cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of Non-Verbal Communication Cues on Decisions and Confidence of Drivers at an Uncontrolled Intersection

Drivers read other drivers’ intentions using various non-verbal communication cues in situations where traffic regulations play only a limited role. Although such communication is important to reach safe joint actions with other driver(s), effects of communication have not been fully understood. The objective of this study was to understand effects of communication cues on driver’s decisions and confidence. Straight-cross-path and left-turn scenarios around an uncontrolled intersection were studied in an interview-based experiment using 65 subjects. The subject’s car approached the intersection while another car was approaching the same intersection and sent communication cues consisting of various combinations of vehicle behaviors (constant speed, speeding up, and slowing down) and hand gestures (meaning “Go ahead” and “Stop”). Computer animations of the scenarios were presented to the subjects and terminated before the two cars reached the intersection. The subjects rated yielding frequency and confidence level for each cue combination in each scenario. The results showed that the vehicle behaviors and the hand gestures affected subjects’ yielding frequencies and confidence levels. The cues also interacted with the priority rule in the left turn scenarios. The hand gestures were especially effective to consolidate subjects’ decisions to yield or go with confidence when the priority rule was ineffective (i.e. in the straight-cross-path scenarios). The hand gestures were also effective to change the yielding frequencies to accept the cues conflicting with the effective priority rule (i.e. in the left-turn scenarios). Some requirements and recommendations for autonomous vehicle were discussed.
The Limits of Free Movement of Capital: The Status of Customary International Law of Money

The legal framework surrounding globalization is far from clear. Globalization is inextricably linked to the idea of free movement of capital vis-a-vis states’ restrictions. The leading approach in international law argues that states have the ultimate right to regulate their money. Invoking the Serbian Loans case, this approach opines that the default rule is ultimate monetary sovereignty for states in customary international law of money. On the other hand, the hyperbolic rhetoric of globalization celebrates the victory of neo-liberalism including free flow of capital. A multitude of international treaties restricting states’ monetary sovereignty mainly in the last two decades is employed as an attestation of this victory. Invoking these treaties, the second approach concludes that free movement of capital has become the default rule in customary international law of money. This Article, however disagrees with both schools of thought. By showing the shortcomings of both approaches, this Article calls the current period the Fragmented State of Monetary Sovereignty, in which neither monetary sovereignty nor free flow of capital determines the default rule in customary international law. It starts off by laying out an overview of the status of monetary sovereignty versus free movement of capital from the interwar period until the present time. In the second section the Article puts forward the structural limitations on free movement of capital as carved into the edifice of today’s international trade law. Section III depicts the formidable limitations in investment law, albeit the unrestricted language of investment treaties. Subsequently, Section IV investigates economic sanctions as a major hindrance to free flow of capital. The Article concludes that despite the rhetoric on the triumph of neo-liberalism, legally speaking, one of its basic tenets (i.e. free flow of capital) still has a long journey to surpass the present limitations.
Assessing alumni success: income is NOT the only outcome!

Institutions may be interested in using alumni career success as evidence of institutional effectiveness, but the current study suggests that using income as the sole outcome may not be entirely capturing the occupational experience of graduates. Utilising data from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that there are two distinct components of job satisfaction for arts graduates: intrinsic satisfaction and extrinsic satisfaction. The results of ordinary least squares regression analyses for these two factors provide some relationships concerning demographic and occupational characteristics with these two areas of satisfaction. In considering overall job satisfaction, intrinsic satisfaction may play a larger role in how alumni perceive their career outcomes and success.
LOSING THEIR “MOJO”?

Mobile journalism, whereby a single reporter must write, shoot, and edit their own news stories, is a rapidly growing trend among local television news organizations in the United States and around the world. Using qualitative case study methodology, specifically in-depth interviews and observation, this study compares “mobile journalists” with journalists working within a traditional television news crew, in which a reporter concentrates on the writing and interviewing aspects of newsgathering and a videographer concentrates on the audio/video production. The research looked at four aspects of “professionalization” found in the sociology of professions literature; expert knowledge, professional autonomy, routinization, and encroachment from outside organizations. Findings suggest that the mobile journalists in this study have less specialized expert knowledge. Also, though the mobile journalists felt that working outside a crew gave them greater autonomy, their increased use of work routines suggests the...
Human Facial Soft Tissue Thickness and Mechanical Properties: A Literature Review

The finite element method (FEM) has been used in human facial modeling both in clinical and engineering fields for decades. Applications of human head modeling include the interaction of personal protective equipment with the human head and modeling head impact. In human head modeling, it is critical to have a high fidelity model including accurate thicknesses of each layer and accurate material properties. Various experiments have been performed but do not report consistent results; therefore, it is difficult to find reliable parameter values to create an effective model of the human head. This paper attempts to review and summarize the state of the art of human facial studies including experimental measurements of different layer thicknesses and the mechanical properties of these layers.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Characterization of Macromolecular Structure Elements from a Green River Oil Shale, I. Extracts

