cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Intrathecal morphine for postoperative analgesia in an infant with bronchopulmonary dysplasia following upper abdominal surgery

We present a case of severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia in which intrathecal morphine was successfully used for analgesia after a Nissen fundoplication and gastrostomy. Various options for anaesthesia are discussed with the knowledge that two previous procedures had been complicated by congestive cardiac failure and increased respiratory failure.
Self-management skills in adolescents with chronic rheumatic disease: A cross-sectional survey

Background For adolescents with a diagnosis of lifelong chronic illness, mastery of self-management skills is a critical component of the transition to adult care. This study aims to examine self-reported medication adherence and self-care skills among adolescents with chronic rheumatic disease.
Processing direct-sequence spread-spectrum signals for improved acquisition performance in the presence of strong narrow-band interference

The performance of a direct-sequence spread-spectrum coarse acquisition system operating in the presence of narrowband interference is considered under two processing strategies. The first strategy uses the arbitrary phase present at the input as the reference phase for all correlation operations, while the second uses a prediction filter to suppress narrowband interference. Performance is considered for both short and long spreading codes when either sinusoidal or narrowband Gaussian interference is present in the input signal. While the performance using the first method is consistently better when the same reference phase is used, the overall performance is usually superior under the second method, because an optimal reference phase may be chosen. >
Endocytosis as a mechanism for tyrosine kinase-dependent suppression of a voltage-gated potassium channel.

The voltage-gated potassium channel Kv1.2 undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation-dependent suppression of its ionic current. However, little is known about the physical mechanism behind that process. W...
Exposing Pay Secrecy

Pay secrecy is a contentious issue in many organizations and a controversial one in our society. However, there has been little scholarly research on this topic. We hope to address this void by exposing the complexity of pay secrecy as a construct. What are its costs and benefits? What factors affect the link between pay secrecy and the extent to which it is a cost or benefit? This article reveals the complexity of pay secrecy and, we hope, generates ideas for much new research in the broad management field.
Ideal transformers in the synthesis of analog computer circuits

The need for ideal transformers in the solution of network synthesis problems, especially in multi-terminal problems, has long been recognized. Nevertheless, there has been a general feeling that solutions to synthesis problems containing ideal transformers are of little more than academic interest because of the impracticability of constructing transformers good enough to be called ideal. Whenever possible, inductances in the network are associated with the transformer so that it can be replaced by coils having self and mutual inductance. This attitude toward the ideal transformer is inappropriate in at least one branch of electrical engineering where network synthesis techniques are employed, namely in analog computing of the direct analogy (or network analyzer) type. Such computers customarily operate in the audio frequency range and contain high quality passive circuit elements which are adjustable in small steps. In the design of such computers the choice between "ideal" transformers and mutual inductance coils is an easy one to make. The availability of "supermalloy," which has an initial permeability of 70,000 or more makes possible the design of ideal transformers which have parasite effects no more serious in practice than those of an ordinary inductor. The ideal transformer has in its favor a much greater versatility than the mutual inductance (making possible mutual resistance and capacitance) and probably a cost advantage as well, when the adjustability requirement is considered.
A technique for mutation of Java objects

Mutation analysis inserts faults into a program to create test sets that distinguish the mutant from the original program. Inserted faults must represent plausible errors. Standard transformations can mutate scalar values such as integers, floats, and character data. Mutating objects is an open problem, because object semantics are defined by the programmer and can vary widely. We develop mutation operators and support tools that can mutate Java library items that are heavily used in commercial software. Our mutation engine can support reusable libraries of mutation components to inject faults into objects that instantiate items from these common Java libraries. Our technique should be effective for evaluating real-world software testing suites.
Cryo-cathodoluminescence study of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films

Cryo-cathodoluminescence was used to investigate defects present in Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films. Four luminescence peaks of energies P1: 0.90 eV, P2: 1.04 eV, P3: 1.18 eV, and P4: 1.29 eV were investigated in detail and a fifth peak at ∼1.6 eV was also noted. Based on a power-series analysis, P1, P2, and P3 are attributed to free-to-bound or donor-acceptor-pair transitions while P4 appears excitonic in nature. This spectral decomposition in energy became more apparent at large current densities. The observed peaks were attributed to specific recombination mechanisms to inform future studies.
Personalizing information retrieval using interaction behaviors in search sessions in different types of tasks

