cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Some crucial factors in the creation of cognitive dissonance.

The present experiment is based upon one performed by Aronson and Carlsmith (1963) concerning the effects of severity of threat on pre- and posc-temptation evaluation of objects. The theory of cognitive dissonance predicts that there will be deval~iation of the object under conditions of mild threat but that, if a more severe threat is used, devaluation will not occur. Data obtained by Aronson and Carlsmith were in line with the prediction from the theory of cognitive dissonance. Ss were 60 6- and 7-year-old boys. S was first allowed to play with each of 5 toys for 1 min.; he was then asked to rank them by each of two methods. To rank by pairs, S picked the preferred toy of each of the possible 10 pairs. The second S chose a favorite toy, which was then removed. He continued to choose until all the toys had been chosen. E then prohibited play with the first, third, or fifth ranked toy. In the mild threat condition, S was told that E did not want him to play with the toy; the severe threat condition, that E would be "very angry" if S played wirh the toy. In the no-threat condition, the toy was removed from the room. After 5 min. E returned and repeated the sequence of playing wirh the toys and ranking them. This was followed by 5 min. of "free play;" E recorded with which toys S played. The toys were a large rifle, a toy drum, a set of crayons and drawing paper, a set of plastic jungle animals, and a car carrier and four cars. These toys were new at the beginning of the series of experiments and were relatively attractive to 5s.
Near-field imaging of obstacles

A novel method is developed for solving the inverse obstacle scattering problem in near-field imaging. The obstacle surface is assumed to be a small and smooth deformation of a circle. Using the transformed field expansion, the direct obstacle scattering problem is reduced to a successive sequence of two-point boundary value problems. Analytical solutions of these problems are derived by a Green's function method. The nonlinear inverse problem is linearized by dropping the higher order terms in the power series expansion. Based on the linear model and analytical solutions, an explicit reconstruction formula is obtained. In addition, a nonlinear correction scheme is devised to improve the results dramatically when the deformation is large. The method requires only a single incident wave at a fixed frequency. Numerical tests show that the method is stable and effective for near-field imaging of obstacles with subwavelength resolution.
The research on LHJ solubilizer use in quantitative determination method of additives in water-insoluble food

Objective:To establish a method for quantitative determination of additives in insoluble food.Methods: The new LHJ solubilizer was added into samples to make the food additives fully dissolved.Then potassium ferrocyanide and zinc acetate were added to precipitate protein.After constant volume and centrifugation,the supernatant was filtered over 0.45 μm membrane,then 10 μl filtrate was taken for determination by high performance liquid chromatography.C18 column was used with methanol and ammonium acetate(5+95) as the mobile phase,flow rate of 1.0 ml/min,column temperature at 30℃ and UV detector wavelength at 230 nm in this method,then qualitative and quantitative analysis were conducted according to retention time and peak area respectively.Results: Several additives in 0.010 mg/ml~0.100 mg/ml are in a good linear relationship,the correlation coefficients are greater than 0.9999,the detection limit is 0.00015 g/kg,the recovery rate is in the range of 90%~108%.Conclusion: The method is simple and rapid with high recovery rate and good precision.Using the novel LHJ solubilizer in sample preparation can improve efficiency of results by 2~3 times.
Assessment of Cystine Solubility in Urine and of Heterogeneous Nucleation

Factors affecting cystine solubility were sought in an effort to derive a reliable method for estimating urinary saturation with respect to cystine. In synthetic solutions, cystine solubility was measured from the maximum ambient cystine concentration reached after incubation with an excess of solid cystine. It rose progressively as the ionic strength increased from addition of mineral electrolytes. The increment in cystine solubility between ionic strength of 0.005 and 0.3 ranged from 13 mg./1. for potassium chloride to 70 mg./1. for calcium chloride. Urinary macromolecules (less than 5,000 daltons, obtained by ultrafiltration), at concentrations normally expected to be found in urine, increased cystine solubility by as much as 45 mg./1. Because of these actions of electrolytes and macromolecules, cystine solubility in urine (from control subjects and patients with cystinuria) exceeded solubility in synthetic solution containing 5 mM sodium cacodylate by 68 to 89 mg./1. Thus, the saturation of cystine in individual urine samples cannot be estimated by comparing the original cystine concentration with a defined cystine solubility curve. It may be more accurately measured as the ratio of original cystine concentration and the directly determined cystine solubility in urine. The estimated assessment of urinary saturation with respect to cystine was shown to deviate from the empirically derived measure from -33 to +44 per cent. In conclusion, cystine is more soluble in urine because of the effects of electrolytes and macromolecules. Thus, urinary saturation of cystine cannot be estimated from solubility curves but must be empirically derived from the direct assessment of cystine solubility in individual urine samples.
The Formal Expression of Spatial Effects

To facilitate the reading of the later chapters, I present an initial discussion, in fairly general terms, of the notion of connectedness in space, and the main operational tools by which spatial effects are encompassed in econometric work: the spatial weight matrices and spatial lag operators. I also briefly discuss some complicating factors related to the notion of space implied by the various techniques.
Reduced postoperative pain scores and narcotic use favor per-oral endoscopic myotomy over laparoscopic Heller myotomy.

