cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sperm Transport from the External Cervical Os to the Fallopian Tubes in Women: A Time and Quantitation Study * †

Sperm transport was characterized on optimal controlled assessable conditions in this study. Subjects were women who had requested surgical sterilization. All subjects were restricted from coitus for 11-14 days preoperatively. The study was performed within 36 hours of the estradiol preovulatory peak for each subject; so surgical excision of both fallopian tubes was accomplished at predetermined times after insemination with fresh whole high-quality ejaculates; the cervical mucus column was also removed. Using this technique sperms were identified in the oviduct within 5 minutes from deposition in the proximal vagina. Numbers of sperm in the oviduct were directly related to numbers inseminated. Sperm distribution was throughout the oviduct and was highest in fimbria (tubes had been divided in thirds upon excision). For 15-45 minutes after insemination a constant level of sperm existed in the oviduct. 1 subject was studied similarly to determine the presence of sperm in endometrium and no sperm occurred in that cavity until 80 minutes after insemination. This study also reports the total numbers of sperm present in cervical mucus and the correlation of insemination and time after insemination.
The trouble with Britain

This essay argues that scholars have overlooked the analytical power, complexity, and useful mobility of the category of ‘Britain.’ I argue, accordingly, for a reconsideration of the ways that an attentive appreciation of the diverse medieval uses of ‘Britain’ or the ‘British Isles’ might defamiliarize geographic relations both within and among the islands of the British archipelago. Drawing on various works that trouble the singularity of those terms, I trace a few lines of association across areas usually understood as utterly different, culminating in a reading of the geographic confusions of the Middle Scots Arthurian text, The Knightly Tale of Sir Gologras and Gawain. In that text, European location emerges, plausibly, as a ‘British,’ that is, a Scottish, question.
Temporomandibular Joint Discectomy With Abdominal Fat Graft Versus Temporalis Myofascial Flap: A Comparative Study.

Purpose Open temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthroplasty with discectomy has been described as a primary surgical treatment and as a secondary treatment when minimally invasive procedures have failed. The aim of the present study was to compare TMJ discectomy with a fat graft versus TMJ discectomy with a temporalis graft using the pain score and maximal interincisal opening (MIO). Patients and Methods We performed a retrospective study of patients who had undergone TMJ arthroplasty and discectomy with an abdominal fat graft or an interpositional temporalis flap at the University of Michigan from 1999 to 2014. The predictor variable was the type of surgical intervention. The main outcome variables were the pain score and MIO. Additional outcome variables were diet, medication use, the presence of myofascial pain, and occlusal outcomes. The statistical analysis included the mean ± standard deviation, a 1-way analysis of variance for continuous data, and Pearson's χ2 test for categorical variables. Results The study cohort included 50 patients, of whom 30 had undergone discectomy with a fat graft and 20 had undergone discectomy with a temporalis myofascial graft. The mean pain scores were decreased by 78.3% in the myofascial flap group and 52.8% in the fat graft group. Changes in MIO showed a statistically significant increase in the fat graft group but only approached statistical significance in the myofascial flap group. Conclusions The patients who had undergone TMJ arthroplasty and discectomy with a temporalis myofascial flap showed significantly greater improvement in pain scores and marginal improvement in the MIO compared with patients who had received an abdominal fat graft.
Market Capitalization- Sustainability Practices Measurement of Private Commercial Banks of Bangladesh

The study investigates the sustainability practices of the private commercial banks of Bangladesh to consider these as measurement of the market capitalization of the same. In the research 30, private commercial banks have been taken into consideration where it is found that market capitalization is not wholly dependent on the issue of sustainability and there is no long run relationship between market capitalization and sustainability issues which could have an impact on the market capitalization or any direction of the market capitalization. Rather Granger Causality result shows that market capitalization could have an impact on the sustainability issues of the banks. The inclusion of some other explanatory variables in the model could deduce a better conclusion.
Phase II efficacy trial of pazopanib in non-clear cell metastatic renal cell carcinoma (PINCR trial).

TPS4606 Background: Seven treatments for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) have been FDA approved since December, 2005. Most of the trials evaluating these agents excluded non-clear cell histo...
The CNN as a Guided Multilayer RECOS Transform [Lecture Notes]

There is a resurging interest in developing a neural-network-based solution to the supervised machine-learning problem. The convolutional neural network (CNN) will be studied in this lecture note. We introduce a rectified-correlations on a sphere (RECOS) [1] transform as a basic building block of CNNs. It consists of two main concepts: 1) data clustering on a sphere and 2) rectification. We then interpret a CNN as a network that implements the guided multilayer RECOS transform with two highlights. First, we compare the traditional single-layer and modern multilayer signal-analysis approaches, point out key areas that enable the multilayer approach, and provide a full explanation to the operating principle of CNNs. Second, we discuss how guidance is provided by labels through backpropagation (BP) in the training.
Killing the Messenger: Mark Lilla’s “End of Identity Liberalism” and its Critics

