cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Müller cell zinc transporter-3 labeling suggests a role in outer retina zinc homeostasis.

Labeling for zinc transporter protein-3 (ZnT-3), which can be found localized to glutamatergic vesicles elsewhere in the nervous system, has revealed an unexpectedly high concentration of this transporter protein in the outer limiting membrane region of the murine retina, a region that contains the mitochondria-rich portion of photoreceptor inner segments and is not involved with vesicle release. Having suggested the possibility that Muller cell apical villi forming the outer limiting membrane may be associated with the labeling observed, we used immunohistochemical techniques to look for ZnT-3 labeling of Muller cells isolated from rat and mouse retinas. With DAB labeling, rat Muller cell apical villi, soma, and endfeet exhibited ZnT-3 reactivity. FITC label and confocal analysis revealed that ZnT-3 protein appeared throughout the length of mouse Muller cells. We conclude from these observations that the dense labeling for ZnT-3 in the photoreceptor inner segment region of murine retinal slices is due to labeling of ZnT-3 protein associated with Muller cell apical villi. Based on these findings we suggest that Muller cells utilize ZnT-3 to regulate retinal zinc homeostasis and that this role is important to mitochondrial function in the photoreceptor inner segments.
PICTURE OF THE MONTH: Meso-Highs and Satellite Imagery

The meso-High, and how it is produced in an intense thunderstorm area, has been previously explained by Fujita (1963). The passage of the meso-High’s outer boundary is usually accompanied by rain, a vector wind shift, a decrease in surface temperature, and a pressure surge. The intersection of a meso-High boundary with other boundaries (fronts, squall lines, other meso-Highs, mountains, etc.) marks a point with a high potential for intense convective activity.
Whole body protein synthesis in healthy adult humans: 13CO2 technique vs. plasma precursor approach

Different methods for the estimation of whole body protein synthesis (PS) in healthy adult humans were simultaneously compared in seven young adult subjects (6 males, 1 female) fed for 6 days a diet providing 1 g protein.kg-1.day-1 and approximately 188 kJ.kg-1.day-1. A 24-h intravenous tracer study with L-[1-13C]leucine was performed starting at 6 P.M. on day 6. During fasted (6 h) and fed (6 h) steady states, PS was estimated using an approach based on 13CO2 excretion (PSexcr) and on urinary nitrogen excretion data (corrected for changes in body urea pool). Simultaneously, we used the conventional two-pool model and plasma [13C]ketoisocaproate enrichment for estimating PS. The latter mean estimates of PS were significantly higher than PSexcr during fasting [861 +/- 58 (SD) vs. 663 +/- 160 mg protein.kg-1.6 h-1; P < 0.01] and feeding (985 +/- 63 vs. 779 +/- 127 mg protein.kg-1.6 h-1; P < 0.01) and were much less variable. In hourly small-meal feeding, urinary nitrogen excretion was not a reliable index of body protein oxidation when measured over short periods of 6 h, thereby introducing a lack of precision in PSexcr. We suggest that application of the 13CO2 technique to measure PS in humans is limited by the need for relatively prolonged experimental periods of urine collection and tracer infusion within a given physiological state.
The Donation of Zeno: St Barnabas and the Origins of the Cypriot Archbishops' Regalia Privileges

This article explores medieval and Renaissance evidence for the origins and meaning of the imperial regalia privileges exercised by the Greek archbishops of Cyprus, said to have been granted by the Emperor Zeno (c. 425–91), along with autocephaly, upon the discovery of the relics of the Apostle Barnabas. Though claimed to have existed ab antiquo, these imperial privileges in fact have their origin in the late sixteenth century and bear the characteristics of western Latin ecclesial and political thought. With the Donation of Constantine as their prototype, they bolster the case made to the Italians and the French for saving Christian Cyprus from the Turks.
Deformations of geosynthetic reinforced soil under bridge service loads

Abstract This paper evaluates the results of 13 large scale Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil (GRS) column load tests, also known as performance tests (PT) or mini-pier tests, to study the effect of tensile strength (T f ), vertical reinforcement spacing (S v ), facing elements, and backfill properties on the deformations of GRS at 200 kPa, typical bridge bearing pressures, and also at 400 kPa. The results indicate that GRS performs well under service conditions. A semi-empirical expression is proposed for prescribed bearing pressures to limit vertical strain to 0.5% of the abutment height. In addition, recommendations for estimating lateral deformation for GRS bridge abutments are also provided. At 200 kPa surcharge for this series of tests, vertical settlements ranged from 8.3 to 33.9 mm (or from 0.4% to 1.7% axial strain); lateral deformations ranged from 3.0 mm to 10.1 mm (or 0.6%–2.0% lateral strain); and reinforcement strain ranged from less than 1% during construction to less than 3% during loading. The lateral deformation results indicate that the maximum displacement occurs in the top third region of the wall face. Comparing the vertical and lateral displacement data shows that most GRS models experienced negligible positive volume changes up to about 1% under typical bridge service loads.
The Phonetic Variation Features of Zhouzhi Dialect Pronunciations from Ancient to Contemporary Times

