cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Self: A Dialectical Approach

Publisher Summary This chapter examines a number of intrapersonal and interpersonal processes within a dialectical framework, where interpersonal congruency theory posited as influencing stability and change in persons and their relationships with others. In the chapter, a brief description of interpersonal congruency theory as originally formulated and a discussion of some of the recent modifications of the theory seem in order. It examines the manner in which a number of congruency-producing processes operate in the context of a relationship—creating, maintaining, and, at times, changing its character and those aspects of the two personalities embedded in it. Interpersonal congruency theory can provide some leads as to why children are able to effectively modify the parent–child relationship to the extent that they do, only further research within a development framework will provide a definitive explanation of these findings. The expanding interface between social and developmental psychology provides some basis for the hope that such answers will be forthcoming.
Crime and Early Retirement Among Older Americans

This paper investigates the relationship between local crime rates and the retirement decisions of older Americans. We do so by linking data from the Health and Retirement Study with measures of local crime patterns taken from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Unified Crime Reports. If we condition on crime rates alone, there is either a weakly positive or no relationship between local crime patterns and older men's propensity to retire early. But unobservable factors associated with early retirement may be correlated with residence in higher-crime rate cities, so next we condition on both the expectation for the crime rate and deviations from average crime levels. We find a positive and statistically significant association between early retirement and expectations for murder rates, and a positive but, on average, imprecisely estimated positive association between early retirement and unexpected increases in crime. The effect of unanticipated increases in crime is greatest, and significant for those in poor health. In this latter group, men are 14 percent more likely to retire early given a standard deviation increase in unexpected murder rates. These findings are consistent with a pattern of more early retirement among those who live in higher crime areas, and earlier retirement among those in poor health when crime levels rise above anticipated levels.
Questions Worth Asking: Intersections between Writing Research and Computational Linguistics

Rather than explain research that has already been carried out, this paper describes a specific context of writing instruction and poses questions about how research on writing and computational linguistics might be brought together to address three pressing issues: the validity of Directed Self-Placement; the relationship between confidence and competence in student writing; and strategies to help English Language Learners, especially those in the category of Generation 1.5, improve their writing.
Characteristics improvement of long-period fiber gratings fabricated by femtosecond laser pulses using novel positioning technique

A novel and precise positioning of focal point is developed to fabricate long-period fiber gratings by near-infrared femtosecond laser pulses. Low background loss of 0.26 dB, excellent transmission spectrum and highly controlled center wavelength are realized.
Biology of peripheral inherited neuropathies: Schwann cell axonal interactions

Development and maintenance of PNS myelin depends on continual signaling from axons ensheathed by myelin. Recent advances have demonstrated the roles of neuregulin 1 type III, Erb2/3 and intracellular signal transduction pathways in inducing Schwann cell myelination. Alternatively, maintenance of myelinated axons depends on healthy myelinating Schwann cells. Axonal degeneration is a feature of virtually all inherited demyelinating neuropathies and in many cases is more responsible for clinical impairment than the primary demyelination. Signaling mechanisms through which demyelinating Schwann cells damage axons are not well understood. In this review several examples of potential mechanisms by which demyelinating neuropathies damage axons will be presented. Understanding the molecular basis of Schwann cell-axonal interactions will not only increase the understanding of PNS biology but also identify therapeutic targets for inherited neuropathies.
Changing Course: Exploring Impacts Of Waiting For Superman On Future Teachers Perspectives On The State Of Education

The controversial video documentary Waiting for Superman, released in 2010, has helped to ignite a firestorm of national debate on current educational reforms in the United States. The purpose of this study is to determine the possible impacts of the video documentary Waiting for Superman potentially influencing pre-service education teachers attitudes about education and current educational practices. Twenty-seven pre-service, post baccalaureate, teacher-education students volunteered for this exploratory study which used pre/post surveys and a focus group of six randomly chosen volunteers from the participants to determine what, if any, impact Waiting for Superman had on their view on current educational issues. This data suggests that Waiting for Superman altered students pre-existing notions about teachers unions, the importance of effective teachers, and enhanced their outlook on charter schools over public schools. This study contributes to our growing understanding of how widely disseminated video documentaries can influence attitudes about educational practices among future teachers so as to guide teacher education programs about the possible inclusion of such videos as part of the undergraduate curriculum.
Comparative evaluation of enzyme immunoassay and culture for the laboratory diagnosis of gonorrhea

