cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Encouraging Additional Real Investment and R&D: A Partial and Preliminary Third-Best-Allocative-Efficiency Analysis of Related Antitrust, Tax, Tort-Law, and 'Innovation-Law' Policies

Politicians and most economists seem to assume that from the perspective of allocative (economic) efficiency we currently devote too few resources to real investment in general and R&D in particular. They therefore support antitrust, tax, tort-law, and "innovation-law" policies that will tend to increase the amount of resources devoted to all types of real investment and R&D. This Article argues that this assumption and those related policy conclusions are far too crude. The Article begins by executing a partial and preliminary third best-allocative-efficiency analysis that concludes that although the extant Pareto imperfections almost certainly cause the private profitability of production-process research (designed to make discoveries whose use will reduce the private or allocative cost of producing relevant quantities of extant products) to be lower than the allocative efficiency of such research, those imperfections seem very likely to cause the private profitability of product research and non-innovative investments in product quality or variety to be higher than their allocative efficiency. The primary reason for these latter conclusions is that imperfections in seller competition seem likely to deflate the private cost that a product-R&D investment or non-innovative product-investment (cause their private cost to be lower than their allocative cost) by more than they deflate the private benefits of product research and non innovative product investment yield the investor. The Article concludes by outlining the implications of these results for the desirability of various extant and proposed antitrust, tax, tort-law, and copyright-patent-and-trade-secret policies. The general thrust of its argument is that, to be allocatively efficient, policies that seek to encourage additional R&D expenditures or investments in general must be more selective -- must be designed to insure that they will subsidize only those expenditures whose profitability would otherwise be deflated by the Pareto imperfections present in our economy.
Circular Flow: A Simple Model of the Economy

This note discusses the circular flow. With a simple model it is shown how changes in the components of expenditures affect overall income. The analysis is both graphical and algebraic.
Roles of glycans in interactions between gp120 and HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies

Many novel broadly neutralizing antibodies against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have been identified during the past decade, providing promising templates for the development of an effective HIV-1 vaccine. Structural studies reveal that the epitopes of some of these antibodies involve one or more crucial glycans, without which the binding is completely abolished. In this study, we have investigated the critical roles of glycans in interactions between HIV-1 gp120 and two broadly neutralizing antibodies PG9 (targeting V1/V2) and PGT128 (targeting V3) that are able to neutralize more than 70% of HIV-1 isolates. We have performed molecular dynamics simulations of a number of systems including antibody-gp120 complex with and without glycans, antibody, gp120 with and without glycans, and glycan-only systems. The simulation results show that the complex structures are stabilized by the glycans, and the multivalent interactions between the antibody and gp120 promote cooperativities to further enhance the binding. In the free gp120, the glycans increase the flexibility of the V1/V2 and V3 loops, which likely increases the entropy cost of the antibody recognition. However, the antibodies are able to bind the flexible interface by recognizing the preexisting glycan conformation, and penetrating the glycan shield with flexible complementarity determining region loops that sample the bound conformations occasionally.
Assessing Maximal Static Ventilatory Muscle Pressures Using the “Bugle” Dynamometer

Individuals with compromised ventilatory function rely on the vital skeletal muscles of respiration to adapt to changing functional demands of daily life. This dependency includes sustaining the metabolic needs of the body while at rest and during physical or emotional exertion or both. Physical therapists gain insight into the functional status of ventilatory muscles from a combination of resources that include but are not limited to inspection, palpation, circumferential chest expansion measurements, EMG, basic spirometry, pulmonary function tests, chest radiographs, and manual muscle testing of ventilatory accessory muscles. During the assessment of ventilatory muscle performance, one of the first quantitative questions to ask is if these muscles have the ability to generate enough tension to provide adequate ventilatory pressures (inspiration and expiration). For example, diaphragmatic fatigue is identified by changes in the high to low frequency ratios (H:L) on the EMG.…
Local Structure of MD Simulated Soda-Lime-Silicate Glass

Simulation of soda-lime-silicate (sis) glass has been performed using molecular dynamics (MD). The local structure of each component is analyzed extensively in terms of total radial distribution function and coordination number and found to be insensitive to the composition change. Because of its big size, Na+/Ca2+ shows a behavior rather like O2- instead of Si4+. It is evident that the CN and local structure of Na+ with O2- are similar to those in crystalline α-Na2Si2O5. Finally, the Na+/Ca2+ cluster phenomenon is discussed.
Identifying and overcoming the barriers to bedside rounds: A multicenter qualitative study

PurposeThe use of bedside rounds in teaching hospitals has declined, despite recommendations from educational leaders to promote this effective teaching strategy. The authors sought to identify reasons for the decrease in bedside rounds, actual barriers to bedside rounds, methods to overcome trainee
Inhibition of Condensation Frosting by Arrays of Hygroscopic Antifreeze Drops.

