cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A National Study of American Indian and Alaska Native Substance Abuse Treatment: Provider and Program Characteristics

American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIANs) experience major disparities in accessing quality care for mental health and substance use disorders. There are long-standing concerns about access to and quality of care for AIANs in rural and urban areas including the influence of staff and organizational factors, and attitudes toward evidence-based treatment for addiction. We conducted the first national survey of programs serving AIAN communities and examined workforce and programmatic differences between clinics located in urban/suburban (n=50) and rural (n=142) communities. We explored the correlates of openness toward using evidence-based treatments (EBTs). Programs located in rural areas were significantly less likely to have nurses, traditional healing consultants, or ceremonial providers on staff, to consult outside evaluators, to use strategic planning to improve program quality, to offer pharmacotherapies, pipe ceremonies, and cultural activities among their services, and to participate in research or program evaluation studies. They were significantly more likely to employ elders among their traditional healers, offer AA-open group recovery services, and collect data on treatment outcomes. Greater openness toward EBTs was related to a larger clinical staff, having addiction providers, being led by directors who perceived a gap in access to EBTs, and working with key stakeholders to improve access to services. Programs that provided early intervention services (American Society of Addiction Medicine level 0.5) reported less openness. This research provides baseline workforce and program level data that can be used to better understand changes in access and quality for AIAN over time.
Non-Q-wave myocardial infarction.

Evidence that non-Q-wave myocardial infarction (MI) is an unstable or incomplete cardiac syndrome is clear. Morphologic findings, coronary pathoanatomy, in-hospital complication rates, risk-stratification data, postdischarge mortality data, and particularly morbidity data indicate a need for close diagnostic evaluation and careful long-term follow-up. Thrombolytic therapy appears to be ineffective in patients with non-Q-wave MI. Measures to prevent reinfarction during the hospital stay are indicated. Any complication of non-Q-wave MI is an indication for cardiac catheterization. All patients with non-Q-wave MI require predischarge risk stratification. If they cannot be stratified by clinical or electrocardiographic characteristics, exercise stress testing is required, preferably with an imaging study. When stratification indicates high risk, predischarge cardiac catheterization is required.
Ives: Concord Sonata: Piano Sonata No. 2

Charles Ives's massive Concord Sonata, his second sonata for piano, named after the town of Concord in Massachusetts, is central to his output and clearly reflects his aesthetic perspective. Geoffrey Block's wide-ranging 1996 account of the work thus provides an ideal introduction to this fascinating composer. As well as a discussion of the Sonata's reception history from 1920 to the time of publication, and a chapter on its compositional genesis, this handbook includes a detailed narrative of the motivic content as well as a historical and analytical survey of the work's borrowings, both certifiable and newly proposed. The programmatic element of the Sonata is explored in the context of Ives's personal vision of four literary subjects associated with the town of Concord between 1840 and 1860: Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and the Alcotts.
Remnant Ablation, Adjuvant Treatment and Treatment of Locoregional Metastases with 131 I

The two major areas of controversy in the management of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer are when to administer an 131I therapy and, if administered, what should be the amount of prescribed activity of 131I that is administered. Although one of the more frequent factors that is cited for the two controversies is the lack of good prospective studies, these two controversies are complicated by many other factors such as (1) the use of the same terms with different definitions, (2) the use of the same terms with different objectives (e.g., destruction of remnant tissue, reduced recurrence, or decreased disease-specific mortality), (3) the use of a term with the same definition and objectives but different end points as the measure of success for those objectives (e.g., uptake, scan, stimulated or non-stimulated thyroglobulin blood level, recurrence, and/or structural evidence of disease), (4) the end points are measured at different follow-up times (e.g., 6, 9, 12 months), and (5) variability in the extent of initial surgery and different staging systems (risk assessment tools).
Malaria ecology, child mortality & fertility

The broad determinants of fertility are thought to be reasonably well identified by demographers, though the detailed quantitative drivers of fertility levels and changes are less well understood. This paper uses a novel ecological index of malaria transmission to study the effect of child mortality on fertility. We find that temporal variation in the ecology of the disease is well-correlated to mortality, and pernicious malaria conditions lead to higher fertility rates. We then argue that most of this effect occurs through child mortality, and estimate the effect of child mortality changes on fertility. Our findings add to the literature on disease and fertility, and contribute to the suggestive evidence that child mortality reductions have a causal effect on fertility changes.
Characterization of high-pressure cavitating flow through a thick orifice plate in a pipe of constant cross section

