cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synthesis and characterization of mesoporous niobium-doped silica molecular sieves

Hexagonally-packed mesoporous Nb-doped silica molecular sieves were hydrothermally synthesized with various siliceous sources and dopant concentration levels. The microstructure of mesoporous materials was characterized by a variety of physico-chem-ical methods. The pore packing order of the Nb-doped material depended strongly on the synthesis conditions such as aging temperature, pH of reaction mixture, surfactant-to-Si ratio, and dopant concentration. Different silica precursors gave rise to different reactivity with the Nb dopants and interactions with the surfactants. The pore size and surface area of the materials can be systematically varied. The chemical environment of the Nb dopants in the silica framework was studied by XPS, EPR PA-FTIR, UV-Vis, and 29 Si MAS NMR. The results indicated that the Nb 5+ ions were well dispersed in the framework of the mesoporous silica. The diffuse-reflectance UV-Vis spectrum of the mesoporous Nb-doped silica is red-shifted with respect to pure mesoporous silica. The 29 Si MAS NMR spectrum contained a broad component at about - 105 ppm, which may have been attributed to the presence of Nb-O-Si bonding in the mesostructure.
Total inward leakage of nanoparticles through filtering facepiece respirators.

Nanoparticle (<100 nm size) exposure in workplaces is a major concern because of the potential impact on human health. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-approved particulate respirators are recommended for protection against nanoparticles based on their filtration efficiency at sealed conditions. Concerns have been raised on the lack of information for face seal leakage of nanoparticles, compromising respiratory protection in workplaces. To address this issue, filter penetration and total inward leakage (TIL) through artificial leaks were measured for NIOSH-approved N95 and P100 and European certified Conformit’e Europe’en-marked FFP2 and FFP3 filtering facepiece respirator models sealed to a breathing manikin kept inside a closed chamber. Monodisperse sucrose aerosols (8‐80 nm size) generated by electrospray or polydisperse NaCl aerosols (20‐1000 nm size) produced by atomization were passed into the chamber. Filter penetration and TIL were measured at 20, 30, and 40 l min 21 breathing flow rates. The most penetrating particle size (MPPS) was 50 nm and filter penetrations for 50 and 100 nm size particles were markedly higher than the penetrations for 8 and 400 nm size particles. Filter penetrations increased with increasing flow rates. With artificially introduced leaks, the TIL values for all size particles increased with increasing leak sizes. With relatively smaller size leaks, the TIL measured for 50 nm size particles was 2-fold higher than the values for 8 and 400 nm size particles indicating that the TIL for the most penetrating particles was higher than for smaller and larger size particles. The data indicate that higher concentration of nanoparticles could occur inside the breathing zone of respirators in workplaces where nanoparticles in the MPPS range are present, when leakage is minimal compared to filter penetration. The TIL/ penetration ratios obtained for 400 nm size particles were larger than the ratios obtained for 50 nm size particles at the three different flow rates and leak sizes indicating that face seal leakage, not filter penetration, contributing to the TIL for larger size particles. Further studies on face seal leakage of nanoparticles for respirator users in workplaces are needed to better understand the respiratory protection against nanoparticle exposure.
Modeling of multilayer amorphous thin film silicon-germanium single and tandem solar cells

A straightforward modeling approach has been developed and used for the study of single- and tandem-pin solar cells made from amorphous silicon and its alloys with carbon and germanium before and after degradation. Experimental results on degradation of pure amorphous silicon cells (with SiC p-layer) can only be reproduced in the model by a rise of the bulk density of defect states in the i-layer. At the p-i and the i-n-interface, the defect density must be assumed to be high already before degradation. >
An Instruction-Level Energy Estimation and Optimization Methodology for GPU

Nowadays, GPU architecture is commonly exploited in various researches on computer graphic and other scientific computing areas. Parallel computing feature of GPU provides performance benefits for execution of many programs. However, as the parallel degree keeps extending, the number of active cores in GPU required for execution is also increasing. Therefore the rising of energy consumption caused by using large number of cores begins to draw attention. Previous research [1] reveals that given a multicore program, the curve of energy consumption first falls and then rises, as the number of active cores increases. That means we can have the minimum energy consumption if the number of active cores is properly configured. In this paper, we develop an instruction-level prediction mechanism to estimate the energy consumption of a given program under different numbers of cores. The prediction is based on the profile of Parallel Thread Execution (PTX) [2] codes generated during compilation of the original program. With the help of this mechanism, the energy-optimal number of cores can be found during compilation and used in execution, replacing the one given by programmer. Tests have been carried on several NVIDIA CUDA [10] benchmarks. The results show that the energy consumption is minimized without losing much performance. With the predicted energy-optimal number of active cores, we show that the energy consumption saving for the selected benchmarks is from 7.31% to 11.76% on average, with a worst case of performance lost 4.92%.
Energy targeting and minimum energy distillation column sequences

