cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Epidemiology of Sports-Related Head Injury and Concussion in Water Polo.

Purpose: Water polo is a sport with a high degree of physicality and aggressive play. Unlike most contact sports, epidemiological data on the incidence or prevalence of head trauma in water polo have not been gathered, reported, or made publicly available. The purpose of this study was to begin a systematic characterization of the risks of head impact and concussion in men and women who play water polo at various levels. Design: We sent an electronic survey to the 44,000+ members of USA Water Polo, asking questions about concussions, head impacts, and symptoms commonly associated with prior concussion. From over 1500 complete responses, we report summary information on the prevalence of concussions and major head impacts in water polo. Results: We found that 36% of respondents report sustaining a concussion while playing water polo, with an average of 2 concussions reported. The prevalence and number of concussions reported varied across positions, levels, and gender. Most strikingly, we found that goalies are at significantly higher risk for concussion, report a significantly more concussions, and appear to experience a qualitatively different type of head impact compared to other positions. Additionally we found that competition level, gender, and field position are robust predictors of concussion risk. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that concussions are not uncommon in water polo players. We conclude that there is need for systematic concussion reporting in water polo and suggest that understanding the risk factors of concussion in water polo will require fully considering differences in the head impact exposure between different field positions, competition levels, sexes and differences in exposure between competition and practice.
Five-Fraction Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) and Chemotherapy for the Local Management of Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

The majority of patients with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed with metastatic disease at presentation. Nevertheless, local progression is responsible for up to 30% of deaths and can lead to significant morbidity. As a consequence, further exploration of effective methods of local control and palliation is essential. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is a widely utilized technique for the treatment of localized pancreatic cancer. Here, we report our experience with SBRT and chemotherapy for the local treatment of the metastatic patient population. This single institution retrospective review analyzed 20 patients with pathologically diagnosed metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. All patients underwent fiducial placement under endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guidance. SBRT was delivered in five fractions to a total dose of 25 to 30 Gy. Patients received concurrent (given within 1 week of the start of SBRT) or sequential chemotherapy. Local tumor control was evaluated using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. Toxicity was graded using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.03. Local control and overall survival were reported using the Kaplan-Meier method. Patient median age was 64 years, and the median pre-treatment Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status was 1. All patients received chemotherapy and half of the patients (10 of 20) received concurrent chemotherapy with folinic acid, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin or fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin. Nearly all patients (19 of 20) received post-SBRT chemotherapy. Median time from pathological diagnosis to SBRT was 3.9 months. The twelve-month local control and overall survival were 43 and 53%, respectively. However, in patients with planning target volume (PTV) targets smaller than the population median, the 12-month local control was 78%. Median time to local progression (17.8 vs. 3.0 months, p = 0.02) and overall survival (24.9 vs. 8.8, p = 0.001) were also significantly improved in this smaller PTV cohort. Though not statistically significant, there was a trend towards improvement in local control (17.8 vs. 4.3 months, p = 0.17) and overall survival (16.7 vs. 9.7 months, p = 0.087) for those who received concurrent versus sequential chemotherapy, respectively. Lastly, there were no reported grade 3–5 late toxicities. As systemic therapies improve, the local management of pancreatic cancer will become increasingly important. Here, we report significantly improved local control with SBRT of smaller PTV tumors with concurrent chemotherapy. Five-fraction SBRT offers a quick and effective modality of local tumor control with minimal toxicity in the metastatic pancreatic cancer population.
Design and Implementation of a Digital Secure Code-Shifted Reference UWB Transmitter and Receiver

This paper presents the first compact hardware implementation of a digital code-shifted reference (CSR) ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver. The security of the transmission is based on changing the physical properties of the transmission without the use of higher level security options. The software models of the designed transceiver are simulated and verified in both floating-point and fixed-point numerical representations. The synthesizable Verilog description of the transceiver architecture is simulated and verified against its fixed-point simulation model. The secure transceiver is implemented on our custom-developed field-programmable gate array (FPGA) board. The characteristic and implementation results of the secure transceiver architecture on the FPGA are presented. The bit error rate performance of the transceiver is measured in real time on the FPGA using an accurate on-chip Gaussian noise generator and is compared with that of the software simulation model. An ASIC architecture of the CSR-UWB transceiver is estimated to occupy 0.019 mm2 and dissipate 0.63 mW from a 1.0 V supply while operating at 82 MHz in a standard 32-nm CMOS technology.
Botox Injection to the Lacrimal Gland for the Treatment of Epiphora

Botox injection to the lacrimal gland can be useful to control epiphora in patients with no drainage system. I have had a number of patients that lost their lacrimal sac following extirpation of a tumor. Some of them refused Jones tube surgery, while others were simply poor surgical candidates. Botox injection to the lacrimal gland is very effective at controlling their symptoms of epiphora, as it is with “crocodile tears” after a Bell’s palsy.
Running-Speed Goal Gradient with Massed Training

