cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Anencephalic organ donation after cardiac death: a case report on practicalities and ethics.

Anencephalic organ donation after cardiac death: a case report on practicalities and ethics
Active Control of Memory for Java Virtual Machines and Applications

A controller is implemented to manage memory as an elastic resource similar to computing cycles for Java applications. The controller actively arbitrates constrained memory between collocated JVMs in response to demand. A key aspect of the work is that JVM metrics are used as proxies for application KPIs so that application performance instrumentation and modeling are not required. A metric corresponding to the allocation rate of memory is derived from the JVMmetrics and established as the measure of application performance and is used as the effective feedback mechanism to the controller. The controller is based on a fair share policy in which memory is distributed to equalize the marginal performance value to all JVMs. The design is tested for effectiveness and stability using the suite of SPECjvm2008 and SPECjbb2005 benchmarks.
Prevalence of moderate or severe chronic kidney disease in patients with severe peripheral arterial disease versus mild or moderate peripheral arterial disease

BACKGROUND To investigate the prevalence of moderate or severe chronic kidney disease in patients with severe versus mild or moderate peripheral arterial disease. MATERIAL/METHODS We investigated the prevalence of moderate or severe chronic kidney disease diagnosed as an estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min/1.73 m2 in 130 patients with severe peripheral arterial disease (ankle-brachial index <0.60) and in 192 patients with mild or moderate peripheral arterial disease (ankle-brachial index 0.60-0.89) seen in a vascular surgery outpatient clinic. RESULTS An estimated glomerular filtration rate of <30 ml/min/1.73 m2 was present in 51 of 322 patients (16%) with peripheral arterial disease, of 30-59 ml/min/1.73 m2 was present in 172 of 322 patients (53%) with peripheral arterial disease, and of ≥60 ml/min/1.73 m2 was present in 99 of 322 patients (31%) with peripheral arterial disease. An estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min/1.73 m2 was present in 105 of 130 patients (81%) with an ankle-brachial index <0.60 and in 118 of 192 patients (61%) with an ankle-brachial index of 0.60-0.89 (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of moderate or severe chronic kidney disease is high in patients with peripheral arterial disease and is significantly higher (p<0.001) in patients with severe peripheral arterial disease than in patients with mild or moderate peripheral arterial disease.
Surgical Outcomes and Predictors of Recurrence in Elderly Patients with Meningiomas

Background Meningiomas are more prevalent with increasing age, and there is no general consensus of surgical management for this group of tumors. The role of resection and the predictors of recurrence of meningiomas in elderly patients have not been well established. The authors reviewed their experience of surgical resection of these tumors in elderly patients and determined the factors for recurrence. Methods Clinical and radiologic information of 81 elderly patients with meningiomas was retrospectively reviewed. Simpson grading scales were used to evaluate the extent of surgical resection. Statistical analysis was conducted using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards regression. Results In this study, the recurrence rate in the grades I–II resection group was 10%, whereas in the grades III–IV resection group, the recurrence rate was 46% ( P P = 0.002). The hazard ratio for recurrence after grades III–IV resection was 5 times higher than after grades I–II resection. Location, size of the tumor, medical comorbidities, Karnofsky Performance Status, Geriatric Scoring System (GSS) score >16, and repeated resection were identified as predictors of recurrence-free survival after resection of meningiomas. Conclusions Elderly patients with meningiomas having a GSS score >16 and undergoing Simpson grades I–II/gross total resection have low operative morbidity, mortality, and recurrence rates and are less likely to continue on antiepileptic medications. Although complete tumor resection is the goal, the surgical approach should be tailored to each patient depending on the patient's GSS score.
The ultrastructural organization of prematurely condensed chromosomes.

SUMMARY In an effort to understand the arrangement of the basic 30 nm chromatin fibre within metaphase chromosomes, changes in the organization of prematurely condensed chromosomes (PCC) were examined as a function of progression through the cell cycle. The structural features of PCC observed under the light microscope were compared with those obtained by scanning electron microscopy. PCC with varying levels of condensation were obtained by fusing mitotic HeLa cells with interphase cells synchronized at different times in the cell cycle. PCC from G 1 cells are composed of rather tightly packed bundles of tortuous chromatin fibres. The density of fibre packing along the longitudinal axis of G 1 -phase PCC is lower and less uniform than that of metaphase chromosomes. Early G 1 PCC exhibit gyres suggesting a despiralized chromonema. The condensed domains in G 1 PCC appear to be organized as supercoiled loops; whereas fibre-sparse domains consist of longitudinal fibres running along the chromosome axis. As cells progressed towards S phase, a greater proportion of highly extended regions containing prominent longitudinal fibres became evident in the PCC. The pulverized appearance of S -phase PCC under the light microscope corresponded to the highly condensed, looping fibre domains separated by more extended segments containing longitudinal fibres that are visualized using the scanning electron microscope. Active sites of DNA synthesis are implicated to be localized within extended longitudinal fibres. Post-replicative chromosome maturation extends through the G 2 period and appears to involve rearrangement of the extended longitudinal fibres into packed looping-fibre clusters, which then coalesce. These observations support the model for packing DNA into chromosomes proposed in 1980 by Mullinger & Johnson. Briefly, this model suggests that the chromonema of each metaphase chromatid contains regions composed of folded longitudinal chromatin fibres as well as looping fibres that emerge from the axis at distinct foci. The final level of chromatin packing in metaphase chromosomes is attained by spiralization of the chromonema.
Evaluation of Three Drop Traps for Sampling Aster Leafhoppers (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) in Rice

