cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
International Differences in Going-Concern Uncertainty Disclosures

This study examines differences in going-concern uncertainty (GCU) information disclosure rates across countries. Based on an analysis of annual reports and publicly available news stories for low stock return companies in each country, firms and auditors in the U.K. and the U.S. are found to explicitly discuss the existence of GCU more often than in France and Germany. Even after controlling for company-specific financial characteristics, size, stock returns and the presence of other factors typically associated with companies in financial distress, U.K. and U.S. firms are shown to have a higher occurrence rate of GCU disclosures. Economic environment characteristics have been used in prior research to explain differences in a variety of disclosure practices across countries, but this study demonstrates their effect even on disclosures related to the fundamental going-concern assumption of historical-cost basis accounting.
Be/longing in the archival body: eros and the “Endearing” value of material lives

This paper explores the nature of the archival body and the ways in which it is temporally situated and yet also always in motion. Applying transdisciplinary logics, it argues that the affective nature of archival productions follows the machinations of metamorphoses and (un)becoming. Using two queer/ed and transgender archives as sites of inquiry, the paper explores the erotic and affective nature of accessing the archival body in its multimodal forms. Although touching, smelling and stroking what remains of distinct material lives might elucidate arousal and certain other affective and haptic responses within the visitor to the archives, the records themselves hold and cradle their creators and their storytelling techniques along with their relationships to longing for and belonging in the archival body of knowledge. This approach suggests that understanding of the record and its affects can be enriched by temporal perspectives that acknowledge distinct and diverse temporalities and promote generative understandings of potentially meaningful progressions of time and everyday rhythms embodied within archival materials.
Management of increased response to warfarin associated with decompensated heart failure in an outpatient family medicine clinic

We report a 55-year-old patient with left ventricular heart failure and an ejection fraction of < 10% that was placed on warfarin therapy (42 mg/week) for the presence of a left ventricular thrombus. Thirty-nine days after hospital discharge, the patient presented with complaints of increased dyspnea over the previous week and required a wheelchair for mobility. The patient’s weight had increased by 28 lbs (13 kg). As the patient’s weight increased, his dose requirements for warfarin decreased resulting in an almost 30% reduction in his warfarin dose. Two months after the initiation of metolazone therapy, the patient lost 53 lbs (24 kg) and his warfarin requirements increased eventually placing him on his original prescribed dose of 42 mg/week. This case shows that if a patient’s decompensated heart failure can be controlled with few exacerbations and close monitoring, they can be safely managed on warfarin in an outpatient setting.
Measurements of Melting Velocities in Gold Films on a Picosecond Time Scale

Melting velocities were measured in thin gold films by performing pump/probe transmission measurements using a unique picosecond excimer pump and dye laser probe. Monitoring the depth of the liquid by changes in the near psuedo-Brewster's angle transmission allowed for direct measurement of crystal/melt interfacial velocity up to 1500 m/s.
The Impact Of American Flour Imports On Brazilian Wheat Production: 1808-1822

In 1808 the Portuguese Crown ended centuries of imperial practice by opening Brazilian ports to the direct trade of friendly nations. This new royal policy caused considerable consternation among conservative Portuguese merchants and manufacturers who feared that a flood of foreign imports would drain precious metals out of the empire, and that economically stronger foreign merchants would monopolize Brazilian trade, thus ruining manufacturing in Brazil. Many Brazilian landowners, on the other hand, supported freer trade because they believed it would stimulate production and export of agricultural commodities. Ironically, one Brazilian product that did suffer dramatic decline resulting from the introduction of foreign competition was not a manufactured good, but an agricultural one, wheat.
The freedom of Christ and explanatory priority

Call the claim, common to many in the Christian intellectual tradition, that Christ, in virtue of his created human intellect, had certain, infallible, exhaustive foreknowledge the Foreknowledge Thesis. Now consider what I will call the Conditional: if the Foreknowledge Thesis is true, then Christ's created human will was not free. In so far as many, perhaps all, of the people who affirm the Foreknowledge Thesis also wish to affirm the freedom of Christ's human will, the truth of the Conditional would be most unwelcome to them. I consider an argument in support of the Conditional; I argue that it is not successful.
An augmented CO2 chemoreflex and overactive orexin system are linked with hypertension in young and adult spontaneously hypertensive rats.

