cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The role of the North Atlantic Oscillation in European climate projections

This study highlights the expected range of projected winter air temperature and precipitation trends over the next 30–50 years due to unpredictable fluctuations of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) superimposed upon forced anthropogenic climate change. The findings are based on a 40-member initial-condition ensemble of simulations covering the period 1920–2100 conducted with the Community Earth System Model version 1 (CESM1) at 1° spatial resolution. The magnitude (and in some regions, even the sign) of the projected temperature and precipitation trends over Europe, Russia and parts of the Middle East vary considerably across the ensemble depending on the evolution of the NAO in each individual member. Thus, internal variability of the NAO imparts substantial uncertainty to future changes in regional climate over the coming decades. To validate the model results, we apply a simple scaling approach that relates the margin-of-error on a trend to the statistics of the interannual variability. In this way, we can obtain the expected range of projected climate trends using the interannual statistics of the observed NAO record in combination with the model’s radiatively-forced response (given by the ensemble-mean of the 40 simulations). The results of this observationally-based estimate are similar to those obtained directly from the CESM ensemble, attesting to the fidelity of the model’s representation of the NAO and the utility of this approach. Finally, we note that the interannual statistics of the NAO and associated surface climate impacts are subject to uncertainty due to sampling fluctuations, even when based on a century of data.
Validating Imaginary Worlds? The AdViSHE Assessment Tool

The publication in April 2016 of the Assessment of the Validation Status of Health-Economic Decision Models (AdViSHE) checklist for decision models raises a number of issues that the health technology assessment literature has yet to address. The principal issue being the role of decision models in generating claims that are evaluable and replicable. Unfortunately, this is not addressed in this new checklist which is intended to address the perceived need for a tradeoff between confidence in a decision model and the need to allocate resources by developers and payers to validating the model. Irrespective of the degree of confidence a developer or payers may have in the sufficiency of the model in representing ‘reality’ unless the model has generated evaluable claims and evidence for those claims in target treating populations, the model fails the standards of normal science. Apart from the absence of a commitment in the AdViSHE checklist to the modeling of claims that are evaluable and replicable, the validation check list makes no allowance for a product pricing strategy that may commits a manufacturer to regular and substantial annual or semi-annual product price increases. Indeed, product pricing assumptions are conspicuous by their absence. The commentary argues that failure to accommodate anticipated pricing behavior renders lifetime cost-per-QALY models and the application of willingness-to-pay thresholds meaningless. Type: Commentary
Evicted: The Socio-Legal Case for the Right to Housing - A Book Review of Matthew Desmond, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (Crown Publishers, New York, 2016)

Matthew Desmond’s Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City is a triumphant work that provides the missing socio-legal data needed to prove why America should recognize housing as a human right. This Essay argues that Desmond’s mostly federal legal prescriptions are insufficient to help all Americans realize the full promise of the human right to housing. American cities should also enact local ordinances that legitimate new housing arrangements in order to fully realize the human right to housing. Part I argues that Evicted’s stories show that the law operates differently in poor housing markets than in traditional markets, and that poor residents are differently situated in low-income housing markets based upon their age, sex, gender, race, and ethnicity. Evicted also reveals that poor tenants and their landlords make informal bargains that often undermine the goals of numerous housing-related laws and sacrifice poor residents’ dignity. Part II builds on Desmond’s legal and policy prescriptions by providing examples of how cities can codify the right to housing at the local level through resolutions and ordinances that legitimate more equitable housing arrangements. Part II further asserts that the right to housing is a legal tool that can help localities manage and effectively internalize the mounting economic and social costs of increasing inequality in American housing markets.
On the Importance of Set-Based Meanings for Categories and Connectives in Mathematical Logic

Based on data from a series of teaching experiments on standard tools of mathematical logic, this paper characterizes a range of student meanings for mathematical properties and logical connectives. Some observed meanings inhibited students’ adoption of logical structure, while others greatly facilitated it. Reasoning with predicates refers to students’ propensity to coordinate properties (e.g. “is a square” or “is not a square”) with the set of examples exhibiting the property (squares and non-squares). The negation/complement relation refers to students’ association of a negative property with the complement of the set associated with the corresponding positive property. These meanings afforded students efficient ways to reason about mathematical disjunctions in normative ways. The paper also provides accounts of how students who did not have these meanings reasoned about mathematical categories in ways that precluded normative logical structure. In particular, students frequently substituted positive categories for negative ones though they were not mathematically equivalent and overly relied in familiar categories learned in school, both forms of reasoning about properties. I conclude that proof-oriented instruction may need to help students develop set-based meanings and interpret negative claims in terms of set complements in order to appropriately interpret statements in ways compatible with mathematical logic.
Subjective quality of leisure & worker well-being: Validating measures & testing theory

