cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Patient versus partner perception of voice handicap.

Summary The primary purpose of this study was to compare patient's and communication partner's perceptions of handicap secondary to dysphonia. A secondary purpose was to compare patient health-related quality of life (HRQOL) to that of speakers with normal voice. Participants were 20 adults (mean age = 69.15 years) with dysphonia and their communication partners. Patients completed the Voice Handicap Index (VHI), a questionnaire of self-perceived voice handicap, and the Short-Form 36 (SF-36), a general health questionnaire. Partners completed the Voice Handicap Index-Partner (VHI-P), a questionnaire derived from the VHI for this pilot study, to gauge partner perception of voice handicap. Patients in this study viewed themselves as only moderately handicapped by their dysphonia and their partners were in close agreement. Patients and their partners were also in close agreement on each of three VHI subscales (physical, functional, and emotional), and in all cases the physical domain was perceived by both patients and their partners to be most handicapped. Patients had lower SF-36 mean scores than those of persons with normal voice from the general U.S. population on scales assessing physical functioning, physical role, general health, vitality, social functioning, emotional role, and mental health. The results of this study are consistent with previous studies examining patient-partner agreement, which consider proxy ratings to be a useful alternative or collaborative source of patient's self-perception. Further research regarding the reliability of patient and partner agreement is necessary to most effectively assess and manage patients with dysphonia.
Assessment of Delirium in the Intensive Care Unit: Nursing Practices And Perceptions

BACKGROUND: Despite practice guidelines promoting delirium assessment in intensive care, few data exist regarding current delirium assessment practices among nurses and how these practices compare with those for sedation assessment. OBJECTIVES: To identify current practices and perceptions of intensive care nurses regarding delirium assessment and to compare practices for assessing delirium with practices for assessing sedation. METHODS: A paper/Web-based survey was administered to 601 staff nurses working in 16 intensive care units at 5 acute care hospitals with sedation guidelines specifying delirium assessment in the Boston, Massachusetts area. RESULTS: Overall, 331 nurses (55%) responded. Only 3% ranked delirium as the most important condition to evaluate, compared with altered level of consciousness (44%), presence of pain (23%), or improper placement of an invasive device (21%). Delirium assessment was less common than sedation assessment (47% vs 98%, P < .001) and was more common among nurses who worked in medical intensive care units (55% vs 40%, P = .03) and at academic centers (53% vs 13%, P < .001). Preferred methods for assessing delirium included assessing ability to follow commands (78%), checking for agitation-related events (71%), the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (36%), the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (11%), and psychiatric consultation (9%). Barriers to assessment included intubation (38%), complexity of the tool for assessing delirium (34%), and sedation level (13%). CONCLUSIONS: Practice and perceptions of delirium assessment vary widely among critical care nurses despite the presence of institutional sedation guidelines that promote delirium assessment.
Improving MPI Independent Write Performance Using A Two-Stage Write-Behind Buffering Method

Many large-scale production applications often have very long executions times and require periodic data checkpoints in order to save the state of the computation for program restart and/or tracing application progress. These write-only operations often dominate the overall application runtime, which makes them a good optimization target. Existing approaches for write-behind data buffering at the MPI I/O level have been proposed, but challenges still exist for addressing system-level I/O issues. We propose a two-stage write-behind buffering scheme for handing checkpoint operations. The first-stage of buffering accumulates write data for better network utilization and the second-stage of buffering enables the alignment for the write requests to the file stripe boundaries. Aligned I/O requests avoid file lock contention that can seriously degrade I/O performance. We present our performance evaluation using BTIO benchmarks on both GPFS and Lustre file systems. With the two-stage buffering, the performance of BTIO through MPI independent I/O is significantly improved and even surpasses that of collective I/O.
Aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols under mild aqueous conditions promoted by a dinuclear copper(II) complex

Abstract A sugar-discriminating dinuclear copper(II) complex was investigated for its ability to promote aerobic oxidation of primary benzylic alcohols in the presence of TEMPO and base. The transformation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde was chosen as exploratory model reaction. The constitution of the catalytically active species was deducted from isothermal titration calorimetry and kinetic experiments, and the catalytic reaction was characterized both in aqueous organic and aqueous solution. The dinuclear complex is found to selectively oxidize primary over secondary alcohols in aqueous solution at ambient temperature with a turnover rate of 9 h −1 . A mechanism for the catalytic cycle is proposed.
Drift chamber vertex detectors for SLC/LEP☆

Abstract Factors influencing the design of drift chamber vertex detectors for SLC and LEP are discussed including global strategy, chamber gas, cell design, and signal processing. The designs of the vertex chambers for the L3 and OPAL experiments at LEP and the Mark II experiment at the SLC are described.
Telepsychiatry by APRNs: An Answer to the Shortage of Pediatric Providers?

