cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The physician-patient working alliance: Theory, research, and future possibilities.

Abstract Objective This article discusses the physician-patient working alliance and reviews the empirical research that has been generated on the working alliance to date. Methods The paper presents a brief history of the study of the physician-patient relationship, and discusses constructs that have examined aspects of the relationship, such as empathy, trust, and shared decision-making. Lastly, a meta-analysis was conducted based on the seven empirical studies (a total N of 1023 patients) that have examined the physician-patient working alliance. Results Results of the meta-analysis found medium to large effect sizes between the working alliance and various behavioral care indices. The working alliance is positively associated with patient adherence, satisfaction, and improved patient outcomes. Conclusion Overall, the physician-patient working alliance provides researchers and medical-care providers with a unified construct that combines cognitive and affective dimensions inherent in the relationship in medical care. Furthermore, the PPWAI provides an efficient and inexpensive way to assess the physician-patient relationship in medical treatment. Practice implications The present findings warrant the development of an intervention focused on working alliance training that could be offered to healthcare providers.
Review: The Art of Urbanism: How Mesoamerican Kingdoms Represented Themselves in Architecture and Imagery by William L. Fash and Leonardo López Luján, editors

William L. Fash and Leonardo Lopez Lujan, editors The Art of Urbanism: How Mesoamerican Kingdoms Represented Themselves in Architecture and Imagery Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2009. 488 pp., 130 color illus. $49.95. ISBN 970884023449 Mesoamerica is long due for a comparative analysis on urbanism, and this monumental tome is an important collective project in that direction. Gathering twenty-three scholars working in various parts of Mesoamerica, with research spanning archaeological and historical analyses, the volume focuses on “how communities at various points in the process of urbanization represented themselves in the art and architecture of several iconic” Mesoamerican centers (Fash and Lopez Lujan, 2). The volume explicitly sets out not to define urbanism or evaluate Mesoamerican centers and cities in a comparative context of past urbanism. Indeed, some hardcore archaeologists may object that some of the centers treated in the volume—e.g., San Lorenzo, Chalcatzingo, and San Bartolo—were not cities. Yet I agree with the spirit of this volume that urbanism includes long-term processes and practices that preceded and, in fact, produced the phenomena that most social scientists and architects consider cities. As the title hints, the volume explores both art in Mesoamerican centers and Mesoamerican centers as art. It explores, on the one hand, elaborate artistic expression in Mesoamerican centers as narratives detailing mythico-historical origins (Mexica depictions of Quetzalcoatl …
HIV Infection of Human Nervous System: Neurologic Manifestations, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes widespread annihilation of T lymphocytes along with massive decline and impairment of the cell-mediated immunity, which in turn translates into development of a wide gamut of opportunistic infections as well as malignancies. While acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a systemic infection adversely affecting many organs, it particularly affects and involves the human nervous system. Shortly after seroconversion, HIV enters the nervous system and the infective and degenerative process of neuroAIDS initiates. In the past two decades, with invention and utilization of combination antiretroviral therapy, AIDS has transformed from a lethal disease to a more chronic illness, and more AIDS patients survive than ever before. The neurologic complications of AIDS involve both central and peripheral nervous systems and to a significant degree depend on the extent of ablation of the immune system by AIDS. One particular group of neuropsychiatric impairments due to HIV infection is recognized as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder, which addresses abnormalities of memory, concentration, mental focus, and motor skills in HIV-infected individuals. Neurologic complications of HIV infection as well as their clinical manifestations and available treatments are discussed.
Cognitive mission planning and system orchestration

We present an approach to increase likelihood that an automated reasoning system will make the best decisions for a system and sensor resource manager (SSRM) with limited resources. The introduction of automated game theory to mission planning allows for a modular architecture and scalable approach across a range of platforms and facilitates rapid integration of new modes and technology. Game theory enhances a multi-objective management system, enabling it to intelligently coordinate and optimally achieve disparate mission objectives of a converged system. Our solution may also save money by offering a Pareto efficient process for mission plan validation, which reduces time needed to validate scenarios. An area of significant contribution in our work is our new genetic linear optimization, which is an innovative, developmental extension of our efforts comparing genetic algorithms with linear programming. We show results in receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves and compare the performance. We also quantify the performance improvement across all combinations of decisions or players in a linear program. We further enhance decision making by combining the best parts of multiple solutions. Our design provides insight into the most important or optimal weights for degrees of freedom and can be used to efficiently tune those weights. We also discuss tradeoffs for improving processing time with a sensitivity analysis.
Structure and Functional Analysis of ClbQ, an Unusual Intermediate-Releasing Thioesterase from the Colibactin Biosynthetic Pathway

Colibactin is a genotoxic hybrid nonribosomal peptide/polyketide secondary metabolite produced by various pathogenic and probiotic bacteria residing in the human gut. The presence of colibactin metabolites has been correlated to colorectal cancer formation in several studies. The specific function of many gene products in the colibactin gene cluster can be predicted. However, the role of ClbQ, a type II editing thioesterase, has not been established. The importance of ClbQ has been demonstrated by genetic deletions that abolish colibactin cytotoxic activity, and recent studies suggest an atypical role in releasing pathway intermediates from the assembly line. Here we report the 2.0 A crystal structure and biochemical characterization of ClbQ. Our data reveal that ClbQ exhibits greater catalytic efficiency toward acyl-thioester substrates as compared to precolibactin intermediates and does not discriminate among carrier proteins. Cyclized pyridone-containing colibactins, which are off-pathway derivatives, ...
Predictors of treatment outcome for the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders in children (UP-C).

