cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Diagnosis of Traumatic Temporal Artery Pseudoaneurysm by Ultrasound in the Emergency Department.

Abstract Background Emergency bedside point-of-care ultrasound provides an extremely fast and cost-effective diagnostic modality for the diagnosis of vascular abnormalities, such as pseudoaneurysms. The cost–benefit and timing advantages of ultrasound are increasingly apparent when compared to more conventional diagnostic tests, such as computed tomography angiography and magnetic resonance angiography scans. Case Report A 33-year-old man with no medical history presented to our emergency department complaining of a constant, throbbing, left-sided headache over his temple with an associated mass. The physical examination revealed a 0.5-cm, tender, flesh-colored, pulsatile mass over his left temple. The tender mass was evaluated at the bedside by an emergency physician with a linear array L-14 probe on the ZONARE ultrasound system (ZONARE Medical Systems, Inc., Mountain View, CA). A small anechoic collection adjacent to the superficial temporal artery was identified with a sac containing flow in a prototypical “yin and yang” pattern. These findings were consistent with a superficial temporal artery pseudoaneurysm. Why Should an Emergency Physician be Aware of This? We present this case report because of the implications of missing the diagnosis. Emergency physicians should be aware of the possible diagnosis of pseudoaneurysm of the temporal artery because of the plethora of head injuries that we evaluate on a regular basis. Missing the diagnosis can lead to delayed neurologic sequela and potential life-threatening bleeding in patients presenting with what appears to be a minor complaint.
A method to advance and evaluate new emergency response technologies: A case study implementation using EPR dosimetry

The goal of this study was to develop and test a new methodology, the Disaster Technology Assessment Cycle (DTAC), for the effective development and assessment of new clinical emergency response technologies that can improve the speed and ease with which they can be transferred from laboratory-based prototypes used in controlled settings to being implemented in a public health disaster context. To evaluate the DTAC, we used a case study approach, focusing on a prototype of a medical device, an Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) dosimeter, that can be used to screen the population for significant radiation exposures after a catastrophic nuclear event. The DTAC is based on the participatory-based design paradigm. The DTAC was effective at evaluating and guiding the development of the EPR technology in aspects related to the context in which it will ultimately be used, and facilitated its translation from a laboratory-based prototype to a field deployable system.
Toward a New U.S. Industrial Policy

(1982). Toward a New U.S. Industrial Policy? Journal of Economic Issues: Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 1130-1132.
God is the Reason: Hermann Cohen's Monotheism and the Liberal Theologico‐Political Predicament

This article presents Hermann Cohen's Ethical Monotheism as an epistemological rejoinder to the theologico-political predicament of liberalism in Wilhelmine Germany (1871-1918). Beginning with an intellectual historical portrait of liberal Protestantism as a diffuse cultural context rather than a defined ideology, the article then proceeds to explicate Cohen's “liberal” Jewish conception of an epistemological “God-idea” as a defense against the antisemitic and essentializing thought of Paul de Lagarde. The article then concludes by suggesting that Cohen's interpretation of the Noahide presents a Jewish minority account of “God” as a basis for “secular” public morality in a hyper-contested public sphere.
MicroRNA 15a and 16-1 Target Identification in Deletion 13 Multiple Myeloma

Deletion 13 multiple myeloma (MM) is detected in nearly 50 % of patients diagnosed with MM and confers a shorter survival. A region of minimal deletion was identified for chromosome 13 using Agilent 500K aCGH arrays that included microRNAs 15a and 16- 1. MicroRNAs (miRs) are small RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression through degradation of mRNA transcripts or translational inhibition. In order to determine the contribution of deletion of miRs 15a and 16-1 to MM progression, miR precursors were transfected into KMS-11 and JJN3 adherent myeloma cell lines and total RNA hybridized to Affymetrix U133 Plus 2.0 gene expression arrays for the purpose of identification of mRNA target transcripts. Thirty nanomolar miR 15a and 16-1 precursors and a nonsilencing siRNA control were transfected into adherent KMS-11 and JJN3 myeloma cell lines. Cultures were harvested 16 hours after transfection to minimize the downregulation of transcripts that are not direct targets of miRs 15a and 16-1. Total RNA was extracted using the miRNeasy kit to allow retention of the miR fraction for RT-PCR confirmation of miR over-expression following transfection. Following transfection of miR precursors, expression of miRs 15a and 16-1 were increased 64 and 128-fold, respectively, compared to non-silencing control. Total RNA was hybridized to Affymetrix gene expression arrays using protocols supplied by the manufacturer. Transcripts down-regulated following miR transfection were compared to mathematical models for prediction of miR targets. Additionally, the 3′ UTRs of down-regulated transcripts were inspected for complementarity to miR 15a and 16-1 seed sequences. RT-PCR validation of identified targets was performed. Cross reference of down-regulated transcripts with the TargetSCAN and PictarVERT miR prediction algorithms resulted in a list of 9 genes that represented potential miR-15a/16-1 targets in MM. This list included: FGF2, BCL2, CCNE1, V-MYB, WEE1, E2F7, CDK6, CDC25A and CDC27. Following target identification, reporter constructs were used to confirm direct regulation of transcripts by miRs 15a and 16-1. Functional investigation of miR targets was performed using siRNA reduction of identified targets followed by MTT assay and cell cycle analysis.
Vowel Formant Dispersion Reflects Severity of Apraxia of Speech

