cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modeling of ozone reactions on aircraft-related soot in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere

Abstract Several studies in modeling atmospheric processes have suggested that heterogeneous chemistry on soot emitted from high altitude aircraft could affect stratospheric ozone depletion. However, these modeling studies were limited because they did not adequately consider the decrease in reaction probability with time as the surface of the soot becomes “poisoned” by its interactions with various gases. Here we extend UIUC's two-dimensional chemical-transport model to investigate possible effects of heterogeneous reactions of ozone on aircraft-generated carbon particles, including a treatment of soot poisoning in the model. We generally follow literature recommendations for ozone uptake probabilities and determine the available active sites on soot given partial pressures of the reactants, temperature, and time since soot emission in order to investigate ozone decrease. The regeneration of soot active sites is also taken into account in this study. We find that, even if active sites on soot surfaces are regenerated, upper troposphere and lower stratosphere ozone losses on aircraft emitted soot occurring through heterogeneous reactions are insignificant once poisoning effects are considered.
Incorporating tracer-tracee differences into models to improve accuracy

The ideal tracer for metabolic studies is one that behaves exactly like the tracee. Compounds labeled with isotopes come the closest to this ideal because they are chemically identical to the tracee except for the substitution of a stable or radioisotope at one or more positions. Even this substitution, however, can introduce a difference in metabolism that may be quantitatively important with regard to the development of the mathematical model used to interpret the kinetic data. The doubly labeled water method for the measurement of carbon dioxide production and hence energy expenditure in free-living subjects is a good example of how differences between the metabolism of the tracers and the tracee can influence the accuracy of the carbon dioxide production rate determined from the kinetic data.
Beamlet transform based technique for pavement image processing and classification

The goal of this paper is to automatically detect and classify pavement cracks using digital image processing techniques. This paper uses a pavement distress image enhancement algorithm to correct non-uniform background illumination by calculating the multiplication factors that eliminate the background lighting variations. To extract the linear features such as surface cracks from the pavement images a beamlet transform based algorithm is developed.
ISI equalization for a coherent optical MIMO (COMIMO) system

We report the first demonstration of coherent optical MIMO utilizing adaptive equalization for ISI. Coherent optics implementation is essential to ensure the necessary diversity and hence MIMO benefits, independent of fiber length and data rate.
Work in progress - integrating undergraduate research and education with the TeamTrak mobile computing system

To better prepare undergraduate students for graduate school and careers as computer scientists, we have undertaken an effort to increase both expertise and interest in research through a novel course format. The course weaves an active research project in mobile computing with a senior class on distributed systems. To facilitate the instruction, we use a mobile computing platform, TeamTrak, which consists of tablet computers that collect and display information from sensors such as GPS receivers and share data via an ad-hoc network. Students participate in outdoor field tests as a group and individually design and execute their own measurement experiments and engineering projects.
Rapid DNA maturity assessment

Abstract Two fully integrated rapid DNA platforms were tested as a part of a rapid DNA maturity assessment in the fall of 2014. The assessment was conducted with sets of blinded single-source reference samples to gauge the typing success of the current rapid DNA typing technology. Samples were provided to participants for testing on the individual rapid platforms, and data was returned to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for review and analysis. Both automated and manual review of the data sets were conducted to assess the success of genotyping the CODIS 13 core STR loci. Genotype results from the multiple platforms, participating laboratories, and STR typing chemistry was combined into a single analysis. The current assessment of the maturity of rapid DNA technology was focused on genotyping success, peak height ratios, and stutter artifacts across two platforms and multiple STR kit chemistries.
Corruption and Political Culture in America: An Empirical Perspective

Political culture helps define the boundaries of permissible political action. Thus, it should affect the amounts and types of political corruption occurring in political systems, as well as responses to corruption when it is discovered. This article compares the distribution of corruption convictions among federal judicial districts over a three-year period to social and political characteristics of the districts, and to scaled measures of Elazar's moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic political subcultures. Nationally, strong moralistic subcultures and high voter turnouts are associated with numerous convictions, both before and after district population is controlled. Analysis of regional patterns reveals a different model in the South, however, one suggesting ideas about the dynamics of traditionalistic politics. Corruption, and the impact of federal laws against it, are best understood within their political and cultural settings.
Evaluation on quality of AFP surveillance by RSR methods in Nanchang City

[Objective]To evaluate the surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis( AFP) cases in Nanchang City from 2004-2012,to identify the work weaknesses,and explore the evaluation method of AFP surveillance. [Methods]The data of AFP surveillance in Nanchang City from 2004-2012 was evaluated by RSR.[Results] By sorting the results,the RSRw value was 0. 36 in 2006,it of2004,2005 and 2007-2011 ranged from 0. 38 602-0. 666 58,and it of 2012 was 0. 83. The higher RSRw value indicated the better surveillance quality.[Conclusion]RSR method is a feasible way for comprehensive evaluation of AFP surveillance quality. The value of the monitoring indicators directly affects the results of comprehensive evaluation of surveillance quality. To keep the high quality operation of AFP surveillance system,the sensitivity,timeliness and integrity of indicators should be improved continuously.
Caspofungin was noninferior to amphotericin B for invasive fungal infections in persistent fever and neutropenia and was better tolerated.

