cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
DO LUMBAR DECOMPRESSION AND FUSION PATIENTS RECALL THEIR PRE-OPERATIVE STATUS? RECALL BIAS IN PATIENT-REPORTED OUTCOMES

Although patient-reported outcomes (PROs) have become increasingly important in the evaluation of spine surgery patients, interpretability may be limited by a patient9s ability to recall pre-intervention impairment. The accuracy of patient recall of preoperative back pain, leg pain, and disability after spine surgery remains unknown. We sought to characterise the accuracy of patient recall of preoperative symptoms in a cohort of lumbar spine surgery patients. We analysed consecutive patients undergoing lumbar decompression or decompression and fusion for lumbar radiculopathy by a single surgeon over a four-year period. Using standardised questionnaires, we recorded back and leg numeric pain scores (NPS) and Oswestry Disability Indices (ODI) preoperatively and asked patients to recall their preoperative status at a minimum of one-year following surgery. We then statistically compared and characterised patient recall of their pre-operative status and their actual pre-operative status. Patients with incomplete follow up or diagnoses other than degenerative lumbar stenosis were excluded. Sixty-seven patients with a mean age of 66.1 years (55% female) were included in the final analysis. All cases were either posterior or combined anterior/ posterior procedures. Mean levels of surgery was 1.7 and 93.8% of all cases were instrumented. Mean duration of preoperative symptoms was 44.5 months (3.7 years). Preoperative vs postoperative PROs improved with regards to NPS back (5.2 vs 2.2, p= to 2 point difference), exceeding the minimal clinical important difference (MCID) for NPS. This pattern was maintained across age, gender, and duration of preoperative symptoms. We also observed cases of symptom minimisation recall bias, and cases in which back and leg pain predominance were switched in severity during recall bias. Significant recall bias of preoperative symptoms exists in patients undergoing spine surgery, potentially limiting accurate assessment and interpretation of PROs. An understanding of PROs and their limitations is essential to assess treatment efficacy of spinal procedures.
Parallel narratives: resistance strategies of low-wage female hospitality workers and nineteenth-century black enslaved females

AbstractThis research explores control and gendered resistance strategies of female low-level hospitality workers and nineteenth-century black enslaved females by linking resistance patterns in historically documented slave narratives with oral narratives of current female hospitality workers. Emerging narratives document parallel stories of oppression, abuse, devaluation, and exploitation and focus awareness on the subordinate position of low-level workers in an oppressor/oppressed relationship. Functioning under two different economic systems, slavery and capitalism, these low-level workers’ narratives allow similar patterns of resistance to surface and help us expand our understanding of worker exploitation, female resistance, and narrative as possessing liberatory potential.
The Banking View of Bond Risk Premia

Banks' balance sheet exposure to fluctuations in interest rates strongly forecasts excess Treasury bond returns. This result is consistent with optimal risk management, a banking counterpart to the household Euler equation. In equilibrium, the bond risk premium compensates banks for bearing fluctuations in interest rates. When banks' exposure to interest rate risk increases, the price of this risk simultaneously rises. We present a collection of empirical observations that support this view, but also discuss several challenges to this interpretation.
Free-Endpoint Optimal Control of Inhomogeneous Bilinear Ensemble Systems

Abstract Optimal control of bilinear systems has been a well-studied subject in the areas of mathematical and computational optimal control. However, effective methods for solving emerging optimal control problems involving an ensemble of deterministic or stochastic bilinear systems are underdeveloped. These burgeoning problems arise in diverse applications from quantum control and molecular imaging to neuroscience. In this work, we develop an iterative method to find optimal controls for an inhomogeneous bilinear ensemble system with free-endpoint conditions. The central idea is to represent the bilinear ensemble system at each iteration as a time-varying linear ensemble system, and then solve it in an iterative manner. We analyze convergence of the iterative procedure and discuss optimality of the convergent solutions. The method is directly applicable to solve the same class of optimal control problems involving a stochastic bilinear ensemble system driven by independent additive noise processes. We demonstrate the robustness and applicability of the developed iterative method through practical control designs in neuroscience and quantum control.
Viremia copy-years predicts mortality among treatment-naive HIV-infected patients initiating antiretroviral therapy

