cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neural correlates of RDoC reward constructs in adolescents with diverse psychiatric symptoms: A Reward Flanker Task pilot study.

Abstract Background There has been growing interest under the Research Domain Criteria initiative to investigate behavioral constructs and their underlying neural circuitry. Abnormalities in reward processes are salient across psychiatric conditions and may precede future psychopathology in youth. However, the neural circuitry underlying such deficits has not been well defined. Therefore, in this pilot, we studied youth with diverse psychiatric symptoms and examined the neural underpinnings of reward anticipation, attainment, and positive prediction error (PPE, unexpected reward gain). Clinically, we focused on anhedonia, known to reflect deficits in reward function. Methods Twenty-two psychotropic medication-free youth, 16 with psychiatric symptoms, exhibiting a full range of anhedonia, were scanned during the Reward Flanker Task. Anhedonia severity was quantified using the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale. Functional magnetic resonance imaging analyses were false discovery rate corrected for multiple comparisons. Results Anticipation activated a broad network, including the medial frontal cortex and ventral striatum, while attainment activated memory and emotion-related regions such as the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus, but not the ventral striatum. PPE activated a right-dominant fronto-temporo-parietal network. Anhedonia was only correlated with activation of the right angular gyrus during anticipation and the left precuneus during PPE at an uncorrected threshold. Limitations Findings are preliminary due to the small sample size. Conclusions This pilot characterized the neural circuitry underlying different aspects of reward processing in youth with diverse psychiatric symptoms. These results highlight the complexity of the neural circuitry underlying reward anticipation, attainment, and PPE. Furthermore, this study underscores the importance of RDoC research in youth.
Fertility Preservation in BRCA Carriers: Special Considerations

Breast cancer is a significant international public health problem and is the leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide [1]. In high-income countries, women under the age of 45 are more likely to die of breast cancer than of any other disease or injury [2]. Women with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndromes, including carriers of deleterious mutations in the BRCA1 or 2 genes, not only are at approximately fivefold increased risk of breast cancer but also develop malignancy approximately 10 years earlier than those with non-hereditary disease, often during their reproductive years [3, 4, 5]. In such patients, often referred to as BRCA-positive/+ or carriers, the potential for early onset disease combined with the potential adverse impact on fertility of cancer prevention strategies and treatment if disease develops necessitates proactive, careful counseling about reproductive planning. This should be considered for both previvors (patients who are BRCA + but have not developed disease) and BRCA + survivors (patients who have developed disease in the setting of a hereditary predisposition). While male BRCA carriers are at increased risk of developing malignancies, most present later in life, not during reproductive years, and there are no standard risk-reducing strategies employed that are associated with infertility for male previvors. Nevertheless, potential concerns regarding reproduction should be addressed for young male patients as well. In this manuscript, we review the unique considerations surrounding reproduction, fertility, and fertility preservation for carriers of BRCA gene mutations. We address the relevant fertility concerns for the previvor and survivor populations, including strategies for patients with a new cancer diagnosis as well as consideration of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), even in the absence of infertility, to avoid passing on a deleterious germ line mutation to progeny. Available options are discussed, including gamete (egg or sperm) and embryo cryopreservation, as well as the more controversial use of LHRH agonists for ovarian suppression to preserve fertility. We also highlight future directions such as ovarian tissue cryopreservation. The available data regarding the safety of current assisted reproductive technologies (ART) for BRCA carriers will be reviewed. Finally, we describe some of the salient ethical concerns in this area.
DETERMINATION OF DISTAMYCIN-A BINDING MODES BY NMR

The application of NMR to characterization of the binding of distamycin A to DNA oligomers is discussed. The orientational preference has been determined for single distamycins binding to A-T rich sequences. In sites containing more than the minimal four A-T pairs there is evidence for a sliding transfer of the drug between neighboring binding sites at a high rate. In sites containing five and six A-T pairs there is a second binding mode in which two distamycins bind side-by-side in the minor groove, in close contact with one another in addition to the walls of the groove. There also appears to be a sliding transfer of drugs within the 2:1 complex when the binding site is more than the minimal five A-T pairs.
Does experience matter? A meta-analysis of physician rating websites of Orthopaedic Surgeons

