cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
To concentrate on nursing consciousness during the experimental teaching of physiology

To explore the experimental teaching of physiology of nursing major. In the light of the teaching features of the three-year-schooling students of nursing, we optimized the contents of experimental teaching, changed the methods of function experiments, enhanced the students' comprehensive accomplishment and developed the students' nursing consciousness.
Analysis and Control Measures of Food Poisoning in Zhongshan City

[Objective]To analyze the prevalence of food poisoning in Zhongshan City in recent 5 years,and provide evidence for prevention of food poisoning.[Methods]A retrospective method of epidemiology was adopted to analyze the prevalence of food poisoning in Zhongshan City during 2004-2008.[Results]Totally 69 incidents of food poisoning occurred,with 1532 poisoned patients.Most incidents occurred during May to October,occupied 76.8% of total incidents.41 incidents(30.5%) occurred in collective canteens;12 incidents(17.5%) caused by Proteus.[Conclusion]Food poisoning happened in Zhongshan City in recent years with obvious seasonal and industrial characteristics.The incidence occurred mostly in summer and autumn with the collective canteen as the main sites.To strengthen health surveillance efforts and public education are key measures to prevent and control the food poisoning.
Insurgent Collective Action and Civil War in El Salvador: THE REEMERGENCE OF CIVIL SOCIETY

Here in El Salvador there is a new model of agrarian reform: agrarian reform through armed struggle. The inclusion of land in the peace agreements is exactly the result of the use of arms. Insurgent campesino , Las Marias, 1992 By the end of the civil war, a vibrant rural civil society of militant campesino organizations claimed extensive areas of land in Usulutan and other contested areas. Their gradual emergence during the years of the military stalemate reflected the changing terrain of the civil war, as the two armed parties concentrated increasingly on building political loyalties among civilians rather than only on overt military competition. This development posed a profound contrast both to the historical absence of opposition organizations in rural El Salvador (until the mobilization of the 1970s) and to the decimation of overt political organizations in the extreme repression of the early 1980s. In contrast to the insurgents' success in building a dense network of political organizations, government efforts to quell insurgency through agrarian reform, ongoing repression, and the incorporation of campesinos into organizations aligned with the Christian Democratic Party failed. While activists and their organizations in some areas were demobilized by government policies, the reforms did not reach two-thirds of the landless campesinos , a subset of whom in contested areas continued to mobilize. And even some beneficiaries of the reforms continued covertly to support the insurgents. Campesinos headed most of the organizations that comprised this dense network of associations, an unprecedented representation of the interests of the rural poor.
Statistical Evidence for the Level of Measurement in the Undermeasurement Controversy

This paper re-examines the controversy on whether fundamental measurement theory has any relevance to practical measurement procedures, statistical theory and procedures or research results in marketing and the related social or behavioral sciences. There is considerable confusion in this area. Part of the controversy has arisen because (a) construct theory is usually ignored in discussions of scale development, and (b) after data have been collected, there is no comprehensive statistical method for verifying the level of measurement represented by the data.
First demonstration of strained AlN/GaN/AlN quantum well FETs on SiC

Ultra-thin body pseudomorphic GaN-on-Insulator Quantum Well FETs with MBE-regrown contacts have recently been realized as a fundamentally new strategy to create GaN CMOS-like technology that can support scaling down to ∼10 nm, similar to UTBSOI [1]. The demonstration vehicle [2] used AlN-on-Sapphire templates, which have a large lattice mismatch with thick AlN layers, and very poor thermal conductivity. SiC has become the substrate of choice for GaN HEMT technology because of the availability of large size wafers and high thermal conductivity. The small lattice mismatch with AlN (∼1%) makes SiC an exciting choice as a natural substrate [3] for AlN/GaN/AlN quantum well FETs. Most high-performance GaN electronics is built on SiC substrates. In this work, we demonstrate GaN quantum well FETs SiC substrates for the first time.
Sodium: Basic Nutritional Aspects

Sodium is a micronutrient required to maintain the most basic aspects of cellular and organismal functions. Thus systemic sodium homeostasis is tightly regulated by a complex system of membrane transporters and neurohormonal factors. Insufficient or excessive sodium intake (predominantly in the form of sodium chloride) have been associated with numerous pathologies, including hypertension, stroke, cardiovascular disease, gastric cancers, and metabolic syndrome. It is well recognized that the current intake of sodium for most individuals in the United States and other countries greatly exceeds the adequate intake and the tolerable upper intake level. Significant efforts are made to reduce sodium intake, which require changes in individual behavior toward salt consumption, increased consumption of low-salt foods, and increased collaboration of clinicians and scientists with the food industry and with public health officials. However, the preponderance of evidence does not support the current recommendations of a generalized and indiscriminate reduction of salt intake in the general population, although the blood-pressure–lowering effect of dietary sodium restriction might be of value in hypertensive patients and other at risk populations. The current state of knowledge strongly indicates further need for additional well-controlled population-based studies to understand and resolve the existing controversies. In this chapter we briefly review physiological roles of sodium, mechanisms of intestinal and renal (re)absorption, dietary intake recommendations, and health outcomes associated with inappropriate sodium intake.
Investigating Maternal Self-Efficacy and Home Learning Environment of Families Enrolled in Head Start

