cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Theoretical Studies of Excited State Proton Transfer in Small Model Systems

Ab initio calculations that address the problem of excited-state proton transfer across an intramolecular hydrogen bond are reviewed. Small molecules, such as malonaldehyde, containing such a H-bond are first examined. This work reveals that in comparison to the ground state, the H-bond is strengthened and the transfer barrier reduced in the1ππ* state; opposite trends are noted in the triplet ππ* as well as nπ* states. Replacement of the H-bonding O atoms of malonaldehyde by N has only a small effect upon these results, as does enlargement or reduction of the malonaldehyde ring, coupled with anionic charge. The transfer barrier is linearly related to the equilibrium length of the H-bond in the various states of each system. Attachment of a phenyl ring to malonaldehyde introduces a fundamental asymmetry into the proton transfer potential, as the enol and keto tautomers are inequivalent. Whereas the enol is more stable in the ground and nπ* states, a reversal occurs in the ππ* states, which may be understoo...
Increased Peripheral Arterial Calcification in Patients Receiving Warfarin

BackgroundMatrix Gla protein is a vitamin K–dependent inhibitor of vascular calcification. Warfarin use is associated with increased breast arterial calcification, but whether this is reflective of...
Organizational Climates for Creativity

The characteristics associated with the creative individual and the identification of these characteristics have been explored in a companion paper in this Journal.1 Once this important task has be...
Recent Research in Applied Studio Instruction: Characteristics of the Applied Setting

In his 2002 chapter, Systematic Research in Studio Instruction in Music Richard Kennell reviews and summarizes major research efforts for the applied studio setting. Over the past decade, a renewed interest in the applied studio has become apparent in a line of investigative inquiry pursued by researchers. The purpose of this paper, part one in a two-part series, is to highlight some of this new work on an international platform, in keeping with the comprehensive framework as laid out by Kennell (2002). The dyadic nature of the applied studio is clearly seen in the ‘master-apprentice’ model and Kennell (2002) refers to this as the expert-novice apprenticeship model early in the chapter. Kennell (2002) goes on to review research from within several broad categories: the roles of student and teacher, their behaviors, their interactions, and evaluation. Research undertaken most recently can still be grouped loosely into these categories, which for the purposes of this series are clustered as (1) characteristics of the applied setting (Burwell, 2006; Colprit, 2000; Duke, 1999/2000; Duke & Simmons, 2006; Fredrickson, 2007; Gaunt, 2008; Kurkul, 2007; Laukka, 2004; Mills & Smith, 2003), (2) the use of practice in the applied studio (Jorgensen, 2002; Kostka, 2002; C.K. Madsen, 2004; Maynard, 2006), and (3) the use of evaluation in the applied studio (Bergee, 2003; Bergee & Cecconi-Roberts, 2002; Oberlander, 2000; Parkes, 2006, 2008a, 2008b). Additionally, several authors (Bennett & Stanberg, 2006; Jorgensen, 2000; Parncutt, 2007; Sinsabaugh, 2007) have recently highlighted a more collaborative approach to the current modus operandi of the applied studio and there has been particular interest (Parkes, 2009; Wexler, 2008) in the dual roles that applied teachers undertake as performers and teachers. This notion will be discussed with a view toward future research. The current paper will examine recent research about the characteristics of the applied setting and the forthcoming paper, will address the use of practice and evaluation, and collaborative processes and dual roles of the applied studio teachers.
Supersonic Propulsive Divert Maneuvers for Future Robotic and Human Mars Missions

Future robotic and human missions to Mars require improved landed precision and increased payload mass. Two architectures that seek to meet these requirements using supersonic propulsive diverts are proposed in this paper: one utilizing a high-altitude propulsive divert and another with thrust vectoring during supersonic retropropulsion. Low ballistic coefficient entry vehicles decelerate high in the thin Mars atmosphere and may be used to deliver higher-mass payloads to the surface. A high-altitude supersonic propulsive divert maneuver is proposed as a means of precision landing for low ballistic coefficient entry vehicles that decelerate to supersonic speeds at altitudes of 20-60 km. This divert maneuver compares favorably to state-of-the-art precision landing architectures with range accuracy on the order of 100 m while saving over 30% in propellant mass. Architectures which utilize hypersonic vehicles with ballistic coefficients of 10 kg/m 2 can possibly land within 500 m of a target with this maneuver alone. Supersonic retropropulsion has also been proposed as a means to deliver higher-mass payloads to the surface, and thrust vectoring during supersonic retropropulsion can save a substantial amount of fuel in a precision landing scenario. Propellant mass savings greater than 30% are possible if thrust vectoring is unconstrained during the supersonic phase of flight.
Advanced and Expensive Cardiovascular Procedures in the Very Elderly–Can We or Should We Limit Access?

