cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Anomalous left coronary artery from pulmonary trunk. Long term follow up after ligation

Long-term follow-up (10 to 13 years) of four patients with anomalous left coronary artery who underwent ligation of the anomalous left coronary artery is presented. Two were operated upon in infancy and the other two at 6 and 7 years of age, respectively. Postoperatively, each is asymptomatic and doing well clinically. The cardiac size on roentgenogram of the chest returned toward normal in each. Abnormalities persist on the electrocardiogram. On treadmill exercise, the electrocardiogram of the two operated upon in infancy showed an abnormal result, whereas the two patients operated upon later in childhood had no electrocardiographic abnormalities.
Joint power and rate optimization for co-channel small cells using Frank-Wolfe algorithm

Co-channel deployed small cell networks must overcome the effect of inter-cell interference. In this work, we formulate a joint rate and power optimization problem by considering both the utility functions for user equipments (UE) and the cost functions for base-stations (BS). For a class of UE utility and BS cost functions (including proportionally fair utility function and nearly any convex cost functions), we show the conversion of the problem into convex optimization. Instead of finding a direct solution, we propose a Frank-Wolfe (FW) based framework to tackle different utility functions in a unified way. The algorithm consists of a controller collecting information from both UEs and BS's for a series of iterative optimization steps. We further simplify the optimization procedure at the controller by using a fixed-point based updating algorithm. Furthermore, we also introduce a trading scheme to properly reimburse small cells for off-loading data and to provide simple access control to reduce the number of interfering links.
Privacy and the Internet: The Case of the DoubleClick, Inc.

“With growing frequency, information about how you use the Web – the sites you visit, search terms and other queries you make, online purchases, ‘click through’ responses to advertisements – is being captured by advertising networks or ‘profiling companies.’ With the permission of the Web site, but not your permission, these companies place a tag on your computer. This tag – or identifier – is then used to track your movements as you surf the Web. In addition to long lists of collected information, a profile may contain ‘inferential’ or ‘psychographic’ data – information that the company infers about you based on your surfing habits. From this amassed data, elaborate inferences may be drawn, including your interests, habits, associations and other traits.”
Socrates and Self-Knowledge

In this book, the first systematic study of Socrates' reflections on self-knowledge, Christopher Moore examines the ancient precept 'Know yourself' and, drawing on Plato, Aristophanes, Xenophon, and others, reconstructs and reassesses the arguments about self-examination, personal ideals, and moral maturity at the heart of the Socratic project. What has been thought to be a purely epistemological or metaphysical inquiry turns out to be deeply ethical, intellectual, and social. Knowing yourself is more than attending to your beliefs, discerning the structure of your soul, or recognizing your ignorance - it is constituting yourself as a self who can be guided by knowledge toward the good life. This is neither a wholly introspective nor a completely isolated pursuit: we know and constitute ourselves best through dialogue with friends and critics. This rich and original study will be of interest to researchers in the philosophy of Socrates, selfhood, and ancient thought.
Tobacco outlet density near home and school: Associations with smoking and norms among US teens

Abstract This study examined whether living or going to school in neighborhoods with higher tobacco outlet density is associated with higher odds of cigarette smoking among teens, and with perceptions of greater smoking prevalence and peer approval. Using an Internet panel that is representative of US households, we matched data from teen-parent pairs (n = 2771, surveyed June 2011–December 2012) with environmental data about home and school neighborhoods. Density was measured as the number of tobacco outlets per square mile for a ½-mile roadway service area around each participant's home and school. Logistic regressions tested relationships between tobacco outlet density near home and schools with ever smoking. Linear regressions tested relationships between density, perceived prevalence and peer approval. Models were adjusted for teen, parent/household and neighborhood characteristics. In total, 41.0% of US teens (ages 13–16) lived within ½ mile of a tobacco outlet, and 44.4% attended school within 1000 ft of a tobacco outlet. Higher tobacco outlet density near home was associated with higher odds of ever smoking, although the relationship was small, OR = 1.01, 95% CI (1.00, 1.02). Higher tobacco outlet density near home was also associated with perceptions that more adults smoked, coef. = 0.09, 95% CI (0.01, 0.17). Higher tobacco outlet density near schools was not associated with any outcomes. Living in neighborhoods with higher tobacco outlet density may contribute to teen smoking by increasing access to tobacco products and by cultivating perceptions that smoking is more prevalent. Policy interventions to restrict tobacco outlet density should not be limited to school environments.
Light trapping enhancement in thin film solar cells by breaking symmetry in nanostructures

