cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Only prolonged time from abstraction found to affect viable nucleated cell concentrations in vertebral body bone marrow aspirate.

Abstract Background context Vertebral body–derived bone marrow aspirate (BMA, with an appropriate carrier) is a potential alternative to traditional iliac crest bone graft for use in spinal fusion surgery. No studies have looked at the effect of different temporary handling/storage conditions on the osteoprogenitor potential of BMA. This is especially important because aspirate, as with cancellous and/or cortical grafts, may be extracted some time before actual implementation in regular clinical use. Purpose To characterize factors that affect BMA cell concentration during routine spinal instrumentation, this study examined whether cell counts change significantly between the second pedicle aspirated and the first pedicle harvested at the same vertebral level. This study also aims to examine the optimal perioperative storage conditions for BMA obtained from the vertebral body. Study design In vitro concentrations of viable cells were determined in BMA harvested from the first and second pedicles on every vertebral level, and after 1 hour of storage in different perioperative conditions. Patient sample BMA was harvested from 28 pedicles from seven patients undergoing lumbar instrumented fusion surgeries. Outcome measures The outcome measure included viable nucleated cell concentrations in BMA. Methods After obtaining HIC approval from our institution, 28 vertebral marrow aspirates (obtained from seven patients) were evaluated. Based on prior work, 4-mL aspirates from each pedicle were evaluated. BMA was aspirated from both pedicles of two vertebral levels per patient. Samples were divided and placed in different storage conditions to examine the effect of laterality (first versus second pedicle aspirated per level), temperature, media, and time, on nucleated cell counts. No funding was received for this study, and the authors disclose no study specific conflicts of interest. Results Cell count was not significantly different between the first or second side aspirated for each vertebral level. Similarly, no significant differences were found for samples after 1 hour of storage at different temperatures (0°C, room temperature, or 37°C) or media (none, saline, essential media). Of the conditions examined, time from aspiration was the only variable found to have an impact on nucleated cell counts (p=.003). The viable cell count decreased to less than half by 4 hours. Conclusion As vertebral BMA is increasingly considered as a bone grafting option, the field would be remiss not to consider factors that could affect cell viability after abstraction and before implementation. We expected a greater effect of perioperative storage conditions than was observed. Although the variables evaluated might show small effects on cell viability in a larger study, this would not be expected to be significant. In the current study, only prolonged time from abstraction could be shown to have a significant effect on cell viability.
Ismail II and Mirza Makhdum Sharifi: An Interlude in Safavid History

Approximately three-quarters of a century passed between the rise, in 1501, of the Safavid state of Iran under Shah Ismail I and the coming to power of his grandson Ismail II in 1576. The first Ismail had decreed that the Ithna-ʿashari Shiʿi form of Islam and the Jaʿfarī system of law be formally established in the country. When the victorious founder of the new dynasty entered Tabriz, he ordered that the phrase containing the name of Imam ʿAli (the true successor to the Prophet Muhammad according to the Twelver Shiʿi belief) be included in the call to prayer chanted from the minarets of the mosques. Shiʿism was consolidated, especially during the long reign of the intervening monarch, Shah Tahmasb (1524–76), thanks in part to the activities of a powerful mujtahid, ʿAli ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAli al-Karaki (d. 1534). However, according to the majority of the contemporary Safavid sources, when Ismail II came to power, he seems to have had second thoughts about Shiʿism and to have exhibited a proclivity for Sunnism. The Sunni ideas of Ismail II may have been fostered by another politicoreligious figure, a certain Mirza Makhdum Sharifi. The inclination Ismail II had toward Sunnism resulted in a curious episode that is recounted by Safavid historians in detail and in various versions.
CONTEXTUALISM AND INTELLECTUALISM

This is a preprint of an article published in Philosophical Perspectives, Volume 24, Issue 1, pages 383-405, December 2010. The definitive version is available at www3.interscience.wiley.com doi: 10.1111/j.1520-8583.2010.00197.x
Total quality control in education

Some quality problems in American higher education are addressed. The author suggests that the concept of total quality control (TQC), a philosophy in manufacturing management, be applied to education in order to achieve changes from a more individualized control to a more systemized control. He discusses some particular methods for TQC in teaching. He suggests team work for course content TQC and course policy TQC. >
The Nuclear Envelope and Human Disease

Mutations in nuclear lamins A and C, intermediate filament proteins of the nuclear envelope, cause diseases affecting various tissues and the aging process. We review what is known about nuclear lamin function and the different diseases caused by mutations in lamins A and C and associated inner nuclear membrane proteins.
PLL bifurcation analysis via smooth periodic extension

