cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Theory of Adaptive Radar

This paper reviews the principles of adaptive radar in which both the spatial (antenna pattern) and temporal (Doppler filter) responses of the system are controlled adaptively. An adaptive system senses the angular-Doppler distribution of the external noise field and adjusts a set of radar parameters for maximum signal-to-interference ratio and optimum detection performance. A gradient technique for control of the radar array/filter weights is described and shown to generate weights which asymptotically approach optimum values. Simulation results illustrate the convergence rate of adaptive systems and the performance improvement which can be achieved.
Redbeds and thermoviscous magnetization theory

Thermal demagnetization character- istics of a Brunhes-age viscous overprint in Appalachian redbeds and a thermoviscous component acquired in the laboratory at moderate tempera- ture agree well with relaxation time-blocking temperature relations for hematite proposed by Pullaiah et al. (1975). Supporting evidence was obtained from redbeds associated with an igneous dike intrusion although the interpretation of these data are complicated by magnetochemical alterations. Paradoxically, experimental data for magnetite in some limestones were shown to agree more closely with an alternative theory of Walton (1980). The hematite in redbeds is predominantly singledomain (SD) whereas magnetite in the lime- stones studied extends well into the multidomain (MD) range. Thus experiment and theory could be reconciled if it is assumed that Pullaiah eta!. applies strictly to SD material whereas Waltoh's theory somehow describes thermoviscous effects dominated by larger MD grains.
Geospecific rendering of alpine terrain

Realistic rendering of outdoor terrain requires both that the geometry of the environment be modeled accurately and that appropriate texturing be laid down on top of that geometry. While elevation data is widely available for much of the world and many methods exist for converting this data to forms suitable for graphics systems, we have much less experience with patterning the resulting surface. This paper describes an approach for using panchromatic (grayscale) aerial imagery to produce color views of alpine scenes. The method is able to remove shading and shadowing effects in the original image so that shading and shadowing appropriate to variable times of day can be added. Seasonal snow cover can be added in a physically plausible manner. Finally, 3–D instancing of trees and brush can be added in locations consistent with the imagery, significantly improving the visual quality.
Measure for a Successful Athletic Program

(1959). Measure for a Successful Athletic Program. Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation: Vol. 30, No. 8, pp. 27-28.
Lime: A Soil Amendment

Lime did not change agricultural practices as other chemicals did. It made agricultural production possible on acidic soils where it had been impossible or, if possible, production was always low. Lime assured the ability of the world's farmers, who must till acidic soils, to fulfill their primary moral obligation: to feed people.
Hard limits on robust control over delayed and quantized communication channels with applications to sensorimotor control

The modern view of the nervous system as layering distributed computation and communication for the purpose of sensorimotor control and homeostasis has much experimental evidence but little theoretical foundation, leaving unresolved the connection between diverse components and complex behavior. As a simple starting point, we address a fundamental tradeoff when robust control is done using communication with both delay and quantization error, which are both extremely heterogeneous and highly constrained in human and animal nervous systems. This yields surprisingly simple and tight analytic bounds with clear interpretations and insights regarding hard tradeoffs, optimal coding and control strategies, and their relationship with well known physiology and behavior. These results are similar to reasoning routinely used informally by experimentalists to explain their findings, but very different from those based on information theory and statistical physics (which have dominated theoretical neuroscience). The simple analytic results and their proofs extend to more general models at the expense of less insight and nontrivial (but still scalable) computation. They are also relevant, though less dramatically, to certain cyber-physical systems.
Combination of Tolfenamic acid and curcumin induces colon cancer cell growth inhibition through modulating specific transcription factors and reactive oxygen species

Curcumin (Cur) has been extensively studied in several types of malignancies including colorectal cancer (CRC); however its clinical application is greatly affected by low bioavailability. Several strategies to improve the therapeutic response of Cur are being pursued, including its combination with small molecules and drugs. We investigated the therapeutic efficacy of Cur in combination with the small molecule tolfenamic acid (TA) in CRC cell lines. TA has been shown to inhibit the growth of human cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, via targeting the transcription factor specificity protein1 (Sp1) and suppressing survivin expression. CRC cell lines HCT116 and HT29 were treated with TA and/or Cur and cell viability was measured 24-72 hours post-treatment. While both agents caused a steady reduction in cell viability, following a clear dose/ time-dependent response, the combination of TA+Cur showed higher growth inhibition when compared to either single agent. Effects on apoptosis were determined using flow cytometry (JC-1 staining to measure mitochondrial membrane potential), Western blot analysis (c-PARP expression) and caspase 3/7 activity. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured by flow cytometry and the translocation of NF-kB into the nucleus was determined using immunofluorescence. Results showed that apoptotic markers and ROS activity were significantly upregulated following combination treatment, when compared to the individual agents. This was accompanied by decreased expression of Sp1, survivin and NF-kB translocation. The combination of TA+Cur was more effective in HCT116 cells than HT29 cells. These results demonstrate that TA may enhance the anti-proliferative efficacy of Cur in CRC cells.
Asymptotics for Dilute Emulsions with Surface Tension

