cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multimodality imaging of thyroid-like follicular renal cell carcinoma with lung metastases, a new emerging tumor entity

The International Society of Urological Pathology recently proposed classifying thyroid-like follicular renal cell carcinoma (TLF-RCC) as an emerging entity in renal epithelial tumors. Their entire proposal will be the framework for the next World Health Organization classification of renal tumors. Fewer than 15 cases of TLF-RCC have been reported in the literature up to date. We describe the multimodality imaging features of a patient with TLF-RCC. To our knowledge, this is the first case report in the literature commenting on the multimodality imaging appearance of this tumor.
Renal cell carcinoma in children, adolescents and young adults: a National Cancer Database study

Purpose: We compared the presentation and outcomes of patients younger than 21 years with renal cell carcinoma and determined risk factors associated with mortality.Materials and Methods: We searched the National Cancer Database for patients diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma between 1998 and 2011. We evaluated patients younger than 30 years with renal cell carcinoma, including clear cell, chromophobe, papillary and not otherwise specified subcategories. We used logistic regression to compare presenting cancer, demographics and treatment variables in patients 0 to 15 years, 15 to 21 years and 21 to 30 years old. Cox regression analysis was used to determine risk factors for mortality in patients younger than 21.Results: Of 3,658 patients younger than 30 years included in the study 161 were younger than 15 and 337 were 15 to 21 years old. A higher proportion of younger patients had renal cell carcinoma not otherwise specified and papillary histology compared to those 21 to 30 years (p <0.001). Younger pat...
Twelve tips for teaching expertise in clinical reasoning

Background: Clinical reasoning is one of the most critical skills to teach to medical learners, yet clinician educators rarely receive adequate training on how to teach this topic.Aims: To enhance clinician educators’ ability to teach clinical reasoning.Methods: I conducted a review of cognitive, medical decision making, and expertise theory literature to develop practical tips that could be applied to typical teaching encounters.Results: Through the literature review, twelve tips were designed to provide a blueprint for teaching clinical reasoning on the wards or in the clinics.Conclusions: Teaching clinical reasoning is important and feasible. Teachers who explicitly teach problem solving and decision making may help learners to improve their diagnostic accuracy and treatment choices.
Sympathoneural and Adrenomedullary Responses to Mental Stress

This concept-based review provides historical perspectives and updates about sympathetic noradrenergic and sympathetic adrenergic responses to mental stress. The topic of this review has incited perennial debate, because of disagreements over definitions, controversial inferences, and limited availability of relevant measurement tools. The discussion begins appropriately with Cannon's "homeostasis" and his pioneering work in the area. This is followed by mental stress as a scientific idea and the relatively new notions of allostasis and allostatic load. Experimental models of mental stress in rodents and humans are discussed, with particular attention to ethical constraints in humans. Sections follow on sympathoneural responses to mental stress, reactivity of catecholamine systems, clinical pathophysiologic states, and the cardiovascular reactivity hypothesis. Future advancement of the field will require integrative approaches and coordinated efforts between physiologists and psychologists on this interdisciplinary topic.
Development of niobium powder injection molding: Part I. Feedstock and injection molding

Abstract It has been only during the past four decades that niobium has been consumed on an industrial scale. Pure niobium and niobium base alloys constitute less than 2% of the global niobium market. Niobium being a refractory metal doesn’t have a powder cost penalty as in ferrous materials, since refractory parts are formed from powders. This article details a systematical approach to develop feedstock for powder injection molding of niobium. It has been proven that powder injection molding is a viable forming technique for pure niobium. Further, rheological properties have been combined to determine optimal and critical solids loading. Based on simulation, injection temperatures and pressures were determined for optimal filling time. For the first time, a processing window has been identified based on the rheological behavior and simulation of niobium feedstock.
Effect of catch-and-release angling on growth and survival of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss

Catch-and-release angling is popular in many parts of the world and plays an increasingly important role in fish conservation efforts. Although survival rates associated with catch-and-release angling are well documented for many species, sublethal effects have been less studied. An experiment was conducted to directly assess the effects of catch-and-release angling on growth and survival of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum). Catch-and-release events were simulated in laboratory tanks maintained at 15-16 � C with hooks manually placed in pre-designated locations in the mouths of the fish. There were no differences in standard length (P ¼ 0.59) or wet weight (P ¼ 0.81) gained between caught and uncaught fish over a 1-month angling and recovery period. Survival was 96.99 ± 0.06% for rainbow trout caught and released, and did not vary with number (one, two or four) of captures. Thus, catch-and-release angling appears to have little effect on growth and mortality of rainbow trout hooked in the mouth.
Evaluation of Docking Functions for Protein−Ligand Docking

