cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The "omega" jejunostomy tube: A preferred alternative for postpyloric feeding access.

Abstract Aim We present our technique for construction of the "Omega Jejunostomy" (OJ), a novel method of postpyloric feeding using a pouched-jejunal loop capable of accommodating a balloon gastrostomy button. We describe potential indications for the procedure and outcomes in a complex patient population. Materials and methods We retrospectively reviewed records of patients who underwent an OJ at our institution between 2005 and 2014. Primary outcomes include operating time, length of hospital stay, time to feeding goals, and postoperative complications. Results We identified 12 children (6 males) with multiple comorbidities who underwent OJ procedures. The median age at surgery was 11years (range 3months–23years). Eleven patients had failed previous alternative feeding access or antireflux procedures. All patients eventually reached their feeding goals. Eight were at goal feeds in Conclusions OJ provides a durable alternative to gastrojejunostomy tube for patients who are poor candidates for or have failed Nissen fundoplication. It is technically easier to perform than a gastroesophageal disconnect procedure, has minimal surgical comorbidities, and can provide durable feeding access and achievement of goal feeds in a complex and refractory patient subset.
Reply to Thompson's “Language, the Brain, and the Question of Dichotomies”

Thus Baird's statement that the problems he defined render the paper's conclusions unreliable must be rejected. I am glad that he found the initial comments persuasive, but am troubled that he labels the empirical analysis "needless and faulty econometric overkill." I tried to avoid any appearance of fancy technique for technique's sake, aiming rather to analyze a complex reality with the simplest, most robust statistical model I could find. I am honored that he took the trouble to com-
Enhancement of airborne conflict prediction times through Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) transmitted trajectory intent information

This paper begins with a general description of aircraft intent and prediction techniques that are sometimes mistakenly equated with intent. A more structured definition of intent is provided by a summary of the intent concepts appearing in the Minimum Aviation System Performance Standards (MASPS) for Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B). Limitations of the ADS-B MASPS intent mechanization (with respect to tactical conflict prediction applications) are discussed.
A holistic paradigm for large scale schema matching

Schema matching is a critical problem for integrating heterogeneous information sources. Traditionally, the problem of matching multiple schemas has essentially relied on finding pairwise-attribute correspondences in isolation. In contrast, we propose a new matching paradigm, holistic schema matching, to match many schemas at the same time and find all matchings at once. By handling a set of schemas together, we can explore their context information that reflects the semantic correspondences among attributes. Such information is not available when schemas are matched only in pairs. As the realizations of holistic schema matching, we develop two alternative approaches: global evaluation and local evaluation. Global evaluation exhaustively assesses all possible "models," where a model expresses all attribute matchings. In particular, we propose the MGS framework for such global evaluation, building upon the hypothesis of the existence of a hidden schema model that probabilistically generates the schemas we observed. On the other hand, local evaluation independently assesses every single matching to incrementally construct such a model. In particular, we develop the DCM framework for local evaluation, building upon the observation that co-occurrence patterns across schemas often reveal the complex relationships of attributes. We apply our approaches to match query interfaces on the deep Web. The result shows the effectiveness of both the MGS and DCM approaches, which together demonstrate the promise of holistic schema matching.
A Feasibility study for the Development of a Prospective Compaction Functionality test and the Establishment of a Compaction data BANK

AbstractThe feasibility for the development of a standard compaction functionality testing method, which is capable of comparing the relative tabletability features of different materials and different lots of the same material with high sensitivity, was tested using an Integrated Compaction Research System. The following factors were optimized: tablet weight, lubrication, tooling, punch displacement profile, pressure range, as well as other pre-, during and post-compaction parameters. The optimized test conditions were found to be as follows: the amount of material to be compacted was calculated to produce a compact with a true volume of 0.25ml; internal lubricant with magnesium stearate at a concentration of 0.5%; standard 10.3mm, flat-faced, round BB tooling; constant punch velocities of 100mm/s and 300mm/s; and a pressure range of 25 to 550MPa. Several model powders which included microcrystalline cellulose, dicalcium phosphate dihydrate, calcium sulfate, dextrates, lactose anhydrous, and spray dried ...
Towards a synergistic multistage speech coder

In this paper, we propose some new modeling techniques that provide a more synergistic approach to multistage time-domain speech compression. In particular, we propose a new error criterion for determining all-pole filters, and a unique method for jointly coding the pulse information in excitation vectors. The new error criterion for determining all-pole filters is based upon minimizing the sum of the residual signal's absolute values raised to a power less than one. It is shown to be a desirable cost function for yielding residual signals that are more sparse, and consequently better suited for multistage compression than linear prediction residuals. Statistical reasons supporting the new criterion are also provided. Furthermore, exploiting the properties of, and the relationship between, the linear prediction and minimum variance spectra, we propose a novel parameter set for jointly coding the excitation vector's pulse position, sign, and gain information.
IDOE is past