To perform a systematic review evaluating online ratings of Orthopaedic Surgeons to determine: (1) the number of reviews per surgeon by website, (2) whether the number of reviews and rate of review acquisition correlated with years in practice, and (3) whether the use of ratings websites varied based on the surgeons’ geographic region of practice. The USA was divided into nine geographic regions, and the most populous city in each region was selected. HealthGrades and the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) database were used to identify and screen (respectively) all Orthopaedic Surgeons within each of these nine cities. These surgeons were divided into three “age” groups by years since board certification (0–10, 10–20, and 20–30 years were assigned as Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively). An equal number of surgeons were randomly selected from each region for final analysis. The online profiles for each surgeon were reviewed on four online physician rating websites (PRW, i.e. HealthGrades, Vitals, RateMDs, Yelp) for the number of available patient reviews. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Pearson correlations were used. Using HealthGrades, 2802 “Orthopaedic Surgeons” were identified in nine cities. However, 1271 (45%) of these were not found in the ABOS board certification database. After randomization, a total of 351 surgeons were included in the final analysis. For these 351 surgeons, the mean number of reviews per surgeon found on all four websites was 9.0 ± 14.8 (range 0–184). The mean number of reviews did not differ between the three age groups (p > 0.05) with 8.7 ± 14.4, (2) 10.3 ± 18.3, and (3) 8.0 ± 10.8 for Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. However, the rate that reviews were obtained (i.e. reviews per surgeon per year) was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in Group 1 (2.6 ± 7.7 reviews per year) compared to Group 2 (1.4 ± 2.4) and Group 3 (1.1 ± 1.4). There was no correlation between the number of reviews and years in practice (R < 0.001), and there was a poor correlation between number of reviews and regional population (R = 0.199). The number of reviews per surgeon did not differ significantly between the three defined age groups based on years in practice. However, surgeons with less than 10 years in practice were accumulating reviews at a significantly higher rate. Interestingly nearly half of “Orthopaedic Surgeons” listed were not found to be ABOS-certified Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Abstract 21244: The Association Between Transthoracic Echocardiography, Transesophageal Echocardiography, and No Ultrasound Use on the Duration of Pulse Checks During Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

Background: Minimizing compression pauses during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) reduces total ischemic time and contributes to better outcomes. Guidelines suggest considering ultrasound when a...
What Is The US Health Spending Problem

Is increased spending on medical care harmful to the US economy? The overall share of the gross domestic product spent on medical care is not a problem, provided that the services bought are worth more than their cost. However, high and rising costs expose two often-overlooked problems. First, spending is too high because many dollars are wasted. Estimates suggest that unnecessary medical spending costs the typical American family thousands of dollars each year. Second, high medical costs combined with stagnant incomes for a large share of the population and the inability of governments at all levels to raise tax dollars leads to increased health and economic disparities: fewer people covered by private insurance, the rationing of care in public health programs, and the lack of funds for other social programs. These distribution issues, coupled with the large waste, imply that efforts to address medical spending need to be among our highest priorities.
Editorial Commentary: Using Computer Simulations to Predict Functional Outcome After Surgery.

Abstract Computer simulations of surgical procedures can be used to predict functional outcome after surgery. To impact clinical decision making, the simulations must be an accurate representation of the in vivo condition.
Disclosure, Stigma, and Social Support Among Young People Receiving Treatment for Substance Use Disorders and Their Caregivers: a Qualitative Analysis

Relational processes (i.e., disclosure, stigma, social support) experienced by youth with substance use disorders (SUDs) and their caregivers may act as barriers to, or facilitators of, recovery but are understudied. Single-session qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 patients and 15 caregivers recruited by clinicians from a SUD program. There was variability in disclosure experiences, including how many people knew about patients' SUD diagnosis and treatment, whether patients or caregivers primarily disclosed to others, and feelings about others knowing about one's or one's child's SUD treatment. After disclosing, patients and caregivers experienced stigmatizing (e.g., social rejection) and supportive (e.g., understanding, advice) reactions from others. Disclosures may have important implications for relationship and recovery-related outcomes. Moreover, some child-caregiver pairs have significant disagreements regarding disclosure of SUD treatment. Addressing relational processes within treatment by encouraging patients and caregivers to share the disclosure decision-making process may support the recovery of youth with SUDs.
Social Work Student and Practitioner Roles in Integrated Care Settings.

Introduction Social workers are increasingly being deployed in integrated medical and behavioral healthcare settings but information about the roles they fill in these settings is not well understood. This study sought to identify the functions that social workers perform in integrated settings and identify where they acquired the necessary skills to perform them. Methods Master of social work students (n=21) and their field supervisors (n=21) who were part of a Health Resources and Services Administration–funded program to train and expand the behavioral health workforce in integrated settings were asked how often they engaged in 28 functions, where they learned to perform those functions, and the degree to which their roles overlapped with others on the healthcare team. Results The most frequent functions included employing cultural competency, documenting in the electronic health record, addressing patient social determinants of health, and participating in team-based care. Respondents were least likely to engage in case conferences; use Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment; use stepped care to determine necessary level of treatment; conduct functional assessments of daily living skills; use behavioral activation; and use problem-solving therapy. A total of 80% of respondents reported that their roles occasionally, often, very often, or always overlapped with others on the healthcare team. Students reported learning the majority of skills (76%) in their Master of Social Work programs. Supervisors attributed the majority (65%) of their skill development to on-the-job training. Conclusions Study findings suggest the need to redesign education, regulatory, and payment to better support the deployment of social workers in integrated care settings. Supplement information This article is part of a supplement entitled The Behavioral Health Workforce: Planning, Practice, and Preparation, which is sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Vessel monitoring systems (VMS) reveal an increase in fishing efficiency following regulatory changes in a demersal longline fishery