Abstract Various efficacious treatment packages exist for youth anxiety, and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is now considered to be a well-established treatment for child anxiety disorders (Higa-McMillan, Francis, Rith-Najarian, & Chorpita, 2016). Improving outcomes for the significant proportion of anxious youth who demonstrate inadequate response to CBT is imperative, but our understanding of who does and does not benefit is incomplete. Further, there are no known empirical studies of predictors of treatment response for youth who receive a transdiagnostic intervention for anxiety or depression, and it is therefore unclear whether predictors of response to a transdiagnostic treatment for children are similar to those found in previous studies of anxiety-specific treatments. This study investigated potential predictors of outcome following administration of the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children (UP-C; Ehrenreich-May et al., 2018 ). Participants were 60 children ages 6–13 (M = 9.47, SD = 1.68) with a primary anxiety diagnosis (with or without comorbid depression) who received a 15-week UP-C group treatment. Consistent with prior literature on CBT for anxiety, social anxiety emerged as a consistent predictor of poorer response to the UP-C. Inconsistent with prior literature, depression, symptom severity, parent psychopathology, and child age were not significant predictors of poor outcome. Results indicate some differences between predictors for transdiagnostic versus anxiety-focused treatments, but point to a need for both types of interventions to better target social anxiety in children.
POWER AND TIME: WHY ANTI-FEDERALISTS FEARED LENGTHY PRESIDENTIAL TERMS

Although they have often been pushed aside by academia, the fears of the Anti-Federalists remain legitimate, even in modern times. In particular, this paper takes another look at the Anti-Federalist concerns with respect to lengthy Presidential terms of office. The Anti-Federalist argument was based on four basic pillars: (1) reelection concerns, (2) aristocracy concerns, (3) distrust of rulers, and (4) stability concerns. Given that the relevant fears of the Anti-Federalists are just as legitimate as they were in the eighteenth century, this article argues that twenty-first century Presidents should only serve a single term. At the very least, the phrase “one-term President” should not be associated with a “failed Presidency.” Although the Twenty-second Amendment provides for an upper limit on the length of the Presidential term, it does not need to stand for any sort of desirable status quo.
Conditioning taste aversions to locoweed (Oxytropis sericea) in horses

Locoweed (Oxytropis sericea) is a seri- ous poisoning problem for horses grazing on infested rangelands in the western United States. Our objec- tives were to determine 1) whether lithium chloride or apomorphine would condition aversions to palatable foods, and at what doses, and 2) whether horses could be averted to fresh locoweed in a pen and grazing situa- tion. Apomorphine was not an acceptable aversive agent because at the dose required to condition an aver- sion (≥0.17 mg/kg BW), apomorphine induced unaccept- able behavioral effects. Lithium chloride given via stomach tube at 190 mg/kg BW conditioned strong and persistent aversions to palatable feeds with minor signs of distress. Pen and grazing tests were conducted in Colorado to determine if horses could be averted to fresh locoweed. Pen tests indicated that most horses (5/6) were completely averted from locoweed. Treated horses ate 34 g of fresh locoweed compared to 135 g for controls
Methodologies in assaying prostate cancer stem cells.

Summary The cancer stem cell (CSC) theory posits that only a small population of tumor cells within the tumor has the ability to reinitiate tumor development and is responsible for tumor homeostasis and progression. Tumor initiation is a defining property of putative CSCs, which have been reported in both blood malignancies and solid tumors. In order to test whether any given human tumor cell population has CSC properties, the relatively enriched single cells have to be put into a foreign microenvironment in a recipient animal to test their tumorigenic potential. Furthermore, various in vitro assays need be performed to demonstrate that the presumed CSCs have certain biological properties normally associated with the stem cells (SCs). Herein, we present a comprehensive review of the experimental methodologies that our lab has been using in assaying putative prostate cancer (PCa) SCs in culture, xenograft tumors, and primary tumor samples.
Modification of Bile Acid Spectrum by Dietary Fiber

Among the disorders originally implicated as being related to intake of dietary fiber was the incidence of gallstones (Burkitt et al.,(1974). Modification of the bile acid spectrum of bile modifies its saturation and is currently being used as a treatment in gallstone patients (Hofmann, 1980).
Converting music streaming free users to paid subscribers: social influence or hedonic performance

