cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nurse staffing and the work environment linked to readmissions among older adults following elective total hip and knee replacement.

Objective To examine the effect of nurse staffing and the work environment on 10- and 30-day unplanned readmissions for US Medicare patients following elective total hip and knee replacement. Design A cross-sectional analysis of secondary data. Setting Acute care hospitals in California, Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, during 2006. Participants Medicare patients ( n = 112 017) admitted to an acute care hospital for an elective total hip or knee replacement. Main Outcome Measures The adjusted odds ratio (OR) of experiencing an unplanned readmission within 10 and 30 days of discharge following an elective total hip or knee replacement. Results Our sample included 112 017 Medicare patients in 495 hospitals. Nearly 6% of the patients were readmitted within 30 days; more than half of whom were rehospitalized within 10 days. Adjusted for patient and hospital characteristics, patients had 8% higher odds of 30-day readmission and 12% higher odds of 10-day readmission, for each additional patient per nurse. Patients cared for in the best work environments had 12% lower odds of 30-day readmission. Conclusions Readmission outcomes following major joint replacement are associated with hospital nursing care. Attention to nurse work conditions may be central to improving readmissions in this postoperative Medicare population.
Integrating Customer Intimacy Into Radiology to Improve the Patient Perspective: The Case of Breast Cancer Screening.

OBJECTIVE. The customer intimacy business model has emerged as a key operational approach for health care organizations as they move toward patient-centered care. The question arises how the customer intimacy approach can be implemented in the clinical setting and whether it can help practitioners address problems and improve quality of care. CONCLUSION. Breast cancer screening and its emphasis on the patient perspective provides an interesting case study for understanding how the customer intimacy approach can be integrated into radiologic practice to improve the patient experience.
Gangliosides and Disease: A Review

From the beginning, research on gangliosides has been closely associated with studies of diseases. Although there had been a few articles which may well have described the compounds which we now know as gangliosides,1,2 discovery of gangliosides is justifiably credited to Klenk, who first discovered them in 1935 in the brain of patients with Niemann-Pick disease3 and then in a larger quantity in the brain of Tay-Sachs disease patients.4 Tay-Sachs disease became the first and then the only genetic disorder of abnormal ganglioside metabolism. During the next three decades, fundamental studies of chemistry and metabolism of gangliosides and studies of genetic diseases of ganglioside metabolism advanced hand in hand to the present state of enormous complexity. The synergistic interactions between basic and clinical sciences have proved to be highly beneficial to both sides. We now know several major groups of genetic gangliosidosis of known enzymatic causes and several more of yet to be characterized genetic variants.
Intestinal calcium loss in infant rats.

SummarySegments of the jejunum and ileum of 14-15-day-old and 42-day-old rats were perfused in situ with isotonic or hypertonic calcium free solutions. There was net secretion of calcium in all segments perfused. Rates of net secretion of calcium were several fold and significantly greater in segments of the 14- to 15-day-old than in corresponding segments of the 42-day-old rats. In the 14- to 15-day-old rats net secretion of calcium was similar in jejunal and ileal segments, while in the 42-day-old rats net secretion was twofold greater in the ileal than jejunal segments. Perfusion of the hypertonic solution almost doubled net secretion of calcium in the jejunal segments at both ages, but had no effect on rate secretion of calcium in the ileal segments. These findings suggest that infants are more prone to lose calcium into the lumen of the intestine than adults, especially during episodes of osmotic diarrhea when oral intake is restricted acutely.
Seasonal Abundance of Thrips (Thysanoptera) on Winter Small Grains in Georgia

Thrips species composition and seasonal abundance were studied in winter wheat, Triticum aestivum L., and winter rye, Secale cereale L., during 3 seasons in the coastal plain region of Georgia. Thrips abundance also was examined in wild radish, Raphanus raphanistrum L., a common annual winter weed in small-grain fields. Limothrips cerealium (Haliday) and Frankliniella fusca (Hinds) were the 2 dominant species comprising >89% of the adult thrips collected in both crops. Frankliniella tritici (Fitch), F. bispinosa (Morgan), F. occidentalis (Pergande), F. williamsi Hood, Haplothrips graminis Hood and Plesiothrips perplexus (Beach) also were collected in low numbers in most years. Winter rye supported breeding populations of F. fusca during the autumn, winter, and early spring. Few thrips of any species were collected in winter wheat before spike emergence in March. However, large numbers of F. fusca and L. cerealium developed in wheat during the spring. Winter rye also served as a spring host for these thrips, but population increases were limited by grazing and early crop destruction. Differences in F. fusca phenology between wheat and rye probably are related to crop planting time in that rye for grazing is planted ≈6 wk earlier than wheat for grain production. Small grains grown for grain production presumably are planted too late for colonization by F. fusca in autumn. Although F. tritici , F. bispinosa , and F. occidentalis adults were present in the spring, these thrips probably did not breed extensively in wheat or rye. However, flowering wild radish in wheat fields supported large populations of F. tritici and F. occidentalis in late winter and spring. Therefore, winter small grains, particularly wheat, are important sources of F. fusca and L. cerealium that attack summer hosts. Small grains are not a major source of other Frankliniella spp., except possibly F. williamsi , but wild radish within winter small grains probably is an important spring source of F. tritici and F. occidentalis .
Comment on “Experimental study of the orientation dependence of indium incorporation in GaInN” [J. Cryst. Growth 433 (2016) 7–12]