Abstract For many workers, leisure is a highly valued part of life. Yet, workers' leisure experiences have largely been overlooked in the career development and work-life literatures. This paper addresses the question of when workers' leisure experiences—and compatibility between work and leisure roles—are important for workers' overall subjective well-being (SWB). We draw on Super's life-span, life-space theory of career development to posit that the subjective quality of workers' leisure experiences—and lack of conflict between work and leisure roles—is important for SWB, especially when leisure roles are highly salient relative to other roles. In three studies, we develop and validate scales to measure the subjective quality of leisure (i.e., leisure affect and leisure satisfaction) and test our hypotheses using a heterogeneous sample of working adults. Results provide evidence for the reliability and validity of our new measures and suggest that the subjective quality of workers' leisure experiences influence workers' overall SWB beyond the effects of the subjective quality of job and family experiences—often regardless of levels of relative leisure role salience. However, work-leisure conflict does not appear to substantially influence overall SWB beyond the effects of work-family conflict, even when relative leisure role salience is high. We discuss implications for the career development and work-life literatures.
Shakespeare and Disciplinarity

This chapter explores the outliers of writing about Shakespeare: academic works in medical journals, law reviews, agricultural journals, and other unexpected places. Shakespeare’s plays function as a lingua franca—across disciplines, writers expect audiences to be familiar with the Bard and his works. The chapter argues that academic use of Shakespeare by non-Shakespeareans functions in four ways: (1) to make their work interesting and accessible to different readers; (2) to perform cultural capital; (3) to offer insight into concepts beyond Shakespeare; and (4) to analyze Shakespearean texts from different disciplinary lenses. Ultimately, Shakespeare’s works can be deployed both as a heuristic (a way to access other knowledge) and an epistemology (an underpinning framework that shapes the knowledge itself) in modern academic discourse.
Digital Waveform Technology and the Next Generation of Mass Spectrometers

Ion traps and guides are integral parts of current commercial mass spectrometers. They are currently operated with sinusoidal waveform technology that has been developed over many years. Recently, digital waveform technology has begun to emerge and promises to supplant its older cousin because it presents new capabilities that result from the ability to instantaneously switch the frequency and duty cycle of the waveforms. This manuscript examines these capabilities and reveals their uses and effects on instrumentation.
A medical calculator to determine testicular volumes matching ultrasound values from the width of the testis obtained in the scrotum with a centimeter ruler.

The determination of the testicular volume is of considerable importance to assess the onset, progression and disorders of puberty, abnormal testicular development, and a number of other conditions; and in adults, assessment of fertility. A number of clinical methods have been used for the measurement of testicular volumes in the scrotum: a centimeter ruler, sliding calipers, and orchidometers. All the clinical methods calculate the volumes by the ellipsoid equation, grossly overestimate ultrasound (US) volumes by 70 to 80% for adults, to 150 to 250% for prepubertal subjects, mainly because the inclusion of the scrotal skin and epididymis and may not be accurate of reproducible. Ultrasound measurements have a high degree of accuracy and reproducibility and are the standard for quantitation of testicular volume. Formulas, equivalent to the ellipsoid equations used, were developed to match ultrasound volumes, with corrections of the width and length of the testis obtained in the scrotum, to avoid the inclusion of the scrotal skin (ss) and epididymis. A calculator was developed, requiring only the identification of ① the width of the testis in cm obtained in the scrotum with a ruler (without corrections) (i.e. 0.9, 1.5, 2.0, 2.4 cm etc.) and ② the stage of genital development. The calculator will subtract the scrotal skin for the stage of genital development, from the measurement of the width provided, apply the formula and identify the testicular volume of the subject that matches the US volume. The calculator will also provide, in a Table form, the values for the different stages of genital development. Benefit: The information provided by the calculator will solve the problem of overestimation by the orchidometers and the external measurements, problems with the reference of values to age, and Tanner stages, would permit assessment of the beginning and progression of puberty, of micro and macroorchidism, and other conditions mentioned.
Abstract WP52: White Matter Hyperintensity, Cerebral Microbleeds and Risk of Hemorrhagic Transformation with Intravenous rt-PA

Background and Purpose: Intravenous rt-PA is associated with risk of hemorrhagic transformation. We sought to determine if the degree of white matter hyperintensity on Fluid Attenuated Inversion Re...
When home care is not enough.

The physician has an obligation to counsel a family that wants to care for an older relative in the home but may not be able to ensure the appropriate level of care and safety for the relative. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
Geographic Routing in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

Geographic routing has become an efficient solution for communications and information delivery in wireless ad hoc networks where the position information of nodes is available. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of basic principles, classical techniques, as well as latest advances in geographic routing. The chapter first presents in detail the topic of geographic unicast routing, where the presentation is focused on two operation modes of geographic forwarding, that is, greedy forwarding and void handling. The chapter also briefly introduces three advanced topics in geographic routing: geographic multicast, geocast, and trajectory-based forwarding. Finally, the chapter makes some comments on the practical aspects of geographic routing for practitioners and discusses the directions for further research with a list of open issues in the area of geographic routing.
Between Access and Privacy: Challenges in Sharing Health Data.

