cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Steroidogenic Properties of a New Aldosterone-Stimulating Factor: Interaction with Angiotensin II and Adrenocorticotropin during Variations of Dietary Sodium*

We investigated the in vitro steroidogenic activity of a new aldosterone-stimulating factor (ASF). Aldosterone responses of adrenal zona glomerulosa cells to ASF were assessed in response to variations in sodium intake and during incubation with either ACTH or angiotensin II (All). Studies were performed in collagenase-dispersed adrenal capsular cells harvested from male New Zealand White rabbits that were on either regular or low sodium diets for 7-10 days. ASF, All, and ACTH produced dose-dependent increases in aldosterone production. In cells from sodium-replete rabbits, the concentrations required to elicit the half-maximum response (ED50) were 2.2 ± 0.3 (±se) × 10−11, 7.2 ± 1.1 × 10−10, and 3.4 ± 0.5 × 10−8 m for ACTH, All, and ASF, respectively. Sodium depletion increased maximal responses but not sensitivity to All and ACTH; responses to ASF were essentially unchanged. Large concentrations of ASF (10−7 m) potentiated All-induced aldosterone responses of adrenal capsular cells from sodium-depleted, ...
Physiological plasticity of cardiorespiratory function in a eurythermal marine teleost, the longjaw mudsucker, Gillichthys mirabilis

An insufficient supply of oxygen under thermal stress is thought to define thermal optima and tolerance limits in teleost fish. When under thermal stress, cardiac function plays a crucial role in sustaining adequate oxygen supply for respiring tissues. Thus, adaptive phenotypic plasticity of cardiac performance may be critical for modifying thermal limits during temperature acclimation. Here we investigated effects of temperature acclimation on oxygen consumption, cardiac function and blood oxygen carrying capacity of a eurythermal goby fish, Gillichthys mirabilis , acclimated to 9, 19 and 26°C for 4 weeks. Acclimation did not alter resting metabolic rates or heart rates; no compensation of rates was observed at acclimation temperatures. However, under an acute heat ramp, warm-acclimated fish exhibited greater heat tolerance (CTmax=33.3, 37.1 and 38.9°C for 9°C-, 19°C- and 26°C-acclimated fish, respectively) and higher cardiac arrhythmia temperatures compared with 9°C-acclimated fish. Heart rates measured under an acute heat stress every week during 28 days of acclimation suggested that both maximum heart rates and temperature at onset of maximum heart rates changed over time with acclimation. Hemoglobin levels increased with acclimation temperature, from 35 g l−1 in 9°C-acclimated fish to 60–80 g l−1 in 19°C- and 26°C-acclimated fish. Oxygen consumption rates during recovery from acute heat stress showed post-stress elevation in 26°C-acclimated fish. These data, coupled with elevated resting metabolic rates and heart rates at warm temperatures, suggest a high energetic cost associated with warm acclimation in G. mirabilis . Furthermore, acclimatory capacity appears to be optimized at 19°C, a temperature shown by behavioral studies to be close to the species' preferred temperature. * CTmax : critical thermal maximum CTmin : critical thermal minimum f Hmax : temperature-induced maximum heart rate f Hmin : temperature-induced minimum heart rate Hb : hemoglobin Hct : hematocrit ![Graphic][1] : metabolic rate measured at respective acclimation temperatures T A : temperature at onset of arrhythmia T f h scope : difference between initial heart rate and temperature-induced f Hmax T HRmax : temperature at onset of maximum heart rate T HRmin : temperature at onset of minimum heart rate ![Graphic][2] scope : difference between ![Graphic][3] and ![Graphic][4] ![Graphic][5] : temperature-induced maximum metabolic rate [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-45.gif [2]: /embed/inline-graphic-46.gif [3]: /embed/inline-graphic-47.gif [4]: /embed/inline-graphic-48.gif [5]: /embed/inline-graphic-49.gif
Encoding discourse-based meaning: Prosody vs. syntax. Implications for second language acquisition

This paper examines the complex interplay between phrasal prosody, syntax, and meaning in English and Spanish, and explores its implication for second language acquisition (SLA). We present L2 data from L1 Spanish/L2 English learners which indicate that moving from syntax to prosody to encode the thetic/categorical distinction is far more challenging than moving from syntax to prosody to align the focused constituent with Nuclear Stress. On the other hand, L2 data from L1 English/L2 Spanish learners indicate that moving from prosody to syntax to encode the thetic/categorical distinction is far less challenging than moving from prosody to syntax to align the focused constituent with Nuclear Stress. We offer a grammatical account of this seemingly contradictory situation, in support of the view that second language learners acquire a grammatical system rather than isolated patterns.
Recalibrating the State of the Union: Visual Rhetoric and the Temporality of Neoliberal Economics in the 2011 Enhanced State of the Union Address