Source Citation Walsh TJ, Teppler H, Donowitz GR, et al. Caspofungin versus liposomal amphotericin B for empirical antifungal therapy in patients with persistent fever and neutropenia. N Engl J Med...
Ideologies of the Sacred: The Transfiguration of Space in Colonial Yucatan. By Amara Solari. (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2013. Pp. 212. $55.00.)

This study offers an important contribution to Yucatecan studies. Author Amara Solari examines the interaction of indigenous Yucatec Maya spatial practices with European missionary prescriptions of...
Information-Theoretic Secure Multi-Party Computation With Collusion Deterrence

Secure multi-party computation (MPC) has been established as the de facto paradigm for protecting privacy in distributed computation. Among many secure MPC primitives, Shamir’s secret sharing (SSS) has the advantages of having low complexity and information-theoretic security. However, SSS requires multiple honest participants and is susceptible to collusion attacks. In this paper, we provide a detailed analysis of different types of collusion attacks and propose novel mechanisms to deter such attacks in a fully distributed manner. Focusing on outsourced computing environments where secret data owners can collaborate on a public computing platform, we study collusion attacks using game theory. For those attacks where the thefts are detectable, we show that they can be effectively deterred by an explicit retaliation mechanism between data owners. The result is based on a comprehensive analysis that takes into account the cost of collusion, the privacy preference, and the associated uncertainty. For those attacks where the thefts cannot be detected, we expand the analysis to include the computing platform and provide deterrence through deceptive collusion requests as well as a novel cryptographic censorship protocol. The correctness and the privacy of the protocols are proved under the rational adversarial model. Our SSS-based protocols are shown to outperform the state-of-the-art garbled circuit systems, while our simulation results validate the proposed mechanism designs in deterring collusion.
Learning Parameter-Advising Sets for Multiple Sequence Alignment

While the multiple sequence alignment output by an aligner strongly depends on the parameter values used for the alignment scoring function (such as the choice of gap penalties and substitution scores), most users rely on the single default parameter setting provided by the aligner. A different parameter setting, however, might yield a much higher-quality alignment for the specific set of input sequences. The problem of picking a good choice of parameter values for specific input sequences is called parameter advising . A parameter advisor has two ingredients: (i) a set of parameter choices to select from, and (ii) an estimator that provides an estimate of the accuracy of the alignment computed by the aligner using a parameter choice. The parameter advisor picks the parameter choice from the set whose resulting alignment has highest estimated accuracy. In this paper, we consider for the first time the problem of learning the optimal set of parameter choices for a parameter advisor that uses a given accuracy estimator. The optimal set is one that maximizes the expected true accuracy of the resulting parameter advisor, averaged over a collection of training data. While we prove that learning an optimal set for an advisor is NP-complete, we show there is a natural approximation algorithm for this problem, and prove a tight bound on its approximation ratio. Experiments with an implementation of this approximation algorithm on biological benchmarks, using various accuracy estimators from the literature, show it finds sets for advisors that are surprisingly close to optimal. Furthermore, the resulting parameter advisors are significantly more accurate in practice than simply aligning with a single default parameter choice.
A six-genotype genetic prognostic model for papillary thyroid cancer

Abstract A unique prognostic role of the genetic duet of BRAF V600E and TERT promoter mutation in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) has been recently established, but the role of RAS mutation in this genetic interplay remains to be established. Using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data of patients with PTC from 19 medical centers, we investigated interactions among the three mutations in clinical outcomes of PTC. We found that BRAF and RAS mutations were mutually exclusive but both were associated with TERT promoter mutations, with the genetic duet of BRAF/RAS and TERT mutations occurring in 34/388 (8.76%) patients. BRAF/RAS or TERT mutation each alone had no or minimal effect while coexisting BRAF/RAS and TERT mutations had a robust synergistic effect on poor clinicopatholgoic outcomes of PTC, including disease recurrence and patient mortality. For example, PTC recurrence rate was 52% with coexisting BRAF V600E/RAS and TERT promoter mutations versus 6.9% with no mutation, corresponding to a HR of 8.17 (95% CI 3.09-21.58), which remained significant at 14.71 (95% CI 2.79-77.61) after adjustment for clinicopathologic factors and institution. BRAF/RAS mutation or TERT mutation alone minimally affected Kaplan-Meier patient survival curves while the genetic duet was associated with a sharp curve decline. Thus, by confirming and expanding previous findings in single-institution studies, this multicenter data analysis establishes a six-genotype genetic prognostic model for poor outcomes of PTC with a risk order of genetic duet of BRAF V600E/RAS mutation and TERT mutation > BRAF V600E = TERT mutation alone >RAS mutation alone = wild-type genes.
Racial Impact Statements, Knowledge-Based Criminology, and Resisting Color Blindness:

This project addresses the problem of ostensibly race-neutral policies that increase sentence lengths in the United States. In order to contribute to addressing this problem, this analysis theoreti...
Using Twitter to Understand Public Perceptions Regarding the #HPV Vaccine: Opportunities for Public Health Nurses to Engage in Social Marketing.

Objectives Given the degree of public mistrust and provider hesitation regarding the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, it is important to explore how information regarding the vaccine is shared online via social media outlets. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the content of messaging regarding the HPV vaccine on the social media and microblogging site Twitter, and describe the sentiment of those messages. Design and Sample This study utilized a cross-sectional descriptive approach. Over a 2-week period, Twitter content was searched hourly using key terms “#HPV and #Gardasil,” which yielded 1,794 Twitter posts for analysis. Each post was then analyzed individually using an a priori coding strategy and directed content analysis. Results The majority of Twitter posts were written by lay consumers and were sharing commentary about a media source. However, when actual URLs were shared, the most common form of share was linking back to a blog post written by lay users. The vast majority of content was presented as polarizing (either as a positive or negative tweet), with 51% of the Tweets representing a positive viewpoint. Conclusions Using Twitter to understand public sentiment offers a novel perspective to explore the context of health communication surrounding certain controversial issues.
Teleultrasound: How Accurate Are We?

Objectives Ultrasound serves an important role in the prenatal diagnosis of fetal structural anomalies. Recently, there has been increased use of teleultrasound protocols. We aimed to evaluate the sensitivity and accuracy of teleultrasound. Methods We conducted an Institutional Review Board–approved retrospective cohort study determining the sensitivity and accuracy of teleultrasound. In addition, we evaluated the number of ultrasound examinations required to complete an anatomic survey. Only ultrasound examinations performed for anatomic surveys were included. Studies were excluded if performed before 16 completed weeks' gestation, if they had multiple gestations, or for reasons other than anatomy (eg, Doppler studies and fluid assessment). Prenatal diagnoses were compared with postnatal diagnoses obtained from a robust mandatory birth defects surveillance program that records all birth defects in the entire state, from deliveries before 20 weeks' gestation through infants up to 2 years of age. Results A total of 2499 studies were evaluated; 2368 were included. The teleultrasound cohort had a congenital anomaly prevalence of 5.66%. The sensitivity of teleultrasound was 57.46%; the specificity was 98.21%; and the accuracy was 95.9%. Anatomic surveys were completed after 1 visit in 82% of patients, whereas 63% and 61% of the remaining patients required 2 and 3 visits, respectively. Conclusions Teleultrasound for prenatal diagnosis has similar sensitivity and accuracy as the published literature for on-site ultrasound. Further studies are needed to compare the sensitivity and accuracy within the same population and further validate this potentially cost-saving modality.
Isotopic and Chemical Signatures of Recycled Oceanic and Continental Crust

Recycling of oceanic and continental materials in subduction zones necessitates the incorporation of recycling explicitly into models for mantle-crust evolution. Isotopic and chemical constraints show that elements like Rb, U, Th and Pb will have very short residence times (0.1–1.0 Ga) in the mantle and be close to steady state. In contrast, elements like Sr, Nd, Sm, Hf and Lu will have much longer residence times (5–10 Ga) and be far from steady state.
Sending mixed signals: Cilia-dependent signaling during development and disease

