cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Migration energy calculations for small vacancy clusters in copper

The migration energies of tri- and tetravacancies in copper are calculated to be 0.56 eV and 0.38 eV, respectively, using a new energy minimisation scheme and a first-principles interatomic potential. Comparison with the previously calculated single and divacancy migration energies of 0.82 and 0.55 eV, respectively, indicates that the tri- and tetravacancies are very mobile in copper. The calculated binding and migration energies were used in a rate equation model which predicts the concentrations of vacancy defects during quenching and electron-irradiation experiments. The predicted activation energy of the model follows the same general behaviour as that measured in annealing experiments. The maximum concentrations of tri- and tetravacancies predicted by the model are very low (less than 0.001 p.p.m.), which suggests that these defects many not be observable using experimental techniques.
Synganglial morphology and neurosecretory centers of adult Amblyomma americanum (L.) (Acari: Ixodidae).

Lone star ticks, Amblyomma americanum (L.), were processed by standard histological means for paraffin embedding, sectioning, and staining by the paraldehydefuchsin technique. The synganglion is highly condensed around the esophagus and possesses paired optic, cheliceral, palpal, pedal I–IV nerves, and opisthosomal nerves and a single unpaired esophageal nerve. Although optic nerves were observed leading from the eyes to the protocerebrum, distinct optic ganglia were not seen in any of the preparations examined. The paraldehyde-fuchsin technique revealed 14 neurosecretory centers (11 paired, 3 unpaired) within the synganglion, which are described in relation to the underlying neuropilar structure. A previously undescribed internal subesophageal center that consists of a single cell was observed within a cluster of perikarya lying posteriorly adjacent to the esophagus. A three-dimensional reconstruction of the internal neuropilar structure of the synganglion was made, and the included neurosecretory centers were mapped. Comparisons are made to previous work on other ticks, and physiological relationships are considered.
The challenge of global ethics : Learning and organizing

This is a response from the point of view of religion to three articles-by Ewert Cousins, David Loye, and Solomon H. Katz-that together call for a decisive new moral grounding for the human race, This commentary calls on science, as the dominant power in society today, to initiate a new partnership with religion. It goes on to advocate for an urgent mutual-learning endeavor in which science and religion will derive needed information and understanding from each other. The commentary finds a common thread in the three articles-that religion informed by science is the principal force capable of stimulating a global moral transformation-and ends by proposing a series of concrete action steps.
Characterization of a hybrid ion trap

A new ion trap is constructed of a cylindrical ring electrode and hyperbolic end caps. The premise is to determine the effect ring electrode geometry has on the operation of the ion trap. A model for the potential and electric field within the trap is developed. The model is used to show how adjusting the geometric parameters of the cell could be used to reduce the presence of higher order fields or optimize other desired properties. The stability diagram is mapped experimentally and using the standard definition forqz, the qeject was determined to be 0.76. A proposed modification for the definition ofqz, which adjusts for the shape of the cylindrical ring electrode, results in a qeject of 0.93. The trap is shown to have a linear scanning relationship, resolved isolation and unit mass resolution. (Int J Mass Spectrom 190/191 (1999) 47‐57) © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V.
Class and Socialist Politics in France

This article shows how the French Socialist Party's political practice, economic policies and socialist vision have been shaped by the Party's formulation and use of class concepts. It offers a Marxist critique of the Socialists' power-based understanding of class and shows how this allowed for economic policies to promote capitalist growth rather than transform the nature of class exploitation.
Ten years of Nature Physics: Reconnecting with two good friends

Two observational studies published in Nature Physics provided early evidence for the mechanisms of magnetic reconnection in three dimensions and in a turbulent medium.
Should We Fear Media Cross-Ownership?

The FCC's new cross-ownership rules will help bring American media into the new century. Opponents of the FCC's new rule to allow media firms to own more than one media source in a geographic area claim the decision will reduce the number of individual "voices" available to the public. But that and other arguments against the new rule seem based on idealized notions of the media industry's history and structure. A more detailed look at the changes in the industry that have unfolded over the past century suggests cross-ownership and media consolidation may actually further the articulated objectives of cross-ownership opponents.
Repeating Human Performance Themes in Five Health Care Adverse Events

Public dread following well-publicized accidents energized the desire to learn from adverse events in health care. This paper summarizes an attempt to partner medical and human factors expertise to identify repeating human performance themes across adverse events. An interdisciplinary team interviewed 30 health care personnel from multiple facilities about five complex medical incidents. Ninety human performance themes were examined for each incident. Of these, ten human performance themes were identified to be salient in at least three of the incidents. Although none of these themes directly point to solutions, they increase our understanding of recurring themes across medical cases and can point to similar themes, and how they have been addressed, in other high-consequence, complex, socio-technical domains, such as aviation.
Small Scale Yielding at a Crack Normal to the Interface Between an Elastic and a Yielding Material

