cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Business regulation and business investment: evidence from US manufacturing 1970–2009

Regulation is often portrayed as placing a substantial burden on US businesses and the overall US economy. Moreover, policy options of “cutting red tape” and “reducing federal bureaucracy” are often asserted to be a way to stimulate investment and, through this channel, a way to promote economic growth. This paper examines the relationship between growth in regulatory restrictions in the Code of Federal Regulations and manufacturing investment in the United States over the 1970–2009 period. An industry-level dataset is constructed by mapping the novel industry-specific RegData dataset from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University to the comprehensive industry-specific manufacturing data in the NBER-CES Manufacturing Industry Database. In total, the constructed dataset includes 337 manufacturing industries. This approach yields substantial evidence that increased business regulation is associated with decreased business investment.
Pore Size of Shale Based on Acyclic Pore Model

The transport properties inside a nanosize conduit, such as viscosity and density, deviate from those reported at unconfined conditions with an identical pressure and temperature. The deviation from the nominal value is well studied for the simple topology in nanofluidics. A straight circular tube is an example of a simple topology. The pore space inside the matrix of a shale formation is also a nanofluidic system, because its characteristic size is smaller than or equal to 100 nm, but it includes a complex structure. With this in mind, we determine the pore-throat and pore-body size distributions of different shales whose data are available in the literature. The main objective is to quantitatively distinguish the two sizes, whose importance is overlooked in the study of shale formations. The pore-throat size distribution is determined from mercury injection capillary pressure measurements, and the pore-body size distribution is derived from nitrogen adsorption–desorption. The acyclic pore model, which is physically representative of the pore space at the core scale, allows us to interpret the petrophysical measurements. Our study of different shales shows that the average pore-body size is usually larger than 20 nm; thus, there is no need to account for the pore proximity (confinement). The pore-throat size distributions of different shales usually fall below 20 nm, which entails the modification of a transport property that is relevant to the formation resistance against the flow.
Kirkanson, Inc. (A)

This case study introduces students to the nuances of deal structuring between company founders and venture capital firms. Specifically, the learning objectives for the case exercise include the following: (1) apply the venture capital method to value entrepreneurial ventures and structure financing between entrepreneurial firms and venture capitalists; (2) use capitalization (cap) tables to understand the dilution effects of multiple rounds of venture financing; and (3) gain an appreciation for the importance of arriving at a realistic value estimate for the entrepreneurial firms that gives the firm and its founders the best chances of long-run success.
Impact of Pedigree Information and Genome Assembly Errors on Inference of SNP Haplotypes in Cattle

The impact of pedigree information and SNP location determined from either the UMD3.1 genome sequence assembly or the USDA-AIPL map on phasing accuracy were evaluated for 2 chromosomes in 2,778 parent verified Angus sire/offspring pairs. DAGPHASE (Druet and Georges, 2010), using a single generation pedigree was superior to BEAGLE software (Browning and Browning, 2007) for phasing. Results based on USDA-AIPL map are closer to expectation than those based on UMD3.1, but the difference is not significant. Recombination hotspots weredetected near 4 and 82Mb on BTA14, and near 25Mb on BTA15.
EPH RECEPTOR TYROSINE KINASES: MODULATORS OF ANGIOGENESIS

Angiogenesis, or the outgrowth of new sprouts from pre-existing vessels, involves a complex cascade of events. Among the diverse array of molecules involved in angiogenesis, receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) have emerged as critical mediators of neovascularization. This review will focus on the youngest family of essential vascular RTKs, the Eph receptors, and ephrins, their corresponding ligands. We will summarize our current understanding of Eph/ephrin function in vascular remodeling during embryogenesis and in neovascularization and tumorigenesis in adult tissues.
Immaculate Consumption: A Critique of the "Shop till you drop" School of Human Behavior

Consumer behavior and choice models have assumed a major role in historical archaeology. Recent interest in consumption is an honest attempt to move beyond an emphasis on production. Consumer models have clear material referents, making them useful in historical archaeology. These models, however, separate production from consumption, and privilege the autonomous individual as the preferred unit of analysis. They also reinforce and validate ideologies that obscure inequalities and power relations in modern society. For us the important issue is how people reproduce themselves as social beings. Focusing on social reproduction integrates both production and consumption.
Volunteer Satisfaction at the Boundary of Public and Nonprofit: Organizational- and Individual-Level Determinants

How human capital is managed continues to be a question of great importance in the study of public administration and is one that cuts across studies of public and nonprofit organizations and their...
Implementing active care through (cultural) activities of daily living: A person-centred approach to achieve flourishing.