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between mothers’ self-efficacy beliefs, their preschool children’s home learning environments, and literacy skills. A sample of 112 mother–child dyads was recruited from Head Start centers in rural and urban communities. The measures included maternal self-efficacy and maternal perceptions of child’s readiness to read as well as the Stipek Home Learning Activities (SHLA) scale, Home-Learning Environment Profile (HLEP), and the Stony Brook Family Reading Survey (SBFRS). Modeling path analysis was performed. Model fit indices indicated that the resulting model was a good fit for the data. Concerning the direct effects of maternal self-efficacy on home learning environment, positive significant effects for the SHLA measure as well as the HLEP were found. However, no direct effect was found with regard to maternal self-efficacy on SBFRS indicating evidence for the domain specificity of efficacy beliefs. Implications of the study include findings that higher maternal self-efficacy is related to creating a more positive home learning environment. Additionally, higher maternal perceptions of child readiness to read mediates the relationships between higher maternal self-efficacy and a more positive home literacy environment. Moreover, these findings highlight the link between home learning environment and children’s receptive vocabulary skills.
Asymptotic Properties of Nonlinear Mixed-Effects Models

The asymptotic properties of four estimators for nonlinear mixed-effects models are investigated: maximum likelihood estimator (MLE), an estimator based on the first-order approximation to the expectation function (Vonesh and Carter (1992)),the two-stage, and the Lindstrom-Bates (1990) estimators. Two asymptotic situations are considered: (i) when N → ∞ and ni is finite and (ii) N → ∞ and min ni → ∞, where N is the number of individuals and ni is the number of observations on the ith individual. For a simple one-parameter balanced exponential model only the MLE is consistent when the numbers of observations per individual,{ni} are finite. The estimator based on the first-order approximation is always inconsistent, i.e., has a systematic bias. The asymptotic bias for the other three estimators is evaluated when N → ∞ and ni = const. When N → ∞ and min ni → ∞, the MLE, Lindstrom-Bates and two-stage estimators are equivalent. The bias for the two-stage estimator based on a second order approximation is evaluated for the general nonlinear mixed-effects model, and a bias-corrected version of this estimator is proposed.
Memory for retinotopic locations is more accurate than memory for spatiotopic locations, even for visually guided reaching.

To interact successfully with objects, we must maintain stable representations of their locations in the world. However, their images on the retina may be displaced several times per second by large, rapid eye movements. A number of studies have demonstrated that visual processing is heavily influenced by gaze-centered (retinotopic) information, including a recent finding that memory for an object’s location is more accurate and precise in gaze-centered (retinotopic) than world-centered (spatiotopic) coordinates (Golomb & Kanwisher, 2012b). This effect is somewhat surprising, given our intuition that behavior is successfully guided by spatiotopic representations. In the present experiment, we asked whether the visual system may rely on a more spatiotopic memory store depending on the mode of responding. Specifically, we tested whether reaching toward and tapping directly on an object’s location could improve memory for its spatiotopic location. Participants performed a spatial working memory task under four conditions: retinotopic vs. spatiotopic task, and computer mouse click vs. touchscreen reaching response. When participants responded by clicking with a mouse on the screen, we replicated Golomb & Kanwisher’s original results, finding that memory was more accurate in retinotopic than spatiotopic coordinates and that the accuracy of spatiotopic memory deteriorated substantially more than retinotopic memory with additional eye movements during the memory delay. Critically, we found the same pattern of results when participants responded by using their finger to reach and tap the remembered location on the monitor. These results further support the hypothesis that spatial memory is natively retinotopic; we found no evidence that engaging the motor system improves spatiotopic memory across saccades.
Linking Patterns of Substance Use With Sexual Risk-Taking Among Female Adolescents With and Without Histories of Maltreatment

