cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Data and Orbit Analysis in Support of the U.S. Navy Satellite Doppler System

This paper briefly describes the data and orbit analysis activities at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory which support the U.S. Navy satellite Doppler system Tranet. Two topics are discussed in detail which are directly related to geodetic research, the major application of this system. These topics are the editing and archiving of the Doppler data and the generating of orbital ephemerides to an accuracy compatible with the 10 m accuracy of the experimental Doppler data.
Blood Transfusions, Thrombosis, and Mortality in Hospitalized Patients With Cancer

Background Anemia is frequent in patients with cancer, but there are concerns regarding treatment with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. Blood transfusions are commonly used as an alternative, but with little data regarding outcomes. Methods In a retrospective cohort study, we investigated the associations between transfusions and venous thromboembolism, arterial thromboembolism, and mortality in hospitalized patients with cancer using the discharge database of the University HealthSystem Consortium, which included 504 208 hospitalizations of patients with cancer between 1995 and 2003 at 60 US medical centers. Results Of the patients included, 70 542 (14.0%) received at least 1 red blood cell (RBC) transfusion and 15 237 (3.0%) received at least 1 platelet transfusion. Of patients receiving RBC transfusions, 7.2% developed venous thromboembolism and 5.2% developed arterial thromboembolism, and this was significantly greater than the rates of 3.8% and 3.1%, respectively, for the remaining study population ( P P P Conclusions Both RBC and platelet transfusions are associated with increased risks of venous and arterial thrombotic events and mortality in hospitalized patients with cancer. Further investigation is necessary to determine whether this relationship is causal.
East Baltimore Revitalization Project: Opportunities and Challenges in Transforming an Urban Neighborhood

The East Baltimore Revitalization Project, a fifteen-year,$800 million redevelopment initiative, seeks to transform astruggling area of the city near Johns Hopkins Hospital. Aunique partnership of the Johns Hopkins University and JohnsHopkins Medical Institutions and the Annie E. CaseyFoundation is supporting the City of Baltimore in this effort,which will focus on improving the lives of area residents aswell as on traditional “bricks and mortar” activity. The articlediscusses both the opportunities and the challenges of the project,which is still at an early stage. The partners expect that theproject will offer important lessons for rebuilding impoverishedurban neighborhoods. It is also hoped that the projectwill provide a road map for crafting and achieving importantbenefits for neighborhood residents and the broader community,particularly in the form of jobs and workforce development.
Legislative Shirking in the Pre-Twentieth Amendment Era: Presidential Influence, Party Power, and Lame-Duck Sessions of Congress, 1877–1933

In 1933, the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution was adopted. Otherwise known as the Lame Duck Amendment, it reorganized the congressional terms of office and dates of annual convening, eliminating the short (or “lame-duck”) session that had existed up to that time. The amendment was the brainchild of Sen. George W. Norris (R-NE), who argued that lame-duck sessions posed a grave threat to democratic accountability and responsiveness, as they convened after the elections to the next Congress and thus were populated in part by members who were retiring or had lost their reelection bids. As a result, according to Norris, the potential for an agency problem in representation was great in lame-duck sessions. Using the literature on legislative shirking—especially the subliterature on last-term effects—as our theoretical backdrop, we investigate Norris's arguments in detail, examining whether his concerns regarding lame-duck sessions were justified. Using a variety of data and a number of tests, we find little systematic evidence to suggest that exiting members altered their behavior significantly (i.e., shirked) in their last terms in office. In short, the concerns that Norris expressed, such as excessive presidential influence in the legislative process and increased majority-party manipulation of the legislative agenda, were not in fact major problems in lame-duck sessions.
Relevance feedback exploiting query-specific document manifolds

We incorporate relevance feedback into a learning to rank framework by exploiting query-specific document similarities. Given a few judged feedback documents and many retrieved but unjudged documents for a query, we learn a function that adjusts the initial ranking score of each document. Scores are fit so that documents with similar term content get similar scores, and scores of judged documents are close to their labels. By such smoothing along the manifold of retrieved documents, we avoid overfitting, and can therefore learn a detailed query-specific scoring function with several dozen term weights.
Color Image Compression Using a Learned Dictionary of Pairs of Orthonormal Bases

We present efficient machine learning methods for color image compression which simultaneously learn bases for compact image representation as well as the color space. We show the benefits of representing color image patches as 2D matrices of size n × 3n rather than as 3D patches of size n × n × 3. We also present a method to leverage greater representational power from a learned dictionary without increasing its size.
Iteration and the Zeros of the Second Derivative of a Meromorphic Function

Suppose that f = (f 1 /f 2 )e p where the f i are real entire functions of order less than n with only finitely many non-real zeros and P is a real polynomial of degree n. Suppose that f 1 or f 2 is a polynomial. It is shown that f″ has at least n−2 distinct non-real zeros. The proof is based on the iteration of transcendental meromorphic functions
Some olfactory pathways in the rabbit brain

