cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Gender differences in the structure of risk for alcohol use disorder in adolescence and young adulthood

Background. Gender differences in the prevalence of alcohol use disorder (AUD) have motivated the separate study of its risk factors and consequences in men and women. However, leveraging gender as a third variable to help account for the association between risk factors and consequences for AUD could elucidate etiological mechanisms and clinical outcomes. Method. Using data from a large, community sample followed longitudinally from 17 to 29 years of age, we tested for gender differences in psychosocial risk factors and consequences in adolescence and adulthood after controlling for gender differences in the base rates of AUD and psychosocial factors. Psychosocial factors included alcohol use, other drug use, externalizing and internalizing symptoms, deviant peer affiliation, family adversity, academic problems, attitudes and use of substances by a romantic partner, and adult socio-economic status. Results. At both ages of 17 and 29 years, mean levels of psychosocial risks and consequences were higher in men and those with AUD. However, the amount of risk exposure in adolescence was more predictive of AUD in women than men. By adulthood, AUD consequences were larger in women than men and internalizing risk had a stronger relationship with AUD in women at both ages. Conclusions. Despite higher mean levels of risk exposure in men overall, AUD appears to be a more severe disorder in women characterized by higher levels of adolescent risk factors and a greater magnitude of the AUD consequences among women than men. Furthermore, internalizing symptoms appear to be a gender-specific risk factor for AUD in women.
BEACH FILL STABILITY AND BORROW MATERIAL TEXTURE

The dependence of beach fill stability en the textural properties of borrow material requires development of quantitative methods for use in selection of borrow areas and in prediction of possible maintenance costs associated with periodic renourishment. If a shore segment is viewed as a sediment mass transfer system, where grains of different size have different transport rates, then termination of natural sediment input to the shore segment will cause the beach to retreat and the materials in the active zone will become coarser. The ratio of retreat rates associated with a given borrow material texture to that associated with native material can be used in optimizing economic factors involved in selection among potential borrow zones. With certain simplifying assumptions the relative retreat rate associated with a given borrow material texture can be predicted from observations of the modifications in textural properties of native material which occur during the eroding condition following termination of the natural supply of sediment. Further simplifying assumptions result in an analytical expression for relative retreat rates which may not require observations of the natural beach in the eroding condition. The proposed method is in substantial agreement with qualitative guidelines provided in the Shore Protection Manual [2].
FiPS: a file system provenance

A file provenance system supports the automatic collection and management of provenance i.e. the complete processing history of a data object. File system level provenance provides functionality unavailable in the existing provenance systems. In this paper, we discuss the design objectives for a flexible and efficient file provenance system and then propose the design of such a system, called FiPS. We design FiPS as a thin stackable file system for capturing provenance in a portable manner. FiPS can capture provenance at various degrees of granularity, can transform provenance records into secure information, and can direct the resulting provenance data to various persistent storage systems.
The Impact of Exercise on Increasing Lower Leg Muscles Strength - With Specific Reference to Male Futsal Athletes in Goal Shooting Accuracy

This article presents the results of exercise training programs that increase the lower leg muscles strength for male futsal athletes in accuracy of football goal shooting and a comparison of the exercise results before and after applying the exercise programs. This quasi-experimental research was conducted with a sampling group of 15 male futsal athletes, who are students of St. Theresa International College, in sports science field of academic year 2015. The duration of the test is 8 weeks, in accordance with the activity schedule, provided that, each sampling group will be tested by shooting 4 goals and to shoot each target goal for 5 times, thus, a total of 20 times. Researchers have brought the test scores to analyze with comparison pair-t-test statistic. In overall view, the study found that the training exercise programs for increasing strength of the lower leg muscles in accuracy of goal shooting is in moderate level. In addition, it also found that male athletes, who have been training with the exercising programs have gained higher accuracy in goal shooting, than before applying the training programs, at statistically significant level of .01.
Issues in disaster recovery

The increased demand in recent years for continuous operation of databases has created interest in remote backups, which allow systems to continue their operation, even in the presence of disasters. The motivation for remote backups and their applicability to various systems are discussed. A remote backup can ensure continuous operation, even in the presence of extensive failures that may render an entire site inoperational and for which local replication may be inadequate. In particular, the geographic separation of two copies helps isolate failures that might otherwise affect the backup copy, as well as the primary. Some of the issues involved in the design, implementation, and evaluation of remote backup mechanisms are presented. Consistency is a major interest for remote backups: a recovery mechanism may produce either a consistent backup copy or an inconsistent one. Consistency will be highly desirable in most cases, since application programs are usually written under the assumption that they will operate on correct data, and error handling in these programs is rarely comprehensive. Some criteria that can be used for evaluating and comparing various remote backup mechanisms are presented. Topics discussed are taxonomy, implementation choices, and comparison metrics. >
SHEAR STRENGTH OF METAL WIRE REINFORCED ACRYLIC BONE CEMENT

