cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Endosalpingiosis: More than just an incidental finding at the time of gynecologic surgery?

Abstract Objective To describe the clinical characteristics of patients with endosalpingiosis (ES) and examine its association with endometriosis and gynecologic malignancies. Methods We queried the medical record for patients who underwent gynecologic surgery (Gynecologic Surgery Cohort (GSC), n =58,161) from 1998 to 2013 at a single institution for the presence of "endosalpingiosis" (ES). Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected for patients with pathologically confirmed ES ( n =838). Within GSC, we compared the frequency of endometriosis and gynecologic malignancies with and without ES. We estimated the expected distribution of ovarian cancer subtypes using cases from the New England Case Control Study (NECC). We used chi-square tests to test for significant differences in frequency distributions and unconditional logistic regression to calculate multivariate odds ratios for the association between ES and ovarian cancer subtypes. Results We observed concurrent endometriosis ( p p p Conclusion Women with ES are more likely to also be diagnosed with endometriosis, uterine, and ovarian cancers. Further study is needed to understand these associations so we may appropriately counsel patients with ES diagnosed at time of gynecologic surgery.
C1q Binding to and Uptake of Apoptotic Lymphocytes by Human Monocyte-derived Macrophages.

To characterize macrophage gene expression profiles during the uptake of autologous apoptotic cells, we developed a unique, more physiologic system using primary human monocyte derived macrophages purified via a nonactivating isolation procedure (and in the absence of contaminating platelets, which can release stimulating signals if activated) and autologous lymphocytes as a source of apoptotic cells. The use of autologous cells as the apoptotic target rather than transformed cell lines avoids antigenic stimulation from “nonself” structures at the HLA level but also from “altered self” signals due to the transformation inherent in cell lines.
The association between preovulatory serum 17β-estradiol pattern and conception in human menopausal gonadotropin-human chorionic gonadotropin stimulation

One hundred forty-four women suffering from obstructive tubal disease underwent laparoscopy for in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET). Ovulation was induced by a human menopausal gonadotropin/human chorionic gonadotropin (hMG/hCG) protocol. The patients were divided according to their estradiol (E 2 ) response to hMG/hCG administration: group A, an increase of E 2 levels on the day after hCG administration (day +1); group B, a decrease of E 2 levels on the day after hCG administration. Each of these groups was further subdivided into high responders (E 2 > 500 pg/ml on day 0), designated A-1 and B-1, respectively, and low responders (E 2 2 levels from day 0 to day +8. Fertilization and cleavage rates did not differ among the groups, nor did luteal-phase progesterone. Twenty-one pregnancies were achieved from 126 transfers (17%), of which 16 (75%) occurred in women responding in an A pattern. We recommend that laparoscopy be deferred in women responding with a B pattern, because this preselection may increase pregnancy rates per TVF-ET cycle.
Current Issues in International Intellectual Property Norm-Making

This brief comment attempts to situate current research on, and issues concerning, the development of international intellectual property (IP) norms, and how this might affect bilateral IP negotiations between the European Union and its trading partners.
A off-line stroke-based handwritten word segmentation and recognition method for low-quality educational videos

We propose a fast stroke-based method for off-line handwritten word recognition, particularly adapted for use with semantic educational video indexing (blackboard and hand drawn slides taken from low quality videos). We first extract a skeleton from each handwritten word image, then break the skeleton into a sequence of strokes. For each candidate vocabulary word, we use a dynamic programming algorithm on the stroke sequence to incorporate character segmentation and recognition into one procedure, where we find the optimal segmentation and similarity score between word and image simultaneously. Although our method is independent of the implementation of the handwritten character recognition(HCR) module itself, we also propose a stroke-based HCR approach. Stroke matching is based on a set of semantic rules, which are fast and robust to writing styles. We evaluate the overall approach on three different training sets, and the results in this difficult domain are encouraging.
Cyber-Maritime Cycle: Autonomy of Marine Robots for Ocean Sensing

