cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Enhanced Thermal Boundary Conductance in Few‐Layer Ti3C2 MXene with Encapsulation

Van der Waals interactions in 2D materials have enabled the realization of nanoelectronics with high-density vertical integration. Yet, poor energy transport through such 2D-2D and 2D-3D interfaces can limit a device's performance due to overheating. One long-standing question in the field is how different encapsulating layers (e.g., contact metals or gate oxides) contribute to the thermal transport at the interface of 2D materials with their 3D substrates. Here, a novel self-heating/self-sensing electrical thermometry platform is developed based on atomically thin, metallic Ti3 C2 MXene sheets, which enables experimental investigation of the thermal transport at a Ti3 C2 /SiO2 interface, with and without an aluminum oxide (AlOx ) encapsulating layer. It is found that at room temperature, the thermal boundary conductance (TBC) increases from 10.8 to 19.5 MW m-2 K-1 upon AlOx encapsulation. Boltzmann transport modeling reveals that the TBC can be understood as a series combination of an external resistance between the MXene and the substrate, due to the coupling of low-frequency flexural acoustic (ZA) phonons to substrate modes, and an internal resistance between ZA and in-plane phonon modes. It is revealed that internal resistance is a bottle-neck to heat removal and that encapsulation speeds up the heat transfer into low-frequency ZA modes and reduces their depopulation, thus increasing the effective TBC.
Jumping with Default: Wrong-Way-Risk Modeling for Credit Valuation Adjustment

We investigate credit value adjustments (CVAs) in the presence of wrong-way risk (WWR) by introducing jumps at default to model correlation between counterparty's default and relevant risk factors. We focus on the foreign-exchange and interest-rate cases, presenting efficient CVA approximations based on CVA computation under independence assumption. Numerical examples of the CVAs of a cross-currency swap and a vanilla interest-rate swap are showcased.
Contemporary trends in the management of aortic stenosis in the USA.

AIMS To assess the contemporary trends in aortic stenosis (AS) interventions in the USA before and after the introduction of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). METHODS AND RESULTS We utilized the National-Inpatient-Sample to assess temporal trends in the incidence, cost, and outcomes of AS interventions between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2016. During the study's period, AS interventions increased from 96 to 137 per 100 000 individuals > 60 years old, P < 0.001. In-hospital expenditure on AS interventions increased from $2.28 billion in 2003 to $4.33 in 2016 P < 0.001. Among patients who underwent aortic valve replacement, the proportion of TAVI increased from 11.9% in 2012 to 43.2% in 2016 (P < 0.001). Males and Hispanics had lower proportions of TAVI compared with females and White patients. Adjusted in-hospital mortality of isolated SAVR decreased from 5.4% in 2003 to 3.3% in 2016 (P < 0.001), whereas adjusted in-hospital mortality of TAVI decreased from 4.7% in 2012 to 2.2% in 2016, P < 0.001. The incidence of new dialysis, permanent pacemaker implantation, and blood transfusion decreased after both TAVI and SAVR between 2012 and 2016. However, the rate of post-operative stroke did not significantly decrease. Length of stay and cost of hospitalization decreased after both SAVR and TAVI, although the later remained higher with TAVI. Rates of non-home discharge decreased over time after TAVI but remained stable after isolated SAVR. CONCLUSION This nationwide survey documents the increasing incidence of AS interventions, the rising cost of modern AS care, and the paradigm shift in aortic valve replacement practice in the USA.
Pharmacological mechanisms of alcohol analgesic-like properties in mouse models of acute and chronic pain.

Abstract Alcohol use and chronic pain are highly comorbid. Acute alcohol use typically produces an analgesic effect. However, chronic use can worsen the progression of chronic pain. In rodent models, acute models of pain have primarily been used to investigate the relationship between alcohol and pain analgesia. Here, we use two models of chronic pain, chronic inflammatory and peripheral neuropathic pain, to investigate acute alcohol's antinociceptive and analgesic properties. We hypothesize that acute ethanol is acting through opioid receptors to create an analgesic-like effect in both reflexive and affective dimensions of pain. Using male and female C57BL/6J mice, oral ethanol administration (0–1.25 g/kg) showed a dose-dependent reversal of mechanical hypersensitivity in both Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) and chronic constriction injury (CCI) models of chronic inflammatory and neuropathic pain. No sex differences were observed. Using the conditioned place preference (CPP) task to assess the subjective responses to ethanol's anti-nociceptive properties, CCI-injured animals showed a preference for the ethanol-paired side, suggesting a reduction in an aversive and pain-like state produced by nerve injury. These effects are likely mediated through the kappa and possibly the mu opioid systems, since ethanol-induced anti-nociception following CCI was fully reversed by pretreatment with the kappa selective antagonist, nor-BNI, or high doses of naltrexone. These data show that ethanol possesses analgesic-like properties in chronic inflammatory and neuropathic pain models in mice and provide new insight into ethanol as it relates to chronic pain.
Case of Brown Sequard syndrome with ipsilateral peripheral vasodilation

