cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of photoperiod and cold acclimation upon plasma free fatty acid levels in the white rat.

Abstract 1. 1. Animals were acclimated at 3±1° C and at room temperature (22°C) for 3 weeks. 2. 2. At each acclimation temperature animals were maintained under either an 8:16 L:D cycle or a 16:8 L:D cycle. 3. 3. Blood samples were taken before and after exposure to −38°C for 30 min. 4. 4. Free fatty acid levels were greatest in cold acclimated animals which were maintained on a short light cycle. 5. 5. Interaction between acclimation and photoperiod was apparent.
Neuromuscular dose–response studies: determining sample size

Abstract Background Investigators planning dose–response studies of neuromuscular blockers have rarely used a priori power analysis to determine the minimal sample size their protocols require. Institutional Review Boards and peer-reviewed journals now generally ask for this information. This study outlines a proposed method for meeting these requirements. Methods The slopes of the dose–response relationships of eight neuromuscular blocking agents were determined using regression analysis. These values were substituted for γ in the Hill equation. When this is done, the coefficient of variation (COV) around the mean value of the ED50 for each drug is easily calculated. Using these values, we performed an a priori one-sample two-tailed t-test of the means to determine the required sample size when the allowable error in the ED50 was varied from ±10−20%. Results The COV averaged 22% (range 15–27%). We used a COV value of 25% in determining the sample size. If the allowable error in finding the mean ED50 is ±15%, a sample size of 24 is needed to achieve a power of 80%. Increasing ‘accuracy’ beyond this point requires increasing greater sample sizes (e.g. an ‘n’ of 37 for a ±12% error). Conclusions On the basis of the results of this retrospective analysis, a total sample size of not less than 24 subjects should be adequate for determining a neuromuscular blocking drug’s clinical potency with a reasonable degree of assurance.
Actions of tumor necrosis factor-alpha on oocyte maturation and embryonic development in cattle.

Problem Infertility can accompany mastitis in cattle. Involvement of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in this phenomenon is suggested by observations that circulating concentrations of TNF-alpha are elevated after intramammary infection or infusion of endotoxin. It was hypothesized that (1) TNF-alpha acts on the oocyte during maturation to decrease the percent of oocytes that cleave and develop following fertilization; (2) exposure of embryos to TNF-alpha after fertilization reduces development to the blastocyst stage; and (3) TNF-alpha increases the proportion of blastomeres that undergo apoptosis in a stage-of-development dependent manner. Method of study In one experiment, oocytes were matured with various concentrations of TNF-alpha and then fertilized and cultured without TNF-alpha. In another study, embryos were cultured with TNF-alpha for 8 days beginning after fertilization. Finally, embryos were collected at the two or four-cell stage (at 28-30 hr after insemination) or when > or = 9-cells (at day 4 after insemination) and cultured +/- TNF-alpha for 24 hr. The proportion of blastomeres undergoing apoptosis was then determined by the TUNEL procedure. Results Addition of TNF-alpha to maturation medium did not affect the proportion of oocytes that cleaved. However, the percent of oocytes that developed to the blastocyst stage at day 8 after insemination was reduced (P = 0.05) at all TNF-alpha concentrations tested (0.1-100 ng/mL). When added during embryo culture, there was no significant effect of TNF-alpha on the proportion of oocytes that became blastocysts. In addition, TNF-alpha did not induce apoptosis in two and four-cell embryos. For embryos > or = 9-cells, however, 10 and 100 ng/mL TNF-alpha increased (P Conclusion TNF-alpha can have deleterious actions on oocyte maturation that compromise development of the resultant embryo. While exposure of fertilized embryos to TNF-alpha did not inhibit development to the blastocyst stage, TNF-alpha increased the percentage of blastomeres undergoing apoptosis when exposure occurred for embryos > or = 9-cells. Increased blastomere apoptosis could conceivably compromise subsequent embryo survival.
Image Interpolation with Geometric Contour Stencils

We consider the image interpolation problem where, given an image v with uniformly-sampled pixels vm,n and point spread function h, the goal is to find a function u(x,y) satisfying vm,n = (h ∗u)(m,n) for all m,n ∈ Z (1) so that u approximates the underlying function from which v was sampled. This article improves upon the IPOL article “Image Interpolation with Contour Stencils” [7]. In the previous work, contour stencils are used to estimate the image contours locally as short line segments. This article begins with a continuous formulation of total variation integrated over a collection of curves and defines contour stencils as a consistent discretization. This discretization is more reliable than the previous approach and can effectively distinguish contours that are locally shaped like lines, curves, corners, and circles. These improved contour stencils sense more of the geometry in the image. Interpolation is performed using an extension of the method described in the previous article. Using the improved contour stencils, there is an increase in image quality while maintaining similar computational efficiency.
Low-Complexity Transceiver Design for Asymmetric Single/Multi-Band UWB Links