We consider an emulsion formed by two newtonian fluids, one being dispersed in the other under the form of droplets, in the presence of surface tension. We investigate the dilute case where the droplet size aɛ is much smaller than the distance e between the droplets’ centers. We prove that the limit behavior when ɛ → 0 is described by the unperturbed Stokes flow and estimate the order of convergence rate of the velocity to be a ɛ n/2 . We improve the convergence result and determine the first corrector in the velocity expansion. Taylor’s and Einstein’s viscosity formulas are recovered.
Conflict and Human Security in Africa: Kenya in Perspective

Human Security and Conflict in Northern Kenya A.Kumssa & J.Williams Research Methodology I.K. Mwangi & J.M.Njoka Local Communities, Social Systems, and Human Security P.O.Alila Human Security and Conflict Resolution: Idea and Action J.F.Jones Conflict Management Strategies in Northern Kenya I.K.Mwangi Politics and Ethnicity: The Search for a Solution J.M.Njoka Culture and Conflict in Northern Kenya E.Njeru Conflict in Northern Kenya from a Regional Perspective A.Kumssa Capacity Building and Livelihood Creation for Sustainable Development I.K.Mwangi A View from the Bridge J.Jones & J.Williams
Hyperactive Boys in Adolescence

The rates of dysfunction among male adolescents with a history of hyperactive behavior in childhood were examined in a follow-up study at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Long Island Jewish Med Cntr, New York, NY.
The Role of Nuisance in the Developing Common Law of HydraulicFracturing

In 2012, the oil and gas industry created more than 1.2 million jobs. The industry expects this number to increase to more than 2.3 million in 2035 and expects revenues to exceed $1.9 trillion from 2012 to 2035. The development of hydraulic fracturing technology, a process by which natural gas under shale formations can be extracted, has allowed the oil and gas industry to experience this exponential growth. The economic benefits of hydraulic fracturing comes at a cost. Residents of Pennsylvania, Texas, and Ohio, among other states, have begun to experience the environmental harms and effects of hydraulic fracturing. In the wake of this technological development, citizens affected by hydraulic fracturing have begun to remedy their situations through the common law. This Note argues that common law nuisance provides a flexible alternative to other common law causes of action and distinguishes successful nuisance claims from unsuccessful ones.
Letters from the Big House: Providing Consumer Health Reference for Texas Prisons

ABSTRACTThe Texas Medical Center Library in Houston, Texas, provides consumer health information reference services to inmates in 45 prisons across Texas via the U.S. mail program. The majority of the letters fall within scope of the service, requesting basic drug or disease information which can be answered with resources such as MedlinePlus. However, some letters request information that is out of scope for our consumer health service, such as advanced medical and legal advice. Content analysis of letters reveals interesting inmate information needs related to distrust of the prison health system and suspicions regarding sanitation and food safety.
Numerical modeling of scan behavior of finite planar arrays of wideband U-slot and rectangular microstrip patch elements

Excitation of surface waves in finite microstrip antenna arrays causes occurrence of blind spots at certain scan angles, resulting in reduction of scan bandwidth. The primary aim of this investigation is a comparative modeling of scan element gain patterns in planar array architectures with coaxially-fed wideband rectangular U-slot and rectangular patch elements. An U-slot and a rectangular patch with an offset probe, each having the same radiating patch area, were designed, and simulated via the commercially software IE3D, to have 10 dB return loss bandwidths of 26% and 9%, respectively, on a substrate with /spl epsiv//sub r/ = 2.55 and thickness d = 0.762 cms. Numerical results for the VSWR vs. frequency sweep and scan (active) element gain patterns vs. elevation angle /spl theta/ in the principal pattern planes (/spl Phi/ = 0/spl deg/ and 90/spl deg/) at selected element locations in a 5 /spl times/ 5 rectangular grid planar array, are included. These results show that the isolated, wideband U-slot element, in an array environment has a surface wave excited blind spot in the (/spl Phi/ = 0/spl deg/) or E-plane, which is demonstrably more prominent than the rectangular patch array.
Patient-Reported Outcomes Following the Treatment of Adult Lumbar Scoliosis

Patient-reported outcomes (PRO) are of paramount importance as we move toward a value-driven healthcare system. Adult spinal deformity (ASD) is a heterogenous diagnosis and broad generalizations of the effect of ASD on quality of life cannot be made. Symptomatic ASD seems to be poorly aided by nonoperative interventions, with no real improvements in PRO observed over time despite significant financial costs. ASD surgery carries risks of major complication, though these reconstructions can offer benefits to even the oldest ASD patient. Careful consideration of patient needs, expectations, and pathology is required to achieve good outcomes in ASD surgery. We offer an overview of the peer-reviewed literature regarding PROs and ASD surgery.
Discrete and Continuous Consecutive 2-Out-of-n:F System Reliability with Correlated Components

