cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Unplanned postoperative intensive care unit admission for ovarian cancer cytoreduction is associated with significant decrease in overall survival

Abstract Objectives Previous studies have identified age, nutritional status, and hematocrit as risk factors for unplanned ICU admission in gynecologic oncology patients. We sought to identify additional perioperative factors that can be predictive of unplanned ICU admission and its impact on outcomes in women with ovarian cancer undergoing ovarian cancer cytoreductive procedures. Methods This was a case-control study of patients with unplanned ICU admission after primary surgery for ovarian cancer from January 2007 to December 2013. Controls were selected in a 2:1 ratio matching for primary surgeon and date of surgery. Clinical data was abstracted and compared between cases and controls using conditional logistic regression. Results The dataset consisted of 324 patients (108 ICU admissions, 216 controls). On multivariable analysis, failure to optimally cytoreduce ( p = 0.001, OR 3.76) and higher EBL ( p 3 ) remained significant predictors of unplanned ICU admission. On multivariable analysis of outcomes, ICU admission was independently associated with increased length of stay (12 days vs. 6 days, p p p = 0.041, OR 2.46). Even controlling for debulking status, ICU admission remained associated with a worse median OS (27.3 vs 57.9 months, p Conclusions ICU admission for women undergoing cytoreductive surgery for ovarian cancer is associated with a significant decrease in OS and increase in number of postoperative complications. For this inherently high-risk population, this information is critical when counseling patients about peri-operative risks in primary cytoreductive surgery.
The Accuracy of Multimodality Intraoperative Neuromonitoring to Predict Postoperative Neurologic Deficits Following Cervical Laminoplasty.

Background Intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) has been reported to be sensitive and specific in the detection of neurologic injury during spinal surgery. The purpose of this study was to clarify the incidence of C5 palsy using multimodality IONM and to compare the accuracy of multimodality IONM to predict postoperative C5 palsy with isolated transcranial motor evoked potentials (MEPs). Methods We retrospectively reviewed 135 consecutive patients at a single institution with cervical spondylotic myelopathy who underwent open door laminoplasty using MEPs combined with somatosensory evoked potentials and free-running electromyography. Results Multimodality IONM was obtained in 131 cases. Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament was present in 19 patients (14.1%). Postoperative C5 palsy occurred in 3 patients (2.2%). Significant MEP alerts occurred in 12 patients. Significant somatosensory evoked potential change was not observed. To predict acute-onset C5 palsy, MEP alerts in the deltoid or biceps had 100% sensitivity and 98.4% specificity. Transient or persistent MEP alerts in the deltoid or biceps had same positive predictive value with sensitivity of 50.0% and specificity 99.2%. Conclusions Incidence of any neurologic deficit, including C5 palsy, during laminoplasty while using multimodality IONM was relatively low. MEP alerts in the deltoids or biceps had 100% sensitivity and 98.4% specificity for predicting a postoperative deficit. Somatosensory evoked potentials did not appear to be helpful in predicting postoperative deficits.
A Twenty-Five Year Look into the Future of Research in the Nation—From the Point of View of the Electromechanical Industry

(1964). A Twenty-Five Year Look into the Future of Research in the Nation—From the Point of View of the Electromechanical Industry. Research Management: Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 5-18.
Fast CNN-Based Document Layout Analysis

Automatic document layout analysis is a crucial step in cognitive computing and processes that extract information out of document images, such as specific-domain knowledge database creation, graphs and images understanding, extraction of structured data from tables, and others. Even with the progress observed in this field in the last years, challenges are still open and range from accurately detecting content boxes to classifying them into semantically meaningful classes. With the popularization of mobile devices and cloud-based services, the need for approaches that are both fast and economic in data usage is a reality. In this paper we propose a fast one-dimensional approach for automatic document layout analysis considering text, figures and tables based on convolutional neural networks (CNN). We take advantage of the inherently one-dimensional pattern observed in text and table blocks to reduce the dimension analysis from bi-dimensional documents images to 1D signatures, improving significantly the overall performance: we present considerably faster execution times and more compact data usage with no loss in overall accuracy if compared with a classical bidimensional CNN approach.
Cancer nanomedicine: a review of recent success in drug delivery

