cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
France: Allègre out after reshuffle

Claude Allegre lost his position as French minister for education and research in a cabinet reshuffle last month after a series of bitter disputes with researchers and teachers over his propos"als for reform. His ministry has been split in two with Roger-Gerard Schwartzenberg, a lawyer by training, becoming minister for research and former culture minister Jack Lang as minister for education. Both new ministers have spoken of wanting to "[use] dialogue, listen, and understand", an obvious attempt to distance themselves from Allegre's combative style. Ex-prime minister Laurent Fabius becomes minister for finance and industry.
COMMUNICATION LEADING TO SHARED MEANING IN THE NURSING HOME

Patterns of communication between nurses and physicians directly impact nursing home (NH) resident quality of care. Nurses not fully explaining clinical change and physicians not eliciting needed information has compromised effective communication. This qualitative study used a Sensemaking model of communication between NH nurse/physician to understand shared meaning informed by oral and written strategies. Sample-19 nurses, 22 MDs. 33 communication events were the focus of 16 interviews, 17 nurse notes, 22 MD orders, and 16 MD notes. Using grounded theory and ethnographic interviewing (1st & 2nd cycle coding, constant comparative analysis, analytic memos) with a Sensemaking-based semi-structured interview guide and examination of related medical records, communication events were analyzed. Cases were created to illustrate communication processes. Trustworthiness was addressed through an audit trail of decision-making memos, triangulation of prolonged interviews with medical records, and using Sensemaking to guide interpreting codes and developing theory. Nurses established relationships by intentionally approaching MDs at monthly NH visits, creating individualized communication exchange, contact lists, and MD information sharing. MDs noted nurses’ availability or phone contacts directed their coming to know the nurse and their capabilities. Case analysis yielded contrasting views by nurse and MD of the same event. Nurses described symptoms, and MD orders or transfer requests. MDs noted importance of crafting resident information for decision-making. Nurses and physicians sought agreement about next steps or decisions. Education should emphasize how to reach shared meaning. Research should examine impact of nurse/MD communication on resident outcomes.
Bladder Reconstruction Rates Differ among Centers Participating in National Spina Bifida Patient Registry

Purpose: We performed an exploratory analysis of data from the NSBPR (National Spina Bifida Patient Registry) to assess variation in the frequency of bladder reconstruction surgeries among NSBPR centers.Materials and Methods: We queried the 2009-2014 NSBPR to identify patients who had ever undergone bladder reconstruction surgeries. We evaluated demographic characteristics, spina bifida type, functional level, mobility and NSBPR center to determine whether any of these factors were associated with reconstructive surgery rates. Multivariable logistic regression was used to simultaneously adjust for the impact of these factors.Results: We identified 5,528 patients with spina bifida enrolled in the NSBPR. Of these patients 1,129 (20.4%) underwent bladder reconstruction (703 augmentation, 382 continent catheterizable channel, 189 bladder outlet procedure). Surgical patients were more likely older, female, nonHispanic white, with a higher lesion level, myelomeningocele diagnosis, nonambulators (all p <0.001) a...
Disengage, Augment, Adapt

Questions of design simulation are no longer limited to the scope of technology experts. Most simulation research was once confined to discussions of the fastest, most accurate algorithms. Today, t...
On the Release of Stored Energy from Energetic Materials

Abstract Grinding, shocking, rapidly crushing, or electrically stimulating organic solids generates a variety of excited electronic state species including atoms, ions, radicals, fragments, etc., that are reactive on an ultrafast (
OO-FSG: an object-oriented approach to mine frequent subgraphs

Frequent subgraph mining (FSG) has always been an important issue in data mining. Several frequent subgraph mining methods have been developed for mining graph data. However, most of these are main memory algorithms in which scalability is a bigger issue. A few algorithms have opted for a relational approach that stores the graph data in relational tables. However, relational databases have their own space as well computing constraints when it comes to storing large databases. Moreover, relational databases do not preserve semantic information as they represent simple entities and in order to preserve the relationship between two entities additional tables are necessary. Object-oriented databases, on the other hand, do not have these constraints. In this paper, we present an object-oriented database approach to mining frequent sub-graphs. We use Db4o, a popular open-source object database system, to store the input graph data as well as intermediate results. Db4o can save all the information about an entity in a single class in an object form. Application domains such as protein-protein interaction data, social network data, and chemical compound structure data require mining frequent subgraphs while preserving the meaning. This paper proposes a novel idea for using object oriented database db4o to store graph data, which can support large graph data as well as preserve semantic information.
Establishment of a Laboratory for Continuous Observation of Human Behavior