Background. Cross-sectional plasma human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral load (VL) measures have proven invaluable for clinical and research purposes. However, cross-sectional VL measures fail to capture cumulative plasma HIV burden longitudinally. We evaluated the cumulative effect of exposure to HIV replication on mortality following initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART). Methods. We included treatment-naive HIV-infected patients starting ART from 2000 to 2008 at 8 Center for AIDS Research Network of Integrated Clinical Systems sites. Viremia copy-years, a time-varying measure of cumulative plasma HIV exposure, were determined for each patient using the area under the VL curve. Multivariable Cox models were used to evaluate the independent association of viremia copy-years for all-cause mortality. Results. Among 2027 patients contributing 6579 person-years of follow-up, the median viremia copy-years was 5.3 log10 copy 3 y/mL (interquartile range: 4.9‐6.3 log10 copy 3 y/mL), and 85 patients (4.2%) died. When evaluated separately, viremia copy-years (hazard ratio [HR] 5 1.81 per log10 copy 3 y/mL; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.51‐2.18 per log10 copy 3 y/mL), 24-week VL (1.74 per log10 copies/mL; 95% CI, 1.48‐2.04 per log10 copies/mL), and most recent VL (HR 5 1.89 per log10 copies/mL; 95% CI: 1.63‐2.20 per log10 copies/mL) were associated with increased mortality. When simultaneously evaluating VL measures and controlling for other covariates, viremia copyyears increased mortality risk (HR 5 1.44 per log10 copy 3 y/mL; 95% CI, 1.07‐1.94 per log10 copy 3 y/mL), whereas no cross-sectional VL measure was independently associated with mortality. Conclusions. Viremia copy-years predicted all-cause mortality independent of traditional, cross-sectional VL measures and time-updated CD41 T-lymphocyte count in ART-treated patients, suggesting cumulative HIV replication causes harm independent of its effect on the degree of immunodeficiency.
Analyzing Connectivity of Heterogeneous Secure Sensor Networks

We analyze the connectivity of a heterogeneous secure sensor network that uses key predistribution to protect communications between sensors. For this network on a set $\mathcal {V}_n$ of $n$ sensors, suppose there is a pool $\mathcal {P}_n$ consisting of $P_n$ distinct keys. The $n$ sensors in $\mathcal {V}_n$ are divided into $m$ groups $\mathcal {A}_1, \mathcal {A}_2, \ldots, \mathcal {A}_m$ . Each sensor $v$ is independently assigned to exactly a group according to the probability distribution with $\mathbb {P}[v \in \mathcal {A}_i]= a_i$ for $i=1,2,\ldots, m$ , where $\sum _{i=1}^{m}a_i = 1$ . Afterwards, each sensor in group $\mathcal {A}_i$ independently chooses $K_{i,n}$ keys uniformly at random from the key pool $\mathcal {P}_n$ , where $K_{1,n} \leq K_{2,n}\leq \ldots \leq K_{m,n}$ . Finally, any two sensors in $\mathcal {V}_n$ establish a secure link in between if and only if they have at least one key in common. We present critical conditions for connectivity of this heterogeneous secure sensor network. The result provides useful guidelines for the design of secure sensor networks. This paper improves the seminal work [1] (IEEE Transactions on Information Theory 2016) of Yagan on connectivity in the following aspects. First, our result is more broadly applicable; specifically, we consider $K_{m,n} / K_{1,n} = o(\sqrt{n})$ , while [1] requires $K_{m,n} / K_{1,n} = o(\ln n)$ . Put differently, $K_{m,n} / K_{1,n}$ in our paper examines the case of $\Theta (n^{x})$ for any $x and $\Theta \big ((\ln n)^y\big)$ for any $y > 0$ , while that of [1] does not cover any $\Theta (n^{x})$ , and covers $\Theta \big ((\ln n)^y)$ for only $0 . This improvement is possible due to a delicate coupling argument. Second, although both studies show that a critical scaling for connectivity is that the term $b_n$ denoting $\sum _{j=1}^{m} \left \lbrace a_j \left [1 -{{{P_n-K_{1,n}}\atopwithdelims (){K_{j,n}}}\big /{{P_n}\atopwithdelims (){K_{j,n}}}}\right] \right\rbrace$ equals $\frac{\ln n}{n}$ , our paper considers any of $b_{n}=o\big (\frac{ \ln n }{n}\big)$ , $b_{n}=\Theta \big (\frac{ \ln n }{n}\big)$ , and $b_{n}=\omega \big (\frac{ \ln n }{n}\big)$ , while [1] evaluates only $b_{n}=\Theta \big (\frac{ \ln n }{n}\big)$ . Third, in terms of characterizing the transitional behavior of connectivity, our scaling $b_{n}=\frac{ \ln n + \beta _n}{n}$ for a sequence $\beta _n$ is more fine-grained than the scaling $b_{n}\sim \frac{c \ln n}{n}$ for a constant $c \ne 1$ of [1] . In a nutshell, we add the case of $c=1$ in $b_{n}\sim \frac{c \ln n}{n}$ , where the graph can be connected or disconnected asymptotically, depending on the limit of $\beta _n$ . Finally, although a recent study by Eletreby and Yagan [2] uses the fine-grained scaling discussed before for a more complex graph model, their result (just like [1] ) also demands $K_{m,n} / K_{1,n} = o(\ln n)$ , which is less general than $K_{m,n} / K_{1,n} = o(\sqrt{n})$ addressed in this paper.
On infinite words determined by L systems

