cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rigging tournament brackets for weaker players

Consider the following problem in game manipulation. A tournament designer who has full knowledge of the match outcomes between any possible pair of players would like to create a bracket for a balanced single-elimination tournament so that their favorite player will win. Although this problem has been studied in the areas of voting and tournament manipulation, it is still unknown whether it can be solved in polynomial time. We focus on identifying several general cases for which the tournament can always be rigged efficiently so that the given player wins. We give constructive proofs that, under some natural assumptions, if a player is ranked among the top K players, then one can efficiently rig the tournament for the given player, even when K is as large as 19% of the players.
ICU Telemedicine Comanagement Methods and Length of Stay

Background Studies have identified processes that are associated with more favorable length of stay (LOS) outcomes when an ICU telemedicine program is implemented. Despite these studies, the relation of the acceptance of ICU telemedicine management services by individual ICUs to LOS outcomes is unknown. Methods This is a single ICU telemedicine center study that compares LOS outcomes among three groups of intensivist-staffed mixed medical-surgical ICUs that used alternative comanagement strategies. The proportion of provider orders recorded by an ICU telemedicine provider to all recorded orders was compared among ICUs that used a monitor and notify comanagement approach, a direct intervention with timely notification process, and ICUs that used a mix of these two approaches. The primary outcome was acuity-adjusted hospital LOS. Results ICUs that used the direct intervention with timely notification strategy had a significantly larger proportion of provider orders recorded by ICU telemedicine physicians than the mixed methods of comanagement group, which had a larger proportion than ICUs that used the monitor and notify method ( P P = .01), which was significantly lower than the monitor and notify group (0.83 [0.80-0.86]; P Conclusions Direct intervention with timely notification strategies of ICU telemedicine comanagement were associated with shorter LOS outcomes than monitor and notify comanagement strategies.
Fitting the Semantic Differential to the Marketing Problem

How can we QUANTIFY abstract qualitative data that deal with consumers’ reactions to the image of a brand, product, or company? This article suggests new uses for the semantic differential, and pre...
Electronic spectroscopy of diatomic VC.

Resonant two-photon ionization spectroscopy has been applied to diatomic VC, providing the first optical spectrum of this molecule. The ground state is determined to be a 2Δ3/2 state that arises from the 1σ21π42σ21δ1 configuration. The r0″ ground-state bond length is 1.6167(3) A. The manifold of excited vibronic states in the visible portion of the spectrum is quite dense, but two possible vibrational progressions have been identified. It is noted that VC joins CrC, NbC, and MoC as species in which the metal ns-based 3σ orbital is unoccupied, resulting in large dipole moments in the ground states of these molecules. In the corresponding 5d metal carbides, however, the 3σ orbital is occupied, leading to different ground electronic states of the 5d congeners, TaC and WC.
MS-Associated Optic Neuritis (MSON)

Optic neuritis (ON) is a common manifestation of multiple sclerosis (MS), occurring as the first clinical event in about a fifth of patients. Approximately 70 % of patients with a history of ON and high-signal abnormalities on brain MRI scan, consistent with demyelination, will develop a second clinical event in MS over a 15-year period. The improved understanding of ON occurring in the setting of MS, or MS-associated ON (MSON), has led to a paradigm shift in the clinical approach to these patients. The ability to establish the diagnosis of MS following an episode of MSON using a single characteristic MRI scan has accelerated the initiation of immunomodulatory therapy. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) to evaluate the retina and optic nerve has revolutionized our understanding of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and macular changes that occur in MS patients. Following an acute episode of MSON, significant RNFL thickness is lost, averaging 20 microns; even fellow eyes without a history of MSON have reduced RNFL compared to disease-free controls. Longitudinal studies using OCT have demonstrated that RNFL axonal loss occurs in MS eyes even in the absence of acute MSON; this visual loss is associated with reductions in vision-specific and overall quality of life (QOL). Furthermore, even those patients classified as having “benign MS” may experience a steady decrement of their RNFL thickness, demonstrating that clinically silent disease activity in the eyes may be relatively common.
Endoscopic evaluation of swallowing as an alternative to 24-hour pH monitoring for diagnosis of extraesophageal reflux.

