cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of a low-cost protocol on outcome and cost in a group practice setting

Abstract Study Objective: To investigate, in a group practice setting, the effects of combining information about drug costs with adoption of a voluntary low-cost protocol. Design: Prospective before-and-after intervention comparison study. Setting: Private practice anesthesiology group (certified registered nurse-anesthetists and anesthesiologists) of a large midwestern for-profit hospital. Measurements and Main Results: Clinical outcome and anesthesia-related drug cost were examined for coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG), laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), and lumbar laminectomy (LL). There were no restrictions on the use of any drug if warranted by the patient's condition. 135 consecutive prospective (P) cases performed by the anesthesiology group after the intervention were retrospectively matched by surgery type and surgeon to cases done 9 months prior to the protocol to form the retrospective control group (R) resulting in a total sample of 270 subjects. Significant cost reductions were seen in LC-(57%), LL-(42%), and CABG-(37%). The largest cost reductions were opioids (78%), induction drugs (50%), and muscle relaxants (41%). There were no differences in pain, nausea, or hypertension scores between the P and R groups, but there were minor differences in recovery room, oxygen therapy, and dismissal times between the R and P groups of LC and LL patients. There were no differences in anesthetic outcome for CABG patients between the P and R groups. A follow-up survey completed 4 months after the study demonstrated that muscle relaxant costs and fresh gas flow rates and costs had returned to preintervention levels, while opioid and induction drug savings were maintained. Conclusions: A private practice anesthesia group that followed a voluntary protocol could significantly reduce drug costs with little change in clinical outcome. However, the savings may not be completely maintained after the monitoring period.
Lack of association between androgen receptor polymorphisms and bone mineral density or physical function in older men.

Individuals whose androgen receptors have short polyglutamine tracts (resulting from CAG repeats) may have greater receptor signaling activity of the androgen receptor. We evaluated the association between bone mineral density (BMD) and CAG repeats in 91 older men with normal (control) and low femoral neck (FN) BMD (OP) or a history of femoral fracture (FX). Bioavailable testosterone (BioT) and physical performance, including composite score (EPESE) and physical activity (PASE), were also measured. Comparing FX, OP, and control subjects, we observed BMD T scores of 22.16 6 1.08, 22.26 6 0.74, and 20.20 6 0.40 (p < 0.001); CAG repeat lengths of 21.9 6 2.7, 22.5 6 2.4, and 22.3 6 2.9 (p = 0.63); BioT levels of 2.29 6 1.25, 2.19 6 1.11, and 3.99 6 1.25 nmol/L (p < 0.001); EPESE scores of 8.0 6 3.0, 9.7 6 2.0, and 11.3 6 0.9 (p < 0.001); and PASE scores of 91 6 66, 122 6 66, and 200 6 55 (p < 0.001), respectively. There were no significant correlations between CAG repeats and BioT or physical performance. Men...
Control of Epoxy Creep Using Graphene

The creep behavior of epoxy-graphene platelet (GPL) nanocomposites with different weight fractions of filler is investigated by macroscopic testing and nanoindentation. No difference is observed at low stress and ambient temperature between neat epoxy and nanocomposites. At elevated stress and temperature the nanocomposite with the optimal weight fraction, 0.1 wt% GPLs, creeps significantly less than the unfilled polymer. This indicates that thermally activated processes controlling the creep rate are in part inhibited by the presence of GPLs. The phenomenon is qualitatively similar at the macroscale and in nanoindentation tests. The results are compared with the creep of epoxy-single-walled (SWNT) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) composites and it is observed that creep in both these systems is similar to that in pure epoxy, that is, faster than creep in the epoxy-GPL system considered in this work.
Optimum channel estimation pilot design for CDD-OFDM with application to DVB

Cyclic delay diversity (CDD) is a low-complexity standard-conformable transmit diversity technique for coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. However, it makes channel estimation more challenging due to the increased frequency-selectivity of the channel. In this paper, we propose a novel pilot-aided channel estimation scheme for CDD-OFDM. By alternating and optimizing the cyclic delay parameter for adjacent OFDM symbols, we design a simple yet efficient channel estimation scheme for frequency-selective channels and evaluate its effectiveness for a DVB-T system.
Salinity-mediated cyanogenesis in white clover (Trifolium repens) affects trophic interactions