The authors of the title paper (J. Cryst. Growth 433 (2016) 7–12) reported on experimental comparison of indium incorporation efficiency in wide variety of orientations tilted from the basal plane toward a-plane (a-family planes) or m-plane (m-family planes) and some mixed planes. Despite a good investigation and useful information reported in this manuscript, some points of criticism, concerning the inclination angle calculations, optical characterizations of the layers, and the final conclusions are highlighted in this comment to consider.
Effect of Fuel Price on Aviation Technology and Environmental Outcomes

This paper explores the effects of fuel prices on aviation technology and environmental outcomes. The concern is that significant efficiency improvements could potentially increase the environmental impact of aviation instead of reducing it by reducing costs and also increasing economic activity at the same time. Here we explore this effect known as Jevons’ Paradox, by exploring the dynamic interplay of efficiency, demand feedback, airline decision making, and aircraft technologies. The results produced through dynamic modeling show that it seems unlikely that this effect would altogether overwhelm efficiency gains. However, we find that the effect does reduce vehicle efficiency gains at the system level, not only due to extensive fleet turn-over times, but also due to demand bounce back effects.
Airway risk factors for the Miller laryngoscope blade.

Abstract Study objective The purpose of this study was to analyze previously reported airway risk factors in the performance of Miller laryngoscopy and orotracheal intubation. Design Prospective, observational study. Setting Operating rooms. Patients A total of 978 American Society of Anesthesiologists I-III adults requiring general orotracheal anesthesia for elective surgery. Interventions None. Measurements Nine previously reported airway risk factors used in predicting difficult laryngoscopy, modified McCormack-Lehane views observed during initial unaided Miller blade laryngoscopy, and number of attempts or need for alternate airway tools to facilitate orotracheal intubation. Main results Orotracheal intubation occurred in 941 of 978 (96.2%) patients with the Miller blade, although 8 patients required 3 attempts, with the remaining 37 patients requiring alternate airway tools. There were no failed orotracheal intubations. Multivariable analysis revealed that modified Mallampati class, thyromental distance, and ability to prognath were associated with progressively inferior modified Cormack-Lehane views, whereas modified Mallampati class, height, and head and neck extension were associated with progressive difficulty with orotracheal intubation. Conclusions The Miller blade is highly successful in the performance of direct laryngoscopy for orotracheal intubation. These findings suggest that different sets of airway risk factors affect the process of laryngoscopy and orotracheal intubation.
Inflectional markers of sentential parsing

Abstract The present study demonstrates the existence in Wandala (Central Chadic) of two inflectional markers which, although they change the form of the word, are not word-formation means but rather sentence-formation means. While neither of the forms indicates any specific semantic relation, they both enable the listener to parse the sentence into units that can undergo further analysis and allow for inferences about a large number of semantic relations within the clause and within the sentence. The types of inflectional marking described in this study are unrelated to the dichotomy of head marking and dependent marking. Although this study is based on data from a single language, it has implications for the typology of coding means and for theories of clausal structures.
Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy for Women with T4 Locally Advanced Breast Cancer.

Background The use of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) for women with unilateral breast cancer is increasing. The authors were interested in assessing whether this trend extended to patients with T4 disease.
Applied Exercise Physiology: a serendipitous personal journey toward a place that didn’t exist when the journey started

Applied exercise physiology is a rich profession in much of the developed world in the early 21 st century. However, in the early 1970’s there was no such profession, just the scientific discipline of exercise physiology. Linked to the 1975 publication of the first edition of ACSM’s Guidelines for Graded Exercise Testing and Exercise Prescription, the authors career has been linked to a serendipitous series of events that have seen the development of the profession of applied exercise physiology. Taken as a whole, these parallel stories inform us of the importance of serendipity within the process of scientific discovery.
Insights from State High Court Judges

A substantial amount of data is needed to test the theory developed, conceptualized, and operationalized in Chap. 2. Given that it has been over 20 years since the last comprehensive investigation of the role orientations of state high court judges was undertaken, current data were needed. Though judges are a notoriously difficult population to survey, it is the only way to obtain all of the necessary data, so a nationwide mail survey to capture the role orientations, as well as relevant personal characteristics and professional experiences, of all state high court judges was crafted. This chapter begins, in Sect. 3.1, with a discussion of the survey design and implementation process that was developed. It concludes, in Sect. 3.2, with a discussion and exploration of the survey results.
The degree of technological innovation: A demand heterogeneity perspective

