cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Coupled Radiative and Conductive Heat Transfer in a Two-Dimensional Rectangular Enclosure With Gray Participating Media Using Finite Elements

Presentation d'une solution numerique, en utilisant la methode des elements finis, des equations exactes du transfert de chaleur couple par conduction et rayonnement thermiques, du champ de temperatures dans le milieu et de la repartition des flux thermiques sur toutes les parois grises d'une enceinte bidimensionnelle rectangulaire pour un milieu presentant des proprietes uniformes d'absorption et d'emission
There is no benefit to universal carotid artery duplex screening before a major cardiac surgical procedure.

Background Perioperative stroke is a devastating complication after cardiac surgery. In an attempt to minimize this complication, many cardiac surgeons routinely preoperatively order carotid artery duplex scans to assess for significant carotid stenosis. We hypothesize that the routine screening of preoperative cardiac surgery patients with carotid artery duplex scans detects few patients who would benefit from carotid intervention or that a significant carotid stenosis reliably predicts stroke risk after cardiac surgery. Methods A retrospective review identified 1,499 patients who underwent cardiac surgical procedures between July 1999 and September 2010. Data collected included patient demographics, comorbidities, history of previous stroke, preoperative carotid artery duplex scan results, location of postoperative stroke, and details of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) procedures before, in conjunction with, or after cardiac surgery. Statistical methods included univariate analysis and Fisher’s exact test. Results Twenty-six perioperative strokes were identified (1.7%). In the 21 postoperative stroke patients for whom there is complete carotid artery duplex scan data, 3 patients had a hemodynamically significant lesion (>70%) and 1 patient underwent unilateral carotid CEA for bilateral disease. Postoperative strokes occurred in the anterior cerebral circulation (69.2%), posterior cerebral circulation (15.4%), or both (15.4%). Patient comorbidities, preoperative carotid artery duplex scan screening velocities, or types of cardiac surgical procedure were not predictive for stroke. Thirteen patients (0.86%) underwent CEA before, in conjunction with, or after cardiac surgery. Two of these patients had symptomatic disease, 1 of whom underwent CEA before and the other after his cardiac surgery. Of the 11 asymptomatic patients, 2 underwent CEA before, 3 concurrently, and 6 after cardiac surgery. Left main disease (≥50% stenosis), previous stroke, and peripheral vascular disease were found to be statistically significant predictors of carotid revascularization. A cost analysis of universal screening resulted in an estimated net cost of $378,918 during the study period. Conclusions The majority of postoperative strokes after cardiac surgery are not related to extracranial carotid artery disease and they are not predicted by preoperative carotid artery duplex scan screening. Consequently, universal carotid artery duplex scan screening cannot be recommended and a selective approach should be adopted.
Membrane-Targeting Approaches for Enhanced Cancer Cell Destruction with Irreversible Electroporation

Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a promising technology to treat local malignant cancer using short, high-voltage electric pulses. Unfortunately, in vivo studies show that IRE suffers from an inability to destroy large volumes of cancer tissue without introduction of cytotoxic agents and/or increasing the applied electrical dose to dangerous levels. This research will address this limitation by leveraging membrane-targeting mechanisms that increase lethal membrane permeabilization. Methods that directly modify membrane properties or change the pulse delivery timing are proposed that do not rely on cytotoxic agents. This work shows that significant enhancement (67–75% more cell destruction in vitro and >100% treatment volume increase in vivo) can be achieved using membrane-targeting approaches for IRE cancer destruction. The methods introduced are surfactants (i.e., DMSO) and pulse timing which are low cost, non-toxic, and easy to be incorporated into existing clinical use. Moreover, when needed, these methods can also be combined with electrochemotherapy to further enhance IRE treatment efficacy.
Versatile microbial surface-display for environmental remediation and biofuels production

Surface display is a powerful technique that uses natural microbial functional components to express proteins or peptides on the cell exterior. Since the reporting of the first surface-display system in the mid-1980s, a variety of new systems have been reported for yeast, Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Non-conventional display methods are emerging, eliminating the generation of genetically modified microorganisms. Cells with surface display are used as biocatalysts, biosorbents and biostimulants. Microbial cell-surface display has proven to be extremely important for numerous applications, ranging from combinatorial library screening and protein engineering to bioremediation and biofuels production.
Complexity in scalable computing

