cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An empirical test of the interpersonal theory of suicide in a heterogeneous eating disorder sample

Objective The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS) model has not been fully tested in a clinical eating disorder (ED) population. Method Participants (N = 114) completed questionnaires assessing suicidal ideation (SI), suicide attempts (SA), and constructs of the IPTS. Logistic regressions determined whether thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness were associated with lifetime SI. Among those who endorsed lifetime SI, logistic regressions were used to determine whether elements of the acquired capability for suicide (fearlessness about death and painful and provocative events) were associated with lifetime SA. Results Sixty-five participants (57.0%) had lifetime SI and 24 (21.1%) had lifetime SA. Thwarted belongingness (P < 0.001) and perceived burdensomeness (P < 0.01) were associated with lifetime SI. Painful and provocative events were associated with lifetime SA (P < 0.03). Discussion The IPTS was partially supported. Targeting interpersonal variables may be important in treating and preventing suicidality. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.(Int J Eat Disord 2017; 50:162–165)
Relation of Household Income to Incidence of Sudden Unexpected Death in Wake County, North Carolina.

The incidence of out-of-hospital sudden unexpected death (OHSUD) in a racially and socioeconomically diverse population has been inadequately studied. We collated all OHSUDs over a 24-month period among 18- to 64-year olds in Wake County, North Carolina, to investigate geographic and socioeconomic disparity in incidence of OHSUD. An electronic query of Wake County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) identified all EMS attended out-of-hospital deaths. After excluding trauma, expected deaths, and deaths occurring in non–free-living subjects, medical records and medical examiner's reports were reviewed by a committee of cardiologists to make the determination of OHSUD. Victims were geocoded to census tracts, and demographic and socioeconomic data were obtained from the 2014 American Community Survey and 2010 US Census. Incidence was examined by sociodemographic group with univariate analysis and multivariable regression. There were 397 OHSUDs, and 53% of census tracts had >1 event. The incidence of OHSUD was 64 of 100,000; 107 of 100,000 among blacks; and 60 of 100,000 among whites. Census tracts with >1 OHSUD had a higher population of blacks, a greater proportion unmarried, a lower median household income, and a greater proportion residing in a rural area. Only median household income remained a significant predictor of OHSUD after adjustment in multivariable analysis. Low median household income of a community portends a higher incidence of sudden death. In conclusion, interventions to reduce the incidence of sudden death need to be developed with these specific communities in mind.
The Transition to Independence and Postfledging Parental Care in Seabirds

Behavior is one component of adaptation to the environment; thus examinations of particular kinds of behavior provide insights into the evolution of species. Comparing behaviors among animals provides a framework for generating ideas about how animals adapt. In birds, parental care involves considerable time and energy, and thus provides a good opportunity to examine the diversity, mechanisms, and adaptative significance of behavior. Parental care refers to all behaviors that contribute to the maintenance and survival of their young. Most references to parental care in the literature are limited to the early phase of care of the nestlings, whereas a few studies examine care up until “fledging.” In its broadest sense, parental care includes any behavior that contributes to the survival of the young once they have departed from the nest and are partially independent of their parents.
Spiritual Labor in Alcoholics Anonymous: A Model of Spiritual Discourse in Organizations

This paper builds on McGuire’s (2010) study of spiritual labor in parochial boarding schools. I transport the concept of spiritual labor to the study of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), an informal, peer-led and managed organization whose mission is to “carry the message of recovery to the alcoholic who still suffers.” McGuire finds that spiritual labor often leads to a sense of hypocrisy and dissonance, which can be exacerbated by low identification with the organization. I address two research questions: Is there evidence of spiritual labor in AA? If so, to what extent do members experience “dissonance and a sense of hypocrisy”? I explore these questions with a reading of AA literature, the AA Grapevine, and the AA Grapevine discussion forum. For members of AA spirituality is a foundational part of recovery. Stigma management aids entry into the organization. The ability of new members to incorporate AA’s spiritual discourse into their personal narratives is a key part of the identification process as well as...
Groundwater recharge in desert playas: current rates and future effects of climate change

Our results from playas, which are topographic low areas situated in closed-catchments in drylands, indicated that projected climate change in Southwestern USA would have a net positive impact over runon and groundwater recharge beneath playas. Expected increased precipitation variability can cause up to a 300% increase in annual groundwater recharge beneath playas. This increase will overshadow the effect of decreased precipitation amount that could cause up to a 50% decrease in recharge beneath playas. These changes could have a significant impact on groundwater and carbon storage. These results are important given that groundwater resources in Southwestern USA continue to decline due to human consumption outpacing natural recharge of aquifers. Here, we report on groundwater recharge rates ranging from less than 1 mm to greater than 25 mm per year beneath desert playas. Playas located in larger and steeper catchments with finer-textured soils had the highest rates of recharge. Vegetation cover had no effect on recharge beneath playas. We modeled catchment runoff generation and found that the amount of runon a playa receives annually strongly correlated to the rate of groundwater recharge beneath that playa. Runon occurred during precipitation events larger than 20 mm and increased linearly with events above that threshold.
A learning-based measurement framework for traffic matrix inference in software defined networks