This paper is the first of two associated papers describing the structural details of three sections of an oil shale core taken at the Skyline 16 mine in the Utah Uinta Basin. Bitumen was extracted from the shale using methanol/dichloromethane. Kerogen was isolated from the shale, using a nine-step extraction procedure using HCl and HF. Bitumen samples from the three cores were analyzed using high-resolution 13C NMR liquid-state spectroscopy, showing carbon aromaticities of 7%–11%. Aliphatic carbons were dominated by methylene structures, with average aliphatic chain lengths of 24 carbons. The three parent shales and the demineralized kerogens were each analyzed with solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy. Analysis of the carbon structure in the shale was hindered by the large amount of carbonates and ferri/ferro magnetic material present, but the organic structure of the shale was shown to be almost identical to the structure of the demineralized kerogen. Carbon aromaticity of the kerogen was 23%–24%, with 10–...
Rapid Thermal Processing: How Well is it Doing and Where is it Going?

The use of Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) as a processing tool in semiconductor technology is still increasing and and becoming more diverse. The use of RTP in a reactive mode for film growth and deposition is an important new direction. The strong interest in III-V compound annealing studies represents one of the most important application areas. Although RTP is predominantly exploratory and developmental in nature it is slowly being introduced into the manufacture of Si devices. The technological necessity for the greater use of RTP in routine production will depend on either demonstrated productivity/cost advantages or on some intrinsic advantage of RTP. The intrinsic advantages of RTP are due to the single wafer processing nature of the operation or due to the possibility of selectively enhancing one desired process over another undesired reaction in a partically fabricated structure. Although significant impovements in commercially available reactors have been made in the last several years, better temperature measurement and control and particularly temperature uniformity of the wafer are still sorely needed.
Buck health management.

The buck is often overlooked in health management planning for the goat herd. Proper care can promote the buck attaining his full genetic potential in the herd. Inattention to buck health may result in the introduction of infectious diseases or resistant parasites into the herd, reduced herd reproductive performance through the use of infertile or subfertile males, or shortened lifespan of the buck due to infectious disease or urolithiasis. Gynecomastia, mastitis, or mammary neoplasia are seen more frequently in goats than in rams or bulls. Screening bucks for breeding soundness and mating ability can help to prevent unexpected failures in breeding programs. The veterinarian can enhance herd productivity through health management planning for the buck herd.
Quantitative measurement of electron number in nanosecond and picosecond laser-induced air breakdown

Here we present quantitative measurements of total electron numbers in laser-induced air breakdown at pressures ranging from atmospheric to 40 barg by 10 ns and 100 ps laser pulses. A quantifiable definition for the laser-induced breakdown threshold is identified by a sharp increase in the measurable total electron numbers via dielectric-calibrated coherent microwave scattering. For the 10 ns laser pulse, the threshold of laser-induced breakdown in atmospheric air is defined as the total electron number of ∼106. This breakdown threshold decreases with an increase of pressure and laser photon energy (shorter wavelength), which is consistent with the theory of initial multiphoton ionization and subsequent avalanche processes. For the 100 ps laser pulse cases, a clear threshold is not present and only marginal pressure effects can be observed, which is due to the short pulse duration leading to stronger multiphoton ionization and minimal collisional avalanche ionization.
Assessment of the behavior of an active earth-slide by means of calibration between numerical analysis and field monitoring

The assessment of hazards associated with active landslides and the related risk management takes advantage nowadays of using the integration of information arising from field monitoring data, including both displacement data, at ground surface and at depth, and pore pressure measurements well distributed throughout the landslide area, along with the results of numerical models. This paper provides an example of the application of this methodological approach to a case study represented by an active sector of the large Montaguto earthslide, located in the Italian Southern Apennines, which has shown in recent years a continuous slow movement, despite the draining interventions executed in 2011 and the general stability of the other portions of the earthslide. The near real-time topographic monitoring network installed in 2010 shows the presence of different kinematic sectors within the same landslide body, characterised by different velocities and evolution trends. After the proper emergency phase occurred in 2010, a specific area has still shown in 2011 and 2012 clear signs of activity, with acceleration stages generally recorded in the Spring. In order to explore the factors that presumably control the activity of this landslide sector, a two-dimensional finite element model has been developed by using PLAXIS-2D code. Based on the available geological information, pore water pressure measurements and soil geotechnical properties, the numerical results indicate the role of geometry of the landslide mass in sector E as a factor promoting the instability of this specific area. The numerical results are in good agreement with the displacement field measured throughout the landslide channel and confirm that numerical modelling can represent a reliable support for the interpretation of the landslide failure mechanism and the corresponding evolution, when calibrated against the in situ landslide behaviour reconstructed through a monitoring system.
Extralegal Violence: The Ku Klux Klan In The Reconstruction Era