Patients with symptoms of extraesophageal reflux may not be eager to undergo 24-hour pH probe monitoring for the sake of a definitive diagnosis. It has been anecdotally noted that extraesophageal reflux can be detected during an endoscopic swallowing evaluation. The purpose of this pilot study was to demonstrate that flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing with sensory testing (FEESST) can be implemented to identify and subsequently treat patients with extraesophageal reflux. Over a 6-month period, FEESST was prospectively performed in 20 healthy control subjects and in 20 patients with dysphagia. The dysphagic patients did not have a history of stroke or chronic neurologic disease. Attention was specifically directed toward noting the presence or absence of reflux into the laryngopharynx during the endoscopic swallowing evaluation. None of the control subjects were noted to have reflux during FEESST, but 18 of the 20 patients with dysphagia were found to have reflux during the evaluation; this difference was statistically significant (p < .001, Fisher's exact test). We conclude that FEESST is useful as a means of diagnosing extraesophageal reflux in patients with dysphagia.
Jets Injected Normally into Compressible Crossflow

An overview of in-flight experiments and modeling relevant to the compressible transverse jet, in subsonic and transonic crossflow, is described here. Modeling efforts employed a low order, locally two-dimensional representation of the transverse jet, relying on the presence and dynamics of the counter-rotating vortex pair that is observed to dominate the jet cross-section. The experiments involved injection of iodine-seeded nitrogen into compressible air flow, with trajectory visualization via planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging of the iodine. The experiments were conducted in a flight test fixture situated under the fuselage of an F-104G aircraft, allowing examinations of crossflows in the high subsonic and transonic flow regimes. Both uniform crossflows and the crossflow created by compressible flow over a rearward-facing step were considered in these studies. Further details on these studies may be found in separate papers (Heister & Karagozian (1990a), Heister & Karagozian (1990b), Wang, et al. (1995), Karagozian, et al. (1996)).
Linguists as Visionaries

The first line of the song recalls that, “they all laughed at Christopher Columbus when he said the world was round;” and successive lines and verses allude to various other persons known for their role in world-changing creations, discoveries, and inventions – Edison for recording sound; Hershey for his chocolate bar, etc.
How was the Bologna Process in Poland, the Netherlands and Flanders implemented?

The Bologna Process is an important factor which has had an impact on higher education in Europe. In this paper the implementation of the Bologna Process in Poland, the Netherlands and Flanders is ...
Growing applications for bioassembled Förster resonance energy transfer cascades

Arranging multiple fluorophores into carefully designed assemblies allows them to engage in directed energy transfer cascades that can span significant portions of both the visible spectrum and nanoscale space. Combining these cascades with the 3-dimensional control of fluorophore placement provided by different types of biological templates, and especially DNA, may allow them to progress from an interesting research platform to enabling new applications. Here, we review the progress in creating such systems based on the diversity of available fluorophores and biological scaffolds. Preliminary work toward targeted applications ranging from optical utility in light harvesting, lasing, molecular computing, optical data storage and encryption to biosensing and photodynamic therapy are discussed. Finally, we provide a perspective on how this unique combination of photonically active biomaterials may transition to concerted applications.
The influence of evidence volatility on choice, reaction time and confidence in a perceptual decision

Many of our decisions are made on the basis of imperfect or ‘noisy’ information. A longstanding goal in neuroscience is to work out how such noise affects three aspects of decision-making: the accuracy (or appropriateness) of a choice, the speed at which the choice is made, and the decision-maker’s confidence that they have chosen correctly. One theory of decision-making is that the brain simultaneously accumulates evidence for each of the options it is considering, until one option exceeds a threshold and is declared the ‘winner’. This theory is known as bounded evidence accumulation. It predicts that increasing the noisiness of the available information decreases the accuracy of decisions made in response. Counterintuitively, it also predicts that such an increase in noise speeds up decision-making and increases confidence levels. Zylberberg et al. have now tested these predictions experimentally by getting human volunteers and monkeys to perform a series of trials where they had to decide whether a set of randomly moving dots moved to the left or to the right overall. Using a newly developed method, the noisiness of the dot motion could be changed between trials. The effectiveness of this technique was confirmed by recording the activity of neurons in the region of the monkey brain that processes visual motion information. After each trial, the humans rated their confidence in their decision. By comparison, the monkeys could indicate that they were not confident in a decision by opting for a guaranteed small reward on certain trials (instead of the larger reward they received when they correctly indicated the direction of motion of the dots). In both humans and monkeys, increasing the noisiness associated with the movement of the dots led to faster and more confident decision-making, just as the bounded evidence accumulation framework predicts. Furthermore, the results presented by Zylberberg et al. suggest that the brain does not always gauge how reliable evidence is in order to fine-tune decisions. Now that the role of noise in decision-making is better understood, future experiments could attempt to reveal how artificial manipulations of the brain contribute both information and noise to a decision. Other experiments might ascertain when the brain can learn that noisy information should invite slower, more cautious decisions.
The Age-Varying Association of Student Status with Excessive Alcohol Use: Ages 18 to 30 Years.