The formation of frost and ice can have negative impacts on travel and a variety of industrial processes and is typically addressed by dispensing antifreeze substances such as salts and glycols. Despite the popularity of this anti-icing approach, some of the intricate underlying physical mechanisms are just being unraveled. For example, recent studies have shown that in addition to suppressing ice formation within its own volume, an individual salt saturated water microdroplet forms a region of inhibited condensation and condensation frosting (RIC) in its surrounding area. This occurs because salt saturated water, like most antifreeze substances, is hygroscopic and has water vapor pressure at its surface lower than water saturation pressure at the substrate. Here, we demonstrate that for macroscopic drops of propylene glycol and salt saturated water, the absolute RIC size can remain essentially unchanged for several hours. Utilizing this observation, we demonstrate that frost formation can be completely i...
Labor–Management Partnership and Employee Voice: Evidence from the Healthcare Setting

This paper examines the relationship between labor-management partnership ( LMP) and employee voice in the healthcare setting. We argue that the ability of LMP to deliver gains to employees is contingent on the quality of the procedural infrastructure on which it is established. We maintain that the quality of LMP processes influences employee trust in their employer and perceptions of union effectiveness and that these perceptions, in turn, are related to employee patient-care voice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Domain Adaptation with Active Learning for Named Entity Recognition

One of the dominant problems facing Named Entity Recognition is that when a system trained on one domain is applied to a different domain, a substantial drop in performance is frequently observed. In this paper, we apply active learning strategies to domain adaptation for named entity recognition systems and show that adaptive learning combining the source and target domains is more effective than non-adaptive learning directly from the target domain. Active learning aims to minimize labeling effort by selecting the most informative instances to label. We investigate several sample selection techniques such as Maximum Entropy and Smallest Margin and apply them to the ACE corpus. Our results show that the labeling cost can be reduced by over 92 % without degrading the performance.
Phase contrast movies of cell migration by multi-wavelength digital holography

Quantitative phase unwrapped movies of cell migration are generated by phase imaging digital holography. Two or more wavelengths are used for simultaneous illumination of the cells and real-time acquisition of holographic images.
Disturbance Decoupling for Nonlinear Systems: A Viability Theoretical Interpretation

Abstract This paper deals with the decoupling of persistent bounded disturbances. The main idea, in the disturbance-decoupling analysis and synthesis is to construct a certain invariant subset, of the state-space such that achieving disturbance decoupling is equivalent to restricting the state-dynamics to this set.
Common Denominator for Value and Expectation No-Go Theorems

Hidden-variable (HV) theories allege that a quantum state describes an ensemble of systems distinguished by the values of hidden variables. No-go theorems assert that HV theories cannot match the predictions of quantum theory. The present work started with repairing flaws in the literature on no-go theorems asserting that HV theories cannot predict the expectation values of measurements. That literature gives one an impression that expectation no-go theorems subsume the time-honored no-go theorems asserting that HV theories cannot predict the possible values of measurements. But the two approaches speak about different kinds of measurement. This hinders comparing them to each other. Only projection measurements are common to both. Here, we sharpen the results of both approaches so that only projection measurements are used. This allows us to clarify the similarities and differences between the two approaches. Neither one dominates the other.
National Imaging Trends after Ureteroscopic or Shock Wave Lithotripsy for Nephrolithiasis

Purpose: The study of diagnostic imaging after procedural intervention for nephrolithiasis is limited. We sought to characterize actual national imaging patterns and longitudinal trends after ureteroscopic or shock wave lithotripsy.Materials and Methods: We analyzed the MarketScan® database and identified a nationally representative sample of insured, employed patients, 17 to 64 years old who underwent ureteroscopic or shock wave lithotripsy for nephrolithiasis between 2007 and 2014. Patients were excluded from study if they lacked at least 1 year of postoperative database enrollment or underwent a repeat nephrolithiasis procedure of any type within 90 days after the initial procedure. We identified and tracked postoperative imaging modalities by medical billing codes.Results: We identified 101,554 patients treated with ureteroscopy, of whom 55% and 39% underwent no postoperative imaging within 3 and 12 months, respectively. Of the 101,590 patients treated with shock wave lithotripsy 23% and 16% underwent...
21st century engineering for on-farm food–energy–water systems

For more than a century, agricultural mechanization encouraged larger fields with more uniform management and increasing impacts on the environment. The trajectory of agricultural technology is now at an inflection point where information technology, including remote sensing, simulation modeling, decision support systems, precision agricultural technologies, and automation, enables site-specific management at small spatial scales with the potential to simultaneously enhance food and bioenergy production, farm profitability, and environmental quality. To achieve these economic and environmental benefits of transforming agricultural landscape design and cropping system management, agricultural producers need increased access to both enabling technologies and engineering expertise. Government policies and programs are also needed to incentivize changes in cropping systems that promote soil health and improve water quality, for example, payments to cover much or all of the cost of transitioning land use to perennials and nutrient trading programs in which agricultural producers contract with industrial and municipal wastewater generators to reduce nutrient loading at a reduced cost. Information technology is providing the tools to target, quantify, and document this re-coupling of economic, environmental, and social sustainability in food–energy–water systems.
Interference mitigation and traffic adaptation in full-duplex small cell networks

