cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Immunoassays: Tools for Sensitive, Specific, and Accurate Test Results

Immunoassays are popular in the clinical laboratory because they can quickly and easily provide precise and accurate test results. We review the principles of immunoassays with emphasis on the advantages of the two basic types (competitive vs noncompetitive). We address the methods for distinguishing bound from unbound fractions (homogeneous vs heterogeneous immunoassays) and discuss specific labels for signal generation and detection. Special cases of immunoassays not requiring specific labels are reviewed briefly. Finally, examples and illustrations of commonly used automated immunoassays are provided. This is the third part of a continuing education series on chemistry. Other articles focus on rapid immunoassays, immunosensors, and prostate-specific antigen. After reading this article, participants should be able to distinguish competitive from noncompetitive immunoassays, understand the differences between homogeneous and heterogeneous immunoassays, and identify popular, automated immunoassays.
Effect of antihistaminic and antiserotonin drugs on vascular responses to E. coli endotoxin in the cat.

SummaryPretreatment with dibenamine and pyrilamine, dibenamine alone, or LSD with or without pyrilamine was found to diminish or prevent the acute hypotensive response of the cat to small doses of endotoxin.
Imaging cellular metabolic heterogeneity in cancer

Optical metabolic imaging (OMI) quantifies the fluorescence intensities and lifetimes of NADH and FAD using two-photon microscopy. OMI monitors single cells in tumors, thus aiding in the development and implementation of effective cancer treatments.
Axis axis (Axis deer; chital)

The karyotypes were prepared from skin biopsies of animals at the San Diego Zoo, USA (male) and National Zoo, Washington, D.C., USA, (female), respectively. The male karyotype represents the C-banding pattern. Heterochromatin is found at all centromeres and in the faint satellites at the ends of the long arms of the first two pairs of autosomes. Two bands are present in the Y and in the larger of the two biarmed elements. Drumsticks have been described by Naik et al. (1964).
In-Hospital Mortality and Trends Associated with Splenectomy in Patients with Immune-Mediated Thrombocytopenia (ITP).

Abstract 1398 Poster Board I-420 Background: Splenectomy remains a standard treatment for ITP patients not responding to medical management, but anecdotal reports suggest that use of the procedure is in decline. We studied patterns of use and outcome of splenectomy performed for ITP at the population level. Methods: Using data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample and ICD-9 diagnosis and procedure codes, we identified 39,543 splenectomies among hospital admissions including a diagnosis of ITP (ICD-9 287.3) from 1993-2005. Admissions were characterized by patient and hospital facility characteristics. Laparascopic procedures were identified by published procedure coding algorithms. Factors influencing in-hospital mortality for 2005 were further evaluated using multivariate logistic regression models. Results: Annual estimates for incidence of splenectomy are displayed in Figure 1. Between 1993 and 2005, there was a decrease in the total number of splenectomies performed for ITP, with the most significant drop occurring from 1997 to 2000, concurrent with the FDA approval of rituximab. Over the same period, there has been an increase in the proportion of splenectomies performed laparoscopically from 3.4% to 18.6%. Patient gender, age, presence of comorbid malignancy, and Charlson score were not significantly associated with type of splenectomy procedure. Among facility factors, only hospital teaching status was a statistically significant predictor of laparoscopic splenectomy use, early but not later in the observation period. On an annual basis, in-hospital mortality did not vary significantly over the observation period, with risks ranging from 1.5% (95% CI 0.83-2.86%) in 1993 to 4% (95% CI 2.8%-5.7%) in 1997. Annual mortality risk between open and laparoscopic procedures likewise did not significantly differ. However, over the total 13-year observation period there was a >60% increased risk of death with an open versus laparoscopic procedure (OR 1.669, p<0.0001). In 2005, 2869 splenectomy procedures were performed. Multivariate logistic regression models for in-hospital mortality that year found that presence of a malignancy (OR 9.65, p=0.003) significantly increased mortality risk. Charlson comorbidity approached statistical significance (0 v. ≥1, OR 6.83, p=0.087). Hospital bed-size (OR 0.87, p=0.73), location (rural v. urban, OR 3.80, p=0.127), and teaching status (OR 0.39, p=0.203) were not significantly associated with outcome. Conclusions: While the overall mortality risk from splenectomy in ITP is low, it is influenced by the presence of malignancy and other comorbid conditions. Further studies designed to evaluate newer medical management strategies (e.g. rituximab, thrombopoeitin mimetics, etc.) versus surgical intervention in these higher-risk populations are warranted. ![Figure][1] Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare. [1]: pending:yes
Phenobarbital improves retention and impairs reversal learning of shock escape in the rat

A single dose of phenobarbital does not appreciably affect the performance of an already learned shock-escape response, but interferes with subsequent acquisition of a antagonistic response. A dosage with negligible effect on reaction threshold produced a significant amount of fixation and inflexibility.
Dynamic peierls stress in a crystal model with slip anisotropy

