cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Vattikuti Institute Prostatectomy: Technique

ABSTRACTPurpose: We have performed more than 250 radical prostatectomies using the da Vinci (Intuitive Surgical, Mountain View, California) surgical system. Our initial cases were done using the classic Montsouris approach. However, after gaining familiarity with the robot we modified our technique to reflect our experience with open radical retropubic prostatectomy. We detail the Vattikuti Institute prostatectomy technique that we currently use.Materials and Methods: The robotic technique requires 2 teams, namely a skilled laparoscopic team at the patient and a skilled open surgeon at the console. Dissection is started anterior to the bladder and it continues extraperitoneally. The endopelvic fascia is opened and the dorsal vein complex is secured. The apex of the prostate is dissected free, releasing the neurovascular bundles at the apex. The bladder neck is then incised, and the seminal vesicles and vasa are transected. Posterior dissection is done within the posterior layer of Denonvilliers’ fascia, p...
Multilayer coatings for narrow-band imaging in the extreme ultraviolet

Multilayer coatings for the extreme ultraviolet with high reflectance at a spectral band of interest and zero reflectance at another band to be suppressed have been designed and prepared. Multilayer coatings were designed to maximize normal-incidence reflectance at the O(+) 83.4-nm spectral line and to suppress at the same time radiation at the 121.6-nm hydrogen Lyman alpha line. Fresh Al/MgF(2)/Mo multilayer coatings resulted in high reflection/suppression ratios at the above wavelengths. The coatings also exhibited a dip in reflectance at 102.6-nm Lyman beta. The coatings showed some slow but steady degradation over time that could be partially eliminated by sample cleaning. Al/MgF(2)/Mo multilayer coatings protected with a thin ion-beam-deposited C film were found to give a high reflection/suppression ratio with lower degradation over time.
Joint kinetic response during unexpectedly reduced plantar flexor torque provided by a robotic ankle exoskeleton during walking

During human walking, plantar flexor activation in late stance helps to generate a stable and economical gait pattern. Because plantar flexor activation is highly mediated by proprioceptive feedback, the nervous system must modulate reflex pathways to meet the mechanical requirements of gait. The purpose of this study was to quantify ankle joint mechanical output of the plantar flexor stretch reflex response during a novel unexpected gait perturbation. We used a robotic ankle exoskeleton to mechanically amplify the ankle torque output resulting from soleus muscle activation. We recorded lower-body kinematics, ground reaction forces, and electromyography during steady-state walking and during randomly perturbed steps when the exoskeleton assistance was unexpectedly turned off. We also measured soleus Hoffmann- (H-) reflexes at late stance during the two conditions. Subjects reacted to the unexpectedly decreased exoskeleton assistance by greatly increasing soleus muscle activity about 60ms after ankle angle deviated from the control condition (p<0.001). There were large differences in ankle kinematic and electromyography patterns for the perturbed and control steps, but the total ankle moment was almost identical for the two conditions (p=0.13). The ratio of soleus H-reflex amplitude to background electromyography was not significantly different between the two conditions (p=0.4). This is the first study to show that the nervous system chooses reflex responses during human walking such that invariant ankle joint moment patterns are maintained during perturbations. Our findings are particularly useful for the development of neuromusculoskeletal computer simulations of human walking that need to adjust reflex gains appropriately for biomechanical analyses.
Jack H. Healy (1929–2012)

John (Jack) H. Healy, a visionary geophysicist whose career was spent at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), died in the company of his family on 6 March 2012. His memory is cherished by all who had the privilege of knowing him. His scientific legacy survives him at the USGS Earthquake Science Center in Menlo Park, California, where research projects he founded continue to flourish. Jack H. Healy. Jack was born in Chicago, Illinois, on 7 August 1929 and grew up in Wausau, Wisconsin, a small, midwestern city noted for its lumber mills and a large, national insurance company. Initially an indifferent student, Jack, an only child, became more academically focused following the death of his father. After his mother died when he was 16, he lived alone in his parents’ home until he graduated from high school. His midwestern social environment and the loss of his parents undoubtedly had a life‐long impact on Jack’s close relations with others. Jack was personally very warm and concerned about those around him, both new acquaintances and those he had known for decades. For this reason, and because he was a deep, independent thinker, many people consider Jack to be the person who had the most profound influence on their lives, both scientifically and personally. Jack entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1947 and completed a senior thesis in 1951 based on geological field work conducted in the summer of 1949 in Nova Scotia. The work was carried out under the direction of Walter L. Whitehead and Robert R. Shrock, two professors who founded the MIT‐Nova Scotia summer field program. His thesis, co‐authored with two other MIT seniors, argued for an extrusive origin for a suite of rocks that had previously been identified as intrusive. Jack’s firm grounding in geology was an …
The influence of a riparian shrub on nitrogen cycling in a Sonoran Desert stream