By using the elastic singular field as a prescribed loading condition, small scale yielding solutions are obtained for a crack normal to the interface between a brittle and a ductile material. Results for both a crack in the brittle material and one in the ductile material are obtained by finite element analysis. The crack tip fields obtained by the finite element analysis are compared with the asymptotic solutions. It is found that near the tip the stress fields approach the asymptotic solutions. If the crack is in the brittle material, the high triaxial stresses are developed near the interface ahead of the crack tip.
Interaction Performance Between Frames and Stairs of Typical Teaching Building in "5·12"Wenchuan Earthquake Disaster Area

Associating with the typical teaching building in "5·12" Wenchuan Earthquake disaster area of Sichuan Province,the interaction performance between frames and stairs was explored.The interests cover the static lateral stiffness of the static single frame unit,the lateral stiffness of the whole frame,the dynamic performance of the whole frame,the responding analysis under the standard earthquake spectrum of current Chinese code,and the calculation of time history under different earthquake records.The results show that the existence of stairs greatly affect the lateral stiffness of frame,dynamic performance,the peak of internal forces under standard earthquake spectrum of current Chinese code,and the peak of internal forces and node response spectrum under different earthquakes.These can be used as necessary references for the construction and strengthening of the similar buildings in disaster area.
Classical Discourse and the Decline and Fall of Empires

Toward the end of his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon confidently opined that ‘attention will be excited by an history of the decline and fall of the Roman empire; the greatest, perhaps, and most awful scene, in the history of mankind.’450 This was not a hopeful fantasy. His immensely popular opus became a historical classic before his eyes and stood as a key element in understandings of empire in antiquity from the publication of the first volume in 1776, through the remainder of our period. As we have seen, while he said a great deal on the positive side, particularly with respect to the peace and prosperity of Rome’s golden age and the civilization spread via Rome’s imperial conquests, decline and fall was of course Gibbon’s central theme.
A Comparative Study of Applying Low-Latency Smoothing Filters in a Multi-kinect Virtual Play Environment

The Skeleton Tracking System in Kinect is known for being noisy and unstable, hence, in practice, a noise reduction filter or smoothing filter needs to be employed before consuming the data in order to obtain smooth joint position data over time. In this paper, we present a comparative study on applying four different smoothing filters (Simple Moving Average Smoothing, Savitzky–Golay filter, Exponential filter, and Double Exponential filter) in “Alone Together” (Tang et al. 2015), a virtual play environment augmented with multiple sets of Kinects. Overall, among the four filters, the Exponential Smoothing Filter yields the best results in the game. The comparative study only provides quantitative observations on the four smoothing filters, the qualitative examination in terms of player satisfaction remains unclear, which is one of our immediate future research paths in this direction.
The Importance of Digitization in Teaching-Oriented University and College Libraries

An increasing number of university and college libraries have started digitization programs and there are good reasons why they are doing so. First, we are in the middle of revolutionary change as to how ideas get published and distributed. Over 50 percent of scholarly publishing has gone digital and over 20 percent has gone open access. Governments worldwide are beginning to require tax-supported research be published in open access venues. Secondly, it is imperative that they increase their Archives’ digital presence. Preserving institutional histories is currently being lost because of the entirely digital way academic staff now communicate and many archives continue to preserve only paper records. While all non-research-oriented institutions of higher education do produce some scholarship, they should also consider what local information their schools create that could also be published and made available digitally worldwide. Librarians are perfectly placed in our society to know quality research materials so we need to be a part of new publishing solutions. It’s wise to step up now, create new initiatives to be a part of the new information provision scene. It may just help to save the library as an educational institution and center for institutional historical preservation.
Preclinical Immunogenicity Assessment of Baxter‘s Recombinant Factor VIIa,

Abstract 3327 Baxter has developed a recombinant FVIIa (rFVIIa) product for the treatment of hemophilia patients with factor VIII or factor IX inhibitors. Before entering clinical development we assessed the immunogenic safety profile of the new product candidate BAX 817 using two novel mouse models that mimicked specific aspects of the situation in patients. Several comparative preclinical immunogenicity studies were conducted to assess the immunogenicity profile of Baxter`s rFVIIa BAX 817 in comparison to a licensed recombinant FVIIa product. Three different mouse models were used for this purpose. The first model expresses specific immune tolerance against human FVIIa and, therefore, mimics the situation in both hemophilia A and hemophilia B patients. Using this model, we asked if Baxter‘s rFVIIa is able to maintain immune tolerance to human FVIIa. The second model is a hemophilia A model that mimics the situation in an important fraction of hemophilia A patients with FVIII inhibitors. This model expresses a human MHC-class II haplotype (HLA-DRB1*1501) that was previously shown to be associated with an increased risk for the development of FVIII inhibitors. The third model represents a normal wildtype C57BL/6 mouse. All mice were treated with 8 weekly doses of either Baxter‘s rFVIIa BAX 817 or a licensed recombinant FVIIa product. Total anti-FVIIa antibodies were analyzed prior to the first dose as well as after the 4th and the 8th dose using ELISA assays. Baxter`s rFVIIa BAX 817 and a licensed recombinant FVIIa product induced similar titers of anti-FVIIa antibodies in C57BL/6 wildtype mice and in hemophilic HLA-DRB1*1501 mice. In addition, both Baxter`s rFVIIa BAX 817 and a licensed recombinant FVIIa product were able to maintain specific immune tolerance in a novel mouse model that is immunologically tolerant to human FVIIa. Based on the data obtained we conclude that both Baxter‘s rFVIIa BAX 817 and a licensed recombinant FVIIa product have a comparable immunogenic safety profile. Disclosures: Horling:Baxter Innovations GmbH: Employment. Lenk:Baxter BioScience: Employment. Ahmad:Baxter BioScience: Employment. Weiller:Baxter BioScience: Employment. Schuster:Baxter Innovation GmbH: Employment. Schwarz:Baxter Innovations GmbH: Employment. Reipert:Baxter Innovations GmbH: Employment.
Application of Redundant Processing to Space Shuttle