To aid the acquisition process in an out-of-lock PLL, an external sweep voltage can be applied to the VCO. The goal is to sweep the system state towards a stable lock point. For a second-order loop containing a perfect integrator loop filter, there is a maximum VCO sweep rate magnitude, denoted as R m rad/sec2, for which phase lock is guaranteed. If the actual VCO sweep rate magnitude is less than R m , the loop cannot sweep past a stable phase-lock state without locking correctly. This is not true for a sweep rate greater than R m . As the sweep rate increases through R m , an unstable phase plane 2π-periodic limit cycle bifurcates from a 2π-periodic separatrix cycle. This separatrix cycle must be approximated in order to approximate R m . This task is made difficult by the fact that the separatrix cycle has a discontinuous first derivative at each saddle point. To eliminate this problem, the 2π-periodic separatrix cycle is used to construct a smooth (i.e., has a continuous derivative) 4π-periodic solution of an equation derived from the PLL dynamic model. This smooth periodic extension is approximate accurately by a simple finite Fourier series, and an approximation is derived for R m .
Branch prediction and speculative execution: A magnetospheric data assimilation scheme for space weather forecasting

[1] Although space weather is modeled after tropospheric weather, both in its conception as a weather system and in our efforts to forecast it, no capability exists today for assimilating magnetospheric data into space weather simulations. In this paper a scheme is proposed for assimilating magnetospheric data into a global MHD code. The scheme is similar to ensemble Kalman filters, but it is less reliant on dense data coverage and allows numerical models easier adherence to conservation laws. Three different estimates of the computational cost of the proposed scheme indicate that it is easily achievable with current computational resources.
Toyota in crisis: denial and mismanagement

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the importance of effective crisis management, and the commensurate lessons to be learned from the Toyota Corporation's denial of malfunctions on a number of different Toyota brands of vehicles during the period 2007‐2010. The case analysis identifies key opportunities the Toyota Corporation had to minimize the crisis by acknowledging the issues and being transparent in its decision making. The article addresses the difficulty now faced by Toyota, previously recognized as the world's leading manufacturer of automotive vehicles, to re‐establish the consumers' trust.Design/methodology/approach – A crisis, typically considered to be a negative issue, can be a positive event in the life of a corporate firm, such as Toyota, if the corporate leadership involved seizes the opportunity to make appropriate changes in its operations. The crisis management paradigm that is the focus for this case identifies four stages of a crisis – the preliminary (pre‐) crisis, acu...
Isolation of Microsporum Distortum from a Dog in the Southwestern United States

Microsporum distortum from a mixed-breed dog residing in Tularosa. New Mexico, was isolated. Efforts to establish an association between this infected dog and New World monkeys, and to demonstrate that the organism is indigenous in the animal population of the Southwest U.S.A. were unsuccessful.
Effect of aerosol size on the blood lead distribution of industrial workers

The size distribution measurements of lead aerosol from a brass foundry and primary lead smelter are used to simulate blood lead distributions applying a pharmacokinetic model developed by Bernard. The predicted distribution of blood lead levels determined using the actual size distribution of lead aerosol are compared to the blood lead levels predicted according to the model assumptions adopted in setting the OSHA lead standard. In the furnace area of the smelter and the pouring area of the foundry the predicted mean blood lead level is higher than that found in the standard whereas, in the smelter's sintering and mixing operation the blood lead level is less than that suggested by the standard. The data support the conclusion that size-selective sampling needs to be considered for incorporation into the OSHA lead standard.
Electron-Beam-Induced Growth of TiO2 Nanostructures

We report the evolution of titanium dioxide nanostructures when Au nanoparticles, supported on single crystal TiO(2) substrates, were heated under ∼260 Pa of flowing O(2) in an environmental transmission electron microscope. Nanostructures with different morphologies were first observed around 500°C. Our measurements show that temperature, oxygen pressure, and the electron beam control the nanostructure growth. We propose a reaction-controlled growth mechanism where mobile Ti atoms generated by the electron- beam-induced reduction of TiO(2) are preferentially reoxidized at the Au-TiO(2) interface.
Harmonization of NIOSH Sampling and Analytical Methods with Related International Voluntary Consensus Standards

The NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods (NMAM) is a compilation of analytical methods for air, biological, surface (including dermal), and bulk samples, as well as biological specimens, that have be...
A rapid, inexpensive, and semi-quantitative method for determining pollen tube extension using fluorescence

Background Pollen tubes extend rapidly when pollen grains are incubated in defined media. Tube extension requires many critical functions of plant cells including molecular signaling, cytoskeleton remodeling, secretion, and cell wall synthesis. Consequently, pollen tube growth has been established as a way to conduct primary screens of chemical libraries to identify compounds that perturb key cellular processes in plants.
Basic parameters of articulatory movements and acoustics in individuals with Parkinson's disease.