Docking functions are believed to be the essential component of docking algorithms. Both physically and statistically based functions have been proposed, but there is no consensus about their relative performances. Here, we propose an evaluation approach based on exhaustive enumeration of all possible docking solutions obtained with a discretized description of a rigid docking process. We apply the approach to study both molecular mechanics and statistical potentials. It is found that the statistical potential evaluated is less effective than the AMBER molecular mechanics function to provide an accurate description of the docking process when the exact experimental coordinates are used. However, when coordinates of crystal structures obtained with analogous ligands are used, similar performances are obtained in both cases. Possible reasons for the successes and failures of both docking schemes have been uncovered using linear discriminant analysis, on the basis of a set of physicochemical descriptors capturing the main physical effects at play during protein-ligand docking. In both types of potentials steric effects appear critical to obtain a successful docking. Our results also indicate that neglecting desolvation effects and the explicit treatment of hydrogen bonds are the main source of the failures observed with the molecular mechanics potential. On the other hand, detailed consideration of steric interactions, with a careful treatment of dispersive forces, seems to be needed when using statistical potentials derived from a structural database. The possibility of filtering combinatorial libraries in order to maximize the probability of correct docking is discussed.
THE REACTION OF FISH TO SEX HORMONES1

Fish display evident changes during the breeding season, for example, the males of certain species show an expansion of the chromatophoric skin cells with a usual production of more brilliant coloring over certain body parts. This mating coat or ‘wedding dress’ is especially noticeable in fish of the Cyprinidae group. The female bitterling during breeding season shows an elongation of the external ovipositor and this change is readily discernible. These breeding season changes in fish have been produced artificially by a variety of substances and more particularly the hormones. Wunder (1) using the male bitterling (Rhodeus amarus) obtained positive results with testis extracts, varying results with prolan and no results with female sex hormones. Tozawa (2) noted that the male Japanese bitterling (Achelognathus intermedium) developed chromatophore reactions to hormones injected during the breeding season (April 15 to July 1). Zondek (3) used the erythrophore expansion of Phoxinus laevis in demonstrating th...
Estimating Slavery Reparations: Present Value Comparisons of Historical Multigenerational Reparations Policies

Objective I investigate two problems regarding multigenerational reparations: legal obstacles caused by the passage of time and economic difficulties in obtaining realistic present value estimates. Methods To investigate legal precedents, I trace the French spoliation claims, which were paid over a period of 123 years, and Haiti's independence debt, which was paid over 156 years. To investigate present value estimation, I compare existing slavery reparations estimates based on slave prices as expected future income to alternative estimates based on the number of unremunerated work hours multiplied with historical free labor market wages. Results I estimate the present value of U.S. slave labor in 2009 dollars to range from $5.9 to $14.2 trillion. Historical precedents suggest that political rather than narrowly legal processes will determine any ultimate claims. Conclusions Neither problems nor solutions associated with multigenerational reparations are new. New is the estimation method and the resulting upward correction of reparations estimates.
High resolution atmospheric monitoring of urban carbon dioxide sources

[i] Estimates of fossil fuel emissions on local to regional spatial scales and hourly to weekly temporal scales are increasingly useful in studies of the carbon cycle and mass and energy flow in cities. We used a tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer (TDL) to measure CO 2 mixing ratios and carbon isotope composition of CO 2 in order to estimate the contribution of gasoline versus natural gas combustion to atmospheric CO 2 in Salt Lake City. The results showed a pronounced diurnal pattern: the proportional contribution of natural gas combustion varied from 30-40% of total anthropogenic CO 2 during evening rush hour to 60-70% at pre-dawn. In addition, over a warming period of several days, the proportional contribution of natural gas combustion decreased with air temperature, likely related to decreased residential heating. These results show for the first time that atmospheric measurements may be used to infer patterns of energy and fuel usage on hourly to daily time scales.
Vocational Confidence and Personality in the Prediction of Occupational Group Membership

This study examined the relationships of vocational interests and self-efficacy expectations, or confidence, to personality, as measured by the Personal Styles scales of the Strong Interest Invento...
The White Space

Since the end of the Civil Rights Movement, large numbers of black people have made their way into settings previously occupied only by whites, though their reception has been mixed. Overwhelmingly...
Current Management of Undescended Testes