Cancer continues to be one of the most difficult global healthcare problems. Although there is a large library of drugs that can be used in cancer treatment, the problem is selectively killing all the cancer cells while reducing collateral toxicity to healthy cells. There are several biological barriers to effective drug delivery in cancer such as renal, hepatic, or immune clearance. Nanoparticles loaded with drugs can be designed to overcome these biological barriers to improve efficacy while reducing morbidity. Nanomedicine has ushered in a new era for drug delivery by improving the therapeutic indices of the active pharmaceutical ingredients engineered within nanoparticles. First generation nanomedicines have received widespread clinical approval over the past two decades, from Doxil® (liposomal doxorubicin) in 1995 to Onivyde® (liposomal irinotecan) in 2015. This review highlights the biological barriers to effective drug delivery in cancer, emphasizing the need for nanoparticles for improving therapeutic outcomes. A summary of different nanoparticles used for drug delivery applications in cancer are presented. The review summarizes recent successes in cancer nanomedicine in the clinic. The clinical trials of Onivyde leading to its approval in 2015 by the Food and Drug Adminstration are highlighted as a case study in the recent clinical success of nanomedicine against cancer. Next generation nanomedicines need to be better targeted to specifically destroy cancerous tissue, but face several obstacles in their clinical development, including identification of appropriate biomarkers to target, scale-up of synthesis, and reproducible characterization. These hurdles need to be overcome through multidisciplinary collaborations across academia, pharmaceutical industry, and regulatory agencies in order to achieve the goal of eradicating cancer. This review discusses the current use of clinically approved nanomedicines, the investigation of nanomedicines in clinical trials, and the challenges that may hinder development of the nanomedicines for cancer treatment.
Initial Model Building and Least Squares Estimation for Vector AR Models

In this chapter, preliminary model specification techniques based on sample statistics such as correlations and partial correlations are first introduced and discussed. Least squares estimation for vector AR models and associated tests of hypothesis for the order of the AR model are emphasized. Properties of least squares estimates for vector AR models are discussed. Additional methods for initial specification and selection of an appropriate ARMA model, including the use of canonical correlation methods and information-theoretic model selection criteria such as AIC and BIC, are also explored.
Review of the Sixth International Symposium on Poetic Inquiry: Breaking Through the Abstract: Poetry as/in/for Social Justice

This is a review of the 6th International Symposium on Poetic Inquiry held at Bowling Green State University, and graciously hosted by Sandra Faulkner. This symposium meets biennially with presenters from many different areas of the world such as Nova Scotia, Canada, and New Zealand. The theme this year was poetry in/as/for social justice. In this review, I seek to think through some of the questions and uncertainties that arose over the course of the few days we met in November. We complicated meanings of social justice at this contemporary time and revisited formulations of social justice through past events. Within this review, I write a personal/theoretical piece embedded with citations from poets, and in the end compose a poem that is an amalgamation of language from presenters’ abstracts and my own ideas.
Reducing Student Hint Use by Creating Buggy Messages from Machine Learned Incorrect Processes

The goal of this research is to improve existing forms of help in tutoring systems by using “Buggy” messages, which are a simple text message specific to the incorrect answer. Buggy messages are created from machine learned incorrect processes based on the student’s incorrect answer. A randomized control trial is run in ASSISTments to determine if the buggy messages were effective.
Identification of a novel TRPA1 mutation associated with carbamazepine-responsive cramp-fasciculation syndrome (S45.008)

Objective: To identify a genetic cause for familial cramp-fasciculation syndrome (CFS). Background: CFS is a muscle hyperexcitability syndrome that may present not only with muscle cramps, stiffness, and fasciculations, but also with pain, generalized fatigue, anxiety, hyperreflexia, and paresthesias. The clinical features of CFS and improvement with carbamazepine suggest that it may represent a cation channelopathy. Although familial cases have been reported, a genetic etiology for CFS has yet to be identified. Design/Methods: Whole exome sequencing was performed on a father-son pair with carbamazepine-responsive CFS. After filtering for common genetic variations, only seven candidate single nucleotide variants were validated and found to be present in both affected subjects. Disease segregation analyses carried out in four unaffected family members were used to reduce this to a single disease-segregating mutation. An ethnicity-matched control population was used to assess the pathogenicity of this mutation. Results: We identified a novel mutation in the transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 ion channel ( TRPA1; MIM #615040) gene in subjects with CFS. This disease-segregating TRPA1 mutation (c.2755C>T) resulted in a premature stop codon at amino-acid 919 (p.Arg919Stop), and was found to be absent in the control population. TRPA1 is a widely distributed, promiscuous plasmalemmal cation channel activated by endogenous and environmental irritants. TRPA1 has been associated with the pathogenesis of pain, paresthesias, and inflammation, and is therefore under investigation as a potential therapeutic target for pain and muscle cramps. The identified mutation was localized to the putative selectivity filter of TRPA1 , a region implicated in the pore dilatation process, and thus the degree to which TRPA1 is activated by noxious stimuli. Conclusions: Autosomal dominant CFS is associated with a novel mutation in the putative selectivity filter of TRPA1 . These findings further clarify the functional role of human TRPA1 , and underscore the importance of this ion channel as a potential therapeutic target. Study Supported by: This work was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institute of Health (R01NS079388). MJN also receives support from the New York Stem Cell Foundation. Disclosure: Dr. Biller has nothing to disclose. Dr. Paisan-Ruiz has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gilbert has nothing to disclose. Dr. Chaouni has nothing to disclose. Dr. Nirenberg has nothing to disclose.
The State of Statistical Authorship Studies in 1984

