cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A low-voltage high-pressure field ionizer for portable analytical instruments

Field ionization of helium is demonstrated at voltages as low as 150 V using large arrays of self-aligned gated tips. The operating voltages reported here are more than 3× lower than the best results reported in literature. These substantially reduced operating biases permit stable operation of the device at pressures as high as 1 Torr by avoiding arcing or plasma formation that can permanently damage the device. The fabricated arrays are composed of 320,000 nano-scale tips with radii below 5 nm. Ion current in nano-ampere-range, sufficient for most analytical instruments, can be produced with tip-to-gate biases below 200V. Long term (> 104 s) ionization of helium was accomplished at 1 Torr pressures.
Borderline personality pathology and the stability of interpersonal problems.

Features of borderline personality disorder (BPD) are associated with the presence and severity of interpersonal problems. At the same time, individuals with BPD are heterogeneous with regard to the types of interpersonal problems they display. BPD is also associated with temporal instability in various domains (e.g., affective lability), and this characteristic raises questions about whether BPD is associated with changes in the expression of interpersonal dysfunction over time, which may contribute to the observed heterogeneity. The focus of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between BPD features and the stability of interpersonal problems over the course of 1 year. Participants (N 150) were assessed for borderline personality pathology at baseline and also completed the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex Scales at baseline and every 3 months over the course of a year. Baseline BPD was used to predict structured (i.e., latent growth trajectories) and unstructured (i.e., mean square of successive differences) change parameters in generalized interpersonal distress, agentic problems, and communal problems across assessment waves. Baseline BPD predicted individual means in generalized distress and unstructured change (i.e., instability) in agentic and communal problems across the year. Baseline BPD was not predictive, however, of structured change (i.e., linear change trajectories) for any aspect of interpersonal problems. These findings support the conclusion that interpersonal dysfunction in borderline pathology is stable in its severity but unstable in the style of its manifestation.
Nanocomposite thermogel for controlled release of small proteins

A nanocomposite thermogel composed of Pluronic®-based multiblock copolymer and laponite nanoclay was developed to sustain delivery of low-molecular-weight proteins. The rapid release of low-molecular-weight proteins from multiblock copolymer thermogels has been a problem for sustained delivery but was solved by using nanocomposite thermogel. Lysozyme (Mw = 14,700), a relatively low-molecular-weight protein, was successfully loaded into and released from nanocomposite thermogel. In addition, interactions among multiblock copolymer, laponite, and lysozyme were studied in terms of gelation, micellization, particle size, and zeta potential. Critical micellization temperatures and sol–gel transition temperatures of multiblock copolymer solutions were lowered with laponite addition. Positively charged lysozyme was adsorbed onto anionic surface of laponite, which increased with an increase in the lysozyme concentration. Particle size and zeta potential of the laponite–lysozyme complex were also dependent on the ...
Brain oxygenation and metabolism during selective cerebral perfusion in neonates.

Objective:To investigatethe possibleneuroprotective effectsof selective cerebralperfusion(SCP) duringdeephypothermiccirculatoryarrest on brain oxygenation and metabolism in newborn piglets. Methods: Newborn piglets 2—4 days of age, anesthetized and mechanically ventilated, were used for the study. The animals were placed on cardiopulmonary bypass, cooled to 18 8C and put on SCP (20 ml/(kg min)) for 90 min. After rewarming, the animals were monitored through 2 h of recovery. Oxygen pressure in the microvasculature of the cortex was measured by oxygendependent quenching of phosphorescence. The extracellular level of dopamine in striatum was measured by microdialysis and hydroxyl radicals by ortho-tyrosine levels. Levels of phosphorylated cAMP response element binding protein (pCREB) in striatal tissue were measured by Western blots using antibodies specific for phosphorylated CREB. The results are presented as mean SD (p < 0.05 was significant). Results: Pre-bypass cortical oxygen pressure was 48.9 11.3 mmHg and during the first 5 min of SCP, the peak of the histogram, corrected to 18 8C, decreased to 11.2 3.8 mmHg(p < 0.001)and stayednearthatvalueto theendof bypass.Themeanvaluefor thepeakof thehistogramsmeasuredat theend of SCP was 8 3 mmHg (p < 0.001). SCP completely prevented the deep hypothermic circulatory arrest-dependent increase in extracellular dopamine and hydroxyl radicals. After SCP, there was a statistically significant increase in pCREB immunoreactivity (534 60%) compared to the sham-operated group (100 63%, p < 0.005). Measurements of total CREB showed that SCP did induce a statistically significant increase in CREB as compared to sham-operated animals (168 31%, p < 0.05). Conclusion: SCP, as compared to DHCA, improved cortical oxygenation and prevented increases in the extracellular dopamine and hydroxyl radicals. The increase in pCREB in the striatum following SCP may contribute to improved cellular recovery after this procedure. # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Software and hardware support for workstation-based supercomputing