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the shear strength of metal wire reinforced acrylic bone cement (PMMA). It describes an investigation that was undertaken to show that the resistance of PMMA to shear forces can also be significantly improved by reinforcing it with metal wires. Throughout this study, acrylic bone cement employed was surgical grade polymethylmethacrylate. Shear tests were performed on control specimens of cement alone and on test specimens of cement reinforced with 2, 3, 4, and 5 strands of 0.5 mm. diameter stainless-steel wires. It was evident that the addition of metal reinforcement produced significant improvement in both the maximum stress and the energy absorption capacity of bone cement specimens. The result of this study showed that the load carrying capacity of acrylic bone cement in shear can be improved considerably by addition of reinforcing metal wires. Moreover, for reinforced bone cement, following fracture of cement, the reinforcing wires continued to support a significant amount of load, and this is a distinct advantage of using reinforced bone cement in clinical situations.
Management of intracerebral hemorrhage

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a potentially devastating neurologic injury representing 10-15% of stroke cases in the USA each year. Numerous risk factors, including age, hypertension, male gender, coagulopathy, genetic susceptibility, and ethnic descent, have been identified. Timely identification, workup, and management of this condition remain a challenge for clinicians as numerous factors can present obstacles to achieving good functional outcomes. Several large clinical trials have been conducted over the prior decade regarding medical and surgical interventions. However, no specific treatment has shown a major impact on clinical outcome. Current management guidelines do exist based on medical evidence and consensus and these provide a framework for care. While management of hypertension and coagulopathy are generally considered basic tenets of ICH management, a variety of measures for surgical hematoma evacuation, intracranial pressure control, and intraventricular hemorrhage can be further pursued in the emergent setting for selected patients. The complexity of management in parenchymal cerebral hemorrhage remains challenging and offers many areas for further investigation. A systematic approach to the background, pathology, and early management of spontaneous parenchymal hemorrhage is provided.
A comparison of simulation methods for continuous time sigma delta modulators

Continuous time (CT) sigma delta modulators are mixed signal systems that are commonly simulated at a system level using SPICE macro modeling, solving differential equations, implementing difference equations based on impulse invariance and using Simulink. In this paper, the delta transform (forward Euler method), the bilinear transform (trapezoidal rule), the midpoint integration method, a variation on the use of impulse invariance and Simpson's rule are used to determine difference equations which are used to simulate CT sigma delta modulators. The accuracy and speed of these methods are compared to Simulink models of CT sigma delta modulators with respect to the modulator's signal to quantization noise ratio and the elapsed time of each simulation.
Detection of brain cardiolipins in plasma after cardiac arrest

Neurological injury resulting from dysfunction of brain mitochondria limits recovery after cardiac arrest (CA). Available indicators of neurological injury are inadequate for early prognostication after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). High diversification and essentiality of brain mitochondrial cardiolipins (CL) makes them unique candidates to quantify brain injury and predict prognosis early after ROSC. Using high-resolution liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, we determined CL content in plasma from 39 patients within 6 h of ROSC, 10 healthy controls and human heart and brain tissue. Cerebral score (C-score) was derived from brain-specific CL. Using a rat model of CA, CL was quantified in plasma and brain and results were compared with the controls. Brain and heart fell on extreme ends of CL diversity spectrum. Nine of 26 brain-specific CL were detected in plasma and correlated with brain injury. The C-score correlated with early neurologic injury and predicted neurologic outcome. In a rat CA model, a significant reduction in hippocampal CL content corresponded to CL released from the brain into systemic circulation. In conclusion brain-specific CL species accumulate in plasma after CA and can be used to predict injury severity and outcome.
Role of lymph node ratio in selection of adjuvant treatment (chemotherapy vs. chemoradiation) in patients with resected gastric cancer.

Background: Recent randomized controlled trials have failed to show a survival difference between adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with resected gastric cancer (GC). However, a subset of patients with lymph node (LN) positive disease may still benefit from CRT. Additional evidence is needed to help guide physicians in identifying patients in whom CRT should be considered. Our objective was then to compare survival outcomes based on lymph node ratio (LNR) (ratio of metastatic to harvested LNs) for patients with gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma treated with surgery and either CT or CRT. Methods: This retrospective population-based study used California Cancer Registry (CCR) data from 2004 to 2013. It included 1,493 patients diagnosed with stage IB–III gastric/GEJ adenocarcinoma and treated with CT or CRT following total or partial gastrectomy. Overall survival (OS) was the primary outcome and GC-specific survival was secondary. Mortality hazards ratios (HR) for these outcomes were computed using propensity score weighted Cox regression models, stratified by LNR strata categories as 0%, 1–9%, 10–25% and >25%. Results: Out of 1,493 patients that met inclusion criteria, 462 were treated with CT while 1,031 received CRT. Median follow-up for all subjects was 76 months and median survival was 54 months for CRT and 35 for the CT cohort, P 25% [HR =0.67 (95% CI, 0.56–0.80)]. Similar findings were observed for GC-specific survival and for analyses limited to patients that had at least 15 LNs evaluated. Conclusions: LNR appears to be a simple and readily available measure that could be used in treatment planning for resected GC. CRT offers significant survival advantage over CT among patients with high LN disease burden (LNR of ≥10%).
Structure and function of the nucleus and cell organelles

