cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Combined resection and RFA in colorectal liver metastases: stratification of long-term outcomes

Abstract Background Combined hepatic resection and radiofrequency ablation (resection-RFA) is a widely accepted multidisciplinary treatment for unresectable colorectal cancer liver metastases. Worse prognosis after resection-RFA is correlated to tumor morphology, although unfavorable morphology is inherent to this patient cohort. This study aimed to select patients who may or may not benefit from resection-RFA with the aid of tumor biology. Method Data from 485 patients who underwent curative hepatectomy with or without concurrent RFA were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Clinicopathologic characteristics, predictors of overall survival (OS), and OS of patients stratified by tumor biology in resection-RFA were analyzed. Results Combined resection-RFA was performed in 86 patients (17.7%) and a standalone resection in 399 patients. Baseline patients' characteristics of the resection-RFA group were significantly different in terms of median number of tumors (5 versus 2) and bilobar distribution (84.9% versus 29.1%) from those of the resection-only group. Multivariate analysis identified four independent predictors of decreased OS in the resection-RFA group. Three were related to tumor biology: primary tumor nodal metastases (hazard ratio [HR], 2.32; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.16-4.64], Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog mutation (HR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.36-5.14), and preoperative high carcinoembryonic antigen (HR, 2.33; 95% CI, 1.13-4.81), and one related to tumor morphology–ablated lesions ≥3 (HR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.41-3.80; P = 0.023). To examine the prognostic influence of tumor biology, the resection-RFA group was stratified into two groups by number of predictors related to tumor biology (low risk: 0-1 risk factors; n = 56 and high risk: 2-3 risk factors; n = 30). Median OS of the low risk, high risk, and resection-alone groups were 61.8, 20.7, and 75.3 mo, respectively. The 5-y OS rate was similar between the low risk and resection-alone group (52.7% versus 58.7%, respectively; P = 0.323). Conclusions Patients with low-risk tumors undergoing a combined resection-RFA approach had roughly comparable OS to those who only underwent resection, irrespective of advanced tumor morphology. Combined resection-RFA procedures might be of value to these patients.
Europe and the West

In this chapter I look at astronomy in the premodern Western world. I discuss some of the views and assumptions that have informed its astronomy and continue to inform our understanding of the cosmos today, even though they are often unrecognized. I describe the ways in which early Western views developed into what we know today as astronomy. Comparing the ancient views with those of our modern understanding reveals hidden assumptions and philosophical commitments.
Money, Participation, and Deliberation in the Connecticut Legislature

This paper extends work by Hall (1987) and Hall and Wayman (1990) on participation in committee deliberations in the U.S. House of Representatives to the Connecticut General Assembly during the pre-Clean Elections period of 2003-2008. Consistent with previous work, I find evidence that both legislative experience and institutional position drive participation in committee deliberations in Connecticut: controlling for other factors,committee leaders participate more, and freshman legislators participate less, than their colleagues. However, I find little consistent evidence that organized interests are able to “buy” legislators’ time and effort in committee. Taken together, these results suggest that while the hybrid Connecticut General Assembly may share some operational features with the United States Congress, the search for the effect of money on legislative behavior in state legislatures will require a different strategy.
Experimental results of radiation-driven, layered deuterium-tritium implosions with adiabat-shaped drives at the National Ignition Facility

Radiation-driven, layered deuterium-tritium (DT) implosions were carried out using 3-shock and 4-shock “adiabat-shaped” drives and plastic ablators on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [E. M. Campbell et al., AIP Conf. Proc. 429, 3 (1998)]. The purpose of these shots was to gain further understanding on the relative performance of the low-foot implosions of the National Ignition Campaign [M. J. Edwards et al., Phys. Plasmas 20, 070501 (2013)] versus the subsequent high-foot implosions [T. Doppner et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 055001 (2015)]. The neutron yield performance in the experiment with the 4-shock adiabat-shaped drive was improved by factors ∼3 to ∼10, compared to five companion low-foot shots despite large low-mode asymmetries of DT fuel, while measured compression was similar to its low-foot companions. This indicated that the dominant degradation source for low-foot implosions was ablation-front instability growth, since adiabat shaping significantly stabilized this growth. For the experiment with the low-power 3-shock adiabat-shaped drive, the DT fuel compression was significantly increased, by ∼25% to ∼36%, compared to its companion high-foot implosions. The neutron yield increased by ∼20%, lower than the increase of ∼50% estimated from one-dimensional scaling, suggesting the importance of residual instabilities and asymmetries. For the experiment with the high-power, 3-shock adiabat-shaped drive, the DT fuel compression was slightly increased by ∼14% compared to its companion high-foot experiments. However, the compression was reduced compared to the lower-power 3-shock adiabat-shaped drive, correlated with the increase of hot electrons that hypothetically can be responsible for reduced compression in high-power adiabat-shaped experiments as well as in high-foot experiments. The total neutron yield in the high-power 3-shock adiabat-shaped shot N150416 was 8.5 × 1015 ± 0.2 × 1015, with the fuel areal density of 0.90 ± 0.07 g/cm2, corresponding to the ignition threshold factor parameter IFTX (calculated without alpha heating) of 0.34 ± 0.03 and the yield amplification due to the alpha heating of 2.4 ± 0.2. The performance parameters were among the highest of all shots on NIF and the closest to ignition at this time, based on the IFTX metric. The follow-up experiments were proposed to continue testing physics hypotheses, to measure implosion reproducibility, and to improve quantitative understanding on present implosion results.
Rent-seeking and competitive preferences