Background There is a well-known link between attending college and engaging in excessive alcohol use. This study examines in a national sample how the association between student status and excessive alcohol use changes from late adolescence through young adulthood and whether the association of student status with excessive alcohol use is different for students residing with versus away from parents during the school year. Methods This study used cross-sectional data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, a nationally representative sample of noninstitutionalized civilian adults residing in the United States. Our analyses included nonhigh school young adults who were ages 18 to 30 years (n = 8,645). Excessive alcohol use included past-year (i) high-intensity drinking (men: ≥10 standard drinks; women: ≥8) and (ii) exceeding weekly drinking guidelines (men: >14 drinks per week; women: >7). Students who resided away from their parents and students who lived with their parents during the school year were compared to nonstudents. Results Analyses using time-varying effect modeling showed that the relationship of student status with excessive alcohol use varied as a function of age. Overall student status lost its association with excessive alcohol use in the early 20s, after controlling for demographics and other adult social roles. The association between student status and excessive alcohol use also varied considerably across age and depending on whether the student was residing with or away from parents. Conclusions The association of student status with excessive alcohol use is heterogeneous in terms of both age and living arrangements, suggesting opportunities for interventions targeting problematic alcohol use. Future research should examine additional sources of heterogeneity of students in their risk for excessive alcohol use.
Effects of ACL graft placement on in vivo knee function and cartilage thickness distributions

Injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) frequently lead to early-onset osteoarthritis. Despite advancement in surgical techniques, ACL reconstruction has a limited ability to prevent these degenerative changes. While previous studies have investigated knee function after ACL reconstruction, in vivo investigations of the effects of graft placement on in vivo joint function and cartilage health are limited. This review presents a series of studies that used novel imaging and 3D modeling techniques to determine the in vivo placement of the ACL graft on the femur using two different ACL reconstruction techniques. These techniques resulted in two distinct graft placement groups: one where the ACL was placed anatomically near the center of the native ACL footprint and another where the graft was placed anteroproximally on the femur, centered outside the ACL footprint. We quantified the effects of graft placement on graft deformation during in vivo loading and how these variables affected knee motion. Finally, we quantified whether femoral placement of the graft affected cartilage thickness. Our results demonstrate that achieving anatomic graft placement on the femur is critical to restoring native ACL function and normal knee kinematics. Knees with grafts that more closely restored normal ACL function, and thus knee motion, experienced less focal cartilage thinning than did those that experienced abnormal knee motion. These results suggest that achieving anatomic graft placement is a critical factor in restoring normal knee motion and potentially slowing the development of degenerative changes after ACL reconstruction. © 2017 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 35:1160-1170, 2017.
The person: Talent and performing artists

When individuals with natural abilities are afforded opportunities to develop their talent, and when they realize their optimal potential, society benefits along with the individual. Realizing talent involves opportunity, support, and commitment. Identifying talent is often limited by stereotypes; it is always a cultural and social construct. This chapter outlines the differences between talent and giftedness and outlines models of talent such as the pyramid of talent development model and three-ring model, consensual assessment of talent, and multiple intelligences (musical–rhythmic, visual–spatial, verbal–linguistic, logical–mathematical, bodily–kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal). The theory of positive disintegration (talent, ability, and drive; stages of talent development; five overexcitabilities) as well as talent-development mega-model are presented in this chapter. Talent in the performing arts may be easy to recognize because it is strongly related to specific art forms and aesthetic values; however, exposure to the talent domains must occur before any talent is recognized.
The Timing of Auditor Hiring: Determinants and Consequences

SYNOPSIS Regulators and legislators have long been interested in the auditor change process and in auditors' learning curves. We find that auditor changes closer to the year-end are associated with longer reporting lags and lower audit quality. We find that both audit fees and audit report lags are higher when there is a hiring lag between announcements of the predecessor auditor's dismissal and the hiring of the successor auditor. We also find that the appointment of new executives is associated with the timing of the auditor change, suggesting that client executives have a significant role in the auditor-hiring process.
Lab-on-fiber optofluidic platform for in-situ study of therapeutic peptides and bacterial response (Rising Researcher Presentation) (Conference Presentation)

Hospital acquired infections in indwelling device have become a life-threatening issue accompanied by the wide use of medical devices and implants. The infection process typically involves the attachment, growth and eventual assemblage of microbial cells into biofilms, with the latter exhibiting extremely higher antibiotic tolerance than planktonic bacteria. Surface constructed antimicrobial coatings offer a viable solution for bacteria responsive antibiotic strategy in medical devices such as catheter and stents. Therapeutic peptide has pioneered the field for their attractive pharmacological profile with broad antibacterial spectrum, great efficacy and long life-span. It has been a common practice to separately assess bacteria responses through commercially available activity assay kits after their exposure to antibiotic coatings, limiting the assessment of their activity in vitro with a discontinuous fashion. We developed and demonstrated an innovative all-optical lab-on-fiber optofluidic platform (LOFOP) to fill in this technical gap by allowing in situ measurement of the bacteria attachment in a continuous manner. This LOFOP allows for evaluation of drug release and resultant bacterial response by integrating glass capillary with lytic peptide-containing LbL-coated long period graing (LPG) as its core. S. aureus suspension is introduced through the assembled optofluidic platform with the capillary and the peptide-coated LPG. The efficacy of the peptide-containing coating is evaluated in situ by monitoring the attachment of bacteria and the ensuing development of biofilms using the LPG. LPG without antimicrobial coatings will be explored and compared as control.
Problem Gambling, Mental Health, Alcohol and Drug Abuse: Effects on Crime