For the first time in the history of the address, the 2011 State of the Union was accompanied online by an enhanced version, which gave viewers the option of experiencing the speech alongside a display providing images, charts, graphs, outlines, and data visualizations. This paper examines the visual rhetoric of President Barack Obama’s 2011 enhanced State of the Union, locating this rhetoric in an aesthetic regime of neoliberal temporality. I argue that the visual rhetoric of the Enhanced Address articulates between conservative and progressive temporalities in order to promise a future economic victory prefigured by the economic logics of the past. Working between Svetlana Boym’s understanding of a restorative nostalgia that seeks to return to a lost, mythic origin, and a reflective nostalgia which looks to the past to open up new possibilities for the future, I argue that the temporal rhetoric of neoliberalism stylizes the return to the past as modality of progression in the future. I draw on the work of Lauren Berlant and Sarah Sharma to argue that the aesthetics of the enhanced State of the Union invite viewers into a recalibrative nostalgic temporality which works reciprocally between restoration and reflection, allowing viewers to adjust their relationship to a deflated political scene without fundamentally altering the political coordinates that produce the conditions of economic exchange.
Semiactive Fuzzy Logic Control for Heavy Truck Primary Suspensions: Is it Effective?

Using a simulation model, this study intends to provide a preliminary evaluation of whether semiactive dampers are beneficial to improving ride and handling in class 8 trucks. One of the great challenges in designing a truck suspension system is maintaining a good balance between vehicle ride and handling. The suspension components are often designed with great care for handling, while maintaining good comfort. For Class 8 trucks, the vehicle comfort is also greatly affected by the cab and seat suspensions. Dampers for passive suspensions are tuned "optimally," using various metrics that the ride engineer may consider, for the condition in which the truck operates most frequently. In recent years, the popularity of semiactive dampers in passenger vehicles has prompted the possibility of considering them for class 8 trucks. In this study, the vehicle safety versus ride comfort trade-off is studied for a certain class of suspensions with semiactive fuzzy control. The proposed semiactive fuzzy control is based on the control policies that are commonly known as skyhook and groundhook. After describing the mathematical details of the proposed semiactive fuzzy control, it is applied to a roll-plane model of a heavy truck in order to compare its performance with conventional passive suspensions. The results of this study show that although semiactive suspensions with fuzzy logic control can improve vehicle roll, they could result in larger peak accelerations and a harsher ride.
The Human Resource, a Value Whose Time has Come

(1988). The Human Resource, a Value Whose Time has Come. Hospitality & Tourism Educator: Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 34-38.
Intraseasonal-to-Interannual Variability of the Indian Monsoon Identified with the Large-Scale Index for the Indian Monsoon System (LIMS)

AbstractThe Indian monsoon system (IMS) is among the most complex and important climatic features on land. This study proposes a simple and robust method to investigate large-scale variations and changes in the IMS that accounts for fluctuations in amplitude, onset, and duration of the summer monsoon, including active and break phases, and the postmonsoon season. This study uses 35 years (1979–2013) of daily data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) at 1° resolution and indicates great potential for application to other reanalyses and climate model datasets. The method is based on combined EOF (CEOF) analysis of variables associated with the IMS’s seasonal cycle (precipitation, circulation at 10 m, and temperature and specific humidity at 2 m). The first CEOF (CEOF-1) explains ~40% of the total variance and represents the continental-scale Asian monsoon. The second CEOF (CEOF-2) explains 11% of the variance and characterizes the Indian mon...
Studies of Serum Protein Abnormalities in Kala Azar.

SummaryStudy of sera from 5 patients with kala azar revealed an abnormality in the starch gel electrophoretic pattern not seen in other diseases associated with generalized hypergammaglobulinemia. This abnormality consisted of a definite protein concentration in the region of slow gamma globulin. An elevation of macroglobulins was also found.
Creating a Flawed Art of Government: Legal Discourses on Lie Detectors, Brain Scanning, and Narcoanalysis in India:

In this article, I analyze the legal discourses surrounding three scientific techniques – lie detectors, brain scans, and narcoanalysis – that are currently being used in criminal investigations in...
Conductivity of yeast cells

In previous papers 1 from these laboratories there has been reported findings on the conductivity of bacterial cells. New methods were introduced in that the bacterial cells were suspended in salt solutions of various strengths and resistance measurements made of the suspending menstruums as well as of the suspensions. This led to the findings that dead bacterial cells offer considerable electrical resistance, which was contrary to the previous observation of Shearer.2 It was demonstrated that bacterial cells store up within their bodies diffusible salts in a concentration greater than is found in the nutrient medium, and that on death these salts pass out into the menstruum if such is of a lesser salt concentration.
Expanded cellular amino acid pools containing phosphoserine, phosphothreonine, and phosphotyrosine.