Marine robots are playing important roles in environmental sensing andocean observation applications. This tutorial introduces the overall systemsarchitecture and patterns for data streams that enable autonomyfor marine robots in environmental sensing applications. The articleproposes the concept of cyber-maritime cycle and surveys its use as arecent development in marine robotics. Supported by communicationnetworks, autonomy can be achieved using at least three feedback loopsin a cyber-maritime cycle, each running at different time scales or temporalfrequencies. When information is circulating around the cycle, itis transformed between two representations: the Lagrangian view andthe Eulerian view. Important functional blocks, such as mission planning,path planning, data assimilation, and data-driven modeling arediscussed as providing conversions between the two views of data. Thetutorial starts with an overview of enabling technologies in sensing,navigation, and communication for marine robotics. The design of experimentmethod is then reviewed to plan optimal sensing locations forthe robots. The tutorial discusses a class of path planning methods thatproduces desired trajectories of marine robots while combating oceancurrent. The lack of an accurate Eulerian map for ocean current willlead to tracking error when robots attempt to follow the planned pathsto collect Lagrangian data. The performance of robot navigation can beevaluated through the controlled Lagrangian particle tracking method,which computes trends and bounds for the growth of the tracking error.To improve the accuracy of the Eulerian map of ocean current, adata-driven modeling approach is adopted. Data assimilation methodsare leveraged to convert Lagrangian data into Eulerian map. In addition,the spatial and temporal resolution of Eulerian data maps canbe further improved by the motion tomography method. This tutorialgives a comprehensive view of data streams and major functional blocksunderlying autonomy of marine robots.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSETS AND LAW‐ABIDINGNESS AMONG URBAN ADOLESCENTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

In this study, we argue that researchers should look to prevention efforts that capitalize on youth’s potential for positive development and law-abidingness in order to develop interventions that facilitate their successful transition to young adulthood. We draw from the positive youth development framework to assess the association between individual, family, and community assets and law-abidingness among a sample of adolescents living in Chicago, Illinois, neighborhoods. Data come from the first wave of the Program on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (N = 1,258). We focus on cohorts 12 and 15, since developmental assets have a significant impact on adolescents during these ages. After controlling for a range of individual and demographic variables, we find that greater levels of positive family communication were associated with greater odds of law-abidingness in our multilevel logistic regression models. The findings of this study are discussed in the context of a sociological perspective on positive youth development.
Determination of VH Family Usage in B-Cell Malignancies via the BIOMED-2 IGH PCR Clonality Assay.

Objectives To determine whether V H family usage in B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders can be deduced from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product-length information obtained through the BIOMED-2 (Invivoscribe, San Diego, CA) clonality assay. Methods We develop an algorithm that uses the sizing information of the BIOMED-2 immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) clonality assay to deduce V H family usage. PCR with family-specific primers on 51 clinical samples containing 54 rearranged alleles were used to validate the algorithm. Results The clonal PCR products in different framework reactions contain the same NDN segment (because they are from the same allele). Subtracting the size of the framework III product from the size of the framework I and II products yields the relative position of the framework primer binding sites for the V H segment used. The V H family can be assigned with these relative positions because they are V H family specific in the BIOMED-2 assay. The V H family assigned by the algorithm was concordant with family-specific PCR results for 49 (96%) of the 51 specimens. Conclusions We have developed an algorithm that can correctly assign V H family usage when all three BIOMED-2 framework reactions produced clonal products. Given the wide adoption of BIOMED-2 assay, the algorithm can facilitate collection of IGH V H usage data without additional cost to the laboratories.
The Standard GTAP Model, Version 7

This paper provides complete documentation for version 7 of the ‘standard’ Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model. This is the first comprehensive documentation of the model since the 1997 ‘GTAP book’ and this updated version includes some important new features. On a substantive level, commodities and activities are separated, allowing for multi-product sectors, as well as multiple sectors producing the same commodity. Additional flexibility is provided for modeling of production and consumption behavior, and the valuation and naming conventions have been modified. In addition, this paper folds in important advances since the 1997 publication, including the revised treatment of non-homotheticity in final demand, the welfare decomposition and multi-modal international transportation. The paper opens with an overview which puts this widely used model in broader context. The model exposition is comprehensive and includes a bridging table linking the original, ‘classic’ model with the current version. This is followed by a section discussing the major extensions of the standard model and how they are being used. The paper closes with an overall assessment and a discussion of future research directions.
Increased Vigor in Whitefly (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) Associated with Bifenthrin-Resistant Males

In crosses of bifenthrin-resistant and susceptible populations of the silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring or b-strain Bemisia tabaci Gennadius, we found that net reproduction (Ro) was significantly different between the parental populations and “F1, male” backcrossed populations with approximately a two-fold increase in Ro occurring in the backcrosses. Also, the level of adult emergence was positively related to the changes of Ro in B. argentifolii. The average longevity of adults, number of eggs adults oviposited, and percentage female in the progenies changed across populations, with some factors enhancing reproduction in the bifenthrin resistant backcross. These results confirm that, not only does increased vigor occur in bifenthrin-resistant whitefly backcrosses, but also that males of cross-mated females differ from males of the parent population in their ability to induce increased vigor in the backcross. This is the first evidence that whitefly males from mated and unmated f...
Alpha Thalassaemia: Experience of Referral Cases in Kolkata, India

