cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A new economy of jokes?: #Socialmedia #Comedy

In this article, we examine the myriad ways comics harness emergent social media tools and these online platforms impact the production, exchange, and consumption of humor. Review of popular media, interviews, and scholarship yielded three important themes. (1) The comedy industry is in flux, but this is in no way a new phenomenon. (2) There are multiple uses of social media and how comics use these media tools often hinges on their intent and status. To illustrate this, we describe the six most prominent uses of social media. (3) The substance of humor remains fairly consistent in content and style of delivery but social media is giving rise to tribalism among like-minded comedy fans, which has an impact on audience composition and the content of comedy. We conclude by warning against any preemptive celebrations of the Internet and social media as democratizing forces that challenge existing social hierarchies.
Agricultural land use, barn owl diet, and vertebrate pest control implications

Abstract Barn owls ( Tyto alba ) are the most widespread raptor species on Earth, and because they are thought to provide natural vertebrate pest control services, farmers in some agricultural regions have encouraged barn owls to breed and hunt on their farms by installing artificial nest boxes. However, barn owl populations are declining in some agricultural regions, which may be a result of changes in land use and agricultural intensification. We studied barn owl diet and nest box occupancy in an intensive agricultural landscape in the Central Valley of California to measure whether agricultural land use affected barn owl diet. We collected 415 viable pellets from 25 active nest boxes over two breeding seasons and compared these results with agricultural land use types within a 1-km radius of each nest. Mice ( Mus musculus and Reithrodontomys megalotis ) were the most numerous prey and the most important by biomass, but their importance in barn owl diet declined with higher proportions of perennial crops in the surrounding landscape. California voles ( Microtus californicus ) were less important by number, but still represented a significant proportion of the biomass consumed by owls in our study area. Pocket gophers ( Thomomys spp.) were consumed less often but were also an important source of biomass. Furthermore, barn owls nesting in areas with higher proportions of perennial crops consumed more gophers and fewer voles, many of which were juveniles, suggesting that gophers are more abundant and a more important part of barn owl diet in perennial crop areas. Over 99.5% of prey items in barn owl diet were agricultural pests and owls are therefore likely to provide valuable pest control services for growers in our area, although the species consumed may vary with crop types with implications for pest-control.
Impartiality in Political Judgment: Deliberative Not Philosophical

Is impartiality possible or desirable within the conduct of political judgment? Many philosophers and democratic theorists have answered this question with a resounding “no.” This article provides ...
Abstract 225: Patient Activation is Low and Associated With Early Post-discharge Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure

Background: Recent studies have suggested that patient activation, or having the knowledge, skills and confidence to manage one’s own health, has a substantial impact on patient behaviors and health outcomes. However, the role of activation in patients with heart failure is unknown. Methods: We prospectively recruited Southeastern Minnesota residents hospitalized with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) from January 2014 through July 2015. Activation was measured by face-to-face questionnaire using the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) and patients were categorized into four activation levels (lowest to highest activation) per PAM guidelines. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between activation level and discharge location and early post-discharge outcomes. Results: Among the 302 patients enrolled, the mean age was 77.3 years, 57.3% were men, and 46.8% had preserved ejection fraction. Median (25th-75th percentile) length of stay was 4 (3-7) days and 7 (2.3%) patients died prior to discharge. Among survivors, 73.3% discharged to home, while the remainder went to skilled nursing facilities (23.0%), assisted living facilities (2.0%) or other arrangements (1.4%). The 30-day mortality rate was 7.0% and the 30-day readmission rate was 21.2%. The number (%) of patients in each activation category from highest to lowest was 9 (3.0%), 121 (40.1%), 122 (40.4%), and 50 (16.6%). Patients with lower activation were older, less educated, had worse overall and financial satisfaction, and worse health literacy. They more often discharged to skilled nursing facilities and had higher 30-day mortality, though 30-day readmission did not differ by activation (Figure). Adjusting for age, patients in the lowest activation level were at 3.1-fold increased odds of discharging to a skilled nursing facility and 6.0-fold increased odds of dying within 30 days of hospital discharge compared with patients in the highest two activation levels. Conclusions: Patients hospitalized with ADHF with lower activation are less satisfied, have worse health literacy, more often require skilled care and are at increased risk for early post-discharge mortality. Activation is easy to measure, identifies a high-risk subgroup, and is potentially modifiable. ![][1] [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
Macro-strategy for the internationalization of Chinese materia medica brand marketing

As the economic globalization's acceleration,the internationalization of Chinese materia medica(CMM) became a key way for its development.However,in the condition of the low technology and the poorly management,the internationalization of CMM faces many challenges at the present stage,such as the industry structure confusion,lack of supervision,cultural differences between China and the West,poverty of research and innovation,and the backwardness of marketing and management,etc.Whereas this,from the perspective of government management and enterprise's development,making sales strategies by using the brand marketing,integration of resources,strictly directing production process,subdividing the international market,strengthen international communication and cooperation,would be benefit for solving the problems and would help the development of CMM.
Acute and Chronic Cutaneous Reactions to Ionizing Radiation Therapy

