cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Contemporary radiation therapy techniques in malignant pleural mesothelioma: A case report

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare but very aggressive neoplasm. Prognosis is poor and the disease is fatalwithin 4-8 months without treatment. Even with a trimodality treatment approach, which has been shown to produce significantmorbidity, median survival does not exceed 11 months. There is a need therefore for exploring new treatment options that canimprove both qualitative and quantitative outcomes. This case report describes locally advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma treated with a unique, customized irradiationtechnique involving a combination of 3D conformal therapy and intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). This allowed fortreatment of the pleura to a high dose, while sparing the lung parenchyma. In this patient, our approach resulted in a prolongedremission. It is our hope that this stimulates new interest in the use of modern day radiation techniques in the treatment of MPM.
The Role of Unilateral Action in Preventing International Environmental Injury

This article discusses the role that unilateral state action theoretically ought to have – and practically is likely to have – in an emerging regime of international environmental regulation.The tendency has been to see solutions to environmental problems in terms of broad environmental treaties and cooperative international approaches, arrangements and institutions. The article argues, however, that any perspective that ignores the role of unilateral state action is likely to prove incomplete and unrealistic since: (1) unilateral state action in the environmental field is a fact of international life; (2) certain types of environmental problems inherently require unilateral state action for their effective solution; and (3) in view of the decentralized character of the international political system, individual states are likely to retain considerable authority to act unilaterally to prevent environmental harm. The most significant problems of environmental regulation may thus involve the allocation among states of jurisdiction to take unilateral action rather than the restriction of state prerogatives in favor of international authority. The article, first suggests a classification of unilateral state environmental actions based on criteria such as the motive for the unilateral action, its principal locus of application, its permanence, the nature of the harm against which it is directed, its impact on foreign interests and its apparent consistency with international law. It then discusses the following questions: (1) What types of unilateral action are states presently taking or likely to take in order to deal with threats or transnational environmental injury? (2) To what extent does unilateral action raise problems under existing international law? (3) What are the potential advantages and disadvantages of unilateral action in terms of its possible effects on transnational environmental problems, international relations and trade, and on the future development of international environmental law? (4) Is it possible to accommodate the pressures that lead to unilateral action within a multilateral framework which can avoid or mitigate the problems unilateral action creates? (5) Is it possible to make any broad judgment as to the appropriate roles of both unilateral and multilateral action in an effective scheme of international environmental regulations? It concludes by suggesting that: (1) unilateral state action to prevent international environmental injury is likely to play an important and continuing role in efforts to deal with international environmental problems; (2) the desirability and effectiveness of such unilateral action will depend on a numbers of factors, including the alternatives practically available; and (3) a comprehensive and effective system of international environmental control will require an imaginative and realistic mix of both unilateral state approaches and international oversight, standards, procedures and regulatory authority.
The solidification of metal-matrix particulate composites

The simplicity, economy and flexibility of solidification processes make them attractive methods for the production of particle-reinforced metal-matrix composites. At present, however, there is limited understanding of the phenomena occurring during solidification of these advanced materials. Nucleation and refinement of crystalline phases, physical and chemical interactions between dispersed particles and solidifying interfaces, and buoyancy-driven movement of the particles are areas where a knowledge base is beginning to be formed. Ultimately, the understanding of solidification processes in metal-matrix composites must become complete enough that microstructures can be tailored for specific applications.
Effect of Divalent Cations on DMPC/DHPC Bicelle Formation and Alignment

Many important classes of biomolecules require divalent cations for optimal activity, making these ions essential for biologically relevant structural studies. Bicelle mixtures composed of short-chain and long-chain lipids are often used in solution- and solid-state NMR structure determination; however, the phase diagrams of these useful orienting media and membrane mimetics are sensitive to other solution components. Therefore, we have investigated the effect of varying concentrations of four divalent cations, Ca(2+), Mg(2+), Zn(2+), and Cd(2+), on cholesterol sulfate-stabilized DMPC/DHPC bicelles. We found that low concentrations of all the divalent ions are tolerated with minimal perturbation. At higher concentrations Zn(2+) and Cd(2+) disrupt the magnetically aligned phase while Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) produce more strongly oriented phases. This result indicates that divalent cations are not only required to maintain the biological activity of proteins and nucleic acids; they may also be used to manipulate the behavior of the magnetically aligned phase.
Theoretical Investigation of the Aerodynamics of Membrane MAV Wings with Cambered Frames