Living eukaryotic cells must carry out and coordinate an enormous number of biochemical reactions in order to obtain and convert energy to usable forms, break down and interconvert organic molecules to synthesize needed components, sense and respond to environmental and internal stimuli, regulate gene activity, sense and repair damage to structural and genomic elements, and grow and reproduce. This level of complexity requires that biochemical reactions be highly organized and compartmentalized, and this is the major function of cell organelles and the cytoskeleton. Cells have elaborated an elegant cytoplasmic membrane system composed of the nuclear envelope, ER, Golgi apparatus, and associated endocytotic, endosomal, lysososomal, and secretory vesicles and compartments. These membranes serve to both organize and compartmentalize biochemical reactions involved in protein and lipid synthesis, targeting, and secretion. The cytoskeleton not only facilitates cytosolic molecular interactions, but also serves to organize the entire cytoplasmic membrane system. The key to cellular life is organization, and eukaryotic cells display a remarkably rich and elegant architecture to carry out the demands of life.
Research, Development, and Demonstration of Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell Systems

The aim of this chapter is to give an overview of the technology of the molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) and to assess the status of MCFC performance. The MCFC is generally considered a “second-generation” fuel cell, whose entry into the power generation market will follow that of the phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC), discussed in Chapter 8. In spite of the greater technical difficulties in its development, the MCFC has undeniable advantages over the PAFC, because of its higher electrical efficiency, the possibility of using natural gas without external reforming, and the high-grade waste heat generated. These characteristics allow a spectrum of applications varying from central power generation to industrial or commercial cogeneration. They are directly connected with the higher operating temperature (typically 650°C).
Natural and Archeological Analogues: A Review

There are numerous natural analogues for the many facets of radioactive waste disposal in geomedia.Certainly the best of these is the Oklo Natural Reactor, Gabon, where a naturally occurring uranium deposit formed some 2 Ga ago sustained a fission nuclear reaction for roughly 0.5 Ma. During this period copious quantities of fission products were produced, along with transuranics.Oklo allows a semi-quantitative to quantitative evaluation of the fate of fission products and actinides in rocks, and it is noteworthy that evidently most of these radionuclides either stayed in the host pitchblende or migrated only locally.
Data Editing on Large Data Sets

The process of analyzing large data sets often includes an early exploratory stage to first, develop a basic understanding of the data and its interrelationships and second to prepare and cleanup the data for hypothesis formulation and testing This preliminary phase of the data analysis process usually requires facilities found in research data management systems, text editors, graphics packages, and statistics packages. Also this process usually requires the analyst to write special programs to cleanup and prepare the data for analysis. This paper describes a technique now implemented as a single computational tool, a data editor, which combines a cross facilities from the above emphasis on research manipulation and subsetting The data editor provides an environment to explore arid manipulate data sets with particular attention to the implications of large data sets. It utilizes a relational data model and a self describing binary data format which allows data transportability to other data analysis packages. Some impacts of editing large data sets will be discussed. A technique for manipulating portions or subsets of large data sets without physical replication is introduced. Also an experimental command structure and operating environment are presented.
OXIDATION OF GLUCOSE BY IODINE IN THE PRESENCE OF INSULIN

This investigation was undertaken with the purpose of determining whether insulin, alone or in the presence of certain animal fluids, has any influence upon glucose in vitro. The establishment of such an influence might have much significance in relation both to the study of carbohydrate metabolism and to the development of methods of assaying insulin.
Does predator-driven, biotic resistance limit the northward spread of the non-native green porcelain crab, Petrolisthes armatus?