This research evaluates the connection between gambling and crime, simultaneously taking account of addiction-related mental health, alcohol, and drug use problems, using individual survey panel data collected on 4121 subjects over a period of 5 years. Pathological gambling is statistically significantly associated with elevated rates of crime and can be compared in its impact to substance abuse and mental health variables.
Numerical exploitation of symmetry in integral equations

Linear integral operators describing physical problems on symmetric domains often are equivariant, which means that they commute with certain symmetries, i.e., with a group of orthogonal transformations leaving the domain invariant. Under suitable discretizations the resulting system matrices are also equivariant. A method for exploiting this equivariance in the numerical solution of linear equations and eigenvalue problems via symmetry reduction is described. A very significant reduction in the computational expense in both the assembling of the system matrix and in solving linear systems can be obtained in this way. This reduction is particularly important because the system matrices are typically full. The basic ideas underlying our method and its analysis involve group representation theory. We concentrate here on the use of symmetry adapted bases and their automated generation. In this paper symmetry reduction is studied in connection with quadrature formulae and the Nystrom method. A software package has been posted on the Internet.
Individual- and County-Level Factors Associated with Racial Disparities in Cause-Specific Infant Mortality: Florida 1980–2000

The period 1980–2000 was important for infant health in the United States. During this time, dramatic social change and substantial improvements in medical perinatal care produced striking improvements in infant health and survival. Despite overall declines in infant mortality from all causes some evidence has suggested that relative racial disparities have persisted and even widened during this period. While the maternal socio-demographic factors associated with these racial disparities are well-established, several points remain unclear. First, there is some uncertainty regarding which causes have contributed to the widening racial disparities in infant mortality. Second, it is uncertain how the changing social context may have affected these patterns. Finally, it is unknown which has been more influential, changes in the social context or changes in maternal socio-demographic characteristics.
Effects of light on circadian pacemaker development. I. The freerunning period.

Summary. 1. The effects of raising cockroaches, Leucophaea maderae, in non-24 h light cycles on circadian rhythms in adults were examined. The average period (r) of freerunning rhythms of locomotor activity of animals exposed to LD 11:11 (T22) during post-embryonic development was significantly shorter (3=22.8 +0.47 SD, n=85) than that of animals raised in LD 12"12 (T24) (~= 23.7+0.20 h, n= 142), while animals raised in LD 13:13 (T26) had significantly longer periods (r= 24.3 +0.21 h, n=65). Animals raised in constant darkness (DD) had a significantly shorter period (z=23.5_+_0.21 h, n=13) than siblings raised in constant light (LL) (~=24.0+0.15 h, n= 10). 2. The differences in r between animals raised in T22 and T24 were found to be stable in DD for at least 7 months and could not be reversed by exposing animals to LD 12:12 or LD 6" 18. 3. Animals raised in either T24 or DD and then exposed as adults to T22 exhibited average freerunning periods that were not different from animals not exposed to T22. 4. Measurement of freerunning periods at different temperatures of animals raised in T22, T24, or T26 showed that the temperature compensation of r was not affected by the developmental light cycle. These results indicate that the lighting conditions during post-embryonic development can permanently alter the freerunning period of the circadian system in the cockroach, but do not affect its temperature cempensation.
A continuous model for coordinated pricing of mixed access modes to transit

Abstract The land-use pattern for many cities is a central business district surrounded by sprawling suburbs. This pattern can lead to an inefficient and congestion-prone transportation system due to a reliance on automobiles. This is because high-capacity transit is inefficient in low-density areas where insufficient travelers can access transit. This also poses an equity concern as the monetary cost of faster and more expensive travel disproportionately burdens low income travelers, especially when fixed congestion pricing is imposed. This paper presents a deterministic approximation of a discrete choice model for mixed access and mainline transportation modes, meaning that travelers may use different modes to access a mainline system, such as transit. The purpose is to provide a tractable computationally efficient model to address the first/last mile problem using a system-wide pricing policy that can account for heterogeneous values of time; a problem that is difficult to solve efficiently using a stochastic model. The model is structured for a catchment area around a central access point for a mainline mode, approximating choice by comparing modal utility costs. The underlying utility model accommodates both fixed prices (e.g., parking, fixed tolls, and fares) and distance-based unit prices (e.g. taxi fare, bike-share, and distance tolls) that may be set in a coordinated way with respect to value of time. Using numerical analysis to assess accuracy, the deterministic model achieved results within 3% of a stochastic logit-based model, and within 7% of measured values. The optimization of prices using the final model achieved a 22% reduction in generalized travel time and a 30% improvement in the Gini inequity measure from 0.2 to 0.14.
Building a Post-Industrial Shangri-La: Lu Shuyuan, Ecocriticism, and Tao Yuanming’s “Peach Blossom Spring”

