cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Patient portal use and hospital outcomes.

Objectives To determine whether use of a patient portal during hospitalization is associated with improvement in hospital outcomes, 30-day readmissions, inpatient mortality, and 30-day mortality. Materials and methods We performed a retrospective propensity score-matched study that included all adult patients admitted to Mayo Clinic Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, from August 1, 2012, to July 31, 2014, who had signed up for a patient portal account prior to hospitalization (N = 7538). Results Out of the admitted patients with a portal account, 1566 (20.8%) accessed the portal while in the hospital. Compared to patients who did not access the portal, patients who accessed the portal were younger (58.8 years vs 62.3 years), had fewer elective admissions (54.2% vs 64.1%), were more frequently admitted to medical services (45.8% vs 35.2%), and were more likely to have liver disease (21.9% vs 12.9%) and higher disease severity scores (0.653 vs 0.456). After propensity score matching, there was no statistically significant difference between the 2 cohorts with respect to 30-day readmission (P = .13), inpatient mortality (P = .82), or 30-day mortality (P = .082). Conclusion Use of the patient portal in the inpatient setting may not improve hospital outcomes. Future research should examine the association of portal use with more immediate inpatient health outcomes such as patient experience, patient engagement, medication reconciliation, and prevention of adverse events.
Go with the flow: Cerebrovascular reactivity as a therapeutic target for TBI symptoms

Sildenafil improves cerebrovascular reactivity in patients with chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI) and may ameliorate lingering symptoms.
Taxation and Social Engineering

Excise taxes, or any taxes for that matter, violate property rights, since they take property without the owner’s consent. The argument that voters consent to be taxed is a phony argument when subjected to analysis, but we will not get into that issue here, since it has been discussed elsewhere.1 The point of this chapter is to discuss another abuse of the tax system, the use of taxes to alter or punish behavior rather than to raise revenue. Although this chapter emphasizes how the excise tax is used as a tool of social engineering, any tax could be used to alter taxpayer behavior, so much of what is said about excise taxes could also be said about other taxes.
Gaining Insight from Operational Data for Service Optimization

Service optimization is key in the drive to further automate and increase the effi-ciency of the services provided to clients. A given client may be ahead, in one or more areas, versus where other clients are. Learning from these best-of-breed cli-ents benefits the other clients in optimizing their services. Each of the clients normally generates a large number of data points for all the elements comprising the services they consume. Important data points are generally contained within incident tickets and change tickets. These tickets contain not only information about the nature of the issue, but also contain resolution information.
Increased soil respiration in response to experimentally reduced snow cover and increased soil freezing in a temperate deciduous forest

Winter snowpack in seasonally snow-covered regions plays an important role in moderating ecosystem processes by insulating soil from freezing air temperatures. However, climate models project a decline in snowpack at mid and high latitudes over the next century. We conducted a snow removal experiment in a temperate deciduous forest at Harvard Forest in Massachusetts, USA to quantify the effects of a reduced winter snowpack and increased soil freezing on total soil respiration and its bulk (i.e. heterotrophic) and root-rhizosphere components. Snow removal increased soil freezing severity by more than three-fold, which resulted in a 27.6% increase in annual total soil respiration (p = 0.058). Across our plots and years of this study, we found that the severity, rather than simply the presence of soil freezing, was the primary driver of the soil respiration response to reduced winter snowpack. Bulk soil respiration made the largest contribution to total soil respiration with root-rhizosphere respiration contributing up to 26.1 ± 6.5% of total soil respiration across plot types and years. Snow removal significantly increased fine root mortality (p = 0.03), which was positively correlated with soil frost depth and duration (p = 0.068, $${\text{R}}_{{{\text{LMM}}(m)}}^{ 2}$$ = 0.46), rates of total soil respiration (p = 0.075; $${\text{R}}_{{{\text{LMM}}(m)}}^{ 2}$$ = 0.27) and the contribution of root-rhizosphere respiration to total soil respiration (p = 0.004; $${\text{R}}_{{{\text{LMM}}(m)}}^{ 2}$$ = 0.58). We conclude that increased rates of soil respiration in response to soil freezing are driven by plant-mediated processes, whereby soil frost-induced root mortality stimulates respiration through decomposition of root necromass with additional enhancements possibly related to priming of soil organic matter decomposition and elevated rates of root respiration associated with growth.
An increase in spontaneous activity mediates visual habituation

