cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Migratory bee hive transportation contributes insignificantly to transgenic pollen movement between spatially isolated alfalfa seed fields.

Contracted commercial beekeeping operations provide an essential pollination service to many agricultural systems worldwide. Increased use of genetically engineered crops in agriculture has raised concerns over pollinator-mediated gene flow between transgenic and conventional agricultural varieties. This study evaluated whether contracted migratory beekeeping practices influence transgenic pollen flow among spatially isolated alfalfa fields. Twelve honey bee ( Apis mellifera L.) colonies were permitted to forage on transgenic alfalfa blossoms for 1 wk in Touchet, WA. The hives were then transported 112 km to caged conventional alfalfa plots following one and two nights of isolation (8 and 32 h, respectively) from the transgenic source. Alfalfa seed harvested from the conventional plots was assessed for the presence of the transgene using a new seedling germination assay. We found that 8 h of isolation from a transgenic alfalfa source virtually eliminated the incidence of cross-pollination between the two varieties.
The effect of insurance type on trauma patient access to psychiatric care under the Affordable Care Act.

Abstract Objective The objective of the study was to assess the effect of insurance type (Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance or cash pay) on patients' access to psychiatrists for a new patient consultation. Method 240 psychiatrists identified as interested in treating patients with PTSD were called across 8 states. The caller requested an appointment for her fictitious boyfriend who had been in a car accident to be evaluated for PTSD. Each office was called four times to assess the responses for each payment type. From each call, whether an appointment was offered and barriers to an appointment were recorded. Results 21% of psychiatrists would see new patients. 15% of offices scheduled an appointment for a patient with Medicaid, compared to 34% for Medicare, 54% for BlueCross and 93% for cash pay ( p Conclusions Access to a psychiatrist for a new patient consultation is challenging. Despite expansion of the Affordable Care Act, substantial barriers remain for Medicaid patients in accessing psychiatric care compared to patients with Medicare, private insurance or those who pay cash.
A graphical user interface for XCAT phantom configuration, generation and processing

The main aim of this work is to facilitate generation of the extended cardiac and torso (XCAT) phantom with focus on automated and simplified generation of four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) simulated images. A comprehensive graphical user interface (GUI) was developed to expedite phantom generation, processing and 4DCT image generation. The use of irregularly shaped patient-specific tumors with the XCAT phantom, a capability that is not implemented in the current version of the application, was also addressed. XCAT phantoms were generated to demonstrate the GUIs functionality. The following GUI functions were demonstrated; (a) generation of 4DCT images using respiratory motion signal; (b) generation of maximum intensity image from 4DCT images; (c) insertion of irregularly shaped tumors from DICOM files; (d) exporting XCAT data to DICOM format and importing to an Eclipse treatment planning system. An open source, publicly available graphical interface for the XCAT phantom was developed. The graphical interface is capable of generating a wide variety of phantoms to simulate 4DCT acquisition images. The graphical interface is also able to incorporate irregularly shaped tumors within the XCAT framework. The graphical interface is freely distributed for imaging research.
MORPh: mobile OLED power friendly camera system

With superior advantages of better display quality and power efficiency, the latest OLED technology has achieved unprecedented popularity in the display screen market. However, the OLED remains one of the most power-hungry components in mobile devices. Various optimization schemes have been proposed based on the color-dependent power consumption feature of OLED pixels. These schemes mainly focus on color modification during the playback phase and require significant overhead in terms of frame analysis and real-time modification. While such schemes are effective, the power saving opportunities during the camera recording phase are overlooked. To further enhance the power optimization, the camera parameters during the recording phase could be effectively utilized to reduce or eliminate the optimization overhead. Hence, we proposed MORPh, a cross-layer optimization system for OLED display in the smartphones. We analyze three fundamental parameters of smartphone camera system and their impact on the OLED screen power consumption. We then define corresponding metrics to quantitatively assess each parameter's potential of power saving guidance. Finally, we develop a set of schemes and integrated them into a video recording and playback application on an existing Android smartphone. The experiments results indicate power saving of 7.3% 39.7%, and 20.3% on average while maintaining perceived visual quality.
The Psychology of Black Boys and Adolescents, by Kirkland C. Vaughans and Warren Spielberg: (Eds.). (2014). Volumes 1 and 2. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger. $110.00 (Hardcover). ISBN: 978-0313381980

It is quite a courageous undertaking for the editors of The Psychology of Black Boys and Adolescents to compile such an important two-volume book geared at tackling such a thorny issue, whose genui...
Theology, Ethics, and Clinical Encounters: Possibilities for Reconciliation?

