cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Monte Carlo simulation for coherent backscattering with diverging illumination(Conference Presentation)

Diverging beam illumination is widely used in many optical techniques especially in fiber optic applications and coherence phenomenon is one of the most important properties to consider for these applications. Until now, people have used Monte Carlo simulations to study the backscattering coherence phenomenon in collimated beam illumination only. We are the first one to study the coherence phenomenon under the exact diverging beam geometry by taking into account the impossibility of the existence for the exact time-reversed path pairs of photons, which is the main contribution to the backscattering coherence pattern in collimated beam. In this work, we present a Monte Carlo simulation that considers the influence of the illumination numerical aperture. The simulation tracks the electric field for the unique paths of forward path and reverse path in time-reversed pairs of photons as well as the same path shared by them. With this approach, we can model the coherence pattern formed between the pairs by considering their phase difference at the collection plane directly. To validate this model, we use the Low-coherence Enhanced Backscattering Spectroscopy, one of the instruments looking at the coherence pattern using diverging beam illumination, as the benchmark to compare with. In the end, we show how this diverging configuration would significantly change the coherent pattern under coherent light source and incoherent light source. This Monte Carlo model we developed can be used to study the backscattering phenomenon in both coherence and non-coherence situation with both collimated beam and diverging beam setups.
A microphysiological model of the human placental barrier

During human pregnancy, the fetal circulation is separated from maternal blood in the placenta by two cell layers – the fetal capillary endothelium and placental trophoblast. This placental barrier plays an essential role in fetal development and health by tightly regulating the exchange of endogenous and exogenous materials between the mother and the fetus. Here we present a microengineered device that provides a novel platform to mimic the structural and functional complexity of this specialized tissue in vitro. Our model is created in a multilayered microfluidic system that enables co-culture of human trophoblast cells and human fetal endothelial cells in a physiologically relevant spatial arrangement to replicate the characteristic architecture of the human placental barrier. We have engineered this co-culture model to induce progressive fusion of trophoblast cells and to form a syncytialized epithelium that resembles the syncytiotrophoblast in vivo. Our system also allows the cultured trophoblasts to form dense microvilli under dynamic flow conditions and to reconstitute expression and physiological localization of membrane transport proteins, such as glucose transporters (GLUTs), critical to the barrier function of the placenta. To provide a proof-of-principle for using this microdevice to recapitulate native function of the placental barrier, we demonstrated physiological transport of glucose across the microengineered maternal–fetal interface. Importantly, the rate of maternal-to-fetal glucose transfer in this system closely approximated that measured in ex vivo perfused human placentas. Our “placenta-on-a-chip” platform represents an important advance in the development of new technologies to model and study the physiological complexity of the human placenta for a wide variety of applications.
Exercise in the treatment of claudication: assessment and treatment of functional impairment.

Claudication is an important cause of impaired exercise capacity, which limits a patient's ability to walk and thus to meet the personal, social and occupational demands of daily life. Given that improvement of the walking impairment is the primary goal of treating claudication, exercise performance and functional status of patients with claudication should be measured before and after any intervention. Assessment of functional status in both the laboratory and community settings is important so that the various treatments can be judged as to relative efficacy. Studies have shown that exercise training programs have a clinically important impact on functional capacity in persons with claudication. A meta-analysis showed that pain-free walking time increased 180% and maximal walking time increased 120% in claudicants who participated in an exercise program. Substantial improvements have been found in walking speeds and distances (65% and 44%, respectively), caloric expenditure (31%) and physical functionin...
Diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis and exocrine insufficiency.

The diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis in a patient with recurrent abdominal pain can be made only by direct intubation tests, which are difficult to perform and uncomfortable for the patient. However, it is much easier to establish the diagnosis of pancreatic insufficiency—severe disease of the organ. A group of inexpensive and noninvasive tests can be performed in the office or clinic.
Fast unit-modulus least squares with applications in transmit beamforming

This paper considers the Unit-modulus Least Squares (ULS) problem, which is commonly seen in signal processing applications, e.g., phase-only beamforming, phase retrieval and radar code design. ULS formulations are easily reformulated as Unit-modulus Quadratic Programs (UQPs), to which Semi-Definite Relaxation (SDR) can be applied, and is often the state-of-the-art approach. SDR has the drawback of squaring the number of variables, which lifts the problem to much higher dimension and renders SDR ill-suited for large-scale ULS/UQP. In this work, we propose first-order algorithms that meet or exceed SDR performance in terms of (approximately) solving ULS problems, and also exhibit much more favorable runtime performance relative to SDR. We specialize to phase-only beamformer design, which entails additional degrees of freedom that we point out and exploit in two custom algorithms that build upon the general first-order algorithm for ULS/UQP. Simulations are used to showcase the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.
When experiment and energy conservation collide: video analysis of an unrolling mat