Recent achievement in self-interference cancellation algorithms enables potential application of full-duplex (FD) in 5G radio access systems. FD communication promises to double the spectral efficiency by enabling the same time-frequency uplink and downlink transmissions. Yet for cellular access network with FD small cell base stations (BS) serving multiple user equipment (UE), additional BS-to-BS and UE-to-UE interference due to FD operation could diminish the performance gain if not tackled properly. Existing works all strive to achieve close to 2x FD gain at network scale, in this paper, we demonstrate that much higher FD gain (≫ 2x) can be achieved under realistic nonfull buffer traffic due to significant latency reduction. We develop practical interference mitigation strategies such as adaptive power control, joint scheduling and inter-cell interference coordination to cope with the newly introduced interference in FD cellular systems. We validate the flexible traffic adaption of FD system under bursty traffic model by our LTE-based system level simulator, where significant FD gain of upto 13x in mean throughput and 19x in cell-edge throughput can be achieved under different traffic loads over an existing LTE half-duplex system.
The 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Hypertension Guideline: A Resource for Practicing Clinicians.

The 2017 ACC/AHA guideline for the prevention, detection, evaluation, and management of high blood pressure in adults is the first comprehensive clinical practice guideline for hypertension since t...
Rethinking Models of Collaboration in Critical Pedagogy: A Response to Stonebanks

Christopher Stonebanks raises a number of important questions about the meaning of critical thinking when it comes to teaching and teacher education and especially about the relationship between critical thinking and indigenous knowledge. Critical thinking and indigenous knowledge are both areas of concern for critical theorists, but Stonebanks raises the question of how these two areas of interest play out in teacher education – the “other hat” that many of us who are engaged in critical pedagogy as part of our scholarship wear. Stonebanks’ answer to the question for his own practice is that it needs improvement. He believes that his answer may have implications for other teacher educators as well. Stonebanks makes the point that in the North American context, those of us who work in teacher education have largely settled with complacency when it comes to preparing our teachers for the culturally and linguistically diverse school settings where many of our predominantly White, middle-class, female teachers will find themselves working. We give our preservice teachers a course on multicultural education, we integrate diversity topics such as valuing students’ “funds of knowledge” into our methods courses, and we look for some evidence through a project or lesson plan that our teachers have demonstrated the value of diversity in their classrooms. With those pieces in place, we hope that our graduates will go on to be culturally responsive teachers. After all, we ask ourselves, is there really more that we can do at this stage of these young people’s development as teachers? As for the teachers themselves, once they have heard our “pitch” for the importance of multicultural education in several of their classes, they often begin to respond with some stock answers about teaching diverse learners that they think we want to hear, or “mechanically” as Stonebanks puts it. Stonebanks’ examples of the “water lice” experiment and his exploration of education in the Malawian context challenge us to rethink our ideas about the roles of critical thinking and indigenous knowledge in teacher education.
Immobilization of Neuraminidase for the Treatment of Tumor Cells

A promising approach to tumor immunotherapy is based on using neuraminidase treated cells to stimulate the immune response of the patient (1). In this technique tumor cells are incubated in vitro with Vibrio cholerae neuraminidase (VCN) and then injected into a patient or test animal possessing the same type of tumor. Remission has been observed with several types of tumor (1, 2).
The Genus Zulubius Bergroth (Heteroptera: Alydidae)

The African genus Zulubius Bergroth and the species, Zulubius maculatus (Thunberg), are redescriptionbed. Zulubius acaciaphagus is descriptionbed as new. Both species, including the genitalia, are illustrated.
OSCILLATORY SOLUTIONS OF PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL AND DIFFERENCE EQUATIONS

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of the oscillatory behavior of solutions of partial differential and differential equations. Partial differential equations typically contain parameters of physical significance, such as speed of light, coefficients of viscosity, of heat conduction, etc. Very often, it is the extreme values of these parameters, the very large or very small, that are of interest and are amenable to analysis. Such a parameter is dispersion; it is known, from theory and numerical experiments, that nonlinear equation with zero dissipation and a small amount of dispersion have solutions that are highly oscillatory. There are, at least, three sources of oscillatory behavior of solutions of partial differential equations. One source is the oscillatory behavior of the coefficients of the differential equation; these occur in the description of the propagation of waves through composite materials. Another source is oscillatory initial or boundary conditions. The chapter discusses the third source where the oscillations are not imposed but arise spontaneously.
Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring for Lumbo-Sacral Spine Procedures