This article is a response to the Equal Justice Initiative’s 2015 report on lynching, which aimed to provide a comprehensive account of racial terror since 1877. Although the study encompassed three years before the commonly used beginning date of research on lynching, the author argues that it omitted a great number of cases from the Reconstruction era (1865-1877). In this essay, she evaluates testimonial evidence from the 13 volumes of the Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States published by the U.S. Congress in 1872, citing specific cases of atrocities committed by the Ku Klux Klan in the years following the Civil War. A close examination of these reports reveals that the level of extralegal violence inflicted on African Americans in the Reconstruction era has been severely underestimated. Researchers are called to extend their investigations of lynching to include this period of history in order to develop a more truthful account of racial terror in this country.
Enhancer activity of upstream hypersensitive site 2 of the chicken beta-globin cluster is mediated by GATA sites.

Upstream of the chicken beta-globin gene cluster are four DNase I-hypersensitive sites (HS1-4). Hypersensitive sites located upstream of the mammalian beta-globin clusters have enhancer activity and mediate position-independent gene expression. In contrast, a region inside the chicken cluster has enhancer activity and mediates position-independent expression. Here we investigate the function of the chicken upstream sites, which are different from the mammalian ones in sequence, number, and distance from the genes. Each was tested for its effect on reporter gene expression in transfected primary erythroid cells. HS2 and HS3 (4.4 and 6.4 kilobases upstream of rho-globin) showed significant enhancer activity while HS1 and HS4 (1.6 and 11 kilobases upstream of rho-globin) did not. A 237-base pair region of HS2 contained the sequences necessary for enhancer activity. Proteins from erythroid extracts bound HS2 in seven different regions; six of these sites were characterized. GATA-1 bound to four of the sites. Each site contributed to the enhancer activity of HS2. Two other sequences bound proteins that may be related to Sp1 and erythroid kruppel-like factor. Surprisingly, mutations in these elements, which disrupted protein binding, did not affect enhancer activity. Thus, the observed enhancer activity of HS2 is due to the four GATA sites. The existence of multiple GATA sites in both chicken HS2 and the mammalian upstream sites may be due to evolution from a common element with preservation of only very short sequences or to convergent evolution. These observations highlight the crucial role for GATA proteins in globin regulation.
Diagnostic difficulty identifying Apophysomyces trapeziformis septic arthritis in a patient with multiple myeloma.

Introduction: Mucormycosis is a rare fungal infection, but can cause substantial morbidity and mortality in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients. Apophysomyces is a mucormycetes species ubiquitous in nature, particularly in soil, decaying wood and other organic matter. Apophysomyces is known to cause cutaneous fungal infections, particularly after penetrating trauma. Septic arthritis is a rare clinical manifestation. Case presentation: We describe a case of Apophysomyces trapeziformis causing septic arthritis of the knee of a patient with multiple myeloma. He was treated multiple times for bacterial septic arthritis with minimal improvement. Surgical tissue specimens finally grew mucoraceous mould, and DNA sequencing and morphological assessment of spores identified the mould as A. trapeziformis. The patient was treated with amphotericin B and posaconazole, but ultimately required an above-the-knee amputation for definitive treatment. Conclusion: This case illustrates the need to evaluate for fungal infection in a persistent septic arthritis that is culture negative and refractory to empiric antibiotics, particularly in an immunocompromised individual. It also shows the importance of a thorough social history and adequate tissue specimens for culture.
Evaluating Environmental Arrangement as Setting Events: Review and Implications for Measurement

Environmental arrangement alters the physical, social, or programmatic aspects of classrooms to increase task engagement, facilitate prosocial behaviors, and reduce or prevent the challenging behaviors of children and youth. Research shows specific arrangements can affect student engagement and deportment, but this literature is not well integrated theoretically or empirically with other effective behavior change tactics. This article proposes that some environmental arrangements may serve as setting events for child behavior change. Setting events and environmental arrangement were defined and critically outlined. A total of 43 physical environmental arrangement articles were reviewed as to the specific type of arrangement and research methodology. Several methodological problems (e.g., lack of measurement or control of antecedents, consequences, or environmental arrangements, manipulation of more than one environmental arrangement) precluded conclusions about the setting event function of environmental arrangements. Suggestions for future research on setting events and environmental arrangements are proposed.
Two Pests Overlap: Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) Use of Fruit Exposed to Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae).