Abstract The determination of distillation column configurations that consume the least total energy is studied. The novel contributions of the proposed design methodology for finding global minimum energy column sequences presented in this article include: (1) the definition of a total stripping line distance function for any sequence, (2) a robust energy targeting strategy that provides a continuously differentiable description of column sequences, (3) the flexibility to use any phase equilibrium model, (4) the ability to find column sequences that contain non-pinched, minimum energy columns within a sequence, and (5) the ability to include heat integration. The proposed energy targeting approach, which is used in conjunction with the two-level design methodology of Amale & Lucia (2008b) , is shown to be a reliable and effective tool for finding minimum energy distillation column sequences. A number of example problems are presented to show the efficacy of the proposed design methodology.
The use of fiber optics transillumination for the detection of proximal caries.

Abstract Children in the mixed-dentition stage were examined for proximal caries by means of mirror and explorer, fiber optics transillumination (FOTI), and bitewing radiographs. Examinations were performed with portable dental equipment in two public grammar schools. The purpose was to evaluate FOTI as a diagnostic tool for caries diagnosis in a clinical field situation. The greatest percentage increase in proximal lesions detected by FOTI was recorded in the permanent incisors; however, radiographs were not available for diagnostic confirmation. FOTI proved to be an insensitive method for detecting proximal caries in posterior deciduous or permanent teeth above that which was found by an initial mirror-and-explorer examination.
The Real Number System

In an elementary calculus course the student learns the techniques of differentiation and integration and the skills needed for solving a variety of problems which use the processes of calculus. Most often, the principal theorems upon which calculus is based are stated without proof, while some of the auxiliary theorems are established in detail. To compensate for the missing proofs, most texts present arguments which show that the basic theorems are plausible. Frequently, a remark is added to the effect that rigorous proofs of these theorems can be found in advanced texts in analysis.
An Empirical Examination of the FDAAA-Mandated Toll-Free Statement for Consumer Reporting of Side Effects in Direct-to-Consumer Television Advertisements

AbstractThis research investigates how the inclusion of the “toll-free statement” (a message about a toll-free number by which consumers can report drug side effects to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) in direct-to-consumer (DTC) television advertisements for prescription drugs affects consumers’ comprehension of product risks and benefits, as well as their comprehension and memory of the toll-free statement. Participants viewed one of nine mock television advertisements across which elements of the toll-free statement varied. Presenting the statement in both text and audio resulted in better processing of the statement than text-only presentations. When the statement was shown in text alone, presenting it during the entire advertisement or after the statement of risks resulted in better processing than a placement before the risk information. The placement, duration, and prominence of the statement did not affect risk or benefit comprehension. These findings suggest that the toll-free statement can...
Religion and the Occupy Wall Street movement

The Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011 and its corollaries, Occupy Sandy and Occupy Debt, have been largely understood as secular movements. In spite of this, religious actors not only participate...
Soil Influences Colonization of Root-Associated Fungal Endophyte Communities of Maize, Wheat, and Their Progenitors

Root-associated fungal endophytes are vital component of root microbiome as some mitigate their host’s abiotic and biotic stress. We characterized root-associated fungal endophytes in cereal grains and their progenitors grown on two different soil-types. We aimed at determining how clay and desert soil affects the colonization of root fungal community. Both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods were employed to identify endophytes that successfully colonized greenhouse-grown host plants. The Internal Transcriber Spacer region of fungal ribosomal DNA was utilized for identification purposes. This study revealed soil as a prominent factor influencing the composition of microfungal communities inhabiting the roots of maize (Zea mays subsp. mays) and its conspecific progenitor, teosinte (Zea mays subsp. parviglumis). Similar results were found in wheat (Triticum aestivum subsp. aestivum) and its progenitor (Triticum monococcum subsp. monococcum). The multidimensional comparisons of Morisita-Horn similarity values of fungal colonists of various host plant taxa indicated that soil plays a primary role in shaping the root fungal community; a secondary effect was plant host identity, even when the plant host is a conspecific. Future studies focused on characterizing root endophytes in other cereal grains, and studying the effect of edaphic factors on fungal colonization, can ultimately contribute to crop productivity.
On the Circles of Antisimilitude of the Circles Determined by Four Given Points

(1923). On the Circles of Antisimilitude of the Circles Determined by Four Given Points. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 30, No. 5, pp. 250-251.
Harrison's Online Updates

From the World's Top Medical Text… here are some of the latest entries in one of the world's most trusted databases of internal medicine—Harrison's Online (www.harrisonsonlinc.com)
Privacy-Preserving Ride Sharing Scheme for Autonomous Vehicles in Big Data Era