Abstract A global expansion of satellite-based monitoring is making fisher behavioral responses to management actions increasingly observable. However, such data have been underutilized in evaluating the impacts of fishing on target and non-target fish stocks or the ramifications of management strategies on fishers. We demonstrate how vessel monitoring system (VMS) data can provide a suite of metrics (such as effort) for improving inputs to stock assessments, dynamic delineation of fishing grounds, and evaluation of regulatory or other (e.g., climatic) impacts on fisher performance. Using >1 million VMS records from the Gulf of Mexico grouper-tilefish demersal longline fishery, we first develop a generalized additive modeling approach that predicts fishing duration with ∼85% accuracy. We combine model predictions with logbook data to compare the fishery before and after implementation of a suite of regulatory changes (e.g., a shift to catch share management). We find a large-scale reduction in fleet size, accompanied by reduced fishing effort (duration * number of hooks), shorter trips, lower operational expenses, higher catch rates, and more earnings for those vessels that remained in the fishery. We discuss how the combination of VMS and associated metrics can be expanded for use in management strategy evaluation, parameterizing economic models of fisher behavior, improving fishery-dependent stock assessment indices, and deriving socioeconomic indicators in fisheries worldwide.
The Streetcar Dilemma: Preventing Incurable Harm Through Timely Enforcement of the Antitrust Laws

This short article reviews the 'National City' conspiracy of the 1930s and 1940s, in which General Motors, Standard Oil, and other automotive corporations entered into contracts funding and perpetuating National City's purchase and dismantling of street rail systems nationwide, arguing that the action taken by the government occurred too late, in several respects. It demonstrates that the antitrust laws enable the government to enjoin such anticompetitive contracts, but that timing is critical. Vigilance is particularly crucial where the anticompetitive conduct dismantles valuable infrastructure in a way that cannot be easily reversed. The anticompetitive contracts among several corporations in the National City case changed the course of several cities' history.
Human Extremity Detection for Action Recognition

Johansson showed that locations of internal body joints are sufficient visual cues to characterize human motion and activities. The position of such body joints is difficult to estimate and track automatically due to clothing and self-occlusion. In this paper, we propose that the location of human extremities alone (including head, hands and feet) provides an excellent approximation to body motion. Human extremities are modeled and detected via two different methodologies. When human contours are available, extremities are modeled as points on the contour and detected using a variable-star-skeleton representation. An extremely compact posture descriptor is further defined on these precise extremities. When it is difficult to obtain contours, extremities are modeled as image patches and detected by searching the image directly. Each pixel is associated with a patch containing the pixel and a probability of the patch forming a specific class of extremities. The histogram of probable extremities is defined on such a probable extremity map as another posture descriptor. Both posture descriptors are tested on two public data sets for action recognition. The results validated the effectiveness of extremities to estimate human body motion and recognize actions.
Theory of alpha heating in inertial fusion: Alpha-heating metrics and the onset of the burning-plasma regime

A detailed and comprehensive 1-dimensional theory of alpha-heating metrics is developed to determine the onset of burning plasma regimes in inertial fusion implosions. The analysis uses an analytic model of the deceleration, stagnation, and burn phases of inertial confinement fusion implosions combined with the results from a database of radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. The onset of the burning-plasma regime occurs when the alpha-heating rate in the hot spot exceeds the compression power input and is represented by the parameter Qα=1/2 α energy/PdV work. A second burning plasma regime is also identified, where the alpha-heating rate exceeds the compression input to the entire stagnated plasma, including the hot spot and confining shell, and is represented by Qαtot. It is shown that progress towards the burning-plasma regime is correlated with the yield enhancement caused by alpha-heating but is more accurately related to the fractional alpha energy fα=1/2 α energy/hot-spot energy. In the analysis presented here, we develop a method to infer these intermediate metrics from experiments and show that the alpha power produced in National Ignition Facility High-Foot implosions is approximately 50% of the external input power delivered to the hot spot and 25% of the total external power (from compression) delivered to the stagnated core.
Validation of Clausius-Mossotti Function in Single-Cell Dielectrophoresis

The crossover frequency around 50 kHz from positive force to negative force predicted by the Clausius-Mossotti function was experimentally validated in single-cell dielectropho-resis, despite the highly nonuniform electric field distribution between small and narrowly spaced electrodes, with the field distribution greatly disturbed by the cell. The validation was based on live Jurkat human T -lymphocyte cells that were resuspended in isotonic sucrose solution. With further validation on different cells in different solutions, better understanding can be obtained on how the Clausius-Mossotti function can be applied to a cell in an electrode gap comparable to the cell diameter. The understanding can then be used to help optimize the dielectrophoresis configuration and alaorlthm for more efficient sinale-cell maneuver.
Relation Extraction for Protein-protein Interactions Affected by Mutations