A mat consisting of round bamboo rods connected by strings perpendicular to their axes unrolls without slipping on a horizontal table. Video analysis is used to measure the position of the centre of the remaining roll as a function of time. It is found to accelerate with time due to the 'rocket effect' of the roll ejecting rods backward relative to itself. Mechanical energy is not conserved because of the inelastic collisions of the rods with the table. The fitted coefficient of restitution (COR) is 0.59 ± 0.04 which is consistent with known values for wood on wood. In support of this explanation, progressively smaller values of the COR are found when the mat is unrolled on a flat woven rug and on a shock-absorbing pad. The level of analysis is appropriate to an undergraduate course in physical mechanics.
Enabling query processing across heterogeneous data models: A survey

Modern applications often need to manage and analyze widely diverse datasets that span multiple data models [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. Warehousing the data through Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) processes can be expensive in such scenarios. Transforming disparate data into a single data model may degrade performance. Further, curating diverse datasets and maintaining the pipeline can prove to be labor intensive. As a result, an emerging trend is to shift the focus to federating specialized data stores and enabling query processing across heterogeneous data models [6]. This shift can bring many advantages: First, systems can natively leverage multiple data models, which can translate to maximizing the semantic expressiveness of underlying interfaces and leveraging the internal processing capabilities of component data stores. Second, federated architectures support query-specific data integration with just-in-time transformation and migration, which has the potential to significantly reduce the operational complexity and overhead. Projects that focus on developing systems in this research area stem from various backgrounds and address diverse concerns, which could make it difficult to form a consistent view of the work in this area. In this survey, we introduce a taxonomy for describing the state of the art and propose a systematic evaluation framework conducive to understanding of query-processing characteristics in the relevant systems. We use the framework to assess four representative implementations: BigDAWG [7], [8], CloudMdsQL [9], [10], Myria [11], [12], and Apache Drill [13].
SMART Cancer Navigator: A Framework for Implementing ASCO Workshop Recommendations to Enable Precision Cancer Medicine

PurposeData standards and interoperability are critical for improving care for patients with cancer. Recent efforts by ASCO include the Data Standards and Interoperability Summit in 2016, which led to the Omics and Precision Oncology and Advancing Interoperability workshops. To facilitate improved patient care, several recommendations for data sharing and standardization were made to the community.MethodsTo address these recommendations, we developed SMART Cancer Navigator, a Web application that uses application programming interfaces to gather clinical and genomic data from 11 public knowledge bases ranging from basic to clinical content coverage; three (CIViC, ClinVar, and OncoKB) explicitly linked genomic variants to clinical factors such as prognosis and treatment selection. We illustrated the utility of this application by selecting one of the monthly case studies presented by the ASCO University Molecular Oncology Tumor Board: Ovarian Cancer (BRCA Mutation). We also performed analyses on informatio...
Imaging Intermolecular Exciton Coupling in Metal-Free Phthalocyanine Nanofilms Using Tip-Enhanced Near-Field Optical Microscopy

Spatially correlated topography, fluorescence, and Raman scattering signals of metal-free phthalocyanine (H2Pc) nanofilms were imaged using confocal and tip-enhanced (fluorescence and Raman) near-field optical microscopy at lateral spatial resolutions of 500 nm and ∼25 nm, respectively. The far-field fluorescence intensity was found to vary inversely with film thickness up to 10 nm, with the strongest emission coming from isolated H2Pc molecules on samples with submonolayer coverage. Changes in the fluorescence energy distribution were imaged and were consistent with exciton coupling predictions for H2Pc molecules lying edge-to-edge on the surface. Thicker H2Pc films (>10 nm) were found to consist entirely of nonfluorescing aggregates and crystal domains. Tip-enhanced near-field measurements were carried out with W and Au (plasmonic) tips to investigate the local optical properties of H2Pc films and nanostructures. In general, fluorescence increased by a factor of 2–3× compared to the far-field when the t...
Assesment of Single-Dipole and Dual-Dipole Inverse Solutions in Electrocardiography

In this study, we closely examined the performance of a well-known inverse solution in terms of equivalent dipole source model. To simulate potential distribution on the “body surface”, we employed an analytical model of a single current dipole (or a pair of current dipoles) placed within the homogeneous isotropic volume conductor consisting of two non-concentric spheres. Using these data, we evaluated the accuracy of recovering both location and orientation of the single or dual dipole sources. In total, we examined 24 different dipole locations and found that the location of both fitted single current dipoles and dual current dipoles virtually coincided with the original source for high S/N ratios. While our results corroborate findings obtained with more complex geometry, our tool provides an efficient and analytical means in assessing electrocardiographic inverse solutions.
Radiologic Imaging Techniques in Cushing’s Disease