Brown-Sequard Syndrome is a neurologic disorder caused by partial spinal cord injury and disruption of the corticospinal tract, dorsal columns, and spinothalamic tract. We present a 32-year-old male with partial T11-12 cord transection due to a penetrating knife injury. In addition to the classical neurological symptoms of Brown-Sequard Syndrome, he also exhibited ipsilateral peripheral vasodilatation below the level of injury. This finding is attributed to the disruption of the intermediolateral columns of the spinal cord and impaired sympathetic tone on the peripheral vasculature. Awareness of this finding can raise the radiologist's suspicion for spinal cord injury in the setting of trauma and peripheral vasodilation.
Scalable biocatalytic C–H oxyfunctionalization reactions

Catalytic C-H oxyfunctionalization reactions have garnered significant attention in recent years with their ability to streamline synthetic routes toward complex molecules. Consequently, there have been significant strides in the design and development of catalysts that enable diversification through C-H functionalization reactions. Enzymatic C-H oxygenation reactions are often complementary to small molecule based synthetic approaches, providing a powerful tool when deployable on preparative-scale. This review highlights key advances in scalable biocatalytic C-H oxyfunctionalization reactions developed within the past decade.
Maternal High-Fat-High-Carbohydrate Diet-Induced Obesity Is Associated with Increased Appetite in Peripubertal Male but Not Female C57Bl/6J Mice.

Diet-induced maternal obesity might play a critical role in altering hypothalamic development, predisposing the offspring to obesity and metabolic disease later in life. The objective of this study was to describe both phenotypic and molecular sex differences in peripubertal offspring energy homeostasis, using a mouse model of maternal obesity induced by a high-fat–high-carbohydrate (HFHC) diet. We report that males, not females, exposed to a maternal HFHC diet had increased energy intake. Males exposed to a maternal HFHC diet had a 15% increased meal size and a 46% increased frequency, compared to the control (CON) males, without a change in energy expenditure. CON and HFHC offspring did not differ in body weight, composition, or plasma metabolic profile. HFHC diet caused decreased hypothalamic glucocorticoid expression, which was further decreased in males compared to females. Maternal weight, maternal caloric intake, and male offspring meal frequency were inversely correlated with offspring hypothalamic insulin receptor (IR) expression. There was a significant interaction between maternal-diet exposure and sex in hypothalamic IR. Based on our preclinical data, we suggest that interventions focusing on normalizing maternal nutrition might be considered to attenuate nutritional influences on obesity programming and curb the continuing rise in obesity rates.
Blackface, White Noise: Der jüdische Jazz-Sänger findet seine Stimme

The first talking picture, The Jazz Singer, going backward to go forward, unites interiorizing technological innovation (speech) to traditional gestural display (blackface minstrelsy). Putting on screen the Hollywood Jewish moguls' own split- self drama of generational conflict between old world and new, The Jazz Singer makes blackface the instrument of intermarriage and Americanization. Jewish blackface in this film - together with other cultural documents - lays claim to a shared suffering and musical expression (jazz) that, uniting Jewish and black Americans, created the national melting pot sound. Racism and anti-semitism did generate Jewish/black solidarity, but blackface marries Jew to gentile, not black to white. Embodying the relationship between ethnicity and race in the United States, the blackface instrument of immigrant mobility leaves Afro-Americans segregated and fixed in place. As a corollary, the jazz singer mass entertainment idol does not give voice to the revolutionary Afro-American music, jazz, that gives him and the jazz age their names.
Disparities in Opioid Overdose Death Trends by Race/Ethnicity, 2018-2019, From the HEALing Communities Study.

Objectives. To examine trends in opioid overdose deaths by race/ethnicity from 2018 to 2019 across 67 HEALing Communities Study (HCS) communities in Kentucky, New York, Massachusetts, and Ohio. Met...
What Types of Capital Flows Help Improve International Risk Sharing

Abstract Cross-border capital flows are expected to lead to increased international risk sharing by facilitating borrowing and lending in global financial markets. We examine risk sharing outcomes of various types of capital flows (FDI, portfolio equity, debt, remittance, and aid flows) in a large sample of emerging market and developing economies. Our results suggest that remittances and aid flows are associated with increased international risk sharing. Other types of capital flows are not consistently correlated with better risk sharing outcomes. These findings are robust to the use of different econometric specifications, country-specific characteristics, and other controls.
Fluoroscopy-Assisted Placement of Peritoneal Dialysis Catheters by Nephrologists

In the early 1950s and 1960s, peritoneal dialysis (PD) was used primarily to treat patients with acute renal failure. Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) was introduced in 1976 and continues to gain popularity as an effective method of renal replacement therapy for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The PD catheter is inserted into the abdominal cavity either by a surgeon, interventional radiologist, or nephrologist. We have adopted a percutaneous approach with fluoroscopic guidance for PD catheter insertion that is easy, safe, and provides good patency and infection rate results. In this article we describe the technique and our results. From August 2000 to May 2003, 34 PD catheters out of 36 were successfully inserted using the percutaneous fluoroscopic technique in selected patients referred from the nephrology clinic. All the PD catheters were placed in our Interventional Nephrology Vascular Suite by nephrologists.
Collision free path planning for robots with prismatic joints