A linear consecutive k-out-of-n:failed system, henceforth written consecutive k-out-of-n:F, is an n-component system that fails if k or more consecutive components in positions i, (i + 1),…, (i + k − 1) fail, where 1 ≤ i ≤ n − (k − 1). The consecutive k-out-of-n:F system model is particularly valuable for characterizing critical infrastructures such as telecommunications that provide essential services to society. However, events that impact critical infrastructures such as natural disasters often produce geospatially correlated failures, necessitating reliability models that can accommodate these scenarios where component failures may be correlated. This paper presents a method to explicitly model the correlation between component failures of a consecutive 2-out-of-n:F system. The approach produces analytical expressions for the reliability of discrete and continuous systems in terms of component reliabilities and correlation between the component failures. The explicit correlation parameter simplifies s...
Reasoning about images: using meta-knowledge in aerial image understanding

Image Understanding (I.U.) shares with Artificial Intelligence the need for mechanisms of using knowledge to control computation. In I.U., this knowledge takes the form of prior knowledge about objects and knowledge gained from doing the computations themselves. This paper presents an approach to the general I.U. problem and a specific program for locating buildings in aerial photographs. Prior knowledge is stored as an Appearance Model, which represents the appearances of possible buildings. A three stage program generates operator and parameter sequences to achieve recognition. Each level uses partial results from below to 1) search parameters for the best match, 2) infer obscuring image conditions and deal with them, and 3) infer high-level conditions such as the presence of occluding objects. This use of partial results is a kind of "metaknowledge", enabling the program to evaluate its progress and change hypotheses and computations accordingly.
Geochemical Bioenergetics during Low-Temperature Serpentinization: An Example from the Samail Ophiolite, Sultanate of Oman

Abstract Various classes of microbial and biomolecular evidence from global studies in marine and continental settings are used to identify a set of reactions that appear to support microbial metabolism during serpentinization of ultramafic rocks. Geochemical data from serpentinizing ecosystems in the Samail ophiolite of Oman are used to evaluate the extent of disequilibria that can support this set of microbial metabolisms, and to provide a ranking of potential metabolic energy sources in hyperalkaline fluids that are direct products of serpentinization. Results are used to construct hypotheses for how microbial metabolism may be supported in the subsurface for two cases: ecosystems hosted in rocks that have already undergone significant serpentinization, and those hosted by deeper, active serpentinization processes.
Worker Bees and Slave Labor

Work connotes activity, effecting or bringing something about. The worker does something physically and/or mentally, and whatever is “worked” has been acted upon. Work is a denial of passivity, and thus a manifestation of force or power. Indeed, the association of work with force sometimes invites a further conjunction between work and violence. John Locke, for example, identifies labor with “subduing” the earth, and thereby rationalizes private property: “The Law Man was under, was rather for appropriating. God Commanded, and his [man’s] Wants forced him to labor. And hence subduing or cultivating the Earth, and having Dominion, we see, are joined together. The one gave Title to the other. So that God, by commanding to subdue, gave Authority so far to appropriate. And the Condition of Human Life, which requires Labor and Materials to work on, necessarily introduces private possessions.”
David Oliver: What might the Queen's speech mean for hospital doctors?

The Queen’s speech contained little consolation for the NHS, with no meaningful pledges about funding, sustainability, or workforce gaps.1 Since she became prime minister, Theresa May has repeatedly made clear that the NHS has received budgetary protection in contrast with other departments, as well as the widely disputed “£10bn it asked for in its own plan.”23 I see little hope that healthcare will be a priority during the Brexit turmoil, not least because a system funded from general taxation is intrinsically dependent on economic growth and stability. I expect to see decisions and accountability increasingly delegated to arm’s length NHS leadership bodies. This shouldn’t stop doctors from campaigning relentlessly, highlighting problems …
How does marijuana affect outcomes after trauma in ICU patients? A propensity-matched analysis.

