cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pharyngeal Presentation of Goltz Syndrome: A Case Report with Review of the Literature

Focal dermal hypoplasia (Goltz syndrome; GS) is an X-linked dominant disorder caused by a mutation in the porcupine homolog (PORCN) gene and is typically embryonically lethal for males. The presence of disease in males is usually the result of post-zygotic mutation, but may also be due to mosaicism. The presentation of this disorder is highly variable, but generally is characterized by cutaneous, skeletal, ocular, oral, dental, and aural defects. Cutaneous manifestations include foci of hypoplastic skin, abnormal pigmentation, and papillomatous growths. We present both the first case of a patient with GS related laryngeal obstruction due to papillary lymphoid hyperplasia in an adult, and the first case in a male patient. Clinical, histologic, and genetic features of the disease are discussed. Operative technique for management of the patient with pharyngeal lesions is detailed, and intraoperative photos are showcased. The challenge in airway evaluation and management is also highlighted as manifestations of GS are rarely encountered in the airway and can cause laryngeal obstruction.
The Resource-Based View of the Firm and the Importance of Factor Markets

The resource-based view of the firm attributes sustainable competitive advantage to the possession of valuable, nonsubstitutable and inimitable resources. The importance of competition in the factor markets to acquire such resources suggests a hypothesis that firm behavior and industry conduct should be conditional on the resources that underpin competitive advantage in the industry. By using value-added intensity to identify the competitively relevant resource, this paper verifies among industries competing over different resources. The results suggest that industries are heterogeneous and that normative strategic prescriptions should be contingent on the resource which is critical to competitive advantage in the industry.
Parental Leave Use Among Disadvantaged Fathers

The United States lags behind other industrialized countries in its lack of inclusive and standardized parental leave policy after the birth or adoption of a child. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N=2,233), this study examines the patterns and predictors of fathers' parental leave use, as well as its association with father-child engagement. Our findings indicate that the vast majority of employed fathers take parental leave, but they rarely take more than one week of leave. Fathers who have more positive attitudes about fatherhood and who live with the birth mother are especially likely to take leave, and to take more weeks of leave, than other fathers. Finally, we find that taking parental leave, and taking more weeks of parental leave, is positively associated with father engagement levels at one year and five years after the birth of his child.
Correlation for the Viscosity of Normal Hydrogen Obtained from Symbolic Regression

We report the results of a symbolic-regression methodology to obtain both the functional form and the coefficients for a wide-ranging correlation for the viscosity of normal hydrogen. The correlation covers the temperature range from the triple-point temperature to 1000 K and pressures up to 200 MPa and extrapolates in a physically reasonable manner to 2000 K. The estimated uncertainty is 4 % for the saturated liquid from the triple point to 31 K, with larger deviations as the critical region is approached. The estimated uncertainty is 4 % for the supercritical fluid phase at pressures to 200 MPa. For the limited range of 200 K to 400 K at pressures up to 0.1 MPa, the uncertainty is 0.1 %.
Low capping group surface density on zinc oxide nanocrystals.

The ligand shell of colloidal nanocrystals can dramatically affect their stability and reaction chemistry. We present a methodology to quantify the dodecylamine (DDA) capping shell of colloidal zinc oxide nanocrystals in a nonpolar solvent. Using NMR spectroscopy, three different binding regimes are observed: strongly bound, weakly associated, and free in solution. The surface density of bound DDA is constant over a range of nanocrystal sizes, and is low compared to both predictions of the number of surface cations and maximum coverages of self-assembled monolayers. The density of strongly bound DDA ligands on the as-prepared ZnO NCs is 25% of the most conservative estimate of the maximum surface DDA density. Thus, these NCs do not resemble the common picture of a densely capped surface ligand layer. Annealing the ZnO NCs in molten DDA for 12 h at 160 °C, which is thought to remove surface hydroxide groups, resulted in a decrease of the weakly associated DDA and an increase in the density of strongly boun...
Current Status of Brown Soft Scale in Citrus Groves of the Lower Rio Grande Valley

Populations of brown soft scale, Coccus hesperidum L. (Homoptera: Coccidae), observed in 20 Rio Grande Valley citrus groves during 1966 showed a continued decrease in the general intensity of infestations. Population density of parasites and the possible influence of ultra-low-volume applications of methyl parathion are discussed.
Basking in reflected glory: the election of president Obama and naming behaviour

ABSTRACTThe influence of the 2008 election of President Barack Obama on the naming of children born to African American mothers was investigated. Results indicated that children born after the election were given names that sounded more ‘African American’ than were children born before the election. In addition, African American mother’s Collective Self-Esteem scores were positively correlated with the ethnic sound of a child’s name. It was concluded that this difference in naming behaviour could be viewed through a social identity theory approach and might indicate a desire to ‘bask in the reflected glory’ of President Obama’s election.
Technologies and methods for digital marketing of medical journals on PubMed