Decades of mind-numbing political correctness on the academic far-left robbed the humanities and social sciences of their legitimacy, generated the alt-right as its very own dialectial alter-ego, and provided an essential catalyzing ingredient in Donald Trump's electoral victory—understood as the clearest expression of a weary nation's revulsion at p. c.'s intolerable moralizing. The illiberal, antisemitic, white nationalist alt-right and the illiberal, antisemitic, anti-American alt-left mirror one another perfectly! Faced with competing totalitarianisms at both extremes, the liberal center should defend itself first of all by forthrightly reclaiming the univeristy as a space for education and not indoctrination. Yet the politically correct professoriate do not want to hear this—and their over-the-top hostile overreactions to the news that they are to blame for what they hate most prove that it's so. Time to repeal and replace political correctness.
Sample size determination for testing equality in frequency data under an incomplete block crossover design

When there are more than two treatments under comparison, we may consider the use of the incomplete block crossover design (IBCD) to save the number of patients needed for a parallel groups design ...
L 2 Spaces

The concepts of Hilbert space, distribution, and mean convergence are combined to construct function spaces suitable for the analysis of differential operators. From the quantum-mechanical point of view, the elements or “points” in such a space are the wave functions that represent the states of a physical system.
Weed control for stand duration perennial ryegrass seed production: II. Residue retained

Novel alternatives to open-field burning recently adopted by Oregon grass seed growers included retaining postharvest residues chopped into mulch. Because herbicide performance had never been tested under such conditions, research objectives included determining (i) efficacy of preemergence and postemergence herbicides on volunteer perennial ryegrass seedlings, (ii) whether treatments could be reapplied annually without damaging stands, (iii) whether common weeds would increase over time, and (iv) effects of volunteer seedlings on crop yield. Techniques were developed to incorporate pendimethalin [N-(1-ethylpropyl)-3,4-dimethyl-2,6-dinitrobenzenamine] through crop residue. Tests were conducted in three commercial perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) fields sown in 1991. Preemergence-incorporated pendimethalin at 2.2 kg a.i. ha(-1) improved control of volunteer perennial ryegrass seedlings over postemergence treatments applied alone in 28 out of 46 comparisons, and 12 out of 18 failures to improve control occurred when postemergence treatments themselves adequately controlled weeds (avg. 5.5% ground cover by volunteer perennial ryegrass seedlings, or 93% control). Weed control by postemergence treatments varied greatly among years and sites. Early postemergence oxyfluorfen [2-chloro-1-(3-ethoxy-4-nitrophenoxy)-4- (trifluoromethyl)benzene] plus metolachlor [2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N- (2-methoxy-1-methylethyl)acetamide] followed by late postemergence diuron [N'-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-N,N-dimethylurea] was the most effective postemergence treatment (avg. 92% control), but damaged the crop in several instances. Uncontrolled volunteer seedlings reduced seed yield in no-postemergence checks compared with treatments including postemergence applications in 19 out of 30 instances the first year, 24 out of 30 instances the second year, but only 3 out of 24 instances the third year. Susceptibility of perennial ryegrass to injury by herbicides increased with stand age but varied among sites.
Holistic Approaches to Computer Science

Computer science curricula has been well defined for many years through the publication of the Computer Science Curricula reports developed jointly by the two major professional societies, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the IEEE Computer Society. These documents define computer science curricula by providing knowledge areas and course exemplars. The most recent curriculum report, the Computer Science Curricula 2013 (CSC13 [1]), provides 18 knowledge areas (KAs). Though it stresses that KAs do not necessary represent courses, computer science departments have traditionally created courses around the KAs. Indeed, the course exemplars presented in the CSC13 report, for the most part, center around KAs.
The Frigid Golden Age: Climate Change, the Little Ice Age, and the Dutch Republic, 1560-1720

Dagomar Degroot offers the first detailed analysis of how a society thrived amid the Little Ice Age, a period of climatic cooling that reached its chilliest point between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The precocious economy, unusual environment, and dynamic intellectual culture of the Dutch Republic in its seventeenth-century Golden Age allowed it to thrive as neighboring societies unraveled in the face of extremes in temperature and precipitation. By tracing the occasionally counterintuitive manifestations of climate change from global to local scales, Degroot finds that the Little Ice Age presented not only challenges for Dutch citizens but also opportunities that they aggressively exploited in conducting commerce, waging war, and creating culture. The overall success of their Republic in coping with climate change offers lessons that we would be wise to heed today, as we confront the growing crisis of global warming.
Hyperelastic modeling of the human brain tissue: Effects of no-slip boundary condition and compressibility on the uniaxial deformation.