Ultra-Wideband (UWB) link emerges as a promising physical layer candidate for a wide range of wireless networks. In addition to the potential of very high data rate, the ultra-wide bandwidth also provides enhanced flexibility for transceiver designs with variable complexity, which is particularly suitable for networks with heterogeneous nodes. However, to establish physical communication links between nodes with distinct complexity requirements, asymmetric UWB transceivers need to be designed. Towards this objective, we investigate the communications between devices with different ADC/DAC sampling rates and reveal their similarity with multi-input multi- output (MIMO) systems. Then, the signal processing approaches can be readily applied to achieve optimality in terms of both channel throughput and bit error rate (BER). Analysis and simulations corroborate the effectiveness of our transceiver designs.
Enforcing the Blue Laws: Police Discretion and the Rule of Law

The author uses the Massachusetts Sunday Closing Laws as they existed in November of 1976 as a vehicle for examining police discretion and its relationship to the rule of law.During the 1976 Christmas season many Massachusetts retailers open/v defied the Sunday Closing Laws (Blue Laws) by opening their stores. They did so because they believed themselves to be at a significant competitive disadvantage with retailers just across the Massachusetts borders in adjacent states, who could legall/ open on Sundays. They sensed that public opinion was behind them. They also knew that a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, while refusing to enjoin the laws' enforcement, had indicated his belief that the law was unconstitutional on its face. The governor and attorney general openlv disagreed over whether the police should enforce the law.In the midst of this turmoil were the states' police chiefs who had to formulate local enfocement policies.The author mailed a questionnaire to each of the Massachusetts chiefs to...
The use of analytics in the design of sociotechnical products

The use of analytics has been emerging as a way to better understand the complex dynamics and resulting trends that occur when social and technical systems intersect. For instance, web analytics studies the intersection between society and the Internet to better understand use patterns and preferences. Business analytics studies the interfaces between human capital and technical systems in the context of corporate management and industrial production. Engineering design is ripe with such sociotechnical systems where consumers and engineered systems intersect producing a complex sociotechnical system marked by difficult to predict behavior and trends. In this paper, the paradigm of design analytics is further developed and used to study a diverse sociotechnical product. The product is a refrigerator that is hypothetically equipped with sensors and feedback mechanisms, and a simulator models the interactions of a population of 1000 users. Analyzing this sociotechnical product using design analytics demonstrates the ability to extract valuable insights at the juncture of people and technology. Insights into the leading behaviors of different populations are presented, and it is shown that design analytics and the associated tools can provide a platform for designers to develop better performing products that meet both explicit and implicit customer needs.
Distribution of invasive and native riparian woody plants across the western USA in relation to climate, river flow, floodplain geometry and patterns of introduction

Management of riparian plant invasions across the landscape requires understanding the combined influence of climate, hydrology, geologic constraints and patterns of introduction. We measured abundance of nine riparian woody taxa at 456 stream gages across the western USA. We constructed conditional inference recursive binary partitioning models to discriminate the influence of eleven environmental variables on plant occurrence and abundance, focusing on the two most abundant non-native taxa, Tamarix spp. and Elaeagnus angustifolia, and their native competitor Populus deltoides. River reaches in this study were distributed along a composite gradient from cooler, wetter higher-elevation reaches with higher stream power and earlier snowmelt flood peaks to warmer, drier lower-elevation reaches with lower power and later peaks. Plant distributions were strongly related to climate, hydrologic and geomorphic factors, and introduction history. The strongest associations were with temperature and then precipitation. Among hydrologic and geomorphic variables, stream power, peak flow timing and 10-yr flood magnitude had stronger associations than did peak flow predictability, low-flow magnitude, mean annual flow and channel confinement. Nearby intentional planting of Elaeagnus was the best predictor of its occurrence, but planting of Tamarix was rare. Higher temperatures were associated with greater abundance of Tamarix relative to P. deltoides, and greater abundance of P. deltoides relative to Elaeagnus. Populus deltoides abundance was more strongly related to peak flow timing than was that of Elaeagnus or Tamarix. Higher stream power and larger 10-yr floods were associated with greater abundance of P. deltoides and Tamarix relative to Elaeagnus. Therefore, increases in temperature could increase abundance of Tamarix and decrease that of Elaeagnus relative to P. deltoides, changes in peak flow timing caused by climate change or dam operations could increase abundance of both invasive taxa, and dam-induced reductions in flood peaks could increase abundance of Elaeagnus relative to Tamarix and P. deltoides.
Measuring symptoms and wellness in the multiple sclerosis patient: issues in measurement.

