cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Founder‐CEOs and Corporate Turnaround among Declining Firms

Manuscript Type. Empirical. Research Question/Issue. Despite the growing interest in leaders' role in the turnaround process, there is a paucity of research on founder‐CEOs' role in achieving successful turnaround among declining firms. In this study, using insights from the organizational identification literature, we argue that founder‐CEOs play an important role in turnaround attempts due to their strong organizational commitment and psychological attachment to the declining firm as well as the relative absence of agency problem issues common among their non‐founder counterparts. Research Findings/Insights. Using data from a matched pair sample of 142 US firms that experienced performance decline, we found that founder‐CEO leadership significantly increases in declining firms. We also found that, among turnaround firms, those led by founder‐CEOs tend to put more emphasis on market‐based turnaround strategies, such as new product introductions, and less emphasis on retrenchment actions, such as divestments. Theoretical/Academic Implications. Our findings contribute to corporate turnaround research by providing a more nuanced view of leaders' role in the turnaround process by specifically exploring the effect of founder CEO leadership. Furthermore, this study contributes to the turnaround literature by highlighting the strategic choices of founder‐CEO‐led firms and how these choices influence successful turnaround. Finally, by introducing organizational identification perspective, this study provides additional theoretical explanation of leadership antecedents of successful turnarounds. Practitioner/Policy Implications. The findings of this study suggest that boards of directors, shareholders, and consultants who often participate in turnaround management should carefully consider retaining founder‐CEOs and endorsing their leadership during the turnaround process. Further, the findings provide turnaround specialists and other stakeholders with further understanding of not only the importance of product market strategies in the turnaround process but also founder‐CEOs' role in fostering such strategies.
Coulomb interaction in monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides

Recently, the celebrated Rytova-Keldysh potential has been widely used to describe the Coulomb interaction of few-body complexes in monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides. Using this potential to model charged excitons (trions), one finds a strong dependence of the binding energy on whether the monolayer is suspended in air, supported on ${\mathrm{SiO}}_{2}$, or encapsulated in hexagonal boron-nitride. However, empirical values of the trion binding energies show weak dependence on the monolayer configuration. This deficiency indicates that the description of the Coulomb potential is still lacking in this important class of materials. We address this problem and derive a new potential form, which takes into account the three atomic sheets that compose a monolayer of transition-metal dichalcogenides. The new potential self-consistently supports (i) the nonhydrogenic Rydberg series of neutral excitons and (ii) the weak dependence of the trion binding energy on the environment. Furthermore, we identify an important trion-lattice coupling due to the phonon cloud in the vicinity of charged complexes. Neutral excitons in their ground state, on the other hand, have weaker coupling to the lattice due to the confluence of their charge neutrality and small Bohr radius.
Phenotyping acute and chronic atopic dermatitis-like lesions in Stat6VT mice identifies a role for IL-33 in disease pathogenesis

The Stat6VT mouse model of atopic dermatitis (AD) is induced by T-cell-specific expression of a constitutively active form of the protein signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6). Although AD-like lesions are known to develop in Stat6VT mice, this study was designed to determine if these mice develop acute and chronic phases of disease similar to humans. To address this, AD-like lesions from Stat6VT mice were harvested at two different timepoints relative to their onset. Lesions harvested within 1 week after development were defined as acute lesions, and those present for 1 month or more were defined as chronic lesions. Acute and chronic AD-like lesions from Stat6VT mice exhibited histologic findings and cytokine expression patterns similar to acute and chronic AD lesions in humans. Further analysis revealed increased levels of interleukin (IL)-33 transcripts in AD-like lesions compared to Stat6VT nonlesional and wild-type skin controls. Immunofluorescence also revealed increased numbers of IL-33+ keratinocytes in Stat6VT lesional skin and localized IL-33+ keratinocytes to a keratin 5+ subset. Furthermore, AD-like disease was more severe in IL-33-deficient Stat6VT mice compared to IL-33-sufficient Stat6VT mice. These studies suggest that Stat6VT mice can serve as a model of acute and chronic AD and that IL-33 may attenuate inflammation in this system.
Treatment integrity of a homework intervention: Evaluating parent and student adherence, exposure, and program differentiation

Home–school interventions can facilitate positive family–school relationships and improve student outcomes. However, there is little research that attends to parents’ treatment integrity, even thou...
Learning Child Development Through Immersion in Ill-Structured Problems Using a Virtual Environment