The rich history of scalable computing research owes much to a rapid rise in computing platform scale in terms of size and speed. As platforms evolve, so must algorithms and the software expressions of those algorithms. Unbridled growth in scale inevitably leads to complexity. This special issue grapples with two facets of this complexity: scalable execution and scalable development. The former results from efficient programming of novel hardware with increasing numbers of processing units (e.g., cores, processors, threads or processes). The latter results from efficient development of robust, flexible software with increasing numbers of programming units (e.g., procedures, classes, components or developers). The progression in the above two parenthetical lists goes from the lowest levels of abstraction (hardware) to the highest (people). This issue's theme encompasses this entire spectrum. The lead author of each article resides in the Scalable Computing Research and Development Department at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, CA. Their co-authors hail from other parts of Sandia, other national laboratories and academia. Their research sponsors include several programs within the Department of Energy's Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research and its National Nuclear Security Administration, along with Sandia's Laboratory Directed Research and Development program and the Office ofmore » Naval Research. The breadth of interests of these authors and their customers reflects in the breadth of applications this issue covers. This article demonstrates how to obtain scalable execution on the increasingly dominant high-performance computing platform: a Linux cluster with multicore chips. The authors describe how deep memory hierarchies necessitate reducing communication overhead by using threads to exploit shared register and cache memory. On a matrix-matrix multiplication problem, they achieve up to 96% parallel efficiency with a three-part strategy: intra-node multithreading, non-blocking inter-node message passing, and a dedicated communications thread to facilitate concurrent communications and computations. On a quantum chemistry problem, they spawn multiple computation threads and communication threads on each node and use one-sided communications between nodes to minimize wait times. They reduce software complexity by evolving a multi-threaded factory pattern in C++ from a working, message-passing program in C.« less
Experimental and computational approaches to estimate solubility and permeability in drug discovery and development settings

Experimental and computational approaches to estimate solubility and permeability in discovery and development settings are described. In the discovery setting 'the rule of 5' predicts that poor absorption or permeation is more likely when there are more than 5 H-bond donors, 10 H-bond acceptors, the molecular weight (MWT) is greater than 500 and the calculated Log P (CLogP) is greater than 5 (or MlogP > 4.15). Computational methodology for the rule-based Moriguchi Log P (MLogP) calculation is described. Turbidimetric solubility measurement is described and applied to known drugs. High throughput screening (HTS) leads tend to have higher MWT and Log P and lower turbidimetric solubility than leads in the pre-HTS era. In the development setting, solubility calculations focus on exact value prediction and are difficult because of polymorphism. Recent work on linear free energy relationships and Log P approaches are critically reviewed. Useful predictions are possible in closely related analog series when coupled with experimental thermodynamic solubility measurements.
Airline performance modelling to support schedule development: an application case study

Flight schedules are the key to planning and executing an airline's operation. With each schedule, the airline defines its day to day operations and commits its resources to satisfying its customers' air travel needs. When developing a schedule, the airline aims to provide efficient service to its customers while maximizing its own profit. Key to both of these goals are keeping three concurrent processes on schedule and synchronized with one another. These processes are: the movement of each of aircraft along its assigned route, the movement of each crew along its assigned route and the movement of passengers from their origin to destination. This paper addresses a monte carlo simulation model which was developed and used to help one airline evaluate its on- time arrival performance. Using the model, the authors and airline operations planners were able to examine alternative strategies for maintaining high on-time performance without increasing costs.
Forward to space weather collection on geomagnetically induced currents: Commentary and research

This forward to the Special Collection (SC) on geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) describes the motivation for the SC, the association between space weather and GICs, the contributions of early papers on tellurics, and our intention to have the SC be a living document.
Longitudinal data analysis using generalized linear models

SUMMARY This paper proposes an extension of generalized linear models to the analysis of longitudinal data. We introduce a class of estimating equations that give consistent estimates of the regression parameters and of their variance under mild assumptions about the time dependence. The estimating equations are derived without specifying the joint distribution of a subject's observations yet they reduce to the score equations for multivariate Gaussian outcomes. Asymptotic theory is presented for the general class of estimators. Specific cases in which we assume independence, m-dependence and exchangeable correlation structures from each subject are discussed. Efficiency of the proposed estimators in two simple situations is considered. The approach is closely related to quasi-likelih ood. Some key ironh: Estimating equation; Generalized linear model; Longitudinal data; Quasi-likelihood; Repeated measures.
Cross-facial nerve grafting

Cross facial nerve grafting may be utilized in the treatment algorithm of both reversible paralysis, wherein axonal input to existing mimetic mucsles will elicit movement, or in irreversible paralysis, wherein cross facial axons are used to motor a free muscle transfer. This article reviews the indications, operative technique, post-operative care, and potential complications of this technique.
Resistance and Common Ground as Functions of Mis/aligned Attitudes: A Filter-Theory Analysis of Ranchers’ Writings About the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project

