cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Patterns of Social Participation in a Two‐Generation Sample of Italian‐Americans*

A STRIKNG feature of the social participation literature is the tendency to concentrate on one type of activity. For example, studies dealing with formal organizations have described the character of such groups and their participants. Studies of friendship participation have traced the patterns of friendships and the type of people who are attracted to each other as friends. Consequently, few sociologists have focused their attention upon a question like: Are there any patterns or relationships between the different types of social participation? Participation in formal voluntary associations and informal voluntary interactions may be related to each other, influence each other, or at least be similarly influenced by other variables.
Natural rpoS mutations contribute to population heterogeneity in Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains linked to the 2006 US spinach-associated outbreak

Abstract We previously reported significantly different acid resistance between curli variants derived from the same Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain, although the curli fimbriae were not associated with this phenotypic divergence. Here we investigated the underlying molecular mechanism by examining the genes encoding the common transcriptional regulators of curli biogenesis and acid resistance. rpoS null mutations were detected in all curli-expressing variants of the 2006 spinach-associated outbreak strains, whereas a wild-type rpoS was present in all curli-deficient variants. Consequently curli-expressing variants were much more sensitive to various stress challenges than curli-deficient variants. This loss of general stress fitness appeared solely to be the result of rpoS mutation since the stress resistances could be restored in curli-expressing variants by a functional rpoS . Comparative transcriptomic analyses between the curli variants revealed a large number of differentially expressed genes, characterized by the enhanced expression of metabolic genes in curli-expressing variants, but a marked decrease in transcription of genes related to stress resistances. Unlike the curli-expressing variants of the 1993 US hamburger-associated outbreak strains (Applied Environmental Microbiology 78: 7706–7719), all curli-expressing variants of the 2006 spinach-associated outbreak strains carry a functional rcsB gene, suggesting an alternative mechanism governing intra-strain phenotypic divergence in E. coli O157:H7.
Network Models for Complementary Cell Suppression

Abstract Complementary cell suppression is a method for protecting data pertaining to individual respondents from statistical disclosure when the data are presented in tabular form. Several mathematical methods for complementary suppression have been proposed in the statistical literature; some have been implemented in large-scale data processing environments by national statistical agencies. Each method has either theoretical or computational limitations. This article presents solutions to the complementary cell suppression problem based on linear optimization over a mathematical network. These methods are shown to be optimal for certain problems and to offer theoretical and practical advantages, including comprehensiveness, comprehensibleness, and computational efficiency.
“Global Civil Society” and the Political Depoliticization of Global Governance

Activists, officials, and academics alike have often linked observations about an emerging global civil society to an incipient democratization of world politics. Global civil society is assumed to bring public scrutiny and “bottom-up” politics to international decision making “from outside” formal political institutions. Based on an analysis of uses of the concept of global civil society in 1990s global governance discourse (especially related to the major UN world conferences), this paper argues that the presumed democratization of world politics is better understood in terms of a double movement: on the one hand, “global civil society” depoliticizes global governance through the promotion of “human security” and “social development”; on the other hand, the emerging international public sphere (in the UN context) operates as a subsystem of world politics rather than opposing the system from outside. Practices of depoliticization are thus part of the political logic of (neo-)liberal global governance. The argument draws on Luhmann’s systems theory and Foucault’s analysis of governmentality.
Comparison of drug-eluting stents versus bare-metal stents for treating ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Objectives We sought to examine the clinical outcomes of patients treated with drug-eluting stents (DES) compared with bare-metal stents (BMS) during primary angioplasty for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Background Pathophysiologic studies suggest that the use of DES for STEMI may be associated with stent thrombosis and increased clinical events. However, although short-term data exist, long-term follow-up is lacking. Methods Patients who presented with STEMI from January 2002 to May 2007 to our institution were included. In addition to multivariable adjusted analysis, propensity analysis for stent choice was performed. The primary end point was the composite of death or target lesion revascularization (TLR). Results Of the 804 patients, 699 underwent stenting and met our study criteria. There were 152 composite events over a median follow-up of 1.7 years. In a multivariable Cox model, DES use was associated with a trend toward lower death or TLR compared with BMS (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.72, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.50 to 1.02, p = 0.06). However, this was mainly due to lower TLR (adjusted HR 0.60, 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.98, p = 0.043). Similarly, DES was associated with a trend toward lower death or TLR compared with BMS in the propensity-matched patients (adjusted HR 0.65, 95% CI 0.42 to 1.00, p = 0.05). This was mainly due to lower TLR in the DES patients (adjusted HR 0.52, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.96, p = 0.04). Conclusions Both DES and BMS are effective in the setting of STEMI; however, DES is associated with lower TLR without an increase in all-cause mortality.
TNFR1 Promotes Tumor Necrosis Factor-mediated Mouse Colon Epithelial Cell Survival through RAF Activation of NF-κB