This essay is not intended to serve as a summary analysis of the entire volume. Rather it is an attempt, using the help of the preceding pages, to establish possible trajectories for further work at the interfaces of theology, ethics, and clinical encounters. A narrative account of a particular clinical situation will provide the backdrop for a discussion of concerns that emerge from the preceding essays. Areas for further investigation will be suggested.1
Concept similarity in publications precedes cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Innovative science frequently occurs as a result of cross-disciplinary collaboration, the importance of which is reflected by recent NIH funding initiatives that promote communication and collaboration. If shared research interests between collaborators are important for the formation of collaborations, methods for identifying these shared interests across scientific domains could potentially reveal new and useful collaboration opportunities. MEDLINE represents a comprehensive database of collaborations and research interests, as reflected by article co-authors and concept content. We analyzed six years of citations using information retrieval-based methods to compute articles’ conceptual similarity, and found that articles by basic and clinical scientists who later collaborated had significantly higher average similarity than articles by similar scientists who did not collaborate. Refinement of these methods and characterization of found conceptual overlaps could allow automated discovery of collaboration opportunities that are currently missed.
Development of a 5W at 65 K Air-Cooled Pulse Tube Cryocooler

LG Electronics (LGE) has developed an air-cooled Pulse Tube Cryocooler (PTC) for HTS applications. The air-cooled PTC provides 5.5 W of cooling at 65 K and 25°C ambient with 280 W of input power with a single-acting linear compressor. Its performance is greater than that of an LGE water-cooled PTC of last year, 4.9 W at 65 K and 20°C, with 270 W of input power. The air-cooled PTC, compared to the water-cooled one, has a lower-efficiency linear motor, a 3% decrease due to cutting down the cost of the linear motor, and a higher temperature at the surface of the aftercooler, 30°C higher than the water-cooled one. Thus, the performance has improved significantly.
Model Averaging Methods for Weight Trimming.

In sample surveys where sampled units have unequal probabilities of inclusion, associations between the inclusion probabilities and the statistic of interest can induce bias. Weights equal to the inverse of the probability of inclusion are often used to counteract this bias. Highly disproportional sample designs have highly variable weights, which can introduce undesirable variability in statistics such as the population mean or linear regression estimates. Weight trimming reduces large weights to a fixed maximum value, reducing variability but introducing bias. Most standard approaches are ad-hoc in that they do not use the data to optimize bias-variance tradeoffs. This manuscript develops variable selection models, termed “weight pooling” models, that extend weight trimming procedures in a Bayesian model averaging framework to produce “data driven” weight trimming estimators. We develop robust yet efficient models that approximate fully-weighted estimators when bias correction is of greatest importance, and approximate unweighted estimators when variance reduction is critical.
Crop Responses to Environment: Adapting to Global Climate Change, Second Edition

Following in the tradition of its predecessor, Crop Responses to Environment, this fully updated and more comprehensive second edition describes aspects of crop responses to environment that are particularly relevant to the development of improved crop cultivars and management methods on a global scale. It includes an extensive discussion of the difficulties in developing agricultural systems that accommodate increasing human needs for agricultural products during the twenty-first century in a sustainable manner. The book features new sections on adaptation to global climate change including adapting to global warming, elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, and increased flooding and salinity through plant breeding and changes in crop management. Warming effects include stressful effects of heat on pollen development and reduced winter chilling effects on fruit and nut trees. The book examines principles, theories, mathematical models, and experimental observations concerning plant responses to environment that are relevant to the development of improved crop cultivars and management methods. It illustrates the importance of considering emergent plant properties as well as reductionist approaches to understanding plant function and adaptation. Plant physiological and developmental responses to light and temperature, and plant water relations are considered in detail. Dr. Hall also describes climatic zone definitions based on temperature, rainfall, and evaporative demand in relation to plant adaptation and the prediction of crop water use. Irrigation management and crop responses to salinity, flooding and toxic levels of boron and aluminum are considered. Crop responses to pests and diseases as they interact with crop responses to physical and chemical aspects of the environment are examined. The book concludes with analyses illustrating the relevance of crop responses to environment to plant breeding.
Two Modified Digital Gradient Sensing with Higher Measurement Sensitivity for Evaluating Stress Gradients in Transparent Solids

Two modified full-field Digital Gradient Sensing (DGS) methods with higher measurement sensitivity are presented for quantifying small angular deflections of light rays caused by a non-uniform state-of-stress in a transparent solid. These methods are devised by combining or altering previously proposed methods, reflection-mode DGS (r-DGS) (Periasamy and Tippur, Meas Sci Technol 24:025202, 2013) and transmission-mode DGS (t-DGS) (Periasamy and Tippur, Appl Opt 51:2088–2097, 2012). In this presentation, the working principles of r-DGS and t-DGS are introduced first. Then, the so-called t2-DGS method is proposed with the aid of a separate reflective planar surface located behind the transparent solid. The sensitivity of t2-DGS is shown to be twice that of t-DGS. Next, an even higher sensitivity method called the transmission-reflection DGS or simply tr-DGS is developed by making the back surface of a transparent planar solid specularly reflective. The governing equations of tr-DGS are proposed followed by a comparative demonstration of t2-DGS and tr-DGS methods by measuring stress gradients in the crack tip region during a dynamic fracture experiment. The tr-DGS is ∼1.5 times more sensitive than t2-DGS, and at least three times more sensitive than t-DGS approach.
Transnational identity formation of second-generation Cameroonian youth in the United States: a perspective of a Cameroonian parent-educator

