cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Association of Glycemic Control Parameters with Clinical Outcomes in Chronic Critical Illness

Objective: Chronic critical illness (CCI) is a term used to designate patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation and tracheostomy with associated poor outcomes. The present study assessed the impact of glycemic parameters on outcomes in a CCI population.Methods: A retrospective case series was performed including 148 patients in The Mount Sinai Hospital Respiratory Care Unit (2009-2010). Utilizing a semi-parametric mixture model, trajectories for the daily mean blood glucose (BG), BG range, and hypoglycemia rate over time identified low- (n = 87) and high-risk (n = 61) hyperglycemia groups and low- (n = 90) and high-risk (n = 58) hypoglycemia groups. The cohort was also classified into diabetes (DM, n = 48), stress hyperglycemia (SH, n = 85), and normal glucose (n = 15) groups.Results: Hospital- (28% vs. 13%, P = .0199) and 1-year mortality (66% vs. 46%, P = .0185) rates were significantly greater in the high- versus low-risk hyperglycemia groups, respectively. The hypoglycemia rate (<70 mg/dL) w...
The Phantom Menace: Omitted Variable Bias in Econometric Research

Quantitative political science is awash in control variables. The justification for these bloated specifications is usually the fear of omitted variable bias. A key underlying assumption is that the danger posed by omitted variable bias can be ameliorated by the inclusion of relevant control variables. Unfortunately, as this article demonstrates, there is nothing in the mathematics of regression analysis that supports this conclusion. The inclusion of additional control variables may increase or decrease the bias, and we cannot know for sure which is the case in any particular situation. A brief discussion of alternative strategies for achieving experimental control follows the main result.
Adiabatic and nonadiabatic processes in thermal models of solar hard X-ray bursts

The temporal evolution of thermal-bremsstrahlung-emitting material at the top of a solar coronal loop under various processes is examined as a model of solar hard X-ray bursts. The behavior of emission measure and temperature with time is analyzed for the hot plasma confined in a segment at the top of a loop, taking into account the effects or the time variation of the confining toroidal magnetic field, the longitudinal expansion of the source through the motion of a pair of collisionless conduction fronts and unspecified heating or cooling processes. Analytic expressions for the behavior of the toroidal magnetic field and the heating rate necessary to reproduce a given behavior of emission measure and temperature with time are obtained in terms of the initial magnetic field strength and density of the heated region and a characteristic longitudinal expansion time. Results are applied to observations of two impulsive solar hard X-ray bursts, and it is shown that the contribution of heating is negligible after the first few seconds of the events, although significant nonadiabatic heating occurs early in the events.
Narrowband chemical-shift imaging.

In this paper we introduce an efficient method for NMR chemical shift imaging which is especially well suited for imaging proton chemical shifts. With realistic observation times and pulse sequences, one is operating close to the theoretical limits of this method. We give estimates showing the range of parameters for which this imaging process is successful.
The epidemiology and genetics of congenital heart disease.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common major birth defect, but little is known about its cause. Both environmental and genetic factors have been implicated. The genetic causes of multiple vascular, myopathic, and arrhythmogenic cardiovascular disorders have been identified because many of these disorders are familial. Large families with multiple affected members allow for parametric linkage analyses that identify disease loci and disease genes. In contrast, identification of specific genetic causes for intracardiac malformations has been difficult because large families with multiple affected members are uncommon. The traditional approach of identifying a disease locus or gene by parametric linkage analysis of large families has rarely been accomplished. More recently, molecular investigations of genetic syndromes characterized in part by CHD have begun to identify specific genetic causes for the associated cardiac defects. In addition, animal models are identifying new genes that play a role in cardiovascular development and may play a role in human disease. Linkage analyses in combination with molecular investigations of genetic syndromes and testing of candidate genes from animal models for human disease are providing insights into the molecular genetic causes of structural CHD. This article broadly reviews what is known about the epidemiology and genetic causes of structural CHD, with particular emphasis on the newest discoveries and their clinical significance.
Harm, Moralism, and the Struggle for the Soul of Feminism:

Contemporary feminist strategies to stop violence against women have revealed a profound conflict of interest among women. Feminists have mobilized moral outrage, built institutions to protect and nurture women, and demanded resources for policing and healing by drawing attention to the harms caused by violence against women. However, many women, especially young, heterosexual women, are alienated by a discourse of victimization that reflects neither their experiences nor their interests. They have developed a critique of contemporary feminism and its focus on violence against women. In this critique, accusations of moralism are used to paper over differences among women and thus obscure key questions of privilege and vulnerability. One theoretically and politically sustainable response is for feminists to combat the false dichotomization of economics and violence that characterizes the critique. I provide an example by analyzing violence against women in the context of welfare reform.
Common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and shattercane (Sorghum bicolor) interference in corn.