Appropriate measurement of any state of health or disease depends on several factors. First and foremost is the scientific question to be answered, which can range from basic science to clinical processes to societal impact. Questions primarily address either the current state of the patient or are designed to measure change over time. Although it is sometimes possible to accomplish both objectives with one set of questions, this can be difficult and may not be appropriate. Questions must be designed appropriately to ensure reliability of the answer, validity of the concept being measured and the sensitivity or responsiveness of the measure to change. It is also becoming standard to evaluate all parameters for the clinical (or scientific) relevance of the measured value or change in value over time. The design of a measurement tool must consider the type of data to be collected, the difficulties in collecting complete data and the plan for data analysis. Ever-increasing computing power has provided novel ...
The 2D-J-DOSY Experiment: Resolving Diffusion Coefficients in Mixtures

Many diffusion-ordered spectroscopy (DOSY) NMR techniques have recently been developed to aid in the deconvolution of complex mixtures. Spectroscopic separation based on chemical and physical properties facilitates the identification of mixture components while eliminating time-consuming separation steps and preserving the chemical environment. One way to improve resolution in such experiments is to spread the spectroscopic information into two dimensions. The 2D-J-DOSY experiment has been designed to resolve mixture components in terms of a chemical shift and proton coupling constant as well as distinguishing them on the basis of translational diffusion. Acquiring a series of spectra as a function of gradient amplitude permits the determination of diffusion coefficients for components that cannot be resolved in the one-dimensional (1D) (1)H NMR spectrum. Comparison of the resulting values with those obtained through the traditional 1D diffusion experiment for a mixture of sugars validates The 2D-J-DOSY technique.
SNR Walls for Signal Detection

This paper considers the detection of the presence/absence of signals in uncertain low SNR environments. Small modeling uncertainties are unavoidable in any practical system and so robustness to them is a fundamental performance metric. The impact of these modeling uncertainties can be quantified by the position of the "SNR wall" below which a detector will fail to be robust, no matter how long it can observe the channel. We propose simple mathematical models for the uncertainty in the noise and fading processes. These are used to show what aspects of the model lead to SNR walls for differing levels of knowledge of the signal to be detected. These results have implications for wireless spectrum regulators. The context is opportunistically sharing spectrum with primary users that must be detected in order to avoid causing harmful interference on a channel. Ideally, a secondary system would be able to detect primaries robustly without having to know much about their signaling strategies. We argue that the tension between primary and secondary users is captured by the technical question of computing the optimal tradeoff between the primary user's capacity and the secondary user's sensing robustness as quantified by the SNR wall. This is an open problem, but we compute this tradeoff for some simple detectors.
Brandeis & Warren's 'The Right to Privacy and the Birth of the Right to Privacy'

Privacy law and conceptions of a right to privacy have, of course, evolved considerably since 1890 when future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Boston attorney Samuel Warren penned their now ageless article, The Right to Privacy, 4 Harv. L. Rev. 193, in which they argued the law should recognize such a right and impose liability in tort for intrusions on it. But quite apart from any argument about how attenuated the link might be between Brandeis and Warren's specific proposals and the current state of privacy law, is it fair to say, as so many scholars and judges repeatedly do, that Brandeis and Warren's article give birth to its namesake in the lexicon and substance of American law? A review of the law and the secondary legal and historical literature from the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century strongly supports the argument that The Right to Privacy did indeed "give birth" to a right to privacy. The judicial opinions from1891 until 1911 that addressed claims of invasion of an alleged right to privacy almost invariably cited and discussed Brandeis and Warren's article, and the several opinions recognizing a right to privacy placed substantial reliance on the article as a form of authority. To be sure, Brandeis and Warren had a potent ally, as professional and popular opinion of the era were overwhelmingly and passionately in support of protecting people's privacy in the face of cramped urban conditions and the proliferation of amateur photography and gossip-mongering "yellow" journalism. But to effect change in the legal establishment, that ally needed a cogent and respected voice. The Right to Privacy achieved its early and generalized influence because its authors harnessed the public's outrage at the intrusive elements of the newly urban society, and channeled it into a forceful and well-reasoned appeal for change to the judicial and legislative establishment.
Marge Norman and Miniscribe Corporation

2 VERSIONS OF THIS CASE - C-2168MCI TO BE USED IN MCI EXEC ED COURSE ONLY. This case details the rise of hard-disk storage manufacturer MiniScribe in the mid-1980s and the company's demise after executives manipulated the financial information.
Inflammation in tissues separated from connection with the central nervous system

