cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Contribution of asparagine catabolism to Salmonella virulence

Salmonellae are pathogenic bacteria that cause significant morbidity and mortality in humans worldwide. Salmonellae establish infection and avoid clearance by the immune system by mechanisms that are not well understood. We previously showed that l-asparaginase II produced by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S Typhimurium) inhibits T cell responses and mediates virulence. In addition, we previously showed that asparagine deprivation such as that mediated by l-asparaginase II of S Typhimurium causes suppression of activation-induced T cell metabolic reprogramming. Here, we report that STM3997, which encodes a homolog of disulfide bond protein A (dsbA) of Escherichia coli, is required for l-asparaginase II stability and function. Furthermore, we report that l-asparaginase II localizes primarily to the periplasm and acts together with l-asparaginase I to provide S Typhimurium the ability to catabolize asparagine and assimilate nitrogen. Importantly, we determined that, in a murine model of infection, S Typhimurium lacking both l-asparaginase I and II genes competes poorly with wild-type S Typhimurium for colonization of target tissues. Collectively, these results indicate that asparagine catabolism contributes to S Typhimurium virulence, providing new insights into the competition for nutrients at the host-pathogen interface.
Biochemical Characterization of a Recombinant FIX Drug Candidate for Treatment of Hemophilia B

Abstract 4658 Human coagulation factor IX (FIX) is a vitamin-K-dependent coagulation factor whose absence or dysfunction causes hemophilia B. Treatment of hemophilia B is based on replacement therapy using highly purified FIX concentrates. Baxter has developed a recombinant factor IX for treating hemophilia B patients that is produced in a CHO cell-line using a serum and protein-free fermentation technology. The purification process avoids the use of immune-affinity chromatography and includes two viral reduction steps. The final drug product is formulated in the absence of proteins of animal or human origin. Baxter9s recombinant FIX resembles commercially available rFIX in most characteristics with the exception of a significantly lower FIXa content, which might improve standardization compared to commercial rFIX products. Preclinical and clinical lots of rFIX were characterized with respect to their hemostatic potency, efficiency of activation by FXIa and FVIIa in the presence of tissue factor, and capacity to bind to phospholipid vesicles. Three lots of commercial rFIX with different potencies and one lot of a plasma-derived FIX product were included in the study. Similarity could be shown between the preclinical and clinical lots of rFIX in all these assays. Furthermore, the functional and biochemical characterization of Baxter9s recombinant FIX showed that it resembles the recombinant comparator product. The phase I clinical trial which has been initiated will now have to show whether Baxter9s rFIX can become an alternative drug candidate product for treating patients suffering from hemophilia B. Disclosures: Turecek: Baxter Innovations GmbH: Employment. Vejda: Baxter Innovations GmbH: Employment. Varadi: Baxter Innovations GmbH: Employment. Rottensteiner: Baxter Innovations GmbH: Employment. Boehm: Baxter Innovations GmbH: Employment. Reiter: Baxter Innovations GmbH: Employment. Kaliwoda: Baxter Innovations GmbH: Employment. Mundt: Baxter Innovations GmbH: Employment. Ehrlich: Baxter Innovations GmbH: Employment. Scheiflinger: Baxter Innovations GmbH: Employment.
Cognitive Behavioral Treatment of PTSD with Comorbid Panic Attacks

Many individuals that experience traumatic events such as sexual and physical assault develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). More recently, research has indicated that a significant proportion of PTSD sufferers may also have comorbid panic attacks. Although there are several effective treatments that focus on alleviating PTSD symptoms, until now there were no treatments that focused on also treating comorbid panic attacks. Multiple channel exposure therapy (M-CET) is the first treatment developed to specifically treat comorbid PTSD and panic attacks. It is also unique in that it has been used to treat women who have multiple trauma histories as well as a wide range of different types of traumatic event exposure in a group format. This treatment is described in a session by session format and special considerations in implementing the treatment are discussed.
Low Risk of Relapse in Pediatric Patients after Double Unit Cord Blood Transplantation.

Unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) has become a standard therapeutic option for pediatric patients who may benefit from hematopoietic stem cell transplantation but lack an adequate HLA-identical related donor. UCB has the advantages of rapid availability and presumably lower risk of severe, acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) despite donor-recipient human leukocyte antigen (HLA) disparity. Double-unit UCBT (DUCBT) extends access to transplantation to patients who were previously disqualified on the basis of the available cell dose in a single unit. Recent studies report high engraftment rate, low incidence of severe acute GVHD and a relatively low transplantation-related mortality in DUCBT. (Barker Blood. 2005; 105:1343–1347). It is unknown, however, whether patients with advanced hematological malignancies and patients with the severe co-morbidities would benefit from DUCBT. Seven patients, 5 males and 2 females, age 5.2–15 yrs (median 14 yr), 5 with advanced hematological malignancies; were given DUCBT. The diagnoses were AML (n=3; refractory n=1, 2CR n=1, 3CR n=1)), ALL (n=4; 1CR Ph+ I n =1, 2CR Ph+ n=1, both MRD+, 2CR n=2). Five of seven were non-Caucasian (71%). Co-morbidities included recent invasive fungal infection (n=3), acute pancreatitis (n=1), and bulbar paralysis (n=1). Conditioning regimes were FTBI and melphalan d (n=3) and fludarabine and melphalan (n=4). Myeloid engraftment occurred in all patients. The median time to an absolute neutrophil count >500 was 34 days (range 26–74 days). Three patient remained platelet transfusion dependent after day 100. In the remaining 4 patients the median time to a platelet count >20,000 unsupported were 51 days (range 44–69 days). All patients (100%) experienced Grades II-III acute GVHD. There were no patients with Grade IV GVHD and no deaths from acute GVHD. Four patients developed extensive chronic GVHD of the skin only. The 100 day transplant related mortality was 0%. One patient died on day + 200 from respiratory failure. None of the patient suffered relapse. The disease-free survival is 80% with a median day +348 post transplant (range 116–1069). The observation that DUCBT may be associated with a reduced risk of relapse in patients with high-risk leukemia deserves further evaluation. Larger studies will be needed to investigate potential mechanisms by which DUCBT could mediate an anti-leukemic effect and to confirm the clinical experience.
Use of a Digital Self-Management Platform for Improving Access in Epilepsy Patients (I14.004)

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the parent study was to test the effectiveness of an online patient-driven community to improve epilepsy self-management behaviors. BACKGROUND: Since digital health tools offer an alternative solution to traditional barriers to care (distance, time constraints, cost), this study sought to test the effectiveness of an existing online patient community to improve patient self-management. The digital platform, hosted on PatientsLikeMe, included an online forum community, self-tracking tools for seizures, side effects, and medication compliance, and video educational modules. All of these features were available through desktop, tablet, and mobile devices to any patient with internet access at any time of day. DESIGN/METHODS: For the study, 249 Veteran patients with epilepsy consented and entered the platform; 92 patients completed six weeks of participation. These patients completed validated questionnaires of epilepsy self-management (ESMS) and self-efficacy (ESES) prior to entering the platform and at the end of the study period. For these ‘completers’, there was a statistically significant improvement in both outcome metrics (ESMS total 139.7 to 142.7, p=0.02 and ESES total 244.2 to 254.4, p=0.02) in a pre-post comparison. The greatest impact was observed for an information management subscale (ESMS-information management 20.3 to 22.4, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that an internet-based health platform was feasible to implement in a cohort of patients with epilepsy and demonstrated a positive impact on validated self-management metrics. Since traditional, in-person self-management and education programs face significant access barriers, this digital approach promises an improved patient experience and compliance. These types of platforms can be readily accessed by anyone with internet connectivity, across multiple device types, and at an extremely low cost. Thus, these types of scalable and flexible programs should be viewed as a promising to new approach to tackling epilepsy stigma and limited access to care. Study Supported by: UCB Inc. Disclosure: Dr. Hixson has received personal compensation for activities with Lumetra Healthcare Solutions as consultant.
First-Forbidden Matrix Elements in β Decay

An assumed form for the linear combination in $\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay ($S\ensuremath{-}T+{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{P}P$), is used as a tool to explore the features of nuclear structure revealed by first-forbidden matrix elements. The assumptions made are sufficient to account for the observed fact that most first-forbidden transitions have $log\mathrm{ft}$ values centering around 6.5, 7.5, and 8.5, according as $\ensuremath{\Delta}I=0, 1, or 2$. The squared matrix elements are reduced by an order of magnitude (i) when configuration mixing occurs, as in the usual, "unfavored" transitions, in contrast to the "favored" transitions around $A=208$; (ii) when the single-particle spin change $\ensuremath{\Delta}j$ predicted by the shell model exceeds the nuclear spin change $\ensuremath{\Delta}I$. From (i) and (ii) it is concluded that the elementary form of the shell model specifies individual particle orbitals with good accuracy but that configuration mixing is also of major importance, although it is not encompassed by the simple shell model. The ${2}^{\ensuremath{-}}$\ensuremath{\rightarrow}${2}^{+}$ transitions can be classified under (ii); their apparently straight spectra should average on the order of 10 percent $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ type. The only consistent interpretation of the RaE decay is as a ${1}^{\ensuremath{-}}$\ensuremath{\rightarrow}${0}^{+}$ transition; it is possible to predict that this kind of spectrum is unlikely to occur at any other mass number $A$. Evidence for the presence of the pseudoscalar interaction $P$ in the linear combination is then provided by the low $\mathrm{ft}$ values of $\ensuremath{\Delta}I=0$ transitions.
The impact of extended release exenatide as adjuvant therapy on hemoglobin A1C, weight, and total daily dose of insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using U-500 insulin.

