cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mild Head Trauma and Chronic Headaches in Returning US Soldiers

Objective.- To determine the incidence and types of head or neck trauma and headache characteristics among US Army soldiers evaluated for chronic headaches at a military neurology clinic following a combat tour in Iraq. Background.- Head or neck trauma and headaches are common in US soldiers deployed to Iraq. The temporal association between mild head trauma and headaches, as well as the clinical characteristics of headaches associated with mild head trauma, has not been systematically studied in US soldiers returning from Iraq. Methods.- A retrospective cohort study was conducted with 81 US Army soldiers from the same brigade who were evaluated at a single military neurology clinic for recurrent headaches after a 1-year combat tour in Iraq. All subjects underwent a standardized interview and evaluation to determine the occurrence of head or neck trauma during deployment, mechanism and type of trauma, headache type, and headache characteristics. Results.- In total, 33 of 81 (41%) soldiers evaluated for headaches reported a history of head or neck trauma while deployed to Iraq. A total of 18 (22%) subjects had concussion without loss of consciousness and 15 (19%) had concussion with loss of consciousness. Ten subjects also had an accompanying traumatic neck injury. No subjects had moderate or severe traumatic brain injury. Exposure to blasts was the most common cause of trauma, accounting for 67% of head and neck injuries. Headaches began within one week after trauma in 12 of 33 (36%) soldiers with head or neck injury. Another 12 (36%) reported worsening of pre-existing headaches after trauma. Headaches were classified as migraine type in 78% of soldiers with head or neck trauma. Headache types, frequency, severity, duration, and disability were similar for soldiers with and without a history of head or neck trauma. Conclusion.- A history of mild head trauma, usually caused by exposure to blasts, is found in almost half of returning US combat troops who receive specialized care for headaches. In many cases, head trauma was temporally associated with either the onset of headaches or the worsening of pre-existing headaches, implicating trauma as a precipitating or exacerbating factor, respectively. Headaches in head trauma-exposed soldiers are usually migraine type and are similar to nontraumatic headaches encountered at a military specialty clinic. Language: en
Transforming A Business Statistics Course With Just-in-Time Teaching

This paper describes changing the way a business statistics course is taught through the use of just-in-time teaching methods. Implementing this method allowed for more time in the class to be spent focused on problem solving, resulting in students being able to handle more difficult problems. Students’ perceptions of the just-in-time assignments were overall positive.
New framework for gauge field theories

We formulate gauge theories within the framework of a generalization of quantum field theory. In particular, we discuss models of electrodynamics and of Yang-Mills theories, a model of the strong interaction with higher-order derivatives and quark confinement and a renormalizable model of pure quantum gravity with Einstein Lagrangian. In the case of electrodynamics we show that two models are possible: one with predictions which are identical to QED and one which is a quantum action-at-a-distance model of electrodynamics. In the case of Yang-Mills theories we can construct a model which is identical in predictions to any conventional model, or a quantum action-at-a-distance model. In the second case it is possible to eliminate all loops of Yang-Mills particles (in all gauges) in a manner consistent with unitarity. A variation of Yang-Mills models exists in our formulation which has higher-order derivative field equations. It is unitary and has positive probabilities. It can be used to construct a model of the strong interactions which has a linear potential and manifest quark confinement. Finally we show how to construct an action-at-a-distance model of pure quantum gravity (whose classical limit is the dynamics of the Einstein Lagrangian) coupled to an external classical source. The model is trivially renormalizable.
Statistical Analysis of Non-linearly Reconstructed Near-Infrared Tomographic Images

Optical tomography was evaluated with the mean-square error of the reconstructed images. Theoretical and experiment tests indicated that the objective function minimization was not always correlated with image error minimization.
Perineural Spread of Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Case Illustration with a Proposed Anatomic Mechanism and a Review of the Literature

Introduction Perineural spread (PNS) is an unusual mechanism of tumor extension and has been typically reported in squamous cell carcinoma, adenocystic carcinoma, and desmoplastic melanoma. Our group has previously demonstrated PNS in rectal, prostate, bladder, and cervical cancer from the primary site along the autonomic nerves to the major somatic nerves and even intradurally. We believe similar principles apply to renal cell carcinoma (RCC) as well, despite the different anatomy. Case Description We performed a retrospective search to identify cases of intradural-extramedullary metastases of RCC caused by PNS. Strict anatomic and imaging inclusion criteria were defined: only lesions located between T6 and L3 were included, and PNS as a potential cause had to be supported by imaging evidence. Although 3 cases of spinal intradural metastases were identified, only one met our strict inclusion criteria. A 61-year-old woman developed a late intradural-extramedullary metastasis of RCC 16 years after the original diagnosis that we believe represents an example of visceral organ PNS. Conclusions RCC can propagate via PNS from the primary tumor along the autonomic nerves to the aorticorenal, celiac, and mesenteric ganglia and then along the thoracic and lumbar splanchnic nerves to the corresponding spinal nerves and intradurally. We present radiologic evidence together with the review of the literature to support the premise that PNS of RCC not only occurs but goes unrecognized.
Opioids for chronic nonmalignant pain

