cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Current and Future Status of Diversity in Ophthalmologist Workforce

Importance Increasing the level of diversity among ophthalmologists may help reduce disparities in eye care. Objective To assess the current and future status of diversity among ophthalmologists in the workforce by sex, race, and ethnicity in the context of the available number of medical students in the United States. Design, Setting, and Participants Data from the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Medical Association, and US Census were used to evaluate the differences and trends in diversity among ophthalmologists, all full-time faculty except ophthalmology, ophthalmology faculty, ophthalmology residents, medical school students, and the US population between 2005 and 2015. For 2014, associations of sex, race, and ethnicity with physician practice locations were assessed. Main Outcomes and Measures Proportions of ophthalmologists stratified by sex, race, and ethnicity between 2005 and 2015. Results Women and minority groups traditionally underrepresented in medicine (URM)—black, Hispanic, American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander—were underrepresented as practicing ophthalmologists (22.7% and 6%, respectively), ophthalmology faculty (35.1% and 5.7%, respectively), and ophthalmology residents (44.3% and 7.7%, respectively), compared with the US population (50.8% and 30.7%, respectively). During the past decade, there had been a modest increase in the proportion of female practicing ophthalmologists who graduated from US medical schools in 1980 or later (from 23.8% to 27.1%; P P = .90). Residents showed a similar pattern, with an increase in the proportion of female residents (from 35.6% to 44.3%; P = .001) and a slight decrease in the proportion of URM residents (from 8.7% to 7.7%; P = .04). The proportion of URM groups among ophthalmology faculty also slightly decreased during the study period (from 6.2% to 5.7%; P = .01). However, a higher proportion of URM ophthalmologists practiced in medically underserved areas ( P Conclusions and Relevance Women and URM groups remain underrepresented in the ophthalmologist workforce despite an available pool of medical students. Given the prevalent racial and ethnic disparities in eye care and an increasingly diverse society, future research and training efforts that increase the level of diversity among medical students and residents seems warranted.
Human T cell lymphotropic virus infection and adult T cell leukemia in the United States.

Even though ATLL is a rare disease it is of singular interest to dermatologists because it is associated with significant cutaneous manifestations in approximately 80% of cases, and in 50% of cases they are the presenting features of the disease
Images of God in Pre-romantic English Poetry

La presence divine au sein de la nature : " The Seasons " de James Thomson, " Night Thoughts " de Edward Young, " The Task " de William Cowper
Management’s Science–Practice Gap: A Grand Challenge for All Stakeholders

Despite multiple high-profile calls—across decades and from multiple stakeholders—to address the widening gap between science and practice, the relevance of research conducted in the management dom...
The Horoscope of Ceionius Rufius Albinus

In 1894 Theodor Mommsen suggested1 that Ceionius Rufius Albinus was the person to whom the horoscope contained in the second book of the Mathesis of Firmicus Maternus referred. Circumstantial evidence led Mommsen to the conclusion that it was the praefectus urbi of the year 336/337 A.D. whose horoscope is discussed in detail by Firmicus. Mommsen did not, however, submit his thesis to the final test: whether or not the astronomical data agree with his hypothesis. It is the purpose of the present note to fill this gap. At the same time I wish to point out how easily problems of this type can be solved without going into a great many unnecessary details which are usually invoked in the dating of horoscopes by professional astronomers who are not familiar with the techniques of ancient astronomy and astrology, techniques which by their approximative character make quite meaningless the application of modern high precision tools.
Growth, Structure, and Vibrational Properties of Few Layer Graphene Grown on Rh(111)

We examine the growth of supported multilayer graphene overlayers on a Rh(111) single crystal substrate. At elevated surface temperatures, ethylene dissociates on the surface and carbon is absorbed into the bulk of the Rh. When the crystal is slowly cooled, the carbon diffuses to the surface and forms multilayer graphene films. The thickness was determined by Auger electron spectroscopy and the surface ordering by He scattering. The top layer is azimuthally aligned with the Rh(111) surface, and the moire pattern due to the lattice mismatch between the Rh and graphite is still visible, though greatly attenuated, for thicknesses up to four layers. We also used He scattering to measure the low-energy vibrations of the surface for both monolayer and multilayer graphene. One set of experiments measured the thermal attenuation of the elastic He scattering. The result was that the monolayer graphene is much “stiffer” (a higher Debye temperature) than even ∼2 layers. We also used time- and angle-resolved inelasti...
Beyond double transitivity: Capacity-achieving cyclic codes on erasure channels

