cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Alteration of fibrin network by activated protein C

The antithrombotic plasma enzyme, activated protein C (APC), may play a role in thrombolysis. In vitro, acceleration of clot lysis by APC depends on its ability to inhibit the activation of prothrombin. The effect of APC on the assembly and dispersion of fibrin network was studied using turbidimetry, plasmin digestion of fibrin, and electron microscopy of plasma clots. The addition of APC before clotting but not after clotting accelerated clot lysis. The rate of increase in the turbidity of clotting plasma was reduced by APC. The turbidity of plasma clots containing APC was directly related to the clot lysis time. Fibrin from plasma clots that were formed in the presence of APC yielded less fibrin degradation products than fibrin from clots without added APC. Furthermore, APC reduced the diameter and relative number of fibrin fibers in plasma clots during gel assembly. We propose that APC may enhance the efficacy of thrombolysis by reducing the relative mass of fibrin within maturing thrombi.
Risk of ectopic pregnancy following tubal sterilization.

To estimate the relative impact of tubal sterilization on the absolute rate of ectopic pregnancies data from 3 studies were used which included: 1) 10174 women undergoing tubal sterilization postpartum or postabortion in Singapore between 1970-1973; 2) 17032 British women from which estimates of the incidence of ectopic pregnancy could be determined for oral contraceptives (OCs) diaphragm and IUD; and 3) U.S. data from the Womens Health Study from which an estimate could be derived of the incidence of ectopic pregnancy in women not using any contraceptives. The cumulative remaining risk (until the end of the reproductive period) of ectopic pregnancies by age at final contraceptive choice was calculated as: .01 ectopic pregnancies/1000 women/year of OCs .1/1000/year for diaphragm 1/1000/year for tubal sterilizations and 1.2/1000/year for IUD. To estimate the contribution of tubal sterilization to the overall incidence of ectopic pregnancy in a population data from the 1978 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study of 4000 women undergoing a tubal sterilization are used. Applying the age and method specific cumulative remaining risk of ectopic pregnancy to the data the overall rate was calculated as 15.6 ectopic pregnancies/1000 women if they had continued with their prior contraceptive choice compared with 2.1/1000 for sterilized women a decrease of 13.5/1000. The increasing popularity of tubal sterilizations has not increased the incidence of ectopic pregnancies as assumed. If the CDC study population can be assumed to be representative of U.S. women undergoing tubal sterilizations it is estimated that 57000 fewer ectopic pregnancies occurred in the U.S. between 1970-1978 (given the 4.5 million women who had the procedure) than would have occurred if tubal sterilizations had not been performed.
Simulating cities: a systems design perspective (keynote)

Population, environmental, and technological changes are reshaping the infrastructure of our urban environments, and will be a major focus of attention in the near future. Cities have always accommodated new technologies, such as the invention and widespread use of motorized vehicles, mass transportation, and recently, electric vehicles. Yet every new technology brings with it challenges in policy making. With the advent of alternative energy and and the Internet of Things, there is suddenly a plethora of new technologies that will require major restructuring of cities. Some examples are electric and autonomous vehicles, solar energy, unmanned aerial vehicles, and smart homes and buildings. In order to establish sound public policies, all these new technologies can greatly benefit from urban simulations, to measure their impact on the city and its people before the policies are defined.
Fast, Robust Algorithms for Wavefront Reconstruction under Weak Turbulence Conditions

We review preconditioned conjugate gradient approaches for the robust, efficient solution of large linear systems of equations that arise in wavefront reconstruction for extremely large telescopes.
An Immunoperoxidase Investigation of S-100 Protein in Granular Cell Myoblastomas: Evidence for Schwann Cell Derivation

Five cases of granular cell myoblastoma have been studied for detection of the neuroectodermal protein S-100. Immunoperoxidase staining on paraffin sections, using an antibody raised against calf brain S-100 protein, was utilized to demonstrate positive cytoplasmic and nuclear reactivity in all cases. Negative staining in adjacent muscle and connective tissue elements was contrasted to in situ control staining of Schwann cells in peripheral nerves and staining of Langerhans cells and melanocytes in overlying stratified epithelia. These observations are interpreted as support for possible Schwann cell origin of granular cell myoblastomas.
Nutrition in Infancy

Nutritional deficiencies are usually the earliest manifestations in the infant with cystic fibrosis of whom about 85 % are pancreatic insufficient. Left untreated or undertreated PI will lead to chronic malnutrition. Due to the rapid growth and high metabolic demands in the first year, infants are at the highest risk of nutritional deficiencies if regular assessments and appropriate interventions are not implemented. Nutritional status is associated with progression of pulmonary disease as well as survival in CF; and therefore, early detection of nutritional deficiency and appropriate intervention is paramount to the health of the CF patient.
Exercise, Part 2

