cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Impact of Preoperative Hematocrit Level on Length of Stay after Surgery on the Lumbar Spine.

Study Design Retrospective case series. Objective Recent studies suggest that baseline hematocrit (Hct) levels may affect the surgical outcomes after orthopedic procedures. The authors examined whether preoperative Hct values had a significant effect on the hospital length of stay (LoS) after lumbar spinal procedures. Methods We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent routine lumbar spine procedures from November 2012 through September 2013. Patients were included if they had both a baseline Hct and hospital LoS recorded. Patients were divided into two groups: those with an Hct ≥ 40% (nonanemic) and those with an Hct Results One hundred seventeen patients underwent lumbar spine procedures for lumbar stenosis ( n = 34), symptomatic lumbar disk herniation ( n = 39), lumbar spondylolisthesis ( n = 26), lumbar adjacent segment disease ( n = 8), or symptomatic recurrent lumbar disk herniation ( n = 10). Mean LoS was 3.3 and 2.4 days in anemic (27 patients) and nonanemic groups (90 patients), respectively ( p = 0.02). The linear regression analysis demonstrated that a decrease in Hct was associated with a longer stay. A decrease from preoperative to postoperative day 1 Hct of 3.5 points resulted in an increased LoS of 1 day ( R 2 = 0.145; p = 0.002). The correlation of Hct decrease with longer LoS remained (β = 0.167, p = 0.006) after adjusting for other variables with multivariate regression analysis. Conclusions Lower preoperative Hct or a substantial decrease in Hct may contribute to longer hospitalization after lumbar spine surgery. These findings should prompt an investigation into the strategies for optimizing Hct levels in patients with preoperative anemia prior to lumbar spine procedures.
Beneath the Mask: Autobiographies of Japanese-American Women

we might ask why many of these seem to be by ethnic American women. Currently Black American women writers and Asian-American women writers are dominating the literature coming from their particular ethnic groups. The increasing presence of autobiographies by ethnic American women in the twentieth century is due to several factors such as the inclusion of women in the work force and industry, the growth of immigrant populations, and the development of a larger reading public through mass education. Over the last twenty years, the rise of the women's movement has encouraged women to speak out. Writers are drawn into expression of the ethnic dimension through autobiography as they become acculturated and realize that multiplicity is acceptable. Since ethnic writers are dealing with society and history on certain levels, as well as their place in this culture, autobiography becomes the proper form for the transmission of cultural reality and myth. Ethnic writers and women, or ethnic writers as women, must search for a definition of self within, but as different from, the dominant culture. Elaine Showalter discusses women's writing in "Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness" (1981) as a double-voiced discourse containing a "dominant" and a "muted" story. Analyzing the existence of muted groups other than women, then combinations of muted groups, Showalter says: A black American woman poet, for example, would have her literary identity formed by the dominant (white male) tradition, by a muted women's culture, and by a muted black culture. She would be affected by both sexual and racial politics in a combination unique to her case; at the same time, . . . she shares an experience specific to her group. (202) The Japanese-American woman writer, in speaking out autobiographically, is abandoning the traditional silence of her muted culture in order
Evaluation on the comprehensive drought risk for the China 's uncultivated lands suitable for agriculture and their development strategy based on GIS

By employing GIS and fuzzy mathematics and AHP,we evaluated the drought risk of the uncultivated lands suitable for agriculture in China,assessed the drought risk grades for the uncultivated lands suitable for agriculture. Main conclusions are: China has large area of uncultivated land suitable for agriculture,but they are distributed unevenly among and inside regions,and its general drought risk grade is at medium-high degree; with large area of uncultivated lands suitable for agriculture,China's central-north region,northeast region, southwest region,Tibet region,and Xinjiang region are the key regions for future exploitation of uncultivated lands suitable for agriculture. The author indicates that drought defense and drought resistance measures,such irrigation infrastructure construction,water-saving irrigation promotion,terrace cropland construction,and plastic film mulching for preservation of soil moisture,should be implemented in the process of exploiting uncultivated lands suitable for agriculture by obeying the principle of differential treatment to different regions in according with local conditions. The exploitation strategies for uncultivated lands suitable for agriculture are proposed to develop fruit trees,fruit melon plants,oil crops,small grains,green feed crops and feed grass.
Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) after granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) therapy: a report of 2 cases.