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to determine the associations between patterns of substance use and sexual risk-taking among female adolescents with and without histories of maltreatment. Methods Data are from a prospective cohort study examining the impact of maltreatment on subsequent female adolescent sexual health (N = 504). Participants averaged 18.24 years in age (SD = 1.12), and approximately 63% had substantiated incidences of maltreatment filed with Child Protective Services prior to age 18. The present study used latent class analysis to examine patterns in adolescent substance use, and negative binomial regression models to examine the links between patterns of substance use and sexual risk-taking and to determine whether these associations were moderated by adolescents' maltreatment status. Results Six classes emerged from latent class analysis labeled as follows: abstainers (25% of sample); polysubstance users—early initiators (13%); polysubstance users—late initiators (23%); alcohol and cannabis users—late initiators (9%); alcohol users—late initiators (18%); and tobacco users (12%). Patterns of adolescent polysubstance use were associated with the highest levels of sexual risk-taking, and patterns of late-initiated polysubstance use, late-initiated alcohol use, and tobacco use were more strongly related to sexual risk-taking for female adolescents with histories of maltreatment. Conclusions This study is the first to determine the specific patterns of substance use that are more strongly related to sexual risk-taking for maltreated female adolescents. By doing so, this study demonstrates how a person-centered approach can facilitate our understanding of how to best leverage sexual risk-taking prevention efforts.
Arthroscopic Management of SLAP Lesions With Concomitant Spinoglenoid Notch Ganglion Cysts: A Systematic Review Comparing Repair Alone to Repair With Decompression

Purpose To determine if cyst management is necessary in the setting of SLAP lesions with concomitant paralabral ganglion cysts. Methods We performed a systematic review according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, including all studies that met inclusion criteria from January 1975 to July 2015. We included patients with a SLAP II-VII lesion and a concomitant paralabral ganglion cyst who underwent arthroscopic labral repair with or without cyst decompression. Patients with follow-up of less than 3 months, a SLAP I lesion, or who underwent concomitant cuff repair were excluded. The Methodological Index for Non-randomized Studies (MINORS) scoring system was used to quantify the potential bias in each study. Outcome measures reported were provided in a table format and a subjective analysis was performed. Results Nineteen studies were included yielding a total of 160 patients: 66 patients treated with repair alone [R] and 94 patients with additional cyst decompression or excision [R+D]. The VAS, Rowe, and Constant scores were excellent and similar in both groups. The mean VAS was 0.6 in [R] and ranged between 0 and 2 in [R+D] (0.5, 0, 2, 0.2). The mean Rowe scores were 94 and 98 in [R] and 95 in [R+D]. The mean Constant scores were 97 in [R] and ranged between 87 and 98 in [R+D] (98, 87, 92, 94). In total, 5 of 90 patients were unable to return to work and 2 of 45 were unable to return to sport. All 15 patients who had follow-up electromyographies displayed resolution, and in the 115 patients with follow-up MRIs, 12 did not have complete resolution of the cyst. Conclusions Despite the lack of high-quality evidence, the studies subjectively analyzed in this review suggest that both groups have excellent results. The results do not show any advantages from performing decompression. Level of Evidence Level IV, systematic review of Level II and Level IV studies.
Attentional bias toward school-related academic and social threat among test-anxious undergraduate students

Abstract Anxiety in the context of school is a complex and prevalent problem, often characterized by fear of negative academic (i.e., test anxiety) and social evaluation. Despite evidence that attentional biases contribute to the etiology and maintenance of anxiety, biased attention toward school-related threat remains understudied. Undergraduate participants (N = 211) completed a dot-probe paradigm assessing attentional bias toward two types of school threat stimuli: academic (e.g., failed test) and social (e.g., social exclusion) threat images. High test-anxious participants displayed an attentional bias toward academic threat, though this pattern was more pronounced among test-anxious females compared to test-anxious males. Low test-anxious participants, regardless of gender, directed attention away from threat stimuli. Attentional biases toward school threat were uniquely linked to test anxiety, and not a function of elevated general anxiety or depression symptoms. Findings provide a vital step in research efforts considering attentional biases as maladaptive cognitive processes in test anxiety.
Methods for Rhizoremediation Research: Approaches to Experimental Design and Microbial Analysis

Rhizoremediation is an elegant form of bioremediation that seeks to harness light energy via plants to biostimulate pollutant degradation by the indigenous soil microbial community. In pursuit of this goal, rhizoremediation draws upon the fields of rhizosphere ecology and microbial biodegradation, and in doing so confronts many of the same questions that have challenged these fields for decades, including: What mechanisms dictate microbial community structure and activity in the rhizosphere? Which microorganisms and degradative genes are actively involved in biodegradation, and how does their activity respond to different treatments? One major obstacle to answering these fundamental mechanistic questions over the years, and subsequently developing successful rhizoremediation technology, has been our limited methodological capabilities to quantify the degradative potential of microbial communities and to demonstrate and understand their response to the unique and multi-faceted environment of the plant-soil interface. Microbiological research methods are the windows through we view the hidden world of microorganisms, with each being of different size and dimension, yet none affording a complete view of the diversity, function and abundance of microbial populations within a community. Cultivation methods are notoriously limited in their ability to detect the uncultivable majority of organisms in the environment, yet remain informative and indispensable for studying the metabolic capabilities of particular strains. Molecular biological methods like functional gene detection and stable isotope probing open much larger windows by circumventing culture bias and allowing the direct examination of microbial populations important to bioremediation, although they are limited somewhat by available sequence data. One aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of microbial methodologies, both cultivation-dependent and independent, which have already or are likely to provide new insight into the multitude of mechanistic and applied rhizoremediation questions to be answered.
Role of the Dosage Phenomenon in Allograft and Xenograft Reactions