For the 1970's, the International Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE) began as a legislative, foreign policy, and geopolitical undertaking. It ended short of its goals. E. Wenk, Jr., is quoted as saying‘… IDOE…failed to head off international conflict over intensified use of the sea by using collaborative exploration as a new and untainted means to achieve world comity’ (Oceanus, 23, 2–11,1980). The vehicle was oceanographic research; the tool was the oceanographic community. The goal of easing international tensions may not have been met, but the scientists involved appear to have met theirs, judging from the level of participation and the extent of scientific advances. Table 1 lists the ′70's decade activity. A survey of 800 marine scientists, affiliated with academic and research institutions throughout the United States, indicated that, for the most part, the quality of marine science supported by the federal government during IDOE was high (Figure 1).
Safe at Home? Domestic Violence and Other Homicides Among Women in New Mexico

Abstract Study objective: To define the contribution of domestic violence (DV) to homicides in women in New Mexico and to examine differences in ethnicity, mechanism, previous documented injuries, incidence of sexual assault, and use of alcohol or illicit drugs between DV- and non-DV-related homicides. Methods: We carried out a retrospective analysis of reports of the state office of the medical investigator (OMI) reports for all female homicides from 1990 to 1993 in New Mexico. A homicide was defined as being related to DV if the perpetrator was a current or former male intimate partner. The χ 2 and Mann-Whitney tests were used to analyze data. Results: The OMI investigated 134 homicides in women for an overall fatality rate of 4.3 per 100,000. A male intimate partner was the perpetrator in 62 cases (46%). The rate of DV homicide among American Indians (4.9 per 100,000) was significantly higher than that among Hispanics (1.7) and non-Hispanic whites (1.8) (RR=2.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5 to 5.1). Firearms were almost two times as likely to be used in DV homicides as in non-DV homicides (RR=1.8; 95% CI, 1.2 to 2.6). Evidence of old injuries was found more often in DV homicide cases (35.5%) than in non-DV cases (8.3%) (RR=4.3; 95% CI, 1.8 to 9.8). The presence of alcohol or other drugs was higher among non-DV homicide victims (69%) than DV homicide victims (54.3%) (P=.03). Conclusion: American Indian women are at particularly high risk of homicide, including DV homicide. Firearms were overrepresented in DV homicides, suggesting that removing firearms from the homes of previous DV perpetrators would be a useful public health strategy. Alcohol or illicit drugs were found in approximately two thirds of New Mexico women who were victims of homicide. The high prevalence of history of previous injuries among DV homicide victims indicates that early identification of DV victims in the emergency department and other health care settings is an important point of intervention. [Arbuckle J, Olson L, Howard M, Brillman J, Anctil C, Sklar D: Safe at home? Domestic violence and other homicides among women in New Mexico. Ann Emerg Med February 1996;27:210-215.]
Programmable reconfigurable self-assembly: parallel heterogeneous integration of chip-scale components on planar and nonplanar surfaces

This paper reports on a programmable reconfigurable self-assembly (PRS) process to enable heterogeneous integration of components on nonplanar substrates. The proposed process makes use of solder-based receptors that can be activated electrically. Metal contacts on segmented semiconductor devices bind to liquid-solder-based-receptors on a substrate during the fluidic self-assembly. Programmability is implemented using solder-based receptors that can be switched "ON" and "OFF" using integrated heaters. We have evaluated the feasibility of the proposed PRS concept through computer simulations using ANSYS to estimate: i) the necessary power to heat selected receptors to above the melting point of the solder and ii) the minimal spacing between receptors for preventing thermal crosstalk. A prototype platform has been fabricated to experimentally test the PRS process. The programmable sequential assembly of multiple types of components onto target positions has been demonstrated, including 300-/spl mu/m-sized light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and silicon dies. Three types of defects were identified and eliminated using improved component designs, transient heating, and adequate heat sinks. A prototype color LED display segment that contains a total of 36 red, green, and yellow LED segments and 72 interconnects has been used to test the concept. The outlined process provides a new concept to the parallel integration of microdevices and systems that require electrical interconnects between components.
Cost implications of closure of atrial septal defect

We sought to evaluate the relative cost of surgical and device closure of atrial septal defect. Device closure for atrial septal defects is becoming an alternative to surgical closure. We examined the hospital-generated cost data in 13 patients who underwent surgical repair and 15 patients who underwent device closure of an atrial septal defects (ASD) or patent foramen ovale (PFO) during a prospective clinical trial of the device. The cost of device closure of ASD was 7,837 dollars less on average than surgical closure when the cost of the occlusion device was excluded (device closure cost 7,397 dollars +/- 2,822 dollars, surgical closure cost 15,234 dollars +/- 3,851 dollars; P < 0.001). When adjusted for a 5% failure rate of device closure, the cost savings was 7,076 dollars. Device closure of ASD results in substantial hospital-related cost savings that will be an important consideration once new devices are approved for clinical use.
Testosterone, Social Class, and Antisocial Behavior in a Sample of 4,462 Men:

Two hypotheses have been offered to explain the relation between testosterone and antisocial behavior in delinquent and criminal populations. One is that testosterone leads directly to antisocial behavior. The other is that a constellation of dominance, competitiveness, and sensation seeking associated with testosterone leads to either antisocial or prosocial behavior, depending upon an individual's resources and background. Analysis of archival data from 4,462 U.S. military veterans supported the first hypothesis: Testosterone was correlated with a variety of antisocial behaviors among all individuals. However, socioeconomic status (SES) proved to be a moderating variable, with weaker testosterone-behavior relationships among high SES subjects.
Noradrenergic and neuropeptide Y mechanisms in guanethidine-sympathectomized rats

The cardiovascular responses to sympathomimetic agents, the norepinephrine (NE) content in peripheral tissues, and the tissue content and cardiovascular effects of neuropeptide Y (NPY) were examined in anesthetized adult rats with guanethidine-induced sympathectomy (GuSx). We observed blunted pressor responses to tyramine, exaggerated pressor responses to phenylephrine, and markedly reduced NE contents in the atrium, femoral artery, superior cervical ganglion (SCG), and sciatic and vagus nerves. When tyramine responses were corrected for the NE content in the SCG, GuSx rats were similar to controls. A depletion of NPY levels in tissue resulted in an increased sensitivity to the pressor effects of intravenous NPY administration. GuSx, therefore, reproduces findings of postganglionic adrenergic failure in humans. Responses to the administration of sympathomimetic agents may reflect the degree of noradrenergic denervation. NPY may be a potential marker of chronic postganglionic sympathetic denervation in cardiovascular tissue.
A generational divide within the class-based production of girls in American youth soccer

By building upon earlier research on social class and soccer, the following study specifically provides insight into American, adolescent girls’ experiences with youth soccer (Swanson, ‘Complicating the “Soccer Mom”’; Swanson, ‘Soccer Fields’; Andrews, ‘Contextualizing Suburban Soccer’; and Zwick and Andrews, ‘The Suburban Soccer Field’). Driven by Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts regarding social class reproduction, I engaged in ethnographic-style conversations regarding recreational youth soccer with girls ages 11–14 and their Baby-Boom-Generation mothers in order to further understand how the American, middle-class habitus may be contributing to a particular gender-based path in youth sport (Bourdieu, Distinction). Additionally, Grossberg’s and Giroux’s literature on youth and politics of culture informed my understanding of the discrepancies between parents’ views and their children’s views on youth soccer experiences (Grossberg, ‘Cultural Studies’; Giroux, Stealing Innocence). In this paper, I ...
Testing Non-Linearity in Business Cycles

Compared to studies that use linear models there are, relatively speaking, few attempts to test non-linear business cycle models. The existing work can be grouped under three broad categories. First, there is the class of structural models that have several non-linear properties, but end up generating (simulated) cycles with linear characteristics. [e.g. Hickman (1972)]. Second, there is some work on the estimation of non-linear time series models which characterize non-linear aspects of cyclical phenomena better. [e.g. Marraval (1983)]. Finally, a small number of papers have attempted to investigate non-linear cyclical behavior using non-regression based techniques. [e.g. Neftci (1984), DeLong and Summers (1984)]. This paper is a review of these approaches.
Arthropod Community Response to Mosquito Control Recirculation Ditches in San Francisco Bay Salt Marshes

The impact of mosquito control recirculation ditches on Pacific Coast salt marsh ecology is largely unknown. This study compares the arthropod community structure near mosquito control ditches and a natural channel with that in the open marsh. Biweekly D-Vac samples in two San Francisco Bay marshes were taken November 1977 to 1978. In the pickleweed-dominated Petaluma Marsh, arthropod diversity in the dry season was higher near both the ditches and natural channel than in the open marsh. This corresponded to gradients of increasing water table height, groundwater salinity, and soil surface salinity. Conversely, in the wet season, diversity was lower near the two newest ditches than the open marsh, whereas diversity near the natural channel and the oldest ditch was similar to the open marsh. These differences are best explained by higher plant structural diversity near the natural channel which offers refuge from high winter tides. There was no significant difference in arthropod biomass near a ditch and in the open marsh. In the floristically diverse Suisun Marsh, there were no significant differences between ditched, natural channel, and open marsh arthropod diversities during either season. Results suggest an eventual convergence of arthropod community structure along ditches and natural channels.
SmartSync: An Integrated Real-Time Monitoring and SI System for Tall Buildings

This study introduces the SmartSync monitoring system, which utilizes the building's existing network as “virtual” instrumentation cables. Given the reliability of modern networks and the comparatively low sampling rates required for structural monitoring, the issues of packet loss and synchronization often experienced in wireless systems are eliminated, as is the need for lengthy instrumentation cables that add to the cost and noise in wired systems. Instead this system offers a self-contained, “plug-and-play” module for scalable and rapidly deployable monitoring. Within this framework, data streams from distributed sensors are pushed through network interfaces in real-time and are seamlessly synchronized and integrated by a centralized server, which performs the functions of basic data acquisition, event triggering and data management and processing, while at the same time providing a powerful interface for data visualization. This study introduces the system and its installation during the construction of Burj Dubai (Burj Khalifa).
Systemically Exploring Student Debt: Methodological Challenges for Pastoral Theology