Abstract Two patients with recurrent lymphoma developed an acute, transient encephalopathy following administration of recombinant human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF), filgrastim, in anticipation of leukapheresis for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Head magnetic resonance imaging showed evidence of blood–brain barrier (BBB) breakdown, compatible with posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). The proposed pathogenesis of PRES was rhG-CSF-induced neutrophil mobilization and activation with the release of inflammatory mediators, resulting in transient alteration of barrier permeability and capillary leakage.
New media producing new labor: Pinterest, yearning, and self-surveillance

ABSTRACTScrapbooks, a medium long used by women to curate experiences, employ a past-oriented affective capacity of remembrance. By engaging in modal analysis, this essay explores how the social networking site Pinterest, although visually similar to scrapbooks, instead offers a future-oriented affective capacity of yearning to its (primarily female) users. This temporal pivot and change in affective capacity engages women not in celebratory memory work but in a postindustrial, postfeminist third shift of labor curating yearning and self-surveilling.
Management Strategies for the Ovaries at the Time of Hysterectomy for Benign Disease.

Gynecologists performing hysterectomy for benign disease must universally counsel women about ovarian management. The beneficial effect of elective bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) on incident ovarian and breast cancer and elimination of need for subsequent adnexal surgery must be weighed against the risks of ovarian hormone withdrawal. Ovarian conservation rates have increased significantly over the past 15 years. In postmenopausal women, however, BSO can reduce ovarian and breast cancer rates without an adverse impact on coronary heart disease, sexual dysfunction, hip fractures, or cognitive function.
Toward the Construction of a Local Knowledge Base on Teaching and Learning by and for Teachers and Learners

Teacher action researchers in Moravian College’s action research-based Master of Education program have rejected Taylorist notions of scientific management that have led to the de-professionalization and de-skilling of USA’s teachers throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This chapter provides an overview of how teachers connect their actions to the origins of action research, make a commitment to oppose injustice, construct curriculum and professional knowledge, become critical as they expand participatory frameworks, and learn with and from other teachers in dialogue with their exploration of what has emerged as their own local action research tradition. The research conducted by teachers in the Moravian program documents how discourse-rich, authentic, and purposeful curricula promote student achievement in support of a Comenian vision of universal education.
Detection of aggressive driving behavior and fault behavior using pattern matching

In time series processing, pattern matching is often used to cater to visual perception of behaviors of interest. The selection of data representation methods and distance measures is driven by domain considerations and is critical for implementation from lab to production scale. This paper discusses use cases from different domains where select pattern matching techniques are used. In the first use case, a multi-variable pattern matching method has been used to detect and classify driving behavior. The risk associated with aggressive behavior is computed and applied to derive the driving scores that feed into the fleet performance management service. In the second use case, pattern matching algorithms are used for the real time detection and diagnosis of faults in transformer systems. The evolving risk profile is used as lead indicator of impending failure. This feature is integrated into the condition monitoring system and configured to issue maintenance work orders.
Listening: An Underlying Competency in Psychiatry Education.

According to dictionary.com, hearing is “the act of perceiving sound,” while listening means “to give attention with the ear; to attend closely with the purpose of hearing” [12]. Merriam-Webster online provides an additional element in their “Simple Definition of listen” that has to do with the quality of what is listened to: “to hear what someone has said and understand that it is serious, important, or true” [13]. These definitions imply several key aspects. First, unlike hearing, listening is always active. You can hear passively and can therefore overhear something unintentionally. You cannot listen to something unintentionally. To listen means to direct your attention, to want to hear what is important or true. Second, listening involves an aspect of mutuality, an exchange between two people. Jackson suggested that listening evokes a “compelling effect” on the sufferer. A mutual attachment occurs as the patient responds by telling more and revealing more, which has a reinforcing effect on the listener [14]. Listening is related to empathizing, which has had a great deal of discussion in the medical education literature [15, 16, 17, 18]. Empathy is best understood as a complex construct. There is a cognitive component that involves imaginatively constructing an internal representation of another person’s experience and an affective aspect that involves some resonance of emotion with the other. In addition, clinical empathy is also thought to contain a moral element of feeling concern or compassion for the other, as well as a communicative piece where the clinician shares their empathy with the patient. I would suggest that listening is a necessary precondition for both the cognitive and affective aspects of empathy, in that both assume that the clinician has successfully received whatever the patient is trying to convey.
Selected Containment Systems for Severe Accident Mitigation

Apart from pressure reduction in containment in case of severe accident, monitoring systems are required to provide the status of the plant and its equipment/systems. Different systems have been developed and internationally qualified by AREVA to cope with severe accidents. Special attention is paid to the status of the containment atmosphere and indication of the core status. Passive autocatalytic recombiners minimize risk of hydrogen explosion in containment HERMETIS allows containment atmosphere monitoring (pressure, steam, combustible gases) PASS (Post-accident sampling system) provides precise radiological information determination of radioactive containment inventory and the core damage state during a severe accident progression.
State strategies for coordinating Medicaid and housing services.

