cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Improving Prognosis After Kidney Transplantation: New Strategies to Overcome Immunologic Rejection

• For the 70,000 patients with end-stage renal disease in the United States, renal transplantation offers the only hope of full recovery from chronic renal failure. However, transplantation has had only limited use, principally because of the risks of graft rejection and immunosuppression. The last ten years have witnessed striking improvements in the survival of patients and grafts resulting from advances in immunologic management, including restricted use of immunosuppression, better histocompatibility testing, HLA matching, blood transfusions, and new drugs for prevention and reversal of transplant rejection. Kidney transplantation now is safe and effective and should be considered for most young and middle-aged adults. ( Arch Intern Med 1984;144:2382-2387)
Results of Renal Artery Balloon Angioplasty Limit its Indications

Abstract Percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty (PTA) of 83 renal artery lesions in 55 patients was done because of renal failure in eight patients, hypertension in 35, renal failure and hypertension in 11, and polycythemia in one patient. Early results in 38 patients with arteriosclerosis showed five (13%) were worse and 13 (34%) were unchanged. Twenty patients (53%) with arteriosclerosis were initially cured or improved; however, seven of these patients had recurrence in 4 to 48 months. Ultimately, only 13 of 38 patients with arteriosclerosis (34%) were cured or improved (mean follow-up 22 months). Nine patients with fibromuscular dysplasia required 17 dilatations of arteries (three bilateral and five repeat), resulting in eight patients (89%) who were cured or improved. Selection of patients with hypertension by medical failure while receiving three or more hypertension medications or by lateralizing renal vein renin values yielded benefit in 17 of 26 patients (65%). Five of six patients with transplant stenosis of the renal artery and hypertension were cured or improved at mean follow-up of 18 months. Overall technical results of 83 artery dilatations were as follows: good, 58 (69%); fair, 10 (12%); poor or unsatisfactory, 16 (19%); these were judged with a blinded radiologic review. No patient suffered main renal artery thrombosis. There were 16 patients with complications of dilatation (morbidity rate of 29%). Nine patients subsequently had renal artery surgery from the same day to 64 days later with good results in all patients except one. We conclude that transluminal renal artery dilatation is a technique that should be restricted to use in patients with fibromuscular dysplasia, transplant stenosis, and very few arteriosclerotic lesions. (J VASC SURG 1988;8:300-6.)
The Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone Secretion Associated With Induction Chemotherapy for Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

Two patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck are reported in whom the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) secretion occurred transiently during the rapid cytolytic phase of tumor destruction after chemotherapy with cis-platinum diamminedi-chloride and bleomycin. Immunoperoxidase staining for ADH of the original biopsy specimens from both patients was negative. Possible mechanisms for and the implications of the production of SIADH in this setting are discussed.
Spin transfer torque driven coupled oscillators for self-oscillating RF mixers

Spin transfer torque oscillators (STOs) based on magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) devices are emerging as a possible replacement for complementary metal-oxide semiconductors for radio-frequency (RF) signal generation. Advantages include low power consumption, small device area, and large frequency tunability. But such a single device cannot achieve the necessary noise performance for RF applications. It has been reported lately that a network of globally coupled STOs achieves significant improvement in phase noise. The study here is to propose use of such coupled STOs as self-oscillating RF mixers. Critical mixer performance parameters, including conversion gain, output power, and linearity, are discussed.
Promoting ADL independence in vulnerable, community-dwelling older adults: a pilot RCT comparing 3-Step Workout for Life versus resistance exercise.

Background Resistance exercise is effective to increase muscle strength for older adults; however, its effect on the outcome of activities of daily living is often limited. The purpose of this study was to examine whether 3-Step Workout for Life (which combines resistance exercise, functional exercise, and activities of daily living exercise) would be more beneficial than resistance exercise alone. Methods A single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted. Fifty-two inactive, community-dwelling older adults (mean age =73 years) with muscle weakness and difficulty in activities of daily living were randomized to receive 3-Step Workout for Life or resistance exercise only. Participants in the 3-Step Workout for Life Group performed functional movements and selected activities of daily living at home in addition to resistance exercise. Participants in the Resistance Exercise Only Group performed resistance exercise only. Both groups were comparable in exercise intensity (moderate), duration (50-60 minutes each time for 10 weeks), and frequency (three times a week). Assessment of Motor and Process Skills, a standard performance test on activities of daily living, was administered at baseline, postintervention, and 6 months after intervention completion. Results At postintervention, the 3-Step Workout for Life Group showed improvement on the outcome measure (mean change from baseline =0.29, P=0.02), but the improvement was not greater than the Resistance Exercise Only Group (group mean difference =0.24, P=0.13). However, the Resistance Exercise Only Group showed a significant decline (mean change from baseline =-0.25, P=0.01) 6 months after the intervention completion. Meanwhile, the superior effect of 3-Step Workout for Life was observed (group mean difference =0.37, P Conclusion Compared to resistance exercise alone, 3-Step Workout for Life improves the performance of activities of daily living and attenuates the disablement process in older adults.
Resonance and chaotic trajectories in magnetic field reversed configuration

