cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Learning How to Dance with the Public Child Welfare System: Mexican Parents' Efforts to Exercise Their Voice

The purpose of this article is to understand how Mexican parents' perceive their voices (their concerns, dissatisfaction, and opinions) as integrated in child welfare cases and what factors hinder or promote this process. The focus is on parents' interactions with their child welfare worker during routine monthly home visits. Nineteen parents, with a history of immigration, participated in in-depth interviews for this qualitative study. Grounded theory methods were used to complete the content analysis. The findings indicate that there are three principal factors that affect parents' decisions to exercise their voice: 1) parent's perceptions of how workers received their voice; 2) case context, including immigration status and fear of loosing children; and 3) the lack of parental knowledge and understanding of the child welfare case process and support/advocacy agents. Recommendations include utilizing empowerment models and culturally grounded practices that facilitate the integration of parents' voices ...
Essential role of the tyrosine kinase substrate phospholipase C-γ1 in mammalian growth and development

The activation of many tyrosine kinases leads to the phosphorylation and activation of phospholipase C-γ1 (PLC-γ1). To examine the biological function of this protein, homologous recombination has been used to selectively disrupt the Plcg1 gene in mice. Homozygous disruption of Plcg1 results in embryonic lethality at approximately embryonic day (E) 9.0. Histological analysis indicates that Plcg1 (−/−) embryos appear normal at E 8.5 but fail to continue normal development and growth beyond E 8.5–E9.0. These results clearly demonstrate that PLC-γ1 with, by inference, its capacity to mobilize second messenger molecules is an essential signal transducing molecule whose absence is not compensated by other signaling pathways or other genes encoding PLC isozymes.
Fungal Infections in Older Adults

Invasive fungal infections have become an increasing problem in older adults. Infections with opportunistic fungi have increased because older patients are more likely to be considered for transplantation, receive aggressive regimens of chemotherapy for cancer, and take immunosuppressive drugs for nonmalignant diseases. In addition, healthy older adults are now more likely to travel extensively and to indulge in outdoor activities, which put them at risk for exposure to endemic mycoses. Although many of the clinical manifestations of fungal infections in older and younger adults are similar, there are aspects of histoplasmosis, aspergillosis, and cryptococcosis that are unique to older patients. Treatment of older adults with amphotericin B is difficult because of the intrinsic nephrotoxicity of the drug. Although they are less toxic, azoles must be used carefully for treatment of older adults, who are more likely to experience serious drug-drug interactions than are younger persons.
Infrared atmospheric oxygen plasma emission spectra as a diagnostic tool

Plasma-broadened visible spectra have long been used to infer plasma parameters. With the development of long-wavelength detector technology and the improvement of computational capabilities, infrared spectra are a very promising probe since their greater sensitivity allows very accurate determination of plasma parameters. Infrared spectra of oxygen in the region 5-8 mu m were modeled for a temperature around 10000 K and densities of 10/sup 14/-10/sup 16/ e/cm/sup 3/. The spectra were seen to be very sensitive to the plasma density. >
The good, bad and ugly: distributed detection of a known signal in dependent Gaussian noise

Most results about quantized detection rely strongly on an assumption of independence among random variables. With this assumption removed, little is known. Thus, in this paper, Bayes-optimal binary quantization for the detection of a shift in mean in a pair of dependent Gaussian random variables is studied. This is arguably the simplest meaningful problem one could consider. If results and rules are to be found, they ought to make themselves plain in this problem. For certain problem parametrizations (meaning the signals and correlation coefficient), optimal quantization is achievable via a single threshold applied to each observation-the same as under independence. In other cases, one observation is best ignored or is quantized with two thresholds; neither behavior is seen under independence. Further, and again in distinction from the case of independence, it is seen that in certain situations, an XOR fusion rule is optimal, and in these cases, the implied decision rule is bizarre. The analysis is extended to the multivariate Gaussian problem.
A Review of Environmental Sociology and the Sociology of Natural Resources: Insights for the Development of Environmental Sociology in China

Abstract Environmental sociology and the sociology of natural resources are two key subdisciplines of the sociological study on the interactions between nature and human society. Previous discussion on the relationships of these two fields has largely focused on their distinctions and synthesis in western (particularly American) academia. Environmental sociology emerged as an important sociological subdiscipline in China in the early 1990s and is under vigorous disciplinary construction at present. By contrast, the sociology of natural resources is still a novel term for most Chinese researchers. This article provides a systematic review of recent literature on the relationships between environmental and natural resource sociologies, which should provide important implications for the further development of environmental sociology in China.
Modeling of Copper CMP Using the Colloidal Behavior of an Alumina Slurry with Copper Nanoparticles

The measured agglomerate size distributions of alumina abrasives in various slurry chemistries and at different pH values were used in a model to predict material removal rates (MRRs). The alumina agglomerate size and distribution were measured both with and without the presence of copper nanoparticles in the solution for each slurry chemistry studied. Although the agglomerate sizes were measured under quiescent conditions, it is determined that the agglomerated abrasive particles remain intact during chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), hence the measurements can be used in the CMP model. The model predictions using these measurements both with and without copper in solution were compared to experimental copper CMP data. The model was unable to predict the MRR when the slurry did not have any chemical additives because the dispersion was unstable and small fluctuations in the agglomerate size and distribution caused large changes in the predicted MRR. The model predictions were in excellent agreement with experimental MRR for a slurry with 0.1 M glycine in alkaline conditions. The model results from the size distribution measurements with copper in solution agreed slightly more with experiment than those without copper.
Environment determines epistatic patterns for a ssDNA virus.