Aim To investigate how participants in the Active Care education programme experienced using their obtained knowledge in practice. Design A narrative inquiry as described by Clandinin and Connelly. Method A thematic analysis of 20 narratives written by participants in the education programme from 2015-2017. Results Three themes appeared to be dominant: the consequences of activity, relationships and positive emotions. These elements reflect the notion of flourishing.
On the distribution of norm groups in the intervals corresponding to odd degree extensions of algebraic number fields

AbstractLet X be a subgroup of a group Y. The interval (X, Y) is the set of subgroups of Y that contain X including X and Y. Let K/k be a finite extension of a p-adic number field k. One of the fun...
Quilt/cARTography: Using Craftivism to Explore Food Insecurity on a College Campus

Quilt/cARTography emerged from an arts-based inquiry method for research dissemination. I used quilt-making as an embodied craft and metaphor to illustrate how crafting research is similar to piecing together neighborhood food environment data in an undergraduate social statistics course. As an innovative pedagogical tool, cARTographical quilts transform data into accessible tactile mediums that cross disciplinary boundaries and educational levels to explore hunger on a college campus.
Improving the hardened and transport properties of perlite incorporated mixture through different solutions: Surface area increase, nanosilica incorporation or both

Abstract This study investigates the effect of the synergetic incorporation of perlite powder and nanosilica (NS) on mechanical and transport properties of mortar. Inherently, perlite possesses a slow pozzolanic activity, which can prolong the improvement in mechanical and transport properties of concrete. As such, in this study, perlite powder was ground to fine particles with the specific surface area (SSA) of 3100 cm2/g and 3900 cm2/g and was added to the mixture with 10% and 15% replacement level, respectively. Moreover, NS, which is found to accelerate the pozzolanic reaction in cement matrix due to the high surface area, with dosage of 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4% was added to the mixtures in conjunction with the ground perlite to further overcome the slow reactivity of perlite at early ages and improve mechanical and transport properties. The compressive strength of the samples was assessed, and it was found that 15% replacement of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) with perlite, with the SSA of 3900 cm2/g, and 2% NS led to the highest compressive strength of 68.3 MPa. Transport properties such as electrical resistivity, rapid chloride migration, and capillary water absorption of the samples were assessed. It was observed that the mixture with 2% NS and 15% replacement of OPC with perlite could increase the electrical resistivity to 35.2 kΩ·cm and reduce the migration coefficient to 4.1*10−12 m2/s at 91 days. Moreover, this mixture decreased the water absorption at 28 days to the extent of 43% in comparison with the control mixture.
Electric-field-induced helium-helium resonances

The tunability of the helium-helium interaction through an external electric field is investigated. For a static external field, electric-field-induced resonances and associated electric-field-induced bound states are calculated for the $^{4}\mathrm{He}\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}\mathrm{He},^{3}\mathrm{He}\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}\mathrm{He}$, and $^{3}\mathrm{He}\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ systems. Qualitative agreement is found with the literature for the $^{3}\mathrm{He}\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}\mathrm{He}$ and $^{3}\mathrm{He}\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ systems [E. Nielsen, D. V. Fedorov, and A. S. Jensen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 2844 (1999)]. The implications of the predicted electric-field-induced resonances for $^{4}\mathrm{He}\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}\mathrm{He}$ on the wave packet dynamics, initiated by intense laser pulses, are investigated. Our results are expected to guide next generation experiments.
Cavell as a Way into Philosophy

It is of course a great honor for me to say a few words about Stanley on this occasion, and to say a few things about what he has brought to philosophy, what he has meant to me, and what his work contributes to American writing. And it is also clear that I have been given an impossible task, as anyone will know who has so much as an inkling of the variety and sweep of the texts, the questions, and the human phenomena that he has made available to philosophical reflection over the course of his many books.
Video Games in the Classroom

A decade into the 21st century, there are vibrant pedagogical discussions regarding 21st century texts and new approaches to teaching across grade levels and content areas (Beach & O‘Brien, 2009; Coiro, 2003; Larson, 2008; Merchant, 2009; O‘Brien & Scharber, 2008; Wagner & Dobbin, 2009). Prensky‘s (2001) concept of the ‘digital native,’ or those born into a digitally saturated world, aptly describes most students not only in the K-12 system, but also in the university, pre-service education classrooms. Many of these students have grown up using digital technologies in the classroom, as I have found that some of my nineteen- and twenty-year-old Education students recall using the Internet in elementary school. However, to my dismay, my undergraduate students understood the role of digital technology through the lens of traditional pedagogy. In this way, the students may be digital natives, but they appear to be digital immigrants when they approached pedagogy and practice through the lens of their formative educational moments as students. In other words, these pre-service educators appeared to develop an understanding of practice based on their classroom experiences as students; and if their teachers did not welcome out-of-school literacies inside the classroom, then my students would have had limited exposure to using their out-of-school literacy practices, such as video gaming, in meaningful ways inside the classroom.
A Two Stage Stochastic Mechanism for Selling Random Power