The presented research has two main objectives: (1) to investigate the limitations of communications techniques used in current workstations-based systems and to identify a set of requirements that must be satisfied to achieve workstation-based supercomputing; and (2) to use these requirements to develop software and hardware support that makes workstation-based supercomputing possible. The performance of two applications, the LU factorization of dense matrices and the calculation of the fast Fourier transform, on two platforms, The iPSC/860 supercomputer and a cluster of general-purpose workstations, is used in the analysis to identify the limitations of current workstation clusters and to show that if these limitations are overcome, the clusters can provide comparable performance to that offered by an expensive supercomputer. >
PAF-receptor antagonists, lovastatin, and the PTK inhibitor genistein inhibit H2O2 secretion by macrophages cultured on oxidized-LDL matrices.

Adhesion of mononuclear phagocytes (Macs) to extracellular matrices containing oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL) stimulates these cells to secrete reactive oxygen species (e.g., O 2 - , H 2 O 2 ) that are believed topromote atherogenesis. Current in vitro systems designed to measure Mac H 2 O 2 secretion in response to oxLDL show that these cells secrete H 2 O 2 for only a few hours after plating. The slow onset and chronicity of atherogenesis, however, suggested to us that Mac ROS secretion might be sustained for much longer periods when Macs are maintained in an environment resembling that in the intima of arteries undergoing atherogenesis. The findings reported here confirm this suggestion. They show that Macs maintained on collagen IV matrices containing oxLDL in medium containing human plasma-derived serum secrete H 2 O 2 continuously and in large amounts for at least 11 days. Using this system we tested the effects of compounds known to attenuate atherogenesis in vivo. Platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor antagonists, lovastatin, and the isoflavone protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitor genistein each reduced H 2 O 2 secretion by Macs maintained on oxLDL-containing matrices by ∼60%. Lovastatin's inhibitory effect was blocked completely by addition of geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate to the medium. We conclude that matrix-bound and oxidized lipoproteins stimulate Macs to produce H 2 O 2 continuously and in large quantities via a pathway that involves PAF receptors and PTK and is reversibly blocked by inhibitors of protein prenylation.
CURRENT ASPECTS OF BACTERIAL INFECTIONS OF THE SKIN

The practicing dermatologist is faced with an ever-changing epidemiologic spectrum of cutaneous bacterial diseases. Studies have stated that bacterial skin infections may account for up to 17% of clinical visits. It is hoped that the information presented in this article will enable the practicing dermatologist to provide improved patient care in the diagnosis and management of bacterial infections of the skin.
An integrated and flexible approach to robust and secure routing for wireless multihop ad-hoc networks

This paper introduces robust and secure routing (RoST), an integrated and flexible approach to secure routing in wireless mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). RoST incorporates robustness and security into the underlying MANET routing protocol. By using a layered approach, RoST offers flexibility to the target MANET application to choose the required level of security. Most secure MANET routing solutions to-date either assume that security services (e.g., key distribution) is handled externally or propose cryptographic schemes that target MANETs. RoST, on the other hand, combines both robustness and security techniques integrating them into a protocol suite. At its core, it takes advantage of the network's inherent redundancy to efficiently discover multiple routes ensuring robust delivery; additional layers provide in-built key exchange, authentication, data integrity and privacy. We implemented RoST by extending the dynamic source routing (DSR) protocol. Through simulations, we demonstrate how RoST can circumvent security attacks. We also show that, under normal operating conditions, RoST and DSR exhibit similar performance. Thus, RoST is able to provide robustness and security without significantly impacting performance.
“Threshold of Revelation”: Don DeLillo, Tony Kushner, and an Epistemics of the Encounter

ABSTRACTPostsecular criticism has celebrated non-dogmatic postmodern mysticism as mollifying the violence of religious fundamentalist certitudes. However, postmodern literature seems equally to suggest that too undefined a spirituality can itself serve as principle of violence. Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, in response, conceptualize a mode of cognition neither too fundamentalist/totalizing nor too mystical/subjective, situating knowledge instead in direct—ontological—participation in the suffering of the human Other.
PATTERNS OF MATING IN NATURAL POPULATIONS OF XIPHOPHORUS (PISCES: POECILIIDAE). I: X. MACULATUS FROM BELIZE AND MEXICO.