Neuroimaging studies play a central role in the clinical diagnosis and management of patients with Cushing’s disease. Modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and positron emission tomography (PET) are available to identify the presence of a pituitary lesion, which in turn allows for surgical treatment of this condition. All of these techniques have different strengths and weaknesses and can serve complementary roles in the evaluation of pituitary pathology in patients with Cushing’s disease. However, despite advances in diagnostic imaging, there are still some patients in whom a structural abnormality cannot be identified. This chapter aims to give the reader a practical but thorough overview of the imaging techniques available for the diagnosis of Cushing’s disease, including their advantages and limitations.
The older lesbian

This research uncovers a pattern of support and the existence of a relationship network that runs strongly counter to the stereotyped view that lesbians in later life find themselves friendless and without support. The hypothesis that the older lesbian has developed friendship networks to replace missing or weak kin ties is substantiated. The findings are based on 20 in-depth, structured interviews with lesbians whose ages range from 50 to 73.
LIF measurements of concentration profiles in the aqueous mass boundary layer

A laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) technique is described to measure vertical concentration profiles of gases in the aqueous mass boundary layer at a free water surface. The technique uses an acid-base reaction of the fluorescence indicator fluorescein at the water surface to visualize the concentration profiles. The technique is capable of measuring two-dimensional vertical concentration profiles at a rate of 200 frames/s and a spatial resolution of 16 μm. The mass boundary layer at a free surface is characterized by significant fluctuations. Direct surface renewal is observed. The mean profiles also support rather surface renewal models than turbulent diffusion models.
Parental Perspectives on Diagnosis and Prognosis of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Graduates with Cerebral Palsy.

Objectives To describe how parents of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) graduates with cerebral palsy (CP) perceive both the accuracy of prognoses provided in the NICU and the timing of their child's diagnosis of CP, and to assess the influence of functional outcome on these perceptions. Study design We surveyed parents of NICU graduates with CP about timing and benefit of diagnosis, accuracy of prognosis, and functional abilities of their children. After piloting and validation, CP parent support groups circulated the survey on social media, websites, and email lists. Bivariate relationships between categorical responses to survey questions were assessed with the χ2 test, and multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify independent factors associated with perceptions about the timing of diagnosis. Results Parents of 463 children were included. Two-thirds (67%) of the children were diagnosed with CP before age 2 years, yet 40% of the respondents felt that diagnosis was made late, and only 11% categorized diagnosis as early. More than one-half (59%) perceived a benefit to diagnosis. There was a significant association between earlier age at diagnosis and greater functional limitations; 24% of parents who recalled being given a prognosis reported that their child functioned as predicted, and 46% reported that their child exceeded expectations. Parents were more likely to believe that children with fewer functional limitations had exceeded expectations. Conclusion Parents remember prognostic discussions about children who develop CP as underestimating functional outcome. Diagnosis is rarely seen as early and is associated with benefits. These observations suggest that clinicians should aim to diagnose CP early and to maintain guarded optimism about future outcomes. Tools for improved communication are urgently needed.
A DIRECT COMPARISON OF THE ATA AND TI-RADS ULTRASOUND SCORING SYSTEMS

Objective: This study compares the American Thyroid Association (ATA) classification system with the 2017 American College of Radiology (ACR) Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) for predicting cancer risk in thyroid nodules. Methods: This is a retrospective review of ultrasound imaging of all adult patients with thyroid nodules >5 mm who underwent thyroidectomy at a tertiary care hospital in 2016. We assessed the ability of either system to predict malignancy based on surgical histopathology. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive values (NPV) and positive predictive values (PPV), and area-under-the-curve (AUC) were calculated and compared using McNemar's, Fisher exact, or DeLong's tests. Results: Three hundred and twenty-three nodules from 213 adults were included. Median patient age was 55 years; 75.6% were female. 27.2% nodules were malignant. Both ATA and ACR TI-RADS provide effective diagnostic performance, a sensitivity of 77.3% versus 78.4%, respectively, a specificity of 76.6% versus 73.2%, respectively, a PPV of 55.3% versus 52.3%, respectively, and a NPV of 90% for both. The level of agreement between the two classification systems was almost perfect (weighted Kappa statistic = 0.93, AUC 0.77 ATA versus 0.76 TI-RADS [P = .18]). However, of the 40 (TI-RADS level 3) TR3 nodules (<2.5 cm), 10% were malignant, and of the 31 (TI-RADS level 4) TR4 nodules (<1.5 cm), 38% were malignant. Conclusion: The ATA and TI-RADS classification systems appear to have similar diagnostic value for predicting thyroid cancer. However, subanalysis of TR3 and TR4 nodules with consideration of size criteria showed that there is a higher risk of missing a malignancy if the ACR TI-RADS recommendation is followed. These results should be validated in a different patient cohort with a lower incidence of cancer. Abbreviations: ACR = American College of Radiology; ATA = American Thyroid Association; FNA = Fine Needle Aspiration; κ = weighted Kappa statistic; NPV = negative predictive values; PPV = positive predictive values; TI-RADS = Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System; TR1 = TI-RADS level 1; TR2 = TI-RADS level 2; TR3 = TI-RADS level 3; TR4 = TI-RADS level 4; TR5 = TI-RADS level 5.
Our wildest imagination: violence, narrative, and sympathetic identification