Despite the accumulation of substantial quantities of information about epistatic interactions among both deleterious and beneficial mutations in a wide array of experimental systems, neither consistent patterns nor causal explanations for these interactions have yet emerged. Furthermore, the effects of mutations depend on the environment in which they are characterized, implying that the environment may also influence epistatic interactions. Recent work with beneficial mutations for the single-stranded DNA bacteriophage ID11 demonstrated that interactions between pairs of mutations could be understood by means of a simple model that assumes that mutations have additive phenotypic effects and that epistasis arises through a nonlinear phenotype–fitness map with a single intermediate optimum. To determine whether such a model could also explain changes in epistatic patterns associated with changes in environment, we measured epistatic interactions for these same mutations under conditions for which we expected to find the wild-type ID11 at different distances from its phenotypic optimum by assaying fitnesses at three different temperatures: 33°, 37°, and 41°. Epistasis was present and negative under all conditions, but became more pronounced as temperature increased. We found that the additive-phenotypes model explained these patterns as changes in the parameters of the phenotype–fitness map, but that a model that additionally allows the phenotypes to vary across temperatures performed significantly better. Our results show that ostensibly complex patterns of fitness effects and epistasis across environments can be explained by assuming a simple structure for the genotype–phenotype relationship.
Medical school faculty discontent: prevalence and predictors of intent to leave academic careers

Background Medical school faculty are less enthusiastic about their academic careers than ever before. In this study, we measured the prevalence and determinants of intent to leave academic medicine.
Americans in the China Market: Economic Opportunities and Economic Nationalism, 1890s-1931

Historians of various “schools” have seen quite different things in the United States’ long years of business activity in China. The “realists” as Professor Hunt calls them, deny that significant business opportunities existed for Americans and point to obstacles that the Chinese put in the way of trade; the “Wisconsin school,” he says, emphasizes the public rhetoric of officials and businessmen who saw China as an outlet for capitalist surpluses. Citing three case histories — kerosene, cigarettes, and textiles — Professor Hunt shows that generalization is dangerous; that success depended more on businessmen's own skill, resources, and control of their domestic industry than on help derived from an imperialistically minded government.
Does the Japanese Governance System Enhance Shareholder Wealth? Evidence from the Stock-Price Effects of Top Management Turnover

This article examines the stock-price effects of top management turnover announcements for 432 Japanese corporations from 1985 to 1990. We find that these announcements are associated with significantly positive abnormal returns. The returns are greater when turnover is forced than when turnover represents normal succession. The stock-price effects are also significantly positive when turnover is forced and the successor is appointed from outside the firm. We find that large shareholders play an important role during outside succession. This evidence suggests that the disciplinary decisions of Japanese governance mechanisms are consistent with shareholder wealth maximization. Article published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Financial Studies in its journal, The Review of Financial Studies.
Some hydrodynamic problems for a nepheloid zone

A layer of a few hundred meters thickness with suspended matter (a nepheloid zone) was discovered byEwing andThorndike [4]3) near the bottom on the continental slope of the North Atlantic. A downward pressure gradient is produced in this layer due to increment of water density with suspensoid. When only the Coriolis force balances with this pressure gradient, a bottom nepheloid current flows southwestward parallel to the depth contours with a velocity of about 10 (cm/sec) for a slope of one degree. The pressure gradient for fluid with locally variable density above a sloping bottom is treated and an extra term due to density gradient along the slope is derived. The vertical profiles of the nepheloid current with an effect on the vertical eddy viscosity are computed. Two kinds of vertical distributions of eddy viscosity are determined from the observed nepheloid distributions and used in the calculations: constant but different values at two layers and those increasing with height. The effect of the change of density along the bottom is treated by introducing dimensionless variables. Rossby number of the nepheloid current becomes about 10−2 indicating inertia terms to be negligible. Rossby number of turbidity currents ranges from 2 (in a decaying area) to 5 (developing area), suggesting that inertia terms are more important than Coriolis terms. The trajectories of turbidity currents are computed from motion of a mass of mud under the Coriolis force and friction, and the results are applied to those inferred byHand andEmery [6] in the San Diego Through off California.
Adaptive Galerkin Particle Method