This chapter focuses on literary and cultural studies to show how Chinese literary scholars contribute to the larger conversation regarding China’s “practice of environing” and the construction of China’s eco-civilization. Zooming in on Lu Shuyuan, the most prominent ecocritic in China, and his home-grown ecocritical thinking as a case study to illustrate a syncretic yet Chinese oriented ecocriticism, the author examines the way in which Lu addresses issues of marginality and disenfranchisement in a poetic genre called “moonlight poetry” (dagong shi) composed by rural migrant workers. Viewing migrant poets through the prism of his Tao Yuanming study, Lu contributes to the current discussion of Global Environmental Humanities by illustrating the importance of the role premodern cultural tradition plays in the contemporary postmodern environmental imagination.
The Interaction Between Sleep and Metabolism in Alzheimer's Disease: Cause or Consequence of Disease?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and affects over 45 million people worldwide. Both type-2-diabetes (T2D), a metabolic condition associated with aging, and disrupted sleep are implicated in the pathogenesis of AD, but how sleep and metabolism interact to affect AD progression remains unclear. In the healthy brain, sleep/wake cycles are a well-coordinated interaction between metabolic and neuronal activity, but when disrupted, are associated with a myriad of health-related issues, including metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, T2D, and AD. Therefore, this review will explore our current understanding of the relationship between metabolism, sleep, and AD-related pathology to identify the causes and consequences of disease progression in AD. Moreover, sleep disturbances and metabolic dysfunction could serve as potential therapeutic targets to mitigate the increased risk of AD in individuals with T2D or offer a novel approach for treating AD.
Leveraging Routine Behavior and Contextually-Filtered Features for Depression Detection among College Students

The rate of depression in college students is rising, which is known to increase suicide risk, lower academic performance and double the likelihood of dropping out of school. Existing work on finding relationships between passively sensed behavior and depression, as well as detecting depression, mainly derives relevant unimodal features from a single sensor. However, co-occurrence of values in multiple sensors may provide better features, because such features can describe behavior in context. We present a new method to extract contextually filtered features from passively collected, time-series mobile data via association rule mining. After calculating traditional unimodal features from the data, we extract rules that relate unimodal features to each other using association rule mining. We extract rules from each class separately (e.g., depression vs. non-depression). We introduce a new metric to select a subset of rules that distinguish between the two classes. From these rules, which capture the relationship between multiple unimodal features, we automatically extract contextually filtered features. These features are then fed into a traditional machine learning pipeline to detect the class of interest (in our case, depression), defined by whether a student has a high BDI-II score at the end of the semester. The behavior rules generated by our methods are highly interpretable representations of differences between classes. Our best model uses contextually-filtered features to significantly outperform a standard model that uses only unimodal features, by an average of 9.7% across a variety of metrics. We further verified the generalizability of our approach on a second dataset, and achieved very similar results.
Promoting Curriculum of Orgullo: Latinx’s Children’s Books and Testimonio

As educators that are committed to democratic liberatory education for all, we are called to create spaces and places where we can cultivate and curate experiences that can provide avenues for students to develop self-awareness and agency. These dialogical spaces and places will problematize and question students’ knowledge and understanding leading them to articulate perspectives inhibited by hidden curriculum that hinders them from developing and actualizing a sense of self and purpose. This essay provides an example of decolonizing curriculum through children’s literature to support students in exploring, analyzing, and creating testimonies as a way to problematize their understandings and experiences with marginalized communities. Testimonio, embodied in the aesthetics of children’s literature, provides a pivotal pedagogical tool that allows students to critically reflect on systematic oppression, social inequalities, and hegemonic practices. Framed within a curriculum of orgullo (Calderon-Berumen & O’Donald, 2017), the testimonies embedded in children’s literature scaffolds the process of reading, producing, and analyzing students’ personal narratives.
Online input, state, and response estimation for building structures under earthquakes using limited acceleration measurements