ABSTRACTBackground: Apraxia of Speech (AOS) has been associated with deviations in consonantal voice onset time (VOT), but studies of vowel acoustics have yielded conflicting results. However, a speech motor planning disorder that is not bound by phonological categories is expected to affect vowel as well as consonant articulations.Aims: We measured consonant VOTs and vowel formants produced by a large sample of stroke survivors, and assessed to what extent these variables and their dispersion are predictive of AOS presence and severity, based on a scale that uses clinical observations to rate gradient presence of AOS, aphasia, and dysarthria.Methods & Procedures: Picture-description samples were collected from 53 stroke survivors, including unimpaired speakers (12) and speakers with primarily aphasia (19), aphasia with AOS (12), primarily AOS (2), aphasia with dysarthria (2), and aphasia with AOS and dysarthria (6). The first three formants were extracted from vowel tokens bearing main stress in open-cla...
Evolution of Wing Pigmentation Patterns in a Tephritid Gallmaker: Divergence and Hybridization

Wing pigmentation patterns are commonly used for taxonomic identification in many groups of gall-making flies in the family Tephritidae; however, neither the functional significance nor the mechanisms of evolutionary change in these characters have been well studied. We applied a quantitative image analysis approach to measure wing-pattern variation and differentiation in populations of the goldenrod gall fly Eurosta solidaginis. A large body of work by Abrahamson and coworkers has established that “host races” have emerged from within the eastern U.S. subspecies, E. solidaginis solidaginis, via a shift from an ancestral hostplant species (Solidago altissima [Asteraceae]) to a derived host species (S. gigantea). The image analysis demonstrated that host races are significantly differentiated in wing patterns at a sympatric site. We also quantified wing-pattern variation across a hybrid zone in Iowa between the named subspecies of E. solidaginis, which are distinguished taxonomically solely based on wing-pattern differences. The presence of intermediate wing patterns suggests hybridization between wing forms. These results suggest that host shifts provide barriers strong enough to allow populations to diverge in wing patterns, but that neither sympatric host shifts nor wing pattern differences evolved during periods of geographic isolation provide complete barriers to gene flow.
Molecular analysis of a steroid-induced regulatory hierarchy: the Drosophila E74A protein directly regulates L71-6 transcription.

Abstract Steroid hormones orchestrate the growth and development of higher organisms by directing spatially and temporally coordinated programs of gene expression. These changes in gene activity can be visualized in Drosophila by virtue of its giant salivary gland polytene chromosomes. A small set of early puffs are induced directly by the steroid hormone ecdysone. The proteins encoded by these puffs appear to induce many late secondary-response puffs as the animal begins to undergo metamorphosis. Here we report that the ETS domain DNA-binding protein encoded by the E74A early gene directly induces L71-6 late gene transcription. We identify four strong E74A binding sites within the 5' region of L71-6 demonstrate that these sites are essential for proper L71-6 induction at puparium formation. These studies provide a direct link between a steroid-induced transcription factor and the activation of a secondary-response promoter, indicating that steroid signals in higher organisms can be transduced and amplified through regulatory hierarchies.
A Manufacturer's New Product Preannouncement Decision and the Supplier's Response

We study a manufacturer's product preannouncement decision in a setting where there is uncertainty about when an innovative new product design will be finalized for production, and a key component supplier needs to reserve the capacity before the realization of the final product design. The marketing literature has shown that product preannouncement changes the product demand: it may create buzz about the new product so the demand increases; or it may induce stronger competition from rivals so the demand decreases. We characterize the supplier's optimal response in reserving capacity given the uncertainty in the product design timing and the changing demand. Furthermore, we characterize the conditions under which the manufacturer may benefit from preannouncing her product release date. We show that even when preannouncement leads to a shorter sales window of the product, the manufacturer may still be better off in preannouncing her new product release date because the supplier's response of reserving the capacity earlier improves the manufacturer's profit. For a similar reason, we find that the manufacturer's expected profit may increase in the wholesale price that she pays to the supplier for the key component. In addition, we show that the supplier trusts the manufacturer's preannounced product release date only when this date is sufficiently late; otherwise, he ignores the preannounced product release date. Finally, we demonstrate that the supplier reserves less capacity, but reserves earlier when the competitive response is stronger, the market potential is smaller, and the sales window is shorter.
To Surf Or To Ride

