cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cognitive approaches to clinical data management for decision support: is it old wine in new bottle?

Most current health information technology (HIT) is not designed to support the cognitive aspects of clinicians decision-making task. We propose a case for cognitive support systems (CSS), a class of support systems whose design rationale is based on aligning the decision making process closely with the empirical results on clinicians organization of knowledge structures. Using examples drawn from our current and past studies, we explain an epistemological framework of medical knowledge and how experts' representations could be better visualized within CSS for efficient and safe decision making. We discuss the state of the current research as well as the challenges for the development of patient-centered decision support, and the cognitive support for other members of the healthcare team, all within the constraints of clinical workflow.
Sustainability and Development

Sustainable development requires that per capita welfare does not decline over time. The minimum condition is ensuring that any depletion of natural capital is compensated by reproducible and human capital, so that the value of the aggregate stock does not decrease. Meeting this condition is problematic if natural capital includes ecosystems, which not only provide unique goods and services but are also prone to irreversible conversion and abrupt collapse. Net domestic product accounting rules for the depreciation of the total stock of reproducible, human, and natural capital of an economy can be extended to incorporate the direct benefits provided by ecosystems. They also can integrate any capital revaluation that occurs through ecosystem restoration and conversion and the threat of irreversible collapse. These approaches confirm the economic interpretation of sustainability as nondeclining welfare. They can also be used to estimate the changes in the value of ecological capital due to economic activity.
Fluid flow and heat transfer modeling in the event of lost circulation and its application in locating loss zones

Abstract Lost circulation is one of the most persistent and costly drilling problems that drilling engineers have been struggling with for decades. The pinpointing of the zones of loss allows the treatments to be applied directly to the points of loss rather than to the entire open hole. This paper presents an approach to predict the location of single loss zone in a vertical well by interpreting the transient mud circulating temperature profiles altered by mud loss. The fluid flow and heat transfer numerical model in estimating the transient mud circulating temperature profiles during a lost circulation event was developed. The temperature profile in both the flow conduits (drillpipe and annulus) were modeled using mass and energy balances. The flow rate of drilling mud decreases in the annulus above the loss zone as part of the fluids lost into the fractures, which in turn alters the heat transmission status between the drillpipe, annulus, and near-wellbore formation. The wellbore is divided into two sections, which accounts for single loss zone. Case studies were performed and numerical solution results were presented and analyzed. According to the results, alterations induced by mud loss include: 1) Declines in both annular mud temperature and drillpipe mud temperature over time, and 2) Discontinuity in the first order derivative of annular mud temperature with respect to depth at the location of loss. By matching the simulated results with the distributed temperature measurements at different time stamps, the depth of the loss zone can be identified.
PROTECTION OF BONE DENSITY IN SARCOIDOSIS: CAN WE GIVE VITAMIN D WITHOUT CAUSING HYPERCALCEMIA?

ABSTRACT Objective: Sarcoidosis is commonly complicated by hypercalcemia due to extrarenal 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and parathyroid hormone–related peptide production. Bisphosphonates are often give...
Are Evidence Standards Different for Genomic‐ vs. Clinical‐Based Precision Medicine? A Quantitative Analysis of Individualized Warfarin Therapy

Evidence requirements for implementation of precision medicine (PM), whether informed by genomic or clinical data, are not well defined. Evidence requirements are driven by uncertainty and its attendant consequences; these aspects can be quantified by a novel technique in health economics: value of information analysis (VOI). We utilized VOI analysis to compare the evidence levels over time for warfarin dosing based on pharmacogenomic vs. amiodarone-warfarin drug–drug interaction information. The primary outcome was the expected value of perfect information (EVPI), which is an estimate of the upper limit of the societal value of conducting future research. Over the past decade, the EVPI for the pharmacogenomic strategy decreased from $1,550 to $140 vs. $1,220 to $280 per patient for the drug-interaction strategy. Evidence levels thus appear to be higher for pharmacogenomic-guided vs. drug-interaction-guided warfarin dosing. Clinical guidelines and reimbursement policies for warfarin PM could be informed by these findings.
Barriers and facilitators for institutional delivery among poor Mesoamerican women: a cross-sectional study.