Abstract The nonlinear dynamics of a single ion in a field reversed configuration (FRC) were investigated. FRC is a toroidal fusion device which uses a specific type of magnetic field to confine ions. As a result of angular invariance, the full three-dimensional Hamiltonian system can be expressed as two coupled, highly nonlinear oscillators. Due to the high nonlinearity in the equations of motion, the behavior of the system is extremely complex, showing different regimes, depending on the values of the conserved canonical angular momentum and the geometry of the fusion vessel. Perturbation theory and averaging were used to derive an integrable Hamiltonian and frequencies of the two degrees of freedom. The derived equations were then used to find resonances and compare to Poincare surface-of-section plots. A regime was found where the nonlinear resonances were clearly separated by KAM curves. The structure of the observed island chains was explained. The condition for the destruction of KAM curves and the onset of strong chaos was derived, using Chirikov island overlap criterion, and shown qualitatively to depend both on the canonical angular momentum and geometry of the device. After a brief discussion of the adiabatic regime, the paper goes on to explore the degenerate regime that sets in at higher values of angular momenta. In this regime, the unperturbed Hamiltonian can be approximated as two uncoupled linear oscillators. In this case, the system is near-integrable, except in cases of a universal resonance, which results in large island structures, due to the smallness of nonlinear terms, which bound the resonance. The linear force constants, dominant in this regime, were derived and the geometry for a large one-to-one resonance identified. The above analysis showed good agreement with numerical simulations and was able to explain characteristic features of the dynamics.
Reconciling the Return Predictability Evidence

Evidence of stock-return predictability by financial ratios is still controversial, as docu- mented by inconsistent results for in-sample and out-of-sample regressions and by substan- tial parameter instability. This article shows that these seemingly incompatible results can be reconciled if the assumption of a fixed steady state mean of the economy is relaxed. We find strong empirical evidence in support of shifts in the steady state and propose simple methods to adjust financial ratios for such shifts. The in-sample forecasting relationship of adjusted price ratios and future returns is statistically significant and stable over time. In real time, however, changes in the steady state make the in-sample return forecastability hard to exploit out-of-sample. The uncertainty of estimating the size of steady-state shifts rather than the estimation of their dates is responsible for the difficulty of forecasting stock returns in real time. Our conclusions hold for a variety of financial ratios and are robust to changes in the econometric technique used to estimate shifts in the steady state. (JEL 12, 14)
Deadlock-free buffer configuration for stream computing:

Stream computing is a popular paradigm for parallel and distributed computing, where compute nodes are connected by first-in first-out data channels. Each channel can be considered as a concatenati...
The Warm Plasma Composition in the Inner Magnetosphere During 2012–2015

Ionospheric heavy ions play an important role in the dynamics of Earth's magnetosphere. The greater mass and gyro radius of ionospheric oxygen differentiates its behavior from protons at the same energies. Oxygen may have an impact on tail reconnection processes, and it can at least temporarily dominate the energy content of the ring current during geomagnetic storms. At sub-keV energies, multi-species ion populations in the inner magnetosphere form the warm plasma cloak, occupying the energy range between the plasmasphere and the ring current. Lastly, cold lighter ions from the mid-latitude ionosphere create the co-rotating plasmasphere whose outer regions can interact with the plasma cloak, plasma sheet, ring current, and outer electron belt. In this paper we present a statistical view of warm, cloak-like ion populations in the inner magnetosphere, contrasting in particular the warm plasma composition during quiet and active times. We study the relative abundances and absolute densities of warm plasma measured by the Van Allen Probes, whose two spacecraft cover the inner magnetosphere from plasmaspheric altitudes close to Earth to just inside geostationary orbit. We observe that warm (>30 eV) oxygen is most abundant closer to the plasmasphere boundary whereas warm hydrogen dominates closer to geostationary orbit. Warm helium is usually a minor constituent, but shows a noticeable enhancement in the near-Earth dusk sector.
Upscale Impact of Mesoscale Disturbances of Tropical Convection on Convectively Coupled Kelvin Waves

