cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
130 UNUSUAL PRESENTATION OF DIFFUSE LARGE B-CELL LYMPHOMA.

Introduction Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) comprises 31% of non-Hodgkin9s lymphomas (NHL), making DLBCL the most common form of NHL. DLBCL typically presents as a rapidly expanding abdominal or neck mass but can also present as extranodal disease. This case is an example of an unusual site for extranodal presentation of DLBCL. Case Presentation A 39-year-old white female presented to an outside facility with a breast mass that was rapidly growing. She stated that the mass had been stable and present for the previous 5 years with just a minimal increase in size. The mass measured approximately 9.0 × 3.6 × 7.9 cm. Following several core needle biopsies and a right total mastectomy with conflicting pathology, removal of a mass in the surgical incision site yielded the diagnosis of DLBCL. The patient had a normal LDH and staging revealed disease confined to the breast. The patient was subsequently started on cyclophosphamide, vincristine, Adriamycin, prednisone, and rituximab (CHOP-R.). Discussion DLBCL is the most common form of NHL. Primary extranodal disease arising from the breast has been documented but remains an uncommon site of initial disease. A plausible explanation of the initial benign nature of this patient9s mass is an initial low-grade lymphoma with subsequent conversion to a high-grade lymphoma. At present, there is a lack of randomized trials for the treatment of primary breast lymphoma. Conclusion Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma can present in unusual manners and arise from a previously benign-appearing lesion. Difficulty obtaining a diagnosis can lead to a delay in treatment and potentially more advanced stage of disease at the time of initiation of treatment. An appropriate index of suspicion and thorough evaluation may expedite diagnosis and prevent a delay in treatment.
Behavioral Corporate Finance

Research in behavioral corporate finance takes two distinct approaches. The first emphasizes that investors are less than fully rational. It views managerial financing and investment decisions as rational responses to securities market mispricing. The second approach emphasizes that managers are less than fully rational. It studies the effect of nonstandard preferences and judgmental biases on managerial decisions. This survey reviews the theory, empirical challenges, and current evidence pertaining to each approach. Overall, the behavioral approaches help to explain a number of important financing and investment patterns. The survey closes with a list of open questions.
Variation in Public Opinion on International Trade: A First Look at Cultural Distance

We examine data from the 2014 US-Germany Trade Survey data, employing regression analysis to identify the determinants of individuals’ opinions of international trade while paying particular attention to the potential influence that cross-societal cultural differences may have on public opinion. We also provide a descriptive analysis in addition to our econometric estimation of a series of probability models. The corresponding results are then employed to generate estimated probabilities, at different levels of cultural distance, of individuals’ views of international trade (i.e., as bad or good or, in more detailed terms, as a very bad thing, somewhat bad, somewhat good, or a very good thing). By estimating probabilities and comparing the corresponding values at different levels of cultural distance, we are able to quantify the estimated influence of cultural distance on public opinion.
The physiology and toxicology of acute inhalation phosphine poisoning in conscious male rats.

Phosphine (PH3) is a toxidrome-spanning chemical that is widely used as an insecticide and rodenticide. Exposure to PH3 causes a host of target organ and systemic effects, including oxidative stress, cardiopulmonary toxicity, seizure-like activity and overall metabolic disturbance. A custom dynamic inhalation gas exposure system was designed for the whole-body exposure of conscious male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-350 g) to PH3. An integrated plethysmography system was used to collect respiratory parameters in real-time before, during and after PH3 exposure. At several time points post-exposure, rats were euthanized, and various organs were removed and analyzed to assess organ and systemic effects. The 24 h post-exposure LCt50, determined by probit analysis, was 23,270 ppm × min (32,345 mg × min/m3). PH3 exposure affects both pulmonary and cardiac function. Unlike typical pulmonary toxicants, PH3 induced net increases in respiration during exposure. Gross observations of the heart and lungs of exposed rats suggested pulmonary and cardiac tissue damage, but histopathological examination showed little to no observable pathologic changes in those organs. Gene expression studies indicated alterations in inflammatory processes, metabolic function and cell signaling, with particular focus in cardiac tissue. Transmission electron microscopy examination of cardiac tissue revealed ultrastructural damage to both tissue and mitochondria. Altogether, these data reveal that in untreated, un-anesthetized rats, PH3 inhalation induces acute cardiorespiratory toxicity and injury, leading to death and that it is characterized by a steep dose-response curve. Continued use of our interdisciplinary approach will permit more effective identification of therapeutic windows and development of rational medical countermeasures and countermeasure strategies.
On the Evaluation of Model Performance in Physical Geography