When using information retrieval (IR) systems, users often pose short and ambiguous query terms. It is critical for IR systems to obtain more accurate representation of users' information need, their document preferences, and the context they are working in, and then incorporate them into the design of the systems to tailor retrieval to individual users. The proposed study is to personalize IR systems by tailoring search result content to individual users through the inference of useful documents during their information seeking episode, in different types of tasks. Specifically, this dissertation has two research goals: (1) generate predictive models of document usefulness based on multiple user behaviors as in different types of tasks; (2) generate predictive models of task type through observing users' search behaviors. To address these research goals, this study analyzed data collected in a controlled lab experiment. Thirty-two students were invited to participate in the study, each worked on four search tasks, and these tasks were designed to be different types. During search sessions, all users' interactions were recorded by multiple loggers. Predictive models of document usefulness and task type were generated using various statistical analysis methods. Our results demonstrate that multiple behavioral measures on both content pages and search result pages can be indicators of document usefulness. More importantly, task type affected the relationship between the behavioral measures and document usefulness, and it may therefore be necessary to build task-specific predictive models of document usefulness, which can achieve better prediction accuracy than a non-task specific predictive model. In addition, behavioral measures on within-session level and whole-session levels could be able to generate predictive models of task type. The results improve our understanding on how to infer users' search context information and document usefulness from user behaviors, and then to use this knowledge to improve the information searcher's experience; that is, to make their information search more effective and pleasurable. The research findings have theoretical and practical implications for using behavioral measures and taking account of contextual factors in the development of personalized IR systems. Future studies are suggested for making use of these findings as well as research on related issues.
Shackles Beyond the Sentence: How Legal Financial Obligations Create a Permanent Underclass

This essay argues that legal financial obligations (LFOs) literally make the poor pay for failed criminal justice policy. Reliance on mass imprisonment has created a financial vortex, which sucks away the majority of over $50 billion spent on corrections by the states alone. This penal entrenchment has pushed legislatures to devise ways to make criminals help foot the bill, with LFOs representing a modern iteration of state and local fundraising. LFOs add to an array of legal consequences that create a permanent underclass and keep a lock on individuals long after they leave prison. It is a schema that serves little social or penal purpose, and instead embodies the worst of bad policy undermining the criminal justice system.
Complementarity in Firms’ Market and Political Capabilities: An Integrated Theoretical Perspective

Abstract We examine how a firm’s market-oriented capabilities (in areas such as R&D or marketing) and consumer focus (business-to-business or business-to-consumer) foster its effectiveness in pursuing corporate political activities. We then explore the sustainability of any advantage that firms may gain from their political activities. We develop a conceptual framework to propose that a firm’s political capabilities to implement different political tactics, such as information provision and constituency building, are a product of how related these tactics are to different market-oriented capabilities and to the skills needed to serve different types of customers. Finally, we propose that the integration of market strategies and political strategies provides new insight into the sustainability of the advantages that a firm might gain through political activities.
On climate model simulations of the large‐scale meteorology associated with California heat waves

Previous work considered how well the large-scale meteorological patterns (LSMPs) associated with California Central Valley heat waves are captured by a climate model. Recent work found two distinct types of LSMPs and key parcel trajectories occurring prior to heat wave onset. This study searches for those two types of heat waves in two additional reanalyses and in historical simulations by 14 climate models. The reanalyses develop both types with similar properties; their differences are used as a conservative estimate of acceptable differences between data sets. All the models develop heat waves of both types, but the models vary quite a bit in the separation between the two types, the magnitudes of the two types, and the frequency of occurrence of the two types. The best models match a third to a half of the properties found in reanalyses. Models tend to have lower valued projections onto the two types than reanalyses, consistent with a systematic tendency to center the hottest 850 hPa temperatures onshore instead of just offshore. Models of higher horizontal resolution tend to simulate better the two types. There is some evidence that models with a low top (with relatively poorly resolved stratosphere) also simulate the clusters better.
Improving the Recognizability of Syntactic Relations Using Contextualized Examples

A common task in qualitative data analysis is to characterize the usage of a linguistic entity by issuing queries over syntactic relations between words. Previous interfaces for searching over syntactic structures require programming-style queries. User interface research suggests that it is easier to recognize a pattern than to compose it from scratch; therefore, interfaces for non-experts should show previews of syntactic relations. What these previews should look like is an open question that we explored with a 400-participant Mechanical Turk experiment. We found that syntactic relations are recognized with 34% higher accuracy when contextual examples are shown than a baseline of naming the relations alone. This suggests that user interfaces should display contextual examples of syntactic relations to help users choose between different relations.
ICU capacity strain and the quality and allocation of critical care.

