cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Classifying squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: prognosis, prediction and implications for therapy

Traditionally, squamous cell cancers of the head and neck (SCCHN) have been classified by their anatomic location and stage. This system has been unsatisfactory in that it leaves substantial heterogeneity in prognosis and inadequate definition of optimal therapy. The most promising novel marker for superior prognosis in SCCHN is human papillomavirus (HPV). Overexpression of the EGFR bears an adverse prognosis; no marker provides clear predictive power for benefit from EGFR inhibition. Low expression of the DNA repair enzymes and excision repair cross-complementing rodent repair deficiency (ERCC1) and x-ray repair complementing defective repair in Chinese hamster cells 1 (XRCC1) may predict chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy sensitivity. Tumors expressing cyclin D1 have a poor prognosis. Genomic characterization has subdivided SCCHN into four categories with clear biologic themes. Basal cancers express high levels of TGF-α and have other perturbations of the EGFR axis. Mesenchymal cancers show evidence for epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Atypical cancers lack both EGFR amplification and deletion of 9p; they also have a higher rate of HPV positivity than the other groups. Classical tumors demonstrate gene signatures similar to those previously associated with exposure to cigarette smoke; patients with this signature had a greater smoking history than patients in the other groups.
Some characterizations by centralizers of elements of order 3

Publisher Summary Great progress has been made recently in the problem of classifying those finite simple groups in which the centralizer of some involution is not 2-constrained. Part of the reason for this is a recent theorem of Aschbacher that gives a normal form for the centralizer of an involution in a large class of such groups. However, in a group in which the centralizers of all involutions are 2-constrained, no such canonical form is anticipated. Accordingly, in these circumstances, it seems to be appropriate to study instead the centralizers of elements of order three. This chapter discusses one of the simplest cases in which the element of order three has a non-3-constrained centralizer, and presents the theorem, as per which if G be a finite simple group and a be an element of G of order 3, and if the group C G (a)/ is isomorphic to one of the groups PSL(2,q), PGL(2,q), or P∑L (2,q), where q is the power of an odd prime. Suppose in addition there is a subgroup P of G, where P is an elementary abelian group of order 3 2 and all nonidentity elements of P are conjugate to the element a . Then, G is isomorphic to one of the following groups: (1) PSU(3,5), (2) PSL(3,7), (3) M 22, (4) M 23, (5) M 24, (6) HS, the Higman–Sims group, (7) R, the Rudvalis group.
Computer-generated speech and man-computer interaction.

Large-scale use of talking computers may be anticipated for reasons of general convenience and special effectiveness. A telephone link to a computer, with touch-tone inputs and stored speech outputs, poses a number of design problems of interest for the human factors specialist. Recommended features include (1) user pacing and optional repetition of speech output in a transactional sequence, (2) use of different voices and other auditory coding to distinguish types of output, and (3) use of tone codes to indicate required input.
Radio Frequency Identification Applications in Smart Hospitals

Recent advances in radio frequency identification (RFID) technology are leading to promising means for significant enhancement of safety, quality and value of health care. In this paper, we give an overview of the state-of-art research in applications of RFID in hospitals. We outline the challenges in designing RFID based systems for hospitals, and point out open problems and future research directions.
Intrinsic and resonance space charge limits

The space charge limit in circular program accelerators has been studied using a simulation program. Results from the simulation study indicate a different model for the space charge limit than the often-presented models which emphasize resonances due to magnetic field errors. In studies of three operating accelerators, which include the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron, the Proton Synchrotron Booster, and the Fermilab Booster, it was found that the computed intrinsic space charge limit was fairly close to the experimentally observed space charge limit. This result and studies of the effects of resonances due to magnetic field errors suggest that the intrinsic space charge limit provides an upper bound for the space charge limit which is not far from what is actually achieved by operating accelerators. The resonances present due to magnetic field errors, if strong enough, can prevent the accelerator from achieving the intrinsic space charge limit. However, the effects of these resonances were found to be appreciable only when the beam intensity gets close to the intrinsic space charge limit. Well below the intrinsic space charge limit, there is little beam growth due to magnetic field error driven resonances, and the space charge forces tend to stabilize these resonances. >
Physical aging of nylon 66

The physical aging behavior of nylon 66 as a function of aging temperature, magnitude of applied stress, and aging time has been investigated. Creep tests were performed for samples quenched from a stabilization temperature of 160°C to aging temperatures between 41°C and 65°C, for aging times ranging from 0.5 to 64 h, and at stresses levels from 4 MPa to 24 MPa. Volume recovery was investigated for samples quenched from 160°C to aging temperatures of 41°C and 65°C. The creep compliance curves at different aging times were able to be superimposed. The double logarithmic shift rate was calculated and its dependence on aging temperature and applied stress was determined. Also, it was found that the volume recovery rate depends on the aging temperature. The time-temperature and stress-temperature superpositions were not possible for our data.
Neuroadaptive output feedback control for automated anesthesia with noisy EEG measurements