Abstract The analysis of screw dislocation motion in a lattice is extended to crystals with a preferred slip direction and to force laws of the “dangling bond” type. The external strain required for uniform motion, or the corresponding Peierls stress depends critically on the shape of the interatomic potential. For particular combinations of velocity, crystal anisotropy, and force law, the external strain drops sharply—indicating some modes of dislocation motion that are almost loss-free. Although the relation between dynamic Peierls stress and dislocation width is not monotonie, it shows a general exponential decrease.
Association Between Therapy Intensity and Discharge Outcomes in Aged Medicare Skilled Nursing Facilities Admissions

Abstract Objectives To determine the association between therapy intensity and discharge outcomes for aged Medicare skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) fee-for-service beneficiaries and to determine the association between therapy intensity and time to community discharge. Design Retrospective observational design. Setting SNFs. Participants Aged Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries (N=311,338) in 3605 SNFs. Interventions The total minutes of physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy per day were divided into intensity groups: high (≥60min); medium-high (45– Main Outcome Measures Four discharge outcomes—community, hospitalization, permanent placement, and death—were examined using a multivariate competing hazards model. For those associated with community discharge, a Poisson multivariate model was used to determine whether length of stay differed by intensity. Results High intensity therapy was associated with more community discharges in comparison to the remaining intensity groups (hazard ratio, .84, .68, and .433 for medium-high, medium-low, and low intensity groups, respectively). More hospitalizations and deaths were found as therapy intensity decreased. Only high intensity therapy was associated with a 2-day shorter length of stay (incident rate ratio, .95). Conclusions High intensity therapy was associated with desirable discharge outcomes and may shorten SNF length of stay. Despite growing reimbursements to SNFs for rehabilitation services, there may be desirable benefits to beneficiaries who receive high intensity therapy.
Age- and Tissue-Specific Expression of Senescence Biomarkers in Mice

Cellular senescence is a state of irreversible cellular growth arrest accompanied by distinct changes in gene expression and the acquisition of a complex proinflammatory secretory profile termed the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Senescent cells accumulate in aged tissues and contribute to age-related disease in mice. Increasing evidence that selective removal of senescent cells can ameliorate diseases of late life and extend lifespan in mice has given rise to the development of senolytics that target senescent cells as anti-aging therapeutics. To realize the full potential of senolytic medicine, robust biomarkers of senescence must be in place to monitor the in vivo appearance of senescent cells with age, as well as their removal by senolytic treatments. Here we investigate the dynamic changes in expression of the molecular hallmarks of senescence, including p16Ink4a, p21Cip1, and SASP factors in multiple tissues in mice during aging. We show that expression of these markers is highly variable in age- and tissue-specific manners. Nevertheless, Mmp12 represents a robust SASP factor that shows consistent age-dependent increases in expression across all tissues analyzed in this study and p16Ink4a expression is consistently increased with age in most tissues. Likewise, in humans CDKN2A (p16Ink4a) is one of the top genes exhibiting elevated expression in multiple tissues with age as revealed by data analysis of the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project. These results support the targeting of p16Ink4a expressing-cells in senolytic treatments, while emphasizing the need to establish a panel of robust biomarkers of senescence in vivo in both mice and humans.
Trajectory Tracking Under Unknown Delay and ODE Parameters

In Chapter 7 we presented an adaptive control design for an ODE system with a possibly large actuator delay of unknown length.We achieved global stability under full-state feedback.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation: Definition, Concept, and History

Pulmonary rehabilitation is a complex intervention for which it is difficult to craft a succinct yet inclusive definition. Pulmonary rehabilitation should be considered for all patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who remain symptomatic or have decreased functional status despite otherwise optimal medical management. The essential components of pulmonary rehabilitation are exercise training and self-management education, tailored to the needs of the individual patient and integrated into the course of the disease trajectory. Emerging data support a role for pulmonary rehabilitation in nontraditional contexts, such as during exacerbation in the non-COPD patient and in the home setting.
It’s Time to Reimagine the “New Dental Graduate”

“Do you think all dentists should provide care for patients with special needs, or should it only be specialists?” This is a wonderful question a new first-year dental student asked me in a recent class. At first, it seemed fairly straightforward; but on further reflection, it became one of
Dynamic 3D Microplasma Photonic Crystal By 3D Printing

Three dimensional microplasma photonic crystal (3D MPPhC) is first time realized through 3D printing method. The layerlayer building method is only one embodiment for building the microstructures to confine the plasma. The 3D MPPhC proposed here for achieving highly tunable and reconfigurable material systems for electromagnetic responses in the millimeter wave or extremely high frequency regimes. The plasma crystal periodic structure arrays confined in the microstructures have been successfully realized within a volume large than 16.25 cm3, for example, can serve as a reconfigurable bandpass filter, beam splitter or router, attenuator, or phase shifter for frequencies up to and beyond 1THz. The mm-wave transmission responses from 110 – 170 GHz have been recorded with the strong responses. The dynamic tunings are demonstrated through the addressability of the microplasma array in three dimensions, including electron density, collisional frequency and crystal latter constants. We believe the capability of controlling the arrays of microplasma as dynamic material in three dimensions, in combination of the isotropic geometry, provide the versatile abilities to control the electromagnetic responses including but not limited to photonic band gap. The details will be introduced in the conference.
Concussion serum biomarkers: A quest for the Holy Grail?