We present a two stage auction mechanism that renewable generators (or aggregators) could use to allocate renewable energy among load serving entities (LSEs). The auction is conducted day-ahead. LSEs submit bids specifying their valuation per unit, as well as their real-time fulfillment costs in case of shortfall in generation. We present an allocation rule and a de-allocation rule that maximizes expected social welfare. Since the LSEs are strategic and may not report their private valuations and costs truthfully, we design a two-part payment, one made in Stage 1, before renewable energy generation level $W$ is realized, and another determined later to be paid as compensation to those LSEs that have to be “de-allocated” in case of a shortfall. We propose a two-stage Stochastic VCG mechanism which we prove is incentive compatible in expectation (expected payoff maximizing bidders will bid truthfully), individually rational in expectation (expected payoff of all participants is non-negative) and is also efficient. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such two-stage mechanism for selling random goods.
Sympathetic Neural Blockade and Trigger Point Injections

The use of sympathetic blocks and trigger point injections continue to play a key role in the management of chronic pain. Some of the importantly used sympathetic blocks include sphenopalatine ganglion block, stellate ganglion block, celiac plexus block, splanchnic block, lumbar plexus block, and other sympathetic nerve blocks at the pelvic region. The indications for these blocks vary from trigeminal neuralgia to chronic regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and pancreatic cancer pain. Despite the multiple advances in the approach to performing these blocks, there are complications that the providers must be aware of before carrying out these procedures. The goal of this chapter is to discuss the anatomy, indications, procedural techniques, and complications associated with these therapeutic interventions.
The effects of body position on the material properties of soft tissue in the human thigh.

Abstract Forty percent of patients with a spinal cord injury acquire a pressure ulcer during rehabilitation, and sixty percent of individuals in elderly care facilities have at least one pressure ulcer upon admittance. A commonality between those populations is the increased amount of time they spend in the seated position. The loading on the buttocks and thighs while in the seated position has been cited as a risk factor for pressure ulcer formation, especially for wheelchair users. Finite element models provide a tool with which to evaluate the internal tissue stresses, but they are reliant upon accurate material properties for the soft tissue. Thus the goals of this research were to determine and compare the material properties of the soft tissue in the thigh and buttock regions in the seated, quadruped (a universally accessible position with the knee and hip articulations similar to the seated position), and prone positions. A custom indenter was designed to collect force and deflection data for the buttocks/proximal thigh, middle thigh, and distal thigh regions of twenty able-bodied individuals. The force and deflection data were converted into stress and stretch data, which were used to obtain parameters from an Ogden material model. Our results indicated that the prone position yielded significantly stiffer tissue properties than in the seated and quadruped positions for both males and females, meaning that position should be taken into account when obtaining material properties that are input into finite element models. Realistic material properties of the soft tissue will lead to better understanding of tissue injury risk.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease and head and neck cancers: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract Purpose Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has been associated with head and neck cancer (HNC), including laryngeal and pharyngeal anatomical sites. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to examine these associations. Methods Articles were retrieved from the Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase databases using keywords “gastroesophageal reflux disease”, “laryngopharyngeal reflux”, “head and neck cancer”, and associated variants. Inclusion criteria were English language publications, human subjects, and controlled studies with described development of head and neck cancer among individuals with GERD. 13 studies with a total of 39,824 patients were included. Results Overall, presence of GERD was associated with an increased risk of developing HNC (OR = 1.86, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.27–2.74). This association remained significant with laryngeal cancers (OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.33–2.86), but not pharyngeal cancers (OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 0.86–2.83). Subgroup analyses of hypopharyngeal (OR = 2.26, 95% CI = 0.67–7.68) and oropharyngeal subsites (OR = 1.39, 95% CI = 0.51–3.84) were not statistically significant. Meta-analysis of studies that objectively assessed reflux, such as pH monitor placement, showed statistical significance (OR = 2.81, 95% CI = 1.36–5.81), while studies that used subjective reporting or chart review of GERD were not significant (OR = 1.46, 95% CI = 0.89–2.40). Association between H. pylori infection and head and neck cancers was not statistically significant (OR = 2.66, 95% CI = 0.59–11.97). Conclusion A diagnosis of GERD is associated with a later diagnosis of HNC, but this association is not significant for pharyngeal cancers. Associations of GERD with HNC may be specific to laryngeal cancers. Level of evidence Systematic review and meta-analysis of case control studies (3a).
Policy preferences and party switching: Evidence from the 2012 Japanese election:

In 2012, despite controlling more than 60% of all seats in Japan’s lower house, the Democratic Party of Japan had roughly 100 legislators switch parties. The break-up proved so disastrous that the ...
Impact of Diabolical Singular Points on Nonadiabatic Dynamics and a Remedy: Photodissociation of Ammonia in the First Band.