This paper builds on a previous study that investigated aerodynamic properties for flexible membrane MAV (micro air vehicle) wings with cambered frames. The frames for the wings were designed in SolidWorks and fabricated using an Objet30 Pro 3D printer. The membranes are composed of silicone rubber. The wings were tested in a The University of Alabama’s low speed wind tunnel at a Reynolds number of 50,000 (10 m/s) while varying angles-of-attack from -4 to 24°. In the previous study, results showed that cambering the frames for the low aspect ratio (AR = 2) flexible MAV wings increases maximum lift and aerodynamic efficiency when compared to flat frames. In this study, lifting-line theory was used to perform a theoretical analysis on the time-averaged shapes for the membrane wings. The calculated values were compared with the experimental values to determine the effectiveness of using the theory for approximating time-averaged aerodynamic coefficients. It was determined that lifting-line theory approximates the lift coefficients reasonably well despite the assumptions of inviscid, attached flow, while also indicating higher relative induced drag for frames with less camber and at larger angles-of-attack.
A Report on the Robert Hart Papers at Queen's University, Belfast N. I.

The surviving private papers of Robert Hart, Inspector General of the Imperial Maritime Customs, 1863-1911, were deposited at Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1971. They have been studied in part by a few scholars, including the present writer. Most of Hart's papers, private and official, were destroyed in the Boxer Revolution, when his house and office were burned, but his private diary, in 77 volumes, was saved from the general destruction by a 4th Assistant (B) of the Customs who carried it from the house in a black tin chest. Apart from the diary, the papers consist of loose materials, some 120 packages of private letters and miscellaneous printed Customs reports for the period 1900 through 1908.
Construction Framework of the Professional Subsystem of the Second Phase Public Health Information Platform in Huangpu District of Shanghai

This paper introduces construction framework of the second phase public health information service platform in Huangpu region in Shanghai,including public health monitoring and reporting subsystem based on clinical information,data statistic and analysis subsystem based on related direct reporting system in China CDC and Shanghai CDC,and disease prevention and control information subsystem. It also depictes the components,construction goals and functions of each all above mentioned.
Private Lives: Confidentiality in Manuscripts Collections

Librarians and archivists administering collections of modem personal papers encounter a number of concerns inherent in collecting materials by individuals who are still living. One of the chief concerns for archivists and manuscripts curators who manage modern collections relates to the questions of privacy and access. These questions encompass both legal and ethical considerations that are of ever greater concern to those of us who undertake the responsible administration of modern manuscripts. This paper will consider some of these issues, drawing examples from experiences with modern literary collections at the Huntington Library. When acquiring and processing a modern manuscript collection, . . .
The Talionic Mint: Funny Money

M oney gives us equivalence in the form of A = B, with two unlikes being equated by a price. But one never trusts that A really equals B; the buyer often fears he got cheated (why did the seller agree to hand it over for that price if he wasn't getting a good deal, a good deal at my expense?), the seller, that he got shorted (I surely could have gotten buyer to agree to more if he agreed so readily to that!). The price of silver might rise the next day, whereas eyes might suffer a glut and lose value. But if I state my principle as a rule of identity, A = A, rather than of equivalence, A = B, then I can indulge the thought that I struck the balance exactly right. The price is a just price, an eye for an eye. We can smudge this too-pretty picture by worrying whether a blue eye equals a brown, a nearsighted one a 20–20 one, or the eye of a loser the eye of a person of honor. Still the rule as stated makes the poetic claim of identity, a powerful statement of getting the price exactly right. Body Parts and Money The classic statement of the talion mints some coin. It makes eyes into a form of money, or a money-like substance. First, eyes become the legal measure of the value of eyes, thus serving a crucial money function.
Variants of the RSK algorithm adapted to combinatorial Macdonald polynomials

Abstract We introduce variations of the Robinson–Schensted correspondence parametrized by positive integers p. Each variation gives a bijection between permutations and pairs of standard tableaux of the same shape. In addition to sharing many of the properties of the classical Schensted algorithm, the new algorithms are designed to be compatible with certain permutation statistics introduced by Haglund in the study of Macdonald polynomials. In particular, these algorithms provide an elementary bijective proof converting Haglund's combinatorial formula for Macdonald polynomials to an explicit combinatorial Schur expansion of Macdonald polynomials indexed by partitions μ satisfying μ 1 ≤ 3 and μ 2 ≤ 2 . We challenge the research community to extend this RSK-based approach to more general classes of partitions.
Stock Returns and Geographic Innovation Index

Using surveys, on-site interviews of approximately 225 publicly-traded pharmaceutical firms in the United States, and a matching dataset with 42,849 observations of pharmaceutical patent citations, we combine both quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate the relations between geographic proximity to innovation resources and stock returns. We develop a geographic innovation index to capture the key geographic factors that might have a positive impact on the firm's knowledge creation. We then examine the stock investment performance in terms of risk-adjusted returns for companies that have greater proximity to geographic innovation resources versus those companies that have less proximity to geographic innovation resources. We find that investments in companies with greater proximity to geographic innovation resources tend to achieve better risk-adjusted returns in the stock markets.
An Orbiting Laserport for Low Mass Sailcraft Propulsion

Navigating a sailcraft by means of lasers on an orbiting “laserport” afford an opportunity to launch hundreds of miniaturized kilogram scale science packages to Mars and other Earth neighbors.
Auditory contributions to maintaining balance.