Purpose of review Increasing demand for critical care, with limited potential for comparable expansion of supply, may strain the abilities of ICUs to provide high-quality care in an equitable fashion. Efforts to counter the untoward consequences for the quality and ethics of critical care delivery are limited by the absence of a specific and validated metric of ICU capacity strain. Recent findings This manuscript presents a conceptual framework for ICU capacity strain, considers what data elements may contribute to it, and suggests methods for determining the optimal metric. Next, it outlines the range of potential consequences of increased capacity strain, in terms of both the quality and ethics of care delivered. Finally, consideration is given to how untoward consequences of ICU capacity strain might be mitigated through better understanding of what makes some ICUs better able than others to withstand temporal fluctuations in the demand for their services. Summary Development of an appropriately accurate and parsimonious measure of ICU capacity strain may augment the precision of future critical care outcomes research by reducing unexplained variance attributable to temporal fluctuations in ICU-level factors; elucidate organizational characteristics that make some ICUs better able to withstand high-capacity strain without substantive degradations in quality; and enhance the transparency of critical care rationing while helping to improve its equity and efficiency, thereby promoting the ethics of this inevitable practice.
Dynamics and Deformation Response of Rod-Containing Nanocomposites

Theoretical and computational studies of polymer nanocomposites have largely focused on spherical inclusions in a polymer matrix. In order to address the influence of particle shape on nanocomposite behavior, extensive Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations are used to examine the structure and deformation behavior of a model polymer upon addition of rods of varying aspect ratios. It is found that, at constant temperature, nanorod length does not meaningfully affect the elastic properties of composites but does affect postyield properties, such as the strain hardening modulus. In contrast, at constant T/Tg, several trends with additive length arise. Examination of the polymer bond autocorrelation function during deformation reveals that longer, dispersed rods induce a broadening of the relaxation spectrum. Nanocomposites show longer bond orientation relaxation times than the pure polymer during all stages of deformation. For the truly nanoscale additives used in this study, polymer mobility is fou...
Testing the Immediate and Long-Term Efficacy of a Tier 2 Kindergarten Mathematics Intervention

ABSTRACTThis study examined the efficacy of a kindergarten mathematics intervention program, ROOTS, focused on developing whole-number understanding in the areas of counting and cardinality and operations and algebraic thinking for students at risk in mathematics. The study utilized a randomized block design with students within classrooms randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. Measures of mathematics achievement were collected in the fall (pretest) and spring (posttest) in kindergarten and in the winter of first grade (delayed posttest). Significant differences between conditions favoring treatment students were found on four of six measures at posttest. Treatment students reduced the achievement gap with their not-at-risk peers. No effect was found on follow-up first-grade achievement scores. Implications for Tier 2 mathematics instruction in a Response to Intervention model are discussed.
Effects of cultivar and insecticide choice on oleander aphid management and arthropod dynamics on Asclepias species.

Performance of oleander aphid (Aphis nerii Boyer de Fonscolmbe) and large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus Dallas) on 21 species of Asclepias was evaluated in a two-year field study. Season-long pest and beneficial insect population growth was monitored. Plant quality ratings also were obtained. Relative numbers of Monarch butterfly ( Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus)) larvae were also recorded. All milkweed species supported growth and development of oleander aphid except A. vestita, which failed to establish in this study. The only species that did not become infested with milkweed bugs were A. syriaca and A. sullivantii. The plant species with the lowest number of aphids, the highest plant quality ratings and the highest number of Monarch larvae (which is desirable as a larval fo od plant for the butterflies) was gooseplant, A. physocarpa. A. tuberosa cultivars also ranked high among all species tested. Five insecticides were tested for efficacy against the Oleander aphid. All insecticide products evaluated: Endeavor (pymetrozin e), Orthene (acephate), Merit (imidacloprid), Tempo (cyfluthrin) and Mpede (insecticidal soap) resulted in short-term reductions in aphids in field plots during 1999. Reinfestation occurred within two to three weeks. Parasitoids and predators were also suppressed to varying degrees by materials applied. Index words: oleander aphid, Aphis nerii, milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, milkweed, butterfly weed, Asclepias spp., parasitoids, predators, host plant resistance. Species used in this study: Asclepias asperula (Decne.) — antelope horn; Asclepias curassavica L. — bloodflower, ‘Silky Gold’ and ‘Red Butterflies’; Asclepias emoryi Tidestr; Asclepias eriocarpa Benth. — indian milkweed; Asclepias erosa Torrey — desert milkweed; Asclepias exaltata L.; Asclepias fascicularis Decne — narrowleaf milkweed; Asclepias fruticosa L. — swan plant; Asclepias hirtella RE Woodson — tall green milkweed; Asclepias incarnata L. — swamp milkweed, ‘Soul Mate’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Ice Ballet’; Asclepias oenotheroides, Cham & Schelecht ‘Ice Follies; Asclepias physocarpa (E.H. Mey) Schlechter — gooseplant; Asclepias solanoana RE Woodson; Asclepias speciosa Torr — showy milkweed; Asclepias sp. ‘Davis, CA’, Asclepias sullivantii Engelm. — prairie milkweed; Asclepias syriaca L. — common milkweed; Asclepias tuberosa L. — butterfly weed, ‘Gay Butterflies’, ‘Hello Yellow’; Asclepias verticillata L. — whorled milkweed; Asclepias vestita Hook & Arn. Per.; Asclepias viridis Walt. Fl. Carol — green milkweed. Insecticides used in this study: acephate (Orthene T T & O), O, S dimethyl acetylphosphoramidothioate; cyfluthrin (Tempo 20 WP), cyano (4-fluoro-3-phenoxyphenyl) methyl 3-(2,2 -dichloroethenyl)-2,2-dimethyl-cyclopropanecarboxylate; imidacloprid (Merit 75 W SP), 1-[(6-chloro-3-Pyridinyl) methyl]- N-nitro-2-imidazolidinimine; insecticidal soap (Mpede 2%); pymetrozine (Endeavor WDG).
Measurement of the Vector Analyzing Power Near the Value Ay ≃ 1.0 in \(\vec d\)-4He Elastic Scattering