Abstract A perennial question posed by work in the technology management domain is whether a firm should deploy a technology more advanced than its current one. While past research has provided us with a better understanding of the firm-level decision to invest in new technology, the degree of this advancement (relative to the technology inherent in existing company product offerings) remains a nascent phenomenon that the field has not fully addressed. Data on global flat panel display makers from 1995 through 2011 are analyzed to understand how competitive standing in distinct intra-industry technology segments affects a firm's degree of technological innovation. We adopt a demand heterogeneity perspective to develop hypotheses relating the degree to which more advanced technology is deployed to a firm's competitive share of a particular segment. Our findings demonstrate how segment share (a more refined unit of analysis than overall market share) encourages a firm to advance its technology and how intra-segment competition moderates this direct effect. The current study provides evidence that demand heterogeneity is operative not only at different stages of the technology life cycle, but also in different segments populated by users with divergent technological requirements.
Electromagnetic energy harvesting from swing-arm motion using rotational eccentric mass structure

We present an electromagnetic energy harvester using rotational eccentric mass structure that generates power from extremely low-frequency motion of a driven mechanical swing-arm (i.e. pendulum) that is intended to mimic wrist motion during regular walking. It consists of two aligned eccentric rotors, which rotate together, containing multiple N52 permanent magnet pole-pairs with back iron shields. The shields allow the magnetic flux densities to increase in the middle of the rotor structure, where the coils are located, by 63%. The stator is formed by multiple series connected self-supported copper coils in a PCB interconnect. Voltage is induced in the coils due to magnetic flux change while the eccentric rotor moves because of swing-arm motion. The output power of a fabricated prototype was measured for various swing-arm motions and compared with the simulation. The prototype generates maximum 55 μW average power at ±25 degree rotational amplitude and 0.8 sec period (1.25 Hz).
Wind resource extrapolating tools for modern multi-MW wind turbines: Comparison of the Deaves and Harris model vs. the power law

Abstract Only relying on surface information, the Deaves and Harris (DH) model was tested in predicting annual mean wind speed, Weibull distribution and energy yield at turbine hub heights of 40, 80 and 140 m. Based on 3-year (2011–2013) 10-min observations from the mast of Cabauw, the DH model was compared to the power law. The DH model was forced being applied for all stability conditions, although actually developed for the strongest neutral wind conditions (when about 75% overall wind energy may be extracted). The DH model was the finest at higher levels and its accuracy generally increased with height: at 80 m, biases of 2% (mean wind speed) and 6.06% (energy yield) were achieved, while at 140 m biases of 1% and 6.16% were obtained, respectively. Since affected by a high sensitivity to site's roughness length, an accurate assessment of this parameter proved to be main model's shortcoming. In any case, currently-achieved scores encourage further applications of the DH model, which should be deemed as a challenging wind energy research topic. Since valid over the entire boundary layer, it may be regarded as an ideal and certainly forward-looking tool for addressing modern multi-MW turbines whose hub heights steadily increase.
Biologic Activity of 5′-Deoxy-5-fluorouridine by Rectal Administration

5′-Deoxy-5-fluorouridine (dFUR) is used orally to treat human malignancies. This study compared the antitumor activity and toxicity of rectally and orally administered dFUR. A 7-day treatment of dFUR (350 or 700 mg/kg/day) was infused rectally over 30 min or administered by oral gavage (500 mg/kg/day) to rats bearing transplanted dimethylhydrazine-induced colon tumors. The oral treatment was previously shown to produce a 82% cure of the tumor-bearing animals. The tumor weight after 7 day treatment was compared to that before treatment. The size of the tumor in the saline-treated control group (N = 6) increased by 55%. The maximum tumor size reductions by drug treatments were 40% for the 350-mg/kg rectal dose (N = 5), >99% for the 700-mg/kg rectal dose (N = 10), and 100% for the 500-mg/kg oral dose (N = 4). The 350-mg/kg rectal dose did not produce any cures, while the 700-mg/kg rectal dose produced 80% cures and the 500-mg/kg oral dose 100% cures. The cured animals remained tumor-free during the observation period of 163 to 243 days. The tumor-bearing rats were euthanized between 46 and 132 days when they appeared moribund or when the tumor began to ulcerate. The 700-mg/kg rectal and 500-mg/kg oral treatments produced greater weight loss than saline, suggesting a drug-induced intestinal toxicity. After rectal drug treatment, the animal weight returned to pretreatment level within 3 days, indicating a rapidly reversible intestinal toxicity. The oral group suffered a greater weight loss than the rectal group and took more than 10 days to recover. This suggests that the intestinal toxicity of the rectal treatment was less severe than the oral treatment. The leukocyte and thrombocyte counts after drug treatments were not significantly different from the pretreatment levels, which suggests an absence of myelosuppression. In summary, these results indicate that dFUR by rectal administration had antitumor activity with minimal host toxicity.
Thermal modeling and design of the anisogrid morphing structure for a modular optical telescope concept