This paper proposes online input, state, and response estimation based on Augmented Kalman filter for systems without direct feedthrough, such as earthquake-excited building structures with absolute floor acceleration measurements. Measurement noise, modelling error, and incomplete absolute acceleration measurement are considered. The system model in this case lacks direct feedthrough, resulting in weak observability of system input, for which a small uncertainty in the model and measurement data would lead to a drastic change in the estimation. The augmented state Kalman filter for system without direct feedthrough is proposed for earthquake-excited building structures, in which the input with known variance is augmented with states in order to estimate them together. Compared with unbiased minimum-variance input and state estimation methods that make no assumption of input, the proposed online approach is able to perform robust estimation of states, input, and responses at unmeasured locations successfully using only a limited number of absolute acceleration measurements.
Reduction in mortality in pediatric non-idiopathic scoliosis by implementing a multidisciplinary screening process

Retrospective comparative study. To compare complications before and after implementation of the Multi-D screening protocol in complex pediatric patients undergoing spinal instrumentation for non-idiopathic scoliosis. Pediatric patients undergoing surgery for non-idiopathic scoliosis experience significantly more complications than those with idiopathic scoliosis. Operating on these patients can lead to serious complications including death. Recent reports have demonstrated the benefits of establishing a multidisciplinary-based system to reduce complications in adult spinal deformity during the perioperative period. However, there are limited studies examining these benefits in a complex pediatric spine population. This was a retrospective review of all cases involving spinal instrumentation at our institution for 2 years before and after the initiation of our Neuromuscular Spine Surgery Care Plan in July 2014. Study sample was n = 129 cases (107 patients) prior to the initiation of the process and n = 122 cases (109 patients) thereafter. Primary outcome measures included: mortality at 30 days and 1 year; post-operative neurologic deficit, and surgical site infections (SSI). Secondary outcome measures included: instrument failure in 1 year; readmission in 30 days; return to OR in 90 days. The study populations were matched by age and gender. Patients passing the Multi-D conference had higher BMI. Implementation of the Multi-D conference reduced mortality at 30 days (2 vs 0, p = 0.17) and at 1 year (4 vs 0, p = 0.04), as well as reduced post-operative neurologic deficit (2 vs 0, p = 0.17). The rate of SSI remained unchanged. All other secondary outcome measures also remained unchanged. Implementation of a Multi-D conference led to a significant reduction in mortality at 1 year, and is an important safety process to reduce serious complications after non-idiopathic scoliosis surgery. Level III.
Durability of Digital Flexible Ureteroscope in University Hospital and Ambulatory Surgical Center: Is It Time to Rethink?

Introduction and Objectives: Published literature on damages to a digital flexible ureteroscope (DFU) examines a limited number of ureteroscopes and shows wide variation in its durability. The aim of this study was to compare the primary damage location, causes of DFU damages, and the durability of Karl Storz Flex-Xc digital ureteroscope between University Hospital (UH) and Ambulatory Care Surgery Center (ASC). We also evaluated the available literature on the durability of DFU. Methods: Each damaged DFU prospectively underwent a manufacturer's evaluation to determine the reason for return and primary site of damage. Hospital data on the number of ureteroscopic procedures and damaged DFUs over 3 years were retrospectively reviewed. The possible reason for the damage was classified as either intraoperative or between the procedures. The durability of DFUs, type, and cause of damage were compared between the UH and nonteaching ASC. A chi-square test was utilized for categorical variables. When cell frequencies were <5, Fisher's exact test was used. Results: During the study period, 1211 ureteroscopies were performed and 143 ureteroscopes were returned to the manufacturer. The mean number of uses was 7.45 at the UH and 16.5 at the ASC. The location and cause of damage were similar at both locations. The most common locations of primary damage were at the angle cover (70.6%) and instrument channel (19.2%). Most damage occurred during the handling of the ureteroscopes between surgical procedures (78%). On review of the literature, we found that DFUs were 6 times more durable in a nonteaching hospital. Conclusions: The DFU was more than two times as durable in the ASC as in the UH. Most incidents occurred during handling between surgical procedures. Future research is needed to examine the impact of training and certification of support staff on durability of DFUs.
L’apprentissage de la culture à travers les techniques du corps : savoir anthropologique chez Claude Simon

A partir de la notion de « techniques du corps » elaboree par l’anthropologue Marcel Mauss, l’article se propose d’analyser le lien entre corporeite, socialite et culture tel que Claude Simon l’explore dans ses romans. Nous portons notre attention sur la gestuelle des personnages, sur la description de leurs positions et de leurs mouvements, ainsi que sur les rituels sociaux imprimes dans leurs corps et actes. Ces elements nous permettent de montrer les manieres dont l’œuvre simonienne vehicule une vision du monde fondee sur un savoir de nature pratique plutot que discursive, et s’inscrit par la dans un processus de reevaluation du savoir corporel par rapport au savoir intellectuel.
Transformational Leadership in Supply Chain Management

The intent of this research is to present a model that investigates the relationship of the Leadership style against the Lean Supply Chain Culture and its impact in Supply Chain Integration as measured by Company Performance and Customer Service effectiveness.
Digital Link—A