We study the competition between two shopping channels, i.e. electronic stores and retail stores, to focus on the profitability and expansion strategies of these channels as a function of consumer characteristics and store cost structure. A consumer’s choice of a store is determined by price differences, perceived risk in online buying, network comfort level, and retail discomfort level (logical distance between a consumer and a retail store). Based on Hotelling’s model of spatial competition, we find that the number of retail stores has no effect on the optimal pricing strategies of either the electronic store or the retail store. The result holds even when the retail stores belong to one chain. The optimal prices of the two channels move in the same direction at different rates with changes in the importance of network comfort level.
Shifting the perspective on community-based management of education: From systems theory to social capital and community empowerment

Abstract The present paper is both a critical analysis of an example of community-based management of education (CBM) and a call for a shift in perspective related to how we think about CBM, particularly in marginalized and low-income contexts. The example of focus that serves as the basis for critical analysis is the “Education with Community Participation” (EDUCO) program in El Salvador, which achieved fame in the late 1990s and 2000s because it formally transferred, among other things, the ability to hire and fire teachers to a committee of parents at the community level. Given its fame and the fact of its imitation elsewhere, it is important to have an in-depth understanding of how this program operated at the local level, with what limitations, and with what implications for CBM programs more generally. For the second purpose—related to shifting perspectives on CBM—this paper draws on concepts related to systems theory, social capital, and community empowerment.
Skin-Mountable Biosensors and Therapeutics: A Review

Miniaturization of electronic components and advances in flexible and stretchable materials have stimulated the development of wearable health care systems that can reflect and monitor personal health status by health care professionals. New skin-mountable devices that offer seamless contact onto the human skin, even under large deformations by natural motions of the wearer, provide a route for both high-fidelity monitoring and patient-controlled therapy. This article provides an overview of several important aspects of skin-mountable devices and their applications in many medical settings and clinical practices. We comprehensively describe various transdermal sensors and therapeutic systems that are capable of detecting physical, electrophysiological, and electrochemical responses and/or providing electrical and thermal therapies and drug delivery services, and we discuss the current challenges, opportunities, and future perspectives in the field. Finally, we present ways to protect the embedded electronic components of skin-mountable devices from the environment by use of mechanically soft packaging materials.
Partnering with Families of Students at Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Students’ early experiences at school and home are critical to their social, emotional, and behavioral development. Research has found that family engagement in their child’s school experience can positively impact a child’s educational experience. Unfortunately, research has also demonstrated that teachers and families of students who engage in chronic problem behavior are less likely to develop positive relationships with their teachers. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the BEST in CLASS-Elementary Home-School Partnership (HSP) designed to support teachers, students who engage in chronic problem behaviors, and family members to create positive home-school relationships and communication. First, an overview of the development process of the BEST in CLASS-Elementary HSP component is described. Next, a description of the HSP component is provided. Finally, results from a pilot investigation are shared.
Standardized Patients Provide Realistic and Worthwhile Experiences for Athletic Training Students

Context: Standardized patients are more prominently used to both teach and evaluate students’ clinical skills and abilities. Objective: To investigate whether athletic training students perceived an encounter with a standardized patient (SP) as realistic and worthwhile and to determine their perceived comfort in future lower extremity evaluations with standardized and actual patients. Design and setting: Cross-sectional. Athletic Training Research and Education Laboratory, on-campus athletic training room, and Clinical Proficiency Evaluation Room. Subjects: Twenty-nine undergraduate athletic training students (17 female, 12 male) at a Midwestern CAATE-accredited institution who had completed a lower extremity orthopedic evaluation course in the past 12 months. Measurements: A Standardized Patient Encounter Feedback Form consisting of 5 Likert scale items (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree) regarding the participants’ perceptions of SP encounters with foot/ankle and knee orthopedic cases (eg, worthwhile, realistic, confidence with future SPs and actual patients). Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Written comments regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the encounters were analyzed inductively. Results: The participants indicated (90%-100% of the time) that: they agreed or strongly agreed that the encounters were worthwhile and realistic; the cases presented were appropriate; they were provided with adequate performance feedback by the SPs; and that their lower extremity evaluation skills were helped by the experiences. The participants indicated (86%-93% of the time) that they agreed or strongly agreed that the encounters made them feel more comfortable about future evaluations with standardized and actual patients. Conclusions: It appears that SPs provide realistic and worthwhile experiences for athletic training students. Thus, cases could be developed to evaluate athletic training clinical proficiencies in the future.
A 30-nm thick integrated hafnium zirconium oxide nano-electro-mechanical membrane resonator