Abstract In this paper, we propose an intelligent framework for Traffic Matrix (TM) inference in Software Defined Networks (SDN) where the Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM) entries of switches are partitioned into two parts to: 1) effectively aggregate part of incoming flows for aggregate measurements, and 2) de-aggregate and directly measure the most informative flows for per-flow measurements. These measurements are then processed to effectively estimate the size of network flows. Under hard resource constraints of limited TCAM sizes, we show how to design the optimal and efficient-compressed flow aggregation matrices. We propose an optimal Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) based algorithm to adaptively measure the most rewarding flows. We evaluate the performance of our framework using real traffic traces from different network environments and by considering two main applications: TM estimation and Heavy Hitter (HH) detection. Moreover, we have implemented a prototype of our framework in Mininet to demonstrate its effectiveness.
A review of clear sky radiative cooling developments and applications in renewable power systems and passive building cooling

Abstract Although nocturnal radiative cooling has been known for centuries, providing sub-ambient radiative cooling during daytime was a challenge until recent years. Recent advances in nano-fabrication technologies, have made it possible to manufacture structures with tailored radiative properties for various energy applications like daytime clear sky radiative cooling. It has been shown that photonic and plasmonic selective emitters can be tuned efficiently to emit heat through clear sky to the outer space and cool terrestrial objects providing passive cooling. There is a renewed interest in clear sky radiative cooling among researchers. Providing continuous day and night sub-ambient cooling and dissipation of low grade heat from renewable power systems without use of water or external energy under direct sunlight and other applications have made clear sky radiative cooling a hot research topic. This paper reviews relevant publications on clear-sky radiative cooling methods. An overview of radiative cooling fundamentals and a detailed literature survey of published studies on selective emitter structures for daytime and nighttime cooling purposes is presented. Furthermore, a detailed energy analysis is performed identifying key performance indicators and evaluating the cooling performance under various conditions. Findings from studies that have used empirical equations for numerical energy analysis and selective emitter structure designs for daytime and nighttime applications are summarized in tables for easy comparison.
Unsupervised tip-mining from customer reviews

Abstract In recent years, large review-hosting platforms have extended their functionality to allow their users to submit tips: short pieces of text that deliver valuable insight on a specific aspect of the reviewed business. These tips are meant to serve as a concise source of information that complements the often overwhelming number of customer reviews. Recent work has tackled the problem of automatically generating tips by mining review text. The motivation for this effort is to obtain tips for businesses or business aspects that have been overlooked by users. Another motivating factor is the quality of the user-submitted tips, which often provide trivial or redundant information. Existing tip-mining methods are limited by a reliance on training data, which is unlikely to be available and is also very costly to create for different domains. In this work, we present TipSelector , a completely unsupervised algorithm that delivers high quality-tips without the need for annotated training data. We verify the efficacy of TipSelector via an evaluation that includes real data from the hospitality industry and comparisons with the state-of-the-art. A secondary contribution of our work is a method for automatically evaluating tip-mining algorithms without humans in the loop. As we demonstrate in our experiments, this method can be used to enable large-scale evaluations and complement the user studies that are typically used for this purpose.
An experimental study of old and new depth measures

Data depth is a statistical analysis method that assigns a numeric value to a point based on its centrality relative to a data set. Examples include the half-space depth (also known as Tukey depth), convex-hull peeling depth and L1 depth. Data depth has significant potential as a data analysis tool. The lack of efficient computational tools for depth based analysis of large high-dimensional data sets, however, prevents it from being in widespread use. We provide an experimental evaluation of several existing depth measures on different types of data sets, recognize problems with the existing measures and suggest modifications. Specifically, we show how the L1 depth contours are not indicative of shape and suggest a PCA-based scaling that handles this problem; we demonstrate how most existing depth measures are unable to cope with multimodal data sets and how the newly suggested proximity graph depth addresses this issue; and we explore how depth measures perform when the underlying distribution is not elliptic. Our experimental tool is of independent interest: it is an interactive software tool for the generation of data sets and visualization of the performance of multiple depth measures. The tool uses a hierarchical render-pipeline to allow for diverse data sets and fine control of the visual result. With this tool, new ideas in the field of data depth can be evaluated visually and quickly, allowing researchers to assess and adjust current depth functions.
The Liberatory Potential of Caribbean Women