Haemoglobinopathies and different forms of thalassaemias including alpha thalassaemia has been found to be as high as 10% in Eastern India. The alpha globin disorders are less commonly reported because the diagnosis of alpha thalassaemia is usually missed unless in the severe homozygous form or as Hb Barts. But presence of alpha gene has been found in cases of unexplained anaemias and also in several suspected cases having ¦α mutations and other common haemoglobinopathies. Two of the common ¦α mutations (-¦α3.7, ¦α4.2) have been detected either in heterozygous or homozygous states in significant frequencies, so patients coming for Hb Electrophoresis and carrier detection should be also checked the alpha status through specific DNA studies.
Assessment of the hurricane-induced power outages from a demographic, socioeconomic, and transportation perspective

Natural disasters have devastating effects on the infrastructure and disrupt every aspect of daily life in the regions they hit. To alleviate problems caused by these disasters, first an impact assessment is needed. As such, this paper focuses on a two-step methodology to identify the impact of Hurricane Hermine on the City of Tallahassee, the capital of Florida. The regional and socioeconomic variations in the Hermine’s impact were studied via spatially and statistically analyzing power outages. First step includes a spatial analysis to illustrate the magnitude of customers affected by power outages together with a clustering analysis. This step aims to determine whether the customers affected from outages are clustered or not. Second step involves a Bayesian spatial autoregressive model in order to identify the effects of several demographic-, socioeconomic-, and transportation-related variables on the magnitude of customers affected by power outages. Results showed that customers affected by outages are spatially clustered at particular regions rather than being dispersed. This indicates the need to pinpoint such vulnerable locations and develop strategies to reduce hurricane-induced disruptions. Furthermore, the increase in the magnitude of affected customers was found to be associated with several variables such as the power network and total generated trips as well as the demographic factors. The information gained from the findings of this study can assist emergency officials in identifying critical and/or less resilient regions, and determining those demographic and socioeconomic groups which were relatively more affected by the consequences of hurricanes than others.
Education and the Longing for Immortality

Last spring, I had one of my best educational experiences ever: I co-taught with Maxine Greene — and so, co-learnt with the students — a course on existentialism and education. We spent several weeks on Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, a book I had not read since my teens. I was astonished and captivated anew by Sartre’s journey to the heart of la condition humaine, and found myself wondering about existentialism’s absurd end. How did I, following the intellectual culture I grew up with, lose interest in making sense of my mortality? Isn’t it strange that, outside of a few stalwarts like Maxine, the spirit of existentialism so completely vanished, like yesterday’s nouvelle vague? Imagine, then, my great pleasure, and relief, when I discovered what a Manhattan provincial I am, that anguished freedom was alive and writing in Normal, Illinois.
The Impact of Neonatal Circumcision: Implications for Doctors of Men's Experiences in Regressive Therapy

This paper asserts that, although most men circumcised as infants have no conscious recollection of the trauma, the unexpected re-experiencing of the pain and shock of circumcision by men in regressive therapies suggests that the experience is never forgotten by the unconscious mind, the source, as has been understood since Freud, of most psychological problems. The history, aims, and methods of a range of regressive therapies are briefly surveyed. Descriptions of men’s discovery in regressive therapy of the profound impact circumcision has had on their lives are described. The presenter outlines his own reexperiencing of circumcision in primal and bioenergetic therapy over a 30-year span. Repatterning or corrective emotional experience is explained as an effort to enable circumcised men to regain confidence and self-assertion, characteristics damaged by the impact of the infant male’s helpless victimization during circumcision. Restoring is also mentioned as a necessary palliative endeavor for victims (including doctors) of this practice.
TEAM Leafy Spurge: An Areawide Pest Management Program

The Ecological Areawide Management (TEAM) Leafy Spurge project is a United States Department of Agriculture and Agricultural Research Service (USDA–ARS) regional, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program focused on the Little Missouri River drainage in the states of North and South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming, U.S.A. TEAM Leafy Spurge project represents the first large-scale, systematic study and demonstration of weed management alternatives under USDA–ARS's Areawide Pest Management Program. The other three projects previously approved under the program targeted insect pests. TEAM Leafy Spurge's primary goal has been to demonstrate the use of ecologically based IPM strategies to achieve effective, affordable leafy spurge control. TEAM Leafy Spurge is co-chaired and overseen by the USDA–ARS in cooperation with the USDA–Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Both agencies have many years of experience in research and implementation of leafy spurge control tactics as well as valuable contacts and resources. Together those federal partners make a powerful team to address the leafy spurge problem on a multi-state basis. Additional federal agencies participating in TEAM Leafy Spurge include: Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Reclamation, and U.S. Geological Service. State partners include: state departments of agriculture and other state agencies, Cooperative Extension Services, land grant universities, and county weed managers, while private sector representatives include landowners and ranchers. A non-partisan ad hoc committee consisting of state and federal researchers, land managers, representatives from local, state, and federal entities, and private landowners/ranchers provides guidance and helps to ensure the quality and applicability of the program. The extensive partnerships are of particular importance because they help to ensure continued dissemination of information past the limited life span of TEAM Leafy Spurge, which is set to expire in 2003. The five components of TEAM Leafy Spurge research and demonstration project are: (1) Program management; (2) Operations; (3) Assessment; (4) Supporting research, and (5) Technology transfer. As of this writing, the bulk of the research work has been completed and now TEAM Leafy Spurge is focusing its energies on assessment and technology transfer projects. Where available, brief outlines of research results are included here in addition to discussion of the program's key components, overall structure and general operation.
Evidence of an assembly pheromone in the black-legged deer tick, Ixodes scapularis.