The degeneration pattern in the rabbit following transection of the olfactory bulb or peduncle at various levels was studied by the Laidlaw method of Nauta. Degenerating axons were observed in the crossing of the anterior limb of the anterior commissure and in the lateral olfactory tract following olfactory bulb lesions which did not damage the anterior olfactory nucleus. Evidence was found for termination of the olfactory tract fibers over all parts of the anterior olfactory nucleus, the rostral and lateral parts of the olfactory tubercle, the anterior continuation of the hippocampus, the nucleus of the lateral olfactory tract, and the prepyriform areas 1, 2, and 3, the periamygdaloid areas 1, 2, part of 3, and 5, and the entorhinal axeas 1, 2, and 4 of Maximillian Rose. When the anterior olfactory nucleus was damaged degeneration was found in the contralateral olfactory bulb and anterior olfactory nucleus and parts of the ipsilateral neocortex adjacent to the rhinal fissure, limbic system (medial septal nucleus and anterior continuation of the hippocampus), pyriform lobe cortex, and lateral preoptic area. The results differ in particulars from those of previous investigators.
Engineered picornavirus VPg-RNA substrates: analysis of a tyrosyl-RNA phosphodiesterase activity.

Using poliovirus, the prototypic member of Picornaviridae, we have further characterized a host cell enzymatic activity found in uninfected cells, termed “unlinkase,” that recognizes and cleaves the unique 5′ tyrosyl-RNA phosphodiester bond found at the 5′ end of picornavirus virion RNAs. This bond connects VPg, a viral-encoded protein primer essential for RNA replication, to the viral RNA; it is cleaved from virion RNA prior to its engaging in protein synthesis as mRNA. Due to VPg retention on nascent RNA strands and replication templates, but not on viral mRNA, we hypothesize that picornaviruses utilize unlinkase activity as a means of controlling the ratio of viral RNAs that are translated versus those that either serve as RNA replication templates or are encapsidated. To test our hypothesis and further characterize this enzyme, we have developed a novel assay to detect unlinkase activity. We demonstrate that unlinkase activity can be detected using this assay, that this unique activity remains unchanged over the course of a poliovirus infection in HeLa cells, and that unlinkase activity is unaffected by the presence of exogenous VPg or anti-VPg antibodies. Furthermore, we have determined that unlinkase recognizes and cleaves a human rhinovirus-poliovirus chimeric substrate with the same efficiency as the poliovirus substrate.
Approximate Moment Dynamics for Chemically Reacting Systems

In the stochastic formulation of chemical kinetics, the differential equation that describes the time evolution of the lower-order statistical moments for the number of molecules of the different species involved, is generally not closed, in the sense that the right-hand side of this equation depends on higher-order moments. Recent work has proposed a moment closure technique based on derivative-matching, which closes the moment equations by approximating higher-order moments as nonlinear functions of lower-order moments. We here provide a mathematical proof of this moment closure technique, and highlight its performance through comparisons with alternative methods. These comparisons reveal that this moment closure technique based on derivative-matching provides more accurate estimates of the moment dynamics, especially when the population size is small. Finally, we show that the accuracy of the proposed moment closure scheme can be arbitrarily increased by incurring additional computational effort.
Evolutionary Dynamics of the Insurgency in Iraq: A Mathematical Model of the Battle for Hearts and Minds

Individuals are not electrons. But in some situations, they behave very much alike. When it comes to many social and political questions, individuals’ complex attitudes and beliefs must be boiled down to a simple yea (“spin up”) or nay (“spin down”). Although human societies, like physical materials, are very complex, some of their properties can be determined by understanding the interactions that occur between individuals (“atoms”). In particular, the spread of a particular political opinion throughout a society can be modeled as the macroscopic manifestation of the myriad exchanges occurring at the local level between individuals and their neighbors. This model can be used to gain a qualitative foothold on the evolution of public opinion in Iraq for or against the U.S.-led occupation. It can also provide a mathematical instantiation of the “oil-spot” strategy proposed by Krepinevich (2005), which in turn could lead to a practical tool for commanders needing to allocate public relations resources in Iraq.
Parvalbumin immunoreactivity in the lateral geniculate nucleus of rhesus monkeys raised under monocular and binocular deprivation conditions

Newborn rhesus monkeys were raised under monocular (lid suture, aphakia, aphakia corrected optically with contact lenses, and occlusion with opaque occluder lenses) and under binocular visual deprivation conditions (aphakia combined with occlusion or optical undercorrection of the fellow eye). Routine immunohistochemical methods with an antibody to the calcium-binding protein paravalbumin (PV) were used to examine the distribution of PV+ neurons and PV+ processes in the LGN of these monkeys. Under all rearing conditions, we found no obvious difference in PV density in neurons in any lamina, although in all monocularly deprived and in two of the three binocularly deprived monkeys neurons connected to the deprived eye were of reduced size. Furthermore, PV-immunoreactive processes in the neuropil of deprived laminae were as numerous and of the same morphologies as those in nondeprived laminae or as in normal controls. Thus, in the LGN of rhesus monkeys, the calcium-binding protein paravalbumin is resistant to monocular as well as binocular visual deprivation during the postnatal maturation process of the visual system.
RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN EXPOSURE TO CRIME: THE CITY AND SUBURBS OF CLEVELAND IN 1990*