The effect of graft size upon the host immune system was first studied by Medawar (1944) in the rabbit. Mention has already been made of the fact that in the conventional graft-host relationship a small allograft (low-dosage graft) has a longer survival time than a standard size allograft (high-dosage graft; see page xviii). Taken comprehensively, the histologic appearance showing the course of vascularization, infiltrative inflammatory reaction, and epithelial activity are quite similar in the two grafts. Because the lowdosage grafts survive longer, the evolution of such grafts extends beyond the proliferation phase and into the period of hair formation, accompanied by advanced retrograde differentiation of the blood vessels and epithelium of the graft epidermis and pilosebaceous units. Inflammatory and vascular proliferation are slower to develop and are not as obvious as in high-dosage grafts. Since the sequence of events leading to the rejection of low- and high-dosage allografts, as described in detail by Medawar (1944), is similar to that already reviewed in Chapter 2, no further comments are needed here. As stated by Medawar, the inverse relationship between the dosage of the grafted tissue and the length of its survival is not distinctly defined. In formulating his theory of acquired immunity, Medawar (1944, 1945) maintained that, due to the maximum amount of antigens released by the larger quantity of donor skin in a high-dosage graft, the immunologic mechanism attains its maximum strength and thereby reduces the period of graft survival in comparison to low-dosage grafts.
Cost-Benefit Analysis of Transitional Care in Neurosurgery.

BACKGROUND Transitional care programs (TCPs) coordinate care to improve safety and efficiency surrounding hospital discharge. While TCPs have the potential to reduce hospital length of stay and readmissions, their financial implications are less well understood. OBJECTIVE To perform a cost-benefit analysis of a previously published neurosurgical TCP implemented at an urban academic hospital from 2013 to 2015. METHODS Patients received intensive preoperative education and framing of expectations for hospitalization, in-hospital discharge planning and medication reconciliation with a nurse educator, and a follow-up phone call postdischarge. The cost-benefit analysis involved program costs (nurse educator salary) and total direct hospital costs within the 30-d perioperative window including readmission costs. RESULTS The average cost of the TCP was $435 per patient. The TCP was associated with an average total cost reduction of 17.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.3%-26.7%, P = .001). This decrease was driven by a 14.3% reduction in the average initial admission cost (95% CI: 6.2%-23.7%, P = .001), largely attributable to the 16.3% decrease in length of stay (95% CI: 9.93%-23.49%, P < .001). Thirty-day readmissions were significantly decreased in the TCP group, with a 5.5% readmission rate for controls and 2.4% for TCP enrollees (P = .04). The average cost of readmission was decreased by 71.3% (95% CI: 58.7%-74.7%, P < .01). CONCLUSION This neurosurgical TCP was associated with decreased costs of initial admissions, 30-d readmissions, and total costs of hospitalization alongside previously published decreased length of stay and reduced 30-d readmission rates. These results underscore the clinical and financial feasibility and impact of transitional care in a surgical setting.
Disseminated nocardiosis with infective endocarditis of a transplanted heart

Nocardiosis is caused by various species of Nocardia and typically occurs as an opportunistic infection. It frequently disseminates, most often involving the lungs, subcutaneous tissues and central nervous system. It has rarely been reported to affect native heart valves. We report the case of a 64-year-old man with disseminated nocardiosis involving the brain, lungs, muscle and tricuspid valve of a transplanted heart. Following antimicrobial therapy, the patient improved clinically and there was no evidence of residual infection on follow-up imaging. This case highlights the presentation of nocardiosis, current therapeutic guidelines and the question of prophylaxis against Nocardia in immunocompromised patients.
A generalizable index of soil development

Abstract The growing influence of climatic and land-use pressures on soils across broad geographic extents have revealed a need for generalizable indices of soil development applicable at continental scales. In this study, we present generalizable horizon and profile development indices (HDIs and PDIs, respectively) based primarily on relative horizon properties instead of parent material information and provide an evaluation of these indices at a continental scale. The indices developed in this work combine knowledge of pedogenic processes with selected properties from a large database of predominantly US soils to yield relevant soil morphological, physical, and chemical information on 57,171 horizons arising from 8980 pedons. We selected four properties from which the generalizable HDI and PDI calculations were based: particle size, calcium carbonate equivalent (CCE), color, and clay films. Modified z-scores were used to assess relative changes between either eluvial and illuvial horizons for particle size and CCE or surface and subsurface horizons for color. These values were then normalized using maximum and minimum values observed in the dataset. Normalized clay film scores were calculated using percent cover along with ordinal values assigned to distinctness categories described in the field. The index values from HDI compared well to both diagnostic horizon designations and chemical index of alteration and PDI values matched the sequence of taxonomic soil orders that represent a development gradient. In addition, we observed a correspondence between calculated PDIs and a clay mineralogy index representing weathering intensity. Relationships between these generalizable indices, evaluation metrics, and climate (i.e., MAP) explored in this work opens the door to numerous broad-scale applications in the future such as pedogenic modeling, identification of soil anomalies, and estimation of surface soil ages.
Paracrine Suppression of VEGF Secretion by Erythropoietin Inhibits Tumor Growth.