Poeciliid fishes are one of the dominant groups in Middle America and the West Indies (Rosen and Bailey, 1963). They are relatively small forms with a highly developed sexual dimorphism. Interspecific differences between males are very pronounced, but females differ relatively little. Some species (e.g., Xiphophorus maculatus) often occur in dense aggregates in small ditches or pools. These fishes are ovoviviparous and females may store sufficient sperm to fertilize the ova of several successive broods at monthly intervals (Dzwillo, 1959; Hildemann and Wagner, 1954; van Oordt, 1928; Zander, 1962). Males of many species exhibit incessant and highly visible courtship activity, but virtually nothing is known about the mating system of these forms under natural conditions. In general it is believed to be promiscuous. Hubbs (1964) reported that in a population of Poecilia latipinna and P. formosa virtually all females were gravid, although females outnumbered males by a ratio of 100: 1. Laboratory observation and some progeny analyses of gravid females from natural populations indicate that males of the guppy, Poecilia reticulata, and platyfish, Xiphophorus maculatus, may mate with more than one female and females mate with more than one male (Gandolfi, 1971; Gordon, 1947; Haskins et al., 1961; Kallman, 1965, 1970; Rosenthal, 1952). Territoriality has been reported for only one poeciliid, Poeciliopsis lucida, and its mating system is basically polygynous (Moore and McKay, 1971). Observations on natural populations of X. variatus, however, indicate that males of this species are not territorial and that the mating system is promiscuous (Borowsky, 1969 and unpubl.). In this paper we present the results of an indirect analysis of reproductive patterns in natural populations of the platyfish, Xiphophorus maculatus. This species is highly polymorphic for color patterns the genetic basis of which is known in some detail (Kallman, 1970; Kallman and Atz, 1966). Gravid females were collected and brought to the laboratory for progeny analyses. From the color patterns of offspring and P1 females, we determined the number and genotypes of inseminating males, the existence of sperm succession, fitness differences among genotypes, and whether mating is at random with respect to color patterns. We believe this information to be of interest both to evolutionists and to students of poeciliid fish.
Flight patterns of phloem- and wood-boring Coleoptera (Scolytidae, Platypodidae, Curculionidae, Buprestidae, Cerambycidae) in a north Florida slash pine plantation

Sticky traps adjacent to severed and tipped slash pines and window traps with ethanol as attractant and collecting fluid (randomly located in the stand) were used to monitor flight patterns of Scolytidae, Platypodidae, Curculionidae, Buprestidae, and Cerambycidae in a slash pine plantation in North Florida. Forty-nine species were trapped, of which 35 breed in pines and 14 in hosts in the understory and nearby cypress domes. Sticky and window traps differed greatly with respect to species trapped, relative abundance of species, and seasonal trends ill numbers of species, specimens, and diversity. Sticky traps caught a greater proportion of the pine-breeding species in the area. Window trap catches were dominated by ambrosia beetles, apparently attracted to ethanol, and included most of the species associated with the understory and cypress domes. Scolytidae and Platypodidae, present throughout the year, may breed continuously under local conditions. Larger species of Curculionidae, Buprestidae, and Cerambycidae showed distinct peaks and were absent during much of the year. Most pine-breeding scolytids showed peaks in the fall, spring, or both, with lows during the hottest and coldest months. There was a general correlation between breeding habits and height of window traps in which insects were captured.
Stability of Exogenous Juvenile Hormone: Effect of Larval Mosquitoes

A juvenile hormone mimic is less stable in the presence of larval Aedes aegypti than when larvae are absent. Maximum loss of activity is associated with early fourth instar larvae and this inactivation occurs with as few as 3 of these larvae per 100 ml of water. This instability is most apparent when larvae are in conditioned water and food is present.
The Poet and the Painter: J. H. W. Tischbein's “Perfect Portrait” of Goethe in the Campagna (1786-87)

The physiognomist Lavater, friend of both Tischbein and Goethe, defined the “perfect portrait,” and by employing specific iconographic means in a biographical fashion, Tischbein hewed to Lavater's recommendations to reveal Goethe's intellectual “inclinations and passions” at a given moment. As revealed by the sitter's correspondence and his Italienische Reise, Goethe's energies were primarily directed towards the completion of his Iphigenie in Tauris. In this work Goethe wished to “reform” German poetry. Tischbein's portrait makes specific references to these concerns and to Goethe's recent election into an exclusive literary society dedicated to the reformation of modern “poesia volgare,” La Societa Pastorale degli Arcadi.
Using Transformative Experiences to Prepare Instructional Leaders Through Doctoral Education

This article examines two questions: (a) In what ways can doctoral-level learning experiences help executive-level P-12 leaders to develop instructional leadership expertise and commitment to high levels of learning among diverse student groups? (b) How can educators be supported in this learning within the context of an Education Doctorate (EdD)? To explore these questions, we first draw on the literature concerning adult professional learning, instructional leadership, and the doctoral education of educators aiming for administrative roles and practice, to create a framework for examining university-based efforts to guide aspiring leaders’ learning in these realms. Then, focusing on the “instructional leadership” strand of an EdD program in which we are instructors, we examine how an appropriate learning environment can be constructed, and then illustrate the nature and evidence of learning with mini-cases of three different kinds of students who participated in the program.
Results Secured from Late Season Applications of Calcium Arsenate Dust, for the Control of the Cotton Boll Weevil

