cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The relation between induced abortion and ectopic pregnancy.

Objective To determine whether having had one or more induced abortions increases a woman's risk of having an ectopic pregnancy. Methods We conducted a case-control study of all women admitted to a major metropolitan hospital in Georgia with a surgical diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy during the period of October 1988 to August 1990. Controls were randomly selected from women seeking an induced abortion or delivering an infant at the same hospital. After exclusions, this analysis included 182 cases and 1056 controls. Stratified analysis and unconditional logistic regression were used to control for confounding and to estimate the relative risks. Results Approximately 90% of cases and controls were non-Hispanic, black women; 34% of the cases and 36% of the controls reported a history of induced abortion. The crude odds ratio for having an ectopic pregnancy associated with a history of induced abortion was 0.9 (95% confidence interval 0.6,1.3). The odds ratio remained the same after adjusting for selected confounding variables and stratifying by the number of induced abortions, gestational age at the time of abortion, place where the abortion was performed, and the woman's report of medical complications of the abortion. Conclusion We found no evidence that having one or more induced abortions increases a woman's risk of having an ectopic pregnancy.
Imputed rental prices and capital stock estimates for equipment and structures in the US lumber and plywood industries

(1985). Imputed rental prices and capital stock estimates for equipment and structures in the US lumber and plywood industries. Applied Economics: Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 243-256.
Loss of Astrocytic Domain Organization in the Epileptic Brain

Gliosis is a pathological hallmark of posttraumatic epileptic foci, but little is known about these reactive astrocytes beyond their high glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression. Using diolistic labeling, we show that cortical astrocytes lost their nonoverlapping domain organization in three mouse models of epilepsy: posttraumatic injury, genetic susceptibility, and systemic kainate exposure. Neighboring astrocytes in epileptic mice showed a 10-fold increase in overlap of processes. Concurrently, spine density was increased on dendrites of excitatory neurons. Suppression of seizures by the common antiepileptic, valproate, reduced the overlap of astrocytic processes. Astrocytic domain organization was also preserved in APP transgenic mice expressing a mutant variant of human amyloid precursor protein despite a marked upregulation of GFAP. Our data suggest that loss of astrocytic domains was not universally associated with gliosis, but restricted to seizure pathologies. Reorganization of astrocytes may, in concert with dendritic sprouting and new synapse formation, form the structural basis for recurrent excitation in the epileptic brain.
Neuronal responses in ventroposterolateral nucleus of thalamus in monkeys (Macaca mulatta) during active touch of gratings.

Responses of single neurons were recorded from the ventroposterolateral nucleus (VPL) of the thalamus while a monkey stroked its fingertips over gratings. Monkeys were trained to stroke the gratings with consistent downward applied force and velocity of hand motion. Neurons were selected with receptive fields on the glabrous digits. Average firing rate was computed for a range of grating groove widths; groove width corresponded to roughness. Force and velocity were measured. VPL responses were compared to previously reported responses in primary somatosensory cortex (SI) under identical stimulus conditions, and to reports of peripheral afferent fiber responses to passively applied gratings. VPL responses more closely resembled those of peripheral afferent fibers than those of SI in important respects: lack of independent responses to roughness, force, and velocity; high temporal and force fidelity; and response patterns that closely followed the shape of elevated metal strips used to separate pairs of gra...
A unified method based on wavelet filtering and Active Contour Models for segmentation of Pelvic CT images

Accurate segmentation of bone tissue from Pelvic CT images is an important step in the process of developing an automated computer aided decision making system that would provide physicians with recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic pelvic injuries. The proposed algorithm is an automated, unsupervised, and hierarchical method for the segmentation of bone tissue. The method incorporates, as key components, wavelet processing, automated seed growing and Active Contour Models (ACM's). A wavelet based method is applied for filtering and enhancing of noisy CT images that are the target of segmentation. The main task of the proposed seed growing is to automatically find a suitable set of points for ACM initialization. Another benefit of the proposed method is that the resulting seeds are suitable for identifying small fragments of shattered bones. ACM is used to capture the edges of larger bones that, due to their natural varying densities, and consequently varying grey levels, cannot be correctly segmented by solely using seed growing. The preliminary results produced by the proposed method are very promising. The proposed method performs the challenging task of identifying the fragments of fractured bone, as well as accurately detecting the edges of bones in the pelvic region. Moreover, separation between bones is identified even in challenging areas such as hip joints.
Tiroiditis aguda supurada en un paciente pediátrico: Report of a pediatric case

