cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assessment of college students' awareness and knowledge about conditions relevant to metabolic syndrome

Despite the increasing prevalence of metabolic syndrome among young adults, little is known about the awareness level of college students about this condition. The purpose of this study was to assess students’ level of awareness and knowledge about conditions relevant to metabolic syndrome (MetS). A self-reported online questionnaire was administered to 243 students attending Central Michigan University. Questions were divided into seven conditions: diabetes, adiposity, hypertension, high serum cholesterol, arteriosclerosis, stroke, and myocardial infarction. Students’ responses were scored and interpreted as follows: poor knowledge if ≤50% of students answered the question correctly; fair knowledge if between 51-80% of students answered the question correctly; and good knowledge if between 81-100% of students answered the question correctly. Anthropometric measurements including height, weight, waist circumference, percentage body fat, and visceral fat score were measured. Fisher’s exact test was used to test the differences in students’ responses. A p value <0.05 was considered a statistically significant difference. More than 80% of students correctly identified symptoms and complications of diabetes, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, myocardial infarction and stroke, and 92% identified adiposity as a risk factor for heart disease. There were few false beliefs held by students on questionnaire items. For example, 58% of male students falsely believed that individuals with diabetes may only eat special kinds of sweets compared to 39% of females (p < 0.01) and more than half of the students falsely identified liposuction as the best possible treatment in adiposity therapy. Gender, Health Science major, and year in school were found to be positively associated with more knowledge. The findings in this study suggest that students’ knowledge about conditions relevant to metabolic syndrome can be improved. In this essence, raising awareness about MetS based on students’ pre-existing knowledge is essential to enhance students’ wellness.
Where does the power go in a computer system: Experimental analysis and implications

In the last few years the power dissipation problem of computer systems has attracted more and more attention. A lot of work has been done to decrease power dissipation and increase energy efficiency. We are still, however, not observing significant decrease of power dissipation. On the contrary, modern computer systems consume ever increasing amounts of energy. Where does the power go in a computer system is a question that many people are concerned with. Through comprehensive experiments and measurements, we observe several phenomenons that are in opposition to our common sense. Many people believe, for instance, that CPU utilization is a good indicator of the power dissipation of CPU. Our experiment results, however, show that CPU utilization is not an accurate reflection of the CPU power. Moreover, we discover that despite the performance improvements it introduces, cache could be a big problem for power reducing. Based on our observations we derive ten implications that are important for energy efficient system design.
Local On-Chip Temperature Tuning of InGaAs Quantum Dots

Quantum network based on InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) rely on QDs being in resonance with each other. We developed a new technique based on temperature tuning to spectrally align QDs located on the same chip.
Quasi‐Three‐Dimensional Angle‐Tolerant Electromagnetic Illusion Using Ultrathin Metasurface Coatings

Low-profile and light-weight coatings that offer comprehensive manipulation of the electromagnetic scattering for finite-length objects are highly desirable, but not yet achieved, for applications including camouflaging, deceptive sensing, radar cognition control, and defense security. Here, for the first time, the theory, practical design, and experimental demonstration of quasi-three-dimensional and angle-tolerant electromagnetic illusion coatings are presented which have been enabled by ultrathin single-layer functional metasurfaces. By controlling the multiple Mie scattering coefficients using the tangential and non-vanishing radial electromagnetic responses of the metasurface, the quasi-two-dimensional coating transforms the electromagnetic perception of one object to mimic that of another which has been pre-selected by the designer. The illusion coating, which is homogeneous but anisotropic, is realized using hundreds of composite electric and magnetic sub-wavelength unit cells operating at frequencies away from their resonance. Two different prototypes of the metasurface illusion coatings were fabricated and characterized, demonstrating very good camouflaging performance for finite-length dielectric as well as conducting objects within a field-of-view up to ±10° off normal. This work paves the way for practical artificially engineered material coatings with exotic and versatile scattering control capabilities that would enable a wide range of applications throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
Effects of counterfactual thought on postpurchase consumer affect

This study explored the effects of counterfactual thinking (CFT) on postpurchase consumer affect. CFT is the process of imagining what might have been, that is, comparing reality (what is; the facts) with alternative possibilities. In a vignette study, the presence or absence of CFT, its direction (upward or downward), and outcome valence (positive, negative, or neutral) were manipulated. The participants' tendencies toward strategic optimism and defensive pessimism were measured, and the impact of these factors on postpurchase affect was observed. As expected, results indicated that negative outcomes were associated with greater levels of spontaneous counterfactual thought, and greater affective amplification was associated with the presence of counterfactual thought. More surprising was the finding that consumer regret increased with both downward and upward counterfactual thought, indicating that both contrast and assimilation mechanisms may be operational. With respect to personality, strategic optimists were less sensitive to purchase outcomes and counterfactual thought manipulations than were other respondents. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Long-distance combinatorial linkage between methylation and acetylation on histone H3 N termini

