cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Control structure design for complex energy integrated networks using graph-theoretic methods

In this paper, we propose a mixed integer program (MIP) formulation which can be used to synthesize multi-loop hierarchical control structures for tightly energy integrated plants, which are known to exhibit multiple-time scale energy dynamics. First, we represent the network as an energy flow graph, and perform graph reduction using graph-theoretic algorithms that we have previously developed, to analyze the time scale properties of the network and obtain energy flow subgraphs for each time scale. Then, from each energy flow subgraph, we construct an equation graph from which we can extract relative degree information. Using the proposed MIP, optimal input/output pairing sets are obtained, which minimize the structural coupling in each time scale. We illustrate the application of the proposed work through a case study of a benchmark chemical process.
Ecological and Economic Services Provided by Birds on Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Farms

Coffee farms can support significant biodiversity, yet intensification of farming practices is de- grading agricultural habitats and compromising ecosystem services such as biological pest control. The coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) is the world's primary coffee pest. Researchers have demonstrated that birds reduce insect abundance on coffee farms but have not documented avian control of the berry borer or quantified avian benefits to crop yield or farm income. We conducted a bird-exclosure experiment on coffee farms in the Blue Mountains, Jamaica, to measure avian pest control of berry borers, identify potential predator species, associate predator abundance and borer reductions with vegetation complexity, and quan- tify resulting increases in coffee yield. Coffee plants excluded from foraging birds had significantly higher borer infestation, more borer broods, and greater berry damage than control plants. We identified 17 poten- tial predator species (73% were wintering Neotropical migrants), and 3 primary species composed 67% of migrant detections. Average relative bird abundance and diversity and relative resident predator abundance increased with greater shade-tree cover. Although migrant predators overall did not respond to vegetation complexity variables, the 3 primary species increased with proximity to noncoffee habitat patches. Lower infes- tation on control plants was correlated with higher total bird abundance, but not with predator abundance or vegetation complexity. Infestation of fruit was 1-14% lower on control plants, resulting in a greater quantity of saleable fruits that had a market value of US$44-$105/ha in 2005/2006. Landscape heterogeneity in this region may allow mobile predators to provide pest control broadly, despite localized farming intensities. These results provide the first evidence that birds control coffee berry borers and thus increase coffee yield and farm income, a potentially important conservation incentive for producers.
Better Change: Best Practices for Transforming your Organization

The article reviews the book “Better Change: Best Practices for Transforming Your Organization.”;
The contribution of high-resolution multiplanar reformats of the skull base to the detection of skull-base fractures.

AIM To investigate the contribution of routine review of submillimetric multiplanar reformats to the diagnosis of skull-base fractures. METHODS A prospective analysis was performed of 407 cases referred over a 6-month period for CT of the skull following cranial trauma. The reformatted 5-mm axial sections and subsequently the high-resolution multiplanar reformats (HRMPRs) were viewed on an ADW 4.1 workstation using bone windows and algorithm. All skull-base fractures and related features, recorded by the consensus of two radiologists, were classified as anatomically significant or non-significant on the basis of eight criteria. The clinical features of skull-base injury and any subsequent treatment were noted in all cases of skull-base fracture. RESULTS HRMPRs detected 80 separate skull-base fractures in 36/407 cases. Of these 80 fractures, 57 were visible on 5-mm axial sections. In 8 of the 36 cases, the significant anatomical features were only evident on review of the HRMPRs. In 6 of the 36 cases, none of the skull-base fractures was visible on 5-mm sections, but these individuals had only minor associated clinical features and no therapeutic requirements. Review of HRMPRs could have been confined to patients with skull-base fractures, abnormal intracranial and extracranial air collections or opacified mastoid air cells revealed by 5-mm axial sections. This policy would have led to the detection of 79/80 (99%) of skull-base fractures and all significant anatomical features. CONCLUSION The 5-mm axial sections demonstrated 71% of skull-base fractures and 78% of skull-base fractures with significant anatomical features, using HRMPRs as a gold standard. There were no significant clinical sequelae at short-term follow-up of those fractures only evident on HRMPRs.
Study of the effects of the geometry on the performance of vertically coupled InP microdisk resonators

High-quality-factor vertically coupled InP microdisk resonators have been fabricated. The devices exhibit smooth sidewalls, single-mode operation, high-quality factors Q in excess of 7000, and finesse of 50. The influence of different structural parameters on the device performance is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. These include the disk radius R, the coupling separation d/sub c/, the thickness of the thin membrane between the waveguides and resonator that remains after fabrication t, and the waveguide etch depth d/sub WG/ (defined as the distance between the core layer of the waveguides and the thin membrane).
Audit and Nonaudit Fees and the Market's Reaction to Earnings Announcements