Massed shuttle training in a 4-ft. runway was given to 16 rats. The gradients of the logarithms of the time per trial spent in the start box and in successive 1-ft. segments of the runway were compared for each of 7 successive blocks of 10 trials for all Ss and for 12 blocks for 4 randomly selected Ss. Running was most rapid in the middle of the runway and speed increased with practice. Near the start box, however, the effect of practice on speed was not as great as elsewhere in the runway; moreover, time spent in the start box was more variable from block to block than it was elsewhere.
Prevalence and Prognostic Association of Circulating Troponin in the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Objective:Circulating cardiac troponin has been associated with adverse prognosis in the acute respiratory distress syndrome in small and single-center studies; however, comprehensive studies of myocardial injury in acute respiratory distress syndrome using modern high-sensitivity troponin assays, w
Evaluation of a Pilot Implementation to Integrate Alcohol-Related Care within Primary Care

Alcohol use is a major cause of disability and death worldwide. To improve prevention and treatment addressing unhealthy alcohol use, experts recommend that alcohol-related care be integrated into primary care (PC). However, few healthcare systems do so. To address this gap, implementation researchers and clinical leaders at Kaiser Permanente Washington partnered to design a high-quality Program of Sustained Patient-centered Alcohol-related Care (SPARC). Here, we describe the SPARC pilot implementation, evaluate its effectiveness within three large pilot sites, and describe the qualitative findings on barriers and facilitators. Across the three sites (N = 74,225 PC patients), alcohol screening increased from 8.9% of patients pre-implementation to 62% post-implementation (p < 0.0001), with a corresponding increase in assessment for alcohol use disorders (AUD) from 1.2 to 75 patients per 10,000 seen (p < 0.0001). Increases were sustained over a year later, with screening at 84.5% and an assessment rate of 81 patients per 10,000 seen across all sites. In addition, there was a 50% increase in the number of new AUD diagnoses (p = 0.0002), and a non-statistically significant 54% increase in treatment within 14 days of new diagnoses (p = 0.083). The pilot informed an ongoing stepped-wedge trial in the remaining 22 PC sites.
Exploring the boundaries of research ethics: Perceptions of ethics and ethical behaviors in applied linguistics research

Abstract Research ethics are a cornerstone of modern data collection, yet training in various areas of research ethics are often lacking in Applied Linguistics. This article explores the reactions that members of the field have towards scenarios in which the ethicality of action cannot be easily identified as right or wrong. Survey respondents read 10 scenarios in which actors completed ethical ambiguous action and then rate them for 1) level of ethicality, 2) frequency of similar issues, and 3) how frequent the respondent believed researchers faced similar issues. Results indicated that situations involving materials covered during ethical review training were rated as being less ethical compared to items that revolved around issues of academic integrity. Counter intuitively, more experienced researchers rated scenarios as being intrinsically more ethical, indicating that time spent in the field might result in a more lax view of ethics. Finally, participants relied heavily on ethical review board requirements as their guide to making decisions about what is ethical and what is not. Taken together, these data indicate that more discussion in research ethics is needed for the field, especially with elements of academic integrity and ethically gray areas.
Dirty Pictures: Scandal and Censorship in Contemporary Art

Overt censorship of the arts has been a relatively rare occurrence in the West, more often associated with authoritarian political regimes. Nevertheless, conflicts over cultural symbols in democratic societies have become increasingly visible since the late 1980s. This chapter uses three case studies to examine the nature of arts censorship in the contemporary period. The conceptual framework guiding the analysis relies on a dual awareness of the complexity of art worlds and the fact that social control of the arts may take numerous forms. Censorious practices may be exercised by the state, market, arts institutions, and among artists in the form of self-censorship. Equally important is the contingency of outcomes that may result from both overt and covert efforts at social control, ranging from suppression of content to selective support of particular types of aesthetic expression.
Usage of Online Knowledge Repositories: A Comparison of Two Governance Mechanisms

Two governance mechanisms employed by organizations to improve the perceptions and usage of their online knowledge repositories among knowledge workers are employing experts to control or edit users’ contributions (refereed repositories), and allowing a community of users to review, rate, or edit existing contributions (community wikis). Although these mechanisms are purported to improve the quality of knowledge assets, actual usage of online knowledge repositories still tend to vary widely among organizational employees. The goals of this paper are to understand how the above governance mechanisms influence and/or moderate knowledge repository usage patterns within organizations. To that end, we employ the elaboration-likelihood model from the social psychology literature to derive twelve hypotheses formalizing the main and moderation effects related to organizational knowledge repository usage. An online field experiment is proposed to test these hypotheses. Data collection is in progress, and the final results will be presented at the conference.
The Death and Rebirth of the Clear and Present Danger Test