Individual posttranslational modifications (PTMs) on histones have well established roles in certain biological processes, notably transcriptional programming. Recent genomewide studies describe patterns of covalent modifications, such as H3 methylation and acetylation at promoters of specific target genes, or "bivalent domains," in stem cells, suggestive of a possible combinatorial interplay between PTMs on the same histone. However, detection of long-range PTM associations is often problematic in antibody-based or traditional mass spectrometric-based analyses. Here, histone H3 from a ciliate model was analyzed as an enriched source of transcriptionally active chromatin. Using a recently developed mass spectrometric approach, combinatorial modification states on single, long N-terminal H3 fragments (residues 1-50) were determined. The entire modification status of intact N termini was obtained and indicated correlations between K4 methylation and H3 acetylation. In addition, K4 and K27 methylation were identified concurrently on one H3 species. This methodology is applicable to other histones and larger polypeptides and will likely be a valuable tool in understanding the roles of combinatorial patterns of PTMs.
Side-Channel Assisted Modeling Attacks on Feed-Forward Arbiter PUFs Using Silicon Data

Physically Unclonable Functions PUFs are used for generating unique signatures from the complex manufacturing variations in integrated circuits. However, the majority of PUFs have been shown to be vulnerable to modeling attacks. In this work, we take a closer look at the vulnerability of feed-forward arbiter PUFs towards a combined side-channel and modeling attack using data measured from our 32nm test chips. The side-channel information from the feed-forward PUF construction is used as a catalyst for improving the performance of modeling attacks. This hybrid attack helps to push the prediction accuracies to very high limits >98.5%, especially for larger PUF circuits. The hybrid attack yields around 7% improvement in prediction rates when compared to a conventional modeling attack mounted under the presence of error-inflicted challenge-response pairs.
Mesh Adaptation Criteria for Unsteady Periodic Flows Using a Discrete Adjoint Time-Spectral Formulation

This papers develops and implements a discrete adjoint formulation for a periodic, timespectral discretization of the equations of fluid flow. Time-spectral flow solution methodologies have been proposed in order to significantly shorten the computational time for the solution of unsteady (periodic) flows with a narrow frequency spectrum. As such, these methodologies are only applicable to periodic flows encountered, for example, in turbomachinery, rotorcraft, and fixed-wing aeroelastic applications among other areas. For these classes of problems, the time-spectral discretization permits the solution of the corresponding adjoint equations and facilitates both design and error estimation / correction applications. Details of the discrete adjoint solver and its implementations are provided as well as its validation (through the calculation of sensitivities of unsteady flows) and some preliminary applications to mesh refinement / distribution in unsteady periodic flows. The procedure is found to be very robust and it is currently being extended to fundamental turbomachinery test cases.
Theoretical Understanding in Science

ABSTRACTIn this article I develop a model of theoretical understanding in science. This is a philosophical theory that specifies the conditions that are both necessary and sufficient for a scientis...
Nonreassuring Fetal Status in the Second Stage of Labor: Fetal Monitoring Features and Association with Neonatal Outcomes.

Objective To examine features of electronic fetal monitoring that prompt a diagnosis of nonreassuring fetal status (NRFS) and their association with acidemia. Study Design We identified all operative (cesarean or operative vaginal) deliveries from a retrospective cohort study of term singletons delivered in the second stage. The primary exposure was indication for delivery, NRFS versus other. We compared fetal monitoring features in the 30 minutes prior to delivery. In those delivered for NRFS, we assessed features associated with acidemia (pH Results Of 5,388 patients, 770 (14%) were delivered operatively. NRFS (77%) was associated with acidemia (adjusted odds ratio 3.7, 95% confidence interval 2.1–6.5). Total deceleration area, repetitive late decelerations, and marked variability were associated with NRFS. However, only number of prolonged decelerations and total deceleration area were associated with acidemia in the NRFS group. Conclusion The majority of deliveries for NRFS and the features that prompt that diagnosis are not associated with acidemia.
Habitat fragmentation, vole population fluctuations, and the ROMPA hypothesis: An experimental test using model landscapes