This essay explores the intricacies of transnational identity development among young Cameroonian-Americans. The paper also examines the intersectionality of socioeconomic and geographic factors influencing the transnational identity development of second-generation Cameroonian-Americans. It argues that cultural identity development among second-generation Cameroonian-Americans is influenced by both the culture of their heritage country, Cameroon, and that of their country of birth, the United States. These second-generation Cameroonian-Americans’ knowledge about their heritage culture that is acquired mostly informally plays an important role in their transnational identity development. Some of the influential aspects of their cultural identity development as examined in this essay include acculturation during Cameroon’s national days’ celebrations, Cameroonian weddings, wakes, funerals, baby showers, conventions, fundraising, monthly meetings, birthdays, and many other cultural events. In spite ...
Abstract P350: Psychological Resilience and CVD-related Health Behaviors: a Cross-sectional Analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative Extension Study

Introduction: Psychological resilience (resilience), defined as the self-reported ability to bounce back from stress by the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), has been associated with CVD-related health...
Prevalence and Mechanisms of Discrimination: Evidence from the Ride-Hail and Taxi Industries:

Ride-hail services, including Uber and Lyft, have upended the taxi industry, but it remains unclear whether ride-hailing, like taxis, discriminates against riders based on race. To understand wheth...
Diversities of choice, choice of diversities: Practical aspects of a diversity-centered exhibit:

A cultural institution choosing to mount an exhibit centered on the theme of diversity (or at least to ensure that a reasonable variety of types of objects/creators is presented) faces an inherent ...
Measurement and Modeling of Hysteresis in Pneumatic Actuator Under Different Loading Rate

A hysteresis model under different loading rate is proposed based on measurement results with simple polynomial method. This model will be used for better control and compensation of pneumatic actuator in actual application. The hysteresis model is achieved using simple polynomial method based on measurement data. Six groups of testing data are collected under different loading rate from quasi-static (2 kPa/s) to 25 kPa/s at growth rate of 5 kPa/s. History independence research is also conducted in order to understand more detailed hysteresis feature of pneumatic actuator. Based on measurement results, it is concluded that the hysteresis model is effective to describe the effect of stroke and loading rate on the hysteresis. The history independence of hysteresis study validates the model is robust enough.
Abstract WP456: Using An Electronic Dashboard To Improve Communication On Stroke Core Measure Compliance

Background and Purpose: Several years ago, an excel spreadsheet was created to improve real time communication about stroke core measure compliance to all the inpatient units. This daily spreadshee...
Review of Facing Gaia

A review of Facing Gaia: Eight Lectures on the New Climatic Regime by Bruno Latour (2017). Pre-print first published online 10/26/2019
Thermophysical properties of high-density, sintered monoliths of yttrium dihydride in the range 373–773 K

Abstract Yttrium dihydride is a promising nuclear reactor moderator for high-temperature, thermal micro-reactors due to its ability to retain hydrogen to high temperatures while having a relatively low impact on neutron economy. However, it is difficult to fabricate yttrium dihydride in high-density, near net-shape monoliths for moderator applications due to challenges associated with the hydrogen absorption process. In this study, high-density monoliths of yttrium dihydride were prepared by powder metallurgical methods. The lattice strain and thermal expansion coefficient were measured using neutron diffraction of powders of directly-hydrided yttrium, while the molar heat capacity and thermal diffusivity of sintered yttrium dihydride were measured using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and laser flash analysis (LFA), respectively. The molar heat capacity of yttrium dihydride was also calculated using density functional theory (DFT) for comparison. These parameters were used to then calculate the thermal conductivity and resistivity of yttrium dihydride as a function of temperature. The thermophysical properties of materials produced by both methods were observed to be consistent with the values from literature for yttrium dihydride. Due to the novelty of producing yttrium dihydride by powder metallurgical methods, this result indicated that the sintered monoliths were of high quality and that powder metallurgy is a viable method for large-scale production of yttrium dihydride monoliths for nuclear reactor moderator applications.
Enlarged perivascular spaces are not associated with vascular co-morbidities, clinical outcomes, and brain volumes in people with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.