Recently, sequences of error-correcting codes with doubly-transitive permutation groups were shown to achieve capacity on erasure channels under symbol-wise maximum a posteriori (MAP) decoding. From this, it follows that Reed-Muller and primitive narrow-sense BCH codes achieve capacity in the same setting. In this article, we extend this result to a large family of cyclic codes by considering codes whose permutation groups satisfy a condition weaker than double transitivity. The article combines two simple technical contributions. First, we show that the transition width of a monotone boolean function is O(1/log k), where k is the size of the smallest orbit induced by its symmetry group. The proof is based on Talagrand's lower bound on influences for monotone boolean functions. Second, we consider the extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) function of an Fq-linear cyclic code whose blocklength N divides qt − 1 and is coprime with q − 1. We show that this EXIT function is a monotone boolean function whose symmetry group contains no orbits of size smaller than the smallest prime divisor of t. Combining these, we show that sequences of cyclic codes, whose blocklengths satisfy the above conditions, achieve capacity on the q-ary erasure channel if all prime divisors of t tend to infinity.
Contracting for a Return to the USPTO: Inter Partes Reexaminations as the Exclusive Outlet for Licensee Challenges to Patent Validity

Licensing of patents is an important route for socially valuable transfers of rights in intellectual property. The continuing value of patent licenses, however, has been called into doubt in view of the Supreme Court’s recent MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc. decision. That case held that licensees do not have to repudiate their licenses in order to have Article III standing to seek a declaratory judgment on the validity of licensed patents. MedImmune furthers the federal policy, announced in earlier Supreme Court cases such as Lear, Inc. v. Adkins, of helping licensees police the public domain by eliminating contractual and state-law restrictions on their ability to challenge patent validity. This Article seeks to reconcile the tension between societal interests in getting rid of “bad” patents on the one hand, and in promoting the practice of patent licensing on the other. It argues that licensing parties should contract for, and courts should enforce, clauses that require licensees seeking to challenge patent validity to pursue an inter partes reexamination in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This procedure provides an adequate alternative to district court declaratory judgment actions because it retains adversarial features, but does not subject licensees and licensors to the high cost of litigation. The proposed solution is thus desirable as a matter of licensing policy because it would likely help reduce the costs of licensing. More importantly, reexamination-only clauses are probably enforceable in spite of Lear if they are tailored to allow validity challenges prohibited by the reexamination statute to proceed in district courts.
The politics of water conservation: identifying and overcoming barriers to successful policies

Policies that increase the reliance of a water-supply organization (WSO) on water conservation have economic and environmental benefits, but some cities and WSOs have been reluctant to pursue such policies to their full extent. Previous research has identified barriers such as WSOs’ concerns with revenue loss and consumers’ concerns with changes in lifestyle. Based on interviews in four US cities with representatives of local business, government, water supply, environmental and other organizations, our research shows how the reluctance to pursue water conservation policies (WCPs) to their fullest extent is also related to more general political factors. We bring together growth coalition theory and sociotechnical transition theory to show how opposition varies by type of water conservation policy, including the distinction between mandates and flexible policies and between end-use policies and infrastructure policies. This approach shows how the transition to higher levels of water conservation is a political process, and we argue that understanding both the political process and the political meanings of different WCPs provides insights into strategies and their potential efficacy.
Abstract P023: Toll-like Receptor 4 Deficiency Reduces Macrophage Mediated Renal Injury in Ang-II Induced Hypertension

Infiltration of macrophages has been amply demonstrated in the kidney of humans and experimental models of hypertension however, its role in tissue injury and repair remains unclear. Furthermore, recent studies implicate upregulation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and inflammation in hypertension and vascular remodeling. Previously, we observed that C3H/HeJ mice lacking functional TLR4 were hyporesponsive to Ang-II induced hypertension and renal damage. In this study, we hypothesized that TLR4 deficiency inhibits macrophage mediated inflammation and TGF-β-induced fibroblast accumulation to reduce renovascular injury and fibrosis. Male C3H/HeOuJ (functional TLR4) and C3H/HeJ mice (dysfunctional TLR4) aged 8-10 weeks underwent subcutaneous osmotic pump insertion for infusion of Angiotensin-II (Ang-II) at 1000 ng/kg/min or vehicle (0.9% saline) for 4 weeks. Blood pressure (BP) was measured twice weekly by non-invasive tail-cuff plethysmography. Ang-II treatment increased mean BP in both groups but to a greater degree in C3H/HeOuJ mice compared to C3H/HeJ (138.6± 6.3 vs. 103.4±7.2 mm/Hg). Plasma creatinine in saline treated C3H/HeOuJ and C3H/HeJ mice was normal (0.37±0.026 and 0.32±0.023 mg/dL respectively) in contrast to ang-II treated mice (1.34±0.075 vs. 0.78±0.052 mg/dL). Flow cytometry revealed increased F4/80+ and CD40+ cells indicating pro-inflammatory M1 macrophage in Ang-II treated C3H/HeOuJ compared to C3H/HeJ mice. Similarly, Ang-II increased the mRNA and protein expression of CD40, MCP-1, TNF-α and TGF-β in C3H/HeOuJ compared to C3H/HeJ mice. Immunostaining revealed increased colocalization of CD45 and procollagen-1 in renal sections of C3H/HeOuJ mice suggesting increased accumulation of myeloid fibroblasts than in C3H/HeJ mice. The expression of α-smooth muscle actin an indicator of myofibroblast and extracellular matrix proteins, collagen type I and fibronectin (Western blot and immunostaining) was increased in C3H/HeOuJ compared to C3H/HeJ mice. In conclusion, our data suggests that in C3H/HeJ mice, deficiency of functional TLR4 reduces macrophage activation and inflammation which in turn decreases TGF-β-induced renal fibrotic response in Ang-II induced hypertension.
Influence of the heat treatment on the microstructure and machinability of titanium aluminides produced by electron beam melting