To meet the requirements for the next generation of optical space telescopes, a paradigm shift is required from current structures that are static, heavy, and stiff toward innovative structures that are adaptive, lightweight, versatile, and intelligent. A morphing or adaptive structure, the thermally actuated anisogrid morphing boom, can be used to meet the design requirements by making the primary structure actively adapt to the on-orbit environment. The adaptive anisogrid structure is actuated through the intelligent application of thermal gradients. This active primary structure improves structural and thermal stability performance, reduces mass, and enables mission architectures. This effort expands on the author’s previous work by incorporating the impact of thermal coupling and demonstrating an updated architecture. This paper introduces a thermally isolated version of the thermal morphing anisogrid structure to enable control of the thermal losses between active members. To evaluate the isolation design, the stiffness and thermal conductivity of these isolating interfaces is addressed. This paper determines that the applied morphing error remains below 5% across all stiffnesses if the joint thermal conductivity is below 0.2 W/(mK). This paper investigates the performance of the thermal morphing system under a variety of structural and thermal isolation interface properties and determines the linear operational regime.
Cryogenic rf Test of the First SRF Cavity Etched in an rf Ar/Cl2 Plasma

An apparatus and a method for etching of the inner surfaces of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) accelerator cavities are described. The apparatus is based on the reactive ion etching performed in an Ar/Cl2 cylindrical capacitive discharge with reversed asymmetry. To test the effect of the plasma etching on the cavity rf performance, a 1497 MHz single cell SRF cavity was used. The single cell cavity was mechanically polished and buffer chemically etched and then rf tested at cryogenic temperatures to provide a baseline characterization. The cavity’s inner wall was then exposed to the capacitive discharge in a mixture of Argon and Chlorine. The inner wall acted as the grounded electrode, while kept at elevated temperature. The processing was accomplished by axially moving the dc-biased, corrugated inner electrode and the gas flow inlet in a step-wise manner to establish a sequence of longitudinally segmented discharges. The cavity was then tested in a standard vertical test stand at cryogenic temperatu...
Identifying and Characterizing Non-Convexities in Feasible Spaces of Optimal Power Flow Problems

Optimal power flow (OPF) is an important problem in the operation of electric power systems. The solution to an OPF problem provides a minimum cost operating point that satisfies constraints imposed by both the non-linear power flow equations and engineering limits. These constraints can yield non-convex feasible spaces that result in significant computational challenges. This brief proposes an algorithm that identifies and characterizes non-convexities in OPF feasible spaces. This algorithm searches for a pair of feasible points whose connecting line segment contains an infeasible point. Such points certify the existence of a non-convexity in the OPF feasible space. Moreover, the constraint violations at the infeasible point along the connecting line segment physically characterize a cause of the non-convexity. Numerical demonstrations include a small illustrative example as well as applications to various test cases.
A case series: Association of anaphylaxis with a significant decrease in platelet levels and possible secondary risk of thrombosis.

Introduction Anaphylaxis is a life threatening systemic inflammatory process that share mediators involved in the coagulation cascade. Platelet activating factor, known to increase platelet aggregation, has also been implicated as an important mediator of anaphylaxis. Although other inflammatory reactions are associated with an increased risk of thrombosis, anaphylaxis is currently not reported as one of them. Furthermore the role platelets may have in the perianaphylaxis period is not well understood. We here in present a retrospective case series of three patients that had platelet aberrations suggestive of PAF involvement and clinically significant thrombosis in close relationship with anaphylaxis. Objective To investigate platelet response before and after anaphylaxis and indirect observation evidence of platelet activating factors involvement with possible increased risk of thrombosis. Methods A retrospective investigation into medical records including medication administrations times, laboratory, and radiology results. Platelet levels pre- and post- anaphylaxis were statistically analyzed. Results Case 1, a 44 year old man had an anaphylactic reaction shortly after envenomation and subsequently suffered an acute infarction with thrombus in a cerebral artery. Case 2 is a 49 year old man with idiopathic anaphylaxis who developed a deep vein thrombosis after a protracted anaphylaxis event. Case 3 involved an 18 year old female with acute myeloid leukemia was found to have a thrombus in the celiac trunk following anaphylaxis. A paired two-tailed Wilcoxon test on the subjects pre and post anaphylactic platelet levels resulted in a overall P Conclusions and clinical relevance These three cases illustrate the potential role platelets may have in anaphylaxis and possible increased secondary risk for the development of thrombosis. Larger studies are required to determine incidence and risk factors for blood clots following anaphylaxis in order to provide management or screening recommendations.
Design automation methodology and tools for superconductive electronics

