cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Consistency of the least median of squares estimator in nonlinear regression

Recent research by Sakata and White (1995) presents the consistency and asymptotic normality of S-estimators in nonlinear regression. It is well known from research in linear regression that it is important to use a consistent high breakdown estimator as an initial estimate when computing an S-estimate. This paper presents the proof of the weak consistency of the least median of squares estimator in a nonlinear regression setting, thus suggesting that it is a reasonable choice for the starting value for computing S-estimates in nonlinear regression.
Work–Family Balance Issues and Work–Leave Policies

Unhealthy work environments are not only the consequence of physical characteristics. Psychosocial aspects of the environment, including control and social support, are also consequential factors. While holding multiple roles as both worker and family member can have positive implications for health, chronic stress experienced from lack of work–family balance has negative effects. This chapter describes an interdisciplinary model of how work–family strains impact the health and well being of employees, their families, and the organizations in which they work. We argue that both structure and culture count at the workplace: work–family conflict increases with both a lack of supervisor support for family obligations and ineffective workplace policies and programs regarding employees’ control over the time and timing of work. We then describe an ongoing randomized field experiment to implement and evaluate a workplace-based prevention program to improve work–family balance. We conclude with the implications of this model for future research.
Properties of High Conductivity Phosphorous Doped Hydrogenated Microcrystalline Silicon and Application in Thin Film Transistor Technology

Device quality phosphorous (P) doped hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (n+μc - Si:H) has been prepared by using the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. The dependence of physical, chemical, structural and electrical properties on substrate temperature have been investigated. Conductivities for thick films up to 12 Ω−lcm−1 and 40 Ω−1cm−1 have been achieved for layers deposited at 300°C and 500°C, respectively. For films 50 nm thick deposited at 300°C a conductivity of about 5 Ω−1cm−1 has been obtained. A maximum average grain size around 30 nm was obtained. The etch rates of P-doped microcrystalline silicon have been found to be between 8 and 10 times higher than that of undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films deposited at the same temperature. Thin film transistors incorporating heavily P-doped amorphous and microcrystalline layer between source/drain metal and the a-Si:H channel have been fabricated. We show that an n+μc - Si:H source/drain contacts in thin film transistors provides very good characteristics, yielding an average effective field effect mobility, threshold voltage, and on/off current ratio of about 0.9cm2V−1 sec−1, below 4 V, and above 107, respectively.
Elastic waves in anisotropic media

The displacements due to a radiating point source in an infinite anisotropic elastic medium are found in terms of Fourier integrals. The integrals are evaluated asymptotically, yielding explicit expressions for displacements at points far from the source. The relative amplitudes of waves from a point source are thus determined, and it is found that although in general the decay of wave amplitudes is proportional to the distance from the source, it is possible that in certain directions the decay is less than this. The method used in this paper is also shown to be an alternative way of deriving known results concerning the geometry of the propagation of disturbances. As an example, the radiation in a transversely isotropic medium from an isolated force varying harmonically with time is discussed.
Exploring the Impact of a Wilderness-Based Positive Youth Development Program for Urban Youth.

Young people today face a multitude of challenges, especially when growing up in an urban environment. Risk factors such as poverty, exposure to gangs, drugs, and community and family violence threaten healthy development. The positive youth development (PYD) approach attempts to combat these personal and environmental challenges by providing youth with positive, asset-building experiences and meaningful, supportive relationships. There is a need for creative youth development programming that brings these two elements together in a structured and voluntary context, such as a wilderness-based program. This study explored the impact of a PYD program that utilizes mentor-supported wilderness expeditions to build developmental assets among a diverse sample of 159 urban youth in the United States. The Developmental Assets Profile was administered pre- and post-program, as well as 90 days post-program. Quantitative findings show that this type of programming can be an asset-building experience for youth facing...
Medicaid, Private Insurance, and the Availability of Smoking Cessation Interventions in Substance Use Disorder Treatment.

Objective:Integration of smoking cessation services in substance use disorder treatment would benefit many patients. Although prior studies have identified organizational characteristics associated with delivery of these services, less is known regarding associations between financial factors and the availability of smoking cessation services. This study examined whether reliance on Medicaid and private insurance revenues is associated with the availability of a formal counseling-based smoking cessation program and medications (sustained-release bupropion, varenicline, and nicotine replacement) within U.S. specialty treatment organizations.Methods:Administrators of a national sample of 372 treatment organizations participated in face-to-face structured interviews from October 2011 to December 2013. Participants provided data regarding smoking cessation services, revenue sources, and other organizational characteristics. Multiple imputation was used to address missing data, and models were estimated by usi...
Mutational studies of protein structures and their stabilities.