Abstract In this experiment, I examine the extent to which competitive social preferences can explain over-bidding in rent-seeking contests. The Human treatment is a standard two-player contest. In the Robot treatment, a single player bids against a computerized player, eliminating potential social preference motives. The results show no difference in bids between treatments at the aggregate level. Further analysis shows evidence of heterogeneous treatment effects between impulsive and reflective subjects. Moreover, impulsive subjects are more likely than reflective subjects to deviate qualitatively from the shape of the theoretical best response function.
Prognostic Algorithms for Flaw Growth Prediction in an Aircraft Wing

Prediction of future health state of an aerospace structure allows airlines to plan repair or replacement activities well in time. Correct planning ensures low probability of failure as well as low aircraft's downtime. Accurate prediction is possible through usage of the effective prognostic algorithms, based on historical trends and underlying suitable degradation models. A particle filter (PF)-based prognostic algorithm is proposed to predict posterior probability density function of flaw size in future. PF allows usage of nonlinear state-transition and measurement functions, along with non-Gaussian/multimodal noise distributions. The proposed algorithm is further complemented by a learning-based error model to estimate associated noises and increase prediction accuracy once measurements are not available. The proposed algorithm is applied on actual aerospace historical data of an in-service Airbus A310 aircraft. The historical data is divided into training phase and validation phase. A common aerospace structural flaw due to mechanical fatigue is the damage around the edges of countersunk (CSK) holes of an aircraft wing. This study is based on three-dimensional flaw growth around the CSK rivet holes. Accurate prediction of flaw propagation will enable the maintenance managers to plan repair or replacement action well in time, thus reducing the downtime of the aircraft.
Progress Report: Effect of Stockpiling Initiation Method on Winter Forage Yield and Quality of Midwestern Cool-season Grass Pastures for Fall-calving Beef Cows

An ongoing two-year trial is being conducted to evaluate the effects of three different methods of initiating forage stockpiling on the quality and mass of forage available over the winter months (October through January). Methods of initiating stockpiling were spring strip-grazing, summer strip-grazing, and summer hay harvest. Forage mass, nutritional, and weather data were input into a ration balancing program with supplemental feed provided to maintain a body condition score (BCS) of five throughout the winter for fall-calving beef cows. Partial budget models were used to evaluate costs associated with the different treatment methods and compared to a standard winter hay feeding regime in a drylot scenario. Spring strip-grazing generated the greatest stockpiled forage mass compared to all other treatments, but also had the lowest dry matter digestibility across sampling dates. There were no differences in crude protein (CP) content among different methods of initiation. The carrying capacity of drylot models was greatest but did not differ between stockpiling models. There was a tendency for drylot models to incur greater total costs ($/ac) than stockpile models. There were no statistical differences in total cost ($/ac) between models using stockpiled forage grazing by different methods of initiation and no statistical differences in gross ($/hd/d) or net ($/hd/d) costs across treatments. While spring strip-grazing resulted in greater forage mass, the quality of this forage was lower than summer treatments. With similar costs, the lower yields from summer stockpiling models (strip-grazing or hay harvest) could be compensated for by the higher nutritional quality of the forage.
Fabrication and inductive power transfer in wireless spherical pill microprobes

We report the fabrication and wireless power coupling for a neural probe, not based on the needle geometry but a much less intrusive minimum-radius spherical pill. The pills 1.3 mm in diameter, consist of two parylene hemispherical halves which can be bonded together to enclose a bio-telemetry circuit. The two hemispheres contain feedthrough electrodes and micro coils patterned along the shell surface respectively. A 1.2 mm diameter hemispherical coil can receive 24.5 mW with a peak-peak AC voltage output of 5.8 V, sufficient to power bio-telemetry circuits, from an external 10 W RF power source placed 1 cm away.
The Importance of Soil Type Contrast in Modulating August Precipitation Distribution near the Edwards Plateau and Balcones Escarpment in Texas

