cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
PS-032 Antiretroviral drug prescribing errors in hospitalised patients

Background Errors in prescribing antiretroviral treatment (ART) are common during the hospitalisation of HIV patients. Interventions to prevent and correct errors improve the quality of health care. Purpose To describe the pharmaceutical interventions made during the hospitalisation period in HIV patients in the validation phase of antiretroviral treatment (ART) in a tertiary hospital. Materials and methods Between 1st September 2012 and 31st March 2013 a prospective study was conducted, in which we validated the ART prescribed with the Assisted Electronic Prescription (AEP) program during the first 24 h of the HIV patients’ hospitalisation. Patients receiving specialised pharmaceutical care in our hospital’s outpatient dispensing service and also patients from other centres were included. Medicines reconciliation of the HIV patients coming from our centre was performed using the ambulatory AEP program by the clinical pharmacist within 24 h of admission, while the ART of the remaining patients was self-reported. The pharmaceutical interventions were classified as: omission, incorrect dose, incorrect scheduling and drug interaction. Results Sixty-five patients were included, 49 (75%) receiving specialised pharmaceutical care in the outpatient dispensing service of our hospital and 16 (25%) proceeding from other hospitals. Pharmaceutical interventions were recorded in 22 patients. In 16 patients from our centre (32%) a pharmaceutical intervention was required: 4 cases of omission, 6 cases of incorrect dose, 3 cases of incorrect scheduling and 5 drug interactions. Six patients from the other centres (37.5%) needed a pharmaceutical intervention: 2 cases of incorrect dose and 4 drug interactions. The rate of physician acceptance of the interventions was 90%. Conclusions Prescription errors at the ART in HIV hospitalised patients were common during the first 24 h. The most common errors involved were incorrect dose. The pharmaceutical interventions had high rates of acceptance. No conflict of interest.
Strategies of Integration in Mixed Methods Research Insights Using Relational Algorithms

The challenge of integration, namely, the bridging across different intellectual paradigms to combine empirical insights into a coherent and plausible explanation, is endemic to mixed methods resea...
Influence of hyperpyrexia on ascorbic acid concentration in the blood.

ConclusionsA study of 77 observations made on 17 patients showed no significant changes in the ascorbic acid concentration as the result of elevating the body temperature to 104°F and maintaining it for 4 hours, using a combination of air conditioned cabinet and indnctotherm.
Reliability Methods for Human Space Missions

One of the major considerations in human exploration and development of space is protecting astronauts, habitat and electronics against the hazards of deep space radiation. The great cost of added radiation shielding is a potential limiting factor in deep space missions. In this enabling technology, we have developed methods for optimized shield design over multi-segmented missions involving multiple work and living areas in the transport and duty phase of space missions. The total shield mass over all pieces of equipment and habitat is optimized subject to career dose and dose rate constraints. An important component of this technology is the estimation of two most commonly identified uncertainties in radiation shield design due to lack of full information about the shielding properties of materials used and the understanding of the biological response of the astronaut to the radiation leaking through the materials into the living space. The largest uncertainty, of course, is in the biological response to especially high charge and energy (HZE) ions of the galactic cosmic rays. These uncertainties are blended with the optimization design procedure to formulate reliability methods for shield design process. This study will provide a vital tool for evaluating Gateway designs in their usage context and provide guide to multifunctional materials for Lunar/gateway missions that are essential part of the more detailed geometry studies in progress.
Cytotoxicity of 3C–SiC Investigated Through Strict Adherence to ISO 10993

Since the pioneering work by Coletti et al. in 2006–07, there has been growing evidence that the cubic form of silicon carbide (SiC), 3C–SiC, is both bio- and hemocompatible. In this previous work performed by our group, we relied on protocols reported in journals to establish our in vitro assay methods. Unfortunately, we have reviewed our method and found that it has since proven to have difficulties accurately examining some materials as well as it has shown issues with repeatability. In short, our methods evaluated cellular viability by examining the ability of adherent cells to attach, grow, and proliferate on a device or material’s surface. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has created a standard for the testing of biomedical devices incorporating successful methods developed through research. In this chapter, we outline our recent work presenting a strict adherence to ISO 10993-5 cytotoxicity methodologies, namely, the extract and direct contact methods, as well as our own protocol developed combining the two methods. We also examine the use of a colorimetric assay mentioned in ISO 10993, MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide), alongside a very powerful, fluorescent assay called LIVE/DEAD ® . The MTT assay was found to produce false positives due to chemical reactions between the MTT and many of the tested materials, in particular metallic surfaces. Finally, we reexamine 3C–SiC using the new ISO 10993-based in vitro cytotoxicity methodology and verify that this interesting material is indeed a potentially biocompatible surface, displaying a cellular viability and proliferation nearly equivalent to culture-treated polycarbonate, supported by ISO 10993-verified reaction controls and statistical analysis. This chapter details work which sets the stage for further ISO 10993 in vitro examinations presented in chapter: Study of the Hemocompatibility of 3C–SiC and a -SiC Films Using ISO 10993-4 on amorphous SiC ( a -SiC) as well as the hemocompatibility experiments performed using platelet-rich plasma.
Positive and Negative Effects of Land Finance on Urbanization