An attempt was made to study the cause of inflammation in tissues separated from connection with the central nervous system as compared with that in normal tissues. The mere section of the nerves going to an organ or limb is insufficient, for nerve fibrils accompany the blood vessels. To overcome this an extremity was amputated completely and replaced by anastomosing the blood vessels and bringing together muscles and skin. Inflammatory irritants applied symmetrically to the intact, and to the amputated limb of the dog resulted in the production of quite the same phenomena of inflammation on both sides. The reddening due to the dilatation of the blood vessels was perhaps slightly more intense on the amputated side than in the intact limb. Evidently, the control of the central nervous system is not at all necessary for the development of inflammatory changes.
Analysis on monitoring result of iodine deficiency disorders in Guigang City from 2011 to 2012

[Objective]To learn the iodine nutrition status after achieving the stage goal of elimination of iodine deficiency disease in Guigang City,provide the scientific basis for prevention and control of iodine deficiency disorders.[Methods]The status of edible salt in households was randomly monitored according to the National iodine deficiency disorders control program( Trial).[Results] According to Guangxi iodine deficiency disease control and monitoring program in 2011,the counties / cities / districts and elementary schools were collected,to carry out the urine iodine test among students,salt iodine monitoring in households,and B ultrasound examination of thyroid. The urine iodine levels of pregnant women and lactating women nearby selected primary and secondary schools were randomly tested. In 2011 and 2012,median iodine content of salt among households in Guigang City was 33. 76 mg / kg and 27. 80 mg / kg respectively,while the coverage of iodized salt was 100. 00% and 99. 74% respectively. The median of urinary iodine among students aged 8-10 years old was 288 μg / L,the rate of goiter was 0. 83%,and the median of urinary iodine among pregnant women and lactating women was 139. 5 μg / L. The water iodine median was 4. 7 μg / L,and 78. 06% were less than 10 μg / L.[Conclusion]On the basis of the results of eliminating iodine deficiency disease,the situations of iodized salt in households,the urinary iodine level of students,and the rate of goiter among students in Guigang City are satisfactory. However,the urinary iodine level of pregnant women and the water iodine level are low relatively,which indicates that Guigang City is low iodine area,so it is necessary to carry out the long-term salt iodization,to prevent the hazards of iodine deficiency.
Leveraging Dual-Mode Magnetic Crossbar for Ultra-low Energy In-memory Data Encryption

The logic-in-memory architecture is highly promising for high-throughput data-driven applications. This paper presents a novel dual-mode magnetic crossbar architecture consisting of perpendicularly cross-coupled magnetic racetrack nanowires, which could morph between non-volatile multi-bit racetrack memory mode and in-memory data encryption mode. The proposed magnetic crossbar is able to automatically perform parallel in-memory bit-wise XOR computations of the data stored in the racetrack memories with the help of magnetic coupling physics without complex peripheral circuits, which could be leveraged to design energy efficient in-memory data encryption engine. We employ Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm to elucidate the efficiency of the proposed design. The device-to-architecture level simulation results show that the proposed architecture can achieve 70% and 17.5% lower energy consumption compared to CMOS-ASIC and recent domain wall (DW) AES implementations, respectively. In addition, the AES encryption speed increases by 29.7% compared to the DW-AES implementation.
IMMU-32. NON-INFLAMMATORY EFFECT OF DIPG ON TUMOR-ASSOCIATED MICROGLIA

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a diffusely infiltrating high-grade glioma that has a peak incidence from ages 6-8 and only a 9-12 month median survival. Like adult gliomas, DIPG exhibits a significant expansion of myeloid cells, with microglia/macrophages accounting for ~30% of the tumor cell mass (Caretti & Monje, 2014). In adult glioma, these glioma-associated macrophages have been implicated as supporting angiogenesis and tumor cell invasion, proliferation, and survival (Glass & Synowitz, 2014). However, genomic and epigenomic characterizations of adult and pediatric high-grade gliomas revealed striking differences in the molecular nature of these tumors (Sturm et al., 2014), and traditional chemotherapeutic approaches to adult glioblastoma are not effective in DIPG, suggesting these are unique diseases with distinct pathophysiology. Our data demonstrates that tumor-associated macrophages from primary DIPG samples exhibit gene expression signatures that are associated with pro-tumorigenic functions, but are also significantly less inflammatory than tumor-associated macrophages isolated from adult glioblastoma samples. Moreover, the cytokine secretion profiles of patient-derived DIPG cell cultures are dramatically less inflammatory when compared to patient-derived adult high-grade glioma cell cultures, and are more similar to the profile of human neural precursor cell cultures. This suggests that DIPG is less immunogenic than adult GBM, which may allow the tumor cells to evade detection and infiltrate healthy tissue. We additionally show that DIPG cells express CD200, a ligand that inhibits myeloid cell activation. Knockdown of DIPG expression of CD200 increases primary microglial cell phagocytosis in direct co-culture experiments, and also inhibits DIPG progression in in vivo xenograft models. Thus, CD200 may represent a mechanism by which DIPG evades normal immune responses to tumor growth. By understanding the DIPG-microglial interaction in molecular detail, we will gain insight into the pathophysiology of DIPG that could direct future targeted therapies.
Impact of a two-stage ditch on channel water quality