We experimentally demonstrate highly efficient light-trapping structures that is achieved by breaking the symmetry in inverted nanopyramids on c-Si. The fabrication of these structures is cost-effective and scalable. Our optical measurement for the structures on 10-μ m-thick c-Si cells shows the Shockley-Queisser efficiency of 27.9%. We further fabricate plasmonic metal structures on the symmetry-breaking inverted nanopyramids. When a light-absorbing polymer layer is deposited on top of the plasmonic structures, we observe that the plasmonic light trapping exceeds the Lambertian limit. The remarkable light trapping increases the short circuit current by 2.5 times. We expect the symmetry-breaking structures to be broadly applicable to thin-film solar cells.
Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease by Dermatoglyphic Discriminants

The operation of a genetic factor in the etiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is most strongly supported by multiple levels of association between AD an Down’s syndrome (DS). An excess frequency of DS among the first-degree relatives probands with autopsy-proven AD was first uncovered by the extensive pedigree studies of Heston and his colleagues (1976; 1981; 1982), and had recently been independently confirmed by Heyman (1983). Virtually all individuals with DS surviving to the fourth decade manifest the neuropathologie changes of sporadic AD, both qualitatively and quantitatively (Olson and Show, 1969; Ellis et al., 1974; Ball and Nuttall, 1980; Mann et al., 1984; Wisniewski et al., 1985). Amino acid sequence analyses indicate extensive homologies between the cerebrovascular and plaque amyloid fibril proteins of adult DS and sporadic AD brains (Glenner and Wong, 1984; Masters et al., 1985).
Low-dose tolvaptan PK/PD: comparison of patients with hyponatremia due to syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion to healthy adults

Tolvaptan (TLV) is indicated to treat hyponatremia due to syndrome of inappropriate diuretic hormone (SIADH) in Europe. Treatment is to be initiated at 15 mg QD but post-approval reporting indicates increasing use of 7.5 mg as the starting dose. Physicians believe 7.5 mg is effective and has a lower incidence of overly rapid correction of serum sodium. Single TLV doses of 3.75, 7.5, and 15 mg were administered to 14 healthy adults in a crossover design and to 29 subjects ≥18 years with SIADH and serum sodium between 120 and 133 mmol/L in a parallel-group design. Pharmacodynamics and TLV plasma concentrations were assessed for 24 h post-dose. In SIADH subjects, corrections of serum sodium (Δ of ≥8 mmol/L in the first 8 h or ≥12 mmol/L in the first 24 h) were observed in one, one, and two subjects in the 3.75-, 7.5-, and 15-mg dose groups. Fluid balance (FB) for 0–6 h post-dose was correlated (r 2 = 0.37) with maximum increases in serum sodium; subjects with large corrections had large (~1 L) negative FB. Compared to healthy adults, subjects with SIADH did not drink in response to their negative FB and had larger increases in serum sodium at 24 h. Median time of maximum increase in healthy adults was 6 h, with no rapid corrections, and FB was near 0 mL by 24 h. Starting titration with 7.5 mg TLV will not eliminate the risk of rapid corrections in serum sodium. Monitoring FB may indicate that a subject is at risk for over correction.
Appraisal of the DIERS method for calculating postural measurements: an observational study.

Surface topography is increasingly used with postural analysis. One system, DIERS formetric 4D, measures 40 defined spine shape parameters from a 6-s scan. Through system algorithms, a set of spine shape parameter values from 1 of 12 recorded images obtained during a scan becomes the DIERS-reported value (DRV) for postural assessment. The purpose of the current study was to compare DRV with a standard average value (SAV) calculated from all 12 images to determine which method is more appropriate for assessing postural change. One mannequin and 30 human participants were scanned over 5 days. Values from each image and the DRV for 40 defined spine shape parameters were exported, and mean DRV, mean SAV, mean DRV, and within-scan variance were calculated. Absolute difference and percent change between mean DRV and mean SAV were calculated for the mannequin and humans. Inter-method reliability was calculated for humans. Within-scan variance for each parameter was tested for significant variability. For all spine shape parameters on the mannequin, absolute difference ( 7%). Absolute difference between mean DRV and mean SAV for those nine parameters was small (≤ 0.87 mm or 0.61°). Absolute difference for all other parameters ranged from 0.02 to 6.98 mm for distance measurements, from 0.01 to 1.21° for angle measurements, and from 0.15 to 0.22% for percentage measurements. Inter-method reliability between DRV and SAV was excellent (0.94–1.00). For the mannequin, within-scan variance was small (< 1.62) for all parameters. For humans, within-scan variance ranged from 0.05 to 36.04 and was different from zero for all parameters (all P < 0.001). The minimal variability observed in the mannequin suggested the DIERS formetric 4D instrument had high within-scan reliability. The DRV and SAV provided comparable spine shape parameter values. Because within-scan variability is not reported with the DRV, the clinical usefulness of current DRV values is limited. Establishing an estimate of variance with the SAV will allow clinicians to better identify a clinically meaningful change.
A New Grouping Protocol for Smart Grids

