cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Free tissue transfer and local flap complications in anterior and anterolateral skull base surgery

Background Advances in reconstructive techniques over the past two decades have allowed the resection of more extensive skull base tumors than had previously been possible. Despite this progress, complications related to these cases remain a concern. Methods Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine the relationship of host, tumor, defect, treatment, and reconstructive variables to wound and systemic complications after anterior and anterolateral skull base resections. The study included 67 patients receiving local flap (LF) or free tissue transfer (FTT) reconstructions during an 8-year period. Results Overall, 28% of patients had a major wound complication, and 19% had a major systemic complication. LF and FTT flaps had similar rates of wound complications. LF reconstructions were associated with late wound breakdown problems, and FTT flap complications were primarily acute surgery–related problems. Conclusions The surgical reconstruction of skull base defects should be planned on the basis of the ability of the technique to attain safe closure and maintain integrity after radiation therapy. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 24: 00–00, 2002
Earthworms Increase Nitrogen Leaching to Greater Soil Depths in Row Crop Agroecosystems

Many biological functions of soil organisms are replaced in intensive agricultural systems, but earthworms and other soil invertebrates may continue to have significant effects on nutrient cycling in these disturbed systems. We investigated the influence of earthworms on leaching of water and nitrogen in corn (Zea mays L.) agroecosystems in a long-term (6-year) field experiment in Wooster, Ohio, USA. We employed a split-plot experimental design in which main plots received one of three nutrient treatments (cow manure, legume–grass mixture, inorganic fertilizer) and contained three 4.5 × 4.5-m field enclosures in which earthworm populations were increased, decreased, or unmodified. We installed zero-tension lysimeters beneath enclosures with increased or decreased populations and collected leachates regularly in 1996, analyzing them for water volume and concentrations of NH4+, NO3−, and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). Earthworms did not influence concentrations of inorganic N or DON but greatly increased leachate volume. The total flux of N in soil leachates was 2.5-fold greater in plots with increased earthworm populations than in those with decreased populations. Earthworm population density was positively correlated with total N leaching flux (r2 = 0.49). Leaching losses of N to a depth of 45 cm were greater in the inorganically fertilized than in the organically fertilized plots, possibly due to greater inorganic N concentrations and lower immobilization potential in inorganically fertilized systems. Our results indicate that earthworms can increase the leaching of water and nitrogen to greater soil depths, potentially increasing N leaching from the system.
Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic LTCC Application Testing Alternative

Passive component implementations are undergoing a dramatic density increase with the application of multi-layer materials such as low temperature ceramic composites, high density flexible circuits, and imbedded circuits within PC boards. This has migrated into RF applications such as Blue Tooth wireless communications enabling small cost effective solutions pervasive in equipment such as laptop computers, cellular phones, printers, palm pilots, etc. With the increased passive component density comes a RF application testing difficulty that is complicated further by the need to include active devices or integrated circuit components with the passive monolith to complete the RF application. This paper describes an alternative to RF applications testing for multi-layer implementation where the material and process parameters are measured on a generic structure using mixed-mode four-port parameters. What results is a non-destructive probe test using off-the-shelf four-port vector network measurement and analysis equipment, for obtaining electrical parameters such as dielectric constant and loss tangent, screened metal conductivity and reactive value, and physical parameters such as dielectric thickness, conductor width, and layer alignment. With the measurement of material and process parameters the multi-layer wafer can be monitored during the manufacture process and prior to committing high cost integrated circuits and other components. A common test structure can be applied across a wide variety of RF applications with measurement frequency being defined by the application. What this means is the RF testing of high-density components such as LTCC become generic independent of the particular electrical function.
Poetry within Earshot: Notes on an Asian American Generation 1968–1978

"In the process of finding out what one has learned, one learns once more."—Bertolt Brecht2Poetry is practical, so I have learned.Because I wanted to relearn—and relive—the stirrings of an Asian American generation, I sought out its poetry.3 For poetry, like a hammer, can nail down the times.Contrary to what is taught, poetry has its practical side. Poems are portable. They are easily held, to a paper or between the brows. They do not need leather bindings, do not require a light projector, a picture frame, a wind or percussion instrument to carry their images or produce their sounds. Poetry is the form which, given the unity of speaker and listener, can quicken our emotions and color our perceptions. "It is the literary form that depends most directly on pure verbal resources—the sound and evocative power of words, meter, alliteration, rhyme, and other rhythmic devices, associated images, repetitions, archaisms, and grammatical twists."4 Poems may be understood better by listening, though some poems read...
Lateral Skull Base Attenuation in Patients with Anterior Cranial Fossa Spontaneous Cerebrospinal Fluid Leaks