This paper reports a 30 nm-thick integrated nano-electro-mechanical resonator based on atomically engineered ferroelectric hafnium zirconium oxide (Hf0.5Zr0.5O2) film. A 10 nm-thick Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 layer is atomically engineered through capping with 10 nm-thick titanium nitride (TiN) layer and rapid thermal annealing to promote the orthorhombic crystal phase with strong ferroelectric properties. The resulting metal-ferroelectric-metal (MFM) membrane is then patterned to create an integrated nano-electro-mechanical resonator with an overall thickness of 30 nm and a planar-to-vertical aspect ratio exceeding 104:1. Benefiting from large electrostrictive effects in ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2, the 30 nm-thick nanomechanical resonator is excited into flexural resonance at 195 kHz with a very large vibration amplitude of ∼100 nm. The transmission response of the nano-electro-mechanical resonator is extracted, using a two-port apodization of the TiN electrodes, showing quality factors (Q) of 15 and 3300 at atmospheric and 10−7 Torr ambient pressures, respectively. Finally, the structural robustness of the MFM nano-membrane is explored through the application of a ∼24 μm deflection, using a point-force by a micro-probe, highlighting the extended elasticity despite the small thickness and ultra-high aspect ratio. The atomic-level thickness, fully integrated operation, high Q, and structural robustness of the Hf0.5Zr0.5O2-based nano-membrane resonator promise its potential for the realization of highly integrated transducers for chip-scale classical and quantum information processing and sensing applications.
Global disinfection by-products regulatory compliance framework overview, disinfection by-products in drinking water: detection and treatment

Abstract Regulations dictate the way water plants are operated on a day-to-day basis and majority of the decisions they make in terms of process changes. They are the main reason behind new treatment-technology development in the market and research conducted by the educational institutions and research labs. Drinking water sector, in particular, is heavily regulated keeping human health, well-being, and long-term consequences in mind. Disinfection regulations around the world are an obvious example of complex framework in action. This study provides an overview of global disinfection by-products (DBP) regulations and lists current DBP standards of 166 countries with total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAAs), and chlorine residual being the most widely regulated water quality parameters in the world. Out of 167 countries listed in this study, TTHM, HAAs, and chlorine residual are regulated by 126, 107, and 37 countries, respectively.
Risk Factors for Adverse Radiographic Outcomes After Elastic Stable Intramedullary Nailing of Unstable Diaphyseal Tibia Fractures in Children.

Objectives Elastic stable intramedullary nails (ESIN) are commonly utilized to treat unstable pediatric tibia fractures but have been associated with complications. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for adverse radiographic outcomes after ESIN of pediatric tibia fractures. Methods A retrospective review of all patients who underwent diaphyseal tibia fracture stabilization with ESIN between 2010 and 2018 at 3 pediatric level 1 trauma centers was performed. Inclusion criteria were open growth plates, no intra-articular or physeal fracture involvement, and radiographic follow-up until union. Patient demographics, injury mechanism, fracture characteristics, and implant fill relative to the medullary canal were recorded. Radiographic outcome measures included achievement of and time to union, residual angular deformity, and additional procedures. Results One hundred seventy-two patients met inclusion criteria and were followed for a mean of 1.2 years. Nonunions were observed in 3% of the patient cohort. Another 10% required >6 months to heal, but did not require further surgical intervention. Angular deformities were common with 57% having a residual deformity ≥5 degrees and 14% having a residual deformity ≥10 degrees. Of the patients with a residual deformity between 5 and 10 degrees, 3% were symptomatic, where as 26% of the patients with a residual deformity ≥10 degrees were symptomatic. Greater angular deformities were associated with open fractures, compartment syndrome, and longer time to union. Patient age, weight, tibial comminution, and canal fill were not associated with nonunions or malunions. Conclusions ESIN of pediatric tibia fractures results in reliable healing for a majority of patients, but poses risks for residual angular deformities and delayed healing. Open fractures and compartment syndrome were associated with adverse radiographic outcomes.
Optical response of nickel-based superalloy Inconel-718 for applications in additive manufacturing

We present a broadband infrared and optical study of the compositionally complex nickel-based superalloy Inconel-718, a common material used in additive manufacturing using the direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) technique. We find a broad, featureless spectral emissivity, which is consistent with dc transport measurements and contextualize the results against literature reports of disordered metals. We show that electronic structure calculations based on first-principles modeling can explain most of the spectral weight distribution and show that the peculiar infrared optical properties in this class of materials can present challenges in accurately reporting remote temperature sensing in DMLS.
EMSContExt: EMS Protocol-Driven Concept Extraction for Cognitive Assistance in Emergency Response.