The cotton boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis Bah.) causes severe damage to late fruiting crops after the beginning of migration. Serious injury did not occur in majority of fields until August 10th or later. The average increase in yield of seed cotton resulting from the use of calcium arsenate dust on comparable plots was 236 pounds per acre. Average expense of using the calcium arsenate dust method was the cost of 29.27 pounds of calcium arsenate and 3.6 hours of labor.
A Weighted Method of Parameter Estimation for the Cobb-Donglas Production Funetion

In this paper, a weighted method of parameter estimation for the Cobb-Donglas production funetion was proposed. The real example analysis indicated that the precision of the model obtained from the wehghted method was higher than that of the model obtained from the classical method.
Bioluminescent reporter genes

Reporter genes typically are used to monitor changes in transcriptional rate, which can vary quickly in response to a specific cellular event. Here we give background on bioluminescent reporters and assays and their uses in research.
Utility of coronal contrast-enhanced fat-suppressed FLAIR in the evaluation of optic neuropathy and atrophy.

Background and purpose Evaluating chronic sequelae of optic neuritis, such as optic neuropathy with or without optic nerve atrophy, can be challenging on whole brain MRI. This study evaluated the utility of dedicated coronal contrast-enhanced fat-suppressed FLAIR (CE-FS-FLAIR) MR imaging to detect optic neuropathy and optic nerve atrophy.
Patient Safety and the Malpractice System.

The cost of health care in the United States and malpractice insurance has escalated greatly over the past 30 years. In an ideal world, the goals of the tort system would be aligned with efforts at improving safety. In fact, there is little evidence that the tort system and the processes of risk management and informed consent have improved patient safety. This article explores the disunion between patient safety and the malpractice system.
Autoscope: automated otoscopy image analysis to diagnose ear pathology and use of clinically motivated eardrum features

In this study, we propose an automated otoscopy image analysis system called Autoscope. To the best of our knowledge, Autoscope is the first system designed to detect a wide range of eardrum abnormalities by using high-resolution otoscope images and report the condition of the eardrum as “normal” or “abnormal.” In order to achieve this goal, first, we developed a preprocessing step to reduce camera-specific problems, detect the region of interest in the image, and prepare the image for further analysis. Subsequently, we designed a new set of clinically motivated eardrum features (CMEF). Furthermore, we evaluated the potential of the visual MPEG-7 descriptors for the task of tympanic membrane image classification. Then, we fused the information extracted from the CMEF and state-of-the-art computer vision features (CVF), which included MPEG-7 descriptors and two additional features together, using a state of the art classifier. In our experiments, 247 tympanic membrane images with 14 different types of abnormality were used, and Autoscope was able to classify the given tympanic membrane images as normal or abnormal with 84.6% accuracy.
Supporting gender equality in extracurricular activities and the impact on female bullying victimization in school

This study examines gender differences in the extent to which U.S. high school students are bullied in connection with participation in and attitudes towards extracurricular activities. Previous research suggests that students are bullied when their participation exhibits gender abnormal performances of masculinity or femininity, but less is known about the relationship between attitudes and victimization. Through the analysis of quantitative survey data this study finds that female students do not face increased bullying for being competitive athletes. However, when students express attitudes that support gender equality in athletics they are more likely to be bullied. Female victimization accounts for most of this effect relative to male students which provides evidence of a double-standard. Girls may be punished by peers for supporting equality while boys do not face the same risk. These findings shed light on the complicated picture of progress and stagnation in efforts towards gender equality in the U.S.
Auditory Maps: An Orientation Aid for Visually Handicapped Persons:

Auditory maps, recorded on cassette tapes, can be used to provide a visually handicapped person who is fully trained in the use of long-cane or dog-guide mobility skills with a verbal description t...
Meigret, Louis (?1500–1558)

Louis Meigret is best known today for his Trette de la grammere francoeze (1550) and his work on orthographic reform (from 1531 to his death). He was born into an important family of jurists in Lyon and pursued the typical Humanist career of translator. He translated primarily from Latin, but also from Greek and Italian, focusing on works about the art of war and the natural sciences.
Sustainable Low-Carbon Expansion for the Power Sector of an Emerging Economy: The Case of Kenya.

Fast growing and emerging economies face the dual challenge of sustainably expanding and improving their energy supply and reliability while at the same time reducing poverty. Critical to such transformation is to provide affordable and sustainable access to electricity. We use the capacity expansion model SWITCH to explore low carbon development pathways for the Kenyan power sector under a set of plausible scenarios for fast growing economies that include uncertainty in load projections, capital costs, operational performance, and technology and environmental policies. In addition to an aggressive and needed expansion of overall supply, the Kenyan power system presents a unique transition from one basal renewable resource–hydropower–to another based on geothermal and wind power for ∼90% of total capacity. We find geothermal resource adoption is more sensitive to operational degradation than high capital costs, which suggests an emphasis on ongoing maintenance subsidies rather than upfront capital cost su...
Detecting Majorana fermions in topological superconductors using stress