Objective(1) Determine if patients with anterior fossa spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid (SCSF) leaks demonstrate lateral skull base bone attenuation. (2) Examine the relation between body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) and skull base thickness.Study DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingTertiary care hospital.Subjects and MethodsRetrospective review from 2004 to 2013 identified 96 patients with anterior cranial fossa SCSF leaks. A control group was identified from a consecutive series of clinic patients. Controls had no history of chronic sinonasal or temporal bone pathology and were divided according to BMI into nonobese (<30 kg/m2) and obese (≥30 kg/m2) groups. Composite skull base thickness was calculated for lateral and anterior subsites through predefined points according to previously published protocols.ResultsThirty-two patients were included in each group. Composite lateral skull base thickness was less in patients with SCSF leaks(0.7 ± 0.1 mm) when compared with nonobese controls (0.8 ± 0.1 mm, P = .0...
Finding the Right Value: Framing Effects on Domain Experts

By defining the essence of a policy problem, an issue frame shapes how individuals think about a political issue. In this research, we investigate framing effects among domain experts, an understudied yet increasingly important set of individuals in the policymaking process. Because domain experts have extensive and highly structured knowledge on a particular topic, they are likely to actively process issue frames to which they are exposed. Consequently, we hypothesize that frames consistent with experts' values will be particularly influential, whereas frames inconsistent with their values will lead to contrast effects. We test our hypotheses on a unique set of domain experts by examining professional farmers' attitudes toward no-till agriculture. Using an experimental design, we find evidence that environmental values interact with frames to influence farmers' interest in no-till, especially when farmers are exposed to a novel frame.
Review: Sites Unseen: Architecture, Race, and American Literature by William A. Gleason; Little White Houses: How the Postwar Home Constructed Race in America by Dianne Harris; Negro Building: Black Americans in the World of Fairs and Museums by Mabel O. Wilson

William A. Gleason Sites Unseen: Architecture, Race, and American Literature New York: NYU Press, 2011, 288 pp., 37 b/w illus. $23 (paper), ISBN 9780814732472 Dianne Harris Little White Houses: How the Postwar Home Constructed Race in America Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013, 366 pp., 148 b/w illus. $39.95 (paper), ISBN 9780816654567 Mabel O. Wilson Negro Building: Black Americans in the World of Fairs and Museums Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012, 464 pp., 57 b/w illus. $39.95 (cloth), ISBN 9780520268425 While scholarly interest in the critical intersections of race and architecture is by no means new within the humanities, there are hints of some new horizons in contemporary scholarship. Earlier studies in North American architectural history have primarily focused on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including the racial segregation perpetuated by urban renewal policies. Sociological studies have tended to focus on the structural and institutional causes of racism or have presented ethnographic accounts of minority groups that proved their resilience under oppression.1 More recent studies have built on these investigations with new cross-cultural and transnational analyses, as well as brought the material environments produced by such processes under greater scrutiny. For example, in the past ten years, scholarship in visual studies has isolated the hegemonic function of whiteness in visual contexts seemingly unmarked by the presence of white and nonwhite figures. Martin Berger’s Site Unseen: Whiteness and American Visual Culture is representative of such scholarship, and his work has paved the way for both William A. Gleason’s Sites Unseen: Architecture, Race, and American Literature and Dianne Harris’s Little White Houses: How the Postwar Home Constructed Race in America .2 While Gleason most closely emulates Berger’s theoretical approach (as evidenced by the similar titles and methodologies of both works), Harris takes Berger’s conceptual focus on whiteness in American visual culture and extends it through a sustained archival study of material culture taken from everyday life. Also anchored by a deep analysis of historical archives, Mabel O. Wilson’s Negro Building: Black Americans in the World of Fairs and Museums will no doubt become a fundamental reference book for future studies of black self-representation in the field of architectural history. Her work follows that of scholars who have used material culture to describe the historical transition of public debates between and …
THU0556 Smoking and Increased Airway Obstruction Over Time in Patients with Pulmonary Sarcoidosis