Ionizing radiation is an important treatment modality for a variety of malignant conditions. However, development of radiation-induced skin changes is a significant adverse effect of radiation therapy (RT). Cutaneous repercussions of RT vary considerably in severity, course, and prognosis. When they do occur, cutaneous changes to RT are commonly graded as acute, consequential-late, or chronic. Acute reactions can have severe sequelae that impact quality of life as well as cancer treatment. Thus, dermatologists should be informed about these adverse reactions, know how to assess their severity and be able to determine course of management. The majority of measures currently available to prevent these acute reactions are proper skin hygiene and topical steroids, which limit the severity and decrease symptoms. Once acute cutaneous reactions develop, they are treated according to their severity. Treatments are similar to those used in prevention, but incorporate wound care management that maintains a moist environment to hasten recovery. Chronic changes are a unique subset of adverse reactions to RT that may develop months to years following treatment. Chronic radiation dermatitis is often permanent, progressive, and potentially irreversible with substantial impact on quality of life. Here, we also review the etiology, clinical manifestations, pathogenesis, prevention, and management of late-stage cutaneous reactions to radiotherapy, including chronic radiation dermatitis and radiation-induced fibrosis.
The humoral immune response in autoimmunity

Only within the last 5 years have data on variable region sequences of autoantibodies begun to accumulate. Although it is too early to draw final conclusions, certain principles are beginning to emerge. It is clear that self-recognition by the immune system is normal. This fact is supported by the anti-idiotype network and the presence of natural autoantibody in normal sera. Furthermore, there appears to be a connection between these phenomena because the former may serve to keep the latter in check. Natural autoantibody appears to be primarily IgM polyreactive antibody of low affinity, quite different from the monospecific high-affinity IgG antibody usually associated with autoimmune disease. Natural autoantibodies also exhibit a high degree of cross-reactive idiotypes and are the products of CD5+ B cells, whereas IgG autoantibody is not. This is only a generalization, however, and it must be kept in mind that IgG autoantibody polyreactive with several autoantigens has been reported for normal sera of mice and humans. In Balb/c sera, a significant proportion of natural autoantibody is IgG, but it is apparently masked by inhibitory polyreactive IgM antibody that has affinity for IgG autoantibody, thereby exhibiting a regulatory role. A human CD5+ B-cell clone that secretes a high-affinity IgM anti-idiotype-specific antibody has been reported. Another generalization that is beginning to emerge is that natural autoantibodies are the products of unmutated germline genes, whereas autoantibody associated with autoimmune disease has highly mutated VH and VL segments. Mutations exhibited by pathogenic autoantibody increase the antibody's affinity for autoantigen and therefore represent an antigen-selected or affinity maturation, resulting in more restricted heterogeneity. In contrast to this, polyreactive natural antibodies have variable regions that are essentially identical to germline gene V segments with few amino acid changes. However, it is important to note that pathologic autoantibodies arise from the same fetal genes that give rise to natural autoantibodies and antibodies against foreign antigens. There does not appear to be a set of genes specific for autoantibodies. The key question then becomes whether or not natural autoantibodies are precursors of pathogenic autoantibodies. If not, what is the function of natural autoantibodies and how do pathogenic autoantibodies arise? The answers to these questions are not yet clear and many theories have been offered, but sufficient data are not yet available to reach conclusions. One of the problems in reaching a definitive conclusion is the ability to identify pathogenic antibody.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Regulation and Control

How does the government exercise control over private sector monopolies and subcentral governments when direct political decisions, hands-on bureaucratic administration, and imposition of financial limits prove feckless? The neoliberal solution is to emphasize that competition would enable consumers to hold the producers accountable and reduce the need for government intervention. Yet, there are many situations in which competitive processes do not exist or cannot be easily created. In these circumstances, governments rely on some type of regulatory policy, specifying a principal-agent relationship designed to effect the principal’s ends despite differences in interests and information.
An Introduction to Summability Methods

This chapter contains four sections. First section is introductory in which a brief description of the development of the subject is presented. In the second section, the basic technique of the summability method has been discussed. As the summability methods are considered to be derived from two general processes, in section three the two summability processes and their characterizations have been presented. Section four is devoted to different methods of summabilties which are derived from the two basic processes and their properties have been discussed. The summability methods such as matrix summability, Cesaro summability, Holder summability, Harmonic summability, Generalized Cesaro summability, Riesz’s typical means summability, Norlund summability, Riesz’s summability, generalized Norlund summability, indexed summability, Abel summability, Euler summability, Borel summability, Hausdorff summability, and Banach summability methods have been discussed in sequel.
Heterogeneous nucleation from a supercooled ionic liquid on a carbon surface

