cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fiscal analysis of establishment of a double-balloon enteroscopy program and reimbursement.

Background & Aims As double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) programs continue to be established, further research is needed to assess their financial impact. We evaluated actual financial outcomes and compared them with estimated return on investment (ROI) projections for DBE. Methods We retrospectively compared the predicted and actual financial results for outpatients referred for DBE at an academic tertiary referral center. Results The ROI analysis was based on a 5-year time frame. The analysis projected a net present value of $64,623 and an internal rate of return of 24.6%. The projected first-year volume was 52 outpatient cases; however, the actual experience was 20 outpatient cases. The predicted percent margin for these outpatient cases was 16.6%; the actual margin was 24.4%. After 37 months, 52 outpatient cases were completed, and the actual percent margin was 4.6%. Payer type had a significant influence on the financial outcomes when projected activity and actual activity were compared. Conclusions Institutions interested in establishing a DBE program should be aware of the financial implications of program establishment, which can be evaluated in a return on investment analysis. Payer mix significantly influences DBE reimbursement and collection rates.
Oxygen requirements of the dyskinetic myocardial segment.

Oxygen requirements of a noncontracting myocardial segment subjected to passive systolic stretch (dyskinesis) have not been well described. The purpose of this study was to measure oxygen consumption (MVO2) of a myocardial segment made dyskinetic by intracoronary infusion of lidocaine. In 12 anesthetized open-chest dogs, segmental shortening was measured sonomicrometrically in regions perfused by the left anterior descending (LAD) and circumflex (Cfx) coronary arteries. MVO2 was measured by arterial-venous oxygen content differences and transmural blood flow. Dose-response curves to intracoronary lidocaine showed that complete dyskinesis was achieved by a 0.25-mg/ml dose of lidocaine, whereas the Cfx region maintained a constant level of segmental shortening. MVO2 of the LAD segment was similar to that of the Cfx segment under control conditions. With lidocaine-induced dyskinesis, MVO2 in the arrested segment was reduced by 33% (P less than 0.05), despite the loss of contractile function. When bulging was prevented by ventricular unloading, MVO2 in the arrested segment decreased to 2.65 ml O2.min-1.100 g-1 (i.e., basal oxygen requirements). In conclusion, MVO2 in a pharmacologically arrested myocardial segment undergoing systolic bulging is paradoxically high relative to both basal requirements and MVO2 in the normally contracting segment.
A multi-attribute comparative evaluation of relative risk for a sample of banks

Abstract This paper proposes a comparative analysis of five different attributes of commercial banks' liabilities that may be thought of as either directly measuring the default risk, or are perceived by the market as impacting upon that default risk. Two of these attributes are credit ratings assigned by Moody's and Standard and Poor's to debt issues. The third attribute that we consider is yield to maturity, which is typically assumed to be positively related to default risk. The fourth attribute that is proposed is the ‘fair value’, risk-adjusted deposit insurance premium, derived from option-theoretic modeling and estimated from the daily data on equity prices. Finally, we propose a term structure-adjusted difference in yield between the risky debt and default-free Government debt as a more precise and theoretically sound measure of the default risk premium, and develop a methodology for eliciting it on a composite basis for a given bank from the market prices of its various bond issues. This term structure-adjusted risk premium provides an analytical approximation to the valuation of corporate bonds' call features and sinking fund provisions. In view of the ordinality of the credit ratings given by the investment agencies, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient is employed as an analytical tool. The analysis
Die, Kaninchenembryonenkultur für zytogenetische Untersuchungen. Ein einfaches Kultursystem mit anschließender Chromosomenpräparation.

Inhalt: Superovulierte Kanincheneizellen wurden, 19 bis 22 Stunden nach Besamung im Einzellstadium gewonnen and in 2 verschiedenen Medien kultiviert. Medium I, als Kontrolle, war ein vollig synthetisches Medium mit einer eingestellten Osmolaritat von 270 mOsm. Medium II stellte eine Mischung aus 2 im Handel erhaltlichen Kulturmedien dar, wobei durch das Mischungsverhaltnis die geforderte Osmolaritat erreicht wurde. Die im Medium II kultivierten Eizellen entwickelten sich signifikant (P < 0,001) schneller als die Eizellen im Medium I. Zufallsmaβig entnommene Embryonen in alien En twicklungsstadien wurden fur die Erarbeitung einer Chromosomenprapariermethode verwendet, wobei die frahestmogliche Gewinnung mit anschlieβender Kultur fur die Reduzierung der umhullenden Albuminschicht von ausschlaggebender Bedeutung war. Werden diese Voraussetzungen erfullt, so kann die von Tarkowski an Mauseembryonen verwendete Methode mit einigen Modifikationen angewendet werden. Die naturgemaβe niedrige Anzahl an auswertbaren Metaphasen reicht aber aus, um die fruhembryonalen Stadien in zytogenetischer Sicht beschreiben zu konnen. Contents: (Rabbit embryo cultures for cytogenetic studies. A simple culture system with an incorporated chromosome preparation) Superovulated rabbit embryos were collected in the one cell stage 19 to 22 hours after insemination and LH administration and subsequently cultured in two different media. Medium I was a complete synthetic mixture and was adjusted to an osmolarity of 270 mOsm. Medium II was a mixture of two commercially available culturemedia and the osmolarity resulted from the mixture ratio. The development of the embryos has proceeded significantly faster (P < 0,001) in Medium II than in Medium I. Randomly remooved embryos at different developmental stage in culture have been used for chromosomal preparations. The earliest collection time possible and subsequent culture for reduction of the albumincoat was of significant influence for using the technique described by Tarkowski on mouse-embryos. The very few metaphases per embryo are sufficient to describe the cytogenetic makeup of the first cleavage divisions.
144 ALTERED DRUG METABOLISM IN POORLY CONTROLLED INSULIN DEPENDENT DIABETES MELLITUS (IDDM)

