cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Asymmetric Bertrand-Edgeworth-Chamberlin Competition with Linear Demand: A Pediatric Vaccine Pricing Model

Pricing strategies in the U.S. pediatric vaccines market are studied using a Bertrand-Edgeworth-Chamberlin price game. The game analyzes the competition between asymmetric manufacturers with limited production capacities and linear demand, producing differentiated products. The model completely characterizes the unique pure strategy equilibrium in the Bertrand-Edgeworth-Chamberlin competition in an oligopoly setting. In addition, the complete characterization of mixed strategy equilibrium is provided for a duopoly setting. The results indicate that the pure strategy equilibrium exists if the production capacity of a manufacturer is at their extreme. For the capacity regions where no pure strategy equilibrium exists, there exists a mixed strategy equilibrium. A duopoly setting provides the distribution functions of the mixed strategy equilibrium for both manufacturers. The proposed game is applied to the U.S. pediatric vaccine market, in which a few asymmetric vaccine manufacturers produce differentiated vaccines. The source of differentiation in the competing vaccines is the number of medically adverse events, the number of different antigens, and special advantages of those vaccines. The results indicate that the public sector prices of the vaccines are higher than the vaccine equilibrium prices. Furthermore, the situation when shortages of certain pediatric vaccines occur is studied. Market demand and degree of product differentiation are shown as two key factors in computing the equilibrium prices of the vaccines.
The Law of the Platform

New digital platform companies are turning everything into an available resource: services, products, spaces, connections, and knowledge, all of which would otherwise be collecting dust. Unsurprisingly then, the platform economy defies conventional regulatory theory. Millions of people are becoming part-time entrepreneurs, disrupting established business models and entrenched market interests, challenging regulated industries, and turning ideas about consumption, work, risk, and ownership on their head. Paradoxically, as the digital platform economy becomes more established, we are also at an all-time high in regulatory permitting, licensing, and protection. The battle over law in the platform is therefore both conceptual and highly practical. New business models such as Uber, Airbnb, and Aereo have received massive amounts of support from venture capitalists but have also received immense pushback from incumbent stakeholders, regulators, and courts. This article argues that the platform economy is presenting not only a paradigm shift for business but also for legal theory. The platform economy does not only disrupt regulated industries but also demands that we inquire into the logic of their correlated regulations. It requires that we go back to first principles about public intervention and market innovation. The article thus poses a foundational inquiry: Do the regulations we have carry over to the platform economy? By unpacking the economic and social drives for the rise of the platform economy, the article develops a new framework for asking whether digital disruptions comprise loopholes akin to regulatory arbitrage, most prominently studied in the tax field, circumvention akin to controversial copyright protection reforms, or innovation-ripe negative spaces akin to design-around competition in patent law. Bringing together these different bodies of law, the article offers a contemporary account of the relevance of regulation for new business models. The article concludes that, as a default, legal disruption by the platform economy should be viewed as a feature rather than a bug of regulatory limits.
Hydrogen physisorption on metal-organic framework linkers and metalated linkers: a computational study of the factors that control binding strength.

In order for hydrogen gas to be used as a fuel, it must be stored in sufficient quantity on board the vehicle. Efforts are being made to increase the hydrogen storage capabilities of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) by introducing unsaturated metal sites into their linking element(s), as hydrogen adsorption centers. In order to devise successful hydrogen storage strategies there is a need for a fundamental understanding of the weak and elusive hydrogen physisorption interaction. Here we report our findings from the investigation of the weak intermolecular interactions of adsorbed hydrogen molecules on MOF-linkers by using cluster models. Since physical interactions such as dispersion and polarization have a major contribution to attraction energy, our approach is to analyze the adsorption interaction using energy decomposition analysis (EDA) that distinguishes the contribution of the physical interactions from the charge-transfer (CT) “chemical” interaction. Surprisingly, it is found that CT from the adsor...
Quality Assurance: An Accreditation Perspective

This paper provides an overview of current practices of quality control in the clinical laboratory and briefly contrasts them with evolving definitions of quality assurance. Current recommendations and requirements for quality assurance of the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the College of American Pathologists will be reviewed. Finally, practical options for development and implementation of quality assurance programs in clinical laboratories will be presented.
Emphysematous genital infection caused by Candida albicans.