PREVIEWAlthough use of opioids for chronic nonmalignant pain is growing in acceptance, the value of such therapy and the procedure for selection of appropriate candidates have not been clearly stated. In this article, Dr Belgrade examines the evidence for and against such use, describes important factors in identifying responsible patients, and defines monitoring procedures essential to success.
Self-focusing and spatial modes in free space and nonlinear waveguides

A unified criterion of self-focusing, applicable to both freely propagating beams and waveguide modes, is proposed, with the self-focusing threshold defined as the critical peak power needed to induce a refractive-index step capable of trapping one more spatial mode. For freely propagating beams and high-order waveguide modes, this definition is shown to recover the canonical expression for the critical power of self-focusing routinely used in nonlinear optics. In the limiting case of low-order guided modes, the proposed definition is found to be fully consistent with the earlier criteria of self-focusing in a waveguide.
News Media Impact on the Ingredients of Presidential Evaluations: Politically Knowledgeable Citizens Are Guided by a Trusted Source

Scholars have uniformly presumed that news media attention to a policy issue increases its impact on presidential job performance evaluations because news coverage enhances the accessibility of beliefs about the issue in citizens' memories, which automatically increases their impact on relevant judgments. The research reported here demonstrates that media coverage of an issue does indeed increase the cognitive accessibility of related beliefs, but this does not produce priming. Instead, politically knowledgeable citizens who trust the media to be accurate and informative infer that news coverage of an issue means it is an important matter for the nation, leading these people to place greater emphasis on that issue when evaluating the President. Thus, news media priming does not occur because politically naive citizens are "victims" of the architecture of their minds, but instead appears to reflect inferences made from a credible institutional source of information by sophisticated citizens. W hen television, radio, and motion pictures joined newspapers as conduits of political information during this century, scholars worried that these communication media might have powerful "hypodermic" effects on the general public's political attitudes, injecting information and opinions into people's minds (e.g., Lasswell 1927). But when this hypothesis was subjected to empirical tests, powerful persuasion by the news media appeared to be the exception rather than the rule (Klapper 1960). During the last two decades, however, it has become clear that the media do indeed shape public opinion. Not only have investigations used improved methods to document persuasion (Page and Shapiro 1992), but new media effects have been identified as well, including agenda setting and news media priming. Agenda setting occurs when extensive media attention to an issue increases its perceived national importance (McCombs and Shaw 1972). Priming occurs when media attention to an issue causes people to place special weight on it when constructing evaluations of overall presidential job performance (Iyengar et al. 1984). Our focus in this article is on the cognitive mediators of news media priming. To specify the mediators of an effect is to identify the mechanisms by which one factor affects another (Baron and Kenny 1986). In the case of priming, news media attention to an issue presumably causes a change in a
Efficient Mechanism Design for Competitive Carrier Selection and Rate Allocation

Selection and Rate Allocation Yanting Wu, Bhaskar Krishnamachari, George Rabanca, and Amotz Bar-Noy 1. Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles CA 90089, USA. Email: yantingw@usc.edu, bkrishna@usc.edu 2. Department of Computer Science, the City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, USA. Email: grabanca@gc.cuny.edu, amotz@sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu
Lady Windermere syndrome: Mycobacterium of sophistication.

The typical patient is a thin, well-mannered elderly woman who voluntarily suppresses her cough out of politeness.
5-Aminolevulinate Synthase: Pre-Steady State Reaction and Functional Role of Specific Active Site Residues

5-Aminolevulinate synthase (ALAS), the first enzyme of the heme biosynthetic pathway in non-plant eukaryotes and some bacteria, catalyzes the condensation of glycine and succinyl-CoA. Rapid scanning stopped flow experiments of murine erythroid ALAS demonstrate that reaction with glycine plus succinyl-CoA results in a pre-steady state burst of quinonoid intermediate formation. Reaction of either glycine or 5-aminolevulinate (ALA) with ALAS is slow and approximates k cat. The turnover appears to be limited by release of the ALA product or a conformational change associated with ALA release. The function of specific active site residues(e.g. K313, D279 and R439) has been established in relation to the ALAS catalytic mechanism.
Structure of the Central Visual System and Pathways

Pavlov advanced the idea that the general nature of the activity in all parts of the cortex was similar, although he, of course, accepted the existence of special cortical analyzers. He considered that for each sensory modality there is a corresponding region of the cortex which represents its precise projection. Morphologically he defined the cortical analyzer as the largest concentration of cells, with the most compact arrangement. This structural concept “explained the existence of special analyzers, where the exceptionally dense concentration of elements makes the synthetic and analytical activity of the analyzer possible.”*
Primary Urethral Carcinomas