On the basis of in-depth investigation and research,this paper exhaustively displays some of the characteristics of the phonetic variation features of Zhouzhi dialect pronunciations from ancient to contemporary times.And a comparison is made of the main differences of variation from ancient to contemporary times between Zhouzhi dialect and standard Chinese with the purpose of finding out the law governing the phonetic variation from ancient to contemporary times of Zhouzhi dialect in the hope that some presentable materials of reference can be provided for the study of Guanzhong dialect and northern mandarin variety.
Ultrasonic Destruction of Surfactants: Application to Industrial Wastewaters

This research focused on the use of sonication to destroy surfactants and surface tension properties in industrial wastewaters that affect traditional water treatment processes. We have investigated the sonochemical destruction of surfactants and a chelating agent to understand the release of metals from surfactants during sonication. In addition, the effects of physical properties of surfactants and the effect of ultrasonic frequency were investigated to gain an understanding of the factors affecting degradation. Successful partial or total destruction of surfactants resulting in the release of metals bound to surfactants may result in a significant cost savings of treatment plants. Sonochemical degradation of surfactants was observed to be more effective than nonsurfactant compounds. In addition, as the concentration is increased the degradation rate constant does not decrease as significantly as with nonsurfactant compounds in the NAP reactor. In fact, the total number of molecules degraded increases with concentration. The degradation of metal complexes is not as effective as in the absence of the metal. However, this is likely an artifact of the model complexing agent used at the hot bubble interface, significantly increasing ligand exchange kinetics and thus degradation of the complex. This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series ISBN: 9781843396369 (Print) ISBN: 9781780404080 (eBook)
On Emotion, Silence, and Shutting Up

This chapter is an investigation of the place of emotions in the workplace and the dangers of silencing and “shutting up.” Mayock addresses here the questions of agency in speech, “talk” as work, emotional intelligence, silence as assertion of power, and shutting up as a coping mechanism. Silence is viewed as an element of gender shrapnel and, thus, as a negative influence on workplace dynamics. New terms introduced in this chapter include “professional rubbernecking,” “rhetorical anorexia,” and “professional ventriloquism.”
High-operating-temperature superconducting nanowire single photon detectors

We report on 5 nm thick, 100 nm wide MgB 2 nanowires with single-photon sensitivity at 635 nm wavelength in the operating-temperature range 3–10 K.
Error bounds on the DC power flow approximation: A convex relaxation approach

Power flow models are fundamental to power systems analyses ranging from short-term market clearing and voltage stability studies to long-term planning. Due to the nonlinear nature of the AC power flow equations and the associated computational challenges, linearized approximations (like the DC power flow) have been widely used to solve these problems in a computationally tractable manner. The linearized approximations have been justified using traditional engineering assumptions that under “normal” operating conditions, voltage magnitudes do not significantly deviate from nominal values and phase differences are “small”. However, there is only limited work on rigorously quantifying when it is safe to use these linearized approximations. In this paper, we propose an algorithm capable of computing rigorous bounds on the approximation error in the DC power flow (and, in future extensions, more general linearized approximations) using convex relaxation techniques. Given a set of operational constraints (limits on the voltage magnitudes, phase angle differences, and power injections), the algorithm determines an upper bound on the difference in injections at each bus computed by the AC and DC power flow power flow models within this domain. We test our approach on several IEEE benchmark networks. Our experimental results show that the bounds are reasonably tight (i.e., there are points within the domain of interest that are close to achieving the bound) over a range of operating conditions.
Application of Thiol–yne/Thiol–ene Reactions for Peptide and Protein Macrocyclizations

The application of thiol-yne/thiol-ene reactions to synthesize mono- and bicyclic-stapled peptides and proteins is reported. First, a thiol-ene-based peptide-stapling method in aqueous conditions was developed. This method enabled the efficient stapling of recombinantly expressed coil-coiled proteins. The resulting stapled protein demonstrated higher stability in its secondary structure than the unstapled version. Furthermore, a thiol-yne coupling was performed by using an α,ω-diyne to react with two cysteine residues to synthesize a stapled peptide with two vinyl sulfide groups. The stapled peptide could further react with another biscysteine peptide to yield a bicyclic stapled peptide with enhanced properties. For example, the cell permeability of a stapled peptide was further increased by appending an oligoarginine cell-penetrating peptide. The robustness and versatility of thiol-yne/thiol-ene reactions that can be applied to both synthetic and expressed peptides and proteins were demonstrated.
Homogeneous and Symmetric Spaces (Coset Spaces)

Consider an algebra g with elements X i (i = 1, …, r), g ∋ X i , and its associated group G obtained from g by exponentiation ( 4.2), \(G \ni \exp \left (\sum _{i}\alpha _{i}X_{i}\right )\), where α i are the parameters of the group.
An assessment of the extent of basal sweep in south coastal lodgepole pine.

