cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Flexible chains of ferromagnetic nanoparticles.

We report the fabrication of flexible chains of ferromagnetic Ni nanoparticles that possess the ability to adapt other than the typically observed rigid (nearly) straight configurations in the absence of an external magnetic field. The dynamic mobility of the ferromagnetic chains originates from a layer of densely grafted polyethylene glycol macromolecules enveloping each nanoparticle in the chain. While ferromagnetic chains of unmodified Ni nanoparticles behave as stiff nickel nanorods, the chains made of the grafted nanoparticles demonstrate extreme flexibility. Upon changing the direction of the field, and inevitably going through a zero-field point, the shorter chains undergo chain–globule–chain transformation. The longer chains can bend to a high degree, attaining “snake-like” configurations.
Studies of Introital Colonization in Women with Recurrent Urinary Infections. V. The Inhibitory Activity of Normal Vaginal Fluid on Proteus Mirabilis and Pseudomonas Aeruginosa

AbstractNormal vaginal fluid from premenopausal volunteers was inoculated with 10 strains of Proteus mirabilis and 14 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa at pH’s of 4.3, 4.6 and 4.9. All bacteria were killed at pH 4.3. Nine of 10 strains of Proteus mirabilis and 12 of 14 Pseudomonas aeruginosa were killed at pH 4.6. Only 4 of 14 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were killed at pH 4.9, while 8 of 10 strains of Proteus mirabilis were killed at the same pH. We conclude that in comparison to the common 0 group strains of Escherichia coli, vaginal fluid is more bactericidal to Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and that these observations may help explain the relative infrequency of bacteriuria owing to the organisms.
Unique Consumptive Use Curve Related to Irrigation Practice

By relating consumptive use to a suitable measure of weather conditions, such as evaporation, much of the variation in consumptive use disappears from day to day. The consumptive use-evaporation ratio has a minimum value when emergence occurs, increases to a peak at the beginning of flowering, and then diminishes until harvest occurs or the crop is essentially dead. By relating the consumptive use-evaporation ratio to relative growth, a unique curve results, which represents most agricultural crops. Three distinct stages of growth exist: Vegetative, flowering, and fruiting with the fruiting stage being considered in two parts - a wet fruit stage and a dry fruit stage. Irrigation practice can be related to the stages of growth and thus to the ratio of consumptive use to evaporation. Irrigation should be adjusted while the consumptive use-evaporation ratio is increasing to stimulate vegetative growth and to stimulate flowering near the peak values, followed by wet fruit, and finally by dry fruit during the final stages of maturity when the plant approaches a dormant or dead condition.
Use of Topiramate in Skin-Picking Disorder: A Pilot Study.

Objective Repetitive skin picking that culminates in skin lesions and excoriations has a fairly common prevalence and causes clinically significant distress. Myriads of agents have been used to treat the condition with no convincing results. Methods Ten patients (8 women and 2 men) with skin-picking disorder (per DSM-5 criteria) were enrolled in the study. The study was conducted from December 1, 2013, to December 29, 2014. The patients were treated with 12-week open-label topiramate in a titrating-upward dose (25-200 mg/d). Different measures to evaluate the efficacy of topiramate included subjective and objective assessment, photographs, the Skin Picking Scale modified after the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (SPS-Y-BOCS), the Skin Picking Impact Scale, the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement (CGI-I) and CGI-Severity scales, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory. Results Topiramate improved time spent skin picking from 85 minutes to 30 minutes per day. Seven patients (70%) were very much improved (n = 4) and much improved (n = 30) on the CGI-I. The scores on the Skin Picking Impact Scale and SPS-Y-BOCS also improved. The mean time to respond to topiramate was about 8 to 10 weeks. Anxiety and depression symptoms improved after reduction in skin-picking symptoms (the Beck Anxiety Inventory score improved from a mean of 38.8 to 13.8 and the Beck Depression Inventory score from 28.9 to 10.1). Conclusions Topiramate appears to be a promising agent in the treatment of skin-picking symptoms. Double-blind controlled trials are needed to further evaluate the safety and efficacy of topiramate in larger population samples. Trial registration ISRCTN registry identifier: ISRCTN15791118.
The authors reply regarding "Do heroin overdose patients require observation after receiving naloxone?"

Sir,We appreciate the thoughtful responses from Dr. Arens and colleagues and from Drs. Eggleston and Clemency. Both groups have concerns about high-potency fentanyl derivatives and synthetic opioid...
Structural violence and horizontal inequalities: conflict in southern Kyrgyzstan

ABSTRACTThis article, which offers a new theoretical explanation of the violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that emerged in southern Kyrgyzstan in 2010, explores the importance of historical legacie...
AGGREGATION QUASI-ORDERINGS