Abstract Being extremely soft, brain tissue is among the most challenging materials to be mechanically quantified. Despite recent advances in mechanical testing of ultra-soft matters, there still exists a need for robust procedures to analyze their behavior at large deformation. In this paper, it is shown how failing to taking into account the precise boundary conditions can result in substantial variation from the “assumed” ideal behavior, even for the case of simple loading conditions such as the uniaxial mode. For an accurate analysis, the mathematical modeling is combined with the finite element simulation to interpret the mechanical behavior of the brain tissue based on the comprehensive experiments conducted by Budday et al. (2017). It is demonstrated herein that only an Ogden hyperelastic model with both negative and positive nonlinearity constants can predict the mechanical behavior of the brain tissue in tension and compression, and the tension-compression asymmetry might arise from the difference in compressibility behavior in tension and compression. This hypothesis is utilized for modeling the mechanical behavior of the brain tissue in uniaxial loading condition and exhibits excellent agreement with the experiments. This study also provides a comprehensive explanation for nonlinear analysis of soft matters, in general, and the brain tissue, in particular, with thoroughly describing the concept of hyperelasticity and modeling incompressible or compressible behaviors utilizing the Ogden strain energy function.
Emergency Department Urinary Tract Infections Caused by Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae: Many Patients Have No Identifiable Risk Factor and Discordant Empiric Therapy Is Common.

Study objective Community-onset urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)–producing Enterobacteriaceae, which are resistant to ceftriaxone and usually coresistant to fluoroquinolones, are increasing worldwide. We investigate and describe in detail UTIs caused by ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae in our emergency department (ED), and determine the proportion that occurred in patients without health care–associated risk factors and who received discordant initial antibiotic therapy. Methods At an urban public hospital in Northern California, microbiology staff prospectively reviewed ED urine culture results weekly for 1 year and presumptively identified ESBL-producing isolates by ceftriaxone plus ceftazidime resistance. For isolates associated with a clinical UTI, patient demographic and case clinical features were abstracted retrospectively. Health care–associated infections were defined by standard risk factors plus aged 65 years or older, bladder catheter, urologic procedure, functional dependence, or antibiotics in the previous 90 days. Community-associated infections were defined by absence of these. A subset of community-associated ESBL-producing Escherichia coli isolates underwent genotyping. Electronic health record query was used to determine the denominator of ED UTI patients who underwent urine culture during the study period. Results Between August 2016 and July 2017, there were 1,045 unique ED patients diagnosed with a UTI, whose specimens underwent culture. There were 62 ESBL-producing isolates (5.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.6% to 7.5%). Selected characteristics of the entire ESBL UTI cohort were median age 50 years, 37 (60%) patients were women, 28 (44%) Hispanic, 11 (18%) had been hospitalized in the previous 3 months, 19 (31%) had pyelonephritis, 49 (79%) of isolates were E coli , 44 (71%) were levofloxacin-resistant, and 24 (23%) nitrofurantoin-resistant. Initial antibiotic choice was discordant with isolate susceptibility in 26 of 56 cases (46%; 95% CI 33% to 60%), and the initial oral antibiotic prescred was discordant in 19 of 41 cases (46%; 95% CI 31% to 63%). Twenty-seven infections (44%; 95% CI 31% to 57%) were categorized as community-associated. Eight patients with community-associated infection were women younger than 50 years, with no comorbidities and no more than 1 UTI in the previous year. Of 12 community-associated E coli isolates tested, all were confirmed to harbor ESBL genes; the CTX-M1 β-lactamase gene was found in 8 (67%); 4 belong to genotype ST131. Conclusion At this single Northern California ED, greater than 5% of culture-proven UTI were caused by ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae, and in nearly half of cases there was no identifiable health care–associated risk factor. Levofloxacin co-resistance and discordant antibiotic therapy were common.
Energetics and Sensitivity Considerations of Ferromagnetic Magnetoreceptors

The suggestion that permanent magnets of biological origin are responsible for the sensitivity of migratory animals to earth-strength magnetic fields predates both the discovery of biogenic magnetite in many species and the generation of convincing behavioral evidence for the existence of a magnetic sense. In 1945, Ising unsuccessfully searched for remanence in the head of a swallow, and Griffin (1944) noted the absence of any known magnetic material of biological origin in a review of bird navigation. Lowenstam (1962) suggested that magnetite might be responsible for homing behavior in chitons, and Keeton (1972) suggested that the magnetic sensitivity of birds might be the result of the “actual mechanical displacement of some structure,” though he did not speculate on its composition. Blakemore’s (1975) discovery of magnetite-containing magnetotactic bacteria followed the emergence of strong behavioral evidence that birds (Keeton, 1971; Wiltschko and Wiltschko, 1972; Walcott and Green, 1974) and bees (Lindauer and Martin, 1968,1972) are sensitive to the earth’s magnetic field. This gave impetus to the serious, quantitative study of the conjecture that permanently magnetic material is the transducer of the magnetic sense (Gould et al., 1978; Walcott et al., 1979; Yorke, 1979; Kirschvink and Gould, 1981; reviewed by Kirschvink, 1982)
A Theoretical Analysis of Neuronal Biogenerated Magnetic Fields