KEY POINTS Activation of central chemoreceptors by CO2 increases sympathetic nerve activity (SNA), arterial blood pressure (ABP) and breathing. These effects are exaggerated in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs), resulting in an augmented CO2 chemoreflex that affects both breathing and ABP. The augmented CO2 chemoreflex and the high ABP are measureable in young SHRs (postnatal day 30-58) and become greater in adult SHRs. Blockade of orexin receptors can normalize the augmented CO2 chemoreflex and the high ABP in young SHRs and normalize the augmented CO2 chemoreflex and significantly lower the high ABP in adult SHRs. In the hypothalamus, SHRs have more orexin neurons, and a greater proportion of them increase their activity with CO2 . The orexin system is overactive in SHRs and contributes to the augmented CO2 chemoreflex and hypertension. Modulation of the orexin system may be beneficial in the treatment of neurogenic hypertension. ABSTRACT Activation of central chemoreceptors by CO2 increases arterial blood pressure (ABP), sympathetic nerve activity and breathing. In spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs), high ABP is associated with enhanced sympathetic nerve activity and peripheral chemoreflexes. We hypothesized that an augmented CO2 chemoreflex and overactive orexin system are linked with high ABP in both young (postnatal day 30-58) and adult SHRs (4-6 months). Our main findings are as follows. (i) An augmented CO2 chemoreflex and higher ABP in SHRs are measureable at a young age and increase in adulthood. In wakefulness, the ventilatory response to normoxic hypercapnia is higher in young SHRs (mean ± SEM: 179 ± 11% increase) than in age-matched normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (114 ± 9% increase), but lower than in adult SHRs (226 ± 10% increase; P < 0.05). The resting ABP is higher in young SHRs (122 ± 5 mmHg) than in age-matched Wistar-Kyoto rats (99 ± 5 mmHg), but lower than in adult SHRs (152 ± 4 mmHg; P < 0.05). (ii) Spontaneously hypertensive rats have more orexin neurons and more CO2 -activated orexin neurons in the hypothalamus. (iii) Antagonism of orexin receptors with a dual orexin receptor antagonist, almorexant, normalizes the augmented CO2 chemoreflex in young and adult SHRs and the high ABP in young SHRs and significantly lowers ABP in adult SHRs. (iv) Attenuation of peripheral chemoreflexes by hyperoxia does not abolish the augmented CO2 chemoreflex (breathing and ABP) in SHRs, which indicates an important role for the central chemoreflex. We suggest that an overactive orexin system may play an important role in the augmented central CO2 chemoreflex and in the development of hypertension in SHRs.
Linking Spacecraft Hazard Controls with System Design Requirements: General Considerations and Complications

Spacecraft hazard controls provide design, procedural, and/or operational mitigations for identified program hazards. By linking these hazard controls to specific design requirements during the early stages of program development, hazard controls can be tightly integrated with the spacecraft’s design (rather than grafted on afterwards). This approach reduces the likelihood of inadvertent exclusion of a necessary hazard control and facilitates hazard control verification using standardized Systems Engineering (SE) techniques. This in turn can reduce program cost and schedule. Despite these benefits, the detailed implementation of this approach presents certain complications. This paper identifies some of these complications and presents process mitigations to best couple the hazard analysis process with requirement processes.
Monitoring neurochemical release from astrocytes using in vitro microdialysis coupled with high-speed capillary electrophoresis.

We have developed a novel in vitro approach for monitoring fast neurochemical dynamics in model cell systems using microdialysis sampling coupled with high-speed capillary electrophoresis (CE). Cells from an immortalized astrocyte line (C8-D1A) were cultured in direct contact with the porous membrane of a microdialysis probe. Confocal microscopy was used to confirm cell viability and confluency over the microdialysis sampling region. Small molecules released from the astrocytes were efficiently sampled by the probe due to the direct contact with the membrane. Microdialysis sampling was coupled with online, high-speed CE allowing changes in the dialysate concentration of small molecule amine neurochemicals to be monitored with 20 s temporal resolution. Basal release of a number of important analytes was detected including glycine, taurine, d-serine, and glutamate. The ability of the in vitro microdialysis-CE instrument to monitor dynamic changes in analyte concentration was assessed by transferring a probe...
Study on Preparation of AlN Thin Films on the Glass Substrate

AlN thin films were deposited on glass substrate by intermediate frequency impulse magnetron reactive sputtering method and processed by annealing.The preparation of the samples was studied by X-ray diffraction(XRD).The surface morphology of the as-deposited sample was studied by atom force microscopy(AFM).The result showed that the substrate temperature and the annealing had important effect on preparation and surface topography of AlN thin films.It was also found that the surface roughness of AlN thin films was the smallest when the substrate temperature was 230 ℃.The annealing could reduce surface roughness of AlN thin films.
DC voltage ripple quantification for a flywheel-battery based Hybrid Energy Storage System

