cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Accelerated Discovery of Discrete M-Clusters/Outliers on the Raster Plane Using Graphical Processing Units

This paper presents two discrete computational geometry algorithms designed for execution on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). The algorithms are parallelized versions of sequential algorithms intended for application in geographical data mining. The first algorithm finds clusters of m points, called m-clusters, in the rasterized plane. The second algorithm complements the first by identifying outliers, those points which are not members of any m-clusters. The use of a raster representation of coordinates provides an ideal data stream environment for efficient GPU utilization. The parallel algorithms have low memory demands, and require only a limited amount of inter-process communication. Initial performance analysis indicates the algorithms are scalable, both in problem size and in the number of seeds, and significantly outperform commercial implementations.
Fuzzy controller for gaseous anesthesia delivery using vital signs

A fuzzy logic controller for the delivery of gaseous anesthesia using vital signs (blood pressure and heart rate) as control inputs is presented. Results of controller evaluation with dogs, which demonstrate clinically acceptable performance and robustness, are given.
Loss of Functional Suppression by CD4+CD25+ Regulatory T Cells in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells contribute to the maintenance of peripheral tolerance by active suppression because their deletion causes spontaneous autoimmune diseases in mice. Human CD4+ regulatory T cells expressing high levels of CD25 are suppressive in vitro and mimic the activity of murine CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease thought to be mediated by T cells recognizing myelin protein peptides. We hypothesized that altered functions of CD4+CD25hi regulatory T cells play a role in the breakdown of immunologic self-tolerance in patients with MS. Here, we report a significant decrease in the effector function of CD4+CD25hi regulatory T cells from peripheral blood of patients with MS as compared with healthy donors. Differences were also apparent in single cell cloning experiments in which the cloning frequency of CD4+CD25hi T cells was significantly reduced in patients as compared with normal controls. These data are the first to demonstrate alterations of CD4+CD25hi regulatory T cell function in patients with MS.
Of Foams and Formalisms: Scientific Expertise and Craft Practice in Molecular Gastronomy

ABSTRACT This article reports on “molecular gastronomy,” a food movement whose practitioners—chemists who study food and chefs who apply their results—define as the application of the scientific method and laboratory apparatuses to further cooking. Molecular gastronomy offers one example of how scientific rationales sometimes percolate outside professional scientific fields. I explore what happens when the explanatory ground occupied by “culture” is supplanted by a different mode of expertise—here, science. Following ethnographic research conducted in a molecular gastronomy laboratory, I show how French molecular gastronomists seek both to preserve and renovate classic French cuisine. Describing how they think about French cuisine in an anthropological language indebted to French structuralism—the work of Claude Levi-Strauss, in particular—I reflect on the afterlives of anthropological concepts in scientific domains.
On controlled sinusoidal phase coupling

The work in this paper considers a heterogeneous coordinated phase control problem in which most agents follow a classic sinusoidal coupling protocol, but a select few agents act as leaders. These leaders have the ability to report some value other than their current phase to their neighbors. This heterogeneous model is motivated by systems in biology and in engineering. In biological contexts, observations have been made that groups of trained animals can bias the behavior of a much larger groups of untrained animals. Translating these results to engineered contexts is of interest to, for example, reduce the number of human operators necessary to control a fleet of many autonomous agents. The contributions of this paper include a general reachability result, a proof that a chain of four or more agents is uncontrollable by a single leader, and a nonlinear controllability analysis of some example problems. An interesting result is that symmetry about the leader node is not sufficient to guarantee uncontrollability of the follower nodes, as it is in the related controlled linear agreement problem.
Estimated impacts of climate warming on California's high-elevation hydropower

California’s hydropower system is composed of high and low elevation power plants. There are more than 150 high-elevation power plants, at elevations above 1,000 feet (300 m). Most have modest reservoir storage capacities, but supply roughly 74% of California’s in-state hydropower. The expected shift of runoff peak from spring to winter due to climate warming, resulting in snowpack reduction and increased snowmelt, might have important effects on power generation and revenues in California. The large storage capacities at low-elevation power plants provide flexibility to operations of these units under climate warming. However, with climate warming, the adaptability of the high-elevation hydropower system is in question as this system was designed to take advantage of snowpack, a natural reservoir. With so many high-elevation hydropower plants in California, estimation of climate warming effects by conventional simulation or optimization methods would be tedious and expensive. An Energy-Based Hydropower Optimization Model (EBHOM) was developed to facilitate practical climate change and other low-resolution system-wide hydropower studies, based on the historical generation data of 137 high-elevation hydropower plants for which the data were complete for 14 years. Employing recent historical hourly energy prices, the model was used to explore energy generation in California for three climate warming scenarios (dry warming, wet warming, and warming-only) over 14 years, representing a range of hydrologic conditions. The system is sensitive to the quantity and timing of inflows. While dry warming and warming-only climate changes reduce average hydropower revenues, wet warming could increase revenue. Re-operation of available storage and generation capacities help compensate for snowpack losses to some extent. Storage capacity expansion and to a lesser extent generation capacity expansion both increase revenues, although such expansions might not be cost-effective.
Impeachment, Attainder, and a True Constitutional Crisis: Lessons from the Strafford Trial