Increased habitat fragmentation leads to smaller size of habitat patches and to greater distance between patches. The ROMPA hypothesis (ratio of optimal to marginal patch area) uniquely links vole population fluctuations to the composition of the landscape. It states that as ROMPA decreases (fragmentation increases), vole population fluctuations will increase (including the tendency to display multi-annual cycles in abundance) because decreased proportions of optimal habitat result in greater population declines and longer recovery time after a harsh season. To date, only comparative observations in the field have supported the hypothesis. This paper reports the results of the first experimental test. I used prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster, and mowed grassland to create model landscapes with 3 levels of ROMPA (high with 25% mowed, medium with 50% mowed and low with 75% mowed). As ROMPA decreased, distances between patches of favorable habitat (high cover) increased owing to a greater proportion of unfavorable (mowed) habitat. Results from the first year with intensive live trapping indicated that the preconditions for operation of the hypothesis existed (inversely density dependent emigration and, as ROMPA decreased, increased per capita mortality and decreased per capita movement between optimal patches). Nevertheless, contrary to the prediction of the hypothesis that populations in landscapes with high ROMPA should have the lowest variability, 5 years of trapping indicated that variability was lowest with medium ROMPA. The design of field experiments may never be perfect, but these results indicate that the ROMPA hypothesis needs further rigorous testing.
Effects of low concentration of adriamycin on proliferation of Hepatocarcinoma cells

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of different doses of adriamycin(ADM) on the proliferation of human hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) cell lines.Methods The HCC cell lines were treated with different doses of ADM,the growth rate of cancer cells was analyzed by CCK-8 assay,and the cell cycle distribution was detected by flow cytometry(FCM).Results Our data showed that when the concentration of ADM was low(less than 80 ng/mL),ADM can stimulate the proliferation of tumor cells to some extent.When HCC cells were treated with ADM at the dosage of 400 ng/mL,the inhibitory effect on HepG2 cell line was the most significant.After 96 h of treatment with ADM,the viability of HepG2 cells was(60.4±1.59%),which was significantly lower than that of Hep3B(87.89±1.94%),P0.01).FCM data demonstrated that administration of ADM could reduced the proportion of G1 phase and resulted in more cells accumulated at S phase in Hep3B cells.Conclution Low concentration of ADM can stimulate the proliferation of Hepatocarcinoma cells through inducing cell cycle arrest.
Fungal Endocarditis: Update on Diagnosis and Management

Fungal endocarditis is an extremely debilitating disease associated with high morbidity and mortality. Candida spp. are the most common isolated organisms in fungal endocarditis. It is most prevalent in patients who are immunosuppressed and intravenous drug users. Most patients present with constitutional symptoms, which are indistinguishable from bacterial endocarditis, hence a high index of suspicion is required for pursuing diagnosis. Diagnosis of fungal endocarditis can be very challenging: most of the time, blood cultures are negative or take a long time to yield growth. Fungal endocarditis mandates an aggressive treatment strategy. A medical and surgical combined approach is the cornerstone of therapy.
Immunotherapy in Lung Cancer.

Lung cancer has not traditionally been viewed as an immune-responsive tumor. However, it is becoming evident that tumor-induced immune suppression is vital to malignant progression. Immunotherapies act by enhancing the patient’s innate immune response and hold promise for inducing long-term responses in select patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Immune checkpoint inhibitors, in particular, inhibitors to cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and programmed death 1 (PD-1) and programmed death receptor ligand 1 (PD-L1) have shown promise in early studies and are currently in clinical trials in both small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer patients. Two large randomized phase III trials recently demonstrated superior overall survival (OS) in patients treated with anti-PD-1 therapy compared to chemotherapy in the second-line setting.
Panel Discussion: Serials—The Last 25 Years and Looking Forward to the Next 25

ABSTRACTPatricia Hudson moderated a panel discussion on the past and future of serials featuring Steve Cohn (Director of Duke University Press), Maria Collins (Head, Acquisitions & Discovery, North Carolina State University), and Ben Mudrak (Global Communications Manager at Research Square). A question and answer period facilitated further discussion of the topic.
Second-Order Closure Turbulence Model for Air Pollution Studies

A dynamically prognostic equation of master turbulence length-scale suitable for use under various conditions of atmospheric stability for air pollution studies is presented. The model results are evaluated against turbulence measurements from neutral, stable, and convective boundary layers in the atmosphere.
Local variation in world society: six characteristics of global diffusion

ABSTRACTWe review world society research that theorises differences rather than similarities in diffusion into local settings. Six characteristics of global diffusion processes, most of which contribute directly to local variation, are featured: structural embeddedness, decoupling, domestication, multiple diffusion, contingent diffusion, and multi-level diffusion. We illustrate each characteristic with examples from, and applications to, the global movement for corporate social responsibility.
Chapter 6 – Existing CAI traditions: other early contributions

Publisher Summary This chapter presents some contributions by two separate lines of research whose early ties to the field evolved out of established CAI traditions. Both projects had been in existence before SCHOLAR came out, and they made their contributions via their own natural development as they were trying to make their systems more sophisticated. This has often resulted in an interest in sophisticated algorithms for pedagogical decisions with less emphasis on models of the target expertise. One line of research, conducted at the Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences at Stanford University (IMSSS), was geared toward the production of complete curricula for use in real settings. The other, at the University of Leeds in England, led to interest in the automation of intelligent teaching decisions.
Industry-specific and regional economic determinants of US commercial banking profitability

