cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Challenges in Healthcare Quality Transparency Efforts in Respect to U.S. Medical Practices

Healthcare transparency efforts are being encouraged across states, and across markets. These efforts to report on the costs associated with healthcare and provider quality performance are aimed at providing consumers with information that will improve decision making. Many of the current transparency approaches focus on cost comparisons. Yet, evaluation of providers on cost only is inappropriate – quality must also be considered. Additionally, transparency quality measures are increasingly impacting payment practices for providers. Value-based payment systems are shifting traditional payment strategies from pay for quantity to pay for quality. This paper reviews the key challenges to transparency reporting on quality in health care. Reporting efforts are dependent on the type and accuracy of available data. Most often, the available data are historical claims data. Claims data have limitations as well as benefits. Other important challenges center on strategic reporting decisions such as what type of providers to focus upon, what measures to use, and how to fairly adjust measure results for accurate representation.
Denser and more stable FinFET SRAM using multiple fin heights

Stability and integration density are two important SRAM performance metrics. A well designed SRAM cell has high stability and high integration density. Stability and integration density are competing parameters. Increasing the stability usually requires increasing the width of the access (AC) transistor, which decreases the integration density. SRAM occupies a high percentage of chip area in modern-day chips. Any method to decrease the cell area increases the integration density of the chip, and potentially decreases the cost. Traditional scaling relied on decreasing the device dimensions by 0.7× to decrease the area by 0.5×. In the recent times, as the gate length (L G ) scaling slowed down, techniques like thin-cell layouts and Self-Aligned Contacts (SAC) are used to maintain the area scaling trend [1]. We propose an SRAM cell with Selectively-Recessed Shallow-Trench Isolation (SR-STI) FinFET to improve the stability and decrease cell area.
Marrow Environment Post-Transplant Day (+) 7-9 Following Cyclophosphamide and Fludarabine Minimal Intensity Allotransplantation

Introduction: Cyclophosphamide/Fludarabine (Cy/Flu) nonmyeloablative conditioning for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in remission and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) permits engraftment with minimal tissue injury. Unrelated donor (URD) recipients experience rapid neutrophil engraftment, quicker rates to full donor T cell and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) chimerism and significantly more effective disease control. Following allogeneic PBMC infusion on day 0, peripheral blood leukocyte counts on day (+) 1 are uniformly less 3 . Mixed chimeric, predominately donor T and NK lymphocytes are detectable on day (+) 6-8 prior to neutrophil engraftment. The lack of respiratory symptoms or splenic enlargement post-infusion suggested that cells may be detectable in the marrow at a much earlier time point post-transplant than is classically recognized after myeloablative allotransplant. We hypothesized that mature lymphocytes would be detectable in a cellular marrow environment by day (+) 8. To begin to test this hypothesis, we collected marrow between day (+) 7-9 (avoiding weekends) from 6 consenting participants with AML, MDS or chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who participated in a single institution, phase II clinical trial at Indiana University and the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center. Methods: Marrow aspirate H and E stains, biopsies, and flow cytometric analyses (including CD2, CD3, CD56 and CD19) were obtained pre-transplant and on day (+) 7-9 following PBMC infusion in the setting of minimal intensity cyclophosphamide/fludarabine conditioning. PMBC chimerism was analyzed on day (+) 7-9. Clinical characteristics and peripheral blood cell counts were recorded. Results: Three patients had AML or MDS and 3 patients had CLL. All patients achieved full engraftment. In the AML/MDS subgroup day (+) 7-9 cellularity ranged from less than 5 to 70% with PBMC chimerism from 39.2 to 93.4% donor. In the CLL subgroup day (+) 7-9 cellularity ranged from 50 to 70% with PBMC chimerism from 0.9 to 5.6% donor. Baseline cellularity, corresponding peripheral cell counts, and marrow flow cytometric analyses from day (+) 7-9 are included in Table 1. Conclusion: Cy/Flu conditioning appears to be associated with early marrow cellularity at a time when peripheral blood chimerism is mixed. Day (+) 7-9 marrow examinations after Cy/Flu are generally quite cellular. Patients with AML/MDS and CLL appear to differ substantially in histological appearance, cell differentials and flow cytometric analyses. This suggests a unique engraftment kinetic that has yet to be appreciated and may be a useful platform for the study of cellular immune anti-cancer activity. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Gender and appearance accuracy: Women's advantage over men is restricted to dress items.