Abstract We report on a diabetic man with nonclostridial crepitant cellulitis of genital tissues caused by Candida albicans. The literature on nonclostridial gas-forming infections, particularly of the genitourinary system, is reviewed.
The Effects of Temperature on the Embryonic Development of Tylototriton shanjing Nussbaum,Brodie et Yang 1995

The current study investigated the effects of temperature on embryonic developing rate and hatching rate of Tylototriton shanjing Nussbaum,Brodie et Yang 1995,and the developmental threshold temperature and effective thermal summation were determined also. The results showed that the speed of the embryonic development was accelerated and the hatchability was raised at 10 ~ 30℃. The hatching rate was linear with the hatching temperature( Y = 0. 0017X +0. 95230),and the grow phase was linear with the hatching temperature( Y =- 0. 377X + 24. 154) also. However,the most appropriate temperature range was 20 ~ 25℃,and egg deformity and ultimate mortality rates would significantly increase above or below this range. By using linear regression and direct optimization,the calculated developmental threshold temperature and effective thermal summation were 0. 58℃,68. 66℃ ·d and 0. 46℃,69. 01 ℃ ·d,respectively.
Crystal structure of hexa-aqua-dichlorido-ytterbium(III) chloride.

The crystal structure of the title compound, [YbCl2(H2O)6]Cl, was determined at 110 K. Samples were obtained from evaporated aceto­nitrile solutions containing the title compound, which consists of a [YbCl2(H2O)6]+ cation and a Cl− anion. The cations in the title compound sit on a twofold axis and form O—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds with the nearby Cl− anion. The coordination geometry around the metal centre forms a distorted square anti­prism. The ytterbium complex is isotypic with the europium complex [Tambrornino et al. (2014). Acta Cryst. E70, i27].
Paleobiological Revolution, History of

Variously lauded and maligned, the paleobiological revolution marked a shift within evolutionary biology in the 1960s and 1970s. Paleobiology – as much a movement as a discipline – called for revolutionary integration among fields marginalized by the Modern Synthesis. Paleobiology, evo-devo and genomics merged further to produce a pluralistic Darwinian Synthesis in which natural selection, though critical for adaptation, is not the main force responsible for patterning the history of life on earth or many aspects of the morphology of organisms. Such patterns arise within a rich matrix of stochastic factors in ecology, mass extinction, and the nature and structure of variation.
Replacing Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin With Idarubicin In Frontline Fludarabine, Cytarabine and G-CSF Based Regimen Does Not Compromise Outcome In Core Binding Factor Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

A regimen comprising of fludarabine, cytarabine, G-CSF and gemtuzumab ozogamicin (FLAG-GO) has been our frontline treatment regimen for patients with core binding factor acute myelogenous leukemia (CBF-AML) and among 50 patients with median follow up of over 3 years, this regimen resulted in overall survival (OS) and relapse free survival (RFS) of 78% and 85% respectively. This is clearly better than our historical data with idarubicin and cytarabine based regimens (Borthakur et al. JCO. Vol 28, No 15 suppl; 2010:6552). After withdrawal of GO from the market, it has been substituted by low dose idarubicin at 6 mg/m2 on days 3 and 4 in induction and in one post remission cycle during cycles 3-6 (FLAG-Ida). So far 38 patients have been treated with FLAG-Ida (median follow up 1 year) with all patients achieving complete remission. The current report is part of the planned analysis to ensure that patient outcomes have not been compromised by the change in regimen. Univariate and multivariate (MVA) Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify association of the clinical variables with overall survival (OS), event free survival (EFS) and time to relapse (TTR). Event is defined as death from any cause or relapse. Treatment regimen (FLAG-GO or FLAG-Ida) were included as variables in the analysis. Apart from relevant clinical variables, reduction in fusion transcript ratio (in reference to ABL gene transcript compared to that at diagnosis) at time points 1 month (≥3 log reduction yes/no) and 3 month (≥3 log reduction yes/no) and presence of any mutation (RAS, KIT, FLT3 yes/no) were also added as variables. Stepwise backwards selection method was used to remove variables that did not remain significant in the multivariate model (p ≥ 0.15). T(8;21) is the cytogenetic abnormality in 52% of all 88 patients. Median age of all patients is 51 (range, 19-78 years) and 48% are female. Median time to 3 log reduction in transcript ratio was 1 month (range, 1-22 months). Complete remission rate with or without platelet recovery has been 98% with 2 induction deaths. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed OS ([Fig.1][1]), EFS and TTR were not significantly different FLAG-GO and FLAG-Ida regimens. By MVA, OS, EFS and TTR are not different among these regimens (p > 0.5). Three log or more reduction in transcript ration at 1 month was associated with better OS (p=.03) and EFS (p=.008) (not TTR) in MVA. Presence of KIT, RAS or FLT3 gene mutation did not impact outcomes studied. In conclusion, replacing GO with low dose idarubicin in a front-line FLAG regimen does not seem to compromise the excellent outcomes with such a regimen in CBF AML. ![Figure][2] Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare. [1]: #F1 [2]: pending:yes
Chapter 8 – Matrices, Determinants, and Vectors

This chapter provides the basic concepts and rules of matrices, determinants, and vectors, mainly focusing on operations with matrices, determinants, and their properties. In addition, the chapter explains vector operations, standard unit vectors, the dot product, and work.
Humboldt's Unity of Research and Teaching: Influence on the Philosophy and Development of Higher Education in the US