Effective February 05, 2001, publicly traded companies are required to disclose audit and nonaudit fees paid to their external auditors. These fee data have been used to test whether auditor independence is impaired when the external auditor provides nonaudit services to a client, usually by examining whether certain earnings characteristics are related to nonaudit fees in ways that suggest impairment. This paper follows in that tradition by testing whether the earnings response coefficient (ERC), a proxy for earnings quality, is associated with engagement profitability. Residual fees derived from a two‐stage regression model that prices audit and nonaudit services simultaneously are used to proxy for engagement profitability. If the market perceives abnormally profitable engagements as a threat to auditor independence, then we would expect the ERC to be lower for firms with positive fee residuals. The paper examines the residual fee‐ERC relation for annual earnings announcements immediately before and af...
Regulation of IκBβ Expression in Testis

IkappaBalpha and IkappaBbeta are regulators of the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) transcription factor family. Both IkappaBs bind to the same NF-kappaB dimers and are widely expressed in different cells and tissues. To better understand how these two IkappaB isoforms differ biologically, we have characterized the expression of IkappaBbeta in testis, a tissue in which IkappaBalpha is only minimally expressed. We have found that IkappaBbeta expression is localized within the haploid spermatid stages of spermatogenesis and follows the expression of nuclear NF-kappaB. IkappaBbeta expression in haploid spermatids is likely regulated by Sox family proteins, members of which are also expressed within spermatids. We have shown that both SRY and Sox-5 can bind to multiple Sox binding sites found within the IkappaBbeta promoter and can enhance transcription of a reporter gene in transient transfection assays. We also demonstrate that IkappaBbeta mRNA is strongly expressed in developing male gonads. These results therefore suggest that IkappaBbeta may be a novel target for transcription factors of the HMG-box SRY/Sox family and imply a potential role for NF-kappaB/IkappaBbeta in spermatogenesis.
Calculating the beta coefficient and required rate of return for Coca-Cola

In this paper, we demonstrate how to compute the required rate of return for Coca-Cola using modern portfolio theory with data downloaded from the internet. We demonstrate how to calculate monthly returns for the index and Coca-Cola and how to use the returns to compute the beta coefficient and the required rate of return using the downloaded data. We show how to validate the data for the market index and the company and how to compute the returns using the dividend and stock split adjusted prices. We demonstrate how to graph the characteristic line for Coca-Cola and use the graph to check that the regression was run correctly. We use Coca-Cola and the S&P 500 Index in this paper, but any company listed on Yahoo! Finance can be used as the example. This paper can be used as the basis of a lecture on intermediate corporate finance or investments to demonstrate the process using a real company.
Corrective vs. Distributive Justice: the Case of Apologies

This paper considers the relation of corrective to distributive justice. I discuss the shortfalls of one sort of account that holds these are independent domains of justice. To support a more modest claim that these are sometimes independent domains of justice, I focus instead on the case of apologies. Apologies are sometimes among the measures specified by corrective justice. I argue that the sorts of injustices that apologies can help to correct need not always be departures from ideals specified by distributive justice. Apologies and the moral relations they engage might thus be parts of a domain of justice that is neither distributive nor dependent on distributive justice.
State of the science in ovarian cancer quality of life research: a systematic review.

Introduction Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has become an increasingly important focus of outcomes in cancer care with the movement toward more patient-oriented research. Quality-of-life outcomes are important in ovarian cancer, which has not yet benefitted from improved survival outcomes as have other diseases. This study was designed to systematically assess and summarize HRQOL in ovarian cancer. Methods A systematic search strategy was initiated to identify published literature measuring HRQOL of women with a diagnosis of ovarian cancer (OC). Data were synthesized to evaluate HRQOL and patient-reported outcome data at various time points: before, during, and after chemotherapy. Data were pooled and summary statistics compared across published studies. Comparisons of means were conducted using analysis of variance. Results There were 170 publications meeting all eligibility criteria, representing 139 unique studies of patients with ovarian cancer, where QOL data were collected. Within this literature, more than 90 different patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments were administered. The most common HRQOL instruments included the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy. Few studies alone demonstrated significant differences in QOL between the experimental and comparison arm or throughout the treatment period. Pooled data, however, show that baseline QOL may significantly improve, particularly after completion of chemotherapy treatment. Discussion Despite the increase in assessment and reporting of QOL in ovarian cancer research studies during the past 15 years, there remains little consistency in the types and format of data collected. There is a need to enhance the standardized collection and reporting of HRQOL data from research involving women with ovarian cancer so that research can build on the cumulative knowledge base to improve outcomes in this patient population.
Security Resilience: Exploring Windows Domain-Level Defenses Against Post-Exploitation Authentication Attacks