Following the lead of Haggett and Chorley (1967), Rayner (1974), Terjung (1976), Strahler (1980) and many others, physical geography has adopted a “model-based paradigm” and, as a result, the development and application of a wide variety of models is now commonplace within virtually every sub-field from geomorphology to bioclimatology. Within climatology, many models have a predominately deductive genesis while other models are collages of statistical and empirical reasoning and, in a few cases, “best-fit” functions are extracted from data with seemingly little regard for the safeguards of a deductive stance. Still other models combine the mathematics of probability theory with empirically derived probabilities to create stochastic simulation models, e.g., Markov or Monte Carlo models. These categories of models are, by no means, mutually exclusive (or exhaustive for that matter) and a number of recent models may be considered combinatorial in that they incorporate two or more of the above-mentioned strategies into a single model.
Behavior Modification in the Treatment of Obesity

Changes in the nature of behavioral treatments for obesity over the past decades are reviewed, and the strategies employed by contemporary behavior modification approaches are examined.
Towards a Robust Deep Language Understanding System

We propose a system that bridges the gap between the two major approaches toward natural language processing: robust shallow text processing and domain-specific (often linguistically-based) deep understanding. We propose to use an existing linguistically motivated deep understanding system as the core and to leverage statistical techniques and external resources such as world knowledge to broaden coverage and increase robustness. We will also develop a semantic representation framework, which supports underspecification, granularity and incrementality, the critical factors of robustness in representing natural language semantics.
The menopause mess

Our beliefs about menopause have been challenged by a series of randomized clinical trials, including the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), which have contradicted the results of observational studies which suggested hormone treatment as a “prevent all” for coronary heart disease, as well as several other common chronic diseases. The message, based on the WHI analyses to date, remains the same: while hormone treatment is the most effective way to treat vasomotor symptoms, its use for prevention of chronic disease in women over 60 is not recommended. The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), seeks to better characterize the hormonal and symptom patterns of the menopause transition--the phase in which women move from reproductive age ovarian functioning to the final menstrual period--find a marker that will predict the final menstrual period, and determine factors that predict healthy aging.
Visual adaptation and the cone flicker electroretinogram.

This study examined the hypothesis that changes in the response properties of the human cone ERG during light adaptation represent the recovery of cone system responsiveness toward a dark-adapted value after an initial decrease in responsiveness at adapting field onset. The electroretinographic (ERG) responses to 31.1 Hz flicker were obtained under both dark-adapted and light-adapted conditions for stimulus luminances ranging from —1.42-+0.82 log cd sec/m 2 . At low stimulus luminances, flicker ERG amplitudes were larger under dark-adapted than under light-adapted conditions, consistent with the hypothesis. However, at high stimulus luminances, flicker ERG amplitudes obtained under light-adapted conditions were approximately double those recorded from the dark-adapted eye. Therefore, the increase in cone ERG amplitude that occurs during light adaptation at high stimulus luminances does not represent a return toward a dark-adapted level but instead entails a substantial enhancement above the dark-adapted value, by a mechanism that is presently unidentified. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 32:1517-1522,1991 After the onset of an adapting field, cone system electroretinogram (ERG) b-waves, obtained in response to incremental flashes of a fixed luminance, increase in amplitude with a time course of several minutes. 1 " 8 This amplitude increase is accompanied by changes in response kinetics (ie, the response peaic time becomes shorter). 47 ' 8 The magnitude of these changes and the time courses by which they occur may be altered in patients with retinal disease. 9 " 11 However, the interpretation of such alterations is difficult since the mechanism underlying these ERG changes has not been determined. One hypothesis, originally proposed by Gouras and MacKay, 5 is that these b-wave changes reflect the recovery of the cone membrane potential toward the dark-adapted level, a characteristic of cone photoreceptor light adaptation. 12 " 14 If this hypothesis-is
Characterizing the Structure, Function, and Evolution of Human Solute Carrier (SLC) Transporters Using Computational Approaches

Solute Carrier (SLC) transporters are membrane proteins that transport a broad range of solutes including metabolites, ions, toxins, and prescription drugs. In humans, there are about 400 SLC members, many of which are of medical importance. They can be drug target themselves (e.g., the serotonin transporter, SERT) or regulate the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of drugs (e.g., the organic cation transporter 1, OCT-1). An important step toward describing the mechanisms of solute transport by SLC transporters includes computational or experimental characterization of their ligand-bound or unbound structures in different conformations. Due to a variety of technical issues, human SLC transporters are challenging targets for both experimental and computational characterizations. However, recent advances in computational approaches such as molecular docking and comparative modeling, coupled with the atomic structure determination of several membrane transporters, expanded our ability to characterize the human SLC families using in silico structure-based approaches. In this chapter, we first provide an overview of the structure, function, and pharmacology of the human SLC transporters. Second, we describe different computational methods, including sequence analysis, structural modeling, and ligand docking, that are commonly used, in combination with experimental testing, to characterize the human SLC transporters. Third, we demonstrate the utility of these approaches to characterize SLC members with three examples—the norepinephrine transporter (NET), the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transporter 2 (GAT-2), and the l-type amino acid transporter (LAT-1). Finally, future directions in the field of computational structural biology of human SLC transporters are discussed.
CURRENT GENERATION IN TOROIDAL PLASMA