By adding this chapter on authorship problems 20 years after the original appearance of this book, we give a general idea of the state of the field, of its strengths and weaknesses, and of where some challenging problems and useful work on authorship might lie. Because whole books are now appearing in the area, we want only to portray the state and thrust of the art of authorship resolution. Although we may make an occasional critical remark, our intention is to contribute to the overall assessment, rather than to a specific study. Essentially we treat the time period since Bailey’s (1969) review paper.
Parathyroid Hormone in Aging Rat

One of the first clear documentations that the physiological system undergoes aging was made over twenty-five years ago by Nathan Shock (1). He measured the indices of the physiological functions of many organ systems and demonstrated that their functional efficiency declined progressively with advancing age. Although this finding has acquired the status of a logo in the field of gerontological research on account of the frequency of its presentation at scientific meetings, the data on which it is based have been criticized especially because they are cross-sectional and, therefore, subject to interpretational problems. Also, some of the data such as the decline with aging in basal metabolic rate have been contested, and some physiological indices such as blood cholesterol and blood pressure actually go up rather than down with advancing age. In addition, there is increasing concern regarding the difficulties in determining whether an age-related physiological decline is a manifestation of primary aging processes or is secondary to extrinsic factors such as disease or lifestyle (2, 3).
Management of N0 neck in early oral squamous cell carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective The role of elective neck dissection (END) in patients with stage I (T1N0) and II (T2N0) squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity remains a controversial topic. We investigate the need for END by establishing a true incidence of occult nodal disease as a function of T stage DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Scopus. Review methods Studies were selected using a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta-analysis using a random-effects model was employed to generate an odds ratio (OR) comparing the incidence of occult metastasis between T1 and T2 tumors, as well as regional recurrence rates between patients receiving END versus observation. Results Thirty-nine publications comprising five randomized controlled trials and 34 retrospective studies were selected for inclusion, yielding over 4,300 patients for analysis. The overall incidence of occult nodal metastasis, weighted by study size, was found to be 23%. Patients with T2 tumors have a significantly higher odds of having occult nodal disease (OR: 2.6, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.0-3.4) over patients with T1 tumors. We also demonstrate that for patients who are observed, the odds of recurrence are significantly higher (OR: 4.18, 95% CI: 2.78-6.28) compared to those who undergo END, although statistically significant interstudy heterogeneity was observed. Conclusions END should be reserved for stage II tumors given the significantly higher rate of occult metastasis. Observation may be more appropriate for stage I cancers. Laryngoscope, 129:E284-E298, 2019.
A retrospective cohort study of fetal assessment following preterm premature rupture of membranes.

Objective To evaluate maternal and neonatal outcomes following management of preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) by two fetal assessment strategies. Methods In a retrospective cohort study performed at two hospitals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between July 2010 and June 2015, data were reviewed from 180 singleton pregnancies with PPROM at 230 -336 weeks of gestation that underwent expectant management. Outcomes were compared between continuous electronic fetal heart monitoring (EFM) with daily biophysical profile (BPP) ("continuous monitoring") and non-stress test (NST) three times per day ("periodic monitoring") using Mann-Whitney U and Fisher exact tests. Results Overall, 119 (66.1%) pregnancies were assessed by continuous monitoring and 61 (33.9%) by periodic monitoring. There was no difference in frequency of intrauterine death between the continuous monitoring (1, 0.8%) and periodic monitoring (3, 4.9%) groups (OR, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.02-1.61). The continuous monitoring group was more likely to have an interventional (OR, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.06-4.44) or cesarean (OR 3.30, 95% CI 1.70-6.38) delivery. Conclusion Continuous EFM with daily BPP was associated with higher rates of intervention and cesarean delivery compared with periodic NST, but there was no difference in intrauterine or perinatal mortality.
Slaves of Vision: The VR World

Films are becoming more and more like videogames in terms of spectacle and special effects, but without the game-playing aspect of controlling the narrative, the viewer’s interest almost immediately wanes. The essence of video game playing is control over the synthetic universe that one is immersed in. This explains why video games usually don’t translate well to the big screen, even in Imax formats, because there’s no interaction between the viewer and the image; it’s a passive experience. With synthetic cinema, the real world has been effectively shut out. It doesn’t matter where you are in a genuine physical sense because you’re no longer part of actual existence, having traded it in for a fantasy world.
Can a digital whiteboard foster student engagement

The application of technology, such as interactive digital whiteboards, in the online environment of higher education, is growing at an accelerated pace. Much is known about the tools used in an on...
Forced Motions of Elastic Rods