Which aspects of people’s appearance do women remember better than men? Women were predicted to remember the dress-related items but not the physical characteristics of targets more accurately than...
Motor equivalence and structure of variance: multi-muscle postural synergies in Parkinson’s disease

We explored posture-stabilizing multi-muscle synergies with two methods of analysis of multi-element, abundant systems: (1) Analysis of inter-cycle variance; and (2) Analysis of motor equivalence, both quantified within the framework of the uncontrolled manifold (UCM) hypothesis. Data collected in two earlier studies of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) were re-analyzed. One study compared synergies in the space of muscle modes (muscle groups with parallel scaling of activation) during tasks performed by early-stage PD patients and controls. The other study explored the effects of dopaminergic medication on multi-muscle-mode synergies. Inter-cycle variance and absolute magnitude of the center of pressure displacement across consecutive cycles were quantified during voluntary whole-body sway within the UCM and orthogonal to the UCM space. The patients showed smaller indices of variance within the UCM and motor equivalence compared to controls. The indices were also smaller in the off-drug compared to on-drug condition. There were strong across-subject correlations between the inter-cycle variance within/orthogonal to the UCM and motor equivalent/non-motor equivalent displacements. This study has shown that, at least for cyclical tasks, analysis of variance and analysis of motor equivalence lead to metrics of stability that correlate with each other and show similar effects of disease and medication. These results show, for the first time, intimate links between indices of variance and motor equivalence. They suggest that analysis of motor equivalence, which requires only a handful of trials, could be used broadly in the field of motor disorders to analyze problems with action stability.
Stress Intensity Factors for a Randomly Located Arc-Shaped Crack in a Circular Disk in the Course of Rotation

We study a plane problem of the theory of elasticity for a circular disk containing a randomly located arc-shaped crack under the action of a rotating load. The problem is reduced to a singular integral equation, which is solved numerically by the method of mechanical quadratures. We determine the numerical values of the stress intensity factors and angles of initial propagation of the crack depending on its location and geometric parameters (curvature and length).
TapCon: practical third-party attestation for the cloud

One way to establish trust in a service is to know what code it is running. However, verified code identity is currently not possible for programs launched on a cloud by another party. We propose an approach to integrate support for code attestation--authenticated statements of code identity--into layered cloud platforms and services. To illustrate, this paper describes TapCon, an attesting container manager that provides source-based attestation and network-based authentication for containers on a trusted cloud platform incorporating new features for code attestation. TapCon allows a third party to verify that an attested container is running specific code bound securely to an identified source repository. We also show how to use attested code identity as a basis for access control. This structure enables new use cases such as joint data mining, in which two data owners agree on a safe analytics program that protects the privacy of their inputs, and then ensure that only the designated program can access their data.
Cytology cases of the week: an educational tool that improves trainee exposure to cytology.

Introduction The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires residents to examine 1500 cytology specimens by the end of residency. Cytology cases of the week (COWs) were instituted in 2010-2011 in an effort to increase trainee exposure to cytology. Materials and methods Images of 2 to 5 cases with basic clinical information are sent to residents weekly. Residents have 1 week to respond by e-mail; after which, correct answers are e-mailed. Cytology resident in-service examination (RISE) scores were used to assess the effectiveness of COWs. Additionally, a feedback survey was distributed to trainees to determine the perception of COWs as a teaching tool. Results An unpaired two-sided t test showed residents who participated in COWs scored 15.4% higher on the RISE than residents who participated minimally or not at all over the 5-year period ( P P Conclusions COWs are an effective educational tool that increase resident fund of knowledge in cytology. Residents who participate in COWs perform higher on the RISE, regardless of percentage of correctly submitted answers.
Perioperative Management of LVAD Patients

A recent INTERMACS (Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support) annual report on the outcomes of patients who underwent continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) or biventricular assist device implantation showed that these patients had a 1-year survival rate of 80% [1]. Most of the mortalities occurred within the first 30 days after device implantation or during the postoperative period of the index hospitalization [1, 2]. The major causes of death during this period were as follows: 60–65% were due to multisystem organ failure (MSOF), which was driven primarily by poor oxygen delivery (DO2) and, often, specifically by right heart failure (RHF) [1, 2]; 15–20% were due to embolic and hemorrhagic stroke [1, 2]; 10–15% were due to bleeding events [1, 2]; 5–10% were sepsis related [3, 4]; and approximately 5% were due to respiratory failure [3]. The remaining deaths were mainly due to device malfunction, arrhythmias, or other less common complications [3, 4]. These data suggest that poor LVAD implantation outcomes can often be prevented or effectively managed. Therefore, diligent perioperative care is paramount to ensure positive outcomes for these patients. This chapter reviews the critical components of effective post operative care, and troubleshooting for the newly implanted CF-LVAD patient.
The Key Role of Work in Population Health Inequities.