Ride sharing can reduce the number of vehicles in the streets by increasing the occupancy of vehicles, which can facilitate traffic and reduce crashes and the number of needed parking slots. Autonomous vehicles can make ride sharing convenient, popular, and also necessary because of the elimination of the driver effort and the expected high cost of the vehicles. However, the organization of ride sharing requires the users to disclose sensitive detailed information not only on the pick-up/drop-off locations but also on the trip time and route. In this paper, we propose a scheme to organize ride sharing and address the unique privacy issues. Our scheme uses a similarity measurement technique over encrypted data to preserve the privacy of trip data. The ride sharing region is divided into cells and each cell is represented by one bit in a binary vector. Each user should represent trip data as binary vectors and submit the encryptions of the vectors to a server. The server can measure the similarity of the users’ trip data and find users who can share rides without knowing the data. Our analysis has demonstrated that the proposed scheme can organize ride sharing without disclosing private information. We have implemented our scheme using Visual C on a real map and the measurements have confirmed that our scheme is effective when ride sharing becomes popular and the server needs to organize a large number of rides in short time.
Complete Genome Sequence of Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. bolletii.

ABSTRACT We report the complete genome sequence of a Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. bolletii isolate recovered from a sputum culture from an individual with cystic fibrosis. This sequence is the first completed whole-genome sequence of M. abscessus subsp. bolletii and adds value to studies of M. abscessus complex genomics.
Lymphangiogenesis: mechanisms, significance and clinical implications.

Great attention has been directed toward understanding angiogenesis over the past several decades since this phenomenon was reproduced in vitro in endothelial cell and mixed vascular tissue cultures (Folkman and Hauden-schild, 1980; Folkman, 1995). The focus, however, has been almost entirely on blood vessel growth, or what we have termed “hemangiogenesis” (M. Witte and Witte, 1987 c). Yet a vast interstitial fluid circulation suffuses the tissues, bathes the parenchymal cells and interconnects with the blood vasculature via the lymphatic vasculature (Fig. 1). This arc of the circulatory system on the dark side of the blood-tissue interface and its growth (“lymphangiogenesis”) has received scant attention even though lymphatic (re)generation is both vigorous and essential, and disorders of lymphatic dynamics are common, often disfiguring, and occasionally life- and limb-threatening.
HIV Testing Among Men at Risk for Acquiring HIV Infection Before and After the 2006 CDC Recommendations.

Objectives.Testing for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the key first step in HIV treatment and prevention. In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended annual HIV...
Cellobiose hydrolysis by glutaraldehyde- treated β-glucosidase entrapped in propylene glycol alginate/bone gelatin spheres

The use of glutaraldehyde-modified β-glucosidase entrapped within structurally stable PGAG gel spheres for the continuous hydrolysis of cellobiose has been demonstrated. Such spheres may be useful in a bioprocess concerned with the enzymatic conversion of cellulosic materials to fuels and chemicals. It will be important, however, to maintain higher loadings of cellobiase activity within the spheres than those achieved in the present study. This will be possible through the formation of stable covalent bonds between β-glucosidase molecules prior to their entrapment. Finally, if the modification is carried out in the presence of cellobiose, it appears as if there is virtually no loss in catalytic activity.
Transcutaneous O2 and CO2 Monitoring in the Adult

Transcutaneous gas sensors have become an important real time monitoring technique, but not for the reasons they were originally designed. The original concept was to measure arterial blood gases noninvasively, but by an odd quirk of fate this is possible only in a narrow restrictive sense. Their most important use lies in their capacity to measure a tissue O2 perfusion and CO2 washout in critically ill adults and neonates with circulatory as well as respiratory failure. From the point of view of real time surveillance for early warning of cardiorespiratory compromise, it is advantageous that the sensors measure gases at the skin surface, as the cutaneous circulation is the most sensitive and vulnerable of all organs during incipient circulatory failure.
Bilayer degradation in reactive environments

Lipid vesicles, or liposomes have been widely studied both as a model for cell membranes and for applications such as drug delivery. As a rule, their aqueous environment (in vitro or in vivo) contains various degradation agents, ranging from free radicals to acids and enzymes. This paper investigates the degradation of lipid vesicles as a function of environmental conditions using 3d Monte-Carlo simulations. The time-scale for bilayer degradation is found to be independent of the liposome size, but highly sensitive to the concentration of degradation molecules in solution and to the rate of the degradation reaction.
Human Planning and Coordination in Spatial Search Problems

Abstract: Search is an essential technology for rescue and other mobile robot applications. Many robotic search and rescue systems rely on teleoperation. How to cover the search space efficiently is one of the key problems in search tasks. Search is also central to humans' daily activities. Analyzing human search behavior through teleoperation could help improve understanding of human search strategies as well as autonomous search algorithms. This research proposes a novel framework to model and analyze humans' search behavior. The framework is based on structure learning and K-means clustering. The analysis of the experimental data demonstrates that (1) humans are able to solve the complex search task by breaking it up into smaller tasks; and (2) humans consider both coverage and motion cost while searching. The results are used to design near optimal subgoals to guide humans in searching. Experiments showed that the humans' search performance is improved with the subgoals assistance.
On a Method for Reconstructing Inaccessible State Variables Using Time Delays