Professional skilled care has shown to be one of the most promising strategies to reduce maternal mortality, and in-facility deliveries are a cost-effective way to ensure safe births. Countries in Mesoamerica have emphasized in-facility delivery care by professionally skilled attendants, but access to good-quality delivery care is still lacking for many women. We examined the characteristics of women who had a delivery in a health facility and determinants of the decision to bypass a closer facility and travel to a distant one. We used baseline information from the Salud Mesoamerica Initiative (SMI). Data were collected from a large household and facilities sample in the poorest quintile of the population in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The analysis included 1592 deliveries. After controlling for characteristics of women and health facilities, being primiparous (RR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.10, 1.21), being literate (RR = 1.24, 95% CI 1.04, 1.48), having antenatal care (RR = 1.68, 95% CI 1.24, 2.27), being informed of the need for having a C-section (RR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.02, 1.11) and travel time to the closest facility totaling 1-2 h vs under 30 min (RR = 0.88, 95% CI 0.77, 0.99) were associated with in-health facility deliveries. In Guatemala, increased availability of medications and equipment at a distant facility was strongly associated with bypassing the closest facility in favor of a distant one for delivery (RR = 2.10, 95% CI 1.08, 4.07). Our study showed a strong correlation between well-equipped facilities and delivery attendance in poor areas of Mesoamerica. Indeed, women were more likely to travel to more distant facilities if the facilities were of higher level, which scored higher on our capacity score. Our findings call for improving the capacity of health facilities, quality of care and addressing cultural and accessibility barriers to increase institutional delivery among the poor population in Mesoamerica.
Association of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) with Hyperthyroidism in Domestic Felines, Sentinels for Thyroid Hormone Disruption

Hyperthyroidism is the most common endocrine disorder observed in domestic felines; however, its etiology is largely unknown. Two classes of persistent organic pollutants, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are known to interfere with thyroid hormone (TH) signaling and regulation; thus, it is postulated that they contribute to the etiopathogenesis of feline hyperthyroidism and pose a risk to humans and other species. In this case-control study, the concentrations of 13 PBDE and 11 PCB congeners were measured by gas chromatography mass spectrometry in serum or plasma samples from 20 hyperthyroid and 31 control cats in order to investigate the association between concentration of PBDE and PCB congeners and feline hyperthyroidism. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine whether elevated concentrations of individual congeners were associated with a higher risk of feline hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroid cats had higher concentrations of four PBDE congeners (BDE17, BDE100, BDE47, and BDE49) and five PCB congeners (PCB131, PCB153, PCB174, PCB180, and PCB196), compared to control cats. In addition, the sum of both PBDE and PCB congener concentrations were elevated in the hyperthyroid group compared to control cats; however, only the increased PCB concentrations were statistically significant. The sum total PBDE concentrations in our feline samples were approximately 50 times greater than concentrations previously reported in human populations from a geographically similar area, whereas sum total PCB concentrations were comparable to those previously reported in humans. These observational findings support the hypothesis that PBDEs and PCBs may contribute to the etiopathogenesis of hyperthyroidism in felines. As domestic house cats are often exposed to higher concentrations of PBDEs than humans, they may serve as sentinels for the risk of TH disruption that these pollutants pose to humans and other species.
Local antigen and inflammation in the lung induce the preferential establishment and maintenance of CXCR6 and CD49a-expressing antigen-specific CD8 TRM cells in the lung parenchyma and airways (MUC1P.900)

Acting as sentinels capable of quickly organizing a secondary immune response upon pathogen challenge, resident memory CD8 T (T RM ) populations are initially primed by microenvironment cues and APC licensing following acute infection of peripheral tissues. Despite their capacity for heterologous protection against influenza virus (flu) challenge, scant knowledge exists as to factors necessary to establish and maintain airway and lung parenchymal (LP) CD8 T RM cells. In contrast to mechanisms described for other tissues, lung CD8 T RM cell establishment required cognate antigen recognition once cells were recruited to the lung by local inflammation. Furthermore, this combination of local antigen and inflammation formed long-lasting T RM populations in the LP and airways that highly express the chemokine receptor CXCR6 and adhesion molecule CD49a. During a primary intranasal (IN) flu infection, CXCR6 is preferentially expressed on virus-specific CD8 T cells in the airways and LP by day 7 post-infection. Selectively, LP CD8 T RM cells highly express CXCR6, while systemically circulating flu-specific cells achieve only an intermediate expression level. Finally, use of mixed bone marrow chimeras show that wild-type virus-specific memory CD8 T cells predominate over CXCR6 -/- cells in the airway and LP after IN infection with Sendai or flu virus. Thus, our data show that local antigen and inflammation coupled with CXCR6 expression is key to establish CD8 T RM cells in the LP and airways.
Contracting Complexity in Biopharmaceutical Clusters

The location of the alliance partners relative to each other might be antecedent to the complexity of alliance contracting but has not received much direct attention in the literature. This researc...
Sphingosine, a Breakdown Product of Cellular Sphingolipids, in Cellular Proliferation and Phospholipid Metabolism

Sphingolipids, important lipid constituents of plasma membranes, consist of several long chain bases of which sphingosine (4-trans-sphingenine) is the most prominent. Sphingolipids have long been implicated in diverse cellular functions, including cellular communication, transformation, proliferation, differentiation, and modulation of receptor function (reviewed in Hakomori,1985;1986; Sweeley,1985). However, the mechanism of action and signal transduction pathways modulated by these complex lipids have largely remained ill defined (Spiegel and Panagiotopoulos,1988; Spiegel, 1989). A tantalizing link between sphingolipids and signal transduction surfaced recently when sphingosine was found to inhibit protein kinase C in vitro and to be an inhibitor of a variety of protein kinase C-dependent processes in vivo (Hannun and Bell,1987;1989; Merrill and Stevens, 1989). Thus, it has been suggested that sphingosine is an endogenous inhibitor of protein kinase C, opposing the action of DAG (Hannun and Bell, 1987; 1989; Merrill and Stevens, 1989).
Oxygen exchanges between blood and resting skeletal muscle: a shunt-sink hypothesis.