The cerebral cortex is spontaneously active, but the function of this ongoing activity remains unclear. One possibility is that spontaneous activity provides contextual information in cortical computations, replaying previously learned patterns of activity that conditions the cortex to respond more efficiently, based on past experience. To test this, we measured the response of neuronal populations in mouse primary visual cortex with chronic two-photon calcium imaging during a visual habituation to a specific oriented stimulus. We unexpectedly found that, during habituation, spontaneous activity increased in neurons across the full range of orientation selectivity, eventually matching that of evoked levels. The increase in spontaneous activity strongly correlated with the degree of habituation. In fact, boosting spontaneous activity with two-photon optogenetic stimulation to the levels of stimulus-evoked activity induced habituation in naive animals. Our study shows that cortical spontaneous activity is causally linked to habituation, which unfolds by minimizing the difference between spontaneous and stimulus-evoked activity levels, rendering the cortex less responsive. We also show how manipulating spontaneous activity can accelerate this type of learning. We hypothesize that spontaneous activity in visual cortex gates incoming sensory information.
The Role of Emotions in Teachers’ Professional Development: Attending a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Program

The current study investigated teachers’ emotions, motivations, and changes to classroom practice as related to their involvement in a 6-week summer professional development (PD) program. Participants ( ) attended the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program at a large university in the United States. Overall, study results showed that emotions played an important role in teachers’ engagement in the RET program and triggered changes in teachers’ thinking and implementation of their science teaching practices. Positive correlations were found among teachers’ motivations and emotions about their PD experience, as well as changes to their teaching practices. Interview data provided more depth to understanding participants’ views of their RET experiences.
Dynamics of wet‐season turbidity in relation to precipitation, discharge, and land cover in three urbanizing watersheds, Oregon

Frequent intense precipitation events can mobilize and carry sediment and pollutants into rivers, degrading water quality. However, how seasonal rainfall and land cover affect the complex relationship between discharge and turbidity in urban watersheds is still under investigation. Using hourly discharge, rainfall, and turbidity data collected from six stations in three adjacent watersheds between 2008 and 2017, we examined the temporal variability of the discharge–turbidity relationship along an urban–rural gradient. We quantified hysteresis between normalized discharge and turbidity by a hysteresis index and classified hysteresis loops during 377 storm events in early, mid, and late wet season. Hysteresis loop index and direction varied by site land cover type and season. Turbidity values peaked quicker in the watersheds with higher degrees of urban development than in a less urbanized watershed. The positive relation between discharge and turbidity was highest in two downstream stations in the mid wet season, whereas it was highest in two upstream stations in the early wet season. Correlation and regression analysis showed that maximum turbidity was best explained by discharge range, and the sensitivity of turbidity to discharge change was higher in the larger downstream watershed than in the small upstream watersheds. A flashiness index was negatively associated with the slope of turbidity versus discharge, suggesting that turbidity is difficult to predict solely on the basis of discharge in flashy urban streams. This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the spatial and temporal variation of discharge–concentration relationship in urbanizing watersheds, which can help water managers increase the resiliency of water‐related ecosystem services to impacts of climate change.
Improved Beckner–Sobolev Inequalities on Kähler Manifolds

We prove new Beckner–Sobolev type inequalities on compact Kahler manifolds with positive Ricci curvature. As an application, we obtain a diameter upper bound that improves the Bonnet–Myers bound.
A behavioral economic analysis of the effects of rimcazole on reinforcing effects of cocaine injection and food presentation in rats.

Rimcazole, a σ-receptor antagonist with affinity for the dopamine transporter (DAT), decreases rates of cocaine self-administration at doses lower than those that affect food-reinforced responding. As response rates are multiply determined, behavioral-economic analyses were used to provide measures of the reinforcing effectiveness of cocaine and food after rimcazole treatment. Further, effects of combinations of the DAT inhibitor, methylphenidate, and σ-receptor antagonists (BD1008, BD1063) were compared to those of rimcazole to assess mechanism of rimcazole effects. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to lever press with food reinforcement (one or three 20-mg sucrose pellets) or cocaine injection (0.1 or 0.32 mg/kg) under fixed-ratio (FR) 5-response schedules. Drugs or vehicle were administered (i.p.) 5-min before sessions in which FR value was increased from 5 to 80. Economic demand functions were generated from effects of FR value (price) on intake (consumption), with the parameters of demand, consumption at no cost (Q0) and sensitivity to price (essential value, EV), derived. Rimcazole dose-dependently decreased Q0 and EV at both cocaine doses/injection. In contrast, rimcazole had no effect on these parameters at either food amount. Combinations of methylphenidate and the σ-receptor antagonists decreased Q0 at the lower cocaine dose/injection but had no effect on EV; these treatments were ineffective on both economic parameters at the higher cocaine dose/injection and at either food amount. Though the drug combinations only replicated rimcazole’s effects incompletely, the present results suggest a specific decrease in the reinforcing effects of cocaine due to dual DAT σ-receptor blockade.
Quantitative Synthesis of Timed 25-Foot Walk Performance in Multiple Sclerosis.

