cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Risk and decision-making

Author(s): Winterhalder, B | Editor(s): Barrett, Louise; Dunbar, Robin IM | Abstract: `This article provides a brief survey of the analysis of outcome risk: what it is, in what circumstance it is important, what the analytical tools are for describing and analysing it, what examples demonstrate the utility of these tools, and what inferences can be drawn from a risk-sensitive approach to behaviour. It also summarises empirical evidence bearing on these ideas. A risk-sensitive analysis of a particular behaviour entails two steps: first, each possible option for the behaviour must be associated with a frequency distribution of its odds. A particular choice of cultivars for one particular field will result in a certain frequency distribution of yields, say of barley. Then each outcome, or in this case each yield, must be assigned a value which might be measured as fitness, utility or some other currency of relevance. Each yield of barley has a certain fitness value to the peasant family engaged in subsistence endeavour.
By the Numbers: A Survival Guide to Economic Indicators

One of two books reviewed in this edition that offer fundamental information on ways of evaluating or determining the benefit of economic information (Stephen D. Slifer and W. Stansbury Carnes9 By The Numbers [International Financial Press, 1995]) or evaluating hedge funds (Stefano Lavinio9s The Hedge Fund Handbook [McGraw Hill, 2000]) are reviewed.
The cost effectiveness and utility of a "quick MRI" for the evaluation of intra-abdominal abscess after acute appendicitis in the pediatric patient population.

Abstract Introduction Contrast-enhanced CT remains the first-line imaging for evaluating postoperative abscess (POA) after appendicitis. Given concerns of ionizing radiation use in children, we began utilizing quick MRI to evaluate POA and summarize our findings in this study. Materials and Methods Children imaged with quick MRI from 2015 to 2017 were compared to children evaluated with CT from 2012 to 2014 using an age and weight matched case–control model. Radiation exposure, size and number of abscesses, length of exam, drain placement, and patient outcomes were compared. Results There was no difference in age or weight (p>0.60) between children evaluated with quick MRI (n=16) and CT (n=16). Mean imaging time was longer (18.2±8.5min) for MRI (p Conclusion Quick MRI demonstrated equivalent outcomes to CT in terms of POA detection, drain placement, and 30-day complications suggesting that MRI provides an equally effective, less expensive, and non-radiation modality for the identification of POA. Type of Study Retrospective Case–Control Study. Level of Evidence Level III.
TnI Structural Interface with the N-Terminal Lobe of TnC as a Determinant of Cardiac Contractility

The heterotrimeric cardiac troponin complex is a key regulator of contraction and plays an essential role in conferring Ca2+ sensitivity to the sarcomere. During ischemic injury, rapidly accumulating protons acidify the myoplasm, resulting in markedly reduced Ca2+ sensitivity of the sarcomere. Unlike the adult heart, sarcomeric Ca2+ sensitivity in fetal cardiac tissue is comparatively pH insensitive. Replacement of the adult cardiac troponin I (cTnI) isoform with the fetal troponin I (ssTnI) isoform renders adult cardiac contractile machinery relatively insensitive to acidification. Alignment and functional studies have determined histidine 132 of ssTnI to be the predominant source of this pH insensitivity. Substitution of histidine at the cognate position 164 in cTnI confers the same pH insensitivity to adult cardiac myocytes. An alanine at position 164 of cTnI is conserved in all mammals, with the exception of the platypus, which expresses a proline. Prolines are biophysically unique because of their innate conformational rigidity and helix-disrupting function. To provide deeper structure-function insight into the role of the TnC-TnI interface in determining contractility, we employed a live-cell approach alongside molecular dynamics simulations to ascertain the chemo-mechanical implications of the disrupted helix 4 of cTnI where position 164 exists. This important motif belongs to the critical switch region of cTnI. Substitution of a proline at position 164 of cTnI in adult rat cardiac myocytes causes increased contractility independent of alterations in the Ca2+ transient. Free-energy perturbation calculations of cTnC-Ca2+ binding indicate no difference in cTnC-Ca2+ affinity. Rather, we propose the enhanced contractility is derived from new salt bridge interactions between cTnI helix 4 and cTnC helix A, which are critical in determining pH sensitivity and contractility. Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that cTnI A164P structurally phenocopies ssTnI under baseline but not acidotic conditions. These findings highlight the evolutionarily directed role of the TnI-cTnC interface in determining cardiac contractility.
Stochastic Optimal Control

We consider We consider a probability space \(\Omega ,\mathcal {A},P\) equipped with a filtration \(\mathcal {F}^{t}\) and a standard \(P,\mathcal {F}^{t}\) Wiener process with values in R k .
Prostate DCE-MRI with B 1 + correction using an approximated analytical approach.