Riparian zones often act as nutrient filters, removing NO3 from water flowing through riparian soils. The role of vegetation in NO3 retention remains unclear and may be direct (uptake) or indirect (stimulation of microbial activity). We studied the riparian shrub Baccharis salicifolia (seepwillow) in Sycamore Creek (Arizona, USA), to determine (1) if sites colonized by seepwillow were sinks for NO3, and (2) the mechanism by which seepwillow causes NO3 retention. Subsurface water was sampled along flowpaths from an uncolonized gravel bar through seepwillow sites at several depths and on several gravel bars. NO3 concentration was significantly lower in seepwillow sites than in uncolonized sites, at least to 20 cm below the water table. Predictions of three hypotheses were tested to explain NO3 losses: (Hi) by plant uptake, (H2) by stimulation of denitrification by seepwillow, and (H3) a prior condition unrelated to seepwillow. Six experiments were used to test these hypotheses. Transplant experiments, plant size relationships, and root distri- bution experiments all demonstrated the importance of seepwillow (rejection of H3). Other tests involving removal of aboveground biomass, denitrification measures, and mass balance calculations showed a predominance of denitrification over uptake (rejection of Hi). We conclude that the main effect of seepwillow is to produce organic matter creating conditions favorable to denitrification and a loss of NO3 from subsurface water. Since denitrification is a permanent loss of N to the atmosphere, and uptake only temporarily retains N, the interaction between plants and microbes has important implications for the maintenance of water quality in streams and downstream reservoirs.
Qualitative Inquiry in the History of Psychology

Despite the importance and ubiquity of qualitative inquiry, a comprehensive account of its history in psychology has not been written. Phases and landmark moments of qualitative inquiry are evident in variations that range from informal, implicit, and unacknowledged practices to philosophically informed and scientifically sophisticated methodologies with norms and carefully specified procedures. After the founding of psychology in 1879, qualitative inquiries were conducted by Wilhelm Wundt, Sigmund Freud, and William James, who assumed their scientific status. During the 20th century, with a rising emphasis on hypothesis testing by means of quantification, psychologists continued to use qualitative practices but did not include them in general accounts of scientific research methods. Although Gordon Allport (1942) called for bold innovation and an increasingly rigorous accountability, a delay in the systematic development of qualitative methodology took place even as practices continued to yield fruitful research in work such as Flanagan (1954); Maslow (1954, 1959), and Kohlberg (1963). Only between the late 1960s and 1990 did phenomenologists, grounded theorists, discourse analysts, narrative researchers, and others articulate and assert the general scientific value, methodologies, and applicable tools of qualitative inquiry in psychology. Between the 1990s and the present, a revolutionary institutionalization of qualitative methods has taken place in publications, educational curricula, and professional organizations. Examples of ground breaking, well-known psychological research using qualitative methods have begun to be examined by research methodologists. The historical study of qualitative methods offers a treasure trove for the growing comprehension of qualitative methods and their integration with quantitative inquiry.
Methamphetamine absorption by skin lipids: accumulated mass, partition coefficients, and the influence of fatty acids.

Occupants of former methamphetamine laboratories, often residences, may experience increased exposure through the accumulation of the methamphetamine in the organic films that coat skin and indoor surfaces. The objectives of this study were to determine equilibrium partition coefficients of vapor-phase methamphetamine with artificial sebum (AS-1), artificial sebum without fatty acids (AS-2), and real skin surface films, herein called skin oils. Sebum and skin oil-coated filters were exposed to vapor-phase methamphetamine at concentrations ranging from 8 to 159 ppb, and samples were analyzed for exposure time periods from 2 h to 60 days. For a low vapor-phase methamphetamine concentration range of ~8–22 ppb, the equilibrium partition coefficient for AS-1 was 1500 ± 195 μg/g/ppb. For a high concentration range of 98–112 ppb, the partition coefficient was lower, 459 ± 80 μg/g/ppb, suggesting saturation of the available absorption capacity. The low partition coefficient for AS-2 (33 ± 6 μg/g/ppb) suggests that the fatty acids in AS-1 and skin oil are responsible for much high partition coefficients. We predict that the methamphetamine concentration in skin lipids coating indoor surfaces can exceed recommended surface remediation standards even for air concentrations well below 1 ppb.
A Planar Straight-line Grid Drawing Algorithm for High Degree General Trees with User-Specified Angular Coefficient

General trees are usually displayed as planar straight-line grid drawings which provide an easily understandable structure to the viewer. Current general tree drawing algorithms have one common problem: their drawings on high degree trees produce many small angles, which makes it difficult to distinguish edges. The algorithm we propose in this paper allows the user to provide an angular coefficient and then employs the 'best-effort-delivery' to draw edges such that the angles are above the angular coefficient. It allows the non-root nodes to place their children within a maximum of three quads of the Cartesian plane. When a node has too many children, resulting in an impossibility of achieving angles above the specified angular coefficient, our algorithm distributes all remaining children evenly among the three quads.
Meta-analysis: obesity and the risk for gastroesophageal reflux disease and its complications.