Lumbar spine disorders are the most common causes of disability in persons under the age of 45, with annual direct and indirect costs of these disorders amounting to billions of dollars [1]. More than a half million lumbo-sacral spine surgical procedures are performed each year to treat these spine disorders. Disease states of the lumbo-sacral spine, which may require surgical correction include: scoliosis, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, herniated nucleus pulposis, spondylysis, spondylolisthesis, spondylolysis, cauda equina syndrome, spinal cord tumor, tethered cord, and traumatic lumbo-sacral fractures. Surgical procedures to treat these disorders include: decompressive laminectomy, foraminotomy, anterior spinal fusion, posterolateral lumbar fusion with or without instrumentation, posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF), transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF), anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF), extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF), lumbar discectomy or microdiscectomy, lumbar corpectomy, tethered cord release, rhizotomy, and disc arthroplasty.
NITROGEN TRANSFORMATION IN LAKES

Abstract Five Danish lakes were investigated with respect to nitrogen transformation. The release of ammonium from organic nitrogen begins in early spring when the water temperature increases. When the ammonium is formed and the temperature is high enough (say from 4 to 6.5°C) nitrification is effective. Due to nitrification a maximum nitrate concentration is observed in June - July. This maximum nitrate concentration was found at a dissolved oxygen of approximately 1.5 mg O 2. l −1 where nitrification ceased. When dissolved oxygen drops Turther -probably to zero and not higher than 0.2 mg O 2. l −1 -denitrification begins. When the thermal stratification causes oxygen depletion the only pathways for nitrate are nitrate reduction and denitrification. Rates of nitrate reduction measured by 15 N technique varied from 0.06 to 15 35 ug N-l −1. The rate of nitrate reduction was dependent on temperature as well as organic matter content. Rates of denitrification varied from 3 to 74 ug N l −1 day −1 and the results indicated that denitrification was temperature dependent. In the hypolimnion denitrification had an important affect upon the nitrate removal. The utilization of ammonium by the algae as a protein source was 4-28 times more effective than the utilization of nitrate. Nutrient budgets indicated that denitrification acts as an important nitrogen sink and that this process to some degree makes the lakes self regulating with respect to nitrogen content.
Bonus gift card programs: a methodology to measure the impact on revenue and profit

Many retailers are now offering bonus gift cards to entice customers to buy more regular gift cards. The most common offers are a $5 bonus card with $25 worth of gift card purchases or a $10 bonus ...
All Aboard! Enteric Viruses Travel Together.

Individual virus particles have long been accepted as the infectious unit during cellular infection and host-to-host transmission. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Santiana et al. (2018) uncover vesicle-cloaked rotavirus and norovirus clusters in feces of infected hosts that are more infectious than free virus particles during fecal-oral transmission.
Study Abroad Course for Pre-pharmacy and Pharmacy Students to Learn About Global Health

Objective. To design, implement, and assess a study abroad course in Ireland for pre-professional and Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students.Methods. An elective study abroad course was created for p...
Using field data–based large eddy simulation to understand role of atmospheric stability on energy production of wind turbines:

A novel and a robust high-fidelity numerical methodology has been developed to realistically estimate the net energy production of full-scale horizontal axis wind turbines in a convective atmospher...
Improved Modeling of Cation-π and Anion-Ring Interactions Using the Drude Polarizable Empirical Force Field for Proteins

Cation-π interactions are noncovalent interactions between a π-electron system and a positively charged ion that are regarded as a strong noncovalent interaction and are ubiquitous in biological systems. Similarly, though less studied, anion-ring interactions are present in proteins along with in-plane interactions of anions with aromatic rings. As these interactions are between a polarizing ion and a polarizable π system, the accuracy of the treatment of these interactions in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using additive force fields (FFs) may be limited. In the present work, to allow for a better description of ion-π interactions in proteins in the Drude-2013 protein polarizable FF, we systematically optimized the parameters for these interactions targeting model compound quantum mechanical (QM) interaction energies with atom pair-specific Lennard-Jones parameters along with virtual particles as selected ring centroids introduced to target the QM interaction energies and geometries. Subsequently, MD simulations were performed on a series of protein structures where ion-π pairs occur to evaluate the optimized parameters in the context of the Drude-2013 FF. The resulting FF leads to a significant improvement in reproducing the ion-π pair distances observed in experimental protein structures, as well as a smaller root-mean-square differences and fluctuations of the overall protein structures from experimental structures. Accordingly, the optimized Drude-2013 protein polarizable FF is suggested for use in MD simulations of proteins where cation-π and anion-ring interactions are critical. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Atlantoaxial Rotatory Subluxation: A Rare Complication of Craniofacial Surgery.