Preservice teachers have a difficult time bridging theory and practice, particularly when some course work is theory intense, like Child and Human Development. Proponents of clinical practice and field experiences for teacher candidates suggest that more practice in real world contexts is essential to learning to become a teacher. These are not always available, and sometimes, alternatives need to be considered. This paper describes the design and implementation of a learning experience that provides one alternative. What is proposed is an approach to problem-based learning that utilizes ill-structured problems set in a virtual environment designed to simulate a real school. Justification for the design include contextually based simulations from Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Human Development, and relevant constructs found in the literature on problem based learning, ill-structured problems, and the use of multi-user virtual environments. Lessons learned from the first iteration include design updates and instructional considerations for strengthening the bridge from theory to practice.
Posterior communicating artery occlusion and recanalization through a fusiform aneurysm after flow diversion

Abstract Occlusion of branch vessels is a known potential sequela of the treatment of intracranial aneurysms with flow diversion. We present a case of occlusion and distal reconstitution of the origin of the posterior communicating artery through a fusiform aneurysm of the internal carotid artery after flow diversion. A 56-year-old woman was incidentally found to have a large fusiform aneurysm of the posterior communicating segment of the internal carotid artery incorporating the origin of the posterior communicating artery. The aneurysm was treated with placement of a Pipeline flow diverter. Follow-up computed tomography angiogram at 7 months demonstrated no change in aneurysm filling. A follow-up digital subtraction angiogram at 12 months demonstrated occlusion of the native origin of the posterior communicating artery with distal reconstitution through two accessory channels through the aneurysm. The remainder of the aneurysm was thrombosed. The patient had not had any clinical symptoms during this event. The unorganized nature of the thrombus within aneurysms after flow diversion may allow accessory vascular channels to form in the event of occlusion of a side branch.
Covert behavior as a direct electromyographic measure of mediating responses.

Electromyographic (EMG) measures (in addition to eye activity, and electroencephalograms, EEG) were taken from the tongue and arms of children under conditions of verbal oral mediation, non-oral (leg and arm) mediation based on the concepts of right and left, and no-mediation. It was found that amplitude of tongue EMG (a measure of covert oral behavior) significantly increased only for the Verbal Mediation Group, and the increase was significantly greater than for the other two (control) groups. The arms were possible loci of mediational behavior for the Non-oral Mediation Group; arm EMG was relatively large under this non-oral mediation condition, the changes being significant for the left arm. Eye movements, possible indicators of right and left mediational activity, were greater under the non-oral mediation condition, too. These psychophysiological measures of covert behavior during mediation are thus consistent with verbal mediational theory that has been based on the study of overt behavior.
Locating Amazonian Dark Earths (ADE) Using Satellite Remote Sensing – A Possible Approach

Amazonian Dark Earths (ADE) are the result of preColumbian humans’ occupation of the Amazon Basin and are related to the need for fertile soils for growing crops (e.g. Glaser and Woods 2004). ADE soils contain highly elevated levels of organic matter, mostly in the form of very slowly decomposing charcoal, which retains water and nutrients, and makes ADE some of the most fertile soils in the world (Kern et al. 2003; Lehmann et al. 2003). When productivity of plants grown on ADE soil was contrasted with typical Amazonian soils, Major et al. (2005) found that maize yields were as much as 63 times greater, weed cover was 45 times greater, and plant species diversity was up to 11 times greater than for adjacent typical Amazonian soils. ADE soils contain up to 70 times more SOM than typical Amazonian soils (Mann 2002). Woods and McCann (1999) have shown that nutrient transfers from outside of ADE sites are necessary to explain current nutrient levels in ADE soils, suggesting that the formation of these soils ultimately became an intentional effort on the part of prehistoric Amerindian populations to improve the quality of their farmland. These nutrient sources may have been plant and animal food wastes, fish bones and other un-used fish matter, or human excrement, as well as a host plant materials used for fuel and construction. The presence of algae in ADE from c.1150 BP and later suggests that silt from riverbanks was incorporated into the ADE soils in at least one location (Mora et al. 1991). In addition to opening a window to the past, ADE soils may hold a key to the future. The most readily observed characteristic of ADE soils is their high concentration of charcoal, which gives them the distinctive dark brown-to-black coloration. Glaser et al. (2001) found 64 times more charcoal in ADE soils than in the surrounding soils. To meet the challenges of possible global climate change caused by greenhouse gases, atmospheric carbon concentrations must be reduced. Vegetation actively withdraws carbon from the atmosphere and stores it as organic matter. Biochar is created when organic matter is heated without oxygen and it contains twice the carbon content of ordinary biomass (Lehmann 2007). Biochar is much more resistant to decay and can store carbon for centennial timescales (Lehmann et al. 2006). The addition of biochar to the soil was part of the creation
Serum Vitamin D Concentrations and Cognitive Change Over 20 Years: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Neurocognitive Study