Purpose To develop and evaluate a practical B 1 + correction method for prostate dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI analysis. Theory We proposed a simple analytical B 1 + correction method using a Taylor series approximation to the steady-state spoiled gradient echo signal equation. This approach only requires B 1 + maps and uncorrected pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters as input to estimate the corrected PK parameters. Methods The proposed method was evaluated using a prostate digital reference object (DRO), and 82 in vivo prostate DCE-MRI cases. The approximated analytical correction was compared with the ground truth PK parameters in simulation, and compared with the reference numerical correction in in vivo experiments, using percentage error as the metric. Results The prostate DRO results showed that our approximated analytical approach provided residual error less than 0.4% for both Ktrans and ve , compared to the ground truth. This noise-free residual error was smaller than the noise-induced error using the reference numerical correction, which had a minimum error of 2.1+4.3% with baseline signal-to-noise ratio of 234.5. For the 82 in vivo cases, Ktrans and ve percentage error compared to the reference numerical correction method had a mean of 0.1% (95% central range of [0.0%, 0.2%]) across the prostate volume. Conclusion The approximated analytical B 1 + correction method provides comparable results with less than 0.2% error within 95% central range, compared to reference numerical B 1 + correction. The proposed method is a practical solution for B 1 + correction in prostate DCE-MRI because of its simple implementation.
Listen Up: Discovering the Reference and Instructional Applications of Apple’s Tunes

Apple’s iTunes software permits people to import music onto their computer where they can listen, compile personalized playlists, and share their music with others, a practice that is ubiquitous among students on college campuses. This article examines the ongoing exploration of the potential applications of iTunes software at Union College ’s Schaffer Library, first, as a subtle but pervasive marketing tool used to raise student awareness of new and existing library resources, and second, as a means of reaching out to the campus population in an environment where students already feel at home. The article also discusses the role that iTunes—and specifically the free educational content available from the online iTunes Store—has begun to play in library efforts to respond to a variety of reference and curricular support needs. We describe several strategies for communicating the availability and value of this content to faculty teaching a variety of courses across the curriculum, and (taking advantage of Urban Library Journal’'s online format) we provide examples of tools we have incorporated and tweaked to deliver this content directly and conveniently into the hands of our students. We also discuss the problems and issues we have encountered and describe how we’ve attempted to contend with them.
Understanding Self-Narration of Personally Experienced Racism on Reddit.

We identify and classify users’ self-narration of racial discrimination and corresponding community support in social media. We developed natural language models first to distinguish self-narration of racial discrimination in Reddit threads, and then to identify which types of support are provided and valued in subsequent replies. Our classifiers can detect the self-narration of personally experienced racism in online textual accounts with 83% accuracy and can recognize four types of supportive actions in replies with up to 88% accuracy. Descriptively, our models identify types of racism experienced and the racist concepts (e.g., sexism, appearance or accent related) most experienced by people of different races. Finally, we show that commiseration is the most valued form of social support.
General concepts of nutrient flux and stability

Water can carry a wide array of dissolved substances, including every bioelement [human urine, for example, contains up to 80 dissolved compounds (Botkin, 1990)]. Thus the fluxes of many important nutrients are closely connected with the hydrological cycle, nutrients with gaseous forms such as N2 and CO2 being partial exceptions. The concentration of any given dissolved substance in the waters on the earth’s surface is variable, both in space and time. The dissolved substances in a particular unit volume of water depend on the recent history of that water. Passage of water through rocks and soil dissolves chemical compounds, whole processes such as diffusion, the mixing of water from different sources, and evaporation causes changes in concentrations. These processes go on even in the absence of biota, and it will be useful to begin the mathematical description of these nutrient dynamics in physical systems without the complication of biota.
New Anticancer Drug Design: Past and Future Strategies

The current strategies we have used for the conquest of the advanced cancer, i.e., one big enough to see, have involved less planned strategy and more the historical accretion of procedures such as surgery (Veronesi, 1973), radiation therapy (Kligerman, 1974), drug therapy (Salmon and Apple, 1976; Sartorelli and Johns, 1974; Carter and Slavik, 1974; Cline and Haskell, 1975), immunotherapy (Fefer, 1974; von Leyden and Blumenthal, 1902), and others (Hahn, 1975). In the innovative clinical thinking, we see attempts to integrate these modalities of therapy (Bloedorn et al.,1961; Cohen et al., 1971; Mathe et al.,1970) and to enhance the effectiveness within each modality—e.g., to develop and utilize radiosensitizers that will make radiation therapy selective for cancer (Dewey and Humphrey, 1965; Erikson and Szybalski, 1963) or radiation protectors that will protect normal cells but not cancer from radiation, or, alternatively, to enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy by the use of drug combinations (Goldin et al.,1968, 1974; Nathanson et al.,1969; E. Henderson and Samaha, 1969).
The Allotment of National Income, Marriage, and Wiener’s Academic Career