Writing scholars interested in stakeholder attitudes need ways to reconstruct them from archives because (a) interview/survey studies are not always feasible (particularly in historical work) and (b) the question/answer format of these studies may exclude key attitudes that emerge in unprompted expressions of opinion. Accordingly, this article argues for filter theory—a pragmatic model of interpretive attitudes—as an effective hermeneutic for archival reception studies. Complementing a previous study of administrative attitudes about the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project, the present study applies filter theory to a sample of ranchers’ written opinions about the Project. The main findings are as follows: Ranchers and administrators differentially value resident rights versus Project goals; ranchers warrant resistance to the Project based on these misaligned attitudes; nonetheless, both groups value the ideal of a balanced environment and evidence collected on the ground. These findings sugges...
A very low frequency, micropower, low voltage CMOS oscillator for noncardiac pacemakers

One of the most power consuming components of a modern noncardiac pacemaker is the oscillator circuitry. This brief details the design of a micropower, low voltage, low frequency oscillator consisting of CMOS devices operating in subthreshold. Since the frequency of a typical oscillator is proportional to Current/Capacitance, the operation of the transistors in the subthreshold region allows the size of the capacitance to be reduced significantly in addition to decreasing the quiescent power consumption. The proposed prototype oscillator was fabricated in a 2 /spl mu/m n-well CMOS process and occupies 0.281 mm/sup 2/ including a 100 pf capacitor which takes 77.8% (0.219 mm/sup 2/) of the total area. Experimental results show a frequency of oscillation as low as 0.3 Hz and a power consumption of around 0.24 /spl mu/W at 0.3 Hz to 0.3 /spl mu/W at 100 Hz with a 2 V supply voltage.
Hormonal Influences on Brain Aging and Age-Related Cognitive Decline

Steroid hormones play a critical role in the developing brain and continue to modulate cognition with aging. The main steroid hormones include the adrenal gland hormones, mineralocorticoids , and glucocorticoids; and the gonadal hormones, androgen, estrogen, and progesterone. Steroid hormones transduce their effects via hormone-specific receptors which are localized throughout the brain. More importantly, the androgen, estrogen, progesterone, and the glucocorticoid receptors have been identified in brain regions associated with learning and memory such as the hippocampus. One consequence of aging is a shift in the relative proportion of hormone availability. For example, the sex hormones estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone decline with age, while hormones regulating the HPA axis, such as corticosteroids have been shown to increase with age. However, the change in hormone levels with age is oftentimes gender-specific. Steroid hormones act in concert with each other, thus separating out the contribution of one specific hormone can be difficult. For example, testosterone can be aromatized to estrogen, thus the loss of testosterone may also result in a reduction in estrogen. Further, the progesterone receptor contains an imperfect estrogen-binding site, thus loss of estrogen can potentially impact actions initiated through the progesterone receptor. The role of steroid hormones in cognition has been studied using both animal models and clinical trials. This chapter summarizes both the animal and clinical data on the effects of estrogen, progesterone, androgen, and the glucocorticoids on cognition with age and their role in neurodegenerative processes, specifically targeting Alzheimer’s disease.
Three dimensional distortion in magnetic resonance images

A method of generating a quantitative model of 3-D distortion in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using special phantoms is proposed. Preliminary experimental results confirm that MR image distortion is a function of the source voxel position in 3-D-space. The conclusions are drawn from analysis of two MRI data sets: clinical data from a 52-year-old man scanned prior to a stereotaxic procedure and a series of scans of an MRI-compatible phantom. Typical results indicate pincushion distortion relative to the MR system coordinates. The current phantom was inadequate for evaluating the surface topology of the image slices. The general form of the image distortion was consistent between the data sets, although the magnitude was different. >
Some Empirical Evidence for the Influence of Snow Cover on Temperature and Precipitation

Abstract A case study is made of the effect of snow cover or lack of snow cover on the surface temperature and precipitation in the coterminous United States during winter 1983/1984. Extensive snow occurred in the eastern half of the country early in December 1983; this snow cover appears to have produced substantial reduction in the observed surface temperature, especially during January 1984. This diminution was especially pronounced in the daytime maximum temperatures, presumably due to increase surface albedo. The effect involving anomalous snow cover also shows up in the Great Basin area during February 1984. A quantitative evaluation of the net effect of snow cover is made using errors of temperature specifications from 700 mb patterns formed from stepwise multiple regression equations. Temperature differences as great as 5°C were found over the temperature expected from the large-scale circulation alone. The concomitant effect of increased static stability near the surface may have played a role in...
Evaluating Candidate Dispositions in Advanced Reading Certification Programs: The Road Ahead is Here.