This chapter describes the aggregation quasi-orderings. A is the set of alternative social states, x. Every individual i have a set L i of real-valued welfare functions, W i each defined over X. It is found that if individual welfare is ordinally measurable, then every element of L. is a positive monotonic transformation of every other element and furthermore, every positive monotonic transformation of any element of L i belongs to L i . If, on the other hand, individual welfare is cardinally measurable, then every element of L i is a positive linear transformation of every other element, and every positive linear transformation of any element of L. belongs to L i . Full comparability holds only if W being any element of L implies that L includes only and all functional combinations W such that for all i, W i = a + b W i where a, and b > 0, are constants, invariant with i .
Raman Spectroscopy of Human Vitreous in Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

Purpose. Recent studies have demonstrated increased nonenzymatic glycation in vitreous from patients with diabetic retinopathy. The present study reports the use of Raman spectroscopy as a novel approach for investigating these molecular changes in human vitreous and experimental tissues. Methods. Near-infrared laser-excited Fourier-transform (FT) Raman spectroscopy (RS) was performed on vitreous specimens obtained at surgery from seven patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and from 10 controls. Measurements were also obtained from samples of control and glycated (in vitro) rat tail tendon collagen and demineralized chick bone collagen. Results. Spectroscopy of vitreous samples from patients with diabetic retinopathy revealed two prominent peaks at 1604 cm" 1 and 3057 cm" 1 , corresponding to aromatic C = C and C — H stretching vibrations in 7r-conjugated and aromatic molecules. The peak at 1604 cm" 1 was threefold higher in vitreous from patients with diabetes than from controls. Spectra obtained from experimental tissues provided evidence suggesting that the results obtained in human vitreous may be due to nonenzymatic glycation and not to the lysyl oxidase pathway. Conclusions. These findings suggest that human vitreous obtained from subjects with diabetes may be distinguished from control vitreous by FT-RS and that the peaks characterizing the diabetic samples are possibly due to nonenzymatic glycation. Raman spectroscopy may provide a useful method to elucidate the molecular events underlying these abnormalities. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1994;35:2976-2980.
H4K20me3 co-localizes with activating histone modifications at transcriptionally dynamic regions in embryonic stem cells

Bivalent chromatin domains consisting of the activating histone 3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) and repressive histone 3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) histone modifications are enriched at developmental genes that are repressed in embryonic stem cells but active during differentiation. However, it is unknown whether another repressive histone modification, histone 4 lysine 20 trimethylation (H4K20me3), co-localizes with activating histone marks in ES cells. Here, we describe the previously uncharacterized coupling of the repressive H4K20me3 heterochromatin mark with the activating histone modifications H3K4me3 and histone 3 lysine 36 trimethylation (H3K36me3), and transcriptional machinery (RNA polymerase II; RNAPII), in ES cells. These newly described bivalent domains consisting of H3K4me3/H4K20me3 are predominantly located in intergenic regions and near transcriptional start sites of active genes, while H3K36me3/H4K20me3 are located in intergenic regions and within gene body regions of active genes. Global sequential ChIP, also termed reChIP-Seq, confirmed the simultaneous presence of H3K4me3 and H4K20me3 at the same genomic regions in ES cells. Genes containing H3K4me3/H4K20me3 exhibit decreased RNAPII pausing and are poised for deactivation of RNAPII binding during differentiation relative to H3K4me3 marked genes. An evaluation of transcription factor (TF) binding motif enrichment revealed that DNA sequence may play a role in shaping the landscape of these novel bivalent domains. Moreover, H3K4me3/H4K20me3 and H3K36me3/H4K20me3 bound regions are enriched with repetitive LINE and LTR elements. Overall, these findings highlight a previously undescribed subnetwork of ES cell transcriptional circuitry that utilizes dual marking of the repressive H4K20me3 mark with activating histone modifications.
Communication, Holism,and the Evolution of Sociopolitical Complexity

In the eighteenth century, Europeans embraced church doctrine that ranked all creatures: the Great Chain of Being offered a hierarchy of divine order that both upheld class distinctions at home and served as a pious rationale for colonialism. By the end of the nineteenth century the new sciences of society had replaced religious doctrine, but scientific thought, drawing on the idea of progress, upheld similar conclusions: society had evolved “naturally” toward increasing inequality and complexity.
Neighborhood Environment in Studies of Health of Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Context Epidemiologists and public health researchers are studying neighborhood's effect on individual health. The health of older adults may be more influenced by their neighborhoods as a result of decreased mobility. However, research on neighborhood's influence on older adults' health, specifically, is limited. Evidence acquisition Recent studies on neighborhood and health for older adults were identified. Studies were identified through searches of databases including PsycINFO, CINAHL, PubMed, Academic Search Premier, Ageline, Social Science Citation Index, and Health Source. Criteria for inclusion were as follows: human studies; English language; study sample included adults aged ≥55 years; health outcomes, including mental health, health behaviors, morbidity, and mortality; neighborhood as the primary exposure variable of interest; empirical research; and studies that included ≥10 neighborhoods. Air pollution studies were excluded. Five hundred thirty-eight relevant articles were published during 1997–2007; a total of 33 of these articles met inclusion criteria. Evidence synthesis The measures of objective and perceived aspects of neighborhood were summarized. Neighborhood was primarily operationalized using census-defined boundaries. Measures of neighborhood were principally derived from objective sources of data; eight studies assessed perceived neighborhood alone or in combination with objective measures. Six categories of neighborhood characteristics were socioeconomic composition, racial composition, demographics, perceived resources and/or problems, physical environment, and social environment. The studies are primarily cross-sectional and use administrative data to characterize neighborhood. Conclusions These studies suggest that neighborhood environment is important for older adults' health and functioning.
Sexuality, contraception and the mentally retarded.