Adaptive procedures of a Galerkin particle method are presented. In the Galerkin particle method, the construction of shape functions and the domain integration of the weak form are entirely particle based. The stabilized conforming nodal integration is employed in the domain integration of the weak form. The Voronoi diagram used as the nodal representative domain in the stabilization of nodal integration is employed as the hierarchy for adaptive refinement. A recovery based error indicator is introduced in the adaptive analysis. Owing to the smooth shape functions in the Galerkin particle method, the stress recovery error indicator does not require any projection as was needed in the C° finite element methods.
Adsorptive/Extractive Stripping Voltammetry of 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydrocarbazole

Abstract Adsorptive/extractive accumulation of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrocarbazole at a carbon paste electrode is used to improve the subsequent voltammetric measurement with respect to sensitivity and selectivity. By simply immersing the electrode in the 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrocarbazole solution for a given period of time, and then transferring it to a blank solution, high degree of selectivity is achieved. After 10 min preconcentration, a detection limit near 1.4×10-8M 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrocarbazole is obtained. Cyclic voltammetry is used to aid understanding the nature of the accumulation process. Applicability to measurements of other indole alkaloids and to analysis of urine samples is illustrated.
Amygdalar, hippocampal, and thalamic volumes in youth at high risk for development of bipolar disorder

Children of parents with bipolar disorder (BD), especially those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and symptoms of depression or mania, are at significantly high risk for developing BD. As we have previously shown amygdalar reductions in pediatric BD, the current study examined amygdalar volumes in offspring of parents (BD offspring) who have not yet developed a full manic episode. Youth participating in the study included 22 BD offspring and 22 healthy controls of comparable age, gender, handedness, and IQ. Subjects had no history of a manic episode, but met criteria for ADHD and moderate mood symptoms. MRI was performed on a 3T GE scanner, using a 3D volumetric spoiled gradient echo series. Amygdalae were manually traced using BrainImage Java software on positionally normalized brain stacks. Bipolar offspring had similar amygdalar volumes compared to the control group. Exploratory analyses yielded no differences in hippocampal or thalamic volumes. Bipolar offspring do not show decreased amygdalar volume, possibly because these abnormalities occur after more prolonged illness rather than as a preexisting risk factor. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether amygdalar volumes change during and after the development of BD.
Assimilative modeling of low latitude ionosphere

In this paper we present an observation system simulation experiment for modeling low-latitude ionosphere using a 3-dimensional (3-D) global assimilative ionospheric model (GAIM). The experiment is conducted to test the effectiveness of GAIM with a 4-D variational approach (4DVAR) in estimation of the ExB drift and thermospheric wind in the magnetic meridional planes simultaneously for all longitude or local time sectors. The operational Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and the ground-based global CPS receiver network of the International CPS Service are used in the experiment as the data assimilation source. The optimization of the ionospheric state (electron density) modeling is performed through a nonlinear least-squares minimization process that adjusts the dynamical forces to reduce the difference between the modeled and observed slant total electron content in the entire modeled region. The present experiment for multiple force estimations reinforces our previous assessment made through single driver estimations conducted for the ExB drift only.
Occupational Asthma to Low and High Molecular Weight Agents

Occupational asthma is responsible for up to 15% of all causes of asthma. In this chapter, two very different causes of occupational asthma, one secondary to a low molecular weight chemical and one due to a high molecular weight protein, but both with very similar evaluation and management scenarios are presented. These instructional cases should permit the reader to determine how to approach suspected occupational asthma cases in the clinical setting.
Lasers in Dermatology

Dermatology has been at the forefront of photomedicine, and has fostered great interest in medical laser applications. In the decade following invention of the ruby laser, this device was used to experimentally treat portwine stains, tattoos, hemangiomas, and melanoma (Goldman and Rockwell, 1971). The ruby laser was then essentially abandoned and replaced during the 1970’s by continuous-wave lasers such as argon-ion and CO2, which offered more predictable, less explosive tissue reactions for coagulation and cutting, respectively. In the 1980’s, the major clinical advances were based on selectively-absorbed pulsed lasers, capable of producing histologically-selective thermal injury for treatment of vascular and pigmented lesions, with minimal or absent scarring. This began with using yellow dye laser pulses for treatment of portwine stains, and a concept we called “selective photothermolysis” (Anderson and Parrish, 1981 and 1983). The past decade has seen major advances in basic understanding of laser-induced photothermal, photochemical, and photoacoustic injury of the skin.
ΔNp63 regulates IL-33 and IL-31 signaling in atopic dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common inflammatory skin disease with no well-delineated cause or effective cure. Here we show that the p53 family member p63, specifically the ΔNp63, isoform has a key role in driving keratinocyte activation in AD. We find that overexpression of ΔNp63 in transgenic mouse epidermis results in a severe skin phenotype that shares many of the key clinical, histological and molecular features associated with human AD. This includes pruritus, epidermal hyperplasia, aberrant keratinocyte differentiation, enhanced expression of selected cytokines and chemokines and the infiltration of large numbers of inflammatory cells including type 2 T-helper cells - features that are highly representative of AD dermatopathology. We further demonstrate several of these mediators to be direct transcriptional targets of ΔNp63 in keratinocytes. Of particular significance are two p63 target genes, IL-31 and IL-33, both of which are key players in the signaling pathways implicated in AD. Importantly, we find these observations to be in good agreement with elevated levels of ΔNp63 in skin lesions of human patients with AD. Our studies reveal an important role for ΔNp63 in the pathogenesis of AD and offer new insights into its etiology and possible therapeutic targets.
School start times and teenage driver motor vehicle crashes.