Obesity is associated with a 1.5- to 2.0-fold increase in the risk for symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease, erosive esophagitis, and esophageal adenocarcinoma. With increasing body weight, ...
Alterations in lipolytic activity at hepatic subcellular sites of fed and fasted rats.

This study investigates the relationship between the nutritional state of rats and lipid metabolism in distinct hepatic intracellular sites. Hepatic uptake of both protein and triacylglycerol (TG) ...
Selected Contexts of Anthropological Studies in the Alcohol Field

Anthropologists have made contributions out of all proportion to their small numbers among the multidisciplinary groups that conduct research on alcohol use and its outcomes. Among topics concerning which these contributions have been especially valuable are: social organization, intracultural variation, institutional analysis, symbolism and norms, and cross-cultural comparison. A brief note on each of the variously authored chapters in this section shows how it illuminates one of those topics.
Humility in Social Entrepreneurship: A Virtuous Circle

In this chapter we explore the link between humility and social entrepreneurship. We define and contextualize these remarkably interrelated constructs, justify their importance to entrepreneurial thought and action, and develop an integrated framework to guide future scholarly work in this area. Finally, through the profile of a well-known social entrepreneur, we illustrate these concepts and relationships.
Space Correlations in Round Turbulent Jet

Turbulence measurements were conducted in the mixing region of a turbulent round jet having a 0.2 ft diam and an efflux velocity ranging from 35 to 50 fps. All three components of the turbulent velocity vector have been determined throughout the flow. The results indicate that the ratios of the radial and tangential velocity components to the axial one vary from a high of 0.8 at the edge of the potential core to a low of 0.4 at the outer edge of the jet. The axial, radial, and tangential scales of turbulence have been determined by using special hot-wire probes. The tangential scale appears to be the smallest. A physical description of the eddy structure is suggested by considering the three vorticity components of the flow.
Synapsin I, a phosphoprotein associated with synaptic vesicles: possible role in regulation of neurotransmitter release.

Elucidation of the molecular events underlying communication between neurons is one of the most exciting problems in neuroscience. While it has been known for many years that the depolarization-dependent influx of calcium into the presynaptic terminal leads to the release of neurotransmitters, little is known about the molecular events which underly this presynaptic process. Similarly, although neurotransmitters are known to produce graded responses via interaction with specific receptors, little is known about the molecular events which underlie these postsynaptic responses. Although it has been generally assumed that protein molecules play important roles in the production of these responses, it is only within the last 15 years that we have come to understand how the activity of proteins could be regulated with a time course consistent with mediation or modulation of neuronal communication. What has become apparent during this period is that protein phosphorylation is a primary mechanism utilized by eukaryotic cells for post-translational regulation of protein function. Consequently, protein phosphorylation represents a conceptual framework for analysis of the molecular mechanisms which underly neuronal communcation. The scheme shown in Figure 1 summarizes our current concepts about the molecular pathways underlying biological regulation of neuronal communication.
Samurai Among Panthers: Richard Aoki on Race, Resistance, and A Paradoxical Life. By Diane C. Fujino

Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2012. 496 pp. hardcover, $75.00; softcover, $24.95.
Tuberous Sclerosis Health Care Utilization Based on the National Inpatient Sample Database: A Review of 5655 Hospitalizations.

Introduction Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) has an incidence of 1/6000 in the general population. Overall care may be complex and costly. We examine trends in health care utilization and outcomes of patients with TSC over the last decade. Methods The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database for inpatient hospitalizations was searched for admission of patients with TSC. Results During 2000–2010, the NIS recorded 5655 patients with TSC. Most patients were admitted to teaching hospitals (71.7%). Over time, the percentage of craniotomies performed per year remained stable ( P = 0.351). Relevant diagnoses included neuro-oncologic disease (5.4%), hydrocephalus (6.5%), and epilepsy (41.2%). Hydrocephalus significantly increased length of stay and hospital charges. A higher percentage of patients who underwent craniotomy had hydrocephalus (29.8% vs. 5.3%; P P P P Conclusions Our study identifies aspects of inpatient health care utilization, outcomes, and cost of a large number of patients with TSC. These aspects include related diagnoses and procedures that contribute to longer length of stay, increased hospital cost, and increased in-hospital mortality, which can inform strategies to reduce costs and improve care of patients with TSC.
Alpha and angiotensin receptor tone in the near-term sheep fetus.