Josephson junction-based superconducting logic families have been proposed to implement analog and digital signals, which can achieve low energy dissipation and ultra-fast switching speed. There are two representative technologies: DC-biased RSFQ (rapid single flux quantum) technology and its variants that achieve a verified speed of 370 Ghz, and AC-biased AQFP (adiabatic quantum-flux-parametron) that achieves an energy dissipation near quantum limits. Despite extraordinary characteristics of the superconducting logic families, many technical challenges remain, including the choice of circuit fabrics and architectures that utilize the SFQ technology and the development of effective design automation methodologies and tools. This paper presents our work on developing design flows and tools for DC- and AC-biased SFQ circuits, leveraging unique characteristics and design requirements of the SFQ logic families. More precisely, physical design algorithms, including placement, clock tree routing, and signal routing algorithms targeting RSFQ circuits are presented first. Next, a majority/minority gate-based automatic synthesis framework targeting AQFP logic circuits is described. Finally, experimental results to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed framework and tools are presented.
Nationally Determined Contributions: Material climate commitments and discursive positioning in the NDCs

In the lead‐up to the 2015 Conference of Parties meeting in Paris, 186 countries, representing over 95% of global emissions, submitted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The NDCs outline national goals for greenhouse gas emission reductions and identify financial needs for unfolding mitigation and adaptation efforts. In this study, we review various analyses of the NDCs that cover the aggregate impact and strength of emissions reduction commitments and discuss recent literature on the adequacy and sectoral focus of the NDCs. We then argue that the NDCs are more than just goal setting reports; they are important discursive documents that are contested, negotiated, and ongoing. To supplement the existing literature, we examine the discursive narratives embedded in the NDCs from the 19 founding nations of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and the top 10 greenhouse gas emitters. Our literature review of quantitative and sectoral aspects of the NDCs highlights the inadequacy of the NDC commitments in the context of limiting warming to 2°C, discusses the uncertainties in the promised mitigation strategies, and identifies the reliance of many countries on policies such as those on forests or renewable energy. Our own analysis of the discourses in the NDCs adds critical depth by highlighting the stark contrasts in NDC discourses between North and South, as well as between historical emitters and emerging economies. These contrasts reflect deeper debates regarding justice and equity between nations within the UNFCCC negotiations. This article is categorized under: Climate and Development > Decoupling Emissions from Development
Dual-stimuli in-situ TEM study on the nonergodic/ergodic crossover in the 0.75(Bi1/2Na1/2)TiO3–0.25SrTiO3 relaxor

The existence of a variety of phases and their transitions in the electric field-temperature (E-T) space of relaxor ferroelectrics make them an interesting research subject. To directly observe the evolution of domain morphology and crystal symmetry in ferroelectrics under either temperature change or an applied electric field, in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is often the preferred characterization technique. Accessing all the phases in the E-T space of a relaxor crystal requires in-situ TEM with capabilities of simultaneous heating and biasing. In this letter, such a dual-stimuli in-situ TEM technique is demonstrated on 0.75(Bi1/2Na1/2)TiO3–0.25SrTiO3, a relaxor ceramic with a thermal depolarization temperature Td of about 40 °C. Not only the domain structure change during thermal depolarization is directly seen, but also different microstructural responses under an applied electric field in the nonergodic and ergodic states are observed. The results prove that the dual-stimuli in-situ TEM technique is indispensable for exploring the rich physics in functional materials.
Revisiting limits to legal mobilization for global climate justice: Complexity, territoriality, and responsibility

Amidst disproportionate climate-related harms and inadequate responses, affected groups have turned to legal mobilization. This paper analyzes socio-ecological complexity and territorial limits as themes of enduring relevance in official responses to the Inuit Circumpolar Council’s and Maldives’ foundational legal claims that climate change violates human rights, considering these against the backdrop of evolving understanding of responsibility for climate-related harm in scientific, political, and public discourse. The claims demonstrated that when legal analysis integrates scientific and traditional knowledge, climate change can be seen as violating rights internationally, and identifiable actors as culpable. Respondents disagreed, citing the complexity of climate-related harm, which combines multiple human actors, environmental processes, probability, prediction, and extraterritorial impact. Unresolved gaps between these interpretations raise doubts about law’s relevance to growing global inequities of climate change and other processes that mix people, places, and things. Este articulo analiza la complejidad socioecologica y los limites territoriales como temas de importancia permanente en las respuestas oficiales a las reclamaciones legales fundacionales del Consejo Circumpolar Inuit y de las Maldivas, que afirman que el cambio climatico viola derechos humanos. Se consideran esas respuestas sobre el trasfondo de la comprension paulatina en el discurso cientifico, politico y publico de la responsabilidad por los danos relacionados con el clima. Las demandas demostraron que, cuando el analisis juridico integra el saber cientifico y el tradicional, se puede considerar el cambio climatico como violador de derechos internacionales, y a los agentes identificables como culpables. Los criticos se mostraron en desacuerdo, aludiendo a la complejidad del dano relacionado con el clima. Los vacios sin resolver entre esas interpretaciones arrojan dudas sobre la relevancia del derecho en cuanto a crecientes desigualdades globales sobre cambio climatico y otros procesos que comprenden a personas, lugares y cosas. Available from: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1062
Is Abdominal Sonography a Useful Adjunct to Abdominal Radiography in Evaluating Neonates with Suspected Necrotizing Enterocolitis