Lodgepole pine is a species which causes great difficulties for the forest manager. The most extensively planted provenances, the coastal varieties (LPC), are affected by problems of stability and poor stem form, though impressive growth rates can be achieved even on very poor sites. Originally LPC was planted on infertile sites as a pioneer crop, the idea being to pay for itself and to improve the site for the second rotation which would be spruce. However the quality of log produced in crops of LPC from older plantations led to an expectation of similar material being produced on the peat sites where most LPC has been planted. Recently, managers have become less optimistic about the prospects of saw log from such stands of LPC and there has been a movement in favour of planting spruce, despite the nutritional problems. The economics of a 'pioneer' rotation are not yet known, so the move to spruce (or mixtures) would be reasonable if no sawlog of at least structural quality can be produced from crops of LPC...
John Clare and the Problem of Audience

ABSTRACTThis essay investigates John Clare’s attempts, over two decades, to represent and shape an audience in response to the changing conditions of his career and the literary marketplace. Clare’s problem (and opportunity) is an existing discourse of patronage that blurs economic and emotional ties by representing the relationship between the laboring-class poet and his audience as “friendship.” Early in his career, Clare appropriates this language of friendship to appeal to wealthy readers; however, he cannot completely overcome his resistance to the deference that patronage requires. After a series of career setbacks, he revises this language by replacing patrons with an audience of his own class, imagining the sympathetic relation between poet and reader as an alternative to, not an extension of, the marketplace. To imagine the common people as his audience, however, Clare must replace the material realities of poetic production and consumption with ever greater levels of abstraction.
Language Sample Analysis and Elicitation Technique Effects in Bilingual Children With and Without Language Impairment.

Purpose This study examined whether the language sample elicitation technique (i.e., storytelling and story-retelling tasks with pictorial support) affects lexical diversity (D), grammaticality (gr...
Turbulent Wall-Layer Vortices

Turbulent flow near walls is common in a wide variety of engineering applications, including a spectrum of external flows encountered on aircraft and ship surfaces and the blades of gas turbines. In many situations, the external flow field is effectively irrotational and laminar. However, once the Reynolds number exceeds a certain threshold level, a process of amplification of small disturbances in the flow field causes the boundary layer near the surface to undergo transition to a fully turbulent state; here the Reynolds number is defined by Re = U o L/v, where U o is the basic flow speed, L is a length characteristic of the body and v is the kinematic viscosity. There are at least three distinct routes to boundary-layer turbulence. In well-controlled experiments, it is possible to delay the onset of transition to fairly high Reynolds number. However, at some stage, small disturbances in the boundary layer start to grow and the onset of transition is heralded by the appearance of Tollmein-Schlichting (TS) waves (Tani 1969; Reshotko 1976, 1988). In a process which is not entirely understood, the TS waves break down as they advect downstream in an apparently nonlinear process that culminates in the formation of vortices. These vortices have a characteristic shape reminiscent of a woman’s hairpin common in the 1950’s and classically have been referred to as hairpin vortices; it should be emphasized, however, that modern usage of this terminology does not necessarily imply a completely symmetric vortex structure. Once this type of vortex appears, a process of regeneration and production of more vortices ensues; the flow field becomes progressively more complex such that the end-stages of transition, as well as the fully turbulent boundary layer further downstream, are characterized by a rich and complex tangle of vortices.
Major Depression in Alzheimer's Disease: An Interaction Between Gender and Family History

Major depression afflicts from 15% to 31% of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The charts of 137 patients with AD were reviewed to assess the association between several variables and the risk of developing major depression. Thirty-eight patients (28%) had major depression. A family history of mood disorder was associated with a significantly increased risk for major depression, but this was only true in women (relative of odds = 2.82, 95 confidence interval from 1.19 to 6.69). There was no relationship between major depression and a personal history of depression, younger age at onset of AD, history of substance use disorder, institutionalization, and marital status. These results suggest that the relationship between family history and depression in AD is more complex than previously thought.
Structural and Dynamical Quantum Effects in Aqueous Solution

Both configurational order and molecular dynamics can be influenced in important ways by the characteristics of hydrogen bonded liquids, a result of the fact that such systems are typified by relatively high frequency motions. We discuss examples of such effects, as revealed by quantum simulation studies of aqueous systems. These examples include the quantum isotope effect on the configurational order in liquid water and the dynamical influence of solvent dynamics on solute electronic relaxation and hydrated electron transport.
Conopeptides promote itch through human itch receptor hMgprX1