Abstract : A formal solution is presented of the equations of motion, the stress-strain relationships, and the boundary conditions in Mindlin and Herrmann's 1-dimensional theory of vibrations of rods incorporating the effects of radial inertia and shear deformation (Proc. US Nat. Cong. Appl. Mech., Chicago, 1951). Lagrange's equations of motion are used to develop solutions for a rod of finite length and any admissible combination of time-dependent boundary displacements and arbitrary initial conditions.
Teddybear: Enabling Efficient Seamless Container Migration in User-Owned Edge Platforms

Fog and cloud computing are becoming increasingly popular as computational offloading platforms. However, many areas throughout the world either do not have a stable enough network connection to effectively use cloud computing, or do not have the required infrastructure or resources to set up fog nodes. Moreover, many application categories such as cognitive assistance and augmented reality applications require single digit latency, which both cloud and fog cannot provide. As such, these areas can benefit tremendously from edge computing. To ensure single digit latency, Edge nodes are typically other co-located devices within single-hop proximity. Having said that, due to user mobility, single edge devices set up at home will not provide the required latency if the user is on the move. Therefore, we introduce Teddybear, a Docker based system that seamlessly and efficiently migrates server containers between edge computing platforms by utilizing both the Internet and the user's mobile device as a carrier for the container. We show how Teddybear can continue to provide ultra-low latency services to users on the move in areas with poor network bandwidths/infrastructures, with minimal service downtime as they change locations.
Evidence for possible association of vitamin D status with cytokine storm and unregulated inflammation in COVID-19 patients.

We present evidence for a possible role of Vitamin D (VitD) deficiency in unregulated cytokine production and inflammation leading to complications in COVID-19 patients. The time-adjusted case mortality ratio (T-CMR) was estimated as the ratio of deceased patients on day N to the confirmed cases on day N-8. The adaptive average of T-CMR (A-CMR) was calculated as a metric of COVID-19 associated mortality. A model based on positivity change (PC) and an estimated prevalence of COVID-19 was used to determine countries with similar screening strategies. A possible association of A-CMR with the mean concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) in elderly individuals in countries with similar screening strategy was investigated. We considered high C-reactive protein (CRP) in severe COVID-19 patients (CRP ≥ 1 mg/dL) as a surrogate of a cytokine storm. We considered high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) in healthy subjects as hs-CRP ≥ 0.2 mg/dL. A link between 25(OH)D and A-CMR in countries with similar screening strategy is evidence for VitD’s possible role in reducing unregulated cytokine production and inflammation among patients with severe COVID-19. We observed an odds ratio (OR) of 1.8 with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) (1.2 to 2.6) and an OR of 1.9 with 95% CI (1.4 to 2.7) for hs-CRP in VitD deficient elderly from low-income families and high-income families, respectively. COVID-19 patient-level data show an OR of 3.4 with 95% CI (2.15 to 5.4) for high CRP in severe COVID-19 patients. We conclude that future studies on VitD’s role in reducing cytokine storm and COVID-19 mortality are warranted.
Tobacco-Free Home Rules and Association with Adolescent Smoking Initiation

Background Promoting smoke-free home policies have been a key public health strategy credited with declining rates of cigarette initiation. Awareness of risk for initiation of new products such as e-cigarettes, nicotine dependence, and serious health consequences has led legislators, clinicians, and parents to discuss how best to protect adolescents from using. Parental monitoring and enforcement of rules has been shown to influence adolescent health behaviors. Methods This is a secondary analysis of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, a longitudinal household survey …
Eyes on the Horizon: Temporal and Social Perspectives of Climate Risk and Agricultural Decision Making among Climate-Informed Farmers

Climate change adaptation requires that we anticipate future conditions that may deviate from our historical experiences. Our ability to do so is associated with the perceived proximity of decision...
Ionization Energies and Dyson Orbitals of the Iso-electronic SO2, O3, and S3 Molecules from Electron Propagator Calculations.

Adiabatic and vertical ionization energies corresponding to the X A12, A B22, and B A22 final states of SO2+, O3+, and S3+ have been calculated with a variety of electron-propagator and coupled-cluster methods. The BD-T1 electron-propagator method for vertical ionization energies and coupled-cluster adiabatic and zero-point corrections yield agreement with experiment to within 0.1 eV in all cases but one. The remaining discrepancies for the A B22 state of SO2+ indicate a need for higher levels of theory in determining cationic minima and their accompanying vibrational frequencies. Predictions for the still unobserved A B22 and B A22 final states of S3+ are included. To account for increased biradical character in O3 and S3, highly correlated reference states are required to produce the correct order of final states. Electron correlation plays a subtle role in determining the contours of the Dyson orbitals obtained with BD-T1 and NR2 electron-propagator calculations.
Fourier Transform Approximation as an Auxiliary Task for Image Classification.