Animal experiments have documented alterations in hepatic drug metabolism in diabetic rats. In addition to abnormalities in glycosylation of hemoglobin other heme proteins such as cytochrome P-450 might also be expected to be altered. We report here changes in cytochrome P-450 dependent drug metabolizing activity in children with IDDM. We have studied antipyrine (AP) kinetics in 8 children (age 10-22 yr) with IDDM of at least 3 months duration who were all in poor control as defined by Hgb Al levels. Liver function tests and renal function were normal. Insulin dose ranged between 0.5-1 U/kg. AP (test dose 16 mg/kg p.o.) is widely used as a measure of hepatic drug metabolism in man. Its elimination from plasma is largely determined by hepatic oxidizing enzyme activity. AP kinetics were compared to age matched controls (mean±l SD) AVD: volume of distribution. In three IDDM patients with near nl Hgb Al levels (6.8,7.1,8%) AP t½ was nl when compared to age matched controls (8.1,9.2,8hr) as was AP clearance. Conclusion: In poorly controlled IDDM hepatic drug metabolism may be altered: AP clearance is increased, AP t½ is shortened. In well controlled IDDM antipyrine drug metabolism appears to be nl. These findings provide another cogent argument for tight metabolic control in youngsters with IDDM.
Donald Super: A Perspective on Career Development:

This interview with Donald Super focuses on life stages, determinants, role of career counselors, matching vs. developmental emphasis, multicultural and women's issues, current applications of theory, and a comment on future directions.
Assessment of Communication and Language in Classical Autism: Issues and Practices:

This article describes practices effective in assessing communication and language in persons with autism. We begin with a review of the basic principles that govern assessment in the discipline of...
JEPEG: a summary statistics based tool for gene-level joint testing of functional variants

Motivation: Gene expression is influenced by variants commonly known as expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL). On the basis of this fact, researchers proposed to use eQTL/functional information univariately for prioritizing single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) signals from genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, most genes are influenced by multiple eQTLs which, thus, jointly affect any downstream phenotype. Therefore, when compared with the univariate prioritization approach, a joint modeling of eQTL action on phenotypes has the potential to substantially increase signal detection power. Nonetheless, a joint eQTL analysis is impeded by (i) not measuring all eQTLs in a gene and/or (ii) lack of access to individual genotypes. Results: We propose joint effect on phenotype of eQTL/functional SNPs associated with a gene (JEPEG), a novel software tool which uses only GWAS summary statistics to (i) impute the summary statistics at unmeasured eQTLs and (ii) test for the joint effect of all measured and imputed eQTLs in a gene. We illustrate the behavior/performance of the developed tool by analysing the GWAS meta-analysis summary statistics from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Stage 1 and the Genetic Consortium for Anorexia Nervosa. Conclusions: Applied analyses results suggest that JEPEG complements commonly used univariate GWAS tools by: (i) increasing signal detection power via uncovering (a) novel genes or (b) known associated genes in smaller cohorts and (ii) assisting in fine-mapping of challenging regions, e.g. major histocompatibility complex for schizophrenia. Availability and implementation: JEPEG, its associated database of eQTL SNPs and usage examples are publicly available at http://code.google.com/p/jepeg/. Contact: dlee4@vcu.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Approaches to Realism

Scientific realism asserts that the methods of science, combined with the intellectual powers of human beings can give us reliable knowledge of states of the world beyond the limits of perception. Among the varieties of realism, policy realism is based on the principle that taking plausible theories to be putative descriptions of actual states of affairs is the best way to design experiments and to advance our knowledge. We carve out the umwelt from the welt by the use of our instruments and apparatus. The key procedure in science has been and still is the invention and testing of models---plausibility and empirical adequacy are the marks of a theory based on a model capable of supporting policy realism.
Inductive switching of 4H-SiC gate turn-off thyristors