Abstract The Space Shuttle is a highly automated vehicle, in which the computers are essential to flight safety. The very high reliability required is |achieved by a four-fold redundant configuration at the level of a complete computer, with redundancy management of the computers, external sensor, and interfacing equipment performed by a combination of hardware and software techniques. The paper describes the techniques used, and results achieved.
Pharmacotherapy Pearls for Emergency Neurological Life Support.

The appropriate use of medications during Emergency Neurological Life Support (ENLS) is essential to optimize patient care. Important considerations when choosing the appropriate agent include the patient’s organ function and medication allergies, potential adverse drug effects, drug interactions and critical illness and aging pathophysiologic changes. Critical medications used during ENLS include hyperosmolar therapy, anticonvulsants, antithrombotics, anticoagulant reversal and hemostatic agents, anti-shivering agents, neuromuscular blockers, antihypertensive agents, sedatives, vasopressors and inotropes, and antimicrobials. This article focuses on the important pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics characteristics, advantages and disadvantages and clinical pearls of these therapies, providing practitioners with essential drug information to optimize pharmacotherapy in acutely ill neurocritical care patients.
Deep neural networks for texture classificationA theoretical analysis

We investigate the use of Deep Neural Networks for the classification of image datasets where texture features are important for generating class-conditional discriminative representations. To this end, we first derive the size of the feature space for some standard textural features extracted from the input dataset and then use the theory of VapnikChervonenkis dimension to show that hand-crafted feature extraction creates low-dimensional representations which help in reducing the overall excess error rate. As a corollary to this analysis, we derive for the first time upper bounds on the VC dimension of Convolutional Neural Network as well as Dropout and Dropconnect networks and the relation between excess error rate of Dropout and Dropconnect networks. The concept of intrinsic dimension is used to validate the intuition that texture-based datasets are inherently higher dimensional as compared to handwritten digits or other object recognition datasets and hence more difficult to be shattered by neural networks. We then derive the mean distance from the centroid to the nearest and farthest sampling points in an n-dimensional manifold and show that the Relative Contrast of the sample data vanishes as dimensionality of the underlying vector space tends to infinity.
ExTraMapper: Exon- and Transcript-level mappings for orthologous gene pairs

Access to large-scale genomics and transcriptomics data from various tissues and cell lines allowed the discovery of wide-spread alternative splicing events and alternative promoter usage in mammalians. However, evolutionary studies that aim at identifying orthology relationships mostly focus on gene-level orthology which hinders the importance of transcript-level diversity. Between human and mouse, gene-level orthology is currently present for nearly 16k protein coding genes spanning a diverse repertoire of over 200k total transcript isoforms. Here we describe a novel method, ExTraMapper, which leverages sequence conservation between exons of a pair of organisms and identifies a fine-scale orthology mapping at the exon and then transcript level. ExTraMapper identifies more than 250k exon, as well as 30k transcript mappings between human and mouse. We demonstrate that ExTraMapper identifies a larger number of exon and transcript mappings compared to previous methods. Furthermore, it identifies exon fusions, splits and losses due to splice site mutations, and finds better transcript-level mappings compared to Ensembl orthology for the human proto-oncogene BRAF and its ortholog Braf in mouse. ExTraMapper is applicable to any pair of organisms that have orthologous gene pairs and allows translation of alternative splicing events and transcript expression values from one organism to another.
Acute Colonic Diverticulitis

Acute colonic diverticulitis is a gastrointestinal condition frequently encountered by primary care practitioners, hospitalists, surgeons, and gastroenterologists. Clinical presentation ranges from mild abdominal pain to peritonitis with sepsis. It can often be diagnosed on the basis of clinical features alone, but imaging is necessary in more severe presentations to rule out such complications as abscess and perforation. Treatment depends on the severity of the presentation, presence of complications, and underlying comorbid conditions. Medical and surgical treatment algorithms are evolving. This article provides an evidence-based, clinically relevant overview of the epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of acute diverticulitis.
Application of Polymerase Chain Reaction in Deletion and Inversion of Internal DNA Fragments