Abstract A deterministic L system generates an infinite word α if each word in its derivation sequence is a prefix of the next, yielding α as a limit. We generalize this notion to arbitrary L systems via the concept of prefix languages. A prefix language is a language L such that for all x , y ∈ L , x is a prefix of y or y is a prefix of x . Every infinite prefix language determines a single infinite word. Where C is a class of L systems (e.g. 0L, DT0L), we denote by ω ( C ) the class of infinite words determined by the prefix languages in C . This allows us to speak of infinite 0L words, infinite DT0L words, etc. We categorize the infinite words determined by a variety of L systems, showing that the whole hierarchy collapses to just three distinct classes of infinite words: ω ( PD0L ) , ω ( D0L ) , and ω ( CD0L ) . Our results are obtained with the help of a pumping lemma which we prove for T0L systems.
AUTOMATIC DIFFERENTIATION OF FUNCTIONS OF DERIVATIVES

In a recent paper an algorithm FEED was introduced for the systematic exact evaluation of higher-order partial derivatives of functions of many variables. The present paper demonstrates that FEED can be applied to a much broader class of functions than envisioned previously. Specifically, FEED can be used to evaluate the higher-order partial derivatives of functions which are defined in terms of the derivatives of other functions, a task required in many applications.
Long-acting reversible contraception use among residents in obstetrics/gynecology training programs.

Background The objective of the study was to estimate the personal usage of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) among obstetrics and gynecology (Ob/Gyn) residents in the United States and compare usage between programs with and without a Ryan Residency Training Program (Ryan Program), an educational program implemented to enhance resident training in family planning. Materials and methods We performed a web-based, cross-sectional survey to explore contraceptive use among Ob/Gyn residents between November and December 2014. Thirty-two Ob/Gyn programs were invited to participate, and 24 programs (75%) agreed to participate. We divided respondents into two groups based on whether or not their program had a Ryan Program. We excluded male residents without a current female partner as well as residents who were currently pregnant or trying to conceive. We evaluated predictors of LARC use using bivariate analysis and multivariable Poisson regression. Results Of the 638 residents surveyed, 384 (60.2%) responded to our survey and 351 were eligible for analysis. Of those analyzed, 49.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 44.1%, 54.5%) reported current LARC use: 70.0% of residents in Ryan Programs compared to 26.8% in non-Ryan Programs (RRadj 2.14, 95% CI 1.63-2.80). Residents reporting a religious affiliation were less likely to use LARC than those who described themselves as non-religious (RRadj 0.76, 95% CI 0.64-0.92). Of residents reporting LARC use, 91% were using the levonorgestrel intrauterine device. Conclusion LARC use in this population of women's health specialists is substantially higher than in the general population (49% vs. 12%). Ob/Gyn residents in programs affiliated with the Ryan Program were more likely to use LARC.
Hardness of Approximation.

This article accompanies the talk given by the author at the International Congress of Mathematicians, 2014. The article sketches some connections between approximability of NP-complete problems, analysis and geometry, and the role played by the Unique Games Conjecture in facilitating these connections. For a more extensive introduction to the topic, the reader is referred to survey articles [39, 40, 64]. Mathematics Subject Classification (2010). Primary 68Q17.
A novel quality assessment for visual secret sharing schemes

To evaluate the visual quality in visual secret sharing schemes, most of the existing metrics fail to generate fair and uniform quality scores for tested reconstructed images. We propose a new approach to measure the visual quality of the reconstructed image for visual secret sharing schemes. We developed an object detection method in the context of secret sharing, detecting outstanding local features and global object contour. The quality metric is constructed based on the object detection-weight map. The effectiveness of the proposed quality metric is demonstrated by a series of experiments. The experimental results show that our quality metric based on secret object detection outperforms existing metrics. Furthermore, it is straightforward to implement and can be applied to various applications such as performing the security test of the visual secret sharing process.
EmbedJoin: Efficient Edit Similarity Joins via Embeddings

We study the problem of edit similarity joins, where given a set of strings and a threshold value K, we want to output all pairs of strings whose edit distances are at most K. Edit similarity join is a fundamental problem in data cleaning/integration, bioinformatics, collaborative filtering and natural language processing, and has been identified as a primitive operator for database systems. This problem has been studied extensively in the literature. However, we have observed that all the existing algorithms fall short on long strings and large distance thresholds. In this paper we propose an algorithm named EmbedJoin which scales very well with string length and distance threshold. Our algorithm is built on the recent advance of metric embeddings for edit distance, and is very different from all of the previous approaches. We demonstrate via an extensive set of experiments that EmbedJoin significantly outperforms the previous best algorithms on long strings and large distance thresholds.
How does the FASB make decisions? A descriptive study of agenda-setting and the role of individual board members

Abstract This study provides descriptive evidence on how the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) sets Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Based on 211 financial accounting standards issued between 1973 and 2014, we summarize the reasons that the FASB adds or removes projects from its agenda, the entities most frequently bringing issues to the FASB's attention, and commonly recurring topics across different standards over time. We find that reducing diverse practices and inconsistent guidance is the most frequent reason cited by the FASB to take on a project and more than half of the standards are intended to enhance comparability. We find that the SEC, AICPA, and large public accounting firms are identified most frequently by the FASB as the parties bringing issues to its attention. Accounting for financial instruments is the most frequent recurring topic across accounting standards, which potentially explains the growth in fair value measurement in U.S GAAP over time. We analyze the dissenting opinions written by Board members and find some evidence that the stated reasons for disagreements are associated with their professional backgrounds. However, our analyses indicate Board members' positions on fair value accounting are context-specific and cannot be fully explained by their professional backgrounds.
INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE TO OBTAIN CORRECT ALIGNMENT OF JOINT ORIENTATION ANGLE WITH THE ANATOMICAL AXIS OF LONG BONE WHEN CORRECTING LONG BONE DEFORMITIES IN ADOLESCENT WITH LOCKED INTRAMEDULLARY NAIL