The Balcones Escarpment in central Texas is a sloped region between the Edwards Plateau and the coastal plain. The metropolitan areas located along the Balcones Escarpment (e.g., San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas-Fort Worth) are prone to heavy rain and devastating flood events. While the associated hydrological issues of the Balcones Escarpment have been extensively studied, the meteorological impacts of the Edwards Plateau and Balcones Escarpment are not well understood. The indeterminate impacts of the thermal and dynamic effects of the Edwards Plateau on August climatological precipitation are investigated in this study using the multi-sensor Stage IV precipitation data, high-resolution dynamic downscaling, and short-term sensitivity simulations. Analysis results indicate that the total August precipitation east of the Balcones Escarpment is suppressed and precipitation over the eastern part of the Edwards Plateau is enhanced. Locally initiated moist convection in the afternoon contributes most to the total precipitation during August in the region. The dynamic downscaling output captures the spatial pattern of afternoon precipitation, which is well aligned with the simulated upward motions. The clay-based soil types that dominate the Edwards Plateau have great potential to retain soil moisture and limit latent heat fluxes, consequently leading to higher sensible heat flux than over the plain to the east. As a result, vertical motion is induced, triggering the afternoon moist convection over the Edwards Plateau under favorable conditions. In comparison, the sloping terrain plays a smaller role in triggering the convection. Short-term sensitivity simulations for a clear day confirm and further prove such a diagnosis.
A Tool for Transitioning COBOL Programmers to Ada

Transitioning of large systems from one environment to another involves a large front-end cost of “porting people” to the destination environment. Programmers who have been working in the old environment for several years have gained considerable expertise in using that environment. Capitalizing on that expertise while training these programmers to use the new environment is very useful in increasing productivity in the new environment and in reducing the front-end cost of the transition.
Nearshore Distribution of Hawaiian Marine Fish Larvae: Effects of Water Quality, Turbidity and Currents

Studies of the spatial distribution of fish larvae in relation to variation in their abiotic environment at small spatial scales can yield insight into factors controlling their abundance at larger scales. Such responses appear to be focused at sharp environmental discontinuities, such as islands, facilitating isolation of effects of single factors. The results of the present investigation, while somewhat preliminary, describe the very uneven distributions of fish larvae found near the Hawaiian Islands and the apparent responses of larvae to three factors: water quality, turbidity and currents at the land-water interface. The latter two factors were found to obscure direct relationships between water quality and abundance of larvae. A postulate of active responses of larvae to these factors is suggested to account for the data.
Regression Models for Count Data Based on the Negative Binomial(p) Distribution

We present new Stata commands for estimating several regression models suitable for analyzing overdispersed count outcomes. The nbregp command nests the dispersion(constant) and dispersion(mean) versions of Stata�s nbreg command in a model for negative binomial(p) regression. The zignbreg command extends Stata�s gnbreg command for zero inflation, and the zinbregp command fits a negative binomial(p) regression model with zero inflation. The new commands for zero-inflated models allow specification of links within the glm command�s collection for the Bernoulli model of zero inflation. These commands will optionally calculate a Vuong test, which compares the zero-inflated model with the nonzeroinflated model.
Characterization of a mitotic mutant of durum wheat.

An ethyl methanesulfonate-induced mitotic mutant of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum; 2n=4x=28) was found. We have characterized the mutant to determine the mechanism of abnormal cell division and to test for temperature effects on abnormal cell division. Stained root-tip meristems and pollen mother cells were studied with brightfield, phase contrast, and immunofluorescence microscopy. Abnormal cells included metaphase cells with a multiple of the normal complement (8x=56, or 16x=112), multinucleate cells, 4C, 8C, or 16C mononucleate cells, and cells exhibiting incomplete cytokinesis. The mutant had three classes of pollen mother cells: euploid with normal bivalent pairing, multiploid with bivalent pairing, and multiploid with multivalent pairing. Preprophase bands and spindles were normal in mononucleate cells. Some cells had asymmetrical phragmoplasts and phragmoplast dismantling that produced incomplete cytokinesis. Failure of cytokinesis followed by nuclear fusion were the mechanisms of abnormal cell division. To test for temperature sensitivity of the mutant, seedlings were germinated under six different temperature regimes. As germination temperature increased, the frequency of abnormal cells increased. When the mutant was crossed as the female with durum wheat, 3% of hybrids were hexaploid, indicating that functional–unreduced gametes had formed in megaspores.
High electroencephalographic seizure exposure is associated with unfavorable outcomes in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.

Abstract Purpose Electroencephalographic seizures (ES) are common among neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), and they represent a treatable complication that might improve neurodevelopmental outcomes. We aimed to establish whether higher ES exposure was predictive of unfavorable outcomes while adjusting for other important clinical and electroencephalographic parameters. Methods We performed a single-center, retrospective study of consecutive neonates with HIE managed with therapeutic hypothermia from June 2010 through December 2016. Neonates underwent continuous electroencephalographic (cEEG) monitoring during and after therapeutic hypothermia. Outcome measures included abnormal MRIs after rewarming and abnormal motor and language development. Results Clinical data from the perinatal period were available for 116 neonates. Follow-up data were available for 93 of 116 (80%) neonates who survived to discharge, with a median follow-up period of 23 months (interquartile range 1236 months). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that high ES exposure (OR 5.2, 95% CI 1.3–21.2, p = 0.02) and moderate/severely abnormal EEG background (OR 8.3, 95% CI 1.6–43.9, p = 0.01) were independent predictors of abnormal motor development. High ES exposure was an independent predictor of abnormal language development (OR 4.2, 95% CI 1.1–15.9, p = 0.04). High ES exposure (OR 7.0, 95% CI 2.2–22.5, p = 0.01) and severe encephalopathy (OR 7.9, 95% CI 1.5–42.7, p = 0.02) were independent predictors of abnormal MRIs. Conclusions Among neonates with HIE managed with therapeutic hypothermia, high ES exposure was the most important predictor of abnormal developmental and neuroimaging outcomes, even after adjustment for multiple clinical and EEG variables. Adequate identification and management of ES with judicious use of anti-seizure medications may optimize outcomes.
Biomaterials in fetal surgery