The 19th century German model of higher education, with its emphasis on the unity of teaching and research and graduate education, was the model emulated by several of what were to become the most prestigious universities in the US. The German model has its origins in the philosophy of the German Wilhelm von Humboldt. This university model played a significant role in the economic ascendance of Germany in the late 1800s, and was a precursor to the development of outside agency funded large-scale university research. This model of research, combined with the extreme level of faculty independence, also played a role in the rise of German militarism in the 20th century. Finally, the German university system, based on the Humboldtian model, illustrates the difficulty of attempting to both maintain elite research universities and allowing mass access. The influence on higher education in the US and the lessons to be learnt from the German university system are valid reasons for learning more about Wilhelm von Humboldt and his university model.
The structured prototyping life cycle model for systems development management

There are many different methodologies and models for the concept of a project life cycle for software and knowledge engineering applications. These methodologies range from radical (all activities take place in parallel) to conservative (one activity is finished before the next is started). By combining methodologies that come from both ends of this spectrum, a new methodology that contains the best aspects of each can be produced. The structured project life cycle is a methodology that is moderately conservative. The prototyping life cycle is a methodology that is radical. By combining these methodologies a new life cycle called the structured prototype life cycle is produced. This new methodology combines the rigor of the structured approach with the flexibility and quick production of results from prototyping. >
Are all geometric cues created equal? Children’s use of distance and length for reorientation

Abstract To navigate the world, human adults rely on various types of geometric cues. Yet there is debate over which cues young children use to guide reorientation. Some researchers have argued that particular geometric cues, such as distance, are privileged with respect to navigation, at least early in human ontogeny. On this view, children rely exclusively on distance to regain their orientation. Other geometric cues, such as length, are used for object recognition or two-dimensional form analysis, not reorientation. Here we show that children are capable of using multiple Euclidean cues to reorient, but their ability to use these cues can be masked by global shape information. We argue that children are flexible in their use of geometric cues for reorientation, using both distance and length cues. The role of global shape in facilitating or impeding reorientation is discussed.
Antibacterial and Antifungal Agents: The Challenges of Antimicrobial-Resistant Infections in Immunocompromised Hosts

Antimicrobial resistance may be intrinsic or acquired and is associated with poor clinical outcomes and breakthrough infections during treatment and prophylaxis. Given their frequent healthcare exposure, the immunocompromised are at higher risk for infection attributed to multidrug-resistant organisms. This increased risk, combined with identification through culturing techniques that can take several days, may lead to immunocompromised patients being placed empirically on antibiotics and antifungal agents that are not active against resistant organisms. Thus, patients with resistant infections may experience significant delays in receiving appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of antibiotic resistance is critical to both choosing appropriate active therapy and developing new antimicrobial agents. Resistance mechanisms, which will be reviewed below, are extensive and vary across species. The most common mechanisms include alteration of drug target site, enzymatic drug inactivation, decreased bacterial membrane permeability, and drug efflux.
Risk assessment of obstructive sleep apnea in a population of patients undergoing ambulatory surgery.

Study Objectives:The aims of this study were to: (a) assess the prevalence of diagnosed OSA and symptoms of undiagnosed OSA in a cohort of ambulatory surgical patients, and (b) characterize the fre...
A Model Integration Framework for Assessing Integrated Landscape Management Strategies

Nitrogen application is a standard practice for maximizing productivity of an agronomic system. The challenge is that many commercial scale agricultural systems are inefficient in utilizing the nitrogen that is applied. Therefore, understanding the impact of land management practices on nitrogen use inefficiencies within the agroecosystem is critical. This paper presents an integrated model that quantifies the impact of various land management practices on specific agroecosystem units. This integrated model is composed of the Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS), the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, Version 2 (RUSLE2), the Soil Condition Index (SCI), and the daily CENTURY model, DAYCENT. The integrated model was used to determine the impact of land management strategies on greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate leaching in a 60.5 ha field in Webster County, Iowa, USA. It was found that nitrogen use efficiency can vary significantly across a field and that integrated land management strategies can reduce overall nitrogen losses.
Assessing the Coupled Influences of Clouds on the Atmospheric Energy and Water Cycles in Reanalyses with A-Train Observations

AbstractThe lack of complete knowledge concerning the complex interactions among clouds, circulation, and climate hinders our ability to simulate the Earth’s climate correctly. This study contribut...
Pathological upgrading at radical prostatectomy for patients with Grade Group 1 prostate cancer: implications of confirmatory testing for patients considering active surveillance