Points in energy and angle (E,θ) at which a component of the analyzing power for spin-polarization reaches its theoretical maximum are of particular interest and importance. Experimentally, they provide valuable absolute calibrations. Theoretically, there exist at such points important conditions on, or relations among, the M-matrix amplitudes. As a consequence, other polarization observables are determined, and in reactions with particularly simple spin structure it is possible that all such observables are determined.
Real-time data-driven gait phase detection using ground contact force measurements: Algorithms, platform design and performance

Abstract The world is experiencing an unprecedented, enduring, and pervasive aging process. With more people who need walking assistance, the demand for gait rehabilitation has increased rapidly over the years. Effective gait rehabilitation requires a comprehensive gait analysis, in which gait phase detection plays an important role. Although many specialized sensing systems have been developed for gait monitoring, most existing gait phase detection algorithms rely on significant input from medical professionals, which are subjective, manual and inaccurate. To address these problems, this paper presents a data-driven approach for real-time gait phase detection. The approach combines an infinite Gaussian mixture model (IGMM) to classify different gait phases based on the ground contact force (GCF) measurement, and a parallel particle filter to estimate and update the model parameters. Effective particle sharing mechanisms are further designed to distribute particles among different working nodes judiciously and thus strike a good balance between computational overhead and estimation accuracy. The proposed algorithm is implemented in our gait monitoring and analysis platform developed on a VMware cluster. Its estimation accuracy and computational efficiency are examined through extensive experiments using the data traces collected from both healthy human subjects and patients with neurological disorders.
The Yin and Yang of bile acid action on tight junctions in a model colonic epithelium.

Abstract Gastrointestinal epithelial barrier loss due to tight junction (TJ) dysfunction and bile acid‐induced diarrhea are common in patients with inflammatory diseases. Although excess colonic bile acids are known to alter mucosal permeability, few studies have compared the effects of specific bile acids on TJ function. We report that the primary bile acid, chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), and its 7 α ‐dehydroxylated derivative, lithocholic acid (LCA) have opposite effects on epithelial integrity in human colonic T84 cells. CDCA decreased transepithelial barrier resistance (pore) and increased paracellular 10 kDa dextran permeability (leak), effects that were enhanced by proinflammatory cytokines (PiC [ng/mL]: TNF α [10] + IL‐1 s [10] + IFN γ [30]). CDCA reversed the cation selectivity of the monolayer and decreased intercellular adhesion. In contrast, LCA alone did not alter any of these parameters, but attenuated the effects of CDCA ± PiC on paracellular permeability. CDCA, but not PiC, decreased occludin and not claudin‐2 protein expression; CDCA also decreased occludin localization. LCA ± CDCA had no effects on occludin or claudin expression/localization. While PiC and CDCA increased IL‐8 production, LCA reduced both basal and PiC ± CDCA‐induced IL‐8 production. TNF α + IL1s increased IFN γ , which was enhanced by CDCA and attenuated by LCA. CDCA±PiC increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that was attenuated by LCA. Finally, scavenging ROS attenuated CDCA9s leak, but not pore actions, and LCA enhanced this effect. Thus, in T84 cells, CDCA plays a role in the inflammatory response causing barrier dysfunction, while LCA restores barrier integrity. Understanding the interplay of LCA, CDCA, and PiC could lead to innovative therapeutic strategies for inflammatory and diarrheal diseases.
Pregnancy outcomes in female physicians in procedural versus non-procedural specialties.