Abstract Aims To evaluate the efficacy and safety of adjuvant exenatide extended release (ER) therapy in patients treated with regular U-500 insulin. Methods In this retrospective chart review at an ambulatory care center in the Midwest, 18 patients with type 2 diabetes being treated with regular U-500 insulin and adjuvant exenatide ER were identified. These patients were evaluated for outcomes following the addition of exenatide ER. The primary outcome was change in HbA1C from baseline to 3, 6, and 12 months. Secondary outcomes included change in weight, total daily dose (TDD) of insulin, and hypoglycemia. Repeated measures ANOVA was performed to assess the differences in mean scores over four time periods. Results A total of 18 of 50 patients met inclusion criteria with sufficient data to be included in analysis. HbA1C showed non-significant findings from baseline to 12 months (8.08% vs. 8.23%; p = 0.75). A non-significant, modest weight loss occurred (146.4 kg vs. 144.2 kg; −2.2 kg; p = 0.31). A significant decrease in TDD of insulin was observed (378 units vs. 326 units; p Conclusions In patients treated with regular U-500 insulin, adjuvant exenatide ER therapy showed no significant improvement in HbA1C, but did show modest weight loss as well as decreased insulin requirements to achieve a HbA1C that was comparable to baseline.
Whole-Body Oxygen (16O) Ion-Exposure-Induced Impairments in Social Odor Recognition Memory in Rats are Dose and Time Dependent

Future long-duration space missions will involve travel outside of the Earth's magnetosphere, which will result in increased radiation exposure for astronauts. Exposure could permanently damage multiple tissues, including the central nervous system (CNS), and result in deleterious effects on cognition and behavior during and beyond the mission. Here, we assessed the effects of whole-body oxygen ion (16O; 1,000 MeV/n) exposure (5 or 25 cGy) on social odor recognition memory in male Long-Evans rats at one and six months after exposure. At one month postirradiation, all rats displayed a preference for a novel 1 (N1) social odor experienced during the habituation phase. When assessed for recognition memory 24 h later, only sham-irradiated rats spent more time exploring a second novel social odor (novel 2, N2), whereas rats irradiated with 5 or 25 cGy 16O ions did not show a preference for the N2 odor compared to the N1 odor experienced 24 h earlier, thus displaying a memory deficit for recall of the social od...
Cupping Therapy Simulation Course; A Pilot Study Assessing Self Reporting of Confidence, Expectations/Satisfaction and Performance

This paper aimed to assess self-reporting of confidence, expectations/satisfaction, and performance of medical students before and after the cupping therapy simulation training course and to validate cupping simulation training evaluation questionnaire (CSTEQ). It was a pilot study to evaluate cupping therapy simulation course provided by National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). The number of participants was 29/41 (70.7%) (20 females and 9 males) before training and 20/41 (48.9%) (9 females and 11 males) after training who returned the (CSTEQ) questionnaire. A significant improvement of performance scale and total score were noted after the cupping simulation training. Significant differences in confidence (P=0.013), expectations/satisfaction (P=0.001), performance (P=0.007) and total scoring (P=0.001) between male and female medical students were noted in favor of males. We can conclude that medical students reported significant improvement in performance and overall scoring after cupping therapy simulation course. Cupping simulation training evaluation questionnaire (CSTEQ) may be a reliable test tool. Cupping therapy simulation course should be encouraged, updated and extended to satisfy the learning needs especially of the female medical student. Future large-scale studies were recommended.
Strong Hydrophobic Coating by Conducting a New Hierarchical Architecture

While the hydrophobicity for a self-cleaning surface is feasibly obtained via rational designs of nanostructured materials,1-2 the longevity of coatings due to the rapid function loss and weak interface bonding and the scalability due to the limited size are not on a solid footing.3 In this article, we report the synthesis of flexible self-cleaning coating with improved mechanical and chemical stability on the basis of a new hierarchical architecture, which comprises functionalized epoxy (EP) resins and industrially available activated carbons. In parallel, a self-cleaning coating with high transparency can be obtained by replacing with oxide particles, which further expands the application fields. The strong bonding force from alkene CH3–C–CH3 and phenyl groups in bisphenol A diglycidyl ether contributes to high rigidity, high toughness, and high-temperature tolerance while the ether linkages lead to high chemical resistance.4 A greatly enhanced adhesion to substrates originates from the preferable inter...
Long-Range Structural Changes in the Meiotic Nucleus Revealed by Changes in Stress Communication Along the Chromosome