Maintaining balance relies on integration of inputs from the visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive systems. The auditory system has not been credited with a similar contributory role, despite its ability to provide spatial orienting cues with extreme speed and accuracy. Here, we determined the ability of external auditory signals to reduce postural sway, measured as the root-mean-square velocity of center of pressure of a standing subject, in a series of subjects with varying levels of imbalance standing in the dark. The maximum root-mean-square center of pressure among our subjects decreased from 7.0 cm/sec in silence to 4.7 cm/sec.with the addition of external sound. The addition of sound allowed subjects to decrease sway by 41 percent. The amount of improvement due to sound was 54% of the amount of improvement observed in postural sway when visual cues only were provided to subjects standing in silence. These data support the significant effect of the auditory system in providing balance-related cues and suggest that interventions such as hearing aids or cochlear implants may be useful in improving postural stability and reducing falls.
Comparison of High-Dose Cyclophosphamide and Growth Factor with Growth Factor Alone for Mobilization of Stem Cells for Transplantation in Patients with Multiple Myeloma.

Abstract Introduction: We retrospectively analyzed outcomes of 716 patients with multiple myeloma who were mobilized using cyclophosphamide and growth factor (n=370) or growth factor alone (n=346) before stem cell transplantation. Table. Patient Characteristics (N=716) Variable Cyclophosphamide (n=370) Growth Factor Only (n=346) P Value Men, No. of patients (%) 224 (61) 202 (58) .50 Age, median (IQR), y 58 (52–64) 60 (53–65) .11 b-2 Microglobulin, median (IQR), mcg/mL 2.7 (1.9–4.0) 2.3 (1.9–3.2) .01 Creatinine, median (IQR), mg/dL 1.1 (0.9–1.3) 1.0 (0.8–1.2) .002 Apheresis, median (IQR) collections, No. 2 (1–3) 4 (3–6) .001 Marrow plasma cells, % 17 (5–34) 5 (1–13) .001 CD34+cells, median (IQR), cells/kg Total collected 10.3x106(7.2x106–14.6x106) 9.9x106(7.6x106–11.9x106) .01 Infused 5.6x106(4.5x106–7.6x106) 4.2x106(3.8x106–5.0x106) Duration of hospitalization, median (IQR), d 4 (0–10) 4 (0–9) .92 Nonstaphylococcal bacteremia, No. of patients (%) 48 (13) 25 (7) .01 Melphalan dosage, No. of patients (%) .04 200 mg/m2* 337 (91) 298 (86) 140 mg/m2* 33 (9) 48 (14) Exposure before mobilization, No. of patients (%) Melphalan 45 (12) 44 (13) .50 Lenalidomide 14(4) 63(18) .01 Abbreviation: IQR, interquartile range. *Or equivalent dosage. Results: Patients receiving cyclophosphamide had higher stem cell yields than the growth factor only group (median number of apheresis sessions needed to achieve stem cell collection goals, 2 vs 4 sessions, respectively [P=.001]). However, patients treated with cyclophosphamide required more time for engraftment of platelets and neutrophils (P For patients receiving cyclophosphamide, 75% achieved engraftment (defined as a platelet count of 50x109/L) by day 39, whereas 75% of patients not receiving cyclophosphamide achieved engraftment by day 18. Similar results were observed for neutrophil engraftment. These differences did not affect the duration of hospitalization, but patients treated with cyclophosphamide had a higher incidence of posttransplant nonstaphylococcal bacteremia. For cyclophosphamide-mobilized patients, considerably faster platelet engraftment (5 fewer days) resulted if stem cell reinfusion occurred more than 30 days after the first apheresis session. Conclusion: Our data suggested that cyclophosphamide damaged the microenvironment and slowed engraftment. By lengthening the period between the completion of apheresis and stem cell reinfusion, the microenvironment may recover and result in faster engraftment. We suggest that the cyclophosphamide used for mobilization may affect the marrow microenvironment. Cyclophosphamide improves yields but increases bacteremia rates after transplantation. Cyclophosphamide increases time required to collect stem cells and slows engraftment. Download : Download high-res image (72KB) Download : Download full-size image
Dorsal Wrist Pain in the Extended Wrist-Loading Position: An MRI Study