Do minorities live in higher crime neighborhoods because they lack the class resources to live in better areas, or do racial differences in exposure to crime persist even for blacks and whites of comparable backgrounds? Does living in the suburbs reduce exposure to crime equally for whites and blacks? This study analyzes the determinants of living in local areas with higher or lower crime rates in the Cleveland metropolitan region in 1990. Multivariate models are estimated for whites and blacks, with separate models for city and suburban residents and for violent crime and property crime. Within the city, exposure to both types of crime is strongly related to socioeconomic status for both races, but there are also strong independent effects of race on exposure to violent crime. In the suburbs, whites are concentrated in communities with low crime rates regardless of their social class. There are substantial class differences among suburban nonwhites, but even afluent blacks live in places with a higher violent crime rate than do poor whites.
Propranolol Inhibits Adenylate Cyclase and Secretion Stimulated by Deoxycholic Acid in the Rabbit Colon

Bile acids cause diarrhea by inducing colonic secretion, probably mediated through the cyclic AMP system. The aim was to determine the effects of an adenylate cyclase inhibitor, propranolol, on deoxycholic acid (DCA) stimulation of net secretion and the cyclic AMP system in the colon. In each of 30 New Zealand white rabbits, 0.9% NaC1 as control and 6 mM and 8 mM DCA were injected in random sequence into three colonic loops in situ. Propranolol, 4 mg per kg was administered intravenously to 12 of the 30 rabbits 1/2 hr before preparation of the loops, i.e., 5 1/2 hr before the rabbits were killed. In the 18 untreated animals, 6 and 8 mM DCA significantly stimulated colonic net secretion and mucosal adenylate cyclase activity; 6 mM DCA caused no change in mucosal phosphodiesterase activity, whereas 8 mM DCA caused a 25% decrease (P less than 0.01). In propranolol-treated animals compared to untreated animals, the volume of luminal fluid in controls was not different, with 6 mM DCA it was 88% less (P less than 0.01), and with 8 mM DCA it was 45% less (P less than 0.01); adenylate cyclase activity in controls was 43% less (P less than 0.01), with 6 mM DCA it was 67% less (P less than 0.01), and with 8 mM DCA it was 65% less (P less than 0.01); phosphodiesterase activity in controls and with 6 mM DCA was not different and with 8 mM DCA it was 38% greater (P less than 0.02). In conclusion, propranolol prevented DCA stimulation of colonic net secretion and inhibited the cyclic AMP system. Propranolol, therefore, warrants investigation as therapy for diarrhea caused by bile acids in the colon.
They Tried Reality Therapy, But He Froze in a Cave: Curriculum Deficits

Social workers increasingly are called on to work with mentally ill people, but in most cases they are not trained to do so. There is a significant lag between what researchers have found, particularly in the biological fields, and what educators teach in social work schools. This article describes curriculum deficits in teaching about mental illness and the devastating consequences of those deficits. It then outlines a suggested curriculum and appropriate teaching methods. Social workers are called to take the lead in curriculum reform; when they do, students will follow.
Service Innovations, Customer Satisfaction, and Firm Value: Asymmetries between Internet-Enabled and Non-Internet-Enabled Service Innovations

As economies in developed and developing countries are increasingly driven by services, the introduction of new services to satisfy customers and improve firm value is becoming a critical issue for managers in both services- and goods-dominant firms. However, prior research on innovation has primarily focused on goods, leaving open important research questions relating to service innovations. We empirically investigate the determinants of the number of service innovations and their interrelationship with customer satisfaction and firm value, while controlling for both firm- and market-specific factors. Furthermore, we examine how these effects differ between Internet-Enabled Service Innovations (IESIs) and Non-Internet-Enabled Service Innovations (NIESIs). We develop a conceptual model and a system of equations that link service innovations, customer satisfaction and firm value. We model the determinants of the number of service innovations, using a zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) model. We estimate our model on a unique panel data set that we assembled from multiple data sources across multiple industries, using a seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) approach and controlling for unobserved heterogeneity through fixed effects. Our results reveal important insights. IESIs are more strongly influenced by financial resources of the firm and by market growth than NIESIs are. Surprisingly, neither IESIs nor NIESIs have a significant direct effect on customer satisfaction. However, IESIs have a positive and significant effect on firm value.
Dynamics of Slender Vortices Near the Wall in a Turbulent Boundary Layer