Abstract A great deal has been written in the professional literature about the importance of dispositions for beginning teachers with initial certification; however, little attention has been paid to the dispositions necessary for advanced certification candidates. What dispositions are expected of advanced certification candidates? How can these dispositions be explicitly defined, observed, and evaluated? What can be done to encourage the development of these dispositions as candidates progress through the program? This article describes the journey that one program for advanced reading certification candidates took to address these questions. The process and disposition evaluation rubrics described in this article will be helpful to faculty from other advanced reading certification programs as they strive to define, evaluate, and nurture the dispositions needed by their candidates.
Metabolism of the carcinogen chromate by cellular constituents

The redox chemistry of chromium(VI) is discussed with respect to the cellular metabolism of the carcinogen chromate in vivo. Possible sites for cellular reduction of chromium(VI) to chromium(III) are considered. The reactions of amino acids, ascorbic acid, carboxylic acids, thiol-containing mole-cules and other small molecules with chromate under physiological conditions are presented. In general only ascorbate and those molecules containing sulfhydryl groups are capable of easily reducing chromate at pH 7.4. Thus, in the cytoplasm, glutathione, cysteine and ascorbate are likely candidates to react with chromate. While most proteins are unreactive toward chromate, certain redox proteins are active in reducing chromate. The heme proteins hemoglobin and cytochrome P-450 possess chromate-reductase activity, whereas cytochrome c and myoglobin are inactive. The NADPH-dependent flavoenzymes glutathione reductase and NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase also possess chromate-reductase activity. However, the NAD(P)H enzymes, isocitrate dehydrogenase, glutamate dehyrogenase and malate dehydrogenase do not reduce chromate. Both microsomes and mitochondria possess chromate-reductase activity. The microsomal activity is accounted for by the NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase/cytochrome P-450 system. The enzyme(s) responsible for the mitochondrial reduction of chromate have not been identified. Chromium(VI) and its metabolite chromium(III) inhibit the normal activities of enzymes which bind chromium(III) or reduce chromate. The metabolism of chromate involves the generation of reactive intermediates which ultimately bind to cellular constituents and damage their function in the cell.
Lis Pendens in Class Actions (Litispendencia en Acciones Colectivas)

This paper discusses the peculiarities of lis pendens between two or more class actions, as well as the relationship between a class action and a corresponding individual lawsuit with a similar object.El articulo discute la “litispendencia colectiva”, que es la litispendencia entre dos demandas colectivas y la relacion que hay entre una demanda colectiva y las correspondientes demandas individuals con objectos correspondientes.
Ground- and Excited-State Properties of Zn(II) Tetrakis(4-tetramethylpyridyl) Pophyrin Specifically Encapsulated within a Zn(II) HKUST Metal–Organic Framework

We have examined the photophysical properties of Zn(II) tetramethylpyridyl porphyrin (ZnT4MPyP) specifically encapsulated within the cubioctahedral cavities of a ZnHKUST metal– organic framework. The encapsulated ZnT4MPyP exhibits a Soret maxima at ∼458 nm that is bathochromically shifted relative to ZnT4PyP in ethanol solution (Soret maxima centered at 440 nm). The corresponding emission spectra of the encapsulated porphyrin exhibit resolvable bands centered at 636 and 677 nm relative to a single broad emission band of the ZnT4MPyP in ethanol solution centered at 636 nm with a shoulder situated near ∼660 nm. The fluorescence lifetime of the encapsulated porphyrin is also perturbed relative to that of the free porphyrin in solution (1.88 ns for the encapsulated porphyrin relative to 1.2 ns in solution). These results are consistent with the ZnT4MPyP being in a more constrained environment in which the peripheral pyridyl groups have restricted rotational motion. The ZnT4MPyP triplet lifetime is also affect...
Feasibility Study of an Electrodialysis System for In-Home Water Desalination and Purification in Urban India

Desalination of high salinity water is an effective way of improving the aesthetic quality of drinking water and has been demonstrated to be a characteristic valued by consumers. Across India, 60% of the groundwater, the primary water source for millions, is brackish or contains a high salt content with total dissolved solids (TDS) ranging from 500 parts per million (ppm) to 3,000ppm. The government does not provide sufficient desalination treatment before the water reaches the tap of a consumer. Therefore consumers have turned to in-home desalination. However, current products are either expensive or have low recovery, product water output per untreated feed water, (∼30%) wasting water resources. Electrodialysis (ED) is a promising technology that desalinates water while maintaining higher recovery (up to 95%) compared to existing consumer reverse osmosis (RO) products. This paper first explores the in-home desalination market to determine critical design requirements for an in-home ED system. A model was then used to evaluate and optimize the performance of an ED stack at this scale and designated salinity range. Additionally, testing was conducted in order to validate the model and demonstrate feasibility. Finally, cost estimates of the proposed in-home ED system and product design concept are presented. The results of this work identified a system design that provides consumers with up to 80% recovery of feed water with cost and size competitive to currently available in-home RO products.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Validation of the AWOL Tool: A Delirium Prediction Rule (P6.194)