Background Sarcoidosis is a granulomatous disease of unknown cause potentially affecting any organ, and most commonly the lung. Previous studies demonstrate that while smoking is known to cause increased airway obstruction over time, bronchovascular bundle thickening which is a radiological pattern of irregular nodular thickening in peri-vascular and lymphatic distribution suggestive of granuloma formation along the airways. Additive effects of smoking and pulmonary sarcoidosis on increasing airway obstruction over time have not yet been investigated. A better understanding of this phenomenon could help predict outcomes for patients and possibly lead to more personalized approaches to treatment. Methods A retrospective study of pulmonary function tests (PFT) from 22 ever smokers and 27 never smokers with biopsy-supported pulmonary sarcoidosis of greater than one year duration. Changes over time for FEV 1 , FVC, FEV1/FVC, FEF 25-75, RV, TLC, and DLCO (all expressed as percent predicted) were evaluated. The number of days between each subsequent PFT and initial PFT as well as the slope of change per day was calculated for each case and then converted to show changes per year. Results There were significant baseline differences in PFTs between the two groups. There was, however, a significant difference in % predicted FEV 1 /FVC over time, with smokers showing an overall decrease, -1.21±2.69%/year, and nonsmokers showing an increase, 2.85±6.40%/year (p=0.0079). There was also a statistically non-significant difference showing a drop in FEF 25-75 with smokers, -3.82±16.03%/year, and an increase in FEF 25-75 with nonsmokers, 8.11±25.27%/year (p=0.061). In both groups, there were similar increases in FEV 1 (p=0.63), FVC (p=0.30), RV (p=0.54), and TLC (p=0.77) over time. Both groups showed a decrease over time in DLCO (p=0.69). After performing a multivariate analysis that controlled for age, medications, and baseline DLCO, the FEV 1 /FVC change between the two groups was still significantly different (p=0.035). Conclusions FEV 1 /FVC ratio and the FEF 25-75 volume can both be used as indicators of airway obstruction, and therefore it may be concluded that smoking may lead to increases in airway obstruction over time in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis that is independent of age, medications, or baseline PFTs. Acknowledgements This research was funded by grant #T35HL105350 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Disclosure of Interest M. Walker: None declared, L. Doughty: None declared, A. Janot: None declared, H. Grewal: None declared, M. Yu: None declared, L. A. Saketkoo Grant/research support from: ACR/EULAR Exchange Awardee, M. Lammi: None declared
Characteristics of nosocomial infections in pediatric department and related factors

OBJECTIVE To describe the epidemiology of nosocomial infections in pediatric department and seek for the related factors for nosocomial infections so as to provide bases for developing prevention and control measures.METHODS By the means of prospective study,a total of 82 708 cases of hospitalized patients during 2008-2010 were investigated and analyzed statistically.RESULTS Totally 2029 case-times of the patients occurred with nosocomial infections with the case-time infection rate of 2.45%,presenting as downward tendency(P0.01);upper respiratory tract,gastrointestinal tract,and lower respiratory tract were the major sites with high incidence of infections,accounting for 54.61%,25.63%,and 11.58%%,respectively;0.01);the children aged less than 3 years were the major population in which the infections occurred,accounting for 84.03%;the viruses were the major pathogens causing nosocomial infections in hospitalized children,accounting for 85.14%,the rate of nosocomial infections increased significantly with the prolonging hospital stay(P0.01).CONCLUSION It is necessary to develop corresponding prevention and control measures in accordance with the characteristics of the hospitalized children so as to reduce nosocomial infections.
The diagnostic and therapeutic approach to chest trauma.

Abstract The diagnosis of thoracic injuries is now accomplished by a combination of time-honored techniques and new modalities such as echocardiography, CT, and thoracoscopy. Operative approaches are reserved for exsanguination, significant false aneurysms, tamponade, and perforation of the main aerodigestive tracts.
Pyruvate Utilization, Choline Uptake and Acetylcholine Synthesis

This presentation will review the lines of evidence that indicate ACh synthesis can be sensitive to reduced carbohydrate utilization, and describe some recent experiments in which the effects of impaired carbohydrate utilization have been used to investigate the functional relationship between the high affinity transport of choline (Ch) and the synthesis of ACh. A glucose requirement for ACh synthesis was established in 1936 by Quastel et al. (29) in brain slices, and in 1939 by Karlson and MacIntosh (20) in sympathetic ganglia. Since that time both in vivo (35, 36) and in vitro (3, 6, 22, 34) investigations have shown that glucose and pyruvate are the primary sources of acetyl groups for ACh synthesis in brain tissue. Glucose is converted to pyruvate by glycolysis and pyruvate is converted to acetyl coenzyme A (Ac CoA) by CO2 in the mitochondria by pyruvate dehydrogenase. Pyruvate dehydrogenase in the brain is regulated by phosphorylation (inactive form) and dephosphorylation (active form) which can be altered in vitro (17) and in vivo (18) by various treatments. The route of transfer of acetyl units out of the mitochondria to the site of ACh synthesis in the cytoplasm has not been clearly defined, though transport of citrate followed by the synthesis of AcCoA catalyzed by citrate lyase has received some support (4, 6, 33).
Articles: A Result of Natural Morphological Processes in First Language Acquisition, Creolization, and Language History

This chapter studies natural morphological processes in the emergence of the article system in first-language acquisition, creolization, and language history, and examines these developments in light of Bickerton’s (1981) predictions for specificity in his bioprogram. The present study reveals that these phenomena exhibit similar developmental patterns for both the definite and the (specific and non-specific) indefinite articles. The developmental paths of these phenomena are explained in terms of a universal hierarchy of markedness that reflects natural morphological processes: less-marked, that is more natural, structures are acquired earlier by children; they also result from creolization processes and tend to be the basis of neutralization and analogical change.
An Experimental Evaluation of a Model-Free Predictor Framework in Teleoperated Vehicles

