cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Revised Road Map to the Manual

The Second Edition of Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology (the “Systematics”) represents a major departure from the First Edition, as well as from the Eighth and Ninth Editions of the Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology (the ‘Determinative”), in that the organization of the content follows a phylogenetic framework based on analyses of the nucleotide sequence of the ribosomal small-subunit RNA, rather than one based on phenotypic characters. The connection between systematics and evolution is pervasive but not logically necessary: purely phenetic taxonomies have been widely used in bacteriology; for many bacteriologists, the current “best practice” in bacterial systematics is polyphasic taxonomy, in which both phenotypic and genotypic information are used. Each volume of this edition will have an updated “road map” chapter (at the current rate of description of new taxa, the number of new genera validly published between the first volume and the fifth and last could number well over 500). A related strategy using genomic information for evolutionary studies has been to produce trees based on the presence or absence of orthologous genes in the genomes being analyzed. As new data become available, more precise placement is likely to occur. Higher taxa and genera that have been moved are listed in Table 2, along with the reasons for these moves. While we believe that the current taxonomy is a better reflection of reality than previous versions, we expect that further changes will be made as we work our way through the subsequent volumes and plan for future editions of the Systematics. Keywords: phylogeny; 16S rRNA; archaea; bacteria; taxonomy
Development of Leprosy and Type 1 Leprosy Reactions after Treatment with Infliximab: A Report of 2 Cases

Humanized monoclonal antibodies to tumor necrosis factor- alpha are valuable for the treatment of rheumatologic conditions, but they have been associated with the development of serious infections. We report the first 2 cases of leprosy developing after treatment with infliximab. After discontinuation of infliximab, both patients developed type 1 ("reversal") leprosy reactions.
Racial and social class differences in teen‐agers’ use of television

Much of this issue of the Journal is devoted to questions of the mass communications behavior of the poor. In the following article, the influence of both race and class upon teen‐agers’ use of television is investigated as part of an extensive series of researches on communication among the urban poor being conducted at Michigan State University. The research reported on below was supported in part by a grant from the National Association of Broadcasters to Dr. Greenberg, associate professor of communication at Michigan State. Mr. Dominick is senior research assistant and Ph.D. candidate in the MSU Department of Communication.
Isolation and Characterization of a Biologically Active Chromium Oligopeptide from Bovine Liver

Low-molecular-weight chromium-binding substance (LMWCr), the only known naturally occurring Cr-containing polypeptide from mammals and candidate for the biologically active form of chromium, has been isolated for the first time in yields sufficient for spectroscopic studies capable of providing structural and mechanistic data on a molecular level. The results of paramagnetic 1H NMR, electron paramagnetic resonance, and electronic spectroscopic studies indicate that the four chromic ions per polypeptide are probably arranged in an integer-spin tetranuclear assembly, although an alternate possibility, the presence of two dinuclear assemblies, could not be ruled out. This assembly (or assemblies) is bridged by anionic ligands and supported by carboxylates provided by the polypeptide.
Salt rejection by polymer membranes in reverse osmosis. I. Nonionic polymers

An attempt is made to analyze the relationship between salt rejection and water flux of nonionic polymer membranes in reverse osmosis on the basis of the movement of water in the membranes. The salt rejection Rs is a consequence of transport depletion of salt in relation to water flux. The transport depletion can be quantitatively expressed through knowledge of the mode of water transport and by application of free-volume theory to membrane transport phenomena. Water permeation can be characterized by a parameter ω = RTK1/P1v1, K1 denoting hydraulic permeability, P1 diffusive water permeability, v1 the molar volume of water. Thus polymer membranes can be classified in three categories: ω = 1 (diffusion membranes); ω > 1 (diffusion-flow membranes); and ω ≫ 1 (flow membranes). Salt rejection Rs can be expressed in terms of P1, the diffusive salt permeability P2, and the effective pressure (Δp − Δπ): Experimental results obtained with various hydrophilic polymers are presented as the dependence of Rs on the logarithm of water flux. Good agreement was found between the experimental data and the calculated curve. Excessive swelling of membranes results in bulk flow of water (high ω) with coupled transport of salt. Hence the salt rejection decreases quickly as water flux in creases beyond a threshold value above which water flux can be characterized as bulk flow.
Managerial Talent and Hedge Fund Performance

We propose a new measure of managerial skill based on the maximum monthly returns of hedge funds over a fixed time interval and test if this new measure (pMAX) is an indicator of greater managerial talent leading to superior fund performance. We find significant cross-sectional variations and persistence in pMAX. Our main finding indicates that hedge funds in the highest pMAX quintile generate 8.4% more annual returns compared to funds in the lowest pMAX quintile. After controlling for a large set of fund characteristics, risk factors, and past performance measures, the positive relation between pMAX and future returns remains highly significant. We also show that the directional and semi-directional hedge fund managers can predict and exploit changes in the market and economic conditions by increasing (decreasing) fund exposures to risk factors when market risk and/or economic uncertainty is high (low). However, mutual funds do not have market- or macro-timing ability. Thus, we find no evidence of a significant link between managerial talent of mutual fund managers and their future returns. Overall, the results indicate that the predictive power of pMAX over future returns for hedge funds is driven by superior timing ability and better managerial skills of hedge funds.
A Rapid, Semi-Quantitative Assay to Screen for Modulators of Alpha-Synuclein Oligomerization Ex vivo.