Moral stress arising from student debt is defined here as a psycho-spiritual stress response to the North American dream of achievement through individual hard work, which implicitly blames students for educational debt, exacerbating shame about aspects of their identity (their race, social class, gender, sexual orientation). A critical correlational method brings psychological research on moral stress, moral emotions, and religious struggles into dialogue with pastoral theologies of intersectionality and lived theologies of the North American dream in order to construct a compassion-based relational process of theological reflexivity fostering spiritually integrated financial resilience among students, staff, faculty, trustees, and denominational partners at theological schools.
Pharmacotherapies for Retinal Detachment

Retinal detachment is an important cause of visual loss. Currently, surgical techniques, including vitrectomy, scleral buckle, and pneumatic retinopexy, are the only means to repair retinal detachment and restore vision. However, surgical failure rates may be as high as 20%, and visual outcomes continue to vary secondary to multiple processes, including postoperative cystoid macular edema, epiretinal membrane formation, macular folds, and, ultimately, photoreceptor death. Therefore, pharmacotherapies are being sought to aid the success rates of modern surgical techniques and reduce or slow the degeneration of photoreceptors during retinal detachment. This review discusses potential therapeutic avenues that aid in retinal reattachment, reduce the rate of retinal redetachment by limiting proliferative vitreoretinopathy, and protect against photoreceptor cell death.
Study on the effects of N,P,K fertilizer in Sesame

In order to explore the optimum fertilization parameter of N,P and K in sesame production,the effects of N,P,K fertilization were studied using white sesame,Zhengzhi 98N09,and black sesame,Ji 9014,under field conditions through the "3414"design.The results indicated that appropriate amounts of N,P,K and their combine application can significantly improve the economic traits and yield of sesame.There are significantly positive correlations between the nitrogen application rate and plant height,capsule number per plant,seeds number per capsule and 1000-seed weight.The effects of N,P,K fertilizer on economic traits of Zhengzhi 98N09 are in order: NPK,and on those of Ji 9014 in order: NKP.Economic benefit analysis for different fertilizer treatments through the establishment of a functional equation indicates that the most suitable amount of fertilidr in Zhengzhi 98N09 is N 123.09 kg/ha,P2O5 60.13 kg/ha and K2O 73.31 kg/ha,in Ji 9014 is N 133.92 kg/ha,P2O5 70.85 kg/ha and K2O 110.80 kg/ha.The application of N,P,K fertilizer of Zhengzhi 98N09 should be emphasized with increasing amount of N and supplemented with P and K,and which of the Ji 9014 should be emphasized with increasing amounts of N and K,and supplemented with P.
Monitoring Result Analysis of Keshan Disease in Nanhua County from 2008 to 2012

Objective:To investigate the present status and changing trend of Keshan disease of Nanhua County and to provide a scientific, normative and effective basis for the disease prevention, treatment, and research. Methods:Follow-up visit were conducted in diagnosed resident Keshan disease patients for questionnaire, personal history, clinical examination and 12-lead electrocardiogram.For suspected cases, electrocardiography, 2 metres AP X radiograph and ultrasonic cardiogram were conducted. Results:246 cases of Keshan disease patients were visited from 2008 to 2012, 15 cases dead, and the visit rate was 100.00%. There are 54 Keshan disease patients in Nanhua County and the morbidity is 0.23‰. There were 17 new Keshan disease in screening of 4 021 key cases,detection rates was 0.42%, respectively, 0.15% and 0.27% for chronic Keshan disease and potential Keshan disease. Conclusion:KSD generally occurred at a steady and low incidence in Nanhua, while potential Keshan disease was the main clinical pattern.Observation should be strengthened; and advertisement, education as well as health promotion should be paid more attention onto the endemic work in the future.
Monitoring Patient Safety in Health Care: Building the Case for Surrogate Measures

Article-at-a-Glance Background Objective measurements are notably lacking for many adverse events in health care. A new approach to monitoring such events is based on the experience in measuring hospital-associated infections. Developing Objective and Universal Measures An essential tenet of the current goal of surveillance—focusing only on rigorously confirmed adverse events—is neither necessary nor achievable across the entire health care system. Efforts should be directed instead to creating objective measures of quality of care and of outcomes that can be used by all health care facilities. Adopting objective measures would be easier if health care was open to surrogate measures of important outcomes. Surrogate measures of interest for infection surveillance are used to identify objective, readily ascertained events that are sufficiently correlated with infections to provide useful information about organizations' infection rates. For example, the surgical site infection rate following coronary artery bypass appears to correlate closely enough with the proportion of patients who receive extended courses of inpatient antibiotics to be a useful indicator of a hospital's outcomes for the procedure. Conclusion Developing clinically relevant process or surrogate measures that clinicians would use to improve patient outcomes is essential. These measures could be relevant not only to hospital-acquired infections but other health care-related adverse events that are relatively common yet require substantial resources to identify.
Dynamic Bayesian Network for Accurate Detection of Peptides from Tandem Mass Spectra

