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Different artists have their unique painting styles, which can be hardly recognized by ordinary people without professional knowledge. How to intelligently analyze such artistic styles via underlying features remains to be a challenging research problem. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-task feature fusion architecture (MTFFNet), for cognitive classification of traditional Chinese paintings. Specifically, by taking the full advantage of the pre-trained DenseNet as backbone, MTFFNet benefits from the fusion of two different types of feature information: semantic and brush stroke features. These features are learned from the RGB images and auxiliary gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) in an end-to-end manner, to enhance the discriminative power of the features for the first time. Through abundant experiments, our results demonstrate that our proposed model MTFFNet achieves significantly better classification performance than many state-of-the-art approaches. In this paper, an end-to-end multi-task feature fusion method for Chinese painting classification is proposed. We come up with a new model named MTFFNet, composed of two branches, in which one branch is top-level RGB feature learning and the other branch is low-level brush stroke feature learning. The semantic feature learning branch takes the original image of traditional Chinese painting as input, extracting the color and semantic information of the image, while the brush feature learning branch takes the GLCM feature map as input, extracting the texture and edge information of the image. Multi-kernel learning SVM (supporting vector machine) is selected as the final classifier. Evaluated by experiments, this method improves the accuracy of Chinese painting classification and enhances the generalization ability. By adopting the end-to-end multi-task feature fusion method, MTFFNet could extract more semantic features and texture information in the image. When compared with state-of-the-art classification method for Chinese painting, the proposed method achieves much higher accuracy on our proposed datasets, without lowering speed or efficiency. The proposed method provides an effective solution for cognitive classification of Chinese ink painting, where the accuracy and efficiency of the approach have been fully validated.

Environmentally focused social network analysis (Env. SNA) has increasingly benefited from engagement, which refers to the process of incorporating the individuals, organizations, actors, stakeholders or other study participants into the research process. Research about engagement in the wider field of environmental management shows that successful engagement often requires significant planning and exchange among researchers and stakeholders. While there is no one size fits all approach, several important guiding principles have been established. To date, this engagement literature has not focused specifically on SNA, even though several examples of engaged SNA exist in the literature and point to some specific challenges to engagement when working with relational data. Drawing upon data from a survey of researchers who have incorporated engagement into Env. SNA, we focus specifically on the goals, scope, effectiveness, benefits and challenges of doing engaged Env. SNA research. We additionally highlight four case studies and demonstrate that researchers and participants find engagement to be a valuable experience with benefits in the researchers’ understanding of the context and meaning of their findings. Finally, we provide recommendations to scholars looking to embark on engaged Env. SNA research.

In the current state of innovation in wearable technology, there is a vast array of biomonitoring devices available to record electrocardiogram (ECG) in users, a key indicator of cardiovascular health. Of these devices, armband form factors serve as a convenient all-in-one platform for integration of electronic systems; yet, much of the current literature does not address the appropriate electrode location nor contact pressures necessary to achieve reliable system level ECG sensing. Therefore, this paper will elucidate the role of electrode location and contact pressure on the ECG sensing performance of an electronic textile (E-textile) armband worn on the upper left arm. We first carry out an ECG signal characterization to validate the ideal armband electrode placement necessary to measure high quality signals without sacrificing practical assembly of the armband. We then model and experimentally quantify the contact pressure between the armband onto the upper arm as a function of armband size, a critical parameter dictating skin-electrode impedance and ECG signal quality. Finally, we evaluate how the size of the armband form factor affects its ECG sensing performance. Our experimental results confirm that armbands exhibiting modeled contact pressures between 500 Pa to 1500 Pa can acquire ECG signals. However, armband sizes exhibiting experimental contact pressures of 1297 ± 102 Pa demonstrate the best performance with similar signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) compared to wet electrode benchmarks. The fundamental design parameters discussed in this work serve as a benchmark for the design of future E-textile and wearable form factors with efficient sensing performance.

High-power $V$ -band-to- $G$ -band (50–220 GHz) photonically driven electromagnetic emitters, composed of frequency-independent (FI) antennas and charge-compensated modified unitraveling carrier photodiodes (CC-MUTC PDs), are demonstrated in this article. The designed and fabricated PDs achieve a responsivity of 0.2 A/W and are able to provide up to 12-dBm output power. The impedances of the PD and the FI antennas (the sinuous antenna, the spiral antenna, and the log-periodic antenna) are characterized, showing that different antennas could be selected to provide either highest radiated power or widest bandwidth depending on applications. The measurement results indicate that the integrated emitter with the sinuous antenna and the 8- $\mu \mathrm {m}$ PD achieves a record-high broadside effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of 20 dBm with an optical-to-terahertz (THz) power conversion efficiency of 15.7% while maintaining EIRP greater than 0 dBm up through 115 GHz of bandwidth (50–165 GHz). The emitter with the spiral antenna and the 5- $\mu \mathrm {m}$ PD provides a wide 3-dB bandwidth of 34 GHz with a maximum EIRP of 8.8 dBm. These high-power wideband emitters can be used for wireless communications, millimeter-wave (mm-wave) and sub-THz imaging, and radar systems.

Remote patient monitoring has emerged from the intersection of engineering and medicine. Advances in sensors, circuits and systems have made possible the implementation of small, wearable devices capable of collecting and streaming data for long periods of time to help physicians track diseases and detect conditions in a non-intrusive manner. Cardiac monitoring comprises many of these applications, with the need to capture transient cardiac events motivating the adoption of wearable monitors in standard clinical practice. However, user burden and battery life limit the duration of monitoring or require heavy duty cycling, thus preventing the adoption of these technologies for use cases that require long-term vigilant monitoring, in which the sensor system cannot miss a critical cardiac event. To overcome these challenges, this paper introduces a self-powered system for uninterrupted vigilant cardiac and activity monitoring that senses and streams electrocardiogram (ECG) and motion data continuously to a smartphone while consuming only $683~\mu \text{W}$ on average. To achieve self-powered operation under environmental and wearability constraints, the system incorporates an energy combining technique to support multi-modal energy harvesting from indoor solar and thermoelectric energy. A custom ECG shirt made of a knitted compression fabric with embedded dry electrodes addresses issues of user comfort, skin irritation and motion artifacts. Vigilant Atrial Fibrillation (AF) monitoring is used as an example case study, analyzing sampling frequency and bit-depth quantization and their correlation to vigilant, self-powered operation. The integrated system demonstrates an important step forward for remote patient monitoring beyond the clinic.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to use a discrete-choice experiment methodology to understand the relative importance of the attributes of screening tests for type 1 diabetes among parents and pediatricians in the U.S. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Online surveys presented hypothetical screening test profiles from which respondents chose their preferred test profile. Survey attributes were based on likely screening test options and included the mode of administration, where and when the test was conducted, the type of education and monitoring available to lower the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and whether a treatment was available that would delay onset of insulin dependence. Data were analyzed using random-parameters logit models. RESULTS Parents placed the highest relative importance on monitoring programs that could reduce the risk of DKA to 1%, followed by treatment to delay onset of insulin dependence by 1 or 2 years, and, finally, avoiding a $50 out-of-pocket cost. Pediatricians placed equal importance on monitoring programs that reduced a patient’s risk of DKA to 1% and on avoiding a $50 out-of-pocket cost for the screening test, followed by the option of a treatment to delay the onset of insulin dependence. The mode of administration and location and timing of the screening were much less important to parents and pediatricians. CONCLUSIONS Parents and pediatricians preferred screening tests that were accompanied by education and monitoring plans to reduce the risk of DKA, had available treatment to delay type 1 diabetes, and had lower out-of-pocket costs.