AbstractTropical convection associated with convectively coupled Kelvin waves (CCKWs) is typically organized by an eastward-moving synoptic-scale convective envelope with numerous embedded westward-moving mesoscale disturbances. Such a multiscale structure of tropical convection is a challenge for present-day cloud-resolving simulations and its representation in global climate models. It is of central importance to assess the upscale impact of mesoscale disturbances on CCKWs as mesoscale disturbances propagate at various tilt angles and speeds. Besides, it is still poorly understood whether the front-to-rear-tilted vertical structure of CCKWs can be induced by the upscale impact of mesoscale disturbances in the presence of upright mean heating. Here, a simple multiscale model is used to capture this multiscale structure, where mesoscale fluctuations are directly driven by mesoscale heating and synoptic-scale circulation is forced by mean heating and eddy transfer of momentum and temperature. The results s...
New $\Sigma ^1_3$ facts

We use ``iterated square sequences'' to show: There is an L-definable partition n: L-singulars --> omega such that if M is an inner model without 0#: (a) For some n, M satisfies that {alpha | n(alpha)=n} is stationary. (b) For each n there is a generic extension of M in which 0# does not exist and {alpha | n(alpha)<n} is non-stationary. The above result is then applied to show that if M is an inner model without 0# then some Sigma^1_3 sentence not true in M can be forced over M.
When competition plays clean: How electricity market liberalization facilitated state-level climate policies in the United States

Abstract Why do some governments adopt policies to mitigate climate change while others do not? In this study, I illustrate the importance of industrial organization in shaping prospects for climate mitigation policy. Using a difference-in-differences analysis, I show that U.S. states which adopt electricity market liberalization laws are subsequently fifteen to forty-three percentage points more likely to adopt a renewable portfolio standard and fifteen to thirty percentage points more likely to adopt a cap-and-trade program. I argue that the forced reduction in market share of incumbent utilities associated with market liberalization laws undermined the political dominance of legacy producers and facilitated the growth of independent power producers (IPPs). Following liberalization, I show how these firms disproportionately benefited from the development of renewable energy, and how their growth in market share corresponded with a rise in political activity, thus offering a countervailing industrial interest-group influence to legacy producers. These findings demonstrate the importance of industrial organization in shaping long-run prospects for climate mitigation. More generally, this study sheds light on how government interventions can shape industrial interest-group dynamics.
Microwave-optical two-photon excitation of Rydberg states

We report efficient microwave-optical two photon excitation of Rb Rydberg atoms in a magneto-optical trap. This approach allows the excitation of normally inaccessible states and provides a path toward excitation of high-angular-momentum states. The efficiency stems from the elimination of the Doppler width, the use of a narrow-band pulsed laser, and the enormous electric-dipole matrix element connecting the intermediate and final states of the transition. The excitation is efficient in spite of the low optical and microwave powers, of order 1 kW and 1 mW, respectively. This is an application of the large dipole coupling strengths between Rydberg states to achieve two-photon excitation of Rydberg atoms.
Tandems as injectors for synchrotrons

Abstract This is a review on the use of tandem electrostatic accelerators for injection and filling of synchrotrons to accelerate intense beams of heavy ions to relativistic energies. The paper emphasizes the need of operating the tandems in pulsed mode for this application. It has been experimentally demonstrated that at present this type of accelerator still provides the most reliable and best performance.
Ventricular Myosin Modifies in Vitro Step-Size When Phosphorylated

Cardiac and skeletal muscle myosins have the central role in contraction transducing ATP free energy into the mechanical work of moving actin in transduction/mechanical coupling. Inheritable cardiomyopathies are more frequently linked to myosin mutations than other sarcomeric proteins. Hereditary skeletal myopathies linked to myosin are less common. They lead to muscle weakness or affect myosin isoforms expressed during development leading to arthrogryposis syndromes. Myosin has a motor domain containing ATP and actin binding sites and light chains stabilized lever-arm that undergoes rotation impelling bound actin. The lever-arm converts torque generated in the motor into linear displacement (step-size). Relative myosin and actin filament sliding is modeled in vitro with a motility assay quantitating actin filament translation over a myosin coated surface. A novel quantum dot super-resolution in vitro motility assay confirmed a 5 nm step-size for fast skeletal myosin while β cardiac myosin (βMys) had multiple unitary steps, most frequently 5 and 8 nm, and a rare 3 nm displacement. The myosin lever-arm is stabilized by bound essential and regulatory light chains (ELC and RLC). RLC phosphorylation at S15 is linked to modified lever-arm mechanical characteristics contributing to disease and to myosin filament based contraction regulation. We have studied the effect of RLC phosphorylation on the step-size of porcine βMys. Phosphorylated βMys has ∼85% of the myosin phosphorylated. We find RLC phosphorylation causing the distribution of longest step increasing from 37% to 71%. This dramatic re-distribution of step-sizes provides significant gain in average step-size. The results indicate a mechanism for contraction regulation by step-size adaptation using post-translational modification of the myosin filament via RLC phosphorylation. Research supported by R01AR049277, R01HL095572 and the Mayo Foundation.
3D printing for low cost, rapid prototyping of eyelid crutches.