The fundamental relationship between structure and function has served to guide investigations into the workings of living systems at all levels - from the whole organism to individual cells on down to individual molecules. When X-ray crystallography began to reveal the three-dimensional structures of proteins like myoglobin, lysozyme and RNase A, protein chemists were well prepared to draw inferences about functional mechanisms from the precise positioning of amino acid residues they could see. The close proximity between an amino acid side chain and a chemical group on a bound ligand strongly suggests a functional role for that side chain in binding affinity and specificity. Likewise, the nearly universal finding of large clusters of hydrophobic side chains buried in the core of proteins strongly supports a major functional role of hydrophobic interactions in protein folding and stability. Even though eminently plausible hypotheses like these, grounded in the most fundamental principles of chemistry and the logic of structure–function relationships, become widely accepted and make their way into textbooks, protein chemists have felt compelled to search for ways to test them and put them on a more quantitative basis.
Acute and Delayed Deferoxamine Treatment Attenuates Long-Term Sequelae After Germinal Matrix Hemorrhage in Neonatal Rats

Background and Purpose—This study investigated if acute and delayed deferoxamine treatment attenuates long-term sequelae after germinal matrix hemorrhage (GMH). Methods—Bacterial collagenase (0.3 U...
Preliminary experiments in fully actuated model based control with six degree-of-freedom coupled dynamical plant models for underwater vehicles

This paper reports a comparative experimental evaluation of one non-model-based proportional derivative (PD) 6 degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) controller and one model-based 6-DOF controller designed to enable fully actuated underwater vehicles to perform 6-DOF set-point regulation and trajectory tracking. We show analytically the non-model-based PD controller is capable of performing locally asymptotically stable set-point regulation. We show analytically the model-based controller is capable of locally asymptotically stable 6-DOF trajectory tracking. Experimental results with the Johns Hopkins University remotely operated vehicle (JHU ROV) show the model-based controller's mean absolute position and velocity tracking error is significantly smaller than the non-model-based PD controller for coupled maneuvers.
The design of a bi-directional, RFID-based ASIC for interfacing with SPI bus peripherals

The design of a mixed-signal Integrated Circuit (IC) for data logging and wireless telemetry applications is presented. The 3.3mm × 3.3mm IC is integrated into a RFID transponder along with a MEMS pressure sensor and FRAM memory. The sensor and memory ICs are independently addressable via the serial peripheral interface (SPI) standard. The IC was designed for fabrication using a 0.5-µm CMOS process and implements a RF front-end, SPI Master and digital Finite State Machine (FSM). The wireless front-end operates via a 13.56MHz inductive coupled system for power transfer and bi-directional data transmission to a reader and has on-chip voltage-regulation, data recovery, and load modulation circuits. The digital logic implements a custom developed wireless SPI protocol, allowing for direct communication with SPI peripherals via the RF front-end. Additionally, a digital FSM is responsible for data logging operation, in which pressure data is autonomously measured and stored in memory over constant intervals. Test results are presented for an independently fabricated digital circuit consisting of 4,014 equivalent 2-input NOR gates with a measured current consumption of 12µA at V dd =2.8V and F CLK =140kHz.
Stability Analysis of Deep Cloud Streets

Abstract Linear stability analysis of cloud streets is investigated by including the latent heat and considering a few types of wind profiles. The release of latent heat follows the wave-CISK hypothesis. The results indicate that as the buoyance force released by latent heat becomes dominant, the most unstable mode is stationary relative to the mean wind, and the orientation of cloud streets is parallel to the direction of the wind shear. On the other hand, if the conversion of kinetic energy becomes important, the cloud streets which are perpendicular to the wind shear and propagating relative to the mean wind become most unstable. Results also show that the wavelength, growth rate and orientation angle of the most unstable mode are very sensitive to the height of cloud tops, the strength of wind shear, static stability and the environmental moisture profile. These results compare well with other theoretical results and observations.
The "HPV Discussion": Effective Use of Data to Deliver Recommendations to Patients Impacted by HPV

ObjectiveThe dramatic rise in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma associated with the human papilloma virus (HPV) has brought significant change to the interaction between patients and head and n...
Emergency Department Evaluations of Non-Percutaneous Blood or Body Fluid Exposures during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