A review of the article "Work as an Inclusive Part of Population Health Inequities Research and Prevention" by Emily Quinn Ahonen, Kaori Fujishiro, Thomas Cunningham and Michael Flynn which appears in the same issue is presented.
Strengths-Based Behavioral Intervention for Parents of Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes Using an mHealth App (Type 1 Doing Well): Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Supportive parent involvement for adolescents’ type 1 diabetes (T1D) self-management promotes optimal diabetes outcomes. However, family conflict is common and can interfere with collaborative family teamwork. Few interventions have used explicitly strengths-based approaches to help reinforce desired management behaviors and promote positive family interactions around diabetes care. Objective: The aim of this protocol was to describe the development of a new, strengths-based behavioral intervention for parents of adolescents with T1D delivered via a mobile-friendly Web app called Type 1 Doing Well. Methods: Ten adolescent-parent dyads and 5 diabetes care providers participated in a series of qualitative interviews to inform the design of the app. The 3- to 4-month pilot intervention will involve 82 parents receiving daily prompts to use the app, in which they will mark the diabetes-related strength behaviors (ie, positive attitudes or behaviors related to living with or managing T1D) their teen engaged in that day. Parents will also receive training on how to observe diabetes strengths and how to offer teen-friendly praise via the app. Each week, the app will generate a summary of the teen’s most frequent strengths from the previous week based on parent reports, and parents will be encouraged to praise their teen either in person or from a library of reinforcing text messages (short message service, SMS). Results: The major outcomes of this pilot study will include intervention feasibility and satisfaction data. Clinical and behavioral outcomes will include glycemic control, regimen adherence, family relationships and conflict, diabetes burden, and health-related quality of life. Conclusions: This strengths-based, mobile health (mHealth) intervention aims to help parents increase their awareness of and efforts to support their adolescents’ engagement in positive diabetes-related behaviors. If efficacious, this intervention has the potential to reduce the risk of family conflict, enhance collaborative family teamwork, and ultimately improve diabetes outcomes. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02877680; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02877680 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6xTAMN5k2) [JMIR Res Protoc 2018;7(3):e77]
Trumponomics, Neoliberal Branding, and the Rhetorical Circulation of Affect

This article studies Trumponomics as a brand that derives its economic and political purchase from the patterns of affective circulation opened up by the contemporary political economy. Because neo...
Evaluation of folylpolyglutamates by electrophoretic separation of fluorodeoxyuridylate-thymidylate synthase-methylenetetrahydrofolate complexes.

The chain length of specific reduced folylpolyglutamates has been estimated by incorporation of the 5,10-Tnethylenetetrahydrofolate form of the cofactor into a stable ternary complex with L. casei thymidylate synthase and tritiated fluorodeoxyuridylate followed by electrophoretic separation based on charge differences in complexed polyglutamates. The method is also applicable to tetrahydrofolate polyglutamates after conversion to the active cofactor form by introduction of formaldehyde. The method can be used to analyze less than one pmole of folylpolyglut-amate and can be applied to evaluation of tissue polyglutamates or to monitor relevant enzyme catalyzed reactions.
Boolean-Valued Set Theory

The use of ramified language in Cohen-type independence proofs often requires proofs by induction which may become rather cumbersome in special cases. A different though essentially equivalent approach which avoids ramified language is provided by the theory of Boolean-valued models as developed by Scott and Solovay.
Supercritical and near-critical CO2 processing

CO2 is the supercritical fluid of choice because its critical temperature is readily accessible (∼304 K), because it is a relatively benign material itself (nonflammable, relatively low toxicity), and because it is naturally abundant and hence inexpensive. Unfortunately, CO2 is a feeble solvent, making it difficult to use for processes where substantial solubility of high molecular weight and/or polar compounds is required. Although there are several compounds whose critical temperatures are sufficiently mild (<100°C) to allow easy access to the supercritical regime, most have received little attention owing to various process or safety issues. From its inception, research into the use of CO2 as a process solvent has been motivated by the desire to create process schemes that are greener than their predecessors. Whereas the bulk of CO2-based applications in the food industry to date have targeted extractions, there is the possibility for other CO2-based technologies to cross over from polymer science (foaming, additive blending), catalysis (hydrogenation), and biotechnology (enzymatic reactions). In this chapter, the physical properties of CO2, environmental advantages and disadvantages to the use of CO2, process design, and the economic viability of supercritical CO2 use are discussed. Current and potential applications are also highlighted. Much of the most exciting work in CO2 technology since 1990 has involved the design of auxiliaries (surfactants, chelating agents), which may find use in food processing as well.
FLOW OVER TAIL AND IN WAKE OF AXISYMMETRIC BODIES: REVIEW OF THE STATE OF THE ART

The many methods that have been proposed over the past decade for the calculation of unseparated axisymmetric flow over the tail of a body of revolution are reviewed, and the results of a recently developed method are presented and discussed in detail to assess the state of the art. It is shown that some computational techniques have advanced to a stage where quite accurate solutions can be obtained for such flows.
The Genesis of Credit-Risk Modelling