Understanding the determinants of bank profits is extremely crucial for bank executives in making their financing, investment and diversification decisions. The issue bears relevance not only for banks in terms of their corporate risk management strategy, but also for bankers associations, state and federal regulators, and central banks. Using state-level data and employing both fixed effects and dynamic-GMM estimation techniques I examine banking-industry specific as well as region economic determinants of commercial bank profitability in the USA across all 50 states and Washington, DC spanning 1966-2014. Greater capitalisation and diversification increase profits while lower liquidity risks, higher costs, inferior credit quality and deposit growth decrease profits. Moreover, higher state real GDP and personal income growth rates, state HPI and inflation rates increase profits, while higher unemployment rates lower profits. Finally, I do not find any decline in the sensitivity of bank profits to regional economic conditions post Riegle-Neal Act.
Biophysical Mechanisms Mediating Fibrin Fiber Lysis

The formation and dissolution of blood clots is both a biochemical and a biomechanical process. While much of the chemistry has been worked out for both processes, the influence of biophysical properties is less well understood. This review considers the impact of several structural and mechanical parameters on lytic rates of fibrin fibers. The influences of fiber and network architecture, fiber strain, FXIIIa cross-linking, and particle transport phenomena will be assessed. The importance of the mechanical aspects of fibrinolysis is emphasized, and future research avenues are discussed.
Good Student/Bad Student: Situated Identities in the Figured Worlds of School and Creative Multimodal Production

This study situates young adolescents’ multimodal composing practices within two figured worlds—school and creative multimodal production. In a microanalysis of two focal students’ multimodal proce...
Application of a Brief Incentive Treatment for Cigarette Smoking

The application of financial incentives has proved to be a gainful treatment for cigarette smoking, yet the cost of delivering financial incentives has been a barrier to its widespread implementation. The goal of the present study is to test this treatment (with counseling) in a brief 3-week format, thereby reducing the cost. Results indicated that for one participant incentives were effective at promoting long-term abstinence from cigarette smoking. Though more research is needed, this treatment appears to be effective and can be delivered at a relatively low cost. • Financial incentives can be utilized to promote abstinence from cigarette smoking. • Regular monitoring of biomarkers of cigarette smoking is required in this treatment. • One low-cost feature of this treatment is that a participant that does not abstain from smoking does not receive incentives, as was the case for one participant in this study. • Abstinence is achieved through a combination of skill-training and reinforcing the absence cigarette smoking (differential reinforcement of other behavior; DRO).
Genome Sequence of a Byssochlamys sp. Strain Isolated from Fouled B20 Biodiesel.

ABSTRACT Byssochlamys sp. strain AF001 is a filamentous fungus isolated from fouled B20 biodiesel. Its growth on B20 biodiesel results in the degradation and fouling of the fuel and higher rates of corrosion in affected storage tanks. The genome of Byssochlamys sp. AF001 is 35.9 Mbp and is composed of 10 scaffolds, with a G+C content of 45.89%.
Clinostomum poteae n. sp. (Digenea: Clinostomidae), in the trachea of a double-crested cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus Lesson, 1831 and molecular data linking the life-cycle stages of Clinostomum album Rosser, Alberson, Woodyard, Cunningham, Pote & Griffin, 2017 in Mississippi, USA

Clinostomum spp. (Digenea: Clinostomidae) are a group of trematodes commonly found in the buccal cavity and oesophagus of a variety of piscivorous birds. The metacercariae, colloquially known as "yellow grubs," have been reported from a diverse group of freshwater fishes worldwide. In the catfish farming region of the southeastern USA, piscivorous birds present a continuous challenge for aquaculturists in the form of fish depredation and the introduction of trematodes into these static, earthen pond systems. Clinostomum spp. are commonly encountered in farm-raised catfish. While generally considered pests of minimal importance, heavy infections can result in unmarketable fillets. Of the piscivorous birds that frequent catfish aquaculture operations in the southeastern US, the double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus Lesson) is one of the most damaging, although reports of Clinostomum spp. from P. auritus are limited. In this study, adult trematodes morphologically consistent with Clinostomum sp. were found in the trachea of a double-crested cormorant captured in Lowndes Co., Mississippi, USA. These specimens differed from other recognised Clinostomum spp. in several key morphological characters. Moreover, sequence data of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene (cox1), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 1 gene (nad1) and ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions did not match any known Clinostomum sp. for which sequence data are available. While genetically similar to C. marginatum and C. album Rosser, Alberson, Woodyard, Cunningham, Pote & Griffin, 2017 reported from the great egret Ardea alba L. in Mississippi, these adult clinostomids were larger in size and limited to the trachea, whereas both C. marginatum Rudolphi, 1819 and C. album are found in the oral cavity and esophagus. Given these distinct morphological and molecular characters we propose a new member of the genus, known hereafter as Clinostomum poteae n. sp. Additionally, larval stages in the life-cycle of C. album are morphologically and molecularly identified for the first time from ramshorn snails Planorbella trivolvis Say and fathead minnows Pimephales promelas Rafinesque.
Ten-membered Rings or Larger with One or More Nitrogen and Oxygen and/or Sulfur Atoms