The responses of scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) nymphs and adults to extracts of cast larval skins were tested in a Petri dish bioassay. Assembly was elicited in nymphs and adults in the presence of skins, exudate from ticks, and filter paper exposed to ticks compared to untreated controls. Assembly was noted by 1 hr after exposure with little change between 1 and 24 hr. The assembly response increased in the presence of an increased number of skins. Similar assembly was elicited in nymphs and adults in the presence of cast larval skins and a saline (0.95% NaCl) skin extract. Methanol and hexane extracts were not attractive. When chemical standards were tested against nymphs, they responded to guanine, uric acid, hypoxanthine, xanthine, inosine, and hematin. Adults were tested against guanine, inosine, and xanthine, and all elicited significant assembly. Responses of nymphs increased significantly with increase in dose of uric acid and guanine. Responses of nymphs to a mixture of guanine, xanthine, and adenine (25:1:1 ratio) were similar to responses to cast skins. This study provides the first evidence of an assembly pheromone in I. scapularis.
Effect of Pt dispersion on the reduction of NO by propene over alumina-supported Pt catalysts under lean-burn conditions

Reduction of NO by propene under lean-burn exhaust conditions and oxidation of NO were studied on two Pt/γ-Al2O3 catalysts of 4.4% and 82% dispersion of Pt. At 265°C, the turnover frequency for the oxidation of NO was over 100 times higher on the low dispersion than the high dispersion catalyst. The difference was much less pronounced for the reduction of NO. In the reduction of NO, the N2O/N2 ratio in the product was found to increase with the conversion of hydrocarbon, while depend much less on Pt dispersion, temperature, or NO conversion.
Role of PKC and AMPK in hypertonicity-stimulated water reabsorption in rat inner medullary collecting ducts.

Hypertonicity increases water permeability, independently of vasopressin, in the inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) by increasing aquaporin-2 (AQP2) membrane accumulation. We investigated wheth...
Drone Forensics: Digital Flight Log Examination Framework for Micro Drones

In the early 1990s, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) were solely a domain of the military use by various developed countries. Now, the ease of availability and affordability in the electronic device market, this aerial vehicular technology has augmented its familiarity in public. However, expanded use of UAVs, colloquially known as drones is raising understandable security perturbs. Because of their abilities to get close-in to potential targets, drones are thought to present a threat and, therefore, the investigation of crimes committed by UAVs is a much-needed facet currently. This motivated us to devise a forensics framework proficient enough of examining the drone's activities after its flight. In particular, this paper analyzes the essential major log parameters of the autonomous drone and proposes a comprehensive drone-forensics related software architecture with preliminary results. Our under-development software will provide a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) to allow users extract and examine the on-board flight information. This would provide the forensic science community with a tool for investigating drone-related crime cases.
School Counselors’ Roles and Responsibilities in Bullying Prevention: A National Survey:

We examined school counselors’ perceptions of their roles and responsibilities in addressing bullying. This study also investigated the prevalence of bullying prevention training, policies and laws...
Temporal and angular variations of 3D core-collapse supernova emissions and their physical correlations

We provide the time series and angular distributions of the neutrino and gravitational-wave emissions of eleven state-of-the-art three-dimensional non-rotating core-collapse supernova models and explore correlations between these signatures and the real-time dynamics of the shock and the proto-neutron-star core. The neutrino emissions are roughly isotropic on average, with instantaneous excursions about the mean inferred luminosity of as much as $\pm$20%. The deviation from isotropy is least for the "$\nu_{\mu}$"-type neutrinos and the lowest-mass progenitors. Instantaneous temporal luminosity variations along a given direction for exploding models average $\sim$2$-$4%, but can be as high as $\sim$10%. For non-exploding models, they can achieve $\sim$25%. The temporal variations in the neutrino emissions correlate with the temporal and angular variations in the mass accretion rate. We witness the LESA phenomenon in all our models and find that the vector direction of the LESA dipole and that of the inner Y$_\mathrm{e}$ distribution are highly correlated. For our entire set of 3D models, we find strong connections between the cumulative neutrino energy losses, the radius of the proto-neutron star, and the $f$-mode frequency of the gravitational wave emissions. When physically normalized, the progenitor-to-progenitor variation in any of these quantities is no more than $\sim$10%. Moreover, the reduced $f$-mode frequency is independent of time after bounce to better than $\sim$10%. Therefore, simultaneous measurement of gravitational waves and neutrinos from a given supernova event can be used synergistically to extract real physical quantities of the supernova core.
Statistics-Based Gas Sensor

