cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Online battery impedance spectrum measurement method

The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement is a method used for offline battery impedance spectrum measurement, which usually requires a specialized and costly equipment. Recent work presented an online method to measure the AC impedance of batteries by utilizing the DC-DC power converter that usually follows the battery for regulation purposes. In this method, the duty cycle of the power converter is sinusoidally perturbed, each time at a given frequency, in order to generate sinusoidally varying voltage and current in the battery to be used for AC impedance measurements/calculations at a given frequency. This paper presents a development of a method which measures the impedance spectrum of a battery for different frequency values at the same time rather than at one single frequency each time. This provides the advantages of being able to measure a spectrum of frequencies online under the same battery conditions such as State-Of-Charge (SOC) and temperature and with faster speed and shorter disturbance time duration. The advantages of the original method are also maintained such as there is no need for additional AC signal injection circuits.
Sensitivity of breast MRI for ductal carcinoma in situ appearing as microcalcifications only on mammography

Abstract Purpose This study aims to investigate sensitivity of breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for mammographic microcalcifications-only ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), based on its histopathology and mammographic extent of microcalcifications. Methods Mammograms were reviewed to measure the extent of microcalcifications. Sensitivity of MRI was calculated in the overall study population and in groups differing for DCIS nuclear grade, microinvasivity, and microcalcifications' extent. Results Overall sensitivity of MRI was 78.3% for dynamic contrast enhanced and 66.7% for diffusion-weighted imaging and did not vary with nuclear grade and microinvasivity, while it increased with larger extent of microcalcifications (ExpB=1.063–1.046, P =.037–.013). Conclusions Mammographic extent of microcalcifications positively affects sensitivity of breast MRI.
Consequences of Altering Tubulin Levels in Yeast

Microtubules are the central component of the mitotic and meiotic spindles, and their proper assembly and function is vital to the fidelity of chromosome segregation. Twenty-five years of microtubule research has provided the fundamentals for understanding microtubule function. All microtubules are composed primarily of two different kinds of proteins, alpha tubulin and beta tubulin. The genes for these proteins have been isolated and sequenced from a wide variety of organisms. Alpha and beta tubulin form a heterodimer, which serves as the subunit of the microtubule polymer. The properties of the heterodimer are fairly well understood, and in vitro assembly experiments have defined parameters and factors that control the intrinsic ability of tubulin to self-assemble. Nontubulin proteins that bind to microtubules have been identified, and are candidates for elements that may control microtubule assembly, organization, and function in the cell. Biochemical approaches have been complemented by genetic analyses of microtubule function, demonstrating the essentiality of the tubulin proteins and dissecting their functional properties.
Creation and Validation of an Observational Tool to Assess Children's Domain-General Skills at Museum Exhibits

ABSTRACTResearch on the skills children display in museums often focuses on specific domains of knowledge and ability. However, museum exhibits also may provide opportunities for children to practice domain-general skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, and confidence. This article describes the development of a 14-item observational tool (the Museum Exhibit Skills Inventory; MESI) that may be used to measure the extent to which children display some of these domain-general skills in different hands-on museum environments. In Study 1, interrater reliability for measure items was examined. In Study 2, the results of a principal component analysis suggested a 3-factor model for the MESI. In Study 3, confirmatory factor analyses revealed good fit for both a 3-factor model and a 5-factor model, and this study demonstrated strong convergent validity between the MESI and the Scale for Teachers' Assessment of Routines Engagement (McWilliam, 2000).
An objective comparison of desktop search and visualization tools

Information workers deal with many types of computer information on a daily basis including documents from office productivity application suites, web sites, emails and online calendar appointments. Indexing and search packages for these types of desktop information have recently become commercially available, but they are in their infancy. This short paper provides i) an objective comparison of the approaches used by existing desktop search packages for crawling, indexing and search, and benchmark these packages against a set of metrics and ii) evaluates the potential for different visualizations of the search result items and the relationships between them.
Hybrid Graphene Metallic Nanoparticles for Biodetection

Sensitive and accurate techniques for detection in water, environment and issues related to health, have been a great challenge among scientists. To date, many analytical tools based on different physical, chemical, and biological phenomena have been developed for detection of biomolecules, biomedical imaging, and biosensing, including fluorescence spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), electrochemistry, and techniques that are based on a specific biological recognition. However, due the demands of the new era and the advances in modern biomedicine, materials that combine relatively low detection limits, easiness of application, as well as low cost, are of great challenge. Herein, the progress towards graphene/metallic nanoparticle hybrids is discussed, emphasizing on the advances of different synthetic methods, the decoration with well-dispersed metallic particles (Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Cu, and QDs) on graphene, as well as different bioapplications.
New and Noteworthy: Keeping on Top of Tech