This paper elaborates the carrying function of land resources in urbanization and demonstrates the promoted function of land finance in urbanization by analyzing the background and driving forces of land finance as well as the compensation system and governments' behaviors for land acquisition.By means of Co-integration-tests-and-Granger-causality-tests,the paper evaluates the relationship between land finance and land urbanization as well as that between land finance and population urbanization.The negative effects of land finance on urbanization include landless farmers' direct economic losses and their indirect losses of social security,extensive land use caused by fasterthan-population urbanization land urban expansion,irrationally increasing housing prices and the financial risks involved,resulting in serious problems for urbanization in the era of post land finance. To avoid the negative effects,five countermeasures are proposed:establishing a financial system matchingthe urban affairs of local governments,enhancing urban agglomeration effects,levying real estate tax from real estate owners,reforming the compensation system of land acquisition and constraining local governments' revenue gaining behaviors which may bring destruction to local developments.
Methods for Determining Aircraft Surface State at Lesser-Equipped Airports

Tactical departure scheduling within a terminal airspace must accommodate a wide spectrum of surveillance and communication capabilities at multiple airports. The success of such a scheduler is highly dependent upon the knowledge of a departure's state while it is still on the surface. Airports within a common Terminal RAdar CONtrol (TRACON) airspace possess varying levels of surface surveillance infrastructure which directly impacts uncertainties in wheels-off times. Large airports have access to surface surveillance data, which is shared with the TRACON, while lesser-equipped airports still rely solely on controllers in Air Traffic Control Towers (Towers). Coordination between TRACON and Towers can be greatly enhanced when the TRACON controller has access to the surface surveillance and the associated decision-support tools at well-equipped airports. Similar coordination at lesser-equipped airports is still based on verbal communications. This paper investigates possible methods to reduce the uncertainty in wheels-off time predictions at the lesser-equipped airports through the novel use of Over-the-Air (OTA) data transmissions. We also discuss the methods and equipment used to collect sample data at lesser-equipped airports within a large US TRACON, as well as the data evaluation to determine if meaningful information can be extracted from it.
Cell fate control by pioneer transcription factors.

Distinct combinations of transcription factors are necessary to elicit cell fate changes in embryonic development. Yet within each group of fate-changing transcription factors, a subset called ‘pioneer factors’ are dominant in their ability to engage silent, unmarked chromatin and initiate the recruitment of other factors, thereby imparting new function to regulatory DNA sequences. Recent studies have shown that pioneer factors are also crucial for cellular reprogramming and that they are implicated in the marked changes in gene regulatory networks that occur in various cancers. Here, we provide an overview of the contexts in which pioneer factors function, how they can target silent genes, and their limitations at regions of heterochromatin. Understanding how pioneer factors regulate gene expression greatly enhances our understanding of how specific developmental lineages are established as well as how cell fates can be manipulated.
Trans-Splenic Portal Vein Embolization: A Technique to Avoid Damage to the Future Liver Remnant

Portal vein embolization (PVE) induces hypertrophy of the future liver remnant (FLR) in patients undergoing extensive hepatic resection. Portal vein access for PVE via the ipsilateral hepatic lobe (designated for resection) places veins targeted for embolization at acute angles to the access site requiring reverse curve catheters for access. This approach also involves access close to tumors in the ipsilateral lobe and requires care to avoid traversing tumor. Alternatively, a contralateral approach (through the FLR) risks damage to the FLR due to iatrogenic trauma or non-target embolization. Two patients successfully underwent PVE via trans-splenic portal vein access, allowing easy access to the ipsilateral portal veins and eliminating risk of damage to FLR. Technique and advantages of trans-splenic portal vein access to perform PVE are described.
The drug lag revisited: comparison by therapeutic area of patterns of drugs marketed in the United States and Great Britain from 1972 through 1976.