Abstract Multiple weed species in the field combine to cause yield losses and can be described using one of several empirical models. Field studies were conducted to compare observed corn yield loss caused by common sunflower and shattercane populations with predicted yield losses modeled using a multiple species rectangular hyperbola model, an additive model, or the yield loss model in the decision support system, WeedSOFT, and to derive competitive indices for common sunflower and shattercane. Common sunflower and shattercane emerged with corn and selected densities established in field experiments at Scandia and Rossville, KS, between 2000 and 2002. The multiple species rectangular hyperbola model fit pooled data from three of five location–years with a predicted maximum corn yield loss of 60%. Initial slope parameter estimate for common sunflower was 49.2 and 4.2% for shattercane. A ratio of these estimates indicated that common sunflower was 11 times more competitive than shattercane. When common sun...
Testing and Deployment of Brave New Plantlings

Forestry is a conservative profession, and rightly so. This paper addresses the field testing and deployment of whole trees resulting from genetic manipulation of somatic cells. It particularly focuses on those requirements of field testing that have implications for the choice of plant materials used for in-vitro cell culture and manipulation. Responsible field testing requires long periods of time, and it evaluates the total performance of a tree or clone. Widespread deployment can responsibly commence only following successful field testing. Field testing will be more efficient and deployment can commence sooner if the genetically engineered clones come from well known clones, or from well known families, or from well tested families, or at least from trees of well known provenance. There is some concern regarding the maintenance and support of a professional infrastructure for field testing genetically novel trees.
Clustering species accumulation curves to identify skill levels of citizen scientists participating in the eBird project

Although citizen science projects such as eBird can compile large volumes of data over broad spatial and temporal extents, the quality of this data is a concern due to differences in the skills of volunteers at identifying bird species. Species accumulation curves, which plot the number of unique species observed over time, are an effective way to quantify the skill level of an eBird participant. Intuitively, more skilled observers can identify a greater number of species per unit time than inexperienced birders, resulting in a steeper curve. We propose a mixture model for clustering species accumulation curves. These clusters enable the identification of distinct skill levels of eBird participants, which can then be used to build more accurate species distribution models and to develop automated data quality filters.
Efficient incremental algorithms for dynamic detection of likely invariants

Dynamic detection of likely invariants is a program analysis that generalizes over observed values to hypothesize program properties. The reported program properties are a set of likely invariants over the program, also known as an operational abstraction. Operational abstractions are useful in testing, verification, bug detection, refactoring, comparing behavior, and many other tasks.Previous techniques for dynamic invariant detection scale poorly or report too few properties. Incremental algorithms are attractive because they process each observed value only once and thus scale well with data sizes. Previous incremental algorithms only checked and reported a small number of properties. This paper takes steps toward correcting this problem. The paper presents two new incremental algorithms for invariant detection and compares them analytically and experimentally to two existing algorithms. Furthermore, the paper presents four optimizations and shows how to implement them in the context of incremental algorithms. The result is more scalable invariant detection that does not sacrifice functionality.
Effectiveness of a Multicomponent Sun Protection Program for Young Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance Emphasizing sun protection behaviors among young children may minimize sun damage and foster lifelong sun protection behaviors that will reduce the likelihood of developing skin cancer, especially melanoma. Objective To determine whether a multicomponent sun protection program delivered in pediatric clinics during the summer could increase summertime sun protection among young children. Design, Setting, and Participants Randomized controlled clinical trial with 4-week follow-up that included 300 parents or relatives (hereafter simply referred to as caregivers [mean age, 36.0 years]) who brought the child (2-6 years of age) in their care to an Advocate Medical Group clinic during the period from May 15 to August 14, 2015. Of the 300 caregiver-child pairs, 153 (51.0%) were randomly assigned to receive a read-along book, swim shirt, and weekly text-message reminders related to sun protection behaviors (intervention group) and 147 (49.0%) were randomly assigned to receive the information usually provided at a well-child visit (control group). Data analysis was performed from August 20 to 30, 2015. Intervention Multicomponent sun protection program composed of a read-along book, swim shirt, and weekly text-message reminders related to sun protection behaviors. Main Outcomes and Measures Outcomes were caregiver-reported use of sun protection by the child (seeking shade and wearing sun-protective clothing and sunscreen) using a 5-point Likert scale, duration of outdoor activities, and number of children who had sunburn or skin irritation. The biologic measurement of the skin pigment of a child’s arm was performed with a spectrophotometer at baseline and 4 weeks later. Results Of the 300 caregiver-child pairs, the 153 children in the intervention group had significantly higher scores related to sun protection behaviors on both sunny (mean [SE], 15.748 [0.267] for the intervention group; mean [SE], 14.780 [0.282] for the control group; mean difference, 0.968) and cloudy days (mean [SE], 14.286 [0.282] for the intervention group; mean [SE], 12.850 [0.297] for the control group; mean difference, 1.436). Examination of pigmentary changes by spectrophotometry revealed that the children in the control group significantly increased their melanin levels, whereas the children in the intervention group did not have a significant change in melanin level on their protected upper arms ( P P = .008 for skin type 2, and P Conclusions and Relevance A multicomponent intervention using text-message reminders and distribution of read-along books and swim shirts was associated with increased sun protection behaviors among young children. This was corroborated by a smaller change in skin pigment among children receiving the intervention. This implementable program can help augment anticipatory sun protection guidance in pediatric clinics and decrease children’s future skin cancer risk. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier:NCT02376517
The Carbamoylmannose Moiety of Bleomycin Mediates Selective Tumor Cell Targeting