Abstract One of the goals of modern spectroscopy is to invent techniques which detect neutral excitations that have been theoretically proposed. For superconductors, two-point transport measurements detect the Andreev crossed reflection which confirms the existence of Majorana fermions. We suggest that similar information can also be obtained from a measurement using two piezoelectric transducers. One transducer measures the stress tensor response from the strain field generated by the second transducer. The ratio between the stress response and strain velocity determines the dissipative response. We propose and show theoretically that the dissipative stress response can be used for studying excitations in a topological superconductor. We investigate a topological superconductor for the case when an Abrikosov vortex lattice is formed. In this case the Majorana fermions are dispersive, a fact that is used to compute the dissipative stress response.
Marijuana use and mortality following orthopedic surgical procedures

Background: The association between marijuana use and surgical procedures is a matter of increasing societal relevance that has not been well studied in the literature. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between marijuana use and in-hospital mortality, as well as to assess associated comorbidities in patients undergoing commonly billed orthopedic surgeries. Methods: The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database from 2010 to 2014 was used to determine the odds ratios for the associations between marijuana use and in-hospital mortality, heart failure (HF), stroke, and cardiac disease (CD) in patients undergoing 5 common orthopedic procedures: total hip (THA), total knee (TKA), and total shoulder (TSA) arthroplasties, spinal fusion, and traumatic femur fracture fixation. Results: Of 9,561,963 patients who underwent one of the 5 selected procedures in the 4-year period, 26,416 (0.28%) were identified with a diagnosis of marijuana use disorder. In hip and knee arthroplasty patients, marijuana use was associated with decreased odds of mortality compared with no marijuana use (P < .0001) and increased odds of HF (P = .018), stroke (P = .0068), and CD (P = .0123). Traumatic femur fixation patients had the highest prevalence of marijuana use (0.70%), which was associated with decreased odds of mortality (P = .0483), HF (P = .0076), and CD (P = .0003). For spinal fusions, marijuana use was associated with increased odds of stroke (P < .0001) and CD (P < .0001). Marijuana use in patients undergoing total shoulder arthroplasty was associated with decreased odds of mortality (P < .001) and stroke (P < .001). Conclusions: In this study, marijuana use was associated with decreased mortality in patients undergoing THA, TKA, TSA, and traumatic femur fixation, although the significance of these findings remains unclear. More research is needed to provide insight into these associations in a growing surgical population.
Impact of Device Aging on Early Mode Failures in Pulsed Latches

Pulsed latches that are widely used in high performance circuits are susceptible to early mode failures. High performance circuits also experience higher voltage and temperature conditions that exacerbates device degradation due to mechanisms such as BTI and HCI. In this paper, the impact of aging on hold slack in pulsed latches is presented. Analysis of clock gating that leads to AC or DC stress in the pulse generation circuits is illustrated, and the need to provide additional hold margin for these effects is demonstrated.
Efficacy and safety of FOLFIRINOX in advanced cholangiocarcinoma.

e15620Background: Cholangiocarcinomas are invasive carcinomas of uncommon diagnosis and often diagnosed at an advanced and metastatic stage. To this date, there is limited clinical data to support ...
Development and Validation of the American Dream Scale: Assessing the Petty Bourgeois Mentality

The present research developed and validated an instrument, the American Dream Scale (ADS), to measure a small business orientation conceptualized as petty bourgeois mentality. The initial exploratory study, using principal components analysis with promax rotation, was performed on the data from a convenience sample of 349 university students. A total of 17 items of the original 45 prototype items emerged from the analysis to comprise the ADS inventory that represented two factors named Creative Work Potential and Be My Own Boss. A second independent convenience sample of 306 university students provided data for a confirmatory factor analysis supporting the factor structure and an evaluation of a structural model predicting ADS. A third independent convenience sample of 502 US adults provided data for an additional confirmatory factor analysis again supporting the factor structure as well as providing convergent validity evidence to support use of the scale. Implications for future research are discussed in the context of how the ADS may help to elucidate fundamental petty bourgeois attitudes among various strata in the US working class.
A Sound Taxonomy of Remedies

Judges and practitioners need recognized categorizations to act as the premises from which reasoned arguments may be developed. The lack of a meaningful taxonomy of remedies is, therefore, a significant impediment to reasoned legal argument. This paper outlines what such a taxonomy should look like. Replicative remedies exist to vindicate primary rights. We call them “replicative” because they are designed to replicate the very right that they vindicate. They may be maintained against the whole world, and require no proof of harm or wrongdoing. Substitutionary remedies exist to vindicate secondary rights. But secondary rights differ from primary rights in that they are not themselves worthy of legal protection. Instead they protect legally-recognized interests. When those interests are harmed by someone else's wrongdoing, substitutionary remedies become available to sanction the wrongdoer by providing to the plaintiff a substitute (typically money) for the interest that was violated. Transformative remedies are quite different. They do not look back at the nature of the rights or interests that require protection, but instead focus on the future with the object of putting the plaintiff in an entirely new position for which the plaintiff's prior rights offer no analog. Unlike replicative and substitutionary remedies, which reflect prior rights, transformative remedies thus generate entirely new, tertiary rights. This provides the foundation for a sound taxonomy of remedies. It avoids confusing labels, and helps to unpack problems caused by ambiguous terminology. It can both explain the outcomes of past cases and point the way to solutions to new controversies. It is surely time that this taxonomy became more widely articulated and understood.
Continuous epidural infusion in gynecologic oncology patients undergoing exploratory laparotomy: The new standard for decreased postoperative pain and opioid use

