cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factors associated with blood transfusion during intracranial aneurysm surgery.

Abstract Study objective The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors associated with intraoperative blood transfusions in patients presenting for intracranial aneurysm surgery in the current era of more restrictive transfusion guidelines. Design Retrospective observational cohort study with stepwise, multivariate binary logistic regression analysis. Setting Tertiary care university teaching hospital. Patients Four hundred seventy-one consecutive patients undergoing intracranial aneurysm surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago, IL) from 2006 to 2012. Intervention Red blood cell transfusion (retrospective observational). Measurements Demographic data, medical comorbidities, hemoglobin levels, Hunt-Hess grades, intracranial aneurysm characteristics, presenting intracranial bleeding states, estimated blood losses, transfused red blood cells, and blood products. Main results Forty-six patients (9.5%) received intraoperative red blood cell transfusions. Preoperative risk factors associated with transfusions were highly related to aneurysm rupture, including such parameters as older age ( P P P P 10 mm; P = .03), intraventricular hemorrhage ( P P = .02). Binary logistic regression modeling identified age ( P P 10 mm; P = .003), elevated Hunt-Hess grade ( P = .021), and intraoperative rupture ( P = .013) as independent predictors of intraoperative red blood cell transfusion. Conclusion The incidence of intraoperative red blood cell transfusion in intracranial aneurysm surgery in our patient cohort was 9.5%, and the most significant factors associated with transfusion were presenting hemoglobin level less than 11.7 g/dL and age greater than 52 years. It would seem advisable that these patients undergo routine type and cross-matching of red blood cells before intracranial aneurysm surgery.
Analysis of Airfoil Stall Control Using Dynamic Mode Decomposition

Airfoil stall is a major inhibitor of aircraft performance. Many methods have been successfully shown to inhibit or eliminate stall. However, the underlying dynamics of control remains relatively o...
Abstract P043: Estradiol Treatment Duration Significantly Impacts Renal Health in Midlife Ovariectomized Female Long Evans Rats

Current clinical recommendations are that hormone therapy for the treatment of menopausal symptoms be limited to a few years. Our lab previously reported that both transient (40 days) and sustained (80 days) estradiol (E2) treatment initiated immediately after midlife ovariectomy (OVX) in Long Evans rats similarly attenuated OVX-induced increases in blood pressure (BP). This study indicated that the benefits of E2 could be maintained long after treatment cessation. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to determine whether E2 duration similarly protected against renal damage. We hypothesized that both transient and sustained E2 treatment exert positive effects on renal health in midlife OVX Long Evans female rats. Female retired breeders underwent OVX at 11 months of age and received an implant of E2 or vehicle (veh). After 40 days, implants were replaced comprising the following groups: veh>veh (n=9), E2>E2 (n=7), E2>veh (n=10). Animals were placed in metabolic cages at both the 40 and 80 day treatment time points to measure proteinuria, urinary peptides, and creatinine excretion. At the end of the 80 day treatment tissue weights were obtained. Interestingly, kidney hypertrophy was significantly increased in the E2>E2 when analyzed as raw wet weight (veh: 1.0 ± 0.05 g; E2>veh: 0.95 ± 0.02; E2>E2: 1.2 ± 0.04; P veh: 2.5 ± 0.03; E2>E2: 2.9 ± 0.11; P veh: 6.4 ± 0.4; E2>E2: 7.6 ± 0.7; P=0.29). However, there was a significant increase in proteinuria measured by the Bradford assay in the E2>E2 group (veh: 2.0 ± 0.8 mg/mgCr; E2>veh: 0.9 ± 0.3; E2>E2: 6.8 ± 2.6; P E2 group also had a significantly lower percentage of urinary peptides (veh: 96 ± 0.8%; E2>veh: 97 ± 0.7%; E2>E2: 79 ± 8.1%; P<0.05), indicating impaired renal function. These results indicate that in midlife OVX Long Evans rats, sustained E2 lowered BP but exerted detrimental effects on kidney function. In contrast, transient E2 treatment lowered BP without renal impairment. Overall, our results indicate that the period of exposure to estradiol may be important for renal health in aging postmenopausal women.
Layer-by-Layer-Assembled Laccase Enzyme on Stimuli-Responsive Membranes for Chloro-Organics Degradation