INTRODUCTION The demography of healthcare workers (HCWs) and non-HCWs seeking medical care at emergency departments after a non-percutaneous potential exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the types and body locations of their exposures, the time elapsed from exposure to emergency department presentation, and usage of HIV-post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for these exposures are described. METHODS A retrospective study of emergency department patients who were exposed to blood or body fluids during CPR in Rhode Island from January 1995-June 2001 was performed. The demography, characteristics of the exposure, and HIV-PEP usage for these patients were compared, and the elapsed time from exposure to evaluation in the emergency department was calculated. RESULTS Of the 39 patients exposed to non-percutaneous blood or body fluid during CPR, 22 were healthcare workers (HCWs) and 17 were non-HCWs. Thirty-four patients sustained mucous membrane exposures. Most of the patients (69.2%) were exposed to saliva or sputum (p <0.001), experienced a mouth exposure (71.8%; p <0.0001) and presented to the emergency department within one day of their exposure (84.4%; p <0.0001). Three HCWs and no non-HCWs were offered HIV-PEP for their CPR exposure. Of the three HCWs offered PEP, two actually received it. CONCLUSIONS Nearly half of the patients who presented with non-percutaneous exposures acquired during CPR were not HCWs. Most of the exposures were to saliva or sputum and occurred on their mucous membranes. Continuing education programs on maintaining universal precautions to prevent blood or body fluid exposures and appreciating the benign nature of most non-percutaneous exposures possible during CPR are needed.
Fast and furious or much ado about nothing? sub-optimal respondent behavior and data quality.

The article examines marketing and advertising research methodology. The issue of low quality responses by participants in Internet surveys is examined, particularly how sampling and respondent motivation and respondent comprehension of questions affect the accuracy of surveys. Survey satisficing, when respondents provide insufficient answers to complete a survey as their energy or attention fades, is discussed. The likelihood that most sub-optimal responses are the result of poorly designed questionnaires is examined.
Kalman Filter for Subsurface Transport Models with Inaccurate Parameters and Unknown Sources

In order to improve the contaminant plume prediction in subsurface transport models, a data assimilation scheme using the Kalman filter (KF) is developed. The data assimilation scheme is designed to reduce uncertainties in model predictions. These uncertainties actually represent all the unpredictable variations due to the unknown or uncertain properties in physical law based models and the incomplete knowledge of stochastic fields. Considering the background of subsurface transport is spatially dependent, simulation of spatially correlated uncertainties are proposed and integrated into a data assimilation scheme. Sequential instances of spatially correlated random fields are simulated in examining the effectiveness of the assimilation system. Results show that this data assimilation scheme reduces the uncertainty of predictions from the deterministic model. By assimilating the observations, the predictive contaminant plumes from the assimilation system can trace the randomized irregular plume shape of the assumed case more closely than a non-assimilation deterministic model. The statistical representation of random noise, such as spatially dependency, is critical in improving effectiveness of the statistical optimization process. In two test cases which simulate the scenarios with unknown hidden sources or inaccurate hydrologic properties, the regional noise KF scheme demonstrates the potentials to solve the inverse problems in environmental transport modeling.
THE ROLES OF AGING AND FATIGUE DAMAGE ACCUMULATION ON THE STIFFNESS OF A GRAPHITE/THERMOSET COMPOSITE AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURES

An experimental investigation was performed to determine the behavior of the open hole tension (OHT) specimen loaded in tension-tension fatigue under isothermal, fixed frequency conditions. A range of stress levels and temperature levels where chosen to assess performance. These loads and temperatures ranged from relatively benign conditions (low stress, room temperature) up through aggressive (high stress, high temperature). Measurements were made on stiffness, damage accumulation, remaining strength, and changes in weight, and glass transition temperature (Tg). Results from this work will help explain the roles of aging, stress and fatigue in the performance of elevated temperature OHT as well as providing insights to the individual and synergistic contributions of each process. Experimental apparatus, test and data reduction procedures will be outlined and explained.
Abstract CN06-01: Obesity, physical activity, and colon polyps: Black Women's Health Study

CN06-01 Incidence and mortality rates of colorectal cancer are higher in African-American women than any other ethnic group in the United States and the disparity may be widening. The obesity epidemic in the United States has disproportionately affected African-American women, with obesity being nearly twice as prevalent in African-Americans as Whites. The causes of these increasing rates of obesity are not well understood, although it is hypothesized to be caused by dietary changes and decreased physical activity in the general population over time. An appreciable body of evidence suggests that leisure-time physical activity reduces the incidence of colon cancer. There is much less evidence on whether physical activity protects against colorectal adenomas, which are thought to be precursors to most colon cancers, although the evidence has been inconsistent. No findings have been reported on the relation of physical activity to the incidence of colorectal polyps in African-American women. We report here on the effect of obesity and physical activity on the incidence of colorectal polyps in the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS), a large follow-up study of black women in the U.S. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2008;1(7 Suppl):CN06-01.
Telomerase Expression in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Children with Acute Kawasaki Disease