Objective: To summarize notable research contributions published in 2017 on data sharing and privacy issues in medical informatics. Methods: An extensive search of PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, and AAAI Digital Library was conducted to uncover the scientific contributions published in 2017 that addressed issues of biomedical data sharing, with a focus on data access and privacy. The selection process was based on three steps: (i) a selection of candidate best papers, (ii) the review of the candidate best papers by a team of international experts with respect to six predefined criteria, and (iii) the selection of the best papers by the editorial board of the Yearbook. Results: Five best papers were selected. They cover the lifecycle of biomedical data collection, use, and sharing. The papers introduce 1) consenting strategies for emerging environments, 2) software for searching and retrieving datasets in organizationally distributed environments, 3) approaches to measure the privacy risks of sharing new data increasingly utilized in research and the clinical setting (e.g., genomic), 4) new cryptographic techniques for querying clinical data for cohort discovery, and 5) novel game theoretic strategies for publishing summary information about genome-phenome studies that balance the utility of the data with potential privacy risks to the participants of such studies. Conclusion: The papers illustrated that there is no one-size-fitsall solution to privacy while working with biomedical data. At the same time, the papers show that there are opportunities for leveraging newly emerging technologies to enable data use while minimizing privacy risks.
A phase II study of BKM120 (buparlisib) in relapsed or refractory thymomas.

e20580Background: For residual or metastatic thymomas, the majority of patients require second-line therapy after platinum-combination chemotherapy with response rates ranging from 0 to 20%. Prior ...
The effect of ultrasonic extrusion on the structure and properties of BR gum and prepared compounds and vulcanizates

Abstract Ultrasonic extrusion of BR was conducted and processing characteristics were evaluated. Ultrasonic power consumption increased with the increase of ultrasonic amplitude. Die pressure decreased with the increase of ultrasonic amplitude indicating that the imposition of ultrasound can be used to increase extrusion output rate. The effect of ultrasonic amplitude on molecular structure of BR, including molecular weight and gel formation behavior were studied. Depending on the ultrasonic amplitude, structure changes occurred in BR, including a degradation, formation of long-chain branching and gel. Untreated and treated BR were mixed with CB, silica and silica/silane. Bound rubber content and flocculation behavior were studied. Formation of the long-chain branching was shown to increase the bound rubber content and rubber-filler interaction and to reduce the filler-filler interaction and flocculation of BR/silica compound. Both the untreated and treated BR, BR/CB, BR/silica and BR/silica/silane were vulcanized and their crosslink density, gel fraction and mechanical properties were measured. Based on DMA temperature sweep of BR/silica vulcanizate, it was shown that formation of the long-chain branching during ultrasonic treatment reduced the loss tangent at 60 °C, predicting a lower rolling resistance if the rubber used in tires.
Women in Interventional Cardiology: If You Love it, You Will Make it.

Purpose: Human T cells targeted to the B cell–specific CD19 antigen through retroviral-mediated transfer of a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), termed 19z1, have shown significant but partial in vivo antitumor efficacy in a severe combined immunodeficient (SCID)-Beige systemic human acute lymphoblastic leukemia (NALM-6) tumor model. Here, we investigate the etiologies of treatment failure in this model and design approaches to enhance the efficacy of this adoptive strategy. Experimental Design: A panel of modified CD19-targeted CARs designed to deliver combined activating and costimulatory signals to the T cell was generated and tested in vitro to identify an optimal second-generation CAR. Antitumor efficacy of T cells expressing this optimal costimulatory CAR, 19-28z, was analyzed in mice bearing systemic costimulatory ligand-deficient NALM-6 tumors. Results: Expression of the 19-28z CAR, containing the signaling domain of the CD28 receptor, enhanced systemic T-cell antitumor activity when compared with 19z1 in treated mice. A treatment schedule of 4 weekly T-cell injections, designed to prolong in vivo T-cell function, further improved long-term survival. Bioluminescent imaging of tumor in treated mice failed to identify a conserved site of tumor relapse, consistent with successful homing by tumor-specific T cells to systemic sites of tumor involvement. Conclusions: Both in vivo costimulation and repeated administration enhance eradication of systemic tumor by genetically targeted T cells. The finding that modifications in CAR design as well as T-cell dosing allowed for the complete eradication of systemic disease affects the design of clinical trials using this treatment strategy.
Exposure-Toxicity Association of Cyclophosphamide and Its Metabolites in Infants and Young Children with Primary Brain Tumors: Implications for Dosing.