Per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is a less invasive therapy for achalasia with a shorter hospitalization but with similar short- and long-term outcomes as a laparoscopic Heller myotomy (LHM). Previous literature comparing POEM to LHM has focused primarily on postoperative outcome parameters such as complications, dysphagia scores and gastro-esophageal reflux severity. This study specifically compares postoperative pain following POEM to pain following LHM, the current gold-standard operation. A retrospective review of all patients undergoing POEM or LHM for achalasia was performed from 2006 to 2015. Data collection included demographics, comorbidities, length of stay (LOS) and pain scores (arrival to the recovery room, 1 h postoperative, average first 24 h and upon discharge). Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t test and Chi-square test. Forty-four POEM patients and 122 LHM patients were identified. The average age (52.2 ± 20.75 vs 50.9 ± 17.89 years, p = 0.306) and BMI (28.1 ± 7.62 vs 27.6 ± 7.07 kg/m2, p = 0.824) did not differ between the POEM and LHM groups, respectively; however, the American Society of Anesthesiology scores were higher in the POEM patients (2.43 ± 0.62 vs 2.11 ± 0.71, p = 0.011). There were no differences in rates of smoking, diabetes, cardiac disease or pulmonary disease. The average pain scores upon arrival to the recovery room and 1 h postoperatively were lower in the POEM group (2.3 ± 3.014 vs 3.61 ± 3 0.418, p = 0.025 and 2.2 ± 2.579 vs 3.46 ± 3.063, p = 0.034, respectively). There was no difference in the average pain score over the first 24 h (2.7 ± 2.067 vs 3.29 ± 1.980, p = 0.472) or at the time of discharge (1.6 ± 2.420 vs 2.09 ± 2.157, p = 0.0657) between the POEM and LHM groups. After standardizing opioid administration against 10 mg of oral morphine, the POEM group used significantly less narcotics that the LHM group (35.8 vs 101.8 mg, p < 0.001) while hospitalized. The average LOS for the POEM group was 31.2 h and 55.79 for the LHM group (p < 0.0001). At discharge, fewer POEM patients required a prescription for a narcotic analgesic (6.81 vs 92.4 %, p < 0.0001). POEM demonstrated significantly less postoperative pain upon arrival to the recovery room and 1 h postoperatively. To achieve similar pain scores during the first 24 h and at discharge, LHM patients required more narcotic analgesic administration. Despite a significantly shorter LOS, fewer POEM patients require a prescription for narcotic analgesics compared to LHM. POEM is a less painful procedure for achalasia than LHM, permitting earlier hospital discharge with little need for home narcotic use.
Mucocele-Like Lesions of the Breast: Rate of Upstaging and Cancer Development

Breast mucocele-like lesions (MLLs) are rare breast lesions. There is a paucity of literature on the rate of pathologic upstaging of MLL to in situ or invasive breast cancer. We sought to review our experience with MLL at a tertiary care center and review published literature. A retrospective review was undertaken of all patients with breast MLL at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, from 1998 to 2016. Descriptive statistics were performed. Overall, 30 patients were diagnosed with MLL, with a mean age of 54.6 years (range 51–58). Calcifications on screening mammogram were the most common method of MLL detection (n = 26, 86.7 %), with core needle biopsy (CNB) being performed in 29/30 patients. MLL with atypia was identified in 14 patients (48 %), and surgical excision was performed in 26 patients. Disease was upstaged to invasive disease in one patient (3.8 %) who presented with a palpable mass. With a median duration of follow up of 3.5 years [interquartile range 1–7.1], two patients developed contralateral invasive breast cancer (both patients had a remote history of invasive breast cancer on that side), and one patient developed contralateral in situ disease. Review of the literature demonstrates a 2.9 % upgrade rate of MLL without atypia on excisional biopsy. The upstage rate of MLL identified on CNB to invasive disease at surgical excision in this series was 3.8 %. In cases with MLL presenting as calcifications, no cases were upstaged in this series. Across the literature, upstage rates of MLL without atypia on CNB are low, indicating excisional biopsy may be avoided in these cases.
The Throne of God: Absolutism, Equity, and Christian Justice

Sacral kingship presupposed the Elizabethan conception of the state as primarily a juridic rather than a constitutional order. Of the sixteenth-century texts that describe the institutions of central government, none focuses on the respective functions of Crown, Lords, and Commons — or on the tensions between them. For Sir Thomas Smith, whose De republica Anglorum1 is the sole Tudor work to give a comprehensive account of English polity, ‘the framework of a commonwealth consists almost entirely of its courts, its judicial system, and its methods of police.’2 This juridic conception of the state likewise informs the one other important Elizabethan treatise on national governance, William Lambarde’s Archeion: Or, a Discourse upon the High Courts of Justice in England (written c. 1591; first edition 1635). Archeion deals exclusively with the central courts — including Parliament, which Lambarde regards as England’s ‘chief and highest court.’3 As Holdsworth points out, Lambarde’s focus, like Smith’s, is political rather than legal.4 Both men, that is, are attempting to explain how England is ruled; they analyze the courts because these represent the principal institutions of the state.
The color of gender stereotyping: The congruity effect of topic, color, and gender on health messages’ persuasiveness in cyberspace