Acute suppurative thyroiditis (AST) is an uncommon condition be-cause thyroid gland is remarkably resistant to infections. In children, anatomic defects such asa left pyriform sinus fistula or a thyroglossal duct remnant predispose to this infection. Once thediagnosis is confirmed by ultrasound or computed tomography, antimicrobial therapy based onthe culture and Gram staining must be started. After two or three weeks of treatment, predispos-ing anatomic defects must be sought cautiously. We report a 13 years old girl presenting withcervical pain and fever. A cervical ultrasound showed an enlarged thyroid lobule with hypoeco-genic zones that suggested a supurative collection. Cefotaxime and cloxacillin were started. Aneedle aspiration of the collection obtained a purulent material. The culture of this materialyielded a Streptococcus Pneumoniae. The clinical condition of the patient improved and shewas discharged in good conditions. Two months later a contrast esophagus X ray did not showpredisposing anatomic defects. (Rev Med Chile 2004; 132: 219-22).(
Extraction of Bituminous Coal Fly Ash for Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Evaluation of Modified and Unmodified Supercritical Fluid Extraction, Enhanced Fluidity Solvents, and Accelerated Solvent Extraction

A comparison among supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), modified SFE, enhanced-fluidity extraction, and accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) techniques was made for the extraction of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from an aged, spiked bituminous coal fly ash. Non-ASE extraction techniques used in this study could not recover PAHs with molecular weights greater than that of pyrene. ASE techniques using methylene chloride (with and without a static step) and toluene were able to recover most of the PAHs studied. None of the ASE techniques could quantitatively extract the low-molecular-weight PAHs from the bituminous fly ash. The medium-molecular-weight PAHs were best recovered with toluene ASE. The high-molecular-weight PAHs were best recovered with the toluene ASE technique (> 80%), but the overall precision of these measurements was low. Methylene chloride ASE with a static step recovered the high-molecular-weight PAHs with the next highest efficiency (approximately 55%) and had standard deviations less than 10% (longer extraction times [> 30 min] with the methylene chloride would increase the recoveries of these analytes.) A comparison of the results from this study with those of a previous study using lignite coal fly ash illustrates the difficulty in developing and adapting analyte-specific extraction methods for analytes that are adsorbed on different matrices.
OSCILLATORY STATES AND SLOW ACTIVITY CHANGES DURING THE OXIDATION OF HYDROGEN BY PALLADIUM

Sustained oscillations of the reaction rate were observed during the oxidation of hydrogen on a palladium wire whose temperature was maintained constant by a constant temperature anemometer. This oscillatory behavior was observed only within a region of operating conditions under which the activity of the wire responded very slowly to sudden changes in the limiting reactant's concentration. The slow activity changes and oscillations are probably caused by slow surface oxidation and reduction. The oscillatory states are independent of the linear gas velocity for sufficiently high velocities, indicating that they are not caused by the coupling between chemical and transport rate processes.
Synthesis and Diastereoselective Aldol Reactions of a Thiazolidinethione Chiral Auxiliary

(S)-1-(4-Benzyl-2-thioxothiazolidin-3-yl)propan-1-one (2S, 3R)-3-Hydroxy-1-[(4S)-4-benzyl-2-thioxo-thiazolidin-3-yl]-2,4- dimethyl-pentan-1-one (2R, 3S)-3-Hydroxy-1-[(4S)-4-benzyl-2-thioxo-thiazolidin-3-yl]-2,4- dimethyl-pentan-1-one (S)-Phenylalaninol Carbon disulfide Propionyl chloride Pyridine 2-Thiazolidinethione, 4-(phenylmethyl)-, (4S)- N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (–)-Sparteine Isobutyraldehyde Titanium tetrachloride Keywords: diastereoselective aldol reactions; evans syn-aldol procedure; amino acid-derived oxazolidinone chiral auxiliaries; thiazolidinethione; chlorotitanium enolate
3D structure estimation from monocular video clips

This paper explores the idea of extracting three dimensional features from a previously recorded video, in an attempt to provide three dimensional information about a video clip in order to improve the performance of various video analysis tasks. Although video analysis is a very prevalent area of research, the use of 3D features is scarce in the literature due to the inherent difficulties associated with extracting accurate 3D representations of videos in cases where no previous knowledge of the scene or camera is known. In this paper, we present a framework that attempts to compute a dense three dimensional representation of a scene using only the available video sequence. Our proposed system exploits the motion of the camera in order to estimate the relative 3D positions of salient features located in the video frames. Additionally, we incorporate the use of appearance-based models to estimate their relative poses and fit a 3D human model into the reconstructed scenes. We test our method using various video clips obtained from online databases in order to show the feasibility of this approach.
Urinary levels of estrogens and pregnanediol and plasma levels of progesterone during the menstrual cycle of the chimpanzee; relationship to the sexual swelling.