Abstract One of the major problems in implementing an optimal control is that all state variables must be available for the controller synthesis, a requirement which is rarely satisfied in real systems. Although a Luenberger observer may be used in some cases, it has several shortcomings. It gives only an approximation of the state variables, which is not satisfactory if the optimal controller is a discontinuous function of the state variables. A time optimal control for a system with bounded control function is an example. In addition, in order to minimize the settling time of the observer, it is necessary to us e relatively high observer system gain, which in turn makes the observer too sensitive to noise. In this paper, a method is presented for exactly reconstructing the complete state variables from observed state variables. It is believed that this is the first time that a method is d e rived for exactly reconstructing the state variables.
Abstract P259: Functional Characterization of an ALOX15 Promoter Variant Associated with Coronary Artery Calcification: Regulation of ALOX15 by Vimentin

Human 12/15-lipoxygenase (ALOX15) catalyzes the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. We previously reported that a common haploty...
Predictive validity and correlates of self-assessed resilience among U.S. Army soldiers.

Background Self-assessment of resilience could prove valuable to military and other organizations whose personnel confront foreseen stressors. We evaluated the validity of self-assessed resilience among U.S. Army soldiers, including whether predeployment perceived resilience predicted postdeployment emotional disorder. Methods Resilience was assessed via self-administered questionnaire among new soldiers reporting for basic training (N = 35,807) and experienced soldiers preparing to deploy to Afghanistan (N = 8,558). Concurrent validity of self-assessed resilience was evaluated among recruits by estimating its association with past-month emotional disorder. Predictive validity was examined among 3,526 experienced soldiers with no lifetime emotional disorder predeployment. Predictive models estimated associations of predeployment resilience with incidence of emotional disorder through 9 months postdeployment and with marked improvement in coping at 3 months postdeployment. Weights-adjusted regression models incorporated stringent controls for risk factors. Results Soldiers characterized themselves as very resilient on average [M = 14.34, SD = 4.20 (recruits); M = 14.75, SD = 4.31 (experienced soldiers); theoretical range = 0–20]. Demographic characteristics exhibited only modest associations with resilience, while severity of childhood maltreatment was negatively associated with resilience in both samples. Among recruits, resilience was inversely associated with past-month emotional disorder [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.62–0.68, P < .0005 (per standard score increase)]. Among deployed soldiers, greater predeployment resilience was associated with decreased incidence of emotional disorder (AOR = 0.91; 95% CI = 0.84–0.98; P = .016) and increased odds of improved coping (AOR = 1.36; 95% CI = 1.24–1.49; P < .0005) postdeployment. Conclusions Findings supported validity of self-assessed resilience among soldiers, although its predictive effect on incidence of emotional disorder was modest. In conjunction with assessment of known risk factors, measurement of resilience could help predict adaptation to foreseen stressors like deployment.
Adjuvant External Beam Radiotherapy in Locally Advanced Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.

Importance As incidence of differentiated thyroid cancer rises, treatment paradigms have become increasingly defined. Despite this, locally advanced disease continues to be challenging to manage. Postoperative therapy in the form of radioactive iodine (RAI) is generally recommended, but the role of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is less well defined. Objective To investigate the role of EBRT in locally advanced differentiated thyroid cancer. Design, Setting, and Participants For this retrospective cohort study, patients treated surgically for T4a differentiated thyroid cancer at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center from January 2000 through December 2015 were recruited, and 88 patients were included for analysis. Exposures Adjuvant treatment with RAI alone or both RAI and EBRT. Main Outcomes and Measures Disease-free survival (DFS), defined as the time from primary surgery to locoregional or distant recurrence or death due to any cause. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was completed. Univariate and multivariate analysis was completed with Cox proportional hazards model to determine predictors of DFS. Results A total of 88 patients (44 women [50%]; mean [SD] age, 58.2 [15.3] years) were included in the analysis. Median (range) follow-up was 117 (12-164) months. Forty-four patients (50%) underwent RAI alone and 44 patients (50%) underwent RAI with adjuvant EBRT. Patients undergoing RAI alone did not receive EBRT owing to invasion into the recurrent laryngeal nerve only (n = 14 [32%]) or invasion into the tracheal perichondrium and/or esophageal muscularis only (n = 18 [41%]). Five-year DFS was 43% in those undergoing RAI alone, compared with 57% in those undergoing RAI and EBRT (effect size = 14%; 95% CI, −7% to 33%). Patients undergoing RAI alone had an increased rate of locoregional failure (effect size = −32%; 95% CI, −47% to −16%), with those undergoing RAI treatment alone, for minimal tracheal perichondrium and/or esophageal muscularis invasion having worse locoregional control than those with recurrent laryngeal nerve invasion only (effect size = 49%; 95% CI, 20% to 71%). Age (adjusted hazard ratio [adjusted HR], 1.02/y; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.05) and esophageal invasion (adjusted HR, 2.30; 95% CI, 1.16 to 4.60) were independent predictors of worse DFS. Conclusions and Relevance The addition of EBRT to RAI results in good disease control in locally advanced differentiated thyroid cancer, particularly in patients with tracheal or esophageal invasion treated with aggressive surgical resection. Increased age and presence of esophageal invasion were independent predictors of poor disease control.
Multiscale weighted colored graphs for protein flexibility and rigidity analysis.