ABSTRACTBlepharoptosis or ptosis is a common and potentially debilitating clinical problem. Long-term surgical treatment for ptosis caused by progressive myopathies can be challenging due to potent...
The Magic of ELFs

We introduce the notion of an Extremely Lossy Function (ELF). An ELF is a family of functions with an image size that is tunable anywhere from injective to having a polynomial-sized image. Moreover, for any efficient adversary, for a sufficiently large polynomial r (necessarily chosen to be larger than the running time of the adversary), the adversary cannot distinguish the injective case from the case of image size r. We develop a handful of techniques for using ELFs, and show that such extreme lossiness is useful for instantiating random oracles in several settings. In particular, we show how to use ELFs to build secure point function obfuscation with auxiliary input, as well as polynomially many hardcore bits for any one-way function. Such applications were previously known from strong knowledge assumptions—for example, polynomially many hardcore bits were only known from differing inputs obfuscation, a notion whose plausibility has been seriously challenged. We also use ELFs to build a simple hash function with output intractability, a new notion we define that may be useful for generating common reference strings. Next, we give a construction of ELFs relying on the exponential hardness of the decisional Diffie–Hellman problem, which is plausible in elliptic curve groups. Combining with the applications above, our work gives several practical constructions relying on qualitatively different—and arguably better—assumptions than prior works.
Factors Limiting Li+ Charge Transfer Kinetics in Li-Ion Batteries

Understanding the factors limiting Li+ charge transfer kinetics in Li-ion batteries is essential in improving the rate performance, especially at lower temperatures. The Li+ charge transfer process involved in the lithium intercalation of graphite anode includes the step of de-solvation of the solvated Li+ in the liquid electrolyte and the step of transport of Li+ in the preformed solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) on electrodes until the Li+ accepts an electron at the electrode and becomes a Li in the electrode. Whether the de-solvation process or the Li+ transport through the SEI is a limiting step depends on the nature of the interphases at the electrode and electrolyte interfaces. Several examples involving the electrode materials such as graphite, lithium titanate (LTO), lithium iron phosphate (LFP), lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA) and solid Li+ conductor such as lithium lanthanum titanate or Li-Al-Ti-phosphate are reviewed and discussed to clarify the conditions at which either the de-solvation or the transport of Li+ in SEI is dominating and how the electrolyte components affect the activation energy of Li+ charge transfer kinetics. How the electrolyte additives impact the Li+ charge transfer kinetics at both the anode and the cathode has been examined at the same time in 3-electrode full cells. The resulting impact on Li+ charge transfer resistance, Rct, and activation energy, Ea, at both electrodes are reported and discussed.
Analysis of RDR1/RDR2/RDR6-independent small RNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana improves MIRNA annotations and reveals unexplained types of short interfering RNA loci

Plant small RNAs (sRNAs) modulate key physiological mechanisms through post-transcriptional and transcriptional silencing of gene expression. Small RNAs fall into two major categories: those are reliant on RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RDRs) for biogenesis and those that are not. Known RDR1/2/6-dependent sRNAs include phased and repeat-associated short interfering RNAs, while known RDR1/2/6-independent sRNAs are primarily microRNAs (miRNA) and other hairpin-derived sRNAs. In this study we produced and analyzed sRNA-seq libraries from rdr1/rdr2/rdr6 triple mutant plants. We found 58 previously annotated miRNA loci that were reliant on RDR1, -2, or -6 function, casting doubt on their classification. We also found 38 RDR1/2/6-independent sRNA loci that are not MIRNAs or otherwise hairpin-derived, and did not fit into other known paradigms for sRNA biogenesis. These 38 sRNA-producing loci have as-yet-undescribed biogenesis mechanisms, and are frequently located in the vicinity of protein-coding genes. Altogether, our analysis suggests that these 38 loci represent one or more undescribed types of sRNA in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Negative News and Investor Trust: The Role of $Firm and #CEO Twitter Use

We examine how CEOs can facilitate the development of investor trust that helps mitigate the effects of negative information. Results from an experiment show that investors trust the CEO more and are more willing to invest in the firm when the CEO communicates firm news followed by a negative earnings surprise through a personal Twitter account than when the news and surprise comes from the CEO via a website or from the firm's Investor Relations Twitter account or website. A follow‐up experiment shows that repeating the negative news does not incrementally affect investors who received the news from the CEO's Twitter account, but does further negatively impact investors who received the news via other disclosure mediums, especially those who received the news via the Investor Relations Twitter account. Our results have implications for firms and executives considering the costs and benefits of communicating with investors via Twitter.
Sintering dilatometry based grain growth assessment