This study describes rates and patterns of new drug introductions in the U.S. and Britain from January, 1972, through December, 1976, updating an earlier study that described the patterns over the previous decade. This comparative international approach enables overall effects of different regulatory, industrial, and other types of changes in drug research and development in the two countries to be evaluated. Numerical differences persisted. In the 1972 to 1976 period, 82 new drugs appeared for the first time in either country. Only 29% of these became mutually available in both countries, 2.4 times as many becoming available first in Britain as in the U.S. Of the 71% that became exclusively available, 2.6 times as many became available in Britain as in the U.S. More important than numerical data are clinical implications of differences between the countries. The largest differences have narrowed since the previous study, but important categories in which the U.S. still lagged behind Britain in December, 1976, included cardiovascular drugs, peptic ulcer drugs, and central nervous system drugs--including therapies for depression, epilepsy, and migraine. Several factors contributed to the narrowing of U.S.--British therapeutic differences, including more realistic regulatory practices and higher quality clinical studies in the U.S., more conservative practices in Britain, attention drawn by previous studies to anachronisms in the U.S., and industrial changes such as more efficient penetration of the U.S. market by foreign firms. It is difficult to determine the relative contribution of each of these factors to the narrowing of the international difference.
SPORC: group collaboration using untrusted cloud resources

Cloud-based services are an attractive deployment model for user-facing applications like word processing and calendaring. Unlike desktop applications, cloud services allow multiple users to edit shared state concurrently and in real-time, while being scalable, highly available, and globally accessible. Unfortunately, these benefits come at the cost of fully trusting cloud providers with potentially sensitive and important data.To overcome this strict tradeoff, we present SPORC, a generic framework for building a wide variety of collaborative applications with untrusted servers. In SPORC, a server observes only encrypted data and cannot deviate from correct execution without being detected. SPORC allows concurrent, low-latency editing of shared state, permits disconnected operation, and supports dynamic access control even in the presence of concurrency. We demonstrate SPORC's flexibility through two prototype applications: a causally-consistent key-value store and a browser-based collaborative text editor.Conceptually, SPORC illustrates the complementary benefits of operational transformation (OT) and fork* consistency. The former allows SPORC clients to execute concurrent operations without locking and to resolve any resulting conflicts automatically. The latter prevents a misbehaving server from equivocating about the order of operations unless it is willing to fork clients into disjoint sets. Notably, unlike previous systems, SPORC can automatically recover from such malicious forks by leveraging OT's conflict resolution mechanism.
iConsol.js: JavaScript Implicit Finite-Difference Code for Nonlinear Consolidation and Secondary Compression

AbstractIn this study, an implicit finite-difference code for nonlinear consolidation and secondary compression was developed and implemented in a publicly available JavaScript Web application. The rate of secondary compression was defined based on the distance in e-log10(σv′) space between a current point and a corresponding point on a reference secondary compression line (RSCL). Modeling secondary compression in this manner enables simultaneous occurrence of primary consolidation and secondary compression. The finite-difference code was first verified by comparison with three benchmarks. The influence of secondary compression on settlement versus time was then studied and found to be important for thick and/or low-permeability layers for which primary consolidation requires significant time. Overconsolidated soil was observed to result in an apparent increase in Cα with time, which was also observed in experimental data. Finally, secondary compression was found to be capable of generating excess pore pr...
A Novel User-Friendly Model to Predict Corticosteroid Utilization in Newly Diagnosed Patients with Ulcerative Colitis.

BACKGROUND Corticosteroid (CS) use is an important marker of poor prognosis in ulcerative colitis (UC). Our aim was to develop and validate a model to predict the risk of CS utilization over the course of disease in newly diagnosed patients with UC. METHODS Newly diagnosed patients with UC from a nationwide VA cohort were followed over time to evaluate factors predictive of CS use. Multivariate logistic regression was performed. Model development was performed in a random 2/3 of the total cohort and then validated in the remaining 1/3. The primary outcome was the use of CS for the management of UC. Candidate predictors included routinely available data at the time of UC diagnosis, including demographics, laboratory results, and index colonoscopy findings. RESULTS Six hundred ninety-nine eligible patients with UC were followed for a median duration of 8 years. Two hundred eighty-eight patients (41.2%) required CS use for the management of UC. Key predictors for CS utilization selected for the model were as follows: age, non-African American ethnicity, presence of hypoalbuminemia, and iron-deficiency anemia at the time of UC diagnosis, endoscopic extent, or severity of disease at index colonoscopy. Model discrimination was good (area under the receiver operator curve 0.71 [95% confidence interval, 0.66-0.76] for the model including baseline UC extent and 0.71 [95% confidence interval, 0.67-0.76]) for the model including baseline UC severity. Model calibration was consistently good in all models (Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit P > 0.05). The models performed similarly in the internal validation cohort. CONCLUSIONS We developed and internally validated a novel prognostic model to predict CS use among patients with newly diagnosed UC.
Religious Tradition and Workplace Religious Discrimination: The Moderating Effects of Regional Context:

A nascent but growing literature on religious discrimination in U.S. workplaces has shown that some religious identities, especially non-Christian and nonreligious identities, are more likely to ex...
Fixed or open-ended? Labor contract and productivity in the Colombian manufacturing sector

Using the Colombian Annual Manufacturing Survey (AMS) between 2000 and 2014, this paper investigates the effect of labor contract modalities on firm productivity within the industrial sector throug...
Improving the Vocabulary of Children with Hearing Loss