Background: Acute deformity correction with the help of osteotomies and stabilisation with intramedullary (IM) nail is a recognised technique. We present our case series of long bong deformity correction using an innovative technique that aids accurate correction after osteotomy and insertion of IM nail. Technique: On preoperative measurements the distance of the joint surface from the point of intersection of the joint orientation angle with the convex cortex and also its distance from apex of deformity were noted. These distances were reproduced intraoperatively and guide pin was inserted towards premeasured point in the convex cortex. Osteotomy was performed and appropriate sized locked IM nail inserted with the help of temporary blocking screws, resulting in the correction of deformities. Method: Retrospective review of case notes and radiographs was performed of five patients who underwent long bone deformity correction using this technique. Average age of patients was 15.2yrs. Underlying diagnosis were hypophosphataemic rickets, growth arrests and juvenile osteoporosis. Results: Length of follow up was from 6 to 24 months. All osteotomies had healed at an average of 46 days. Of the eleven bone segments, nine had normal alignment (within 2.5° of normal or contralateral side). In the other two bone segments the alignment was between 2.5° and 5°. Blocking screws were not used in both these cases. Conclusions: This is a simple technique of deformity correction. Keys to improve accuracy of correction are preoperative planning, intraoperative blocking screws and oblique osteotomies to accommodate translation.
Justice Is (Change) Blind: Applying Research on Visual Metacognition in Legal Settings.

Research demonstrates that people overestimate their ability to detect visual stimuli in a variety of contexts. These errors in visual metacognition have legal implications, as they may cause decision makers to misweigh evidence and misallocate responsibility. We describe 4 experiments that bridge the gap between lab studies of visual metacognition and 1 relevant legal context: negligence litigation. In the first 2 experiments, we expand on the existing visual metacognition research by demonstrating that participants’ overestimation persists when they are asked what an observer should see and what an observer can be blamed for failing to see. Then, we examine the extent to which participants treat their presumptions that someone should have seen a stimulus like evidence of verified visual detection. Finally, we use vignettes of negligence cases modeled on existing change blindness and inattention blindness research to drive home the potential legal consequence of visual metacognitive errors: defendants may be found negligent for failing to detect stimuli that the ordinary, reasonable person would not have seen.
Machine learning identifies a compact gene set for monitoring the circadian clock in human blood

The circadian clock and the daily rhythms it produces are crucial for human health, but are often disrupted by the modern environment. At the same time, circadian rhythms may influence the efficacy and toxicity of therapeutics and the metabolic response to food intake. Developing treatments for circadian dysfunction, as well as optimizing the daily timing of treatments for other health conditions, will require a simple and accurate method to monitor the molecular state of the circadian clock. Here we used a recently developed method called ZeitZeiger to predict circadian time (CT, time of day according to the circadian clock) from genome-wide gene expression in human blood. In cross-validation on 498 samples from 60 individuals across three publicly available datasets, ZeitZeiger predicted CT in single samples with a median absolute error of 2.1 h. The predictor trained on all 498 samples used 15 genes, only two of which are part of the core circadian clock. By then applying ZeitZeiger to 475 additional samples from the same three datasets, we quantified how the circadian clock in the blood was affected by various perturbations to the sleep–wake and light–dark cycles. Finally, we extended ZeitZeiger (1) to handle intra-individual variation by making predictions based on multiple samples taken a known time apart, and (2) to handle inter-individual variation by personalizing predictions based on samples from the respective individual. Each of these strategies improved prediction of CT by ~20%. Our results are an important step towards precision circadian medicine. In addition, our generalizable extensions to ZeitZeiger may be applicable to the growing number of biological datasets that contain multiple observations per individual.
Prediction of Sand Transport over Immobile Gravel from Supply-Limited to Capacity Conditions

AbstractSuccessful sediment management of streams and rivers downstream of dams requires a method for predicting sand transport across a range of conditions that can include sand transported below ...
A Holocene record of ocean productivity and upwelling from the northern California continental slope