Abstract Volume shrinkage, grain growth, and their interaction are major events occurring during free sintering of ceramics. A high temperature sintering dilatometry curve is influenced by these both phenomena. It is shown that the continuum theory of sintering can be utilized in the format enabling the extraction of the maximum amount of information on the densification and grain growth kinetics based on a simple dilatometry test. We present here the capability of such a fast approach (Dilatometry based Grain growth Assessment DGA) utilized for the modeling of sintering and grain growth of zirconia.
Earnings notifications, investor attention, and the earnings announcement premium

Abstract This paper provides new evidence that investor attention explains positive returns around earnings announcements and reconciles the attention explanation with information-based explanations in the literature. I use earnings notifications, which are attention-grabbing announcements of the upcoming earnings date but otherwise provide little new information. I find positive returns, more EDGAR searches, and higher trading volumes on notification days. I also find that attention and returns around the earnings announcement are lower in the presence of notifications, consistent with notifications attenuating investor attention. I show that attention has its strongest effect on returns in the days immediately following the earnings announcement.
Institutions and Entrepreneurial Activity: The Interactive Influence of Misaligned Formal and Informal Institutions

We contribute to the institutions and entrepreneurship literature by examining the interactive influence of formal and informal institutions on new business creation, survival, and growth. Prior li...
Assessing the international comovement of equity returns

The international comovement of equity returns has been viewed as reflecting either pervasive common shocks or local linkages between countries. This paper brings these perspectives together by assessing the comovement of equity returns in a dynamic model that allows for both common factors and spatial dependence, using quarterly data for 40 advanced and emerging countries over the past two decades, and including GDP growth, the real interest rate, and credit as fundamental variables. Estimation results employing a bias-corrected quasi-maximum likelihood approach provide strong indication that the cross-country dependence of equity returns results from both spatial effects and common shocks captured by a latent common factor -- weak and strong dependence, respectively. The factor exhibits a robust negative correlation with market measures of aggregate risk. Countries' exposure to the common factor rises with their extent of trade openness and the degree of rigidity of their exchange rate regime. Despite its simplicity, the empirical model fits the data well. All these results are robust to the use of alternative spatial weight matrices. The paper also shows that ignoring cross-country dependence leads to distorted parameter estimates and a marked deterioration of the explanatory power of the empirical model.
Investigating the Avoidability of Hospitalizations of Long Stay Nursing Home Residents: Opportunities for Improvement.

Background and Objectives To examine the relationship between hospital diagnoses associated with hospital transfers of long stay nursing home residents, ratings of avoidability of transfer, and RN-identified quality improvement opportunities. Research Design and Methods Prospective clinical demonstration project, named OPTIMISTIC, with trained RNs embedded in nursing homes that performed root cause analyses for 1,931 transfers to the hospital between November 2014 and July 2016. OPTIMISTIC RNs also rated whether transfers were avoidable, identified quality improvement opportunities, and recorded hospital diagnoses. Resident characteristics were obtained from Minimum Data Set assessments. Relationships between six hospital diagnoses commonly considered "potentially avoidable" and OPTIMISTIC RN root cause analysis findings were examined. Facilities were participating in the OPTIMISTIC demonstration project designed to reduce hospital transfers during the study period. Results Twenty-five percent of acute transfers associated with six common diagnoses were considered definitely or probably avoidable by project RNs versus 22% of transfers associated with other diagnoses. The most common quality improvement opportunity identified for transfers rated as avoidable was that the condition could have been managed safely if appropriate resources were available, a factor cited in 45% of transfers associated with any of the six diagnoses. Problems with communication among stakeholders were the most commonly noted area for improvement (48%) for transfers associated with other diagnoses. Many other areas for quality improvement were noted, including earlier detection of change in status and the need for understanding patient preferences or a palliative care plan. Discussion and Implications Although some nursing home transfers may later be deemed potentially avoidable based on post-transfer hospital diagnosis from Medicare claims data, OPTIMISTIC nurses caring for these residents at time of transfer categorized the majority of these transfers as unavoidable irrespective of the hospital diagnosis. Multiple quality improvement opportunities were identified associated with these hospital transfers, whether the transfer was considered potentially avoidable or unavoidable.
Dynamic computational geometry on meshes and hypercubes

Parallel algorithms are given for determining geometric properties of systems of moving point-objects. The objects are assumed to be moving in a Euclidean space such that each coordinate of a point's motion is a polynomial of bounded degree in the time variable. The properties investigated include nearest (farthest) neighbor, closest (farthest) pair, collision, convex hull, diameter, and containment. Several of these properties are investigated from both the dynamic and steady-state points of view. Efficient, and often optimal, implementations of these algorithms are given for the mesh and hypercube.
Veselago Lens by Photonic Hyper-Crystals

Based on the concept of photonic hyper-crystal -- an artificial optical medium combining the properties of hyperbolic materials and photonic crystals, we develop a Veselago lens with nearly constant negative refractive index and substantially reduced image aberrations.
Exploring the Promise of a Number Line Assessment to Help Identify Students At-Risk in Mathematics.