Background The etiology of dorsal wrist pain associated with loading of the wrist in extension has not been clearly identified in the literature. Purpose Many exercise disciplines incorporate upper extremity weight-bearing exercises in an extended wrist posture, for example push-ups, plank position, and various yoga and Pilates poses. This study evaluates patients with dorsal wrist pain in the extended wrist-loading position and identifies anatomic abnormalities in the wrist using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods A retrospective chart review was performed comparing MRI of patients who complained of dorsal wrist pain while performing weight bearing in a wrist extension position with a control group of patients who complained of ulnar-sided wrist pain. The primary MRI outcome was dorsal wrist pathology, including occult dorsal ganglion cyst, scapholunate ligament tear or degeneration, and dorsal capsulitis. Results Dorsal wrist pathology was significantly more prevalent in patients with dorsal wrist pain (84%) than in the patient cohort with ulnar-sided wrist pain (12%). Occult dorsal ganglion cysts were the most common sources of pathology (76%). Conclusion MRI demonstrated an identifiable dorsal abnormality in 84% of patients with dorsal wrist pain associated with weight bearing on the extended wrist. Occult dorsal ganglion cysts are the most common cause of dorsal wrist pain, followed by partial scapholunate tears. When patients complain of dorsal wrist pain during specific extended loading wrist positions such as push-ups, yoga, or Pilates poses, an MRI may be warranted to help identify anatomic abnormalities that may help guide treatment choices. Level of Evidence Diagnostic, Level III.
Time in therapeutic range as a marker for thrombotic and bleeding outcomes in Fontan patients

Fontan patients managed with warfarin are at risk not only for thrombotic events, but also for bleeding episodes as a consequence of anticoagulation treatment. The aim of this study was to determine whether time spent in patient specified therapeutic range (TTR), when managed in a cardiology-based pharmacist managed anticoagulation clinic (PMAC), is a useful target metric for monitoring, as well as improving outcomes. A single center retrospective review was conducted evaluating TTR of all Fontan patients (n = 45) on warfarin managed in our outpatient cardiology pharmacist managed anticoagulation clinic (PMAC) during a 19 month time frame. The primary outcome was time spent within, above, and below therapeutic range. Secondary outcomes were thrombotic event (TE) incidence pre- and post PMAC enrollment and bleeding event incidence during PMAC management. Of the Fontan patients included, 55.6% were male and the median age at latest anticoagulation clinic follow-up was 19 years (IQR 13, 29). A composite 52.9 patient years of warfarin therapy was evaluated during the study time frame. The mean TTR for patients was 84.1 ± 5.2%. The most frequent reasons for non-therapeutic INRs were diet changes (42.8%), medication non-compliance (13.7%), and drug interactions (8.8%). Only one TE occurred during the study time frame. The incidence of TE in this population was decreased after PMAC enrollment (1 per 52.9 patient year versus 1 event per 17.4 patient year; p < 0.0002). Two major bleeds that required emergency department visit occurred during this time, none were cerebral or gastrointestinal. In Fontan patients anticoagulated with warfarin, a greater than 80% TTR can be achieved in a PMAC. Such high time in therapeutic range was associated with excellent outcomes, despite the obvious complexity of this population.
Techno-economic assessment of a closed-loop osmotic heat engine

Abstract Osmotic power harnesses the energy of mixing between high salinity and low salinity streams to generate mechanical energy. The closed-loop osmotic heat engine (OHE) is a low-grade heat powered, membrane-based energy system that couples membrane distillation (MD), a thermally driven membrane process, with pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), an osmotically driven membrane process. The objective of this study was to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of an OHE to generate electricity. Experimental data and previously established MD and PRO models were used to develop an OHE system model that calculates system efficiency (a ratio between the net energy output and thermal energy input), net power output, and electricity generation costs. Results show that the levelized cost of electricity generation by an OHE at the current state of the technology is $0.48 per kWh, which is not competitive with wholesale conventional U.S. grid electricity costs of $0.04/kWh [1], nor comparable to low-grade heat-powered Organic Rankine Cycle electricity generation costs ($0.08–0.13/kWh). To investigate the robustness of the OHE model, a sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the influence of select model inputs on electricity costs. Results indicate that improving PRO membrane power density has the highest potential benefit to reduce OHE electricity generation costs. Development of highly permeable and selective PRO membranes that are mechanically stable at increased hydraulic pressures is critical for maturation of PRO and OHE. Alternative working fluids capable of producing higher osmotic pressures and having lower reverse solute fluxes may aid in increasing OHE performance, but not substantially. Our analysis shows that substantial improvements to system operation and membrane performance could reduce electricity generation cost of large installations close to $0.10 per kWh.
Emotion Language in Trauma Narratives Is Associated With Better Psychological Adjustment Among Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Traumatized individuals are often encouraged to confront their experiences by talking or writing about them. However, survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) might find it especially difficult to process abuse experiences, particularly when the abuse is more severe, which could put them at greater risk for mental health problems. The current study examined whether CSA survivors who use emotion language when describing their abuse experiences exhibit better mental health. We analyzed the trauma narratives of 55 adults who, as children, were part of a larger study of the long-term emotional effects of criminal prosecutions on CSA survivors. Abuse narratives were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program. We examined whether positive and negative emotion language in participants' abuse narratives were associated with self- and caregiver-reported mental health symptoms and whether these associations differed according to the severity of the abuse. As hypothesized, participants who used more positive and negative emotion language had better psychological outcomes, especially when the abuse was severe. Our findings suggest that survivors of more severe abuse might benefit from including emotion language, whether positive or negative in valence, when describing the abuse.
Improved adequacy of endometrial tissue sampled from postmenopausal women using the MyoSure Lite hysteroscopic tissue removal system versus conventional curettage.