Workplace participatory ergonomics (PE) programs may foster the prevention of injuries and illnesses as well as promote healthier behaviors and productivity among employees. Facilitating leadership has been identified as a critical component to the implementation of PE programs. Several contemporary leadership styles and theories have been proposed in the Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology literature. A bibliometric mapping analysis was performed to assess the extent to which contemporary leadership styles have been studied in relation to PE programs in the ergonomics and public, environmental, and occupational health literature categories of the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science (WoS). Results indicated that while production in the collective areas of PE programs and leadership has increased significantly in recent decades, the study of contemporary leadership styles and/or theories in PE programs has been limited. The results highlight an opportunity for additional interdisciplinary research that may lead to more effective PE program implementation.

Conductive carbon nanotube-thermoplastic polyurethane (CNT-TPU) composite thin films are patterned and integrated onto knitted textile substrates to form electronic textile (E-Textile) dry electrodes. Vertically aligned CNT arrays are mechanically drawn into thin CNT sheets and infiltrated with a TPU solution to form the CNT-TPU thin films. The CNT-TPU thin films are then heat laminated onto knitted textile substrates to form dry E-Textile electrodes. To understand the wearability of our CNT-TPU thin films we perform an in-depth analysis of the films’ electromechanical properties, electrical impedance, and electrocardiogram (ECG) sensing performance. The electromechanical coupling between the CNT thin films and knitted textile substrates show a strong anisotropic dependence between the CNT film alignment and textile knit structure. Further analysis into the CNT thin films reveal that larger electrode sizes with a larger number of CNT sheet layers in the film, lead to more favorable impedance behaviors and ECG sensing capabilities. As a wearable demonstration, we fabricate a textile arm sleeve integrated with CNT thin film electrodes to form an ECG sensing E-Textile system. The proposed E-Textile sleeve demonstrates the practicality of our CNT thin films and show promise for other E-Textile and wearable applications.

Context.— The need for appropriate specimen use for ancillary testing has become more commonplace in the practice of pathology. This, coupled with improvements in technology, often provides less invasive methods of testing, but presents new challenges to appropriate specimen collection and handling of these small specimens, including thoracic small biopsy and cytology samples. Objective.— To develop a clinical practice guideline including recommendations on how to obtain, handle, and process thoracic small biopsy and cytology tissue specimens for diagnostic testing and ancillary studies. Methods.— The College of American Pathologists convened an expert panel to perform a systematic review of the literature and develop recommendations. Core needle biopsy, touch preparation, fine-needle aspiration, and effusion specimens with thoracic diseases including malignancy, granulomatous process/sarcoidosis, and infection (eg, tuberculosis) were deemed within scope. Ancillary studies included immunohistochemistry and immunocytochemistry, fluorescence in situ hybridization, mutational analysis, flow cytometry, cytogenetics, and microbiologic studies routinely performed in the clinical pathology laboratory. The use of rapid on-site evaluation was also covered. Results.— Sixteen guideline statements were developed to assist clinicians and pathologists in collecting and processing thoracic small biopsy and cytology tissue samples. Conclusions.— Based on the systematic review and expert panel consensus, thoracic small specimens can be handled and processed to perform downstream testing (eg, molecular markers, immunohistochemical biomarkers), core needle and fine-needle techniques can provide appropriate cytologic and histologic specimens for ancillary studies, and rapid on-site cytologic evaluation remains helpful in appropriate triage, handling, and processing of specimens.

Objective The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between longitudinally assessed cognitive functioning and self-reported dementia status using the Ascertain Dementia 8-item questionnaire (AD8) in a national population-based sample. Methods The analysis included 14,453 participants from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study. A validated cutoff of ≥2 symptoms endorsed on the AD8 (administered 10 years after enrollment) represented positive AD8 status. Incident cognitive impairment was defined as change from intact to impaired status in the Six-Item Screener score, and cognitive decline was defined by trajectories of Letter “F” Fluency from the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and Animal Fluency, Word List Learning, and Word List Delayed recall, all from the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease battery. Logistic regression models controlled for demographics, health variables, and depressive symptoms. Results Sensitivity and specificity of the AD8 to detect incident cognitive impairment were 45.2% and 78.4%, respectively. Incident cognitive impairment and a one-word decline in WLL increased the odds of self-reported positive AD8 by 96% (95% CI: 1.68–2.28) and 27% (95% CI: 1.17–1.37), respectively. There was a strong association between high depression risk and self-reported positive AD8 in sensitivity analyses. Conclusions Incident cognitive impairment and high depression risk were the strongest predictors of self-reported positive AD8 in this population-based sample. Our results inform the utility of the AD8 as a self-report measure in a large, national sample that avoids selection biases inherent in clinic-based studies. The AD8 is screening measure and should not be used to diagnose dementia clinically.

Historical data regarding time to viral rebound following analytical treatment interruption (ATI) have been used to determine therapeutic efficacy in HIV cure trials; however, such data were collected from studies conducted a decade or more ago and included participants receiving older antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens with infrequent virologic monitoring. We conducted a study of 22 HIV-infected participants receiving modern ART to determine the kinetics of plasma viral rebound following ATI. Our data suggest that modern ART does not alter kinetics of viral rebound when compared to previous regimens and that immunologic interventions may be necessary to achieve ART-free virologic remission. Clinical Trials Registration ClinicaTrials.gov identifier: NCT03225118.

A novel modacrylic fiber with the capability to absorb ∼80% of all infrared radiation was evaluated for use in personal thermal comfort applications. Using an infrared (IR) imaging camera to monitor optical changes over time and heat flux measurements, it was concluded that this altered modacrylic fiber possesses both a unique thermal signature as well as increased heat flux compared to 100% cotton. A design of experiments (DOE) was conducted to determine if blending this material with other fibers would result in a fabric with a higher thermal conductivity. It was observed that blends of nylon and the altered modacrylic tended to have the highest conductivity and would provide a cooling effect if used in a garment.