In his work on potential theory, unlike that in Brownian motion, there were other persons pursuing the same ends as Wiener. There were Kellogg and his students, Lebesgue and his pupil Bouligand in France, and many others. At certain moments the egoist in Wiener took over from the mathematician and the philosopher. An unfortunate conflict occurred that made Wiener feel “thoroughly sick and discredited”, and suffer an attack of bronchial pneumonia. A somewhat unobjective account of this episode is to be found in [56g, pp. 83–85]. The following brief and accurate statement of Professor Levinson indicates how the egoist in Wiener made matters worse by exaggerating the importance of the episode: Unfortunately there arose a problem of timing his publications so as not to compromise the theses of two of Kellogg’s students. Actually the matter resolved itself satisfactorily although this is not made clear in Wiener’s account. Wiener unfortunately felt that Kellogg had been unfair to him. Thus instead of feeling indebted to Kellogg he again felt that Harvard was mistreating him. {L8, p. 15}
Determination of Toxoplasma gondii Antibody Prevalence in Midwest Market Swine

Pork has been identified as one of the food source(s) for human exposure to Toxoplasma gondii. This project was designed to determine the current prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in the Midwestern USA market swine population. Test samples were selected, using random numbers generated from the Excel database, from approximately 2,500 daily meat juice samples submitted for Aujeszky’s Disease from eight Iowa abattoirs. Producer identification and lot size were recorded for each lot. Two hundred fifty samples were selected for 12 consecutive weeks – total of 15,014 samples. The presence of antibodies was determined using ELISA test kits by Safepath Laboratories. The prevalence for all samples was 0.75 % with a higher prevalence found in lots of 20 40 compared to 150 190 head. Additional on-farm evaluations of exposure risk factors are required to determine an association between sero-prevalence and lot size and to develop suitable prevention strategies.
Racial and Ethnic Diagnostic Patterns in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

The literature on racial and ethnic diagnostic patterns (as these pertain to schizophrenia spectrum disorders) is reviewed in this chapter. The chapter begins with a review of the literature on the diagnostic patterns among racial and ethnic minorities in the USA and abroad, followed by a review of racial/ethnic differences in symptom severity, symptom expression, and prevalence rates. This is then followed by a review of the empirical literature that offers explanations about why differential diagnostic patterns are observed. This review explores the question of whether differential patterns are due to inherent differences between racial/ethnic groups or if clinician biases and/or decision-making processes are contributing to differential diagnostic practices. Finally, literature that points to cultural mistrust, paranoia, and other environmental factors (e.g., stress) as potential variables that may contribute to the differential diagnostic patterns among racial/ethnic groups is reviewed. These reviews suggest that Black patients are three to four times more likely to receive a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis. Findings also suggest that racial/ethnic variations may exist on a symptom level, with greater differences observed among positive symptom profiles. This review suggests that unawareness of cultural differences in symptom expression, cultural mistrust, and environmental factors (e.g., low SES) may be related to greater likelihood of receiving a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis but do not fully account for the diagnostic discrepancies observed among racial/ethnic groups. To better understand these relationships, we conclude with recommendations to improve diagnostic accuracy and cultural competence (e.g., greater reliance on the Cultural Formulation Interview) and suggestions for future research that may further clarify the racial/ethnic diagnostic conundrum (e.g., using analog research studies).
Ownership effects among Native American banks, 2001-2016

ABSTRACTMinority Depository Institutions (MDIs), including Native American Banks (NatBs), play an integral role in providing financial services to the under-served. NatBs are split between those th...
Glyphosate-Resistant Junglerice (Echinochloa colona) from Mississippi and Tennessee: Magnitude and Resistance Mechanisms

Recently, several incidents of glyphosate failure on junglerice [Echinochloa colona (L.) Link] have been reported in the midsouthern United States, specifically in Mississippi and Tennessee. Research was conducted to measure the magnitude of glyphosate resistance and to determine the mechanism(s) of resistance to glyphosate in E. colona populations from Mississippi and Tennessee. ED50 (dose required to reduce plant growth by 50%) values for a resistant MSGR4 biotype, a resistant TNGR population, and a known susceptible MSGS population were 0.8, 1.62, and 0.23 kg ae ha -1 of glyphosate, respectively. The resistance index calculated from the these ED50 values indicated that the MSGR4 biotype and TNGR population were 4- and 7-fold, respectively, resistant to glyphosate relative to the MSGS population. The absorption patterns of [14C]glyphosate in the TNGR and MSGS populations were similar. However, the MSGS population translocated 13% more [14C]glyphosate out of the treated leaf compared with the TNGR population at 48 h after treatment. EPSPS gene sequence analyses of TNGR E. colona indicated no evidence of any point mutations, but several resistant biotypes, including MSGR4, possessed a single-nucleotide substitution of T for C at codon 106 position, resulting in a proline-to-serine substitution (CCA to TCA). Results from quantitative polymerase chain reaction analyses suggested that there was no amplification of the EPSPS gene in the resistant populations and biotypes. Thus, the mechanism of resistance in the MSGR population (and associated biotypes) is, in part, due to a target-site mutation at the 106 loci of the EPSPS gene, while reduced translocation of glyphosate was found to confer glyphosate resistance in the TNGR population.
Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Cognitive Function in Adult Females