This month's column focuses on key resources to help library professionals learn about trends and advances in library information technology, including industry news, products, services, and vendors.
Intraoperative Neurophysiology for Spinal Cord Stimulation Placement Under General Anesthesia for the Treatment of Pain in the Rehabilitation Patient

Historically, spinal cord stimulators (SCSs) have been placed using a sedative anesthetic technique, waking the patient at critical times during the procedure to test the location of the stimulator leads. Using a sedative anesthetic technique is not without its potential for complications such as: (1) confounding results based on patient movement or pain related to the surgical procedure during the testing phase; (2) the potential for a complicated intubation in the prone position if there are airway complications during the procedure. A more modern approach is to place the SCS leads under a general anesthetic using intraoperative neuromonitoring (IOM) techniques to determine if the placement of the lead is in the proper position. This technique utilizes electromyography (EMG) of lower and/or upper limb muscle groups to determine the lateralization of the implanted lead. Stimulation is applied via standard manufacture testing systems and recorded on standard IOM equipment, alleviating the need for any specialized equipment. This procedure can also dramatically reduce OR time by obviating the need to wake the patient during the procedure. Postoperatively, the patient’s pain reduction scores are the same as when the sedative technique is used.
The Group U(1) and its Representations

The simplest example of a Lie group is the group of rotations of the plane, with elements parametrized by a single number, the angle of rotation \(\theta \). It is useful to identify such group elements with unit vectors \(e^{i\theta }\) in the complex plane.
Hedging bets: Applying New Zealand's gambling machine regime to cannabis legalization.

Abstract: Cannabis legalization is often falsely depicted as a binary choice between status quo prohibition and legalizing production and distribution by (regulated) for-profit industry. There are, however, many more prudent architectures for legalization, such as restricting production and distribution licenses to not-for-profit entities. Wilkins describes how New Zealand applied that concept to gambling machines and proposes a parallel for cannabis legalization. Greater investment in proposing good designs along these lines, including attending to governance structures, would be valuable.
Messages in Text

Text is critical in our communication. An overwhelmingly portion of the text we deal with everyday is unstructured: key terms in text are usually not marked as such explicitly and essential claims in text documents are usually not highlighted by colorful inks. Human readers are capable of identifying and discerning implicit messages from text expressed in their natural languages. However, human readers’ ability is limited when facing hundreds, thousands, and even more such identification and differentiation tasks. Many real-life situations require a timely understanding of a pile of text or a swift analysis of multiple sources of text. For example, funding agencies need to deal with increasing numbers of proposals; scientists need to keep abreast of many seemingly relevant new publications to their research all the time; and historians need to sift through mountains of archival documents.
Cellular proliferation and cell-cell cycle regulatory proteins as prognostic markers for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

Normal cellular proliferation is a tightly regulated process. The two most important events of the eukaryotic cell cycle are DNA synthesis (replication of chromosomes) and mitosis (segregation of chromosomes into dividing cells),which occur during the S-phase and the M-phase of the cell cycle, respectively.1 The remainder of the cell cycle consists of two gap phases (G1 and G2) which occur prior to S-phase (G1) and prior to M-phase (G2) (see Figure 1). As growth quiescent cells enter and progress through the cell cycle, a number of “checkpoints” are encountered that are positioned at transition points between the different cell cycle states.2 These checkpoints are positioned at the initiation and completion of DNA replication (S-phase) and at the initiation and completion of cell division (M-phase). The most extensively studied of these checkpoints occurs late in G1, at the G1 to S transition, when the cell commits itself to another round of DNA replication.2 Bypass of this important cell cycle checkpoint may allow cells to replicate damaged DNA thereby resulting in the accumulation of genetic mutations that may eventually contribute to a neoplastic phenotype.
John von Neumann: The Computer and the Brain

“Johnnie” von Neumann lived and worked among the brightest and most accomplished physicists and mathematicians of his era, the age of quantum mechanics and the “The Bomb”, to both of which he was a major contributor; he was no one’s peer, and was widely known as the man who was never bested in speed and accuracy of thought except by ruse. When the war was over and Hiroshima lay in ruins, he turned his talents to work on the newly emergent digital computer, recognizing instantly the latent potential of this still ungainly machine. He adopted whole heartedly from W. McCulloch and W. Pitts the language and concepts of the nervous system as a digital biological machine, and he used these metaphors liberally to guide his thinking in adapting the digital devices to exploit Booleam algebra and the “Theory of Games”. He was a master politician of science and a uniquely effective salesman for the utility of “Gamesmanship” in human affairs ranging from “Real-politik” to corporate business and the operation of railroads, all done best by the computer. His greatest accomplishment was in devising a method for encoding in symbols the sets of instructions for operations on data; thereby with the invention of programming he created the first truly universal automaton. Programmers still express ambivalence about the immense utility of his artifice when they complain about the strait-jacket imposed by the “von Neumann heuristic”.
Sexual Harassment at Institutions of Higher Education: Prevalence, Risk, and Extent.