Background Abdominal sonography (AUS) is emerging as a potentially valuable adjunct to conventional abdominal radiography (AXR) in the setting of suspected necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). We sought to evaluate concordance between AUS and AXR for signs of NEC to better understand the potential advantages and disadvantages of AUS. As a secondary aim, we characterized AUS-specific findings and evaluated the association of imaging results with clinical outcomes. Study Design Hospitalized infants with clinical concern for NEC from 2009 to 2018 were included in this multicenter retrospective review. All infant patients had at least 1 paired AXR followed by an AUS within 24 hours. Findings were abstracted from written radiology reports. Cohen’s κ, nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test, and quantile regression were used to evaluate chance-corrected levels of agreement for concordance analyses and associations with clinical outcomes. Results In total, 66 patients and 96 paired studies were evaluated. Agreement between the 2 imaging modalities was 61 of 96 (63.5%) for pneumatosis (κ = 0.29; 95% CI, 0.10 to 0.48), 79 of 96 (82.3%) for portal venous gas (κ = 0.07; 95% CI, 0.00 to 0.47), and 91 of 96 (94.8%) for pneumoperitoneum (κ = 0.52; 95% CI, 0.11 to 0.93). Each finding was present more frequently on AUS than AXR. On AUS, pneumatosis and focal fluid collection were independently associated with a longer antibiotic course (4.1 days longer; p = 0.03 and 21.3 days longer; p Conclusions AUS holds promise as a useful adjunct to radiography for neonates with possible NEC. It might be more sensitive for the presence or absence of bowel ischemia and can reveal findings not detectable by radiography, which can aid provider decision-making.
Frequency-Domain Analysis of Single-Surface Multipactor Discharge With Single- and Dual-Tone RF Electric Fields

This article presents the frequency-domain analysis of multipactor discharge on a single dielectric surface. We employ the multiparticle Monte Carlo simulation model in one dimension with adaptive time steps to obtain the temporal profiles of the normal electric field, which is due to surface charging that corresponds to the multipactor strength, induced by single- or dual-tone radio frequency (RF) electric fields acting parallel to the surface. We apply a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) to obtain the amplitude spectrum of the normal electric fields. It is found that for the single-tone RF operation, the normal electric field consists of pronounced even harmonics of the driving RF frequency. The strength of a harmonic component in the normal electric field depends on its frequency and the incident RF amplitude. An empirical relation between the strength and frequency of the harmonics and the input RF amplitude has been proposed. For dual-tone RF operation, spectral peaks are observed in the amplitude spectrum of the normal electric field at various frequencies of intermodulation product of the RF carrier frequencies. Pronounced peaks are observed at the sum and difference frequencies of the carrier frequencies, at multiples of those frequencies, and at multiples of the carrier frequencies. Empirical relations between the heights of different spectral peaks and the input RF amplitudes have been proposed.
ESTROGEN DEPENDENT EFFLUX OF ENDOGENOUS CATECHOLAMINES FROM THE HYPOTHALAMUS IN VITRO

Biologically active estrogens such as estradiol-17β and diethylstilbestrol elicit a concentration dependent efflux of norepinephrine and dopamine from incubated hypothalami of immature female rats. Weakly or non-estrogenic steroids such as 17α estradiol, estrone, estriol, and corticosterone were ineffective at concentrations up to 2 × 10−5M. These observations suggest that catecholamines may mediate some of the actions of estrogen in the C.N.S.
Outcomes of simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplants based on preemptive transplant compared to those who were on dialysis before transplant - a retrospective study.

Among kidney transplant recipients, the duration of pretransplant dialysis is significantly associated with worse post-transplant outcomes. However, data on the outcomes of preemptive simultaneous pancreas and kidney (SPK) are limited. We analyzed primary SPK recipients transplanted between January 2000 and December 2017. Patients were divided into two groups based on pretransplant dialysis history of preemptive versus non-preemptive. Patient and survival of grafts were outcomes of interest. Of the 644 recipients, 174 (27%) were preemptive and 470 (73%) were not. Most of the baseline characteristics were similar between the groups. In the univariable analysis, the non-preemptive transplant was associated with 54% increased risk for kidney death-censored graft failure (DCGF; HR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.01-2.35; P = 0.05). There was a 29% increased risk after adjustment for confounding factors (HR: 1.29; 95% CI: 0.83-2.02; P = 0.26), although this association was not statistically significant. Similarly, there was a 16% increased risk of pancreas DCGF in univariable analysis and 1% after adjustment, which was also not statistically significant. When outcomes were based on the duration of pretransplant dialysis, the duration was not associated with either patient survival or survival of either graft in K-M analysis. In SPK recipients, with pretransplant dialysis history, there was a tendency toward inferior graft survival, mainly for the kidney more than the pancreas.
Pathogenic Mutations in the Kinesin-3 Motor KIF1A Diminish Force Generation and Movement Through Allosteric Mechanisms