Approximately 20% of US children have a mental health condition, but only a fraction of that population receives care. Inequitable distribution of the limited number of child and adolescent psychiatric providers is partly to blame. Telepsychiatry offers a way to increase access to mental health services for those that are currently underserved. Published literature demonstrates high levels of patient and provider satisfaction for telepsychiatry with children. However, providers in these studies are primarily telepsychologists or telepychiatrists, not advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). This article describes the services of a nurse practitioner providing pediatric telepsychiatry and gives the results from a parental satisfaction survey that evaluated both the modality and the provider. The survey, previously validated, used a 5-point Likert scale to assess strong disagreement to strong agreement on 12 statements followed by a section for comments and suggestions. Results of the survey showed high levels of parental satisfaction with the modality and the provider. Specific details on parental satisfaction with technical functioning, comfort level, and access to care, as well as patient characteristics and service types, are presented.
Role of PTIP in Class Switch Recombination and Long-Range Chromatin Interactions at the Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain Locus

How distal transcriptional enhancer sequences interact with proximal promoters is poorly understood within the context of chromatin. In this report, we have used the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus to address the role of the PTIP protein in transcription regulation and class switch recombination in B cells, a process that depends on regulated transcription and DNA recombination via Pax5 and distal 3′ enhancer sequences. We first show that PTIP is recruited to a Pax5 binding site to promote histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methylation. Using a CD19-Cre driver strain, we deleted PTIP in mature B cells. Loss of PTIP inhibited class switch recombination by suppressing transcription and histone H3K4 methylation at the germ line transcript promoters. In the absence of PTIP, Pax5 binding to the promoter regions is reduced and long-range chromatin interactions between the distal enhancer at the 3′ regulatory region and the germ line transcript promoters are not detected. We propose a model whereby PTIP stabilizes the Pax5 DNA interactions that promote chromatin looping and regulate transcriptional responses needed for class switch recombination.
Cross-Industry Characterization of Spacecraft Integration and Test Discrepancies: Transforming Discrepancies into Product Development Improvements

This paper presents the results of cross-sector benchmarking research on discrepancies encountered during spacecraft system-level integration and test. Analysis results demonstrate which subsystems have the highest occurrence of discrepancies, which integration and test environments precipitate the greatest number of discrepancies, and what the leading causes are of discrepancies. In addition, the paper presents cost data for spacecraft discrepancies, and concludes with a discussion of important factors to consider in evaluating the costbenefit trade of upstream preventative investment to avoid problems before they occur versus downstream reactive measures after problems occur.
Role of School Counselors in Creating Equitable— Educational Opportunities for Students With Disabilities in Urban Settings

This article will explore the school counselor’s role of advocate, champion of social justice, social change agent, and urban school counselor to empower marginalized students, specifically those w...
Isotonic single-index model for high-dimensional database marketing

While database marketers collect vast amounts of customer transaction data, its utilization to improve marketing decisions presents problems. Marketers seek to extract relevant information from large databases by identifying signi6cant variables and prospective customers. In small databases, they could calibrate logistic regression models via maximum-likelihood methods to determine signi6cant variables and assess customer’s response probability. For large databases, however, this approach becomes computationally too intensive to implement in real-time, and so marketers prefer estimation methods that are scalable to high-dimensional databases. In addition, database marketing is practiced in diverse product-markets, and so marketers prefer probability models that are #exible rather than restrict to speci6c distributions (e.g., logistic). To incorporate scalability and 9exibility, we propose isotonic single-index models for database marketing. It furnishes the 6rst projective approximation to a general p-variate function. Its link function is order-preserving (i.e., isotonic), thus encompassing all proper distribution functions. We develop a direct approach for its estimation: we 6rst estimate the orientation of high-dimensional parameter vector without specifying the link function (via sliced inverse regression), and then estimate the non-decreasing link function (via isotonic regression). We illustrate its practical use by analyzing a high-dimensional customer transaction database. This approach yields dimension reduction both column- and row-wise; that is, we not only discover signi6cant variables in a large transaction database, but also prioritize customers into a few distinct groups based on estimated response probability (to enable direct mailing of catalogs). c 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Distribution of endoplasmic reticulum and calciosome markers in membrane fractions isolated from different regions of the canine brain.

Four regions of the canine brain (frontal lobe, parieto-occipital lobe, brainstem, and cerebellum) were each fractionated by differential centrifugation into a crude mitochondrial pellet (P2) and a crude microsomal pellet (P3). Markers of endoplasmic reticulum (glucose-6-phosphate phosphatase and rotenone-insensitive NADPH cytochrome c reductase) and markers of the 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-sensitive Ca2+ store ([3H]IP3 binding and IP3-induced Ca2+ release) were measured. No correlation was found between the two classes of markers, which suggests that the IP3 receptor does not belong to the endoplasmic reticulum in canine brain. Cerebellum P2 and P3 fractions displayed levels of [3H]IP3 binding 10- to 30-fold higher, and rates of IP3-induced Ca2+ release > 15-fold faster than the homologous cerebrum and brainstem fractions. Actively accumulated Ca2+ was only partially released by IP3, both before and after saponin disruption of the plasma membrane compartment. The proportion of the IP3-sensitive Ca2+ store relative to that of the total (IP3-sensitive and IP3-insensitive) Ca2+ store was variable; i.e., it was larger in cerebellum P2 (approximately 90%) than in cerebrum fractions (<30%). Cerebellum fractions constitute the best source from which an IP3-sensitive Ca2+ storing organelle can be purified.
An island detection demonstration on a laboratory sized power Grid (LabGrid)