Theoreticians working in biomagnetics over the past decade have concerned themselves primarily with the interactions of imposed magnetic fields on protoplasm [1–6]. However, within this same decade, research has shown that living protoplasm is capable of producing biogenerated magnetic fields [7–11]. Recent advances in material sciences and instrumentation now permit quantitative measurement of biogenerated magnetic fields associated with nerve and muscle tissues. While in vivo measurements of AC magnetic fields on the order of 10-10 tesla associated with the human heart (first reported by Baule and McFee [10] and later confirmed by Cohen [11]) indicate the potential use of biogenerated magnetic fields, this paper will be primarily concerned with a theoretical explanation for magnetic fields that arise from isolated nerve bundles rather than for biogenerated magnetic fields in general [12]
The Helicobacter pylori biofilm involves a multi-gene stress-biased response including a structural role for flagella

Helicobacter pylori has an impressive ability to persist chronically in the human stomach. Similar characteristics are associated with biofilm formation in other bacteria. The H. pylori biofilm process, however, is poorly understood. To gain insight into this mode of growth, we carried out comparative transcriptomic analysis between H. pylori biofilm and planktonic cells, using the mouse colonizing strain SS1. Optimal biofilm formation was obtained with low serum and three-day growth, conditions which caused both biofilm and planktonic cells to be ~80% coccoid. RNA-seq analysis found that 8.18% of genes were differentially expressed between biofilm and planktonic cell transcriptomes. Biofilm-downregulated genes included those involved in metabolism and translation, suggesting these cells have low metabolic activity. Biofilm-upregulated genes included those whose products were predicted to be at the cell envelope, involved in regulating a stress response, and surprisingly, genes related to formation of the flagellar apparatus. Scanning electron microscopy visualized flagella that appeared to be a component of the biofilm matrix, supported by the observation that an aflagellated mutant displayed a less robust biofilm with no apparent filaments. We observed flagella in the biofilm matrix of additional H. pylori strains, supporting that flagellar use is widespread. Our data thus supports a model in which H. pylori biofilm involves a multi-gene stress-biased response, and that flagella play an important role in H. pylori biofilm formation.
Rural Computing: Beyond Access and Infrastructure

Computing tends to be associated with cities and urban areas, where innovation in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is often seen as coming from and where a majority of users live. In this workshop, we seek to offer a counterpoint to CSCW and other computing disciplines' biases towards the urban and focus on ICT use and design in rural areas. In particular, our goal is to recognize rural areas not just as sites where ICT access and infrastructures need improvement, but as places of innovation and exploration that can inform a more representative and just understanding of people and users. This workshop offers a space for these conversations and to bring together and build a network of established and emerging scholars in the CSCW and adjacent communities conducting research in and about the rural.
Use of Mobile and Computer Devices to Support Recovery in People With Serious Mental Illness: Survey Study.

Background: Mental health recovery refers to an individual’s experience of gaining a sense of personal control, striving towards one’s life goals, and meeting one’s needs. Although people with serious mental illness own and use electronic devices for general purposes, knowledge of their current use and interest in future use for supporting mental health recovery remains limited. Objective: This study aimed to identify smartphone, tablet, and computer apps that mental health service recipients use and want to use to support their recovery. Methods: In this pilot study, we surveyed a convenience sample of 63 mental health service recipients with serious mental illness. The survey assessed current use and interest in mobile and computer devices to support recovery. Results: Listening to music (60%), accessing the internet (59%), calling (59%), and texting (54%) people were the top functions currently used by participants on their device to support their recovery. Participants expressed interest in learning how to use apps for anxiety/stress management (45%), mood management (45%), monitoring mental health symptoms (43%), cognitive behavioral therapy (40%), sleep (38%), and dialectical behavior therapy (38%) to support their recovery. Conclusions: Mental health service recipients currently use general functions such as listening to music and calling friends to support recovery. Nevertheless, they reported interest in trying more specific illness-management apps.
Differing Performance of the Warning Signs for Immunodeficiency in the Diagnosis of Pediatric Versus Adult Patients in a Two-Center Tertiary Referral Population