Alpha synuclein (αsyn) aggregates are associated with the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and others related disorders. Although modulation of αsyn aggregation is an attractive therapeutic target, new powerful methodologies are desperately needed to facilitate in vivo screening of novel therapeutics. Here we describe an in vivo rodent model with the unique ability to rapidly track αsyn-αsyn interactions and thus oligomerization using a bioluminescent protein complementation strategy that monitors spatial and temporal αsyn oligomerization ex vivo. We find that αsyn forms oligomers in vivo as early as 1 week after stereotactic AAV injection into rat substantia nigra. Strikingly, although abundant αsyn expression is also detected in striatum at one week, no αsyn oligomers are detected at this time point. By 4 weeks, oligomerization of αsyn is detected in both striatum and substantia nigra homogenates. Moreover, in a proof-of-principle experiment, the effect of a previously described Hsp90 inhibitor known to prevent αsyn oligomer formation, demonstrates the utility of this rapid and sensitive animal model to monitor αsyn oligomerization status in the rat brain.
Hydroxyproline peptides of urine in arthritic patients and controls on a collagen-free diet.

SummaryThe amino acid composition of 5 hydroxyproline peptides isolated from urine of control subjects on a collagen-free diet is reported. There is no evidence of the 2 peptides previously isolated from a patient with rheumatoid arthritis. The chromatographic pattern of hydroxyproline from Dowex 50 ion exchange columns is shown to be quite similar for the 3 arthritic urines and 2 controls on the collagen-free diet. Hydroxyproline peptides separated by 2-dimensional chromatography on paper from such columns have been analyzed for amino acid composition. One peptide containing only proline and hydroxyproline, present in all of the patients, was not detected in one of the 2 control urines. The significance of this finding is discussed, and a procedure is described by which this peptide can be separated essentially free of other hydroxyproline contaminants.
I Wanna Marry You: An Empirical Analysis of the Irrelevancy and Distraction of DOMAs

This article offers the only empirical analysis to date of national data evaluating the claim that defense of marriage acts (DOMAs) preserve and stabilize the family. The article examines marriage and divorce changes in trends for every state over the last ten years for which data is available comparing changes, if any, before and after a DOMA was enacted or same sex marriage was permitted. After concluding that DOMA does not play a role in either divorce or marriage changes in trends or rates, the article explores what variables are, in fact, correlated with family stability. Given that poverty, religiosity, education, income, age of marriage all play a key role in family stability, the article explores moral entrepreneurism and moral panic as a theoretical explanation for DOMAs’ continued attraction for achieving family stability. Finally, the article offers pragmatic recommendations for achieving family stability. The article asserts that rather than advocate for one decreasingly relevant model of family formation, steps should be taken to mirror the characteristics and outcomes that are associated with stable families. Substance over form will lead to the goals that misguided legislatures thought DOMAs would achieve.
The Validity of PPAP Operation for Auto Parts

The Production Part Approval Process(PPAP) is one of the tools for supplier quality development by three US auto giants,Chrysler,Ford and GM.The validity of PPAP operation has a great effect on the quality of the new project production. Based on the author's years of work practice,this paper sets forth practical methods and procedures in specific and comprehensive details for how to improve the validity of PPAP operation.
Thermal Insulating System Design for the Wellhead of the Snubbing Service Equipment

The unsteady state mathematic model was utilized to compute the transient temperature field and determine the heating power,then a set of thermal insulating system for the wellhead of the snubbling service equipment was designed and manufactured based on the mapping of the material object.The result shows that the numerical results of the cartridge heater's temperature field agree with the testing values.The thermal insulating system for the wellhead of the snubbling service equipment meets the needs of the snubbling service in the winter,the system possesses the merits of rapid rate of temperature rise,well thermal insulating,safety and convenience.
Teaching ideas and activities for classroom: integrating technology into the pedagogy of integral calculus and the approximation of definite integrals

The purpose of this article is to offer teaching ideas in the treatment of the definite integral concept and the Riemann sums in a technology-supported environment. Specifically, the article offers teaching ideas and activities for classroom for the numerical methods of approximating a definite integral via left- and right-hand Riemann sums, along with midpoint and trapezoidal Riemann sums. The activities demonstrate innovative and creative ways of integrating technology, in particular, GeoGebra dynamic software, into the pedagogy of college-level integral calculus. It also provides, among other things, interesting and original teaching ideas incorporating technology, and an evaluation of these activities by the students themselves who experienced these activities with the GeoGebra dynamic software.
Pharmacologic treatment of tic disorders.