Objective To study the telomerase expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs) in children with acute Kawasaki disease(KD) and its clinical significance.Methods The PBMCs of 64 children with acute KD [25 cases of them with coronary artery lesions(CAL),while the rest without] from 2 months to 6 years old admitted into Jiangxi Children's Hospital from Mar.2005 to Dec.2008 and those of 52 sex-age-matched healthy children (healthy control group) from 5 months to 7 years old were all assayed by Roche telomerase polymerase chain reaction enzymelinked immunosorbent assay(PCR ELISA).WBC,ESR and CRP were also detected.SPSS 11.0 software was used to analyze the data.Results The telomerase expression frequency of PBMCs in children with KD was 32.8%(21/64 cases),while that in healthy control group was only 15.4%(8/52 cases),the difference between the 2 groups was significant (χ2= 4.65,P0.05).The frequency of the expression in KD children with CAL was higher than that in non-CAL KD cases,which was 40.0%(10/25 cases) and 28.2%(11/39 cases) respectively,but there was no significant difference(χ2= 0.96,P0.05).There were no significant difference of WBC,ESR and CRP between the telomerase of PBMCs positive group and negative group.Conclusions The higher frequency of telomerase expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes might be related to the development and progression of KD.
Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins in granulosa and thecal cells from bovine ovarian follicles at different stages of development.

Because IGFBP inhibit IGF-stimulated cellular proliferation and differentiation, it is hypothesized that variations among IGFBP in individual follicles might contribute to the regulation of recruitment, selection, dominance, and turnover of ovarian follicles. Sources of IGFBP in fluid of bovine follicles are not well established; thus, objectives of this study were to determine levels of IGFBP binding activities and messenger RNA (mRNA) in granulosa and theca interna cells at different stages of follicular development (small [ or = 8 mm]) and to characterize associations of these levels measured in the cells with levels of IGFBP and steroids in follicular fluid. Thecal and granulosa cells from large healthy follicles contained two- to twentyfold less (P < 0.05) IGFBP-2, -3, and -5 than cells from small, medium, and large atretic follicles. Thecal cells from small, medium, and large atretic follicles contained more (P < 0.05) IGFBP-3 and -4 than granulosa cells from these follicles, whereas granulosa cells from these follicles contained more IGFBP-2 activity than thecal cells. Differences in IGF binding activity were paralleled by differences in levels of mRNA for the respective IGFBP. Developmental differences in IGFBP activity in follicular fluid were positively associated with activity in granulosa and/or thecal cells, with the exception of IGFBP-4, which was low in fluid from large healthy follicles but markedly increased (mRNA and binding activity) in granulosa cells from these follicles. It is concluded that developmental changes in follicular fluid IGFBP-2 and -5 binding activities seem to be controlled in part by alterations in synthesis of these IGFBP by granulosa and thecal cells, whereas diminished IGFBP-4 in fluid from large healthy follicles occurs concomitantly with increased levels of IGFBP-4 mRNA and activity in granulosa cells, implicating posttranslational regulation by specific proteases.
A Web Platform for data acquisition and analysis for Alzheimer's disease

This study introduces a new implementation of a Web Interface and Web Services for the automatic acquisition and processing of data for neurological studies, with a focus on Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Our Web Platform consists of (a) a Data Upload module that provides forms and web services to store volumetric and surface area measures, derived from MRI, to a MySQL database; (b) a Web Interface and Web Services for classification of AD, utilizing Support Vector Machines (SVM). The MRI is processed with FreeSurfer (FS); the FS output is also made available to the Web Interface user. Our classifier was trained and tested with data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database, and private data obtained from the Wien Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders at Mount Sinai Medical Center; with results comparable to other published studies. The design of the proposed Web Platform is scalable and can be easily adapted to other neurological disorders.
Verwitterung, Erosion und Massenbewegungen

So fest die hartesten Gesteine auch sein mogen, wenn sie den Atmospharilien und Temperaturschwankungen ausgesetzt sind, unterliegen alle Gesteine der Verwitterung und dem Zerfall – ahnlich wie alte Autos rosten oder alte Zeitungen vergilben. Im Gegensatz zu Autos und Zeitungen dauert ihr Zerfall jedoch Tausende bis Millionen von Jahren.
Ureteropelvic Junction Obstruction with Associated Renal Anomalies

Ureteropelvic junction obstruction when associated with other congenital anomalies of the kidney often presents a diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma. These anomalies include fusion abnormalities, malrotation, renal ectopia and duplicated systems. We report our experience in the management of 27 patients with ureteropelvic junction obstruction and associated renal anomalies, including horseshoe kidney in 9, duplicated systems in 12, ectopic kidney in 5 and malrotation in 1.
Will Physicians Vote

This commentary speculates on explanations for physicians' low voting rates and encourages physicians to become more engaged in the U.S. electoral process.
Swingin' in the Rain: The Impact of Inclement Weather on Voting Behavior in U.S. Presidential Elections