The goal of this study was to test the effectiveness of a Language Wizard/Player with Baldi, a computer-animated tutor, for teaching new vocabulary items to children with a hearing loss. Eight students with hearing loss, between the ages of six and ten, were tested and trained for about 20-30 minutes a day on 2 days a week for about 10 weeks on three categories of eight words each. The design of the experiment was based on a within-student multiple baseline design in which all three categories of words were continuously being tested while one of the categories was being trained. Knowledge of the words remained negligible without training and learning occurred fairly quickly for all words once training began, reaching asymptotic levels in each category. Knowledge of the trained words did not degrade after training once these words ended and training on other words took place. Finally, retention was nearly perfect, as indicated by a reassessment test four weeks after the experiment.
Persistent Microvasculopathy In Chronic Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome

Acute eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) due to contaminated L-tryptophan (LT) exposure is an inflammatory microangiopathy of the dermis, fascia, and muscle. Select individuals evolve from acute EMS to have persistence of myalgia, fatigue, cramps, and skin changes for years. Many develop memory dysfunction and confusion. The objective of this study is to delineate the pathology in individuals with chronic EMS. Seventeen patients with ongoing symptoms representing chronic EMS are studied by skin, fascia, and muscle biopsies four to five years after exposure to contaminated LT and initial onset of EMS. All have microvascular disease. Most have lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrates. Several have dermal sclerosis. The findings indicate that persistent microvascular disease is present in chronic EMS. The pathologic changes are similar to those of acute EMS but with notable differences. Tissue eosinophil infiltration is rare in the chronic state as compared to acute EMS. The degree of inflammation in chronic EMS is markedly reduced compared to acute EMS. The persistence of endothelial pathology indicates continuing microvascular dysfunction.
Round goby and zebra mussel interactions with darters in a warm-water stream community in southern Michigan, USA

The non-indigenous round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) entered the Flint River, Michigan, USA around 1996 while zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) invaded in late 1998. We wanted to identify if t...
Evaluation of an interference-free node allocation policy on fat-tree clusters

Interference between jobs competing for network bandwidth on a fat-tree cluster can cause significant variability and degradation in performance. These performance issues can be mitigated or completely eliminated if the resource allocation policy takes the network topology into account when allocating nodes to jobs. We implement a fat-tree network topology aware node allocation policy that allocates isolated partitions to jobs in order to eliminate inter-job interference. We compare the impact of this node allocation policy to a topology-oblivious policy with respect to the execution time of individual jobs with different communication patterns. We also evaluate the cluster's quality of service using metrics such as system utilization, schedule makespan, and job wait time for both policies. The results obtained for production workloads indicate that a topology-aware node allocation can provide interference-free execution without negatively impacting the cluster's quality of service.
Retrograde parotidectomy under local anesthesia for benign, malignant, and inflammatory lesions

Abstract Objective To report the patient selection, surgical technique, and outcomes of parotidectomy using local anesthesia under monitored anesthesia care (MAC). Methods A retrospective chart review was performed for patients undergoing parotidectomy under local anesthesia at an academic head and neck surgery center. Results Six patients deemed high risk for general anesthesia (GA) due to medical comorbidities or with a strong preference to avoid GA underwent parotidectomy using local anesthesia and MAC. Parotidectomy was performed for several indications, including benign tumors, malignant tumors, and chronic sialadenitis. Mean age of patients was 78.0 ± 7.9 years, and all had an American Society of Anesthesia score ≥ 2 and Charlson comorbidity index ≥4. Mean operative time was 102.8 ± 38.3 min, comparable to that of parotidectomy under general anesthesia. No major complications occurred. Minor complications included three cases of temporary postoperative facial nerve weakness limited to 1–2 lower division branches. At most recent follow up (10 to 48 months), all patients were medically stable and disease free. Conclusion In carefully selected patients, parotidectomy under local anesthesia is a viable treatment alternative that can be offered to patients. Successful outcomes require preoperative counseling, meticulous technique, and close collaboration with anesthesia colleagues.
Turbidity affects association behavior in the endangered fountain darter (Actinopterygii, Perciformes)

Turbidity levels in rivers increase from changes in water flow or high recreational use, which reduces visibility and affects the use of visual cues by aquatic organisms. Decreased visibility affects time spent associating with conspecifics and strength of preference (SOP) in fish that use visual cues. Here, we test the hypothesis that fountain darter (Etheostoma fonticola; a federally endangered species) body size preferences are affected by reduced visibility. We tested offspring of wild-caught fish using a dichotomous choice design with clear and reduced visibility treatments. Males and females spent more time associating with fish of the opposite sex in the clear treatment than in the reduced visibility treatment. Smaller females spent more time associating with other females in the clear treatment, whereas larger females spent more time associating with other females in reduced visibility. Smaller females had a higher SOP for larger males in the clear treatment, whereas larger females had a higher SOP for larger males in the reduced visibility treatment. Increased levels of turbidity that leads to reduced visibility affect the use of visual cues in E. fonticola, resulting in a reduction in time spent in social interaction and affecting association preferences of this endangered species.
Visual Natural Language Query Auto-Completion for Estimating Instance Probabilities.

