cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A prospective pilot study of intravitreal aflibercept for the treatment of chronic central serous chorioretinopathy: the CONTAIN study.

Aim To evaluate the role of intravitreal aflibercept injection as a treatment for eyes with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR). Methods This prospective pilot study enrolled 12 patients with chronic CSCR who received a 6-month treatment regimen of intravitreal aflibercept. Patients were followed with monthly Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) with enhanced depth imaging. Results All patients were men between 29 and 64 years (median 55). Subfoveal fluid was present on OCT for a median duration of 6 months (range 4–29 months) prior to treatment. Baseline BCVA ranged from 20/25 to 20/160 (median 20/50) with a mean of 62 (SD=13) ETDRS letters. No patients experienced serious ocular or systemic adverse events over the course of the study. Post-treatment BCVA ranged from 20/20 to 20/200 (median 20/40), with a mean of 64 (SD=16) ETDRS letters (p=0.56). At baseline, three patients (25%) had BCVA of ≥20/40 versus seven patients (58%) at the conclusion of the study. Two patients gained at least 15 ETDRS letters and no patients lost more than 15 ETDRS letters. Six of 12 patients (50%) had complete resolution of subfoveal fluid. Mean central macular thickness decreased from 400 µm (SD=104 µm) to 306 µm (SD=94 µm) (p=0.03), and mean subfoveal fluid decreased from 159 µm (SD=93 µm) to 49 µm (SD=68 µm) (p=0.02). Mean choroidal thickness decreased from 307 µm (SD=72 µm) to 263 µm (SD=63 µm) (p=0.0003). Conclusions Intravitreal aflibercept was well tolerated over a 6-month treatment course for chronic CSCR. No change was observed in visual acuity metrics. Anatomic trends may suggest some morphological activity, but larger controlled trials are needed. Trial registration number NCT01710332
T system abnormalities in differentiating skeletal fibers of dystrophic chickens.

Ultrastructural T system abnormalities are common in mature skeletal fibers from dystrophic chickens, but little is known of their development. Muscle strips from dystrophic and normal chickens aged 1 day through 4 weeks were examined in ultrathin plastic sections. At hatching, triads were sparse, with no apparent abnormalities. At 1 week, triads were more common; in some dystrophic fibers the T tubules were swollen, ballooned beyond the triad, or assembled asymmetrically, with or without supernumerary (greater than 2) junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum components. At 12 weeks, many dystrophic fibers also displayed degenerative changes, i.e., myofibrillar disintegration and cytoplasmic dispersion. At 4 weeks normal triad assembly was complete, T system abnormalities were widespread in dystrophic fibers. Fiber degeneration had progressed to breakdown and replacement. Thus, derangement of the T system (which parallels onset of muscle dysfunction) superimposed on triad assembly suggests that compromised excitation-contraction coupling is an early event in the chicken dystrophy.
Value of Benefits Constant in a Changing World: Findings from the 2001 EBRI/MGA Value of Benefits Survey

The 2001 EBRI/MGA Value of Benefits Survey finds that American workers' preferences for various employee benefits, and for employee benefits in general, changed little between 1999 and 2001, despite the economic downturn and the terrorist attacks in September, 2001. In 2001, 77 percent of workers reported that the benefits that a prospective employer offers are very important in their decision to accept or reject a job, nearly unchanged from 79 percent in 1999. Employees also continue to rank health insurance as the most important benefit: 60 percent of workers rated it as number one in 2001, down slightly from 64 percent in 1999. Twenty-three percent of workers ranked retirement savings plans, such as 401(k)s, as the most important benefit in 2001, up from 21 percent in 1999.
Extracting Semantics from Legacy Scientific Workflows

In this paper we present a method that uses the Workflow Instrumentation for structure Extraction (WISE) combined with the SemanticMap methods to process ad-hoc legacy workflows written in Python and produce a mapping of the workflow structural skeleton to a domain ontology. The method provides the foundation for searching through scientific workflows with conceptual queries.
Defying Distance? Cross-Border Acquisitions by Emerging-Economy Firms

We argue that emerging-economy firms’ international location choices are driven by the pursuit of dynamic efficiency rather than the immediate minimization of transaction and learning costs, and hence the relationship between country distance and the number of cross-border acquisitions will be less negative for these firms relative to advanced-economy firms. We then test the hypothesis with respect to four measures of country distance—geographic, economic, cultural, and institutional—and find support for the hypothesis. Our study provides empirical support for claims in the literature about differences in the international expansion behavior of emerging-economy firms with respect to location. In addition, our study makes a theoretical contribution by showing that the theoretical perspective of dynamic efficiency can explain the difference in the location choices for cross-border acquisitions by emerging-economy firms relative to those by advanced-economy firms. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc..
Algorithms in the diagnosis and management of exotic diseases. V. Enterobiasis.