The path-breaking work, Merton (1974, Journal of Finance, 29, 449–470), not only addressed a number of important asset-pricing and corporate-finance questions, but was also the genesis of the field of credit-risk modelling. This chapter focuses exclusively on this approach. Not only would it be an injustice to ignore this still-pertinent model, but it offers a range of useful insights into the class of threshold models. The Merton (1974, Journal of Finance, 29, 449–470) framework was conceived and developed in a continuous-time, mathematical-finance setting. To address this complicating factor, a significant amount of effort is allocated to the basic intuition, notation, and mathematical structure leading to a motivating discussion regarding the notion of geometric Brownian motion. Armed with this detail, the chapter proceeds to investigate two possible implementations of Merton (1974, Journal of Finance, 29, 449–470)’s model, which we term the indirect and direct approaches. The indirect approach will turn out to be quite familiar, whereas the direct method requires a significant amount of heavy lifting for its implementation. As in previous chapters, parameter calibration options are explored and both methods are applied to practical portfolio examples.
The nursing shortage: A status report

Background and objective: A shortage of nearly half a million registered nurses threatened to disrupt health care services by the year 2020 as approximately one million registered nurses, born during the baby boom generation, were projected to retire. This predicted shortage would greatly affect the quality of patient care delivery. The predicted crisis drew the attention of stakeholders across the nation. Methods: This article summarizes strategies implemented to meet the growing demand for registered nurses by various agencies and stakeholders, the result of those efforts, and future challenges currently facing the profession. Results: Interventions resulted in a renewed interest in the profession of nursing. The total number of graduates from ADN and BSN programs more than doubled from 2002 to 2012. The number of master’s and doctoral program graduates more than tripled. Full time employment of registered nurses increased from 2.1 million in 2001 to 3.2 million in 2015. Future challenges and implications: Limited employment opportunities for new graduate nurses as hiring has slowed, concern over the quality of nursing education across all program types, and the need for ongoing assessment and implementation of guidelines permitting nurses to practice to the full scope of their educational preparation and capabilities during an era of continued health care reform, are among the challenges faced by the profession. In addition, delivery of safe and effective care to meet the needs of an aging population will present many challenges in the future.
Accelerating MPI Message Matching through FPGA Offload

The Message Passing Interface (MPI) is the {\it de facto} communication standard for distributed-memory High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems. Ultra-low latency communication in HPC is difficult to achieve because of MPI processing requirements, in particular matching requests and messages done by traversing the corresponding queues. Many researchers have addressed this issue by redesigning queues or by offloading them to hardware accelerators. However, state-of-art software approaches cannot free CPUs "from the misery'' and hardware approaches either lack scalability or still leave substantial room for further improvement. With the emergence of numerous tightly coupled CPU-FPGA computing architectures, offload of MPI functionality to user-controlled hardware is now becoming viable; we find it productive to revisit hardware approaches. To maintain the generality necessary to support MPI while preventing high resource utilization, we design our MPI queue processing offload based on a recent analysis of performance characteristics in HPC applications. We propose a novel, two-level message queue design: a content addressable memory (CAM) coupled with a resource-saving hardware linked-list. We also propose an optimization that maintains high speed in the cases when the queue is long. To test our design, we create an SOC-based testbed consisting of softcore processors and hardware implementations of the MPI communication stacks. Even while using only a small fraction of the Stratix-V logic, our design can be one to two orders of magnitude faster than two well-known hardware designs.
Epidemiology and gender differences in pediatric recreational and firearms noise exposure in the USA

OBJECTIVE We aim to identify contemporary noise exposures and hearing protection use among U.S. children in a large, population-based study. METHODS Cross-sectional analysis of the 2014 National Health Interview Series was performed. Results from in-person interviews of families with children under 18 years of age in all 50 states were queried. Potentially harmful exposures to loud sounds and patterns of hearing protection use in the last 12 months were analyzed after representative sample weights were applied. RESULTS Among 73.4 million children, 18.4% (9.1 ± 0.4 million) (boys: 23.2%, girls: 13.5%; P < 0.001) were exposed to firearms noise, and 28.2% (20.7 ± 0.6 million) (boys: 30.5%, girls: 25.8%; P < 0.001) to firecrackers and other explosive sounds. Exposure to recreational "very-loud" noise exposure was more common (7.9%; 5.8 ± 0.3 million), consisting of music players (46.5%), fireworks (44.8%), lawnmowers (42.6%), and firearms (32.5%). However, only 17.1% of boys and 15.6% of girls, totaling 16.4% of all children, always used hearing protection during noise exposures. CONCLUSION Children in the United States are commonly exposed to firearms and recreational loud noises. Hearing protection is infrequently used, and gender disparities in patterns of exposure and use of hearing protection are prevalent. Those children and families at risk should be identified via public health initiatives and appropriately counseled by healthcare providers. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE NA Laryngoscope, 130:541-545, 2020.
Large area super-resolved interference lithography (Conference Presentation)