Flywheel energy storage has started attracting more attention as an energy storage means, but certain impediments face their deployment such as a high self-discharging rate and power quality issues. A potential solution is to combine flywheels with another energy storage types to form a Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS). In this paper, a new method is established to perform power quality analysis and DC voltage ripple quantification in an HESS connected solely to a DC bus. Previous efforts have analyzed voltage and current ripple using an AC frequency reference, but these techniques are ineffective when the system does not contain an AC connection. Extensive laboratory testing and verification is conducted to characterize a flywheel-battery based HESS with different battery contribution levels. A correlation is made between the required battery support and resulting DC voltage ripple. Due to the nature of a flywheel operating at various speeds, a new Machine Speed Multiple (MSM) frequency reference is used as a profiling tool corresponding to the harmonic number in AC systems. Using the MSM in conjunction with the Discrete Fourier Transform, a voltage ripple frequency table is produced to highlight the target frequencies which must be reduced. A quantitative analysis identifies an overall reduction of voltage ripple magnitudes as a result of current injection from the battery.
Using Parameterized UML to Specify and Compose Access Control Models

Situations can arise in which organizations have to merge policies that are based on different access control frameworks, such as Role Based Access Control (RBAC) and Mandatory Access Control (MAC). Integrating policies requires addressing the following question: How will the integration impact access to protected resources? In particular, one needs to determine that the integration does not result in security breaches or unavailability of resources. A way of addressing these concerns is to model the access control frameworks, compose the models, and analyze the resulting model to identify problems. In this paper we outline a technique for modeling and composing access control policy frameworks. Specifically, we model RBAC and MAC using a variant of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and show how to compose the models. The composed model can be used as a base for defining access control policies in a military domain.
Incorporating Adlerian and Feminist Theory to Address Self-Objectification in Couples Therapy

Objectification and sexualization of women starts at a young age and carries with it negative consequences for a woman’s self-worth. A person’s self-worth is one component on the Wheel of Wellness,...
A Rational Approach to the Patient Suspected of Having Cushing’s Syndrome

In 1889 Sir William Osler detailed the case of a 31-year old man suffering from “an acute myxedematous condition, with tachycardia, glycosuria, melena, mania and death.” In particular, Osler was impressed by the rapid weight gain and the “bloated” appearance of his patient’s face. Unfortunately, however, the constellation of symptoms and signs that we now attribute to glucocorticoid excess had not been described and the patient succumbed while being treated for hypothyroidism. In 1932, Harvey Cushing described the clinical features associated with basophilic tumors of the pituitary. Since then, the association has become well characterized and patients with features due to glucocorticoid excess are said to have Cushing’s syndrome.
The Non-Neurogenic Neurogenic Bladder

AbstractThe records of 21 children with neuropathic bladder disease are reviewed. The natural history in these cases has been consistent with that of an acquired disorder and the results of urodynamic testing have supported Hinman’s contention that the disease is basically a functional one, caused by a discoordination between detrusor contraction and sphincter relaxation. Bladder retraining and specific medication have yielded far better results than were obtained previously by surgical measures alone
Compliments of Factor H: What’s in it for AMD?

Genetic variations in complement factor H (CFH) confer greater risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In this issue of Immunity, Calippe et al. (2017) uncover a non-canonical role for CFH in the inhibition of mononuclear phagocyte elimination from sub-retinal lesions, providing insight into the pathophysiology of AMD associated with CFH variants.
Multi-institutional Evaluation of Women at High Risk of Developing Breast Cancer.