Three drop traps were developed and evaluated for sampling the aster leafhopper, Macrosteles fascifrons (Stal), in flooded rice paddies. The emergence trap collected the fewest number of leafhoppers per unit area. The transparent cylinder and plant sampler collected the greatest number of adults and nymphs per unit area, respectively. Use of the emergence trap and transparent cylinder required 5–10 min per sample for collection, identification, and enumeration. Each sample from the plant sampler required 10 min for collection, 24 h for processing in a Berlese funnel, and 5–10 min for identification and enumeration.
Tuning exchange bias in core/shell FeO/Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

Monodisperse 35 nm FeO nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized and oxidized in a dry air atmosphere into core/shell FeO/Fe3O4 NPs with both FeO core and Fe3O4 shell dimensions controlled by reaction t...
Laser tomography for simultaneous concentration and temperature measurement in reacting flows

Laser tomography, a new optical diagnostic technique based upon multiangular absorption spectroscopy has been developed. This technique allows the rapid measurement of both species concentration and temperature throughout a twoor three-dimensional nonuniform flowfield. Laser tomography involves making absorption measurements along M parallel rays at Nequally spaced angles. These Mx Nmeasurements are used to reconstruct the spatially resolved two-dimensional property field. Experimental results using two optical geometries are reported for measurements of sodium concentration in a seeded premixed flat flame. Computer simulations of a complete tomography system are presented, including the effects of noise based upon the experimental measurements. Results indicate that within the flame zone both the concentration of absorbing species and temperature can be recovered to within +31 without noise filtering and to !1.7% with filtering. -
How to Stay Competitive

In the Office Of The Future, the coffee pot will come to you. You'll push a button on your wrist communicator, and a mobile robot will appear at your desk with fresh pots of coffee and tea, and donuts. Also, through the Wonder of Technology, you will only have to work a half-day to maintain your current productivity, so you can devote the rest of your time to entrepeneurial pursuits. Suppose you decide to go into the mobile-coffee-robot business, providing coffee-serving robots to office buildings for a flat monthly fee. Your expenses are proportional to the distance the robots travel, so you want to minimize this quantity by making smart decisions about which robot to send to service any given request. (After servicing a request, the robot stays where it is until needed again.) Of course it would help if you could make some predictions about future requests, but that is not possible. Here are two strategies:
Unsteady Aerodynamics and Trailing-edge Vortex Sheet of An Airfoil

Unsteady flow models of wings and airfoils have been studied to understand the aerodynamic performance of natural flyers and provide improved maneuverability for micro aerial vehicles (MAVs). Vortex methods have been extensively applied to reduce the dimensionality of these aerodynamic models, based on the proper estimation of the distribution and evolution of the vortices in the wake. In such modeling approaches, one of the most fundamental questions is how the vortex sheets are generated and released from the leading and trailing edges. To study the formation of the trailing-edge vortex sheet, the classical Kutta condition is extended to unsteady situations following the physical sense that flow cannot turn around a sharp edge. This condition can be readily applied to a flat plate or an airfoil with cusped trailing edge since the direction of the forming vortex sheet is known to be tangential to the trailing edge. However, for a non-cusped trailing edge, the direction of the forming vortex sheet is ambiguous. In this study, to remove any ad-hoc condition, a novel analytical formulation is provided to determine the angle of the trailingedge vortex sheet. The derivation of this equation only requires momentum conservation in the direction normal to the forming vortex sheet. The aerodynamic model together with the proposed unsteady Kutta condition is verified by comparing flow structures and force calculations with experimental results for airfoils in steady and unsteady background flows.
Indica CMS Line Assisted Breeding of Indica Rice by Indica-japonica Hybridization

To improve the breeding efficiency of indica-japonica hybridization,a novel method of indica CMS line assisted breeding of indica rice by indica-japonica hybridization was put forward. In this method,the crossing pattern is( IA/ JB) F1/ IR,in which IAmeans an indica CMS line,JBa japonica variety with maintaining ability and IR an indica restorer line or an indica variety with restoring ability. The technical approaches to breeding different types of indica rice,including inbred line variety,restorer line and near-isogenic line of CMS line,were discussed in detail. An example was given to develop indica restorer lines by this method.
Antiprogesterone (RU486) effects on metalloproteinase inhibitor activity in human and rat granulosa cells