Abstract Introduction Shifting school start times to 8:30 am or later has been found to improve academic performance and reduce behavior problems. Limited research suggests this may also reduce adolescent driver motor vehicle crashes. A change in the school start time from 7:30 am to 8:45 am for all public high schools in one North Carolina county presented the opportunity to address this question with greater methodologic rigor. Method We conducted ARIMA interrupted time-series analyses to examine motor vehicle crash rates of high school age drivers in the intervention county and 3 similar comparison counties with comparable urban-rural population distribution. To focus on crashes most likely to be affected, we limited analysis to crashes involving 16- & 17-year-old drivers occurring on days when school was in session. Results In the intervention county, there was a 14% downward shift in the time-series following the 75 min delay in school start times (p = .076). There was no change approaching statistical significance in any of the other three counties. Further analysis indicated marked, statistically significant shifts in hourly crash rates in the intervention county, reflecting effects of the change in school start time on young driver exposure. Crashes from 7 to 7:59 am decreased sharply (−25%, p = .008), but increased similarly from 8 to 8:59 am (21%, p = .004). Crashes from 2 to 2:59 pm declined dramatically (−48%, p = .000), then increased to a lesser degree from 3 to 3:59 pm (32%, p = .024) and non-significantly from 4 to 4:59 (19%, p = .102). There was no meaningful change in early morning or nighttime crashes, when drowsiness-induced crashes might have been expected to be most common. Discussion The small decrease in crashes among high school age drivers following the shift in school start time is consistent with the findings of other studies of teen driver crashes and school start times. All these studies, including the present one, have limitations, but the similar findings suggest that crashes and school start times are indeed related, with earlier start times equating to more crashes. Conclusion Later high school start times (>8:30 am) appear to be associated with lower adolescent driver crash rates, but additional research is needed to confirm this and to identify the mechanism by which this occurs (reduced drowsiness or reduced exposure).
American Indian Religious Freedom Act

An entry for the Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties, forthcoming from Routledge. This entry details the legislative history and the impact (or lack thereof) of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.
Tailoring Pore Size of Graded Mesoporous Block Copolymer Membranes: Moving from Ultrafiltration toward Nanofiltration

Tailoring pore size of ultrafiltration membranes all the way down toward the nanofiltration regime in a predictable manner from molecular design principles is highly desirable. Here we present a way to achieve this in surface separation layers of nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS) derived graded block copolymer (BCP) membranes by means of an organic additive. Glycerol, a nontoxic organic molecule, is incorporated at varying amounts into poly(isoprene-b-styrene-b-4-vinylpyridine) (ISV) triblock terpolymer casting solutions. Employing scanning electron microscopy image analysis and solute rejection tests on resulting membranes, the relationship between the amount of additives and membrane performance (permeability, selectivity) is established. Pore size increases from 23 to 48 nm are achieved by moving from membranes cast from pure ISV solutions to those cast from up to 40% weight (relative to ISV) glycerol containing solutions. It is then demonstrated how a combination of additive driven pore expan...
Psychological Reactions Associated With Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Youth

Glucose monitoring is prerequisite to all other diabetes self-care behaviors and helps patients to reduce their risk for diabetes-related complications due to elevated glycemia. Because of the amount of information available and the ability to deliver glucose results in real-time, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) has the ability to improve on self-monitoring blood glucose. However, epidemiologic data demonstrate slow uptake of CGM by patients, especially among youth. Several new diabetes therapies rely on CGM for feedback on patients' glucose levels to optimize treatment (eg, the low-glucose suspend insulin pump) and there are new technologies currently in development that will also need this information to work (eg, the artificial pancreas). To help patients to realize the potential benefits of these new treatments, it is essential to explore patients' psychological and behavioral reactions to CGM and then target device enhancements and/or the development of behavioral therapies to minimize negative reactions and to improve patients' CGM adoption rates. Limited research is available examining the psychological and behavioral reactions of CGM use in youth exclusively, but there are more studies examining these reactions in mixed samples of youth, parents, and adults. The purpose of this review is to summarize the available literature examining psychological and behavioral reactions to CGM use in young people with diabetes and to highlight how the results of past and future studies can inform device updates and/or behavioral intervention development to minimize barriers.
The West's Modern Encounter with Islam: From Discourse to Reality