The continuous operation of a tokamak requires, among other things, a means of continuously providing the toroidal current. A variety of methods have been proposed to provide this current including methods which utilize particle beams or radio-frequency waves in any of several frequency regimes. These methods may be best employed either in totally steady operation or in partly steady operation; for example, there may be steady current but oscillatory density or temperature.
Brain, Environment, Hormone-Based Appetite, Ingestive Behavior, and Body Weight

Energy balance and appetite regulation are a complex process that integrates signals from homeostatic, hedonic, and environmental sources directing eating behavior. In addition to integrating homeostatic signals from the endocrine axis, the brain also drives eating behavior base on learned consummatory habits, sensory cues regarding the energy content and palatability of food, self-regulation, and the environment in which individuals live. This chapter will focus on how different internal and external factors influence central control of appetite, energy intake, and weight status, as well as how eating patterns may alter the brain’s response to food stimuli.
Stressing for sugar: a new role of serotonin for glycolysis in pancreatic cancer cells.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by a prominent desmoplastic stroma in the tumor microenvironment. This histologic feature arises from deposition of extracellular matrix that increases tissue stiffness and limits vascularity (1,2).
Is Creativity Compatible with Educational Accountability? Promise and Pitfalls of Using Assessment to Monitor and Enhance a Complex Construct

Stakeholders frequently note the importance of creativity in education, business, popular culture, and many other aspects of society, yet creativity is rarely addressed in K-12 education. Including creativity in K-12 education accountability systems is one possible avenue for increasing the emphasis on creativity in education, and doing so is a primarily social act: it has the potential to lead to greater transparency about creativity instruction (or the lack thereof) and enhance sociocultural conditions for creativity in the future. In this chapter, we review the sociocultural perspective on creativity, note relevant advances in creativity assessment, and describe the limited, previous efforts to incorporate creativity into large-scale K-12 accountability systems. The chapter provides guiding principles for the creation of such systems based on these recent developments and efforts. We conclude with the observation that building a creativity accountability system based on these principles will be difficult but possible given recent and anticipated conceptual, empirical, and technological advances.
Spectrum for V2X: Allocation and Sharing

This paper investigates how much spectrum should be available for intelligent transportation systems (ITS), and whether part of that spectrum should be shared with unlicensed devices, as has been considered by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and if so, what sharing scheme should be adopted. We found that the ITS bandwidth that maximizes social welfare could be either much more or much less than what has already been allocated, because optimal bandwidth is sensitive to uncertain factors, such as device penetration, future data rates, and spectrum opportunity cost. That uncertainty is offset if ITS spectrum is shared under a scheme of coexistence among equals. We also found that the bandwidth required to obtain given throughputs on shared spectrum can be considerably less than the bandwidth to obtain the same throughputs in separate bands. We conclude that the spectrum available for ITS should be maintained or increased, but much of ITS spectrum should be shared with non-ITS devices.
Capturing the Complex Interplay Between Drugs and the Intestinal Microbiome.

Predicting drug interactions, disposition, and side effects is central to the practice of clinical pharmacology. Until recently, the human microbiome has been an under-appreciated player in the dynamics of drug metabolism. It is now clear that humans are “superorganisms” with about 10-fold more microbial cells than human cells and harboring an immense diversity of microbial enzymes. Owing to the advent of new technologies, we are beginning to understand the human microbiome’s impact on clinical pharmacology.
They Were the Best of Times and the Worst of Times: Students Write About Their Sexual Experiences

The author developed an educational activity illustrating the variety of sexual experiences that participants identify as highly positive and highly negative. Participants write and submit a brief narrative of what they identify as their best sexual experience and a narrative that describes their worst sexual experience. Responses are shared through an in-class activity with a number of safeguards that guarantee anonymity of responses. Students in human sexuality courses consistently rate this in-class activity as among their most memorable and fun learning experiences. This activity can be adapted, as appropriate, for other training and educational purposes.
The Non-White Man’s Burden in LIS Education: Critical Constructive Nudges

Traditionally, American library and information science (LIS) education and librarianship have been predominantly white and female-oriented professions. As an international gay male person of color...
Ozsvath-Szabo bordered algebras and subquotients of category O