Functionalized membranes provide versatile platforms for the incorporation of biocatalysts and nanostructured materials for efficient and benign environmental remediation. The existing techniques for remediating chloro-organics in water consist of both physical and chemical means mostly using metal oxide-based catalysts, despite associated environmental concerns. To offer bioinspired remediation as an alternative, we herein demonstrate a layer-by-layer approach to immobilize laccase enzyme onto pH-responsive functionalized membranes for the degradation of chloro-organics in water. The efficacy of these bioinspired membranes toward dechlorination of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) is demonstrated under a pressure-driven continuous flow mode (convective flow) for the first time to the best of our knowledge. Over 80% of the initial TCP was degraded at an optimum flow rate under an applied air pressure of about 0.7 bar or lower. This corresponds to degradation of a substantial amount of the initial substrate in only 36 s residence time, whereas it takes hours for degradation in a batch reaction. This, in fact, demonstrates an energy efficient flow-through system with potentially large-scale applications. Comparison of the stability of the enzyme in the solution phase versus immobilized on the membrane phase showed a loss of some 65% of enzyme activity in the solution phase after 22 d, whereas the membrane-bound enzyme lost only a negligible percentage of the activity in a comparable time span. Finally, the membrane was exposed to rigorous cycles of TCP degradation trials to study its reusability. The primary results reveal a loss of only 14% of the initial activity after 4 cycles of use in a period of 25 d, demonstrating its potential to be reused. Regeneration of the functionalized membrane was also validated by dislodging the immobilized enzyme, followed by immobilization of fresh enzyme onto the membrane.
The Effects of Polyvictimization and Quality of Caregiver Attachment on Disclosure of Illegal Sexual Behavior

The current study examined the relationship among self-disclosure of illegal sexual behaviors and two conceptually relevant constructs in psychotherapy: childhood polyvictimization (i.e., cumulative types of victimization experienced during childhood) and caregiver attachment. Participants consisted of 63 adolescent males participating in mandated treatment for illegal sexual behavior. Childhood polyvictimization and caregiver attachment were expected to predict self-disclosure of illegal sexual behaviors. Quality of caregiver attachment was also expected to mediate the relationship between polyvictimization and disclosure. Consistent with our main hypothesis, results indicate that quality of caregiver attachment mediated the relationship between childhood polyvictimization and self-disclosure of illegal sexual behaviors in psychotherapy. The current findings highlight the impact of polyvictimization on important therapeutic processes as well as the importance of assessing for multiple types of victimization in adolescents who engage in illegal sexual behavior. Further clinical implications regarding the use of trauma-informed approaches during sex offender treatment are discussed.
What Is Prosocial Behavior’s Connection to Leadership?

This chapter begins by exploring personal power, antisocial behavior and the current trend in organizations to shift away from antisocial treatment of employees. The chapter then considers prosocial behavioral theory, which acts as an anchor for the prosocial leadership and the prosocial leadership development process defined in Chaps. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. The chapter resolves by considering existing connections between ethical leadership theories and prosocial behavior.
Enthüllung verborgener Beziehungen

Princeton liegt ungefahr eine Zugstunde von New York City entfernt und sieht aus wie eine typische Vorstadt des Nordostens. Das Institute for Advanced Study, unter Wissenschaftlern einfach „The Institute“ genannt, liegt von Baumen umgeben am Stadtrand von Princeton. Die Umgebung ist ruhig und malerisch: Enten schwimmen auf kleinen Teichen, und die Baume spiegeln sich im Wasser. Das Institut besteht aus mehreren zwei- und dreistockigen Backsteinbauten im Stil der 1950er Jahre, und es strahlt intellektuelle Kraft aus. Spaziert man durch die stillen Gange und die Hauptbibliothek, kann man sich der geschichtstrachtigen Ausstrahlung kaum erwehren. Hier wirkten Einstein und andere Grosen.
Evaluation of Driver Car-Following Behavior Models for Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control Systems:

A cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) system targeted to obtain a high level of user acceptance must replicate the driving experience in each CACC vehicle without compromising the occupant’s comfort. “User acceptance” can be defined as the safety and comfort of the occupant in the CACC vehicle in terms of acceptable vehicle dynamics (i.e., the maximum acceleration or deceleration) and string stability (i.e., the fluctuations in the vehicle’s position, speed, and acceleration). The primary objective of this study was to develop an evaluation framework for the application of a driver car-following behavior model in CACC system design to ensure user acceptance in terms of vehicle dynamics and string stability. The authors adopted two widely used driver car-following behavior models, (a) the optimum velocity model (OVM) and (b) the intelligent driver model (IDM), to prove the efficacy of the evaluation framework developed in this research for CACC system design. A platoon of six vehicles was simulated ...
Editing peptide presentation to T cells.

In mammals, two types of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, MHC I and MHC II, are found on the surface of cells in association with peptides. If these peptides are antigenic—that is, if they induce an immune response—the resulting MHC I–peptide complexes are recognized by CD8+ T cells, which are effector immune cells, whereas MHC II-peptide complexes are recognized by CD4+ T cells, which facilitate both humoral and cellular immune responses. MHC I and MHC II clasp the peptides in a binding groove consisting of two antiparallel α helices that overlay an eight-stranded β sheet. On pages [1064][1] and [1060][2] of this issue, Jiang et al. ( 1 ) and Thomas and Tampe ( 2 ) reveal how peptide binding to MHC I molecules is regulated. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aao5154 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aao6001
MYC Drives a Subset of High-Risk Pediatric Neuroblastomas and Is Activated through Mechanisms Including Enhancer Hijacking and Focal Enhancer Amplification