Objective: To validate a prediction rule administered at hospital admission to identify patients at high risk for delirium in a neuroscience population. Background: Delirium is a frequent and potentially preventable complication of inpatient hospitalization. Prediction rules that identify those patients at highest risk would help target the application of preventive measures. Methods: We previously developed and validated a delirium prediction rule where patients score one point each for Age over 80, inability to spell World backwards, disOrientation, and moderate iLlness severity or greater based on nursing assessment (the AWOL score). This score was incorporated into routine admission assessment on a hospital neurosciences floor for all patients over 50, regardless of the presence or absence of delirium on admission. We conducted a retrospective chart review of these patients (n=172) to identify cases of delirium using validated methodology. Performance of the AWOL score in predicting both incident (developing during hospitalization) and prevalent (present upon admission) delirium was evaluated using Cuzick’s nonparametric test for trend and area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC). Results: The rate of incident delirium (per AWOL score) was 4[percnt] (0), 6[percnt] (1), 42[percnt] (2), and 57[percnt] (3) (p<0.001; AUC 0.78 (95[percnt] CI 0.64-0.93)). The rate of prevalent delirium (per AWOL score) was 4[percnt] (0), 9[percnt] (1), 25[percnt] (2), 59[percnt] (3), and 100[percnt] (4) (p<0.001; AUC 0.84 (95[percnt] CI 0.75-0.93). Rates of combined incident and prevalent delirium (per AWOL score) were 8[percnt] (0), 14[percnt] (1), 56[percnt] (2), 82[percnt] (3), and 100[percnt] (4) (p<0.001; AUC 0.83 (95[percnt] CI 0.75-0.91)). All patients with an AWOL score of 4 had prevalent delirium. Conclusions: The AWOL score can be used by nurses in routine clinical practice to effectively identify patients with prevalent delirium and those at risk for development of delirium in the hospital, allowing targeted application of delirium prevention measures. Disclosure: Dr. Brown has nothing to disclose. Dr. Josephson has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for Journal Watch Neurology and Continuum. Dr. Douglas has nothing to disclose.
Assessment centers vs situational judgment tests: longitudinal predictors of success

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical comparison of a high-fidelity managerial simulation, assessment center (AC) ratings, to that of a lower fidelity managerial simulation, a video situational judgment test (SJT) in the prediction of manager career success. Design/methodology/approach Archival data were collected from a large utility company. A measure of general mental ability (GMA), an SJT, and an AC were examined as predictors of career success as measured by increases in salary. Findings The AC and the video SJT used in this study appeared to assess different constructs, extending previous findings that ACs and written SJTs measure distinct constructs. Furthermore, the AC dimensions and the SJT remained valid predictors of salary over a six year span following the test administration. In addition, the AC explained significant incremental variance beyond GMA and SJTs in career success six years after the assessment. Research limitations/implications The SJTs and AC used in this study are similar in psychological fidelity, yet the ACs remained a more valid predictor over time. The recommendation is that lower fidelity simulations should not be used as prerequisites for higher fidelity simulations. Practical implications The results lend general support to the value of high-fidelity instruments in predicting longitudinal success. Originality/value The paper offers a comparison of the validity of ACs and video SJTs.
Transient Hemodynamic Perturbations: An Approach to the Study of Ventricular Interaction and Restoring Forces

In the intact circulation, it is often difficult to delineate the significance and magnitude of complex, interactive phenomena. To overcome this problem, we have developed approaches using transient (single-beat) hemodynamic perturbations that eliminate the confounding effects of series interactions and filling variations. In experimental studies in open-chest dogs, we have employed rapid changes in right heart volume to quantitate direct right-to-left diastolic ventricular interaction gain. Using transient increases in right-ventricular afterload, we have delineated the magnitude of left-to-right systolic interaction and documented an effect of increased right-ventricular afterload that resulted in slowing of left-ventricular relaxation. Using transient perturbations in left heart loading we have correspondingly demonstrated left-to-right systolic interaction and an effect of left-ventricular afterload on venous return to the right heart. Using a servomotor connected to the left atrium that allows abrupt clamping of the left-atrial pressure at a predetermined value, we have produced single-beat, nonfilling, left-ventricular diastolic intervals that allow measurement of the fully relaxed left-ventricular pressure with the ventricle in the end-systolic configuration, thereby providing an estimate of the presence and magnitude of restoring forces. Under physiological conditions in open-chest dogs, we have documented the presence of significant restoring forces at the lower levels of physiological filling. Finally, parallel clinical studies suggest that the ability to generate restoring forces may play a role in determining the level of exercise tolerance in patients with systolic ventricular dysfunction.
Endocannabinoids and Energy Homeostasis