Critical care patients, whether undergoing surgery or recovering in intensive care units, require drug administration to regulate physiological variables such as blood pressure, cardiac output, heart rate, and degree of consciousness. The rate of infusion of each administered drug is critical, requiring constant monitoring and frequent adjustments. Nonnegative and compartmental models provide a broad framework for biological and physiological systems, including clinical pharmacology, and are well suited for developing models for closed-loop control of drug administration. In this paper, we develop a neuroadaptive output feedback control framework for nonlinear uncertain nonnegative and compartmental systems with nonnegative control inputs and noisy measurements. In addition, the neuroadaptive controller guarantees that the physical system states remain in the nonnegative orthant of the state space. Finally, the proposed approach is used to control the infusion of the anesthetic drug propofol for maintaining a desired constant level of depth of anesthesia for noncardiac surgery in the face of noisy electroencephalographic (EEG) measurements.
RCS reduction of dielectric cylinders using a simulated annealing approach

The reduction of RCSs (radar cross sections) of dielectric cylinders is of great interest from the point of view of enhancing the performance of antennas that use these cylinders as supports for radomes or feed systems. RCS reduction of dielectric cylinders under TM plane-wave illumination can be achieved by loading the cylinder with perfect electrically conducting narrow strips oriented parallel to the cylinder axis. For certain specific strip configurations and directions of radiation, it can be shown that the far fields radiated by the polarization currents are partially canceled by those produced by the conduction currents induced on the strips. This, in turn, has the effect of reducing the bistatic RCS of the isolated dielectric cylinder. The authors present a simulated annealing algorithm that simultaneously minimizes the bistatic RCS in different scattering angles, and/or frequencies, by searching for the optimal strip configuration. The scattering of a lossless dielectric cylinder measuring 1 by 0.2 wavelengths and characterized by a relative permittivity of 4 was minimized for a TM plane wave incident on the broad cylinder axis. >
A systematic methodology to develop resilient cache coherence protocols

Aggressive transistor scaling continues to increase integration capacity with each new technology node, but technology downscaling also increases the vulnerability of semiconductor devices and causes silicon failures. Thus, fault-tolerant architectures are emerging to guarantee reliable functionality on unreliable silicon. While tolerating faults within a processor core has been extensively researched, the many-core era introduces the challenge of reliable on-chip communication in Chip Multi-Processors (CMPs). In CMP systems, an unreliable interconnection network can lose or corrupt coherence messages, causing the entire chip to deadlock. In this work, we argue for a system-level resiliency solution to tolerate an unreliable underlying Network-on-Chip (NoC). We introduce a systematic methodology to transform a coherence protocol to a resilient one, by extending its Finite State Machine (FSM) with safe states and incorporating additional handshaking messages into transactions. The modified protocol ensures coherent and reliable transactions over any lossy NoC. Our approach is generic and can be applied to a wide range of protocols. It requires minimal hardware modifications and introduces only a slight performance overhead (an average of 0.8% during fault-free operation, and 1.9% even at an aggressive fault rate of one fault per msec).
Primary Protodolomite in Echinoid Skeletons

Protodolomite has been identified in the teeth of Recent echinoids by means of electron microprobe and X-ray diffraction analyses. The analyses demonstrate a high degree of heterogeneity with respect to magnesium carbonate content in these skeletal parts; the entire spectrum of compositions between magnesium calcite and protodolomite was encountered.
The Greatest Show on Earth: Roman Entertainments in Turn‐of‐the‐Century New York City

L'A. analyse la relation imaginaire de l'Amerique avec la Rome antique et la maniere dont cette relation fut articulee dans les divertissements de masse du changement de millenaire a New York. Centrant son analyse sur les spectacles de cirque et les representations theâtrales d'une part, et sur les spectacles organises dans le cadre du Parc de loisirs de Cooney Island de l'autre, il met en evidence le traitement particulier de la grandeur et de la majeste de la Rome imperiale dans ces spectacles populaires, au-dela des ambiguites morales de l'imaginaire romain americain. Il montre comment ces spectacles engendrent un espace allegorique sur le pouvoir imperial, mettant en scene les exces de la Rome antique sous la forme d'un divertissement de masse. Les images negatives de la decadence et de la cruaute imperiale romaine sont domestiquees et transformees en divertissement populaire, en spectacles de masse pour la consommation et le plaisir des citoyens de New York
Evaluating risk management strategies in resource planning

This paper discusses the evaluation of risk management strategies as a part of integrated resource planning. Value- and scope-related uncertainties can be addressed during the process of planning, but uncertainties in the operating environment require technical analysis within planning models. Flexibility and robustness are two key classes of strategies for managing the risk posed by these uncertainties. This paper reviews standard capacity expansion planning models and shows that they are poorly equipped to compare risk management strategies. Those that acknowledge uncertainty are better at evaluating robustness than flexibility, which implies a bias against flexible options. Techniques are available to overcome this bias. >
The Half-Life of I 131