Homologous recombination drives structural reorganization of the nucleus in early meiosis. In order to investigate the connection between homolog pairing, meiotic progression, and the dynamics of the underlying chromatin, we tracked flourescently labeled homolog pairs in synchronized S. cerevisae. Various previously unreported statistics of the anomalous inter-loci motion correlate with meiotic progression and can be quantitatively reproduced by a simple polymer model of the sister chromatids. The first of these is the distribution of waiting times for the homologous loci to come into and out of contact with each other (loosely, inter-locus “looping” and “unlooping” times). The full shape of the looping time distribution can be quantitatively reproduced by a simple model of two polymers diffusing independently in a spherical confinement. This finding suggests a dominant role for diffusion-limited, undirected search in homolog pairing in early meiosis. This is in sharp contrast with the intuition that a heavy-tailed search process could never drive such a critical cell-cycle stage. We further show that the inter-locus velocity-velocity correlation (VVC) quantitatively matches analytical results for the inter-locus VVC of our polymer model, allowing us to leverage our analytical theory to extract the time scale of stress communication between the labeled loci along the chromosome. We show that stresses can take tens of minutes to propagate between loci on paired chromosomes, and that the increasing connectivity between the chromosomes as the cell progresses through meiosis can be quantified by the shortening of this communication time. Our study highlights the power of coarse-grained polymer models to analyze dynamic structural properties of the nucleus in vivo and the importance of analytical theory for uncovering intracellular connections that might be obscured by lag times of many minutes.
Neural activation during delay discounting is associated with 6-month change in risky sexual behavior in adolescents.

Background Identifying cognitive and neural mechanisms of decision making in adolescence can enhance understanding of, and interventions to reduce, risky health behaviors in adolescence. Delay discounting, or the propensity to discount the magnitude of temporally distal rewards, has been associated with diverse health risk behaviors, including risky sex. This cognitive process involves recruitment of reward and cognitive control brain regions, which develop on different trajectories in adolescence and are also implicated in real-world risky decision making. However, no extant research has examined how neural activation during delay discounting is associated with adolescents' risky sexual behavior. Purpose To determine whether a relationship exists between adolescents' risky sexual behavior and neural activation during delay discounting. Methods Adolescent participants completed a delay discounting paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, and they reported risky sexual behavior at baseline, 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-up time points. Latent growth curve models were employed to determine relationships between brain activation during delay discounting and change in risky sexual behavior over time. Results Greater activation in brain regions associated with reward and cognitive control (caudate, putamen, nucleus accumbens, anterior cingulate, insula, orbitofrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) during delay discounting was associated with lower mean levels of risky sexual behavior but greater growth over the period from baseline to 6 months. Conclusions Neural activation during delay discounting is cross-sectionally and prospectively associated with risky sexual behavior in adolescence, highlighting a neural basis of risky decision-making as well as opportunities for early identification and intervention.
Multi-robot Scheduling and Path-Planning for Non-overlapping Operator Attention

There is a growing need for robots to perform complex tasks autonomously. However, there remain certain tasks that cannot - or should not - be completely automated. While these tasks may require one or several operators, we can oftentimes schedule when an operator should assist. We build on our previous work to present a methodology for allocating operator attention across multiple robots while attempting to minimize the execution time of the robots involved. In this paper, we: 1) Analyze of the complexity of this problem, 2) Provide a scalable methodology for designing robot policies so that few operators can oversee many robots, 3) Describe a methodology for designing both policies and robot trajectories to permit operators to assist many robots, and 4) Present simulation and hardware experiments demonstrating our methodologies.
Epidemiology of Dementia

The validity of dementia epidemiology as an etiologic determinant can be questioned on the basis of statistical accuracy and because the topic is redundant. The subjectivity of mental disorder is so great that most objective criteria of mensuration are not effective as a source of meaningful data. We have noted this failure in psychometrics, EEG, and pathologic studies. The usefulness of statistics to amplify causal relationships of insanity was briskly treated by Bell in 1844: No reason has presented itself to justify receding from the views presented for several years past, of the unsoundness and consequent uselessness of what are called the statistics of insanity. Every year’s experience convinces me that those facts regarding this subject, which are capable of being arithmetically noted, are of too little moment to be worth recording at all, while those circumstances touching the duration, form, symptoms and event of cases, which would be truly important are, from their nature, incapable of being generalized tabularly into even a loose approximation to the truth. Statistics are doubtless valuable in relation to topics where accuracy is capable of being approached, but not in a legitimate mode of expressing mere opinions. I still find it impracticable in a vast proportion of cases, to fix with any certainty the point at which the mind lost its balance, and by which the duration of disease before admission can be determined, notwithstanding the great body of our inmates are from the intelligent and educated classes of society, where facts of this sort are attainable, if at all. I still find insanity rarely produced from a single cause, so marked as to permit beingtabularized accurately, but by a combination or accidental coincidence of causes, moral, physical and educational.
Imaging gold clusters on TiO2(110) at elevated pressures and temperatures