Abstract The internet is becoming a common platform for individuals to seek and assess information. How heuristic cues in an online environment such as website background color influence information persuasiveness, however, is somewhat underexplored. This study examines the effect of such cues based on the MAIN model and color/gender-related stereotypes. A 2 (health message topic: breast cancer vs. prostate cancer) × 2 (website background color: pink vs. blue) × 2 (audience gender: female vs. male) between-subjects experiment ( N = 224) was conducted, and the results revealed significant three-way interaction effects that men and women’s perceptions of message credibility, informativeness, as well as their attitudes toward cancer screening were affected by message topic and background color.
Determinants for effective collaboration among DNP- and PhD-prepared faculty.

Abstract Background Uncertainty exists surrounding collaborative relations among Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)- and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)-prepared faculty. Purpose This qualitative study explored the attitudes and determinants for effective collaboration among doctoral-prepared nursing faculty. Methods Focus groups were conducted using a convenience sample of doctoral faculty who taught in either/both DNP or PhD programs. Focus group questions were derived to identify interpersonal, organizational, and systemic determinants of collaboration. Data were transcribed and content analyzed using Kruger and Casey methods. Results Four focus groups included 41 faculty members from two metro area university medical centers. Five themes emerged: (a) DNP not well understood, (b) confusion surrounding research, (c) opportunities for collaboration, (d) lack of structural support, and (e) personal characteristics and attitudes. Discussion Interpersonal relationships, organizational structures, and systemic impacts have both positive and negative influences on successful collaboration among DNP- and PhD-prepared faculty. Conclusion Collaborative efforts are needed for advancing the profession.
Management and outcomes of scoliosis in children with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the management and outcomes of CDH patients with scoliosis. Methods From January 1996 to August 2015, 26 of 380 (7%) CDH patients were diagnosed with scoliosis. Six (23%) were prenatally diagnosed by ultrasound, and 9 (35%) were diagnosed postnatally. The remaining 11 (42%) developed scoliosis after discharge. Mean follow-up was 6.6years. Results Among the 15 patients with congenital scoliosis, there were 2 (13%) perinatal deaths. Five of the 13 (38%) survivors required orthopedic surgery, and 2 have required bracing. The mean age at initial surgery was 7years. These five children underwent an average of 2.8 (range 1–7) expansions or revisions. All surgical patients required supplemental oxygen at 28days of life, and 1 required a tracheostomy. None of the 11 patients who developed scoliosis later in life required surgery, but 3 have required bracing. Six of the 11 (55%) required a patch repair for CDH compared to 158 of 264 (60%) CDH patients without scoliosis ( p =0.73). Conclusions Early diagnosis of scoliosis in CDH patients is associated with a high rate of surgery. There was not a higher incidence of patch repair among patients who developed scoliosis. Level of evidence Prognosis. Retrospective study, level II.
Parameters of Context-Induced Ethanol (EtOH)-Seeking in Alcohol-Preferring (P) Rats: Temporal Analysis, Effects of Repeated Deprivation, and EtOH Priming Injections.

Background Drug-paired environments can act as stimuli that elicit drug craving. In humans, drug craving is influenced by the amount of time abstinent, number of past periods of abstinence, and inadvertent exposure to the previously abused drug. The current experiments were designed to determine the effects of (i) the duration of abstinence on expression of ethanol (EtOH)-seeking; (ii) EtOH priming following a short and long abstinence period; and (iii) repeated deprivation cycles on relapse drinking and EtOH-seeking. Methods Rats were allowed to self-administer 15% EtOH, processed through extinction training, maintained in a home cage for a designated EtOH-free period, and then reintroduced to the operant context in the absence of EtOH. The experiments examined the effects of: (i) various home-cage duration periods (1 to 8 weeks), (ii) priming injections of EtOH in the Pavlovian spontaneous recovery (PSR; 14 days after extinction) and reinstatement of responding (RoR; 1 day after extinction) models, and (iii) exposure to repeated cycles of EtOH access-deprivation on relapse drinking and EtOH-seeking behavior. Results Highest expression of EtOH-seeking was observed following 6 weeks of home-cage maintenance. Priming injections of EtOH were more efficacious at stimulating/enhancing EtOH-seeking in the PSR than RoR model. Exposure to repeated cycles of EtOH deprivation and access enhanced and prolonged relapse drinking and the expression of EtOH-seeking (318 ± 22 responses), which was not observed in rats given equivalent consistent exposure to EtOH (66 ± 11 responses). Conclusions Overall, the data indicated that the PSR model has ecological validity; factors that enhance EtOH craving in humans enhance the expression of EtOH-seeking in the PSR test. The data also detail factors that need to be examined to determine the biological basis of EtOH-seeking (e.g., neuroadaptations that occur during the incubation period and following repeated cycles of EtOH drinking and abstinence).
Empathy's perilous pull