Heteromacrocycles are ring compounds having at least ten atoms in their cycle. In addition to the carbon framework, oxygen, sulfur, and/or nitrogen will typically be present. Other elements may also be included but are less common. The macrocycles containing repeating (CH2CH2O) units are referred to as crown ethers. When a third strand is added to the two-dimensional crowns, cryptands result. These typically include nitrogen at the ring junctions. Heteromacrocycles that completely encompass cations with more than three donor group-containing strands are called spherands. The major application of heteromacrocycles is to bind metallic cations, ammonium ions, anions, and various small molecules. In recent years, these macrocycles have been used as binding sites in sensors and as scaffolds for a variety of more complex chemical structures.
Debonding and frictional effects during fibre pull-out in model SiC fibre-reinforced glass composites in relation to fracture resistance

ABSTRACT The influence of a ductile interfacial layer on the toughening effect that a SiC monofilament imparts to a brittle glass matrix was addressed. Micro-mechanical investigation of the fiber/nickel-coating/glass interfaces using the single fiber pull-out test indicated that the fiber/nickel interface was weaker than the glass/nickel interface and that the sliding friction was also lower. The fracture resistance of the nickel coated fiber composite was generally less than that of the composite reinforced with fibers in the as-received condition. The fracture resistance initially decreased with increasing nickel thickness but gradually increased again up to the as received fiber composite level at a nickel thickness of 22 μm. However all thicknesses of nickel fiber coating enhanced the fracture resistance of the composite compared to the unreinforced glass matrix.
Information Extraction: Robust Mention Detection Systems

Information-extraction (IE) research typically focuses on clean-text inputs. However, as we will see in this chapter, an IE engine serving real-world applications yields a high rate of false alarms, due to noisy, less-well-formed input. For example, an application processing output from a multilingual media monitoring system (e.g., TV broadcast) will have to deal with noisy input as well as ­inaccurate automatic transcription and translation. The resulting presence of non-target-language text in this case, and non-language material interspersed in data from other applications, raise the research problem of making IE robust to such noisy input text. This chapter addresses an important IE task: improving robustness to noise for mention detection (MD). We describe the augmentation of an existing statistical MD system to reduce false alarms in the spurious passages while maintaining performance on clean input, and even improving recall. The diverse nature of input noise leads us to pursue a multi-faceted approach to robustness. We describe a multi-stage approach to robustness, reflecting the diverse nature of input noise. Detection-error-trade-off analysis is used to evaluate a MD system. In one experiment, with English as the target language, we find that on inputs from other Latin-alphabet languages, we can eliminate 97–98% of false alarms compared to an English-only baseline system, at various fixed miss rates. In another experiment, modeling situations in which genre-specific training is infeasible, we process real data drawn from a financial-transactions text containing mixed languages and data-set codes. On these data, because annotations for data sets like this are typically not available for training a mention detector, we did not include any portion of this data set in the training of the system, yet still can eliminate 60% of the false alarms at various miss rates, compared to the baseline system. These gains come with virtually no loss in accuracy on clean English text.
Transcriptional and functional diversity of human macrophage repolarization.

Background Macrophage plasticity allows cells to adopt different phenotypes, a property with important implications in disorders such as cystic fibrosis (CF) and asthma. Objective We sought to examine the transcriptional and functional significance of macrophage repolarization from an M1 to an M2 phenotype and assess the role of a common human genetic disorder (CF) and a prototypical allergic disease (asthma) in this transformation. Methods Monocyte-derived macrophages were collected from healthy subjects and patients with CF and polarized to an M2 state by using IL-4, IL-10, glucocorticoids, apoptotic PMNs, or azithromycin. We performed transcriptional profiling and pathway analysis for each stimulus. We assessed the ability of M2-repolarized macrophages to respond to LPS rechallenge and clear apoptotic neutrophils and used murine models to determine conserved functional responses to IL-4 and IL-10. We investigated whether M2 signatures were associated with alveolar macrophage phenotypes in asthmatic patients. Results We found that macrophages exhibit highly diverse responses to distinct M2-polarizing stimuli. Specifically, IL-10 activated proinflammatory pathways and abrogated LPS tolerance, allowing rapid restoration of LPS responsiveness. In contrast, IL-4 enhanced LPS tolerance, dampening proinflammatory responses after repeat LPS challenge. A common theme observed across all M2 stimuli was suppression of interferon-associated pathways. We found that CF macrophages had intact reparative and transcriptional responses, suggesting that macrophage contributions to CF-related lung disease are primarily shaped by their environment. Finally, we leveraged in vitro–derived signatures to show that allergen provocation induces distinct M2 state transcriptional patterns in alveolar macrophages. Conclusion Our findings highlight the diversity of macrophage polarization, attribute functional consequences to different M2 stimuli, and provide a framework to phenotype macrophages in disease states.
Comparison of Segmental Lordosis and Global Spinopelvic Alignment After Single-Level Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion or Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion.