Classical molecular dynamics simulations were used to study the nucleation of the crystal phase of the ionic liquid [dmim+][Cl−] from its supercooled liquid phase, both in the bulk and in contact with a graphitic surface of D = 3 nm. By combining the string method in collective variables [Maragliano et al., J. Chem. Phys. 125, 024106 (2006)], with Markovian milestoning with Voronoi tessellations [Maragliano et al., J. Chem. Theory Comput. 5, 2589–2594 (2009)] and order parameters for molecular crystals [Santiso and Trout, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 064109 (2011)], we computed minimum free energy paths, the approximate size of the critical nucleus, the free energy barrier, and the rates involved in these nucleation processes. For homogeneous nucleation, the subcooled liquid phase has to overcome a free energy barrier of ∼85 kcal/mol to form a critical nucleus of size ∼3.6 nm, which then grows into the monoclinic crystal phase. This free energy barrier becomes about 42% smaller (∼49 kcal/mol) when the subcooled liquid phase is in contact with a graphitic disk, and the critical nucleus formed is about 17% smaller (∼3.0 nm) than the one observed for homogeneous nucleation. The crystal formed in the heterogeneous nucleation scenario has a structure that is similar to that of the bulk crystal, with the exception of the layers of ions next to the graphene surface, which have larger local density and the cations lie with their imidazolium rings parallel to the graphitic surface. The critical nucleus forms near the graphene surface separated only by these layers of ions. The heterogeneous nucleation rate (∼4.8 × 1011 cm−3 s−1) is about one order of magnitude faster than the homogeneous rate (∼6.6 × 1010 cm−3 s−1). The computed free energy barriers and nucleation rates are in reasonable agreement with experimental and simulation values obtained for the homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation of other systems (ice, urea, Lennard-Jones spheres, and oxide glasses).
Simultaneous Voltammetric Measurements of Glucose and Dopamine Demonstrate the Coupling of Glucose Availability with Increased Metabolic Demand in the Rat Striatum.

Cerebral blood flow ensures delivery of nutrients, such as glucose, to brain sites with increased metabolic demand. However, little is known about rapid glucose dynamics at discrete locations during neuronal activation in vivo. Acute exposure to many substances of abuse elicits dopamine release and neuronal activation in the striatum; however, the concomitant changes in striatal glucose remain largely unknown. Recent developments have combined fast-scan cyclic voltammetry with glucose oxidase enzyme modified carbon-fiber microelectrodes to enable the measurement of glucose dynamics with subsecond temporal resolution in the mammalian brain. This work evaluates several waveforms to enable the first simultaneous detection of endogenous glucose and dopamine at single recording sites. These molecules, one electroactive and one nonelectroactive, were found to fluctuate in the dorsal striatum in response to electrical stimulation of the midbrain and systemic infusion of cocaine/raclopride. The data reveal the se...
Ultrafast electron spectroscopy of UV materials using a sub-ns capable photo-excited electron gun (Conference Presentation)

Ultrafast electron spectroscopy – the use of sub-ns pulses of electrons to excite materials of interest – offers many opportunities in the study of novel ultra-violet emitters and detectors. Due to the variability of electron energy one may go from tens of electronvolts to tens of Kiloelectronvolts; from probing the dynamics of conduction-band states to penetrating bulk samples in the interest of interacting with unoccupied states and measuring lattice scattering, tasks that traditional photon-based ultrafast spectroscopy is simply unable to perform. Furthermore, the added capability of time-correlated measurement allows for these properties to be studied in an unprecedented way. Presented is a photo-excited electron gun system capable of sub-ns pulses used to probe phosphors for betaphotovoltaics and the carrier dynamics of Nitride heterostructures grown for the purpose of UV detection and emission. The electron gun, itself, is a Kimball-built system capable of electron acceleration up to, and including, 30keV. Frequency-doubled light from a 250-kHz Coherent Ti:sapphire laser system is focussed on a LaB6 cathode, capable of either thermionic emission or photoemission. The electron gun allows for the exchange of photocathodes to test novel emitters in the interests of further advancing and refining the electron gun system’s capabilities. Emitted electrons are then focussed and diverted using magnetic optics and onto the sample. Light emission from the sample is collected and directed out of the vacuum chambre and into a PMT-enabled monochromator. The use of a PMT allows for single-photon counting and accurate time-correlated measurement. The phosphors studied were LaPO4:Pr and ZnS, photon emitters to be paired with InGaN and InGaP, respectively, for the purposes of betaphotovoltaic power generation – a long-lived power source. The use of the 30keV-capable electron gun is ideal for these purposes as it is able to measure the phosphor’s beta response over a broad energy spectrum, covering the entire spectrum of tritium and most of that of 63Ni, our two candidates for beta sources. The combination of a UV source and detector bearing the same efficiency as the visible source would allow for betaphotovoltaic generators with greater tension for more varied applications. Research has also been performed on InGaN/GaN structures for solar-blind UV detection and emission. Moving into the UV region has introduced challenges for which electron sources are perfectly suited; from the difficulty of p-type growth at these energy levels to the need to study carrier dynamics in novel materials. None of this is to say that the generation of these bunches of electrons is a trivial matter: that electrons are charged introduces temporal and spatial broadening that is difficult to overcome, the collection of emitted signals introduces complications, and the measurement of pulses of electrons shorter than 1ns is difficult with the current state of detector technology, but these problems provide the opportunity for new solutions, as well.
Does the reconstruction process improve a school