Enterobiasis, or pinworm, is by far the most common of all helminthic infections in the United States, with an estimated 42 million cases [1]. The infection is worldwide in distribution and occurs most frequently in children (in both well-developed and developing countries). Pinworm is no respecter of socioeconomic status, but the infection tends to be more frequent under crowded institutional conditions. It is essentially a trivial, occult infection in which the major (although relatively infrequent) symptom is perianal pruritus. Granulomatous inflammatory lesions surrounding the worms, larvae, or eggs in the tissues of the abdominal viscera have been
Sequence analysis of the SH gene and its flanking region of an isolated of the mumps virus(SP strain)

Objective To study genetic characteristic of SH gene and its flanking region of mumps virus strain SP by comparison of the sequences between this strain and the genes of other wild mumps virus.Methods Saliva sample from a child suffering from mumps was collected in Shiping county Yunnan province,2005,and inoculated in Vero cells.CPE was observed in inoculated cells,and culture medium virus was harvested and identified by HA,Virus RNA was isolated and reverse transcribed into cDNA for PCR amplification.This cDNA fragment(0.4kb)was sequenced and analysed by vector NT6.0 software.Results SP strain showed close genetic relationship with some strain isolated in other parts of China,which are 93%～96%homologous.Analysis of amino acid sequence indicates that amino acid sequence of SH in SP strain possesses 93.3%～98.25%homogenous comparing with that of Wlz2 strain.Conclusion SP strain is a member of in mumps virus genotype F.
Coronary neovascularization of embryonic rat hearts cultured in oculo is independent of thyroid hormones

We tested the hypothesis that neovascularization of embryonic hearts is independent of thyroid hormones. To dissociate the effects of hemodynamic load from the direct influence of thyroid hormones on coronary neovascularization, we grafted avascular, gestational day 12 rat hearts to the anterior eye chamber of adult rats receiving daily injections of thyroxine (T4; 0.25 mg/kg sc), propylthiouracil (PTU; 10 mg/kg ip), or saline (control). After 21 days, grafts were perfuse fixed and prepared for transmission electron microscopy. Neither T4 nor PTU treatment affected size or mass of the unloaded graft, or the volume densities of vessels, myocytes, or the extracellular matrix, which were determined by standard point-counting techniques. Thus neither exogenous administration of T4 nor the induction of hypothyroidism in host rats produced a significant effect on the growth or vascularity of the unloaded hearts. We conclude that vascular growth in embryonic rat hearts cultured in oculo is independent of thyroid hormones and that the angiogenic effect of thyroid hormones in loaded hearts is a consequence of increased work-related events.
Asset specialization, transaction cost and organization

Asset specialization is important to the selection of contract form and governing structure. The asset specialization of military industry takes effect on the transaction cost and determines the form of the economic organization. Using the analytical framework of asset specialization, this paper attempts to analyze the inherent law of military industry asset specialization and its higher transaction cost, the causes of opportunism (as a result of military industry asset specialization), and finally the paper discusses the elements which might play a role in determining and selecting the military industry organization form.
Sex Differences in Insular Cortex Gyri Responses to the Valsalva Maneuver

Sex differences in autonomic regulation may underlie cardiovascular disease variations between females and males. One key autonomic brain region is the insular cortex, which typically consists of five main gyri in each hemisphere, and shows a topographical organization of autonomic function across those gyri. The present study aims to identify possible sex differences in organization of autonomic function in the insula. We studied brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses to a series of four 18-s Valsalva maneuvers in 22 healthy females (age ± SD: 50.0 ± 7.9 years) and 36 healthy males (45.3 ± 9.2 years). Comparisons of heart rate (HR) and fMRI signals were performed with repeated measures ANOVA (threshold P male, i.e., greater undershoot in males). The insular cortices showed similar patterns in all gyri, with greater signal decreases in males than females. Both sexes exhibited an anterior-posterior topographical organization of insular responses during Phase II, with anterior gyri showing higher responses than more posterior gyri. The exception was the right anterior-most gyrus in females, which had lower responses than the four other right gyri. Responses were lateralized, with right-sided dominance during Phase II in both sexes, except the right anterior-most gyrus in females, which showed lower responses than the left. The findings confirm the anterior and right-sided sympathetic dominance of the insula. Although sex differences were prominent in response magnitude, organization differences between males and females were limited to the right anterior-most gyrus, which showed a lower fMRI response in females vs. males (and vs. other gyri in females). The sex differences suggest a possible differing baseline state of brain physiology or tonic functional activity between females and males, especially in the right anterior-most gyrus.
In Defence of Religious Pluralism

I am grateful to Dr Philip Almond (‘John Hick’s Copernican Theology’, Theology, January 1983) for undertaking something of a cost-benefit analysis of the pluralistic approach to the theology of religions. He sees very clearly both the way in which a pluralistic theory would, as its main benefit, illuminate the otherwise baffling relationship between the great world traditions, and also the way in which it would, as its inevitable cost, involve a radical reinterpretation of some central Christian concepts.
The Measurement of Student Engagement: A Comparative Analysis of Various Methods and Student Self-report Instruments