†Background and Aims Increasing soil salinity poses a major plant stress in agro-ecosystems worldwide. Surprisingly little is known about the quantitative effect of elevated salinity on secondary metabolism in many agricultural crops. Such salt-mediated changes in defence-associated compounds may significantly alter the quality of food and forage plants as well as their resistance against pests. In the present study, the effects of soil salinity on cyanogenesis in white clover (Trifolium repens), a forage crop of international importance, are analysed. †Methods Experimental clonal plants were exposed to five levels of soil salinity, and cyanogenic potential (HCNp, total amount of accumulated cyanide in a given plant tissue), b-glucosidase activity, soluble protein concentration and biomass production were quantified. The attractiveness of plant material grown under the different salt treatments was tested using cafeteria-style feeding trials with a generalist (grey garden slug,Deroceras reticulatum) and a specialist (clover leaf weevil, Hypera punctata) herbivore. †Key Results Salt treatment resulted in an upregulation of HCNp, whereas b-glucosidase activity and soluble protein concentration showed no significant variation among treatments. Leaf area consumption of both herbivore species was negatively correlated with HCNp, indicating bottom-up effects of salinity-mediated changes in HCNp on plant consumers. †Conclusions The results suggest that soil salinity leads to an upregulation of cyanogenesis in white clover, which results in enhanced resistance against two different natural herbivores. The potential implications for such salinitymediated changes in plant defence for livestock grazing remain to be tested.
Empirical pseudo-balanced model reduction and feedback control of weakly nonlinear convection patterns

An empirical model reduction method is performed on nonlinear transient convection patterns near the threshold, using a pseudo-inverse-based projective method called the pseudo-balanced proper orthogonal decomposition (PBPOD). These transient patterns are large-scale amplitude/phase modulations in convection rolls, obtained by prescribing selected spatial input-shape functions. For the nonlinear convection patterns modelled, PBPOD appears to be very effective. Using the nonlinear front example, PBPOD is compared with other existing methods, such as POD and linearized BPOD. The limitations of the methods are discussed. Using a complex prescribed input, complex disturbances are generated and the outputs of the open-loop responses are compared between the original and the reduced-order models. The agreement is good. A feedback-control study is performed using the nonlinear front example. The controller is built by the pseudo-balanced reduced-order model, with a low-order nonlinear estimator. Closed-loop simulations show that the nonlinear travelling fronts can be effectively damped out by the feedback-control actions.
Undertreatment and overtreatment of patients with infected antiarrhythmic implantable devices.

Abstract Background . Infection of implantable defibrillators or pacemakers is a serious complication, reported with increasing frequency probably because of an increase in the total number of devices implanted due to a change in trends in the treatment of arrhythmias. This review is aimed to provide guidelines on how to deal with these infections and which method is most likely to be successful. Methods . This is a review of 38 patients with infected antiarrhythmic implantable devices under three different plans of therapy. There were 17 implantable cardioverter defibrillators and 21 pacemakers. In 27, infection occurred after primary implantation (15 pacers, 12 implantable cardioverter defibrillators), and in 11 after replacement (six pacers, five implantable cardioverter defibrillators). Three therapeutic plans were identified. Group I (n = 12) received intravenous antibiotics without removal of the antiarrhythmic implantable device, but with relocation to a different area or plane, and with or without the use of a topical irrigating-suction system. Group II (n = 19) had complete removal of the system, 2 weeks of intravenous antibiotics, and implantation of a new unit followed by 10 more days of antibiotics. Group III (n = 7) underwent complete removal, 6 weeks of antibiotics, implantation of a new unit, and another 6 or more weeks of antibiotic therapy. Results . Failure occurred in 100% of cases in group I. Groups II and III had complete clearing of infection and successful reimplantation of new systems with no recurring infections. Follow-up was 8 months to 5 years. Two deaths occurred, both in group I. Hospitalization for groups I and III was 104 days and 65 days, respectively, versus 22 days for group II. No deaths occurred in group II or III. Conclusions . With an infected antiarrhythmic implantable device, immediate removal of the entire unit is recommended, followed by 2 weeks of intravenous antibiotics, implantation of a new system, and 10 more days of postoperative antibiotics. This regimen is sufficient to cure the problem. No attempts should be made to save an infected system from removal because it endangers the patient's life, prolongs hospitalization, increases costs, and most likely will fail. (Ann Thorac Surg 1997;63:504–9)
HeteroDoop: A MapReduce Programming System for Accelerator Clusters

The deluge of data has inspired big-data processing frameworks that span across large clusters. Frameworks for MapReduce, a state-of-the-art programming model, have primarily made use of the CPUs in distributed systems, leaving out computationally powerful accelerators such as GPUs. This paper presents HeteroDoop, a MapReduce framework that employs both CPUs and GPUs in a cluster. HeteroDoop offers the following novel features: (i) a small set of directives can be placed on an existing sequential, CPU-only program, expressing MapReduce semantics; (ii) an optimizing compiler translates the directive-augmented program into a GPU code; (iii) a runtime system assists the compiler in handling MapReduce semantics on the GPU; and (iv) a tail scheduling scheme minimizes job execution time in light of disparate processing capabilities of CPUs and GPUs. This paper addresses several challenges that need to be overcome in order to support these features. HeteroDoop is built on top of the state-of-the-art, CPU-only Hadoop MapReduce framework, inheriting its functionality. Evaluation results of HeteroDoop on recent hardware indicate that usage of even a single GPU per node can improve performance by up to 2.78x, with a geometric mean of 1.6x across our benchmarks, compared to a CPU-only Hadoop, running on a cluster with 20-core CPUs.
Mortgaging the future: Dumping ethics with nuclear waste