The amplified MYCN gene serves as an oncogenic driver in approximately 20% of high-risk pediatric neuroblastomas. Here, we show that the family member MYC is a potent transforming gene in a separate subset of high-risk neuroblastoma cases (∼10%), based on (i) its upregulation by focal enhancer amplification or genomic rearrangements leading to enhancer hijacking, and (ii) its ability to transform neuroblastoma precursor cells in a transgenic animal model. The aberrant regulatory elements associated with oncogenic MYC activation include focally amplified distal enhancers and translocation of highly active enhancers from other genes to within topologically associating domains containing the MYC gene locus. The clinical outcome for patients with high levels of MYC expression is virtually identical to that of patients with amplification of the MYCN gene, a known high-risk feature of this disease. Together, these findings establish MYC as a bona fide oncogene in a clinically significant group of high-risk childhood neuroblastomas.Significance: Amplification of the MYCN oncogene is a recognized hallmark of high-risk pediatric neuroblastoma. Here, we demonstrate that MYC is also activated as a potent oncogene in a distinct subset of neuroblastoma cases through either focal amplification of distal enhancers or enhancer hijacking mediated by chromosomal translocation. Cancer Discov; 8(3); 320-35. ©2017 AACR.This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 253.
Intercultural Competence in Short-Term Study Abroad.

Assessment is growing for short-term study abroad as the majority of students (63.1%) continue to choose this option (Institute of International Education, 2016). This study examines possible gains and factors influencing such gains in students’ overall intercultural competency following participation in a short-term program. Using the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES) survey distributed before, after, and three months following the study abroad experience, data was analyzed for fifty-five students across eight different short-term programs at three distinct institutions within the state of Texas. Document analysis of program syllabi also looked at connections to structured activities and assignments. The results demonstrate the potential for short-term study abroad programs ranging from two to five weeks to have significant impacts on students’ self-perceived intercultural competency that appear most affected by intentional structures. These findings support recommended practices of using well-defined activities and assignments, incorporating opportunities for meaningful local interaction, and providing planned re-entry.
Using an Alternate Light Source (ALS) to Search for Surface Deposited Skeletal Remains

Searches for skeletal remains can be complicated by taphonomic processes that result in the disarticulation, fragmentation, and redistribution of remains. The consequence is often an incomplete recovery, with small bones, fragments, and teeth especially susceptible to being overlooked during a search. Here we test whether supplementing a traditional line search with a second search using an alternate light source (ALS), performed after dark, will result in the recovery of additional skeletal remains. Using 48 surface-scattered Sus scrofa bones and teeth, all measuring less than ~1.5” (4 cm), three search approaches were tested: (1) a daytime line search only; (2) a nighttime ALS search only; and (3) a daytime line search followed by a nighttime ALS search. Results indicate that search approaches involving an ALS (either alone or in combination with a daytime line search) located significantly more remains than a daytime line search alone (p < 0.001). It is recommended that traditional line searches be supplemented with an ALS search when possible, which is likely to increase the quantity of skeletal remains located. KEYWORDS: Forensic anthropology, alternate light source (ALS), skeletal remains, surface scatter, search and recovery
How good is the respiratory subscore of ALSFRS-R? (P4.444)

Objective: Examine the sensitivity of the respiratory subscore (RespSS) of the revised ALS functional rating scale (ALSFRS-R) as a measure of respiratory dysfunction in ALS, and explore utilization of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) from responses to question 12 of ALSFRS-R. Background: The RespSS attempts to quantify respiratory dysfunction from symptoms, but its reliability as a prognostic marker has been questioned. Design/Methods: Forced vital capacity (expressed as percent of normal, or FVC%) and ALSFRS-R (including RespSS) obtained on the same day were extracted from the PRO-ACT dataset. FVC% was taken as the objective criterion of respiratory dysfunction. Logistic regression and mixed-effects models were constructed to examine the relationship of RespSS and FVC. Results: A total of 8742 same-day measurement of FVC% and ALSFRS-R was obtained in 1874 patients. Median (interquartile range) initial FVC% and RespSS were 85% (75–96%) and 12 (11–12) respectively. Mean rates of decline for FVC% and RespSS were −2.65%/month and −0.17 points/month respectively. RespSS and FVC% were moderately correlated (r=0.46), but their relationship was curvilinear. Decline registered on RespSS only after FVC% dropped below 80%. and the RespSS declined progressively more rapidly with further decline in FVC%. Question 10 of ALSFRS-R (about dyspnea) was the most sensitive, whereas question 12 (about NIV) was the least sensitive. Adjusted for FVC%, age, bulbar onset, and initial ALSFRS-R slope, women were less likely to utilize NIV (mark question 12). Of 935 instances when FVC% was 50% or less, NIV was employed only in 487 (52%). Of 250 instances when FVC% was 30% or less, NIV was not employed 84 (34%). Conclusions: RespSS is an insensitive marker of early respiratory dysfunction in ALS. Even in the PRO-ACT cohort that presumably received optimal care, NIV seems to have been under-utilized, especially by women. RespSS may benefit from revision. Disclosure: Dr. Thakore has received research support from Novartis. Dr. Lapin has nothing to disclose. Dr. Pioro has nothing to disclose.
An Ideal Compact Fusion Reactor Based on a Field-Reversed Configuration