Sexuality marriage and contraceptive use for the mentally retarded are discussed and a historical perspective of attitudes toward their fertility is presented. Along with current improved understanding of medical and sociopsychiatric characteristics of the mentally retarded must come reevaluation of ideas about sexuality of such persons. Contraception should be considered a feasible method of reproductive control for many retardates with or without supervision and sterilization should be an alternative rather than a mandatory approach. Use of IUDs or an oral or injectable contraceptive is strongly suggested.
Collaborative discovery through biological language modeling interface

Scientific progress is exponentially increasing, and a typical example is the progress in the area of computational biology. Here, problems pertaining to biology and biochemistry are being solved by way of analogy through the application of computational theories from physics, mathematics, statistical mechanics, material science and computer science. More recently, theories from language processing have been applied to the mapping of protein sequences to their structure, dynamics and function under the Biological Language Modeling project. Scientists from diverse computational and linguistics backgrounds collaborate with experimental biologists and have made significant scientific contributions. The essential component of this collaborative discovery is the web server of the biological language modeling toolkit that enables the computational and non-computational scientists to interface and collaborate with each other. The web server acts as the computational laboratory to which researchers from a variety of scientific disciplines and geographical locations come to characterize specific attributes pertaining to their protein or groups of proteins of interest using the available tools. They then combine the results with their domain expertise to arrive at conclusions. The web server is also useful for education of students entering into the research field in computational biology in general. In this paper, we describe this web server and the results that were arrived at through local and global collaboration and education.
Conceptual issues in dermatology and medicine: Where do nonphysician practitioners rightfully belong-a dermatologist's perspective.

Abstract The invasion of the turf of medicine by nonphysician practitioners has not spared dermatology. The reasons behind this phenomenon are complex, as so many political issues are; some may be reasonable, others concerning. An undeniable consequence is that patients are being cared for by providers with significantly lower levels of medical education than that of medical doctors. The proper practice of dermatology, a visual specialty, is unquestionably dependent on experience complemented by scientific information; for this, years of postgraduate education are required. In this article, I expose, as I was invited to do with limitations, my opinions about the concept of having “midlevels,” providing medical care to patients afflicted by skin disease.
Transient Response Dynamics of Motor Coordination System in Man

The physiological model of human operator adaptive control of two competing control mechanisms has been suggested by reviewing the neurological and neurophysiological evidence. One mechanism is the postural control system, containing the muscle, motor nerves, the proprioceptive spindle stretch receptor, and bias control of spindle receptor. Competing with this is the proprioceptively open-loop voluntary control system with discontinuous properties (when the input signal is unpredictable). The simulated model, programmed on a digital computer, has been presented in Chapter 1 of Section V.
Disease-associated mutations in human TUBB3 disturb netrin repulsive signaling

Missense mutations in the human TUBB3 gene cause a variety of neurological disorders associated with defects in axon guidance and neuronal migration, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not well understood. Recent studies have shown that direct coupling of dynamic TUBB3 in microtubules with netrin receptors is required for netrin-1-mediated axon guidance, and the interaction of netrin-1 repulsive receptor UNC5C with TUBB3 is involved in netrin-1 mediated axonal repulsion. Here, we report that TUBB3 mutations perturb netrin-1/UNC5C repulsive signaling in the developing nervous system. Among twelve mutants reported in previous studies, five of them show significantly reduced interaction with UNC5C in comparison to the wild-type TUBB3. TUBB3 mutants R262C and R62Q exhibit decreased subcellular colocalization with UNC5C in the peripheral area of the growth cone of primary mouse neurons. Netrin-1 reduces the colocalization of UNC5C with wild-type TUBB3, but not TUBB3 mutants R262C or R62Q, in the growth cone. Results from the in vitro cosedimentation assay indicate that netrin-1 inhibits cosedimentation of UNC5C with polymerized microtubules in primary mouse neurons expressing the wild-type TUBB3, but not R262C or R62Q. Expression of either R262C or R62Q not only blocks netrin-1-induced growth cone collapse and axonal repulsion of primary EGL cells in vitro, but also results in axon projections defects of chicken dorsal root ganglion neurons in ovo. Our study reveals that human TUBB3 mutations specifically perturb netrin-1/UNC5C-mediated repulsion.
Mitochondrial dynamics and transport in Alzheimer's disease

