cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Efficacy and safety of atropine-midazolam-ketamine in pediatric oncology patients

Abstract This study assessed the efficacy and safety of atropine-midazolam-ketamine as a sedative or analgesic regimen in pediatric oncology patients undergoing painful procedures. Of 136 consecutive pediatric patients undergoing painful procedures from June 1, 1997 to June 30, 1998, 69 patients (39 males and 30 females; mean age, 7.3 ± 4.4 years) underwent 255 procedures using intravenous atropine 0.01 mg/kg plus midazolam 0.05 mg/kg plus ketamine up to 2.0 mg/kg. Sedation monitoring forms for these 69 patients were examined retrospectively. Vital signs, pulse oximetry, patients status, clinical effects, adverse events, and patients or parent comments were recorded at 5-minute intervals from initiation of sedation until the child was awake. Clinical efficacy was defined as procedure completion with minimal patient distress; a clinically significant adverse event was defined as baseline deviation requiring acute medical intervention to prevent or ameliorate clinical deterioration. Transient clinical effects were defined as self-limited deviations in respiratory rate, heart rate, or blood pressure > 15% of age-specific norms. Most of the participants were white males with leukemia or lymphoma who were undergoing lumbar punctures. Twenty-three procedures (9.0%) required additional administration of midazolam or ketamine for pain control or sedation. The 3 most frequent transient effects were hypertension in 71 procedures (27.8%), hypotension in 53 procedures (20.8%), and tachycardia in 49 procedures (19.2%). Twenty-five procedures (9.8%) had associated complications. Ten procedures (3.9%) had ketamine-associated emergent reactions, ranging from laughing and verbosity to screaming and crying. Nine procedures (3.5%) were associated with nausea, vomiting, or dry heaving, and 2 (0.8%) were associated with shaking chills after procedure completion. The clinically significant adverse event rate was 1.6% (n = 4, all during lumbar punctures). In 1 case, the procedure was terminated prematurely because of laryngospasm; in 3 cases oxygen supplementation was required because of hypoxemia. Clinically significant adverse events were associated with younger patients and increased ketamine doses. None of the adverse events had long-term sequelae. Results of the present study suggest that the atrophine-midazolam-ketamine regimen is efficacious and demonstrates an acceptable safety profile in the majority of pediatric oncology patients undergoing properly supervised sedation
Building the Wireless Internet Infrastructure: From Cordless Ethernet Archipelagos to Wireless Grids

L'infrastructure de communication decentralisee peut-elle se substituer de facon significative aux systemes traditionnels centralises qui ont toujours predomine ? Cet article etudie le developpement ascendant d'une nouvelle infrastructure d'Internet sans fil induit par les utilisateurs achetant des equipements radio bon marche pour creer des reseaux locaux sans fil sur des frequences non attribuees. Utilises principalement de nos jours en vue d'etendre la portee des connexions Intemet haut debit de quelque 4 metres, ces reseaux sont de plus en plus utilises dans les lieux publics pour permettre aux voyageurs d'affaires et aux mordus du sans fil de se connecter. Il en resulte un patchwork de reseaux sans fil evoquant des archipels sans câble dans le vaste ocean d'une infrastructure câblee. Cependant, alors que la densite de ces reseaux augmente, il est tout a fait possible de s'imaginer un futur ou les appareils sans fil communiqueraient entre eux, contournant en majorite les infrastructures câblees existantes pour l'echange de trafics. Cet article souleve deux questions apparentees relatives a une telle vision. La premiere est de savoir si ces efforts de decentralisation pour creer un reseau sans fil representent ou non une alternative au processus traditionnel centralise avec lequel la plupart des reseaux de communication a grande echelle ont ete construits. La seconde se refere aux defis technologiques, organisationnels et politiques en relation avec la construction du reseau sans fil. Ce reseau sans fil sera un environnement de reseaux, dynamique et adapte, peuple de petits peripheriques mobiles, propriete de nombreuses personnes et organisations communiquant entre elles au travers des liaisons volatiles sans fil. De nouvelles dispositions seront necessaires en vue, entre autres, d'assurer la confidentialite, de partager les ressources, de gerer le trafic et de garantir une certaine qualite de service.
“Give me your hands if we be friends”: collaborative authority in Shakespeare fan fiction

Due to the interactive affordances of twenty-first century technologies, the relationship between readers and texts is often repositioned as part of a communal experience of consumption and reproduction. Inclusive in this expanding culture are user-generated adaptations of Shakespeare, most saliently fanfic. The fanfic universe prolifically crosses genres, putting the Shakespearean urtext in conversation with any other object of cultural interest, and occasionally subjugates the Shakespearean text to the dominant popular icon of the moment. Fanfic manifests textual enjoyment as a creative act; the genre is both recreational and re-creational, resulting in new adaptive works that expand the dramas to include sequels, prequels, and off-stage explorations of character and plot. Because Shakespeare is experienced variously through printed text, television, film, theatrical, or digitized performance – all of which underline the instability of an authoritative Shakespeare text – Shakespeare studies is uniquely ...
The validity and reliability of the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale for therapy professionals.