Background An unmet therapeutic need remains in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). U-ACHIEVE is one of two phase 3 induction trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of the selective Janus kinase–1 inhibitor upadacitinib (UPA) 45 mg once daily (QD) in adults with UC. Methods U-ACHIEVE is a multicentre, double-blind, placebo (PBO)–controlled trial (NCT02819635) that randomized patients with moderately to severely active UC 2:1 to UPA 45 mg QD or PBO for 8 weeks. Patients were stratified by response to biologic therapy (inadequate vs non–inadequate responder), baseline corticosteroid use (yes or no), and baseline adapted Mayo score (≤7 or >7). The primary endpoint was proportion of patients achieving clinical remission (per adapted Mayo Score) at week 8.Ranked secondary endpoints included endoscopic improvement, endoscopic remission, and clinical response per adapted Mayo Score at week 8; clinical response per partial adapted Mayo Score at week 2; and histologic-endoscopic mucosal improvement at week 8. Non-responder imputation incorporating multiple imputations for missing data due to COVID-19 are reported. Safety was assessed through week 8. Results 474 patients were randomized (UPA, n=319; PBO, n=155). Baseline characteristics were well balanced between groups (Table 1). A significantly higher proportion of patients receiving UPA (26.1%) vs PBO (4.8%) achieved clinical remission at week 8 (adjusted treatment difference [95% CI], 21.6% [15.8, 27.4]; P Conclusion In patients with moderately to severely active UC, UPA 45 mg QD induction therapy was superior to PBO in inducing clinical remission/response, and endoscopic remission/response over 8 weeks; responses were significant and rapid. UPA 45 mg QD was well tolerated; safety was comparable with the known safety profile of UPA, and no new safety signals were identified.

SARS-CoV-2 transmission in K-12 schools was rare during in 2020-2021; few studies included CDC-recommended screening of asymptomatic individuals. We conduct a prospective observational study of SARS-CoV-2 screening in a mid-sized suburban public school district, to evaluate the incidence of asymptomatic COVID-19, document frequency of in-school transmission, and characterize barriers and facilitators to asymptomatic screening in schools. Staff and students undergo weekly pooled testing using home-collected saliva samples. Identification of >1 case in a school prompts investigation for in-school transmission and enhancement of safety strategies. With layered mitigation measures, in-school transmission even before student or staff vaccination is rare. Screening identifies a single cluster with in-school staff-to-staff transmission, informing decisions about in-person learning. The proportion of survey respondents self-reporting comfort with in-person learning before versus after implementation of screening increases. Costs exceed $260,000 for assays alone; staff and volunteers spend 135-145 hours per week implementing screening., Graphical Abstract, Reports of rare SARS-CoV-2 transmission in K-12 schools are limited by lack of asymptomatic screening. Doron et al. report that public-school screening for asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 in 2020-21 provides valuable data about in-school transmission risk and informs decisions about in-person learning, but human and financial resource requirements are high.

It is time to move beyond tumour sequencing data to identify vulnerabilities in cancers. It is time to move beyond tumour sequencing data to identify vulnerabilities in cancers.

Crud has been observed on the fuel rod surfaces in a variety of fuel designs around the world, and in some limited situations fuel performance was compromised due to crud-induced power shift (CIPS) and/or crud-induced localized corrosion (CILC). It is generally believed that crud deposition depends on fuel rod surface sub-cooled nucleate boiling, coolant chemistry and the availability of particles from component corrosion or from reinserted fuel. The formation, release, and accumulation of crud on the fuel and its influence on CIPS and/or CILC is a complicated process involving multi-physics phenomena. This study uses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Lagrangian Particle Tracking (LPT) techniques in analysis of particle transfer behavior in fuel rod bundles focusing on flow swirl and turbulence impacts. It is hoped that high fidelity CFD results can provide insights into particle transfer behaviors in the bulk coolant as well as near the fuel rods, which may provide guidance for model development of lumped or integrated analysis methods. The CFD model was built based on the best practices learned from previous single-phase analyses. The LPT options, including particle injectors, forces on particles, and solver settings, were verified by comparing the simulated results to the test data from simple geometry with various particle sizes, covering deposition mechanisms in diffusion-, turbulent- and inertial-dominated regimes. The tested model then was applied to Westinghouse fuel designs with and without Intermediate Flow Mixing (IFM) grids. Particle concentration and size distributions in the coolant around fuel rods were obtained and the effects of grid induced swirl flow on particle transfer were identified. The analysis results may be included in lumped or integrated crud formation/release analysis methods. Limitations and potential improvements of this analysis method are also discussed.

Melanomas of female genital tract are rare tumors with poor prognosis. While BRAF-V600E is the most common pathogenic mutation seen in cutaneous sun-exposed melanomas, mucosal and anogenital melanomas usually lack BRAF mutations and instead they harbor KIT alterations. The American Joint Committee on Cancer staging guideline (AJCC eighth edition) recommends using cutaneous melanoma guidelines for vulvar melanoma staging and does not provide any recommendations for vaginal melanoma staging. The aim of this study is to investigate the mutational status of invasive melanomas arising from different anatomic sites in lower female genital tract (vulvar hair-bearing skin, glabrous skin, vagina and urethra) in a group of 37 patients. Tumors were analyzed using a DNA targeted next-generation sequencing panel covering the 21 most common genes and mutation hotspots in melanomas. The most common genetic alterations in invasive melanomas of lower female genital tract are KIT (32%), TP53 (22%), and NF1 (19%). Overall 66% (21/32) of cases showed a pathogenic alteration in at least one of the MAPK pathway genes. No statistical significance seen between different primary tumor sites and the frequency of the oncogenic mutations, nor were any significant differences found by mutation status. Only one case of urethral melanoma showed a BRAF non-V600E mutation (D594G). Our results suggest a similar molecular pathogenesis and overall survival in melanomas arising from lower female genital tract, irrespective of their exact location in the urogenital area. Future classifications of melanoma should consider grouping vulvar melanomas with mucosal rather than cutaneous melanomas.

OBJECTIVES Paragangliomas have unique features in the mediastinum, in part due to their location. Because of their paucity, they have not been thoroughly investigated. We studied the clinical, pathological, immunohistochemical and molecular features of mediastinal paragangliomas. METHODS Immunohistochemistry, next-generation sequencing mutation panel and the Oncoscan assay were performed. RESULTS Twenty-four patients with mediastinal paraganglioma (7 men, 29.2%) had a median age of 45.5 years (19.8–72.2). Twenty-one (87.5%) paragangliomas were completely resected. Six (of 24, 25.0%) tumours were considered metastatic. Mitotic activity occurred in 11 (of 24, 45.8%) paragangliomas. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) (n = 23) was expressed in 6 (26%) patients in 10% (n = 2) and 1% (n = 4) of tumour cells, respectively. SDHB expression was lost in 19 (of 22, 86.4%) cases. ATRX expression was lost in 11 (of 23, 47.8%) cases. Next-generation sequencing revealed a single pathogenic mutation in 10 (of 19) specimens including SDHB (n = 4), SDHD (n = 6), SDHC (n = 1), ATRX (n = 1), and ≥2 mutations in 2 cases [SDHC and TERT (n = 1); SDHB, ATRX and TP53 (n = 1)]. Germline mutation analysis revealed the same succinate dehydrogenase mutation (or lack thereof) as identified in the paraganglioma in 11 (of 12) cases. During a median follow-up (n = 21) of 4.8 years (0.8–14.9), 3 patients developed metastases; 4 patients died, at least 1 of disease. CONCLUSIONS Mediastinal paragangliomas can be associated with morbidity and mortality. Many mediastinal paragangliomas have been reported to be associated with syndromes such as multiple endocrine neoplasia, von Hippel-Lindau or succinate dehydrogenase syndrome with mutation profiles dominated by alterations in genes associated with these syndromes.