SummaryWe have described the effects of alpha and angiotensin receptor blockade on the mean arterial blood pressure and umbilical vascular resistance of the near-term sheep fetus. In nine control fetuses the mean arterial pressure was 46 ± 1 mm Hg and the umbilical vascular resistance was 0.291 ± 0.01 mm Hg × min/ml × kg. Alpha receptor blockade decreased the mean fetal arterial pressure to 44 ± 2 mm Hg (NS). The umbilical vascular resistance decreased to 0.245 ± 0.04 mm Hg × min/ml × kg (N = 5). This change was not significant. The effect of angiotensin receptor blockade on the umbilical vascular resistance was tested in seven near-term fetuses. The mean fetal arterial pressure dropped to 43 ± 3 mm Hg (NS). The umbilical vascular resistance was 0.285 ± 0.03 mm Hg × min/ml × kg. This change was not significant. Alpha and angiotensin receptor blockade did not abolish the umbilical vasoconstriction that was seen after the injection of prostaglandin E2.We conclude that in the near-term sheep fetus neither al...
Clear Cell Acanthoma

Clear cell acanthoma (CCA) is a benign epidermal lesion occurring most frequently on the lower extremities of adults in the fifth to seventh decade of life. The etiology is unclear; it most likely is a benign neoplastic or a reactive inflammatory process. CCA is a slow growing, papular or nodular lesion, most often dome-shaped and red to brown in color. Diagnosis cannot be made clinically, given its similarity in appearance to other more common skin lesions. Histological examination demonstrates a well-demarcated collection of clear cells containing intracytoplasmic glycogen, which give this lesion its name. For single lesions, surgical excision is often the treatment of choice. However, cryosurgery is a very effective alternative, especially beneficial for patients with multiple lesions, lesions located over bony prominences not readily amenable to excision, or in situations where surgery is relatively contraindicated (neutropenia, anticoagulation) or not desired.
Oculomotor behavior in natural and man-made environments

Publisher Summary Distributions of fixation duration and saccade size are low-level behavioral measures that can provide a window into oculomotor performance at a specific level. This chapter describes an experiment in which three subjects performed two tasks in two environments. Fixation duration and saccade size were extracted from eye movements monitored with a wearable eye tracker. Mean, median, and modal fixation durations were shorter during the Free-view task in the Man-made environment than in the Wooded environment. However, despite the difference in characteristics and predictability of the paths between the Man-made and the Wooded environments, there was not a significant environment difference in the distributions of fixation duration during the Walking task. There were no significant differences in the distribution of saccade sizes across any of the conditions. Unlike the fixation-duration and saccade-size distributions, analysis of gaze position during the Walking task provided a more direct measure of the value of visual information gathered during foveations.
Liquid Handling Optimization in High-Throughput Biodosimetry Tool

Due to the need of high-speed and efficient biodosimetric assays for triage and therapy in the event of radiological or nuclear attack, a robotically based automated biodosimetry tool (RABiT) has been developed over the past few years. Adapting the micronucleus assay from filter plates to V-shaped plates presented challenges in the liquid handling, namely, cell splashing out of the V-shaped well plate during the cell harvesting, poor cell distribution on the bottom of the image plate during the dispensing, and cell loss from the image plate during the aspiration in the liquid handling process. Experimental and numerical investigations were carried out to better understand the phenomena and mitigate the problems. Surface tension and contact angle among the fluids and the plate wall were accounted for in the discrete and multiphase numerical models. Experimental conditions were optimized based on the numerical results showing the relationship between nozzle speed and amount of splashed liquid, and the relationship between aspiration speed and number of escaped cells. Using these optimized parameters, numbers of micronuclei in binucleated cells showed the same dose dependence in the RABiT-prepared samples as those in the manually prepared ones. Micronucleus assay protocol was fully realized on RABiT.
Reliable complex abdominal wall hernia repairs with a narrow, well-fixed retrorectus polypropylene mesh: A review of over 100 consecutive cases

Background Our objective was to determine outcomes for complex ventral hernia repairs in a large cohort of patients utilizing an operative construct employing retrorectus placement of a narrow, macroporous polypropylene mesh with up to 45 suture fixation points for force distribution. No consensus exists on the optimal technique for repair of complex ventral hernias. Current trends emphasize large meshes with wide overlaps and minimal suture fixation, though reported complications and recurrence remain problematic. Methods A retrospective review was performed for all patients undergoing ventral hernia repair with retrorectus placement of midweight, uncoated, soft polypropylene mesh by a single surgeon (GAD) between the years of 2010 and 2015. Patient characteristics, operative history, operative data, and postoperative course were reviewed. Results A total of 101 patients with a mean age of 56 years and a mean body mass index of 29 m/kg2 (range 18–51 m/kg2) underwent hernia repair. Patients had a median of 3 prior abdominal operations (range 0–9), with 44 patients presenting with recurrent hernias. A total of 42 patients were Ventral Hernia Working Group grade 1, 40 grade 2, 17 grade 3, and 2 grade 4. There were no recurrences at a mean follow-up of almost 400 days for the 93 patients with long-term follow-up. The surgical site occurrence rate was 7.9% (3 surgical site infections, 2 seromas, 2 hematomas, and 4 instances of delayed wound healing in 8 patients). One patient required reoperation for hematoma drainage; 5 patients required readmission within 30 days. Conclusion An operative construct employing a retrorectus placement of a narrow, macroporous polypropylene mesh with up to 45 suture fixation points for force distribution can achieve significantly better outcomes across a spectrum of Ventral Hernia Working Group grade, risk-stratified patients compared to rates reported in the literature for current strategies that employ wide meshes with minimal fixation.
Dynamic power pre-adjustments with machine learning that mitigate EDFA excursions during defragmentation