BACKGROUND: Published in Work, the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale (ISVS) [1] was initially validated with 124 Canadian health profession students. The authors stated that the ISVS was useful to evaluate beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes about interprofessional practice among health profession students and professionals. OBJECTIVE: While the primary purpose of this study was to identify attitudes and behaviors in occupational, physical, and recreational therapists, and speech-language pathologists, the study also evaluated the validity and reliability of the ISVS. METHODS: The ISVS was completed by occupational, physical, and recreational therapists, and speech-language pathologists in Michigan, United States of America to examine beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration. Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance by ranks test was used to analyze and compare responses across disciplines. Principle component analysis identified factors from the ISVS related to attitudes and behaviors. RESULTS: While no differences were found between therapy discipline and beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes, there was a significant finding related to the validity and reliability of the ISVS for use with health professionals. CONCLUSIONS: It was found that the ISVS is valid and reliable to use with health professionals but may yield different factors than with health students.
Desorption of Condensed Gases and Organic Molecules by Electronic Processes

It has been demonstrated that condensed gases and heavy organic molecules are desorbed very efficiently by energetic charged particles. This occurs even at high velocities where the particle loses energy in the material by its interaction with atomic electronso Although there are a variety of effects observed, the overall pattern that has emerged shows many similarities for electronic excitation erosion in dielectric solids, condensed gases, and organic materials. This paper emphasizes these similarities in the belief that there may be a common underlying desorption mechanism.
System level packaging: an alternative to monolithic ULSI?

Significant developments taking place in system level packaging are reviewed. The following issues are addressed: heat dissipation, interconnections, and silicon as a substrate material. Denser packaging leads to shorter chip-to-chip interconnects with concomitant improvements in speed, power and, presumably, cost. It is concluded that, in the near future, system level packaging might well be a more attractive investment for research and development than new technology for monolithic ULSI. However, the resulting significant improvement in packaging performance will revive the need to improve chip performance. >
Methylation Profiling of Apoptotic Genes in Leukemia Cell Lines and Patients.

^equal contribution Apoptosis is a morphologically and biochemically distinct form of eukaryotic cell death that occurs under a variety of physiological and pathological conditions. Apoptosis is executed via 2 main pathways that lead to the activation of caspases: the death receptor (DR) pathway and the mitochondrial pathway. Defects in apoptotic mechanisms play an important role in enabling neoplastic cells to survive by ignoring death inducing signals leading to protection from the lack of survival factors. DNA methylation is a reversible mechanism of gene inactivation that might be responsible for impaired apoptosis in leukemia cells. Methylation profiling of apoptotic genes can identify possible gene targets for epigenetic therapy using demethylating agents like 5-aza-deoxycytidine and azacytidine. It can also be used for classification and prognosis. We performed a comprehensive DNA methylation analysis of apoptosis pathway genes with CpG islands in promoter/exon 1 regions in 5 leukemic cell lines (TF1, K562, Raji, HL60 and Jurkat), 20 patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), 20 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and 6 control samples (normal peripheral blood cells). We used bisulfite treatment of DNA, followed by PCR and pyrosequencing to quantitatively measure levels of cytosine methylation in promoter-associated CpG islands close to transcription start sites. Nonparametric tests were used for statistical analysis. Our analysis covered a total of 25 genes: 11 in the intrinsic pathway (BAX, BAK, HRK, CYC1, DIABLO, ATM, APAF1, MAP3K5, CHEK2,PAK1, and BNIP 3), 4 in the extrinsic pathway (TRADD,PYCARD, CARD 10 and BID), 5 genes of the Caspase family (Caspase 2, 3, 6, 7, 9) in addition to 4 of the programmed cell death genes (PDCD 2, 4, 6, and 11). By using a 15% cutoff level to call a gene methylated, methylation was observed in 7 genes in at least one cell line: BNIP3 (Raji), PYCARD (K562), HRK (Tf1, Raji and Jurkat), CARD10 (Raji and HL-60), BID (Raji), PAK1 (Raji) and Casp 6 (Raji). We then performed methylation analysis of 4 genes (BNIP3, PYCARD, PAK1 and CARD 10) in AML and ALL patient samples. Methylation frequencies over a 15% cutoff are summarized in Table 1. We conclude that DNA methylation-associated epigenetic silencing is likely to play a role in modulating apoptosis in a subset of AML and ALL patients, with PYCARD being the most frequent target. | Genes | Methylation in AML patients | Methylation in ALL patients | |:------ | --------------------------- | --------------------------- | | PYCARD | 6/20 | 4/20 | | BNIP3 | 1/20 | 3/20 | | CARD10 | 0/20 | 2/20 | | PAK1 | 0/20 | 1/20 | Table 1
An Examination of the Instructional Sensitivity of the TIMSS Math Items: A Hierarchical Differential Item Functioning Approach