Objective To determine if granulosa cells are a source of metalloproteinase inhibitor activity and whether P regulates this activity. Design Inhibitor activity was measured in media from human and rat granulosa cells cultured with the antiprogesterone mifepristone (RU486). Human granulosa cells were obtained at the time of oocyte retrieval from gonadotropin-stimulated patients after hCG administration. Rat cells were collected from gonadotropin-primed animals before the LH surge. Human and rat cells were cultured for 24hours in the absence or presence of LH (100ng/mL or 3.3nmol/L) and/or RU486 (5 μ M or 50 μ M). Inhibitor activity and P were measured in the media. Setting Reproductive Endocrinology Laboratories, University of Kentucky. Results Media from human granulosa cells contained metalloproteinase inhibitor activity and the addition of LH did not change this activity. RU486 at 50 μ M decreased inhibitor activity in cells cultured in the absence or presence of LH (0.59±0.12- and 0.24±0.18-fold change, respectively, versus control cultures; mean±SEM). In rat granulosa cells, inhibitor activity increased with LH treatment (1.97±0.12-fold change). RU486 decreased the activity present in cells cultured in the presence of LH. Progesterone production was stimulated by LH in both human and rat granulosa cells (3.71±0.90- and 7.18±0.24-fold change, respectively). In the human cells, RU486 inhibited P production whereas RU486 stimulated P production in the rat cells. Conclusions These findings demonstrate for the first time that human granulosa cells are a source of metalloproteinase inhibitor activity. The decrease in granulosa cell-derived inhibitor activity by RU486 suggests that P stimulates inhibitor activity. Thus, P may regulate proteolysis associated with follicular rupture via its ability to stimulate granulosa cell production of metalloproteinase inhibitors. Differences in P production between the human and rat cells may be due to differences in hormonal stimulation regimens (i.e., hCG exposure).
Efficient Checkpointing of Multi-threaded Applications as a Tool for Debugging, Performance Tuning, and Resiliency

Past work on application checkpointing systems has either focused on enabling application resiliency or as a tool for debugging (as in record-replay literature). Each of these use cases for checkpoints places different constraints on the constructed checkpointing system. When used for resiliency, checkpointing systems must minimize their interference with the running application. When used for record-replay and numerical debugging, checkpointing systems instead must focus on correlating the contents of a checkpoint to user-visible data structures in order to aid in the debugging process. Past literature has ignored the use of checkpoints in application performance tuning. While existing performance profiling tools enable the identification of hotspots in an application, creating full application checkpoints immediately prior to a hotspot enables rapid iteration on the performance of that hotspot. In this paper, we present a checkpointing system for all three of these use cases: resiliency, application debugging, and application performance tuning. We present a novel checkpointing framework that creates efficient checkpoints of multi-threaded C programs using a hybrid compile-time and runtime approach. This approach reduces the framework's dependency on platform-specific features and improves its efficiency using insights from static and dynamic application analysis. Across a wide range of benchmarks we demonstrate that our framework incurs low overheads: ~5% on average and in many cases less than 1%.
Fibula osteofascial flap with proximal skin paddle for intraoral reconstruction.

Background the fibula free flap has become a workhorse in intraoral reconstruction. However, its skin paddle has multiple drawbacks. The aim of this report is to establish the applicability of the fibula osteofascial flap in intraoral reconstruction. Methods prospectively maintained database was performed in 15 patients who underwent fibula osteofascial flap for intraoral reconstruction. Mandibular reconstruction was the main location (13 patients). Ten flaps were done following tumor resection, three due to osteoradionecrosis and two following mandible fracture/bone loss. A standard fibula flap dissection performing an anterior approach was done, adding a distal fascial flap isolated on the distal perforators (for intraoral reconstruction) and a proximal skin paddle (for external soft tissue reconstruction). Results One flap was lost due to hypercoagulable state. Fourteen flaps survived with complete oral mucosalization, resembling physiological intraoral bone coverage by 7 weeks (range: 6-8 weeks). One patient presented with delayed donor-site wound healing. The mean follow-up was 14.4 months (range: 2-33 months). Thirteen patients (87%) were without tracheotomy at last follow-up, and 14 patients (93%) were taking at least some nutrition by mouth. Conclusion Fibula osteofascial flap can be safely used for intraoral reconstruction. This flap provides a stable, thin, and vascularized fascia over the fibula with minimal donor-site complications. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microsurgery, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microsurgery 37:276-281, 2017.
Chapter 8 Vocal Folds

Vocal folds are two infoldings of complex tissue housed in the larynx whose vibration, known as phonation, results in voice. To create voice, vocal folds are adducted, effectively closing the glottis or the space between them creating a pressure difference between the top and bottom of the tissue. This pressure difference, combined with Bernoulli forces and tissue elasticity, pushes the vocal folds apart and brings them back together again [1]. This rapid, sustained opening and closing cycle produces vocal fold vibration at various fundamental frequencies ranging from 0 to 300 Hz for normal vocal levels [2]. The vocal folds are multilayer structures that consist of muscle, lamina propria, and epithelium. Fundamental frequency is controlled by laryngeal muscles which alter vocal fold physical properties, such as length and thickness. The extracellular matrix (ECM) of the lamina propria contributes significantly to vocal quality. Disruption of vocal fold vibration and/or quality through muscular dysfunction, airflow disruption, or tissue damage results in disturbance of normal voice production. Vocal fold scarring, a prevalent vocal fold injury, is characterized by pathophysiologic changes to the lamina propria ECM, directly causing a marked decrease in voice quality [3].
Current Trends—Multilingualism as a Global Trend