Urinary estrone, estradiol–17β, estriol and pregnanediol were identified and measured during 3 normal menstrual cycles in 3 chimpanzees. During the first half of the menstrual cycle, the animals excreted 1–10 βg/day estrone, 0.5–5.0 βg/day estradiol–17β, 0.1–0.8 μg/day estriol, and < 20–700 Hg/day pregnanediol. In the second half of the cycle, corresponding values were 1–20 μg/day estrone, 1–9 μg/day estradiol– 17β, < 1.0–2.5 μg/day estriol, and <20–1860 μg/ day pregnanediol. The values for estrone and estradiol–17β are similar to those found during the human menstrual cycle, but the levels for estriol are strikingly lower. Levels for urinary pregnanediol were significantly lower than in the human, both in absolute terms and in relation to the plasma progesterone levels. Plasma progesterone levels (26 subjects) were similar to those in the human. Variations during the cycle in urinary estrone, estradiol–17β, pregnanediol and plasma progesterone corresponded to those in the human. There was a marked mid—cy...
Analogues of some Tauberian theorems for bounded variation

In this paper definitions for “bounded variation”, “subsequences”, “Pringsheim limit points”, and “stretchings” of a double sequence are presented. Using these definitions and the notion of regularity for four dimensional matrices, the following two questions will be answered. First, if there exists a four dimensional regular matrix A such that Ay = Σ k,l=1,1 ∞∞ a m,n,k,l y k,l is of bounded variation (BV) for every subsequence y of x, does it necessarily follow that x ∈ BV? Second, if there exists a four dimensional regular matrix A such that Ay ∈ BV for all stretchings y of x, does it necessarily follow that x ∈ BV? Also some natural implications and variations of the two Tauberian questions above will be presented.
A Knowledge-Based Model of Geometry Learning

We propose a model of the development of geometric reasoning in children that explicitly involves learning. The model uses a neural network that is initialized with an understanding of geometry similar to that of second-grade children. Through the presentation of a series of examples, the model is shown to develop an understanding of geometry similar to that of fifth-grade children who were trained using similar materials.
Effects of Head-neck Rotation and Kinesio Taping of the Flexor Muscles on Dominant-hand Grip Strength

Purpose) The purposes of this study were to examine whether the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex affects the dominant-hand grip strength in healthy adults and to compare the results with the degree of grip strength achieved when Kinesio tape was applied to the flexor muscles of the dominant hands. (Subjects) The subjects were 20 men and 20 women who agreed to participate in the study. (Methods) Grip strength was measured using a Jamer dynamometer under 3 conditions: the neutral position, the head-neck system rotating toward the nondominant hand in the transverse plane, and after applying Kinesio tape to the flexor muscles of the dominant hand. (Results) In the neutral position, the grip strength of the dominant hand was significantly greater after applying Kinesio tape to the flexor muscles than that of the untaped dominant hand in the neutral position or the head-neck rotation condition in both males and females. (Conclusion) These results suggest that the muscle strength of the upper extremity in subjects with upper- extremity muscle weakness may be improved by clinical application of Kinesio taping as a supplementary measure.
Bereaved parents' intentions and suggestions about research autopsies in children with lethal brain tumors.

Objective To determine bereaved parents' perceptions about participating in autopsy-related research and to elucidate their suggestions about how to improve the process. Study design A prospective multicenter study was conducted to collect tumor tissue by autopsy of children with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. In the study, parents completed a questionnaire after their child's death to describe the purpose for, hopes (ie, desired outcomes of), and regrets about their participation in autopsy-related research. Parents also suggested ways to improve autopsy-related discussions. A semantic content analytic method was used to analyze responses and identify themes within and across parent responses. Results Responses from 33 parents indicated that the main reasons for participating in this study were to advance medical knowledge or find a cure, a desire to help others, and choosing as their child would want. Parents hoped that participation would help others or help find a cure as well as provide closure. Providing education/anticipatory guidance and having a trusted professional sensitively broach the topic of autopsy were suggestions to improve autopsy discussions. All parents felt that study participation was the right decision, and none regretted it; 91% agreed that they would make the choice again. Conclusion Because autopsy can help advance scientific understanding of the disease itself and because parents reported having no regret and even cited benefits, researchers should be encouraged to continue autopsy-related research. Parental perceptions about such studies should be evaluated in other types of pediatric diseases.
Design concepts of a 1 MW CW X-band transmit/receive system for planetary radar

The conceptual design of the 1 MW X-band transmit system for the Goldstone Solar System Radar represents the next step in the quest to expand planetary radar exploration. The radar transmitter requirements are summarized. The characteristics and expected performance of the major elements are discussed, including the klystrons, power amplifiers, microwave transmission lines, feed systems, beam power supply, heat exchanger, phase stable exciter, and the monitor/control system. An assessment of the technology development needed to meet the system requirements is given, and possible areas of difficulty are outlined. >
UGT1A promoter polymorphisms influence bilirubin response to hydroxyurea therapy in sickle cell anemia.