A trend away from large conventional electrical power generation stations such as hydro, coal-fired, and nuclear toward smaller Distributed Generation (DG) has both benefits and complications. While DG can capitalize on renewable energy and can reduce transmission losses by being closer to local loads, the intermittent availability of some power sources coupled with the current lack of a “smart grid” creates conditions when small sections of the grid need to be disconnected, or islanded, from the main grid due to disturbances or outages. Published techniques for detecting the conditions for islanding exist and are briefly discussed in this paper. This paper introduces a Laboratory sized power Grid (LabGrid) as a physical model for testing islanding techniques, together with a first demonstration of one of these techniques.
Surfactant assisted chemical vapour generation of silver for AAS and ICP-OES: a mechanistic study

A chemical vapour generation (CVG) procedure for the production of volatile species of Ag was developed and studied using AAS and ICP-OES detection. A characteristic mass of 0.12 ng was achieved using a miniature diffusion flame atomizer-AAS system, whereas a 38-fold higher sensitivity (as cps per ng of introduced analyte) compared with conventional liquid nebulization was obtained with ICP-OES. The overall efficiency of introduction of Ag to the plasma was verified to be over 20%. More than one order of magnitude enhancement of efficiency was obtained by the addition of a surfactant (Triton X-100 in combination with an antifoaming agent), the effect of which, however, cannot be ascribed to the formation of organized media. Experiments concerning the mechanism of the CVG, transport and memory effect are discussed: Ag CVG is not a simple one-step process as is the case for CVG of selenium, but rather a two-step procedure. Transport properties of the volatile Ag species resemble more the transport of the liquid aerosol than a simple gaseous species such as H2Se. Possible alternatives concerning the identity of the volatile metal species are presented.
Chopping Logs: A Look at the History and Uses of Logarithms

Logarithms are an integral part of many forms of technology, and their history and development help to see their importance and relevance. This paper surveys the origins of logarithms and their usefulness both in ancient and modern times.
Trabeck prepares for IFRS: An IFRS case study

The growing acceptance of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as a basis for US financial reporting represents a fundamental change for the US accounting profession. IFRS and US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAPs) both are based on principles; however, US GAAP largely uses rules to apply the principles. In contrast, IFRS relies heavily on the use of judgment in deciding how transactions should be recorded. This fictional case is designed to help students identify some fundamental differences between US GAAP and IFRS and apply this knowledge to general-purpose financial statements.
Computational Intelligence in Clustering Algorithms, With Applications

Cluster analysis plays an important role for understanding various phenomena and exploring the nature of obtained data. A remarkable diversity of ideas, in a wide range of disciplines, has been applied to clustering research. Here, we survey clustering algorithms in computational intelligence, particularly based on neural networks and kernel-based learning. We further illustrate their applications in five real world problems.
Conservation Of Imperiled Crayfish – Distocambarus (fitzcambarus) youngineri Hobbs And Carlson 1985 (Decapoda: Cambaridae)

Conservation status.—Endangered (Taylor et al., 2007), critically imperiled in South Carolina and globally (S1, G1; South Carolina Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2005-2010, [SC CWCS] 2005). Based on the species’ limited distribution (, 20,000 km) and its observed decline at population sites (Eversole, 1995a, b, unpublished data) D. youngineri has been classified as vulnerable, VU B1b (i, iv), following IUCN (2001).
The bird community of an 'Acacia'-dominated secondary rainforest: A brief case study

Secondary forests can assist in restoring ecosystems affected by habitat loss and fragmentation and may provide a cost-effective alternative to large-scale planting. In the Wet Tropics bioregion, abandoned farmland frequently develops successional forest dominated by Hickory Wattle 'Acacia celsa' but there has been little research on its value to wildlife. We examined the bird communities of younger (17-25 years) and older (50+ years) 'Acacia'-regrowth forests and compared them with those in contiguous cleared land and never-cleared rainforest over an 18-day period in November 2003 in one location on the Atherton Tablelands, Queensland. Cleared sites had the lowest bird species richness and contained a mix of grassland, eucalypt, mixed forest and rainforest-dependent species. Bird species richness was highest in the never-cleared forest. Cleared sites had significantly fewer mixed forest and rainforest-dependent bird species than never-cleared forest. In both regrowth age classes and in never-cleared forest, there were few grassland and eucalypt forest bird species and similar proportions of mixed forest and rainforest-dependent bird species. Cleared sites and younger regrowth had significantly fewer endemic bird species than never-cleared forest, and six rainforest-dependent species were not recorded in regrowth. Although regrowth as young as 17-25 years provides habitat for a range of rainforest species, even at 50+ years it may not support some rainforest species, including some regional endemics of conservation concern.
Quasi-three-level model applied to measured spectra of nonlinear absorption and refraction in organic molecules