Objective To compare the diagnostic suitability of endometrial tissues obtained from postmenopausal women using the MyoSure Lite tissue removal system versus conventional curettage. Materials and methods Endometrial tissue was sampled in hysteroscopically normal extirpated uteri from seven postmenopausal women (65.9±6.6 years old) using both hysteroscopicguided morcellation and curettage (two quadrants/uterus with each method). Endometrial sampling was performed immediately after hysterectomy for benign reasons unrelated to uterine pathology. Retrieved endometrial tissue samples were evaluated for volume and diagnostic suitability by a pathologist who was masked to the sampling technique used. Results Endometrial tissue sampling times were similar for morcellation (44±23 s) and curettage (47±38 s). Mean tissue volume retrieved with MyoSure (1,411±775 mm3) was significantly greater than with curettage (1±2 mm3; p=0.0004, two-tailed t-test), with larger intact tissue fragments retrieved with morcellation. Both specimen volume and quality obtained by MyoSure Lite were deemed to be significantly better for histologic assessment than the tissues obtained with curettage (p=0.0006 by Fisher's exact test and p=0.0137 by chi-square test, respectively). With dilation and curettage, samples were frequently too scanty for evaluation. Diagnostic concurrence between MyoSure Lite/dilation and curettage samples and histopathology of full-thickness samples taken afterward was also significantly better with MyoSure Lite than with curettage (p=0.0210). Conclusion Endometrial tissue sampling using the minimally invasive MyoSure Lite hysteroscopic tissue removal system may provide larger volumes of higher-quality endometrial tissue specimens for pathology assessment compared to specimens obtained using conventional curettage, in postmenopausal women.
Effect of removing outliers on statistical inference: implications to interpretation of experimental data in medical research.

Background Data editing with elimination of "outliers" is commonly performed in the biomedical sciences. The effects of this type of data editing could influence study results, and with the vast and expanding amount of research in medicine, these effects would be magnified. Methods and results We first performed an anonymous survey of medical school faculty at institutions across the United States and found that indeed some form of outlier exclusion was performed by a large percentage of the respondents to the survey. We next performed Monte Carlo simulations of excluding high and low values from samplings from the same normal distribution. We found that removal of one pair of "outliers", specifically removal of the high and low values of the two samplings, respectively, had measurable effects on the type I error as the sample size was increased into the thousands. We developed an adjustment to the t score that accounts for the anticipated alteration of the type I error (tadj=tobs-2(log(n)^0.5/n^0.5)), and propose that this be used when outliers are eliminated prior to parametric analysis. Conclusion Data editing with elimination of outliers that includes removal of high and low values from two samples, respectively, can have significant effects on the occurrence of type 1 error. This type of data editing could have profound effects in high volume research fields, particularly in medicine, and we recommend an adjustment to the t score be used to reduce the potential for error.
Diabetic Retinopathy Assessment in the Primary Care Environment: Lessons Learned from 100,000 Patient Encounters

A major unresolved challenge in clinical ophthalmology is the elimination of avoidable vision loss due to diabetic retinopathy. Despite well-established guidelines for periodic retinal examinations in patients with diabetes, poor compliance with these recommendations still results in missed opportunities for management of treatable disease in a timely manner. In the past decade, numerous telemedicine diabetic retinopathy assessment programs have been established as a potential alternative strategy to assess patients who would not otherwise undergo a periodic dilated retinal examination. With increasing frequency, these telemedicine diabetic retinopathy surveillance programs are occurring outside of the traditional eye care setting in the primary care or general health arena. Because most patients with diabetes visit their primary care physicians with some regularity, this has been postulated as an ideal environment in which to assess for retinopathy [1]. This chapter describes the approach used by a primary care–based telemedicine diabetic retinopathy assessment program which has been successfully implemented on a wide-scale and long-term basis.
Toward a Sociology of Deliberation