A commercially available, solid-phase enzyme immunoassay (EIA), called Gonozyme, was compared to Martin-Lewis medium in Jembec plates for the laboratory diagnosis of gonorrhea. A total of 577 clinical specimens (419 urethral and 158 endocervical) were collected from a high-risk, walk-in patient population attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic. The results showed that EIA was comparable to a conventional cultural procedure for identifying infected and noninfected males. In addition, the system may be used reliably for performing test of cure on urethral samples obtained from this male population. Gonozyme was also comparable to culture in identifying females who had gonococcal infection. However, because of the high incidence of false positive test results, most likely attributable to antigen persistence in endocervical secretions, EIA is not recommended for performing test of cure in the female. Overall, the Gonozyme system is an easily performed, rapid, and reliable system that provides for a noncultural alternative for the laboratory diagnosis of gonorrhea.
Relationship among Sampling Methods in Density Estimates of Pear Psylla (Homoptera: Psyllidae): Implications of Sex, Reproductive Maturity, and Sampling Location

Correlations among three sampling methods in counts of summerform pear psylla, Cacopsylla pyricola Foerster, were determined. Counts obtained using yellow sticky traps, beat trays, and open-ended organdy bags were linearly and positively related. Factors that affected correlations among methods included sex, height in the tree canopy from which the sample was obtained, and reproductive maturity of the insects. For a given beat tray count or bag count, sticky trap catches were larger for males than females, were larger in the upper canopy than in the lower canopy, and were reduced during sampling intervals in which most females were reproductively immature. These results suggest that males were more active than females, that psylla in the upper canopy were more active than those in the lower canopy, and that reproductively immature psylla were inactive comparatively. Absolute densities (psylla per leaf) were estimated by dropping openended organdy bags over pear shoots. This method proved to be time consuming, and therefore a regression equation that transformed beat tray counts into numbers of psylla per leaf was fitted; the model explained 49.3% of the variation. Sex ratios varied with sampling method and height in the canopy. Sticky trap counts were more male-biased than the other two sampling methods. Male bias was larger in the upper canopy than in the lower canopy. Percentage of female psylla that were reproductively mature varied with sampling method and height in the canopy. Females collected with sticky traps and in the upper canopy were often older than those collected with bags or in the lower canopy. Wing size of males and females did not differ between canopy heights. Wing size decreased between subsequent generations.
A Cooperative P2P Refueling Strategy for Circular Satellite Constellations

In this paper, we discuss the problem of peer-to-peer (P2P) refueling of satellites in a circular constellation. In particular, we propose a cooperative P2P (C-P2P) refueling strategy, in which the satellites involved in P2P maneuvers are allowed to engage in cooperative rendezvous. We discuss a formulation of the proposed C-P2P strategy and a methodology to determine the optimal C-P2P assignments. We show that in order to reduce the fuel expenditure in a C-P2P maneuver, the amount of fuel exchanged between the two satellites is such that the satellite performing the larger-ΔV transfer during the return trip, ends up having just enough amount of fuel to be fuel-sufficient. Finally, with the help of numerical examples, we provide a comparison of the P2P and the C-P2P refueling strategies. It is found that a C-P2P strategy is beneficial when the fuel-deficient satellites in the constellation do not have enough fuel to complete a non-cooperative rendezvous.
Environmental, safety and health issues at U.S. nuclear weapons production facilities, 1946-1988.

Public Revelations Serious environmental, safety and health problems at Department of Energy-supervised nuclear weapons production and processing facilities were revealed to the mass public in the October, 1988, joint hearings of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources and by subsequent admissions by the U.S. Department of Energy. The problems had been accumulating during the thirty-five to forty years of operations of the facilities.' At the Savannah River Plant in Aiken, South Carolina, operated by E. I. Dupont de Nemours and Company until 1988, "30 incidents of greatest significance" involving management and structural problems occurred between 1957-85 in the production of tritium and plutonium. Three reactors are temporarily shutdown because of management and fire safety problems or because of cracks found in the cooling systems.2 The Department of Energy estimates late 1990 as the earliest start-up date for the first of the three reactors. In Femald, Ohio at the Feed Materials Production Center operated by National Lead of Ohio from 1951-86 and subsequently by Westinghouse Materials Company of Ohio, tons of uranium and other radioactive wastes were found stored in leaky pits and cracked holding tanks contaminating surface and ground water. Management and safety problems exposed workers to excessive amounts of radiation, and filters in vent stacks remained unrepaired for years, permitting unknown amounts of uranium dust
School Safety Strategies and Their Effects on the Occurrence of School-Based Violence in U.S. High Schools: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACTRecent incidents of school-based violence have resulted in the widespread implementation of school safety strategies across the United States. While research on these strategies has grown over the past decade, there is little understanding about their collective influence on indicators of school violence. Using data from the 2007–2008 School Survey on Crime and Safety, the present study explored responses of 936 school officials (N = 936) employed in high schools across the United States. Taking a confirmatory factor analytic approach, strategies were grouped into numerous factors based on their typology. Factor scores were then extracted and used as predictor variables in a negative binomial regression analysis to determine the extent to which types of safety strategies were associated with recorded incidents of school-based violence.
Energy-efficient power trimming for reliable nanophotonic NoC microring resonators