With the increasing proportion of elderly patients in the population, physicians are often faced with challenging treatment decisions for the management of coronary artery diseases, valvular heart diseases, advanced heart failure and prevention of sudden cardiac death in the elderly patient population. Comprehensive review of the literature and available evidence is summarized in this chapter to guide such complex clinical decisions. Elderly patients presenting with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) appear to benefit from percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with the use of drug eluting stents (DES). Though current guidelines do not consider age as a prohibitive factor, the risk of major bleeding complications and stroke should be carefully considered. For elderly patients with severe aortic stenosis, trans-catheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is superior compared to medical therapy for inoperable patients. TAVR, when performed via the transfemoral approach, remains non inferior and cost effective compared to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). Trans-catheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) using MitraClip appears to be beneficial for inoperable patients with degenerative severe mitral regurgitation but more data are needed. Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation in the elderly population remains a controversial topic especially for secondary prevention. The current evidence suggests that age should not be the sole withholding factor but the decision for ICD implantation should account for comorbidities and patient preference. On the other hand, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has definitely a mortality and morbidity benefit in the management of elderly patients with advanced heart failure.
Cy Alkaline Pretreatment for Refractory Gold Floatation Concentrate of anidation Tailings under Normal Temperature and Pressure

The floatation concentrate of cyanidation tailings was very refractory.For example the dissolution of gold by NaCN for leaching 24h for cyanidation tailings under the grinding size of 37μm of 99.5% was only 1.80%.After the pretreatment of intensified alkaline leaching under normal temperature and pressure,the dissolution of gold is raised to 85.82% with the cyanide consumption of 6 kg/t,and the adsorption recovery by activated charcoal is 99.66%.
Effects of Heat Treatment of Defatted Soy Flour Fed to Young Japanese Quail

Soy protein products, with versatile functional properties and good nutritional quality, are increasingly used in human foods. It is important to develop animal bioassays to assess the adequacy of processing to assure the safety and nutritive quality of these products. We observed that feeding a commercial fully toasted, defatted soy flour to young Japanese quail as the sole protein source resulted in poor growth, even with supplemental zinc (Fox et al., 1983). We investigated the effects of graded heat treatment of soy flour on growth, development, and mineral utilization in quail.
Conclusion: Public Policy Theory and Democracy: The Elephant in the Corner

Democracy is a wounded mammoth, looming large but mainly ignored by policy theorists. While serving democracy was a foundational goal of the policy sciences, few public policy scholars today mention democracy (or its absence), and they certainly do not use it as a criterion for evaluating policy. In this chapter, we probe why and how policy scholars turned away from the topic, and examine the insignificant stature of the subject in contemporary approaches, including those covered in this book. Our response to this deficiency is to offer a democracy-centered approach that considers the two-way relationship of citizens to policy and vice versa. Electoral and other policies affect citizen involvement across the board, but these same policies also benefit some, burden others, and send messages that affect citizens’ attitudes, orientation, and participation.
‘Next thing you know, her hair turned green’: absurdity and uncertainty in high-stakes teacher test space

ABSTRACTThis article explores what happens behind the closed doors and in the ‘black box’ of high-stakes educational testing. Our specific concern is licensure exams that are often gatekeepers into teacher education programs and the profession. Leveraging the spatial turn across critical social theory and other disciplines, we conceptualize the test space of these exams in order to account for the powerful reach that test companies have into teacher education and the ‘ideal’ restrictive space that test takers navigate. Against this conceptual background, we share findings from a larger qualitative study to illustrate how test takers ‘practice’ test space into something more manageable and familiar by leveraging various affordances presented to them. Overall, our study accounts for the spatial dimension of high-stakes educational tests and initiates productive ways to begin thinking about the structure and agency of these spaces.
The selection of the low frequency for radial modulation imaging at 20 MHz

Background: Radial modulation (RM) is a promising dual band approach for high frequency microbubble (MB) imaging. A low frequency (LF) ultrasound pulse is used to manipulate the MB radius while a synchronized high frequency (HF) pulse successively measures MB backscatter in compressed and expanded states. RM signal amplitude has been shown to increase with LF signal amplitude, but is ultimately limited by the infiltration of LF harmonics into the HF bandwidth at higher LF pressure. The ideal LF for maximizing RM signal remains controversial, and frequencies at and below resonance have been reported. This study was designed to investigate the modulation frequency and amplitude that maximize RM signal. Methods: Lipid-encapsulated perfluorocarbon MB (3.54 ± 1.76 µm) were circulated in a 6 mm diameter cellulose tube. A 20 MHz single element transducer was concentrically housed in the center of hollow 1 and 2.25 MHz transducers and the resulting confocal pressure fields were calibrated with a hydrophone. During insonation of the circulating MB, 50 independent HF line pairs were recorded while varying LF pressure from 0.02 to 0.4 mechanical index (MI). The RM signal was defined as the mean HF backscatter power difference between the low and high pressure phases of the modulating LF, normalized by the high pressure HF backscatter power. Radio-frequency signal and spectra were also analyzed for LF harmonics. Results: Simulation and experimental data for this MB suspension both predicted higher RM at resonance frequency for the same MI. However, our experimental data demonstrate that the RM reaches a 60% maximum that is the same for both frequencies and is reached at 0.1 0.15. Also, we show that RM allows high resolution single MB specific imaging with very efficient tissue suppression. Conclusions: Our results suggest that a MI in the 0.1–0.15 range produced the same maximal RM amplitude in the studied MB population for both LF studied. LF harmonics were negligible at these pressure levels. These findings should help with the development of high frequency molecular imaging.
Defeating pragmatic encroachment