BackgroundA converging body of literature demonstrates that the gastrointestinal microbiota are implicated in multiple aspects of health including cognitive function and brain health. However, this evidence is largely based on rodent models and there is a paucity of data linking characteristics of the gastrointestinal microbiota profiles and cognitive function in humans. ObjectiveWe aimed to determine the relationship between the human gastrointestinal microbiota and cognition among adult females. MethodsCross-sectional analyses were conducted to determine relationships between cognitive control and gastrointestinal microbiota of adult 25–45-year-old females (n=34, BMI=32.2 kg/m2). Executive function, specifically, interference control, was assessed using a modified flanker task. Interference scores were calculated for accuracy (congruent – incongruent) and reaction time (incongruent – congruent) with greater interference signifying poor ability to maintain task performance when faced with greater cogniti...
Nonproliferation Norms: Why States Choose Nuclear Restraint

What can be learned from countries that opted out of the arms race. Too often, our focus on the relative handful of countries with nuclear weapons keeps us from asking an important question: Why do so many more states not have such weapons? More important, what can we learn from these examples of nuclear restraint? Maria Rost Rublee argues that in addition to understanding a state's security environment, we must appreciate the social forces that influence how states conceptualize the value of nuclear weapons. Much of what Rublee says also applies to other weapons of mass destruction, as well as national security decision making in general.The nuclear nonproliferation movement has created an international social environment that exerts a variety of normative pressures on how state elites and policymakers think about nuclear weapons. Within a social psychology framework, Rublee examines decision making about nuclear weapons in five case studies: Japan, Egypt, Libya, Sweden, and Germany.In each case, Rublee considers the extent to which nuclear forbearance resulted from persuasion (genuine transformation of preferences), social conformity (the desire to maximize social benefits and/or minimize social costs, without a change in underlying preferences), or identification (the desire or habit of following the actions of an important other). The book offers bold policy prescriptions based on a sharpened knowledge of the many ways we transmit and process nonproliferation norms. The social mechanisms that encourage nonproliferation - and the regime that created them - must be preserved and strengthened, Rublee argues, for without them states that have exercised nuclear restraint may rethink their choices.
Efficacy of Revaccination after Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Lymphoma Patients with or without Rituximab Exposure

Guidelines recommend reimmunization starting 12 months after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (AHCT). We aimed to evaluate the impact of rituximab, which may impair humoral immunity, on responses to revaccination after AHCT in pts with B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (B-NHL), T-cell NHL (T-NHL), and Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL), with the latter two groups not routinely receiving rituximab. Lymphoma pts who underwent AHCT between 2012 - 2016 were identified from the institutional database and included if they had completed the primary series and had pre- and post-vaccination titers to evaluate for response. Pts were classified as responders, non-responders, immune by pre-vaccination titer, and not evaluable due to missing data. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize results, and the Fishers exact test was used for comparisons. Of the 161 pts meeting inclusion criteria, 104 (65%) received rituximab pre-AHCT with 20% of these receiving additional rituximab post-HCT. Of the 57 pts who did not receive pre-AHCT rituximab, 2% received post-AHCT rituximab. The median age of the whole group was 53 years (range 19-73), with patients not receiving rituximab being younger (median age 43 years (range 19-71) vs 58 years (21-73), p Most patients received the completed series for each vaccine (84% Haemophilus influenzae, 99% pneumococcus, 96% polio, 66% tetanus, 76% diphtheria, 91% pertussis, 78% Hepatitis A, and 84% Hepatitis B), but vaccine responses varied by vaccine type (Figure 1). No patients retained immunity to pneumococcus or diphtheria on the pre-vaccine titers. Univariate analyses were performed for pertussis, diphtheria, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and Pneumococcal vaccines evaluating the association with age, gender, disease type, and rituximab exposure. More females than males responded to B. pertussis (90% vs 78%, p=0.045). Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B response was associated with a younger age (50.7 years vs 59.6 years, p=0.037 and 54.2 years vs 62.4 years, p=0.007, respectively), and disease type was associated with pneumococcal response (62% HL vs 39% NHL, p=0.022). Patients who did not receive rituximab were more likely to respond to pneumococcus and Hepatitis B (63% vs 35%, p=0.001, and 82% vs 56%, p=0.026, respectively, Figure 2). Antibody response to reimmunization with inactivated vaccines in lymphoma patients after AHCT is similar to previously reported populations, but prior rituximab exposure appears to impact response.
64-GBd PDM-256QAM and 92-GBd PDM-64QAM Signal Generation using Precise-Digital-Calibration aided by Optical-Equalization