Microring resonators, one of the key components in nanophotonic networks-on-chip (NoCs), are highly sensitive to process and temperature variations. The consequential resonant wavelength deviations negatively impact reliable on-chip communication. To revert resonant wavelengths to their desired values and recover bandwidth, power trimming is usually applied; unfortunately, this technique incurs considerable energy overhead. In this work, we present an energy-efficient power trimming technique that considers the group shifting effect caused by temperature variations. Experimental results show that our approach improves energy-efficiency by up to 30% (with negligible ∼ 3% bandwidth degradation), over the next best power trimming method.
Manchurian Incident and the Long March

This chapter reveals the truth about the Manchurian Incident, a conspiracy by the Kwantung Army, through newly declassified diplomatic archives and oral history of those who were directly involved in the incident, and reviews how this incident opened the way for the Japanese invasion of the entire region of Manchuria (China’s Northeast) and its effects on the civil war between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Zhou Enlai’s career. This chapter also presents an accurate account of Zhou’s leadership role in the CPC during the Long March to Yan’an in Shaanxi province.
Infinitesimal motion estimation from multiple central panoramic views

We present an algorithm for infinitesimal motion estimation from multiple central panoramic views. We first derive the optical flow equations for central panoramic cameras as a function of both pixel coordinates and back-projection rays. We then derive a rank constraint on the optical flows across many frames, which must lie in a six dimensional subspace of a higher-dimensional space. We then propose factorization approach for recovering camera motion and scene structure. We present experimental results on a real image sequence.
A Closer Look at the Self-Correcting Crowd: Examining Corrections in Online Rumors

This paper examines how users of social media correct online rumors during crisis events. Focusing on Twitter, we identify different patterns of information correcting behaviors and describe the actions, motivations, rationalizations and experiences of people who exhibited them. To do this, we analyze digital traces across two separate crisis events and interviews of fifteen individuals who generated some of those traces. Salient themes ensuing from this work help us describe: 1) different mechanisms of corrective action with respect to who gets corrected and how; 2) how responsibility is positioned for verifying and correcting information; and 3) how users' imagined audience influences their corrective strategy. We synthesize these three components into a preliminary model and explore the role of imagined audiences-both who those audiences are and how they react to and interact with shared information-in shaping users' decisions about whether and how to correct rumors.
Transfiguring identity: Social relationships and intercultural communication between foreign “children” and Japanese “parents”

ABSTRACTThis paper examines how intercultural communication and interpersonal relationships between Japanese “parents” and African “children” are capable of destabilizing status quo notions of identification. Using qualitative ethnographic data, this paper demonstrates how intercultural interactions unfold in ways that engender new forms of sociality, which underscore the diversifying nature of majority–minority relationships in Japan. Drawing on theoretical insights from applied linguistics and communications studies, this paper suggests that the material products of these relationships warrant increased scholarly attention because they are capable of positing compelling challenges to existing understandings of identity, as well as to the ways various groups conceptualize themselves in relation to others.
Advancing Small Business Research: Utilizing Research from Other Areas:

More has been learned about the area of small business and entrepreneurship in the last five years than in the preceding twenty-five years combined. Yet much remains to be done. Research is needed ...
Disparities in access to care and satisfaction among U.S. children: the roles of race/ethnicity and poverty status.

Objectives.The study assessed the progress made toward reducing racial and ethnic disparities in access to health care among U.S. children between 1996 and 2000.Methods.Data are from the Household ...
Rapid Deployment Approach Through Flexible System Design: Breakthrough in Technology Innovation and Process Optimization for eClinical Trials

In the pharmaceutical industry, the pressure on small companies to bring innovative products to market versus large competitors is unprecedented. With the desire to decrease the cost of conducting trials, reducing time to market and improving their competitive edge, smaller biotechs and pharmaceuticals will require inventive strategies for building, designing, and deploying their studies. With the availability of flexible configurable Electronic Data Capture (EDC) systems that come equipped with preconfigured, prepackaged, and standard offerings, for Phase I and II trials, both study design and development time would be radically reduced. With traditional EDC systems requiring 8–12 weeks to configure, flexible systems that offer prepackaged yet modifiable offering to configure would significantly reduce design and development time by over 50 %. However, adopting a flexible technology system alone cannot solve this industry dilemma for speed to market. Well-defined process strategies defined by the pharmaceutical stakeholders are the remaining ingredient to transform a new platform to further reduce costs historically associated to the long lifecycle of clinical trial development. When time to market is critical, the breakthrough of technology innovation and process optimization can streamline and enhance productivity in the eClinical development cycle, data collection, data monitoring, data review, and reporting.
A Brief Introduction to Electrochemistry in Molten Salts and Chloroaluminate Melts

