cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Impressive Performance: New Disposable Digital Ureteroscope Allows for Extreme Lower Pole Access and Use of 365 μm Holmium Laser Fiber.

Abstract Background: Since the development of the first flexible ureteroscope, in 1964, technological advances in image quality, flexibility, and deflection have led to the development of the first single-use digital flexible ureteroscope, LithoVue™ (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA). With respect to reusable fiber-optic and now digital ureteroscopes, there is an initial capital cost of several thousand dollars (USD) as well as, controversy regarding durability, the cost of repairs and the burdensome reprocessing steps of ureteroscopy. The single-use LithoVue eliminates the need for costly repairs, the occurrence of unpredictable performance, and procedural delays. Renal stones located in the lower pole of the kidney can be extremely challenging as extreme deflections of greater than 160° are difficult to maintain and are often further compromised when using stone treatment tools, such as laser fibers and baskets. This case describes an initial use of the LithoVue digital disposable ureteroscope in the ...
Helicobacter Catalase Devoid of Catalytic Activity Protects the Bacterium against Oxidative Stress

Catalase, a conserved and abundant enzyme found in all domains of life, dissipates the oxidant hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori undergoes host-mediated oxidant stress exposure, and its catalase contains oxidizable methionine (Met) residues. We hypothesized catalase may play a large stress-combating role independent of its classical catalytic one, namely quenching harmful oxidants through its recyclable Met residues, resulting in oxidant protection to the bacterium. Two Helicobacter mutant strains (katAH56A and katAY339A) containing catalase without enzyme activity but that retain all Met residues were created. These strains were much more resistant to oxidants than a catalase-deletion mutant strain. The quenching ability of the altered versions was shown, whereby oxidant-stressed (HOCl-exposed) Helicobacter retained viability even upon extracellular addition of the inactive versions of catalase, in contrast to cells receiving HOCl alone. The importance of the methionine-mediated quenching to the pathogen residing in the oxidant-rich gastric mucus was studied. In contrast to a catalase-null strain, both site-change mutants proficiently colonized the murine gastric mucosa, suggesting that the amino acid composition-dependent oxidant-quenching role of catalase is more important than the well described H2O2-dissipating catalytic role. Over 100 years after the discovery of catalase, these findings reveal a new non-enzymatic protective mechanism of action for the ubiquitous enzyme.
Treatment of adolescent young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: 10-year outcome data from a single institution.

e18047 Background: Compared to children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), adolescent young adults (AYA, age 15-39) with ALL have lower rates of survival. Routine incorporation of asparaginas...
Simulated Forced Unbinding of Clustered Protocadherins

Clustered protocadherins belong to the cadherin superfamily of adhesion proteins and are involved in neuronal connectivity and self-recognition. Clustered protocadherins have six extracellular cadherin (EC) repeats with about 100 residues each. Recent crystallographic structures suggest an antiparallel homophilic binding interface that involves overlapped EC1 to EC4 repeats. Here, we present steered molecular dynamics simulations of α, β, and γ clustered protocadherins homodimers exploring the forced unbinding of their adhesive interface. Constant velocity stretching simulations were performed on these homodimers at 10 nm/s, 1 nm/ns, 0.5 nm/ns, and 0.1 nm/ns. All protocadherins show some unfolding at the highest stretching speed, whereas simulations at slower speeds revealed unbinding pathways for the complex without unfolding. Force-extension profiles show broad force peaks that reflect the extended antiparallel interface of protocadherins, as well as the formation of transient interactions between protomers that break during unbinding. The unbinding pathways observed in simulations may help further elucidate the molecular basis of protocadherin binding specificity.
Lack of CD24 antigen expression in B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia is associated with intrinsic radiation resistance of primary clonogenic blasts

The radiation sensitivity of primary clonogenic blasts from 27 children with immunologically classified CD2-CD5-CD7-CD19+slg- B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) was analyzed using leukemic progenitor cell (LPC) colony assays. Radiation survival curves of primary clonogenic blasts (ie, LPC) were constructed for each patient using computer programs for the single-hit multitarget as well as the linear quadratic models of cell survival. The D0 values ranged from 49 to 891 cGy (median, 239 cGy; mean +/- SE, 307 +/- 44 cGy) and the alpha values ranged from 0.000 to 2.047 Gy-1 (median, 0.156 Gy-1; mean +/- SE, 0.284 +/- 0.078 Gy-1). Patients were divided into groups according to sex, age, white blood cell count (WBC) at diagnosis, plating efficiency of primary bone marrow blasts, and immunophenotype. Patient sex, age, WBC at diagnosis, or in vitro plating efficiency was not associated with radiation resistance. Notably, freshly isolated primary clonogenic blasts from patients with a CD19+CD24-CD34+ composite immunophenotype (stage I B-cell precursor [BCP]) had 2.2-fold higher D0 values (P = .005) and 3.4-fold lower alpha values (P = .05) than those from patients with a CD19+CD24+CD34+ (stage II BCP) or CD19+CD24+CD34- (stage III BCP) immunophenotype. The relative values for CD24- primary clonogenic blasts signify greater intrinsic radiation resistance. Furthermore, the CD19+CD24-CD34+ immunophenotype had a larger radiation resistant fraction. Whereas only 60% of CD19+CD24+CD34+ and 33% of CD19+CD24+CD34- cases had clonogenic blasts with alpha < or = 0.2, 100% of CD19+CD24-CD34+ cases had clonogenic blasts with alpha < or = 0.2. Furthermore, clonogenic blasts from established CD19+CD24- B-lineage ALL cell lines were significantly more radiation resistant than CD19+CD24+ B-lineage ALL cell lines. Notably, radiation doses sufficient to induce apoptosis of CD24- B-lineage ALL cells were higher than those capable of inducing apoptosis in CD24+ B-lineage ALL cells. Thus, the lack of CD24 surface antigen expression in B-lineage ALL is associated with intrinsic radiation resistance at the level of primary clonogenic blasts.
Modular and rapid access to amphiphilic homopolymers via successive chemoselective post-polymerization modification