Abstract Objective To compare the incidence of postoperative complications and opioid pain medication usage in gynecologic oncology patients who did and did not receive an epidural prior to undergoing exploratory laparotomy. Methods Retrospective cohort study of all patients undergoing exploratory laparotomy with the gynecologic oncology division at Washington University in St Louis between January 2012 and October 2015. Data on demographics, pathology, postoperative pain and opioid use, and incidence of postoperative complications were collected. Results Five hundred and sixty-one patients underwent laparotomy, 305 with an epidural and 256 without. Patients with an epidural used significantly less hydromorphone in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) (p = 0.003) and on postoperative day (POD)#1 (p = 0.05), less total opioids on POD#0 (p Conclusions Perioperative epidurals used in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery correlate with decreased postoperative opioid use, increased use of non-opioid pain medications, and improved pain relief postoperatively with acceptable postoperative risks and should be standard of care for these patients.
Periapical Wires Result in Less Curve Correction Than Pedicle Screw Constructs in Idiopathic Scoliosis.

Study design Retrospective study. Purpose The objective of this study was to compare percent correction between apical and periapical pedicle screw (PS) and sublaminar wire constructs for Cobb correction and coronal balance correction. Overview of literature The current gold standard for deformity correction in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) are PS constructs. Sublaminar wires provide an alternative means of fixation when PS fixation cannot be safely performed. Two previous studies have compared percent curve correction between sublaminar wires and PSs, with conflicting conclusions. Methods The study was a retrospective review of Lenke type 1 curves with minimum follow-up of at least 1 year. Cases were divided into two groups: constructs using apical/periapical sublaminar wires (SL group) versus PS only constructs (PS group). Percent Cobb correction and coronal balance were compared between the two groups at 1 year. A multivariable regression model was used to determine the impact of apical/periapical wires on percent Cobb correction and coronal balance at 1 year when accounting for additional variables. Results The cohort included 71 patients who were predominantly female (80.2%), with average age of 14.2 years. Only 21 (29.5%) of constructs utilized apical/periapical sublaminar wires. There was a significant difference in percent Cobb correction at 1 year for the PS and SL groups (70.26% vs. 60.09%, p=0.05). No difference was observed in overall coronal balance. A multivariable model revealed that apical/periapical wires were negatively associated with percent Cobb correction at 1 year (coefficient=-8.49, p=0.023), while total implant density of the construct was positively associated with correction (coefficient=24.2, p Conclusions Use of PSs in the apical and periapical zones resulted in improved percent Cobb correction at 1 year in patients with AIS Lenke type 1 curves. Sublaminar wires remain a useful surgical option and result in equivalent coronal balance compared to PSs.
In-Memory Computing using Electrical and Photonic Memory Devices

Given the explosive growth in data-centric artificial intelligence workloads and the imminent end of CMOS scaling laws, it is becoming increasingly clear that we need to transition to brain-inspired architectures where memory and processing are collocated. A first step in this direction could be in-memory computing whereby certain computational tasks are performed in place by exploiting the physical attributes of memory devices [1,2]. In the conventional electrical domain, emerging resistive memory devices or memristive devices could play a key role as elements of such a computational memory unit. For example, when organized in a cross-bar configuration, phase-change memory (PCM) devices can be used to perform matrix-vector multiplications with very low computational complexity [3]. An appealing application of this concept is for the problem of compressed sensing and recovery of high-dimensional signals [4]. This is an application in which the lack of precision arising from the matrix-vector multiplication operations is not prohibitive. However, in other applications such as solving systems of linear equations or training deep neural networks, the lack of precision could be a key challenge. To address this, the concept of mixed-precision in-memory computing was proposed, where through a judicious combination of high-precision processing units and computational memory, we can achieve arbitrarily high precision, while still retaining much of the benefits of non-von Neumann computing [5]. The in-memory computing paradigm has recently been extended to the optical domain whereby photonic memory devices based on phase-change materials are used to perform in-place multiply-accumulate operations [6].
Evolution of Analgesic Tolerance and Opioid-Induced Hyperalgesia Over 6 Months: Double-Blind Randomized Trial Incorporating Experimental Pain Models