Abstract Mitochondrial dysfunction is now recognized as a contributing factor to the early pathology of multiple human conditions including neurodegenerative diseases. Mitochondria are signaling organelles with a multitude of functions ranging from energy production to a regulation of cellular metabolism, energy homeostasis, stress response, and cell fate. The success of these complex processes critically depends on the fidelity of mitochondrial dynamics that include the ability of mitochondria to change shape and location in the cell, which is essential for the maintenance of proper function and quality control, particularly in polarized cells such as neurons. This review highlights several aspects of alterations in mitochondrial dynamics in Alzheimer's disease, which may contribute to the etiology of this debilitating condition. We also discuss therapeutic strategies to improve mitochondrial dynamics and function that may provide an alternative approach to failed amyloid-directed interventions.
Survey of Fishes, Semi-Aquatic Turtles, and Crayfishes on the Emporia State University Natural Areas

Emporia State University (ESU) manages eight natural areas that offer a range of habitats, both aquatic and terrestrial, and are home to a variety of flora and fauna. Throughout the Flint Hills, some fish, turtle, and crayfish species have experienced declines in range and population. To track possible changes in assemblage composition with respect to these animal groups, it is vital to have a baseline understanding of species presence on these areas. The objectives of our study were to compile and organize historical data pertaining to fish, semi-aquatic turtle, and crayfish species' presence on ESU's Natural Areas and to complete a survey of the areas to create an accurate list of the species present on each site. Historical data consisted of field reports from ESU faculty members sent to the Director of the Natural Areas from 1997–present, past master's students' theses, current studies being performed, and communications with faculty members. Surveys were conducted from spring 2018–spring 2019. We found 42 fish, four semi-aquatic turtle, and two crayfish species on the ESU Natural Areas, including new species records on six of the eight areas. Our study created baseline species presence data for the ESU Natural Areas and may serve as a reference for future sampling on these sites.
Marriage, Divorce, and Social Safety Net Policy

I study the effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and welfare reforms of the 1990s on flows into and out of marriage. I use test scores to predict who is most likely to be affected by the policy changes, and employ a flexible functional form to estimate heterogeneous effects. I find that lower‐earning married women are more likely to divorce as the EITC expands, but I find no effect of EITC generosity on marriage. I find little effect of welfare generosity on marriage or divorce flows for any group. My results suggest that there are nonsymmetric responses to policy on flows into and out of marriages.
Reconciling enumerative and deductive program synthesis

Syntax-guided synthesis (SyGuS) aims to find a program satisfying semantic specification as well as user-provided structural hypotheses. There are two main synthesis approaches: enumerative synthesis, which repeatedly enumerates possible candidate programs and checks their correctness, and deductive synthesis, which leverages a symbolic procedure to construct implementations from specifications. Neither approach is strictly better than the other: automated deductive synthesis is usually very efficient but only works for special grammars or applications; enumerative synthesis is very generally applicable but limited in scalability. In this paper, we propose a cooperative synthesis technique for SyGuS problems with the conditional linear integer arithmetic (CLIA) background theory, as a novel integration of the two approaches, combining the best of the two worlds. The technique exploits several novel divide-and-conquer strategies to split a large synthesis problem to smaller subproblems. The subproblems are solved separately and their solutions are combined to form a final solution. The technique integrates two synthesis engines: a pure deductive component that can efficiently solve some problems, and a height-based enumeration algorithm that can handle arbitrary grammar. We implemented the cooperative synthesis technique, and evaluated it on a wide range of benchmarks. Experiments showed that our technique can solve many challenging synthesis problems not possible before, and tends to be more scalable than state-of-the-art synthesis algorithms.
Overexpression of Kif1A in the Developing Drosophila Heart Causes Valvar and Contractility Defects: Implications for Human Congenital Heart Disease

Left-sided congenital heart defects (CHDs) are among the most common forms of congenital heart disease, but a disease-causing gene has only been identified in a minority of cases. Here, we identified a candidate gene for CHDs, KIF1A, that was associated with a chromosomal balanced translocation t(2;8)(q37;p11) in a patient with left-sided heart and aortic valve defects. The breakpoint was in the 5' untranslated region of the KIF1A gene at 2q37, which suggested that the break affected the levels of Kif1A gene expression. Transgenic fly lines overexpressing Kif1A specifically in the heart muscle (or all muscles) caused diminished cardiac contractility, myofibrillar disorganization, and heart valve defects, whereas cardiac knockdown had no effect on heart structure or function. Overexpression of Kif1A also caused increased collagen IV deposition in the fibrous network that normally surrounds the fly heart. Kif1A overexpression in C2C12 myoblasts resulted in specific displacement of the F-actin fibers, probably through a direct interaction with G-actin. These results point to a Kif1A-mediated disruption of F-actin organization as a potential mechanism for the pathogenesis in at least some human CHDs.
CFD to VorTECH Pressure-Field Comparison and Roughness Effect on Flow

AbstractA numerical simulator that very closely resembles the experimental tornado simulator facility called VorTECH at Texas Tech University (TTU) is modeled using three-dimensional simulation. De...
Association of Trauma Center Level and Patient Volume with Outcomes for Penetrating Thoracic Trauma