ABSTRACTAt this polarizing moment in American politics identifying with the experiences of others feels especially difficult, but it is vital for sharing a world in common. Scholars in a variety of disciplines have argued that narratives, and especially literary ones, can help us cultivate this capacity by soliciting sympathetic identification with particular characters. In doing so, narratives can help us to be more ethically and political responsive to other human beings. This is a limited view of the potential for narratives to solicit sympathetic identification, and it prevents us from identifying and grappling with our resistances to identifying with others. In this article I propose a more expansive view – inspired by Elizabeth Costello, a character in JM Coetzee’s novel of the same name – that there are no bounds to our capacities for sympathetic identification. Through critical readings of Waiting for the Barbarians and Animal Farm I explore the possibility that we might identify with people who c...
Open pond systems for microalgal culture

Abstract Open ponds are the most widely used systems for commercial cultivation of microalgae because they are considered more energy-efficient and require less investment for construction and operation than closed reactors. However, there are challenges regarding the use of these systems for the production of biofuels from microalgal biomass. As a strategy to make it viable, this process has been investigated via the implantation of microalgal biorefineries associated with the CO2 fixation from combustion gases, wastewater treatment, and recycling of nutrients. Studies that contribute to the knowledge about open systems and about strategies for the development of sustainable and economically viable processes are increasingly necessary. Thus, the goal of this chapter is to describe the primary open ponds configurations, their application in microalgal cultivation for biofuel production and cost-effective strategies of biomass production in these systems.
The Use of the English Progressive Form in Discourse: An Analysis of a Corpus of Interview Data

The form and meaning of the English progressive have received a great deal of attention in linguistic and corpus-linguistic literature. The pragmatic/discourse uses of the progressive, however, are much less comprehensively understood from a corpus-linguistic perspective, largely because of the limitations of machine reading of discourse contexts. This paper uses a corpus-linguistic approach to categorizing and counting the distributions of some pragmatic functions for the English present and past progressive, replicating some, but challenging other, results of prior analyses of the progressive. Specifically, we address the use of the progressive in prompt/response sequences, in referring to co-text and its extent of agreement or disagreement with that co-text, in providing narrative background, and in interpreting prior discourse. We also provide several semantic features summarized through the corpus. The analyzed data comes from a corpus of 12.2 million words of spoken data—interviews from U.S. television and radio programs—and are selected via a systematic method. We finally discuss pedagogical and other implications.
Drone-Assisted Multi-Purpose Roadside Units for Intelligent Transportation Systems

As drones are becoming prevalent to be deployed in various civic applications, there is a need to integrate them into efficient and secure communications with the existing infrastructure. In this paper, considering emergency scenarios for intelligent transportation applications, we design a secure hybrid communication infrastructure for mobile road-side units (RSUs) that are based on drones. The architecture tackles interoperability issues when Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), wireless mesh, and LTE need to coexist for coordination. Specifically, we propose a novel tunneling protocol to integrate LTE with IEEE 802.11s mesh network. In addition, we ensure that only legitimate users can connect and control the mobile RSUs by integrating an authentication framework built on top of the recent OAuth 2.0 standard. A detailed communication protocol is proposed within the elements of the architecture from vehicles to control center for emergency operations. The proposed secure architecture is implemented in ns-3 and tested for its performance under heavy multimedia traffic. The results indicate that the proposed hybrid architecture can enable smooth multimedia traffic delivery via the mobile RSU.
Prevalence of a vertically transmitted single-stranded DNA virus in spinybacked orbweavers (Gasteracantha cancriformis) from Florida, USA.