Due to the deployment of renewable energy supplies in a smart grid (SG), various distributed power devices need to form groups dynamically to meet their requirements on power supply and demand. A communication agent or controller is coupled with each power device to exchange control state or management information with others. The underneath communication networks that enable the connections among the devices become to consist of many ad hoc groups with dynamic size and topology. Consequently, with dynamic requirement on power supply and demand, the grouping becomes a particularly challenging problem to synchronize the power devices, because the communication delays with dynamic group settings may vary frequently and significantly. In this paper, first, we propose queueing models to estimate the communication delays of the nodes in the SG. The cost of the added security to the communications is also analyzed in various scenarios. Second, we propose a smart timing adjustment algorithm with a new timing adaptive grouping (TAG) protocol, so that each agent can dynamically adjust its operational timing configuration and determine its grouping condition. Third, we develop a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed, which can be used to validate many SG applications. Finally, our experimental and simulation results on the HIL testbed have demonstrated that the proposed TAG protocol can be used to ensure the successful grouping dynamically.
The symbolic violence of 'outbreak': A mixed methods, quasi-experimental impact evaluation of social protection on Ebola survivor wellbeing.

Abstract Despite over 28,000 reported cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the 2013–16 outbreak in West Africa, we are only beginning to trace the complex biosocial processes that have promoted its spread. Important questions remain, including the effects on survivors of clinical sequelae, loss of family and livelihood, and other psychological and social trauma. Another poorly understood question is what effect social protection and job creation programs have had on survivors’ wellbeing. Several clinical and social protection programs have been developed to respond to the needs of EVD survivors; however, little in the way of impact evaluation has taken place. We enrolled 200 randomly selected EVD survivors from Port Loko, Kenema, and Kailahun districts in Sierra Leone and stratified them based on the amount of instrumental social protection received post-discharge from an Ebola treatment unit. We then conducted a survey and in-depth interviews to assess participants’ wellbeing and food security. Social protection categories II-IV (moderate to extensive) were each significantly associated with ∼15–22% higher wellbeing scores compared to minimal social protection (p Qualitative themes included having a sense of purpose during the crisis (work and fellowship helped survivors cope); using cash transfers to invest in business; the value of literacy and life-skills classes; loss of breadwinners (survivors with jobs were able to take over that role); and combating the consequences of stigma. We conclude that, for EVD survivors, short-term social protection during the vulnerable period post-discharge can pay dividends two years later. Based on the empiric evidence presented, we discuss how terms such as “outbreak” and “epidemic” do symbolic violence by creating the illusion that social suffering ends when transmission of a pathogen ceases.
Evaluation of the Area of the Lisfranc Ligament Damaged by Screw Fixation.

Background. A cannulated screw is currently the standard fixation method to reduce and stabilize diastasis at the lisfranc joint following injury. Currently, there is no literature examining the ar...
Impulsive Dynamics and Control of the Inertia-Wheel Pendulum

The dynamics of the inertia-wheel pendulum, when subjected to impulsive inputs, can be described by algebraic equations. Optimal sequences of these inputs, that minimize their infinity norm, are designed for rest-to-rest maneuvers. The results are applied to the well-studied swing-up problem, and high-gain feedback is used for continuous approximation of the inputs and simulation of the impulsive dynamics. Analytical and simulation results establish a direct link between high wheel velocities during swing-up and control strategies that take the pendulum directly to the upright configuration. They also indicate that optimal trajectories resemble those of energy-based controllers and can be designed to satisfy the torque constraint of the actuator.
Biologic Therapies for Crohn's Disease: Update from the 2009 ACG Meeting.

The Evolving Picture of IBD The past ten years have witnessed tremendous advances in our understanding of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) etiopathogenesis and our ability to treat patients suffering from its two major forms, Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). In prior decades, IBD patients endured a lack of effective treatment options, and patients with moderate-to-severe CD and UC were often relegated to prolonged systemic corticosteroid therapy and surgery as their only options. From the late 1990s onward, there has been a significant change in IBD therapy, specifically the widespread adoption of maintenance immunomodulators and the advent of biologic agents. Although highly effective, these new therapeutic approaches have been accompanied by important questions regarding medication safety, specifically in the setting of long-term maintenance treatment. Additional questions have emerged about how to best use these agents, along with a pressing need to define optimal treatment algorithms for specific IBD subgroups (ie, patients with pan-enteric inflammation, patients requiring hospitalization, patients with rapid recurrence of disease following resection/reanastomosis). Understanding the natural history of these at-risk IBD patient subgroups, particularly early identification of patients with the potential for severe disease and its associated complications, will ultimately determine an optimal clinical approach that incorporates appropriate risk-benefit assessment for disease modifying therapy.
EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENT ON KINETIC CHARACTERISTICS OF CHICKEN LACTATE DEHYDROGENASE ISOZYMES