ical activism has persuaded many observers to adopt a new tack, dis carding the old obsession with studying Islamic traditions, customs, and truth-claims, and shifting scholarly focus to the study of Islamic polit ical, moral, and social order. Second, the value of the use of the discur sive level of reasoning has become one of the main currents of debate in academic circles. How relevant is the study of language, political culture, and religious dogma to the present day polemic between the Muslim and Western worlds? A new trend has emerged: social scien tists tend to attach more importance to the analysis of the sociological, political, and economic realities of Muslim countries than to the discur sive level of reasoning mainly concerned with abstract linguistic, cul tural, and religious concepts. To contextualize this emerging trend and the logic accompanying it, this essay critically analyzes the views of Bernard Lewis, Samuel P. Huntington, John L. Esposito, Graham E. Fuller, Ian O. Lesser, and Fred Halliday. In doing so, this article presents a genuine attempt to convince policymakers of the merits of adopting a practical—rather than an ideological—approach toward addressing the issues facing the Muslim world. These scholars' perspectives, which are indicative of the heightened concern with this subject in the post-Cold War world, present a broad spectrum of views concerning different aspects of the
Inhibition of Mineralization by Experimental Lathyrism during Matrix-Induced Endochondral Bone Differentiation

SummaryThe influence of experimental lathyrism generated by β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) treatment on matrix-induced endochondral ossification was investigated. Although the mesenchymal cell proliferation was not affected, BAPN was inhibitory to chondrogenesis as quantitated by 35SO4 incorporation. Both cartilage and bone mineralization, as indicated by 45Ca incorporation, were profoundly inhibited by BAPN treatment. The initial rate and the final extent of mineralization was impaired by the lathyrism. Matrices prepared from lathyritic bone and tooth were not as active as controls in induction of new bone as quantitated by alkaline phosphatase activity and 45Ca incorporation.
Terminal Digits of MN (M2-N2) a Correction and an Extension

(1961). Terminal Digits of MN (M2-N2) a Correction and an Extension. Mathematics Magazine: Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 233-235.
Exercise in personal protective equipment in a hot, humid environment does not affect risk propensity.

ABSTRACTWe tested the hypothesis that heat stress created by light exertion in encapsulating personal protective equipment (PPE) in a hot, humid environment increases risk propensity. Ten healthy subjects (29 ± 7 y) completed 2 trials presented in a counter-balanced manner. Subjects donned encapsulating PPE, and in one trial they wore a tube-lined shirt underneath that was perfused with 5°C water. Subjects completed 2 15 min bouts of walking exercise on a treadmill at ˜50% maximal heart rate in a 32°C, 81% RH environment. Subjects completed the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART), an objective measure of risk-taking, before, between the 2 exercise bouts, and following the final exercise bout. Personal cooling lowered (P < 0.01) mean skin temperature by 8.0 ± 1.6°C. Intestinal temperature rose (P < 0.01) in both trials, but was lower (P < 0.01) at the end of exercise in the cooling trial (38.0 ± 0.3°C vs. 37.6 ± 0.3°C). BART derived indices of risk propensity were not affected by trial or time (trial × time in...
Study on Catalytic Combustion of Premixed Hydrogen and Oxygen in the Micro-scale

Catalytic combustion of hydrogen and oxygen mixture inside a sub-millimeter micro combustor is numerically investigated by using the commercial computational fluid dynamics(CFD) code which based detailed gas phase and surface catalytic chemical reaction mechanisms.Combustion characteristics for different reaction models and the influence of wall materials and inlet velocity on catalytic combustion reaction are discussed on the basis of experimental verification.The computational results show that the surface catalytic combustion restrains the gas phase combustion by reducing the mass fraction of OH at adjacent position.Combustion efficiency can reach maximum value when coupling the surface catalytic combustion and the gas phase combustion.Inlet velocity will take more influence onto the temperature of ouelet exhaust than the temperature of outerwall,and the too higher velocity will lead to the reducing of combustion efficiency.Wall materials also have important influence on catalytic combustion of hydrogen and oxygen,there are large temperature gradient and temperature value in the outer wall of combustor when materials with small heat conductivity are used.The high temperature combustion zone moves to the entrance side because of the increase of the heat exchange form the combustor wall to the mixed gas near the entrance when materials with large heat conductivity are used.
Outcomes of acute care surgical cases performed at night

Abstract Background Acute care surgeons operate during the day and night. Time of day or night may impact the outcome because of surgeon and team fatigue, operative delays, or other unmeasured factors. Methods We performed matched retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing operative intervention at night by acute care surgeons over 16 months. Cases were matched on case complexity, age, and sex to daytime cases. Other confounders including comorbidities, presenting characteristics, complications, and mortality were abstracted. Outcomes differences between day and night cases were compared. Results Night cases (115) were matched 1:1 to daytime cases. Groups had similar degrees of comorbidity. Those operated at night had trends toward more hypotension and sepsis. After controlling for confounders using conditional logistic regression, surgical care at night was a potent predictor of mortality (odds ratio 30.02; 95% CI 2.33 to 387.40; P = .009) but had little impact on morbidity (odds ratio 1.34; 95% CI .77 to 2.36; P = .303). Conclusions Emergency operations performed at night by acute care surgeons may have dissimilar outcomes compared with day cases.
In vitro monitoring of immunotherapy with serial measurement of serum levels of allergen-specific IgG antibodies.