Collision free path planning for a robot involves in travelling from one location to another in an obstacle-laden environment without the occurrence of unwanted collisions. Modeling the workspace assumes paramount importance in obstacle avoidance because interference detection can be handled very efficiently by proper choice of geometric modeling techniques. In this paper, we propose an unique path planning strategy whereby two dimensional geometric modeling can be applied effectively to represent three dimensional robot workspace when we use robots with prismatic joints. >
Interactions between osteopontin and vascular endothelial growth factor: Implications for skeletal disorders

Abstract Osteopontin (OPN) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are characterized by a convergence in function for maintaining the homeostasis of the skeletal and renal systems (the bone–renal–vascular axis regulates bone metabolism). The two cytokines contribute to bone remodeling, dental healing, kidney function, and the adjustment to microgravity. Often, they are co-expressed or one molecule induces the other, however, in some settings OPN-associated pathways and VEGF-associated pathways are distinct. In bone remodeling, OPN and VEGF are regulated under the influence of growth factors and hormones, hypoxia and inflammation, the micro-environment, and various physical forces. Their abundance can be affected by drug treatment. OPN and VEGF are variably associated with kidney disease. Their balanced levels are critical for restoring endothelial cell function and ameliorating the adverse effects of microgravity. Here, we review the relevant 83 papers of 257 articles published, and listed in PubMed under the key words OPN and VEGF.
The costs of inefficient bargaining and financial distress

Abstract This study provides the first large-sample analysis of the stock-market reactions to interfirm litigation. When a suit is filed, the common stock of the typical defendant declines by about 1%, while the plaintiff experiences no significant gains. For the average pair of firms, the combined drop in value upon filing is $21 million. Much of the loss is regained if the suit is settled. The findings suggest that bargaining among firm claimants sometimes leads to very inefficient outcomes. Part of the leakage is explained by the costs of increased financial distress imposed on the defendant.
Densities of Bones of White and Negro Skeletons

The densitiesSee Equation in the PDF fileof the cervical vertebrae, thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, sacra, ribs, humeri, radii, ulnae, femora, and tibiae from eighty adult skeletons were determined. The skeletons were derived equally from American whites and Negroes of both sexes, each group w
When Martyrdom Pays The Effects of Information Concerning the Opponents' Past Game Behavior

Information was given subjects in the five experimental conditions about how their opponent-to-be in a forthcoming Prisoner's Dilemma game had played and fared in a game played previously. The information implied that the opponent-to-be had (1) played in a mutually cooperative game; (2) behaved as an exploited martyr; (3) successfully exploited his previous adversary; (4) made an unsuccessful attempt to exploit his previous adversary; or (5) been forced, by his previous adversary, to protect himself by competitive responses. A control condition gave no information about the previous game. Subjects tended to cooperate in conditions 1, 2, and 5, i.e., with opponents who appeared worthy of trust, and to compete in conditions 3, 4, and the control, i.e., with opponents who appeared to be exploitative. The high level of cooperation accorded the martyr was the most interesting result and was interpreted as behavior motivated by the equity norm.
Aspects of Psychological Resilience among Transgender Youth

Fifty-five transgender youth described their gender development and some of the stressful life experiences related to their gender identity and gender expression. More than two-thirds of youth reported past verbal abuse by their parents or peers related to their gender identity and nonconformity, and approximately one-fifth to one-third reported past physical abuse. The more gender non-conforming the youth were, the more abuse they reported. Four aspects of psychological resilience were examined: a sense of personal mastery, self-esteem, perceived social support, and emotion-oriented coping. A regression model of the selected aspects of resilience accounted for 40%–55% of the variance in relation to depression, trauma symptoms, mental health symptoms, and internalizing and externalizing problems. Emotion-oriented coping was a significant predictor of negative mental health as determined by each of the mental health variables.
Functional Screening of Intracardiac Cell Transplants Using Two-Photon Fluorescence Microscopy

Although the adult mammalian myocardium exhibits a limited ability to undergo regenerative growth, its intrinsic renewal rate is insufficient to compensate for myocyte loss during cardiac disease. Transplantation of donor cardiomyocytes or cardiomyogenic stem cells is considered a promising strategy for reconstitution of cardiac mass, provided the engrafted cells functionally integrate with host myocardium and actively contribute to its contractile force. The authors previously developed a two-photon fluorescence microscopy-based assay that allows in situ screening of donor cell function after intracardiac delivery of the cells. This report reviews the techniques of two-photon fluorescence microscopy and summarizes its application for quantifying the extent to which a variety of donor cell types stably and functionally couple with the recipient myocardium.
The Creative Personality