Introduction Neck pain is common in the post-operative period after craniofacial procedures. If patients present with neck pain and torticollis, it could be a manifestation of atlantoaxial rotatory subluxlation (AARS), which describes a rare condition in which there is lateral displacement of C1 relative to C2. When this occurs in the post-operative patient, it is termed Grisel syndrome. In this case series, we report on 3 patients diagnosed with Grisel syndrome after a craniofacial procedure. Methods A retrospective chart review of a single craniofacial surgeon at a pediatric hospital was conducted over the last 3 decades. Demographics, procedures performed, and management strategies of AARS were included for review. Results Three patients were identified who were diagnosed with Grisel syndrome after a craniofacial procedure and required inpatient cervical traction. All patients presented with torticollis within 1 week of their operation. Conservative management was ineffective, and all 3 patients were admitted for inpatient cervical traction, for an average of 13 days followed by an average of 47 days of outpatient therapy. No patients showed any signs of recurrence after removal of outpatient traction device. Conclusion Grisel syndrome is a rare, but serious complication of craniofacial procedures. Physicians caring for these patients must have a high degree of suspicion if a patient with a recent craniofacial procedure presents with torticollis. Delaying the initiation of therapy has been shown to lead to higher rates of recurrence and increases the likelihood that patients will require surgical intervention.
Adhesion GPCRs as a paradigm for understanding polycystin-1 G protein regulation.

Polycystin-1, whose mutation is the most frequent cause of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, is an extremely large and multi-faceted membrane protein whose primary or proximal cyst-preventing function remains undetermined. Accumulating evidence supports the idea that modulation of cellular signaling by heterotrimeric G proteins is a critical function of polycystin-1. The presence of a cis-autocatalyzed, G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) proteolytic cleavage site, or GPS, in its extracellular N-terminal domain immediately preceding the first transmembrane domain is one of the notable conserved features of the polycystin-1-like protein family, and also of the family of cell adhesion GPCRs. Adhesion GPCRs are one of five families within the GPCR superfamily and are distinguished by a large N-terminal extracellular region consisting of multiple adhesion modules with a GPS-containing GAIN domain and bimodal functions in cell adhesion and signal transduction. Recent advances from studies of adhesion GPCRs provide a new paradigm for unraveling the mechanisms by which polycystin-1-associated G protein signaling contributes to the pathogenesis of polycystic kidney disease. This review highlights the structural and functional features shared by polycystin-1 and the adhesion GPCRs and discusses the implications of such similarities for our further understanding of the functions of this complicated protein.
Candidacidal activity of the neutrophil myeloperoxidase system can be protected from excess hydrogen peroxide by the presence of ammonium ion

Excessive concentrations of hydrogen peroxide inhibit the neutrophil myeloperoxidase system, presumably by inactivating the hypochlorous acid produced by this system. Ammonium ion generated by neutrophils and other cells can react with hypochlorous acid to produce monochloramine, an oxidant with good microbicidal activity, but relative resistance to inactivation by other compounds. In an assay based on the oxidation of 5-thio-2-nitrobenzoic acid, hydrogen peroxide reacted more readily with sodium hypochlorite (used as a source of hypochlorous acid) than with monochloramine. Also, in this assay Candida albicans yeast inactivated the oxidant activity of hypochlorous acid more completely than they did that of monochloramine. The killing of Candida by sodium hypochlorite, as determined in a standard colony count microbicidal assay, was inhibited by equimolar and greater concentrations of hydrogen peroxide; killing of this organism by monochloramine was not affected by a tenfold excess concentration of hydrogen peroxide. In microbicidal assays using 4 mU of myeloperoxidase and optimal or excessive concentrations of hydrogen peroxide or glucose and glucose oxidase to generate hydrogen peroxide, the excessive concentrations inhibited killing of Candida, but not Staphylococcus aureus. The inhibition of Candida killing could be reversed by addition of ammonium ion to convert hypochlorous acid to monochloramine. These results indicate that for certain organisms such as C albicans, conversion of hypochlorous acid to monochloramine by reactions with ammonium ion may extend the range of hydrogen peroxide concentrations under which killing by the myeloperoxidase system can occur by protecting the necessary microbicidal oxidants from inactivation by excess hydrogen peroxide.
Inner retinal toxicity due to silicone oil: a case series and review of the literature

Cases of sudden loss of central vision in eyes with silicone oil in situ and after oil removal have been described. The aim of this review is to present current data on silicone oil toxicity to the neuronal aspects of the retina as well as the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi experience with this retinopathy (maculopathy). A PubMed review using the terms “silicon oil” and/or “toxicity” and/or “ganglion cell” and/or “nerve fiber” was conducted to identify case reports, case series, and original articles presenting toxicity from silicon oil. Timing of visual loss, as well as SD-OCT data and RNFL/GCC analysis, was collected. Selected cases were pooled from Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi Vitreoretinal database to further reinforce the findings. Twenty-four papers were identified (case/series/articles). The earliest papers that met our criteria seemed to report vision loss at the time of or after silicone oil removal; however, more recent studies have described such toxicity from 1 to 6 months after tamponade with silicone oil in situ. Since the first description of central visual loss from silicone oil, all researchers describe a thinning of perifoveal ganglion cells measured with SD-OCT, while there is no concordance as far as RNFL changes, with some authors describing a thinning and others a thickening, but neither was ever clearly associated with visual loss. The correlation between SD-OCT hyperreflective goblets in the inner retina and histological description of intraretinal oil droplets migration seems to suggest instances of silicone oil penetration in the retinal layers. In a small percentage of cases who underwent retinal tamponade with silicone oil, ganglion cells can suffer a direct damage either from particles of oil that migrate in the retina or from direct contact with it. Indirect damage may be caused by phototoxicity due to the transparent nature of silicon oil or by inflammatory damage from cytokines sandwiched between oil and retina.
[Epidemic dynamic model based evaluation of effectiveness of prevention and control strategies for COVID-19 in Ningbo]