It has long been recognized that lesions of the basal ganglia frequently result in dysarthria, in part because many individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) have impaired speech. Earlier studies of speech production in PD using perceptual, acoustic, and/ or kinematic analyses have yielded mixed findings about the characteristics of articulatory movements underlying hypokinetic dysarthria associated with PD: in some cases reporting reduced articulatory output, and in other instances revealing orofacial movement parameters within the normal range. The central aim of this experiment was to address these inconsistencies by providing an integrative description of basic kinematic and acoustic parameters of speech production in individuals with PD. Recordings of lip and jaw movements and acoustic data were collected in 16 individuals with PD and 16 age- and sex-matched neurologically healthy older adults. Our results revealed a downscaling of articulatory dynamics in the individuals with PD, evidenced by decreased amplitude and velocity of lower lip and jaw movements, decreased vocal intensity (dB sound pressure level [SPL]), and reduced second formant (F2) slopes. However, speech rate did not differ between groups. Our finding of an overall downscaling of speech movement and acoustic parameters in some participants with PD provides support for speech therapies directed at increasing speech effort in individuals with PD.
Comparison of cyanide and carbon monoxide as ligands in iron(II) porphyrinates.

Cyanide (CN−) and carbon monoxide (CO) have long been of particular interest as classic inhibitors of respiration.[1] CO competes with oxygen, binding to reduced iron (Fe2+) to form the stable low-spin hemoprotein carbonyls, whereas CN− inhibits O2 reduction.[2] CN− is iso-electronic and isosteric with CO; both are linearly bound to heme centers and their complexes can often be found with the same symmetries.[3] Unlike CO and O2, CN− binds to both iron(II) and iron(III) hemoproteins, in most cases, but not all,[4] leading to low-spin states. The reaction of cyanide with ferrohemes has been relatively little studied due to the low stability of the complexes even at alkaline pH values (up to 9.4).[2] In most hemoproteins, only the kinetics of cyanide dissociation has been investigated as a transient species during reduction of the ferric cyanide complex.[5] The dissociation constants (Kdiss.) are of the order of ~1 M,[6, 7] compared to ~10−4–10−9 M in ferrihemes.[8]
Operations Research And Operations Management: From Selective Optimization To System Optimization

The focus of this research paper is to discuss the development of Operations Management (OM) and Operations Research (OR) with respect to their use within the organization’s decision-making structure. In addition, the difference in the tools and techniques of the two fields is addressed. The question is raised as to how distinct the two academic fields have become in light of the application of their models to the service industry. Suggestions are made regarding the possibility of incorporating OM/OR models and their output into the decision making structure of the organization towards the goal of “system optimization”.
Back on the Swagger: Institutional Release and Recidivism Timing Among Gang Affiliates

Extant literature suggests gang affiliates are at higher risk of a number of deleterious consequences compared to non-gang affiliates, including recidivism following release from institutionalization. Although insightful, little is known as to when gang affiliates are at higher risk of recidivism post-incarceration compared to their non-gang counterparts. This research explores the effect of gang affiliation on recidivism by examining the time to rearrest for a cohort of 2,436 state incarcerated delinquents 5 years following their release from incarceration. Utilizing event history analysis, results indicate that gang affiliates are at a significantly higher risk of recidivism within 6 months post-release, but risk ratios converged with non-gang affiliates shortly thereafter. Implications for research and practice are explored.
Intensity Relations in the Spectra of TitaniumII. Relative Intensities of the Stronger Multiplets of Ti I

The relative intensities of 16 of the more important multiplets of normal titanium have been measured in the vacuum arc. The intensities of the multiplets in triads are found to agree with Kronig’s intensity formulas. The agreement is closest if the effective temperature of the arc is taken as 10,000°A. when the average deviation is about 7%. This is shown to be as good as could be expected, considering the wide separations involved, and the uncertainty of the ν4 and excitation corrections, together with the fact that some of the multiplets contain lines which are abnormal in intensity. A triad due to a two-electron transition is shown to agree with Kronig’s formulas for the most closely analogous one-electron transition. Certain definite deviations from the intensity formulas which cannot be due to experimental error are noted. The strongest line in the spectrum under normal excitation conditions is found to be λ3653.49, confirming the selection of this as the raie ultime by spectrochemical means. A number of quintet system lines were found to be stronger fundamentally than this, however, the greater inner quantum numbers overcoming the disadvantage of elevation of the metastable state. Curves showing the relative amounts of self-reversal in multiplets coming from different lower states in the atom are given.
Honor Bound: Inside the Guantanamo Trials

Analyzing the Law of War, the Geneva Conventions, military commissions, enhanced interrogation techniques through the eyes of an Army JAG Lawyer serving in Guantanamo Bay
T-Cell Prolymphocytic Leukemia Involving Lymph Nodes and Other Tissues

T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL) is an aggressive T-cell leukemia composed of small- to medium-sized prolymphocytes with a mature T-cell immunophenotype. T-PLL represents ~2 % of mature lymphocytic leukemias. This neoplasm affects mostly adults, with a median age of 65 years (range, 30–94 years) and a male to female ratio of 2:1. Patients with ataxia telangiectasia are at increased risk of developing T-PLL. Most patients present with B-symptoms, hepatosplenomegaly, and generalized lymphadenopathy. Patients commonly have marked leukocytosis and the lymphocyte count usually exceeds 100 × 109/L. Anemia and thrombocytopenia also occur, but less commonly. Serologic testing for human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is negative.
The Politics of Racial Difference