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a therapeutic target in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease; however, the exact role of TNF signaling in the colon epithelium remains unclear. We demonstrate that TNF activation of TNF receptor (R)1 stimulates both pro- and anti-apoptotic signaling pathways in the colon epithelium; however, TNFR1 protects against colon epithelial cell apoptosis following TNF exposure. To investigate anti-apoptotic signaling pathways downstream of TNFR1, we generated an intestinal epithelium-specific Raf knock-out mouse and identified Raf kinase as a key regulator of colon epithelial cell survival in response to TNF. Surprisingly, Raf promotes NF-κB p65 phosphorylation, independent of MEK signaling, to support cell survival. Taken together, these data demonstrate a novel pathway in which Raf promotes colon epithelial cell survival through NF-κB downstream of TNFR1 activation. Thus, further understanding of colon epithelial cell-specific TNFR signaling may result in the identification of new targets for inflammatory bowel disease treatment and define novel mediators of colitis-associated cancer.
Fingerprinting and characterization of carboxylic acids in in-situ oil shale retort and process waters by capillary column gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract Six important in-situ oil shale retort and process waters have been analysed for carboxylic acids by capillary column gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A fingerprint or profile was obtained for Occidental boiler blowdown process water, retort water and heater-treater process water; Geokinetics retort water, and Laramie Energy Technology Center Omega-9 and 150 Ton retort waters. The results clearly show significant differences in that each retort or process water contains various mono-, di-, branched, keto-aliphatic and aromatic carboxylic acids. The Occidental retort and process waters contained straight-chain monocarboxylic acids from C 2 –C 13 and C 2 –C 14 , whereas the Geokinetics retort water contained C 2 –C 10 , the 150 Ton retort water C 2 –C 10 , and Omega-9 retort water C 2 –C 14 acids. Variations among the retort waters and process waters were more important for the normal dicarboxylic acids. The Occidental retort and process water contained no C 2 –C 7 straight-chain dicarboxylic acids, but those from C 8 –C 12 were present. The Omega-9 retort water contained all the straight-chain dicarboxylic acids, C 2 –C 12 , that were identified, whereas the 150 Ton sample contained only C 2 and C 4 dicarboxylic acids, and the Geokinetics sample C 2 –C 4 and C 8 –C 12 acids. The implications of the results in pyrolysis of oil shale kerogen are discussed.
Correlation between interaction energy and shift of the carbonyl stretching frequency

Abstract The shift in the CO stretching frequency of H2CO, when interacting with Na+, Mg2+, H+, H3O+, and H2O, fits a linear correlation with the computed interaction energy. The slope of this line is such that each 1 kcal mol−1 in ΔE is associated with a frequency decrease of 2 cm−1.
Meta-analysis of the effect of practical reasoning instruction on student outcome in Home Economics education in Korea

This meta-analysis reviewed the effect of practical reasoning instruction (PRI) on student outcome in Home Economics education in Korea. In this meta-analysis, 25 studies with 35 effect sizes were analyzed. The results of this review indicated that PRI is more effective than traditional instruction on student outcomes. A medium and significant mean effect was 0.60 (SE = 0.06). Categorical analyses and regression analyses were employed to find the sources of variance and moderators that predict the effects of PRI. The moderator analyses revealed no statistically significant effects of publication status, study design, type of student outcome, gender of students, and location. The school level of the students and duration were revealed to be moderators. The effect of PRI on student outcome was found to be smaller in middle schools than in elementary or high schools. The results of regression analysis for middle school students indicated that the effect of PRI was predicted by the length of the intervention. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the method this review used for calculating effect sizes for nonexistent control groups was robust.
The Reichskuratorium für Wirtschaftlichkeit: Fordism and Organized Capitalism in Germany, 1918–1945

The Reichskuratorium (RKW) was founded in 1921 by Carl Friedrich von Siemens and his subalternate, Carl Kottgen. The organization strove to implement measures of industrial and organizational efficiency in Germany in the interwar era following the American models of Frederick W. Taylor and Henry Ford. This study uses the organization as a vehicle to evaluate varieties of organized capitalism in German business and industrial history since the late nineteenth century. Most recent research has identified forms of organized capitalism that include significant input from organized labor along with state and industry as the most “modern” forms. While these efforts stagnated and eventually failed in Germany's interwar Weimar Republic, they are still seen as the origin of a characteristic and successful postwar model of organized capitalism. Acknowledging that this view is accurate, this study draws attention to the alternate model of the RKW which strove to implement technical and organizational measures of industrial and economic efficiency using state funding but avoiding significant input from organized labor. This variation of German organized capitalism emerged from the more traditional, self-regulating patterns of the late nineteenth century. It persisted through the Weimar Republic, through World War II, and into the postwar era. Less fruitful for understanding the character of the RKW are models from the 1970s Cold War era which elaborated a strongly symbiotic version of organized capitalism between state and big business, which allegedly subordinated efforts of big business to state interests.
Quantitative Approaches to Qualitative Collection Assessment