Abstract Introduction We performed the present study to better understand the practices and preferences of women with an elevated risk of breast cancer by merging the registries from 2 separate institutions and comparing the clinical characteristics and outcomes. Materials and Methods The data from women enrolled in institutional review board-approved registries from 2003 to 2015 at the New York University Langone Medical Center and University of Vermont Medical Center were evaluated. We compared patient characteristics, risk factors, uptake of prevention methods, and cancer rates between the 2 registries. Results A total of 1035 women were included in the present analysis. We found a 99% concordance of variables collected between the 2 registries. Significant differences were found in age, risk characteristics, uptake of prevention methods, and cancer rates between the 2 registries. The uptake of chemoprevention was low (8% for all women), with greater uptake among women with atypia found on biopsy examination (66%) than among those with a strong family history or BRCA mutations. Women with BRCA mutations accounted for 76% of those undergoing risk-reducing surgery. Of the 1035 women, 43 (4%) developed breast cancer. Of these, 86% were diagnosed with American Joint Committee on Cancer stage 0 or 1 disease, 95% with tumors Conclusion We found a high degree of concordance between registries, suggesting no barriers exist to multi-institutional collaboration. Overall, a low uptake of prevention opportunities was found in this high-risk population. Women developing breast cancer had predominantly low-stage but higher grade disease, which might suggest a benefit to participation in surveillance (or high-risk) programs.
Abstract 2910: Inter metastatic genetic heterogeneity is a characteristic feature of recurrent pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer (PDA) is a 4th leading cause of cancer death with an overall 5-year survival of 8%. Surgical resection remains the only option for cure but only 10-15% of newly diagnosed patients are eligible. While surgery clearly provides a survival benefit compared to those patients who do not undergo potentially curative resection, the vast majority of patients will recur in the pancreatic remnant, liver, lungs, and/or peritoneum. Thus, there is an unmet need to better understand the fundamental features of recurrent disease. To explore the fundamental genomic features of recurrent PDA, patients were selected from participating Gastrointestinal Cancer Rapid Medical Donation Program (GICRMDP). 10 patients who underwent surgical resection; 8 patients had a whipple procedure, 2 patients had a distal pancreatectomy and each patient received a different type of chemotherapy after surgery, was evaluated. We performed 250x whole exome sequencing (WES) of 82 unique samples from these 10 patients, using frozen samples from autopsy and FFPE tissues from matching surgical specimen. In addition to the treatment naive primary tumor, one or more samples of the local recurrence and multiple metastases were studied. The mean depth of coverage for all samples was 317x. Copy number variations were assessed by FACETs. MSK-IMPACT was performed for orthogonal validation of a subset of variants. We found that compared to the treatment naive resected tumor, recurrent disease contained novel mutations in genes associated with MAPK and PI3K signaling. The most common mutational signature was Signature 1 followed by Signature 3. All patients who received a platinum drug as a form of therapy had a greater proportion of Signature 3 and 9 mutations in the recurrent disease than the primary tumor. Phylogenetic studies revealed that recurrent disease is the result of three patterns: 1) dissemination of disease to distant organs before surgery was performed, 2) dissemination of disease after surgery from residual microscopic disease in the pancreatic remnant, or 3) development of a second primary tumor in the remnant pancreas. This third scenario was identified in one of six additional patients studied by IMPACT. We conclude that recurrent pancreatic cancer is multifactorial, and at least two of these scenarios could be eliminated by total pancreatectomy, thereby increasing the rate of cure by surgical resection. Our study serves as a window to an understanding of the clonal dynamics of recurrent pancreatic cancer. Citation Format: Hitomi Sakamoto, Alvin Makohon-Moore, Marc Attiyeh, Liguo Zhang, Christine A. Iacobuzio-Donahue. Inter metastatic genetic heterogeneity is a characteristic feature of recurrent pancreatic cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2910. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2910
All good things must come to an end: The temporal nature of firm reputation

Research on a firm’s specific reputation suggests that as long as it is maintained, stakeholders’ evaluations should be positive and predictable. However, researchers have not yet investigated how time influences this relationship. In this paper, we extend nascent research focusing on the potential “double-edge” of firm reputation. By developing theory investigating how stakeholders perceive and make sense of a firm’s reputation for innovation over time, we isolate the differing cognitive frames employed by the media and investment analysts that ultimately lead to counter-intuitive negative evaluations. We test our hypotheses and find general support for our theory using a sample of Boston Consulting Group’s list of “50 Most Innovative Companies.” By acknowledging the temporal and potentially fleeting nature of a firm’s reputation for innovation, our findings have theoretical and practical implications for understanding the processes through which the value of innovative firms is established in markets.
Decision Support for Enhancement of Manufacturing Sustainability: A Hierarchical Control Approach

From the sustainability science point of view, improvement of manufacturing sustainability involves a series of system (performance) state transitions in a sustainable development (SD) space. The transitions occur based on the system information obtained through stage-wised sustainability assessment and the actions on the system taken based on the derived stage-wised decisions. From the standpoint of control engineering, this is a multiobjective system control problem. In this paper, we introduce a general decision-support framework for deriving strategies to achieve short-to-long-term sustainability goals. In this framework, a two-layered hierarchical control scheme is introduced to implement strategic and tactical control for dynamic sustainability control. A comprehensive case study on biodiesel manufacturing is illustrated to demonstrate methodological efficacy.
Preschoolers with Developmental Delays, Adapted Physical Education, Related Services, Physical Activity, and Collaborative Teaching

Physical activity (motor domain) serves as the catalyst for learning. There are physical, social, psychological and educational benefits associated with physical activity for preschoolers with developmental delays. Educating preschoolers with development delays requires a synergistic approach where preschool teachers, adapted physical educators, and related service providers work collaboratively to augment a child’s developmental growth and life activities.
Mental Illness, Dangerousness, and Police Power Interventions in Pursuit of Justice and Well-being

The presence of mental health courts (MHCs), civil commitment, and post-insanity acquittal commitment as three alternative institutions for the application of the police power to individuals who are mentally ill and endanger the protected interests of others raises a series of questions regarding the most defensible interpretation of the legitimate functions of these institutions and of the significance of mental illness and dangerousness for the application of each institution. This chapter identifies and clarifies some of the central considerations relevant to the most defensible applications of these institutions to individuals who manifest mental disorders and endanger others. It does not purport to provide a formula for application. Rather, it identifies some central principles and considerations relevant to selecting the most justifiable applications to specific individuals.
Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the phospholipid bilayer membrane.