Abstract Additive manufacturing (AM) has been emerging as a promising fabrication technology for polymers and metal products. This technology is able to fabricate complex shape components with high geometrical freedom and allows to reduce the overall waste material, as the powder can be recycled several times, and time from drawing to production can be consistently reduced. In the case of materials for aerospace applications, like TiAl alloys, conventional machining is needed to obtain the required surface finish. The machinability is strongly dependent on the specific alloys and on the production technology used, leading to different microstructures, that can be tuned undergoing the alloys to several treatments after the AM process. The paper focus on the effect of post processing treatment on hardness, structural properties and machinability of Ti48Al2Nb2Cr obtained by electron beam melting process. Untreated and heat treated alloys were considered. Turning tests were carried out under dry conditions by using cemented carbides cutting tools coated with TiCN-Al2O3-TiN. The structure, microstructure and hardness of the material were studied and related to machinability, that was evaluated in terms of tool life and surface integrity, focusing on both surface and sub-surface alterations. Tool wear, cutting forces, chip morphology and surface roughness were also analyzed. Adhesion prevailed on abrasion as main wear phenomenon, leading to cutting edge breaking. Results indicated a higher machinability of the alloys that underwent post processing treatment because of the different microstructure and crystalline phases induced. Indeed, α2 and β phases present in heat treated material enhanced the formation of built up edge, acting as protective layer and then slowing down the degradation phenomena. Also the lower porosity leaded to a lower diffusion phenomenon, positively affecting the tool life.
Neural Dynamic Model for Optimization of Complex Systems

On September 29, 1998, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a new patent under the title “Method and apparatus for efficient design automation and optimization, and structure produced thereby”. The inventors are Hojjat Adeli and H.S. Park. In this Plenary Lecture we present this patent and its application to design automation and optimization of large one-of-a-kind engineering systems. We also show the successful application of this model to another nonlinear optimization problem, construction scheduling and cost optimization.
Cell Collaboration in the Antibody Response: Role of Adherent Cells

Abstract The division of lymphoid cells into two populations, B lymphocytes responsible for antibody production and T lymphocytes that provide help, stimulated additional functional studies. Observations of lymphoid tissue during an immune response showed that most injected antigen ended up in cells that histologically resembled macrophages. These antigen depots were surrounded by lymphocytes. By the early 1960s, data suggesting that macrophages provided RNA or RNA-antigen fragments to antibody-forming lymphocytes led to the postulate that macrophages provide information about the antigen binding site of the antibody. This view was consistent with the instruction hypothesis of antibody formation. Don Mosier in the late 1960s separated spleen cells based on their adhesion to plastic and demonstrated that both cell types are required for antibody formation. While the nonadherent cells were identified as lymphocytes, the role and identification of the adherent cells required further characterization. The function of adherent, antigen-presenting cells in initiating adaptive IRs was demonstrated in the late 1970s when the concept of major histocompatibility complex restriction was confirmed ( Chapter 20 ) while the relationship between adherent cells and dendritic cells ( Chapter 29 ) was revealed during the 1970s and 1980s.
“Mais Personne Ne Paraissait Comprendre” (“But no one Seemed to Understand”): Atheism, Nihilism, and Hermeneutics in Albert Camus’ L’étranger/The Stranger

Meursault, the protagonist in Albert Camus’ The Stranger, is a peculiar man with provocative views that invite intense philosophical debate. On the one hand, he believes that the reflective life is not worth pursuing, he rejects the sacrifice of Jesus, he denies the existence of God, and he asserts that life is not worth the trouble of living it. On the other hand, as a condemned murderer awaiting execution, he seems to find the inner peace to accept the alleged indifference of things. In doing so, Meursault becomes for some readers not only a literary protagonist but also an existentialist hero, that is, someone whose thoughts and actions are deemed worthy of admiration and emulation: a modern Sisyphus, a rebel with a cause, a courageous man who lives a meaningless life and dies a happy death. With Meursault, thus the reading, Camus has created a figure whose firm view that ‘life is absurd’ gets established as philosophically defensible and even as intellectually respectable. In this paper, I challenge this interpretation by suggesting that there is a sustainable reading of The Stranger according to which, far from endorsing Meursault’s absurdist worldview, Camus inspires the readers to rise to a level of reflection higher than that of Meursault, from which his views can be critically regarded, judiciously examined, and ultimately rejected as philosophically inadequate. More precisely, I suggest that there is a tenable explication of The Stranger according to which Camus is not defending Meursault’s absurdist worldview but reducing it to the absurd. Yet, in proposing that it is possible to understand Meursault differently from how he does himself, I am not speculating that understanding The Stranger depends on understanding Camus better than he did himself, for example, by retrieving his original intent in creating his chief character. To the contrary, my focus is on the possible hermeneutical effect of the text on the readers and on their potential hermeneutical responses to it. Yet I do concede that my reading also amounts to an attempt to understand Meursault differently from the way in which Camus apparently did.
Search for a Θ++ pentaquark state