Abstract Background Procedural based medical specialties require a longer training period and more intensive physical demands. The impact of working in procedural versus nonprocedural fields on pregnancy outcomes is not well understood. Methods Data from 1559 US attending female physician mothers was gathered via an anonymous, IRB-approved online survey. Results Of the cohort, 400 (25.7%) reported practicing in a procedural field. Women in procedural fields were slightly older at the time of their most recent pregnancy. Rates of assistive reproductive technology use (procedural: 20.2% vs nonprocedural: 23.3%, P = 0.2), missing work during pregnancy (28.2% vs 24.5%, P = 0.13), cesarean delivery rate (36.0% vs 34.5%, P = 0.61), and missed work due to preterm labor (12.3% vs 12.5%, P = 0.91) were similar between the two groups. Conclusion Although proceduralists were more likely to delay pregnancy, women in procedural fields had comparable rates of reproductive assistance, cesarean delivery, and missed work due to pregnancy-related complications despite the perceived challenges facing this group.
Bayesian decomposition of full waveform LiDAR data with uncertainty analysis

Abstract A thorough understanding of full waveform (FW) LiDAR data processing and associated uncertainty is critical to vegetation applications such as retrieving forest structure variables and estimating forest biomass. This paper applies the Bayesian non-linear modeling concept to process small-footprint FW LiDAR data (the Bayesian decomposition) collected at a study site of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) to investigate its potential for waveform decomposition and uncertainty estimation. Specifically, several possible models suitable for fitting waveforms were assessed within the Bayesian framework, and the Gaussian model was selected to perform the Bayesian decomposition. Subsequently, we conducted performance evaluation and uncertainty analysis at the parameter, derived point cloud and surface model levels. Results of the model reasonableness show that the Gaussian model is superior to alternative models with respect to uncertainty, physical meaning and processing efficiency. After converting waveforms to discrete points, the model comparisons demonstrate that the Bayesian decomposition can be utilized for FW LiDAR data processing, and its results are comparable to the direct decomposition (DD), Gold and RL (Richardson–Lucy) approaches in terms of the root mean squared error (RMSE
How Can We Keep Direct Democracy and Avoid “Kolotoumba”

The issue of divisive referendums, which Professor Frey identifies as one of the problems of “Democracy of the Future”, is a special case of emerging tribalism (division into non-communicating competitive groups in political and social life). This article proposes an alternative institutional solution to address tribalism in both direct and representative democracy. It introduces competition for agenda setting in referendums such that more inclusive solutions emerge; it also proposes the adoption of an electoral system that multiplies the options of the public both in direct and representative democracy in order to further empower the general public.
Dynamic Receptive Fields in Auditory Cortex: Feature Selectivity and Organizational Principles

Spectrotemporal receptive fields (STRFs) capture the time-dependent behavior of spectral profile processing in auditory neurons. Here we review recent advances in utilizing these functional descriptors in exploring organizational principles of primary auditory cortex, such as cellular and laminar differences. In addition, we discuss an extension of the classical spectrotemporal filter approach that provides additional, independent spectrotemporal features that, combined with nonlinearities, allows a more complete characterization of cortical processing.
Blueprint for the Neoliberal Model: Law, Economics, and Politics in the 1980 Constitution

In recent years Chile has become internationally famous for the success of its neoliberal economic model and for its smooth political transition from a military regime to a democratic government. As summarized in the previous chapter, the military government was in power for nearly 17 years, from 1973 to 1990. During that time the government sought to radically transform Chilean political, economic, and social systems, in order to prevent a repeat of the crises of the 1960s and 1970s. The military aimed to cement the changes with a “new institutional order” (nueva institucionalidad) established in a new Constitution, which was approved in 1980 and is still in effect today. What is surprising, in view of the fame of the economic model, is that outside of Chile there has been little attention given to the model’s legal and institutional underpinnings. Analysts of the 1980 Constitution have concentrated on its political aspects, especially its authoritarian and anti-democratic features. They have largely ignored its economic significance, beyond noting the importance of political stability and secure private property rights. Nor do they mention the increased power of the courts in economic and regulatory affairs.1
Long time existence and singularity formation for vortex sheets