Abstract Objective To provide a meta-analysis of articles that have included the timed 25-foot walk (T25FW) in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS), quantify differences in T25FW scores between those with MS and controls without MS, and quantify differences between categories of disability status and clinical disease courses within MS. Data Sources The literature search was conducted using 4 databases (Google Scholar, PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, EBSCO Host). We searched reference lists of published articles to identify additional articles. Study Selection A systematic literature search identified articles reporting average T25FW performance in seconds between those with MS and controls without MS, between those with MS who had mild and moderate and/or severe disability status, and between relapsing-remitting and progressive clinical courses of MS. Data Extraction Information was extracted and categorized based on reported data: comparisons of controls without MS and MS, comparisons of mild and moderate and/or severe MS based on study-defined Expanded Disability Status Scale groups, and comparisons of relapsing-remitting and progressive MS clinical courses. Data Synthesis We performed a random effects meta-analysis to quantify differences between groups as estimated by effect sizes (ESs). We expressed the differences in Cohen d as well as the original units of the T25FW (ie, seconds). Conclusions There was a large difference in T25FW performance in MS compared with controls without MS (ES=−0.93, mean difference=2.4s, P
Discordant Chronic Conditions and Depressive Symptoms: Longitudinal Associations Among Middle-Aged and Older Couples

Objectives Individuals often manage chronic conditions in middle and later life that may diminish well-being. Little is known, however, about discordant conditions (i.e., two or more conditions with competing self-management requirements) among older couples and their links to depressive symptoms. We considered discordant conditions at both the individual level and the couple level (i.e., between spouses), along with their long-term implications for depressive symptoms. Methods The U.S. sample included 1,116 middle-aged and older couples drawn from five waves (2006-2014) of the Health and Retirement Study. Longitudinal actor-partner interdependence models evaluated whether individual-level and couple-level discordant chronic health conditions were concurrently linked to depressive symptoms, and whether these associations became stronger over time. Models controlled for age, minority status, education, prior wave depressive symptoms, and each partner's baseline report of negative marital quality and number of chronic conditions in each wave. Results Wives and husbands reported significantly greater depressive symptoms when they had individual-level discordant conditions about 2 years after baseline, and these links intensified over time. Beyond this association, husbands had significantly greater depressive symptoms when there were couple-level discordant conditions. Discussion Individual-level and couple-level discordant conditions may have lasting implications for depressive symptoms during midlife and older adulthood.
A brief review of choice bundling: A strategy to reduce delay discounting and bolster self-control

Choice bundling is a behavioral economic strategy designed to reduce excessive delay discounting and bolster self-control. Choice bundling entails aggregating a series of individual, identical intertemporal decisions (e.g., should I smoke today?) into a single choice (e.g., should I smoke this month?). In this brief review, we succinctly summarize delay discounting and how it has been linked to lapses in self-control, using substance use as an exemplar. Next, we describe how choice bundling may theoretically work to counter excess discounting rates. Finally, we review the extant empirical research on choice bundling and offer recommendations for future research.
Robotic-assisted interval cytoreductive surgery in ovarian cancer: a feasibility study.

Objective The primary objective was to assess the feasibility of robotic-assisted interval cytoreductive surgery for achieving complete cytoreduction for patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer. The secondary objective was to examine the perioperative outcomes. Methods A retrospective study of 12 patients with stage ⅢC or Ⅳ ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal carcinoma who underwent interval cytoreductive surgery after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. Results Optimal cytoreduction was achieved in 100% of selected patients. Complete cytoreductive surgery was achieved in 75% of patients. The estimated mean blood loss was 100 mL. The median length of hospital stay was 2 days. Perioperative complication and 30-day readmission rates were 8.3% (1 patient). The median follow-up time was 9.5 months. Conclusion Robotic-assisted interval cytoreductive surgery in ovarian cancer is safe and feasible and may be an alternative to standard laparotomy in selected patients.
Sub-optimal tracking in switched systems with fixed final time and fixed mode sequence using reinforcement learning

Abstract Approximate dynamic programming is used to solve optimal tracking problems in switched systems with controlled subsystems and fixed mode sequence. Two feedback control solutions are generated such that the system tracks a desired reference signal, and the optimal switching instants are sought. Simulation results are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the solutions.
Nanomechanical Insight of Pancreatic Cancer Cell Membrane during Receptor Mediated Endocytosis of Targeted Gold Nanoparticles

Nanoscale alterations in the cellular membrane transpire during cellular interactions with the extracellular environment through the endocytosis processes. Although the biological innuendos as well...
Optimal Flow of MVDC Shipboard Microgrids With Hybrid Storage Enhanced With Capacitive and Resistive Droop Controllers