ABSTRACTIn recent years, students’ test scores have been used to evaluate teachers’ performance. The assumption underlying this practice is that students’ test performance reflects teachers’ instruction. However, this assumption is generally not empirically tested. In this study, we examine the effect of teachers’ instruction on test performance at the item level using a hierarchical differential item functioning approach. The items are from the U.S. TIMSS 2011 4th-grade math test. Specifically, we tested whether students who had received instruction on a given item performed significantly better on that item compared with students who had not received such instruction when their overall math ability was controlled for, whether with or without controlling for student-level and class-level covariates. This study provides preliminary findings regarding why some items show instructional sensitivity and sheds light on how to develop instructionally sensitive items. Implications and directions for further rese...
The tragedy of William Sweet

The life of William Sweet embodied the tragedy of modern research. His successes were taken for granted, but his failures made headlines, inspired lawsuits and brought vicious condemnation. For him, to use Hamlet's expression, time was out of joint.
The clinicopathologic significance of FOXC1 in BRCA-mutant breast cancer.

1556 Background: BRCA1 breast cancer (BC) has been associated with the basal molecular subtype and BRCA2 with the luminal subtype but the biological basis for this is unknown. The forkhead box C1 (...
Practices and People

A perennial issue in social thought is the relationship of people to enveloping social phenomena such as structures, institutions, and systems. The present essay explores this relationship through the lens of practice theory. Theories of practice have said much about practices, a type of enveloping social phenomena, but relatively little about people. This general inattention probably has something to do with the fact that theorists of practice deny that they are individualists. The neglect is nonetheless surprising, for people are everywhere in the plenum of practices. The present essay aims to help address this situation, offering a way of thinking about practices and people according to which these two phenomena are equally real while mutually dependent and co-responsible for social life.
Safety and efficacy of a TTR specific antisense oligonucleotide in patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy.

AbstractObjectives: Cardiomyopathy is a major cause of death in both the hereditary form of transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis and the sporadic late-age-onset transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR wild-type (ATTRwt)). Clinically disease progression from time of diagnosis to death is usually quoted as 5- to 15-years. In prior studies, significant progression of cardiac parameters in patients with moderate to severe cardiomyopathy has been noted within a 12-month time span.Methods: The present study was designed to prospectively monitor changes in cardiac parameters, both structural and functional, in patients with ATTR cardiomyopathy while treated with a TTR specific antisense oligonucleotide (ASO; IONIS-TTR℞) designed to lower blood levels of the amyloid fibril precursor protein. To date 22 patients have been admitted to the study, 15 have completed 12 months on the drug and are the subject of this report.Results: Eight patients with hereditary ATTR amyloidosis and 7 patients with wild-type ATTR amyloidosis with m...
Evaluation of performance and perceptions of electronic vs. paper multiple-choice exams

In the veterinary professional curriculum, methods of examination in many courses are transitioning from the traditional paper-based exams to electronic-based exams. Therefore, a controlled trial t...
Cell Surface GRP78: A Targetable Marker of Cancer Stem-Like Cells

Abstract Most therapies target proliferating tumor cells, resulting in tumor debulking. However, frequently drug-resistant, residual tumor cells are present and are thought to be responsible for tumor recurrence and patient mortality. Significant data points to the fact that tumors are heterogeneous, being composed of proliferative and nonproliferating tumor cell subpopulations. Frequently, the latter is therapy-resistant and exhibits cancer stem-like properties. Glucose Regulated Protein of 78 kDa (GRP78) has been implicated in both drug resistance and in stem-like cell behaviors, and has been shown to be a targetable cell surface receptor. Specifically, antibodies binding to the carboxyl terminus of GRP78 induce tumor cell death by inhibiting the Akt pathway. Collectively, this knowledge underscores the importance of developing combination therapies that target both proliferating populations and nonproliferating drug-resistant tumor cell subpopulations. Moreover, this collective work identifies cell surface GRP78 as a promising therapeutic target on the cell surface of therapy-resistant tumor cells.
A comparison of total inward leakage measured using sodium chloride (NaCl) and corn oil aerosol methods for air-purifying respirators.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard 16900-1:2014 specifies the use of sodium chloride (NaCl) and corn oil aerosols, and sulfur hexafluoride gas for measuring total inw...
Forest Height Estimation Using Multibaseline PolInSAR and Sparse Lidar Data Fusion