The effect of PubMed on the development of biomedical journals and the role of its Linkout function in extending the effect of journals were analyzed,followed by a description of the technologies and methods for the full-text seamless link of journal Websites and PubMed using its Linkout function withBiomedical and Environmental Sciences as an example.
Evaluation of Host-Plant Resistance of Selected Rice Genotypes to the Rice Water Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

The rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel, is the most important insect pest of rice in the United States. Management of L. oryzophilus mainly depends upon the use of insecticides due to the lack of effective alternative management tactics. A 3-yr field study was conducted to determine if difference exists among rice genotypes and cultivars of inbred tropical japonica subspecies commercially grown in the southern United States [Cocodrie (PI 606331), CL171, and CL151 (PI 654463)] and the germplasm lines of indica subspecies adapted to tropical climates of Asia [WC 4644 (PI 312777), TNI (PI 495830), Rondo (PI 615022), 4612 (PI 615039), TeQing (PI 536047), and 4593 (PI 615031)] for resistance to L. oryzophilus . Experiments were established as a split-plot design with cultivars as main plots and insecticide treatment as subplots. No significant differences were observed in number of L. oryzophilus larvae recovered across cultivars and genotypes, indicating no significant variation in their preference to L. oryzophilus oviposition. Insecticide treatment had a significant impact on L. oryzophilus larval density. However, grain yield did not vary significantly between treated and untreated plots for any of the cultivars and genotypes. The amount of yield loss in response to L. oryzophilus infestation did not vary significantly across genotypes and cultivars, indicating no variation among these genotypes for resistance to L. oryzophilus.
EQUATING LOGISTIC ABILITY SCALES BY A WEIGHTED LEAST SQUARES METHOD

A general procedure for equating logistic ability scales that involves the use of a loss function and an optimization process is formulated. As one of the optimum estimation procedures, a weighted least squares method is introduced and applied to an achievement scale and an intelligence scale. An advantage of the method over previously proposed methods is that highly discriminating items tend to affect equating more strongly than less discriminating items.
Process Information and Evolution

Universal semantic communication (USC) is a theory that models communication among agents without the assumption of a fixed protocol. We demonstrate a connection, via a concept we refer to as process information , between a special case of USC and evolutionary processes. In this context, one agent attempts to interpret a potentially arbitrary signal produced within its environment. Sources of this effective signal can be modeled as a single alternative agent. Given a set of common underlying concepts that may be symbolized differently by different sources in the environment, any given entity must be able to correlate intrinsic information with input it receives from the environment in order to accurately interpret the ambient signal and ultimately coordinate its own actions. This scenario encapsulates a class of USC problems that provides insight into the semantic aspect of a model of evolution proposed by Rivoire and Leibler. Through this connection, we show that evolution corresponds to a means of solving a special class of USC problems, can be viewed as a special case of the multiplicative weights updates algorithm, and that infinite population selection with no mutation and no recombination conforms to the Rivoire–Leibler model. Finally, using process information we show that evolving populations implicitly internalize semantic information about their respective environments.
BMP signaling controls buckling forces to modulate looping morphogenesis of the gut

Looping of the initially straight embryonic gut tube is an essential aspect of intestinal morphogenesis, permitting proper placement of the lengthy small intestine within the confines of the body cavity. The formation of intestinal loops is highly stereotyped within a given species and results from differential-growth-driven mechanical buckling of the gut tube as it elongates against the constraint of a thin, elastic membranous tissue, the dorsal mesentery. Although the physics of this process has been studied, the underlying biology has not. Here, we show that BMP signaling plays a critical role in looping morphogenesis of the avian small intestine. We first exploited differences between chicken and zebra finch gut morphology to identify the BMP pathway as a promising candidate to regulate differential growth in the gut. Next, focusing on the developing chick small intestine, we determined that Bmp2 expressed in the dorsal mesentery establishes differential elongation rates between the gut tube and mesentery, thereby regulating the compressive forces that buckle the gut tube into loops. Consequently, the number and tightness of loops in the chick small intestine can be increased or decreased directly by modulation of BMP activity in the small intestine. In addition to providing insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying intestinal development, our findings provide an example of how biochemical signals act on tissue-level mechanics to drive organogenesis, and suggest a possible mechanism by which they can be modulated to achieve distinct morphologies through evolution.
The diversity of beef safety: A global reason to strengthen our current systems