The study of the creative personality has established itself as a major avenue of research on creativity and creative problem solving, other areas being creative process, product, and environment (or press). With respect to personality research, over the past 50-plus years, many studies have examined characteristics, attitudes, preferences, styles, and other personal qualities that appear to distinguish highly creative individuals. The purposes of this article are to review the accumulated body of creative personality research; describe the works of a few major researchers and their methods; briefly review theories that have been offered to explain why these personal qualities are causes, correlates, and/or outcomes of the creative process; and examine the relatively new construct of creative and problem-solving styles. Style assessment builds upon traditional personality research but holds substantial promise for talent identification and development for all individuals, not just those recognized as crea...
Relativity and spin in one-, two-, and three-body systems

The method used to define relativistic one-, two-, and three-particle states with spin in the z basis and the helicity basis is described, and the Lorentz transformation and improper transformation properties of these states are discussed. The three-body states are used to construct a relativistic, three-body, angular-momentum recoupling coefficient. A detailed derivation of this recoupling coefficient in both the z basis (LS coupling scheme) and the helicity basis is presented, and an expression for the nonrelativistic limit of this recoupling coefficient (i.e., neglecting Wigner spin precession) is given. Uses of these states in relativistic potential theory and optical model problems is also discussed.
Rheumatology and the health of the workforce.

Health adverse behaviors and physiologic risk factors such as hypertension are proximate causes of morbidity and mortality. There are hazards to our well-being that lurk in the course of living for which the proximate causes of morbidity and mortality are but symbolic (1). These life-course hazards are aspects of our interactive and integrative worlds, our ecosystems, that can powerfully perturb our biology and, thereby, our fate. Two have emerged that are so powerful as to subsume the known proximate causes. Both relate to impediments to the pursuit of gainful employment. One takes the regional musculoskeletal disorders for its presenting symptom. Hence, the title of this essay.
Behavioral issues in a knowledge based interactive system for decision support

We discuss the development of an interactive planning and decision support process that allows the decisionmaker, rather than a paradigm, to iteratively select the mix of parameter value precision and alternative ranking specificity in multiple criteria decision situations. This process permits the decisionmaker to choose a behaviorally meaningful, rational approach to nondominated alternative selection that incorporates parameter imprecision. The parameters that can be imprecisely described are: probabilities, alternative scores on lowest level attributes, and attribute tradeoff weights. Emphasis is placed on the motivation of the research and the behavioral relevance of the support process. References in the bibliography provide further analytical and behavioral discussions related to this process.
Electron transfer between regions of quasi-two-dimensional and three-dimensional dynamics in semiconductor microstructures

A theoretical study is carried out on the transfer of electrons at the edge of a microstructure, where electrons may cross between a region of quasi-two-dimensional dynamics and a ``contact region'' of three-dimensional dynamics. Working in the one-electron, effective-mass approximation, a formal solution is found for a model having a general profile for the confining potential in the two-dimensional region. The general form of the threshold behavior is found for ejection probabilites and injection cross sections. Numerical results are obtained for the case of a parabolic confining potential.
Processes driving sea ice variability in the Bering Sea in an eddying ocean/sea ice model: anomalies from the mean seasonal cycle

A fine-resolution (1/10°) ocean/sea ice model configured in the Community Earth System Model framework is compared with observations and studied to determine the basin-scale and local balances controlling the variability of sea ice anomalies from the mean seasonal cycle in the Bering Sea for the time period 1980–1989. The model produces variations in total Bering Sea ice area anomalies that are highly correlated with observations. Surface air temperature, which is specified from reanalysis atmospheric forcing, strongly controls the ice volume variability in this simulation. The thermodynamic ice volume change is dominated by surface energy flux via atmosphere-ice sensible heat flux, except near the southern ice edge where it is largely controlled by ocean-ice heat flux. While thermodynamic processes dominate the variations in ice volume in the Bering Sea on the large scale, dynamic processes are important on the local scale near ice margins (both oceanic and land), where dynamic and thermodynamic ice volume changes have opposite signs and nearly cancel each other. Ice motion is generally consistent with winds driving the flow, except near certain straits in the north where ice motion largely follows ocean currents. Two key climate events, strong ice growth with cold air temperature and northerly wind anomalies in February 1984 and weak ice growth with warm air temperature and southerly wind anomalies in February 1989, are studied here in detail. While the processes controlling the ice changes are generally similar to those in other years, these large events help reveal the characteristic spatial patterns of ice growth/melt and transport anomalies.
Fiscal Decentralization in the Czech and Slovak Republics: A Comparative Study of Moral Hazard

Fiscal decentralization has provided neither the benefits of decentralization nor an independent revenue source for subnational governments in the Czech and Slovak Republics. In Slovakia political conditions early in the transition led to the relative neglect of revenue transfers from the center. This produced financial stress but also encouraged greater fiscal independence for local governments. It also forced them to seek maximal property tax revenues. The Czech Republic made more substantial transfers to local governments, but the development of fiscal autonomy was stifled as transfers reduced the need for own-source local revenues. The Czech real estate tax has remained nominal, as it was under central planning, and its administration is fraught with moral hazard problems. Thus, the property tax never became a vehicle for generating independent funds, but the prospects for the tax are much brighter in the Slovak Republic. This paper offers several views on why the property tax has been more successful...
Investigation of microbial influences on seafloor gas-hydrate formations