Adding nonstandard amino acids to the genetic code of E. coli expands the chemical and biological functional space for proteins. This is accomplished with engineered, orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase and tRNA pairs that require a nonstandard amino acid in sufficient intracellular quantities to support protein synthesis. While cotranslational insertion of phosphoserine into proteins has been accomplished, conditions that modulate intracellular phosphoamino acid concentrations are still poorly understood. Here we used genetic and metabolic engineering to increase the free intracellular levels of phosphoserine in E. coli. We show that deletion of the phosphoserine phosphatase serB elevates the intracellular levels of phosphoserine within ranges comparable to those of standard amino acids. These new conditions improved insertion of phosphoserine into recombinant proteins. Surprisingly, we also observed dramatic increases in intracellular levels of phosphothreonine and phosphotyrosine when WT cells were gr...
Health Care Ethics Consultation via Telemedicine: Linking Expert Clinical Ethicists and Local Consultants.

Successful telemedicine ethics consultation requires knowledge of relevant laws and, for videoconferences, the physical presence of a meeting leader.
Numerical simulation of particle motion in raceway of blast furnace by coupling between DEM and CFD

To simulate the movement of char particles in raceway,the DEM-CFD coupling model was established.The interaction forces between particle and gas including drag force,pressure gradient force,virtual mass force and lift force were fully considered in model.The forming process and size of raceway on a particle scale were analyzed.The trend of cyclotron motion of particles in raceway was obtained by numerical simulation,and the velocity vector fields of particles,the particle phase volume fraction and the scalar velocity nephogram of particles in front of tuyere were obtained.The results showed that a stable cavity was formed at 4sin front of the tuyere,the particle velocity was the greatest in the central area of the raceway and the particle velocity reduced far away from the central area of the raceway.The calculation result was consistent with the physical experiment result.
Leukapheresis in patients newly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract Hyperleukocytosis is present in 5 to 20 percent of patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The management of hyperleukocytosis, when symptoms of leukostasis occur, includes intensive supportive care and interventions for rapid cytoreduction. Leukapheresis is a rapid and effective means of cytoreduction and has been used in AML patients. In the current study, we evaluated the outcomes of 68 newly diagnosed AML patients that underwent leukapheresis and the effects of leukapheresis on various laboratory parameters. A total of 127 leukapheresis cycles were performed. The median number of leukapheresis cycles was 2 (range, 1–8). The overall survival for all patients was 4.2 months (95% CI 1.2–9.7 months). The median overall survival for patients who achieved complete remission after induction chemotherapy was significantly higher (19.1 months [95% CI 12.1–41.8 months]) than patients that did not achieve complete remission (0.46 months [95% CI 0.33–0.99 months]). Stepwise logistic regression demonstrated that elevated number of peripheral blasts, low platelet count and elevated bilirubin at AML diagnosis were predictive of death within a week . Leukapheresis was effective in reducing the peripheral blood leukocytes and leukemia blasts and was a safe procedure with regard to organ function, coagulation parameters, red blood cells and platelet count. The high initial response rates in newly diagnosed AML patients fit to receive intensive chemotherapy suggest that leukapheresis could be beneficial in reducing the complications associated with hyperleukocytosis until systemic intensive chemotherapy commences.
Review of the important challenges and opportunities related to modeling of mammalian cell bioreactors

Industrialization of mammalian cell culture has been achieved by integrating knowledge from several applying core concepts of chemical engineering, cellular and molecular biology, and biochemistry. Modeling has been applied to biological and physical processes to gain additional insights into such processes. This article covers modeling of the bioreactor and metabolic processes as it applies to bioprocess. Hydrodynamics of a bioreactor is briefly described while additional focus is given to gas-liquid mass transfer. Biological modeling is presented in the order of increasing complexity. First steady state models are presented followed by dynamic models, cybernetic models, and finally bioreactor integrated models. The closing discussion summarizes challenges of implementation of model-based approaches in the biopharmaceutical industry. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 398–408, 2017
Policy Coordination in the EMS with Stochastic Asymmetries

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the policy coordination in the European Monetary System (EMS) with stochastic asymmetries. When the EMS was created in 1978, it was generally met with great skepticism by economists on both sides of the Atlantic. The earlier view of the EMS interpreted the system mainly as a cooperative arrangement, in which exchange rate management serves as a surrogate for more complete monetary policy coordination. A recent interpretation of the EMS stresses instead the disinflationary character of the system. The chapter presents an alternative approach that is similar in spirit to the analysis of Basevi et al. By focusing on a relatively simple model, more precisely the importance of different kinds of stochastic asymmetries can be accessed. The simulations are helpful because the closed-form solutions of the model are too complex to provide any straightforward insights.
Women, Compassion, and the Resistance Movement in L’Agnese va a morire

This chapter exemplifies the dual function of the protagonist, who is presented both as subject and object of compassion, thereby showing the numerous methods in which women contributed in World War II. Seen as both an external and an internal capability to behave wisely, compassion is the apparatus to idealize a precise figure of woman. In offering and accepting compassionate reactions, Agnese exemplifies a variety of opportunities for reviewing old perceptions. Vigano’s work suggest that the new Italian identity should value emotional ability and recognize the legitimacy of conflict resolutions and a willingness to scrutinize them in an environment of compassionate understanding since this approach opens pathways to creative problem-solving.
Extracting Hierarchy of Coherent User-Concerns to Discover Intricate User Behavior from User Reviews