Concussion diagnosis has consistently posed 2 major problems for clinicians. First, given the absence of a biomarker, diagnosis has always been dependent on clinical history, physical examination, and clinical acumen. Limitations in diagnostic precision, especially for the mildest of traumatic brain injuries, have plagued the field from its inception. Many of these challenges are part of the evolving opinions on sport-related concussion (SRC), as reflected in the latest evidence-based practice guidelines and updates by the American Academy of Neurology,1 Statements of Agreement in 2015,2 and in the Consensus Statements from the 5th International Conference on Concussion in Sport.3 The second major issue is the heterogeneity of SRC symptoms as influenced by differences in mechanisms of injury, age, sex, preinjury vulnerability and resiliency, time post injury, spontaneous recovery vs persistent symptoms, and recommended treatments.4 Pediatric SRCs add another dimension of complexity because of a host of developmental factors. Without an independent biomarker of brain injury following a concussive event, studying the course of either symptom resolution or persistence remains challenging and controversial.
Feasibility of primary sternal plating for morbidly obese patients after cardiac surgery

Morbidly obese patients (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 35 kg/m2) who undergo cardiac surgery involving median sternotomy have a higher-than-normal risk of sternal dehiscence. To explore a potential solution to this problem, we examined the utility of transverse sternal plating for primary sternal closure in morbidly obese cardiac surgical patients. We retrospectively reviewed data from cardiac surgical patients who underwent single primary xiphoid transverse titanium plate reinforcement for primary sternal closure from August 2009 to July 2010 (n = 8), and we compared their outcomes with those of patients with BMI ≥35 kg/m2 who underwent cardiac surgery without sternal plate reinforcement from April 2008 to July 2009 (n = 14). All cases were performed by the same surgeon. The 2 groups of patients had similar demographics and comorbidities (P > 0.05 for all). All patients with sternal plate reinforcement reported sternal stability at last follow-up (at a median of 27 months postoperatively; range, 8.4–49.3 months), whereas 1 patient (7.1%) who underwent standard closure developed sterile sternal dehiscence (P = 0.4). Postoperative patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) morphine usage was significantly higher for patients without sternal plate reinforcement than for patients who had sternal plate reinforcement (3.6 mg/h vs 1.3 mg/h, P = 0.008). No patient in the sternal plate group had wound seroma or perioperative complications attributable to sternal closure technique. Single xiphoid transverse plate reinforcement for primary sternal closure is a feasible option for morbidly obese patients, who are otherwise at high risk of developing sternal dehiscence. Using this technique may decrease postoperative narcotics usage. Morbidly obese patients (body mass index ≥35 kg/m2) have a higher-than-normal risk of sternal dehiscence after cardiac surgery. In a pilot study, we found that those who underwent transverse sternal plating (n = 8) had no sternal dehiscence and required less postoperative analgesia than patients who underwent standard wire closure (n = 14).
Cholestatic pruritus: Emerging mechanisms and therapeutics.

Patients suffering from cholestasis often report experiencing a debilitating, unrelenting itch. In contrast to conditions, such as urticaria, in which histamine primarily drives itch (pruritus), cholestatic pruritus is multifactorial and more difficult to treat. Existing therapies are not always effective and have undesirable adverse effect profiles. Here, we conducted a systematic literature review to evaluate conventional treatment strategy, current pathophysiologic understanding, and the role of new therapies in the context of cholestatic pruritus. We discuss novel findings implicating bile acids, lysophosphatidic acid, and bilirubin as potential important mediators of cholestatic itch. New therapies that aim to remove or modulate pruritogens have been supported in observational cohort studies and randomized controlled trials. Although these new therapies show promise, further research is needed to confirm the pathophysiology of cholestatic pruritus so that targeted therapy can be developed.
Treatment of Corticobasal Syndrome

Corticobasal syndrome (CBS) is the classic clinical presentation associated with corticobasal degeneration (CBD) pathology. Approximately half of all CBS cases, however, are caused by other neurodegenerative pathologies. CBS should be suspected when atypical parkinsonism presents with perceptual or motor dysfunction suggestive of perirolandic involvement often accompanied by focal cognitive impairment. Although there are no disease-modifying treatments for CBS, a number of pharmacological, physical, and behavioral interventions focusing on motor, sensory, functional, and cognitive/behavioral deficits can be implemented for symptomatic relief and quality-of-life improvement. Research participation should be encouraged when available. Limited numbers of clinical trials have been pursued in CBS, but it is likely more will be available in the coming years as biomarkers are enabling antemortem prediction of underlying disease pathology, allowing for targeted interventions focused on specific proteinopathies, in particular tauopathies.
School, parents, and communities: leading parallel lives in a two-way immersion program