Hybrid storage system composed of battery energy storage systems (BESSs) and supercapacitors is a promising solution to mitigate the high frequency power fluctuations of pulsed power loads (PPLs) in medium voltage DC (MVDC) shipboard power systems. Due to the presence of multiple storage units, a power sharing algorithm needs to be considered within the energy management system (EMS) in the shipboard power system. In this paper, an optimal power flow problem is formulated for MVDC shipboard power systems with hybrid energy storage systems. Battery energy storage systems (BESSs) and conventional generation units are enhanced with virtual resistive droop controllers to share the steady-state power fluctuations. Supercapacitors are enhanced with virtual capacitive droop controllers to share the high frequency fluctuations in the load. The optimal flow accounts for minimizing the operational cost of the generation units in the shipboard power system considering the constraints of network, load balance, voltage profile, and power/energy limits. Second-order cone programming (SOCP) relaxation is used to approximate the nonconvexity of the optimal flow formulation and necessary conditions for global optimality of the solution are discussed. Results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed formulation in load support and managing the energy between storage units.
Mosaic warfare and implications for novel sensing

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing the technologies to conduct Mosaic Warfare. These are the tools and infrastructure to enable dynamic composition and operation of adaptive, disaggregated systems of systems architectures. When applied to sensing, the tools of Mosaic enable sensing to be conducted as a “team sport” in which we can move away from expensive, complex, exquisite, multi-function monolithic sensors to highly distributed, hyper-specialized sensors in which each individual sensor addresses only a small part of an overall function. This specialization enables deployment of sensors in greater numbers and smaller, cheaper platforms. The presentation will discuss how DARPA is implementing Mosaic, the implications for sensing, and potential dual-use applications in the commercial sector.
Mechanical ventilation at the time of heart transplantation and associations with clinical outcomes.

AIMS The impact of mechanical ventilation (MV) at the time of heart transplantation is not well understood. In addition, MV was recently removed as a criterion from the new US heart transplantation allocation system. We sought to assess for the association between MV at transplantation and 1-year mortality. METHODS AND RESULTS We utilized the United Network for Organ Sharing database and included all adult, single organ heart transplantations from 1990 to 2019. We utilized multivariable logistic regression adjusting for demographics, comorbidities, and markers of clinical acuity. We identified 60 980 patients who underwent heart transplantation, 2.4% (n = 1431) of which required MV at transplantation. Ventilated patients were more likely to require temporary mechanical support, previous dialysis, and had a shorter median waitlist time (21 vs. 95 days, P < 0.001). At 1 year, the mortality was 33.7% (n = 484) for ventilated patients and 11.7% (n = 6967) for those not ventilated at the time of transplantation (log-rank P < 0.001). After multivariable adjustment, patients requiring MV continued to have a substantially higher 90-day [odds ratio (OR) 3.20, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.79-3.66, P < 0.001] and 1-year mortality (OR 2.67, 95% CI: 2.36-3.03, P < 0.001). For those that survived to 90 days, the adjusted mortality at 1 year continued to be higher (OR 1.48, 95% CI: 1.16-1.89, P = 0.002). CONCLUSION We found a strong association between the presence of MV at heart transplantation and 90-day and 1-year mortality. Future studies are needed to identify which patients requiring MV have reasonable outcomes, and which are associated with substantially poorer outcomes.
Spatial perception of textures depends on length-scale

This study explores the ability to sense, retain, and recall tactile textures with and without deliberate visuospatial distraction. By examining this tactile recall for textures with significantly different characteristic length scales, we aim to distinguish modes of textural processing that are differentiated with respect to the use of spatial working memory. All textures were produced on a glass panel where ultrasonic vibrations modulated the friction between glass and the user’s finger. The goal of this study is to demonstrate that spatial working memory is a significant tool in representing textures with relatively large inter-feature spacing, but does not appear to play a large factor when textures have relatively small inter-feature spacing. This conclusion suggests that spatial information is only relevant in texture sensation above a certain length scale, which could contribute to the reduction of information required for a texture to be realistically reproduced in a virtual setting.
Relevance of Circadian Rhythm in Cancer

Circadian rhythms are patterns of behavior, physiology, and metabolism that occur within a period of approximately 24 h. These rhythms are generated endogenously, but synchronize to external cues, thus enabling organisms to beneficially align physiological processes to the inherently dynamic, yet predictable, seasonal changes in the day–night cycle. The cell autonomous circadian oscillator temporally coordinates cellular processes, including metabolism, proliferation, cell signaling, organelle function, proteostasis, and DNA damage repair to sustain cellular homeostasis. It is hypothesized that the circadian oscillators evolved as a “flight from light” mechanism to minimize UV damage to single stranded DNA by restricting DNA replication to the nighttime. Support for this hypothesis is accumulating with the recent observation that the circadian rhythm and cell cycle are intimately coupled to each other, so that specific phases of cell cycle occur at a defined phase of the circadian oscillator at single-cell level [1]. Furthermore, chronic circadian disruption perturbs cellular homeostasis and predisposes to cancer. Conversely, numerous cancer cell lines display severe circadian alterations, which likely contribute to aggressive proliferation of the tumor. Hence, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the relevance of circadian rhythm for optimizing fitness under natural conditions and its utility and adaptability in the modern world so that the knowledge can be better leveraged for the prevention and treatment of cancer.
Reducing the Effects of Gender Stereotypes on Performance Evaluations