Contributors to the ongoing epidemic of prescription opioid abuse, addiction, and death include opioid tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, and possibly opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH). Thirty stable chronic nonmalignant pain patients entered a 6-month long, randomized, double-blind, dose-response, 2-center trial of the potent opioid levorphanol, conducted over a decade ago during an era of permissive opioid prescribing. Eleven were taking no opioids at study entry and eleven were taking between 35 and 122 morphine equivalents. Five weeks titration preceded twenty weeks stable dosing. Tolerance and OIH were inferred individually based on chronic pain ratings, brief pain inventory scores, and results of the brief thermal sensitization model at 5 opioid dosing sessions. Seventeen patients completed. The average final daily opioid dose was 132; range 14 to 300; average addition 105 morphine equivalents. After observed dosing, the brief thermal sensitization area of hyperalgesia changed minimally but the painfulness of skin heating was reduced. Weekly 0 to 100 visual analog scale pain ratings (average 64 at study entry, 48 at end titration, 45 at end stable dosing) decreased a median 19%, but 8 completed with higher visual analog scale ratings. Three completers had evidence of both tolerance and hyperalgesia. A fully-powered trial similar to this feasibility study is ethically questionable. A large-scale pragmatic trial is more realistic. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00275249 Evolution of Analgesic Tolerance With Opioids PERSPECTIVE: A double-blind, 6-month, high-dose opioid feasibility trial, completed years ago, provides critically important data for clinically defining analgesic tolerance and OIH. Overall benefit was small, and 18% of patients had evidence of both tolerance and OIH. Future work requires a different approach than a classic randomized controlled trial design.
Chorionic bump in early pregnancy associated with first-trimester miscarriage.

A 39-year-old nulliparous woman with a 1 year history of involuntary infertility underwent in vitro fertilisation and fresh single blastocyst transfer ([figure 1][1], inset). Transvaginal ultrasonography on cycle day 51 showed a single intrauterine gestational sac with fetal pole. The crown-rump
Enhancement of the ion concentration in a salt solution near a wall due to electrical image potentials and enhancement of surface tension due to the presence of salt.

Effects of electrical image potentials on the salt ion concentration near a solid wall are studied using a one-loop approximation treatment of the grand canonical partition function, which is the Debye-H\"uckel approximation. Electrical image potentials resulting from both metallic and dielectric walls of dielectric constant larger than that of water near the wall are considered. Our treatment of this problem supports the conclusions of an earlier publication by one of the authors which shows that near a solid wall there should be a high concentration of ions, resulting from image potentials. We have also applied our treatment to the increase of the surface tension of a liquid that occurs when salt is dissolved in the liquid. Our treatment gives the $\ensuremath{-}{c}_{s}log({c}_{s})$ dependence of the surface tension found by Onsager and Samarasa in the small ${c}_{s}$ limit, where ${c}_{s}$ is the salt concentration.
International Maritime Law and its Applications for the Twenty-First Century

The issues that affect the oceans are wide-ranging and difficult to address in the diplomatic and legal arena. In order to come to an understanding of the regulation of ocean issues, pollution commodification by oil industries, and aquaculture, all maritime laws must be considered. These laws in particular have consequential impacts on human health. There are several instruments for regulating all the aforementioned, from international conventions to norms of the industries, to state regulations, private compensation funds, and bilateral/multilateral agreements. However, what is indisputable is that there is much yet to be developed when it comes to international maritime law as time goes on and global needs continue to shift.
China: Rise or Demise?

Policymakers increasingly view China’s rapidly growing wealth as a threat. China currently ranks second, or perhaps even first, in the world in gross domestic product (although 78th in per capita GDP), and the fear is that China will acquire military prowess commensurate with its wealth and feel impelled to carry out undesirable military adventures. However, even if it continues to rise, China does not present much of a security threat to the United States. China does not harbor Hitler‐​style ambitions of extensive conquest, and the Chinese government depends on the world economy for development and the consequent acquiescence of the Chinese people. Armed conflict would be extremely—even overwhelmingly—costly to the country and, in particular, to the regime in charge. Indeed, there is a danger of making China into a threat by treating it as such and by engaging in so‐​called balancing efforts against it. Rather than rising to anything that could be conceived to be “dominance,” China could decline into substantial economic stagnation. It faces many problems, including endemic (and perhaps intractable) corruption, environmental devastation, slowing growth, a rapidly aging population, enormous overproduction, increasing debt, and restive minorities in its west and in Hong Kong. At a time when it should be liberalizing its economy, Xi Jinping’s China increasingly restricts speech and privileges control by the antiquated and kleptocratic Communist Party over economic growth. And entrenched elites are well placed to block reform. That said, China’s standard of living is now the highest in its history, and it’s very easy to envision conditions that are a great deal worse than life under a stable, if increasingly authoritarian, kleptocracy. As a result, the Chinese people may be willing to ride with, and ride out, economic stagnation should that come about—although this might be accompanied by increasing dismay and disgruntlement. In either case—rise or demise—there is little the United States or other countries can or should do to affect China’s economically foolish authoritarian drive except to issue declarations of disapproval and to deal more warily. As former ambassador Chas Freeman puts it, “There is no military answer to a grand strategy built on a non‐​violent expansion of commerce and navigation.” And Chinese leaders have plenty of problems to consume their attention. They scarcely need war or foreign military adventurism to enhance the mix. The problem is not so much that China is a threat but that it is deeply insecure. Policies of threat, balance, sanction, boycott, and critique are more likely to reinforce that condition than change it. The alternative is to wait, and to profit from China’s economic size to the degree possible, until someday China feels secure enough to reform itself.
Higher Education: A Field in Ferment