Image reconstruction is likely the most predominant auxiliary task for image classification, but we would like to think twice about this convention. In this paper, we investigated "approximating the Fourier Transform of the input image" as a potential alternative, in the hope that it may further boost the performances on the primary task or introduce novel constraints not well covered by image reconstruction. We experimented with five popular classification architectures on the CIFAR-10 dataset, and the empirical results indicated that our proposed auxiliary task generally improves the classification accuracy. More notably, the results showed that in certain cases our proposed auxiliary task may enhance the classifiers' resistance to adversarial attacks generated using the fast gradient sign method.
A supportive physiologic environment for the extreme premature infant: Improving life outside the womb

Extreme prematurity remains an unsolved problem and is the leading cause of pediatric mortality and morbidity in developed countries. The extreme premature infant is physiologically a fetus, and current supportive measures in our NICUs are for the most part non-physiologic. In order to improve morbidity and mortality in this population, we have developed the Extra-uterine environment for newborn development (EXTEND) system which seeks to mimic as closely as possible the environment of the womb. The primary components of EXTEND include a sterile fluid environment, a pumpless arteriovenous extracorporeal oxygenator circuit, and vascular access via umbilical arterial and venous vessels. While supported on the EXTEND system, premature fetal lambs grow and develop normally for up to 4 weeks. Fetal physiology is maintained, and detailed organ system analysis supports normal development. This article summarizes current progress in the development of EXTEND, the pathway for human translation, ethical considerations related to EXTEND, and anticipated clinical applications of this potentially paradigm changing technology. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.
Playing with Purpose: Adventures in Performative Social Science

Distilling decades of work spanning their prestigious careers, Mary M. and Kenneth J. Gergen make a strong case for enriching the social sciences through performative work. They present a unique exploration of the origins of performative social science and provide an intellectually rich overview of its significance in the field, as well as its evolving potential. Many of their own performance pieces are included in the volume. The authors envision a broadening of the social sciences, making it more accessible to non-experts and opening up new dialogues between society and science-and changing the world in the process. Social scientists and researchers will gain a valuable new perspective from this insightful tome.
Chapter 16 The Chemistry of the Cinchona Alkaloids

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the chemistry of the cinchona alkaloids. The cinchona alkaloids are found in the bark of Cinchona and Remijia species, which are indigenous to the high eastern slopes of the Andes from 10°N to 20°S latitude. The great demand for the alkaloids in medicine has led to extensive and successful cultivation and breeding in India, Ceylon, and the Dutch East Indies. Cinchona preparations were introduced into medical use in Europe in the early seventeenth century, and were popularized through the efforts of the wife of the then Spanish Viceroy of Peru, the Countess of Chinchon, who in 1638 was successfully treated for malaria through administration of the hitherto little known remedy. The investigations which culminated in the determination of the structures of the cinchona alkaloids have long been established as a classic of organic chemistry. It is worthy of note that much of knowledge of the chemistry of quinoline and pyridine derivatives, and thence, of heterocyclic compounds in general, had its inception in the results of degradative studies on quinine and its congeners.
EGFR-targeted diphtheria toxin kills glioma cells and epithelial cells via distinct apoptotic mechanisms

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 45, 2004 4876 Malignant gliomas, which comprise the majority of the almost 20,000 primary brain cancers that are diagnosed each year in the US, respond very poorly to current therapies with fewer than 20% of patients surviving for more than two years. This dismal prognosis underscores an urgent need to develop improved treatments for this disease. One class of novel therapies that hold promise for treating these cancers are targeted fusion toxins, which consist of a targeting protein such as a growth factor fused to a bacterial toxin such as diphtheria toxin. The fusion toxin is directed to the tumor cells via the targeting molecule, taken into the cells through receptor endocytosis then the toxin is released resulting in tumor cell death. We have previously shown that a recombinant toxin consisting of EGF fused to diphtheria toxin (DAB389EGF) effectively kills glioma cells and this molecule is viewed as a promising agent for treating glioma. However there is little information available regarding the molecular mechanisms through which targeted toxins kill tumor cells. We and others have shown that in other cell types similar toxins kill by inducing caspase-dependent apoptosis. Here we show that DAB389EGF kills both epithelial cells and glioma cells with similar efficiency. However, while epithelial cells display robust caspase activation that is mediated through well known apoptosis regulators, glioma cells treated with DAB39EGF do not activate caspases. The lack of caspase activation was specific to the targeted toxin because other apoptotic stimuli such as Fas ligand could cause robust caspase activation in both glioma and epithelial cells. In agreement with these findings, the morphology of the dying epithelial cells and glioma cells was markedly different as shown by time-lapse microscopy. These data show that targeted diphtheria toxins kill glioma cells through a novel caspase-independent mechanism that is different from their mode of action in other cell types. The mechanism of cell death that is induced by an anti-neoplastic agent can determine the efficacy of a treatment and the type of resistance mechanism that arise. Further studies to determine the mechanism of glioma cell killing should therefore improve our ability to use DAB389EGF and similar targeted toxins to treat gliomas.
The agency model for digital goods: Strategic analysis of dual channels in electronic publishing industry