Members of Mas related G-protein coupled receptors (Mrgpr) are known to mediate itch. To date, several compounds have been shown to activate these receptors, including chloroquine, a common antimalarial drug, and peptides of the RF-amide family. However, specific ligands for these receptors are still lacking and there is a need for novel compounds that can be used to modulate the receptors in order to understand the cellular and molecular mechanism in which they mediate itch. Some cone snail venoms were previously shown to induce itch in mice. Here, we show that the venom of Conus textile induces itch through activation of itch-sensing sensory neurons, marked by their sensitivity to chloroquine. Two RF-amide peptides, CNF-Tx1 and CNF-Tx2, were identified in a C. textile venom gland transcriptome. These belong to the conorfamide family of peptides which includes previously described peptides from the venoms of Conus victoriae (CNF-Vc1) and Conus spurius (CNF-Sr1 and CNF-Sr2). We show that CNF-Vc1 and CNF-Sr1 activate MrgprC11 whereas CNF-Vc1 and CNF-Tx2 activate the human MrgprX1 (hMrgprX1). The peptides CNF-Tx1 and CNF-Sr2 do not activate MrgprC11 or hMrgprX1. Intradermal injection of CNF-Vc1 and CNF-Tx2 into the cheek of a transgenic mouse expressing hMrgprX1 instead of endogenous mouse Mrgprs resulted in itch-related scratching thus demonstrating the in vivo activity of these peptides. Using truncated analogues of CNF-Vc1, we identified amino acids at positions 7-14 as important for activity against hMrgprX1. The conopeptides reported here are tools that can be used to advance our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanism of itch mediated by Mrgprs.
A Real-Time Automatic Stability Optimization Loop (SOL) for MEMS-Referenced Oscillators

The frequency stability of local oscillators (LOs) based on micro- and/or nano-mechanical resonators integrated with CMOS-based circuitry is a key performance limiter for ultra-low-power reconfigurable wireless architectures. This paper proposes a software-defined automatic stability optimization loop (SOL) that optimizes the stability of such LOs by finding and tracking their maximum stability points (MSPs). The technique enables automatic minimization of either frequency- or time domain oscillator stability metrics such as phase noise or Allan deviation (ADEV) in the presence of external perturbations. The SOL accomplishes this goal by using a perturb-and-observe (P & O) algorithm to lock the operating point of the oscillator at one of its MSPs. The proposed approach was experimentally verified on a MEMS-referenced oscillator realized using a single-crystal silicon (SC-Si) comb-drive resonator connected in feedback around a highly tunable single-chip CMOS sustaining amplifier.
New perspectives on the grain-size dependent yield strength of polycrystalline metals

Abstract We formulate the grain-size dependent strengthening of polycrystalline metals as a multiplicative decomposition of the coarse-grain strength σ0 and a function depending on the grain size d normalized by a characteristic coarse-grain length scale L = b(G/σ0), where G is the shear modulus, and b the magnitude of the Burgers vector. We show that this formulation leads to a collapse of all experimental data analyzed, making experimental results across different materials comparable. This suggests that the grain-size dependent strengthening of several materials can be characterized by a single function with different materials distinguished only by their coarse-grain strength.
Drinking of ethanol by rhesus monkeys: experimental strategies for establishing ethanol as a reinforcer.

Ethanol drinking by three male rhesus monkeys was established using a procedure termed food-induced drinking. The monkeys were maintained at approximately 80% of their free-feeding weights. During daily 3-hour sessions the monkeys had access to water and were provided with their daily food rations. Within approximately 20 minutes after obtaining their food ration, the monkeys drank up to 500 ml of water. In subsequent sessions, ethanol in increasing concentrations (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 5.6, 8% W/V) was substituted for water. When the monkeys were regularly drinking 100 to 200 ml of 8% ethanol, access to food was shifted from within the 3-hour sessions to a period beginning 1-hour after the sessions. Thereafter, daily sessions consisted of simply three hours of access to 8% ethanol; between sessions the monkeys had ad lib access to water plus their daily food ration. Under these conditions drinking of ethanol persisted at substantial rates, e.g., blood ethanol levels were usually 100 to 200 mg%. In the next series of manipulations, the monkeys were required to emit a fixed-number of responses per each delivery of approximately 0.5 ml of liquid, i.e., fixed-ratio schedules (FR) were instated. At FR 16 8% ethanol but not water (the control vehicle) maintained substantial performance. Fixed-ratio performance was similar to that observed using more commonly studied reinforcers in that when responding occurred, response rates were high and relatively constant. Ethanol-maintained behavior was similar to that reported in earlier studies from this laboratory: Long drinking bouts occurred at the beginning of sessions, and the initial drinking was later followed by several shorter drinking bouts. In contrast, water maintained markedly less responding, and the responding that did occur was spaced irregularly over the session. These findings confirm findings with other rhesus monkeys. That is, ethanol can function as an effective positive reinforcer via the oral route and can maintain intermittently reinforced behavior.
Adherence to antimalarial drug policy among doctors in Delta State, Nigeria: implications for malaria control