The high-temperature operation of a silicon carbide gate turn-off thyristor is evaluated for use in inductively loaded switching circuits. Compared to purely resistive load elements, inductive loads subject the switching device to higher internal power dissipation. The ability of silicon carbide components to operate at elevated temperatures and high power dissipations are important factors for their use in future power conversion/control systems. In this work, a maximum current density of 540 A/cm/sup 2/ at 600 V was switched at a frequency of 2 kHz and at several case temperatures up to 150/spl deg/C. The turn-off and turn-on characteristics of the thyristor are discussed.
(364) Pain Outcomes Evaluation Tool (POET): Preliminary patient profile data electronically acquired at an academic tertiary care pain center

Commencing March, 2007, patients and clinicians in the DHMC Pain Center completed an Internet-based survey instrument to improve the care provided to patients and to be used for quality improvement, outcomes analysis, and research. Data acquired from patients included a personal summary, work disability history, health history, health habits survey, review of systems, and a history of present illness. For the Pain Center, the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), SF-12v2, Screener for Opioid Abuse in Pain Patients (SOAPP), and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were acquired from patients. The patient survey data was made available to clinicians before the patients were seen. Clinician survey information included opioid use, an aberrant behavior survey (Modified PAD-T), treatment provided and diagnosis, as well as clinician opioid suitability data. Over a six-month period, patients completed surveys at 74.8% of their visits for a total of 3,631 surveys. The average time to complete surveys was 33 minutes. Clinicians completed surveys at 62% of their encounters for a total of 2,942 surveys. Preliminary data analysis showed that at initial versus follow-up visits there was no difference between the: Mental Component Score of the SF-12v2 (45.2 v. 45.5); the Physical Component Score of the SF-12v2 (30.8 v. 30.1); the ODI (41.8 v. 44.7); the BPI Interference Score (6.6 v. 6.4); or the BPI Severity Score (6.6 v. 6.5). Combined household income of patients seen in our center was less than $15,999 for 29.6% of our patients; $16,000$49,999 for 32.7%; $50,000$99,999 for 16.4%; $100,000$149,999 for 3.8%; $150,000$199,999 for 1.8%; “Don’t know” for 3.5%, and; “other” for 1%. No correlations have yet been calculated. To our knowledge, this is the first time large quantities of patientand clinician-generated information has been collected electronically for analysis and presented real-time to clinicians before patient encounters. Partial funding from Medtronic.
Liver transplantation in the morbidly obese.

Abstract Study Objective: To test the hypothesis that morbid obesity implies increased difficulty of liver transplantation and increased risk of adverse outcome. Design: Retrospective review of medical records of 40 morbidly obese patients using a control cohort of patients transplanted just before and after the obese patients. Setting: University medical center. Patients: All morbidly obese patients who underwent liver transplantation over a 52-month period were included. Forty adult patients met criterion for morbid obesity with body mass index greater than 30 kg/m 2 . Records for 61 time-matched controls were reviewed. Measurements and Main Results: Demographic, intraoperative, and postoperative data were collected including preoperative diagnoses, laboratory and pulmonary function tests, intraoperative transfusion requirements and length of surgery, postoperative complications, and survival. Data were analyzed using Student's t -tests, and Chi-square analyses as appropriate, with significance considered a p-value less than 0.05. Obese patients were more hypoxemic than controls prior to surgery (PaO 2 , 82.9 ± 3.5 vs. 93.0 ± 3.0 mmHg), were more likely to be diabetic, and had higher creatinine levels (3.0 ± 0.6 vs. 1.7 ± 0.2 mg/dl). Despite this evidence of multi-organ dysfunction, intraoperative and postoperative pulmonary and cardiac complications did not differ between groups. Though more obese patients had prior cholecystectomy, length of surgery and intraoperative transfusion requirements were not different between groups. Obese patients did not have an increased incidence of reoperation for wound problems, and lengths of intensive care unit and hospital stays did not differ between groups. Graft and patient survival were similar in obese and nonobese liver transplant recipients. Conclusion: Morbid obesity alone does not predispose to increased complications or decreased survival after liver transplantation.
Changes in productivity and contaminants in bald eagles nesting along the lower Columbia River, USA

Previous studies documented poor productivity of bald eagles ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the lower Columbia River (LCR), USA, and elevated p,p9-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, and furans in eagle eggs. From 1994 to 1995, we collected partially incubated eggs at 19 of 43 occupied territories along the LCR and compared productivity and egg contaminants to values obtained in the mid-1980s. We found higher productivity at new nesting sites along the river, yet productivity at 23 older breeding territories remained low and was not different ( p 5 0.713) between studies. Eggshell thickness at older territories had not improved (p 5 0.404), and eggshells averaged 11% thinner than shells measured before dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane use. Decreases in DDE (p 5 0.022) and total PCBs (p 5 0.0004) in eggs from older breeding areas occurred between study periods. Productivity was not correlated to contaminants, but DDE, PCBs, and dioxin-like chemicals exceeded estimated no-effect values. Some dioxin-like contaminants in eggs were correlated to nest location, with highest concen- trations occurring toward the river's mouth where productivity was lowest. Although total productivity increased due to the success of new nesting pairs in the region, egg contaminants remain high enough to impair reproduction at older territories and, over time, may alter productivity of new pairs nesting near the river's mouth.
Application of Broadcast FM for Utility Energy Management Communications