This paper presents a technique for automated curation of a domain-specific knowledge base or lexicon for resource-constrained domains, such as Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and its application to real-time concept extraction and cognitive assistance in emergency response. The EMS responders often verbalize critical information describing the situations at an incident scene, including patients' physical condition and medical history. Automated extraction of EMS protocol-specific concepts from responders' speech data can facilitate cognitive support through the selection and execution of the proper EMS protocols for patient treatment. Although this task is similar to the traditional NLP task of concept extraction, the underlying application domain poses major challenges, including low training resources availability (e.g., no existing EMS ontology, lexicon, or annotated EMS corpus) and domain mismatch. Hence, we develop EMSContExt, a weakly-supervised concept extraction approach for EMS concepts. It utilizes different knowledge bases and a semantic concept model based on a corpus of over 9400 EMS narratives for lexicon expansion. The expanded EMS lexicon is then used to automatically extract critical EMS protocol-specific concepts from real-time EMS speech narratives. Our experimental results show that EMSContExt achieves 0.85 recall and 0.82 F1-score for EMS concept extraction and significantly outperforms MetaMap, a state-of-the-art medical concept extraction tool. We also demonstrate the application of EMSContExt to EMS protocol selection and execution and real-time recommendation of protocol-specific interventions to the EMS responders. Here, EMSContExt outperforms MetaMap with a 6% increase and six times speedup in weighted recall and execution time, respectively.
Implementation of a Statewide Policy Mandating School-Based Fitness Assessment Screening, Georgia: 2018

Objectives. To evaluate the statewide implementation of childhood fitness assessment and reporting in Georgia.Methods. We collected survey data from 1683 (919 valid responses from a random-digit-di...
On destruction in design

Sometimes to build something new you have to destroy what exists. We learned what should have been this obvious fact of existence through our collaboration with a group of 7th grade middle school students that we enlisted in a civic design project. The students were nominally tasked with designing new spaces for inter-cultural communication and public reflection on the small island our university campus shares with a small residential community in the middle of one of the most capitalized urban landscapes in the modern world. Why did it take a group of young middle schoolers to help us as design researchers recognize the significance of destruction as a design move? How can we use this experience to inform our discussion of politics in design, where the interesting question is not whether a design has politics or not, but what politics a specific design proposal does manifest (in this case, the destruction of an artifact), and how such acts can help surface the underlying tensions within a society or community? These are some of the questions that we probe in reflecting on this episode from the perspective of design.
Beyond the Coronavirus: Understanding Crises of Social Reproduction

From a feminist political economy perspective, the unfolding of the coronavirus is a further reminder of the fundamental contradiction between a capitalist system that prioritises profits, and a feminist ethic that prioritises life-making or social reproduction. This article argues for a more systematic understanding of crises of social reproduction under capitalism, stressing the difference between such crises for labour and those for capital. The coronavirus crisis represents an extraordinary example of a crisis of social reproduction for capital, but this article examines crises of social reproduction for capital and labour that arise from the more ordinary workings of capitalism. The focus is on unfolding such crises in the Global South, using the case of India to illustrate the usefulness of such an analysis. KEYWORDS: social reproduction; gender; labour; political economy; India
Response of Supersonic Transports to Runway Unevenness

An analysis has been developed for determining the dynamic response of airplanes to runway unevenness during take-off or landing and has been programmed for numerical solution on an IBM 7090 digita...
Raça como algoritmo:: trabalhadores de tecnologia entediados sendo casualmente racistas

Connecting corporate software work in the United States and Germany, this essay tracks the racialization of mostly male Indian software engineers through the casualization of their labor. In doing so, I show the connections between overt, anti-immigrant violence today and the ongoing use of race to sediment divisions of labor in the industry as a whole. To explain racialization in the tech industry, I develop the concept of race-as-algorithm as a device to unpack how race is made productive within digital economies, and to show the flexibility of race as it works to create orders of classification that are sensitive to context. Using evidence collected through observation in tech offices and through interviews with programmers over five years, I track race as an essential, but continually disavowed variable within the construction of global tech economies. The essay turns to historical racializations of casual labor in plantation economies to illuminate how casualness marks laborers whose rights can be muted and allows corporations to deny their culpability in promoting discrimination within and outside of the tech industry within a political field that divides “good” from “bad” migrants. Using the ethnographic symptoms that Indian tech workers identify in their environments, this essay reads these signs as an antidote to these continued denials. Keywords: race; algorithm; labor.
Animal Health, Management, and Foodborne Pathogens in Beef Feedlots:

The USDA's National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) has been conducting benchmark studies of the livestock industries since the late 1980's. Through 2001 there have been studies of swine (n=3), dairy (n=2), beef cow-calf (n=2), beef feedlot (n=2), catfish (n=l), layers (n=l), sheep (n=l) and equine (n=l). A stratified random sample of feedlot operations with at least 1000 head capacity in the 12 leading cattle feeding states1 was selected for participation in the Feedlot '99 study. Cattle from feedlots with 1000 head or more capacity in these 12 states accounted for 81.9% of fed cattle marketings for 1999. Operators of selected feedlots were contacted for a series personal interviews to collect information on health and management of cattle in their feedlot. In addition, operators were offered the opportunity to participate in activities that required the collection of water, feed or feces.
Are Narcissistic CEOs All That Bad

The role that a CEO’s personality plays in corporate outcomes is a topic of considerable interest, particularly the relation between narcissistic CEOs and performance. Common perception is that CEO narcissism is highly prevalent, and considerable research suggests that narcissism is associated with worse outcomes. The majority of studies, however, are based on “unobtrusive” methods that do not directly measure the CEO’s personality through a validated questionnaire but instead on indirect evidence thought to be indicative of narcissism. In this Closer Look, we test some basic assumptions about the relation between narcissism and corporate outcomes using a sample of CEOs whose personality is formally assessed by long-time directors who know and have worked closely with that CEO. While most of the research into narcissism and outcomes is negative, we find unexpected associations. We ask: • Would the results of existing literature be replicated if CEOs were subject to a valid personality evaluation? • What contribution does a CEO’s personality have to outcomes, and how does it manifest itself through strategy, risk, and culture? • How much discussion does the board have about the personality of their CEO? What actions do they take when they identify personal tendencies that might be of concern? • Are narcissists better at corporate “window dressing” than their less narcissistic peers?
Isolation of side-chain sulfated saxitoxin analogs: their significance in interpretation of the mechanism of action

Abstract A newly discovered toxin, gonyautoxin-VIII, and two previously reported toxins, gonyautoxinV and -VI, have been found to have carbamoyl N-sulfate conjugation. The exceptionally low toxic nature of the derivatives seems to support the hypothesis that the toxins interact on the surface of excitable membranes.
A Performance Study of Distance Source Routing Based Protocols for Mobile and Wireless ad Hoc Networks

In this paper, we focus upon the distance source routing (DSR) protocol. First, we describe an optimization scheme, which we refer to as GDSR, a reactive protocol that makes use of DSR scheme and the Global positioning system (GPS). As opposed to the DSR protocol GDSR consists of propagating the route request messages only to the nodes that are further away from the query source. Next, we consider a randomized version of both DSR and GDSR algorithms, which we refer to as RDSR and GDSR respectively. We discuss the algorithms, their implementation and present the experimental results we have obtained to study their performance. Our results clearly indicate that the GDSR protocol outperforms the DSR protocol by significantly decreasing the number of route query packets thereby increasing the efficiency of the network load. Our simulations experiments show that GPS screening and randomization paradigm are very effective in improving the performance of DSR under various performance conditions. Our results also indicate that a probabilistic congestion control scheme based on local tuning of protocol parameters is feasible, and that such a mechanism can be effective in reducing the amount of traffic routed through a node which is temporarily congested.
Motivation and Actions, Psychology of

Traditionally, research on motivation and action has focused on the role of motives and needs, but also on expectations, attributions, and control beliefs. Nowadays, when it comes to answering the question of how motivation relates to action, research includes the concept of goals. But pursuing goals with the right content and structure in the proper situational context does not yet guarantee effective goal attainment. People often have to engage in self-regulatory thought to further their goal pursuits. In this article, we review the history and current research associated with these three broad perspectives on motivation and action.
The effect of reproductive status and situation on locomotor performance and anti‐predator strategies in a funnel‐web spider

Predation is a major selective force for many species, and the anti-predator strategies most effective for an individual are often shaped by its body condition. In a laboratory experiment, we investigate the influence of reproductive status on the locomotor performance and anti-predator behaviour of female funnel-web spiders Agelenopsis emertoni, both on and off their webs. In general, mated females were slower than unmated females, and a significant amount of variation in the locomotor performance of mated females was explained by their relative reproductive investment (egg case mass/female mass before mating). Regardless of whether they were on or off their webs, mated females were less likely to exhibit flight responses to simulated predator threats than were unmated females. When off their webs, mated females exhibited more aggressive anti-predator responses (i.e. display behaviour), but while on their webs they were more likely to exhibit crypsis or huddling anti-predator responses. Thus, shifts in anti-predator strategy might allow mated females to compensate behaviourally for their reduced locomotor performance.
Imaging subtle microstructural variations in ceramics with precision ultrasonic velocity and attenuation measurements