This essay draws insights from Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory for the development of a sociological theory of deliberation. Most work on deliberative practice is strongly shaped by the concerns of deliberative democratic theory, and that theory tends to approach deliberation as a procedural mechanism for decision-making. Thus, there has been very little effort to theorize the sociological dimensions of deliberative practice. Bourdieu’s theory highlights a crucial dilemma in that practice. Efforts to infuse community politics with deliberation represent a politics of the most fundamental kind: a struggle to redefine the preferred categories, rules, roles, values, and behaviors that structure public life. But deliberation itself does not constitute a cohesive field of social activity. There is no common sense definition of what deliberation is, or how to tell a good deliberator from a bad one; moreover, as yet one can achieve no social distinction or status from embracing deliberation. Thus, members of a community engage in a fundamental political struggle without a shared sense of what they are doing or why they are doing it, and without the rewards of status or distinction that come with participation in an ongoing social field. Illustrated with examples from two years of ethnographic fieldwork into the practice of deliberation, this theory shows deliberation to be a fluid, sociologically complex and politically charged exercise.
Computer-Assisted Problem Solving

How do you know how to solve a problem—with or without the help of a computer? How do you decide what program to write? These are frequently asked questions. During the past two decades, considerable study has gone into determining how successful problem-solvers do evolve their methods of solution. The subject of artificial intelligence has produced some partial answers.
Emergency queen cell production in the honey bee colony

Emergency queen cell production was examined in honey bee colonies of mixed European races. Thirteen colonies were dequeened and followed on a daily basis until after queen emergence. Observations were made on the number of cells, the temporal sequence of queen cell construction, cell location within the nest, the age of larvae selected for queen rearing, mortality of immature queens and the scenting behavior of workers in queenless colonies.
Screening in Risk Evaluation and Prevention of Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States (1). In 2002, 148,000 new cases and 57,000 deaths were estimated to occur from this disease. CRC incidence and mortality rates increase with age, markedly so after age 60. Overall CRC death rates decreased by 1.8% per year from 1992 to 1998 (2); however, the death rates for CRC remain higher for African-Americans than for other ethnic groups.
Self-administered lidocaine gel for local anesthesia prior to osmotic dilator placement: a randomized trial.

Abstract Objective(s) To compare pain scores during cervical dilator placement prior to dilation and evacuation (D&E) with patient-administered vaginal lidocaine gel versus lidocaine paracervical block (PCB). Study design We conducted an unblinded randomized trial of women ≥18 years of age undergoing surgical abortion at ≥16 weeks’ gestation in two outpatient clinics. We randomized participants to receive self-administered lidocaine gel 2% 20 mL intravaginally 15–30 min before procedure initiation or lidocaine 1% 12 mL PCB immediately prior to dilator placement. Participants rated their pain at various time points using a visual analog scale (VAS), including anticipated and baseline pain, speculum insertion, tenaculum placement, cervical dilator placement (primary outcome) and speculum removal. Results We enrolled 72 women and analyzed data for 69 participants. Sociodemographic characteristics and VAS scores at all time points, except for anticipated pain, were similar between groups. The median pain score with dilator placement was 48 mm in the gel group and 61 mm in the PCB group (p=.23). Procedure times for the gel group and PCB group were 3.7 min and 5.2 min, respectively (p Conclusions Self-administration of lidocaine gel prior to placement of cervical dilators for D&E is noninferior to paracervical lidocaine block for local anesthesia and is a potential alternative to PCB for pain management with osmotic dilator placement. Implications Lidocaine gel and similar products represent noninvasive, nonpainful methods of local anesthesia for a variety of outpatient gynecologic procedures. Given our noninferiority findings, if gel anesthetics are available, they should be considered as an alternative to paracervical block.
Patterns of care and outcomes of low-lying adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the rectum.

715Background: To analyze the patterns of care and survival for stage I-III squamous cell (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC) of the rectum from 2004-2015 based on receipt of surgery alone (S), neoadjuva...
CiteSeerX-2018: A Cleansed Multidisciplinary Scholarly Big Dataset

We report the preliminary work on cleansing and classifying a scholarly big dataset containing 10+ million academic documents released by CiteSeerX. We design novel approaches to match paper entities in CiteSeerX to reference datasets, including DBLP, Web of Science, and Medline, resulting in 4.2M unique matches, whose metadata can be cleansed. We also investigate traditional machine learning and neural network methods to classify abstracts into 6 subject categories. The classification results reveal that the current CiteSeerX dataset is highly multidisciplinary, containing papers well beyond computer and information sciences.
Joint impact of ethical climate and external work locus of control on job meaningfulness