Current trends in foreign language include the language enterprise partnership, the needs of adult learners, the role of technology in foreign language learner, immersion and heritage language learners, ESL, and—very importantly—multilingualism as a global trend. The most significant trend in foreign languages in the U.S. is the collaborative language enterprise partnership, with foreign language education, government, and business working together to effectively address the U.S. foreign language deficit and to ensure a sufficient supply for foreign language skills among Americans. Wonderful examples of the partnership include the MLOW Essay Contest and Global Youth Forum.
Lube oil-dependent ash chemistry on soot oxidation reactivity in a gasoline direct-injection engine

Abstract Gasoline particulate filters (GPF) are considered an enabling technology to meet stringent particulate matter (PM) regulations for gasoline direct-injection (GDI) engines, which are known to produce significant PM emissions. While ash loading in filters has been recognized to be detrimental in filter performance by increasing back pressure, increased ash fractions in soot were observed to enhance soot oxidation. GDI soot samples derived from different gasoline/lube oil blends were evaluated to identify potential promoting factors when formulated lube oils were dosed into gasoline fuel. Ca-derived ash enhanced soot oxidation remarkably, while P- and ZDDP-derived ash deteriorated soot oxidation. It is apparent that the promoting effect of lube oil-derived ash is due mainly to the Ca component that is the most abundant among additive components in lube oil. Bulk and surface analyses of these ash compounds indicate that Ca-derived ash would be complex compounds, while the contribution of CaSO4, which is one of the most abundant ash compounds from diesel engines, is almost negligible. For the validation of the ash promoting impact in filters, the regeneration experiments were compared for a TWC-coated GPF in a GDI engine before and after ash loading was performed. The pressure drop of the ash-loaded GPF decreased noticeably in the initial regeneration stage and it increased gradually, whereas that of no ash-loaded GPF increased gradually without any reduction. So, it is concluded that the ash layer in the GPF assisted soot oxidation in the early regeneration stage when it was in close contact with soot.
Misteriose vicende di un tempo diverso: L’Orologio tra viaggio, sogno e magia

L’Orologio (1950) di Carlo Levi e stato spesso descritto come un romanzo d’impegno politico. Tuttavia, nell’immortalare un periodo di profonda trasformazione individuale e collettiva, Levi rifugge una rappresentazione mimetica del dato storico, realizzando un potente affresco espressionista. Lo svolgimento narrativo del romanzo e fortemente imperniato su una presenza diffusa di elementi onirici e magici: per penetrare la complessita di quest’opera e necessario quindi esplorare tale aspetto fondamentale della scrittura leviana. Il presente articolo analizza L’Orologio nei termini di un racconto di viaggio all’interno della coscienza fratturata di un paese, laddove viaggio, sogno e magia si rivelano misure complementari di un percorso conoscitivo di ricostruzione morale privato e collettivo insieme.
Therapeutic targeting of isocitrate dehydrogenase mutant AML.

The last decade has witnessed rapid advances in our understanding of molecular leukemogenesis providing valuable insights from which to explore new therapeutic avenues. Characterization of the muta...
Replication-Transcription Conflicts Generate R-Loops that Orchestrate Bacterial Stress Survival and Pathogenesis

Replication-transcription collisions shape genomes, influence evolution, and promote genetic diseases. Although unclear why, head-on transcription (lagging strand genes) is especially disruptive to replication and promotes genomic instability. Here, we find that head-on collisions promote R-loop formation in Bacillus subtilis. We show that pervasive R-loop formation at head-on collision regions completely blocks replication, elevates mutagenesis, and inhibits gene expression. Accordingly, the activity of the R-loop processing enzyme RNase HIII at collision regions is crucial for stress survival in B. subtilis, as many stress response genes are head-on to replication. Remarkably, without RNase HIII, the ability of the intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes to infect and replicate in hosts is weakened significantly, most likely because many virulence genes are head-on to replication. We conclude that the detrimental effects of head-on collisions stem primarily from excessive R-loop formation and that the resolution of these structures is critical for bacterial stress survival and pathogenesis.
Patient safety: a call to action: a consensus statement from the National Quality Forum.