In the months that preceded President Clinton's impeachment trial, observers in the media breathlessly reported the so-called death struggle between the President and Kenneth Starr. Distinguished academic commentators, such as Ronald Dworkin and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., were equally overheated in their rhetoric, predicting that the President's impeachment would shred the American constitutional fabric. Of course, Clinton was impeached, with no discernible unraveling of the regime. The immediate political stakes were high, to be sure, and both sides fought with energy - as a minor participant in the struggle, I can attest to that. But no lives, and very few persons' liberty, were ever in jeopardy and, contra Dworkin and Schlesinger, the U.S. Constitution was safe throughout the ordeal. The impeachment trial of a sitting president is always a crisis, at least in the sense that it may herald a transfer of power. But in that sense every presidential election could equally be called a crisis. There are crises, and then there are constitutional crises. For an illustration of the latter, let us retreat to the 1641 impeachment trial of King Charles I's principal advisor, Thomas Wentworth, the Earl of Strafford. At stake in Strafford's trial was nothing less than the future of English constitutionalism and limited monarchy: Would the Stuart kings enlarge the powers of the monarchy along French lines or would Parliament preserve, and even expand, its own powers and privileges? And, on a more personal level, whose head would fall - Strafford's or that of his principal antagonist in the House of Commons, John Pym? It was the stuff of riveting drama: The King attended every day of the month-long trial, crowds gathered each day to witness Strafford's arrival in Westminster, and the city erupted in violence. Contrast this with the waning interest in the Lewinsky affair by the time of the Clinton impeachment trial in the United States Senate. One of the first lessons from history is that not every political crisis raises fundamental issues. I think it fair to conclude or simply posit that a constitutional crisis may be expected to excite widespread interest outside the academy. If this is accurate, an impeachment trial that sets off an avalanche of law review articles, but garners fewer than ten million television viewers, is not a constitutional crisis.
Blood-Derived Extracellular RNA and Platelet Pathobiology: Adding Pieces to a Complex Circulating Puzzle

The interaction between blood cells and disease has continued to grow both more complex and increasingly intriguing. Once thought to be static populations, circulating blood cells are now known to interact and communicate in ways far beyond the singular processes historically attributed to each population. A primary example is the platelet, an anucleate cell with a traditional role in hemostasis and thrombosis. The platelets’ defined biological roles have expanded exponentially over the last decade to include immunity, inflammation, and mediation of oncogenesis.1 Platelets, although anucleate, contain a wealth of transcriptomic information. When viewed from the perspective of a large population analysis, platelets demonstrate wide diversity, important patterns, including association with obesity and diabetes mellitus, and distinct expression profiles as compared with white cells.2 Platelets’ ability to participate in diverse systemic responses has been elucidated by our growing understanding of their contents and the revelation of their capacity to share these contents. Platelets are now known to horizontally transfer RNA, traffic pathogens, and regulate physiological and pathophysiological processes far beyond hemostasis.3,4 Article, see p 420 As part of our expanded understanding of platelet transfer processes, we have begun to appreciate the ability of the platelet to transfer transcripts, including mRNA and microRNA (miRNA), to recipient cells with functional implications (Figure).4,5 The observation that platelets possess the capacity to transfer cytosolic RNA suggests a new function for platelets in the regulation of vascular homeostasis.4 The processes involved …
An Open Letter to "Dirty Hands" Theorists from a Public Manager

This open letter responds to what is commonly known as "dirty hands" literature. The writings so designated focus on the abstract question of whether ends justify means in public policy, but neglect to address the practical ramifications of policy implementation. A review of the background of the dirty hands question is followed by a critique of theory that ignores the moral agency of the public officials called upon to perform such acts.
The Use of Individual Study Course Techniques in the Undergraduate Curriculum