ABSTRACT. LDH-5 binds to the particulate fraction of homogenized muscle tissue. The distribution is a function of the pH and ionic strength of the medium and the concentration of NADH. The range of pH and NADH concentration over which the solubilization occurs is physiological. Studies under conditions which imitate those in situ demonstrate that LDH-5 can bind to the particulate structures of muscle at physiological ionic strengths. There is some specificity of binding of LDH-5 to various subcellular fractions, but it is not very great.
Interaktionen der Machinae

Bis jetzt war von Wahrnehmungsstilen einzelner Menschen die Rede. Nun mochte ich mit Ihnen anschauen, wie Menschen miteinander auskommen.
Development: Cell Polarity Is Coordinated over an Entire Plant Leaf.

Summary Models of leaf development have long predicted the existence of an organ-wide polarity field. Now, a robust analysis in a developing Arabidopsis leaf reveals the presence of a general and persistent cell polarity coordinated over the entire leaf.
Maturational patterns in right ventricular strain mechanics from the fetus to the young infant.

Abstract Aim To test the hypothesis that right ventricular (RV) function has age-specific patterns of development, we tracked the evolution of RV strain mechanics by 2D-speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) in healthy subjects from mid-gestation through one year of age. Methods We conducted a prospective longitudinal echocardiography study in 50 healthy subjects at five time periods across gestation (16–20 weeks, 21–25 weeks, 26–30 weeks, 31–35 weeks, and 36–40 weeks) and four time periods following delivery (1 week, 1 month, 6 months, and 1 year of age). We characterized RV function by measuring RV global and free wall longitudinal strain and systolic strain rate, and segmental longitudinal strain at the apical-, mid-, and basal- ventricular levels of the free wall. Possible associations of gestational age, postnatal age, estimated fetal weight, body surface area, gender, and heart rate on strain were investigated. Results The magnitudes of RV global and free wall longitudinal strain and global strain rate were decreased throughout gestation (p Conclusion The maturational patterns of RV strain are gestational- and postnatal age- specific. With accepted physiological maturation patterns in healthy subjects, these myocardial deformation parameters can provide a valid basis that allows comparison between health and disease.
Combinatorial Library of Light-Cleavable Lipidoid Nanoparticles for Intracellular Drug Delivery

Synthetic lipid-like molecules (lipidoids) are superior for intracellular delivery of various bioactive cargos. Through incorporating stimuli-responsive linkers, lipidoid nanoparticle-based delivery systems with triggered-release features can be constructed. Enhanced delivery performances have been achieved using disulfide bond-containing bioreducible lipidoids. Herein, we further expand the stimuli-responsive combinatorial lipidoids library by integrating the photocleavable o-nitrobenzyl moiety into the hydrophobic tail of the lipidoids. The structures of these novel lipidoids were confirmed by NMR and MS. The nanoparticles were fabricated through self-assembly procedures, and their photoresponsive behaviors were examined. Light-regulated cargo release and following functionality restoration indicated the potential of the newly developed lipidoid nanoparticles for spatiotemporal delivery.
A pilot survey of ventilated cancer patients’ perspectives and recollections of early mobility in the intensive care unit

To determine the level of recall, satisfaction, and perceived benefits of early mobility (EM) among ventilated cancer patients after extubation in the intensive care unit (ICU). A survey of patients’ perceptions and recollections of EM was administered within 72 h of extubation. Data on recall of EM participation, activities achieved, adequacy of staffing and rest periods, strength to participate, activity level of difficulty, satisfaction with staff instructions, breathing management, and overall rating of the experience were analyzed. The Confusion Assessment Method for ICU (CAM-ICU) was used for delirium screening. Fifty-four patients comprised the study group. Nearly 90% reported satisfaction with instructions, staffing, rest periods, and breathing management during EM. Participants indicated that EM maintained their strength (67%) and gave them control over their recovery (61%); a minority felt optimistic (37%) and safe (22%). Patients who achieved more sessions and “out-of-bed” exercises had better recall of actual activities compared with those who exercised in bed. Overall, patients with CAM-ICU-positive results (33%) performed less physical and occupational therapy exercises. Ventilated cancer patients reported an overall positive EM experience, but factual memory impairment of EM activities was common. These findings highlight the needs and the importance of shaping strategies to deliver a more patient focused EM experience.
Transmit Antenna Selection for Interference Aided Wireless Energy Harvesting in Cache-Assisted Cognitive Relay Networks