Primary immunodeficiency (PID) represents disorders with a spectrum of clinical presentations. The medical community seeks clinical features to prompt evaluation for immunodeficiency given improved prognosis with early identification. We hoped to identify clinical characteristics that would improve the diagnostic accuracy of the widely disseminated Jeffrey Modell Foundation warning signs for immunodeficiency. We performed a retrospective chart review in a two-center North American cohort of patients with PID. Charts of 137 pediatric and 400 adult patients with PID were evaluated for the presence of these warning signs and compared to controls with normal preliminary biochemical immune evaluation. Fewer than 45% of adults with PID presented with ≥ 2 warning signs, while diagnostic utility was improved in the pediatric population where the warning signs were found to be 64% sensitive. The warning signs found in a significantly increased proportion compared to controls differed for pediatric PID patients (recurrent pneumonia (OR 2.9, p < 0.001), failure to thrive (OR 2.1, p < 0.001), need for IV antibiotics (OR 2.1, p < 0.001), serious bacterial infection (OR 4.8, p < 0.001), recurrent otitis media (OR 1.5, p = 0.027)), versus adult PID patients (recurrent otitis media (OR 2.9, p < 0.001), recurrent sinusitis (OR 2.1, p < 0.001), diarrhea with weight loss (OR 2.2, p < 0.001), recurrent viral infection (OR 3.3 p < 0.001)). In evaluation for additional criteria to promote identification of immunodeficiency, linear regression models showed slightly improved diagnostic accuracy of the warning signs with the addition of autoimmunity in our pediatric PID cohort (8.7% v 2.8%, p < 0.001, ROC 0.58). Adult PID patients demonstrated atopy more frequently than controls (48.0% vs 40.3%, p = 0.011), while atopy was found to have a negative association with the presence of PID in the pediatric age group (OR 0.3, p < 0.01). No improvement in diagnostic accuracy of the warning signs was found with the addition of allergic disease, autoimmunity, or malignant and benign proliferative disease in the adult cohort. We demonstrate poor diagnostic performance of warning signs for immunodeficiency in patients with PID in a retrospective chart review. Divergent warning signs of statistically significant diagnostic utility were found in pediatric versus adult patients. We suggest education of physicians on differing presentations of possible immunodeficiency between age groups, and expansion of the warning signs to include non-infectious comorbidities such as autoimmunity in pediatric patients.
The Vicegerent of God? Adam Smith on the Authority of the Impartial Spectator

It has been claimed that Adam Smith, like David Hume, has a ‘reflective endorsement’ account of the authority of morality. On such a view, our moral faculties and notions are justified insofar as t...
The Motivational Sources of Creativity as Viewed from the Paradigm of Positive Psychology

Appearing at the dawn of a new paradigm, this volume affords a chance to reflect about the goals of the emerging psychology of strengths, its promise, and its limits. With Seligman, Csikszentmihalyi elsewhere has discussed psychology’s long neglect of positive functioning and identified some of the key problems that a positive psychology ought to address in the coming years (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi 2000). In the present chapter, we draw on work on optimal experience and development, in particular work on creativity, to illustrate the promise of a strengths approach.
Percutaneous image-guided ablation: From techniques to treatments

Summary Image-guided ablation is performed by percutaneously introducing ablation probes to deliver energy into a tumor to destroy it in a controlled and localized fashion. Ablation modalities can be broadly classified as thermal or non-thermal based on the mechanism of tumor destruction and are performed using different types of image guidance for planning, delivering and follow-up of the treatment. Ablation is performed in a minimally invasive fashion, providing greater residual organ preservation with minimal morbidity to the patient. Image-guided ablation is being used in the clinic for the treatment of primary and metastatic tumors, and this article reviews state of the art for the treatment of malignancies in the liver, lung, kidney and musculoskeletal tissue. In this issue Editorial: Interventional Oncology: the new pillar of oncology. F.H. Cornelis, J.P. Lotz (France) Percutaneous image-guided ablation: from techniques to treatments. F. Ridouani al. (USA) Percutaneous image-guided renal ablations: current evidences for long term oncologic efficacy. M. Nouri-Neuville M et al. (France) Percutaneous Image-guided therapies of primary liver tumors: techniques and outcomes. M. Ben Ammar et al. (France) Interventional oncologic procedures for pain palliation. D.F. Filippiadis et al. (Greece, France)
Endoscopic Management of Weight Regain

Bariatric and metabolic surgery remains the most effective long-term treatment option for obesity and its associated comorbidities. However, following bariatric surgery, a significant proportion of patients experience weight recidivism or fail to achieve significant weight loss. The etiology behind these weight trajectories can be multifactorial, and a variety of endoscopic treatment approaches are available that form part of a comprehensive treatment approach for these patients. With the increasing number of bariatric surgeries being performed, endoscopists should become familiar with available techniques and consider adding them to their endoscopic skill set. This chapter will review the endoscopic treatments for weight regain, with a focus on endoscopic transoral outlet reduction (TORe) using full-thickness suturing in the post Roux-en-Y bypass surgery population.
Should Preoperative Fascia Iliaca Block Be Used for Hip Arthroscopic Labral Repair and Femoroacetabular Impingement Treatment? A Prospective Single Blinded Randomized Study.