Abstract Hydroxyurea therapy reduces hemolysis and decreases serum bilirubin levels in children and adults with sickle cell anemia (SCA) and may therefore help prevent the development of cholelithiasis in this patient population. We recently reported that a promoter polymorphism in the uridine diphosphoglucuronate glucuronosyltransferase 1A (UGT1A) gene affects steady-state bilirubin levels and the incidence of gallstones in children with SCA. We have now analyzed the influence of the UGT1A genotype on the therapeutic response to hydroxyurea. A large cohort of children with SCA taking hydroxyurea therapy at the maximum tolerated dose demonstrated significant reductions in hemolysis independent of UGT1A promoter polymorphism genotype, but the hydroxyurea-related decreases in serum bilirubin levels were significantly different. Children with the wild-type 6/6 UGT1A genotype demonstrated normalized bilirubin levels with hydroxyurea therapy, but children with the heterozygous 6/7 or abnormal 7/7 genotypes did not. Children with the abnormal 7/7 genotype, which confers the phenotype of Gilbert syndrome, had bilirubin levels greater than 3 mg/dL despite full-dose hydroxyurea therapy. These data indicate the UGT1A promoter polymorphism is a powerful nonglobin genetic modifier in SCA that influences serum bilirubin both at baseline and on hydroxyurea therapy. UGT1A promoter polymorphisms may therefore influence the ability of hydroxyurea to prevent gallstone formation in patients with SCA. (J Lab Clin Med 2003;141:279-82)
Limonene: Attractant Kairomone for White Pine Cone Beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in an Eastern White Pine Seed Orchard in Western North Carolina

Abstract I report on the attraction of the white pine cone beetle,Conophthorus coniperda (Schwarz) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), to traps baited with the host monoterpene limonene in western North Carolina. Both (+)- and (−)-limonene attracted male and female cone beetles to Japanese beetle traps in an eastern white pine,Pinus strobus L., seed orchard near Murphy, NC. Catches of cone beetles were directly proportional to the release rate of (−)-limonene; (+)-limonene was not tested for dose response. Attraction of cone beetles to the pheromone (±)-trans-pityol was increased significantly by both enantiomers of limonene. In all experiments, catches ofC. coniperda were strongly male biased with no treatment effect on sex ratio. (−)-Limonene had no effect on trap catches of the predatorEnoclerus nigripes (Say) to pityol, whereas (+)-limonene interrupted the attraction ofE. nigripes to traps baited with pityol. Of six monoterpenes commonly found in white pine cones, only (−)-α-pinene elicited attraction ofE. nigr...
The Impact of Salary Growth, Inflation, Employee Age, and Career Length on the Relative Desirability of Pension Fund Type

Summary and Conclusions The purpose of this paper has been to identify theconditions which cause a DC type pension to becomemore favorable relative to a DB type pension. Thevariable analyzed was the ratio of the projected annualpension benefit under a typical DC plan to the projectedannual pension benefit under a typical DB plan. Thepurpose was not to determine which type of pension isbetter in absolute terms because the answer to thatquestion depends both on the specific parameters foreach type of pension and on difficult to quantify pensionfund characteristics.Three conclusions are clear from this analysis. The firstis that the two parameters for which higher values favora DB type pension are salary growth rate and employeeage. That is, the higher the projected salary growth rateor the older an employee starting a new pension, ceterisparibus, the more favorable a DB type pensionbecomes. The second is that the longer an employeeplans to work, ceteris paribus, the more favorable theDC type pension becomes. The third is that the impactof the inflation rate is theoretically ambiguous. Anexample provided in this paper and empirical evidencein the literature indicates that for plausible values of theparameters involved, higher rates of inflation favor DCtypes of pensions.
Energy-dependent dynamics of keV to MeV electrons in the inner zone, outer zone, and slot regions

We present observations of the radiation belts from the Helium Oxygen Proton Electron and Magnetic Electron Ion Spectrometer particle detectors on the Van Allen Probes satellites that illustrate the energy dependence and L shell dependence of radiation belt enhancements and decays. We survey events in 2013 and analyze an event on 1 March in more detail. The observations show the following: (a) at all L shells, lower energy electrons are enhanced more often than higher energies; (b) events that fill the slot region are more common at lower energies; (c) enhancements of electrons in the inner zone are more common at lower energies; and (d) even when events do not fully fill the slot region, enhancements at lower energies tend to extend to lower L shells than higher energies. During enhancement events the outer zone extends to lower L shells at lower energies while being confined to higher L shells at higher energies. The inner zone shows the opposite with an outer boundary at higher L shells for lower energies. Both boundaries are nearly straight in log(energy) versus L shell space. At energies below a few 100 keV, radiation belt electron penetration through the slot region into the inner zone is commonplace, but the number and frequency of “slot filling” events decreases with increasing energy. The inner zone is enhanced only at energies that penetrate through the slot. Energy- and L shell-dependent losses (that are consistent with whistler hiss interactions) return the belts to more quiescent conditions.
Adopting a flipped interactive pedagogy using TeachBack: tutorial presentation