A central problem in mass spectrometry analysis involves identifying, for each observed tandem mass spectrum, the corresponding generating peptide. We present a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) toolkit that addresses this problem by using a machine learning approach. At the heart of this toolkit is a DBN for Rapid Identification (DRIP), which can be trained from collections of high-confidence peptide-spectrum matches (PSMs). DRIP’s score function considers fragment ion matches using Gaussians rather than fixed fragment-ion tolerances and also finds the optimal alignment between the theoretical and observed spectrum by considering all possible alignments, up to a threshold that is controlled using a beam-pruning algorithm. This function not only yields state-of-the art database search accuracy but also can be used to generate features that significantly boost the performance of the Percolator postprocessor. The DRIP software is built upon a general purpose DBN toolkit (GMTK), thereby allowing a wide variety ...
Review: Among Animals: The Lives of Animals and Humans in Contemporary Short Fiction, edited by John Yunker

Among Animals: The Lives of Animals and Humans in Contemporary Short Fiction, edited by John Yunker. Ashland, ON: Ashland Creek Press, 2014 Reviewed by Sascha Morrell, University of New England This journal article is available in Animal Studies Journal: http://ro.uow.edu.au/asj/vol3/iss1/8 85 Reviewed by Sascha Morrell University of New England John Yunker’s introduction to this valuable short story collection points to how humans have traditionally favoured certain animals over others: Some animals we welcome into our homes and our lives... Other animals do not receive such adoration or protection. Some are viewed as nuisances, others as expendable. We keep our distance from these species. (Yunker 1) Although the introduction suggests the book will challenge such distinctions (‘the many walls we have constructed’) readers will find that the more favoured animal species remain very much at the fore in the pages that follow. Among Animals presents fifteen short stories centring on human-animal interactions. The humans are primarily middle-class, educated and articulate. The animals are without exception vertebrates, and are overwhelmingly mammals. This weighting is not necessarily a weakness, but it does mean that the editor’s promise that ‘the stories you will read here are as diverse as the species they depict’ (1) should be taken on caution. It might have been better to emphasise the common ground that emerges, as the echoes and resonances between these stories are often more intriguing and revealing than their contrasts. Yunker is a novelist, animal rights activist and co-founder of Ashland Creek Press, a small press that (according to its website) aims to ‘foster an appreciation for worlds outside our
Effects of the Gypsy Moth Life System on Growth and Yield of Mixed Hardwood Stands

The range and extent of damage by gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar L., in North America have been increasing since 1869 when it was imported and inadvertently released near Boston, Massachusetts. With its spread, research and attempts to control the gypsy moth have expanded and intensified; more recently, increased emphasis has been placed on mitigating the effects of this pest. The U.S. Department of Agriculture initiated accelerated and expanded funding of gypsy moth research in the 1970’s. Much of this work is summarized in The gypsy moth: research toward integrated pest management (3). The Gypsy Moth Research and Development Program in the USDA-Forest Service Northeastern Forest Experiment Station has been one of the leaders in organizing and supporting research on this insect. The gypsy moth life system model (GMLSM) has been developed to assist researchers to understand the gypsy-moth-mixed-hardwood ecosystem.
Abstract 3714: Detroit African Americans (AA) are overrepresented among patients with large high-grade dysplastic (HGD) adenomas (LHiGDA) versus those with small HGD adenomas (ShiGDA)