The advent of digital goods has made a significant impact on the current traditional (physical) goods markets for items such as movies, music, video games, and books. Firms that manage both a traditional and a digital goods distribution channels are facing many emerging operational challenges. One of the most pivotal challenges is the supply chain contract model for the distribution of digital goods alongside their traditional counterparts. Recently, the agency model utilized by the e-book publishing industry has been highlighted in the press as a result of the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit against Apple, Inc. The regulators claim that the agency model is hurting this industry as well as the consumer's welfare because e-book prices have increased after the introduction of agency model. We investigate the strategic impact of the agency model by formulating a dual channel model in comparison with the prevalent wholesale model. Contrary to current press presaging the negative impact of the agency model, we find that the equilibrium price of digital goods is lower in the agency model than in the wholesale model. Furthermore, the agency model can mitigate the double marginalization effect of the supply chain and improve the consumers' surplus.
Terahertz emission using quantum dots and microcavities

This article discusses about material and device-design considerations for extending semiconductor lasers to the tetrahertz regime. Semiconductor-based laser sources have recently become available in the THz regime using a quantum cascade laser design. A new set of device structures based on a semiconductor quantum dot gain medium is discussed.
Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise? The Impact of the Old Age Assistance Program on Elderly Mortality in the United States

How much have government programs improved elderly well-being? I examine the impact of OAA on mortality between 1930-1955. I construct two new data sets: a database on OAA, and a database on elderly mortality. To control for the joint determination of income and mortality, I use a simulated IV approach that relies on exogenous changes in OAA legislation. I find substantial reductions in mortality for vulnerable elderly groups, especially poor males. Mortality decreased mainly because of declines in risky behavior, infectious diseases (after the introduction of antibiotics), and suicides. Household survey analyses reveal changes in consumption consistent with these patterns.
The Use of Monetary Aggregate to Target Nominal GDP

This paper studies the possibility of using the broad monetary aggregate M2 to target the quarterly rate of growth of nominal GDP. Our findings indicate that the Federal Reserve could probably guide M2 in a way that reduces not only the long-term average rate of inflation but also the variance of the annual rate of growth of nominal GDP. An optimal M2 rule, derived from a simple VAR, reduces the mean ten-year standard deviation of annual GDP growth by over 20 percent. Although there is uncertainty about this value because of both parameter uncertainty and stochastic shocks to the economy, we estimate that the probability that the annual variance would be reduced over a ten year period exceeds 85 percent. A much simpler policy based on a single equation linking M2 and GDP is shown to be almost as successful in reducing this annual GDP variance. Additional statistical tests indicate that M2 is a useful predictor of nominal GDP. Moreover, a battery of recently developed tests for parameter stability fails to reject the hypothesis that the M2 - GDP link is stable, but the MI - GDP and monetary base - GDP relations are found to be highly unstable. This evidence contradicts those who have argued that the M2 - GDP relation is so unstable in the short run that it cannot be used to reduce the variance of nominal GDP growth.
On the Homogeneous Decomposition of Graphs

We introduce and investigate the notion of p-connectedness. As it turns out, this concepts leads naturally to a unique tree representation for arbitrary graphs: the leaves of this tree are the p-connected components along with weak vertices, that is, vertices of the graph that belong to no p-connected component. By refining this first result, we obtain a new decomposition for arbitrary graphs that generalizes the well-known modular decomposition. ...
DISLOCATION REACTIONS AT GRAIN BOUNDARIES AND THEIR ROLE IN THE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF CRYSTALLINE INTERFACES

ABSTRACT This article addresses some fundamental aspects regarding interaction between crystal dislocations and grain boundaries. Emphasis is placed on the various dislocation reactions at the interfaces as they affect the mechanical properties of the grain boundaries. The rudiments of grain boundary structure characterization are discussed. The basic concepts on dislocation reactions at grain boundaries are described. This is followed by a summary of our recent work which shows that dislocation reactions at grain boundaries plays an important role in mechanical properties of crystalline interfaces.
Bacillus anthracis: interactions with the host and establishment of inhalational anthrax.