The cell membrane has been the focus of much recent biochemical and biophysical research, primarily because of its role in cellular phenomena. Numerous efforts have been directed toward determining the motional state of the lipid components of the membrane, the motivation being the contention that the lipid bilayer is the basic matrix in which membrane proteins are embedded to form the biological membrane. As such, it is likely that such diverse phenomena as maintenance of ionic gradients and transmembrane potentials, activities of membrane-bound enzymes, interactions between membrane proteins, transmembrane signal transmission, intercellular communication, and manifestations of cellular development and cell transformation all depend on the structure and fluidity of the lipid bilayer.
Substituted hydrophobic and hydrophilic residues at methionine-68 influence the chaperone-like function of αB-crystallin

Amino acid residues 57–69 in αB-crystallin have been implicated as a target protein binding site. Moreover, a direct correlation between the extent of α-crystallin hydrophobicity and chaperone-like activity has been demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to mutate a moderately hydrophobic residue Met-68 (M-68) in the above region to strongly hydrophobic and hydrophilic residues and show whether chaperoning ability is affected with or without structural changes. Mutation of M-68 to Val, Ile or Thr did not result in significant changes in molecular mass and secondary and tertiary structures. However, the Val and Ile mutants showed significant improvement and the Thr mutant showed substantial loss in chaperone activity. Differences in chaperone function in the absence of any structural changes confirmed that the hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity of the substituted amino acid in the putative target protein binding site was the only contributing factor.
Analysis of the Aircraft Carrier Landing Task, Pilot + Augmentation/Automation

Abstract The piloted/automatic aircraft carrier landing task is analyzed. The design of a robust flight control system is utilized which forms the basis of either a control augmentation system or a completely automatic carrier landing system. A pursuit model of the human pilot is developed that includes the ability to generate landing approach time histories and handling qualities predictions. The aircraft carrier environment includes ship heave motion, atmospheric turbulence and ship airwake. The proposed methodology provides a framework for the analysis of human/machine integration in flight control.
Persistent Hyperplastic Primary Vitreous

Persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous (PHPV) must be considered in the differential diagnosis of leukocoria. PHPV is unilateral in more than 80% of cases, and bilateral in about 20%. It has a sporadic heredity pattern; that is, no discernible sign of genetic transmission is present, although PHPV has been seen in association with trisomy 13.
MV-RLU: Scaling Read-Log-Update with Multi-Versioning

This paper presents multi-version read-log-update (MV-RLU), an extension of the read-log-update (RLU) synchronization mechanism. While RLU has many merits including an intuitive programming model and excellent performance for read-mostly workloads, we observed that the performance of RLU significantly drops in workloads with more write operations. The core problem is that RLU manages only two versions. To overcome such limitation, we extend RLU to support multi-versioning and propose new techniques to make multi-versioning efficient. At the core of MV-RLU design is concurrent autonomous garbage collection, which prevents reclaiming invisible versions being a bottleneck, and reduces the version traversal overhead the main overhead of multi-version design. We extensively evaluate MV-RLU with the state-of-the-art synchronization mechanisms, including RCU, RLU, software transactional memory (STM), and lock-free approaches, on concurrent data structures and real-world applications (database concurrency control and in-memory key-value store). Our evaluation results show that MV-RLU significantly outperforms other techniques for a wide range of workloads with varying contention levels and data-set size.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) involves not only abdominal pain and altered bowel habits but also urgency, fear of fecal incontinence, fear of food, and substantial avoidance behavior that can meet criteria for agoraphobia. IBS patients are at increased risk for comorbid psychiatric disorders, especially anxiety and depression. Traditional medical management is often unsatisfactory and does not address comorbidities. Fortunately, cognitive-behavioral therapy is an empirically supported treatment for IBS that addresses comorbidity and IBS symptom severity, and substantially improves quality of life. This chapter illustrates the CBT approach to IBS, explains the rationale behind the treatment and reviews evidence of efficacy.
Heat transport processes on planetary scales

Abstract This chapter evaluates mechanisms for heat transfer in large bodies, which include several processes that occur on scales and/or conditions that cannot be reproduced in the laboratory. Planetary interiors contrast with laboratory conditions by being layered, self-compressed spheroids, and moreover are open systems with internally graded gravitational acceleration, high temperatures, and high pressures. The large time- and length-scales of planets permit diffusion of visible radiation, even within their metallic cores. Advection of fluids coexisting with solids is very important in planets, due to fluid buoyancy, mobility, low viscosity, and their ability to carry latent heat and heat-producing elements: such behavior is covered in detail in this chapter. Theoretical problems in mantle convection models are reviewed, which include not conserving mass, and incorrectly representing the response of condensed matter to differential stress as the diffusion of momentum, rather than as elastic and plastic deformation.
Understanding and detecting defects in healthcare administration data: Toward higher data quality to better support healthcare operations and decisions