We investigated the security resilience of the current Windows Active Directory (AD) environments to Pass-the-Hash and Pass-the-Ticket, two prominent post-exploitation, credential theft attacks. An operating system's security resilience consists of its native features that allow for containing a detected attack. Post-exploitation refers to an attacker's activities subsequent to penetration. Specifically, we discovered a way to trigger the removal of all previously issued authentication credentials for a client, thus preventing its use by attackers. After triggered, the user is forced to contact the domain administrators to re-authenticate to the Domain Controller (DC) to continue. This could become the basis for a response Windows system administrators could use to halt the spread of a detected attack. Operating in a virtualized XenServer environment, we were able to carefully determine and recreate the conditions necessary to cause this response.
Evaluation of Modified Dietary Phosphorus Levels with and Without Phytase Supplementation on Live Performance and Excreta Phosphorus Concentration in Broiler Diets. 2. Modified Early Phosphorus Levels

Abstract Two broiler feeding trials of identical design were conducted to evaluate the use of starter diets with dietary nonphytate phosphorus (NPP) concentrations similar to present NRC or industry usage concentrations to support early skeletal growth, followed by markedly reduced concentrations in grower and finisher periods. In each trial, 4 experimental treatments were compared. One treatment consisted of NRC-recommended concentrations of NPP (NRC); in the second treatment the NPP was 0.05% greater than NRC recommendations to simulate current industry practices (IND). Two other treatments were based on adequate amounts of NPP in starter (0 to 3 wk) diets followed by reduced NPP in grower and finisher diets. The first of these 2 treatments provided the chicks with 0.50, 0.25, and 0.15% NPP for 0 to 3, 3 to 6, and 6 to 9 wk, respectively (MOD). The second of these 2 treatments provided the chicks with 0.40, 0.20, and 0.10% NPP for the same age periods, with the diets supplemented with 1,000 U/kg of phytase (MOD+PHY). Body weight, feed conversion, mortality, tibia ash, and excreta P content were determined at 21, 42, 53, and 63 d of age. The P content in excreta of birds fed the MOD or MOD+PHY diets was much lower than that of birds fed the NRC or IND diets. Compared with NRC recommended levels, excreta P from chicks during the grower and finisher periods was reduced 21 to 44% by the MOD program and 31 to 56% by the MOD+PHY program. Compared with typical industry concentrations, the excreta P during the grower and finisher periods was reduced 32 to 48% by the MOD program and 41 to 59% by the MOD+PHY program. These reductions in excreta P were obtained with no adverse effects on BW, feed conversion, mortality, or tibia ash. In addition to reducing excreta P, these modifications in dietary P can result in a significant reduction in feed costs.
ULTRASOUND IMAGING MEASUREMENT OF THE TRANSVERSUS ABDOMINIS IN SUPINE, STANDING, AND UNDER LOADING: A RELIABILITY STUDY OF NOVICE EXAMINERS

Background Military personnel and first responders (police and firefighters) often carry large amounts of gear. This increased load can negatively affect posture and lead to back pain. The ability to quantitatively measure muscle thickness under loading would be valuable to clinicians to assess the effectiveness of core stabilization treatment programs and could aid in return to work decisions. Ultrasound imaging (USI) has the potential to provide such a measure, but to be useful it must be reliable.
Storage As Fast As Rest of the System

Ultra-low latency, high endurance SSDs are poised to enter the market, based on 3D XPoint™ memory. Here we show that for these new SSDs and modern platforms, storage latency is equally divided between the SSD and the rest-of platform. We summarize some of the recent system level optimizations that make this possible. Such low latency storage offers a potential for applications to use storage as a resource in place of memory. We describe a few examples of use case analyses that we have undertaken. Finally we comment on use of 3D XPoint memory accessed as system memory rather than storage.
MANAGING CHANNEL RELATIONSHIPS: TOWARD AN IDENTIFICATION OF EFFECTIVE PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES IN VERTICAL MARKETING SYSTEMS

As it is stated in the literature, relationship marketing refers to establishing, developing, and maintaining successful relational exchanges. Promotion is one of the key variables of the marketing mix that plays a crucial role in this process. Accordingly, this paper takes the first step toward an identification of effective promotional strategies in channels. More specifically, the paper presents an examination of the interaction between promotion and power balance in vertical marketing systems from the producer's as well as the dealer's perspective.
Censoring-robust estimation in observational survival studies: Assessing the relative effectiveness of vascular access type on patency among end-stage renal disease patients