Several studies have reported that erythropoietin (Epo) is a pleiotropic cytokine with biological properties in addition to its primary function in regulating maturation, growth and survival along the erythroid lineage. Recently, a number of investigators have reported that various neoplastic tissues and human cancer cell lines express Epo and the Epo receptor (EpoR), raising suspicion for the presence of an autocrine-paracrine Epo-EpoR system. It has been shown that inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) results in an increase of Epo secretion and increased hematocrit in vivo. In this study, we used an in vivo Lewis lung carcinoma model to examine a converse Epo effect on VEGF production and metastasis. Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells were injected subcutaneously into C57BL mice. The plasma levels of VEGF, the tumor vessel formation, the size of the primary tumors and the extent of lung metastatic disease were determined. In addition, intravenously injected LLC cells seeded in the lungs were assessed. Tumor-bearing animals treated with Epo had 23.6% less VEGF in the plasma compared to saline treated mice (p 0.05). Using non-parametric analysis, we found that there was a statistically significant difference in tumor growth between saline-treated and Epo-treated animals (p
Quantified biomechanical properties of lower lumbar myofascia in younger adults with chronic idiopathic low back pain and matched healthy controls

Abstract Background Non-specific chronic low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent condition that is poorly understood with respect to possible altered physical properties. Five biomechanical properties of stiffness, frequency, decrement, creep, and stress relaxation time of the L3-L4 myofascial tissue were quantified using the MyotonPro® in chronic idiopathic LBP and matched normal control subjects. Methods Measurements were obtained in the resting prone position on the left and right sides (initially and after 10 min rest) in 25 chronic LBP participants (16 female, 9 male) and 25 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Surface electromyography measurements were simultaneously conducted to ensure a resting state. Findings Female LBP had significantly greater median decrement (p Interpretation This study showed that greater median decrement was found in LBP female subjects suggesting decrease in elasticity in the lumbar myofascia. Most of the biomechanical properties differed significantly by gender. This study further documented that right-handed dominance might correlate with greater right-sided lumbar myofascial stiffness.
Using Low Temperature Spectroscopy to Understand Protein Structure, Dynamics and Function

The elucidation of macromolecular structures, principally involving proteins, is one of the triumphs of late 20th century science. Protein crystallographers have provided detailed and aesthetically beautiful pictures of hundreds of proteins and protein complexes ranging in size up to 100,000s of Daltons. The next challenge is to reveal how these systems actually work. Crystallography provides essentially a static picture of macromolecules; to understand how proteins function it is necessary to combine the structural information with techniques which link structure and dynamics. The analogy with still photography and a “movie” is strong - you may have a picture of a horse resting (structure) but you would need a movie to understand how it runs (function). This is the role of spectroscopy, to build on the static picture provided by the structural biologists and to create a movie of the functioning molecule. We shall explore how optical techniques, in particular Raman spectroscopy, can do this.
Expanding Access to Administrative Data for Research in the United States

We argue that the development and expansion of direct, secure access to administrative micro-data should be a top priority for the NSF. Administrative data offer much larger sample sizes and have far fewer problems with attrition, non-response, and measurement error than traditional survey data sources. Administrative data are therefore critical for cutting-edge empirical research, and particularly for credible public policy evaluation. Although a number of agencies have successful programs to provide access to administrative data - most notably the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - the United States generally lags far behind other countries in making data available to researchers. We discuss the value of administrative data using examples from recent research in the United States and abroad. We then outline a plan to develop incentives for agencies to broaden data access for scientific research based on competition, transparency, and rewards for producing socially valuable scientific output.
Chapter 12 – Diet, Foraging Structures, and Strategies

In this chapter, diets of marine mammals are examined as are several of the more obvious structural (i.e., teeth, baleen) and behavioral specializations employed by various marine mammals to capture their prey. Also briefly examined are the foraging energetics and the anatomy and physiology of digestion. Finally, the evolution of feeding in pinnipeds, cetaceans, and sirenians is presented.
Declassifying Mobility Classification.