We demonstrate a method using lidar data fusion to improve the forest height estimation accuracy of multibaseline polarimetric synthetic aperture radar interferometry (PolInSAR). Compared to single-baseline PolInSAR, multibaseline PolInSAR allows forest canopy height to be estimated more accurately across a wider range of height values. However, to arrive at a single forest height estimate, the estimates from the multiple baselines must be selected or weighted. A number of approaches to selecting between baselines have been proposed in the literature, but they are generally based on simple metrics of the PolInSAR data and do not necessarily capture the full range of characteristics that make one baseline produce more accurate forest height estimates than another. We solve this problem by treating baseline selection as a supervised classification problem that can be trained using a small amount of sparse lidar data located within the PolInSAR coverage area. We train a support vector machine classifier using a variety of coarse lidar sample spacings of 250 m and greater, to demonstrate that data from future spaceborne lidar missions will be sufficient for this purpose. We demonstrate results for multiple study areas in the country of Gabon using data collected by NASA's uninhabited aerial vehicle synthetic aperture radar and land, vegetation, and ice sensor lidar. The use of lidar fusion for PolInSAR baseline selection yields improved results compared to standard baseline selection methods, and further demonstrates the strong potential of PolInSAR and lidar fusion for remote sensing of forests.
Family Structure and Child Well-Being

Our previous work found that single-parenthood was associated with reduced well-being for white, but not black, children (Dunifon and Kowaleski-Jones 2002). The current paper examines whether parental social connections account for differences in the effects of family structure on child well-being. Using data from the 1979 to 2000 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, our results show a key role for living with a grandparent in accounting for race differences in the influence of single-parenthood on children. In contrast, visiting friends and relatives did not explain differences in the relationship between single-parenthood and child delinquency among African American and families receiving public assistance sub-groups.
Review of the System Compatibility and Ride through Options for AC and DC Drives Including Multilevel Inverters

Adjustable Speed Drive (ASD) compatibility and ride-through issues have caused increased concerns due to the susceptibility of AC and DC drives to power disturbances, and the costly results of process disruptions. These losses can be avoided for critical production processes by using ASDs with ride-through capabilities. This paper assesses industrial ride-through requirements and application issues for AC and DC drives, including medium voltage (2300/4160V) multi-level inverter topologies. Ride-through alternatives are evaluated based on design, implementation and cost considerations in order to determine the most suitable solutions for various kVA ratings and time duration requirements.
Developmental Toxicity and Nonhuman Primates

A primary objective of experimental teratology is to determine potential adverse effects of chemicals and other environmental agents on development prior to widespread human exposure. Ethical considerations prohibit the testing of compounds for teratogenicity in the human population. This constraint forces us to make extrapolations of potential human risk from data obtained in laboratory animal species. Interspecies differences in teratologic sensitivity make the selection of an appropriate animal model a particularly challenging problem. The use of nonhuman primates has been advocated on the basis of their phylogenetic relatedness to humans, as reflected in anatomical, reproductive, and embryological similarities. One objective of this chapter is to examine results of developmental toxicity studies in nonhuman primates and determine how faithfully they match known effects in humans. Retrospective analyses like these are useful in validating animal models, but in order to enhance our predictive capability we need a better understanding of the nature and extent of interspecies variations in developmental toxicity.
Normal Mode Analysis of Chemical Reactions

In a system involving several consecutive reactions which equilibrate at comparable rates there is a strong mutual coupling between the various reactions. In such a situation the relaxation times refer to the rate of equilibrations along the “normal modes” of the system rather than to the equilibration of individual reaction steps, in analogy to the normal frequencies of a vibrating molecule. Depending on the specific situation this coupling may affect the relaxation amplitudes in different ways, sometimes leading to a very small amplitude associated with one or more relaxation effects. As a consequence some relaxation effects may become invisible inducing the experimenter to erroneous conclusions about his system,, An understanding of the normal modes of reaction and with it of the factors which influence relaxation amplitudes can help in recognizing such situations and in designing better experiments.
Generalized multinomial probit Model: Accommodating constrained random parameters

Abstract Skewed and constrained distributions for model parameters are better suited to provide realistic taste sensitivity and Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) distributions in many empirical applications. In this context of random taste heterogeneity, the standard multinomial probit (MNP) has seen limited applicability largely owing to the normal distributional assumption of model parameters that will invariably result in (a) counter-intuitive taste sensitivities for a significant proportion of the population, and (b) WTP distributions without finite moments. In this paper, a Generalized MNP (GMNP) model that allows constrained random parameters with multivariate truncated normal distribution was developed. The ability of the maximum simulated likelihood inference method to retrieve the model parameters was demonstrated on synthetic data using the GHK simulator with quasi-Monte Carlo sequences. The bias in the parameters of the MNP model that ignores the constraints on model parameters was also demonstrated. Also, the proposed model was used to analyze car parking preferences in Jerusalem while ensuring (a) negative taste sensitivities for cost and time attributes, and (b) finite moments of the WTP measures associated with walk and search times.
Are oncologists using genome sequencing results to inform patient care

e12525 Background: Precision oncology relies on genomic sequencing to inform diagnostic and treatment strategies customized to an individual patient. Yet, as genome sequencing becomes more integrat...
Programme mit veränderlichen Koeffizienten