We examine EDFA power excursions during three defragmentation methods of flexgrid super-channels. Using a machine learning approach, we demonstrate automatic and dynamic adjustments of pre-EDFA power levels, and show the mitigation of post-EDFA power discrepancy among channels by over 62%.
Abstract 259: Role of Connexin 43 in Human Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Cardiac Integration and Cardiac Stem cell Niche Formation.

Introduction: Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) have been used successfully as a cell-based approach for cardiac regeneration after myocardial infarction. While MSCs and CPCs are effective, in part due to differentiation, paracrine effect, and integration into the heart, the mechanism underlying these effects remains controversial. Objective: We hypothesized that functional connexin 43 (Cx43) gap junctions are crucial for MSC and CPCs interaction and integration into cardiac tissue and cardiac stem cell niche formation. Methods and Results: Human MSCs were co-cultured with neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes (NRVMs). The ability of MSCs to form gap junctions was modulated using lentiviral constructs to either knockdown (Cx43KD) or overexpress (Cx43OE) Cx43. Co-culture of Cx43OE or control MSCs with NRVMs led to the formation of beating, three-dimensional tubes whereas Cx43KD MSCs failed to form tubes (n=5, p Conclusion: These findings reveal that cell−cell contact mediated by Cx43 gap junctions enables MSCs to interact with CPCs, integrate and reconstitute cardiac stem cell niches.
Molecular Breast Imaging Using Synthetic Projections From High-Purity Germanium Detectors: A Simulation Study

High-purity germanium (HPGe) gamma cameras are an emerging technology for molecular breast imaging (MBI) due to their 2-D lateral spatial resolution, depth-of-interaction (DOI) estimation, and superb energy resolution. In this simulation study, we investigate the potential imaging performance of an opposing view dual-head HPGe breast imaging system using a synthetic-projection technique, which utilizes DOI data with varying degrees of overlap in an ordered-subset estimation-maximization reconstruction algorithm to create 3-D images from which new 2-D projections are then created. The radiation transport simulator Monte Carlo ${N}$ -particle was employed to generate projections from 10-mm thick HPGe detectors using tungsten parallel-hole collimators with short and wide holes. Simulations modeling 140-keV emissions from various contrast-detail and breast-torso phantoms were conducted. Synthetic projections were generated along with conjugate-counting images from collected HPGe projections. Tumor contrast, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and hot-spot detection measurements were used to compare images. Results show that the synthetic projections could resolve more low-contrast tumors compared to single-camera projections and conjugate-counting methods. MBI simulations also showed increased contrast and SNR in synthetic projections compared to individual projections. In conclusion, the HPGe imaging system employing a synthetic-projection technique may offer advantages over individual dual-camera projections or conjugate-counting methods in terms of contrast, SNR, and tumor detectability.
Recrystallization reaction kinetics and texture studies of a 50 iron 50 nickel alloy

Recrystallization rate curves for a 50 iron 50 nickel alloy are plotted from data obtained using an X-ray spectrometer, and an activation energy is calculated for the reaction. A multiple crystal orientation is found for the as-rolled material, and the cube texture when recrystallized in the range of 500° to 600°C. It is well established that the directions of easiest magnetization in a single crystal of alpha iron are of the form , while for nickel the corresponding directions are of the form . However, when iron is added to nickel the directions persist as the easiest for magnetization until about 25 pct iron has been reached. In alloys containing more than 25 pct iron the directions of easiest magnetization change from to .
Design of attack tolerant detection topologies for distributed systems

Let G = (V G ,e G ) be a network consisting of n agents such that k H , e H ) be a subgraph within G consisting of agents equipped with detection filters to identify intrusions by malicious agents. Assume that G is also under attack from an external adversary whose goal is to disconnect the largest set of vertices in H by sabotaging ∊ fraction of its edge set, leaving the detection filters unable to sense intrusions from malicious agents. This paper establishes the algebraic and combinatorial conditions under which H is maximally robust to attacks from external adversaries. It is shown that the combinatorial problem of extracting a robust topology for H can be formulated as an optimization problem involving the Laplacian spectrum of G. An algorithm is given to recover the desired topology with the property that after an e fraction of the edges are adversarially removed, the network still maintains a connected component that spans at least (1 −∊/2ϕ) fraction of the vertices, with ϕ denoting the conductance of G. For the class of similar graphs that are cospectral, we also relate the algebraic connectivity to the third moment of the adjacency matrix of G, paving the way for alternative means of obtaining H instead of the spectral approach.
Dual Effects of Improving Doctor-Patient Communication: Patient Satisfaction and Hospital Ratings