Materials with a large nonlinear refractive index (n2) and relatively small linear and nonlinear absorption losses, namely, two-photon absorption (2PA, of coefficient α2), have long been sought after for applications such as all-optical switching (AOS). Here we experimentally determine the linear and 2PA properties of several organic molecules, which we approximate as centrosymmetric, and use a simplified essential-state model (quasi-three-level model) to predict the dispersion of n2. We then compare these predictions with experimental measurements of n2 and find good agreement. Here “quasi”-three-level means using a single one-photon allowed intermediate state and multiple (here two) two-photon allowed states. This also allows predictions of the figure-of-merit (FOM), defined as the ratio of nonlinear refractive phase shift to the 2PA fractional loss, that determines the viability for such molecules to be used in device applications. The model predicts that the optimized wavelength range for a large FOM lies near the short wavelength linear absorption edge for cyanine-like dyes where the magnitude of n2 is quite large. However, 2PA bands lying close to the linear absorption edge in certain classes of molecules can greatly reduce this FOM. We identify two molecules having a large FOM for AOS. We note that the FOM is often defined as the ratio of real to imaginary parts of the third-order susceptibility (χ(3)) with multiple processes leading to both components. As explained later in this paper, such definitions require care to only include the 2PA contribution to the imaginary part of χ(3) in regions of transparency.
Initial Experience of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine Coags Regional Smartphone Application: A Novel Report of Global Distribution and Clinical Usage of an Electronic Decision Support Tool to Enhance Guideline Use.

Background and Objectives Decision support tools have been demonstrated to improve adherence to medical guidelines; however, smartphone applications (apps) have not been studied in this regard. In a collaboration between Vanderbilt University and the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA), the ASRA Coags Regional app was created to be a decision support tool for the 2010 published guideline on regional anesthesia for patients receiving anticoagulation. This is a review of the distribution and usage of this app. Methods The app was created to be a user-friendly version of the guideline. Download statistics were collected from April 2014 to October 2015, and app usage data were collected from October 2014 to October 2015. Usage data were analyzed for number of devices, number of search sessions, medications searched, and types of procedures. Results There were 8381 downloads, with 83% from North America. Of users who allowed data tracking, 4504 unique devices were identified with 30,003 separate search events. The most searched-for medications were rivaroxaban (n = 4427; 11%), clopidogrel (n = 4042; 10%), and enoxaparin, prophylactic twice daily dosing (n = 3249; 8%). Neuraxial procedures (n = 22,477; 78%) were the most commonly searched-for procedures and over half (n = 22,773; 52%) the users were interested in how long to hold a medication before performing a procedure. Conclusions This is the first publication of download and usage data concerning medical smartphone apps. It provides a template for future app uptake and use in clinical practice. The app platform provides a new mechanism of rapidly disseminating guidelines and facilitating distribution of frequent updates.
Encrypted Search

The need to embed search functionality into every aspect of technology has produced an abundance of information that is difficult to secure. Can advances in cryptography resolve the inherent conflicts of big data?
Survey of classification and distribution of common poisonous wild fruits in Hainan Province

Objective To understand the resources and the distribution of the poisonous wild fruits in Hainan Province and provide basis for making measures in preventing and controlling occurrence of serious food poisoning accidents.Methods The data concern- ing wild fruits in this province were collected through literature retrieval and field surveys and differentiated by experts.Results There were plenty of poisonous wild fruit in Hainan,most of them are Euphorbiaeeae,Solanaceae,Papilionaceae,and Rutaceae,so on.There were 76 species in 68 Genera 37 families of common-seen poisonous wild fruits.The distribution of the poisonous wild fruits varied and mostly distributed in the cities and counties Sanya,Qiongzhong,Wenehang and Baoting.There the high,intermediate and low poisonous wild fruits occupied about 11.8%,9.2% and 79.0%.Conclusion It is helpful to master the kinds and the distri- bution of the poisonous wild fruits for preventing food poisonings,protecting and reasonably exploiting poisonous resources.
Action-Oriented Representations in the Motor Control.