Tucked away in a long neglected area of El Paso, Texas, Hacienda Heights Elementary School has for 50 years stood as a beacon of hope for many underrivlaged children.
Cortical thickness is not associated with current depression in a clinical treatment study

Background Reduced cortical thickness is a candidate biological marker of depression, although findings are inconsistent. This could reflect analytic heterogeneity, such as use of region-wise cortical thickness based on the Freesurfer Desikan–Killiany (DK) atlas or surface-based morphometry (SBM). The Freesurfer Destrieux (DS) atlas (more, smaller regions) has not been utilized in depression studies. This could also reflect differential gender and age effects. Methods Cortical thickness was collected from 170 currently depressed adults and 52 never-depressed adults. Visually inspected and approved Freesurfer-generated surfaces were used to extract cortical thickness estimates according to the DK atlas (68 regions) and DS atlas (148 regions) for region-wise analysis (216 total regions) and for SBM. Results Overall, except for small effects in a few regions, the two region-wise approaches generally failed to discriminate depressed adults from nondepressed adults or current episode severity. Differential effects by age and gender were also rare and small in magnitude. Using SBM, depressed adults showed a significantly thicker cluster in the left supramarginal gyrus than nondepressed adults (P = 0.047) but there were no associations with current episode severity. Conclusions Three analytic approaches (i.e., DK atlas, DS atlas, and SBM) converge on the notion that cortical thickness is a relatively weak discriminator of current depression status. Differential age and gender effects do not appear to represent key moderators. Robust associations with demographic factors will likely hinder translation of cortical thickness into a clinically useful biomarker. Hum Brain Mapp, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
It All Depends on Who Does What: A Survey of Patient and Family Member Comfort With Surgical Trainees Operating

Objective To measure patient and family member comfort with surgical trainees of varying levels performing different portions of surgery. Design, Setting, and Participants An electronic survey dividing surgery into 6 steps (prepping and positioning, initial incision, deep dissection, critical portions, deep suturing, and closing incision), differentiating surgical trainees by 4 levels of experience (medical student, intern, resident, and fellow), and specifying whether or not an attending surgeon is in the operating room (OR) was given to 200 patients and family members in the surgical waiting area of a single academic medical center. Responses were on a 7-point Likert scale from “Not Comfortable at All” to “Completely Comfortable”. Results Patient and family member comfort significantly increased as trainee experience increased. It reached a nadir for all trainees performing “critical portions” of surgery. However, their average response was “Comfortable” for residents and fellows performing any surgical step when the attending surgeon is present in the OR. The percentage of “Comfortable” responses was significantly lower for all trainee levels performing any surgical step when the attending surgeon is absent from the OR. Conclusions Patient and family member comfort with surgical trainees operating varies based on the trainee’s level of experience, the step the trainee performs, and whether or not the attending surgeon is present in the OR. Patients and family members are on average “Comfortable” with surgical residents and fellows performing any surgical step when the attending surgeon is present.
The Jury Sunshine Project: Jury Selection Data as a Political Issue

Lawyers treat jury selection — no surprise here — as an issue to litigate. In this article, we stand outside the litigator’s role and look at jury selection from the viewpoint of citizens and voters. As citizens, we believe that the composition of juries in criminal cases deserves political debate outside the courtroom. Voters should use the jury selection habits of judges and prosecutors when deciding whether to re-elect the incumbents to those offices. More generally, jury composition offers a stress test for the overall health of local criminal justice. Conditions are unhealthy when the full-time professionals of criminal justice build juries that exclude parts of the local community, particularly when they exclude members of traditionally marginalized groups such as racial minorities. Every sector of society should participate in the administration of criminal justice. This political problem starts as a public records problem. As we discuss in Part I of this article, limited public access to court data reinforces the single-case focus of the legal doctrines related to jury selection. Poor access to records is the single largest reason why jury selection cannot break out of the litigator’s framework to become a normal topic for political debate. As we describe in Part II, we worked with dozens of students, librarians, and court personnel to collect jury selection documents from individual case files and assembled them into a single database, which we call “The Jury Sunshine Project.” In Part III, we present some initial findings from the Jury Sunshine Project to illustrate how public data might generate political debate beyond the courtroom. Part IV explores the possible explanations for the racial patterns that we observed in jury selection. Some accounts of this data point to benign non-racial factors as the real explanation for the patterns we observed. Finally, in Part V we generalize from our data about the race of jurors to ask more generally how accessible public records could transform criminal justice.
Feminist Ephemera in a Digital World: Theorizing Zines as Networked Feminist Practice

