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A long-standing concern in the study of culture is understanding how culture is distributed, often discussed in terms of cultural "coherence." Cultural diversity, defined as the degree to which people share beliefs or meanings, is one dimension of cultural coherence that has been associated with many social outcomes. This article contributes to this area of research by considering how to measure cultural diversity in text and introducing a simple approach that uses word counts and sets of diversity indices (called "diversity profiles"). Text is useful for social-psychological analysis because as an artifact of individual thought, it provides a way to measure how beliefs and meanings are distributed and made salient across groups. The measurement approach outlined here contrasts to many contemporary computational approaches to measuring culture in text, which employ a relational logic of meaning based on word co-occurrences. While these more sophisticated approaches are well suited to measuring diversity in many instances, I show that there are some cases for which simpler measures based on word counts are ideal. After discussing the measurement of cultural diversity using word counts, I present a computational analysis of interview transcripts of American religious parents discussing the ages at which it is appropriate for children to participate in different practices often considered inappropriate for young children. The analysis points to the homogenizing influence of institutions on discussions of age appropriateness. I conclude by discussing implications for cultural analysis more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To describe the diagnosis and successful treatment of systemic francisellosis in a dog. An 11‐year‐old female spayed Labrador retriever presented for progressive lethargy, hyporexia, and cough. The dog was febrile with a neutrophilia, nonregenerative anemia, thrombocytopenia, and had increased activity in serum of liver‐derived enzymes. Francisella philomiragia was isolated from aerobic blood culture. The dog was treated for 6 weeks with enrofloxacin orally. Repeated aerobic blood cultures after 2 and 6 weeks of antibiotic therapy were negative. The dog was clinically normal 7 months after diagnosis with no evidence of relapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Acute agitation in pediatrics is commonly encountered in hospital settings, can contribute to significant physical and psychological distress, and management is highly varied in practice. As such, the development of a standardized pharmacologic guideline is paramount. We aimed to develop a novel clinical pathway (CP) for management of acute agitation for all hospitalized pediatric patients in Canada. Methods: Healthcare professionals in Canada with expertise in treating and managing pediatric agitation formed a working group and developed a CP through conducting a literature review, engaging key partners, and obtaining interdisciplinary consensus (iterative real-time discussions with content experts). Once developed, the preliminary CP was presented to additional internal and external partners via multiple grand rounds and a webinar; feedback from participants guided final CP revisions. Results: The working group created a pediatric inpatient CP to guide pharmacologic management of agitation and serve as an easy-to-use clinical and educational resource with three complementary sections including: 1) a treatment algorithm, 2) a quick reference medication chart, and 3) two supporting documents, which provide a general overview of non-pharmacologic strategies prior to CP implementation and an illustrative scenario to accompany the medication chart to ensure effective utilization. Conclusions: This is the first CP to standardize pharmacological treatment and management of acute agitation in children in inpatient settings in Canada. Although further research is warranted to assess implementation and support process improvement, the CP can be adapted by individual institutions to assist in prompt pharmacological management of pediatric agitation to potentially improve outcomes for patients, families, and healthcare professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work of W.E.B. Du Bois highlights the significance of Christian religion in Black American life. According to Du Bois, the Black Church serves as a site of self‐formation and affirmation, and the White Church as a source of racist beliefs and justifications for inequality. In this paper, we expand Du Bois' inquiry about the influence of religion with a study of Black Americans who belong to a predominantly White religion. For those whose religious experience is almost wholly within the "white world," what role does religion play in their lives? We analyze a set of 52 public accounts by Black Americans discussing their experiences as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‐day Saints (LDS). We find that for many Black LDS, membership in the LDS Church is characterized by contrast and contradiction, yielding spiritual conviction, joy, and meaningful communion on one hand, and racism and isolation on the other. We also find that Black LDS respond to these contradictions in a variety of ways. We classify these agentic responses into five types and examine the sociological significance of the observed variation. We conclude with a discussion of implications for scholarship on race and religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintenance of the health of our oceans is critical for the survival of the oceanic food chain upon which humanity is dependent. Zooplanktonic copepods are among the most numerous multicellular organisms on earth. As the base of the primary consumer food web, they constitute a major biomass in oceans, being an important food source for fish and functioning in the carbon cycle. The potential impact of climate change on copepod populations is an area of intense study. Omics technologies offer the potential to detect early metabolic alterations induced by the stresses of climate change. One such omics approach is lipidomics, which can accurately quantify changes in lipid pools serving structural, signal transduction, and energy roles. We utilized high-resolution mass spectrometry (≤2 ppm mass error) to characterize the lipidome of three different species of copepods in an effort to identify lipid-based biomarkers of copepod health and viability which are more sensitive than observational tools. With the establishment of such a lipid database, we will have an analytical platform useful for prospectively monitoring the lipidome of copepods in a planned long-term five-year ecological study of climate change on this oceanic sentinel species. The copepods examined in this pilot study included a North Atlantic species (Calanus