Deletion and inversion of an internal DNA fragment has been wildly used in delineating promoter activity and determining the function of certain cis-elements in the 5’ flanking region of genes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). These are generally achieved by restriction enzyme digestion and ligation. In most cases, such convenient restriction enzymes are not available. In this chapter, we describe a strategy of deleting or inverting a DNA fragment using a PCR based technique. As an example, an 115 bp element within a 931 bp of the immediate 5’ flanking region of the mouse peripherin/rds gene (cloned in pB Script vector) was deleted. The created DNA fragment can then be used to test for its promoter activity and the functional importance of the deleted element can be evaluated. We also inverted a 158 bp element within a 3304 bp fragment of the same promoter. Similarly, the functional as well as the directional importance of the manipulated fragment can be studied.
Irrigation and Crop Response

Whoever could make two ears of corn or two blades of grass to grow upon a spot where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.
Experimental Study of Two-Phase Cooling to Enable Large-Scale System Computing Performance

High Performance Computing (HPC) performance demands, which usually waterfall into mainstream servers later in time, show increasing need for higher power and hence pose cooling challenges for succeeding generations of compute elements. New generation processors have higher core count, multiple dies, and higher power to achieve generational performance CAGR. Typical high performance compute platforms have dual-socket boards that consume approximately 150-300 watts per socket. Each socket is directly fan-cooled or single phase liquid cooled. The thermal challenge is to cost-effectively increase the thermal envelope to enable greater performance and a target of doubling the power dissipation per socket. In order to push toward large scale system performance via thousands of compute nodes, there is a need to bring several high power processor nodes together with a fabric and a switch chip. Placing them on a single cost-effective motherboard enables high bandwidth fabric signaling and dense packaging, but with a high thermal load. A solution to this is transporting the heat away with two-phase liquid because it enables cooling of the silicon effectively and to a much lower junction temperature. In this paper, conclusive results from a prototype are shown using high efficiency Pumped Liquid Multiphase Cooling technology. 2kW of heat is moved from ten 200W devices (in series) while maintaining low, matched junction temperatures. The thermal management solution is designed for 1U height, keeping low weight as design constraint. The results from pumped two phase system are compared with single phase glycol water system as well and demonstrated advantages of the two phase system.
Method for the in situ Measurement of pH and Alteration Extent for Aluminoborosilicate Glasses Using Raman Spectroscopy

Characterization of long-term processes occurring during alteration of aluminoborosilicate glasses is relevant for natural as well as man-made materials. Static dissolution tests are a common setup for such studies, but the obtained results and related errors are impacted by the frequency and protocol of samplings performed to determine release via solution analysis, e.g., ICP-OES. A noninvasive method was developed to continuously monitor glass alteration based on in situ Raman spectrometry of the solution contained in the alteration vessel. The alteration of a benchmark glass, the environment assessment (EA) glass, for 7 days at 90 °C showed that the pH and boron concentration results obtained from solution monitoring and ICP-OES quantification were similar to the pH and boron results obtained from chemometric modeling of the Raman spectra and within error of previously published results in similar conditions. The errors on altered amounts of glass based on B release were similar for both in situ Raman ...
Eosinophilic Esophagitis-A Primer for Otolaryngologists.

Importance Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, inflammatory condition of the esophagus. Prevalence of EoE is on the rise and, owing to its associated extragastrointestinal manifestations and comorbidities, otolaryngologists are increasingly encountering this condition in their practice. Observations Symptoms of EoE are vague and vary greatly based on patient’s age. The gastrointestinal symptoms include dysphagia, food impaction, feeding difficulties, symptoms mimicking gastroesophageal reflux, abdominal pain, vomiting, and failure to thrive. Several otolaryngologic symptoms are associated with EoE including rhinosinusitis, chronic cough, recurrent croup, hoarseness, and other aerodigestive symptoms refractory to gastroesophageal reflux therapy. Eosinophilic esophagitis is also frequently associated with other atopic conditions, such as asthma, eczema, and food allergies. The diagnosis is made on endoscopy with biopsies that reveal eosinophil-predominant esophageal inflammation. There are 3 major treatment approaches to EoE, commonly referred to as the 3 Ds: diet, drugs, and dilation. Untreated inflammation of esophagus from EoE can result in irreversible structural damage to the esophagus, leading to fibrosis, strictures, and impaired esophageal function. Conclusions and Relevance Eosinophilic esophagitis is now a fairly prevalent condition with considerable morbidity. Otolaryngologists should be familiar with the various clinical presentations of this condition in different age groups. Early diagnosis and treatment of this condition is a key for avoiding or postponing its complications.
Rock the Chalk: A five-year comparative analysis of a large microbiology lecture course reveals improved outcomes of chalk-talk compared to PowerPoint