We propose to precisely distribute equalization for transceiver imperfection between digital and optical domain. 1.7- and 4.6-dB OSNR tolerance improvements were confirmed for PDM-256QAM and PDM-64QAM signals with net-rates of 793 and 851 Gbps/carrier.
Trauma as a Public Health Issue: Epidemiology of Trauma and Trauma-Related Disorders

Reports in the mainstream media suggest that traumatic events, such as natural disasters, sexual assault, and child abuse, are frequent occurrences throughout the world and take a tremendous psychological toll on individuals and communities. In this chapter, we aim to present the global public health burden posed by trauma exposure. To accomplish this goal, we review the prevalence and distribution of traumatic events and trauma-related disorders from epidemiologic studies. Epidemiology is the cornerstone of public health and focuses on the distribution and causes of disease in human populations and on developing and testing ways to prevent and control disease. Epidemiological studies have provided empirical evidence on the high prevalence of trauma and the devastating effects of trauma-related disorders and have shown that trauma is not equally distributed across populations. When presenting the results, we note methodological considerations that make cross-study comparisons difficult. Finally, we use the epidemiologic data presented to discuss public health approaches to addressing trauma and trauma-related disorders. We conclude that trauma exposure is a major public health problem whose health burden has only begun to be appreciated.
3 Nasal Flaps and Reconstruction

Endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery has seen a significant amount of development in recent years, pushing techniques to fit a broadened anatomic understanding in the setting of advanced instrumentation. With these developments, skull base reconstruction has required continued innovation. Initially, skull base reconstruction employed a multitude of cellular and acellular grafts and has now expanded to include pedicled flaps. In this chapter, we describe these different reconstruction techniques including their uses, benefits, and limitations.
Where Do We Go from Here? Dos and Don’ts When Working with Trans Children

This chapter summarizes the findings of the research and provides suggestions and recommendations for supporting, nurturing, and educating young transgender students. These yield from both previous studies as well as from the research partners themselves. The chapter provides specific advice for teachers, students, and administrators with regard to creating well-prepared, safe, early childhood education spaces for trans children (that are also sites of advocacy and activism). While their suggestions varied from person to person, the research partners all expressed the urgent need for learning environments that affirm the true identities of young trans students.
Fault Ride-Through Control Strategy for Single-Phase Virtual Synchronous Generator

This paper presents a fault ride-through control strategy for grid-tied virtual synchronous generator (VSG) under two main grid fault conditions, grid voltage sag fault and unintentional grid outage fault. Considering the overcurrent issue of VSG during the grid voltage sag fault, mechanism on overcurrent issue and the relationship among power angle, voltage amplitude, active power and reactive power are analyzed. Based on the analysis, a control strategy based on direct power angle and voltage amplitude control is proposed. Compared to the common control strategy based on additional inner current loop, the proposed VSG requires no add extra voltage or current sensors. For the grid outage fault, detailed analysis on the relationship among power angle, active power and frequency has been conducted, and it is found that the power angle is related to the output active power when the converter operates on grid-tied condition; under unintentional islanding conditions, the power angle is related to the voltage frequency. Based on the found, a detection method based on small frequency disturbance is proposed. Simulation studies on a prototype VSG system are presented to demonstrate the validity of the proposed control strategy.
Identifying and Overcoming Barriers to Resident Use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound

Author(s): Schnittke, Nikolai; Damewood, Sara | Abstract: Introduction: Emergency medicine residency programs have rigorous point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) curricula. However, this training does not always readily translate to routine use in clinical decision-making. This study sought to identify and overcome barriers that could prevent resident physicians from performing POCUS during clinical shifts.Methods: This was a two-step process improvement study. First, a survey was deployed to all residents of a three-year academic residency program to identify barriers to clinical use of POCUS. This survey identified the perceived lack of a uniform documenting protocol as the most important barrier to performing POCUS on shift. Second, as an intervention to overcome this barrier, a streamlined documentation protocol was developed and presented to residents. The primary outcome was the number of patients who had POCUS used in medical decision-making one year before and after intervention. Secondary outcomes were the level of training of residents performing exams and whether faculty overseeing exams were trained through an ultrasound fellowship program.Results: POCUS use by residents increased from 82 to 223 patients before and after the intervention, respectively. Per resident, this translates to an absolute increase from 2.2 (95% confidence intervall [CI], 1.4, 3) to 5.8 (95% CI, 4, 7.6) or 3.6 (95% CI, 1.8, 5.4) exams/resident over the study period. We observed no significant difference in the proportions of scans attributable to the resident level of training (χ2 = 0.5, p = 0.47). The proportion of exams by non-ultrasound fellowship trained faculty increased significantly more compared to fellowship trained faculty (χ2 = 19, pl0.0001); however, both ultrasound fellowship trained and non-ultrasound fellowship trained faculty increased the absolute number of exams performed.Conclusion: A key perceived barrier to resident-performed POCUS is unfamiliarity with documenting ultrasounds for medical decision-making. Educating residents in person about a POCUS documentation protocol may help overcome this barrier. Incorporating resident input and motivation into POCUS incentivization may increase utilization. Future studies in optimizing POCUS on shift will need to focus on streamlining documentation, addressing time constraints, and faculty support for resident-performed POCUS.
The Potential Benefits of Deferred Payment for a Hypothetical Gene Therapy for Congestive Heart Failure: A Cost-Consequence Analysis