The purpose of this research was to extend previous work on gender bias in performance evaluation. Specifically, we examined whether a structured free recall intervention could decrease the influence of traditional gender-stereotypes on the performance evaluations of women. Two hundred and forty-seven college students provided performance ratings for vignettes that described the performance of male or female college professors. Results indicated that without the intervention, raters who have traditional stereotypes evaluated women less accurately and more negatively. Conversely, the structured free recall intervention successfully eliminated these effects. The usefulness of the structured free recall intervention as a tool for decreasing the influence of gender stereotypes on performance ratings is discussed.
A survey of aircrew fatigue in a sample of U.S. Army aviation personnel.

BACKGROUND: Recently published data on military aviation mishaps suggest aircrew fatigue remains a flight-safety problem. METHODS: In the current study, a questionnaire was administered to 241 Army aviators and 120 Army enlisted crew members. RESULTS: Inadequate sleep and/or insufficient sleep quality is reportedly adversely affecting on-the-job alertness. The requirements to work a variety of schedules and to travel/work away from home are likely contributing to less than optimal sleep quality; however, a number of personnel may be suffering from sleep deprivation due to intentional sleep restriction as well. The personnel surveyed in this study indicated they were sleeping less than 7 h per night, which is 1 h less than the amount recommended by sleep specialists. This insufficient sleep, combined with rotating schedules and other work demands, no doubt contributed to the perceptions of three-quarters of the present sample that fatigue is a widespread problem in the military aviation community. CONCLUSION: These results indicate the importance of continuing to stress fatigue-reduction strategies in training and operational environments. Language: en
Organizational knowledge and ambidexterity in national laboratories: A tale of three industries

Ambidexterity, i.e. balancing the need to exploit against the need to explore, is a well-known challenge in most innovation-driven firms. Does it also apply to national laboratories? We conduct a survey-based study of the national laboratories of a rapidly developing country, whose stated missions are 1) satisfying the needs of targeted local technology users; 2) commercialization of technology; and 3) developing a long-term RD electronics and computers; materials and nano-materials. Our study finds that, regardless of industry, ambidexterity is a major challenge for the national laboratories. Both internal and external sources of knowledge that contribute to the success of the short-term missions of satisfying user needs and commercializing technology have a detrimental impact on developing a long-term R&D capability, and conversely.
Southeastern U.S. vegetation response to ENSO Events (1989–1999)

El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is considered one of the most powerful forces driving anomalous global weather patterns. Large-scale seasonal precipitation and temperature changes influenced by ENSO have been examined in many areas of the world. The southeastern United States is one of the regions affected by ENSO events. In this study, remote sensing detection of vegetation response to ENSO phases is demonstrated with one-kilometer biweekly Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data (1989–1999) derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). The impacts of three ENSO phases, cold, warm and neutral, on vegetation were analyzed with a focus on two vegetation cover types, two seasons and two geographic regions within the southeastern U.S. Significant ENSO effects on vegetation were found in cropland and forest vegetation cover types based on image and statistical analysis of the NDVI data. The results indicate that vegetation condition was optimal during the ENSO neutral phase for both agricultural and natural vegetation.
Semigroups and Antieigenvalues

It is of historical interest that questions in semigroup perturbation theory led some years ago to a theory of antieigenvalues. That theory and those origins will be explained. Simultaneously we propose and pursue by similar considerations a new mechanism of irreversibility for quantum theory, based upon multiplicative disturbances.
Multimedia support for wireless CDMA with dynamic spreading

The emerging M-commerce needs more support in operating systems in order to be successful over a wireless environment. The system needs to support a seamless integration (i.e., transparent application switching) to support voice, audio and conventional data (e.g., e-mails, and ftp). It should also support many users with guaranteed quality. We investigate effective protocol design with dynamic spreading factors such that various QoS (i.e., BER) based on different traffic types can be provided. We further extend our protocol to guarantee a balanced support among different traffic types.
Rapidly released allergens from short ragweed pollen: I. Kinetics of release of known allergens in relation to biologic activity