Recently, we reported that both bleomycin (BLM) and its disaccharide, conjugated to the cyanine dye Cy5**, bound selectively to cancer cells. Thus, the disaccharide moiety alone recapitulates the tumor cell targeting properties of BLM. Here, we demonstrate that the conjugate of the BLM carbamoylmannose moiety with Cy5** showed tumor cell selective binding and also enhanced cellular uptake in most cancer cell lines. The carbamoyl functionality was required for tumor cell targeting. A dye conjugate prepared from a trivalent cluster of carbamoylmannose exhibited levels of tumor cell binding and internalization significantly greater than those of the simple carbamoylmannose–dye conjugate, consistent with a possible multivalent receptor.
Effects on Toxicity and on Enzyme Activity of the Interactions Between Aldrin, Chlordane, Piperonyl Butoxide, and Banol in Rats:

SummaryRats were administered aldrin, chlordane, piperonyl butoxide, aldrin plus piperonyl butoxide, or chlordane plus piperonyl butoxide, and the toxicity and effects on some serum and liver enzyme activities after subsequent Banol administration was investigated. Aldrin and chlordane pre-treatment decreased the mortality after a single oral dose of Banol (2 X LD50) from 85 to 35%. Pretreatment with the organochlorines and piperonyl butoxide together abolished the protective action of the organochlorines alone. Piperonyl butoxide pretreatment alone had no effect on the toxicity of Banol.Serum aliesterase (AliE) and liver aniline hydroxylase and nitroreductase activities were markedly increased after organochlorine pretreatment and also after organochlorine-piperonyl butoxide pretreatment, while liver AliE was less markedly increased and increases in enzyme activity after piperonyl butoxide pretreatment were minimal. Administration of Banol to rats similarly pretreated decreased liver AliE, but not serum ...
Improvement of Mechanical Properties of Fiber Reinforced SiC Composites Produced by Reaction-Bonding

Addition of polysilastyrene and minimizing the grain size of silicon powder with a ball mill improved the flexural strength of the carbon fiber reinforced SiC composites produced by reaction-bonding. The flexural strength of these composites with a bulk density of as low as about 1.85Mg·m-3 was about 530 MPa. This improvement is attributed to the increase in the volume fraction of carbon fiber and the elastic modulus of the composites.
Surgical approaches to chronic pancreatitis: indications and imaging findings

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is an irreversible, inflammatory process characterized by progressive fibrosis of the pancreas that can result in abdominal pain, exocrine insufficiency, and diabetes. Inadequate pain relief using medical and/or endoscopic therapies is an indication for surgery. The surgical management of CP is centered around three main operations including pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD), duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection (DPPHR) and drainage procedures, and total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation (TPIAT). PD is the method of choice when there is a high suspicion for malignancy. Combined drainage and resection procedures are associated with pain relief, higher quality of life, and superior short-term and long-term survival in comparison with the PD. TPIAT is a reemerging treatment that may be promising in subjects with intractable pain and impaired quality of life. Imaging examinations have an extensive role in pre-operative and post-operative evaluation of CP patients. Pre-operative advanced imaging examinations including CT and MRI can detect hallmarks of CP such as calcifications, pancreatic duct dilatation, chronic pseudocysts, focal pancreatic enlargement, and biliary ductal dilatation. Post-operative findings may include periportal hepatic edema, pneumobilia, perivascular cuffing and mild pancreatic duct dilation. Imaging can also be useful in the detection of post-operative complications including obstructions, anastomotic leaks, and vascular lesions. Imaging helps identify unique post-operative findings associated with TPIAT and may aid in predicting viability and function of the transplanted islet cells. In this review, we explore surgical indications as well as pre-operative and post-operative imaging findings associated with surgical options that are typically performed for CP patients.
JUDGMENT FORMATION AND PROBLEMS OF DESCRIPTION