When an extremity is too weak to perform against gravity, counterbalancing it with weights is especially effective in occupational therapy. Free exercise assists in maintaining range of motion and developing endurance and skill, but does not strengthen the muscle. Resisted active exercise strengthens the muscle and produces hypertrophy.
Associations between recent severe hypoglycemia, retinal vessel diameters, and cognition in adults with type 1 diabetes

Abstract Aims Mild cognitive dysfunction has been identified in children and adults with type 1 diabetes, but most studies have failed to find a relationship between severe hypoglycemia and cognition, despite reports of such associations in older adults with type 2 diabetes. Focusing on older adults with type 1 diabetes, we examined the associations between cognitive performance and recent episodes of severe hypoglycemia, retinal vessel diameters and the presence of micro- and macrovascular complications. Methods Cognitive functioning was assessed in 244 participants enrolled in the Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy. The mean (SD; range) age at assessment in 2012–14 was 55.2 (8.3; 37–82) years and the mean (SD) duration of diabetes was 41.1 (5.6) years. Three cognitive domains were assessed in this cross-sectional study: mental efficiency and executive function, nonverbal memory, and verbal memory. Results Multivariate modeling demonstrated that although age and/or education are most strongly associated with performance on measures of mental efficiency, three diabetes-related variables were also associated with poorer test scores: an episode of severe hypoglycemia in the past year ( β =−0.360 [95% CI, −0.672, −0.047]), retinal arteriolar and venular diameters ( β =0.140 [95% CI, 0.062, 0.219]; β =−0.127 [95% CI −0.207, −0.047]), and carotid artery plaque ( β =−0.372 [95% CI −0.741, −0.003]). In addition, recent severe hypoglycemia was associated with poorer nonverbal memory ( β =−0.522 [95% CI, −0.849, −0.194]). Conclusions For middle-aged and older adults with long-duration type 1 diabetes, poorer cognition was associated with a recent episode of severe hypoglycemia as well as with the presence of micro- and/or macrovascular conditions. Given the increasing numbers of aging adults with type 1 diabetes, future longitudinal studies are needed to identify causality and to determine whether diabetes management techniques that reduce the onset or severity of vascular complications and hypoglycemia can also reduce the risk of cognitive dysfunction in this population.
Fusion of lens-free and lens-based microscope images for accurate color imaging

Accurate color imaging over a wide field-of-view is achieved by combining single-wavelength lens-free on-chip holographic microscopy with a color-calibrated low-cost mobile-phone microscope using a wavelet-based image fusion algorithm.
Regional self-reliance for livestock feed, meat, dairy and eggs in the Northeast USA – ERRATUM

The production of livestock feed in the USA is geographically concentrated, which poses several risks. Extreme weather events and disease outbreaks have the potential to disrupt production in these areas, which could reduce the national output of meat, dairy and eggs. Additionally, geographically concentrated livestock and feed production systems have been observed to contribute excessive nutrient loads to surrounding soil and water bodies, thereby threatening environmental sustainability. Geographic relocation of production systems has been proposed as an adaptation strategy to increase system resilience and this could take the shape of more geographically dispersed livestock feed production. We estimate the degree to which the demand for meat, dairy and eggs in the Northeast region is met with current levels of regional feed and livestock production, a term that we refer to as regional self-reliance. We combine mean annual (2001–2010) data on Northeast regional land use; crop output; meat, dairy and egg output; and food consumption with a livestock feed requirements model. An annual mean of over 6.1 million ha of land in the Northeast was dedicated to livestock feed from 2001 to 2010, with nearly 80% located in just three states (Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia). The region is a net importer of livestock feed (in terms of total digestible nutrients and crude protein), as well as meat, dairy and eggs (in terms of total human-edible energy and protein). This is the result of a confluence of long-term regional trends that include the movement of agricultural production out of the region with a concomitant increase in the regional population and an increase in the national demand for meat, dairy and eggs. Limited slaughter output in the region is a key limiting factor to increasing the region's self-reliance for livestock products.
Products liability: severe design constraint

Products liability litigation in the United States has effectively imposed a number of stringent design constraints relating to safety, foreseeable use, directions and warnings, etc. Although these constraints are specific to the U.S., any manufacturer whose products will be sold in the U.S. is also subject to these requirements. This paper discusses the bases for products liability litigation, some examples from litigation, preventive measures to be taken by a prudent manufacturer, and the acceptable probability of injury.
Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond

Sonia Shah. New York, NY: Sarah Crichton Books, 2016. viii and 271 pp., color photos and maps, glossary, notes, index. $26.00 cloth (ISBN 978-0374122881).We live in an era of elevated public anxiet...
Exercise induced recurrence of concussion symptoms after symptom free status