The proportional hazards model is commonly used in observational studies to estimate and test a predefined measure of association between a variable of interest and the time to some event T. For example, it has been used to investigate the effect of vascular access type in patency among end-stage renal disease patients (Gibson et al., J Vasc Surg 34:694–700, 2001). The measure of association comes in the form of an adjusted hazard ratio as additional covariates are often included in the model to adjust for potential confounding. Despite its flexibility, the model comes with a rather strong assumption that is often not met in practice: a time-invariant effect of the covariates on the hazard function for T. When the proportional hazards assumption is violated, it is well known in the literature that the maximum partial likelihood estimator is consistent for a parameter that is dependent on the observed censoring distribution, leading to a quantity that is difficult to interpret and replicate as censoring is usually not of scientific concern and generally varies from study to study. Solutions have been proposed to remove the censoring dependence in the two-sample setting, but none has addressed the setting of multiple, possibly continuous, covariates. We propose a survival tree approach that identifies group-specific censoring based on adjustment covariates in the primary survival model that fits naturally into the theory developed for the two-sample case. With this methodology, we propose to draw inference on a predefined marginal adjusted hazard ratio that is valid and independent of censoring regardless of whether model assumptions hold.
CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeat)/Cas9 System: A Revolutionary Disease-Modifying Technology.

As clinicians, we are equipped with an ever-expanding armamentarium of drug and device therapies that have extended the lifespan of countless patients with cardiovascular disease. Nevertheless, it is likely that future therapies aimed at the root cause of disease, rather than secondary effects, will improve clinical outcomes in our patients yet further. Imagine if we could restore expression of a critical protein that is reduced as a consequence of remodeling associated with heart failure? Alternatively, what if a mutated gene in one of your patients with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy could actually be corrected such that they were essentially cured of their disease? Although these scenarios would have been inconceivable just a few years ago, molecular genetic tools now exist in principle to modify genomes and essentially fix a variety of diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels. To achieve this seemingly impossible objective, several research groups have swiftly repurposed a bacterial system for adaptive immunity, called the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeat)/Cas9 System, as a revolutionary genome editing tool in mammalian tissues.1 For a genome modification technology to be translatable to human disease, it must be able to navigate the complex milieu of the human genome and precisely cut the DNA only at the …
Acute Rectus Palsy and Myositis

Orbital myositis as the cause of palsy of the extraocular rectus muscle is reported in 7 children presenting with acute ocular pain at the Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital, Atlanta, GA.
Perceptions of Public Breastfeeding Images and Their Association With Breastfeeding Knowledge and Attitudes Among an Internet Panel of Men Ages 21-44 in the United States.

Background:Men’s attitudes toward public breastfeeding may influence a woman’s decisions about breastfeeding and her perceived comfort with public breastfeeding.Research aim:This study aimed to eva...
Serine proteases enhance immunogenic antigen presentation on lung cancer cells

Immunotherapies targeting immune checkpoints have proven efficacious in reducing the burden of lung cancer in patients; however, the antigenic targets of these reinvigorated T cells remain poorly defined. Lung cancer tumors contain tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) and neutrophils, which release the serine proteases neutrophil elastase (NE) and proteinase 3 (P3) into the tumor microenvironment. NE and P3 shape the antitumor adaptive immune response in breast cancer and melanoma. In this report, we demonstrate that lung cancer cells cross-presented the tumor-associated antigen PR1, derived from NE and P3. Additionally, NE and P3 enhanced the expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecules on lung cancer cells and induced unique, endogenous peptides in the immunopeptidome, as detected with mass spectrometry sequencing. Lung cancer patient tissues with high intratumoral TAMs were enriched for MHC class I genes and T-cell markers, and patients with high TAM and cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) infiltration had improved overall survival. We confirmed the immunogenicity of unique, endogenous peptides with cytotoxicity assays against lung cancer cell lines, using CTLs from healthy donors that had been expanded against select peptides. Finally, CTLs specific for serine proteases-induced endogenous peptides were detected in lung cancer patients using peptide/HLA-A2 tetramers and were elevated in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Thus, serine proteases in the tumor microenvironment of lung cancers promote the presentation of HLA class I immunogenic peptides that are expressed by lung cancer cells, thereby increasing the antigen repertoire that can be targeted in lung cancer. Cancer Immunol Res; 5(4); 319-29. ©2017 AACR.
Adaptive Control of Inertially Actuated Bouncing Robot