The initial linear evolution of a nearly flat and uniform vortex sheet is given by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Asymptotic analysis and numerical computations of the subsequent nonlinear evolution show several interesting features. At some finite time the vortex sheet develops a singularity in its shape; i.e. the curvature becomes infinite at a point. This is immediately followed by roll-up of the sheet into an infinite spiral. This paper presents two mathematical results on nonlinear vortex sheet evolution and singularity formation: First, for sufficiently small analytic perturbations of the flat sheet, existence of smooth solutions of the Birkhoff-Rott equation is proved almost up to the expected time of singularity formation. Second, we present a construction of exact solutions that develop singularities (infinite curvature) in finite time starting from analytic initial data. These results are derived within the framework of analytic function theory. The analysis of singular solutions is an independent construction of solutions first found by Duchon and Robert (1986,1988). All of these results are in the analytic function setting, since that is the only space in which the vortex sheet problem is known to be well-posed. We present a simple example to show ill-posedness of the 2D Euler equations in the energy norm.
Case study of Brazilian Portuguese laterals using a novel articulatory-acoustic methodology with 3D/4D ultrasound

Abstract The focus of this case study is the articulation and the acoustics of laterals in Brazilian Portuguese. The study probes 1) the status of velarization in coronal laterals, 2) the articulation of palatal laterals in contrast with the palatal glide and coronal laterals with secondary palatalization, and 3) whether Brazilian Portuguese has 1, 2, or 3 lateral phonemes. As a case study, the findings cannot be generalized. Nevertheless, they generate predictions and demonstrate the capacity of the methods to test these predictions on a broader scale. It was found that for this speaker 1) coronal laterals are not velarized, but pharyngealized, 2) palatal laterals differ from the glide in that they maintain a coronal constriction, but they are minimally different from coronal laterals with secondary palatalization, and 3) the phonological system of this Brazilian Portuguese speaker is consistent with a 1, 2, or 3 lateral inventory.
Clinical features and outcome in paediatric newly diagnosed immune thrombocytopenic purpura in a tertiary care centre.

Objective The study aimed to demonstrate the pattern of clinical presentations and outcome of acute Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP) in our Centre. Methods A descriptive, observational study was conducted by collecting and analysing the data of 103 patients of acute ITP, ageing between 1-14 years, at The Children's Hospital, Lahore from January 2016 to December 2016. We collected the data regarding age, sex, clinical presentations, history of preceding viral infections, vaccination history, laboratory values, different treatment options used, and response to the treatment concerning complete response, partial response and poor responders. Statistical analysis performed by using IBM SPSS statistics version 20. Results We retrospectively, reviewed total 103 patients cases. The median age, at the time of presentation, was 5±3.4 years while mean age was 4.5±2.9 years. The male to female ratio was 1.28:1. Mean platelet count on presentation was 7 x 109/L (range: 0-24). Twenty three (22.3%), patients had the history of preceding illness. Bruises, petechiae, epistaxis and hematemesis remained the common presentations. Six (5.8%) patients showed spontaneous recovery while 97 (94%) patients received treatment for ITP. Overall, 71 (68.9%) showed a response after treatment. Sixty-two patients (59.22%) showed loss of response and received treatment again. Among these patients, thirty-four patients (33%) developed chronic disease. Conclusion Majority of patients presenting to our tertiary care centre had severe acute ITP on presentation. After management and follow-up, almost 1/3 of the patients develop chronic disease hence the incidence of developing chronic disease remained high as compared to the other centers.
Ballistic-resistant Body Armor: Problems and Coping Strategies

The purposes of the current study were to investigate 1) body armor problems and consequences of the problems, and 2) wearers’ coping strategies with body armor problems. Thirteen respondents participated in an in-depth interview study. Participants discussed body armor problems (e.g., hotness, not fitting, heaviness, long time of wear, partial protection, and not bulletproof /no pointed-type weapon protection) and consequences of the problems (uncomfortable, mobility issues, pain, fatigue, and stress). Participants used both problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies to deal with body armor problems: they changed things they could, looked for improvement, and psychologically accepted all the body armor problems.
Downwind footprint of an urban heat island on air and lake temperatures

The urban heat island (UHI) effect was first documented ~200 years ago, making it the longest recognized anthropogenic effect on climate. Although anomalous heating in cities has been meticulously characterized, less is known about how the UHI affects surrounding regions. It is hypothesized that downwind of cities a “heat plume” forms due to the advection of urban heat. This heat transport may have impacts beyond heating of the surface, such as disrupting atmospheric convection and influencing boundary layer structure, which influences weather, air quality, and human health. Here, a lagrangian atmospheric transport model, forced with archived data from a numerical weather model, is used to generate a three-dimensional map of an urban heat plume for a major city, Chicago. We document significant heating 100–200 m above the surface and 70 km downwind of the city. Over Lake Michigan, the scale of the plume is truncated nearly in half (~40 km), suggesting the lake is acting as a sink for the exported urban heat. Using satellite lake surface temperatures, we observed a disruption of the diurnal pattern of lake temperature beneath the plume, which supports a possible role of the lake in absorbing the heat plume. The results provide unique quasi-observational evidence for a significant footprint of cities on regional atmospheric structure and potentially on adjacent aquatic bodies. Winds transport warmth from Chicago’s urban heat island up to 70 km over land but only 40 km over heat-absorbing Lake Michigan. Ann Cosgrove and Max Berkelhammer from the University of Illinois at Chicago simulate the trajectory of air as it moves out of the city center, and reveal that urban air can warm the surrounding atmosphere—particularly at an elevation of 100–200 m—by as much as 5 to 10 °C in some instances. While the warming imprint of urbanization on surface climate is well-known, the team’s research demonstrates how plumes of urban air lead to heating of the lower atmosphere in specific downwind regions. The more limited extent of urban-sourced heating over Lake Michigan arises from the lake’s ability to absorb heat, rather than different atmospheric transport processes.
Vibrational Spectroscopy of Polymers