Sexual harassment is a pervasive problem on college campuses. Across eight academic campuses, 16,754 students participated in an online study that included questions about sexual harassment victimi...
Exploration of the Relationship Between Concussions and Depression Symptoms, Anxiety Symptoms, and Hazardous Drinking Among a Sample of College Students.

Objective: In clinical and athlete populations, research has found that experiencing a concussion (or traumatic brain injury) is correlated with experiencing other psychiatric conditions, including...
Thermodynamic and Dynamic Mechanisms for Hydrological Cycle Intensification over the Full Probability Distribution of Precipitation Events

AbstractPrecipitation changes in a warming climate have been examined with a focus on either mean precipitation or precipitation extremes, but changes in the full probability distribution of precip...
Modifiable Risk Factors in Young Adults With First Myocardial Infarction.

Abstract Background Modifiable risk factors (RFs) play an important role in the development and prognosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Objectives This study sought to study the prevalence rates of modifiable RFs during a first AMI, sex/race differences, and temporal trends in U.S. young adults. Methods This was a retrospective cohort analysis of the U.S. National Inpatient Sample years 2005 and 2015 to identify adults 18 to 59 years of age hospitalized for a first AMI. Prevalence rates, race and sex differences, and temporal trends of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, smoking, dyslipidemia, and drug abuse were analyzed in these patients. Results The authors’ study included 1,462,168 young adults with a first AMI (mean age 50 ± 7 years, 71.5% men, 58.3% white) of whom 19.2% were 18 to 44 years of age, and 80.8% were 45 to 59 years of age. In the 18- to 44-year group, smoking (56.8%), dyslipidemia (51.7%), and hypertension (49.8%) were most prevalent, and 90.3% of patients had at least 1 RF. In the 45- to 59-year group, hypertension (59.8%), dyslipidemia (57.5%), and smoking (51.9%) were most prevalent, and 92% patients had at least 1 RF. Significant sex and racial disparities were observed in the prevalence of individual RFs. Women had a higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obesity, and men had a higher prevalence of dyslipidemia, drug abuse, and smoking. The prevalence of all these RFs increased temporally except for the rate of dyslipidemia, which decreased more recently. Trends were generally consistent across sex and racial groups. Conclusions During a first AMI in young adults in whom preventive measures are more likely to be effective, modifiable RFs were highly prevalent and progressively increased over time. Significant sex and racial disparities were observed for individual RFs.
Use of Point-of-Care Gastric pH Testing to Assess the Efficacy of Acid Suppression Therapy in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Objective The use of acid suppression therapies in newborns lacks efficacy and is associated with adverse effects. Point-of-care (POC) assessment of gastric aspirate pH may provide an objective, noninvasive measure of gastric acidity in tube fed infants. We conducted the present study to characterize the POC gastric pH levels in gastric tube fed infants before and after initiation of enteral omeprazole or ranitidine. Study Design Retrospective cohort study of infants with gastric aspirate pH levels determined by POC pH strips. Gastric pH levels recorded during 7 days before and 14 days after medication initiation were compared using Wilcoxon's sign-rank tests. Results Among 307 evaluated infants, 284 (92%) had a median gastric pH level ≥4 in 7 days prior to ranitidine or omeprazole. In 14 days after medication initiation, the median gastric pH of infants with pretreatment median gastric pH Conclusion Among infants receiving gastric tube feedings and enteral omeprazole or ranitidine, only those with a pretreatment gastric pH level
Application of New Allogeneic Lumbar Fusion Cage (Biocage) in Single-Segment Lumbar Degenerative Disease: A Prospective Controlled Study with Follow-Up for ≥2 Years.

Objective We evaluated the clinical efficacy of the Biocage in lumbar fusion surgery and its safety and effectiveness. Methods A total of 431 patients with single-segment lumbar degenerative disease diagnosed from January 2013 to December 2016 were considered for the present prospective, nonrandomized, and controlled study; 52 patient met the exclusion criteria and were excluded. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to their cage choice: Biocage (n = 206) and polyether ether ketone (PEEK) cage (n = 173). The patients were followed up for 24–48 months (average, 32). The operative time, blood loss, hospitalization duration, mean intervertebral fusion segment height, height of intervertebral foramen, fusion time, fusion rate, internal fixation failure rate, visual analog scale score, and Oswestry disability index were compared between the 2 groups. Results All the patients underwent surgery successfully. No significant differences were found in gender, age, clinical diagnosis, lesion segment, operative time, blood loss, visual analog scale score, or Oswestry disability index between the 2 groups. No significant differences were found in the fusion rate; however, the Biocage group had a greater fusion rate and shorter fusion time than the PEEK group. During follow-up, the mean intervertebral height recovered significantly in the Biocage group compared with the PPEK group (P Conclusions The Biocage has excellent clinical efficacy in the treatment of lumbar degenerative disease. Although the Biocage achieved good therapeutic effects, it did not show obvious advantages compared with the PEEK cage. Therefore, the Biocage can only be used as a choice of bone graft materials for lumbar fusion surgery and should not completely replace the PEEK cage.
Epigenomic Landscape of Arabidopsis thaliana Metabolism Reveals Bivalent Chromatin on Specialized Metabolic Genes