Technological and economic aspects of various approaches to electric utility Energy Management communications for remote control are discussed. Communication systems employing radio frequency (RF) transmission techniques are treated in some detail with comparisons being made between narrow- band VHF transmitter systems, those systems utilizing a portion of AM broadcast radio channels and systems using a portion of FM broadcast radio channels. Finally, typical utility energy management applications of these-systems are discussed.
Building enriched web page representations using link paths

Anchor text has a history of enriching documents for a variety of tasks within the World Wide Web. Anchor texts are useful because they are similar to typical Web queries, and because they express the document's context. Therefore, it is a common practice for Web search engines to incorporate incoming anchor text into the document's standard textual representation. However, this approach will not suffice for documents with very few inlinks, and it does not incorporate the document's full context. To mediate these problems, we employ link paths, which contain anchor texts from paths through the Web ending at the document in question. We propose and study several different ways to aggregate anchor text from link paths, and we show that the information from link paths can be used to (1) improve known item search in site-specific search, and (2) map Web pages to database records. We rigorously evaluate our proposed approach on several real world test collections. We find that our approach significantly improves performance over baseline and existing techniques in both tasks.
Comparative Analysis of Divergent and Convergent Gene Pairs and Their Expression Patterns in Rice, Arabidopsis, and Populus

Comparative analysis of the organization and expression patterns of divergent and convergent gene pairs in multiple plant genomes can identify patterns that are shared by more than one species or are unique to a particular species. Here, we study the coexpression and interspecies conservation of divergent and convergent gene pairs in three plant species: rice (Oryza sativa), Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), and black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa). Strongly correlated expression levels between divergent and convergent genes were found to be quite common in all three species, and the frequency of strong correlation appears to be independent of intergenic distance. Conservation of divergent or convergent arrangement among these species appears to be quite rare. However, conserved arrangement is significantly more frequent when the genes display strongly correlated expression levels or have one or more Gene Ontology (GO) classes in common. A correlation between intergenic distance in divergent and convergent gene pairs and shared GO classes was observed, in varying degrees, in rice and Populus but not in Arabidopsis. Furthermore, multiple GO classes were either overrepresented or underrepresented in Arabidopsis and Populus gene pairs, while only two GO classes were underrepresented in rice divergent gene pairs. Three cis-regulatory elements common to both Arabidopsis and rice were overrepresented in the intergenic regions of strongly correlated divergent gene pairs compared to those of noncorrelated pairs. Our results suggest that shared as well as unique mechanisms operate in shaping the organization and function of divergent and convergent gene pairs in different plant species.
Optical Imaging of SI Topography in Anesthetized and Awake Squirrel Monkeys

Orderly topographic maps in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) serve as an anchor for our understanding of somatosensory cortical organization. However, this view is mostly based on data collected in the anesthetized animal. Less is known about these topographies in the awake primate. Even less is known about the relative activations of different subdivisions of SI (areas 3a, 3b, 1, and 2). Toward the goal of understanding the functional activation of SI, we conducted intrinsic signal optical imaging of areas 3b and 1 in awake squirrel monkeys. Monkeys were imaged repeatedly for a period of >2 years in awake and anesthetized states in response to vibrotactile and electrocutaneous stimuli presented to individual fingerpads. During this period, we found stable somatotopic maps in both the anesthetized and awake states, consistent with electrophysiologically recorded maps in areas 3b and 1 in the anesthetized state. In the awake animal, signal sizes were larger, but variability was greater, leading to decreased signal-to-noise ratios. Topographic activations were larger (in both area and amplitude) in the awake animal, suggesting either a less precise topography and/or more complex integration. This brings into question the role of a precise topographic map during behavior. In addition, whereas in the anesthetized animal strongest imaging signals were obtained from area 3b, in the awake animal, area 1 activation dominated over that in area 3b. Differences in relative dominance of area 3b versus area 1 suggest that inter-areal interactions in the alert animal differ substantially from that in the anesthetized animal.
Thermal Performance of Ventilated Passenger Seats

Automotive seats are now actively cooled as well as heated to provide thermal comfort. Some seats are cooled by thermoelectric devices and others through simple forced ventilation. To ultimately determine passenger comfort requires knowing the seats ability to remove water vapor and thermal energy from the passenger’s skin. This paper presents work on measuring the mass and heat transfer performance of a forced-air ventilated seat. Comparing the thermal behavior to a semi-infinite body, an effective thermal effusivity was measured as well as an effective mass diffusivity. Average thermal effusivities were 64 and 244 W s1/2 /m2 K for the non-ventilated and ventilated seats, respectively. Average mass diffusivities were 0.0031 and 0.0142 m2 /s for the non-ventilated and ventilated seats, respectively.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Three pools of plasma membrane cholesterol and their relation to cholesterol homeostasis