In order to increase revenues and sustain business, the music industry is directing efforts into increasing paid subscription by converting free listeners into paid subscribers. However, most companies are struggling with these attempts because they lack a clear understanding of the psychological and social purchase motivations of consumers. This study compares and contrasts the two different purchase motivations of consumers: social influence and hedonic performance expectancy. A survey was conducted with 243 users of on-demand music streaming services. Our data analysis shows that social influence impacts consumer attitudes towards music streaming, which in turn drive purchase intention. On the other hand, continuance intention of paid music streaming is driven by hedonic performance expectancy of consumers, not consumer attitude. These results imply that the music industry needs to differentiate its approach to prospective and current customers of music streaming services.
Systematic control of the rate of singlet fission within 6,13-diphenylpentacene aggregates with PbS quantum dot templates

Lead chalcogenide quantum dots (QDs) are promising acceptors for photovoltaic devices that harness the singlet fission (SF) mechanism. The rate of singlet fission of polyacenes in the presence of QDs is a critical parameter in determining the performance of such devices. The present study demonstrates that the rates of SF in a pentacene derivative, 6,13-diphenylanthracene (DPP), are modulated by forming coaggregates with PbS QDs in aqueous dispersions. PbS QDs generally accelerate SF within DPP aggregates, and the extent of acceleration depends on the size of the QD. The average rate of SF increases from 0.074 ps-1 for DPP-only aggregates to 0.37 ps-1 within DPP-D co-aggregates for QDs with radius 2.2 nm, whereas co-aggregation with the smallest (r = 1.6 nm) and largest (r = 2.7 nm) QDs we tried only slightly change the SF rate. The rate variation is associated with (i) the density of surface ligands, which is influenced by the faceting of the PbS surface, and (ii) the local dielectric constant for DPP. To accelerate SF, the ligands should be dense enough to provide sufficient affinity for DPP aggregates and effectively perturb the perpendicular alignment of DPP monomers within aggregates to increase the intermolecular coupling that promotes SF, but should not be too dense so as to form a low dielectric environment that disfavors SF. The study suggests that it is critical to consider the influence of the microenvironment of the QD surface on photophysical processes when fabricating QD/organic hybrid devices.
E-128 Intraprocedural blood pressure and outcome after mechanical thrombectomy

Introduction Despite substantial evidence of the association between intra-procedural blood pressure and functional outcome in patients undergoing mechanical thrombectomy (MT) under general anesthesia, little is known about the relationship between intraprocedural blood pressure and this outcome in patients undergoing MT under monitored anesthesia care (MAC). Objective To investigate the association of different intraprocedural blood pressure parameters with functional outcome and the risk of hemorrhagic transformation (HT) in patients undergoing MT under MAC. Methods We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent MT between 11/1/2014 and 2/1/2017. Blood pressure was recorded at 3–5 min intervals during MT. We used logistic regression to measure the association for each of mean, maximum, and minimum systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressures with functional and safety outcomes. Results 155 patients were included in the study. Seventy patients (45.2%) achieved a good outcome (mRS 0–2). The good outcome group was younger (60.7 vs 72.2 years; p Conclusion Our study did not show a significant correlation between intraprocedural blood pressure and functional outcome in patients who underwent MT under MAC. However, we demonstrated a significant correlation between higher mean SBP and risk of HT. Disclosures M. Anadani: None. S. Ajinkya: None. A. Alaweih: None. J. Vargas: None. A. Chatterjee: None. R. Turner: 6; C; Codman Consulting, Honorarium, Speaker Bureau, Research Funding; Covidien Consulting, Honorarium, Speaker Bureau; Penumbra Consulting, Honorarium, Speaker Bureau, Research Grants; Microvention Consult. M. Chaudry: 6; C; Codman Consulting, Honorarium, Speaker Bureau, Research Funding; Covidien Consulting, Honorarium, Speaker Bureau; Penumbra Consulting, Honorarium, Speaker Bureau, Research Grants; Microvention Consult. A. Turk: 6; C; Codman Consulting, Honorarium, Speaker Bureau, Research Funding; Covidien Consulting, Honorarium, Speaker Bureau; Penumbra Consulting, Honorarium, Speaker Bureau, Research Grants; Microvention Consult. A. Spiotta: 6; C; Penumbra Consulting, Honorarium, Speaker Bureau; Pulsar Vascular Consulting, Honorarium, Speaker Bureau; Microvention Consulting, Honorarium, Speaker Bureau, Research; Stryker Consulting, Honorarium.
UMKC Sports Law Symposium: Emerging Legal Issues Affecting Amateur & Professional Sports

Introduction to the 2007 University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School’s inaugural Sports Law Symposium. The symposium created a forum that contributed to developing intellectual synergies among national sports law scholars, practicing sports law attorneys, athletic directors, coaches, sports industry professionals, and, importantly, student-athletes. The engagements created revolved around the theme of emerging legal issues affecting amateur and professional sports. The symposium featured scholarly presentations in the amateur and professional sports areas. Scholarly inquiry focused on a range of topics, from the economic and legal issues affecting the coaching profession to balancing gender and minority gender equity under Title IX. The range of topics also included performance-enhancing drugs, laws affecting the implementation of drug testing protocols in professional and amateur sports, and the roles and rights of professional athletes beyond the playing field.
The Use of L2 and L3 Lumbar Sympathetic Blockade for Cancer-Related Pain, an Experience and Recommendation in the Oncologic Population.