In a recent paper, "The Origin the Compelling State Interest Test and Strict Scrutiny," I argued that strict scrutiny did not originate in the Equal Protection Clause. Rather, it originated in the First Amendment in the late 1950s and early 1960s and it migrated from there to equal protection litigation in the late 1960s. In this paper, I argue that once it is appreciated that strict scrutiny originated as a First Amendment doctrine, we can - by taking a closer look at First Amendment history - come to appreciate strict scrutiny as the clear and danger test reborn and transformed. It was in the cases establishing strict scrutiny in the First Amendment that the Supreme Court dismantled McCarthyism, ended the reign of deferential civil liberties jurisprudence, and revived the danger test in a new and different guise. The "real" Warren Court dates from these opinions. When strict scrutiny was first enunciated in the mid-1960s in First Amendment litigation, commentators initially noted its roots in the pre-McCarthy era clear-and-present-danger precedents. By forgetting that connection, modern scholarship has missed an opportunity for a more nuanced understanding of strict scrutiny's history, jurisprudence, and role in American constitutional law, which this article explores.
Chapter Fourteen - RNA Radiolabeling

Radioactive end-labeling is useful for visualizing and allowing the detection of nucleic acids at trace concentrations. Radioactive end-labeling can be carried out on RNA, DNA, or other modified nucleic acids. For RNA, the uses of end-labeling extend beyond simple detection of the intact RNA. A number of RNA molecules studied by biologists form three-dimensional structures in solution, and many of the techniques used to study these structures depend on the ability to visualize the RNA after fragmentation. Labeling at either the 5′- or 3′-end serves as a gateway into these structural analysis techniques (see Structural Analysis of RNA Backbone Using In-Line Probing), and protocols for these labeling procedures are described below (for a nonradiactive labeling protocol, see Fluorescently Labeling Synthetic RNAs).
Integrated Forest Pest Management: A Silvicultural Necessity

Diseases and insects are major causes of loss in the value and productivity of forest resources. Prevention or reduction of these losses by adjustments in forest management and utilization practices is a familiar concept in forestry; but the concept has yet to be implemented fully.
Measuring quality of oral anticoagulation care: extending quality measurement to a new field.

Article-at-a-Glance Background Oral anticoagulation with warfarin is an increasingly common medical intervention. Despite its efficacy, warfarin is difficult to manage, contributing to potential for patient harm. Efforts to measure the quality of oral anticoagulation care have focused disproportionately on the identification of ideal candidates for warfarin therapy, with comparatively little effort in measuring the quality of oral anticoagulation care once therapy has begun. To address this gap in the literature, a MEDLINE search was conducted for all papers relevant to possible quality measures in oral anticoagulation care, including measures of structure, process, and outcomes of care. Limitations, Concerns, and Challenges of Quality Measurement in Oral Anticoagulation Because they do not have intrinsic significance, measures of structure and process should be strongly related to outcomes that matter to merit our interest. Consensus guidelines may provide useful guidance to practicing clinicians but may not represent valid process measures. Outcome measures must be studied with databases that provide sufficient statistical power to reliably demonstrate real differences between providers or sites of care. Conclusion Oral anticoagulation care, a common and serious condition, is in need of a program of quality measurement. This article suggests a research agenda to begin such a program. Previous research has established the evidence for anticoagulant therapy across a broad spectrum of indications and has helped to achieve consensus on the optimal target intensity for various indications. The next task will be to use this body of evidence to develop valid measures of the structure, process, and outcomes of oral anticoagulation care. Quality indicators provide a framework for quality improvement, two goals of which are to maximize the effectiveness of therapy and to minimize harm.
Effect of Intranasal Vasoconstrictors on Blood Pressure: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND Treatment for epistaxis includes application of intranasal vasoconstrictors. These medications have a precaution against use in patients with hypertension. Given that many patients who present with epistaxis are hypertensive, these warnings are commonly overridden by clinical necessity. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to determine the effects of intranasal vasoconstrictors on blood pressure. METHODS We conducted a single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial from November 2014 through July 2016. Adult patients being discharged from the emergency department (ED) at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota) were recruited. Patients were ineligible if they had a contraindication to study medications, had a history of hypertension, were currently taking antihypertensive or antidysrhythmic medications, or had nasal abnormalities, such as epistaxis. Subjects were randomized to one of four study arms (phenylephrine 0.25%; oxymetazoline 0.05%; lidocaine 1% with epinephrine 1:100,000; or bacteriostatic 0.9% sodium chloride [saline]). Blood pressure and heart rate were measured every 5 min for 30 min. RESULTS Sixty-eight patients were enrolled in the study; of these, 63 patients completed the study (oxymetazoline, n = 15; phenylephrine, n = 20; lidocaine with epinephrine, n = 11; saline, n = 17). We did not observe any significant differences in mean arterial pressure over time between phenylephrine and saline, oxymetazoline and saline, or lidocaine with epinephrine and saline. The mean greatest increases from baseline in mean arterial pressure, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate for each treatment group were also not significantly different from the saline group. CONCLUSIONS Intranasal vasoconstrictors did not significantly increase blood pressure in patients without a history of hypertension. Our findings reinforce the practice of administering these medications to patients who present to the ED with epistaxis, regardless of high blood pressure.
An innovative escape room activity to assess student readiness for advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs).