Abstract Metabolism underpins development and physiology, but little is known about how metabolic genes and pathways are regulated, especially in multicellular organisms. Here, we identified regulatory patterns of 16 epigenetic modifications across metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana. Surprisingly, specialized metabolic genes, often involved in defense, were predominantly regulated by two modifications that have opposite effects on gene expression, H3K27me3 (repression) and H3K18ac (activation). Using camalexin biosynthesis genes as an example, we confirmed that these two modifications were co-localized to form bivalent chromatin. Mutants defective in H3K27m3 and H3K18ac modifications showed that both modifications are required to determine the normal transcriptional kinetics of these genes upon stress stimuli. Our study suggests that this type of bivalent chromatin, which we name a kairostat, controls the precise timing of gene expression upon stimuli. One Sentence Summary This study identified a novel regulatory mechanism controlling specialized metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana.
The influence of user-generated content on video game demand

We examine the influence of favorable user-generated content on the demand for PC video games. As digital distribution has become the norm for video games, it has become relatively easy for independent developers to create and distribute games. The resulting increase in the variety of games being offered exacerbates the experience good nature of video games, wherein consumers don’t learn the quality of a good until after purchase. This suggests that recommendations from other users may play an increasingly important role in influencing the demand for video games. We use a unique dataset including 12,365 PC video games to explore the influence effect of user-generated descriptive tags on video game ownership. Results show a positive influence from tags that indicate high quality when an unobservable estimate of the time that owners devote to playing a game is used to control for underlying quality. It is further shown that multiplayer games, which are most likely to experience network effects, exhibit significantly decreased price sensitivity and an increased sensitivity to underlying quality but that the application of favorable tags does not impact demand differently for these goods. We find that having a popular publisher will boost new sales for a game, but positive tags have the same impact for games released by popular and non-popular publishers. Finally, we find strong evidence that user-generated content in the form of descriptive tags are also associated with shifts in video game demand.
Importance of transmission line corridors for conservation of native bees and other wildlife

Abstract In forested regions, electric transmission line corridors often provide large linear expanses of managed early successional habitats for sun-loving plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates, many of which are legislatively protected or otherwise targets of conservation efforts. We sampled the bee fauna at 27 randomly selected sites along a 140-km (89-mile) segment of a transmission line that extends from Connecticut to New Hampshire. Each site contained two plots, one within the powerline corridor and another in a closely adjacent forest. Data were collected over a 12-week study period (late May to early August) with corridor plots yielding more than twice as many bee species and more than ten times the number of individuals than the forest plots. The aggregate richness for the 54 plots (=205 species) represents nearly half the bee fauna of New England with species estimation curves suggesting that many additional species were resident but went unsampled. Two globally rare species, Epeoloides pilosulus and Macropis ciliata, were documented from the powerline plots. The time-extended (five-year) vegetation management cycles currently used by many utility companies in New England result in a dynamic array of vegetation composition and structure that supports a multitude of bees as well as other insects, reptiles and amphibians, shrubland birds, small mammals, and other early successional taxa.
Editorial Commentary: More Is Better? The 6-O'clock Anchor in Instability Surgery.

Abstract Placing an anchor at the 6-o’clock position on the glenoid when performing an arthroscopic Bankart repair has been suggested by multiple authors as a potential key step in improving the outcomes of arthroscopic repair. Placement of a 6-o’clock anchor increases the peak resistance force to displacement over a traditional 3-anchor repair. Determining what technique issues are relevant remains problematic, and the ultimate preferred technique remains elusive.
Broadband soliton microresonator frequency combs

Photonic chip frequency comb generation based on Kerr-mediated nonlinear optical processes in microresonators is promising for a number of applications in time and frequency metrology, spectroscopy, sensing, and communications. In this talk, I will discuss our work in developing soliton microresonator frequency combs whose spectral bandwidths exceed an octave, so that when self-referenced, they can be used as core components of optical frequency synthesizers and optical atomic clocks. I will present recent efforts to create even broader bandwidth microcombs and to access visible wavelengths, which is a particular challenge due to the large dispersion of the constituent materials. Finally, I will discuss some of the outstanding design and simulation challenges associated with the development of these microcombs.
Inter-Subject EEG Correlation Reflects Time-Varying Engagement with Natural Music