Pezzulo (2008, 2011) and Grush (2004) contend for embodied cognitive science but interpret representations of motor behaviors as grounded on predictive internal models; those representations are referring-based. By contrast, the present paper contends that the motor control is ground on both referring-based representation (as manifest in forward models) and non-referring-based representation (as manifest in inverse models); the latter is pragmatic representation with the following six characteristics: perspective, changing perspectives, normativity of the goal, planning, coordination, and motor learning by refining inverse models. This is an internal version of the action-oriented representation.
Characterization of a 12-mer Duplex d(GGCGGAGTTAGG)·d(CCTAACTCCGCC) Containing a Highly Reactive (+)-CC-1065 Sequence by 1H and 31P NMR, Hydroxyl-Radical Footprinting, and NOESY Restrained Molecular Dynamics Calculations

The solution structure of the GC-rich non-self-complementary DNA 12-mer duplex (I), which contains a (+)-CC-1065 highly reactive bonding sequence 5'AGTTA* (where * denotes the [formula: see text] covalent modification site), has been examined thoroughly by one- and two-dimensional proton and phosphorus NMR spectroscopy, hydroxyl-radical footprinting, and NOESY restrained molecular mechanics and dynamics calculations. The assignments of the nonexchangeable proton resonances (except some of the H5' and H5" protons due to severe resonance overlap), phosphorus resonances, and the exchangeable resonances (except amino protons of adenosine and guanosine) of this 12-mer duplex have been made. The results show that this 12-mer duplex maintains an overall B-form DNA with all anti base orientation throughout in aqueous solution at room temperature. Hydroxyl-radical footprinting experiments on a 21-mer sequence that contains this 12-mer duplex used for NMR studies showed that the minor groove is somewhat narrowed at the 7G-8T and 17A-18C steps, as indicated by the inhibition of cleavage at these locations. Although both high-field NMR and hydroxyl-radical footprinting experiments supported a bent-like structure for this 12-mer duplex, nondenaturing gel electrophoresis on the ligated 21-mer sequence that contains this 12-mer duplex did not show the abnormally slow migration characteristic of a bent DNA duplex. Analysis of the NMR data sets reveals several local structural perturbations similar to those found on an (A)n tract DNA duplex. For example, the existence of a propeller twist was detected within the A.T-rich region for both the 12-mer and the (A)n tract DNA duplexes. The 18CH5 aromatic resonance that is directly adjacent to the 3' side of the 5'TAA segment was significantly shifted upfield with a chemical shift of 5.10 ppm, which is almost within the region normally associated with sugar H3' protons. The sugar geometries for 18C and 7G, which are located to the 3' side of the 5'TAA segment, are proposed to be in the neighborhood of C3'-endo and O1'-endo in equilibrium C3'-endo, respectively. We propose that this unusually upfield-shifted resonance signal for 18CH5 and the average C3'-endo sugar geometry for 18C nucleotide on the 12-mer duplex is connected with the peculiar conformation, possibly a transient kink, within the 5'AC/GT step. The results of the NOESY restrained molecular mechanics and dynamics calculations on the 12-mer sequence reveal two kinks, which are located on either side of the 18C nucleotide that has an average C3'-endo sugar geometry.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Russell bodies: a light and electron microscopic immunoperoxidase study

Russell bodies have been previously regarded as aggregates of immunoglobulin. Light and electron microscopic immunoperoxidase studies show no detectable immunoglobulin determinants in the Russell body cores. Denaturation of antigens during tissue preparation appears to be an unlikely explanation, since immunoglobulins in the cytoplasm of plasma cells are clearly demonstrated. The presence of immunoglobulins on the surface of small intracellular Russell bodies may represent the immunoglobulin determinants in the surrounding rough endoplasmic reticulum. It seems likely that Russell bodies contain non-immunoglobulin molecules, by-products of immunoglobulin synthesis, or some altered form of immunoglobulins that no longer can be recognized by the anti-immunoglobulin antibody. The non-uniform dye staining pattern of Russell bodies further suggests that Russell bodies may be heterogenous in nature.
Unhappy Confessions: The Temptation of Admitting to White Privilege

Admissions of white privilege and/or racism are common among white anti-racists and others who want to combat their racism. In this article, I argue that because such admissions are conscious attempts to address unconscious habits, they are unhappy speech acts and contrary to their implied aims. Admissions of white privilege or racism can be conceptualized as Foucauldian confessions that are pleasurable to enact but ultimately reinforce white people’s feelings of goodness and allow them to avoid addressing this racism. I ground my argument in Shannon Sullivan’s analysis of white privilege and Sara Ahmed’s critique of confessions of racism/privilege to show that in addition to doing no anti-racist work at the moment of saying, these confessions actually reify white privilege deeper into the unconscious and make it harder to address. Sullivan’s work, I conclude, offers white people a more productive way forward than their unhappy performative declarations of privilege. A white person’s understanding of her confessing habit cannot break this habit, but it might orient her toward examining what sorts of anti-racist moves do work.
Lack of Parental Rules for Cell Phone Use among Low Income Mexican Descendent Adolescents