OBJECTIVE To examine the association between National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) risk, number of positive biopsy cores, age, and early confirmatory test results on pathological upgrading at radical prostatectomy (RP), in order to better understand whether early confirmatory testing and better risk stratification are necessary for all men with Grade Group (GG) 1 cancers who are considering active surveillance (AS). PATIENTS AND METHODS We identified men in Michigan initially diagnosed with GG1 prostate cancer, from January 2012 to November 2017, who had a RP within 1 year of diagnosis. Our endpoints were: (i) ≥GG2 cancer at RP and (ii) adverse pathology (≥GG3 and/or ≥pT3a). We compared upgrading according to NCCN risk, number of positive biopsy cores, and age. Last, we examined if confirmatory test results were associated with upgrading or adverse pathology at RP. RESULTS Amongst 1966 patients with GG1 cancer at diagnosis, the rates of upgrading to ≥GG2 and adverse pathology were 40% and 59% (P < 0.001), and 10% and 17% (P = 0.003) for patients with very-low- and low-risk cancers, respectively. Upgrading by volume ranged from 49% to 67% for ≥GG2, and 16% to 23% for adverse pathology. Generally, more patients aged ≥70 vs <70 years had adverse pathology. Unreassuring confirmatory test results had a higher likelihood of adverse pathology than reassuring tests (35% vs 18%, P = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS Upgrading and adverse pathology are common amongst patients initially diagnosed with GG1 prostate cancer. Early use of confirmatory testing may facilitate the identification of patients with more aggressive disease ensuring improved risk classification and safer selection of patients for AS.
A Comparison of Perceived Barriers and Motivators to Physical Activity in Young and Middle-Aged Women

Women become increasingly sedentary with age, therefore it is important to understand women’s barriers and motivators to physical activity (PA) at different ages to optimize PA interventions. However, limited studies have examined differences in perceived barriers to PA between young and middle-aged adult females. This study investigated barriers and motivators to PA in young (18-years, n=94) and middle-aged (36-55 years, n=77) women in England, using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Exercise Benefits Barrier Scale, administered online. Mean scores for total, subscale and individual barrier and motivation items were reported for each age group. Independent t-tests assessed age group differences in total scores. A MANOVA explored age group differences in subscale scores. Total barrier and motivator scores for the whole group were M = 2.04, SD = 0.45 and M = 3.20, SD = 0.44, respectively. No age group differences were observed in total scores (p > 0.05). The leading barrier to PA in both groups was physical exertion, which was rated significantly higher by the young cohort (M = 2.70, SD = 0.59), compared to the middle-aged cohort (M = 2.43, SD = 0.60). Motivator subscales were ranked in the same order for both groups (physical performance, psychological outlook, preventive health, life enhancement, and social interaction), with no age group differences in scores. PA promotion strategies for young and middle-aged women should focus on improving multiple aspects of physical performance and support the development of self-regulatory skills such as strategic planning, goal setting, self-monitoring, and time-management.
Electromagnetic currents for dressed hadrons

We propose an extension of the minimal-substitution prescription for coupling the electromagnetic field to hadronic systems with internal structure. The resulting rules of extended substitution necessarily distinguish between couplings to scalar and Dirac particles. Moreover, they allow for the incorporation of electromagnetic form factors for virtual photons in an effective phenomenological framework. Applied to pions and nucleons, assumed to be fully dressed to all orders, the resulting dressed currents are shown to be locally gauge invariant. Moreover, half-on-shell expressions of (hadron propagator)$\times$(electromagnetic current) needed in all descriptions of physical processes will lose \textit{all} information about hadronic dressing for real photons. The Ball-Chiu ansatz for the spin-1/2 current is seen to suffer from an incomplete coupling procedure where some essential aspects of the Dirac particle are effectively treated as those of a scalar particle. Applied to real Compton scattering on pions and nucleons, we find that \emph{all} dressing information cancels exactly when external hadrons are on shell, leaving only gauge-invariant bare Born-type contributions with physical masses. Hence, nontrivial descriptions necessarily require contact-type two-photon processes obtained by hadrons looping around two photon insertion points.
Nonoperative Management of Spinal Epidural Abscess: Development of a Predictive Algorithm for Failure.

Background:Prompt diagnosis and treatment are critical in spinal epidural abscess, as delay can lead to paralysis or death. The initial management decision for spinal epidural abscess is not always clear, with the literature showing conflicting results. When considering nonoperative management, it i
Toxicity of Mid-Michigan plant extracts in the brine shrimp lethality assay and the effect of assay methodology on sensitivity