Molecular signals are the guiding force of development, imparting direction upon cells to divide, migrate, differentiate, etc. The mechanisms by which a cell can receive and transduce these signals into measurable actions remains a ‘black box’ in developmental biology. Primary cilia are ubiquitous, microtubule-based organelles that dynamically extend from a cell to receive and process molecular and mechanical signaling cues. In the last decade, this organelle has become increasingly intriguing to the research community due to its ability to act as a cellular antenna, receive and transduce molecular stimuli, and initiate a cellular response. In this review, we discuss the structure of primary cilia, emphasizing how the ciliary components contribute to the transduction of signaling pathways. Furthermore, we address how the cilium integrates these signals and conveys them into cellular processes such as proliferation, migration and tissue patterning. Gaining a deeper understanding of the mechanisms used by primary cilia to receive and integrate molecular signals is essential, as it opens the door for the identification of therapeutic targets within the cilium that could alleviate pathological conditions brought on by aberrant molecular signaling.
Asthma and health related quality of life in late midlife adults

Abstract Background Health related quality of life (HRQoL) reflects the impact of a chronic disease, such as asthma, from a patient perspective. Late midlife adults (50–64 years) have been identified by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention as an important population for healthy aging. Objectives To evaluate the factors associated with HRQoL among late midlife adults with asthma. Methods This study utilized data from 2012 to 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Asthma Call Back Survey. Adults with current asthma and 50–64 years of age were included in the study. Independent variables were identified using the Andersen Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization. HRQoL was defined using 4 domains including self-rated health, physical health, mental health and activity limitation. Descriptive statistics were used to assess sample characteristics. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine factors associated with the four HRQoL domains. All analyses were stratified by asthma control status. Appropriate survey weights were used to account for the complex survey design. Results The final sample consisted of 5857 (Weighted: 4 million) late midlife asthmatics, mostly female (66%) and White (72%). About 42% had fair/poor self-rated health, 33% had impaired physical health, 23% had impaired mental health, and 24% experienced activity limitation. Multivariate analyses found that Non-Hispanic African American adults were significantly more likely to report fair/poor self-rated health compared to Whites (Well-controlled asthma OR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.2–4.1). Adults who experienced any cost barrier were significantly more likely to have activity limitations (Poorly controlled asthma OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1–2.3). Adults with a respiratory comorbidity were more likely to report impaired physical health compared to adults without (Well controlled asthma OR: 1.7, 95% CI: 1.01–2.7). Conclusion Reducing respiratory comorbidities and cost barriers may improve HRQoL in asthmatic late midlife adults.
Stuck on you

Part two of our series on favourite authors puts Oliver Jeffers in the spotlight, and explores the messages of his books, including environmental concerns in Here we are: Notes for living on Planet Earth.
QoT-Aware Survivable Network Design

Modern society relies on communications networks for every aspect of life, from economic transactions to personal connectivity. Yet the communication infrastructure consisting largely of optical networks remains vulnerable to failures that can occur with no warning, resulting in loss of connectivity over potentially large geographical regions. Disruptions, whether intentional or unintentional, can bring down single links or entire network nodes. Mechanisms must be implemented so that networks can either remain immune to or quickly recover from such failures. Techniques that allow networks to survive a failure are referred to as network protection, and typically include significant redundancy, and thus inefficiency. Algorithms for fast recovery from a failure are called restoration techniques. In this chapter we discuss the protection and restoration of optical networks Affected by potential failures and also physical layer impairments.
Open marketplace and service orchestration for virtual optical networks

A key challenge in multi-vendor heterogeneous virtual optical networks is providing transparent access to network resources and virtual functions in a manner that enables users to combine them appropriately into meaningful end-to-end services. In this paper, we present a solution that consists of two components: an open marketplace where vendors and users of network resources and functions meet to establish economic relationships; and a planning service for creating end-to-end communication services from functional building blocks available in the marketplace. We also discuss algorithms for tackling variants of the network service orchestration problem.
Systemwide Clinical Ultrasound Program Development: An Expert Consensus Model

Clinical ultrasound (CUS) is integral to the practice of an increasing number of medical specialties. Guidelines are needed to ensure effective CUS utilization across health systems. Such guidelines should address all aspects of CUS within a hospital or health system. These include leadership, training, competency, credentialing, quality assurance and improvement, documentation, archiving, workflow, equipment, and infrastructure issues relating to communication and information technology. To meet this need, a group of CUS subject matter experts, who have been involved in institution- and/or systemwide clinical ultrasound (SWCUS) program development convened. The purpose of this paper was to create a model for SWCUS development and implementation.
Spare block cache (SprBlk): Fault resilience and reliability at low voltages

This paper proposes a novel cache architecture that uses spare cache blocks to work as back up blocks in a set associative cache, which can operate reliably at voltages well below the manufacturing induced operating voltage (V ccmin ). We detect errors in all cache lines at low voltage (i.e. persistent error), tag them as either faulty or fault-free. At runtime, we bypass the faulty words. To bypass faulty words, we use adder and shifter circuitry. Furthermore, we develop a fault model to find the cache set failure probability at low voltage. At 485 mV, SprBlk cache operates with a 16.7% lower bit failure probability compared to a conventional cache operating at 782 mV. Additionally, SprBlk reduce power consumption by 1% when implemented in the L1 data cache only, by 75% when implemented in the L2 cache only, and by 76% when implemented in both caches.
The Skull as Mediator between Object and Subject: Gall’s Phrenology and Goethe’s Scientific Method