In this tutorial we give a hands-on introduction to adopting a 'flipped' interactive CS classroom using TeachBack, an interactive classroom application that we have developed as part of our research into educational technology. TeachBack is a redesign of 'The Affective Tutor' [1], now with new and improved functionality with ability to handle hundreds of simultaneous users engaged in real-time activities.
Influence of temperature and water activity on aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) seeds and meal

Experiments were done to determine the influence of temperature (21, 30 and 37°C) and aw (0.76 to 0.98) on aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus on cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata ) seeds, meal and meal supplemented with onion. Larger quantities of aflatoxin were produced at 21 and 30°C than at 37°C. The highest amount of aflatoxin (2777 μg/20 g, dry weight basis) was observed in meal containing onion at aw 0.98 after 20 d of incubation at 21°C. A level of 870 |μg/20 g was detected in seeds at aw 0.95 after 14 d of incubation at 30°C. Meal at aw 0.96 supported production of 551 μg of aflatoxin per 20 g after 20 d at 30° C. Temperature had little influence on the optimal aw for aflatoxin production in cowpea meal. However, an increase in temperature resulted in a decreased optimal aw for aflatoxin production on whole cowpeas. When known quantities of aflatoxin were added to cowpea meal which was subsequently steamed for 5 min, only 29% was extractable using a variety of procedures, indicating that the toxin may be bound in some manner to cowpea constituents as a result of heat treatment.
Multi-Class Classification using Covariance among Binary Classifiers and its Application to the Analysis of Tumor Microarrays

Many microarray datasets include samples from more than two types or conditions and call for models capable of multi-class classification. Prior work such as Dudoit et al. pioneered on comparative multi-class classification studies using simple classifiers in a one-versus-one (OVO) manner. Dietterich and Bakiri introduced a generic metaclassifier approach called the Error-Correcting-OutputCoding (ECOC). ECOC first generates ideal representative codes as „class codes‟ by each binary-class sub-problems. Then it generates an “output code” as the vector of outcomes from all binary-class sub-problems for the sample to be classified. A “decoding” step finds the class that produces the most similar code using a dissimilarity measure such as Hamming distance. Since the binary classification sub-problems have substantial overlap, the coordinates in the output code are correlated but this is not leveraged in ECOC or later revisions. The new MCAB (Multi-class classification using Covariance Among Binary Classifiers) algorithm uses the covariance matrix from the training dataset in decoding which captures the correlations among the classes. We compared MCAB with the best variant of ECOC (Escelera et al.) available in the latest (2010) ECOC library by external 10-fold cross validation on three published multi-class benchmark cancer gene expression microarray datasets. We found that MCAB generally outperforms ECOC in overall accuracy and class-specific precision values regardless of what binary classifiers was being used. MCAB using Support Vector Machine with Recursive Feature Elimination (SVM-RFE) as the binaryclass classifier had the best overall accuracy and betterbalanced class-specific precision and recall values in all three datasets. These results suggest that MCAB is robust and accurate for classifying multi-class microarray datasets, and can be readily used for other types of data.
Initial choice of medication has little effect on short-term or long-term outcome for most patients with Parkinson's disease

Commentary on : Gray R, Ives N, Rick C, et al.; PD Med Collaborative Group. Long-term effectiveness of dopamine agonists and monoamine oxidase B inhibitors compared with levodopa as initial treatment for Parkinson’s disease (PD MED): a large, open-label, pragmatic randomised trial. Lancet 2014:384:1196–205[OpenUrl][1][CrossRef][2][PubMed][3][Web of Science][4] Levodopa is generally considered the most effective medication to improve motor features of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, long-term therapy is associated with the development of motor fluctuations and dyskinesias. Alternatives to levodopa include monoamine oxidase type B inhibitors (MAOBI) and dopamine agonists (eg, ropinirole, pramipexole and rotigotine). Clinicians may choose to initiate PD therapy with these ‘levodopa sparing’ agents in an effort to reduce the development of levodopa-associated treatment complications, especially in younger patients who are at highest risk. The PD MED trial was a large, open label study in which newly diagnosed patients with PD were randomised to initial treatment with levodopa, a dopamine agonist or an MAOBI, then followed for up to 7 years. Either levodopa or MAOBI could … [1]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DLancet%26rft.volume%253D384%26rft.spage%253D1196%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1016%252FS0140-6736%252814%252960683-8%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F24928805%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60683-8&link_type=DOI [3]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=24928805&link_type=MED&atom=%2Febmed%2F20%2F1%2F17.atom [4]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=000343002600026&link_type=ISI
Transoral robotic surgery for upper airway pathology in the pediatric population.