Fetal surgery and fetal therapy involve surgical interventions on the fetus in utero to correct or ameliorate congenital abnormalities and give a developing fetus the best chance at a healthy life. Historical use of biomaterials in fetal surgery has been limited, and most biomaterials used in fetal surgeries today were originally developed for adult or pediatric patients. However, as the field of fetal surgery moves from open surgeries to minimally invasive procedures, many opportunities exist for innovative biomaterials engineers to create materials designed specifically for the unique challenges and opportunities of maternal–fetal surgery. Here, we review biomaterials currently used in clinical fetal surgery as well as promising biomaterials in development for eventual clinical translation. We also highlight unmet challenges in fetal surgery that could particularly benefit from novel biomaterials, including fetal membrane sealing and minimally invasive myelomeningocele defect repair. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of the underdeveloped fetal immune system and opportunities for exploitation with novel immunomodulating biomaterials.
Do Your Students Really Need that $200 Ebook? Predatory Publishers and Ethical Questions.

Textbook costs have risen 1041% since 1977 (Popken, 2015). The internet allows educators to create and disseminate educational resources and to share the wealth and the creations using special licenses. The research is now in, and open educational resources, or OERs, have been shown to have just as good as, and sometimes better, learning outcomes than standard publisher materials. To keep profits flowing, publishers have designed impressive software packages marketed as superior to standard textbooks. For a hefty price tag, students are promised superior, adaptive, and even miraculous learning experiences while the instructor languishes in the background. This paper asks the question, what are we selling students, and what are we losing for ourselves as teachers in this educational material jungle.
Unraveling the Spin Relaxation Mechanism in Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Perovskites

The hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite (HOIP) CH3NH3PbI3 exhibits a long spin coherence despite its strong spin–orbit coupling. Elucidation of the spin relaxation mechanism is a prerequisite to ha...
Current Harmonics Injection Table to Minimize Torque Ripples for Electric Powertrain Interior Permanent Magnet Motor Over Maximum Torque-Speed Curve

This paper presents a parametrized optimization with constraints associated to a current searching method. The goal of the optimization is to minimize the torque ripples of an interior permanent magnet powertrain electric motor over the maximum torque-speed curve by injecting current harmonics into the power supply. The resulting current harmonics table can be used as a look-up table for the motor drive controller to reduce motor torque ripples at given torque-speed operating points. This paper also evaluates the impact of the current harmonic injection on the iron losses in the motor stator and rotor, and on the eddy current losses in the magnet.
Impact of intrafraction prostate motion on clinical target coverage in proton therapy: A simulation study of dosimetric differences in two delivery techniques

Purpose To investigate the dosimetric impact of prostate intrafraction motion on proton double-scattering (DS) and uniform scanning (US) treatments using electromagnetic transponder-based prostate tracking data in simulated treatment deliveries. Methods In proton DS delivery, the spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) is created almost instantaneously by the constant rotation of the range modulator. US, however, delivers each entire energy layer of the SOBP sequentially from distal to proximal direction in time, which can interplay with prostate intrafraction motion. This spatiotemporal interplay during proton treatment was simulated to evaluate its dosimetric impact. Prostate clinical target volume (CTV) dose was obtained by moving CTV through dose matrices of the energy layers according to prostate-motion traces. Fourteen prostate intrafraction motion traces of each of 17 prostate patients were used in the simulated treatment deliveries. Both single fraction dose-volume histograms (DVHs) and fraction-cumulative DVHs were obtained for both 2 Gy per fraction and 7.25 Gy per fraction stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Results The simulation results indicated that CTV dose degradation depends on the magnitude and direction of prostate intrafraction motion and is patient specific. For some individual fractions, prescription dose coverage decreased in both US and DS treatments, and hot and cold spots inside the CTV were observed in the US results. However, fraction-cumulative CTV dose coverage showed much reduced dose degradation for both DS and US treatments for both 2 Gy per fraction and SBRT simulations. Conclusions This study indicated that CTV dose inhomogeneity may exist for some patients with severe prostate intrafraction motion during US treatments. However, there are no statistically significant dose differences between DS and US treatment simulations. Cumulative dose of multiple-fractions significantly reduced dose uncertainties.
Ignoring sexism increases women’s tolerance of sexual harassment