Several recent publications have pointed out a potentially severe drawback in some widely used diabatization methods based on the electronic properties of molecules. In a diabatic representation defined by a property-based method, artificial singularities may arise due to the defining equation of the adiabatic-to-diabatic (AtD) transformation. Such diabolical singular points (DSPs) may seriously affect nuclear dynamics if they lie in the relevant configuration space. Their impact is demonstrated here using the A-band photodissociation of ammonia as an example. To this end, quantum dynamics calculations are performed based on a diabatic potential energy matrix (DPEM) constructed using the generalized Mulliken-Hush method, which is based on dipoles. These property-based results are compared with the results obtained with a DPEM determined using derivative coupling explicitly. A DSP seam is found near the Franck-Condon region, which results in a complete failure to reproduce the absorption spectrum. A modification of the generalized Mulliken-Hush method is proposed to remove the DSPs while preserving the conical intersection, which leads to an accurate reproduction of the absorption spectrum and the NH2(A)/NH2(X) product branching ratio.
Is Shelter-in-Place Policy Related to Mail Order Pharmacy Use and Racial/Ethnic Disparities for Patients With Diabetes?

Effective management of diabetes during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is critical given that hyperglycemia is both a risk factor for infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and has been associated with poorer outcomes for those infected (1). Unfortunately, inadequate diabetes self-management due to medication nonadherence is prevalent among patients with diabetes and is a major contributor to poor diabetes outcomes (2,3). Research suggests that mail order pharmacy (MOP) use can improve medication adherence (3). However, there is little data on how the COVID-19 pandemic is related to MOP use. Regrettably, racial/ethnic minority patients with diabetes have poorer medication adherence than White patients, and research shows marked disparities among racial/ethnic minorities in SARS-CoV-2 infection rates and outcomes, but little is known about racial/ethnic differences in MOP use during the COVID-19 pandemic (3,4). The objectives of our study were to 1 ) assess the association between the COVID-19 pandemic shelter-in-place order and MOP use and 2 ) examine these associations by patient race/ethnicity. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using a cohort from a randomized encouragement trial conducted in 2017–2018 at Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC), the Encouraging Mail Order Pharmacy Use to Improve Outcomes and Reduce Disparities …
Baseline SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load is Associated With COVID-19 Disease Severity and Clinical Outcomes: Post-Hoc Analyses of a Phase 2/3 Trial.

Background Elucidating the relationship between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral load and clinical outcomes is critical for understanding COVID-19. Methods SARS-CoV-2 levels were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) of nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab specimens collected at baseline and clinical outcomes were recorded over 60 days from 1362 COVID-19 hospitalized patients enrolled in a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled phase 2/3 trial of sarilumab for COVID-19 (NCT04315298). Results In post-hoc analyses, higher baseline viral load, measured by both RT-qPCR cycle threshold (Ct) and log10 copies/mL, was associated with greater supplemental oxygenation requirements and disease severity at study entry. Higher baseline viral load was associated with higher mortality, lower likelihood of improvement in clinical status and supplemental oxygenation requirements, and lower rates of hospital discharge. Viral load was not impacted by sarilumab treatment over time versus placebo. Conclusions These data support viral load as an important determinant of clinical outcomes in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 requiring supplemental oxygen or assisted ventilation.
Strategies to Improve Performance of Community-Managed Water Systems with System Dynamics Modeling

AbstractCommunity management is a common approach to securing access to clean water for rural residents. Its failure to sustain water services over acceptable lifetimes has been well-documented, ad...
Concurrency control in rule-based software development environments

This dissertation investigates the concurrency control problem in software development environments (SDEs). The problem arises when multiple developers perform activities that concurrently access the project's components, stored as database objects. The interleaved execution of the developers' activities leads to interference if they access overlapping sets of objects concurrently. An SDE can ensure that activities never interfere by modeling their execution in terms of atomic transactions and allowing only serializable schedules. This prevents cooperation, which requires some degree of interference between the activities of multiple developers. To allow cooperation, an SDE must be provided with semantic information about development activities. In rule-based SDEs, the necessary information is readily available in the set of rules that defines the process model of a project. The rules are loaded into the SDE, which provides process-specific assistance through a rule chaining engine. A single user command might lead the chaining engine to initiate a rule chain. The concurrency control problem in rule-based SDEs manifests itself in terms of interference between concurrent rule chains. We present a mechanism that extracts semantic information from the process model to solve the concurrency control problem without obstructing cooperation. The mechanism is composed of two modules: (1) a conflict detection module, which models activities as nested transactions and uses two-phase locking to detect interference; and (2) a conflict resolution module, which employs two protocols to resolve interference. The first protocol, SCCP, uses the process model to implement a priority-based scheme that aborts the "least important" of the interfering transactions. The second protocol, PCCP, overrides SCCP by consulting process-specific control rules, written by the project administration. Each control rule describes a specific interference and the actions that resolve it. We have implemented SCCP and parts of PCCP in M scARVEL, a multi-user rule-based SDE developed at Columbia.
Supported eText in Captioned Videos: A Comparison of Expanded versus Standard Captions on Student Comprehension of Educational Content