Abstract Study of the kinetics of in vitro release of known antigens from short ragweed pollen revealed a slow release of AgE (1.5% to 4% release after 16 min) but a rapid release of other highly allergenic components. The rapidly released allergens in 16-min pollen extracts were found to be mainly highly basic proteins including the well-characterized Ra5 molecule along with several hitherto uncharacterized components. Considering previous data that suggest that particles of a similar size to ragweed pollen grains remain in the nose only about 6 to 8 min following inhalation, it is difficult to explain the apparent anomaly between the high biologic potency of 16-min extracts and their low AgE content. Increase in the pH of the extracting buffer from the physiologically normal nasal pH of 5.5 to 6.5 to about pH 8.0 to 8.5 (characteristically found in rhinitis) increased the proportion of AgE released after 16-min extraction by about 10-fold, suggesting that response to allergens in ragweed and other inhalants may enhance AgE release and thereby aggravate allergic symptoms. Detailed comparison of the allergenic activity of AgE and of 16-min and 4-day ragweed extracts in 38 ragweed-sensitive subjects suggested that allergens other than AgE were together more important than AgE in causing ragweed allergy in most patients, although large patient-to-patient differences in relative response were observed. Our data emphasize the need to reevaluate materials used in both diagnosis and treatment of ragweed allergy. The importance of AgE relative to other ragweed pollen components with respect to induction of allergic symptomatology deserves to be placed in a more balanced perspective.
Hepatocellular Carcinoma in the Setting of Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection: Tumor Recurrence and Survival Rates After Liver Transplantation

Abstract Background Higher rates of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence after liver transplantation (LT) in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection have been reported. This can influence their selection for LT and post-LT monitoring. Objective The aim of this work was to compare the rates of post-LT HCC recurrence and survival in HBV and non-HBV patients with the use of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database. Methods After accessing the UNOS database, we analyzed patients with HCC stage T2 who underwent LT from cadaveric donors on or after August 24, 1998. Propensity score matching based on age, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD), and donor risk index was used to match HBV-HCC patients to HCC patients with other underlying liver diseases: hepatitis C virus (HCV), alcoholic liver disease (ALD), both HCV + ALD, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Kaplan-Meier plots and multivariable analysis (with the use of propensity score, age, sex, and race) were used to assess post-LT HCC recurrence and overall survival. Results A total of 4,480 HCC patients were matched. Their average age was 57 ± 7.8 years and average calculated MELD score was 13. Within 5 years of LT, 5.5% of patients had HCC recurrence and 20% died. HBV-HCC patients had 1.9 and 1.8 times higher hazard of tumor recurrence compared with ALD and NASH patients, respectively, and a 32% lower hazard of death than patients with HCV + ALD. There was no evidence of any other significant difference in HCC recurrence or survival among the etiology groups. Conclusions HCC recurrence and survival rates following LT for HCC patients with chronic HBV infection are similar to those of HCC patients with other underlying liver diseases. These findings support LT as a viable option for HCC-HBV patients.
Government Spending, the Real Interest Rate, and the Behavior of Liquidity-Constrained Consumers in Developing Countries

Empirical evidence on the deeterminants of private saving in 49 developing countries over the period 1973-83 indicates that, as predicted by theory, a positive relationship exists between the rate of growth of consumption and the expected real interest rate. The strength of that relatioship, how-ever, is such that increases in the real rate of return are not likely to elicit substantial increases in savings, especially in low-income developing countries. It appears that consumer behavior in developing countries is dominated by pervasive liquidity constraints that are exploitable for policy purposes.
E-journals from China: Technical and collection issues

L'article compare et evalue les trois principales bases de donnees electroniques de periodiques chinois : fonctionnalites de recherche, affichage des resultats et navigation. Il souligne les difficultes que peut rencontrer la communaute anglophone souhaitant s'abonner a ces bases de donnees. Contenu, budget, besoins mais aussi droits d'auteur, licences et stabilite des services devront etre pris en compte au moment de choisir une base de donnees.
Analysis and Prediction of Size Effect on Laser Forming of Sheet Metal

Abstract Geometric effects play an important role in laser forming processes; however, few investigations have explored geometric effects other than those induced by sheet thickness. In this paper, the influence of component size or size effect, including variation of sheet width and sheet length, on laser-induced deformation is experimentally, numerically, and analytically investigated. An experimental matrix is designed to cover a wide range of sheet width and length for experiments and numerical simulation under different process conditions. Distinctive trends in bending angle are identified for varying sheet width, length, or both. The results are interpreted in terms of heat sink effect and bending nonuniformity. An analytic model is developed to facilitate size effect prediction. The model is based on the solution to a moving strip heat source over a finite size sheet. It also accounts for the pre-bending effect among consecutive segments on the scanning path. Analytical results are compared with an existing analytical model and numerical simulation.
Raman spectrum from a single crystal of SnHPO4