Abstract Recent reports about the Θ + (formerly known as Z + ), a pentaquark state, have awakened public opinion. We report our findings in search of a Θ + + state in the reaction γ p → Θ + + K − from our analysis of CLAS data. The existence or nonexistence of this state might resolve the question of the isotensor states.
Balanced Growth Rates vs. Balanced Accelerations as Causes of Ecological Equilibria

Trophic equilibrium has been traditionally viewed as a balance of causes influencing the growth rate of populations. It has been recently proposed to view it as a balance of causes influencing the acceleration of the population size (Ginzburg, 1986). Arguments in favor of the proposed view are presented. Date from population growth experiments with brown and green hydra as well as some literature data support the arguments.
Proteasome Inhibitors and Lessons Learned from Their Mechanisms of Action and Resistance in Human Cancer

Selective protein degradation by the ubiquitin–proteasome pathway (UPP) is critical to cellular homeostasis, and dysregulation of the UPP has been associated with human diseases including cancer. Proteasome inhibition as a strategy for cancer treatment was validated by the US Food and Drug Administration approval of the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib for the treatment of multiple myeloma in 2003. After 10 years of success, bortezomib and its combinational therapies have become a staple for treating relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Unfortunately, bortezomib has several limitations, including, most notably, the emergence of resistance. To overcome bortezomib resistance, several approaches have been taken, including the development of novel second-generation proteasome inhibitors, application of rationalized bortezomib-based combinational therapies, and targeting sites outside the proteasomal core as well as factors involved in resistance mechanisms. Further understanding the mechanisms of resistance to proteasome inhibitors in human cancers will significantly improve current proteasome inhibitor therapies and patient care.
Three-Dimensional Ultrasound Imaging of Inferior Vena Cava Outperforms Standard Two-Dimensional Imaging as a Diagnostic Tool in Heart Failure

Background Right atrial pressure (RAP) and intravascular volume status are estimated by echocardiography with 2D imaging of inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter and collapsibility. 3D imaging can avoid misalignment and likely achieve more accurate length measurements. We sought to compare the diagnostic performance of 2D- and 3D-derived IVC measurements with regard to clinical parameters associated with heart failure (HF). We also assessed the degree of discordance between the two methods. Methods 200 patients had 2D and 3D subcostal IVC imaging performed before and after inspiratory sniff. Images were acquired using Philips iE33 and EPIQ7 systems and analyzed using QLAB v10.3 (Andover, MA). RAP was categorized as normal, mildly elevated, or elevated according to 2015 ASE guidelines. The reference 2D diameter limit was 2.1 cm and corresponding 3D-derived cross-sectional major axis (2.7 cm) and minor axis (1.9 cm) limits were obtained by regression analysis. Collapsibility index (CI) was calculated along each 2D and 3D axis direction. Sphericity index (SI) was calculated as the ratio of minor to major axis lengths and IVCs were categorized as either spherical (SI ≥ 0.7) or elliptical (SI Results 2D IVC diameter was 2.0 ± 0.6 cm, while 3D major and minor axes were 2.7 ± 0.7 cm and 1.9 ± 0.6 cm. 2D RAP category concordance with 3D major and minor axis RAP categories was 43% and 63%, respectively. CI was different along 3D major (44 ± 19%) and minor axes (52 ± 21%; p Table 1 . Conclusions Echocardiographic 2D- and 3D-derived categorization of RAP was discordant in roughly half of the analyzed cases. Collapsibility differs along the major and minor axes of the IVC. Vessel sphericity influences the discrepancies between 2D and 3D measurements. Furthermore, 3D cross-sectional IVC area outperformed standard 2D IVC diameter for predicting certain clinical variables. Since the IVC is typically dynamic and often non-cylindrical in shape, cross-sectional measurements by 3D imaging may provide greater fidelity in classifying RAP.
Student pharmacists’ experiences of teamwork in a quality improvement course

Abstract Introduction Student pharmacists need to work in teams in the educational and practice settings, but there is limited information on their teamwork experiences in the published literature. The study objective was to assess second-year (P2) student pharmacists’ teamwork experiences in an experiential quality improvement (QI) course. Methods A retrospective pre-post survey was conducted with P2 students to assess teamwork experience attitudes. Students reported their agreement with 17 statements about teamwork, first after the project was planned and again after the project was complete. A Kuder-Richardson 20 score was calculated to assess internal consistency. Differences between pre- and post- groups for each teamwork item were assessed using McNemar's test. An alpha level of 0.05 was used, and a Bonferroni correction was applied for multiple comparisons. Results Sixty P2 students (50%) responded to the survey. After the project was complete, the majority indicated agreement with good teamwork qualities and disagreement with poor teamwork qualities for most items. More than 60% of respondents indicated they would like to do collaborative work again while 20% of respondents indicated imbalances in member contributions caused conflict within the team. Conclusions The majority of student pharmacists in this investigation had positive experiences working in teams, but new important findings from this study indicate that further work is needed to prevent imbalances in team-member contributions and to encourage students to work on future collaborative projects in some cases.
Pain Assessment: Use of the Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale in Patients With Cancer.