Applying a technique inspired by super-resolution imaging, it is possible to achieve sub-diffraction limited linewidths in far-field photolithography. Using interference lithography as a demonstration platform, and exposing with a wavelength of 364 nm, we demonstrate high fidelity 50 nm features. Furthermore, these features are written over a large area with high uniformity and repeatability. As only off-the-shelf photoresists are used, this method is compatible with existing cleanrooms and adaptable to some existing lithography tool sets. We develop a model to analyze the lithographic process. From this model we show that there are fundamental limits imposed by both the optics and the photoresist. Also from the model, we demonstrate how to deterministically control sub-diffraction linewidths. Next, we analyze the design of an interference lithography tool. As sub-diffraction performance is in part limited by the aerial image quality, we consider the effects of component selection and alignment on final lithographic patterns. Additionally, we analyze the lithographic errors introduced, for example by wavefront distortion. Experimental verification is given for the analysis. Unique to this demonstration, a refractive beam shaper is employed to allow uniform exposure over a large area without sacrificing power. To our knowledge this is one of the first experimental demonstrations of a beam shaper in interferometric lithography.
Boiling of dilute emulsions. Mechanisms and applications

Abstract This paper reviews recent advances in pool and flow boiling of dilute emulsions, including initial theories on the boiling mechanisms. The current consensus is that pool boiling is initiated on nucleation sites on the surface and that increased heat transfer coefficients are a result of mixing produced by vapor bubbles in the thermal boundary layer. Visualization of the boiling process substantiates this conclusion. Current understanding of the influence of various quantities on the convective heat transfer coefficient is enumerated with respect to the underlying thermodynamics and energy transport. Prior research on flow boiling is limited in comparison, and much more needs to be done with respect to the boiling and enhancement mechanism. Various models for boiling of emulsions are discussed, including a RANS model that incorporates droplet contact with the heated surface, collisions between droplets and bubbles, and chain boiling due to collision during the boiling process. Key modeling elements are how interphase transport and droplet interactions affect nucleation rates and droplet behavior within the viscous and thermal boundary layers at and near a heated surface. It is clear now that boiling of a suspended phase with a lower saturation temperature than the continuous phase can produce marked increases in overall heat transfer coefficients. A re-conceptualization of two-phase heat exchange equipment is a future possibility, and various applications are identified. Boiling of dilute emulsions may be an attractive cooling strategy when restrictions on size, weight and pumping power must be addressed, such as in thermal management of avionics systems.
Risk versus reward: host dependent parasite mortality rates and phenotypes in the facultative generalist Triphysaria versicolor

Parasitic plants engage in a complex molecular dialog with potential host plants to identify a host and overcome host defenses to initiate development of the parasitic feeding organ, the haustorium, invade host tissues, and withdraw water and nutrients. While one of two critical signaling events in the parasitic plant life cycle (germination via stimulant chemicals) has been relatively well-studied, the signaling event that triggers haustorium formation remains elusive. Elucidation of this poorly understood molecular dialogue will shed light on plant-plant communication, parasitic plant physiology, and the evolution of parasitism in plants. Here we present an experimental framework that develops easily quantifiable contrasts for the facultative generalist parasitic plant, Triphysaria, as it feeds across a broad range of diverse flowering plants. The contrasts, including variable parasite growth form and mortality when grown with different hosts, suggest a dynamic and host-dependent molecular dialogue between the parasite and host. Finally, by comparing transcriptome datasets from attached versus unattached parasites we gain insight into some of the physiological processes that are altered during parasitic behavior including shifts in photosynthesis-related and stress response genes. This work sheds light on Triphysaria’s parasitic life habit and is an important step towards understanding the mechanisms of haustorium initiation factor perception, a unique form of plant-plant communication.
An examination of consumer reactance to daily fantasy sport and sport gambling regulatory restrictions

Abstract According to psychological reactance theory (PRT), when an individual’s freedom is threatened or eliminated, a state of reactance will occur in an attempt to have the freedom restored. Consumer reactance to firm marketing strategies and governmental restrictions have been examined in a variety of contexts. However, an examination of consumer reactance regarding participation in sport gaming activities, such as daily fantasy sport and sport gambling is non-existent. Two studies were developed using experimental designs to: (a) identify whether sport gaming participation intentions were influenced by government restrictions; (b) examine the influence of reactance tendencies on behavioral intentions; and (c) test whether consumer reactance moderates the relationship between government restrictions and gaming intentions. Our results showed significant differences in intentions based on government restrictions for both daily fantasy sport (DFS) and sport gambling participants. Mean intention scores were highest in the scenarios where the activities were legal, which is contrary to previous consumer reactance literature. However, varying state regulations may be playing a role, as individuals can participate in these activities in states where they are legal. Additionally, consumer reactance played a moderating role for groups that were discouraged or restricted from the activity. Consumers with high reactance tendencies reacted unfavorably to threats of freedom as anticipated, extending our knowledge of the impacts of consumer reactance within the sport gaming industry.
Patterns of narcotic utilization in women undergoing hysterectomy for benign indications.