Objective: To evaluate effectiveness of prevention and control strategies for COVID-19 in Ningbo by using an epidemic dynamic model. Methods: The incidence data and epidemic information of COVID-19 reported in Ningbo as of 9 March, 2020 were collected, and based on the implementation of prevention and control strategies, we developed a SEIR epidemic dynamics model. The basic and real-time reproduction numbers were calculated to evaluate effectiveness of prevention and control. Results: A total of 157 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed, without death, in Ningbo. The proportion of severe cases was 12.1%. The mean incubation period was estimated to be (5.7±2.9) days. The mean interval from illness onset to diagnosis was (5.4±3.7) days. The mean duration from diagnosis to hospital discharge was (16.6±6.5) days. A total of 105 339 contacts had been under medical observation. The infection rates in contacts with home quarantine and centralized quarantine were 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively. In the confirmed cases, those who had been under medical observation before diagnoses accounted for 63.1%. The basic reproduction number was estimated to be 4.8. With the strengthening of prevention and control measures, real-time reproduction number showed a gradual downward trend, dropping to below 1.0 on 4 February, and then continued to drop to 0.2 in mid-February. Conclusion: The effectiveness of the prevention and control measures for COVID-19 in Ningbo can be evaluated by using epidemic dynamic model to provide scientific evidence for the development of the prevention and control strategies.
Case report: Amyand hernia reincarnate and the utility of computed tomography

An Amyand hernia is a rare condition in which the vermiform appendix follows the bowel as it bulges through the inguinal canal. Originally described by Claudius Amyand in 1735 in an 11-year-old boy who had a pin in the appendix (Philos Trans R Soc Lond. 1735;39:329–36), we describe here the first case with CT depicting all components of Dr. Amyand’s original case. A 10-year-old boy presented with right lower quadrant and groin pain. CT imaging revealed a retained metallic foreign body perforating the appendix, acute appendicitis, and an Amyand hernia. A laparoscopic attempt at reduction failed due to tethering by the needle and inflammation of the hernia sac, requiring an open inguinal exploration and excision of the hernia sac. The patient was discharged on postoperative day 2 with plans for delayed hernia repair. CT is a crucial diagnostic test for surgical decision-making in Amyand hernias. In this case, it accurately classified the hernia and led to anticipation of unsuccessful laparoscopic hernia reduction. Management in the setting of foreign body and perforation includes appendectomy and tissue herniorrhaphy with delayed formal inguinal hernia repair after inflammation has subsided.
Developmental Dyspraxia in Children With Learning Disorders: Four-Year Experience in a Referred Sample.

Objective:The term apraxia is clearly understood in adult behavioral neurology, with assessment of gesture central to the diagnosis. In contrast, the concept of “developmental dyspraxia” has been m...
Developing A Needs Assessment Plan: A Practical Guide for Public Libraries

Public libraries understand the importance of conducting needs assessments, however there is a paucity in the literature about how to conduct a needs assessment. Those articles that mention their m...
Query Answering via Decentralized Search.

Expert networks are formed by a group of expert-professionals with different specialties to collaboratively resolve specific queries posted to the network. In such networks, when a query reaches an expert who does not have sufficient expertise, this query needs to be routed to other experts for further processing until it is completely solved; therefore, query answering efficiency is sensitive to the underlying query routing mechanism being used. Among all possible query routing mechanisms, decentralized search, operating purely on each expert's local information without any knowledge of network global structure, represents the most basic and scalable routing mechanism, which is applicable to any network scenarios even in dynamic networks. However, there is still a lack of fundamental understanding of the efficiency of decentralized search in expert networks. In this regard, we investigate decentralized search by quantifying its performance under a variety of network settings. Our key findings reveal the existence of network conditions, under which decentralized search can achieve significantly short query routing paths (i.e., between $O(\log n)$ and $O(\log^2 n)$ hops, $n$: total number of experts in the network). Based on such theoretical foundation, we further study how the unique properties of decentralized search in expert networks is related to the anecdotal small-world phenomenon. In addition, we demonstrate that decentralized search is robust against estimation errors introduced by misinterpreting the required expertise levels. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work studying fundamental behaviors of decentralized search in expert networks. The developed performance bounds, confirmed by real datasets, are able to assist in predicting network performance and designing complex expert networks.
First-Trimester Diagnosis of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: A Case Report:

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) comprises a spectrum of left-sided heart anomalies resulting from left outflow or inflow obstruction. Obstruction most often occurs at the levels of the aorti...
Optimizing Outcomes in Neck Lift Surgery.