INCREASING college enrollments along with the greater emphasis being placed on the quality of college teaching are two important challenges confronting our profession today. Research and experimentation in ways to increase our over-all effectiveness as college teachers possibly deserve as much emphasis as do non-teaching research commitments. Methods of instruction have changed relatively little over the years, but this hardly implies that the ultimate in college teaching methods has been achieved. This paper proposes to re-examine the role of independent study techniques in the college curriculum. While structured independent study systems are not new, the method has been a relatively unused technique in many colleges. Objections to the commonly used lecture-examination method usually are based on a feeling that students are denied the opportunity to develop adequately the powers of written and oral expression. To stimulate students to learn using more individual initiative is the prime objective of independent study. The basis for increasing interest in independent study rests in: (1) the continuing search for means of educational improvement, (2) a growing opinion that increased responsibility of students for their own education results in a more thorough understanding, and (3) the need for better utilization of teachers. This paper approaches the problem of individual study techniques from two aspects: (1) within the curriculum as a whole, and (2) within the individual class itself. The first concerns what may be done within the total undergraduate program to stimulate independent learning. The author feels that independent study techniques should be employed during the freshman year as well as the later undergraduate years. A program of special honors courses designed to treat subject areas in considerable depth through library reading and outside papers is an example of what may be done to strengthen the curriculum through individual study. Serving the same purpose is the undergraduate thesis. Some schools are reinstituting them on a trial basis. The particular techniques that may be employed within any given course are many and varied. One of the most popular is the Independent Papers Plan. Courses conducted on this basis are centered around discus-
Taking the Temperature of the Interiors of Magnetically Heated Nanoparticles

The temperature increase inside mesoporous silica nanoparticles induced by encapsulated smaller superparamagnetic nanocrystals in an oscillating magnetic field is measured using a crystalline optical nanothermometer. The detection mechanism is based on the temperature-dependent intensity ratio of two luminescence bands in the upconversion emission spectrum of NaYF4:Yb3+, Er3+. A facile stepwise phase transfer method is developed to construct a dual-core mesoporous silica nanoparticle that contains both a nanoheater and a nanothermometer in its interior. The magnetically induced heating inside the nanoparticles varies with different experimental conditions, including the magnetic field induction power, the exposure time to the magnetic field, and the magnetic nanocrystal size. The temperature increase of the immediate nanoenvironment around the magnetic nanocrystals is monitored continuously during the magnetic oscillating field exposure. The interior of the nanoparticles becomes much hotter than the macro...
Validation, Uncertainty Quantification and Uncertainty Reduction for a Shock Tube Simulation

While we rely on simulations to predict the response of complex systems, we recognize that the models that underlie these simulations are never perfect. Comparison of simulations with experiments is an important tool for exposing limitations of models, and providing insights into which models need improvement. However, errors in numerical model and uncertainties in experiments can obscure the true discrepancies between predictions and physical reality, and therefore need to be reduced. In order to expose model deficiencies it is important to assess the magnitude of these uncertainties and reduce them until modeling errors become apparent. In this paper we describe an effort to reduce numerical model errors and expose physics model errors for shock tube simulations of a shock wave hitting a curtain of particles. The experiment was designed to explore models of particle interactions with the flow, and was performed initially with a flux calculation model known as AUSM+. Uncertainties in experimental conditions were propagated into simulations output with the aid of the method of converging lines, which generates simulations along multiple lines converging to a single point in input space. This approach exposed noisy behavior of the simulations that appeared to be numerical in nature. However, discrepancies between lines and negative pressures and temperatures at some points indicated modeling deficiencies. When the flux calculation model was corrected to a better numerical model known as AUSM+up, the numerical noise was greatly reduced and the discrepancy between lines eliminated, thus showing that modeling errors can produce noise that wrongly appears as numerical in nature. Another curiosity of the present study was that when the numerical model was improved, the discrepancy between simulations and experiments increased, pointing to cancelling modeling errors in the original simulations.
Plan B for U.S. Human Space Exploration Program

The Augustine Report recommended the use of commercial launch and propellant depots to improve Program sustainability. Plan A Apollo and Apollo programs provide a basis for sustainability where Apollo was quickly cancelled after the lunar landing but the Shuttle was sustained for 40 years. For an asteroid and lunar missions, commercial launch vehicles with depots showed significant cost improvements that are below current NASA exploration budgets with improvement of mission reliability over NASA baseline architectures and missions.
A method for the specific labeling of the glycerol in glyceride-containing lipids of Streptococcus faecalis ATCC 9790

Cells of Streptococcus faecalis incorporate radioactive glycerol exclusively into the glycerol moieties of monoglucosyl diglyceride, diglucosyl diglyceride, phosphatidyl diglucosyl diglyceride, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidic acid, diglyceride, and a phospholipid tentatively identified as an amino acyl phosphatidylglycerol. Phosphatidylglycerol is one of the major radioactive lipids synthesized and contains an equal amount of radioactivity in each of its two glycerol moieties.
Thrombosis of the Inferior Vena Cava by Seminoma

AbstractWe report a case of metastatic seminoma that caused thrombosis and obstruction of the Inferior vena cava. The pathogenesis of this rare clinical entity is discussed. The diagnostic studies for detection of vena caval thrombosis and clinical management strategies are reviewed.
Algorithmic Self-calibration of Illumination Angles in Fourier Ptychographic Microscopy