An accurate determination of the half-life of ${\mathrm{I}}^{131}$ gives the value ${8.07}_{5}$\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}${0.02}_{2}$ days.
Adhoc and Book XML Retrieval with Cheshire

For this year's INEX UC Berkeley focused on the Book track and also submitted two runs for the Adhoc Focused Element search task and one for the Best in Context task. For all of these runs we used the TREC2 logistic regression probabilistic model. For the Adhoc Element runs and Best in Context runs we used the "pivot" score merging method to combine paragraph-level searches with scores for document-level searches.
Mentoring Matters: Racial Ethnic Minority Undergraduates’ Cultural Fit, Mentorship, and College and Life Satisfaction

This study examined the degree to which cultural fit (cultural congruity in combination with perception of the university environment) and the dimensional noncognitive processes of mentoring predicted college satisfaction and life satisfaction for 238 racial and ethnic minority undergraduates from two university contexts. Group differences as well as differences in strength of relationships emerged by site and mentor status. Perception of the university environment was the strongest positive predictor of college satisfaction, whereas cultural congruity was the strongest predictor of life satisfaction. Limitations, future research directions, and implications of the study’s findings are discussed.
The Interviewer and His Environment

An interviewer is confronted by many environmental factors which influence his effectiveness. This article attempts to establish the significance of some of them.
Modified Amber Force Field Correctly Models the Conformational Preference for Tandem GA pairs in RNA

Molecular mechanics with all-atom models was used to understand the conformational preference of tandem guanine-adenine (GA) noncanonical pairs in RNA. These tandem GA pairs play important roles in determining stability, flexibility, and structural dynamics of RNA tertiary structures. Previous solution structures showed that these tandem GA pairs adopt either imino (cis Watson–Crick/Watson–Crick A-G) or sheared (trans Hoogsteen/sugar edge A-G) conformations depending on the sequence and orientation of the adjacent closing base pairs. The solution structures (GCGGACGC)2 [Biochemistry, 1996, 35, 9677–9689] and (GCGGAUGC)2 [Biochemistry, 2007, 46, 1511–1522] demonstrate imino and sheared conformations for the two central GA pairs, respectively. These systems were studied using molecular dynamics and free energy change calculations for conformational changes, using umbrella sampling. For the structures to maintain their native conformations during molecular dynamics simulations, a modification to the standard...
HRT and women who have had breast or endometrial cancer.

The benefits of oestrogen replacement therapy (ERT) in preventing vasomotor symptoms, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and colon cancer are well documented. Other potential benefits i.e. dementia and macular degeneration are being investigated. Although oestrogen is said to be contraindicated in women previously treated for breast and endometrial cancer, there is no data to support this admonition. Preliminary data would suggest ERT can be used safely in women who have had these cancers. Prospective randomised studies are currently on going in the United States and Europe addressing ERT in previously treated breast and endometrial cancer. Informed consent, patients' desires, and benefit-risk considerations are all part of information the woman needs to make a decision concerning ERT.
Staged Columnar Fixation of Bicondylar Tibial Plateaus: A Cheaper Alternative to External Fixation

The objective of this study was to compare complication rates and costs of staged columnar fixation (SCF) to external fixation for bicondylar tibial plateau fractures. Patients who received SCF or temporary external fixation across a 3-year period at a major level I trauma center underwent a retrospective chart review for associated complications. Fisher's exact analysis was used to determine any statistical difference in complication rates between both groups. However, there was no significant difference in complication rates between the SCF and external fixator groups. Average medial plate costs for SCF were $2131 compared with an average external fixator cost of $4070 (p < .0001). Given that all patients with external fixation undergo eventual medial and lateral plating, savings with SCF include $4070 plus operative costs for removing the fixator. As our health care system focuses on cost-cutting efforts, orthopaedic trauma surgeons must explore cheaper and equally effective treatment alternatives.
Engines as Thermometers

William Thomson (1824–1907)—later known as Lord Kelvin—was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Sideroblastic Anemias: Diagnosis and Management

The term sideroblastic anemia (SA) is used to define a diverse group of disorders with the common finding of ringed sideroblasts noted on bone marrow evaluations (Fig. 1). The presence of this morphology is due to iron deposition in the mitochondria of the erythroid progenitor cells. Congenital SA may be due to one of several defined gene abnormalities or due to an as yet unknown defect (Bergmann et al. 2010). Acquired SA is caused by nutritional deficits, medications, or clonal myelodysplastic disorders. While the precise incidence of congenital SA is unknown and it is likely underdiagnosed and reported, the frequency of acquired cases appears to be much greater than congenital cases.
Civil Society and Conflict in West Africa