BACKGROUND In certain patients there is an imbalance between the volume of the anterior neck and the mandibular confines that requires reductional sculpting and repositioning of the hyoid to optimize neck-lifting procedures. OBJECTIVES A quantitative volumetric analysis of the impact of the management of supraplatysmal and subplatysmal structures of the neck by comparing surgical specimens was performed to determine the impact of reduction on cervical contouring. METHODS In 152 patients undergoing deep cervicoplasty, the frequency of modification of each surgical maneuver and the amount of supraplatysmal and subplatysmal volume removed was measured by a volume-displacement technique. RESULTS The mean total volume removed from the supraplatysmal and subplatysmal planes during deep cervicoplasty was 22.3 cm3 with subplatysmal volume representing 73% of the total. Subplatysmal volume was reduced in 152 patients. Deep fat volume was reduced in 96% of patients by a mean of 7 cm3, submandibular gland volume in 76% of patients by a mean of 6.5 cm3, anterior digastric muscle volume in 70% of patients by a mean of 1.8 cm3, perihyoid fascia volume in 32% of patients by a mean of <1 cm3, and mylohyoid volume in 14% of patients by a mean of <1 cm3. The anterior digastric muscles were plicated to reposition the hyoid in 34% of cases. Supraplatysmal fat reduction was 6.3 cm3 in 40% of patients. CONCLUSIONS The study provides a comprehensive analysis of the impact of volume modification of the central neck during deep cervicoplasty. This objective evaluation of neck volume may help guide clinicians in the surgical planning process and provide a foundation for optimizing cervicofacial rejuvenation techniques. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4
Economía capitalista y apropiación de recursos comunes. Algunas notas de estudio escritas desde el republicanismo democrático

El presente articulo aborda el fenomeno de la privatizacion de las instituciones que coordinan y regulan las relaciones de produccion y distribucion entre agentes sociales y economicos. Haciendo un ejercicio acotado de historia y teoria politica, el texto tiene por objetivo contribuir al analisis de la apropiacion privada de recursos comunes. La metodologia utilizada consiste en el analisis de fuentes historicas y la reflexion sociopolitica. Las conclusiones refuerzan el argumento esgrimido por la economia politica republicana democratica que sostiene que la economia capitalista neoliberal seria la ultima etapa del proceso de apropiacion privada de la propiedad colectiva
Gulf War illness in the Gulf War Era Cohort and Biorepository: The Kansas and Centers for Disease Control definitions.

Abstract Aims This study characterizes Gulf War Illness (GWI) among U.S. veterans who participated in the Gulf War Era Cohort and Biorepository (GWECB). Main methods Mailed questionnaires were collected between 2014 and 2016. Self-reported GWI symptoms, symptom domain criteria, exclusionary diagnoses, and case status were examined based on the originally published Kansas and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) definitions in the GWECB cohort (n = 849 deployed to Gulf and n = 267 non-deployed). Associations among GWI and deployment status, demographic, and military service characteristics were examined using logistic regression. Key findings Among deployed veterans in our sample, 39.9% met the Kansas criteria and 84.2% met the CDC criteria for GWI. Relative to non-deployed veterans, deployed veterans had a higher odds of meeting four GWI case status-related measures including the Kansas symptom criteria (aOR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.50, 2.80), Kansas GWI case status (aOR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.05, 1.93), the CDC GWI case status (aOR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.07, 2.29) and the CDC severe criteria (aOR = 2.67, 95% CI = 1.79, 3.99). Forty percent met the Kansas exclusionary criteria, with no difference by deployment status. Some symptoms were nearly universally endorsed. Significance This analysis provides evidence of a sustained, multisymptom illness in veterans who deployed to the Persian Gulf War compared to non-deployed Gulf War era veterans nearly 25 years later. Differences in symptoms attributed to GWI by deployment status have diminished since initial reports, suggesting the need to update GWI definitions to account for aging-related conditions and symptoms. This study provides a foundation for future efforts to establish a single GWI case definition and analyses that employ the biorepository.
Mechanisms Underlying the Selective Therapeutic Efficacy of Carbamazepine for Attenuation of Trigeminal Nerve Injury Pain.