Abstract A two-stage ditch involves modifications of a conventional, trapezoidal drainage ditch to better replicate the features of a natural stream through the addition of adjacent floodplains or benches. Previous research in Indiana and Ohio has shown that two-stage ditches offer the potential to reduce sediment load and extend the interaction time between water, bench vegetation, and bench soil allowing larger uptake of nutrients by the vegetation and increasing the denitrification rates. A two-stage ditch was constructed that drains an area of approximately 267 ha of farmland used for corn and soybean production. Discharge, nitrate-N (NO3), total phosphorus (TP), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and total suspended sediment (TSS) were monitored in the two-stage ditch and a control reach immediately upstream. The two-stage ditch was found to significantly decrease TP, SRP and TSS concentrations and loads. Although the two-stage ditch decreased NO 3 concentrations significantly, it did not have a significant impact on NO3 loads. More specifically, the two-stage ditch reduced the loads of TP by 40%, SRP by 11% and TSS by 22–40% depending on the stage of vegetation establishment on its floodplain benches, compared to an increase in load of 78%, 2% and 1%, respectively in the control reach.
Turbulence intermittency in a multiple-time-scale Navier-Stokes-based reduced model

To study intermittency and anomalous scaling of high Reynolds number turbulence, a Lagrangian stochastic differential equation is derived from the gradient of the Navier-Stokes equations using multiple time scales and a closure based on the recent deformation of Gaussian Fields.
Time-Out for Sibling Aggression: An Analysis of Effective Durations in a Natural Setting

Time-out is a ubiquitous strategy to reduce problem behaviors. The current study sought to find the shortest effective duration(s) of time-out for sibling aggression in a community sample of girls ...
The Commitment of the Veterans Health Administration to Mental Health Care for Veterans: Historical Overview and Context

The USA has long recognized a responsibility to compensate veterans for lost income and health impacts due to service, tracing the beginnings of this compensation to the settlements at Plymouth. Federal government support, for both financial and direct services such as long-term care, became prominent by the US Civil War. However, strategies to address the relationship between physical and mental disability and income (via pensions) were not established until 1890. After World War I and in the 1920s and 1930s, veterans’ dissatisfaction with federal government financial commitments and strategies for benefits administration resulted in protests, violence, persisting national headlines, and open debates of public policy—all of which influenced national politics. The end of World War II initiated the modern era of Federal support for veterans’ health care, with General Omar Bradley and Major General Paul Hawley leading the Veterans Administration (VA). They established a VA hospital system that was based on proximity to and close relationships with schools of medicine and their academic health centers, which emphasized integration of mental health services with general medical and surgical services. This chapter reviews the historical timeline and context for the modern commitment of the Veterans Health Administration to mental health care for veterans.
Kip Canfield, Steve Quirologico

Recent years have seen an increased amount of interest in decision-support applications in the health care field. However, the development of such applications has been hindered by many barriers including lack of timely access to data and applications. In this paper, we present three alternative agent-based architectures for DSS applications that will facilitate, the delivery and maintenance of treatment guidelines, the establishment and maintenance of inter-organizational repositories and, the execution of prospective and retrospective outcomes studies. A scenario-based analysis methodology is used to evaluate these alternative architectures.
How the Law is Corrupted

Whenever there is an established procedure there is often a special kind of corruption, and this is as true of the practice of law as it is of anything else. For as soon as any intent is regularized and formalized there will be those it does not benefit (and even some it does benefit) who will immediately seek methods of evasion. All men are equal before the law but not all equally accept it, and those who do not present a problems to its maintenance and defence. Thus there have arisen procedures also for circumventing the law, which by their very nature could never be formally established but which have been no less effective.
A Research Framework for Theorizing

Every IS researcher applies implicitly (by experience) methods of discovery—so-called heuristics—to advance theorizing about the adoption, the utilization and the success of emerging IT innovations. Heuristics represent experience-based theory-building practices of IS researchers that aim for creating new insights on phenomena. Taking positivist cloud innovation research as an empirical sample, this chapter inductively explores previous cloud research with respect to the heuristics applied and subsequently evaluates—based on positivists’ epistemological assumptions—the potential of these heuristics for advancing theorizing and producing scientific progress. The developed research framework can be used as a tool by researchers for better carving out the behavioral changes induced by emerging IT innovations, for critically assessing own research projects, and for developing new perspectives on IT innovation phenomena.
Multivessel tibial revascularization does not improve outcomes in patients with critical limb ischemia