Expanded captions are designed to enhance the educational value by linking unfamiliar words to one of three types of information: vocabulary definitions, labeled illustrations, or concept maps. This study investigated the effects of expanded captions versus standard captions on the comprehension of educational video materials on DVD by secondary students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Participants were assigned randomly to two groups, with each group experiencing both conditions in counterbalanced order. Scores from pretests and posttests of vocabulary and informational content revealed no statistically significant differences between the two conditions. The findings are discussed in light of student preferences for expanded captions and screen-capture data that revealed low access levels for the expanded material.
Notch activity opposes ras-induced differentiation during the second mitotic wave of the developing Drosophila eye

EGF receptor acts through Ras and the MAPK cascade to trigger differentiation and maintain survival of most of cell types in the Drosophila retina. Cell types are specified sequentially by separate episodes of EGFR activity. All the cell types differentiate in G1 phase of the cell cycle. Before differentiating, many cells pass through the cell cycle in the "Second Mitotic Wave" in response to Notch activity, but no cell fates are specified during the Second Mitotic Wave. It is not known how fate specification is limited to G1-arrested cells. Competence to differentiate in response to activated RasV12 was diminished during the Second Mitotic Wave accounting for the failure to recruit cell fates from cycling cells. Competence was not restored by blocking cell cycle progression, but was restored by reduced Notch activity. Competence to differentiate does not depend on cell cycle progression per se, but on the same receptor activity that also induces cell cycle entry. Dual effects of Notch on the cell cycle and on differentiation help ensure that only G1 phase cells undergo fate specification.
Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing: new data, new challenges.

This article questions whether adolescent pregnancy and childbearing really produce adverse effects on birthweight and whether they result in poor mothering or financial dependence on the part of adolescent mothers. There may not be anything biologic about youth that produces the higher proportion of low birth weight infants born to adolescents. 14% of girls less than 15 and 9.9% of those 15-19 bear babies less than 2500 g compared to 6.5% of women 20-29 yr of age. Studies have shown that the mothers small size pre-pregnant weight nutritional status as reflected by pregnant weight gain and exposure to sexually transmitted disease all affect the neonates weight. These may be controlled by intervention. Recent studies on adolescent mothering have not confirmed the view that they are more often abusive. It is difficult to design studies to compare mothering by young and mature women. Mothering ability is a function of education specific knowledge experience and age. It is conceivable that intervention programs could be implemented to teach mothering skills based on empirical studies. Although $4.7 billion was spent on Aid for Dependent Children for adolescent mothers in 1975 statistics show that young mothers enter and leave the welfare programs sooner while those who enter the program when over 20 stay on welfare longer. Thus the pattern for adolescent mothers may simply be atypical: early childbearing education vocation and eventual independence. Intervention programs for adolescents must be based on reality such as the facts that adolescents do engage in nonmarital coitus some do not use contraception some do not abort and some choose childbearing before education and vocation.
Nitrogen limitation and particulate elemental ratios of seston in hypersaline Mono Lake, California, U.S.A.

Particulate elemental ratios (C:N, N:P and C:Chl a) of seston in hypersaline (70–90 g kg−1) Mono Lake, California, were examined over an 11-year period (1990–2000) which included the onset and persistence of a 5-year period of persistent chemical stratification. Following the onset of meromixis in mid-1995, phytoplankton and dissolved inorganic nitrogen were substantially reduced with the absence of a winter period of holomixis. C:N, N:P and C:Chl a ratios ranged from 5 to 18 mol mol−1, 2 to 19 mol mol−1 and 25 to 150 g g−1, respectively, and had regular seasonal patterns. Deviations from those expected of nutrient-replete phytoplankton indicated strong nutrient limitation in the summer and roughly balanced growth during the winter prior to the onset of meromixis. Following the onset of meromixis, winter ratios were also indicative of modest nutrient limitation. A 3-year trend in C:N and N:P ratios toward more balanced growth beginning in 1998 suggest the impacts of meromixis weakened due to increased upward fluxes of ammonium associated with weakening stratification and entrainment of ammonium-rich monimolimnetic water. A series of nutrient enrichment experiments with natural assemblages of Mono Lake phytoplankton conducted during the onset of a previous episode of meromixis (1982–1986) confirm the nitrogen will limit phytoplankton before phosphorus or other micronutrients. Particulate ratios of a summer natural assemblage of phytoplankton collected under nitrogen-depleted conditions measured initially, following enrichment, and then after return to a nitrogen-depleted condition followed those expected based on Redfield ratios and laboratory studies.
Environmental Contamination and House Values: A Study of Market Adjustment