In this work, we consider a spectrum sharing scenario where secondary network exists with primary network comprising of multiple users. The secondary transmitter communicates with secondary destination using a decode and forward (DF) energy constrained relay. The secondary relay harvests energy from primary interference and secondary transmitted signal to decode, re-encode and transmit the information to secondary destination. Additionally, the secondary network exploits caching to enhance its maximum achievable rate. A timeswitching (TS) policy is employed at relay to harvest energy and decode information which is followed by caching and retransmission. We propose a transmit antenna selection with maximal-ratio combining (TAS-MRC) based scheme to improve performance of secondary network in presence of multiple primary interferers. Further, an optimization problem is formulated to improve the energy efficiency of the system by maximizing energy stored at secondary relay while ensuring the quality of service requirements of primary and secondary networks are met. Using KKT conditions, we solve the formulated problem and present simulation results demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. In particular, we study and demonstrate the impact of number of primary users, primary interference constraint, secondary quality of service constraint as well as secondary transmit power on the energy stored at secondary relay.
A study of friend recommendations for gaming communities

Players of online gaming communities such as Steam, Xbox Live, and the PlayStation Network may have trouble finding people to play with as evidenced by the popularity of looking for group (LFG) services. This paper studies friend recommendation systems as a possible solution to alleviate this problem because a high quality friend list can provide a higher chance for the player to find people to play with. An online survey of video game players was conducted to study the need for friend recommendations in gaming communities and how players build their friend lists. The results showed that a sizable portion of players experienced some sort of difficulty finding people to play with and players add friends through a diverse set of possible sources. As the first step to build a friend recommendation system for gaming communities, we tested ten common link prediction similarity indices on a dataset collected from the Xbox Live network containing over 42 million unique users. The results showed that a friend recommendation system-based solely on network topology features did not perform well. Future research should incorporate other information such as player profiles to improve the friend recommendation performance.
Perspectives of Youth Aging Out of Foster Care on Relationship Strength and Closeness in their Support Networks.

Abstract Research, practice, and policy focus on the importance of relationships with young people aging out of foster care, especially relational permanency. While previous research has examined these relationships, typically with mentors, foster parents, or biological parents, few have examined the quality of strong network ties within support networks. This study incorporated a network approach to understanding how youth discussed strong ties and defined closeness in relationships. Qualities of strong ties included stability, multidimensional support, advocacy, honesty and genuineness, commonalities, trust, and small interconnected core networks. Understanding qualities youth value in close relationships may help service providers in supporting and enhancing relational permanency from multiple sources of support for youth aging out of the foster care system.
Castable solid pressure media for multianvil devices

Castable solids from Aremco (http://www.aremco.com/potting-casting-materials/) are convenient media for pressure transmission in multianvil geometries of complex shape. A zirconia-based castable ceramic, Aremco Ceramacast 646, is introduced and compared to MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-based Aremco Ceramacast 584. Ceramacast 646 has some advantages over the widely used Ceramacast 584; these include ease of consistent fabrication and better thermal insulation. Some disadvantages are poorer efficiency in converting press thrust to sample pressure and slower quenching rates. Potential applications are informed by these differences.Castable solids from Aremco (http://www.aremco.com/potting-casting-materials/) are convenient media for pressure transmission in multianvil geometries of complex shape. A zirconia-based castable ceramic, Aremco Ceramacast 646, is introduced and compared to MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-based Aremco Ceramacast 584. Ceramacast 646 has some advantages over the widely used Ceramacast 584; these include ease of consistent fabrication and better thermal insulation. Some disadvantages are poorer efficiency in converting press thrust to sample pressure and slower quenching rates. Potential applications are informed by these differences.
Prosody leaks into the memories of words

Abstract The average predictability (aka informativity) of a word in context has been shown to condition word duration (Seyfarth, 2014). All else being equal, words that tend to occur in more predictable environments are shorter than words that tend to occur in less predictable environments. One account of the informativity effect on duration is that the acoustic details of probabilistic reduction are stored as part of a word's mental representation. Other research has argued that predictability effects are tied to prosodic structure in integral ways. With the aim of assessing a potential prosodic basis for informativity effects in speech production, this study extends past work in two directions; it investigated informativity effects in another large language, Mandarin Chinese, and broadened the study beyond word duration to additional acoustic dimensions, pitch and intensity, known to index prosodic prominence. The acoustic information of content words was extracted from a large telephone conversation speech corpus with over 400,000 tokens and 6000 word types spoken by 1655 individuals and analyzed for the effect of informativity using frequency statistics estimated from a 431 million word subtitle corpus. Results indicated that words with low informativity have shorter durations, replicating the effect found in English. In addition, informativity had significant effects on maximum pitch and intensity, two phonetic dimensions related to prosodic prominence. Extending this interpretation, these results suggest that predictability is closely linked to prosodic prominence, and that the lexical representation of a word includes phonetic details associated with its average prosodic prominence in discourse. In other words, the lexicon absorbs prosodic influences on speech production.
A Novel Abdominal Decompression Technique to Treat Compartment Syndrome After Burn Injury.