Benign papillary and sclerosing lesions of the breast (intraductal papillomas, complex sclerosing lesions, radial scars) are considered high-risk lesions due to the potential for upgrade to carcinoma on subsequent surgical excision. Optimal clinical management of such lesions remains unclear due to variable reported upgrade rates. Apocrine metaplasia is a common finding in breast tissue and its role in MRI enhancing lesions is increasingly being recognized. The purpose of this study was to investigate the MRI features of papillary and sclerosing lesions of the breast, evaluate the clinical management and upgrade rate of such lesions, and examine the contribution of apocrine metaplasia to the imaging findings. A 13-year retrospective review of MRI-guided biopsies identified 70 MRI-detected and -biopsied papillary and sclerosing lesions. Sixteen lesions without atypia underwent surgical excision; only one case (6%) was upgraded to pleomorphic lobular carcinoma in situ. The majority (64%) of biopsies contained apocrine metaplasia either within or adjacent to the targeted lesion. We found that half of MRI-detected lesions had T2 hyperintense foci (2-5 mm) or masses (>5 mm) adjacent to the lesion. Histologic correlation showed apocrine cysts were likely responsible for this imaging finding in 56% of these cases.

Different from the western paintings, Chinese ink-wash paintings (IWPs) have own distinctive art styles. Furthermore, Chinese IWPs can be divided into two classes, Gongbi (traditional Chinese realistic painting) and Xieyi (freehand style). The extraction of Chinese IWP features with good classification results is challenging because of similar content. This paper presents a novel framework by combining a discrete cosine transformation (DCT) and convolutional neural networks (CNNs). In this framework, a CNN automatically extracts Chinese IWP features from a small subset of the DCT coefficients of an image instead of raw pixels commonly because of its good performance. We evaluate the proposed framework on a dataset including 1400 Chinese IWPs. Experimental results show that the proposed framework achieves competitive classification performance compared to existing benchmark methods.

To investigate depression at 12 months after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in older adults compared with younger adults.Prospective longitudinal cohort study of persons with medically documented mild, moderate, and severe TBI at 12 months postinjury.Eighteen participating Level 1 trauma centers in the United States.Participants with TBI (N=1505) and primary outcome data at 12-month follow-up.Not applicable.Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9).PHQ-9 total scores were significantly lower for older adults (age≥65y; M=3.2) compared with younger adults (age65y; M=5.0; B=-1.63, P.001), indicating fewer depressive symptoms in older adults. Age did not interact with education, sex, race/ethnicity, psychiatric history, substance use, or Glasgow Coma Scale severity to affect PHQ-9 scores. Of the 29% of older adults who endorsed symptoms consistent with depression, 14% were classified as minor depression and 15% as major depression. The odds of older adults falling in the major depression vs no depression group were significantly lower (decreased by 56%) compared with younger adults (odds ratio=0.44, P=.001).At 12 months post-TBI, older adults endorse lower depressive symptoms than their younger counterparts and are less likely to experience major depression; however, over one-fourth of older adults endorsed symptoms consistent with depression, warranting evaluation and treatment.

BackgroundData suggest that COVID-19 transmission in K-12 schools is uncommon, but few studies have confirmed this using widespread screening of asymptomatic individuals.ObjectiveTo evaluate the incidence of asymptomatic COVID-19, document the frequency of in-school transmission, and confirm feasibility of widespread asymptomatic screening in schools.DesignProspective observational studySettingSingle mid-sized suburban school district including 10 schools and a central office.ParticipantsDistrict staff and studentsInterventionsAsymptomatic screening PCR for SARS-CoV-2MeasurementsConcurrent with a hybrid model and layered mitigation, weekly pooled testing of staff and secondary students was offered using saliva samples collected at home. Identification of >1 case in a school prompted investigation for possible in-school transmission. Staff and families were surveyed about satisfaction with the screening program.ResultsFrom weeks 1-18, rates of incident COVID-19 in the surrounding community rose steadily. Weekly staff and student screening identified 0-7 asymptomatic cases/week. In week 7, 5 cases were identified among staff who shared an office setting. Enhancements to mitigation strategies were undertaken. The proportion of survey respondents self-reporting comfort with in-person learning before versus after implementation of screening increased.LimitationsBecause screening testing was not mandatory, the results from the participating population might not represent the entire school community.ConclusionsIn this school district with layered mitigation measures, in-school transmission was rare. The program identified a cluster with in-school staff-to-staff transmission and spurred enhancement of safety strategies. A weekly COVID-19 screening program can provide critical data to inform mitigation efforts, and provides school-specific, current data to inform decisions about in-person learning models. Screening provided reassurance and identified asymptomatic cases.FundingThe Wellesley Education Foundation provided funding for the testing.

Introduction: U-ACHIEVE is one of two phase 3 induction trials evaluating safety and efficacy of the selective JAK-1 inhibitor upadacitinib-45 mg once daily (UPA) in adults with ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods: U-ACHIEVE, a multicentre, double-blind, placebo (PBO)-controlled trial (NCT02819635) randomized patients (pts) with moderately-to-severely active UC 2:1 to UPA or PBO for 8 weeks (wks). Randomization was stratified by biologic inadequate responder (Biologic-IR) status (Biologic-IR vs non-biologic-IR), baseline corticosteroid use (yes or no), and baseline adapted Mayo score (≤7 or≥7). Primary endpoint was proportion of pts achieving clinical remission (per adapted Mayo Score) at wk 8. Ranked secondary endpoints included wk 8 endoscopic improvement, endoscopic remission, clinical response per adapted Mayo Score, and histologic-endoscopic mucosal improvement;and wk 2 clinical response per partial adapted Mayo Score. Non-responder imputation incorporating multiple imputations for missing data due to COVID-19 are reported. Safety was assessed through wk 8. Results: 474 pts were randomized (UPA, n=319;PBO, n=155). Baseline characteristics were well balanced between groups (Table 1). A significantly higher proportion of pts receiving UPA (26.1%) vs PBO (4.8%) achieved wk 8 clinical remission (adjusted treatment difference [95% CI]: 21.6% [15.8, 27.4];P