This paper presents a vertically jumping robot based on the inertial actuation concept. Recent research studies in our System Laboratory proved that a wide range of inertially actuated locomotion systems can be generated. This can be achieved by using a family tree approach, starting from a very simple system and progressively evolving it to more complex ones. We discovered that inertial actuation was an efficient method to regulate the motion of these robots. The hopper is the most basic member of this tree and efficient control of its motion using inertial actuation is essential to the design of every element in the family. In this work, we introduce an inertially actuated mass-spring system in the vertical plane. The mathematical model is developed and equations of motion for different modes were derived. Then, the nonlinear accessibility is analyzed. Subsequently, an adaptive control scheme was developed in order to generate periodic inertial actuation. We showed that this actuation drives the system toward a stable periodic orbit. Finally, an experimental prototype was built to verify the practical utility of the presented theoretical methods and concepts.
Timing of Hepatitis C Virus Treatment in Liver Transplant Candidates in the Era of Direct-acting Antiviral Agents

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains the leading indication for liver transplantation (LT) in the United States. While most patients with chronic HCV infection remain asymptomatic, up to one-third develop progressive liver disease resulting in cirrhosis. LT is often the only curative treatment once significant hepatic decompensation develops. However, antiviral therapy for HCV infection has advanced markedly in the past 5 years with the discovery and approval of direct-acting antiviral agents. These new regimens are well tolerated, of short duration and highly effective, unlike the traditional treatment with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin. As achieving sustained virological response becomes increasingly attainable for a majority of HCV-infected patients, concerns have been raised regarding the optimal timing of treatment for HCV infection in the setting of end-stage liver disease and during the peri-transplant period. On one hand, HCV treatment may improve hepatic function and negate the need for LT in some, which is crucial given the scarcity of donor organs and mortality on the waiting list in certain regions. On the other hand, HCV treatment may result in lowering the priority for LT without improving quality of life, thereby delaying potentially curative LT surgery. This review evaluates the evidence supporting the use of direct-acting antiviral agents in the period before and following LT.
Inducing any feasible level of correlation to bivariate data with any marginals

A simple sorting approach for inducing any desired Pearson or Spearman correlation to independent bivariate data, whose marginals can be of any distributional type and nature is described and illus...
Let's not talk about sex.

This article uses both a case illustration and data from a large-scale survey of outpatient clients (N = 798) to understand the client's perspective about avoiding or being dishonest with his or her therapist about sexual topics. The case study, of a gay young man working with a heterosexual female therapist, explores this client's experience of what happens when it feels impossible to be forthcoming about sex and sexuality. Based on the findings of our study, we note clients’ motives for avoiding these intimate yet important areas (e.g., shame), their perception of how this impacts the therapy process (e.g., impedes clinical progress), and their sense of therapist responses and attitudes that could increase their ability to be more honest (“just ask”). We discuss ways in which therapists can facilitate a more open dialogue about sexual material while attending to clients’ concerns about doing so.
Acute stroke presenting with isolated acalculia.

Abstract Acalculia is defined as the inability to mentally manipulate numbers for simple calculations. It may occur in dementia, central nervous system (CNS) neoplasm, and stroke (Bermejo-Velasco and Castillo-Moreno, 2006). Lesions of the left parietal cortex are the principal cause. When acalculia occurs in stroke, it is generally associated with other deficits in speech, sensation, or motor function. We report the case of a 63-year-old male with a 1 day history of isolated acalculia that was found to have a left parietal lobe infarct with several smaller infarcts in the left occipital lobe. The diagnosis of stroke should be considered in all patients experiencing acute difficulty with mathematics, reading, or writing, even in the absence of other deficits.
The Responses of Cyanobacteria to Environmental Conditions: Light and Nutrients

Cyanobacteria are found in virtually all terrestrial niches and can be found in locations which exhibit widely fluctuating chemical and physical parameters including nutrient availability, light intensity, light wavelength, temperature, and water activity. Described throughout this volume are ways in which cyanobacteria respond to changes in their environment, and examples of the insights that molecular genetic analyses have provided into acclimation processes. This chapter will discuss the modification of the cyanobacterial light-harvesting apparatus in response to light quality and nutrient availability. Recent advances in understanding the regulation of nutrient acquisition systems during nutrient-limited growth will also be summarized.
Introduction to Environmental Sustainability Issues in the South Texas–Mexico Border Region