The purpose of this paper is to propose a more integrated and more aggressive system approach to food safety rather than focusing on one segment of the industry, or on one approach as described by or constrained by one set of regulations. We focus on the prevalence and control measures for Salmonella and pathogenic Escherichia coli, particularly, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in live cattle on the farm and in the final raw beef product at retail. We describe the antimicrobial and process control strategies most commonly used during slaughter and processing to prevent and reduce the frequency and concentration of these pathogens in the final product, and we propose points along the food chain where more interventions can be applied to ultimately reduce the prevalence of foodborne pathogens associated with beef and beef products, and to protect public health as well the global food supply.
Neonatal mouse hippocampus: phlebotomy-induced anemia diminishes and treatment with erythropoietin partially rescues mammalian target of rapamycin signaling

Neonatal mouse hippocampus: phlebotomy-induced anemia diminishes and treatment with erythropoietin partially rescues mammalian target of rapamycin signaling
Agent-based modeling of China’s rural–urban migration and social network structure

We analyze China’s rural–urban migration and endogenous social network structures using agent-based modeling. The agents from census micro data are located in their rural origin with an empirical-estimated prior propensity to move. The population-scale social network is a hybrid one, combining observed family ties and locations of the origin with a parameter space calibrated from census, survey and aggregate data and sampled using a stepwise Latin Hypercube Sampling method. At monthly intervals, some agents migrate and these migratory acts change the social network by turning within-nonmigrant connections to between-migrant-nonmigrant connections, turning local connections to nonlocal connections, and adding among-migrant connections. In turn, the changing social network structure updates migratory propensities of those well-connected nonmigrants who become more likely to move. These two processes iterate over time. Using a core–periphery method developed from the k-core decomposition method, we identify and quantify the network structural changes and map these changes with the migration acceleration patterns. We conclude that network structural changes are essential for explaining migration acceleration observed in China during the 1995–2000 period.
Segments, Rays, and Convex Sets

Our definition of segment and ray will be motivated by Figure 8.1. It seems reasonable to say that a segment with endpoints A and B should contain all the points between A and B. Should A and B be included? This is initially a matter of choice! The reader of a textbook is sometimes unaware that the author has made several rather arbitrary decisions about his definitions. The author can decide whether he wants the endpoints included in a segment or not; he makes the decision for himself and his reader. Once that decision is made, the defined word must be used consistently. We are stuck with the choice.
Spatial and Spectral Analysis of in-Situ Tumor-Normal Interfaces in Freshly Resected Lumpectomy Slices using Multispectral Structured Light Imaging

A cohort of N=42 breast lesions has been imaged in-situ with a structured light imaging system through an ongoing clinical study. Multispectral, high spatial frequency scatter images provide additional modes contrast across the tumor-normal boundary.
Effectiveness of Instructional Interventions for Hemorrhage Control Readiness for Laypersons in the Public Access and Tourniquet Training Study (PATTS): A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance Several national initiatives have emerged to empower laypersons to act as immediate responders to reduce preventable deaths from uncontrolled bleeding. Point-of-care instructional interventions have been developed in response to the scalability challenges associated with in-person training. However, to our knowledge, their effectiveness for hemorrhage control has not been established. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of different instructional point-of-care interventions and in-person training for hemorrhage control compared with no intervention and assess skill retention 3 to 9 months after hemorrhage control training. Design, Setting, and Participants This randomized clinical trial of 465 laypersons was conducted at a professional sports stadium in Massachusetts with capacity for 66 000 people and assessed correct tourniquet application by using different point-of-care interventions (audio kits and flashcards) and a Bleeding Control Basic (B-Con) course. Non-B-Con arms received B-Con training after initial testing (conducted from April 2017 to August 2017). Retesting for 303 participants (65%) was performed 3 to 9 months after training (October 2017 to January 2018) to evaluate B-Con retention. A logistic regression for demographic associations was performed for retention testing. Interventions Participants were randomized into 4 arms: instructional flashcards, audio kits with embedded flashcards, B-Con, and control. All participants received B-Con training to later assess retention. Main Outcomes and Measures Correct tourniquet application in a simulated scenario. Results Of the 465 participants, 189 (40.7%) were women and the mean (SD) age was 46.3 (16.1) years. For correct tourniquet application, B-Con (88% correct application [n = 122]; P Conclusions and Relevance In-person hemorrhage control training for laypersons is currently the most efficacious means of enabling bystanders to act to control hemorrhage. Laypersons can successfully perform tourniquet application after undergoing a 1-hour course. However, only 54.5% retain this skill after 3 to 9 months, suggesting that investigating refresher training or improved point-of-care instructions is critical. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT03479112
The role of antibiotics in preventing totally implantable venous access device (TIVAD) infections; is there a population that would benefit?