BackgroundIn secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) significance of enlarged perivascular spaces (ePVS) is unknown.Objectives, Methods: Analysis of associations between vascular co-morbidi...
A subset of liver resident natural killer cells is expanded in hepatitis C-infected patients with better liver function

Viral hepatitis leads to immune-mediated liver injury. The rate of disease progression varies between individuals. We aimed to phenotype immune cells associated with preservation of normal liver function during hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Clinical data and specimens were obtained from 19 HCV-infected patients undergoing liver transplantation. Liver and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated and eight subsets of innate immune cells were delineated by multiparameter flow cytometry. Cytokine assays and microarrays were performed. Intrahepatic CD56Bright/CD16- natural killer (NK) cells comprised the only subset correlating with better liver function, i.e., lower bilirubin (p = 0.0002) and lower model for end stage of liver disease scores (p = 0.03). The signature of liver NK cells from HCV-infected patients included genes expressed by NK cells in normal liver and by decidual NK cells. Portal vein blood had a higher concentration of interleukin (IL)-10 than peripheral blood (p = 0.03). LMCs were less responsive to toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation than PBMCs, with fewer pro-inflammatory gene-expression pathways up-regulated after in vitro exposure to lipopolysaccharide and a TLR-7/8 agonist. Hepatic CD56Bright/CD16- NK cells may be critical for maintaining liver homeostasis. Portal vein IL-10 may prime inhibitory pathways, attenuating TLR signaling and reducing responsiveness to pro-inflammatory stimuli.
Design subspace learning: Structural design space exploration using performance-conditioned generative modeling

Abstract Designers increasingly rely on parametric design studies to explore and improve structural concepts based on quantifiable metrics, generally either by generating design variations manually or using optimization methods. Unfortunately, both of these approaches have important shortcomings: effectively searching a large design space manually is infeasible, and design optimization overlooks qualitative aspects important in architectural and structural design. There is a need for methods that take advantage of computing intelligence to augment a designer's creativity while guiding—not forcing—their search for better-performing solutions. This research addresses this need by integrating conditional variational autoencoders in a performance-driven design exploration framework. First, a sampling algorithm generates a dataset of meaningful design options from an unwieldy design space. Second, a performance-conditioned variational autoencoder with a low-dimensional latent space is trained using the collected data. This latent space is intuitive to explore by designers even as it offers a diversity of high-performing design options.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on change in sleep patterns in an exploratory, cross-sectional online sample of 79 countries.

Abstract Objectives To describe changes in sleep patterns during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, develop profiles according to these patterns, and assess sociodemographic, economic, COVID-19 related, and sleep and mental health factors associated with these profiles. Design, setting, and participants A 25-minute online survey was distributed worldwide through social media from 5/21/2020 to 7/1/2020. Measurements Participants reported sociodemographic/economic information, the impact of the pandemic on major life domains, insomnia and depressive symptoms, and changes in sleep midpoint, time-in-bed, total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE), and nightmare and nap frequency from prior to during the pandemic. Sleep pattern changes were subjected to latent profile analysis. The identified profiles were compared to one another on all aforementioned factors using probit regression analyses. Results The sample of 991 participants (ages: 18-80 years; 72.5% women; 60.3% residing outside of the United States) reported significantly delayed sleep midpoint, reductions in TST and SE, and increases in nightmares and naps. Over half reported significant insomnia symptoms, and almost two-thirds reported significant depressive symptoms. Latent profile analysis revealed 4 sleep pattern change profiles that were significantly differentiated by pre-pandemic sleep patterns, gender, and various COVID-19-related impacts on daily living such as severity of change in routines, and family stress and discord. Conclusions In an international online sample, poor sleep and depressive symptoms were widespread, and negative shifts in sleep patterns from pre-pandemic patterns were common. Differences in sleep pattern response to the COVID-19 crisis suggest potential and early targets for behavioral sleep health interventions.
Topology-Guided Sampling for Fast and Accurate Community Detection.

Community detection is a well-studied problem with applications in domains ranging from computer networking to bioinformatics. While there are many algorithms that perform community detection, the more accurate and statistically robust algorithms tend to be slow and hard to parallelize. One way to speed up such algorithms is through data reduction. However, this approach has not been thoroughly studied, and the quality of results obtained with this approach varies with the graph it is applied to. In this manuscript, we present an approach based on topology-guided sampling for accelerating stochastic block partitioning - a community detection algorithm that works well on graphs with complex and heterogeneous community structure. We also introduce a degree-based thresholding scheme that improves the efficacy of our approach at the expense of speedup. Finally, we perform a series of experiments on synthetically generated graphs to determine how various graph parameters affect the quality of results and speedup obtained with our approach, and we validate our approach on real-world data. Our results show that our approach can lead to a speedup of up to 15X over stochastic block partitioning without sampling while maintaining result quality and can even lead to improvements of over 150% in result quality in terms of F1 score on certain kinds of graphs.
Life expectancy estimates based on comorbidities and frailty to inform preventive care