BACKGROUND/AIMS 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentrations have been associated with cognitive decline and incident dementia in elderly populations; however, these relationships are susceptible to reverse causation. Less is known about the association of midlife 25(OH)D with long-term cognitive decline. METHODS This was a prospective cohort study of 13,044 participants (mean age 57 years at baseline) in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. 25(OH)D was measured from serum collected at baseline (1990-1992) using liquid chromatography tandem high-sensitivity mass spectrometry. Cognition was assessed using 3 neuropsychological tests at 3 time points, which were combined into a composite cognitive Z-score. Multivariable-adjusted linear mixed-effects models with random intercepts and slopes were used to estimate associations between 25(OH)D and cognitive change over 20 years. RESULTS Compared to persons with sufficient 25(OH)D (≥30 ng/mL), those with deficient (< 20 ng/mL) and intermediate (20-< 30 ng/mL) 25(OH)D concentrations had similar cognitive decline in composite cognitive Z-scores (deficient versus sufficient: -0.035 [95% CI -0.104 to 0.033] and intermediate versus sufficient: -0.029 [95% CI -0.080 to 0.023]). CONCLUSIONS Lower concentrations of 25(OH)D measured in midlife were not significantly associated with more rapid cognitive decline over a 20-year follow-up period. The results of this prospective study are less susceptible to reverse causation than prior studies.
The Requirement for GW182 Scaffolding Protein Depends on Whether Argonaute Is Mediating Translation, Transcription, or Splicing

GW182 and argonaute 2 (AGO2) are core proteins of the RNA interference complex. GW182 is a scaffolding protein that physically associates with AGO2 and bridges its interactions with other proteins. A fundamental problem in biology is how scaffolding proteins adapt or contribute to differing functional demands within cells. Here we test the necessity for human GW182 proteins (paralogs TNRC6A, TNRC6B, and TNRC6C) for several mechanisms of small duplex RNA-mediated control of gene expression, including translational silencing by miRNAs, translational silencing by siRNAs, transcriptional silencing, transcriptional activation, and splicing. We find that GW182 is required for transcriptional activation and for the activity of miRNAs but is dispensable for the regulation of splicing, transcriptional silencing, and the action of siRNAs. AGO2, by contrast, is necessary for each of these processes. Our data suggest that GW182 does not alter AGO2 to make it active. Instead, GW182 organizes protein complexes around A...
Daily Acute Bouts of Weightbearing During Hindlimb Unloading Mitigate Disuse-Induced Deficits in Cancellous Bone

International Space Station crewmembers experience zero gravity, resulting in musculoskeletal losses. It remains unclear how much mechanical loading during disuse is sufficient to mitigate disuse-induced bone loss. We examined 75 minutes of weight-bearing per day on disuse-induced bone loss during hindlimb unloading (HU). Female C57BL/6J mice, 16 wks (n=10/group), were exposed to HU for 28 days or were ambulatory controls (CC). Half of the HU animals were continuously unloaded while the remainder were removed from tail suspension for ~75 min/day for cage activity weight-bearing (HU+WB). HU and HU+WB led to total body mass and bone mineral density loss. HU+WB mitigated HU-induced losses in total body fat and lean mass and, in the distal femur, prevented losses in uCT measures of cancellous bone volume and microarchitecture. These findings support the robust impact of short durations of normal loading on preventing or mitigating HU-induced bone loss.
Nurse Practitioner Role Transition and Identity Development in Rural Health Care Settings: A Scoping Review.

Aim The purpose of this scoping review was to explore the literature regarding the nurse practitioner (NP) role transition and professional identity development at rural health care settings. Background Because of the shortage of primary care providers, NPs are meeting the demand for primary care in rural areas. Method Arksey and O'Malley's six-stage methodological framework for scoping reviews guided this systematic literature review, which resulted in selection of 145 sources. Results Three major themes emerged: NPs in rural clinical practice, defining NP professional identity, and role transition to an NP identity. Conclusion Further research is needed to guide education program leaders on curriculum development. Rural health care facilities and nursing programs should partner in the orientation and continuing education needs of NPs to prepare and support their role transition and professional identity development. NPs will be instrumental in providing access to quality primary health care in rural communities.
Overutilisation of imaging studies for diagnosis of pulmonary embolism: are we following the guidelines?

Objective To evaluate if imaging studies such as CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) or ventilation–perfusion (V/Q) scan are ordered according to the current guidelines for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE). Methods We performed a retrospective observational cohort study in all adult patients who presented to the Sparrow Hospital Emergency Department from January 2014 to December 2016 and underwent CTPA or V/Q scan. We calculated the Wells’ score retrospectively, and d-dimer values were used to determine if the imaging study was justified. Results A total of 8449 patients underwent CTPA (93%) or V/Q scan (7%), among which 142 (1.7%) patients were diagnosed with PE. The Wells’ criteria showed low probabilities for PE in 96 % and intermediate or high probabilities in 4 % of total patients. Modified Wells’ criteria demonstrated PE unlikely in 99.6 % and PE likely in 0.4 % of total patients. D-dimer was obtained in only 37 % of patients who were unlikely to have a PE or had a low score on Wells’ criteria. Despite a low or unlikely Wells’ criteria score and normal d-dimer levels, 260 patients underwent imaging studies, and none were diagnosed with PE. Conclusion More than 99 % of CTPA or V/Q scans were negative in our study. This suggests extraordinary overutilisation of the imaging methods. D-dimer, recommended in patients with low to moderate risk, was ordered in only one-third of patients. Much greater emphasis of current guidelines is needed to avoid inappropriate utilisation of resources without missing diagnosis of PE.
The Social Elements of TGNC’s Individual’s Journey to Living Authentically