Protein structural fluctuation, measured by Debye-Waller factors or B-factors, is known to correlate to protein flexibility and function. A variety of methods has been developed for protein Debye-Waller factor prediction and related applications to domain separation, docking pose ranking, entropy calculation, hinge detection, stability analysis, etc. Nevertheless, none of the current methodologies are able to deliver an accuracy of 0.7 in terms of the Pearson correlation coefficients averaged over a large set of proteins. In this work, we introduce a paradigm-shifting geometric graph model, multiscale weighted colored graph (MWCG), to provide a new generation of computational algorithms to significantly change the current status of protein structural fluctuation analysis. Our MWCG model divides a protein graph into multiple subgraphs based on interaction types between graph nodes and represents the protein rigidity by generalized centralities of subgraphs. MWCGs not only predict the B-factors of protein r...
Defining the Role of the Bible in Spirituality: “Three Degrees of Spirituality” in American Culture:

Though the use of the word “spirituality” abounds, the meaning can vary greatly. Three increasingly narrow categories seem to cover the essence of “spirituality” within American culture: general, C...
Risk of Different Cancers Among First-degree Relatives of Pancreatic Cancer Patients: Influence of Probands’ Susceptibility Gene Mutation Status

BACKGROUND Increased risk of malignancies other than pancreatic cancer (PC) has been reported among first-degree relatives (FDRs) of PC patients; however, the roles of susceptibility gene mutations are unclear. We assessed risk for 15 cancers among FDRs of unselected PC probands. METHODS Data on 17 162 FDRs, with more than 336 000 person-years at risk, identified through 2305 sequential PC probands enrolled at Mayo Clinic (2000-2016) were analyzed. Family history data were provided by the probands. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated, comparing malignancies observed among the FDRs with that expected using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data. Genetic testing was performed among a subset of probands (n = 2094), enabling stratified analyses among FDRs based on whether the related proband tested positive or negative for inherited mutation in 22 sequenced cancer susceptibility genes. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS Compared with SEER, PC risk was twofold higher among FDRs of PC probands (SIR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.78 to 2.31, P < .001). Primary liver cancer risk was elevated among female FDRs (SIR = 2.10, 95% CI = 1.34 to 3.12, P < .001). PC risk was more elevated among FDRs of mutation-positive probands (SIR = 4.32, 95% CI = 3.10 to 5.86) than FDRs of mutation-negative probands (SIR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.51 to 2.05, between-group P < .001). FDR PC risk was higher when the related proband was younger than age 60 years at diagnosis and mutation-positive (SIR = 5.24, 95% CI = 2.93 to 8.64) than when the proband was younger than age 60 years but mutation-negative (SIR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.21 to 2.47, between-group P < .001). Breast (SIR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.01 to 1.63) and ovarian (SIR = 2.38, 95% CI = 1.30 to 4.00) cancers were elevated among FDRs of mutation-positive probands. CONCLUSIONS Our study substantiates twofold risk of PC among FDRs of PC patients and suggests increased risk for primary liver cancer among female FDRs. FDRs of susceptibility mutation carriers had substantially increased risk for PC and increased risk for breast and ovarian cancers.
Prevalence of Escherichia coli in Apple Cider Manufactured in Connecticut

Cider samples obtained from 11 cider mills operating in Connecticut during the 1997 to 1998 production season were tested for the presence of Escherichia coli. Cider production began in mid August and continued through March, with peak production in September and October. Of 314 cider samples tested, 11 (4%) were found to contain E. coli. Of the 11 mills, 6 (55%) tested positive for E. coli in the cider at least once during the production year. E. coli was first observed in cider samples produced in mid to late October and was not detected in samples made after January. A trend was observed for cider to decrease in acidity and increase in Brix (soluble sugars) throughout the production season. No correlation between pH and soluble sugars of cider and the presence of E. coli was detected. Eight mills used both dropped apples and tree-picked apples, whereas three mills used tree-picked apples only. The use of dropped apples in cider production began 5 weeks before the first detection of E. coli in cider. E. coli was isolated from cider samples produced using dropped apples and from samples produced using only tree-picked apples. No direct correlation between the use of dropped apples or tree-picked apples and the presence of E. coli in the cider was observed. An association between the time of apple harvest and the appearance of E. coli in cider was noted. For mills providing adequate records, all contaminated cider was produced from apples harvested between mid October and mid November.
Applications of Derivatives

Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third Collegiate Edition, gives five meanings to “monotone”, all musical, none mathematical. In math, a function is monotone on an interval if it is either increasing or decreasing on the interval.
Central Serous Chorioretinopathy: Clinical Characteristics Associated with Visual Outcomes

Purpose: Retrospective cohort study to identify clinical characteristics associated with poor visual acuity in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Materials and Methods: Charts of patients in a...
Strength and Clarity of Vaccine Recommendations Influence Providers' Practice.