This paper examines the prospects of a prima facie attractive response to Fantl and McGrath’s argument for pragmatic encroachment. The response concedes that if one knows a proposition to be true then that proposition is warranted enough for one to have it as a reason for action. But it denies pragmatic encroachment, insofar as it denies that whether one knows a proposition to be true can vary with the practical stakes, holding fixed strength of warrant. This paper explores two ways to allow knowledge-reason links without pragmatic encroachment, both of which appeal to defeat. The first appeals to defeaters of reasons. If you know the bank is open tomorrow, what you know is available as a reason, but it may be defeated by considerations concerning the stakes. The second appeals to defeaters which do not defeat reasons but which nonetheless do something similar: they make the action recommended by those reasons vicious. In a high stakes case performing the “risky” action would be vicious even if it is justified in the sense of being supported by undefeated reasons. What is defeated is a virtue-based epistemic status rather than reasons or justification. I argue that neither proposal halts the march from a knowledge-reason link to pragmatic encroachment.
Human Milk Microbes – Summary and Research Gaps

Previous chapters in this book have detailed the history, presence, origin, and variation in the complex ecosystem of bacteria found in human milk. Based on the variety of studies presented, it is clear that human milk is not sterile and instead is a potential bacterial inoculum to the infant. However, current methodologies for determining the presence, identification, and amount of bacterial taxa in milk may provide bias in what we know; this area remains a fertile realm of important investigation. Furthermore, variation of bacteria found in human milk has been related to a number of factors, including maternal genetics, body composition, nutrition, delivery mode, antibiotic use, and concentration and profile of human milk oligosaccharides. However, very little is known about whether these relationships are causal in nature. Additionally, there are many potential sources of the bacteria in milk including specific trafficking of bacteria from the maternal gastrointestinal tract, reverse flow from the infant's oral cavity, and migration from the skin of the breast. It is also likely that infants fed expressed human milk potentially receive other bacteria in their feedings from milk collection, storage, and suckling devices—all of which are exposed to environmental bacteria. It is noteworthy that, to date, much of our knowledge regarding bacteria in human milk reflects the pathogenic properties of bacteria during mastitis, a state of mammary inflammation with significant impact on lactation success. The characteristics of the organisms causing mastitis and their relationship to other bacterial community members is an important field of study in our understanding of the human milk microbiome in healthy and ill women. Treatment and prevention of mastitis through probiotics may support lactation better than antibiotic therapy. In summary, the emerging field of the human milk microbiome represents a paradigm shift in terms of both maternal and infant health. As with the focus that has been placed on understanding the microbial communities in other niches of the human body, we recommend substantial resources be directed to understanding the human milk microbiome, its origins and variability, and how it is related to maternal and infant health around the globe.
Effects of task allocation on air traffic management human-automation system performance

To determine the capabilities and limitations of human operators and automation in separation assurance roles, a human-in-the-loop study investigated allocation of air traffic control functions across three different conditions where amount of automation and controller tasks were varied. Participants worked a single sector with aircraft in different phases of flight. Scenarios included varying levels of traffic and purpose-built conflicts, in a 3-by-2 condition design (task automation by traffic scenario). The premise of the study was that greater amounts of automation would reduce participant workload and increase performance (fewer losses of separation and greater schedule conformance). Findings showed that while workload did decrease, on average, the best system performance overall occurred in a condition where there was some but not full automation, suggesting the value of keeping a controller purposefully involved in air traffic control.
Comfort Women: Perpetuating Violence on Korean Women by the Occupying Armies

This paper examines prostitution in a militarized context on the Korean peninsula. While sexual violence like rape and forced prostitution is not uncommon in war zones, the case of the Korean peninsula offers a distinct narrative. Not only was Korea a stronghold of neo-Confucianism, a more authoritarian version of Confucianism, but the con stant threat of colonization and occupation by surrounding powers significantly affected the psyche of the national psyche. Thus this paper attempts to trace neo-Confucian policy toward women as heavily influenced by the traumas of modernity: The Korean government passively handing over its female citizens into institutionalized prostitution (‘comfort stations’) under the military regulations of Japan and the U.S. while actively discriminating against these sex workers in the society. In this context, reassessing policies toward reparations for these comfort women becomes addressing the violence inscribed on female bodies that transcends single nationality. It reveals and recommends deconstruction of the victim-shaming culture prevalent in masculinized, even misogynistic states. It further calls for an international recognition and remembrance of these women as vocal exposes of war crimes against women.
Accelerating physical simulations of proteins by leveraging external knowledge