Myriam Chancy’s latest study, From Sugar to Revolution: Women’s Visions of Haiti, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, is a stunning achievement in comparative analysis of Caribbean cultures. It is simply a master class for those of us who attempt to make sense of the complex histories of the region and the written works and visual arts that result. In this rich text, Chancy juxtaposes works by women of Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, highlighting the long-standing relationships of the nations of Hispaniola and the largest Antillean island.
"Keeping Up with the Joneses" - The Story of Sir Robert Jones and Sir Reginald Watson-Jones

Hugh Owen Thomas was born in 1834 in Liverpool, the son of a professional bonesetter. He was considered by many to be the father of British orthopaedics. Thomas' father sent Hugh Owen and his brothers to medical school, and in 1857 he qualified as a doctor in Edinburgh. He was considered a dynamic, eccentric and exceptionally hard-working gentleman. In addition, he was extremely free-thinking and novel in his approach to fracture management. Because of his controversial nature and unique ideas, he was not accepted by the medical establishment and never received a hospital appointment. Thomas performed operations in his own small hospital and fabricated all of his braces and appliances. He was loved by the people for caring for the underprivileged of Liverpool. Each Sunday he provided free medical care for the poor. In 1875, he published a book entitled Diseases of the Hip, Knee and Ankle Joints. The book described the use of braces in fracture management, including a splint that he used for treatment of femur fractures. Interestingly, this device persists today as the Thomas Splint used by Emergency Medical Personnel to temporarily stabilize femur fractures. In addition, he described using an ischial-bearing splint to treat tuberculosis of the knee (Figure 1). Both of these devices were innovative approaches to common problems. He also described a way in which hip flexion contractures could be assessed on physical exam, now known as the "Thomas test" (Figures 2 a-b). Figure 1 Thomas' ischial-bearing splint Figure 2 Demonstration of the "Thomas test"
The Contingency of Nature

The thesis of this essay is that there is a primordial apprehension of the contingency of nature in civilized experience.1 The expressions of this apprehension of contingency have taken many forms, from the mythic to the philosophical and theological. The expressions have different motifs in different cultures, and there is no preferred cultural starting point. My intent here is to explore the truth about this apprehension of contigency, however, and so I shall be arguing for a preferable contemporary way of understanding it, framed in the discourse of Western intellectual traditions as informed by the East and South Asian. In particular, I shall argue that there are two dimensions to the contingency of nature, namely the contingency of natural things within nature, and the contingency of nature as such, and that the apprehension of both is one of the founding definitions of human culture. The first can be called cosmological contingency, characteristic of cosmological processes, and the second ontological contingency, the contingency of being as such, from ontos, one of the Greek words for being. These two senses of contingency are closely related. From a cross-cultural perspective, the notions of both nature and its apprehension are problematic, and some of the discussion to follow treats these problems.
A crash course in metaphysics for the database designer

Information modeling is the first stage of database design. The central problem in information modeling is the identification of the proper set of objects to be included in the model. The wrong set of objects can lead to data integrity problems and incorrect information being delivered to unwitting users. A subtle but important point is that the information model represents object classes which are groupings of objects with similar characteristics. At the heart of the problem of identifying object classes is the question â€œDo object classes exist in the world waiting to be discovered by the information modeler, or are they constructed by the modeler based on abstractions drawn from the application domain?â€ Although most modeling approaches implicitly assume that object classes do exist, an analysis of the opinions of several major western philosophers from Plato to Wittgenstein suggest that this assumption may be flawed. If this is the case, the practice of information modeling changes dramatically.
Astrogliosis and Axonal Regeneration

Abstract Following central nervous system (CNS) injury, the local biochemical changes trigger astrogliosis around the lesion. A number of molecules, including cytokines, chemokines, neurotrophic factors, their receptors, and several intracellular signaling pathways, contribute to astrogliosis after CNS injury. Reactive astrocytes are characterized by highly expressing a few intermediate filaments, including glial fibrillary acidic protein, nestin, and vimentin. Astrogliosis is a defense response of the CNS to minimize and repair primary damage, but it eventually generates harmful effects due to producing high levels of inhibitory molecules to suppress neuronal elongation and forming potent barriers to axon regeneration. Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) are highly upregulated by reactive scars and are particularly potent contributors to the growth-limiting environment in the mature CNS. Surmounting strong inhibition by CSPG-rich scars is an important therapeutic goal for achieving functional recovery after CNS injuries. As of now, the main in vivo approach to overcome inhibition by CSPGs is enzymatic digestion with locally applied chondroitinase ABC, but several disadvantages may prevent using this bacterial enzyme as a therapeutic option for patients. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying CSPG action is needed to develop more effective therapies to overcome CSPG-mediated inhibition. Because of their large size and dense negative charges, CSPGs were thought to act by nonspecifically hindering the binding of matrix molecules to their cell surface receptors through steric interactions. Although this may be true, recent studies indicate that two members of the leukocyte common antigen related (LAR) phosphatase subfamily, protein tyrosine phosphatase σ and LAR, are functional receptors that bind CSPGs with high affinity and mediate CSPG inhibitory effects. CSPGs also may act by binding to two receptors for myelin-associated growth inhibitors, Nogo receptors 1 and 3. If confirmed, it would suggest that CSPGs have multiple mechanisms by which they inhibit axon growth, making them especially potent and difficult therapeutic targets. Identification of CSPG receptors is not only important for understanding the scar-mediated growth suppression, but also for developing novel and selective therapies to promote axon sprouting and/or regeneration after CNS injuries.
The Epigenetic Influence of the Tumor Microenvironment on Melanoma Plasticity