Herein, we demonstrate a concise and modular preparation of homopolymers with both a hydrophilic and hydrophobic group on each monomer unit. Successive and chemoselective nucleophilic aromatic substitution of polymers derived from 2,4,6-trichloro-1,3,5-triazine allowed the step-wise installation of hydrophiles and hydrophobes and facilitated the systematic investigation of structure–property relationships for this new class of amphiphilic homopolymers.
Mechanical Behavior of FeCrAl and Other Alloys Following Exposure to LOCA Conditions Plus Quenching

The US Department of Energy is working with commercial fuel vendors to develop advanced technology or accident tolerant fuels (ATF) for the current fleet of light water power reactors. General Electric and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are evaluating the concept of using iron-chrome-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys as cladding for the current fuel of uranium dioxide pellets. In the case of a loss of coolant accident, the reactor may need to be flooded with fresh water when the cladding could be in the temperature range above 1000 ℃. It is important to determine the integrity of the cladding material after being quenched in water. Tests were performed for six alloys of interest which were exposed for 2 h at 1200 ℃ in air, argon or steam and then quenched in ambient temperature water. The resulting mechanical properties were evaluated and compared with the mechanical properties of the as received material. The FeCrAl alloy retains its yield strength after the high temperature excursions, with minimal oxidation but with some loss of ductility.
Factors affecting farmers market produce prices in Missouri

Produce marketers who participate as farmers market vendors or otherwise directly market their goods should understand not only the location-related characteristics that affect consumer selection o...
Cannabinoids in the Brain: Their Metabolism, Roles, and Involvement in Neurological Disorders

The cannabinoid system-mediated signaling involves specific G protein-coupled receptors (CB1, CB2, and CB3), exogenous (marijuana-derived cannabinoids), endogenous cannabinoids ligands (2-arachidonoylglycerol, anandamide, noladin, virodhamine, and N-arachidonyl-dopamine), and a machinery associated with the synthesis and degradation of endocannabinoid. The endocannabinoid system is associated with the critical phase for cerebral development, regulating the release and action of different neurotransmitters and influencing fundamental developmental processes such as neuronal cell proliferation, migration, differentiation, morphogenesis, and synaptogenesis (Harkany et al., 2008).
A Whole-System Approach to Identify the Sources of Variation in Patient Flow

The main objective of this paper is to develop a quantitative framework to identify the main sources of variation in patient flow. Since 1983, under Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA)’s system, generally referred to as the Prospective Payment System (PPS), each hospital inpatient is classified into one of around 500 Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRGs), and the hospital is paid the amount that HCFA has assigned to each DRG. In other words, irrespective of what the hospital charges for, it will be paid only a fixed price for each DRG through major reimbursement plans. Therefore, it is logical to expect that by reducing the within DRG discrepancies, hospitals can cut cost and improve patient safety and satisfaction. In order to reach this goal the first step is to identify the main sources of variations. In this paper, we apply classical quality/process control tools and well known data mining methods to determine significant factors affecting the patient sequence among tens or hundreds of potential factors.
Outcomes of Acute Myocardial Infarction in Heart Transplant Recipients.