Since the earliest experimental analyses of behavior, it has been asserted that the conceptual tools derived from operant research would be useful in the understanding, prediction, and influence of human behavior. Although much of the extrapolation of operant principles to human behavior has been verbal speculation only, the last 20 years have seen an explosion of studies of human behavior employing experimental analysis of behavior. No general characterization can be completely accurate, but there appear to have been two main branches of this endeavor. One is applied behavior analysis in which human behavior that occurs in everyday life and in nonlaboratory settings is analyzed and often changed through the systematic application of contingencies. In this area the behavior studied is usually immediately relevant to the human context that generated the interest, and the intervention is carried out over whatever length of time is needed to produce a result that is satisfactory for the client, institution, or researcher. The other branch is the experimental analysis of human behavior in which laboratory researchers engage human participants in studies of the same variables that are investigated with nonhuman animals. In this area the behavior studied is usually moving an arbitrarily selected operandum brought under the control of laboratory-derived stimuli and consequences, and the research is carried out over relatively brief periods (e.g., several 1-hour sessions) as allowed by the availability of student research pools. Recently there has been some growth in the experimental analysis of human verbal behavior, though it is often studied in conjunction with a simple nonverbal task that is a laboratory analogue of more complex human action.
Branching of Periodic Solutions of Nonautonomous Systems

Publisher Summary This chapter describes a study of certain qualitative aspects, that is, existence and stability of periodic solutions. An account of new results obtained by using topological degree is given. The chapter also presents a stability study. Such studies have been made for the two-dimensional case by Lefschetz and Cronin. Analytic aspects of the problem have been studied by Malkin. A considerably shorter and more transparent description, including the n -dimensional case is also provided. The practical value of the results is seen to be still limited to applications in the case where the space of periodic solutions of the linear variational equation is less than or equal to 2.
Intercellular Recognition and Adhesion in Desmosomes

The regulation of intercellular adhesion has been long believed to have important roles in embryonic morphogenesis, in the maintenance of normal adult tissues, and in cancer. Intercellular adhesion is mediated by components of the plasma membrane and the extracellular matrix. In certain regions on the apposed plasma membranes of two cells, surface molecules coalesce to form ultrastructurally recognizable intercellular junctions. These are presumed to be sites of enhanced intercellular adhesion. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the current state of knowledge and methodology in understanding the biogenesis and function of the major adhesive intercellular junctions of vertebrates.
Transport properties of high-Tc cuprate thin films as superconductive materials

Abstract: In this chapter, the systematic evolution with doping of the normal state properties (resistivity and Hall effect) of the La2 − xSrxCuO4 thin film cuprates is analyzed. This analysis reveals convincing evidence in favor of the presence of the charge-rich 1D features (stripes), which eventually determine the 1D character of the transport properties at temperatures below the so-called ‘spin-gap’ temperature T*(x). Measurements of the fluctuation conductivity show how stripe coupling close to Tc recovers the 2D character of the Cu-O planes which is responsible for the 2D Aslamasov–Larkin fluctuations at T~Tc and the superconducting state itself at T
Approximate High-Level Synthesis of Custom Hardware

Approximate computing exploits trade-offs between quality and energy/performance of computed results for inherently error-tolerant applications. At the hardware level, various components, such as arithmetic and logic units (ALUs), have been proposed to build approximate hardware processors. However, existing work has been mostly ad hoc or using expensive iterative simulation and resynthesis for design space exploration. In this chapter, we present an approximate high-level synthesis (AHLS) approach that utilizes approximate operators in synthesizing an energy- or performance-optimized register-transfer level (RTL) design from its high-level C description under overall quality constraints at design outputs. In effective AHLS, fast and accurate quality and energy models are required together with an optimization technique to efficiently find a Pareto-optimal design. Quality effects of hardware approximations strongly depend on input data. In this work, a statistical formulation is employed to capture input dependency and analytically estimate quality using one-time profiling only. Energy and performance savings due to approximations strongly depend on operation scheduling and binding. We present an approach that estimates the performance, voltage scaling, and energy impact of approximations while taking into account tight interactions with existing synthesis tasks. Quality, performance, and energy estimation methods are further combined with novel AHLS-specific loop optimizations and heuristic solvers that find Pareto-optimized solutions in an efficient manner. Results show that our tool can achieve near-optimal results with low runtimes, demonstrating energy savings of, on average, more than 77.6%, where up to 24.5% higher savings are achieved compared to approaches that only consider switching activity.
Systematic Implementation of ASM (Asset Management System)

Maintaining organizational assets is crucially important for any business. Evaluation of a public company is driven by the value of its assets. Additionally, effectiveness of a company's operation depends on how well its assets are managed. This paper reflects on the semester-long term project completed as part of the graduate course[1] MET CS 633 of Boston University. ASM (Asset Management System) has been implemented, while following the prudent software development process, using Agile/Scrum methodology.
Sensory axons inhibit motor axon regeneration in vitro