ABSTRACTThe article considers Goethe’s engagement with the doctrines of Franz Joseph Gall, the founder of phrenology. Using the sketch of their first face-to-face meeting in the Tag- und Jahresheft...
De la défiguration à l’embellissement urbain : la publicité et la naissance d’une conscience paysagère à Shanghai (1905-1949)

A rebours de l’historiographie dominante focalisee sur les representations publicitaires, cet article propose d’explorer la publicite exterieure a Shanghai de 1905 a 1949 en accordant une attention particuliere a la materialite des publicites et aux acteurs impliques dans leur fabrique. Il s’agit des lors de retracer la genese d’une conscience paysagere qui s’articule en trois temps : jusqu’au milieu des annees 1920, celle-ci emerge d’abord sur un mode flou et negatif ; l’administration et l’opinion publique s’inquietent de la defiguration paysagere. Des les annees 1920, les professionnels en quete de legitimite font cependant de la publicite un outil de valorisation urbaine. Les pressions de l’opinion publique et de la profession publicitaire poussent l’administration a preciser les contours de l’esthetique urbaine et des paysages a preserver. Poursuivant le meme objectif (proteger les quartiers residentiels), les administrations etrangeres adoptent des strategies differentes (taxer pour dissuader dans la Concession internationale, zoner pour interdire dans la Concession francaise). A la fin de la periode, la conscience paysagere glisse de l’esthetique a l’hygiene puis a l’ordre public en temps de guerre (1937-1943). A travers l’etude des paysages publicitaires a Shanghai, cette etude montre que la publicite urbaine offre un laboratoire ou s’inventent de nouvelles manieres de voir et vivre la ville au debut du XXe siecle.
A comparison of deep learning and linear-nonlinear cascade approaches to neural encoding

A large body of work on neural encoding has focused on "cascade" type models such as the linear-nonlinear-Poisson (LNP) model. This approach seeks to describe the encoding process in terms of a series of stages: (1) projection of the stimulus onto a bank of linear filters; (2) a nonlinear function combining these filter outputs; and (3) a noisy spike generation process. Here we explore the relationship of the LNP modeling framework to more recent approaches arising from the deep learning literature. Specifically, we show that deep neural network (DNN) and convolutional neural network (CNN) models of neural activity sit firmly within the LNP framework, and correspond to particular parametrizations of the nonlinear stage of the LNP model. Using data from primate retina and primary visual cortex, we compare the performance of LNP models fit with deep learning methods to LNP models fit with traditional estimators, including spike-triggered covariance (STC), information-theoretic spike-triggered averaging and covariance (iSTAC), and maximum likelihood estimators also known as "maximally informative dimensions" (MID). We show that models with nonlinearities parametrized by deep networks achieve higher accuracy for a fixed number of filters, and can extract a larger number of informative filters than traditional models. Finally, we perform a dimensionality analysis of LNP models trained with deep learning methods, revealing that a large number of filters are needed to accurately describe the neural responses of many cells even early in the visual pathway. This result overturns one of the central tenets of the LNP modeling framework: that neural computations are low-dimensional, or depend on the stimulus only via its projection onto a small number of linear filters. We discuss the implications of these findings for both the fitting and interpretation of LNP encoding models.
Clinical Characteristics and Response Rates to Eltrombopag for Primary and Secondary Thrombocytopenia after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HCT)

Introduction Thrombocytopenia after HCT is multifactorial in etiology and frequently requires prolonged transfusions to minimize bleeding risks. Eltrombopag (TPO) is a thrombopoietin agonist that is FDA-approved for use in the setting of ITP. Given encouraging studies in aplastic anemia, TPO is increasingly used after HCT in the setting of poor engraftment and thrombocytopenia; however, published data is limited to small retrospective cases/series. We present our single institution experience. Methods We retrospectively reviewed HCT patients and identified the clinical characteristics and outcomes of those who received TPO post HCT from 1/1/13 to 10/1/18. We excluded patients with documented relapses at the time of TPO initiation. Results 17 patients were identified; 9 had primary failure of platelet recovery ( 30K without transfusion preceding 7 days). Of 7 responders, 5 were started as outpatients. Median time to response was 39 days (range 10 – 118). In 5 patients with unidentified relapse at TPO start, TPO preceded diagnosis of relapse by median 62 days (range 22-281). Of the 9 patients who started TPO as inpatient, 7 subsequently died with median time from TPO to death 195 days (range 18-398). No significant toxicities to TPO were identified. The median time from TPO outpatient prescription to start was 22 days due to insurance delays (range 8-40). Conclusion While causality is difficult to establish, TPO was associated with improvement of platelet counts in a subset of patients, with responses most likely to occur in outpatients with viral reactivation, GvHD, or primary poor engraftment. In 5 patients with unidentified relapse, start of TPO preceded a diagnosis of relapse by median 62 days. This should alert clinicians to assess for relapse when considering TPO. The start of TPO in inpatients generally reflects grave clinical outlook given low response rates and high number of subsequent deaths.
Decolonial trends in higher education: voices from Latin America