Cells are enclosed by a plasma membrane that is made of lipid molecules and proteins. Almost half of the lipid molecules in the plasma membranes of animal cells (including human cells) are cholesterol molecules. Since cholesterol helps to keep the membrane stable, its level in the plasma membrane is tightly regulated. Cholesterol is produced within animal cells, but it can also be taken up from outside the cell, primarily from low density lipoprotein (or LDL for short). When ingested LDL is broken down inside a cell, most of the cholesterol molecules are added to the plasma membrane, but some end up in the membrane of an organelle inside the cell called the endoplasmic reticulum. The amount of cholesterol in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum regulates the activation of a protein called SREBP, a transcription factor that is attached to this membrane. If the level of cholesterol becomes too low, this transcription factor travels to the cell nucleus, where it switches on the genes that cause the cell to produce more cholesterol and also to take up more LDL from the environment. When the amount of cholesterol in the membrane is high enough, the SREBP protein remains attached to the endoplasmic reticulum, which reduces the production of cholesterol and the uptake of LDL. Here, Das et al. study the movement of cholesterol molecules between the plasma membrane and the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum by using a toxin that binds to membranes that are rich in cholesterol. These experiments showed that the plasma membrane contains three different types or ‘pools’ of cholesterol. Das et al. found that only one of these pools is ‘labile’: it grows when there is an excess of LDL, and shrinks when cholesterol is running low in the cell. Furthermore, excess cholesterol is first added to this labile pool in the plasma membrane before it is added to the pool in the endoplasmic reticulum. This suggests that the production, uptake, and breakdown of cholesterol are all controlled by partitioning this molecule between the labile pool in the plasma membrane and the endoplasmic reticulum. The next challenge is to determine how the three pools of cholesterol in the plasma membrane are maintained, and what regulates the distribution of cholesterol between the endoplasmic reticulum and the labile pool in the plasma membrane.
Why an AI research team adopted XP practices

In this paper, researchers describe their early experiences of using agile techniques while developing a solution to a specific, multi-objective real world problem called the United States Navy Sailors' Assignment Problem (SAP). Because the investigators are working in a research environment where the results produced at intermediate stages cause the requirements to continually change, an agile software development methodology was deemed most appropriate. Although the research team applied several agile practices, the paper emphasizes their experiences when performing test-first or test-driven development (TDD). When applying test-first development, the programmer writes test cases in the designated programming language prior to composing functional code. The objective during code implementation is to write code to pass a particular test case. Thus, the activities of specifying test cases, coding, and testing comprise an iterative process. As a part of this work, the authors compare test-driven development to the more traditional approaches of testing.
Akt signal transduction pathway is a target of diindolylmethane and indole-3-carbinol in thyroid cancer

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 46, 2005 2460 Compounds in cruciferous vegetables such as indole-3-carbinol (I3C) have a significant role in prevention of many different cancers. However, the anti-proliferative activity of these compounds in thyroid cancer has not been documented. We have been studying the anti-thyroid cancer (CaT) activity of indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and its acid catalyzed dimer, diindolylmethane (DIM) using four different cell lines representing papillary cancer (8505-C and B-CPAP) and follicular carcinoma of the thyroid (ML-1 and CGTHW-1). Cell survival and IC50 values were calculated using the XTT assay and the Trypan Blue exclusion test. Apoptosis was measured by ELISA and protein levels were estimated by western blotting. Both I3C and DIM showed significant anti-CaT effects. I3C had IC50 values that ranged between 100-500 μM, whereas, the IC50 values for DIM were significantly lower between 10-100 μM. The anti-proliferative effect observed with I3C and DIM was due to induction of apoptosis; however, apoptosis induced by DIM was greater than that seen with I3C. Microscopic examination of primary culture of cells from a goiter nodule revealed a significant reduction in the number of DIM and I3C treated cells accompanied by morphological changes. The effects of I3C and DIM on signal transduction pathways were investigated as possible targets for the observed anti-cancer effect. Western blot analysis revealed that the Akt signal transduction pathway is a target of both I3C and DIM. PI3-K and p-Akt were markedly down regulated in ML-1, CGTHW-1 and B-CPAP. The results clearly indicate that DIM has a higher anti-proliferative activity compared to I3C. Based on these data we have initiated a human clinical trial to examine the distribution and retention of DIM in thyroid tissues.
Using deferred compensation to strengthen the ethics of financial regulation

Abstract Defects in the corporate governance of government-owned enterprises tempt opportunistic officials to breach duties of public stewardship. Corporate-governance theory suggests that incentive-based deferred compensation could intensify the force that common-law duties actually exert on regulatory managers. In principle, a forfeitable fund of deferred compensation could be combined with provisions for measuring, verifying, and rewarding multiperiod performance to make top regulators accountable for maximizing the long-run net social benefits their enterprise produces. Because government deposit-insurance enterprises are purveyors of credit enhancements for which private substitute and reinsurance markets exist, their performance could be measured accurately enough to make employment contracts for deposit-insurance CEOs a promising place to experiment with this kind of accountability reform.
Empirical Bayes deconvolution estimates