Purpose To evaluate the analgesic effect of preoperative fascia iliaca block on postoperative morphine equivalent dose, pain level, and patient satisfaction for patients electing to undergo primary hip arthroscopic labral repair with osteochondroplasty. Methods This prospective study included 60 patients (fascia iliaca block group: n = 27; control group: n = 33) undergoing elective arthroscopic hip surgery by a single board-certified orthopedic surgeon, fellowship trained in hip arthroscopy. Participants for the study included patients older than 10 years of age and younger than 85 years of age, American Society of Anesthesiologists classifications I to III, diagnosed with symptomatic femoroacetabular impingement, and/or hip labral tear, and/or cartilage damage, and electing to undergo arthroscopic hip surgery. Patients were randomized by surgical date to receive preoperative fascia iliaca block or control (no fascia iliaca block). Preoperative fascia iliaca block was administered by 1 of 4 board certified anesthesiologists using identical anesthetic (35-40 mL ropivacaine 0.35%). Postoperative morphine equivalent dose, self-reported pain level (visual analog scale) and patient satisfaction were measure postoperatively. Results There were no significant differences between the control group and the fascia iliaca block group in sex, age, height, weight, or body mass index. There was a significant difference between the 2 groups in distribution of American Society of Anesthesiologists classification (p = .031). There were no significant differences in postoperative morphine equivalent dose for patients receiving fascia iliaca block compared with the control group. There were no significant differences in self-reported visual analog scale pain and patient satisfaction between the 2 groups at any of the measured time points following surgery. Conclusions Based on the results of this study, routine preoperative fascia iliaca block for elective hip arthroscopic labral repair and treatment of femoroacetabular impingement is not recommended. Level of Evidence Level II, prospective single blinded randomized study.
The impact of mHealth interventions: Improving health outcomes through narratives, mixed methods, and data mining strategies

Abstract Mobile health (mHealth) interventions provide opportunities and challenges for self-management of healthcare. As scholars explore the future of mHealth interventions, it is important to consider the end user to focus on the increasingly important nature of the personalized healthcare experience. To do this, mixed-method approaches are offered to effectively personalize these experiences. Narrative approaches in mHealth interventions can provide improved behavioral outcomes, patient compliance, and improved self-efficacy. To better gather and evaluate mHealth interventions, data science approaches through mining can benefit mHealth interventions in their design, user experience, and evaluation. These approaches are outlined in tandem with examples and suggestions for their use in practice. This chapter is concluded with suggestions for future directions that make use of these strategies to build optimal mHealth interventions that serve the broader public.
Lack of Syndecan-1 produces significant alterations in whole-body composition, metabolism and glucose homeostasis in mice.

Lack of Syndecan-1 produces significant alterations in whole-body composition, metabolism and glucose homeostasis in mice
Improved Spatial Processing Through High-Fidelity Antenna Modeling

This paper describes an extension to a traditional spatial-processing algorithm which uses additional information available from recently developed high-fidelity antenna models. The paper provides the algorithmic extension's full mathematical derivation which incorporates the detailed gain and polarization information from an antenna array's individual elements and the desired and undesired communication nodes' antennas. A practical scenario in which an array of antenna elements is mounted on a representative body demonstrates the algorithmic extension's performance. In this scenario a computational electromagnetic solver first generates each array element's gain and polarization data, accounting for the presence of the body and the other elements, to populate each element's high-fidelity model. The algorithmic extension then uses these models to simultaneously achieve high effective gain in the direction of a desired communication node and very low effective gains in the directions of multiple undesired communication nodes.
Quantifying Socio-economic Context from Overhead Imagery

Discerning regional political volatility is valuable for successful policy development by government and commercial entities, and necessitates having an understanding of the underlying economic, social, and political environment. Some methods of obtaining the environment information, such as global public opinion surveys, are expensive and slow to complete. We explore the feasibility of gleaning comparable information through automated image processing with a premium on freely available commercial satellite imagery. Previous work demonstrated success in predicting survey responses related to wealth, poverty, and crime in rural Afghanistan and Botswana, by utilizing spatially coinciding high resolution satellite images to develop models. We extend these findings by using similar image features to predict survey responses regarding political and economic sentiment. We also explore the feasibility of predicting survey responses with models built from Sentinel 2 satellite imagery, which is coarser-resolution, but freely available. Our fidings reiterate the potential for cheaply and quickly discerning the socio-politico-economic context of a region solely through satellite image features. We show a number of models and their cross-validated performance in predicting survey responses, and conclude with comments and recommendations for future work.
Demographic Characteristics, Cigarette Smoking, and e-Cigarette Use Among US Adults.