On August 22, 2005 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued proposed new regulations for radiation releases from the planned permanent U.S. nuclear-waste repository in Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The goal of the new standards is to provide public-health protection for the next million years - even though everyone admits that the radioactive wastes will leak. Regulations now guarantee individual and equal protection against all radiation exposures above the legal limit. Instead E.P.A. recommended different radiation exposure-limits for different time periods. It also recommended using only the arithmetic mean of the dose distribution, to assess regulatory compliance during one time period, but using only the median dose to assess compliance during another period. This piece argues that these two changes - in exposure-limits and in methods of assessing regulatory compliance - have at least four disturbing consequences. The changes would threaten equal protection, ignore the needs of the most vulnerable, allow many fatal exposures, and sanction scientifically flawed dose calculations.
Complexity of single machine, multi-criteria scheduling problems

Abstract We examine the complexity of scheduling problems when more than one measure of performance is appropriate. The criteria we study are maximal tardiness, flowtime, number of tardy jobs, tardiness and the weighted counterparts of the last three measures. The machine environment is restricted to a single machine. Complexity results are given for secondary criterion, bicriteria and weighted criteria approaches for all combinations of measures. Of the problems examined, only six remain open.
Perceptions of the Ethical Acceptability of Using Medical Examiner Autopsies for Research and Education

Abstract Background.—Forensic pathologists face difficult moral questions in their practices each day. Consistent ethical and legal guidelines for autopsy tissue use extending beyond usual clinical and legal imperatives have not been developed in this country. Objective.—To obtain the perceptions of medical examiners regarding the ethical acceptability of autopsy tissue use for research and education. Method.—A written, self-report questionnaire was developed and piloted by a multidisciplinary team at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. All individuals who attended a platform presentation at the National Association of Medical Examiners Annual Meeting in September 1997 were invited to participate. Results.—Ninety-one individuals completed the survey (40% of all conference registrants and approximately 75% of presentation attendees). Sixty-three percent of respondents had encountered an ethical dilemma surrounding autopsy tissue use, and one third reported some professional ethics experience. Perspe...
Neighborhood and individual factors in activity in older adults: results from the neighborhood and senior health study.

This study examined whether features of the built environment and residents’ perceptions of neighborhood walkability, safety, and social cohesion were associated with self-reported physical activity (PA) and community-based activity among a sample of 190 older adults (mean age 74) residing in 8 Denver neighborhoods. Neighborhood walking audits were conducted to assess walkability and social capital. In multilevel analyses, a few walkability variables including curb cuts, crosswalks, and density of retail predicted greater frequency of walking for errands (p < .05), but mean frequency of walking for errands for this sample was low (<1/wk). Contrary to expectations, total PA and community-based activity were highest in neighborhoods with fewer walkability variables but higher respondent perceptions of safety and social cohesion (p < .01). For seniors, the importance of characteristics of the built environment in promoting PA and general activity engagement might be secondary to attributes of the social envi...
Etiology of Shoulder Injuries in Athletes

Those whose experience includes the care of athletic injuries are aware of the difficulty of explaining all mechanisms involved in shoulder injuries. The complexity of the shoulder girdle, the inaccurate description of the injury by the player, coach, and physicians, and the admitted variety of ways in which injuries may occur make it difficult to establish these mechanisms unequivocally. Only by astute clinical observation and maintenance of accurate clinical records will new and significant data pertinent to this subject be accumulated.
The stability and Raman spectra of ikaite, CaCO3·6H2O, at high pressure and temperature

Raman analyses of single crystals of ikaite, CaCO3·6H2O, synthesized in a diamond-anvil cell at ambient temperature yield spectra from 0.14 to 4.08 GPa; the most intense peaks are at 228 and 1081 cm−1 corresponding to E g (external) and A 1 g (internal) modes of vibrations in CO2− 3 ions, respectively. These are in good agreement with Raman spectra previously published for ikaite in powder form at ambient temperature and pressure. Visual observations of a sample consisting initially of a mixture of calcite + water in a hydrothermal diamond-anvil cell yielded a P-T phase diagram up to 2 GPa and 120 °C; the boundary for the reaction ikaite ↔ aragonite + water has a positive slope and is curved convexly toward the aragonite + water field similar to typical melt curves. This curvature can be explained in terms of the Clapeyron equation for a boundary between a solid phase and a more compressible liquid phase or largely liquid phase assemblage.
2.13 – Comets

Comets are surviving members of a formerly vast distribution of solid bodies that formed in the cold regions of the solar nebula. Cometary bodies escaped incorporation into planets and ejection from the solar system and most have been stored in two distant reservoirs, the Oort cloud and the Kuiper belt, for most of the age of the solar system. The past decade has seen great advances in the understanding of comets, but they still remain somewhat mysterious and enigmatic bodies from the fringes of the solar system. The distinction between comets and asteroids has become clouded with the discovery of active bodies in the asteroid belt and the finding that comets contain ‘common meteoritic solids.’
Utilizing end User Input in Early Product Development