Abstract Objective Multivessel tibial revascularization for critical limb ischemia (CLI) remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate single vs multiple tibial vessel interventions in patients with multivessel tibial disease. We hypothesized that there would be no difference in amputation-free survival between the groups. Methods Using the Vascular Quality Initiative registry, we reviewed patients undergoing lower extremity endovascular interventions involving the tibial arteries. Patients with CLI were included only if at least two tibial vessels were diseased and adequate perioperative data and clinical follow-up were available for review. The primary outcome was amputation-free survival. Results There were 10,849 CLI patients with multivessel tibial disease evaluated from 2002 to 2017; 761 limbs had adequate data and follow-up available for review. Mean follow-up was 337 ± 62 days. Of these, 473 (62.1%) underwent successful single-vessel tibial intervention (group SV), whereas 288 (37.9%) underwent successful multivessel (two or more) intervention (group MV). Patients in group MV were younger (69.1 vs 73.2 years; P Conclusions In the Vascular Quality Initiative registry, patients with CLI and occlusive disease involving multiple tibial vessels did not appear to have a limb salvage benefit from multiple tibial revascularization compared with single tibial revascularization.
Effect of chemotherapy on survival of patients with recurrent pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) following surgical therapy.

e15748Background: Patients with recurrent PDAC are treated similarly to patients with de novo metastatic disease. The aim of this study is to report the outcome of patients with recurrent PDAC foll...
IoTViz: Visualizing emerging topics in the internet of things

The "Internet of Things" is changing the way companies operate and consumers behave. Therefore, it is essential to capture trends in "Internet of Things". This paper proposes IoTViz, a visual analytics tool for analyzing "Internet of Things" news on social media. The principal aim of IoTViz is to observe the dynamic behavior of topics along with their proximity to other dimensions such as user comments and ratings in multiple coordinated views. IoTViz provides an interactive exploration of the IoT topics and supports of a range of interactive features, such as linking and filtering, allowing users to narrow down events of interest quickly. It is interesting to filter and visualize IoT news regarding the individual organization, e.g., user opinions/ratings regarding a company or its products.
Education and Decision-Making in Patients and Caregivers Considering Left Ventricular Assist Devices

Purpose Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a mainstay of therapy in end-stage heart failure, but presents a challenge in decision-making to patients and caregivers. The aim of this study is to assess patient education and understanding of LVAD therapy. Methods Consecutive candidates for LVAD therapy were enrolled for this study. Patients were excluded if they were unable to participate in baseline testing. Prior to LVAD implant, health literacy was assessed by Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine-Revised (REALM-R) testing, a word-recognition test of 11 items. Cognitive function was assessed by St. Louis University Mental Status Exam (SLUMS), a brief oral and written exam. LVAD knowledge was assessed by a validated 20-item score. Results 21 patients were enrolled. The median age was 59 years and 62% of the patients were male. Most patients were institution naive, and only 47% had a documented prior advanced heart failure (HF) clinic visit. The majority of patients were on IV inotropes (85.7%) at the time of evaluation and many had indwelling aortic balloon pumps (42.9%). The median time to assessment following formal LVAD education was 1 day. 31% of patients had low health literacy based on REALM-R testing. Median SLUMS scores were in range of mild neurocognitive disorder (22.5; IQR 21, 25) (Fig. 1A). Baseline knowledge check demonstrated a low median score (45/100; IQR 35, 50) (Fig. 1B), and no patient reached a score of >70 (previously described average). Conclusion The majority of referrals for LVAD at our institution are late referrals of critically ill patients. Health literacy and cognitive scores are low in our patient population resulting in low knowledge check scores, despite systematic LVAD education. Patient specific LVAD education should address each patient's individual needs.
Prediction of Mechanical Properties of Concrete Made with Recycled Concrete Aggregates Using Statistical Analysis of Data Available in Literature

The concrete design and construction industry has been eagerly adopting sustainability initiatives over the last 20 years to help reduce its carbon footprint, improve economic sustainability, and ensure the important natural resources that support the industry remain available for years to come. Despite these advances, recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) have been significantly underutilized even though they are becoming an increasingly available sustainable resource that can be used to reduce the amount of natural aggregates used in concrete. Use of RCA has been limited, in part, because of a lack of standardized guidance on creating mixture designs and how aggregates may impact concrete properties. Presented in this paper are the results of a statistical analysis of data from over 80 peer reviewed articles that can be used to predict performance in mixtures containing RCA. A large database consisting of 850 compressive strength, 682 elastic modulus, 197 flexural strength, and 462 splitting tensile strength results was created from this literature review with data ranging from 1988 to 2018. Non-linear regression analyses determined that the empirical trends related to compressive strength, elastic modulus, flexural strength, and splitting tensile strength had a linear relationship with the RCA replacement levels depending on absorption capacity, RCA replacement level, effective water-to-cement ratio, maximum aggregate size, and strength of the RCA’s parent concrete. Overall, the RCA replacement ratio and the water-to-cement ratio had significant impacts on concrete mechanical strengths, while other factors such as mix proportioning parameters and aggregate properties had minor effects on the mechanical properties of RCA systems over the large dataset. Additionally, significant reductions in strength were not observed until replacement levels of RCA increased above 20%.
Ultra-Low-Dose CT: An Effective Follow-Up Imaging Modality for Ureterolithiasis.