This chapter discusses the problems of the mechanisms underlying the formation of judgments, in addition to the problems of expression of these judgments in forms ranging from simple answers to binary questions to generation of texts or discourses. It describes the psychological, logical, and linguistic aspects of judgment. The chapter focuses on the role of ambiguity and its unavoidability, connected with such properties of perception as the abilities of discrimination and identification. The chapter discusses the way by which these properties of perception constrain the logical values such as truth, leading to its uncertainty and vagueness. The chapter discusses the way by which using some concepts of psychological test theory, the degree of membership in certain fuzzy sets can be measured. It also discusses the basic issue involved in such a measurement, namely, the process of question answering.
SEARCHING FOR STRUCTURE: THE GMDH ALGORITHM

Abstract In the late 1960's the Soviet cyberneticist, A. G. Ivakhnenko, developed a procedure for constructing elaborate models (e.g. with many parameters) of unstructured systems using only a minimal number of observations. By using the data points over and over he was able to construct a model that had many more degrees of freedom (parameters) than the data would ordinarily allow (in standard regression the number of parameters is never more than the number of observations). This procedure, based in part on the Rosenblatt perceptron (Rosenblatt, 1958), is known as the Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) algorithm. It is the purpose of this tutorial to explain in detail this algorithm and to show how it can be used in short and long-range predictions.
Pavlovian drug conditioning

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of Pavlovian drug conditioning. Pavlovian conditioning mechanisms are known to play a role in producing two general kinds of changes in the behavior of drug-exposed organisms. First, they enable evocation of new behavioral or physiological responses by stimuli correlated with drug administration. Second, Pavlovian conditioning is also responsible, at least in part, for producing changes in the direct (unconditioned) behavioral/physiological responses to the drug in the presence of drug-predictive stimuli. The chapter presents a general introduction to Pavlovian drug conditioning, with an emphasis on the experimental procedures used to induce this kind of learning, the rationale behind these procedures, and methodological problems that can arise in implementation. The chapter describes the basic paradigm and also presents some of the reasons the investigators have been intrigued by this form of learning. Special attention is given to the design of Pavlovian drug conditioning studies and the importance of using appropriate controls for nonassociative influences on behavior. Although the primary emphasis of this chapter is methodological, some consideration is also given to conceptual/theoretical issues that have guided researchers in the choice and interpretation of the specific tests used to draw inferences about drug-induced learning.
The Relationship Between the Immune Response and Susceptibility to Salmonella enterica Serovar Enteritidis Infection in the Laying Hen

Abstract Chicken eggs are one of the main sources of human salmonellosis with Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis the most frequent cause of human nontyphoid salmonellosis. Laying hens colonized with Salmonella Enteritidis generally do not show clinical signs. The bacteria colonize and invade the intestinal tract and disseminate to specific intracellular niches in various internal organs, especially the hen reproductive tract and become so-called carrier birds. S. Enteritidis infects the oviduct and ovary of the chicken leading to transovarian vertical transmission to developing eggs and chicks. To successfully colonize the reproductive tract of laying hens, S. Enteritidis must evade and/or subvert components of both the innate and acquired immune systems. To do so, the bacteria encounters and uses intestinal macrophages as a host cell locally, a transport cell to the internal organs and again as a protective host cell in the internal organs including the reproductive tract. By surviving in the macrophage, Salmonella has the ability to survive and evade host defenses and persist in the chicken. A series of bacterial and host factors are involved in the asymptomatic persistent infection of the reproductive tract. This chapter will review the activities occurring at the host: pathogen interface in the reproductive tract of the laying hen.
Participatory Budgeting and Transparency in Municipal Finances

In the recessionary years following the 2008 financial crisis, prominent voices predicted an imminent crisis in state and municipal finances. The voices – including Bill Gates, Josh Ruah, Meredith Whitney, Paul Volcker, and Richard Ravitch – declared or implied that the road to fiscal responsibility lies in reining in the pensions and benefits of public servants. We argue that painting public employees as villains introduces divisiveness in what should be a universal goal of sound public finances. We suggest that the road to fiscal responsibility lies with budgetary transparency and widespread public knowledge of state and municipal finances. A potential key to achieving these objectives is participatory budgeting. We motivate a research question on the local government level: Does participatory budgeting increase transparency? Although it is too early to test this question on the local level, we use country-level data from the International Budgetary Partnership to explore ways to operationalize budgetary transparency in order to measure the association between participatory budgeting and budgetary transparency.
JCHIMP - an idea whose time has come.