Abstract A critical component in the development of new products is the inclusion of input from future users. This input is invaluable in defining and understanding the technical/functional needs that the product must fulfill. This input also serves as a guide to less tangible, but often as important, attributes such as satisfaction, acceptability or aesthetics. Along with the functional needs, these play an important role in the ultimate success of a product. This is particularly true in the case of assistive products where functionality is critical but the treatment of non-functional needs can play a large role in a device's acceptability, the stigma associated with it and reducing rates of abandonment. This paper will review the product development challenges faced by producers of assistive technology products. It will then describe results from two early studies which may provide new approaches to meeting these challenges. The first is an investigation of the accuracy of user input when it is provided based on different representations of a design (such as sketches, renderings or models) that are commonly available at various stages of the design process. A better understanding of this input will allow designers to focus more on the components of it that are more likely to accurately represent users’ opinion of a finished product. The second is an investigation into the use of augmented reality to facilitate usability testing of design concepts.
Synergistic interactions between fenfluramine and phentermine.

'Fen-phen' refers to the off-label combination of the appetite suppressants fenfluramine and phentermine. The rationale for the fen-phen combination was that the two drugs exerted independent actions on brain satiety mechanisms so that it was possible to use lower doses of each drug and yet retain a common action on suppressing appetite while minimizing adverse drug effects. The focus of the present review is to consider whether fenfluramine and phentermine exert actions that are additive in nature or whether these two drugs exhibit drug-drug synergism. The fen-phen combination results in synergism for the suppression of appetite and body weight, the reduction of brain serotonin levels, pulmonary vasoconstriction and valve disease. Fen-phen synergism may reflect changes in the pharmacokinetics of drug distribution, common actions on membrane ion currents, or interactions between neuronal release and reuptake mechanisms with MAO-mediated transmitter degradation. The synergism between fenfluramine and phentermine highlights the need to more completely understand the pharmacology and neurochemistry of appetite suppressants prior to use in combination pharmacotherapy for the treatment of obesity.
FDTD Simulations and Analysis of Thin Sample Dielectric Properties Measurements Using Coaxial Probes

A metallized ceramic probe has been designed for high temperature broadband dielectric properties measurements. The probe was fabricated out of an alumina tube and rod as the outer and inner conductors respectively. The alumina was metallized with a 3 mil layer of moly-manganese and then covered with a 0.5 mil protective layer of nickel plating. The probe has been used to make complex dielectric properties measurements over the complete frequency band from 500 MHz to 3 GHz, and for temperatures as high as 1,000 C. A 3D Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) code was used to help investigate the feasibility of this probe to measure the complex permittivity of thin samples. It is shown that by backing the material under test with a standard material of known dielectric constant, the complex permittivity of thin samples can be measured accurately using the developed FDTD algorithm. This FDTD procedure for making thin sample dielectric properties measurements will be described.
Analysis on the Selection of Transformer Capacities Based on Life Cycle Cost

The transformer has the character of large initial investment,high running costs and a long running time.The traditional way to select transformer capacity can not meet the requirements of transformer economic operation.A life cycle cost model for evaluation and guidance of the selection to transformer capacity is proposed.The model is based on life cycle cost principles.An example is served to show the applicability of the proposed model.
The Mongolian Gerbil: A Robust Model of Helicobacter pylori-Induced Gastric Inflammation and Cancer

The Mongolian gerbil is an efficient, robust, and cost-effective rodent model that recapitulates many features of H. pylori-induced gastric inflammation and carcinogenesis in humans, allowing for targeted investigation of the bacterial determinants and environmental factors and, to a lesser degree, host constituents that govern H. pylori-mediated disease. This chapter discusses means through which the Mongolian gerbil model has been used to define mechanisms of H. pylori-inflammation and cancer as well as the current materials and methods for utilizing this model of microbially induced disease.
Genetic Risk Factors Link Autism to Many Other Disorders

More than 50 known genetic syndromes have been linked to autism symptoms. More than 1000 gene variants, chromosomal number variants (CNVs), and other gene alterations have been implicated as possible contributing causes for autism. However, beyond the known single gene syndromes, research has not revealed a clear or comprehensive pattern of genetic risk factors for autism. Studies suggest that autism symptoms may result from many different patterns of genetic causality including single genes, combinations of several genes, CNVs, and large groups of genes. Many possible alternate models of genetic causality have been proposed. A majority of genetic risk factors mediating autism symptoms lead to varying forms of extensive brain disruption. Thus, where genetic risk factors yield autism symptoms, many other associated symptoms are often also present.
Automation of the Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory

The field of molecular diagnostics has evolved at a record pace with the introduction of new technologies and clinical applications. This consistent growth has been augmented by many forms of automation for highly complex tasks. Sample preparation saw the introduction of completely robotic solutions for nucleic acid isolations while changes in the chemistry for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) made real time and digital droplet PCR more automated. This chapter focuses on major advances in and introduction of automation that has allowed the molecular diagnostics laboratory to address the growing needs for more molecular testing.
Is a Prehospital Treat and Release Protocol for Opioid Overdose Safe

Abstract Background The current standards for domestic emergency medical services suggest that all patients suspected of opioid overdose be transported to the emergency department for evaluation and treatment. This includes patients who improve after naloxone administration in the field because of concerns for rebound toxicity. However, various emergency medical services systems release such patients at the scene after a 15- to 20-min observation period as long as they return to their baseline. Objectives We sought to determine if a “treat and release” clinical pathway is safe in prehospital patients with suspected opioid overdose. Results Five studies were identified and critically appraised. From a pooled total of 3875 patients who refused transport to the emergency department after an opioid overdose, three patient deaths were attributed to rebound toxicity. These results imply that a “treat and release” policy might be safe with rare complications. A close review of these studies reveals several confounding factors that make extrapolation to our population limited. Conclusion The existing literature suggests a “treat and release” policy for suspected prehospital opioid overdose might be safe, but additional research should be conducted in a prospective design.
Structure and mechanism of NOV1, a resveratrol-cleaving dioxygenase

Stilbenes are diphenyl ethene compounds produced naturally in a wide variety of plant species and some bacteria. Stilbenes are also derived from lignin during kraft pulping. Stilbene cleavage oxygenases (SCOs) cleave the central double bond of stilbenes, forming two phenolic aldehydes. Here, we report the structure of an SCO. The X-ray structure of NOV1 from Novosphingobium aromaticivorans was determined in complex with its substrate resveratrol (1.89 A), its product vanillin (1.75 A), and without any bound ligand (1.61 A). The enzyme is a seven-bladed β-propeller with an iron cofactor coordinated by four histidines. In all three structures, dioxygen is observed bound to the iron in a side-on fashion. These structures, along with EPR analysis, allow us to propose a mechanism in which a ferric-superoxide reacts with substrate activated by deprotonation of a phenol group at position 4 of the substrate, which allows movement of electron density toward the central double bond and thus facilitates reaction with the ferric superoxide electrophile. Correspondingly, NOV1 cleaves a wide range of other stilbene-like compounds with a 4'-OH group, offering potential in processing some solubilized fragments of lignin into monomer aromatic compounds.
Assaying the Stability and Inactivation of AAV Serotype 1 Vectors

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors are a commonplace tool for gene delivery ranging from cell culture to human gene therapy. One feature that makes AAV a desirable vector is its stability, in regard to both the duration of transgene expression and retention of infectivity as a viral particle. This study examined the stability of AAV serotype 1 (AAV1) vectors under different conditions. First, transducibility after storage at 4°C decreased 20% over 7 weeks. Over 10 freeze-thaw cycles, the resulting transduction efficiency became variable at 60-120% of a single thaw. Using small stainless steel slugs to mimic a biosafety cabinet or metal lab bench surface, it was found that an AAV1 vector can be reconstituted after 6 days of storage at room temperature. The stability of AAV is a desired feature, but effective decontamination procedures must be available for safety and experimental integrity. Multiple disinfectants commonly used in the laboratory for ability to inactivate an AAV1 vector were tested, and it was found that autoclaving, 0.25% peracetic acid, iodine, or 10% Clorox bleach completely prevented AAV-mediated transgene expression. These data suggest that peracetic acid should be used for inactivating AAV1 vectors on metal-based surfaces or instruments in order to avoid inadvertent transgene expression in human cells or cross-contamination of instruments.
Towards a virtual reality for plant-associated fungi in the United States and Canada

At present knowledge of fungal biodiversity in North America is scattered in diverse sources ranging from well-reviewed, comprehensive databases to unedited databases of reports from the literature, information on file cards, and uncomputerized reference collections. Resources available electronically were used to determine their relative importance in evaluating the plant-associated fungi known from the United States and to a lesser extent Canada. The results demonstrate that the literature provides the greatest information but that reference collections in the US National Fungus Collections contribute between 22–31% additional data. Little overlap exists between fungi isolated as endophytes and those reported in the literature or as reference collections. Eighty to 100% of the plant-associated fungi reported from Canada are accounted for in comprehensive resources for the United States. A comprehensive database of plant-associated fungi in Canada, the United States, and eventually Mexico would serve as a valuable resource for those making plant quarantine decisions.
Wear stages and crown heights in prehistoric bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) lower molars in eastern Washington state, U.S.A.