Precision Medicine has attracted increasing attention from biomedical research. Extracting information from biomedical literature about protein-protein interactions affected by mutations is a vital step towards PM because it uncovers mechanisms leading to diseases. We investigate a feature-rich supervised method to accomplish this relation extraction challenge. Our approach leverages a novel combination of features, as well as two auxiliary corpora, to achieve up 44% improvement in F1-score over baseline method.
Shrinkage prediction of injection molded high density polyethylene parts with taguchi/artificial neural network hybrid experimental design

Injection molding is classified as one of the economical manufacturing processes for high volume production of plastic parts. However, it is a complex process, as there are many factors that could lead to process variations and thus the quality issues of final products. One common quality issue is the presence of shrinkage and its associated warpage. Part shrinkage is largely affected by molding conditions, as well as mold design and material properties. The main objective of this paper is to predict the shrinkage of injection molded parts under different processing parameters. The second objective is to facilitate the setup of injection molding machine and reduce the need for trial and error. To meet these objectives, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was presented in this study, to predict the part shrinkage from the optimal molding parameters. Molding parameters studied include injection speed, holding time, and cooling time. A Taguchi-based experimental study was conducted, to identify the optimal molding condition which can lead to the minimum shrinkages in the length and width directions. A L27 (33) orthogonal array (OA) was applied in the Taguchi experimental design, with three controllable factors and one non-controllable noise factor. The feedforward neural network model, trained in back propagation, was validated by comparing the predicted shrinkage with the actual shrinkage obtained from Taguchi-based experimental results. It demonstrates that the ANN model has a high prediction accuracy, and can be used as a quality control tool for part shrinkage in injection molding.
Reward-Related Brain Activity Prospectively Predicts Increases in Alcohol Use in Adolescents

Objective Altered activity within reward-related neural regions, including the ventral striatum (VS) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), is associated with concurrent problematic substance use. The aims of the present study were (a) to identify patterns of reward-related neural activity that prospectively predicted changes in alcohol use 2 years after magnetic resonance imaging in a sample of adolescents, and (b) to examine whether these patterns differed by sex. We also tested whether depression symptoms or impulsivity mediated associations between neural activity and future alcohol use. Method Participants were 262 adolescents (129 male and 133 female) of Mexican origin who completed the Monetary Incentive Delay task during a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan at age 16. Participants reported on their alcohol use at ages 16 and 18. Results Results indicated that different patterns of reward-related neural activity predicted future increases in alcohol use for male and female adolescents. In boys, higher VS activity during reward anticipation and average ventral mPFC activity during reward feedback predicted increases in alcohol use from age 16 to 18 years; in girls, higher dorsal mPFC activity and blunted VS activity during reward anticipation predicted increases in alcohol use from age 16 to 18 years. Depression symptoms or impulsivity did not mediate these associations. Conclusion The results suggest that different pathways of risk may lead to problematic alcohol use for adolescent boys and girls. These sex differences in neural risk pathways have important implications for prevention and intervention approaches targeting Mexican-origin youth.
Audification Experiments: Market Data Correlation

Despite intensive study, a comprehensive understanding of the structure of capital market trading data remains elusive. The one known application of audification to market price data reported in 1990 that it was difficult to interpret the results, probably because the market does not resonate according to acoustic laws. This chapter illustrates some techniques for transforming data so it does resonate; so audification may be used as a means of identifying auto-correlation in trading- and similar-datasets. Some experiments to test the veracity of this process are described in detail, along with the computer code used to produce them. Also reported are some experiments in which the data is sonified using a homomorphic modulation technique. The results obtained indicate that the technique may have a wider application to other similarly structured time-series datasets.
Successful Bail-Out Stenting for Iatrogenic Right Coronary Artery Dissection in a Young Male

Catheter-induced coronary artery dissection is a serious complication of coronary angiography. Percutaneous intervention is usually indicated in case of large spiral dissections, however, wiring into the true lumen can be challenging. This case reports the novel use of intravascular ultrasound-guided rescue percutaneous coronary intervention for stenting an iatrogenic spiral dissection of the right coronary artery. (Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.).
SECTION 4 – Singular Solutions

Publisher Summary fc (x> y> c) = 0, where f(x, y, c) is the general solution of F(x, y, y') = 0, are called the c-discriminant locus. In general, the general solution f(x, y, c) = 0 might not have an envelope. This happens if the curves have nodes, cusps, or tacs. The p-discriminant contains the envelope, cuspidal locus, and the tac locus. The c-discriminant contains the envelope, cuspidal locus, and the nodal locus. In general, only the envelope satisfies the differential equation because the slopes of these curves do not agree with any slope of the solution. The cusp locus could be an exception.
Acute Acalculous Cholecystitis-Associated Bacteremia Has Worse Outcome