While political experts have long claimed that bad weather lowers voter turnout, the impact of weather on U.S. election outcomes remains unclear. The most rigorous work to date found that precipitation benefits Republicans and suggested that Florida rains influenced the outcome of the 2000 presidential election, but a more recent analysis finding that precipitation only lowers turnout in uncompetitive election states calls this claim into question. Here, we reanalyze the 1972-2000 U.S. presidential elections with a focus on supporters of non-major party candidates, an oft-overlooked contingency. We propose that bad weather affects election outcomes not through its effect on turnout — as has long been assumed — but rather, through its psychological effect on swing voters. Specifically, we find evidence that bad weather increases regret aversion among supporters of non-major party candidates in competitive elections, leading some to instead vote for their preferred two-party candidate.
The impact of incontinence etiology on artificial urinary sphincter outcomes.

PURPOSE To evaluate the impact of incontinence etiology on artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) device outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS We identified 925 patients who underwent primary AUS placement from 1983 to 2011. The etiology of incontinence was categorized as radical prostatectomy alone, radical prostatectomy with radiation, benign prostate resection, and those with cryotherapy as a salvage prostate cancer treatment. Hazard regression and competing risk analyses were used to determine the association of the etiology of incontinence with device outcomes. RESULTS The distribution of the 4 etiologies of incontinence included: 598 patients (64.6%) treated with prostatectomy alone, 206 (22.2%) with prostatectomy and pelvic radiation therapy, 104 (11.2%) with benign prostate resection, and 17 (1.8%) with prior cryotherapy. With a median follow-up of 4.9 years (interquartile range, 1.2-8.8 years), there was significant difference in the cumulative incidence of device infection/urethral erosion events between the four etiologies (p=0.003). On multivariable analysis, prior cryotherapy (reference prostatectomy alone; hazard ratio [HR], 3.44; p=0.01), older age (HR, 1.07; p=0.0009) and history of a transient ischemic attack (HR, 2.57; p=0.04) were associated with an increased risk of device infection or erosion. Notably, pelvic radiation therapy with prostatectomy was not associated with an increased risk of device infection or erosion (reference prostatectomy alone, p=0.30). CONCLUSIONS Compared to prostatectomy alone, prior treatment with salvage cryotherapy for recurrent prostate cancer was associated with an increased risk of AUS infection/erosion, whereas radiation (in addition to prostatectomy) was not.
A low-computation distributed connectivity control for coordinated multi-UAS

Multi-UAS (MAS) flocking requires multiple controllers with connected communication topologies. Real-time deployment of multi-agents is commonly associated with dynamic communication topologies, which has been considered as a challenging topic. This paper proposes a novel low- computation distributed connectivity control method to generate connected communication topologies and maintain the connectivity for coordinated multi-UAS. Considering the realtime communication imperfections, the communication links among multi-UAS have been priced. In addition, a multi-UAS communication price matrix has been generated. The proposed method cannot only maintain the connectivity of multi-UAS and also minimize the communication price in a distributed manner. Furthermore, the proposed method is also very flexible and can be applied to multi-UAS with varying number of agents. Both the numerical simulation and experiment results results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed low computation distributed connectivity control. It is very promising for a wide range of applications where multi-UAS will greatly aid missions such as those expected to be performed by team of cooperative UAS, e.g. search and rescue, surveillance, vehicle tracking, and MAS-based load delivery.
Crime: White-collar

The term ‘white-collar crime’ was coined by Edwin H. Sutherland, in a 1939 presidential address to the American Sociological Society, as ‘crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation’ (Sutherland 1940 1949, p. 9). In the better part of the century that followed, scholars continued to disagree about the definition of the concept, offering a vast collection of synonyms—upperworld, elite, suite, of-the-powerful, corporate, organizational, occupational, employee, avocational, trust, business, economic, official, governmental, or political crimes, illegalities, offenses, violations, deviance, misconduct, harms, or violence—that give linguistic expression to conceptual, theoretical, and ideological differences. But no consensus emerged; most scholars agreed to disagree. Sutherland's evocative label masks a conceptual babel. The study of white-collar crime was born of selection bias. Sutherland argued that because the offenses of corporations and white-collar workers are not represented in the official statistics subject to criminological research, scholars misunderstand the nature, causes, and consequences of crime and its control. This entry considers how some of the standard topics in criminology—the social organization of offending, victimization, enforcement, prosecution, punishment, and criminological theory—are transformed when one looks in the unconventional places captured by the varied conceptions of white-collar crime. Ironically, because of limited access to data, the selection bias that white-collar crime scholarship seeks to undo simultaneously threatens its own integrity. The entry considers the methodological and normative impediments to the study of crime and justice in the suites, the distortions in our understandings insinuated by selection bias and by efforts to correct for it, and what is required of rigorous scholarship. Perhaps nowhere has James S. Coleman's influential call for a new social science attuned to the transformation of social life occasioned by the displacement of natural persons by ‘purposive corporate actors’ been better realized than in the study of white-collar crime. This scholarship has made problematic the difficulties of regulating organizational life and insuring norm compliance within organizational contexts. White-collar crime offers a bridge to the new social science and a compelling window onto the changing structure of social life.
The reciprocal sum of primitive nondeficient numbers