Background Lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) has steadily increased in popularity. Compared with the traditional transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF), LLIF is thought to allow for greater improvement in lordosis. However, there are limited direct comparison data on the degree of regional and global alignment change after single-level LLIF and TLIF procedures. This study compared the changes in spinal sagittal alignment in patients who underwent either procedure. Methods A retrospective analysis of patients who underwent LLIF or TLIF for lumbar degenerative disease at a single institution was performed. Twenty patients who underwent single-level LLIF were matched to 20 patients who underwent single-level TLIF by gender and level of interbody fusion. All included patients had preoperative and postoperative standing scoliosis radiographs. Changes in segmental lordosis (SL) at the fused level, lumbar lordosis (LL), sagittal vertical axis, and pelvic incidence–LL mismatch (PI-LL) were measured. Statistical analysis was performed using paired and unpaired Student's t-tests. Means were reported with standard error. Results Within each group, 2, 4, and 14 patients had cages placed at L2-3, L3-4, and L4-5, respectively. The LLIF group demonstrated significantly increased SL compared with the TLIF group (+4.9° ± 3.0 vs. +2.6° ± 1.7, P = 0.01). LL, sagittal vertical axis, and PI-LL changes did not differ significantly between groups. Conclusions LLIF achieved greater improvements in SL than TLIF. However, regionally and globally, there were no significant differences with either procedure after a single-level intervention. The increased lordosis from LLIF compared with TLIF may be more impactful globally in multilevel fusions.
Family Support of the Emergent Literacy of Children with Visual Impairments

This study of the frequency and nature of parental support for the emergent literacy of 264 visually impaired children found differences in support based on the primary literacy medium and presence...
Early Initiation of Diabetes Devices Relates to Improved Glycemic Control in Children with Recent-Onset Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.

Abstract Objective: To test whether the addition of an insulin pump or continuous glucose monitor (CGM) related to reduced glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in large cohort of children, 5–9 years old...
The Emotion of Chemicals

As I have written elsewhere, the world of chemical signals is essentially hidden from us because we are visual and auditory animals. We become aware of the chemical landscape around us only during mealtimes or if something is odd (like a natural gas leak or dirty diaper). Yet, the odorous world is far more ubiquitous than either light or sound. Odors exist in the brightest of light and in the darkest of night. At the bottom of the ocean and deep underground, the chemical landscape exists and contains secrets about the organisms and features of the habitat found there. Although we are far more capable of being in tune with this world, we consciously ignore the signs and signals that are there.
The Brief Case: Bartonella henselae Endocarditis-a Case of Delayed Diagnosis.

1. Which of the following is the most sensitive noninvasive microbiologic assay for detection of suspected Bartonella spp. endocarditis? Answer: c. Serologic testing for antibodies to Bartonella spp., particularly IgG-class antibodies, remains the most sensitive, noninvasive means by
A case of cerebral vasculitis due to neurobartonellosis

We report a case of a 60-year-old right-handed woman with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hypothyroidism who presented with a three-week history of recurrent thunderclap headaches accompanied by photophobia, phonophobia, nausea, and vomiting. She reported one brief episode of slurred speech, expressive aphasia, right facial droop, and right hemiparesis suggestive of a TIA. Family history was remarkable for primary angiitis of the CNS (PACNS) in the mother. Neurologic examination was unremarkable. CT of the head was negative; CT angiography (CTA) of the head and neck suggested fibromuscular dysplasia in bilateral cervical internal carotid arteries and distal right vertebral artery. MRI of the brain showed no correlating abnormalities. A digital subtraction angiography (DSA) revealed multivessel intracranial medium and large vessel narrowing and fusiform dilatations, suggestive of reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) vs vasculitis. Subsequent MR intracranial vessel wall imaging (IVWI) showed multifocal concentric vessel wall thickening and enhancement consistent with vasculitis (figure). Transcranial Doppler showed no evidence of elevated intracranial velocities. CSF studies were unremarkable with an opening pressure of 10 cm H2O, 2 white blood cells (normal 0–5/mm3), 2 red blood cells (normal 0–1/mm3), 58 mg/dL glucose (normal 40–70, serum glucose 87), 41 mg/dL protein (normal 15–45), normal Q-albumin ratio, normal IgG synthetic rate, and IgG index. Serum inflammatory and infectious studies had been negative thus far. Empiric high-dose IV steroids lead to complete symptom resolution. Final infectious workup revealed strongly positive serum Bartonella IgM titer of 1:256 and negative IgG, consistent with her reported cat exposure. She was started on an outpatient two-week course of doxycycline, rifampin, and oral steroids. Four weeks later, repeat vessel wall MRI and Bartonella serologies (IgM titer 1:80) showed improvement. The authors thank Dr. Gadhia for his mentorship.
InFoRM: Individual Fairness on Graph Mining