In diesem Kapitel wollen wir Probleme betrachten, bei denen eine gewisse Freiheit in der Wahl der Koeffizienten einer Aktivitat moglich ist. Solche Probleme treten auf, wenn man ein System konstruieren will oder wenn die Input- und Output-Eigenschaften eines Prozesses von einem oder mehreren Parametern, die verandert werden konnen, etwa der Temperatur, abhangen. Zunachst eine Bemerkung zur Schreibweise.
Arrest of Tumor Growth by DNA-Site Inhibitors of Adenosine Diphosphoribose Transferase

The impressive experiments of Juarez-Salinas et al. (1) reinforced the prevailing view that DNA-damage induces an increased rate of ADP-ribosyl transferase activity in intact cells and this “alarm reaction” was assumed to represent an important, if not, the main cellular role of ADP-ribosyl transferase. Persuasive arguments of Shall (2) connected DNA-strand breaks and cytodifferentiation, notably the fusion of myoblasts, with an increased ADP-ribosyl transferase activity and implicated the involvement of ADP-ribosyl transferase in DNA repair or processes equivalent to repair as occurring in DNA rearrangements or rejoining, professing a physiological function of ADP-ribosyl transferase in complex processes of gene control of eukaryotes. Although uncertainty prevails regarding the exact involvement of ADP-ribosyl transferase in DNA repair (3–6), the importance of the above pioneering experiments (1, 2) consists of calling attention to the critical nature of DNA-ADP-ribosyl transferase interactions in cellular pathophysiology. More recent experiments with simpler reconstructed systems (7) revealed that not so much “DNA-breaks” but probably short activating (8) DNA-domains containing specific sequences (7) may be responsible for the activation of ADP-ribosyl transferase and such sequences, which may be unmasked by DNA damage, could be physiological components of DNA in chromatin.
Ṣukūk Market in Turkey

While there is no doubt that ṣukūk will assume an increasingly important role as a financial instrument for economic development, it is clear that Turkey will become one of the countries that will shape the future of the ṣukūk market on a global scale. With its unique geostrategic position as a bridge between Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Turkey is ideally positioned for becoming one of the most important players in the global ṣukūk market industry. If Islamic finance has not always been very popular in the country, this sector has grown steadily and ṣukūk are enjoying a steady success. The Turkish government is therefore determined to make Istanbul a financial hub for Islamic finance on a regional and global scale. With a GDP of US$769 billion in 2017 (IMF, “Turkey: 2016 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the executive director for Turkey”, IMF Country Report n° 18/110, April 2018.), Turkey ranks 18th among the world’s largest economies and appears in this context well positioned to become one of the leading players in the global ṣukūk market industry. Despite this potential, there are still many legal and financial hurdles, limiting the development of ṣukūk in the country. Efforts still need to be made to ensure a stable environment conducive to the development of this promising market.
Altered access to beneficial mutations slows adaptation and biases fixed mutations in diploids

Ploidy varies considerably in nature. However, our understanding of the impact of ploidy on adaptation is incomplete. Many microbial evolution experiments characterize adaptation in haploid organisms, but few focus on diploid organisms. Here, we perform a 4,000-generation evolution experiment using diploid strains of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show that the rate of adaptation and spectrum of beneficial mutations are influenced by ploidy. Haldane’s sieve effectively alters access to recessive beneficial mutations in diploid populations, leading to a slower rate of adaptation and a spectrum of beneficial mutations that is shifted towards dominant mutations. Genomic position also has an important role, as the prevalence of homozygous mutations is largely dependent on their proximity to a recombination hotspot. Our results demonstrate key aspects of diploid adaptation that have previously been understudied and provide support for several proposed theories. Adaptation in diploids is poorly understood. Here, the authors show a slower rate of adaptation and a shift towards adaptive dominant mutations in long-term experimental evolution of diploid strains of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Simple tests to detect errors in high-throughput genotype data in the molecular laboratory.

With the advent of high-density DNA marker data sets for the mouse and other model systems, 100 or more genotypes are routinely generated from large groups of mice. Issues of the accuracy and reliability of the genotyping are extremely important but often not addressed until genetic analysis is conducted. Simple tests that rely on the robust predictions arising from Mendelian genetics can be made quickly in the molecular laboratory as the data are generated, and require only a spreadsheet program. In this report, genotype data from 392 mice tested at 96 marker sites were analyzed for errors that are typical when handling large volumes of data generated in a repetitive process. The testing consisted of: (1) repeating the genotyping of approximately 1% of the samples; (2) examining the deviation from the expected segregation ratio (1:2:1) on a marker-by-marker basis; and (3) testing the correlation of the genotype at one marker with that at neighboring genetic markers on a chromosome. These three steps allowed analysis at the level of the microtiter plate, where errors are most likely to occur. A set of 96 dinucleotide repeat markers that are polymorphic between the C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mouse strains and can be multiplexed is reported for use in other genotyping projects.
Nonlinear cochlear mechanics without direct vibration-amplification feedback