OBJECTIVE This article reports findings from case studies of 4 states (Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Tennessee) that used different approaches to coordinate Medicaid services with temporary or permanent housing supports for individuals with psychiatric disabilities. METHOD Data were collected through document review, telephone interviews with state officials and managed care organizations, and site visits to behavioral health and housing providers, and consumer organizations. Qualitative analyses focused on identifying key features of each state's approach, including the strengths and limitations from multiple perspectives. RESULTS All 4 states facilitated partnerships between behavioral health and housing providers. Each state used managed care strategies to some degree and identified opportunities to use Medicaid to finance the coordination of services with housing providers. These financing strategies included using flexible case rates to fund community support workers; using a 1915(i) state plan amendment to fund intensive Medicaid behavioral health services for those in permanent supportive housing; funding new local entities to support local partnerships between health and housing organizations; and creating a Medicaid supportive housing benefit. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE These 4 states took advantage of the flexibility that Medicaid offers to implement different service models in an effort to improve the coordination of behavioral health services and housing. The strategies used in these states may be useful to other states and communities seeking to strengthen coordination of care for individuals who require housing support. (PsycINFO Database Record
Peripheral Arterial Disease in the Elderly

The prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) increases with age and can impact quality of life and independence in this population. Understanding risk factors for the disease and its natural history is key to informed conversations with patients. Here we review approaches to diagnosis, medical management, exercise therapy, and revascularization for older patients across the spectrum of PAD. Patient education, lifestyle and risk factor modification, medical therapies, and exercise are cornerstones of treatment for PAD in all age groups. Clinical decision-making in elderly patients with advanced PAD requires a careful assessment of physiologic reserve, surgical risk, desired goals, and expected outcomes. An increasing array of options facilitates a tailored approach.
A call to action to build research data infrastructure

The research community should move to fill the regulatory gap for large-scale social data left by the recent revisions of the Common Rule, argues Julia Ingrid Lane.
Do State Continuing Medical Education Requirements for Physicians Improve Clinical Knowledge

Objective To evaluate the effect of state continuing medical education (CME) requirements on physician clinical knowledge. Data Sources Secondary data for 19,563 general internists who took the Internal Medicine Maintenance of Certification (MOC) examination between 2006 and 2013. Study Design We took advantage of a natural experiment resulting from variations in CME requirements across states over time and applied a difference-in-differences methodology to measure associations between changes in CME requirements and physician clinical knowledge. We measured changes in clinical knowledge by comparing initial and MOC examination performance 10 years apart. We constructed difference-in-differences estimates by regressing examination performance changes against physician demographics, county and year fixed effects, trend–state indicators, and state CME change indicators. Data Collection Physician data were compiled by the American Board of Internal Medicine. State CME policies were compiled from American Medical Association reports. Principal Findings More rigorous CME credit-hour requirements (mostly implementing a new requirement) were associated with an increase in examination performance equivalent to a shift in examination score from the 50th to 54th percentile. Conclusions Among physicians required to engage in a summative assessment of their clinical knowledge, CME requirements were associated with an improvement in physician clinical knowledge.
Including crystal structure attributes in machine learning models of formation energies via Voronoi tessellations

While high-throughput density functional theory (DFT) has become a prevalent tool for materials discovery, it is limited by the relatively large computational cost. In this paper, we explore using DFT data from high-throughput calculations to create faster, surrogate models with machine learning (ML) that can be used to guide new searches. Our method works by using decision tree models to map DFT-calculated formation enthalpies to a set of attributes consisting of two distinct types: (i) composition-dependent attributes of elemental properties (as have been used in previous ML models of DFT formation energies), combined with (ii) attributes derived from the Voronoi tessellation of the compound's crystal structure. The ML models created using this method have half the cross-validation error and similar training and evaluation speeds to models created with the Coulomb matrix and partial radial distribution function methods. For a dataset of 435 000 formation energies taken from the Open Quantum Materials Database (OQMD), our model achieves a mean absolute error of 80 meV/atom in cross validation, which is lower than the approximate error between DFT-computed and experimentally measured formation enthalpies and below 15% of the mean absolute deviation of the training set. We also demonstrate that our method can accurately estimate the formation energy of materials outside of the training set and be used to identify materials with especially large formation enthalpies. We propose that our models can be used to accelerate the discovery of new materials by identifying the most promising materials to study with DFT at little additional computational cost.
Model based reasoning & use in massively multiplayer online games