In addition to fostering bilingualism and biliteracy for all students, one of the main goals of Two-Way Immersion (TWI) programs is building positive cross-cultural relationships (). This can lead ...
Birational invariants and 1-connectedness

We study the A-singular chain complex and zeroth A-homology sheaf of smooth algebraic varieties over a field k; these objects provide “quadratic” analogs of the motive and zeroth Suslin homology sheaf of a smooth scheme in a sense we will explain. We show that if k has characteristic 0 the zeroth A-homology (resp. Suslin homology) sheaf is a birational invariant of smooth proper varieties (both are A-homotopy invariant). We relate these sheaves to various types of “unramified” invariants, in particular unramified cohomology. We then show how the techniques in Voevodsky’s proof of the Milnor conjecture and the Voevodsky-Rost proof of its generalization the Bloch-Kato conjecture can be used to study these sheaves. Using this last set of ideas, we provide a construction of unirational, non-rational varieties, where non-rationality is detected by non-triviality of a degree n unramified etale cohomology group (with torsion coefficients), yet cannot be detected by lower degree invariants.
Safety and Efficacy of Percutaneous Image-guided Cryoablation of Completely Endophytic Renal Masses.

Abstract Objective To evaluate the safety, efficacy, and oncologic control of percutaneous image-guided cryoablation in the treatment of completely endophytic renal masses. Percutaneous image-guided cryoablation is a minimally invasive and effective treatment for small renal masses. Image-guided cryoablation is an attractive treatment for completely endophytic tumors given the challenge in visualization of such lesions during surgical extirpation. Materials and Methods A retrospective study evaluating percutaneous cryoablation of completely endophytic renal masses with normal overlying renal cortex was performed. From January 2003 to December 2015, 200 endophytic renal masses (RENAL score 3 – endophytic/exophytic) were identified from an internal renal ablation database. After imaging review, 49 tumors with completely intact overlying renal cortex in 47 patients were included in the study. Outcomes, including complications and oncologic efficacy were evaluated according to standard nomenclature. Results Patients comprised 37 men and 10 women (mean age 64.0 years) who underwent 48 cryoablation procedures to treat 49 renal masses. Mean tumor size was 2.5 ± 0.5 cm. Major complications occurred following 5 of the 48 (10%) procedures. Forty of 46 (87%) tumors with imaging follow-up were recurrence-free at a mean of 56 months. Five of six local recurrences were successfully retreated with cryoablatoin. Conclusion Percutaneous thermal ablation of completely endophytic renal masses is a relatively safe procedure associated with acceptable complication and local tumor control rates. Given the complexities associated with partial nephrectomy, percutaneous cryoablation may be considered an alternative treatment for these select patients. Long-term follow-up studies are necessary to determine the durable efficacy of this treatment.
Drift-free Roll and Pitch Estimation for High-acceleration Hopping

We develop a drift-free roll and pitch attitude estimation scheme for monopedal jumping robots. The estimator uses only onboard rate gyroscopes and encoders and does not rely on external sensing or processing. It is capable of recovering from attitude estimate disturbances and, together with onboard velocity estimation, enables fully autonomous stable hopping control. The estimator performs well on a small untethered robot capable of large jumps and extreme stance accelerations. We demonstrate that the robot can follow a rectangular path using onboard dead-reckoning with less than 2 meters of drift over 200 seconds and 300 jumps covering 60 m. We also demonstrate that the robot can operate untethered outdoors under human wireless joystick direction.
Impact welding of ultra-high-strength stainless steel in wrought vs. additively manufactured forms

15-5 PH stainless steel (SS) possesses both high strength and good corrosion resistance and is often used in aerospace components. However, age-hardened 15-5 PH SS can lose up to 20% of its strength during fusion welding due to overaging brought on by heat effect. This work addresses the problem of strength reduction observed in 15-5 PH SS by employing the low-heat welding technique of impact welding. Both wrought (W) and additively manufactured (AM) versions of 15–5 PH SS were investigated through experimentation. All workpieces were age-hardened to condition H900 prior to welding. Best weld microstructures and peel strengths were obtained at impact angles of 12°, for both W and AM variants. Peak peel strength for W welds exceeded 178 N/mm, and for AM welds, 141 N/mm. Failure through base material, which was a most desirable failure mode, was obtained for both material types, though further work will be needed to obtain this failure mode repeatably. Thus, the capability of obtaining strong welds with age-hardened 15-5 PH SS was demonstrated. This capability can help eliminate the need for post-weld heat treatment, thus saving significant time and cost and opening up new design possibilities.
Early childhood caries: a continuing dilemma.