Purpose: To characterize the population pharmacokinetics of cyclophosphamide, active 4-hydroxy-cyclophosphamide (4OH-CTX), and inactive carboxyethylphosphoramide mustard (CEPM), and their associations with hematologic toxicities in infants and young children with brain tumors. To use this information to provide cyclophosphamide dosing recommendations in this population. Patients and Methods: Patients received four cycles of a 1-hour infusion of 1.5 g/m2 cyclophosphamide. Serial samples were collected to measure cyclophosphamide, 4OH-CTX, and CEPM plasma concentrations. Population pharmacokinetic modeling was performed to identify the patient characteristics influencing drug disposition. Associations between drug exposures and metrics reflecting drug-induced neutropenia, erythropenia, and thrombocytopenia were investigated. A Bayesian approach was developed to predict 4OH-CTX exposure using only cyclophosphamide and CEPM plasma concentrations. Results: Data from 171 patients (0.07–4.9 years) were adequately fitted by a two-compartment (cyclophosphamide) and one-compartment model (metabolites). Young infants ( Conclusions: A 4OH-CTX exposure–toxicity association was established, and a decreased cyclophosphamide dosage for young infants was suggested to reduce toxicity in this population. Bayesian modeling to predict 4OH-CTX exposure may reduce clinical processing–related costs and provide insights into further exposure–response associations.
BWHealthy Weight Pilot Study: A randomized controlled trial to improve weight-loss maintenance using deposit contracts in the workplace

Abstract Objective Deposit contracts, where participants “bet” on achieving a goal and get their money back only if successful, have been shown to be effective for short-term weight-loss. This pilot study examined their effect on weight-loss maintenance. Methods From 2016 to 2018, we conducted a pilot, 50-week randomized controlled trial among 42 hospital employees (19 intervention and 23 control), in Boston, Massachusetts, who lost ≥10 lb (4.5 kg) in the two years prior to enrollment. Participants were recruited primarily in-person. Both control and intervention participants were asked to attend a weigh in weekly and received weekly email communication. Intervention participants also entered into a deposit contract to maintain baseline weight within ≤2 lb (0.9 kg). We examined weight change from baseline to 50 weeks (primary outcome) and maintenance of baseline weight at 50 weeks (secondary outcome; binary – yes v. no). Participants completed baseline and follow-up surveys and received incentives for completion. Results At baseline, mean (SD) weight was 83.2 (15.5 kg) among intervention and 80.7 (14.5 kg) among control participants. After 50 weeks, intervention participants had slightly less but non-significant weight gain (adjusted β −1.12 kg; 95% CI −5.28, 3.05) than control participants; 73.7% of intervention v. 39.1% of control participants met their weight-loss maintenance goal by study end (adjusted OR 4.78; 95% CI 1.01, 22.71). Conclusions A deposit contract was not associated with differences in weight but led to more participants meeting their weight-loss maintenance goals; a deposit contract for weight-loss maintenance should be tested in a full-scale intervention. Most intervention participants viewed the deposit contract as acceptable.
Actions of Prostaglandins on Human Nucleus Pulposus Metabolism Inferred by Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibition of Cytokine Activated Cells

Objective Low back pain is frequently treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), but little is known about intervertebral disc metabolism of the prostaglandins that are diminished by these drugs. Hence, this study aimed at delineating prostaglandin actions in cytokine activated disc cells by comparing the response of nucleus pulposus (NP) cells to the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-1β with and without cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) inhibition. Methods NP cells cultured in alginate beads were activated with IL-1β ± the COX-2 inhibitor Sc-58125. Media harvested from cultured cells were analyzed for prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2α), IL-6, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay and nitric oxide by Griess Reaction. Gene expression along with proteoglycan, collagen, and total protein synthesis were also measured. Results IL-1β increased culture media PGE2 and PGF2α, but decreased proteoglycan and collagen syntheses as well as mRNA expression of the matrix genes aggrecan, versican, collagen I, and collagen II. COX-2 inhibition partially rescued proteoglycan and collagen syntheses and collagen I mRNA, but decreased collagen II mRNA IL-1β activated NP cells. COX-2 inhibition initially enhanced and subsequently reduced IL-1β induced inducible nitric oxide synthase, without altering medium nitrite. IL-1β induction of MMP-3 mRNA was increased by COX-2 inhibition at 24 and 48 hours. Conclusion COX-2 inhibition alters the response of NP cells to IL-1β, suggesting IL-1β action on disc cells is mediated at least in part through COX-2 and its prostaglandins. COX-2 inhibition produces minimal effects on several key catabolic mediators, with the exception of MMP-3. Blocking COX-2 might be beneficial for maintaining disc matrix since it provides an overall rescue of IL-1 induced loss of matrix protein synthesis.
The clinical and pathological features of plasma cell myeloma post solid organ transplantation