Abstract To validate the applicability of basic cavitating flow theory for high-pressure flow systems, this paper presents a systematic study of high-pressure flow through a thick orifice plate in a constant cross-section pipe over a wide range of operating conditions. A combined theoretical, numerical and experimental approach was employed to explore the two-phase flow characteristics of both the non-choked and choked flows with a maximum upstream pressure of 5000 psi and a maximum Reynolds number of 2 × 10 6 . For the flow configuration used in this work, a critical downstream-to-upstream pressure ratio of 0.45 was identified below which cavitation and flow choking will occur. Furthermore, it was found from the numerical models that the conventional one-dimensional analysis is inadequate in predicting the discharge coefficient and the condition for the onset of cavitation. Subsequently, new theoretical corrections suitable for high-pressure conditions were proposed, based on the numerical simulation results, and validated by the experimental measurements.
The role of insurance in international shipping costs

We estimate insurance costs for international shipments, and determine that distance does not affect insurance costs. This corroborates empirical observations of the Alchian–Allen effect. We also show that GDP per capita is endogenously related to unit value through insurance costs.
Challenges and opportunities in targeting the CD28/CTLA-4 pathway in transplantation and autoimmunity.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: T cell activation is a complex process that requires multiple cell signaling pathways, including a primary recognition signal and additional costimulatory signals. One of the best-characterized costimulatory pathways includes the Ig superfamily members CD28 and CTLA-4 and their ligands CD80 and CD86.Areas covered: This review discusses past, current and future biological therapies that have been utilized to block the CD28/CTLA-4 cosignaling pathway in the settings of autoimmunity and transplantation, as well the challenges facing successful implementation of these therapies.Expert opinion: The development of CD28 blockers Abatacept and Belatacept provided a more targeted therapy approach for transplant rejection and autoimmune disease relative to calcineurin inhibitors and anti-proliferatives, but overall efficacy may be limited due to their collateral effect of simultaneously blocking CTLA-4 coinhibitory signals. As such, current investigations into the potential of selective CD28 b...
Azithromycin sorption and biodegradation in a simulated California river system.

Azithromycin (AZ) is a widely-used macrolide antibiotic that is continually deposited into natural waterways by sewage effluent. Though recognized as an emerging contaminant of concern, little is known about its fate and transport in aquatic systems. American River soils and water were used to determine degradation of AZ in microcosms simulating flooded (anaerobic) and non-flooded (aerobic) California watershed conditions. Under aerobic conditions the degradation rate constant (k=0.0084 ± 0.0039 day-1) and DT50 (82.52 ± 56.54 days) were calculated, as AZ disappearance indicated potential degradation. However, based on concurrent product appearance, less than one percent of the parent degraded over 150 days. Throughout the experiment microbial growth was observed by culturing in tryptic soy broth despite antibiotic addition and soil being autoclaved. Sorption likely contributes to AZ recalcitrance, thus the soil-water partition coefficient (log Kd = 2.18 Lkg-1), Freundlich sorption and desorption coefficients (log Kf = 1.90 ± 0.14 and log Kfd = 2.51 ± 0.30, respectively), and organic-carbon-normalized distribution coefficient (log Koc = 4.25 Lkg-1) were also calculated. Based on these results, AZ degradation in aquatic systems will likely be very limited and transport will fluctuate based on the extent of soil-water saturation or bulk movement of sediment.
Obtaining Resources for Your Kinesiology Department

Higher education governance today is a complex endeavor that demands dynamic, creative, and thoughtful communication, actions, and leadership. Given the continually diminishing level of state fundi...
Spatial and temporal distribution of rare earth elements in the Neuse River, North Carolina

Abstract Rare earth elements (REEs) signatures in the dissolved loads of rivers serve as excellent monitors of weathering processes within a basin. However, quantifying REE behavior spatially (along a river's profile) and temporally (seasonable variations) is rare. This investigation reports REE concentrations of dissolved river loads collected during four sampling seasons at five monitoring stations along the Neuse River, North Carolina. The areal percentage of the Neuse River's catchment lithology composition, Post Archean Australian Shale (PAAS) normalized REE patterns, inter-REE ratios, and calculated anomalous REE values (i.e. cerium anomaly, gadolinium anomaly) were determined at each site in four seasons over a year. Our results show slight differences among inter-REE relationships and anomalous REE values in the dissolved loads along the length of the river. PAAS normalized REE patterns of dissolved water loads vary slightly spatially and temporally among the five sampling stations, and experience varying values of anomalous REE values. Collected data indicates that both variations in localized REE patterns and local bedrock occur along the river profile. Significant gadolinium (Gd) anomalies varied seasonally and spatially at select sites, suggesting changes in REE behavior along a river result from both natural and anthropogenic processes.
Lessons learned from developing advanced topics for broad use

Two faculty teams worked to develop significant content that could be presented in a variety of contexts to students with interests in many areas. This poster reports on the opportunities and the challenges encountered.
National discovery and citizen experts in Aotearoa New Zealand: Local and global narratives of hydraulic fracturing