Abstract The rise of electronic assisted presentation programs such as PowerPoint in undergraduate large lecture biology classes has displaced more traditional hand-drawn lectures such as the blackboard or overhead projectors, referred here as “chalk-talk” approaches. But which method is more effective in a large lecture microbiology classroom is unclear. Here I present data from a large microbial genetics lecture course taken during a five-year span comparing PowerPoint to chalk-talk lecturing methods. The results indicate that the chalk-talk approach was preferred by the students and rated higher in all measured metrics including course enjoyment, learning of key concepts, and course outcomes.
Commerce as romance: Nanji Kalidas Mehta's dream half-expressed

This article is a study of the autobiography of Nanji Kalidas Mehta (1887– 1969), a Gujarati entrepreneur who arrived in East Africa as a young boy and retired in his old age as the founder of a major multinational conglomerate, the Mehta Group of Companies. I locate in his autobiography one of the mythological charters of the Indian presence in Africa–that of commerce as romance. My reading highlights Mehta’s self-fashioning not only as a man of commerce, but also as a man of literature, an avid traveler, an engaged nationalist, a devout Hindu, and a committed philanthropist. In tracing some of these priorities of his life, I seek to ask what they also say about his attitudes towards African modernity, religious tolerance, spaces of domesticity, and the role of women in society. A closer look at lives such as those of Mehta’s, I suggest, may allow for a more nuanced understanding of the larger Indian Ocean provenance of commercial modernity in East Africa than that rendered by traditional accounts that focus solely on British colonial enterprise.
Deep LOGISMOS: Deep learning graph-based 3D segmentation of pancreatic tumors on CT scans

This paper reports Deep LOGISMOS approach to 3D tumor segmentation by incorporating boundary information derived from deep contextual learning to LOGISMOS — layered optimal graph image segmentation of multiple objects and surfaces. Accurate and reliable tumor segmentation is essential to tumor growth analysis and treatment selection. A fully convolutional network (FCN), UNet, is first trained using three adjacent 2D patches centered at the tumor, providing contextual UNet segmentation and probability map for each 2D patch. The UNet segmentation is then refined by Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and morphological operations. The refined UNet segmentation is used to provide the initial shape boundary to build a segmentation graph. The cost for each node of the graph is determined by the UNet probability maps. Finally, a max-flow algorithm is employed to find the globally optimal solution thus obtaining the final segmentation. For evaluation, we applied the method to pancreatic tumor segmentation on a dataset of 51 CT scans, among which 30 scans were used for training and 21 for testing. With Deep LOGISMOS, DICE Similarity Coefficient (DSC) and Relative Volume Difference (RVD) reached 83.2±7.8% and 18.6±17.4% respectively, both are significantly improved (p<0.05) compared with contextual UNet and/or LOGISMOS alone.
A Theoretical Study on Circular Wire and Flat Strip Conductor Inductance for Magnetic Resonance-Shielded Phased-Array Circular Coils

Phased-array radiofrequency (RF) coils are commonly used for signal reception in magnetic resonance for their large spatial coverage, typical of volume coils, and for their high signal-to-noise ratio, usually associated with surface coils. The simplest design of phased-array coils is an array of circular loops whose conductor can be constituted by flat strip or circular wire cross-sectional geometry, often partially enclosed in an RF shield for minimizing electromagnetic interference. This paper proposes a method for the analytical calculation of the mutual inductance between two circular loops constituting a dual-element phased-array coil by taking into account the conductor’s geometry and the effect of an eventual RF shield.
Diagnostic Guide for Cucurbit Downy Mildew

Cucurbit downy mildew caused by the oomycete Pseudoperonospora cubensis is the most devastating foliar disease on cultivated cucurbitaceous crops. Failure of host resistance in cucumber and previou...
Watershed and streambank erosion modeling in a coldwater stream using the GWLF-E model: application and evaluation

While many watershed models estimate overland flow-related soil loss, streambank erosion is often overlooked even though it can be the dominant source of sediment in a catchment. We used the enhanced generalized watershed loading functions (GWLF-E) model to simulate the water budget, field erosion from the landscape, and streambank erosion along a gradient of agricultural to urban land cover from 1997 to 2015 in the Indian Mill Creek watershed of Michigan, USA. We evaluated discharge simulations using in-streamflow measurements and evaluated streambank erosion simulations using field-collected erosion pin measurements from a previous study. Annual water budget results suggest the creek is primarily groundwater fed, but that a per-subbasin average of 6–15% of precipitation becomes runoff. Field erosion contributed a per-subbasin average of 0.5–2.5 Mg ha−1 year−1 of sediment, while streambank erosion accounted for 0.2–50.1% of the subbasins’ total sediment yields. Average lateral erosion rate of streambanks in subbasins ranged from 0.04 to 7.37 cm year−1, with four subbasins exceeding 1.0 cm year−1. Evaluation with field-collected discharge data suggest that GWLF-E may have been overestimating discharge in the subbasins. Evaluation with streambank erosion data found that GWLF-E may have difficulty capturing the complexity of erosion rates, including instances where sediment is deposited on streambanks from upstream sources, and that it underestimates streambank erosion in headwater catchments sometimes over an order of magnitude. Our findings are important for watershed managers to evaluate modeling approaches and highlight the importance of modeling both field and streambank erosion.
Hyperspectral imaging using a Wollaston prism