finmarchicus) and two species from the Gulf of Mexico, one a filter feeder (Acartia tonsa) and one a hunter (Labidocerca aestiva). Our findings clearly indicate that the lipidomes of copepod species can vary greatly, supporting the need to obtain a broad snapshot of each unique lipidome in a long-term multigeneration prospective study of climate change. This is critical, since there may well be species-specific responses to the stressors of climate change and co-stressors such as pollution. While lipid nomenclature and biochemistry are extremely complex, it is not essential for all readers interested in climate change to understand all of the various lipid classes presented in this study. The clear message from this research is that we can monitor key copepod lipid families with high accuracy, and therefore potentially monitor lipid families that respond to environmental perturbations evoked by climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although patients with lower socioeconomic status are at higher risk of obesity, bariatric surgery utilization among patients with Medicaid is low and may be due to program-specific variation in access. Our goal was to compare bariatric surgery programs by percentage of Medicaid cases and to determine if variation in distribution of patients with Medicaid could be linked to adverse outcomes. Methods: Using a state-wide bariatric-specific data registry that included 43 programs performing 97,207 cases between 2006 and 2020, we identified all patients with Medicaid insurance (n = 4780, 4.9%). Bariatric surgery programs were stratified into quartiles according to the percentage of Medicaid cases performed and we compared program-specific characteristics as well as baseline patient characteristics, risk-adjusted complication rates and wait times between top and bottom quartiles. Results: Program-specific distribution of Medicaid cases varied between 0.69 and 22.4%. Programs in the top quartile (n = 11) performed 18,885 cases in total, with a mean of 13% for Medicaid patients, while programs in the bottom quartile (n = 11) performed 32,447 cases in total, with a mean of 1%. Patients undergoing surgery at programs in the top quartile were more likely to be Black (20.2% vs 13.5%, p < 0.0001), have diabetes (35.1% vs 29.5%, p < 0.0001), hypertension (55.1% vs 49.6%, p < 0.0001) and hyperlipidemia (47.6% vs 45.2%, p < 0.0001). Top quartile programs also had higher complication rates (8.4% vs 6.6%, p < 0.0001), extended length of stay (5.6% vs 4.0%, p < 0.0001), Emergency Department visits (8.1% vs 6.5%, p < 0.0001) and readmissions (4.7% vs 3.9%, p < 0.0001). Median time from initial evaluation to surgery date was also significantly longer among top quartile programs (200 vs 122 days, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Bariatric surgery programs that perform a higher proportion of Medicaid cases tend to care for patients with greater disease severity who experience delays in care and also require more resource utilization. Improving bariatric surgery utilization among patients with lower socioeconomic status may benefit from insurance standardization and program-centered incentives to improve access and equitable distribution of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marek’s disease virus (MDV) is a lymphotropic alphaherpesvirus that readily infects chickens and some other poultry, triggering complex disease phenotypes, including paralysis, immunosuppression, and lymphoma leading to death. MDV infection is partially controlled by extensive global vaccination programs but nevertheless, it imposes a significant financial burden on commercial poultry farming. Following infection, the MDV genome integrates into host telomeres, which is associated with the virus entering a latent state. The mechanism of integration remains poorly understood but it is contemporaneous with cellular transformation and lymphoma formation and therefore requires investigation. Here we have developed droplet digital PCR assays to quantify different regions of the MDV genome. We have also used long-range PCR and single telomere amplification to establish the organization and relative orientation of MDV genome regions in integrated MDV (iMDV). These analyses show that following integration, the MDV genome is oriented with the unique short region (US) internal to the unique long region (UL ) and that an iMDV-associated telomere forms at the variable repeat array (mTMR) in a terminal a-like sequence. The data also reveal a very wide range of MDV copy numbers in cell lines, including unexpectedly, additional copies of specific MDV genome regions. IMPORTANCE Marek’s disease virus (MDV) is a ubiquitous chicken pathogen that inflicts a large economic burden on the poultry industry, despite worldwide vaccination programs. MDV is only partially controlled by available vaccines, and the virus retains the ability to replicate and spread between vaccinated birds. Following an initial infection, MDV enters a latent state and integrates into host telomeres and this may be a prerequisite for malignant transformation, which is usually fatal. To understand the mechanism that underlies the dynamic relationship between integrated-latent and reactivated MDV, we have characterized integrated MDV (iMDV) genomes and their associated telomeres. This revealed a single orientation among iMDV genomes and the loss of some terminal sequences that is consistent with integration by homology-directed recombination and excision via a telomere-loop-mediated process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contact angle goniometry is an important characterization technique that can determine crucial information, such as the wettability, interfacial tension, and adhesion properties of solid and liquid surfaces alike. However, while this technique is already widespread, the by-hand analysis process of elucidating the advancing and receding contact angles (ARCAs) from the actual data set has many pitfalls and is fraught with human error. In this article, we introduce a graphical user interface (GUI) called ARCA Finder that drastically simplifies the analysis process by displaying the contact angle data in a novel perspective and aiding the user to determine the most accurate measurement from the available data based on the full definition of the dynamic contact angles. The goal of this invention is to improve measurement accuracy by reducing human error in goniometry, while also improving the repeatability of measurements among different researchers. By testing this approach alongside by-hand analysis on both synthetic and real dynamic contact angle videos, our results demonstrate a noticeable difference in the measured values, which suggests that the ARCA Finder GUI improves the measurement accuracy compared to the standard approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The