If only we could feel the suffering of others more, then the world would become a better place, right? Wrong, says Paul Bloom
Cross-modal influence of mechanosensory input on gaze responses to visual motion in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT Animals typically combine inertial and visual information to stabilize their gaze against confounding self-generated visual motion, and to maintain a level gaze when the body is perturbed by external forces. In vertebrates, an inner ear vestibular system provides information about body rotations and accelerations, but gaze stabilization is less understood in insects, which lack a vestibular organ. In flies, the halteres, reduced hindwings imbued with hundreds of mechanosensory cells, sense inertial forces and provide input to neck motoneurons that control gaze. These neck motoneurons also receive input from the visual system. Head movement responses to visual motion and physical rotations of the body have been measured independently, but how inertial information might influence gaze responses to visual motion has not been fully explored. We measured the head movement responses to visual motion in intact and haltere-ablated tethered flies to explore the role of the halteres in modulating visually guided head movements in the absence of rotation. We note that visually guided head movements occur only during flight. Although halteres are not necessary for head movements, the amplitude of the response is smaller in haltereless flies at higher speeds of visual motion. This modulation occurred in the absence of rotational body movements, demonstrating that the inertial forces associated with straight tethered flight are important for gaze-control behavior. The cross-modal influence of halteres on the fly9s responses to fast visual motion indicates that the haltere9s role in gaze stabilization extends beyond its canonical function as a sensor of angular rotations of the thorax.
Abstract W P409: Hypertension Impairs Myogenic Reactivity Without Increasing BBB Permeability of Isolated Parenchymal Arterioles: Role of TRPV4

Introduction: Arterioles within the brain (parenchymal arterioles, PAs) are the target of hypertensive small vessel disease, and yet our understanding of how hypertension negatively impacts these vessels is limited. Hypotheses: Hypertension increases blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability and impairs myogenic activity of PAs that leads to loss of local autoregulation of CBF and white matter lesions. We further hypothesized that inhibition of transient receptor potential vanilloid type 4 (TRPV4) channels would prevent these changes, as these channels are involved in BBB permeability and vasodilation. Methods: PAs were dissected from 18 wk female normotensive WKY (n=9) vs. hypertensive SHRSP (n=6) rats and studied isolated and pressurized in the absence or presence of the TRPV4 antagonist GSK2193874 (3 μM) intraluminally (n=6-7). PAs were perfused with 3000 MW fluorescent dextran with luminal flow (5 μl/min) and permeability assessed as the amount of dextran passing through the vessel wall at 60 mm Hg relative to a standard curve, measured using fluorescent spectroscopy. Myogenic tone was assessed by measuring changes in lumen diameter vs. pressure. The slope of the diameter vs. pressure curves was used as a measure of myogenic reactivity. Results: BBB permeability was similar between WKY vs. SHRSP (2.78 ± 0.63 vs. 2.49 ± 1.31 x10 -6 μM/mm 2 /min; p>0.05) that was unaffected by GSK219. Myogenic tone was increased in PAs from SHRSP vs. WKY (47 ± 2% vs. 36 ± 4% at 40 mm Hg; p 0.05). However, the slope of the diameter vs. pressure curves was positive and ~ 3-fold greater in SHRSP vs. WKY (m = +0.077 ± 0.064 for WKY and +0.208 ± 0.028; p=0.08), suggesting impaired autoregulation. Inhibition of TRPV4 channels improved myogenic reactivity in both WKY and SHRSP, making both slopes negative (m= -0.174 ± 0.071 for WKY;p Conclusions: These results suggest that impaired local autoregulation of PAs occurs earlier in the sequelae of chronic hypertension than an elevation of BBB permeability. In addition, TRPV4 antagonism improved myogenic reactivity, suggesting that overactivation of TRPV4 channels and vasodilation may contribute to impaired autoregulation of PAs during hypertension.
Antipsychotics and the Risk of Aspiration Pneumonia in Individuals Hospitalized for Nonpsychiatric Conditions: A Cohort Study

Background/Objectives Off-label use of antipsychotics is common in hospitals, most often for delirium management. Antipsychotics have been associated with aspiration pneumonia in community and nursing home settings, but the association in hospitalized individuals is unexplored. We aimed to investigate the association between antipsychotic exposure and aspiration pneumonia during hospitalization. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Large academic medical center. Participants All adult hospitalizations between January 2007 and July 2013. We excluded outside hospital transfers, hospitalizations shorter than 48 hours, and psychiatric hospitalizations. Measurements Antipsychotic use defined as any pharmacy charge for an antipsychotic medication. Aspiration pneumonia was defined according to a discharge diagnosis code for aspiration pneumonia not present on admission and validated using chart review. A generalized estimating equation was used to control for 43 potential confounders. Results Our cohort included 146,552 hospitalizations (median age 56; 39% male). Antipsychotics were used in 10,377 (7.1%) hospitalizations (80% atypical, 35% typical, 15% both). Aspiration pneumonia occurred in 557 (0.4%) hospitalizations. The incidence of aspiration pneumonia was 0.3% in unexposed individuals and 1.2% in those with antipsychotic exposure (odds ratio (OR) = 3.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 3.2–4.8). After adjustment, antipsychotic exposure was significantly associated with aspiration pneumonia (adjusted OR = (aOR) = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.2–1.9). Similar results were demonstrated in a propensity-matched analysis and in an analysis restricted to those with delirium or dementia. The magnitude of the association was similar for typical (aOR = 1.4, 95% CI = 0.94–2.2) and atypical (aOR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.1–2.0) antipsychotics. Conclusion Antipsychotics were associated with greater odds of aspiration pneumonia after extensive adjustment for participant characteristics. This risk should be considered when prescribing antipsychotics in the hospital.
Primer Server - A web application to design primers for the amplification of unique DNA targets in complex genomes