Abstract A teleoperated vehicle is a vehicle operated by a human from a distance by means of a communication network. One important challenge with teleoperated vehicles is that communication delays in the network can negatively affect the mobility performance of the vehicle. This paper adopts and further develops a model-free predictor framework to compensate for communication delays and improve vehicle mobility where the term “model-free” indicates that the predictor does not need to know the dynamic equations governing the system. This framework has previously been conceived and applied to the teleoperated vehicle domain; however, prior evaluations have been conducted with simulated drivers and for only the speed control of the vehicle. The contribution of this paper is two-fold. First, the framework is further developed to improve the transient response of the predictors by including a saturation and resetting scheme. Second, to evaluate the effectiveness of the predictor framework with human drivers and combined speed and steering control, a human-in-the-loop simulation platform is developed to emulate a driving task in a virtual environment. Using this platform, human-in-the-loop experiments are performed, where humans are tasked with driving a typical military truck as fast as possible while keeping it as close as possible to the center of the track. Three types of experiments are conducted: (1) without communication delays as a benchmark; (2) with communication delays, but without the predictor framework to quantify the mobility performance degradation due to delays; and (3) with communication delays and the predictor framework to evaluate the change in mobility performance due to the predictor framework. Three metrics are used to quantify performance; namely, track completion time and track keeping error are used to quantify the speed and lateral control performance, respectively, and the steering control effort is monitored to assess drivability. Five drivers repeated each type of experiment seven times, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is used to statistically analyze the results. The conclusion is that the predictor framework improves the mobility performance of the vehicle and increases drivability significantly.
From the Collective Unconscious to the Narrative Unconscious: Re-Imagining the Sources of Selfhood

Europe's Journal of Psychology, 2016, Vol. 12(4), 513–522, doi:10.5964/ejop.v12i4.1325 Published (VoR): 2016-11-18. *Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, College of the Holy Cross, 1 College Street, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610, USA. E-mail: mfreeman@holycross.edu This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Immobilization of Organic Radioactive and Non-Radioactive Liquid Waste in a Composite Matrix - Final CRADA Report

Treatment and safe disposal of liquid radioactive waste from the BN-350 reactor unit at the LRW Processing Facility, Kazakhstan
Superconducting-Gravimeter Tests of Local Lorentz Invariance.

Two independent studies show no evidence that a fundamental symmetry in relativity, known as Lorentz invariance, breaks down.
Applications on the signpost platform for city-scale sensing: demo abstract

City-scale sensing holds the promise of enabling deeper insight into how our urban environments function. Applications such as observing air quality and measuring traffic flows can have powerful impacts, allowing city planners and citizen scientists alike to understand and improve their world. However, the path from conceiving applications to implementing them is fraught with difficulty. A successful city-scale deployment requires physical installation, power management, and communications---all challenging tasks standing between a good idea and a realized one.The Signpost platform, presented at IPSN 2018, has been created to address these challenges. Signpost enables easy deployment by relying on harvested, solar energy and wireless networking rather than their wired counterparts. To further lower the bar to deploying applications, the platform provides the key resources necessary to support its pluggable sensor modules in their distributed sensing tasks. In this demo, we present the Signpost hardware and several applications running on a deployment of Signposts on UC Berkeley's campus, including distributed, energy-adaptive traffic monitoring and fine grained weather reporting. Additionally we show the cloud infrastructure supporting the Signpost deployment, specifically the ability to push new applications and parameters down to existing sensors, with the goal of demonstrating that the existing deployment can serve as a future testbed.
Accuracy of data buoys for measurement of cyanobacteria, chlorophyll, and turbidity in a large lake (Lake Erie, North America): implications for estimation of cyanobacterial bloom parameters from water quality sonde measurements.

Microcystin (MCY)-producing harmful cyanobacterial blooms (cHABs) are an annual occurrence in Lake Erie, and buoys equipped with water quality sondes have been deployed to help researchers and resource managers track cHABs. The objective of this study was to determine how well water quality sondes attached to buoys measure total algae and cyanobacterial biomass and water turbidity. Water samples were collected next to two data buoys in western Lake Erie (near Gibraltar Island and in the Sandusky subbasin) throughout summers 2015, 2016, and 2017 to determine correlations between buoy sonde data and water sample data. MCY and nutrient concentrations were also measured. Significant (P 0.75) occurred between cyanobacteria buoy and water sample data at the Gibraltar buoy, but not at the Sandusky buoy; however, the coefficients at the Gibraltar buoy differed significantly across years. There was a significant correlation between buoy and water sample total chlorophyll data at both buoys, but the coefficient varied considerably between buoys and among years. Total MCY concentrations at the Gibraltar buoy followed similar temporal patterns as buoy and water sample cyanobacterial biomass data, and the ratio of MCY to cyanobacteria-chlorophyll decreased with decreased ambient nitrate concentrations. These results suggest that buoy data are difficult to compare across time and space. Additionally, the inclusion of nitrate concentration data can lead to more robust predictions on the relative toxicity of blooms. Overall, deployed buoys with sondes that are routinely cleaned and calibrated can track relative cyanobacteria abundance and be used as an early warning system for potentially toxic blooms.
Animal models for the study of adipose regulation in pregnancy and lactation.