Abstract The polarized Raman spectrum of a single crystal of SnHPO4 has been obtained in order to ascertain the vibrational characteristics of HPO2−4 dimers in a known configuration. Bands due to hydroxyl, OH, stretching, POH bending and the hydrogen bond were observed in addition to most of the predicted lattice modes. The OH stretching mode was observed at 2730 cm−1, the in-plane POH bend at 1275 cm−1 and the out-of-plane POH bend at 818 cm−1. A band of 55 cm−1 is assigned, on the basis of its deuterium shift, to a deformation of the hydrogen bond. Very low frequency bands at 18 and 30 cm−1 reflect the layer structure of SnHPO4 in which intra-layer forces are strong and inter-layer (hydrogen bonds) forces are weak.
Impact of Window Size and Sunlight Penetration on Office Workers' Mood and Satisfaction A Novel Way of Assessing Sunlight

Sunlighting or direct-gain passive solar strategies let sunlight penetrate the living space. In environments where the well-being of the building occupant is a salient concern to the designer, this...
Swift/T: Large-scale application composition via distributed-memory dataflow processing

Many scientific applications are conceptually built up from independent component tasks as a parameter study, optimization, or other search. Large batches of these tasks may be executed on high-end computing systems; however, the coordination of the independent processes, their data, and their data dependencies is a significant scalability challenge. Many problems must be addressed, including load balancing, data distribution, notifications, concurrent programming, and linking to existing codes. In this work, we present Swift/T, a programming language and runtime that enables the rapid development of highly concurrent, task-parallel applications. Swift/T is composed of several enabling technologies to address scalability challenges, offers a high-level optimizing compiler for user programming and debugging, and provides tools for binding user code in C/C++/Fortran into a logical script. In this work, we describe the Swift/T solution and present scaling results from the IBM Blue Gene/P and Blue Gene/Q.
Clinical fellowship training in pathology informatics: A program description

Background: In 2007, our healthcare system established a clinical fellowship program in pathology informatics. In 2011, the program benchmarked its structure and operations against a 2009 white paper Program requirements for fellowship education in the subspecialty of clinical informatics, endorsed by the Board of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) that described a proposal for a general clinical informatics fellowship program. Methods: A group of program faculty members and fellows compared each of the proposed requirements in the white paper with the fellowship program's written charter and operations. The majority of white paper proposals aligned closely with the rules and activities in our program and comparison was straightforward. In some proposals, however, differences in terminology, approach, and philosophy made comparison less direct, and in those cases, the thinking of the group was recorded. After the initial evaluation, the remainder of the faculty reviewed the results and any disagreements were resolved. Results: The most important finding of the study was how closely the white paper proposals for a general clinical informatics fellowship program aligned with the reality of our existing pathology informatics fellowship. The program charter and operations of the program were judged to be concordant with the great majority of specific white paper proposals. However, there were some areas of discrepancy and the reasons for the discrepancies are discussed in the manuscript. Conclusions: After the comparison, we conclude that the existing pathology informatics fellowship could easily meet all substantive proposals put forth in the 2009 clinical informatics program requirements white paper. There was also agreement on a number of philosophical issues, such as the advantages of multiple fellows, the need for core knowledge and skill sets, and the need to maintain clinical skills during informatics training. However, there were other issues, such as a requirement for a 2-year fellowship and for informatics fellowships to be done after primary board certification, that pathology should consider carefully as it moves toward a subspecialty status and board certification.
The immunohistochemical discrimination of endometrioid adenocarcinomas

Carcinomas of endometrioid histology frequently arise in the endometrium, ovary, and endocervix and involve the pelvic tissues in women. Adenocarcinomas of psuedoendometrioid morphology developing in the colon also frequently involve the ovary. The authors retrospectively examined 97 adenocarcinomas from the uterus, cervix, ovary, and colon to ascertain whether the site of origin could be determined by using a battery of antibodies with the immunoperoxidase method on formalin-fixed tissue. This study was restricted to tumors with endometrioid morphology. There were 27 endometrial, 16 ovarian, 23 endocervical adenocarcinomas, and 31 psuedoendometrioid colonic adenocarcinomas. The battery of antibodies included vimentin (V), monoclonal carcinoembryonic antigen (mCEA), and monoclonal CEA D-14. V-positive cells were defined by the presence of a crisp paranuclear band of staining, and CEA-positive cells showed irregular or diffuse cytoplasmic staining. V diffusely decorated 22 of 27 (81.4%) of endometrial tumors, 3 of 23 (13%) of endocervical tumors, (rare, focal staining), diffusely stained 5 of 16 (31.3%) of ovarian tumors, and was rare and focal in 2 of 31 (6.4%) of colon tumors. Both CEA antibodies were negative for cytoplasmic staining in both endometrial and ovarian tumors, but decorated from 65.2% (CEA D-14) to 95.6% (monoclonal CEA) of endocervical tumors and from 83.8% (CEA D14) to 90.3% (mCEA) of colonic tumors. The authors conclude that endometrioid adenocarcinomas developing in endometrium and ovary are most often strongly V positive and CEA negative, which greatly aids in distinguishing them from endometrioid or pseudoendometrioid tumors arising in endocervix and colon, which are only rarely, and very focally V and CEA positive. The antibodies do not allow for discrimination between endocervical and colonic tumors. CEA D-14 offered no immunodiagnostic superiority over mCEA. These results support the use of immunohistochemistry is assisting in the distinction of endometrial from endocervical primary sites in curettage specimens and in metastatic sites.
Quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction in drug development