The body’s endogenous endocannabinoid system includes two endogenous agoni sts for cannabinoid-(CB)-l receptors, anadamide and 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol (2-AG). Both of these endocannabinoids (ECs) are fatty acid signals derived from cell membranes. They exert a coordinated action at multiple tissues to promote increased food intake, lipogenesis, and storage of fat. Endocannabinoids interact with multiple hypothalamic circuits and transmitter systems to stimulate food intake in general, and they also act in reward areas of the brain to selectively enhance intake of palatable foods. Activation of CB1 receptors increases enzyme activity that causes de novo fatty acids to be formed in the liver and circulating lipids to be taken up by fat cells. All these actions are reversed in animals lacking CB1 receptors, and there is growing evidence that activity of the endocannabinoid system is tonically increased in animal and human obesity. Acute or chronic administration of selective synthetic CB1 antagonists to overweight or obese individuals causes weight loss, reduced waist circumference, and an improved lipid and glycemic profile. Developing ligands for endocannabinoid receptors is an important novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of metabolic dysregulation.
Identification of serum inflammatory markers as classifiers of lung cancer mortality for stage I adenocarcinoma

// Claire L. Meaney 1 , Adriana Zingone 1 , Derek Brown 1 , Yunkai Yu 2 , Liang Cao 2 and Brid M. Ryan 1 1 Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA 2 Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA Correspondence to: Brid M. Ryan, email: Brid.Ryan@nih.gov Keywords: lung cancer, biomarkers, survival, inflammation, IL-6 Received: June 30, 2016 Accepted: February 20, 2017 Published: April 03, 2017 ABSTRACT Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Low-dose CT (LDCT) imaging is now recommended to screen high-risk lung cancer individuals in the USA. LDCT has resulted in increased detection of stage I lung cancer for which the current standard of care is surgery alone. However, approximately 30% of these patients develop recurrence and therefore are in need of further treatment upon diagnosis. This study aims to explore blood-based inflammatory biomarkers to identify patients at high-risk of mortality for which additional treatment modalities can be offered at time of diagnosis. Patients and Methods: Recent work on a small panel of circulating cytokines identified elevated levels of IL-6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, as an indicator of poor survival for lung cancer patients. To reflect the broader role of inflammation in lung cancer, we examined a large panel of 33 inflammatory proteins in the sera of 129 lung cancer patients selected from the National Cancer Institute-Maryland case-control study. To reduce heterogeneity, we specifically focused our study on stage I lung adenocarcinoma patients. Results: We replicated the previous observations that IL-6 is associated with prognosis of lung cancer and extended its utility to prognosis in this highly-selected population of stage I lung adenocarcinoma patients. In addition, we developed a multi-marker, combined prognostic classifier that includes the pro-inflammatory Th-17 cell effector cytokine, IL-17. Patients with high levels of IL-6 and IL-17A had a significantly adverse survival compared with patients with low levels ( P for trend <0.0001). Patients in the high risk group, with high levels of both proteins had a 5-year survival rate of 46% in comparison to 93% for those with low levels of both markers. Furthermore, we validated the same trends for the IL-6 and IL-17A prognostic signature in an independent data set. Conclusions: The results identified here justify further investigation of this novel, combined cytokine prognostic classifier for the identification of high-risk stage I lung adenocarcinoma patients. This classifier has the much-needed potential to identify patients at high risk of recurrence and thus prospectively identify the subset of patients requiring more aggressive treatment regimens at the time of diagnosis.
BRCA-associated cancers: Role of imaging in screening, diagnosis, and management

The critical role of imaging in the diagnosis and treatment of patients who carry the BRCA gene mutation is reviewed, with emphasis on the unique behavior, clinical features, and pathologic profiles of BRCA-associated malignancies.
Physician Mental Health: Depression and Anxiety

In this chapter, the common and often comorbid illnesses of depression and anxiety in physicians throughout their professional trajectory are discussed, through a consolidated review of the literature and through a clinical lens. The epidemiology is discussed in detail, as physicians are known to have elevated rates of depression and anxiety as compared to the general population, with particularly alarming differences during medical school and residency. Additionally, several unique features of these illnesses in the physician population are discussed, such as the psychological contributors, barriers to accessing treatment, impact on the provision of healthcare, and impact on career satisfaction and quality of life. Next, the relevant developmental concerns related to physician depression and anxiety are discussed, particularly highlighting the high-risk period of medical training. And finally, treatment interventions that address physician depression and anxiety are explored, both at individual and programmatic levels, along with potential future directions for ongoing efforts to reduce the negative footprint that physician depression and anxiety otherwise have on this field and its practitioners.
Odorant Item Specific Olfactory Identification Deficit May Differentiate Alzheimer Disease From Aging.