There is an international research effort to incorporate ceramic components into hot sections of heat engines. A major portion of this effort is directed towards the understanding and control of ceramic processing so that the strength of ceramics may be optimized. To date, the strength of sintered ceramics (e.g., SiC) is well below, by about two orders of magnitude, the theoretical strength [1,4]. This discrepancy is understood to be due to the presence of voids, inclusions, agglomerates, and anomalously large grains [4]. These defects, causing premature failure, are introduced or formed during the ceramic manufacturing process. Considerable work has already been done to remove these strength reducing material variations. This has resulted in a steady increase in the fracture strength of ceramics; however, the rate of this increase has slowed. Adding to the problem is the fact that the fracture strength of identically produced experimental samples varies as much as 35 percent [2]. As a result of the loss of momentum toward higher strengths, researchers are turning to ceramic- ceramic fiber composites. These composites show promise of increasing the fracture strength of ceramic materials even further. It is likely that the same material strength variations will be present, at least locally in the matrix, in ceramic composites.
Inorganic chemical oxygen demand of re-suspended sediments in a bar-built lagoon

Rapid dissolved oxygen (DO) depletion, caused by inorganic chemical oxygen demand (COD) of re-suspended sediment compounds, has been documented in few studies, yet fish kills occur often from the process. Pescadero Lagoon, California, USA, a bar-built lagoon that suffers annual fish kills caused by rapid mixing-induced hypoxia upon sandbar breach, was studied to investigate the potential for COD of re-suspended sediment to deplete oxygen. In-situ chamber mixing trials demonstrated that re-suspended sediment can exert powerful oxygen demand on receiving waters. Surface DO depletion upon bar breach was too severe to be explained solely by mixing of the anoxic hypolimnion into the water column, and the depletion was too rapid to be attributed to biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), making COD of re-suspended sediment the likely direct cause. Sedimentous iron and sulfur compounds that exert COD are reduced under anoxic conditions created by water column stratification and BOD of heterotrophic bacteria.
Online Auctions of Repossessed Collateral Under Article 9

Under U.C.C. Article 9, a secured creditor selling repossessed collateral must do so in a commercially reasonable manner. A traditional form of foreclosure sale is an auction conducted by a professional auctioneer. With the rapid growth of online auctions like eBay, secured parties may want to use the new platform to sell their collateral. But conceived in the 1940s, Article 9 was not drafted with the Internet in mind. The secured creditor will face many novel issues, including whether the defining characteristics distinguishing a real-world public sale from a private sale remain coherent and applicable in cyberspace; whether an online auction run by a virtual auctioneer can adequately perform the important tasks of a live, professional auctioneer; whether online auction bidders sitting passively in their armchairs at home and staring at their computer screens will feel the excitement of real world auctions so that their bidding is zealous, and a reasonable purchase price will be realized for the collateral; whether legally appropriate advertising of an online auction to the relevant group of potential bidders can occur over the Internet; and finally whether a potential bidder can exercise his right to inspect tangible collateral in cyberspace. In short, when is it commercially reasonable for a secured party to employ an online auction to dispose of repossessed collateral? The Article examines these and other questions.
Performance of the GPM Passive Microwave Retrieval in the Balkan Flood Event of 2014

AbstractAn updated version of the Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF 2014) with a new overland scheme was released with the launch of the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) core satellite in February 2014. The algorithm is designed to provide consistent precipitation estimates over both ocean and land across diverse satellite platforms. This study tests the performance of the new retrieval, focusing specifically on an extreme rainfall event. Two contrasting 72-h precipitation events over the same area are used to compare the retrieved products against ground measurements. The first event is characterized by persistent and intense precipitation of an unusually strong and widespread system, which caused historical flooding of the central Balkan region of southeastern Europe in May 2014. The second event serves as a baseline case for a more typical midlatitude regime. Rainfall rates and 3-day accumulations given by five conically scanning radiometers (GMI; AMSR2; and SSMIS F16, F17, and F18) in the GPM const...
Nutrition and Chronic Kidney Disease

The development and progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is influenced by a number of dietary factors, including salt and protein intake and energy balance (obesity). While the benefits of a low-protein intake in preventing the development of CKD are not firmly established, it is likely that a high-protein intake is detrimental to individuals with even mild impairment of renal function. In the non-CKD population, obesity is a risk factor for the development of CKD via a variety of mechanisms, including clinical or sub-clinical insulin resistance, hypertension, and possibly other metabolic derangements. However, the deleterious metabolic effects of obesity are neutralized by its protective nutritional effects in the moderate CKD population and the deleterious metabolic effects of obesity are outweighed by its protective nutritional effects in stage V CKD patients on dialysis. Specific dietary recommendations regarding protein level and intakes of sodium, phosphorus, potassium, and fluids must be carefully individualized as appropriate for the level of renal function.
A Case Study in Translating Medical Evidence into Mobile Decision Support