The Brine Shrimp Lethality Assay (BSLA) is a rapid and economical assay that has been used to screen plant extracts for potential anti-tumor compounds. The objective of this study was to screen Mid-Michigan plant extracts for activity in the BSLA to identify candidates for further pharmacological study. Based on the knowledge that many plants found in the region have been used in Native American traditional medicine for a variety of conditions, including cancer, we hypothesized that some plants would demonstrate activity in the BSLA. In addition, we aimed to determine any difference in sensitivity between the traditional test tube format and the more recently developed microwell format of the assay. After a preliminary screening of 38 plant extracts, eight extracts were active in the BSLA, including Achillea millefolium, Nepeta cataria, and Podophyllum peltatum. Both A. millefolium and N. cataria have been used as cold remedies in Native American traditional medicine, while P. peltatum derivatives etoposide and teniposide are current anti-tumor drugs. We also demonstrated that the sensitivity of the assay is dependent on the assay format. Percent lethality was higher in the 96-well plate format when compared to the 5 mL glass test tube format. These results suggest that several plants from the Mid-Michigan region may be worthy of further investigation to characterize their biological activity as it relates to potential anti-cancer properties. Furthermore, we suggest that researchers use the 96-well BSLA format to increase sensitivity and inter-laboratory consistency of the assay.
Approaches to treatment effect heterogeneity in the presence of confounding

The literature on causal effect estimation tends to focus on the population mean estimand, which is less informative as medical treatments are becoming more personalized and there is increasing awareness that subpopulations of individuals may experience a group-specific effect that differs from the population average. In fact, it is possible that there is underlying systematic effect heterogeneity that is obscured by focusing on the population mean estimand. In this context, understanding which covariates contribute to this treatment effect heterogeneity (TEH) and how these covariates determine the differential treatment effect (TE) is an important consideration. Towards such an understanding, this paper briefly reviews three approaches used in making causal inferences and conducts a simulation study to compare these approaches according to their performance in an exploratory evaluation of TEH when the heterogeneous subgroups are not known a priori. Performance metrics include the detection of any heterogeneity, the identification and characterization of heterogeneous subgroups, and unconfounded estimation of the TE within subgroups. The methods are then deployed in a comparative effectiveness evaluation of drug-eluting versus bare-metal stents among 54 099 Medicare beneficiaries in the continental United States admitted to a hospital with acute myocardial infarction in 2008.
Antecedents of Perceived Fairness in Criminal Courts: A Comparative Analysis

ABSTRACTCriminal courts are an essential component of the criminal justice system. How people perceive courts determines, in part, their compliance with court decisions. When courts are perceived as being just, fair and trustworthy, citizens are more likely to respect court rulings. However, few people have direct experience with the criminal courts, but many do with the police. This paper explores whether citizens’ perception of police fairness affects their perception of criminal courts as being fair and examines the influences of a variety of individual and community factors upon this relationship. We tested a conceptual model with three clusters of predictive variables (individual, community, and national levels) based on data from the Caribbean. The findings indicate that perceived fairness of courts is driven primarily by perceived fairness of the police as well as by involvement in one’s community and an individual’s crime victimization. Policy implications of these findings are explored.
Effects of Stress on the Magnetic Properties of Steels

As described in previous work [1], an applied uniaxial stress σ acts in some respects like an applied magnetic field operating through the magnetostriction λ.
Autologous Fat Injection Pharyngoplasty in Adults with Velopharyngeal Insufficiency

Objectives:Understand the utility and technique of injection pharyngoplasty with autologous fat for the treatment of mild to moderate velopharyngeal insufficiency in adults without a history of cle...
Who Owns Sepsis

The popular conception of sepsis is dominated by the perspective of critical care physicians, given their experiences treating the sickest subset of patients. In this commentary, the authors argue ...
The Paradox of Resource Provision in Entrepreneurial Teams: Between Self-Interest and the Collective Enterprise

Viewing entrepreneurship as a form of collective action, this paper investigates the tension between an entrepreneurial team’s reliance on collective efforts for achieving success and individual me...
Abstract I10: Immune cell signaling in human and mouse pancreas cancer

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is the most common gastrointestinal disorder leading to hospital admission in the United States. Patients who present with recurrent acute pancreatitis are at a very high risk of developing chronic pancreatitis (CP). Patients with CP experience intractable, difficult to treat abdominal pain and the disease is associated with pancreatic acinar cell loss and fibrosis, and can result in exocrine and endocrine insufficiency. CP is also a risk factor for developing pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). In AP, initial injury signals likely start at the acinar cell level, where injured acinii produce proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines leading to the recruitment of inflammatory leukocytes into the pancreas. One of the initially recruited leukocytes includes neutrophils, which play pathogenic role locally within the pancreas and in distant organs such as the lung. Soon after, inflammatory monocytes follow into the pancreas and differentiate into macrophages with pro-inflammatory properties and exacerbate the pancreatic injury. Earlier and recent studies show that T cells and macrophages are the predominant immune cell infiltrates in CP. Macrophages in CP are found in close proximity to key pro-fibrogenic pancreatic stellate cells. Experimental studies suggest an interaction between the stellate cells and macrophages to promote fibrosis in CP. In contrast to AP, macrophages in CP display alternate activation consistent with immunosuppressive environment associated with CP. Immune cells also play a critical and differential role of anti- and pro-tumor functions in PDAC. For example, immune signals such as IL-22/IL-22R axis are involved in AP, CP, and PDAC but play differential role between the diseases. To get insight into the inflammatory processes involved, we use multiplex based assays to profile immune cells isolated from the pancreas as well as in situ to determine functional and geographic localization. Citation Format: Aida Habtezion. Immune cell signaling in human and mouse pancreas cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer: Advances in Science and Clinical Care; 2019 Sept 6-9; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(24 Suppl):Abstract nr I10.
Context-aware Non-linear and Neural Attentive Knowledge-based Models for Grade Prediction