A novel pushbroom hyperspectral imaging (HSI) system based on a Wollaston prism is demonstrated. HSI measurements of the spectra of three RGB LEDs are presented and are found to agree well with a commercial spectrometer.
Communication of pain by school-age children with cancer using a game-based symptom assessment app: A secondary analysis

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the self-reported pain experiences of school-age children with cancer participating in a feasibility trial of a game-based symptom assessment app. Method Nineteen children (median: 8 years, range 6–12 years old) receiving cancer treatment were recruited to complete five days of symptom tracking between clinical visits using a symptom assessment app. Children could report pain as a general symptom with the ability to further localize pain on an avatar. Children could also describe symptoms in response to the app's free-text questions or the app's diary. Descriptive statistics characterized reports of pain frequency, severity, bother, and location. Free-text responses were examined for pain-related statements and analyzed using content analysis. Results All 19 children documented pain on at least one day of app reporting between clinical visits. Pain was most frequently recorded as of mild severity and mild bother. Participants localized pain most frequently to the head, followed by the stomach, chest, extremities, and mouth. Eleven children documented 32 qualitative statements which included rich descriptions of pain-related topics (i.e., “my port hurts a little”) and location (i.e., “my vision aching”). Conclusions These results demonstrate that school-age children with cancer are willing to describe their ambulatory pain experiences on a game-based mobile app through quantitative reports and by using narrative descriptions. Additionally, these findings can potentially guide clinicians in using multiple approaches to elicit a clinically meaningful evaluation of pain in this population.
EMERGE et ENGAGE : premiers résultats des études de phase III sur l’aducanumab dans la maladie d’Alzheimer au stade précoce

Introduction L’aducanumab est un AC monoclonal humain ciblant les formes agregees d’Aβ (oligomeres solubles et fibrilles insolubles). EMERGE et ENGAGE sont 2 etudes de phase III mondiales, randomisees, en double insu, controlees vs placebo, de 18 mois. Objectifs Ces etudes, aux methodologies identiques, ont evalue l’efficacite et la securite d’emploi de l’aducanumab chez des patients de 50 a 85 ans avec une maladie d’Alzheimer (MA) debutante (troubles cognitifs legers dus a la MA ou demence legere liee a la MA). Patients et methodes Les criteres d’inclusion comprenaient une TEP-amyloide positive, un MMSE de 24 a 30, un score CDR Global de 0,5, et un score RBANS-DMI ≤ 85. Pendant la periode controlee vs placebo de 18 mois, les patients ont ete randomises 1/1/1 pour recevoir l’aducanumab a dose faible, l’aducanumab a dose elevee ou un placebo, administre en IV toutes les 4 semaines. Le critere de jugement principal etait la variation du score CDR-SB a la sem 78. Les criteres secondaires etaient la variation des scores MMSE, ADAS-Cog13 et ADCS-ADL-MCI. Resultats Apres l’analyse de futilite planifiee, une analyse realisee suite au gel de base final a montre que EMERGE avait satisfait son critere de jugement principal, conformement au plan d’analyse statistique prespecifie. Les patients traites par aducanumab a dose elevee ont presente une reduction significative du declin clinique mesure par les CDR-SB a la semaine 78 (22 % vs placebo, p = 0,01). Discussion ENGAGE n’a pas satisfait son critere de jugement principal. Cependant, les donnees des patients de l’etude ENGAGE qui avaient atteint une exposition suffisante a l’aducanumab a dose elevee ont corrobore les resultats d’EMERGE. Le profil de securite d’emploi et de tolerance de l’aducanumab dans les etudes EMERGE et ENGAGE concordait avec celui observe dans les etudes precedentes. Conclusion EMERGE a satisfait a son critere de jugement principal, conformement au plan d’analyse statistique prespecifie. Les donnees d’un sous-groupe de patients d’ENGAGE corroborent les resultats d’EMERGE.
Have Lazear-Style Implicit Contracts Disappeared?