Background : Malaria is a public health problem compounded with a widespread emergence of drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum which necessitated the formulation of a new antimalarial drug policy (AMP). Objective : This study was designed to assess adherence to the policy among physicians in health facilities in Delta state, Nigeria. Design : Cross-sectional, analytic study. Data were collected with a semi-structured questionnaire. Setting : Two secondary and one tertiary health facilities in Delta State, Nigeria Participants : Physicians selected with a simple random technique from the facilities Main outcome measures: Prescribing pattern of antimalarial drugs and adherence to WHO treatment guideline among doctors. Results : Majority (90.8%) of respondents believed the antimalarial policy (AMP) should be strictly adhered to, although three-fifth (61.0%) of them rated its performance as poor. The level of adherence to the national antimalarial drug policy was high (78.5%) as most doctors prescribed Arthemeter-Lumefantrine, AL for uncomplicated malaria however barely two-fifth (35.4%) adhered to prescribing injectable Artesunate for complicated malaria. AL, (71.9%) was the most prescribed antimalarial drug for uncomplicated malaria The most prescribed antimalarial drugs for complicated malaria was artesunate (40.0%) followed by quinine (27.6%) and artemether (26.7%); although, chloroquine was also prescribed. Conclusion : The level of adherence to AMP among doctors was sub-optimal. Continuous education of doctors on the new AMP is needed to achieve malarial control. Keywords : Adherence, antimalarial, drug policy, resistance, guidelines Funding : No funding was received for this study
Predictive Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements

Smooth pursuit eye movements maintain the line of sight on smoothly moving targets. Although often studied as a response to sensory motion, pursuit anticipates changes in motion trajectories, thus reducing harmful consequences due to sensorimotor processing delays. Evidence for predictive pursuit includes (a) anticipatory smooth eye movements (ASEM) in the direction of expected future target motion that can be evoked by perceptual cues or by memory for recent motion, (b) pursuit during periods of target occlusion, and (c) improved accuracy of pursuit with self-generated or biologically realistic target motions. Predictive pursuit has been linked to neural activity in the frontal cortex and in sensory motion areas. As behavioral and neural evidence for predictive pursuit grows and statistically based models augment or replace linear systems approaches, pursuit is being regarded less as a reaction to immediate sensory motion and more as a predictive response, with retinal motion serving as one of a number of contributing cues.
Revisiting Shared Governance at a Community College in the USA

Sharon Lalla describes a striking case of a College in the USA, the environment of which presented significant weaknesses that resulted in isolation, loss of trust, lack of transparency, and lack of empowerment among its constituents. As this situation started to become a risk for the College’s accreditation, urgent measures had to be taken with a focus on shared governance. Sharon Lalla shows that when shared governance is missing or ineffective, a radical transformation of the College’s culture is crucial. Effective shared governance has been proven to create a sustaining traveling organization in higher education systems. This is why accreditors require it. When there is no or weak shared governance practices, there are few or even no checks and balances in place. Members at all levels, including the highest decision-making levels, need to be transparent about issues and policies that can potentially have an impact on the organization.
Burn Contracture Release

This chapter describes the surgical procedure for burn contracture release as performed by the following approaches: using sharp technique to excise contracted skin with placement of skin substrate, or full-thickness skin graft, as well as lengthening of the contracted scar. The text includes an introduction that outlines the indications, risks, alternatives, essential steps, needed equipment, and variations in technique for the procedure in question. This is followed by a template operative dictation, which provides the reader with an operative report, such as is found in a patient chart or electronic medical record. A description is provided of the following critical concepts for this procedure: removal or lengthening of hypertrophic scar tissue with resultant tension-free closure.
MUTAGENIC ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX SAMPLES OF AQUEOUS EFFLUENTS, AIR PARTICULATES, AND FOODS

Opportunities and problems arise when the Ames mutagenesis technique is applied to the analysis of samples, such as those derived from the environment, which are mixtures of unknown compounds that may or may not include mutagens. The chief advantage of this application of the method is well known: one can use it as a rapid, inexpensive, biological screen capable of detecting mutagens by their biological effect. This makes it possible to avoid the very difficult task of detecting and identifying all of the numerous organic compounds that may occur in such a sample in order to compare them with a list of known mutagens. The chief disadvantage of this approach is that one is “flying blind,” so to speak, unaware in advance of what types of compounds are present, their concentrations, and their possible interference with the test.
Preparing for Jobs Outside the Academy

At the 2019 meeting of the AAR in San Diego, Dr. Brad Stoddard led a workshop that encouraged graduate students to look outside academia for potential jobs. As the academic job market tightens, many qualified people are left scrambling for careers in theirfield of study. As Stoddard suggests in his workshop, the answer may lie in pursuing work outside the field of academia. Following Kelly Baker’s example, Stoddard showcases how much work is available through a portfolio career, offering advice on reinventing oneself academically, obtaining freelance work, and finding employment in non-profits that likely will fulfill one’s intellectual hopes and dreams.
Submillimeter Laser Wave Propagation