It is now well-established that the enhanced drag and heat transfer of turbulent boundary layers are dominated by slender longitudinal vortices near the wall. Despite their immense practical significance, the geometry and dynamics of near-wall vortices are poorly understood and often controversial. To gain new insight into the near-wall dynamics, we educe coherent structures (CS) from a numerically simulated turbulent channel flow — using a conditional sampling scheme which extracts the entire extent of dominant vortical structures. Such structures are detected from the instantaneous flow field using our newly developed vortex definition — a region of negative λ2, the second largest eigenvalue of the tensor S ik S kj + ΩikΩkj — which accurately captures the structure details, unlike velocity, vorticity or pressure-based eduction. Extensive testing shows that λ2 correctly captures vortical structures, even in the presence of strong shear as occurring near the wall of a boundary layer. The CS are elongated quasi-streamwise vortices, inclined 9° in (x,y) and tilted ±4° in (x,z), with vortices of alternating sign overlapping in x as a staggered array. Notably, the often heralded hairpin vortices, not to be confused with hairpin-shaped vortex line bundles, are absent both in the instantaneous and ensemble-averaged fields. Our conceptual model of the CS array reproduces nearly all experimentally observed events reported in the literature, such as VITA/VISA, Reynolds stress distributions (Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 and their relative contributions), wall pressure variation, elongated low-speed streaks, spanwise shear, etc. We also develop a new CS regeneration mechanism, in which existing CS leave behind lifted low-speed streaks, whose instability in turn initiates the formation of new streamwise vortices.
A generalized total effective entrapment metric (gTEE) to quantify burden of homogeneous and heterogeneous tumors in PET imaging for enhanced clinical outcome prediction

Oncoloc mean-age: 58.8+/−10.3). Primary tumors were segmented from FDG PET images using three different segmentation methods. We utilized overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and event-free survival (EFS) as patient-related outcomes for imaging biomarker derivation. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed, where the subjects, given any specific parameter a, were subdivided into two groups using the median threshold, from which the hazard ratios (HR) were computed. Our results indicated enhanced patient outcome prediction for the gTEE parameter a around 1. Overall, the methodology enables placement of differing degrees of emphasis on tumor volume vs. uptake for different studies to enable enhanced clinical outcome prediction.
Effects of Barium on the in Vitro Frog Gastric Mucosa

ConclusionThe addition of Ba++ to the fluid bathing the nutrient side of the frog gastric mucosa resulted in a marked increase in resistance and relatively little change in the H+ rate and the PD. Addition of Ba++ in comparable and higher concentrations to the secretory fluid had no effect.
Efficient Closed-Loop Detection and Pose Estimation for Vision-Only Relative Localization in Space with a Cooperative Target

Copyright © 2014 by the authors, published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc.
ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF MEDICATION ADHERENCE ON LONG-TERM OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETES

FREEDOM and BARI showed that adherence to recommended therapies are low in diabetic (DM) patients. We studied the association between levels of medication adherence and long term MACE in high risk DM patients. We queried a U.S. health insurers’ claims data from 1/1/10 to 12/31/11 for DM patients
The Behavioral Effects of Prenatal and Early Postnatal Lead Exposure in the Primate Ma Ca Ca Fascicularis

Female Macaca fascicularis monkeys were given daily oral doses of 3.0 and 4.25 mg/kg lead, as lead nitrate, prior to breeding, and exposure was maintained throughout gestation and terminated at parturition. No overt signs of lead toxicity were observed in the maternal monkeys. The offspring were tested at 6 to 18 months of age on a three-choice non-spatial form discrimination paradigm, and at 19 to 26 months of age on a response inhibition task. When compared to controls, the lead-exposed infants showed a deficit in form discrimination performance which continued during the entire period of testing. A deficit in response inhibition performance was also observed in exposed infants when compared to controls. However, the deficit was temporary, as the performance of all groups was similar at the termination of testing. The observation of a persistent deficit in form discrimination up to 18 months following the termination of exposure suggests that lead-induced behavioral changes may be permanent. These findings are cause for concern since behavioral deficits in the offspring were observed at maternal gestational whole blood lead levels within a concentration range (30 to 70 micrograms/dl) associated with occupational exposure.
CHAMBER FORMATION IN ARCHAIAS ANGULATUS

A knowledge of the process of chamber formation in foraminifera is important for understanding growth and development, and provides evidence about taxonomic relationships. Significant differences in the processes of chamber formation and calcification are known between species with porcelaneous tests and those with calcareous hyaline tests. For this study, a video camera with a microscope attachment was used to record chamber formation in Archaias angulatus . Detailed study of the recording revealed previously undescribed transitional stages prior to calcification of the test wall. Chamber morphogenesis in Archaias angulatus was also compared to published descriptions of growth in other species of foraminifera. The formation of an anlage in Archaias angulatus , prior to membrane secretion and calcification of the test wall, is unlike other Milioliina that have been studied, and similar to the anlage formation in species of Rotaliina and Globorotaliina. This suggests a possible route for evolution of calcareous hyaline tests from the Milioliina.
An analysis of human papillomavirus testing and endocervical component on pap tests: A pilot study using the Roche Cobas(®) assay.