One of the challenges with research on student engagement is the large variation in the measurement of this construct, which has made it challenging to compare findings across studies. This chapter contributes to our understanding of the measurement of student in engagement in three ways. First, we describe strengths and limitations of different methods for assessing student engagement (i.e., self-report measures, experience sampling techniques, teacher ratings, interviews, and observations). Second, we compare and contrast 11 self-report survey measures of student engagement that have been used in prior research. Across these 11 measures, we describe what is measured (scale name and items), use of measure, samples, and the extent of reliability and validity information available on each measure. Finally, we outline limitations with current approaches to measurement and promising future directions.
Microwave-assisted chemical insertion: a rapid technique for screening cathodes for Mg-ion batteries

We report an ultrafast microwave-assisted solvothermal method for chemical insertion of Mg2+ ions into host materials using magnesium acetate [Mg(CH3COO)2] as a metal-ion source and diethylene glycol (DEG) as a reducing agent. For instance, up to 3 Mg ions per formula unit of a microporous host framework Mo2.5+yVO9+z could be inserted in as little as 30 min at 170–195 °C in air. This process is superior to the traditional method which involves the use of organometallic reagents, such as di-n-butylmagnesium [(C4H9)2Mg] and magnesium bis(2,6-di-tert-butylphenoxide) [Mg-(O-2,6-But2C6H3)2], and requires an inert atmosphere with extremely long reaction times. Considering the lack of robust electrolytes for Mg-ion batteries, this facile approach can be readily used as a rapid screening technique to identify potential Mg-ion electrode hosts without the necessity of fabricating electrodes and assembling electrochemical cells. Due to the mild reaction conditions, the overall structure and morphology of the Mg-ion inserted products are maintained and the compounds can be used successfully as a cathode in Mg-ion batteries. The combined synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction Rietveld analysis reveals the structure of the Mg-inserted compounds and gives an insight into the interactions between the Mg ions and the open-tunnel host framework.
Exploring Structural Diversity and Fluxionality of Ptn (n = 10–13) Clusters from First-Principles

Subnanometer transition-metal clusters have been shown to possess catalytic activity that is size-dependent. It has been suggested that the fluxionality of these small clusters may be closely related to their catalytic activity. Here we use basin-hopping global optimization with density functional theory (DFT) to study the energy landscape of Ptn (n = 10–13) clusters. We analyze a large set of local minima obtained from the DFT-based global optimization. We find that Pt10 is unique with respect to the other studied sizes in its structural landscape, which shows a single, distinct structural motif corresponding to a tetrahedral global minimum. In contrast, Pt11–13 all display characteristics of high fluxionality with the presence of multiple significantly differing structural features in the low-energy region, as characterized by coordination number, interatomic distances, and shape. These observations demonstrate the structural diversity and fluxionality of the subnanometer Pt clusters that will have impo...
Bovine pericardial patch angioplasty in carotid endarterectomy

Patch angioplasty during carotid endarterectomy (CEA) has been shown to reduce the incidence of both early and late complications. Controversy continues, however, over the ideal patch material. Bovine pericardium (Vascu-Guard Biovascular Inc., Saint Paul, MN) offers an attractive alternative to other patch materials because of its handling and suturing characteristics that are similar to that of autogenous material. This study examines the perioperative and midterm results of bovine pericardial patch angioplasty during CEA. We studied 112 patients who underwent 129 CEAs with bovine pericardial patch angioplasty during an 18-month period. Data were collected regarding demographics, operative indications, perioperative complications, and the occurrence of late adverse outcomes based primarily on follow-up arterial duplex studies. Among this group there were 63 male (56%) and 49 female (44%) patients whose mean age was 71.8 +/- 9.1 years. In these patients there was the typical distribution of atherosclerotic risk factors. Seventy-four patients (66%) had symptomatic disease preoperatively and the remaining 38 patients (34%) were asymptomatic. Temporary cranial nerve palsy occurred in three patients (2%). There were no perioperative strokes, acute occlusions, bleeding episodes requiring reoperation, or deaths. The patients were followed up to 54 months postoperatively with a mean follow-up time of 41.7 +/- 4.4 months. During this period two patients (2%) developed three significant restenoses (70-99%). All required reoperation. There were no asymptomatic occlusions, infections, aneurysms, or rupture. These data demonstrate that bovine pericardial patch angioplasty during CEA is associated with a low incidence of both perioperative and midterm adverse outcomes.
Numerical evaluation of vertical cutoff walls comprising zeolite-amended backfills for enhanced metals containment