This paper examines the emergence of racialization and racial difference during the fifteenth century. Furthermore, the examination of European global expansion will be the antecedent for a more meticulous discussion of how the social theories of racial difference have shaped the psychological conceptions of modern-day society. The modern-day inequities experienced throughout American society are due to theories that view race as a biological factor that determines one’s status in society and one’s intellectual ability. This paper will use the presidency of President Barack Obama as an exemplar of how the politics of racial difference result in a president met with mass racial bias, even in an era of advanced globalization and technology.
Electron-Beam Lithography for Patterning Biomolecules at the Micron and Nanometer Scale

This review summarizes the use of electron beam (e-beam) lithography to pattern biomolecules on surfaces. The focus is on approaches that employ poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) resists. Overview of the different strategies used, including ablation of self-assembled monolayers and cross-linking of PEG, is provided. Subsequent use of surfaces to immobilize cells for tissue engineering applications is summarized.
INKA ROADS, LINES, AND ROCK SHRINES : A Discussion of the Contexts of Trail Markers

This essay discusses how Andean people have "constructed" nature with four categories of Inka rock wak'as (shrines) located on trails. Three groups consist of sculpted rocks on physical roads. The fourth category refers to the concept of extended zeq'es (radial lines and paths marked by shrines) which structured the natural and social environment of Cusco and probably of other Inka towns. I show that the Inka modified boulders on physical and conceptual roads and zeq'es for practical and symbolic reasons related, on the one hand, to the pan-Andean worship of mountains and, on the other hand, to a specifically Inka stone ideology made material in a politically conceptualized ideational landscape. The concept of extended zeq'es may provide a context for some poorly understood carved rocks in the Inka empire. Contemporary religious practices recreate some of these lines with regional pilgrimages and the scheduling of feast days. Part of these practices is the worship of holy images painted on sacred rocks, a...
Combinatorial Exploration of the Effects of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Defects in Cu $_{\bf 2}$ ZnSn(S,Se) $_{\bf 4}$

We have systematically investigated native point defect chemistry of Cu 2 ZnSn(S,Se) 4 and the effects of selected extrinsic dopants by spray coating films from DMSO-thiourea inks. Over 6000 unique compositions of Cu 2 ZnSn(S,Se) 4 have been analyzed, along with the effects of Cd, Fe, and Na doping. Spectrally resolved absolute intensity photoluminescence is then used to map the optoelectronic properties. The data are analyzed using a full-spectrum fitting technique that allows us to extract the optical bandgap, quasi-Fermi level splitting (QFLS), as well as characteristics of the subbandgap absorption and emission. We find that changes in the optoelectronic properties primarily result from changes in the Cu-content. From stoichiometric, as the Cu-content is decreased, the PL peak shifts to higher energy, the bandgap increases, and the optolectronic quality (QFLS/QFLS max ) increases. However, the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) and the average subbandgap absorptivity remain nearly constant, indicating that the magnitude of electrostatic potential fluctuations does not change significantly. The most likely Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH)-active defects appear to be defects and defect clusters involving SnZn, CuSn, and SnCu antisite defects, particularly the cluster [2Cu Zn + Sn Zn ]. We further show the benign effect of Cd doping, the detrimental effect of Fe doping, and the ability to make 9.5% efficient devices with ink-based NaCl doping.
Effectiveness of an “axillary ring block” in reducing tourniquet pain in volunteers: Double-blind, randomized crossover clinical trial

Background and Objectives: Orthopedic surgeons commonly use an upper arm tourniquet to avoid excessive surgical bleeding. An “axillary ring block” has been used to help patients better tolerate the discomfort from the tourniquet. The primary objective of this study was to determine if an “axillary ring block” with 0.25% Bupivacaine with epinephrine 1:200,000 was effective in decreasing tourniquet pain. Methods: This was a prospective, controlled, blinded, crossover trial involving 24 adult volunteers. Twelve men and twelve women underwent subcutaneous axillary ring injection with 0.25% bupivacaine with epinephrine 1:200,000 or normal saline prior to inflation of an upper arm tourniquet. Approximately 1 month later, all subjects returned to have the opposite solution injected. The primary endpoint was the total time that the tourniquet was inflated. Results: The volunteers who were injected with Bupivacaine/epinephrine tolerated the upper arm tourniquet for a longer period than those who received saline (mean of 30.5 minutes) vs. 22.4 minutes (p= 0.014). The Bupivacaine/epinephrine axillary ring injection also decreased pain at the tourniquet site by 1.0 pain scale unit (p=0.025) and pain below tourniquet by 1.1 units (p=0.001). Conclusions: We demonstrated that bupivacaine axillary ring injection may decrease the level of discomfort under an upper arm tourniquet.
The Influence of Multi-Level Cultures of Intercultural Negotiation: National, Business, and Organizational Cultures of the U.S. and Japan