Abstract Background Prevalence of abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) is estimated to be 4%-17% in severely burned patients. Although decompressive laparotomy can be lifesaving for ACS patients, severe complications are associated with this technique, especially in burn populations. This study outlines a new technique of releasing intraabdominal pressure without resorting to decompressive laparotomy. Materials and methods Ten fresh tissue cadavers were studied; none of whom had had prior abdominal surgery. Using Veress needles, abdomens were insufflated to 30 mm Hg and subsequently connected to arterial pressure transducers. Two techniques were then used to incise fascia. First, large skin flaps were raised from a midline incision (n = 5). Second, small 2 cm cutdowns at the proximal and distal extent of midaxillary, subcostal, and inguinal incisional sites were made, followed by tunneling a subfascial plane using an aortic clamp with fascial incisions made through the grooves of a tunneled vein stripper (n = 5). Pressures were recorded in the sequence of incisions mentioned previously. Results The open midline flap technique decreased abdominal pressure from a mean pressure of 30 ± 1.8 mm Hg to 6.9 ± 5.0 mm Hg (P Conclusions This technique offers the benefit of reducing the morbidity, mortality, and complications associated with an open abdomen, which may be beneficial in the burn injury population.
How Does the CAP Cope with the Problem of Rural Employment? The Examples of Selected EU Countries

Due to global changes in last decades, the share of agriculture on national GDP and employment has declined. Responding to this trend the importance of wider rural economic development is recently stressed out within the CAP, mainly by the support of non-agricultural activities in rural areas and non-agricultural actors involved in the economic development process. This study deals with the evaluation of rural employment creation strategies of selected member states or regions within them. We did this by analysing the degree of rurality, labour market characteristics and chosen agricultural sector characteristics. We applied the cluster analysis and compared clusters in chosen indicators in within and in between. Our study highlights the fact that specific settings of individual Rural Development Programmes of member states and regions related to rural employment creation correspond to the level of their development and the respective needs of agribusiness and rural areas. In general, within clusters we noticed great heterogenity of indicators used for the explanation of employment creation approach. We conclude that for the full explanation of policy settings of rural employment creation, we need to consider also the influence of unobservable factors, e.g. political lobby.
Female Genital Mutilation: What Health Educators Should Know

Abstract This article provides an overview of the issues surrounding the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM is a general term used to describe various forms of genital cutting that are performed on girls and women. There is a definitive need for health education professionals to gain awareness and develop an understanding of this practice. Increasingly, health educators will be called on to teach others about this practice. To be effective, health educators need to develop an understanding of the terminology, the procedure, the extent of the incidence and prevalence of the practice, worldwide prevention efforts, and the various roles that professional health educators can play. This information can be used as a basic guide for the development of curricula, lesson plans, or educational materials for use in schools, communities, work sites, and health care settings.
Viewing Storage Tubes

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the writing and erasing processes of viewing storage tubes. In a viewing storage tube, the writing and erasing beams are focused at the target and can be deflected. The viewing gun produces a flooding beam that covers the entire target. To insure that the viewing- and erasing-beam electrons arrive at the storage target with normal incidence, a condenser lens is provided near the storage target or the storage target is given a spherical shape. The three closely spaced electrodes at the front end of the tube, the collector grid, the storage grid, and the luminescent screen comprise the image amplifier section where the picture patterns are written, stored and displayed, and erased. A number of different types of viewing storage tubes have been built, both for direct viewing and for projection. For direct viewing, several versions have been developed, particularly suitable for daylight operation in airplanes. One form of tube is suitable for storage of black-and-white (on-off) pictures. Another form is riot restricted to black-and-white operation and is also capable of producing halftone pictures. For larger displays, a 10 inches target diameter halftone tube with a metal cone and wider viewing beam and deflection angles has also been built.
Shame, and a Challenge for Emotions History:

This article uses historical analysis of shame (primarily in American history) to argue for a more active connection between emotions history and the other disciplines that deal with emotion. It assesses the current state of historical work on shame, including the argument for a 19th-century decline; it juxtaposes current social psychological and anthropological work with this argument. Additional data allow more precise consideration of changing patterns of shame, reasons for change, and probable impacts including increasing complexity in individual and social reactions alike. Evaluation includes the unexpected increase in shame discussions in recent decades; the possibility that shame and “modernity” are ultimately incompatible; and some larger problems attached to the decline of shame.
Light and Retinopathy of Prematurity: What Is Prudent for 1986?