Due to the importance of the Rio Grande in providing water to this semi-arid ecoregion and the major farming areas and cities along its banks, studies are being done to help assure the safety of the water flowing in the river. Studies are also being done along the coastal regions to monitor the lagoons and inland waterways connected with the Gulf of Mexico. Water pollution can come from runoff from irrigation and rain as well as from discharge from the factories located along the waterways, feeder creeks, and rivers. Air pollution comes from the factories on both sides of the Rio Grande, along the coast where refineries and other industries are located near the ports, and from dirt being carried by strong winds from farmland and the sand dune areas. Dust also comes from other parts of the world as has been seen with dust storms originating in the Sahara that propel the dust into the jet stream which then drops the dust over this region. The chapters within this book focus on air and water pollution along the Rio Grande, its watershed, and the coastal region due to the fragile ecology of the region.
A New Strategy for Studying Microtubule Transport and Assembly During Axon Growth

There is widespread agreement that the net addition of new microtubule polymer to the axon is necessary for its growth, but there is controversy concerning the mechanisms by which this occurs. The earliest model held that preassembled microtubules are transported from the cell body of the neuron down the growing axon, while subsequent models held that new polymer is added at the distal region of the growing axon via local microtubule assembly. Since these early models were proposed, many workers have taken the view that microtubule transport and assembly events are mutually exclusive, and hence that evidence supporting one model refutes the other. We have taken a very different view, that microtubule transport and assembly are both important during axon growth. In our model, microtubule transport is required to increase the tubulin levels within the axon, and local assembly events are required to regulate the lengths of the microtubules (for review see Baas and Yu 1996).
Factors Affecting Physician-Patient Communication in the Medical Exam Room

The recent push towards patient-centered health care has put a greater emphasis on patient health literacy. Health literacy is influenced by communication between physicians and patients. We conducted research at a local health clinic to examine communication between physicians, patients, and interpreters that were present to assist patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). We used the framework of Distributed Cognition to broaden our unit of analysis beyond individuals to include artifacts and the physical environment. We analyze three factors influencing communication: the availability of electronic medical records (EMR), the use of paper documents, and the presence of an interpreter. The physical space and artifacts are shown to impose constraints upon interaction and the flow of information throughout the exam room. We discuss implications for redesigning medical examination rooms and information technologies to create collaborative spaces that better support physician-patient communication, enhance patient understanding, and improve health literacy.
Anaerobic membrane gas extraction facilitates thermophilic hydrogen production from Clostridium thermocellum

Clostridium thermocellum is among the most efficient bacteria to convert cellulosic biomass into H2 during dark fermentation. However, despite great progress the H2 yield and rate are still not satisfactory for large scale applications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether in situ gas extraction using membrane bioreactors would increase H2 production from Clostridium thermocellum when compared to a conventional anaerobic fermentation setup in thermophilic conditions. C. thermocellum DSM 1313, a cellulotyic, thermophilic bacterium was grown on cellobiose and Avicel in an anaerobic-fermenter (AF) and an anaerobic-membrane-bioreactor (AnMBR). Compared to the AF, the AnMBR increased cumulative H2 production by 63%, from 25.8 to 42.1 mmols, increased the max H2 production rate by 24%, from 3.4 to 4.2 mmol h−1, and increased yield by 58%, from 0.43 to 0.68 mmol H2 per mmol hexose, on cellobiose. Likewise, on Avicel, the AnMBR increased cumulative H2 production by 59%, from 46.8 to 74.6 mmols, increased the max H2 rate by 87%, from 3.1 to 5.8 mmol h−1, and increased the yield by 59%, from 0.76 to 1.21 mmol H2 per mmol hexose. These results show that anaerobic membrane gas extraction can be an effective approach to increasing both rate and yield of fermentative H2 production.
Application and Validation of Activity Monitors’ Epoch Lengths and Placement Sites for Physical Activity Assessment in Exergaming

We assessed the agreement of two ActiGraph activity monitors (wGT3X vs. GT9X) placed at the hip and the wrist and determined an appropriate epoch length for physical activity levels in an exergaming setting. Forty-seven young adults played a 30-min exergame while wearing wGT3X and GT9X on both hip and wrist placement sites and a heart rate sensor below the chest. Intraclass correlation coefficient indicated that intermonitor agreement in steps and activity counts was excellent on the hip and good on the wrist. Bland-Altman plots indicated good intermonitor agreement in the steps and activity counts on both placement sites but a significant intermonitor difference was detected in steps on the wrist. Time spent in sedentary and physical activity intensity levels varied across six epoch lengths and depended on the placement sites, whereas time spent from a 1-s epoch of the hip-worn monitors most accurately matched the relative exercise intensity by heart rate. Hip placement site was associated with better step-counting accuracy for both activity monitors and more valid estimation of physical activity levels. A 1-s epoch was the most appropriate epoch length to detect short bursts of intense physical activity and may be the best choice for data processing and analysis in exergaming studies examining intermittent physical activities.
Open image in new windowSize