BACKGROUND CONTEXT Facet joint interventions include medial branch blocks (MBB), radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and facet joint intra-articular injections (IA). Currently, American Society for Regional Anesthesia (ASRA) guidelines list these procedures as intermediate risk for the cervical and thoracic spine and low risk for lumbar spine. Accordingly, these guidelines recommend many anticoagulation (AC) medications and antiplatelet (AP) medications to be held or consideration made to hold for these procedures, presumably to mitigate the theoretical risk of a major bleeding complication. This is despite the fact there are few if any reports of serious bleeding complications that occur with these procedures, regardless of a patients AP or AC status. On the other hand, there is growing evidence suggests that the thrombotic complication risk of stopping these AC/AP medications for patients undergoing these facet joint interventions may exceed the hemorrhagic risk of maintaining them. PURPOSE The primary objective is to determine the risk of serious bleeding complications in patients undergoing facet targeted injections. The secondary objective is to determine if this is affected by the management of AC/AP medications. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING Retroscpective observational study. PATIENT SAMPLE A total of 6,598 facet joint interventions. OUTCOME MEASURES Bleeding or hemorrhagic complications within 90 days of intervention. METHODS A retrospective observational study was conducted in a private pain practice. Consecutive patients were identified between September 19, 2009 and June 16, 2017, and it was noted if they were taking AC/AP medications prior to a procedure and how these medications were managed. In patients on AC/AP medications, charts were thoroughly reviewed for thrombotic and/or hemorrhagic complications occurring within 90 days of the procedure. For all other patients not on AC/AP medications, only the rate of clinically significant hemorrhagic events were considered given there is no inherent risk of thrombosis related to facet targeted interventions. RESULTS A total of 6,598 facet joint interventions were identified. No clinically significant bleeding complications were noted noted. Of the patient sample, 581 interventions were performed on patients prescribed AC/AP medications, with only one patient was lost to follow up. In 126 of these cases, they were performed after patients ceased AC/AP medications, with no complications noted. AC/AP medications were continued in 455 cases, also with no bleeding complications noted. Interestingly, of the 581 cases three thrombotic complications were noted in the group that had maintained AC/AP medications. CONCLUSIONS In this large cohort of 6,598 cervical, thoracic, and lumbar facet targeted interventions, no cases of clinically significant bleeding complications were noted. This include no cases of clinically significant bleeding in the 581 cases in which patients were on AC/AP medications, of which 455 were continued on such medications. This suggests the overall risk of significant bleeding complications with these procedures is exceedingly low. This must be considered when managing patients on AC/AP medications, as while preventing bleeding complications is important, the risk of thrombotic complications in this patient populations may be higher. This data builds upon previous research and supports individualized perioperative risk assessment when making the decision to stop or continue AC/AP medications. FDA DEVICE/DRUG STATUS This abstract does not discuss or include any applicable devices or drugs.

ACS nano 15(8), 13539 - 13546 (2021). doi:10.1021/acsnano.1c04325, Most of the studied two-dimensional (2D) materials are based on highly symmetric hexagonal structural motifs. In contrast, lower-symmetry structures may have exciting anisotropic properties leading to various applications in nanoelectronics. In this work we report the synthesis of nickel diazenide NiN$_2$ which possesses atomic-thick layers comprised of Ni$_2$N$_3$ pentagons forming Cairo-type tessellation. The layers of NiN$_2$ are weakly bonded with the calculated exfoliation energy of 0.72 J/m$^2$, which is just slightly larger than that of graphene. The compound crystallizes in the space group of the ideal Cairo tiling (P4/mbm) and possesses significant anisotropy of elastic properties. The single-layer NiN$_2$ is a direct-band-gap semiconductor, while the bulk material is metallic. This indicates the promise of NiN$_2$ to be a precursor of a pentagonal 2D material with a tunable direct band gap., Published by Soc., Washington, DC

100 GHz millimeter-waves are generated by photodetecting microresonator solitons. It provides 6 dB enhancement in output power and two orders of magnitude linewidth reduction when compared to mmWave generation method of two laser hetero- dyne detection.

In recent years, the super-resolution (SR) technique achieved impressive results by using a deep convolutional neural network (CNN). Generally, deep CNNs networks can extract better feature maps and reconstruct high-resolution (HR) images. However, a wider and deeper network increases complexity and computation time for any real-time applications. It is essential to develop a lightweight network for useful SR images that have less computation time and complexity. In this paper, we proposed multi-scale residual blocks based network for single image super-resolution. The multi-scale layers are effectively utilized in the model for feature extraction and reconstruct high-resolution(HR) images with less computation time and complexity. We try to find out an optimal point for image quality and computational time. In comparison to others, the optimal point of our model is (100.7) greater than other state-of-the-art CNN models.

Stable and frequency tunable millimeter wave (MMW) signals are important for a variety of applications. MMW synthesizer is a powerful tool for generating high-frequency MMW signals traceable to a low-frequency reference. We introduce a MMW synthesizer design based on microresonator soliton dual-comb photomixing. Allan deviation of the 100 GHz to 300 GHz signals is below 3×10−12 at 1 s averaging time. For example, 251 GHz MMW signal with signal-to-noise ratio of 73 dB is generated. We also demonstrate frequency tuning of 150 GHz signal with step of 1 GHz and 3 Hz. Finally, as the first step towards to on-chip integration, we design an integrated dual-comb generator. The proposed scheme may have great potential for future low-power chip-scale MMW synthesizers.