Objective The sympathetic nervous system has a recognized role in transmission of pain, and the lumbar sympathetic blockade is intended to provide analgesia. We share our experiences of lumbar sympathetic blockade in the treatment of cancer-related pain. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with cancer-related pain in the back, abdomen, pelvis, or legs treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center between 2000 and 2018 undergoing lumbar sympathetic blockade at L2 or L3. Blocks were accomplished by injection of local anesthetic or local anesthetic with steroid under fluoroscopy. We measured numerical rating scale scores, percent relief, and relief time. The primary end point was defined as "effective" or "ineffective" pain relief. Effective pain relief was defined as ≥30% relief for at least one day. Results We identified 124 data points of lumbar sympathetic blockade at L2 or L3, of which 57 were with complete data and used for analysis. Peri-injection, 42 data points had active disease whereas 15 were in remission. Lumbar sympathetic blockade was 67% effective in the back pain cohort, 82% effective in the abdominopelvic pain cohort, and 75% effective in the leg pain cohort. Seventeen data points went on to neurolysis, two to neuromodulation, and eight to intrathecal pump implantation. Conclusions Lumbar sympathetic blockade is effective for back, abdominopelvic, and leg pain related to cancer and its treatments. Future research should be aimed at refining its role within multimodal pain management.
Zero Insertion Force MEMS Socket: 3d Multi-Chip Assembly for Microrobotics

This paper presents an innovative approach for 3D multi-chip assembly using a zero insertion force (ZIF) MEMS socket, which was designed, fabricated and tested. We demonstrate: 1) 3D assembly between a ZIF socket and a linear MEMS motor, 2) 3D assembly between a socket and a microrobotic leg, and 3) resistance versus force data for probes coated with various metals, to characterize the electrical connections between the ZIF socket and the inserted chip. Potential applications for this work include microrobotics assembly (MEMS-MEMS) and probe cards for effortless testing of and 3D assembly with CMOS chips (MEMS-CMOS).
Attention-based Domain Adaptation for Hyperspectral Image Classification

Machine learning algorithms have been extensively used to generate complex features for classification task in the hyperspectral images. However, for challenging cases like domain adaptation (DA), these algorithms tend to perform less efficiently. Recently, with the advent of deep learning algorithms, more complex but useful features can be generated for hyperspectral image classification task. However, attention-based feature generation is not explored till now, which has been found to be effective for distinguishing different classes of images than without transferring the parameters. In this paper, we have opted to use attention-based DA based on transferring different levels of attention from a supervisor network to the student network to provide useful but more complex features for improving the overall classification of the DA problem. It has been shown that the proposed attention-based transfer method outperforms the state-of-the-art domain adaptation methods.
What Did You Order? Developing Models to Measure the Impact of Usability on Emergency Physician Accuracy Using Computerized Provider Order Entry:

Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) is a critical component of electronic health records (EHR). Although widely adopted, the usability of these systems is not well understood. A cross-sectiona...
Designing signaling environments to steer transcriptional diversity in neural progenitor cell populations

Stem cell populations within developing embryos are diverse, composed of many different subpopulations of cells with varying developmental potential. The structure of stem cell populations in cell culture remains poorly understood and presents a barrier to differentiating stem cells for therapeutic applications. In this paper we develop a framework for controlling the architecture of stem cell populations in cell culture using high-throughput single cell mRNA-seq and computational analysis. We find that the transcriptional diversity of neural stem cell populations collapses in cell culture. Cell populations are depleted of committed neuron progenitor cells and become dominated by a single pre-astrocytic cell population. By analyzing the response of neural stem cell populations to forty distinct signaling conditions, we demonstrate that signaling environments can restructure cell populations by modulating the relative abundance of pre-astrocyte and pre-neuron subpopulations according to a simple linear code. One specific combination of BMP4, EGF, and FGF2 ligands switches the default population balance such that 70% of cells correspond to the committed neurons. Our work demonstrates that single-cell RNA-seq can be applied to modulate the diversity of in vitro stem cell populations providing a new strategy for population-level stem cell control.
Do Local Soda Taxes Affect Prices and Consumption? A Tale of Two Cities