Objective Determine the proportion of athletes who have a recurrence of concussion symptoms with exercise after being symptom free at rest. Design Prospective cohort studyProspective cohort study Setting Sport Concussion clinic Participants Patients diagnosed with a concussion and returned to the clinic after resuming exercise. Intervention Assessment of risk factors Outcome measures Our main outcome variable was recurrence of symptoms with exercise after being symptom free at rest while recovering from a sport-related concussion. Co-factors included age, gender, loss of consciousness with injury, prior concussions (diagnosed and undiagnosed), post-concussion symptom scale (PCSS) score, time until clinical presentation, and duration of symptoms. Main Results Of the 217 patients included, 25 (12%) experienced a return of symptoms. Losing consciousness at the time of injury (aOR=0.079, 95%CI=0.003–0.563) and a longer time period between injury and clinic presentation (aOR=0.936, 95%CI=0.877–0.984) were associated with a decreased risk of symptoms recurring with exercise, while those athletes that had sustained previous undiagnosed concussions (aOR=5.036, 95%CI=1.634–16.83), and had suffered a longer duration of symptoms at rest (aOR=1.006, 95%CI=1.002–1.010) were at increased risk of symptoms recurrence with exercise. Conclusions Relatively few athletes who are symptom free at rest after a concussion will have a recurrence of symptoms when they start exercising. The risk of symptoms recurring with exercise may be higher among those athletes who have sustained previous undiagnosed concussion and had a longer period of symptoms at re. Competing interests None. Dr. Meehan receives royalties from ABC-Clio publishing for the book, Kids, Sports, and Concussion: A guide for coaches and parents, from Springer International for the book, Head and Neck Injuries in Young Athletes, and from Wolters Kluwer for working as an author for UpToDate. He is under contract with ABC-Clio publishing for a future book entitled, Concussions. His research is funded, in part, by the Football Players Health Study at Harvard, which is funded by the National Football League Players Association and by philanthropic support from the National Hockey League Alumni Association through the Corey C. Griffin Pro-Am Tournament. Dr. O’Brien receives royalties from Wolters Kluwer for working as an author for UpToDate and from Springer International publishing for the book, Head and Neck Injuries in Young Athletes. Dr. Howell and Mr. Pepin have nothing to disclose.
Capacity Fading Mechanism in Lithium-Sulfur Battery using Poly(ionic liquid) Gel Electrolyte

Abstract Lithium-sulfur batteries using a lithium anode, sulfur-CNT cathode, and gel polymer electrolyte composed of a poly(ionic liquid), an ionic liquid, and lithium salt are reported. Cyclic charge-discharge studies at various discharge and charge rates for 100 cycles and at a fixed rate for 500 cycles show superior performance for the gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) compared to the ionic liquid electrolyte (ILE) containing batteries. Rapid capacity fading for the first few cycles is observed and its causes are studied using an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) approach. EIS reveals a depth-of-discharge dependent impedance growth during the first discharge cycle, that is followed by an interfacial resistance growth between the electrodes and the electrolytes in subsequent cycles.
Polydrug use patterns, risk behavior and unmet healthcare need in a community-based sample of women who use cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine.

Abstract Background The use of multiple illicit drugs (polydrug use) is associated with health-related harms and elevated risk of drug overdose. Polydrug use in common among women who use ‘hard’ drugs, such as cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine. Methods Quantitative data collection was conducted with a community-recruited sample of 624 women who used heroin, methamphetamine or cocaine in Oakland, CA during 2014–2015. We conducted latent class analysis to classify polydrug use patterns. We assessed associations between classes of polydrug use and infectious disease risk behaviors, health care utilization and unmet health care need. Results We identified four distinct classes of drug use: (1) predominantly crack (52% of women); (2) powder cocaine & non-heroin opioids (8%); (3) moderate polydrug use (25%); (4) heavy polydrug use (15%). Odds of sexual risk, injection drug use and unmet healthcare need were twice as high in the heavy polydrug use class as the predominantly crack class (p > 0.01 for each outcome). The rate of binge drinking (as days per month) was also significantly higher in the heavy polydrug class (p = 0.01). The moderate polydrug use class had higher odds of injection drug use and drug treatment participation, compared to the mainly crack class (p Discussion Reduction of polydrug use could be an effective harm reduction strategy to address sexual and injection risk among women. The use of both opioids and stimulants in three of the four classes suggests that multi-modal substance abuse treatment approaches may be most appropriate.
Shifting Systems of Care to Support School-Based Services

Promoting children’s mental health in education environments has many advantages. In the United States, preschool education and the care of children are not organized or consistent across jurisdictions or income levels. Consequently, the first time society pays attention to the development of children in an organized way is when they enter kindergarten or grade one. Therefore, the investment in promoting children’s mental health, which is critical to child development and to society, can be universally supported by the educational system. The goal of this chapter is to highlight approaches to strengthening educational systems for the promotion of mental health from implementation and scaling research and systems science perspectives. We introduce theoretical and practical frameworks that incorporate both perspectives and deduce strategies for creating enabling contexts for promoting children’s mental health in educational environments.
“Making Up for Lost Time”: The Transition Experiences of Nontraditional Black Male Undergraduates:

This qualitative study investigated the academic and social experiences and life events that propelled 13 Black male nontraditional undergraduates to transition back to college and explored the var...
Regulation of Kv Channel Activity and Intercellular Junctions by Polyamines in Intestinal Epithelial Cells

Epithelial cells line the gastrointestinal (GI) mucosa and form an important barrier to a wide array of noxious substances in the lumen. Disruption of this barrier function occurs commonly in various critical illnesses, such as trauma, burns, hemorrhage, sepsis, and massive surgical operations, leading to the translocation of luminal toxic substances and bacteria to the blood stream. Maintenance of the GI epithelial integrity is a complex process that is critically controlled by numerous factors at different levels, but the exact mechanisms involved in this process are far from clear. Over the past decade, it has been shown that polyamines are necessary for normal integrity of the GI epithelium under physiological and various pathological conditions. Polyamines are required for GI epithelial restitution after injury and also implicated in expression of intercellular junction proteins. Increasing evidence indicates that polyamines regulate rapid epithelial restitution and intercellular junction expression in association with their ability to modulate activity of voltage-gated K+ channels (Kv) and cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]cyt). In this chapter, we will provide an overview of regulatory effects of cellular polyamines on Kv channels and intercellular junctions in intestinal epithelial cells.
Heterogeneity of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma probed by nucleic acid cytometry

Flow cytometric analyses of cellular DNA, RNA, and double-stranded RNA content were performed on lymph nodes and extranodal tissue from 177 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. With increasing histologic grade, a higher incidence of aneuploidy, higher proliferative activity, and higher total and double-stranded RNA content were found. Despite considerable cytometric heterogeneity within histologic grades and morphologic subdivisions, conformity between cytometric and morphologic classifications was observed in 85% of cases. Among intermediate-grade and high-grade lymphomas, increased proliferative activity and diploidy were associated with more frequent responses to treatment. Thus, nucleic acid-derived parameters relate to morphologic subtypes and permit an objective approach to lymphoma classification based on ploidy, proliferation, and RNA characteristics that also had prognostic implications.
Abstract 2705: Functional proteomics to reveal distinct signature for acute myeloid leukemia subtypes

Patients with relapsed/ refractory AML have an overall survival rate Citation Format: Patrick Pirrotte, Victoria David, Ritin Sharma, Daniel H. Wai, Cristina Tognon, Brian Druker, Eiman A. Aleem. Functional proteomics to reveal distinct signature for acute myeloid leukemia subtypes [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2705.
How to Professionally Develop Reusable Scientific Software—And When Not To

A critical challenge in scientific computing is balancing developing high-quality software with the need for immediate scientific progress. We present a flexible approach that emphasizes writing specialized code that is refactored only when future immediate scientific goals demand it. Our lazy refactoring technique, which calls for code with clearly defined interfaces and sharply delimited scopes to maximize reuse and integrability, helps reduce total development time and accelerates the production of scientific results. We offer guidelines for how to implement such code, as well as criteria to aid in the evaluation of existing tools. To demonstrate their application, we showcase the development progression of tools for particle simulations originating from the Glotzer Group at the University of Michigan. We emphasize the evolution of these tools into a loosely integrated software stack of highly reusable software that can be maintained to ensure the long-term stability of established research workflows.
Forest fragmentation affects step choices, but not homing paths of fragmentation-sensitive birds in multiple behavioral states

Theory predicts that movement limitation due to landscape fragmentation can reduce population viability. Understanding how landscape heterogeneity influences movement is thus critical for testing theory and developing conservation strategies. Consequently, studies are needed that link movement data with landscape features influencing dispersal. We used experimental translocations to test whether forest fragmentation constrains movements of two fragmentation-sensitive bird species. We also tested for evidence of multiple behavioral movement phases (i.e., exploring, homing) and evaluated whether fragmentation effects varied between them. Over two breeding seasons we translocated territorial Wood Thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina; n = 36) and Ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla; n = 19) 1–1.2 km across landscapes spanning a fragmentation gradient and recorded spatial (movement path) and temporal (return time) homing data using VHF transmitters and receivers. Ninety-one percent of individuals returned home, taking up to 72.2 h. Movements of 98% of returning birds indicated distinct exploring (i.e., short, undirected movements and course reversals) and homing (i.e., large, fast steps towards home) movement phases. Both species chose steps minimizing gap exposure in both phases. However, landscape fragmentation had no negative effect on homing times or path straightness. Our results suggest movement limitation does not drive fragmentation sensitivity in these species. Discrepancy between step- and path-level analyses either indicate that fine-scale movement data do not reflect landscape connectivity, or that artificially motivated animals respond unnaturally to behavioral barriers. Given evidence for dichotomous movement behavior, future studies linking these behaviors to life stages will elucidate when and how landscape features influence movement.
Holographic Reconstruction with Bright-field Microscopy Contrast using Cross-Modality Deep Learning