Spiders (order Araneae, class Arachnida) are an important group of predatory arthropods in terrestrial ecosystems that have been recently identified as an untapped reservoir of single-stranded (ss)DNA viruses. Specifically, spiders harbour a diversity of ssDNA viruses encoding a replication-associated protein (Rep) within a circular genome. However, little is known about the ecology of novel circular Rep-encoding ssDNA (CRESS DNA) viruses. Here we investigated two CRESS DNA viruses recently identified in spinybacked orbweavers (Gasteracantha cancriformis), namely spinybacked orbweaver circular virus (SpOrbCV) 1 and 2. SpOrbCV-1 was detected in the majority (> 65 %) of spider specimens from all life stages, including eggs, spiderlings and adults, demonstrating that this virus is active within spinybacked orbweavers. In contrast, SpOrbCV-2 was only detected in adults at a lower (36 %) prevalence. Since we also detected SpOrbCV-2 in other spider species and this virus has been reported from a dragonfly, we suggest that SpOrbCV-2 is accumulated in these predators through common insect prey. The prevalence of SpOrbCV-1 in collected specimens allowed us to design assays to characterize this virus, which represents a new group of CRESS DNA viruses, the ‘circularisviruses’. To our knowledge, SpOrbCV-1 is the first example of a vertically transmitted virus in spiders, which may explain its high prevalence in spinybacked orbweavers. Since vertically transmitted viruses infecting insects (class Insecta) can manipulate their host’s behaviour and physiology, future studies should investigate the ecological role of vertically transmitted viruses in spiders.
Preparation to Use Technology in the Classroom: Opinions by Recent Graduates.

This article reports on the results of a survey completed by 135 Iowa teachers who had recently graduated from a large midwestern university. The findings indicate that the respondents believed tha...
Treatment and therapeutic agents and vaccines

Abstract Dengue viral illness is a mosquito borne viral illness caused by a flavivirus and transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. The mainstay of management for Dengue viral illness is supportive care. Fluid replacement is administered in the form of crystalloid and colloid solutions. The therapy is titrated based on the hematocrit and clinical status of the patient. The World Health Organization has divided the therapy management based into three groups to guide therapy.
Understanding Bullying, Victimization, and Bystander Behaviors Through Resource Control Theory

Resource control theory posits that individuals may utilize prosocial and/or coercive strategies to access social resources. Resource control theory has utility for understanding adolescents’ engagement in bullying role behaviors. The current study examined direct associations between bullying role behaviors (i.e., bullying, victimization, assisting, defending, and outsider behavior) and resource control strategies (i.e., prosocial and coercive resource control), as well as differences in bullying behaviors among groups of resource controllers identified through latent profile analysis (LPA). In a sample of 6th–8th grade students (N = 680; 44% female) via self-report, bullying role behaviors were assessed using the Bullying Participant Behaviors Questionnaire and resource control strategies were assessed using the Resource Control Strategies Inventory. Prosocial resource control was positively associated with defending behavior, and coercive resource control was positively associated with bullying and defending. The current study validated the use of LPA for grouping adolescents based on their use of resource control strategies, although the emergent groups differed slightly from the traditional approach. Findings suggest an absence of a purely coercive resource control group as posited by resource control theory. Advanced understanding of social behaviors, including the use of resource control strategies, leads to a more comprehensive approach to preventing bullying and victimization in schools.
Computer Vision–Based Human Comfort Assessment of Stadiums

AbstractIn this article, a new measurement method for human comfort assessment levels for stadiums is proposed and demonstrated. The method is based on a specific computer vision and image processi...
Angular Vessels for Free-Tissue Transfer in Head and Neck Reconstruction: Clinical Outcomes.

Objectives/hypothesis To evaluate the efficacy and reconstructive applications of angular vessel microvascular anastomosis in free-tissue transfer. Study design Retrospective cohort study. Methods A study of patients treated from January 2010 to July 2017 was performed. Four hundred thirty patients undergoing free-tissue transfer at the Cleveland Clinic by a single reconstructive surgeon were reviewed. Patients in whom free-tissue transfer was performed using angular vessels were included. Patients in whom free-tissue transfer was performed using another vascular supply of the head and neck were excluded. Primary outcome was free-flap failure. Secondary outcomes included other postoperative complications and hospital length of stay. Results Thirty-one patients underwent free-tissue transfer with microvascular anastomosis to the angular vessels during the study period. Seventy-one percent of patients underwent reconstruction immediately following tumor ablation. A variety of primary subsites were reconstructed; 58% underwent nasal reconstruction, 16% orbit/skull base reconstruction, 13% palatal reconstruction, 6% maxillary reconstruction, and 6% mandible reconstruction. Eighty-seven percent of patients underwent free-tissue transfer from an anterolateral thigh donor site. Ninety-seven percent of patients had successful free-tissue transfer with a viable flap during the follow-up period; only one patient experienced flap failure attributed to vascular insufficiency. Average length of stay was 4.7 days, and the most common length of stay was 3 days. Conclusions The angular vessels provide excellent arterial supply and venous drainage to serve as a viable option for microvascular anastomosis during free-tissue transfer for head and neck reconstructive surgery. They are an ideal vascular source for central face and skull base reconstruction. Level of evidence NA Laryngoscope, 130:2589-2592, 2020.
Isolated Voice Tremor: A Clinical Variant of Essential Tremor or a Distinct Clinical Phenotype?