In a digital link, a transmitter converts bits into signals and a receiver converts the signals it receives into bits. The receiver faces a decision problem that we study in Sect. 7.1. The main tool is Bayes’ Rule. The key notions are maximum a posteriori and maximum likelihood estimates. Transmission systems use codes to reduce the number of bits they need to transmit. Section 7.2 explains the Huffman codes that minimize the expected number of bits needed to transmit symbols; the idea is to use fewer bits for more likely symbols. Section 7.3 explores a commonly used model of a communication channel: the binary symmetric channel. It explains how to calculate the probability of errors. Section 7.4 studies a more complex modulation scheme employed by most smartphones and computers: QAM. Section 7.5 is devoted to a central problem in decision making: how to infer which situation is in force from observations. Does a test reveal the presence of a disease; how to balance the probability of false positive and that of false negative? The main result of that section is the Neyman–Pearson Theorem that the section illustrates with many examples.
Staff Perceptions of a Real Time Respiratory Therapist Charge Auditor

Background: In our health system, respiratory therapists (RTs) bill for services as they document within the electronic medical record (EMR). In the USA, hospitals lose millions of dollars in revenue annually because of documentation errors,1 and this is true in our institution. After using LEAN principles to increase our EMR utility in 2019, RT errors remained plentiful and resulted in financial impact. Methods: An RT auditor role was posted and filled internally as a trial. The RT was experienced in RT policies, procedures, and charting. Minimal training was performed prior to the start of the role. The RT auditor trial began 11/1/2019, and ended 1/31/2020, during which time, the auditor worked 3:00pm–11:00pm Monday through Friday and reviewed charting and charges for the prior 24 h for all inpatients in our facility with respiratory services. At the end of the trial period, an IRB approved survey was sent to staff within the respiratory care department to determine impact and perceptions related to the auditor role and overall trial effectiveness (Table 1). Results: The RT auditor was successful in reducing charge errors by 79% (January 2020 versus January 2021), translating to over $600,000 in increased gross billed revenue during the trial period. The staff survey received a response rate of 55.5% (n = 55). Overall, 87.3% of RTs surveyed had been contacted by the RT auditor for charge related documentation opportunities. 98.2% of staff had a positive perception of the RT auditor role and 92.2% reported that they felt the role was effective. 92.5% of staff reported that a non-clinical associate in this role would have been less effective. 67.92% of respondents reported that feedback obtained from the auditor changed their practice and 43.4% felt the auditor assisted in education of department policies and practices. On a Likert scale of 1–5, the staff rated the RT auditor’s overall effectiveness at 4.7. Conclusions: An RT auditor successfully aided in reducing charge errors in real time while maintaining positive perceptions from RT staff providing clinical care. More studies must be done to evaluate the full-time impact of positions such as this in a variety of healthcare settings. Reference: Koshy S. Documentation tips for pulmonary medicine - implications for the inpatient setting. Chest 2012;142:1035-1038.
Visual Explanations for Convolutional Neural Networks via Latent Traversal of Generative Adversarial Networks.

Lack of explainability in artificial intelligence, specifically deep neural networks, remains a bottleneck for implementing models in practice. Popular techniques such as Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (Grad-CAM) provide a coarse map of salient features in an image, which rarely tells the whole story of what a convolutional neural network (CNN) learned. Using COVID-19 chest X-rays, we present a method for interpreting what a CNN has learned by utilizing Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). Our GAN framework disentangles lung structure from COVID-19 features. Using this GAN, we can visualize the transition of a pair of COVID negative lungs in a chest radiograph to a COVID positive pair by interpolating in the latent space of the GAN, which provides fine-grained visualization of how the CNN responds to varying features within the lungs.
Model Checking a Self-Stabilizing Distributed Clock Synchronization Protocol for Arbitrary Digraphs

This report presents the mechanical verification of a self-stabilizing distributed clock synchronization protocol for arbitrary digraphs in the absence of faults. This protocol does not rely on assumptions about the initial state of the system, other than the presence of at least one node, and no central clock or a centrally generated signal, pulse, or message is used. The system under study is an arbitrary, non-partitioned digraph ranging from fully connected to 1-connected networks of nodes while allowing for differences in the network elements. Nodes are anonymous, i.e., they do not have unique identities. There is no theoretical limit on the maximum number of participating nodes. The only constraint on the behavior of the node is that the interactions with other nodes are restricted to defined links and interfaces. This protocol deterministically converges within a time bound that is a linear function of the self-stabilization period.
Cardiovascular compression of the esophagus and spread of gastro-esophageal reflux.