Abstract Background We investigated the potential link between trauma center American College of Surgeons verification level and institutional volume of penetrating thoracic trauma with outcomes for patients with penetrating thoracic trauma. Methods Penetrating thoracic injuries were identified in the National Trauma Data Bank from 2013 to 2016. Primary exposures were trauma center American College of Surgeons verification level and annual penetrating trauma caseload by center. Cox models were used to evaluate the association between primary exposures and mortality. Poisson regression was used to evaluate admission and outcome rate differences by trauma center status. Results Of 68,727 patients identified, 38% were treated at level I centers, 18% at level II centers, and 44% at other centers. Only 3.1% required major surgery for thoracic injury (3.1% at level I, 2.6% at level II, and 3.2% at other). Overall, annual volume of penetrating thoracic trauma was not associated with mortality. For specific injuries, level I centers had superior outcomes for injuries to the thoracic aorta and vena cava compared with other centers. Level I centers also showed improved outcomes for lung/bronchus injuries compared with level II centers. Level I centers had less sepsis/acute respiratory distress syndrome, but more surgical site infection, venous thromboembolism, and unplanned operation compared with non–level I centers. Conclusions There was no identified impact of penetrating thoracic trauma volume or trauma center verification level on overall mortality. However, level I verification did correlate with improved outcomes for some specific injuries. Further study to identify factors that improve outcomes in patients with high-risk penetrating thoracic mechanisms is warranted.
Structures of Concentrated Sulfuric Acid Determined from Density, Conductivity, Viscosity, and Raman Spectroscopic Data

Addition of water to stoichiometric 100% sulfuric acid increases the density untila maximum results near 87 mole% H2SO4. The density and conductivity maximaand viscosity minimum, the latter two near 75 mole%, are direct macroscopicresponses to microscopic quantum mechanical properties of H3O+ and of nearlysymmetric H-bond double-well potentials, as follows: (1) lack of H bonding tothe O atom of H3O+; (2) short, 2.4–2.6 A, O—O distances of nearly symmetricH bonds; and, (3) increased mobility of protons in such short H bonds, give riseto the density maximum via (1) and (2); (1) produces the viscosity minimum;and the conductivity maximum results from (2) and (3). A pronounced minimumnear 1030 cm−1 in the symmetric SO3 stretching Raman frequency of HSO4−,observed near 45 mole% also results from double-well effects involving the shortH bonds of direct hydronium ion—bisulfate ion pair interactions. Estimates of theconcentrations of the (H3O+)(HSO4−) and (H2SO4)(HSO4−) pair interactions weredetermined from Raman intensity data and are given for compositions between42–100 mole%
Exploring the Associations Between Delayed School Entry and Achievement in Primary and Secondary School

This research investigated whether delayed school entry was associated with higher achievement in national tests of reading and numeracy in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9 (n = 2,823). Delayed entry was related to advantages in reading (0.14 SD) and numeracy (0.08 SD) at Grade 3, although little variance was explained (1%-2%). This slight advantage persisted for both domains in Grades 5 and 7, albeit with smaller effects. In Grade 9 there was no association between delayed entry and either reading or numeracy. Exploratory analyses with subsamples in each grade (n = 424-667) revealed no associations between delayed entry and achievement after controlling for inattention and hyperactivity, and negative associations between inattention and achievement in all grades in both domains (-0.33, -0.49 SD).
Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hospital Admissions from COVID-19 and Determining the Impact of Neighborhood Deprivation and Primary Language

Importance Despite past and ongoing efforts to achieve health equity in the United States, persistent disparities in socioeconomic status along with multilevel racism maintain disparate outcomes and appear to be amplified by COVID-19. Objective Measure socioeconomic factors and primary language effects on the risk of COVID-19 severity across and within racial/ethnic groups. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Health records of 12 Midwest hospitals and 60 clinics in the U.S. between March 4, 2020 to August 19, 2020. Participants PCR+ COVID-19 patients. Patients missing race or ethnicity data or those diagnosed with COVID-19 during a hospitalization were excluded. Exposures Main exposures included race/ethnicity, area deprivation index (ADI), and primary language. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was COVID-19 severity using hospitalization within 45 days of diagnosis. Logistic and competing-risk regression models (censored at 45 days and accounting for the competing risk of death prior to hospitalization) assessed the effects of neighborhood-level deprivation (using the ADI) and primary language. Within race effects of ADI and primary language were measured using logistic regression. Results 5,577 COVID-19 patients were included, 866 (n=15.5%) were hospitalized within 45 days of diagnosis. Hospitalized patients were older (60.9 years, IQR: 45.7-75.9 vs. 40.4 years, IQR: 25.6-58.3, p<0.001) and more likely to be male (n=425 [49.1%] vs. 2,049 [43.5%], p=0.002). Of those requiring hospitalization, 43.9% (n=381), 19.9% (n=172), 18.6% (n=161), and 11.8% (n=102) were White, Black, Asian, and Hispanic, respectively. Independent of ADI, minority race/ethnicity was associated with COVID-19 severity; Hispanic patients (OR 3.8, 95% CI 2.72-5.30), Asians (OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.74-3.29), and Blacks (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.15-1.94). Surprisingly ADI was not associated with hospitalization; however, consistent trends within racial/ethnic groups were observed. Furthermore, non-English speaking (OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.51-2.43) significantly increased odds of hospital admission across and within minority groups. Conclusions Minority populations have increased odds of severe COVID-19 independent of neighborhood deprivation, a commonly suspected driver of disparate outcomes during the pandemic. Non-English speaking also accounts for between and within minority populations. These results support continued concern that racism contributes to disparities during COVID-19 while also highlighting the underappreciated role primary language plays in COVID-19 severity across and within minority groups.
Total syntheses of spiroviolene and spirograterpene A: a structural reassignment with biosynthetic implications