Objectives To explore whether the ability to recognize specific odorant items is differentially affected in aging versus Alzheimer disease (AD); to refine olfactory identification deficit (OID) as a biomarker of prodromal and early AD. Design Prospective multicenter cross-sectional study with a longitudinal arm. Setting Outpatient memory diagnostic clinics in New York and Texas. Participants Adults aged 65 and older with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and AD and healthy aging (HA) subjects in the comparison group. Measurements Participants completed the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) and neuropsychological testing. AD-associated odorants (AD-10) were selected based on a model of ordinal logistic regression. Age-associated odorants (Age-10) were identified using a linear model. Results For the 841 participants (234 HA, 192 aMCI, 415 AD), AD-10 was superior to Age-10 in separating HA and AD. AD-10 was associated with a more widespread cognitive deficit across multiple domains, in contrast to Age-10. The disease- and age-associated odorants clustered separately in age and AD. AD-10 predicted conversion from aMCI to AD. Conclusions Nonoverlapping UPSIT items were identified that were individually associated with age and disease. Despite a modest predictive value of the AD-specific items for conversion to AD, the AD-specific items may be useful in enriching samples to better identify those at risk for AD. Further studies are needed with monomolecular and unilateral stimulation and orthogonal biomarker validation to further refine disease- and age-associated signals.
Critical Hopefulness Among Urban High School Students

Psychological empowerment encompasses several key aspects of youth civic and sociopolitical development. Most research has focused on psychological empowerment’s emotional component, which entails learned hopefulness about one’s own ability to participate in and lead community change efforts. Fewer studies have assessed critical awareness of how social power operates—psychological empowerment’s cognitive component. The confluence of these two components has been termed critical hopefulness. A complex relationship exists between these two components, and previous research has found relatively small proportions of participants reporting both high levels of critical awareness and simultaneously high levels of hopefulness about their ability to exert influence in the sociopolitical domain. The current study of urban high school students in the Northeastern U.S. (n = 389; 53.5% female) investigates heterogeneity according to these two components of psychological empowerment. Latent class cluster analyses were conducted and seven distinct groups of participants emerged. Students identifying as Hispanic/Latinx were more likely to be classified into a profile group exhibiting critical hopefulness. Differences were observed between psychological empowerment profile groups on self-reported levels of psychological sense of community, civic engagement, and social justice orientation. Furthermore, a larger proportion of this overall sample was classified into groups that exhibited critical hopefulness than in a previous study of adults. These findings provide useful insights for efforts to engage young people in civic life and to promote sociopolitical development.
Modeling and Performance Assessment of Dynamic Rate Adaptation for M2M Communications

With the advance of Internet of Things and the support of a diverse array of smart-world applications, the number of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) devices has continued to grow at an accelerated rate. This significant and unchecked increase poses enormous challenges to both M2M infrastructure and the coexistence of M2M applications. In this paper, we model the traffic arrival patterns of time-driven, event-driven and loop-driven M2M applications, and propose a novel dynamic rate adaptation (DRA) scheme to obtain an optimized service rate distribution among a mixture of diverse M2M applications. DRA introduces real-time monitoring of M2M traffic arrival rate, building on which a service rate distribution between M2M applications can be incrementally adjusted moment to moment, through the use of the mean value theorem of integrals (MVTI) and generalized processor sharing (GPS). Via a combination of both theoretical analysis and extensive performance evaluation, we have validated the effectiveness of our proposed DRA scheme. Our experimental results demonstrate that DRA can significantly improve M2M communications performance with respect to throughput, delay, and energy consumption. In addition, we extend our proposed DRA scheme from the perspective of Device-to-Device (D2D) communications and further discuss the resilience of DRA.
Journalists’ Perceptions of Human Rights Reporting in Rwanda

News media play a role in increasing public understanding of human rights issues. Yet, little scholarship has analysed human rights reporting in developing or post-conflict nations. Interviews with...
Block copolymers for supercapacitors, dielectric capacitors and batteries

Block copolymer-based energy storage emerges as an active interdisciplinary research field. This topical review presents a survey of the recent advances in block copolymers for energy storage. In the first section, we introduce the background of electrochemical energy storage and block copolymer thermodynamics. In the second section, we discuss the current understandings of block copolymer chemistry, processing, pore size, and ionic conductivity. In the third section, we summarize the design principles and state-of-the-art applications of block copolymers in three energy storage devices, namely, supercapacitors, dielectric capacitors, and batteries. Lastly, we present our perspectives on future possible breakthroughs and associated challenges that are essential to propel the development of advanced block copolymers for energy storage. We expect the review to encourage innovative studies on integrating block copolymers into energy storage applications.
My Choice: Women’s Contraceptive-Use Autonomy in Bangladesh

ABSTRACTUsing a nationally representative household survey for two cohorts of married women, this study examines women’s contraceptive-use autonomy (CUA) incidence and correlates in Bangladesh, foc...
A new ethical beliefs scale

In this paper we report the development of a scale measuring Christian ethical beliefs. Three studies refined the Christian Ethical Beliefs Scale from 63 expert-generated potential items. Studies 1...
Predictors of Health Insurance Enrollment among HIV Positive Pregnant Women in Kenya: Potential for Adverse Selection and Implications for HIV Treatment and Prevention.