Melanoma represents a growing public health burden worldwide, and like most other cancers, is a disease of the tumor-host microenvironment. An innovative cellular and molecular analysis has been used to study the epigenetic induction of a transdifferentiated phenotype in poorly aggressive melanoma cells exposed to the microenvironment of aggressive melanoma cells, including the acquisition of a plastic and invasive phenotype. These findings offer a unique perspective of the inductive properties associated with an aggressive melanoma microenvironment that might provide new insights into the regulation of tumor cell plasticity and differentiation, as well as mechanisms that could be targeted for novel therapeutic strategies. A dynamic, complex relationship exists between tumor cells and their microenvironment, which plays a pivotal role in cancer progression, yet remains poorly understood. Particularly perplexing is the revelation that aggressive melanoma cells express genes associated with multiple cellular phenotypes, in addition to their ability to form vasculogenic-like networks in three-dimensional (3-D) matrix -- vasculogenic mimicry. Key to identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying vasculogenic mimicry and tumor cell transdifferentiation is understanding the unique role of the tumor microenvironment in this process. This chapter will review the epigenetic effect of the microenvironment of aggressive melanoma cells. The data reveal profound changes in the global gene expression in poorly aggressive melanoma cells exposed to 3-D matrices preconditioned by aggressive melanoma cells, including the acquisition of a vasculogenic cell phenotype, upregulation of ECM remodeling genes, and increased migratory/invasive potential -- indicative of microenvironment-induced transdifferentiation.
64 ANA by indirect immunofluorescence alone rare in SLE and clinical phenotype of patients with ANA plus lupus associated antibodies is different than ANA alone

Background Autoantibody and laboratory testing is essential for SLE diagnosis. ANA by indirect immunofluorescence (ANA IIF) remains the gold standard to screen for lupus and studies demonstrate preclinical phase during which autoantibodies accumulate. Prevalence of ANA IIF alone without more specific autoantibodies and the accompanying clinical phenotype of these patients uncertain. Methods Queried 602 patients in the NYU Lupus Registry with 4 or more ACR or SLICC criteria as adjudicated by the authors for prevalence of ANA IIF, dsDNA, Sm, Ro, La, RNP, aPL, C3, C4. Compared clinical features of isolated ANA (ANA IIF alone) with the ANA IIF plus one or more lupus associated abnormalities (ANA IIF +). Results 590/602 (98%) ANA IIF positive. 548/590 (93%) patients at least one of associated tests compared to only 42/590 (7%) ANA IIF alone. SLE nephritis significantly more prevalent in ANA IIF+254/548 (46%), compared to 13/42 (31%) recorded with renal criteria ANA IIF alone. ANA IIF +, 158/254 (62%) biopsy proven nephritis (LN), rather than relying on proteinuria for diagnosis, compared to 5/13 (38%) of ANA IIF alone biopsy proven LN. Remaining 8 ANA IIF alone, uPCR exceeded 0.5 g in 1 of 44 (2%) encounters. Low incidence of proteinuria explained by complete renal response or prior proteinuria misconstrued as evidence of LN. In comparison, uPCR >0.5 g was present in 694 of 1157 (60%) encounters in ANA IIF +, casting doubt on validity of LN diagnosis in 8 ANA IIF alone without biopsy. Leucopenia, lymphocytopenia, AITP, AIHA statistically less ANA IIF alone compared to ANA IIF + ; 24% vs 36%, 29% vs 40%, 7% vs 15% and 0% vs 7%, respectively. 42 patients with ANA IIF alone prevalence of potentially misattributed (e.g. not result of IMID) clinical criteria such as photosensitivity (64%) and malar rash (60%) greater compared to ANA IIF +, 38% and 44%, respectively. Prevalence oral ulcers, DLE, arthritis, serositis, seizures and psychosis equivalent in both. Conclusions ANA IIF alone rare and patients infrequently develop nephritis, leucopenia, lymphocytopenia, AITP, AIHA. In patients ANA IIF alone attribution of ACR/SLICC clinical criteria needs to be point of emphasis and unless biopsy proven, alternative explanation for proteinuria should be considered. Data argues inclusion criteria for clinical trials, rather than allowing ANA IIF alone or dsDNA, may need to require ANA IIF and at least one of the following (dsDNA, Sm, Ro, La, aPL, or hypocomplementemia) to avoid enrolling patients that do not have SLE. Funding Source(s): None
A Growing Epidemic: Plastic Surgeons and Burnout-A Literature Review