This chapter is a brief introduction to the principles of electrochemistry in molten salts and the methodology employed. It includes a few examples of typical redox systems studied by electrochemical means in molten salts. The second part of the chapter consists of an introducion to molten alkali chloroaluminates and their use as solvents in electrochemistry.
Frequency and cytological aspects of diploid parthenogenesis in turkey eggs

Naturally occurring parthenogenesis in unfertilized turkey eggs was encountered at this station in 1952. Since its discovery, selective breeding on a family basis has been practiced yearly in an attempt to further intensify this trait in certain lines of turkeys and chickens. Cytological studies likewise have been conducted and various experimental procedures employed in an attempt to develop a clearer picture of just where and the manner by which diploidy is restored. Available Cytological data and indirect evidence secured in related studies indicate that restoration of diploidy in unfertilized turkey ova is due to suppression of the second polar body. It would appear that in the absence of sperm, meiosis II is not completed. Chromosomes of the second polar body and those of the egg pronucleus probably never completely separate and subsequently the unfertilized ovum resumes development with a diploid complement of chromosomes. Four potential uses of unfertilized turkey eggs and parthenogenetic poults in biological research are given.
The Maturation of Ethnoprimatology: Theoretical and Methodological Pluralism

Most remaining populations of primates live in environments that have been influenced in some way by humans (e.g., protected forests bisected by major roads, forest–farm edges, and urban centers). The field of ethnoprimatology has made these environments where humans and other primates interface its primary concern, recognizing that to fully understand primate behavior, our research objectives and practice cannot be disengaged from the human dimension. During the field’s initial years, scholars drew largely from theory and technique in primate ecology and sociocultural anthropology. The contributions to this Special Issue, which include empirical research and review papers, exemplify how the ethnoprimatologist’s toolkit has since expanded to include concepts, frameworks, and methods from the natural sciences (evolutionary biology, conservation ecology, epidemiology), and the social sciences and humanities (anthropology, geography, philosophy, and science studies). Moreover, the settings in which to examine the human–primate interface have diversified to include rural, urban, mixed-landscape, and captive spaces. In this introduction, I review the emergence and scope of ethnoprimatology. I then challenge some of the critiques leveled against ethnoprimatology and highlight its broader conceptual contributions, key elements of the field’s maturation, and recent trends in theoretically and methodologically integrative scholarship in ethnoprimatology. I conclude by offering a set of postulates to guide future ethnoprimatological work that is theoretically and methodological pluralistic and positioned to advance effective primate conservation efforts and facilitate sustainable human–primate coexistence.
Long-term Clinical Outcomes of Nonoperative Management With Chemoradiotherapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer in the Veterans Health Administration.

Purpose Standard therapy for locally advanced rectal cancer includes neoadjuvant chemoradiation and surgery. Complete response (CR) rates after chemoradiation can be as high as 29%, suggesting that nonoperative management (NOM) may be reasonable with appropriately selected patients. We sought to identify potential NOM candidates. Methods and Materials Using the Veterans Administration Central Cancer Registry, patients with stage II to III rectal cancer receiving chemoradiation with or without subsequent surgery were identified. Clinical CR (cCR) was assessed by physical examination, endoscopy, or imaging. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests were used to assess survival; multivariate analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazards. Results A total of 1313 patients were identified. Of these, 313 received chemoradiation alone (CRT cohort); 1000 received chemoradiation followed by surgery (CRT + S cohort). Median follow-up was 67.2 months. Median overall survival (OS) was 68.5 months. Median OS was 30.6 months for CRT and 89.3 months for CRT + S (P Conclusions CRT patients with cCR had similar OS and DSS versus CRT + S patients and similar DSS versus CRT + S patients with a pCR. This suggests that patients with locally advanced rectal cancer with a cCR to CRT have an excellent prognosis and may be candidates for organ preservation.
Overtopping device numerical study: Openfoam solution verification and evaluation of curved ramps performances

Abstract The Overtopping Device is a type of Ocean Waves Energy Converter (OWEC) which concept is storing water provided by incident waves above sea level to feed a set of low head turbines. Present study aims to perform 2D numerical analyses of near-shore overtopping devices platforms to investigate the influence of curvature of the platforms on water discharge by means of OpenFOAM code, which is an open source software. Current study performs comparisons between Fluent and OpenFOAM solutions as well (first part of results). Therefore, pointing out OpenFOAM as a potential tool for simulation of overtopping devices is also one of the objectives of this study. The software comparison is performed based on a case found in literature considering seven linear overtopping platforms configurations inside a wave tank. The discretization method is the Finite Volume method solving momentum, continuity, and a water volume fraction (Volume of Fluid method) equation used to capture waves air–water interface. Platforms curvatures investigation considers 12.5 m and 25 m length devices, with three different shapes: concave, linear and convex. All of those are 6 m height with 5 m immerse and 1 m above water level. The ramps are submitted to incident regular waves (1 m height, 65.4 m length and 7.5 s period) inside a 10 m depth wave channel. Results showed that OpenFOAM wave model complies with the expected characteristics determined with mathematical classical equations and also it is very coherent with Fluent results. About the ramps shapes, it was observed that ramps curvature may maximize the water mass that overtops into the tank. Moreover, this study agreed with literature that lower ramp height/length ratio leads to water discharge improvement for linear ramps for specified wave and constructions conditions. Other important observation is that curved platforms usage is a very good option to reduce devices sizes without losing energetic potential. This is pointed out because the convex 12.5 m length, which has length/ratio bigger than 25 m length devices, achieved the greatest water discharge among the analyzed geometries.
Systematic review of civilian intravascular ballistic embolism reports during the last 30 years