Zines have made a resurgence in the United States. What functions do these humble, self-published booklets perform in the current media landscape, where digital reigns supreme? This article explores the political salience of zines for feminists, whose social media tactics have pushed feminism into popular culture and yet who continue to make zines. While much has been written about feminist zines, little research has considered their relevance in the digital age, nor have researchers grappled with the complex relationship between digital and print activist media. Drawing on interviews with zinesters, I argue that feminist zines and online feminism are not materially polarized outlets, but practices with distinct yet symbiotic advantages working in tandem within a repertoire of feminist media tactics.
Informational Sources in Clinical Psychology

The field of clinical psychology is a field that is continuously growing and developing. Each day presents cutting edge research and new techniques to use in research, teaching, and clinical practice. Therefore, clinical psychologists must work to continuously educate themselves on the newest information in the field. The following chapter discusses the current resources available to clinical psychologists to continue their education with books, journals, library databases, video, listservs, indexing systems, abstract services, and internet collections. The current resources allow psychologists to interact with the latest research in a number of ways, encouraging psychologists to not only read about material, but watch informational videos, and discuss the material with one another as well. Each section provides an overview of the resource, the nature of the information that can be obtained from the resource, examples of resources found, and helpful information to aid the psychologist in accessing this information. The conclusion of this chapter also provides some suggestions on evaluating the resources obtained to ensure accurate and high quality information. Thus, the following chapter may serve as a guide to the current state of resources in the field of clinical psychology.
Digging deeper: A holistic perspective of factors affecting soil organic carbon sequestration in agroecosystems.

The global magnitude (Pg) of soil organic carbon (SOC) is 677 to 0.3-m, 993 to 0.5-m, and 1,505 to 1-m depth. Thus, ~55% of SOC to 1-m lies below 0.3-m depth. Soils of agroecosystems are depleted of their SOC stock and have a low use efficiency of inputs of agronomic yield. This review is a collation and synthesis of articles published in peer-reviewed journals. The rates of SOC sequestration are scaled up to the global level by linear extrapolation. Soil C sink capacity depends on depth, clay content and mineralogy, plant available water holding capacity, nutrient reserves, landscape position, and the antecedent SOC stock. Estimates of the historic depletion of SOC in world soils, 115-154 (average of 135) Pg C and equivalent to the technical potential or the maximum soil C sink capacity, need to be improved. A positive soil C budget is created by increasing the input of biomass-C to exceed the SOC losses by erosion and mineralization. The global hotspots of SOC sequestration, soils which are farther from C saturation, include eroded, degraded, desertified, and depleted soils. Ecosystems where SOC sequestration is feasible include 4,900 Mha of agricultural land including 332 Mha equipped for irrigation, 400 Mha of urban lands, and ~2,000 Mha of degraded lands. The rate of SOC sequestration (Mg C ha-1 year-1 ) is 0.25-1.0 in croplands, 0.10-0.175 in pastures, 0.5-1.0 in permanent crops and urban lands, 0.3-0.7 in salt-affected and chemically degraded soils, 0.2-0.5 in physically degraded and prone to water erosion, and 0.05-0.2 for those susceptible to wind erosion. Global technical potential of SOC sequestration is 1.45-3.44 Pg C/year (2.45 Pg C/year).
Approach-level real-time crash risk analysis for signalized intersections.

Abstract Intersections are among the most dangerous roadway facilities due to the complex traffic conflicting movements and frequent stop-and-go traffic. However, previous intersection safety analyses were conducted based on static and highly aggregated data (e.g., annual average daily traffic (AADT), annual crash frequency). These aggregated data may result in unreliable findings simply because they are averages and cannot represent the real conditions at the time of crash occurrence. This study attempts to investigate the relationship between crash occurrence at signalized intersections and real-time traffic, signal timing, and weather characteristics based on 23 signalized intersections in Central Florida. The intersection and intersection-related crashes were collected and then divided into two types, i.e., within intersection crashes and intersection entrance crashes. Bayesian conditional logistic models were developed for these two kinds of crashes, respectively. For the within intersection models, the model results showed that the through volume from “A” approach (the traveling approach of at-fault vehicle), the left turn volume from “B” approach (near-side crossing approach), and the overall average flow ratio (OAFR) from “D” approach (far-side crossing approach), were found to have significant positive effects on the odds of crash occurrence. Moreover, the increased adaptability for the left turn signal timing of “B” approach and more priority for “A” approach could significantly decrease the odds of crash occurrence. For the intersection entrance models, average speed was found to have significant negative effect on the odds of crash occurrence. The longer average green time and longer average waiting time for the left turn phase, higher green ratio for the through phase, and higher adaptability for the through phase can significantly improve the safety performance of intersection entrance area. In addition, the average queue length on the through lanes was found to have positive effect on the odds of crash occurrence. These results are important in real-time safety applications at signalized intersections in the context of proactive traffic management.
Registered nurses' preferences for rural and urban jobs: A discrete choice experiment.