Variable temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) has been used to image oxide-supported nanoclusters of Au at temperatures from 300 to 450 K and oxygen pressures from 10−10 to 4 Torr. Oxygen-induced morphological changes of the TiO2(1×2) reconstruction are apparent at room temperature and prolonged exposure (∼3×103 L (langmuir)) at 10−4 Torr oxygen. Gold clusters with diameters smaller than ∼4 nm are unstable toward sintering at ca. 450 K and oxygen pressures >10−1 Torr. Oxygen at pressures >10−4 Torr weakens the interaction between the gold cluster and the titania support. Increasing the sample temperature to >300 K facilitates disruption of the cluster–support interaction.
Investigation of CATS aerosol products and application toward global diurnal variation of aerosols

Abstract. We present a comparison of 1064 nm aerosol optical depth (AOD) and aerosol extinction profiles from the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) level 2 aerosol product with collocated Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) AOD, Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua and Terra Dark Target AOD and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) AOD and extinction data for the period of March 2015–October 2017. Upon quality-assurance checks of CATS data, reasonable agreement is found between aerosol data from CATS and other sensors. Using quality-assured CATS aerosol data, for the first time, variations in AODs and aerosol extinction profiles are evaluated at 00:00, 06:00, 12:00 and 18:00 UTC (and/or 00:00, 06:00, 12:00 and 18:00 local time or LT) on both regional and global scales. This study suggests that marginal variations are found in AOD from a global mean perspective, with the minimum aerosol extinction values found at 18:00 LT near the surface layer for global oceans, for both the June–November and December–May seasons. Over land, below 500 m, the daily minimum and maximum aerosol extinction values are found at 12:00 and 00:00/06:00 LT, respectively. Strong diurnal variations are also found over north Africa, the Middle East and India for the December–May season, and over north Africa, south Africa, the Middle East and India for the June–November season.
Multimodal Indicators of Humor in Videos

In this paper, we propose a novel approach for generating unsupervised humor labels in videos using time-aligned user comments. We collected 100 videos and found a high agreement between our unsupervised labels and human annotations. We analyzed a set of speech, text and visual features, identifying differences between humorous and non-humorous video segments. We also conducted machine learning classification experiments to predict humor and achieved an F1-score of 0.73.
Occupational variation in burnout among medical staff: Evidence for the stress of higher status.

Abstract Contemporary research highlights the serious mental health issues facing physicians and allied health professionals. Yet to date, much of this research has focused on these occupational groups in isolation. Drawing upon data collected from medical staff in a neonatal intensive care unit (N = 222), we address this gap by contrasting the mental health and workplace experiences of four groups of healthcare workers: physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and respiratory therapists. We find evidence that higher status healthcare workers—physicians and nurse practitioners—are more likely than their colleagues to report work-life conflict, irregular work hours, and heavy work pressure. These stressors explain an appreciable amount of the higher levels of burnout found among physicians and nurse practitioners. Collectively, results lend support to “the stress of higher status” hypothesis and provide insights into the job demands and mental health issues confronted by today's medical workforce.
Approval processes in evidence-based clinical practice guidelines sponsored by medical specialty societies.

Objective To determine the approval processes for evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines sponsored by medical specialty societies in the United States. Study design and setting Cross-sectional analysis of published Clinical Practice Guidelines and Guideline procedure manuals, sponsored by the 43 members of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies in the United States. Approval processes were measured by written evidence in the specialty society’s guideline procedure manual or published guidelines, through May 2017. Results Among the 36 (of 43) specialty societies that published evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines, 27 (75%) required approval by a committee representing the society as a whole. None specified the criteria used for approval decisions. Six specialty societies (17%) required approval but included procedures to maintain some editorial independence for the guideline development group, such as approval by a guideline committee not an executive committee or approval dependent on fidelity to established guideline methodology, not content. One society required Board review, but not approval. The approval process was not reported by 2 (6%) of the specialty societies. Conclusions Most medical specialty societies in the U.S. require approval of guidelines by a board that represents the society as whole. Since medical specialty societies have loyalties to the patients they serve and to their physician members, and because the interests of those two groups may differ, such an approval process introduces a potential conflict of interest into the guideline development process.
Defining Transfers Between Multiple Service Robots

In a future where many robot assistants support human endeavors, interactions with multiple robots either simultaneously or sequentially will occur. This paper highlights an initial exploration into one type of sequential interaction, which we call "transfers'' between multiple service robots. We defined the act of transferring between service robots and further decomposed it into five stages. Our research was informed by a design workshop investigating usage of multiple service robots. We also identified open design and research questions on this topic.
News Work: The Impact of Corporate-implemented Technology on Local Television Newsroom Labor

By virtue of their licenses, local television stations in the United States must serve in the public interest of their communities. Because many stations’ ownership is by corporate conglomerates, h...
Predictors of Insufficient Preconception Multivitamin Use: An IMPLICIT Network Study.