Adipose tissue plays a pivotal role in buffering the consequences of discrepancies between energy supply and demand during different phases of the reproduction-lactation cycle. The major metabolic pathways which account for adipose lipid synthesis, storage and mobilization are well known, and important aspects of the regulation of these pathways have been defined, especially at the cellular level (Bauman, 1976; Vernon, 1981; Vernon et al., 1991). Much of this work naturally has focused on short-term regulation of lipogenesis and lipolysis by homeostatic agents such as insulin and catecholamines, with emphasis on delineating mechanisms of receptor function, postreceptor signal transduction and control of enzyme activity. However, there is increasing recognition that responses to these agents by adipose and other tissues are chronically modulated by physiological state, particularly during pregnancy and lactation (Vernon and Sasaki, 1991; Williamson and Lund, 1993).
Cloning and characterization of AKAP 95, a nuclear protein that associates with the regulatory subunit of type II cAMP-dependent protein kinase

The subcellular location of the type II cAMP-dependent protein kinase is dictated by the interaction of the regulatory subunit (RII) with A-kinase anchor proteins (AKAPs). Using an interaction cloning strategy with RII alpha as a probe, we have isolated cDNAs encoding a novel 761-amino acid protein (named AKAP 95) that contains both RII- and DNA-binding domains. Deletion analysis and peptide studies revealed that the RII-binding domain of AKAP 95 is located between residues 642 and 659 and includes a predicted amphipathic helix. Zinc overlay and DNA binding studies suggest that the DNA-binding domain is composed of two CC/HH-type zinc fingers between residues 464 and 486 and residues 553 and 576. The AKAP was detected in a nuclear matrix fraction, and immunofluorescence using purified anti-AKAP 95 antibodies revealed a distinct nuclear staining in a variety of cell types. Direct overlay of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled RII alpha onto fixed rat embryo fibroblasts showed that high-affinity binding sites for RII exist in the nucleus and that these sites are blocked by an anchoring inhibitor peptide. Furthermore, AKAP 95 was detected in preparations of RII that were purified from cellular extracts using cAMP-agarose. The results suggest that AKAP 95 could play a role in targeting type II cAMP-dependent protein kinase for cAMP-responsive nuclear events.
CHARACTERIZATION OF Pt-Ni/KL-ZEOLITE BIMETALLIC CATALYSTS BY CHEMISORPTION, CATALYSIS AND X-RAY ABSORPTION

A series of Pt-Ni bimetallic catalysts with varying Ni/Pt ratio were characterized by H2 chemisorption, cyclopropane hydrogenation/hydrogenolysis, and X-ray absorption (XANES and EXAFS). All techniques indicate that there is metal-metal interaction. Of particular interest is the Pt-Ni electronic interaction as determined by XANES in the presence of H2 chemisorption.
Bases for Splines on a Subdivided Domain

Let Sr(Δ) be the module of all splines of smoothness r on the rectilinear partition Δ which subdivides some domain D. Further, let Sr(Γ) be the module of all splines of smoothness r on Γ which also subdivides D, where Γ is a finer subdivision of Δ. We study the relationship between a generating set of Sr(Δ) and a generating set for Sr(Γ). This paper gives an algorithm for extending a generating set for Sr(Δ) to one for for Sr(Γ). This method is built on algebraic properties of splines and the Grobner Basis Algorithm.
Benchmarking health-related quality of life in thyroid cancer versus other cancers and United States normative data.