OBJECTIVE The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Presidential Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Healthcare Industry have both recently highlighted healthcare errors as a serious public health problem. An in-depth review of the issue was conducted by the National Quality Forum (NQF) in preparation for work the federal government has asked the NQF to do. PARTICIPANTS The membership of the NQF includes a wide array of public and private health agencies, healthcare provider organizations, consumer groups, healthcare purchasers, and research and quality improvement organizations. EVIDENCE Published literature, including more than 350 journal articles and over 30 books and monographs, were reviewed, and input was solicited from individuals and organizations known to be knowledgeable on the topic, including the Harvard University Executive Session on Medical Error, the VA National Patient Safety Center, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the National Patient Safety Foundation, and the IOM. The principal observations and findings were collated; 10 high-priority strategic areas needing action were identified; and specific recommendations for each area were crafted. CONSENSUS PROCESS A draft statement was prepared and submitted to the NQF membership and Directors, as well as to external reviewers. The statement was revised following subsequent rounds of review and comment, after which it was approved by the NQF Board of Directors. CONCLUSIONS There is an urgent need to reduce healthcare errors; however, numerous barriers impede progress in this regard, including widespread misunderstanding about why healthcare errors occur, the prevailing culture of "name and blame" surrounding these events, lack of user-friendly error-reporting mechanisms, and fear of litigation if errors are acknowledged and reported. To eliminate these barriers, and to begin to reduce healthcare errors, the NQF recommends that concerted action be taken in the 10 strategic areas identified here.
Legal Movements in IP: TRIPS, Unilateral Action, Bilateral Agreements, and HIV/AIDS

In this contribution to the "NEXIS Symposium: An Interdisciplinary Forum on the Impact of International Patent and Trade Agreements in the Global Fight Against HIV & Aids," Professor Bagley looks beyond the WTO Doha Declaration to other patent and trade issues that may also significantly impact access to essential medicines. The Article begins with an overview of the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the HIV/AIDS pandemic which created the need for the Doha Declaration. It then discusses two trade-related movements, unilateral action and TRIPS-plus bilateral agreements, that call into question the long-term effectiveness of the multilateral TRIPS process generally and the benefits of the Doha Declaration in particular in addressing multiple facets of the access to essential medicines problem. The Article concludes that a consideration of these issues should be included in the development of any further TRIPS-related solutions to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Induction chemotherapy in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma: Clinical outcomes and patterns of care.

The role of induction chemotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains controversial. The primary aim of this study was to use the National Cancer Database to evaluate the patterns of care of induction chemotherapy in NPC and its impact on overall survival (OS). Patients with NPC from 2004 to 2014 were obtained from the NCDB. Patients were considered to have received induction chemotherapy if it was started ≥43 days before the start of RT and concurrent CRT if chemotherapy started within 21 days after the start of RT. Propensity score matching was used to control for selection bias. Cox proportional hazards model was used to determine significant predictors of OS. Logistic regression model was used to determine predictors of the use of induction chemotherapy. Significance was defined as a P value <.05. A total of 4857 patients were identified: 4041 patients (87.2%) received concurrent CRT and 816 patients (16.8%) received induction chemotherapy. The use of induction therapy remained stable between 2004 and 2014. Younger patients and those with higher T- and N-stage had a higher likelihood of being treated with induction chemotherapy. The 5-year OS in patients treated with induction chemotherapy and CRT was 66.3% vs 69.1%, respectively (P = .25). There was no difference in OS when these two groups were analyzed after propensity score matching. No differences in OS existed between these treatment groups in patients with T3-T4N1 or TanyN2-3 disease (P = .76). Propensity score matching also did not reveal any difference in OS in patients with T3-T4N1 or TanyN2-3 disease. The use of induction chemotherapy has remained stable in the last decade. In this study of patients with NPC, induction chemotherapy was not associated with improved OS compared to CRT alone.
Characteristics of Households of People With Diabetes Accessing US Food Pantries: Implications for Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the associations between food insecurity (FI) and coping strategies of relevance to diabetes self-management among households of people with diabetes ...
Identification of novel mutations and phenotype in the steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome gene NUP93 : a case report

Monogenic mutations may be a significant cause of steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. NUP93 is a gene previously reported to cause isolated steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. Here we describe a case of recessive, syndromic, steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome caused by NUP93 mutation. NUP93 may convey a phenotype that has not only SRNS, but also other syndromic features.
Convolutional neural networks for object detection in aerial imagery for disaster response and recovery

Abstract Accurate and timely access to data describing disaster impact and extent of damage is key to successful disaster management (a process that includes prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery). Airborne data acquisition using helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) helps obtain a bird’s-eye view of disaster-affected areas. However, a major challenge to this approach is robustly processing a large amount of data to identify and map objects of interest on the ground in real-time. The current process is resource-intensive (must be carried out manually) and requires offline computing (through post-processing of aerial videos). This research introduces and evaluates a series of convolutional neural network (CNN) models for ground object detection from aerial views of disaster’s aftermath. These models are capable of recognizing critical ground assets including building roofs (both damaged and undamaged), vehicles, vegetation, debris, and flooded areas. The CNN models are trained on an in-house aerial video dataset (named Volan2018) that is created using web mining techniques. Volan2018 contains eight annotated aerial videos (65,580 frames) collected by drone or helicopter from eight different locations in various hurricanes that struck the United States in 2017–2018. Eight CNN models based on You-Only-Look-Once (YOLO) algorithm are trained by transfer learning, i.e., pre-trained on the COCO/VOC dataset and re-trained on Volan2018 dataset, and achieve 80.69% mAP for high altitude (helicopter footage) and 74.48% for low altitude (drone footage), respectively. This paper also presents a thorough investigation of the effect of camera altitude, data balance, and pre-trained weights on model performance, and finds that models trained and tested on videos taken from similar altitude outperform those trained and tested on videos taken from different altitudes. Moreover, the CNN model pre-trained on the VOC dataset and re-trained on balanced drone video yields the best result in significantly shorter training time.
5 Ezra 2:10–14: Its place in the book’s structure and in Christian supersessionism:

5 Ezra (2 Esdras 1–2) is an apocryphal Christian supersessionist tractate dating from the 3rd century. It is structured in three main sections, each of which comprises two contrasting parts. 5 Ezra...
Accounting for the Corporate: An Analytic Framework for Understanding Corporations in Education:

Drawing on an integrative review of the literature on the privatization of education and an empirical case study of technology corporations in education, this article examines the corporate within ...
Obstetrics and gynecology.

The past year has seen exciting technological advances in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. Several advances in the areas of contraception, assisted reproduction, and the treatment of complications of prematurity are highlighted herein. On December 10, 1990, the Food and Drug Administration approved the Norplant Contraceptive System for use in the United States. This approval culminates 20 years of research and development. Since the first studies in 1966, the Norplant system has been used by more than 55 000 women in 46 countries. The Norplant system consists of six flexible Silastic capsules, each 34 mm long and 2.4 mm wide. Each capsule contains 36 mg of levonorgestrel, a synthetic progestin widely used in oral contraceptives. After subdermal insertion of the capsules, the blood levels stabilize at approximately 0.30 ng/mL, which corresponds to the level reached 12 hours after the oral intake of a levonorgestrel mini—contraceptive pill. The cumulative pregnancy
The Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus NSm Protein Is Dispensable for Growth In Vitro and Disease in Ifnar-/- Mice

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a tri-segmented, tick-borne nairovirus that causes disease of ranging severity in humans. The CCHFV M segment encodes a complex glycoprotein precursor (GPC) that undergoes extensive endoproteolytic cleavage, giving rise to two structural proteins (Gn and Gc) required for virus attachment and entry, and to multiple non-structural proteins (NSm, GP160, GP85, and GP38). The functions of these non-structural proteins remain largely unclear. Here, we investigate the role of NSm during infection by generating a recombinant CCHFV lacking the complete NSm domain (10200∆NSm) and observing CCHFV ∆NSm replication in cell lines and pathogenicity in Ifnar-/- mice. Our data demonstrate that the NSm domain is dispensable for viral replication in vitro, and, despite the delayed onset of clinical signs, CCHFV lacking this domain caused severe or lethal disease in infected mice.
Diffusion-Weighted Imaging

This review describes diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) techniques and applications in prostate cancer imaging. First, we review methodologies for the acquisition of DW-MRI data and discuss their strengths and limitations. Second, we present models and methods for the analysis of DW-MRI data of the prostate. Finally, we present an overview of the challenges of DW-MRI in the management of prostate cancer and future directions.
Successful non-directed living liver donor transplant for an infant with biliary atresia during the COVID-19 pandemic

Amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the American Society for Transplant Surgeons has recommended that only urgent liver transplant with deceased donors should occur. However, young pediatric candidates rely on living donors for lifesaving transplant. We present a case of non-directed left lateral lobe living liver donor transplant for a 7-month-old child with biliary atresia experiencing repeated life-threatening episodes of sepsis and cholangitis from infected bile lakes. Using careful preoperative planning among the entire multidisciplinary team, paying meticulous attention to infection control pre- and post-operatively, and taking advantage of robust telehealth technology both in and out of the hospital, a successful transplant was achieved. Amidst the COVID pandemic, non-directed liver transplantation can be safely achieved for pediatric recipients.
Medication Education for Dosing Safety: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Study objective This study sought to determine whether a brief intervention at the time of emergency department (ED) discharge can improve safe dosing of liquid acetaminophen and ibuprofen by parents or guardians. Methods We performed a randomized controlled trial in the ED of parents and guardians of children 90 days to 11.9 years of age who were discharged with acetaminophen or ibuprofen, or both. Families were randomized to standard care or a teaching intervention combining lay language, simplified handouts, provision of an unmarked dosing syringe, and teach-back to confirm correct dosing. Participants were called 48 to 72 hours and 5 to 7 days after ED discharge to assess understanding of correct dosing. The primary outcome was defined as parent or guardian report of safe dosing at the time of first follow-up call. Our primary hypothesis was that the intervention would decrease the rate of error from 30% to 10% at 48- to 72-hour follow-up. Results We enrolled 149 of 259 (58%) eligible subjects; 97 of 149 (65%) were reached at first follow-up call, of whom 35 of 97 (36%) received the intervention. Among those participants receiving the intervention, 25 of 35 (71%) were able to identify a safe dose for their child at the time of the first call compared with 28 of 62 (45%) of those in the control arm. The difference in proportions was 26% (95% confidence interval [CI] 7% to 46%). There was a 58% increase in reporting safe dosing in the intervention group compared with the control roup (relative risk 1.58; 95% CI 1.12 to 2.24), and it remained significant after adjustment for health literacy and language (adjusted relative risk 1.50; 95% CI 1.06 to 2.13). Conclusions A multifaceted intervention at the time of ED discharge—consisting of a simplified dosing handout, a teaching session, teach-back, and provision of a standardized dosing device—can improve parents’ knowledge of safe dosing of liquid medications at 48 to 72 hours.
Transpulmonary Pressure-Guided Lung Protective Ventilation Improves Pulmonary Mechanics and Oxygenation in Adult Obese Patients