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the experience of transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals coming out and living authentically as their self-identified gender identity. Including the obstacles and discrimination, TGNC people navigate through everyday life in society. By adapting, Amiot et al. [66] developed a four-stage model of social identity development and integration of the self into an integrated social identity to a five-stage model. The term, Reflexive Authenticity, increases the process to five stages of social identity development and implements action/interaction strategies with conditions and consequences at each stage. TGNC individuals demonstrate the reciprocal nature of Identity Process Theory (IPT) and Social Representation Theory (SRT). SRT addresses both social products and processes. As a product, social representation is defined as a widely shared set of beliefs—a systematic framework for evaluating events. For invisible minorities (as the transgender community has been often described [92]), the digital age has given rise to multiple new options and opportunities to recognize, explore, and validate themselves.
Pediatric Frontal Sinus Surgery

Surgical intervention to the frontal sinus is rarely pursued in the pediatric population, as the sinus does not begin to pneumatize until around the age of 8, and there is variability in the rate of development. Additionally, chronic frontal rhinosinusitis is often resolved by management of the adenoids and/or maxillary and ethmoid sinuses. Though pediatric frontal sinus surgery is uncommon, a thorough understanding of frontal sinus anatomy, pathology, and management is important for all otolaryngologists as complications of acute sinusitis can result from frontal sinusitis and should be treated expediently. The boundaries of the frontal sinus drainage pathway are complex in the adult and can be even more varied in the pediatric population. Surgery for frontal sinusitis in pediatric patients has been shown to be effective with recent American Academy of Otolaryngology (AAO) clinical consensus statements supporting its use. Surgery for pediatric CRS can take many forms from adenoidectomy to limited endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) to maxillary antral irrigation to frontal sinusotomy. The specific procedures employed and their indications are a source of controversy, with a wide range of opinions as to what constitutes appropriate surgical intervention. These topics will be covered in greater detail later in this chapter.
Do People Mentally Represent Automated Tasks? Evidence from Task-Switching Costs Following Takeovers:

Partially automated vehicles, in which automation performs parts of the driving task, introduce new challenges of automation monitoring and human-automation teaming to the driving experience. We de...
Informed Design through the Integration of Entrepreneurial Thinking in Secondary Engineering Programs

Competitive growth in todayâ€™s economy is believed to necessitate individuals to possess more than the technical skills required to develop novel designs to include entrepreneurial thinking capabilities. An entrepreneurial mindset can enable people to think and then act in a certain way to discover, evaluate, and exploit opportunities by understanding the value proposition of a new idea, identifying the potential market, and adapting ideas to meet the needs and desires of various customer segments. However, secondary students often lack formalized opportunities to upon the ideas they develop during their high school experiences and transform those ideas into reliable investments of time and resources. Therefore, we propose that secondary engineering teachers can employ established entrepreneurial pedagogical interventions as a means to promote more authentic engineering design activities in STEM learning environments, aid students in making more informed design decisions, engage students in developing viable solutions to authentic problems while investigating opportunities for exploiting their ideas, and thus, supporting the innovation capabilities of our future. Consequently, this article highlights methods in which to integrate an entrepreneurial mindset within high school STEM classrooms, specifically those focused on engineering.
International Differences in Outpatient Pain Management: A Survey of Sickle Cell Disease.

Vaso-occlusive pain crises are the hallmark of sickle cell disease (SCD) and the primary reason for health care utilization. Both national and international guidelines recommend aggressive intravenous opioids, intravenous fluids and anti-inflammatory therapy as the mainstay of treatment for acute SCD pain. However, many vaso-occlusive crises are managed at home with oral medication and supportive care. There are no guidelines on home medication management of SCD-related pain, likely due to the lack of well-defined endpoints for acute events and the lack of funding for already approved pain medications. Amplifying this issue is the growing concern for opioid abuse and misuse in the United States (US) and internationally. This study aimed to evaluate differences in opioid prescribing practices among providers treating SCD in the US and internationally. A survey was disseminated electronically to known providers using a combination of purposive and snowball sampling strategy. There were 127 responses and 17 countries represented. US providers were more likely to prescribe opioids (p < 0.001) and were more likely to be “very comfortable” prescribing opioids than non-US prescribers (p < 0.001). US providers also tended to prescribe more tablets per patient of stronger opioids than non-US physicians. US physicians were more likely to be concerned that patients were abusing opioids than non-US physicians (32% vs. 27%, p < 0.05). There are significant variations in how different parts of the world manage pain in the outpatient setting for SCD. Identifying optimal home pain management strategies is necessary to improve care and long-term outcomes in SCD.
Binary categorizations of foods by American, French and Indian adults: Predominance of healthy-unhealthy and minimal emphasis on animal-plant.