Abstract Aotearoa New Zealand is a little-known oil and gas producer with a long history of conventional, small-volume extraction in the province of Taranaki. The development of unconventional technologies coupled with political and economic interest in expanding extraction positioned communities and landscapes with no previous history into becoming emergent, extractive frontiers. Data from interviews, observations, and publicly available documents were collected and analyzed to study how fracking vulnerable communities responded to oil and gas proposals for exploration. This study found that residents of the first-fracked communities of Taranaki became national experts, informants, and translators for the fracking vulnerable regions. This study also found that first-fracked communities in English-speaking nations served, whether knowingly or not, as an additional well of publicly accessible insight whether they experienced earthquakes in Oklahoma, mobilized resistance in England, or locked their gates in Australia. This global exchange revealed a globalization of citizen knowledge for vulnerable communities to challenge becoming the next frontier. Finally, this study found that a civic boomerang occurred, in which residents of the frontiers who were opposed to hydraulic fracturing discovered the problems of extraction and turned a more critical lens on the industry’s workaday practices in the province of Taranaki.
Korean Election, 1948: The Decision to Observe

Two commissions, two elections — Two United Nations Commissions dealt with national elections in Korea. The Temporary Commission on Korea had as a principal task the observation of the 1948 election for the Representative Assembly which later formed the Republic of Korea. In 1950, the second Commission on Korea scrutinized the election of a National Assembly, the first chosen under the two-year-old constitution of the Republic. In many respects, the UNTCOK experience guided UNCOK II.
Schools of Thought: An Analysis of Interest Groups Influential in International Population Policy

This analysis, written in 1993, explores the relationships; among competing schools of thought in the international population policy arena. It offers the following observations: (1) Five interest groups are influential: the population-concerned community, a market-oriented group, people focusing on equitable distribution of resources, women's advocates, and the Vatican; (2) Only one of the five groups wants to draw attention to population growth; the other four all have other priorities and prefer to reduce attention to demography, seeing attention to population growth as interfering with their priorities; (3) Any attempt to base policy on identified common ground in this situation would result in asymmetry, turning policy attention away from population growth.
Quality Assurance for Imports and Trade: Risk-Based Surveillance

American consumers continually demand more fresh produce and food throughout the year, in particular during nonproductive seasons in the Northern Hemisphere. Consumer demand escalates food imports and requires delivering more tonnage through the current U.S. Ports of Entry (POE). Increased volumes of imported foods with ever-increasing velocity have been associated with significant food safety risks (unintentional food contamination from pathogens, chemical, or physical agents) and food defense risks (intentional food contamination by disgruntled employees or terrorists). While import inspections should help protect against outbreaks of food-borne illnesses, as well as plant or animal pests and diseases, it is neither possible nor optimal to inspect all produce at the POE. This chapter focuses on the impacts of increased international trade on the marketing system, emphasizing the sourcing of products from other countries, inspection and surveillance activities, and policies to mitigate potential market failure from food safety/defense risks. A framework to evaluate economic efficiency of policies and tools used to ensure imported food quality is discussed.
Toward EEG Sensing of Imagined Speech

Might EEG measured while one imagines words or sentences provide enough information for one to identify what is being thought? Analysis of EEG data from an experiment in which two syllables are spoken in imagination in one of three rhythms shows that information is present in EEG alpha, beta and theta bands. Envelopes are used to compute filters matched to a particular experimental condition; the filters' action on data from a particular trial lets one determine the experimental condition used for that trial with appreciably greater-than-chance performance. Informative spectral features within bands lead us to current work with EEG spectrograms.
From a conformal anomaly to a theory of tensionless strings

Wilson surfaces in the (0,2), d = 6 superconformal theory are considered via their description as the boundaries of membranes extending into the bulk of AdS7 × S 4. The UV divergent terms in the minimal membrane area include a logarithmic divergence which is proportional to the rigid string action. This is interpreted as indicative of a conformal anomaly for the Wilson surface observable. Some largely speculative remarks are made about the possible implicat ions for a description of the tensionless strings in this theory.
Dissipative distributed parameter systems on-line reduction and control using DEIM/APOD combination

The output feedback control of distributed parameter systems based on adaptive model reduction is explored in this paper. A significant computational hurdle when using model reduction for control (MRC) is the numerical computation of integrals that appear in the reduced order model limiting MRC's applicability when dealing with nonlinearities. The objective of this paper is to further reduce the computational cost in adaptive proper orthogonal decomposition (APOD). It is addressed by using discrete empirical interpolation method (DEIM) in the observer and controller to reduce the computational cost associated with the nonlinear functions. The proposed method is successfully illustrated on a diffusion reaction process and a fluid flow system described by the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation.
Conceptualizing the information seeking of college students on the autism spectrum through participant viewpoint ethnography