Abstract Bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis ) remains are often found in western North American archaeological sites. Determination of ontogenetic age of zooarchaeological individuals would allow assessment of season of procurement, herd demography at the time of procurement, and perhaps differential processing. The known dental eruption schedule for bighorn is imprecise for purposes of estimating season of death, and all teeth are erupted when an individual is ~ 42 months old, precluding detailed analysis of herd demography. The tooth wear sequence established by Sebastian Payne for Old World domestic sheep ( Ovis aries ) extends to near the end of an individual's lifespan and is applicable to New World bighorn based on a zooarchaeological sample of 105 mandibular molars. Crown heights and crown widths of the zooarchaeological bighorn molars correlate with one another and with wear stages, suggesting study of a modern sample of bighorn mandibular dentitions from individuals of known ontogenetic age would repay the effort.
Walt Disney Treasures or Mickey Mouse DVDs? Animatophilia, Nostalgia, and the Competing Representations of Theatrical Cartoon Shorts on Home Video:

Theatrical-era short animation has often acquired a complex, even contradictory, textual identity: most cartoons were originally produced for a general audience, but were then marketed almost exclu...
The Sinus and Nasal Quality of Life Survey (SN-5) in the Management of Pediatric Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Objectives Pediatric chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a prevalent condition with quality of life (QoL) impacts that are seldom reported in the literature. We aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on studies using the Sinus and Nasal Quality of Life Survey (SN-5), the only validated symptom questionnaire in pediatric CRS. Methods A literature search was conducted to identify studies that used the SN-5 to measure QoL before and after medical or surgical interventions for pediatric CRS. Comparison of means and standard deviations was performed between pre- and post-intervention SN-5 scores. Results A total of 10 studies, consisting of 13 separate treatment arms of either medical therapy, adenoidectomy, balloon catheter sinuplasty (BCS), or functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) were identified. The vast majority (92.3%) of the treatment arms demonstrated minimal clinically important differences between baseline and post-intervention SN-5 scores. Rates of treatment success and minimal clinically important difference among all treatment arms ranged from 43.2% to 94.0%. Comparison of means showed an improvement in SN-5 score of 1.97 [95% CI, 1.18 to 2.76; p Conclusion There is a paucity of literature on QoL outcomes in pediatric CRS. More studies using the SN-5, particularly those controlling for baseline patient characteristics, are necessary to fully elucidate the impact of various interventions on QoL in pediatric CRS.
The role of HDL apolipoproteins in mediating HDL receptor binding and intracellular cholesterol efflux.

The role of high density lipoproteins (HDL) in reverse cholesterol transport has been postulated to be in the removal of excess cholesterol from peripheral tissues for delivery to the liver for excretion or reutilization (Glomset). While in vivo evidence for this role of HDL is scant, many studies utilizing a variety of cultured cell types have demonstrated that HDL is able to promote the net efflux of cellular cholesterol (reviewed in Phillips et al). More recently, Badimon and coworkers (Badimon et al 1989 and Badimon et al 1990) were able to demonstrate that intravenous injection of purified HDL into cholesterol fed rabbits resulted in significantly decreased aortic atherosclerotic involvement in treated versus control animals. Thus, providing in vivo evidence for the role of HDL in preventing cholesterol accumulation.
The Causes of Inner-City Poverty: Eight Hypotheses in Search of Reality

Over the past 40 years, poverty among the inhabitants of U.S. inner cities has remained stubbornly resistant to public policy prescriptions. Especially for African Americans and Latinos, the gap between their economic well-being and that of the mainstream has widened despite persistent and repeated efforts to address the problem. At the same time, a continuing stream of research has sought to explain urban poverty, with a wide variety of explanations put forward as the basis for policy. This paper reviews that research, organizing it according to eight major explanations or hypotheses: structural shifts in the economy, inadequate human capital, racial and gender discrimination, adverse cultural and behavioral factors, racial and income segregation, impacts of migration, lack of endogenous growth, and adverse consequences of public policy. We conclude that all of the explanations may be relevant to urban poverty but that their significance and the degree to which they are well supported varies substantially.
3 – Microbursts and Macrobursts: Windstorms and Blowdowns

Winds causing plant disturbances can arise from a number of sources such as hurricanes, downbursts, and tornadoes from convective storms, intense winds from winter cyclonic storms, and topographically induced down slope windstorms. These can vary from marginal events (clearing forests of dead or weakened branches in the canopy) to extreme events (flattening all vegetation in the path of the winds and causing high mortality of many animal species). The size scale of these events and their effects may vary from tens of square meters to hundreds or thousands of square kilometers. While forest blow downs represent the most notable of plant disturbances from windstorms, agricultural crops, especially corn, and even prairie ecosystems can experience devastating ecological effects from extreme events. The extent of plant disturbance depends on many factors. In addition to wind speed, gustiness, and duration of the winds, the simultaneous occurrence of large hail may greatly increase the damage. Besides the meteorological windstorm, the type, height, and condition of the plants, their location relative to open spaces, soil conditions, and other ecological parameters may strongly affect the type and degree of disturbance.
An Electromyographic Investigation of Articulation and Phonation Patterns in the Speech of Deaf Adults.