Background: Acute acalculous cholecystitis (AAC) is an inflammation of the gallbladder without gallstones in the setting of critical illness. It represents 2%–15% of acute cholecystitis (AC) cases....
Proteomic analysis identifies the E3 ubiquitin ligase Pdzrn3 as a regulatory target of Wnt5a-Ror signaling

Wnt5a-Ror signaling is a conserved pathway that regulates morphogenetic processes during vertebrate development, but its downstream signaling events remain poorly understood. By conducting a large-scale proteomic screen in mouse embryonic fibroblasts, we identified the E3 ubiquitin ligase Pdzrn3 as a new regulatory target that is degraded upon pathway activation in a β-catenin-independent, ubiquitin-proteasome system-dependent manner. We developed a flow cytometry-based reporter to monitor Pdzrn3 abundance and delineated a signaling cascade involving Frizzled, Dishevelled, Casein kinase 1, and Glycogen synthase kinase 3 that regulates Pdzrn3 stability. Genetic epistasis analysis suggests that Pdzrn3 degradation occurs downstream of Dishevelled but independently of Kif26b, a previously identified Wnt5a-Ror-Dishevelled signaling target. Further, we discovered that Pdzrn3 degradation requires Wnt5a-dependent phosphorylation of three residues within its C-terminal LNX3H domain, which is conserved in other homologs and likely functions as a Wnt5a-responsive domain. Collectively, this work establishes a new Wnt5a-Ror signaling cascade involving Pdzrn3 phosphorylation and degradation.
Reconciling bubble nucleation in explosive eruptions with geospeedometers.

Magma from Plinian volcanic eruptions contains an extraordinarily large numbers of bubbles. Nucleation of those bubbles occurs because pressure decreases as magma rises to the surface. As a consequence, dissolved magmatic volatiles, such as water, become supersaturated and cause bubbles to nucleate. At the same time, diffusion of volatiles into existing bubbles reduces supersaturation, resulting in a dynamical feedback between rates of nucleation due to magma decompression and volatile diffusion. Because nucleation rate increases with supersaturation, bubble number density (BND) provides a proxy record of decompression rate, and hence the intensity of eruption dynamics. Using numerical modeling of bubble nucleation, we reconcile a long-standing discrepancy in decompression rate estimated from BND and independent geospeedometers. We demonstrate that BND provides a record of the time-averaged decompression rate that is consistent with independent geospeedometers, if bubble nucleation is heterogeneous and facilitated by magnetite crystals. The authors simulate bubble nucleation in silica-rich magma with conditions appropriate for Plinian eruptions. They demonstrate that the gap between decompression rate estimates from bubble number density and independent geospeedometers can be largely closed if nucleation is heterogenous facilitated by magnetite crystals and decompression rate is calculated as time-averaged values.
What to Expect When Everyone is Expecting: Self-Fulfilling Expectations and Asset-Pricing Puzzles

We study an economy without bubbles in which expectations about future discount rates can become self-fulfilling because asset valuations redistribute wealth across different investor cohorts. For such redistribution to take place, the wealth of arriving and existing cohorts must react differently to discount rates, and in addition only the existing agents be marginal in financial markets. The self-fulfilling nature of discount rate expectations means that the economy can address several well documented empirical asset pricing facts (excessive volatility, return predictability, low interest rate level and volatility), while all real quantities (aggregate consumption and dividend growth) are smooth.
Severe Protein-Calorie Malnutrition-Associated Hepatic Steatosis in a Woman Who Had Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass for Morbid Obesity Thirteen Years Ago

Hepatic steatosis is common in everyday liver pathology practice. There are many etiologies leading to hepatic steatosis. These etiologies include metabolic syndrome, alcohol, medications, monogenetic disease, infectious diseases, and malnutrition. Correct diagnosis of underlying etiology through clinicopathological correlation is key to adequate treatment and optimal outcome for the patient. In this case report, we describe severe protein-calorie malnutrition as an etiology for hepatic steatosis in a middle-aged woman who presented with lethargy, low body mass index (15.8 kg/m2), abdominal distention and bilateral lower extremity edema, hyperammonemia, and hypoalbuminemia, 13 years after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for morbid obesity. Laboratory tests revealed hyperammonemia, hypoalbuminemia, and low ceruloplasmin levels. Hemodynamic measurement demonstrated high hepatic venous pressure gradient of 12 mm Hg. Transjugular liver biopsy showed moderate macrovesicular steatosis, mild siderosis, and abundant lipofuscin but no evidence of fibrosis, cirrhosis, or steatohepatitis. This patient was treated with lactulose and enteral feeding, however, the patient died of progressive liver failure 3 weeks after admission. We also review relevant literature to help diagnose protein-calorie malnutrition (kwashiorkor) and hepatic steatosis as a possible late complication of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. In patients with hepatic steatosis, encephalopathy, hyperammonemia and portal hypertension, malnutrition should be considered as an etiology and diagnosed with a synthesis of clinical, pathological, and laboratory information. Kwashiorkor is a severe disease and should be treated promptly as it may be fatal as in our case.
Comparing outcomes for non-metastatic rectal cancer in academic vs. community centers: A propensity-matched analysis of the National Cancer Database.