Early childhood caries continues to be a problem in the U.S. This paper examines the progression, etiology, prevention and treatment of this condition. A suggested future direction for research and governmental action needed to combat this expensive and debilitating condition is presented. The author recognizes all that the CDA has done and is doing to help prevent this debilitating oral disease in California.
Latest Developments at the 11th Annual IEEE ECCE: Advances in Energy Conversion Systems and Applications

With a record attendance of more than 1,800 practicing engineers, researchers, professionals, and students from around the world, the 11th annual IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) in Baltimore, Maryland, from 29 September to 3 October 2019, offered a diverse program comprising 1,069 technical papers, 18 tutorials, 18 special sessions, and 28 poster sessions spread over five days. Among the oral sessions, there were four memorial sessions dedicated to the three mentors who passed away this year: Prof. Bob Lorenz, Prof. Manfred Depenbrock, and Dr. Milan M. Jovanovic. In addition, it also included an exhibition of state-of-the-art products and tools from roughly 40 vendors, ranging from passive components and semiconductor device manufacturers to test and measurement instruments and simulation tool suppliers. The exhibition floor also demonstrated emerging technology research projects from students of various universities in the United States and Asia. Sponsored by the IEEE Power Electronics Society and IEEE Industry Applications Society, ECCE 2019?s professional program started on Sunday, 29 September, with 18 tutorials covering the practical implementation of gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) power devices to energy harvesting for the Industrial Internet of Things and artificial intelligence applications in power electronics.
Elevated Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio is Predictive of Poor Outcomes Following Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Abstract Background Recent studies of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage suggest an association between peripheral blood neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and neurologic deterioration. We aimed to study the prognostic utility of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in predicting inpatient mortality in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Methods We conducted a retrospective electronic medical record review of the clinical, laboratory, and radiographic data of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage 18 years of age or older presenting to the neuroscience intensive care unit from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2017. Patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage were divided into 2 groups (group 1, alive at discharge; group 2, deceased prior to discharge), and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio laboratory mean values were recorded for each patient. Our primary outcome measure was inpatient mortality, and our secondary measure was incidence of pneumonia with hospitalization. Results We identified 403 patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage for the study. After exclusion criteria, 44 eligible patients were divided into the 2 groups (group 1, n = 32; group 2, n = 12). Mean neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio for group 1 was 11.53, and for group 2, 17.85 (P
Common Litigation Risk and Non-GAAP Reporting

We explore the association between common (i.e., non-firm-specific) litigation risk and non-GAAP reporting. Specifically, we investigate how changes in circuit-specific levels of common litigation risk influence firms’ propensity to disclose non-GAAP performance metrics. We find that decreases in common litigation risk are associated with increases in the frequency of non-GAAP reporting. Prior research has recognized that litigation risk can influence disclosure choices. As a result, several non-GAAP studies have (1) attempted to control for common litigation risk by including industry fixed effects (assuming that litigation risk is constant within industries) or (2) used the Kim and Skinner [2012] litigation risk measure as a determinant of non-GAAP disclosure. However, these studies have not specifically investigated how common litigation risk influences non-GAAP reporting. We use a quasi-experimental setting in which court rulings result in significant changes in common litigation risk and employ a difference-in-differences design to explore how circuit-specific shocks influence firms’ propensity to provide non-GAAP performance metrics. Our design allows us to use each firm as its own control for firm-specific litigation risk to focus on the effects of common litigation risk on this specific form of disclosure. We perform novel additional analyses to decompose the Kim and Skinner [2012] litigation risk measure into its common and firm-specific components. The results indicate that firms’ disclosure policies respond differently to these different forms of litigation risk. Future research exploring (or controlling for) litigation risk should understand the differences in these two forms of risk to capture the correct construct of interest. This distinction is particularly important for policy-makers who can influence firms’ accounting and disclosure choices through legislation and regulation that affects these different forms of litigation risk.
Applying Cognitive Operations in Collaborative Apparel Design Process

One of the most important issues in design process is the cognitive process designers undertake (Stempfle & Badke-Schaub, 2002). Design students often lack in communicating their cognitive process and do not effectively work in a group setting (Muhammad & Ha-Brookshire, 2011; Romeo & Lee, 2013). Analyzing the thinking and reasoning process of designers, particularly in collaboration, is a difficult task since there are not direct measures to inspect a designers’ thinking process. Teams can provide more complex, innovative, and comprehensive solutions to problems, but the cause of teams’ failures may be great due to poor planning or breakdown in internal team processes (Sundstrom, DeMeuse, & Futrell, 1990). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to apply the content-and process-directed activity model (CPDAM) proposed by Stemplfle and Badke-Schaub (2002) to a collaborative apparel design project.
Dual Independent Enhanced Scan Engines, Large-Field Two Photon Microscopy (DIESEL2p)