Understanding how electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are used by current, former, and never cigarette smokers may inform public health actions and tobacco regulations. Therefore, we examined the distribution of e-cigarette use, also called vaping, in the 2018-2019 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey, the largest nationally representative tobacco use survey of US adults.
Journalism and the Voice Intelligence Industry

The voice intelligence industry is an emerging sector of society that involves smart speakers, car information systems, customer service calls to contact centers, and “connected-home” devices such ...
Demographic Variations in Patient Populations and Regional Distributions Between Male and Female Ophthalmologists in the United States: Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Purpose: To determine if patient demographics differ by ophthalmologist gender.Methods: Demographic data on U.S. ophthalmologists were collected from the 2017 Medicare Physician and Other Supplier National Provider Identifier Aggregate Report.Results: Of the 17,230 ophthalmologists included, female ophthalmologists (23.7%) provided care for a smaller proportion of White patients (77.4% ± 24.9% female, 81.0% ± 22.1% male; p < .001), had younger beneficiaries (73.8 ± 3.2 years old females, 74.8 ± 2.9 years old males; p < .001) and had a higher proportion of female beneficiaries per provider (61.1% ± 4.6% females, 59.6% ± 4.0% males; p < .001). Average age of beneficiaries and number of beneficiaries were correlated with years since medical school (rho = 0.283, rho = 0.148; both p < .001). The number of Medicare beneficiaries, proportion of female beneficiaries, years since medical school and group practice size were independently associated with physician gender (p < .001).Conclusion: Female ophthalmologists saw a larger proportion of ethnically diverse, younger, female patients.
Interfacial Trap-Assisted Triplet Generation in Lead Halide Perovskite Sensitized Solid-State Upconversion

Photon upconversion via triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) has promise for overcoming the Shockley-Queisser limit for single-junction solar cells by allowing the utilization of sub-bandgap photons. Recently, bulk perovskites have been employed as sensitizers in solid-state upconversion devices to circumvent poor exciton diffusion in previous nanocrystal (NC)-sensitized devices. However, an in-depth understanding of the underlying photophysics of perovskite-sensitized triplet generation is still lacking due to the difficulty of precisely controlling interfacial properties of fully solution-processed devices. In this study, interfacial properties of upconversion devices are adjusted by a mild surface solvent treatment, specifically altering perovskite surface properties without perturbing the bulk perovskite. Thermal evaporation of the annihilator precludes further solvent contamination. Counterintuitively, devices with more interfacial traps show brighter upconversion. Approximately an order of magnitude difference in upconversion brightness is observed across different interfacial solvent treatments. Sequential charge transfer and interfacial trap-assisted triplet sensitization are demonstrated by comparing upconversion performance, transient photoluminescence dynamics, and magnetic field dependence of the devices. Incomplete triplet conversion from transferred charges and consequent triplet-charge annihilation (TCA) are also observed. The observations highlight the importance of interfacial control and provide guidance for further design and optimization of upconversion devices using perovskites or other semiconductors as sensitizers.
Cost effectiveness of conventionally and solar powered monovalent selective electrodialysis for seawater desalination in greenhouses

Abstract Reverse osmosis is the most widely used desalination technology for treating irrigation water. Reverse osmosis removes both monovalent ions detrimental to crops ( Na + , Cl − ) and divalent ions beneficial for crops ( Ca 2 + , Mg 2 + , SO 4 2 − ) . Fertilizer must then be added to the desalinated water to reintroduce these nutrients. Unlike reverse osmosis, monovalent selective electrodialysis selectively removes monovalent ions while retaining divalent ions in the desalinated water. This paper investigates the monovalent selectivity and cost effectiveness of the widely-used Neosepta and new Fujifilm monovalent selective electrodialysis membranes in treating seawater for irrigation. Membrane selectivity, limiting current, and resistance are experimentally characterized. These system parameters are inputs to the developed cost model, which determines fertilizer and water savings, as well as operating and capital costs, relative to reverse osmosis; the primary operating cost difference stems from reverse osmosis’s significantly lower energy consumption. Given prices of commercially available membranes, monovalent selective electrodialysis costs an average of 30% more than reverse osmosis. At the projected sales price of Fujifilm membranes, which are still under development, monovalent selective electrodialysis costs an average of 10% more than reverse osmosis; if electricity costs are less than 0.08 $/kWh, monovalent selective electrodialysis is on par with reverse osmosis. Regardless of membrane price and electricity cost, solar-powered desalination is only economical if photovoltaic capital costs are significantly reduced to 0.10–0.20 $/kWh. When monovalent selective electrodialysis exceeds reverse osmosis cost, the financial requirements for competitive monovalent selective electrodialysis (e.g., energy consumption, electricity cost, energy source, membrane cost) are evaluated.
Elbow Ultrasound

Purpose of the Review With high resolution real-time and dynamic imaging capabilities, ultrasound is an excellent imaging modality for the evaluation of the elbow. With the foundational understanding of elbow anatomy and pathology, ultrasound of the elbow can positively impact clinical care with both diagnostic examination and image-guided injections and treatments.
The Public Face of Scholarship

The web enables scholars to engage in several types of what I have called “amateur journalism.” Of particular interest is scholars’ ability to effectively leverage their expertise in commenting on matters of public interest. This form of expert engagement has the potential to reshape the relationship between academic experts and professional journalists and change the tone and content of public discussion THE PUBLIC FACE OF SCHOLARSHIP
A Study of the Organizational Effectiveness of Clinics Serving the Poor: A Dual-Goal Approach