This paper reports a new proof-of-concept gas sensor based on statistical behavior of multiple gas molecules. The reported gas sensor, consisting of a tiny gap, provides on/off switching behavior as it captures the target gas molecules. The key innovation lies in the fact that such an off/off switching becomes statistically-reliable when multiple gaps and molecules are utilized. Such a statistics-based gas sensor was demonstrated by fabricating multiple nano-gap arrays, coating the gaps with specific chemistry linkers, and monitoring the reliability of the performance as well as other variables. The fabricated sensors in $1\mathrm{x}1,\ 5\mathrm{x}5$ and $9\mathrm{x}9$ arrays showed statistics-based trends of (1) increasing decisiveness (sharper on/off slopes vs. concentrations), (2) decreasing failures (increasing repeatability) and (3) lower off-switching speed. The fabricated sensors also resulted in (4) ultra-low power of $ due to normally-off operation.
Metastatic Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma: Management of Endocrine Manifestations, Surgery and Ablative Procedures, and Systemic Therapies

Metastatic pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (MPPGs) are rare neuroendocrine tumors. Most patients present with advanced disease that is associated with manifestations of catecholamine release. Surgical resection of the primary tumor and ablative therapies of metastases-whenever possible-may improve clinical outcomes and, perhaps, lengthen the patient's overall survival. Significant steps in understanding the genetic alterations linked to MPPGs and scientific progress made on cancers that share a similar pathogenesis are leading to the recognition of potential systemic therapeutic options. Data derived from clinical trials evaluating targeted therapies such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors, radiopharmaceuticals, immunotherapy, and combinations of these will likely improve the outcomes of patients with advanced and progressive MPPGs. Exemplary of this success is the recent approval in the United States of the high-specific-activity iodine131 meta-iodine-benzylguanidine (MIBG) for patients with unresectable and progressive MPPGs that express the noradrenaline transporter. This review will discuss the therapeutic approaches for patients with MPPGs.
Primary Care Issues by Age

This chapter emphasizes the central importance of primary care providers to create a medical home and reviews common problems that present themselves to you by age, from birth to 5 years (hearing, vision, sleep, feeding, constipation, toilet training tantrums, dental, and seizures), school age (inattention, anxiety, friendships, handwriting, fine motor delays, community, working with schools, homeschooling) and adolescence (friendships, bullying, sexuality, dating, driving, suicidality, regression), viewed through the lens of autism.
DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF A WEB-BASED COURSE EVALUATION SYSTEM - Trying to Satisfy the Faculty, the Students, the Administration, and the Union

An attempt to move from a paper-based university course evaluation system to a Web-based one ran into numerous obstacles from various angles. While development of the system was relatively smooth, deployment was anything but. Faculty had trouble with some of the system's basic concepts, and students seemed insufficiently motivated to use the system. Both faculty and students demonstrated mistrust of the system’s security and anonymity. In addition, the union threatened grievances predicated on their perception that the system was in conflict with the union contract. This paper describes the system’s main technical and, perhaps more important, political aspects, explains implementation decisions, relates how the system evolved over several semesters, and discusses steps that might be taken to improve the entire process. 1 OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH
Tunable quantum spin chain with three-body interactions

We introduce a generalization of the Fredkin spin chain with tunable three-body interactions expressed in terms of conventional spin-half operators. Of the model's two free parameters, one controls the preference for Ising antiferromagnetism and the other controls the strength of quantum fluctuations. In this formulation, the so-called $t$-deformed model (an exactly solvable, frustration-free Hamiltonian) lives on a unit circle centered on the origin of the phase diagram. The circle demarcates the boundary between ferromagnetic order inside and various antiferromagnetic phases outside. Throughout most of the nonferromagnetic parts of the phase diagram, the ground state has Dyck word form: i.e., all contributing spin configurations exhibit perfect matching and nesting of spin up and spin down. The exceptions are two regions in which Dyck word mismatches are energetically favorable. We remark that in those regions the energy level spacing can be exponentially small in the system size. It is also the case that exact diagonalization reveals a highly idiosyncratic energy spectrum, presumably because the hard spin twist at the chain ends induces strong incommensurability effects on the bulk system when the chain length is small. As a convergence check, we benchmark our DMRG results to near-double-precision floating-point accuracy against analytical results at exactly solvable points and against exact diagonalization results for small system sizes across the entire parameter space.
Unsupervised Parallel Corpus Mining on Web Data.