Intricate user-behaviors can be understood by discovering user interests from their reviews. Topic modeling techniques have been extensively explored to discover latent user interests from user reviews. However, a topic extracted by topic modelling techniques can be a mixture of several quite different concepts and thus less interpretable. In this paper, the authors present a method that uses topic modeling techniques to discover a large number of topics and applies hierarchical clustering to generate a much smaller number of interpretable User-Concerns. These User-Concerns are further compared with topics generated by Latent Dirichlet Allocation LDA and Pachinko Allocation Model PAM and shown to be more coherent and interpretable. The authors cut the linkage tree formed while performing the hierarchical clustering of the User-Concerns, at different levels, and generate a hierarchy of User-Concerns. They also discuss how collaborative filtering based recommendation systems can be enriched by infusing additional user-behavioral knowledge from such hierarchy.
Color transformation and fluorescence of Prussian blue-positive cells: implications for histologic verification of cells labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles

Superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles, either modified or in combination with other macromolecules, are being used for magnetic labeling of stem cells and other cells to monitor cell trafficking by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in experimental models. The correlation of histology to MRI depends on the ability to detect SPIO-labeled cells using Prussian blue (PB) stain and fluorescent tags to cell surface markers. Exposure of PB-positive sections to ultraviolet light at a wavelength of 365 nm commonly used fluorescence microscopy can result in color transformation of PB-positive material from blue to brown. Although the PB color transformation is primarily an artifact that may occur during fluorescence microscopy, the transformation can be manipulated using imaging process software for the detection of low levels of iron labeled cells in tissues samples.
Translational Correlation: Disorders of the Spinal Cord

Spinal cord is a continuous segmented structure covered by three protective membranes of the central nervous system, surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid, and encased within the spinal canal. Lesions affecting the spinal cord, spinal nerves, and roots result in motor and sensory segmental defects which allow anatomic localization, although multiple segments are often affected. Typically, the examination will show a loss of sensation below the level of spinal injury (sensory level) and various sensory modalities (pain/temperature vs. vibratory/proprioception) may get affected differently depending on the type and location of spinal cord injury (anterior vs. posterior). Additional symptoms include spastic or flaccid paresis (corticospinal tracts vs. lower motor neurons), hyperreflexia, and loss of sphincter control. The most common spinal disorders include spondylosis, traumatic spinal injury, inflammatory, and infectious disorders. Less frequent causes of spinal disorders include spinal vascular disorders, neoplasms, toxic-metabolic, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Soil Primes the Seed: Epigenetic Landscape Drives Tumor Behavior

Whether invasive tumor phenotypes like EMT arise from oncogenic drivers or from priming of the pre-tumor cell of origin remains unknown. In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Latil et al. (2017) show that the pre-tumor niche establishes a chromatin state predisposing squamous cell carcinomas to undergo EMT and metastasis, suggesting that the pre-tumor epigenome has prognostic value.
Abstract 426: A Novel Method to Study Viral Cardiomyopathy

Latent coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) cardiac infections are implicated in the development of DCM with persistent enteroviral RNA found in up to 66% (30/45) of DCM patient biopsies who are at a 6-fold higher risk of fatality. Current treatments aim at delaying heart failure but none address the viral etiology of the disease. Viral protein presence is thought to disrupt normal cellular signaling leading to tissue dysfunction. The downstream effects of viral perturbations are complex and wide-ranging; especially in proinflammatory contexts seen clinically. Thus, comprehensively understanding the molecular mechanisms of CVB3-mediated disease is key in developing treatments for viral DCM patients. In this study we built a novel in vitro model of chronic CVB3 infection to facilitate high-throughput, systems-level studies of viral cardiomyopathy. Current methods of studying CVB3 rely on animals or animal derived cardiac cells, making large-scale intracellular signaling studies difficult, time intensive, and expensive. To facilitate high-throughput studies we used immortalized human cardiomyocytes to engineer single-cell derived cell lines that express a maturation deficient CVB3 genome. CVB3 RNA expression was validated in each line by two independent methods: gene-specific nested qRT-PCR and single molecule RNA fluorescence in situ hydridization (smFISH). Plaque-assay verified that viral RNA expression did not result in live virus release. Microarray analysis shows that CVB3 expressing cell lines have altered immune cytokine, extracellular matrix protein, and stress-signaling protein expression. Further, differences between CVB3 expressing lines suggest differential responses to viral RNA expression which may identify a set of beneficial adaptations. Future studies will include high-throughput signaling protein activity assays we have developed specifically for phosphatase and kinase activity quantification with the aim of linking immune cytokine signaling dysregulation to pathogenic gene expression. These studies will deepen our knowledge of CVB3-mediated DCM and identify proteins whose targeted modulation could offer new treatment strategies to patients whose current options are either palliative care or heart transplantation.
The contribution of differences in adiposity to educational disparities in mortality in the United States.