This chapter reviews the intersection of conflict and civil society, focusing on three dimensions. The first is that, depending on how civil society is defined, it can include groups that have aims and methods that can exacerbate conflict situations. The second dimension is the role of civil society organizations during conflict, including the potential of international and national civil society groups to frame a conflict in particular ways. Third, the chapter addresses the role of civil society in postconflict peace-building initiatives. It offers a critical review of some of the conceptual issues in the civil society literature in relation to each of these intersections. Examples across West Africa are cited from cases in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria.
Decode-and-cancel for interference cancellation in a three-node full-duplex network

In this paper, we study a three-node full-duplex network, where the infrastructure node has simultaneous up-and downlink communication in the same frequency band with two half-duplex nodes. In addition to self-interference at the full-duplex infrastructure node, the three-node network has to contend with the inter-node interference between the two half-duplex nodes. We characterize the impact of inter-node interference on the network achievable sum rate with and without a side-channel between the nodes. We propose and study a simple scheme called decode-and-cancel, which uses the side-channel for improved interference cancellation. We derive the sum rate for both Gaussian and fading channels. The results show that as signal-to-noise ratio becomes large, decode-and-cancel asymptotically achieves a multiplexing gain of 2 by means of optimal power allocation. Furthermore, the proposed decode-and-cancel scheme has the highest impact when the signal and inter-node interference have commensurate power in which case schemes without side channel fail to achieve any full-duplex multiplexing gain.
Higher education: The making of US academia

Rogers Hollingsworth traces the European influence on US research universities that began some 150 years ago.
Tuning Mesoporosity in Cross-Linked Nanostructured Thermosets via Polymerization-Induced Microphase Separation

Using the synthetic approach of polymerization-induced microphase separation (PIMS), we prepared cocontinuous and cross-linked nanostructured monoliths from bulk polymerizations of styrene and divinylbenzene (DVB) in the presence of polylactide macro-chain-transfer agents (PLA-CTAs). The resulting monolithic precursors were converted to cross-linked mesoporous materials following hydrolytic degradation of the PLA domain, the morphology and porosity of which were characterized through a combination of small-angle X-ray scattering, scanning electron microscopy, and nitrogen sorption experiments. This report highlights the concept, functionality, and limitations of PIMS for the generation of mesoporous materials through variation of reaction parameters found to strongly influence the porous properties of the matrix: the cross-linker-to-monomer ratio, reaction temperature, molar mass and mass fraction of PLA-CTA, and the reactivity of the DVB isomer. Increases in the cross-linker-to-monomer ratio (≥40 mol % D...
Sirtuins and DNA damage repair: SIRT7 comes to play

Aging is characterized by a cumulative loss of genome integrity, which involves chromatin reorganization, transcriptional dysregulation and the accumulation of DNA damage. Sirtuins participate in the protection against these aging processes by promoting genome homeostasis in response to cellular stress. We recently reported that SirT7-/- mice suffer from partial embryonic lethality and a progeroid like phenotype. At the cellular level, SIRT7 depletion results in the impaired repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), one the most dangerous DNA lesions, leading to genome instability. SIRT7 is recruited to DSBs, where it specifically deacetylates histone H3 at lysine 18 and affects the focal accumulation of the DNA damage response factor 53BP1, thus influencing the efficiency of repair. Here, we integrate our findings with the current knowledge on the mode of action of other sirtuin family members in DNA repair. We emphasize their capacity to regulate chromatin structure as a response to DNA damage within the constraints imposed by cellular status.
Passerine Morphology: External Measurements of Approximately One-Quarter of Passerine Bird Species

Studies of community organization and clade diversification that include functional traits have become an important component of the analysis of ecological and evolved systems. Such studies frequently are limited by availability of consistently collected data. Here, I present a data set including eight measurements of the external morphology of 1642 species, roughly one-quarter of all passerine birds (Aves: Order Passeriformes), from all parts of the world, characterizing the relative proportions of the wing, tail, legs, and beak. Specimens were measured opportunistically over the past 40 years in museums in the United States and Europe. Numbers of individuals measured per species vary from one to dozens in some cases. Measurements for males and females of sexually size-dimorphic species are presented separately. The measurements include total length, the lengths of the wing, tail, tarsus, and middle toe, and the length, breadth, and depth of the beak. Particular attention was paid to obtaining a broad representation of passerine higher taxa, with special interest in small families and subfamilies of passerines, as well as species produced by evolutionary radiations of birds in archipelagoes, including the Galapagos, Hawaii, and the Lesser Antilles. Taxonomy follows the Taxonomy in Flux (TIF) checklist as well as the World Bird List of the International Ornithological Council. Geographic distributions are summarized from Edwards's Coded List of Birds of the World. Coverage of taxa and geographic regions varies and reflects the changing interests of the author over the past four decades. North American and South American species are particularly well represented in the sample, as well as species belonging to the families Tyrannidae, Furnariidae, Thamnophilidae, Mimidae, Sturnidae, Fringillidae, Parulidae, Icteridae, Cardinalidae, and Thraupidae.
Spatiotemporally enhancing time-series DMSP/OLS nighttime light imagery for assessing large-scale urban dynamics