Microbial communities flourish at gas hydrate occurrences in ocean sediments. Studies are reported in this paper on the laboratory production, separation, characterization and hydrate catalysis of biosurfactants from cultures of the Bacillus subtilis bacterium associated with Gulf of Mexico gas-hydrate accumulations. The B. subtilis bacterium from ATCC 21332 species was cultured anaerobically with glucose as carbon-source to produce surfactin, one of the more potent surface active agents known. The surface-active agent was removed from the broth in foam created by bubbling inert gas through the mixture, and biosurfactant was then recovered from the collapsed-foam distilled water solution by acid precipitation and dichloromethane extraction. According to HPLC spectra, five surfactin isomers were identified in the sample of laboratory-generated biosurfactant. Recovered surfactin was then used to perform gas-hydrate formation studies in porous media saturated with the surfactin-water solution. Gas-hydrate induction time and formation rate determinations showed that the anaerobically-produced biosurfactants catalyzed hydrate formation markedly. The tests suggest prolific surfactin production by the B. subtilis bacterium and of other species under prevailing anaerobic conditions around seafloor gas hydrates that promotes hydrate formation and the propensity of the bioproduct to be dispersed in the porous media by natural gas vents.
School and county characteristics as predictors of school rates of drug, alcohol, and tobacco offenses

Despite evidence that school factors are associated with differences in various types of student behavior, little research has explored the predictive utility of school factors for school-level substance offense rates. Using data from the State of Florida Department of Education and the Census, we explore the associations between school climate and school substance offense rates, controlling for county level characteristics. Results from a multilevel analysis show that school culture, school organization, and social milieu predict variation in school substance incident rate. We interpret the findings as consistent with research utilizing the “school culture/school effectiveness” model.
Bank ownership and productivity developments: evidence from Turkey

Purpose – This paper analyzes the responsiveness of different ownership forms to changing business environment by drawing on Turkish experience.Design/methodology/approach – This study is conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the paper uses Malmquist index theory, to estimate the total factor productivity change, technological change, efficiency change, pure efficiency change and scale efficiency change indexes for the Turkish banks. In the second stage, utilizing the generalized least regression format, it examines the significance of the productivity differences between different ownership forms after controlling for size and changes in the macro‐economy.Findings – Under the “traditional banking definition,” productivity growth during the period was 1.2 percent for state banks, 3.9 percent for private banks and 14.2 percent for foreign banks. Under the “non‐traditional banking definition,” the productivity gain over the period was 2.9 percent for state banks, 9.5 percent for private banks and 17....
TID Tolerance of Popular CubeSat Components

In this paper we report total dose test results of COTS components commonly used on CubeSats. We investigate a variety of analog integrated circuits, popular microcontrollers (PIC24), SD memory cards and a TCXO.
Blood Chemical Changes Following Intravenous Administration of a Casein Hydrolysate to Human Subjects.

SummaryInjection of 45 g of Parenamine intravenously at slow speeds produced an average plasma amino acid N rise of +4.9 mg per 100 cc during the injection with a return to normal in 2 hours. Rises to levels above 10 mg per 100 cc produced by rapid injection may be associated with nausea and vomiting. A progressive though slight rise in blood urea takes place during and after the injection, accompanied by increased urea excretion. Serum inorganic phosphate is lowered during the injection and returns to normal by the end of the injection. Only a negligible drop in CO2 combining power occurred during the injection. Intravenously injected glucose did not alter the curves produced by the amino acid injection.
Factors affecting streamwater chemistry in The Great Smoky Mountains, USA

The Great Smoky Mountains in the southeastern U.S. receive high total atmospheric deposition of sulphur and nitrogen (N) and contain large areas of shallow, poorly buffered soils. Results from extensive surveys conducted in October 1993 and March 1994 showed mat stream pH values were near or below 5.5 and Acid Neutralizing Capacity (ANC) was below SO μeq·L−1 at high elevations. Mechanisms of acidification varies among stream systems in the study. We classified each study catchment into one of five water quality districts based upon within-basin elevational gradients of streamwater quality. Geologic factors, cf. the presence of calcareous or pyritic bedrock types exhibited a major influence on water quality and within-basin elevational gradients. Atmospheric deposition is an important factor affecting water quality at high elevations in all districts. Nitrate was the dominant strong acid anion in streamwater in many catchments, particularly at high elevation and especially in basins draining old growth forests. Most high elevation catchments appear to be N saturated. Continued high atmospheric loadings of N will likely spread N saturation of catchments downslope into areas where second growth forests are now maturing. Stream sulphate concentrations were lower than expected at higher elevations and may be related to the N saturation status of fliese systems.
Lifestyle: Health-care costs: Technology to the rescue? The medical establishment encourages only those new tools that it controls while impeding the implementation of systems that could minimize doctor and hospital costs