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is one of the most important inventions of the 20th century in molecular biology. PCR is a technique to amplify or make in a test tube many copies of a specific DNA region. Miniscule amounts of the genetic material from any organism can now be amplified to identify individuals, manipulate DNA, detect infectious organisms including the viruses that cause AIDS, hepatitis, and tuberculosis, detect genetic variations including mutations in genes, and numerous other tasks. PCR primers are short, single-stranded DNAs that define the section of DNA to be amplified. Two primers are used in each PCR reaction, designed so that they bind at flanking locations surrounding the target region. Critically, off-target binding may lead to experimental failure or worse, to misleading results. Thus, potential primers of approximately 20 DNA bases in length, must be examined for off-target binding among, for example, the 3.2 billion DNA bases from all human chromosomes, the human genome. The purpose of our study is to make a user-friendly tool (Primer Server) that can design PCR primers efficiently and accurately as well as visualize the designed primers. Our web-based bioinformatics tool selects optimal primer sequences within the starting material by using a C module called primer3 and then prioritizing and/or eliminating potential primers based on comparison of the primer bases against all bases in the genome using an algorithm called BLAST. This tool has an easy-to-use interface which was designed using Angular2, and an efficient server-side code written in Python. While similar tools exist, our tool is more user-friendly, efficient and uses extensive form validation to minimize errors in the user input. Our tool can be used to design primers that will be used in laboratory experiments to amplify DNA from various organisms, including large, complex genomes such as humans, other animals and plants.
Biomarkers for Renal Cell Carcinoma

In recent years, there has been a remarkable increase in interest in biomarkers, especially as a tool with tremendous utility in cancer. Biomarkers provide opportunities for early detection, accurate diagnosis, and predicting clinical outcome with regard to response to therapy, potential tumor recurrence, and survival, and they provide additional insights into the pathogenesis of disease. Biomarkers also provide both a strategy for clustering “like” subsets of tumors on a population level, and also allow individualized tumor information for case-by-case decision-making. Biomarkers are especially attractive because they are quantitative, objective, and readily adaptable for clinical implementation. Traditional clinical practice relies heavily on signs and symptoms as well as radiographic imagery, which can be highly subjective as well as influenced by a variety of sources independent of the cancer. In contrast, biomarkers are helpful as more objective and reliable factors, which can either supplement or replace these largely subjective measures. Moreover, biomarkers can potentially play important roles in clinical research by clarifying measurable endpoints, which may lead to significant decrease of cost and duration of clinical trials. Currently, research institutes, pharmaceutical companies, and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are putting vigorous effort toward integrating biomarkers more extensively into clinical trials.
What Is Visual and Phenomenal but Concerns Neither Hue Nor Shade

Though the following problem is not explicitly raised by her, it seems sufficiently similar to an issue of pertinence to Akins’s “Black and White and Color” (Akins 2014) to merit the moniker, Akins’s Problem: Can there be a visual experience devoid of both color phenomenology and black-and-white phenomenology?
Efficient Revocation of Anonymous Group Membership Certificates and Anonymous Credentials

An accumulator scheme, introduced be Benaloh and de Mare [BdM94] and further studied by Baric and Pfitzmann [BP97], is an algorithm that allows to hash a large set of inputs into one short value, called the accumulator, such that there is a short witness that a given input was incorporated into the accumulator. We put forward the notion of dynamic accumulators, i.e., a method that allows to dynamically add and delete inputs from the accumulator, such that the cost of an add or delete is independent on the number of accumulated values. We achieve this under the strong RSA assumption. For this construction, we also show an efficient zero-knowledge protocol for proving that a committed value is in the accumulator. In turn, our construction of dynamic accumulator enables efficient membership revocation in the anonymous setting. This method applies to membership revocation in group signature schemes, such as the one due to Ateniese et al. [ACJT00], and efficient revocation of credentials in anonymous credential systems, such as the one due to Camenisch and Lysyanskaya [CL01]. Using our method, allowing revocation does not alter the complexity of any operations of the underlying schemes. In particular, the cost of a group signature verification or credential showing increases by only a small constant factor, less than 2. All previously known methods (such as the ones due to Bresson and Stern [BS01] and Ateniese and Tsudik [AT01]) incurred an increase in these costs that was linear in the number of members.
Neonatal Antibiotic Use: How Much Is Too Much?