Abstract Background Thyroid cancer survivors may experience long-lasting physical, psychosocial, and financial challenges. No previous studies have compared health-related quality of life in thyroid cancer survivors to United States normative data and patient-reported outcomes from other types of cancers. We hypothesized that thyroid cancer survivors would report health-related quality of life poorer than the general United States population but similar to individuals with other cancers. Methods Thyroid cancer survivors were recruited online January2017–June 2017. Individuals completed a two-part questionnaire to assess clinical characteristics and health-related quality of life, using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System 29-item profile. Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System T-scores obtained from the literature were compared with United States normative data and T-scores from patients with breast, prostate, uterine, cervical, colorectal, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and lung cancers. Results A total of 1,743 US respondents completed the survey. Thyroid cancer survivors reported statistically significantly worse health-related quality of life across all seven Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System domains compared with United States normative data (P Conclusion The importance of health-related quality of life among thyroid cancer survivors should not be obscured by the relatively high survival rate of thyroid cancer compared with other cancers. Our results demonstrate that thyroid cancer survivors may be encumbered with greater psychologic and social burdens than survivors of several cancers that have a worse prognosis.
Numerical investigation of the current transition regimes in nanochannels

The concentration polarization phenomena and its effects represent one of the main challenges for the optimal operation of many nanofluidic systems. A numerical investigation of the different electric current transition regimes observed during the concentration polarization phenomena in nanochannels is performed. This included a 2D-axisymmetric simulation of the nanofluidic system (reservoir-nanochannel-reservoir). From these simulations, a novel mechanism is discovered that explains that different current transition regimes. This driving mechanism involves the applied electric field penetration while the convective flow mechanism is found to be negligible. This differs with the classical statement that the mixing process with less depleted areas initiated by an electrokinetic vortex instability starts the overlimiting regime. Additionally, the numerical approach allows us to identify new characteristics of the linear-limiting transition such as source-like and saddle-like points of the electric field streamlines. The three voltage-current regimes (linear, limiting and overlimiting) are explained by observing and quantifying changes in electric field, potential, ion concentration and ion concentration gradients within the system.
Sensation seeking to marijuana use: Exploring the mediating roles of risk appraisal and social norms.

Abstract While studies have shown a robust association between sensation seeking (SS) and adolescent marijuana use, comparatively little is known about the mechanisms that potentially account for this association. The current study tests a theoretical model linking SS to marijuana use through risk appraisal and normative influences (i.e., perceived behavior and attitudes of others). Utilizing a nationally representative, cross-sectional sample of high school seniors (N = 2117), the current study finds risk appraisal and normative influences mediate the relationship between SS and marijuana use. Furthermore, perceptions of risk appear to be strongly influenced by proximal peer norms. These results indicate risk appraisal and normative processes may be key explanatory mechanisms in the association between SS and adolescent marijuana use. Theoretical and policy implications for this model are discussed.
A three-step conceptual roadmap for avoiding bile duct injury in laparoscopic cholecystectomy: an invited perspective review

Bile duct injuries are the most common serious complication of cholecystectomy. Avoidance of bile duct injury is a key aim of biliary surgery. The purpose of this paper is to describe laparoscopic cholecystectomy from the viewpoint of three conceptual goals. Three conceptual goals of cholecystectomy are: (1) getting secure anatomical identification of key structures; (2) making the right decision not to perform a total cholecystectomy when conditions are too dangerous to get secure identification - the "inflection point"; and (3) finishing the operation safely when secure anatomical identification of cystic structures is not possible. The Critical View of Safety (CVS) has been shown to be a good way of getting secure anatomical identification. Conceptually, CVS is a method of target identification, the targets being the two cystic structures. Sometimes, anatomic identification is not possible because the risk of biliary injury is judged to be too great. Then a decision is made to abandon the attempt to do a complete cholecystectomy - and instead to "bail-out". This "inflection point" is defined as the moment at which the decision is made to halt the attempt to perform a total cholecystectomy laparoscopically and to finish the operation by a different method. Currently the best bail-out procedure seems to be subtotal fenestrating cholecystectomy. Application of conceptual goals of cholecystectomy can help the surgeon to avoid biliary injury.
National Household Surveys: Collecting Data Where People Live

Macfarlane describes the role of national household surveys in describing population health. She explores the development of surveys during the early twentieth century and the struggle within the statistical community to accept that surveys could complement traditional enumeration of populations. She explains the difference between national health interview surveys which describe people’s health based on their responses to questions and national health examination surveys which also assess people’s health using objective bio-clinical measures. She describes the basic sampling principles that govern cross-sectional household surveys and how the organizers’ choice of sampling method depends on logistics and cost as well as on the desired precision of population estimates. Macfarlane raises challenges in undertaking surveys including ethics, data quality, non-response, survey coordination, data linkage and dissemination.
Placental colonization with periodontal pathogens: the potential missing link