Background: The consensus statement by the Task Force on Tremor of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society excludes individuals with “isolated voice tremor” as a clinical variant of essential tremor (ET). This clinical viewpoint presents a rationale for reconsideration of “isolated voice tremor” as a clinical variant of ET. Methods: Evidence from the literature was extracted to characterize the clinical phenotype of “isolated voice tremor,” or essential vocal tremor (EVT). Clinical features were extracted from relevant literature available at pubmed.gov using the terms “EVT,” “essential voice tremor,” “primary voice tremor,” and “organic voice tremor.” Results: The average age of onset in those with EVT was older than 60 years (range 19–84 years), with 75–93% being female. The typical duration of vocal tremor ranged from 1 to 13 years (average 6 years). The distribution of structures exhibiting tremor included the larynx, soft palate, pharynx, and base of tongue in the majority of patients, with some exhibiting tremor of the head and respiratory musculature. The condition of tremor occurred during speech and quiet respiration in 74% of individuals. Rate of tremor ranged from 4 to 10 Hz. Nearly 70% reported onset of vocal tremor prior to upper limb involvement. Family history of tremor was reported in 38–42% of individuals. Discussion: Those previously classified with EVT demonstrate a similar familial history, rate, tremor classification, and body distribution of ET. EVT is proposed as a clinical variant of ET in the pattern of onset and progression of body distribution from the midline cranial to spinal neural pathways.
PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF THE RELATIVE PULMONARY PRESSURE RATIO AND ITS TRAJECTORY IN PATIENTS WITH PULMONARY ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION

Pulmonary hemodynamics has been frequently associated with outcome in pulmonary arterial hypertension. The relative pulmonary to systemic pressure ratio (mean pulmonary arterial pressure/mean arterial pressure MPAP/MAP) has been proven to be valuable in cardiac surgery but little is known on the
A unifying perspective on linear continuum equations prevalent in science. Part III: Canonical forms for dynamic equations with moduli that may, or may not, vary with time

Enlarging on Parts I and II we write more equations in the desired format of the extended abstract theory of composites. We focus on a multitude of full dynamic equations, including equations where the medium is moving or otherwise changing in time. The motivation is that results and methods in the theory of composites then extend to these equations.
Multiplexed Enzyme Activity-Based Probe Display via Hybridization

Emulsions offer the means to miniaturize and parallelize high-throughput screening but require a robust method to localize activity-based fluorescent probes in each droplet. Multiplexing probes in droplets is impractical, though highly desirable for identifying library members that possess very specific activity. Here, we present multiplexed probe immobilization on library beads for emulsion screening. During library bead preparation, we quantitated ∼106 primers per bead by fluorescence in situ hybridization, however emulsion PCR yielded only ∼103 gene copies per bead. We leveraged the unextended bead-bound primers to hybridize complementary probe-oligonucleotide heteroconjugates to the library beads. The probe-hybridized bead libraries were then used to program emulsion in vitro transcription/translation reactions and analyzed by FACS to perform multiplexed activity-based screening of trypsin and chymotrypsin mutant libraries for novel proteolytic specificity. The approach's modularity should permit a high degree of probe multiplexing and appears extensible to other enzyme classes and library types.
A Comparison Study-Oral Patient-Controlled Analgesia Versus Traditional Delivery of Pain Medication Following Orthopaedic Procedures.

BACKGROUND Orthopedic surgical patients have reported significantly lower numeric pain scores using a Wi-Fi oral patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) device compared to patients receiving oral as-needed (PRN) medication by manual administration. More than 90% of nurses using the oral PCA device have agreed that the device saved them time. The manual administration of PRN pain medication is frequently delayed and consumes a significant amount of nursing time. Delays in PRN pain medication delivery have been classed as missed nursing care, called an error of omission. PURPOSE The purpose of this timing study was to examine if the use of the oral PCA device would reduce the nursing time to accomplish the delivery of PRN oral pain medication compared to the manual administration by nursing staff. METHODS Each total task for the manual and device administration of a single PRN delivery of an oral pain medication was divided into subtasks. Personal data assistant (PDA) devices were programmed to enable the collection of timing data for each subtask for both methods. RESULTS The manual administration time was 12.7 minutes per single dose beginning with the patient medication request and ending with pain reassessment. The oral PCA device steps to program the device, deliver one of eight doses of medication, and discharge the patient from the device required 2.06 minutes of nursing time. Reloading an additional eight-dose tray required 40 seconds of nursing time per dose of medication administered. CONCLUSION The oral PCA saved 84% of the nursing time to administer each dose of PRN medication manually. These data provide evidence that the oral PCA device would reduce the nursing time to deliver a single dose of PRN oral pain medication.
"A design framework for enhancing engagement in student-centered learning: own it, learn it, and share it" by Lee and Hannafin (2016): an international perspective.