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) and brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stal) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), are global economic pests that may co-occur on small fruits. We investigated whether fruit recently exposed to H. halys affected subsequent host use by D. suzukii. Laboratory no-choice and choice tests presented D. suzukii with H. halys-fed and unfed raspberries and blueberries immediately or 3 d after H. halys feeding. Resulting D. suzukii eggs, or larvae and pupae, were counted. The number of D. suzukii immatures among fed and unfed fruit was not significantly different in lab studies. There was no relationship between the intensity of H. halys feeding, as estimated by the number of stylet sheaths, and D. suzukii oviposition on blueberry. Lastly, field studies compared D. suzukii infestation between H. halys-fed and unfed raspberries. Raspberries were previously exposed to H. halys for 3 d or simultaneously exposed to both pests for 7 d. Natural infestation by D. suzukii in the field was similar among raspberries previously or simultaneously exposed to H. halys compared to control fruit.
Distributed resource sharing in fog-assisted big data streaming

Fog computing is a promising architectural pattern to reduce the amount of data that is transferred to the cloud for processing and analysis. In this paper, we study fog-assisted data streaming scenario in which fog nodes at the network edge share their spare resources to help pre-process raw data of applications hosted in the cloud. A distributed resource sharing scheme is presented where the software defined network (SDN) controller dynamically adjusts the volume of application data that will be directed to fog nodes for pre-processing. The SDN controller makes decisions by coordinating fog nodes and cloud platform to collaboratively solve a social welfare maximization problem. Based on a hybrid alternating direction method of multipliers (H-ADMM) algorithm, computation burden for solving the optimization problem is fully distributed to fog nodes, cloud platform and SDN controller, where local variables of fog nodes are updated in parallel. With proper design of message exchange pattern, the communication overhead of the coordination to SDN controller grows smoothly with increasing number of participating fog nodes.
The Myth of Objectively Alien Desires

Since Harry Frankfurt’s seminal 1971 paper ‘Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person,’ philosophers of mind and action have been concerned to distinguish those desires that a person identifies with from those that are alien to her. Frankfurt’s original attempt to distinguish desires that a person identified with from those that were alien to her was a purely attitudinal account of identification. This first attempt by Frankfurt has been heavily criticized, with the most pressing criticism being the Regress-cum-Incompleteness objection. Owing to the force of this criticism, those concerned with providing an account of identification turned to developing structurally-based accounts of identification that focus on the structural relationships that such desires hold to other elements of her mental economy. In this paper, I will argue that this move is mistaken. However, my aim in this paper is not merely the negative one of seeking to show that structural analyses of identification are likely to fail. If I am right that none of the most prominent objective criteria succeeds in distinguishing those desires that a person identifies with from those that she is alienated from, then an adequate analysis of identification must be attitudinally based. I sketch what one such account will look like at the close of this paper.
Congenital malformations of the ear.

High-resolution CT with bone algorithms is the primary modality in radiologic evaluation of the temporal bone. Anomalies of the inner, middle, and external ears can readily be identified. Position of the facial nerve and the carotid artery must be documented in every case.
Life History and Iteroparity

Fisher (1930) posed the central question about life histories, asking how the apportionment of reproduction over life might have evolved. Cole (1954) framed the style of many recent studies in comparing the evolutionary advantage of semelparity (reproducing once) and iteroparity (reproducing more than once). Since then there has been considerable work on general features of life history evolution (e.g., Williams 1966, the review by Stearns 1976, Begon, Harper and Townsend 1986), and on features specific to certain species or genera (e.g., Denno and Dingle 1981, Jackson, Buss and Cook 1985). It is clear from Lewontin (1965) that classical demographic arguments can only account for some of the Life historical patterns in nature, and later workers have tried to incorporate factors outside the classical framework. One of these is an environment which produces random variations in vital rates and thereby generates selection pressures on life histories.
NPACE: Service Learning That Enhances Civic and Community Health

John Dewey called for direct experience in the field to provide an education that cultivates well-rounded citizens. Service learning enhances community problem-solving and builds stronger town-gown relationships. This paper is a report on one university’s application of the service-learning model in the development of a community outreach center and a preliminary report on its contributions to the students’, university’s, and community’s civic health, respectively.
Stereoselective synthesis of E-3-(arylmethylidene)-5-(alkyl/aryl)-2(3H)-furanones by sequential hydroacyloxylation-Mizoroki-Heck reactions of iodoalkynes.