This manuscript presents the results from a study to investigate the technical characteristics of two versions of a number line assessment (NLA 0–20 and NLA 0–100). The sample consisted of 60 kinde...
Does Machine Translation Affect International Trade? Evidence from a Large Digital Platform

Artificial intelligence (AI) is surpassing human performance in a growing number of domains. However, there is limited evidence of its economic effects. Using data from a digital platform, we study...
Strong reductions for extended formulations

We generalize the reduction mechanism for linear programming problems and semidefinite programming problems from Braun et al. (Inapproximability of combinatorial problems via small LPs and SDPs, 2015) in two ways (1) relaxing the requirement of affineness, and (2) extending to fractional optimization problems. As applications we provide several new LP-hardness and SDP-hardness results, e.g., for the problem, the problem, and the problem and show how to extend ad-hoc reductions between Sherali–Adams relaxations to reductions between LPs.
Machine Learning Methods to Analyze Injury Severity of Drivers from Different Age and Gender Groups

Access to non-biased and accurate models capable of predicting driver injury severity of collision events is vital for determining what safety measures should be implemented at intersections. Inade...
Prophylactic Pelvic Girdle Irradiation in the Treatment of Prostatic Carcinoma

Abstract This is a report of a pilot study of the effectiveness of irradiation therapy to the pelvic girdle in decreasing the incidence of bony metastases in patients with prostatic cancers Thirty-two patients were entered in the study; none of them failed in the pelvic bones and four failed outside the pelvis. A total tumor dose of 6800 rod was delivered, the pelvic nodes received 5000 rad and the pelvic girdle 800 rad. The non-conventional fractionation scheme used in this study diminishes the incidence of osseous metastases but produces unacceptable bowel injury. Forty-three percent of patients had proctitis and 20 % of the patients required colostomy.
Accounting for homeownership in estimating real income growth

Abstract Have real median incomes in the U.S. stagnated or achieved modest growth? Answers often vary depending on the price index one uses. Several researchers have argued that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) overstates inflation and understates real income growth. The CPI’s approach to estimating homeowner shelter inflation is owners’ equivalent rent. In this paper, we investigate a user cost approach for estimating homeowner shelter cost inflation, addressing the expected appreciation challenge. We find that over the 1984–2016 period, using money income deflated by the official CPI understates real income growth substantially relative to the user cost approach.
Fingerprints of internal drivers of Arctic sea ice loss in observations and model simulations

The relative contribution and physical drivers of internal variability in recent Arctic sea ice loss remain open questions, leaving up for debate whether global climate models used for climate projection lack sufficient sensitivity in the Arctic to climate forcing. Here, through analysis of large ensembles of fully coupled climate model simulations with historical radiative forcing, we present an important internal mechanism arising from low-frequency Arctic atmospheric variability in models that can cause substantial summer sea ice melting in addition to that due to anthropogenic forcing. This simulated internal variability shows a strong similarity to the observed Arctic atmospheric change in the past 37 years. Through a fingerprint pattern matching method, we estimate that this internal variability contributes to about 40–50% of observed multi-decadal decline in Arctic sea ice. Our study also suggests that global climate models may not actually underestimate sea ice sensitivities in the Arctic, but have trouble fully replicating an observed linkage between the Arctic and lower latitudes in recent decades. Further improvements in simulating the observed Arctic–global linkage are thus necessary before the Arctic’s sensitivity to global warming in models can be quantified with confidence. Internal low-frequency variability in the Arctic atmosphere can explain about half the summer sea ice decline over the past decades, according to an analysis of large ensembles of fully coupled climate model simulations.
Gender Effect on Face Recognition for a Large Longitudinal Database

Aging or gender variation can affect the face recognition performance dramatically. While most of the face recognition studies are focused on the variation of pose, illumination and expression, it is important to consider the influence of gender effect and how to design an effective matching framework. In this paper, we address these problems on a very large longitudinal database MORPH-II which contains 55,134 face images of 13,617 individuals. First, we consider four comprehensive experiments with different combination of gender distribution and subset size, including: 1) equal gender distribution; 2) a large highly unbalanced gender distribution; 3) consider different gender combinations, such as male only, female only, or mixed gender; and 4) the effect of subset size in terms of number of individuals. Second, we consider eight nearest neighbor distance metrics and also Support Vector Machine (SVM) for classifiers and test the effect of different classifiers. Last, we consider different fusion techniques for an effective matching framework to improve the recognition performance.
Detecting Work Zones in SHRP 2 NDS Videos Using Deep Learning Based Computer Vision