Fourier ptychography is a computational illumination method for gigapixel-scale reconstruction of high-resolution phase and amplitude information from low-resolution images. We describe an algorithmic self-calibration method for illumination angles and apply it to a dual-axis galvo system with laser illumination.
Universities and Incubators

This chapter investigates university-connected incubator strategies for growing new businesses. University incubator initiatives should benefit higher education and produce sustainable, equitable economic development.
An Enrollment Marketing Plan for Institutions of Higher Learning

The purpose of this paper is to present an enrollment marketing plan (or model) with alternative strategies and contingency plans so that institutional leadership may be in a position to act decisively and successfully during the difficult enrollment years ahead. This enrollment marketing plan exposes the user to an orderly transfer from one enrollment marketing stage to the next logical stage. It permits the user the ability to exert some control over both the internal and external environment, and should help the user to better understand the delicate interaction that exists between activities and components critical to the enrollment process.
Postasphyxial Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy

Models of association between risk factors and severe adverse outcome within 4 hours of birth were determined in 178 infants with postasphyxiai hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (PA-HIE) admitted consecutively between 1985 and 1992 to the regional referral neonatal ICU at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
Color Doppler and spectral Doppler with high frame-rate imaging

Color Doppler imaging (CDI) produces qualitative blood flow information in a 2D region of interest (ROI) but has low temporal resolution, while spectral Doppler can provide quantitative information, but its measurements are limited along a single scanline. These are inherent limitations associated with the conventional focused pulse-echo method. The unfocused transmit method has the potential to overcome these limitations by providing quantitative data in a 2D ROI with high temporal resolution. However, it is known that the unfocused method has poor spatial resolution with low SNR and the generated images contain strong side-lobe artifacts. In this paper, we present the preliminary results from comparing the focused and unfocused methods on CDI and spectral Doppler. For this study, we used a Verasonics Ultrasound Engine, which can support both focused and unfocused transmit methods. Pre-beamformed RF data were acquired from the carotid arteries of healthy volunteers. The comparison shows that the unfocused method can generate CDIs and Doppler spectra similar to those generated by the focused method. Compared to the conventional focused method, high frame rates offered by the unfocused method could be advantageous in some clinical applications, e.g., pulse-wave velocity measurement.
Understanding Overland Multisensor Satellite Precipitation Error in TMPA-RT Products

AbstractThe Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) has provided the global community a widely used multisatellite (and multisensor type) estimate of quasi-global precipitation. One of the TMPA level-3 products, 3B42RT/TMPA-RT (where RT indicates real time), is a merged product of microwave (MW) and infrared (IR) precipitation estimates, which attempts to exploit the most desirable aspects of both types of sensors, namely, quality rainfall estimation and spatiotemporal resolution. This study extensively and systematically evaluates multisatellite precipitation errors by tracking the sensor-specific error sources and quantifying the biases originating from multiple sensors. High-resolution, ground-based radar precipitation estimates from the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system, developed by the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), are utilized as reference data. The analysis procedure involves segregating the grid precipitation estimate as a function ...
Supervisory experience and data points: implementation barriers, risk assessment and correctional professionals

AbstractDrawing on interviews with 24 correctional practitioners who use risk assessment instruments daily, we examine barriers to the use and implementation of these instruments. Findings reveal that practitioners have confidence in the state of risk assessment generally, but are skeptical about risk assessment on the job due to limited resources. They also point to barriers that inhibit their effectiveness including recognition of population heterogeneity, predictive misspecification due to data lags and overemphasis on stable predictors, and lacking guidance on appropriate use of vast available data. Instruments for measuring risk serve purposes beyond those intended by the social scientists who developed measures. We conclude with lessons for increasing the utility and legitimacy of risk assessments and with a call for incorporating latent uses of assessments into design.
Staff Groups in a Pediatric Hospital

Much has been written on the emotional stresses of physical illness and subsequent health care from the perspective of children and their families.4.11.13–15The stress upon staff in caring for children has received less attention. Several studies7,9,16have detailed stresses affecting staff in adult centers, such as long working hours, intensive involvement with families, rapidly changing technology in medical care, and emotional strain from long-term involvement with severely ill or dying patients. This has led to interest in methods that help staff cope with such stress.
Interventions for Sexually Active Heterosexual Women

Women have been infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) since the earliest days of the epidemic. Grethe Rask was the first woman now known to have died of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS); the year was 1977.1,2 However, despite their ongoing representation among HIV cases, little attention was paid to heterosexual women by the prevention research community until well into the second decade of the epidemic. This is unfortunate, because research conducted in other populations, for example, men who have sex with men, often generalizes poorly to situations encountered by women at risk through heterosexual encounters. There are two fundamental reasons for this. First, until the relatively recent availability of the female condom, men were in control of condom use: they wore the condoms. Second, in most cultures, women possess less power than men, particularly in sexual relationships and situations.3-5 These facts, both of which will be discussed more fully below, have conspired often to render condom negotiation difficult for heterosexual women. The difficulty is more pronounced among those women who are at greatest risk of infection: the impoverished, the drug addicted, and those with abusive partners. However, a growing number of studies reporting positive risk reduction effects of behavioral prevention interventions is encouraging and suggests that many women possess or can develop skills to effectively reduce their risk of HIV infection. For other women, it may be necessary to identify new solutions to overcome the significant barriers that they face.
Integrative Review of Mobile Phone Contacts and Medication Adherence in Severe Mental Illness.