The theme of the Comparative and International Education Society’s (CIES) 2018 Annual Conference in Mexico City, ‘Re-mapping Global Education: South–North Dialogue’, called for scholars and practit...
Children-in-laws’ message processing: Associations among uncertainty, perceived topic avoidance, goal inferences, and martial satisfaction:

Uncertainty is germane to the in-law experience. Although associations between in-law’s doubts and message production are well documented, less is known about how in-law’s uncertainty corresponds w...
Social Justice and Peace

Social injustice and systematic violations of human rights create cultures of violence and harm. This chapter explores the relationship between elements of social justice (e.g., distributive justice, procedural justice, and equity), human rights, and various elements of peace processes (e.g., negative-positive peace; peacekeeping to peacebuilding), which can be used to advocate and foster cultures of peace. The influence of globalization on the burgeoning child sex tourism trade provides a case study to examining the interplay between human rights, social injustice, and direct, structural, and cultural forms of violence.
Association of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitor Treatment With Risk of Hospitalization for Fournier Gangrene Among Men.

This cohort study assesses the association between initiation of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor treatment and the risk of hospitalization for Fournier gangrene among men.
Using the epidemiology of critical limb ischemia to estimate the number of patients amenable to endovascular therapy

Critical limb ischemia represents the advanced stage of peripheral artery disease, a health problem with increasing prevalence. Critical limb ischemia is associated with significant mortality, limb loss, pain, and diminished health-related quality of life. Public awareness and early diagnosis are necessary for an effective treatment with early risk factor modification, smoking cessation, and exercise therapy. Herein, we present an overview of the epidemiology as well as the clinical stages of the disease, and estimate that there are 6.5 million patients with critical limb ischemia in the US, Europe, and Japan based on global population-based studies. At least 75% of these patients, accounting for approximately 4.8 million patients, are amenable to endovascular therapy.
Guide to Streaming Video Acquisitions, an ALCTS Monograph

In academic libraries the demand for streaming content continues unabated. Vendors are responding to the demand with more choices, more options, and, potentially, more problems. Conversations about...
The Role of General Parenting Style in Child Diet and Obesity Risk.

The childhood obesity epidemic is widely considered to have reached pandemic proportions. Across the world, children with obesity are facing numerous psychological and physiological issues that follow them into adulthood, frequently leading to chronic illness and early death. In an effort to combat the compounding effects of childhood overweight, researchers are attempting to identify biological and environmental contributors to child weight. Parenting styles are one recognized influence on child diet and body mass index (BMI). This review is a comprehensive examination of the literature on the influence of parenting style on childhood diet and BMI over the past 5 years. Current research continues to support the use of traditional parenting style categories (i.e., authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, uninvolved/neglectful): however, newer subcategories of Baumrind’s styles and the inclusion of previously underrepresented groups (e.g., fathers, cross cultural comparison studies) are shedding more light on the nuance of parenting’s relationship with child weight. Parenting styles that focus on the balance of warmth and control (e.g., authoritative) in contrast to the styles dedicated to only one of these constructs (e.g., permissive, authoritarian) seem to promote the healthiest dietary habits and may be protective of child BMI.
A Mealybug Phenacoccus multicerarii Granara de Willink (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry inspector Lisa Hassell collected the mealybug Phenacoccus multicerarii, a new continental record, from a retail nursery in Fernandina Beach (Nassau County, on 15 June 2011). On a return visit to the store, the mealybug was observed in high numbers on numerous host plants. Three days later, an additional find was made at a nursery in Apopka that had exchanged plant material with the nursery in Jacksonville. No further infestations were reported until October 2012, when a heavy infestation was discovered on a residential planting of coleus in Cooper City (Broward County). This mealybug was described in 2007 from a sample collected in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1949 from an unknown host (Granara de Willink and Szumik 2007). This 2-page fact sheet was written by Ian Stocks, and published by the UF Department of Entomology and Nematology, April 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in993
Rev. of Victorians Undone: Tales of Flesh in the Age of Decorum

This review joins other accolades for Victorians Undone: Tales of Flesh in the Age of Decorum. Kathryn Hughes’ accounts of the body parts of prominent Victorians are so fascinating and she writes w...
Aspirin use predicts prolonged survival in patients with oropharyngeal cancer: Nationwide Veterans Affairs database study.