Undescended testes (UDTs) are a relatively common finding in newborn males, especially in those born prematurely. Upon discovering a non-intrascrotal testis, it is important to determine whether the testis is palpable or non-palpable and whether the finding is unilateral or bilateral. Imaging should not be used in this workup, as no current modality has been shown to be adequately sensitive or specific to aid in management decisions. Patients with UDTs diagnosed after 6 months of age should be referred to a specialist for correction so that surgery may be performed within 1 year thereafter. This allows testes to descend spontaneously if they are to do so while facilitating early intervention to decrease the risk of subfertility and testicular malignancy for those patients in whom spontaneous descent does not occur. The surgical approach is often dependent on the location of the testis on physical exam. Most orchiopexies for palpable testes are performed through an inguinal incision, although a scrotal approach can be safely utilized depending on the testis position. Diagnostic laparoscopy is most often used for non-palpable testes, as it not only allows for the identification of an atrophic or absent testicle, but it also provides an opportunity to perform an orchiopexy simultaneously should a viable testis be found. Hormonal therapy is not recommended for treatment of UDTs due to its low success rate, the incidence of secondary re-ascent, and the possible detrimental effects on spermatogenesis. Finally, patients with bilateral non-palpable UDTs require a more extensive preliminary evaluation to rule out congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and disorders of sexual development (DSD). This involves serum electrolytes, karyotype analysis and hormonal testing including a serum mullerian inhibiting substance (MIS), in order to determine if testicular tissue is present and functional.
Star-polarization: A natural link between phase space representation and operator representation of quantum mechanics

The method of *-polarization connects phase space mechanics to the usual operator formulation of quantum theory. A *-polarization is a linear submanifold of the space of C ∞ functions on phase space. Elements of a *-polarization are in direct correspondence with the Schroedinger wave functions and this correspondence induces the Weyl correspondence between classical observables and operators. All generalized Moyal algebras admit *-polarizations and a general method is thus available for translating *-quantization into operator language.
"Benign" rectal carcinoids: a report of two patients with metastases to regional lymph nodes.

A rectal carcinoid is usually considered benign if it is clinically or histologically less than 2 cm. in diameter and neither is fixed to, nor has invaded, the muscularis propria. From a series of 35 rectal carcinoids evaluated by these criteria, 29 were classified as “benign.” None of these 29 patients has shown progressive disease. Two patients with “benign” rectal carcinoids had unsuspected metastases to regional lymph nodes. Evidence from our material indicates that the use of the term “benign” to qualify a rectal carcinoid is relative and occasionally may be inaccurate. Evidence from the clinical material which has accumulated in the literature indicates that local excision of a “benign” rectal carcinoid is seldom, if ever, followed by progressive disease. Since it is unlikely that our two patients are the only examples of “benign” rectal carcinoid with metastases, it is postulated that following excision of a “benign” rectal carcinoid, regional metastases may cease to grow and remain latent, or they may spontaneously regress.
Chapter 6:Computational Electrodynamics Methods

This chapter has focused on a number of commonly used analytical and numerical electrodynamics methods that can be used to model the optical properties of plasmonic nanostructures, with emphasis on nonconventional applications of these methods to problems that have been recently been of interest in the surface spectroscopy field, especially surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). A dipole reradiation (DR) methodology was added to the analytical approach of Mie theory to DR effects in SERS intensities, which is a more accurate expression for the electromagnetic enhancement theory than the commonly used plane-wave (PW) enhancement expression. We show that DR/PW differences can be significant for certain choices of detector locations due to interference and multipole effects, and generally the DR enhancements are smaller than PW. The numerical 2D finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method was modified through the incorporation of the hydrodynamic Drude model dielectric constant, enabling the calculation of spatially nonlocal dielectric responses for arbitrarily shaped nanostructures. Nonlocal effects become important when structural features extend below around 10 nm where the dielectric constant becomes a function of both the wavevector and the frequency. The importance of including nonlocal effects was demonstrated by calculating the optical response of cylindrical and triangular nanowires. The discrete dipole approximation (DDA) provides an alternative method for determining nanoparticle optical properties that uses a similar grid to FDTD, but with different convergence characteristics. We show that for cube-shaped particles the two methods have similar convergence behavior, but accuracy is a problem for DDA, while representing the frequency dependence dielectric constant is a problem for FDTD. A general many-body formalism describing plasmon-enhanced linear spectroscopies was developed by linking the numerical DDA method with electronic structure theory based on Q-Chem. This methodology allows the calculation of the linear-response and scattering properties between a molecule, which is described quantum mechanically, interacting with a classically described metal nanostructure. To demonstrate this formalism the linear response and scattering of a pyridine–Ag spheroidal system was calculated as a function of excitation energy and aspect ratio.
Epidemiology of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in Huaiji,Guangdong