This article reviews current approaches to the treatment of children and adolescents with tic disorders, including nonstimulant treatment for comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Dermoscopy of Nail Psoriasis

Dermoscopy is a noninvasive and inexpensive method of magnifying in vivo examination of skin and nails allowing for immediate visualization of specific characteristics that could otherwise be overlooked by the naked eye. Dermoscopy, also known as dermatoscopy, surface microscopy, or epiluminescence microscopy, can evaluate the various structures of nails, such as the nail matrix, nail plate, nail bed, hyponychium, proximal nail fold, and distal edge of the nail plate. Dermoscopy of the nails has been also named onychoscopy. Nail psoriasis has a significant disease burden that is difficult to treat and can cause serious deformities which can lead to chronic dystrophy. Dermoscopy can be valuable in providing better detection of common abnormalities associated with particular diseases, directing management, and assessing response to treatment.
Accelerating ring-polymer molecular dynamics with parallel-replica dynamics.

Nuclear quantum effects are important for systems containing light elements, and the effects are more prominent in the low temperature regime where the dynamics also becomes sluggish. We show that parallel replica (ParRep) dynamics, an accelerated molecular dynamics approach for infrequent-event systems, can be effectively combined with ring-polymer molecular dynamics, a semiclassical trajectory approach that gives a good approximation to zero-point and tunneling effects in activated escape processes. The resulting RP-ParRep method is a powerful tool for reaching long time scales in complex infrequent-event systems where quantum dynamics are important. Two illustrative examples, symmetric Eckart barrier crossing and interstitial helium diffusion in Fe and Fe–Cr alloy, are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and long-time scale capability of this approach.
Using nitrogen balance in clinical practice

Nutrition Support Pharmacist features issues pertinent to the practice of clinical pharmacy in the area of nutritional support. The column is edited by Dr. Roland Dickerson, Associate Professor of ...
Intraoperative Raman spectroscopy of soft tissue sarcomas.

Background and objective Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a rare and heterogeneous group of malignant tumors that are often treated through surgical resection. Current intraoperative margin assessment methods are limited and highlight the need for an improved approach with respect to time and specificity. Here we investigate the potential of near-infrared Raman spectroscopy for the intraoperative differentiation of STS from surrounding normal tissue. Materials and methods In vivo Raman measurements at 785 nm excitation were intraoperatively acquired from subjects undergoing STS resection using a probe based spectroscopy system. A multivariate classification algorithm was developed in order to automatically identify spectral features that can be used to differentiate STS from the surrounding normal muscle and fat. The classification algorithm was subsequently tested using leave-one-subject-out cross-validation. Results With the exclusion of well-differentiated liposarcomas, the algorithm was able to classify STS from the surrounding normal muscle and fat with a sensitivity and specificity of 89.5% and 96.4%, respectively. Conclusion These results suggest that single point near-infrared Raman spectroscopy could be utilized as a rapid and non-destructive surgical guidance tool for identifying abnormal tissue margins in need of further excision. Lasers Surg. Med. 48:774-781, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Publication Rates of Podium Versus Poster Presentations at the Arthroscopy Association of North America Meetings 2008-2012.

Purpose To analyze the publication rate of poster and podium presentations at Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA) annual meetings from 2008 to 2012. Methods An online search using PubMed and Google Scholar for all published manuscripts associated with abstracts presented from 2008 to 2012 AANA annual meetings was performed. Abstracts were classified by presentation type (poster vs podium), and the journal and publication date were recorded for all published abstracts. Descriptive statistics, logistic regression, and Fisher's exact tests were performed, with P Results A total of 1,508 abstracts were submitted to AANA annual meetings from 2008 to 2012, with 976 abstracts accepted for presentation (65% overall acceptance rate). There were 328 podium (22% acceptance rate) and 648 poster (43% acceptance rate) presentations. Of the 976 accepted abstracts, 479 (49%) were published within 3 years in peer-reviewed journals. The overall publication rates for podium and poster presentations were 59% (n = 193) and 44% (n = 286), respectively. Podium presentations were significantly more likely to be published within 3 years compared with poster presentations ( P P = .0633). Over the 5-year study period, the overall abstract acceptance rate ( P P P = .5638). The most common journals of publication were Arthroscopy (n = 157, 32.7%) followed by American Journal of Sports Medicine (n = 93, 19.4%). Conclusions The overall publication rate of abstracts presented at AANA annual meetings is 49%, with podium presentations 1.8 times more likely to be published than poster presentations. The overall abstract acceptance rate and the rate of abstracts accepted for poster presentation increased significantly over time, whereas there was no significant increase in the rate of abstracts accepted for podium presentation. Clinical Relevance The publication rates of abstracts presented at the AANA annual meetings demonstrate the meetings' impact and importance to the advancement of the scientific literature.
Tragic Adaptation and Performance: Undoing the Play