Recent in vivo recordings from the mammalian cochlea indicate that although the motion of the basilar membrane appears actively amplified and nonlinear only at frequencies relatively close to the peak of the response, the internal motions of the organ of Corti display these same features over a much wider range of frequencies. These experimental findings are not easily explained by the textbook view of cochlear mechanics, in which cochlear amplification is controlled by the motion of the basilar membrane (BM) in a tight, closed-loop feedback configuration. This study shows that a simple phenomenological model of the cochlea inspired by the work of Zweig [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 138, 1102 (2015)] can account for recent data in mouse and gerbil. In this model, the active forces are regulated indirectly, through the effect of BM motion on the pressure field across the cochlear partition, rather than via direct coupling between active-force generation and BM vibration. The absence of strong vibration-amplification feedback in the cochlea also provides a compelling explanation for the observed intensity invariance of fine time structure in the BM response to acoustic clicks.
Southern Pines Are Resistant to Mortality From an Exceptional Drought in East Texas

In 2011, the state of Texas experienced its worst drought ever recorded, breaking statewide temperature and precipitation records. With climate predictions suggesting increases in the severity and extent of future droughts in this region, forest managers will need to plan for such events to minimize tree mortality. In east Texas, pine species are economically and ecologically important and are often managed, providing an opportunity to examine silvicultural strategies for mitigating exceptional drought mortality. We used U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis data and Bayesian, logistic, mixed effects regression to model individual tree mortality and the effect of stand structure (i.e., tree size, relative density, and species dominance) on three major pine groups, planted (PL) and naturally-regenerated (NL) loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) and all shortleaf pine (SL, Pinus echinata Mill.), under pre-drought and drought periods in east Texas. These groups represent a spectrum of management intensity with PL generally intensively managed and NL and SL relatively unmanaged. Moreover, loblolly pine tends to be production-oriented while shortleaf pine has perceived drought tolerance. Surprisingly, pine mortality did not increase significantly from pre-drought to drought periods in spite of the record drought conditions. However, mortality differed between pine groups and in response to stand structure for loblolly pine. Planted loblolly was least affected as mortality rate increased 9.8%. In contrast, NL and SL pine mortality rates were significantly higher than PL and increased 26.3% and 20.0%, respectively. The smallest and largest stems experienced elevated mortality under both periods, notably PL under exceptional drought. As expected, higher densities of loblolly pine exacerbated exceptional drought mortality. Surprisingly, greater overstory diversity for NL reduced mortality under exceptional drought. Despite the unprecedented hot and dry conditions of the 2011 drought, our results suggest that current practices in PL that manage relative density and tree size for non-drought conditions confers mortality resistance under exceptional drought. In NL stands, mortality resistance could be increased through active thinning and promoting greater overstory diversity. These results offer critical knowledge for managers tasked with providing continued forest resources in the face of future exceptional droughts.
The politics of pension reform in Canada and the United States

Opt-out pensions pose many difficult design and implementation issues. The U.K. experience suggests several valuable lessons for U.S. policymakers. First, complex interactions between public and opt-out pensions may create confusion among workers, leading to both discontent and demands for policy change. Second, allowing recurrent opportunities to opt into and out of individual accounts increases administrative complexity, increases choice complexity for workers, and may undermine system legitimacy but it may also be politically unavoidable. Third, the market may not, unprompted, provide personal pension vehicles that are appropriate retirement savings vehicles for low-earners, especially those who have interrupted earnings records. Fourth, price indexation of wage histories may create pressures for ad hoc policy change. Fifth, increased reliance on means-tested pensions increases administrative complexity and creates perverse incentives for savings and for types of assets held, especially where assets as well as income-tests are involved. Sixth, an option for quasi-privatized pensions leads to pressures to treat those pensions more like fully private pensions with respect to flexibility in withdrawals, inheritability, and ability to borrow against fund balances. Seventh, annuitization costs can add significantly to pension system costs and inequality across cohorts, so the state may want to take on the role of monopoly annuity provider. Eighth, scandals and failures drive policymakers and consumer responses, so it is important to get the policy design right the first time and invest heavily in public understanding of how the reform will work. A final lesson is that scandals, policy tinkering, and uncertainty over pension policy may affect workers' propensity to opt out of state pensions in unpredictable ways not just driving people to exit from the state system.
Frequency of Concomitant Use of Gabapentinoids and Opioids among Patients with Cancer-Related Pain at an Outpatient Palliative Care Clinic.