Abstract We investigate the reciprocal sum of primitive nondeficient numbers, or pnds. In 1934, Erdős showed that the reciprocal sum of pnds converges, which he used to prove that the abundant numbers have a natural density. We show the reciprocal sum of pnds is between 0.348 and 0.380.
Protein-Losing Enteropathy in the Setting of Severe Iron Deficiency Anemia.

A 20-month-old boy presented with a 2-week history of pallor and progressive abdominal distention. Nutritional history revealed long-standing excessive cow milk intake. He was subsequently found to...
Analysis of p16 (CDKN2/MTS-1/INK4A) alterations in primary sporadic uveal melanoma.

PURPOSE. To define more clearly the role of the tumor suppressor gene p16 in uveal melanoma by determining the relative contribution of all known mechanisms of p16 inactivation in this tumor. METHODS. A comprehensive genetic analysis of the p16 gene was performed in 33 primary sporadic ciliochoroidal and choroidal melanomas. Fourteen highly polymorphic microsatellite markers surrounding the p16 locus on chromosome 9p21 were used for the microsatellite analysis. Sequence analysis of the p16 gene was performed on those tumors with 9p21 loss of heterozygosity. To investigate methylation as an alternative mechanism of inactivation of p16, methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction was performed on all tumor DNA samples. RESULTS. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) was found in 8 of 33 (24%) uveal melanomas. No evidence of a second region of LOH that did not include the p16 locus was found. Four cases had hemizygous losses including markers both distal and proximal to p16. Homozygous deletion of the p16 gene was detected in the 4 remaining cases by microsatellite analysis. Sequence analysis revealed no p16 mutations in the tumors with hemizygous loss of p16. Methylation of the 5' CpG island of p16 was found in one tumor with 9p21 LOH and in another without LOH. CONCLUSIONS, p16 inactivation by HD or methylation occurs in 27% of uveal melanomas, representing the most common molecular genetic alteration identified thus far in uveal melanoma.
External Sphincter Spasticity Syndrome in Female Patients

AbstractThe external sphincter spasticity syndrome is described with regard to diagnosis, etiology, pathophysiology and treatment. Use of urodynamic techniques (especially urethral pressure profile and diagnostic pudendal blocks) and adrenolytic agents and diazepam in the treatment of the dysfunction is discussed. We consider this clinical entity to be much more common than previously reported.
QRS Voltage Changes in Heart Failure: A 3-Compartment Mechanistic Model and its Implications

A 3-compartment mechanistic model is proposed to explain the attenuation of the electrocardiographic QRS complexes (↓QRSV) observed in patients with heart failure (HF). This includes the effects of increased intracardiac blood volume and decreased hematocrit due to blood dilution (1st compartment), the heart's alteration in electrogenesis due to possible ischemia or inflammation, leading to myocardial edema, (2nd compartment), and the passive volume conductor of the tissue and organ constituents of the thorax and the entire body, with their resistivity changes due to increased fluid content (pulmonary and peripheral edema) (3rd compartment). The clinical implications of the model are outlined.
Beachgoer's recognition of rip current hazard at Miami Beach, Florida

Abstract Rip currents are the number one hazard to bathers at surf beaches. They form as water trapped on the beach moves in a concentrated flow offshore. Miami Beach, Florida is a popular tourist destination and also one of the most deadly beaches in the United States regarding rip-related fatalities. In this study, surveys were used to quantify the public's recognition of rip currents based on factors that included their sociodemographic composition and behavioral characteristics. The responses were analyzed using regression models, which tended to indicate that education level, rip current literacy, and confidence in spotting a rip influenced the beachgoer's ability to recognize a rip current. However, the multivariate model showed a person's education is the only significant variable. A beachgoer's verbal understanding of rip currents does not relate to their visual recognition ability and vice versa. This survey has gathered valuable information that can be used by Miami Beach to create rip current awareness programs that target the most at-risk populations.
Movement, Attention, and Intentionality