Youth have access to and utilize various types of technology at a growing rate. Cell phones are a portable way for adolescents to remain in constant contact with friends, parents, and others. While White youth are more likely to have a cell phone compared to Latino youth, the trends for cell phone use are similar among all teens with text messaging serving as the most popular means of communication. Despite their high volume of communication with others via cell phones, adolescents are likely to have little or no adult supervision while using technology. With a lack of parental supervision or awareness regarding youth technology use, adolescents may be especially vulnerable to cyberbullying and other negative health impacts. The current study investigates cell phone and texting use among a community sample of Latino adolescents and examines how parental rules regarding cell phone use influences adolescents’ cell phone and texting behaviors.
Reporting pre-exposure prophylaxis use in Craigslist personal advertisements among men seeking sex with men in the United States

This study describes the self-reported use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in the personal advertisements of men seeking sex with men in the United States on the online classified advertisement site, Craigslist. Overall self-reported PrEP use was low (0.20%; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.18–0.22). However, PrEP use in personal ads was described in conjunction with seeking sexual risk behaviours including ‘bareback’ sex (22.7%; 95% CI = 17.7–27.7%) and sex with substance use (26.8%; 95% CI = 21.5–32.1%). Only 4.0% of personal ads sought safe sex (3.3%; 95% CI = 1.2–5.4%) or required condoms (0.7%; 95% CI = –0.3–1.7%). Our findings underscore the need for increased public PrEP awareness, particularly among men seeking sex with men, as well as the importance of healthcare providers emphasising sexually transmissible infection prevention behaviours (i.e. condom use) used in conjunction with PrEP.
Serving our students: rethinking novice debate

ABSTRACTNovice competition in college policy debate is undervalued as a means to expand the impact of debate for universities and the students they serve. By analyzing the structural barriers that exist for novice debate, it becomes clear that there is a need to change the institutional orientation of college policy debate organizations and novice debate coaching practices to expand the pedagogical value of novice debate. This paper argues that addressing these barriers requires eliminating the perception of novice debate as a junior partner to varsity competition and creating an institutional orientation that prioritizes broad participation in the novice division.
Use of the Electronic Medical Record to Facilitate Intervention for Patients With Rising Prostate-Specific Antigen Values After Radical Prostatectomy: A Feasibility Study

PurposeSalvage radiotherapy (SRT) is the standard of care offered when postprostatectomy prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels are ≥ 0.2 ng/mL. However, emerging evidence suggests that early SRT (ie, SRT delivered at PSA values < 0.2 ng/mL, but generally ≥ 0.05 ng/mL) improves oncologic outcomes. We evaluated the feasibility of improving referral rates for discussion of early SRT by using a dynamic registry that identifies through the electronic medical record patients with rising postprostatectomy PSA levels.MethodsWe developed an iteratively updated registry that identifies patients who fall within two postoperative PSA strata: ≥ 0.05 to < 0.1 ng/mL and ≥ 0.1 to < 0.2 ng/mL. We compared referral rates to radiation oncology during a 3-year period before use of this registry with those during a 1-year period after promotion of the registry in multidisciplinary tumor board settings.ResultsBefore promotion of the registry, referral rates for patients with PSA values ≥ 0.05 to < 0.1 ng/mL and ≥ 0.1 to < 0.2...
Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Implantation, Continuation, and Deactivation in Elderly Patients

Purpose of Review We review the major randomized trials and recent literature which address the impact of age on the decisions to implant, replace, and deactivate implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in elderly patients (≥75 years).
Electrocorticographic high-gamma modulation with passive listening paradigm for pediatric extraoperative language mapping.

OBJECTIVE This prospective study compared the topography of high-gamma modulation (HGM) during a story-listening task requiring negligible patient cooperation, with the conventional electrical stimulation mapping (ESM) using a picture-naming task, for presurgical language localization in pediatric drug-resistant epilepsy. METHODS Patients undergoing extraoperative monitoring with subdural electrodes were included. Electrocorticographic signals were recorded during quiet baseline and a story-listening task. The likelihood of 70- to 150-Hz power modulation during the listening task relative to the baseline was estimated for each electrode and plotted on a cortical surface model. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were estimated compared to ESM, using a meta-analytic framework. RESULTS Nineteen patients (10 with left hemisphere electrodes) aged 4-19 years were analyzed. HGM during story listening was observed in bilateral posterior superior temporal, angular, supramarginal, and inferior frontal gyri, along with anatomically defined language association areas. Compared to either cognitive or both cognitive and orofacial sensorimotor interference with naming during ESM, left hemisphere HGM showed high specificity (0.82-0.84), good accuracy (0.66-0.70), and DOR of 2.23 and 3.24, respectively. HGM was a better classifier of ESM language sites in the left temporoparietal cortex compared to the frontal lobe. Incorporating visual naming with the story-listening task substantially improved the accuracy (0.80) and DOR (13.61) of HGM mapping, while the high specificity (0.85) was retained. In the right hemisphere, no ESM sites for aphasia were seen, and the results of HGM and ESM comparisons were not significant. SIGNIFICANCE HGM associated with story listening is a specific determinant of left hemisphere ESM language sites. It can be used for presurgical language mapping in children who cannot cooperate with conventional language tasks requiring active engagement. Incorporation of additional language tasks, if feasible, can further improve the diagnostic accuracy of language localization with HGM.
Curbing Its Enthusiasm: U.S. Federal Policy and the Unitary Family