Abstract This chapter describes the practical applications of vibrational spectroscopy, both infrared absorption and Raman scattering, to characterize the molecular structure of polymers. The features of crystalline and amorphous chains have been summarized. There are many techniques to measure the molecular structure of the ordered or crystalline phase. However, vibrational spectroscopy serves a specialized role to describe the structure of disordered chains. The use of spectroscopy to measure crystallite size is also shown. Often polymers constrained to surfaces are difficult to characterize because of the limited signals that can be obtained. Specialized techniques are described here. Aging of polymers as a function of time, temperature, and especially in the presence of humidity can influence the physical properties severely and often in an unexpected fashion. In this case, vibrational spectroscopy can provide possible molecular mechanisms responsible for the macroscopic physical property changes.
Highlights from the scientific and educational abstracts presented at the ASER 2010 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course

The American Society of Emergency Radiology 2010 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course encompassed a wide range of topics: traumatic and non-traumatic emergencies, radiation dose management, technical innovations and advancements, emergency preparedness, mass casualties, military radiology, and teleradiology. This article highlights the scientific and educational abstracts presented at the meeting (Emerg Radiol 17:517–551, 2010).
Poster: A Modular and Innovative Security Analytics Course

Techniques from data science are increasingly being applied by researchers to security challenges. However, requirements unique to the security domain necessitate painstaking care for the models to be valid and robust. In this paper, we outline a novel security analytics course, its modular design, some of its key innovations, and experience in teaching it.
Multi-criteria spatial screening and uncertainty analysis applied to direct-use geothermal projects

The focus of this work is general methods for prioritization or screening of project sites based on the favorability of multiple spatial criteria. We present a threshold-based transformation of eac...
Concordance of Clinical and Pathologic Nodal Staging in Resectable Lung Cancer

Background Clinical staging of lung cancer may not reliably predict nodal disease, and its accuracy in The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database is not described. Methods Among anatomic pulmonary resections for stages I to III lung cancer with complete clinical and pathologic staging (2012-2017), the accuracy of invasive mediastinal staging (IMS) was compared with noninvasive mediastinal staging only. Accuracy, defined as concordance between clinical and pathologic nodal status, was examined using logistic regression to determine factors associated with clinical nodal (cN) accuracy. Variation in accuracy across centers was recorded and categorized. Results We included 39,516 patients with stages I to III pulmonary cancer (adenocarcinoma, 66%; squamous, 23%; neuroendocrine, 5%; mixed, 3.3%; other, 2.4%), of whom 90.4% had cN0 disease. IMS was performed in 32.4%. The IMS group had more central tumors (14.8% vs 6.0%, P cN0 disease (odds ratio, 0.25; 95% confidence interval, 0.22-0.29) were associated with lower accuracy. Accuracy of IMS in the top 20 centers was 94.4% and in the bottom 20, 70.9%. Conclusions Staging accuracy in lung cancers selected for initial resection declines with >cN0 and central tumors. Noninvasive staging in tumors without cN involvement misses nearly 20% of cN1-2. Center-specific accuracy is a target for quality improvement.
Sir Isaac Newton Stranger in a Strange Land

The theme of this essay is that the time of dominance of Newton’s world view in science is drawing to a close. The harbinger of its demise was the work of Poincare on the three-body problem and its culmination into what is now called chaos theory. The signature of chaos is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions resulting in the unpredictability of single particle trajectories. Classical determinism has become increasingly rare with the advent of chaos, being replaced by erratic stochastic processes. However, even the probability calculus could not withstand the non-Newtonian assault from the social and life sciences. The ordinary partial differential equations that traditionally determined the evolution of probability density functions (PDFs) in phase space are replaced with their fractional counterparts. Allometry relation is proven to result from a system’s complexity using exact solutions for the PDF of the Fractional Kinetic Theory (FKT). Complexity theory is shown to be incompatible with Newton’s unquestioning reliance on an absolute space and time upon which he built his discrete calculus.
A procedure for dual simple t-cannulation in the small intestine of pigs using a single right flank laparotomy