Background Long-term prognostication is important to inform preventive care in older adults. Existing prediction indices incorporate age and comorbidities. Frailty is another important factor in prognostication. In this project, we aimed at developing life expectancy estimates that incorporate both comorbidities and frailty. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, we used data from a 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries with and without history of cancer from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry areas. We included adults aged 66-95 years who were continuously enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare for ≥1 year from 1998 to 2014. Participants were followed for survival until 12/31/2015, death, or disenrollment. Comorbidity (none, low/medium, high) and frailty categories (low, high) were defined using established methods for claims. We estimated 5- and 10-year survival probabilities and median life expectancies by age, sex, comorbidities, and frailty. Results The study included 479,646 individuals (4,128,316 person-years), of whom most were women (58.7%). Frailty scores varied widely among participants in the same comorbidity category. In Cox models, both comorbidities and frailty were independent predictors of mortality. Individuals with high comorbidities (HR, 3.24; 95% CI, 3.20-3.28) and low/medium comorbidities (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.34-1.39) had higher risks of death than those with no comorbidities. Compared to low frailty, high frailty was associated with higher risk of death (HR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.52-1.58). Frailty affected life expectancy estimates in ways relevant to preventive care (i.e., distinguishing 10-year life expectancy) in multiple subgroups. Conclusion Incorporating both comorbidities and frailty may be important in estimating long-term life expectancies of older adults. Our life expectancy tables can aid clinicians' prognostication and inform simulation models and population health management.
A remark and problem for polynomials of several variables

David Hilbert [1] in his lecture that he delivered before the International Congress of Mathematicians at Paris in 1900 posed 23 problems; the 16th problem concerns the topology of algebraic curves and surfaces.
In vivo determination of collecting lymphatic vessel permeability to albumin: a role for lymphatics in exchange

While it is well established that the lymphatic vasculature is central to fluid and solute homeostasis, how it accomplishes this task is not well defined. To clarify the basic mechanisms underlying basal fluid and solute homeostasis, we assessed permeability to rat serum albumin (PRSAs) in mesenteric collecting lymphatic vessels and venules of juvenile male rats. Using the quantitative microfluorometric technique originally developed for blood capillaries, we tested the hypothesis that as a consequence of venules and collecting lymphatics sharing a common embryological origin, their PRSAs would not differ significantly. Supporting our hypothesis, the median collecting lymphatic PRSAs (3.5 ± 1.0 × 10−7 cm s−1, N= 22) did not differ significantly from the median venular PRSAs (4.0 ± 1.0 × 10−7 cm s−1, N= 8, P= 0.61). For collecting lymphatics the diffusive permeability (Pd= 2.5 × 10−7 cm s−1) was obtained from the relationship of apparent PRSAs and pressure. While the measured PRSAs, Pd and estimated hydraulic conductivity of collecting lymphatics and venules were similar, the contribution of convective coupling differs as a result of the higher hydrostatic pressure experienced by venules relative to collecting lymphatics in vivo. In summary, the data demonstrate the capacity for collecting lymphatics to act as exchange vessels, able to extravasate solute and filter fluid. As a consequence these data provide experimental support for the theory that prenodal lymphatic vessels concentrate intraluminal protein.
μ-Opioid and δ-opioid receptors are expressed in brainstem antinociceptive circuits: Studies using immunocytochemistry and retrograde tract-tracing

Opioid-produced antinociception in mammals seems to be mediated in part by pathways originating in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) and the rostroventral medulla (RVM), and these pathways may include serotonergic neurons. In the present study, we examined the relationship of the cloned μ- and δ-receptors (MOR1 and DOR1, respectively) to PAG neurons projecting to the RVM, and RVM neurons projecting to the dorsal spinal cord. This was carried out by combining immunocytochemical staining for MOR1, DOR1, and serotonin with fluorescent retrograde tract-tracing. Of 133 retrogradely labeled cells in the RVM, 31% were immunoreactive for MOR1. Of the double-labeled cells, 41% also were immunoreactive for 5HT. Fifty-three percent of retrogradely labeled cells were apposed by DOR1-ir varicosities; 29% of the apposed cells were immunoreactive for 5HT. In the mesencephalon, cells retrogradely labeled from the RVM were usually surrounded by MOR1-ir structures; however, retrogradely labeled cells were never observed to be immunoreactive for MOR1. Similarly, retrogradely labeled cells in the caudal midbrain were seldom, if ever, labeled for DOR1; however, they frequently were apposed by DOR1-ir varicosities. Of 156 retrogradely labeled profiles from three rats, 52 (33%) were apposed by DOR1-ir varicosities. We conclude that both μ- and δ-opioid receptors could be involved in the antinociception mediated by the PAG–RVM–spinal cord circuit. In addition, opioids seem likely to have both direct and indirect effects on spinally projecting RVM cells in general, and on serotonergic RVM cells in particular.
Journal Finder, a Second Look: Implications for Serials Access in Today's Library.