A modular, stereoselective synthesis of E-3-(arylidene)-5-(alkyl/aryl)-2(3H)-furanones was developed. The methodology features regioselective addition of β-aryl acrylic acids to iodoacetylenes to furnish the Z-acyloxy iodoalkenes. A stereoselective 5-exo-trig Mizoroki–Heck reaction of the acyloxy iodoalkenes generates the target E-2(3H)-furanones. The approach was applied in a formal synthesis of the naturally occurring kinase inhibitor BE-23372M.
Leveraging Peer Communication to Enhance Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing has become a popular tool for large-scale data collection where it is often assumed that crowd workers complete the work independently. In this paper, we relax such independence property and explore the usage of peer communication-a kind of direct interactions between workers-in crowdsourcing. In particular, in the crowdsourcing setting with peer communication, a pair of workers are asked to complete the same task together by first generating their initial answers to the task independently and then freely discussing the task with each other and updating their answers after the discussion. We first experimentally examine the effects of peer communication on individual microtasks. Our results conducted on three types of tasks consistently suggest that work quality is significantly improved in tasks with peer communication compared to tasks where workers complete the work independently. We next explore how to utilize peer communication to optimize the requester's total utility while taking into account higher data correlation and higher cost introduced by peer communication. In particular, we model the requester's online decision problem of whether and when to use peer communication in crowdsourcing as a constrained Markov decision process which maximizes the requester's total utility under budget constraints. Our proposed approach is empirically shown to bring higher total utility compared to baseline approaches.
Direct Methotrexate Injection into the Gestational Sac for Nontubal Ectopic Pregnancy: A Review of Efficacy and Outcomes from a Single Institution.

ABSTRACT Study Objective To evaluate the efficacy of nontubal ectopic pregnancy (NTEP) management with direct methotrexate (MTX) injection into the gestational sac. Design A retrospective chart review. Setting A tertiary academic and teaching hospital. Patients All cases of confirmed NTEP were retrospectively identified from 2012 to 2017. Interventions Ultrasound-guided direct injection of MTX into the fetal pole and surrounding gestational sac and a single dose of systemic MTX with or without fetal intracardiac injection of potassium chloride. Measurements and Main Results Treatment failure, complications from treatment, operating time, and days to negative serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) after treatment were measured. Fourteen women (age 34 ± 5.2 years) with NTEP underwent direct MTX injection (cesarean scar, n = 4; interstitial, n = 6; cervical, n = 4). The mean estimated gestational age was 49 ± 11, CI (43, 56 days). One patient required laparoscopic intervention with a failure rate of 1 of 14 (a double interstitial, heterotopic pregnancy). There were no other major complications. The time in the operating room was similar for all NTEP types. The average time to negative serum hCG was not different for cesarean scar (84.5 ± 36 days), cervical pregnancies (70.5 ± 19 days), or interstitial pregnancies (45.3 ± 38 days, p = .15). Conclusion Direct MTX injection into the gestational sac for NTEP treatment is safe and effective. The failure rate of 7% is considerably lower than what was previously reported for a failure of systemic MTX in similar cases (25%). Resolution of serum hCG after treatment can be quite prolonged even in uncomplicated cases.
Pseudomonas isolates degrade and form biofilms on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic

ABSTRACT Bioaugmentation is a possible remediation strategy for the massive amounts of plastic waste in our oceans and landfills. For this study, soil samples were collected from petroleum polluted locations in the Houston, Texas area to isolate microorganisms capable of plastic degradation. Bacteria were propagated and screened for lipase activity, which has been associated with the bacterial degradation of some plastics to date. We identified three lipase-positive Pseudomonas species, and Bacillus cereus as part of two consortia, which we predict enhances biofilm formation and plastic degradation. Lipase-positive consortia bacteria were incubated alongside blank and E.coli controls with UV-irradiated polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), or low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as sole sources of carbon. Surface degradation of PET plastic was quantified by changes in molecular vibrations by infrared spectroscopy. The bacteria formed biofilms on PET, observed by scanning electron microscopy, and induced molecular changes on the plastic surface, indicating the initial stages of plastic degradation. We also found molecular evidence that one of the Pseudomonas isolates degrades LDPE. To date, lipase positive Pseudomonas spp. degradation of PET has not been well described, and this work highlights the potential for using consortia of common soil bacteria to degrade plastic waste.
The development of distributive partitioning operations

Abstract Distributive partitioning operations are used in solving tasks such as sharing three items among five people. Data from six ninth grade students who participated in a year-long teaching experiment is used to elaborate the constraints and affordances of three distinct distributive partitioning schemes — a distributive sharing scheme, a distributive partitioning scheme, and a reversible distributive partitioning scheme. Variation in the students’ fractional operations and their abilities to reason with multiple levels of units structures are used to explain differences amongst these three schemes. While reasoning with two levels of units is sufficient for constructing a distributive sharing scheme, three levels of units are necessary for constructing both the distributive partitioning scheme and the reversible distributive partitioning scheme. Further, while part-whole comparisons are sufficient to construct a distributive sharing scheme and a distributive partitioning scheme, constructing a reversible distributive partitioning scheme requires the fractional awareness derived from an iterative fraction scheme.
Drug efflux pumps in photodynamic therapy