This article discusses on three major aspects of culture: national, business, and organisational. The three levels of culture are conceptually distinguished and their influence on intercultural business negotiations is examined. In the process, American and Japanese business cultures with respect to the three levels are contrasted. Managerial implications are also provided.
Failure of glutamate dehydrogenase system to predict oxygenation state of human skeletal muscle

In a recent study, the total tissue contents of glutamate (Glu), ammonium (NH+4), and 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG) were used to estimate changes in the mitochondrial redox state ([NAD+]/[NADH]) of contracting skeletal muscle with intact circulation [Am. J. Physiol. 253 (Cell Physiol. 22): C263-C268, 1987]. These metabolites participate in the glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) reaction, which, based on a number of assumptions, theoretically enables calculation of the mitochondrial redox state as follows (brackets indicate concentrations): [NAD+]/[NADH] = ([NH+4] [2-OG])/[( Glu]Kapp), where Kapp is the apparent equilibrium constant for GDH. The purpose of this study was to determine whether changes in the total tissue contents of Glu, NH+4, and 2-OG could be used to predict a reduction of the mitochondrial redox state in anoxic skeletal muscle. Anoxia was induced in the quadriceps femoris muscle by 10 min of circulatory occlusion (low metabolic rate) and isometric contraction to fatigue (high metabolic rate). The mean (+/- SE) value for the metabolite ratio ([NH+4][2-OG]/[Glu]) at rest was 6 +/- 3 mmol/kg dry wt (x 10(-4]. No significant change occurred after circulatory occlusion (4 +/- 2 x 10(-4); P greater than 0.05), whereas an almost 60-fold increase was observed after isometric contraction (P less than 0.05). Because the muscle was anoxic under both conditions, a significant decrease in the metabolite ratio should have occurred. These data demonstrate that changes in total tissue contents of Glu, NH+4, and 2-OG cannot be used to estimate changes in the redox and oxygenation state of mitochondria in intact human skeletal muscle.
Open and closed models of intensive care unit have different influences on infectious complications in a tertiary care center: A retrospective data analysis.

Infectious complications in the intensive care unit (ICU) are associated with higher morbidity, mortality, and increased health care use. Here, we report the results of implementing 2 different models (open vs closed) on infectious complications in the ICU. The closed ICU model was associated with 52% reduction in ventilator-associated pneumonia rate (P = .038) and 25% reduction in central line-associated bloodstream infection rate (P = .631). We speculate that a closed ICU model allows clinical leadership centralization that further facilitates standardized care delivery that translates into fewer infectious complications.
Legal Limits on Development Exactions: Responding to Nollan and Dolan

Over the last thirty years local governments have increasingly relied on development exactions as a funding source for land use development. Faced with shrinking budgets and the need to provide services attendant to growth, cities and counties have used the development approval process to require developers to provide both land and money to offset the perceived costs that development places on a community. These exactions might be required at any stage of development requiring government approval, but present the same choice to developers: make the required contribution if you want to proceed with development. Although exactions might take a variety of forms and serve a number of functions, they typically fall into three general categories: either dedication of land, money in lieu of land, or impact fees. At their best exactions reflect a sincere government effort to require developers to pay for the costs development places on the surrounding community. At its worst the system has been a means by which governments can use their monopoly power to extort from developers property interests often unrelated to the proposed development. Until recently judicial policing of exactions had been left entirely to the states, with courts reflecting a variety of approaches to how far government could reach in imposing exactions. This changed in 1987 when the Supreme Court for the first time addressed the issue of development exactions in Nollan v. California Coastal Commission. Seven years later the Court again addressed the issue of development exactions in Dolan v. City of Tigard, where it addressed the question left open in Nollan concerning the required degree of connection between the exaction and development impact. This article will examine the impact of Dolan on exaction law. Part one will first examine the growth of exactions and state law standards in policing their use. Part two will then examine the Supreme Court's decision in Nollan. Part three will then examine the Dolan decision itself. Finally, the last three sections of the article will address three basic questions that remain after Dolan: (1) when does the Dolan test apply? (2) what impact will Dolan have on state law standards? and (3) what exactions appear to be most at risk under the Dolan test?
Does Paid Maternity Leave Affect Infant Development and Second-Birth Intentions?

Given the economic implications of a low-fertility rate, many countries have implemented paid maternity leave to promote births. However, the efficacy of this policy is mostly unknown. We examined whether paid maternity leave in South Korea, which has a fertility rate among the lowest in the world, is directly related to infant development and employed mothers' second-birth intentions, and indirectly associated with these outcomes via parenting stress. Participants included 315 married and employed Korean mothers in the months after giving birth to their first child. Paid maternity leave was beneficial for infant development but was not a solution for promoting second-birth intentions among employed mothers in Korea. Parenting stress adversely affected both infant development and employed mothers' second-birth intentions, and it may therefore need to be considered as work–family policies, fertility issues, and infant development in families are addressed. Implications considering cultural and familial contexts are discussed.
Leadership, trust, and job satisfaction in the public sector: A study of US federal employees