The emergence of potentially curative pharmacologic treatments that deliver long-term clinical benefits with a limited number of doses may create short-term budget challenges for payers as their unit price can be high. This paper tests the clinical and financial properties of a deferred payment model (DPM) in hypothetical therapy for congestive heart failure (CHF) from the perspective of payers, manufacturers, and patients. We present an empirical analysis of longitudinal data for cardiovascular admissions and mortality using a Markov transition model for patient progression under different payment scenarios. The model calculates life-years gained and avoided cardiovascular admissions under the status quo and deferred payment and a hypothetical budget constraint. We tracked over 91,000 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries over a period of 5 years (2009–2014) using MedPAR 5% data files. We find that a DPM is associated with earlier treatment and a consequent improvement in clinical outcomes. A 25% down-payment is associated with the highest relative improvement and reduces hospital admissions by 0.52% (by 2611 vs. 2071 cases) and mortality by 0.29% (by 799 vs. 648 cases), both relative to the status quo payment. Deferred payment results in limited financial gains for payers or manufacturers, primarily because of the small share of expected cost savings on the total cost of therapy. Our results are robust to changes in relative risk for cardiovascular admissions and a change in the cost of therapy. A DPM may result in faster access to CHF gene therapy and may thus reduce hospital admissions and mortality in contrast to a status quo payment with the same budget constraint. Although the financial benefits of a DPM in CHF gene therapy are limited, it is possible that deferred payments will show greater promise for treatments with higher cost offsets.
Dictionaries, Memoization, and Speed

In the previous chapter we saw how to solve some important computational problems with the use-it-or-lose-it principle. This approach obtains the correct answer by effectively exploring every possible solution to a problem. Unfortunately, it turns out that this approach can get very slow as data sets get large. For example, on a typical personal computer, running the LCS function on two random strings, each of length 10, takes approximately one thousandth of a second. But on two strings of length 25 it takes a good part of an hour and on strings of length 100 (which is still very short by the standards of biologists working with real sequences) it would take, conservatively, well over a trillion years . We began this part of the book with the problem of determining homology between the mammalian X and the bird Z chromosomes. To solve this problem, we’ll need to do over 1000 comparisons between proteins that are each hundreds of amino acids long. That will (almost literally) take forever!
Opportunities and challenges associated with using municipal waste incineration ash as a raw ingredient in cement production – a review

Abstract Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) ash contains the elemental composition necessary for cement manufacturing and is a potentially feasible substitute for traditional materials utilized in this process. However, MSWI ash is underutilized in this application and is the subject of considerable research. A number of studies have been published on the topic of MSWI ash incorporation into cement production, but a critical gap in the literature is the lack of a comprehensive overview of the published science regarding this practice. This manuscript serves to fill this gap, providing an extensive review and summary of globally published literature regarding the use of MSWI ash as a raw ingredient for cement production. Topics include an analysis of raw material composition, performance characteristics, environmental considerations, chloride and alkali limitations, and life cycle impacts for clinker and cement created using MSWI ash (bottom ash or fly ash) as a raw ingredient. This document does not cover the direct use of MSWI ash as a cementitious material supplement (i.e., cement replacement), but rather only MSWI ash as a raw ingredient replacement in the manufacture of cementitious material. Existing literature documents a range of impacts that MSWI ash as a kiln feed material may have on cement behavior. Deficiencies as well as improvements in cement quality have been attributed to MSWI ash incorporation into cement. Existing studies suggest viable addition of untreated MSWI ash addition is limited to below 10%, but control of harmful substances may increase viable addition to around 30–50%, with some exceptions.
Examining relationships between traditional vulnerability data proxies and hurricane risk perception indicators

Development, social processes, cultures, beliefs, risk perceptions, and attitudes contribute to spatial variations in vulnerability. Risk perceptions directly and indirectly affect how individuals ...
Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Non-risk-adapted Active Surveillance for Postorchiectomy Management of Clinical Stage I Seminoma.