timing of carbohydrate ingestion and how this influences net muscle glycogen utilization and fatigue has only been investigated in prolonged cycling. Past findings may not translate to running because each exercise mode is distinct both in the metabolic response to carbohydrate ingestion and in the practicalities of carbohydrate ingestion. To this end, a randomized, cross-over design was employed to contrast ingestion of the same sucrose dose either at frequent intervals (15 x 5 g every 5min) or at a late bolus (1 x 75 g after 75 min) during prolonged treadmill running to exhaustion in six well-trained runners (...O2max 61 ± 4 ml⋅kg-1⋅min-1). The muscle glycogen utilization rate was lower in every participant over the first 75 min of running (Δ 0.51 mmol⋅kg dm-1⋅min-1; 95% confidence interval [-0.02, 1.04] mmol⋅kg dm-1⋅min-1) and, subsequently, all were able to run for longer when carbohydrate had been ingested frequently from the start of exercise compared with when carbohydrate was ingested as a single bolus toward the end of exercise (105.6 ± 3.0 vs. 96.4 ± 5.0 min, respectively; Δ 9.3 min, 95% confidence interval [2.8, 15.8] min). A moderate positive correlation was apparent between the magnitude of glycogen sparing over the first 75min and the improvement in running capacity (r = .58), with no significant difference in muscle glycogen concentrations at the point of exhaustion. This study indicates that failure to ingest carbohydrates from the outset of prolonged running increases reliance on limited endogenous muscle glycogen stores--the ergolytic effects of which cannot be rectified by subsequent carbohydrate ingestion late in exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benefit finding has been identified as a buffer of the combat exposure-PTSD symptom link in soldiers. However, benefit finding may have a limited buffering capacity on the combat-PTSD symptom link over the course of a soldier's post-deployment recovery period. In the present study, soldiers returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) were surveyed at two different time periods post-deployment: Time 1 was 4 months post-deployment (n = 1,510), and Time 2 was at 9 months post-deployment (n = 783). The surveys assessed benefit finding, PTSD symptoms, and combat exposure. Benefit finding was a successful buffer of the cross-sectional relationship between combat exposure and PTSD reexperiencing symptoms at Time 1, but not at Time 2. In addition, the benefit finding by combat interaction at time 1 revealed that greater benefit finding was associated with higher symptoms under high combat exposure at Time 2 after controlling for PTSD arousal symptoms at Time 1. The results of the present study indicate that benefit finding may have a buffering capacity in the immediate months following a combat deployment, but also indicates that more time than is allotted during the post-deployment adjustment period is needed to enable recovery from PTSD. Theoretical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU)-associated delirium contributes to a decline in postdischarge quality of life, with worse outcomes for individuals with delayed identification. As delirium screening rates remain low within PICUs, caregivers may be able to assist with early detection, for which they need more education, as awareness of pediatric delirium among caregivers remains limited. Objective: This study aimed to develop an educational tool for caregivers to identify potential delirium symptoms during their child's PICU stay, educate them on how to best support their child if they experience delirium, and guide them to relevant family resources. Methods: Web-based focus groups were conducted at a tertiary pediatric hospital with expected end users of the tool (ie, PICU health care professionals and caregivers of children with an expected PICU length of stay of over 48 h) to identify potential educational information for inclusion in a family resource guide and to identify strategies for effective implementation. Data were analyzed thematically to generate requirements to inform prototype development. Participants then provided critical feedback on the initial prototype, which guided the final design. Results: In all, 24 participants (18 health care professionals and 6 caregivers) attended 7 focus groups. Participants identified five informational sections for inclusion: (1) delirium definition, (2) key features of delirium (signs and symptoms), (3) postdischarge outcomes associated with delirium, (4) tips to inform family-centered care, and (5) education or supportive resources. Participants identified seven design requirements: information should (1) be presented in an order that resembles the structure of the clinical discussion around delirium; (2) increase accessibility, recall, and preparedness by providing multiple formats; (3) aim to reduce stress by implementing positive framing; (4) minimize cognitive load to ensure adequate information processing; (5) provide supplemental electronic resources via QR codes; (6) emphasize collaboration between caregivers and the health care team; and (7) use prompting questions to act as a call to action for caregivers. Conclusions: Key design requirements derived from end-user feedback were established and guided the development of a novel pediatric delirium education tool. Implementing this tool into regular practice has the potential to reduce distress and assist in the early recognition and treatment of delirium in the PICU domain. Future evaluation of its clinical utility is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Risk identification and communication tools have the potential to improve health care by supporting clinician-patient or family discussion of treatment risks and benefits and helping patients make more informed decisions; however, they have yet to be tailored to pediatric surgery. User-centered design principles can help to ensure the successful development and uptake of health care tools. Objective: We aimed to develop and evaluate the usability of an easy-to-use tool to communicate a child's risk of postoperative pain to improve informed and collaborative preoperative decision-making between clinicians and families. Methods: With research ethics board approval, we conducted web-based co-design sessions with clinicians and family participants (people with lived surgical experience and parents of children who had recently undergone a surgical or medical procedure) at a tertiary pediatric hospital. Qualitative data from these sessions were analyzed thematically using NVivo (Lumivero) to identify design requirements to inform the iterative redesign of an existing prototype. We then evaluated the usability of our final prototype in one-to-one sessions with a new group of participants, in which we measured mental workload