Abstract Researchers prescribe that the combined influence of personal characteristics and work conditions should be examined to provide a clearer understanding of predictors of performance. This study investigates the joint impact of salespeople's external work locus of control (WLOC) and a firm's ethical climate on job meaningfulness, job performance and turnover intentions. The study hypotheses were tested with a sample of 151 business-to-business salespeople from a sales organization based in the southeastern United States. The results of the study suggest that when salespeople perceive that their sales organization has a strong ethical climate, the negative impact of external WLOC is mitigated based on the salesperson's feelings of job meaningfulness, resulting in positive job performance and fewer turnover intentions. Implications, limitations and suggestions for future research are provided.
Should Generalized Immunosuppression or Targeted Organ Treatment be the Best Principle for Overall Management of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease, and standard therapy algorithms include the use of agents with generalized immunosuppressive effects. The outcomes for SLE patients have been markedly improved by this approach. However, the concept that involved organs might be targeted for treatment in an individual patient has potential to provide further benefits, offering enhanced efficacy and fewer off-target effects. This review considers how two of the most commonly involved organ systems in SLE, skin and kidney, might be targets for new therapeutic approaches based on knowledge of underlying mechanisms of disease.
Updates on Heart Transplantation

The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive update on recent advances in heart transplantation. Heart transplantation is now an established therapy for end-stage heart failure, though challenges still exist. However, multiple advances over the past few years will improve the survival and quality of life of heart transplant recipients. These advances include acceptance of previously considered marginal donor hearts, revisions to the donor heart allocation policy, advances in desensitization regimens, tailoring of immunosuppression regimens, and improvement in the diagnosis of rejection and allograft vasculopathy. Heart transplantation is evolving to provide better quality of life and survival to higher risk recipients with methods to broaden the donor pool, make the best use of existing organs, and refine the management of sensitization and diagnosis of rejection and allograft vasculopathy.
MagmaDNN: Towards High-Performance Data Analytics and Machine Learning for Data-Driven Scientific Computing

In this paper, we present work towards the development of a new data analytics and machine learning (ML) framework, called MagmaDNN. Our main goal is to provide scalable, high-performance data analytics and ML solutions for scientific applications running on current and upcoming heterogeneous many-core GPU-accelerated architectures. To this end, since many of the functionalities needed are based on standard linear algebra (LA) routines, we designed MagmaDNN to derive its performance power from the MAGMA library. The close integration provides the fundamental (scalable high-performance) LA routines available in MAGMA as a backend to MagmaDNN. We present some design issues for performance and scalability that are specific to ML using Deep Neural Networks (DNN), as well as the MagmaDNN designs towards overcoming them. In particular, MagmaDNN uses well established HPC techniques from the area of dense LA, including task-based parallelization, DAG representations, scheduling, mixed-precision algorithms, asynchronous solvers, and autotuned hyperparameter optimization. We illustrate these techniques and their incorporation and use to outperform other frameworks, currently available.
Campus Connections: Student and Course Networks in Higher Education.

Residential higher education brings thousands of students together for multiple years and offers them an array of shared intellectual experiences and a network of social interactions. Many of these intellectual and social connections are formed during courses. Students are connected to students through courses they take together, and courses are connected to one another by students who take both. These courses and the students who take them form a bipartite network that encodes information about campus structures and student experiences. Because all institutions of higher education collect and maintain precise records of what courses students take, it is possible to assemble a student-course network that quantitatively describes the interactions among students and courses. We provide an example that demonstrates the identification of courses effective at creating unique connections among students and reveals how students and majors can be strongly connected or dispersed. We show how social network analysis can be used to improve our understanding of the learning environment at the University of Michigan, and we hope that this kind of analysis is of interest to persons at other institutions.
The Silence of the Muslims

This article, written in the wake of the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, questions the failure of Muslims strongly to condemn acts of violence and murder committed by Islamic extremists, and argues that such silence encourages neutral parties to wonder if moderate Muslims may indeed sympathize with "the killers of 'infidels'" - which in turn can lead to fear, bias, and group defamation.
Ideas of popular sovereignty and the failure/making of Chinese democracy

Besides its obvious objectives of overthrowing the Qing dynasty and ending imperial rule, China’s 1911 Revolution also reflected broader demands for a stronger government that would be both more re...
RUCKUS: a cybersecurity engine for performing autonomous cyber-physical system vulnerability discovery at scale