Background: Patients with cancer-related pain use opioids for nociceptive pain, while gabapentinoids are common to treat neuropathic pain. The simultaneous use of opioids with gabapentinoids has be...
Buying into capitalism: Mongolians’ changing perceptions of capitalism in the transition years

Interviews with 864 everyday Mongolians in Hovd, Ulaanbaatar, and the surrounding countryside in 1998 and with 410 from the same locations in 2003 reveal they have an increasing appreciation of cap...
Spatially fractionated stereotactic body radiation therapy (Lattice) for large tumors.

Abstract Purpose Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has demonstrated clinical benefits for patients with metastatic and/or unresectable cancer. Technical considerations of treatment delivery and nearby organs at risk can limit the use of SBRT in large tumors or those in unfavorable locations. Spatially fractionated radiation therapy (SFRT) may address this limitation because this technique can deliver high-dose radiation to discrete subvolume vertices inside a tumor target while restricting the remainder of the target to a safer lower dose. Indeed, SFRT, such as GRID, has been used to treat large tumors with reported dramatic tumor response and minimal side effects. Lattice is a modern approach to SFRT delivered with arc-based therapy, which may allow for safe, high-quality SBRT for large and/or deep tumors. Methods and Materials Herein, we report the results of a dosimetry and quality assurance feasibility study of Lattice SBRT in 11 patients with 12 tumor targets, each ≥10 cm in an axial dimension. Prior computed tomography simulation scans were used to generate volumetric modulated arc therapy Lattice SBRT plans that were then delivered on clinically available Linacs. Quality assurance testing included external portal imaging device and ion chamber analyses. Results All generated plans met the standard SBRT dose constraints, such as those from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 101. Additionally, we provide a step-by-step approach to generate and deliver Lattice SBRT plans using commercially available treatment technology. Conclusions Lattice SBRT is currently being tested in a prospective trial for patients with metastatic cancer who need palliation of large tumors ( NCT04553471 , NCT04133415 ).
Disaster and Terrorism in Emergency Psychiatry

While the primary focus of most disaster and terrorism medical response is on the management of physical injury and illness, the emotional and psychological effects in the affected population are quite often overlooked. Following an attack, patients may present with symptoms of exposure to the chemical, radiologic, or biological agent, even though they have not been affected by the same. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise that the ratio of ill/injured patients compared to those with primary psychological etiology will be on the order of 6–9:1. Complicating this, psychological problems may present as physiological dysfunction, and physical causes may produce an impression of underlying psychological causation. A psychiatric screening examination may be conducted along with a history and physical examination if the number of personnel and other exigencies permits the same. Those findings facilitate the differential diagnosis of psychiatric symptoms in the medical-surgical and trauma settings, thereby increasing the efficacy of triage and overall management.
Fractional Quantum Hall Effect Energy Gaps: Role of Electron Layer Thickness

The fractional quantum Hall effect stands as a quintessential manifestation of an interacting two-dimensional electron system. One of the fractional quantum Hall effect's most fundamental characteristics is the energy gap separating the incompressible ground state from its excitations. Yet, despite nearly four decades of investigations, a quantitative agreement between the theoretically calculated and experimentally measured energy gaps is lacking. Here we report a systematic experimental study that incorporates very high-quality two-dimensional electron systems confined to GaAs quantum wells with fixed density and varying well widths. The results demonstrate a clear decrease of the energy gap as the electron layer is made thicker and the short-range component of the Coulomb interaction is weakened. We also provide a quantitative comparison between the measured energy gaps and the available theoretical calculations that takes into account the role of finite layer thickness and Landau level mixing. All the measured energy gaps fall below the calculations, but as the electron layer thickness increases, the results of experiments and calculations come closer. Accounting for the role of disorder in a phenomenological manner, we find better overall agreement between the measured and calculated energy gaps, although some puzzling discrepancies remain.
Exploring Dendrimer Nanoparticles for Chronic Wound Healing

The United States spends billions of dollars to treat chronic wounds each year. Wound healing is complex in nature which involves several intricate multiphase processes that can be delayed for a number of reasons leading to the development of chronic wounds. Wound healing therapies range from topical preparations to surgical repair with treatment options that vary based on other underlying factors like co-infection, age, or co-morbidities such as diabetes. Historically, micelles and liposomes are some of the nanoparticle drug delivery systems explored to treat chronic wounds; however, recent data suggests that dendrimers have shown potential to rival these systems in treating chronic wounds as well as other diseases. This mini review examines advances in dendrimer nanoparticle drug delivery systems to treat chronic wounds.
Primary Care Physician Perspectives on Low Risk Prostate Cancer Management: Results of a National Survey

AbstractIntroduction:Primary care providers can collaborate with urologists to ensure men with low risk prostate cancer on active surveillance receive followup testing and adhere to the management ...
Comparing Capital Income and Wealth Taxes