Background: Transpulmonary pressure (PL) manometry is used to assess pulmonary mechanics and guide lung protective mechanical ventilation (LPV). PL manometry is recommended to individualize LPV settings for patients with increased chest wall elastance and hypoxemia. Our primary aim was to determine if non-PL guided LPV settings, pulmonary mechanics, and oxygenation differ 1-day after receiving PL guided LPV among obese mechanically ventilated (MV) patients. Secondary endpoints: Ventilator-free days (VFD), ICU length of stay (LOS), and overall ICU mortality.. Methods: This was an IRB approved retrospective analysis of prospectively collected quality improvement data from MV adult obese patients. All patients were MV for a period prior to placement of an esophageal balloon catheter. Ventilator settings, pulmonary mechanics, and oxygenation were recorded on the initial day of PL measurement (D1, non-PL guided LPV). PL guided LPV targeted Inspiratory PL Results: 19 patients (63% male) with median age 49 (40-65) y, BMI 46.3 (36.6-55.9) kg/m2, and SOFA score 8 (6-11) were included in our sample. 13 (68%) patients received care in the medical ICU and 6 (32%) in our surgical/trauma ICU. PL measurement occurred 16 (9-21) h after initiating non-PL guided LPV in an effort to optimize ventilator settings. PL guided LPV resulted in higher PEEP [14 (14-20) vs 18 (17-25)], P Conclusions: PL guided LPV results in higher PEEP, lower FIO2, improved pulmonary mechanics, and greater oxygenation when compared to non-PL guided LPV MV settings in adult obese patients. Future studies should evaluate early PL guided LPV among obese pts and the effect on VFD, ICU LOS, and ICU mortality.
Legal Imperialism: Sovereignty and Extraterritoriality in Japan, the Ottoman Empire, and China

Introduction: extraterritoriality in British legal imperialism 1. Positive law and sovereignty 2. Extraterritoriality and legal imperialism 3. Japan's rapid rise to sovereignty 4. The Ottoman Empire's elusive dream of sovereignty 5. China's struggle for sovereignty Conclusion: American legal imperialism: extraterritoriality today.
THE DETECTION OF COLD DUST IN CASSIOPEIA A: EVIDENCE FOR THE FORMATION OF METALLIC NEEDLES IN THE EJECTA

Ejecta from core-collapse supernovae contain a few solar masses of refractory elements and therefore can be the most important source of interstellar dust if these elements condense efficiently into solids. However, infrared observations of young supernova remnants, such as Cas A or Kepler, and observations of SN 1987A have detected only � 10 � 3 Mof hot dust in these objects. Recently, Dunne et al. obtained 450 and 850 � mS CUBA images of Cas A and reported the detection of 2-4 Mof cold (18 K) dust in the remnant. Here we show that their interpretation of the observations faces serious difficulties. Their inferred dust mass ignores the effect of grain destruction by sputtering and is larger than the mass of refractory material in the ejecta of a 10-30 Mstar. The cold dust model faces even more difficulties if the 170 � m observations of the remnant are included in the analysis, which decreases the cold dust temperature to � 8 K and increases its mass to k20 M� .W e offer here a more plausible interpretation of their observation, in which the cold dust emission is generated by conducting needles in the ejecta. The needle properties are completely determined by the combined submillimeter and X-ray observations of the remnant. The needles are collisionally heated by the shocked gas. They are very efficient emitters at submillimeter wavelengths and, with a resistivity of a few � � cm, can readily attain a temperature of 8 K. Taking the destruction of needles into account, a dust mass of only 10 � 4 to 10 � 3 Mis needed to account for the observed SCUBA emission. The needles consist of metallic whiskers with P1% of embedded impurities, which may have condensed out of blobs of material that were expelled at high velocities from the inner metal- rich layers of the star in an asymmetric explosion. Conductive needles may also be the source of the cold dust emission detected by Morgan et al. in Kepler. When aligned in the magnetic field, needles may give rise to observable polarized emission. The detection of submillimeter polarization will therefore offer definitive proof for a needle origin for the cold dust emission. Supernovae may yet be proven to be important sources of interstellar dust, but the evidence is still inconclusive.
GPU Programming Productivity in Different Abstraction Paradigms: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing CUDA and Thrust