ABSTRACTWomen often ignore gender harassment (i.e., sexism). Two studies tested whether ignoring real or imagined sexism increases tolerance of sexual harassment and decreases support for survivors...
Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy versus Pneumatic Dilation in Achalasia: Dissecting the Randomized Controlled Trial

Ponds FA, Fockens P, Lei A, et al. Effect of peroral endoscopic myotomy vs pneumatic dilation on symptom severity and treatment outcomes among treatment-naive patients with achalasia.
When to remember where you came from: node representation learning in higher-order networks

For trajectory data that tend to have beyond first-order (i.e., non-Markovian) dependencies, higher-order networks have been shown to accurately capture details lost with the standard aggregate network representation. At the same time, representation learning has shown success on a wide range of network tasks, removing the need to hand-craft features for these tasks. In this work, we propose a node representation learning framework called EVO or Embedding Variable Orders, which captures non-Markovian dependencies by combining work on higher-order networks with work on node embeddings. We show that EVO outperforms baselines in tasks where high-order dependencies are likely to matter, demonstrating the benefits of considering high-order dependencies in node embeddings. We also provide insights into when it does or does not help to capture these dependencies. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work on representation learning for higher-order networks.
Molecular Dissection of the Campylobacter jejuni CadF and FlpA Virulence Proteins in Binding to Host Cell Fibronectin

Campylobacter jejuni, a zoonotic pathogen that frequently colonizes poultry, possesses two Microbial Surface Components Recognizing Adhesive Matrix Molecule(s) (MSCRAMMs) termed CadF and FlpA that bind to the glycoprotein fibronectin (FN). Previous to this study, it was not known whether the CadF and FlpA proteins were functionally redundant or if both were required to potentiate host cell binding and signaling processes. We addressed these questions by generating a complete repertoire of cadF and flpA mutants and complemented isolates, and performing multiple phenotypic assays. Both CadF and FlpA were found to be necessary for the maximal binding of C. jejuni to FN and to host cells. In addition, both CadF and FlpA are required for the delivery of the C. jejuni Cia effector proteins into the cytosol of host target cells, which in turn activates the MAPK signaling pathway (Erk 1/2) that is required for the C. jejuni invasion of host cells. These data demonstrate the non-redundant and bi-functional nature of these two C. jejuni FN-binding proteins. Taken together, the C. jejuni CadF and FlpA adhesins facilitate the binding of C. jejuni to the host cells, permit delivery of effector proteins into the cytosol of a host target cell, and aid in the rewiring of host cell signaling pathways to alter host cell behavior.
Experiences implementing scalable, containerized, cloud-based NLP for extracting biobank participant phenotypes at scale.

Objective To develop scalable natural language processing (NLP) infrastructure for processing the free text in electronic health records (EHRs). Materials and methods We extend the open-source Apache cTAKES NLP software with several standard technologies for scalability. We remove processing bottlenecks by monitoring component queue size. We process EHR free text for patients in the PrecisionLink Biobank at Boston Children's Hospital. The extracted concepts are made searchable via a web-based portal. Results We processed over 1.2 million notes for over 8000 patients, extracting 154 million concepts. Our largest tested configuration processes over 1 million notes per day. Discussion The unique information represented by extracted NLP concepts has great potential to provide a more complete picture of patient status. Conclusion NLP large EHR document collections can be done efficiently, in service of high throughput phenotyping.
Global storm tide modeling with ADCIRC v55: unstructured mesh design and performance

Abstract. This paper details and tests numerical improvements to the ADvanced CIRCulation (ADCIRC) model, a widely used finite-element method shallow-water equation solver, to more accurately and efficiently model global storm tides with seamless local mesh refinement in storm landfall locations. The sensitivity to global unstructured mesh design was investigated using automatically generated triangular meshes with a global minimum element size (MinEle) that ranged from 1.5 to 6 km. We demonstrate that refining resolution based on topographic seabed gradients and employing a MinEle less than 3 km are important for the global accuracy of the simulated astronomical tide. Our recommended global mesh design (MinEle = 1.5 km) based on these results was locally refined down to two separate MinEle values (500 and 150 m) at the coastal landfall locations of two intense storms (Hurricane Katrina and Super Typhoon Haiyan) to demonstrate the model's capability for coastal storm tide simulations and to test the sensitivity to local mesh refinement. Simulated maximum storm tide elevations closely follow the lower envelope of observed high-water marks (HWMs) measured near the coast. In general, peak storm tide elevations along the open coast are decreased, and the timing of the peak occurs later with local coastal mesh refinement. However, this mesh refinement only has a significant positive impact on HWM errors in straits and inlets narrower than the MinEle and in bays and lakes separated from the ocean by these passages. Lastly, we demonstrate that the computational performance of the new numerical treatment is 1 to 2 orders of magnitude faster than studies using previous ADCIRC versions because gravity-wave-based stability constraints are removed, allowing for larger computational time steps.
Impact of ablation algorithm versus tumor-dependent parameters on local control after microwave ablation of malignant liver tumors.