This paper will describe primarily the apparatus, techniques, goals and some preliminary results of the U. S. Army Missile Command submillimeter wave program. The chief goal is to fill some of the most critical data gaps identified by Hartman and Kruse [1]. The basic question is: what range and effective angular resolution can scanned submillimeter radar systems achieve, in particular, during meterological conditions of severely limited visibility. The most critical propagation issues are water vapor absorption, extinction due to aerosols, and beam degradation effects, if any, due to atmospheric turbulence. Of course the reflectance properties of cultural targets, as well as general terrain, are also of importance to the potential operating effectiveness of radar systems.
Impact of Smoking and Primary Tumor Subsite on Recurrence in HPV-Associated Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE To describe risk of recurrence and recurrence characteristics between ever- and never-smoking patients with human papillomavirus-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPV+ OPSCC) when stratified by primary tumor subsite. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective observational study. SETTING Tertiary care center. METHODS Retrospective chart review of 171 patients with HPV+ OPSCC with primary treatment between 2008 and 2019. Five-year recurrence-free survival and risk of recurrence were evaluated through Kaplan-Meier curves with log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards models, respectively. RESULTS Of 171 patients with HPV+ OPSCC, 81.9% were male, and the average age was 63.9 years. Eighty patients (46.8%) had a smoking history (average, 17.7 pack-years), including 4 current smokers. Recurrence occurred in 31 patients (18.1%), 19 of whom were ever smokers. The recurrence rate for ever smokers with primary base of tongue (BOT) cancer was 41.7%, while 5.1% of never smokers with BOT primaries had recurrence. For primary tonsillar disease, 9.1% of ever smokers had recurrence versus 19.2% of never smokers. Five-year recurrence-free survival for BOT primaries was lower in ever smokers than never smokers (P = .001) but did not differ between ever and never smokers for tonsillar primaries (P = .215). In multivariable analysis across this period, ever-smoking status was associated with higher risk of recurrence than never-smoking status in BOT primaries (adjusted hazard ratio, 7.36; 95% CI, 1.61-33.68; P = .010) but with lower risk of recurrence after tonsillar primaries (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.06-0.89; P = .033). CONCLUSION Smoking may uniquely interact with tumor subsites within the oropharynx to influence recurrence risk. Understanding the association between smoking and HPV+ OPSCC recurrence could lead to personalized, evidence-based treatments to improve oncologic outcomes.
Testing Randomization and Relaxed Randomization Assumptions: A Clustering With Side-information Approach

One central goal of design of observational studies is to embed non-experimental data into an approximate randomized controlled trial using statistical matching. Researchers then make the randomization assumption in their downstream, outcome analysis. For matched pair design, the randomization assumption states that the treatment assignment across all matched pairs are independent, and that the probability of the first subject in each pair receiving treatment and the other control is the same as the first receiving control and the other treatment. In this article, we develop a novel framework for testing the randomization assumption based on solving a clustering problem with side-information using modern statistical learning tools. Our testing framework is nonparametric, finite-sample exact, and distinct from previous proposals in that it can be used to test a relaxed version of the randomization assumption called the biased randomization assumption. One important by-product of our testing framework is a quantity called residual sensitivity value (RSV), which quantifies the level of minimal residual confounding due to observed covariates not being well matched. We advocate taking into account RSV in the downstream primary analysis. The proposed methodology is illustrated by re-examining a famous observational study concerning the effect of right heart catheterization (RHC) in the initial care of critically ill patients.
Differential Effects of CEO Hubris and Overconfidence on Firm Performance: A Meta-Analysis

We conduct a quantitative summary of empirical research on the performance consequences of CEO hubris and overconfidence, which we collectively refer to as self-exaggeration. To resolve outstanding...
Virtual Reality Effects on Acute Pain during Office Hysteroscopy: A Randomized Control Trial

Study Objective To evaluate the use of virtual reality (VR) as a noninvasive and nonpharmacologic analgesic during office hysteroscopy procedures. Design Single site, parallel group, unblinded randomized controlled trial. Setting Single academic outpatient minimally invasive gynecology surgery clinic. Patients or Participants Women over 18 years of age scheduled to undergo in office hysteroscopy were invited to participate in the study. 85 participants were approached, 50 consented to participate and were randomized using a computerized random number generator (n=25 in VR group and n=25 in standard group). Interventions Patients were randomized to VR intervention or standard of care from May to November 2020. The VR intervention consisted of listening to a 10-minute guided Zen meditation using The Guided Meditation VR App through an Oculus Go headset. Measurements and Main Results Primary outcome was peak pain score during the procedure based on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) score. The secondary outcomes were change in pain score (peak pain score minus baseline pain score) and change in participant's HR (average BPM before procedure – average BPM during procedure). Data was also collected to assess patient and surgeon satisfaction. The peak pain score during the procedure for the VR group was 35 [15, 60] vs 30 [9, 54] for the standard hysteroscopy group (P=0.317). Compared with the standard of care, VR had no significant effect on median heart rate change during the procedure (-4.6 [-0.5,11.1] vs +2.8 [0.1,7.7] P=0.327). Participants in the VR group had a positive experience with VR and 88% reported the music was very or slightly calming and 84% reported meditation was very or slightly helpful. No serious adverse events occurred. Conclusion This study found no statistically significant difference in pain scores or change in heart rate prior to, during, or after hysteroscopic procedures with VR compared to standard of care. Participants were satisfied with the VR intervention.
Evolutionary Optimization of High-Coverage Budgeted Classifiers