Abstract Musical engagement can be conceptualized through various activities, modes of listening, and listener states—among these a state of focused engagement. Recent research has reported that this state can be indexed by the inter-subject correlation (ISC) of EEG responses to a shared naturalistic stimulus. While statistically significant ISC has been reported during music listening, these reports have considered only correlations computed across entire excerpts and do not provide insights into time-varying engagement. Here we present the first EEG-ISC investigation of time-varying engagement within a musical work. From a sample of 23 adult musicians who listened to a cello concerto movement, we find varying levels of ISC throughout the excerpt. In particular, significant ISC is observed during periods of musical tension that build to climactic highpoints, but not at the highpoints themselves. In addition, we find that a control stimulus retaining envelope characteristics of the intact music, but little other temporal structure, also elicits significant neural correlation, though to a lesser extent than the original excerpt. In all, our findings shed light on temporal dynamics of listener engagement during music listening, establish connections between salient musical events and EEG ISC, and clarify specific listener states that are indexed by this measure.
Sierpiński products of r-uniform hypergraphs

If H1 and H2 are r-uniform hypergraphs and f is a function from the set of all (r − 1)-element subsets of V(H1) into V(H2), then the Sierpinski product H1⊗fH2 is defined to have vertex set V(H1) × V(H2) and hyperedges falling into two classes: (g, h1)(g, h2)⋯(g, hr), such that g ∈ V(H1) and h1h2⋯hr ∈ E(H2),and (g1, f({g2, g3, …, gr}))(g2, f({g1, g3, …, gr}))⋯(gr, f({g1, g2, …, gr − 1})),such that g1g2⋯gr ∈ E(H1). We develop the basic structure possessed by this product and offer proofs of numerous extremal properties involving connectivity, clique numbers, and strong chromatic numbers.
Power and Emotion in Ancient Judaism: Community and Identity in Formation

In this book, Ari Mermelstein examines the mutually-reinforcing relationship between power and emotion in ancient Judaism. Ancient Jewish writers in both Palestine and the diaspora contended that Jewish identity entails not simply allegiance to God and performance of the commandments but also the acquisition of specific emotional norms. These rules regarding feeling were both shaped by and responses to networks of power - God, the foreign empire, and other groups of Jews - which threatened Jews' sense of agency. According to these writers, emotional communities that felt Jewish would succeed in neutralizing the power wielded over them by others and, depending on the circumstances, restore their power to acculturate, maintain their Jewish identity, and achieve redemption. An important contribution to the history of emotions, this book argues that power relations are the basis for historical changes in emotion discourse.
Host-microbe interactions in cornea.

Abstract Corneal infections result through interaction between microbes and host innate immune receptors. Damage to the cornea occurs as a result of microbial virulence factors and is often exacerbated by lack of a controlled host immune response; the latter contributing to bystander damage to corneal structure. Understanding mechanisms involved in host microbial interactions is critical to development of novel therapeutic targets, ultimate control of microbial pathogenesis, and restoration of tissue homeostasis. Studies on these interactions continue to provide exciting findings directly related to this ultimate goal.
Performance of Early Fruit-Zone Leaf Removal in Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in an Arid Climate

Summary Goals: Our goals were to evaluate how the timing of early fruit zone leaf removal, done between prebloom and post-fruit set, influenced the risk of reduced fruit set, sunburn, and fruit quality in Vitis vinifera Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grown in the hot, arid, and irrigated region of eastern Washington State. Key Findings: Fruit set was reduced in Vitis vinifera Cabernet Sauvignon when fruit-zone leaf removal was completed during bloom. Prebloom and postbloom fruit-zone leaf removal did not reduce fruit set. Sunburn occurred on fruit on the westside of the canopy in both V. vinifera Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Sunburn severity increased with later-timed fruit-zone leaf removal. Overall, the maximum severity of sunburn was 15% of the cluster surface area. Vintage had a greater effect on fruit quality than timing of leaf removal for both varieties. This emphasizes the need to make canopy management decisions that are informed by weather forecasts, to achieve desired management goals. Impact and Significance: Early fruit-zone leaf removal was traditionally avoided in eastern Washington, in favor of completing the practice after berries have reached pea-size. The later timing of leaf removal, however, can result in sudden exposure of the fruit during the typically warmest and sunniest time of the growing season. Results from this study show that many of the assumed risks associated with early fruit-zone leaf removal, such as extreme reduction in fruit set and sunburn, are not fully realized. This means that early fruit-zone leaf removal could be adopted in this hot, arid climate without a high risk of reduction in fruit quantity or quality.
SEEPAGE UNDER STRUCTURES ON STRATIFIED SOIL