Field-reversed configurations (FRC) have been recognized as possessing almost ideal fusion reactor characteristics from the point of view of engineering simplicity and maintainability. The external geometry is cylindrical while the internal magnetic field configuration is toroidal, allowing for both a simple magnetic confinement design and the possibility of good plasma confinement. FRCs are unique among all toroidal confinement concepts in not possessing any significant toroidal field. This necessitates a very high plasma beta, which provides for extreme compactness, but imposes very non-standard requirements for basic stability. Recent experimental results have gone far toward demonstrating this stability, and new experiments are underway toward developing other aspects along the FRC reactor development path. If successful, these experiments could represent a breakthrough in fusion reactor attractiveness. 7 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.
Obstetrician–gynecologists’ counseling regarding postpartum sterilization

Introduction Obstetrician-gynecologists (ob-gyns) play a prominent role in counseling patients regarding sterilization, offering alternative contraception, fulfilling sterilization requests, and referring patients if unable to provide the service due to a personal moral belief. Therefore, we sought to better characterize the counseling practices of ob-gyns with respect to postpartum sterilization. Materials and methods This is a prospective, electronic survey-based study of 1,000 ob-gyn members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, half of whom are members of the Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network. Results A total of 188 of 957 surveyed physicians (19.6%) opened and responded to the survey, after accounting for exclusions. Age (31.9%), body mass index (28.7%), and medical history (27.1%) were the three most frequent reasons for an ob-gyn reported declining to perform sterilization in a patient requesting sterilization. Medical history (36.2%), parity (31.9%), and availability of alternative contraception (27.7%) were the three most frequent reasons that an ob-gyn reported recommending postpartum sterilization in a patient not requesting sterilization. Conclusion Our study has identified both medical and nonmedical factors that impact ob-gyns likelihood to recommend either toward or against postpartum sterilization. Nonmedical factors included clinical logistical issues such as availability of the operating room as well as considerations of a patient's age, parity, gestational age at delivery, and whether the husband was in agreement. Physicians should be cautious of inappropriately blending medical decision-making with paternalistic counseling.
No Sign of Landing: Airbus, Boeing, the WTO, and the Expanding Large Civil Aircraft Battle

The United States and the European Union have been in a long-term feud concerning subsidies in the Large Civil Aircraft industries since the late 80’s. Much of the disagreements have to do with either party believing that the other is funding their respective companies (Boeing & Airbus) with illegal subsidies, or with a subsidy that creates an adverse effect and thus still is a violation of the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. A large part of the subsidies problem stems from the failure of the Large Civil Aircraft companies and their respective WTO members to come up with a subsidies agreement for aircraft which would alleviate the burden created by trying to govern the industry based on the SCM Agreement. However, without this change, each government is still restricted by the SCM Agreement, thus they continue to try to find ways to subsidize their industries while still staying in bounds of the agreement. In 2014 the European Union filed a complaint with the WTO alleging that the United States had violated the SCM Agreement with Washington State’s Senate Bill 5952, which they believe created a contingency for domestic over imported goods, thus harming Airbus and the European Union. In September 2017, the Appellate Body reversed the previous Panel decision, and sided with the United States. More importantly, as this Article argues, the Appellate Body seemingly made it more challenging to find Article 3.1b violations, as well as potentially creating an incentive for Large Civil Aircraft companies and their Governments to use site based subsidies. This Article examines the new Appellate Body Report and its impact on site based incentives. Furthermore, this Article includes potential future actions in the LCA industry due to the Appellate Body Report.
A machine learning approach to predicting autism risk genes: Validation of known genes and discovery of new candidates

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition with a strong genetic basis. The role of de novo mutations in ASD has been well established, but the set of genes implicated to date is still far from complete. The current study employs a machine learning-based approach to predict ASD risk genes using features from spatiotemporal gene expression patterns in human brain, gene-level constraint metrics, and other gene variation features. The genes identified through our prediction model were enriched for independent sets of ASD risk genes, and tended to be differentially expressed in ASD brains, especially in the frontal and parietal cortex. The highest-ranked genes not only included those with strong prior evidence for involvement in ASD (for example, TCF20 and FBOX11), but also indicated potentially novel candidates, such as DOCK3, MYCBP2 and CAND1, which are all involved in neuronal development. Through extensive validations, we also showed that our method outperformed state-of-the-art scoring systems for ranking ASD candidate genes. Gene ontology enrichment analysis of our predicted risk genes revealed biological processes clearly relevant to ASD, including neuronal signaling, neurogenesis, and chromatin remodeling, but also highlighted other potential mechanisms that might underlie ASD, such as regulation of RNA alternative splicing and ubiquitination pathway related to protein degradation. Our study demonstrates that human brain spatiotemporal gene expression patterns and gene-level constraint metrics can help predict ASD risk genes. Our gene ranking system provides a useful resource for prioritizing ASD candidate genes.
Applying Neural Networks to Resonance Search in High Energy Physics