What9s the Problem? The survival in substantial numbers of extrauterine fetuses, barely entering their last trimester at birth, has caused these babies to complete their retinal vascularization in the unnatural environment of the modern intensive care nursery. The result is a second epidemic of retinopathy of prematurity, the greatest risk factor for which is clearly survival after extremely immature birth. A flurry of investigations has addressed factors that might contribute to this problem, and at least a dozen are supported by some epidemiologic associations.1-3 Oxygen is on this list but by no means in the preeminent way of the past.
Ultraviolet index and racial differences in prostate cancer incidence and mortality

BACKGROUND Studies suggest that low levels of vitamin D may be associated with prostate cancer, and darker skin reduces the body's ability to generate vitamin D from sunshine. The impact of sunshine on racial disparities in prostate cancer incidence and mortality is unknown. METHODS Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program database, the authors calculated age-adjusted prostate cancer incidence rates among black and white men aged ≥45 years by race and county between 2000 and 2009 (N = 906,381 men). Similarly, county-level prostate cancer mortality rates were calculated from the National Vital Statistics System (N = 288,874). These data were linked with the average monthly solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation index by county and data regarding health, wellness, and demographics. Multivariable regression analysis was used to assess whether increases in the UV index (in deciles) moderated the association between black race and the incidence and mortality of prostate cancer. RESULTS Compared with counties in the lowest UV index decile, prostate cancer incidence rates for white and black men were lower in counties with a higher UV index (all Ps ≤ 0.051). Incidence rates were higher for black men versus white men, but the difference by race was less for counties in the fourth to fifth UV index deciles versus those in the first decile (Ps ≤ 0.02). Mortality rates also were found to decrease with increasing UV index for white men (Ps ≤ 0.003), but increase for black men, and an unexplained increase in racial differences in mortality rates was observed with an increasing UV index. CONCLUSIONS Racial disparities in the incidence of prostate cancer were larger in some areas with less sunshine. Additional research should confirm the findings of the current study and assess whether optimizing vitamin D levels among black men can reduce disparities. Cancer 2013;119:3195–3203. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Linear, nonadiabatic pulsation calculations for models of upper main sequence and β cephei stars

Equations for linear nonadiabatic pulsation and the method of their solution are discussed in some detail. The numerical results presented concern mainly 7 Mδ stellar models in early evolutionary phase. A driving zone at a temperature of 1.5 x 105 K was found to be present for both radial and nonradial modes, but no net pulsational instability was observed. Effects of rotation on pulsation frequencies and on stability are also discussed.
The Victory of American Voluntarism

It seems that every contemporary political and cultural battle involves claims about U.S. history. Religious right figures complain about the seculari zation of public life and how the framers of the republic were all Christians. Is this true? The endless discourse of the U.S. "culture war" presumes that there was a time when there was a cultural peace. Was there such a time? And, to head toward the topic of Claude Fischer's engrossing book, many scholars have made claims about Americans' orientation toward community. Are Americans individualists and, if so, have they always been that way? In Made in America, Claude Fischer offers us a well-written monumental work of sociological interpretation of the studies of social historians. For a monumental work he defines a monumental task, asking "how Americans' culture and character developed over the nation's history" (p. 1). Fischer, while
Surface of Titan revealed by Cassini/Huygens

Titan is Saturn's largest moon, and the second-largest natural satellite in the solar system. The surface is obscured from view by suspended haze layers, which are the products of methane photochemistry, within an atmosphere composed largely of molecular nitrogen and with a density exceeding that of Earth's. Titan thus affords a remarkable opportunity to understand the evolution of an organic-rich, planet-sized world with chemical cycles powered over geologic time by sunlight. Because of the difficulties of viewing the surface remotely, a full understanding of the nature of this complex world requires a campaign of in-situ and close flyby observations. The Cassini/Huygens payload is uniquely designed to conduct such an exploration from Saturn orbit and within Titan's atmosphere. Direct sampling of the atmospheric chemistry by gas-chromatography and mass spectroscopy will be complemented by global remote spectra collected in the UV through the infrared. Probe images in the optical and near-infrared right up to the point of impact will be complemented by Orbiter imagery in the near- infrared and through active radar sounding. The synergy between Orbiter and Probe observations required to do a first comprehensive exploration of Titan is a uniquely powerful capability of this mission.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Semi-Structured Interview Protocol for Constructing Logic Models.

This paper details a semi-structured interview protocol that evaluators can use to develop a logic model of a program's services and outcomes. The protocol presents a series of questions, which evaluators can ask of specific program informants, that are designed to: (1) identify key informants basic background and contextual information, (2) generate logic model elements, (3) model program inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes, (4) build a rational theory, (5) develop a program theory, (6) prioritize logic model elements, and (7) build a graphical or tabular logic model. The paper will also provide an example of how this approach was used to develop a logic model for a youth mentoring program. It is our hope and belief that with this interview protocol, novice evaluators will be able to generate comprehensive logic models like seasoned professional evaluators.
A self-assembled monolayer for the binding and study of histidine-tagged proteins by surface plasmon resonance.