Abstract Background Little is known regarding the impact of hospital academic status on outcomes following rectal cancer surgery. We compare these outcomes for nonmetastatic rectal adenocarcinoma at academic versus community institutions. Methods The National Cancer Database (2010–2016) was queried for patients with nonmetastatic rectal adenocarcinoma who underwent resection. Propensity score matching was performed across facility cohorts to balance confounding covariates. Kaplan-Meier estimation and Cox-proportional hazards regression were used to analyze survival, other short and long-term outcomes were analyzed by way of logistic regression. Results After matching, 15,096 patients were included per cohort. Academic centers were associated with significantly decreased odds of conversion and positive margins with significantly increased odds of ≥12 regional nodes examined. Academic programs also had decreased odds of 30 and 90-day mortality and decreased 5-year mortality hazard. After matching for facility volume, no significant differences in outcomes between centers was seen. Conclusions No difference between academic and community centers in outcomes following surgery for non-metastatic rectal cancer was seen after matching for facility procedural volume.
Enhancing the classification of aphasia: a statistical analysis using connected speech

Background: Large-shared databases and automated language analyses allow for the application of new data analysis techniques that can shed new light on the connected speech of people with aphasia (...
Close encounters that foster change: What Alice Sheldon and PPE 2020 can tell us about educational futures:

In the preferable educational future imagined here, the year 2030 has seen massive conceptual and structural change throughout systems of education. In the higher educational landscape envisioned o...
Democracy underwater: public participation, technical expertise, and climate infrastructure planning in New York City

This article provides an explanation for how increased public participation can paradoxically translate into limited democratic decision-making in urban settings. Recent sociological research shows how governments can control participatory forums to restrict the distribution of resources to poor neighborhoods or to advance private land development interests. Yet such explanations cannot account for the decoupling of participation from democratic decision-making in the case of planning for climate change, which expands the substantive topics and public funding decisions that involve urban residents. Through an in-depth case study of one of the largest coastal protection projects in the world and drawing on global scholarship on participation, this article narrates the social production of resistance to climate change infrastructure by showing how the state sidestepped public input and exercised authority through appeals to the rationality of technical expertise. After a lengthy participation process wherein participants reported satisfaction with how their input was included in designs, city officials switched decision-making styles and used expertise from engineers to render the publicly-supported plan unfeasible, while continuing to involve residents in the process. As a result, conflict arose between activists and public housing representatives, bitterly dividing the neighborhood over who could legitimately claim to represent the interests of the “frontline community.” By documenting the experience of participants in the process before and after the switch in decision-making styles, this article advances a sociological description of public influence in policy: The ability for participants in a planning process to recognize their own input reflected in finished plans.
The rhodopsins: structure and function. Introduction.

Nature makes use of the propensity of retinal for light-dependent double-bond isomerization in a number of systems and in a variety of ways. The common theme for light receptors based on this kind of chemistry is that (1) the retinal is bound in most cases to a small membrane protein via a protonated lysine-retinal Schiff base, (2) the absorption maximum in the visible is tuned to a suitable wavelength largely by electrostatic interaction with polar protein residues, and (3) the light-induced bond rotations and strains in the retinal set off reaction chains during which at least part of the excess free energy acquired is transferred to the protein and causes pK shifts of acidic residues and/or backbone conformational changes. The physiological consequence of the process initiated by absorption of light is either the activation of an information transfer chain (sensory and visual rhodopsins) or energy transduction which drives the electrogenic movement of ions across the membrane (ion-motive rhodopsins). Rhodopsins with these functions occur in bacteria and in higher organisms; from an evolutionary standpoint they are not related to one another. Nevertheless, all of these proteins are remarkably similar and form a distinct family.
Shifting Languages, Spaces, and Learner Identities: Learning Mathematics After School

Over the last 30 years, there has been growing interest in how children learn in informal and “out-of-school” contexts especially through the prism of discourse analysis of interaction. One of the primary rationales for this development is the rigidity of formal, classroom discourse structures. This is further complicated when restrictive language policies limit the use of bilingual children’s native languages and cultures, especially for Latinas/os. While there has been growing recognition within the mathematics education community for the need to consider discourse in the learning of mathematics and “mathematization” (Rogers, Mosley, Hui, & O’Garro-Joseph, 2005), there has been a dearth of research on how children engage in mathematical discourses in informal and “out-of-school” spaces. Given the well-documented achievement gap between Latinas/os and their dominant counterparts, documenting learning in informal contexts such as an after-school club provides us with a unique opportunity to enhance our understanding of how children mathematize using multimodal mediational tools.
Phosphinoborane-induced fragmentation of the unsaturated hydride H2Re2(CO)8: X-ray structure of HRe(CO)4(κB,P-Ph2PCH2CH2BR2) (where BR2 = 9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonanyl) and DFT Evaluation of hydride versus CO coordination by the ancillary borane