Introduction HPV is known to have a predilection for infecting the transformation zone (TZ). Endocervical cells (EC) on a Pap test (PT) indicate that the cervical TZ has been sampled. Earlier repeat testing of women lacking EC is of little value in further detecting disease, thus a sample without EC is not necessarily inadequate. Both HPV testing and PT can be performed using a single sample; however, few studies have investigated the relationship between HPV results and TZ sampling. Materials and Methods Specimens were collected following the ThinPrep® liquid-based PT protocol. The Roche Cobas® HPV test was performed on post-aliquot samples. Data was collected retrospectively on 500 patients: 250 consecutive cases of EC− and 250 of EC+ on PT. To maintain uniformity, we included only cases diagnosed as negative (NILM). We compared HPV test results within each category. As a positive control, five consecutive cases each of LSIL and HSIL were also reviewed. Results Of NILM cases, 11 of 250 EC+ cases and 14 of 250 EC− cases were positive for hrHPV. HPV 16 was present in 5 of 11 EC + cases and in 1 of 14 EC− cases. Of LSIL cases, 1 of 5 EC+ cases was positive for hrHPV, and 2 of 5 EC− cases were positive for hrHPV. Of HSIL cases, 5 of 5 EC+ cases were hrHPV+. In the time period studied, only one case of EC− HSIL was found, which was positive for hrHPV. Discussion Although our study did not prove a significant correlation between HPV testing results and EC on PT, more EC+ PTs were positive for HPV16 compared to EC− PTs. The absence of EC on PT does not appear to warrant re-testing for HPV infection, though larger studies are required to determine the significance of low HPV 16 in PT without EC. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2016;44:280–282. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Maximizing throughput in minimum rounds in an application-level relay service

Application-level network relays possess many desirable properties, including support for communication between disconnected clients, increasing bandwidth between distant clients, and enabling routing around Internet failures. One problem not considered by existing systems is how to assign client load to relay servers in order to maximize throughput of the relay-system. In this paper, we are interested in the particular case where network conditions change frequently so that the ability of clients to adapt flow is restricted and each round of activity is critical. To this end, we present an algorithm, called Aggressive Increase, AAI which improves its competitive ratio in each time round that the network conditions persists. Given a relay network where a client connects to at most N servers, if network conditions persist for log(N) rounds then the algorithm's throughput becomes constant competitive. Our results improve upon the competitive ratio of previous work (of Awerbuch, Hajiaghayi, Kleinberg, and Leighton [2]). In addition we show that the AAI algorithm performs well in simulation studies as compared with the algorithm of [2] and an adaptation of the multiplicative increase algorithm of [8]. On a variety of input graphs, we show that the AAI algorithm typically reaches close to peak bandwidth levels within only a small constant (< 10) number of rounds.
Relocating the Literary: In Networks, Knowledge Bases, Global Systems, Material, and Mental Environments

The cosmopolitan ideal of a world literature, only partially and occasionally realised in print, can give us terms with which to measure the costs and benefits of moving scholarly works, and our conversations about works, into present media. This essay takes a measuredly optimistic view of our current potential, as literature moves not simply from print to screen, across national borders, or among avant-garde aesthetics. The defining move, I want to argue, is from bounded forms to the database, whose works, while stable, remain open to linkages with all other literary forms available in any number of interoperable databases. The relocation of works in new media is a shift not in degree, but in kind. As our expectations too shift regarding the means of circulation among minds and media, we are more likely to discern what is really new and really global about writing in the media ecology and cognitive economies we currently inhabit.
So Great a Proffit: How the East Indies Trade Transformed Anglo-American Capitalism. By James R. Fichter

So Great a Proffit is an ambitious book that brings together a tremendous amount of meticulously researched economic data to demonstrate the global scope of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century trade in the East Indies and its impact on American and British business methods. Essentially, James Fichter argues that as competition for the East India trade heightened at the turn of the nineteenth century, both America and Great Britain had to readjust their commercial policies and business models to remain competitive. Although less experienced and initially ill-financed, American merchants remained flexible tochanging business conditions on the ground thanks to the presence of individual supercargo agents
National Readmission Patterns of Isolated Splenic Injuries Based on Initial Management Strategy.