Different peripheral nerve injuries cause neuropathic pain through distinct mechanisms. Even the site of injury may impact underlying mechanisms, as indicated by the clinical finding that the antiseizure drug carbamazepine (CBZ) relieves pain because of compression injuries of trigeminal but not somatic nerves. We leveraged this observation in the present study hypothesizing that because CBZ blocks voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs), its therapeutic selectivity reflects differences between trigeminal and somatic nerves with respect to injury-induced changes in VGSCs. CBZ diminished ongoing and evoked pain behavior in rats with chronic constriction injury (CCI) to the infraorbital nerve (ION) but had minimal effect in rats with sciatic nerve CCI. This difference in behavior was associated with a selective increase in the potency of CBZ-induced inhibition of compound action potentials in the ION, an effect mirrored in human trigeminal versus somatic nerves. The increase in potency was associated with a selective increase in the efficacy of the NaV1.1 channel blocker ICA-121431 and NaV1.1 protein in the ION, but no change in NaV1.1 mRNA in trigeminal ganglia. Importantly, local ICA-121431 administration reversed ION CCI-induced hypersensitivity. Our results suggest a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of trigeminal neuropathic pain. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This study is based on evidence of differences in pain and its treatment depending on whether the pain is above (trigeminal) or below (somatic) the neck, as well as evidence that voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) may contribute to these differences. The focus of the present study was on channels underlying action potential propagation in peripheral nerves. There were differences between somatic and trigeminal nerves in VGSC subtypes underlying action potential propagation both in the absence and presence of injury. Importantly, because the local block of NaV1.1 in the trigeminal nerve reverses nerve injury-induced mechanical hypersensitivity, the selective upregulation of NaV1.1 in trigeminal nerves suggests a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of pain associated with trigeminal nerve injury.
Sociology and Climate Change: A Review and Research Agenda

For nearly four decades, scientists warning of the likely impacts of global warming put substantial efforts into educating the public about the increasing dangers and the actions that would be needed to respond. The prevailing, if unstated, theory of change was that more information about the gravity of the risks would drive people, and policy-makers, to act. Despite four decades of delay and even rollback in many countries, this “post-political” stance remains nearly universal among many natural scientists and educators (Dunlap & Brulle, 2015). To social scientists, in particular sociologists, it should be clear that economics and politics are central to climate change: to its causes, its consequences, and to the difficulty of mustering adequate climate action. Scientific facts are indispensable, but deeper understandings of the social systems and structures in which climate change has emerged as an issue and in which it is addressed are just as urgently needed.
Combined effects of marijuana and nicotine on memory performance and hippocampal volume

Combined use of marijuana (MJ) and tobacco is highly prevalent in today's population. Individual use of either substance is linked to structural brain changes and altered cognitive function, especially with consistent reports of hippocampal volume deficits and poorer memory performance. However, the combined effects of MJ and tobacco on hippocampal structure and on learning and memory processes remain unknown. In this study, we examined both the individual and combined effects of MJ and tobacco on hippocampal volumes and memory performance in four groups of adults taken from two larger studies: MJ-only users (n=36), nicotine-only (Nic-only, n=19), combined marijuana and nicotine users (MJ+Nic, n=19) and non-using healthy controls (n=16). Total bilateral hippocampal volumes and memory performance (WMS-III logical memory) were compared across groups controlling for total brain size and recent alcohol use. Results found MJ and MJ+Nic groups had smaller total hippocampal volumes compared to Nic-only and controls. No significant difference between groups was found between immediate and delayed story recall. However, the controls showed a trend for larger hippocampal volumes being associated with better memory scores, while MJ+Nic users showed a unique inversion, whereby smaller hippocampal volume was associated with better memory. Overall, results suggest abnormalities in the brain-behavior relationships underlying memory processes with combined use of marijuana and nicotine use. Further research will need to address these complex interactions between MJ and nicotine.
Ectopic expression of fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 promotes myeloma cell proliferation and prevents apoptosis

The t(4;14) translocation occurs in 25% of multiple myeloma (MM) and results in both the ectopic expression of fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) from der4 and immunoglobulin heavy chain-MMSET hybrid messenger RNA transcripts from der14. The subsequent selection of activating mutations of the translocated FGFR3 by MM cells indicates an important role for this signaling pathway in tumor development and progression. To investigate the mechanism by which FGFR3 overexpression promotes MM development, interleukin-6 (IL-6)-dependent murine B9 cells were transduced with retroviruses expressing functional wild-type or constitutively activated mutant FGFR3. Overexpression of mutant FGFR3 resulted in IL-6 independence, decreased apoptosis, and an enhanced proliferative response to IL-6. In the presence of ligand, wild-type FGFR3-expressing cells also exhibited enhanced proliferation and survival in comparison to controls. B9 clones expressing either wild-type FGFR3 at high levels or mutant FGFR3 displayed increased phosphorylation of STAT3 and higher levels of bcl-xL expression than did parental B9 cells after cytokine withdrawal. The mechanism of the enhanced cell responsiveness to IL-6 is unknown at this time, but does not appear to be mediated by the mitogen-activated protein kinases SAPK, p38, or ERK. These findings provide a rational explanation for the mechanism by which FGFR3 contributes to both the viability and propagation of the myeloma clone and provide a basis for the development of therapies targeting this pathway.