AbstractThis study employs survey data on US federal employees to investigate whether employee perceptions of trust in leaders mediate the relationship between employee perceptions of transaction a land transformational leadership behaviors and employee perceptions of job satisfaction. The findings suggest that both transactional and transformational leadership behaviors and employee trust in leaders are positively related to employee job satisfaction. Also, while trust marginally mediates the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership and job satisfaction, it plays a more significant role in the relationship between individualized consideration and job satisfaction. Further, the study finds that transformational leadership and individualized consideration have a significantly larger positive impact on satisfaction compared to transactional leadership. Thus, the study suggests that public organizations, especially those managed by transactional leaders, need to focus on developing ...
Gut microbiota from metabolic disease-resistant, macrophage-specific RIP140 knockdown mice improves metabolic phenotype and gastrointestinal integrity.

While fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) presents an attractive therapeutic strategy, it remains unclear how to choose the microbiota repertoire that most effectively transfers benefit to recipients. We identified a beneficial taxonomic repertoire in a transgenic mouse model (RIP140mϕKD) which resists the development of high fat diet (HFD)-induced metabolic diseases due to enhanced anti-inflammation engineered by lowering receptor interacting protein (RIP140) expression in macrophage. We confirmed using FMT from HFD-fed RIP140mϕKD to wild type (WT) mice that recipient mice acquired the microbiota repertoire of donor mice. Importantly, FMT from RIP140mϕKD to WT not only effectively transferred the beneficial taxonomic repertoire to WT recipients, but also enabled recipient animals acquiring the anti-inflammatory status of RIP140mϕKD donor animals and avoid HFD-induced insulin resistance, which is associated with significantly improved intestinal integrity. We conclude that FMT can transfer not only microbiota but also the donors’ intestinal innate immune status and improved intestinal integrity.
Abstract 2936: Mitochondria dysfunction-mediated apoptosis resistance associates with defective heat shock protein response in African American prostate cancer

African American (AA) patients with prostate cancer (PCa) respond poorly to current therapy compared to Caucasian American (CA) patients. Although underlying mechanisms are not clearly defined, mitochondria dysfunction is a key reason for PCa disparity. We observed that glycolytic pathway inhibitor dichloroacetate (DCA) inhibited cell proliferation in both AA PCa cells (AA cells) and CA PCa cells (CA cells). CA cells were arrested at G1 and G2/M phases whereas S-phase arrest was observed in AA cells. AA cells showed resistance to cell death upon DCA exposure in spite of higher caspase activation than in CA cells. AA cells possess reduced level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential (mtMP) compared to CA cells. DCA induced cellular and mitochondrial ROS in AA cells but were unchanged in CA cells. DCA upregulated the levels of mtMP in both cell types. DCA enhanced taxol-induced cell death only in CA cells, but DCA sensitized doxorubicin-induced AA cell death. Expression of heat shock proteins (HSPs) were inhibited only in AA cells upon doxorubicin alone or combined treatment of DCA with doxorubicin, whereas Taxol alone or in combination with DCA did not show any changes in the levels of HSPs. DCA suppressed the metastatic features and reduced the population of cancer stem cell-like cells in CA cells but had a little effect on AA cells. Therefore, anticancer agents that can effectively restore mitochondria function may provide new therapeutic potential in reducing PCa health disparity and poor prognosis in AA men with PCa. Citation Format: Ajay K. Chaudhary, Tariq A. Bhatt, Sandeep Kumar, Willie Underwood, Shahriar Koochekpour, Mojgan Shourideh, Neelu Yadav, Dhyan Chandra. Mitochondria dysfunction-mediated apoptosis resistance associates with defective heat shock protein response in African American prostate cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2936. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2936
The Effectiveness of Simulation on Recognizing and Managing Clinical Deterioration: Meta-Analyses:

The purpose of these meta-analyses was to quantitatively synthesize the effectiveness of simulation on student nurses' and registered nurses' ability to recognize and manage clinical deterioration in the acute care setting. A search of the literature resulted in 22 reports and 19 studies meeting inclusion criteria. Four random-effects analyses were conducted to examine two-group posttest and single-group pre-posttest intervention effect sizes for knowledge and performance. A total of 41 effect sizes were calculated from the data extracted. The standardized mean difference ( d) for two-group posttest knowledge was d = 0.964 ( p = .001) and for performance was d = 1.382 ( p ≤ .001). The standardized mean difference for single-group pre-posttest knowledge was d = 1.231 ( p ≤ .001) and performance was d = 1.610 ( p ≤ .001). Findings indicate that simulation-based interventions have a positive effect on knowledge and performance. As simulation is increasingly used as a teaching modality in nursing, further research should aim to test standardized simulation-based education programs.
What the Penaeaceae alliance (Myrtales) tells us about the nature of vestured pits in xylem