Abstract Introduction Tooth mobility is often discussed among dental health care providers according to a numerical scale (ie, 1, 2, or 3) without a clear understanding of the definition of each category. Thus, a comprehensive review to examine and discuss the various classifications is needed. The aim of this comprehensive review was to discuss the main clinical classifications of tooth mobility. Methods The authors conducted electronic searches in MEDLINE, Scopus, and PubMed. Additionally, the authors manually searched the textbooks, gray literature, and bibliographies of all relevant articles. Results The most commonly referenced clinical index for mobility was the Miller index; yet, many other mobility classifications exist as well as modifications of those indexes. The literature has been very inconsistent and at times inaccurate when classifying mobility; using various stages of mobility using grades, classes, and scores interchangeably and not defining the meaning of the actual numerical scores/terminologies are common problems. Conclusions In order to avoid ambiguity and provide clarity regarding the impact of degrees of mobility when used clinically, this review comprehensively discusses different classifications and definitions of tooth mobility with attention to the importance of using them consistently and accurately. There is a need to standardize 1 classification for mobility.
Point-of-care Ultrasound-guided Central Venous Catheter Confirmation in Ultrasound Nonexperts.

Objective Emerging evidence suggests that chest radiography (CXR) following central venous catheter (CVC) placement is unnecessary when point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is used to confirm catheter position and exclude pneumothorax. However, few providers have adopted this practice, and it is unknown what contributing factors may play a role in this lack of adoption, such as ultrasound experience. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of POCUS to confirm CVC position and exclude a pneumothorax after brief education and training of nonexperts. Methods We performed a prospective cohort study in a single academic medical center to determine the diagnostic characteristics of a POCUS-guided CVC confirmation protocol after brief training performed by POCUS nonexperts. POCUS nonexperts (emergency medicine senior residents and critical care fellows) independently performed a POCUS-guided CVC confirmation protocol after a 30-minute didactic training. The primary outcome was the diagnostic accuracy of the POCUS-guided CVC confirmation protocol for malposition and pneumothorax detection. Secondary outcomes were efficiency and feasibility of adequate image acquisition, adjudicated by POCUS experts. Results Twenty-six POCUS nonexperts collected data on 190 patients in the final analysis. There were five (2.5%) CVC malpositions and six (3%) pneumothoraxes on CXR. The positive likelihood ratios of POCUS for malposition detection and pneumothorax were 12.33 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.26 to 46.69) and 3.41 (95% CI = 0.51 to 22.76), respectively. The accuracy of POCUS for pneumothorax detection compared to CXR was 0.93 (95% CI = 0.88 to 0.96) and the sensitivity was 0.17 (95% CI = 0.00 to 0.64). The median (interquartile range) time for CVC confirmation was lower for POCUS (9 minutes [8.5-9.5 minutes]) compared to CXR (29 minutes [1-269 minutes]; Mann-Whitney U, p < 0.01). Adequate protocol image acquisition was achieved in 76% of the patients. Conclusion Thirty-minute training of POCUS in nonexperts demonstrates adequate diagnostic accuracy, efficiency, and feasibility of POCUS-guided CVC position confirmation, but not exclusion of pneumothorax.
Factors Associated with Lymph Node Count in Mucosal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Neck Dissection

OBJECTIVE/HYPOTHESIS Decreased lymph node count (LNC) from neck dissection (ND) for mucosal head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients is correlated with decreased survival. Advanced age and low BMI due to undernutrition from dysphagia from advanced T-stage tumors are common in patients with HNSCC. We studied the relationship between these two well-described causes for immune dysfunction and LNC in patients undergoing neck dissection. STUDY DESIGN We conducted a retrospective review at a single tertiary care institution of patients with HNSCC that underwent neck dissection from 2006 to 2017. METHODS Stepwise linear and logistic regression analyses were performed on 247 subjects to identify independent significant factors associated with 1) the LNC per neck level dissected; 2) advanced T-stage. One-way ANOVA was utilized to demonstrate differences between the p16 positive and negative subgroups. RESULTS Low BMI (<23 vs. ≥23) (P = .03), extra nodal extension (ENE) (P = .0178), and advanced age (P = .005) were associated with decreased LNC per neck level dissected on multivariable analysis. Higher T-stage (P = .0005) was correlated with low BMI (<23) after controlling for the effects of tobacco, smoking, sex, ECE, and p16 status. p16+ patients, on average had higher BMI, were younger and produced a higher nodal yield (P < .0001, .007, and .035). CONCLUSIONS Patient intrinsic factors known to correlate with decreased immune function and worse outcomes, including p16 negative status, advanced age, and low BMI from undernutrition and ENE are associated with low nodal yield in neck dissections. LNC may be a metric for anti-tumor immune function that correlates with prognosis and T-stage. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 3 Laryngoscope, 131:1516-1521, 2021.
HFES Student Chapters: A Discussion of Best Practices:

The objective of this panel is to open a dialog about how to effectively run student chapters of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. The panel will start by Grace Waldfogle briefly giving an ...
Publicly Accessible Wearable Motion Databases for Human Gait Studies

As emerging areas of interest in gait analysis research, gait authentication and activity recognition have drawn significant attention recently, facilitated by microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)...
INTRA-ARTICULAR MORPHINE AND ROPIVACAINE INJECTION PROVIDES EFFICACIOUS ANALGESIA COMPARED TO FEMORAL NERVE BLOCK IN THE FIRST 24 HOURS POST-OPERATIVELY AFTER ACL RECONSTRUCTION WITH BTB IN AN ADOLESCENT COHORT:

Background:Opioid consumption and patient satisfaction are influenced by a surgeon’s pain management protocol and the use of adjunctive pain mediators. Two commonly utilized adjunctive pain modifie...
Detection of PKD1 and PKD2 Somatic Variants in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Cyst Epithelial Cells by Whole-Genome Sequencing.