Primary urethral carcinomas (PUCs) account for <1 % of all genitourinary malignancies. According to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, over the past three decades, the annual incidence has ranged from 1.5 per million in women and a nearly threefold larger incidence in men (4.3 per million). The prevalence of all histological subtypes increases with age, with the peak annual incidence of 32 per million in men and 9.5 per million in women, seen in the 75–84-year age group, with disease being extremely uncommon in population younger than 55 years old (0.2 per million). The incidence of the disease has been reported to be twice as high in the African-American compared to the White population. In Europe, the age standardized ratio is estimated as 1.6 per million in men and 0.6 per million in women, with a similar male-to-female ratio.
Integrating Non-clinical Data with EHRs

Non-clinical factors make a significant contribution to an individual’s health and providing this data to clinicians could inform context, counseling, and treatments.
Extinction debt as a driver of amphibian declines: An example with imperiled flatwoods salamanders

Abstract A comprehensive view of population declines and their underlying causes is necessary to reverse species loss. Historically, in many cases, a narrow view may have allowed species declines to continue, virtually undetected, for long periods of time (perhaps even decades). We suggest that extinction debt is likely responsible for numerous (perhaps most) amphibian declines and that this perspective should be incorporated into the structure of amphibian research and management. Extinction debt, originally proposed to explain changes in species richness following environmental disturbance, also may refer to the proportion of populations of an individual species that is expected to eventually be lost because of habitat change. A conservation framework to address extinction debt focuses research on threats at the individual, population, and metapopulation levels. This approach will help enhance, restore, and protect specific processes and habitats at the proper scale by directing management to the most v...
Susan Lee Lindquist (1949–2016)

Susan Lindquist was internationally renowned for her pioneering discoveries that transformed our understanding of protein homeostasis and the wide array of biological processes it governs. She developed cutting-edge genetics and cell biology technologies; applied them on diverse organisms, including yeast, fruit flies, plants, cavefish, and humans; and tackled and solved previously intractable problems ranging from delineating cellular stress responses, to uncovering genetic variation in evolution, to the role of protein misfolding in human disease.
10.8 A Buck converter with 240pW quiescent power, 92% peak efficiency and a 2×10 6 dynamic range

Power conversion in increasingly constrained systems [1–3] requires extremely low quiescent power in sleep mode to enhance lifetimes. At the same time, a wide dynamic range [5,6] without compromising efficiency is required to handle heavily duty-cycled loads or varying power from energy-harvesting sources. In this paper, we present an inductive Buck converter operating on inputs of 1.2 to 3.3V, outputs of 0.7 to 0.9V, and delivering from 100pA to 1mA with a peak efficiency of 92% and a quiescent power of 240pW. Figure 10.8.1 shows the block diagram of the chip, which includes clock generation, output regulation, a discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) power stage with zero-current switching (ZCS) and input under-voltage (UV) checking.
Aging of Dissolved Copper and Copper-based Nanoparticles in Five Different Soils: Short-term Kinetics vs. Long-term Fate.

With the growing availability and use of copper based nanomaterials (Cu-NMs), there is increasing concern regarding their release and potential impact on the environment. In this study, the short term (≤ 5 days) ageing profile and the long term (4 months) speciation of dissolved Cu, copper oxide (CuO-) and copper sulfide nanoparticles (CuS-NPs) were investigated in five different soils using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Soil pH was found to strongly influence the short term chemistry of the Cu-NMs added at 100 mg/kg above background. Low pH soils promoted rapid dissolution of CuO-NPs that effectively aligned their behaviour to that of dissolved Cu within 3 days. In higher pH soils, CuO-NPs persisted longer due to slower dissolution in the soil and resulted in contrasting short term speciation compared to dissolved Cu, which formed copper hydroxides and carbonates that were reflective of the soil chemistry. Organic matter appeared to slow the dissolution process but in the long term, the speciation of Cu added as dissolved Cu, CuO-NPs and CuS-NPs were found to be same for each soil. The results imply that in the short term Cu-NMs may exhibit unique behaviour in alkaline soils compared to their conventional forms (e.g. in the event of an adverse leaching event), but in the long term (≥ 4 months), their fates are dictated by the soil properties and are independent of the initial Cu form, and are likely to present minimal risk of nano-specific Cu-NM impact in the soil environment for the concentration studied here.
Stormwater infiltration capacity of street tree pits: Quantifying the influence of different design and management strategies in New York City