Abstract Accurate, up-to-date, and consistent information of urban extents is vital for numerous applications central to urban planning, ecosystem management, and environmental assessment and monitoring. However, current large-scale urban extent products are not uniform with respect to definition, spatial resolution, temporal frequency, and thematic representation. This study aimed to enhance, spatiotemporally, time-series DMSP/OLS nighttime light (NTL) data for detecting large-scale urban changes. The enhanced NTL time series from 1992 to 2013 were firstly generated by implementing global inter-calibration, vegetation-based spatial adjustment, and urban archetype-based temporal modification. The dataset was then used for updating and backdating urban changes for the contiguous U.S.A. (CONUS) and China by using the Object-based Urban Thresholding method (i.e., NTL-OUT method, Xie and Weng, 2016b). The results showed that the updated urban extents were reasonably accurate, with city-scale RMSE (root mean square error) of 27 km2 and Kappa of 0.65 for CONUS, and 55 km2 and 0.59 for China, respectively. The backdated urban extents yielded similar accuracy, with RMSE of 23 km2 and Kappa of 0.63 in CONUS, while 60 km2 and 0.60 in China. The accuracy assessment further revealed that the spatial enhancement greatly improved the accuracy of urban updating and backdating by significantly reducing RMSE and slightly increasing Kappa values. The temporal enhancement also reduced RMSE, and improved the spatial consistency between estimated and reference urban extents. Although the utilization of enhanced NTL data successfully detected urban size change, relatively low locational accuracy of the detected urban changes was observed. It is suggested that the proposed methodology would be more effective for updating and backdating global urban maps if further fusion of NTL data with higher spatial resolution imagery was implemented.
Functional intimacy: Needing-But not wanting-The touch of a stranger

Intimacy is often motivated by love, but sometimes it is merely functional. For example, disrobing and being touched at an airport security check serves the goal of catching a flight, not building a relationship. We propose that this functional intimacy induces discomfort, making people prefer greater social distance from their interaction partner. Supporting this prediction, participants who considered (Experiments 1 and 2) or experienced (Experiment 3) more physically intimate medical procedures preferred a health provider who is less social. Increased psychological intimacy also led people to prefer social distance from cleaning and health providers (Experiments 4-5), a preference revealed by nonverbal behavior (e.g., turning away and looking away, Experiments 6-7). These patterns of distancing are unique to functional (vs. romantic) intimacy (Experiment 7). Although creating social distance may be an effective strategy for coping with functional intimacy, it may have costs for service providers. (PsycINFO Database Record
Abstract TP362: Early Hematoma Enlargement in Intracerebral Hemorrhage Patients on the Mobile Stroke Unit

Introduction: Hematoma enlargement (HE) in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) possibly occurs soon after onset but is not captured due to delays in imaging. The Mobile Stroke Unit (MSU) can identify ICH patients in the prehospital setting and can increase our understanding of ICH patients in the first hour of onset. Methods: This was a prospective, observational study to examine patients within 4 hours of symptom onset and early HE in ICH due to hypertension and/or coagulopathies. A baseline head CT (HCT) was performed on the MSU, followed by a 1-hour HCT at the destination hospital. Patients during MSU control weeks were included but not required to have a 1-hour HCT. Blood pressure was treated to a systolic goal of 6cc or >30% between scans. Patients were categorized by time to first HCT (≤61min, 62-120min, and 120-270min). Overall HE for each group was calculated using the scan nearest to 24 hours. HE on the 1-hour HCT was calculated for the ≤61min group and for the all patients collectively. The additional HE between the 1-hour HCT and scan nearest to 24 hours was also captured. Results: Twenty-three patients (19 MSU) were included. Four of 8 (50%) patients in the ≤61min group, 3/7 (42.9%) in the 62-120min group, and 3/8 (37.5%) in the 120-270min group had HE in the first 24hrs, p=1.0 (Figure 1). Among the patients who had a 1-hour HCT, the incidence of HE over the first hour in the ≤61min group was 0.4 (2/5) and 0.36 (4/11) for all 3 groups. Additional HE beyond the 1-hour HCT occurred in only 1/9 patients (no follow up scan in 2 patients). Conclusion: There was a high incidence of HE 1 to 2 hours after onset in ICH patients. This period may be an optimal window for treatment. Limitations include a small sample size and confounding due to early intervention in the MSU group. A larger study is currently ongoing.
Considering Uncertain Parameters in Non-Gaussian Estimation for Single-Target and Multitarget Tracking

Consider filtering is an estimation technique that emerged in the 1960s to account for uncertainties in system parameters while simultaneously reducing system dimensionality and (accordingly) the r...
Florida Nursery Sales and Economic Impacts of 14 Potentially Invasive Landscape Plant Species