Background: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a genetic disorder characterized by the development of multiple cysts in the kidneys. It is often caused by pathogenic mutations in PKD1 and PKD2 genes that encode polycystin proteins. Although the molecular mechanisms for cystogenesis are not established, concurrent inactivating germline and somatic mutations in PKD1 and PKD2 have been previously observed in renal tubular epithelium (RTE). Methods: To further investigate the cellular recessive mechanism of cystogenesis in RTE, we conducted whole-genome DNA sequencing analysis to identify germline variants and somatic alterations in RTE of 90 unique kidney cysts obtained during nephrectomy from 24 unrelated participants. Results: Kidney cysts were overall genomically stable, with low burdens of somatic short mutations or large-scale structural alterations. Pathogenic somatic "second hit" alterations disrupting PKD1 or PKD2 were identified in 93% of the cysts. Of these, 77% of cysts acquired short mutations in PKD1 or PKD2; specifically, 60% resulted in protein truncations (nonsense, frameshift, or splice site) and 16.7% caused non-truncating mutations (missense, in-frame insertions, or deletions). Another ~18% of cysts acquired somatic chromosomal loss of heterozygosity (LOH) events encompassing PKD1 or PKD2 ranging from 2.6 to 81.3 Mb. 14.4% of these cysts harbored copy number neutral LOH events, while the other 3.3% had hemizygous chromosomal deletions. LOH events frequently occurred at chromosomal fragile sites, or in regions comprising chromosome microdeletion diseases/syndromes. Almost all somatic "second hit" alterations occurred at the same germline mutated PKD1/2 gene. Conclusions: These findings further support a cellular recessive mechanism for cystogenesis in ADPKD primarily caused by inactivating germline and somatic variants of PKD1 or PKD2 genes in kidney cyst epithelium.
Profit Maximization in a Federated Cloud by Optimal Workload Management and Server Speed Setting

In an environment with multiple heterogeneous multiservers across multiple clouds and data centers, optimal workload management and server speed setting makes strong impact on the aggregated performance, cost, and profit of a cloud service provider. Such a situation provides us a more challenging opportunity to address and discuss profit maximization of a service provider in a wider scale and to generate more significant influence. In this paper, we investigate profit maximization by optimal workload management and server speed setting for multiple heterogeneous multiservers in a federated cloud or a geo-distributed data center. The heterogeneous multiservers have different sizes, speeds, power consumption models, workload, performance, costs, and profit. To conduct rigorous study, each multiserver system is modeled by an M/M/m queueing system, such that the profit of a multiserver system can be characterized analytically. We address two problems, i.e., workload management without server speed setting and workload management with server speed setting. Both problems are formulated as multi-variable optimization problems. We develop numerical algorithms to solve these problems. We also provide numerical data for the purpose of illustration. This is the first paper which analytically discusses profit maximization for multiple heterogeneous multiservers in a federated cloud or a geo-distributed data center.
A Risk-Averse Differential Game Approach to Multi-agent Tracking and Synchronization with Stochastic Objects and Command Generators

This chapter presents the formulation of a class of distributed stochastic multi-agent systems where local interconnections among cautious and defensive decision makers and/or trackers are supported by connectivity graphs. Associated with autonomous decision makers and/or trackers are finite-horizon performance measures for conflict-free coordination and cohesive object and/or command tracking. The current analysis is limited to the class of distributed linear stochastic systems and measurement subsystems. It is shown that optimal rules for ordering uncertain prospects are feasible for all self-directed decision makers and/or trackers with output-feedback Nash decision making and risk-averse utility functions.
Chapter 8 - Receptor Modeling in the Context of Ambient Air Quality Standard for Particulate Matter

This chapter discusses the source attribution process and the model reconciliation process, including a detailed example of model reconciliation. The chapter provides a brief discussion of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) that are established in the United States under the Clean Air Act. The chapter compares the air quality management and emission limitation approaches of source control and briefly overviews the control strategy development process. Receptor methods, briefly stated, are a family of techniques that examine the ambient sample and the conditions of its collection to infer the types and relative mix of sources of pollution impacting the sample. Dispersion models, in contrast, use information on source emission rates and meteorology to estimate the contribution of these sources to daily or annual average conditions. The terms “model” and “method” are used interchangeably, even though techniques such as scanning electron or optical microscopy are methods, not models. The chapter discusses the selection of appropriate receptor or dispersion models that depends on several considerations.
Production of volatile materials in milk by some species of bacteria.