Abstract Background Recruitment and retention of nurses is an ongoing challenge for employers in rural areas worldwide. There is limited information available regarding influences on nurses’ job choice in the U.S. and little understanding of how nurses make trade-offs between desired and less desirable job characteristics when choosing between jobs. Objectives The purpose of this research was to examine the hospital job preferences of registered nurses in the U.S. The specific objectives of the study were: 1) To identify the relative importance of key job attributes on registered nurse job choice, and 2) To predict the impact of changes in the levels of attributes on the probability of registered nurses choosing one job over another. Design and Setting A discrete choice experiment was developed and applied in the U.S. using California as a study site. Participants 190 registered nurses currently working in nursing or intending to return to work in nursing from urban, large-, small- and isolated-rural communities. Methods The survey instrument was developed through a literature review and semi-structured interviews with nurse experts, utilizing a hypothetical job in a hospital medical / surgical unit. Experimental design principles were applied to create a discrete choice experiment which was pilot tested with urban and rural nurses. The survey was mailed to a random sample of 1000 licensed registered nurses in California. A mixed logit model was used to estimate nurses’ preferences for different levels of the job attributes. Willingness to pay estimates and simulations of job uptake rates were calculated. Results Eight factors were identified as important to job choice: earnings, nursing voice in management, tuition reimbursement, scheduling, patient care team, leadership, location and nursing sensitive patient care outcomes. Respondents valued a cohesive patient care team (coefficient 1.95, [SE 0.23]) and a strong nursing voice in management (coefficient 1.56, [SE 0.22]) highest. A job in a large urban inland location was negatively valued (coefficient -0.69, [SE 0.25]). Around 72% of respondents chose to stay in their current job when this choice was offered. While earnings were important, nurses were willing to sacrifice earnings to secure other valued job characteristics when choosing between jobs. Conclusions Study findings provide information on how job characteristics are valued by nurses in California. Findings suggest job seekers may be 65–75 percent more likely to choose a job when valued job characteristics are present. Our findings are particularly relevant to rural hospitals with limited financial resources.
Complications of laparoendoscopic surgery

The use of advanced surgical techniques in the realm of endoscopic and laparoscopic therapy is constantly evolving and for many surgical procedures these techniques are now considered the standard of care. In the USA, an estimated 14.2 million colonoscopies and 9 million esophagogastroduodenoscopies (EGDs) are performed annually in the USA [1, 2]. The therapeutic applications of these procedures have also been expanded in recent years.
Arginine impairs endothelial and executive function in older subjects with cardiovascular risk

Abstract Neurovascular coupling, the relationship between cerebral blood flow and neuronal activity, is attenuated in patients with impaired executive function. We tested the hypothesis that peripheral vascular function may associate with executive function in older subjects with cardiovascular risk factors and that treatment with the antioxidant L-arginine would improve both vascular and executive function. Nineteen subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus and/or controlled hypertension were enrolled. Subjects were treated with L-arginine or placebo for 4 days in a randomized, double-blinded, cross-over study. Brachial artery vascular function, peripheral artery tonometry, and Trail Making Test Part B testing were performed on day 1 and day 4 during each condition. L-arginine significantly reduced the digital reactive hyperemia index, and the comparison of changes against placebo was significant (P = .01). With executive function testing, we observed a significant interaction between treatment and order. Restricting the analysis to the first treatment period, subjects treated with placebo decreased their Trail Making Test Part B times by 57.3 ± 52.5 seconds from day 1 to day 4 (P = .01) while those treated with arginine had no significant change (6.4 ± 18.4 seconds worse, P = .37). In addition, L-arginine was associated with increased mean arterial pressure from 88 ± 9 mm Hg to 92 ± 11 mm Hg, which trended toward significance. L-arginine treatment worsened digital microvascular and executive function in older subjects with cardiovascular risk factors. These data further support a link between vascular and executive function.
Almost Positive Matrices

A symmetric matrix A = a ij is said to be almost positive if the corresponding quadratic form satisfies the inequality $$\sum {\sum {{a_{ij}}{z_i}{{\bar z}_j} \geqslant 0} }$$ whenever ∑ z i = 0. It is clear that a positive matrix is an almost positive matrix and that the class of almost positive matrices forms a convex cone. It is easy to see that any matrix A of the form $${a_{ij}} = {\alpha _i} + {\bar \alpha _j}$$ is an almost positive matrix, and therefore any matrix with $${a_{ij}} = {b_{ij}} + {\alpha _i} + {\bar \alpha _j}$$ where B = b ij is a positive matrix, is also almost positive. We first show that every almost positive matrix is of this form.
A Simple Guide to Low-Power Wireless Technologies: Balancing the Tradeoffs for the Internet of Things and Medical Applications