Objective To understand the epidemiology characteristics of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in Huaiji county,Guangdong province and evaluate the influence of suspension of live poultry trade on the epidemic. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on the incidence data of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in Huaiji. Environmental samples were taken from the domestic poultry raising sites of the 9 cases and live poultry markets before and after closure to detect the nucleic acid of H7N9 virus with real-time PCR.Results A total of 9 cases of human infection with H7N9 virus were confirmed in Huaiji,no death case was reported.Severe pneumonia developed in severe cases and mild cases usually had cough and sore throat. The cases were distributed in five townships and the median age of the cases was 11 years(4- 62 years). All the cases had exposures to poultry and4 had chronic disease. Six of 164 close contacts of the 9 cases had influenza like symptoms,and 1 was confirmed to be infected with H7N9 virus,given the same source exposure. The H7 antibody positive rate of environment samples was65. 00%(52 /80) in H townships and 14. 81%(12 /81) in other townships before the exposure of live poultry markets,but the H7 antibody positive rate of environmental samples was 3. 49%(3 /86) in H township and 0(0 /111) in other townships after the closure of live poultry markets. The case number of human infection with H7N9 virus declined obviously after the closure of live poultry markets in Huaiji. Conclusion All the 9 cases confirmed had mild infections with H7N9 virus,and children aged 4- 11 years were mainly affected. All the cases had live poultry exposure histories.Comprehensive prevention and control measures,including the suspension of live poultry markets,could effective control the epidemic.
Predictors of Out-of-ACO Care in the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

Importance:Patients treated outside of their Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) accountable care organization (ACO) likely benefit less from the ACO’s integration of care. Consequently, the MSSP’s open-network design may preclude ACOs from improving value in care.Objectives:Quantify out-of-ACO c
Neoadjuvant treatment sequencing adds value to the care of patients with operable pancreatic cancer

Treatment sequencing for resectable pancreatic cancer remains controversial and there is lack of level one evidence comparing neoadjuvant versus adjuvant strategies. However, a comparison of the cost-effectiveness analysis of the treatment strategies may help to better define the healthcare value of each approach. This review will highlight the rationale for multimodality therapy in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of adjuvant therapy, and conceptualize the cost-effectiveness of a neoadjuvant approach with regard to healthcare value. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:291-295. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Quality of Care Provided by Hepatologists to Patients with Cirrhosis at Three Parallel Health Systems

Background Evidence-based guidelines and quality indicators for cirrhosis care have been established. Whether there are variations in adherence to these cirrhosis standards at different specialty settings has not been investigated.
DTSim at SemEval-2016 Task 1: Semantic Similarity Model Including Multi-Level Alignment and Vector-Based Compositional Semantics

In this paper we describe our system (DTSim) submitted at SemEval-2016 Task 1: Semantic Textual Similarity (STS Core). We developed Support Vector Regression model with various features including the similarity scores calculated using alignment based methods and semantic composition based methods. The correlations between our system output and the human ratings were above 0.8 in three datasets.
On the Convergence of Adaptive Stochastic Search Methods for Constrained and Multi-objective Black-Box Optimization

Stochastic search methods for global optimization and multi-objective optimization are widely used in practice, especially on problems with black-box objective and constraint functions. Although there are many theoretical results on the convergence of stochastic search methods, relatively few deal with black-box constraints and multiple black-box objectives and previous convergence analyses require feasible iterates. Moreover, some of the convergence conditions are difficult to verify for practical stochastic algorithms, and some of the theoretical results only apply to specific algorithms. First, this article presents some technical conditions that guarantee the convergence of a general class of adaptive stochastic algorithms for constrained black-box global optimization that do not require iterates to be always feasible and applies them to practical algorithms, including an evolutionary algorithm. The conditions are only required for a subsequence of the iterations and provide a recipe for making any algorithm converge to the global minimum in a probabilistic sense. Second, it uses the results for constrained optimization to derive convergence results for stochastic search methods for constrained multi-objective optimization.
Mapping Lifetime Brain Volumetry with Covariate-Adjusted Restricted Cubic Spline Regression from Cross-sectional Multi-site MRI.

Understanding brain volumetry is essential to understand neuro-development and disease. Historically, age-related changes have been studied in detail for specific age ranges (e.g., early childhood, teen, young adults, elderly, etc.) or more sparsely sampled for wider considerations of lifetime aging. Recent advancements in data sharing and robust processing have made available considerable quantities of brain images from normal, healthy volunteers. However, existing analysis approaches have had difficulty addressing (1) complex volumetric developments on the large cohort across the life time (e.g., beyond cubic age trends), (2) accounting for confound effects, and (3) maintaining an analysis framework consistent with the general linear model (GLM) approach pervasive in neuroscience. To address these challenges, we propose to use covariate-adjusted restricted cubic spline (C-RCS) regression within a multi-site cross-sectional framework. This model allows for flexible consideration of nonlinear age-associated patterns while accounting for traditional covariates and interaction effects. As a demonstration of this approach on lifetime brain aging, we derive normative volumetric trajectories and 95 % confidence intervals from 5111 healthy patients from 64 sites while accounting for confounding sex, intracranial volume and field strength effects. The volumetric results are shown to be consistent with traditional studies that have explored more limited age ranges using single-site analyses. This work represents the first integration of C-RCS with neuroimaging and the derivation of structural covariance networks (SCNs) from a large study of multi-site, cross-sectional data.
Aquatic Fate and Transport Modeling Technioues for Predicting Environmental Exposure to Organic Pesticides and Other Toxicants—A Comparative Study