Naturalistic driving studies seek to perform the observations of human driver behavior in the variety of environmental conditions necessary to analyze, understand and predict that behavior using statistical and physical models. The second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) funds a number of transportation safety-related projects including its primary effort, the Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS), and an effort supplementary to the NDS, the Roadway Information Database (RID). This work seeks to expand the range of answerable research questions that researchers might pose to the NDS and RID databases. Specifically, we present the SHRP 2 NDS Video Analytics (SNVA) software application, which extracts information from NDS-instrumented vehicles’ forward-facing camera footage and efficiently integrates that information into the RID, tying the video content to geolocations and other trip attributes. Of particular interest to researchers and other stakeholders is the integration of work zone, traffic signal state and weather information. The version of SNVA introduced in this paper focuses on work zone detection, the highest priority. The ability to automate the discovery and cataloging of this information, and to do so quickly, is especially important given the two petabyte (2PB) size of the NDS video data set.
Attitudes toward cost-conscious care among U.S. physicians and medical students: analysis of national cross-sectional survey data by age and stage of training

The success of initiatives intended to increase the value of health care depends, in part, on the degree to which cost-conscious care is endorsed by current and future physicians. This study aimed to first analyze attitudes of U.S. physicians by age and then compare the attitudes of physicians and medical students. A paper survey was mailed in mid-2012 to 3897 practicing physicians randomly selected from the American Medical Association Masterfile. An electronic survey was sent in early 2015 to all 5,992 students at 10 U.S. medical schools. Survey items measured attitudes toward cost-conscious care and perceived responsibility for reducing healthcare costs. Physician responses were first compared across age groups (30–40 years, 41–50 years, 51–60 years, and > 60 years) and then compared to student responses using Chi square tests and logistic regression analyses (controlling for sex). A total of 2,556 physicians (65%) and 3395 students (57%) responded. Physician attitudes generally did not differ by age, but differed significantly from those of students. Specifically, students were more likely than physicians to agree that cost to society should be important in treatment decisions (p < 0.001) and that physicians should sometimes deny beneficial but costly services (p < 0.001). Students were less likely to agree that it is unfair to ask physicians to be cost-conscious while prioritizing patient welfare (p < 0.001). Compared to physicians, students assigned more responsibility for reducing healthcare costs to hospitals and health systems (p < 0.001) and less responsibility to lawyers (p < 0.001) and patients (p < 0.001). Nearly all significant differences persisted after controlling for sex and when only the youngest physicians were compared to students. Physician attitudes toward cost-conscious care are similar across age groups. However, physician attitudes differ significantly from medical students, even among the youngest physicians most proximate to students in age. Medical student responses suggest they are more accepting of cost-conscious care than physicians and attribute more responsibility for reducing costs to organizations and systems rather than individuals. This may be due to the combined effects of generational differences, new medical school curricula, students’ relative inexperience providing cost-conscious care within complex healthcare systems, and the rapidly evolving U.S. healthcare system.
Understanding the international elasticity puzzle

Abstract International trade studies have higher macro elasticity measures compared to international finance studies, which has evoked mixed policy implications regarding the effects of a change in trade costs versus exchange rates on welfare measures. This so-called international elasticity puzzle is investigated in this paper by drawing attention to the alternative strategies that the two literatures use for the aggregation of foreign products in consumer utility functions. Using the implications of having a finite number of foreign countries in nested CES frameworks that are consistent with the two literatures, the discrepancy between the elasticity measures is explained by showing theoretically and confirming empirically that the macro elasticity in international trade is a weighted average of the macro elasticity in international finance and the corresponding elasticity of substitution across products of foreign source countries.
Learner Privacy in MOOCs and Virtual Education.

The current debate about student privacy issues raised by education technology focuses on how schools information with private vendors. It neglects a related but different trend, namely, the rise o...
Social and anxiety-like behaviors contribute to nicotine self-administration in adolescent outbred rats

Both emotional and social traits interact with genetic factors to influence smoking behavior. We previously established a socially acquired nicotine intravenous self-administration model where social learning of a nicotine-associated odor cue reversed conditioned flavor aversion and promoted nicotine intake. In this study, we first phenotyped ~800 adolescent heterogeneous stock rats in open field, novel object interaction, social interaction, elevated plus maze, and marble burying behaviors. These rats were then phenotyped on socially acquired nicotine self-administration. We found 243 significant correlations between different behavioral tests. Principal component regression analysis found that ~10–20% of the variance in nicotine-related measures, such as intake during the first or the last three fixed-ratio sessions, the progressive ratio session, and reinstatement behavior, can be explained by variations in behavioral traits. Factors corresponding to social behavior and anxiety were among the strongest predictors of nicotine intake and reinstatement of nicotine-seeking behavior. We also found many sex differences in behavioral measures. These data indicated that the genetic diversity of this population, in combination with social behaviour and anxiety, are significant contributors to the divergent nicotine self-administration behavior and indicated a high probability of discovering sex-specific genetic mechanisms for nicotine intake in future genome-wide association studies.
Automation and the Income Tax