Abstract Purpose To assess the role for prophylactic antibiotics in preventing totally implantable venous access device (TIVAD) infections and identify populations that may benefit from antibiotics. Methods 1284 patients undergoing TIVAD placement were retrospectively reviewed to determine association between infection rate, prophylactic antibiotics, and clinical data including white blood cell (WBC) count, platelets, and coagulation profile. Patients were further sub-categorized based on hospital admission status and leukopenia. Patients who received antibiotics were compared to those who did not using chi-square test or Fisher's exact tests and Student's t-tests. Additionally, multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with infections. Results A total of 7 infections were identified with an infection rate of 0.5%. 1010 patients received antibiotics (78.7%), and infection rate in these patients was 0.7% compared to 0% in patients who did not receive antibiotics. 21 patients were under the age of 18, eight of which received antibiotics. No infections occurred in the pediatric group. Upon multivariate analysis, developing TIVAD infection was significantly associated with inpatient placement (p Conclusion Routine use of prophylactic antibiotics with TIVAD placement should be avoided. Antibiotics may not benefit even those with greater risk for infection.
Protecting count queries in study design.

Objective Today's clinical research institutions provide tools for researchers to query their data warehouses for counts of patients. To protect patient privacy, counts are perturbed before reporting; this compromises their utility for increased privacy. The goal of this study is to extend current query answer systems to guarantee a quantifiable level of privacy and allow users to tailor perturbations to maximize the usefulness according to their needs. Methods A perturbation mechanism was designed in which users are given options with respect to scale and direction of the perturbation. The mechanism translates the true count, user preferences, and a privacy level within administrator-specified bounds into a probability distribution from which the perturbed count is drawn. Results Users can significantly impact the scale and direction of the count perturbation and can receive more accurate final cohort estimates. Strong and semantically meaningful differential privacy is guaranteed, providing for a unified privacy accounting system that can support role-based trust levels. This study provides an open source web-enabled tool to investigate visually and numerically the interaction between system parameters, including required privacy level and user preference settings. Conclusions Quantifying privacy allows system administrators to provide users with a privacy budget and to monitor its expenditure, enabling users to control the inevitable loss of utility. While current measures of privacy are conservative, this system can take advantage of future advances in privacy measurement. The system provides new ways of trading off privacy and utility that are not provided in current study design systems.
The effects of anti-inflammatory agents on skin tumor initiation and aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase.

The effects of various clinically used anti-inflammatory agents on mouse skin tumorigenesis and aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) were investigated. Oxyphenbutazone, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agent, inhibited 3-methylcholanthrene (MC) tumor initiation but was less effective than the steroidal anti-inflammatory agent, dexamethasone. Oxyphenbutazone was not found to induce AHH activity in mouse epidermis, whereas Indomethacin and Seclazone had a slight inducing effect. When these agents were added directly to the in vitro AHH assay, they did not inhibit AHH activity. However, additional experiments have shown a decreased epidermally mediated covalent binding of MC to DNA in vitro when the epidermal homogenates were isolated from mice pretreated with either dexamethasone or oxyphenbutazone and MC at 3 or 12 hr before killing.
Mapping Ecological Uncertainty

The application of information technology to ecological analysis is growing. (1991) assert that roughly 60% of habitat management professionals report using GIS, and nearly all find it useful. In particular, GIS software provides capabilities to map data quickly. GIS software, however, does not necessarily produce good maps by default. This is due in part to the diversity of mapping situations that arise, and the difficulty of establishing a single set of graphical defaults to accommodate all mapping needs. Many professionals in the ecological and environmental science disciplines do not traditionally have background training in information design or in visualization. Moreover, their interest in any particular ecological application will likely center on domain issues, as opposed to focusing attention on the design of graphical displays.
EMULSION POLYMERIZATION: I. MECHANISMS OF PARTICLE FORMATION. II. CHEMISTRY AT THE INTERFACE

Two aspects of recent developments in the fields of emulsion polymerization and the derived polymer colloids are dealt with. The first involves theoretical attempts to develop a comprehensive scheme for the mechanisms of particle formation as well as experimental attempts at obtaining the necessary physical parameters. The theory starts with concepts of homogeneous nucleation, kinetics of free radical capture by particles and coagulation of polymer particles during the early stages of reaction. The last process is shown to be very important at low surfactant concentrations and with rates which are very dependent upon these concentrations. This regime is ordinarily reserved for monomers of appreciable solubility in the continuous medium. For insoluble monomers, solubilization in surfactant micelles is often employed accompanied by heterogeneous nucleation of polymer particles, although copolymerization with water-soluble monomers may also be used. Experimental methods involving the time-dependence of the intensity of scattered light are being employed to follow the kinetics of these processes and to obtain the desired parameters. The second aspect involves the synthesis of model polymer colloids bearing chemically functional groups at the particle surfaces and the study of chemical reactions occuring at the interface. New methods have been devised for the synthesis of monodisperse polystyrene colloids containing only RSO3 groups fixed on the surface of the particles, and with both RSO3 and ROH groups in controlled amounts and at various ratios over a large range of particle sizes. In the acid form these colloids have been found to behave as effective heterogeneous catalysts for the hydrolysis of various acetate esters and of sucrose. The surface strong acid concentration coupled with a hydrophobic interaction between catalyst and substrate are primarily responsible for differences in rates and for rates which are in some cases considerably greater than those of other acids, such as ion-exchange resin beads, soluble polystyrene sulfonic acid, and sulfuric acid. The autocatalyzed hydrolysis of acrylic polymer colloids by surface strong acid groups has been shown to occur according to zero-order overall kinetics, suggesting possible applications in controlled release systems.
The host ubiquitin system in innate immunity and virus replication: proviral and antiviral functions of the host E3-ubiquitin ligase TRIM family