The most striking feature about an assemblage of different organisms is the distinction among species in size and architecture. Excluding entities such as viruses that reproduce but are generally regarded as nonliving, the size range spans at least 21 orders of magnitude from wall-less bacteria known as mycoplasmas at about 10−13 g to blue whales, which exceed 108 g. The blue whale, incidentally, is the largest animal ever known.
Merging organizational cultures in healthcare: Lessons from the USA in differentiation among tiers in a health system merger

With the increase in health system Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A’s) since the Affordable Care Act [Brown TC, Werling KA, Walker BC, et al. Current trends in hospital mergers and acquisitions. Healt...
Change in physical activity and quality of life in endometrial cancer survivors receiving a physical activity intervention

Endometrial cancer survivors are at an increased risk of poor quality of life outcomes. Physical activity is positively associated with general quality of life in this population, however, little is known about how changes in physical activity may be associated with changes in specific aspects of quality of life. The aim of this secondary data analysis was to explore the relationships between change in physical activity and change in physical, mental, social, and other aspects of quality of life in endometrial cancer survivors receiving a physical activity intervention. Endometrial cancer survivors (N = 100) participated in a telephone-based physical activity intervention for six months. At baseline and post-intervention we measured physical activity via accelerometry and ecological momentary assessment, and quality of life via the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), the Quality of Life of Adult Cancer Survivors instrument, the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the Perceived Stress Scale. We conducted structural equation modeling path analyses to investigate how physical activity post-intervention was associated with the quality of life measures’ subscales post-intervention, adjusting for baseline levels and potentially confounding covariates. Increasing physical activity was positively associated with improvements in general health (p = .044), role limitation due to physical health (p = .005), pain (p = .041), and somatic distress (p = .023). There was no evidence to indicate that change in physical activity was associated with change in other aspects of quality of life. Endometrial cancer survivors are at higher risk for suffering from challenges to physical quality of life, and findings from this study suggest that increasing physical activity may alleviate some of these problems. Further research is needed to determine whether other aspects of quality of life are linked to change in physical activity. Trial registration number: NCT00501761 Name of registry: clinicaltrials.gov Date of registration: July 16, 2007. Date of enrollment: June 16, 2005.
What Does it Mean to Be a #PlasticSurgeon? Analyzing Plastic Surgery Hashtag Utilization in Social Media

Background The utilization of social media is growing among academic and private practice plastic surgeons. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine training backgrounds and board certification of medical professionals through the use of plastic surgery-related hashtags on a single social media platform, Instagram. Methods Instagram was queried with 15 plastic surgery-related hashtags. Only the top 50 posts of each hashtag were analyzed at a single time point and international accounts were excluded. Data collected included account owner, degree, medical specialty, board certification, and type of post. Results The study sample consisted of 750 posts from an Instagram query in January 2019. Medical professionals accounted for 75% (n = 561) of posts. Board-certified physicians accounted for 56% (n = 420) of posts. Of the physician posters, 51% (n = 230) were trained in plastic surgery, 30% (n = 133) in otolaryngology, and 19% (n = 87) in other specialties. Facial rejuvenation content was more likely to be posted by otolaryngologists rather than plastic surgeons (P ≤ 0.001), whereas body-contouring procedures were more likely to be posted by plastic surgeons. Nonsurgical procedures and injectables were more likely to be posted by nonphysicians (P ≤ 0.001). Physicians without training in plastic surgery or otolaryngology were also more likely to post nonsurgical procedure-related hashtags (P ≤ 0.001). Conclusions Medical professionals publish the majority of plastic surgery-related posts on Instagram; however, the utilization of plastic surgery hashtags by other specialties may be confusing or misleading to social media users who are unaware of interdisciplinary training differences.
Comparative Exploration Of Prediction Algorithms For Sentiment Analysis Using NLP

Recently, enormous amount of online or e-commerce reviews that reveal the opinion of the clients, benefit designers and consumers. But, with excessive progress of product attributes and reviews which are getting more assorted, the conventional sentiment analysis about the general emotional tendency is unable to fulfill the requirements of customers and manufacturers. Customers expect to acquire analysis outcomes of goal features whereas the manufacturers expect to master weaknesses and strengths of products plus also the customers’ taste. The proposed study takes the raw reviews, cleans them to remove the stop words and then runs various prediction algorithms, the results of which are then evaluated to come to a conclusion.
Operando Infrared Spectroscopy Study of Iron-Catalyzed Hydromagnesiation of Styrene: Explanation of Nonlinear Catalyst and Inhibitory Substrate Dependencies

A mechanistic study of iron-catalyzed hydromagnesiation of styrene using operando infrared spectroscopy is reported. Kinetic investigation by both initial and observed rate measurements indicates complex concentration dependencies on the iron catalyst as well as sacrificial Grignard reagent and styrene. Numerical analysis using COmplex PAthway Simulator (COPASI) led to the identification of a 12 step mechanism that accurately reproduces experimental timecourse data over a wide variety of reaction conditions. Predictions using the hydromagnesiation mechanism reveal the origins of the observed kinetic complexity.
Labral Morphology and Number of Preoperative Dislocations Are Associated With Recurrent Instability After Arthroscopic Bankart Repair.