BACKGROUND Single-institution studies suggest that aspirin reduces the risk of death in head and neck cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aspirin use on overall survival (OS) in veterans with oropharyngeal cancer (OPC). METHODS A total of 23 083 veterans with OPC were identified between 2005 and 2018 from the Veterans Health Administration Corporate Data Warehouse. Records were queried for clinical-demographic data, aspirin prescriptions, and outcomes. Three-year OS was estimated. A Cox model was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for aspirin use. RESULTS Among the 23 083 identified veterans, 17 206 veterans met inclusion criteria. 21.8% used aspirin. Three-year OS was prolonged for aspirin users (66%) compared to nonaspirin users (54%; P < .001). Adjusted HR for death for nonaspirin users was 1.75 (95% confidence interval (CI) [1.60-1.91]). The average treatment effect of aspirin on survival using inverse probability weighting was 10% (95% CI [0.08-0.11]). CONCLUSION Aspirin use following OPC diagnosis was independently associated with improved 3-year OS among veterans nationwide.
What Kind of Relief? Consumer Bankruptcy and Private Administration in the Neoliberal American Welfare State

This article examines the administrative structure of Chapter 7 bankruptcy to better understand the neoliberal welfare state. Studying the administrative workings of the bankruptcy system offers a ...
The CUNY Remediation Debate and Coalitions: Information Matters:

This single case study uses the Advocacy Coalition Framework and Multiple Streams Framework to understand the ways higher education policy actors at the city-, state-, and system-level used informa...
A Framework for Sharing Radiation Dose Distribution Maps in the Electronic Medical Record for Improving Multidisciplinary Patient Management.

Sharing radiation dose distribution volumes into the picture archiving and communication system facilitates faster and simpler incorporation of a patient’s radiation history for diagnostic radiology.
Cellular and Molecular Mechanism of Glucose-Induced Diabetic Microangiopathy

The cellular and biochemical changes which occur as a result of diabetes mellitus all can be traced, albeit both directly and indirectly, to elevated blood glucose concentrations. The eventual cure of this disease will result from our understanding of insulin synthesis by the pancreatic beta cell. Until this time, treatments for the pathologic sequelae of diabetic hyperglycemia will continue to be a major effort in diabetes research.
Quality in Colonoscopy

Quality metrics in colonoscopy are a growing area of focus given the development of and need for associated reporting and potential financial penalties. Three areas specifically have been identified as important by a multi-society task force, and the evidence behind each has been presented here. These metrics are adenoma detection rate, appropriate screening interval, and cecal intubation rate. Additional factors of interest include bowel preparation cleanliness and endoscope withdrawal time. Multifaceted interventions have been implemented to improve outcomes in colonoscopy with mixed success. Given that there are some quality metrics that have been shown to impact colorectal cancer outcomes, additional research should focus on disseminating these methods in a consistent and effective way across a myriad of practice models and patient populations.
Is talk cheap online: strategic interaction in a stock trading chat room

We consider a model of an internet chat room with free entry but secure identity. Traders exchange messages in real time of both a fundamental and non-fundamental nature. We explore conditions under which traders post truthful information and make trading decisions. We also a describe an equilibrium in which momentum traders profit from their exposure to informed traders in the chat room. The model generates a number of empirical predictions: (1) unskillful traders post more often than skillful traders; (2) skillful traders will not follow unskillful traders in stock picking; (3) The optimal strategy for unskillful traders is to follow skillful traders in stock picking. We test and affirm all three predictions using a unique data set of chat room logs from the Activetrader Financial Chat Room.
The team approach in cervical neoplasia.