Abstract Background and purpose In addition to clinical knowledge, teamwork and critical thinking are skills necessary to be successful during advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs). One way that educators can help students to achieve these skills is with the utilization of educational games. Educational activity and setting Faculty from different departments worked together to develop an educational activity modeled after the escape room game concept for third year pharmacy students enrolled in a pre-APPE readiness course. Findings The knowledge pre-assessment mean was 81 ± 11.6, with a range of 53 to 105. The mean score following the escape game activity was 79 ± 14.5, with a range of 41 to 100. On average, students scored 3 points lower on the post-assessment (−2.8 ± 13.4). Despite the decrease in overall mean scores from pre-assessment to post-assessment, the overwhelming majority of students (96%, n = 51) felt that this exercise improved clinical skills and facilitated learning. Summary The escape room activity was developed in such a way that it focused on teamwork, critical thinking, problem solving, and the integration of didactic coursework with the intent that the students could apply their knowledge in a simulated scenario. The students viewed the activity in an overwhelmingly positive light, and their perceptions of the impact of the activity on their ability to think critically and integrate content from their previous courses indicated that the game format has the potential to impact student skills in these areas.
Social media enablers and inhibitors: Understanding their relationships in a social networking site context

Abstract This study extends and tests the dual factor model of technology usage ( Cenfetelli, 2004 , Cenfetelli and Schwarz, 2011 ), which recognizes enablers and inhibitors as two distinct constructs in the context of social media. We test the effect of two enablers: perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment on perceived communication quality and social media continuance intention. We advance the understanding of the conceptualization of inhibitors from object-based, social-based, behavioral-based, and affective-based perspectives. We investigate the moderating effects of affective-based inhibitors (i.e., perceived social media distress and perceived social media anxiety) and the direct effects of object-based inhibitor (rapid change), social-based inhibitor (i.e., distorted reputation), and behavioral-based inhibitor (perceived complexity) on communication quality and continuance intention. To test the hypotheses, we collected data using an Online Crowdsourcing Markets (OCMs) technique. Using a sample of 268 Facebook users, our findings suggest perceived enjoyment is the main enabler, whereas perceived complexity is the main inhibitor of social media continuance intention. The findings also suggest that perceived social media anxiety moderates the relationships between (1) perceived complexity and perceived enjoyment, (2) perceived complexity and perceived usefulness, and (3) perceived complexity and perceived communication quality. We also find distorted reputation has a positive effect on perceived complexity but rapid change does not have a significant effect on perceived complexity. Perceived communication quality also significantly influences social media continuance intention. Our study confirms the dual factor model of technology usage and advances social media research by demonstrating that inhibitors are distinct from enablers.
Availability of Assertive Community Treatment in the United States: 2010 to 2016.

Objective:The study examined change in availability of assertive community treatment (ACT) and associated services over time.Methods:Change over time in the availability of facilities in the United...
Grounding is necessary and contingent

ABSTRACTGrounding is necessary just in case: if P grounds Q, then necessarily: if P, then Q. Many accept this principle. Others propose counterexamples. Instead of straightforwardly arguing for, or...
Combined PARP and Immune Checkpoint Inhibition in Ovarian Cancer

Recent studies have demonstrated that, besides direct cytotoxic effects, poly(ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPis) exhibit antitumor immunity that occurs in a stimulator of interferon genes (STING)-dependent manner and is augmented by immune checkpoint blockade (CPB). In ovarian cancer, combined PARP and immune checkpoint inhibition has yielded encouraging preliminary results in two early-phase clinical trials and is currently being evaluated in both first-line and recurrent settings.
Real-time Resiliency Assessment of Control Systems in Microgrids Using the Complexity Metric

This paper presents a novel technique to quantify the operational resilience for power electronic-based components affected by High-Impact Low-Frequency (HILF) weather-related events such as high speed winds. In this study, the resilience quantification is utilized to investigate how prompt the system goes back to the pre-disturbance or another stable operational state. A complexity quantification metric is used to assess the system resilience. The test system is a Solid-State Transformer (SST) representing a complex, nonlinear interconnected system. Results show the effectiveness of the proposed technique for quantifying the operational resilience in systems affected by weather-related disturbances.
The Haitian Exception

This chapter examines U.S. writing about the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), with emphasis on the affective dimension informing the dominant genres (sensational and sentimental) that frame the response to the events transpiring in the former French colony. The mixture of fear and sympathy that characterizes U.S. perceptions of the Haitian Revolution troubles attempts to immunize its impact on American culture by rendering it as a nonevent in the history of modernity.
An Examination of Daily Experiences of Sexism and Reactivity among Women in U.S. Male-Dominated Academic Majors Using Experience Sampling Methodology