Deep learning-based holographic reconstruction method eliminates twin-image, speckle and other interference artifacts at the output image, matching the contrast of bright-field microscopy, and merges volumetric imaging capability of holography with the contrast of incoherent microscopy.
Solar PV-diesel hybrid systems for the Nigerian private sector: An impact assessment

Abstract This research examines the impact of Nigerian private sector investment in captive power generation from solar photovoltaic (PV) and diesel generator (DG) hybrid energy systems. The study assesses the economic viability of solar PV-DG hybrid systems among Nigerian private companies using levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and analyzes policies that can facilitate solar PV investment as a bottom-up approach to Nigeria's energy development. Forty (40) private companies across Nigeria were surveyed to examine potential the fuel savings that hybrid of PV and DG can achieve. Out of the surveyed companies, three cases representing different load factors were selected and modelled in HOMER Pro to obtain LCOE for each case study. The research findings indicate that electricity generation deficiencies for Nigerian business consumers can be addressed with available renewable energy solar resources. A savings between € 0.002 and 0.009/kWh was achieved from the three-case study. Adequate policy to support investment is both necessary and possible for achieving increased solar PV adoption for highly willing Nigerian private sector.
Superior customer value : finding and keeping customers in the now economy

Part I Customer Value Mindset Chapter 1. Customers Want Exceptional Value Now! Chapter 2. Be Customer-Centric Chapter 3. Business Models and Value Propositions Part II Customer Value Strategies Chapter 4. Segmentation and Customer Value Chapter 5. Service Excellence Chapter 6. Quality, Price and Image Chapter 7. Building Rock-Solid Customer Relationships Part III Customer Value Measurement Chapter 8. Customer Value Metrics Chapter 9. Customer Loyalty and Retention
The role of smartphone in recommender systems: opportunities and challenges

The popularity of smartphones in people's daily life brings new opportunities as well as challenges in recommender system. New opportunities include new available context data, e.g., user interaction time (usually from native mobile app) and geo-location data (from equipped GPS sensors). These metainformation provides different ways of inferring user preference, which ultimately improves the recommendation performance. For instance, with record of tap-in and tap-out timestamp, the dwell time can be estimated. It thus provides an opportunity to address the “silent viewing” issue by inferring people's implicit rating, which will benefit conventional recommender systems that suffer from rating-sparsity. At the meantime, new challenges are mainly in two-fold. First, such side information is not included in conventional recommendation model, and thus it is not easy for integration. Also, recommendation services via smartphones is itself a scenario different from traditional PC-based one, which leads to “pitfalls” where existing techniques may fail. Particularly, we focus on two representative recommendation scenarios in smartphones, i.e., app and point-of-interest (POI) recommendation. For the former one, conventional model may recommend apps that users would never download due to the ignorance of potential conflict between candidate apps and installed ones. To recommend POI, failure of modeling physical location may lead to candidates that are too far away. In this chapter, we reveal these issues and describe corresponding solutions.
Topological Metasurfaces for Robust One-dimensional Waves

The discovery of topological condensed matter systems has rapidly been followed by the advent of their photonic analogues, motivated by the prospect of backscattering-immune light propagation. So far, however, photonic topological phases have mainly relied on engineering bulk modes in photonic crystals and waveguide arrays in two-dimensional systems. Here, we present symmetry protected topological states akin to quantum spin/valley Hall effect by engineering surface modes over metasurfaces of infinitesimal thickness. As a result, the proposed structures support robust gapless edge states, which are highly confined and guided virtually along a one-dimensional line rather than a surface interface. In order to generate the modal degeneracies required for emulating the spin degree of freedom, we exploit the internal symmetry of the electromagnetic field by overlapping hexagonal unit cells of complementary metasurfaces. Conversely, we emulate the valley degree of freedom by reducing the C6υ lattice symmetry of a hexagonal cell-based metasurface of either inductive or capacitive electromagnetic response into C3 point symmetry. The simplicity of the proposed structures makes them attractive as a tabletop platform for the study of photonic topological phases, as well as for applications benefiting the compactness of metasurfaces and the potential of topological insulators.
Customized registry tool for tracking adherence to clinical guidelines for head and neck cancers: protocol for a pilot study

Despite recommendations for monitoring patients with chronic and high-risk conditions, gaps still remain. These gaps are exacerbated in outpatient care, where patients and clinicians face challenges related to care coordination, multiple electronic health records, and extensive follow-up. In addition, low-income and racial/ethnic minority populations that are disproportionately cared for in safety net settings are particularly at risk to lapses in monitoring. We aim to implement and evaluate a health information technology platform developed using systems engineering methodologies. The implementation is situated in a clinic that monitors patients with head and neck cancer within a large, urban, publicly funded hospital. Our study will evaluate the time it takes for patients to progress through key treatment milestones prior to and after implementation of the tool. We will use models controlling for secular trend to estimate the effect of the tool on improving timely and successful completion of guideline-based care processes. This protocol details the evaluation of the effectiveness of a human-centered health information technology intervention on improving timely delivery of care for high-risk populations. Other settings, including those that face challenges related to limited resources to devote to safety programs and fragmented health information technology, may benefit from this approach. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03546322. “Customized Registry Tool for Tracking Adherence to Clinical Guidelines for Head and Neck Cancers.” Registered 1 June 2018.
Beyond artificial intelligence: exploring artificial wisdom.