Objective Development of systematic approaches for understanding and assessing data quality is becoming increasingly important as the volume and utilization of health data steadily increases. In this study, a taxonomy of data defects was developed and utilized when automatically detecting defects to assess Medicaid data quality maintained by one of the states in the United States. Materials and methods There were more than 2.23 million rows and 32 million cells in the Medicaid data examined. The taxonomy was developed through document review, descriptive data analysis, and literature review. A software program was created to automatically detect defects by using a set of constraints whose development was facilitated by the taxonomy. Results Five major categories and seventeen subcategories of defects were identified. The major categories are missingness, incorrectness, syntax violation, semantic violation, and duplicity. More than 3 million defects were detected indicating substantial problems with data quality. Defect density exceeded 10% in five tables. The majority of the data defects belonged to format mismatch, invalid code, dependency-contract violation, and implausible value types. Such contextual knowledge can support prioritized quality improvement initiatives for the Medicaid data studied. Conclusions This research took the initial steps to understand the types of data defects and detect defects in large healthcare datasets. The results generally suggest that healthcare organizations can potentially benefit from focusing on data quality improvement. For those purposes, the taxonomy developed and the approach followed in this study can be adopted.
Genitourinary disease risks among ovarian cancer survivors in a population-based cohort study

Abstract Objective While genitourinary complications during treatment for ovarian cancer are well-known, long-term adverse outcomes have not been well characterized. The number of ovarian cancer survivors has been increasing. The aim of this study was to investigate long-term adverse genitourinary outcomes in a population-based cohort. Methods We identified a cohort of 1270 ovarian cancer survivors diagnosed between 1996 and 2012 from the Utah Cancer Registry, and 5286 cancer-free women were matched on birth year and state from the Utah Population Database. Genitourinary disease diagnoses were identified through ICD-9 codes from electronic medical records and statewide healthcare facilities data. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for genitourinary outcomes at 1 to Results Ovarian cancer survivors had increased risks for urinary system disorders (HR: 2.53, 95% CI: 2.12–3.01) and genital organ disorders (HR: 1.88, 95% CI: 1.57–2.27) between 1 and Conclusions Ovarian cancer survivors experience increased risks of various genitourinary diseases compared to women in the general population in the long-term. Understanding the multimorbidity trajectory among ovarian cancer survivors is important to improve clinical care after cancer treatment is completed.
The role of substance use disorders in experiencing a repeat opioid overdose, and substance use treatment patterns among patients with a non-fatal opioid overdose.

Abstract Background A non-fatal opioid overdose (NFOO) increases the risk of another overdose and identifies high-risk patients. We estimated the risk of repeat opioid overdose for patients with and without substance use disorder (SUD) diagnoses and the change in substance use treatment utilization rates associated with the first NFOO. Methods We selected patients (>18 years of age) from Kaiser Permanente Northern California with a NFOO between 2009-2016 (n = 3,992). Cox proportional hazards models estimated the 1-year risk of opioid overdose associated with SUD diagnoses (opioid, alcohol, cannabis, amphetamine, sedative, and cocaine), controlling for patient characteristics. Among patients with an index NFOO, we calculated monthly utilization rates for outpatient substance use services and buprenorphine before and after the index overdose. Interrupted time series models estimated the change in level and trend in utilization rates associated with the index overdose. Results Approximately 7.2 % of patients had a repeat opioid overdose during the year after the index NFOO. The only SUD diagnosis significantly associated with greater risk of repeat overdose was opioid use disorder (OUD) (aHR: 1.51; 95 % CI: 1.13–2.01). Before the index overdose, 4.16 % of patients received outpatient substance use services and 1.32 % received buprenorphine. The index overdose was associated with a 5.94 % (standard error: 0.77 %) absolute increase in outpatient substance use services and a 1.29 % (standard error: 0.15 %) increase in buprenorphine. Conclusion Patients with a NFOO and OUD are vulnerable to another overdose. Low initiation rates for substance use treatment after a NFOO indicate a need to address patient, provider, and system barriers.
Van Vuuren, Hennie, Apartheid, Guns, and Money, A Tale of Profit: London: Hurst & Company, 611 pp., £25.00, ISBN 978-1-78738-097-4, Publication Date: June 2018

This book takes as its starting premise that, in order to understand corruption in South Africa today, one must understand the critically important period from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s, ...
Current smoking as a marker of a high-risk behavioral profile after myocardial infarction.