We present a new task of query auto-completion for estimating instance probabilities. We complete a user query prefix conditioned upon an image. Given the complete query, we fine tune a BERT embedding for estimating probabilities of a broad set of instances. The resulting instance probabilities are used for selection while being agnostic to the segmentation or attention mechanism. Our results demonstrate that auto-completion using both language and vision performs better than using only language, and that fine tuning a BERT embedding allows to efficiently rank instances in the image. In the spirit of reproducible research we make our data, models, and code available.
Going beyond study abroad: An introduction to United States and Chinese joint undergraduate degree programs in public affairs education

Public administration has continued to see the international increase on the graduate level and is beginning to have an increasing interest at the undergraduate level. This article focuses specific...
Multicolor Polymeric Nanoparticle Neuronal Tracers

Deciphering the targets of axonal projections plays a pivotal role in interpreting neuronal function and pathology. Neuronal tracers are indispensable tools for uncovering the functions and interactions between different subregions of the brain. However, the selection of commercially available neuronal tracers is limited, currently comprising small molecule dyes, viruses, and a handful of synthetic nanoparticles. Here, we describe a series of polymer-based nanoparticles capable of retrograde transport along neurons in vivo in mice. These polymeric nanoparticle neuronal tracers (NNTs) are prepared with a palette of fluorescent labels. The morphologies, charges, and optical properties of NNTs are characterized by analytical methods including fluorescence microscopy, electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering. Cytotoxicity and cellular uptake were investigated to analyze cellular interactions in vitro. Regardless of the type of fluorophore used in labeling, each tracer was of similar morphology, size, and charge and was competent for retrograde transport in vivo. The platform provides a convenient, scalable synthetic approach for nonviral tracers labeled with a range of fluorophores for in vivo neuronal projection mapping.
Gastruloids Gain Muscle: Somite Formation in Embryo-Like Structures.

Gastruloids are embryo-like structures that display key features of post-implantation embryonic development, yet whether they fully recapitulate in vivo embryogenesis remains unsolved. Recently in Nature, van den Brink et al. (2020) performed high-resolution gene expression analysis to identify significant similarities between mouse gastruloids and embryos in positional lineage segregation and somite formation.
Chapter 1 – Terms and Definitions

What is solar-resource assessment? What are the key scientific and engineering elements associated with solar-forecasting? These are important questions to be addressed by solar-project developers, financiers, scientists, engineers, and electricity-grid operators as they prepare for higher penetrations of centralized and distributed solar-power generation into the nation’s electrical-power grid. The purpose of this chapter is to address these questions by providing the reader with foundational information and an appreciation for the terminology used in this uniquely comprehensive volume on solar-energy resources. Complex interactions of solar radiationwith the Earth-atmosphere-ocean form the basis for understanding the weather-driven nature of this abundant source of renewable energy. Specifically, the effects of clouds, aerosols, and other atmospheric constituents on photons leaving the Sun and reaching the Earth’s surface continue to be the subject of active research, as highlighted in this book.
Efficient Jacobian Matrix Determination for $H^{2}$ Representations of Nonlinear Electrostatic Surface Integral Equations

In this paper, a nonlinear electrostatic surface integral equation is presented that is suitable for predicting corrosion-related fields. Nonlinear behavior arises due to electrochemical reactions at polarized surfaces. Hierarchical $H^{2}$ matrices are used to compress the discretized integral equation for the fast solution of large problems. A technique based on randomized linear algebra is discussed for the efficient computation of the Jacobian matrix required at each iteration of a nonlinear solution.
Landowners’ Socio-Cultural Valuation of Ecosystem Services Provided by Trees in Costa Rican Agricultural Landscapes

Over one-fourth of the world's land area is dedicated to agriculture, and these lands provide important ecosystem services (ES). Trees are a key component of agricultural ecosystems' ability to provide ES, especially in tropical regions. Agricultural landowners' evaluation of the ES provided by trees influences management decisions, impacting tree cover at large scales. Using a case study approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with four types of agricultural landowners in southern Costa Rica to better understand how they value ES provided by trees. We used a socio-cultural valuation method, which revealed that landowners highly valued regulating and provisioning ES provided by trees and that the number and type of ES identified was influenced by the principle economic activity. Those farmers with larger amounts of forests on their properties more often identified cultural ES. The socio-cultural valuation methods revealed that respondents valued trees as wildlife habitat, coupling supporting and cultural services with both material (e.g., tourism) and non-material benefits (e.g., beauty). Few farmers in the study benefited from payment for ecosystem services programs, but the high value farmers placed on trees indicates there are other opportunities to increase tree cover on farms, such as promotion of live fencing and expanded riparian corridors. Results from this work can help improve conservation outcomes by shifting the focus of ecosystem service valuation to the needs and concerns of small-scale farmers in the development of outreach programs, management plans, and policies aimed at increasing tree cover on private lands in agricultural landscapes.
Energy Analysis of Methanol Synthesis via Reverse Water-Gas Shift Reactor