Retrospective surveys and qualitative research have found that women in male-dominated majors (MDMs) commonly experience sexism during college, but less research has been devoted to better understand the daily experiences of sexism and attitudinal reactivity—defined as the likelihood that an individual’s attitudes will change as a result of sexism. This study utilized experience sampling methodology, which involves participants reporting current experiences multiple times per day, to better understand the unique daily experiences of sexism and reactivity among women in MDMs compared to both men in MDMs and women in gender-neutral majors (GNMs). For 2 weeks, four times a day, 120 U.S. college students (40 women in MDMs, 40 men in MDMs, 40 women in GNMs) were signaled to report sexist events that occurred in the last hour, current attitudes toward fit with their major, and academic motivation. Although a majority experienced at least one sexist event during the 2 weeks, results indicated that, unexpectedly, women in MDMs did not experience more sexist events around the time they attended a major class compared to the control groups. Women in MDMs, however, were more reactive to sexism. During the same hour they reported sexism, women in MDMs (unlike students in control groups) reported lower attitudes toward fit with their major. Results suggest that interventions should focus on creating contextual resources that may help women in MDMs cope with sexism.
Burned Out or Burned Through? The Costs of Student Affairs Diversity Work.

This article uses data derived from an institutional ethnography of diversity work at a large public university to examine the experiences of student affairs professionals engaged in diversity work...
Electronic Properties of Group-IV SnGe alloy topological quantum materials

Electronic transport properties of GeSn as a quantum material have been studied. Superconductivity, large magnetoresistance, and quantum oscillations were observed. The combination of such transport properties in one material is rare, implying the great potential of GeSn in fundamental physics research and device applications.
‘A Strong, Sustainable Legacy:’ The Environment and Japan’s Winter Olympics

In the Olympic movement, common usage of the terms ‘legacy’ and ‘sustainability’ tends to conflate the two, suggesting that the two concepts are symbiotic and unquestionably linked. However, many o...
Integrating Meaningful Selfhood into the Sociological Study of Political Languages: Blending Mead's Pragmatism and Taylor's Hermeneutics

The sociological study of political culture has made important headways. Scholars have demonstrated the significance of background culture, symbols and narratives as well as of the shared patterns of conduct. Yet, the relationship of those to ordinary people, how they become meaningful, has not been effectively explored. This paper argues that to comprehend this relationship we must understand political languages as concerning questions of being. I will show how the philosophical resources of Mead’s pragmatism and Taylor’s hermeneutics can enlighten the link between political languages and self, demonstrate its significance, and suggest ways in which the study of political cultures can be extended to integrate meaningful selfhood. Comparing and complementing pragmatism and hermeneutics, I will argue that political languages become meaningful along two intertwined dimensions: First, practical self-insertion in coordinative patterns, which involves the expression of concerns and senses of being. Second, self- and world clarification. Here, political languages become important when they articulate concerns and intuitions and bring moral sources into proximity. Moreover, by foregrounding Taylor’s hermeneutics of self-expression and articulation, which is yet to be integrated in the social sciences, I will show how both dimensions are connected in an hermeneutical cycle and thus ought to be analysed in their relationship.
Elevated NGAL is Associated with the Severity of Kidney Injury and Poor Prognosis of Patients with COVID-19.

Introduction Loss of kidney function is a common feature of COVID-19 infection, but serum creatinine (SCr) is not a sensitive or specific marker of kidney injury. We tested whether molecular biomarkers of tubular injury measured at hospital admission were associated with acute kidney injury (AKI) in those with COVID-19 infection. Methods This is a prospective cohort observational study consisting of 444 consecutive patients with SARS-CoV-2 enrolled in the Columbia University emergency department (ED) at the peak of the pandemic in New York (March 2020-April 2020). Urine and blood were collected simultaneously at hospital admission (median time: day 0, interquartile range: 0-2 days), and urine biomarkers were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a novel dipstick. Kidney biopsies were probed for biomarker RNA and for histopathologic acute tubular injury (ATI) scores. Results Admission urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL) level was associated with AKI diagnosis (267 ± 301 vs. 96 ± 139 ng/ml, P 150 ng/ml had 80% specificity and 75% sensitivity to diagnose AKI stages 2 to 3. Admission uNGAL level quantitatively associated with prolonged AKI, dialysis, shock, prolonged hospitalization, and in-hospital death, even when admission SCr level was not elevated. The risk of dialysis increased almost 4-fold per SD of uNGAL independently of baseline SCr, comorbidities, and proteinuria (odds ratio [OR] [95% CI]: 3.59 [1.83-7.45], P < 0.001). In the kidneys of those with COVID-19, NGAL mRNA expression broadened in parallel with severe histopathologic injury (ATI). Conversely, low uNGAL levels at admission ruled out stages 2 to 3 AKI (negative predictive value: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92-0.97) and the need for dialysis (negative predictive value: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.96-0.99). Although proteinuria and urinary (u)KIM-1 were implicated in tubular injury, neither was diagnostic of AKI stages. Conclusion In the patients with COVID-19, uNGAL level was quantitatively associated with histopathologic injury (ATI), loss of kidney function (AKI), and severity of patient outcomes.
Stresses on the Surface Stress Theory