Author(s): Jeste, Dilip V; Graham, Sarah A; Nguyen, Tanya T; Depp, Colin A; Lee, Ellen E; Kim, Ho-Cheol | Abstract: BackgroundThe ultimate goal of artificial intelligence (AI) is to develop technologies that are best able to serve humanity. This will require advancements that go beyond the basic components of general intelligence. The term "intelligence" does not best represent the technological needs of advancing society, because it is "wisdom", rather than intelligence, that is associated with greater well-being, happiness, health, and perhaps even longevity of the individual and the society. Thus, the future need in technology is for artificial wisdom (AW).MethodsWe examine the constructs of human intelligence and human wisdom in terms of their basic components, neurobiology, and relationship to aging, based on published empirical literature. We review the development of AI as inspired and driven by the model of human intelligence, and consider possible governing principles for AW that would enable humans to develop computers which can operationally utilize wise principles and result in wise acts. We review relevant examples of current efforts to develop such wise technologies.ResultsAW systems will be based on developmental models of the neurobiology of human wisdom. These AW systems need to be able to a) learn from experience and self-correct; b) exhibit compassionate, unbiased, and ethical behaviors; and c) discern human emotions and help the human users to regulate their emotions and make wise decisions.ConclusionsA close collaboration among computer scientists, neuroscientists, mental health experts, and ethicists is necessary for developing AW technologies, which will emulate the qualities of wise humans and thus serve the greatest benefit to humanity. Just as human intelligence and AI have helped further the understanding and usefulness of each other, human wisdom and AW can aid in promoting each other's growth.
The Pharmaceutical Policy Environment and Pharmaceutical Pricing Policies

Pharmaceutical pricing policies are an important component of the pharmaceutical policy environment given their role in the financial sustainability of the health system. This chapter outlines several key domains of the pharmaceutical policy environment within which pharmaceutical pricing policies exist. Every country has its unique mix of laws, regulations, policies, management strategies and support systems for pharmaceutical products. These guide provisions relating to the manufacturing, importing, marketing, labeling, distribution, prescribing, dispensing, and pricing of pharmaceutical products.
Free-Electron Lasers

In our description of undulator radiation, we saw the enormous gains that could be achieved if radiation from separate magnetic poles were added coherently. As a reminder, when N equal sources are added coherently, the produced intensity I varies as N2, compared to intensity gains of only N when the sources are added incoherently. In a conventional undulator, radiation from Np individual poles is coherent; hence I ∝ Np2. However, electrons within a given bunch still radiate incoherently with respect to each other, so the intensity varies linearly with the number of electrons Ne. (One exception is long wavelength synchrotron radiation—if the wavelength is long compared to the bunch length, in the far-IR or THz regimes, then coherent synchrotron radiation can be observed) [553].
Perianesthetic neurological adverse events in children: A review of the Wake‐Up Safe Database

Background Perianesthetic neurological adverse events (NAE) are rare in children and have been studied in detail in the settings of cardiac surgery and regional anesthesia. Our study aims to characterize perianesthetic NAE in children in the setting of all types of surgery and diagnostic or interventional procedures, to evaluate anesthesia's role, and to identify factors amenable to prevention. Methods We conducted a retrospective study by reviewing all the anesthetic encounters reported in the Wake Up Safe database between January 2010 and December 2017. Results The rate of perianesthetic NAE was 0.49 per 10,000 pediatric anesthetic encounters. The odds of NAE were significantly higher in children who were older than 6 months; had American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status (ASA PS) of 3, 4, or 5; or had American Society of Anesthesiologists Emergency (ASA E) status. Seizures were the most common NAE. Overall, 23 (18.1%) children with NAE died, and 33 (26%) experienced permanent or severe permanent harm. The risk of death was higher in infants and in children with ASA PS of 3, 4, or 5; ASA E status; preexisting neurological abnormality; or preexisting neurological deficit and in events associated with cardiac arrest or trauma. Anesthesia contributed to 24 (18.9%) events; patient disease was the primary causative factor in 95 (74.8%) adverse events, and 37 (29.1%) events were preventable, including 2 deaths. Preventable factors broadly included inadequate preoptimization, complications during airway management and central venous catheter placement, and suboptimal patient positioning. Conclusion Perianesthetic NAE are rare in children and have a poor outcome. Our study has described pediatric perianesthetic neurological injury in detail and identified contributing factors that can be optimized during various phases of perianesthetic care. This information can be utilized during the informed consent process and to enhance the quality of care in children receiving anesthesia.
An Examination of Resident Perspectives on Survey Participation and Methodology: Implications for Educational Practice and Research.

