
Bruised and Battered: Reinforcing Intimate Partner Violence in Comic Books:

Previous studies have examined intimate partner violence (IPV) in popular culture; however, little attention has been given to the presence of domestic violence myths in comic books. Using a conven...
Evaluation of wheat middlings as a supplement for beef cattle consuming dormant bluestem-range forage.

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate wheat middlings as a supplement for cattle consuming dormant bluestem-range forage. Effects of supplement type and amount were evaluated in Exp. 1, which consisted of feeding supplements of soybean meal:grain sorghum (22:78) or two different amounts of wheat middlings. Sixteen ruminally fistulated steers were blocked by weight (BW = 374 +/- 8.3 kg) and assigned randomly to the following treatments: 1) control, no supplement (NS); 2) soybean meal:grain sorghum (SBM/GS) formulated to contain the same CP concentration (21%) and fed to provide a similar energy level (3.5 Mcal of ME/d); 3) a supplement of 100% wheat middlings fed at a low level (LWM); and 4) 100% wheat middlings fed at twice the amount of LWM (7 Mcal of ME/d; HWM). The influence of different supplemental CP concentrations in a wheat middlings-based supplement was evaluated in Exp. 2. Sixteen ruminally fistulated steers were blocked by weight (BW = 422 +/- 8.1 kg) and assigned randomly to the following treatments: 1) control, no supplement (NS); 2) 15% CP; 3) 20% CP; and 4) 25% CP supplements. These supplements consisted of 60% wheat middlings and various ratios of soybean meal and grain sorghum to achieve the desired CP concentration. In Exp. 1, SBM/GS and HWM supplements increased (P less than .10) and LWM tended to increase (P = .16) forage DMI compared with NS. All supplements in Exp. 1 increased (P less than .10) DM digestibility, ruminal DM fill, and ruminal indigestible ADF (IADF) passage rate compared with NS, although the greatest response in fill and passage was observed with HWM. In Exp. 2, forage DMI, DM digestibility, NDF digestibility, ruminal DM and IADF fill, IADF passage rate, and fluid dilution rate were increased (P less than .01) by supplementation. Forage DMI, ruminal IADF passage rate, and fluid dilution rate increased quadratically (P less than .10), and NDF digestibility, ruminal DM and IADF fill increased linearly (P less than .10) with increased supplemental CP concentration. These experiments indicate that wheat middlings performed similarly to a SBM/GS supplement of equal CP concentration, when both were fed to provide a similar amount of energy daily. Additionally, use of poor-quality range forage was enhanced when wheat middlings-based supplements were formulated to contain a CP concentration of 20% or greater.
Differential Diagnosis in Children

There are many aspects of history, examination, and imaging that aid in the differential diagnosis of orbital lesions in children. Common etiologies of orbital tumors differ significantly between children and adults. For example, rhabdomyosarcoma, one of the most common primary pediatric orbital malignancies, rarely occurs in adults.
Socio-Cognitive Model of Trust

Humans have learned to cooperate in many ways and in many environments, on different tasks, and for achieving different and several goals. Collaboration and cooperation in their more general sense (and, in particular, negotiation, exchange, help, delegation, adoption, and so on) are important characteristics - or better, the most foundational aspects - of human societies (Tuomela, 1995).In the evolution of cooperative models, a fundamental role has been played by diverse constructs of various kinds (purely interactional, technical-legal, organizational, socio-cognitive, etc.), opportunely introduced (or spontaneously emerged) to support decision making in collaborative situ-ations.The new scenarios we are destined to meet in the third millennium transfigure the old frame of reference, in that we have to consider new channels and infrastructures (i.e., the Internet), new artificial entities for cooperating with artificial or software agents, and new modalities of interac-tion (suggested/imposed by both the new channels and the new entities). In fact, it is changing the identification of the potential partners, the perception of the other agents, the space-temporal context in which interaction happen, the nature of the interaction traces, the kind and role of the authorities and guarantees, etc.For coping with these scenarios, it will be necessary to update the traditional supporting decision-making constructs. This effort will be necessary especially to develop the new cyber-societies in such a way as not to miss some of the important cooperative characteristics that are so relevant in human societies.
Recent developments in very high-count-rate gamma spectroscopy.

Recent improvements in the electronics that amplify and analyze gamma photon-induced pulses have made it possible for HPGe coaxial detectors to accept input rates of one-million, one-MeV gamma photons-per-second and still provide the spectroscopist with spectra that can be analyzed. Data are presented that illustrate gain shift, shape variation, and changes in counting uncertainty statistics due to the greatly extended count-rate range. Software algorithms are presented that allow gain shift and peak resolution to be adjusted automatically on a sample-by-sample basis. Relationships are developed between integrated count rate and the variances of full-energy photon peak area and counting uncertainty when using the real- time- correct ion mode of pulse processing. When hardware and software components that have been designed for both wide-range and high-count-rate spectroscopy are integrated into a mutually supportive system, qualitative and quantitative spectroscopy over counting rates of one to one- million counts-per-second become achievable.
Asymmetric Reductive Cyclization. Total Synthesis of (−)-C10-Desmethyl Arteannuin B