An unknown prior density $g(\theta )$ has yielded realizations $\Theta _1,\ldots ,\Theta _N$. They are unobservable, but each $\Theta _i$ produces an observable value $X_i$ according to a known probability mechanism, such as $X_i\sim {\rm Po}(\Theta _i)$. We wish to estimate $g(\theta )$ from the observed sample $X_1,\ldots ,X_N$. Traditional asymptotic calculations are discouraging, indicating very slow nonparametric rates of convergence. In this article we show that parametric exponential family modelling of $g(\theta )$ can give useful estimates in moderate-sized samples. We illustrate the approach with a variety of real and artificial examples. Covariate information can be incorporated into the deconvolution process, leading to a more detailed theory of generalized linear mixed models.
Synchronized Measurement of Plasma Characteristics In a Hall Effect Thruster

Hall eect thrusters are a key propulsion technology for many satellite missions in low Earth orbit and beyond. Amethod of synchronized data collection was developed by combining high speed imaging data, emissive probe measurements of plasma potential, and magnetic measurement of the Hall current with eective temporal resolution of ± 0.75μs. is new method allows the comparison of features in the visible plasma emission with variations in the plasma potential and Hall current. Observation of plasma characteristics during the breathing mode and passage of azimuthal oscillations in the thruster was demonstrated.
AT-35INTERMITTENT HIGH DOSE (PULSATILE) ERLOTINIB FOR EGFRvIII MUTANT RECURRENT MALIGNANT GLIOMAS: A PILOT CLINICAL TRIAL

BACKGROUND: Kinase inhibitors targeting driver mutations are active in several cancers, but have shown only minimal activity against malignant gliomas (MGs). Inadequate drug delivery when administered at the maximum tolerated daily dose may contribute to limited efficacy. Transient inhibition of oncogenic kinases has been shown in experimental models to irreversibly commit cancer cells to death. Therefore, we explored the feasibility of high-dose intermittent (“pulsatile”) kinase inhibitor therapy in a molecularly defined population of patients with recurrent MGs. METHODS: Eligible patients had a recurrent MG harboring EGFRvIII mutation (PCR), age ≥18, KPS ≥ 60, and prior temozolomide and radiotherapy. Prior EGFR inhibitors or bevacizumab were exclusionary. A surgical arm treated patients pre- and post-operatively. All received 2000 mg once weekly of the oral EGFR TKI erlotinib. RESULTS: We enrolled 22 patients (7 women), median age 58 (range 41-81); 18 (82%) had GBMs and 4 anaplastic gliomas. Serum pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis from the first 8 patients demonstrated median Cmax of approximately 7500ng/ml, ten-fold higher than reported for routine daily erlotinib dosing (150 mg). Treatment was well tolerated: no one discontinued for toxicity, and there were no grade ≥4 agent-related adverse events (AEs). Grade 3 AEs were rash (n = 3), fatigue (2), lymphopenia (1), and hyper-bilirubinemia (1). Among those with GBM, one patient has an ongoing complete response (>31 months); two others had less durable improvement of EGFRvIII mutant disease; median survival was 10 months and progression-free survival 1.4 months. CONCLUSION: Pulsatile dosing of kinase inhibitor therapy is feasible and safe, and represents a promising new approach to enhance drug delivery for patients with MG. Full PK results and molecular correlations will be presented.
A Short Proof of Runge's Theorem

(1976). A Short Proof of Runge's Theorem. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 83, No. 10, pp. 807-808.
Influence of health education on sleep and life quality among medical staff worked in shifts

[Objective]To study the influence of shift work on sleep and life quality among medical staff and its influence factors, provide the basis for improving the sleep and life quality of the medical staff worked in shifts. [Methods]106 medical staff of Nancun Hospital were selected by stratified and cluster random sampling method. The sleep quality of medical staff was evaluated by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index( PSQI) and the life quality was evaluated by WHOQOL. The change of sleep and life quality among medical staff worked in shifts before and after health education were compared.[Results]After the health education,the sleep and life quality of medical staff worked in shifts improved significantly( P 0. 05). The analysis showed that the female,unstable marital status and poor health were the risk factors of poor sleep quality.[Conclusion]Health education intervention has a positive role in improving the sleep and life quality of medical staff worked in shifts.
Code Readability Testing, an Empirical Study