Background The prevalence of burnout is increasing among all physicians, including plastic surgeons. Burnout is not simply synonymous with being overworked. It is a complex physical, intellectual, and psychological entity that arises when the expectation and reality of the job do not match. In this article, the authors' goal is to define burnout, summarize its causes and consequences, and offer the plastic surgeons methods to prevent and address it. Methods A literature search of articles on burnout in medicine was performed. Articles that were relevant were selected, and were qualitatively analyzed to answer our questions on the definition, prevalence, causes, consequences, and treatments of burnout. Results Sixty-five relevant articles were included. The prevalence of burnout among physicians ranges between 29 and 55 percent. Risk factors for physician burnout include increased workload and call, junior academic rank, and fair physician health. There is significant overlap among burnout, depression, and substance abuse, and suicide is much more common among physicians than among the general population. Preventing burnout involves a multiprong approach that addresses the physical, intellectual, and psychological dimensions of the physician. Conclusions In this article, concrete steps to prevent and address burnout are presented to plastic surgeons. For physicians, the most important elements for burnout avoidance are the prevention of emotional exhaustion, and the development of professional autonomy and control.
National Trends in Parental Communication With Their Teenage Children About the Dangers of Substance Use, 2002-2016.

Parental engagement is critical to adolescent substance use prevention. However, our understanding of the degree to which parents are actually talking to their children about tobacco, alcohol, and drugs remains limited. The present study provides new evidence on the prevalence and trends of parental substance use communication (PSC) in the United States between 2002 and 2016. Trend analyses were conducted using 15 years of cross-sectional survey data from non-Hispanic White (n = 153,087), Black/African American (n = 35,216), and Hispanic (n = 45,780) adolescents aged 12–17 from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Since the early-to-mid 2000s, the rate of past-year PSC declined significantly, even when accounting for sociodemographic factors. We observed particularly noteworthy declines among adolescents residing in households earning less than $20,000 per year, declining by 19% (in relative terms) from a high of 58% PSC in 2003 and 2008 to a low of 47% in 2016. Teens reporting PSC reported higher levels of perceived parental warmth/engagement and consistent discipline/limit setting. Findings underscore the importance of engaging parents, particularly those less likely to talk to their children about substance use, and providing caregivers instruction and encouragement to talk to teens about the very real dangers of substance use.
Networked Virtual Machine Placement in Edge Cloud Systems

In this paper, we study the networked virtual machine (VM) placement problem in the edge cloud system with a two-layer star topology. Firstly, for a one-layer wireless compute cluster, we propose one optimal algorithm to minimize the total inter-node communication cost in the cluster. Secondly, for the two-layer edge cloud system, we design another algorithm to minimize the total inter-node communication cost in the system. Thirdly, we study the job placement problem under the multi-tenant scenario, which is NP-hard. A heuristic algorithm is proposed to give an efficient solution. The evaluation results validate the efficiency of our algorithms.
On the energy-sampling stabilization of Nodally Integrated Continuum Elements for dynamic analyses

Abstract Nodally integrated elements exhibit spurious modes in dynamic analyses (such as in modal analysis). Previously published methods involved a heuristic stabilization factor, which may not work for a large range of problems, and a uniform amount of stabilization was used over all the finite elements in the mesh. The method proposed here makes use of energy-sampling stabilization. The stabilization factor depends on the shape of the element and appears in the definition of the properties of a stabilization material. The stabilization factor is non-uniform over the mesh, and can be computed to alleviate shear locking, which directly depends on the aspect ratios of the finite elements. The nodal stabilization factor is then computed by volumetric averaging of the element-based stabilization factors. Energy-sampling stabilized nodally integrated elements (ESNICE) tetrahedral and hexahedral are proposed. We demonstrate on examples that the proposed procedure effectively removes spurious (unphysical) modes both at lower and at higher ends of the frequency spectrum. The examples shown demonstrate the reliability of energy-sampling in stabilizing the nodally integrated finite elements in vibration problems, just sufficient to eliminate the spurious modes while imparting minimal excessive stiffness to the structure. We also show by the numerical inf-sup test that the formulation is coercive and locking-free.
17β-Estradiol Delivered in Eye Drops: Evidence of Impact on Protein Networks and Associated Biological Processes in the Rat Retina through Quantitative Proteomics