It is the aim of many modern experiments in high energy physics to discover and investigate the properties of rare particles. However, often so few of these particles are produced in an experiment that it is very difficult to discover their decay signature against the background. There are various techniques to suppress the background and thus to enhance the relative strength of the signal, but none of the techniques currently used is optimal. In view of the future operation of even larger accelerators, such as the Superconducting Supercollider, where a signal may occur once in a billion events, and millions of events will have to be analyzed each second, it is desirable to optimize the techniques for resonance search. Recently it has been suggested that neural networks may be used for this task. It is still unclear, however, whether neural networks can perform an unbiased data analysis or whether they may produce artificial signals due to information acquired during the training process.
The Importance of Formulating Insect Growth Regulators with Surfactants and their Blends for the Control of the Rice Weevil, Sitophilus Oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

The use of surfactants and their blends to improve the penetration of two insect growth regulators (IGRs; hydroprene and R-20458) into wheat kernels was investigated. It was found that formulation of IGRs with a surfactant, Tween-85 (polyoxyethylene trioleate), increased mortality and/or effectiveness of the IGRs. Formulation of hydroprene with a blend of Span-80 (sorbitan monooleate) with Tween-80 (polyoxyethylene monooleate) produced results comparable to those by hydroprene with Tween-85. However, formulations of IGRs with surfactants with high or low hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB), failed to provide suitable control of the weevil, probably due to the type of emulsions formed. The same results were obtained with hydroprene formulations with blends of Spans and Tweens, even though their HLBs were close to that of Tween-85. Residual half-life for hydroprene was about three months; formulations with Tween-85 or a blend of Span-80 did not enhance the residual activity for hydroprene in wheat.
Agronomic and physiological performance of indica/japonica hybrid rice cultivar under low nitrogen conditions

Abstract It is generally believed that indica/japonica hybrid rice (IJHR) cultivars have a higher yield potential under high nitrogen (N) supply, but it is not established whether IJHR could obtain a relatively high yield under low N conditions. In order to fill this gap of knowledge, six rice cultivars were examined in this study, consisting of three IJHR cultivars and three japonica hybrid rice (JHR) cultivars, all of which are prevalent in the lower Yangtze River plain. These cultivars were compared for grain yield and other closely-related agronomic and physiological traits under two N input treatments: one being a low application of N (LN) and the other a normal application of N (NN), in 2016 and 2017 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. Compared to JHR, IJHR showed grain yield increases of 15% under NN and 25% under LN. Relative to JHR, there are four main agronomic and physiological traits which are associated with IJHR’s superior yield performance under LN conditions. Firstly, IJHR has less redundant vegetative growth, evidenced by a higher percentage of productive tillers. Secondly, IJHR has the larger sink size, resulting from higher spikelet numbers per panicle and sufficient panicles per m2. Thirdly, IJHR exhibited increased shoot activity during the grain filling period, indicated by an increased accumulation of non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) in the stems at heading time, a higher percentage of NSC remobilization from stem to grains during the ripening period, higher enzyme activity in the grains’ sucrose-to-starch conversion process, and greater photosynthesis production during the ripening period. Finally, IJHR was seen to have improved root morpho-physiological traits, characterized by greater root biomass, deeper soil distribution at heading time, and higher root oxidation activity (ROA) during the ripening period. Our results suggest that IJHR’s improved agronomic and physiological traits will lead to improved yields under low N input conditions.
Question-Conditioned Counterfactual Image Generation for VQA.

While Visual Question Answering (VQA) models continue to push the state-of-the-art forward, they largely remain black-boxes - failing to provide insight into how or why an answer is generated. In this ongoing work, we propose addressing this shortcoming by learning to generate counterfactual images for a VQA model - i.e. given a question-image pair, we wish to generate a new image such that i) the VQA model outputs a different answer, ii) the new image is minimally different from the original, and iii) the new image is realistic. Our hope is that providing such counterfactual examples allows users to investigate and understand the VQA model's internal mechanisms.
Estimating the reference range from a meta-analysis

Often clinicians are interested in determining whether a subject's measurement falls within a normal range, defined as a range of values of a continuous outcome which contains some proportion (eg, 95%) of measurements from a healthy population. Several studies in the biomedical field have estimated reference ranges based on a meta-analysis of multiple studies with healthy individuals. However, the literature currently gives no guidance about how to estimate the reference range of a new subject in such settings. Instead, meta-analyses of such normative range studies typically report the pooled mean as a reference value, which does not incorporate natural variation across healthy individuals in different studies. We present three approaches to calculating the normal reference range of a subject from a meta-analysis of normally or lognormally distributed outcomes: a frequentist random effects model, a Bayesian random effects model, and an empirical approach. We present the results of a simulation study demonstrating that the methods perform well under a variety of scenarios, though users should be cautious when the number of studies is small and between-study heterogeneity is large. Finally, we apply these methods to two examples: pediatric time spent awake after sleep onset and frontal subjective postural vertical measurements.
A 17.8-MS/s Compressed Sensing Radar Accelerator Using a Spiking Neural Network