During mammalian embryonic development sensory and motor axons interact as an integral part of the pathfinding process. During regeneration, however, little is known of their interactions with one another. It is thus possible that sensory axons might influence motor axon regeneration in ways not currently appreciated. To explore this possibility we have developed an organotypic model of post-natal nerve regeneration in which sensory and motor axons are color-coded by modality. Motor axons that express yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) and sensory axons that express red fluorescent protein (RFP) are blended within a three-dimensional segment of peripheral nerve. This nerve is then transected, allowing axons to interact with one another as they grow out on a collagen/laminin gel that is initially devoid of directional cues. Within hours it is apparent that sensory axons extend more rapidly than motor axons and precede them during the early stages of regeneration, the opposite of their developmental order. Motor axons thus enter an environment already populated with sensory axons, and they adhere to these axons throughout most of their course. As a result, motor axon growth is reduced dramatically. Physical delay of sensory regeneration, allowing motor axons to grow ahead, restores normal motor growth; direct axonal interactions on the gel, rather than some other aspect of the model, are thus responsible for motor inhibition. Potential mechanisms for this inhibition are explored by electroporating siRNA to the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) and the L1 adhesion molecule (L1CAM) into dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) to block expression of these molecules by regenerating sensory axons. Although neither maneuver improved motor regeneration, the results were consistent with early receptor-mediated signaling among axons rather than physical adhesion as the mechanism of motor inhibition in this model.
How Social Entrepreneurs Zig-Zag Their Way to Impact at Scale:

This article provides guidance to social entrepreneurs and their funders as they seek to advance the enterprise from startup to scale. It focuses on the evolution of four social entrepreneurs and t...
Atypical presentation of Lyme neuroborreliosis related meningitis and radiculitis

Lyme disease related central and peripheral nervous system manifestations can occur in isolation or together. Radiculitis or inflammation of the nerve root can be seen 3-5% of the time in acute neuroborreliosis affecting the PNS with a typical presentation and meningitis affecting the CNS is usually seen 1% of the time. The appropriate diagnosis and management of neuroborelliosis can be challenging and require meticulous medical approaches. Herein we present a unique case of Lyme disease with neurologic manifestations including both radiculitis and meningitis due to its atypical and challenging clinical presentation and management with updated literature review.
Policing Hatred: Law Enforcement, Civil Rights, and Hate Crime

1 Introduction 2 The Framework of Police Decision-Making in Hate Crime Cases 3 Integration and Hate Crime: The Institutionalization of Civil Rights Law 4 Investigation: Detectives and the Making of Hate Crime 5 The Difficulty of Hate Crime Investigation 6 Police Culture and Hate Crime 7 The Decision to Seek Charges 8 Prosecutors and the Courts 9 Conclusion
Vertical Wind Shear and Ocean Heat Content as Environmental Modulators of Western North Pacific Tropical Cyclone Intensification and Decay

ABSTRACT A general framework in which Ocean Heat Content (OHC) may modulate tropical cyclone intensification and decay in conjunction with Vertical Wind Shear (VWS) as the primary environmental control is formulated in terms of a two-dimensional phase diagram. case studies of the life cycles of three tropical cyclones during the Impact of Typhoons on the Ocean in the Pacific (ITOP) field experiment during August-October 2010 are selected as examples owing to numerous Air-deployed eXpendable BathyThermographs (AXBTs) and special atmospheric observations. Vertical wind shears calculated from European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasting analyses within a 3°-5° lat. annulus around the center may not properly represent the VWS in nonuniform, asymmetric, and time-varying conditions in the western North Pacific. As expected, VWS is the primary environmental control during the formation and early intensification stage over regions of large OHC, and during the decay phase over regions of small OHC. The challenging intensity forecasting problems are in the intermediate conditions of an intense tropical cyclone moving slowly over a region of low to moderate OHC when the negative feedback from the ocean may or may not lead to a decrease in intensity.
Acute ecotoxicity and genotoxicity assessment of two wastewater treatment units.

Water contamination by discharge of untreated or poorly treated wastewater into water bodies is a current issue that may cause harm to humans. Water quality assessment targets general parameters, which often misleads to underestimation of their implication in the environment. Acute and genotoxicity assays using Daphnia magna is a reliable tool for testing deleterious effects of wastewater exposure. This paper aimed at evaluating acute ecotoxicity as well as genotoxicity of a biological treatment system composed by an anaerobic bioreactor (AR), algal turf scrubber (ATS), followed by two downflow constructed wetlands (CW). The university’s wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) composed by an equalization tank (ET), an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), followed by an aerobic bioreactor (AB) was also assessed for acute and genotoxicity. Our results showed the acute ecotoxicity ranged from moderately to extremely toxic, and from nontoxic to moderately toxic for ET and AB. For AR, most samples were moderately toxic. The outflow from ATS and CW’s tanks completely eliminated acute toxicity and genotoxicity evidencing that the proposed system combining ATS and vertical CWs is suitable for treating sanitary wastewater.
ALPHA: A Learning-Enabled High-Performance Network-on-Chip Router Design for Heterogeneous Manycore Architectures