In recent years there has been increased recognition of the need for both descriptive and analytical data about library collections. Coordinated efforts like the RLG Conspectus and ARL's National Collection Inventory Project are attempts to identify collecting strengths among the nation's research libraries. In many cases, however, participation in these programs has raised the consciousness of collection officers to the realization that they know less than they would care to admit about the holdings of their own libraries. What institutions report are often little more than a series of educated guesses which has led to the need for verification studies as a check on the validity of the data being gathered. In other areas, too, the need for more and better data has become apparent as managers within and outside the library are less willing to accept intuitive and impressionistic responses to their questions about acquisition budgets and priorities for preservation, storage, or retrospective conversion. Thus, there is increasing discussion in the literature of the need for, and approaches to, collection assessment and analysis.
Tolerance to the disruptive effects of Δ9-THC on learning in rats

Abstract Tolerance to the effects of the cannabinoid agonist Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) was characterized in rats responding under a multiple schedule of repeated acquisition and performance. During the acquisition component, subjects acquired a different three-response sequence each session, whereas in the performance component the sequence was the same each session. Responding was maintained under a second-order fixed-ratio 2 (FR2) schedule of food reinforcement. Acute doses of Δ9-THC (1–10 mg/kg) decreased rate and accuracy in both components, whereas doses of the cannabinoid (CB1) receptor antagonist N-(piperidin-1-yn-)-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-methyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide hydrochloride (SR141716A; 0.32 and 1 mg/kg) were ineffective. While 5.6 mg/kg of Δ9-THC disrupted responding when administered acutely, tolerance to the rate-decreasing and error-increasing effects of this dose developed in both components after daily administration. When 1 mg/kg of SR141716A was substituted for Δ9-THC during chronic administration, this previously ineffective dose selectively increased within-session errors in the acquisition component of the multiple schedule. During the postchronic phase, subjects were generally less sensitive to the disruptive effects of Δ9-THC. In summary, these data demonstrated that tolerance to Δ9-THC developed across two different behavioral tasks and that learning was generally more sensitive than performance to the effects of SR141716A during chronic treatment with Δ9-THC.
Surface Complexation Modeling and FTIR Study of Carbonate Adsorption to Goethite.

Abstract Experimental data for carbonate adsorption onto synthetic goethite, spanning 3 orders of magnitude in carbonate concentrations, were simulated using the triple-layer surface complexation model (TLM). A single set of TLM parameters successfully described the adsorption behavior versus pH over the concentration range obtained from closed and open CO2 conditions. An optimization analysis was performed for all possible interfacial charge configurations using FITEQL3.2. The results yielded an optimum charge allocation of 0 and −1 in the 0- and β-planes, respectively, which suggests a monodentate complex most probably in an inner-sphere configuration (SOCOO−β). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic measurements on open systems at atmospheric PCO2 confirmed this result by showing a clear peak split (155 cm−1) of the ν3 C–O asymmetric stretching frequency of surface-bound carbonate, consistent with that reported for monodentate Co(III)–carbonato inner-sphere solution complexes. An additional Na+–ternary complex (SOCOONa) was invoked in the TLM construct to improve simulations of the enhanced carbonate adsorption occurring at high ionic strength and high pH. The model was successful in predicting carbonate adsorption behavior under diffferent conditions than it was calibrated for. Projections for equilibration at higher PCO2's (1–10%) than those used in this work show the potential for carbonate sorption densities of up to 2.5–3 μmol/m2.
Mitochondrial Integrity and Function in Atherogenesis

Background— Coronary atherosclerotic disease remains the leading cause of death in the Western world. Although the exact sequence of events in this process is controversial, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RS) likely play an important role in vascular cell dysfunction and atherogenesis. Oxidative damage to the mitochondrial genome with resultant mitochondrial dysfunction is an important consequence of increased intracellular RS. Methods and Results— We examined the contribution of mitochondrial oxidant generation and DNA damage to the progression of atherosclerotic lesions in human arterial specimens and atherosclerosis-prone mice. Mitochondrial DNA damage not only correlated with the extent of atherosclerosis in human specimens and aortas from apolipoprotein E−/− mice but also preceded atherogenesis in young apolipoprotein E−/− mice. Apolipoprotein E−/− mice deficient in manganese superoxide dismutase, a mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme, exhibited early increases in mitochondrial DNA damage and a p...
RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, BAKER'S CYST, AND "THROMBOPHLEBITIS".