with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Task Load Index (TLX) and user satisfaction with the Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire (PSSUQ). Results: A total of 12 participants (8 clinicians and 4 family participants) attended 5 co-design sessions. The 5 requirements were identified: (A) present risk severity descriptively and visually; (B) ensure appearance and navigation are user-friendly; (C) frame risk identification and mitigation strategies in positive terms; (D) categorize and describe risks clearly; and (E) emphasize collaboration and effective communication. A total of 12 new participants (7 clinicians and 5 family participants) completed a usability evaluation. Tasks were completed quickly (range 5-17 s) and accurately (range 11/12, 92% to 12/12, 100%), needing only 2 requests for assistance. The median (IQR) NASA TLX performance score of 78 (66-89) indicated that participants felt able to perform the required tasks, and an overall PSSUQ score of 2.1 (IQR 1.5-2.7) suggested acceptable user satisfaction with the tool. Conclusions: The key design requirements were identified, and that guided the prototype redesign, which was positively evaluated during usability testing. Implementing a personalized risk communication tool into pediatric surgery can enhance the care process and improve informed and collaborative presurgical preparation and decision-making between clinicians and families of pediatric patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Defining social scientific concepts can contribute to scholarly advancement in many ways. Definitions, which we define as a description of a word or phrase using terms for which the meaning is well known in the community, can contribute to inclusive discussion by welcoming outsiders, mitigate misunderstandings among insiders, encourage theorists to commit to the (sometimes surprising) entailments of their theories, and provide starting points and new pathways for future research. A necessary feature of definitions is “boundaries” – to define is to bound. But, it is precisely in boundaries that definitions get us into problems: the meanings of words are inherently fuzzy and changing; exceptionless definitions are elusive. We elaborate a process of “definition work” which is inherently “community work.” The process recognizes that meaning is a dynamic and fuzzy community property and uses theory visualizations – specifically, property spaces, schematic networks, and dynamic spanning trees – as definition tools to explore this fuzziness, while also communicating definitions along with their indeterminacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine whether first-year college students cluster in networks based on subjective perceptions of loneliness. Participants: 492 first-year Notre Dame students completed surveys across two semesters and provided communication data used to reconstruct their social networks. Methods: Subjective perceptions of loneliness are measured using the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA). Correlations between an individual's loneliness and the average loneliness of their alters are compared to associations in random networks created using a rewiring algorithm to determine statistical significance. Results: During their first semester, students are more likely than chance to form ties with other students with similar levels of family and romantic loneliness. In their second semester, students cluster on romantic loneliness but not on family or social loneliness. Conclusions: Students are more likely than chance to form ties with people with similar self-perceived levels of loneliness, but only for certain types of loneliness and during certain periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pediatric surgery is associated with a risk of postoperative pain that can impact the family's quality of life. Although some risk factors for postoperative pain are known, these are often not consistently communicated to families. In addition, although tools for risk communication exist in other domains, none are tailored to pediatric surgery. Objective: As part of a larger project to develop pain risk prediction tools, we aimed to design an easy-to-use tool to effectively communicate a child's risk of postoperative pain to both clinicians and family members. Methods: With research ethics board approval, we conducted virtual focus groups (~1 hour each) comprising clinicians and family members (people with lived surgical experience and parents of children who had recently undergone surgery/medical procedures) at a tertiary pediatric hospital to understand and evaluate potential design approaches and strategies for effectively communicating and visualizing postoperative pain risk. Data were analyzed thematically to generate design requirements and to inform iterative prototype development. Results: In total, 19 participants (clinicians: n=10, 53%; family members: n=9, 47%) attended 6 focus group sessions. Participants indicated that risk was typically communicated verbally by clinicians to patients and their families, with severity indicated using a descriptive or a numerical representation or both, which would only occasionally be contextualized. Participants indicated that risk communication tools were seldom used but that families would benefit from risk information, time to reflect on the information, and follow-up with questions. In addition, 9 key design requirements and feature considerations for effective risk communication were identified: (1) present risk information clearly and with contextualization, (2) quantify the risk and contextualize it, (3) include checklists for preoperative family preparation, (4) provide risk information digitally to facilitate recall and sharing, (5) query the family's understanding to ensure comprehension of risk, (6) present the risk score using multimodal formats, (7) use color coding that is nonthreatening and avoids limitations with color blindness, (8) present the most significant factors contributing to the risk prediction, and (9) provide risk mitigation strategies to potentially decrease the patient's level of risk. Conclusions: Key design requirements for a pediatric postoperative pain risk visualization tool were established and guided the development of an initial prototype. Implementing a risk communication tool into clinical practice has the potential to bridge existing gaps in the accessibility, utilization, and comprehension of personalized risk information between health care professionals and family members. Future iterative codesign and clinical evaluation of this risk communication tool are needed to confirm its utility in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inspection of the quality of welds in battery packs plays an important role in ensuring safety during the manufacturing and operation of