Although there has been a dramatic reduction in deaths from infectious diseases in the last 80 years and though steady gains have been made in containing killer diseases like cancer and heart disease, health care in the United States is falling victim to runaway costs. It has become so expensive that in certain areas of the country the infant mortality rate, due to poverty and limited access to health-care facilities, is still no better than in some undeveloped countries. High costs threaten to undo years of steady progress on the medical front.
A switching ARCH (SWARCH) model of stock market volatility: some evidence from Latin America

We use the Markov regime-switching ARCH (SWARCH) model of Hamilton and Susmel (J Econometrics 64:307–333, 1994) to document the presence of high volatility regimes in six Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela). We found four high volatility episodes, each associated to either a local (the Mexican crisis of 1994, the Brazilian crisis of 1998–1999, the Argentinean crisis of 2001–2002) or a worldwide financial crisis (the Asian financial crisis of 1997). However, we found that the effects of each financial crisis are short-lived and that between 2 and 4 months after each crisis, all markets return to low volatility regimes.
Oxidoreductase, morphogenesis, extracellular matrix, and calcium ion-binding gene expression in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat heart.

Diabetes has far-ranging effects on cardiac structure and function. Previous gene expression studies of the heart in animal models of type 1 diabetes concur that there is altered expression of gene...
Mercury concentrations in three species of fish from North Atlantic offshore waters.

Mercury concentrations were determined in tissues and organs of spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias), cusk (Brosme brosme), and blackbellied redfish (Helicolenus dactylopterus) collected from Atlantic Ocean waters off the northeastern coast of the United States. Information was obtained on the spatial and temporal distribution of mercury in the organs and tissues of these fish. Cusk were obtained from 2 locations and blackbellied redfish from 4 locations. The mercury levels in both muscle and liver of cusk averaged about 0.30 ppm for one and 0.16 ppm for the second location. Gills and kidneys of cusk had mercury levels that averaged 0.08 ppm for both collections. In blackbellied redfish mercury levels in muscle and liver averaged about 0.08 ppm for all locations; gill and kidney tissues of this fish were less than 0.2 ppm. Spiny dogfish were obtained from 5 areas. No significant difference in mercury levels was found in muscle tissue as related to geographic area. Mercury levels ranged from 0.21 to 0.62 ppm. The kidneys of dogfish contained about 54% of the mercury level of muscle. The mercury level in gills of dogfish ranged from 0.06 to 0.21 ppm. Spiny dogfish pups were obtained from 6 adult females. Samples of muscle, liver, gill, kidney, and yolk of pups were analyzed for mercury. These same samples, except for the yolk, were obtained from the adult females. Mercury levels in all pup samples were less than 0.03 ppm, while mercury levels in adult females ranged from 0.03 to 1.1 ppm in all tissues and organs.
2013, a very good year.

Reviewing evidence from health and other areas, the writer Zack Beauchamp concluded that “2013 was the best year in human history.” His focus was broad and societal; the present discussion will focus on progress in health issues, with a special emphasis on the Millennium Development Goals.With 2015 only two years away, the two most watched Millennium Development Goals on health are MDGs 4 and 5, respectively targeting under-five mortality and maternal mortality. Both are down by 47 percent since 1990. This is what the UN had to say about under-five mortality in September 2013.
Models with inverse-square exchange

A one-dimensional quantum N-body system of either fermions or bosons with SU(n) ``spins'' (or colors in particle physics language) interacting via inverse-square exchange is presented in this paper. A class of eigenstates of both the continuum and lattice version of the model Hamiltonians is constructed in terms of the Jastrow-product-type wave function. The class of states we construct in this paper corresponds to the ground state and the low-energy excitations of the model that can be described by the effective harmonic fluid Hamiltonian. By expanding the energy about the ground state we find the harmonic fluid parameters (i.e., the charge, spin velocities, etc.) explicitly. The correlation exponent and the compressibility are also found. As expected, the general harmonic relation [i.e., ${\mathit{v}}_{\mathit{S}}$=(${\mathit{v}}_{\mathit{N}}$${\mathit{v}}_{\mathit{J}}$${)}^{1/2}$] is satisfied among the charge and spin velocities.
Information transmission in spectral color naming

The concepts of information theory are applied in an analysis of color naming data where various numbers of response categories are permitted for the description of 21 spectral stimuli. The results are summarized by en empirical equation, T(x, y) = (N’−1)0.325−0.0017N’ where T(x, y) is the information transmitted through the subject (in bits) and N’ is the number of response categories used by the S. This function has a maximum value close to 2.6 bits. It is suggested that 28 response categories, corresponding to seven steps between adjacent hues of the color circle, constitute a good choke for experiments of this type.
Locus of organizational control in the development of knowledge-based systems