In recent years, low-power radio has expanded to encompass a broad range of wireless technologies, architectures, standards, and applications. The Internet of Things (IoT) and implantable electronics have multiplied the use cases for standard commercial architectures, such as ZigBee, Bluetooth, and near-field communication (NFC), while also opening the door for more exploratory radio architectures like duty-cycled wake-up radio systems, ultranarrow-band radios, and ultrawideband (UWB) impulse radios (IRs), to name just a few.
High risk patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma are not enrolled on clinical trials.

e19058Background: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In this study, we explore reasons for non-enrollment in clinical trials for DLBCL and imp...
Development of a clinical prediction tool for cancer-associated venous thromboembolism (CAT): the MD Anderson Cancer Center CAT model

Cancer-associated venous thromboembolism (CAT) is a major complication of malignancy. Our goal was to develop a prediction model for VTE that better represented to the population seen at large referral cancer centers. This study was nested in a prospective cohort study at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center that evaluated adult patients during outpatient cancer-staging computed tomography to estimate the prevalence of incidental VTE. Data from patients in whom incidental VTE was not found on initial CT were collected until 24 months ± 7 days from the study inclusion date to determine the occurrence of new VTE events. Demographics, clinical data, current cancer treatment information, and the use of erythropoietin stimulating agents (ESAs) along with hematologic variables were collected in all patients and analyzed to determine differences between those who developed VTE versus those who did not. All candidate variables with significance p value (≤ 0.1) under univariate analysis were considered to enter the final multivariate model. Data of 548 patients were analyzed. The presence of metastatic disease and the use of platinum-based chemotherapy were strongly associated with CAT occurrence. The use of ESAs and specific malignancies showed trends of association with CAT, while associations were not statistically significant.Those characteristics were utilized to develop a clinical prediction model for CAT readily available and effective (c-index = 0.74). Our model is effective and easy to incorporate in busy clinical settings and it does not depend on esoteric or difficult-to-obtain laboratory testing. Future external validation studies may provide further evidence for the applicability of our results.
Cycle-Shift Scan Chain Failure Analysis Using Single Pulse Test Pattern

Conventional scan chain test pattern of "0011" repeating data is widely used to tackle scan chain failures such as stuck-at and transition failures using Laser Voltage Imaging’s (LVI) fundamental and second harmonic frequency approaches. However, this "0011" scan chain test pattern when combined with LVI technique is ineffective in isolating cycle-shift scan chain failures even with the integration of a lock-in amplifier which is also known as phase LVI. This is because phase LVI isolation technique requires detailed understanding of the scan chain design and fault isolation for all types of cycle-shift scan chain failing signatures is not possible using this technique. In this paper, we propose a technique to effectively isolate the failing flop for an entire range of cycle-shift scan chain failures using a novel single pulse chain test pattern paired with Laser Voltage Probing (LVP) that overcomes the challenges faced by phase LVI.
Cardiac Microstructural Abnormalities Identify Women at Risk of Incident Heart Failure

ABSTRACT Background Incidence of congestive heart failure is difficult to predict by standard methods. We have developed a method called the signal intensity coefficient that uses echocardiographic texture analysis to quantify microstructural changes which may occur in at-risk patients prior to development of a clinical heart failure syndrome. Methods Participants from the Framingham Offspring Cohort study who attended the 8th visit and received screening echocardiography were included. Participants were followed for a mean of 7.4 years for incident congestive heart failure. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to assess the hazard ratio of signal intensity coefficient in the top quartile of values versus other quartiles in the total and sex-stratified population. Results 2511 participants with interpretable echocardiography and no history of congestive heart failure, stroke, or myocardial infarction were included in this study. The top quartile signal intensity coefficient had a hazard ratio of 1.83 (p=0.0048) for incident heart failure. When additional clinical risk factors were added to the model, this became non-significant. Within women, an elevated hazard ratio was significant in multiple models including age and hypertensive medication use. Models were not significant in men. Conclusions Elevated signal intensity coefficient is associated with an increased risk of incident congestive heart failure. This trend remains significant in women after inclusion of age and hypertensive medication use. The signal intensity coefficient may be able to identify patients at risk of developing congestive heart failure using echocardiographic texture analysis.
One-year outcomes for da Vinci single port robot for transoral robotic surgery.