Introduction Adequate maternal nutrition before pregnancy is important to reduce the risk of poor birth outcomes. However, patients report suboptimal intake of multivitamins with folic acid (MVIs). Methods We conducted a quality improvement study to identify predictors of insufficient multivitamin use in women of childbearing age at five University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) family health centers that implemented the IMPLICIT interconception care (ICC) model of maternal health screenings during well-child visits (WCVs). We derived this analysis from a retrospective chart review of patient-reported demographic information and physician documented maternal behaviors of 758 women who accompanied their children to 2,706 total well-child visits. Insufficient multivitamin use was defined as having one or more visits where the mother reported that she was not taking multivitamins. Results Insufficient multivitamin use at these health centers was associated with younger age (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.92, 0.98), less than high school education (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.56-6.80), public insurance (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.05-2.34), and increased number of well-child visits attended (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.31-1.61). Conclusion Among women who received screening, younger, low-income, and less educated women are likely to benefit from targeted interventions to improve multivitamin use during the interconception period. Findings also suggest that WCVs are a viable access point to assess and address multivitamin use and other desired maternal health behaviors.
Immunotherapy as a second-line or later treatment modality for advanced non-small cell lung cancer: A review of safety and efficacy

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 80-85% of these cases. Surgical resection is the most common conventional treatment of lung cancer. For patients with advanced NSCLC, platinum-based chemotherapy remains the cornerstone of treatment. Although platinum-based chemotherapy demonstrated improved outcomes, the need for the second-line/later therapies is evident. A review was conducted to assess the safety and efficacy of immunotherapies as the second-line/later therapy of advanced NSCLC. Clinical trial data was collected via PubMed and Clinicaltrials.gov. Recent studies were selected based on prespecified inclusion/exclusion criteria. Data on the safety and efficacy of the immunotherapy was subsequently compiled from relevant trials. Monoclonal antibodies targeting PD-1/PD-L1 showed the most promising results as the second-line/later treatment modalities. Immunizations did not produce as robust of an immune response in participants; however, they warrant further research to determine their place in therapy.
Macphatics and PoEMs in Postpartum Mammary Development and Tumor Progression.

Postpartum mammary gland involution is a mammalian tissue remodeling event that occurs after pregnancy and lactation to return the gland to the pre-pregnant state. This event is characterized by apoptosis and lysosomal-mediated cell death of the majority of the lactational mammary epithelium, followed by remodeling of the extracellular matrix, influx of immune cell populations (in particular, T helper cells, monocytes, and macrophages), and neo-lymphangiogenesis. This postpartum environment has been shown to be promotional for tumor growth and metastases and may partially account for why women diagnosed with breast cancer during the postpartum period or within 5 years of last childbirth have an increased risk of developing metastases when compared to their nulliparous counterparts. The lymphatics and macrophages present during mammary gland involution have been implicated in promoting the observed growth and metastasis. Of importance are the macrophages, which are of the “M2” phenotype and are known to create a pro-tumor microenvironment. In this report, we describe a subset of postpartum macrophages that express lymphatic proteins (PoEMs) and directly interact with lymphatic vessels to form chimeric vessels or “macphatics”. Additionally, these PoEMs are very similar to tumor-associated macrophages that also express lymphatic proteins and are present at the sites of lymphatic vessels where tumors escape the tissue and enter the lymphatic vasculature. Further characterizing these PoEMs may offer insight in preventing lymphatic metastasis of breast cancer, as well as provide information for how developmental programming of lymphatic endothelial cells and macrophages can contribute to different disease progression.
De-Centering Rome: The Politics of Global Architectural History

Teaching the history of architecture from a global perspective remains controversial. First, there is no consensus on what global history is or should be. Second, global history warrants a fundamen...
A Machine Learning Study of 534,023 Medicare Beneficiaries with COVID-19: Implications for Personalized Risk Prediction