* Abbreviations: AUR — : antibiotic use rate NEC — : necrotizing enterocolitis Antimicrobial stewardship efforts benefit the individual and the community by improving patient-specific outcomes as well as decreasing the overall burden of antimicrobial resistance. Antibiotic stewardship can also save the health care system substantial amounts of money through decreased pharmacy costs, decreased inpatient use for antibiotic-resistant infections, and decreased frequency of antibiotic-associated adverse events.1 In NICUs, infants are frequently exposed to antimicrobial medications as prophylaxis against infection, as empirical treatment of suspected infection, and as targeted treatment of confirmed infection. Most neonatal antibiotic treatment is for suspected rather than proven infection, and researchers in several studies suggest that antibiotics are overused in both term and preterm infants.2–8 Evolving concern for unintended harm from neonatal antibiotic exposures has energized interest in the general principles of antimicrobial stewardship.3,5,9–13 Stewardship recommendations and quality collaborative programs support the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents in the NICU.14–17 Single centers report variably successful impacts of neonatal antibiotic stewardship interventions on the use of antibiotics for term infants who are at risk for early-onset infection, on the overall use of antibiotics across gestational ages, and on appropriate choice and duration of antibiotic therapy.18–21 In recent analyses using large multicenter data sets, researchers find small but significant declines in overall neonatal antibiotic use and in extended use in … Address correspondence to Dustin D. Flannery, DO, Division of Neonatology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Newborn Care at Pennsylvania Hospital, 800 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA 19107. E-mail: flanneryd{at}email.chop.edu
Reducing costly falls after total knee arthroplasty.

Aim To investigate whether adductor canal nerve block (ACB) reduces patient falls when compared to femoral nerve block (FNB) after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods We conducted an institutional review of all-cause falls after TKA from January 2013 to August 2016 using a quality improvement database. Our inclusion criteria were patients with diagnosis of primary knee osteoarthritis who underwent primary unilateral TKA with either a FNB or an ACB and sustained a fall during their hospitalization. We excluded patients who had revision TKA and extensor mechanism reconstruction. We also excluded patients with a history of post-traumatic arthritis, prior history of lower extremity fracture, history of neurological disease, or cerebrovascular disease. Results A total of 834 patients had TKA with femoral nerve block and knee immobilizer (FNB + KI). Of those patients, 11 (1.3%) experienced a fall during their hospital stay. In contrast, 791 patients had TKA with ACB. Of those patients, only one (0.13%) patient fall was recorded within this group. We used the Fisher's exact test to compare the differences between the two groups. The difference between the two groups achieves statistical significance (P = 0.006). We also found that 11 out of the 12 patients that fell had a right TKA procedure while one patient had a left TKA procedure. Nine out of twelve patients that fell were female, while only three patients were male. Conclusion Given the reduction in the number of falls with ACB, it is recommended that ACB be considered the preferred analgesia for patients undergoing a TKA procedure.
Multi-Objective Evolutionary Neural Network to Predict Graduation Success at the United States Military Academy

Abstract This paper presents an evolutionary neural network approach to classify student graduation status based upon selected academic, demographic, and other indicators. A pareto-based, multi-objective evolutionary algorithm utilizing the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm (SPEA2) fitness evaluation scheme simultaneously evolves connection weights and identifies the neural network topology using network complexity and classification accuracy as objective functions. A combined vector-matrix representation scheme and differential evolution recombination operators are employed. The model is trained, tested, and validated using 5100 student samples with data compiled from admissions records and institutional research databases. The inputs to the evolutionary neural network model are used to classify students as: graduates, late graduates, or non-graduates. Results of the hybrid method show higher mean classification rates (88%) than the current methodology (80%) with a potential savings of $130M. Additionally, the proposed method is more efficient in that a less complex neural network topology is identified by the algorithm.
Effect of Delayed Cord Clamping on Moderately Preterm Infants

Background: Delayed umbilical cord clamping (DCC) appears to be beneficial for preterm and term infants. In very preterm infants DCC improves hemodynamic stability after birth and decreases major neonatal morbidities, such as intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). In term infants DCC increases hemoglobin levels at birth and improves iron stores in the first several months of life. All of these have favorable effect on infant developmental outcomes. But, none of the published studies specifically focused on moderately preterm infants born between gestational ages 32 to 35 …
Abstract PD8-10: Regulation of breast tumor metastasis by the dynamic interaction between the TMEM doorway macrophage, tumor and endothelial cells