Evidence of potentially harmful effects of pesticides and other toxic organic chemicals on aquatic organisms has led to intensive efforts toward environmental risk assessment for existing and new chemicals. Laboratory bioassay tests, environmental damage episodes like fish kills, and information about chemical properties have all been studied with a view toward estimating or assigning risk associated with chemical use patterns, waste discharges, and related management practices. The most direct procedure for evaluating environmental risk attendant to chemical use or release is a field study in which aquatic systems are monitored for damage, causal factors delineated, and results extrapolated or generalized. In this manner, risk is allocated based upon observed damage Another popular procedure has been allocation of risk based on observation of the chemical per se (not its effects). In this case risk is allocated based only on predictions of potential damage.
SigSeeker: a peak-calling ensemble approach for constructing epigenetic signatures.

Motivation Epigenetic data are invaluable when determining the regulatory programs governing a cell. Based on use of next-generation sequencing data for characterizing epigenetic marks and transcription factor binding, numerous peak-calling approaches have been developed to determine sites of genomic significance in these data. Such analyses can produce a large number of false positive predictions, suggesting that sites supported by multiple algorithms provide a stronger foundation for inferring and characterizing regulatory programs associated with the epigenetic data. Few methodologies integrate epigenetic based predictions of multiple approaches when combining profiles generated by different tools. Results The SigSeeker peak-calling ensemble uses multiple tools to identify peaks, and with user-defined thresholds for peak overlap and signal strength it retains only those peaks that are concordant across multiple tools. Peaks predicted to be co-localized by only a very small number of tools, discovered to be only marginally overlapping, or found to represent significant outliers to the approximation model are removed from the results, providing concise and high quality epigenetic datasets. SigSeeker has been validated using established benchmarks for transcription factor binding and histone modification ChIP-Seq data. These comparisons indicate that the quality of our ensemble technique exceeds that of single tool approaches, enhances existing peak-calling ensembles, and results in epigenetic profiles of higher confidence. Availability and implementation http://sigseeker.org. Contact lichtenbergj@mail.nih.gov. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
The role of grain boundaries in hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) of steels

Abstract: Most hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) in high strength quenched-and-tempered ferritic steels occurs along prior austenite grain boundaries. Although this can occur in very high purity laboratory steels in presumably clean grain boundaries, in commercial steels it normally occurs in conjunction with segregated elements that reduce intergranular cohesion. In all these cases the hydrogen appears to be acting as a cohesion-reducing element. In cases of transgranular HIC, the characteristic of hydrogen as a promoter of dislocation motion also plays a role.
The Antigen-RNA Complex of Macrophages

Previous studies from this laboratory have demonstrated the existence of a minor fraction of macrophage RNA which has a banding density in cesium sulphate solution lighter than that of the bulk of the cellular RNA (Gottlieb et al., 1967). If rat macrophages are exposed to T2 bacteriophage, nearly all of the immunogenic activity attributed to the RNA of the macrophage is found in the minor light density fraction. The immunogenic activity of the minor band, as well as its ability to band in a cesium sulphate density gradient, is destroyed by incubation with pronase. This report presents additional information regarding the purification of this minor RNA-protein complex of macrophages and the determination of some of its properties.
Zika Virus Mosquito Vectors: Competence, Biology, and Vector Control.

Zika virus (ZIKV) (Flaviviridae, Flavivirus) has become one of the most medically important mosquito-borne viruses because of its ability to cause microcephaly in utero and Guillain-Barre syndrome in adults. This virus emerged from its sylvatic cycle in Africa to cause an outbreak in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia in 2007, French Polynesia in 2014, and most recently South America in 2015. The rapid expansion of ZIKV in the Americas largely has been due to the biology and behavior of its vector, Aedes aegypti. Other arboviruses transmitted by Ae. aegypti include the 2 flaviviruses dengue virus and yellow fever virus and the alphavirus chikungunya virus, which are also (re)emerging viruses in the Americas. This mosquito vector is highly domesticated, living in close association with humans in urban households. Its eggs are desiccation resistant, and the larvae develop rapidly in subtropical and tropical environments. Climate warming is facilitating range expansion of Ae. aegypti, adding to the threat this mosquito poses to human health, especially in light of the difficulty controlling it. Aedes albopictus, another highly invasive arbovirus vector that has only been implicated in one country (Gabon), is an important vector of ZIKV, but because of its wide geographic distribution may become a more important vector in the future. This article discusses the historical background of ZIKV and the biology and ecology of these 2 vectors.
Reweighting anthropometric data using a nearest neighbour approach.