Abstract We show that Ozsvath–Szabo's bordered algebra used to efficiently compute knot Floer homology is a graded flat deformation of the regular block of a q -presentable quotient of parabolic category O . We identify the endomorphism algebra of a minimal projective generator for this block with an explicit quotient of the Ozsvath–Szabo algebra using Sartori's diagrammatic formulation of the endomorphism algebra. Both of these algebras give rise to categorifications of tensor products of the vector representation V ⊗ n for U q ( g l ( 1 | 1 ) ) . Our isomorphism allows us to transport a number of constructions between these two algebras, leading to a new (fully) diagrammatic reinterpretation of Sartori's algebra, new modules over Ozsvath–Szabo's algebra lifting various bases of V ⊗ n , and bimodules over Ozsvath–Szabo's algebra categorifying the action of the quantum group element F and its dual on V ⊗ n .
Stochastic Cahn–Hilliard equation in higher space dimensions: the motion of bubbles

We study the stochastic motion of a droplet in a stochastic Cahn–Hilliard equation in the sharp interface limit for sufficiently small noise. The key ingredient in the proof is a deterministic slow manifold, where we show its stability for long times under small stochastic perturbations. We also give a rigorous stochastic differential equation for the motion of the center of the droplet.
Chapter 9 – Topography — Acreage

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses role of terrain or topography in establishing an industrial plant. Terrain is generally classified as mountainous, hilly, rolling, or flat. Each type has its own peculiar advantage and disadvantage to industry. The competing use value of level land in hilly or mountainous terrain sometimes precludes its being made available to industry at reasonable rates, particularly in settled communities. Topographical maps, which show the configuration of the land surface, are time-savers during site hunting. Contour maps divulge key information on drainage conditions in the vicinity of the site under review. A study of the land gradient and drainage basins of creeks can prevent the location of a plant in a flood area. Long-term forecasts can be made to predict the absence or presence of flood danger at the proposed sites. The character of the ground on which a plant is located is very important in determining the construction cost of the foundations for the building and equipment. Test borings reveal the nature of the subsoil and show the thickness of soil strata, moisture conditions, and the compactness of the earth. From these tests, the basic geology of the area can be determined.
Dermomyotome-derived endothelial cells migrate to the dorsal aorta to support hematopoietic stem cell emergence

Abstract Development of the dorsal aorta is a key step in the establishment of the adult blood-forming system, since hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) arise from ventral aortic endothelium in all vertebrate animals studied. Work in zebrafish has demonstrated that arterial and venous endothelial precursors arise from distinct subsets of lateral plate mesoderm. Earlier studies in the chick showed that paraxial mesoderm generates another subset of endothelial cells that incorporate into the dorsal aorta to replace HSPCs as they exit the aorta and enter circulation. Here we show that a similar process occurs in the zebrafish, where a population of endothelial precursors delaminates from the somitic dermomyotome to incorporate exclusively into the developing dorsal aorta. Whereas somite-derived endothelial cells (SDECs) lack hematopoietic potential, they act as local niche to support the emergence of HSPCs from neighboring hemogenic endothelium. Thus, at least three subsets of endothelial cells (ECs) contribute to the developing dorsal aorta: vascular ECs, hemogenic ECs, and SDECs. Taken together, our findings indicate that the distinct spatial origins of endothelial precursors dictate different cellular potentials within the developing dorsal aorta.
Long-term symptom improvement and health-related quality of life after operative management of median arcuate ligament syndrome.

Abstract Objective To investigate long-term symptom improvement and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after operative intervention for median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS). Methods Clinical data of all consecutive patients treated by operative management of MALS from 1999 to 2018 were reviewed. A cross-sectional questionnaire using the Visick score, the Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index, and Short Form (SF)-12v2 questionnaires was performed to assess long-term outcomes. The SF-12 HRQOL domains were compared between symptom-free and symptomatic patient groups and to averages for the US general population. Treatment failure was defined as no relief after surgery and Visick category 3 to 4 symptoms. Freedom from symptoms was estimated at 5 years. Results A total of 100 patients were treated for MALS (mean age, 38 ± 18 years; 75% female). Open surgical release was performed in 81 and laparoscopic release in 19 patients. The most common presenting symptom was abdominal pain in 99 patients with postprandial exacerbation in 85. There was no mortality. Major adverse events at 30 days had occurred in 21 patients (open 19, laparoscopic 2) including myocardial infarction (n = 1), pancreatitis (n = 2), respiratory failure (n = 4), estimated blood loss of more than 1 L (n = 8), and postoperative ileus (n = 8). One patient treated by laparoscopic release required conversion for an aortic injury, which was treated by primary repair and splenectomy. Forty-six patients responded to the questionnaire with a mean follow-up of 8 ± 4 years. Initial symptom resolution or improvement was reported by 38 patients (83%), whereas 8 patients (17%) reported treatment failure. Seven of the 38 patients (18%) with initial treatment success reported symptom recurrence. The estimated 5-year freedom from symptoms was 67 ± 7%. All SF-12 HRQOL domains were significantly lower and below the average population range in symptomatic patients compared with those who were symptom free, in which all domains were within the average population range. The Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index scores were also significantly lower in symptomatic patients. Forty respondents (87%) reported that they would still undergo operative management if given the choice, including all respondents who reported symptom recurrence. Conclusions The operative management of MALS can be performed with a low rate of complications. Approximately two-thirds of respondents were free of symptoms 5 years after the procedure. Treatment success in symptom-free patients was associated with an improved HRQOL on par with the population average compared with symptomatic patients. The vast majority of respondents would opt to have the operation again if given a choice. However, patients should be well-informed about the possibility of failure to relieve symptoms and symptom recurrence.
Black hair in the media: Racial portrayals are more than skin deep