An understanding of wall growth in prokaryotes will only be achieved by the combined assault of microbial physiology, biochemistry, genetics, and biophysics. Essentially the problem is one in engineering, material science, and architecture; these subjects provide the paradigms that we must used. On this basis, the surface stress theory (SST) was formulated twelve years ago (Koch et al., 1981). Over time it has been variously refined, modified, reviewed, quoted, incorporated into textbooks, restated, attacked, criticized, misunderstood, rejected, and overlooked. I hope here to present it in a fully defendable mature form.
Chess: systematic stress testing of concurrent software

Concurrency is a fundamental attribute of systems software. Asynchronous computation is the norm in important software components such as operating systems, databases, and web servers. As multi-core architectures find their way into mainstream desktop computers, we are likely to see an increasing use of multithreading in application software as well. Unfortunately, the design of concurrent programs is a very challenging task. The main intellectual difficulty of this task lies in reasoning about the interaction between concurrently executing threads. Nondeterministic thread scheduling makes it extremely difficult to reproduce behavior from one run of the program to another. As a result, the process of debugging concurrent software becomes tedious resulting in a drastic decrease in the productivity of programmers. Since concurrency is both important and difficult to get right, it is imperative that we develop techniques and tools to automatically detect and pinpoint errors in concurrent programs.
Welfare reform and liberal governance: disciplining Cambodian-American bodies

The impact of the 1996 US welfare reform act on Southeast Asian-Americans has been an important topic for research in recent years. Many studies have focused on issues of limited access, culturally/linguistically inappropriate services, and responses of community-based organisations. Although these studies help us assess the material implications of welfare reform on group life, they reveal little about the ideological consequences. This article examines how contemporary welfare reform governs and disciplines the lives of its recipients. Based on in-depth interviews with Cambodian-American families in Long Beach, California, this article examines the imposition of governance upon its recipients by the welfare state.
Coupling Reactions and Separation in Tunable Fluids: Phase Transfer-Catalysis and Acid-catalyzed Reactions

The sections in this article are Introduction Phase Transfer Catalysis Background Phase Transfer Catalysis Quaternary Ammonium Salt-catalyzed Reactions PTC Separation and Recycling Using CO2 Near-critical Water Definition Properties Friedel–Crafts Chemistry in NCW Alkylcarbonic Acids Probing Alkylcarbonic Acids – Alkylcarbonic Acids with Diazodiphenylmethane (DDM) Reactions Using Alkylcarbonic Acids Ketal Formation Formation of Diazonium Salts Conclusion Keywords: supercritical fluid; coupling reactions; phase transfer catalysis; acid-catalyzed reactions; supercritical carbon dioxide
Characterization of [125I]epibatidine binding and nicotinic agonist-mediated 86Rb+ efflux in interpeduncular nucleus and inferior colliculus of β2 null mutant mice

The beta2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit null mutation eliminated most high affinity [(3) H]epibatidine binding in mouse brain, but significant binding remained in accessory olfactory nucleus, medial habenula, inferior colliculus and interpeduncular nucleus. Residual [(125) I]epibatidine binding sites in the inferior colliculus and interpeduncular nucleus were subsequently characterized. Inhibition of [(125) I]epibatidine binding by 12 agonists and six antagonists was very similar in these regions. Most acetylcholine-stimulated (86) Rb(+) efflux is eliminated in thalamus and superior colliculus of beta2 null mutants, but significant activity remained in inferior colliculus and interpeduncular nucleus. This residual activity was subsequently characterized. The 12 nicotinic agonists tested elicited concentration-dependent (86) Rb(+) efflux. Epibatidine was the most potent agonist. Cytisine was also potent and efficacious. EC(50) values for quaternary agonists were relatively high. Cytisine-stimulated (86) Rb(+) efflux was inhibited by six classical nicotinic antagonists. Mecamylamine and D-tubocurarine were most potent, while decamethonium was the least potent. Agonists and antagonists exhibited similar potency in both brain regions. Alpha-bungarotoxin (100 nm) did not significantly inhibit cytisine-stimulated (86) Rb(+) efflux, while the alpha3beta4 selective antagonist, alphaConotoxinAuIB, inhibited a significant fraction of the response in both brain regions. Thus, beta2 null mutant mice express residual nicotinic activity with properties resembling those of alpha3beta4*-nAChR.
Perceptions of Governance in Africa: A Survey of Business and Government Leaders