Objectives Sclerosing pneumocytomas are rare pulmonary neoplasms that are typically benign. However, rare patients experience progressive disease, and therapy targeting specific genetic underpinnings could be an attractive therapeutic option. Recent studies have found recurrent AKT 1 mutations in sclerosing pneumocytoma, but little is known about whether oncogenic fusion genes may also be present. Methods To better understand the genetic background, 10 sclerosing pneumocytomas were subjected to next-generation sequencing cancer mutation panel testing (n = 9) and/or RNA sequencing (n = 3). The patients were all women (average age, 47 years; range, 17-74 years). Results Eight patients had solitary sclerosing pneumocytomas, while one had two tumors, and one had many bilateral tumors. Recurrent mutations were noted in genes involved in the mTOR pathway, including AKT1, PIK3R1, and PTEN. AKT1 alterations were particularly common, present in 78%. No recurrent genetic fusions were identified. The patient in our study with multiple bilateral lesions was treated with the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor everolimus, with no objective radiographic evidence of treatment response after 4 months. Conclusions Our data further support that abnormal activation of the mTOR pathway is a consistent genetic event in sclerosing pneumocytoma. This warrants further exploration to determine if mTOR pathway inhibitors may be effective in patients with metastatic or recurrent disease.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 5%-10% of patients with diabetes are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), the incidence and prevalence of which is projected to increase through 2050. Despite this, T1DM-related health care resource utilization (HCRU) and economic burden in the United States have not been adequately assessed, since previous studies used various cost definitions and underlying methods to examine these outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To assess HCRU and costs incurred by patients with T1DM in the United States. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study used IBM Watson MarketScan data from 2011 to 2015 and Optum's electronic medical record (EMR) and integrated data (i.e., linked EMR and administrative claims data) from 2011 to 2016. Included patients had ≥ 1 T1DM diagnosis (the earliest diagnosis date was designated as the index date), were continuously enrolled for ≥ 6 months during their pre-index baseline periods, and had ≥ 1 pharmacy claim for insulin or an insulin pump within ± 90 days of the index date. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were summarized descriptively. Average monthly HCRU and costs per patient per month (PPPM) paid by the health plan and patient were assessed. Costs were adjusted for inflation to 2018 U.S. dollars. RESULTS: We identified 181,423 patients with T1DM who met the selection criteria in MarketScan, 84,759 in the Optum EMR, and 8,948 in the Optum integrated databases. Most patients were male (range across databases: 52.6%-53.1%), relatively young (medians: 33-35 years, overall range: 0-100 years), and had a Charlson Comorbidity Index score of 1 (69.2%-73.0%) across all databases. Total all-cause and diabetes-related costs ranged from $1,482 to $1,522 and $733 to $780 PPPM, respectively, during the follow-up period. Pharmacy costs contributed most to the total cost of care, accounting for 55.3% ($431) to 61.1% ($448) of total diabetes-related costs. On an annualized basis, patients had an average of 0.2-0.9 all-cause hospitalizations and 0.1-0.3 diabetes-related hospitalizations during follow-up. The median costs per diabetes-related hospitalization ranged from $6,548 to $8,439, accounting for 4%-7% of total monthly diabetes-related costs. Patients had an average of 0.4-0.5 all-cause and 0.1-0.2 diabetes-related emergency department (ED) visits annually; the median costs of ED visits were $972-$1,499, contributing about 2% of monthly diabetes-related costs during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: In this large, retrospective, observational study of pediatric and adult patients with T1DM, diabetes-related costs totaled nearly $800 per month. Pharmacy costs contributed to over half of diabetes-related costs, indicating the substantial economic burden associated with the treatment of T1DM. Additional research is needed to determine risk factors associated with costly events (e.g., hospitalizations and ED visits) and indirect costs associated with T1DM. DISCLOSURES: JDRF International provided funding for this project and manuscript. JDRF International also contracted with Evidera, a research and consulting firm for the biopharma industry, for its participation in the project and in the development of this manuscript. The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust provided JDRF International with funding. Simeone, Shah, and Ganz are employed by Evidera and do not receive any payment or honoraria directly from Evidera's clients. LeGrand is an employee of JDRF International. Bushman was employed by JDRF International during the conduct of the study and development of this manuscript. Sullivan and Koralova are employees of The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

We demonstrate photonic millimeter-wave generation at 100-GHz using a dissipative Kerr soliton microcomb and a modified uni-traveling carrier photodiode. A maximum output power of 6.7 dBm and 5.8 dB enhancement over sinusoidal excitation are achieved.

Background Cognitive processing speed is important for performing everyday activities in persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, its role in daily function has not been examined while simultaneously accounting for contributions of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk biomarkers. We examine the relationships of processing speed and genetic and neuroimaging biomarkers to composites of daily function, mobility, and driving. Method We used baseline data from 103 participants on the MCI/mild dementia spectrum from the Applying Programs to Preserve Skills trial. Linear regression models examined relationships of processing speed, structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and genetic risk alleles for AD to composites of performance-based instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), community mobility, and on-road driving evaluations. Results In multivariable models, processing speed and the brain MRI neurodegeneration biomarker Spatial Pattern of Abnormality for Recognition of Early Alzheimer’s disease (SPARE-AD) were significantly associated with functional and mobility composite performance. Better processing speed and younger age were associated with on-road driving ratings. Genetic risk markers, left hippocampal atrophy, and white matter lesion volumes were not significant correlates of these abilities. Processing speed had a strong positive association with IADL function (p < .001), mobility (p < .001), and driving (p = .002). Conclusions Cognitive processing speed is strongly and consistently associated with critical daily functions in persons with MCI in models including genetic and neuroimaging biomarkers of AD risk. SPARE-AD scores also significantly correlate with IADL performance and mobility. Results highlight the central role of processing speed in everyday task performance among persons with MCI/mild dementia.

Renal neoplasia occurring as a second malignancy following childhood cancer has been most closely associated with neuroblastoma and Wilms tumor. While some cases have been associated with a genetic predisposition, nearly all are thought to result from “late effects” of therapy-related toxicity that involves chemotherapy or radiation. It is unclear if these tumors are enriched for specific molecular or morphologic characteristics. A query of our institutional nephrectomy registry of 8,295 patients for renal neoplasia occurring post-treatment for childhood cancer revealed 6 patients with Wilms tumor, 4 with neuroblastoma and 1 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Three additional cases of MiT family translocation renal cell carcinoma (RCC), from 2 patients, following chemotherapy for neuroblastoma and systemic lupus erythematosus and another of clear cell RCC post-ALL were included. The most common tumor type was clear cell RCC: 9/19 cases (47.4%), followed by metanephric adenoma and MiT family translocation RCC (3/19, 15.8%). There were no characteristic features to indicate a unique renal neoplasia subtype. Potential syndromic renal neoplasia occurred in 2 patients; metanephric adenomas and oncocytoma in a patient with hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor syndrome post-treatment of Wilms tumor and a fumarate hydratase (FH)-deficient RCC in a patient post-treatment for ALL. The mean age at diagnosis of childhood neoplasia or treatment with chemotherapy or radiation was 4.7 years, and the average time to subsequent renal neoplasia was 31 years. Five (of 14) patients developed metastatic RCC and there were 2 RCC-related deaths. These results indicate the need for extended clinical follow-up of these patients.

Here we report on an advanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) oxidation of 22 phenolic pollutants based on modified nanoporous TiO2, which was directly grown on a titanium substrate electrochemically. Their degradation rate constants were experimentally determined and their physicochemical properties were computaionally calculated. The quantitative structure–property relationship (QSPR) was elucidated by employing multiple linear regression (MLR) method. A supervised machine learning approach was employed to build QSPR models. The high predictive abilities of the QSPR model were validated via leave-one-out (LOO) method and a strict regimen of statistical validation tests. The significant descriptors identified in the QSPR Model for the phenolic compounds were also assessed using a typical dye pollutant Rhodamine B, further confirming the high effectiveness and predictability of the optimized model. Our study has shown that the integrated effect of the structural, hydrophobic and topological properties along with electronic property should be considered in order to design an efficient PEC catalytic approach for environmental applications.