Molecular studies indicate that Penaeaceae, Oliniaceae, and the monospecific families Alzateaceae and Rhynchocalycaceae form a clade of Myrtales. Of these four families, Penaeaceae have tracheids with vestured pits, whereas the others have septate fibers lacking vestures; all have vestured pits in vessels. Tracheid presence in Penaeaceae may be related to the arid South African habitats of the family. Presence of vestures on tracheids in families with vestured vessel pits is one indication that imperforate elements are tracheids and are conductive cells, whereas fiber-tracheids and libriform fibers are non-conductive. Tracheids occur widely in angiosperms and may be plesiomorphies or apomorphies. Combretaceae, the first branch of the Myrtales clade, has a great diversity of vesture features in vessels compared to the Penaeaceae alliance families. Alzatea has vestures that spread over the inside of the vessels, whereas in most taxa of the alliance, vestures are confined to the pit cavities and pit apertures. Vestures in the alliance tend to be globular in shape, and are bridged together by strands of wall material. Lignotubers and roots in Penaeaceae have vestures much like those in stems. Only a few species and genera (notably Alzatea) of the alliance have vesture features the pattern of which correlates with the current taxonomic system. Vestured pits should be viewed from the inside surface of vessels as well as the outer surface, and although sectional views of vestured pits are infrequent, they are very informative. Studies that explore diversity from one order or family to another are needed and offer opportunities for understanding the evolutionary significance of this feature.
Primitive elements for p-divisible groups

We introduce the notion of primitive elements in arbitrary truncated p-divisible groups. By design, the scheme of primitive elements is finite and locally free over the base. Primitive elements generalize the “points of exact order N,” developed by Drinfeld and Katz–Mazur for elliptic curves.
Effects of coating solvent and thermal treatment on transport and morphological characteristics of PDMS/Torlon composite hollow fiber membrane

A new approach for formation of the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer on Torlon polyamide-imide hollow fiber (PAI-HF) support has been developed by directly after fiber spinning without the need to undergo the final conventional solvent exchange and drying step, thereby saving postspinning processing steps. The produced PDMS/PAI-HF composite membranes were found to have high CO2 permeance (i.e., 1100 GPU) and exhibited good CO2/N2 selectivities of 8–10 which is close to 90% of that of a PDMS dense film. The effects of coating solution, rewetting and crosslinking temperature on the PAI-HF morphological features, that is, gas transport, skin thickness, skin integrity, and substructure resistance are investigated. The rewetting and thermal treatment of the PAI-HF caused the densification of the skin layer and reduced the pore sizes on the top layer. In addition, the potential use of the PAI-HF support with polymers that are insoluble in hexane is also considered. Effects of water, methanol, and hexane exposure of PAI-HF to these solvents are considered. This evaluation calls attention to issues that must be addressed in any eventual use of the PAI-HF with water-soluble or methanol-soluble selective layer polymers, rather than simple hexane-soluble polymers such as PDMS. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45418.
Programming languages and compiler design for realistic quantum hardware

Quantum computing sits at an important inflection point. For years, high-level algorithms for quantum computers have shown considerable promise, and recent advances in quantum device fabrication offer hope of utility. A gap still exists, however, between the hardware size and reliability requirements of quantum computing algorithms and the physical machines foreseen within the next ten years. To bridge this gap, quantum computers require appropriate software to translate and optimize applications (toolflows) and abstraction layers. Given the stringent resource constraints in quantum computing, information passed between layers of software and implementations will differ markedly from in classical computing. Quantum toolflows must expose more physical details between layers, so the challenge is to find abstractions that expose key details while hiding enough complexity. To enable a quantum computer to solve practical problems more efficiently than classical computers, quantum programming languages and compilers are required to translate quantum algorithms into machine code; here the currently available software is reviewed.
Introduction to Biotechnical and Biomedical Applications of Poly(Ethylene Glycol)

At first glance, the polymer known as poly(ethylene glycol) or PEG appears to be a simple molecule. It is a linear or branched, neutral polyether, available in a variety of MWs, and soluble in water and most organic solvents. Despite its apparent simplicity, $${HO - {{\left( {C{H_2}C{H_2}O} \right)}_n} - C{H_2}C{H_2}OH} \hfill \\ {poly(ethylene\,glycol)}$$ this molecule is the focus of much interest in the biotechnical and biomedical communities. Primarily this is because PEG is unusually effective at excluding other polymers from its presence when in an aqueous environment. This property translates into protein rejection, formation of two-phase systems with other polymers, nonimmunogenicity, and nonantigenicity. In addition, the polymer is nontoxic and does not harm active proteins or cells although it interacts with cell membranes. It is subject to ready chemical modification and attachment to other molecules and surfaces, and when attached to other molecules it has little effect on their chemistry but controls their solubility and increases their size. These properties, which are described in more detail below, have led to a variety of important biotechnical and biomedical applications, a summary of which is also presented below.
Digital notice board implementation via power line communication