Plasma cell neoplasms (PCNs), comprising plasma cell myelomas (PCMs) and plasmacytomas, occurring after solid organ transplantation, represent rare subtypes of monomorphic post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (M-PTLDs). Data regarding the clinical and pathological features of post-transplant (PT)-PCMs are limited. To gain a better understanding of disease biology, we performed comprehensive immunophenotypic analysis, reviewed cytogenetic analysis results and evaluated clinical outcomes of PT-PCMs diagnosed and treated at our institution. Fifteen PT-PCM (M: F - 4:1) and 2 PT-MGUS (2 males) cases were identified. The median age of PT-PCM patients was 68yrs (29-79 yrs) and PCMs presented at a median of 9.7yrs (0.5-24.7 yrs) after transplantation. PT-PCMs accounted for 11.6% of all M-PTLDs and the period prevalence was 9/3108 (0.29%), 3/1071 (0.28%), 2/1345 (0.15%) and 1/878 (0.11%) post kidney, heart, liver and lung transplantation. Lytic bone disease was observed in 1/11 (9%) patients. Marrow plasma cell infiltration ranged from 10%-70% (median 20%), with 10/15 (67%) and 5/15 (33%) cases manifesting immature and plasmablastic morphology. The immunophenotype of all cases and cytogenetic abnormalities, identified in 60% of cases, were similar to multiple myeloma (MM) of immunocompetent individuals. All PT-PCMs were EBER-. Ten of 11 (91%) patients with active MM were treated, all with proteasome inhibitor-based therapy. Treatment response and 5-year overall survival (54.5%) was comparable to MM of immunocompetent individuals. However, the survival of patients with plasmablastic PCMs was inferior to those with immature PCMs. 0ur findings indicate PT-PCMs to be predominantly late onset PTLDs that have similar clinicopathologic characteristics as conventional MM. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Early epidemiological indicators, outcomes, and interventions of COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review.

Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), a pandemic that brought the whole world to a standstill, has led to financial and health care burden. We aimed to evaluate epidemiological characteristics, needs of resources, outcomes, and global burden of the disease. Methods: Systematic review was performed searching PubMed from December 1, 2019, to March 25, 2020, for full-text observational studies that described epidemiological characteristics, following MOOSE protocol. Global data were collected from the JHU-Corona Virus Resource Center, WHO-COVID-2019 situation reports, KFF.org, and Worldometers.info until March 31, 2020. The prevalence percentages were calculated. The global data were plotted in excel to calculate case fatality rate (CFR), predicted CFR, COVID-19 specific mortality rate, and doubling time for cases and deaths. CFR was predicted using Pearson correlation, regression models, and coefficient of determination. Results: From 21 studies of 2747 patients, 8.4% of patients died, 20.4% recovered, 15.4% were admitted to ICU and 14.9% required ventilation. COVID-19 was more prevalent in patients with hypertension (19.3%), smoking (11.3%), diabetes mellitus (10%), and cardiovascular diseases (7.4%). Common complications were pneumonia (82%), cardiac complications (26.4%), acute respiratory distress syndrome (15.7%), secondary infection (11.2%), and septic shock (4.3%). Though CFR and COVID-19 specific death rates are dynamic, they were consistently high for Italy, Spain, and Iran. Polynomial growth models were best fit for all countries for predicting CFR. Though many interventions have been implemented, stern measures like nationwide lockdown and school closure occurred after very high infection rates (>10cases per 100 000population) prevailed. Given the trend of government measures and decline of new cases in China and South Korea, most countries will reach the peak between April 1-20, if interventions are followed. Conclusions: A collective approach undertaken by a responsible government, wise strategy implementation and a receptive population may help contain the spread of COVID-19 outbreak. Close monitoring of predictive models of such indicators in the highly affected countries would help to evaluate the potential fatality if the second wave of pandemic occurs. The future studies should be focused on identifying accurate indicators to mitigate the effect of underestimation or overestimation of COVID-19 burden.
Emphasizing Task-Specific Hypertrophy to Enhance Sequential Strength and Power Performance

While strength is indeed a skill, most discussions have primarily considered structural adaptations rather than ultrastructural augmentation to improve performance. Altering the structural component of the muscle is often the aim of hypertrophic training, yet not all hypertrophy is equal; such alterations are dependent upon how the muscle adapts to the training stimuli and overall training stress. When comparing bodybuilders to strength and power athletes such as powerlifters, weightlifters, and throwers, while muscle size may be similar, the ability to produce force and power is often inequivalent. Thus, performance differences go beyond structural changes and may be due to the muscle's ultrastructural constituents and training induced adaptations. Relative to potentiating strength and power performances, eliciting specific ultrastructural changes should be a variable of interest during hypertrophic training phases. By focusing on task-specific hypertrophy, it may be possible to achieve an optimal amount of hypertrophy while deemphasizing metabolic and aerobic components that are often associated with high-volume training. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to briefly address different types of hypertrophy and provide directions for practitioners who are aiming to achieve optimal rather than maximal hypertrophy, as it relates to altering ultrastructural muscular components, to potentiate strength and power performance.
Spectral response of optical fiber probe with closely spaced fibers.