Biotic resistance by native predators can limit the geographic range and abundance of non-native species following introduction into an ecosystem. Here we tested the hypothesis that the strength of predation pressure varies with latitude and limits the abundance and northward expansion of the non-native green porcelain crab, Petrolisthes armatus, whose northern range is also hypothesized to be limited by physical tolerances to cold temperatures. We quantified the predation risk of P. armatus across 400 km of the crab’s invasive range along the coastline of the southeastern US. In addition, we measured the density of large P. armatus, habitat quality, and other environmental factors that may affect the crab’s predation risk. Finally, we conducted a size-selective predator exclusion experiment to determine the predator species and size classes that may be consuming P. armatus. Results indicated that neither the density of large P. armatus nor its predation risk varied systematically with latitude. Instead, variation in predation risk was best explained by local site-level differences in habitat quality, the density of large P. armatus, and the mean abundance of predators. The predator exclusion experiment indicated that both small and large size classes of predators are capable of equally strong rates of predation on P. armatus. Together, our results suggest that although native predators readily consume P. armatus, they do not provide biotic resistance against its northward expansion. Instead, it seems likely that other latitudinally differential factors like low winter temperatures that decrease P. armatus survival are more influential in limiting the crab’s northern expansion.
Regionalization of Spine Trauma Care in an Urban Trauma System in the United States: Decreased Time to Surgery and Hospital Length of Stay.

BACKGROUND The effect of regionalized trauma care (RT) on hospital-based outcomes for traumatic spine injury (TSI) in the United States is unknown. OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that RT would be associated with earlier time to surgery and decreased length of stay (LOS). METHODS TSI patients >14 yr were identified using International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision Clinical Modification diagnostic codes. Data from 2008 through 2012 were analyzed before and after RT in 2010. RESULTS A total of 4072 patients were identified; 1904 (47%) pre-RT and 2168 (53%) post-RT. Injury severity scores, Spine Abbreviated Injury Scale scores, and the percentage of TSIs with spinal cord injury (tSCI) were similar between time periods. Post-RT TSIs demonstrated a lower median intensive care unit (ICU) LOS (0 vs 1 d; P < 0.0001), underwent spine surgery more frequently (13% vs 11%; P = 0.01), and had a higher rate of spine surgery performed within 24 h of admission (65% vs 55%; P = 0.02). In patients with tSCI post-RT, ICU LOS was decreased (1 vs 2 d; P < 0.0001) and ventilator days were reduced (average days: 2 vs 3; P = 0.006). The post-RT time period was an independent predictor for spine surgery performed in less than 24 h for all TSIs (odds ratio [OR] 1.52, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04-2.22, C-stat = 0.65). Multivariate linear regression analysis demonstrated an independent effect on reduced ICU LOS post-RT for TSIs (OR -1.68; 95% CI: -2.98 to 0.39; R2 = 0.74) and tSCIs (OR -2.42, 95% CI: -3.99-0.85; R2 = 0.72). CONCLUSION RT is associated with increased surgical rates, earlier time to surgery, and decreased ICU LOS for patients with TSI.
SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE BACTERIOLOGICAL KEEPING QUALITY OF MILK PROCESSED BY HIGH TEMPERATURES WITH A 0.6 SECOND HOLDING TIME1 2

Summary Raw milk was processed through a commercial sized plate heat exchanger at temperatures of 160 F through 260 F with a 0.6 sec hold. Milk samples were collected at increments of 10 F during processing and analyzed for psychrophilic, mesophilic and thermophilic counts initially and at weekly intervals thereafter. All samples were held at 40 F after processing. Results indicated that temperatures of processing at 160 F and 170 F were not sufficient to impart acceptable keeping qualities to whole milk held at 40 F for a period of one week. By comparison, processing temperatures of 180 F through 210 F with 0.6 sec hold appeared to impart to whole milk keeping qualities which were approximately comparable to those observed in milk pasteurized according to present standards. When heat treatment in the range of 220 F through 260 F were used, it was indicated that bacteriological keeping quality of the milk was improved to an extent far beyond that experienced with present day commercial pasteurization. The...
A Theory of Human Rights During Recession

Do women’s economic rights and basic human rights recede amid systemic banking crises in the low-income countries? If so, then why should financial turmoil perpetuate the human rights crisis? The role of the Bretton Woods sisters—the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank—has dominated the debate on government’s human rights practices during financial crises. This chapter draws upon the political economy of policy reforms to develop an alternative theoretical explanation. It asserts that the prioritization of macroeconomic management and the struggle over the distribution of the burden of the crisis have implications for human rights practices during economic downturns. Further, the opposition parties’ strength will mediate the government’s commitment to basic human rights during systemic banking crises.
A stable added-mass partitioned (AMP) algorithm for elastic solids and incompressible flow