Heterogeneous manycores comprised of CPUs, GPUs and accelerators are putting stringent demands on network-on-chips (NoCs). The NoCs need to support the combined traffic, including both latency-sensitive CPU traffic and throughput-sensitive GPU and accelerator traffic. We study the characteristics of the combined traffic, and observe that (1) the limited injection bandwidth is the main obstacle to throughput improvement, and (2) the latency due to local and global contention accounts for a significant portion of the network latency. We propose a router architecture named ALPHA for heterogeneous manycores. ALPHA introduces two new optimizations: (1) increasing injection bandwidth to improve throughput, and (2) resolving local and global contention to reduce network latency. Specifically, ALPHA increases the injection bandwidth through modifications to injection link, crossbar switch and buffer organization in the injection port of the router; ALPHA identifies the upcoming local contention and resolves it by optimally selecting traffic routes; ALPHA detects and alleviates the global contention by utilizing a supervised learning engine for traffic analysis, prediction, and adjustment. Simulation results using Rodinia benchmark show that ALPHA provides 28 percent throughput increase, 24 percent latency reduction, 22 percent execution time speedup, and 19 percent energy efficiency improvement, compared to the baseline router.
The Potential Relationship Between Clinical Interview Skills and Mathematics Teacher Noticing: an Exploratory Study

This study is an investigation of the possible relationship between clinical interview skills and teacher noticing. In a multiple case study, video-recordings of pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) mathematical clinical interviews and their written critiques of a mathematics lesson were examined using qualitative content analysis. Findings suggest that there are some relationships between the PSTs’ clinical interview skills and their noticing expertise. Conceptual interview skills such as paying attention to students’ mathematical thinking; evaluating the validity, generalizability, or efficiency of students’ mathematical ideas; and recognizing their conceptual difficulties constitute a common core to explain the possible relationship. The theoretical and empirical implications and the limitations of the study are discussed.
Erratum: Longitudinal Study of Sugar Intake in Infancy

Presented in: Poster Session Sunday, May 3, 1998, Poster number 145 † 617 Sugar intake in infancy in early childhood is an area of investigation with surprisingly few studies, with most of the research done in adults. The aim of this study was to determine whether early vs. late introduction of solid foods and commercially prepared (CP) vs. parents choice (PC) of solid foods affects sugar intake. Based on adult data, we hypothesized that children with high sugar intakes will compensate their total calorie intake with lower fat; high sugar will be weakly correlated with high lean mass, and a high early sugar intake will result in a high intake later.
Prognostic impact of hepatic involvement on spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome in solid tumors.

e19098Background: Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is a life-threatening oncological emergency. Spontaneous TLS (STLS) in solid tumors occurring prior to initiation of therapy is a rarely reported entity...
Influence of Early Extubation Location on Outcomes Following Pediatric Cardiac Surgery.

OBJECTIVES Early extubation following pediatric cardiac surgery is common, but debate exists whether location affects outcome, with some centers performing routine early extubations in the operating room (odds ratio) and others in the cardiac ICU. We aimed to define early extubation practice variation across hospitals and assess impact of location on hospital length-of-stay and other outcomes. DESIGN Secondary analysis of the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium registry. SETTING Twenty-eight Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium hospitals. PATIENTS Patients undergoing Society of Thoracic Surgeons-European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery mortality category 1-3 operations between August 2014 and February 2018. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS We defined early extubation as extubation less than 6 hours after postoperative admission. Hospitals were categorized based on the proportion of their early extubation patients who underwent an odds ratio extubation. Categories included low- ( 90%, n = 8) frequency odds ratio early extubation centers. The primary outcome of interest was postoperative hospital length-of-stay. We analyzed 16,594 operations (9,143 early extubation, 55%). Rates of early extubation ranged from 16% to 100% across hospitals. Odds ratio early extubation rates varied from 16% to 99%. Patient characteristics were similar across hospital odds ratio early extubation categories. Early extubation rates paralleled the hospital odds ratio early extubation rates-77% patients underwent early extubation at high-frequency odds ratio extubation centers compared with 39% at low-frequency odds ratio extubation centers (p < 0.001). High- and low-frequency odds ratio early extubation hospitals had similar length-of-stay, cardiac arrest rates, and low mortality. However, high-frequency odds ratio early extubation hospitals used more noninvasive ventilation than low-frequency hospitals (15% vs. 9%; p < 0.01), but had fewer extubation failures (3.6% vs. 4.5%; p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS Considerable variability exists in early extubation practices after low- and moderate-complexity pediatric cardiac surgery. In this patient population, hospital length-of-stay did not differ significantly between centers with different early extubation strategies based on location or frequency.
Cytomorphologic characteristics of next-generation sequencing-positive bile duct brushing specimens.