From a small series of patients hospitalized with rheumatoid arthritis, six cases are presented in which Baker's cysts were associated with pain and swelling of the calf, initially erroneously diagnosed as thrombophlebitis. The pathogenesis of these calf symptoms is reviewed.
Effect of high molecular weight glutenin subunit composition in common wheat on dough properties and steamed bread quality

BACKGROUND Steamed bread is a popular staple food in Asia with different flour quality requirements from pan bread. Little is known about how glutenin characteristics affect steamed bread quality. This work investigated how deletions of high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) influence gluten properties and Chinese steamed bread quality using 16 wheat lines grown in Texas. RESULTS Although similar in protein content (134–140 mg g−1), gluten composition and dough properties differed widely among the lines. Compared with non-deletion lines, deletion lines had lower (P < 0.05) unextractable polymeric protein (294 vs 470 mg g−1), HMW-GS/low-molecular-weight glutenin subunit ratio (0.25 vs 0.41), dough force to extend (0.16 vs 0.44 N) and mixing peak time (2.03 vs 4.52 min). Deletion lines with HMW-GS composition of 2*/17+_/5+_ and 2*/17+_/2+12 showed moderate gluten strength (mixing peak time, 1.96–2.94 min; force to extend, 0.18–0.23 N) and high dough extensibility (106–129 mm). These lines also produced good steamed bread quality (score, 60.8–65.0) with good elasticity and crumb structure. CONCLUSION Deletion at Glu-B1y and/or Glu-D1y loci in high-strength hard wheat produced good dough properties for steamed bread. This suggests that wheat functionality for steamed bread can be improved by manipulating HMW-GS composition. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry
EVOLUTION OF SALMON LIFE HISTORIES1

Salmon, trouts, chars, and their relatives have been tra-ditional sources of life-history observations, contributing toevolutionary theory since before Darwin. The writers andeditors of the 13 chapters of Evolution Illuminated aim toinform evolutionists about hypotheses and tests in recentsalmon research and also to bring modern evolutionarytheoryto the tool kit of salmon managers. These authors draw uponan extensive and sophisticated body of research. The bookowes its existence to the evolutionary and economic impor-tance of salmon as well as to the continuing loss of popu-lations of Salmonidae through habitat destruction and com-mercial overexploitation.Stephen Stearns and Andrew Hendry introduce readers touseful features of salmon diversity for research, such as highfecundity and variation in mortality rates, semelparity anditeroparity, sexual selection and alternative male strategies,postglacial recolonization from few to multiple habitats, phil-opatry versus dispersal, sympatric divergence and speciation,and hatchery facilities for studies of heritability, effects ofselection, and plasticity. These features are exploited in sub-sequent chapters. The introduction also recognizes under-studied opportunities for future research, including the rolesof polyploidy, introgression, and metapopulation structure. Iwould also mention the opportunity to examine the strikingmorphological and life-history convergences implied by the(uncritical?) acceptance of some molecular phylogenies.The most salient aspect of salmon life history is the ten-dency of ﬁve species of Paciﬁc salmon to die after spawning(semelparity), unlike the iteroparity seen among other mem-bers of the family—Atlantic salmon, trouts, chars, huchen,taimen, Brachymystax, grayling, and whiteﬁsh. WilliamSchaffer treats semelparity in the context of quantitative life-history theory. He ﬁnds support for the favored hypothesisthat semelparity maximizes parental investment when start-up costs of reproduction are high. He includes tests of theroles of mating systems, age structure, and acquisition oftraits that accelerate the dependence of effective fecundityon reproductive expenditure.In chapter 2, A. P. Hendry, V. Castric, M. T. Kinnison,and T. P. Quinn examine six adaptive hypotheses to explainphilopatry and four to explain variance in straying in returnmigration. Philopatry and dispersal are considered to be bal-anced alternatives. Some philopatry hypotheses are foundunsupported (direct selection for access to suitable breedingsites) and several are found opaque to testing and are eval-
Recurrent Hemangioperictyoma of the Chest Wall: Report of a Case in a 5-Year-Old Boy

Hemangiopericytoma in infants and children is usually benign. A case of recurrent hemangiopericytoma of the mediastinum in a 5-year-old boy is reported. The tumor recurred twice because of incomplete excision in the first instance. Immunohistochemistry of this enigmatic tumor is reviewed and ultrastructural features are described. The importance of total initial excision of the tumor and a prolonged follow-up is highlighted.
Numerical analysis of light propagation in image fibers or coherent fiber bundles

The coupling properties of multi-core fibers are analyzed using the multipole method and coupled mode theory in order to gain insights into the performance of image fibers that are commonly used in flexible endoscopes. It is explained that coherent fiber bundles with high core density are able to transport images because nonuniformity in the pixel size reduces the inter-core coupling that causes crosstalk. The wavelength, average core size and separation, and degree of core size variation determine the strength of coupling between adjacent cores, such that fibers with a smaller core size and separation at longer wavelengths require more nonuniformity in order for reliable image transmission. Guidelines are given for assessing the performance of image fibers in a particular system.
Outcome-Reporting Bias in Education Research:

Outcome-reporting bias occurs when primary studies do not include information about all outcomes measured in a study. When studies omit findings on important measures, efforts to synthesize the research using systematic review techniques will be biased and interpretations of individual studies will be incomplete. Outcome-reporting bias has been well documented in medicine and has been shown to lead to inaccurate assessments of the effects of medical treatments and, in some cases, to omission of reports of harms. This study examines outcome-reporting bias in educational research by comparing the reports of educational interventions from dissertations to their published versions. We find that nonsignificant outcomes were 30% more likely to be omitted from a published study than statistically significant ones.
THE CONTINUING SIGNIFICANCE OF CLASS: CONFRONTING CAPITALISM IN AN ANARCHIST COMMUNITY

As the national preoccupation with terrorism gives way to an unfolding, and likely enduring, economic crisis in the U.S. and globally, social research should focus more attention toward class-based social movements, which have largely been neglected within sociology and social movement scholarship over the last few decades. Class analysis and labor organizing have historically been central to the social movement activities of anarchists. Anarchist social movements are relatively understudied, despite indicators of their resurgence in the last decade. Today, however, anarchist politics have diversified to address a variety of social issues. This study contributes to neglected areas of social movement research by examining the ways in which social class directly and indirectly informs the politics of a contemporary anarchist collective.
History of craniotomy, cranioplasty, and perioperative care.

It has defined who we are since the days of prehistory. It is the most “basic” of procedures, and yet without it and without doing it well, many suffer. The craniotomy has been the defining procedure for neurosurgeons, though it is not the most common procedure we do. The evolution of the craniotomy parallels the development of technology, the growth of our collective imagination, and our desire to provide maximum benefit with minimum risk and the smallest footprint. This issue brings to focus three major historical aspects of neurological surgery: the craniotomy, the cranioplasty, and the management of neurosurgical patients. We have organized this issue of Neurosurgical Focus with a first section on how anesthesia and early osmolar therapy evolved and how they engaged the growing field of neurological surgery. Of course, the need to develop unique methods of hemostasis should not go unnoticed since achieving hemostasis in bone and brain brings unique challenges for surgeons. The next section focuses on the development of unique methods for entering the skull, as described in the exhaustive overview written by Dr. Goodrich, and the specific rationale for developing unique approaches to the craniotomy. And, as important as the techniques, are the tools. In several articles the tremendous effort to improve the technology for the craniotomy is represented in the description of the neurosurgical engine—the drill. A concomitant development was the brain retractor, and the how and why of this instrument in providing additional access in intracranial surgery is related as well. The third and final section of this issue presents a fascinating look at the ingenious methods by which neurosurgeons have repaired the skull. Though cranioplasty is an afterthought to some, the articles contained herein depict the ingenuity of the many pioneers of this procedure. From mutton to tantalum, from autograft to allograft, from the required technical precision to the artful mastery of Tessier in “sculpting,” this section provides the reader with the many reasons why cranioplasty should never be an afterthought. Thus, the reader is immersed in a comprehensive look at the maturation of one of the cornerstones of neurological surgery. Understanding how we came to practice what to almost all of us is the “standard” and “routine” entering and exiting of the skull gives us an appreciation of the ingenuity and creative talents of our predecessors. We are given a privileged glimpse as to how necessity has engendered creativity, for that which in part defines us did not come easy to us. (http://thejns.org/doi/abs/10.3171/2014.2.FOCUS1470)
Interactive Effect of Multimedia Instruction and Learning Styles

We compared multimedia and traditional teaching approaches. In contrast with previous findings, we observed that a multimedia class performed poorly early in the term but slightly exceeded a traditional class toward the end of the term. More important, we documented an interaction between class format and student learning style. Our results suggest that multimedia benefits students with a high visual orientation.
Counterinsurgent Paramilitarism: A Philippine Case Study:

Paramilitarism represents a common mode of regime response to insurgency. Two competing perspectives, the benevolent and the critical, offer differing predictions about paramilitary behaviors and public response. The study maps out the theoretical issues and conducts an empirical analysis of counterinsurgent paramilitarism in the Philippines in 1987-88 using newspaper data. Four dimensions of paramilitarism are examined: mobilization, constitutionalism, order-maintenance, and reactive public behavior. The results offer more support for the critical than for the benevolent perspective. The data reveal elite sponsorship and deviant social composition; perceptions of unconstitutionality and illegal behaviors; disruptive and abusive activities; and far more anti- than pro-paramilitary sentiment and political behavior. The findings hold true when specifications for sectoral spread, geography, paramilitary groups, and time are introduced. It is concluded that paramilitarism is a counterproductive counterinsurgent strategy.
The modified odontoid view: An alternative visualization of the atlantoaxial joint