BACKGROUND: Poor medication adherence is a significant problem in individuals with severe mental illness (SMI). About 50% of people with SMI become nonadherent to treatment in the first month following discharge from the hospital. OBJECTIVE: This study examined literature in the past decade (2006-2016) on the use of mobile phone contacts in individuals with SMI to improve medication adherence post hospital discharge. DESIGN: This integrative review used the search terms texting, text messaging, SMS, cell/mobile phone, medication adherence, medication compliance, and mental illness. Databases (CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus) and manual searching of reference lists were done. The main inclusion criteria were the use of mobile phone contacts on medication adherence in individuals with SMI. Adults 18 years and older, studies conducted from 2006 to 2016, and studies conducted in English were also criteria for inclusion. Only five studies met criteria for inclusion. RESULTS: Outcomes from the review showe...
Modulation of sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase in cultured bovine retinal pigment epithelium by potassium

Purpose The aim of the study was to examine the extracellular potassium concentration [K+]o as a modulator of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) contribution to ion homeostasis in the subretinal space by measuring sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase (Na+/K+ ATPase) pump number and activity in cultured bovine RPE in the presence of different concentrations of extracellular potassium. Methods Pump number was quantified by measuring specific binding of 3H-ouabain to bovine RPE exposed to low (0.5-2.5 mmol) or control (5.0 mmol) [K+]o over 72 hr. Na+/K+ ATPase activity in low and control [K+]o was quantified by measurement of 86Rb+ uptake. Results Low [K+]o increased RPE pump number in a dose- and time-dependent manner, with lesser effects on denser than on sparser cultures. [K+]-modulation of pump number was reversible and did not occur in the presence of the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. In RPE exposed to low [K+]o for 72 hr, pump activity was decreased compared with the control but increased toward control levels when re-exposed to control [K+]o. The total potassium transported per cell was 60% of control in low [K+]o but increased to slightly above control when re-exposed to control [K+]o. Conclusions In cultured RPE cells, both Na+/K+ ATPase pump number and pump activity are affected by changes in [K+]o, with greater modulation in sparser cultures. If similar events occur in situ, the sodium pump in RPE may respond to changes in subretinal potassium ion concentration, especially if the RPE cell number is reduced as in aging or disease.
Managing Pediatric Pain at School

This chapter reviews literature pertaining to the management of pain within the school setting. Etiological issues underlying obstacles to school attendance are reviewed, including issues pertaining to make-up work, concerns among many children pertaining to use of the bathroom at school, diet and eating habits at school, relationship with a teacher or peer, fear of pain episodes at school, learning problems, test or performance anxiety, separation anxiety, and familial reinforcement of sick behavior. Interventions to increase school attendance are reviewed; these also include a careful assessment of the child and the family system, the use of behavioral interventions, as well as other treatment approaches, including the use of relaxation therapy and problem-solving therapy. Finally, specific directions for future research efforts and training also are provided.
Differences in health outcomes associated with initial adherence to oral antidiabetes medications among veterans with uncomplicated Type 2 diabetes: a 5-year survival analysis.

AIM To determine the association of adherence to oral antidiabetes medication with macrovascular and microvascular complications, time to insulin therapy, revascularization, admissions, and death among veterans with uncomplicated diabetes. METHODS This was a retrospective cohort study using the Veterans Affairs Corporate Data Warehouse to examine 159 032 veterans diagnosed with uncomplicated diabetes during 2002-2014 and starting oral antidiabetes therapy for the first time. The first uncomplicated diabetes diagnosis was identified and confirmed by subsequent oral antidiabetes therapy initiation. Adherence was calculated from outpatient pharmacy records using the proportion of days covered over the first year of therapy. Health outcomes were observed up to 5 years beyond the first oral antidiabetes agent fill, and compared according to adherence status using Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for baseline demographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS During the first 5 years of oral antidiabetes treatment, people initially non-adherent to oral antidiabetes therapy were more likely to experience myocardial infarction (hazard ratio 1.14, 95% CI 1.03-1.27) and ischaemic stroke (hazard ratio 1.22, 95% CI 1.05-0.1.42), or to die (hazard ratio 1.21; 95% CI 1.15-1.28). Veterans with <20% adherence to oral antidiabetes therapy in the first year had particularly high hazards for ischaemic stroke (hazard ratio 1.78, 95% CI 1.27-2.49) and all-cause death (hazard ratio 1.33, 95% CI 1.17-151). Adherent people were more likely to be diagnosed with a microvascular complication or chronic kidney disease. CONCLUSIONS People who are non-adherent to treatment were more likely to experience detrimental health outcomes within the first 5 years of antidiabetes therapy. Adherence is paramount to disease management and this should be stressed from the time at which treatment is initiated.
Bayesian Optimization of Text Representations