Abstract Street trees are abundant in the urban landscape and provide many ecosystem services including stormwater management. For trees housed within tree pits, the ability to mitigate stormwater runoff can be modulated by the permeability of the soil within the tree pit itself. Thus, developing a better understanding of how tree pit design and management impact soil permeability can be important to quantifying, and potentially improving, the stormwater benefits of street trees. To this end, water infiltration rate was measured at forty tree pits representing the variety of physical conditions commonly seen in New York City, including the presence or absence of a tree pit guard, the size of the tree pit, the size of the tree, the presence or absence of ground cover planting, the presence or absence of mulch, and the elevation of the pit’s soil surface relative to the sidewalk. An initial analysis of results first tested the impact of each physical condition on infiltration rate individually. Genetic programming was then used to investigate interactive effects between the physical conditions, and to develop a statistical model that captured 66% of the variability in the observed infiltration rate using simple physical features of a tree pit. Results showed that the most significant factor influencing the infiltration rate was the presence of a guard around a tree pit, with guarded tree pits having higher infiltration rates. Additionally, higher infiltration rates in guarded pits were associated with larger pit areas, built-up surface elevations (binary) and the combined presence of ground cover planting (binary) and mulch (binary). Tree size, as measured by circumference at breast height, was found to be a less significant indicator of the infiltration rate. The statistical model, together with the study measurements, can be used to estimate the stormwater benefits of different tree pit management strategies, inform designs for improved stormwater management, and help identify useful observations or measurements for a street tree census.
Network specialization during adolescence: Hippocampal effective connectivity in boys and girls.

Adolescence is a complex period of concurrent mental and physical development that facilitates adult functioning at multiple levels. Despite the growing number of neuroimaging studies of cognitive development in adolescence focusing on regional activation patterns, there remains a paucity of information about the functional interactions across these participating regions that are critical for cognitive functioning, including memory. The current study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to determine how interactions among brain regions critical for memory change over the course of adolescence. We obtained functional MRI in 77 individuals aged 8-16 years old, divided into younger (ages 8-10) and older (ages > 11) cohorts, using an incidental encoding memory task to activate hippocampus formation and associated brain networks, as well as behavioral data on memory function. SEM was performed on the imaging data for four groups (younger girls, younger boys, older girls, and older boys) that were subsequently compared using a stacked model approach. Significant differences were seen between the models for these groups. Younger boys had a predominantly posterior distribution of connections originating in primary visual regions and terminating on multi-modal processing regions. In older boys, there was a relatively greater anterior connection distribution, with increased effective connectivity within association and multi-modal processing regions. Connection patterns in younger girls were similar to those of older boys, with a generally anterior-posterior distributed network among sensory, multi-modal, and limbic regions. In contrast, connections in older girls were widely distributed but relatively weaker. Memory performance increased with age, without a significant difference between the sexes. These findings suggest a progressive reorganization among brain regions, with a commensurate increase in efficiency of cognitive functioning, from younger to older individuals in both girls and boys, providing insight into the age- and gender-specific processes at play during this critical transition period.
Patterns of Adult Sibling Role Involvement with Brothers and Sisters with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Adult siblings of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are increasingly involved in family care, yet, adult siblings consistently report needing more information and support to engage in these roles. Knowing more about which roles siblings are likely to assume may help address this need. Thus, we further examined the most common roles assumed by adult siblings (N = 171), the demographic variables related to an increased likelihood of assuming specific roles, and the potential clusters in patterns of role assumption. We transformed qualitative data from an online survey with four open-ended questions about sibling relationships and roles into quantitative presence data for role-related codes in order to examine relationships between assumed roles and demographic variables. The most common roles assumed by adult siblings were friend, advocate, caregiver, and sibling. Key demographic variables related to role assumption included disability severity, emotional closeness, and age of the brother or sister with IDD. Cluster analyses indicated five potential categories of adult sibling role involvement: Companion, Least Involved, Highly Involved, Needs Focused, and Professional. Implications and future areas of research are shared.
Pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia in heterotopic pancreas: incidentally diagnosed on endoscopic mucosal resection of a duodenal polyp

Heterotopic pancreas is the presence of pancreatic tissue outside its normal location. It can develop similar pathological conditions that develop in the normal pancreas, including adenocarcinoma and its precursor lesions. Due to the rarity of the condition, the diagnosis can be challenging, and treatment is not well established. ​We present a 47-year-old female patient referred for endoscopic resection of a 2 cm polyp in the second part of her duodenum. Complete endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) was performed, with pathology revealing low-grade pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) in heterotopic pancreatic tissue. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of heterotopic pancreas with low-grade PanIN in the duodenum to be incidentally diagnosed and treated with EMR.
Case 18: A Complication During Laparoscopy

Today you are scheduled to anesthetize a 28-year-old female for removal of the right fallopian tube ectopic pregnancy. She is otherwise healthy and you give her an ASA 1 classification. She weighs 72 kg and is 5 ft 10 in. tall. A routine general anesthesia is induced and maintenance is with 1–2% sevoflurane and 70% nitrous oxide in oxygen. The surgeon places a transurethral bladder catheter and attaches it to a soft plastic collection bag. Pneumoperitoneum is created with insufflation of 100% carbon dioxide to a pressure of 16 mmHg. Fifteen minutes into the case you notice that the urinary collection bag has become very distended.
Period Polynomials for {F_{{{p^{2}}}}} of Fixed Small Degree