A prototype compressed sensing radar processor boosts the accuracy of target range and velocity estimations by over 6 $\times $ compared with conventional processing techniques. The prototype numerically solves basis pursuit denoising with a biologically plausible spiking neural network. A unique form of weight compression allows on-chip storage of all weights for the large fully connected network. Capable of producing over 200000 range-velocity scene reconstructions per second, the prototype improves throughput by 8 $\times $ and efficiency by 18 $\times $ over the state of the art.
Enterobactin- and salmochelin-β-lactam conjugates induce cell morphologies consistent with inhibition of penicillin-binding proteins in uropathogenic Escherichia coli CFT073

The design and synthesis of narrow-spectrum antibiotics that target a specific bacterial strain, species, or group of species is a promising strategy for treating bacterial infections when the causative agent is known. In this work, we report the synthesis and evaluation of four new siderophore-β-lactam conjugates where the broad-spectrum β-lactam antibiotics cephalexin (Lex) and meropenem (Mem) are covalently attached to either enterobactin (Ent) or diglucosylated Ent (DGE) via a stable polyethylene glycol (PEG3) linker. These siderophore-β-lactam conjugates showed enhanced minimum inhibitory concentrations against Escherichia coli compared to the parent antibiotics. Uptake studies with uropathogenic E. coli CFT073 demonstrated that the DGE-β-lactams target the pathogen-associated catecholate siderophore receptor IroN. A comparative analysis of siderophore-β-lactams harboring ampicillin (Amp), Lex and Mem indicated that the DGE-Mem conjugate is advantageous because it targets IroN and exhibits low minimum inhibitory concentrations, fast time-kill kinetics, and enhanced stability to serine β-lactamases. Phase-contrast and fluorescence imaging of E. coli treated with the siderophore-β-lactam conjugates revealed cellular morphologies consistent with the inhibition of penicillin-binding proteins PBP3 (Ent/DGE-Amp/Lex) and PBP2 (Ent/DGE-Mem). Overall, this work illuminates the uptake and cell-killing activity of Ent- and DGE-β-lactam conjugates against E. coli and supports that native siderophore scaffolds provide the opportunity for narrowing the activity spectrum of antibiotics in clinical use and targeting pathogenicity.
Acute Stroke Thrombectomy and Emergent Management of Tandem Cervical Dissections

Dissections are an uncommon but important cause of acute ischemic stroke, often resulting in both a proximal flow-limiting lesion as well as an intracranial embolic occlusion. Strategies for treatment and management are described.
Preparedness for the death of an elderly family member: A possible protective factor for pre-loss grief in informal caregivers

Abstract Background Pre-loss grief (PLG) has been identified as a robust risk factor for Prolonged Grief Disorder, which will be added to the DSM 5-TR. Therefore, identifying treatment targets to reduce PLG is warranted. “Preparedness” has been found to strongly predict PLG. The work is nascent and a consensus has not been reached about how best to assess for preparedness, and no reliable measure of this construct exists. Before examining the relationship between preparedness and PLG, an in depth understanding of how family members define preparedness is warranted. Objectives The purpose of this study was to develop a preliminary theoretical framework of preparedness for the loss. Methods This was achieved through prospective semi-structured interviews with family members of Stage 4 Cancer (N = 16) and Advanced Dementia (N = 24) patients. Results The overarching theme related to preparedness for the loss was the need to reduce uncertainty, both before the person passes away (i.e., present certainty) and after the person passes away (i.e., future certainty). Factors associated with the need to establish certainty in the present included, religiosity and spirituality, good relationship quality with the person with the life limiting illness, having access to support, good communication with person with life limiting illness, and acceptance of the impending death. Certainty for the future included, knowing what to expect due to past experience of loss, having plans for life without the person, and social support. Conclusion This study provides a preliminary framework of preparedness for family members of individuals with life limiting illness.
The Syllabus Reconstructed: An Analysis of Traditional and Visual Syllabi for Information Retention and Inclusiveness:

The current research examines whether a visual syllabus aids in information retention compared to a traditional text-based syllabus. The data derive from two lower-division sociology classes, each ...
Assessing Factors Associated With Altmetric Attention Score: A Preliminary Study of 3 Hand Surgery Journals.

BackgroundTraditional measures of evaluating scholarly output do not capture the impact social media can provide in disseminating and promoting research. We sought to better understand the level of...
The Lived Experience of Nurses Caring for Patients Diagnosed With Intravenous Drug Use-Associated Infective Endocarditis in Appalachia: A Phenomenological Study.