* Abbreviation: MenB — : meningococcal serogroup B In 2015, 2 meningococcal serogroup B (MenB) vaccines were licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration for persons ≥10 years through 25 years of age through an accelerated approval process.1 The Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices recommended MenB vaccines for adolescents and young adults not at increased risk for meningococcal B disease using a new recommendation designation, Category B, defined as a recommendation for individual clinical decision-making.2,3 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics acknowledged issues that remained because of the accelerated approval.2,4 Duration of immunity, effectiveness of a newly structured meningococcal vaccine (ie, outer membrane protein antigens rather than conjugated polysaccharide antigens), long-term adverse effects, and the proportion of meningococcal B strains that would be covered by the 2 vaccines had yet to be established.3,4 In this month’s issue of Pediatrics ,5 results from a survey of pediatricians and family physicians were used to provide insight as to how providers might discuss and recommend MenB vaccines. The survey was used to query providers … Address correspondence to Michael T. Brady, MD, Infectious Diseases, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, 700 Children’s Dr, J5421, Columbus, OH 43205. E-mail: michael.brady{at}nationwidechildrens.org
SiC-Based High Efficiency High Gain Boost Converter for PV Application

In PV systems, the voltage of a PV panel is low and it needs to be increased to satisfy the inverter side requirements without increasing the cost by adding more PV panels. To reach this goal, a high gain DC-DC converter needs to be inserted between the PV panel and inverter. In this paper, a novel high gain boost converter is proposed to reach a high output voltage and overcome the associated drawbacks of conventional converter such as high duty ratio, and narrow turn-off interval. The proposed converter composed of interleaved structure connected to the input voltage and voltage multiplier connected to the output voltage to achieve high gain ratio. The system efficiency is improved by using wide bandgap (WBG) power devices, such as SiC MOSFET. SiC based devices have low ON state resistance, small conduction and switching losses compared to Si based devices. Simulation results show that a high output voltage of 800 V is achieved. Also, a high efficiency of 98.4% is attained at a high switching frequency of 300 kHz.
Synthesis and folding behaviour of poly(p-phenylene vinylene)-based β-sheet polychromophores.

This contribution describes the design and synthesis of β-sheet-mimicking synthetic polymers comprising distinct poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) and poly(norbornene) (PNB) backbones with multiple turns. The rod–coil–coil–rod tetrablock copolymers, synthesized using ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and featuring orthogonal face-to-face π–π stacking and phenyl/perfluorophenyl interactions, show persistent folding both in bulk and at the single molecule level, irrespective of the number of β-turns. Single molecule polarization studies reveal that the copolymers are more anisotropic than the corresponding homopolymers. Examination of the spectral signatures of the single molecules shows a dominant emissive chromophore in the linked materials compared to the homopolymer. The lack of significant spectral changes of the folded materials along with the existence of a dominant emission spectrum supports the proposed structure of well-aligned, minimally-interacting chromophores. Utilization of this reliably folding, phenyl/perfluorophenyl functionality could provide an extremely useful tool in future functional materials design.
Calbindin-D9k Localization and Gestational Changes in the Utero-Placental Unit: A Model for Maternal-Fetal Calcium Transports

The calbindins are a class of E-F hand, high affinity calcium-binding proteins. In a variety of tissues, the synthesis of these proteins is known to be dependent on 1,25dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25 (OH)2D) (Christakos et al., Wasserman et al). Two major forms of calbindins have been isolated and characterized, namely a high molecular weight form of Mr 28,000 (calbindin-D28k) first isolated from chick intestinal epithelium, and a low molecular weight form of Mr 9,000 (calbindin-D9k) first identified in rat intestinal mucosa. These proteins show distinct differences in their distributions, both among species and among tissues. Although the molecular role of these proteins is as yet unclear, ample evidence indicates that calbindins are an excellent marker for epithelia that sustain high rates of transcellular calcium transport (Christakos et al., Wasserman et al.)
Implementing subarray average delay multiply and sum ultrasound beamformer using OpenCL