The recent natural product isolates spiroviolene and spirograterpene A are two relatively non-functionalized linear triquinane terpenes with a large number of structural homologies. Nevertheless, three significant areas of structural disparity exist based on their original assignments, one of which implies a key stereochemical divergence early in their respective biosyntheses. Herein, using two known bicyclic ketone intermediates, a core Pd-catalyzed Heck cyclization sequence, and several chemoselective transformations, we describe concise total syntheses of both natural product targets and propose that the structure of spiroviolene should be reassigned. As a result, these natural products possess greater homology than previously anticipated.
Modeling the Impact of Delaying the Diagnosis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer during COVID-19.

Background The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led surgical societies to recommend delaying diagnosis and treatment of suspected lung cancer for lesions less than 2 cm. Delaying diagnosis can lead to disease progression, but the impact of this delay on mortality is unknown. The COVID-19 infection rate at which immediate operative risk exceeds benefit is unknown. We sought to model immediate versus delayed surgical resection in a suspicious lung nodule less than 2 cm. Methods A decision analysis model was developed, and sensitivity analyses performed. The base case was a 65-year-old male smoker with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease presenting for surgical biopsy of a 1.5 to 2 cm lung nodule highly suspicious for cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. We compared immediate surgical resection to delayed resection after 3 months. The likelihood of key outcomes was derived from the literature where available. The outcome was 5-year overall survival. Results Immediate surgical resection resulted in a similar but slightly higher 5-year overall survival when compared with delayed resection (0.77 versus 0.74) owing to the risk of disease progression. However, if the probability of acquired COVID-19 infection is greater than 13%, delayed resection is favorable (0.74 vs 0.73). Conclusions Immediate surgical biopsy of lung nodules suspicious for cancer in hospitals with low COVID-19 prevalence likely results in improved 5-year survival. However, as the risk of perioperative COVID-19 infection increases above 13%, a delayed approach has similar or improved survival. This balance should be frequently reexamined at each health care facility throughout the curve of the pandemic.
Molecular Mapping of Water-Stress Responsive Genomic Loci in Lettuce (Lactuca spp.) Using Kinetics Chlorophyll Fluorescence, Hyperspectral Imaging and Machine Learning.

Deep understanding of genetic architecture of water-stress tolerance is critical for efficient and optimal development of water-stress tolerant cultivars, which is the most economical and environmentally sound approach to maintain lettuce production with limited irrigation. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) production in areas with limited precipitation relies heavily on the use of ground water for irrigation. Lettuce plants are highly susceptible to water-stress, which also affects their nutrient uptake efficiency. Water stressed plants show reduced growth, lower biomass, and early bolting and flowering resulting in bitter flavors. Traditional phenotyping methods to evaluate water-stress are labor intensive, time-consuming and prone to errors. High throughput phenotyping platforms using kinetic chlorophyll fluorescence and hyperspectral imaging can effectively attain physiological traits related to photosynthesis and secondary metabolites that can enhance breeding efficiency for water-stress tolerance. Kinetic chlorophyll fluorescence and hyperspectral imaging along with traditional horticultural traits identified genomic loci affected by water-stress. Supervised machine learning models were evaluated for their accuracy to distinguish water-stressed plants and to identify the most important water-stress related parameters in lettuce. Random Forest (RF) had classification accuracy of 89.7% using kinetic chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and Neural Network (NN) had classification accuracy of 89.8% using hyperspectral imaging derived vegetation indices. The top ten chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and vegetation indices selected by sequential forward selection by RF and NN were genetically mapped using a L. sativa × L. serriola interspecific recombinant inbred line (RIL) population. A total of 25 quantitative trait loci (QTL) segregating for water-stress related horticultural traits, 26 QTL for the chlorophyll fluorescence traits and 34 QTL for spectral vegetation indices (VI) were identified. The percent phenotypic variation (PV) explained by the horticultural QTL ranged from 6.41 to 19.5 %, PV explained by chlorophyll fluorescence QTL ranged from 6.93 to 13.26 % while the PV explained by the VI QTL ranged from 7.2 to 17.19 %. Eight QTL clusters harboring co-localized QTL for horticultural traits, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and VI were identified on six lettuce chromosomes. Molecular markers linked to the mapped QTL clusters can be targeted for marker-assisted selection to develop water-stress tolerant lettuce.
Corticosterone mediates a growth-survival tradeoff for an amphibian exposed to increased salinity