Abstract The Florida Nurserymen and Growers Association (FNGA) and the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (FLEPPC) recently asked nurserymen to stop production of 45 potentially invasive plant species that are relatively insignificant in the ornamental horticulture market. Controversies surround 14 additional species designated as invasive by the FLEPPC, but which are highly ornamental, widely used in landscaping, or have high economic value according to the FNGA. A mail survey of Florida ornamental nursery growers identified sales volume and value for each of these species. Economic output and employment impacts were calculated to determine the effect phasing-out these species may have on Florida's nursery industry. Total statewide sales of the 14 species were estimated at $45 million in 2001, with $34 million in-state and $11 million out-of-state. These sales translate into combined economic output impacts of $59 million and employment impacts of 800 jobs for Florida's economy, accounting for about 3% of...
Electrical Control of Shape in Voxelated Liquid Crystalline Polymer Nanocomposites

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) exhibit anisotropic mechanical, thermal, and optical properties. The director orientation within an LCE can be spatially localized into voxels [three-dimensional (3...
Effect of Alkyl Chain Length And Degree of Substitution on Complexation of Sulfoalkyl β-Cyclodextrins with Testosterone and Progesterone

This study was designed to test how the sulfoalkyl ether (SAE) modification of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) enhances the binding capacity of some water insoluble drugs, thereby enhancing their solubility. The SAE-β-CD derivatives contain either sulfopropyl ether (SPE) or sulfobutyl ether (SBE) groups in the 2-, 3-, and 6-hydroxyl positions of the glucose moieties. SAE-β-CD is a mixture of positional and regional isomers containing from one to as many as twelve sulfoalkyl ether (SAE) groups per cyclodextrin. The effect of chain length and the degree of substitution on complexation behavior was investigated using a miniaturized phase solubility method. Unlike the parent β-CD, linear increases in the apparent solubilities of these medicinal agents were observed with binding potentials being comparable to those of β-CD and better. Generally, the binding potential of these derivatives increase with increasing alkyl chain length and reach a maximum with increasing degree of sulfoalkyl substitution.
Transient analysis of the Three Mile Island unit 2 pressurizer system

A computer model has been developed to simulate the dynamic behavior of a pressurized water reactor pressurizer system subjected to severe transients. Unique features of this model include 1. a detailed nonlinear model for the surge line that conserves mass, energy, and momentum 2. a three-volume model for the pressurizer volume 3. a kinetic theory model for bulk flashing and condensation 4. representation of spray, heaters, and relief/ safety valves. Two test calculations were performed for verification of the proposed pressurizer system model (PRSZR) including simulation of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 accident, and the planned loss of off-site power at Davis-Besse 1. The results of both tests are in excellent agreement with the plant data. In addition, sensitivity studies were performed that demonstrate that for severe transients the following features of the pressurizer system model are essential - the detailed surge line model, the three-volume pressurizer vessel model, the bulk evaporation/condensation model, and the relief/ safety valve models. It was also found that modeling the electrical heaters and wall condensation were not important, at least for rapid transients.
Pyogenic Flexor Tenosynovitis by Point-of-care Ultrasound in the Emergency Department.

Author(s): Hubbard, Daniel; Joing, Scott; Smith, Steven W. | Abstract: Introduction: Pyogenic flexor tenosynovitis (PFT) is difficult to diagnose on clinical grounds alone as many patients requiring an operation do not have all four of Kanavel’s signs. Previous studies have shown that hypoechoic fluid surrounding the flexor tendon on ultrasound is associated with this diagnosis. We sought to determine if emergency physicians (EP) could recognize this finding in patients with suspected flexor tenosynovitis using point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS).Methods: We present a retrospective case series of seven patients suspected of PFT who had hypoechoic fluid surrounding the tendon on POCUS performed by the treating EP. We report on the patient characteristics, history of trauma by puncture wound, number of Kanavel’s signs, treatment course, and operative findings.Results: We identified seven patients whom the EP had suspected of having flexor tenosynovitis and who were subsequently found to have anechoic or hypoechoic fluid surrounding the flexor tendon on real-time POCUS examination. Patients ranged in age from 16 – 51 years. All were male. All patients had at least two of Kanavel’s signs on examination. Five of seven (71%) patients had history of recent trauma to the affected hand. Four of seven (57%) were managed in the operating room. One of seven (14%) had incision and drainage at the bedside, and the remaining two (28%) were managed non-operatively and successfully with antibiotics alone.Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that EPS can recognize the finding of hypoechoic or anechoic fluid surrounding the flexor tendon on POCUS.
Identifying substance use risk based on deep neural networks and Instagram social media data

Social media may provide new insight into our understanding of substance use and addiction. In this study, we developed a deep-learning method to automatically classify individuals' risk for alcohol, tobacco, and drug use based on the content from their Instagram profiles. In total, 2287 active Instagram users participated in the study. Deep convolutional neural networks for images and long short-term memory (LSTM) for text were used to extract predictive features from these data for risk assessment. The evaluation of our approach on a held-out test set of 228 individuals showed that among the substances we evaluated, our method could estimate the risk of alcohol abuse with statistical significance. These results are the first to suggest that deep-learning approaches applied to social media data can be used to identify potential substance use risk behavior, such as alcohol use. Utilization of automated estimation techniques can provide new insights for the next generation of population-level risk assessment and intervention delivery.
Dreams Made Small: The Education of Papuan Highlanders in Indonesia

Jenny Munro’s ethnography Dreams Made Small: The Education of Papuan Highlanders in Indonesia is an important contribution to the literature of West Papua.1 Examining Papuan experience of migration...
Your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.

