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Abstract: Ethane is a prominent contributor to the spectrum of Titan, particularly in the ν9 region centered near 822cm−1. To improve the spectroscopic line parameters at 12μm, 41 high-resolution (0.0016–0.005cm−1) absorption spectra of C2H6 were obtained at sample temperatures between 211 and 298K with the Bruker IFS 120HR at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington. Two additional spectra were later recorded at ∼150K using a new temperature-stabilized cryogenic cell designed for the sample compartment of the Bruker IFS 125HR at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. A multispectrum nonlinear least-squares fitting program was applied simultaneously to all 43 spectra to measure the line positions, intensities, N2- and self-broadened half-width coefficients and their temperature dependences. Reliable pressure-induced shift coefficients could not be obtained, however, because of the high congestion of spectral lines (due to torsional-split components, hot-band transitions as well as blends). Existing theoretical modeling of this very complicated ν9 region permitted effective control of the multispectrum fitting technique; some constraints were applied using predicted intensity ratios, doublet separations, half-width coefficients and their temperature dependence exponents in order to determine reliable parameters for each of the two torsional-split components. For 12C2H6, the resulting retrievals included 17 pQ and rQ sub-bands of ν9 (as well as some pP, rR sub-bands). Positions and intensities were measured for 3771 transitions, and a puzzling difference between previously measured ν9 intensities was clarified. In addition, line positions and intensities were obtained for two 12C2H6 hot bands (ν9+ν4−ν4, ν9+2ν4−2ν4) and the ν9 band of 13C12CH6, as well as several hundred presently unidentified transitions. N2- and self-broadened half-width coefficients were determined for over 1700 transitions, along with 1350 corresponding temperature dependence exponents. Similar to N2- and self-broadened half-width coefficients, their temperature dependence exponents were also found to follow distinctively different patterns. However, while the self- and N2-broaded widths differed by 40%, the temperature dependence exponents of the two broadening gases were similar. The variations of the observed half-width coefficients and their temperature dependences with respect to J, K quantum numbers were modeled with a set of linear equations for each K. The present broadening coefficients compared well with some of the prior measurements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Various well-known people associated with the history of the presidency of the United States have experienced neurologic disease or injury, especially trauma to the head or spine. Nancy Reagan, however, as the wife of President Ronald Reagan and First Lady, would leave a significant and lasting mark on the progress of neurosurgical science and education. Recognized for endeavors against drug abuse, Alzheimer disease, and polio, her interest in neurosurgical research is less well known. Nancy's father Loyal Davis was a remarkable neurosurgeon and educator of extraordinary influence. When Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) founder John Green experienced complications after an illness, Davis served as BNI director during 1966 - 1967. After Davis's death in 1982, Robert Spetzler, who had been a student of Davis at Northwestern University Medical School and was then BNI director, convinced Green, despite his misgivings, to support a neurosurgical laboratory recognizing Davis. In 1988, Nancy Reagan, then First Lady, dedicated the Loyal and Edith Davis Neurosurgical Research Laboratory. At the dedication, she remarked on her years growing up in the home of a pioneering neurosurgeon and remarked that "my father believed deeply in the importance of research to develop new methods for treating patients." Green and Spetzler's unified efforts honored the extraordinary career of Davis in a manner he would have appreciated, were supported by a First Lady with deep involvement in politics and philanthropy dedicated to promoting advances in medicine, and are part of neurosurgery's unique heritage., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a key outcome for dialysis patients, and its assessment is mandated by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. The Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQOL-36™) survey is widely used for this assessment. KDQOL-36™ completion rates, and the distributions of scores and item responses, have not been examined in a large, nationally representative cohort of dialysis patients., Methods: This retrospective, observational study considered 413,951 survey opportunities contributed by adult patients who received dialysis at a large dialysis organization in the United States during calendar years 2014, 2015, and 2016 and were not Veterans Affairs beneficiaries., Results: During the study period, 240,343 unique patients completed a total of 330,412 surveys (overall completion rate 79.8%). Mean domain scores on the physical component summary (PCS), mental component summary (MCS), burden of kidney disease (BKD), symptoms and problems of kidney disease (SPKD), and effects of kidney disease (EKD) subscales were 36.6, 49.0, 51.3, 78.1, and 73.0, respectively. Scores were similar across dialysis modalities. Patient perceptions of general health were not correlated (R < 0.05) with PCS or SPKD. The SPKD showed ceiling effects: among patients treated with in-center hemodialysis, for all 12 items, < 10% of patients were "extremely bothered," while > 65% of patients reported being "not at all" or only "somewhat bothered;" for 3 items, > 85% of patients gave these latter two responses. Interdialytic weight gain was not correlated with patient-reported shortness of breath, PCS, or SPKD., Conclusions: Survey completion rates for the KDQOL-36™ were high, and scores were similar across dialysis modalities. Ceiling effects were observed for SPKD. Revision of the KDQOL-36™ to address factors that are most important to contemporary dialysis patients may be warranted.

Background and Objectives: Maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients often have protein-energy wasting, poor health-related quality of life (QoL), and high premature death rates, whereas African-American MHD patients have greater survival than non-African-American patients. We hypothesized that poor QoL scores and their nutritional correlates have a bearing on racial survival disparities of MHD patients., Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We examined associations between baseline self-administered SF36 questionnaire-derived QoL scores with nutritional markers by multivariate linear regression and with survival by Cox models and cubic splines in the 6-year cohort of 705 MHD patients, including 223 African Americans., Results: Worse SF36 mental and physical health scores were associated with lower serum albumin and creatinine levels but higher total body fat percentage. Spline analyses confirmed mortality predictability of worse QoL, with an almost strictly linear association for mental health score in African Americans, although the race-QoL interaction was not statistically significant. In fully adjusted analyses, the mental health score showed a more robust and linear association with mortality than the physical health score in all MHD patients and both races: death hazard ratios for (95% confidence interval) each 10 unit lower mental health score were 1.12 (1.05-1.19) and 1.10 (1.03-1.18) for all and African American patients, respectively., Conclusions: MHD patients with higher percentage body fat or lower serum albumin or creatinine concentration perceive a poorer QoL. Poor mental health in all and poor physical health in non-African American patients correlate with mortality. Improving QoL by interventions that can improve the nutritional status without increasing body fat warrants clinical trials., (Copyright © 2011 by the American Society of Nephrology)