Many US cities have voted on or are considering soda taxes due in part to the growing literature about soda's negative health effects. However less is known about supplier and consumer responses to such taxes, particularly when they are implemented at a local rather than national level. Responses to local taxes could differ due to general equilibrium effects and institutional factors. In addition, more opportunities for avoidance may generate unintended consequences that have important policy implications. Rather than aggregating to the city level, this study leverages the high-frequency and high dimensional aspects of the Nielsen scanner data to investigate how prices and consumption of various goods change in response to local soda taxes. Comparing the cases of Berkeley and Philadelphia highlights which findings are constant across these very different cities and are likely to generalize to other local soda taxes. The results indicate incomplete pass-through rates that decline with beverage container size and moderate decreases in consumption of both diet and regular soda. Supply and demand elasticities can be separately identified using the tax as an instrument.
A Formal Verification Approach for Detecting Opcode Trojans

Hardware Trojans are malicious circuit modifications and are a rising threat to the integrated circuit supply chain. There are a number of trojans directed specifically at microprocessor designs. This paper examines the threat of invalid opcodes being used as trigger mechanism for trojans in microprocessors. We demonstrate the effect of such trojans and propose an automated formal verification methodology to detect such trojans. The methodology was tested on processor models based on MIPS and RISC-V architecture. Processor benchmark circuits with as many as 400,000 gates were verified using our approach.
Management of Central Precocious Puberty in Children with Hypothalamic Hamartoma.

Hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) is a rare, congenital, and benign lesion of the tuber cinereum, typically presenting with central precocious puberty (CPP), gelastic seizure, and developmental delay. This study aimed to investigate CPP in HH patients and compare clinical features between before and after gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist treatment. A total of 30 HH patients under 18 years of age who visited Severance Children’s Hospital between January 2005 and May 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Fourteen patients were male (46.7%) and sixteen (53.3%) were female, with a mean age at diagnosis was4.2 ± 2.9 years. During follow-up, 24 patients (80.0%) were diagnosed with CPP, 15 patients (50.0%) had gelastic seizure, and 13 patients (43.3%) had developmental delay. The gelastic seizure was significantly associated with sessile type HH rather than pedunculated type HH (85.7% vs. 18.8%, p = 0.001). After GnRH agonist treatment, discrepancies between bone age and chronological age decreased (3.3 ± 1.3 years to 2.0 ± 1.7 years, p = 0.002). Additionally, height standard deviation score for bone age was increased, and predicted adult height increased significantly in females, while males showed an increasing trend. Clinical symptoms of HH were closely associated with the location of HH, and GnRH agonist treatment was safe and effective in the management of CPP caused by HH.
Further Insight into the Mechanism of Human PMN Lysis following Phagocytosis of Staphylococcus aureus.

Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen that can cause a variety of diseases ranging from mild superficial skin infections to life-threatening conditions like necrotizing pneumonia, endocarditis, and septicemia. Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs; neutrophils in particular herein) are essential for host defense against S. aureus infections, and the microbe is phagocytosed readily. Most ingested bacteria are killed, but some S. aureus strains-such as the epidemic USA300 strain-have an enhanced ability to cause PMN lysis after phagocytosis. Although progress has been made, the mechanism for lysis after phagocytosis of S. aureus remains incompletely determined. Here, we tested the hypothesis that disruption of phagosome integrity and escape of S. aureus from the PMN phagosome into the cytoplasm precedes PMN lysis. We used USA300 wild-type and isogenic deletion strains to evaluate and/or verify the role of selected S. aureus molecules in this cytolytic process. Compared to the wild-type USA300 strain, Δagr, Δhla, ΔlukGH, and Δpsm strains each caused significantly less lysis of human PMNs 3 h and/or 6 h after phagocytosis, consistent with previous studies. Most notably, confocal microscopy coupled with selective permeabilization assays demonstrated that phagosome membrane integrity is largely maintained prior to PMN lysis after S. aureus phagocytosis. We conclude that PMN lysis does not require escape of S. aureus from the phagosome to the cytoplasm and that these are independent phenomena. The findings are consistent with the ability of S. aureus (via selected molecules) to trigger lysis of human PMNs by an undetermined signaling mechanism. IMPORTANCE S. aureus strain USA300 has the ability to cause rapid lysis of human neutrophils after phagocytosis. Although this phenomenon likely contributes to the success of USA300 as a human pathogen, our knowledge of the mechanism remains incomplete. Here, we used a selective permeabilization assay coupled with confocal microscopy to demonstrate that USA300 is contained within human neutrophil phagosomes until the point of host cell lysis. Thus, consistent with a process in macrophages, S. aureus fails to escape into the neutrophil cytoplasm prior to cytolysis.
Minding the gap: Identifying performance issues using the Human Performance Technology model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline a useful model for identifying and addressing employee performance issues in academic libraries, specifically in a Learning Commons.Design/methodology/approach – The Human Performance Technology (HPT) model created by the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) was used to identify employee performance issues in a newly created Learning Commons at a mid‐size academic library.Findings – Applying the HPT model to a Learning Commons enabled the authors to identify organizational and employee performance issues and identify solutions to these issues. The HPT model was deemed a useful tool for addressing performance issues.Research limitations/implications – Little research has been published using the HPT model in libraries and more research should be performed to determine the suitability of this model for libraries. It should be acknowledged that the model is used to identify weaknesses and any organization using this model will likely uncov...
Reduction in the prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in New York City