BACKGROUND:The number of patients admitted with infective endocarditis (IE) from intravenous drug use (IVDU) in Appalachia is increasing, a direct downstream effect of the opioid crisis. Extant lit...
Product Quality Perceptions of Asian and U.S. Firms in the Electronics Industry

Survey data obtained from both U.S. and Asian firms in the electronics industry were analyzed using factor analytic methodology. The result was development of a “quality inventory” indicated by a set of factors which best represents the quality perceptions. Among the factors, communication among different departments and levels within an organization, managerial commitment to quality, responsiveness to both external and internal customers demands were found to be significant. Next, firms were classified in two groups (U.S. and Asian) using the condensed quality dimensions (factors) as the set of predictor variables to shed light into the importance of these variables in the two groups. Discriminant analysis results indicate that American and Asian managers differ in terms of different dimensions of quality. Again, such variables as commitment to quality, communication, control and responsiveness are found to be important in discriminating between the two groups.
R Plasmids and Antibiotic Resistances

It has been estimated that at least 356 extra-chromosomal elements can introduce genetic information into Escherichia coli, an amount of exogenously contributed DNA, in the form of plasmids, equal to or greater than the DNA content of the E. coli chromosome. The mole fraction G+C values would provide a clue to their origin(s) since the E. coli chromosome has a G+C ratio of 0.50, in comparison with a G+C ratio of 0.38 for the Haemophilus influenzae chromosome. The author and his coworkers found mole fraction G+C values of 0.39 and 0.40 for plasmids RSF007 and RSF0885, respectively, values that are closer to those for H. influenzae than E. coli. To visualize in more detail the exact nature of the TnA sequence in both Haemophilus plasmids, they heteroduplexed each plasmid with R648, a replicon containing the entire ampicillin transposon with the added feature of one EcoRI cleavage site that served to orient TnA in heteroduplex analyses. The incidence of R-plasmid-mediated drug resistance among clinical isolates is most evident in highly selective environments such as intensive care units and burn wards, where the daily administration of high-potency antibiotics is often a necessity. The identities of two conjugative R plasmids isolated from bacterial strains from two gram-negative genera originating in a hospital burn unit were proved, by a variety of molecular techniques. Drug-resistant Pneumococcus strains cause otitis media meningitis among children in day-care centers, and in hospitals, clinicians grapple with multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus and Enterococcus species.
Anal Canal Cancer

Physical examination is an important part of the staging and planning process as well as adequate imaging studies. Standard studies include CT of the pelvis to assess the primary tumor and the status of regional lymph nodes. These tumors can be well visualized on PET, so a PET/CT scan is becoming a standard part of staging and planning to help delineate the extent of gross disease. However, areas of low uptake on PET should not supercede physical exam fi ndings or abnormalities seen on CT.
Fast Simulation of Optical Burst Switching Networks Using Simulated Annealing

The burst loss probability is considered as one of the most important performance indicators of optical burst switching (OBS) networks. Computer simulations are widely used in estimating burst loss probabilities in OBS networks, especially when analytical methods are not possible. However, as the number of wavelengths in an OBS network becomes large, burst losses can become rare events. In such cases, traditional simulation methods may take an exceedingly long time while still not yielding an estimate with acceptable confidence interval. In this paper, we propose a method based on Importance Sampling (IS) to accelerate the simulation. To optimize IS parameters in such an environment, we propose using Simulated Annealing (SA) to directly minimize the variance of IS estimators. The proposed method (SA-ISSC) is easy to use and efficient, while producing very favorable results.
TNFα /TNFα receptors in adult rat testis after ethylene dimethane sulfonate treatment (609.15)

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) is a multifunctional cytokine secreted in mammalian testis by germ cells, Sertoli cells and to some extent by macrophage; however TNF-α receptors are largely confined to Sertoli cells. TNF-α regulates different cellular processes pertinent to spermatogenesis including steroidogenesis, germ cell apoptosis, growth hormone function and inflammation. The Fas/FasL apoptotic pathway is the current model for depletion of Leydig cells with ethylene dimethane sulfonate (EDS) treated adult rat testis. We are investigating a potential role of TNF-α in EDS Leydig cell depletion as well as other tissue correlates. At 6, 15 and 24 hr post-EDS, using RT- and q-PCR we find that mRNA expression of Leydig cell markers, Lhr and Insl-3 declined by more than 85% and 3β-HSD declined by 97% at 24 hr after EDS compared to controls. Using TUNEL, a DNA fragmentation detection assay, we observed a time dependent loss of Leydig cells by apoptosis. Next, genes associated with inflammation, TNF-α was incr...
What Law Students THINK They Know about Elite Law Firms: Preliminary Results from a Survey of Third Year Law Students