Colorectal cancer incidence and mortality impacts African Americans more than other ethnic group. While causes for this disparity are likely multifactorial, etiology of carcinogenesis may be the most important. A better understanding of these factors might enable us to design interventions based on regional realities. In the context of screening trials we obtained data from a cohort of patients with high-grade dysplastic adenomas. We compared differences between those with large-sized (>1cm) and those with smaller lesions. Methods: Patients were selected on the basis of high CRC risk based on a brief questionnaire. Prior to colonoscopy, stool was submitted for FOBT and anti-adenoma antibody (Adnab-9) binding determined by ELISA. The colonoscopy outcomes were noted for the cross-sectional element of the study. The longitudinal component enabled collection of additional specimens to elucidate the source of the adenoma antigen. Pathology was reviewed and antigenic mapping of 6 colonic segments was performed by Adnab-9 immunohistochemistry. If any 2 contiguous colonic segments expressed the antigen the colon was deemed to have a field effect. Results: 49 Patients were found to have HGD lesions of whom 26 were AA (53%). All but 1 were male. Mean age±SD was 62±14.8 years. 28 (57%) had LHiGDA and the remainder ShiGDA. 69% AA had LHiGDA versus 29% in the ShiGDA group (OR 5.9 CI 1.7-20.9;p = 0.03). Intragroup age differences between the AA and non-AA patients were not statistically (NSS) different (66.3±8.3 versus 63.9±10.5 and 58.4±21.9 versus 61.07±9.9 years respectively). Intergroup age variation by race was NSS (AA p = 0.2 and non-AA p = 0.5). Likewise intergroup lesion size variations were NSS (p = 0.4 and p = 0.2 respectively). The proportions of TVA were also NSS between the groups (p = 1 and p = 0.2 respectively}. The stool Adnab-9 binding was also not significantly different (p = 0.5 and p = 0.9 respectively). There was however a significant difference between the 2 lesion groups in terms of the presence of a field effect which was performed in a small percentage (14.3 versus 33%) for the large versus the small lesions (100 vs 14.3% RR7 CI 1.1-43;p Citation Format: Martin Tobi, Fadi Antaki, MaryAnn Rambus, Paula Sochacki, Edi Levi. Detroit African Americans (AA) are overrepresented among patients with large high-grade dysplastic (HGD) adenomas (LHiGDA) versus those with small HGD adenomas (ShiGDA). [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 3714. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-3714
Development and validation of the Speech Reception in Noise (SPRINT) Test.

Since 1992, the Speech Recognition in Noise Test, or SPRINT, has been the standard speech-in-noise test for assessing auditory fitness-for-duty of US Army Soldiers with hearing loss. The original SPRINT test consisted of 200 monosyllabic words presented at a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of +9 dB in the presence of a six-talker babble noise. Normative data for the test was collected on 319 hearing impaired Soldiers, and a procedure for making recommendations about the disposition of military personnel on the basis of their SPRINT score and their years of experience was developed and implemented as part of US Army policy. In 2013, a new 100-word version of the test was developed that eliminated words that were either too easy or too hard to make meaningful distinctions among hearing impaired listeners. This paper describes the development of the original 200-word SPRINT test, along with a description of the procedure used to reduce the 200-word test to 100 words and the results of a validation study conducted to evaluate how well the shortened 100-word test is able to capture the results from the full 200-word version of the SPRINT.
Endoscopic Management of Subglottic Stenosis.

Importance Optimal management of subglottic stenosis has not been established. Endoscopic techniques include balloon dilation, radial incisions with carbon dioxide laser or cold knife, and combinations of techniques. Adjunctive measures include mitomycin application and glucocorticoid injection. Objective To determine whether surgical technique or adjunctive measures are associated with duration between surgical procedures. Design, Setting, and Participants Adult patients with subglottic stenosis treated endoscopically between 1995-2015 at a quaternary academic medical center were identified. Patients with isolated subglottic (cricotracheal) stenosis 18 years and older were included. Patients with prior open surgical procedures, prior laryngeal surgical procedures, glottic stenosis, or vocal fold paralysis were excluded. Interventions Patients underwent endoscopic procedures including laser radial incisions, balloon dilation, or both, with some patients receiving topical mitomycin, glucocorticoid injection, or both. Main Outcomes and Measures Time interval between endoscopic treatments. Results A total of 101 patients (mean [SD] age, 52.3 [15.9] years; 77.2% female) were included in the analysis, with etiologies including idiopathic (47 [46.5%]), intubation (31 [30.7%]), granulomatosis with polyangiitis (9 [8.9%]), and other autoimmune diseases (6 [5.9%]). Among the 219 operations, both laser and balloon dilation were used in 117 (53.4%), while balloon dilation alone was used in 96 (43.8%) and laser alone in 6 (2.7%). Mitomycin application and steroid injection were used in 144 (65.8%) and 93 (42.5%) cases, respectively. Mitomycin application was associated with improvement in the mean interval to next procedure from 317 to 474 days (absolute difference, 157 days; 95% CI, 15-299 days). Advanced grade of stenosis, dilation technique, and steroid injection did not significantly alter the surgical intervals. Conclusions and Relevance Endoscopic surgery for subglottic stenosis is a critical aspect of patient management. Neither surgical technique nor grade of stenosis was seen to alter the surgical intervals. Mitomycin application was associated with an extended time interval between endoscopic treatments.
The Independent Counsel Statute: Reading Good Cause in Light of Article II