BACKGROUND There are large differences in life expectancy by educational attainment in the United States. Previous research has found obesity's contribution to these differences to be small. Those findings may be sensitive to how obesity is estimated. METHODS This analysis uses discrete-time logistic regressions with data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), pooled from 1988 to 1994 and 1999 to 2010, to estimate the contribution of differences in adiposity, or body fat, to educational differences in mortality. I show that results depend upon the measure of adiposity used: body mass index (BMI) at the time of survey or lifetime maximum BMI. RESULTS College graduates were less likely than high school graduates to be obese at the time of survey (25% vs. 34.6%, respectively) and were also less likely to have ever been obese (35.7% vs. 49.4%, respectively). Lifetime maximum BMI performed better than BMI at the time of survey in predicting mortality using criteria for model selection. Differences in maximum BMI were associated with between 10.3% and 12% of mortality differences between college graduates and all others, compared to between 3.3% and 4.6% for BMI at the time of survey. Among nonsmokers, between 18.4% and 27.6% of mortality differences between college graduates and all others were associated with differences in maximum BMI. CONTRIBUTION Adiposity is an overlooked contributor to educational differences in mortality. Previous findings that obesity does not contribute to educational disparities were based on BMI at the time of survey, which is less informative than maximum BMI. The contribution of adiposity to educational mortality differences will likely grow as smoking prevalence declines. Health surveys should collect information on weight history.
Combining human and machine intelligence to derive agents’ behavioral rules for groundwater irrigation

Abstract For agent-based modeling, the major challenges in deriving agents’ behavioral rules arise from agents’ bounded rationality and data scarcity. This study proposes a “gray box” approach to address the challenge by incorporating expert domain knowledge (i.e., human intelligence) with machine learning techniques (i.e., machine intelligence). Specifically, we propose using directed information graph (DIG), boosted regression trees (BRT), and domain knowledge to infer causal factors and identify behavioral rules from data. A case study is conducted to investigate farmers' pumping behavior in the Midwest, U.S.A. Results show that four factors identified by the DIG algorithm- corn price, underlying groundwater level, monthly mean temperature and precipitation- have main causal influences on agents’ decisions on monthly groundwater irrigation depth. The agent-based model is then developed based on the behavioral rules represented by three DIGs and modeled by BRTs, and coupled with a physically-based groundwater model to investigate the impacts of agents’ pumping behavior on the underlying groundwater system in the context of coupled human and environmental systems.
Compared to What? The Multiple Meanings of Comparative Policy Analysis

What is comparative public policy? How can it contribute to better public policy? These questions seem fundamental to the mission of the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis. Some scholars have a...
Two-Level System in a Periodic External Field

I have already mentioned somewhere in the beginning of this book that while vectors representing states of realistic physical systems generally belong to an infinite-dimensional vector space, we can always (well, almost, always) justify limiting our consideration to a subspace of states with a reasonably small dimension. The smallest nontrivial subspace containing states that can be assumed to be isolated from the rest of the space is two-dimensional. One relatively clean example of such a subspace is formed by two-dimensional spinors in the situations when one can neglect interactions between spins of different particles as well as by the spin–orbital interaction. An approximately isolated two-dimensional subspace can also be found in systems described by Hamiltonians with discrete spectrum, if this spectrum is strongly non-equidistant, i.e., the energy intervals between adjacent energy levels △i = Ei+1 − Ei are different for different pairs of levels. Two-level models are very popular in various areas of physics because, on one hand, they are remarkably simple, while on the other hand, they capture essential properties of many real physical systems ranging from atoms to semiconductors.
Online Learning in Higher Education: Exploring Advantages and Disadvantages for Engagement.

As the popularity of online education continues to rise, many colleges and universities are interested in how to best deliver course content for online learners. This study explores the ways in which taking courses through an online medium impacts student engagement, utilizing data from the National Survey of Student Engagement. Data was analyzed using a series of ordinary least squares regression models, also controlling for relevant student and institutional characteristics. The results indicated numerous significant relationships between taking online courses and student engagement for both first-year students and seniors. Those students taking greater numbers of online courses were more likely to engage in quantitative reasoning. However, they were less likely to engage in collaborative learning, student-faculty interactions, and discussions with diverse others, compared to their more traditional classroom counterparts. The students with greater numbers of online courses also reported less exposure to effective teaching practices and lower quality of interactions. The relationship between these engagement indicators and the percentage of classes taken online suggests that an online environment might benefit certain types of engagement, but may also be somewhat of a deterrent to others. Institutions should consider these findings when designing online course content, and encourage faculty to contemplate ways of encouraging student engagement across a variety of delivery types.
High Swing Pulse-Amplitude Modulation of Transmission Line Links for On-Chip Communication