Type-I Interferons (IFN-I), which are innate immune cytokines with broad-spectrum antiviral effects, are regulated by the host Ubiquitin (Ub) system. Evidence has shown that new forms of poly-Ub chains, which are not covalently attached to any protein (termed unanchored poly-Ub), are important activators of kinase activity in vitro . We recently reported that unanchored K48-linked poly-Ub synthesized by the E3-Ub ligase TRIM6 promote IFN-mediated antiviral innate immunity in vivo by activating the IKKɛ kinase. Intriguingly, we found that two different highly pathogenic viruses, Nipah (NiV; Paramyxoviridae family) and Ebola (EBOV; Filoviridae family), hijack TRIM6 to promote virus replication through mechanisms that involve both covalent and unanchored Ub. This indicates that host antiviral factors can have direct pro-viral functions. We also found that Zika virus (ZIKV; Flaviviridae family), which can cause congenital microcephaly in newborns, requires ubiquitination of viral proteins for efficient replication. Importantly, ZIKV ubiquitination occurs in vivo in a tissue-specific manner. Recombinant infectious ZIKV mutants that lack ubiquitination on specific sites are attenuated in mice and appear to differentially replicate in tissues. As compared to other flaviviruses, ZIKV acquired an additional ubiquitination site, which may be responsible for providing ZIKV an advantage to replicate in brain and reproductive tissue. This would be the first example of a flavivirus utilizing the Ub system for tissue tropism. Taken together, our work suggests that divergent viruses hijack similar innate immune host factors to enhance their replication. This information could help design novel broad-spectrum antiviral strategies
Tenofovir Alafenamide for the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B Monoinfection

Tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) is indicated for adult patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection with compensated liver disease at an oral dose of 25 mg/day. TAF is a more stable prodrug in the plasma than tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), leading to decreased plasma exposure of tenofovir. Decreased exposure is thought to reduce the risk of long-term TDF toxicities, such as nephrotoxicity and decreased bone mineral density (BMD). TAF, a nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor, has the same mechanism of action as TDF. The results of phase III primary trials and extensions showed that TAF is noninferior to TDF at suppressing the HBV viral load in treatment-naive and treatment-experienced HBeAg-negative and HBeAg-positive patients at 48 weeks, 96 weeks, and 144 weeks of therapy. The most commonly reported adverse events were headache, abdominal pain, fatigue, cough, nausea, and back pain. At all evaluated time points (out to 144 wks of treatment), patients who received TAF had less risk of nephrotoxicity and less of a decline in BMD than the patients who received TDF. TAF appears to be safe in patients with a creatinine clearance (Clcr ) above 15 ml/min; however, TAF is not currently recommended in patients with an estimated Clcr below this threshold. TAF is safe in patients with mild hepatic impairment but is not currently recommended in patients with moderate or severe hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh class B or C).
Signal preserving non-local noise suppression for photon-counting CT

With advancements in detector technology, photon-counting CT (PCCT) in a clinical setting is becoming a reality. Photon-counting detectors typically split an x-ray spectrum into discrete bins and then reconstruct multiple images independently. Thus, each image is reconstructed with a fraction of the number of photons of an energy-integrated scan, leading to increased noise. In order to alleviate this issue, the proposed method is designed to suppress noise by extraction of the redundant structural information allowed by multiple scans. A template image is created, which is a linear combination of CT images at each energy level, with the weights determined by the contrast-to-noise-variance ratio (CNVR). An exponential model is then used on the template image to calculate a similarity coefficient between pixels based solely on their CT values. These similarity values are stored into a similarity matrix, W. Noise is then suppressed when the image vector is multiplied by W. For evaluation of the proposed method, noise-suppressed low dose images are compared against high dose images. Results are compared for both simulation and experimental studies.
Analysis of Reactive Loading in a U-Slot Microstrip Patch Using the Theory of Characteristic Modes [Antenna Applications Corner]