The growing energy demand and arousing environmental concerns are some of the major issues faced all over the globe. Excessive CO2 release has always been devastating the human ecosystem but in recent years historically high emission of CO2 from the energy sector has drawn much attention towards clean and green fuel. In this regard, methanol synthesis is a pivot to the research community as a clean fuel. This book chapter also strives to highlight the methanol synthesis process by performing thermodynamic analysis. A deliberate energy analysis of methanol synthesis by reverse water-gas shift reactor (rWGSR) is performed. The thermochemical processing is utilized to convert methane and carbon dioxide to methanol. On the basis of thermodynamic modelling, concentrations of different constituents over the cycle are determined. It is verified that the optimum state of methanol synthesis is accompanied by the lowest level of CO. Moreover, the concentration of carbon dioxide doesn’t affect the methanol synthesis significantly.
Digital transnational queer isolations and connections

In this essay, my goal is to push the discourse of critical queer intercultural communication research further and expand its circumference by focusing on transnational and diasporic digitalized qu...
Leveraging the potential of nature to meet net zero greenhouse gas emissions in Washington State.

The State of Washington, USA, has set a goal to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the year around which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommended we must limit global warming to 1.5 °C above that of pre-industrial times or face catastrophic changes. We employed existing approaches to calculate the potential for a suite of Natural Climate Solution (NCS) pathways to reduce Washington's net emissions under three implementation scenarios: Limited, Moderate, and Ambitious. We found that NCS could reduce emissions between 4.3 and 8.8 MMT CO2eyr-1 in thirty-one years, accounting for 4% to 9% of the State's net zero goal. These potential reductions largely rely on changing forest management practices on portions of private and public timber lands. We also mapped the distribution of each pathway's Ambitious potential emissions reductions by county, revealing spatial clustering of high potential reductions in three regions closely tied to major business sectors: private industrial forestry in southwestern coastal forests, cropland agriculture in the Columbia Basin, and urban and rural development in the Puget Trough. Overall, potential emissions reductions are provided largely by a single pathway, Extended Timber Harvest Rotations, which mostly clusters in southwestern counties. However, mapping distribution of each of the other pathways reveals wider distribution of each pathway's unique geographic relevance to support fair, just, and efficient deployment. Although the relative potential for a single pathway to contribute to statewide emissions reductions may be small, they could provide co-benefits to people, communities, economies, and nature for adaptation and resiliency across the state.
Obesity as an isolated contraindication to kidney transplantation in the end-stage renal disease population: A cohort study.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to characterize end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with obesity as their only contraindication to listing and to quantify wait-list and transplant access. METHODS Using the US Renal Data System, a retrospective cohort study of incident dialysis cases (2012 to 2014) was performed. The primary outcomes were time to wait-listing and time to transplantation. RESULTS Of 157,572 dialysis patients not already listed, 39,844 had BMI as their only demonstrable transplant contraindication. They tended to be younger, female, and Black. Compared with patients with BMI < 35, those with BMI 35 to 39.9, 40 to 44.9, and ≥45 were, respectively, 15% (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.85; 95% CI: 0.83-0.88; p < 0.001), 45% (aHR 0.55; 95% CI: 0.52-0.57; p < 0.001), and 71% (aHR 0.29; 95% CI: 0.27-0.31; p < 0.001) less likely to be wait-listed. Wait-listed patients with BMI 35 to 39.9 were 24% less likely to achieve transplant (aHR 0.76; 95% CI: 0.72-0.80; p < 0.0001), BMI 40 to 44.9 were 21% less likely (aHR 0.79; 95% CI: 0.72-0.86; p < 0.0001), and BMI ≥ 45 were 15% less likely (aHR 0.85; 95% CI: 0.75-0.95; p = 0.004) compared with patients with BMI < 35. CONCLUSIONS Obesity was the sole contraindication to wait-listing for 40,000 dialysis patients. They were less likely to be wait-listed. For those who were, they had a lower likelihood of transplant. Aggressive weight-loss interventions may help this population achieve wait-listing and transplant.
Wolfram syndrome with vitelliform retinal deposits.