Algorithmic bias and fairness in the context of graph mining have largely remained nascent. The sparse literature on fair graph mining has almost exclusively focused on group-based fairness notation. However, the notion of individual fairness, which promises the fairness notion at a much finer granularity, has not been well studied. This paper presents the first principled study of Individual Fairness on gRaph Mining (InFoRM). First, we present a generic definition of individual fairness for graph mining which naturally leads to a quantitative measure of the potential bias in graph mining results. Second, we propose three mutually complementary algorithmic frameworks to mitigate the proposed individual bias measure, namely debiasing the input graph, debiasing the mining model and debiasing the mining results. Each algorithmic framework is formulated from the optimization perspective, using effective and efficient solvers, which are applicable to multiple graph mining tasks. Third, accommodating individual fairness is likely to change the original graph mining results without the fairness consideration. We conduct a thorough analysis to develop an upper bound to characterize the cost (i.e., the difference between the graph mining results with and without the fairness consideration). We perform extensive experimental evaluations on real-world datasets to demonstrate the efficacy and generality of the proposed methods.
Precision community: a mixed methods study to identify determinants of adoption and implementation of targeted cancer therapy in community oncology

Precision medicine has enormous potential to improve cancer outcomes. Over one third of the 1.5 million Americans diagnosed with cancer each year have genetic mutations that could be targeted with an FDA-approved drug to treat their disease more effectively. However, the current uptake of targeted cancer therapy in clinical practice is suboptimal. Tumor testing is not widely used, and treatments based on molecular and genomic profiling are often not prescribed when indicated. Challenges with the uptake of precision medicine may disproportionately impact cancer patients in rural communities and other underserved populations. The objective of this study is to identify the determinants of adoption and implementation of precision cancer therapy to design an implementation strategy for community oncology practices, including those in rural areas. This study is an explanatory sequential mixed methods study to identify factors associated with the use of targeted cancer therapy. Levels of targeted therapy use will be ascertained by secondary analysis of medical records to identify concordance with 18 national guideline recommendations for use of precision medicine in the treatment of breast, colorectal, lung, and melanoma skin cancer. Concurrently, facilitators and barriers associated with the use of precision cancer therapy will be elicited from interviews with up to a total of 40 oncologists, administrators, pathology, and pharmacy staff across the participating sites. Qualitative analysis will be a template analysis based on the Theoretical Domains Framework. Quantitative data aggregated at the practice level will be used to rank oncology practices’ adherence to targeted cancer therapy guidelines. Determinants will be compared among high and low users to isolate factors likely to facilitate targeted therapy use. The study will be conducted in eight community oncology practices, with an estimated 4121 targeted therapy treatment decision-making opportunities over a 3-year period. Despite unprecedented investment in precision medicine, translation into practice is suboptimal. Our study will identify factors associated with the uptake of precision medicine in community settings. These findings will inform future interventions to increase equitable uptake of evidence-based targeted cancer treatment.
Bidirectional association between leisure time physical activity and well-being: Longitudinal evidence

Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) is an important means of enhancing well-being. Although previous research has typically documented the cross-sectional associations between LTPA and well-being...
Open Source IoT-Based SCADA System for Remote Oil Facilities Using Node-RED and Arduino Microcontrollers

An open source and low-cost Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System based on Node-RED and Arduino microcontrollers is presented in this paper. The system is designed for monitoring, supervision, and remotely controlling motors and sensors deployed for oil and gas facilities. The Internet of Things (IoT) based SCADA system consists of a host computer on which a server is deployed using the Node-RED programming tool and two terminal units connected to it: Arduino Uno and Arduino Mega. The Arduino Uno collects and communicates the data acquired from the temperature, flowrate, and water level sensors to the Node-Red on the computer through the serial port. It also uses a local liquid crystal display (LCD) to display the temperature. Node-RED on the computer retrieves the data from the voltage, current, rotary, accelerometer, and distance sensors through the Arduino Mega. Also, a web-based graphical user interface (GUI) is created using Node-RED and hosted on the local server for parsing the collected data. Finally, an HTTP basic access authentication is implemented using Nginx to control the clients' access from the Internet to the local server and to enhance its security and reliability.
Inhibition of ketohexokinase in adults with NAFLD reduces liver fat and inflammatory markers: A randomized phase 2 trial