In this article, the effect of reactive loading on a probe-fed, single-layer, U-slot loaded microstrip antenna is investigated using the theory of characteristic modes (TCM). A detailed analysis of reactive loading due to feed location and arm-angle variation is presented. The eigenvalue behavior of the characteristic modes can be modified by varying reactive loading on the U-slot antenna. Thus, it is possible to control certain modes such that they resonate in the desired frequency band. These modes can then be effectively excited to achieve the desired antenna performance. In addition, reactive loading helps to move the impedance loop to the center of the Smith chart. Optimized reactive loading has been shown to produce a modified U-slot structure without any increased cost or complexity. The optimized loaded antenna is wide-band, with a relatively stable radiation pattern.
The Structure of Causal Chains

Sociologists are increasingly attentive to the mechanisms responsible for cause-and-effect relationships in the social world. But an aspect of mechanistic causality has not been sufficiently consid...
The rich transcription 2006 spring meeting recognition evaluation

We present the design and results of the Spring 2006 (RT-06S) Rich Transcription Meeting Recognition Evaluation; the fourth in a series of community-wide evaluations of language technologies in the meeting domain. For 2006, we supported three evaluation tasks in two meeting sub-domains: the Speech-To-Text (STT) transcription task, and the “Who Spoke When” and “Speech Activity Detection” diarization tasks. The meetings were from the Conference Meeting, and Lecture Meeting sub-domains. The lowest STT word error rate, with up to four simultaneous speakers, in the multiple distant microphone condition was 46.3% for the conference sub-domain, and 53.4% for the lecture sub-domain. For the “Who Spoke When” task, the lowest diarization error rates for all speech were 35.8% and 24.0% for the conference and lecture sub-domains respectively. For the “Speech Activity Detection” task, the lowest diarization error rates were 4.3% and 8.0% for the conference and lecture sub-domains respectively.
Care of the Critically Ill Older Adult

As the population ages, so too does the intensive care unit (ICU) population. Already, it is estimated that greater than 50% of ICU admissions are patients aged 65 years and older, and this percentage is only expected to grow over time [1]. The growth of the ‘oldest old’, those above 80 years of age, is also expected to increase dramatically over the next three decades; in a study of European ICU admissions, some countries have seen the admission rate of patients in this demographic increase from 11% to 15% in a decade [2]. Older adults represent a unique population, with higher rates of preexisting comorbidities and vulnerabilities, and greater risk for developing ICU complications such as delirium. In this chapter, we discuss topics pertaining to care of the critically ill older patient, with a focus on new advancements in the last decade since Wunsch et al.’s excellent review published in 2009 [3], and a look to future studies that will help inform our day-to-day care of this sizeable, growing, and vulnerable population.
Swelling Gliotransmission by SWELL1 Channels.

Astrocytes release glutamate, which can modulate nearby synapses, but how this release is accomplished remains debated. In this issue of Neuron, Yang et al. (2019) show that the volume-regulated anion channel Swell1 in astrocytes mediates the release of glutamate and impacts synaptic transmission, learning and memory, and neurotoxicity.
Newborn with Bilious Emesis

A term newborn female presents with bilious vomiting 12 h after an uneventful delivery. A prenatal ultrasound showed polyhydramnios, but the mother was lost to follow up. The infant passed meconium soon after birth. All vital signs are normal, and on physical examination the infant is well appearing. Her abdomen is soft and nontender with epigastric distension. She has a single palmar crease in both hands. An abdominal radiograph showed a “double-bubble.”
Trastuzumab-Induced Cardiomyopathy and Intermittent Left Bundle Branch Block.

Trastuzumab-induced cardiomyopathy is a known complication of its use in breast cancer treatment, but it remains mostly asymptomatic and often reversible. Non-myopathic cardiac complications have been rarely reported with trastuzumab. These include left and right bundle branch block, arrhythmias and sinus node dysfunction. We report a case of a 52-year-old female breast cancer patient with trastuzumab-induced asymptomatic intermittent left bundle branch block recurring nearly a year after the initial diagnosis and resolution of trastuzumab-related cardiomyopathy. Cardiol Res. 2019;10(4):230-235 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/cr888
High-Speed Electron Microscopy