Abstract A stable added-mass partitioned (AMP) algorithm is developed for fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problems coupling viscous incompressible flow and compressible elastic solids. The hyperbolic system governing the solid is integrated using an explicit upwind (Godunov) scheme. The equations for the fluid are integrated using an implicit-explicit (IMEX) fractional-step scheme whereby the velocity is advanced in one step, treating the viscous terms implicitly, and the pressure is computed in a second step. The AMP interface conditions for the fluid arise from the outgoing characteristic variables in the solid, and they are partitioned into a Robin (mixed) interface condition for the pressure and interface conditions for the velocity. The latter conditions include an impedance-weighted average between fluid and solid velocities using a fluid impedance of a special form. A similar impedance-weighted average is used to define interface values for the solid. Deforming composite grids are used to effectively handle the evolving geometry and large deformations. The new algorithm is verified for accuracy and stability on a number of useful benchmark problems in two space dimensions, including a radial-piston problem for which exact solutions for radial and azimuthal motions are found and tested. Exact traveling wave solutions for a solid disk surrounded by an annular region of fluid are also derived and used to verify the AMP scheme. Fluid flow in a channel past a deformable solid annulus is computed, and the errors are estimated from a self-convergence grid refinement study. The AMP scheme is found to be stable and second-order accurate, without sub-time-step iterations, even for very difficult cases of very light solids when added-mass and added-damping effects are large.
Dehydration and insulinopenia are necessary and sufficient for euglycemic ketoacidosis in SGLT2 inhibitor-treated rats.

Sodium-glucose transport protein 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are a class of anti-diabetic agents; however, concerns have been raised about their potential to induce euglycemic ketoacidosis and to increase both glucose production and glucagon secretion. The mechanisms behind these alterations are unknown. Here we show that the SGLT2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) dapagliflozin promotes ketoacidosis in both healthy and type 2 diabetic rats in the setting of insulinopenia through increased plasma catecholamine and corticosterone concentrations secondary to volume depletion. These derangements increase white adipose tissue (WAT) lipolysis and hepatic acetyl-CoA content, rates of hepatic glucose production, and hepatic ketogenesis. Treatment with a loop diuretic, furosemide, under insulinopenic conditions replicates the effect of dapagliflozin and causes ketoacidosis. Furthermore, the effects of SGLT2 inhibition to promote ketoacidosis are independent from hyperglucagonemia. Taken together these data in rats identify the combination of insulinopenia and dehydration as a potential target to prevent euglycemic ketoacidosis associated with SGLT2i. The use of sodium-glucose transport protein 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors for the treatment of diabetes has been associated with euglycemic ketoacidosis and increased glucose production and glucagon secretion. Here Perry et al. show that these effects rely on both insulinopenia and dehydration, and thus suggest ways to manage the side effects associated with the use of SGLT2 inhibitors.
The Problems of Implementation of Educational Reform Initiatives after Brown and Their Impact on African American Children and Their Community

This article is organized into sections, with the first consisting of a discussion of many efforts to discrimination against African Americans citizens and public school students in the United Stat...
Surgery During Admission for an Ulcerative Colitis Flare: Should Pouch Formation Be Considered?

Abstract Background Up to 25% of patients with ulcerative colitis will require hospitalization for a disease flare and 10% of these patients will require semiurgent colectomy during the same admission. Limited evidence exists to guide decision-making on the safety of ileal pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA) in the semiurgent setting. Materials and methods The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried from 2005 to 2016 for patients with a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis undergoing semiurgent (hospitalization > 48 h before surgery) total proctocolectomy (TPC) with IPAA, semiurgent subtotal colectomy (STC), or elective TPC with IPAA. The association of semiurgent pouch formation with 30-d major morbidity and organ space infection was assessed against semiurgent STC and elective TPC with IPAA by univariate comparisons and multivariable logistic regression. Results A total of 3763 patients (semiurgent TPC with IPAA = 101, semiurgent STC = 797, elective TPC with IPAA = 2865) were included. Semiurgent TPC with IPAA was associated with a higher rate of major morbidity (28% versus 20%, P = 0.04) and organ space infection (19% versus 8%, P Conclusions Semiurgent IPAA was associated with an increased risk of major morbidity and organ space infection. Subtotal colectomy should remain the preferred operation in the semiurgent setting.
On the Degree Sequences of Multigraphs with Edge Additions and Deletions.

The degree sequence of a graph is a numerical method to characterize the properties of graphs. Generalized forms of degree sequences exist for complete graphs and complete graphs. Nikolopolus et al. characterized the number of spanning trees from edge deletions and edge additions. Instead of investigating the number of spanning trees of graphs that arise from edge additions and deletions, we sought to characterize degree sequences of such graphs. We conjecture a characterization for the degree sequence of the addition and edge deletion for many families of graphs including threshold graphs and complete multigraphs. Keywords: multigraphs, split graphs, degree sequence, threshold graph, Havel-Hakimi, Ruch-Gutman, Edge Deletion
A reflective note: AJOM Inaugural Junior Faculty Fellowship

In recognizing the persistent publishing challenge among African-based scholars, the African Academy of Management (AFAM) and the Africa Journal of Management (AJOM) joined forces to explore variou...
Secondary Orbital Implant Techniques