Abstract This paper reports the findings of a study of the effectiveness of organizational locus of control strategies for the development of knowledge-based information systems. Research hypotheses regarding project control by data processing departments, business departments, and newly formed organizational entities are generated and tested using project organizationdata gathered for a sample of twenty-six expert system applications. These data are assessed in the context of a conceptual framework that is used to differentiate and classify the respective expert systems according to their embodied knowledge and technological complexity. We find a significant association between the combined levels of knowledge and technological complexity for successfully fielded knowledge-based systems and the organizational locus of control that was established during development.
Effective drug-allergy checking: methodological and operational issues

Adverse drug events cause a large number of injuries, and adverse events caused by medications administered in the face of known allergies represent an important preventable cause of patient harm. Computerized systems can effectively prevent reactions due to known allergies, but building an effective allergy prevention feature is challenging and presents many interesting informatics issues that have both methodological and operational implications. In this paper, we present the experiences from one large delivery system in delivering allergy-related decision support, discuss some of the different approaches that we have used, and then propose a future approach. We also discuss the methodological, behavioral, and operational issues that have arisen which have a major impact on success. Key factors in drug-allergy checking include storing patient allergy data in a single common repository, representing allergy data using suitable terminologies and creating groups of allergies for inferencing purposes, being judicious about which allergy warnings to display, conveying the reaction that the patient has experienced when exposed to the drug to inform the provider of the importance of the warning, and perhaps most important, implementing strategies to optimize the likelihood that allergy information will be entered.
Catalytic Reactions of NO over 0–7 mol% Ba/MgO Catalysts: II. Reduction with CH4 and CO

Abstract Barium oxide supported on magnesium oxide (Ba/MgO) is an effective catalyst at elevated temperatures for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitric oxide, with methane as the reductant. The rate of the SCR reaction is greater than either the rate of reduction with CH 4 , in the absence of O 2 , or the rate of decomposition of NO. At 650°C the rate of the SCR reaction over 1 mol% Ba/MgO was 0.19 μmol g −1 s −1 with 1% NO, 0.25% CH 4 , and 0.5% O 2 . The SCR reaction is believed to occur via gas-phase CH 3 · radicals that are formed at the surface. First-order kinetics with respect to CH 4 is consistent with radical formation being the rate-determining step. The activities of the catalysts and the overall reaction order are influenced by CO 2 , which is a product of the reaction, but also would be present in an exhaust stream. The inhibiting effect of CO 2 is much more significant for a catalyst containing 4 mol% Ba than for one containing 1 mol% Ba. In the latter case, the MgO support modifies the basicity of the BaO. In the absence of O 2 , CO also is a reductant for NO, but if O 2 is present, the nonselective oxidation of CO occurs. That is, CO reacts preferentially with O 2 instead of NO.
Monostatic Mueller matrix measurement and theory

Monostatic Mueller matrix measurements of aluminum plates of various roughnesses are presented using a Mueller matrix polarimeter with a dual rotating retarder. The measurements are compared with a theoretical Mueller matrix model derived from the vector Kirchhoff diffraction equation. The wavelength of the laser is 1.55 μm. The rms roughness depths are provided by surface profilometer measurements and the roughness correlation length is estimated by finding the best match between the measured and the model reflectance for varying roughness correlation length. Except one smooth surface, all other aluminum samples studied have roughness ratio ( = roughness correlation length/rms roughness depth) less than 5. We compare the Mueller matrices between the lab measurement and the theoretical model. The model results show that the off-diagonal elements of the matrix have a symmetry relation and the magnitudes of diagonal elements are nearly 1, implying negligible depolarization for angles less than 30°. The lab measurements show that the off-diagonal elements have a symmetry relation for a smooth sample but the symmetry relation is weaker for rougher samples (lower roughness ratios). The lab data also show that depolarization is about 2% for the smooth sample but larger than 25% for the rougher samples for angles near 0°. The smooth surface shows reasonable agreement between the lab data and the model result except higher depolarization shown by the lab data for angles larger than 30°. On the other hand, the rough samples do not show similar agreement as the smooth surface shows. Possible causes of discrepancies are discussed and improvements for the lab measurement and model are suggested.
Constructing a Scale of Female Contributions to Agriculture: Methods for Imputing Missing Data

Five methods are described for estimating missing data in cross-cultural codes. The reliability of these alternative methods is assessed in the context of constructing a scale of total female contributions to agriculture. Simulations are used to explore the potential effects on scale reliability of larger amounts of missing data in the same data set. The imputed scales show surprisingly high reliability, even when more than half of the original data points are missing.
Improved synthesis and characterization of saturated branched‐chain fatty acid isomers