A well-known theory (Lazear, 1979) argues that wage patterns in which younger workers are underpaid relative to marginal revenue product and older workers are overpaid relative to marginal revenue product can be understood as an implicit contract designed to combat principal-agent problems in environments where worker monitoring is costly. In this paper I argue that a number of recent developments (most notably the legal ban on mandatory retirement) have caused the formation of these implicit contracts between firms and young workers to decline (or cease). I derive testable implications of this hypothesis and test it using a Panel Study of Income Dynamics sample of prime-age, full-time, private sector, non-union male workers who are not self-employed. This is the group that, according to Lazear's theory, is most likely to be party to these implicit contracts. The results are consistent with the hypothesis. In order to explore the question of whether the results from the main sample have some cause other than the hypothesized one, I perform the following exercise: I identify other groups in the data (both sub-groups of the main (male) sample and a separate female sample); determine what the hypothesis predicts for those groups; and then perform tests similar to those performed on the main sample to see how well the hypothesis holds up. The results from the male sub-groups do not support the hypothesis, but do not strongly refute it. This lack of support may indicate that the hypothesis is false, but it also may be due to the crudeness of the method for assigning workers to the different sub-groups. The results from the female sample support the hypothesis, but the strength of this support depends on the regression specification used.
Self‐Help Groups

A self-help group is an organization of individuals sharing a common concern who meet regularly to provide and receive emotional support and to exchange information. Self-help groups exist for nearly every health and social support problem; this makes them a useful referral source for mental health professionals. Further, because self-help groups are free of charge and allow unlimited attendance, they provide ongoing support to participants regardless of limits imposed by financial resources and managed health care. Self-help groups thus provide vital access to care for underserved groups. In fact, individuals with low incomes (less than $20,000/year) and low social support are more likely to participate than individuals with higher levels of economic and support resources (Klaw & Humphreys, 2004). Although self-help groups have traditionally convened through face-to-face meetings, in recent years Internet self-help forums have proliferated. Keywords: self-help; mutual-help; mutual-aid
ApoA-I/ApoA-II ratios in plasmas of vegetarians

Diets low in fat and cholesterol and high in P/S ratio are accompanied by low HDL-cholesterol levels. Short-term experimental feeding of such diets demonstrates that the HDL2 fraction is reduced preferentially. In order to ascertain whether the HDL2 lowering effects persist over the long-term, apolipoprotein A-I/A-II ratios, which are indices of the HDL2 relative to HDL3 in plasma, were measured in three groups of vegetarians (n = 35) who had been eating vegetarian diets for 1 to more than 5 years varying in cholesterol contents from less than 10 to 300 mg/d, fat between 30% to 50% of calories, and P/S ratio between 0.7-2.5. Concentrations of apoA-I were lower in those eating the least cholesterol and the highest P/S ratio, ie, apoA-I correlated positively with dietary cholesterol (r = 0.38, P less than 0.05), and both apoA-I and the A-I and the A-I/A-II ratio correlated negatively with the ratio of polyunsaturated-to-saturated (P/S) fatty acids (r = -0.39, P less than 0.05, and r = -0.41, P less than 0.02, respectively). There was no significant correlation between apoA-I, apoA-II, the A-I/A-II ratio or the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol/apoA-I ratio and consumption of total calories, fat, protein, or carbohydrate. Since the A-I/A-II ratio is much higher in HDL2 than in HDL3, these data suggest that cholesterol intake and the P/S ratio are important long-term dietary determinants of plasma HDL2 levels. Thus, in vegetarians, despite a reduced risk of coronary heart disease, the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and especially HDL2 concentrations were low. More work is needed to elucidate this interesting paradox.
Temporal and geographic variation in parasitoid attack with no evidence for ant protection of the Melissa blue butterfly, Lycaeides melissa

Interactions among caterpillars, ants and parasitoids have informed much of what is known about tritrophic ecological dynamics. However, detailed studies encompassing all three trophic levels are limited to relatively few natural systems. In this study, interactions of the Melissa blue butterfly, Lycaeides melissa, with mutualistic ants and parasitoids in the context of novel host plant use by the butterfly were investigated. Over the course of 2 years, 526 caterpillars and 288 ants tending caterpillars were collected from 185 plants at sites with two different native host plants and the exotic host alfalfa, for the purpose of investigating if the presence of ants was associated with reduced rates of parasitism. The abundance and diversity of parasitoids varied considerably across space and time. The presence of tending ants did not appear to reduce rates of parasitism, in contrast to a previous study of L. melissa, which found evidence of ant protection against spiders and other predators. This study has increased our understanding of ant–caterpillar–enemy interactions, and previously unobserved interactions have been documented, including at least two new host–parasitoid relationships. These findings highlight the importance of investigating ecological interactions, including interactions with other trophic levels, when studying diet breadth and ecological diversification in herbivorous insects.
Study of $B\to D^{(*)+}_s D^{*(*)}$ and D(*)(4π)- at CLEO

We report on the observation of B → D(*) π+ π- π-πo decays at rate of 1.8%, with significant contribution from D(*)ω π-. The ωπ- appears to come from the decay ρ', the mass and width are measured to be 1418 MeV and 382 MeV respectively. We also report the first evidence of .
Chemical basis and specificity of chemical screening tests for urinary vanilmandelic acid.