THE SEEPAGE UNDER A FLAT-BOTTOMED STRUCTURE RESTING ON TWO HOMOGENOUS STRATA OF SOIL IS STUDIED BY PERTURBATION TECHNIQUES. THE SOLUTION OBTAINED IS VALID WHEN THE PERMEABILITY IN THE LOWER STRATUM IS MUCH GREATER THAN THE PERMEABILITY THE UPPER ONE. A COMPARISON IS MADE BETWEEN POLUBARINOVA-KOCHINAS EXACT SOLUTION FOR EQUAL STRATA THICKNESSES AND THE PERTURBATION SOLUTION. THE FINAL EQUATIONS WHICH CONTAIN ONLY ELEMENTARY FUNCTIONS ARE EASILY USED WITH THE AID OF A SLIDE RULE. RESULTS ARE ALSO PRESENTED IN GRAPHS. /AUTHOR/
Risk of readmission after laparoscopic vs. open colorectal surgery.

Laparoscopic colorectal resection (LC) is associated with known recovery benefits and earlier discharge when compared to open colorectal resection (OC). Whether earlier discharge leads to a paradoxical increase in readmission has not been well characterized. The aim of this study is to compare the risk of readmission after the two procedures in a large, nationally representative sample. Patients who underwent colorectal resection in 2011 were identified from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database. LC and OC patients were compared for patient factors, complications, and readmission rates. A multivariable analysis controlling for significant factors was performed to evaluate factors associated with readmission. Of 30,428 patients who underwent colorectal resection, 40.2% underwent LC. Length of stay (LOS) after LC was shorter than after OC (5.7 vs. 9.7 days, p < 0.001). LC was associated with a significantly lower rate of surgical site infections (SSI), bleeding, reoperation, 30-day mortality, and complications. Risk of readmission was greater for patients undergoing proctectomy than colectomy (12.7 vs. 10.6 %, p < 0.001), but was lower after laparoscopic than open for both procedures after controlling for confounding factors. Obesity, DM, operating time ≥180 min, steroid use, and ASA class 3–5 were found to be associated with readmission. Despite its technical complexity, LC can be performed without concerns for increased complications or readmission. The shorter length of stay and the lower risk of readmissions underline the true benefits of the laparoscopic approach for colorectal resection.
Present company excepted or accepted?: Recognizing each other's faces in educational leadership's scholarship and practice

Purpose – The persisting tension over the relative importance of theory and practice creates a crevasse between scholars and practitioners. The purpose here is to problematize divisions between cultural norms found among scholars and practitioners.Design/methodology/approach – Both authors, higher education scholars, experienced temporary assignments as public school leaders and reflect on their experiences moving back and forth between school leadership practice and academia. This qualitative and autobiographical work draws on a combination of hermeneutics in the dominant educational leadership literature and the co‐authors' experiences recorded in journals, saved memos and other school data records. These data sets and continuing access to their professional and scholarly colleagues provided the basis for analyses.Findings – Draws on three main points: curricular balance; faculty composition; and research, and, while it strongly encourages faculty to seek ways to connect or reconnect with the field, opi...
Surface slope control on firn density at Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica: Results from airborne radar sounding

We derive the surface density variations over Thwaites Glacier from a statistical analysis of airborne High-Capability Radar Sounder surface returns acquired in the 2004–2005 summer. We produce a 5 km gridded map with an estimated ±12.5 kg m−3 accuracy. The background pattern of densities decreases inland from ~ 480 kg m−3 to ~ 350 kg m−3. A remarkable ~ 30 km wide vein-shaped anomaly of up to 570 kg m−3 is located ~ 100 km from the coastline. Density anomalies correspond with surface slope breaks but are not necessarily coincident with smaller slopes. They could result from complex wind-driven snow redistribution and/or refreezing of former snowmelt. This inversion technique can significantly improve surface mass balance calculations to understanding of glacier dynamics at regional scales and is valuable to verify and improve Antarctic climate models. It is also a promising approach for future surface analysis of icy moons by planetary radars.
Effect of GAL4 Gene Dosage on the Level of Galactose Catabolic Enzymes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Lack of GAL4 gene dosage on the level of uridine diphosphogalactose epimerase (EC 5.1.3.2) activity suggests the positive regulatory role for this locus on the control of galactose catabolic enzymes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae .
Progress: History of the Concept

Extension of the progress of science into the realm of government and morals was central to Enlightenment belief in historical progress. During the nineteenth century, progress provided the framework and central problem of social science theory, and belief in the progress of the social sciences became the ideology of the social science disciplines. Discontents with progress had been present from the start and the conviction that progress was inevitable collapsed in the twentieth century, although in mitigated forms, it waxed and waned with historical expectations. At the end of the century, postmodern sensibilities challenged the progress both of history and the social sciences.
A hybrid linear programming and relaxed plan heuristic for partial satisfaction planning problems