Heart transplantation (HT) recipients represent a growing patient population. Although mechanisms might differ, coronary artery disease is an important cause of morbidity in this group. Limited data are available on the outcomes of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in HT in comparison to general population (non-HT). The study population was extracted from the National Readmissions Data 2014 using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes for AMI and HT. The study outcomes included in-hospital all-cause mortality, length of hospital stay (LOS), cardiogenic shock, acute kidney injury, the likelihood of receiving invasive left-sided cardiac catheterization with and/or without percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and 30-day readmission rates. A total of 259,794 discharges with a principal diagnosis of AMI were identified, in which 789 had a history of HT. In comparison to non-HT, HT group was associated with longer LOS (5.9 vs 4.9 days, p
Conventionally Sintered Hydroxyapatite–Barium Titanate Piezo-Biocomposites

The central goal of this initial effort is to develop and characterize distinctive piezo-biocomposites as load-bearing orthopedic implants. The motivation is derived from the fact that mammalian bone is a piezoelectric material and this property is helpful in the natural healing of fractured bone. We have employed a cost-effective and industrially viable technique—conventional sintering to consolidate specific compositions of hydroxyapatite (HA) and barium titanate (BT). HA is the primary mineral constituent of mammalian bone but is not piezoelectric. On the contrary, BT is well known for its piezoelectric properties. Their combination creates piezo-biocomposites. The sintering is reactive in nature as BT decomposes into several compounds. Average grain sizes of piezo-biocomposites lie in the range of 1.75–1.9 µm. Interestingly, 15% compressive strength enhancement is noted in the case of HA-40 wt% BT as compared to HA. In vitro examinations reveal favorable bioactivity and biocompatible nature of the composites. These results show that conventionally sintered HA-BT piezo-biocomposites can qualify as candidate materials for load-bearing implants at affordable prices.
Learning and teaching acoustics through bubbles

By a lark, I started my acoustics career as a graduate student studying a single big bubble in the form of the combustive sound source. By at least the luck of being in a certain place at a certain time, I finished my graduate education by studying bubbles in the form of the acoustics of bubbly liquids. It turns out that the subject of bubbles provides an excellent lens through which to learn and teach acoustics. One starts with lumped element approximations which lead to simple harmonic oscillators and resonance. You can study the bubble oscillator as linear system and encounter increasingly complex nonlinear behavior at comparatively low amplitudes. A bubble is a source of sound initially modeled as a simple spherical source and can of course behave as a spherical scatterer. Add one or many bubbles and one can study more complex scattering and propagation that includes dispersion and loss. Along the way one encounters effective medium theories of varying complexity and statistical descriptions of acoustic phenomena. There are also applications that require inference and inverse techniques. You can even apply a model of a single bubble to study the expansion and contraction of the universe. Examples of these including demos and videos will be presented.By a lark, I started my acoustics career as a graduate student studying a single big bubble in the form of the combustive sound source. By at least the luck of being in a certain place at a certain time, I finished my graduate education by studying bubbles in the form of the acoustics of bubbly liquids. It turns out that the subject of bubbles provides an excellent lens through which to learn and teach acoustics. One starts with lumped element approximations which lead to simple harmonic oscillators and resonance. You can study the bubble oscillator as linear system and encounter increasingly complex nonlinear behavior at comparatively low amplitudes. A bubble is a source of sound initially modeled as a simple spherical source and can of course behave as a spherical scatterer. Add one or many bubbles and one can study more complex scattering and propagation that includes dispersion and loss. Along the way one encounters effective medium theories of varying complexity and statistical descriptions of acoust...
A methodology proposal to develop a research project for innovation system

Around the world many students or professionals interested in innovation system field dream to have a master, doctor or post doctorate experience in a top university. However, it is noted that are difficulties to identify a top university and propose a good research for a potential supervisor. So, the aim of this article is to propose a methodology to help readers to write a research plan concerning innovation system in order to submit into top universities selection process. In order to do so, a basic conceptual methodology with 8 steps and guidance will be presented by using real case, focused on The Best UK Universities Management Practices to Foster Local Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a basic post doctorate project that the author submmited and was approved in 2018 by the Directors of The Manchester Institute of Innovation Research at Alliance Manchester Business School in the University of Manchester. It was concluded that there is no a universal standard to write a research project concerning to innovation system field or even other field, each university or fund/grand foundation develops its own model. So the conceptual methodology doesn’t want to replace other methodologies, but only to serve as a guide to those candidates that wish to write a proposal and follow the orientations given in this article.
Improving Comprehensive Medication Management (CMM) Completed Visit Rates in Newly Referred and No-Show Patient Cohorts.

Background: Missed appointments are a common problem in health care. No-show rates and incomplete appointments for referred patients affect patient outcomes and clinician’s productivity, including comprehensive medication management (CMM) visits that pharmacists provide. This study aims to compare CMM completion rates between various intervention types in communicating with the patient. Methods: This was a prospective, multi-clinic study to examine newly implemented intervention effects on CMM completion rates. The primary outcomes were CMM completion rates among newly referred patients and CMM completion rates in any no-show patients, including both newly referred and returning patients. In the newly referred patient cohort, three intervention types (blocking time on the pharmacist’s schedule to speak to the patient, sending an electronic medical record or EMR-linked message, and sending a letter) were compared to a control group with no interventions. In the no-show cohort, a pharmacist call intervention was compared to a control group consisting of sending a letter. Results: Completed CMM appointment rate was six times likely with a pharmacist’s in-person reminder (odds ratio [OR] 6.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.58-22.77) and with an EMR-linked message (OR 6.0; 95% CI 1.76 to 20.52) when compared to sending a letter. In no-show patients, completed CMM appointment rate was 2.36 times likely with a pharmacist’s call intervention versus sending a letter. Conclusion: Pharmacist’s direct reminder to the patient when in clinic and EMR-linked message improved CMM completion rate when compared to mailing a reminder letter. Pharmacist’s call to no-show patients for their CMM appointment was effective for the patients to reschedule and complete their CMM appointment compared to mailing a reminder letter. Article Type: Original Research
Temporal trends in public mass shootings: high-capacity magazines significantly increase fatality counts, and are becoming more prevalent