It is challenging to compute structure-function relationships of proteins using molecular physics. The problem arises from the exponential scaling of the computational searching and sampling of large conformational spaces. This scaling challenge is not met by today's methods, such as Monte Carlo, simulated annealing, genetic algorithms, or molecular dynamics (MD) or its variants such as replica exchange. Such methods of searching for optimal states on complex probabalistic landscapes are referred to more broadly as Explore-and-Exploit (EE), including in contexts such as computational learning, games, industrial planning and modeling military strategies. Here we describe a Bayesian method, called MELD, that 'melds' together explore-and-exploit approaches with externally added information that can be vague, combinatoric, noisy, intuitive, heuristic, or from experimental data. MELD is shown to accelerate physical MD simulations when using experimental data to determine protein structures; for predicting protein structures by using heuristic directives; and when predicting binding affinities of proteins from limited information about the binding site. Such Guided Explore-and-Exploit approaches might also be useful beyond proteins and beyond molecular science.
Amazon's Mechanical Turk: A Comment

Kees et al. (2017) provide evidence from a comparative study that supports the use of Mechanical Turk (MTurk) data in advertising research when compared to student samples and online panel data. MT...
Diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound for characterization of kidney lesions in patients with and without chronic kidney disease

Patients with chronic kidney disease are at increased risk of cystic kidney disease that requires imaging monitoring in many cases. However, these same patients often have contraindications to contrast-enhanced computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. This study evaluates the accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), which is safe for patients with chronic kidney disease, for the characterization of kidney lesions in patients with and without chronic kidney disease. We performed CEUS on 44 patients, both with and without chronic kidney disease, with indeterminate or suspicious kidney lesions (both cystic and solid). Two masked radiologists categorized lesions using CEUS images according to contrast-enhanced ultrasound adapted criteria. CEUS designation was compared to histology or follow-up imaging in cases without available tissue in all patients and the subset with chronic kidney disease to determine sensitivity, specificity and overall accuracy. Across all patients, CEUS had a sensitivity of 96% (95% CI: 84%, 99%) and specificity of 50% (95% CI: 32%, 68%) for detecting malignancy. Among patients with chronic kidney disease, CEUS sensitivity was 90% (95% CI: 56%, 98%), and specificity was 55% (95% CI: 36%, 73%). CEUS has high sensitivity for identifying malignancy of kidney lesions. However, because specificity is low, modifications to the classification scheme for contrast-enhanced ultrasound could be considered as a way to improve contrast-enhanced ultrasound specificity and thus overall performance. Due to its sensitivity, among patients with chronic kidney disease or other contrast contraindications, CEUS has potential as an imaging test to rule out malignancy. This trial was registered in clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01751529 .
Synergistic Research Between the Center of Arrhythmia Research and the Michigan Biology of Cardiovascular Aging at the University of Michigan

The Center for Arrhythmia Research (CAR) and the Michigan Biology of Cardiovascular Aging (MBoCA) program at the University of Michigan (UM) are performing synergistic research to examine how aging impacts arrhythmias, in particular atrial fibrillation (AF). This collaborative research endeavor has been driven by a very clear increasing clinical demand posed by the aging of our society. Specifically, by the year 2050, the number of older people over 65 years of age will exceed the number of younger people for the first time in history. Given this important trend, the growing healthcare needs of the aging population exacerbated by cardiovascular diseases will pose an ever-increasing burden on our healthcare resources. Cardiovascular diseases in the aging population have well surpassed other age-associated diseases such as susceptibility to infection, chronic lung disease, and cancer as a cause of morbidity and mortality.1 Investigation into the field of aging and cardiovascular diseases has tremendous potential to impact the health and quality of life of older people as no therapies exist that explicitly target aging-specific processes that enhance cardiovascular diseases such as AF. Advanced age is the most critical factor for the development of AF; 10% of patients in their eighth decade have AF and 50% of patients with AF are 80 years of age or older. AF is largely a geriatric condition, and older patients with AF have associated mortality and morbidity not only because of hemodynamic effects and thromboembolism but also because of side effects of therapy including an increased propensity for bleeding with anticoagulation and falls from heart rate–controlling medications.2 Not only does AF in older people pose a large healthcare morbidity and mortality burden, but AF with aging is costly. Thus, research is urgently needed to understand how aging predisposes to AF. The UM CAR (http://www.med.umich.edu/arrhythmia_research/) is a multidisciplinary …
Implementation Science to Advance Care Delivery: A Primer for Pharmacists and Other Health Professionals