Context: One of the factors that leads to improved code maintainability is its readability. When code is difficult to read, it is difficult for subsequent developers to understand its flow and its side effects. They are likely to introduce new bugs while trying to fix old bugs or adding new features. But how do software developers know they have written readable code? Objective: This paper presents a new technique, Code Readability Testing, to determine whether code is readable and evaluates whether the technique increases programmers' ability to write readable code. Method: The researcher conducted a field study using 21 software engineering master students and followed the Code Readability Testing with each student in four separate sessions evaluating different "production ready" software. After the observations, a questionnaire evaluated the programmer's perspective. Results: By following Code Readability Testing, half of the programmers writing "unreadable" code started writing "readable" code after four sessions. Programmers writing "readable" code also improved their ability to write readable code. The study reveals that the most frequent suggestions for increasing code readability are improving variable names, improving method names, creating new methods in order to reduce code duplication, simplifying if conditions and structures, and simplifying loop conditions. The programmers report that readability testing is worth their time. They observe increases in their ability to write readable code. When programmers experience a reader struggling to understand their code, they become motivated to write readable code. Conclusion: This paper defines code readability, demonstrates that Code Readability Testing improves programmers' ability to write readable code, and identifies frequent fixes needed to improve code readability.
Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy Performed on Woman with a Cardiac Pacemaker

A 73-year-old woman with a sick sinus syndrome and a 3-year-old ventricular demand pacemaker underwent extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy without incident. There was no damage or malfunction of the pacemaker during or acutely after this therapy. The lithotriptor had no difficulty in sensing all paced or spontaneous ventricular complexes.
An Archaeological Survey of the Probst and McGriff Leases in Live Oak County, Texas

During March 1984, an archaeological survey was carried out on the Probst and McGriff leases in Live Oak County, Texas, for Chevron Resources Company. No cultural resources were found on the Probst lease. However, two prehistoric sites (41 LK 270 and 41 LK 271) were located on the McGriff lease. The two archaeological sites are described as lithic scatters which are eroded and otherwise disturbed by land modifications. The sites are not considered to be potentially significant cultural resources, and therefore not deemed eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. We recommend that no further work is needed.
ReCalibration and validation of the SMAP L-band radiometer

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission was launched on 31st January 2015 in a 6 AM/6 PM sun-synchronous orbit at 685 km altitude to measure soil moisture and free/thaw globally [1]. The passive instrument of SMAP is a fully polarimetric L-band radiometer (1.4GHz) operating with a bandwidth of 24MHz. The radiometer uses a combination of noise-diodes and Dicke-loads for internal calibration with a design similar to that used by the Aquarius or Jason series radiometers [3]. The SMAP digital backend back-end enables implementation of advanced Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) detection and mitigation algorithms for corrupted L-band measurements [6]. The radiometer uncalibrated raw counts are converted to Level 1B antenna temperatures and brightness temperature (TB) values [2]. These TB values are used with other ancillary data to retrieve soil-moisture products on a 40km global grid. The error requirement for the SMAP radiometer is 1.3K and calibration drift is less than 0.4 K/month to measure soil-moisture with volumetric fraction uncertainty of less than 0.04 m3/m3.
Anomalous neutrino reactions at DESY HERA.

We study the sensitivity of DESY HERA to new physics using the helicity suppressed reaction ${e}_{R}p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\nu}X$, where the final neutrino can be a standard model one or a heavy neutrino. The approach is model independent and is based on an effective Lagrangian parametrization. It is shown that HERA will put significant bounds on the scale of new physics, though, in general, these are more modest than previously thought. If deviations from the standard model are observed in the above processes, future colliders such as the SSC and CERN LHC will be able to directly probe the physics responsible for these discrepancies.
Economic performance evaluation of process system design flexibility options under uncertainty: The case of hydrogen production plants with integrated membrane technology and CO2 capture

Abstract A hydrogen production plant with integrated catalytic membrane reactor modules (HP-CMR) represents a new technology option with potentially enhanced environmental performance characteristics. Therefore, HP-CMR techno-economic performance in the presence of irreducible sources of uncertainty (market, regulatory) ought to be comprehensively evaluated in order to accelerate the realization of future demonstration plants. The present study introduces a systematic methodological framework allowing the economic value assessment of various flexibility options in the design and operation of an HP-CMR plant under the above uncertainty sources. The primary objective is to demonstrate the potentially value-enhancing prospects of design flexibility options that capture the inherent optionality element in managerial decision-making to actively respond to uncertainties as they are progressively resolved. A detailed Net Present Value (NPV)-based assessment framework is first developed within which the above sources of uncertainty are integrated through Monte Carlo techniques. Various constructional and operational flexibility options are introduced pertaining to the installation decision and operating mode choice of the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) unit, and HP-CMR economic performance is comparatively assessed. Finally, under certain scenarios of regulatory action on CO2 emissions, it is demonstrated that quite appealing economic performance outcomes could emerge for HP-CMR plants once design flexibility is introduced.
Coping Responses in Phishing Detection: An Investigation of Antecedents and Consequences