Measurements of the number of copies of DNA or mRNA with the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) have transformed the drug development process. This transformation is driven by the information these measurements have contributed for a better understanding of the molecular definition of disease and of the mechanisms of efficacy and toxicity for new drugs. As this information is translated into accurate genomic biomarkers of efficacy and toxicity, drug development processes supported by these measurements are becoming more efficient. This transformation is exemplified in the conversion of P450 enzyme activity measurements to gene expression in drug metabolism studies, the measurement of cytokine and chemokine genomic expression levels as clinical markers, and the identification and evaluation of genomic biomarkers of nephrotoxicity. A good understanding of factors affecting qPCR measurements can simplify their implementation, as will high-throughput platforms for these assays. Drug Dev. Res. 62:151–158, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Net interchange schedule forecasting of electric power exchange for RTO/ISOs

Neighboring regional transmission organizations (RTO) and independent system operators (ISOs) exchange electric power to enable efficient and reliable operation of the grid. Net interchange (NI) schedule is the sum of the transactions (in MW) between an RTO/ISO and its neighbors. Effective forecasting of the amount of actual NI can improve grid operation efficiency and avoid the volatility of the energy markets due to changes of NI schedules. This paper presents results of a preliminary investigation into various methods of prediction that may result in improved prediction accuracy. The methods studied are linear regression, forward regression, stepwise regression, and support vector machine (SVM) regression. The effectiveness of these methods is compared using the 64 weeks of field measurement data from PJM. The objective is to explore the effectiveness of the prediction methods under different scenarios.
The use of complementary and alternative medicine by patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Abstract Background The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is expanding globally. However, prevalence of its use by patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) remains unclear. Methods An exploratory, descriptive study was conducted using a questionnaire and interview to describe the use of CAM by patients with CHC attending a liver clinic in the United States. Results Eighty percent (n = 120) had used CAM in the last 12 months, most often prayer for health reasons (63%), multivitamins (56%) and herbal medicine (25%). A higher level of education (p Conclusion Use of CAM is common among patients with CHC. Failure to acknowledge the use of CAM as a management strategy may restrict the health provider's ability to provide optimal care.
Magnetic exchange in disordered metals.

We consider the indirect exchange between magnetic moments placed in a metallic environment that is weakly disordered due to the presence of randomly distributed nonmagnetic impurities. We find that the even moments of the isotropic exchange interactions are long-ranged, falling off as a power law in the spin separation distance just as in the pure metal. Depending on the experimental quantity of interest, the effective coupling between spins is given by either the first or the second moment of the distribution of exchange couplings in the system. The effect of spin-orbit scattering on the interaction between local moments is considered. In the case of isotropic spin-orbit scattering in both bulk materials and thin films, the isotropic exchange interactions are exponentially suppressed at large distances. In strictly two dimensions, however, there are long-range anisotropic spin-exchange couplings that have power-law fall-off with the square of the distance. In this case the interaction becomes effectively Ising at large distances. The distribution of couplings is seen to be broad, reflecting the sensitivity of the interactions to changes in the impurity configuration. Correlations of the couplings between sites are also found to have power-law fall-off with distance; however, these are higher order in the perturbation expansion. The relevance to experiments is discussed.
Metabolic control of renin secretion

One emerging topic in renin–angiotensin system (RAS) research is the direct local control of renin synthesis and release by endogenous metabolic intermediates. During the past few years, our laboratory has characterized the localization and signaling of the novel metabolic receptor GPR91 in the normal and diabetic kidney and established GPR91 as a new, direct link between high glucose and RAS activation in diabetes. GPR91 (also called SUCNR1) binds tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediate succinate which can rapidly accumulate in the local tissue environment when energy supply and demand are out of balance. In a variety of physiological and pathological conditions associated with metabolic stress, succinate signaling via GPR91 appears to be an important mediator or modulator of renin secretion. This review summarizes our current knowledge on the control of renin release by molecules of endogenous metabolic pathways with the main focus on succinate/GPR91.