Abstract Photodynamic therapy involves the combination of photosensitizers (PS) with harmless visible light, that then produce reactive oxygen species to kill cancer cells or pathogenic microbial cells. There is evidence that many different PS are substrates of multidrug efflux pumps (MEPs). It was shown that phenothiazinium dyes such as methylene blue were pumped out of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria by MEPs, and that antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation could be potentiated by addition of a MEP inhibitor. With regard to cancer cells, some PS related to porphyrins and chlorophyll have been found to be substrates of the ATP binding cassette MEP, called ABCG2. ABCG2 has been found to be over-expressed in cancer stem cells, which accounts for their relative resistance to PDT. However several approaches have been found to overcome the protective effect of PS efflux mediated by ABCG2 in these cancer cells, such as the use of specific MEP inhibitors such as imatinib and fumitremorgin C (FTC). This chapter summarizes the existing laboratory and clinical evidence for the role of efflux pumps in PDT.
Survey of analgesia and sedation in pediatric intensive care units in Japan.

Background High-quality evidence of analgesia and sedation management in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) is lacking. Methods An online survey concerning the institutional management of pain, sedation, delirium, and withdrawal syndrome, as well as non-pharmacological interventions to reduce pain and / or to provide comfort, was conducted with the medical directors of 31 PICUs in Japan. The survey was conducted from September to November 2016. Results The response rate was 77% (24/31). Pain was routinely assessed in nine (38%) PICUs. Self-report pain scales were used in 14 (58%) PICUs. Observational pain scales for children who were unable to self-report were used in only one PICU. Physician-driven analgesia protocols were used in two (8%) PICUs. Although sedation scales for intubated patients were used in 15 (63%) PICUs, they were used for the goal-directed sedation management in nine (38%). Nurse-driven sedation protocols were used in two (8%) PICUs. Five (21%) PICUs used delirium assessment tools, and delirium screening was not routinely done in any PICU. Five (21%) PICUs regularly used withdrawal assessment tools for a high-risk group of patients with withdrawal syndrome. Non-pharmacological interventions for analgesia and comfort were frequently practiced for mechanically ventilated patients. Conclusions This study is the first survey conducted by physicians regarding pain and agitation management in PICUs in Japan, and the results revealed great diversity in practice. The implementation strategies to assess pain, delirium, and withdrawal syndrome, as well as to set goals regarding sedation level, are lacking. Protocols for analgesia and sedation management are uncommon.
Systems biology in diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease

Abstract Recent advances in the molecular interrogation of the genome, transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome now position nephrology at the cusp of innovation, especially to address problems in regenerative nephrology. Many molecular interrogation techniques can now be resolved to the single cell while preserving the spatial context of molecular information, which is critical to understanding kidney biology and function. Data from these various technologies are best integrated using systems biology approaches. This chapter will review molecular interrogation techniques, foundational computational tools, and underlying concepts in systems biology approaches that have benefitted the field of nephrology.
COVID-19 Inpatient Mortality Disparities Among American Indian Adults in Mississippi's Safety Net Hospital.

Long-standing health disparities experienced by American Indians (AIs) are associated with increased all-cause mortality rates and shortened life expectancies when compared to other races and ethnicities. Nationally, these disparities have persisted with the COVID-19 pandemic as AIs are more likely than all other races to be infected, hospitalized, or die from SARS-CoV-2. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the only federally recognized American Indian tribe in the state, has been one of the hardest hit in the nation. Using de-identified data from the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s COVID-19 Research Registry, a retrospective cohort study was conducted to assess COVID-19 inpatient mortality outcomes among adults (≥ age 18) admitted at the state’s safety net hospital in 2020. Exactly 41% (n = 25) of American Indian adults admitted with a deemed diagnosis of COVID-19 died while in hospital, in comparison to 19% (n = 153) of blacks and 23% (n = 65) of whites. Racial disparities persisted even when controlling for those risk factors the CDC reported put adults at greatest risk of severe outcomes from the disease. The adjusted probability of inpatient mortality among American Indians was 46% (p < 0.00) in comparison to 19% among blacks and 20% among whites. Although comorbidities were commonly observed among COVID-19 + American Indian inpatients, only one was associated with inpatient mortality. This challenges commonly cited theories attributing disparate COVID-19 mortality experiences among indigenous populations to disparate comorbidity experiences. Expanded studies are needed to further investigate these associations.
Mapping Ambiphile Reactivity Trends in the Anti-(Hetero)annulation of Non-Conjugated Alkenes via Pd(II)/Pd(IV) Catalysis