Abstract Volatile materials produced at different periods of growth in milk were measured, in attempts to characterize various organisms. Comparisons were made of three different strains of Aerobacter aerogenes , two strains of Escherichia coli , and two strains of Streptococcus faecalis var. liquefaciens . One strain each of Achromobacter lipolyticum and Streptococcus diacetilactis were compared in two trials. In addition, one strain each of Escherichia freundii, Streptococcus lactis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei , and Pseudomonas fragi were tested in single trials. Patterns of volatile materials obtained by gas-liquid chromatographic (GLC) analyses were plotted for each organism strain. Duplicate trials were made by culturing each strain in two separate flasks. All cultures were grown in milk, first autoclaved then subsequently distilled aseptically at 60–65C under 20–25cm Hg (to remove indigenous volatile materials). Cultures were incubated at 25C and GLC analyses made by head-space gas sampling. Bacterial counts were recorded at the beginning and end of each test period. Except for A. aerogenes , which could not be distinguished from E. coli or E. freundii , and S. diacetilactis which produced volatiles very similar to A. lipolyticum , other organisms could be differentiated by their patterns. In some cases the time for appearance or rate of development of a certain volatile was unique. Initial and final bacterial counts gave an indication of the numbers of organisms involved.
A Comparative Evaluation of Curriculum Learning with Filtering and Boosting in Supervised Classification Problems

Not all instances in a data set are equally beneficial for inferring a model of the data, and some instances such as outliers can be detrimental. Several machine learning techniques treat the instances in a data set differently during training such as curriculum learning, filtering, and boosting. However, it is difficult to determine how beneficial an instance is for inferring a model of the data. In this article, we present an automated method that orders the instances in a data set by complexity based on their likelihood of being misclassified instance hardness for supervised classification problems that generates a hardness ordering. The underlying assumption of this method is that instances with a high likelihood of being misclassified represent more complex concepts in a data set. Using a hardness ordering allows a learning algorithm to focus on the most beneficial instances. We integrate a hardness ordering into the learning process using curriculum learning, filtering, and boosting. We find that focusing on the simpler instances during training significantly increases generalization accuracy. Also, the effects of curriculum learning depend on the learning algorithm that is used. In general, filtering and boosting outperform curriculum learning, and filtering has the most significant effect on accuracy. © 2014Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Carcass and Liver Composition Following Acute Oxytetracycline Treatment of ob/ob Mice

Fully mature (24-week old) C57BL/6J ob/ob mice and their lean littermates received daily oxytetracycline injections (50 or 100 mg/kg) during a 10 day period. The effects of the drug on the glucose, IRI, corticosterone levels, and on hepatic and body composition of ad libitum fed obese mice were compared with those of food-restricted and ad libitum fed lean and obese control animals. When compared with food-restricted obese mice, drug treatment led to substantial reductions of serum glucose, serum IRI, carcass fat, and hepatic lipid content, while it increased lean body mass and liver glycogen concentration. Similarly, oxytetracycline decreased body weight, and serum glucose in lean mice, but the drug had no substantial effect on circulating IRI levels or on the lipid content of carcass. A significant increase in hepatic lipid was observed in drug-treated lean mice. No effects of the drug on basal corticosterone levels were noted in either phenotype. These data support previous findings showing the effectiveness of oxytetracycline to reverse many of the metabolic abnormalities of ob/ob mice. In addition, the present results suggest that the drug acts by independently altering abnormal metabolism in many target organs, including pancreas, adipose tissue, liver, and muscle, rather than by merely reducing circulating insulin levels or by generally increasing insulin sensitivity.
The Analytic Versus Representational Theory of Measurement: A Philosophy of Science Perspective

In this paper we motivate and develop the analytic theory of measurement, in which autonomously specified algebras of quantities (together with the resources of mathematical analysis) are used as a unified mathematical framework for modeling (a) the time-dependent behavior of natural systems, (b) interactions between natural systems and measuring instruments, (c) error and uncertaintyinmeasurement, and(d)theformalpropositionallanguagefordescribingandreasoningaboutmeasurementresults. We also discuss how a celebrated theorem in analysis, known as Gelfand representation, guarantees that autonomously specified algebras of quantities can be interpreted as algebras of observables on a suitable state space. Such an interpretation is then used to support (i) a realist conception of quantities as objective characteristics of natural systems, and (ii) a realist conception of measurement results (evaluations of quantities) as determined by and descriptive of the states of a target natural system. As a way of motivating the analytic approach to measurement, we begin with a discussion of some serious philosophical and theoretical problems facing the well-known representational theory of measurement. We then explain why we consider the analytic approach, which avoids all these problems, to be far more attractive on both philosophical and theoretical grounds.