This commentary is written in response to the manuscript entitled “A design framework for enhancing engagement in student-centered learning: own it, learn it, and share it” (Lee and Hannafin in 64: 707–734, 2016) and offers an international perspective. To enhance student engagement in student-centered classrooms, Lee and Hannafin (64: 707–734, 2016) argue that learners need to be empowered with autonomy, scaffolding, and authentic audiences, manifested in an “own it, learn it, share it” design framework. This commentary examines how each of these frameworks might be implemented with the “shift to digital” learning, and considers how these guidelines might be adopted in international contexts. While owning, learning, and sharing are principles that can be appreciated by systems of education around the globe, the very definitions and understandings of owning, learning, and sharing knowledge need to be carefully considered in light of cultural differences. The commentary concludes with a call for future research to closely examine what student-centered learning in online environments might look like in different contexts.
Contracting for perennial energy crops and the cost-effectiveness of the Biomass Crop Assistance Program

Abstract Using a framework that meshes mechanism design theory and real options analysis, we recover the contract terms that a biomass processing plant would offer a farmer to induce conversion of land to perennial energy crops. We consider three contract terms: performance payment (price per dry ton of biomass), establishment payment (one-time payment per acre planted), and acreage payment (annual payment per acre planted). We find that, in equilibrium, the contract signed by farmers and buyers of Miscanthus (the perennial energy crop of choice in our analysis) uses a combination of all three payments. Conditional on the equilibrium contract, we show how changes in the structure of the Biomass Crop Assistance Program affect cost and risk along the vertical supply chain. Our analysis reveals that subsidies to both establishment and acreage payments are equally cost-effective in reducing production cost of cellulosic biofuels. However, establishment subsidies are more effective at reducing risk for the buyer and, therefore, dominate acreage subsidies from a risk-adjusted cost-effectiveness criterion. This suggests that a larger share of the Biomass Crop Assistance Program budget should be allocated to establishment subsidies to the detriment of matching payments (subsidies to performance payments) and maintenance payments (subsidies to acreage payments).
INR Response to Low-Dose Vitamin K in Warfarin Patients

BackgroundLiterature suggests that 2 mg of vitamin K intravenously (IV) provides a similar effect as 10 mg to reverse warfarin. Doses <5 mg haven’t been studied in depth.ObjectiveThe objective was ...
High accuracy spectroscopic parameters of the 1.27 µm band of O2 measured with comb-referenced, cavity ring-down spectroscopy

Abstract We present broadband spectroscopic parameters in the a 1 Δ g − X 3 Σ g − (0,0) band of 16O2 centered near 1.27 µm. High-fidelity absorption spectra were acquired on room-temperature air samples over the pressure range of 3.3 kPa to 100 kPa using a length-stabilized cavity ring-down spectrometer, with spectrum frequencies linked to a Cs clock via an optical frequency comb. Parameters were determined by multi-spectrum fitting of advanced line profiles to the measured spectra. This analysis yielded line intensities, positions, collisional broadening and shifting coefficients, Dicke narrowing and speed dependent line shape parameters, first-order line mixing coefficients, and O2-air binary absorption coefficients for collision-induced absorption. We report relative standard uncertainties in the line intensities and broadening coefficients of 0.16 % and 0.05 %, respectively, and line position uncertainties of 60 kHz (2 × 10−6 cm−1). Our analysis reveals strong numerical correlation in fits of the Dicke narrowing and speed dependent widths and shows that inclusion of a recently proposed modification to the Hartmann Tran line profile can increase fitted Dicke narrowing frequencies by as much as 50 %.
Response of the Fetus to Infection

My presentation on this subject is drawn from the current veterinary literature, as well as my own research. The papers that you've heard so far today regard the beginning and the end of pregnancy. I want to talk about pregnancy itself, but everything has to have a beginning. I will talk about some of the responses of the individual fetus, but somewhere along the line these responses have to begin. Do we talk about the individual as beginning its life at birth or at fertilization or maybe even going back a little further to the proverbial gleam in the father's eye? The interesting thing about this is that up until a few years ago we thought about the individual's life beginning at birth but we now know that most of the reactions that we see in animals-inflammation, resistance to disease, immune reaction-all begin during uterine life, and as we continue to study this I am amazed at how young the fetus is when we first see some of these reactions. Most of what we are talking about are protective mechanisms, but some are transitory responses that are unusual because of unusual results that occur. I will just take a moment or two to cover these.
Is Weekend Presentation Associated With Odontogenic Infection Severity