Health care is experiencing increasing pressure to implement evidence-based interventions that improve quality, control costs, and maximize value. Unfortunately, many clinical services and interventions to optimize medication use do not consistently produce the intended humanistic, clinical, and economic outcomes. The lack of conclusive results is believed to stem from the widely recognized research-to-practice gap. The field of implementation science seeks to discover and apply strategies designed to accelerate successful integration of interventions into routine practice. This primer provides an overview of implementation science principles for pharmacists and other health care providers interested in accelerating practice transformation to improve health care delivery and, ultimately, patient care.
Disturbances of Pain Perception in Menstrual Cycle-Related Disorders

The female menstrual cycle is associated with multiple hormonal, physiological and psychological changes. Over the centuries menarche has been referred to as both a rite of passage into womanhood and a curse to be endured. Indeed, there is now a debate over the use of oral contraceptives for the express purpose of reducing the frequency or even discontinuing menstruation. Epidemiological and survey data indicate that over one-third of women in the general population experience significant physical and psychological symptoms across the menstrual cycle, with pain being among the most common symptoms (Huerta-Franco & Malacara, 1993; Kessel & Coppen, 1963). The purpose of this chapter is to present information related to alterations in pain perception associated with menstrual cycle-related clinical conditions. First, an overview of research examining changes in pain sensitivity across the menstrual cycle will be presented. Then, research investigating pain perception in women with dysmenorrhea and premenstrual dysphoric disorders will be reviewed. Finally, menstrual cycle influences on clinical symptoms in several pain disorders will be considered, and practical implications will be discussed.
Adaptive OpticWavefront Correction using a Convolutional Neural Network

We show how using a state-of-the-art deep learning convolutional neural network allows for measuring and correcting phase aberrations in astronomy and biological adaptive optic applications.
The Squid Giant Axon: Methods and Applications

The unique properties of the squid giant axon cannot be ignored by any neurobiologist with a serious interest in understanding axonal function. The neurochemists and neuropharmacologists are now following the lead of the electrophysiologists in applying their ingenuity to exploiting the natural advantages to be gained by using the largest single nerve fiber that nature has created.
Light Scattering by Collective Excitations in Dielectrics and Semiconductors

The early experimental and theoretical investigations of spontaneous Raman scattering in solids were concerned with first and second order Raman scattering by lattice vibrations which provided information about the frequencies and symmetries of the long wavelength (q ≈ 0) modes as well as information about modes at two phonon density of states “critical points” in the Brillouin zone. Largely, as a result of the availability of cw lasers, covering a range of frequencies extending from the infrared to the ultraviolet, and improved photo-detectors and associated electronics, these investigations have now been extended to essentially all of the other “low energy” excitations in solids, namely to plasmons and their linearly coupled modes with LO phonons, polaritons (coupled TO phonon-photon modes), excitons, magnons and their linearly coupled modes with acoustic phonons, single particle electron-hole pair excitations, and vibrational and electronic excitation of impurities.1 Furthermore, they have been extended to opaque solids, i.e., metals and narrow gap semiconductors.
RIP1-Mediated Signaling Pathways in Cell Survival and Death Control

Receptor-interacting protein 1 (RIP1) is the founding member of the RIP family proteins that consist of seven members. Although it was initially found that RIP1 plays an important role in TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1)-mediated NF-κB activation that protects cells from apoptosis, later research found that RIP1 is also required for TNF-induced apoptosis and necrosis under certain conditions. In addition, RIP1 is also involved in signaling by other death receptors for FASL and TRAIL, and TLR and intracellular sensors/adaptors such as PIDD. When cells are responding to different stimulations or intracellular stresses such as DNA damage, RIP1 can transduce either pro-survival or pro-death signals. Thus, RIP1 plays a pivotal role in the decision of cells’ fate. In this chapter, recent reports on RIP1-mediated cell signaling with a focus on cell survival and death control will be summarized.
The Psychosomatic Medicine in the Year 2000

The genius of Hippocrates, the father of medicine, has been analyzed by so many people that not much is left for me to emphasize. Hippocrates was not only a medical genius, he was one of those personalities who in their passage through the cosmos have shed a light that has shone through history. The great problem for science is to distinguish between the true and the falsely attributed work of Hippocrates. There have been people who have maintained that he never wrote anything at all like Socrates and Christ. Others attribute to him a quantity of works so great as only to be explicable as belonging to the whole Hippocratic school. There are some 160 titles of books of Hippocrates, and some 60 books survive.
Practical Assessment of Radiation Exposure in Spine Surgery.