AbstractWhen designing products and environments, detailed data on body size and shape are seldom available for the specific user population. One way to mitigate this issue is to reweight available data such that they provide an accurate estimate of the target population of interest. This is done by assigning a statistical weight to each individual in the reference data, increasing or decreasing their influence on statistical models of the whole. This paper presents a new approach to reweighting these data. Instead of stratified sampling, the proposed method uses a clustering algorithm to identify relationships between the detailed and reference populations using their height, mass, and body mass index (BMI). The newly weighted data are shown to provide more accurate estimates than traditional approaches. The improved accuracy that accompanies this method provides designers with an alternative to data synthesis techniques as they seek appropriate data to guide their design practice.Practitioner Summary: D...
Pedagogy of the depressed: an examination of critical pedagogy in higher ed’s diversity-centered classrooms post-trump

The study, undertaken in the United States, investigates the lived experiences of instructors whose courses focus on gender/feminism, queer/LGBT, and race/ethnicity studies in response to the post-...
Single-shot temporal characterization of kilojoule-level, picosecond pulses on OMEGA EP

To achieve a variety of experimental conditions, the OMEGA EP laser provides kilojoule-level pulses over a pulse-width range of 0.6 to 100 ps. Precise knowledge of the pulse width is important for laser system safety and the interpretation of experimental results. This paper describes the development and implementation of a single-shot, ultrashort-pulse measurement diagnostic, which provides an accurate characterization of the output pulse shape. We present a brief overview of the measurement algorithm; discuss design considerations necessary for implementation in a complex, userfacility environment; and review the results of the diagnostic commissioning shots, which demonstrated excellent agreement with predictions.
Analysis of Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion Healthcare Costs via the Value-Driven Outcomes Tool.

Background Examining the costs of single- and multilevel anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is important for the identification of cost drivers and potentially reducing patient costs. A novel tool at our institution provides direct costs for the identification of potential drivers. Objective To assess perioperative healthcare costs for patients undergoing an ACDF. Methods Patients who underwent an elective ACDF between July 2011 and January 2017 were identified retrospectively. Factors adding to total cost were placed into subcategories to identify the most significant contributors, and potential drivers of total cost were evaluated using a multivariable linear regression model. Results A total of 465 patients (mean, age 53 ± 12 yr, 54% male) met the inclusion criteria for this study. The distribution of total cost was broken down into supplies/implants (39%), facility utilization (37%), physician fees (14%), pharmacy (7%), imaging (2%), and laboratory studies (1%). A multivariable linear regression analysis showed that total cost was significantly affected by the number of levels operated on, operating room time, and length of stay. Costs also showed a narrow distribution with few outliers and did not vary significantly over time. Conclusion These results suggest that facility utilization and supplies/implants are the predominant cost contributors, accounting for 76% of the total cost of ACDF procedures. Efforts at lowering costs within these categories should make the most impact on providing more cost-effective care.
Spatial modeling and inventories for prioritizing investment into oak-hickory restoration

Abstract Oak (Quercus spp.) and hickory (Carya spp.) forests in the eastern United States provide a host of ecosystem services as their mast are prized by wildlife, the timber is a valued commodity, and they are generally more tolerant of extreme weather events under a changing climate. They are, however, undergoing a severe decline in prominence throughout the region, yielding to more mesic and shade-tolerant species, largely red maple (Acer rubrum). Two decades of research in Ohio have shown that silviculture and/or natural disturbances that reduce understory shade during seedling establishment and early growth, followed by canopy opening and competition management through prescribed fire and partial cutting, can encourage oak and hickory regeneration, most successfully on drier ridges and south- and southwest-facing slopes. We employed an ecological classification and mapping approach to prioritize areas across a 17-county region (∼22,000 km2) that may be more receptive, and thus more cost effective, to successful oak regeneration following silvicultural treatment. The ecomapping effort was comprised of two parts; a GIS model of the terrain, and a stand inventory of current vegetation condition coupled with the SILVAH decision-support system to recommend needed silvicultural treatments. The GIS model is based primarily on topography as vegetation patterns in the project area are largely driven by landscape position and soil moisture regimes. It uses transformed aspect, slope angle, topographic position index, and slope position as inputs to define six classes of landtype phases: ridge, southwest upper slopes, southwest lower slopes, northeast upper slopes, northeast lower slopes, and bottomland. The first three and following two classes, respectively, were hierarchically nested to form Dry Oak Forest and Dry-mesic Mixed Oak Hardwood Forest classes at the landtype level. Dry Oak Forests require the least silvicultural intervention to sustain or restore oak, while the other two landtypes normally require serious intervention to sustain oak into the future. To determine whether sufficient stocking is present for adequate regeneration, we use forest inventory data to represent current vegetation conditions including both overstory and understory stocking. Overall, these tools allow managers to identify ‘zones of investment’, i.e., those stands with the bulk of the area in the Dry Oak Forest landtype and with some level of advance oak regeneration, which will have a greater likelihood of growing into oak-dominated stands with minimal investment of scarce funding resources.
Embryo Culture Techniques