Secondary orbital implant surgery refers to the introduction of a new implant in an anophthalmic socket or the replacement of an existing orbital implant. Secondary orbital implantation may be considered in the following cases: a socket with no implant, a socket with a very small implant, an exposed implant, a migrated implant, prosthetic eye fitting problems or discomfort, or to improve prosthesis motility. Primary implant placement can be delayed in cases of severe ocular or orbital infection or when an adequately sized implant cannot be placed. An orbital implant exchange may be needed to address complications of primary implants. Secondary orbital implant surgery is more challenging than primary implantation, primarily owing to the disruption of anatomic planes, rearrangement of orbital tissue, and varying degrees of orbital scarring from the primary surgery. Not only are the results of the surgery less predictable, but the complication rate is also higher. Several surgical techniques have been developed to improve efficacy, attain successful outcomes, and minimize complications. Preoperative strategic planning, adept surgical techniques, and vigilant monitoring for postoperative complications are essential. This chapter describes surgical techniques for the placement of secondary orbital implants.
Interventions to Enhance Patient and Family Engagement Among Adults With Multiple Chronic Conditions: A Systematic Scoping Review.

Purpose In the United States, 42% of adults, and 81% of adults over 65 years of age live with multiple chronic condition (MCC). Current interventions to facilitate engagement in care focus primarily on the patient; however, many individuals with MCC manage and live with their conditions within the context of their family. This review sought to identify interventions used to facilitate patient and/or family engagement among adults with MCC. Methods We adhered as closely as possible to PRISMA guidelines and conducted a systematic scoping review using a modified approach by Arksey and O'Malley. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus using terms related to MCC, patient and family engagement, and intervention. We included articles that: (1) were published in English; (2) were peer-reviewed; (3) described an engagement intervention (with or without a comparator); and (4) targeted individuals with MCC. We abstracted data from included articles and classified them using the Multidimensional Framework for Patient and Family Engagement in Health and Health Care, and the Classification Model of Patient Engagement. Results We identified 21 discrete interventions. Six (29%) were classified as having the highest degree of engagement. Eighteen (85%) focused on engagement at the direct care level. Only one was specifically designed to engage families. Conclusions Many engagement interventions currently exist for adults with MCC. Few of these interventions foster the highest degree of engagement; most focus on engagement at the level of direct care and do not specifically target family member involvement.
Blood Conservation for Complex Spine and Intracranial Procedures

Neurological surgery, which includes intracranial and spine surgery, is associated with a significant risk of major perioperative bleeding. This review highlights the various blood conservation techniques currently in practice for major, complex spine and intracranial surgery. Several techniques have been described to reduce blood loss and transfusion requirements perioperatively. These include preoperative risk identification and stratification and use of different blood conservation strategies perioperatively. The efficacy and safety of tranexamic acid has been demonstrated in major spine surgery, and its role has expanded in traumatic brain injury based on the CRASH-3 study. Permissive hypotension should be avoided based on recent high-quality observational data on the negative effects of cumulative hypotension on end-organ injury. The use of viscoelastic blood coagulation management is increasingly used as a theragnostic approach to blood conservation strategies. The ability to minimize blood loss and reduce exposure to allogeneic blood transfusions, which can greatly increase perioperative morbidity and mortality, is paramount. Our review provides a framework for evidence-based blood conservation strategies for neurological surgery.
A Language for Autonomous Vehicles Testing Oracles.

Testing autonomous vehicles (AVs) requires complex oracles to determine if the AVs behavior conforms with specifications and humans' expectations. Available open source oracles are tightly embedded in the AV simulation software and are developed and implemented in an ad hoc way. We propose a domain specific language that enables defining oracles independent of the AV solutions and the simulator. A testing analyst can encode safety, liveness, timeliness and temporal properties in our language. To show the expressiveness of our language we implement three different types of available oracles. We find that the same AV solutions may be ranked significantly differently across existing oracles, thus existing oracles do not evaluate AVs in a consistent manner.
Balkin, Jack M. "The Future of Free Expression in a Digital Age," 36 Pepp. L. Rev. 707 (2009)

In 2011 and 2012, when I was a Ph.D. student, I conducted an interview series about free expression issues for the Harvard Law & Policy Review. 1 I talked with lawyers and scholars who had made ind...
Hydroxychloroquine vs. Azithromycin for Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 (HAHPS): Results of a Randomized, Active Comparator Trial.

Rationale: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic struck an immunologically naive, globally interconnected population. In the face of a new infectious agent causing acute respiratory failure f...
Using Penalized EM Algorithm to Infer Learning Trajectories in Latent Transition CDM.

Cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs) have arisen as advanced psychometric models in the past few decades for assessments that intend to measure students’ mastery of a set of attributes. Recently, quite a few studies attempted to extend CDMs to longitudinal versions, and they all tended to model transition probabilities from non-mastery to mastery or vice versa for each attribute separately, with an exception of a few studies (e.g., Chen et al. 2018; Madison & Bradshaw 2018). However, these pioneering works have not taken into consideration the attribute relationships and the ever-changing attributes in a learning period. In this paper, we consider a profile-level latent transition CDM (TCDM hereafter), which can not only identify transition probabilities across the same attributes over time, but also the transition pathways across different attributes. Two versions of the penalized expectation-maximization (PEM) algorithms are proposed to shrink the probabilities associated with impermissible transition pathways to 0 and, thereby, help explore attribute relationships in a longitudinal setting. Simulation results reveal that PEM with group penalty holds great promise for identifying learning trajectories.
Practical Analgesic Techniques for Small Ruminants and Camelids

While reviewing literature it became apparent to me that within the last five years, discussions have been increasing on methods to provide local and systemic analgesia for camelids and small ruminant patients. It is about time, as it is now quite obvious to me as an “old schooler” that this is a moral/ethical obligation, and pragmatically, comfortable patients seem to heal faster, experience fewer complications, and can be discharged sooner to a more favorable home environment.
"I'm Not Gonna Die in This Damn Place" by Juan David Coronado

Coronado, Juan David. “I’m Not Gonna Die in This Damn Place”: Manliness, Identity, and Survival of the Mexican American Vietnam Prisoners of War. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2018.
Unsupervised Paraphrasing Consistency Training for Low Resource Named Entity Recognition

Unsupervised consistency training is a way of semi-supervised learning that encourages consistency in model predictions between the original and augmented data. For Named Entity Recognition (NER), existing approaches augment the input sequence with token replacement, assuming annotations on the replaced positions unchanged. In this paper, we explore the use of paraphrasing as a more principled data augmentation scheme for NER unsupervised consistency training. Specifically, we convert Conditional Random Field (CRF) into a multi-label classification module and encourage consistency on the entity appearance between the original and paraphrased sequences. Experiments show that our method is especially effective when annotations are limited.
The lowe road to the problem of temporary intrinsics

It has been argued that there is a problem oftemporary intrinsics, the problem of explaininghow it is possible for things to possesssuccessively contrary properties, if a certaintheory about time, ``eternalism'’, is true. Inthis paper, I consider whether there really issuch a problem and survey some standardsolutions to it. I argue for one of them, onewhich has been offered by Mark Johnston andPeter van Inwagen, and which I call the``exemplification-solution''. I consider avariant on that solution offered by E.J. Lowe(and Sally Haslanger), and I argue that thisvariant should be rejected.
Patterns in the Pythagorean Configuration and Some Extensions: The Power of Interactive Geometry Software.

In this paper I describe classroom experiences with pre-service secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs) investigating and extending patterns embedded in the Pythagorean configuration. This geometric figure is a fruitful source of mathematical tasks to help students, including PSMTs, further develop habits of mind such as visualization, experimenting, looking for and noticing patterns, conjecturing, inventing, constructing mathematical arguments, and posing problems. By carrying out these tasks, the PSMTs were also engaged in a plethora of mathematical practices recommended by the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI). The use of the Geometer’s Sketchpad facilitated the accomplishment of most of these activities. As students of mathematics, these PSMTs were engaged in activities to reinforce some of their mathematical habits of mind and experienced learning new mathematical ideas and processes through practices that exemplify typical mathematical thinking. As future teachers, they were engaged in tasks so they can, in turn, design or adapt instructional tasks to develop further their own students’ habits of minds and engage them in learning mathematics through the mathematical practices advocated by the CCSSI.
HIGH RESOLUTION AND HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTRON MICROSCOPY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

After 20 years of exciting growth in our theoretical and experimental expertise in transmission electron microscopy, the development of new generations of instruments over the past few years has opened up new opportunities for sophisticated studies of microstructure under well-controlled conditions and at near-atomic levels. High-voltage electron microscopy now provides unique capabilities for dynamic studies of bulk specific behaviour during exposure to ‘ real world ’ conditions, e.g., varying environments, deformation, irradiation, or combinations of these, while developments in lattice-imaging techniques afford new insights into structures and mechanisms operating at a near-atomic level. Both these approaches are being explored and exploited at Berkeley in a variety of applications to practical problems in materials science. Several examples are presented in this paper which illustrate the power of high resolution lattice-imaging in studies of interfacial structures, and in its combination with laser optical microdiffraction for studying lattice parameters and compositional changes over small (10 A) regions. Other examples will underline the importance of imaging techniques and environmental control duringin-situ studies of ceramic materials in the high-voltage electron microscope. Finally, future directions and anticipated developments are briefly discussed.
Reciprocity in directed networks