Background In medical education, self-administered questionnaires are used to gather information for needs assessments, innovation projects, program evaluations, and research studies. Despite the importance of survey methodology, response rates have declined for years, especially for physicians. Objective This study explored residents' experiences with survey participation and perceptions of survey design and implementation. Methods In 2019, residents at a large Midwestern academic medical center were recruited via email to participate in mixed specialty focus groups (FGs). Narrative comments were recorded, transcribed, and then analyzed via conventional content analysis, utilizing cognitive sociology as a conceptual framework. Themes and subthemes were generated iteratively. Results Postgraduate year 1-4 residents (n = 33) from internal medicine, surgery, and neurology participated in 7 FGs (3-7 participants/group) from April-May 2019. Eight themes were generated during content analysis: Negative emotions, professionalism, accuracy, impact, survey design/implementation, biases, survey fatigue, and anonymity. Residents questioned the accuracy of survey data, given the tendency for self-selection to drive survey participation. Residents wanted survey participation to be meaningful and reported non-participation for a variety of reasons, including doubts over impact. Satisficing and breakoffs were commonly reported. Conclusions Though residency program cultures differ across institutions, the findings from this study, including potential barriers to survey participation, should be relevant to anyone in graduate medical education using survey methodology for programmatic data collection, accreditation, and research purposes.
Application of Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods for Uncertainty Quantification in Inverse Transport Problems

Determination of the components of a radioactive source/shield system using the system’s radiation signature is of great importance in homeland security, material safeguards, and waste management. Although significant progress has been made toward solving this inverse transport problem in recent years, work remains to be done to quantify the uncertainty in reconstructed results. In this article we apply two Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approaches, the delayed rejection adaptive metropolis (DRAM) and differential evolution adaptive metropolis (DREAM) methods, to solve inverse problems and quantify uncertainty. The DRAM method uses delayed rejection combined with global adaptation of the proposal covariance matrix. The DREAM method hybridizes MCMC sampling with the differential evolution (DE) algorithm. In numerical test cases, the DRAM and DREAM methods are shown to be superior to a first-order inverse Hessian approach for problems with noisy data and multiple unknown quantities, with DREAM converging to the posterior distribution more quickly than DRAM. The DREAM and DRAM results indicate that a full posterior distribution is required to quantify uncertainty in many inverse transport problems.
UNO: virtualizing and unifying nonlinear operations for emerging neural networks

Linear multiply-accumulate (MAC) operations have been the main focus of prior efforts in improving the energy efficiency of neural network inference due to their dominant contribution to energy consumption in traditional models. On the other hand, nonlinear operations, such as division, exponentiation, and logarithm, that are becoming increasingly significant in emerging neural network models, have been largely underexplored. In this paper, we propose UNO, a low-area, low-energy processing element that virtualizes the Taylor approximation of nonlinear operations on top of off-the-shelf linear MAC units already present in inference hardware. Such virtualization approximates multiple nonlinear operations in a unified, MAC-compatible manner to achieve dynamic run-time accuracy-energy scaling. Compared to the baseline, our scheme reduces the energy consumption by up to 38.4% for individual operations and increases the energy efficiency by up to 274.5% for emerging neural network models with negligible inference loss.
Myosteatosis at diagnosis is adversely associated with 2-year survival in women with estrogen receptor-negative metastatic breast cancer.

To examine the relationship between skeletal muscle (SM) and cancer-specific outcomes for women with estrogen receptor-negative (ER−) metastatic breast cancer (MBC). For this retrospective cohort, females (≥ 18 years) with histologically confirmed ER− MBC and computerized tomography (CT) imaging were screened. Demographic, anthropometric, and clinical data were collected uniformly from the electronic medical record. CT images inclusive of the third lumbar region (L3) at diagnosis, 6 and 12 months, were used to classify sarcopenia (≤ 41 cm2/m2) and myosteatosis (< 41 or 33 Hounsfield Units, adjusted for body mass index (BMI)) and to evaluate changes in SM and total adipose tissue (TAT) over time. Kaplan–Meier curves, Cox Proportional Hazards (PH), and restricted mean survival time (RMST) estimates were generated to examine the relationship between sarcopenia and myosteatosis and time to tumor progression (TTP), treatment toxicity and 2-year survival, adjusting for covariates. Participants were 58.0 (15.0) years of age, ethnically diverse (55% non-Hispanic white, 31% Black, 11% Hispanic), post-menopausal (73%, n = 111), and classified as overweight (BMI 29.4 (7.6)). At diagnosis, 40% (n = 61) were sarcopenic, 49% had myosteatosis, and 28% (n = 42) had both. While Cox PH modeling and RMST analysis reveal no significant relationship between sarcopenia at diagnosis and 2-year survival (RMST difference − 1.6 (1.4) months, HR 1.35 (0.88–2.08)), these analyses support a significant, adverse association between myosteatosis at diagnosis and 2-year survival (RMST difference − 2.4 (1.5) months, HR 1.72 (1.09–2.72)). Incident sarcopenia was 11% (n = 5/45) and 2.5% (n = 1/40), respectively, while incident myosteatosis was 19% (n = 8/42) and 15% (n = 5/34) at 6 and 12 months, respectively. TTP and treatment toxicities did not appear to be related to diagnostic SM or body composition changes over time. Targeted interventions initiated within the first year of diagnosis to preserve or improve SM quality seem warranted for women with ER−MBC.
COMBINING VETERANS AND TEACHERS IN A UNIQUE SERVICE LEARNING EXPERIENCE