Abstract The Holocene upwelling history of the northern California continental slope is examined using the high-resolution record of TN062-O550 (40.9°N, 124.6°W, 550 m water depth). This 7-m-long marine sediment core spans the last ∼7500 years, and we use it to test the hypothesis that marine productivity in the California Current System (CCS) driven by coastal upwelling has co-varied with Holocene millennial-scale warm intervals. A combination of biogenic sediment concentrations (opal, total organic C, and total N), stable isotopes (organic matter δ13C and bulk sedimentary δ15N), and key microfossil indicators of upwelling were used to test this hypothesis. The record of biogenic accumulation in TN062-O550 shows considerable Holocene variability despite being located within 50 km of the mouth of the Eel River, which is one of the largest sources of terrigenous sediment to the Northeast Pacific Ocean margin. A key time interval beginning at ∼2900 calibrated years before present (cal yr BP) indicates the onset of modern upwelling in the CCS, and this period also corresponds to the most intense period of upwelling in the last 7500 years. When these results are placed into a regional CCS context during the Holocene, it was found that the timing of upwelling intensification at TN062-O550 corresponds closely to that seen at nearby ODP Site 1019, as well as in the Santa Barbara Basin of southern California. Other CCS records with less refined age control show similar results, which suggest late Holocene upwelling intensification may be synchronous throughout the CCS. Based on the strong correspondence between the alkenone sea surface temperature record at ODP Site 1019 and the onset of late Holocene upwelling in northern California, we suggest that CCS warming may be conducive to upwelling intensification, though future changes are unclear as the mechanisms forcing SST variability may differ.
Design aspects of the Microstrip reflectarray

The Microstrip reflectarray has been identified as one of the enabling technologies to achieve low mass, conformal mounting, wide-angle beam scanning, etc. [1] for NASA's future spaceborne high-gain antennas. It combines some of the best features of microstrip array antenna technology and the traditional parabolic reflector. Recently, the reflectarray antenna has found another horizon. It has the ability to integrate with the solar array and inflatable structures to achieve better overall system efficiency. There is a variety of types of printed reflectarrays. They are formed by basically using different elements, such as patches with variable phase delay lines [2,3] or variable rotation angles [4] and patches, rings, or dipoles with variable sizes [5,6,7]. These printed reflectarrays, although they are different, can be designed in a same fashion by using the simple conventional array technique [3]. Prior to the actual design, several important characteristics of the reflectarray, such as the element pattern, f/D ratio, bandwidth, feed pattern, etc., must be well understood by the designer in order to achieve a design with adequate efficiency.
Integer factorization with a neuromorphic sieve

The bound to factor large integers is dominated by the computational effort to discover numbers that are smooth, typically performed by sieving a polynomial sequence. On a von Neumann architecture, sieving has log-log amortized time complexity to check each value for smoothness. This work presents a neuromorphic sieve that achieves a constant time check for smoothness by exploiting two characteristic properties of neuromorphic architectures: constant time synaptic integration and massively parallel computation. The approach is validated by modifying msieve, one of the fastest publicly available integer factorization implementations, to use the IBM Neurosynaptic System (NS1e) as a coprocessor for the sieving stage.
An auto-calibrating model for an 8/6 switched reluctance motor drive: Application to design and control

Development of a precise dynamic model for switched reluctance motors (SRM) is a critical step in design and analysis of optimal control strategies. This paper is focused on important issues concerning the development of such models and their subsequent use in designing control strategies for the SRM drive. The main goal in modeling is to provide a good accuracy over the entire speed and torque range. To achieve this objective, the following requirements need to be met: (1) a good accuracy in following the inductance of each stator phase, (2) inclusion of mutual effects when significant overlap among phases exists, (3) inclusion of short flux path operation in each electrical cycle when significant overlap among adjacent phases exists, and (4) capability for auto-calibration to cope with parameter variations caused by manufacturing imperfections and operational conditions. In this paper, we present a precise modeling approach along with an auto calibration strategy. A simple yet elegant test collects the necessary data for developing the proposed model. Inherent separation among mechanical, electrical and control time constants have been used to develop the auto-calibration process. Our modeling approach takes into account the effects of short flux path in each electrical cycle as well as effects of overlap inductances at high speeds. This, in turn, results in further enhancement of the accuracy in predicting the dynamic response of the SRM drive when significant overlap among phases exists.
Performance optimization over positive l∞ cones

Abstract In this paper we study linear systems with positivity type of constraints. First, we consider the case where the input to a system is restricted to be in the positive cone of l ∞ , denoted by l ∞ + , and seek to characterize the system’s induced norm from l ∞ + to l ∞ . We obtain an exact characterization of this norm which is particularly easy to calculate in the case of LTI systems. Furthermore, we consider and solve the model matching problem, and show that time-varying linear or nonlinear control/filtering does not improve the performance with respect to this norm for LTI systems. In the second part of the paper, we consider the case when the output is forced to be in the positive l ∞ cone when the input is in this cone. We show if internal positivity is sought, a dynamic optimal controller offers no advantage over a static one. Also, if the measurement matrix satisfies certain conditions, synthesizing an optimal static output feedback controller reduces to a linear program.
Socioeconomic gradients of cardiovascular risk factors in China and India: results from the China health and retirement longitudinal study and longitudinal aging study in India.