ABSTRACT The kinesin-3 motor KIF1A functions in neurons where its fast and superprocessive motility is thought to be critical for long-distance transport. However, little is known about the force-generating properties of kinesin-3 motors. Using optical tweezers, we demonstrate that KIF1A and its C. elegans homolog UNC-104 undergo force-dependent detachments at ~3 pN and then rapidly reattach to the microtubule to resume motion, resulting in a sawtooth pattern of clustered force generation events that is unique among the kinesin superfamily. Whereas UNC-104 motors stall before detaching, KIF1A motors do not. To examine the mechanism of KIF1A force generation, we introduced mutations linked to human neurodevelopmental disorders, V8M and Y89D, based on their location in structural elements required for force generation in kinesin-1. Molecular dynamics simulations predict that the V8M and Y89D mutations impair docking of the N-terminal (β9) or C-terminal (β10) portions of the neck linker, respectively, to the KIF1A motor domain. Indeed, both mutations dramatically impair force generation of KIF1A but not the motor’s ability to rapidly reattach to the microtubule track. Homodimeric and heterodimeric mutant motors also display decreased velocities, run lengths, and landing rates and homodimeric Y89D motors exhibit a higher frequency of non-productive, diffusive events along the microtubule. In cells, cargo transport by the mutant motors is delayed. Our work demonstrates the importance of the neck linker in the force generation of kinesin-3 motors and advances our understanding of how mutations in the kinesin motor domain can manifest in disease.
Digital Discrimination in Sharing Economy A Requirements Engineering Perspective

Recent evidence has revealed that Sharing Economy platforms such as Uber, Airbnb, and TaskRabbit, have become active hubs for digital discrimination. This new form of discrimination refers to a phenomenon where a business transaction is influenced by race, gender, age, or any other non-business related characteristic of providers or consumers. Existing research often tackles this problem from a socio-economic and regulatory points of view. However, the research on the design aspects of Sharing Economy software, which enable such complex sociotechnical problems to emerge online, is still underdeveloped. To bridge this gap, in this paper, we propose a new perspective on digital discrimination, tackling the problem from a Requirements Engineering point of view. Specifically, we analyze a large dataset of online user feedback as well as synthesize existing literature to identify and classify pervasive discrimination concerns in the Sharing Economy market. Based on this analysis, we devise a crowd-driven domain model to represent these concerns along with their relations to the functional features and user goals of Sharing Economy platforms. This model is intended to provide requirements engineers, working on Sharing Economy software, with systematic insights into the complex types of socio-technical problems that can emerge in the operational environments of their systems.
A Paradigm Shift in Balancing Your Professional and Non-professional Life

Balancing roles and responsibilities in life can be a challenge for professionals in any discipline. Striving for excellence can often lead to an unbalanced life because we might put focus on a single responsibility or role in life and neglect other responsibilities and roles. This chapter provides a new view of balancing life’s roles and responsibilities through the example of a magic square. The magic square is accompanied with the phrase what e’re thou art, act well thy part. As we each act well our part, we can be focused on achieving balance in the many roles and responsibilities we have in life.
The glutathione cycle shapes synaptic glutamate activity