With a large amount of parallel data, neural machine translation systems are able to deliver human-level performance for sentence-level translation. However, it is costly to label a large amount of parallel data by humans. In contrast, there is a large-scale of parallel corpus created by humans on the Internet. The major difficulty to utilize them is how to filter them out from the noise website environments. Current parallel data mining methods all require labeled parallel data as the training source. In this paper, we present a pipeline to mine the parallel corpus from the Internet in an unsupervised manner. On the widely used WMT'14 English-French and WMT'16 English-German benchmarks, the machine translator trained with the data extracted by our pipeline achieves very close performance to the supervised results. On the WMT'16 English-Romanian and Romanian-English benchmarks, our system produces new state-of-the-art results, 39.81 and 38.95 BLEU scores, even compared with supervised approaches.
Open Metadata Registry–Supporting Metadata Interoperability

This column highlights current websites and other online resources relevant to technical services librarianship. We welcome new reviewers, comments, and suggestions. Please reach out to the editor,...
Local Characteristics, Contestability, and the Dynamic Structure of Rural Banking: A Market Study

If a market is perfectly contestable, incumbent firms in even highly concentrated markets will produce a level of output consistent with a welfare maximum. Alternatively, if a market is imperfectly contestable, the conduct of incumbent firms will be influenced by the degree of actual and potential competition. The results of our simultaneous, two-equation model of bank behavior and actualized potential competition lead to the conclusion that rural banking markets are imperfectly contestable. This finding suggests that rural bank policy should continue to promote both actual and potential competition.
Ultrasonic Modeling Using Finite Domain Cubic Phase Integrals

Models of ultrasonic phenomena based on integral representations involve evaluation of integrals of the form $$\int_D {A\left( s \right)\exp \left( {if\left( s \right)} \right)ds} $$ (1) where A(s), f(s) are amplitude and phase factors, respectively, s is of arbitrary dimension, and D is either finite or infinite. Formulations yielding such forms include Fourier transform integrals and reciprocal boundary integrals employing Green functions. Various techniques for evaluation of such integrals have been developed and employed over the past few decades in research studying ultrasonic phenomena. In past work, emphasis was often placed on performing one-time computations to gain understanding of physical phenomena, thus issues of computational efficiency were of secondary interest. In the on-going NIST-funded initiative yielding the work reported here, emphasis is on the incorporation of such computation into ultrasonic measurement simulation software for general distribution within the engineering community, to be accessed as a routine engineering tool. In such usage, computational efficiency becomes an issue of very practical concern. For this reason, computational methods employed in evaluating expressions of form eq.(l) are being carefully re-considered. Work here reports on a new, efficient algorithm for such purposes.
Should there be a body mass index eligibility cutoff for elective airway cases in an ambulatory surgery center? A retrospective analysis of adult patients undergoing outpatient tonsillectomy.

Abstract Study objective It is unclear what the body mass index (BMI) should be when performing surgery involving the airway at an outpatient surgery facility. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of Class 3 obesity versus a composite cohort of Class 1 and 2 obesity with same-day hospital admission following outpatient tonsillectomy in adults. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Multi-institutional. Patients Patients undergoing outpatient tonsillectomy. Intervention None. Measurements We used the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) to analyze association of BMI to same-day admission and 30-day readmission following outpatient tonsillectomy from 2017 to 2019. We looked at six BMI cohorts: 1) ≥30 and Main results There were 12,287 patients included in the final analysis, at which 697 (5.7%) and 283 (2.3%) had a same-day admission or 30-day readmission, respectively. On Poisson regression with robust standard errors, the relative risks for BMI ≥40 kg/m2 and Conclusion These results contribute data that may help practices – especially freestanding ambulatory surgery centers – decide appropriate BMI cutoffs for surgery involving the airway. Whether this is considered clinically significant enough to rule out eligibility will differ from practice-to-practice and will depend on surgical volume, resources available and financial interests.
Colorectal Cancer Screening and Postpolypectomy Surveillance.