Background Optical fiber probe spectroscopy can characterize the blood content, hemoglobin oxygen saturation, water content, and scattering properties of a tissue. A narrow probe using closely spaced fibers can access and characterize a local tissue site, but analysis requires the proper light transport theory. Methods Monte Carlo simulations of photon transport specified the response of a two-fiber probe as a function of optical properties in a homogeneous tissue. The simulations used the dimensions of a commercial fiber probe (400-micron-diameter fibers separated by 80-microns of cladding) to calculate the response to a range of 20 absorption and 20 reduced scattering values. The 400 simulations yielded an analysis grid (lookup table) to interpolate the probe response to any given pair of absorption and scattering properties. Results The probe in contact with tissue is not sensitive to low absorption but sensitive to scattering, as occurs for red to near-infrared spectra. The probe is sensitive to both absorption and scattering for shorter visible spectra (purple-orange). The non-contact probe held above the tissue delivers light to/from a spot on the tissue and fails to collect light that spreads laterally to escape outside the collection spot. Such partial collection can distort the spectra. Conclusions Optical fiber spectroscopy using closely spaced fibers requires proper calibration. An analysis subroutine is provided for analysis of a two-fiber probe with the dimensions of a commercial probe (Ocean Insight), but the method can be applied to any probe design. A closely spaced fiber probe can document blood in the shorter visible wavelengths, but has difficulty detecting red and near-infra-red absorption. Hence detection of hydration is difficult. The strength of the closely spaced fiber probe is detecting scattering that depends on tissue structure at the micron to sub-micron scale.
Impact of locus coeruleus and its projections on memory and aging

Introduction: Locus coeruleus (LC) is the primary source of norepinephrine to the brain and its efferent projections innervate many brain regions, including the thalamus. The LC degrades with norma...
Diastolic Right-To-Left Shunting PDA In Neonatal Coarctation Is A Sign Of Severe Pulmonary Hypertension

In severe neonatal coarctation, patients require a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) for systemic perfusion. What may go unrecognized is the importance of differentiating ductal flow in systole versus diastole. Right-to-left ductal flow in systole would be a normal finding in severe coarctation as this is essential for distal systemic perfusion. Right-to-left ductal flow during diastole is abnormal and represents severely elevated pulmonary vascular resistance. This differentiation during diastole and systole is not well described in the literature, as pure right-to-left shunting is rare. We describe two neonates with critical coarctation of the aorta with pure right-to-left ductal flow with evidence of pulmonary hypertensive crisis after repair. Case …
Composition of Institutional Ownership and Firms’ Use ofDownward Expectations Management

This study investigates how institutional investors respond to downward expectations management and whether they affect firms’ use of downward expectations management in meeting or beating analysts’ earnings forecasts. Using quarterly institutional holding data, this study shows that short-term-oriented institutional investors (i.e., those more likely to trade on short-term earnings-related information) reduce their holdings in firms that meet or beat analysts’ earnings forecasts likely through downward expectations management, in contrast to their counterparts with long-term-oriented investment strategies. Accordingly, firms with higher short-term-oriented institutional ownership suffer a greater loss of the premium of meeting or beating analysts’ forecasts when managing earnings expectations downward. Together, these findings suggest that shortterm-oriented institutional ownership increases the cost of downward expectations management. Firms seem to recognize this effect and are less likely to manage expectations downward to avoid negative earnings surprises when they have high shortterm- oriented institutional ownership at the end of the previous quarter.
Evaluation of monitoring youth exposure to alcohol advertising on cable television, United States 2016-19.