Life-history tradeoffs are common across taxa, but growth-survival tradeoffs-usually enhancing survival at a cost to growth-are less frequently investigated. Increased salinity (NaCl) is a prevalent anthropogenic disturbance that may cause a growth-survival tradeoff for larval amphibians. Although physiological mechanisms mediating tradeoffs are seldom investigated, hormones are prime candidates. Corticosterone (CORT) is a steroid hormone that independently influences survival and growth and may provide mechanistic insight into growth-survival tradeoffs. We conducted a 24-day experiment to test effects of salinity (<32-4000 mg/L) on growth, development, survival, CORT responses, and tradeoffs among traits of larval Northern Leopard Frogs (Rana pipiens). We also experimentally suppressed CORT signaling to determine whether CORT signaling mediates effects of salinity and a growth-survival tradeoff. Increased salinity reduced survival, growth, and development. Suppressing CORT signaling in conjunction with salinity reduced survival further but also attenuated the negative effects of salinity on growth, development, and water content. CORT of control larvae increased or was stable with growth and development but decreased with growth and development for those exposed to salinity. Therefore, salinity dysregulated CORT physiology. Across all treatments, larvae that survived had higher CORT than larvae that died. By manipulating CORT signaling, we provide strong evidence that CORT physiology mediates the outcome of a growth-survival tradeoff and enhances survival. To our knowledge, this is the first study to concomitantly measure tradeoffs between growth and survival and experimentally link these changes to CORT physiology. Identifying mechanistic links between stressors and fitness-related outcomes is critical to enhance our understanding of tradeoffs.
Dietary Supplement Use Among Adult Cancer Survivors in the United States

Background: Many cancer survivors initiated dietary supplement use after cancer diagnosis, and some may use supplements at high doses without consulting their healthcare providers. Methods: We evaluated the prevalence, dose, and reason of dietary supplement use among 3988 adult cancer survivors in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2014 and compared that to 7770 individuals without a history of cancer who were matched cancer survivors by age, sex, and race/ethnicity. Findings: Compared to individuals without cancer, cancer survivors reported a higher prevalence of any dietary supplement use (69·9% vs. 63·4%), multivitamin/mineral supplement use (51·1% vs. 46·4%), and individual supplement use for each of the 26 vitamins and minerals being examined. Cancer survivors did not differ from non-cancer individuals for nutrient intake from foods but had higher levels of nutrient intake for five vitamins (vitamin A, retinol, vitamin D, niacin, folate) and five minerals (calcium, selenium, magnesium, zinc, and copper) from supplements than non-cancer individuals. While supplement use contributed to a lower percentage of cancer survivors with inadequate intake (< Estimated Average Requirement) for vitamins C, D, and E, it also increased the percentage of cancer survivors with excess intake (≥Tolerable Upper Intake Levels) for vitamin D, folate, vitamin B6, niacin, and selenium. Nearly half (48·5%) of the cancer survivors used dietary supplements on their own without consulting healthcare providers. Interpretation: Cancer survivors reported a higher prevalence and dose of dietary supplement use than the general population. The short-term and long-term health impact of dietary supplement use, especially high doses of supplement use among cancer survivors needs to be evaluated. Funding: This study was supported by NIH/ NIMHD 1R01MD011501 (FFZ). Declaration of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interests to disclose. Ethical Approval: The NHANES study procedures were approved by the research ethics review board of NCHS.
Chapter 33 The U.S. savings and loan crisis

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the U.S. Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Between 1980 and March 31, 1992, federal agencies disposed of over 1100 insolvent Savings and Loan (S&L) institutions and— as of March 31, 1992— an additional 408 S&Ls holding 29% of the industry's assets were classified as troubled. The crisis was caused and exacerbated by (1) a flaw in the structure of S&Ls that predisposed them to economic insolvency given rising interest rates, (2) the use of an incentive-incompatible deposit insurance scheme and its exploitation by S&Ls (especially permanent stock companies) that became poorly capitalized as a result of (1), and (3) legislative and regulatory actions to avoid recognizing the economic insolvency of numerous firms and the general under-capitalization of the industry, actions which in many cases were dysfunctional in the context of the existing deposit insurance contract. Evidence on the determinants of efficiency and insolvency in S&Ls isstrikingly supportive of this thesis and the option-theoretic model used in its development.
Molecular recognition in proteins: Simulation analysis of substrate binding by a tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase mutant