CASE SUMMARY A healthy 52-year-old woman without any family history presents for a health maintenance appointment and opts for a fecal immunochemical test for colorectal cancer screening after reviewing her options. After a positive result, she is referred for colonoscopy. She is found to have 3 small (<10 mm) polyps that are completely resected via snare polypectomy and return as tubular adenomas on histologic examination. It is recommended that she return for repeat colonoscopy in 3 years, at which point she has a normal examination with excellent preparation by an experienced endoscopist and is given the option to return to her average-risk screening interval.
The Impacts of Neighborhood School Choice: Evidence from Los Angeles' Zones of Choice

This paper evaluates the Zones of Choice (ZOC) program in Los Angeles, a school choice initiative that created small high school markets in some neighborhoods but left traditional attendance zone boundaries in place throughout the rest of the district. We study the impacts of the ZOC program on student achievement and college enrollment using a matched difference-in-differences design that compares changes in outcomes for ZOC schools and demographically similar non-ZOC schools. Our findings reveal that the ZOC program boosted student outcomes markedly, closing achievement and college enrollment gaps between ZOC neighborhoods and the rest of the district. These gains are explained by general improvements in school effectiveness rather than changes in student match quality, and school-specific gains are concentrated among the lowest-performing schools. We interpret these findings through the lens of a model of school demand in which schools exert costly effort to improve quality. The model allows us to measure the increase in competition facing each ZOC school based on household preferences and the spatial distribution of schools. We demonstrate that the effects of ZOC were larger for schools exposed to more competition, supporting the notion that competition is a key channel driving the impacts of ZOC. Demand estimates derived from rank-ordered preference lists suggest families place substantial weight on schools' academic quality, providing schools competitive incentives to improve their effectiveness. An analysis using randomized admission lotteries shows that the treatment effects of admission to preferred schools declined after the introduction of ZOC, a pattern that is explained by the relative improvements of less-preferred schools. Our findings demonstrate the potential for public school choice to improve student outcomes while also underscoring the importance of studying market-level impacts when evaluating school choice programs.
Complications in pregnancy F86Mullerian anomalies: prospective follow-up with transvaginal ultrasound of the cervix

Introduction Patients with mullerian anomalies have higher rates of preterm delivery (PTD), but the true reason for PTD has not been elucidated. Transvaginal ultrasound (TVU) has proven an accurate test for the prediction of PTD, but has not been studied in this patient population. Methods Patients with known mullerian anomalies were followed prospectively in pregnancy with TVU of the cervix between 14 and 24 weeks. The predictive value of TVU was evaluated using 25% funneling as definition for a short cervix. The primary outcome was PTD < 35 weeks. Results 45 patients with mullerian anomalies were identified. 16 were excluded from analysis because of: prophylactic cerclage (6), twins (3), induced PTD (4), no follow-up (1), still pregnant (2). Of the 29 pregnancies available for analysis, there were 8 with septate uterus (5 corrected), 7 with bicornuate uterus, 6 with didelphus uterus, and 5 with unicornuate uterus (3 were unknown type). 6 (21%) had a short cervix (3 of these received a therapeutic cerclage because of TVU short cervix), with 2 (33%) having PTD despite both receiving therapeutic cerclage. 23 (79%) did not have a short cervix, with 2 (9%) having PTD. Both of these patients had a didelphus uterus. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for PTD were 50, 88, 40, 92%, respectively (RR 4.8, CI 0.9–26.5). Discussion TVU seems to be predictive of PTD in patients with mullerian anomalies, with the possible exception of didelphus uterus. Therapeutic cerclage in patients with a mullerian anomalies with a short cervix on TVU may not prevent PTD.
PATTERNS OF MARSH FORAMINIFERA, GALVESTON BAY, TEXAS

Populations of living Foraminifera were studied from six areas of marine marsh in Galveston Bay. The general marsh foraminiferal assemblage is an Ammotium salsum-Miliammina fusca one, with common Ammonia beccarii, Arenoparrella mexicana, and Trochammina inflata, and also containing Ammoastuta inepta, Elphidium spp., Tiphotrocha comprimata, and Trochammina macrescens in somewhat smaller frequencies. The following marsh environments have distinctive assemblages of Foraminifera: 1) channel or bay bordering a marsh, 2) fringing Spartina zone, 3) Salicornia berm, 4) inner Spartina zone, 5) inner Salicornia zone, 6) lagoon barrier marsh, 7) “more saline” marsh, and 8) “less saline” marsh. Living populations are very small to very large, living-total population rates are large and deposition rates are high. Extreme range of environmental conditions limits the variety of marsh Foraminifera. Knowledge of the environment is inadequate to explain distributions within the marsh.
Teaching Justice as a Personal Virtue and Civic Value: What's an Elementary School Teacher to Do in a Highly Politicized Environment?