Introduction Cytology of bile duct brushings (BDBs) is a specific, but insensitive, test for malignancy. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) of BDBs has recently been shown to improve sensitivity. We analyzed the cytologic features of NGS-positive (NGS+) and NGS-negative (NGS−) BDBs and correlated the morphology with the presence of mutations. Materials and methods A total of 96 BDBs were analyzed for 29 cytologic features by 2 pathologists who were unaware of the original diagnosis and NGS results. Clinicopathologic follow-up was used to determine the patient outcomes (ie, benign, low-grade neoplasm, malignant [carcinoma/high-grade dysplasia]). Results We analyzed 74 NGS+ BDBs from 66 patients and 22 NGS− BDBs from 22 patients. During follow-up, 58 of 66 NGS+ patients (88%) had malignancy compared with 0% of NGS− patients (P Conclusions We found significant overlap in the cytomorphologic features between neoplastic and non-neoplastic BDBs, and more than one half of cancer cases had been interpreted as “nonmalignant” on cytology. NGS showing late mutations was 100% specific for malignancy. Adding genetic testing to BDB cytology would be a valuable ancillary test for the detection of malignancy, and reflex testing should be considered.
The current threats

In the 12,000 years or so since agriculture was first invented, our own species Homo sapiens sapiens has seized control of the world. The extra food from agriculture has allowed a huge increase in human population, and the need to grow crops, keep farm animals, and build homes gave our ancestors reason to alter the land surface wherever they went. Now there are more than 6.7 billion of us in the world— nearly a thousand times as many as there were before farming. As a species we have reached such levels of abundance and technological sophistication that we are now altering the basic properties of the Earth’s system. A large proportion of the world’s vegetation cover has been changed: forests have been cleared away, and much of the natural grassland and scrub has been ploughed up. The transformation began on a large scale in the temperate zones of the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and then North America and Australia, after which it moved to the tropics. At present, somewhere around 6 million hectares of tropical forest—an area about the size of the state of Delaware in the U.S., or Wales in the U.K.—are being lost each year (FAO, 2005; Achard et al., 2008). Such changes in the world’s vegetation caused by humans are in themselves enough to have far-reaching effects on the climate system. There are good theoretical reasons for thinking that the forest loss that has already occurred must already have altered patterns of temperature and rainfall. There are observations of particular areas both “before” and “after” deforestation that seem to validate this (see my other book Vegetation-Climate Interaction, Adams, 1997, for more on this topic).
The creation of inclusive governance infrastructures through participatory agenda-setting

Though a stronger orientation of research and innovation with a focus on societal needs, demands, and preferences has recently become the main argument under the header of responsible research and innovation, the processes by which community members are included in studies of the future, as well as forward-looking science, technology, and innovation are underexplored. This paper explores the role of participatory agenda-setting in creating governance infrastructures that reflect community participation, boundary object creation, and experimental innovation for increased understanding of future decision tradeoffs. Drawing upon the authors’ leadership and participant observation of two participatory agenda-setting projects, this paper contributes to our understanding of what participatory agenda-setting looks like in practice at a boundary organization in higher education. Though not a traditional research study with control and experiment groups, we seek to share our insights and lessons learned from our leadership of two projects with inherent participatory agenda-setting components. The paper culminates in recommendations for future projects which seek to incorporate laypeople into future-oriented research.
Development of normative data for the Five Point Test using the cognitive reliability and time to failure rate theory.

In this study, several theoretically based curve fitting nonlinear models for analyzing the Five Point Test (FPT), a nonverbal fluency test, were examined. One thousand two hundred and one particip...
Clinical Management of Anemia in Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes: An Update on Emerging Therapeutic Options

For the majority of patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (LR-MDS), one of the primary clinical goals is to alleviate the symptoms associated with the resultant cytopenias and to minimize the transfusion burden. While supportive red blood cell (RBC) transfusions and erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) may lead to clinical improvement, frequent transfusions are often complicated by iron overload and decreased quality of life; furthermore, most patients either do not respond to ESAs or will eventually develop resistance. As such, there is a great need for further therapeutic options in the management of anemia related to MDS. Several additional therapeutics are now available in select patients with LR-MDS and symptomatic anemia including luspatercept, lenalidomide, and immunosuppressive therapy. Furthermore, several novel agents are currently in development to address this area of clinical need such as imetelstat and roxadustat. In this article, we review the currently available therapeutic options for symptomatic anemia in LR-MDS as well as review the therapeutic agents in development.
Bowel-associated dermatosis-arthritis syndrome in a child with very early onset inflammatory bowel disease.