We developed a large field-of-view (O>5mm) two-photon microscopy with simultaneous and independent two-region access to enable the imaging of neuronal activities widely-distributed in mice's visual cortex, which is hardly achievable with current commercial systems.
The PPP View of Multihorizon Currency Risk Premiums

Exposures of expected future nominal depreciation rates to the current interest rate differential violate the UIP hypothesis in a pattern that is a nonmonotonic function of horizon. Forward expected nominal depreciation rates are monotonic. We explain the two patterns by simultaneously incorporating the weak form of PPP into a joint model of the stochastic discount factor, the nominal exchange rate, and domestic and foreign yield curves. Departures from PPP generate the first pattern. The risk premiums for these departures generate the second pattern. Thus, the variance of the stochastic discount factor is related to the real exchange rate.
Physician Workforce Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic at an Academic Medical Center.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the planning, implementation, and outcome of an acute care physician supplemental workforce during the local coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surge at a 771-bed academic medical center, from March 25 to May 5, 2020, in New Jersey, United States. METHODS: The Department of Medicine sought participation by "independent" and redeployed "employed" physicians to provide acute hospital care, as well as assistance with occupational health and family communication. Plans addressed training, compensation, clinical privileges, malpractice, and collaboration with the existing hospitalist service. RESULTS: Redeployed employed physicians (81% internists) selected either acute care (n = 68; median age, 52 y [range, 32-72 y]; 28% female) or non-face-to-face supportive roles (n = 69; median age, 52 y [range, 32-84 y]; 28% female). The redeployed physician group totaled 474 twelve-h daytime shifts typically caring for 10 patients per day. Six employed physicians refused redeployment, and only 3 independent physicians participated (all acute care). Of note, COVID-19 infection occurred in 10 hospitalists and intensivists, and in several redeployed physicians. CONCLUSIONS: Successful physician workforce staffing for medical disasters, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, requires consideration of personal risk, as well as medicolegal, financial, and clinical competency issues.
United States' Emergency Department Visits for Fever by Young Children 2007-2017.

Introduction: Our goal in this study was to estimate rates of emergency department (ED) visits for fever by children <2 years of age, and evaluate frequencies of testing and treatment during these visits.Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of ED encounters from 2007-2017 using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, a cross-sectional, multi-stage probability sample survey of visits to nonfederal United States EDs. We included encounters with a visit reason of “fever” or recorded fever in the ED. We report demographics and management strategies in two groups: infants ≤90 days in age; and children 91 days to <2 years old. For patients 91 days to <2 years, we compared testing and treatment strategies between general and pediatric EDs using chi-squared tests.Results: Of 1.5 billion encounters over 11 years, 2.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.9-2.2%) were by children <2 years old with fever. Two million encounters (95% CI, 1.7-2.4 million) were by infants ≤90 days, and 28.4 million (95% CI, 25.5-31.4 million) were by children 91 days to <2 years. Among infants ≤90 days, 27.6% (95% CI, 21.1-34.1%) had blood and 21.3% (95% CI, 13.6-29.1%) had urine cultures; 26.8% (95% CI, 20.9-32.7%) were given antibiotics, and 21.1% (95% CI, 15.3-26.9%) were admitted or transferred. Among patients 91 days to <2 years in age, 6.8% (95% CI, 5.8-7.8%) had blood and 7.7% (95% CI 6.1-9.4%) had urine cultures; 40.5% (95% CI, 40.5-40.5%) were given antibiotics, and 4.4% (95% CI, 3.5-5.3%) were admitted or transferred. Patients 91 days to <2 years who were evaluated in general EDs had higher rates of radiography (27.1% vs 15.2%; P<0.01) and antibiotic utilization (42.3% vs 34.2%; P<0.01), but lower rates of urine culture testing (6.4% vs 11.6%, p = 0.03), compared with patients evaluated in pediatric EDs.Conclusion: Approximately 180,000 patients ≤90 days old and 2.6 million patients 91 days to <2 years in age with fever present to US EDs annually. Given existing guidelines, blood and urine culture performance was low for infants ≤90 days old. For children 91 days to <2 years, rates of radiography and antibiotic use were higher in general EDs compared to pediatric EDs. These findings suggest opportunities to improve care among febrile young children in the ED.
Ion irradiation and modification: The role of coupled electronic and nuclear energy dissipation and subsequent nonequilibrium processes in materials