The reactivity of the unsaturated dimer H{sub 2}Re{sub 2}(CO){sub 8} (1) with the ambiphilic phosphinoborane Ph{sub 2}PCH{sub 2}CH{sub 2}BR{sub 2} (2; where BR{sub 2} = 9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonanyl) has been explored. Coordination of the ambiphilic ligand to 1 is rapid at room temperature, leading to the fragmentation of 1 and formation of HRe(CO){sub 4}({kappa}B,P-Ph{sub 2}PCH{sub 2}CH{sub 2}BR{sub 2}) (3) in high yield. 3 has been characterized in solution by IR and NMR spectroscopy, and the molecular structure established by X-ray diffraction analysis. The solid-state structure confirms the presence of a chelated phosphinoborane ligand through coordination of the phosphine to the rhenium center and the formation of a three-center, two-electron (3c,2e) Re-H-B interaction. The nature of the Re-H-B interaction in 3 has been investigated by DFT, and the energetics for borane dissociation and hydride abstraction by the coordinated Lewis acid in 3 have also been computationally evaluated. The coordination of an oxygen in one of the ancillary CO groups by the pendant borane in HRe(CO){sub 4}({kappa}P-Ph{sub 2}PCH{sub 2}CH{sub 2}BR{sub 2}) is thermodynamically unfavorable relative to the formation of the 3c,2e Re-H-B bond.
Some Biological Effects of Carbamoyloxyurea, an Oxidation Product of Hydroxyurea

Abstract Carbamoyloxyurea, an oxidation product of hydroxyurea, is bactericidal for Escherichia coli. Drug-induced killing is independent of cellular metabolism; ribonucleic acid and protein syntheses are the processes most affected, and the lethal action is accompanied by degradation of cellular deoxyribonucleic acid. In all of these effects the drug differs from hydroxyurea, a primarily bacteriostatic agent that inhibits deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis, whose lethal action ultimately depends on cellular activity.
A sensitivity-enhanced simulation approach for community climate system model

A global sea-ice modeling component of the Community Climate System Model was augumented with automatic differentiation (AD) technology. The numerical experiments were run with two problem sets of different grid sizes. Rigid ice regions with high viscous properties cause computational difficulty in the propagation of AD-based derivative computation. Pre-tuning step was required to obtain successful convergence behavior. Various thermodynamic and dynamic parameters were selected for multivariate sensitivity analysis. The major parameters controlling the sea-ice thickness/volume computation were ice and snow densitives, albedo parameters, thermal conductivities, and emissivity constant. Especially, the ice and snow albedo parameters are found to have stronger effect during melting seasons. This high seasonal variability of the thermodynamic parameters underlines the importance of the multivariate sensitivity approach in global sea-ice modeling studies.
Equivalence of soft and zero-bin subtractions at two loops

Calculations of collinear correlation functions in perturbative QCD and soft-collinear effective theory require a prescription for subtracting soft or zero-bin contributions in order to avoid double counting the contributions from soft modes. At leading order in $\ensuremath{\lambda}$, where $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ is the soft-collinear effective theory expansion parameter, the zero-bin subtractions have been argued to be equivalent to convolution with soft Wilson lines. We give a proof of the factorization of naive collinear Wilson lines that is crucial for the derivation of the equivalence. We then check the equivalence by computing the non-Abelian two-loop mixed collinear-soft contribution to the jet function in the quark form factor. These results demonstrate the equivalence, which can be used to give a nonperturbative definition of the zero-bin subtraction at lowest order in $\ensuremath{\lambda}$.
Historical Control: Overview

Historical control refers to the practice of using data from past studies and administrative databases to estimate potential response to placebo or standard-of-care treatment among patients in an ongoing study. The historical control information may come from patient-specific data or from aggregate published estimates. Studies that project response to a control regimen based on historical data rather than concurrently randomized patients are most common in settings where there are ethical barriers to the use of either placebo or an older treatment widely believed to have little benefit. Historical controlled trials (HCTs) are subject to several potentially important sources of bias. HCTs are examples from a broader class of nonrandomized comparative designs called observational studies. Numerous methods have been developed to reduce bias in observational studies, and these methods are sometimes applicable in HCTs, for example, covariate adjustment and matching [Cochran and Rubin (1)], and propensity score methods [Rosenbaum and Rubin (2)]. Bayesian statistical methods can be used to create hybrid designs that use some historical control data and some concurrently collected randomized control data. Times series are another source of historical control information commonly used in economics and marketing as well as, occasionally, in clinical research. Keywords: observational study; nonrandomized study; bias; time series
USE OF ENDOSCOPIC RETROGRADE CHOLANGIOPANCREATOGRAPHY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF PANCREATIC FISTULA A case report and review of the literature