Abstract Objective Food and drink form a substantial part of health advice, and a significant part of pleasant or unpleasant memories, expectations and experiences. They can be divided into two categories in many ways, and the preferred way in which any person makes this division may be an indicator of how that person thinks about the food-drink domain, with potential health implications. Binary categorization is an uncommon technique but it offers a window into “default” categorization of the world. We employ two different methods to assess binary categorization, spontaneous categorizations, and ranking of a set of defined categorizations. Insofar as these two methods give convergent results, this would serve to strengthen the evidence provided by our findings. Methods: Samples of each of approximately 300 on-line American, French, and Indian adults spontaneously offered a preferred way of dichotomizing the food/drink domain. At a later point in the same questionnaire, they rank ordered the importance to them of each of five categorizations including natural versus processed, animal origin versus plant origin, and healthy versus unhealthy. Results The predominant categorization by both methods was healthy-unhealthy. The animal-plant origin categorization was rare. The correspondence between results for spontaneous nomination of dichotomies versus ranking a fixed list of dichotomies on importance is substantial, and is a form of validation of the spontaneous method. Discussion “Healthy-Unhealthy” is a continuum rather than a dichotomy, is subject to changing classifications by the nutrition-medical community, and is limited in value because small amounts of “unhealthy” foods are not unhealthy. In an important sense, “healthy-unhealthy” is an incorrect principle for dividing foods. Surprisingly, only a very small percent of individuals suggested (or ranked highly) animal origin versus plant origin, although this is a true dichotomy, and on biological and nutritional and sustainability grounds, this might be the most fundamental dichotomy.
Theoretical framework for industrial energy consumption revisited: The role of demographics

Abstract A vast number of studies have considered economic aspects of industrial energy consumption, whereas, to the best of our knowledge, very few studies have considered demographic aspects, and none of them provided a theoretical foundation for the demographic variables employed. Studying the effect of demographic factors on industrial energy consumption is also important because of the reasons found in the literature. This motivated us to develop a theoretical framework using features of production function and the labor market, in which industrial energy consumption is linked to both economic and demographic factors. We then empirically tested the reliability of the developed framework. To produce robust results, various unit root and cointegration tests, long-run estimation methods, small sample bias corrections, as well as two functional forms and two measures of the demographics were employed in the empirical analysis. The results are theoretically and empirically coherent: demographic and economic indicators have statistically significant long- and short-run impacts on industrial electricity consumption. Further analysis showed that the demographic indicators also exert statistically significant and theoretically coherent impacts on other energy types used in industry within this new framework. We concluded that the suggested framework can be used to examine the role of both demographic and economic factors in the industrial consumption of electricity and other energy types.
Detection of factor VIII inhibitors with the partial thromboplastin time

Variations of the partial thromboplastin time (PTT) were tested to determine the best screening method for detection of inhibitors of factor VIII. Variables tested included the duration of preincubation of a mixture of patient plasma and factor VIII source (normal plasma), the ratio of the patient plasma to the normal plasma, and the duration of incubation of the normal plasma-patient plasma mixture with kaolin-cephalin suspension prior to recalcification. The following conclusions were reached: (1) The PTT performed on a mixture of equal amounts of patient and normal plasma without preincubation of the mixture was inadequate to detect many factor VIII inhibitors. (2) Factor VIII inhibitors of more than 0.5 Bethesda units could be detected if the PTT was performed on a mixture of four parts patient plasma and one part normal plasma, with preincubation of the mixture for 60 min at 37 degrees C. (3) Factor VIII inhibitors as weak as 0.1 Bethesda units could be detected if the PTT was performed on a mixture of four parts patient plasma and one part normal plasma incubated with kaolin-cephalin suspension for 120 min at 37 degrees C before recalcification. The last method may make detection of mild factor VIII inhibitors possible in routine clinical laboratories not equipped to perform the more technically difficult Bethesda inhibitor assays.
Chapter 4 Use of flow and laser-scanning cytometry in analysis of cell death