The sensitivity of the cross table lateral view (CTLV) alone, as a determinant in the radiographic disposition in patients with cervical spine fracture/dislocation has been challenged. A cervical spine trauma series that includes the CTLV, the anteroposterior view (APV), and the open-mouth view (OMV) has been suggested. Whereas the CTLV and APV present no difficulty, the OMV is often not possible in the uncooperative or unconscious patient, or in those patients with rigid forms of neck support. The modified odontoid view (MOV) can replace the OMV in these patients. The MOV allows for satisfactory visualization of the C1/C2 complex and is easily obtained as a portable technique. In addition, it requires neither patient cooperation nor neck movement. The technique is described and its interpretation reviewed.
Ethical problems with the mental health evaluation standards of care for adult gender variant prospective patients

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health's "Standards of Care: The Hormonal and Surgical Sex Reassignment of Gender Dysphoric Persons" (SOC) set forth standards clinicians must meet to ensure ethical care of adequate quality. The SOC also set requirements gender variant prospective patients must meet to receive medical interventions to change their sexual characteristics to those more typical for the sex to which they were not assigned at birth. One such requirement is that mental health professionals must ascertain that prospective patients have met the SOC's eligibility and readiness criteria. This article raises two objections to this requirement: ethically obligatory considerations of the overall balance of potential harms and benefits tell against it, and it violates the principle of respect for autonomy. This requirement treats gender variant prospective patients who request medical intervention as different in kind, not merely degree, from other patient populations, as it constructs the very request as a phenomenon of incapacity. This is ethically indefensible in and of itself, but it is especially pernicious in a sociocultural and political context that already denies gender variant people full moral status.
Towards a sustainability index using information theory

We explore the use of Fisher Information as a basis for an index of sustainability. Sustainability of an ecosystem refers to the robustness of a preferred dynamic regime to human and natural disturbances. Ecosystems under perturbations of varying regularity and intensity can either remain within the current regime or transition into the neighbourhood of a regime with different (viz. less desirable) characteristics. The Fisher Information index we develop is based on the probability of finding the system in a particular state. We apply the index to a 10-compartment food web model with five functional groups: detritus, primary producers, herbivores, carnivores, and an omnivore. Fisher Information is shown to be sensitive to transients in model generated data. Such transients can be indicative of a transition to a new dynamic regime. Early detection of transitions to undesirable regimes may permit management intervention.
Protecting the living: Managerialism and professional turf wars in risk regulatory death investigations

This paper demonstrates how general trends in the management of public institutions, and a specific turf war between the doctors and lawyers in Ontario, Canada, have combined to shape an important risk regulatory decisionmaking process: the coroner's inquest. Drawing on ethnographic evidence, I show how the priorities of managerialism, and the collateral effects of physician coroners battling with lawyers, have reduced the number of public inquests convened in Ontario by 80 per cent over a 20-year period. Where many public safety decisions affecting the province's legal, policy, and physical environments were once made at public inquests, they appear now more likely to be made in private. The paper examines the implications of reduced public participation in the analysis of, and response to, death. Language: en
Recently integrated Alu retrotransposons are essentially neutral residents of the human genome

Alu elements represent the largest family of human mobile elements in copy number. A controversial issue with implications for both Alu biology and human genome evolution is whether selective pressures are affecting Alu elements on a large scale. To address this issue, we analyzed the genomic distribution of the three youngest known human Alu subfamilies (Ya5a2, Ya8 and Yb9) in conjunction with their insertion polymorphism status in the human population, since selection can only act on polymorphic elements. Our results indicate that: (i) polymorphic and fixed recently integrated Alu elements are found in genomic regions whose GC contents are statistically indistinguishable, and (ii) recently integrated Alu elements are inserted randomly, regardless of the GC content of the surrounding genomic DNA. These results provide strong evidence that recently integrated "young" Alu elements are not subject to positive or negative selection on a large scale. Therefore, young Alu elements can be regarded as essentially neutral residents of the human genome. These results also imply that selective processes specifically targeting Alu elements can be ruled out as explanations for the accumulation of Alu elements in GC-rich regions of the human genome.
Chemical modification of silicon surfaces for biological applications

The attachment of poly(ethylene glycol) to porous Si surfaces via Si-C bonds using simple chemical techniques and commercially available starting materials is described. Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) is often used to prevent nonspecific binding for a variety of biological applications. The covalent attachment of a short-chain PEG linker leads to a hydrophilic surface that is capable of admitting sucrose and bovine serum albumin (BSA) while leaving an acid terminus that can be used for further biological modification. Response of the linker-modified porous Si surface to introduction of sucrose in aqueous solutions is assessed. This PEG linking chemistry should also be a generally useful biological attachment scheme that can be applied to crystalline silicon surfaces.
Traumatic transection of the pancreas. A case of delayed presentation.