In this issue of Blood, De Franceschi et al summarize the recent refugee crisis affecting southern Europe, from the standpoint of providing care for refugees arriving in Italy with unrecognized hemoglobin disorders.1
Which Factors Affect Survival in Patients With Upper Limb Osteosarcoma

Aim The purpose of this study was to identify patient-, facility-, disease-, and treatment-specific characteristics that increase mortality in patients with upper limb osteosarcoma. Patients and methods The National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was queried for bone cancer. With Cox regression, the demographic, facility, tumor-specific and treatment characteristics were analyzed to identify factors that increased mortality. Results Cox regression model showed that patients older than 40 years had a significantly higher likelihood of dying from upper limb osteosarcoma than those aged 0-14 years [hazard ratio (HR)=4.12, 95% confidence interval (CI)=2.261-7.508]. Patients with an income of $38,000-47,999 (HR=3.335, 95%CI=1.694-657) or less than $38,000 (HR=2.41, 95%CI=1.098-5.288) were also at greater risk of dying from their tumor. Patients who received radiation therapy (HR=2.457, 95%CI=1.056-5.717) had a higher likelihood of dying than patients who did not undergo this therapy. Conclusion Age, gender, income, education, stage at diagnosis, radiation therapy and type of surgery seem to increase mortality from upper limb osteosarcoma.
The Case for Patent Clarity

This article demonstrates the importance of patent clarity to both the social benefits and private value of patent rights. It employs sophisticated machine learning techniques to model patent clarity, and it uses these models to study how patent clarity relates to cumulative innovation and patent enforcement. Specific policy proposals for improving patent clarity are then derived from these results. A variety of machine learning models are trained on a large dataset of U.S. patent applications. Features are constructed based on the language attributes of over 2 million published patent applications, drawing from advances in computational linguistics. The resulting models achieve greater than 70% accuracy, thereby enabling direct empirical study of patent clarity. Using these models, this article examines how patent clarity relates to cumulative innovation. Patents serve a public function by disclosing new and useful technical information that other inventors can learn from. A significant positive correlation is observed between patent clarity and cumulative innovation by third party inventors. Next, the relationship between clarity and patent enforcement is investigated. Litigation theory teaches that unclear legal rights can give rise to and exacerbate disputes. Both relationships are observed empirically. As patent clarity decreases, there is a significant increase in both the likelihood of infringement actions and the duration of these cases. These results suggest that improving clarity could yield benefits for patent holders and follow-on innovators alike. This article concludes by proposing targeted initiatives to improve the clarity of U.S. patents.
Assessing the Impact of the NIH CTSA Program on Clinical Trials Registered With ClinicalTrials.gov.

Since 2006, the US Congress has appropriated ~ 7 billion dollars in total toward the (CTSA) program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), representing ~ 1.5% of the NIH total budget. There is no doubt this investment has led to substantial improvements in clinical and translational research, but the impact of these large NIH-sponsored awards to academic medical centers have largely been documented by anecdotal accomplishments. This paper provides a purely quantitative assessment of the impact of these awards on clinical trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. In particular, we find a dramatic increase in the number of registered clinical trials and clinical trial enrollment associated with the CTSA grant award. Additionally, the impact is shown to be magnified with the number of years of receiving CTSA funding.
Soft Textured Implants: Roughness, Friction, and the Complications

Abstract Friction and shear between soft medical implants and the contacting cells and tissues can lead to the production and secretion of pro-inflammatory proteins and small molecules: cytokines, chemokines, and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Biotribological considerations should be included in biocompatibility studies and the design of soft medical implants. Clinical experience with textured breast implants has revealed a number of complications linked to chronic inflammation. Long-term exposure to elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, proteins, and DAMPs may lead to chronic inflammation, which can have numerous negative biological consequences: pain, swelling, seromas, DNA damage, and even cancer. Contact pressure, surface roughness, surface elastic modulus, and friction all contribute to the dynamics and shear stresses reacted across these interfaces during use; in many soft implant applications, controlled mobility (without migration) is desirable, and slip is essentially unavoidable. Depending on the magnitude of shear stress, cells will undergo a wide range of responses from proliferation and remodeling, to cytokine and chemokine production, and even cell death (apoptosis or necrosis). In soft medical implants, friction coefficients and shear stresses increase with increasing roughness. Models of breast implant contact pressure as a function of geometry and relative size reveal that the shear stresses of the aggressively textured implants may exceed 100 Pa, while the smooth implants are likely well below 100 Pa. At shear stresses of around 100 Pa, epithelial cells have been shown to produce pro-inflammatory cytokines and undergo programmed cell death (apoptosis). Increasing roughness and texturing of soft medical implants should be considered a risk factor for implant biocompatibility, particularly for larger, high-projection designs.
Secular Trends in the Incidence of Hip Fracture Among Nursing Home Residents