The most practical, objective, and reproducible laboratory method for monitoring specific immunotherapy for allergic disorders is serial measurement of serum levels of allergen-specific IgG antibodies. The patterns of specific IgG response observed with immunotherapy are described and clinical indications for the use of IP specific G assay are outlined.
Quality Improvement Strategies in Accountable Care Organization Hospitals.

BACKGROUND Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are hoped to lower costs and improve health care quality. However, hospitals remain unsure how to bring about the quality improvement (QI) required to increase financial viability. This success may hinge on the use of sophisticated measurement tracking and the use of multiple QI tools. This study aims to assess the current approaches that ACO hospitals are using to improve quality and to compare their strategies with non-ACO hospitals. METHODS The 2013 American Hospital Association's Annual Survey and the Survey of Care Systems and Payment data were merged to identify ACO and non-ACO hospitals. ACO and non-ACO hospital rates of reported use of multiple QI tools and the ability to detect and track readmissions across organizational boundaries were compared. RESULTS ACO hospitals were significantly less likely to use only 1 QI tool (43.5% vs 65.2%; P < .001) and more likely to use 2 (36.4% vs 28.1%; P < .05), 3 (12.1% vs 6.5%; P < .001), or 4 (8.0% vs 0.2%; P < .001) QI tools. ACO hospitals were significantly more likely to have the capability to detect readmissions (34.1% vs 22.8%; P < .001) and track readmissions (90.5% vs 85.7%; P < .05). CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that ACO hospitals are incorporating more sophisticated measurements and combinations of QI tools than non-ACO hospitals. It remains to be seen whether this leads to accelerated changes across the quality domains in ACO hospitals.
Nutrition and Genetic Factors in Carcinogenesis

In the exploration of the role of dietary factors in carcinogenesis, both essential nutrients and other compounds in foods with biological activity may be important. These interactions may operate in two directions. Genes can affect the action of these compounds of dietary origin (e.g., increasing or decreasing the amount needed for good nutritional status), and these compounds can affect the action of genes. Genetic factors may affect the metabolism of carcinogens and pro-carcinogens found in food, and food components can play a role in carcinogenesis. Methodologic issues regarding the study of diet, genetic variation and cancer are reviewed and examples are provided of mechanisms for potential nutrition-gene interactions in cancer.
An Appraisal and Revision of the Constructivist Research Program

This essay uses Imre Lakatos’s methodology of scientific research programs to assess and revise the constructivist approach to communication. Constructivism is evaluated as a series of changing theories that share common assumptions. A review of constructivist theory and research scrutinizes the program’s main methodological innovations and its insights into cognitive development, social perception, and person-centered communication. Revisions are then suggested: Constructivism needs a more advanced explication of knowledge structures, cognitive processing, cognitive development, and self-perception. Constructivist research should also employ more precise hypotheses, maintain methodological diversity, and vigorously examine anomalous findings. The conclusion briefly estimates the program’s longevity and highlights ethical imperatives that could fuel future constructivist research.
A preface paradox for intention

In this paper I argue that there is a preface paradox for intention. The preface paradox for intention shows that intentions do not obey an agglomeration norm, requiring one to intend conjunctions of whatever else one intends. But what norms do intentions obey? I will argue that intentions come in degrees. These partial intentions are governed by the norms of the probability calculus. First, I will give a dispositional theory of partial intention, on which degrees of intention are the degrees to which one possesses the dispositions characteristic of full intention. I will use this dispositional theory to defend probabilism about intention. Next, I will offer a more general argument for probabilism about intention. To do so, I will generalize recent decision theoretic arguments for probabilism from the case of belief to the case of intention.
Noninvasive Brain Stimulation

In this chapter, we will focus on two predominant forms of noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS): transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial electric stimulation (also called transcranial current stimulation). NIBS is used in two major ways in network neuroscience. First, NIBS serves as a tool to understand the causal role of specific activity patterns or brain areas in cognitive function and behavior. Second, NIBS has emerged as a novel treatment modality to reshape and enhance brain activity as a treatment for disorders of the central nervous system.
On the Need to Incorporate an Action Component in History Didactics