High-speed electron microscopy has emerged as a well-established in situ transmission electron microscopy () capability that can provide observations and measurements of complex, transient materials phenomena with high spatial and temporal resolutions. The development and advancement of the two categories of high-speed electron microscopy, each optimized for specific regimes of spatial and temporal resolutions—single-shot dynamic TEM () and stroboscopic or ultrafast TEM ()—are reviewed and the technologies employed in both techniques are described. Limitations of the techniques are described and example applications are provided. Finally, an outlook for future development of time-resolved electron microscopy is provided, offering potential directions for new levels of performance and flexibility.
Suicide Case-Fatality Rates in the United States, 2007 to 2014: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Background The suicide case-fatality rate (CFR)-the proportion of suicidal acts that are fatal-depends on the distribution of methods used in suicidal acts and the probability of death given a particular method (method-specific CFR). Objective To estimate overall and method-specific suicide CFRs and the distribution of methods used in suicidal acts by demographic characteristics. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting United States, 2007 to 2014. Participants Suicide deaths (n = 309 377 records from the National Vital Statistics System) and nonfatal suicide attempts requiring treatment in an emergency department (ED) (n = 1 791 638 records from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample) or hospitalization (n = 1 556 871 records from the National [Nationwide] Inpatient Sample) among persons aged 5 years or older. Measurements Rates of suicide deaths and nonfatal suicide attempts, overall and method-specific CFRs, and distribution of methods used, by sex, age group, region, and urbanization. Results Overall, 8.5% of suicidal acts were fatal (14.7% for males vs. 3.3% for females; 3.4% for persons aged 15 to 24 years vs. 35.4% for those aged ≥65 years). Drug poisoning accounted for 59.4% of acts but only 13.5% of deaths; firearms and hanging accounted for only 8.8% of acts but 75.3% of deaths. Firearms were the most lethal method (89.6% of suicidal acts with a firearm resulted in death), followed by drowning (56.4%) and hanging (52.7%). Method-specific CFRs were higher for males and older persons. The distribution of methods varied across demographic groups. Limitations Results are based on suicidal acts resulting in an ED visit, a hospitalization, or death. Consequently, the reported CFRs are larger than they would have been had the data included nonfatal attempts that did not result in an ED visit. Conclusion Variation in overall suicide CFR between sexes and across age groups, regions, and urbanization is largely explained by the distribution of methods used in suicidal acts. Primary funding source Joyce Foundation.
Synthetic Engineering of Morphology and Electronic Band Gap in Lateral Heterostructures of Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides.

Heterostructures of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) can offer a plethora of opportunities in condensed matter physics, materials science, and device engineering. However, despite state-of-the-art demonstrations, most current methods lack enough degrees of freedom for the synthesis of heterostructures with engineerable properties. Here, we demonstrate that combining a postgrowth chalcogen-swapping procedure with the standard lithography enables the realization of lateral TMD heterostructures with controllable dimensions and spatial profiles in predefined locations on a substrate. Indeed, our protocol receives a monolithic TMD monolayer (e.g., MoSe2) as the input and delivers lateral heterostructures (e.g., MoSe2-MoS2) with fully engineerable morphologies. In addition, through establishing MoS2xSe2(1-x)-MoS2ySe2(1-y) lateral junctions, our synthesis protocol offers an extra degree of freedom for engineering the band gap energies up to ∼320 meV on each side of the heterostructure junction via changing x and y independently. Our electron microscopy analysis reveals that such continuous tuning stems from the random intermixing of sulfur and selenium atoms following the chalcogen swapping. We believe that, by adding an engineering flavor to the synthesis of TMD heterostructures, our study lowers the barrier for the integration of two-dimensional materials into practical optoelectronic platforms.
Chronic Stress Exposure Suppresses Mammary Tumor Growth and Reduces Circulating Exosome TGF-β Content via β-Adrenergic Receptor Signaling in MMTV-PyMT Mice

Preclinical models of breast cancer have established mechanistic links between psychological stress and cancer progression. However, epidemiological evidence linking stress and cancer is equivocal....
Development of a new radioactive iodine exposure model

2070 Objectives: The use of radioactive Iodine-131 (RAI) for the treatment of hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer has been a common practice in Nuclear Medicine for many years. Since I-131 has a long half-life and high energy photons, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has very strict limits on the release of Iodine-131 patients into the general public. Patients that receive over 30 mCi must have a verified model that calculates the exposure that they will give off to the general public, which must be under 500 mrem. Due to these limits, a verified model has been in place at Northshore University HealthSystem that calculates the exposure to the public by using different criteria that the patient might exhibit. Examples of these criteria include type of dwelling, gender, age, pregnancy in household, number of household members, patient’s capability of self-care, and the amount of RAI given. At NorthShore University HealthSystem the same model has been used for many years, and after an incident at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago involving I-131, the Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) determined that the RAI model needed to be reviewed and updated. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative research project is to review the current radioactive iodine program and develop a new Iodine-131 exposure model for patient release. Methods: Using the NRC Regulatory Guide 8.39: “Release of Patients Administered Radioactive Materials” as a guideline, the current model was reviewed to see how different criterion could be added. The NRC Regulatory Guide 8.39 also stated the equations necessary to build upon the previous patient release model to create a new model that is more conservative and accurate. Results: The new Iodine-131 exposure model for patient release was made into a Microsoft Excel file to maximize efficiency. This new I-131 exposure model has more “if/then “scenarios and factors that can better quantify exposure rates to the public population. Major additions include surgical history, the I-131 excretion pathways, biological & physical half-life, and lifestyle choices including patient employment and daily transportation. This mode l also ensures and documents that the public exposure rate is kept under 500 mrem. As a result, the new I-131 model has the same basic premise as the old exposure model, but it has added factors that give more conservative and accurate public exposure rates based on the patient’s history and daily living. Conclusion: This new I-131 exposure model gives the RSO and nuclear medicine department at NorthShore University HealthSystem a new model that quantifies exposure rates more accurately and conservatively. With this model, medical professionals can be more confident that when an I-131 patient leaves the hospital the exposure rate will never be above 500 mrem. Although this new exposure model still needs to be tested alongside the old model to make sure that it is viable for patient use; this new I-131 patient release model is a policy upgrade for NorthShore University HealthSystem to benefit from.
Overlapping Agencies: The Collision of Cancer, Consumers, and Corporations in Richard Powers’s Gain