Grade prediction for future courses not yet taken by students is important as it can help them and their advisers during the process of course selection as well as for designing personalized degree plans and modifying them based on their performance. One of the successful approaches for accurately predicting a student's grades in future courses is Cumulative Knowledge-based Regression Models (CKRM). CKRM learns shallow linear models that predict a student's grades as the similarity between his/her knowledge state and the target course. However, prior courses taken by a student can have \black{different contributions when estimating a student's knowledge state and towards each target course, which} cannot be captured by linear models. Moreover, CKRM and other grade prediction methods ignore the effect of concurrently-taken courses on a student's performance in a target course. In this paper, we propose context-aware non-linear and neural attentive models that can potentially better estimate a student's knowledge state from his/her prior course information, as well as model the interactions between a target course and concurrent courses. Compared to the competing methods, our experiments on a large real-world dataset consisting of more than $1.5$M grades show the effectiveness of the proposed models in accurately predicting students' grades. Moreover, the attention weights learned by the neural attentive model can be helpful in better designing their degree plans.
How health care providers should address vaccine hesitancy in the clinical setting: Evidence for presumptive language in making a strong recommendation

Vaccine hesitancy occurs throughout the world and can result in poor vaccine uptake and vaccine-preventable disease-outbreaks. Vaccine hesitancy dates back to the days of Edward Jenner and the smallpox vaccine. It persists despite the preponderance of evidence supporting vaccine safety and effectiveness. Studies show even among parents of well-vaccinated children that 15-35% of those parents are vaccine-hesitant. Studies have failed to show the efficacy of educational interventions, and, indeed, a number of studies of educational interventions show a contrarian effect leaving the vaccine-hesitant more entrenched in their views. Still dozens of studies support health care provider recommendation as a major factor in achieving high rates of vaccine uptake. Furthermore, studies find those recommendations perceived as stronger are more effective than those perceived as weaker. What makes for a stronger recommendation? Several observational studies indicate that presumptive, announcement language as contrasted with participatory, conversational language makes for a stronger more effective recommendation. Several trials now demonstrate that health care providers and practices can implement this language and obtain higher vaccination uptake. The authors recommend the practice be adopted as a routine practice in the clinical setting for all vaccinations.
Synthesis and Characterization of Tungsten Alkylidene and Alkylidyne Complexes Featuring a New Carbazole-Based Rigid Trianionic ONO3– Pincer-Type Ligand

The design and synthesis of a rigid carbazole trianionic pincer ligand and its tungsten alkylidene [CBZ-ONO]W═CHtBu(OtBu) (3) and anionic alkylidyne {Ph3PCH3}{[CBZ-ONO]W≡CtBu(OtBu)} (4) complexes a...
Effect of Sex on Motor Function, Lesion Size, and Neuropathic Pain after Contusion Spinal Cord Injury in Mice

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes neurodegeneration, impairs locomotor function, and impacts the quality of life particularly in those individuals in whom neuropathic pain develops. Whether the time course of neurodegeneration, locomotor impairment, or neuropathic pain varies with sex, however, remains understudied. Therefore, the objective of this study in male and female C57BL/6 mice was to evaluate the following outcomes for six weeks after a 75-kdyn thoracic contusion SCI: locomotor function using the Basso Mouse Scale (BMS); spinal cord tissue sparing and rostral-caudal lesion length; and mechanical allodynia and heat hyperalgesia using hindpaw application of Von Frey filaments or radiant heat stimuli, respectively. Although motor function was largely similar between sexes, all of the males, but only half of the females, recovered plantar stepping. Rostral-caudal lesion length was shorter in females than in males. Mechanical allodynia and heat hyperalgesia after SCI developed in all animals, regardless of sex; there were no differences in pain outcomes between sexes. We conclude that contusion SCI yields subtle sex differences in mice depending on the outcome measure but no significant differences in behavioral signs of neuropathic pain.
Reactive ion etched, self-aligned, selective area poly-Si/SiO2 passivated contacts