This paper uses the independent counsel statute to examine constitutional limits on legislative power to restrict the President’s ability to remove executive officers. As a federal prosecutor, the independent counsel exercises executive power. In the Ethics in Government Act, Congress provided that the President may remove an independent counsel only “for good cause, physical or mental disability, . . . or any other condition that substantially impairs the performance of such independent counsel’s duties.” 28 U.S.C. § 594(c)(1994). Using a multifactor balancing test, the Court in Morrison v. Olson held that the restriction did not unconstitutionally interfere with the executive power vested in the President by Article II or the President’s Article II duty to “take Care that the laws be faithfully executed.” In sharp contrast, Justice Scalia’s dissent argued that any restriction on the removability of an executive officer contradicts Article II’s Vesting Clause, which assigns all of “[t]he executive Power” to the President. After examining the Decision of 1789—the debate in the First Congress over the removal power—the paper suggests that the permissibility of congressional restrictions on removal raises a serious, hard-to-resolve constitutional question. In its 1789 debate over the President’s power to remove the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, the House split into three roughly equal factions: The first contended that the President has illimitable removal power; the second contended that Congress has discretion to determine an officer’s removability; and the third maintained that the President needed the advice and consent of the Senate to remove officers appointed by and with such advice and consent. After examining the arguments in that thoughtful and extensive debate (which occurred in the shadow of ratification), the paper concludes that the removal question constitutes a classic “difficult constitutional question”—the very sort that the modern canon of avoidance seeks to resolve through statutory construction rather than judicial review. The paper then argues that by reading open-ended “good cause” provisions to allow the President to remove executive officers for insubordination, the Court can avoid difficult constitutional questions about the scope of the President’s power.
Practice Patterns in the Diagnosis and Management of Hypogonadism: A Survey of Sexual Medicine Society of North America Members.

Objective To describe practice patterns in the diagnosis and treatment of hypogonadism, as the optimal approaches are controversial. Multiple therapeutic options are currently available for hypogonadal men and treatment patterns vary considerably. The safety of testosterone therapy (TTh) remains understudied. Materials and Methods A 23-question survey regarding diagnosis and treatment of hypogonadism was sent to all members of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America. Subgroup analyses compared responses between sexual medicine fellows and non-fellows, as well as between academic and nonacademic physicians, using a chi-squared analysis. Results A total of 101 responses were included for analysis. The most common cutoff value used to diagnose hypogonadism was 300 ng/dL (55%, range = 200-400 ng/dL), and 31% felt comfortable giving TTh to a symptomatic patient with normal serum testosterone levels. No respondents felt that TTh increased a cardiovascular event risk. Of those surveyed, 68% would prescribe TTh to a hypogonadal man with severe lower urinary tract symptoms, and 64% would offer TTh to a man with low-risk prostate cancer on active surveillance. Fellowship-trained physicians were more likely to prescribe TTh to a man with hypogonadism but normal serum testosterone ( P = .038), but they differed in the types of therapy they would use for men with hypogonadism who wish to preserve or regain fertility. Conclusion Significant variety exists in the diagnosis and treatment of hypogonadism. The majority of physicians will only prescribe TTh in the setting of subnormal serum testosterone levels, despite the presence of symptoms. None of the surveyed physicians reported concern over the risk of cardiovascular events.
Ionic liquid ferrofluid interface deformation and spray onset under electric and magnetic stresses

An experimental and computational study is presented on the interfacial dynamics of a colloidal fluid having both high electric conductivity and high magnetic permeability in the presence of simultaneous electric and magnetic stresses on the fluid/air interface. A transient computational model is developed that simultaneously solves the Navier-Stokes equation and Maxwells’ static equations to predict the transient geometry of the fluid subject to electric and magnetic stresses. This model is first applied to predict the onset of spray emission from a capillary needle electrospray source subjected to a magnetic field. The experimentally determined onset of emissions at each magnetic field agreed well with those predicted by the simulation tool. The predictive modeling tool was then applied to analyze the interfacial profile of a sessile droplet subjected to both electric and magnetic fields. The model captured the geometric evolution of the droplet for voltages up to approximately 85% of the critical onset...
Imipridone family on successful TRAIL.

Identification of candidate cancer therapeutic small molecule activators of the TRAIL gene was the primary goal that led to identification of TIC10 (later renamed as ONC201).1 Of >1000 molcules scr...
The Spatiotemporal Neural Dynamics of Infant Face Processing

Substantial evidence indicates that infant faces are a salient stimulus that receive attentional priority, motivate caretaking behavior, and are rewarding. There is strong support for an early role of reward circuitry, including the orbital frontal cortex, in processing infant faces. Although it is hypothesized that this early activity promotes subsequent positive emotional reactions and greater attention to infant faces, supporting evidence of the spatiotemporal cortical dynamics of infant face processing is lacking. In this study we used electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate the spatiotemporal brain dynamics of face processing to better understand how we process infant faces relative to adult faces. EEG was acquired while participants viewed infant faces and adult faces of the same or opposite sex. Source analysis of the event related potentials revealed activity across a broad face processing network. In keeping with existing work, early increases were observed at the time of the N170 in the orbitofrontal cortex, the inferior occipital gyrus and the fusiform gyrus. Later increases were observed between 300 and 500 milliseconds in the anterior cingulate, the superior temporal sulcus and the precuneus. We argue that the overall pattern of results is compatible with the hypothesis that the rewarding nature of infant features motivates increased activity and motivation of caretaking infants, in part by enhancing processing of the face and heightening attention related circuitry in the brain.
Phase noise measurements with a cryogenic power-splitter to minimize the cross-spectral collapse effect.