Coprocessor architectures in High Performance Computing are prevalent in today’s scientific computing clusters and require specialized knowledge for proper utilization. Various alternative paradigms for parallel and offload computation exist, but little is known about the human factors impacts of using the different paradigms. With computer science student participants from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with no previous exposure to Graphics Processing Unit programming, our study compared NVIDIA CUDA C/C++ as a control group and the Thrust library. The designers of Thrust claim their higher level of abstraction enhances programmer productivity. The trial was conducted on 91 participants and was administered through our computerized testing platform. Although the study was narrowly focused on the basic steps of an offloaded computation problem and was not intended to be a comprehensive evaluation of the superiority of one approach or the other, we found evidence that although Thrust was designed for ease of use, the abstractions tended to be confusing to students and in several cases diminished productivity. Specifically, abstractions in Thrust for (i) memory allocation through a C++ Standard Template Library-style vector library call, (ii) memory transfers between the host and Graphics Processing Unit coprocessor through an overloaded assignment operator, and (iii) execution of an offloaded routine through a generic transform library call instead of a CUDA kernel routine all performed either equal to or worse than CUDA.
Subcritical Water Extraction of Salvia miltiorrhiza .

In this work, a green extraction technique, subcritical water extraction (SBWE), was employed to extract active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from an important Chinese medicinal herb, Salvia miltiorrhiza (danshen), at various temperatures. The APIs included tanshinone I, tanshinone IIA, protocatechualdehyde, caffeic acid, and ferulic acid. Traditional herbal decoction (THD) of Salvia miltiorrhiza was also carried out for comparison purposes. Reproduction assay of herbal extracts obtained by both SBWE and THD were then conducted on Caenorhabditis elegans so that SBWE conditions could be optimized for the purpose of developing efficacious herbal medicine from Salvia miltiorrhiza. The extraction efficiency was mostly enhanced with increasing extraction temperature. The quantity of tanshinone I in the herbal extract obtained by SBWE at 150 °C was 370-fold higher than that achieved by THD extraction. Reproduction evaluation revealed that the worm reproduction rate decreased and the reproduction inhibition rate increased with elevated SBWE temperatures. Most importantly, the reproduction inhibition rate of the SBWE herbal extracts obtained at all four temperatures investigated was higher than that of traditional herbal decoction extracts. The results of this work show that there are several benefits of subcritical water extraction of medicinal herbs over other existing herbal medicine preparation techniques. Compared to THD, the thousand-year-old and yet still popular herbal preparation method used in herbal medicine, subcritical water extraction is conducted in a closed system where no loss of volatile active pharmaceutical ingredients occurs, although analyte degradation may happen at higher temperatures. Temperature optimization in SBWE makes it possible to be more efficient in extracting APIs from medicinal herbs than the THD method. Compared to other industrial processes of producing herbal medicine, subcritical water extraction eliminates toxic organic solvents. Thus, subcritical water extraction is not only environmentally friendly but also produces safer herbal medicine for patients.
Disparities in national and state estimates of COVID-19 vaccination receipt and intent to vaccinate by race/ethnicity, income, and age group among adults ≥ 18 years, United States

INTRODUCTION COVID-19 morbidity and mortality has disproportionately affected vulnerable populations such as minority racial/ethnic groups. Understanding disparities in vaccine intentions and reasons for vaccine hesitancy are important for developing effective strategies for ameliorating racial/ethnic COVID-19 inequities. METHODS Using six waves of the large, nationally representative Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey data from January 6-March 29, 2021 (n = 459,235), we examined national and state estimates for vaccination intent, defined as receipt of ≥ 1 dose of the COVID-19 vaccine or definite intent to be vaccinated, by race/ethnicity with stratification by household income and age group. In separate logistic regression models, we also examined the interaction between race/ethnicity and household income, and race/ethnicity and age group, and its association with vaccination intent. Lastly, we examined reasons for not vaccinating by race/ethnicity. RESULTS Vaccination intent differed by racial/ethnic group, household income, and age group nationally and by Health and Human Services (HHS) region and state. A significant interaction was observed between race/ethnicity and household income (F(8,72) = 4.50, p < 0.001), and race/ethnicity and age group (F(8,72) = 15.66, p < 0.001). Non-Hispanic Black adults with lower income (<$35,000) and younger age (18-49 years) were least likely to intend to vaccinate. Similar disparities across racial/ethnic groups were seen across most HHS regions and states. Concerns about possible side effects and effectiveness were significantly higher among all minority groups compared to non-Hispanic White adults. CONCLUSION Disparities in vaccination intent by racial/ethnic groups underscore the need for interventions and recommendations designed to improve vaccination coverage and confidence in underserved communities, such as younger and lower income racial/ethnic minority groups. Efforts to reduce disparities and barriers to vaccination are needed to achieve equity in vaccination coverage, and ultimately, to curb COVID-19 transmission.