Importance Options for managing splenic injuries have evolved with a focus on nonoperative management. Long-term outcomes, such as readmissions and delayed splenectomy rate, are not well understood. Objective To describe the natural history of isolated splenic injuries in the United States and determine whether patterns of readmission were influenced by management strategy. Design, Setting, and Participants The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project’s Nationwide Readmission Database is an all-payer, all-ages, longitudinal administrative database that provides data on more than 35 million weighted US discharges yearly. The database was used to identify patients with isolated splenic injuries and the procedures that they received. Adult patients with isolated splenic injuries admitted from January 1 through June 30, 2013, and from January 1 through June 30, 2014, were included. Those who died during the index hospitalization or who had an additional nonsplenic injury with an Abbreviated Injury Score of 2 or greater were excluded. Univariate and mixed-effects logistic regression analysis controlling for center effect were used. Weighted numbers are reported. Exposures Initial management strategy at the time of index hospitalization, including nonprocedural management, angioembolization, and splenectomy. Main Outcomes and Measures All-cause 6-month readmission rate. Secondary outcome was delayed splenectomy rate. Results A weighted sample of 3792 patients (2146 men [56.6%] and 1646 women [43.4%]; mean [SE] age, 48.5 [0.7] years) with 5155 admission events was included. During the index hospitalization, 825 (21.8%) underwent splenectomy, 293 (7.7%) underwent angioembolization, and 2673 (70.5%) had no procedure. The overall readmission rate was 21.1% (799 patients). Readmission rates did not differ based on initial management strategy (195 patients undergoing splenectomy [23.6%], 70 undergoing angioembolism [23.9%], and 534 undergoing no procedure [20%]; P = .33). Splenectomy was performed in 36 of 799 readmitted patients (4.5%) who did not have a splenectomy at their index hospitalization, leading to an overall delayed splenectomy rate of 1.2% (36 of 2967 patients). In mixed-effects logistic regression analysis controlling for patient, injury, clinical, and hospital characteristics, the choice of splenectomy (odds ratio, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.66-1.31) vs angioembolization (odds ratio, 1.19; 95% CI, 0.72-1.97) as initial management strategy was not associated with readmission. Conclusions and Relevance This national evaluation of the natural history of isolated splenic injuries from index admission through 6 months found that approximately 1 in 5 patients are readmitted within 6 months of discharge after an isolated splenic injury. However, the chance of readmission for splenectomy after initial nonoperative management was 1.2%. This finding suggests that the current management strategies used for isolated splenic injuries in the United States are well matched to patient need.
Exchangeability Characterizes Optimality of Sequential Normalized Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Prediction

We study online learning under logarithmic loss with regular parametric models. In this setting, each strategy corresponds to a joint distribution on sequences. The minimax optimal strategy is the normalized maximum likelihood ( NML ) strategy. We show that the sequential NML ( S NML) strategy predicts minimax optimally (i.e., as NML) if and only if the joint distribution on sequences defined by SNML is exchangeable. This property also characterizes the optimality of a Bayesian prediction strategy. In that case, the optimal prior distribution is Jeffreys prior for a broad class of parametric models for which the maximum likelihood estimator is asymptotically normal. The optimal prediction strategy, NML, depends on the number $n$ of rounds of the game, in general. However, when a Bayesian strategy is optimal, NML becomes independent of $n$ . Our proof uses this to exploit the asymptotics of NML. The asymptotic normality of the maximum likelihood estimator is responsible for the necessity of Jeffreys prior.
Physical Activity Motivation Among Sororities and Fraternities

ABSTRACTThe purpose of the current study was to examine relationships between physical activity levels and motivation among active Greek affiliated college students. Thousands of college students j...
Entering the Field of Physical Education: The Journey of Fifteen First-Year Teachers.

ABSTRACTPurpose: Given the significant challenges facing today’s physical educators, the purpose of this study was to examine the expectations of induction teachers and identify the factors in both their personal and organizational environments enhanced or constrained their assimilation into the field during their 1st year. Method: Using occupational socialization theory as a guide, data from demographic surveys and a series of formal interviews with participants at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year were inductively analyzed for theme development. Results: Results revealed positive acculturation experiences and unity regarding the purpose of physical education as preparing students to be fit for a lifetime. Barriers were noted to be family and personal crises, role conflict, isolation, marginalization, issues with classroom management and discipline, and difficulties in developing positive relationships with stakeholders. Enhancers were identified as positive interactions and rapport with ...
Functional imaging of the interaction between gut microbiota and the human host: A proof-of-concept clinical study evaluating novel use for 18F-FDG PET-CT.

Recent data comparing germ-free to conventionally-raised mice demonstrated that energy homeostasis of colonocytes is dependent on gut microbiota through regulation of short chain fatty acids (SCFA) production and glucose utilization. We sought to evaluate 18F-FDG PET-CT as a novel technique for functional imaging of alterations in glucose metabolism as a result of the interaction between the gut microbiota and the human host. We conducted a prospective study in healthy humans that underwent 18F-FDG PET-CT and sampling of the gut microbiota before and after orally administered broad-spectrum antibiotics. The primary outcomes were total and regional physiologic colonic 18F-FDG uptake (measured as the mean and max standardized uptake values [SUVmean and SUVmax]). The study demonstrated significant increases in physiologic colonic 18F-FDG uptake in all study participants following antibiotic treatment and a 4-5log reduction of gut bacterial load. The mean increase in SUVmax was 0.63±0.37 SD (p = 0.004) and the median increase was 0.42 with an IQR of 0.40–0.81. The mean increase in SUVmean was 0.31±0.24 SD (p = 0.01) and the median increase was 0.41 with an IQR of 0.06–0.55. A likely explanation for this phenomenon is a shift in colonocyte metabolism to glycolysis due to a shortage of SCFA.
Analysis of fetal heart rate series by nonparametric hidden Markov models