Research Goals and Theoretical Framework. (Massively) multiplayer online games (MMOs) have recently emerged as a technology with potential for science education. As simulations of complex systems, they allow participants to digitally inhabit a virtual world and engage in join activity with others. Innovative projects such as Quest Atlantis (Barab, Sadler, Heiselt, Hickey, & Zuiker, 2007) and River City (Ketelhut, Dede, Clarke, Nelson, & Bowman, 2007) offer proof of the concept that such technologies can foster powerful forms of science learning in formal instructional environments. What is even more surprising, however, is that commercial games with no intention to teach may have potential. In a cognitive ethnography of the MMO Lineage, Steinkuehler (2005) observed teens who decided to test every combination of resources available against a given problem, tabulated the results in Excel, created simple mathematical equations to explain them, and then argued with one another about whose model was most accurate. Subsequent studies found that such practices were more prevalent than first suspected: Across a random sample of MMO forum discussions posts, Steinkuehler and Duncan (2009) found that 86% of the discussions were social knowledge construction with 58% focused on complex systems, 11% providing models to explain those systems, and 28% providing evidence to support their claims. The goal of this study was to further this line of research by examining not the finished models that gamers posted to discussion forums but rather the processes and resources they used in order to construct and justify them.
Social media based NPL system to find and retrieve ARM data: Concept paper

Information connectivity and retrieval has a role in our daily lives. The most pervasive source of online information is databases. The amount of data is growing at rapid rate and database technology is improving and having a profound effect. Almost all online applications are storing and retrieving information from databases. One challenge in supplying the public with wider access to informational databases is the need for knowledge of database languages like Structured Query Language (SQL). Although the SQL language has been published in many forms, not everybody is able to write SQL queries. Another challenge is that it may not be practical to make the public aware of the structure of the database. There is a need for novice users to query relational databases using their natural language. To solve this problem, many natural language interfaces to structured databases have been developed. The goal is to provide more intuitive method for generating database queries and delivering responses. Social media makes it possible to interact with a wide section of the population. Through this medium, and with the help of Natural Language Processing (NLP) we can make the data of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Data Center (ADC) more accessible to the public. We propose an architecture for using Apache Lucene/Solr [1], OpenML [2,3], and Kafka [4] to generate an automated query/response system with inputs from Twitter5, our Cassandra DB, and our log database. Using the Twitter API and NLP we can give the public the ability to ask questions of our database and get automated responses.
High average power pulsed multi-mode Raman fiber laser in graded index fiber

Raman fiber lasers have seen increased interest recently, due to their ability to access difficult wavelength ranges without the use of specially doped materials and to avoid some of the obstacles of very high power rare-earth doped fiber lasers, including modal instability and photodarkening. Though most modern works in Raman fiber lasers are based on fiber laser or direct diode pumping, solid state lasers have been developed with extremely high average powers and are readily available commercially. This work explores a very short fiber length high average power multi-mode Raman laser system. The custom 200um graded index fiber is pumped by 30ns pulses with average powers up to 750W and pulse energies up to 7.5mJ at 1030nm, by a solid state commercial laser system. Pump-only and seeded configurations are examined. In the seeded case, higher order mode activation is demonstrated by detuning the single mode seed to preferentially feed energy to the less confined modes. 5 orders of Stokes are demonstrated, ranging from 1078nm to 1350 nm. Beam enhancement is observed by qualitative measurement of minimum beam waist, and average powers up to 70W are achieved at an energy of 1.4mJ.
Supercritical Fluid Adsorption to Weakly Attractive Solids: Universal Scaling Laws

Adsorption of light hydrocarbons (C1–C3) confined in the pores of silica aerogel (nominal density 0.2 g/cm3) was studied experimentally and by computer simulation. Five isotherms of ethane (25.0, 32.0, 32.3, 33.0, and 35.0 °C) were obtained over a temperature range including the critical temperature of the bulk fluid (Tc = 32.18 °C) to ∼220 bar by the vibrating tube densimetry (VTD) method, which yields unique information impossible to obtain by excess sorption measurements. Two isotherms (35 and 50 °C) of methane adsorption in SiO2 aerogel were measured far above its critical temperature, Tc = −82.59 °C, at 0–150 bar using a gravimetric method. The experimental pore fluid properties of methane, ethane, propane, and CO2 (obtained earlier by VTD for the same SiO2 aerogel sample) show behavior conforming to the principle of corresponding states over the entire covered reduced temperature ranges from Tr = 0.976 to Tr = 1.696. The magnitudes of the excess adsorption maxima and the reduced fluid densities wher...
The Economy of Explicit Instruction.