Background: The global push to achieve the 90-90-90 targets designed to end the HIV epidemic has called for the removing of policy barriers to prevention and treatment, and ensuring financial sustainability of HIV programs. Universal health insurance is one tool that can be used to this end. In sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV prevalence and incidence remain high, the use of health insurance to provide comprehensive HIV care is limited. This study looked at the factors that best predict social health insurance enrollment among HIV positive pregnant women using data from the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) in western Kenya. Methods: Cross-sectional clinical encounter data were extracted from the electronic medical records (EMR) at AMPATH. We used univariate and multivariate logistic regressions to estimate the predictors of health insurance enrollment among HIV positive pregnant women. The analysis was further stratified by HIV disease severity (based on CD4 cell count ) to test the possibility of differential enrollment given HIV disease state. Results: Approximately 7% of HIV infected women delivering at a healthcare facility had health insurance. HIV positive pregnant women who deliver at a health facility had twice the odds of enrolling in insurance [2.46 Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR), Confidence Interval (CI) 1.24-4.87]. They were 10 times more likely to have insurance if they were lost to follow-up to HIV care during pregnancy [9.90 AOR; CI 3.42-28.67], and three times more likely to enroll if they sought care at an urban clinic [2.50 AOR; 95% CI 1.53-4.12]. Being on HIV treatment was negatively associated with health insurance enrollment [0.22 AOR; CI 0.10-0.49]. Stratifying the analysis by HIV disease severity while statistically significant did not change these results. Conclusions: The findings indicated that health insurance enrollment among HIV positive pregnant women was low mirroring national levels. Additionally, structural factors, such as access to institutional delivery and location of healthcare facilities, increased the likelihood of health insurance enrollment within this population. However, behavioral aspects, such as being lost to follow-up to HIV care during pregnancy and being on HIV treatment, had an ambiguous effect on insurance enrollment. This may potentially be because of adverse selection and information asymmetries. Further understanding of the relationship between insurance and HIV is needed if health insurance is to be utilized for HIV treatment and prevention in limited resource settings.
Gaining resilience and reducing stress in the age of COVID-19.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The world is experiencing the evolving situation associated with the outbreak of the Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) virus, and there is more of need than ever for stress management and self-care. In this article, we will define the physiological, psychological and social aspects, stages, and components of stress reactions in the context of COVID-19, review the relevant literature on stress reactions, and offer some guidance on how to help patients mitigate the physiological and psychological impact of the pandemic through resilience-building techniques. RECENT FINDINGS: There is continued evidence that the fight or flight response involves activation throughout the body at physiological, biochemical and immune levels. This response can be mitigated through increasing parasympathetic nervous system activation as well as cognitive and behavioral interventions. SUMMARY: This article will review the stress, provide a theoretical layout to predict upcoming response, and offer clinicians some practical interventions to employ as the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
Examining the effects of atopic disease on concussion recovery: a preliminary investigation to inform personalized care

Background: Predicting time-to-recovery in pediatric concussion patients is key to advancing the treatment paradigm of pediatric concussion from a reactive to proactive precision and personalized medicine approach. Recent epidemiologic research indicates a possible mechanistic overlap between concussion and atopic disease (i.e., allergic rhinitis, asthma, and eczema) via pathways implicated in the inflammatory response. The purpose of this study was to examine patients with concussion and atopic disease comorbidity to better elucidate mechanisms that underlie protracted recovery and better predict return to play (RTP) timelines following concussion injury. Method: Data from …
Understanding Multidimensional Tax Systems

Income tax systems are multi-dimensional, and ignoring their non-rate aspects can introduce bias into cross-country empirical estimation of the impact of taxation. We analyze 10 non-rate tax system aspects, codified based on recent OECD reports. We find that a single factor (which we call Dispersed Responsibility), related to the role of taxpayers and third parties in tax collection, can reasonably summarize the cross-country covariation, and offer it as a parsimonious measure of non-rate tax system dimensions for future empirical analysis. We also ascertain that a standard measure of trust in government is positively associated, holding other determinants constant, with greater administrator coverage and administrative assessment, as well as more serious sanctions for non-compliance. Ethnic heterogeneity, individualism, and a history of external conflict also can explain certain aspects of tax systems. We find that countries with greater trust in government score lower on Dispersed Responsibility. Finally, we find that adding a measure of the number of tax authority employees can eliminate the otherwise significant positive estimated coefficient of GDP per capita on the tax level, and attracts a significant positive correlation itself, suggesting that the extent of tax administration and enforcement is part of the story that explains the enduring statistical regularity between tax levels and per capita income.
Statistics as a Tool for Equity

By reviewing the history of the struggle for sex equity, a statistician relates how her professional experiences have played a role and urges others to use their knowledge and skills similarly.