INTRODUCTIONIn the United States, marijuana abuse and dependence are becoming more prevalent among adult and adolescent trauma patients. Unlike several studies that focus on the effects of marijuana on the outcomes of diseases, our aim was to assess the relationship between a positive toxicology scr
Presenting features of extremity necrotizing fasciitis in the pediatric patient: a case-control analysis

This analysis sought to develop a tool for early differentiation between pediatric necrotizing fasciitis (NF) of the extremity and more benign infection. All diagnoses of extremity NF, cellulitis, and abscess from a single institution from 2009 to 2015 were included. Vitals and laboratory values were compared between cohorts using analysis of variance and decision tree analysis. NF was associated with thrombocytopenia, hyperthermia, tachycardia, and tachypnea. Decision tree analysis identified C-reactive protein more than 7.0 to be 100% sensitive and 95.7% specific for differentiating NF from cellulitis or abscess. The results offer quantitative support for clinical suspicion of NF in the evaluation of pediatric extremity infection.
Postgraduate diploma in science of sports injuries

It is mainly for doctors in the field of sports medicine, including general practitioners and surgeons. It can also be useful for allied specialists like physiotherapists or podiatrists who are actively involved in the field of sports medicine. I did it from August 2004 to May 2005. This is a comprehensive course giving a good insight into important aspects of sports injuries including sports biomechanics, sports psychology, nutrition, and rehabilitation. Since I am pursuing a higher surgical training in …
The Impact of Social Interdependence on Values Education and Student Wellbeing

This chapter argues that inculcating the values that students require in order to function as productive citizens of a democracy is most effectively achieved by ensuring that instruction and schooling are structured to create processes of promotive interaction among students and between students and faculty. The way that goals are structured in instructional situations determines the processes of interaction among students and between students and faculty, and in turn these determine the values that students (and faculty) internalize. The process of promoting each other’s success is an invisible curriculum inculcating civic and democratic values in students through their day-to-day experiences in school. During instruction, positive interdependence should be structured among students’ learning goals. Students will then engage in a process of promoting each other’s achievement while, at the same time, be internalizing values related to civic responsibility and contributing to the common good. An important aspect of positive interdependence is the resolution of conflict. Two of the processes used to manage conflicts are constructive controversy and integrative negotiations. The values inherent in each are inculcated as students engage in them. The processes of learning not only result in the internalization of the values central to being a productive citizen of society, but they also enhance students’ wellbeing and psychological health.
Isolation and microinjection of somatic cell‐derived mitochondria and germline heteroplasmy in transmitochondrial mice

At present, there are no means for creation of relevant animal models of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-based diseases in a directed fashion. As an initial step towards this end, we have developed a microinjection technique for transfer of isolated, viable mitochondria between two mouse species. Previously, we reported detection, by nested PCR with species-specific primer sets, of Mus spretus mtDNA in Mus musculus domesticus blastocyts following zygote microinjection and culture. We now report the production of transmitochondrial founder mice, and germline transmission of the heteroplasmic state in a maternal lineage. Heteroplasmic mice produced by this technique will be useful in the study of mitochondrial dynamics and may hasten the creation of animal models of human mtDNA-based diseases.
Nothing out there: Community awareness and delinquency among gay and lesbian youth

A survey of 224 gay and lesbian college students and young adults, solicited from classes at a large state university in the American Midwest and social media sites, reveals a previously unrecogniz...
Imbalance of Functional Connectivity and Temporal Entropy in Resting-State Networks in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Machine Learning Approach

Background: Two approaches to understanding the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) involve network level functional connectivity (FC) and the dynamics of neuronal signaling. The former approach has revealed both increased and decreased FC in individuals with ASD. The latter approach has found high frequency EEG oscillations and higher levels of epilepsy in children with ASD. Together, these findings have led to the hypothesis that atypical excitatory-inhibitory neural signaling may lead to imbalanced association pathways. However, simultaneously reconciling local temporal dynamics with network scale spatial connectivity remains a difficult task and thus empirical support for this hypothesis is lacking. Methods: We seek to fill this gap by combining two powerful resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) methods-functional connectivity (FC) and wavelet-based regularity analysis. Wavelet-based regularity analysis is an entropy measure of the local rs-fMRI time series signal. We examined the relationship between the RSN entropy and integrity in individuals with ASD and controls from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) cohort using a putative set of 264 functional brain regions-of-interest (ROI). Results: We observed that an imbalance in intra- and inter-network FC across 11 RSNs in ASD individuals (p = 0.002) corresponds to a weakened relationship with RSN temporal entropy (p = 0.02). Further, we observed that an estimated RSN entropy model significantly distinguished ASD from controls (p = 0.01) and was associated with level of ASD symptom severity (p = 0.003). Conclusions: Imbalanced brain connectivity and dynamics at the network level coincides with their decoupling in ASD. The association with ASD symptom severity presents entropy as a potential biomarker.
Financial Institutions and Markets

The financial services industry plays a major role in the economy by making it possible for households, companies and governments to access capital. Examining the characteristics and behaviours of financial institutions and markets in the past aids in understanding contemporary market changes, informs corporate policies and leads to better regulations. Long-run and historical analysis can also provide insights into a wide range of modern financial puzzles.
Singing Songs About John Brown's Soul