Prevously we have reported the use of oxygen-18 isotope and double indicator dilution methodology to measure the exchanges of eoxygen between blood and brain tissues (Grieb et al., 1983). In the present experiments we used the same technique for the study of a canine hind limb preparation. To our knowledge, oxygen isotopes have not been used to study the features of oxygen delivery to muscles, with the exception of preliminary studies of Forster, el al. (1976) and Rose and Goreski (1982). More is known about the distribution of inert diffusible tracers in muscle preparations; (eg. Aukland and Leraand, 1960; Paradise et al., 1971; Piiper and Meyer, in press; Sparks and Mohrman, 1977; Tonnesen and Sjersen, 1967), and such data are sometimes extrapolated to oxygen.
The Key to Organizational Sustainability: Nurturing a Culture of Change

Unless they are constructed for purely theoretical purposes, all human organizations exist in their own particular environments. Those environments are subject to change. Unless the organization accommodates the changing environment. The chances of it continuing to serve the needs of its stakeholders will diminish. At a certain point as the needs of the stakeholders of the organization will cease to be served and the organization will no longer be sustainable. When the organization ceases to be sustainable it will cease to exits in its present form. The problem of organizational sustainability has been intensively studied. The issue of organizational resistance to change has been historically approached from the perspective of militating organizational resistance to a particular change initiative. In this paper, the social and historical roots of resistance to change are explored, and a new strategy to accommodate organizational change is developed. That new strategy is to adopt and nurture a culture of change. The first step in creating an organizational culture of change is to make change an everyday expectation by adjusting the organizational structure to encourage the assumption of power, authority and creativity throughout the organization. The basic four structures of organization are surveyed, and the type of structure that has been found to be most accepting and supporting of change is the type that has come to be known as an adhocracy. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Burden of Sinusitis in Hematologic Transplant Patients: A National Perspective.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS To determine the impact of sinusitis on outcomes of hematologic transplant procedures. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective analysis of a national hospital database. METHODS The National Inpatient Sample database for 2012 to 2013 was queried using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes to identify patients undergoing hematologic transplants. Patients were divided based upon the presence or absence of a concomitant diagnosis of acute or chronic sinusitis. Patient demographics, clinical characteristics, discharge results, lengths of stay (LOS), and costs were compared between groups. RESULTS There were 7,069 hematologic transplant cases identified, 2.7% of which had a diagnosis of sinusitis. Sinusitis patients had a longer LOS after transplant (24.9 ± 15.9 days vs. 19.1 ± 17.4 days, P < .001) and higher total hospital charges ($487,941 ± $447,532 vs. $322,300 ± $369,596, P < .001) than nonsinusitis patients. There was no difference in mortality between the two groups (P = .75). The 23 (12%) sinusitis patients who underwent sinus procedures had a longer LOS after transplant (34.8 ± 25 days vs. 23.5 ± 13.7 days, P = .001) and higher total hospital charges ($857,891 ± $718,456 vs. $437,293 ± $372,075, P < .001) than sinusitis patients without sinus procedures. Linear regression showed that sinusitis patients had excess LOS after transplant of 2.442 days and cost of $82,000.098. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that presence of sinusitis in patients undergoing hematologic transplant is associated with increased LOS and higher total hospital charges. Increased focus on diagnosis and if possible treatment of sinusitis prior to admission for transplantation may help reduce the impact of sinusitis after hematologic transplant. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE NA Laryngoscope, 128:2688-2692, 2018.
The current landscape of US children's television: violent, prosocial, educational, and fantastical content

The present study examined currently popular children’s television shows to determine the prevalence of violent, prosocial, educational, and fantastical content (including fantastical events and an...
Comparative genomic profiling from tumor tissue and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in 111 patients (Pts) with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

4565Background: Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) assessment is a non-invasive approach for genomic interrogation of solid tumors. As a novel tool, key benchmarks for applications in metastatic clear c...
MiR-181a Reduces Platelet Activation via the Inhibition of Endogenous RAP1B.