Let q = p a with p a prime, and е and f be positive integers satisfying еf + 1 = q. Let F q be the finite field of q elements. The Gauss periods of order е satisfy a period polynimial F(x) of degree е over the rational field Q. In the classical case q = p, Gauss showed that F(x) is irreducible over Q and determined the polynomial for е = 2, 3 and 4.Using the methods and results from the theory of cyclotomy, Dickson, Lehmer, Muskat and Whiteman, among others, determined F(x) for е = 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 24 in the case q = p. For the general case, Myerson determined F(x) for е = 2, 3 and 4, but beyond this very little is explicitly known. Here I determine F(x) explicitly for the case q = p 2 when е divides 8 or12, by applying work of Berndt and Evans on Gauss sums for \( {F_{{{p^{2}}}}} \)with characters of order 6, 8 and 12. The results settle an unanswered question concerning the splitting of the middle factor of F(x) when p ≡ 7(mod 24).
Abstract 1057: MRTF-A and MRTF-B Mediate Redundant Functions Required for Cardiac Development

Myocardin and the myocardin-related transcription factors (MRTFs) -A and -B are transcriptional coactivators that have been implicated in cytoskeletal signaling and vascular development. Myocardin null mice die at embryonic day (E)10.5 and demonstrate no evidence of vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) differentiation. MRTF-B null mice generally die at birth from a spectrum of cardiac outflow tract defects related to failure of the cardiac neural crest to differentiate into SMCs. To determine the function of MRTF-A in vivo, the MRTF-A gene was targeted in embryonic stem cells and MRTF-A null (−/−) mice were generated and characterized. Surprisingly, MRTF-A null mice were phenotypically indistinguishable from their control littermates without obvious cardiovascular defects. Therefore, MRTF-A−/− and MRTF-B+/− mice were intercrossed to determine whether these related transcription factors mediate redundant functions in the cardiovascular system. Compound heterozygotes (MRTF-A+/−/MRTF-B+/−) were born in the expected Mendelian ratio, but they exhibited a persistent ventricular septal defect (VSD). By contrast, 50% of MRTF-A−/−/MRTF-B+/− mice died between E14.5 and birth from heart failure. Histological examination of their hearts revealed near total obliteration of the ventricular cavities from proliferating cardiomyocytes. Finally, compound homozygotes (MRTF-A−/−/MRTF-B−/−) survived only to E9.5 exhibiting a severe block in looping morphogenesis. Taken together, these data reveal that MRTF-A and -B mediate partially overlapping, and redundant, functions required at multiple distinct stages of embryonic heart development. These data serve to identify MRTF-A and -B and genes regulated by these two related transcriptional co-activators in the pathogenesis of common forms of congenital heart disease.
Protein Kinase C Isoforms in the Formation of Focal Adhesion Complexes: Investigated by Cell Impedance

Protein kinase C (PKC) is a ubiquitous family of ten serine-threonine kinases involved in transmitting signals throughout the cell and a key regulator in numerous cellular functions, including cellular proliferation, apoptosis, adhesion, migration, and monolayer integrity. PKC isoforms are thought to modulate cellular function through enzymatic phosphorylation of substrates, however few have been identified. We will review the evidence demonstrating crosstalk between the PKC family of enzymes and the focal adhesion complex structure and how modulation of these cell-extracellular matrix interactions affects cell function. We will further review how investigations measuring changes in cell impedance have provided insight in the role of PKC in regulation cell function through the focal adhesion complexes.
ERP Systems Supporting Lean Manufacturing in SMEs

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), more than ever, are being forced to compete in a global economy with increasingly complex challenges. This new economy has forced SMEs to become more responsive and agile in operational, tactical and strategic areas while requiring thoughtful integration between business functions and manufacturing/ production/ service operations. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Lean manufacturing are two production control methodologies that have been implemented in various ways. In early incarnations, ERP systems were considered a hindrance to Lean manufacturing efforts and were criticized for encouraging large inventories and slower production. The explosive growth of e-business methodologies and the resulting pressure to become nimble and embrace rapid change forced many SMEs to rethink their production approaches, particularly in regard to where they stand in relation to these two methodologies. Over time, ERP vendors recognized the power and advantages of Lean manufacturing and developed ways to incorporate Lean-related features into their software. The main objective of this chapter is to explore how ERP and Lean methodologies can coexist in SMEs. The chapter discusses misconceptions about the fit between ERP and Lean then summarizes differences and synergies between the two methodologies. The chapter emphasizes how linking ERP and Lean methods can lead to competitive advantage then explores key Lean toolsets available in leading ERP systems used by SMEs. Further focus is provided with additional insight on several leading ERP vendors offering Lean-enabled software modules. These include Oracle, TTW WinMan and Pelion Systems.
A comment on Boeri's iterative triangulation