Observational studies demonstrate that women with severe periodontitis have a higher risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes like preterm birth and low birthweight. Standard treatment for periodontitis in the form of scaling and root planing during the second trimester failed to reduce the risk of preterm or low birthweight. It is premature to dismiss the association between periodontitis and adverse pregnancy outcomes because one explanation for the failure of scaling and root planing to reduce the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes is that periodontal pathogens spread to the placental tissue prior to periodontal treatment. In the placenta, orally derived organisms could cause direct tissue damage or mediate a maternal immune response that impairs the growth of the developing fetus. Sequencing studies demonstrate the presence of organisms derived from the oral microbiome in the placenta, but DNA-based sequencing studies should not be the only technique to evaluate the placental microbiome because they may not detect important shifts in the metabolic capability of the microbiome. In humans, polymerase chain reaction and histology have detected periodontal pathogens in placental tissue in association with multiple adverse pregnancy outcomes. We conclude that both placental and oral microbiomes may play a role in periodontitis-associated adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, the measure to determine the association between periodontal pathogens in the placenta and adverse pregnancy outcomes should be the amount and prevalence, not the mere presence of such microorganisms. Placental colonization with periodontal pathogens thus potentially represents the missing link between periodontitis and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Interfacial Effect-Based Quantification of Droplet Isothermal Nucleic Acid Amplification for Bacterial Infection.

Bacterial infection is a widespread problem in humans that can potentially lead to hospitalization and morbidity. The largest obstacle for physicians/clinicians is the time delay in accurately identifying infectious bacteria, especially their sub-species, in order to adequately treat and diagnose such infected patients. Loop-mediated amplification (LAMP) is a nucleic acid amplification method that has been widely used in diagnostic applications due to its simplicity of constant temperature, use of up to 4 to 6 primers (rendering it highly specific), and capability of amplifying low copies of target sequences. Use of interfacial effect-based monitoring is expected to dramatically shorten the time-to-results of nucleic acid amplification techniques. In this work, we developed a LAMP-based point-of-care platform for detection of bacterial infection, utilizing smartphone measurement of contact angle from oil-immersed droplet LAMP reactions. Whole bacteria (Escherichia coli O157:H7) were assayed in buffer as well as 5% diluted human whole blood. Monitoring of droplet LAMP reactions was demonstrated in a three-compartment, isothermal proportional-integrated-derived (PID)-controlled chip. Smartphone-captured images of droplet LAMP reactions, and their contact angles, were evaluated. Contact angle decreased substantially upon target amplification in both buffer and whole blood samples. In comparison, no-target control (NTC) droplets remained stable throughout the 30 min isothermal reactions. These results were explained by the pre-adsorption of plasma proteins to an oil-water interface (lowering contact angle), followed by time-dependent amplicon formation and their preferential adsorption to the plasma protein-occupied oil-water interface. Time-to-results was as fast as 5 min, allowing physicians to quickly make their decision for infected patients. The developed assay demonstrated quantification of bacteria concentration, with a limit-of-detection at 102 CFU/μL for buffer samples, and binary target or no-target identification with a limit-of-detection at 10 CFU/μL for 5% diluted whole blood samples.
Performance Analysis of DS-CDMA and MC-CDMA Systems

In this paper, a performance analysis of DS-CDMA and MC-CDMA is conducted. With DS-CDMA, data is spread using a spreading sequence in the time domain. In contrast, with MC-CDMA, data is spread over different sub-carriers using a spreading sequence in the frequency domain. The comparison of DS-CDMA and MC-CDMA is presented under an AWGN channel. Also, the simulation results for maximal ratio combining and equal gain combining in MC-CDMA are discussed under a Rayleigh fading channel. When the number of users is small (i.e., ≤ 14), maximum ratio combining exhibits better performance than equal gain combining because maximum ratio combining does not increase much multiple access interference. However, when the number of users is large (i.e., ≥ 16), equal gain combining has better performance than maximal ratio combining because maximal ratio combining increases multiple access interference. To facilitate understanding of different systems, the conceptual block diagrams are also introduced.
On the Optimal Delay Amplification Factor of Multi-Hop Relay Channels

The abstract model of the multi-hop relay channel is fundamental to a vast variety of modern communication systems. This fact, coupled with the demand for ultra-reliable-low-latency communication (URLLC), motivates a new investigation of relay channels from a delay-vs-throughput perspective. This work seeks to analyze this tradeoff in the regime of asymptotically large, yet still finite delay. A new metric called the Delay Amplification Factor (DAF) is introduced, which allows analytic comparison of the asymptotic delay across different relay solutions, e.g. decode-&-forward (DF), compress-&-forward, etc. The optimal DAF (over all possible existing/future designs) is then characterized for two special settings, one with fixed-length coding and one with variable-length coding and 1-bit stop feedback. The results show that under some general conditions, the optimal end-to-end delay over an L-hop line network is asymptotically comparable to the delay over the single bottleneck hop, and it does not grow linearly with respect to L. The linearly growing delay penalty commonly encountered in DF and other schemes is thus an artifact rather than a fundamental limit of multi-hop relay communication.
Incidence of Postoperative Adverse Events after Rhinoplasty: A Systematic Review.