Objectives/Hypothesis The purpose of this study is to present one of the largest case series of pediatric transoral robotic surgery (TORS) in the upper airway demonstrating a wide range of ages and indications. Study Design A retrospective case series at an academic tertiary referral center from August 2010 to September 2014. Methods The da Vinci surgical robot (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) was used on 16 pediatric patients for 18 procedures. A variety of upper airway pathologies and reconstructions in children with a wide range of ages and weights were treated. No lingual tonsillectomies or base-of-tongue reductions were included. Results Sixteen children (6 males) underwent 18 TORS procedures, including resection of hamartoma (n = 1), repair of laryngeal cleft (n = 7), removal of saccular cyst (n = 2), release of pharyngeal or esophageal strictures (n = 2), and excision of lymphatic malformations (n = 4). Patient ages ranged from 14 days to 15 years. There were no intraoperative complications. All patients had successful robotic access, and no patients had conversions to open or traditional endoscopic surgery. Hospital courses varied with duration ranging from 1 to 20 days. The median follow up was 22 months. Conclusion Applying TORS to the pediatric population can be feasible and safe for appropriate airway pathologies. Because many patients are small in size, there is inherent risk in using robotic instruments and scopes transorally. Pearls in this series include a standardized two-robot experienced attending team and longitudinal airway follow-up. Level of Evidence 4 Laryngoscope, 127:247–251, 2017
Deriving a minimum set of viewpoints for maximum coverage over any given digital elevation model data

ABSTRACTThis paper introduces how to automatically derive a minimum set of viewpoints for maximum coverage over a large scale of digital terrain data. This is a typical data and computation-intensive research covering a series of geocomputation tasks that have not been implemented efficiently or optimally in prior works. This paper introduces a three-step computational solution to resolve the problem. For any given digital elevation model (DEM) data, automatic generation of control viewpoints is the first step through map algebra calculation and hydrological modeling approaches. For each viewpoint, the viewshed calculation then has to be implemented. The combined viewshed derived from the viewshed of all viewpoints establishes the maximum viewshed coverage of the given DEM. Finally, detecting the minimum set of viewpoints for the maximum coverage is a Non-deterministic Polynomial-time hard problem. The outcome of the computation has broader societal impacts since the research questions and solutions can b...
Synaptic sampling in hardware spiking neural networks

Using a neural sampling approach, networks of stochastic spiking neurons, interconnected with plastic synapses, have been used to construct computational machines such as Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBMs). Previous work towards building such networks achieved lower performances than traditional RBMs. More recently, Synaptic Sampling Machines (SSMs) were shown to outperform equivalent RBMs. In Synaptic Sampling Machines (SSMs), the stochasticity for the sampling is generated at the synapse. Stochastic synapses play the dual role of a regularizer during learning and an efficient mechanism for implementing stochasticity in neural networks over a wide dynamic range. In this paper we show that SSMs with stochastic synapses implemented in FPGA-based spiking neural networks can obtain a high accuracy in classifying MNIST handwritten digit database. We compare classification accuracy for different bit precision for stochastic and non-stochastic synapses and further argue that stochastic synapses have the same effect as synapses with higher bit precision but require significantly lower computational resources.
Mobile Health Interventions for Improving Health Outcomes in Youth: A Meta-analysis.

Importance Mobile health interventions are increasingly popular in pediatrics; however, it is unclear how effective these interventions are in changing health outcomes. Objective To determine the effectiveness of mobile health interventions for improving health outcomes in youth 18 years or younger. Data Sources Studies published through November 30, 2016, were collected through PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Educational Resources Information Center, and PsychINFO. Backward and forward literature searches were conducted on articles meeting study inclusion criteria. Search terms included telemedicine , eHealth , mobile health , mHealth , app , and mobile application . Study Selection Search results were limited to infants, children, adolescents, or young adults when possible. Studies were included if quantitative methods were used to evaluate an application of mobile intervention technology in a primary or secondary capacity to promote or modify health behavior in youth 18 years or younger. Studies were excluded if the article was an unpublished dissertation or thesis, the mean age of participants was older than 18 years, the study did not assess a health behavior and disease outcome, or the article did not include sufficient statistics. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied by 2 independent coders with 20% overlap. Of 9773 unique articles, 36 articles (containing 37 unique studies with a total of 29 822 participants) met the inclusion criteria. Data Extraction and Synthesis Of 9773 unique articles, 36 articles (containing 37 unique studies) with a total of 29 822 participants met the inclusion criteria. Effect sizes were calculated from statistical tests that could be converted to standardized mean differences. All aggregate effect sizes and moderator variables were tested using random-effects models. Main Outcomes and Measures Change in health behavior or disease control. Results A total of 29 822 participants were included in the studies. In studies that reported sex, the total number of females was 11 226 (53.2%). Of those reporting age, the average was 11.35 years. The random effects aggregate effect size of mobile health interventions was significant (n = 37; Cohen d = 0.22; 95% CI, 0.14-0.29). The random effects model indicated that providing mobile health intervention to a caregiver increased the strength of the intervention effect. Studies that involved caregivers in the intervention produced effect sizes (n = 16; Cohen d = 0.28; 95% CI, 0.18-0.39) larger than those that did not include caregivers (n = 21; Cohen d = 0.13; 95% CI, 0.02-0.25). Other coded variables did not moderate study effect size. Conclusions and Relevance Mobile health interventions appear to be a viable health behavior change intervention modality for youth. Given the ubiquity of mobile phones, mobile health interventions offer promise in improving public health.
Earliest accumulation history of the north polar layered deposits, Mars from SHARAD