The federal government’s voice on the subject of parenting has become much more audible over the past several decades. Because opinions about the normative good of the unitary family (i.e. adults related to one another by marriage, and related biologically to each of their children) are in flux both at the state and the federal level, the federal voice is important. Taken together, federal parenting policies, programs and rhetoric do not exhibit a robust preference for the unitary family. Rather, they vigorously promote economically self-sufficient parenting, and involved fathers. They weakly support parenting within marriage. And they discount or dismiss biological parent-child ties in favor of the good of individual adults’ choices about parenting -- both about the form of adults’ intimate association and whether or not there will be a biological relationship with the children they rear. This article describes how the federal government exhibits these preferences. It also affirms the benefits of federal policies highlighting fatherhood, and the link between non-marital births, poverty and diminished child welfare. It critiques federal policies along two lines: first, the failure to affirm more explicitly the good of biological parenting, and the link between marriage and effective fathering; and second, the absence of reflection upon the long-run failure of its birth control strategy to curb single parenting and associated poverty. It finally suggests that politics and ideology -- as distinguished from concern for children and for the welfare of women and vulnerable populations -- might be influencing federal parenting policy unduly.
An Investigation into the Organization, Challenges, and Impact of an Urban Apprentice Teacher Program

Service learning programs are being advanced as effective vehicles for preparing young people for active citizenship and promoting growth in self-esteem, interpersonal skills, leadership skills, and personal responsibility. Although there is a burgeoning literatue addressing service learning programs in school subject areas such as language arts, math, science, and social studies, little consideration has been given to the potential of physical activity programs to provide meaningful service learning experiences for youngsters. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data, this article describes an apprentice teacher program in which a group of urban youngsters taught basketball to young children attending a summer sports camp. The apprentice teacher program captured the interests and talents of this group of young people who, in their school career, had been characterized as behavior problems, poor attenders, and low achievers. The experience improved their self-confidence, concern for others, intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, and enthusiasm for learning. The apprentice teachers completed the program aware of the contributions they could make toward helping others and eager to continue the work the following year.
PLANS, A BATTLE … AND FAILURE

Mr. President, I know you're doubtful about this, but I stood at this very desk and said to President Eisenhower about a similar operation in Guatemala, ‘I believe it will work.’ And I say to you now, Mr. President, that the prospects for this plan are even better than our prospects were in Guatemala.
Design and Preliminary Evaluation of a 3-DOF Powered Prosthetic Wrist Device

Though the human wrist greatly benefits manipulation by orienting the hand, recreating its functionality in anthropomorphic proportions proves to be difficult. As a result, upper limb amputees who desire wrist functionality must often use often passive single degree of freedom devices to attempt to recover some of this missing ability. In this work, the authors present the preliminary design and kinematic testing of a 3 DOF actuated wrist prosthesis. The device is capable of 90 degrees of circumduction (combined flexion and abduction), and continuous rotation in pronation. The circumducting portion of the wrist is composed of a parallel mechanism, while the pronation drive is a belt-driven serial mechanism. The circumducting DOFs are actuated via nonbackdrivable linear DC motors, and the gear ratio and friction of the pronation mechanism make it nonbackdrivable under reasonable loads as well. The architecture of this wrist was chosen such that when the device is integrated into a transradial socket, the motors could be placed on the socket periphery, allowing amputees with long residual limbs to use the wrist without significantly offsetting the terminal device. Benchtop evaluation of the wrist device is performed to evaluate the speed of the wrist in actuation from the neutral position to a variety of flexion and abduction positions, as well as to evaluate its pronation speed. We find the wrist performs rather near to the ideally expected speed values.
Possible association of influenza A infection and reverse takotsubo syndrome

We present a case of reverse takotsubo syndrome (rTS) in a 68-year-old woman who presented with acute chest pain and flu-like symptoms. She was found to have elevated troponin and abnormal ECG. Urgent coronary angiogram revealed non-obstructive mild coronary artery disease of the left anterior descending artery. Left ventriculography demonstrated hypokinesis of the left ventricular base with sparing of the mid-ventricle and apex. Nasal viral PCR was positive for Influenza A. The diagnosis was confirmed with repeat echocardiogram 2 weeks later revealing resolution of regional wall motion abnormalities. rTS is a type of TS, mimicking acute coronary syndrome. It is seen in younger patients and often occurs with intense emotional and physical stress. Though many triggers have been reported, rTS associated with influenza A has not been previously documented.
High Lp(a) associated with very premature coronary heart disease

Abstract Although high levels of Lp(a) have become increasingly recognized as a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD), its association with very premature CHD (ie, younger than 30 years) is unclear. We present a case of a young woman with very high levels of Lp(a) in whom accelerated CHD is unlikely to be accounted for by traditional risk factors.
Strobilurin fungicides in house dust: is wallboard a source?