Abstract Objective To determine whether perioperative narcotic utilization at the time of hysterectomy has decreased since 2012. Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Academic university hospital. Patients Patients who underwent a laparoscopic hysterectomy for benign indications between January 2012 and December 2018. Interventions Perioperative narcotics administration. Measurements and Main Results We identified 651 patients who underwent a hysterectomy for benign indications from 2012 to 2018. Of these, 377 surgeries were performed using robotic-assistance (58%) and the remainder (42%) were performed by conventional laparoscopy. Narcotic utilization declined significantly by year for both intra-operative and post-operative periods (both p Conclusion Administration of opioids for intraoperative and postoperative pain after minimally invasive hysterectomy substantially decreased from 2012 to 2018. Intraoperative narcotic utilization was correlated with immediate postoperative narcotic consumption. Heightened awareness of opioid administration practices during and immediately following surgery is critically important to decreasing risk of chronic opioid dependence and providing the best possible care for the patients we serve.
Integration of an off-grid solar-PV-battery system after grid connection using model predictive control: A case study in Kenya

Due to low rates of grid access in many countries in Sub Sahara Africa (SSA), many households with the ability to pay rely on off-grid stand-alone systems for their electricity supply. However, the arrival of the grid in households previously served by these off-grid systems comes with technical integration challenges considering that currently many African countries do not have grid-feed-in policies for small micro-generation. The problem is further complicated by a lack of unified industry standards of practice for deployment of microgrid control systems, leading to suboptimal use of distributed generation assets. In this paper, model predictive control (MPC) algorithm is employed to solve the dispatch problem of a grid connected solar PV-Battery microgrid without grid feed in option. The proposed model is applied to a case study in Kenya and its performance compared with the switched control strategy currently implemented at the case study site to test the economic gains of the MPC. We find that the investment required to implement the MPC algorithm has a payback period of about 7 years.
Climate, Colonial Technoscience, and Architectural History: An Interview with Jiat-Hwee Chang

Architectural historian Jiat-Hwee Chang teaches at the National University of Singapore and studies climatic design and technoscientific knowledge. In this interview, he discusses the themes and places that have influenced his work — from his early experiences as a student of architecture and how they have animated his book A Genealogy of Tropical Architecture: Colonial Networks, Nature, and Technoscience, of 2016, to his current manuscript Everyday Modernism: Architecture and Society in Singapore, to be published in 2022. In this conversation with Anita Bakshi, Chang reflects on the translation of architectural knowledge into the personal, political, and technical spheres and brings a rich range of knowledge and experience to bear on important current questions of environmental justice, urban inequality, and climate change.
The relaxed invariance principle and weakly dissipative infinite dimensional dynamical systems

This report outlines the role of the weak topology and the representation of weak limits by Young measures in proving the trend of dissipative infinite dimensional dynamical systems to equilibria. Two examples are provided: (i) a weakly damped wave equation and (ii) an infinite system of ordinary differential equations which model a liquid vapor phase transition.
Reconfiguring Estate Settlement

Probate, the judicial process for settling a decedent's estate, has been vilified and shunned for nearly five decades. Its cost, delay, and lack of privacy motivate the public and their advisors to utilize a multiplicity of title formats and alternative devices to transfer assets at death. For some time the Uniform Probate Code promised an avenue of reform. Modest adoptions, however, and the emphasis on court involvement restrict its ability to modernize estate settlement. This Article proposes a markedly different approach, an approach that would replace a thousand years of settling estates solely within a judicial system. The proposal is to remove probate from the courts and to substitute a registration system. This proposed nonjudicial approach validates a will by a simple recording, permits a fiduciary to take office by a statement of acceptance, and allows beneficiaries to transfer assets with simplicity and privacy.
Harmony: the art of reconciliation

The Harmony system is a generic framework for reconciling disconnected updates to heterogeneous, replicated XML data. It can be used, for instance, to synchronize the bookmark files of several different web browsers, allowing bookmarks and bookmark folders to be added, deleted, edited, and reorganized by different users running different browser applications on disconnected machines.
Cloning of a Differentially Expressed IκB-related Protein