Cardiovascular disease has become a major public health challenge in developing countries. The goal of this study is to compare socioeconomic status (SES) gradients of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) both within and between China and India. We used multivariable logistic regression models to examine the associations between SES and CVRF, using data from the China health and retirement longitudinal study and the longitudinal aging study in India. The results showed that, compared to illiteracy, the odds ratios of completing junior high school for high-risk waist circumference were 4.99 (95% confidence interval: 1.77–14.06) among Indian men, 3.42 (95% confidence interval: 1.66–7.05) among Indian women, but 0.74 (95% confidence interval: 0.59–0.92) among Chinese women. Similar patterns were observed between educational attainment and high-risk body mass index, and between education and hypertension, based on self-reported physician diagnosis and direct blood pressure measurements. SES is associated with CVRF in both China and India. However, this relationship showed opposite patterns across two countries, suggesting that this association is not fixed, but is subjective to underlying causal pathways, such as patterns of risky health behaviors and different social and health policies.
PREDICTORS FOR RE-ADMISSION FOLLOWING PRIMARY TOTAL JOINT ARTHROPLASTY IN LOWER EXTREMITY

Background Readmission following any total joint arthroplasty has become a closely watched metric for many hospitals in the United States because financial penalties imposed by CMS for excessive readmissions occurring within thirty days of discharge will be forthcoming in 2015. The purpose of this study was to identify both preoperative comorbidities associated with and postoperative reasons for readmission within thirty days following primary total joint arthroplasty in the lower extremity. Methods Retrospective data was collected for patients who underwent elective primary total hip arthroplasty (CPT code 27130), total knee arthroplasty (27447), and total ankle arthroplasty (27702) from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2013 at our institution. The sample was separated into readmitted and non-readmitted cohorts. Demographic variables, preoperative comorbidities, Charlson Comorbidities Index (CCI), operative parameters, readmission rates, and causes of readmission were compared between the groups using univariate and multivariate regression analysis. Results There were 42 (3.4%), 28 (2.2%), and 1 (0.5%) readmissions within 30 days for THA, TKA, and TAA, respectively. The most common cause of readmission within 30 days following total joint arthroplasty in lower extremity was infection. Trauma was the second most common reason for readmission of a THA while wound dehiscence was the second most common cause for readmission following TKA. With univariate regression, there were multiple associated factors for readmission among total hip and total knee arthroplasty patients including BMI, metabolic equivalent (MET), and CCI. Multivariate regression revealed that hospital length of stay was significantly associated with 30-day readmission after THA and TKA. Conclusion Patient co-morbidities and pre-operative functional capacity significantly affect 30-day readmission rate following total joint arthroplasty. Adjustments for these parameters should be considered when hospital penalties are calculated with regard to 30-day readmission.
The development of confidence limits for fatigue strength data

Over the past several years, extensive databases have been developed for the S-N behavior of various materials used in wind turbine blades, primarily fiberglass composites. These data are typically presented both in their raw form and curve fit to define their average properties. For design, confidence limits must be placed on these descriptions. In particular, most designs call for the 95/95 design values; namely, with a 95% level of confidence, the designer is assured that 95% of the material will meet or exceed the design value. For such material properties as the ultimate strength, the procedures for estimating its value at a particular confidence level is well defined if the measured values follow a normal or a log-normal distribution. Namely, based upon the number of sample points and their standard deviation, a commonly-found table may be used to determine the survival percentage at a particular confidence level with respect to its mean value. The same is true for fatigue data at a constant stress level (the number of cycles to failure N at stress level S{sub 1}). However, when the stress level is allowed to vary, as with a typical S-N fatigue curve, the procedures for determining confidence limits are not as well defined. This paper outlines techniques for determining confidence limits of fatigue data. Different approaches to estimating the 95/95 level are compared. Data from the MSU/DOE and the FACT fatigue databases are used to illustrate typical results.
OUTCOMES OF CERAMIC BEARINGS AFTER PRIMARY THA IN THE MEDICARE POPULATION

Introduction Previous registry studies of ceramic-on-polyethylene (C-PE) and ceramic-on-ceramic (COC) have focused on revision outcomes following primary surgery. Less is known about the effect of ceramic bearings on infection, dislocation, and mortality as outcomes following primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) for the Medicare population. We asked (1) does the use of C-PE bearings influence outcomes following THA as compared with metal-on-polyethylene (M-PE); and (2) does the use of COC bearings influence outcomes following THA as compared with M-PE? Methods A total of 315,784 elderly Medicare patients (65+) who underwent primary THA between 2005 and 2014 with known bearing types were identified from the Medicare 100% inpatient sample administrative database. Outcomes of interest included relative risk of 90-day readmission, infection, dislocation, revision, or mortality at any time point after primary surgery. Propensity scores were developed to adjust for selection bias in the choice of bearing type at index primary surgery. Cox regression incorporating propensity score stratification (10 levels) was then used to evaluate the impact of bearing surface selection on outcomes, after adjusting for patient-, hospital-, and surgeon-related factors. Results For primary THA patients treated with C-PE bearings and COC bearings, there was significantly reduced risk of infection relative to M-PE bearings (C-PE Hazard Ratio, HR: 0.86, p=0.001; COC Hazard Ratio, HR: 0.74, p=0.01). For the C-PE cohort, we also observed reduced risk of 90-day readmission (HR: 0.94, p<0.001); dislocation (HR: 0.81, p<0.001); and mortality (HR: 0.92, p<0.001). There was no significant difference in risk of revision for either the C-PE or COC bearing cohorts when compared with M-PE. For the COC cohort, there was no significant difference in readmission, dislocation, or mortality risk. Conclusions The results indicate that, after adjusting for selection bias and various confounding patient-, surgeon-, and hospital-related factors, Medicare patients treated with primary THA with ceramic bearings exhibit lower risk of infection than those treated with M-PE bearings. In addition, C-PE bearings were associated with lower risk of dislocation and mortality. As in previous registry studies, we found that ceramic bearings have similar revision risk as M-PE bearings in primary THA at between 8 and 9 years of follow-up. The findings of this study support further research into the long-term association between ceramic bearings in primary THA and clinical outcomes.
On the discrepancy between observed and CMIP5 multi-model simulated Barents Sea winter sea ice decline