Strobilurin fungicides are used primarily in fruits and vegetables, but recently, a patent was issued for one strobilurin fungicide, azoxystrobin, in mold-resistant wallboard. This raises concerns about the potential presence of these chemicals in house dust and potential exposure indoors, particularly in young children. Furthermore, recent toxicological studies have suggested that strobilurins may cause neurotoxicity. Currently, it is not clear whether or not azoxystrobin applications in wallboard lead to exposures in the indoor environments. The purpose of this study was to determine if azoxystrobin, and related strobilurins, could be detected in house dust. We also sought to characterize the concentrations of azoxystrobin in new wallboard samples. To support this study, we collected and analyzed 16 new dry wall samples intentionally marketed for use in bathrooms to inhibit mold. We then analyzed 188 house dust samples collected from North Carolina homes in 2014–2016 for azoxystrobin and related strobilurins, including pyraclostrobin, trifloxystrobin, and fluoxastrobin using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Detection frequencies for azoxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, trifloxystrobin, and fluoxastrobin ranged from 34–87%, with azoxystrobin being detected most frequently and at the highest concentrations (geometric mean = 3.5 ng/g; maximum = 10,590 ng/g). Azoxystrobin was also detected in mold-resistant wallboard samples, primarily in the paper covering where it was found at concentrations up to 88.5 µg/g. Cumulatively, these results suggest that fungicides present in wallboard may be migrating to the indoor environment, leading to exposure in the residences that would constitute a separate exposure pathway independent of dietary exposures.
Post-treatment prostate MRI.

Accurate early detection of recurrent prostate cancer after surgical or nonsurgical treatment is increasingly relevant in the era of evolving options for salvage therapy. The importance of differentiating between local tumor recurrence, distant metastatic disease, and a combination of both in a patient with biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer is essential for appropriate treatment selection. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the best test for localization and characterization of locally residual or recurrent prostate cancer. It is essential for the radiologist involved in prostate MRI interpretation to be familiar with key imaging findings and advantages of different sequences to reach a confident diagnosis in the post-treatment setting. In this pictorial review, we present imaging findings of post-treatment prostate MRI including expected post-treatment anatomy and imaging characteristics, and the typical appearances of local tumor recurrence after radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy, and focal therapy for prostate cancer. While a multi-parametric MRI approach remains key just as in the treatment-naive gland, this review emphasizes the much greater importance of the dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI sequence for evaluation in the post-treatment setting.
Review of Dobel, J. Patrick. (2018). Public Leadership Ethics: A Management Approach. New York, NY: Routledge

The longest federal government shutdown in history took place from December 22, 2018 to January 25, 2019, and was prompted by a stalemate over funding federal government activities. During this per...
The Violence of Financial Capitalism, new edition, C. Marazzi. Semiotext(e) (2011)

We are all analysts when it comes to the 2008 financial crisis, and there are as many divergent explanations as there are analysts. Some focus on the internal explanations for the crises, like Wall...
Gunshot wound incidence as a persistent, tragic symptom of area deprivation

Abstract Background More than 30,000 Americans die every year of firearm-related injuries. Gun violence is frequently addressed by law enforcement and policing, as opposed to public health interventions that might address poverty or deprivation. Our goal was to evaluate the past 20 years of gunshot wound injury demographics seen at our level I academic trauma center and create a risk map model correlating gunshot wound incidence with area deprivation. Methods Patients admitted for gunshot wound-related injuries between 1996 and 2017 were identified using our trauma registry. Demographic and injury data were extracted and analyzed. Multivariable logistic regression models were created to identify predictors of mortality. Geographic information system mapping of incident location and home address was completed to identify zip code hot spots of high gunshot wound incidence. Area Deprivation Indices, which reflect local income or poverty, housing, education, and employment were used as a marker of relative economic disadvantage. Spearman rank correlation was used to determine the relationship between Area Deprivation Indices score and gunshot wound rate. Results A total of 2,413 patients with gunshot wounds were evaluated. The cohort had a mean age of 28.8 ± 11.5 and was 89.6% male. Mean Injury Severity Score was 11 ± 12.5. gunshot wounds were most frequently a result of assault (91.1%), followed by unintentional injury (3.4%). Geographic information systems mapping revealed significant clustering of gunshot wounds. The areas with highest per capita incidence of gunshot wounds was strongly correlated with Area Deprivation Indices (0.594, P Conclusion Geographic regions of known lower socioeconomic resources have higher incidence of gunshot wounds in our community. Both Area Deprivation Indices and gunshot wound incidents in these distressed communities remained unchanged throughout the past 20 years, despite law enforcement crime suppression efforts. Gunshot wounds appear to be a symptom of area deprivation, similar to failing schools and poor health outcomes. Efforts to decrease poverty and community capacity-building may help alleviate this area deprivation.