The risk posed by explicit instruction in composition is that the reduction of writing to stock moves and effective devices may diminish the writer's agency and guaran- tee reproduction of the teacher's. The advantage of explicit instruction is power: overt and recursive attention to selected strategies can help students imagine the public agency the instruction itself may temporarily suspend. This study argues that growth in student writ- ing can follow from replacing problem-solving assignments (based on the problem-solving strategies found in Freakonomics) with rhetorical-analysis assignments. In this latter kind of assignment, the four features of explicit instruction that this study found empowering are (1) paying attention to how published writers frame problems; (2) labeling the framing move as a rhetorical design on readers; (3) weighing the effects of such designs on readers; and, in a rhetorical analysis of Freakonomics, (4) rewriting an already-framed problem. Such instruction is necessarily preliminary to, but also part of, reflective inquiry into the ethics of the conventions, practices, and aims of teaching and learning academic writing.
Wind Pressure Functions for Flat Roofs

Weighted Legendre polynomials are shown to represent adequately the distribution of mean and root mean square (rms) wind pressure coefficients on rectangular flat roofs for wind normal to the building faces. Peak pressure coefficients cannot be fitted by the same analytical model, but their variation can be represented from the mean and rms pressure distribution and the assumption of an appropriate probability density function. A quasi-steady theory is suggested for the prediction of rms pressure coefficients from measurements of mean pressure coefficients acting on roof edges. Experimental data obtained from models in turbulent boundary layer flow simulating wind over open country and urban terrains show good agreement with the analytical models.
Tactile sensing for robots

The purpose of this review and commentary is to examine the sense of touch in robots. This includes a presentation of the history of this relatively new technology, examination of the present state-of-the-art, and discussion of future challenges and opportunities in tactile sensing for automata. Special emphasis is placed on considerations relevant to industrial assembly robots.
Rational Neural Networks for Approximating Jump Discontinuities of Graph Convolution Operator

For node level graph encoding, a recent important state-of-art method is the graph convolutional networks (GCN), which nicely integrate local vertex features and graph topology in the spectral domain. However, current studies suffer from several drawbacks: (1) graph CNNs relies on Chebyshev polynomial approximation which results in oscillatory approximation at jump discontinuities; (2) Increasing the order of Chebyshev polynomial can reduce the oscillations issue, but also incurs unaffordable computational cost; (3) Chebyshev polynomials require degree $\Omega$(poly(1/$\epsilon$)) to approximate a jump signal such as $|x|$, while rational function only needs $\mathcal{O}$(poly log(1/$\epsilon$))\cite{liang2016deep,telgarsky2017neural}. However, it's non-trivial to apply rational approximation without increasing computational complexity due to the denominator. In this paper, the superiority of rational approximation is exploited for graph signal recovering. RatioanlNet is proposed to integrate rational function and neural networks. We show that rational function of eigenvalues can be rewritten as a function of graph Laplacian, which can avoid multiplication by the eigenvector matrix. Focusing on the analysis of approximation on graph convolution operation, a graph signal regression task is formulated. Under graph signal regression task, its time complexity can be significantly reduced by graph Fourier transform. To overcome the local minimum problem of neural networks model, a relaxed Remez algorithm is utilized to initialize the weight parameters. Convergence rate of RatioanlNet and polynomial based methods on jump signal is analyzed for a theoretical guarantee. The extensive experimental results demonstrated that our approach could effectively characterize the jump discontinuities, outperforming competing methods by a substantial margin on both synthetic and real-world graphs.
Premiums in Acquisitions of Unlisted Targets

This paper examines the premiums paid by acquirers of unlisted target firms, using acquisition multiples and, for subsidiaries, parent-firm abnormal returns to infer bid premiums that are not directly observable. I find that premiums in acquisitions of subsidiary targets are significantly lower than those paid in acquisitions of publicly-traded targets, controlling for correlated bidder, target, and deal characteristics. I present evidence that suggests that these lower premiums are explained by greater bidder bargaining power in acquisitions of unlisted targets (and publicly-traded targets with concentrated ownership). I also find that bidder abnormal announcement returns are significantly negatively related to bid premiums - the more a bidder pays to acquire a publicly-traded or unlisted target, the worse the announcement return for the bidder. However, the low premiums paid in acquisitions of subsidiaries do not explain away the significantly more positive abnormal returns that accrue to bidders in those deals relative to bidders in acquisitions of publicly-traded targets. The results in this paper have implications for the relative bargaining power of the bidder and target in acquisitions, as well as for the choices parent firms make when deciding to dispose of a subsidiary.
Characterization and clinical outcomes of mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) small bowel adenocarcinoma (SBA).