Background Fluoroscopy use in spine surgery is increasing owing to the increasing popularity of minimally invasive techniques. The effectiveness and safe distance for protective barriers might have been commonly misrepresented. The present study evaluated x-ray propagation and the efficacy of protective barriers in the setting of spine surgery. Methods A high-accuracy radiation dosimeter was used to measure x-ray exposure in an experimental setting replicating the spine surgery setup. Radiation was measured at different angles and distances from the x-ray source with and without protective barriers such as lead gowns and glass. Results The radiation values return to baseline at 14 ft (4.3 m) in front of the x-ray source and 8 ft (2.4 m) behind it. Protective barriers with a 0.5-mm lead-equivalence reduced radiation exposure to baseline at 6 ft (1.8 m) and were 20% effective at 2 ft (0.6 m) from the emitter. Conclusion Spine surgeons who wear lead gowns during fluoroscopy could still be exposed to
Self-care techniques for social workers: Achieving an ethical harmony between work and well-being

The prevalence of burnout in the field of social work is a significant challenge to staff retention. This paper addresses the necessity of self-care in the prevention and treatment of burnout among...
PULMONARY ARTERY SARCOMA AS A RARE CAUSE OF PROGRESSIVE DYSPNEA

Pulmonary artery sarcoma is a rare cause of dyspnea that presents similarly to other pulmonary vascular diseases and has a poor prognosis. Early identification is difficult. A 55-year-old female with a history of tobacco use and depression was admitted with progressive dyspnea, cough and 20-pound
Evaluating Surgery Resident Technical Skills: Intestinal Anastomosis in a Porcine Model.

Because work hour restrictions and technological developments such as staplers change the surgical landscape, efficient resident training methods are necessary to ensure surgical quality. This stud...
Measurement of Vegetation Change in Critical Dune Sites along the Eastern Shores of Lake Michigan from 1938 to 2014 with Object-Based Image Analysis

ABSTRACT White, R.A.; Piraino, K.; Shortridge, A., and Arbogast, A.F., 2019. Measurement of vegetation change in critical dune sites along the eastern shores of Lake Michigan from 1938 to 2014 with...
Identifying pregnancies in insurance claims data: Methods and application to retinoid teratogenic surveillance

Purpose The purpose of the study is to develop an algorithm to identify pregnancies in administrative databases and apply it to assess pregnancy rates and outcomes in women prescribed isotretinoin or tretinoin. Methods Using the 2011 to 2015 Truven Health MarketScan Database, we identified pregnancies, including losses and terminations. In a cohort design, nonpregnant women filling a prescription for isotretinoin or tretinoin were matched to five women without either prescription. Women were followed for 365 days or until conception, medication discontinuation, or enrollment discontinuation ("prescription episode"). Rates of pregnancy, risks of pregnancy losses, and prevalence of infant malformations at birth were assessed by exposure. Results We identified 2 179 192 livebirths, 8434 stillbirths, 2521 mixed births, 415 110 spontaneous abortions, 124 556 elective terminations, and 8974 unspecified abortions. There were 86 834 isotretinoin and 973 587 tretinoin episodes, matched to 5 302 105 unexposed women. Pregnancy rates were 3 (isotretinoin), 19 (tretinoin), and 34 (unexposed) per 1000 person-years. Risk of spontaneous pregnancy losses were similar; however, terminations were more common in the isotretinoin-exposed (28% [95% CI: 21%-36%]) than the tretinoin-exposed (10% [95% CI: 9%-11%]) or unexposed pregnancies (6%). Malformations occurred in 4.5% (95% CI: 3.5%-5.6%) of the tretinoin-exposed pregnancies and 4.2% of the unexposed pregnancies (adjusted odds ratio: 1.16 [95% CI: 0.85-1.58]); isotretinoin-exposed births were too few to assess malformations. Conclusions Administrative databases can complement risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS) for known teratogens and contribute to safety surveillance for other medications. Here, isotretinoin-exposed pregnancy rates were low, but existent, and many pregnancies were terminated. Tretinoin exposure was not associated with a meaningfully elevated risk of losses or malformations as compared with unexposed pregnancies.
A tabletop school bus rollover: Connecticut-wide drills to build pediatric disaster preparedness and promote a novel hospital disaster readiness checklist

Objective: To assess emergency medical services (EMS) and hospital disaster plans and communication and promote an integrated pediatric disaster response in the state of Connecticut, using tabletop exercises to promote education, collaboration, and planning among healthcare entities. Design: Using hospital-specific and national guidelines, a disaster preparedness plan consisting of pediatric guidelines and a hospital checklist was created by The Connecticut Coalition for Pediatric Disaster Preparedness. Setting: Five school bus rollover tabletop exercises were conducted, one in each of Connecticut’s five EMS regions. Action figures and playsets were used to depict patients, healthcare workers, vehicles, the school, and the hospital. Participants: EMS personnel, nurses, physicians and hospital administrators. Intervention: Participants had a facilitated debriefing of the EMS and prehospital response to disasters, communication among prehospital organizations, public health officials, hospitals, and schools, and surge capacity, capability, and alternate care sites. A checklist was completed for each exercise and was used with the facilitated debriefing to generate an after-action report. Additionally, each participant completed a postexercise survey. Main Outcome Measures: Each after-action report and postexercise survey was compared to established guidelines to address gaps in hospital specific pediatric readiness. Results: Exercises occurred at five hospitals, with inpatient capacity ranging 77-1,592 beds, and between 0 and 221 pediatric beds. There were 27 participants in the tabletop exercises, and 20 complete survey responses for analysis (74 percent). After the exercises, pediatric disaster preparedness aligned with coalition guidelines. However, methods of expanding surge capacity and methods of generating surge capacity and capability varied (p < 0.031). Conclusion: Statewide tabletop exercises promoted coalition building and revealed gaps between actual and ideal practice. Generation of surge capacity and capability should be addressed in future disaster education.
Residential development patterns and child pedestrian injuries

A source of physical activity and independence, walking during childhood has many health and developmental benefits. Unfortunately, children are often not able to safely walk to their destinations,...
The role of stationary intraoral tomosynthesis in reducing proximal overlap in bitewing radiography.