Tumor cell intravasation is an essential step in the metastatic cascade, but its exact mechanism is not completely understood. We have previously shown that the direct physical association of a tumor cell over-expressing Mena, a Tie2hi/Vegfhi macrophage and an endothelial cell, creates a micro-anatomic doorway called “tumor microenvironment of metastasis” (TMEM). TMEM are responsible for cancer cell intravasation and dissemination to distant sites. The density of TMEM doorways is a clinically validated prognostic marker of distant metastasis in breast cancer patients. Although we know that TMEM doorways create increased localized vascular permeability which cancer cells utilize to intravasate, the precise molecular mechanisms relating TMEM-doorway function and intravasation has not been elucidated. Active TMEM doorways are found in pre-invasive and invasive ductal breast carcinoma as well as in metastatic foci in lymph nodes and lungs, indicating that TMEM-mediated cancer cell dissemination occurs not only at the primary tumor site but also at metastatic sites, which may perpetuate metastatic dissemination even after removal of the primary tumor. Thus it is essential to understand the exact molecular mechanism of TMEM-doorway function so that specific targeted therapies can be developed to intercept systemic cancer cell dissemination. We outline here the exact molecular mechanism of TMEM-doorway functions. TMEM doorway endothelial cell-secreted Ang2 (a Tie2 ligand) stimulates VEGF expression and production by the Tie2hi TMEM macrophage. Subsequently, the TMEM doorway tumor cell- secreted CSF1 stimulates local secretion of VEGF from the Tie2hi TMEM macrophages, leading to dissociation of endothelial adherens and tight junctions near TMEM and cancer cell intravasation. In addition, we show that acute blockage of CSF1R and Tie2-Ang2 signaling by inhibitors and blocking antibodies both in vitro and in mammary tumors leads to decreased macrophage VEGF production and secretion, decreased tumor cell trans-endothelial migration, and decreased TMEM-dependent vascular permeability, tumor cell dissemination and circulating tumor cells. This is the first description of the molecular mechanisms regulating TMEM doorway function and thus represents a major step in defining new biomarkers and targets for the treatment of metastatic tumors. Citation Format: Chinmay Surve, Allison S. Harney, Mary Chen, Yarong Wang, Xianjun Ye, Yu Lin, Ved Sharma, Richard Stanley, Maja H. Oktay, John S. Condeelis. Regulation of breast tumor metastasis by the dynamic interaction between the TMEM doorway macrophage, tumor and endothelial cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PD8-10.
Surfactant-Induced Artifacts during Proteomic Sample Preparation

Bottom-up proteomics is a powerful tool for characterization of protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), where PTMs are identified at the peptide level by mass spectrometry (MS) following protein digestion. However, enzymatic digestion is associated with additional sample processing steps that may potentially introduce artifactual modifications. Here, during an MS study of the PTMs of the regulator of G-protein signaling 4, we discovered that the use of ProteaseMAX, which is an acid-labile surfactant commonly used to improve protein solubilization and digestion efficiency, can lead to in vitro modifications on cysteine residues. These hydrophobic modifications resemble S-palmitoylation and hydroxyfarnesylation, thus discouraging the use of ProteaseMAX in studies of lipid modifications of proteins. Furthermore, since they target the cysteine thiol group, the presence of these artifacts will inevitably lead to inaccuracies in quantitative analysis of cysteine modifications.
The Effects of Remote Behavioral Skills Training on Conducting Functional Analyses.

In the present study, we sought to extend the current literature on utilizing behavioral skills training (BST) to teach practitioners how to implement functional analyses (FA). We used a non-concurrent multiple baseline design across ten participants to measure the effects of a remote BST package on accuracy of implementing FA procedures. The entire remote BST package was delivered via secure remote technology. Each participant experienced four phases which included baseline (only instructions with a simulated client), BST (instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback with a simulated client), post-training probes (probes with a simulated client), and in situ probes (probes with actual clients). All participants increased their accuracy in implementing FAs during the remote BST phase. During post-training probes with a simulated client and in situ probes with actual clients, eight of the ten participants maintained their performance at or above mastery criterion. Two of the ten participants needed additional coaching and training. These results suggest that the use of remote technology for training purposes could be a cost-effective and feasible solution to increase the quality of services and number of trained professionals in underserved areas.
Global Synchronization of Pulse-Coupled Oscillator Networks Under Byzantine Attacks

Synchronization of pulse-coupled oscillators (PCOs) has gained significant attention recently due to their increased applications in sensor networks and wireless communications. Given the distributed and unattended nature of wireless sensor networks, it is imperative to enhance the resilience of PCO synchronization against malicious attacks. However, most existing results on attack-resilient pulse-based synchronization are obtained under assumptions of all-to-all coupling topologies or restricted initial phase distributions. In this paper, we propose a new pulse-based synchronization mechanism to improve the attack resilience of PCO synchronization that is applicable to non-all-to-all networks. Under the proposed synchronization mechanism, we prove that perfect synchronization of legitimate oscillators can be guaranteed in the presence of multiple Byzantine attackers who can emit attack pulses arbitrarily without any constraint except that practical bit rate constraint renders the number of pulses from an attacker to be finite. The new mechanism can guarantee synchronization even when the initial phases of all legitimate oscillators are arbitrarily distributed in the entire oscillation period, which is in distinct difference from most existing attack-resilient synchronization approaches (including the seminal paper from Lamport and Melliar-Smith [1] ) that require a priori (almost) synchronization among legitimate oscillators. Numerical simulation results are given to confirm the theoretical results.
Sleep in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Abstract Consistent with the many known deficits in central nervous system function in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), there is increasing evidence that sleep disruption may be highly prevalent in these children. Despite animal and clinical studies that have identified a clear association between sleep problems and prenatal alcohol exposure, little is known about the types and extent of sleep disruption in FASD. Thus, this sleep disruption often goes unrecognized or is treated without an evidence base. The evidence supporting an association between sleep problems and deficits in emotional, behavioral, and cognitive function in children is compelling but needs to be further investigated in children with FASD. Children's disrupted sleep interferes with parents' sleep and increases caregiver burden, perpetuating cross-generational sleep difficulties. This makes it vital to understand sleep disruption in FASD. This chapter will review the literature to date on clinical presentations, proposed mechanisms, and impact of the sleep difficulties.
Structure of the Mid-Infrared Emitting Disk Around WL16