Technological advancements are playing a transformative role in curtailing the need for labor. These very same forces are catapulting capital in the form of robotics, machinery, and intellectual property to the economic forefront. In virtually every sphere of human existence, labor’s decline and capital’s rise have been widely felt. In short, automation has become society’s new focal point. Notwithstanding the magnitude of these changes, Congress appears committed to retaining its historic pattern of taxing labor income more heavily than it taxes income derived from capital. However, as technology continues to evolve and capital gradually eclipses labor’s role in the economy, a fundamental shift in the tax system will be needed to maintain a viable revenue stream. This Article explores the ways that automation has impacted the tax system in terms of efficiency, fairness, and revenue. It concludes that our twentieth-century tax system is unsustainable in the twenty-first century. It then offers proposals for how policymakers should reform the tax law to account for labor’s decline and capital’s rise. Among other things, the technological era requires that all income—regardless of source—bear a similar tax burden.
Polysubstance addiction vulnerability in mental illness: Concurrent alcohol and nicotine self-administration in the neurodevelopmental hippocampal lesion rat model of schizophrenia.

Multiple addictions frequently occur in patients with mental illness. However, basic research on the brain-based linkages between these comorbidities is extremely limited. Toward characterizing the first animal modeling of polysubstance use and addiction vulnerability in schizophrenia, adolescent rats with neonatal ventral hippocampal lesions (NVHLs) and controls had 19 weekdays of 1 hour/day free access to alcohol/sucrose solutions (fading from 10% sucrose to 10% alcohol/2% sucrose on day 10) during postnatal days (PD 35-60). Starting in adulthood (PD 63), rats acquired lever pressing for concurrent oral alcohol (10% with 2% sucrose) and iv nicotine (0.015 mg/kg/injection) across 15 sessions. Subsequently, 10 operant extinction sessions and 3 reinstatement sessions examined drug seeking upon withholding of nicotine, then both nicotine and alcohol, then reintroduction. Adolescent alcohol consumption did not differ between NVHLs and controls. However, in adulthood, NVHLs showed increased lever pressing at alcohol and nicotine levers that progressed more strongly at the nicotine lever, even as most pressing by both groups was at the alcohol lever. In extinction, both groups showed expected declines in effort as drugs were withheld, but NVHLs persisted with greater pressing at both alcohol and nicotine levers. In reinstatement, alcohol reaccess increased pressing, with NVHLs showing greater nicotine lever activity overall. Developmental temporal-limbic abnormalities that produce mental illness can thus generate adult polydrug addiction vulnerability as a mechanism independent from putative cross-sensitization effects between addictive drugs. Further preclinical modeling of third-order (and higher) addiction-mental illness comorbidities may advance our understanding and treatment of these complex, yet common brain illnesses.
Retention of Reading Intervention Effects From Fourth to Fifth Grade for Students With Reading Difficulties

This study examined and quantified the maintenance of reading comprehension effects from a 4th-grade intervention for students with reading difficulties across the summer into the fall of 5th grade...
Control and emotions: Understanding the dynamics of controllee behaviours in a health care information systems project

The control of information systems (IS) projects is important for organizations seeking to realize the value-creating capabilities of information technology (IT). However, their achievement has proven complex and has triggered research on the unique challenges related to IS project control. The existing research focuses primarily on the contextual antecedents and performance effects of control-mode choices but largely neglects the dynamics of control activities, and particularly the socio-emotional aspects of such activities. We conducted longitudinal fieldwork to evaluate the dynamic interplay between control activities and emotions in the context of a large-scale, healthcare information systems project. Our case analysis provides empirical evidence for the link between controllers’ control styles and controllees’ emotions and subsequent behaviors. For instance, our analysis results point to ‘suppressed’ effects of negative emotions on control effectiveness. We find that while controllees’ negative emotional appraisals of control activities do not necessarily translate into immediate resistance behaviors, they can give rise to delayed resistance behaviors triggered by shifting control styles.
A Data-driven Adaptive Controller Reconfiguration for Fault Mitigation: A Passivity Approach

This paper presents a new data-driven fault identification and controller reconfiguration algorithm. The presented algorithm relies only on the system's input and output data, and it does not require a detailed system description. The proposed algorithm detects changes in the input-output behavior of the system, whether due to faults or malicious attacks and then reacts by reconfiguring the existing controller. This method does not identify the internal structure of the system nor the extent and nature of the attack; hence it can quickly react to faults and attacks. The proposed method can be readily applied to various applications without significant modifications or tuning, as demonstrated by the examples in the paper.