John Brown was a traitor and a patriot, a terrorist and a liberator. He was certainly not mad. But, though he fancied himself a profound soldier of Christ, was he? How would his God view him? Given the depth of his faith, and the great end he sought, the objects he alone stopped at nothing to effectuate - abolition of this pernicious bondage, and the first attempt to make us fulfill the eternal truths of the Declaration - I have little doubt that he resides in Heaven. But, then, how does that affect our perception of other religiously motivated murderers? I have great respect for John Brown; I will even go so far as to defend the Pottawatomie slayings. But this poses a thorny problem. For if we excuse him, why not any others who have killed in the alleged name of God? This paper considers that question, and considers whether a redemption is due Brown at all. Particular attention is given to Brown's own personal letters, to better understand his relationship with his God. The paper is concerned with Brown's legacy, certainly, but just as much with his theology. To the extent possible, the paper lingers on his thoughts and not on the facts of a typical biography. It addresses important questions on the legacy of our most controversial revolutionary, on the 150th anniversary of his last stand.
Narrative Understanding Technologies for Intervention Against Cyberbullying

Prevention and intervention against cyberbullying among young people is a challenging and complex problem for parents, schools, and social media providers. Cyberbullying prevention campaigns provide general advice and encouragement, but often the most moving appeals against cyberbullying are videos and messages recorded by regular people and celebrities in which they describe their own real and personal experiences with cyberbullying. In this chapter we discuss a computerised collection of real narratives about cyberbullying that were contributed by visitors to a website as part of an anti-cyberbullying campaign. The database of stories can be used as a resource for victims of cyberbullying and for the education of perpetrators by allowing visitors to search for stories relevant to their situation. The narrative collection can also be used to inform the behaviour of intelligent agents built into the software of a social media platform to detect cyberbullying and intervene against it. For these applications to be practical, the software system must be able to match stories to a query from a user or to a set of interactions between users on the social media platform. We discuss current efforts and future challenges of computer-based story matching, topic modelling, parsing, and building computing systems to apply commonsense knowledge to understand and match stories to each other, in similar ways to people.
The Right Ventricle: A Not-So-Innocent Bystander in Pulmonary Hypertension Due to Left Heart Disease

The most common disease associated with high pulmonary vascular pressures and right ventricular (RV) afterload is left heart disease (LHD). In this review, we will discuss the role right heart dise...
Trusting Pirated Software

What is the life span for a fixed version of a software product? Is it a day, a week, a month, a year, or more? There is no single answer. Each product is unique, based on what it does. The point is that all software has a life span for each unique version of itself
Structural characterization of the first hydroxo-bridged plutonium compound, (PuO(2))(2)(IO(3))(mu(2)-OH)(3).

The hydrothermal reaction of a 2 3 9 Pu(IV) stock solution in the presence of iodic acid and 1 M KOH produces reddish-brown single crystals of (PuO 2 ) 2 (IO 3 )(OH) 3 . The structure consists of two-dimensional layers forming in the ac plane and is the first single-crystal structure of plutonium(VI) connected through hydroxide anions. The additional linkage of plutonium centers is completed through iodate ligands.
Modeling and Simulation of a Reversible Substation for Recuperation of Regenerative Braking Energy in Rail Transit Systems

DC Electric rail transit system, generally, are supplied by unidirectional substations that convert AC electricity from distribution grid to DC electricity desired by transit systems. Trains, the main load of transit systems, have regenerative braking capability and can produce electricity during deceleration. This energy can be fed back to the main grid if there is a reverse path for power to flow. Reversible substations can provide this reverse path. In this paper, a reversible substation is modeled by adding an inverter in parallel with the unidirectional converters exist in the structure of a substation. The proposed model is simulated in Matlab/Simulink environments.
Impact of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and climate change on water availability in Sudan

Abstract With the largest area under cereal production in the Nile basin, agricultural water withdrawal constitutes 97% of the total water withdrawal in the Sudan. The construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Ethiopia poses new opportunities and uncertainties on agricultural production in the Sudan. The impact of climate change increases this uncertainty. It has thus become essential to understand the impact of upstream water resources development works and climate change on hydrology of the Nile and develop water budget under various management scenarios. In the driest possible river flow situations where the release from GERD may get as low as 25 BCM (billion cubic meter), the available flow is about 38% more than without the dam 50% of the time. Under the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios the total surface water volume could decrease by as much as 32% and 55% while sediment concentration could increase by 23% and 6%, respectively.
Stargardt Juvenile Macular Degeneration

Stargardt Juvenile Macular Degeneration A 13-year-old boy presented with enlarging blind spots in both eyes. Short-wavelength autofluorescence showed bisretinoid accumulation and atrophy of the ret...
Pain Resolution and Recurrent Prolapse Rates Following Vaginal Mesh Removal.