Since The University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Jackson Library introduced Journal Finder in August 2001, the service has grown and evolved. Its features and capabilities have been expanded, enhanced, and refined, and a partnership program has been developed. Journal Finder enjoys significant initial success and appears to meet a real need in the research life of faculty and students. Additionally, Journal Finder has revealed several user trends with implications for the library, including the use of print serials, photocopying, interlibrary loan, and document delivery/pay-per-view, and it continues to provide insights and data for serials collection management decisions.
Catheter ablation of atrial arrhythmias in cardiac sarcoidosis.

Ablation of Atrial Arrhythmias in Cardiac Sarcoidosis Background We previously reported on the incidence and clinical implications of supraventricular arrhythmia in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis (CS). The role of catheter ablation for the management of atrial arrhythmia (AA) in this patient population is unknown. Methods and Results One hundred consecutive patients with CS were monitored for the incidence of supraventricular arrhythmias. Those with persistent symptoms despite optimal medical therapy proceeded to catheter ablation. Following ablation, all patients were followed serially with Holter monitoring or device interrogation. Thirty-two (32%) patients had symptomatic supraventricular arrhythmias. Nine (28%) patients had symptomatic AA requiring catheter ablation for clinical indications. Mean age was 55 ± 11.6 years. Five (56%) patients had atrial fibrillation (AF), of whom 2 also had cavotricuspid isthmus ablation. Four patients had isolated atrial flutter: 2 patients with left atrial flutter, and 2 patients with cavotricuspid flutter. All other arrhythmias were ablated in the left atrium. Mean duration of follow-up was 1.8 ± 1.9 years. One patient with atypical atrial flutter, and one patient with AF have had recurrence; the remaining patients remain in sinus rhythm. Conclusions Our study suggests that AA in CS is frequently left atrial in origin. Catheter ablation appears to be effective and safe for the maintenance of sinus rhythm in patients with CS.
In Spite of All, We Make It: Themes of Stress and Resiliency as Told by Women in Families Living in Poverty

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research study was to increase our understanding of how families living in poverty successfully meet life challenges. Family resiliency provided the theoretical framework for examining family coping and adaptation. This study used a purposive sample of women (N = 128) in families with children attending Head Start. All families lived below or at poverty level, most with 11th grade education or high-school/GED diploma. Content analysis methods were used for data analysis. Results of this study identify the characteristics that promote competence, including how individual, family, and environmental factors are potential stressors that also may serve to promote family resilience. The data indicate that family love and mutual support, as well as faith, help stressed families cope and maintain meaning in spite of lack of control over life circumstances resulting from economic poverty.
Comparison of secondary and primary thyroid cancer in adolescents and young adults

BACKGROUND Thyroid cancer is one of the 5 most common malignancies in adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients (ages 15-39 years) and may develop de novo or in patients previously treated for cancer. This study compared the tumor characteristics, treatment, and overall survival (OS) of secondary malignant neoplasm (SMN) versus primary thyroid cancer in AYA patients. METHODS All cases of AYA thyroid cancer contained in the 1998 to 2010 American College of Surgeons National Cancer Database were divided into 2 cohorts according to primary or secondary occurrence. Comparisons using appropriate statistical methods were performed. RESULTS Of 41,062 cases, 1349 (3.3%) had experienced a prior malignancy. Compared with cases of primary thyroid cancer, SMNs were more likely multifocal (odds ratio [OR] = 1.173, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.049-1.313) microcarcinomas 4 cm in size (OR = 0.610, 95% CI = 0.493-0.758). There was a 6.63-fold (95% CI = 4.97-8.86, P < .001) relative risk of death for secondary versus primary thyroid cancers after adjusting for demographic, tumor, and thyroid treatment factors. Only Hispanic origin, tall/columnar cell histology, and distant metastases decreased OS for SMNs. CONCLUSIONS AYAs who develop thyroid cancer as a SMN have a significantly decreased OS compared to AYAs with primary thyroid cancer. Multiple demographic and tumor differences exist between these 2 cohorts. Whether the outcome disparity results from previous cancer treatment or differences in biology, environment, or access to care are areas needing further investigation. Cancer 2014;120:1155–1161. © 2014 American Cancer Society.
Prognostic impact of lymphadenectomy in uterine serous cancer

Objective To estimate the survival impact of lymphadenectomy in women diagnosed with uterine serous cancer. Design Women with a diagnosis of uterine serous cancer were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program (SEER) from 1988 to 2007. Only surgically treated women were included. Setting The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program database provided data from 17 registries. Population The study population comprised 4178 women. Methods Statistical analyses using Student’s t-test, Kaplan–Meier survival methods and Cox proportional hazards regression were performed. Main outcome measure Overall survival. Results Three thousand, one hundred and ninety-four (67.7%) women underwent lymphadenectomy. Older women (≥65 years) and Caucasian women (relative to Asian) were less likely to have lymphadenectomy (P 10 nodes removed) were 26% (HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.67–0.83; P < 0.001) less likely to die. The impact of the extent of lymphadenectomy on survival was significant in both node-negative and node-positive women. Conclusion Age and race influenced the prevalence of lymphadenectomy in our cohort. This study suggests that the extent of lymphadenectomy is associated with significant improvement in survival of women with uterine serous cancer.
Transport properties of pure and doped mnisn (m=zr, hf)