Abstract Background Cancer-specific survival for men with clinical stage I (CSI) seminoma approaches 100%, regardless of the management approach chosen after orchiectomy. Given the young age and high survival rate of these patients, there has been a shift toward minimizing treatment-related morbidity and cost. In this context, non–risk-adapted active surveillance (NRAS) has emerged as a desirable management strategy. Objective To evaluate the clinical, quality of life, and economic values of postorchiectomy NRAS for CSI seminoma. Design, setting, and participants We developed a decision analytic Markov model to estimate the costs and health outcomes of competing postorchiectomy management strategies for otherwise healthy 30-yr-old men with CSI seminoma. Intervention Real-world current practice, comprising active surveillance and adjuvant therapies (reference arm), was compared with empiric adjuvant radiotherapy (option 1), empiric adjuvant chemotherapy (option 2), risk-adapted active surveillance (RAAS; option 3), and NRAS (option 4). Outcome measurements and statistical analysis Quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), medical costs, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, mortality, and unnecessary treatment avoidance were estimated over a 10-yr period. Uncertainties in model input values were accounted for using univariate, scenario, and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Results and limitations NRAS dominated all other management options, offering the lowest per-patient health care cost ($3839) and the highest QALYs gained (7.74) over 10 yr. On probabilistic sensitivity analysis, NRAS had the highest chance of being most cost effective. Although NRAS resulted in the highest rate of salvage chemotherapy (20% vs 6% radiotherapy, 6% chemotherapy, 15% current practice, and 16% RAAS), it had the same mortality rate compared to current practice (2.5%). NRAS also allowed 80% of patients to avoid unnecessary treatment compared with 46% for current practice and 52% for RAAS. Study limitations included model simplifications, model parameter assumptions, as well as the absence of patient preference as a decision factor. Conclusions NRAS maintains high cure rates for CSI seminoma, minimizes unnecessary treatment, and is cost effective compared with other management strategies. Patient summary Clinical stage I (CSI) seminoma is one of the most common forms of testicular cancer. Surgery is the first step in the treatment of men with this disease, and some men may receive additional treatment with radiation or chemotherapy afterward. As most men are cured with surgery alone, non–risk-adapted active surveillance (NRAS), which involves routine monitoring with imaging and blood tests for disease recurrence after surgery, has become a desirable treatment option. Our study shows that in addition to maintaining high survival rates and avoiding unnecessary radiation and chemotherapy, NRAS is cost effective for the health care system.
Contelog: A declarative language for modeling and reasoning with contextual knowledge

Abstract Context-awareness is at the core of many modern-day applications in safety and secure-critical domains. In existing context-aware systems knowledge and context are not formally integrated, and consequently adaptation behaviors for safety-criticality cannot be formally reasoned. In modern day smart systems, such as healthcare and advanced manufacturing, context-awareness must be combined with contextual reasoning in order that new knowledge can be inferred and based on which strategic decisions can be made. Consequently, a rigorous approach is essential to represent contextual domain knowledge and inference rules in order to combine the logic of domain-based decision rules with contextual constraints for contextual reasoning, and decision making. In this paper we address this later issue and introduce a formal approach to achieve contextual reasoning. The framework that we create, called Contelog, conservatively extends the syntax and semantics of Datalog to reason with contextual knowledge. In this setting, contextual knowledge is reusable on its own. The significance is that by fixing the contextual knowledge, goal-specific analysis rules may be changed, and vice versa. By providing a theory of context, independent of the logic of the rules, we have developed a simple and sound context calculus using which it is possible to export knowledge reasoned in one context to another context. Query processing and implementation of Contelogprograms convince us that it has the capabilities to reason in systems where perception and cognition are formally combined for problem solving.
Looking for the Outsider

Looking for the Outsider A 44-year-old man presented with fatigue, unintentional weight loss, and a 2-year history of hip and chest-wall pain. He had earlier presented with acute right clavicle pai...
Humanity in social work pandemic pedagogy: Rejecting normalcy and embracing uncertainty

An editorial is presented to the article social work educators often feel responsible for nurturing the generation of practitioner through training in academic classrooms and supervision in field settings Topics include educators and students felt the pressure to pivot and adjust to a new normal as implicitly and explicitly mandated by academic institutions;and social work educators have resisted normalcy narrative and built-in time for reflection and community care
Electoral Rules, Social Structure, and Public Goods Provision: Outcomes, Spending, and Policies

Does proportional representation (PR) lead to broader public goods spending? Past literature has overwhelming shown that it does, but the empirics underlying these findings have mostly relied on ethnically homogenous Western countries. Categorizing countries along three dimensions of ethnic structure—ethnic fractionalization, ethno-income crosscuttingness and ethno-geographic dispersion—I argue that in some types of societies, PR has the positive effect on fiscal spending type predicted by past models, but not in others. Specifically, in countries with high ethnic salience (ethnically heterogeneous, low crosscutting) where ethnic groups are geographically intermixed, PR leads to narrower fiscal spending; in high ethnic salience societies where ethnic groups are geographically isolated, neither PR nor majoritarian electoral rules lead to broader fiscal spending. I test this socio-institutional theory in a sample of 70 developing democracies using life expectancy and illiteracy as proxies for public goods provision.
Case study: Accounting for response measurement error in fitting a regression model