Aim Since RAP1B is critical for platelet functions, including hemostasis, this study was conducted to identify RAP1B regulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in ex vivo stored platelets. Background Previous studies with platelets identified factors affecting RAP1B activity but regulatory miRNAs that affect RAP1B protein expression have not been reported. Objective To understand the functional significance of miRNA mediated regulation of RAP1B in stored platelets, using microRNA, miR-181a as an example. Methods A Tagged RNA Affinity approach (MS2-TRAP) was employed to identify miRNAs that bound to the 3` untranslated region (3`UTR) of the RAP1B mRNA in HeLa cells as an assay system. And subsequently, the mRNA 3'UTR:miRNA interactions were verified in platelets through the ectopic expression of miR-181a mimic and appropriate controls. The interaction of such miRNAs with RAP1B mRNA was also validated by qRT-PCR and Western analysis. Results Sixty-two miRNAs from MS2 assay were then compared with already known 171 platelet abundant miRNAs to identify a common set of miRNAs. This analysis yielded six miRNAs (miR- 30e, miR-155, miR-181a, miR-206, miR-208a and miR-454), which are also predicted to target RAP1B mRNA. From this pool, miR-181a was selected for further study since RAP1B harbors two binding sites for miR-181a in its 3'UTR. Ectopic expression of miR-181a mimic in platelets resulted in lowering the endogenous RAP1B at both mRNA and protein levels. Further, miR-181a ectopic expression reduced the surface expression of the platelet activation marker, P-selectin. Conclusion MicroRNA-181a can target RAP1B and this interaction has the potential to regulate platelet activation during storage.
Towards a Design Orientation on Algorithms and Automation in News Production

This essay responds to the articles in the special issue on “Algorithms, Automation, and News” by reflecting on two thematic threads apparent in the collection: (1) the role of journalistic values ...
Amino-terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Among Patients Living With Both Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Heart Failure.

BACKGROUND Among persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (PHIV), incident heart failure (HF) rates are increased and outcomes are worse; however, the role of amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) concentrations among PHIV with HF has not been characterized. METHODS Patients were derived from a registry of those hospitalized with HF at an academic center in a calender year. We compared the NT-proBNP concentrations and the changes in NT-proBNP levels between PHIV with HF and uninfected controls with HF. RESULTS Among 2578 patients with HF, there were 434 PHIV; 90% were prescribed antiretroviral therapy and 62% were virally suppressed. As compared to controls, PHIV had higher admission (3822 [IQR, 2413-7784] pg/ml vs 5546 [IQR, 3257-8792] pg/ml, respectively; P < .001), higher discharge (1922 [IQR, 1045-4652] pg/ml vs 3372 [IQR, 1553-5452] pg/ml, respectively; P < .001), and lower admission-to-discharge changes in NT-proBNP levels (32 vs 48%, respectively; P = .007). Similar findings were noted after stratifying based on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). In a multivariate analysis, cocaine use, a lower LVEF, a higher NYHA class, a higher viral load (VL), and a lower CD4 count were associated with higher NT-proBNP concentrations. In follow-up, among PHIV, a higher admission NT-proBNP concentration was associated with increased cardiovascular mortality (first tertile, 11.5; second tertile, 20; third tertile, 44%; P < .001). Among PHIV, each doubling of NT-proBNP was associated with a 19% increased risk of death. However, among patients living without HIV, each doubling was associated with a 27% increased risk; this difference was attenuated among PHIV with lower VLs and higher CD4 counts. CONCLUSIONS PHIV with HF had higher admission and discharge NT-proBNP levels, and less change in NT-proBNP concentrations. Among PHIV, VLs and CD4 counts were associated with NT-proBNP concentrations; in follow-up, higher NT-proBNP levels among PHIV were associated with cardiovascular mortality.
Effect of Using Multiple Imaging Modalities on GTV Delineation of Sarcomas and Chordomas: a Reproducibility Study

1313 Introduction: Accurate delineation of the gross target volume (GTV) is critical for radiation treatment planning of soft tissue sarcomas and chordomas. Inter- and Intra-physician delineation variability is a major challenge. The aim of this work is to improve the accuracy and reproducibility of GTV by using multi-modality versus CT. We compared GTV based on CT alone vs CT+MR vs CT+MR+PET. We also tested intra-observer variability in repeated GTV delineation. Methods: Three GTV contours were repeatedly delineated by one physician on eight patients, who underwent CT, MR and PET. Images from different modalities were registered using the MIMVista software. First, GTV contours were drawn on CT for all patients. 3D contouring was performed slice by slice using the MIMVista software. Multiple trials were performed for each patient in a randomized order to avoid recall bias. Subsequently, contours were drawn on CT using fused CT+MR in a random order and finally using CT+MR+PET. For each modality, intra-observer variability was measured by calculating the 3D Dice score between pairs of trials, resulting in three Dice scores per modality and patient. The Dice score measures the similarity between masks and is defined by D(X, Y) = 2 | intersection(X, Y) | / (|X| + |Y|) where X and Y are two segmentation masks and |.| calculates then number of pixels in a binary mask. Higher scores indicate larger agreement between masks. Results: An example of contours obtained for three trials for one of the patients is shown on Fig. 1. The Dice scores are reported in Table 1. The difference in average Dice score between CT and CT+MR+PET is statistically significant (t-test p-value 0.02, Wilcoxon p-value 0.05). Additionally, remote sites for one patient were detected only when using PET. The full results of this ongoing study will be presented at SNMMI. Comparison with another reader will also be done to test for inter-reader variability. This full dataset will be processed to test whether our hypothesis on the reduction in variability when using multiple modalities for GTV stands. Conclusions: This work studies the effect of using multiple modalities (CT, MR and PET) when performing GTV delineation. Preliminary results suggest that using CT along with MR and PET significantly reduces the intra-reader variability. Additionally, PET can help the detection of remote sites. These observations demonstrates the added value of PET & MR for treatment planning of soft-tissue sarcomas and chordomas. Research support T32EB013180, R01CA165221, R21EB021710 and P41EB022544. $$graphic_C34D3669-D672-4EA5-B30B-19595FED9259$$
Geriatric Femoral Neck Fractures: Hemiarthroplasty Implant Trends Across a Health System From 2006 to 2018:

Introduction:Hemiarthroplasty is increasingly used for the treatment of geriatric femoral neck fractures in an effort to optimize value-based care. The current American Association of Orthopaedic S...
Academic Biography of Erik D. Goodman

This contribution summarizes the academic biography of the founding director of the NSF-funded BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Dr. Erik D. Goodman, in a first person narrative.
Primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the pancreas.

Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs) are rare small round cell malignancies closely related to Ewing’s sarcoma. Involvement of the abdominal cavity, specifically the pancreas, is extremely rare...
The importance of adolescents' sense of belonging to mathematics for algebra learning

Abstract The current study examined the predictive utility of sense of belonging to math relative to a range of other beliefs previously established as important for achievement (i.e., self-concept, interest, importance, and entity view). A racially and ethnically diverse sample of U.S. public middle-school students (N = 206) completed surveys and an algebra assessment before and after a classroom unit. Of the motivation and belief measures taken, sense of belonging to mathematics was the only significant predictor of learning. Underrepresented racial and ethnic minority students (URM) reported a markedly lower sense of belonging than non-URM students which partially explained their lower posttest scores, even when accounting for socioeconomic status. URM students did not differ from non-URM students on any other motivation or belief measures. We provide the necessary foundational knowledge of one understudied but potentially malleable factor for consideration in improving URM students' experience and opportunities in mathematics.
Enantioselective Hydroalkenylation of Olefins with Enol Sulfonates Enabled by Dual Copper Hydride and Palladium Catalysis.

The catalytic enantioselective synthesis of α-chiral olefins represents a valuable strategy for rapid generation of structural diversity in divergent syntheses of complex targets. Herein, we report...
Task Programming: Learning Data Efficient Behavior Representations

Specialized domain knowledge is often necessary to accurately annotate training sets for in-depth analysis, but can be burdensome and time-consuming to acquire from domain experts. This issue arises prominently in automated behavior analysis, in which agent movements or actions of interest are detected from video tracking data. To reduce annotation effort, we present TREBA: a method to learn annotation-sample efficient trajectory embedding for behavior analysis, based on multi-task self-supervised learning. The tasks in our method can be efficiently engineered by domain experts through a process we call "task programming", which uses programs to explicitly encode structured knowledge from domain experts. Total domain expert effort can be reduced by exchanging data annotation time for the construction of a small number of programmed tasks. We evaluate this trade-off using data from behavioral neuroscience, in which specialized domain knowledge is used to identify behaviors. We present experimental results in three datasets across two domains: mice and fruit flies. Using embeddings from TREBA, we reduce annotation burden by up to a factor of 10 without compromising accuracy compared to state-of-the-art features. Our results thus suggest that task programming and self-supervision can be an effective way to reduce annotation effort for domain experts.
Overcoming Theoretical Indeterminacy

Law and economics has become one of the leading research programs in law. Yet, after four decades it still cannot answer simple questions such as what is the optimal remedy for contract breach. The problem is not limited to contract law. There is also no consensus on other simple questions, such as whether losers should pay winners’ legal fees or whether tort law needs to be reformed. In a widely cited 2003 Yale Law Journal article, Professor Eric Posner argued that economic analysis of contract law has been a failure when it comes to generating clear-cut explanations or policy recommendations. The reason, he argued, is that the theoretical results depend on the values of the parameters. But empirical data are usually not available. The resulting lack of consensus is the main reason why law and economics has had such a small impact on treatises, textbooks, and court decisions. This essay offers a breakthrough to this major problem. I show that most of the indeterminacy in contract scholarship is due to the ‘bad habit’ of trying to solve many problems with a single legal rule. Doing so is problematic for two reasons. First, such a single rule will be a compromise rule, which is not very effective at solving all the problems. Second, choosing the right compromise requires information on the relative social importance of all the problems; such information is nearly impossible to get, and therefore makes the discussion indeterminate. The solution I propose is simple: use a separate rule or doctrine per problem. In practice, this involves using more fault rules and avoiding strict liability or pricing rules. But theoretical scholars should also do what empirical scholars have done for so long—formulate rules of thumb and evidence burdens to get out of indeterminacy. This essay is the first to propose such a rule of thumb for theoretical research: when considering strict liability or pricing rules to solve more than one problem at the same time, discard problems with a social importance of less than 10% of the total. The reason is that loss-sharing strict liability rules can in such cases solve no more than 1% of the total problem. Applying these proposals to contract remedies, I show that determining optimal rules becomes remarkably simple, and that most of the indeterminacy disappears.
Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is a marker for acute kidney injury progression and mortality in critically ill populations: a population-based, multi-institutional study