This paper describes the design-based service learning model utilized to provide an engaging STEM experience to local K-12 science and math teachers and U.S. military veterans returning from service and transitioning to secondary education. A critical factor that can contribute to increased student outcomes from a service-learning program is the level of preparation a teacher has as a mediator of knowledge and an active partner. Professional development activities directed towards in-service teachers could potentially alleviate this issue. Furthermore, such activities, when combined with well-developed inquiry-based learning pedagogy, could provide for increased engagement and understanding of STEM of students. Recent evidence shows that veterans may be more likely than the general population to be interested and well suited for a career in engineering. With more than two million veterans returning from service in the near future, the shortage in undergraduate engineering enrollment could be assuaged. The REVT format at Pitt has the potential to provide veterans with the support to experience STEM without the fear of failure, while allowing teachers to benefit from the field experience and leadership skills of veterans in the program. The juxtaposition of these two populations allows for co-mentoring opportunities, with each group benefiting from contrasting experiences.
Comparison of spontaneous, oxytocin-stimulated, and hypertonic saline-induced labor by different methods of record analysis

Abstract Intrauterine pressure recordings were made during the active phase of labor in 64 patients. On-line electronic integration of the area under the pressure curve was used as a measure of uterine activity. A total of 204 hours of labor including 4,224 individual contractions were analyzed by (1) average pressure (integrator method), (2) Montevideo units, (3) Alexandria units, and (4) frequency distribution. Comparisons were made between spontaneous labor, oxytocin-stimulated labor, and hypertonic saline-induced labor. Oxytocin-stimulated labor and hypertonic saline-induced labor show increases in amplitude and frequency of contractions when compared with spontaneous labor. Concomitant increases in total uterine activity were noted by all methods of measurement. In this series, both hypertonic saline-induced and oxytocin-stimulated labor are different from spontaneous labor whether measured in Montevideo units, Alexandria units, or average pressure. Electronic integration of the pressure signal is recommended as a method of measuring uterine activity in physical units (mm. Hg).
Information and Referral in the Academic Library:: Lessons in Attitude and Service from the Public Library

Information and referral (I & R), since its introduction as a concept of library service in the late 1960s, has received wthied eim apttoerntatinocne Ionf tIh e& pRu balisc a l ivbiraab ? e' sceotnticnegp.t Soifm aiclaard ermeciocg rneifteiorenn coef service has not occurred. Reasons for this may be linked to an attitude that "the public library serves and the academic library instructs." As the complexity of new information technologies engulfs the academic library, primary reliance on an instructional attitudc toward reference service is no longer adequate. The experience of I & R in the public library offers a more appropriate reference service model based on the direct provision of information that is often "value-added" to meet specific information needs of the user. Such lessons from the successful practice of I & R in the public library can provide a framework for academic library reference services as librarians reevaluate themselves in a changing academic library context.
Confucianism, Chinese Families, and Academic Achievement: Exploring How Confucianism and Asian Descendant Parenting Practices Influence Children’s Academic Achievement

In light of the consistent Asian students PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) data results and other statistics indicating the high academic achievement of Asian descendant students, the authors take a closer look at Asian parenting and its relationships with children’s academic achievement, as well as the impact of Confucianism. The dual purpose of this chapter was to provide a conceptual framework and a follow-up qualitative study regarding the relationship between Asian descendant parenting practices, Confucianism, and children’s academic performances. Specifically, we examined the Confucianism’s influence on Chinese families’ parenting practices, including education and proper social behaviors. Confucianism is embedded in Chinese culture and places value on education at societal, familial, and individual level. We also examined Asian parenting style and its association with children’s academic achievement. In our qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted, including individual interviews and a focus group session. These methods were used to explore participants’ parenting experiences and perceptions regarding the focal topic. Based on the thematic analysis, four themes emerged. They are Confucianism Impact, Demandingness as Expectations, Responsiveness to Academics Needs and Interests, and Balance Between Expectations and Responsiveness. Discussion and implication are provided to inform the research community concerning Asian descendant families and children’s academic performance.
Central Nervous System Infections

This chapter provides an overview of infectious syndromes, pathogens, and diagnostic testing modalities for central nervous system infections in the immunocompromised host.