Context Isolated traumatic injuries to the pancreas are extremely unusual and diagnosis may be difficult due to delay in presentation and subtlety of symptoms. Case report We describe a patient who presented 24 hours after sustaining blunt abdominal trauma and was found to have a complete pancreatic neck transection on computed tomography with no other injuries. The patient underwent a distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy which was complicated by a postoperative abscess on day 15. This was treated with percutaneous drainage and he has recovered well. Conclusion Pancreatic transection in the absence of associated injuries is rarely seen after blunt trauma but can result in devastating outcomes if left unrecognized. A high index of suspicion and early intervention are critical.
Experimental Observations of Frictional Heating in Fiber‐Reinforced Ceramics

The influence of fatigue loading history and microstructural damage on the magnitude of frictional heating and interfacial shear stress in a unidirectional SiC fiber/calcium aluminosilicate matrix composite was investigated. The extent of frictional heating was found to depend upon loading frequency, stress range, and average matrix crack spacing. The temperature rise attained during fatigue can be significant. For example, the temperature rise exceeded 100 K during fatigue at 75 Hz between stress limits of 220 and 10 MPa. Analysis of the frictional heating data indicates that the interfacial shear stress undergoes an initially rapid decrease during the initial stages of fatigue loading: from an initial value over 20 MPa, to approximately 5 MPa after 25 000 cycles. Over the range of 5 to 25 Hz, the interfacial shear stress was not significantly influenced by loading frequency. The implications of frictional heating in fiber-reinforced ceramics are also discussed.
Designing A Graduate Curriculum: Use Of Credentials To Enhance Student Portfolios

Designing a graduate curriculum that meets the needs of the student not planning to pursue an academic career is challenging. Students want a recognized degree that nonetheless delivers content immediately relevant to their career tasks and credible to their employers. Innovative programs with career content are in high demand, but in the process of innovation standards of scholarship, critical thinking and knowledge must be upheld. This paper describes how teaching and learning concepts and principles were used to combine demands of career and scholarship into an innovative graduate program. The environmental scan leading to this design predicated a design that uses national professional credentials as one method of assessment. The curriculum provides students with portfolios validating their work during and at the end of a Master of Science program. Instead of a thesis, students create a capstone project combining scholarship with an employer-ready portfolio. Suggestions are made concerning the transfer of the methodology to practically any discipline.
Educational outcomes of Asian and Hispanic Americans: The significance of skin color

Abstract Existing evidence suggests that skin tone is an important determinant of one's life chances. Although social science research has a strong tradition of elucidating the link between race and educational outcomes, the effect of skin color on educational attainment has not received adequate attention. The main objective of the present investigation was, using a national representative longitudinal data, to evaluate educational attainment of Asian American and Hispanic young adults in the United States as a function of skin tone and other co-variates. Separate analyses were carried out for Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, other Hispanics, East Asian, Filipino American and other Asians. Additional analyses were conducted on a subsample of sibling pairs of Asian and Hispanic origin. Control variables included family socio-economic background, parental involvement, family social support, average school SES and others. Although we observed a certain degree of cross-ethnic heterogeneity, the results consistently point to a strong association between educational attainment and the lightness of skin tone. The findings also suggest that the aforementioned relationship is the strongest among U.S. young adults of Filipino and Puerto Rican descent.
A Movement Without Memory: Feminism and Collective Memory in Post-Socialist Germany

*† The creation and maintenance of strategically useful collective memories can be important achievements for social movements, yet not all movements will attempt or succeed in these endeavors. This article examines how the shared history of the German Democratic Republic’s (GDR) gender egalitarianism project was forgotten in the unified Germany. Feminist activists faced many conditions that appeared conducive to propagating a collective memory of the GDR’s policies of gender egalitarianism. Ultimately, however, several factors militated against it: a politically and culturally hostile climate, perceived threats to the movement, the specific relationships between memories, and the timing of openings for memory work. For these reasons, a positive public collective memory of gender relations in the GDR did not develop in post-unification Germany. Upon assuming the position of Minister for Family Affairs, Seniors, Women, and Youth in the cabinet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2005, Ursula van der Leyen created a significant public stir, especially among members of her own political party, the conservative Christian Democratic Union, when she earmarked over 4 billion Euros to support improving child care opportunities for infants and toddlers in Germany. Part of an effort to address Germany’s sinking birthrate and encourage women to have (more) children, van der Leyen’s policy—along with several others she introduced around the same time—echoed the policy practices in the former East Germany, where access to daycare was universal. From an aristocratic and politically influential western German family and as part of an antisocialist political party, van der Leyen did not present her policy agenda as reminiscent of the policies of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany), yet her policy agenda was very familiar to the roughly 17 percent of the German population who had lived in the former GDR. In spite of this familiarity, the eastern German feminist movement made no significant effort to challenge the representation of these policies as new development. In fact, the eastern German feminist movement has not sought to develop a collective memory of gender politics and relations in the GDR, even though such a collective memory seems strategically useful. This article examines why a social movement operating within a contested and fractured memory field has not developed an effective or strategic collective memory. Specifically, I examine why the eastern German feminist movement has not promoted a collective memory of gender relations in the former East Germany, even though it would seemingly have great resonance among eastern Germans. The gender egalitarianism project of the GDR—its patterning of gender policies and practices—remains invisible in the unified Germany. It is not discussed, and there are few calls to restore it. This amnesia presents a rich and interesting case for the consideration of lost memories because it initially appears that this collective memory should have developed. In spite of the
Has There Been a Shift to Small Firms? The Impact of Firm Size on Employment-Based Health Benefits