The most common metabolite of neural crest tumors is vanilmandelic acid. There have recently been several screening tests for this substance in urine, in which diazotized aromatic amines couple with it to produce colored azo dyes. The general opinion has been that these tests are very nonspecific, yet little has been written concerning the exact chemical basis of the reaction with respect to biological compounds. We have examined this reaction in some detail, using p -nitroaniline as the diazotized amine, and found it to be surprisingly selective with respect to the chemical configuration of the compounds with which it couples to produce the characteristic violet color interpreted as a positive result. The important structural feature of most of these compounds is that they contain a hydroxymethyl group attached to the guaiacol nucleus, as seen in 3-methoxy-4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol.
Real Estate Financing Techniques Can Be Motivational Tools

Internal financing decisions regarding corporate real estate are not market determined. Managers calculate occupancy costs by utilizing capital allocations, financial charges, and IRRs. This process can be rather arbitrary. Although newer costing systems produce more accurate numbers, they may not create better working relations. This article demonstrates that desired organizational behavior in some instances may be motivated more effectively with three imprecise financial techniques than with truly accurate costing.
Bit Error Rate Performance of a DS/DPSK Spread Spectrum Receiver

A bit error rate (BER) analysis of binary DPSK data modulation used in conjunction with direct sequence spread sprectrum (DSSS) is presented. A first order noncoherent delay-lock loop is used for the pseudonoise code tracking. Conditional BER results for the DS/DPSK systems for fixed values of the code tracking error are obtained. The average BER of the system is then evaluated by averaging the conditional BER expressions over the probability density function of the code tracking error. These results are supplemented by considering the effects of a narrowband fading tone interferer on the overall system performance.
Coronary artery spasm occurring in the setting of the oculocardiac reflex

The oculocardiac reflex (OCR) occurs in up to 90% of ophthalmological surgeries. Several preventive and treatment strategies have been described. Coronary artery spasm (CAS) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of variant angina and myocardial infarction. We describe an unusual case of a perioperative myocardial infarction due to CAS that occurred in the setting of the treatment of the OCR. We offer insight aimed at minimizing the deleterious effects of the OCR and its management.
The Impetus for Organisational Change: An Exploration

This paper examines the factors thatcause universities to undertake academic change,specifically, changes to achieve more effectiveteaching and learning. Based on an analysis of30 reform-oriented US colleges and universities, itsuggests that universities respond to diverseenvironmental pressures, not solely to externalmandates. There is evidence, too, that internal forceswithin universities can be an impetus for change.
Towards a Mechanics of Voice for Plomer and Britten's 'Gloriana'

Critical writing on Gloriana , Benjamin Britten's opera for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II with a libretto by William Plomer, has typically focused on issues tied to its premiere and subsequent reception and, less frequently, on how the opera represents Britten's concerns, his 'voice'. This essay considers two ways that Britten might be said to project his 'voice' in the opera: 'textural emphasis', the highlighting and obscuring of lines from the libretto, and 'instrumental commentary', orchestral interpolations not suggested in the libretto. Both techniques point to Britten's retention of words in a musical environment that seems to undermine them, an arrangement that allows for the perception of internal authorial dissent. By exploring a number of specific moments of disagreement between words and music in Gloriana , a pattern of compositional approaches emerges, and it becomes possible to propose a mechanics of how voice is produced in the opera.
Theory of the solid-nematic transition in thermotropic main-chain liquid-crystalline polymers

A mean-field theory is presented of the transition at which a crystalline array of rigid chain molecules transforms to a nematic phase in which relative longitudinal motion of the molecules occurs. The transition temperature in commonly encountered materials is found to be proportional to the geometric mean of a very high temperature that is characteristic of the intrachain forces and a lower one characteristic of the interchain forces.
Strains overproducing tRNA for histidine.

Hybridization analysis of total genomic DNA indicated that Escherichia coli K12 contains a single copy of the gene encoding the histidine-accepting tRNA. This gene was subcloned onto an inducible expression vector under the control of the tac promoter. Strains carrying the resulting plasmid showed five- to six-fold increased histidine-accepting activity after induction. This overproduction of tRNAHis did not effect the growth rate of the strain or lead to derepression of the histidine biosynthetic enzymes. Neither did it have an effect on mistranslation elicited by histidine starvation. However, in cells starved for histidine by the addition of α-methyl histidine, the overproduction of tRNAHis interfered with the ability of the cells to recover from starvation.
Superior vena cava syndrome.

60-year-old man presented with pro-gressive swelling of his face and neck, which had begun 2 weeks earlier. He denied any headache, lightheadedness, blurry vision, syncope, or change in his cognitive or memo-ry function. A review of symptoms was unre-markable. The patient had hypertension and end-stage renal disease, for which he was receiving hemodialysis via a catheter tunneled into his right internal jugular vein. He had undergone multiple unsuccessful attempts to create an ar -teriovenous fistula over the previous 2 years. On physical examination, his vital signs were normal. Swelling of the face and fullness in his neck with bilateral congested conjunc-tivae were noted. His jugular venous pressure was elevated at 10 cm. Multiple dilated tortu-ous veins were noticed on his upper chest and across his abdominal wall (