In this study, we systematically evaluate different ambiphilic organohalides for their ability to participate in anti-selective carbo- or heteroannulation with non-conjugated alkenyl amides under Pd catalysis. Detailed optimization of reaction conditions has led to protocols for synthesizing tetrahydropyridines, tetralins, pyrrolidines, and other carbo/heterocyclic cores via [n+2] (n = 3–5) (hetero)annulation. Expansion of scope to otherwise unreactive ambiphilic haloketones through Pd(II)/amine co-catalysis is also demonstrated. Compared to other annulation processes, this method proceeds via a distinct Pd(II)/Pd(IV) mechanism involving Wacker-type directed nucleopalladation. This distinction results in unique reactivity and selectivity patterns, as revealed through assessment of reaction scope and competition experiments.
Laminated Permanent Magnets Enable Compact Magnetic Components in Current Source Converters

Magnetic components play a key role in determining the size, cost, efficiency of a power converter. They are more significant in current source converters, where the dc-link energy is stored in an inductor/transformer. In such cases, the magnetics have a predominantly DC flux, superimposed by an AC flux at switching frequency. Previously, permanent magnets have been proposed to offset the DC flux and thereby reduce the size, cost, and losses of the inductors/transformers. This paper starts by analyzing the issue of eddy currents when using such standard permanent magnets, especially in medium frequency applications, making them practically unusable. Alternatively, the paper proposes the use of laminated permanent magnets to reduce these eddy currents and thereby realize the benefits of offsetting the DC flux to reduce the size, cost, and loss of inductors/transformers. Using a soft-switching solid-state transformer as an example, experimental results are presented to show the impact of eddy currents in standard permanent magnets when used with a medium frequency transformer. Experimental results showing the benefits of using laminated magnets in reducing the eddy currents are presented.
Emerging trends of therapy related myeloid neoplasms following modern cancer therapeutics in the United States.

Clonal hematopoiesis (CH) is a risk factor for the development of therapy-related myelodysplastic syndromes (tMDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (tAML). Adoption of targeted-immunotherapeutics since 2011, may alter the risk of CH progression to tMDS/AML. To study this, we evaluated risk of tMDS and tAML in 667 588 ≥ 1-year survivors of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), renal cell carcinoma (RCC), melanoma and multiple-myeloma (MM) diagnosed during: 2000-2005, 2006-2010 and 2011-2016. The risk of tMDS increased significantly after NSCLC across all time periods (Ptrend = 0.002) while tAML risk decreased from 2006-2010 to 2011-2016, coinciding with increasing use of non-chemotherapeutic agents. tAML risk after RCC decreased (Ptrend = 0.007) whereas tMDS risk did not significantly change over time. After melanoma, tMDS and tAML risks were similar to the general population. tMDS and tAML risk after MM increased from the first to second time-period, however, only risk of tMDS decreased during last period. We report diverging trends in the risk of tAML and tMDS after adoption of modern cancer therapies for specific cancers. It is imperative to further explore impact of contemporary treatment strategies on clonal evolution. Modern treatments via their discrete mechanism of actions on pre-existing CH may alter the risk of subsequent tMDS and tAML.
Improving Veterans’ Mobility in Small Urban and Rural Areas

The need for veterans’ transportation is growing rapidly because of the increasing number of older veterans as well as the many injured servicemen and -women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Thirty percent of veterans live in rural areas that often present transportation challenges. Many veterans in rural areas must travel extremely long distances to receive medical care, and veterans living in rural areas are reported to be in poorer health than veterans living in urban areas. The objective of this study was to identify veterans with mobility needs living in rural Minnesota, Montana, and North Dakota and to quantify the cost of feasible transportation options for meeting veterans’ mobility needs. This study included a survey of veterans and a simulation of their health care transportation costs. Online and paper surveys were distributed to veterans throughout Minnesota, Montana, and North Dakota. More than 80% of respondents classified themselves as disabled with nearly three-fourths of these indicat...
Mechanism, diagnosis, and treatment of outflow tract tachycardia

Most idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias (including forms of premature ventricular contraction and ventricular tachycardia) originate from the right or left ventricular outflow tracts. In this Review, Lerman summarizes how these arrhythmias are triggered by cAMP-mediated mechanisms, addresses the differential diagnosis between these and other arrhythmias, and discusses optimal treatment strategies, usually involving catheter-based radiofrequency ablation.
A Late Post-Vasectomy Syndrome