The subarray average delay multiply and sum (SADMAS) beamformer, proposed by our group recently, has achieved significant improvement in the resolution and performance of the ultrasound images with lower computational complexity compared to MV or DMAS beamformers. Since SADMAS beamformer is based on matrix processing, it has the advantage to be used in ultrasound system based on FPGA or GPU for real-time imaging. In this paper, we put forward an implementation of the SADMAS beamformer on a high performance graphics processing unit (GPU) by using Open Computing Language (OpenCL). In this implementation, the specific algorithm architecture was designed and implemented by 2 kernel-based parallel beamformer. To evaluate the performance of the algorithm architecture, point phantoms were used to evaluate the performance of the algorithm. The execution time and the frame rates were measured by using this implementation targeted on GPU and CPU, respectively. Experiment results show that, by using different subarray length with M/2 and M/4 (where M is the size of array), the frame rates improve 38.6 and 44.6 times, respectively, compared with the beamformer implemented on CPU. Those results indicate that the implementation of SADMAS beamformer on GPU is feasible for real-time imaging in medical ultrasound system.
Head and Neck Reconstructive Surgery: Characterization of the One-Team and Two-Team Approaches.

Purpose To the best of our knowledge, no studies have compared the patient profiles for 1- versus 2-team surgery within head and neck oncosurgery. Patients and Methods A retrospective study of the data from 2968 patients who had undergone concurrent head and neck extirpative and reconstructive surgery in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (2010 to 2017) was conducted. Patients were stratified into 1- and 2-team surgery groups, and the demographic data were compared. Univariate analyses of the outcomes before and after propensity score matching were conducted. Results Most ablative and reconstructive head and neck procedures (68.5%) were performed using a 1-team approach. The patients who had undergone 2-team surgery were more likely to have a higher American Society of Anesthesiologists classification (P Conclusions Nationally, most head and neck ablative and reconstructive surgeries were completed by 1 team. More complicated reconstructive procedures involving microvascular free flaps have been more commonly performed by 2 teams, resulting in slightly longer operative times and greater associated complication rates.
Coming Full Circle: Revisiting Brown, Both Policy and Practice

Sixty-five years ago, Thurgood Marshall and his legal team secured a legal, educational, and societal victory in the Supreme Court. On March 17, 1954, Justice Warren delivered an opinion that chang...
Correction to: Deflationism About Logic

The original version of this article unfortunately contains mistakes introduced by the publisher during the production process. The mistakes and corrections are described in the following list
You Are Only as Frail as Your Arteries: Prehabilitation of Elderly Surgical Patients

To discuss the concept of prehabilitation for the elderly frail surgical patient as well as strategies to improve preoperative functional capacity and vascular function to decrease postoperative complications. Frailty is associated with poor surgical outcomes yet there is no consensus on how frailty should be measured or mitigated in the preoperative period. Prehabilitation, or improving functional capacity prior to surgery typically through exercise, has been shown to be an effective strategy to decrease preoperative frailty and improves surgical outcomes. Use of remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) may serve as an alternative to exercise in this fragile patient population. Prehabilitation programs using strategies targeted at improving vascular function may decrease frailty in the preoperative period and improve surgical outcomes in the elderly population.
State Vocational Rehabilitation Services and Employment Outcomes for Asian Americans with Psychiatric Disabilities

One major concern of Asian Americans with psychiatric disabilities is underutilization of services, furthermore their service needs and accessibility have been significantly understudied. This study examined the effects of the public vocational rehabilitation (VR) services on employment outcomes for Asian Americans with psychiatric disabilities in the United States. This study investigated which individual characteristics, work disincentives, and VR service types were related to competitive employment outcomes among Asian Americans with psychiatric disabilities and compared the findings to other racial/ethnic groups. Logistic regression analyses were used to analyze a sample of RSA-911 data from fiscal year 2013. The results provided empirical support regarding VR services and employment outcomes for Asian Americans with psychiatric disabilities. Specifically, level of education, work experiences, and receipt of health insurance benefits were significantly related to employment outcomes among the Asian American group. Regarding VR services, job placement assistance, on-the-job supports, maintenance, miscellaneous training, and other services also predicted employment outcomes. Future research needs to address the impact of specific cultural factors on access to VR services, service utilization, and employment outcomes.
Arterial Stiffness Accelerates Within 1 Year of the Final Menstrual Period: The SWAN Heart Study.

Objective: Menopause may augment age-dependent increases in arterial stiffness, with black women having greater progression in midlife compared with white women. We sought to determine whether and ...
Ultraviolet and X-ray properties of Coma's ultra-diffuse galaxies