Background Thorough, consistent pain assessment and reassessment are critical to guide and evaluate interventions designed to improve pain. Objectives Based on a literature review about functional pain assessment, clinicians selected and then implemented the Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS) as a pain assessment instrument option in a comprehensive cancer center. Methods The DVPRS was added as a pain assessment instrument in clinical oncology practice. From postimplementation chart review and clinician satisfaction surveys, the DVPRS was evaluated for the following. Findings Seventy-eight percent of nurses surveyed (N = 64) preferred the DVPRS over any other pain assessment tool. Inpatient and ambulatory patients surveyed (N = 144) agreed that a Likert-type scale in the DVPRS was easier to understand, easier to use, and better in describing their pain than the numeric rating scale.
Insider/Outsiders, Reproductive (In)justice, and the U.S.-Mexico Border

In this article, we combine narrative and visual elements - our experiences as scholars in reproductive justice, health communication, and border studies coupled with photos from reproductive justice activist marches we attended in El Paso and Houston - to advocate for a stronger coalition between health communication scholars and Latina/o communication scholars in responding to and resisting reproductive injustices and gendered violence currently occurring at the U.S.-Mexico border.
An Experiential Science Curriculum for the Visually Impaired.

Adaptation and evaluation of a materials centered experiential curriculum for elementary age visually impaired children is described. The adaptations of both the physical and the life science units can be used in classes with one or two visually impaired students and in classes of all visually impaired students. Evaluation measures were designed to assess the major objectives of each unit. Classroom trials of two of the adapted units revealed that visually impaired students made significant gains in understanding both content and process objectives of the units.
Evidence of evolutionary selection for cotranslational folding

Recent experiments and simulations have demonstrated that proteins can fold on the ribosome. However, the extent and generality of fitness effects resulting from cotranslational folding remain open questions. Here we report a genome-wide analysis that uncovers evidence of evolutionary selection for cotranslational folding. We describe a robust statistical approach to identify loci within genes that are both significantly enriched in slowly translated codons and evolutionarily conserved. Surprisingly, we find that domain boundaries can explain only a small fraction of these conserved loci. Instead, we propose that regions enriched in slowly translated codons are associated with cotranslational folding intermediates, which may be smaller than a single domain. We show that the intermediates predicted by a native-centric model of cotranslational folding account for the majority of these loci across more than 500 Escherichia coli proteins. By making a direct connection to protein folding, this analysis provides strong evidence that many synonymous substitutions have been selected to optimize translation rates at specific locations within genes. More generally, our results indicate that kinetics, and not just thermodynamics, can significantly alter the efficiency of self-assembly in a biological context.
Journalists on Twitter: self-branding, audiences, and involvement of bots

Spread of news and misinformation on social networks have been a topic of extensive study in the recent years. There are concerns about the possibility of ongoing information operations, which has lead to studies on a wide scope including the truthfulness of content and the participation of social bots in the process. Studying how online entities of journalists is embedded in the Twitter network is crucial for understanding the core of this problem, since they hold a valuable broadcast platform in informing the public. In this work, we collected over 290,000 accounts that self-identify as a journalist or a reporter and analyzed their professional and follower networks on the platform. Twitter follower composition of journalists reflect their potential audiences and who disseminates their messages further on the network. It is essential for a journalist to reach a broad, organic readership as opposed to a following of bots and bot-assisted accounts. We looked at the followers of journalists for an analysis of the composition and evolution of their audiences, particularly looking out for social bot involvement. We found the trends for verified and non-verified accounts to be opposite of each other; among verified accounts bot follower tend to target more popular ones, whereas unverified accounts have a higher fraction of bot followers early on when they have fewer followers, possibly indicating attempts at boosting apparent popularity artificially. Outcomes of this research emphasize the importance of editorial oversight and that the prestige of journalists should not be confused with their apparent popularity online.
From Big to Small Cities: A Qualitative Analysis of the Causes and Outcomes of Post‐Recession Municipal Bankruptcies

Two cities loom large in the history of American urban restructuring. New York City's 1975 technical bankruptcy and Detroit's 2013 Chapter 9 bankruptcy have played an oversized role in urban theory...
Blood Viscosity in Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia

Erythrocytes and plasma proteins contribute to viscosity of blood. Therefore, blood viscosity was measured in 16 persons with macroglobulinemia with a cone-plate viscometer at defined shear rates. In each person a significant correlation ( p < 0.001) was found between hematocrit and the logarithm of blood viscosity. The regression equation of this relationship in each patient was used to calculate the blood viscosity at several hematocrits. The blood viscosity at a given shear rate and constant hematocrit was significantly correlated ( p < 0.001) with the plasma macroglobulin concentration in g/100 ml. The plasma of patients with macroglobulinemia is a non-Newtonian fluid, but at a given shear rate the plasma viscosity is a function of the macroglobulin concentration. These observations allowed the construction of an equation for calculation of blood viscosity in patients with macroglobulinemia when the hematocrit and plasma macroglobulin concentrations are known.
Ergonomics in Dermatologic Surgery: Lessons Learned Across Related Specialties and Opportunities for Improvement.