We have studied the transport properties in a family of pure and doped intermetallics of the form MNiSi (M=Zr, Hf), the structures known as the half-Heusler alloys. We have shown that the transport is very sensitive to structural arrangements of the constituent atoms, and this can be manipulated by annealing, isostructural alloying, and doping. The unusual transport properties are viewed in the context of a semimetal-semiconductor transition that in pure alloys sets in near 150 K. Doping with indium can shift the transition upward towards 200 K. The high-temperature transport is dominated by the presence of heavy electrons that are responsible for surprisingly large values of thermopower. Minute amount of antimony (n-type doping) have a spectacular influence on the nature of transport and drive the electrical resistivity and Hall effect to be metal-like at all temperatures. Sb-doped alloys display very high thermoelectric power factors, but the thermal conductivity is still too high to make the material a prospective thermoelectric.
Random phase approximation vs exact shell-model correlation energies

The random phase approximation (RPA) builds in correlations left out by mean-field theory. In full 0-hbar-omega shell-model spaces we calculate the Hartree-Fock + RPA binding energy, and compare it to exact diagonalization. We find that in general HF+RPA gives a very good approximation to the ``exact'' ground state energy. In those cases where RPA is less satisfactory, however, there is no obvious correlation with properties of the HF state, such as deformation or overlap with the exact ground state wavefunction.
A hybrid nearest-neighbor and nearest-hyperrectangle algorithm

Algorithms based on Nested Generalized Exemplar (NGE) theory [10] classify new data points by computing their distance to the nearest "generalized exemplar" (i.e. an axis-parallel multidimensional rectangle). An improved version of NGE, called BNGE, was previously shown to perform comparably to the Nearest Neighbor algorithm. Advantages of the NGE approach include compact representation of the training data and fast training and classification. A hybrid method that combines BNGE and the k-Nearest Neighbor algorithm, called KBNGE, is introduced for improved classification accuracy. Results from eleven domains show that KBNGE achieves generalization accuracies similar to the k-Nearest Neighbor algorithm at improved classification speed. KBNGE is a fast and easy to use inductive learning algorithm that gives very accurate predictions in a variety of domains and represents the learned knowledge in a manner that can be easily interpreted by the user.
Anticlericalism si ateism/ Anti-clericalism and Atheism

A revised and expanded version of a talk given by Richard Rorty on the occasion of the award of the Meister-Eckhart Sachbuch preis in December 2001, the article provides for its author an occasion for highlighting the latest developments regarding the condition of reli- gion, religiosity, belief, faith, and atheism. Starting from the common sense and rather numerous instances of those who are „religiously unmusical,“ Richard Rorty looks briefly at the meandering course of secularization, endors- ing the idea that the conflict between science and religion is a struggle for supremacy between two institutions. Dealing mostly with Gianni Vattimo’s book Credere di credere, the American philosopher builds, in his unmistak- able style, rich in highlights and shades, a case for the question of the (post)modernist believer, but also an occasion to notice the entrenching line separating the religious from the non-religious person, as two opposing ways of interpreting transcendence: as dependence, for the religious person; as hope, for the non-religious one.
Win, lose, or draw? China’s quarter century war on corruption

In 1982, the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party ordered a crackdown on corruption. As China’s war on corruption enters its 25 year an obvious question is whether the party winning? Because there is no direct way to measure the actual rate of corruption (ARC) and the data we have on the revealed rate of corruption (RRC) may not perfectly reflect changes in the ARC while changes in the perceived level of corruption (PLC) may be subject to subjective distortion, trends in the RRC and the PLC may not provide reliable answers. The mathematical relationship between the ARC and the RRC, however, can be defined as a function of risk. Increases in risk can be interpreted as signaling a narrowing of the ARC–RRC gap. Decreases in risk can be interpreted as signaling a widening of the ARC–RRC gap. By combining data on changes in risk with data on movement in the RRC it is possible, therefore, to assess (in broad terms) the movement of the ARC even though it remains technically unknowable. Using data on the lag between when officials first engage in corruption and when they are prosecuted to measure changes in risk, this article raises doubts about whether Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is winning its war on corruption.
Listening genres: The emergence of relevance structures through the reception of sound

Abstract This article proposes the concept of listening genres and analyzes the constitution of a particular case, “psychoanalytic listening.” The aim is to conceptualize listening practices by focusing on how they create contextual frameworks of interaction, which hold the capacity to direct behavior. The argument is that through listening, sound images produce different contexts depending on the particular way in which an individual listens . Social actors, thus, listen both pragmatically and intentionally. Hearers listen with a purpose, they look for (directed) meanings, and the outcome of their interpretation transforms various social dimensions. To exemplify how listening genres are produced and reproduced, this article explores psychoanalytic listening as a genre in a multi-family psychoanalytic setting in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The new labor market: immigrants and wages after IRCA.