A 6-year-old boy with severe very early-onset inflammatory bowel disease (VEO-IBD) was admitted for 1 week of high fevers, loose stools, joint pains, and myalgias. He subsequently developed a progressive, papular, and vesiculopustular eruption on his face with rapid spread to his trunk and extremities. Histopathology demonstrated dense dermal neutrophilic inflammation. Findings were consistent with bowel-associated dermatosis-arthritis syndrome (BADAS), which is rarely reported in children and requires further characterization.
Transient Dynamic Analysis

Dynamics is a sine qua non for seismic investigation of structures. Rather than reviewing its fundamentals, this chapter will focus on the computational aspects as implemented in finite element analysis codes.
'Hateful' and 'Doubtful' Wisdom: Roman Disdain and Appropriation of Greek Philosophy in Cicero's Laelius

In arguing that the writer of the Laelius both appropriates and disdains Greek philosophy, I am advancing a series of observations that will cast light on each other. The first and less problematic one is that Cicero draws heavily from the Greek philosophical tradition whenever he either positively or negatively defines friendship in the text. Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, for example, ubiquitously haunt the Latin dialogue. A second one is that the de Amicitia simultaneously and systematically disdains and downplays Greek intellectuals, offering the reader the wisdom of Roman counterparts instead. Such opposite–if not contradictory–tendencies at the heart of one and the same text strongly beg to be explained. I contend that, although dealing with philosophy, the text itself is not philosophical, but mostly rhetorical in both nature and aim. The Laelius is not ultimately concerned with the truth of particular arguments about friendship, but itself as a text and a cultural product aims at becoming an argument in favor of a different (and strictly cultural) ‘truth:’ that the Romans had a philosophical tradition of their own, and a pantheon of wise men to resort to no less than the Greeks. This conviction lies behind the spirit of words such as those with which Cicero invites his contemporaries to snatch glory from an already weary Greece, and bring it back to Rome as cultural spoils.
The Combination of Morphology and Surface Chemistry Defines the Immunological Identity of Nanocarriers in Human Blood

Upon exposure to blood, a corona of proteins adsorbs to nanocarrier surfaces to confer a biological identity that interfaces with the immune system. While the nanocarrier surface chemistry has long been the focus of protein corona formation, the influence of nanostructure has remained unclear despite established influences on biodistribution, clearance, and inflammation. Here, combinations of nanocarrier morphology and surface chemistry are engineered to i) achieve compositionally distinct protein coatings in human blood and ii) control protein-mediated interactions with the immune system. A library of nine PEGylated nanocarriers differing in their combination of morphology (spheres, vesicles, and cylinders) and surface chemistry (methoxy, hydroxyl, and phosphate) are synthesized to represent properties of therapeutic and biomimetic delivery vehicles. Analysis by quantitative label-free proteomic techniques reveal that specific surface chemistry and morphology combinations adsorb unique protein signatures from human blood, resulting in differential complement activation and elicitation of distinct proinflammatory cytokine responses. Furthermore, nanocarrier morphology is shown to primarily influence uptake and clearance by human monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells. This comprehensive analysis provides mechanistic insights into rational design choices that impact the immunological identity of nanocarriers in human blood, which can be leveraged to engineer drug delivery vehicles for precision medicine and immunotherapy.
Difficult conversations with clients

Public service encounters occasionally become controversial. Even the most seasoned veterinary clinician practiced in the art and science of clinical conversation faces confrontational dialogue. In this presentation, dynamics for basic conversation interaction are explored to ensure preliminary understanding of Comfort Zone communication prior to exploring reasons for conflicting communication with clientele. Two basic categories summarize conflict between veterinarians and clients: expectations are misaligned and/or flexibility is insufficient between the two parties for simple resolve. The conversation shifts from the conversational Comfort Zone category to the Challenge Zone category with the very next 'Yes, but I ...... ' that is spoken. At least four options for response exist when conflict arises. Avoidance, Competition, Adaptation, and Cooperation generalize the choices. This discussion describes each response and its effect on the outcome, making the student of conversation dynamics internally aware which choice each party is making during the course of the conflict. Appropriate modification is then possible for redirection of communication. Overall, the presentation provides conflict analysis, enabling the trained professional to anticipate difficulty and thereby circumvent the negative encounter, or possess the tools for maneuvering when unexpected difficulty arises or bypass attempts fail. Unification of goals by both parties for the successful outcome of patient trouble produces success. Subsequent strengthening of the client-veterinary relationship ensures foundational growth for future positive encounter.
International Membrane Societies

The list below represents a diverse group of associations and societies that are active in the field of membrane science and technology. Keywords: associations; societies; desalination societies
Ecological Sustainability as a Conservation Concept