: Wolfram Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder usually inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. The acronym DIDMOAD characterizes the classic constellation of findings: diabetes insipidus, diabet...
Novel compact steerable antenna with radar applications

A new electronically steerable antenna design utilizing electric and magnetic dipoles arranged in a vector-sensor type geometry is described which can transmit in any azimuth and elevation direction with theoretically no scan loss. Several radar and communications applications are proposed and an unmanned air system (UAS) sense-and-avoid (SAA) radar concept is described in detail.
Prokineticin 2 and circadian clock output

Circadian timing from the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is a critical component of sleep regulation. Animal lesion and genetic studies have indicated an essential interaction between the circadian signals and the homeostatic processes that regulate sleep. Here we summarize the biological functions of prokineticins, a pair of newly discovered regulatory proteins, with focus on the circadian function of prokineticin 2 (PK2) and its potential role in sleep-wake regulation. PK2 has been shown as a candidate SCN output molecule that regulates circadian locomotor behavior. The PK2 molecular rhythm in the SCN is predominantly controlled by the circadian transcriptional/translational loops, but also regulated directly by light. The receptor for PK2 is expressed in the primary SCN output targets that regulate circadian behavior including sleep-wake. The depolarizing effect of PK2 on neurons that express PK2 receptor may represent a possible mechanism for the regulatory role of PK2 in circadian rhythms.
Modulation of Lymphocyte Proliferation and Immunoglobulin Production by Transferrin-Gallium

Abstract Gallium resembles iron with respect to transferrin (Tf) binding and cellular uptake via Tf receptors. We have previously shown that transferrin-gallium (Tf-Ga) complexes interfere with the cellular incorporation of iron and inhibit the proliferation of HL60 cells. Since mitogenstimulated peripheral blood lymphocytes express Tf receptors, we examined the effect of Tf-Ga on lymphocyte proliferation and on immunoglobulin synthesis by B-lymphocytes. Tf-Ga inhibited phytohemagglutinin, pokeweed mitogen, and tetanus toxoid-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation by >50%, an effect which appeared to be cytostatic rather than cytotoxic. In cocultures of T-lymphocytes or CD4+ T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes, Tf-Ga also inhibited pokeweed mitogen-stimulated immunoglobulin production by 84 to 100%. Tf-Ga inhibited both T-independent Epstein Barr virus-stimulated B-lymphocyte proliferation and immunoglobulin production; however, these effects appeared to be independent of each other, since immunoglobulin production was inhibited by 75% by a concentration of Tf-Ga which did not uniformly inhibit proliferation. Tf-Ga is capable of targeting Tf receptor-bearing T- and B-lymphocytes and interfering with their proliferation and function. Such effects may be of relevance to patients being treated with this metal. The potential immunosuppressive activity of gallium warrants further investigation.
Tunable meta-atom using liquid metal embedded in stretchable polymer

Reconfigurable metamaterials have great potential to alleviate complications involved in using passive metamaterials to realize emerging electromagnetic functions, such as dynamical filtering, sensing, and cloaking. This paper presents a new type of tunable meta-atoms in the X-band frequency range (8–12 GHz) toward reconfigurable metamaterials. The meta-atom is made of all flexible materials compliant to the surface of an interaction object. It uses a liquid metal-based split-ring resonator as its core constituent embedded in a highly flexible elastomer. We demonstrate that simple mechanical stretching of the meta-atom can lead to the great flexibility in reconfiguring its resonance frequency continuously over more than 70% of the X-band frequency range. The presented meta-atom technique provides a simple approach to dynamically tune response characteristics of metamaterials over a broad frequency range.
Systematic review: handwashing behaviour in low- to middle-income countries: outcome measures and behaviour maintenance.

OBJECTIVES To describe global approaches to handwashing research in low- and middle-income communities, schools and health care settings using behavioural outcome measurement and temporal study design. METHODS Peer-reviewed and grey literature was screened for handwashing studies that evaluated behaviour change. Relevant articles were assessed by their research approach, including the investigator's selected outcome measure and time frame of various study components (e.g., formative research, intervention and evaluation). RESULTS The initial search yielded 527 relevant articles. After application of exclusion criteria, we identified 27 unique studies (30 total articles). Of the 27 articles, most were focused in the community setting. Fifteen (56%) documented observed handwashing behaviour, while 18 (67%) used proxy measures (e.g., soap presence, diarrhoea) and 14 (52%) used self-reported behaviour. Several studies used multiple outcome measures. While all studies had an evaluation of behaviour change, there was a dearth of studies that evaluated long-term maintenance of behaviour change after the intervention's conclusion. CONCLUSIONS While the literature is replete with a variety of handwashing studies in community, school and health care settings, none have been able to definitively document long-term behaviour change, thereby challenging the sustainability of various interventions. Additionally, there is a need to better understand which research approach is most effective in promoting long-term behaviour compliance in global low- and middle-income settings.
Power monitoring in integrated circuits