Background Factors that determine the spread of gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) along the length of the esophagus are not known. We investigated if cardiovascular (CV) compressions on the esophagus may determine the spread of refluxate into the proximal esophagus. Methods High-resolution manometry (HRM) and multi-channel intra-luminal impedance recording (MIIR) were performed simultaneously in 10 normal subjects in the recumbent and upright positions. Pulsatile pressure increases on the esophagus (marker of CV compression) were identified on the HRM. Spread of refluxate into the esophagus was determined by the MIIR. Key Results Cardiovascular compression zones were observed in the esophagus in 9 out of 10 subjects in recumbent position. Forty percent of GER episodes were limited to the distal esophagus in the recumbent position and CV compression pressure was greater than distal esophageal pressure at the time of GER in all such cases. On the other hand, distal esophageal pressure was greater than CV compression pressure when the refluxate extended into the proximal esophagus. In the upright position, CV compression was less frequent than recumbent position and only 12% of GER episodes were limited to the distal esophagus. Conclusions & Inferences Cardiovascular compression of the esophagus is frequently observed in normal healthy subject and restricts the spread of refluxate into the proximal esophagus.
Modelagem OntoUML no Apoio ao Desenvolvimento do Sistema de Notificação, Captação e Doação de Órgãos

This paper presents a conceptual model of organ donation domain using OntoUML notation. The conceptual model is used to solve problems in understanding and communication in the domain, assisting in the development of the Organ Donation System (SINCAP) as well as the semantic integration of it with other systems.
Neonatal Anterior Esophageal Perforation

Traumatic esophageal perforation and/or formation of esophageal diverticula may occur during the intensive care of premature infants. Lee and Kuhn1 have reviewed this entity and have noted typical characteristics of location, suspected etiologic factors, incidence, etc. We would like to extend these observations by reporting an unusual complication of anterior esophageal perforation probably secondary to trauma from a laryngoscope blade. CASE REPORT The patient, a boy, was admitted to the University of Michigan Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the age of 1 hour. Birth weight was 750 g; the estimated gestational age was 25 weeks. Membranes had ruptured just prior to delivery, and the amniotic fluid was cloudy and malodorous.
Supersymmetric matter gravitino multiplets

Abstract We construct all on-shell, massless, supersymmetric multiplets with maximum field spin three-halves. The supergeometry of these theories is developed. We study the off-shell N = 1 matter gravitino multiplet and exhibit the supergeometries of the known theories. Explicit superfield constructions for two new off-shell theories are presented.
Teaching Innovation in Principles of Microeconomics Classes

The author presents multiple ways of integrating innovation theory into many of the topics typically covered in Principles of Microeconomics classes.
Research with undergraduates: a survey of best practices

This paper surveys best practices for building an academic research program that relies on the contributions of undergraduate research assistants. This paper focuses on techniques suited to individual researchers at primarily undergraduate institutions.
An Exploratory Study of Teachers' Beliefs Regarding the Implementation of Constructivism in Their Classrooms.

(2000). An Exploratory Study of Teachers' Beliefs Regarding the Implementation of Constructivism in Their Classrooms. Journal of Science Teacher Education: Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 323-343.
DANTE preparation for black-blood coronary wall imaging

Background Double inversion recovery (DIR) pre-pulses combined with ECG gating are often used [1] in black blood imaging. However, the inversion time is often too long. Also, the blood suppression is often insufficient in multi-slice studies. DANTE is a novel black-blood technique that has been shown to maintain SNR and CNR similar to single-slice DIR in ungated carotid artery studies [2] and is compatible with multi-slice acquisition. In this study, we combined DANTE pulses with gating and tested the performance for coronary wall imaging. Methods Experiments were performed on a Siemens 3T Tim Trio scanner with a 32 channel coil array. Four volunteers (age 26-29) were tested with a multi-slice spiral gradient echo sequence with ECG gating. The sequence consisted of a 5ms spectral-spatial excitation pulse followed by a 16ms constant density spiral readout gradient. FOV = 240-340mm, 14-20 interleaves, 3 slices, each with 5mm, inplane resolution 0.7-0.9mm. DANTE prepulses were placed before the imaging readout with spacing = 0.6ms and flip angle = 7. A similar sequence
The second cohomology with symmplectic coefficients of the moduli space of smooth projcetive curves

Each finite dimensional irreducible rational representation V of the symplectic group Sp2g(Q) determines a generically defined local system V over the moduli space Mg of genus g smooth projective curves. We study H2 (Mg; V) and the mixed Hodge structure on it. Specifically, we prove that if g ≥ 6, then the natural map IH2(M~g; V) → H2(Mg; V) is an isomorphism where M~_g is tfhe Satake compactification of Mg. Using the work of Saito we conclude that the mixed Hodge structure on H2(Mg; V) is pure of weight 2+r if V underlies a variation of Hodge structure of weight r. We also obtain estimates on the weight of the mixed Hodge structure on H2(Mg; V) for 3 ≤ g < 6. Results of this article can be applied in the study of relations in the Torelli group Tg.