Abstract OBJECTIVE To evaluate pain resolution and recurrent prolapse following removal of painful pelvic organ prolapse (POP) mesh. METHODS This was an IRB-approved retrospective review of patients who underwent POP mesh removal from 2009 to 2018 for the primary indication of pain and/or dyspareunia. Factors of interest included mesh type, complete versus partial removal, presenting symptom(s), and recurrent prolapse. Complete removal was defined as complete excision of all possible mesh, including arms, and partial removal was anything less. Postoperative symptom improvement was categorized as resolved, improved, or unresolved. RESULTS Ninety-two mesh removal patients were identified, 78 of whom underwent mesh removal for pain or dyspareunia, with mean follow-up of 17.25 months (range: 0.46-60.25). Overall, presenting symptoms resolved or improved in 85.9%. In the 45 complete removal patients, 46.7% resolved, 40.0% improved, and 11.1% unresolved compared to 51.5% resolved, 33.3% improved, and 12.1% unresolved in the 33 partial removal patients (P = .82). Recurrent symptomatic POP developed in 31.1% of patients after complete removal compared to 15.2% after partial removal (P = .12). Overall, 23 (30.3%) patients required additional reconstructive procedures. CONCLUSION Most patients experienced resolution or improvement in painful symptoms after any degree of mesh removal. Complete removal was not significantly associated with greater symptom improvement compared to partial removal. Complete removal was associated with a higher percentage of recurrent POP, but this association was not statistically significant. Less than one-third of patients required additional surgery.
The Mathematics of Voting and Elections: A Hands-On Approach

What's so good about majority rule? Perot, Nader, and other inconveniences Back into the ring Trouble in democracy Explaining the impossible One person, one vote? Calculating corruption The ultimate college experience Trouble in direct democracy Proportional (mis)representation Bibliography Index.
Effects of prolonged load carriage on angular jerk of frontal and sagittal knee motion.

Abstract Background During training, service members routinely walk with heavy body borne loads for long periods of time. These loads alter knee biomechanics and may produce jerky knee motions that reportedly increase joint loading and risk of musculoskeletal injury. Yet, it is unknown if service members use jerky knee motions during prolong walking with body borne load. Research question To quantify the effects of body borne load and duration of walking on the jerkiness of sagittal and frontal plane knee motion. Methods Eighteen participants had angular jerk of knee motion quantified while they walked (1.3 m/s) for 60-min with three body borne loads (0, 15, and 30 kg). Peak and cost of angular jerk for sagittal and frontal plane knee motion was quantified and submitted to a repeated measures linear model to test the main effects and interaction of load (0, 15, and 30 kg) and time (0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 min). Results Body borne load increased peak and cost of angular jerk for sagittal plane knee motion up to 35 % and 110 %, respectively, and frontal plane knee motion up to 20 % and 51 %, respectively (all p Significance Body borne load produced large (between 20 % and 110 %), incremental increases in angular jerk for both sagittal and frontal plane knee motion; whereas, duration of walking led to a 31 % increase in jerkiness of frontal plane knee motion. Service members who often walking for long periods of time with heavy body borne loads may have greater risk of developing musculoskeletal injury and disease due to large increases in jerky knee motions.
Legal Education for Profit and the United Nations Call for “Quality Education” and “Strong Institutions” in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda

The United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda calls for “quality education” and “strong institutions” in Goals 4 and 16. This call underscores the supreme importance of the rule of law in global perspective by construing law as both constitutive of social institutions and a fundamental institution in its own right. In both capacities law historically has acted to buffer public goods and vulnerable populations from the vicissitudes of market supply and demand. For this reason, law schools—where we teach and train most new lawyers and judges—have been a particularly sensitive kind of institution. Yet, during the 2000s the West saw the rise of “for-profit” law schools—institutions of legal education and scholarship newly created with the mission of commercial gain, sometimes for the benefit of outside investors or investment “funds.” What effect might this historical turn have had on law and its practice in the twenty-first century, and what does this say more generally about democratic ideals in the West during this period? For instance, that for-profit law schools emerged simultaneously with the major accounting and banking scandals of the decade may be no coincidence. This chapter argues, therefore, that the rise of for-profit legal education was a symptom of changes in U.S moral economy, and in the social and political climate of the West more generally. Namely, this development points to an emerging conception of law as primarily in the service of economic rather than social life.
Using Warp to control network contention in Mermera

Parallel computing on a network of workstations can saturate the communication network leading to excessive message delays and consequently poor application performance. We examine empirically the consequences of integrating a flow control protocol, called Warp control, into Mermera, a software shared memory system that supports parallel computing on distributed systems. For an asynchronous iterative program that solves a system of linear equations, our measurements show that Warp succeeds in stabilizing the network's behavior even under high levels of contention. As a result, the application achieves a higher effective communication throughput, and a reduced completion time. In some cases, however, Warp control does not achieve the performance attainable by fixed size buffering when using a statically optimal buffer size. Our use of Warp to regulate the allocation of network bandwidth emphasizes the possibility for integrating it with the allocation of other resources, such as CPU cycles and disk bandwidth, so as to optimize overall system throughput, and enable fully-shared execution of parallel programs. >
Assessing the Impact of Human Mobility to Predict Regional Excess Death in Ecuador