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the use of flow and laser-scanning cytometry in analysis of cell death. It discusses that flow cytometry is often used to measure cellular levels of the immunocytochemically-detected components that are involved directly or indirectly in the regulation and/or execution of apoptosis. The most prominent among them are members of the Bcl-2 protein family, caspases, the protooncogenes, or tumor suppressor genes. Flow cytometry is widely used to study functional attributes of the cell, such as mitochondrial metabolism, oxidative stress, intracellular pH, or ionized calcium, all closely associated with mechanisms regulating cell sensitivity to apoptosis. The major advantage of flow cytometry in these applications is that it offers the possibility of multiparametric measurements of a multitude of cell attributes. The second group of cytometry applications comprises the methods to identify and quantify dead cells and discriminate between apoptotic vs necrotic modes of death. The chapter discusses the plethora of methods developed, especially for the identification of apoptotic cells. A laser-scanning cytometer (LSC) is a microscope-based cytofluorometer manufactured, which offers the combined advantages of flow cytometry and image analysis LSC measures cell fluorescence rapidly and with accuracy comparable to that obtained by flow cytometry.
Applying Fuzzy Mathematics to Formal Models in Comparative Politics

This book explores the intersection of fuzzy mathematics and the spatial modeling of preferences in political science. Beginning with a critique of conventional modeling approaches predicated on Cantor set theoretical assumptions, the authors outline the potential benefits of a fuzzy approach to the study of ambiguous or uncertain preference profiles. While crisp models assume that ambiguity is a form of confusion emerging from imperfect information about policy options, the authors argue instead that some level of ambiguity is innate in human preferences and social interaction. What fuzzy mathematics offers the researcher, then, is a precise tool with which he can model the inherently imprecise dimensions of nuanced empirical reality. Moving beyond the limited treatment fuzzy methodologies have received in extant political science literature, this book develops single- and multidimensional models of fuzzy preference landscapes and characterizes the surprisingly high levels of stability that emerge from interactions between players operating within these models. The material presented makes it a good text for a graduate seminar in formal modeling. It is also suitable as an introductory text in fuzzy mathematics for graduate and advanced undergraduate students.
Europeanization and the Communist Successor Parties in Post‐Communist Politics

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the domestic political consequences of “Europeanization.” This article seeks to focus on developing a framework by which the effects of Europeanization on the communist successor parties might be investigated and to initially examine that framework in light of the evidence presented by four “critical cases”—the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM), the Party of Social Democrats of Romania (PDSR/PSD), and the Party of the Democratic Left in Slovakia (SDL). Using textual analysis of party programs to ascertain the identity of the parties, and examining their organizational structures, this article finds that Europeanization itself does not explain the evolution of political parties in post-communist politics. Rather, domestic political considerations play a more important role in shaping these parties.
Radiation From A Scattering Antenna Embedded in a Dissipative Half Space

The radiation characteristics of a horizontal antenna embedded in a conducting half space and illuminated by a refracted electromagnetic wave are investigated. Asymptotic expressions of the far fields are given in two regions: the horizontal plane of the interface at large radial distances from the vertical axis and the upper hemisphere far from the origin. Due to the interference of the fields generated by the currents in different parts of the antenna, the groundwave and spacewave radiation patterns are different from those due to an infinitesimal horizontal dipole.
Vertebral compression fractures in patients under treatment with denosumab: a contraindication for percutaneous vertebroplasty?

Abstract Background context Denosumab (XGeva) is a receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL)–antibody that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2010 for the prevention of skeletal fractures in patients with bone metastases from solid tumors. Although there is a widespread use of such drug in patients under risk of pathological fractures, the compatibility of denosumab therapy with percutaneous vertebroplasty (an interventional procedure commonly used for pain control in such population) has not yet been established. Purpose To present the serial imaging findings and technical report of an attempted percutaneous vertebroplasty in a patient with refractory pain and a lytic pathological vertebral fracture related to small cell lung cancer spinal metastasis and who was actively under medical treatment with denosumab. Study design Retrospective review and case report. Methods The authors present the imaging findings and technical report of an attempted percutaneous vertebroplasty in the only patient found to be actively under treatment with denosumab after a retrospective review of the databank of patients with pathological fractures referred to the Department of Radiology of the Ohio State University for percutaneous vertebroplasty (a total sample of 20 patients) since the FDA approval of denosumab (November 2010) until June 2013 (a 30-month period). Results Although the computed tomography scan of the thoracic spine, performed 6 weeks after the initiation of the treatment with denosumab, presented a remarkable remodeling of the previously lytic vertebral lesion (which became markedly sclerotic in appearance), the clinical response in terms of pain improvement was not satisfactory. At the time of the percutaneous vertebroplasty (which was indicated for pain control), after advancing the 11-gauge needle through the pedicle with extreme difficulty, the needle repeatedly deviated laterally and, despite several attempts, it was not possible to penetrate the vertebral body and perform the cement injection. Conclusions This is the first report of the technical peculiarities of percutaneous vertebroplasty in patients under medical treatment with denosumab. According to our experience, because of its RANKL-mediated effects on osteoclasts activity, denosumab has been shown to induce a fast and marked sclerotic response on vertebral bodies that may not be accompanied by a satisfactory improvement in pain control (especially in patients with mechanical type of pain) and which may actually prevent the successful performance of percutaneous vertebroplasty. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that future studies evaluating patients with vertebral fractures under treatment with denosumab include long-term pain outcome measures. Additionally, further investigation is warranted to determine the optimal order of treatment and the best timeframe for combining percutaneous vertebroplasty and denosumab therapy in patients presenting with acute vertebral compression fractures and refractory axial pain.
Negative-Staining of Protozoa with Nigrosin