1511Background: SBA is a rare cancer known to be associated with Lynch syndrome (LS). The prevalence, tumor characteristics, and clinical course of SBAs in the setting of LS is not well understood....
Large Variations in the Composition of Ionic Liquid–Solvent Mixtures in Nanoscale Confinement

Mixtures of an ionic liquid with an organic solvent are widely used as electrolytes in supercapacitors where they are often confined in porous electrodes with pore widths only slightly larger than the sizes of bare ions or solvent molecules. The composition of the electrolyte inside these pores, which may depend on the pore width and choice of electrolyte, can affect supercapacitor performance but remains poorly understood. Here, we perform all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of solutions of two different ionic liquids in acetonitrile under confinement between graphene sheets forming slit pores of various widths. We observe significant oscillations in the in-pore ionic liquid mole fraction with varying pore widths. Ions are excluded from very narrow pores, while for pore widths that tightly fit a single layer of ions, we observe an in-pore ionic liquid mole fraction over three times greater than that in the bulk. At slightly larger pore widths, we observe for different ionic liquids either a nearly complete exclusion of ions from the pore or a slight depletion of ions, while ion population again increases as pore width further increases. We develop an analytical model that can qualitatively predict the in-pore ionic liquid mole fraction based on the effective molar volumes and the pore wall interaction energies of each species. Our work suggests a new avenue for tuning the ionic liquid mole fraction in nanopores with potentially significant implications for designing systems involving nanoconfined liquid electrolytes such as supercapacitors where in-pore ion population can affect charging dynamics.
A rare case of lymphoma presenting as a seemingly benign scalp mass

Abstract Objective To describe a rare case of lymphoma presenting as a seemingly benign scalp mass. Methods A chart review and review of radiological imaging was performed. The information reviewed was collected between November 2018 and January 2019. The chart review focused on one patient with an unusual presentation of lymphoma who was treated at a large academic medical center in January 2019. Results A 70-year-old woman presented with a left forehead mass which had been present for several months and had grown in size since onset. She had no pain or constitutional symptoms but was noted to have a compressible mass in the subcutaneous tissue of the left forehead on exam. An ultrasound of the lesion was consistent with a sebaceous cyst. The patient underwent attempted surgical excision of this mass, but no cyst was identified. Intraoperatively, there was noted to be a polypoid soft tissue mass deep to the periosteum with an associated palpable calvarial defect. Biopsy of this lesion revealed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. A postoperative CT revealed a large expansile lytic lesion of the anterior frontal bone with extra-axial and subgaleal extension. The patient was referred to a medical oncologist for further evaluation and management of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Conclusions Appropriate caution is warranted with head and neck masses even when seemingly benign, as malignant pathology involving critical structures may sometimes be encountered unexpectedly.
Mitigation of Long Whisker Growth Based upon the Dynamic Recrystallization Mechanism

The role of an Fe layer under a Sn layer to mitigate long whisker formation by the Fe/Sn interface through modification of the driving force for dynamic recrystallization (DRX) has been studied using a laboratory test vehicle with a Si (wafer) base material and evaporated layers of Cr (adhesion layer), Fe, and Sn. The latter two layers had thickness combinations of 10 nm Fe/0.5 μm Sn and 40 nm Fe/2.0 μm Sn. Aging was carried out for 9 days at temperature of 25°C, 60°C, and 100°C under stress conditions. Applied loads of 0 g or 500 g compression did not affect the results. Industrial test vehicles including electroplated layers of Sn and Fe (0.5 μm to 2.0 μm) were subjected to the same aging treatments. The absence of long whiskers and hillocks from the laboratory test vehicles indicated that the Fe/Sn interface altered the driving force of DRX rather than altering grain boundary mobility. The presence of depleted zones confirmed that the Fe layer did not affect the long-range diffusion. The industrial test samples showed that the Fe/Sn interface prevented the formation of long whiskers on the electroplated Sn films for similar aging conditions. The Fe layer provided a suitable barrier against Cu diffusion into the Sn layer. Copper in the Sn layer, even when only in solid solution, enhanced the DRX driving force for whisker growth.
Mandatory building energy audits alone are insufficient to meet climate goals

Mandatory building energy audits in New York City lead to a modest reduction of energy use of 2.5% and 4.9% for multifamily and office buildings, respectively. This suggests that other approaches besides mandatory audit policies, such as building energy grading and carbon intensity targets, may be needed to achieve sustainability goals.
Chapter 1 – Overview of Civil Liability