Richard Powers’s 1998 novel Gain establishes a complicated relationship between its two main characters, a corporation called Clare International and a suburban mom named Laura Bodey. Readers, assuming the malignity of such corporations, mistake the hints Laura encounters that Clare is responsible for her ovarian cancer for facts. Such readings overlook the science of ovarian cancer as well as how Powers depicts Laura’s relation to her disease. I analyze Laura’s understudied half of the novel, framing it as a cancer narrative that reworks conventions of that genre. In placing her cancer in broad social and environmental contexts, Powers eschews the individualist strain that characterizes many illness narratives. In so doing, the novel demands engagement with consumer agency and bodily frailty in the face of corporate dominance.
LiveDroid: identifying and preserving mobile app state in volatile runtime environments

Mobile operating systems, especially Android, expose apps to a volatile runtime environment. The app state that reflects past user interaction and system environment updates (e.g., battery status changes) can be destroyed implicitly, in response to runtime configuration changes (e.g., screen rotations) or memory pressure. Developers are therefore responsible for identifying app state affected by volatility and preserving it across app lifecycles. When handled inappropriately, the app may lose state or end up in an inconsistent state after a runtime configuration change or when users return to the app. To free developers from this tedious and error-prone task, we propose a systematic solution, LiveDroid, which precisely identifies the necessary part of the app state that needs to be preserved across app lifecycles, and automatically saves and restores it. LiveDroid consists of: (i) a static analyzer that reasons about app source code and resource files to pinpoint the program variables and GUI properties that represent the necessary app state, and (ii) a runtime system that manages the state saving and recovering. We implemented LiveDroid as a plugin in Android Studio and a patching tool for APKs. Our evaluation shows that LiveDroid can be successfully applied to 966 Android apps. A focused study with 36 Android apps shows that LiveDroid identifies app state much more precisely than an existing solution that includes all mutable program variables but ignores GUI properties. As a result, on average, LiveDroid is able to reduce the costs of state saving and restoring by 16.6X (1.7X - 141.1X) and 9.5X (1.1X - 43.8X), respectively. Furthermore, compared with the manual state handling performed by developers, our analysis reveals a set of 46 issues due to incomplete state saving/restoring, all of which can be successfully eliminated by LiveDroid.
Smartphone-Based Neuropsychological Assessment in Parkinson's Disease: Feasibility, Validity, and Contextually Driven Variability in Cognition.

Objectives The prevalence of neurodegenerative disorders demands methods of accessible assessment that reliably captures cognition in daily life contexts. We investigated the feasibility of smartphone cognitive assessment in people with Parkinson's disease (PD), who may have cognitive impairment in addition to motor-related problems that limit attending in-person clinics. We examined how daily-life factors predicted smartphone cognitive performance and examined the convergent validity of smartphone assessment with traditional neuropsychological tests. Methods Twenty-seven nondemented individuals with mild-moderate PD attended one in-lab session and responded to smartphone notifications over 10 days. The smartphone app queried participants 5x/day about their location, mood, alertness, exercise, and medication state and administered mobile games of working memory and executive function. Results Response rate to prompts was high, demonstrating feasibility of the approach. Between-subject reliability was high on both cognitive games. Within-subject variability was higher for working memory than executive function. Strong convergent validity was seen between traditional tests and smartphone working memory but not executive function, reflecting the latter's ceiling effects. Participants performed better on mobile working memory tasks when at home and after recent exercise. Less self-reported daytime sleepiness and lower PD symptom burden predicted a stronger association between later time of day and higher smartphone test performance. Conclusions These findings support feasibility and validity of repeat smartphone assessments of cognition and provide preliminary evidence of the effects of context on cognitive variability in PD. Further development of this accessible assessment method could increase sensitivity and specificity regarding daily cognitive dysfunction for PD and other clinical populations.