To facilitate the development of broad-spectrum retina neuroprotectants that can be delivered through topical dosage forms, this proteomics study focused on analyzing target engagements through the identification of functional protein networks impacted after delivery of 17β-estradiol in eye drops. Specifically, the retinae of ovariectomized Brown Norway rats treated with daily eye drops of 17β-estradiol for three weeks were compared to those of vehicle-treated ovariectomized control animals. We searched the acquired raw data against a composite protein sequence database by using Mascot, as well as employed label-free quantification to detect changes in protein abundances. Our investigation using rigorous validation criteria revealed 331 estrogen-regulated proteins in the rat retina (158 were up-regulated, while 173 were down-regulated by 17β-estradiol delivered in eye drops). Comprehensive pathway analyses indicate that these proteins are relevant overall to nervous system development and function, tissue development, organ development, as well as visual system development and function. We also present 18 protein networks with associated canonical pathways showing the effects of treatments for the detailed analyses of target engagements regarding potential application of estrogens as topically delivered broad-spectrum retina neuroprotectants. Profound impact on crystallins is discussed as one of the plausible neuroprotective mechanisms.
A home is more than a roof over your head: Post-prison reintegration challenges in Austria:

Life after prison can pose challenges for the formerly incarcerated, their families, and wider communities. This research studies Austria where probation services are either mandated by the court o...
Lung point-of-care (POCUS) ultrasound in a pediatric COVID-19 case.

Abstract The World Health Organization (WHO) categorized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic due to its high contagion rate and widespread infectivity in February 2020. In the United States (US), one of the public health concerns is the adequacy of resources to treat infected cases. We describe a case of a previously well, 9-year-old obese boy who presented to the emergency department with shortness of breath, fever, abdominal pain and cough with chest pain. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 through significant family contact, confirmed by polymerase chain reaction and found to be at high risk of venous thromboembolism due to abnormal d-dimer. Lung point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in the emergency department observed significant lung pathology, including pleural thickening, consolidation, and B lines. A chest X-ray (CXR) found bilateral ground glass opacities and interstitial prominences consistent with viral pneumonia. Our case suggests that lung POCUS can provide adequate and rapid imaging to assess lung pathology of COVID-19 in a pediatric patient. As there is limited literature on use of lung POCUS in pediatric patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, our case emphasizes its function as a potentially efficient modality in bedside assessment.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for COVID-19 induced hypoxia: Single-center study.

Introduction:The pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and associated pneumonia represent a clinical and scientific challenge. The role of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) i...
Sex‐stratified analysis of the safety of percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion

OBJECTIVES AND BACKGROUND There is insufficient current evidence about whether sex impacts outcomes of percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between sex and short-term outcomes of LAAO. METHODS Patients who were hospitalized and underwent LAAO from October 2015 to December 2017 in the National Readmission Database were queried. The primary endpoint of interest was major in-hospital adverse events. Secondary endpoints included, 30-day readmission rate, nonhome discharge, and cost of hospitalization. Propensity score matching (1:1) was performed to compare the outcomes among women and men. RESULTS A total of 9,281 patients were included in the current analysis [women = 3,659 (39%); men = 5,622 (61%)]. Comparing women to men, women had lower prevalence of diabetes mellitus (30.6% vs 35.7%, p < .01), heart failure (28.6% vs 30.8%, p = .03), vascular disease (55.5% vs 69.6%, p < .01) and renal failure (18.3% vs 21.2%, p < .01), and higher CHA2 DS2 VASc score (5 [IQR4-6] vs 4 [IQR3-6], p < .01). After propensity-score matching, women had higher rate of major in-hospital adverse events (2.8% vs 1.9%; p < .01), and nonhome discharges (11.4% vs 6.7%; p < .01). Additionally, 30-day readmission rate was higher among women (10% vs 8.6%, p = .03). CONCLUSION Among hospitalized patients undergoing LAAO, women carry higher risk for major in-hospital adverse events, nonhome discharge, and 30-day readmission rates.
Environmental Influences on Childhood Asthma Prevalence in Philadelphia