Background As the practice of dermatology becomes increasingly procedurally based, there is a concordant rise in musculoskeletal injury (MSI) risk. Dermatologic surgeons are most susceptible and, although the majority suffer from MSI, few have received any formal ergonomics training. This stems from a lack of awareness of this troubling trend and a paucity of research and education on the ergonomics of dermatologic surgery. Objective To highlight pertinent ergonomics principles and strategies from other specialties that could be translated into dermatology, and to synthesize general recommendations aimed at reducing MSI among dermatologic surgeons. Materials and methods A comprehensive search of the PubMed and Cochrane Reviews databases from 1975 to 2019 was conducted, using a combination of ergonomics-related search terms, generating 6 publications from the dermatology literature and 58 from the fields of dentistry, medicine, and select surgical subspecialties. Results This multidisciplinary approach yielded multiple interventions that could be applied directly (i.e., adequate lighting, adjustable operating tables, and surgical seat heights) or indirectly pending further investigation into their feasibility (i.e., video displays of the surgical field to allow neutral head and neck postures). Conclusion Although much can be learned from decades of prior ergonomics research from other specialties, considerations that are unique to dermatology remain and must be addressed with specialty-specific research.
Alterations of Serum Ser312-Phosphorylated Fetuin-A from Exercise-Induced Moderate Body Weight Loss in Individuals with Obesity.

Objective Phosphorylated fetuin-A (pFet-A) inhibits insulin action and has been shown to be associated with obesity and insulin resistance. The objective of this cohort study was to assess the effect of incremental body weight loss on alterations in serum pFet-A and indexes of insulin sensitivity. Methods A total of 16 men with obesity attained a targeted weight loss of 8% to 10% of their initial body weight by achieving an energy expenditure/deficit of 2,000 to 2,500 kcal/wk. Anthropometric assessments and blood samples were obtained every 4 weeks. Weight loss was calculated and partitioned as 2% to 4%, 4% to 6%, 6% to 8%, and 8% to 10% compared with initial body weight. Results Targeted body weight loss of 8% to 10% decreased serum pFet-A, pFet-A:Fet-A ratio, fasting insulin, log(homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance), quantitative insulin sensitivity check index, adipose insulin resistance, and insulin resistance index significantly. Percent changes in serum pFet-A were associated with percent changes in indexes of insulin sensitivity. Unlike insulin sensitivity indexes, which were altered starting with 6% to 8% weight loss, serum pFet-A levels were significantly decreased by 19.6% starting with 2% to 4% weight loss and decreased by 25.6%, 36.8%, and 42.3% with 4% to 6%, 6% to 8%, and 8% to 10% weight loss, respectively. Conclusions This study reports for the first time that the insulin-sensitizing effects of moderate weight loss are associated with a reduction in serum pFet-A levels.
The Management of Vesicoureteral Reflux in Children with Myelodysplasia

We treated systematically 36 children with myelodysplasia and vesicoureteral reflux in an attempt to control infection, eliminate reflux and preserve renal function without diversion. The reflux resolved in 9 of 21 children on intermittent catheterization and remained stable without recurrent infection in an additional 7. Cutaneous vesicostomy in 6 infants temporarily eliminated reflux in 3. Ureteral reimplantation was performed in 11 children (17 ureters) and was successful in all. Transureteroureterostomy was done in 2 children. External sphincterotomy failed to cure reflux in 5 children. Five infants with mild grades of reflux were managed expectantly and 1 had spontaneous resolution of the reflux. Over-all, this systematic approach resulted in cure in 23 patients (64 per cent), stable but persistent reflux without recurrent infection or renal deterioration in 11 (30 per cent) and failure in 2 (6 per cent). No child required urinary diversion. The indications for each treatment modality are discussed.
Single-center phase I/Ib study of concurrent intrathecal (IT) and intravenous (IV) nivolumab (N) for metastatic melanoma (MM) patients (pts) with leptomeningeal disease (LMD).