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a surrogate marker of systemic response to physiological stress, is used for prognosis prediction in many diseases. However, the usefulness of this marker for predicting acute kidney injury (AKI) progression is unclear. This retrospective study was based on the Chang Gung Research Database. Patients admitted to the intensive care unit with a diagnosis of stage 1 or 2 AKI were identified. The primary outcome was a composite of progression to stage 3 AKI, requirement of renal replacement therapy, or 14-day in-hospital mortality. The association between NLR and the primary outcome was examined using a logistic regression model and multivariable analysis. The nonlinearity and cutoff points of this relationship were determined using a restricted cubic spline model. A total of 10,441 patients were enrolled. NLR level at the time of stage 1–2 AKI diagnosis was a marker of adverse outcomes. After adjustment for confounders, NLR was independently associated with the composite outcome of AKI progression, renal replacement therapy, or mortality. The restricted cubic spline model revealed a J-shaped curve, with the lowest odds ratio for an NLR between 7 and 38. Subgroup analysis revealed linear and J-shaped relationships between NLR and the primary outcome in patients admitted to the intensive care unit for medical reasons and for cardiovascular surgery, respectively. NLR is an independent marker of AKI progression and in-hospital mortality. Because it is readily available in daily practice, it might be used for risk stratification in the AKI population.
Addressing Health Disparities in HIV: Introduction to the Special Issue.

ABSTRACT Racial and ethnic minority, sexual and gender minority, and low-income people have historically experienced poorer health outcomes and poorer social conditions that lead to poorer health outcomes (social determinants of health) than nonminority people in the United States. To eliminate these health disparities, intentional and targeted interventions that address the needs and preferences of diverse populations are needed. To address disparities, the California HIV/AIDS Research Program focused their funding resources tightly on communities facing elevated HIV incidence or prevalence. This special issue describes interventions that aimed to increase linkage to and engagement in HIV-specific prevention or medical care, each uniquely tailored to the needs of an identified California population with disparate HIV-related health outcomes and each for implementation at a specific stage of the HIV prevention and care continuum.
The essence of object orientation for CS0: concepts without code

Why is object-orientation so popular? Is it a fad or is there real value to developing software systems the object-oriented way? Given the emerging prevalence of computational thinking across the disciplines these are questions that a wide range of students are curious about. This paper describes our approach to providing a conceptual overview in a CS0 context of the essential ideas of and the value provided by object-orientation without resorting to code.
Uncertainty, human action and scenarios

The “scenario method,” “scenario building,” or “multiple futures analysis” emerged during the last decades as a premier instrument for strategic planning and decision making in conditions of uncertainty. This article demonstrates that there is an intrinsic link between the scenario method and Austrian theory not only at the level of basic epistemological principles but also at the methodological and applied levels. The article also argues that the scenario method could easily be embraced as a part of the Austrian family of ideas and more precisely as one of the key policy applications or decision support tools informed by that school of thought. Blending explicitly and systematically the scenario method with the Austrian ideas and forcefully making the case for the scenario approach as a policy and business administration tool, is thus one of the most effective ways of reasserting the importance of Austrian insights in areas such as business studies, public policy, and organizational theory, areas that currently have a limited exposure to Austrian ideas.
Psychology of the misuse and rejection of contraception.