When applying machine learning to problems in NLP, there are many choices to make about how to represent input texts. They can have a big effect on performance, but they are often uninteresting to researchers or practitioners who simply need a module that performs well. We apply sequential model-based optimization over this space of choices and show that it makes standard linear models competitive with more sophisticated, expensive state-ofthe-art methods based on latent variables or neural networks on various topic classification and sentiment analysis problems. Our approach is a first step towards black-box NLP systems that work with raw text and do not require manual tuning.
Impact of Health-Related Quality of Life and Prediagnosis Risk of Major Depressive Disorder on Treatment Choice for Stage I Lung Cancer.

PURPOSEWe hypothesized that prediagnosis depressive symptoms and patient-reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL) would be associated with treatment choice for stage I non–small-cell lung ca...
Vertebroplasty-associated cement leak leading to iatrogenic venous compression and thrombosis.

Abstract A 91-year-old woman presented with left lower extremity swelling and pain diagnosed as phlegmasia cerulea dolens. Doppler ultrasound and venography revealed extensive left lower extremity deep venous thrombosis. Review of prior images revealed cement leakage causing compression of the left common iliac vein. She underwent successful mechanical thrombectomy using the ClotTriever device (Inari Medical, Irvine, Calif) and subsequent stent placement. Phlegmasia cerulea dolens resolved on the following day, and the stent remained patent at the 1-month follow-up appointment. Cement leakage from L5 vertebroplasty can cause extrinsic compression on the left common iliac vein, resulting in iatrogenic venous compression syndrome and the development of deep venous thrombosis in the affected lower extremity.
Solid state aldol reactions of solvated and unsolvated lithium pinacolone enolate aggregates

Abstract We reported the first systematic study of the solid-state aldol reactions of solvated and unsolvated lithium pinacolone enolate with a variety of solid aromatic aldehydes utilizing a mortar and pestle condition in comparison with the simple ball milling condition or tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution condition. In solution, the reactions are highly-selective with the aldol condensation product at room temperature. Under the condition of mortar and pestle, the reactions with unsolvated lithium pinacolone enolate showed the mixture of aldol condensation product and aldol addition product at room temperature. With the usage of solvated lithium pinacolone enolate, higher yields for most substrates were obtained. Furthermore, repeating the reactions under a simple ball billing condition with no other precautions at room temperature, we achieved high selectivity and yield of products for all substrates, indicating the powerful ability and the utility of solid-state, mechanochemical aldol reaction conditions.
Unmet needs and opportunities for improving care for patients with advanced lung cancer on targeted therapies: a qualitative study.

Objective Lung cancer is increasingly recognised as a heterogeneous disease. Recent advances with targeted therapies for lung cancer with oncogenic mutations have greatly improved the prognosis for this subset of patients, yet little is known about their experiences. This study aimed to identify the needs and explore the healthcare experiences of these advanced patients with oncogenic mutation driven lung cancer. Design Qualitative interviews with patients with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with oncogenic alterations in anaplastic lymphoma kinase, epidermal growth factor receptor or c-ros oncogene 1. Settings Patients were recruited from online lung cancer support groups within the USA. Interviews were conducted remotely or in person, transcribed verbatim and analysed using an iterative inductive and deductive process. Participants We included 39 patients (11 males and 28 females) with a median age of 48. Results Two primary theme categories emerged: patients' unmet needs and improving healthcare experiences. Unmet needs are related to patients' desire to view their disease as a chronic illness, aspire to live a meaningful existence without financial devastation, desire for understanding along with emotional support and needing help with practical matters. Improving healthcare experiences involved patients' desire to trust the expertise of clinical providers, receive reliable care and be treated holistically and as informed partners. Conclusions Patients with lung cancer with oncogenic mutations live uncharted experiences. Targeted therapy brings hope, but uncertainty is daunting. Patients grapple with the meaning and purpose of their lives while day-to-day obligations remain challenging. Healthcare teams are instrumental in their care experiences, and patients desire providers who are up-to-date on advances in the field and treat them as whole persons.
How to Obtain a Nasopharyngeal Swab Specimen.