This study investigates users' coping responses in the process of phishing email detection. Three common responses are identified based on the coping literature: task-focused coping, emotion-focused coping i.e., worry and self-criticism, and avoidance coping. The three responses are used to conceptualize a higher-order construct, coping adaptiveness, that resides on a continuum between maladaptive coping and adaptive coping manifested as increased task-focused coping and decreased emotion-focused coping and avoidance coping. Drawing on the extended parallel process model and behavioral decision-making literature, this paper examines the antecedents i.e., perceived phishing threat, perceived detection efficacy, and phishing anxiety and behavioral consequences i.e., detection effort and detection accuracy of coping adaptiveness. A survey experiment with 547 U.S. consumers was conducted. The results show that perceived detection efficacy increases coping adaptiveness. Partially mediated by phishing anxiety, perceived phishing threat decreases coping adaptiveness. Coping adaptiveness positively impacts the two objective measures in the study, detection effort and detection accuracy. The results also suggest that coping adaptiveness and detection effort have different effects on false positives compared to false negatives: detection effort fully mediates the effect of coping adaptiveness on false positive rate or detection accuracy related to legitimate emails, but has no impact on false negatives or detection accuracy related to phishing emails, unlike coping adaptiveness. A post hoc analysis on coping responses reveals two patterns of coping among subjects, throwing more light on coping in phishing detection. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2016.0680 .
High Prevalence of Dysgraphia in Elementary Through High School Students With ADHD and Autism

Objective:Prevalence of dysgraphia by age across all grade levels was determined in students with ADHD or autism. Method: Referred children with normal intelligence and ADHD–Combined, ADHD–Inattent...
Teaching without Classroom Management Coursework: A Case Study Continued—After Student Teaching into Teaching

This chapter follows Dana, Conrad, and Robyn from their methods course into student teaching. Then the chapter explores the impact of not having classroom management coursework once they graduated from Public University and began teaching in their own classrooms. It focuses on how each of them: (a) defined classroom management; (b) found their Methods II course useful and applicable to teaching; (c) struggled with classroom management; (d) succeeded in effectively utilizing classroom management strategies; and (e) grew in their understanding and application of classroom management and ways in which they anticipated changing to help improve their classroom management. The chapter concludes with general takeaways from the experiences of Dana, Conrad, and Robyn.
Virtual immersive gaming to optimize recovery (VIGOR) in low back pain: A phase II randomized controlled trial

The virtual immersive gaming to optimize recovery (VIGOR) study is a randomized controlled trial of the effects of virtual reality games to encourage lumbar spine flexion among individuals with chronic low back pain and fear of movement. Whereas traditional graded activity or graded exposure therapies for chronic low back pain have high attrition and poor long-term efficacy, we believe that virtual reality games have distinct advantages that can enhance adherence and clinical outcomes. First, they are engaging and enjoyable activities that can distract from pain and fear of harm. In addition, because they gradually reinforce increases in lumbar spine flexion to achieve game objectives, continued engagement over time is expected to promote recovery through restoration of normal spinal motion. The study design includes two treatment groups which differ in the amount of lumbar flexion required to achieve the game objectives. All participants will play the games for nine weeks, and pre-treatment to 1-week post-treatment changes in pain and disability will serve as the co-primary clinical outcomes. In addition, changes in lumbar flexion and expectations of pain/harm will be examined as potential treatment outcome mediators. Maintenance of treatment outcomes will also be assessed for up to 48-weeks post-treatment. In brief, we hypothesize that the virtual reality games will reduce pain and disability by promoting spinal motion and allowing participants to develop an implicit understanding that they are capable of engaging in significant lumbar spine motion in their daily lives without a risk of injury to their back.
Assessing Multimodal Interactions with Mixed-Initiative Teams

The state-of-the-art in robotics is advancing to support the warfighters’ ability to project force and increase their reach across a variety of future missions. Seamless integration of robots with the warfighter will require advancing interfaces from teleoperation to collaboration. The current approach to meeting this requirement is to include human-to-human communication capabilities in tomorrow’s robots using multimodal communication. Though advanced, today’s robots do not yet come close to supporting teaming in dismounted military operations, and therefore simulation is required for developers to assess multimodal interfaces in complex multi-tasking scenarios. This paper describes existing and future simulations to support assessment of multimodal human-robot interaction in dismounted soldier-robot teams.
What Objects Could Not Be

When it comes to Wittgenstein’s Tractatus about the only thing anyone agrees on is that there is almost nothing everyone agrees on. This is notoriously true of Tractarian objects. Opinions on the subject are nearly as numerous as commentators. Some, perhaps embarrassed by such riches, discount the notion itself as incoherent.1 I am cautiously less pessimistic. I believe that something can be said about what TLP objects are not and that this, in turn, provides a clue as to what they might be. What objects might be, I shall suggest toward the end of the paper, are universals or properties of a certain sort. What they cannot be, I shall argue at the outset, are particulars of any sort.
The Asymptotic Development of a Function Defined by an Integral

When dealing with an analytic function f(z) it is frequently necessary to know the function for all values of arg z. When the function is defined by an integral this analytic continuation is often facilitated by the following two constructions.