Abstract Background Intravascular ballistic embolization is a rare complication of missile injury. Because of its rarity, much remains to be known about its presentation, pathophysiology, complications, and management. In this study, we analyze case reports of ballistic embolization in the last 30 years and available cases from our institution to determine the likely patient, the nature of the embolization, the possible complications, and a general management strategy. Methods A PubMed search was performed in search of missile embolization cases from 1988 to 2018 in the English language, including only cases of intravascular emboli. Cases resulting from combat and explosive devices were excluded. In addition, five cases from our institution were included in the analysis. Results A total of 261 cases were analyzed. The most common presentation was that of a young man (reflecting the demographics of those sustaining gunshot wound injuries) with injury to the anterior torso from a single gunshot wound. Venous entry was most common, most often through large-caliber vessels. There was roughly equal involvement of the right and left circulation. Left circulation emboli were frequently symptomatic, with ischemia being the most frequent sequela. In contrast, a right circulation embolus was rarely associated with significant complications. Conclusions Despite its rarity, ballistic embolization should be considered in gunshot injury with known large-vessel injury when an exit wound is not identified. In particular, signs of ischemia distant from the injury site warrant timely investigation to maximize tissue salvageability. We present a management strategy model for consideration.
Grade II Spondylolisthesis: Reverse Bohlman Procedure with Transdiscal S1-L5 and S2 Alar Iliac Screws Placed with Robotic Guidance.

Background Grade II spondylolisthesis remains a complex surgical pathology for which there is no consensus regarding optimal surgical strategies. Surgical strategies vary regarding extent of reduction, use of instrumentation/interbody support, and anterior versus posterior approaches with or without decompression. Here we provide the first report on the efficacy of robotic spinal surgery systems in support of the treatment of grade II spondylolisthesis. Methods Using 2 illustrative cases, we provide a technical report describing how robotic spinal surgery platform can be used to treatment grade II spondylolisthesis with a novel instrumentation strategy. Results We describe how the “reverse Bohlman” technique to achieve a large anterior fusion construct spanning the pathological level and buttressed by the adjacent level above, coupled with a novel, high-fidelity posterior fixation scheme with transdiscal S1-L5 and S2 alar iliac (S2AI) screws placed in a minimally invasive fashion with robot guidance allows for the best chance of fusion in situ. Conclusions The reverse Bohlman technique coupled with transdiscal S1-L5 and S2AI screw fixation accomplishes the surgical goals of creating a solid fusion construct, avoiding neurologic injury with aggressive reduction, and halting the progression of anterolisthesis. The use of robot guidance allows for efficient placement of these difficult screw trajectories in a minimally invasive fashion.
Artifact Suppression for Passive Cavitation Imaging Using U-Net CNNs with Uncertainty Quantification

The clinical applications of chemotherapy treatments for brain tumors are limited by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) which blocks drugs from reaching the tumors. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided focused ultrasound (FUS) is applied to the brain to create micro-bubbles in the BBB for opening the BBB temporarily for targeted drug delivery. Creation of these microbubbles is monitored using passive cavitation imaging (PCI). Generally, PCI utilizes delay-and-sum (DAS) beam-forming, which suffers from a space-varying point spread function and high sidelobes both of which introduce image artifacts. To address this issue and to better monitor the BBB opening, a deep learning denoising approach is proposed based on a U-Net convolutional neural networks (CNN) architecture. The U-Net is trained with pairs of images, with DAS passive cavitation images at the input layer, and ground true noise-free images at the output layer. In the training phase, the network fits the mapping from the DAS images to the noise-free images. A Monte Carlo (MC) dropout approach is used to quantify uncertainty in de-noised images, giving information that can be further used to suppress artifacts. It is shown in this work that the resulting model can generate de-noised DAS images, and that uncertainty quantification in U-net output can be used to further improve artifact suppression.
Elastic Data Transfer Infrastructure (DTI) on the Chameleon Cloud