Abstract Background There has been disagreement in the literature regarding whether public mass shootings are becoming more frequent, or more deadly, and whether high-capacity magazine (HCM) weaponry is associated with increased fatalities. Objective We examined the 85 non-felony- and non-gang-related mass shootings with at least four people shot and killed that occurred in public places between 1995 to 2018 to examine the frequency and deadliness of public mass shootings, as well as the role of HCM weaponry in fatalities. Findings The per-capita rate of public mass shootings with at least four people killed has not significantly increased since 1995 (Negative Binomial linear regression p=0.20), but public mass shootings with at least six people killed have been increasing by 6.9% per year (p=0.01). Public mass shootings are becoming significantly more deadly, with fatalities per incident increasing by 4.5% per year (truncated Negative Binomial log-linear regression p Use of HCM weaponry banned during the 1994 to 2004 Federal Assault Weapons Ban (FAWB) increased fatality counts on average by 1.9 times, and total number shot by 3.3 times (non-parametric bootstrap comparison of means (NPBCM), p Our online visual analytics application, https://mass-shooting-analytics.shinyapps.io/mass_shootings/, allows interested parties to examine and download our data, replicate our analysis results and explore the analysis with alternate selections. Policy recommendations A re-instatement of the federal ban on high-capacity magazines in pistols and rifles, or special taxes on such weaponry, may reduce public mass shooting fatalities.
Squeezing Water From a Stone: H2O In Nominally Anhydrous Minerals From Granulite Xenoliths and Deep, Hydrous Fractional Crystallization

Although ~10% of Earth’s water resides within continents, HO distribution throughout the continental lithosphere and partitioning of HO in nominally anhydrous minerals (NAMs) remain poorly co...
A Title V Center as a Counterspace for Underrepresented Minority and First-Generation College Students:

This study examined a Title V Student Center within a Hispanic Serving Institution and how it acted as a counterspace for undergraduate students. The Center provided multiple academic and non-acade...
Treatment Patterns and Clinical Outcomes After the Introduction of the Medicare Sepsis Performance Measure (SEP-1).

BACKGROUND Medicare requires that hospitals report on their adherence to the Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Early Management Bundle (SEP-1). OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of SEP-1 on treatment patterns and patient outcomes. DESIGN Longitudinal study of hospitals using repeated cross-sectional cohorts of patients. SETTING 11 hospitals within an integrated health system. PATIENTS 54 225 encounters between January 2013 and December 2017 for adults with sepsis who were hospitalized through the emergency department. INTERVENTION Onset of the SEP-1 reporting requirement in October 2015. MEASUREMENTS Changes in SEP-1-targeted processes, including antibiotic administration, lactate measurement, and fluid administration at 3 hours from sepsis onset; repeated lactate and vasopressor administration for hypotension within 6 hours of sepsis onset; and sepsis outcomes, including risk-adjusted intensive care unit (ICU) admission, in-hospital mortality, and home discharge among survivors. RESULTS Two years after its implementation, SEP-1 was associated with variable changes in process measures, with the greatest effect being an increase in lactate measurement within 3 hours of sepsis onset (absolute increase, 23.7 percentage points [95% CI, 20.7 to 26.7 percentage points]; P < 0.001). There were small increases in antibiotic administration (absolute increase, 4.7 percentage points [CI, 1.9 to 7.6 percentage points]; P = 0.001) and fluid administration of 30 mL/kg of body weight within 3 hours of sepsis onset (absolute increase, 3.4 percentage points [CI, 1.5 to 5.2 percentage points]; P < 0.001). There was no change in vasopressor administration. There was a small increase in ICU admissions (absolute increase, 2.0 percentage points [CI, 0 to 4.0 percentage points]; P = 0.055) and no changes in mortality (absolute change, 0.1 percentage points [CI, -0.9 to 1.1 percentage points]; P = 0.87) or discharge to home. LIMITATION Data are from a single health system. CONCLUSION Implementation of the SEP-1 mandatory reporting program was associated with variable changes in process measures, without improvements in clinical outcomes. Revising the measure may optimize its future effect. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
SkyTrakx: A Toolkit for Simulation and Verification of Unmanned Air-Traffic Management Systems (Extended Version)