Classifiers are often utilized in time-constrained settings where labels must be assigned to inputs quickly. To address these scenarios, budgeted multi-stage classifiers (MSC) process inputs through a sequence of partial feature acquisition and evaluation steps with early-exit options until a confident prediction can be made. This allows for fast evaluation that can prevent expensive, unnecessary feature acquisition in time-critical instances. However, performance of MSCs is highly sensitive to several design aspects -- making optimization of these systems an important but difficult problem. To approximate an initially intractable combinatorial problem, current approaches to MSC configuration rely on well-behaved surrogate loss functions accounting for two primary objectives (processing cost, error). These approaches have proven useful in many scenarios but are limited by analytic constraints (convexity, smoothness, etc.) and do not manage additional performance objectives. Notably, such methods do not explicitly account for an important aspect of real-time detection systems -- the ratio of "accepted" predictions satisfying some confidence criterion imposed by a risk-averse monitor. This paper proposes a problem-specific genetic algorithm, EMSCO, that incorporates a terminal reject option for indecisive predictions and treats MSC design as an evolutionary optimization problem with distinct objectives (accuracy, cost, coverage). The algorithm's design emphasizes Pareto efficiency while respecting a notion of aggregated performance via a unique scalarization. Experiments are conducted to demonstrate EMSCO's ability to find global optima in a variety of Theta(k^n) solution spaces, and multiple experiments show EMSCO is competitive with alternative budgeted approaches.
Laws of Fear: Fear as Wildfire

Human cognition does not take place in a social vacuum. When a particular incident is cognitively “available,” it is usually because of social influences. When emotions lead people to probability neglect, the alarm shown by others is highly likely to be playing a role. When citizens fixate on a worst-case scenario, social processes are probably ensuring that they do so. Obviously both government and the media make some risks appear particularly salient. Return to President George W. Bush's plea: “Imagine those 19 hijackers [involved in the 9/11 attacks] with other weapons and plans, this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known.” Environmentalists, in and out of government, operate in the same way, focusing public attention on potentially catastrophic harms. Well-organized private groups play a central role in activating public concern. But to say this is to get ahead of the story. Begin with an example. SNIPERS In fall 2002, a pair of snipers killed ten people in the Washington, D.C. area. The victims were randomly chosen. They included men and women, young and old, whites and African-Americans. Each of these murders was a tragedy, of course; but the actions of the snipers affected millions of others as well. Many citizens were afraid that they could be next. Fear, sometimes dull and sometimes very sharp, gripped the nation's capital. Behavior changed dramatically. Ever since a sniper began picking off people one-by-one, daily tasks like shopping, pumping gas and mowing lawns have become potentially deadly.[…]
Mechanisms of growth of nanocrystalline silicon deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

We have studied the growth of silicon thin films by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition under different conditions of filament temperature (T/sub f/) and hydrogen dilution ratio (R). We found that these two parameters have a similar effect on the properties of the deposited films and show how they interact to control the growth dynamics. For relatively low values of T/sub f/ and/or R, the films are amorphous. An increase in the value of these parameters results in the appearance of a new phase, characterized by heavily faulted (220)-oriented columnar grains; for even higher values, a randomly oriented nanocrystalline phase appears. In general, there is more than one phase present in the film, and the microstructure varies as we go from the bottom to the top of the film. Although T/sub f/ and R have similar effects on the physical properties, they affect the deposition rate in a different way.
Outcompeting Traditional Peers? Scholarly Social Networks and Academic Output

In this paper we evaluate the interplay between scholarly social networking and academic output. To this end, we tested the hypotheses that the activity of users on scholarly social networks is associated with academic output, and that the intra-or interdisciplinary background of scholars affects academic output and online activity. The quantitative data used for this study was collected from the publicly-accessible scholarly social network HASTAC and complemented with a qualitative survey collected from 123 students and recent alumni of the HASTAC Scholars Program. After processing the different sources of data, we rejected the hypotheses that academic output and activity on scholarly social networks are affected by scholar's intra-or interdisciplinary backgrounds, but our results partially support the hypothesis that activity in scholarly networks is associated with academic output. Finally, we discuss the generalizability of our findings and argue that online activity and academic output are both likely driven by networked Scholars committed to academic research.
Fixation of the annulus of the mitral valve with a rigid ring. Hemodynamic studies.