Many variables must be considered when choosing a clinical culture system. Although animal studies provide a strong evidence-based profile as to the composition of viable clinical systems, the true test of efficacy in a clinical setting is to test the system within one’s own laboratory by randomizing sibling oocytes or embryos to the test system or the standard system currently in use. Using this methodology, clinical results can be maximized while minimizing the potential impact on patients.
Development of fast pulsed electrochemical detection of carbohydrates separated by liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis

The anodic charge {q^ for oxide formation, obtained by potential-step chronocoulometry at a Au minidisk electrode, is nearly a linear function of log(f/ms) for t = ca. 3-30 ms with a slope proportional to the applied overpotential for oxide formation. It was demonstrated that, contrary to popular opinion based on voltammetric observation at slow scan rates (0), the anodic current for oxide formation obtained using a linear potential-scan waveform is not a linear function of 4) at large values of 0. It was also demonstrated that a reverse potential-step waveform can be used to interrupt the rapid oxide growth and, perhaps, inhibit the conversion of the hydrous oxide (AuOH) to the inert oxide (AuO). This result has probable significance for decreasing the background current during anodic pulsed amperometric detection of amines and sulfur compounds whose oxidation mechanisms are believed to be catalyzed by AuOH but not by AuO. T h e c a t h o d i c c h a r g e ( q j f o r o x i d e d i s s o l u t i o n i s a p p r o x i m a t e l y a l i n e a r f u n c t i o n o f t with a slope that is proportional to the applied potential.
Sexual orientation and salivary alpha-amylase diurnal rhythms in a cohort of U.S. young adults.

Abstract Sexual minorities in the United States are at elevated risk of prejudice, discrimination, and violence victimization due to stigma associated with their sexual orientation. These stressors may contribute to physiological stress responses and changes in the regulation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). To date, no studies have examined the associations among minority sexual orientation, recent stressful events, and diurnal salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) patterns. The present study included 1663 young adults ages 18–32 years (31% men, 69% women) from the Growing Up Today Study, a prospective cohort of U.S. youth. Participants provided five saliva samples over the course of one day to estimate diurnal sAA patterns. Sexual orientation groups included completely heterosexual with no same-sex partners (CH; referent), mostly heterosexual/completely heterosexual with same-sex partners, and gay/lesbian/bisexual (LB or GB). Sex-stratified multilevel models were fit to evaluate the association of sexual orientation with diurnal patterns of log sAA. The association of recent stressful events was also evaluated. Among women, sexual minorities scored significantly higher than CH on perceived stress and number of stressful events in the past month (p
Automotive Rollover Sensing

This paper provides an overview of rollover sensing and describes a sensing hardware and algorithm approach to detecting and predicting rollover such that occupant safety restraints can be activated to reduce injury.
Surviving the Crisis: Microfinance in Bolivia, 1999–2002

This paper examines the performance of Bolivian microfinance from 1999 to mid-2002, which was undergoing its first major crisis after emerging as a significant force in Bolivia in the early 1990s. The paper evaluates the performance of the microfinance industry during the crisis.
Nanomechanics of Graphene Sheets and Atomic Registry Matrix Analysis

Abstract The atomic structure of graphene sheets is reviewed, along with the length scales associated with the atomic lattice, including those in the deformed Fermi cones of π-electrons. The dependence of material properties of graphene on the length scales is shown in mathematical relations. The atomic registry of graphene lattice is examined for the cases of commensurate and noncommensurate registries. Nanoscale friction of adjacent atomic lattices during interfacial sliding is described by atomic registry matrix analysis and a nanoscale analog of Newton’s friction law. An effect of the spatial exclusion of electrons during interfacial sliding of the adjacent atomic lattices of two graphene sheets is also discussed as the nanoscale analog of Pauli’s exclusion principle. Viscosity of the graphene interface and intrinsic viscosity of the spatially distributed electrons are estimated for a specific pair of atomic lattices.
Government relations and public administration in Ukraine: the latest forms of interaction between government and business