The diagnosis in a case of pancreaticocolonic fistula, presenting with gastrointestinal bleeding, was made by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and verified surgically. The clinical picture and pathogenesis of pancreaticoenteric fistulas are reviewed.
Connections in networks: a hybrid approach

This paper extends our previous work by exploring the use of a hybrid solution method for solving the connection subgraph problem. We employ a two phase solution method, which drastically reduces the cost of testing for infeasibility and also helps prune the search space for MIP-based optimization. Overall, this provides a much more scalable solution than simply optimizing a MIP model of the problem with Cplex. We report results for semi-structured lattice instances as well as on real data used for the construction of a wildlife corridor for grizzly bears in the Northern Rockies region.
Direct Determination of the Onset of Transition to Turbulence in Flow Passages

In this paper, easily applied methods are proposed, based on tests with air and water, for direct determination of the onset of transition in flow passages using static and dynamic wall pressure data. With increasing Reynolds number from laminar flow, the characteristic feature of transition is the change from steady to oscillating pressure readings. It is established that the power spectral density (psd) representations exhibit a distinctive change in profile at transition. Further, it is shown that the root-mean-square (rms) values of the wall pressure fluctuations rise sharply at transition. The critical Reynolds numbers recorded via the change from steady to unsteady pressure readings are almost the same as those deduced from the psd and rms pressure data or from the familiar friction factor-Reynolds number plots.
THE CANYONLANDS METEORITE

The Canyonlands meteorite weighing 1,520 grams was found near the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers, Utah, near lat 38°11′N.; long 109°53′W. It is a shocked, brecciated H6 chondrite containing large black veins which do not differ in composition from the main chondritic mass. A black fusion crust remains on part of the meteorite.
Structural Characterization and Study of Adsorbate Interactions with Cu(II) Ions in SBA-15 Materials by Electron Spin Resonance and Electron Spin−Echo Modulation Spectroscopies

Mesoporous SBA-15 materials have been synthesized with different pore sizes and characterized by X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption isotherms, X-ray fluorescence and thermal gravimetric analysis. SBA-15 has been aluminated by grafting AlCl3 to SBA-15 in the presence of ethanol. Cupric ions have been introduced into these materials by aqueous ion-exchange. The electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrum of as-synthesized Cu−AlSBA-15 materials shows an axial g factor for Cu(II), and the g and hyperfine parameters show that the cupric ions have octahedral or square pyramidal symmetry. ESR and electron spin−echo modulation spectra have been analyzed to determine the coordination geometry of adsorbates including CH3OD, D2O, ND3, 15NH3, and C2D4 to cupric ions.
Nanopores: molecular ping-pong.

Experiments designed to pass the same DNA molecule through a solid-state nanopore many times will greatly improve the quality of single-molecule measurements.
A Home Sleep Apnea Screening Device With Time-Domain Signal Processing and Autonomous Scoring Capability

Current solutions of sleep apnea diagnosis require the patient to undergo overnight studies at a specialized sleep laboratory. Due to such inconvenience and high cost, millions of sleep apnea patients remain undiagnosed and thus untreated. Based on a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) sensor and an effective apnea detection algorithm, we propose a low-cost single-channel apnea screening solution applicable in the comfort of patients' homes. A prototype device was designed and assembled including a MEMS sensor for measuring the patient's nasal air flows, and a time-domain signal processing IC for apnea detection and autonomous scoring. The IC chip was fabricated in standard 0.5- $\mu{\rm m}$ CMOS technology. The proposed device was tested for both respiratory rhythm detection and sleep apnea screening under clinical environment. Apnea-hypopnea indices (AHI) were scored to indicate severity of sleep apnea conditions. Test results suggest that the proposed device can be a valuable screening solution for the broader public with undiagnosed apnea conditions.
Influence of Hydrogen Ion Concentration and Autoclaving on Gibberellin

IN at least two reports the method of sterilization for medium to be used for tissue culture experiments was autoclaving1,2. The question of the heat stability of gibberellin is raised. It is generally thought that gibberellin is stable on the basic side of neutrality and at room temperature at neutral or near neutral pH, and more labile at elevated temperatures at extreme pH values. It has been stated that even weakly acid media will destroy gibberellin and that it is much more stable in neutral and basic solutions (Stowe, B. B., private communication, November 7, 1958).
Undecidable fragments of elementary theories

We introduce a general framework to prove undecidability of fragments. This is applied to fragments of theories arising in algebra and recursion theory. For instance, the V3V-theories of the class of finite distributive lattices and of the p.o. of recursively enumerable many-one degrees are shown to be undecidable.