Abstract Glutamate is the most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter, present at the bulk of cortical synapses, and participating in many physiologic and pathologic processes ranging from learning and memory to stroke. The tripeptide, glutathione, is one third glutamate and present at up to low millimolar intracellular concentrations in brain, mediating antioxidant defenses and drug detoxification. Because of the substantial amounts of brain glutathione and its rapid turnover under homeostatic control, we hypothesized that glutathione is a relevant reservoir of glutamate, and could influence synaptic excitability. We find that drugs which inhibit generation of glutamate by the glutathione cycle elicit decreases in cytosolic glutamate and decreased miniature excitatory post synaptic potential (mEPSC) frequency. In contrast, pharmacologically decreasing the biosynthesis of glutathione leads to increases in cytosolic glutamate and enhanced mEPSC frequency. The glutathione cycle can compensate for decreased excitatory neurotransmission when the glutamate-glutamine shuttle is inhibited. Glutathione may be a physiologic reservoir of glutamate neurotransmitter. Significance Glutathione is the principal antioxidant and redox regulator in cells. In addition to its essential roles in redox homeostasis it functions as cofactors for a multitude of enzymes. We show here that glutathione is a reservoir for synaptic glutamate, the excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Deficits in glutathione have been linked to multiple neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. Accordingly, agents that restore glutathione-glutamate homeostasis may afford therapeutic benefit.
Challenges and lessons learned for institutional review board procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the clinical research landscape in America. The most urgent challenge has been to rapidly review protocols submitted by investigators that were designed to learn more about or intervene in COVID-19. International Review Board (IRB) offices developed plans to rapidly review protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted with the IRB Directors at Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) institutions as well as two focus groups. Across the CTSA institutions, 66% reviewed COVID-19 protocols across all their IRB committees, 22% assigned protocols to just one committee, and 10% created a new committee for COVID-19 protocols. Fifty-two percent reported COVID-19 protocols were reviewed much faster, 41% somewhat faster, and 7% at the same speed as other protocols. Three percent reported that the COVID-19 protocols were reviewed with much better quality, 32% reported slightly better quality, and 65% reported the reviews were of the same quality as similar protocols before the COVID-19 pandemic. IRBs were able to respond to the emergent demand for reviewing COVID-19 protocols. Most of the increased review capacity was due to extra effort by IRB staff and members and not changes that will be easily implemented across all research going forward.
Optimizing Ohmic contacts to Nd-doped n-type SrSnO3

We report the results of metal contact resistance, RC, to Nd-doped n-type SrSnO3 films grown by radical-based hybrid molecular beam epitaxy. Sc, Mn, Ti, Al, and Cr contact layers were deposited onto heavily doped SrSnO3 thin films. With no annealing, Al and Cr contacts were found to be highly resistive, while Sc, Mn, and Ti were more conductive, with Mn having the lowest RC of 11 ± 3 Ω-mm, immediately after liftoff. After Al2O3 passivation at 200 °C, Sc, Mn, and Ti contacts all showed Ohmic behavior, with Ti contacts having RC = 2.4 ± 0.3 Ω-mm and a resultant sheet resistance, RS, of 1.66 ± 0.07 kΩ/◻. Specific contact resistivity, ρC, values of 0.03, 0.2, and 0.5 mΩ-cm2 were determined for Ti, Sc, and Mn, respectively. Annealing at 300 °C did not result in any significant change in RC. An additional study was performed using Ti-contacts on bi-layer films consisting of a heavily doped cap layer grown on a moderately doped active layer. It was found that the RC (ρC) of Ti metal to the bi-layer films was ∼1 (2) order(s) of magnitude lower than on single-layer controls. Temperature-dependent analysis was used to extract the barrier height and doping effect for annealed Ti contacts. This work is an important step in evaluating SrSnO3 for use in high-performance and transparent electronic applications.
Climate Change Consensus Messages Cause Reactance

Several recent studies have debated whether climate change consensus messages cause reactance, although they sometimes employ different procedures and measurement. This study uses procedures and me...
Calling phenology and call structure of sympatric treefrogs in eastern Texas

Anurans often call in acoustically complex choruses, which can consist of multiple closely related species. Closely related sympatric species often differ in phenology and the acoustic properties of male advertisement calls, which, in some species, are phenotypically plastic. The tetraploid Eastern Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor) originates from multiple, separate hybridization events of the diploid Cope's Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) with now-extinct diploid anurans. The two species are visually indistinguishable, exhibit highly similar ecology and behavior, and co-occur frequently across their range. Males of these species can be distinguished from each other by the structure of their advertisement calls. Daily audio recordings and weather data were collected for five consecutive years from eight breeding sites of sympatric H. versicolor and H. chrysoscelis. We examined spatial and temporal patterns in calling phenology and responses of both species to environmental cues. Additionally, we measured three advertisement call properties to evaluate differences in call structure based on community composition. The phenologies of the two gray treefrog species were nearly identical, and the presence of the other species did not significantly affect call pulse rate or dominant frequency in either species. Chorus composition affected call duration in both species, but in H. chrysoscelis, this effect was temperature dependent. Our results indicate that while calling phenology does not contribute to reproductive isolation in sympatric gray treefrogs, modulation of phenotypically plastic call properties could affect male mating success and prezygotic reproductive isolation.
Developing self-directed learning strategies through creative writing: Three case studies of snowball writing practice in a college Chinese language classroom

Abstract This study investigates three learners’ self-directed learning (SDL) strategies in a college beginner level Chinese language classroom. Using a focus group and interviews to explore how the students recognize their own learning strengths and weaknesses, what strategies they develop during the SDL process, their awareness of learning contexts while adopting SDL, and how they exercise their agencies for SDL. Findings suggest that technology fluency, the disconnection between learning goals and SDL strategies, and learners’ unawareness of their learning strengths affects individuals’ agency regarding SDL strategies. These findings suggest the need for further discussion of language teachers’ role in instructing SDL strategies, the role of technology, and the use of written corrective feedback.