Purpose To develop a method to measure capsule and labral volume on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging to predict surgical failure after primary Bankart repair. Methods A retrospective case-control study was conducted on patients undergoing primary anterior arthroscopic shoulder stabilization. Surgical failure was defined as a recurrent dislocation event. Cases were matched to controls based on age and sex in a 1:2 ratio. Preoperative magnetic resonance (MR) arthrograms were analyzed by 2 trained reviewers using Vitrea software to measure labral and capsular volume with a 3-dimensional model. Labral size was also qualitatively measured on axial images. A “diffusely small” labrum was defined as labral height less than the width of the glenoid tidemark cartilage. Results Of the 289 patients who had an arthroscopic Bankart repair from 2006 to 2015, 33 who had a postoperative dislocation met the inclusion criteria and were matched to 62 control patients who did not. There was no difference between groups with regard to age (P = .88), sex (P = .82), contact sport participation (P = .79), proportion of overhead athletes (P = .33), proportion of throwers (P = 1), surgical positioning in lateral decubitus (P = .18), or number of repair anchors used (P = .91). The average number of preoperative dislocations was significantly higher in the failure group (3.2 vs. 2.0, P Conclusions This study presents a novel method of measuring labral and capsule volume with high interrater reliability. An increased number of recurrent dislocations prior to primary Bankart repair was associated with increased odds of recurrent instability after surgery. The OR for failure also increased with increasing number of preoperative dislocations. Diffusely small labral morphology was associated with having a postoperative redislocation. Level of Evidence III (case-control study).
Sleep-like behavior is a fundamental property of the tripartite synapse

The tripartite synapse, consisting of the presynaptic neuron, post-synaptic neuron, and an astrocyte, is considered to be the main locus of signaling between neurons in the brain.1,2 Neurotransmission is energetically very expensive3,4, and the primary neurotransmitter utilized for signaling is glutamate. It has been found that glutamate is also used as a substrate for energy generation.5,6 However, it is unclear what the relationship is between energy generation and availability of neurotransmitter during glutamatergic neurotransmission. Here we show that availability of energy, represented by adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and glutamate for neurotransmission are intimately related, and in fact determine the ability to signal at the tripartite synapse. Using a novel neurochemical mathematical model of the tripartite synapse, we found that glutamate concentrations for neurotransmission and ATP concentrations were interdependent, and their interplay controlled the firing pattern of the presynaptic terminal, as defined by synaptic vesicle release. Furthermore, we found that depending on the parameters chosen in the model, the tripartite synapse demonstrated behavior with limit cycles, alternating between high- and low-frequency firing rates. Our results show that complex behavior with high- and low-activity states, qualitatively meeting the characteristics of sleep7 emerges directly from the nature of the tripartite synapse, with glutamate and ATP concentrations serving as the signals for state changes. We anticipate that our model will serve as a starting point to further elucidate the energetics of neuronal and brain functioning, and eventually shed light on the fundamental question of the nature and necessity of sleep.
A Qualitative Exploration of Perspectives of Strength among Trauma-Exposed Women Living within Homelessness

The purpose of this study was to facilitate self-discovery of strengths of women who were homeless and trauma-exposed. Using an emancipatory feminist and existential phenomenological qualitative research design, seventeen women participated in facilitative dialogs exploring perceptions of strength. The dialogue focused on three aspects of strength: characteristics, strategies, and barriers. The participants' words were represented within global themes of strength: balance, protection, and dangerous environments. Results suggest women who are houseless and abused find ways to remain strong as evidenced in their stories. Findings support strength-based discovery, patient engagement, and partnering as a health intervention with vulnerable women.
Enhancing Multicultural and Global Literacy through Computer Science Gaming

To answer the demand for a more empathetic and collaborative minded citizenry, curriculum developers are focused on the introduction and enhancement of multicultural ang global learning using computer science / gaming as the educational platform. This paper explores practitioners’ desires of educational units toward the delivery of multicultural and global literacy education.