An efficient total synthesis of (−)-C10-desmethyl arteannuin B (5) has been achieved. The sequence features the use of a chiral auxiliary to introduce absolute asymmetry at an early stage and a stereoselective, chelation-controlled reductive cyclization of 8, using samarium diiodide as the reducing agent. The methodology promises to be applicable to the synthesis of a wide range of analogs capable of being converted to potent antimalarial agents related to artemisinin (1).
Art Studios Versus Locker Rooms: Safe and Unsafe Places for Trans Children

This chapter details the research partners’ recollections of their interactions with and within specific normalized educational spaces. Most felt unsafe at school due to bullying and restriction of gender expression. However, they were empowered in locations where they felt free to express themselves, where they excelled academically, or where they sought retaliation against bullies. The partners discussed their main classrooms, specials classrooms, and the larger school environment. Although all had unique experiences, themes were present. Art class, music class, and the library were recalled favorably, while the gymnasium, cafeteria, bathrooms, and principal’s office were often locations of contention.
Production and Decay of the Lambda_c Charmed Baryon from Fermilab E791

Results are presented for the 500 GeV/c pion production asymmetry and polarization of the Lambda_c (anti-Lanbda_c) charmed baryon from Fermilab experiment E791. An analysis of the decay to the p anti-K pi final state is described. Resonant sub-channel fractions and phases are given and possible resonant effects in the low mass p anti-K system discussed. Significant decay to Lambda_c --> Delta++ K- establishes for the first time the importance of a W exchange mechanism in charmed baryon decay.
County Rankings Have Limited Utility When Predicting Liver Transplant Outcomes

Evidence of geographical differences in liver transplantation (LT) outcomes has been proposed as a reason to include community characteristics in risk adjustment of transplant quality metrics. However, consistency and utility of rankings in LT outcomes for counties have not been demonstrated. We sought to evaluate the utility of county rankings (county socioeconomic status (SES) or county health scores (CHS)) on outcomes after LT. Using the United Network for Organ Sharing Registry, adults ≥ 18 years of age undergoing LT between 2002 and 2014 were identified. County-specific 1-year survival was calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method for counties with ≥ 5 LT performed during this period. Agreement between high-risk designation by 1-year mortality rate and county ranking was calculated using the Spearman correlation coefficient. The analysis included 47,769 LT recipients in 1092 counties. County 1-year mortality rates were not correlated with county CHS (Spearman ρ = 0.01, p = 0.694) or county SES (Spearman ρ = − 0.01, p = 0.734). After controlling for individual-level covariates, a statistically significant variability in mortality hazards across counties (p < 0.001) persisted. Although both CHS and SES measures improved the model fit (p = 0.004 and p = 0.048, respectively), an unexplained residual variation in mortality hazard across counties continued. There is poor agreement between county rankings on various socioeconomic indicators and LT outcomes. Although there is variability in outcomes across counties, this appears not to be due to county-level socioeconomic indices.
Powerhouses in the cold: mitochondrial function during thermal acclimation in montane mayflies

Mitochondria provide the vast majority of cellular energy available to eukaryotes. Therefore, adjustments in mitochondrial function through genetic changes in mitochondrial or nuclear-encoded genes...
Association Between Public Trust and Provider Specialty Among Physicians With Financial Conflicts of Interest

Abstract Objectives To characterize public perception of physicians' conflicts of interest (COIs) across medical and surgical specialties. Patients and Methods A cross-sectional 6-arm randomized survey of a nonprobability sample from Amazon's Mechanical Turk occurred on December 11 to 16, 2018. Survey respondents were randomly assigned to vignettes that varied the physician specialty with COI. The primary outcome was mean difference in Mayer Trust, and the secondary outcome included the proportion who desire to discontinue care. Results There were 1729 of 1920 respondents who completed the experiment (90.1% completion rate). Respondents were male (52.5%; n=907), white (71.4%; n=1234), and between the ages of 25 and 44 years (70.9%; n=1227). Mean ± SD Mayer Trust across the 6 specialties was 3.7±.60, with the only between-specialty differences observed for psychiatry compared with the other specialties (F=5.4; P Conclusion Public COI disclosure is a common method for managing financial conflicts. Although survey respondents were more likely to discontinue care with a physician with COI, they will act on this knowledge of COI differently depending on the specialty of the physician. The finding that psychiatry is an outlier may be a chance finding that warrants further confirmation. Continued efforts to ensure best practices for disclosure are required.
Epigenetic regulation of oligodendrocyte myelination in developmental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases

Oligodendrocytes are the critical cell types giving rise to the myelin nerve sheath enabling efficient nerve transmission in the central nervous system (CNS). Oligodendrocyte precursor cells differentiate into mature oligodendrocytes and are maintained throughout life. Deficits in the generation, proliferation, or differentiation of these cells or their maintenance have been linked to neurological disorders ranging from developmental disorders to neurodegenerative diseases and limit repair after CNS injury. Understanding the regulation of these processes is critical for achieving proper myelination during development, preventing disease, or recovering from injury. Many of the key factors underlying these processes are epigenetic regulators that enable the fine tuning or reprogramming of gene expression during development and regeneration in response to changes in the local microenvironment. These include chromatin remodelers, histone-modifying enzymes, covalent modifiers of DNA methylation, and RNA modification–mediated mechanisms. In this review, we will discuss the key components in each of these classes which are responsible for generating and maintaining oligodendrocyte myelination as well as potential targeted approaches to stimulate the regenerative program in developmental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.