We compared susceptibilities of Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa collected during surveillance studies conducted during 2009 and 2013-2014 involving hospitals in New York City. There were significant decreases in the number of carbapenem-resistant A baumannii and P aeruginosa cases during 2013-2014; it appears the institution of effective infection control measures has contributed to this decline. However the number of isolates of A baumannii with OXA-23-type β-lactamase increased during 2013-2014.
Intergenerational Transfer of Human Capital among Immigrant Families

While immigrants in the United States tend to earn less than comparable natives, their children close the earnings gap. The purpose of this study is to determine how differences in intergenerational transfer of human capital between immigrant families and native families affect different earning outcomes for respondents of each group. Specifically, this study uses a human capital framework to analyze both the direct effect of parental education on respondent earnings and the indirect effect on earnings by first affecting respondent education, which in turn affects respondent earnings. Data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth allows background variables within a family from 1979 to be related to respondent earnings in 2006. Thus, human capital investments made by parents can be linked to respondent outcomes several years later. The analysis shows that while parental education is a strong predictor of respondent education and earnings in the native population, it is weaker for second generation immigrants. Perhaps second generation immigrants overcome deficiencies in their parents’ human capital through higher levels of motivation.
Bacteriophage Lambda Receptor Protein in Escherichia coli K-12: Lowered Affinity of Some Mutant Proteins for Maltose-Binding Protein In Vitro

Mutant and wild-type LamB proteins (phage λ receptor proteins) were purified by affinity chromatography with immobilized maltose-binding protein, and their transport functions were tested in reconstituted liposomes. Two mutant proteins exhibited a marked decrease in affinity for immobilized maltose-binding protein, as well as altered transport rates.
THE EXCRETION AND FATE OF ANDROGENS1

In a previous report (1) it was demonstrated that urinary androgen extracts and synthetic androstenedione injected subcutaneously into men, rabbits and dogs could be recovered to the extent of only 2 to 6 per cent in the urine. It was suggested at that time that the body metabolizes the hormones a), to some inactive or less active forms, and b), to estrogens. The latter hypothesis was based on the fact that the male organism excretes estrogens. The stallion, in fact, excretes excessive amounts, which has been attributed by Zondek (2) to a conversion from androgens. On the other hand, Callow and Parkes (3) in a single experiment were unable to find a conversion of androsterone to estrogens when injected into a Sebright capon. The cock feathering was not changed to the henny type.
Nonuniform traffic analysis of multistage interconnection networks with split buffers

The analysis of split-buffered multistage interconnection networks (SMINs) under the favorite input load is considered. The favorite load is a typical nonuniform traffic pattern which includes the uniform load as its special case. A new analytical model of SMINs under the favorite load is developed. It is shown that the SMINs generally perform better under the favorite load than under the uniform load. The analytical model also shows potential for evaluating other high-performance switch designs. >
E-Business Management System — strategischer Erfolgsfaktor reifer Unternehmen

Der folgende Aufsatz erhebt nicht den Anspruch einer wissenschaftlichen Arbeit. Unternehmensberatung basiert auf wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen, doch die Hypothesen und Denkbilder, die sie daraus ableitet, sind gepragt von einem praxisorientierten Pragmatismus.
RESOLUTION OF EMPLOYEE CONFLICTS IN THE HOSPITALITY SECTOR IN THE UNITED STATES: AN ANALYSIS OF ARBITRATED AND LITIGATED CASES

This study explores conflictual issues and conflict resolution in the US hospitality sector, particularly with reference to unionized workers through the arbitration process. Using search terms of "hotel" OR "casino" AND "discipline" from 2006 to 2010 in the BNA Labor and Employment Law Library, cases were retrieved and content analyzed to evaluate variables such as laws under which these cases were resolved and relevant contractual collective bargaining provisions. The labor organizing issues included unfair labor practice, unauthorized use of property for union campaigning, refusal to remove union insignia. Discrimination issues included not getting time off for religious observation and charges of disparate treatment. Poor behavior issues included abusive language, racial slurs towards guests, ignoring customer requests for service, unauthorized rest period, and unauthorized use of property for personal reasons. Pay issues included determination of eligibility and computation of overtime pay, and unequal protection clause with respect to pay under city ordinance. Outcomes in terms of how employees fared include failure to have progressive discipline, suspension, discharge, and reduction of penalty.
The Infinite Stamp Problem