Many ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) have been discovered in the Coma cluster, and there is evidence that some, notably Dragonfly 44, have Milky Way-like dynamical masses despite dwarf-like stellar masses. We used X-ray, UV, and optical data to investigate the star formation and nuclear activity in the Coma UDGs, and we obtained deep UV and X-ray data (Swift and XMM-Newton) for Dragonfly 44 to search for low-level star formation, hot circumgalactic gas, and the integrated emission from X-ray binaries. Among the Coma UDGs, we find UV luminosities consistent with quiescence but NUV$-r$ colors indicating star formation in the past Gyr. This indicates that the UDGs were recently quenched. The $r$-band luminosity declines with projected distance from the Coma core. The Dragonfly 44 UV luminosity is also consistent with quiescence, with SFR$ 10^8 M_{\odot}$ within the virial radius, which would normally be expected for a dynamically massive galaxy. The absence of bright, low mass X-ray binaries is consistent with the expectation from the galaxy total stellar mass, but it is unlikely if most low-mass X-ray binaries form in globular clusters, as Dragonfly 44 has a very large population. Based on the UV and X-ray analysis, the Coma UDGs are consistent with quenched dwarf galaxies, although we cannot rule out a dynamically massive population.
A Novel Rapid Manufacturing Process for Metal Lattice Structure

A novel lattice structure manufacturing process is proposed in this article, which has the potential to overcome the manufacturing shortcomings of small-scale metal lattice structure. The proposed ...
Campus as a Living Laboratory: Conservation Areas that Create a Community Who then Ensure Its Sustainability

Since the founding of Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in 1997, its campus—which has integrated urbanized development into extensive conservation areas—has been one of the school’s most unique and distinctive features. The university was constructed with the typical academic core, student housing, and athletic facilities making up the urbanized half of the campus. This area of urbanization was set within natural areas that are typical of southwest Florida, including upland forests and restored wetlands. Over time, these conservation areas would make up the other half of the campus. While the integration of human and non-human landscapes at FGCU attracted some students and faculty, these green spaces have had particularly dramatic influences on how many environmentally minded members of the campus community have taught and learned, conducted research, and performed service. Working in this “living laboratory” created a feedback loop ultimately, where these same individuals then initiated programs that ensured the continued use and protection of the campus conservation areas. Where FGCU’s focus on environmental sustainability promoted conditions for a living laboratory that bridged natural and human landscapes, the ability of a living laboratory to affect the academic and professional growth of personnel who then in turn worked to sustain the central feature of the living lab should be generalizable to the specific focus of any institution interested in developing a site-specific living laboratory.
A Retrospective Quantitative Examination of the Impact of Team-Based Learning on Mean Unit Exam Scores

Nursing students have not been well prepared to enter the nursing clinical areas upon graduation from nursing school. The literature indicates that one of the causes of the lack of readiness is that nursing education remains focused on passive learning strategies that are instructor-centered, such as lecture, presentation slides, and reading assignments. The purpose of this non-experimental, retrospective project was to determine if a difference existed between students’ mean unit exam scores when the teaching strategy was changed from lecture to team-based learning (TBL). The project design was a quantitative non-experimental design, utilizing descriptive and bivariate statistics. Retrospective data were used in this project ranging from years 2010-2013 at an associate degree nursing program in the western United States. Data on 125 students was obtained through a convenience sample and was used in this project. A non-paired t¬-test was performed and results showed that there was not a statistical significance between students who were exposed to TBL as a teaching strategy and those exposed to passive lecture. While the results of the project were not statistically significant in showing that students who were exposed to TBL had higher mean unit exam scores, it did show that students exposed to TBL did have a mean unit exam score of one point higher than those exposed to lecture. This result has a clinical significance in that students can obtain the same concepts in a different format and still perform well on exams. This project will add to the body of knowledge and will nursing educators understand that there are methods of student-centered learning that can be incorporated into the classroom that still allow for large quantities of information to be covered.
On the distribution and dynamics of health care costs

Using data from the Health and Retirement Survey and the Assets and Health Dynamics of the Oldest Old survey, we estimate the stochastic process that determines both the distribution and dynamics of health care costs. We find that the data-generating process for log health costs is well represented as the sum of a white noise process and a highly persistent AR(1) process. We also find that the innovations to this process can be modelled with a normal distribution that has been adjusted to capture the risk of catastrophic health care costs. Simulating this model, we find that in any given year 0.1% of households receive a health cost shock with a present value of at least $125,000. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Receptors Regulating Acid Secretion on and off the Parietal Cell

Using a combination of in vitro and in vivo experimental techniques has made possible the identification of receptors that regulate gastric acid secretion by the parietal cell. Some of the newest discoveries in the area of regulation of acid secretion are related to the cellular localization of physiologically relevant receptors for acid secretagogues and acid inhibitors. In vitro techniques have enabled the ability to isolate, culture, and study the function of parietal cells, gastrin-containing “G” cells, histamine-containing ECL cells and somatostatin-containing “D” cells, and the ability to clone genes encoding for specific receptors. In vivo techniques have enabled the testing of hypotheses generated in a physiological model from what we learn from in vitro studies. This experimental strategy has greatly enhanced our understanding of the physiological role and the regulation of parietal cell secretion by secretagogues and inhibitors produced by various cell types within the gastric mucosa.
American International Law

A phase of Latin American thought regarding international law which is often mentioned but rarely understood, it seems, is the so-called “American international law.”