Abstract Reciprocity is an important characteristic of directed networks and has been widely used in the modeling of World Wide Web, email, social, and other complex networks. In this paper, we take a statistical physics point of view and study the limiting entropy and free energy densities from the microcanonical ensemble, the canonical ensemble, and the grand canonical ensemble whose sufficient statistics are given by edge and reciprocal densities. The sparse case is also studied for the grand canonical ensemble. Extensions to more general reciprocal models including reciprocal triangle and star densities will likewise be discussed.
Chlorine disinfection of Francisella tularensis

Aims: To determine the range of free available chlorine (FAC) required for disinfection of the live vaccine strain (LVS) and wild-type strains of Francisella tularensis. Methods and Results: Seven strains of planktonic F. tularensis were exposed to 0·5 mg·l−1 FAC for two pH values, 7 and 8, at 5 and 25°C. LVS was inactivated 2 to 4 times more quickly than any of the wild-type F. tularensis strains at pH 8 and 5°C. Conclusions: Free available chlorine residual concentrations routinely maintained in drinking water distribution systems would require up to two hours to reduce all F. tularensis strains by 4 log10. LVS was inactivated most quickly of the tested strains. Significance and Impact of the Study: This work provides contact time (CT) values that are useful for drinking water risk assessment and also suggests that LVS may not be a good surrogate in disinfection studies.
Adiponectin Is a Candidate Biomarker of Lower Extremity Bone Density in Men With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury

Adipose tissue is a major regulator of bone metabolism and in the general population obesity is associated with greater bone mineral density (BMD). However, bone-fat interactions are multifactorial, and may involve pathways that influence both bone formation and resorption with competing effects on the skeleton. One such pathway involves adipocyte production of adipokines that regulate bone metabolism. In this study we determined the association between BMD, walking status, and circulating adipokines (adiponectin and leptin) in 149 men with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). Although adipokine levels did not vary significantly based on walking status, there was a significant inverse association between adiponectin and BMD in wheelchair users independent of body composition. We found no association between adiponectin and BMD in the walkers and no association between leptin and BMD in either group. These findings suggest that for subjects with chronic SCI, walking may mitigate the effect of adiponectin mediated bone loss. For wheelchair users, adipose-derived adiponectin may contribute to SCI-induced osteoporosis because the osteoprotective benefits of obesity appear to require mechanical loading during ambulation.
Inquiry into definitions of culture in IT studies

In reviewing the history of the conceptualization and measurement of "culture," one quickly realizes that there is wide-ranging and contradictory scholarly opinion about which values, norms, and beliefs should be measured to represent the concept of "culture." We explore an alternate theory-based view of culture via social identity theory (SIT), which suggests that each individual is influenced by a plethora of cultures and sub-cultures - some ethnic, some national, and some organizational. In information system (IS) research, the culture of subjects and respondents is problematic because it is typically an overly simplistic categorization. IS research nearly always assumes that an individual living in a particular place and time belongs to a single "culture," e.g., someone living in Egypt is automatically classified as being a member of the Egyptian culture, or, more broadly, the Arab culture. This dearth of clear concepts and measures for "culture" may explain why cross-cultural research has been so exceedingly difficult to conduct. It may also explain why it has been hard to develop and refine theories. Moreover, it may give insight into why reasonable, explained variance in predictive models has not been higher. Finally, it is very possible that much cross-cultural business research could be rightly accused of advancing an "ecological fallacy" by not recognizing the individual makeup of persons with respect to culture. Using SIT (or other theory bases) as grounding for cultural research programs implies the use of certain methodological approaches. Each study would have to establish the salient "cultures" in each individual's background and include these different "cultures" as independent variables in positivist research. In qualitative research, there would need to be an equally rigorous assessment of the cultural identifiers of each individual.
LA NINFA Y EL NEGRO

This essay shows the impossibility of the idyllic dream of Spanish domination over Cuba and shows the dilemmas of the colonial Cuban leading class, the sacarocracy, on the one hand worried about the increase in the Black population, which was necessary as labor, and also worried about the risk of political rebellion. Politics and economy stand in stark contradiction, making Arango’s autonomism non-viable.
Group Buying Commitment and Sellers’ Competitive Advantages

This paper examines a model of duopoly firms selling to an exogenously formed buyer group consisting of members with heterogeneous preferences. Two research questions are addressed: (1) when is it optimal for a buyer group to commit to exclusive purchase from a single seller, and (2) how does the presence of group buying and the exclusive purchase commitment associated with it affect firms’ incentives to invest in quality improvement? We find that, even though exclusive purchase commitment benefits buyers when the competing products provide similar quality, it may lower buyer surplus if one product is significantly advantaged and/or the competing products are not highly differentiated horizontally. This result is robust even if the buyer group is formed endogenously. In addition, contingent on the similarity between the competing sellers’ investment costs, the sellers’ incentives to improve quality may be positively or negatively affected by the presence of group buying.