No abstract available. (Published: 15 December 2016) Citation: Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives 2016, 6 : 34107 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/jchimp.v6.34107
Towards atomic column-by-column spectroscopy

Abstract The optical arrangement of the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) is ideally suited for performing analysis of individual atomic columns in materials. Using the incoherent Z -contrast image as a reference, and arranging incoherent conditions also for the spectroscopy, a precise correspondence is ensured between features in the inelastic image and elastic signals. In this way the exact probe position needed to maximise the inelastic signal from a selected column can be located and monitored during the analysis using the much higher intensity elastic signal. Although object functions for EELS are typically less than 1 A full-width at half-maximum, this is still an order of magnitude larger than the corresponding object functions for elastic (or diffuse) scattering used to form the Z -contrast image. Therefore, the analysis is performed with an effective probe that is significantly broader than that used for the reference Z -contrast image. For a 2.2 A probe the effective probe is of the order of 2.5 A, while for a 1.3 A probe the effective probe is 1.6 A. Such increases in effective probe size can significantly reduce or even eliminate contrast between atomic columns that are visible in the image. However, this is only true if we consider circular collector apertures. Calculations based upon the theory of Maslen and Rossouw [Maslen and Rossouw, Philos. Mag. 49 (6) (1984) 735–742; Rossouw and Maslen, Philos. Mag. 49 (6) (1984) 743–757] show that employing an annular collector aperture can reduce the FWHM of the inelastic object function down to values close 0.1 A. With practical collector aperture sizes it should be possible to achieve this increased spatial resolution without losing too much signal.
The curious subject of design ‘governance’

Matthew Carmona (2017) does a valuable service in cataloguing the vast body of theory about the purposes, strategies, tools and institutional arrangements that guide urban designers in the public s...
Yellow fever live attenuated vaccine: A very successful live attenuated vaccine but still we have problems controlling the disease

Yellow fever (YF) is regarded as the original hemorrhagic fever and has been a major public health problem for at least 250years. A very effective live attenuated vaccine, strain 17D, was developed in the 1930s and this has proved critical in the control of the disease. There is little doubt that without the vaccine, YF virus would be considered a biosafety level 4 pathogen. Significantly, YF is currently the only disease where an international vaccination certificate is required under the International Health Regulations. Despite having a very successful vaccine, there are occasional issues of supply and demand, such as that which occurred in Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo in 2016 when there was insufficient vaccine available. For the first time fractional dosing of the vaccine was approved on an emergency basis. Thus, continued vigilance and improvements in supply and demand are needed in the future.
Fulfilling the potential of consumer connected fitness technologies: Towards framing systems engineering involvement in user experience design

As evidenced by their proliferation in the consumer marketplace, the transformative potential of connected fitness technologies (e.g. fitness and activity tracking technologies such as Fitbit) to enable health behavioral change is great. However, the value of these technologies in certain contexts of health behavioral change is currently under scrutiny. User experience design is an identified factor in realizing their potential; and there is a need for more active involvement by systems engineers to facilitate efforts. Leveraging an exemplar set of user experience heuristics, a research roadmap is offered in support of this work, elucidating systems engineering knowledge gaps within this context. Discussion is also had in putting the offered roadmap in action.
Life Cycle Cost Analysis for utility-scale Energy Storage systems

This paper examines the existing literature in life cycle cost analysis of large scale electricity storage systems, providing an overview of their technical benefits and drawbacks as well as the cost associated with their expected lifespan. The energy storage systems that are being evaluated are Lead-Acid batteries, Nickel-Cadmium batteries, Sodium-Sulfur batteries, Compressed Air energy storage, and Pumped Hydro plants. These systems are suitable for grid support, and are considered of great importance for the grid of the future. Life cycle cost analysis is an eective way of inter- preting and comparing those systems. Both the technical and cost characteristics that are presented in the paper are key findings critical for understanding the applicability and challenges associated with each system. These metrics should be used to properly evaluate the most cost eective option among the systems in a holistic approach, as the power industry moves towards a greener future.
Arrayed Wide-Angle Camera System (AWACS) for the Extremely Large Telescopes

The author presents the Arrayed Wide-Angle Camera System (AWACS), a new kind of astronomical wide-field device that can overcome the scalability barriers of the conventional systems to enable the much-desired wide-field capability for the ELTs.
Localization of multiple defects using the compact phased array (CPA) method

Abstract Array systems of transducers have found numerous applications in detection and localization of defects in structural health monitoring (SHM) of plate-like structures. Different types of array configurations and analysis algorithms have been used to improve the process of localization of defects. For accurate and reliable monitoring of large structures by array systems, a high number of actuator and sensor elements are often required. In this study, a compact phased array system consisting of only three piezoelectric elements is used in conjunction with an updated total focusing method (TFM) for localization of single and multiple defects in an aluminum plate. The accuracy of the localization process was greatly improved by including wave propagation information in TFM. Results indicated that the proposed CPA approach can locate single and multiple defects with high accuracy while decreasing the processing costs and the number of required transducers. This method can be utilized in critical applications such as aerospace structures where the use of a large number of transducers is not desirable.
Constrained density functional theory calculation with iterative optimization