Abstract: An electromyographic investigation was carried out on the speech of normal-hearing and deaf speakers; the research attempted to answer questions concerning articulation and phonation patterns in the speech of deaf adults. Recordings were made of each subject reading a constant carrier phrase into which a changing medial monosyllable was embedded. The deaf subjects utilized for this investigation were judged to be above average in intelligibility for a group of this type; they all exhibited a profound bilateral hearing loss of early onset. Surface suction electrodes were placed in two positions on the tongue. The EMG data were reproduced via the amplitude display of a two-channel Kay Sonagraph. The results indicated that the deaf speakers extended the durations of speech segments and exhibited difficulty co-ordinating articulation with phonation.
Enhancing Microgrid Resiliency Against Cyber Vulnerabilities

Recent cyber attacks on the power grid have been of increasing complexity and sophistication. In order to understand the impact of cyber-attacks on the power system resiliency, it is important to consider an holistic cyber-physical system specially with increasing industrial automation. In this work, device level resilience properties of the various controllers and their impact on the microgrid resiliency is studied. In addition, a cyber-physical resiliency metric considering vulnerabilities, system model, and device level properties is proposed. A use case is presented inspired by the recent Ukraine cyber-attack. A use case has been presented to demonstrate application of the developed cyber-physical resiliency metric to enhance situational awareness of the operator, and enable better control actions to improve resiliency.
On the tangent Lie group of a symplectic Lie group

Motivated by the recent work of Asgari and Salimi Moghaddam (Rend Circ Mat Palermo II Ser 67:185–195, 2018) on the Riemannian geometry of tangent Lie groups, we prove that the tangent Lie group $${ TG}$$ of a symplectic Lie group $$(G,\omega )$$ admits the structure of a symplectic Lie group. On $${ TG}$$, we construct a left invariant symplectic form $${\widetilde{\omega }}$$ which is induced from $$\omega $$ using complete and vertical lifts of left invariant vector fields on G. The aforementioned construction can be viewed as the symplectic analogue of the left invariant Riemannian metrics on the tangent Lie groups that were constructed in Asgari and Salimi Moghaddam (Rend Circ Mat Palermo II Ser 67:185–195, 2018). One immediate upshot of our construction is that by taking iterated tangent bundles of a non-abelian symplectic Lie group, one obtains a convenient means of generating non-abelian symplectic Lie groups of arbitrarily high dimension.
Thermal Hydraulics of Helium-Cooled Finger-Type Divertors at Higher Incident Heat Fluxes

Over the last decade, a number of studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) have evaluated the thermal hydraulics of the design of the helium-cooled modular divertor with multiple jets (H...
Connecting Solution-Phase to Single-Molecule Properties of Ni(Salophen).

We present a strong correlation of the Ni(salophen) structure and properties measured in single-molecule vs bulk quantities and in ultra high vacuum vs solution phase. Under a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), Ni(salophen) forms a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on Au(111) at 23 °C with molecular structure identical to that of the X-ray crystallographic measurement. The HOMO and LUMO levels are determined using elastic tunneling spectroscopy at the single-molecule level with confirmation by monolayer-quantity ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and by cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements. The STM-determined HOMO–LUMO gap of 3.28 eV and (HOMO–1)–HOMO gap of 0.36 eV form a new foundation for the selection of hybrid functionals with a simple basis set to be effective in accurately calculating single-molecule Ni(salophen) frontier MO levels. Our results suggest that microscopy-based experiments on a surface, along with free-molecule gas-phase calculations, can provide useful insights into the physi...
NISAR Flight Feed Assembly Measurement Campaign

NISAR (NASA ISRO SAR, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Indian Space Research Organization, Synthetic Aperture Radar) is an Earth science project currently in its final development phase at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and at ISRO. Due for launch in 2022, it will assess how our planet changes overtime by measuring differences in the Earth’s solid surface due to factors like climate change, movement and melting of glaciers, earthquakes, land-slides, deforestation, agriculture and others. The enabling instrument for this mission is a dual band radar (L-Band and S-Band) that feeds a 12m deployable mesh reflector. This paper describes the antenna measurement campaign of the L-Band feed array developed at JPL. The S-Band feed array is developed by ISRO and is not part of this paper. While Measurements of the Engineering Model have been published before, this paper focuses on the first measurements done with the Flight Model.
Effects of Gastrointestinal-Type Chemotherapy in Women With Ovarian Mucinous Carcinoma

OBJECTIVE:To estimate whether gastrointestinal-type chemotherapy was associated with improved survival compared with standard gynecologic regimens for women with ovarian mucinous carcinoma.METHODS:We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with ovarian mucinous carcinoma who received post
Beholding Law: Amadeo on the Argentine Constitution