This paper reports on a study of the organizational effectiveness of small human service organizations serving indigent clients. Four important organizational activities of public health clinics were evaluated, namely providing services acceptable to clients, obtaining and retaining clients, resolving tension and conflict among the members of clinic staff, and maintaining organizational flexibility. Within a goal framework based on the dual-goal concept, the activities were identified either as externally -or internally-oriented goal activities. The extent to which the clinics carried out these activities was investigated by administering questionnaires to 709 indigent clients and 133 members of clinic staffs at 18 clinics. Findings concern the attainment of organizational goals, the interrelatedness of achievements of various effectiveness measures, and structural and human characteristics of the clinic organizations associated with the achievements.
IDEF method-based simulation model design and development framework

The purpose of this study is to provide an IDEF method-based integrated framework for a business process simulation model to reduce the model development time by increasing the communication and knowledge reusability during a simulation project. In this framework, simulation requirements are collected by a function modeling method (IDEF0) and a process modeling method (IDEF3). Based on these requirements, a common data model is constructed using the IDEF1X method. From this reusable data model, multiple simulation models are automatically generated using a database-driven simulation model development approach. The framework is claimed to help both requirement collection and experimentation phases during a simulation project by improving system knowledge, model reusability, and maintainability through the systematic use of three descriptive IDEF methods and the features of the relational database technologies. A complex semiconductor fabrication case study was used as a testbed to evaluate and illustrate the concepts and the framework. Two different simulation software products were used to develop and control the semiconductor model from the same knowledge base. The case study empirically showed that this framework could help improve the simulation project processes by using IDEF-based descriptive models and the relational database technology. Authors also concluded that this framework could be easily applied to other analytical model generation by separating the logic from the data.
ANGLING FOR A STRANGLEHOLD ON THE DEATH PENALTY

Responding to Elizabeth Rottenberg's invitation to consider good signs, I first raise a question about “good” and “too good” signs by referring to a letter of Louis Althusser's that describes the risk that “too good” signs will be misread. I then turn to the distinction Rottenberg makes between deconstructive signs and Immanuel Kant's historical signs. Borrowing an image from Jacques Derrida's The Animal That Therefore I Am (2008), I suggest that we think of the task of abolition of the death penalty as requiring a particular kind of strangulation of Kantian discourse, a strangulation that would reach the center of its nervous system and disarm its powers without putting it to death. Finally, I turn to a recent initiative by a Belgian nongovernmental organization (Groupe d'action dans l'interet des animaux or Global Action in the Interest of Animals [GAIA]) in their campaign to abolish the practice of castrating piglets without anesthetic, reading it as an example of a strategy that mobilizes the discourse of rights while at the same time undermining the sovereign power that sustains it. This provides an image of the sort of stranglehold with a certain lightness of touch that, I argue, Derrida's work on the death penalty prescribes as the task for unconditional abolition.
An Open Letter to Justice Clarence Thomas from a Federal Judicial Colleague

(This essay is extracted from the complete text of the “Open Letter to Justice Clarence Thomas…” published by the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Volume 140, Number 3, January 1992. The complete text and reprints are available from the Review, care of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.)
Efficient Synchronized Data Distribution Management in Distributed Simulations

Data distribution management (DDM) is a mechanism to interconnect data producers and data consumers in a distributed application. Data producers provide useful data to consumers in the form of messages. For each message produced, DDM determines the set of data consumers interested in receiving the message and delivers it to those consumers. We are particularly interested in DDM techniques for parallel and distributed discrete event simulations. Thus far, researchers have treated synchronization of events (i.e. time management) and DDM independent of each other. This research focuses on how to realize time managed DDM mechanisms. The main reason for time-managed DDM is to ensure that changes in the routing of messages from producers to consumers occur in a correct sequence. Also time managed DDM avoids non-determinism in the federation execution, which may result in non-repeatable executions. An “optimistic” approach to time managed DDM is proposed where one allows DDM events to be processed out of time stamp order, but a detection and recovery procedure is used to recover from such errors. These mechanisms are tailored to the semantics of the DDM operations to ensure an efficient realization. A correctness proof is presented to verify the algorithm correctly synchronizes DDM events. We have developed a fully distributed implementation of the algorithm within the framework of the Georgia Tech Federated Simulation Development Kit (FDK) software. A performance evaluation of the synchronized DDM mechanism has been completed in a loosely coupled distributed system consisting of a network of workstations connected over a local area network (LAN). We compare time-managed versus unsynchronized DDM for two applications that exercise different mobility patterns: one based on a military simulation and a second utilizing a synthetic workload. The experiments and analysis illustrate that synchronized DDM performance depends on several factors: the simulation's model (e.g. lookahead), application's mobility patterns and the network hardware (e.g. size of network buffers). Under certain mobility patterns, time-managed DDM is as efficient as unsynchronized DDM. There are also mobility patterns where time-managed DDM overheads become significant, and we show how they can be reduced.