This paper reports the generation of a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) that selectively binds proteins whose primary sequence terminates with a His-tag: a stretch of six histidines commonly incorporated in recombinant proteins to simplify purification. The SAM was prepared by the adsorption onto a gold surface of a mixture of two alkanethiols: one thiol that terminated with a nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) group, a group that forms a tetravalent chelate with Ni(II), and a second thiol that terminated with a tri(ethylene glycol) group, a group that resists protein adsorption. His-tagged proteins bound to the SAM by interaction of the histidines with the two vacant sites on Ni(II) ions chelated to the surface NTA groups. Studies with model proteins showed the binding was specific for His-tagged proteins and required the presence of Ni(II) on the surface. Immobilized His-tagged proteins were kinetically stable in buffered saline at pH 7.2 but could be desorbed by treatment with 200 mM imidazole. Surface plasmo...
Hidden spacetime symmetries and generalized holonomy in M-theory ☆

Abstract In M-theory vacua with vanishing 4-form F (4) , one can invoke the ordinary Riemannian holonomy H ⊂SO(10,1) to account for unbroken supersymmetries n =1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32. However, the generalized holonomy conjecture, valid for non-zero F (4) , can account for more exotic fractions of supersymmetry, in particular 16 n H ⊂ G , where G are the generalized structure groups G = SO (d−1,1)×G (spacelike) , G = ISO (d−1)×G (null) and G = SO (d)×G (timelike) with 1⩽ d G (spacelike)=SO(16), G (null) =[ SU (8)× U (1)]⋉ R 56 and G (timelike) = SO ∗ (16) when d =3. Although extending spacetime symmetries, there is no conflict with the Coleman–Mandula theorem. The holonomy conjecture rules out certain vacua which are otherwise permitted by the supersymmetry algebra.
Increased expression of the Abcg2 transporter during erythroid maturation plays a role in decreasing cellular protoporphyrin IX levels

ABCG2/BCRP is a member of the adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family and is expressed in intestine, kidney, and liver, where it modulates the absorption and excretion of xenobiotic compounds. ABCG2 is also expressed in hematopoietic stem cells and erythroid cells; however, little is known regarding its role in hematopoiesis. Abcg2 null mice have increased levels of protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) in erythroid cells, yet the mechanism for this remains uncertain. We have found that Abcg2 mRNA expression was up-regulated in differentiating erythroid cells, coinciding with increased expression of other erythroid-specific genes. This expression pattern was associated with significant amounts of ABCG2 protein on the membrane of mature peripheral blood erythrocytes. Erythroid cells engineered to express ABCG2 had significantly lower intracellular levels of PPIX, suggesting the modulation of PPIX level by ABCG2. This modulating activity was abrogated by treatment with a specific ABCG2 inhibitor, Ko143, implying that PPIX may be a direct substrate for the transporter. Taken together, our results demonstrate that ABCG2 plays a role in regulating PPIX levels during erythroid differentiation and suggest a potential role for ABCG2 as a genetic determinant in erythropoietic protoporphyria.
Chronic kidney disease and use of dental services in a united states public healthcare system: a retrospective cohort study

As several studies have shown an association between periodontal disease and chronic kidney disease (CKD), regular dental care may be an important strategy for reducing the burden of CKD. Access to dental care may be limited in the US public health system. In this retrospective cohort study of 6,498 adult patients with (n = 2,235) and without (n = 4,263) CKD and at least 12 months of follow-up within the San Francisco Department of Public Health Community Health Network clinical databases, we examined the likelihood of having a dental visit within the observation period (2005-2010) using Cox proportional hazards models. To determine whether dental visits reflected a uniform approach to preventive service use in this setting, we similarly examined the likelihood of having an eye visit among those with diabetes, for whom regular retinopathy screening is recommended. We defined CKD status by average estimated glomerular filtration rate based on two or more creatinine measurements ≥ 3 months apart (no CKD, ≥ 60 ml/min/1.73 m2; CKD, < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2). Only 11.0% and 17.4% of patients with and without CKD, respectively, had at least one dental visit. Those with CKD had a 25% lower likelihood of having a dental visit [HR = 0.75, 95% CI (0.64-0.88)] than those without CKD after adjustment for confounders. Among the subgroup of patients with diabetes, 11.8% vs. 17.2% of those with and without CKD had a dental visit, while 58.8% vs. 57.8% had an eye visit. Dental visits, but not eye visits, in a US public healthcare setting are extremely low, particularly among patients with CKD. Given the emerging association between oral health and CKD, addressing factors that impede dental access may be important for reducing the disparate burden of CKD in this population.
The Relationship between Locus of Control and the Evaluative Consequences of Powerful and Powerless Speech Styles

This article examines the impact of receivers' locus of control on their evaluations of speakers exhibiting powerful or powerless speech. The results indicated that those with an external locus of ...