In many communities throughout the United States, contaminated sites are identified and addressed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In each of these communities, the EPA presents a plan of action and provides the community with information about progress being made. Does the housing market adjust quickly after announcements by EPA concerning the existence and toxicity of Superfund sites? Other studies have shown that the levels of house prices fall when people suspect there is a problem, and again when the EPA announces that the site is toxic (e.g. Kiel, 1995), but how can we tell when or if the market has completely adjusted to the existence of such a site? If the site is always perceived as an externality, then the coefficient on distance from the house to the site in the hedonic regression on house values should remain statistically significant and negative. Thus merely looking at the coefficient does not aid in determining when, or if, the market has cleared.
Imaging of the Paranasal Sinuses

MRI in most instances, can better distinguish between soft tissues when compared with CT. The distinction of soft tissues becomes most clinically relevant when evaluating for possible sinonasal tumors and when inspecting for extension of tumor or inflammation into the orbit or intracranial spaces. It is in these areas that MRI has found its major application in sinus imaging. This unit presents MRI techniques for imaging the sinuses with and without contrast enhancement. The parameters given in this unit are derived from experience at 1.5 T and may need to be slightly altered depending on the field strength and the equipment manufacturer.
100km long reach upstream 36Gb/s-OFDMA-PON over a single wavelength with source-free ONUs

We experimentally demonstrate 36-Gb/s source-free single-wavelength upstream OFDMA-PON transmission, enabled by ONU carrier suppression and coherent reception at the OLT. A BER ≪10−3 is reported over 100km SSMF and a 1:32 optical split.
Chemical Protein Analysis: A Comparison of Kjeldahl Crude Protein and Total Ninhydrin Protein from Wild, Tropical Vegetation

Various methods are available for measuring the protein content of vegetation. This paper reviews and tests some common methods in order to provide recommendations to wildlife ecologists and primatologists. The traditional Kjeldahl crude protein method, which requires the conversion factor of 6.25 (CP6.25), was compared to values obtained through total ninhydrin protein (NP) analysis and by calculating crude protein from a newly developed conversion factor of 4.3 (CP4.3). The NP analysis gave values that were not significantly different from the CP4.3 values, and both were significantly lower than the CP6.25 values. An additional method was compared (available CP), which is CP6.25 values corrected by subtracting the acid-detergent lignin-bound crude protein. Comparisons were also made between CP4.3 and the available CP. These two methods correct the protein values differently, and theoretically CP4.3 corrects more severely, as explained in the text, but in some situations they may be correcting for the same chemical category of unavailable nitrogen. For fruits and flowers these values were not significantly different. For leaves the results were not so clear-cut. The Ugandan leaves (N = 42), Indonesian mature leaves (N = 40), Zimbabwe leaves (N = 24), and northern USA leaves (N = 11) were significantly different, and the CP4.3 always corrected more severely. The rest of the leaf sets (Belize, N = 68; Zaire, N = 36; Sumatra, N = 10; St. Catherine's Island, Georgia, USA, N = 37; and southern USA, N = 18) did not give a significant difference between CP4.3 and available CP. The choice of which analysis method to use (NP or CP4.3 versus available CP) depends on whether it seems reasonable to severely penalize all nonprotein nitrogen, considering the animal species being studied, or whether removing only the lignin-bound nitrogenous compounds is sufficient. Overall, the traditional 6.25 conversion factor is too large a conversion value for most wild vegetation; crude protein corrected only for lignin-bound protein is probably more accurate.
Child health benefits packages: lessons from Minnesota for State Children's Health Insurance Programs.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) provides state maternal and child health (MCH) programs an opportunity to assure comprehensive health services are available to children through the selection of an appropriate benefits package. Minnesota had this chance in 1994 when the state was considering development of a universal standard benefits set. While the Minnesota MCH program was not at the policy table, they worked through a process that increased their influence on decisions by responding to a legislative call for a definition of “appropriate and necessary” care. This definition was ultimately adopted by policymakers in creating the recommended Universal Standard Benefits Set. This experience may provide an important incentive to other state MCH programs seeking opportunities to participate in the development of state SCHIP plans.
In What Ways does Theological Knowledge Contribute to Thinking about Theological Education

Contemporary secular society has created a greater divide between faith and reason. Religion in certain quarters through its bias towards apologetic foundationalist epistemology has further driven religion and faith into the private realm limiting any valued contribution theology can make to thinking about education. The article therefore proposes a postmodern intertextual method utilizing a radical correlation of acculturation, following Tillich, resulting in a new paradigm of theonomy. Such an approach can provide a creative alternative to foundationalism allowing theology to once again contribute meaningfully to thinking about education.
An alternate wind power integration mechanism: Coal plants with flexible amine-based CCS