AbstractThe potential for enhanced containment of two metals, potassium (K) and zinc (Zn), by soil-bentonite (SB) vertical cutoff walls comprising zeolite-amended backfills was evaluated on the bas...
Aquatic Therapy and Pain in the Rehabilitation Patient

For thousands of years, water has been used to treat a variety of physical ailments. It has evolved from being solely a passive modality to being an active modality, which includes both aquatic exercise and hydrotherapy. Buoyancy is a unique property of water that creates a beneficial physiologic response, which makes aquatic therapy a particularly helpful treatment option for patients suffering from chronic pain. Patients with chronic pain often have significant limitations in activity tolerance, functional movement, as well as musculoskeletal and cardiovascular conditioning. When patients are submerged in the water at varying depths, the compressive force of gravity is minimized. Thereby, patients undergoing water therapy are better able to engage in exercise and to practice movement patterns that would otherwise be intolerable on land.
Organizational Conflict Resolution and Strategic Choice: Evidence from a Survey of Fortune 1000 Firms:

This article examines the strategic underpinnings of firms’ use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practices. The authors argue that a firm’s strategic orientation and commitment to ADR shape ...
Sex-dependent response to treatment for arthritis in humanized mice (THER5P.903)

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) occurs twice more often in women than men. B cell depletion has been shown to be efficacious in treating RA though it is unknown if efficacy is dependent on the sex of the patient. Our previous studies suggested that antigen presentation via B cells results in a sex-specific immune response and cytokines in humanized mice. Now we show that the efficacy of B cell depletion in arthritic DQ8 mice is sex-dependent. Arthritic female DQ8 mice treated with anti-CD20 antibody in therapeutic protocols show milder disease severity associated with decreased antibodies to citrullinated proteins along with increased numbers of T regulatory as compared to male DQ8 mice. The milder disease severity in CD20-depleted females was associated with reduced levels of IL-23 and CCL5 with increased IL-13 as compared to males. Treated male mice showed higher numbers of subsets of dendritic cells, known producers of pro-inflammatory cytokines, as compared to females. A window where males can benefit from B cell depletion needs to be defined. Our observations suggest that in therapeutic strategies that target B cells during established disease may benefit females while DCs might be relatively more important for men than women.
Feel the burn to improve cognition

Increased brain lactate uptake is related to improved executive function following high-intensity interval exercise.
An Analytical Approach for Error PMF Characterization in Approximate Circuits

Approximate computing has emerged as a circuit design technique that can reduce system power without significantly sacrificing the output quality in error-resilient applications. However, there exists only a few approaches for systematically and efficiently determining the error introduced by approximate hardware units. This paper focuses on the development of error analysis techniques for approximate circuits consisting of adders and multipliers, which are the key hardware components used in error-resilient applications. A novel algorithm has been presented, using the Fourier and the Mellin transforms, that efficiently determines the probability distribution of the error introduced by approximation in a circuit, abstracted as a directed acyclic graph. The algorithm is generalized for signed operations through two’s complement representation, and its accuracy is demonstrated to be within 1% of Monte Carlo simulations, while being over an order of magnitude faster.
Decision Analytic Approach to Resolving Divergent Climate Assumptions in Water Resources Planning

AbstractClimate nonstationarity and uncertainty raise important issues related to design and planning within the water sector. Participants in the planning process may not all agree on what climate...
Rural-Urban Differences in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Testing Among US Adults: Findings From the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Individuals in rural areas of the United States face barriers to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related health care. We aim to assess differences in frequency of lifetime and past-year HIV testing, and differences in testing site location between rural and urban residents of the United States. Methods Data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2015 were analyzed on 250,579 respondents 18 years or older. Weighted multinomial logistic regression analyses compared urban/rural differences in lifetime and past-year HIV testing. Weighted multinomial logistic regression compared urban/rural differences in HIV testing site. Results Overall, 26.9% of urban residents and 21.5% of rural residents reported testing for HIV in their lifetime. Of urban residents, 24.5% reported receiving an HIV test in the past year compared with 20.2% of rural residents. Living in a rural area was associated with lower odds of lifetime (odds ratio [OR], 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.81-0.90) and past-year HIV testing (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.74-0.95) compared with not testing. Rural residents had higher odds of receiving an HIV test at the hospital or emergency room (adjusted OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.23-1.62) or clinic (adjusted OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.02-1.24) than a doctor's office. Conclusions This study highlights significant rural health disparities in rates of lifetime and past-year HIV testing. Targeted interventions are needed to remove structural barriers in rural communities, such as long distances to clinics and low availability of free HIV testing at clinics serving the uninsured or underinsured. Furthermore, rural providers should be encouraged to routinely offer HIV screening to their patients.
Inhibitors of nuclear hormone receptor/coactivator interactions