How to Obtain a Nasopharyngeal Swab Specimen Collecting specimens from the surface of the respiratory mucosa with nasopharyngeal swabs is a procedure used to diagnose Covid-19 as well as other resp...
Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio in Lung Cancer: Implications for Depressive Symptoms and Survival.

Background: Depression very commonly appears in the presence of lung cancer. Multiple contexts have shown that depression is associated with inflammation. The Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) provides an easy to interpret the measure of both inflammation and immunity, but its use as an inflammatory biomarker has not been evaluated in patients with lung cancer. We hypothesize that NLR will be elevated in depressed patients with lung cancer and that both elevated NRL and depression will have prognostic implications. Methods: Patients (n=109) were assessed for depression and anxiety using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and for distress using the Distress Thermometer. NLR was derived from a complete blood count obtained on the day of the cross-sectional survey. Data were dichotomized (NLR ?5 and HADS-D ?8) and analysed for survival estimations using Kaplan-Meier plots. Results: NLR was found to be significantly correlated with depression (r=.21, p=.03) and was associated with depression while controlling for age, sex, and marital status (?=.21, p=.004). NLR trended toward correlation with anxiety (r=.19, p=.07). Elevated NLR (?5) predicted for worse survival (chi square=10.08, p=.001), which was similarly seen when combined with meeting depression criteria (chi square = 16.00, p<.001). Conclusion: NLR provides a reasonable assessment of lung cancer related inflammation with survival implications that may indicate the presence of depression. These results warrant further research.
Massively parallel identification of causal variants underlying gene expression differences in a yeast cross

Sequence variation in regulatory DNA alters gene expression and shapes genetically complex traits. However, the identification of individual, causal regulatory variants is challenging. Here, we used a massively parallel reporter assay to measure the cis-regulatory consequences of 5,832 natural DNA variants in the promoters of 2,503 genes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We identified 451 causal variants, which underlie genetic loci known to affect gene expression. Several promoters harbored multiple causal variants. In five promoters, pairs of variants showed non-additive, epistatic interactions. Causal variants were enriched at conserved nucleotides, tended to have low derived allele frequency, and were depleted from promoters of essential genes, which is consistent with the action of negative selection. Causal variants were also enriched for alterations in transcription factor binding sites. Models integrating these features provided modest, but statistically significant, ability to predict causal variants. This work revealed a complex molecular basis for cis-acting regulatory variation.
The Synergistic Effects of Solutions Journalism and Corporate Social Responsibility Advertising

This study explores the synergistic effects of solutions journalism and corporate social responsibility (CSR) advertising. More specifically, it experimentally investigates how news story orientati...
Mg II Absorber Number Density at z~0.05: Implications for Omega_DLA Evolution

An unbiased sample of 147 quasar/AGN spectra, obtained with the FOS/HST, has been searched for intervening MgII absorbers over the redshift range 0 =0.06, yielding a redshift number density dN/dz=0.22(+0.12)(-0.09) for absorbers with W_r(2796)>0.6 Ang. This is consistent with the value expected if these systems do not evolve from higher redshifts (z=2.2). [2] No systems with W_r(2796)<0.6 Ang were found. It is a 2-sigma result to have a null detection of smaller W_r(2796) systems. If this implies a turnover in the low W_r(2796) region of the equivalent width distribution at z~0, then there is at least a 25% reduction in the average galaxy gas cross section from z<0.2 galaxies. [3] These systems have strong FeII absorption and are good candidates for damped Ly-alpha absorbers DLAs (see Rao & Turnshek 2000, ApJS, 130, 1). This translates to a redshift number density of dN/dz=0.08(+0.09)(-0.05) for DLAs at z~0. In tandem with the data analyzed by Rao & Turnshek, these results indicate that the redshift number density of DLAs does not evolve from z~4 to z~0. If the HI mass function does not evolve from z~0.5 to z~0, then the cosmological HI mass density is also deduced to not evolve from z~4 to z~0. These z~0 results for MgII absorption-selected DLAs are at odds with those based upon 21-cm emission from HI galaxies by a factor of five to six.
Maternal Opioids Usage and Cesarean Delivery Rates: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Analysis.

The growing opioid crisis increasingly affects maternal care in the US and it is unknown if opioid use puts pregnant women at increased odds for cesarean delivery (CD). Understanding how opioids influence CD trends is important in improving maternal and neonatal outcomes. This study aims to understand the association of opioid use with CD in the context of the demographic, clinical, behavioral, and health system complexity. This retrospective cross-sectional analysis used representative data from the 2012–2014 National Inpatient Sample. Opioid use during pregnancy, CD, and other clinical variables were identified using ICD9 codes. Characteristics were assessed using bivariate and multivariate statistics. A logistic regression model was used to determine the association between opioid use and CD while controlling for confounders. Adjustments were made for rural/urban hospital location, regional median income, maternal age, race, and medical and pregnancy-related conditions. The rate of CD in the overall sample was about 30%. Among opioids-users, the overall proportion of CD was significantly less (24.7%). The adjusted odds ratio for CD among opioids users was 0.74 (CI: 0.73–0.76, p < 0.001). This finding is unique to pregnant women who are covered by public insurance. In rural areas, the relationship between opioid use and CD was not significant. Opioid use during pregnancy is associated with lower CD rates in urban settings. This evidence suggests that maternal care varies between rural and urban areas in relation to CD of pregnant opioid users compared to non-opioid users.
Prognostic Value of Hemorrhagic Brainstem Injury on Early Computed Tomography: A TRACK-TBI Study.