COVID-19 outbreaks have had high mortality in low- and medium-income countries such as Ecuador. Human mobility is an important factor influencing the spread of diseases possibly leading to a high burden of disease at the country level. Drastic control measures, such as complete lockdown are effective epidemic controls, yet in practice, one hopes that a partial shutdown would suffice. It is an open problem to determine how much mobility can be allowed while controlling an outbreak. In this paper, we use statistical models to relate human mobility to the excess death in Ecuador while controlling for demographic factors. The mobility index provided by GRANDATA, based on mobile phone users, represents the change of number of out-of-home events with respect to a benchmark date (March 2nd, the first date the data is available). The study confirms the global trend that more men are dying than expected compared to women, and that people under 30 show less deaths than expected. Specifically, individuals in the age groups younger than 20, we found have their death rate reduced during the pandemic between 22% and 27% of the expected deaths in the absence of COVID-19. The weekly median mobility time series shows a sharp decrease in human mobility immediately after a national lockdown was declared on March 17, 2020 and a progressive increase towards the pre-lockdown level within two months. Relating median mobility to excess death shows a lag in its effect: first, a decrease in mobility in the previous two to three weeks decreases the excess death and more novel, we found that an increase of mobility variability four weeks prior, increases the number of excess deaths.
Research Productivity of Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Fellowship Programs in the United States.

Purpose To survey orthopaedic sports medicine fellowship program directors to determine the current research productivity of both fellows and faculty in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education–accredited orthopaedic sports medicine fellowship programs in the United States. Methods An anonymous 18-question survey was distributed via e-mail to all 95 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education–accredited orthopaedic sports medicine fellowship program directors in the United States. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Questions included whether fellows are required to complete a certain number of projects during their fellowship year and whether fellows have protected research time. Results Of the programs, 31 (33%) responded to the survey. Twenty-four programs (80%) require fellows to complete 1 to 4 projects. Twenty-one programs (71%) provide 4 to 8 hours of weekly protected research time. Twenty-four programs (77%) publish 1 to 2 manuscripts per fellow during the fellowship. Twenty-two programs (71%) have fellows work on 1 to 2 projects at a time. Annually, 26 programs (84%) give 0 to 5 podium presentations, 24 (80%) present 0 to 5 posters, and 15 (48%) report 0 to 5 publications. Twenty-four programs (77%) have research fellows and/or assistants to help with research. The presence of dedicated research assistants and more than 25 annual fellowship program publications were found to be useful screening data for more than 2 and more than 4 average publications per fellow, respectively. Conclusions The research productivity of orthopaedic sports medicine fellowship programs may be an important consideration for applicants. Applicants who desire to be productive in research during their fellowship year should consider programs with dedicated research assistants and/or programs that publish more than 25 times annually. Clinical Relevance This is a descriptive epidemiologic study that helps define the research productivity landscape in orthopaedic sports medicine fellowships. A more accurate understanding of sports medicine fellowship research experience may facilitate a better match between a program’s research expectations and an applicant’s research interests.
Association Between Neighborhood-Level Poverty and Incident Atrial Fibrillation: a Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. While neighborhood-level factors, such as poverty, have been related to prevalence of AF risk factors, the association between neighborhood poverty and incident AF has been limited. Objective Using a large cohort from a health system serving the greater Chicago area, we sought to determine the association between neighborhood-level poverty and incident AF. Design Retrospective cohort study. Participants Adults, aged 30 to 80 years, without baseline cardiovascular disease from January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2018. Main measures We geocoded and matched residential addresses of all eligible patients to census-level poverty estimates from the American Community Survey. Neighborhood-level poverty (low, intermediate, and high) was defined as the proportion of residents in the census tract living below the federal poverty threshold. We used generalized linear mixed effects models with a logit link function to examine the association between neighborhood poverty and incident AF, adjusting for patient demographic and clinical AF risk factors. Key results Among 28,858 in the cohort, patients in the high poverty group were more often non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic and had higher rates of AF risk factors. Over 5 years of follow-up, 971 (3.4%) patients developed incident AF. Of these, 502 (51.7%) were in the low poverty, 327 (33.7%) in the intermediate poverty, and 142 (14.6%) in the high poverty group. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of AF was higher for the intermediate poverty compared with that for the low poverty group (aOR 1.23 [95% CI 1.01-1.48]). The point estimate for the aOR of AF incidence was similar, but not statistically significant, for the high poverty compared with the low poverty group (aOR 1.25 [95% CI 0.98-1.59]). Conclusion In adults without baseline cardiovascular disease managed in a large, integrated health system, intermediate neighborhood poverty was significantly associated with incident AF. Understanding neighborhood-level drivers of AF disparities will help achieve equitable care.
“Following orders” as a critique on healthcare allocation committees: An anthropological perspective on the role of public memory in bioethical legitimacy