Publisher Summary Nuclear hormone receptors (NRs) function as transcription factors. Activating or inhibiting the NRs has profound physiological consequences, and, as a result, the NRs have been exploited as therapeutic targets across a number of diseases and physiological states. NR modulators currently used as therapeutic antagonists, such as tamoxifen and flutamide, bind to the ligand-binding pocket of the NR and induce a conformation of the receptor that either disfavors coactivator binding or favors corepressor binding. The inhibitory mechanism of these antagonists is indirect or allosteric because ligand binding at one site affects protein–protein interaction at a second site. Blocking the recruitment of coactivators to the NR through this indirect, conventional antagonist mechanism is sufficient to block the transcription of NR-regulated genes. Directly blocking the NR-coactivator interaction can yield comparable or perhaps superior results. In addition, coactivator binding inhibitors (CBIs) blocks the interaction of NRs with coactivators by a direct, competitive mechanism. Many peptidic CBIs are potent, but, despite work to enhance their cellular uptake and stability, they have not been active in cellular assays. The development of potent and selective small-molecule CBIs can provide a valuable and necessary alternative approach to the modulation of NR activity.
Linear IgA bullous dermatosis protracted by vancomycin-loaded bone cement.

Linear IgA bullous dermatosis (LABD) is a subepidermal, vesiculobullous eruption that can be drug induced, often by vancomycin.1 We describe a rare case of an 80-year-old woman with vancomycin-induced LABD whose disease continued to progress despite drug cessation, likely attributable to continued drug elution from vancomycin-loaded bone cement from a recent shoulder arthroplasty revision.
Sexual dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder and its association with adherence to antipsychotic medication.

Background: Antipsychotic-induced sexual dysfunction is a common complaint among patients with psychotic disorders. However, few papers have discussed its impact on treatment adherence.Aims: The ai...
Traumatic Occipitocervical Distraction Injuries in Children: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND Occipitocervical distraction injuries (OCDI) in children occur on a wide spectrum of severity, and decisions about treatment suffer from a lack of rigorous guidelines and significant inter-institutional variability. While clear cases of frank atlanto-occipital dislocation (AOD) are treated with surgical stabilization, the approach for less severe cases of OCDI is not standardized. These patients require a careful assessment of both radiographic and clinical criteria, as part of a complex risk-benefit analysis, to establish whether occipitocervical fusion (OCF) is indicated. Here, we performed a systematic review of the literature that describes traumatic OCDI in children < 18 years of age. SUMMARY We performed a systematic review, according to PRISMA guidelines, of children < 18 years of age presenting with traumatic etiologies of OCDI. We searched PubMed to identify papers congruent with these criteria. Exclusion criteria included (1) reports on atraumatic causes of OCDI and (2) studies with insufficient clinical and radiographic details on individual patients. We identified 16 reports describing a total of 144 patients treated for pediatric traumatic OCDI. Based on the synthesis of these findings and the collective experience of the authors, we present the demographic, clinical, and radiographic factors that underlie OC instability, which we hope will serve as components of a grading system in the future. We considered various clinical and radiographic findings including: (1) the mechanism of injury, (2) the patient's age, (3) CT/CT angiography of head and neck findings and parameters, (4) MRI findings, and (5) neurological exam, for the purpose of determining the severity of the OCDI and offering treatment guidelines based on the summative risk of underlying OC instability. Key Messages: OCDI is a potentially devastating injury, especially in children. Although missing the diagnosis can have potentially catastrophic consequences, reverting to surgical fixation in less severe cases can subject children to unnecessary operative risk and permanently reduce their range of motion. After reviewing all the available reports of pediatric traumatic OCDI in the neurosurgical literature, we propose an outline of clinical and radiographic factors influencing underlying OC instability that could be incorporated into a grading scale to guide treatment. We hope this study stimulates discussion on the standardization of treatment for pediatric OCDI.
Outside the lines: An exploratory study of high school sport head coaches’ critical praxis

Abstract Objectives Though popular views often treat athletics as separate from politics, sport is becoming an increasingly multicultural, socially active context. This reality prompts consideration of what place broader social issues have in youth development through sport. This study serves as an initial exploration of high school sport head coaches’ critical praxis. Design Qualitative study design, informed by a cultural praxis agenda, consisted of semi-structured interviews with 12 head sport coaches from one, suburban and Midwestern, high school community context. Method Reflexive thematic analysis of interviews with coaches involved semantic (surface level) and latent (interpretative) coding (Braun & Clarke, 2019; Braun, Clarke, & Weate, 2016). Results Results highlight three key findings. First, coaches use various strategies to navigate social issues that arise in their work with student-athletes. Second, relevant issues are contextually situated and sport culture specific. Third, latent analyses capture and challenge assumptions that coaches made about coach effectiveness and athlete development and offer preliminary evidence to suggest that coaches’ critical praxis (i.e., awareness and action) varies along a continuum. Conclusion Future research is necessary to more systematically examine how coaches in varied contexts adopt a critical praxis to inform extant coaching approaches that can help coaches engage in a praxis that empowers all student-athletes.
Proof of the Sheldon Conjecture