With ever increasing core count of chip-multiprocessors (CMPs), the network-on-chip (NoC) fabric continues to be an important component for performance and energy. We propose the use of high voltage swing serial links as the backbone NoC. We designed transmitter drivers to deliver a high output swing and enable high speed Pulse-Amplitude Modulation (PAM-4 and PAM-8) transmissions. We show that with careful circuit-level transceiver design, coupled with system level architectural utilization of such links, it is possible to drive up to 8 cm of on-chip transmission line at diverse adaptive modulations. Using such a design, experimental analysis shows an average of 1.4× performance improvement over baseline. The overall energy-delay product improvement is 1.75×.
Monitoring the Metabolic Rate of Germ Cells and Sperm

The development of mature, fertile sperm from the germinal epithelium occurs within two organs. Spermatogenesis within the testis requires 6–10 weeks, depending on the species, and results in immotile, infertile testicular sperm. During this phase, germ-cell metabolism emphasizes biosynthesis as the cells divide, differentiate, synthesize macromolecules, and develop unique organelles. After spermiation, testicular sperm are transported rapidly to the epididymis. Transport through the epididymis requires 4-16 days, and although important intracellular modifications occur as sperm undergo maturation, the sperm are quiescent with regard to bioenergetics. After ejaculation, sperm metabolism is largely biodegradative to support the function of the highly motile and fertile sperm. Interaction of sperm with components of fluids secreted by the female reproductive tract results in a process termed capacitation. The velocity of the motile sperm, and presumably the rate of biodegradation, increase as a consequence of capacitation.
Emergency Medicine Residencies Are Failing Main Street America.

Abstract Emergency medicine residencies are commonly based out of large, urban medical centers with very little, if any, exposure to the practice of rural emergency medicine. With one-third of all hospitals and one-fifth of the entire United States population residing in rural areas, more can be done to prepare residents for a career in such a setting. Potential changes include increasing access to rotations at rural sites and altering didactic content and bedside teaching to take into consideration practice with limited access to specialists. In doing so, emergency medicine residents will be better trained and the residents of rural America will be better served.
On Building Fair and Reusable Test Collections using Bandit Techniques

While test collections are a vital piece of the research infrastructure for information retrieval, constructing fair, reusable test collections for large data sets is challenging because of the number of human relevance assessments required. Various approaches for minimizing the number of judgments required have been proposed including a suite of methods based on multi-arm bandit optimization techniques. However, most of these approaches look to maximize the total number of relevant documents found, which is not necessarily fair, and they have only been demonstrated in simulation on existing test collections. The TREC 2017 Common Core track provided the opportunity to build a collection de novo using a bandit method. Doing so required addressing two problems not encountered in simulation: giving the human judges time to learn a topic and allocating the overall judgment budget across topics. The resulting modified bandit technique was used to build the 2017 Common Core test collection consisting of approximately 1.8 million news articles, 50 topics, and 30,030 judgments. Unfortunately, the constructed collection is of lower quality than anticipated: a large percentage of the known relevant documents were retrieved by only one team, and for 21 topics, more than a third of the judged documents are relevant. As such the collection is less reusable than desired. Further analysis demonstrates that the greedy approach common to most bandit methods can be unfair even to the runs participating in the collection-building process when the judgment budget is small relative to the (unknown) number of relevant documents.
Accuracy of Valuations of Surgical Procedures in the Medicare Fee Schedule.

Abstract Background The Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) of the American Medical Association plays a central role in determining physician reimbursement. The RUC’s role and performance h...
CANNABIS USE IN THE AGE OF LEGALIZATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE GERIATRIC POPULATION

Abstract The prevalence of cannabis use among older adults has significantly increased in recent years. This trend likely captures the attitudes of the aging Baby Boomer generation as well as the spread of laws legalizing cannabis across the United States. As cannabis usage becomes more common in older adults, physicians must remain up to date regarding how cannabis is accessed and consumed, the types of strains and products sold in dispensaries, the indications and efficacy of FDA approved forms, as well as the different effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Despite the significant increase in cannabis use, there remains a paucity of evidence on the efficacy and safety in older adults. From a harm reduction standpoint, data regarding the safety profile of cannabis is essential since aging is typically associated with changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, multimorbidity, increase in prescription medication utilization and declines in function. Of particular importance in the geriatric population are the associations between cannabis and cognition, falls and injury, drug interactions, pain modulation and treatment of dementia related agitation. In terms of cognition and memory, heavy cannabis use has been traditionally associated with negative neurocognitive consequences. Interestingly, new animal models have found that low dose THC may actually improve memory and cognition in old animals, although how this data will translate to humans remains unclear. Next, commonly experienced side effects of cannabis in the elderly include dizziness, hypotension, drowsiness and confusion, all of which may impact fall risk. The risk of side effects may be compounded when considering interactions with other prescribed medications. In terms of pain modulation, although physicians may seek non-opioid pain regimens for geriatric patients, there is low-strength evidence that cannabis alleviates neuropathic pain and insufficient evidence for other types of pain. Finally, data does not yet support the usage of cannabis to improve neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia patients. While physician knowledge of legalities, usage trends, indications and adverse effects of cannabis is necessary to manage medically and socially complex aging patients, this remains challenging in the setting of a very limited evidence-base.
Navigating Familial Opioid Use Addictions and Socially Complex Situations in the Treatment of Acute and Chronic Inpatient Pain