Background The da Vinci single-port (SP) robot is a new instrument for transoral robotic surgery (TORS) in oropharyngeal cancers (OPSCCs). We describe one-year SP surgical outcomes and compare them to da Vinci Si outcomes. Methods Retrospective cohort study at a high-volume TORS center. Consecutive patients undergoing TORS SP procedures from 10/2018 to 09/2019 were included. SP OPSCC outcomes were compared to a historical cohort of Si OPSCC patients. t tests were used to compare continuous variables; χ2 or Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare nonparametric categorical variables. Results Seventy-eight patients underwent SP TORS. The bleed rate was 5.1%, mortality rate was 2.6%, and conversion rate was 0%. Compared to the Si cohort, OPSCC patients undergoing TORS SP procedures saw no significant differences in operative time or post-TORS bleeds (P > .05). Conclusions The SP is a comparably safe surgical instrument. Overall learning curve for the SP was rapid among experienced TORS surgeons.
Predictors of Mortality in Adults Admitted with COVID-19: Retrospective Cohort Study from New York City.

INTRODUCTION: Rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States, especially in New York City (NYC), led to a tremendous increase in hospitalizations and mortality. There is very limited data available that associates outcomes during hospitalization in patients with COVID-19. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, we reviewed the health records of patients with COVID-19 who were admitted from March 9-April 9, 2020, to a community hospital in NYC. Subjects with confirmed reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of the nasopharyngeal swab for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) were included. We collected data related to demographics, laboratory results, and outcome of hospitalization. Outcome was measured based on whether the patient was discharged home or died during hospitalization. RESULTS: There were 888 consecutive admissions with COVID-19 during the study period, of which 513 were excluded with pending outcome or incomplete information. We included a total of 375 patients in the study, of whom 215 (57%) survived and 160 (43%) died during hospitalization. The majority of patients were male (63%) and of Hispanic origin (66%) followed by Blacks (25%), and others (9%). Hypertension (60%) stands out to be the most common comorbidity followed by diabetes mellitus (47%), cardiovascular disease (17%), chronic kidney disease (17%), and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (9%). On multiple regression analysis, increasing odds of mortality during hospitalization was associated with older age (odds ratio [OR] 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.06 per year increase; p < 0.0001), admission D-dimer more than 1000 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) (OR 3.16; 95% CI, 1.75-5.73; p<0.0001), admission C-reactive protein (CRP) levels of more than 200 milligrams per liter (mg/L) (OR 2.43; 95% CI, 1.36-4.34; p = 0.0028), and admission lymphopenia (OR 2.63; CI, 1.47-4.69; p 0.0010). CONCLUSION: In this retrospective cohort study originating in NYC, older age, admission levels of D-dimer of more than 1000 ng/mL, CRP of more than 200 mg/L and lymphopenia were associated with mortality in individuals hospitalized for COVID-19. We recommend using these risk factors on admission to triage patients to critical care units or surge units to maximize the use of surge capacity beds.
Guilt and expressive writing for reducing alcohol use in college students: Study protocol for a randomized control trial.

Abstract The current proposed study aims to evaluate expressive writing as a novel intervention for reducing problematic drinking among college students. College students are at increased risk for alcohol misuse compared to other adults, and the development of efficacious intervention approaches is an urgent priority. The vast majority of individually focused brief interventions targeting college drinking have focused on personalized feedback approaches and recent innovations have largely been limited to refinements of this paradigm, which require large-scale assessment and intricate programming for implementation. The present research proposes expressive writing as a novel alternative, which has been used extensively in other domains but not as an alcohol intervention strategy. We propose a theoretically-based approach that incorporates expression of the self-conscious emotion of guilt and the written analogue of change talk as proposed mechanisms of intervention efficacy. We will also examine individual differences in guilt-proneness as a moderator of intervention efficacy. Heavy drinking college students (N = 600) will be randomly assigned to one of six expressive writing conditions based on a 2 (alcohol vs. distress) × 2 (guilt vs. no guilt) + 1 (control writing) + 1 (personalized feedback) design. Participation in the study involves completion of a screening assessment, a baseline assessment, three in-lab intervention sessions, post-intervention assessments, and follow-up assessments one-month, three-months, six months, and twelve-months later. If effective, this novel intervention approach would not require any pre-assessment or programming of personalized feedback, and would serve as a more easily disseminable alternative to existing approaches.
Simple and Social Phobia

As mentioned earlier, Phobos was the son of Aries, the Greek god of war. He himself was as reputedly a fearsome figure, whose likeness was painted on the shields and weapons of warriors to cast fear into the enemy to frighten them away. We get the term phobia, which means “morbid fear,” from that early mythical figure. Given this Greek legacy for our terms, it is only fitting that our earliest written descriptions of phobias should come from the Greek physician Hippocrates. Although Hippocrates did not use the term phobia, he gave us one of the first case histories of simple phobia with the description of Nicanor who became panic stricken at the sound of flutes when played at banquets at night. However, Nicanor was unmoved if he heard flutes during the light of day. Nicanor’s phobia, like many today, was highly specific to only certain stimuli.