Understanding material responses to energy deposition from energetic charged particles is important for defect engineering, ion-beam processing, ion-beam analysis and modification, geologic aging, space exploration, and nuclear applications. As an incident ion penetrates a solid, its energy is transferred to electrons and to atomic nuclei of the solid. Much of this electronic energy deposition is subsequently transferred to the atomic structure via electron–phonon (e–ph) coupling, leading to local inelastic thermal spikes in which energy dissipation is influenced by the local environment. In addition, intense ionization can lead to high densities of localized electronic excitations in wide-bandgap materials and ceramics that can affect defect dynamics and atomic mobility. Specifically, energy exchange between electrons and atomic nuclei, along with localized electronic excitations, can lead to substantial competitive (ionization-induced annealing), additive (both electronic and nuclear energy depositions contributing to damage production), and synergistic (more damage than the sums of separate damage processes) effects. Although nonmonotonic effects of the e–ph coupling strength and athermal processes are demonstrated for pre-existing defects and residual damage during ion–solid interactions, there is limited understanding of when such electronic effects must be considered in atomic-scale models of damage production and evolution in a broad variety of materials. Complex ceramics and chemically disordered solid solution alloys with different constituent elements allow a systematic evaluation of defect dynamics and irradiation performance with increasing complexity. Current knowledge regarding tuning of bonding characteristics and chemical disorder to control atomic-level dynamics is reviewed. Although a lack of fundamental understanding obstructs the advancement of reliable predictions for ion beam material modification, it highlights challenges and opens research opportunities. Insights into the complex electronic and atomic correlations with extreme energy deposition will strengthen our ability to design materials and predict ion-irradiation-induced damage in a radiation environment, and they may pave the way to better control fundamental processes and design new material functionalities for advanced technologies.
The Influence of Water Content on the Adhesion Between Solar Module Interfaces

Delamination of solar module interfaces often occurs in field-tested solar modules after decades of service due to environmental stressors such as humidity. In the presence of water, the interfaces between encapsulant and the cell, glass, and backsheet all experience losses of adhesion, exposing the module to accelerated degradation. Understanding the relation between interfacial adhesion and water content inside PV modules can help mitigate detrimental power losses. Water content measurements via short wave infrared reflectometry combined with 180° peel tests were used to study peel test samples exposed to damp heat and dry heat conditions. The effect of temperature, cumulative water dose, and water content during peel tests on interfacial adhesion was studied. Temperature and time decreased adhesion at all interfaces, whereas water content at time of measurement showed significant decreases in strength for the backsheet/encapsulant interface. Water dose showed little effect for the glass/encapsulant and backsheet/encapsulant interfaces, but there was significant adhesion loss with water dose at the front cell busbar/encapsulant interface.
Holographic polarization microscopy using deep learning

We present a deep learning-enabled holographic polarization microscope that only requires one polarization state to image/quantify birefringent specimen. This framework reconstructs quantitative birefringence retardance and orientation images from the amplitude/phase information obtained using a lensless holographic microscope with a pair of polarizer and analyzer. We tested this technique with various birefringent samples including monosodium urate and triamcinolone acetonide crystals to demonstrate that the deep network can accurately reconstruct the retardance and orientation image channels. This method has a simple optical design and presents a large field-of-view (>20-30mm2), which might broaden the access to advanced polarization microscopy techniques in low-resource-settings.
Microscale photoacoustic spectroscopy using integrated photonics for lab-on-chip applications

We propose a microscale photoacoustic hardware architecture using silicon photonics. The system builds on a platform that monolithically integrates on-chip light excitation and ultrasound detection of photoacoustic signal. The device uses a waveguide terminating with a meta grating structure to engineer an excitation beam profile. The ultrasound receiver is based on a photonic ring resonator that sits on top of mechanical membrane. The pressure wave impinging on the membrane deflects the ring resonator resulting in change in optical readout. We believe the method is scalable to develop low-cost ultra-highly sensitive photoacoustic sensors for applications such as PA imaging, spectroscopy, and microscopy.
Validating Process Mining: A Framework Integrating Auditor’s Risk Assessment

This study aims at building a framework on how auditors can utilize both routing and transaction value information when using process mining as new audit evidence in their audit work. Specifically, this framework is based on auditor’s risk assessment. The application of proposed risk assessment framework on event log from a non-profit organization shows that auditors could be benefit from the prioritized process mining results as they could focus on process instances with higher risk score and the values are above the threshold.
Channel Decoding Using Cyclic Elimination Algorithm for Pulse Based UWB Transceiver

Ultra-Wideband has recently become an emerging technology in internet-of-things (IoT) and wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for high-volume data transmission and sensing applications. However, channel estimation, proper signal detection, and data decoding are challenging to recover the message information in the UWB receiver successfully. A power-efficient and straightforward channel decoding receiver architecture is critically needed for low-power and resource constraints applications. This paper proposed a cyclic pulse elimination based channel decoding algorithm to recover the sending data channel. The receiving signal correlates with individual pulses and eliminates cyclically to decode the data channel. Then the decoded pulses use to recreate the pulse-sequence to find the missing data channel. The MATLAB simulation tool performs the proposed algorithm to decode the data channels from the composite signal. Simulation results indicate that the proposed channel decoding algorithm can be implemented in the micro-controller board to simplify the receiver architecture for real-time implementation. The proposed scheme will reduce the computational burden and pave the way for new platforms in high-speed wireless sensor applications.
A machine learning model pipeline for detecting wet pavement condition from live scenes of traffic cameras