The public perception of decision-making procedures as fair processes is a central means for establishing their legitimacy to make difficult resource allocation decisions. According to the ethical framework of accountability for reasonableness (A4R, hereafter), which specifies conditions for fair healthcare resource allocation, disagreements about what constitutes relevant considerations are a central threat to its perceived fairness. This article considers how an ethical principle grounded in the public memory of past traumatic events may become the topic of such disagreements. I demonstrate this through an anthropological case study of a recent public de bate concerning an Israeli healthcare allocation committee (HAC, thereafter), which determines state subsidies for new medical technologies as part of Israel's public healthcare system. Drawing upon ethnographic fieldwork about the HAC, I show how the public memory of Adolf Eichmann's trial constitutes a bioethical problem for the committee's legitimacy. Based on Arendt's and Bauman's writings that Nazi bureaucrats' manner of "following orders" was an ethical transgression, some patients contended that the committee has a historical responsibility to question its strict adherence to bureaucratic procedures. Since the committee did not have a direct link to the events of the Holocaust, other considerations seemed to them more relevant. I then present an offer that can settle this disagreement and maintain the HAC's legitimacy according to A4R. I conclude by discussing the contribution of empirical data to models of bioethical legitimacy.
Standards of Care for Assessment in Group Work

The Standards of Care for Assessment in Group Work represent a collaborative effort between the Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling (AARC) and the Association for Specialists in G...
“In My Heart, I Am Cambodian”: Symbolic Ethnicity among Parents Who Adopt Transracially:

Research finds that white Americans primarily draw upon ancestral ties to assert symbolic ethnicity, often relying on figurative elements to create identity. Through 47 interviews with 56 white ado...
Use of Ultrasound in Patients With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Cost-Effective Solution to Reduce Delays in Surgical Care

Purpose Currently, electrodiagnostic testing, which comprises electromyogram (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (NCS), is the most commonly used method for confirming the clinical diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Electromyogram and NCS can be costly, can require multiple visits, may induce anxiety, and may be painful for patients. The purpose of this study was to determine whether replacing EMG/NCS with ultrasound (US), performed by the treating surgeon, to diagnose CTS decreases time to surgery and the number of office visits. Methods We retrospectively reviewed a database that consisted of patients who presented to our department with numbness and/or tingling in the hand(s). We assessed the patients’ histories for any subsequent carpal tunnel release, dates of diagnosis, dates of surgery, the number of CTS-related medical visits, and diagnostic methods employed. A fellowship-trained hand surgeon performed US examination, and the patients were referred for EMG/NCS testing. We collected data prior to surgery using the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire to evaluate symptom severity scale and functional status scale scores. We performed linear regression to assess differences in the time to surgery and the number of medical visits prior to carpal tunnel release. Results Patients who had the diagnosis confirmed by the surgeon using US (n = 34) underwent surgical intervention 3–4 weeks earlier, with 1.8 fewer medical visits on average than the number of medical visits for those who had their diagnosis confirmed using EMG/NCS (n = 98). Conclusions If a confirmatory method for the diagnosis of CTS is required or desired by the treating surgeon, surgeon-conducted US might have an impact on the efficiency of care for patients with CTS. Type of study/level of evidence Diagnostic IV.
Frequency of low back pain in young adults and its relationship with different mattresses.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to find out the frequency of low back pain in young adults and its relationship with the mattresses they use.Methodology: This cross sectional study was carried out in 6 months in twin cities (Rawalpindi and Islamabad). The sample size for this study was 366. For data collection, self-structured questionnaire was used along with Modified Oswestry Scale and Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS). The inclusion criteria for this study was young adults with age limit 18-35 years and the participants who used the same kind of mattress for more than 3 months. Post-surgical patients and the patients diagnosed with lumbar pathology were excluded from this study. Data was then analyzed through SPSS statistics 24.Results: Mean age of the participants was 22.06±3.74 years. Majority 208(56.38%) participants were feeling low back pain and out of these 208 participants, Pain was most prevalent 30(68.18%) in firm mattress users followed by 128(59.25%) in foam mattress users. Low back pain was more associated with those participants who were not changing their mattresses for more than three years.Conclusion: Low back pain is frequently present in young adults and more prevalent in those participants who were using same firm or foam mattresses for more than three years.Keywords: Back pain, Mattresses, Posture, and Young Adults. Continuous...