The key concept for safe and efficient traffic management for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) is the notion of operation volume (OV). An OV is a 4-dimensional block of airspace and time, which can express an aircraft's intent, and can be used for planning, de-confliction, and traffic management. While there are several high-level simulators for UAS Traffic Management (UTM), we are lacking a framework for creating, manipulating, and reasoning about OVs for heterogeneous air vehicles. In this paper, we address this and present SkyTrakx -- a software toolkit for simulation and verification of UTM scenarios based on OVs. First, we illustrate a use case of SkyTrakx by presenting a specific air traffic coordination protocol. This protocol communicates OVs between participating aircraft and an airspace manager for traffic routing. We show how existing formal verification tools, Dafny and Dione, can assist in automatically checking key properties of the protocol. Second, we show how the OVs can be computed for heterogeneous air vehicles like quadcopters and fixed-wing aircraft using another verification technique, namely reachability analysis. Finally, we show that SkyTrakx can be used to simulate complex scenarios involving heterogeneous vehicles, for testing and performance evaluation in terms of workload and response delays analysis. Our experiments delineate the trade-off between performance and workload across different strategies for generating OVs.
Diaspora Diversity: Bangladeshi Muslims in Britain and the United States

This article offers a comparative analysis of the multifaceted dimensions of generation in the Bangladeshi Muslim diaspora communities of Britain and the United States. Studies of Muslim immigrant communities in North America and Western Europe have noted a growing social, cultural, and political chasm between the immigrant foreign-born and their non-immigrant second-generation progeny. At the heart of this “Muslim generation gap” are the intensified engagements and identifications of youth with pan-national Muslim institutions in host societies, coupled with their distancing from the ethnonational ones that anchor the immigrant generation. In the case of the Bangladeshi-origin communities in Britain and the United States the gap has emerged quite differently, in ways that reflect the differential influence of the “1971 generation”—a political generation formed in relation to Bangladesh—in the two settings.
Retelling English Sovereignty

Sovereign immunity is a legal fiction that forecloses the possibility of the government being hailed into court, except by its own permission. The fiction draws on narratives about kingship and realm, state and church, and property and owner that help shield the sovereign from challenges to its authority. This Article argues that sovereign immunity’s legal sources relied on relationships between king and church, king and property, and king and constitution to articulate an authority that could not be challenged by its subjects. This Article suggests that, absent other normative stories that support sovereign immunity, the doctrine remains empty of substance other than the legitimating of authority in the face of legal challenges.
Fast Monte Carlo simulation method for medium- and high-energy SPECT

Summary form only given. Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of SPECT imaging using medium-energy (ME) and high-energy (HE) photons involves intense calculations of photon transport within both the phantom modeling the patient and the collimator where the penetration (P) and scatter (S) components of the total response are non-negligible as compared to the geometric (G) component. The purpose of this study is to develop fast MC simulation methods that substantially reduce computation time while maintaining high accuracy. The SIMSET MC code was used to simulate transport of photons from a point source or source distribution from the 3D NCAT phantom. The energy, position, and direction of travel of each photon were stored in a listmode data file. The 2D collimator point source response function (PSRF), including the G, P and S components, was determined at a series of source distances using the MCNP MC code. Lookup table of the 2D PSRFs as a function of source distance for a specific collimator design and photon energy was generated by interpolating the series of MC simulated PSRFs. The G component at each source distance was normalized to one and the P and S components were scaled accordingly. An algorithm was developed to read the listmode data, select photons within a given energy window, calculate the distances between the photons and the collimator, determine the PSRFs from the appropriate lookup table, and add them to the projection data. The PSRFs at different source distances obtained from using the fast MC method showed excellent agreement with direct MC simulation. We conclude that by using lookup tables obtained from previously defined MC simulated PSRFs of the collimator, accurate simulation of SPECT imaging using ME and HE photons can be obtained at substantially reduced computational time.
Optimal Binary Morphological Bandpass Filters Induced byGranulometric Spectral Representation

Euclidean granulometries are used to decompose a binary image into a disjoint union based on interaction between image shape and the structuring elements generating the granulometry. Each subset of the resulting granulometric spectral bands composing the union defines a filter by passing precisely the bands in the subset. Given an observed image and an ideal image to be estimated, an optimal filter must minimize the expected symmetric-difference error between the ideal image and filtered observed image. For the signal-union-noise model, and for both discrete and Euclidean images, given a granulometry, a procedure is developed for finding a filter that optimally passes bands of the observed noisy image. The key is characterization of an optimal filter in the Euclidean case. Optimization is achieved by decomposing the mean functions of the signal and noise size distributions into singular and differentiable parts, deriving an error representation based on the decomposition, and describing optimality in terms of generalized derivatives for the singular parts and ordinary derivatives for the differentiable parts. Owing to the way in which spectral bands are optimally passed, there are strong analogies with the Wiener filter.
Information and Bureaucratic Expertise: The Limitations of State Charter Law and the Forging of The Bureau of Corporations