Background and aims Exposure to alcohol advertising is associated with underage drinking, which contributes to adolescent morbidity and mortality. Alcohol advertisements are regulated by the alcohol industry. Our research team has published reports monitoring alcohol advertisers' compliance with industry guidelines. In this study, we estimated: (1) changes in youth and adult exposure to alcohol advertisements on cable television from 2016-19 and (2) changes in youth exposure to types of non-compliant advertising highlighted in monitoring reports over the same period. Design Interrupted time-series analysis using data from Nielsen US national television audience estimates, 2012-19. Measures and methods Outcome was advertising impressions (the total number of times an alcohol advertisement was viewed by youth or adults) by month. Non-compliant exposure was impressions from advertisements that did not meet guidelines. Covariates were advertising spending in multiple media categories. Seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models estimated trends in exposure before the publication of monitoring reports (2012-15 reference period) and during the monitoring period (2016-19). We compared the modeled exposure trend during the monitoring period to the reference period projected trend. Setting United States. Participants A total of 57 000 Nielsen panel households FINDINGS: Non-compliant exposure declined 6158 [95% confidence interval (CI) = -11 406 to -911] million impressions, or -77.3% during the monitoring period compared with the reference period trend. Total youth exposure declined by 20 995 (CI = -34 701 to -7288) million impressions (27.0%). Non-compliant exposure on programs, network dayparts and brands highlighted in monitoring reports declined by -82.4, -79.0 and -82.2%-more than other programs (-52.7%), network dayparts (-71.0%) or brands (143%). Adult exposure declined by 9.3%. Conclusions Publication of alcohol advertising monitoring reports appears to have been associated with a 27.0% decline in US youth exposure to alcohol advertising on cable television and a 77.3% decline in US youth exposure to non-compliant alcohol advertising.
Designing a Parallel Programming Course for Lower-Division Students

This paper covers the design of a course introducing parallel programming. The design is partly based on the feedback collected by the author when teaching other parallel computing courses offered for senior undergraduates and graduates, plus the conversations with lower-division students outside of class. It targets the students typically having completed CS1 and CS2 courses and puts more emphasis on gaining parallel programming skills through hands-on exercises. Its ideal lecture schedule is that each week, one meeting introduces the concepts and theories of parallel computing in a traditional classroom and the other discusses parallel programming skills in a computer lab. Unlike the courses designed for senior undergraduates or graduates, its instructional approaches are more inclined to student-centered and teamwork approaches. Its coursework will include term projects, the topics of which are selected from the instructor' research area and tailored for this class. The course design has been completed and will be implemented in the spring of 2021 as a pilot.
Might Does Not Make Right: The Flawed Effort to Redefine Jus ad Bellum Proportionality

This Article argues that Israel's use of force in self-defense of a 2006 Hezbollah cross-border raid was disproportionate and, therefore, unlawful under currently accepted interpretation of the international law governing the use of force. The Article continues by examining how Israeli actions during the 2006 Lebanon conflict as well as U.S. statements in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks have highlighted a concerted effort to redefine jus ad bellum proportionality. These efforts, although gaining some support in the form of simple game theory and the need for host-state assistance in the worldwide effort against terrorism, fail to stand up to competing theory and other practical considerations.
Synovial sarcoma of the hand-wrist: a case report and review of the literature

Synovial sarcomas are infrequent malignant tumors occurring mostly in adolescents and young adults. The occurrence of synovial sarcoma in the hand-wrist area is rare (4 to 8.5% of all synovial sarcomas in different studies). This report documents an uncommon case of synovial sarcoma occurring in the hand-wrist of a 69-year-old Caucasian woman. She was subsequently treated with surgical excision and radiotherapy without recurrence after follow up. This paper aims to characterize the demographic, pathologic, and clinical features with a literature review. The present literature review confirms that hand-wrist synovial sarcomas are more frequent among males and subjects 10 to 40 years old. Most cases in this location are usually not larger than 5 cm in size. The five-year survival rate is higher than that reported in a previous review on hand synovial sarcomas, and this suggests an improved survival in recent decades.
Spatiotemporal Variability in Environmental Conditions Influences the Performance and Behavior of Juvenile Steelhead in a Coastal California Lagoon

In California (USA), seasonal lagoons provide important oversummer rearing habitat for juvenile steelhead trout (anadromous Oncorhynchus mykiss). However, key water quality parameters such as temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration can periodically approach or exceed the physiological tolerances of steelhead during the protracted dry season. A field study employing distributed temperature sensing technology, water quality monitoring, habitat mapping, and mark-recapture sampling was conducted to examine how shifting environmental conditions affected the performance and behavior of juvenile steelhead in the Scott Creek estuary/lagoon (Santa Cruz County). Abiotic conditions were driven by episodic inputs of seawater to the typically freshwater lagoon. During midsummer, the water column was vertically stratified which reduced suitable lagoon rearing habitat by approximately 40%. Nevertheless, steelhead abundance, growth, and condition factor were high during the summer and decreased in autumn following lagoon destratification and cooling. Unlike previous work, this study identified limited emigration from the lagoon to riverine habitat during the summer. Instead, juvenile steelhead exhibited crepuscular movement patterns within the lagoon, with peaks in upstream (to upper lagoon habitat) and downstream (to lower lagoon habitat) movement occurring at dawn and dusk, respectively. This study underscores that habitat complexity and connectivity are critical for juvenile steelhead production and persistence and provides insight into steelhead habitat use and behavior in seasonal lagoons.
Education and Social Mobility in the Soviet Union 1921–1934: Mass education and mobility in the countryside