We explore the extent to which improving doctor-patient communication (DPC) can address and alleviate many healthcare delivery inefficiencies. We survey causes and costs of miscommunication including perceptual gaps between how physicians believe they perform their communicative duties versus how patients feel and highlight thresholds such as the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) used by hospitals to identify health outcomes and improve DPC. We find that positive DPC correlates with better and more accurate care as well as with more satisfied patients. We utilize an assessment framework, DPCA, empirically measuring the effectiveness of DPC. While patient care is sometimes viewed as purely technical, there is evidence that DPC strongly predicts clinical outcomes as well as patients’ overall ratings of hospitals. More research is needed to extend our understanding of the impact of the DPC on the overall HCAHPS ratings of hospitals. We think that researchers should adopt a qualitative method (e.g., content analysis) for analyzing DPC discourse. When a sufficient amount of DPCA training is initiated, a norming procedure could be developed and a database may be employed to demonstrate training program’s efficacy, a critical factor in establishing the credibility of the measurement program and nurturing support for its use.
Introduction: “Greet prees at Market”—Money Matters in Medieval English Literature

This collection represents the burgeoning interest in money, markets, and economics in medieval English literature. The introductory opening chapter establishes the social and theoretical contexts. The social conditions include changes in climate, politics, demography, and commerce that caused major disruptions of social structures in the late Middle Ages. The theoretical contexts reveal medieval literary criticism returning to economic and monetary matters as central themes in the wake of New Historicism’s emphasis on power discourses as an alternative to Marxist historiography. The ensuing chapters find the writers of fourteenth-century England working to understand the commercial economy, in which money is both a means of exchange and a commodity, innovative economic practices challenge traditional social relations, and the culture of gift-exchange persists alongside the cash nexus.
rConverse: Moment by Moment Conversation Detection Using a Mobile Respiration Sensor

Monitoring of in-person conversations has largely been done using acoustic sensors. In this paper, we propose a new method to detect moment-by-moment conversation episodes by analyzing breathing patterns captured by a mobile respiration sensor. Since breathing is affected by physical and cognitive activities, we develop a comprehensive method for cleaning, screening, and analyzing noisy respiration data captured in the field environment at individual breath cycle level. Using training data collected from a speech dynamics lab study with 12 participants, we show that our algorithm can identify each respiration cycle with 96.34% accuracy even in presence of walking. We present a Conditional Random Field, Context-Free Grammar (CRF-CFG) based conversation model, called rConverse, to classify respiration cycles into speech or non-speech, and subsequently infer conversation episodes. Our model achieves 82.7% accuracy for speech/non-speech classification and it identifies conversation episodes with 95.9% accuracy on lab data using a leave-one-subject-out cross-validation. Finally, the system is validated against audio ground-truth in a field study with 32 participants. rConverse identifies conversation episodes with 71.7% accuracy on 254 hours of field data. For comparison, the accuracy from a high-quality audio-recorder on the same data is 71.9%.
The Regulation of Cobalamin Biosynthesis

Expositions on the regulation of biochemical pathways usually succeed in disappointing at least half of their potential audience. From a holistic standpoint, one could view gene regulation as the embodiment of the physiological significance of the encoded gene products. If one understood when, where and why genes were either active or inactive, one would gain insight into the selective forces retaining those genes within a genome. From a reductionist standpoint, gene regulation can be achieved in almost countless ways, each offering at worst insight into how a cell is controlling the dynamic expression of its inherently static genetic material and at best uncovering previously undiscovered mechanisms by which the activities of gene products are controlled. From an evolutionary standpoint, both views may differ between different organisms, allowing either fruitful comparative biology when the differences are recognized, or potentially misleading extrapolation when they are not.
Incorporating global and local customer needs into early stages of improved cookstove design

Improved cookstoves, despite their many potential benefits in the developing world, have been adopted at surprisingly low rates. To improve adoption rates, many researchers have emphasised the importance of focusing on user needs during design. Unfortunately, current improved cookstove design methodologies primarily focus on later, more technically detailed stages of development, and don't provide sufficient details during earlier stages. This paper presents an early stage design methodology that has been adapted to the unique challenges of improved cookstove design. It highlights the most common pitfalls that are encountered during each stage of the design process and provides recommendations to overcome them. It also identifies the user needs that are both common to nearly all households, and needs that are unique to only a subset of users. This paper suggests that by following this methodology engineers are less reliant on and susceptible to their preconceived notions of what cookstove users need.
Donald Trump, perceptions of justice, and populism:

The populism of Donald Trump and his supporters can be viewed as rooted in feelings of relative deprivation, whereby people feel that they are getting less than they deserve in exchanges with other...
Association of clinical benefit rate (CBR) with survival: A pooled-analysis of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) trials submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

e18091Background: CBR is commonly used as one the secondary endpoints in many cancer clinical trials. There are no comprehensive analyses to demonstrate that CBR adds to the value of the conventional time-to-event efficacy endpoints of progression-free and overall survival (PFS and OS) in clinical trials, and to date, CBR data are not reported in the clinical studies section of the U.S. package inserts for products approved for the treatment of MBC. We conducted a pooled analysis of data from MBC trials submitted to the FDA to understand the association of CBR with PFS and OS. In this analysis, CBR is defined as the percentage of patients with MBC who have achieved complete response, partial response or stable disease ≥ 6 months. Methods: We identified 13 trials of experimental agents with 10,263 patients submitted for treatment of MBC in initial or supplemental New Drug or Biologics License Applications since 2005. Criteria for inclusion of the trials in this analysis were: randomized, active-controlled,...
Neuroethics Guiding Principles for the NIH BRAIN Initiative.

Neuroscience presents important neuroethical considerations. Human neuroscience demands focused application of the core research ethics guidelines set out in documents such as the Belmont Report. Various mechanisms, including institutional review boards (IRBs), privacy rules, and the Food and Drug
A review of discogenic pain management by interventional techniques

This review article describes the various image guided interventional techniques used for treating chronic backache attributed to disc related pathologies. With the aim of minimum invasion and maximum relief, these procedures comprise predominantly of annuloplasty and disc decompression via different mechanisms. Newer therapies are discussed in this review article with the objective of restoring disc height and its biomechanical function by substitution of biochemical constituents, regeneration of cartilaginous end plate and finally artificial disc implantation.
Remittance inflows and financial development: evidence from the top recipient countries in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper utilizes a panel cointegration approach to investigate the relationship between remittances and financial development in the top remittance recipient countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our...
Photochemistry of the Organoselenium Compound Ebselen: Direct Photolysis and Reaction with Active Intermediates of Conventional Reactive Species Sensitizers and Quenchers.

Ebselen (EBS), 2-phenyl-1,2-benzisoselenazol-3(2H)-one, is an organoselenium pharmaceutical with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Furthermore, EBS is an excellent scavenger of reactive...
Gender responsive budgeting and the COVID-19 pandemic response: a feminist standpoint

Acknowledging the need for more gender work in Public Administration, this paper engages feminist standpoint theory to analytically frame the outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic from a feminist persp...
Responding to COVID19 in Russia

While it is hard to predict what will have happened by the time of the conference, this round table will be tightly templated and coordinated Each speaker will briefly address the challenges experienced by that country and the actions taken, and focus on explaining why those actions happened in order to draw comparative lessons about public health politics and governance
The Company States Keep: International Economic Organizations and Investor Perceptions

This book argues that investor risk in emerging markets hinges on the company a country keeps. When a country signs on to an economic agreement with states that are widely known to be stable, it looks less risky. Conversely, when a country joins a group with more unstable members, it looks more risky. Investors use the company a country keeps as a heuristic in evaluating that country's willingness to honor its sovereign debt obligations. This has important implications for the study of international cooperation as well as of sovereign risk and credibility at the domestic level.
Movement System Theory and Anatomical Competence: Threshold Concepts for Physical Therapist Anatomy Education

This viewpoint proposes eight anatomy threshold concepts related to physical therapist education, considering both movement system theory and anatomical competence. Movement system theory provides classifications and terminology that succinctly identifies and describes physical therapy practice from a theoretical and philosophical framework. The cardiovascular, pulmonary, endocrine, integumentary, nervous, and musculoskeletal systems are all included within this schema as the movement system theory encompasses all body systems interacting to create movement across the lifespan. Implementing movement system theory requires an ability to use human anatomy in physical therapist education and practice. Understanding the human body is a mandatory prerequisite for effective diagnosis, assessment, treatment, and patient evaluation. Anatomical competence refers to the ability to apply anatomic knowledge within the appropriate professional and clinical contexts. Exploring the required anatomical concepts for competent entry-level physical therapist education and clinical practice is warranted. The recommended threshold concepts (fluency, dimensionality, adaptability, connectivity, complexity, stability or homeostasis, progression or development, and humanity) could serve as an integral and long-awaited tool for guiding anatomy educators in physical therapy education.
Quasiperiodicity and blowup in integrable subsystems of nonconservative nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations

In this paper, we study the dynamics of a class of nonlinear Schrodinger equation $ i u_t = \triangle u + u^p $ for $ x \in \mathbb{T}^d$. We prove that the PDE is integrable on the space of non-negative Fourier coefficients, in particular that each Fourier coefficient of a solution can be explicitly solved by quadrature. Within this subspace we demonstrate a large class of (quasi)periodic solutions all with the same frequency, as well as solutions which blowup in finite time in the $L^2$ norm.
Leadership for learning as an organization-wide practice: evidence on its multilevel structure and implications for educational leadership practice and research