Abstract Background Global demand for a COVID-19 vaccine will exceed the initial limited supply. Identifying individuals at highest risk of COVID-19 death may help allocation prioritization efforts. Personalized risk prediction that uses a broad range of comorbidities requires a cohort size larger than that reported in prior studies. Methods Medicare claims data was used to identify patients age 65 years or older with diagnosis of COVID-19 between April 1, 2020 and August 31, 2020. Demographic characteristics, chronic medical conditions, and other patient risk factors that existed before the advent of COVID-19 were identified. A random forest model was used to empirically explore factors associated with COVID-19 death. The independent impact of factors identified were quantified using multivariate logistic regression with random effects. Results We identified 534,023 COVID-19 patients of whom 38,066 had an inpatient death. Demographic characteristics associated with COVID-19 death included advanced age (85 years or older: aOR: 2.07; 95% CI, 1.99-2.16), male sex (aOR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.82-1.94), and non-white race (Hispanic: aOR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.66-1.83). Leading comorbidities associated with COVID-19 mortality included sickle cell disease (aOR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.21-2.47), chronic kidney disease (aOR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.29-1.36), leukemias and lymphomas (aOR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.14-1.30), heart failure (aOR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.16-1.22), and diabetes (aOR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.15-1.22). Conclusions We created a personalized risk prediction calculator to identify candidates for early vaccine and therapeutics allocation (www.predictcovidrisk.com). These findings may be used to protect those at greatest risk of death from COVID-19.
Analytic theory for the determination of velocity and stability of bubbles in a Hele-Shaw cell. Part 2: Stability

The analysis is extended to determine the linear stability of a bubble in a Hele-Shaw cell analytically. Only the solution branch corresponding to largest possible bubble velocity U for given surface tension is found to be stable, while all the others are unstable, in accordance with earlier numerical results.
Severe Tricuspid Valve Endocarditis: A Tale of 2 Circuits.

Abstract A 25-year-old woman with severe tricuspid valve endocarditis and septic pulmonary emboli required VA-ECMO for recurrent hypoxemia-induced cardiac arrest. We present the clinical challenges...
Glycans from streptococcal cell walls. Immunological and chemical properties of a new diheteroglycan from Streptococcus faecalis.

Abstract The cell wall of Streptococcus faecalis, strain N, has been found to contain two antigenic glycans, a diheteroglycan of glucose and galactose and a tetraheteroglycan of rhamnose, glucose, galactose, and N-acetylgalactosamine. The present report describes the isolation, purification, and structural and immunochemical characterization of the hitherto unknown diheteroglycan. A tentative structure has been proposed for the new glycan on the basis of structural information on oligosaccharides isolated from acid hydrolysates of the polymer and on the basis of immunological inhibition studies. Of considerable interest is the finding that, of the two major disaccharide moieties (lactosyl and gentiobiosyl) in the glycan, the lactosyl moiety is the immunodominant group.
Electrically controlled magnetization in ferromagnet-topological insulator heterostructures

Electrostatic control of magnetic anisotropy is proposed by utilizing a hybrid structure of a topological insulator (TI) and insulating ferromagnet. The concept relies on the exchange interaction at the interface and the subsequent change in the free energy of the combined system. Calculations illustrate that the spin-momentum interlocked nature of TI surface electrons can induce the out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy of the system. Moreover, it is shown that modulation of its strength via surface chemical potential can achieve magnetization rotation between the in-plane and out-of-plane directions with a characteristic time of nanoseconds. A deterministic 180${}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ turn is further hypothesized with the aid of a small TI surface current with natural spin polarization.
Discriminatory Algorithmic Mechanism Design Based WWW Content Replication

Replicating data over geographically dispersed web servers reduces network traffic, server load, and more importantly the user-perceived access delays. This paper proposes a unique replica placement technique using the concepts of a supergame. The supergame allows the agents who represent the data objects to continuously compete for the limited available server memory space, so as to acquire the rights to place data objects at the servers. At any given instance in time, the supergame is represented by a game which is a collection of subgames, played concurrently at each server in the system. We derive a resource allocation mechanism which acts as a platform at the subgame level for the agents to compete. This approach allows us to transparently monitor the actions of the agents, who in a noncooperative environment strategically place the data objects to reduce the user access time, latency, which in turn adds reliability and fault-tolerance to the system. We show that this mechanism exhibits Nash equilibrium at the subgame level which in turn conforms to games and supergame Nash equilibrium, respectively, guaranteeing the entire system to be in a continuous self-evolving and selfrepairing mode. The mechanism is extensively evaluated against some well-known algorithms, such as: greedy, branch and bound, game theoretical auctions and genetic algorithms. The experimental results reveal that the mechanism provides excellent solution quality, while maintaining fast execution time. Povzetek: Opisana je metoda za multipliciranje internetnih strani.
Comments on Yammarino's “Levels of analysis and the US Constitution”

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to respond to Yammarino's “Levels of analysis and the US Constitution”.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a conceptual assessment of the approach of Yammarino, suggesting an extension beyond “the” organization to groups of interacting organizations – where much contemporary innovation, and indeed economic activity takes place.Findings – The paper advocates extending organization theory explicitly to embrace multi‐firm and multi‐organizational collaborations. “The firm” as an isolated entity is increasingly less meaningful without its constellation of affiliates, partners and networks.Practical implications – Organization theorists, and managers, would do well to extend their horizons to include networks and partners, to understand how “organizations” work beyond their nominal boundaries.Originality/value – The paper highlights an extension of organization theory to reflect contemporary inter‐organizational cooperation.
Genes required for formation of the apoMoFe protein of Klebsiella pneumoniae nitrogenase in Escherichia coli.