This study aims to understand the relative roles of external forcing versus internal climate variability in causing the observed Barents Sea winter sea ice extent (SIE) decline since 1979. We identify major discrepancies in the spatial patterns of winter Northern Hemisphere sea ice concentration trends over the satellite period between observations and CMIP5 multi-model mean externally forced response. The CMIP5 externally forced decline in Barents Sea winter SIE is much weaker than that observed. Across CMIP5 ensemble members, March Barents Sea SIE trends have little correlation with global mean surface air temperature trends, but are strongly anti-correlated with trends in Atlantic heat transport across the Barents Sea Opening (BSO). Further comparison with control simulations from coupled climate models suggests that enhanced Atlantic heat transport across the BSO associated with regional internal variability may have played a leading role in the observed decline in winter Barents Sea SIE since 1979.
Google's Cloud Vision API is Not Robust to Noise

Google has recently introduced the Cloud Vision API for image analysis. According to the demonstration website, the API "quickly classifies images into thousands of categories, detects individual objects and faces within images, and finds and reads printed words contained within images." It can be also used to "detect different types of inappropriate content from adult to violent content." In this paper, we evaluate the robustness of Google Cloud Vision API to input perturbation. In particular, we show that by adding sufficient noise to the image, the API generates completely different outputs for the noisy image, while a human observer would perceive its original content. We show that the attack is consistently successful, by performing extensive experiments on different image types, including natural images, images containing faces and images with texts. For instance, using images from ImageNet dataset, we found that adding an average of 14.25% impulse noise is enough to deceive the API. Our findings indicate the vulnerability of the API in adversarial environments. For example, an adversary can bypass an image filtering system by adding noise to inappropriate images. We then show that when a noise filter is applied on input images, the API generates mostly the same outputs for restored images as for original images. This observation suggests that cloud vision API can readily benefit from noise filtering, without the need for updating image analysis algorithms.
The Missing Men World War I and Female Labor Force Participation

Using spatial variation in World War I military fatalities in France, we show that the scarcity of men due to the war generated an upward shift in female labor force participation that persisted throughout the interwar period. Available data suggest that increased female labor supply accounts for this result. In particular, deteriorated marriage market conditions for single women and negative income shocks to war widows induced many of these women to enter the labor force after the war. In contrast, demand factors such as substitution toward female labor to compensate for the scarcity of male labor were of second-order importance.
A singular perturbation study of the Rolie-Poly model

Abstract A singular perturbation analysis for the Rolie-Poly model is presented for the limit of large relaxation time. The model describes entangled linear polymer melts and time scales for a Rouse time and reptation time. First, the case of the Rouse time approaching zero is named the nonstretching model, and the addition of a solvent model gives the small parameter to be the ratio of the retardation time to the slow reptation time. This analysis is instructive in formulating the perturbation analysis for the full Rolie-Poly model without the solvent, where the small parameter is the ratio of Rouse time to reptation time. The resulting formulae elucidate the characteristic features of thixotropic yield stress fluids, including yield stress hysteresis, delayed yielding and long term persistence of a decreased viscosity after cessation of flow. Two fundamental initial value problems are solved: startup of shear flow and cessation of shear flow. The scalings lead naturally to simplified dynamical systems that describe regimes of fast, slow and yielded dynamics, and show how the combination of these regimes can be used to describe the entire flow evolution.
Design for Dignity and Procedural Justice

The civil legal system exists to solve people’s problems, like divorce, eviction, bankruptcy, and child custody disputes. But this system, in particular the courts, are difficult and frustrating to navigate, especially if a person does not have a lawyer. Our study reviews how people currently experience court Self Help Centers, and identifies opportunities to enhance them. It does this through a framework of Perceived Control, that considers how to give users greater understanding, options, and behavioral control over a difficult system.
The evolution of massive stars: bridging the gap in the Local Group