Abstract This paper explores a solution to problems associated with two promising technologies for decarbonizing the electricity generation system: high costs of energy penalty of carbon capture and storage, and the intermittency and non-dispatchability of wind power. It looks at the optimal design and operating strategy of a hybrid system consisting of a coal plant retrofitted with a post-combustion amine-based Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) system equipped with the option to perform partial CO 2 capture, and a co-located wind farm. A linear optimization model determines the optimal component sizes for the hybrid system and capture rates while meeting constraints on annual average emission targets of CO 2 , and variability of the combined power output. Economic benefits result from capturing less CO 2 during high electricity price time periods and capturing more CO 2 during times of relatively low electricity prices or times when integrating wind power output would exceed the transmission capacity of the connector lines. The hybrid system has Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and Cost of Carbon Capture (CoC) comparable to those of a new Natural Gas Combined Cycle Power Plant (NGCC), and provides a mechanism for muting the variability of wind power in the same way an energy storage system would.
Proving Genocidal Intent: International Precedent and ECCC Case 002

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) is poised to adjudicate Case 002, the groundbreaking trial of the senior surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge. While the Khmer Rouge’s barbarous reign of terror is widely recognized as among the worst human rights tragedies of the 20th Century, as a formal legal matter, it is not clear that what occurred in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 was “genocide.” The jurisprudence of genocide is unsettled, uncertain, and in flux; and the future trajectory of genocide jurisprudence will be greatly influenced by the ECCC’s disposition in Case 002. This Article examines and distills international legal precedent on an issue that is likely to be critical to the ECCC’s examination of genocide charges in Case 002: establishing a criminal defendant’s genocidal mens rea by inference from the surrounding factual circumstances. In so doing, it identifies and explores four key factors that international tribunals have found relevant to determining whether genocidal intent is properly inferable: statements of the accused and his or her associates; the scale of atrocities in question; systematic targeting of the victim group; and evidence that atrocities were planned. The Article also seeks to assess and offer preliminary observations on the relative applicability of international precedent to the Cambodian context, specifically with regard to the breadth of atrocities ECCC Co-Prosecutors should seek to encompass under the rubric of genocide in Case No. 002. On the basis of its doctrinal analysis, the Article concludes that genocide charges in Case 002 are fairly likely to succeed with respect to Khmer Rouge persecution of the Cham Muslim and ethnic Vietnamese minorities, but that any attempt by ECCC prosecutors to broaden the genocide framework so as to encompass Khmer Rouge persecution of the Buddhist and ethnic Khmer majorities would not be adequately rooted in existing doctrine, and would therefore face far more uncertain prospects for success. The Article then steps back to examine the wisdom of seeking to extend existing doctrine through broadly-formulated genocide charges. It speculates that, contrary to the assumptions of many within the human rights community, it is not at all clear that doing so would further the core objectives of international criminal law: justice and truth.
Food safety and product liability

Abstract This paper focuses on the U.S. product liability system for food poisoning cases and makes six key points. First, current legal incentives to produce safer food are weak, though slightly stronger in outbreak situations and in markets where foodborne illness can be more easily traced to individual firms. Far less than 0.01% of cases are litigated and even fewer are paid compensation. Second, even if potential plaintiffs can overcome the high information and transaction costs necessary to file lawsuits, monetary compensation provides only weak incentives to pursue litigation. Firms paid compensation in 56% of the 294 cases examined in this study and the median compensation was only $2,000 before legal fees. Third, indirect incentives for firms may be important and deserve more research. For example, firms may be influenced by costly settlements and decisions against other firms in the same industry. Fourth, confidential settlements, health insurance, and product liability insurance distort legal incentives to produce safer food. Fifth, the ambiguity about whether microbial contamination is “natural” or an “adulterant” hinders the legal system from effectively dealing with food safety issues. Sixth, a brief comparison of the incentives from U.S. and English legal systems suggests that more research is needed to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and relative impact of each country's legal system on the incentives to produce safer food.
A ≥ 100000‐MW Soybean Protein Fraction that Inhibits the Formation of Methanethiol and Hydrogen Sulfide in Aqueous Slurries of Isolated Soy Proteins with Added L‐Cysteine

The addition of L-cysteine to aqueous slurries of commercial isolated soy proteins (ISP) increased methanethiol headspace levels by 17- to 36-fold over the control. Corresponding levels of hydrogen sulfide were about 10 to 19 times greater than methanethiol. Neither methanethiol nor hydrogen sulfide were detected when L-cysteine was added to aqueous slurries of hexane-defatted soy flour. The production of hydrogen sulfide and methanethiol in aqueous slurries of commercial ISP was inhibited by the addition of a component(s) recovered from the pH 4.6 supernatant obtained during laboratory preparation of ISP by isoelectric precipitation. The inhibitory component had a molecular weight (MW) of ≥ 100000 and an isoelectric point of about 5.9. This component was not serine acetyl transferase. Its inhibitory properties were inactivated at 70°C and diminished with elevated levels of methionine. Adding the ≥ 100000-MW soluble-proteins (from the isoelectric precipitation step) back to a nonheat-treated laboratory ISP during processing reduced the methanethiol level by 88%.
Effects of dithiothreitol on protein activity unrelated to thiol-disulfide exchange: for consideration in the analysis of protein function with Cleland's reagent.