Abstract Currently available prostheses used for replacement of the mitral valve feature a rigid ring for fixation to the annulus of the mitral valve. The effect on the hemodynamics of the left heart of fixation of the annulus of the mitral valve bysuturing a ring from a 1M or a 2M Starr-Edwards valve under cardiopulmonary bypass, leaving the valve leaflets and chordae tendineae intact, was studied in 6 dogs. Intracardiac and intravascular pressures, cardiac output, and the size of the left ventricle were measured in these animals and a control group of 5 normal dogs in the “resting state” and during induced changes in peripheral vascular resistance (intra-aortic administration of angiotensin II and acetylcholine). Small diastolic pressure differences were detected between the left atrium and the left ventricle in the dogs operated on during the control resting state. These atrial-to-ventricular pressure gradients were greatly increased with the high flow and tachycardia associated with vasodilatation. This increased resistance to flow across the mitral valve constituted the major hemodynamic difference between the two animal groups under the conditions of the study.
The role of a patient navigator in fertility preservation

As the patient navigator for the Department of Fertility Preservation at Northwestern University, my main concern is the overall emotional well-being of the patient. I have spoken with over 300 patients who have had a recent cancer or autoimmune disease diagnosis. Finding out that you have a life-threatening illness is horrifying, and patients have told me of the emotional rollercoaster that they experience when they are first diagnosed. Many patients will not even think how their treatments may affect their fertility. Likewise, it is not necessarily the first thought on their surgeon’s or oncologist’s mind either. This is not surprising when the first priority is to save the patient’s life. When facing a life-threatening illness with unknown costs, trying to make a decision about their fertility may not be a priority for some patients. However, preserving fertility is important for many patients and should always be discussed regardless of prognosis or income.
Food consumption and absorption efficiency by newly settled summer flounder, Paralichthys dentatus (Linneaus, 1766)

Abstract As part of a project to determine the energetic basis of growth rate variation, 24-h experiments were conducted to investigate differences in rates of food consumption and absorption efficiency, between and within cohorts (defined here as offspring from a single set of parents) of newly settled laboratory-reared summer flounder, Paralichthys dentatus (Linneaus, 1766). Food consumption, absorption efficiency and growth were measured for fish which had been fast-growing and slow-growing larvae (referred to as grade 1 and grade 3 fish, respectively) from each of five sets of parents (referred to as cohorts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) at constant temperature (20 ± 1 °C), salinity (30 ± 2‰) and light regime (16L:8D), at fish sizes of 15, 20, 25 and 30 mm total length (range: 2.9–59.0 mg dry weight). Significant differences in the rates of consumption of brine shrimp ( Artemia sp.) nauplii, on both a per-fish basis (447–5105 nauplii (day) − 1 ) and a weight-specific basis (12–49% body weight (day) − 1 ), absorption efficiency (46–96% of the consumed ration), and specific growth rate (1.08–10.79% body weight (day) − 1 ) existed among fish at each size. Significant differences were also found in food consumption between grade 1 and grade 3 fish within a cohort, although not at all fish sizes. There was no overall effect of cohort on food consumption ( p = 0.083); however, significant differences in absorption efficiency among cohorts existed ( p = 0.000). As expected, this study suggests that differences in the rates of food consumption directly influence growth rate variation in this species.
Process modeling for soil moisture using sensor network data

Abstract The quantity of water contained in soil is referred to as the soil moisture. Soil moisture plays an important role in agriculture, percolation, and soil chemistry. Precipitation, temperature, atmospheric demand and topography are the primary processes that control soil moisture. Estimates of landscape variation in soil moisture are limited due to the complexity required to link high spatial variation in measurements with the aforesaid processes that vary in space and time. In this paper we develop an inferential framework that takes the form of data fusion using high temporal resolution environmental data from wireless networks along with sparse reflectometer data as inputs and yields inference on moisture variation as precipitation and temperature vary over time and drainage and canopy coverage vary in space. We specifically address soil moisture modeling in the context of wireless sensor networks.
Plasma prolactin responses to serial bleeding in turkeys

Abstract Changes in plasma prolactin (PRL) in response to serial bleeding by venipuncture were measured in turkeys of varying age, sex and reproductive condition. Serial bleeding increased plasma PRL levels in immature, ovariectomized (OVX), laying and non-laying females, but depressed PRL levels in broody (incubating) females. Immature males showed a positive PRL response, while mature males showed no significant response to serial bleeding. The effective stressor was shown to be repeated capture and restraint for serial bleeding and not blood loss. The pattern of the PRL response in OVX hens was not significantly influenced by variations in time required for capture and restraint or by variation in the fear reaction to capture. Habituation of OVX hens to serial capture and handling on 14 consecutive days did not significantly blunt the PRL response to serial bleeding. These results reaffirm the importance of understanding the role of physiological and psychological factors influencing PRL secretion in birds as well as the need to avoid undue stress in birds used for studies of PRL secretion.
Measurement of the electron mean free path using a bending effect

It has been observed experimentally that elastically bending a metal whisker increases its resistance. Such an increase in resistance depends on the metal, the temperature and the orientation of the whisker axis. This effect is observable below 6°K for Zn, 8°K for In, 20°K for Sn, and 300°K for Bi. It is suggested that the effect may be due to an enhancement of surface scattering due to the bending of the whisker. A calculation for such an effect for an “ideal metal” is presented along with data for Zn and Bi.