As evidenced by the recent opioid epidemic, opioid painkillers are highly addictive and thus care teams should evaluate for the possibility of opioid abuse disorders in family members, psychiatric history, and the risk of diversion of medications. Several considerations should be made when prescribing opioids in socially complex situation, including assessing the risk of familial harm and opioid diversion in both the inpatient and outpatient settings, providing resources and treatment options to mitigate risks when present such as naloxone rescue kits and education on Good Samaritan laws, and developing safe contingency plans for patients and their family members.
Thirty-Day Readmissions After Aseptic Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty: Rates, Predictors, and Reasons Vary by Surgical Indication.

BACKGROUND Revision total hip arthroplasty (rTHA) is performed for different surgical indications. With increasing attention being focused to minimize readmission risk, the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) was used to assess 30-day readmissions after rTHA for 3 aseptic indications. METHODS Patients undergoing rTHA were identified in the 2013-2017 NSQIP and classified as being performed for osteolysis/aseptic loosening, recurrent dislocation, or periprosthetic fracture. Rates and predictors of 30-day readmission were determined by indication. Reasons for readmission were also assessed as being either related or unrelated to the surgical site. RESULTS Of 6104 patients meeting inclusion criteria, osteolysis/aseptic loosening represented 46% of the revisions (readmission rate: 6.2%), recurrent dislocation represented 33.2% (readmission rate: 10.9%), and periprosthetic fractures represented 20.9% (readmission rate: 9.3%). These readmission rates represented statistically significant variation across the 3 indications (P < .0001). On multivariate analysis, demographic, procedural, and postoperative predictors of readmission varied by indication. The osteolysis/aseptic loosening and periprosthetic fracture cohorts had surgical site-related readmissions in 43.9% and 42.4% of readmitted cases, respectively. On the contrary, readmissions after rTHA performed for recurrent dislocation were mostly surgical site-related (63.3%) and driven primarily by a postoperative dislocation. Further multivariate analysis showed that the rTHA indication of recurrent dislocation itself was the strongest predictor (odds ratio, 3.34; P < .0001) of a postoperative dislocation leading to a 30-day readmission. CONCLUSION Thirty-day readmissions varied from 6.2% to 10.9% based on surgical indication for aseptic rTHA. Reasons for readmission also differed across the 3 cohorts. These findings may aid postoperative care pathways and protocol optimization.
Detonation performance experiments and modeling for the DAAF-based high explosive PBX 9701

Abstract Detonation performance experiments and modeling are reported for the explosive PBX 9701, which is composed of 97% 3,3’-diamino-4,4’-azoxyfurazan (DAAF) and 3% vinylidene fluoride-chlorotrifluoroethylene copolymer (Kel-F 800) binder by weight. PBX 9701 is a newly developed reduced-sensitivity explosive with increased performance relative to the triaminotrinitrobenzene or TATB-based PBX 9502 while still retaining low sensitivity to mechanical insult. The first detonation performance measurements for this formulation are presented, including fron curvature rate sticks and cylinder expansion test data. Prior shock initiation data is also reviewed. These data are used to develop programmed burn (PB) and reactive burn (RB) calibrations for existing, commonly used, performance models which allow engineering calculations with PBX 9701. The calibration process involves several enhancements relative to conventional approaches, including the use of an analytical scaling correlation to speed the equation of state (EOS) calibration process. It uses a PB hydrocode-based approach and development of a new methodology to improve the consistency between the PB and RB model calibrations and associated calculations. This link is achieved by populating the RB products EOS in direct reference to the PB release isentrope and Chapman-Jouguet state and in calibrating the timing components of each model using an equivalent procedure, all in order to facilitate comparison between the two modeling approaches. Overall, PBX 9701 is seen to exhibit improved performance relative to insensitive explosives, with a trinitrotoluene (TNT) equivalence of 1.24. The detonation performance properties are found to be well captured by existing models.
Menstrual Dysfunction and Treatment among Adolescents with Congenital Heart Disease