Publisher Summary This chapter examines the prevalence of civil liability in police and correctional work. Criminal justice personnel and agencies continue to be targets of civil liability. While the number of citizen and prisoner filings is high, officials often prevail in these actions. Research also reveals that a majority of lawsuits are settled out of court, and it appears that this trend is increasing. Civil litigation is costly, but many of the judgments have been instrumental in providing more resources to perform daily duties, increasing personnel training, and assisting in developing more efficient policies and procedures to guide officer decision making. Research on liability issues shows the trends and impact that lawsuits have on criminal justice agencies in terms of money paid out and operational and policy changes. In response, scholarly research has documented the changes in the nature of civil litigation and the differing perceptions of civil liability between officers and supervisors. While education affects an officer's perception regarding civil liability, most officers report that such litigation is a barrier to effective law enforcement. Research on civil liability helps to pinpoint areas in which lawsuits are more likely to be filed. Officers and administrators should endeavor to work toward proactive measures to minimize lawsuits in these subject areas. Research suggests that quality efforts made in recruitment, training, workplace policies, implementing an early warning and strong disciplinary system, and maintaining a liability risk management program can assist in reducing departmental liability. Civil lawsuits can be bothersome and stressful, and the outcome can be unpredictable. Administrators must remain committed to providing personnel with training, guidance, and legal updates to better understand how to perform their sworn duties. Officers must remain committed to performing their duties within the framework of the law. Maintaining this commitment can assist in defending the next legal action that the officer or department faces.
Emergency department overutilization following cholecystectomy and inguinal hernia repair

Emergency Department (ED) utilization following general surgery procedures is poorly understood and places immense strain on the healthcare system. Inefficient ED utilization is responsible for up to $38 billion in wasteful spending annually. Nearly 56% of ED visits may be avoidable. The aim of our study was to quantify ED utilization following elective cholecystectomy (CCY) and inguinal hernia repair (IHR), to characterize the impact and identify causes. This retrospective study included patients across eight hospitals in a single health system undergoing elective CCY and IHR between January 2018 to June 2019. Patients who returned to the ED within 30 and 90 days were analyzed for hospital readmission, preventability (based on the Goldfield criteria), relation to index surgery and clinician communication within 48 h of presentation. In total, 3678 patients had elective surgery in this timeframe. Of these, 476 patients (13.1%) visited the ED at least once within 90 days from their surgical admission discharge date and 114 were readmitted to the hospital (23.9%). Average length from discharge to ED presentation was 27.1 days. The mean cost associated with these ED visits was $974 per visit. 31.9% communicated with their clinician within 48 h of ED presentation. 73.9% of ED visits occurred between Monday – Friday and 51.5% took place between the hours of 8 am–5 pm. 46.6% of ED visits were related to the index operation and 40.7% of ED visits were deemed preventable. While hospital readmissions have been scrutinized in the literature, relatively little is known about postoperative ED utilization. Our study is one of the first to document postoperative ED utilization up to 90 days after surgery. For just two common elective general surgery procedures, we found these visits were financially burdensome and led to ED discharge in > 75% of patients. Numerous opportunities to improve care were identified. Most ED visits occurred on weekdays and during daylight hours, suggesting an opportunity to utilize outpatient clinics in lieu of the ED. Nearly 50% were related to the operation and nearly 40% were preventable. Revamping the discharge instructions and post-discharge communication—including novel strategies leveraging telemedicine—by providers has the potential to dramatically decrease postoperative ED utilization.
A Segmented Aperture Approach to High Resolution NMMW Imaging

A design concept for a high resolution near millimeter wave imaging system is described. The design yields the required resolution for ground fire control applications with a series of small circular apertures which emulate a single large aperture. Design performance is analyzed and simulated imagery as shown.
P aO 2 / F IO 2 ratio: the mismeasure of oxygenation in COVID-19.

PaO2 is the most precise measurement of patient oxygenation in COVID-19, but its accuracy is corrupted when communicated as PaO2/FIO2 ratiohttps://bit.ly/3tNipTJ
Mayoral preferences for delegation in collaborative arrangements: issue salience and policy specificity

Multilevel governance offers different settings to study executive decision-making and delegation. Associations of municipalities (AoMs), which are collaborative partnerships, are understudied arra...
Clebsch gauge fluid