We have cloned a cDNA corresponding to a novel gene from a human epithelial cell line by subtractive hybridization and polymerase chain reaction techniques. This gene is expressed at the message level and at the protein level in a lung alveolar type II-like epithelial cell line but not in lung fibroblasts. In adult human tissues, the mRNA for this gene was detected only in the heart and the skeletal muscle, but not in the brain, placenta, whole lung, liver, or kidney. We have named this gene IκBR (for IκB-related) since its 52-kDa protein product has significant homology to the IκB family of proteins which function as inhibitory cytoplasmic retention proteins for the vertebrate rel/NF-κB transcription factors. Although the important role of NF-κB in gene activation in cells of the immune system is now well established, a similar role in other cell types or in vertebrate development is less clear. The deduced amino acid sequence of IκBR has the most significant homology to the Drosophila protein Cactus which inhibits the function of the NF-κB-like protein Dorsal. In electrophoretic mobility shift experiments, IκBR inhibited the ability of the p50:p65 NF-κB heterodimer to bind DNA. The DNA binding ability of the p50 homodimer but not the p65 homodimer was drastically inhibited by IκBR. In transfection experiments, overexpression of IκBR significantly inhibited NF-κB-dependent transcription from the Igκ enhancer. This new member of the IκB family of proteins, IκBR, may play an important role in regulation of NF-κB function in epithelial cells.
Environmental variability and the population dynamics of the exotic Daphnia lumholtzi and native zooplankton in Lake Texoma, U.S.A.

Daphnia lumholtzi has invaded the U.S. from its original distribution of Africa, southern Asia and Australia. We examined the factors that affected the abundance and distribution of D. lumholtzi during 1994–1995 in Lake Texoma, a large southern plains reservoir. Daphnia lumholtzi was most abundant during summer months when temperatures were highest. The population exhibited a distributional shift in mid July from the upstream, more riverine portion of the reservoir to the cooler area near the dam when epilimnion temperatures upreservoir exceeded 30 °C. The pattern of variation in distribution and abundance did not correspond to the spatio-temporal patterns of most other resident zooplankton, nor did it correspond to changes in the phytoplankton assemblage. We conclude that the ability of D. lumholtzi to withstand the physiological effects of high temperature on reproduction and survival have a strong influence on the distribution and abundance of this organism in Lake Texoma. Furthermore, because D. lumholtzi became abundant only in the summer, after the decline of many of the native zooplankton, we suggest that it probably has little competitive impact on the other members of the zooplankton assemblage.
Magnetic phase transitions in anisotropic Heisenberg antiferromagnets. I. Mn Cl 2 . 4 H 2 O

Differential magnetic susceptibility measurements have been used to study the magnetic phase transitions in antiferromagnetic Mn${\mathrm{Cl}}_{2}$.4${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$O between 0.3 and 1.6 K. The antiferromagnetic to spin-flop (SF) transition is shown to be a first-order phase transition below 0.4 K. The SF to paramagnetic transition is observed to have a predominantly ${T}^{\frac{5}{2}}$ temperature dependence, while spin-wave theory predicts a ${T}^{\frac{3}{2}}$ dependence. From the values of the critical fields, extrapolated to $T=0$, the exchange and anisotropy constants are determined. The results are consistent with a Heisenberg model of isotropic exchange with a biaxial single-ion-type anisotropy.
Highly virulent strains of Pseudomonas solanacearum that are defective in extracellular-polysaccharide production.

Extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) has long been regarded as one of the most important factors involved in wilting of plants by Pseudomonas solanacearum. By means of transposon Tn5 mutagenesis, we have isolated a class of mutants that have an afluidal colony morphology but retain the ability to cause severe wilting and death of tobacco plants. One such mutant, KD700, was studied in detail. By marker exchange mutagenesis, the altered colony morphology was shown to be the result of a single Tn5 insertion in a 14.3-kilobase EcoRI fragment. This defect could be corrected by introducing a homologous clone from a cosmid library of the wild-type, parental strain K60. The Tn5-containing fragment was introduced into other P. solanacearum wild-type strains by marker exchange, and these altered strains had the same afluidal phenotype as KD700. N-Acetylgalactosamine (GalNac), the major constituent of EPS of all wild-type strains of P. solanacearum, was not detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of vascular fluids from wilting plants infected by KD700. In contrast, GalNac was readily detected in similar fluids of plants infected by K60. Polysaccharides extracted from culture filtrates of KD700 contained approximately one-fifth of the GalNac present in polysaccharides from K60. No differences in growth rates in culture or in planta between the mutant and the parental strains were observed. Since strains that are deficient in EPS production can remain highly virulent to tobacco, we conclude that EPS, or at least its GalNac-containing component, may not be required for disease development by P. solanacearum. Images
Lattice Systems with a Continuous Symmetry

We prove that the expansion in powers of the temperature T of the correlation functions and the free energy of the plane rotator model on a d-dimensional lattice is asymptotic to all orders in T The leading term in the expansion is the spin wave approximation and the higher powers are obtained by the usual perturbation series. We also prove the inverse power decay of the pair correlation at low temperatures for d= 3.
The John Eggleston Memorial Lecture: DATA 2005 Design and Technology for the Conceptual Age