Dithiothreitol (DTT) is widely used to reduce disulfide bonds in the analysis of protein structure and function. However, thiol-disulfide exchange is not the only mechanism whereby DTT can alter protein function. We observe that DTT diminishes the carbohydrate binding activity of a cysteineless mutant of pigpen as well as it inhibits the intact molecule. Lack of inhibition by threitol, a derivative of the four-carbon sugar threose, indicates that the thiol groups of DTT are required for inhibition, and also that DTT is not acting as a simple carbohydrate competitor. Moreover, inhibition of pigpen-carbohydrate binding is not likely due to metal chelation because pigpen binding to carbohydrate is insensitive to EDTA and 1, 10-phenanthroline, which would otherwise be expected to mimic the DTT effect. Our results suggest that DTT can interact with protein domains in the absence of cysteine residues, and that the biochemical reactivity of DTT is not necessarily one and the same with its assumed biochemical specificity.
Endothelin and cyclosporine nephrotoxicity.

Although some humoral and neural factors have been implicated in the persistent vasoconstriction characterizing many forms of acute renal failure, the mechanisms for this abnonnal vascular function have remained largely unresolved. Several factors previously postulated to have a role in acute renal failure have been shown to enhance endothelin (Et) production or gene expression. We studied the potential pathophysiologic role for Et in several models of acute renal failure, including postischemia, endotoxin, and cyclosponne (Cy) nephrotoxicity. We have found that, in vivo, Cy (and also endotoxin) elevates circulating Et. We further showed that antagonizing Et s action with Et antibody ameliorates renal vasoconstriction following renal ischemia, Cy, and endotoxin administrntion. Additionally, our studies showed that even afer circulating levels of Et decrease following Cy), there is upregulation in Et receptors in the kidneys. Overall, endothelin appears to feature prominently in the pathophysiologic proces...
24ξ-Methylcholestane-3β,5a,6β,25-tetrql 25-monoacetate a novel polyhydroxylated steroid from an alcyonarian

Abstract 24ξ-Methylcholestane-3β,5a,6β,25-tetrol 25-monoacetate has been isolated from an Alcyonarian and its structure elucidated. A synthesis of the corresponding tetrol, 24ξ-methylcholestane-3β,5a,6β,25-tetrol, confirmed the original structure assignment.
Complex Adaptive ICA Employing the Conjugate Gradient Technique for Signal Separation in Time-Varying Flat Fading Channels

The conjugate gradient method is a prominent technique for solving systems of linear equations and unconstrained optimization problems, including adaptive filtering. Since it is an iterative method, it can be particularly applied to solve sparse systems which are too large to be handled by direct methods. The main advantage of the conjugate gradient method is that it employs orthogonal search directions with optimal steps along each direction to arrive at the solution. As a result, it has a much faster convergence speed than the steepest descent method, which often takes steps in the same direction as earlier steps. Furthermore, it has lower computational complexity than Newton’s iteration approach. This unique tradeoff between convergence speed and computational complexity gives the conjugate gradient method desirable properties for application in numerous mathematical optimization problems. In this paper, the conjugate gradient principle is applied to complex adaptive independent component analysis (ICA) for maximization of the kurtosis function, to achieve separation of complex-valued signals. The proposed technique is called the complex block conjugate independent component analysis (CBC-ICA) algorithm. The CBC-ICA derives independent conjugate gradient search directions for the real and imaginary components of the complex coefficients of the adaptive system employed for signal separation. In addition, along each conjugate direction an optimal update is generated separately for the real and imaginary components using the Taylor series approximation. Simulation results confirm that in dynamic flat fading channel conditions, the CBC-ICA demonstrates excellent convergence speed and accuracy, even for large processing block sizes.
Using the Angle-Dependent Resonances of Molded Plasmonic Crystals To Improve the Sensitivities of Biosensors

This paper describes how angle-dependent resonances from molded plasmonic crystals can be used to improve real-time biosensing. First, an inexpensive and massively parallel approach to create single-use, two-dimensional metal nanopyramidal gratings was developed. Second, although constant in bulk dielectric environments, the sensitivities (resonance wavelength shift and resonance width) of plasmonic crystals to adsorbed molecular layers of varying thickness were found to depend on incident excitation angle. Third, protein binding at dilute concentrations of protein was carried out at an angle that optimized the signal to noise of our plasmonic sensing platform. This angle-dependent sensitivity, which is intrinsic to grating-based sensors, is a critical parameter that can assist in maximizing signal to noise.