The availability of informed (but inadmissible) planning heuristics has enabled the development of highly scalable planning systems. Due to this success, a body of work has grown around modifying these heuristics to handle extensions to classical planning. Most recently, there has been an interest in addressing partial satisfaction planning problems, but existing heuristics fail to address the complex interactions that occur in these problems between action and goal selection. In this paper we provide a unique admissible heuristic based on linear programming that we use to solve a relaxed version of the partial satisfaction planning problem. We incorporate this heuristic in conjunction with a lookahead strategy in a branch and bound algorithm to solve a class of over-subscribed planning problems.
Global Health Education and Latin America

I am writing to commend your Journal for its fine work of informing its readership of the important developments occurring in the health sciences. For eight years I lived and worked in Latin America, including time spent in Colombia working with colleagues to estimate future requirements for health personnel. I became acquainted with the journal through a recent collaboration with Prof. Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales and a student, Mr. Daniel Tobon Garcia, in the drafting of a book that will soon be published to provide guidance to students and faculty committed to improving their academic programs as they relate to global health. This much expanded 2nd edition, Developing Global Health Programming: A Guidebook for Medical and Professional Schools, will soon be available both in printed and online format.
A broker-based framework for QoS-aware Web service composition

Web services are modular web applications that can be independently deployed and invoked by other software or services on the web. This offers enterprises the capability to integrate in-house business services with external Web services to conduct complex business transactions. The integration efficiency and flexibility are critical for services composition. For Web services providing a similar functionality, Quality of Service (QoS) is the main factor to differentiate them. The overall QoS of a business process must meet a user's requirement. In this paper, we propose a broker-based framework to facilitate dynamic integration and adaptation of QoS-aware Web services with end-to-end QoS constraints. The key functions of a dynamic broker include service collection, selection, composition and adaptation. Our study considers both functional and QoS characteristics of Web services to identify the optimal business process solutions.
Variations on the Monotone Subsequence Theme of Erdös and Szekeres

A review is given of the results on the length of the longest increasing subsequence and related problems. The review covers results on random and pseudorandom sequences as well as deterministic ones. Although most attention is given to previously published research, some new proofs and new results are given. In particular, some new phenomena are demonstrated for the monotonic subsequences of sections of sequences. A number of open problems from the literature are also surveyed.
Phase diagrams of grafted molecules under external fields: A mean field model

A mean field theory is extended to investigate the phase behavior of grafted molecules under external fields. In the model, each grafted molecule contains two states, similar to the Ising model, and the applied field interacts with only one of the two states. The free energy of this model is formulated as a function of composition, field strength, and a parameter to account for the intermolecular interactions of neighboring molecules. Our calculations show that uniform fields exhibit no significant effect on phase diagrams. In contrast, linear gradient fields affect critical temperature but show no direct effect on critical composition. Under external fields with quadratic spatial gradient, both critical constants become sensitive to field direction and strength. Moreover, an analysis of field dependent critical constants suggests that quadratic fields affect miscibility and critical temperature. A brief comparison of the current model and the Ising model is also given.
Characterization of host-lattice emission and energy transfer in BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+

Abstract Host-lattice emission, energy transfer and degradation processes are characterized in undoped and Eu-doped BaMgAl 10 O 17 . Undoped BaMgAl 10 O 17 exhibits a broad emission centered at 265 nm when excited at wavelengths shorter than 190 nm. This emission is assigned to exciton recombination at Ba–O groups in the cation layer of the lattice. The emission exhibits excellent overlap with the excitation band of Eu 2+ in this host, providing a means of host-to-activator energy transfer in the doped phosphor. The exciton emission is relatively stable to thermal damage, but undergoes a peak shift and significant decrease in intensity after exposure to VUV radiation. Heating of VUV-damaged materials in air leads to some repair of the spectral properties.
The Asymptotic Covariance Matrix of the Maximum Likelihood Parameter Estimator in Conditional Poisson Log-linear Models

The asymptotic covariance matrix of the maximum likelihood estimator for the log-linear model is given for a general class of conditional Poisson distributions which include the unconditional Poisson, multinomial and product-multinomial, as special cases. The general conditions are given under which the maximum likelihood covariance matrix is equal to the covariance matrix of an equivalent closed-form weighted least squares estimator.
Perturbation Correction for the Free Energy and Structure of Simple Fluids

Separation of an arbitrary potential $\ensuremath{\phi}$ into a short-range, repulsive part ${\ensuremath{\phi}}_{0}$ and a weak correction ${\ensuremath{\phi}}_{1}$ affords the possibility of describing the $\ensuremath{\phi}$-system properties as corrections to the assumed-known ${\ensuremath{\phi}}_{0}$ reference system. We derive here an expression for such a correction of the classical Helmholtz free energy that is the analog of a result familiar from the development of the hypernetted-chain integral equation. Other corrections are obtained therefrom, including a corrected pair-distribution function proposed earlier. All results are easily adapted for numerical calculation.
The discriminative stimulus effects of tripelennamine in humans