Alchemical molecular dynamics simulations are performed to determine the difference in the free energy of binding of the tyrosine substrate between the wild type of tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (TyrRS) from Bacillus stearothermophilus and the mutant Tyr169-->Phe. The results are of general interest because the Tyr169 hydroxyl group interacts with the ammonium group of the substrate in a manner corresponding to that found in other amino acid binding proteins (e.g. the Asp receptor of the chemotactic bacterium Salmonella typhimurium and class I major histocompatibility complex molecules). The calculated free-energy change due to the Tyr169-->Phe mutation is 3.4 kcal/mol (the statistical error is +/- 0.5 kcal/mol) in satisfactory agreement with the experimental value of 3(+/- 0.5) kcal/mol. By use of thermodynamic integration, the contribution of the different terms to the free energy change are estimated. The path dependence of such a decomposition is discussed and it is suggested that the alchemical choice is of primary interest for understanding the interactions involved. There are large protein contributions to the alchemical free energy difference of the bound and free enzyme that cancel in the overall result. Due to this cancellation, the essential interactions contributing to the free-energy change are those between the OH group of Tyr169 and water in the free enzyme and those between the OH group of Tyr169 and the ammonium group of the substrate in the bound system. The results thus support simple models based on a balance of hydrogen bonding interactions.
On minimum relative entropy concepts and prior compatibility issues in vadose zone inverse and forward modeling

[1] A comprehensive stochastic approach for forward modeling of the state variables in the vadose zone as well as for inverse modeling of the hydraulic parameters is proposed and applied to a field site in Napa Valley, California. The approach combines the Richards equation and the van Genuchten–Mualem soil models, with initial and boundary conditions provided by geophysical and meteorological measurements, into a Bayesian formalism, which allows integration between different complementary information sources. A major challenge in such studies is the integration between different types of data, of different quality and resolution, and with prior information. Accurate modeling of prior information is challenging because of the need to avoid subjective judgment with regard to the quality of the prior information and its significance. To obtain minimally subjective prior probabilities required for the Bayesian approach, we employ the principle of minimum relative entropy (MRE). It can often be the case that information that is considered a suitable prior may, in fact, become incompatible with field observations as more observations become available. Our study considers this possibility and explores possible indications for prior incompatibility. We test our forward and inverse modeling approaches using field data. The results indicate that our approach is consistent, in the sense that as additional data are introduced, the simulated soil moisture content profile better matches the observed profile and the predictive intervals become much narrower. The narrower intervals of the soil moisture predictions indicate the reduction of uncertainties associated with the model parameters.
Reimagining Internationalization: Critical Dialogues on Global Dimensions of Education--Guest Editors' Introduction.

Introduction to the FIRE Special Issue titled, "Reimagining Internationalization: Critical Dialogues on Global Dimensions of Education". The full text of the article can be found at 10.18275/fire201502021074
Social Networking and Age Verification: Many Hard Questions; No Easy Solutions

At the heart of the debate over age verification requirements for social networking lie the same concerns that have motivated previous Internet regulatory initiatives: underage access to objectionable material and fears about child predators. However an age verification requirement could have many unintended consequences involving privacy and First Amendment issues. Since most websites today contain some aspect of user interaction, lawmakers would have great difficulty in defining social networking sites when drafting legislation or mandates. Moreover, collection and verification of the personal information of minors raises serious concerns of privacy and data protection. Logistical issues include access to documents minors would need for verification of identity and age, as well as documents which could be easily falsified in the online environment. Using any sort of government issued identification for verification would require establishing a centralized database to coordination with websites, raising questions regarding who would control these databases. Other proposals suggest sites seek parental permission or contact a child's school for verification of age, which can be easily circumvented and could put undue burden and costs on schools. Even with these measures, popular networking sites may in turn be pushed offshore, out of reach of US laws. Policymakers should not present age verification mandates as a comprehensive solution that could provide a false sense of security for both parents and their minor children who use social networking websites. Education and parental involvement still should play a vital role in keeping children safe online. Policymakers and law enforcement should also focus their efforts on the prosecution of online predators under existing laws and ensure adequate punishment for the crimes.
Effect of Drawing Blood Specimens Proximal to an In-Place but Discontinued Intravenous Solution: Can Blood Be Drawn above the Site of a Shut-Off IV?

To assess the effects of drawing blood specimens from a site proximal to an intravenous (IV) infusion line, 24 volunteers were infused with approximately 30 mL of 5% (w/v) dextrose in 0.9% (w/v) NaCl solution. Specimens were drawn proximal to the IV line, while the solution was infusing, and at 1, 2, and 3 minutes after discontinuance of the infusion and assayed for glucose, sodium, chloride, and red blood cell (RBC) count. Control samples were obtained simultaneously from the opposite arm to determine any residual or dilutional effects from the infusing solution. Statistical analysis using the paired sample t-test showed no significant difference of RBCs between arms at or beyond 1 minute. Statistical power analysis reveals that there is a 95% level of certainty that there is less than 1% dilution of the test arm specimen. Analysis of sodium and chloride levels showed no contamination of the test arm specimen at 1 minute, but glucose concentrations still showed an average elevation over control of 5% at 3 minutes. The authors concluded that the drawing of blood specimens proximal to an IV infusion, 3 minutes after its discontinuance, has a clinically negligable dilutional effect but substances present at relatively high levels in the infused solution may still be detected.