We certainly appreciate this opportunity to return to the important ideas surrounding the place of tri angulation in social science methods, and are especially pleased that the author of "Iterative Triangulation" found our presentation useful in framing her own fine extension of the arguments. There are at least three clear strengths to Miriam Boeri's paper. It succinctly draws out the main themes of our own recent work, it makes a prima facie case for extension, and the extension and surrounding discussion are particularly, though not exclusively, relevant for applied sociology. We should begin by pointing out that our intent was not to exhaust the types of triangulation. Therefore, Boeri's addition is most welcome indeed. Recall our discussion of Denzin's early pres entation of methodological triangulation. Three other types of triangulation were elaborated which we subsequently ignored in stressing the issues of methods and measurement. Boeri does take up our argument in terms of measurement, and addresses our central point—that explicit attention to the synthesis of multiple measures is required. Commensurability is a fairly strong version of this, and most applicable to the bias reduction objective of triangulation. However, even what we called "aggregation" requires explicit synthesis, and it is clear that we did not sufficiently make this point. Recall that in contrast to syntheses that correct one measure by employing another method (validation and bias reduction), we wrote of syntheses that take individual measures as given but incomplete and seek to extend our understanding by including additional measures (aggregation or extension). Boeri writes:
Linear maps preserving the idempotency of Jordan products of operators

Let B(X ) be the algebra of all bounded linear operators on a complex Banach space X and let I(X ) be the set of non-zero idempotent operators in B(X ). A surjective map φ : B(X ) → B(X ) preserves nonzero idempotency of the Jordan products of two operators if for every pair A, B ∈ B(X ), the relation AB +BA ∈ I(X ) implies φ(A)φ(B)+φ(B)φ(A) ∈ I(X ). In this paper, the structures of linear surjective maps on B(X ) preserving the nonzero idempotency of Jordan products of two operators are given.
Beyond Ethnic Politics in Africa

To date, much of the literature on African politics has focused on the salience of ethnicity. Dominika Koter’s groundbreaking book highlights that there is tremendous variation in the role of ethni...
Pleural Tap-Guided Antimicrobial Treatment for Pneumonia with Parapneumonic Effusion or Pleural Empyema in Children: A Single-Center Cohort Study

Parapneumonic effusion or pleural empyema (PPE/PE) is a frequent complication of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children. Different management approaches exist for this condition. We evaluated a 14-day treatment with amoxicillin (AMX) with/without clavulanic acid (AMC) confirmed or modified by microbiological findings from pleural tap. Children ≤16 years of age with radiologically diagnosed PPE/PE and initial diagnostic pleural tap were included at University Children’s Hospital Zurich from 2001–2015. AMX/AMC was given for 14 days and rationalized according to microbiological pleural tap results. Clinical and radiological follow-up was scheduled until six months or full recovery. In 114 of 147 (78%) children with PPE/PE a pathogen was identified by culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and/or antigen testing. Streptococcus pneumoniae was detected in 90 (79%), S. pyogenes in 13 (11%), and Staphylococcus aureus in seven cases (6%), all but two cultured pathogens (96%) were sensitive to AMX/AMC. One-hundred two of 147 (69%) patients received treatment with AMX/AMC for 14 days. They recovered more rapidly than patients with a different management (p = 0.026). Of 139 children with follow-up, 134 (96%) patients fully recovered. In conclusion, 14-day AMX/AMC treatment confirmed and rarely modified by microbiological findings from pleural tap resulted in full recovery in >95% of children with PPE/PE.
Alzheimer disease and aducanumab: adjusting our approach

In the march towards disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer disease, immunotherapy with antibodies against amyloid-β protein is furthest along in human trials. The news that Biogen’s aducanumab showed no cognitive benefit in phase III trials requires careful analysis of what went wrong and how to position anti-amyloid agents among other therapeutic approaches.
Hypotrachyna oprah (Parmeliaceae, Lichenized Ascomycota), a new foliose lichen with lichexanthone from southeastern North America

Hypotrachyna oprah is described as new to science from collections made at locations in southeastern North America (Alabama, Florida, North Carolina). The species is considered rare and was potentially confused with H. osseoalba in the past. It differs from H. osseoalba in having capitate soralia and producing echinocarpic acid, together with related substances, in the medulla. The specific epithet was chosen to honor Dr. Oprah Winfrey for her performances, media presence, and generous philanthropy that have substantially improved humanity.
Intraoperative Parathyroid Hormone Monitoring in Parathyroidectomy for Tertiary Hyperparathyroidism.