Abstract Front/back poly-Si/SiO2 contact devices suffer from low short-circuit current density, Jsc, due to parasitic optical absorption in the front poly-Si layer. Thin poly-Si (~20 nm) allows for high Jsc but is not compatible with screen-printed fire-through contacts. We therefore study the effects of post-deposition etching of a thick poly-Si (200 nm) front layer by reactive ion etching (RIE) using the metal grid lines as a self-aligned mask. We show that passivation is maintained in the device during RIE and that Jsc is increased by a gain in the blue quantum efficiency response. However, our specific etching parameters cause non-uniform etching of the poly-Si leading to premature loss of passivation without optimal gain in Jsc. Etched, unpassivated layers can be re-passivated with a H-containing dielectric layer leading to a gain in Jsc, open circuit voltage,Voc, Fill-Factor, FF, and efficiency.
Stage Migration for Upper Tract Urothelial Cell Carcinoma

Abstract Introduction Upper tract urothelial carcinomas (UTUCs) account for 5% to 10% of urothelial cancers. The phenomenon of stage migration in tumors has been evident with increased use and higher resolution of cross-sectional imaging. Using the National Cancer Database, we analyzed trends in stage at presentation and overall survival for UTUCs. Patients and Methods We analyzed UTUCs in the renal pelvis or ureter from 2004 to 2016. Pathologic tumor stage data were available for 71.3% of patients and clinical tumor staging were available for 28.7% of patients. Five-year overall survival was analyzed comparing patients between 2004-2007 and 2008-2011. Tumor stage was categorized as early (0-1), intermediate (2-3), or late (4) for survival analyses. Linear regression and Kaplan-Meier analyses were utilized. Results A total of 37,210 renal pelvic and 23,200 ureteral origin UTUC cases were evaluated. Stage migration toward stage 0 and stage 4 was observed. There was a significant increase in proportion of stage 0 Ta/Tis (22.8%-33.4%, R2 = 0.86, P Conclusion There is a stage migration toward stage 0 and stage 4 disease for UTUC. Five-year survival data from 2004 to 2011 remained stable across early, intermediate, and late stage groups.
Renewable energy for whom? A global systematic review of the environmental justice implications of renewable energy technologies

Abstract Renewable energy transitions are essential for decarbonizing the world economy and mitigating global climate change. Yet many energy technologies classified as renewable have human health and livelihood implications that jeopardize the lives and wellbeing of those already most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The purpose of this study is thus to summarize the documented environmental justice (EJ) impacts associated with renewable energy technologies included in many renewable energy policies globally. Our motivation for this study is to ensure that renewable energy policies incorporate concerns for justice into their formulation and implementation. We provide a systematic review of the literature assessing renewable energy technologies from the perspective of distributive, procedural, recognition, and capability interpretations of environmental justice. Our review finds that there are ten common renewable energy technologies that have EJ implications documented in the current literature, and that future energy transition policy development needs to ensure these justice concerns are addressed.
Social servicescape’s impact on customer perceptions of the hospitality brand – The role of branded social cues

Abstract This research examines how the social servicescape (i.e., employee-customer, employee-employee and customer-customer) impacts brand-related outcomes via branded social cues. Informed by theories related to cue consistency and conceptual fluency, results from three experimental studies conducted across sectors and scales of hospitality businesses (i.e., luxury hotel, high-end restaurant and limited-service hotel), indicate that branded social servicescape cues have direct, indirect and interactive effects on brand-related outcomes. In luxury contexts, when the brand’s personality is absent in employee-customer social cues, the negative effects were buffered if brand personality is reflected in employee-employee social cues. Conceptual fluency mediated the relationship between branded employee-customer social cues and brand-related outcomes, which was moderated by branded employee-employee social cues. Conceptual fluency also mediated the relationship between branded customer-customer social cues and brand-related outcomes. This research sheds light on how hospitality firms can leverage branded social cues to enhance customer evaluation of the hospitality brand.
Interpretation of the Seattle Angina Questionnaire as an Outcome Measure in Clinical Trials and Clinical Care: A Review.

Importance Patient-reported outcomes are increasingly used as end points in clinical trials, assessments in clinical care, and tools for population health, with an increasing role in quality assessment. For patients with coronary artery disease, the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) has emerged as the most commonly used measure of disease-specific health status to quantify patients’ symptoms of angina and the extent to which their angina affects their functioning and quality of life. This review explains how to interpret the SAQ and describes the construction and face validity of the SAQ, focusing on aligning scores and changes in scores with clinical constructs. Observations The SAQ asks questions similar to those an experienced clinician would ask of a patient with stable ischemic heart disease. Therefore, SAQ scores can be aligned with clinical constructs (eg, scores on the SAQ angina frequency scale of 0-30 points indicate daily angina, 31-60 points indicate weekly angina, 61-99 points indicate monthly angina, and 100 points indicate no angina), and changes in scores can be described by aligning them with changes in question responses. After clinical thresholds are defined, it is important for clinical trials to not simply report mean differences between treatment arms but to also report the distributions of patients who have had clinically important benefits so that a number needed to treat can be generated. Conclusions and Relevance The widespread use of the SAQ is a consequence of its well-established validity, reproducibility, prognostic importance, and sensitivity to clinical change. Nevertheless, interpreting the SAQ can be challenging because of lack of familiarity with the clinical importance of its domains, either cross-sectionally or longitudinally. This review provides an overview of the interpretability of the SAQ as a foundation for its use as an end point in clinical trials, a tool to support more patient-centered care, and a means of facilitating population health strategies to provide a better foundation for the integration of patient experiences with clinical care.
PMFuzz: test case generation for persistent memory programs