Background: Combination oral contraceptives are prescribed 10 million times a year in the United States alone. Prescribers have more than 70 oral-contraceptive choices, but individual women's medical conditions may make some contraceptives inappropriate or dangerous. Traditional sources of prescribing information are impractical at the point of care. Mobile apps are revolutionizing clinical workflow, but none have been deployed for oral-contraceptive selection. Objective/Purpose: to design of an evidence-based interactive tool for selecting oral contraceptives, as a model for dissemination of clinical practice guidelines to clinical settings via mobile applications. Methods: I indexed the practice guidelines for hormonal contraception from the World Health Organization and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and expert recommendations from two contraceptive textbooks. I gathered the rules into IF-THEN use cases, annotated with evidence quality and prioritized by likelihood and importance, and classified contraceptive choices into specific recommendation groups. Results: The sources yielded 32 guidelines and 24 expert recommendations using a total of 73 data elements, mostly TRUE/FALSE choices or numeric values. Organizing these into 22 use cases evaluating one to eight data elements each, few enough to fit on a smartphone screen, permits the entire questionnaire to be navigated in 22 or fewer screens. Discussion/Conclusions: Handheld clinical applications can facilitate evidence-based medicine, and reduce medical errors, by moving the best available medical knowledge from laborintensive traditional resources to prescribers' fingertips. They may create privacy and data-security risks, but limiting apps to anonymous single-use queries obviates these. Potential enhancements include additional object-oriented treatment domains, automatically updating rules engines using the Guideline Elements Model, and allowing user communities to add rules.
Perturbation of the motor system in freely walking cockroaches. II. The timing of motor activity in leg muscles after amputation of a middle leg.

1.The effects of amputation of a middle leg on the motor pattern in the legs of freely walking cockroaches (Periplaneta americana L.) were studied. 2. The general effects of amputating a middle leg are similar to those arising from amputation of a rear leg. These effects are: multiple bursting, more variable and inconsistent timing (phase) between bursts and a tendency for timing effects to appear only during relatively slow walking. 3. The phase of bursts in the amputated stump relative to bursts in the leg in front of it was speed-dependent. However, the phase of stump bursts relative to bursts in the legs across from and behind the stump were not especially dependent on the speed of walking. In general, the phases of bursts in most leg pairs seemed relatively little affected by the amputation except for an increase in scatter. 4. It is concluded that loss of a middle leg disrupts the motor pattern less severely than does loss of a rear leg. The implications of this and other results for the understanding of motor control are discussed.
A SIMD solution to the sequence comparison problem on the MGAP

Molecular biologists frequently compare an unknown biosequence with a set of other known biosequences to find the sequence which is maximally similar, with the hope that what is true of one sequence, either physically or functionally, could be true of its analogue. Even though efficient dynamic programming algorithms exist for the problem, when the size of the database is large, the time required is quite long, even for moderate length sequences. In this paper, we present an efficient pipelined SIMD solution to the sequence alignment problem on the Micro-Grain Array Processor (MGAP), a fine-grained massively parallel array of processors with nearest-neighbor connections. The algorithm compares K sequences of length O(M) with the actual sequence of length N, in O(M+N+K) time with O(MN) processors, which is AT-optimal. The implementation on the MGAP computes at the rate of about 0.1 million comparisons per second for sequences of length 128. >
Ovarian activity in synchronized mares following administration of follicle stimulating hormone

Abstract Twelve non-pregnant, non-lactating, light horse type mares of unknown breeding were randomly assigned to two treatment groups with six replicates per group. Mares were administered PGF2α (10 mg, IM) on days 0 and 14, and HCG (3000 IU, IM) on days 6 and 20. Group A received FSH (5 units, IM) twice daily (06.00 and 18.00 h) on days 15 through 10. Group B received saline twice daily (06.00 and 18.00 h) on days 15 through 19. Ovaries were recovered at necropsy on day 30 (10 days post-ovulation). Ovaries were weighed, CL number and weight determined, follicles counted and measured, and volume of follicular fluid quantified. Mean ovarian weight (g) and number of CL per mare, respectively, were: Group A, 148.1 ± 62.3, 0.83 ± 0.31; Group B, 91.3 ± 16.8, 0.83 ± 0.81. Mean number of follicles > 10 mm and total volume (ml) of follicular fluid per mare, respectively, were: Group A, 2.25 ± 0.71, 38.7 ± 26.3; Group B, 2.25 ± 0.73, 14.7 ± 4.9. There was no difference (P > 0.05) in mean ovarian weight, CL number, CL weight, follicular fluid volume, number of follicles, or size of follicles between treatment groups. These results show no significant effect on ovarian activity in mares following administration of exogenous FSH.