Background and Purpose: Classically, abdominal X-ray (KUB), ultrasound, or a combination of both have been routinely used for ureteral stone surveillance after initial diagnosis. More recently, ult...
Making Hong Kong Film

In the first section, we will take a cruise in the nascence of Hong Kong film industry and take a glimpse into the early Hong Kong society. In the early 1900s, around 15 years later than the invention of filming technologies, Hong Kong had the first contact with this innovation, brought by Westerners who sailed across the ocean. Though controversies remain that, if a film made by a Hong Kong director but made in Shanghai could be regarded as a “Hong Kong film”, it is by no means to deny that, from the inchoation, Hong Kong film has had close connection with China and with the world. Tin Hau in Hong Kong Island makes the cradle of Hong Kong film industry. Along Ngan Mok Street, we follow the footsteps of the pioneers.
Enhanced microbial diversity and chemoradiation response in HPV+ anal cancer.

4Background: Anal cancer is a rare, but treatable, malignancy caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). Because anal cancer is uncommon and carries a significant social stigma, this disease has ra...
Perioperative Care for Internationally Adopted Children: Medical, Surgical, and Psychosocial Considerations for a Population of Concern

The overall number of international adoptions has dropped in the last 20 years, but a relative increase in the proportion of these children with special and surgical needs has occurred. Cleft lip/palate and anorectal malformations are two common surgical pathologies for internationally adopted children. Internationally adopted children with cleft lip/palate have high rates of speech impairment and frequent need for reoperation, and children with anorectal malformation commonly need multiple reoperations. For both groups, surgery prior to adoption may have actually contributed to morbidity. Both speech impairment and anorectal malformation negatively affect quality of life, independent of adoption. Additionally, internationally adopted children frequently have experienced trauma, single or complex, and institutionalization. Each of these can independently contribute to impaired psychosocial and behavioral development. These children face surgery, sometimes multiple surgeries, while adapting to a new culture, learning a new language, and bonding with a new family. The impact of prior medical experiences without the presence of a caregiver and/or while institutionalized is understudied. The surgical experience and perioperative outcomes within this population warrant research, and clinical coordination between teams may help improve care for this uniquely vulnerable population.
ENERGY DEMAND AND COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS

ABSTRACT Cost/benefit analysis is a method of accounting that attempts to introduce all costs and benefits into the decision process. It departs significantly from traditional private market decisions since it attempts to include externalities and non-market factors such as total social welfare. When applied to alternative ways to relieve the current U.S. energy problem this kind of analysis inescapably points to reduction of demand growth (conservation) as more cost-effective than most supply growth alternatives. The main reason that reduced demand growth is so relatively attractive stems from the large energy price shift that has suddenly made many alternatives to energy consumption economic, especially increased efficiency of energy use. An additional important reason that conservation has such a favorable cost/benefit compared with building more supplies stems from the existence of large negative environmental externalities associated with energy supply. Thus, a barrel of oil saved is generally worth more than a barrel of oil earned. As a consequence an economically sensible response to higher energy price is lower energy demand.
Improving the efficiency of ankle fracture care through home care and day-surgery units: Delivering safe surgery on a value-based healthcare model.