This chapter investigates how through dramatizing choice in “real” time, both adaptation and performance can release alternative stories or endings in a tragic play. Audiences and directors certainly debate how far may one go in “correcting” or making changes in a tragic plot, since tragedy seems to be all about fatal consequences and especially an ending from which there is no return. Radical remakings of tragic plots through either adaptation or performance are admittedly rare, precisely because audiences, actors, and critics alike often crave the repetition of those familiar stories, no matter how horrific they might be. However, this chapter offers two case studies of performative disruption that help us see the alternative possibilities latent in tragic theater. The first example is Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, an adaptation of both Hamlet and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern stages the dynamics of choice in an unfixed present time and space to exploit the opening for invention, gaming, and rewriting that Hamlet itself invites. In the end Stoppard does not let Rosencrantz and Guildenstern escape from Hamlet; that is, he does not release the kind of potential that was exploded in this chapter’s second example, Richard Schechner’s legendary adaptation and performance of Euripides’s Bacchae in Dionysus in 69. In that case, game-like performance generated a sense of present possibilities that could empower the audience and actors to intervene in the tragic plot and break it open—or to just walk away.
Harnessing Organic Ligand Libraries for First-Principles Inorganic Discovery: Indium Phosphide Quantum Dot Precursor Design Strategies

Indium phosphide quantum dots (QDs) represent promising replacements for more toxic QDs, but InP QD production lags behind other QD materials due to limited understanding of how to tune InP QD growth. We carry out a first-principles, computational screen of the tuning of In carboxylate precursor chemistry to alter the kinetics of elementary steps in InP QD growth. We employ a large database normally used for discovery of therapeutic drug-like molecules to discover design rules for these inorganic complexes while maintaining realism (i.e., stable, synthetically accessible substituents) and providing diversity in a 210-molecule test set. We show the In–O bond cleavage energy, which is tuned through ligand functionalization, to be a useful proxy for In–P bond formation energetics in InP QD synthesis. Energy decomposition analysis on a 32-molecule subset reveals that lower activation energies correlate to later transition states, due to stabilization from greater In–P bond formation and more favorable reactio...
Endodontic diagnostic process

Endodontic diagnosis is a process requiring organization of a mass of information drawn from the patient’s medical history, dental history, description of the chief complaint, radiographs, and clinical examination. The clinician must proceed in an organized manner while synthesizing the information and proceed through a differential diagnosis. As a starting point, the clinician must determine if the chief complaint is odontogenic or non-odontogenic in origin. The following will review varied aspects of the diagnostic process and serve as a guide for the clinician.
The BuzzFeed Marketing Challenge: An Integrative Social Media Experience.

This article presents the BuzzFeed Marketing Challenge, which helps students gain integrative real-world marketing experience by selecting a target market, then creating, publishing, and promoting an article for the target market on entertainment publisher BuzzFeed.com. The challenge is for students to effectively use marketing strategy and consumer behavior principles to generate 1,000 article views in one week. The project provides each student with a personal case study that incorporates new product development, social media, analytics, and campaign management. The BuzzFeed Marketing Challenge is highly adaptable with undergraduate marketing and online MBA students reporting a breadth of positive learning outcomes.
Plasmonic nanochip for SERS chemical and biomedical sensing

The development of rapid, easy-to-use and highly sensitive DNA detection methods has received increasing interest for medical diagnostics and research purposes. Our laboratory has developed several chip-based DNA biosensors including molecular sentinel-on-chip (MSC), multiplex MSC, and inverse molecular sentinel-on-chip (iMS-on-Chip). These sensors use surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) plasmonic chips, functionalized with DNA probes for single-step DNA detection. The sensing mechanisms is based on the hybridization of target sequences and DNA probes, resulting in a displacement of a SERS reporter from the chip surface. This distance increase results in change in SERS signal intensity from the reporter, thus indicating the capture, and therefore the presence, of the target nucleic acid sequence. The nucleic acid probes and the SERS chip, which compose the sensing platform, were designed for single-step DNA detection. The target sequences are detected by delivery of a sample solutions on a functionalized chip and characterization of the SERS signals, after 1 - 2 hr incubation. These techniques avoid labeling of the target sequence or washing to remove unreacted components, making them easy-to-use and cost effective. The use of SERS chip for medical diagnostics was demonstrated by detecting genetic biomarkers for respiratory viral infection and the DNA of dengue virus 4.
The effect of gaseous ammonia treatment of AM-6 crystallized in the presence of tetramethylammonium cations on their removal from the crystal pores, and the crystal quality and structure of AM-6