Background The aim of this study is to assess the effect of tumor versus ablation-algorithm dependent parameters on local recurrence (LR) after microwave ablation (MWA) of liver malignancies. Methods This was an institutional review board-approved study of patients who underwent laparoscopic or open MWA of malignant liver tumors. The impact of ablation algorithm (stepwise or direct heating, single or overlapping ablations, and ablation margin) and tumor-dependent (type, size, location, and blood vessel proximity) parameters on LR was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards. Results A total of 179 patients with 602 liver tumors underwent 200 MWA procedures. Colorectal liver metastasis (CLM) was the most frequent tumor type followed by neuroendocrine liver metastasis (NELM), other metastatic tumors, and hepatocellular cancer (HCC). For patients followed at least a year with imaging, LR rate was 8.8% per lesion and 13.1%,1.3%, 11.7%, and 12.6%, for CLM, NELM, HCC, and other tumor types, respectively. On multivariate analysis, independent predictors of LR included tumor type, tumor size, and ablation margin. Conclusion LR after MWA for malignant liver tumors is predicted by both tumor and surgeon-dependent factors. Variations in the ablation algorithm did not affect LR, leaving the ablation margin as the only parameter that could be modified to optimize local tumor control.
The Virtues of Everyday Talk: The Enduring Significance of John Milton’s Theory of Expressive Liberties:

The system of free expression John Milton defends in Areopagitica, a pamphlet against prior restraint in publishing, is often characterized as merely a proto-liberal, truth-based marketplace of ide...
Of Bond Vigilantes, Central Bankers and the Crisis of 2008

The financial crisis of 2008 and its aftermath in Europe have repoliticized the question of public debt. A familiar theme is that of the “bond vigilante”, the self-appointed bond market guardian who imposes discipline on high-spending politicians. In its modern form, that narrative emerged from the debt crises of the 1970s–1990s. Since 2008 the idea of bond market dominance has enjoyed a dramatic revival. Though it has some obvious relevance in the case of weaker members of the Eurozone and fragile emerging markets, this chapter argues that it is not an adequate framework for analyzing sovereign debt more broadly. Since 2008 most advanced economies have been able to borrow on extraordinarily easy terms. To understand why, we must take the strategic game between debtors and creditors seriously, acknowledge the role played by struggles within the political system and reckon with broader macroeconomic trends.
Three Risk Stratification Tools and Postoperative Pneumonia After Noncardiothoracic Surgery.

BackgroundPostoperative in-hospital pneumonia is a serious complication. This study aims to investigate the association between 3 preoperative stratification tools (American Society of Anesthesiolo...
In-flight Connectivity Analysis Using Ka & Ku-band HTS with Hybrid Compatibility Solution

In this paper, we propose a connectivity analysis solution to integrate satellite-based ground gateways with terrestrial networks capable of transmitting Terabit/s of data throughput to fast moving narrow body and wide body planes. Taking into consideration the need for higher bandwidth and lower latency communication, we propose a gateway connection for backhauling traffic through terrestrial base stations. These satellite gateway feeder links will significantly improve overall throughput by utilizing feeder links in parallel with minimal ground network topology alternations. The proposed solution will provide real-time services to LEO, MEO & GEO satellites in connection with In-Flight Connectivity (IFC). This will include all types of managed broadband services on the plane, on-board monitoring, tracking and control services available in a fiber-like connection.
Global Oil Market: Output Cuts and Prices

Global crude oil prices surged in 2017 on the back of the production-cut agreement between OPEC and a group of non-members including Russia. In January–November 2017, Russian crude oil was traded at an average of $52/bbl in the global market, adding $10 to the previous year’s price. In late November, the agreement was extended until the end of 2018. The crude oil price in 2018 is therefore projected to stay above the 2017 average.
Speech Perception with Noise Vocoding and Background Noise: An EEG and Behavioral Study

This study explored the physiological response of the human brain to degraded speech syllables. The degradation was introduced using noise vocoding and/or background noise. The goal was to identify physiological features of auditory-evoked potentials (AEPs) that may explain speech intelligibility. Ten human subjects with normal hearing participated in syllable-detection tasks, while their AEPs were recorded with 32-channel electroencephalography. Subjects were presented with six syllables in the form of consonant-vowel-consonant or vowel-consonant-vowel. Noise vocoding with 22 or 4 frequency channels was applied to the syllables. When examining the peak heights in the AEPs (P1, N1, and P2), vocoding alone showed no consistent effect. P1 was not consistently reduced by background noise, N1 was sometimes reduced by noise, and P2 was almost always highly reduced. Two other physiological metrics were examined: (1) classification accuracy of the syllables based on AEPs, which indicated whether AEPs were distinguishable for different syllables, and (2) cross-condition correlation of AEPs (rcc) between the clean and degraded speech, which indicated the brain's ability to extract speech-related features and suppress response to noise. Both metrics decreased with degraded speech quality. We further tested if the two metrics can explain cross-subject variations in their behavioral performance. A significant correlation existed for rcc, as well as classification based on early AEPs, in the fronto-central areas. Because rcc indicates similarities between clean and degraded speech, our finding suggests that high speech intelligibility may be a result of the brain's ability to ignore noise in the sound carrier and/or background.
Crafting Policy for Contested Commons: Insights from Japan’s Approach to the Outer Space, Cyberspace, and Maritime Domains