The article provides guidance to elementary school teachers about teaching values and virtues in the current highly politicized enviornment. It provides an analysis of key concepts such as justice, social justice, liberty and ideology and introduces teachers to the concepts of authenticity and autonomy taken from the philosophical counseling movement.
Phobic symptoms in an elderly woman: A multidisciplinary case conference

A 67-year-old woman, previously self-sufficient, became housebound by phobic symptoms. During the patient's hospitalization for treatment of these disabling symptoms, a multidisciplinary case conference served to identify the underlying psychodynamic issues, which were related to separation anxiety. Treatment included helping the patient understand her relationships with her daughter and her own mother, and behavior modification to reduce the secondary gains of her symptoms. After treatment, the patient successfully returned to self-care.
Carbon Nanotube Atomic Force Microscopy with Applications to Biology and Electronics

Carbon nanotube (CNT) possesses many desirable properties – electrical conductivity, high mechanical strength combined with ductility, chemical inertness, high aspect ratio, and resistance to wear. These same attributes can extend the capabilities of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) beyond the limits imposed by conventional silicon and silicon nitride AFM tips. In this chapter, we will give a brief introduction to the chemical, mechanical, and electrical properties of CNT. Following this will be techniques for fabrication of CNT tips and then a detailed discussion of methods for characterizing CNT AFM tip performance with respect to resolution, tip conductivity, three-dimensional imaging, and long-term reliability, including recently reported performance metrics for CNT tips used in Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) imaging studies. A survey of the application of CNT probes to a diverse array of AFM imaging modes such as Chemical Force Microscopy, Electric Force Microscopy, Friction Force Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, Magnetic Force Microscopy, and Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy highlights the advantages and performance improvements of using CNT AFM probes over conventional silicon probes. Finally, a presentation of the biological applications of CNT AFM probes illustrates the CNT probe’s present use in aggressive imaging of soft, fragile, feature-rich samples and potential use in targeted nanoscale drug-delivery.
The National Question: A Marxist Critique

whether the slogans are "equal opportunity," "national independence," "black power," "community control," "freedom now," or "statehood." Each organization must deal with who is covered and who is not covered within the meaning and intentions of its program (as symbolized in slogans). In a related way, each organization will be taken to task on the question of who it regards as allies, on the one hand, and enemies on the other. So, depending on an organization's view of the "national question" (even though it may not as yet have developed formal doctrines on the question) such important mat-
Maturation Analysis in Connective Tissue Proteins by [14C]Cyanide Incorporation

Abstract The use of a reaction involving [14C]cyanide and ammonia to stabilize and identify aldehydic cross-links in elastin and collagen is described. The products resulting from acid hydrolysis are in the form of 14C-labeled amino acids. The reaction was first studied with periodate-treated collagens, used as a model of collagen with aldehyde side chains. In these collagens the α-aminoglutaryl γ-semialdehyde residues react with [14C]cyanide and ammonia almost quantitatively and the expected product, after acid hydrolysis, is predominantly [14C]α, δ-diaminoadipic acid. This product indeed was isolated and identified. In elastin three amino acids derived from cross-links were isolated and their structures established. They are α,e-diaminopimelic acid, 1,9-diamino-1,9-dicarboxy-4-glycino-non-4-ene (carboxy amino aldol), and 2-amino-6-lysinopimelic acid (carboxylysinonorleucine). These compounds arise, respectively, from modification of residues of α-amino adipic acid δ-semialdehyde,aldol condensate of α-aminoadlpic acid δ-semialdehyde, and dehydrolysinonorleucine, and are in full agreement with structures of such compounds previously deduced using established sodium borohydride reduction procedures. Aldimines are modified with cyanide directly, not requiring the presence of ammonia. Cross-links already in the reduced form in the native protein, and the pyridinium forms of the desmosines do not incorporate the label and can be directly observed and quantitated by established procedures. The contents of modified cross-links can be estimated when the specific activity of Na14CN is known.
Review of Jonathan Kahn, Race in a Bottle: The Story of BiDil and Racialized Medicine in the Post-Genomic Age

In 2005 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug BiDil, a combination of two generic vasodilators (hence bi-dil), with specific indication to treat heart failure in black patients. ...
The invention of autonomy: Themes in the history of modern moral philosophy

Kant invented the conception of morality as autonomy. I use the notion of invention as Kant himself did in an early remark. “Leibniz thought up a simple substance” he said, “which had nothing but obscure representations, and called it a slumbering monad . This monad he had not explained, but merely invented; for the concept of it was not given to him but was rather created by him.” Autonomy, as Kant saw it, requires contracausal freedom; and he believed that in the unique experience of the moral ought we are “given” a “fact of reason” that unquestionably shows us that we possess such freedom as members of a noumenal realm. Readers who hold, as I do, that our experience of the moral ought shows us no such thing will think of his version of autonomy as an invention rather than an explanation. Those with different views on freedom and morality may wish that I had called this book The Discovery of Autonomy . We can probably agree that Kant's moral thought is as hard to understand as it is original and profound. Systematic studies from Paton and Beck to the present have greatly improved our critical grasp of his position. In this book I try to broaden our historical comprehension of Kant's moral philosophy by relating it to the earlier work to which it was a response.