Several stereotypes exist that perpetuate negative viewpoints of black hair. Although media literacy scholarship and resources have focused on media representations of race and body image, fewer ha...
The Fast Resonant Rovibrational Nonlinearity of CO and CO 2 in the Mid-IR

Time- and frequency-resolved measurements of resonant nonlinear refraction of mid-IR radiation by CO and CO 2 gas reveal a fast optical nonlinearity that is dominated by power-broadening resulting in sign reversals of the nonlinear refractive index.
Copper-64-immunoPET imaging: bench to bedside.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a growing non-invasive diagnostic and molecular imaging tool in nuclear medicine, that is used to identify several diseases including cancer. The immunoPET probe is made up of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) or its fragments or similar molecules that tagged with positron radioisotopes (68Ga, 64Cu, 89Zr) bound together by a bifunctional chelator (BFC). This probe is designed to identify a specific disease. Currently, several immunoPET probes are being developed for pre-clinical as well as for clinical applications. These studies are showing promising results, both in pre-clinical and patients, using mostly 64Cu, 89Zr isotopes. This review elucidates the 64Cu based immunoPET applications, their pipelines and the emerging scope of this technique within the nuclear medicine and molecular imaging clinics from bench to bedside. Recently, immunoPET research have sharply increased especially after a big surge in approval of oncology antibodies by the FDA for immune checkpoint-blockade cancer immunotherapies. Currently, pre-clinical to clinical translations of immunoPET has several challenges, including designing probes, choice of radioisotopes, selection of stable BFC, and size of antibody and its tracer kinetics. All these obstacles will be addressed eventually by improving PET scanner sensitivity, designing appropriate size of imaging probe, and combining immunoPET with specific targeting antibodies. These improvements should contribute to the immunoPET becoming more applicable in clinics, which, in turn, will provide critical information for correct patient selection, for right dosing, and for the right time/staging of treatment.
Racial Gaps in Financial Outcomes: Big Data Evidence

Even amidst strong macroeconomic conditions, families experience high levels of income volatility that have important implications for well-being. Families with limited liquid assets are dramatically less likely to smooth consumption in the face of income fluctuations, and it stands to reason that racial gaps in liquid assets could result in racial differences in consumption smoothing. In this report, the JPMorgan Chase Institute uses administrative banking data to study racial gaps in liquid assets, take-home income, and families’ consumption response to income volatility from the vantage point of a novel de-identified data source: administrative banking data paired with self-reported race information from voter registration files. We find large racial gaps in take-home income and liquid assets which persist across age, income, gender, and geographic segments. Additionally, we find racial differences in consumption smoothing. Compared to White families, Black and Hispanic families exhibit sharper drops in spending after involuntary job loss and larger increases in expenditures after the arrival of the tax refund. However, these racial differences in consumption smoothing are explained by racial gaps in liquid and financial asset buffers. Taken together, our results shed light on the distributional impacts and importance of efforts to reduce financial volatility and increase liquid assets for low-income families and address the structural factors that contribute to racial gaps in income and assets.
Hyper-viscoelastic damage modeling of whole blood clot under large deformation

Blood clots play a diametric role in our bodies as they are both vital as a wound sealant, as well as the source for many devastating diseases. In blood clots' physiological and pathological roles, their mechanics play a critical part. These mechanics are non-trivial owing to blood clots' complex nonlinear, viscoelastic behavior. Casting this behavior into mathematical form is a fundamental step toward a better basic scientific understanding of blood clots, as well as toward diagnostic and prognostic computational models. Here, we identify a hyper-viscoelastic damage model that we fit to original data on the nonlinear, viscoelastic behavior of blood clots. Our model combines the classic Ogden hyperelastic constitutive law, a finite viscoelastic model for large deformations, and a non-local, gradient-enhanced damage formulation. By fitting our model to cyclic tensile test data and extension-to-failure data, we inform the model's nine unknown material parameters. We demonstrate the predictability of our model by validating it against unseen cyclic tensile test and stress-relaxation data. Our original data, model formulation, and the identified constitutive parameters of this model are openly available for others to use, which will aid in developing accurate, quantitative simulations of blood clot mechanics.
Fully-Coupled Simulation of the Temperature Effect on Negative Capacitance Ferroelectric Devices