WL16 is a unique member of the embedded young stellar population in the nearby rho Ophiuchi cloud core: its extended (900 AU diameter), high surface brightness disk is visible only at mid-infrared wavelengths. We present diffraction-limited (~ 0.3 arcsec) images, from 7.9 to 24.5 microns, of WL16 acquired at the Keck II telescope. We find the central star to be a 250 Lsun, 4 Msun, Herbig Ae star, seen through foreground material of the rho Oph cloud core that provides an extinction of Av=31+/-1 magnitudes. WL16's disk is detected through all nine observed passbands. We confirm, therefore, that the emitting particles are composed of both polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and very small (5--100 Angstroms) graphitic grains (VSGs). We confirm a resolved (1.5" diameter) core component at 7.9 and 8.8 microns, due to emission from positively charged PAHs. An enhancement in the emission at 12.5 microns at the disk's edges is found for the first time, and signals the presence of larger (>= 50-80 carbon atoms) PAHs and/or more hydrogenated PAHs than those found in the bulk of the disk. We find a disk asymmetry, observed at all nine mid-infrared wavelengths, at projected radii 1"-2.5" (corresponding to 125 AU <= r <= 300 AU) from the central source.
Why Israel launched a preventive military strike on Iraq’s nuclear weapons program (1981): The fungibility of power resources

In 1981, Israel launched a preventive military strike against a nuclear reactor that Iraq was constructing at the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center. The low fungibility of Iraq’s power resources, an...
Mediating functions and the semantics of noun incorporation

Noun incorporation is commonly thought to avoid the weak compositionality of compounds because it involves conjunction of an argument noun with the incorporating verb. However, it is weakly compositional in two ways. First, the noun’s entity argument needs to be bound or saturated, but previous accounts fail to adequately ensure that it is. Second, non-arguments are often incorporated in many languages, and their thematic role is available for contextual selection. We show that these two weaknesses are actually linked. We focus on the Kiowa language, which generally bars objects from incorporation but allows non-arguments. We show that a mediating relation is required to semantically link the noun to the verb. Absent a relation, the noun’s entity argument is not saturated, and the entire expression is uninterpretable. The mediating relation for non-objects also assigns it a thematic role instead of a postposition. Speakers can choose this role freely, subject to independent constraints from the pragmatics, syntax, and semantics. Objects in Kiowa are in fact allowed to incorporate in certain environments, but we show that these all independently involve a mediating relation. The mediating relation for objects quantifies over the noun and links the noun+verb construction to the rest of the clause. The head that introduces this relation re-categorizes the verb in the syntactic derivation. Essentially, we demonstrate two distinct mechanisms for noun incorporation. Having derived the distribution of Kiowa, we apply the same relations to derive constraints on English complex verbs and synthetic compounds, which exhibit most of the same constraints as Kiowa noun incorporation. We also look at languages with routine object incorporation, and show how the transitivity of the verb depends on whether the head introducing the external argument assigns case to the re-categorized verb.
A Non-rigid Registration Method for Serial microCT Mouse Hindlimb Images

We present a new method for the non-rigid registration of serial mouse microCT images which undergo potentially large changes in the positions of the legs due to articulation. While non-rigid registration methods have been extensively used in the evaluation of individual organs, application in whole body imaging has been limited, primarily because the scale of possible displacements and deformations is large resulting in poor convergence of most methods. Our method is based on the extended demons algorithm that uses a level-set representation of the mouse skin and skeleton as an input, and composed of three steps reflecting the natural physical movements of bony structures. We applied our method to the registration of serial microCT mouse images demonstrating encouraging performances as compared to competitive techniques.
Non-stationary policy learning in 2-player zero sum games

A key challenge in multiagent environments is the construction of agents that are able to learn while acting in the presence of other agents that are simultaneously learning and adapting. These domains require on-line learning methods without the benefit of repeated training examples, as well as the ability to adapt to the evolving behavior of other agents in the environment. The difficulty is further exacerbated when the agents are in an adversarial relationship, demanding that a robust (i.e. winning) non-stationary policy be rapidly learned and adapted. We propose an on-line sequence learning algorithm, ELPH, based on a straightforward entropy pruning technique that is able to rapidly learn and adapt to non-stationary policies. We demonstrate the performance of this method in a non-stationary learning environment of adversarial zero-sum matrix games.