Abstract Due to increased numbers of diagnoses, targeted programs and initiatives, more students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are attending college (Heflin & Isbell, 2012; Zager & Alpern, 2007) but academic librarians and their staffs have not been trained to optimally serve this growing population. Utilizing wayfinding, think aloud protocol (TAP), retrospective think aloud protocol (RTAP), and a wearable camera, the actions, thoughts and feelings of a student with ASD and a neurotypical peer are evidenced as they navigate their campus library in search of materials. The library website, virtual maps to resource locations, and library workers served equally as enablers and barriers to both students in their information seeking. This study demonstrates that participant viewpoint ethnography is a viable research methodology for both neurotypical college students and those with autism.
Abstract MP24: Women Experience Higher Rates of Surgical Repair and Mortality for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

Background: It is unknown how gender disparities in the clinical presentation of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) affects AAA repair type and long-term survival. We assessed the hypothesis that comp...
Energy Efficient Pilot and Data Power Allocation in Massive MIMO Communication Systems Under Consideration of Circuit Power

This paper addresses the energy efficient power allocation issue in massive multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) communication systems for both uplink and downlink transmission with circuit power consumption taken into account. The maximum-ratio combining (MRC) and zero-forcing (ZF) detectors in the uplink together with maximum-ratio transmission (MRT) and ZF precoder in the downlink are considered. The key contribution of this paper lies in formulating the original energy efficient power allocation and converting such a complicated optimization problem to a geometric programming problem which can then be solved by a standard optimization software package.
Persistent effects of cyclic adenosine monophosphate are directly responsible for maintaining a neural network state

Network states are often determined by modulators that alter the synaptic and cellular properties of the constituent neurons. Frequently neuromodulators act via second messengers, consequently their effects can persist. This persistence at the cellular/molecular level determines the maintenance of the state at the network level. Here we study a feeding network in Aplysia. In this network, persistent modulation supports the maintenance of an ingestive state, biasing the network to generate ingestive motor programs. Neuropeptides that exert cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) dependent effects play an important role in inducing the ingestive state. Most commonly, modulatory effects exerted through cAMP signaling are persistent as a consequence of PKA activation. This is not the case in the neurons we study. Instead maintenance of the network state depends on the persistence of cAMP itself. Data strongly suggest that this is a consequence of the direct activation of a cyclic nucleotide gated current.
Evolving changes of minimally invasive esophagectomy: a single-institution experience

Initial adoption of minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) began in the late 1990s but its surgical technique, perioperative management, and outcome continues to evolve. The aim of this study was to examine the evolving changes in the technique, outcome, and new strategies in management of postoperative leaks after MIE was performed at a single institution over a two-decade period. A retrospective chart review of 75 MIE operations was performed between November 2011 and September 2018 and this was compared to the initial series of 104 MIE operations performed by the same group between 1998 and 2007. Operative technique, outcomes, and management strategies of leaks were compared. There were 65 males (86.7%) with an average age of 61 years. The laparoscopic/thoracoscopic Ivor Lewis esophagectomy became the preferred MIE approach (49% of cases in the initial vs. 95% in the current series). Compared to the initial case series, there was no significant difference in median length of stay (8 vs. 8 days), major complications (12.5% vs. 14.7%, p = 0.68), incidence of leak (9.6% vs. 10.6%, p = 0.82), anastomotic stricture (26% vs. 32.0%, p = 0.38), or in-hospital mortality (2.9% vs. 2.6%, p = 0.47). Management of esophageal leaks has changed from primarily thoracotomy ± diversion initially (50% of leak cases) to endoscopic stenting ± laparoscopy/thoracoscopy currently (87.5% of leak cases). In a single-institutional series of MIE over two decades, there was a shift toward a preference for the laparoscopic/thoracoscopic Ivor Lewis approach with similar outcomes. The management of postoperative leaks drastically changed with predilection toward minimally invasive option with endoscopic drainage and stenting.
A Testbed for the Evaluation of Denial of Service Attacks in Software-Defined Networks

Software defined networking (SDN) is being widely deployed within enterprise and carrier networks to streamline network services provisioning and reduce costs. This approach improves upon traditional networking protocol technologies by decoupling the data and control planes and moving all control provisioning decisions to a centralized SDN controller. Overall, centralized control delivers much more cost-effective and flexible networking setups that can support a wide range of customized user-driven network management applications, e.g., traffic engineering, security, survivability, policy control, etc. However, the separation of the data and control layers in a SDN network introduces many attack points for malicious users to exploit. In particular, large-scale denial of service (DoS) attacks are a major concern here, as they can effectively shut down vital communications between the SDN controller and data plane nodes. Given the increasing sophistication of such attacks, SDN DoS detection and mitigation have become vital concerns. Although various studies have addressed this problem area, there is a further need to develop and test solutions in live realistic network settings. Along these lines, this paper overviews this important area and demonstrates the impact of DoS attacks on SDN elements in the NSF GENI network testbed. This work provides a key baseline and set of input data from which to develop further detection and mitigation strategies.
TREASURED TRASH: THE SACRED SIGNIFICANCE OF CERAMIC FRAGMENTS IN ELITE RITUAL CONTEXTS AT POSTCLASSIC XALTOCAN, MEXICO