This paper examines changes in the distribution of workers among different size firms and the resulting impact on employment-based health benefits. Small firms account for much of the new job growth in the United States. However, the percentage of workers in firms with fewer than 500 employees has declined slightly between the 1980s and today. In addition, workers in small firms are much less likely to have health benefits than workers in large firms. There has been a decline in the probability that a worker had employment-based health benefits between 1987 and 2002 across nearly all firm sizes. Only in firms with fewer than 25 employees did the percentage of workers with employment-based health benefits from their own employer not decline, increasing slightly from 30 percent to 30.8 percent over the period. The PDF for the above title, published in the August 2004 issue of EBRI Notes, also contains the fulltext of another August 2004 EBRI Notes article abstracted on SSRN: "IRA and Keogh Assets and Contributions."
Learning From Parents of Children With Disabilities

The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to examine the impact that interactions with parents of children with disabilities might have on 10 graduate students (6 men and 4 women) between the ag...
Literatura popular andalusí y ficción castellana: "Ziyad ibn ‘Amir al-Kinani", "101 noches", y el "Caballero Zifar"

Resumen: Nos ha llegado muy poca evidencia manuscrita de la literatura popular de al-Andalus. Consecuentemente es dificil llegar a conocer su importancia para el desarrollo de la literatura castellana, y en el sentido mas amplio, para nuestro entendimiento de la practica literaria medieval iberica como un conjunto de sistemas interconectados que incluye una variedad de grupos linguisticos, religiosos, y politicos. Ziyad ibn ‘Amir al-Kinani (Granada, ca. 1250) y los 101 Noches (Granada, 1234) son dos ejemplos de la ccion popular andalusi que no brindan datos importantes para nuestro entendimiento de obras tempranas de ccion castellana tal como el Libro del Caballero Zifar . Las dos obras andalusies nos aportan evidencia de una cultura narrativa bilingue que nutria las tradiciones literarias arabe y castellana. En concreto, el material arturico en Ziyad que precede a las traducciones castellanas arturicas nnos invita a replantear de nuevo tanto las fuentes de Zifar como la recepcion de material arturico en la Peninsula. Palabras clave: Ziyad ibn ‘Amir al-Kinani. 101 Noches. Libro del Caballero Zifar. Literatura andalusi popular. Prosa castellana medieval. Abstract: There is very little manuscript evidence of the popular (non-courtly) literature of al-Andalus. For this reason it is dif cult to assess its importance for the development of Castilian literature, and more broadly, for our understanding of medi- eval Iberian literary practice as an interlocking set of systems that includes a number of linguistic, religious, and political groups. Ziyad ibn ‘Amir al-Kinani (Granada, ca. 1250) and the 101 Nights (Granada, 1234) are two examples of Andalusi popular fiction that provide important information for our understanding of works of early Castilian ction such as the Libro del Caballero Zifar . The two Andalusi works provide evidence of a bilingual culture of storytelling that nourished both Arabic and Castilian literary texts. In particular, the inclusion of Arthurian material in Ziyad that predates the earliest translations of Arthurian texts into Castilian forces us to rethink both the sources of Zifar as well as the Iberian adaptation of Arthurian material in general. Keywords: Ziyad ibn ‘Amir al-Kinani. 101 Nights. Libro del Caballero Zifar . Popular Andalusi literature. Medieval Castilian prose.
Accommodation dynamics for comparing utilities with others

In interactive situations, agents can “learn” something that is not a preexisting truth. They can converge to an arbitrary convention, or tacit agreement. Once established they may even view it as an objective truth. Here we investigate accommodation dynamics for interpersonal comparisons of utility intervals. We show, for a large class of dynamics, convergence to a convention.
Fighting staph: Not child’s play

Neutralizing antibodies to Staphylococcus aureus alpha-toxin are acquired in adolescence and augmented by infection or colonization.
Civic laboratories: youth political expression in anonymous, ephemeral, geo-bounded social media

ABSTRACTWhile political expression is theoretically important for young citizens, research finds that young people approach expression on dominant social media (e.g., Facebook) with trepidation and...