In this paper, fully-coupled Landau–Khalatnikov (LK) and semiconductor equations are solved in a fully coupled manner to study the temperature effect on negative capacitance (NC) in ferroelectric (FE) devices. The validity of the framework is carefully verified with analytical calculations. LK parameters are calibrated to experiment. The temperature effects (100K to 500K) on the FE capacitors and FE junctionless double-gate field-effect transistor (FE-JL-DG-FET) without an internal metal gate are studied. It is found that the FE effect on negative capacitance increases at a lower temperature in both FE capacitor and FET. High dielectric constant (dielectric constant, e ox = 39) oxide is required to achieve super-steep subthreshold slope (2.9mV/dec) in 300K. If regular silicon dioxide (e ox = 3.9) is used, a temperature as low as 100K is required to maintain the NC effect. It is also found that at high V D , the NC effect disappears earlier than low V D .
Extracting Rules from Autonomous-Vehicle-Involved Crashes by Applying Decision Tree and Association Rule Methods:

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) can dramatically reduce the number of traffic crashes and associated fatalities by eliminating the avoidable human-error-related crash contributing factors. Many companies...
Improving the Quality of Inpatient Discharge Instructions: An Evaluation and Implementation of Best Practices.

OBJECTIVES Little is known about whether improving the quality of written discharge instructions can result in improved readmission rates and whether there are differences in the quality of discharge instructions based on provider and patient characteristics. We set out to determine provider characteristics associated with high quality discharge instructions and whether redesigned discharge instructions would lead to improvement in their quality and reduce hospital readmission rates. METHODS We instituted sequential interventions of educational outreach and a redesigned discharge instructions template and evaluated their quality using 11 metrics based on established best practices and subsequent 30-day readmission rates. RESULTS In total, 225 randomly selected charts were reviewed during a 15-month period. An average of 5.36 quality metrics were completed before our interventions, which increased to 5.61 after educational outreach and 7.16 after the template was redesigned. The risk standardized 30-day readmission rate fluctuated from a baseline of 10.48% to 12.71% and 10.97% following each intervention, respectively. Medical students completed significantly more quality metrics than interns, residents, or attendings (P < 0.05 for all) and residents completed significantly more than attendings (P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS Although an education intervention was ineffective in improving discharge instruction quality, a redesigned discharge instructions template did improve the quality of patient discharge instructions. Neither intervention led to a meaningful change in readmission rates. We also found significant differences in the quality of discharge instructions based on the level of training of the author of the discharge instructions.
Byron and Romanticism

This 2002 collection of essays represents twenty-five years of work by one of the most important critics of Romanticism and Byron studies, Jerome McGann. The collection demonstrates McGann's evolution as a scholar, editor, critic, theorist, and historian. His 'General Analytic and Historical Introduction' to the collection presents a meditation on the history of his own research on Byron, in particular how scholarly editing interacted with the theoretical innovations in literary criticism over the last quarter of the twentieth century. McGann's receptiveness to dialogic forms of criticism is also illustrated in this collection, which contains an interview and concludes with a dialogue between McGann and the editor. Many of these essays have previously been available only in specialist scholarly journals. Now McGann's influential work on Byron can be appreciated more widely by new generations of students and scholars.
Color stability of polycarbonate for optical applications

Abstract Poly(bisphenol A carbonate) or polycarbonate has excellent mechanical properties which, combined with its inherent transparency, makes it the material of choice for lighting applications such as lenses, light guides and bulbs but also for construction of roofing, greenhouses and verandas. With the advent of LED technology, the functional lifetime of lighting products has increased impressively and will further expand in the years to come. Also in construction applications, durability is key. Plastics will age though under the influence of heat, light and time, causing reduced light transmission and color changes. In this paper, we will indicate several key factors that determine the optical material performance and show how detrimental two specific monomer impurities are on the color performance of the resulting plastic over time.
Mouse Colony Management

The management of mouse colonies created by gene targeting is described in this unit. It defines guidelines necessary to establish the colony, and describes screening for germline transmission, marking the mice for easy and consistent identification, and genotyping DNA by PCR or Southern blotting analysis. It also reviews the software currently available for colony data management.
Intimate partner violence from the emergency medicine perspective.