In his highly acclaimed speech, Education after Auschwitz, that was broadcast on public radio in 1966, influential German educator and philosopher Theodor Adorno declared as the pedagogic imperative goal of all education that an event as horrific as the Holocaust must be prevented from recurring by all means: ‘Die Forderung, dass Auschwitz nicht noch einmal sei, ist die allererste an Erziehung. Sie geht so sehr jeglicher anderen voraus, dass ich weder glaube, sie begrunden zu mussen noch zu sollen […]. Jede Debatte uber Erziehungsideale ist nichtig und gleichgultig diesem einen gegenuber, dass Auschwitz nicht sich wiederhole’ (Adorno, 1970, 92).1
A Janus Chelator Enables Biochemically Responsive MRI Contrast with Exceptional Dynamic Range

We introduce a new biochemically responsive Mn-based MRI contrast agent that provides a 9-fold change in relaxivity via switching between the Mn3+ and Mn2+ oxidation states. Interchange between oxidation states is promoted by a “Janus” ligand that isomerizes between binding modes that favor Mn3+ or Mn2+. It is the only ligand that supports stable complexes of Mn3+ and Mn2+ in biological milieu. Rapid interconversion between oxidation states is mediated by peroxidase activity (oxidation) and l-cysteine (reduction). This Janus system provides a new paradigm for the design of biochemically responsive MRI contrast agents.
Thermal Stability of Annealed Germanium-Tin Alloys Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

The thermal stability of undoped and boron-doped germanium tin (Ge1−xSnx) alloys grown by molecular beam epitaxy with varying composition and layer thickness was investigated. The alloys were annealed in forming gas at various temperatures up to 800°C for 1 min using rapid thermal processing, and were characterized using high-resolution x-ray diffraction and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. It was found that the Ge1−xSnx alloys were stable to well above the growth temperature, but the stability decreased with increasing thickness, Sn content, and doping. Ge1−xSnx alloys with low Sn composition (x ∼ 0.025) were stable up to 700°C, and for a given Sn composition, the undoped alloys were more thermally stable than the doped alloys. As the thickness of the Ge0.975Sn0.025 alloys increased to about 950 nm, the temperature of thermal stability dropped to 500°C. As the Sn composition of the 90 nm-Ge1−xSnx alloys increased up to x = 0.08, the temperature of thermal stability dropped to 300°C. At higher annealing temperatures, the Ge1−xSnx alloy degraded with lower crystal quality, and a gradient in the Sn composition appeared, which may be due to Sn diffusion or segregation.
Automatic assessment of student reading comprehension from short summaries

This paper describes our research on automatically scoring students’ summaries for comprehension using not only text specific quantitative and qualitative features, but also more complex features based on the computational indices of cohesion available via Coh-Metrix and on Information Content (IC, a measure of text informativeness). We assessed whether human rated summary scores could be predicted by indices of text complexity and IC. The IC metric of the summaries was a better predictor of human scores than word count or any of the CohMetrix text complexity dimensions. This finding may justify the implementation of IC in future automated summary rating tools to rate short summaries.
Kinetic studies on the inhibition of a (D(-)-specific lactate dehydrogenase by adenosine triphosphate.

A purified, NADH-linked, d (-)-specific lactate dehydrogenase from Butyribacterium rettgeri was shown to be inhibited by ATP. Several other nucleotides were also capable of inhibiting the reaction catalyzed by this enzyme but, at equivalent concentrations, none was found to be as effective as ATP. The inhibition by ATP appears to be of the partially competitive type with respect to NADH. This suggests that ATP may interact with the enzyme at a site distinct from the coenzyme-binding site. On the other hand, ATP seems to be an uncompetitive inhibitor with respect to pyruvate, i.e. at any given concentration of ATP, maximum inhibition was observed only when the enzyme was fully saturated with pyruvate. Although pyruvate appeared to increase the affinity of the lactate dehydrogenase for ATP, it was shown to cause a slight increase in the apparent K m for NADH. This differential effect of the substrate on the apparent affinities of the enzyme for the inhibitor and its coenzyme supports the hypothesis that separate sites are involved in binding the two compounds. Interactions of the enzyme with its coenzyme or the nucleotide inhibitor may result in conformational alterations of the protein. ATP protected the enzyme against heat inactivation and NADH reversed this protective effect, although the coenzyme itself had no effect on the heat lability of the enzyme.
Effect of resilient modulus of undisturbed subgrade soils on pavement rutting

This paper presents the results from a test program to characterise resilient modulus (M R ) of subgrade soils for different geographic regions in South Carolina. For this study, Shelby tube sample...
Improved Face and Head Detection Based on Traditional Middle Eastern Clothing.

This paper is concerned with the detection of individuals in images who wear traditional Middle Eastern clothing. Traditional headwear for men includes a scarf known as the shemagh that often occludes the face or causes significant shadows. State-of-the-art face-detection systems do not perform well for these cases. To address this problem, we have developed a novel approach that detects a distinctive part of traditional headwear known as the igal. This is a band or cord, typically black, that rests on the shemagh to hold it in place. Our approach starts by applying multiscale SVM classification with a HoG descriptor to perform tentative detection. The proposed detections are then refined using a bag of visual words categorization system. Experimental results have shown significantly better performance for our technique over several face-detection systems. Our technique yielded an F1 score of 80% with a low false-positive rate, showing an improvement of 15% over the best face detector.
FEM numerical model study of heating in magnetic nanoparticles.