An iterative optimization approach that simultaneously minimizes the energy and optimizes the Lagrange multipliers enforcing desired constraints is presented. The method is tested on previously established benchmark systems and it is proved to be efficient and accurate. The approach can also be efficiently used when the constraint is not a scalar quantity but a spatially varying function such as the charge density distribution.
Prognostic Factors in Bladder Cancer: Emphasis on Immunohistochemical Analysis

Transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder is the second most common malignancy of the genitourinary tract, and the second most common cause of death among all genitourinary tumors. In 1996, it is estimated that 52900 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed, with 11 700 of these patients projected to die from the disease (Parker et al. 1996). Approximately 80% of patients with primary bladder cancer present with low-grade tumors confined to the superficial mucosa. The risk of superficial recurrence in patients with bladder tumors confined to the mucosa is 70%, with the majority of cancers amenable to initial transurethral resection and selected administration of intravesical immuno- or chemotherapy (Crawford and Davis 1987; Skinner and Lieskovsky 1988; Droller 1990). Unfortunately, as many as 30% of these recurrent tumors demonstrate tumor progression with higher grade and/or stage disease. Furthermore, nearly 30% of all patients with bladder cancer initially present muscle invasive tumors; 50% of these patients who are treated locally for their invasive tumors will relapse with metastatic disease within 2 years (Skinner and Lieskovsky 1988). These data clearly underscore the heterogeneous nature and malignant capabilities of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.
Vorerkrankungen der Mutter

Bei bestimmten Zustanden der Mutter oder des Feten ist eine uber die Routineuberwachung hinausgehende Betreuung der Schwangeren angezeigt. Bei Vorliegen bestimmter Faktoren spricht man von einer (Hoch-) Risikoschwangerschaft. Maternale oder fetale Risikosituationen haben oft einen entscheidenden Einflus auf das peripartale anasthesiologische Vorgehen. In diesem Kapitel sollen verschiedene fur den Anasthesisten relevante Risiken der Schwangerschaft dargestellt und die klinischen Bedenken sowie das zu empfehlende Vorgehen kurz beschrieben werden.
Grafted fetal astrocyte migration can prevent host neuronal atrophy: comparison of astrocytes from cultures and whole piece donors

In a 'double blind' study, 2 series of adult rats were trained to traverse a narrow bar or a horizontal ladder for a water reward. Hindlimb placement (measured as hindlimb foot slips) of the subjects trained on the narrow platform was ranked. The subjects traversing the ladder were videotaped and the number of hindlimb slips counted. After reaching criterion (10 complete traverses on each of 2 consecutive days), all animals had the fasciculus gracilis (FG) of the third cervical spinal cord segment (C3) aspirated to sever hindlimb dorsal column afferents. After aspiration of C3FG the subjects were randomly placed in an aspiration-only (controls) or aspiration + graft group. All grafts were prelabeled with the plant lectin Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin (PHAL) as a graft-derived cell marker. The grafts were either unoriented whole pieces of E14 fetal spinal cord or 105 purified, cultured, E14 fetal spinal cord astrocytes. Subjects were tested at intervals over 90 days. Aspiration of C3FG and a graft of whole pieces of E14 fetal spinal cord resulted in a statistically significant improvement in hindlimb placement at 21 and 90 days (P < 0.05) when compared to controls. In contrast, animals with cultured, purified, E14 fetal spinal cord astrocyte grafts had significantly worse (P < 0.05) hindlimb placement than controls. Immunohistochemical double staining for PHAL and glial fibrillary acidic protein in the same cell showed that astrocytes from both types of grafts migrated to the nucleus gracilis (NG) of the medulla of the host. The grafted fetal astrocytes from the whole piece grafts prevented denervation atrophy of the host NG neurons, whereas cultured grafted fetal astrocytes did not demonstrate this effect. After grafting donor tissue that contained astrocytes into the injured spinal cord there were two accompanying classes of astrocytes. One class derived from whole piece, E14, fetal spinal cord grafts migrated to the NG of the host, prevented atrophy of host NG cluster and interneurons, and improved hindlimb placement. The other class, derived from cultures of E14 fetal spinal cord astrocytes, migrated to the NG of the host, failed to maintain the size of cluster neurons and interneurons of the host NG, and resulted in a greater hindlimb placement deficit when compared to controls. These data suggest that improvement of hindlimb placement due to graft-derived fetal astrocytes in injured host spinal cord was due to the ability of the astrocytes to maintain host neurons and neuronal networks.
Valence electron energy-loss spectroscopy study of ZrSiO4 and ZrO2