Due to its potential as a bioweapon, Bacillus anthracis has received a great deal of attention in recent years, and a significant effort has been devoted to understanding how this organism causes anthrax. There has been a particular focus on the inhalational form of the disease, and studies over the past several years have painted an increasingly complex picture of how B. anthracis enters the mammalian host, survives the host’s defense mechanisms, disseminates throughout the body and causes death. This article reviews recent advances in these areas, with a focus on how the bacterium interacts with its host in establishing infection and causing anthrax.
Møller–Plesset perturbation theory: from small molecule methods to methods for thousands of atoms

The development of Moller–Plesset perturbation theory (MPPT) has seen four different periods in almost 80 years. In the first 40 years (period 1), MPPT was largely ignored because the focus of quantum chemists was on variational methods. After the development of many-body perturbation theory by theoretical physicists in the 1950s and 1960s, a second 20-year long period started, during which MPn methods up to order n = 6 were developed and computer-programed. In the late 1980s and in the 1990s (period 3), shortcomings of MPPT became obvious, especially the sometimes erratic or even divergent behavior of the MPn series. The physical usefulness of MPPT was questioned and it was suggested to abandon the theory. Since the 1990s (period 4), the focus of method development work has been almost exclusively on MP2. A wealth of techniques and approaches has been put forward to convert MP2 from a O(M5) computational problem into a low-order or linear-scaling task that can handle molecules with thousands of atoms. In addition, the accuracy of MP2 has been systematically improved by introducing spin scaling, dispersion corrections, orbital optimization, or explicit correlation. The coming years will see a continuously strong development in MPPT that will have an essential impact on other quantum chemical methods. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. WIREs Comput Mol Sci 2011 1 509–530 DOI: 10.1002/wcms.58
Alcohol consumption associated with collegiate American football pre-game festivities.

Internationally, sporting events represent a specific context in which heavy episodic drinking is common. The current study assessed determinants of heavy episodic drinking among tailgaters (i.e., individuals engaging in pre-game social festivities) prior to American football games at two large universities. A total of 466 individuals at two universities completed a short interview and provided a breathalyzer sample to estimate breath alcohol content (BrAC) during the tailgating (pregaming) window (150min prior to and 10min after the start of the game). The plurality of participants, 48.5% at the southeastern university (School1) and 58.8% at the midwestern university (School2), engaged in heavy episodic drinking. Only 54 individuals (11.6%) from the combined sample at both universities abstained from alcohol (confirmed via BrAC). In total, 40.2% of participants at School1 and 31.9% at School2 produced breath samples over the legal limit for driving (i.e., BrAC=0.08 or higher). In site-specific regression analyses, younger ages, males, and non-students at School1, and younger ages and non-game attendance at School2 were associated with self-reported heavy episodic drinking and higher levels of estimated BrAC (p Language: en
Effect of glass fiber sizing on the cure kinetics of vinyl–ester resins

Abstract The cure characteristics of thermosetting resins are affected by the presence of reinforcements as a result of surface–resin interactions. Surface treatments and sizing can significantly affect such interactions; hence, sizing or surface treatment selection may significantly affect resin cure characteristics. This is of particular concern in the processing of composite materials, since neat resin cure characteristics often will not provide the appropriate basis for predicting the cure behavior of the composite. In this work, the effect of several commercially sized S-2 glass systems on the cure of vinyl–ester resin was investigated. Generally, a significant increase in the cure rate of the glass-modified systems is observed. Furthermore, a relationship between the surface energy characteristics of the fibers and the degree of cure acceleration is established, and possible mechanisms for the effect are discussed. It is apparent that sizing selection can significantly affect cure processes for vinyl–ester systems.
Characteristics of initial and reinduced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

The factors which influence expression of autoimmune disease in the central nervous system are still poorly understood. We determined the characteristics ofexperimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in twelve different inbred strains of mice using either mouse spinal cord homogenate or synthetic peptides as the encephalitogen. We also determined whether these strains were susceptible to reinduction of EAE at six weeks after the initial injection. The incidence, time of onset, severity, duration, and number of spontaneous relapses varied widely among the different strains. Duration of initial EAE correlated significantly with incidence of spontaneous relapses, and was greatest in C57L mice and in mice with a C57BL/10 background. Most strains of mice recovered from initial EAE, but recovery was unusual in A.SW and PERA mice. Incidence of reinduced EAE differed from incidence of initial EAE in some strains and did not correlate with incidence of spontaneous relapse. We conclude that the same factors control disease duration and incidence of spontaneous relapse, and that these factors are independent of the factors which control initial incidence. The factors controlling incidence of reinduced EAE are distinct from those controlling spontaneous relapse, and may also differ from those controlling initial incidence. Further investigation of the mechanisms effecting recovery from EAE and the genetic background underlying those mechanisms may help us understand human diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
Geometrical parameters controlling sensitivity of nanoshell plasmon resonances to changes in dielectric environment

In this study, we investigate the geometrical parameters that control the sensitivity of the plasmon resonance wavelength of a silica−gold nanoshell to changes in its dielectric environment. It was found that the magnitude of the SPR frequency shift upon a change in refractive index of the embedding medium depends primarily on total nanoparticle size and less sensitively on the core/shell ratio. Immobilized nanoshells on a glass substrate showed a 25% decrease in magnitude of the SPR shifts; however, sensitivities as large as Δλ/Δn = 555.4 nm/RIU were obtained for this geometry.
Some counterexamples in robust stability theory