In this article, I examine the use of ceramic fragments to mark sacred spaces at the Postclassic central Mexican site of Xaltocan. Recent excavations in Xaltocan's central precinct revealed a series of ritual features dating to Xaltocan's Middle Postclassic period (a.d. 1240–1350) that were carefully constructed with ceramic fragments. I argue that this practice might represent an effort on the part of Xaltocan's Postclassic leaders to mark these features as sacred. Although Xaltocan was ruled by Otomi peoples during this time, the careful incorporation of ceramic fragments into ritual spaces might be related to the Nahua concept of tlazolli and possibly reflects the increasing influence of Nahua ideologies across the Basin of Mexico. Despite its generally negative connotations, tlazolli was a powerful substance that central Mexicans could manipulate to energize ritual spaces. By carefully reordering ceramic fragments in and around ritual features, Xaltocan's leaders might have imbued these spaces with sacred energy. While the concept of tlazolli might have been quite widespread during this time, the specific practices discussed in this article appear to have been isolated to Xaltocan's Middle Postclassic leaders. Perhaps the specific practices observed were an invention of Xaltocan's Middle Postclassic leaders that never spread.
Prioritising breast cancer care during the corona crisis

Over the past few months, regular care has been postponed where possible in order to increase the healthcare capacity for COVID-19 patients. The pressure imposed on the healthcare system by the new coronavirus has led to the need for the prioritising of breast cancer care. Several professional scientific and medical organisations have published proposals to prioritise oncological care. Due to the poor prognosis, care for patients with progressive disease during neoadjuvant systemic therapy and a triple negative, may not be postponed. In certain groups of patients, including those with ductal carcinoma in situ or an endocrine sensitive tumour, treatment may be postponed or modified, although with certain reservations.At the initiative of the NationaalBorstkankerOverleg Nederland, prospective data are currently being collected in order to gain more insight into the impact of COVID-19 on breast cancer care.
Dynamic, Real-Time, Fiducial-Free Surgical Navigation with Integrated Multimodal Optical Imaging

Surgeons need surgical navigation and intraoperative imaging for accurate surgery. However, current clinical surgical navigation systems have many drawbacks, including the need of fiducial markers, the lack of real-time registration update, and lack of functional imaging. We have developed a novel Real-time Fluorescence Imaging Topography Scanning (RFITS) system that delivers simultaneous real-time multimodal optical imaging, CT-to-Optical image registration, and dynamic fiducial-free surgical navigation. The RFITS prototype was characterized to evaluate system performance and used in biological models for fluorescence-guided surgery. We also performed multimodal imaging of a casting life-sized human cranial model and investigated image registration between intraoperative optical image data and preoperative tomographic image data. The RFITS prototype successfully integrated real-time intraoperative optical imaging and dynamic CT-based surgical navigation, offering complementary functional and structural information for surgical guidance. Our results demonstrated that the RFITS system can provide accurate multimodal surgical guidance in preclinical studies. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a system capable of concurrent intraoperative fluorescence imaging and dynamic, real-time, CT-based navigation, whereas multiple modalities are accurately registered.
The Geographies of International Student Mobility: Spaces, Places and Decision-Making

The Geographies of International Student Mobility: Spaces, Places and Decision-Making is a timely volume offering distinctive and critical insights into the geographical dimensions of international student mobilities. After the 2016 United Kingdom referendum to leave the European Union, and in the same year, the election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States, both countries faced the rise of conservative populism and sociopolitical upheavals. Brexit and Trumpism have been reshaping the politics of Western democracies in a more nationalistic and nativist way. This anti-immigration macro-level trend actually has ramifications for the internationalization processes of UK higher education.
Decreased Quality of Life in Children With Anomalous Aortic Origin of a Coronary Artery.