A problem, which can be given to an advanced undergraduate or a graduate probability class, will be proposed and solved. The problem and its extension are both easy to explain and amusing, and the solutions, although not completely elementary, are short and easily understood. Materials: An infinite-sized piece of paper, an infinitesized inking pad, and an infinite-sized rubber stamnp which prints concentric circles whose radii are the positive irrational numbers. Process: The infinite-sized stamp will be placed on the infinite-sized inking pad and then the infinite piece of paper will be stamped. The stamp will be repeatedly inked and applied at random to the infinite piece of paper until the paper is completely covered with ink. (By liat random"' we mean "iin accordance with some continuous probability law".) Problem: Show that with probability one exactly three applications of the stamp are necessary to cover the entire paper with ink.
Coherent optical fibre delay-line processor

The operation of an optical fibre tapped delay line with a long coherence length source is described. Optical phase is retained; thus the system can perform bipolar (or in general complex-valued) signal processing operations. Experimental results are presented that illustrate the operating characteristics and capabilities of the system for simple time-domain processing operations.
ASSESSING THE CANCER RISK FROM ENVIRONMENTAL PCBS

A new approach to assessing the cancer risk from environmental polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) considers both toxicity and environmental processes to make distinctions among environmental mixtures. New toxicity information from a 1996 cancer study of four commercial mixtures strengthens the case that all PCB mixtures can cause cancer, although different mixtures have different potencies. Environmental processes alter PCB mixtures through partitioning, chemical transformation, and preferential bioaccumulation; these processes can increase or decrease toxicity considerably. Bioaccumulated PCBs are of greatest concern because they appear to be more toxic than commercial PCBs and more persistent in the body. The new approach uses toxicity studies of commercial mixtures to develop a range of cancer potency estimates and then considers the effect of environmental processes to choose appropriate values for representative classes of environmental mixtures. Guidance is given for assessing risks from different exposure pathways, less-than-lifetime and early-life exposures, and mixtures containing dioxinlike compounds.
Competing Intramolecular vs. Intermolecular Hydrogen Bonds in Solution

A hydrogen bond for a local-minimum-energy structure can be identified according to the definition of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC recommendation 2011) or by finding a special bond critical point on the density map of the structure in the framework of the atoms-in-molecules theory. Nonetheless, a given structural conformation may be simply favored by electrostatic interactions. The present review surveys the in-solution competition of the conformations with intramolecular vs. intermolecular hydrogen bonds for different types of small organic molecules. In their most stable gas-phase structure, an intramolecular hydrogen bond is possible. In a protic solution, the intramolecular hydrogen bond may disrupt in favor of two solute-solvent intermolecular hydrogen bonds. The balance of the increased internal energy and the stabilizing effect of the solute-solvent interactions regulates the new conformer composition in the liquid phase. The review additionally considers the solvent effects on the stability of simple dimeric systems as revealed from molecular dynamics simulations or on the basis of the calculated potential of mean force curves. Finally, studies of the solvent effects on the type of the intermolecular hydrogen bond (neutral or ionic) in acid-base complexes have been surveyed.
Lifetime estimates and unique failure mechanisms of the Digital Micromirror Device (DMD)

The Digital Micromirror Device/sup TM/ (DMD/sup TM/) has made great strides in terms of both performance and reliability. Each device consists of more than 500,000 individually addressable micromirrors. Digital Light Processing/sup TM/ technology, based on the DMD, has been used in such diverse products as projection displays with film-like projected images and photographic-quality printers. Reliability testing of the DMD has demonstrated greater than 100,000 operating hours and more than 1 trillion mirror cycles. This paper discusses DMD reliability development activities, failure modes investigated (e.g. hinge fatigue, hinge memory, stuck mirrors, and environmental robustness), various acceleration techniques (e.g. temperature and duty cycle), corrective actions implemented, and the resulting evidence that the DMD is exceeding original reliability goals.
Applications of renewal theory in analysis of the free‐replacement warranty

Under a free-replacement warranty of duration W, the customer is provided, for an initial cost of C, as many replacement items as needed to provide service for a period W. Payments of C are not made at fixed intervals of length W, but in random cycles of length Y = W + γ(W), where γ(W) is the (random) remaining life-time of the item in service W time units after the beginning of a cycle. The expected number of payments over the life cycle, L, of the item is given by MY(L), the renewal function for the random variable Y. We investigate this renewal function analytically and numerically and compare the latter with known asymptotic results. The distribution of Y, and hence the renewal function, depends on the underlying failure distribution of the items. Several choices for this distribution, including the exponential, uniform, gamma and Weibull, are considered.
Convergent evolution of lizard toe fringes