The Persistent Memory (PM) technology combines the persistence of storage with the performance approaching that of DRAM. Programs taking advantage of PM must ensure data remains recoverable after a failure (e.g., power outage), and therefore, are susceptible to having crash consistency bugs that lead to incorrect recovery after a failure. Prior works have provided tools, such as Pmemcheck, PMTest, and XFDetector, that detect these bugs by checking whether the trace of PM accesses violates the program’s crash consistency guarantees. However, detection of crash consistency bugs highly depends on test cases—a bug can only be detected if the buggy program path has been executed. Therefore, using a test case generator is necessary to effectively detect crash consistency bugs. Fuzzing is a common test case generation approach that requires minimum knowledge about the program. We identify that PM programs have special requirements for fuzzing. First, a PM program maintains a persistent state on PM images. Therefore, the fuzzer needs to efficiently generate valid images as part of the test case. Second, these PM images can also be a result of a previous crash, which requires the fuzzer to generate crash images as well. Finally, PM programs can have various procedures but only those performing PM operations can lead to crash consistency issues. Thus, an efficient fuzzer should target those relevant regions. In this work, we provide PMFuzz, a test case generator for PM programs that meets these new requirements. Our evaluation shows that PMFuzz covers 4.6× more PM-related paths compared to AFL++, a widely-used fuzzer. Further, test cases generated by PMFuzz discovered 12 new real-world bugs in PM programs which have already been extensively tested by prior PM testing works.
ORACLE - A PHM Test & Validation Platform for Anomaly Detection in Crew Member Vital Sign Data

With NASA's push for prolonged stays aboard orbiting or surface-based space habitats (e.g., NASA Gateway/Artemis programs and successors) on the Moon and soon on Mars, there is a need for continuous monitoring of life support and mission critical systems deployed on these space habitats. Abiotic sensors will likely be used to detect anomalies aboard these space habitats, which we expect also to be embedded in a Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) framework. Recently, we introduced the concept of employing the crew member as a biosensor to be integrated into an overarching space habitat PHM system to increase the breadth of available data when monitoring environment health. Utilizing electrocardiogram (ECG) data as an example of a non-invasively obtained vital sign, we have devised a PHM test & validation platform - the ORACLE - that auto-generates raw ECG data from previously extracted ECG motifs, ultimately representative of various conditions resulting from space habitat environment changes. The ORACLE emulates the occurrence of environmental changes and generates a log file to allow for training and subsequent deep learning-based anomaly detection frameworks, serving as a proof of concept for integration as a subsystem into a novel overarching PHM-based anomaly detection framework for monitoring space habitat health. The current version of ORACLE is equipped with an anomaly detection framework using multi-layer feedforward networks. This paper showcases the workings of the ORACLE and presents preliminary results for the deep learning-based anomaly detection framework. The ultimate goal is to use the measured “biometric” changes in each crew member as a supplementary indicator to detect degradation in the space habitat environment and associated habitat subsystems. This novel indicator has the potential to enhance existing capabilities by providing for earlier detection than might otherwise be possible. The general idea is to use the crew health status as an integrated contributor to other PHM capabilities already implemented on associated space habitat subsystems.
Correlation Between Pharmacy Students' Implicit Bias Scores, Explicit Bias Scores, and Responses to Clinical Cases.

Objective. The purpose of this study is to identify the extent of implicit and explicit bias in a sample of pharmacy students and to determine if there is an association between implicit bias, explicit bias, and responses to clinical cases. Methods. Investigators sent links to two online surveys to students. In the first survey, students responded to two clinical cases. Students were presented with a picture of a white or Black patient with each clinical case. Students indicated on the second survey their level of racial implicit bias as assessed by the Harvard Implicit Association Test and their level of racial explicit bias. Pearson’s correlation was used to determine the correlation between bias and responses to the clinical cases. Results. Three hundred and fifty-seven first, second, and third year of pharmacy students responded to both surveys (response rate 52%). The students presented with the picture of a Black patient rated the patient’s pain and the reliability of the patient’s family as higher than students presented with the picture of a white patient. Students had more negative implicit and explicit bias towards Black patients. Neither implicit nor explicit bias correlated with student responses to the clinical cases. Conclusion. Evidence of slight to moderate negative implicit bias and slight negative explicit bias towards Black patients does exist for pharmacy students. Future studies that include a more representative student population and heighten the stakes of the clinical scenario should be done to investigate a possible correlation between bias and clinical behaviors.