Background:Anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery (AAOCA) is associated with sudden death in the young. We sought to determine quality of life (QOL) in patients/families affected by AAOCA.Met...
Specialized Embedding Approximation for Edge Intelligence: A Case Study in Urban Sound Classification

Embedding models that encode semantic information into low-dimensional vector representations are useful in various machine learning tasks with limited training data. However, these models are typically too large to support inference in small edge devices, which motivates training of smaller yet comparably predictive student embedding models through knowledge distillation (KD). While knowledge distillation traditionally uses the teacher’s original training dataset to train the student, we hypothesize that using a dataset similar to the student’s target domain allows for better compression and training efficiency for the said domain, at the cost of reduced generality across other (non-pertinent) domains. Hence, we introduce Specialized Embedding Approximation (SEA) to train a student featurizer to approximate the teacher’s embedding manifold for a given target domain. We demonstrate the feasibility of SEA in the context of acoustic event classification for urban noise monitoring and show that leveraging a dataset related to this target domain not only improves the baseline performance of the original embedding model but also yields competitive students with >1 order of magnitude lesser storage and activation memory. We further investigate the impact of using random and informed sampling techniques for dimensionality reduction in SEA.
Ecological Momentary Assessment and mHealth Interventions Among Men Who Have Sex With Men: Scoping Review

Background: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a research design that allows for the measurement of nearly instantaneous experiences within the participant’s natural environment. Using EMA can help improve recall bias, ecological validity, and patient engagement while enhancing personalization and the ubiquity of interventions. People that can benefit from the use of EMA are men who have sex with men (MSM). Previous EMA studies have been successful in capturing patterns of depression, anxiety, substance use, and risky sexual behavior. These findings are directly relevant to MSM, who have high rates of each of these psychological and behavioral outcomes. Although there is a driving force behind the growing literature surrounding EMAs among MSM, no synthesizing reviews yet exist. Objective: The aims of this study were to (1) synthesize the literature across fields on how EMA methods have been used among MSM, (2) better understand the feasibility and acceptability of EMA interventions among MSM, and (3) inform designs for future research studies on best evidence-based practices for EMA interventions. Methods: Based on 4 library databases, we conducted a scoping review of EMAs used within interventions among MSM. The eligibility criteria included peer-reviewed studies conducted in the United States and the use of EMA methodology in an intervention for MSM. Modeling after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Compendium of Evidence-Based Interventions as the framework, we applied a typology that used 8 distinct review criteria, for example, sample size, design of the intervention, random assignment, design of the follow-up investigation, rate of retention, and rate of engagement. Results: Our results (k=15, N=952) indicated a range of sample sizes; the smallest sample size was 12, while the largest sample size was 120. Of the 15 studies, 7 (47%) focused on outcomes related to substance use or outcomes related to psychological experiences. Of the 15 studies, 5 (33%) implemented an EMA intervention across 30 days. Of the 15 studies, 2 studies (13%) used random assignment, and 2 studies (13%) had quasi-experimental designs. Of the 15 studies, 10 studies (67%) reported acceptable retention rates greater than 70%. The outcomes that had event-contingent prompts (ie, prompts after engaging in substance use) were not as effective in engaging participants, with overall engagement rates as low as 37%. Conclusions: Our systematic scoping review indicates strong evidence that the EMA methodology is both feasible and acceptable at high rates among MSM, especially, when examining psychological and behavioral outcomes such as negative or positive affect, risky sexual behavior, or substance use. Further research on optimal designs of EMA interventions for MSM is warranted.
Optimizing features for malware-benign clustering using Windows portable executables

Cyber-attacks have been menacing many organizations for a long time. With the advancement in technical growth, cyber-attacks have also increased in volume and treacherousness. For better detection of malware, model training over significant features is of prime importance. In this study, we propose contrasting feature vectors for clustering using multiple dimensionality reduction techniques such as PCA and autoencoder. Three different models (HFVC, OEL, and BENN) are proposed comprising of different dimensionality reduction techniques and architectures. To evaluate this approach a publicly available dataset is used comprising 138,047 benign and malware samples. In models, OEL and BENN above-average clustering was observed with F1-Score above 0.9. Overall autoencod r-based models were termed optimal in terms of F1Score and accuracy.
Neurobehavioural comorbidities of epilepsy: towards a network-based precision taxonomy.

Cognitive and behavioural comorbidities are prevalent in childhood and adult epilepsies and impose a substantial human and economic burden. Over the past century, the classic approach to understanding the aetiology and course of these comorbidities has been through the prism of the medical taxonomy of epilepsy, including its causes, course, characteristics and syndromes. Although this ‘lesion model’ has long served as the organizing paradigm for the field, substantial challenges to this model have accumulated from diverse sources, including neuroimaging, neuropathology, neuropsychology and network science. Advances in patient stratification and phenotyping point towards a new taxonomy for the cognitive and behavioural comorbidities of epilepsy, which reflects the heterogeneity of their clinical presentation and raises the possibility of a precision medicine approach. As we discuss in this Review, these advances are informing the development of a revised aetiological paradigm that incorporates sophisticated neurobiological measures, genomics, comorbid disease, diversity and adversity, and resilience factors. We describe modifiable risk factors that could guide early identification, treatment and, ultimately, prevention of cognitive and broader neurobehavioural comorbidities in epilepsy and propose a road map to guide future research. This Review offers a novel theoretical perspective on the neurobehavioural comorbidities of adult and childhood epilepsy, involving new analytical approaches, derivation of new taxonomies and consideration of the diverse forces that influence cognition and behaviour in individuals with epilepsy.
Invited review: Unknown-parent groups and metafounders in single-step genomic BLUP