Motion‐activated wildlife cameras (or “camera traps”) are frequently used to remotely and noninvasively observe animals. The vast number of images collected from camera trap projects has prompted some biologists to employ machine learning algorithms to automatically recognize species in these images, or at least filter‐out images that do not contain animals. These approaches are often limited by model transferability, as a model trained to recognize species from one location might not work as well for the same species in different locations. Furthermore, these methods often require advanced computational skills, making them inaccessible to many biologists. We used 3 million camera trap images from 18 studies in 10 states across the United States of America to train two deep neural networks, one that recognizes 58 species, the “species model,” and one that determines if an image is empty or if it contains an animal, the “empty‐animal model.” Our species model and empty‐animal model had accuracies of 96.8% and 97.3%, respectively. Furthermore, the models performed well on some out‐of‐sample datasets, as the species model had 91% accuracy on species from Canada (accuracy range 36%–91% across all out‐of‐sample datasets) and the empty‐animal model achieved an accuracy of 91%–94% on out‐of‐sample datasets from different continents. Our software addresses some of the limitations of using machine learning to classify images from camera traps. By including many species from several locations, our species model is potentially applicable to many camera trap studies in North America. We also found that our empty‐animal model can facilitate removal of images without animals globally. We provide the trained models in an R package (MLWIC2: Machine Learning for Wildlife Image Classification in R), which contains Shiny Applications that allow scientists with minimal programming experience to use trained models and train new models in six neural network architectures with varying depths., We provide an R package (MLWIC2), which includes two models with 97% validation accuracy, one that recognizes 58 animal species from camera trap images and another that removes empty images. The R package includes Shiny Applications, allowing users to apply trained models and train new models using a point‐and‐click interface.

Freedom Photonics and the University of Virginia have developed high power, wide-bandwidth balanced photodetectors based on vertically-illuminated modified uni-traveling carrier (MUTC) photodiode technology. These balanced pairs are based on single photodiodes which achieve 3-dB bandwidths of 25 GHz, coupled with output powers above 23 dBm, as well as 35 GHz photodiodes with output powers greater than 19 dBm. A balanced configuration of these devices offers advantages in common-mode noise reduction, increasing the signal-to-noise ratio. In a photonic link, high-power, balanced photodiodes support high link gain and large bandwidths, while the high linearity of these devices maximizes spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR).

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) technology continues to draw large interest due to its broad applications in wireless communications, radar, and spectroscopy. Compared to pure electronic solutions, photonic-based mmWave generation provides wide bandwidth, low power dissipation, and remoting through low-loss fiber. However, at high frequencies, two major challenges exist for the photonic system: the power roll-off of the photodiode, and the large signal linewidth derived directly from the lasers. Here, we demonstrate a new photonic mmWave platform by combining integrated microresonator solitons and high-speed photodiodes to address the challenges in both power and coherence. The solitons, being inherently mode-locked, are measured to provide 5.8 dB additional gain through constructive interference among mmWave beatnotes, and the absolute mmWave power approaches the theoretical limit of conventional heterodyne detection at 100 GHz. In our free-running system, the soliton is capable of reducing the mmWave linewidth by two orders of magnitude from that of the pump laser. Our work leverages microresonator solitons and high-speed modified uni-traveling carrier photodiodes to provide a viable path to chip-scale high-power, low-noise, high-frequency sources for mmWave applications., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures

We demonstrate millimeter-wave generation at 100 GHz through direct photodetection of microresonator solitons. Our method produces 6 dB gain in power and reduces the linewidth by two orders of magnitude compared to conventional heterodyne de-tection.

Background CDKN2A and TP53 mutations are recurrent events in melanoma, occurring in 13.3% and 15.1% of cases respectively and are associated with poorer outcomes. It is unclear what effect CDKN2A and TP53 mutations have on the clinical outcomes of patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors. Methods All patients with cutaneous melanoma or melanoma of unknown primary who received checkpoint inhibitor therapy and underwent genomic profiling with the 50-gene Mayo Clinic solid tumor targeted cancer gene panel were included. Patients were stratified according to the presence or absence of mutations in BRAF, NRAS, CDKN2A, and TP53. Patients without mutations in any of these genes were termed quadruple wild type (QuadWT). Clinical outcomes including median time to progression (TTP), median overall survival (OS), 6-month and 12-month OS, 6-month and 12-month without progression, ORR and disease control rate (DCR) were analyzed according to the mutational status of CDKN2A, TP53 and QuadWT. Results A total of 102 patients were included in this study of which 14 had mutations of CDKN2A (CDKN2Amut), 21 had TP53 mutations (TP53mut), and 12 were QuadWT. TP53mut, CDKN2Amut and QuadWT mutational status did not impact clinical outcomes including median TTP, median OS, 6-month and 12-month OS, 6-month and 12-month without progression, ORR and DCR. There was a trend towards improved median TTP and DCR in CDKN2Amut cohort and a trend towards worsened median TTP in the QuadWT cohort. Conclusion Cell cycle regulators such as TP53 and CDKN2A do not appear to significantly alter clinical outcomes when immune checkpoint inhibitors are used.

Motion-activated cameras (camera traps) are increasingly used in ecological and management studies for remotely observing wildlife and have been regarded as among the most powerful tools for wildlife research. However, studies involving camera traps result in millions of images that need to be analyzed, typically by visually observing each image, in order to extract data that can be used in ecological analyses. We trained machine learning models using convolutional neural networks with the ResNet-18 architecture and 3,367,383 images to automatically classify wildlife species from camera trap images obtained from five states across the United States. We tested our model on an independent subset of images not seen during training from the United States and on an out-of-sample (or out-of-distribution in the machine learning literature) dataset of ungulate images from Canada. We also tested the ability of our model to distinguish empty images from those with animals in another out-of-sample dataset from Tanzania, containing a faunal community that was novel to the model. The trained model classified approximately 2,000 images per minute on a laptop computer with 16 gigabytes of RAM. The trained model achieved 98% accuracy at identifying species in the United States, the highest accuracy of such a model to date. Out-of-sample validation from Canada achieved 82% accuracy, and correctly identified 94% of images containing an animal in the dataset from Tanzania. We provide an R package (Machine Learning for Wildlife Image Classification; MLWIC) that allows the users to A) implement the trained model presented here and B) train their own model using classified images of wildlife from their studies. The use of machine learning to rapidly and accurately classify wildlife in camera trap images can facilitate non-invasive sampling designs in ecological studies by reducing the burden of manually analyzing images. We present an R package making these methods accessible to ecologists. We discuss the implications of this technology for ecology and considerations that should be addressed in future implementations of these methods.