Like biodiversity, sustainability is a buzz word in current conservation discourse. And like biodiversity, sustainability evokes positive associations. According to Allen and Hoekstra (1993: 98), “everyone agrees that sustainability is a good thing.” Both sustainability and biodiversity, however, are at grave risk of being coopted by people primarily concerned about things other than biological conservation. As Noss (1995: 26) notes, “virtually everyone who has used the term sustainability seems to have had ‘human needs and aspirations’ as their primary concern.” Amgermeier (1994) and Angermeier and Karr (1994) point out that local biodiversity can be artificially increased (at least temporarily) by introducing nonindigenous species into a biotic community; and, indeed, sports fisherpersons more concerned about angling opportunities than about biological conservation have cloaked their argument for introducing nonindigenous game fish to the Great Lakes in the mantle of enhanced biodiversity (Thomas 1995).
Heteronormativity and practitioner–patient interaction

Heteronormativity is the presumption of heterosexuality as the default sexual orientation and can result in discrimination against the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) population. This study serves as one of the first experimental studies to examine heteronormative perceptions in communication and their effects on practitioner-patient relationships. LGB participants were randomly assigned to read either heteronormative or non-heteronormative vignettes of a doctor-patient interaction. They then indicated how much health-relevant information they would disclose to the doctor in the vignette and their level of trust in the doctor. In the heteronormative condition, participants were less likely to disclose health-relevant information to the doctor in the vignette and were less trustful of the doctor as compared to those in the non-heteronormative condition. These results have important health implications, as lack of disclosure and trust may prevent people from getting needed care and prevent doctors from giving the best health advice possible. The results of this study provide further evidence that there is a need for more education for all health care professionals to feel comfortable while respectfully communicating with and treating patients who do not identify as heterosexual in order to ensure the best health care experience.
The European Economic Crisis in a Global Context and its Originator

In this paper, the European economic crisis is discussed by examining chronologically the events that started in the U.S. (the originator) in August 2007 and due to globalization they continued in the highly indebted Euro-zone members. The common public policy and the common currency in Euro-area do not help the member-nations to improve their economies and overcome the recession because these countries are different and need each one its own policy and target interest rate. There were too many mistakes that led us to the latest financial crisis and authorities have to prevent these crises. The enormous debts in the U.S. and in the EU member-nations are unsustainable and new mixed public policies and regulations are needed to avoid similar negative effects in the future. Austerities and contractionary policies, during periods of recession (with negative growth of the real GDP and extremely high unemployment), are exactly the opposite of what the economies want and these anti-social policies are very suspicious for any thinking person. We have to go back to a value oriented socio-economic system, where humans will be in its center and core.
Distribution of myocardial blood flow after left coronary occlusion.

Abstract Myocardial blood flow (MBF) in eight anatomically similar canine left ventricles was determined by injection of radioactive microspheres during baseline conditions and immediately after sequential occlusion of the left anterior descending (LAD) and circumflex coronary arteries (LCF). The left ventricle was divided into: posterior, lateral, anterior, and septal zones, apex and base, and endocardial epicardial layers for mapping of left ventricular MBF by gamma counting. Areas with significant flow reduction showed a reversal of the ENDO/EPI ratio to
Bead‐spring model of dilute polymer solutions: Continuum modifications and an explicit constitutive equation

A continuum modification of the bead-spring (elastic dumbbell) theory of dilute solutions of linear macromolecules, recently introduced by Gordon and Schowalter, is used to obtain explicit constitutive equations for the stress and polarizability tensors. The stress constitutive equation, closely related to a semiempirical result obtained earlier by Spriggs, is superior in predictive capability to the constitutive equation obtained from the elastic dumbbell theory. Results are presented for steady shearing flow, large-amplitude oscillatory shearing, and stress relaxation following cessation of steady shearing and are compared with the results of the elastic and rigid dumbbell theories. In general, predictions are similar to those of the rigid dumbbell and thus are in qualitative agreement with experiment.
Acquisitions for Academic Medical and Health Sciences Librarians

Developing a library collection is one of the most important pursuits in medical librarianship. A library's collection is its foundation, and the collection is the central information resource upon which most library activities rely. Today's vision of the medical or health sciences collection must incorporate a broader range of materials, especially those in electronic and other nonbook formats. The increasing availability of information in electronic formats presents a new collection development challenge to librarians.
National Rates of Opportunity Entrepreneurship Activity: Insights from Institutional Anomie Theory:

We advance and test an institutional anomie theory of opportunity entrepreneurship for understanding the combinative effects of selected cultural values and social institutions to explain national differences in rates of opportunity entrepreneurship. We theorize opportunity entrepreneurship as a creatively deviant response to anomic conditions in societies, i.e., when social institutions block traditional means of achievement. Using 10 years of data for a pooled time series cross-sectional analysis, we examined a unique mixture of cultural and institutional variables and their interactions as predictors of nation-level opportunity entrepreneurship rates. We found support for most hypotheses showing that specific institutional contexts mitigate or enhance the effects of cultural drivers of opportunity entrepreneurship.
Carcinogen activation by human liver enzymes in the Ames mutagenicity test.