N ATTEMPT has been made to evaluat,c the Manchester technique of radium A therapy in squamous-eel1 carcinoma of the cervix supplemented by the delivery of a cancerocidal dose of x-ra.y to the paramet,rium. TweJve different, gynecologists and one general radiologist in a metropolitan area have cooperated in this survey. The treatment has been under the direction of one radiologist and the radium implantation has been in the hospital of the gynecologists’ choice. X-ray therapy has been administered in the office of one of the coauthors (Il. M. E.). Two hundred patients have been screened and there have been a total of 166 patients available for study. The remainder of the 200 had to be excJudetJ because they were not treated with the Manchester radium technique. All of these individuals have undergone therapy since 1050 rind 126 (75.9 per CcJlt‘i are alive without any evidence of disease. TJlcre hav-r been 29 who have succumbed to cancer: 7 have died from other causes; and 4 have been lost to follow-up. One hundred twenty-eight were treated over 2 years ago and 38 less than 2 years from t.he present Lime. The avcragc milligram hour dosage of radium has been 9,690 and has remained rather constant except in the Stage 111 lesions. Radium Therapy
The relationship between motherhood and professional advancement

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions and realities regarding professional advancement following motherhood. Results show great conflict between work and home life regardless of employer support or family‐friendly policies. The paper also seeks to assess conflicting societal attitudes relating to work/family responsibilities and roles, with a focus on the stereotyping and discrimination towards women endemic in the workplace following motherhood.Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilized a survey with Likert‐type options and open‐ended questions to measure both perceived and real impact of motherhood on a woman's professional advancement. The sample was purposive featuring working mothers in professional fields at the managerial level and above, all of whom have children who require some level of childcare.Findings – More than 90 working mothers responded to the survey. The results show a contrast between qualitative and quantitative data and indicate a contradiction betw...
Effect Indicator Versus Causal Indicator Measurement

Effect indicators (also called reflective indicators) are observed variables that are assumed to be affected by a common underlying latent variable. Scores on effect indicators (e.g., item scores on a personality test, an attitude scale, or an intelligence inventory) are assumed to move in response to changes in the underlying construct—they reflect their underlying latent variable. Causal indicators (sometimes called formative indicators) are assumed to define and affect the underlying latent variable. The distinction has critical implications for measurement development, the conditions used for empirical tests of a theory, and the nature of statistical analyses used to determine if the data fit theoretical expectations. Keywords: data analysis in psychology; measurement in psychology; cause-and-effect-relationships; classical test theory; item-response theory; methodology; modeling; structural equation modeling
Operator Control of Robotic Systems

A characteristic feature of teleoperation is that, given time, tasks are generally successfully completed. This is caused not so much by careful engineering as it is by the continuous presence of an intelligent human operator. We are interested in developing systems which are similarly as effective in performing tasks while operating under constrained communications channels or controlling multiple robotic agents. To handle the problem of constrained communications channels we have developed the teleprogramming paradigm which uses local high-bandwidth feedback at the operator and remote sites while employing relatively low-bandwidth communication between sites. To deal with multiple robotic agents a multi-level approach is required. To this end we are developing the MASC (Multiple Agent Supervisory Control) system which provides the human operator with tools to interact with all processing levels of a robotic system. In developing these implementations, the emphasis has moved from developing systems which are correct to systems which may be corrected. While the former has proven an elusive goal in robotics, the latter is well within the domain of software engineering. Our intention is not to develop hardware/software which is optimal for a particular task. Rather, the goal is to demonstrate that our approach permits successful task performance even while using imperfect equipment in a very imperfect world.
Inada Conditions and the Law of Diminishing Returns

Inada (1963) provided properties of the production function that are useful in the study of economic growth. Shephard (1970a) provided an axiomatic approach to the study of pro- duction theory. He applied these axioms to give a formal statement of the law of diminishing returns ((Shephard, 1970b)). In this paper we demonstrate that the Inada conditions and the law of diminishing returns, as articulated by Shephard, are fundamentally inconsistent. Thus one is forced to make a choice between the two models when studying productivity and growth.
Gliomas classification by multivariate analysis of in vivo MRI/MRSI data based on recursive partitioning tree and discriminant analysis

Accurate diagnosis is critical for the treatment planning of brain tumors. At present, classification of tumor is based on histological examination of tissue samples. This is invasive and may be subject to sampling errors. Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) is a non-invasive technique that provides functional information and has been proposed as a tool for non-invasive tumor grading. The goal of this work is to find a classification method that (1) explicitly combines information from MRSI and MR imaging (MRI); (2) considers the MRSI characteristics of the entire lesion instead of a pre-selected region from within the anatomic lesion. Forty-nine newly-diagnosed glioma patients were studied with multivariate analysis based on recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The cross-validation classification error was 5 out of 49 patients. This suggested that characterizing the lesion by integrating the MRI/MRSI properties has the potential for improving the diagnosis and management of brain tumors.
Maps: A Spatial Approach to Japanese American Communities in Los Angeles

(1986). Maps: A Spatial Approach to Japanese American Communities in Los Angeles. Amerasia Journal: Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 137-151.