ABSTRACT Single-step genomic BLUP (ssGBLUP) is a method for genomic prediction that integrates matrices of pedigree (A) and genomic (G) relationships into a single unified additive relationship matrix whose inverse is incorporated into a set of mixed model equations (MME) to compute genomic predictions. Pedigree information in dairy cattle is often incomplete. Missing pedigree potentially causes biases and inflation in genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV) obtained with ssGBLUP. Three major issues are associated with missing pedigree in ssGBLUP, namely biased predictions by selection, missing inbreeding in pedigree relationships, and incompatibility between G and A in level and scale. These issues can be solved using a proper model for unknown-parent groups (UPG). The theory behind the use of UPG is well established for pedigree BLUP, but not for ssGBLUP. This study reviews the development of the UPG model in pedigree BLUP, the properties of UPG models in ssGBLUP, and the effect of UPG on genetic trends and genomic predictions. Similarities and differences between UPG and metafounder (MF) models, a generalized UPG model, are also reviewed. A UPG model (QP) derived using a transformation of the MME has a good convergence behavior. However, with insufficient data, the QP model may yield biased genetic trends and may underestimate UPG. The QP model can be altered by removing the genomic relationships linking GEBV and UPG effects from MME. This altered QP model exhibits less bias in genetic trends and less inflation in genomic predictions than the QP model, especially with large data sets. Recently, a new model, which encapsulates the UPG equations into the pedigree relationships for genotyped animals, was proposed in simulated purebred populations. The MF model is a comprehensive solution to the missing pedigree issue. This model can be a choice for multibreed or crossbred evaluations if the data set allows the estimation of a reasonable relationship matrix for MF. Missing pedigree influences genetic trends, but its effect on the predictability of genetic merit for genotyped animals should be negligible when many proven bulls are genotyped. The SNP effects can be back-solved using GEBV from older genotyped animals, and these predicted SNP effects can be used to calculate GEBV for young-genotyped animals with missing parents.
Pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of paclitaxel following intrauterine administration of PACLIMER® microspheres in female New Zealand rabbits

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 3103 Introduction: The efficacy of high-dose chemotherapy in a subset of malignancies suggests that resistance may not be absolute and laboratory studies that show that sufficiently higher doses of most antineoplastic agents overcome all mechanisms of resistance. However, higher doses in patients are associated with unacceptable toxicity which may be circumvented by targeting the drug to the diseased tissues. We have investigated the pharmacokinetics and bio-distribution of paclitaxel, an inhibitor of cell proliferation and angiogenesis, following intrauterine administration of PACLIMER® Microspheres in female New Zealand rabbits. The objective was to deliver high concentrations of the drug to the uterine tissues with low systemic levels for a prolonged period of time to optimize the therapy of cell proliferative and/or angiogenesis-dependent uterine disorders. Method: PACLIMER® microspheres containing 10% paclitaxel in a polymer, Polilactofate™, were suspended in a thermo-reversible gel and administered into the uteri of rabbits at 1, 4 or 7.5mg/kg paclitaxel dose. Plasma samples were obtained at various times up to 4 weeks. At 4 and 8 weeks post-dosing, 3 rabbits in each group were sacrificed and their uteri and other organs were harvested for paclitaxel analysis using a LC-MS-MS method. Results: Paclitaxel was detected in the plasma samples but the concentrations were not dose-dependent. The maximum plasma concentrations measured (at 24 hours) were 0.85, 1.1 and 1.0ng/mL at 1, 4 and 7.5mg/kg dose, respectively. High and dose-dependent uterine tissue concentrations of paclitaxel were observed at 4 and 8 weeks but no drug was detected in the brain, liver, and lung tissues. Up to 10,000-fold higher concentrations of paclitaxel was measured in uterine tissues compared to the plasma. For example, at 4 weeks, the mean plasma concentration for the 7.5mg/kg dose was about 0.44ng/mL while the mean uterine tissue concentration was about 5,150ng/g. The mean uterine tissue concentration at 8 weeks was 366ng/g at 7.5mg/kg dose; plasma levels were below the level of detection (0.1ng/mL). Conclusions: Instillation of PACLIMER® microspheres suspended in a thermo-reversible gel into the rabbit uterus resulted in prolonged and very high concentrations of paclitaxel in the uterine tissue and low concentrations in plasma. This study was partly funded with a 50% matching grant from the Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS).
Outpatient cardioversion of atrial arrhythmias: Efficacy, safety, and costs