Background: In 2019, the American Lung Association found that, for the second year in a row, the Philadelphia metro has worsened the surrounding areas air quality, due to worsening ozone smog. This spike in unhealthy air quality in Philadelphia has affected the health of the population. Unhealthy air quality can be exacerbated by asbestos, which has been found in many Philadelphia elementary schools. Although asbestos usage is now highly regulated, it can still be found in consumer products and construction material today. Among the many factors contributing to asthma onset and other lung diseases, air pollution and dangerous air particles such as asbestos are important contributors. Children in these asbestos infected schools became exposed and ultimately sick which led to their eventual closure. Due to elementary aged children having immature and more vulnerable airways, this exposure may have led to increasing cases of respiratory distress. Methods: This research study analyzed publicly available asbestos data from Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) reports from four Philadelphia elementary schools (Laura H. Carnell, James J. Sullivan, Clara Barton, and Thomas M. Peirce) from 2016-2018 to further understand the influence of asbestos particles on asthma in children. Secondary data analysis determined the levels of asbestos contamination in each elementary school and the severity of the condition for each school. This was compared to child asthma prevalence during the selected time period. Results: Asbestos was mainly found in the 2-6 inch pipe insulation and tiles within each school. Between 0.06 and 1.18% asbestos damage was found in 2-6inch pipe insulation in schools closed for asbestos abatement. An r2 of 0.9997 was found when comparing the 206inch pipe damage percentage and the newly friable material found in each school. Thomas M. Pierce Elementary was determined to be the highest concern according to the analysis of the AHERA reports. Conclusion: Children exposed to asbestos in elementary schools, and with a predisposition to asthma, were more likely to suffer from respiratory distress, due to the multiple contributing environmental factors.
Outcomes of Heated High Flow Nasal Cannula in Patients With Severe or Life-Threatening COVID-19 at a Military Treatment Facility-A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Introduction The coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced radical changes in management of healthcare in military treatment facilities (MTFs). Military treatment facilities serve unique patients that have a service connection; thus, research and data on this population are relatively sparse. The purpose of this study was to provide descriptive data on characteristics and outcomes of MTF patients with COVID-19 who are treated with heated high-flow nasal cannula (HHFNC). Materials and methods We performed a single-center retrospective cohort study at the Wright-Patterson Medical Center, a 52-bed hospital in an urban setting. We received approval from our Institutional Review Board. The cohort included patients admitted from June 1, 2020, through May 15, 2021 with severe or life-threatening COVID-19 from a positive severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test who were placed on HHFNC during their hospital stay. Severe disease was defined as dyspnea, respiratory rate ≥30/min, blood oxygen saturation ≤93% without supplemental oxygen, partial pressure of arterial oxygen to fraction of inspired oxygen ratio 50% of lung fields within 24-48 hours. Life-threatening disease was defined as having septic shock or multiple organ dysfunction or requiring intubation. Patients meeting these criteria were retrieved from a quality improvement cohort that represents a consecutive group of patients with COVID-19 admitted to the Wright-Patterson Medical Center. Results Our MTF managed 70 cases of severe or life-threatening COVID-19 from June 1, 2020, to May 15, 2021. Of the 70 cases, 19 (27%) were placed on HHFNC. After initiation of HHFNC, median SpO2/FiO2 was 281.8 and at 24 hours 145.4. Median respiratory rate oxygenation at these times were 10.7 and 9.4, respectively. Fifty percent required mechanical ventilation during hospitalization. Median intensive care unit length of stay was 11 days, with a maximum stay of 39 days. Median hospital length of stay was 12 days, with a maximum of 39 days. Conclusion Our retrospective cohort study characterized and analyzed outcomes observed in a MTF population, with severe or life-threatening COVID-19, who were treated with HHFNC. While the study did not have the power to make concrete conclusions on the optimal form of respiratory support for COVID-19 patients, our data support HHFNC as a reasonable treatment modality despite some notable differences between our cohort and prior studied patient populations.
Immune Inspired Learning in a Distributed Environment

This chapter explores the distributed nature of the immune system as a source of inspiration for a distributed learning algorithm. It discusses modifications to the AIRS immune-inspired learning system which offers an initial examination of using distributed computing techniques for immune-inspired systems. A variety of results from a computational efficiency and classification accuracy standpoint are presented. It is argued that this basic step toward a distributed computing algorithm may be fruitful for future explorations of the distributed nature of the immune system and how it might inspire computational solutions.
Electrical isolation and fanout in intra-chip optical interconnects

In this paper, we calculate the benefits of electrical isolation for intra-chip optical interconnects. We compare the delay and energy metrics of systems with intra-chip electrical and optical fanout, and from the results obtained, we conclude that optical fanout can be used to improve speeds in electrical fanout systems even at very short on-chip distances.
From Social Work Practice to Teaching the Practice of Social Work

Abstract Similarities between social work practice and the teaching of social work practice offer opportunities to discuss how these commonalities evolve through interactions in the classroom. This article emphasizes working within a time- and goal-specific framework in both class and field; a conscious use of oneself as a role model; and the teaching of specific practice skills by focusing on group processes in the classroom. Understanding the parallels between practice and teaching can enhance the confidence and competence of instructors and students as together they use the classroom to teach and learn social work principles, values, and skills.
Quantum efficiency characterization of back-illuminated CCDs: Part II. Reflectivity measurements

The usual quantum efficiency (QE) measurement heavily relies on a calibrated photodiode (PD) and the knowledge of the CCDs gain. Either can introduce significant systematic errors. But reflectivity can also be used to verify QE measurements. 1 - R > QE, where R is the reflectivity, and over a significant wavelength range, 1 - R = QE. An unconventional reflectometer has been developed to make this measurement. R is measured in two steps, using light from the lateral monochromator port via an optical fiber. The beam intensity is measured directly with aPD, then both the PD and CCD are moved so that the optical path length is unchanged and the light reflects once from the CCD; the PD current ratio gives R. Unlike traditional schemes this approach makes only one reflection from the CCD surface. Since the reflectivity of the LBNL CCDs might be as low as 2 percent this increases the signal to noise ratio dramatically. The goal is a 1 percent accuracy. We obtain good agreement between 1 - R and the direct QE results.
Solar Energetic Particles: An Overview

This paper presents an overview of what we know about energetic particles from the sun, discusses where progress still needs to be made, and briefly enumerates what steps need to be taken next in order to better understand how and where solar electrons and ions are accelerated to high energies.
The Epidemiology of Anaphylaxis.