Twenty volunteers were trained to discriminate between 75 mg tripelennamine (TP) and placebo. During the first four sessions, the drugs were identified prior to ingestion by letter code. During the next six sessions, the procedure was the same except the capsules were not identified. At the end of the 3-h session, participants indicated which capsule they believed they received using the letter codes. When correct, they received a monetary bonus. If they were correct on five sessions, they entered the third phase which had ten additional training and 12 test sessions. During tests, participants received capsules that contained other drugs, including diphenhydramine (50 and 75 mg), chlorpheniramine (4 and 6 mg), diazepam (5 and 10 mg), d-amphetamine (5 and 10 mg), as well as tripelennamine (25, 50 and 75 mg) and placebo. Thirteen participants learned the discrimination and nine entered the third phase. Except for placebo, most participants identified the test compounds as TP and labeled them as sedatives. TP produced significant changes on several subjective and physiological measures. The test compounds produced varied effects which were neither clearly dose-related nor related to the identification as TP or placebo. These results indicate that tripelennamine can function as a discriminative stimulus, but with little evidence of pharmacological specificity.
A Rare Case of Hyperammonemia Complication of High-Protein Parenteral Nutrition

Hyperammonemia is a metabolic derangement that can be potentially fatal. Primary hyperammonemia due to urea cycle enzyme deficiency is usually discovered in neonates but rarely can present in adulthood. Late-onset manifestations of urea cycle disorders can go unnoticed, until they become life threatening. The authors report a 28-year-old man who developed hyperammonemia in the hospital following parenteral nutrition (PN), leading to cerebral edema, which was fatal despite resolution of the hyperammonemia with cessation of PN and the use of continuous renal replacement therapy.
An ethological analysis of open-field behaviour in chickens

Abstract Two salient but previously unacknowledged aspects of open-field testing involve contact with a potential predator, as a consequence of placement in the open field by a human, and separation from imprinted companions. As a result we propose that open-field behaviour in chickens (Gallus gallus) represents a compromise between opposing tendencies to reinstate contact with conspecifics and minimize detection in the face of possible predation. Five experiments were conducted to test various implications of this model. Manipulations designed to enhance the predatory overtones of open-field testing were found to postpone reinstatement behaviours (e.g. distress calling and escape attempts) and prolong behaviours that serve to minimize detection (e.g freezing). Unlike the more traditional view of open-field behaviour as an index of general emotionality, our model suggests that the principal reason for movement is based on attempts to reinstate social contact. In support of the model, birds tested in the presence of cagemates showed significantly longer durations of freezing than those tested individually. The same was true for birds maintained in social isolation for two days prior to testing. The applicability of this approach to conceptualizing the behaviour of chickens in the open field is discussed, and the supposed relationship between fear and distress calling is critically evaluated.
Fluorescence and Phosphorescence of Ochratoxins, Sterigmatocystin, Patulin and Zearalenone: Quantitation of Ochratoxins

Abstract LuminSence data for ochratoxins, sterigrnatocystin, patulin and zearalenone are presented. Fluorescence intensity vs pH has been plotted. Fluorescence and phosphoroscence spectra have been obtained and fluorescence quantum yields have been calculated. It is proposed that the excitation of the ochratoxins may involve an energy transfer from one chromophore to another.
Differential effects of scopolamine on 3 forms of stress analgesia.

Abstract We have previously reported that non-opioid stress analgesia and two forms of opioid stress analgesia can be differentially produced in rats by varying the severity or temporal pattern of inescapable footshock. In this study, we investigated the role of muscarinic cholinergic mechanisms in mediating these 3 forms of stress analgesia. Whereas the muscarinic anticholinergic drug, scopolamine, had no effect on either non-opioid stress analgesia or opioid stress analgesia from 1 min of continuous 2.5-mA footshock, it significantly attentuated opioid analgesia from 20 min of intermittent footshock at this same intensity. The data are discussed in reference to other similarities and differences between these two forms of opioid stress analgesia.
Holistic reflection in teacher education: issues and strategies

Current practices in teacher education are standards‐driven and place a great deal of emphases on micro‐analyzing practices and reflecting on technical problems in teaching. Processes that are attributed to one's inner life, and that are associated with the artistic/aesthetic domains, such as, intuition, contemplation, visualization, and imagination are largely ignored in teacher education programs. Many educators, however, believe that the cultivation of the inner life, in particular, the imagination, is critical for teacher development and reshaping professional practices. This paper focuses on how teacher education can support holistic teacher professional development through acknowledging and fostering the inner life. A model for teacher reflection and professional development based on the Native American/First Nations Medicine Wheel developed by the author will be discussed as a methodology for prospective and practicing teachers to explore self, the inner life, and connections to practice.