Studies of the increase in federal power over the economy during the Progressive Era have centered on things that the federal government did, and on the politics of acquiring those powers. This transformation towards federal power has focused on the establishment of bureaucracies with ratemaking, enforcement, or prosecution powers. These “strong” regulatory powers are considered to be more significant that “weak” regulatory powers that center on the collection and dissemination of information. I argue that federal visitorial power in the Progressive Era marks a clear distinction from state information gathering in the prior century. In an era of increasing complexity, this power was essential to building federal authority. States did not “see” particularly well, and did not have an developed interest in seeing. State information gathering was rooted in requirements framed in their charter law. While charter law was fluid in becoming more amenable to expansive corporate rights, the information gathering capacities of the states did not keep up. The states never used the leverage of the charter law to get substantial data on corporate activity. Further, state legislative investigations did a poor job of getting corporations to divulge information. The information gathering of the Bureau of Corporations was dramatically different. The Bureau was systematic. It gathered information on state corporation laws and practices, analyzed judicial decisions and processes, and investigated actions of corporations operating in the market. This information gathering was an essential step in the construction of a government capable of regulating the modern market system.
Developing a Hybrid Research Course for Rural BSW Students

Rural social work educators are facing intense demands to provide distance education, reach larger numbers of students, and deliver crucial social work educational content using multiple technologies. The development of a BSW research hybrid course in a rural setting which integrated face to face teaching with technology is discussed. The hybrid research course utilized compressed video and three face-to-face Saturdays. Course evaluations and pretest/posttest research findings are presented. Strategies for the development of hybrid courses are discussed. Keywords: rural social work education, rural distance education, rural social work, teaching with technology, teaching BSW research
A hierarchical decomposition methodology for single-stage clock circuits

This paper describes a methodology for designing the interconnect distribution for single-stage clock circuits using a hierarchical decomposition. This new method of splitting the design into global and local distributions improves the optimization efficiency and enhances both wireability and performance. A novel use of the Delaunay triangulation provides a means for efficiently constructing and optimizing the local distribution. The combination of these global and local solutions produces layouts with less wirelength and an average 3/spl times/ performance improvement over flat solutions while keeping the worst case skew below 50 ps. When these designs are wiresized, they achieve a 25% reduction in wire area over their flat circuit counterparts due to the reduction in downstream capacitive wire loading.
UNDER THE BRIDGES OF POLK COUNTY

The obituary was short, to the point. It noted that he was thirty-seven years old, had died of pneumonia at Broadlawns Medical Center, and was survived by a wife, a daughter, his mother, five brothers and two sisters. Nine of the twenty-two lines that appeared on June 1, 1993, in the Des Moines Register reported on demographics about these relatives. Between the middle and last name was inserted, in quotation marks, the word “Wolfman.” The information, squeezed in with other similar summaries about other people who had died recently, noted that he was a “self-employed carpenter,” that he was from, and his family continued to be in and around, Fort Worth, Texas, and that the services would be at Hamilton's Funeral Home, with burial at Rest-haven Cemetery in West Des Moines. It is not possible that twenty-two short lines could do justice to thirty-seven years of any person's life. Yet that is what he was allotted. The summer after he died was the summer of the Great Iowa Flood. Wolfman, as everyone called him, never lived to experience the natural event that brought notoriety to the city and devastation to the lives of so many people who shared his community but never knew he existed. I doubt that many people in Des Moines who brushed against his life even knew that his real name was Billy Dean Roberts.
Inositol transport by hepatopancreatic brush-border membrane vesicles of the lobster Homarus americanus

The mechanism of [3H]myo-inositol transport by the lobster hepatopancreas was examined using purified brush-border membrane vesicles. Transport was stimulated by a 100 mmoll−1 inward Na+ gradient, but other cation gradients were ineffective, suggesting a Na+-dependent transfer mechanism. The transport system was most efficient at pH7.0 (both sides), rather than in the presence of a pH gradient (pHin = 7.0; pHout = 5.5) or at bilaterally low pH (pHin = pHout = 5.5). The system was shown to be electrogenic in two different ways. First, myo-inositol uptake was stimulated by anions of increasing permeability (SCN− > Cl− > gluconate). Second, an outwardly directed, valinomycin-induced K+ diffusion potential (inside negative) enhanced uptake in comparison with vesicles lacking the ionophore. Myo-inositol was transported by a carrier mechanism with an apparent Kt of 0.79mmoll−1, a Jmax of 6.3pmolmg protein−1 s−1, and by apparent diffusion with a permeability coefficient of 5.92 pmolmg protein−1s−1 (mmolT1)−1. D-Glucose was a noncompetitive inhibitor of myo-inositol uptake, but myo-inositol did not significantly reduce the transport of D-[3H]glucose. Vesicles preloaded with myo-inositol trans-stimulated [3H]myo-inositol uptake, whereas those preloaded with D-glucose did not, suggesting that the inositol carrier did not transport D-glucose. It is proposed that myo-inositol does not share the glucose carrier, and that D-glucose may modulateinositol influx by binding to a ‘regulator’ site on the inositol carrier.
Children with co-occurring academic and behavior problems in first grade: Distal outcomes in twelfth grade