Summary Background Increased consumption of the lipogenic sugar fructose promotes the current epidemic of metabolic disease. Ketohexokinase (KHK) catalyzes the first committed step in fructose metabolism. In animal models, KHK inhibition decreases hepatic de novo lipogenesis and steatosis and corrects many metabolic abnormalities associated with insulin resistance. The consequences of inhibiting fructose metabolism in humans have not been tested. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2a study (NCT03256526) assessed the effect of the reversible KHK inhibitor PF-06835919 on metabolic parameters in participants with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods Adults with NAFLD (>6% whole liver fat [WLF] by magnetic resonance imaging-proton density fat fraction) received once-daily oral placebo or PF-06835919 75 mg or 300 mg for 6 weeks. Randomization (1:1:1) was via computer-generated randomization code with random permuted blocks. Endpoints included WLF (primary endpoint), safety/tolerability, and metabolic parameters. Findings Overall, 158 participants were screened and 53 randomized; 48 completed the trial (placebo, n = 17; PF-06835919 75 mg, n = 17; PF-06835919 300 mg, n = 14). Compared with placebo, significant reductions in WLF were observed in participants receiving PF-06835919 300 mg (difference of −18.73%; p = 0.04), but not with 75 mg. In addition, inhibition of KHK resulted in improvement in inflammatory markers. The incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs) was low and similar across treatment groups (26.3%, 23.5%, and 29.4% of participants in the placebo and PF-06835919 75 mg and 300 mg groups, respectively). No serious AEs were reported. Conclusions Data suggest that KHK inhibition may be clinically beneficial in the treatment of adults with NAFLD and insulin resistance. Funding This study was sponsored by Pfizer Inc.
The Role of the World Bank in Middle Income Countries

This paper asks, how should the World Bank and (MICs) relate to each other? What do the MICs get from the World Bank, and what does the World Bank get from the MICs? It should be immediately clear from the discussion in the paper that the MICs are a very diverse category—ranging from those that have been MICs for a long time, including some that are in IBRD-graduation territory, while others have just entered this category and face issues of transition into the category. India is one such country, and the focus is on India in this paper.
Predict Query Processing Cost in a Distributed Datbase System

The configuration of a distributed database system consists of a network and a number of local configurations. A local configuration (LC) consists of a CPU, some I/O devices and a local DBMS, etc. at its site. To improve the performance of the distributed database system, one way is to change one or more LCs. If, at each site, the old LC may be replaced by one of several possible new LCs, then a large number of different new configurations may be formed, each will have different performance. The objective is to find a new configuration satisfying a certain performance goal at the minimum additional cost. It may not be practical to enumerate all possible configurations and conduct an experiment for each configuration to find the performance since the number of different configurations can be prohibitively large. In this paper, we propose a methodology that predicts the performance of all different configurations based on experiments on a very limited number of configurations. Our experimental results indicate that the proposed methodology fairly accurately predicts the performances of new configurations.
Negotiating your way through the pitfalls of CD‐ROM installation

This article describes the wide variety of installation standards, conventions and procedures currently maintained by the publishers of CD‐ROMs, and the problems this can cause for the user. It is designed to offer a guide through the pitfalls of CD‐ROM installation, and lists hardware and software requirements for users of IBM PCs and compatibles. It is based on the experience of the author who carried out a survey of CD‐ROMs for the University of Hawaii.
DESIGN AND TESTING OF CONE AND HYPAR FOOTINGS

Model cone and hyperbolic paraboloid footings were tested to observe membrane and bending stresses and to measure soil pressure distributions under the footings. Variations in pressure distribution under shell footings due to soil arching are discussed. Design equations are given for cone and hyperbolic paraboloid footings. A solution is obtained for optimum vertex angle of cone footing to minimize concrete plus reinforcing steel costs. The results are shown as a graph. A second graph facilitates economic comparison of cone and square footings, based upon unit cost ratios of concrete and steel in each footing type.
Playing With Knives: The Socialization of Self-Initiated Learners

Since Margaret Mead's field studies in the South Pacific a century ago, there has been the tacit understanding that as culture varies, so too must the socialization of children to become competent culture users and bearers. More recently, the work of anthropologists has been mined to find broader patterns that may be common to childhood across a range of societies. One improbable commonality has been the tolerance, even encouragement, of toddler behavior that is patently risky, such as playing with or attempting to use a sharp-edged tool. This laissez faire approach to socialization follows from a reliance on children as "self-initiated learners." In this article, the ethnographic literature that shows why children are encouraged to learn without prompting or guidance and how that happens is reviewed.