This note deals with the problem of determining if a linear system whose characteristics polynomial depends multilinearly on n independent uncertain real parameters Δi, i = 1,…,n, is robustly stable. It is shown by example that a polynomial in n variables may have a unique real root, and that this observation disposes of several natural conjectures in robust stability theory. In particular, we show that, in a certain sense, there are no ‘edge’ or ‘m-dimensional face’ Kharitonov-like theorems for the general multilinear case. The result holds even when restricted to that subset of multilinear functions which can be written in the form f(Δ1,…, Δn) = det(I + diag(Δ1,…,Δn)M) for some complex matrix M.
Material Effects in Shear-Induced Hemolysis

A rotating-disk apparatus for shearing blood was employed to compare 22 materials for their tendency to cause hemolysis during standardized low-stress (130 dynes/cm2 maximum) laminar flow conditions. Rigid plastics, hydrogels, and carbons were among the materials tested. Time-independent ranking of the materials was possible for 75% of the data; these rankings correlated linearly (for polymers) with the critical surface tension gammac over the range 20--46 dyne/cm, with low gammac being associated with low hemolysis. Surface morphology was also found to influence hemolysis. Roughness in the 1--15 micron range had a distinct effect on hemolysis kinetics for polyethylene surfaces. This suggest that failure to find time-independence in 25% of the material rankings can be attributed to inadequate control of the roughness variable. It also emphasizes the importance of surface morphology, as well as surface chemistry, as a biocompatibility parameter.
Prediction and validation of diffusion coefficients in a model drug delivery system using microsecond atomistic molecular dynamics simulation and vapour sorption analysis

Diffusion of small to medium sized molecules in polymeric medical device materials underlies a broad range of public health concerns related to unintended leaching from or uptake into implantable medical devices. However, obtaining accurate diffusion coefficients for such systems at physiological temperature represents a formidable challenge, both experimentally and computationally. While molecular dynamics simulation has been used to accurately predict the diffusion coefficients, D, of a handful of gases in various polymers, this success has not been extended to molecules larger than gases, e.g., condensable vapours, liquids, and drugs. We present atomistic molecular dynamics simulation predictions of diffusion in a model drug eluting system that represent a dramatic improvement in accuracy compared to previous simulation predictions for comparable systems. We find that, for simulations of insufficient duration, sub-diffusive dynamics can lead to dramatic over-prediction of D. We present useful metrics for monitoring the extent of sub-diffusive dynamics and explore how these metrics correlate to error in D. We also identify a relationship between diffusion and fast dynamics in our system, which may serve as a means to more rapidly predict diffusion in slowly diffusing systems. Our work provides important precedent and essential insights for utilizing atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to predict diffusion coefficients of small to medium sized molecules in condensed soft matter systems.
Childhood vaccination against chickenpox: An analysis of benefits and costs

Objective. To estimate the economic costs and benefits of routine childhood vaccination against varicella infection. Design. Decision-analytic model of the incidence and costs of chickenpox in children assumed to receive varicella vaccine at age 15 months in conjunction with the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, or not to be vaccinated against varicella. Patients. Hypothetical cohort of 100,000 children. Main outcome measures. Costs of vaccination, cumulative incidence of chickenpox to age 25 years, and related disease costs, including medical treatment and work loss. Results. Vaccination of 100,000 children against varicella at age 15 months would cost $4,812,000. The expected number of cases of chickenpox to age 25 years would be reduced from 95,400 to 4800; costs of medical treatment and work loss would correspondingly decline by $1,678,000 and $9,781,000, respectively. On balance, vaccination is estimated to yield net economic benefits of $6,647,000, or $66.47 per vaccinee. Conclusion. Vaccination against varicella infection is cost-effective and should be part of the routine immunization schedule for U.S. children.
The political character of computerization in service organizations: citizen interests or bureaucratic control

This article explores the provocative question; Are computerized systems at the local government level bringing about new services and more equitable distribution of service benefits and costs, or are they more likely to be instruments of political elites, reinforcing the traditional distribu tion of values and services? An empirical examina tion of computing investments by American local governments supports the second alternative: com puting investments appear to be oriented toward governmental efficiency and enhancing the choices of top-level administrators, rather than toward direct service delivery and increasing the choices of citizens.
Dynamics Decomposition for Stewart Platforms

This paper shows that special features of the Stewart platform can lead to the decomposition of the moving plate and the legs in the dynamic analysis. Formulas for evaluating, separately, the driving forces needed for the movement of the legs are developed for studying the combined inertia effect of all the leg rotations in a Stewart platform. The proposed formulation is easy to implement for Stewart platforms with nonnegligible leg inertia.