Anaphylaxis is a dramatic expression of systemic allergy. The lifetime prevalence of anaphylaxis is currently estimated at 0.05–2 % in the USA and ~3 % in Europe. Several population-specific studies have noted a rise in the incidence, particularly in the hospitalizations and ER visits due to anaphylaxis. The variable signs and symptoms that constitute the diagnostic criteria for anaphylaxis, the differences in diagnostic algorithms, and the limitations in the current coding systems have made summarizing epidemiologic data and comparing study results challenging. Nevertheless, across all studies, the most common triggers continue to be medications, food, and venom. Various risk factors for more severe reactions generally include older age, history of asthma, and having more comorbid diseases. Interesting seasonal, geographic, and latitude differences have been observed in anaphylaxis prevalence and incidence rates, suggesting a possible role of vitamin D and sun exposure in modifying anaphylaxis risk. While the incidence and prevalence of anaphylaxis appear to be increasing in certain populations, the overall fatality rate remains relatively low.
Scaling from individual trees to forests in an Earth system modeling framework using a mathematically tractable model of height-structured competition

Abstract. The long-term and large-scale dynamics of ecosystems are in large part determined by the performances of individual plants in competition with one another for light, water, and nutrients. Woody biomass, a pool of carbon (C) larger than 50% of atmospheric CO2, exists because of height-structured competition for light. However, most of the current Earth system models that predict climate change and C cycle feedbacks lack both a mechanistic formulation for height-structured competition for light and an explicit scaling from individual plants to the globe. In this study, we incorporate height-structured competition for light, competition for water, and explicit scaling from individuals to ecosystems into the land model version 3 (LM3) currently used in the Earth system models developed by the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL). The height-structured formulation is based on the perfect plasticity approximation (PPA), which has been shown to accurately scale from individual-level plant competition for light, water, and nutrients to the dynamics of whole communities. Because of the tractability of the PPA, the coupled LM3-PPA model is able to include a large number of phenomena across a range of spatial and temporal scales and still retain computational tractability, as well as close linkages to mathematically tractable forms of the model. We test a range of predictions against data from temperate broadleaved forests in the northern USA. The results show the model predictions agree with diurnal and annual C fluxes, growth rates of individual trees in the canopy and understory, tree size distributions, and species-level population dynamics during succession. We also show how the competitively optimal allocation strategy – the strategy that can competitively exclude all others – shifts as a function of the atmospheric CO2 concentration. This strategy is referred to as an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) in the ecological literature and is typically not the same as a productivity- or growth-maximizing strategy. Model simulations predict that C sinks caused by CO2 fertilization in forests limited by light and water will be down-regulated if allocation tracks changes in the competitive optimum. The implementation of the model in this paper is for temperate broadleaved forest trees, but the formulation of the model is general. It can be expanded to include other growth forms and physiologies simply by altering parameter values.
RandAL: a randomized approach to aligning DNA sequences to reference genomes

Background The alignment of short reads generated by next-generation sequencers to genomes is an important problem in many biomedical and bioinformatics applications. Although many proposed methods work very well on narrow ranges of read lengths, they tend to suffer in performance and alignment quality for reads outside of these ranges.
English Enemies of the American Slipper-limpet, Crepidula fornicata.

IN 1923 the present writer found a shell of a dead slipper-limpet (Crepidula fornicata) at West Mersea, Essex, bored extensively by the boring sponge Cliona celata. This year a good number of living slipper-limpets have been examined, and one, the fourth individual of a chain of 8 living ones, was found with the living sponge boring into the shell. In the shell of the dead animal the sponge could be seen to have bored through all parts including the shelf, but had been inhibited from perforating over almost the whole of the area on the dorsal side, where another slipper-limpet had been attached to it. In the living specimen the sponge can be seen to be forming a honeycomb mesh-work in the dorsal portion of the shell, but it has only perforated to the surface in the postero-dorsal region; the shelf of the shell is also attacked and is almost perforated in places. On the part of the shell where the next individual in the chain was sitting there is a nodular deposition of calcareous matter over strands of the sponge tissue. This deposit has been laid down, not by the owner of the shell, but by the individual sitting on the shell, and undoubtedly as a reaction to the irritation caused by the sponge. Crepidula has, therefore, found an enemy in Cliona in its new environment, and it will be interesting to know to what extent the slipper-limpet will be attacked in future in view of its economic importance.