There is a growing body of scholarship in the United States on the structure of elite law firms. Virtually all of this work, however, is written from the perspective of the firms themselves or the lawyers who work inside these institutions. Surprisingly little attention has been paid to the perspective of another group with an obvious interest in the structure and practice of large firms: law students. Consequently, we have almost no information about what law students know, or more accurately, think they know, about the practices of elite firms and how these practices are likely to affect their careers. This omission is important since perceptions are important both as a potential window on actual firm practices and as a significant influence on the strategic choices of students, firms, and law schools even if the perceptions prove to be incorrect. This paper begins to close this gap by reporting the preliminary results from a nationwide survey of third year law students at American law schools about hiring and promotion practices at elite law firms. The survey tests three hypothesis about elite firms: 1) that the hiring practices of these entities are more concerned with sorting prospective applicants on the basis of a few visible, rankable signals (such as law school status and grades) than on evaluating a candidate's substantive knowledge or skills, thereby leaving those with hiring authority substantial discretion to make decisions on the basis of subjective determinations about whether a given student will "fit in" to the institution's culture; 2) that succeeding at a large law firm is as much about whether one finds a mentor or is perceived as being a "star" or a "team player" as doing high quality work and playing by the rules; and 3) that perceptions about what it takes to be hired or promoted at a large law firm are likely to vary according to the respondent's gender, racial, and law school identity. Survey results suggests that third year law students subscribe to some version of each hypotheses. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of our findings for students, firms, and law schools.
Testing for measurement errors in expectations from survey data

Abstract This paper examines the issue of measurement errors in expectations from survey data in the testing of models of expectations formation. We demonstrate that tests for measurement errors can be conducted through a generalized method of moments specification test and apply our estimation strategy to the SRC expected inflation series.
Partisan Protesters and Nonpartisan Protests in Brazil

In young democracies with weak parties, there is some evidence that partisan identification may shift in response to short-term government performance. The massive protests that erupted in Brazil in June 2013 sharply increased the salience of, and public attention to, poor government performance and took most observers by surprise. They were also widely depicted as nonpartisan or even antipartisan. We use two well-timed surveys to examine the effects of the protests on mass partisanship. We find that the protests led to increased nonpartisanship and decreased attachment to the governing Partido dos Tra-balhadores (Workers’ Party, PT) among the public as a whole. We also show that small leftist parties were more broadly represented among protesters than has been previously recognized.
An integrated diagnostic support system approach to fault isolation in the operational environment

The US Navy Integrated Diagnostic Support System (IDSS) program is developing software tools required for a systems-engineering approach to providing an improved fault-isolation capability for the operational-level maintenance technician. The success of the diagnostic process is seen to depend on the use of testable designs, development of test procedures based on the optimum design, authoring of the execution software, and analysis of results of diagnostic sessions as feedback to the system expert-knowledge database. The IDSS software tools are described, and the status of the IDSS research and development effort is presented. The current demonstration software runs on two hosts at the present time: a Sun workstation operating under Unix and a MicroVAX II minicomputer running under MicroVMS. All software is written in Ada. >
An Electromyographic Methodology for the Evaluation of Industrial Design

This paper reports a new technique for evaluating industrial designs, based on electromyographic recordings of the muscles involved in carrying out the intended task. A hybrid computer circuit quantifies total muscular effort expended in performing the industrial task and the design that optimizes this measure is selected. The methodology has been shown to be effective in evaluating effort associated with static as well as dynamic tasks and therefore can be applied in a multitude of situations. Evaluation of the shape and size of a torque-wrench handle illustrates how the technique may be used in selecting an optimal design.
Privately-Negotiated Input Prices

We examine settings where input prices are negotiated by industry suppliers, rather than dictated by regulators. We find that the input buyer may agree to pay a high price for an input because the high price serves to reduce the intensity of retail price competition with the input seller. Full exploitation of retail customers can result. However, retail price regulation, competition among buyers, and product heterogeneity all can limit the extraction of consumer surplus. We also identify conditions under which input price negotiations will fail to produce a mutually agreeable input price.
Observation of a Kondo effect for a dilute alloy containing Sm impurities

Abstract Measurements of the depressions of the superconducting transition temperature T c with Sm impurity concentration and the specific heat jump at T c as a function of T c , and the temperature dependences of the normal state specific heat and magnetic susceptibility are reported for the matrix impurity system ( La Sm)Sn 3 . The results constitute the first definitive evidence of a Kondo effect for a dilute alloy containing Sm impurities.
Correlations of Self-Concept with Locus of Control and Academic Performance

Correlations between selected scales of the Tennessee Self-concept Scales, Levenson's Internal, Powerful Others and Chance Locus of Control Scales, and GPA were explored for 129 university students. Significant positive correlations were obtained between the Internal Scale and most self-concept scores and significant negative correlations between Powerful Others and Chance Scales and most self-concept scores, respectively. GPA correlated significantly with self-satisfaction scores but not with locus of control scores. When men were considered separately, significant negative correlations were found between most self-concept scores and scores on the Powerful Others and Chance Scales. This was not the case for women.