Many science workflows are distributed in nature and rely on wide area networks (WANs) to move data between geographically distributed resources for analysis, sharing, and storage. In spite of continued enhancements in campus cyberinfrastructure, data transfer nodes (DTNs) are grossly underutilized. Our previous analysis of logs from 1,800 DTNs shows that they were completely idle for 94.3% of the time in 2017. Motivated by the opportunity to optimize DTN usage, here we present an elastic data transfer infrastructure (DTI) architecture in which the pool of nodes allocated to DTN activities expands and shrinks over time, based on demand. Our results show that this elastic DTI can save up to $\sim 95$% of resources compared with a typical static DTN deployment.
Associations between parent-teacher and teacher-child relationships and children’s socioemotional functioning

This study examined whether mother-teacher, father-teacher, teacher-parent, and teacher-child relationships were linked to the socioemotional functioning of children (N = 42) aged 18–40 months. Res...
Esophageal Manometry Competency Program Improves Gastroenterology Fellow Performance in Motility Interpretation.

INTRODUCTION Competency-based medical education (CBME) for interpretation of esophageal manometry is lacking; therefore, motility experts and instructional designers developed the esophageal manometry competency (EMC) program: a personalized, adaptive learning program for interpretation of esophageal manometry. The aim of this study was to implement EMC among Gastroenterology (GI) trainees and assess the impact of EMC on competency in manometry interpretation. METHODS GI fellows across 14 fellowship programs were invited to complete EMC from February 2018 to October 2018. EMC includes an introductory video, baseline assessment of manometry interpretation, individualized learning pathways, and final assessment of manometry interpretation. The primary outcome was competency for interpretation in 7 individual skill sets. RESULTS Forty-four GI trainees completed EMC. Participants completed 30 cases, each including 7 skill sets. At baseline, 4 (9%) participants achieved competency for all 7 skills compared with 24 (55%) at final assessment (P < 0.001). Competency in individual skills increased from a median of 4 skills at baseline to 7 at final assessment (P < 0.001). The greatest increase in skill competency was for diagnosis (Baseline: 11% vs Final: 68%; P < 0.001). Accuracy improved for distinguishing between 5 diagnostic groups and was highest for the Outflow obstructive motility disorder (Baseline: 49% vs Final: 76%; P < 0.001) and Normal motor function (50% vs 80%; P < 0.001). DISCUSSION This prospective multicenter implementation study highlights that an adaptive web-based training platform is an effective tool to promote CBME. EMC completion was associated with significant improvement in identifying clinically relevant diagnoses, providing a model for integrating CBME into subspecialized areas of training.
Disparity in the effect of morphine on eupnea and gasping in anesthetized spontaneously breathing adult rats.

The goal of this study was to examine the effects of systemic morphine on the pattern and morphology of gasping breathing during respiratory autoresuscitation from transient anoxia. We hypothesized...
Complexity and Opportunities in Liquid Metal Surface Oxides

The ability of metal alloys to rapidly oxidize in ambient condition presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Herein, we focus on opportunities buried in the passivating oxide of liquid metal p...
Peripheral nerve blocks in children and adolescents with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome hypermobility type

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome hypermobility type (EDS-HT) is a hereditary connective tissue disease characterized by joint hypermobility and is associated with joint dislocations and chronic pain often improved by surgery.[1][1] Peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) in EDS-HT are reported to have potentially
Antioxidant Carbon Nanoparticles Inhibit Fibroblast-Like Synoviocyte Invasiveness and Reduce Disease Severity in a Rat Model of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Reactive oxygen species have been involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our goal was to determine the effects of selectively scavenging superoxide (O2•-) and hydroxyl radicals with antioxidant nanoparticles, called poly(ethylene glycol)-functionalized hydrophilic carbon clusters (PEG-HCCs), on the pathogenic functions of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and on the progression of an animal model of RA. We used human FLS from patients with RA to determine PEG-HCC internalization and effects on FLS cytotoxicity, invasiveness, proliferation, and production of proteases. We used the pristane-induced arthritis (PIA) rat model of RA to assess the benefits of PEG-HCCs on reducing disease severity. PEG-HCCs were internalized by RA-FLS, reduced their intracellular O2•-, and reduced multiple measures of their pathogenicity in vitro, including proliferation and invasion. In PIA, PEG-HCCs caused a 65% reduction in disease severity, as measured by a standardized scoring system of paw inflammation and caused a significant reduction in bone and tissue damage, and circulating rheumatoid factor. PEG-HCCs did not induce lymphopenia during PIA. Our study demonstrated a role for O2•- and hydroxyl radicals in the pathogenesis of a rat model of RA and showed efficacy of PEG-HCCs in treating a rat model of RA.
Amenorrhea: evaluation and treatment.