A binary plasmid system was used to produce nitrogenase components in Escherichia coli and subsequently to define a minimum set of nitrogen fixation (nif) genes required for the production of the iron-molybdenum cofactor (FeMoco) reactivatable apomolybdenum-iron (apoMoFe) protein of nitrogenase. The active MoFe protein is an alpha 2 beta 2 tetramer containing two FeMoco clusters and 4 Fe4S4 P centers (for review see, Orme-Johnson, W.H. (1985) Annu. Rev. Biophys. Biophys. Chem. 14, 419-459). The plasmid pVL15, carrying a tac-promoted nifA activator gene, was coharbored in E. coli with the plasmid pGH1 which contained nifHDKTYENXUSVWZMF' derived from the chromosome of the nitrogen fixing bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae. The apoMoFe protein produced in E. coli by pGH1 + VL15 was identical to the apoprotein in derepressed cells of the nifB- mutant of K. pneumoniae (UN106) in its electrophoretic properties on nondenaturing polyacrylamide gels as well as in its ability to be activated by FeMoco. The constituent peptides migrated identically to those from purified MoFe protein during electrophoresis on denaturing gels. The concentrations of apoMoFe protein produced in nif-transformed strains of E. coli were greater than 50% of the levels of MoFe protein observed in derepressed wild-type K. pneumoniae. Systematic deletion of individual nif genes carried by pGH1 has established the requirements for the maximal production of the FeMoco-reactivatable apoMoFe protein to be the following gene products, NifHDKTYUSWZM+A. It appears that several of the genes (nifT, Y, U, W, and Z) are only required for maximal production of the apoMoFe protein, while others (nifH, D, K, and S) are absolutely required for synthesis of this protein in E. coli. One curious result is that the nifH gene product, the peptide of the Fe protein, but not active Fe protein itself, is required for formation of the apoMoFe protein. This suggests the possibility of a ternary complex of the NifH, D, and K peptides as the substrate for the processing to form the apoMoFe protein. We also find that nifM, the gene which processes the nifH protein into Fe protein (Howard, K.S., McLean, P.A., Hansen, F. B., Lemley, P.V., Kobla, K.S. & Orme-Johnson, W.H. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 772-778) can, under certain circumstances, partially replace other processing genes (i.e. nifTYU and/or WZ) although it is not essential for apoMoFe protein formation. It also appears that nifS and nifU, reported to play a role in Fe protein production in Azotobacter vinelandii, play no such role in K. pneumoniae, although these genes are involved in apoMoFe formation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Robust weighting in least-squares fits

Abstract Spectroscopic data sets often contain a significant number of outliers due to effects such as misassignments, trial assignments, or local perturbations. Standard fitting routines can be made robust to such outliers by the method of iteratively reweighted least squares. It is proposed here that the weight of datum i in a give iteration is given by w i =1/( σ i 2 + αr i 2 ), where σ i is the standard deviation for the idealized distribution without outliers, and r i is the residual from the previous iteration. The value of α should depend on the fractional number of outliers and the size of their residuals, but a standard value of α =1/3 is suggested for spectroscopic applications.
Shifting Childrearing to Single Mothers: Results from 17 Western Countries

THE FINAL THIRD of the twentieth century witnessed remarkable changes in patterns of family formation within most Western countries. During the two decades that followed World War II, marriage and childbearing occurred early in adulthood and were tightly linked. Then, beginning in the late 1960s in some countries and spreading to many others over the next few decades, the average age at first marriage increased as growing proportions of couples cohabited either as a prelude or an alternative to marriage (Bumpass and Sweet 1989b; Cherlin 1992; Casper and Cohen 2000; Kiernan 2000; Prinz 1995; Raley 2000; Smock 2000). Accompanying these changes in marriage practices were large increases in the prevalence of nonmarital childbearing (Sardon 2000; Ventura and Bachrach 2000), especially conspicuous in the face of rapid declines in marital fertility (Smith, Morgan, and KoropeckyjCox 1996). Labeled by van de Kaa (1987) as the “second demographic transition,” this multifaceted departure from the ordered sequence of marriage and childbearing has created challenges for researchers attempting to describe contemporary patterns of family formation with precision. The nonmarital fertility ratio (NMFR), perhaps the most closely watched indicator of changes in family structure, has become an increasingly blunt instrument in light of the share of nonmarital fertility accounted for by parental cohabitation. Moreover, most fertility studies cannot easily determine the number of children women have had by different partners (much less the number of childbearing partners that men have had). Different family forms are often confused in public rhetoric and sometimes even by those researchers who use marriage as a proxy for a nuclear household or nonmarriage as a proxy for single parenthood.