This article presents a case study motivated by a plot of data that suggested an emerging trend that the authors were faced with explaining. When the measurement error of the data is accounted for,...
The Problem with the Peace Cross

In June 2019, in the case of American Legion v. American Humanist Association, the United States Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that a World War I memorial cross could remain on public land without violating the Establishment Clause. This brief essay reflects on the implications of the Court’s decision, which was rooted in a history of the cross as a generalized symbol of the war, emptied of particular religious significance. This decision reveals ignorance of the pervasiveness of religious nationalism throughout World War I, and furthermore provides an example of the Supreme Court’s underexplored role as an arbiter of societal memory. Through examination of the role of religion in World War I, this paper argues that the Court has drastically misrepresented the impetus for construction of the Peace Cross in a manner which constitutes a harmful cheapening of the cross as a symbol of great significance to many Christians. The American Legion decision also signals cause for concern over the Court’s role as an authoritative source of American social memory. The Court interprets law through history, and the precedent the Court establishes has the capacity to shape the record of American history, and thus American memory. The Court’s recasting of the war memorial cross as a secular symbol threatens to alter the nation’s memory of this particular symbol with very real consequences for the application of the Establishment Clause.
Effect of vaccination of beef cows during gestation on transfer of passive immunity and clinical protection of calves against experimental challenge with BRSV

The bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) is the leading cause of death of beef calves older than 3 weeks of age and causes major economic losses to producers (USDA NAHMS Beef Part IV. 2007-2008). The bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) is an important cause of respiratory disease in young calves. Clinical protection against BRSV provided by vaccination of young calves at different ages and with different levels of maternal antibodies has not resulted in significant reduction of BRDC-associated morbidity and mortality (Theurer et al, J Am Vet Med Assoc, 2015). Clinical protection provided by maternally derived immunity against BRSV has been inconsistent in the literature and could negatively affect the efficacy of vaccination programs in young calves (Ellis et al, Can Vet J, 2014). In contrast, failure in the transfer of passive immunity and rapid decay of colostral antibodies have been suggested as risk factors of pre-weaning beef calf pneumonia (Smith DR, Anim Health Res Rev, 2014). The objective of this study was to determine if vaccination of beef cows during gestation resulted in greater transfer of BRSV-specific maternal immunity and provided prolonged clinical protection of calves against experimental challenge with BRSV.
Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 monitoring as a community-level COVID-19 trend tracker and variants in Ohio, United States.

The global pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in more than 129 million confirm cases. Many health authorities around the world have implemented wastewater-based epidemiology as a rapid and complementary tool for the COVID-19 surveillance system and more recently for variants of concern emergence tracking. In this study, three SARS-CoV-2 target genes (N1 and N2 gene regions, and E gene) were quantified from wastewater influent samples (n = 250) obtained from the capital city and 7 other cities in various size in central Ohio from July 2020 to January 2021. To determine human-specific fecal strength in wastewater samples more accurately, two human fecal viruses (PMMoV and crAssphage) were quantified to normalize the SARS-CoV-2 gene concentrations in wastewater. To estimate the trend of new case numbers from SARS-CoV-2 gene levels, different statistical models were built and evaluated. From the longitudinal data, SARS-CoV-2 gene concentrations in wastewater strongly correlated with daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases (average Spearman's r = 0.70, p < 0.05), with the N2 gene region being the best predictor of the trend of confirmed cases. Moreover, average daily case numbers can help reduce the noise and variation from the clinical data. Among the models tested, the quadratic polynomial model performed best in correlating and predicting COVID-19 cases from the wastewater surveillance data, which can be used to track the effectiveness of vaccination in the later stage of the pandemic. Interestingly, neither of the normalization methods using PMMoV or crAssphage significantly enhanced the correlation with new case numbers, nor improved the estimation models. Viral sequencing showed that shifts in strain-defining variants of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples matched those in clinical isolates from the same time periods. The findings from this study support that wastewater surveillance is effective in COVID-19 trend tracking and provide sentinel warning of variant emergence and transmission within various types of communities.
The Conflict of Tobacco Education Among American Indians: Traditional Practice or Health Risk?

Tobacco has always been and continues to be an integral part of Native American religions. Tobacco provides Indian people a connection between their own culture and the spirit world. The practice of using tobacco is very honorable in religious beliefs of a tribe and has been associated with peace and healing among American Indians (AIs) for generations. Tobacco is used as an offering, as a medicine, for prayer, or a sacrament. Tobacco use during prayer or ceremony may be smoked (inhaled or not inhaled), used in a pipe or in the form of a cigarette, placed in the fire, placed on a drum, given as a gift, or used to contact the spirit world.1