Стаття присвячена аналізу теоретичних і практичних аспектів упровадження механізмів government relations (GR) у систему взаємодії влади та бізнесу. GR розглядається у порівнянні з лобізмом, public relations та public af-fairs. У статті відзначено, що GR створює нові можливості забезпечення узгодження інтересів влади, бізнесу та громадянського суспільства в Україні. У цьому сенсі GR є суспільно важливим механізмом для демократичного ро-звитку країни, оскільки дає можливість бізнесу та інституціям громадянського суспільства впливати на рішення влади. Деякі автори пов’язують GR з лобізмом, вважаючи, що ці поняття тотожні. Проте, різниця між ними є суттєвою. На відміну від традиційних форм лобізму, які тісно пов’язані з міжособистісною взаємодією з політиками і державними службовцями, GR має цілу низку стратегічних переваг.По-перше, в суспільній свідомості в Україні лобізм, на відміну від GR, практично є синонімом корупції, оскільки контакти зацікавлених осіб із представниками політичного істеблішменту відбуваються кулуарно. Скритність цього процесу веде до ефекту негативного сприйняття у соціальній свідомості.По-друге, лобізм призводить до залежності суб’єктів лобіювання від персоналій у владних структурах, від їх суб’єктивних переваг і побажань. Це негативним чином позначається на довгостроковому плануванні, а також ставить учасників ринку в нерівне становище, коли, наприклад, державні за-мовлення розподіляються на користь одного з учасників.По-третє, особливістю GR є постійне використання інноваційних ко-мунікативних технологій, які прийшли з форсайту, PR та електоральних кампаній.У статті робиться висновок, що GR в Україні є важливим інструментом діалогу держави і бізнесу, від якого залежать: якість державного управління, унормованість ринкового середовища, умови конкуренції, розвиток бізнесу загалом. Такий діалог потребує законодавчого захисту й механізмів ухвалення на його основі обов’язкових для всіх сторін рішень, адже бізнес, орієнтований на перспективу, найперше очікує від влади стабільних правил гри і дотримання їх усіма гравцями. Саме поширення практики GR в Україні відповідає зазначеним вимогам та цілям.
The Formation of Turkish Republicanism. By Banu Turnaoglu. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017. Pp. 320. $39.95.)

In the high‐level Ottoman bureaucratic jargon, the term “republicanism” was generally used in a pejorative sense and held to be antithetical to the deep‐seated underpinnings of the Ottomans’ admini...
Arrowtail RNA for Ligand Display on Ginger Exosome-like Nanovesicles to Systemic Deliver siRNA for Cancer Suppression

Exosomes have shown increasing potential as delivery vesicles for therapy, but challenges like cost/yield, drug payload, and targeting specificity still exist. Plant derived exosome-like nanoparticles have been reported as a promising substitution and exhibit biocompatibility through oral, intranasal administration; however, systemic delivery of siRNA by exosome-like nanoparticles directly isolated from plants has not been reported. Recently, we reported the control of RNA orientation to decorate human derived exosome with cell targeting ligands for specific delivery of siRNA to tumors. Here, we expand to the application of arrowtail RNA nanoparticles for displaying ligands on ginger derived exosome-like nanovesicles (GDENs) for siRNA delivery and tumor inhibition through IV administration. Cushion ultracentrifugation coupled with equilibrium density gradient ultracentrifugation were used for purifying GDENs that displayed size, density, and morphology similar to human derived exosomes. Folic acid (FA), as a ligand, was displayed on the surface of GDENs for targeted delivery of survivin siRNA to KB cancer models. In vitro gene knockdown efficacy by FA-3WJ/GDENs/siRNA complex was comparable to transfection. We observed inhibition of tumor growth on a xenograft model by intravenous administration, which reveals the potential of GDENs as an economic delivery system for siRNA.
Nondestructive Testing Technologies for Cultural Heritage: Overview

In this chapter, the most used NDT geophysical technologies applied in the field of preventive archaeology and in the analysis of monumental heritage will be considered. Starting from the current state of the art, we will examine: Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR), electrical active (Electrical Resistivity Tomography—ERT; induced polarization—IP) and passive (Self-Potential—SP), and seismic sonic an ultrasonic methods. Here some important theoretical aspect will be explained as simply as possible, also using practical examples.
Abstract WP110: Does Paradoxical Embolism Impart Different Outcomes After IVT Treatment?

Introduction: There are pilot data indicating that patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to paradoxical embolism (PxE) via patent foramen ovale (PFO) may respond better to intravenous throm...
LIPOPROTEIN(A) PROTEIN CONCENTRATION AND APOLIPOPROTEIN(A) KRINGLE IV ISOFORMS AMONG BLACK US ADULTS WITH AND WITHOUT PCSK9 LOSS-OF-FUNCTION VARIANTS

Higher lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) protein concentrations and a smaller apolipoprotein(a) (apo(a)) isoform size are associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Pharmacologic PCSK9 inhibition reduced Lp(a) concentrations in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. The association of genetic
Coexistence of structurally similar but electronically distinct isomers of delocalized cation radicals as a basis for the development of functional materials

Certain low-symmetry aromatic molecules with a small HOMO/HOMO-1 energy gap might co-exist as electronic isomers in their cation radical states that differ only in bond lengths yet have distinct optical and electronic properties. These electronic isomers are sensitive to the environment and might be used for the development of novel functional materials.