Electromagnetic heating of nanoparticles is complicated by the extremely short thermal relaxation time constants and difficulty of coupling sufficient power into the particles to achieve desired temperatures. Magnetic field heating by the hysteresis loop mechanism at frequencies between about 100 and 300 kHz has proven to be an effective mechanism in magnetic nanoparticles. Experiments at 2.45 GHz show that Fe3O4 magnetite nanoparticle dispersions in the range of 1012 to 1013 NP/mL also heat substantially at this frequency. An FEM numerical model study was undertaken to estimate the order of magnitude of volume power density, Qgen (W m-3) required to achieve significant heating in evenly dispersed and aggregated clusters of nanoparticles. The FEM models were computed using Comsol Multiphysics; consequently the models were confined to continuum formulations and did not include film nano-dimension heat transfer effects at the nanoparticle surface. As an example, the models indicate that for a single 36 nm diameter particle at an equivalent dispersion of 1013 NP/mL located within one control volume (1.0 x 10-19 m3) of a capillary vessel a power density in the neighborhood of 1017 (W m-3) is required to achieve a steady state particle temperature of 52°C - the total power coupled to the particle is 2.44 μW. As a uniformly distributed particle cluster moves farther from the capillary the required power density decreases markedly. Finally, the tendency for particles in vivo to cluster together at separation distances much less than those of the uniform distribution further reduces the required power density.
Adhesion and Friction Enhancement of Film-Terminated Structures against Rough Surfaces

A number of biomimetic and bioinspired micron-scale surface structures have been developed in recent years with unique surface properties such as highly enhanced and switchable adhesion and friction against smooth surfaces. However, few studies have examined the effect of roughness on mechanisms for property enhancement, although this is of critical importance for applications. Here, we investigate the effect of roughness on adhesion and friction of a family of film-terminated fibrillar and ridge/channel microstructures. Although increasing roughness uniformly attenuates adhesion and friction, we find that the film-terminated structures maintain their enhancement compared to flat controls against a variety of rough surfaces (including natural stones). The principal mechanisms underlying property enhancement against smooth surfaces remain operative against rough surfaces. We show how the effect of roughness on surface mechanical properties of structured surfaces can be understood as a combination of known effects due to structure and roughness.
Tourism Geographies: geographic research on coastal tourism

Coastal tourism research is among the oldest prongs of tourism research conducted by geographers. Seaside resort morphology was an early and long-term interest (e.g. Gilbert, 1939, 1949, 1954; Lave...
Broadband parametric down-conversion in an X-cut lithium niobate microresonator

We report spontaneous parametric down-conversion with a bandwidth of about 400 nm in a high-Q lithium niobate microdisk resonator. The broadband feature is enabled by cyclic phase matching in an X-cut microresonator.
Sleep study indices and early post-tonsillectomy outcomes

Abstract Objectives To investigate the relationships between preoperative sleep study findings of children undergoing adenotonsillectomy anesthesia emergence time, recovery room time, and length of stay. Study design Retrospective case series with chart review. Setting Tertiary care children's hospital. Subjects and methods All children aged 1–17 years who had undergone adenotonsillectomy between 2013 and 2016 were included. Apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), central apnea index (CAI), oxygen saturation nadir, and end-tidal carbon dioxide were compared with the in-operating room times, recovery room time, and length of stay. Results Three hundred and fourteen patients with a mean age of 6.67 (95% CI 6.25–7.09) years were included. Mean AHI was 9.14 (95% CI 7.33–10.95), mean CI was 0.88 (95% CI 0.50–1.26), mean oxygen saturation nadir was 82.9% (95% CI 81.41–84.32), mean end-tidal carbon dioxide was 50.3 (95% CI 49.39–51.15). Mean emergence time was 16 min (95% CI 15:11–17:13 min), recovery room time was 66 min (95% CI 1:00–1:11 h), and length of stay was 25.7 h (95% CI 21:43–30:00 h). When controlled for age, gender and BMI, linear regression showed that children with a higher AHI had a significantly longer operating room and operative times (p Conclusion Preoperative sleep study indices are associated with longer in-operating room times and length of stay, and can be useful in planning operating room and hospital flow.
VIP interview: Alain C. Enthoven, Ph.D.

Alain C. Enthoven, Ph.D., is the Mariner S. Eccles Professor of Public and Private Management in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He hold degrees in Economics from Stanford University, Oxford University (where he was a Rhodes scholar), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Enthoven has been an articulate advocate for restructuring the health care system. His far-reaching proposals on "consumer choice health plans" and "managed competition" in the 1930s established an intellectual framework for much of the current debate on national health policy. As a leader of the Jackson Hole Group, he favors internal market reform and employer tax incentives as the most effective means to control unnecessary medical costs.