Higher education in the United States is in the throes of change as existing institutions are being challenged and new forms and modes of educational delivery are appearing. To understand and examine these changes, three versions of the “organization field” perspectives are employed. The first emphasizes the forces that have created and perpetuated the existing configuration of colleges and universities. The second stresses the ways in which colleges compete for scarce resources and engage in strategic behavior to survive and gain advantage in a highly competitive and contested arena. And the third focuses attention on consumers (students) rather than providers (colleges), noting alternatives that are emerging to offer training and education outside of the conventional providers. In combination, these perspectives identify varying players and processes that collectively are shaping the future of higher education. Keywords: higher education; organizational field; institutional logics; institutional change
The core–mantle boundary layer and deep Earth dynamics

Recent seismological work has revealed new structures in the boundary layer between the Earth's core and mantle that are altering and expanding perspectives of the role this region plays in both core and mantle dynamics. Clear challenges for future research in seismological, experimental, theoretical and computational geophysics have emerged, holding the key to understanding both this dynamic system and geological phenomena observed at the Earth's surface.
The effects of the sub-carrier grouping on multi-carrier channel aware scheduling

This paper studies the effects of the sub-carrier grouping on the scheduling problem in a wireless network with multiple carriers. In particular, the authors consider the trade-offs between the size of the sub-carrier groups and the link throughput for various sub-carrier grouping models, with each corresponding to a different level of CSI tracking and system design complexity. The paper assumes that a single user is communicating with the base station using the entire sub-carriers. This assumption is motivated by the OFDM, which uses multiple carriers in order to benefit from the frequency selective fading introduced by spreading the information bits over the entire signal band. An offline dynamic programming algorithm for finding an optimal solution for the case of spectrum- and time-perfect estimates is also presented. The performance can potentially be improved by using high-level modulation on the sub-carriers with good channel conditions.
Contribution of dendritic cells to measles virus induced immunosuppression.

SUMMARY Measles virus (MV) remains an important pathogen in children worldwide. The morbidity and mortality of MV is associated with severe immune suppression. Dendritic cells (DCs) were identified as initial target cells in vivo, and DCs were efficiently infected by MV in vitro. MV infection of DCs likely contributes to functional deficiency in these cells; therefore playing a role in MV-induced immunosuppression. DCs appeared to mature phenotypically; however, the ability of infected cells to stimulate T cells was compromised. Phenotypic maturation of infected immature DCs was partially controlled by IFN production; however, infected DCs also maintained markers of an immature phenotype such as the continued uptake of antigen and lack of expression of chemokine receptor CCR7. Furthermore, mature DCs did not appear to maintain phenotypic maturation following infection demonstrated by decreased MHC and co-stimulatory molecule expression. Several mechanisms of MV-induced DC dysfunction have been suggested, each likely contributing to the immunosuppressive effect of MV-infected DCs. Infected DCs responded aberrantly to secondary maturation stimuli such as CD40L or TLR4 stimulation. MV infection resulted in apoptosis in DC/T-cell cocultures, which may contribute to a reduced T-cell response. Additionally, the immunological synapse between infected DCs and T cells was compromised resulting in reduced T-cell interaction times and activation signaling. The mechanisms of MV contribution to DC dysfunction appear multifaceted and central to MV-induced immunosuppression. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Geographies of Ethnicity and Health

Health and access to health care are associated with ethnicity in complex ways that differ within and among ethnic groups and are linked to the spaces in which groups live, work, and interact. This entry discusses key themes in understanding geographies of ethnicity and health including: the impacts of neighborhood contextual factors on health, the Ethnic Density Hypothesis, time–space activity patterns, place-making activities, therapeutic networks, socio-spatial stigmatization, and public health responses to ethnic health concerns. Keywords: ethnicity; geography; neighborhoods
Two-qubit Projective Measurements are Universal for Quantum Computation

Nielsen [quant-ph/0108020] showed that universal quantum computation is possible given quantum memory and the ability to perform projective measurements on up to 4-qubits. We describe an improved method that requires only 2-qubit measurements, which are both sufficient and necessary. We present a method to partially collapse the $C_k$-hierarchy in the indirect construction of unitary gates [Gottesman and Chuang, Nature, {\bf 402} 309 (1999)], and apply the method to find discrete universal sets of 2-qubit measurements.