Purpose Many dental infections that otherwise could be treated in-office are directly referred to emergency departments (ED) outside of normal business hours. This study sought to determine if odontogenic infections presenting to EDs were less severe on the weekends. Materials and Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of the 2014 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample. All patients with the primary diagnosis of an oral soft tissue infection were included in the study sample. The primary study predictor was day of presentation. The study outcome was inpatient admission from the ED. A multivariate regression model was created for ED admission rate to identify independent predictors. Results A total of 6,560 records were included in the final sample. Overall, 34.8% of encounters occurred on the weekend, and these patients were more likely to have private insurance and reside in higher income locations. The unadjusted ED admission rate (9.4 vs 13.4%, P Conclusions Weekend odontogenic infections were less severe than those presenting on the weekdays. Off-hour dental emergencies remain a potential source of ED waste and should be scrutinized in any reforms seeking to reduce unnecessary emergency room encounters.
Techniques for Scheduling with Rejection

We consider the general problem of scheduling a set of jobs where we may choose not to schedule certain jobs, and thereby incur a penalty for each rejected job. More specifically, we focus on choosing a set of jobs to reject and constructing a schedule for the remaining jobs so as to optimize the sum of the weighted completion times of the jobs scheduled plus the sum of the penalties of the jobs rejected. We give several techniques for designing scheduling algorithms under this criterion. Many of these techniques show how to reduce a problem with rejection to a (potentially more complex) scheduling problem without rejection. Some of the reductions are based on general properties of certain kinds of linear-programming relaxations of optimization problems, and therefore are applicable to problems outside of scheduling; we demonstrate this by giving an approximation algorithm for a variant of the facility-location problem. In the last section of the paper we consider a different notion of rejection in the context of scheduling: scheduling jobs with due dates so as to maximize the number of jobs that complete by their due dates, or equivalently to minimize the number of jobs that do not complete by their due date and that thus can be considered "rejected." We investigate the approximability of a simple version of this problem, giving approximation algorithms and characterizing integrality gaps of a class of linear-programming relaxations.
Dataflow and Remapping for Wavelet Compression and View-dependent Optimization of Billion-triangle Isosurfaces

Currently, large physics simulations produce 3D discretized field data whose individual isosurfaces, after conventional extraction processes, contain upwards of hundreds of millions of triangles. Detailed interactive viewing of these surfaces requires (a) powerful compression to minimize storage, and (b) fast view-dependent optimization of display triangulations to most effectively utilize high-performance graphics hardware. In this work, we introduce the first end-to-end multiresolution dataflow strategy that can effectively combine the top performing subdivision-surface wavelet compression and view-dependent optimization methods, thus increasing efficiency by several orders of magnitude over conventional processing pipelines. In addition to the general development and analysis of the dataflow, we present new algorithms at two steps in the pipeline that provide the “glue” that makes an integrated large-scale data visualization approach possible. A shrink-wrapping step converts highly detailed unstructured surfaces of arbitrary topology to the semi-structured meshes needed for wavelet compression. Remapping to triangle bintrees minimizes disturbing “pops” during realtime displaytriangulation optimization and provides effective selective-transmission compression for out-of-core and remote access to extremely large surfaces. Overall, this is the first effort to exploit semi-structured surface representations for a complete large-data visualization pipeline.
Incremental commitment in genetic algorithms

Successful recombination in the simple GA requires that interdependent genes be close to each other on the genome. Several methods have been proposed to reorder genes on the genome when the given ordering is unfavorable. The Messy GA (MGA) is one such 'moving-locus' scheme. However, gene reordering is only part of the Messy picture. The MGA uses another mechanism that is influential in enabling successful recombination. Specifically, the use of partial specification (or variable length genomes) allows the individuals themselves, rather than the ordering of genes within an individual, to represent which genes 'go together' during recombination. This paper examines this critical feature of the MGA and illustrates the impact that partial specification has on recombination. We formulate an Incremental Commitment GA that uses partially specified representations and recombination inspired by the MGA but separates these features from the moving-locus aspects and many of the other features of the existing algorithm.
Cryptography and data security

From the Preface (See Front Matter for full Preface) Electronic computers have evolved from exiguous experimental enterprises in the 1940s to prolific practical data processing systems in the 1980s. As we have come to rely on these systems to process and store data, we have also come to wonder about their ability to protect valuable data. Data security is the science and study of methods of protecting data in computer and communication systems from unauthorized disclosure and modification. The goal of this book is to introduce the mathematical principles of data security and to show how these principles apply to operating systems, database systems, and computer networks. The book is for students and professionals seeking an introduction to these principles. There are many references for those who would like to study specific topics further. Data security has evolved rapidly since 1975. We have seen exciting developments in cryptography: public-key encryption, digital signatures, the Data Encryption Standard (DES), key safeguarding schemes, and key distribution protocols. We have developed techniques for verifying that programs do not leak confidential data, or transmit classified data to users with lower security clearances. We have found new controls for protecting data in statistical databases--and new methods of attacking these databases. We have come to a better understanding of the theoretical and practical limitations to security.