Background Adverse events after rhinoplasty vary in etiology and severity, a fact that is reflected in the current American Society of Plastic Surgeons rhinoplasty consent form. However, there is currently no literature providing a comprehensive summation of evidence-based quantifiable risk of adverse events after rhinoplasty. Given this limitation, patients considering rhinoplasty are unable to fully ascertain preoperative risk, and the ability of physicians to obtain true informed consent is similarly flawed. This systematic review provides the first rigorous, comprehensive, and quantitative reporting of adverse events after rhinoplasty. Methods This review was registered on the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) database (registration no. CRD42018081826) in April of 2018. Eligible articles were published in peer-reviewed journals with available abstracts and full-text articles. Interventions included primary functional, aesthetic, and combined functional/aesthetic rhinoplasty. The following data were extracted: study size, population characteristics, indication, surgical approach, concomitant procedures, and incidence of adverse events. Results A search yielded 3215 publications for title and abstract screening. Three hundred twenty-two were eligible for full-text review. Thirty-six met final inclusion criteria. A total of 13 adverse events were reported among these studies and included need for revision (0 to 10.9 percent), infection (0 to 4 percent), dehiscence (0 to 5 percent), bleeding (0 to 4.1 percent), septal perforation (0 to 2.6 percent), nasal airway obstruction requiring revision (0 to 3 percent), and hypertrophic scarring (0 to 1.5 percent). Conclusions This systematic review presents the first comprehensive and quantitative reporting of adverse event frequency after rhinoplasty. This is a crucial tool for preoperative patient counseling and an essential adjunct in the acquisition of informed consent. Future investigations will benefit from transparency and standardization of reporting to further quantify adverse event rates.
Development and Initial Validation of a Social Media Identity Distress Scale Among Emerging Adults

This study provided preliminary evidence for a new Social Media Identity Distress Scale (SMIDS) using two subsamples of emerging adults (18-25 years of age) from Amazon Turk (each n = 373). The fac...
Acute and chronic effects of intravitreal bevacizumab on lung biomarkers of angiogenesis in the rat exposed to neonatal intermittent hypoxia.

Intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin) is an irreversible vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor used to treat severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in extremely low gestational age neon...
Revising the Content of Intermediate Accounting: An Analysis of Perceptions of Accounting Educators

Abstract The volume and complexity of the content presented in traditional intermediate accounting courses has increased substantially over the last 50 years. A minority of business schools have responded to this change by adding a third intermediate financial accounting course to the curriculum. The primary purpose of this research is to examine the level of support among accounting educators for the creation of an additional intermediate accounting course. We survey accounting professors and ask whether specific, complex topics should be (1) covered in traditional intermediate courses or (2) moved to a more advanced financial accounting course. We seek perceptions of the costs and benefits associated with an additional intermediate accounting course. The survey is designed to be primarily descriptive in nature. We find that a minority (majority) of accounting educators do (do not) support the creation of a third intermediate accounting course. We find that accounting professors who teach at universities that offer (do not offer) a third intermediate accounting course generally have more favorable (unfavorable) attitudes regarding the costs and benefits of this course. Our findings should be of interest to accounting educators and hopefully will encourage further discussion of this important issue.
Compressive Channel Estimation and Tracking for Large Arrays in mm-Wave Picocells

We propose and investigate a compressive architecture for estimation and tracking of sparse spatial channels in millimeter (mm) wave picocellular networks. The base stations are equipped with antenna arrays with a large number of elements (which can fit within compact form factors because of the small carrier wavelength) and employ radio frequency (RF) beamforming, so that standard least squares adaptation techniques (which require access to individual antenna elements) are not applicable. We focus on the downlink, and show that “compressive beacons,” transmitted using pseudorandom phase settings at the base station array, and compressively processed using pseudorandom phase settings at the mobile array, provide information sufficient for accurate estimation of the two-dimensional (2D) spatial frequencies associated with the directions of departure of the dominant rays from the base station, and the associated complex gains. This compressive approach is compatible with coarse phase-only control, and is based on a near-optimal sequential algorithm for frequency estimation which approaches the Cramer Rao Lower Bound. The algorithm exploits the geometric continuity of the channel across successive beaconing intervals to reduce the overhead to less than 1% even for very large ( $32 \times 32$ ) arrays. Compressive beaconing is essentially omnidirectional, and hence does not enjoy the SNR and spatial reuse benefits of beamforming obtained during data transmission. We therefore discuss system level design considerations for ensuring that the beacon SNR is sufficient for accurate channel estimation, and that inter-cell beacon interference is controlled by an appropriate reuse scheme.
Wood — Structural Enigma or Engineering Reality

The performance record of wood in service is described. Results of basic research studies on wood and its inherent advantages are outlined. Development of design criteria for wood, wood-base products, and wood components is discussed and additional research needs to improve wood's position as a structural material are presented.