Abstract Liver post-mitochondrial supernatants derived from 10 individuals were used as the source of metabolic activation for carcinogens in the Ames quantitative mutagenicity test using Salmonella typhimurium TA 100. The liver samples were obtained from brain-dead donors and autopsy cases. The ability of human enzymes to activate aromatic amines ranged from undetectable to highly active for 2-acetylaminofluorene. None of the samples exhibited any ability to activate benzidine. A generally low activity was observed in the capability of human enzymes to activate the polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, 3-methylcholanthrene and benzo(a)pyrene. Most samples were positive for activating 4-nitrobiphenyl. However, the highest mutagenic activity in the presence of human enzymes was consistently observed for aflatoxin B 1 and sterigmatocystin. These results indicated that (a) human enzyme systems, like rodent systems, are more effective in inducing mutagenic activity from mycotoxins than aromatic amines and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and (b) samples derived from different individuals exhibited considerable variation in the ability to activate carcinogens belonging to a same class of compound.
Low-dose propofol for the treatment of postoperative emesis in children

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of intravenous (iv), low-dose propofol for the treatment of postoperative emesis in children. We performed a randomized, prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation in the ambulatory surgical unit on 90 healthy children, aged 1–16 yr following elective, outpatient surgery. After an episode of postoperative vomiting, patients were randomized to receive iv propofol, 0.25 mg kg−1, or an equivalent volume of 10% lipid emulsion (Intralipid®). A second dose of study drug was administered if emesis recurred. All episodes of emesis and postinjection sedation scores following study drug administration were recorded. The study was terminated after analysing the results of 45 children in each group. There were no complications in either study group. We concluded that propofol 0.25 mg kg−1 was not an effective treatment for postoperative emesis in healthy children undergoing elective outpatient surgery. It is possible that increasing the dose and/or the duration of administration may improve propofol's ability to treat postoperative emesis in children.
Convenient methods for the preparation of [5‐14C]‐4‐ipomeanol and [3H(G)]‐4‐ipomeanol of high specific radioactivity

Procedures are described for the preparation of radiolabeled 4-ipomeanol [1-(3-furyl)-4-hydroxypentanone], a highly selective pulmonary alkylating agent, of sufficiently high specific radioactivity for biochemical and autoradiographic studies. The 14C-labeled material is prepared from the reaction of ethyl 3-fur-oylacetate with [3-14C]-propylene oxide; the tritiated product is obtained by catalytic tritiation using T2O or tritium gas as the source of the radiolabel.
1678) Proposal to conserve the name Erucastrum against Kibera and Hirschfeldia (Brassicaceae)

Kibera Adans. is an obscure monotypic genus proposed by Adanson (Fam. PL 2: 417. 1763) to include a species originally described by Linnaeus (Sp. PL 2: 657. 1753) as Sisymbrium supinum L. However, Adanson (I.e.) did not make the actual transfer of S. supinum to Kibera. The genus was reduced by Candolle (Syst. Nat. 2: All. 1821) to a sec tion, Sisymbrium sect. Kibera (Adans.) DC, a placement followed by several subsequent works on Brassicaceae (e.g., Candolle, Prodr. 1: 194. 1824; Thellung in Hegi, 111. FI. Mitt.-Eur. 4: 156. 1916; Schulz in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV 105(Heft 86): 52. 1924; Schulz in Engler & Harms, Nat. Pflanzenfam, ed. 2, 17B: 592. 1936; Ball in Tutin & al, FI. Eur. 1: 264. 1964; ed. 2, 1: 319. 1993). A few other authors (e.g., Fournier, Recher. Anat. Taxon. Fam. Crucif: 76. 1865; Prantl in Engler & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 3(2): 170. 1890; Rouy & Foucaud, FI. France 2: 13. 1895) retained the species in Sisymbrium L. but assigned it to dif ferent sections.
Proposed mechanisms for cancer- and treatment-related cognitive changes.

Objectives To review the proposed mechanisms of cognitive changes associated with non-central nervous system cancers and cancer treatment. Data Sources Review and synthesis of databased publications and review articles. Conclusion Proposed mechanisms include cytokine upregulation, hormonal changes, neurotransmitter dysregulation, attentional fatigue, genetic predisposition, and comorbid symptoms. Implications for Nursing Practice Oncology nurses need to understand the multiple mechanisms that may contribute to the development of cancer- and treatment-related cognitive changes so that they can identify patients at high risk and help patients understand why these changes occur.