Abstract Continued smoking following myocardial infarction (MI) is strongly associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Patients who continue to smoke may also engage in other behaviors that exacerbate risk. This study sought to characterize the risk profile of a national sample of individuals with previous MI who currently smoke. Data were taken from the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (United States), with 4.2% of the sample reporting a past MI (N = 26,004). Participants were classified by smoking status (current/former/never) and compared on medical comorbidities and the clustering of modifiable behaviors relevant for secondary prevention (smoking, poor nutrition, problematic alcohol use, physical inactivity, medication adherence). Current smokers were more likely to report other comorbidities including stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, physical limitations, and poor mental health. Smokers were also less likely to report taking blood pressure and cholesterol medications, and less likely to attend cardiac rehabilitation (examined in a subset of the sample, N = 2181). Current smoking remained an independent predictor of other health-related behaviors even when controlling for age, sex, race, educational attainment, and other comorbidities. In the modifiable risk-factor behavior cluster analysis, the most common pattern among current smokers was having two risk factors, smoking plus one additional risk factor, whereas the most common pattern was zero risk factors among never or former-smokers. Physical inactivity was the most common additional risk factor across smoking statuses. Current smoking is associated with multiple comorbidities and should be considered a marker for a high-risk behavioral profile among patients with a history of MI.
Myoelectric prosthesis: a potential emerging therapeutic in restoring function post-arm amputation complicated by necrotizing fasciitis.

A literature search confirmed no previous cases of an arm amputation secondary to necrotizing fasciitis (NF) being successfully treated with a myoelectric prosthesis. This report explores a case of a 55-year-old right-handed male with flexor tenosynovitis infection of the hand after a small laceration. Following infectious disease consult of the infection, a diagnosis of NF was made. Broad-spectrum antibiotics were initiated but the infection worsened after 12 hours. Two debridements with wound vacuum were undertaken in the next 48 hours. After further patient deterioration, a distal left forearm amputation was undertaken. The patient fully recovered and then underwent occupational therapy training with a myoelectric prosthesis to restore hand function. The patient was seen for follow-up 3, 6, 12 and 24 months after amputation. At 2-year follow-up, the patient was continuing rehabilitation with an occupational therapist to acclimate to the prosthesis with some gain of function in gross movement.
The role of pre-surgical INR testing in dental patients with liver diseases

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of international normalized ratio (INR) in patients with liver diseases or abnormal liver function tests as related to bleeding risk in dental procedures. Materials and Methods: From July 2008 to January 2019, the INR of 187 patients with liver diseases who underwent oral surgical procedures at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic, University of Maryland School of Dentistry was collected and compared with normal value. Patients who were taking anticoagulants were excluded from the data pool. Results: The compiled INR for the 187 patients (M/F = 122/65) with mean age of 47 years (range: 22–77) was 1.126, with a median and mode of 1.1. The standard deviation was 0.17. The range for the INR values was 0.7 (n = 1) to 1.7 (n = 1). Conclusion: In the present study, there was no significant difference between the INR of patients with liver diseases or abnormal liver function tests and normal INR value. This supports the belief that pre-operative INR testing is not a dependable marker to assess bleeding risk in patients with chronic liver diseases who are not taking Vitamin K antagonist anticoagulants.
Solving the Multimillion Dollar Constitutional Puzzle Surrounding State 'Sustainable' Energy Policy

The U.S. confronted a Constitutional impasse: The ability of state government to enact sustainable energy statutes and regulations is significantly restricted by successful recent Constitutional legal challenges to states actions This article identifies a solution to implement legally ‘bulletproof’ sustainable regulation at the state level, circumventing the major Constitutional impasse now frustrating U.S renewable energy policy U.S. sustainable energy policy is principally implemented through state law and regulation, through five types of state programs. As implemented, these five policies are now being challenged as unconstitutional and improper exercises of state government authority. There is a legally “bright” jurisdictional line nowhere more sharply defined than for electric power in America, and particularly now for sustainable energy policy. Electric power is now increasingly transmitted and moving in the U.S. through (1) wholesale power transactions between independent generators and utilities and (2) in interstate commerce – · the first status bars any state regulation under the Supremacy Clause and the Supreme Court’s “Filed Rate” doctrine · the second status prohibits states enacting statutes or orders with even indirect geographic discrimination of electric commerce under the Constitution’s dormant Commerce Clause The Supreme Court in FERC v. Mississippi held that nothing in the U.S. economy is more fundamentally in interstate commerce than electricity. This article proposes a new state mechanism which does not trigger interstate commerce and operates exclusively on the retail side of power transactions, rather than impermissably on the wholesale side of transactions. This solution is a legally robust and accepted technique for retail electricity sales in every state, and stays well clear of all legal f Constitutional trip-wires now confounding renewable energy initiatives. Legally, it would rescue U.S. renewable energy policy and address climate change. It is proposed and vetted in this article as a solution to a current impasse.
The Phylogenesis of Human Personality: Identifying the Precursors of Cooperation, Altruism, and Well-Being

Human beings have a natural potential for love and altruism that is expressed when they are functioning in a healthy way. Prosocial behavior is a prominent aspect of health and happiness in human beings, which is characteristic of integrated states of physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being (Cloninger and Zohar, 2010). From a neuropsychiatric perspective, selfish and uncooperative behaviors are signs of mental dysfunction because they are strongly associated with life dissatisfaction and ill health (Cloninger, 2004). From an evolutionary perspective, antisocial behavior in human beings is the unregulated expression of primitive impulses because it is a consequence of the failure of the human capacity for apperception of unity (Cloninger, 2009).
The Immune System and Overtraining in Athletes: Clinical Implications