As part of the Pepperdine Law Review Symposium The Impact of the 2017 Tax Act on Income and Wealth Inequality: Lessons for 2020 and Beyond, this Essay compares two reform directions to rebuild the progressive tax system: an improved capital income tax—which would eliminate the benefit from deferring gains until a sale—or a wealth tax. The Essay first introduces the concept of a “rate-equivalent” wealth or capital income tax as a way to assess reform alternatives consistently and to identify the assumptions as to how the reforms would be structured. For any chosen capital income tax (or wealth tax) reform, the rate-equivalent wealth tax (or capital income tax) is the tax yielding the same tax liability for a taxpayer earning a specified investment return rate. The Essay then illustrates how this concept can help illuminate the assumptions behind comparisons of wealth tax and capital income tax reforms in the literature. Some views in the literature suggest that policymakers should favor an improved capital income tax because the two reforms can have comparable economic effects, while a capital income tax is more desirable in other respects. The Essay surveys the literature evaluating three aspects of these reforms—their economic effects, administrability and avoidance opportunities, and constitutionality—and offers additional perspective on how in each area the distinctions between the two reforms are often narrower than they are sometimes assumed to be in the literature. In many cases the analysis of these reforms will also depend on the particular manner in which each reform is structured or the baseline against which the reform is measured. For this reason, policymakers should not reach categorical conclusions that one reform direction is intrinsically more desirable than the other. The Essay concludes by considering one respect in which an improved capital income tax or a wealth tax can unambiguously differ: as different measures for comparing taxpayers in a progressive tax system. This distinction, however, will depend on the normative choice as to how inequality should be measured and mitigated by the tax system. For example, the choice between a capital income tax and a wealth tax could have different consequences, depending upon whether one assumes that the progressive tax system should mitigate differences in utility, income, wealth, or a combination thereof.
Supraspinatus-to-Glenoid Contact Occurs During Standardized Overhead Reaching Motion

Background:Rotator cuff tears may result from repeated mechanical deformation of the cuff tendons, and internal impingement of the supraspinatus tendon against the glenoid is one such proposed mech...
Exploring circular economies in the built environment from a complex systems perspective: A systematic review and conceptual model at the city scale

Abstract As one of the globe's leading sectors for resource use and carbon emissions, the built environment could play a vital role in the circular economy (CE). This study aimed to understand and map the complex systems inherent to CE interventions in the built environment. We conducted a systematic literature review and thematic analysis to identify CE case studies in different cities around the globe that have considered systemic dimensions of CE and their interconnections and iterations. These include governmental, economic, environmental, technological, societal, and behavioral dimensions. The case studies informed a conceptual model that illustrates how CE functions in an urban setting. The model represents the interdependencies, flows, feedbacks, and unintended consequences that may result from the interaction between the CE research dimensions in cities. We hope to help policymakers, designers, and researchers to better understand how CE functions in urban settings, and to ethically design changes in the system to achieve circularity goals. The results suggest that meaningful stakeholder engagement is key to co-designing ethical CE interventions in the built environment. Finally, engaging disciplines like economics and decision sciences, and better understanding the role of public policies and human behavior are vital to future CE interventions in urban settings.
High-temperature superconducting motors and generators for power grid applications

This chapter describes the motivations for and benefits of superconducting motors and generators and explores the reasons why they are not yet commercialized. The design and construction principles of these machines are outlined with emphasis on those actions required by the use of superconductivity. The possible types of superconducting motors and generators are discussed, and the notable larger prototypes of these machines that have been built are summarized. These machines place significant requirements on superconducting wire and necessitate new cryogenic subsystems, and the consequences are explained. The chapter closes with a look at the status and the future potential for these machines.
The Pion-Nucleus Optical Potential

A review of the pionic optical model is given. Some recent calculations and fits to data are discussed briefly.
Green roofs provide habitat for urban bats

Abstract Understanding bat use of human-altered habitat is critical for developing effective conservation plans for this ecologically important taxon. Green roofs, building rooftops covered in growing medium and vegetation, are increasingly important conservation tools that make use of underutilized space to provide breeding and foraging grounds for urban wildlife. Green roofs are especially important in highly urbanized areas such as New York City (NYC), which has more rooftops (34%) than green space (13%). To date, no studies have examined the extent to which North American bats utilize urban green roofs. To investigate the role of green roofs in supporting urban bats, we monitored bat activity using ultrasonic recorders on four green and four conventional roofs located in highly developed areas of NYC, which were paired to control for location, height, and local variability in surrounding habitat and species diversity. We then identified bat vocalizations on these recordings to the species level. We documented the presence of five of nine possible bat species over both roof types: Lasiurus borealis, L. cinereus, L. noctivagans, P. subflavus, and E. fuscus. Of the bat calls that could be identified to the species level, 66% were from L. borealis . Overall levels of bat activity were higher over green roofs than over conventional roofs. This study provides evidence that, in addition to well documented ecosystem benefits, urban green roofs contribute to urban habitat availability for several North American bat species.