Abstract The approximately 2 km thick north polar layered deposits (NPLD) are often considered to contain the most complete and detailed stratigraphic records of recent climate of Mars. Exposures of the dense layering within troughs and scarps allowed detailed reconstructions of the latest accumulation history of these water ice deposits, but we lack knowledge of their initial emplacement. The Shallow Radar (SHARAD) onboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) penetrates the NPLD to their base and detects their internal layering, overcoming the limitation of scarce and scattered visible outcrops of the lowermost sequences. In this study, we map reflectors in SHARAD data that result from discrete stratigraphic horizons in order to delineate the three-dimensional stratigraphy of the lowermost ∼500 m NPLD sequence and reconstruct their accumulation history. We confirm the large-scale lateral continuity and thickness uniformity of the deposits previously detected within the lowermost NPLD. However, stratigraphic complexity—in the form of pinch-outs and significant thickness variations—arises when we examine single radar units. We find evidence of an initially limited geographic stability of water ice within two deposits that are centered at the North Pole and present-day Gemina Lingula. A period of lateral ice sheet growth followed, interrupted only once by a retreat episode. Lower net accumulation is observed on pre-existing slopes, suggesting a reduction of water ice stability due to increased solar radiation incidence and/or transport by katabatic winds. Lateral transport of water ice by wind is also suggested by thickness undulations toward the top of the sequence, resembling cyclic steps. Water ice accumulation models based on orbital forcing predict a sequence of deposition and retreat events that is generally compatible with our reconstructed accumulation history. Therefore, we interpret the stratigraphic complexity that we observe as regional and, possibly global, climate change induced by orbital forcing. We also find that at least two units are completely buried within the NPLD and do not outcrop, and that NPLD deposition in some places was contemporaneous with deposition of the stratigraphically underlying cavi unit in other places. Both of these findings show that radar reflector mapping is a necessary complement to any stratigraphic reconstruction based on visible exposures.
Representing Negotiation Space

The elements of negotiation theory, and relations between them, in short “negotiation space”, s first investigated from the point of view of some of its properties. A two-agents case is taken up, both linear and non-linear variants being studied, and some analytical results with their properties are presented; the analysis is then generalized to multi-dimensional situations, both in terms of agents and of issues. Finally one can picture topographically the results of various negotiation stages; an example is presented.
Constraining Self-organisation Through Corridors of Correct Behaviour: The Restore Invariant Approach

Self-organisation aspects and the large number of entities in Organic Computing (OC) systems make them extremely hard to predict and analyse. However, the application of OC principles to, e.g., safety critical systems, is usually not conceivable without behavioural guarantees. In this article, a rigorous approach called the Restore Invariant Approach is presented, which provides a specification paradigm and a formal framework that allows to give guarantees for a system despite of self-organisation. The approach provides a method for specifying unwanted system states by constraining the system and defining a corridor of correct behaviour. Furthermore, a decentralised algorithm for monitoring and restoring the invariant based on coalition formation is presented.
Abstract 11516: Non-Ischemic Fibrosis as a Marker of Adverse Right Ventricular Remodeling - A Multimodality Imaging Study

Background Non-ischemic mid wall fibrosis (MWF) on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) has been linked to poor prognosis in patients with right ventricular (RV) dysfunction, but its link to adverse RV remodeling is unknown. Methods The population comprised patients with RV dysfunction (EF 3 *PASP*RVESV)/(3*RV myocardial volume) Results 118 patients (65% male, 55±18yo) with RV dysfunction were studied, among whom 47% had MWF. Patients with MWF had lower RVEF (34±10 vs. 39±9%; p=0.01) but similar LVEF (40±21 vs 39±18%; p=0.7) and LV volumes (p=NS). RV wall stress was higher with MWF (26±10 vs. 19±9kPa; p 2 =21; p 6-fold more common in the highest, vs. the lowest, common tertile of PASP and RV size (p Conclusion MWF strongly relates to increased RV wall stress. Among wall stress components, MWF was independently associated with both RV chamber dilation and afterload, supporting the concept that MWF is a generalized marker of adverse RV chamber remodeling.
End-fire synthetic aperture sonar for seafloor volume scattering studies