Fetal heart rate (FHR) signals are routinely monitored to help obstetricians assess fetal status. In addition to guidelines for visual inspections, much research has been focused on computerized analysis of FHR tracings. In this paper, we propose to process FHR series by hidden Markov models (HMMs) and associate the hidden states with patterns of the tracings. Furthermore, we employ a nonparametric Bayesian approach, which does not define the number of hidden states before-hand, but instead uses data to determine the most appropriate number of states. We propose to use a nonparametric HMM, known as sticky hierarchical Dirichlet process-hidden Markov model (HDP-HMM) to resolve problems that arise due to redundant states and rapid switching rate of basic non-parametric models. We use the HDP-HMMs to classify FHR signals into two groups and compare the results with those of support vector machines (SVMs). The classification performance showed that the HMM-based method achieved better accuracy.
Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) encountered in the neonates is generally diagnosed antenatally and tends to cause significant postnatal management challenges. In this context surgery is only one of the minor challenges. The procedure involves the gentle reposition of the herniated abdominal viscera back into abdomen and repairing the defect either by primary approximation of the defect or by using a patch to separate the abdomen and thoracic cavity. The morbidity in survivals is mainly related to persistence of pulmonary hypertension, gastro-oesophageal reflux with feeding intolerance and recurrence of hernia. The significant mortality associated with CDH is related to severity of pulmonary hypertension, associated cardiac and chromosomal anomalies. The chapter will deal with both open and minimally invasive method of the repair. The management of pulmonary hypertension is outside the scope of this chapter.
Multicultural MPA Curriculum:Are We Preparing Culturally Competent Public Administrators?

AbstractThis article addresses the level of formal diversity training that masters of public administration (MPA) students receive in their coursework. By examining the top twenty public affairs pr...
Silicon: the health benefits of a metalloid.

Silicon is the second most abundant element in nature behind oxygen. As a metalloid, silicon has been used in many industrial applications including use as an additive in the food and beverage industry. As a result, humans come into contact with silicon through both environmental exposures but also as a dietary component. Moreover, many forms of silicon, that is, Si bound to oxygen, are water-soluble, absorbable, and potentially bioavailable to humans presumably with biological activity. However, the specific biochemical or physiological functions of silicon, if any, are largely unknown although generally thought to exist. As a result, there is growing interest in the potential therapeutic effects of water-soluble silica on human health. For example, silicon has been suggested to exhibit roles in the structural integrity of nails, hair, and skin, overall collagen synthesis, bone mineralization, and bone health and reduced metal accumulation in Alzheimer’s disease, immune system health, and reduction of the risk for atherosclerosis. Although emerging research is promising, much additional, corroborative research is needed particularly regarding speciation of health-promoting forms of silicon and its relative bioavailability. Orthosilicic acid is the major form of bioavailable silicon whereas thin fibrous crystalline asbestos is a health hazard promoting asbestosis and significant impairment of lung function and increased cancer risk. It has been proposed that relatively insoluble forms of silica can also release small but meaningful quantities of silicon into biological compartments. For example, colloidal silicic acid, silica gel, and zeolites, although relatively insoluble in water, can increase concentrations of water-soluble silica and are thought to rely on specific structural physicochemical characteristics. Collectively, the food supply contributes enough silicon in the forms aforementioned that could be absorbed and significantly improve overall human health despite the negative perception of silica as a health hazard. This review discusses the possible biological potential of the metalloid silicon as bioavailable orthosilicic acid and the potential beneficial effects on human health.
Integrated simulation of physical, chemical and ecological processes for river management

River management is a rapidly evolving science and recent major floods have prompted a re-examination of traditional approaches such as channelization, levees, flood walls and dams. These flood control measures are capital intensive, require significant maintenance costs, only protect local regions, and often require a tradeoff with ecological resources. Further, recent analyses have shown that the intended benefits and hydraulic performances are not achieved. A new paradigm in river management is evolving, which requires a broad range of design objectives to be met that include reduction in flood risks, ecological enhancement, recreation and aesthetics, as well as complying with strict environmental protection legislation. These more complex projects require extensive data and simulation tools to assist decision makers and communities in selecting management strategies which offer the maximum benefits, whilst preserving and enhancing the ecological integrity of the river system. A framework for the systematic analysis of the river ecosystem is outlined and illustrated by examples from the Western U S A.
Development of the Central Nervous System

In the practice of infant and early childhood neuropsychology, it is not unusual for the clinician to encounter problems such as microcephaly, hydrocephalus, myelomeningocele, and other brain abnormalities. Similarly, abnormalities of the skin and hair or dysmorphic facial features can heighten the concern for underlying CNS anomalies. In essence, to appreciate abnormalities in brain function and their clinical significance, infant and early childhood neuropsychologists should be well versed in their understanding of normal CNS development and related concepts. Information about CNS development is useful in identifying potential causes of cognitive or neurodevelopmental dysfunction, and knowledge of the relationships between certain brain anomalies and neuropsychological findings helps to guide clinicians’ diagnostic sensitivity. This chapter contains a brief summary of pre-, peri- and postnatal CNS development. The discussion focuses on the CNS (brain and spinal cord), as distinct from the peripheral nervous system (nerves leading from the spinal cord to peripheral structures) or the autonomic nervous system (nerves controlling visceral functions).
Detection of Unaveraged Spontaneous and Event-Related Electrophysiological Activities from Focal Regions of the Cerebral Cortex in the Swine