Abstract This paper reviews a survey of 800 business leaders and civil servants in Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Like most African countries, these eight countries have undertaken governance reforms over the past decade, trying to include a wider range of views expressed by organized interest groups in the formulation of economic and commercial policies. This survey aimed to learn how business and government leaders perceive those recent governance reforms. First, do managers and civil servants see local trade associations successfully representing the broader business point of view with decision makers, and keeping their members informed of current and proposed public policies? Second, to what extent do perceived principal/agent tensions divide companies from “their” business associations? Third, how does industry structure affect perceptions of business association perfor mance? A fourth issue is whether perceptions exist of “bureaucratic capture” or of excessi...
An Introduction to Applied Geostatistics

Keywords: Krigeage ; continuite spatiale ; variogramme ; incertitudes ; anisotropie ; interpolation Reference Record created on 2005-06-20, modified on 2011-09-01
The effects of back belts and load on selected lifting kinematics during a simulated patient transfer

This study used two dimensional biomechanical analysis to examine the effects of back belts and lifting load on selected lifting kinematics during a simulated patient transfer. A human manikin placed in a sitting position was attached to a customized lifting apparatus which controlled the lifting load and direction of the manikin. Eighteen female participants, between the age of 21 and 27, completed six lifts (sit to stand transfers) of the manikin. Three lifts were completed at the 30 lb load condition (no belt, belt 1 and belt 2) and three lifts were completed at the 50 lb load condition (no belt, belt 1 and belt 2). A doubly two way ANOVA found a significant main effect for the belt condition, F(12,6)=10.06, P=0.002. There was no significant effect for load and no interaction existed between belt and load. The results revealed a significant decrease in trunk flexion when participants wore the wider (nine inch) belt during the 30~lb lifts when compared to the no belt trials. No significant differences were found in trunk flexion means with the narrower width (six inch) belt. No significant differences were found in trunk spinal flexion with either belt condition during the 50 lb lifts. There were no significant differences found in either of the belts in the means of lifting time, knee flexion, elbow flexion, forward displacement of the lifter's center of mass, and the lifter's maximum center of mass velocity. The results suggest that wider back belts may be more effective at reducing spinal flexion during patient lifting under moderate load conditions when compared to narrower back belts and to no-belted controls.
Unusual Case of Delayed Postpartum Preeclampsia Associated with Reversible Splenial Lesion Syndrome (P6.029)

OBJECTIVE: To describe a case of reversible splenial lesion syndrome (RESLES) occurring with a delayed postpartum preeclampsia patient and to identify this disorder as a specific etiology of RESLES . BACKGROUND: RESLES is a clinical radiological syndrome characterized by MRI findings consisting of a non-enhancing oval shaped lesion occupying the splenium of the corpus callosum without any coexisting lesions. The syndrome is defined by the lesion completely dissipating overtime. Clinical presentation varies, dependent on the etiology of the syndrome. RESLES has been commonly associated with antiepileptic drug withdrawal, seizures, infection, metabolic derangement, and high altitude cerebral edema. We report this case and review two other cases with postpartum patients presenting with similar symptoms and imaging findings. DESIGN/METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: A 20-year-old female with an uncomplicated pregnancy, presented 4 weeks postpartum with headaches and transient visual distortions for the past 7 days. During hospitalization, she exhibited mild hypertension. MRI of the brain revealed a non-enhancing oval shaped lesion on the splenium of the corpus callosum with diffusion restriction on DWI and low ADC value. Lesion was hyperintense on T2/FLAIR and hypointense on T1. CT Angiogram of head and neck did not reveal severe stenosis or beading pattern. No evidence of venous occlusion was seen with MRV. Laboratory work up was unremarkable and her symptoms resolved with supportive management. MRI of the brain 6 months following hospitalization showed resolution of splenium lesion. CONCLUSIONS: Delayed post-partum preeclampsia has been described in the literature with patients presenting with headaches and transient visual distortions. Importantly, not all patients present with each of the typical features including hypertension, proteinuria, and edema. This disorder should be recognized as an etiology of RESLES. Disclosure: Dr. Oliveira has nothing to disclose. Dr. Zaidat has received personal compensation for activities with Boston Scientific and Micrus Inc.
Optimum Frame Synchronization

This paper considers the optimum method for locating a sync word periodically imbedded in binary data and received over the additive white Gaussian noise channel. It is shown that the optimum rule is to select the location that maximizes the sum of the correlation and a correction term. Simulations are reported that show approximately a 3-dB improvement at interesting signal-to-noise ratios compared to a pure correlation rule. Extensions are given to the "phase-shift keyed (PSK) sync" case where the detector output has a binary ambiguity and to the case of Gaussian data.
Competition between photochemistry and energy transfer in ultraviolet-excited diazabenzenes. II. Identifying the dominant energy donor for “supercollisions”