The use of nigrosin in a rapid but accurate method for the demonstration of cilia bands, vacuoles and cytoplasmic inclusions in infusorians is discussed. The general effects of the dye as well as its staining action are presented together with a brief explanation of the physics of the action. The technic proposed involves mixing a drop of infusion on the slide with a drop of 10% aqueous nigrosin; excess stain is drained off, the specimen dried and mounted.
"From that moment on my life changed": turning points in the healing process for men recovering from child sexual abuse.

Recent research indicates that child sexual abuse often undermines the health of boys and men across the lifespan. However, some male survivors experience a turning point marking a positive change in their health trajectories and healing process. Although frequently discussed in reference to physical health problems or addictions, very little is known about turning points with respect to child sexual abuse for men. The purpose of this secondary qualitative analysis was to describe the different types of turning points experienced by male survivors who completed the 2010 Health and Well-Being Survey (N = 250). Using conventional content analysis, researchers identified seven types of turning points that were classified into three broad categories: influential relationships (professional and group support, personal relationships), insights and new meanings (cognitive realizations, necessity to change, spiritual transformation), and action-oriented communication (disclosure of CSA, pursuit of justice). Impli...
Application of three fault growth criteria to the Puente Hills thrust system, Los Angeles, California, USA

Abstract Three-dimensional mechanical models are used to evaluate the performance of different fault growth criteria in predicting successive growth of three echelon thrust faults similar to the segments of the Puente Hills thrust system of the Los Angeles basin, California. Four sequential Boundary Element Method models explore the growth of successive echelon faults within the system by simulating snapshots of deformation at different stages of development. These models use three criteria, (1) energy release rate, (2) strain energy density, and (3) Navier–Coulomb stress, to characterize the lateral growth of the fault system. We simulate the growth of an echelon thrust fault system to evaluate the suitability of each of these criteria for assessing fault growth. Each of these three factors predicts a portion of the incipient fault geometry (i.e. location or orientation); however, each provides different information. In each model, energy release rate along the westernmost (leading) tip of the Puente Hills thrust drops with growth of the next neighboring fault; this result supports the overall lateral development of successive echelon segments. Within each model, regions of high strain energy density and Navier–Coulomb stress envelope at least a portion of the next fault to develop, although the strain energy density has stronger correlation than Navier–Coulomb stress to the location of incipient faulting. In each model, one of the two predicted planes of maximum Navier–Coulomb stress ahead of the leading fault tip matches the strike but not the dip of the incipient fault plane recreating part of the fault orientation. The incipient fault dip is best predicted by the orientation of the strain energy density envelopes around the leading fault tip. Furthermore, the energy release rate and pattern of strain energy density can be used to characterize potential soft linkage (overlap) or hard linkage (connection) of echelon faults within the system.
Trivalent Cayley graphs for interconnection networks

We propose a new family of trivalent Cayley graphs with constant node degree 3 for design of interconnection networks. These graphs are shown to be regular, to have logarithmic diameter in the number of nodes, and to be maximally fault tolerant. We investigate different algebraic properties of these networks (including fault tolerance) and propose a simple routing algorithm.
Wave guiding by a wiggling FEL beam

Abstract The electron beam in an FEL acts in a manner so as to guide the electromagnetic wave. This is a consequence of the beam-wave interaction, which produces a wavevector of the combined mode giving and exponential decay in field amplitude transverse to the direction of propagation. Prior studies have assumed a smooth boundary between beam and vacuum, and in this paper the wiggling motion of the beam is incorporated into the analysis. It is found that when the ratio of the wiggle amplitude to the beam thickness is large, the FEL gain is reduced and the guiding becomes weaker.
Integrated remote sensing and wavelet analyses for screening short-term teleconnection patterns in northeast America