10008Background: MM pts with LMD have a dismal prognosis, with a median overall survival (OS) < 3 months and no approved therapies. IT administration of interleukin-2 (IL2) achieves survival in ~15...
CODA-19: Using a Non-Expert Crowd to Annotate Research Aspects on 10,000+ Abstracts in the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset

This paper introduces CODA-19, a human-annotated dataset that codes the Background, Purpose, Method, Finding/Contribution, and Other sections of 10,966 English abstracts in the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset. CODA-19 was created by 248 crowd workers from Amazon Mechanical Turk within 10 days, and achieved labeling quality comparable to that of experts. Each abstract was annotated by nine different workers, and the final labels were acquired by majority vote. The inter-annotator agreement (Cohen's kappa) between the crowd and the biomedical expert (0.741) is comparable to inter-expert agreement (0.788). CODA-19's labels have an accuracy of 82.2% when compared to the biomedical expert's labels, while the accuracy between experts was 85.0%. Reliable human annotations help scientists access and integrate the rapidly accelerating coronavirus literature, and also serve as the battery of AI/NLP research, but obtaining expert annotations can be slow. We demonstrated that a non-expert crowd can be rapidly employed at scale to join the fight against COVID-19.
Evidence-Based Therapies for Children and Adolescents: Where Are We Going?

As attested in the pages of this handbook, the applied field of clinical child and adolescent psychology continues to witness tremendous growth. The empirical support for the range of therapeutic approaches for behavioral, developmental, and emotional problems in children and adolescents has expanded in response to changes in diagnostic systems, methodological approaches, and new evidence regarding treatment efficacy and effectiveness. This chapter concludes the handbook by outlining some potential avenues on how the field can improve its science, and the application of the science to children and families in need. The chapter provides examples of where the health professions are advancing knowledge and applications. The research base needs further development and refined application to accommodate a greater range of diagnoses, treatments, clinician and patient characteristics, clinical practice settings, and service delivery organizations. Advances will assist clinicians, patients, and families in making well-informed decisions and helping reduce the burden of mental health problems. The extension of these evidence-based principles to more diverse populations of children and youth, as well as the more efficient, creative evaluation and application of these principles represent positive developments that the profession and society can expect to develop and evolve to improve the human condition.
A disturbance corrected point-particle approach for two-way coupled particle-laden flows on arbitrary shaped grids

Abstract A general, two-way coupled, point-particle formulation that accounts for the disturbance created by the dispersed particles in obtaining the undisturbed fluid flow field needed for accurate computation of the force closure models is presented. Specifically, equations for the disturbance field created by the presence of particles are first derived based on the inter-phase momentum coupling force in a finite-volume formulation. Solution to the disturbance field is obtained using two approaches: (i) direct computation of the disturbance velocity and pressure using the reaction force due to particles at computational control volumes, and (ii) a linearized, approximate computation of the disturbance velocity field, specifically applicable for low Reynolds number flows. In both approaches, the computed disturbance field is used to obtain the undisturbed fluid velocity necessary to model the aerodynamic forces on the particle. The two approaches are thoroughly evaluated for a single particle in an unbounded and wall-bounded flow on uniform, anisotropic, as well as unstructured grids to show accurate computation of the particle motion and inter-phase coupling. The approach is straightforward and can be applied to any Euler-Lagrange formulations of particle-laden flows.
Reversing Sahelian Droughts

Earth system modeling of climate geoengineering proposals suggests that the physical outcomes of such interventions will depend on the particulars of the implementation. Here, we present a first at...
Physician agency, consumerism, and the consumption of lower-limb MRI scans.

Abstract We study where privately insured individuals receive planned MRI scans. Despite significant out-of-pocket costs for this undifferentiated service, privately insured patients often receive care in high-priced locations when lower priced options were available. The median patient in our data has 16 MRI providers within a 30-minute drive of her home. On average, patients bypass 6 lower-priced providers between their homes and their actual treatment locations. Referring physicians heavily influence where patients receive care. The share of the variance in the prices of patients’ MRI scans that referrer fixed effects (52 percent) explain is dramatically greater than the share explained by patient cost-sharing (
Aerosol Generation and Mitigation During Methacholine Bronchoprovocation Testing: Infection Control Implications in the Era of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Methacholine bronchoprovocation or challenge testing (MCT) is commonly performed to assess airway hyper-responsiveness in the setting of suspected asthma. Nebulization is an aerosol-generating procedure, but little is known about the risks of MCT in the context of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We aimed to quantify and characterize aerosol generation during MCT by using different delivery methods and to assess the impact of adding a viral filter. METHODS: Seven healthy subjects performed simulated MCT in a near particle-free laboratory space with 4 different nebulizers and with a dosimeter. Two devices continuously sampled the ambient air during the procedure, which detected ultrafine particles, from 0.02-1 µm, and particles of sizes 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 5.0, and 10 µm, respectively. Particle generation was compared among all the devices, with and without viral filter placement. RESULTS: Ultrafine-particle generation during simulated MCT was significant across all the devices. Ultrafine-particle (0.02-1 µm) concentrations decreased 77%-91% with the addition of a viral filter and varied significantly between unfiltered (P < .001) and filtered devices (P < .001). Ultrafine-particle generation was lowest when using the dosimeter with filtered Hudson nebulizer (1,258 ± 1,644 particle/mL). Ultrafine-particle concentrations with the filtered nebulizer devices using a compressor were higher than particle concentrations detected when using the dosimeter: Monaghan (3,472 ± 1,794 particles/mL), PARI (4,403 ± 2,948), Hudson (6,320 ± 1,787) and AirLife (9,523 ± 5,098). CONCLUSIONS: The high particle concentrations generated during MCT pose significant infection control concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Particle generation during MCT was significantly reduced by using breath-actuated delivery and a viral filter, which offers an effective mitigation strategy.
Mechanics of Continuum Robots with External Loading and General Tendon Routing