AbstractA group of 20 surgical specimens in 18 patients with a previously unappreciated syndrome of unremitting epididymal pain and induration 5 to 7 years after vasectomy was collected during a 2-year interval. These symptoms uniformly were unresponsive to conservative measures, including empiric antibiotics. Total unilateral or bilateral epididymectomy and partial vasectomy led to complete relief of symptoms, usually within 24 hours. Pathological examination of the specimens revealed features consistent with sequelae of long-standing obstruction. Recognition of this late post-vasectomy syndrome, which represents a major complication of vasectomy, might be expected to increase as cohorts of vasectomized individuals age.
A linear extremal principle

The idea of using an extremal principle for optimization and nonsmooth analysis dates back to convex analysis. In this work an extremal principle in the vein of Mordukhovich is proven for the linear generalized gradient. It is tighter than Mordukhovich's since the normal cones are smaller. However it requires a locally epi-Lipschitz set, so its applications are more limited. Some applications to nonsmooth calculus and optimization problems are given.
Gene linkage and steady state RNAs suggest trans-splicing may be associated with a polycistronic transcript in Schistosoma mansoni

Abstract Spliced leader (SL) trans-splicing generates the 5′ end of mature mRNAs through the addition of a small exon to pre-mRNAs in some flagellates (kinetoplastida and euglenoids) and metazoans (nematodes and flatworms). Although SL addition in the kinetoplastida and a subset of nematode genes serves to resolve multicistronic mRNAs into monocistronic, capped mRNAs, information regarding the functional significance of trans-splicing in flatworms is limited. We describe here the identification and characterization of a closely linked gene upstream from the trans-spliced enolase gene in the flatworm Schistosoma mansoni. This gene produces a non-trans-spliced mRNA encoding a ubiquinol binding protein, UbCRBP, that is a component of the ubiquinol-cytochrome C reductase complex. The distance between the UbCRBP polyadenylation site and the enolase trans-splice acceptor site is exceptionally short, only 54 nucleotides. Primer extension (5′ RACE), RT-PCR, and RNase mapping have identified steady state, cis-spliced RNAs which significantly overlap both the UbCRBP and enolase genes. These transcripts contain the 5′ ends of mature UbCRBP mRNAs, extend through UbCRBP, across the intergenic region, and a significant distance 3′ into the enolase gene. Interestingly, the close linkage between the UbCRBP and enolase genes is conserved in a second flatworm, Fasciola hepatica, which also trans-splices the downstream enolase gene. Taken together, the role of SL addition in resolving multicistronic transcripts in both C. elegans and the kinetoplastida, the conservation of UbCRBP/enolase gene linkage in two divergent trematodes, and the multicistronic organization of schistosome UbCRBP/enolase RNAs are consistent with the suggestion that these two genes are likely to be cotranscribed and that trans-splicing in flatworms may be associated with polycistronic transcripts.
Impact of Application Quality Service Dimensions on Patients Results Field Study in the Jordanian Primary Health Care Centers

This study is based on primary health care centers as a major health care provider within the health service sector in Jordan. The study concentrated upon the application of quality dimensions in primary health care centers. Also, the study aimed at identifying attitudes of diabetic patients at the primary health care centers towards applying the quality dimensions of health services, and towards its impact on their results. This study was conducted in the Central Laboratory (Ministry of Health), using both quantitative and qualitative research and included (340) patients. Data were collected through a questionnaire, interviews and annual report of the MOH. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to analyze data from questionnaires. The quantitative findings revealed that the primary health care centers apply quality service dimensions at acceptable levels. Study results indicated that the level of patients’ satisfaction and health results are acceptable and there is a direct positive impact of the levels of the application of total quality service dimensions on the patient satisfaction and health results. The qualitative finding indicated that the primary health care centers need to overcome a range of difficulties associated with the application of quality dimensions of health services. The study concludes with recommendations to the primary health care centers of Jordan; in order to get rid of the negative aspects, improve the experience of the application of quality service dimensions, and patients’ satisfaction.
Explosions: Scene Investigation

Explosion scene investigations must be carried out methodically to ensure that evidence is recognized and collected, and that the parties responsible for the explosion are correctly identified. It is first necessary to determine whether the event was malicious or the result of an accident, but often that issue is clear from the outset. Explosive scene investigators must learn to recognize and properly collect and document bomb components and other kinds of forensic evidence. This article discusses the basic procedures to be carried out at the scene of a malicious explosion. Keywords: bombing investigation; improvised explosive devices (IEDs); explosions; explosives
Other Spaces for Spatial Hypertext

Spatial hypertext programs typically display a portion of a larger flat space in which items can be arranged, grouped, and manipulated. In terms of an old philosophical dispute, the space of spatial hypertext is a Newtonian absolute space rather than the Leibnizian relational space created by web pages and other node-and-link hypertexts. After discussing this difference, this essay proposes other spaces, including topologically complex spaces and an Aristotelian space that is polarized and oriented. These offer new possibilities for information triage and meaningful spatial configurations.