Summary Global sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies have an inherent effect on vegetation dynamics and precipitation processes throughout the continental United States (U.S.). SST variations have been correlated with precipitation patterns via ocean–atmospheric interactions known as climate teleconnections. Prior research has demonstrated that understanding excitation mechanisms of the teleconnection patterns can be instrumental for climate prediction across a wide region at sub-continental scales, yet these studies tend to have large uncertainties in estimates by assuming linearity when examining teleconnection signals. The co-existence of non-stationary and nonlinear signals embedded in SST anomalies makes the identification of the teleconnection patterns difficult at the local scale. This study explores the short-term (10-year) frequencies (i.e., interannual and seasonal ) embedded in the non-stationary teleconnection signals between SST at the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans and the responses of terrestrial greenness and precipitation along multiple pristine sites in northeast U.S., including (1) White Mountain National Forest – Pemigewasset Wilderness, (2) Green Mountain National Forest – Lye Brook Wilderness, and (3) Adirondack State Park – Siamese Ponds Wilderness. Each site was selected to avoid anthropogenic influences that may otherwise mask climate teleconnection signals. Lagged pixel-wise linear teleconnection analysis based on remote sensing satellite images across anomalous global SST datasets found significant correlation regions between SST and these terrestrial sites. With the aid of wavelet analyses including continuous wavelet transform, cross-wavelet analysis, and wavelet coherency analysis, nonlinear and non-stationary signals exhibit salient covariations at biennial and triennial frequencies between terrestrial responses and SST anomalies across oceanic regions in agreement with the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) signals. Multiple regression analysis of the combined ocean indices explained up to 50% of the greenness and 42% of the precipitation in the study sites. These identified short-term signals in association with some hydrometeorological forcing processes of circumglobal teleconnection can improve the understanding and projection of the climate change impacts at local scales and harness the interannual periodicity information for future precipitation and greenness projections.
PECVD silicon carbide as a thin film packaging material for microfabricated neural electrodes

This paper reports our effort to develop amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) films for use as hermetic thin film coatings for mechanically-flexible neural electrodes. In our work, the a-SiC films were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using two distinct methods, namely a single precursor approach using trimethylsilane, and a dual precursor approach using methane (CH4) and silane (SiH4). The mechanical properties of films deposited on Si substrates were characterized using the wafer curvature and load-deflection methods. The effectiveness of the films as moisture barriers for polyimide substrates was characterized by measuring the leakage currents of SiC-coated interdigitated electrode structures soaked in PBS. A microfabricated prototype of the flat interface nerve electrode (FINE) based on a flexible polyimide substrate and a PECVD SiC capping layer was fabricated using a monolithic process based on conventional micromachining techniques. To facilitate this approach, a reactive ion etching process was developed that exhibited high etch rates and high selectively to the SiC films.
Equivalence Theorems for Pseudoscalar Coupling

By a unitary transformation a rigorous equivalence theorem is established for the pseudoscalar coupling of pseudoscalar mesons (neutral and charged) to a second-quantized nucleon field. By the transformation the linear pseudoscalar coupling is eliminated in favor of a nonlinear pseudovector coupling term together with other terms. Among these is a term corresponding to a variation of the effective rest mass of the nucleons with position through its dependence on the meson potentials. The question of the connection of the nonlinear pseudovector coupling with heuristic proposals that such a coupling may account for the saturation of nuclear forces and the independence of single nucleon motions in nuclei is briefly discussed. The new representation of the Hamiltonian may have particular value in constructing a strong coupling theory of pseudoscalar coupled meson fields. Some theorems on a class of unitary transformations of which the present transformation is an example are stated and proved in an appendix.
On the Generation of Permutations in Magnetic Bubble Memories

A better algorithm is presented for the generation of an arbitrary permutation in a model of magnetic bubble memories that have been investigated previously.
Imaging of monolayers composed of palmitic acid and lung surfactant protein B

Near-field scanning optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy are used to probe the sub-micrometre phase structure in palmitic acid monolayers containing the 25 peptide amino terminus of lung surfactant protein B (SP-B1−25). Monolayers deposited onto mica substrates at a surface pressure of 15 mN m−1 exhibit a two-phase coexistence across a broad range of SP-B1−25 concentrations. Monolayers containing 5 wt.% SP-B1−25 or less exhibit an expanse of liquid condensed phase in which elliptical liquid expanded (LE) domains with areas of approximately 25 µm2 coexist. By contrast, monolayers containing 20 wt.% SP-B1−25 exhibit an expanse of liquid expanded phase in which circular liquid condensed domains coexist. The phase distribution dependence on SP-B1−25 concentration suggests that the peptide induces disorder in the monolayer.
Entrance and Exit Requirements of Professional Social Work Education.

Abstract This paper explicates a competency-based direct practice curriculum for graduate social work education. Specifically, admission and graduation requirements related to five knowledge-skill areas are outlined: (1) interpersonal behavioral control, (2) judgment and decision making, (3) contracting and goal setting, (4) selection and application of change method, and (5) assessment of outcomes. The implications of this empirically based educational model are discussed in terms of accountability and congruence between educational objectives and practice behaviors.