Today interests seem to be rapidly increasing in the analysis of event-related electrophysiological responses of the brain that are not necessarily well time-locked to external events, but exhibit some variability in their temporal patterns of response (Pfurtscheller and Sranibar, 1977; Pfurtscheller et al., 1988; Kaufman, et al., 1990, 1992; Makeig, 1993; Makeig and Inlow, 1993). This class of responses includes as a subset those that are time-locked to external events, but the whole class is presumably vastly larger. Attention to this type of data seems to be fueled by the perceived need in this community to develop methods to detect activities related to higher functions of the brain so that the area of application can be widened for the MEG and EEG research.
The Medical School Curriculum and LGBT Health Concerns.

A growing number of medical schools have expanded their curricula to embrace the full spectrum of LGBT health concerns. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
Strategic relationships in a small business context: The impact of information quality and continuous quality improvement

This study examines the performance between operational variables for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) within the context of interorganizational relationships. Specifically, it investigates the role of information quality and continuous quality improvement and the varying importance that SMEs place on each of these constructs. The sample consists of 134 vendors of a large university in the southwestern region of the United States.The results indicate that there is a positive relationship between information quality and continuous quality improvement with performance in SMEs. Implications for both research and practice, as well as ideas for future research, are discussed.
Prefrontal cortex response to drug cues, craving, and current depressive symptoms are associated with treatment outcomes in methadone-maintained patients

Methadone maintenance is an effective treatment for opioid use disorder, yet many methadone-maintained patients (MMPs) continue to struggle with chronic relapse. The current study evaluated whether functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) could identify prefrontal cortex (PFC) markers of ongoing opioid use in MMPs, and whether clinical measures of depression and self-report measures of craving would also be associated with opioid use. MMPs (n = 29) underwent a drug cue reactivity paradigm during fNIRS measurements of PFC reactivity. Self-reported opioid craving (measured by a visual analog scale; 0–100) was collected before and after drug cue reactivity, and depressive symptoms were assessed via the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). Hierarchical regression and partial correlations were used to evaluate associations between weekly urine drug screens over a 90-day follow-up period and fNIRS, craving, and HAM-D assessments. Neural response to drug cues in the left lateral PFC, controlling for age, sex, and days in treatment was significantly associated with percent opioid-negative urine screens during follow-up (∆F1, 24 = 13.19, p = 0.001, ∆R2 = 0.30), and correctly classified 86% of MMPs as either using opioids, or abstaining from opioids (χ2(4) = 16.28, p = 0.003). Baseline craving (p < 0.001) and HAM-D assessment (p < 0.01) were also associated with percent opioid-negative urine screens. Combining fNIRS results, baseline craving scores, and HAM-D scores created a robust predictive model (∆F3, 22 = 16.75, p < 0.001, ∆R2 = 0.59). These data provide preliminary evidence that the fNIRS technology may have value as an objective measure of treatment outcomes within outpatient methadone clinics. Depressive symptoms and drug craving were also correlated with opioid use in MMPs.
Comparing disability and return to work outcomes between alternative and traditional workers' compensation programs.

Background The Union Construction Workers' Compensation Program (UCWCP) was developed in 1996 as an alternative workers' compensation arrangement. The program includes use of a preapproved medical and rehabilitation network and alternative dispute resolution (ADR), and prioritizes a quick and safe return-to-work. The aim of this study is to determine if differences in recovery-related outcomes exist between UCWCP and the statutory workers' compensation system (SWCS). Methods Claims data from 2003 to 2016 were classified as processed through UCWCP or SWCS. Outcomes included: temporary total disability (TTD), vocational rehabilitation (VR), claim duration and costs, and permanent partial disability (PPD). The relative risk of incurring TTD, VR, and PPD in UCWCP vs SWCS was calculated using log-binomial regression. Linear regression examined the relationship between programs and continuous outcomes including costs and duration. Estimates were adjusted for age, sex, wage, and severity. Results The UCWCP processed 15.8% of claims; higher percentages of UCWCP claimants were older and earned higher wages. Results point to positive findings of decreased TTD incidence and cost, lower risk of TTD extending over time, higher likelihood of VR participation, and less attorney involvement and stipulation agreements associated with UCWCP membership. Differences were more apparent in workers who suffered permanent physical impairment. Conclusion Findings suggest that the defining programmatic elements of the UCWCP, including its medical provider and rehabilitation network and access to ADR, have been successful in their aims. Claims with increased severity exhibited more pronounced differences vs SWCS, potentially due, in part, to greater use of programmatic elements.