energy-storage devices in automotive vehicles during service. This research investigated the novel application of laser Doppler vibrometry, a widely used non-destructive optical technique for modal analysis, to the post-weld evaluation of micro-TIG-welded interconnections in lithium-ion supercells. The experimental modal analysis showed features in the modal models of the supercells that were unique to their welding conditions. The comparisons between the supercells showed an absence of linear correlations between the modal parameters and the welding current, as well as differences in the welding parameters obtained from the negative and positive terminals of the cylindrical cells. These findings suggested that the modal parameters of the supercells were more strongly influenced by the rigidity of the structural materials than by the localized compliance of the welded interconnections. While this investigation demonstrated a method for using laser Doppler vibrometry to distinguish between different welding conditions in lithium-ion supercells at a structural level, further development is needed to identify the weld quality of individual interconnections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study profiles ceramides extracted from visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue of human subjects by liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry to determine a correlation with status of diabetes and gender. Methods: Samples of visceral and abdominal wall subcutaneous adipose tissue (n = 36 and n = 31, respectively) were taken during laparoscopic surgery from 36 patients (14 nondiabetic, 22 diabetic and prediabetic) undergoing bariatric surgery with a body mass index (BMI) >35 kg/m2 with ≥1 existing comorbidity or BMI ≥40 kg/m2. Sphingolipids were extracted and analyzed using liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry. Results: After logarithm 2 conversion, paired analysis of visceral to subcutaneous tissue showed differential accumulation of Cer(d18:1/16:0), Cer(d18:1/18:0), and Cer(d18:1/24:1) in visceral tissue of prediabetic/diabetic female subjects, but not in males. Within‐tissue analysis showed higher mean levels of ceramide species linked to insulin resistance, such as Cer(d18:1/18:0) and Cer(d18:1/16:0), in visceral tissue of prediabetic/diabetic patients compared with nondiabetic subjects and higher content of Cer(d18:1/14:0) in subcutaneous tissue of insulin‐resistant female patients compared with prediabetic/diabetic males. Statistically significant differences in mean levels of ceramide species between insulin‐resistant African American and insulin‐resistant Caucasian patients were not evident in visceral or subcutaneous tissue. Conclusions: Analysis of ceramides is important for developing a better understanding of biological processes underlying type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity. Knowledge of the accumulated ceramides/dihydroceramides may reflect on the prelipolytic state that leads the lipotoxic phase of insulin resistance and may shed light on the predisposition to insulin resistance by gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cinacalcet is an oral calcimimetic that has potential to non‐invasively treat primary hyperparathyroidism in dogs (Canis lupis familiaris). There is minimal data assessing its efficacy in dogs. This study aimed to determine whether a single dose of cinacalcet decreases serum ionized calcium (iCa), total calcium (tCa), and parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations. Twelve dogs received a median dose of 0.49 mg/kg (range 0.30–0.69 mg/kg) cinacalcet per os. Venous blood samples were collected at time 0 (before cinacalcet administration), 3, 8, and 24 h following cinacalcet administration. PTH, iCa, and tCa concentrations were measured at each time point and compared to 0 hour concentrations. A significant (50%) decrease in serum PTH occurred at 3 h with a median PTH of 4.6 pmol/L (range 2.7–10.8) at baseline and 1.65 pmol/L (range 0.5–14.7) at 3 h; p =.005. A significant, but not clinically relevant, decrease in serum iCa from a median baseline of 1.340 mmol/L (range 1.32–1.41) to a 3 h median of 1.325 mmol/L (range 1.26–1.39), p =.043, was also observed. tCa concentrations were not different. This study showed that a single dose of cinacalcet leads to transient decreases in iCa and PTH concentrations in healthy dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several studies have previously reported the presence of altered cerebral perfusion during sepsis. However, the role of non-invasive neuromonitoring, and the impact of altered cerebral perfusion, in sepsis patients with delirium remains unclear. Methods: We performed a systematic review of studies that used near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and/or transcranial Doppler (TCD) to assess adults (-18 years) with sepsis and delirium. From study inception to July 28, 2020, we searched the following databases: Ovid MedLine, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. Results: Of 1546 articles identified, 10 met our inclusion criteria. Although NIRS-derived regional cerebral oxygenation was consistently lower, this difference was only statistically significant in one study. TCD-derived cerebral blood flow velocity was inconsistent across studies. Importantly, both impaired cerebral autoregulation during sepsis and increased cerebrovascular resistance were associated with delirium during sepsis. However, the heterogeneity in NIRS and TCD devices, duration of recording (from 10 seconds to 72 hours), and delirium assessment methods (e.g., electronic medical records, confusion assessment method for the intensive care unit), precluded meta-analysis. Conclusion: The available literature demonstrates that cerebral perfusion disturbances may be associated with delirium in sepsis. However, future investigations will require consistent definitions of delirium, delirium assessment training, harmonized NIRS and TCD assessments (e.g., consistent measurement site and length of recording), as well as the quantification of secondary and tertiary variables (i.e., Cox, Mxa, MAPOPT), in order to fully assess the relationship between cerebral perfusion and delirium in patients with sepsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although soil organisms are essential for ecosystem function, the impacts of radiation on soil biological activity at highly contaminated sites has been relatively poorly studied. In April-May 2016, we conducted the first largescale deployment of bait lamina to estimate soil organism (largely soil invertebrate) feeding activity in situ at study plots in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ). Across our 53 study plots, estimated weighted absorbed dose rates to soil organisms ranged from 0.7 μGy h-1 to 1753 μGy h-1. There was no significant relationship between soil organism feeding activity and estimated weighted absorbed dose rate. Soil biological activity did show significant relationships with soil moisture content, bulk density (used as a proxy for soil organic matter) and pH. At plots in the Red Forest (an area of coniferous plantation where trees died because of high radiation exposure in 1986) soil biological activity was low compared to plots elsewhere in the CEZ. It is possible that the lower biological activity observed in the Red Forest is a residual consequence of what was in effect an acute high exposure to radiation in 1986. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The similarity between pairs of people is often measured on relatively static traits and at a given point in time. Moving beyond this approach, a burgeoning line of research is investigating temporal dyadic similarity on traits and behaviors, such as health activities. Our study contributes to this line of inquiry by using fine-grained longitudinal data obtained from sensors, mobile devices, and surveys to examine whether we can observe distinct types of dyadic similarity trajectories based on physical activity, and if so, what dyad-level properties predict membership in each trajectory class. Treating daily differences in the steps for dyads as time series, we use k -shape clustering to identify classes of similarity trajectories and logistic regression to examine the link between trajectory class and key dyad-level factors. We identify 21 dyadic trajectory clusters and find that trajectory membership predicts dyadic connectivity in the communication network, as well as racial and religious—but not gender-based—similarity. We conclude by noting how research on dyadic similarity trajectories can be further integrated with ongoing work in social network analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human herpesviruses 6A and 6B (HHV-6A/6B) are ubiquitous pathogens that persist lifelong in latent form and can cause severe conditions upon reactivation. They are spread by community-acquired infection of free virus (acqHHV6A/6B) and by germline transmission of inherited chromosomally integrated HHV-6A/6B (iciHHV-6A/6B) in telomeres. We exploited a hypervariable region of the HHV-6B genome to investigate the relationship between acquired and inherited virus and revealed predominantly maternal transmission of acqHHV-6B in families. Remarkably, we demonstrate that some copies of acqHHV-6B in saliva from healthy adults gained a telomere, indicative of integration and latency, and that the frequency of viral genome excision from telomeres in iciHHV-6B carriers is surprisingly high and varies between tissues. In addition, newly formed short telomeres generated by partial viral genome release are frequently lengthened, particularly in telomerase-expressing pluripotent cells. Consequently, iciHHV-6B carriers are mosaic for different iciHHV-6B structures, including circular extra-chromosomal forms that have the potential to reactivate. Finally, we show transmission of an HHV-6B strain from an iciHHV-6B mother to her non-iciHHV-6B son. Altogether, we demonstrate that iciHHV-6B can readily transition between telomere-integrated and free virus forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of cerebral autoregulation monitoring to identify patient-specific optimal mean arterial pressure (MAPOPT) has emerged as a technique to augment cerebral oxygen delivery in post-cardiac arrest patients. Our systematic review aims to determine (a) the average MAPOPT in these patients, (b) the feasibility of identifying MAPOPT, (c) the brain tissue oxygenation levels when MAP is within proximity to the MAPOPT and (d) the relationship between neurological outcome and MAPOPT-targeted resuscitation strategies. We carried out this review in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. We included all studies that used cerebral autoregulation to determine MAPOPT in adult patients (> 16 years old) who achieved return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) following cardiac arrest. All studies had to include our primary outcome of MAPOPT. We excluded studies where the patients had any history of traumatic brain injury, ischemic stroke or intracranial hemorrhage. We identified six studies with 181 patients. There was wide variability in cerebral autoregulation monitoring methods, length of monitoring, calculation and reporting of MAPOPT. Amongst all studies, the median or mean MAPOPT was consistently above 65 mmHg (range 70-114 mmHg). Definitions of feasibility varied among studies and were difficult to summarize. Only one study noted that brain tissue oxygenation increased as patients' MAP approached MAPOPT. There was no consistent association between targeting MAPOPT and improved neurological outcome. There is considerable heterogeneity in MAPOPT due to differences in monitoring methods of autoregulation. Further research is needed to assess the clinical utility of MAPOPT-guided strategies on decreasing secondary injury and improving neurological outcomes after ROSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topology optimization for engineering problems often requires multiphysics (dual objective functions) and multi-timescale considerations to be coupled with manufacturing constraints across a range of target values. We present a dual neural network approach to topology optimization to optimize a 3-dimensional thermal-electromagnetic device (optical shutter) for maximum temperature rise across a range of extinction ratios while also considering manufacturing tolerances. One neural network performs the topology optimization, allocating material to each sub-pixel within a repeating unit cell. The size of each sub-pixel is selected with manufacturing considerations in mind. The other neural network is trained to predict performance of the device using extinction ratio and temperature rise over a given time period. Training data is generated using a finite element model for both the electromagnetic wave frequency domain and thermal time domain problems. Optimized designs across a range of targets are shown. [Display omitted] • A dual neural network is utilized to perform topology optimization of a thermal-electromagnetic device (optical shutter). • Vanadium dioxide is used as the shutter material, due to its ability to rapidly change phase from semi-transparent to reflective. • Solving the inverse design problem with a dual neural network approach allows for rapid updates to target values or loss function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stress from obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) stimulates catecholamine release and consequently can exacerbate hypertension, even in the absence of a catecholamine-producing tumour (phaeochromocytoma). As such, a positive screening test for suspected phaeochromocytoma may be misleading. There exists only a handful case reports, and no controlled trials, how continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to treat OSA influences catecholamine levels. We examined changes to levels of urinary catecholamine and blood pressure in response to CPAP treatment. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis of data aggregated from published case reports of individual patient data up to April 2020. The quality of the reports was evaluated using the risk of bias in non-randomized studies of interventions (ROBINS-I) tool. Results: A total of 13 cases (seven men and six women) from seven reports met our search criteria. Patients had mean age of 49.1 years (range = 36–62) and body mass index of 37.4 kg/m2 (range = 27–56). Most had moderate to severe OSA with CPAP treatment. Nine cases had 24-hour urinary noradrenaline assessment before and after CPAP treatment. CPAP treatment led to a 21% reduction (104 nmol/24-hours, 95% credible interval =59 to 148) in 24-hour urinary noradrenaline to within reference ranges, and 25% reduction (from 131 to 100 mmHg) in mean arterial pressure. The risk of overall bias evaluated by the ROBINS-I tool was found to be low in the majority of reports. Conclusions: Investigations of patients suspected of phaeochromocytoma, particularly obese individuals, should exclude OSA and treat this condition if present before performing screening tests to assess for catecholamine levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which editor discusses various articles within the issue on topics including movements of language in individual novels; connections between the novel and the television serial and reading of the novels of Henry James with undergraduate students.

The article presents research report on how ocean forcing drives glacier retreat in Greenland. Topics include enhanced intrusion of warm Atlantic Waters (AW) into fjords, but this assertion has not been quantitatively tested on a Greenland- wide basis or included in models; and ocean-induced melt from numerical models and in situ data indicate an average melt intensity for the submerged part of the glaciers comparable.

Even as a schoolboy Marcel Proust specialized in thoughts of loss and doubt, and in À la recherche du temps perdu, he puts these thoughts to a very particular kind of philosophical work: the cultivation of epistemological (and other) errors that are certainly errors but are in some sense not entirely wrong. A noise is misinterpreted, attributed to an incorrect source, but Proust's narrator, while scrupulously revising the perception, allows his first take a sort of magical afterlife. This effect is subtly developed in the last volume of the novel, where the narrator completes the experiences of involuntary memory that ground his whole theory of regained time--and also has experiences that contradict the theory, that show time to be ever-elapsing, impossible to regain. He doesn't endorse the contradiction, and he doesn't give up his theory. But he doesn't erase the contradiction either. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In humans, Enterococcus spp. urinary tract infections (UTI) are commonly associated with urinary catheter‐induced urothelial inflammation but this is not the case in dogs. Hypothesis/Objectives: To identify risk factors predisposing dogs to enterococcal bacteriuria. Animals Seventy dogs with Enterococcus spp. bacteriuria (case) and 70 dogs with Enterococcus coli bacteriuria (control). Methods: A single center retrospective case‐control study with subjects and controls identified by a medical records search for Enterococcus spp. (subject) or E coli (control) bacteriuria from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2017. Cases and controls were balanced with respect to average age and weight. Binary logistic regression was used to estimate and test whether the odds of having Enterococcus spp. bacteriuria (instead of E coli) were associated with the presence of any given characteristic. Results: A history of recurrent bacteriuria was significantly more common in Enterococcus spp. cases than in E coli controls (odds ratio [OR]: 2.07; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04‐4.16, P =.04). Comorbidities associated with the presence of Enterococcus spp. bacteriuria included lower urinary tract (LUT) anatomic abnormalities (OR: 2.94; 95% CI: 1.17‐8.10, P =.02), urolithiasis (P =.01), and the presence of LUT neoplasia (P =.04). Small frequencies (n = 12 and n = 6, respectively) compromise our ability to precisely estimate the genuine OR for the latter 2 characteristics. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: If the identified risk factors promote Enterococcus spp. colonization in dogs via induced LUT inflammation similar to people then Enterococcus spp. bacteriuria could be a sentinel for underlying LUT inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A literary criticism of the book "The Sense of an Ending" by Frank Kermode is presented. Topics include the depiction of apocalypse in modern times and in middle ages; that humans are uncomfortable with the idea that lives form only a short period in the history; and that humans have always used such fiction to impose structure on the idea of eternity.

This report investigates how different splashing mechanisms affect the oblique splash threshold of drops impacting a dry solid surface. The splashing behaviors of water, ethanol, and a water/ethylene glycol solution are observed over a wide range of drop diameters (0.7 mm < D < 2.2 mm) and Weber numbers (10 < We < 1040), and several published models are tested in order to predict the thresholds between deposition, one-sided splashing, and two-sided splashing. We found that the splash threshold of liquids that exhibit the corona splashing mechanism can be readily predicted by existing models. However, for liquids such as water that exhibit prompt splashing, the oblique splash threshold is not successfully predicted by any presently established correlation. Hence, our findings identify a critical knowledge gap in the drop impact field, since the behavior of water is of fundamental importance to countless engineering problems. Finally, combining our own results with others reported in the literature, we address some contradictory reports about the influence of liquid viscosity on the splash threshold and demonstrate that the presence or lack of thin-sheet in different experiments could explain the contradictions present in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines some of the ways Mengen speakers have positioned Ulawun volcano, its inhabitants and outputs as beneficial features of daily life. By way of contrast, volcanology and more recent disaster planning discourses in Papua New Guinea, have often positioned Ulawun as a hazard that