Twenty years ago I spent a year studying the Design Process in CDT in the UK on a Fulbright Scholarship. Pre-National Curriculum, it was an exciting time to be a technology educator. Among the people whose work had impressed me in my doctoral research were Bruce Archer, Ken Baynes and John Eggleston. It is on Professor Eggleston’s influence on American technology education that I attempted to focus for this lecture. John Eggleston was responsible for many of the values that underpin our conception of Design and Technology in both the US and the UK. His ideas are among the most humanizing principles underlying our conception of design and technology as a new school subject for all students. Recently in the US, however, technology education has begun to take engineering as its professional model, a considerably narrower view of our enterprise than some of us have envisioned. There are many reasons for this, political, cultural and economic. The most significant may be a result of an expected shortfall of engineers, since tightened national security has limited the number of foreign engineering students who have traditionally studied and then stayed to work in the US. This influence tends to shift technology education from general education to a pre-professional or pre-vocational offering. During the 1990s, many of us in technology education based our view of the field on a continuum of designerly activity ranging from the artistic to the scientific. A recent book by Daniel Pink, titled A Whole New Mind, supports the view that the skills most valuable for the highly technological future, in both careers and life in general, may not be those left-brained skills associated with engineering, but rather the more right-brained capabilities typical of the designer. The left-brain/right-brain juxtaposition is a key component of Pink’s argument. He points out that information technology is replacing or at least devaluing the logical, analytical capabilities of the left brain, much as mechanical devices devalued human strength and dexterity and took us into the industrial age. Pink feels we are now moving beyond the information age and into the conceptual age, where creativity and empathy will be the critical factors in success of all kinds. He identifies six “senses” that will be of major importance in business, healthcare, law, economics and other key enterprises and provides strategies for assessing and strengthening these senses. Many of the activities he suggests would be familiar to design and technology teachers. The whole new mind that Pink describes is highly consistent with the broad definition of technology education articulated by John Eggleston. Pink’s observations suggest that the left brain-directed abilities that currently characterize engineering are only part of the picture of the technological literacy and capability; hopefully, a more holistic version of technology education will lead the way into the Conceptual Age.
Fastener Preload Guidance Methodology for ASME B16.5 Welding Neck Flanges

Various resources have long been available from which bolted flange connection (BFC) preload guidance can be chosen. These range from Rules of Thumb gleaned from experience, to tables and charts based on average gasket stress, to parametric generalizations derived from the results of limited finite element analyses. Because the primary components of a BFC (flange, fastener and gasket) interact with one another to respond as a single system, and the system is unique to the conditions that define it, guidance based on these specific conditions will improve the accuracy of preload solutions and generate data to show the relative strengths and weaknesses of a given BFC. This paper presents a methodology that sets practical stress limits on a collection of commonly used ASME B16.5 welding neck flange components and then uses finite element analysis to solve the condition of preload that results in one or more limits being satisfied. Each preload solution is unique to the properties and geometries that define it and includes the effects of three design conditions. Fastener stress solutions include both the tension and bending components. This shows that yielding can initiate at relatively low values of preload when flange rotation is significant. Charts are created to show solution trends. This simplifies the task of identifying the component that sets the upper bound for a given solution. It also provides the basis to compare similar component combinations.© 2008 ASME
High level object recognition without an anterior inferior temporal lobe

Seven individuals with unilateral anterior inferior temporal (AIT) lobectomies performed two types of shape recognition tasks with line drawing of 3D objects briefly presented in either the left or the right visual field. In one task, subjects named familiar objects in a name priming paradigm. In the other task, subjects judged whether two objects, presented sequentially with an intervening mask, were the same or different in shape, disregarding differences in orientation of up to 60 degrees in depth. They could not use names or basic level concepts to do the matching as the stimuli were either nonsense objects or, if familiar objects, were of same name-different-shaped exemplars on different trials. The disadvantage of presenting an image to the lobectomized hemisphere was negligible in both tasks. Two non-exclusive possibilities are suggested by this result: (a) Object recognition is completed posterior to AIT, likely at the temporal-occipital boundary, with no deleterious retrograde effects on object recognition from the AIT section, or (b) Callosal transfer of object information prior to AIT is completely efficient. These results, along with results of single unit recording and lesion experiments in the monkey, PET and MRI imaging in humans, and a plausibility argument based on the pattern of callosal connections suggest both are correct. Rather than mediating real-time object recognition, AIT may code representations for visual episodes and scenes.
In the beginning was the worm ...

In my end is my beginning. T. S. Eliot Anecdotal, Historical and Critical Commentaries on Genetics