In 2016, the Cyber Grand Challenge (CGC) provided key foundations and motivations for navigating towards an autonomous cybersecurity approach. Since that time, novel strides have been made in the areas of static analysis, vulnerability discovery, patching, and exploit generation. However, a majority of these efforts have been focused on enterprise systems, leaving a gap in the Cyber-Physical System (CPS) domain. With the rise of connected infrastructure and the introduction of 5G communications, CPS are becoming more ingrained within present-day society. Due to a large amount of legacy software, and control of safety-critical actuation, CPS are and will continue to be a huge attack vector for our adversaries to remotely deploy devastating attacks against our country with low economic cost and at scale. To combat this threat, we propose the need to apply the most beneficial concepts from the CGC to create more secure and resilient CPS. In this paper, we introduce a CPS security assessment architecture RUCKUS for autonomously identifying and analyzing CPS firmware, identifying vulnerabilities, and developing exploits. Further, our approach considers how to integrate graph analytics to extrapolate findings to firmware at scale, allowing for measuring the potential widespread impact of attacks. Our architecture is demonstrated using an automotive case study, leveraging firmware from the most popular automotive and router manufacturers to assess the real-world potential impact of CPS attacks.
Popularizing Visuo-Spatial Training for Reading Challenges: A Call to Experts in Support of Language and Non-language-based Cognitive Skills Strengthening

We propose to researchers, educators and professionals a discussion which contributes to a growing body of research questioning how dyslexia and reading challenges have been researched, diagnosed and remedied. Also included is a discussion for educators and researchers including questioning the definitions of dyslexia, how educators could view dyslexia against mainstream opinions, the place of culture, language, and multisensory teaching. Two literature reviews and a pilot study are briefly described to provide the initial grounds and design to propose an alternative approach to growing our understanding and studying the connections between training non-language-based (NLB) skills and the improvement of language-based skills in students with reading disabilities. Scarce data and literature exist that effectively connect the two domains. Yet, there is some evidence that implementing NLB trainings has had transforming effects on language-based (LB) skills and effected broader benefits to students’ cognition. Findings show a lack of studies of NLB skills, study designs that ignore these skills and their developmental trajectories, and a mixed result of training effects. Suggestions are made for educators and researchers to further investigate potential effects of NLB training in reading challenged individuals within this framework.
Assessing Advance Care Planning in Individuals with Lynch Syndrome

Lynch syndrome (LS) is a hereditary cancer syndrome characterized by an increased risk of multiple cancers, predominantly endometrial and colorectal, at a younger age (typically < 50). In prior research, high death anxiety and a lack of provider-initiated communication about advance care planning (ACP) have been shown to decrease a patient's likelihood of having advance directives. Providers often have gaps in knowledge and are uncomfortable with these conversations. We used a mixed methods approach (quantitative survey with a follow-up telephone interview) to assess knowledge, preferences, and attitudes regarding ACP in individuals with LS (n = 20). This study also assessed which ACP documents individuals already had in place and which persons (providers, family, or friends) an individual made aware of the documentation and/or preferences. These data were analyzed to determine patient preferences for who is responsible for initiating these conversations, identify motivating factors and barriers to these conversations, and determine whether the current conversations are adequate to meet the needs of this patient population. Participants recognized the importance of ACP and expressed interest in creating these documents. However, knowledge and confidence about these topics were lacking, with many participants attributing this to their young age and lack of experience. Although uncomfortable, many patients want to have ACP discussions with their providers, but frequently patients were only asked if these documents are completed with no further discussion. These findings can inform educational efforts to improve knowledge of ACP and interventional research to increase use of ACP by individuals with LS.
Allan Deviation of Atomic Clock Frequency Corrections: A New Diagnostic Tool for Characterizing Clock Disturbances

As atomic clocks and frequency standards are increasingly operated in situations where they are exposed to environmental disturbances, it becomes more necessary to understand how variations of each clock component impact the clock output, in particular the local oscillator (LO). Most microwave atomic clocks in operation today use quartz crystal LOs with excellent short-term noise variation but large unwanted long-term drift. Fortunately, this slow drift is mitigated by repeatedly comparing the atomic reference frequency to the LO and applying corrections each iteration through a control algorithm. This article focuses on the shot-to-shot corrections themselves. To optimize clock performance, it is important to determine whether disturbances on the output are due to variations of the LO that the control loop failed to remove or variations of the reference frequency itself. Some of this can be diagnosed using the output frequency’s Allan deviation (ADEV), the traditional measure of clock performance. However, the ADEV of the corrections reveals somewhat different information, specifically more direct information about all disturbances that the measurement system detects and compensates for, from the LO or elsewhere. In this article: we 1) derive the baseline shot-noise-limited noise floor for this ADEV, 2) validate and adjust for the complexities of our control loop with a computer model, and 3) examine model results and laboratory data that lie on or diverge from the noise floor to understand what divergences reveal about LO and/or clock behavior. Ultimately, we show how to use this corrections-ADEV as a diagnostic to help identify the source of disturbances and drift observed on the clock output.