Abstract Vanadosilicate AM-6 products with different crystal quality (i.e., disorder, or average length of the V-O-V chains in the AM-6 framework), as determined from the FWHM of ∼868 cm −1 Raman band, but with identical crystallinity/long range order and purity, as determined from the XRD data, were hydrothermally synthesized from reaction mixtures with different molar compositions at 448–503 K using tetramethylammonium (TMA + ) ions. The combined SEM, EDX, XRD, Raman, TGA, XPS, and nitrogen adsorption isotherm data showed that by treating these as-synthesized materials in gaseous ammonia at 673 K it is possible to completely remove TMA + ions from the AM-6 pores without adversely affecting product crystallinity and the micropore structure of AM-6, and with only minimal degradation of crystal quality of the resulting products. However, the success in a complete removal of TMA + ions without affecting other crystalochemical characteristics of the product depended on its initial crystal quality. TMA + ions could not be completely removed from the lowest crystal quality product (FWHM = 20.3 cm −1 ) without completely decomposing the V-O-V chains. The intermediate crystal quality product (FWHM = 15.0 cm −1 ) could be successfully ammonia-treated only at 673 K to remove TMA + ions, but higher temperatures resulted in a complete decomposition of the V-O-V chains. The highest crystal quality product (FWHM = 12.7 cm −1 ) retained the integrity of V-O-V chains as well as the long range order and the micropore structure when ammonia-treated up to 748 K.
An interventionist approach to psychological explanation

Interventionism is a theory of causal explanation developed by Woodward and Hitchcock. I defend an interventionist perspective on the causal explanations offered within scientific psychology. The basic idea is that psychology causally explains mental and behavioral outcomes by specifying how those outcomes would have been different had an intervention altered various factors, including relevant psychological states. I elaborate this viewpoint with examples drawn from cognitive science practice, especially Bayesian perceptual psychology. I favorably compare my interventionist approach with well-known nomological and mechanistic theories of psychological explanation.
Impact of Discharge Anticoagulation Education by Emergency Department Pharmacists at a Tertiary Academic Medical Center.

Abstract Background Although pharmacists commonly provide patient education and help manage high-risk anticoagulant medications in inpatient and outpatient settings, the evidence for these interventions in the emergency department (ED) is less established, especially in the era of direct-acting oral anticoagulants. In 2013, a formal program was initiated whereby patients discharged with a new prescription for any anticoagulant receive education from an ED pharmacist when on-site. In addition, they received follow-up phone calls from an ED pharmacist within 72 hours of discharge. Objective We sought to identify the impact of pharmacist education, defined as the need for intervention on callback, versus physician and nursing-driven discharge measures on patient understanding and appropriate use of anticoagulant medications. Methods A single-center retrospective analysis included patients discharged from the ED between May 2013 and May 2016 with a new anticoagulant prescription. Electronic callback records were reviewed to assess patients' adherence and understanding of discharge instructions as well as for an anticoagulant-related hospital readmission within 90 days. Results One hundred seventy-four patients were evaluated in a per protocol analysis. Patients who did not receive pharmacist education prior to discharge required an increased need for intervention during callback versus those who did (36.4% vs. 12.9%, p = 0.0005) related to adherence, inappropriate administration, and continued use of interacting medications or supplements, among other concerns. In addition, patients who had not received pharmacist counseling were more likely to be readmitted to a hospital or return to the ED within 90 days after their initial visit for an anticoagulation-related problem versus patients who had (12.12% vs. 1.85%, p = 0.0069). Conclusion Discharge education by ED pharmacists leads to improved patient understanding and appropriate use of anticoagulants.
Victimization Trends and Correlates: Macro- and Microinfluences and New Directions for Research

This paper assesses the state of the literature on victimization and its correlates by examining a diverse set of victimization trends and by summarizing the known correlates of victimization exhibited in research conducted at varying levels of analysis. A broad assessment of victimization research is valuable because it can shed light on both the similarities and differences in a wide range of trends and correlates of criminal victimization, thus prompting useful integration of the diverse set of literatures in this field. We also highlight how some individual-level correlates of victimization vary across spatial contexts as well as in their magnitude over time. Our review suggests that further attention to the commonalities in correlates across various types of victimization, and to multilevel and macrohistorical contexts, can help improve the utility of victimization research findings for both theory and practice.
Speech enhancement in spectral envelope and details subspaces