A thorough history and physical examination as well as laboratory testing can help narrow the differential diagnosis of amenorrhea. In patients with primary amenorrhea, the presence or absence of sexual development should direct the evaluation. Constitutional delay of growth and puberty commonly causes primary amenorrhea in patients with no sexual development. If the patient has normal pubertal development and a uterus, the most common etiology is congenital outflow tract obstruction with a transverse vaginal septum or imperforate hymen. If the patient has abnormal uterine development, mA¼llerian agenesis is the likely cause and a karyotype analysis should confirm that the patient is 46,XX. If a patient has secondary amenorrhea, pregnancy should be ruled out. The treatment of primary and secondary amenorrhea is based on the causative factor. Treatment goals include prevention of complications such as osteoporosis, endometrial hyperplasia, and heart disease; preservation of fertility; and, in primary amenorrhea, progression of normal pubertal development.
Evaluation of Isotropic and Anisotropic Constitutive Models on Plasticity Prediction of AA7075 Extruded Tube Under Tension–Tension and Tension–Compression

Plasticity of AA7075-O extruded tube under tension–tension (T-T) and tension–compression (T-C) was characterized using multiaxial tube expansion test method. Three different yield functions, von-Mises, Hill’s 1948, and Yld2004 were considered to model the anisotropic plasticity of the AA7075-O tubes under T-T and T-C. The anisotropic models were calibrated based on the measured biaxial stresses and the conjugate plastic strain rates as strain-rate potential based on plastic work equivalency. As shown, this calibration method is an accurate and more flexible way of calibrating the advanced yield functions with no necessity for having proportional loading paths. It was also shown that the three yield functions predict the strain paths under T-C conditions almost similarly, however, the strain paths under T-T conditions are predicted better as the number of anisotropy parameters in the yield functions increases.
Khorana score stratification and incidence of venous thromboembolism among women with ovarian cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Objectives: In the AVERT and CASSINI randomized trials, a Khorana score (KS) ≥ 2 was used to identify cancer patients with a high risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) who may benefit from thromboprophylaxis during chemotherapy. We aimed to describe the relationship between KS and incidence of venous thromboembolism among women with ovarian cancer (OC) receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). Methods: The study cohort included patients receiving NACT for primary ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancer from January 2000 to June 2018 from two academic institutions. KS immediately preceding NACT was calculated using established parameters (prechemotherapy platelet count ≥350, hemoglobin 11, and BMI ≥35). Fisher exact test was used to compare the primary outcomes of incidence of VTE at diagnosis or during NACT for patients with KS of 1 versus KS ≥2. Results: From a total NACT cohort of 277, there were 241 patients included in the analysis for whom a pre-NACT KS could be calculated. Overall, 25% had a KS of 1 (n=62), 44% KS of 2 (n=107), 26% KS of 3 (n=63), and 3.7% KS of 4 (n=9). Twenty- five patients presented with a VTE at the time of cancer diagnosis, including 6 of the 62 women with a KS of 1 (9.7%) and 19 among the 179 women with a KS of ≥2 (10%). An additional 15 patients experienced a VTE during NACT, including two with a KS of 1 (3%) and 13 with a KS ≥2 (7%). The rates of VTE between these two strata (KS of 1 versus KS ≥2) were not significantly different for either VTE at diagnosis or during NACT (p=1.0 [95% CI 0.28-2.5] and p=0.37 [95% CI 0.04-1.97], respectively). Conclusions: A KS of ≥2 has previously been used as a risk stratification tool for consideration of thromboprophylaxis among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. However, women receiving NACT for OC with a KS of 1 or KS ≥2 in this cohort had similar rates of VTE both at diagnosis and during NACT. Although larger sample sizes are needed, these preliminary results suggest that all women receiving NACT for OC are at high risk for VTE and consideration of thromboprophylaxis may be warranted irrespective of Khorana score.
The Evolution and Impact of Federal Antipoverty Programs for Children.

Abstract Despite our wealth, child poverty in the United States remains too high. The social safety net prevents and mitigates poverty for millions of children each year and evidence demonstrates long-term positive effects for recipients. But absent a commitment to universalism, our public investments in children produce uneven – and often inequitable – results. Our current system is heavily means-tested and work-conditioned. Though heavily targeted, it varies widely in adequacy and coverage by location and across population groups and it fails to serve all children in need. This article describes the evolution of the US social safety net for children over the last century. It traces the early 20th century origins of the contemporary system and the changes it saw through the mid-century's War on Poverty expansions and late 20th century's welfare reforms. Focusing specifically on federal cash and near-cash programs, it discusses key facets and principles of the current social safety net structure, its impact on children's health and economic well-being, remaining gaps, and promising advances for the future. Temporary improvements to the social safety net enacted as part of the pandemic response indicate important ways in which our public supports can reach more families, more consistently, moving forward. To reduce child poverty, one of the most promising approaches is to enact a national child allowance in the United States. Converting the existing Child Tax Credit into a universal child allowance, making it more generous, and delivering it to families on a regular basis throughout the year can accomplish this goal.
Phosphate Transport Processes of Animal Cells