Singular cannulation in the small intestine of pigs is a common methodology for studying nutrient digestibility, delivering compounds into the gastrointestinal tract, or repeated tissue and digesta...
Role of the Microbiome in Pancreatic Cancer

The presence and activity of the gut microbiome has been shown to significantly impact human health and has been implicated in the development of multiple diseases. Recent evidence demonstrates the role of commensal bacteria in cancer initiation and progression. Therapeutic interventions aimed at targeting microbiota composition to improve immunotherapy response have shown promise in pre-clinical models. Here we review the current literature on how microbe-induced immune activation can promote oncogenesis in pancreatic cancer and how manipulation of the microbiome is able to enhance immunotherapy response.
Prospects for Disruption Handling in a Tokamak-Based Fusion Reactor

Disruptions present a great challenge to achieving an economically viable commercial tokamak fusion reactor. Disruption handling, including prevention, mitigation, and resilient design, must be inc...
Progression Trajectory-Based Student Modeling for Novice Block-Based Programming

Block-based programming environments are widely used in computer science education. However, these environments pose significant challenges for student modeling. Given a series of problem-solving actions taken by students in block-based programming environments, student models need to accurately infer problem-solving students’ programming abilities in real time to enable adaptive feedback and hints that are tailored to students’ abilities. While student models for block-based programming offer the potential to support student-adaptivity, creating student models for these environments is challenging because students can develop a broad range of solutions to a given programming activity. To address these challenges, we introduce a progression trajectory-based student modeling framework for modeling novice student block-based programming across multiple learning activities. Student trajectories utilize a time series representation that employs code analysis to incrementally compare student programs to expert solutions as students undertake block-based programming activities. This paper reports on a study in which progression trajectories were collected from more than 100 undergraduate students engaging in a series of block-based programming activities in an introductory computer science course. Using progression trajectory-based student modeling, we identified three distinct trajectory classes: Early Quitting, High Persistence, and Efficient Completion. Analysis of these trajectories revealed that they exhibit significantly different characteristics with respect to students’ actions and can be used to accurately predict students’ programming behaviors on future programming activities compared to competing baseline models. The findings suggest that progression trajectory-based student models can accurately model students’ block-based programming problem solving and hold potential for informing adaptive support in block-based programming environments.
Association of varicose veins with rare protein-truncating variants in PIEZO1 identified by exome sequencing of a large clinical population.

Abstract Objective The present study sought to determine whether protein-truncating variants (PTVs) in PIEZO1 and CASZ1 genes, previously shown to be associated with varicose veins, were associated with an altered risk of varicose veins. Methods An exome sequence database of 131,918 participants from the Geisinger MyCode Community Health Initiative was used to identify individuals with genetic variants in the PIEZO1 or CASZ1 gene. Clinical phenotypes, including varicose vein diagnoses, were determined by analysis of the electronic health record data. Results We identified 12,531 individuals (9.5%) with a diagnosis of varicose veins. Exome sequence data identified 92 PIEZO1 PTVs in 305 heterozygous carriers. PIEZO1 PTVs were significantly enriched in those with varicose vein (0.37% of cases vs 0.22% of controls; odds ratio [OR], 1.7; P = .0010). Nearly all varicose vein cases were associated with frameshift or stop-gain PTVs (OR, 3.0 for stop-gain [P = .0001]; OR, 2.9 for frameshift variants [P Conclusions Rare PTVs in PIEZO1 but not CASZ1 were associated with varicose veins and the need for vein ablation therapy. These results have demonstrated that PTVs in the PIEZO1 gene are rare but represent strong genetic risk factors for varicose veins and the need for vein ablation therapy. These results have also identified a potential biologic mechanism and target for the development of novel therapies.
Knowledge, false belief, and reductio

Recently, a number of cases have been proposed which seem to show that – contrary to widely held opinion – a subject can inferentially come to know some proposition p from an inference which relies...
Effects of Geometry

The linear model is adequate for studying the basic features of maser structure. But this simple model obviously cannot be used to study the radiation angular distribution, and since it does not have a true intensity I v , it cannot predict the brightness temperature either. In addition, although the behavior of radiation propagating along individual rays is in general similar to that of the linear maser, the saturation effect couples different rays and introduces features that are outside the scope of the simple linear model. The unique effects introduced by three-dimensional geometries are discussed in this chapter.