We propose a novel gauge fluid solver based on Clebsch wave functions to solve incompressible fluid equations. Our method combines the expressive power of Clebsch wave functions to represent coherent vortical structures and the generality of gauge methods to accommodate a broad array of fluid phenomena. By evolving a transformed wave function as the system's gauge variable enhanced by an additional projection step to enforce pressure jumps on the free boundaries, our method can significantly improve the vorticity generation and preservation ability for a broad range of gaseous and liquid phenomena. Our approach can be easily implemented by modifying a standard grid-based fluid simulator. It can be used to solve various fluid dynamics, including complex vortex filament dynamics, fluids with different obstacles, and surface-tension flow.
Stochastic Processes: Background

In this chapter, we survey some of the concepts in the theory of stochastic processes which will be used in the sequel. The material is intended to be only a discussion of some of the main ideas which will be needed and to serve as a convenient reference. It is not intended to be complete in any sense. Additional details, motivation and background can be found in the references. The reader familiar with the basic facts concerning stochastic differential equations can skip the chapter and refer to the results as needed. Section 1 gives some definitions and facts concerning martingales. In Section 2, we define stochastic integrals with respect to a Wiener process and state Ito’s Formula, the fundamental tool in the stochastic calculus. Section 3 uses the stochastic integrals to define stochastic differential equations (SDE) of the diffusion type, and obtains bounds on their solutions which will be used later in the study of properties of the solution processes, as well as in the proofs of tightness of sequences of solutions to such equations. In Section 4, we discuss three standard methods for obtaining existence and uniqueness of solutions to SDE’s. These sections give some flavor of a few of the basic ideas. But they just touch the surface of the subject. Sections 5 and 6 concern an alternative and very useful method for verifying whether a process satisfies an SDE of the diffusion type. The so-called “martingale problem” method which is discussed in these sections is perhaps the most useful approach to showing that the limit of a weakly convergent sequence of processes is, indeed, a solution to a SDE.
Role of Environmental Factors and Gonadotoxin Exposure in Unexplained Female Infertility

There is increasing concern about the recognized and potential effects of environmental contaminants on reproductive health. While there are limited clinical data regarding most chemical exposures and human reproduction, studies in laboratory animal models and wildlife underscore the vulnerability of the female reproductive system to many environmental insults during various windows of development and across the life cycle. Herein, we review published data implicating select environmental contaminants that may compromise reproductive capacity in humans as well as supporting data from in vivo and in vitro animal studies. More specifically, we discuss the realized and hypothesized impacts of exposure to cigarette smoke, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, perfluorinated compounds, and widespread toxic elements on female reproductive function with a focus on their potential role in unexplained female infertility. The difficulty of studying widespread low-level exposure to reproductive toxicants in human populations introduces a substantial challenge into establishing causal relationships, and epidemiologic data alone are inconclusive. Yet a “weight of evidence” strategy, incorporating the results of experimental studies in vivo and in vitro as well as human studies suggest environmental pollutants play an important role in unexplained female infertility.
A Study of the Isoprenoid Pathway in Elicitor-Treated Tobacco Cell Suspension Cultures

A diverse array of compounds are synthesized from the intermediates of the isoprenoid pathway in plants. Many of these compounds are essential to the growth and development of higher plants including growth regulators, carotenoid pigments, sterols, and polyprenols. Additionally, biologically important secondary metabolites involved in the plant defense response are also synthesized from the isoprenoid pathway (18). For example, when tobacco cell suspensions cultures are challenged with a fungal elicitor (8), they respond by suppressing the synthesis of sterols and inducing the synthesis of sesquiterpenes (Fig. 1). The predominant species of sesquiterpene phytoalexins being produced is capsidiol (6). Capsidiol is a bicyclic, di-alcohol sesquiterpenoid that accumulates extracellularly (Fig. 2). In studies to further characterize the response of tobacco cells to elicitor treatment, putative key regulatory enzymes were also measured. When tobacco cell suspension cultures are challenged with a fungal elicitor, the biosynthesis of capsidiol is preceded by a sharp, transient induction of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase enzyme activity (6,20). HMG CoA reductase catalyses the conversion of HMG CoA to mevalonate (MVA), and is the rate-limiting step for cholesterol biosynthesis in mammalian systems (10). Sesquiterpene cyclase, the enzyme catalyzing the cyclization of farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) to 5-epi-aristolochene, a precursor to capsidiol, is also induced, but with a more protracted time course (21). Sesquiterpene cyclase has been purified from tobacco cells and used to generate both poly-and monoclonal antibodies (22). As illustrated in figure 3, the induction of sesquiterpene cyclase activity is regulated by the synthesis rate of the enzyme protein (as measured by the incorporation of 35S-methionine into the cyclase protein). Furthermore, the induction of enzyme activity is also correlated with an induction in the translational activity of the cyclase mRNA and the transcription rate of the cyclase gene (23).