This essay introduces an online edition of Santos P. Amadeo’s Argentine Constitutional Law to be published by the Academia Puertorriquena de Jurisprudencia y Legislacion. Tracing the book to its origins in a paper Amadeo wrote for a seminar in comparative constitutional law at Columbia Law School in the 1930s, we discuss the intellectual context that gave rise to the book and assess its author’s methodological choices. We then examine one particular substantive choice: Whereas the paper specifically draws attention to the importance of understanding every form of political subdivision in a federalist system—identifying Argentina’s as the provinces, the federal capital, the national territories, and the central national government—the book mentions Argentina’s territories only in passing. The contrast is intriguing because Amadeo himself was from the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Why, then, as his paper grew into a book-length project, did the subject of the Argentine territories shrink to a passing mention? We don’t know the answer, but we offer our informed guess, noting the fraught relationship between comparativism and empire.
A Practical Guideline for the Implementation of Shared Decision-making in Complex Ventral Incisional Hernia Repair.

Abstract Background Although obtaining preoperative procedural consent is required to meet legal and ethical obligations, consent is often relegated to a unidirectional conversation between surgeons and patients. In contrast, shared decision-making (SDM) is a collaborative dialog that elicits patient preferences. Despite emerging interest in SDM, there is a paucity of literature on its application to ventral incisional hernia repair (VIHR). The various surgical techniques and mesh types available, the potential impact on functional outcomes and quality of life, the largely elective nature of the operation, and the significant risk of perioperative patient complications render VIHR an ideal field for SDM implementation. Methods The authors reviewed the current literature and drew on their own practice experience to describe evidence-based practical guidelines for implementing the SDM into VIHR care. Results We summarized the evidence basis for SDM in surgery and discussed how this model can be applied to VIHR given the multiple, complex factors that influence surgical decision-making. We outlined an example of using an SDM framework, “SHARE,” with a patient with a large, recurrent ventral hernia. Conclusions SDM has the potential to improve patient-centered and preference-concordant care among individuals being considered for VIHR to ensure that treatment interventions meet a patient's goals, rather than solely treating the underlying disease process.
Validation of a Cell-Based Assay for Detection of Active Shiga Toxins Produced by Escherichia coli in Water.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) causes a wide spectrum of diseases, including hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Almost 5% of STEC infections result from waterborne exposures, yet there is no test listed in the EPA’s current Selected Analytical Methods for the detection of active Shiga toxins (Stxs) in water. In this study, a HeLa cell-based assay is validated for the detection of metabolically active Stxs produced by STEC in water, including tap, bottled, and pond water. Active Stxs are detected even when the number of Stx-producing bacteria is less than 0.4 CFU/mL and the assay performance is not affected by background flora or chlorine in the water. This assay is not only as simple and affordable as cell-free assays but also detects active holotoxins without the use of live animals. In addition, the assay is designed for use in multi-well formats, making it ideal for high-throughput screening of water samples and therefore useful for environmental public health surveillance programs to reduce human risk of infection with STEC.
On Schur Rings over Infinite Groups

Schur rings are a type of subring of the group ring that is determined by a partition of the group. Past literature has exclusively focused on the finite group case. This paper extends many classic results about Schur rings to infinite groups, including Leung-Man’s classification of Schur rings over finite cyclic groups which is extended to the infinite cyclic group, as well as all torsion-free locally cyclic groups. Schurs rings over free groups and free products are also considered.
Church Attendance and Mobility Limitation Among Black and White Men With Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is a significant impediment that can reduce physical functional status. Mobility is fundamental for quality of life and church attendance to be associated with improved physical functioning. Few studies have examined how religious participation have implications for mobility limitation among men in general and among prostate cancer survivors in particular. The purpose of this study was to assess the association between church attendance and mobility limitation among Black and White prostate cancer patients and survivors. Data for this investigation were drawn from the Diagnosis and Decisions in Prostate Cancer Treatment Outcomes Study that consisted of 804 Black and White men with complete information on the primary outcome and predictor variables. Mobility limitation was the primary outcome variable, and church attendance was the main independent variable. The analytic sample was almost equally divided between Black (N = 382) and White men (N = 422). The proportion of Black men reporting mobility limitation (30.09%) more than doubled the corresponding percentage for White men (14.7%). Black men had a higher proportion of individuals who reported weekly church attendance (49.2% vs. 45.0%). Fully adjusted modified Poisson regression models produced results indicating that respondents attending church weekly had a lower mobility limitation prevalence (PR = 0.56, 95% CI [0.39, 0.81]) than those never attending church. Results from this study contribute to the body of evidence asserting the health benefits of church attendance. These findings suggest that health providers should consider how religion and spirituality can present opportunities for improved outcomes in prostate cancer patients and survivors.
Clinical Data Prediction Model to Identify Patients With Early-Stage Pancreatic Cancer.

PURPOSEPancreatic cancer is an aggressive malignancy with patients often experiencing nonspecific symptoms before diagnosis. This study evaluates a machine learning approach to help identify patien...