Objectives:This study examined the utility of stationary intraoral tomosynthesis (s-IOT) in opening proximal contacts in bitewing radiography.Methods:11 DENTSPLY Rinn Dental X-ray Teaching and Trai...
Nurses consider family involvement as an important element of patient care

Commentary on: Ostergaard B, Clausen AM, Agerskov H, et al . Nurses’ attitudes regarding the importance of families in nursing care: a cross‐sectional study. J Clin Nurs 2020;297-8:1290–1301. DOI 10.1111/jocn.15196. There is a growing body of evidence concerning the importance of family involvement in patient care. The evidence base suggests that engaging families in the care of patients supports quality nursing care and patient concordance with treatment ![][1] .1 Employing a cross-sectional … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
Treatment satisfaction, safety, and effectiveness of biosimilar insulin glargine is comparable in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus after switching from insulin glargine or insulin degludec: a post-marketing safety study

To evaluate insulin treatment satisfaction, safety, and effectiveness of biosimilar insulin glargine (GLY) in real-world clinical practice for Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)...
Disorders of Neuromuscular Transmission

To understand better the disorders of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) some basic knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of this region must first be mastered. The neuromuscular junction (Figure 3-1) consists of a motor nerve ending (presynaptic terminal) and a postsynaptic muscle fiber membrane separated by a space, the synaptic cleft. The motor nerve terminal is filled with packets called synaptic vesicles, which contain acetycholine (ACh), the chemical transmitter. Each vesicle contains a quantum of ACh, which is estimated to be between 103 and 104 ACh molecules (Hartzell et al. 1976). At rest, the muscle membrane is charged, being relatively more negative on the inside compared to the outside. This resting membrane potential, which measures approximately -80 mV, arises because: 1. the membrane at rest is more permeable to K+ than to Na+; 2. an active transport mechanism maintains the internal Na+ concentration at a low level; 3. the membrane is impermeable to organic anions within the cell.
Disenchanting Trust: Instrumental Reason, Algorithmic Governance, and China’s Emerging Social Credit System

Digital technologies have provided governments across the world with new tools of political and social control. The development of algorithmic governance in China is particularly alarming, where plans have been released to develop a digital Social Credit System (SCS). Still in an exploratory stage, the SCS, as a collection of national and local pilots, is framed officially as an all-encompassing project aimed at building trust in society through the regulation of both economic and social behaviors. Grounded in the case of China’s SCS, this article interrogates the application of algorithmic rating to expanding areas of everyday life through the lens of the Frankfurt School’s critique of instrumental reason. It explores how the SCS reduces the moral and relational dimension of trust in social interactions, and how algorithmic technologies, thriving on a moral economy characterized by impersonality, impede the formation of trust and trustworthiness as moral virtues. The algorithmic rationality underlying the SCS undermines the ontology of relational trust, forecloses its transformative power, and disrupts social and civic interactions that are non-instrumental in nature. Re-reading and extending the Frankfurt School’s theorization on reason and the technological society, especially the works of Horkheimer, Marcuse, and Habermas, this article reflects on the limitations of algorithmic technologies in social governance. A Critical Theory perspective awakens us to the importance of human reflexivity on the use and circumscription of algorithmic rating systems.
Effects of ethanol and n-butanol on the fluidity of supported lipid bilayers

Abstract The interactions of molecules such as short-chain alcohols with the mammalian plasma membrane are thought to play a role in anesthetic effects. We have examined the concentration-dependent effects of ethanol and n-butanol on the fluidity of planar model lipid bilayer structures supported on mica. The supported model bilayer was composed of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC), cholesterol, and sphingomyelin, and the bilayers were formed by vesicle fusion from extruded unilamellar vesicles (133 nm diameter, polydispersity index of 0.17). Controlled amounts of ethanol and n-butanol were added during vesicle deposition. Translational diffusion constants were obtained utilizing fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) measurements on the micrometer scale with perylene as the fluorophore. The translational diffusion constants increased and then decreased with increasing ethanol concentration, with the bilayer structure degrading at ca. 0.8 M ethanol. A similar trend was observed for n-butanol at lower alcohol concentrations owing to greater interactions with phospholipid bilayer constituents. For n-butanol, the integrity of the planar bilayer structure deteriorated at ca. 0.4 M n-butanol. The results are consistent with bilayer interdigitation.
A Systematic Review of the Impact of Selfie Activities on Body Image Concerns