Abstract Background Tertiary hyperparathyroidism (THPT) is characterized by hypercalcemia and hyperparathyroidism after renal allograft. Limited data exist regarding the use of intraoperative parathyroid hormone (IOPTH) for THPT. We examined our series of parathyroidectomies performed for THPT to determine clinical outcomes with respect to IOPTH. Materials and methods Patients who underwent parathyroidectomy for THPT (1999-2017) were identified for inclusion. Retrospective chart review was performed. Cure was defined as eucalcemia ≥6 mo after surgery. Statistical analysis was performed. Results Of 41 patients included in the study, 41% ( n = 17) were female. The median duration of dialysis before renal allograft was 34 mo (interquartile interval [IQI]:6-60). Preoperatively, the median calcium level was 10.4 mg/dL (IQI:10.0-11.2), median parathyroid hormone was 172 pg/mL (IQI:104-293), and renal function was minimally abnormal with median glomerular filtration rate 58 mL/min/1.73 m2 (IQI:49-71). At surgery, the median final IOPTH was 40 pg/mL (IQI:29-73), and median decrease in IOPTH was 78% (IQI:72-87), with 88% ( n = 36) of patients demonstrating >50% decrease. Median calcium level ≥6 mo after surgery was 9.4 mg/dL (IQI:8.8-9.7), and only one patient had recurrent hypercalcemia. Failure to achieve >50% decrease in IOPTH was not significantly associated with recurrent hypercalcemia ( P = 1.000). With a median follow-up time of 41 mo (IQI:25-70), only three patients had graft failure. The positive predictive value of IOPTH for cure was 89% (95% confidence interval: 0.752-0.971), with 0% negative predictive value and 87% accuracy (95% confidence interval: 0.726-0.957). Conclusions Subtotal parathyroidectomy is a successful operation with durable cure of THPT. IOPTH fails to predict long-term cure in THPT despite minimally abnormal renal function.
Alignment of morphology during high spatial frequency periodic structure formation in GaAs

The interaction between multiple intense ultrashort laser pulses and solids is known to produce a regular nanoscale surface corrugation. A coupled mechanism has been identified that operates in a specific range of fluences in GaAs that exhibits transient loss of the imaginary part of the dielectric function and Χ2, which produces a unique corrugation known as high spatial frequency laser induced periodic surface structures (HSFL). The final structures have 180 nm periods, and their alignment perpendicular to the laser polarization is first observed in an intermediate morphology with correlation distances of 150 ± 40 nm. Quantum molecular dynamics simulations suggest that HSFL self-assembly is initiated when the intense laser field softens the interatomic binding potential, which leads to an ultrafast generation of point defects. The morphological evolution begins as self-interstitial diffusion, driven by stress relaxation, to the surface producing 1–2 nm tall islands. An ab initio calculation of excited electron concentration combined with a Drude-Lorentz model of the excited GaAs dielectric function is used to determine that the conditions for SPP coupling at HSFL formation fluences are both satisfied and occur at wavelengths that are imprinted into the observed surface morphologies. The evolution of these morphologies is explained as the interplay between surface plasmon polaritons that localize defect generation within the structures present on the previous laser exposure and stress relaxation driven defect diffusion.The interaction between multiple intense ultrashort laser pulses and solids is known to produce a regular nanoscale surface corrugation. A coupled mechanism has been identified that operates in a specific range of fluences in GaAs that exhibits transient loss of the imaginary part of the dielectric function and Χ2, which produces a unique corrugation known as high spatial frequency laser induced periodic surface structures (HSFL). The final structures have 180 nm periods, and their alignment perpendicular to the laser polarization is first observed in an intermediate morphology with correlation distances of 150 ± 40 nm. Quantum molecular dynamics simulations suggest that HSFL self-assembly is initiated when the intense laser field softens the interatomic binding potential, which leads to an ultrafast generation of point defects. The morphological evolution begins as self-interstitial diffusion, driven by stress relaxation, to the surface producing 1–2 nm tall islands. An ab initio calculation of excited e...
The PEMBRO-RT phase II randomized trial and the evolution of therapy for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer: a historical perspective

Lung cancer kills more individuals than any other malignancy. In the United States alone, it is estimated that 142,670 patients with die of this disease during 2019 (1). In 1995, Hellman and Weichselbaum proposed the existence of “ a clinically significant state of disease termed oligometastases that was in between purely localized and widely metastatic .” (2). This term was to be used to describe patients with “metastases to a single or a limited number of organs”.
High-speed 3D mapping of nonlinear structures

Directly relating the complex second-harmonic-generation field to the second-order susceptibility tensor allows tomographic imaging of nonlinear optical contrast at high frame rates.
Improved algorithm to determine 3-colorability of graphs with the minimum degree at least 7.

Let $G$ be an $n$-vertex graph with the maximum degree $\Delta$ and the minimum degree $\delta$. We give algorithms with complexity $O(1.3158^{n-0.7~\Delta(G)})$ and $O(1.32^{n-0.73~\Delta(G)})$ that determines if $G$ is 3-colorable, when $\delta(G)\geq 8$ and $\delta(G)\geq 7$, respectively.
The Learning Curve for Hip Arthroscopic Surgery: A Prospective Evaluation With 2-Year Outcomes in Patients With Femoroacetabular Impingement.

Background:The use of hip arthroscopic surgery in the treatment of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is increasing, but it is universally known as a technically demanding procedure with a “steep” ...
Acute Kidney Injury in a National Cohort of Hospitalized US Veterans with COVID-19.