Traumatic brainstem injury has yet to be incorporated into widely used imaging classification systems for traumatic brain injury (TBI), and questions remain regarding prognostic implications for this TBI subgroup. To address this, retrospective data on patients from the multicenter prospective Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in TBI study were studied. Patients with brainstem and cerebrum injury (BSI+) were matched by age, sex, and admission Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score to patients with cerebrum injuries only. All patients had an interpretable head computed tomography (CT) scan from the first 48 hours after injury and a 6-month Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended (GOSE) score. CT scans were reviewed for brainstem lesions and, when present, characterized by location, size, and type (traumatic axonal injury, contusion, or Duret hemorrhage). Clinical, demographic, and outcome data were then compared between the two groups. Mann–Whitney U-tests showed no significant difference in 6-month GOSE scores in patients with BSI+ (mean 2.7) compared with patients with similar but only cerebrum injuries (mean 3.9), although there is a trend (p = 0.10). However, subclassification by brainstem lesion type, traumatic axonal injury (mean 4.0) versus Duret hemorrhage or contusion (mean 1.4), did identify a proportion of BSI+ with significantly less favorable outcome (p = 0.002). The incorporation of brainstem lesion type (traumatic axonal injury vs. contusion/Duret), along with GCS into a multivariate logistic regression model of favorable outcome (GOSE score 4–8) did show a significant contribution to the prognostication of this brainstem injury subgroup (odds ratio 0.08, 95% confidence interval 0.00–0.67, p = 0.01). These findings suggest two groups of patients with brainstem injuries may exist with divergent recovery potential after TBI. These data support the notion that newer CT imaging classification systems may augment traditional clinical measures, such as GCS in identifying those patients with TBI and brainstem injuries that stand a higher chance of favorable outcome.
Operation-based, fine-grained version control model for tree-based representation

Existing version control systems are often based on text line-oriented models for change representation, which do not facilitate software developers in understanding code evolution. Other advanced change representation models that encompass more program semantics and structures are still not quite practical due to their high computational complexity. This paper presents OperV, a novel operation-based version control model that is able to support both coarse and fine levels of granularity in program source code. In OperV, a software system is represented by a project tree whose nodes represent all program entities, such as packages, classes, methods, etc. The changes of the system are represented via edit operations on the tree. OperV also provides the algorithms to differ, store, and retrieve the versions of such entities. These algorithms are based on the mapping of the nodes between versions of the project tree. This mapping technique uses 1) divide-and-conquer technique to map coarse- and fine-grained entities separately, 2) unchanged text regions to map unchanged leaf nodes, and 3) structure-based similarity of the sub-trees to map their root nodes bottom-up and then top-down. The empirical evaluation of OperV has shown that it is scalable, efficient, and could be useful in understanding program evolution.
CYTOLOGICAL CHANGES IN AGING BACTERIAL CULTURES

Chatterjee, B. R. (Baylor University College of Medicine, Houston, Texas) and Robert P. Williams. Cytological changes in aging bacterial cultures. J. Bacteriol. 84:340-344. 1962.-Morphological changes occurring in aging broth and agar cultures of Bacillus anthracis were observed with the phase-contrast microscope. In 4 to 5 days, in liquid culture, cells lost their normal shape and become fusiform or spherical. Chromatin bodies were clearly visible inside the cells at this time. Spontaneous conversion into protoplast-like, spherical cells was observed on the 6th or 7th day. These cells were sensitive to osmotic changes, but could be preserved by the addition of sucrose to the medium. Budding and atypical multicellular forms also were observed at this stage. In agar cultures, the conversion into spherical forms was observed with more regularity; the presence of sucrose in the medium favored the process. In very late stages of growth, the spherical cells disintegrated into conglomerated masses of cellular debris with the discrete chromatin bodies enmeshed in them. At this stage, secondary colonies appeared, superimposed on the primary ones, and on transfer to suitable medium gave rise to unstable L colonies.
Exciton Dephasing in Semiconducting Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Two-pulse four-wave mixing experiments at various excitation intensities and temperatures enable the contributions of exciton-exciton and exciton-phonon scattering to exciton dephasing to be separated. We identify the dominant phonon mode, and estimate the homogeneous linewidth