The development of viable technologies for producing green products from renewable fats and oils is highly desirable since such materials can serve as replacements for non-renewable and poorly biodegradable petroleum-based products. Mixtures of saturated branched-chain fatty acid isomers (sbc-FAs), commonly referred to as isostearic acid, are important intermediates for the production of biodegradable lubricants, cosmetics, emollients, and hydraulic fluids. Present methods for producing sbc-FAs, however, often give low yields of sbc-FAs or sbc-FA preparations with a high content of dimer acid fatty acid co-products. This study reports an improved route to synthesizing sbc-FAs from monounsaturated fatty acids using a modified H-Ferrierite zeolite catalyst in conjunction with small amounts of triphenylphosphine additive. The yields of sbc-FAs (up to 80 wt%) and co-products (up to15 wt%) were determined using a modification of a previously reported GC method. A more detailed analysis of the distribution of sbc-FA isomers in the products was made by the combined use of GC × GC-TOF-MS. Additionally, it was found that the H-Ferrierite zeolite catalyst was recyclable and reusable up to 10 times without significant loss of activity and selectivity for sbc-FAs.
Critical Exposure Time for Androgenization of the Developing Hypothalamus in the Female Rat

In order to determine the length of time neural elements must be exposed to androgen to induce sterility, 2 barbiturates, pentobarbital (PB) or phenobarbital (PhB), were injected subcutaneously into 5-day-old female rats simultaneously with 30 μg testosterone propionate (TP), or 3, 6, 9, 12 or 24 hr after TP injection. Both PB and PhB protect against the sterilizing effect of neonatal treatment with TP when injected at the same time as the hormone. When given 6 hr after TP injection, PB still protects against androgenization, but by 12 hr PB is ineffective. In contrast, the effectiveness of PhB is markedly reduced when given only 3 hr after TP injection. These data suggest that androgen can exert its inductive action on the developing brain during a very short period of 12 hr or less. They are also consistent with the working hypothesis that androgen action can be divided into 2 phases. A brief phase (approximately 3 hr in length) of androgen uptake by neurons is followed by a more prolonged phase (approx...
On the applicability of slow passage EPR relaxation theories to saturation curves for trapped electrons in organic glasses

Abstract It is shown that the experimental microwave power saturation curves for trapped electrons in organic glasses do not fit the simple paramagnetic relaxation theories developed for inhomogeneous lines in the absence of magnetic field modulation. To understand experimental saturation data obtained in the presence of modulation, it is suggested that theoretical treatments must include magnetic field modulation effects.
Material growth in thermoelastic continua: Theory, algorithmics, and simulation

A theoretical formulation of stress-induced volumetric material growth in thermoelastic continua is developed. Material growth is regulated by a three-surface activation criterion and corresponding flow rules. A simple model is proposed based on this formulation and its algorithmic implementation, including a method for solving the underlying differential/algebraic equations for growth, is examined in the context of an implicit finite element method. Selected numerical simulations are presented that showcase the predictive capacity of the model for both soft and hard biomaterials.
The evolution of mesoscopic imbricate thrust faults—an example from the Vermont Foreland, U.S.A.

Abstract An outcrop of a thin (30 cm) bed of micrite surrounded by thicker sequences of well-cleaved, calcareous shale in the Ordovician flysch of western Vermont records a complex history of imbricate faulting and associated folding. The calcareous shale has been shortened by pressure solution. Cross-cutting relations among the floor, ramp and roof faults indicate that faulting progressed from the hinterland (east) to the foreland (west). All the ramp faults developed from arrays of W-climbing enechelon extension fractures. All other faults were controlled by the weaker bedding planes that surround the micrite, and are found at various levels in the shale. Each fault is marked by layers of highly twinned, sparry calcite and black carbonaceous shale selvedge. Simple shear along the floor thrust has rotated the S1 cleavage toward the foreland and produced, along with volume change, a pressure-solution cleavage in the fault zone. All cleavages have progressively developed from the hinterland to the foreland during folding and faulting of the micrite. Layer-parallel shortening measured in both rock types is between 11 and 16%.
The Effects of Operation on the Echocardiographic Features of Idiopathic Hypertrophic Subaortic Stenosis

Simultaneous cardiac catheterizations and echocardiograms were performed before and 6-12 months following ventriculoseptomyectomy in 10 patients with idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis (IHSS) to define the effects of operation on the echocardiographic features of IHSS. Preoperatively, the resting peak systolic gradient ranged from 40-125 mm Hg and averaged 81 mm Hg. Postoperatively no gradient was present in nine patients and one patient had a 15 mm Hg residual gradient. Echocardiographic obstruction index averaged 54 msec/mm (range 35-85) preoperatively and was reduced to 12 msec/mm (0-67) postoperatively. The markedly abnormal systolic anterior motion (SAM) of the anterior mitral leaflet present in all preoperatively was diminished or absent following operation. The preoperative left ventricular outflow tract dimension, calculated by echocardiogram at peak SAM, averaged 1.4 mm (range 0-5) and increased to 15 mm (3-25) following operation. Ventricular septal width averaged 18 mm (range 14-21) and...
Prediction of gas barrier properties of high polymers

This paper studies the correlation of polymer structure and morphology and gas permeability. A scale of numerical values based on polymer cohesive energy density and fractional free volume has been devised to predict permeability and also to estimate diffusion and solubility properties.