A recent study suggested a decline in the incidence of hip fracture among US women between 2002 and 2012, followed by a leveling in the incidence rate from 2013 to 2015. Newly admitted nursing home residents are particularly vulnerable to hip fracture, and it is unclear whether that trend is observed in this high risk group. The purpose of our study was to describe trends in hip fracture rates and postfracture mortality among 2.6 million newly admitted US nursing home residents from 2007 to 2015, and to examine whether these trends could be explained by differences in resident characteristics. Medicare claims data were linked with the Minimum Data Set (MDS), a clinical assessment performed quarterly on all nursing home residents. In each year (2007-2015), we identified newly admitted long-stay (ie, 100 days in the same facility) nursing home residents. Hip fracture was defined using Medicare Part A diagnostic codes. Follow-up time was calculated from the index date until the first event of hospitalized hip fracture, Medicare disenrollment, death, or until 1 year. Poisson regression was used to adjust rates of hip fracture for age and sex. The number of newly admitted nursing home residents ranged from 324,508 in 2007 to 257,350 in 2015. Although mean age remained similar (83 years), residents were more functionally dependent over time. There was a small absolute decrease in the incidence rate of hip fracture between 2007 (3.32/100 person-years) and 2013 (2.82/100 person-years), with an increase again in 2015 (3.03/100 person-years). Adjusting for patient characteristics somewhat attenuated these trends. One-year mortality was high following fracture in all years (42.6% in 2007, 42.1% in 2014). In summary, we observed a recent slight rise in the incidence rates of hip fracture among nursing home residents that was at least partially explained by differences in resident characteristics over time. © 2020 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Enhancing empathy in medical students: Family-faculty members facilitate patient-centered reflection

Parents of children with medical complexity can serve as family-faculty in undergraduate medical education. Medical students can learn about family-centered care through structured interviews, reflective writing, and classroom discussions with family-faculty.
Violence, older adults, and serious mental illness

Abstract The purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic review of the literature on violence and aggressive behavior by and towards older adults in the context of serious mental illness. Literature was identified via comprehensive searches of PsycInfo, MedLine, AgeLine, CINAHL, PubMed, Biomedical Reference Collection, Sociological Abstracts, and Google Scholar. Key findings of the review are as follows: (1) older adults with serious mental illness are at risk for violent and aggressive behavior; (2) there is limited research on aggressive behavior in older adults with serious mental illness who do not have comorbid dementia; and (3) older adults are at increasing risk of experiencing aggressive behaviors from their mentally ill adult children for whom they provide care. Limitations of the available literature reviewed include possible underreporting of violent and aggressive behavior, a lack of consensus regarding the age at which one is considered to be an older adult, and varying subjective experiences across participants regarding what constitutes violent and aggressive behavior. The literature reviewed suggests that preventing and managing aggression and violence by or towards older adults should emphasize a collaborative approach that integrates the social, interpersonal, situational, and cultural contexts both in future research and clinical practice.
Surface Water CO2 variability in the Gulf of Mexico (1996-2017).

Approximately 380,000 underway measurements of sea surface salinity, temperature, and carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) were compiled from the Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) to provide a comprehensive observational analysis of spatiotemporal CO2 dynamics from 1996 to 2017. An empirical orthogonal function (EOF) was used to derive the main drivers of spatial and temporal variability in the dataset. In open and coastal waters, drivers were identified as a biological component linked to riverine water, and temperature seasonality. Air-sea flux estimates indicate the GoM open (− 0.06 ± 0.45 mol C m−2 year−1) and coastal (− 0.03 ± 1.83 mol C m−2 year−1) ocean are approximately neutral in terms of an annual source or sink for atmospheric CO2. Surface water pCO2 in the northwest and southeast GoM open ocean is increasing (1.63 ± 0.63 µatm year−1 and 1.70 ± 0.14 µatm year−1, respectively) at rates comparable to those measured at long-term ocean time-series stations. The average annual increase in coastal CO2 was 3.20 ± 1.47 µatm year-1 for the northwestern GoM and 2.35 ± 0.82 µatm year−1 for the west Florida Shelf. However, surface CO2 in the central (coastal and open) GoM, which is influenced by Mississippi and Atchafalaya River outflow, remained fairly stable over this time period.