Abstract Study Objective This study describes menstrual dysfunction and treatment among adolescent and young adult (AYA) females with congenital heart disease (CHD). Design Data collected from a 1-time survey completed by AYA females (and mothers if AYA unable). Setting Participants were recruited from pediatric cardiology clinics. Participants Female AYA with CHD, aged 14-21 years (N = 114). Interventions None. Main Outcome Measures The questionnaire assessed sexual and reproductive health (SRH) concerns, behaviors, and management. Outcome measures were self-reported menstrual complaints, use of over-the-counter (OTC) pain relief medications for dysmenorrhea, reported visits with a clinician for a menstrual problem, and reported use of hormones for menstrual problems or birth control. Results Mean age was 17.0 years (SD = 2.2). The majority of participants (83%) reported 1 or more menstrual complaints (67.5% cramping, 42.1% irregular menses, 46.5% heavy periods), and 88% reported any history of taking OTC medications for pain relief. Increased menstrual complaints were not associated with level of cardiac complexity, reported transplantation, or reported use of hormonal contraception. However, 32% of participants reported use of hormonal contraception for menstrual dysfunction. Combined oral contraceptive pills (COCs) were the most common; 2 of these women carried contraindications to estrogen. Conclusions A large majority of AYA females with CHD reported menstrual dysfunction. Use of OTC medication for menstrual pain and inappropriate use of estrogen creates concerns that menstrual disorders may be unaddressed or addressed inappropriately. Thus, gynecological needs of adolescents with CHD may need to be specifically targeted by providers who feel comfortable with this population and their complex needs.
Look beyond the retinopathy: The incidental finding of a brain tumour.

We report the case of a 33-year-old woman who was found to have optic-nerve head swelling on fundus photographs obtained for telemedicine diabetic retinopathy screening. The patient was found to ha...
The effect of supplemental high Fidelity simulation training in medical students.

Simulation-based education (SBE) with high-fidelity simulation (HFS) offers medical students early exposure to the clinical environment, allowing development of clinical scenarios and management. We hypothesized that supplementation of standard pulmonary physiology curriculum with HFS would improve the performance of first-year medical students on written tests of pulmonary physiology. This observational pilot study included SBE with three HFS scenarios of patient care that highlighted basic pulmonary physiology. First-year medical students’ test scores of their cardio-pulmonary curriculum were compared between students who participated in SBE versus only lecture-based education (LBE). A survey was administered to the SBE group to assess their perception of the HFS. From a class of 188 first-year medical students, 89 (47%) participated in the SBE and the remaining 99 were considered as the LBE group. On their cardio-pulmonary curriculum test, the SBE group had a median score of 106 [IQR: 97,110] and LBE group of 99 [IQR: 89,105] (p < 0.001). For the pulmonary physiology subsection, scores were also significantly different between groups (p < 0.001). Implementation of supplemental SBE could be an adequate technique to improve learning enhancement and overall satisfaction in preclinical medical students.
Hydroyxurea improves cerebral oxygen saturation in children with sickle cell anemia

Neurologic complications are common in patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA), but conventional tools such as MRI and transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) do not fully assess cerebrovascular pathology. Cerebral tissue oximetry measures mixed oxygen saturation in the frontal lobes (SCT O2 ) and provides early prognostic information about tissue at risk of ischemic injury. Untreated patients with SCA have significantly lower SCT O2 than healthy controls that declines with age. Hydroxyurea is effective in preventing many SCA-related complications, but the degree to which it preserves normal neurophysiology is unclear. We analyzed participants enrolled in the Therapeutic Response Evaluation and Adherence Trial (TREAT, NCT02286154), which enrolled participants initiating hydroxyurea using individualized dosing (New Cohort) and those previously taking hydroxyurea (Old Cohort) and was designed to monitor the long-term benefits of hydroxyurea. Cerebral oximetry was performed at baseline and annually. For the New Cohort (median starting age = 12 months, n = 55), mean baseline SCT O2 was normal before starting hydroxyurea (mean 65%, 95% CI 58-72%) and significantly increased after two years (mean 72%, 95% CI 65-79%, p = 0.00001). The SCT O2 for patients receiving long-term hydroxyurea (median age = 9.6 years) was normal at study entry (mean 66%, 95% CI 58-74%) and remained stable across two years. Both cohorts had significantly higher SCT O2 than published data from predominantly untreated SCA patients. Cerebral oximetry is a non-invasive method to assess cerebrovascular pathology that complements conventional imaging. Our results indicate that hydroxyurea suggests protection against neurophysiologic changes seen in untreated SCA. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Functions of a Complex Variable

The answers we seek in subjecting physical models to mathematical analysis are most frequently real, but to arrive at these answers we often invoke the powerful theory of analytic functions. This theory often provides major results with little calculation, and the frequency with which we resort to it is a testimony to its utility. In this chapter we summarize the rudiments of complex analysis. Many techniques that rely on complex analysis, e.g., transforms of various types, are treated in subsequent chapters, and consequently, are not mentioned or mentioned only briefly here. Although it is arranged somewhat differently, nearly all of the material presented here will be found in substantially greater detail in Ref. (5-1). A succinct treatment of the basic results of the theory, with some regard for applications, may be found in Ref. (5-2). A less discursive summary of much of this material is contained in Chapter 7 of Ref. (5-3).