In [3], the authors introduce the concept of a Sheldon prime, based on a conversation between several characters in the CBS television situation comedy The Big Bang Theory. The authors of [3] leave...
Effects of a Tailored Lighting Intervention on Sleep Quality, Rest–Activity, Mood, and Behavior in Older Adults With Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Study Objectives:We investigated the effectiveness of a lighting intervention tailored to maximally affect the circadian system as a nonpharmacological therapy for treating problems with sleep, moo...
II – Fourier kingdom

Publisher Summary Fourier presented a memoir to the Institut de France in 1807 where he claimed that any periodic function can be represented as a series of harmonically related sinusoids. This idea had a profound impact in mathematical analysis, physics and engineering, but it took one and a half centuries to understand the convergence of Fourier series and complete the theory of Fourier integrals. Fourier was motivated by the study of heat diffusion, which is governed by a linear differential equation. However, the Fourier transform diagonalizes all linear time-invariant operators, which are the building blocks of signal processing. It is, therefore, not only the starting point of our exploration but the basis of all further developments. Two -dimensional Fourier Transform is a straightforward extension of the one-dimensional Fourier transform. The two-dimensional case is briefly reviewed for image processing applications.
Prismatoid light guide array for enhanced gamma ray localization in PET: a Monte Carlo simulation study of scintillation photon transport

High spatial resolution PET relies on having excellent depth-of-interaction (DOI) resolution and small detector elements. Depth-encoding in PET modules has traditionally been performed using dual-ended readout. In recent years, researchers have explored the feasibility of replacing the second readout array with a light guide at the entrance layer that introduces intercrystal light sharing in order to reduce cost and and make depth-encoding modules more compact. However, single-ended readout depth-encoding modules have suboptimal and non-uniform crystal separation and DOI performance due to the random light sharing patterns of the uniform light guide, resulting in degraded peformance along the edges and corners of the detector arrays. In this paper, we introduce and characterize a segmented light guide composed of an array of prism mirrors which introduce deterministic intercrystal light sharing in single-ended readout PET detectors. We determined the expected spatial performance of our modules with our light guide using optical ray tracing Monte Carlo simulations. We demonstrate that having controlled, deterministic light sharing improves both DOI and crystal identification performance, enabling uniform spatial performance throughout the detector array. Designed specifically for high resolution PET, our prismatoid light guide array can be used to build cost-effective total-body and organ-dedicated PET systems with single-ended readout depth-encoding modules.
Real-world experience with implantable loop recorder monitoring to detect subclinical atrial fibrillation in patients with cryptogenic stroke: The value of p wave dispersion in predicting arrhythmia occurrence.

Abstract Purpose We hypothesized patients implanted with ILRs for cryptogenic stroke in “real life” clinical practice will show an AF detection rate comparable to prior clinical studies, and that clinical or imaging features may help to identify those at higher risk of AF detection. Methods A retrospective chart review was conducted of all patients who presented with cryptogenic stroke and received an ILR at an academic medical center from 2015 to 2017 with an active inpatient stroke service. The electronic health record and remote monitoring were used to identify occurrence of AF. Results A total of 178 patients who received ILRs for cryptogenic stroke were included. Overall, after a thorough evaluation for other etiologies of stroke, 35 (19.6%) were found to have AF detected. Mean follow-up was 365 days with a median time to detection of 131 days. Advanced age (p = 0.001), diastolic dysfunction on echo (p = 0.03), as well as ECG findings of premature atrial contractions (PACs) and p wave dispersion (PWD) > 40 ms were found to be predictive of AF detection (p = 0.04, p 40 ms. Conclusion After a thorough evaluation to exclude other etiologies for stroke, approximately 20% of patients of our cryptogenic stroke population were found to have AF with ILR surveillance. Advanced age, diastolic dysfunction, as well as ECG findings of PACs and increased PWD may help to predict those at higher risk of AF detection, while PWD was the only independent predictor. This has important clinical implications, as better prediction of AF may help identify those at highest risk and might subsequently aid in guiding therapy.
Bill Denevan: An Appreciation Introducer: Daniel W. Gade and Kent Mathewson

For more than 60 years, William M. Denevan has put his mind to a range of themes and venues that together constitute a sterling record of scholarly achievement. His thinking crystallized during his student days at the University of California at Berkeley. Especially influential were courses taught by Carl Sauer, James Parsons, and Erhard Rostlund and ideas presented in their published work.
Implicit Attitudes Towards an Authoritarian Regime