This chapter (“Movement, Attention, and Intentionality”) explores two important elements of kinesthetic spectatorship: attention and intentionality. Looking at key ways in which theatre engages movement differently than it is engaged in non-performance situations, it considers the interaction of focal and marginal attention, the centrality of intentionality to action recognition, and the role of affect in the execution and perception of movement. After expanding the intentional model to include micro-intentions and what developmental psychologist Daniel Stern calls “interintentionality,” the chapter concludes with a discussion of contemporary performance attempts to establish a “post-intentional” theatre. Performances analyzed in this chapter include director Ivo van Hove’s production of A View from the Bridge, Robert Wilson’s Einstein on the Beach, and the performative experiments of Stelarc and Cathy Weis.
NEMA performance evaluation of the DISCOVERY MI 25 cm axial extent digital PET/CT scanner

221 Objectives: The DISCOVERY MI digital PET/CT scanner from GE healthcare has a modular design allowing for 15, 20, and 25 cm axial extents (3, 4 or 5 rings). Several 3 and 4 ring systems have been installed and their NEMA NU2-2012 performance characteristics have been previously presented; however, there have been no results from a 5 ring system. In this abstract we present the NEMA NU2-2012 results of the first installed 5 rings system from 2 sites and compare them with those from a 4 ring system as well as the 25 cm axial extent GE Signa PET/MR. Methods: The Discovery MI 5 ring PET/CT scanner is composed of 34 modules each consisting of 5 detector blocks arranged in 16x9 LYSO detector elements. Each detector element is 3.95 x 5.3 x 25 mm. Each detector block is coupled to an array of 4x3 SiPM chips arranged as a 3x2 independent channels. The scanner detector to detector diameter is 74.4cm. NEMA NU2-2012 tests including resolution (FBP and OSEM), sensitivity, count rate, accuracy and image quality were performed. Additionally, the timing resolution and energy resolution of the system were measured. Data for the 4 ring system were obtained from the literature1 while data for PET/MR were obtained in-house. Results: The resolution (OSEM and FBP), sensitivity, count rate, accuracy and image quality are shown in table 1. The resolution is similar between all systems since the detector element is the same. The sensitivity of the 5 ring (20.3 cps/kBq) and the PET/MR (21.5 cps/kBq) are similar since both have a 25 cm axial extent (compared to the 20 cm 4 Ring system) although they have slightly different ring diameters (74.4 vs 62.4cm). The NECR of the 5 ring system has the highest effective sensitivity (269 vs 211 kcps@21 kBq/mL for the PET/MR). Scatter fraction, correction accuracy and image quality have similar results. Conclusion: The discovery MI 5 ring digital scanner has better or comparable NEMA performance characteristics among currently installed PET/CT systems. Hsu DFC, Ilan E, Peterson W, Uribe J, Lubberink M, Levin C; Studies of a Next Generation Silicon-Photomultiplier-Based Time-of-Flight PET/CT System, JNM 2017 Sep; 58(9):1511-1518.
Molecular design and shear stability correlations of dendritic polymethacrylates

Highly branched poly(alkyl methacrylate)s with and without crystalline polycaprolactone segments were designed and prepared via a core-first strategy from commercially available hyperbranched cores, then evaluated with respect to their rheology and shear stability performance. The main focus of this work was to study the effect of branching on mechanical shear stability, as it relates to the durability of viscosity index improvers. A secondary goal was to study the influence of the side chain length and polycaprolactone segment on rheology and shear stability. The polymers were prepared from 16, 32, 64-arm functionalized macroinitiators then subsequently subjected to ARGET-ATRP (activator regenerated by electron transfer – atom transfer radical polymerization) conditions with dodecyl methacrylate (DMA) or 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate (EHMA). The inclusion of polycaprolactone appears to have enhanced the viscosity index in several samples. Although hyperbranching is thought to increase shear stability, several analogs provided competitive viscosity index (VI) values as well. The caprolactone (CL) hard segments appeared to have a detrimental effect on shear, as compared to their non-CL counterparts. Surprisingly, EHMA showed decreased shear stability versus DMA analogs, despite the shorter polymer side chain (C6 versus C12) and presumably less side-chain entanglements. Overall, the trend is very clear for non-CL polymers, with shear stability increasing as arm number increased from 16, to 32 to 64, despite the substantial increase in molecular weight.
Incorporating Spirituality into Graduate Health Professions Education

Spirituality is foundational to healthcare practice; therefore, incorporating spirituality into healthcare education is essential to training students to treat the whole person to maximize patient ...
Behavioural and psychosocial factors associated with 5-year weight trajectories within the PORTAL Overweight/Obesity Cohort.