Abstract Background Outpatient direct current (DC) cardioversion is performed routinely, yet scant data support this approach. We studied the efficacy, safety, and costs of outpatient cardioversion. Methods A retrospective analysis of outpatient cardioversions was performed in a 5-year period at an academic medical center in 532 consecutive outpatients with an atrial tachyarrhythmia. The protocol included anticoagulation (international normalized ratio ≥2.0) for ≥4 consecutive weekly draws and then DC cardioversion with the patient under intravenous anesthesia. Arrhythmia symptoms, antiarrhythmic therapy use, and costs were evaluated. Results Ninety percent of patients were discharged in sinus rhythm after cardioversion with a median number of shocks of 1 (range, 1-6) for atrial flutter (n = 113), atrial tachycardia (n = 13), and atrial fibrillation (n = 406). Sixty-seven percent of patients were treated with an antiarrhythmic drug. The complication rate was 2.6%, with 11 unplanned admissions. Thromboemboli occurred only in patients whose anticoagulation deviated from protocol and included chronic hemianopsia starting 4 days after cardioversion, transient right-sided weakness, and cerebral vascular accident 3 days after cardioversion, despite negative results on a transesophageal echocardiogram. Two patients had postcardioversion pulmonary edema. Bradycardia developed in 4 patients; transient pacemaker noncapture after the shock occurred in 4 patients. Transient postshock rhythms also included AV nodal Wenckebach and junctional rhythm. One patient had aspiration pneumonia. The mean cost of cardioversion was $464. Fees for anesthesia ranged from $525 to $650. The anesthetic costs ranged from $2.84 to $21.47. The cardiology fee averaged $501. Conclusion Outpatient cardioversion is a low risk, effective, and economical procedure. (Am Heart J 2003;145:233-8.)
Myocardial Infarction, Stroke, and Mortality in cART-Treated HIV Patients on Statins

Despite combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), people living with HIV (PLWH) continue to have more systemic inflammation and metabolic disturbances than the general population. These risk factors for atherosclerosis and organ dysfunction may be ameliorated by statins. We retrospectively analyzed 438 cART treated PLWH from the Nutrition For Healthy Living (NFHL) cohort to determine the association between statins and myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and all-cause mortality as a composite. We used Cox proportional hazards regression as our main analysis. The average age was 44 years, 32% were women, and 67 of the 438 subjects used statins. There was no association between statins and our composite endpoint in two separate models [1.26 (0.57-2.79) in statin history model and 0.93 (0.65-1.32) per year in statin duration model]. The composite outcome was significantly associated with CD4 count, age, and smoking status in both models. CD4 count remained significant even after exclusion of mortality from the composite (HR=0.88, p=0.02). Confounding control via propensity scoring and multiple imputations did not change the results. Statins did not have an effect on MI, stroke, and mortality. Interestingly, CD4 count appears to be an important predictor of these outcomes, even after exclusion of death from the composite.
Crying wolf: an empirical study of SSL warning effectiveness

Web users are shown an invalid certificate warning when their browser cannot validate the identity of the websites they are visiting. While these warnings often appear in benign situations, they can also signal a man-in-the-middle attack. We conducted a survey of over 400 Internet users to examine their reactions to and understanding of current SSL warnings. We then designed two new warnings using warnings science principles and lessons learned from the survey. We evaluated warnings used in three popular web browsers and our two warnings in a 100- participant, between-subjects laboratory study. Our warnings performed significantly better than existing warnings, but far too many participants exhibited dangerous behavior in all warning conditions. Our results suggest that, while warnings can be improved, a better approach may be to minimize the use of SSL warnings altogether by blocking users from making unsafe connections and eliminating warnings in benign situations.
HERESY: a hybrid approach to automatic schematic generation (for VLSI)

An automatic schematic generation system called HERESY is presented, which represents a well-engineered combination of algorithmic and rule-based approaches. Equipped with a set of carefully-chosen evaluation criteria, HERESY is able to generate high-quality, reasonably general classes of schematic diagrams in an efficient way. A novel levelization algorithm that can detect and resolve arbitrary cyclic structures of a circuit is described. An example schematic generated by HERESY, together with its computational efficiency is also presented. >
ASSESSING OUTCOMES IN CLINICAL PRACTICE

We are witnessing a remarkable explosion in interest and activity in quantifying outcomes and using these measures to enhance the value of clinical care. Outcomes assessment has become an imperative for clinical practice. This paper first will offer criteria for an ideal system of outcomes assessment. The paper will then review the principal domains of assessment for psychiatric practice and provide examples of instruments available in each domain. We will then describe the use of two instruments, one for clinical outcome and one for interpersonal aspects of patient satisfaction, developed and used at McLean Hospital. The relation between outcomes assessment and outcomes management will then be discussed. Finally, we will discuss the fundamental questions a clinical group or facility might consider in choosing outcomes measurement instruments.