Abstract Objectives Preoperative home care for suitable patients with ankle fractures is becoming an increasingly common practice. It allows adequate time for reduction of ankle swelling following a decision to undertake operative fixation has been made. We aim to assess the safety, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and differences in clinical & patient outcomes of day surgery unit (DSU) care for ankle fracture treatment in selected patients. Our study combined home therapy treatment with DSU care for suitable ankle fractures. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Trauma Centre. Patients Fifty-three patients requiring operative fixation for an ankle fracture were divided into 2 groups. Patients in group 1 entered the home care combined with DSU treatment pathway whilst in group 2 were treated as in patient in the main trauma theatre in our standard pathway. Intervention Comparison of Home Care & Day Case Surgery vs. in patient admission for patients requiring operative ankle fractures fixation. Main outcome measures Prospective data collection was undertaken over a 2-year period, on fracture type, logistical outcomes including time to surgery and total length of stay in the hospital and clinical outcomes including the rate of post-operative complications, incidence of unplanned surgical revisions and objective patient satisfaction. Economic analysis was performed to compare the marginal cost saving per case for group 1 vs. group 2. Results There were 21 patients in group 1. They waited for on average 5.8 days at home for their operation and none were admitted pre or post operatively. There were no associated complications and the majority of patients were discharged from follow-up at 6 weeks post-surgery. In-group 2, there were 32 patients. They waited on average 2.4 days for their operation in the hospital and had an average length of stay of 4.9 days. One patient in group 2 suffered from a deep vein thrombosis. The benefit from our chargeable tariff for group 1 patients was £2295 per case while the margin for group 2 patients was £277 per case. The financial benefit to the health care provider was £2018 in favour of home care and DSU treatment, with high service satisfaction and low complication rates. Discussion This study provides focused evidence supporting the use of home care for the management of ankle fractures. The DSU pathway improves the value in healthcare delivery with high patient satisfaction scores when compared to the traditional pathway. Our model demonstrates predictably good clinical outcomes with a financial cost benefit over in-patient admission care model for selected patients. Level of evidence Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
A Descriptive Study Examining Trends in Pharmacist-Authored Original Research Publications in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network from 2000 to 2019.

Pharmacists are expected to participate in the conduction of research to advance the profession and health care broadly. Additional opportunities for pharmacist research engagement have emerged with the increased integration of clinically trained pharmacists into interprofessional care teams. Research conducted over the past four decades has demonstrated an increasing trend of pharmacist-authored publications in medical journals. The purpose of this study was to build upon this work and investigate trends in pharmacist-authored original research publications within the JAMA Network over the past 20 years. A descriptive study design was used to retrospectively evaluate trends in the numbers of pharmacist-authored publications and authorship within those publications in nine JAMA Network journals. Data were aggregated into ten-year time periods (2000–2009 and 2010–2019) and compared using chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests. Overall, pharmacist-authored publications significantly increased over the ten-year period (2.0% to 3.0%, p < 0.001), including in five specific journals: JAMA, JAMA Dermatology, JAMA Neurology, JAMA Ophthalmology, and JAMA Surgery. There was no change in first—and senior-authored publications. While the overall pharmacist publication trend was positive, room for significant growth remains. A deeper understanding of the barriers and facilitators to pharmacist engagement in research is needed, along with strategies to enhance pharmacist research training.
Marrow adipogenic lineage precursor: a new cellular component of marrow adipose tissue

Bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells are a highly heterogenic cell population containing mesenchymal stem cells as well as other cell types. With the advance of single cell transcriptome analysis, several recent reports identified a prominent subpopulation of mesenchymal stromal cells that specifically express adipocyte markers but do not contain lipid droplets. We name this cell type marrow adipogenic lineage precursor, MALP, and consider it as a major cellular component of marrow adipose tissue. Here, we review the discovery of MALPs and summarize their unique features and regulatory roles in bone. We further discuss how these findings advance our understanding of bone remodeling, mesenchymal niche regulation of hematopoiesis, and marrow vasculature maintenance.
Co-designing Technologies for Well Being: A Robot Companion for Older Adults

Robotics is an industry that has disrupted the health field in different areas, including older adult care. Robotic companions for older adults have proved to produce many benefits, including decreasing loneliness, anxiety, stress, depression, agitation, and contributing to the improvement of social relationships, to mention a few. Currently, there are different options in the market of robotic pets for the older adult population. Among them is the Joy for All line of products. In December of 2015, Hasbro released the Joy for All - Robotic Cat to the market. While the product has been successfully adopted by the older adult population, there are opportunities to improve the nature of advanced human-robot interaction. The class, Technologies to Extend Life, taught in the Master of Design program at the University of Cincinnati, focused on designing the next generation of Joy for All robotic intelligence that could provide psycho-social support for older adults. With this project, the class had two primary objectives: 1) Understand the real challenges older adults face in activities of daily living; and 2) Develop innovative hardware and software tools that can meet some of the identified daily challenges. The class had a co-design approach in the many phases that included different participants (older adults and caregivers), utilizing a variety of tools to assess, analyze, develop, design, implement, and evaluate the interventions with older adults and communities. The significance of this project is to use a participatory approach to assess and analyze the challenges older adults face in activities of daily living that robotic companions may help alleviate, thus having an empathic perspective to the creation of assistive technologies.
Keep both eyes on the prize: Hunting mice use binocular vision and specialized retinal neurons to capture prey.

In this issue of Neuron, Johnson et al. show that mice rely on binocular vision when hunting insect prey. Specific types of retinal output neurons support this behavior. They have functional properties and brain connections well-suited to their role.