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the eleven year longitudinal association between students identified in first grade as having academic and behavior problems and distal outcomes in twelfth grade. The study extends prior research that identified latent classes of academic and behavior problems in a longitudinal community sample of 678 predominately African American first-grade students. The type and number of classes identified in first grade differed by gender, but results indicated that students within the classes of behavior and academic problems had long-term negative outcomes in the twelfth grade. The class with co-occurring academic and behavior problems in first grade had the greatest risk for negative distal outcomes for both boys and girls including higher likelihood of special education placement, mental health service use, poor academic achievement, and school dropout. Implications for prevention, early intervention, and current practices in schools are discussed.
Using isostatic gravity anomalies from spherical harmonic models and elastic plate compensation to interpret the lithosphere of the Bolivian Andes

ABSTRACTWe have determined for the Bolivian Andes that the new global gravity models derived from the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite mission may be used directly to study lithospheric structure. Toward this end, we have formulated Bouguer and isostatic gravity anomalies in spherical approximation, rather than in the usual planar approach, using spherical harmonic series consistent with the satellite-derived gravitational models. From the approximate equivalency of topographic masses and surface density layers using the Helmert condensation method we further derived and used isotropic transfer relations between the spherical spectra of topographic loads and elastic spherical shell deflections, where the Airy isostatic compensation is the special case of no flexural rigidity. A numerical comparison of these spherical harmonic models to conventional three-dimensional modeling based on topographic data and newly acquired surface gravity data in Bolivia confirmed the...
Giant jejunal ulcers after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass

We describe the clinical and radiographic findings in two patients who developed giant, intractable ulcers in the jejunal Roux limb after gastric bypass surgery, most likely secondary to chronic jejunal ischemia. The diagnosis of such ulcers is important because of the need for aggressive medical or surgical treatment of these patients.
Alfred the Great’s Boethius

Alfred the Great’s translation of Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy into the Old English Boethius is notable both for its richness and for its difficulties. After briefly introducing Boethius and his greatest text, this essay will turn to the OE Boethius and its problems, which include questions about authorship and poor editions. Soon, however, a new electronic and a new print edition will help scholars better see what medieval audiences read. Those audiences included upper-class laity of some leisure and poorly educated clergy, not the most obvious recipients of Boethius’s difficult prosimetrum – yet Alfred’s translation conveys Boethius’s key themes and shows great interest in both theology and philosophy. At the same time, the Boethius also seeks to inculcate the king’s own sense of the responsibilities of subjects and leaders. Despite its difficulty, later readers found the text worth copying and preserving.
Measuring the gram-atom percentage of deuterium in D2O by absorption spectroscopy

Abstract The equations of G. Gordon and H. Yamatera ((1964) Anal. Chem. 36, 1866–67) have been used to generate a table of absorbancies versus percentage D 2 O by assuming a reference of 99.8% D 2 O. The table includes absorbancies up to 1.5, which corresponds to 83.54% D 2 O. Measurements of absorbance are performed in the near infrared, at 1668 nm, in quartz cuvettes common to assays of enzymatic activity. Hence, reaction mixtures prepared for the determination of solvent isotope effects may be read directly in the same cuvettes used for monitoring rates of enzymatic reactions, and the resulting absorbancies may be converted directly to percentage deuterium by use of the table.
Interdiffusion and Kirkcndall Effect in Doped Barium Titanate‐Strontium Titanate Diffusion Couples

Interdiffusion in perovskites (ABO 3 -A'BO 3 ) has been investigated, theoretically and experimentally. A theoretical model along the lines of L. S. Darken's analysis has been developed. The model lays down the criteria for the occurrence of Kirkendall effect in perovskites. It has been demonstrated that the lattice velocity should display a maximum at some concentration of a dopant that increases the vacancy concentration on the A-A' sublattice in ABO 3 -A'BO 3 diffusion couples. Interdiffusion coefficients in «La 2/3 TiO 3 » doped barium titanate-strontium titanate couples have been measured at 1573 K. As judged on the basis of porosity formation, the lattice velocity in these couples seems to exhibit a maximum at some concentration of La 2/3 TiO 3 , in accord with theoretical predictions
The Facilitation of White‐Black Communication