We examine the effect of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) on migrants ’ wages using data gathered in 39 Mexican communities and their U.S. destination areas. We examine changes in the determinants of wages before and after the passage of IRCA, as well as the effects of its massive legalization program. Migrants ’ wages deteriorated steadily between 1970 and 1995, but IRCA did not foment discrimination against Mexican workers per se. Rather, it appears to have encouraged greater discrimination against undocumented migrants, with employers passing the costs and risks of unauthorized hiring on to the workers. Although available data do not permit us to eliminate competing explanations entirely, limited controls suggest that the post-IRCA wage penalty against undocumented migrants did not stem from an expansion of the immigrant labor supply, an increase in the use of labor subcontracting, or a deterioration of the U.S. labor market.
Chemical and Optical Properties of CdSe and CdSe/ZnS Nanocrystals Investigated Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

We apply a variety of characterization tools, including dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution size-exclusion chromatography (HRSEC), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF), to study CdSe and CdSe/ZnS semiconductor nanocrystals of various sizes. We compare the size monodispersity, composition, and optical properties such as absorbance, photoluminescence (PL), and photoluminescence excitation of samples synthesized by high-temperature organometallic decomposition methods to CdSe clusters synthesized in our laboratory using a room-temperature metathesis from ionic precursors in coordinating solvents. DLS revealed considerable aggregation in all the conventionally synthesized samples, while TEM showed significant size and shape polydispersity in the core/shell CdSe/ZnS nanoparticles. We demonstrate how HRSEC can be used to explore size and shape polydispersity in semiconductor nanocrystals by measurement of the spectral homogeneity of the PL and PLE of spectra obtained ...
Phlorizin Induces Lipolysis and Alters Meal Patterns in Both Early-and Late-Lactation Dairy Cows

Phlorizin is known to increase whole-body glucose demand, but it has also stimulated lipolysis in past studies in ruminants. Increased lipolysis complicates studies of dry matter intake (DMI) regulation by hepatic oxidation by providing the liver with additional oxidative substrate. Therefore, to assess whether increased glucose demand selectively increases DMI for cows in negative energy balance, phlorizin was administered to early- and late-lactation cows. Six Holstein cows in early lactation (19 +/- 6 DIM, 50.0 +/- 1.8 kg/d of milk, mean +/- SD) and 6 Holstein cows in late lactation (228 +/- 18 DIM, 30.6 +/- 1.9 kg/d of milk) were randomly assigned to treatment sequence in a crossover design. Periods were 14 d with 7-d adaptation periods and 7 d of treatment. Phlorizin (4 g/d) and propylene glycol (carrier and control) were administered subcutaneously every 6 h throughout the treatment periods. Feeding behavior and DMI data were collected for the final 4 d of each treatment period; blood samples and total urine output were collected on d 4 of each treatment period. Phlorizin caused urinary loss of glucose at 333 g/d in early-lactation cows and 532 g/d in late-lactation cows. Phlorizin increased plasma nonesterified fatty acid concentrations similarly in early- and late-lactation cows, but did not significantly alter plasma insulin concentrations. Treatment with phlorizin tended to decrease meal size, but also decreased intermeal interval, resulting in no effect on DMI. The effects of phlorizin on lipolysis, feeding behavior, and DMI are not dependent on relative energy balance.
Commentary on "prevalence and risk factors for Chlamydia trachomatis infection among cross-border truck drivers in Hong Kong".

The report by Leung et al 1 highlights many dimensions of concern from the global perspective of sexually transmitted infection (STI) control, while investigating only Chlamydia trachomatis infection among Hong Kong truckers. This is the only truck driver study, to my knowledge, focused solely on chlamydia infection and its determinants. Because of their screening procedure, one third of the truckers accessed their results—unprecedented for men in this occupation. Of course, the problematical characteristic of chlamydia infection is its asymptomatic status, thereby reducing the impetus to seek testing. This probably contributes to the moderate to high rates of infection (estimated at 89 million new cases annually)2 experienced globally. The consistency in prevalence rates across time and distance is uncanny. For example, a recent cross-sectional study among 53 000 young men throughout the USA revealed an 8.2% prevalence.3 Another study conducted in an eastern US city a decade earlier showed rates of 10.6% in symptomatic men and 8.2% in asymptomatic men.4 Leung et al 1 report …