Abstract Highway safety is largely influenced by weather conditions that have become increasingly volatile due to the climate change. It well known that wet pavement significantly reduces surface friction, leading to inflated collision risk. Thus, timely knowledge of the road surface condition is critical for safe driving. In this paper, a novel machine learning model pipeline is proposed to detect the wetness of pavement based on live images of highway scenes captured by publicly accessible traffic cameras. To simplify the learning task, we finetuned the state-of-the-art instance segmentation baseline models to extract background instance targets, including pavement, sky, and vegetation, which are common in highway scenes. Then, the color mixture attributes in HSV (hue, saturation and value) of each segmented instance were extracted and used as visual cues for inferring pavement condition. Finally, gradient boosting ensemble classifiers are constructed and trained using the HSV features to predict the wetness of pavement. For the segmentation task, we leveraged Detectron2 baseline models (Mask R-CNN) and evaluated three backbone networks: R50-FPN, R101-FPN, and X101-FPN. For the classification task, two most popular gradient boosting algorithms (XGBoost and CatBoost) were evaluated together with a classic logistic model. Based on experiments with our custom dataset, the best performance (F1 score: 0.927, AUC: 0.975) was achieved by the R101-FPN backbone coupled with the CatBoost classifier.
What factors are associated with perceived disease onset in patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis

Abstract Introduction Newly symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA) is often misinterpreted as new pathology or injury, which is associated with pain intensity and incapability. Methods Adult patients with hip and knee OA completed measures of catastrophic thinking, depression, capability, symptom duration, and perceived injury. Results Symptom duration was associated with OA grade and symptoms of depression. Perceived injury was common (31%) and associated with men and knee arthritis. Capability was associated with misinterpretation of symptoms and the work status ‘other,’ but not radiographic severity. Conclusions Misinterpretation of OA symptoms is common and has a greater influence on capability than radiographic grade of pathophysiology.
Does Amazon Exercise its Market Power? Evidence from Toys R Us

Since its founding, Amazon has established a reputation for being consumer friendly by consistently offering low prices. However, recent antitrust concerns about dominant online platforms have revived questions about whether Amazon uses its market share to exploit consumers. Using the sudden U.S. exit of Toys R Us as a natural experiment, we find that Amazon's prices increased by almost 5% in the wake of the exit, with larger increases for popular products most likely stocked by Toys R Us. Thus, despite Amazon's long-standing reputation for low prices, it may exploit increases in market power as traditional retailers cease operating.
Field Evaluation and Cost-Effectiveness of Cement-Stabilized Full-Depth Reclamation of Asphalt Pavements in Hot and Humid Climates

AbstractCement-stabilized full-depth reclamation (CSFDR) is a common rehabilitation treatment used by transportation agencies. Yet, several gaps exist in the literature regarding the long-term fiel...
Thallium-205 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study of Pyruvate Kinase and Its Substrates EVIDENCE FOR A SUBSTRATE-INDUCED CONFORMATIONAL CHANGE

Abstract A thallium-205 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study of pyruvate kinase has been carried out. Shift and broadening of the 205T1 resonance have been observed upon binding of the thallous ion to the enzyme. Small changes in these parameters are observed upon binding of magnesium(II) to the enzyme with further changes arising from the binding of phosphoenolpyruvate, a substrate of the enzyme. The longitudinal (T1) and transverse (T2) relaxation times of 205T1 are dramatically affected by the presence of the paramagnetic manganous ion due to the existence of electronnuclear dipolar (for T1 and T2) and hyperfine (for T2 only) interactions. The distance between the monovalent (T1+) and divalent (Mn2+) activators of pyruvate kinase has been evaluated from the T1 values. In the pyruvate kinase-Mn(II) complex the average distance is 8.2 A whereas in the pyruvate kinase-Mn(II)-phosphoenolpyruvate it is 4.9 A. The change of the thallium to manganese distance upon binding of phosphoenolpyruvate is direct evidence for a substrate-induced conformational change. The thallous ion forms complexes with the substrates of pyruvate kinase (phosphoenolpyruvate, ATP, ADP, and pyruvate) in absence of the enzyme, which give rise to chemical shifts and broadenings of the 205T1 resonance. The line broadening is enhanced in presence of Mn(II) suggesting that the substrates form complexes having both a monovalent and a divalent ion. The possibilities of using the NMR properties of the nuclei of the alkali metal ions to probe macromolecular environment in the presence of paramagnetic ions are discussed. It appears that the properties of thallium-205 are uniquely suitable in this regard.
50-200 GHz InP HBT Integrated Circuits for Optical Fiber and mm-Wave Communications

We report the InP HBT scaling strategies required for 80-160 Gb/s optical fiber ICs, and a variety of recent HBT results, including 87 GHz static frequency dividers, 175 GHz amplifiers, and >450 GHz fmax DHBTs