This study is concerned with verbal cues, emitted by white speakers, that lead to ineffective communication between white and Black people. Because of their life experiences, many Black people have a profound distrust for white speakers. Therefore, the “perceived” insincerity of a white speaker will be a significant factor which affects the communication between white and Black people. This study identified many of the verbal indices that Blacks use to judge the sincerity of white speakers. Interviews were conducted with 130 Black people in Pittsburgh, ennsylvania, who were asked to list verbal indices that they use to make the judgment that a given white speaker is insincere. The responses ranged from “One of my best friends is a Negro,” to “I grew up in a Negro neighbourhood,” to “I like you people.” It appears that many white speakers try to show an affinity for Black people and attempt to show an understanding of the Black experience. In so doing, they often simply make the Black auditor even more suspicious of their sincerity. The reason for this is that the verbal index, “you people” is contradictory to an understanding of the Black experience. Other white speakers use stereotypes of Blacks and thereby are perceived as not being sincerely interested in the welfare of Black people. Finally, some white speakers say things that indicate that they do not understand the Black experience and therefore they are judged to be insincere.
Study of potency, kinetics of block and toxicity of NMDA receptor antagonists using fura-2

NMDA receptor antagonists reduced NMDA-triggered increases in [Ca2+]i measured by fura-2 and showed qualitative differences in the potency and kinetics of block. High potency antagonists produced a slow block which allowed an initial increase in [Ca2+]i that was greater than the steady-state level, while compounds with moderate to low potency produced a rapid block that was at steady-state from the first measurement. The more potent antagonists showed the slowest unblocking rates. Using this simple method, novel NMDA antagonists can be screened to ascertain potency, kinetics of block and relative toxicity, prior to animal testing.
Capacitance sensors for the nondestructive measurement of moisture content in in-shell peanuts

Moisture content (MC) in peanuts is measured at various stages of their processing and storage in the peanut industry. A method was developed earlier that would estimate the MC of a small sample of in-shell peanuts (peanut pods) held between two circular parallel-plates, from the measured values of capacitance and phase angle at two frequencies 1 and 5 MHz. These values were used in an empirical equation, developed using the capacitance and phase angle values of samples of known MC levels, to obtain the average MC values of peanut samples with moisture contents in the range of 7 to 18%. In the present work, two rectangular parallel-plates were mounted inside a vertical cylinder made of acrylic material and filled with about 100 g of in-shell peanuts and their average mc was determined from a similar empirical equation. The calculated MC values were compared with those obtained by the standard air-oven method. For over 85% of the samples tested in the moisture range between 6% and 22% the MC values were found to be within 1% of the air-oven values. Ability to determine the average MC of slightly larger quantities of in-shell peanuts without shelling and cleaning them, as being done presently, will save time, labor and sampling material for the peanut industry.
Excess Argon in Submarine Basalt Pillows

Four deep-sea basalt pillows from near the axis of the East Pacific Rise were investigated for the presence of excess radiogenic argon. Excess argon in the rocks is verified by the presence of an argon gradient. The highest concentrations of radiogenic argon occur in the pillow margins, and at depths of 5 to 8 cm within the pillows, no radiogenic argon can be measured. The complete degassing of the insides of deep-sea pillow basalts suggests that K-Ar ages of deep-sea rocks may be valid if large samples are used.
Invited by the State : Institutionalizing Volunteer Subjectivity in Contemporary Japan

Abstract This paper is an ethnographic study of volunteerism and the emergence of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in Japanese society, which have been proliferating since the passage of the Law to Promote Specified Nonprofit Activities (NPO Law) in 1998. I document a transition that Japanese society, at a grassroots level, has undergone since this law allowed thousands of civic groups to be acknowledged as proactive participants in Japanese social and political life. My research analyzes the dynamic micro-politics of everyday interactions between the state and the individual in the ongoing activities of an NPO. It especially focuses on how different levels in the Japanese government shape these civil- society organizations into a structure that supports the state's goals, and how people at the grassroots level respond to the state's actions. My argument is that the state plays a significant role in generating volunteer subjects who support the NPO activities—a process of the institutionalization of volunte...
Nitrogen retention and partitioning at the initiation of lipid accumulation in nitrogen-deficient algae.

Nitrogen (N) deficiency promotes lipid accumulation in many oleaginous algae, but we have a poor understanding of the associations between the initiation of lipid accumulation and algal N retention and partitioning. Here, we report on total cell N, five bulk pools of N in the cell (protein, free amino acids, DNA, RNA, chl), and lipids from N saturation to growth cessation in three species. While the maximum level of N uptake differed among species, the ratio of minimum retained N to N retained at the initiation of lipid accumulation was consistent among species at 0.5 ± 0.04. This suggests that the cellular initiation of lipid accumulation was associated with a common magnitude of N deficiency among species. Concerning the partitioning of N, the concentration of RNA and the protein to RNA ratio were most similar among species at the initiation of lipid accumulation with averages of 3.2 ± 0.26 g · L(-1) (8.2% variation) and 16 ± 1.5 (9.2% variation), respectively. All other pools and physiologically relevant ratios were considerably more variable. The species commonalities in RNA and protein show a similar reduction in general cellular function due to N deficiency before cellular initiation of lipid accumulation. These results provide insight into the physiological drivers for lipid accumulation in N-deficient algae and data for modeling these associations.