In this review an attempt is made to summarize as briefly as possible new developments concerned with the transport of P i, not only across animal cell membranes, but across membranes of the bacterial and plant worlds as well. It may be helpful to the reader to first examine Fig. 1 in order to gain some appreciation of the importance of P i transport processes in animal cells, and then Fig. 2 to obtain an overview of current thoughts on P i transport processes across biological membranes. With this general overview at hand, more specific information concerning recent progress and unanswered questions about P i transport processes can be obtained below. In particular, the literature cited emphasizes papers published between 1974 and 1980.
The Reaction Progress Variable and Isotope Turnover in Biological Systems

Publisher Summary The biological systems under natural field conditions are rarely at a steady state, but are frequently responding to changes in the abundance of external resources, environmental conditions, and phenology and development. This poses a challenge for interpreting the stable isotope ratios sequentially recorded in biological materials because those ‘‘recorder’’ tissues may be responding to external resource pools as well as to pools within the organism or ecological reservoir itself. Stable isotope analyses have been used as tracers of ecological processes for many different sets of conditions. As a ‘‘tracer’’ or ‘‘recorder’’ of an ecological change, it is the sequential changes in the isotope composition of a material or tissue that serves as a recorder. This chapter discusses the reaction progress model to describe isotope turnover in biological systems. This concept has been used for isotope exchange reactions in geochemical systems and has been applied to isotope turnover in animal tissues and in laboratory scale exchange reactions. Here the reaction progress variable is used to examine other cases where first-order kinetics is assumed to play the dominant role in isotope turnover. This chapter describes first-order kinetics and shows that it is a more useful way than a simple exponential fit to understanding isotope turnover in biological systems. Then, it uses a number of examples, primarily from existing literature, to demonstrate how rate constants are better understood using this approach. It then discusses the implications for changes at the ecosystem scale.
The Solution of the Matrix Polynomial Equation: A(s)X(s) + B(s)Y(S) = C(s)

This paper presents an algorithm for finding the solution {X(s), Y(s)} of the matrix polynomial equation A(s)X(s) + B(s) Y(s) = C(S). Since the solution, when it exists, is not unique we will find the solution for which the rows of X(s) has a minimal possible degree. This procedure will result in a unique solution which is obtained by solving a set of linear equations. An example is given to illustrate the procedure.
Regularity, partial elimination ideals and the canonical bundle

We present partial elimination ideals, which set-theoretically cut out the multiple point loci of a generic projection of a projective variety, as a way to bound the regularity of a variety in projective space. To do this, we utilize a combination of initial ideal methods and geometric methods. We first define partial elimination ideals and establish through initial ideal methods the way in which, for a given ideal, the regularity of the partial elimination ideals bounds the regularity of the given ideal. Then we explore the partial elimination ideals as a way to compute the canonical bundle of the generic projection of a variety and the canonical bundles of the multiple point loci of the projection, and we use Kodaira Vanishing to bound the regularity of the partial elimination ideals.
The Effectiveness and Risks of Long-Term Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review for a National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Workshop

Prescriptions of opioid medications for chronic pain have increased dramatically, as have opioid overdoses, abuse, and other harms and uncertainty about long-term effectiveness. This review found s...
Biomass and carbon partitioning in switchgrass.

Grasslands have an underground biomass component that serves as a carbon (C) storage sink. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) has potential as a biofuel crop. Our objectives were to determine biomass and C partitioning in aboveground and belowground plant components and changes in soil organic C in switchgrass. Cultivars Sunburst and Dacotah were field grown over 3 yr at Mandan, ND. Aboveground biomass was sampled and separated into leaves, stems, senesced, and litter biomass. Root biomass to 1.1-m depth and soil organic C to 0.9-m depth was determined. Soil C loss from respiratory processes was determined by measuring CO 2 flux from early May to late October. At seed ripe harvest, stem biomass accounted for 46% of total aboveground biomass, leaves 7%, senesced plant parts 43%, and litter 4%. Excluding crowns, root biomass averaged 27% of the total plant biomass and 84% when crown tissue was included with root biomass. Carbon partitioning among aboveground, crown, and root biomass showed that crown tissue contained approximately 50% of the total biomass C. Regression analysis indicated that soil organic C to 0.9-m depth increased at the rate of 1.01 kg C m -2 yr -1 . Carbon lost through soil respiration processes was equal to 44% of the C content of the total plant biomass. Although an amount equal to nearly half of the C captured in plant biomass during a year is lost through soil respiration, these results suggest that northern Great Plains switchgrass plantings have potential for storing a significant quantity of soil C.
Caseworker attitudes on kinship care in Ontario

This exploratory study aims to develop an understanding of caseworker views on the challenges and opportunities of kinship care. This sample includes protection and kinship service caseworkers who ...