The cross-spectrum noise measurement technique enables enhanced resolution of spectral measurements. However, it has disadvantages, namely, increased complexity, inability of making real-time measurements, and bias due to the “cross-spectral collapse” (CSC) effect. The CSC can occur when the spectral density of a random process under investigation approaches the thermal noise of the power splitter. This effect can severely bias results due to a differential measurement between the investigated noise and the anti-correlated (phase-inverted) noise of the power splitter. In this paper, we report an accurate measurement of the phase noise of a thermally limited electronic oscillator operating at room temperature (300 K) without significant CSC bias. We mitigated the problem by cooling the power splitter to liquid helium temperature (4 K). We quantify errors of greater than 1 dB that occur when the thermal noise of the oscillator at room temperature is measured with the power splitter at temperatures above 77 K.
Book Review of Alan Boyle and Christine Chinkin, THE MAKING OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, Oxford University Press, 2007

An Extraordinary Range of International "Rules" or "Norms" are Created Today Through Mechanisms that Do Not Fit Easily into the Traditional Sources of International Law. In the Making of International Law, Professors Alan Boyle of the University of Edinburgh and Christine Chinkin of the London School of Economics Set Their Sights on Providing a Broad Account of Such Law-Making, Looking Across Different Areas of Organizational Behavior, Both Governmental and Non-Governmental. Although this Volume Has Some Shortcomings, it is an Excellent Starting Point for Those Interested in an Engaging and Informed Survey of Various Ways in Which International Law is Currently Made, and Points the Direction for Those Who Wish to Embark on Even Deeper Inquiries.
Toward the Development of A Christian Psychology: Emotion:

This article adds to a previous reinterpretation of psychology from a Christian perspective by placing emotion in that perspective. From various definitions, theories, and experiments it is shown that both the animal-like physiological aspects and the God-like cognitive aspects of emotion must be considered. Finally, several positive and negative emotions are discussed as being part of the image of God in humans.
Micro-Level Evidence on the Role of Moral Hazard in the Asian Financial Crisis: Analysis of Malasya, Philippines, Korea and Thailand

This article examines the role of government guarantees to domestic banks in generating moral hazard in pre-crisis East Asian economies. We test for moral hazard among bank creditors by determining whether protected banks received more funds from creditors than otherwise identical banks that did not enjoy such guarantees. In order to determine empirically the existence of moral hazard among bank managers, we examine whether managers of protected banks assumed more risk than their counterparts at non-protected banks. Using micro-level data, we find strong evidence of moral hazard among bank managers and limited evidence of moral hazard among bank creditors
Introduction to Large Deviations

One of the common themes of probability theory and statistical mechanics is the discovery of regularity in the midst of chaos. The laws of probability theory, which include laws of large numbers and central limit theorems, summarize the behavior of a stochastic system in terms of a few parameters (e.g., mean and variance). In statistical mechanics, one derives macroscopic properties of a substance from a probability distribution that describes the complicated interactions among the individual constituent particles. A central concept linking the two fields is entropy.1 The term was introduced into thermodynamics by Clausius in 1865 after many years of intensive work by him and others on the second law of thermodynamics. An early important step in its development and enrichment was the discovery by Boltzmann of a statistical interpretaton of entropy. Boltzmann’s discovery, which was published in 1877, has three parts. We have augmented part (c) to include the possibility of phase transitions.
Entwicklungen der Geschlechtsidentität: Die ursprüngliche Matrix

Die psychoanalytische Theorie betrachtet die Prozesse der odipalen Phase als die wichtigsten Faktoren fur die Entwicklung der Geschlechtsidentitat. Die Schwierigkeiten, die in dieser Phase bewaltigt werden mussen, und die dabei auftretenden Probleme sind aber durch Entwicklungen gepragt, die vor dieser Zeit stattgefunden und ihren Anfang in der ursprunglichen Matrix haben, auf deren Grundlage sich spater die Entdeckung der Geschlechterdifferenz vollzieht.
Generating hypotheses to explain prediction failures

Learning from prediction failures is one of the most important types of human learning from experience. In particular, prediction failures provide a constant source of learning. When people expect some event to take place in a certain way and it does not, they generate an explanation of why the unexpected event occurred [Sussman 1975] [Schank 1982]. This explanation requires hypotheses based on the features of the objects and on causal relations between the events in the domain. In some domains, causal knowledge plays a large role; in some, experience determines behavior almost entirely. This research describes learning in intermediate domains, where causal knowledge is used in conjunction with experience to build new hypotheses and guide behavior. In many cases, causal knowledge of the domain is essential in order to create a correct explanation of a failure. The HANDICAPPER program uses domain knowledge to aid it in building hypotheses about why thoroughbred horses win races. As the program processes more races, it builds and modifies its rules, and steadily improves in its ability to pick winning horses.