Background and objectives Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with higher risk of AKI. We aimed to describe rates and characterize predictors and health outcomes associated with AKI in a national cohort of US veterans hospitalized with COVID-19. Design, setting, participants, & measurements In a cohort of 5216 US veterans hospitalized with COVID-19 identified through July 23, 2020, we described changes in serum creatinine and examined predictors of AKI and the associations between AKI, health resource utilization, and death, utilizing logistic regressions. We characterized geographic and temporal variations in AKI rates and estimated variance explained by key variables utilizing Poisson regressions. Results In total, 1655 (32%) participants had AKI; 961 (58%), 223 (13%), and 270 (16%) met Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes definitions of stage 1, 2, and 3 AKI, respectively, and 201 (12%) received KRT. Eight percent of participants had AKI within 1 day of hospitalization, and 47% did not recover to baseline serum creatinine by discharge. Older age, Black race, male gender, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and lower eGFR were significant predictors of AKI during hospitalization with COVID-19. AKI was associated with higher mechanical ventilation use (odds ratio, 6.46; 95% confidence interval, 5.52 to 7.57) and longer hospital stay (5.56 additional days; 95% confidence interval, 4.78 to 6.34). AKI was also associated with higher risk of death (odds ratio, 6.71; 95% confidence interval, 5.62 to 8.04); this association was stronger in Blacks (P value of interaction Conclusions AKI is common during hospitalization with COVID-19 and associated with higher risk of health care resource utilization and death. Nearly half of patients with AKI did not recover to baseline by discharge. Substantial geographic variation and temporal decline in rates and severity of AKI were observed. Podcast This article contains a podcast at https://www.asn-online.org/media/podcast/CJASN/2020_11_16_CJN09610620_final.mp3
“SET” for Success: Targeted Instruction in Learning Strategies and Behavior Change in Introductory Psychology:

Background:Undergraduates may not use the most effective learning strategies, particularly those considered “desirable difficulties” such as spacing, elaboration, and testing (“SET”).Objective:This...
Airborne sub-pollen particles from rupturing giant ragweed pollen

Ragweed pollen is a prevalent allergen in late summer and autumn, worsening seasonal allergic rhinitis and asthma symptoms. In the atmosphere, pollen can osmotically rupture to produce sub-pollen particles (SPP). Because of their smaller size, SPP can penetrate deeper into the respiratory tract than intact pollen grains and may trigger severe cases of asthma. Here we characterize airborne SPP forming from rupturing giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) pollen for the first time, using scanning electron microscopy and single-particle fluorescence spectroscopy. SPP ranged in diameter from 20 nm to 6.5 μm. Most SPP are capable of penetrating into the lower respiratory tract, with 82% of SPP < 1.0 μm, and are potential cloud condensation nuclei, with 50% of SPP < 0.20 μm. To support predictions of the health and environmental effects of SPP, we have developed a quantitative method to estimate the number of SPP generated per pollen grain ( $${n}_{\mathrm{f}}$$ ) based upon the principle of mass conservation. We estimate that one giant ragweed pollen grain generates 1400 SPP across the observed size range. The new measurements and method presented herein support more accurate predictions of SPP occurrence, concentration, and air quality impacts that can help to reduce the health burden of allergic airway diseases. Rupturing ragweed pollen releasing cellular components (right), viewed by an inverted light microscope.
A Comprehensive Analysis of Charge-Pump-Based Multi-Stage Multi-Output DC-DC Converters

This paper presents an analytical model for calculating the output voltage and the power efficiency of multi-stage multi-output (MSMO) DC-DC converters (DDC) that use charge pump cells for boosting the voltage. Various cases such as multi-output current consumption and its effects on the output voltage and the power efficiency are studied. Based on the model, a tapered design approach is proposed that can bolster the power efficiency and lower the output voltage drop of MSMO DDCs. Moreover, a charge-pump-based DDC is introduced and designed to verify the proposed model. Simulation results using a standard high-voltage 180-nm CMOS technology affirms the accuracy of the presented model.
Hydrophilic modification of SLA 3D printed droplet generators by photochemical grafting

Few droplet generators manufactured using desktop stereolithography 3D printers have been reported in the literature. Moreover, 3D printed microfluidic chips are typically hydrophobic, limiting their application to water in oil droplets. Herein, we present designs for concentric and planar 3D printed microfluidic devices suitable for making polymeric microparticles using an off-the-shelf commercial stereolithography printer and resin. The devices consist of a microscope slide, binder clips, and printed components. Channels were modified by an ultraviolet grafting of methacrylic acid to the surface of chips, yielding a hydrophilic coating without modification to the bulk polymer. The water contact angle decreased from 97.0° to 25.4° after grafting. The presence of the coating was confirmed by microscopy and spectroscopy techniques. Polystyrene microparticles in the <100 μm size range were generated with varying molecular weights using the described microfluidic chips. Our work provides a facile method to construct droplet generators from commercial stereolithography printers and resins, and a rapid surface modification technique that has been under-utilized in 3D printed microfluidics. A wide range of microfluidic devices for other applications can be engineered using the methods described.
Pathways to Sexual Assault Case Attrition: Culture, Context, and Case Clearance

Sexual assault case attrition research has been consistent in documenting that sexual assault complaints fall out of the system at disturbing rates. In this article, we describe a pathway to attrit...