The nearby galaxies of the Local Group can act as our laboratories in helping to bridge the gap between theory and observations. In this review, we will describe the complications of identifying samples of OB stars, yellow and red supergiants, and Wolf-Rayet stars, and what we have so far learned from these studies.This article is part of the themed issue 'Bridging the gap: from massive stars to supernovae'.
A Simple Estimate of Glomerular Filtration Rate in Low Birth Weight Infants During the First Year of Life: Noninvasive Assessment of Body Composition and Growth

The management of the preterm Infant often requires rapid assessment of glornerular filtration rote (GFR). We sought to develop a screening test using GFR : kL/Pcr, where GFR Is expressed as ml/mln/1.73 m 2, L Is body length In centimeters, Pcr Is plasma creatlnlne concentration, and k is a constant that depends on muscle mass. The value for k In 118 approprlate for gestatlonal age preterm Infants (0.34 +__ 0.01 SE) was slgnlflcantly less than that of full-term infants (0.43 _+ 0.02, P <0.001). There was no difference between 12- to 24-hour single-injectlon inulin clearance and either 0.33 L/Pcr or creatlnlne clearance in preterm Infants. We compared the body habltus of preterm and full-term infants uslng the assessment of muscle mass from urlnary creatlnine excretion (UcrV) and from upper arm muscle area (AMA) and volume (AMY), and that of fatness from the sum of five sklnfold thickness measurements. Durlng the first year of life, premature Infants were found to have a lower percentage of muscle mass than term infants did. On the other hand, they took on a relatively greater amount of subcutaneous fat. There was a very good correlation between AMA or AMV and urlnary creatlnine excretion (r : 0.91 and 0.94, respectively) in 68 infants wlth heterogeneous body composltlon durlng the first year, indicating the validity of the urinary creatlnlne measurement. Absolute GFR (ml/mln) was also well estimated from AMA or AMV factored by Pcr. We conclude that GFR can be well estimated from 0.33 L/Pcr in preterm infants. The lower value for k reflects the smaller percentage of muscle mass in preterm versus term Infants. As a screening test, 1.8  k or 0.5 L/Pcr predicted low values of GFR with an efficiency of 73%, speclflclty of 67%, and sensitivlty of 88%. (J
Reversible patterning of spherical shells through constrained buckling

Recent advances in active soft structures envision the large deformations resulting from mechanical instabilities as routes for functional shape morphing. Numerous such examples exist for filamentary and plate systems. However, examples with double-curved shells are rarer, with progress hampered by challenges in fabrication and the complexities involved in analyzing their underlying geometrical nonlinearities. We show that on-demand patterning of hemispherical shells can be achieved through constrained buckling. Their postbuckling response is stabilized by an inner rigid mandrel. Through a combination of experiments, simulations, and scaling analyses, our investigation focuses on the nucleation and evolution of the buckling patterns into a reticulated network of sharp ridges. The geometry of the system, namely, the shell radius and the gap between the shell and the mandrel, is found to be the primary ingredient to set the surface morphology. This prominence of geometry suggests a robust, scalable, and tunable mechanism for reversible shape morphing of elastic shells.
Calcium Metabolism and Parathyroid Function in Primary Aldosteronism

Calcium and magnesium metabolism was investigated in 10 hypertensive subjects with primary aldosteronism (seven adenomatous, three idiopathic). Serum levels of total calcium (9.03 +/- 0.2 mg/dl) and ionized calcium (2.06 +/- 0.06 meq/liter) were in the low-normal range, except for two patients who had levels of serum ionized calcium clearly above normal. Furthermore, both serum total (n = 6, p less than 0.01) and ionized calcium levels (n = 3) rose postoperatively in the patients who had an aldosterone-producing tumor removed. Dramatic elevations of parathyroid hormone levels (mean, 645 +/- 109 pgeq/liter; normal, less than 150 to 375 pgeq/liter) were seen in the majority of patients, including those two with frank ionized calcium elevations. Magnesium levels were within normal limits (2.07 +/- 0.07 meq/liter). These results indicate that parathyroid hypersecretion is a common feature of primary aldosteronism and also suggest a physiologic relationship between the activity of the renin-aldosterone system and parathyroid physiology. Sodium-volume expansion and negative calcium balance induced by aldosterone excess may predispose to hyperparathyroidism.
Selective flotation of fossil resin from Wasatch Plateau high-volatile bituminous coal

Certain bituminous coals are known to contain appreciable quantities of natural fossil or subfossil resin. Such resinous coals are found in the western US, particularly the Wasatch Plateau coalfield of UT. Some of the seams in this field contain an average of 5% resin. This fossil resin has been recovered by gravity and/or flotation processes since 1929. Resin concentrates thus produced are of low quality and are usually refined by solvent extraction. The purified resins are of commercial importance in the adhesive, coating, rubber, and ink industries, etc. An improved flotation technique has been developed which involves ozone conditioning to selectively float resin from high-volatile bituminous coal. With this flotation process, a concentrate product which contains 95% resin at a recovery of 80% can be obtained in single-stage flotation. By comparison, conventional flotation at 80% recovery produces a concentrate having a resin content of 30 to 40%.