Leadership for learning has emerged as a framework that subsumes the core characteristics of instructional leadership, transformational leadership, and distributed leadership. It acknowledges that ...
Prediction Models in Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

The contemporary management of prostate cancer has been based upon early detection and treatment of disease when it is still organ-confined and presumably more amenable to cure. Indeed, of the many advances in the field of prostate cancer over the last few decades (e.g., nerve-sparing prostatectomy, brachytherapy, conformal radiation), none have arguably had a greater impact on outcomes than early detection through PSA screening. A significant downward stage migration has been observed, with the vast majority of patients now diagnosed with organ-confined disease (Catalona et al. JAMA 270(8):948–54, 1993). This has been associated with an increased rate of cure with definitive treatment as well as a reduction in the risk of cancer-specific mortality (Catalona et al. JAMA 270(8):948–54, 1993; Horner et al. SEER cancer statistics review, 1975–2006. National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, 2009).
Tax and expenditure limitations and the fiscal relationships between state and local governments

This paper uses comprehensive data on state and local tax and spending limitations for forty-nine states between 1976 and 1990 to estimate the effects of these limits on the fiscal relationships between state and local government. Results indicate that tax and spending limits on local governments are only partially effective in reducing revenues because political agents bypass limitations by transferring revenue reliance to unconstrained revenue sources, or because unconstrained levels of government take on additional revenue responsibilities. In particular, the empirical analysis demonstrates that binding local government fiscal constraints are associated with reductions in local revenues and increases in state aid to local governments. In contrast, state government limitations are related to reductions in both state and local own source revenues.
The dsg gene of Myxococcus xanthus encodes a protein similar to translation initiation factor IF3.

Abstract The dsg mutants of Myxococcus xanthus are defective in fruiting body development and sporulation, yet they grow normally. The deduced amino acid sequence of the dsg gene product is 50 and 51% identical to the amino acid sequence of translation initiation factor IF3 of both Escherichia coli and Bacillus stearothermophilus, respectively. However, the Dsg protein has a carboxy-terminal extension of 66 amino acids, which are absent from its E. coli and B. stearothermophilus homologs. The Shine-Dalgarno sequence GGAGG and 5 bases further upstream are identical in M. xanthus and several enteric bacteria, despite the wide phylogenetic gap between these species. The infC gene, which encodes IF3 in enteric bacteria, starts with the atypical translation initiation codon AUU, which is known to be important for regulating the cellular level of IF3 in E. coli. Translation of the Dsg protein overexpressed from the M. xanthus dsg gene in E. coli cells initiates at an AUC codon, an atypical initiation codon in the AUU class. The dsg mutants DK429 and DK439 carry the same missense mutation that changes Gly-134 to Glu in a region of amino acid identity.
Introduction to Maine Law Review Symposium on 'Law, Religion, and Lautsi v. Italy' (Religious Liberty in Europe and the United States)

This is an introduction to the Maine Law Review's Symposium on religious liberty in Europe and the United States. The symposium departs from the 2011 decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Lautsi v. Italy, which upheld the display of the crucifix in Italian classrooms. Defending that decision, Professor Joseph Weiler of NYU Law (who argued the cause on behalf of several intervening EU member states and delivered the symposium's keynote address) issues a robust challenge to those who (as he describes it) would make American-style separation of church and state or French laicite (secularism) the uniform law of the land in Europe. In response, Professors William Marshall of UNC Law and Pierre-Henri Prelot of the University of Cergy-Pontoise in France concur on certain points with Weiler but challenge other aspects of his interpretation of the nature and merits of the American and French religious liberty traditions.
Differentiating ST-Segment Strain Pattern From Acute Ischemia

Scenario: Currently under the care of a cardiologist for cardiomyopathy with a low ejection fraction, a 58-year-old man comes to his outpatient cardiology clinic with complaints of recurrent chest discomfort and shortness of breath. Other complaints include a cold “shivering” feeling and nocturnal dyspnea. ECG PUZZLER A regular feature of the American Journal of Critical Care, the ECG Puzzler addresses ECG interpretation for clinical practice. We welcome letters to the Editors regarding this feature.
Fair Trade as a Community Development Initiative: Local and Global Implications

This paper examines fair trade as a community development initiative that challenges unjust global trading conditions. On a local level, fair trade aims to create a sustainable livelihood for farmers, to strengthen agricultural cooperatives, and to fund community-based projects. Fair trade also purports to engender global solidarity through linking Southern producers and Northern consumers in a concerted effort to direct the market towards social aims. The paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of fair trade as a social welfare intervention. Recommendations are provided to strengthen the fair-trade movement in light of social work values.