Routing tendons in straight paths along an elastic backbone is a widely used method of actuation for continuum robots. Tendon routing paths which are general curves in space enable a much larger family of robots to be designed, with configuration spaces and workspaces that are unattainable with straight tendon routing. Harnessing general tendon routing to extend the capabilities of continuum robots requires a model for the kinematics and statics of the robot, which is the primary focus of this paper. Our approach is to couple the classical Cosserat theories of strings and rods using a geometrically exact derivation of the distributed loads that the tendons impose along the robot. Experiments demonstrate that the model accurately predicts tip position to 1.7% of the total arc length, on a prototype robot that includes both straight and helical tendon routing and is subject to both point and distributed loads.
High-LET charged particle radiotherapy

The Department of Radiation Oncology at UCSF Medical Center and the Radiation Oncology Department at UC Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory have been evaluating the use of high LET charged particle radiotherapy in a Phase 1--2 research trial ongoing since 1979. In this clinical trail, 239 patients have received at least 10 Gy (physical) minimum tumor dose with neon ions, meaning that at least one-half of their total treatment was given with high-LET charged particle therapy. Ninety-one patients received all of their therapy with neon ions. Of the 239 patients irradiated, target sites included lesions in the skin, subcutaneous tissues, head and neck such as paranasal sinuses, nasopharynx and salivary glands (major and minor), skull base and juxtaspinal area, GI tract including esophagus, pancreas and biliary tract, prostate, lung, soft tissue and bone. Analysis of these patients has been carried out with a minimum followup period of 2 years.
On the role of utility framing in smart grid energy storage management

In this paper, the problem of optimally charging or discharging customer-owned storage units in a smart grid is studied. In particular, a noncooperative game is formulated between customers equipped with distributed storage units who seek to decide on their optimal charging strategy so as to optimize a utility that reflects both the monetary benefit from the charging/ discharging operation and the associated penalty from power regulation. In contrast to the traditional game-theoretic models that are often based on rational and objective decisions, we introduce the behavioral framework of prospect theory (PT) so as to explicitly incorporate how the customers estimate their utilities with respect to their real-world considerations of gains and losses. The existence of the mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium is shown for the PT case and the properties of the game are analyzed under both PT and classical game theory. Simulation results show how the individual customer perceptions on their utilities can significantly impact the overall charging and discharging operations.
Chlorine Oxygen Acids and Salts, Chlorous Acid, Chlorites, and Chlorine Dioxide

Chlorine dioxide is finding increasing use as an oxidizing bleaching agent in the pulp and paper industry, replacing chlorine gas and aqueous sodium hypochlorite. Chlorine dioxide significantly reduces the quantity of adsorbable organically bound halide (AOX) effluents produced in the paper pulp bleaching process while producing high brightness paper with excellent mechanical strength. Increasing chlorine dioxide bleaching substitution levels in the pulp mills as well as the need for a chlorine-free gas for bleaching are the driving forces for design/process changes in the commercial chlorine dioxide generators that use sodium chlorate. Chlorine dioxide is also increasing in usage as a disinfectant or biocide in municipal and industrial water treatment as well as an oxidizer in oil field and pollution abatement processes. Sodium chlorite is the choice precursor chemical for generating chlorine dioxide gas in quantities of less than about 2000 kg/d. Chlorine dioxide has been shown to be an effective biocide as well as an effective oxidizer for the control of total trihalomethanes, in drinking water treatment to meet USEPA drinking water regulations. Methods for the removal of the disinfection by-products produced from chlorine dioxide treatment, such as chlorite and chlorate, are being developed to alleviate toxicological concerns about their presence in drinking water. Keywords: Chlorine dioxide; Reductants; Pulp bleaching; Biocide; Sulfur dioxide; Sodium chlorite; Disinfection; Water treatment
Impact of Gravel Mining on River System Stability

Data from the Lower Mississippi River are presented and analyzed relative to trends which may be attributed, in part, to the removal of the gravel armor from the bed of the river by gravel mining. A significant change with time of both the size and gradation of the bed material of the Lower Mississippi River is documented. The data presented indicate a possible relationship between gravel mining and the development of divided flow reaches. While the available data are not sufficient to establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between gravel mining and river system instability, the correlation is sufficient to serve as a warning of a potentially serious problem. The indiscriminate removal of gravel from river beds may be activating far-reaching changes in system morphology.