Acoustic returns from seafloor sediment are comprised of scattering from both the interface and sediment volume. Although volume scattering is often the dominant mechanism, direct measurements of this component have rarely been made, if at all, due to interface roughness biasing. This bias is especially prevalent at lower frequencies where beam widths are typically 30–40 degrees. Current synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) systems are side looking and achieve narrow beam widths by coherently combining multiple acoustic pings as the sonar moves. End-fire (forward-looking) SAS would formulate a synthetic array in the same direction of travel by vertically orienting a transducer and lowering it towards the seafloor while pinging. This would create a narrow beam, significantly reducing the interface roughness bias. End-fire SAS array gains are not as substantial as conventional side-looking SAS. However, beam pattern simulations suggest the gains are still significant: a synthetic array length of 100 wavelengths c...
Walls and Bridges: A Comment on Philip Selznick's The Moral Commonwealth

to find a work which, as Selznick's does, systematically interweaves close and deep familiarity with philosophical traditions and mastery of social theory, to contribute to a "social science of moral ordering" (p. 37). In philosophy, Selznick's special allegiance is to American pragmatism, not in its fashionable postmodern reincarnations, but in the version, particularly, of John Dewey. Selznick's conception of social theory is a broad one that includes sociology, psychology, and organizational theory. His theory is built up and deployed in a large array of contexts without sacrifice of its cohering aims. These aims are, above all, to develop a theory of the moral person, institution, and community, addressed to their preconditions, character, and development; and to embody a form of liberal communitarianism which "will bind the ideal of liberty to a more secure ethos of social responsibility" (p. 373). Many themes of this work are worthy of discussion: Selznick's conception of normative theory; his account of pragmatism; his understanding of and attitude toward modernity and postmodernism; his parallel and cumulative theories of the moral person, institution, and community; his discussions of civility and piety, of rules and principles, of legal positivism and natural law; his appraisals of liberalism and community, and much besides. Indeed, the work is so rich and its themes so various that it will be plundered and pondered for many different purposes for some time to
Cancer-Related Abdominal Pain

Pain is a fairly common complaint in the cancer population, correlating with disease stage. Up to one-half of cancer patients experience persistent pain complaints after oncologic therapy. Abdominal pain may arise from primary or metastatic disease of the viscera, nerve, and/or somatic tissue. Nociception from tumor burden is due to ischemia, inflammation, distention, and compression of affected viscera, nervous tissue, vasculature, and abdominal wall. Cancer-related abdominal pain is also sequelae of the associated treatment for the underlying malignancy, such as with chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Cancer-related abdominal pain can be managed adequately in most cancer patients by following the Analgesic Ladder Guidelines established by the World Health Organization. In addition, abdominal pain can be managed by employing interventional pain procedures targeting both afferent visceral and somatosensory pain pathways.
Effect of cyclosporine A on male reproduction in rats.

AbstractWe examined the effects of the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporine A on male reproduction in sexually mature rats. The drug was administered subcutaneously in 3 doses (10, 20 and 40mg. per kg. daily) for 14 days. Cyclosporine A administration resulted in a dose-dependent decline in body and reproductive organ weights, histology of the testis showed definite degenerative changes, and sperm counts and motility decreased. Spermatozoa from treated rats retained the cytoplasmic droplet and they were decapitated. Consequently, sterility occurred in rats treated with high doses of cyclosporine A. A reduction in circulating testosterone and an increase in gonadotropins were noted.The possibility existed that the cyclosporine A-induced alterations in the male reproductive system were secondary to the hepatic or nephrotoxic effects of the drug. Therefore, we assessed liver and kidney function by assay of the serum levels of bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glut...
Surplus Product Donation and Sustainability Strategy: Channels and Challenges for Corporate Product Donations

Sustainability addresses three aspects of corporate responsibility: economic, environmental and social. Over the years, the operations and supply chain literature has focused on economic and environmental objectives limiting the social agenda to ethical sourcing practices. Yet the disposition of surplus inventories in particular and charitable giving in general are key components of corporate social responsibility. We discuss the channels and challenges for companies’ surplus inventory donations and describe why companies should integrate product donations within their overall corporate sustainability strategy.
NAVIGATING NETWORKS: PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN SOUTHERN SONG CHINA, 1127–1279

Forging and using personal networks were and still are common in the Chinese government. Scholars often connect officials’ networking to corruption and factionalism. This article, however, offers a different perspective, through an examination of how Southern Song local officials used personal connections to facilitate their official businesses. I argue that local officials operated networks as an informal means of dealing with governmental affairs outside the normative administrative system. This informal means enabled more efficient political communication that bypassed regular procedures. It also provided local officials with more effective negotiations, especially when defending the interest of their jurisdictions against other agents of the state. Furthermore, the article demonstrates that using connections for governmental affairs, in turn, consolidated and expanded officials’ networks. Altogether, the article depicts a political world in which the interest of “the public” intertwined with that of the “the private,” and the official and non-official means of governing were fused.