CO 2 bath molecules scattered into J=72 of the 00 0 0 vibrational state at short times after 248 or 266 nm UV excitation of pyrazine are probed using high resolution time resolved IR diode laser spectroscopy as a function of UV laser fluence from ∼3 to 80 mJ/cm2. The implications of pyrazine photodissociation for the interpretation of these collisional energy transfer experiments are considered. Specifically, the possibility that translationally hot HCN resulting from pyrazine dissociation may be the source of excitation for collisions that impart a large amount of rotational and translational energy to CO 2 molecules is examined. Transient absorption measurements probing rotationally and translationally excited CO 2 molecules produced following excitation of pyrazine are analyzed within the context of a kinetic scheme incorporating pyrazine photodissociation, as well as excitation of CO 2 by both translationally hot HCN and vibrationally excited pyrazine. This analysis indicates that vibrationally hot pyrazine, which has sufficient energy to dissociate, is the source of excitation in collisions imparting large amounts of rotational and translational energy to CO 2 .
ANGIOMYOLIPOMA : POSTEMBOLIZATION LIQUEFACTION AND PERCUTANEOUS DRAINAGE

A case of renal angiomyolipoma is reported, in which embolotherapy was followed by liquefaction of virtually the entire tumor. The liquified lesion was drained percutaneously.
CENP-A at Human Centromeres and Neocentromeres Forms Octameric Nucleosomes with Loose Superhelical Termini

The centromere is the chromosomal locus that serves as the site of kinetochore formation and spindle microtubule attachment in mitosis. Centromere protein A (CENP-A) is a histone H3 variant that epigenetically specifies centromere location. Conflicting evidence has emerged regarding the histone composition and stoichiometry of CENP-A nucleosomes and the predominant form of the CENP-A nucleosome throughout the cell cycle remains controversial. Indeed, several recent reports propose that CENP-A predominantly exists in half-nucleosomes (i.e. ‘hemisomes'). We have developed novel genomic analysis tools that we marry to existing massively parallel paired-end, long-read DNA sequencing technology to probe CENP-A nucleosome structure at centromeres. using this approach in patient-derived cells harboring a neocentromere (a newly arisen functional centromere) we simultaneously identify the length and complete sequence reads of nucleosome positions at base pair resolution on normal repetitive centromere DNA and the unique sequences underlying neocentromeres. Unlike bulk nucleosomes from the same preparations that predominantly protect a single peak size (∼150 bp) from nuclease digestion, CENP-A nucleosomes occupy two major peak sizes (∼130 and ∼110 bp) and a minor peak (∼150 bp). Each peak is substantially longer than what could be protected by a hemisome or any other tetramer of histones (i.e. protection of ∼60-80 bp from nuclease digestion). Further, the prominent position on centromeric DNA of the 110 bp peak is internal to the most prominent position of the 130 bp peak, indicating a stable, protected nucleosome core with loose termini. Strikingly, pure, reconstituted octameric CENP-A nucleosomes yield similarly sized terminally digested DNA fragments under conditions where their canonical H3-containing counterparts protected ∼150 bp of nucleosomal DNA. Our findings indicate that the fundamental unit of functional centromeric chromatin is an octameric nucleosome with loose termini.
Nonstationary ARMA modeling of seismic motions

Abstract Discrete time-varying autoregressive — moving average (ARMA) models are used to describe realistic earthquake ground motion time histories. Both amplitude and frequency nonstationarities are incorporated in the model. An iterative Kalman filtering scheme is introduced to identify the time-varying parameters of an ARMA model from an actual earthquake record. Several model verification tests are performed on the identified model. Applications of these identification and verification procedures are given and show that the proposed models and identification algorithms are able to capture accurately the nonstationary features of real earthquake accelerograms, especially the time-variation of the frequency content. The well-known Kanai-Tajimi earthquake model is covariance equivalent with a subset of the low order ARMA(2,1) model. Using the results and methodology of this study, the parameters of a time-varying Kanai-Tajimi earthquake model can be estimated from a target earthquake record or they can be directly associated with characteristic earthquake features such as predominant frequency and frequency bandwidth.
Role of zero modes in the canonical quantization of heavy-fermion QED in light-cone coordinates.

Four-dimensional heavy-fermion QED is studied in light-cone coordinates with (anti)periodic field boundary conditions. We carry out a consistent light-cone canonical quantization of this model using the Dirac algorithm for a system with first- and second-class constraints. To examine the role of the zero modes, we consider the quantization procedure in the zero mode and the nonzero-mode sectors separately. In both sectors we obtain the physical variables and their canonical commutation relations. The physical Hamiltonian is constructed via a step-by-step exclusion of the unphysical degrees of freedom. An example using this Hamiltonian in which the zero modes play a role is the verification of the correct Coulomb potential between two heavy fermions.