At the beginning of 1928, when the Soviet leadership endorsed coercive measures to extract hoarded grain from the peasantry, the regime and the peasantry entered a period of confrontation which was officially described as ‘class war. The decision to collectivize individual peasant holdings, taken towards the end of 1929, substantially increased hostility and the incidence of violence on both sides. Prosperous peasants, as well as those active in opposing grain procurements and collectivization, were labelled kulaks and class enemies. They were punished by measures ranging from punitive taxation and expulsion of children from school to physical deportation, and retaliated by arson and attacks on Soviet officials. But the regime's attempts to divide the peasantry on class lines were unsuccessful. The peasantry as a whole expressed its hostility to the new policies in the wholesale slaughter of livestock. Collectivization was widely regarded by the peasants as a second serfdom. Sometimes, harking back to an older tradition of grievance against state authority, they associated its perpetrators with Antichrist. Yet for very large numbers of peasants the end result was not ‘enserfment’ in the kolkhoz but departure from the countryside. Some simply fled to the towns; others were taken into the industrial labour force by orgnabor (organized recruitment); and a substantial group entered the labour force after being deported from the villages as kulaks.
Hypotensive Anesthesia Is Associated With Shortened Length of Hospital Stay Following Orthognathic Surgery

Purpose To evaluate the impact of induced hypotensive anesthesia on length of hospital stay (LOS) for patients undergoing maxillary Le Fort I osteotomy in isolation or in combination with mandibular orthognathic surgery. Materials and Methods A retrospective cohort study design was implemented and patients undergoing a Le Fort I osteotomy as a component of orthognathic surgery at the Mayo Clinic from 2010 through 2014 were identified. The primary predictor variable was the presence of induced hypotensive anesthesia during orthognathic surgery. Hypotensive anesthesia was defined as at least 10 consecutive minutes of a mean arterial pressure no higher than 60 mmHg documented within the anesthetic record. The primary outcome variable was LOS in hours after completion of orthognathic surgery. The secondary outcome variable was the duration of surgery in hours. Multiple covariates also abstracted included patient age, patient gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, complexity of surgical procedure, and volume of intraoperative fluids administered during surgery. Univariable and multivariable models were developed to evaluate associations between the primary predictor variable and covariates relative to the primary and secondary outcome variables. Results A total of 117 patients were identified undergoing Le Fort I orthognathic surgery in isolation or in combination with mandibular surgery. Induced hypotensive anesthesia was significantly associated with shortened LOS (odds ratio [OR] = 0.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.12-0.88; P = .026) relative to patients with normotensive regimens. This association between hypotensive anesthesia and LOS remained statistically significant in a subgroup analysis of 47 patients in whom isolated Le Fort I surgery was performed (OR = 0.13; 95% CI, 0.03-0.62; P = .010). Induced hypotensive anesthesia was not statistically associated with shorter duration of surgery. Conclusion Induced hypotensive anesthesia represents a potential factor that minimizes postoperative LOS for patients undergoing routine maxillary orthognathic surgery alone or in combination with mandibular procedures. Hypotensive anesthesia does not appear to be effective in minimizing the duration of surgery within this same patient population.
AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) α1 is required for brown adipogenesis (LB843)

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) burns fatty acids to generate heat, holding the promise to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, mechanisms regulating brown adipocyte formation remain poorly defined. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a key regulator of energy metabolism. We hypothesized that AMPK regulates the development of brown fat, an important organ involved in energy catabolism. To test, we employed AMPKα1 floxed mice which were crossed with ER-Cre mice to conditionally knockout AMPKα1. AMPKα1 knockout was induced by 4-hydrotamoxifen. Abrogation of AMPKα1 blunted the brown adipogenic differentiation of stromal vascular cells isolated from brown fat. Correspondingly, the expression of UCP-1 and Prdm16, two markers of brown adipogenesis, was pronouncedly suppressed during differentiation (around 4 fold and 3 fold reduction respectively, P = 0.03). Moreover, adipogenic progenitor cells were separated from brown stromal vascular cells by FACS using surface markers (sca1+/CD34+/CD45-). Consistently...
Efficient analog communication over quantum channels.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering. Thesis. 1970. Sc.D.
On entropic aspects of VLSI designs

In this paper, we revisit entropic aspects of modern VLSI designs. In particular, we discuss design guidelines for specific computation problems, considering issues associated with dynamic datapath multiplexing due to branching and sharing. We apply these design guidelines to parallel decoder designs of Reed- Solomon codes as an example and show that an appropriate choice of the decoding algorithm, without excess entropy generation in the datapath, results in a better implementation than algorithms that are more efficient just arithmetically. We expect that the present entropic considerations will become more important as the datapath becomes wider and more complex.