Abstract ZrSiO 4 (zircon) and m-ZrO 2 (zirconia) are fundamental and industrially important materials. This work reports the detailed valence electron energy-loss spectroscopy (VEELS) studies of these compounds. The dielectric response functions, as well as single-electron interband transition spectra, are derived from VEELS data for both ZrSiO 4 and m-ZrO 2 , in the range 5–50 eV using the Kramers–Kronig analysis method. Our interpretation of the interband transitions is given with the aid of ab initio calculations of density of states. The bandgap energies for both materials are also measured using VEELS. The surface and bulk plasmons are identified: the surface plasmon peaks locate at around 12 eV, and two bulk plasmon peaks are ∼15–16 eV and ∼25–27 eV, respectively. Although similarities in the VEELS exist between ZrSiO 4 and m-ZrO 2 , two major differences are also noticed and explained in terms of composition and structure differences.
Fission and Personal Identity Over Time

Examinant la possibilite logique, la plausibilite et la faillibilite de nos jugements sur l'identite des personnes et des objets physiques, l'A. defend la these de la compatibilite de l'argument de la fission, de la determination de l'identite personnelle dans le temps et de l'idee d'endurance, dans le cadre du debat sur le quadri-dimensionnalisme, sur l'identite numerique et sur la survie, opposant D. Parfit et D. Lewis
Reliability and validity of environmental audits using GigaPan® technology in parks.

Abstract Park quality and features can contribute to more engaging places for play and recreation. However, assessing park characteristics remains a challenge. This study measured the reliability of GigaPan® as a method for assessing park characteristics as well as the validity of GigaPan® compared to Google Street View (GSV) and direct observation (DO). A total of 65 target areas (16 parks total) in Pittsburgh, PA were assessed using GigaPan®, GSV, and DO from July 2015–January 2016. For reliability and validity, 14 and 28 variables were examined, respectively. Cohen's kappa was used to assess inter-rater reliability. Sensitivity and specificity were used to measure validity. Of the 14 variables included in the inter-rater reliability analysis, five variables had almost perfect reliability (kappa > 0.80) and three variables had substantial reliability (kappa > 0.60). Of the 28 variables included in the validity analysis, GigaPan® was able to correctly classify 17 of the 28 variables and GSV was able to correctly classify 15 of the 28 variables with a sensitivity >80%. There were no significant differences between sensitivity and specificity between GSV and GigaPan®. GigaPan® performed similarly to GSV with DO being used as the gold standard. Further, GigaPan overall had high reliability among the features measured. A strength of GigaPan® is the ability to be implemented quickly in the field, making it a viable alternative to GSV particularly when temporality is an important factor.
Assisting radiologists with reporting urgent findings to referring physicians: A machine learning approach to identify cases for prompt communication

Abstract Radiologists are expected to expediently communicate critical and unexpected findings to referring clinicians to prevent delayed diagnosis and treatment of patients. However, competing demands such as heavy workload along with lack of administrative support resulted in communication failures that accounted for 7% of the malpractice payments made from 2004 to 2008 in the United States. To address this problem, we have developed a novel machine learning method that can automatically and accurately identify cases that require prompt communication to referring physicians based on analyzing the associated radiology reports. This semi-supervised learning approach requires a minimal amount of manual annotations and was trained on a large multi-institutional radiology report repository from three major external healthcare organizations. To test our approach, we created a corpus of 480 radiology reports from our own institution and double-annotated cases that required prompt communication by two radiologists. Our evaluation on the test corpus achieved an F-score of 74.5% and recall of 90.0% in identifying cases for prompt communication. The implementation of the proposed approach as part of an online decision support system can assist radiologists in identifying radiological cases for prompt communication to referring physicians to avoid or minimize potential harm to patients.
Quantifying the Value Teachers Place on Non-Monetary Factors When Evaluating Job Opportunities.

The way in which working conditions, personal characteristics, and school factors influence teacher recruitment and retention is an oft-studied topic in the field of education finance and policy. Through decades of research, it has become increasingly clear that teachers respond to a set of monetary and non-monetary factors when making decisions in the teacher labor market. What is less clear is the relative or absolute value teachers place on factors such as salary, student demographic factors, school conditions, and other working conditions such as class size, curricular autonomy, and principal support, to name a few. This project introduces the use of a novel survey methodology to the field to aim to answer these questions. This study utilizes Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint (ACBC) analysis to quantify the relative importance of various monetary and non-monetary job factors to practicing teachers as they consider the desirability of various hypothetical schools. The use of ACBC in an estimate of the value placed on various working condition factors by secondary teachers in Utah and an analysis of how those valuations vary with personal and demographic factors. The results of this research provide practical recommendations for administrators and policymakers that aim to make schools more desirable for teachers and demonstrates the use of a novel methodology to answer outstanding questions in the field of teacher recruitment and retention.
The Effects of Age and Central Field Loss on Head Scanning and Detection at Intersections.