Objective The purpose of this study was to model weight trajectories over a 5-year time period (2012-2016) and their association with behavioural and psychosocial characteristics and health care-related experiences using data from the Patient Outcomes Research to Advance Learning (PORTAL) overweight/obesity cohort. Methods Weight trajectories for each eligible patient in the PORTAL overweight/obesity cohort (n = 2864) were identified first using growth modelling; trajectories were then grouped using a hierarchical cluster analysis. Weight trajectory clusters that emerged were compared on demographics, and predictors of cluster membership were examined. Clusters were also compared on responses to a survey assessing health behaviours, quality of life, and health care experience completed in 2015 by 49% of the total sample (n = 1391). Results Seven distinct weight trajectory clusters were identified: (a) significant weight loss then maintenance; (b) higher stable weight; (c) moderate stable weight; (d) steady weight loss then relapse; (e) weight gain then weight loss; (f) steady weight gain then maintenance; and (g) lower stable weight. Age, sex, race/ethnicity, and body mass index at baseline predicted patient's weight trajectory (P < .001). Over two thirds of patients maintained their weight over the 5-year period. Significant weight loss then maintenance, weight gain then weight loss, and higher stable weight patients were more likely to report receiving weight counselling from their provider. Patients in the significant weight loss then maintenance and lower stable weight clusters were more likely to be physically active than the other clusters. Conclusion Findings suggest variability in patterns of weight change among adults with overweight or obesity who have access to health care and that these patterns differ on demographic, behavioural and psychosocial factors, and health care experience.
Case contamination in electronic health records based case-control studies

Clinically relevant information from electronic health records (EHRs) permits derivation of a rich collection of phenotypes. Unlike traditionally designed studies where scientific hypotheses are specified a priori before data collection, the true phenotype status of any given individual in EHR-based studies is not directly available. Structured and unstructured data elements need to be queried through preconstructed rules to identify case and control groups. A sufficient number of controls can usually be identified with high accuracy by making the selection criteria stringent. But more relaxed criteria are often necessary for more thorough identification of cases to ensure achievable statistical power. The resulting pool of candidate cases consists of genuine cases contaminated with noncase patients who do not satisfy the control definition. The presence of patients who are neither true cases nor controls among the identified cases is a unique challenge in EHR-based case-control studies. Ignoring case contamination would lead to biased estimation of odds ratio association parameters. We propose an estimating equation approach to bias correction, study its large sample property, and evaluate its performance through extensive simulation studies and an application to a pilot study of aortic stenosis in the Penn medicine EHR. Our method holds the promise of facilitating more efficient EHR studies by accommodating enlarged albeit contaminated case pools.
Adjuvant radiation followed by chemotherapy is associated with improved overall survival in endometrial cancer

Abstract Objective Although multimodality therapy has been shown to improve outcomes for patients with high-risk endometrial carcinoma, optimal type and timing of adjuvant therapies is unknown. Methods Patients with stage I-IVA endometrial carcinoma diagnosed from 2004 to 2015, and treated with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation were identified in the National Cancer Database. Adjuvant treatment was categorized as sequential radiation followed by chemotherapy (RT-CT), concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT, RT and CT started within 7 days), or sequential chemotherapy followed by radiation (CT-RT). Analysis for propensity score matched (PSM) cohorts comparing RT-CT to CCRT and CT-RT groups was additionally performed. Results A total of 17,070 patients were identified, including 12,402 (72.7%) treated with RT-CT, 2,153 (12.6%) with CCRT, and 2,515 (14.7%) with CT-RT. Median follow-up was 44.3 months. Five-year overall-survival (OS) by adjuvant treatment regimen was 77.3% (95% CI 76.4%–78.2%), 74.3% (95% CI 72.0%–76.3%), and 74.4% (95% CI 72.5%–76.3%), respectively (p Conclusion Our findings suggest survival benefit with adjuvant RT-CT compared to CT-RT or CCRT in patients undergoing trimodality therapy for endometrial cancer. This survival benefit may be limited to stage III patients.
The postulate of private right and Kant’s semi-historical principles of property

Whereas several commentators have held that Kant’s argument for the postulate of private right fails insofar as it begs the question, I argue here that this criticism misses the mark. Critics have ...
Stopping aspirin 1 to 3 mo after PCI reduces bleeding without increasing MACE vs. continued DAPT.

SOURCE CITATION O'Donoghue ML, Murphy SA, Sabatine MS. The safety and efficacy of aspirin discontinuation on a background of a P2Y12 inhibitor in patients after percutaneous coronary intervention: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Circulation. 2020;142:538-45. 32551860.
Simultaneous versus staged bilateral knee arthroplasty: do we impact chronic opioid use?

Wilson et al [1][1] conducted a retrospective cohort study that included patients who underwent bilateral total knee arthroplasty (BTKA). Then they compared the postoperative chronic opioid use following simultaneous versus staged BTKA. Investigators found no statistically significant difference