SUMMARY Background: The incidence of acute cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the Emergency Department (ED) patients is between 2 and 7.2%. Ongoing IPV may be an immediate cause of presentation for medical care, or it may not be readily apparent. Over the last two decades efforts to improve identification of IPV in the ED have been successful. Methods: A medline literature search from 1981–2001 was performed. A review of intimate partner violence from the emergency department provider perspective is performed. A discussion of the screening/detection of intimate partner violence and the barriers to improving detection rates is provided. Results: The review of the current literature shows that IPV is a frequent cause of illness or injury in patients presenting in the ED. Screening programs for intimate partner violence have shown to increase the identification of patients experiencing acute episodes of abuse and seeking treatment. The difficulty has been in sustaining the programs and improving the...
Journal Ethics and Impact

Editing and publishing a peer-reviewed journal offers numerous opportunities to ponder issues of ethics and impact. Thanks to Taylor & Francis, the Journal of Trauma & Dissociation (JTD) is now a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics. The Committee on Publication Ethics (http://publicationethics. org/) offers guidelines and consulting for maintaining ethical procedures. In a similar spirit, we have recently updated our system for ensuring compliance with various important ethics guidelines in publication. One aspect of this updating is our new Author Assurances and Submission Checklist, which authors are required to fill out prior to peer review. This form allows the corresponding author to confirm compliance with a number of important JTD policies, including those established for research involving the use of human participants, case study presentations, originality of publication, and disclosure of any financial or nonfinancial conflict of interest. For journal submissions that include case studies, we also emphasize in our Case Presentation Checklist (http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/∼jjf/jtd/ casechecklist.html) that client or patient informed consent and confidentiality is a professional and ethical imperative. JTD requires that patients give informed consent to have their cases written up and that client identity be adequately disguised in published articles. At the same time, case presentations must have epistemological integrity—they should not be fictionalized, but rather identity should be disguised while retaining the fidelity of essential case information. If the disguising is accomplished correctly, the client should be able to recognize himself or herself, but others should not. If the client’s life experiences are unique yet sufficiently critical to the presenting problem and/or treatment as to prevent the case from being adequately
DNA Evidence: Inferring Identity

The advent of DNA profiling had greatly enhanced our ability to determine the precise source of a biologic sample. This has found a variety of applications. Keywords: DNA profile; forensic science; population genetics; FBI
Picornaviral Gene Order: Comparison of a Rhinovirus with a Cardiovirus

Abstract We describe conditions for unmasking virus-specific protein synthesis in cells infected with rhinoviruses 1A and 2. The gene order and cleavage pattern of rhinovirus 1A show many similarities to those of encephalomyocarditis virus and of poliovirus.
Synthesis of PtCo3 polyhedral nanoparticles and evolution to Pt3Co nanoframes

Abstract Bimetallic nanoframes have great potential for achieving new levels of catalytic activity in various heterogeneous reactions due to their high surface area dispersion of expensive noble metals on the exterior and interior surfaces of the structure. PtCo3 nanoparticles with polyhedral shapes were synthesized by a hot-injection method. Scanning transmission electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) showed that these nanoparticles demonstrated elemental segregation of platinum to the edges of the polyhedron, forming the basis for a framework nanostructure. The process of preferential oxidative leaching which removed cobalt from the interior of the framework was tracked by EDS and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. This evolution procedure left the platinum-rich edges intact to form a Pt3Co nanoframe. This is the first reported synthesis of a platinum–cobalt nanoframe and could have potential applications in catalytic reactions such as oxygen reduction.
Stabilized β-Catenin Potentiates Fas-Mediated T Cell Apoptosis

In response to Ag stimulation, Ag-specific T cells proliferate and accumulate in the peripheral lymphoid tissues. To avoid excessive T cell accumulation, the immune system has developed mechanisms to delete clonally expanded T cells. Fas/FasL-mediated apoptosis plays a critical role in the deletion of activated peripheral T cells, which is clearly demonstrated by superantigen (staphylococcal enterotoxin B)-induced deletion of Vbeta8(+) T cells. Using transgenic mice expressing a stabilized beta-catenin (beta-cat(Tg)), we show here that beta-catenin was able to enhance apoptosis of activated T cells by up-regulating Fas. In response to staphylococcal enterotoxin B stimulation, beta-cat(Tg) mice exhibited accelerated deletion of CD4(+)Vbeta8(+) T cells compared with wild type mice. Surface Fas levels were significantly higher on activated T cells obtained from beta-cat(Tg) mice than that from wild type mice. Additionally, T cells from beta-cat(Tg) mice were more sensitive to apoptosis induced by crosslinking Fas, activation-induced cell death, and to apoptosis induced by cytokine withdrawal. Lastly, beta-catenin bound to and stimulated the Fas promoter. Therefore, our data demonstrated that the beta-catenin pathway was able to promote the apoptosis of activated T cells in part via up-regulation of Fas.
Aging, prospective memory, and health-related quality of life in HIV infection.