Abstract Supervised speech enhancement techniques have been proved to improve speech intelligibility. However, one major challenge of supervised approaches involves the overlapped spectral bases between speech and noise components in spectral dictionary space. In this study, we address this challenge through a combination strategy of spectral modulation decoupling and low-rank and sparsity oriented decomposition. Specifically, supervised low-rank and sparse decompositions with energy thresholding are developed in the spectral envelop subspace, In the spectral details subspace, an unsupervised robust principal component analysis is utilized to extract the fine structure. The validation results show that, compared with five speech enhancement algorithms, including MMSE-SPP, NMF-RPCA, RPCA, LARC and BNMF, the proposed algorithms achieves satisfactory performance on improving both perceptual quality and speech intelligibility.
Wellen im Raum

Wir leiten den Satz von der Erhaltung der Energie und das Kausalitatsprinzip in zwei und drei Dimensionen fur die Wellengleichung im gesamten Raum her. In Abschnitt 9.3 untersuchen wir die Geometrie der Charakteristiken und losen die inhomogene Wellengleichung. Abschnitt 9.4 behandelt die Diffusionsgleichung, die Schrodinger-Gleichung und den harmonischen Oszillator. Die Energieniveaus des Wasserstoffatoms werden im letzen Abschnitt hergeleitet.
Methods, Philosophy of

Philosophy of method is a branch of the philosophy of science that investigates scientific methodology. Though ‘scientific method’ is largely implicit in microbiology, microbiologists do implement a number of methods of scientific inquiry that have been analyzed by philosophers, such as the methods of difference and comparative experimentation. In addition, these methods are put into practice against a backdrop of more general philosophical assumptions concerning scientific progress, scientific realism, scientific inference, and the nature of empirical evidence. The philosophy of method is best described using particular microbiological examples illustrating the application of specific methods of experimental inquiry.
Prior Diagnosis of Barrett's Esophagus Is Infrequent, but Associated with Improved Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Survival.

Efforts to reduce mortality from esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) have focused on screening and surveillance of Barrett’s esophagus (BE). We sought to determine the frequency of prior diagnosis of BE in patients with EA and to evaluate the impact of a prior BE diagnosis on mortality in EA patients. This was a retrospective cohort study of patients diagnosed with EA in the VA during 2002–2016. We compared the distributions of EA stage and receipt of treatment between EA patients with and without a prior BE diagnosis and used Cox proportional hazards models to compare mortality risk (all-cause and cancer specific) unadjusted and adjusted for stage and treatment to assess their impact on any survival differences. Among 8564 EA patients, only 4.9% had a prior BE diagnosis. The proportion with prior BE diagnosis increased from 3.2% in EA patients diagnosed during 2005–2007 to 7.0% in those diagnosed during 2014–2016. EA patients with a prior BE diagnosis were more likely to have stage 1 disease and receive any treatment. A prior BE diagnosis was associated with lower all-cause mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR] unadjusted for stage, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.61–0.80), which was largely explained by the earlier stage of EA at the time of diagnosis (HR adjusted for stage, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.75–0.99). There was no evidence of lead time bias or length time bias. Prior diagnosis of BE was associated with better survival, largely due to earlier EA stage at diagnosis.
Can Mindfulness Address Maladaptive Eating Behaviors? Why Traditional Diet Plans Fail and How New Mechanistic Insights May Lead to Novel Interventions.

Emotional and other maladaptive eating behaviors develop in response to a diversity of triggers, from psychological stress to the endless external cues in our modern food environment. While the standard approach to food- and weight-related concerns has been weight-loss through dietary restriction, these interventions have produced little long-term benefit, and may be counterproductive. A growing understanding of the behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms that underpin habit formation may explain why this approach has largely failed, and pave the way for a new generation of non-pharmacologic interventions. Here, we first review how modern food environments interact with human biology to promote reward-related eating through associative learning, i.e., operant conditioning. We also review how operant conditioning (positive and negative reinforcement) cultivates habit-based reward-related eating, and how current diet paradigms may not directly target such eating. Further, we describe how mindfulness training that targets reward-based learning may constitute an appropriate intervention to rewire the learning process around eating. We conclude with examples that illustrate how teaching patients to tap into and act on intrinsic (e.g. enjoying healthy eating, not overeating, self-compassion) rather than extrinsic reward mechanisms (e.g. weighing oneself), is a promising new direction in improving individuals’ relationship with food.
Ilnacora henryi, a new species of plant bug from Mexico (Heteroptera, Miridae, Orthotylinae, Orthotylini).