Abstract It is obvious from the large number of illegitimate births, legally and illegally induced abortions, and legitimate but undesired pregnancies in this country and abroad that contraceptive measures are commonly ignored or actively rejected by a substantial proportion of coitally active human beings who consciously deny procreative intent. While many of the reasons for misuse or rejection of contraception are included within the commonly discussed areas of contraceptive knowledgeability, acceptability, availability, cost, religious proscription, etc., innumerable other reasons, principally in the psychological and intersonal relationship realms, are also operative, consciously and unconsciously, in both partners. Many of these other reasons have been examined, and their ultimate influence on the concept of control of population growth by contraceptive means is discussed. Even with the future availability of an “ideal” contraceptive, it is probable for reasons of psychology rather than technology that social systems which require or allow volitional and individually initiated contraceptive use as the sole method for population control will fail to accomplish that goal.
DNA computations can have global memory

Ever since Adleman's seminal paper (1994) there has been a flood of ideas on how one could use DNA to compute. There have been many papers on using DNA to solve various computational problems. At the top-most level all these papers use DNA in the same way. Each strand of DNA encodes the state of a processor. Each processor operates independently: there is no communication from one processor to another. Processors each search their own part of a large space. The papers differ in the details of how they encode the state into the DNA. They all, however, perform independent searches. Our new result is that we can allow, for the first time, global memory. That is, we show that the individual DNA strands can communication with each other. This changes everything. The point is that DNA can do much more general parallel computations than previously realized. The class of computations that allow global memory are much more powerful than independent searches. For example, one of the main ways to search large spaces is the so called "branch-and-bound" method. In this method the search in one part of the space is "pruned" by values found in other parts of the space. Previously, it was not possible to even imagine how DNA computations could do this: now we know how. Our method is based on the same bio-technology operations that we have used previously. We use no new bio-operations. Thus, our addition of global memory to DNA computations has all the promise and difficulties that previous DNA computations had. The key is that we use nothing new: we just exploit the power of the existing methods in a new way.
On Bell: II. The system is sound: `It ain't broke, so don't fix it,¿ reflects the sentiments of an eminent Bell Labs emeritus executive

Breaking up the Bell System in a way that I regard as arbitrary would make it harder, rather than easier, to harness new technology to the service of users. At present, telecommunications switching and transmission, information processing, and communication are all going digital. Unified development of this common technology would be the most efficient path to follow, not fragmented development through an enforced diversity of sources.
Acyclovir for recurrent herpes simplex virus ocular disease.

Eye disease due to herpes simplex virus (HSV) is the most common infectious cause of corneal blindness in the industrialized world.1 In a long-term study in Rochester, Minnesota,2,3 the incidence o...
Three-dimensional optical metamaterial with a negative refractive index

Metamaterials are artificially engineered structures that have properties, such as a negative refractive index, not attainable with naturally occurring materials. Negative-index metamaterials (NIMs) were first demonstrated for microwave frequencies, but it has been challenging to design NIMs for optical frequencies and they have so far been limited to optically thin samples because of significant fabrication challenges and strong energy dissipation in metals. Such thin structures are analogous to a monolayer of atoms, making it difficult to assign bulk properties such as the index of refraction. Negative refraction of surface plasmons was recently demonstrated but was confined to a two-dimensional waveguide. Three-dimensional (3D) optical metamaterials have come into focus recently, including the realization of negative refraction by using layered semiconductor metamaterials and a 3D magnetic metamaterial in the infrared frequencies; however, neither of these had a negative index of refraction. Here we report a 3D optical metamaterial having negative refractive index with a very high figure of merit of 3.5 (that is, low loss). This metamaterial is made of cascaded 'fishnet' structures, with a negative index existing over a broad spectral range. Moreover, it can readily be probed from free space, making it functional for optical devices. We construct a prism made of this optical NIM to demonstrate negative refractive index at optical frequencies, resulting unambiguously from the negative phase evolution of the wave propagating inside the metamaterial. Bulk optical metamaterials open up prospects for studies of 3D optical effects and applications associated with NIMs and zero-index materials such as reversed Doppler effect, superlenses, optical tunnelling devices, compact resonators and highly directional sources.
Nitrogen mineralization in soils amended with composted and uncomposted poultry litter

Abstract When applied to land, poultry litter can be a valuable source of plant macro‐ and micro‐nutrients. However, if poultry litter is overapplied, then its mineralized nitrogen (N) can contaminate ground and surface waters. Composting poultry litter may slow down the rate of N mineralization thereby reducing the risk of environmental pollution. The objective of this work was to determine if N mineralization from composted poultry litter is slower than that from uncomposted poultry litter when these materials are mixed with soil. Two composted broiler litters, one composted hen manure, and two uncomposted broiler litters were mixed with Dothan loamy sand (pH 4.3) and Hiwassee fine sandy loam (pH 5.5), and incubated at 25°C for 56 d. Subsamples for inorganic N determinations were taken at 1, 2, 4, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 56 d. After 56 d, the proportion of organic N mineralized ranged from 0.4 to 5.8% for the composted materials, and from 25.4 to 39.8% for uncomposted broiler litters. These results indicate ...
The Average Tax Burden and the Welfare Implications of Global Tax Progressivity

The measurement of global tax progressivity has been extensively debated over the last decade. We find that the debate stems from a failure to fully recognize the role of the average tax burden. We demonstrate that, once the effect of the average tax burden is controlled for, the two major approaches to global progressivity measurement, which have been long thought to be fundamentally different, must rank tax systems the same way. We show that valid welfare inferences can be drawn from global progressivity comparisons only under these same conditions.
Growth and Characterization of High Surface Area Titanium Carbide