Power monitoring is needed in most electrical systems, and is crucial for ensuring reliability in everything from industrial and telecom applications, to automotive and consumer electronics. Power monitoring of integrated circuits (ICs) is also essential, as today ICs exist in most electrical and electronic systems, in a vast range of applications. Many ICs have functional blocks across the chip that are used for different purposes. Power ICs also have multiple circuit blocks, each performing their own function. Measuring circuit block currents in both analog and digital ICs is important in a wide range of applications, including power management as well as IC testing and fault detection and analysis. For example, the presence of different kinds of faults in IC circuit blocks during IC fabrication causes the currents flowing through these circuit blocks to change from the expected values. There has been general interest in monitoring currents through different circuit blocks in an attempt to identify the location and type of the faults. Previous works on nonintrusive load monitoring as well as on power-line communications (PLCs) provide motivation for the work presented here. The techniques are extended and used to develop a new method for power monitoring in ICs. Most solutions to the challenge of measuring currents in different circuit blocks of the IC involve adding circuitry that is both costly and power consuming. In this work, a new method is proposed to enable individual measurement of current consumed in each circuit block within an IC while adding negligible area and power overhead. This method works by encoding the individual current signatures in the main supply current of the IC, which can then be sensed and sampled off-chip, and then disaggregated through signal processing. A demonstration of this power monitoring scheme is given on a modular discrete platform that is implemented based on the UC3842 current-mode controller IC, which can also be used for educational purposes.
Achieving Millennium Development Goal 5, the Improvement of Maternal Health

The purpose of this article is to describe the progress made toward the achievement of Millennium Development Goal 5, the improvement of maternal health. Maternal mortality rates (MMR) remain high globally, and in the United States there have been recent increases in MMR. Interventions to improve global maternal health are described. Nurses should be aware of the enduring epidemic of global maternal mortality, advocate for childbearing women, and contribute to implementing effective interventions to reduce maternal mortality.
Impact of new product development (NPD) proficiency and NPD entry strategies on product quality and risk

This research explores the variation of new product quality and risk associated with New Product Development (NPD) entry strategies (e.g. in-house developments and joint ventures). Our first two research questions examine the quality of new products and the variation of risk across five NPD entry strategies. Our third and fourth research questions investigate the association of the proficiency with which NPD technical activities are performed with new product quality and the risk involved in developing new products. Our final two research questions explore whether the type of NPD entry strategy mediates the association between the proficiency with which NPD technical activities are performed and the quality and risk associated with the development of new products. Our study focuses on new products developed by three major industries, namely medical devices, electrical equipment, and heavy construction equipment. Our research suggests that there is no difference in the quality or the risk associated with the development of new products across NPD entry strategies. We also found that new product quality was associated with the proficient performance of many NPD technical activities whereas risk was associated with the proficient performance of fewer NPD technical activities. We found that choice of NPD entry strategy mediates the relationship between new product quality and NPD technical activity proficiency. Unlike product quality, NPD entry strategy selection appears to mediate NPD risk minimally. Our study contributes to NPD knowledge and managerial decision making by pointing out that the technical activities performed during the early stages of the NPD process are important to the attainment of a quality product and positively, not negatively, associated with perceived NPD risk. Additionally, our study extends knowledge of the association between proficiently performed NPD technical activities and the resultant product quality and perceived risk felt when individual NPD entry strategies are implemented.
Do patients with drug-eluting stent thrombosis have a similar prognosis to patients presenting with st-Elevation myocardial infarction of de novo lesions?

Despite significant advances in stent technology and pharmacotherapy, drug-eluting stent thrombosis (DES-ST) remains a major complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and commonly presents as ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). There are currently little data comparing the in-hospital outcomes of patients presenting with STEMI due to DES-ST with those due to de novo coronary artery disease (CAD).
Laminar Throughflow of Varying-Quality Steam Between Corotating Disks

A local analysis was made of the laminar throughflow between corotating disks of a Newtonian vapor containing liquid droplets. Such a flow is of practical interest in multiple-disk turbomachinery, and specifically is a model of a two-phase, single component flow (saturated vapor--saturated liquid steam) which would arise in geothermal applications of a multiple-disk turbine. Local mass conservation and momentum equations for the vapor and droplet fields were used, as well as mass conservation and energy equations for a single droplet. The vapor--droplet interaction was modeled by a drag force based on the well-known drag coefficients for flow past spheres. The governing equations were reduced to parabolic form by order-of-magnitude arguments to allow a marching-type solution. The nonlinear partial differential equations were replaced by nonlinear finite-difference equations, which were linearized. The resulting system of linear algebraic equations was solved directly. Various results are presented, including results for a set of flow parameters which are close to those applicable for multiple-disk turbines operating on geothermal steam.