Lizard toe fringes are composed of laterally projecting elongated scales and have arisen independently at least 26 times in seven families of lizards. Four different fringe types are identified: triangular, projectional, conical and rectangular. To determine if variation in fringe morphology can be attributed to environmental differences, each independent evolution of a fringe type is identified; correlation of substrate types with evolutionary independent fringe morphologies are then studied. Variation in fringe morphology shows a strong association with substrate type: triangular, projectional and conical fringes with windblown sand; and rectangular fringes with water. Some aspects of fringe morphology may result from differences in functional requirements, and others may have no adaptive significance. This example of convergent evolution points out difficulties inherent to comparative studies of adaptation and underscores the value of broad comparative surveys which provide an alternative to ad hoc adaptive explanations of similarity.
Patterns in the abundance, phenology, and hatching of the resting egg stage of the invasive zooplankter Bythotrephes longimanus: implications for establishment

To examine how dormancy contributes to the establishment and persistence of Bythotrephes longimanus, we investigated resting egg production and hatching in relation to the demography of the planktonic stage and environmental conditions in Island Lake Reservoir (USA). During a 3-year study, the largest contribution to the egg bank occurred in autumn and most eggs hatched in spring, but we also detected some resting egg production and hatching in summer. The difference between summer and late autumn densities of eggs in sediments averaged 47% (range 0–98%) for 18 sites throughout the reservoir, which was similar to experimental estimates of in situ hatching fraction of 67% for eggs in the spring and summer following their production. Based on emergence traps, neonates hatch in the field during May and June. We estimated mortality rates of 64% for resting eggs and embryos, and 59% for newly emerged neonates. Although hatching fraction saturated at the same level, eggs incubated offshore hatched later than those nearshore where water temperature was warmer and light was detectable at the sediment surface. Low dissolved oxygen concentration did not significantly reduce hatching fraction but resulted in some eggs that initiated development but failed to hatch. Collectively, our results demonstrate substantial annual turnover in the resting egg bank of B.longimanus and high mortality of resting eggs during recruitment from the egg to the first molt of the planktonic stage. These patterns suggest that propagule pressure in the form of resting eggs requires large numbers for establishment, and that considerable post-establishment resting egg production is necessary for inter-annual persistence.
DICOM image integration into an electronic medical record using thin viewing clients

Purpose -- To integrate radiological DICOM images into our currently existing web-browsable Electronic Medical Record (MINDscape). Over the last five years the University of Washington has created a clinical data repository combining in a distributed relational database information from multiple departmental databases (MIND). A text-based view of this data called the Mini Medical Record (MMR) has been available for three years. MINDscape, unlike the text based MMR, provides a platform independent, web browser view of the MIND dataset that can easily be linked to other information resources on the network. We have now added the integration of radiological images into MINDscape through a DICOM webserver. Methods/New Work -- we have integrated a commercial webserver that acts as a DICOM Storage Class Provider to our, computed radiography (CR), computed tomography (CT), digital fluoroscopy (DF), magnetic resonance (MR) and ultrasound (US) scanning devices. These images can be accessed through CGI queries or by linking the image server database using ODBC or SQL gateways. This allows the use of dynamic HTML links to the images on the DICOM webserver from MINDscape, so that the radiology reports already resident in the MIND repository can be married with the associated images through the unique examination accession number generated by our Radiology Information System (RIS). The web browser plug-in used provides a wavelet decompression engine (up to 16-bits per pixel) and performs the following image manipulation functions: window/level, flip, invert, sort, rotate, zoom, cine-loop and save as JPEG. Results -- Radiological DICOM image sets (CR, CT, MR and US) are displayed with associated exam reports for referring physician and clinicians anywhere within the widespread academic medical center on PCs, Macs, X-terminals and Unix computers. This system is also being used for home teleradiology application. Conclusion -- Radiological DICOM images can be made available medical center wide to physicians quickly using low-cost and ubiquitous, thin client browsing technology and wavelet compression.
Buckling of functionally graded and elastically restrained non-uniform columns

Columns with non-uniform distribution of geometrical or material parameters i.e. functionally graded material distribution, varying cross-sectional area and flexural stiffness provide an economical solution to carry the desired higher compressive loads in engineering structures. In this paper, a low-dimensional mathematical model is presented, which is capable of computing the buckling loads of uniform and non-uniform functionally graded columns in the axial direction. The columns with spatial variation of flexural stiffness, due to material grading and/or non-uniform shape, are approximated by an equivalent column with piecewise constant geometrical and material properties. Such a formulation leads to certain transcendental eigenvalue problems where the matrix elements are transcendental functions. This model is further extended in analyzing some uniform and non-uniform elastically restrained or braced axially graded columns with equal or unequal spans. The mathematical modeling, closed-form transcendental functions and numerical solution technique are described and several examples of estimating buckling loads for various boundary configurations are presented. Some of the results are also validated against available solutions, representing the convergence, effectiveness, accuracy and versatility of the proposed modeling and numerical method. Formulation of such low-dimensional eigenvalue problems can also be extended for analyzing, designing and optimizing the static and dynamic behavior of structural components that are made of functionally graded materials.