The primary objective of this review is to provide an overview of how overtraining and the overtraining syndrome (OTS) affect the immune system of athletes. A secondary objective is to provide sports medicine clinicians with guidance as to how best to prevent and/or treat some of the health consequences of overtraining and the OTS as related to the development of a compromised immune system associated with exercise training. The OTS is a physically debilitating condition that results in athletes being totally compromised in their capacity to perform and compete. Many physiological systems are affected by the process of overtraining and the OTS; but one system in particular, the immune, is highly susceptible to degradation resulting in a reduction in overall health and performance. Monitoring of an athlete's exercise training load and other life stresses is critical to the determination of when their training regimen may be excessive, thereby increasing the risk of OTS developing. Taking steps to mitigate prolonged exposure to extreme stress (training + life or otherwise) in athletes as well as promoting a healthy immune system can significantly aid in the advancement of an athlete's training regimen progression and ultimate physical performance and overall health. In this light, this review provides approaches to aid sports medicine clinicians in promoting a healthy immune system in athletes.
Advancing Tolerance and Equality Using State Constitutions: Are the Boy Scouts Prepared?

The traditional United States Supreme Court analysis for determining whether a group may exclude people from membership on the basis of sexual orientation involves a series of either/or choices. For example, in the context of the exclusion of homosexuals by the Boy Scouts of America, one issue is whether the Boy Scouts is a "public accommodation.' Another issue is whether homosexuals constitute a protected class. This Article argues that independent state constitutional analysis of this issue provides an opportunity to avoid the narrowing effects of the traditional dichotomies, and that courts should directly consider the interests of the parties. In addition, this Article encourages state courts to look to social science sources to better inform themselves about the various effects of and aspects involved in exclusion, and specifically the exclusion of young gay men.
TCP-friendly congestion control mechanism for an UDP-based high speed radar application and characterization of fairness

The transfer of digitized radar data over the Next Generation Internet at data rates ranging from 64 Mbps to 384 Mbps, is an emerging real-time, high-bandwidth application using the UDP transport protocol. We propose the TCP-friendly Rate Adaptation Based on Loss (TRABOL) algorithm that relies on relevant QoS parameters feedback from the receiver to the source to control the transmission rate for congestion control. We also characterize the fairness of the system of UDP-based and TCP-based flows sharing a single bottleneck link bandwidth, using a throughput-based fairness index and show by experiments that the congestion-controlled radar application is TCP-friendly.
Immunoelectron microscopy of parasites.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the theory and methods of immunoelectron microscopy (IM) and summarizes its current applications to the study of protozoan and helminth parasites. IM is a powerful tool for studying host–parasite interactions, and it is playing an important role in identifying specific immune targets and characterizing the precise subcellular localization, transport, and expression of parasite antigens. This technique helps to clarify specific functions of subcellular organelles, which may not otherwise be detected by standard electron microscopy or biochemical techniques. So, IM contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between structure and function in parasites. In studies of Plasmodium, IM has been, especially valuable in characterizing the antigenic composition of intracellular compartments, for example, parasitophorous vacuole and cytoplasmic clefts, that cannot be isolated, purified, and studied by current biochemical procedures. The development of cryofixation and freeze-substitution techniques and the application of immunocytochemistry to freeze–fracture techniques show considerable promise for studying molecular and ultrastructural interactions between hosts and parasites. The methods of IM discussed are fixation, accessibility of antigenic sites, visualization of antigenic sites, and immunocytochemical controls.
Photoelectrochemistry of Porous p-Cu2O Films

Porous p-Cu 2 O films were prepared on transparent conductive glass from a dispersion of Cu 2 O powder in ethanol. Upon illumination with a 100 W tungsten lamp, the photocurrent of the porous Cu 2 O film was appreciably greater when compared to electrodeposited Cu 2 O films. The enhancement is attributed to the increased interfacial area between the film and the solution due to the three-dimensional nature of the Cu 2 O film. No chemical change was detected by visual examination and X-ray diffraction of the porous Cu 2 O film after illumination for 2 h in the aqueous solution at -0.4 V vs saturated calomel electrode. The reported stability of electrodeposited Cu 2 O films is attributed to the effect of Cu + -terminated (111) surface, where the H + -assisted photoreduction of Cu 2 O is less likely to occur. The well-known instability of single-crystal Cu 2 O is hypothesized to be due to the predominating (211) and (311) surfaces, where the photodecomposition to Cu is inevitable at the exposed O 2- sites.
Modeling the Transport of Bioaerosols

Bioaerosol Survival Models Dispersion Models Keywords: bioaerosols, modeling; modeling bioaerosol transport