OBJECTIVEBlunt cerebrovascular injuries (BCVIs) following trauma carry risk for morbidity and mortality. Since patients with BCVI are often asymptomatic at presentation and neurological sequelae often occur within 72 hours, timely diagnosis is essential. Multidetector CT angiography (CTA) has been shown to be a noninvasive, cost-effective, reliable means of screening; however, the false-positive rate of CTA in diagnosing patients with BCVI represents a key drawback. Therefore, the authors assessed the role of DSA in the screening of BCVI when utilizing CTA as the initial screening modality.METHODSThe authors performed a retrospective analysis of patients who experienced BCVI between 2013 and 2015 at 2 Level I trauma centers. All patients underwent CTA screening for BCVI according to the updated Denver Screening Criteria. Patients who were diagnosed with BCVI on CTA underwent confirmatory digital subtraction angiography (DSA). Patient demographics, screening indication, BCVI grade on CTA and DSA, and laboratory values were collected. Comparison of false-positive rates stratified by BCVI grade on CTA was performed using the chi-square test.RESULTSA total of 140 patients (64% males, mean age 50 years) with 156 cerebrovascular blunt injuries to the carotid and/or vertebral arteries were identified. After comparison with DSA findings, CTA findings were incorrect in 61.5% of vessels studied, and the overall CTA false-positive rates were 47.4% of vessels studied and 47.9% of patients screened. The positive predictive value (PPV) for CTA was higher among worse BCVI subtypes on initial imaging (PPV 76% and 97%, for BCVI Grades II and IV, respectively) compared with Grade I injuries (PPV 30%, p < 0.001).CONCLUSIONSIn the current series, multidetector CTA as a screening test for blunt cerebrovascular injury had a high-false positive rate, especially in patients with Grade I BCVI. Given a false-positive rate of 47.9% with an estimated average of 132 patients per year screening positive for BCVI with CTA, approximately 63 patients per year would potentially be treated unnecessarily with antithrombotic therapy at a busy United States Level I trauma center. The authors’ data support the use of DSA after positive findings on CTA in patients with suspected BCVI. DSA as an adjunctive test in patients with positive CTA findings allows for increased diagnostic accuracy in correctly diagnosing BCVI while minimizing risk from unnecessary antithrombotic therapy in polytrauma patients.

We report a zero-bias photovaractor that operates up to 60 GHz. The capacitance change is based on the decrease of depletion width and the steep increase of the effective area after illumination. With photocurrent of 12 mA, the reactance at 60 GHz is changed by 280 times relative to the dark condition. S11 parameter fitting shows that the capacitance of a 50-μm diameter device increases by 37 times after illumination. Good agreement is achieved between theory and measured results.

Wild pigs cause around $1 billion of damage to agriculture in the United States each year — foraging on crops, breaking branches and vines, and damaging irrigation lines and fences — but little is known about how and when they access agricultural fields. We used wildlife camera traps to document and describe wild pig access to two fenced southern San Joaquin Valley farms. Pigs breached fences around agricultural fields, especially during the harvest period when crops were ripe, and almost exclusively at night, outside of the regulated, daytime recreational pig hunting period. GPS data from an adult boar revealed that pigs may travel long distances from wildlands to reach crops. The results of our case study suggest that increasing monitoring and maintenance of fences during the harvest season and removing pigs that have learned to access farms may help reduce pig damage to agricultural fields. The results also suggest a formal scientific investigation of risk factors and strategies to reduce wild pig damage is warranted.

Printing high-resolution microwave passive devices directly on textile surfaces presents many challenges due to the high surface roughness and porosity of textile materials. This paper explains in detail physical and electromagnetic characterization of screen-printed coplanar waveguides (CPWs) on nonwoven textiles with a surface roughness of approximately ∼18 μm. Three different screen mesh counts (mesh opening unit) are used to screen print CPWs with five different resolutions. A screen printable silver paste is used as a conductive ink during the screen printing process. The difference in screen mesh counts affects the line resolution, thickness, conformity, and overall power transferring capacity of printed CPWs. A print resolution of 220 μm as the gap between the parallel lines of CPWs is achieved in this work without any surface modification of textile media. The surface roughness of the printed silver track is very similar to the base fabric (18 μm) when the screen with 305 mesh-count is selected for printing. Additionally, the thickness of the ink on the fabric is most conformal and lowest (23.4 μm) for the similar selection of screen mesh count. Fabricated CPWs are characterized for signals from 0.5 GHz to 10 GHz and compared to electromagnetic 3D simulation results. This paper also identifies minute printing faults in the 3D structure of the printed CPWs and correlates that with the scattering parameters of the transmission lines. Simulated and experimental data prove that a well-designed and process optimized printed nonwoven-based CPW works well (i.e. below 3 dB of insertion loss) for frequencies ranging from 0.5 GHz to 7 GHz.

Landscape restoration is a global priority as evidenced by the United Nations’ 2020 goal to restore 150 million hectares of land worldwide. Landscape restoration is often undermined by misalignments between governance and environmental systems, often called social-ecological scale mismatches. Despite growing recognition of this problem, few empirical studies focus on scale mismatches in environmental restoration work. In response, this paper analyzes scale mismatches in estuary restoration in a sub-basin of Puget Sound, Washington, U.S.A. I address both the effects of scale mismatch on individual restoration projects and landscape level restoration planning and implementation. I qualitatively analyze 95 semi-structured interviews with participants from 80 governing organizations. My analysis reveals how scale mismatch is a complex social-ecological landscape pattern that affects the flow of financial, human, and natural capital across the landscape. Furthermore, many organizations have limited capacity, which often hampers cross border collaborations that might overcome scale mismatches and further affects how resource are allocated in the region. My findings illustrate why human-environment processes should be included in landscape restoration planning. Social factors are not considered as constraints to restoration, but rather, part of the very landscape fabric to be restored. This represents a new way of thinking about scale mismatch for landscape restoration. Understanding these patterns and processes is essential for a social-ecological approach to landscape restoration that can help create sustainable landscapes and communities.

The Internet of Things (IoT), coupled with advanced analytics, is poised to revolutionize manufacturing maintenance and efficiency. However, a practical route to powering these many IoT devices remains unclear. In this work, flexible thermoelectric generators (TEGs) are fabricated from low cost, screen printed silver and nickel inks before being integrated into a novel form factor device based on commercial steam pipe insulation. Through optimization of internal resistances and total device design, this 420-junction TEG device produces 308 µW of power at a temperature difference of 127 K. This is sufficient to power a temperature sensing circuit with wireless communication capabilities. In this report we demonstrate that, after an initial 4 h of charging, this TEG can power a standard RFduino microcontroller for 10 min while sending temperature readings every 30 s via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to a cell phone. Additional optimization and scaling could further increase system efficiency and provide a viable route to powering an industrial wireless sensing network (WSN).

Integrated circuits are building blocks in millimeter-wave handsets and base stations, requiring nonlinear characterization to optimize performance and energy efficiency. Today's sources use digital-to-analog converters to synthesize arbitrary electrical waveforms for nonlinear characterization, but this approach demands even faster integrated circuits to increase the bandwidth to millimeter-waves. Optically derived sources are a potential path to generate precise millimeter-waves and arbitrary waveforms using additive frequency synthesis. In this work, we demonstrate optically derived millimeter-waves up to 99.2 GHz with phase and amplitude control that could be locked to an optical reference. Our approach uses a 1550 nm electro-optic frequency comb with a terahertz of bandwidth. A programmable spectral filter selects two wavelengths from the optical comb, illuminating a modified uni-traveling carrier photodiode on a coplanar waveguide. We then tune the phase and amplitude by varying the optical phase and amplitude in the programmable spectral filter. The result of our work is electro-optically derived millimeter-waves at (24.8, 49.6, 74.4, and 99.2) GHz with phase and amplitude control, enabling arbitrary repetitive waveform generation.