High surface area, porous titanium carbide (TiC) films have been synthesized employing physical vapor deposition of titanium at glancing angles under high vacuum within an ethylene ambient. The composition, surface area, and morphology of the TiC films were studied as a function of deposition conditions including ethylene pressure, titanium deposition angle, substrate temperature during growth, and postdeposition annealing temperature. At high or glancing deposition angles (∼80−85°) synthesis produces films composed of arrays of porous nanocolumns of TiC, while deposition at more moderate angles, less than 70°, results in continuous, reticulated films. The maximum specific surface area (840 m2/g) is obtained by growth with an incident titanium deposition angle of 65°, an ethylene pressure of 1.5 × 10−7 Torr, and a substrate growth temperature of ∼350 K. This result is in contrast to previous investigations using related physical vapor deposition techniques which have generally shown that films with the gr...
Equilibrium and metastable strained layer semiconductor heterostructures

Abstract Recent progress has been made in the understanding of strain accommodation and relief in lattice-mismatched semiconductor heterostructures. Specific recent advances include the following: improved understanding and modeling of competing strain relaxation mechanisms; quantification of misfit dislocation nucleation processes; improved modeling of critical epilayer thickness for misfit dislocation introduction; improved understanding of misfit dislocation nucleation mechanisms; new experimental techniques for in-situ observation of strain relaxation; new techniques for reduction of strain-relieving dislocations; and new calculations of dislocation electronic structure.
The conscience clause in religious education and collective worship: conscientious objection or curriculum choice?

The ‘conscience clause’ allows parents to withdraw their children from religious education and collective worship; however, the reasons why parents might wish so to do are not stated in the legisla...
External beam radiation therapy of primary carcinoma of the prostate.

During the past 10 years, some 15 publications have appeared in the English literature on the definitive radiotherapy of prostatic cancer. The long-term followup required for rational assessment of the treatment of prostatic cancer is not yet available for most of these studies. However, in the Stanford series, the direct disease-free survival at 5 years for patients with disease localized to the prostate is 70%; at 10 years, 42%. The direct disease-free survival at 5 years for patients with extracapsular extension in 36%, and at 10 years, 29%. Recently, mapping of potential lymph node metastases has been studies by several authors.Early results of extended-field irradiation required for regional treatment are presented.
Papillary cystic and solid tumors of the pancreas: A pancreatic embryonic tumor? Studies of three cases and cumulative review of the world's literature

Background. The papillary cystic and solid tumor of the pancreas is rare. It occurs predominantly in young women, and most present a benign behavior. The pathogenesis of this tumor has attracted a number of investigations but remains unclear. Methods. We present three patients with this tumor and a review of 289 others from the world's literature, a total of 292 cases. On the basis of the analyses of the clinical and pathologic features from the reported cases, the pathogenesis of this unusual tumor has been further explored. Results. Ninety percent of the patients were female, with a mean age of 23.9 years. The tumors were usually quite large with a mean diameter of 10.3 cm. Ninety-two percent of these tumors were totally or partially cystic. Rupture of the capsule resulted in hemoperitoneum in eight cases, five of which were without any identifiable cause. Forty-three tumors (14.7%) have been recognized as malignant. The overall prognosis has been excellent and an aggressive approach to resection is indicated. Conclusions. The results of immunohistochemical staining and electromicroscopy were rather diverse, but most, including the current cases, support the hypothesis that the tumor originates from pleuripotential embryonic stem cells. Thus the term pancreatic embryonic tumors seems preferable to papillary cystic and solid tumor of the pancreas to delineate the origin of the tumor and to reflect some of its biologic characteristics.
Use of Staphylococcal Enterotoxin A—Induced Lymphoproliferation and Interleukin 2 Production as Indicators of Immunotoxicity

ABSTRACTSuppression of mitogen-induced splenocyte lymphoproliferation and interleukin 2 (IL-2) production can be used as indicators of immunotoxicity. Staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) is both a potent mitogen and the most potent in vitro inducer of IL-2 production that has been described. An in vitro system was used to measure impairment of SEA-induced lymphoproliferation and IL-2 production using splenocytes from female C57BL/6 mice dosed with either cyclosporin A (30 mg/kg/day, 14 days), benzene (220, 440, or 880 mg/kg/day, 14 days), or vehicle. Splenocytes were stimulated with either concanavalin A (con A) or SEA. Benzene- and cyclosporin A-treated mice demonstrated significant decreases in splenocyte proliferation. IL-2 production was determined by incubating splenocyte culture supernatants with IL-2 dependent cytotoxic T-cells (CTLL-2), pulsing with 3H-thymidine, and determining amount of incorporated label. Cell proliferation and IL-2 production were inhibited by both benzene and cyclosporin A, ef...