A new species of the plant bug genus Ilnacora, tribe Orthotylini, is described from Mexico. This species, unlike any other in the genus, is characterized by a predominantly black coloration, the absence of black scale-like setae on the pronotal disk, and unique male genitalia.
Towards Traffic Load Balancing in Drone-Assisted Communications for IoT

Edge computing enables data collected by Internet of Things (IoT) devices to be stored in and processed by local fog nodes as well as allows IoT users to access IoT applications via these nodes at the same time. In this case, the communications latency critically affects the response time of IoT user requests. Owing to the dynamic distribution of IoT users [i.e., user equipments (UEs)], drone base station (DBS), which can be flexibly deployed for hotspot areas, can potentially improve the wireless latency of IoT users by mitigating the heavy traffic loads of macro BSs. Drone-based communications poses two major challenges: 1) the DBS should be deployed in suitable areas with heavy traffic demands to serve more UEs and 2) the traffic loads in the network should be allocated among macro BSs and DBSs to avoid instigating traffic congestions. Therefore, we propose a traffic load balancing scheme in such drone-assisted fog network to minimize the wireless latency of IoT users. In the scheme, we divide the problem into two subproblems and design two algorithms to optimize the DBS placement and user association, respectively. Extensive simulations have been set up to validate the performance of the proposed scheme.
Very Small Embryonic-Like Stem Cells (VSELs).

Results from at least 20 independent laboratories indicate that adult tissues contain rare, early-development stem cells known as very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs), which can differentiate into cells from more than one germ layer. Further research on these cells may provide a path forward to application of these cells in regenerative medicine that perhaps may solve several problems inherent in the use of controversial embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and somehow problematic induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
Polarizable embedding for simulating redox potentials of biomolecules

Redox reactions play a key role in various biological processes, including photosynthesis and respiration. Quantitative and predictive computational characterization of redox events is therefore highly desirable for enriching our knowledge on mechanistic features of biological redox-active macromolecules. Here, we present a computational protocol exploiting polarizable embedding hybrid quantum-classical approach and resulting in accurate estimates of redox potentials of biological macromolecules. A special attention is paid to fundamental aspects of the theoretical description such as the effects of environment polarization and of the long-range electrostatic interactions on the computed energetic parameters. Environment (protein and the solvent) polarization is shown to be crucial for accurate estimates of the redox potential: hybrid quantum-classical results with and without account for environment polarization differ by 1.4 V. Long-range electrostatic interactions are shown to contribute significantly to the computed redox potential value even at the distances far beyond the protein outer surface. The approach is tested on simulating reduction potential of cryptochrome 1 protein from Arabidopsis thaliana. The theoretical estimate (0.07 V) of the midpoint reduction potential is in good agreement with available experimental data (−0.15 V).
Conference Reports: Recap of the 37th Edition of the International Conference on Computer-Aided Design (ICCAD 2018)

Jointly sponsored by IEEE and ACM, the International Conference on Computer-Aided Design (ICCAD) is the premier forum to explore emerging technology challenges in electronic design automation, present leading-edge research and development solutions, and identify future roadmaps for design automation research areas. This year, ICCAD was held in San Diego, CA, on 4–8 November 2018 at the Hilton Resort in Mission Bay. San Diego’s dependably perfect weather made for a great backdrop for the 37th installment of the conference. We had over 400 attendees at ICCAD this year for the regular program and workshops combined, thanks in part to the location. We hope to have ICCAD back in San Diego at some point in the near future.
Opioid Use Disorder during Antepartum and Postpartum Hospitalizations.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate temporal trends in opioid use disorder (OUD) during antepartum and postpartum hospitalizations. STUDY DESIGN This repeated cross-sectional analysis analyzed data from the National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample. Women aged 15 to 54 years admitted antepartum or postpartum were identified. The presence of OUD was determined based on a diagnosis of opioid abuse, opioid dependence, or opioid overdose. Temporal trends in OUD were evaluated using the Rao-Scott chi-square test. Temporal trends in opioid overdose were additionally evaluated. RESULTS An estimated 7,336,562 antepartum hospitalizations and 1,063,845 postpartum readmissions were included in this analysis. The presence of an OUD diagnosis during antepartum hospitalizations increased from 0.7% of patients in 1998 to 1999 to 2.9% in 2014 (p < 0.01) and during postpartum hospitalizations increased from 0.8% of patients in 1998 to 1999 to 2.1% of patients in 2014 (p < 0.01). Risk of overdose diagnoses increased significantly for both antepartum hospitalizations, from 22.7 per 100,000 hospitalizations in 1998 to 2000 to 70.3 per 100,000 hospitalizations in 2013 to 2014 (p < 0.001), and postpartum hospitalizations, from 18.8 per 100,000 hospitalizations in 1998 to 2000 to 65.2 per 100,000 hospitalizations in 2013 to 2014 (p = 0.02). DISCUSSION Risk of OUD diagnoses and overdoses increased over the study period for both antepartum and postpartum hospitalizations.
Care and Conveyance: Buying Baladi Bread in Cairo