This study measures Egyptian citizens’ attitudes towards President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi using a Single Category Implicit Association Test (SCIAT). Roughly 58% of respondents hold positive implicit attitudes towards Sisi, which suggests a deeper reservoir of popular support than is conventionally assumed. The data also allows for an investigation of attitude dissociation, whereby individuals hold distinct implicit and explicit attitudes towards a target object. Government employees and Copts are more likely to hold positive explicit attitudes towards Sisi but negative or neutral implicit attitudes. Students appear to systematically engage in inverse dissociation -- they voice criticism towards Sisi despite holding more positive implicit attitudes. These findings are interpretable using the Associative-Propositional Evaluation model. The paper closes with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the implicit approach relative to other sensitive question techniques.
A Single-Center Analysis of Survival Outcome between Donor after Cardiac Death and Donor after Brain Death

Purpose Donor after cardiac death (DCD) is an organ procurement method that is being increasingly used to expand the current lung donor pool. We hypothesize that in our single-center study, DCD and donor after brain death (DBD) groups would have similar survival rates as found in previous studies. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed at a single center which identified 801 lung transplants completed between March 2012 and September 2020. DCD LTx patients (n=18) were matched by propensity scores with donors after brain death DBD recipients. Propensity scores (PS) were determined using patient age, sex, race diagnosis, BMI, and donor age. PS matching was done by comparing 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 pooled groups (DCD:DBD), and performing either chi-squared or t-tests analyses on each variable before and after matching. Survival outcomes were calculated using Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests. Results Of the 801 LTx patients, mean donor age for DCD lungs was 27.59. The PS matched DBD group did not significantly differ from the DCD group in age (p=0.6339), sex (p=0.401), race (p=0.846), diagnosis (p=0.102), pump use (p=0.867), BMI (p=0.0467) or donor age (p=0.8275). Log-rank testing with Kaplan-Meier curves of pre-PS matching revealed no significant survival difference between DCD and DBD groups (p=0.38). The PS matched data similarly found no significant difference in patient survival (p=0.26) which was consistent across the 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 matched groups. Conclusion Our study found both DBD and DCD donor lungs provide comparable short-term survival outcomes. This is in agreement with previous studies, which argue for the viability of DCD donor lungs and for their use to be expanded.
Patient-Directed Home Drain Removal in Head and Neck Surgery.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of at home drain removal in head and neck surgery patients. METHODS: The study population included patients who underwent head and neck surgery at an academic tertiary care center between February 2020 and November 2020 and were discharged with one to four drains with instructions for home removal. Prior to discharge, patients received thorough drain removal education. Patients were prospectively followed to evaluate for associated outcomes. RESULTS: One hundred patients were evaluated in the study. There was record for ninety-seven patients receiving education at discharge. The most common methods of education were face-to-face education and written instructions with educational video link provided. Of 123 drains upon discharge, 110 drains (89.4%) were removed at home while 13 (10.6%) were removed in office. Most drains were located in the neck (86.4%). There was one seroma, two hematomas, two drain site infections, and five ED visits; however, none of these complications were directly associated with the action of drain removal at home. Calculated cost savings for travel and lost wages was $259.82 per round trip saved. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate that home drain removal can provide a safe and efficacious option for patients following head and neck surgery. This approach was safe and associated with patient cost savings and better utilization of provider's time. Furthermore, patients and healthcare providers avoided additional in-person encounters and exposures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings warrant further investigation into cost savings and formal patient satisfaction associated with home drain removal. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4 Laryngoscope, 2021.
Discrete Tempered Stable Distributions

Discrete tempered stable distributions are a large and flexible class of models for heavy tailed and overdispersed count data. In this paper we derive various properties of these distributions and develop an exact simulation method based on rejection sampling and a compound Poisson representation. We extend this method to exact simulation of the corresponding bilateral distributions and Levy processes.
Social disorganization and new HIV diagnoses, 2013-2017, Florida: Rural-urban differences.

PURPOSE To compare the role of neighborhood social disorganization factors on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnosis rates in urban and rural areas in Florida, we conducted an ecologic study of HIV diagnosis rates during 2013-2017 and social disorganization components, including concentrated disadvantage, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential instability. METHODS Indices of social disorganization components were obtained from principal component analyses of American Community Survey variables for 910 postal codes. Rural/urban classification was based on the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Urban Commuting Area codes. Using multivariable linear regression, the relationship between social disorganization indices and HIV diagnosis rates was assessed. FINDINGS The only social disorganization index that was significantly higher in rural than urban areas was concentrated disadvantage. In rural areas, the concentrated disadvantage index was significantly associated with HIV diagnosis rates (P = .007) when controlling for the other social disorganization factors but was no longer significant after additionally controlling for prevalence of people with an HIV diagnosis who were not virally suppressed. In urban areas, even after controlling for prevalence of people with HIV who were not virally suppressed, lower male-to-female population ratios and higher scores of residential instability, concentrated disadvantage, and LatinX/immigrant density indices were associated with higher HIV diagnosis rates (all P < .01). CONCLUSIONS In addition to improving community levels of viral suppression, the community contextual environment, including the rurality of the environment, needs to be considered in strategies to end the HIV epidemic in the United States.
Frihed og lykke i Rousseaus retfærdiggørelse af staten