Purpose Using a driving simulator, we quantified the effects of age and central field loss (CFL) on head scanning when approaching an intersection and investigated the role of inadequate head scanning in detection failures. Methods Participants with CFL (n = 20) and with normal vision (NV; n = 29), middle-aged (36-60 years) or older (67-87 years), drove along city routes with multiple intersections while head movements were recorded. The effects of age and CFL on scanning were analyzed at 32 intersections with stop/yield signs. The relationships between age, CFL, scanning, and detection were examined at four additional intersections with a pedestrian appearing on the far left. Results Older NV participants made fewer total scans than middle-aged NV participants and had smaller maximum scan magnitudes. Head scanning of older CFL and NV participants did not differ, but middle-aged CFL participants made fewer head scans, had higher rates of failing to scan, and made smaller head scans than middle-aged NV participants. For the older NV and both CFL groups, detection failures were high (≥58%); head scan magnitudes were 15° smaller when the pedestrian was not detected than when it was detected. Conclusions Both older NV and CFL participants exhibited head scanning deficits relative to middle-aged NV participants. Unexpectedly, however, it was the middle-aged CFL group that performed least well when scanning, a finding that warrants further investigation. Translational Relevance Failing to head scan sufficiently far at intersections may place older drivers and drivers with vision impairment at a higher risk for causing collisions.
Basmati rice lines development carrying multiple bacterial blight resistance genes pyramided using the marker-assisted backcross breeding approach

Basmati rice is treated as one of the world’s best rice due to its extra-long grain and unique aroma,. Over the last decade, Pakistan has earned more than US$2 billion through basmati export. Unfortunately, basmati rice is being threatened with bacterial leaf blight (BLB) disease that leads to poor production and quality. We attempted pyramiding of BLB genes through marker-assisted backcross breeding using Super Basmati as the recipient and IRBB60 as the donor parent. BLB resistance genes Xa4, xa5, and Xa21 were used for introgression. Molecular markers MP1 and MP2, RM122, and pTA248 were used for Xa4, xa5, and Xa21 genes respectively for foreground selection. The 85 SSR polymorphic molecular markers were used for background selection, which showed a more than 90% recurrent parent genome recovery. Phenotypic traits for grain dimensions were also considered while selecting backcross female parents from BC1F1 to BC5F1, which resulted in saving the resources from background selection before the selfing of backcrossed lines. Multiple lines carrying BLB resistance genes combinations Xa4 + xa5 and Xa4 + xa5 + Xa21 were developed. The BC5F4 uniform lines showed resistance against BLB disease at hotspot locations. One of the developed lines, PKBB15–116, which has a yield advantage of more than 10%, tolerant to lodging, and has basmati quality. These pyramided lines in basmati background will also be helpful for breeders to incorporate resistance genes in a shorter period of time, in order to develop new basmati rice varieties in future.
Magnitude Matters: Art Image Size and Waiting Time Impact Perceived Quality of Care.

Objective:The study fills a gap in the literature by examining the size of the art displayed and waiting time in an exam office on patients’ judgments of the quality of care they are likely to rece...
Real-time monitoring of surface acetone enolization and aldolization

We report the identification of acetone enolate and its subsequent aldolization. The real-time evolution of surface species monitored by in situ DRIFTS of surface acetone (-d6) reactions shows clear spectroscopic evidence of the formation of acetone enolate and its subsequent aldolization via a dominant Eley–Rideal type mechanism on Zn1Zr10Oz.
Simulations of coherent electron cooling with two types of amplifiers

The SPACE code is a parallel, relativistic, three-dimensional, electromagnetic, particle-in-cell code developed for the simulations of beam dynamics and interactions. The SPACE code can perform sim...
On self-similar solutions to the incompressible Euler equations

Abstract Recent numerical simulations have shown the existence of multiple self-similar solutions to the Cauchy problem for the 2-dimensional incompressible Euler equation, with initial vorticity in L l o c p ( R 2 ) , 1 ≤ p + ∞ . Toward a rigorous validation of these computations, in this paper we analytically construct self-similar solutions (i) on an outer domain of the form { | x | > R } , and (ii) in a neighborhood of the points where the solution exhibits a spiraling vortex singularity. The outer solution is obtained as the fixed point of a contractive transformation, based on the Biot-Savart formula and integration along characteristics. The inner solution is constructed using a system of adapted coordinates, following the approach of V. Elling (2016) [17] .