The present study is a content analysis of the growing body of research on selfie activities and their impact on body image. To identify studies for this analysis, a search was performed using the Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Premiere databases with the terms “selfie” or “selfies. We located 775 articles published; 21 met study inclusion criteria. The process of selecting/editing selfies or attending to others’ responses to posted selfies resulted in self-objectification, increases in appearance concerns, as well as peer comparison and body dissatisfaction. Positive feedback concerning a selfie can increase selfie-posters’ body or facial satisfaction but high investment in selfie feedback can also increase body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness. In addition, viewing others’ selfies, particularly idealized and manipulated selfies, resulted in negative effects on viewer’s body image. This study sheds light on the different operationalizations of selfie activities and related body image outcomes.
Efficient and Stable Molecular-Aggregate-Based Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with Judicious Ligand Design

Phosphorescent molecular aggregates show promise in realizing efficient and stable organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) operating at high brightness level, which is highly desired for future lighting and display applications. Herein, four tetradentate Pd(II) complexes are prepared with judicious ligand design, and their electrochemical and photophysical properties are thoroughly examined. The studies indicate that slight structural changes of ligands can modify the hole and electron transporting capabilities, and alter the horizontal emitting dipole ratios of aggregates in amorphous film, the latter of which are sensitive to the thin-film deposition conditions including the deposition rate and the choice of the templating layer. An optimized OLED device using Pd3O8-Py5 aggregates exhibits a peak external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 37.3% and a reduced efficiency roll-off with high EQEs of 36.0% and 32.5% at 1000 and 10 000 cd m-2 , respectively. Moreover, such an efficient device demonstrates a long measured LT95 (time to 95% of the initial luminance) lifetime of over 500 h with an initial brightness of 17 304 cd m-2 corresponding to an estimated LT95 lifetime of 48 246 h at 1000 cd m-2 .
Misrepresenting consciousness

An important objection to the “higher-order” theory of consciousness turns on the possibility of higher-order misrepresentation. I argue that the objection fails because it illicitly assumes a characterization of consciousness explicitly rejected by HO theory. This in turn raises the question of what justifies an initial characterization of the data a theory of consciousness must explain. I distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic characterizations of consciousness, and I propose several desiderata a successful characterization of consciousness must meet. I then defend the particular extrinsic characterization of the HO theory, the “transitivity principle,” against its intrinsic rivals, thereby showing that the misrepresentation objection conclusively falls short.
Chapter 26. Intramolecular Catalysis in Medicinal Chemistry

Publisher Summary This chapter examines the different aspects of intramolecular catalysis, which is important in medicinal chemistry as it is a feature of the reactivity of multifunctional molecules and plays a special role in the design and behavior of latentiated drugs. Acid-base catalysis of acetal hydrolysis is important for the mechanism of glycosidase action. Acetals were thought subject only to specific acid catalysis until it was shown that if the RO-group to be protonated were unusually weakly basic or if the carbonium ion left by RO-departure, were unusually stable, then early cleavage and general catalysis would be seen. Intramolecular carboxyl catalysis is promoted by the same features which favor the intermolecular reaction. Ring-size preferences in the transition state (TS) are expected to vary with the catalytic mechanism. The aminolysis of acetylimidazole by diamines shows 100x rate enhancements with 2 or 3 methylene groups between the nucleophilic and presumed base-catalytic nitrogens, while 4- or 5-atom bridges gave only 15× accelerations. Complexing agents such as caffeine, various alkyl ammonium ions, piperazinedione and triglycine exhibited reversible binding with the 0-acetyl, hexanoyl, and octanoyl esters of 8-hydroxyquinoline but the attack of water on the ester carbonyl, general-base catalyzed by the quinoline nitrogen, was reduced in rate in the complex.
Adaptive video streaming over whitespace: SVC for 3-Tiered spectrum sharing

The recently proposed 3-Tier access model for Whitespace by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandates certain classes of devices to share frequency bands in space and time. These devices are envisioned to be a heterogeneous mixture of licensed (Tier-1 and Tier-2) and unlicensed, opportunistic devices (Tier-3). The hierarchy in accessing the channel calls for superior adaptation of Tier-3 devices with varying spectral opportunity. While policies are being ratified for efficient sharing, it also calls for redesigning many common applications to adapt to this novel paradigm. In this paper, we focus on the ever-increasing demand for video streaming and present a methodology suitable for Tier-3 devices in the shared access model. Our analysis begins with a stress test of commonly adopted video streaming methods under the new sharing model. This is followed by the design of a robust MDP-based solution that proactively adapts to fast-varying channel conditions, providing better user quality of experience when compared to existing solutions, such as MPEG-DASH. We evaluate our solution on an experimental testbed and find that our MDP-based algorithm outperforms DASH, and partial information of Tier-2 dynamics improves video quality.