HIV infection and older age are each independently associated with lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and deficits in prospective memory (PM), which is a distinct aspect of cognition involving the ability to “remember to remember” to do something at a future occasion. The present study investigated associations between PM and HRQoL in 72 older (≥50 years) and 41 younger (≤40 years) HIV-infected adults. Self-reported PM complaints predicted HRQoL across the entire sample, but there was a significant interaction between performance-based PM and age group on HRQoL, such that lower time-based PM was associated with lower HRQoL only in the younger cohort. Within the younger group, time-based and self-reported PM significantly predicted mental HRQoL independent of other risk factors (e.g. depression). These findings suggest that PM plays a unique role in HRQoL outcomes among younger persons living with HIV infection and support the examination of other age-related factors (e.g. effective use of compensatory strategies) that may regulate the adverse impact of PM on everyday functioning.
New capsule with tailored properties for the encapsulation of living cells

A new capsule for the encapsulation and transplantation of pancreatic islets has been developed. Five active ingredients are involved in the capsule formation process: high viscosity sodium alginate (SA-HV), cellulose sulfate (CS), poly(methylene-co-guanidine) hydrochloride (PMCG), calcium chloride, and sodium chloride. Complexation reaction exhibits several unique features: (1) solution of SA-HV with CS represents a physical mixture of two entangled polyanions that provide both pH-sensitive (carboxylic) and permanently charged (sulfate) groups; (2) presence of CaCl2 in the cation solution ensures formation of the gelled bead after the drop of polyanion solution is immersed in the cation solution; (3) character of the polycation (PMCG), i.e., low molecular weight and unusually high charge density, combines both high mobility and reactivity; (4) presence of PMCG in cation solution, together with CaCl2, gives rise to the competitive binding of these two cations based on their diffusion and affinity towards the anion groups; and (5) NaCl provides the anti-gelling sodium ions that significantly affect the reaction of CaCl2 with the polyanion matrix, thus altering the final properties of the capsule surface, shape, and permeability. The capsule size, mechanical strength, membrane thickness, and permeability can be precisely adjusted and quantified. Detailed information on the permeability aspects is given in another paper by Brissova et al. [J. Biomed. Mater. Sci., 39, 61 (1998)]. The new features concerning capsule processing and testing are presented. We believe that the capsule characteristics can be optimized in the next step to meet the biological criteria. The initial transplantation results suggest that this capsule is biocompatible and noncytotoxic and is a promising candidate for the immunoisolation of cells such as pancreatic islets. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 39, 52–60, 1998.
The stark shift of the hyperfine structure of an atom with a2S1/2 ground state

The energy levels of an atom in a2S1/2 ground state are examined in the presence of an electric field. It is found that the hyperfine structure of the ground state is Stark shifted. This Stark shift is estimated in a crude fashion. This estimate is in reasonahle agreement with the experimental result in the case of133Cs where the Stark shift of the hyperfine structure has been measured. Theg factor of the ground state is not influenced by an electric field.
Link between geomagnetic reversal paths and secular variation of the field over the past 5 Myr

PALAEOMAGNETIC records provide information about the behaviour of the geomagnetic field during reversals1,2. Existing records are incompatible with transitional field configurations that are either entirely dipolar or entirely zonal (dependent only on latitude)3,4. Recent compilations5–8 have indicated that the transi-tional paths of virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) for the past few reversals are located preferentially within two antipodal longitudinal bands, suggesting that simple but non-zonal field configurations dominate during reversals. Here I point out that one of the longitudinal bands coincides with that expected from the reversal of a non-axial-dipole field exactly like that present today; the other requires only a sign change in the non-axial-dipole terms of today's field. Evidence for persistent non-zonal contributions to the field has generally9–13 (but not always14,13) been regarded as not statistically significant in the light of poor data distributions. I show here that a non-zonal bias, similar to that observed in reversal data, is evident in data on secular variation of the field over the past 5 Myr, even after normalization according to site locations. These results suggest that the time-averaged field does indeed contain persistent (but not constant) non-zonal contributions.
A Diagnosis of the Asymmetry in Top-Down and Bottom-Up Diffusion Using a Lagrangian Stochastic Model

Abstract A Lagrangian stochastic model of particle trajectories is used to investigate the asymmetry in vertical diffusion from area sources at the bottom and top of an inhomogeneous turbulent boundary layer. Such an asymmetry was discovered in the large-eddy simulations (LES) of the convective boundary layer (CBL) by Wyngaard and Brost (1984) and Moeng and Wyngaard (1984). For inhomogeneous Gaussian turbulence, a diffusion asymmetry results from the vertical asymmetry in the vertical velocity variance about the midplane of the boundary layer. For small turbulence time scales, this is predictable from eddy-diffusion (K) theory. However, for large time scales, K theory is inapplicable as evidenced by countergradient flux regions and K singularities. The fundamental causes of the K model breakdown are the memory (large time scale) and vertical inhomogeneity of the turbulence, which lead to a mean vertical acceleration of particles away from the source and a “drift” velocity. A positive skewness in vertical ...