Part of a series on Japan's leadership in the liberal international order, this paper examines Japan’s changing approach to the global commons, tracing commonalities across the outer space, cyberspace, and maritime domains. As security threats have emerged in these domains, Japan has continued to uphold the principles of the liberal international order based on rule of law, but it has also hedged against risk by securitizing issues, by turning its existing diplomatic and technological tools to new purposes, and by linking the commons with security structures related to the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the U.S.-Japan alliance. This examination of Japan’s approach to the global commons has broad implications for policy. First, there is a clear need for serious attention to the maintenance and/or construction of governance regimes that will promote the use of the global commons in ways that benefit all countries. Second, the increasingly crowded and competitive environment in the global commons presents new challenges in terms of cultivating consensus and regulating activity, but it also offers opportunities to create coalitions of like-minded countries, and middle powers have an important role to play in this process. Third, the clear parallels in changes across the outer space, cyberspace, and maritime domains suggest that there is something valuable to be gained from fostering dialogue among their respective scholars and practitioners, to find best practices that can be shared or transferred across domains. Although the onset of COVID-19 has drawn the attention of many countries away from developments outside their national borders, it has not lessened the importance of these issues — indeed, there is evidence that the global pandemic may be providing a convenient distraction that is enabling additional incursions in these domains and further eroding norms regarding their shared use.
Outcomes of Catheter-Related Arterial and Venous Thrombosis After Enoxaparin Therapy in Neonates and Infants With Congenital Heart Disease.

OBJECTIVES Outcomes of catheter-related arterial and venous thrombosis after enoxaparin therapy in neonates and infants with congenital heart disease. DESIGN A single-center retrospective cohort study. SETTING Cardiac ICU. PATIENTS Patients under 1 year old cared for in the cardiac ICU at Nicklaus Children's Hospital from January 2015 to January 2019 and treated with enoxaparin for central vascular catheter-related arterial and venous thrombosis. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS One-hundred fifty-six events of central catheter-related arterial and venous thrombosis were included in the study. Arterial thrombi accounted for 109 (69.9%) and venous thrombi for 47 (30.1%) of the events. Femoral vessels were the most commonly affected site (88.5%). Therapeutic outcomes were analyzed in 106 events, excluding those without follow-up imaging. The analysis was stratified by age into neonates and infants and catheter types into arterial and venous catheter groups. Therapeutic dose of enoxaparin was higher in neonates (median 1.8 mg/kg/dose) compared with infants (1.6 mg/kg/dose; p = 0.001). Complete resolution was seen in 68%, partial resolution in 19%, nonresolution in 13% of the events. The complete resolution was higher for arterial than venous (85% vs 65.6%; p = 0.032) thrombi with a shorter duration of enoxaparin treatment (23 vs 43 d; p = 0.014). Complete resolution was lowest in neonates with venous thrombosis (42.9%). The median time to complete resolution by Kaplan-Meier analysis was 24.9 days in the overall cohort, 34.3 days in neonates, 24.9 days in infants, 20 days in arterial, and 44.9 days in venous catheter group. CONCLUSIONS A high proportion of vascular catheter-related thrombi identified in infants with congenital heart disease resolve with enoxaparin treatment. In all patients with thrombosis, arterial versus venous thrombosis is associated with greater odds of resolution.
Solving 1-Laplacians in nearly linear time: collapsing and expanding a topological ball

We present an efficient algorithm for solving a linear system arising from the 1-Laplacian corresponding to a collapsible simplicial complex with a known collapsing sequence. When combined with a result of Chillingworth, our algorithm is applicable to convex simplicial complexes embedded in R3. The running time of our algorithm is nearly-linear in the size of the complex and is logarithmic on its numerical properties.Our algorithm is based on projection operators and combinatorial steps for transferring between them. The former relies on decomposing flows into circulations and potential flows using fast solvers for graph Laplacians, and the latter relates Gaussian elimination to topological properties of simplicial complexes.
Teaching user interface prototyping

User interface prototyping is a proven technique for evaluating design alternatives and for obtaining user feedback. It is heavily employed by software development organizations. However, it is often ignored in computer science education. This paper discusses how interface prototypes are used in industry and what research has shown concerning the effectiveness of such prototyping. It evaluates tools that can used to construct such prototypes and describes how prototyping can be taught in the computer science curriculum. We describe our experiences in teaching students to build interface prototypes and give recommendations based on these experiences.
Control structures for the unified power flow controller

The basic principles of UPFC operation are discussed and the series inverter dynamics are explained. Two control strategies — the Cross-Coupling method and the Advanced Control method are discussed in detail and their bode plots are analyzed. The two control methods are implemented in PSCAD for the NYPA UPFC at Marcy substation. The performance of the two methods is observed for step changes in active power reference and the results are compared.
Semimicro method for the determination of salicylate levels in blood.