PLC (Power line communication) is a technology that provides high speed communication of voice and data and its is very cost effective method. It has been successfully implemented in many applications in real time. In this project one such application is used to digitize an institution by replacing circulars or notice boards by digital notice boards. Frequent updating is easy with a centralized systems. Data's are sent through existing power line to a particular power line node or various nodes. The information is obtained from server and it is displayed using LCD at the reception. when a message is received it is intimated to students using a voice board. A personal Computer, power line modem, voice board and an LCD display are used to design digital notice board via power line.
Multi-receiver modulation classification for non-cooperative scenarios based on higher-order cumulants

Modulation Classification (MC) is a difficult task that can increase awareness in Cognitive Radio (CR) applications. Much of the research in MC has been for single antenna and single user scenarios. With multiple users, blind source separation (BSS) techniques have successfully been used to separate a linear mixture of signals. This work demonstrates that results for MC in a single-user MIMO communications system can be extended to MC in a multi-user scenario with the use of blind source separation techniques. However, a number of difficulties exist with the use of blind source separation techniques that make a simple extension (difficult) possible. First, since the number of users is unknown, BSS techniques must attempt to separate signals with the assumption that a larger number of users exist (than are actually present). Second, BSS techniques can separate signals up to an ambiguity in phase, order, and magnitude—further complicating an extension of common classification methods. Lastly, well-known BSS techniques sometimes fail to properly separate even common digital modulations. The proposed approach to solve these issues comprises of the fastICA BSS technique for signal separation Hyvarinen and Oja (Neural Netw Off J Int Neural Netw Soc 13(4–5):411–430, 2000), fourth and sixth-order cumulants as distinguishing features for several digital modulations, and support vector machines with a radial basis function for classification. Given four common modulation schemes BPSK, QPSK, 8-PSK, and 16-QAM, the proposed approach classifies correctly more than 50% of the time for signal to noise ratios higher than 0 dB.
Between hosts and guests: Conditional hospitality and citizenship in an American suburban school

ABSTRACTThis article utilizes the idea of hospitality to explore how educative practices contribute to the making of citizens at Light Falls High School (LHS), a suburban American secondary school that professes a strong commitment to racial equity and global awareness. The data are derived from an ethnographic case study which took place in 2013–2014. I primarily draw upon the classroom experiences and narratives of transnational youth – those with social lives, cultural practices, and notions of self that are not bounded by one nation – and several educators to tell the story of hospitality at LHS. Three techniques emerged by which conditional hospitality shaped the possibilities of welcome and recognition of transnational students – questioning attachment, conditioning speech, and conditioning space – and these in turn constitute normative thresholds that fix these students in difference, delimit their belonging, and constrain their possibilities of membership. The gift of welcome meant to make non-nor...
Gender-Inclusive Educational Programs for Workforce Development:

Vocational and workforce education provide economic opportunity but often exclude or limit the participation of women. Here, we lay the foundation for developing workforce programming from a femini...
High-Frequency Percussive Ventilation Rescue Therapy in Morbidly Obese Patients Failing Conventional Mechanical Ventilation:

Background:Morbidly obese patients with respiratory failure who do not improve on conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) often undergo rescue therapy with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (EC...
Nucleation and phase transformation pathways in electrolyte solutions investigated by in situ microscopy techniques

Abstract Identification of crystal nucleation and growth pathways is of fundamental importance for synthesis of functional materials, which requires control over size, orientation, polymorph, and hierarchical structure, often in the presence of additives used to tune the energy landscape defining these pathways. Herein we summarize the recent progress in application of in situ TEM and AFM techniques to monitor or even tune the pathway of crystal nucleation and growth.
Materiality and Culture

‘Materiality’ and ‘culture’ are among the most discussed terms in contemporary social and cultural theory. This article offers a broad introductory overview of current debates both within the discipline of anthropology and beyond and situates these briefly with reference to anthropology's and social thought's entanglements with longer-term histories of, for example, capitalism and European colonial expansion.
Surgical Coronary Artery Revascularization in Patients with Advanced Ischemic Cardiomyopathy

Ischemic cardiomyopathy remains one of the largest subgroups of the growing epidemic of heart failure. Coronary artery bypass grafting remains an important therapeutic option for select patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. Though the techniques of revascularization are established, the imaging modalities to determine the potential for myocardial recovery remain imprecise. Different imaging modalities to determine myocardial viability and ischemic burden will be discussed. Correlating areas of viability with coronary anatomy suitable for revascularization is currently the recommended strategy.
Durkheim and social facts

Durkheim makes some claims that may simply seem suspicious, such as the idea that a society is a sui generis synthesis of individuals.5 ‘Synthesis? How can that be?’ one might say, echoing John Stuart Mill. ‘When people come together to form a social group, they are not converted into another kind of substance!’6 Or one might echo Max Weber: ‘I am a social being just insofar as I orient my own actions towards other people.
Occupational Social Work Education for Employee Assistance Practice.

This article explores the current state of Occupational Social Work/Employee Assistance (OSW/EA) education. It examines the relationship between social work curricula, field placement experiences, ...