Political philosophers tend to think that Rousseau is significant because his contractarianism anticipates Kant. However, reading Rousseau in this way requires us to ignore his frequent and emphatic appeals to the role of happiness as collective flourishing ( eudaimonia ) in establishing the rational authority of justice. I offer a reading of Rousseau’s political theory which accounts for this eudaimonistic aspect of his thought. I argue that for Rousseau, as for Kant, obligations are structured by the autonomous willing of agents who bind themselves by the norms of reason alone. But unlike Kant, Rousseau thinks that such formal considerations of rational autonomy provide necessary but not sufficient reasons for fulfilling our duties to one another. This is because the ultimate reason for valuing individual autonomy is that it enables the flourishing of individuals insofar as they are members of a just political community.
The Ultrastructure of a Fibrillar Formation of Leukemic Human Blood

A previously unsuspected cytoplasmic organoid, fibrillar in nature, was discovered by Bessis and Breton-Gorius. This structure exhibits a very high degree of structural organization, and appears as a barrel-shaped fibrillar formation, opened at both ends and enclosing an associated granular component within. Comparable fibrillar formations are rarely found in normal cells, even in the simplest form of a few closely packed fibrils. In its highest degree of structural organization, the whorl, the fibrillar formation has been found only in the blast or promyelocytes stages. Although the overall dimensions of this structure are well within the resolving limits of the light microscope, it is not visible in fresh, Wright stained or Giemsa stained preparations.
We will get by with a little help from our “Friends”

Purpose – The purpose of this column is to address how one academic library is surviving budgets cuts with assistance from a Friends group. Design/methodology/approach – This is a viewpoint column Findings – If your library is facing a substantial budget cut this year, approaching your Friends group for assistance is a worthwhile endeavor. Originality/value – The paper describes how a strong connection of the Scarborough Society with the Shepherd University Foundation has created a unique and successful Friends group.
The association of robotic surgical technology and hospital prostatectomy volumes: increasing market share through the adoption of technology.

BACKGROUND: Despite limited and conflicting evidence for the efficacy of newly developed robotic technology for laparoscopic prostatectomy, this technology is spreading rapidly. Because the newer technology is more costly, reasons for this rapid adoption are unclear. The authors of this report sought to determine whether hospital acquisition of robotic technology was associated with volume of prostate cancer surgery. METHODS: The inpatient dataset of claims records from 2002 to 2008 and the acquisition dates of robotic technology were used to examine the rates of prostatectomy in Wisconsin hospitals. In analyses that accounted for hospital and referral region characteristics, changes in hospital prostatectomy volume were examined for their association with technology acquisition. Overall trends in the rate of prostatectomy also were examined over the study period. RESULTS: In total, 10,021 prostatectomies were performed in 52 hospitals in Wisconsin's 8 health referral regions during the study period. The mean quarterly prostatectomy volume in hospitals that did not acquire the technology was 4.5 in 2002 and 3.1 in 2007/2008. In contrast, the mean quarterly prostatectomy volume in hospitals that went on to acquire robotic technology was 16.5 in 2002 and 24.8 in 2007/2008. In adjusted models, the acquisition of a robot was associated with a 114% annual increase (95% confidence interval, 62%-177% annual increase) in hospital prostatectomy volume. The average Wisconsin hospital prostatectomy volume was unchanged during 2002 through 2006 but increased by 25.6% in 2007. CONCLUSIONS: Robotic technology acquisition occurred rapidly in Wisconsin hospitals, and hospitals that acquired a robot had large increases in prostatectomy volume. Cancer 2011;. © 2011 American Cancer Society.
Translation Initiation at Non-Aug Triplets in Mammalian Cells

In a previous report it was shown that mammalian ribosomes were capable of initiating translation at a non-AUG triplet when the initiation codon of mouse dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) was mutated to ACG (Peabody, D.S. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 11847-11851). In order to assess the capacity of the mammalian translation apparatus to initiate at other non-AUG triplets, the initiator AUG of dihydrofolate reductase was converted to GUG, UUG, CUG, AGG, AAG, AUA, AUC, and AUU. These represent (with ACG) all the possible triplets that differ from AUG by only one nucleotide. The ability of each mutant to produce dihydrofolate reductase was assessed by in vitro transcription/translation of the mutant dhfr sequences under control of the bacteriophage SP6 promoter. Each of the triplets (with the exceptions of AGG and AAG) was able to direct the synthesis of apparently normal dihydrofolate reductase. Incorporation of [35S]tRNAifMet into the products of in vitro translation indicates that in each case the non-AUG triplet is able to direct initiation of the polypeptide chain with methionine. The mutant dhfr sequences were also inserted into the mammalian expression vector SVGT5 for expression in cultured monkey cells. The hierarchy of relative translation efficiencies was similar in vivo and in vitro.