A micro method for salicylates capable of determining levels of 0 to 50 µg./ml. on fingertip blood specimens has been developed. The method is characterized by low plasma or whole blood blanks, the ability to measure very low salicylate levels, and sufficient range to compare favorably with the macro method of Brodie et at. at higher levels.
Accurate compact model extraction for on-chip coplanar waveguides

Employing a novel ABCD matrix partitioning technique, the proposed method extracts an accurate frequency-dependent distributed circuit model for the broadband characteristics of coplanar waveguide transmission lines using either measured or simulated scattering parameters. A neural network with a training algorithm is then applied to predict CPW performance for a range of geometry sizes. The circuit model validated using EM (MOMENTUM) and circuit (HSPICE) simulations demonstrates good accuracy, high computational efficiency, and fast model development.
Preserving the European Convention on Human Rights: Why the UK's Threat to Leave the Convention Could Save It

The European Court of Human Rights sits in a precarious position. The United Kingdom continues to publicly defy the Court and is now threatening to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights altogether. If the Court is going to continue to be successful, prominent member States like Britain cannot withdraw. Vinter v. UK, decided in June 2013, is cause for the latest uproar. Vinter held that Article 3 of the Convention requires all life sentences to incorporate a review mechanism for early release. Contrary the Court’s public chiding of the UK, however, Vinter indicates that it is the Court, not the UK, that poses a threat to the long-term success of the Convention. How so? Because the jurisprudential model — European consensus — that produced Vinter and governs the Court’s interpretation of the Convention seriously undermines the rule of law. And fidelity to the rule of law, not a commitment to expanding the protections covered by the Convention, is what will preserve the work and influence of the Court for years to come.For nearly 35 years, the Court has interpreted the Convention by looking for a “consensus,” “common approach,” or “trend” among the Contracting States or States outside of Europe. This Article briefly surveys the Court’s cases and concludes that the Court’s use of European consensus has been completely unpredictable — the antithesis of a judiciary adhering to the rule of law. Accordingly, the Article argues that the Court must abandon its living European consensus jurisprudential model and adopt a countervailing historical jurisprudential model that focuses solely on Contracting States. The historical model provides predictability and reinforces the notion of the Convention as an agreement, therefore upholding the rule of law and preserving the Court’s credibility.
Intervals and Orders: What Comes After Interval Orders?

In this paper we survey two kinds of generalizations of the ideas of interval graphs and interval orders. For the first generalization we use intervals in ordered sets more general than the real numbers. For the second generalization, we restrict ourselves to intervals chosen in the real numbers, but we define two vertices to be adjacent (in the graphs) or incomparable (in the orders) only when the intervals overlap by more than a specified amount. Each of these generalizations suggests new avenues for research.
Minimum-cost generation-shedding for dynamic Remedial Action Scheme

This paper describes an approach for determining generation-shedding for dynamic Remedial Action Scheme (RAS) based on minimum cost. A generation-shedding cost function is developed based on generator fuel cost, startup/shut down cost, and bid price. The proposed method updates RAS control actions online based on the system operating conditions and cost functions. The Single Machine Equivalent (SIME) method is used to compute stability margins for credible contingencies. The proposed method is applied to a modified IEEE 39-Bus system. Test results demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed minimum-cost generation-shedding method.
Predictive Variables of Success for Latino Enrollment in Higher Education.

It is necessary to better understand the unique variables that serve as predictors of Latino students’ postsecondary enrollment and success. Impacts of various variables were examined among 850 Latino and Caucasian students (76% and 24% of the sample, respectively). Gender, ethnicity, perceived affordability, high school grade point average, and high school credits earned served as significant predictors. Yet the highest mathematics class taken by the 11th grade was not significant, and Latino students’ negative perceptions of college affordability may have hindered students’ postsecondary enrollment aspirations, despite their having access to a guaranteed scholarship.
Non-invasive, continuous monitoring of cerebral oxygenation changes during cardiopulmonary bypass by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) provides a new technology to continuously and noninvasively monitor tissue oxygenation. Using a NIRS system of our design, we monitored relative cerebral oxygenation changes of patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass. The results of our study show that our NIRS system is a promising monitor for this and other applications.
Dual channel wavelength division multiplexing using a composite resonator vertical cavity laser

We demonstrate the use of a dual resonator vertical cavity laser diode as a coarse wavelength division multiplexing optical source. Binary data is encoded onto each of the two longitudinal modes, which can be independently modulated through current injection into each cavity.