The Egyptian government has long subsidized bread as part of its program of social support. Most Egyptians eat this subsidized bread, known as baladi bread, daily. We examine everyday practices of handling baladi bread as casual care. Scholarship on care has drawn attention to the multiple ways in which care can be practiced around a range of human and nonhuman others. Casual care signals a mode of practice that constitutes care but that is not necessarily performed by its practitioners as such. It is intentional but also habitual, deliberate but also perfunctory. We look at people’s casual care for baladi bread during the understudied phase of conveyance, between the moment of purchase and arrival at home. Practices of handling and selecting bread help produce the quality of the baladi bread that people are eating. While past bread riots have underscored the political salience of this bread, casual care elucidates what goes on between these moments of crisis, revealing the role of people’s day-to-day actions in producing a general level of satisfaction with subsidized bread. This analysis draws theoretical attention to how care is practiced, opening up space for thinking about kinds of care that are not all that careful in their enactment.
Electric-double-layer-gated transistors based on two-dimensional crystals: recent approaches and advances

Electric-double-layer (EDL) gated transistors use ions in an electrolyte to induce charge in the channel of the transistor by field-effect. Because a sub-nanometer gap capacitor is created at the electrolyte/channel interface, large capacitance densities (~µF/cm2) corresponding to high sheet carrier densities (1014 cm-2) can be induced, exceeding conventional gate dielectrics by about one order of magnitude. Because it is an interfacial technique, EDL gating is especially effective on two-dimensional (2D) crystals, which - at the monolayer limit - are basically interfaces themselves. Both solid polymer electrolytes and ionic liquids are routinely used as ion-conducting gate dielectrics, and they have provided access to regimes of transport in 2D materials that would be inaccessible otherwise. The technique, now widely used, has enabled the 2D crystal community to study superconductivity, spin- and valleytronics, investigate electrical and structural phase transition, and create abrupt p-n junctions to generate tunneling, among others. In addition to using EDL gating as a tool to investigate properties of the 2D crystals, more recently efforts have emerged to engineer the electrolyte to add new functionality and device features, such as synaptic plasticity, bistability and non-volatility. Example of potential applications include neuromorphic computing and non-volatile memory. This review focuses on using ions for electrostatic control of 2D crystal transistors both to uncover basic properties of the 2D crystal, and also to add new device functionalities.
The Effect of Stiff Foot Plate Length on Walking Gait Mechanics

Exoskeletons are increasingly being used to treat gait pathologies. Many of these exoskeletons use a foot plate to actuate the foot, altering the effective stiffness of the foot. Stiffness of the biological foot and ankle plays an important role in the energy modulating function of the leg, so it is important to examine how a foot plate in and of itself impacts gait. Therefore, this study quantified how foot plates themselves alter the walking gait of 16 healthy young adults. The effect of the foot plate length was also examined through the use of two foot plates, one that ended at the metatarsals and one that extended past the toes, about 20% longer. Gait parameters examined included walking speed, step frequency, joint angles for the hip, knee, ankle, forefoot, and toe, ground reaction forces (GRF), and foot-ankle power. The most significant changes were caused by the full plate, which caused an average 13% decrease in the ankle range of motion (ROM) and a 23% decrease in forward GRF at push off. The shorter plate also decreased ankle ROM to a lesser degree. This indicates that the presence of a foot plate impacted foot and ankle kinematics. However, the presence of the tested foot plate had no effect on walking speed or hip or knee kinematics. This indicates that subjects were mostly able to compensate both kinematically and energetically via their foot and ankle for the increased foot stiffness due to the tested foot plate.
Possibilities for Using A Qualitative Research Approach In The Sociological Study of Leisure

This paper suggests that a psychological definition of leisure as a condition, experience, or state of mind may be used by leisure sociologists as a spring board for meaningful inquiry. Further, if...
Nano materials need stricter EU regulation

Nano materials need stricter EU regulation REACH is the EU regulation adopted to protect health and environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals. Companies have the responsibility of collecting information on the uses of manufactured or imported substances above one tonne per year. They also have to make an assessment of the potential risks presented by the substance. Nanomaterials contain chemical substances which are regulated by REACH. However, nanomaterials have unique characteristics and are manufactured and used on a very small scale. Therefore, REACH is at present not well adjusted to regulate nanomaterials. Neither is the approval process for new drugs well adjusted for compounds containing nanomaterial. Improvement of the European medical technology regulation that takes nanomaterial into consideration is under way although it is delayed. There is a lack of data on the degree of exposure to nanomaterial and effects on human health and environment. Such information is needed to obtain adequate regulation.