creates potential dangers and risks. The paper explores how these two distinct orientations to Ulawun's past and future influence the possibilities of Ulawun's beneficial and dangerous outcomes. We emphasise how Ulawun's anticipated future has been articulated into forms of disaster planning involving new modes of action, accountability and world making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast x-ray detectors are critical tools in pulsed power and fusion applications, where detector impulse response of a nanosecond or better is often required. Semiconductor detectors can create fast, sensitive devices with extensive operational flexibility. There is typically a trade-off between detector sensitivity and speed, but higher atomic number absorbers can increase hard x-ray absorption without increasing the charge collection time, provided carriers achieve high velocity. This paper presents x-ray pulse characterization conducted at the Advanced Photon Source of x-ray absorption efficiency and temporal impulse response of current-mode semiconductor x-ray detectors composed of Si, GaAs, and CdTe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delirium is common during critical illness and is associated with morbidity and mortality, but its pathophysiology is unknown. We tested whether dysfunctional cerebral autoregulation (CA) contributes to the development of delirium. Adult patients (n = 40) with respiratory failure and/or shock were prospectively enrolled. Continuous recordings of regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2) were obtained by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) during the first 72 h of intensive care unit (ICU) admission. CA function was estimated by the cerebral oximetry index (COx), which is the time-varying correlation between rSO2 and mean arterial pressure (MAP). Delirium was assessed daily. The median ICU stay was seven days (IQR 4–13). Twenty-four patients (60%) screened positive for delirium on at least one day during their stay. Taking positive COx values to reflect periods of CA dysfunction, we found that the cumulative duration of CA dysfunction during the first one to three days in the ICU was significantly associated with the subsequent development of delirium. Additionally, we assessed two alternative methods for estimating optimal MAP targets in individual patients. In summary, early disturbances in CA may contribute to delirium, and NIRS-derived rSO2 may be used to identify individual perfusion targets in critically ill patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast semiconductor radiation detectors operated in current mode provide a valuable diagnostic in pulsed power applications. Si detectors are common due to the availability of high-quality materials and mature fabrication processes, but they offer low absorption for hard x-rays above ∼10 keV. GaAs can provide increased hard x-ray absorption for the same detector volume due to a higher atomic number. GaAs photodiodes have been produced from epitaxial material grown at Sandia National Laboratories and fabricated at Sandia's microfabrication facility. These detectors have significantly higher hard x-ray absorption (>10× at 15 keV) and nearly identical temporal impulse response to similarly sized Si detectors of 0.5 ns full-width half maximum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determination of the intrinsic polarization properties of a complex turbid medium such as biological tissue in the backscattering geometry (a geometry that is convenient for in situ applications) is complicated due to the confounding influence of scattering, and due to simultaneous occurrence of several polarization effects. We have investigated the polar decomposition approach of Mueller matrices to delineate individual intrinsic polarization parameters (specifically linear retardance ¿ and optical rotation ¿) of a birefringent, chiral, turbid medium in the backscattering geometry, using Mueller matrices generated with polarization-sensitive Monte Carlo simulations. The results show that near the exact backscattering direction, the interplay of the scattering-induced linear retardance and diattenuation on the intrinsic values for ¿ and ¿ is coupled in a complex interrelated way, due to contribution of the backscattered photons. In contrast, these effects were significantly reduced for detection positions at distances larger than a transport length away from the point of illumination. Simultaneous determination of the intrinsic values for ¿ and ¿ of a birefringent, chiral, turbid medium in the backward detection geometry can thus be accomplished by decomposing the Mueller matrices recorded at distances larger than a transport length away from the point of illumination. Determination of the intrinsic values for these polarization parameters in backscattering geometry could be significant in, for example, for quantification of tissue structural anisotropy and for noninvasive blood glucose measurements of diabetic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein we describe the continued optimization of M 4 positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) within the 5-amino-thieno[2,3- c ]pyridazine series of compounds. In this letter, we disclose our studies on tertiary amides derived from substituted azetidines. This series provided excellent CNS penetration, which had been challenging to consistently achieve in other amide series. Efforts to mitigate high clearance, aided by metabolic softspot analysis, were unsuccessful and precluded this series from further consideration as a preclinical candidate. In the course of this study, we found that potassium tetrafluoroborate salts could be engaged in a tosyl hydrazone reductive cross coupling reaction, a previously unreported transformation, which expands the synthetic utility of the methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks beyond customary international law and asks whether the source of international law listed in Article 38, paragraph 1(c) of the ICJ Statute ('the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations') might join the dance. Is there a risk that general principles of law may be too easily invoked where no applicable treaty or rule of customary international law can be identified? In emphasizing the distinction between customary international law and general principles of law, the article first recalls relevant recent work of the International Law Commission. It then addresses the term 'general international law' and certain problems related to it, and raises questions concerning the relationship between customary international law and general principles of law. Before drawing some conclusions, reference is also made to the place of general principles of law within the international legal system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]