cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lysine 219 participates in NADPH specificity in a flavin-containing monooxygenase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Abstract The flavin-containing monooxygenase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yFMO) uses NADPH and O 2 to oxidize thiol containing substrates such as GSH and thereby generates the oxidizing potential for the ER. The enzyme uses NADPH 12 times more efficiently than NADH. Amino acid sequence analysis suggests that Lys 219 and/or Lys 227 may act as counterions to the 2′ phosphate of NADPH and to help determine the preference for pyridine nucleotides. Site directed mutations show that Lys 219 makes the greater contribution to cosubstrate recognition. Conversion of Lys 219 to Ala reduces NADPH dependent activity 90-fold, but has no effect on NADH-dependent activity. Conversion of Lys 227 to Ala reduces NADPH-dependent activity fivefold and NADH-dependent activity threefold. Dissociation constants for NADP + to oxidized yFMO were measured spectroscopically. K d is 12 μM for the wild-type enzyme and 243 μM for the K219A mutant, consistent with the role of Lys 219 in pyridine nucleotide binding.
Loss-of-Function Deletion of the Steroid Receptor Coactivator-1 Gene in Mice Reduces Estrogen Effect on the Vascular Injury Response

Objective— The steroid receptor coactivator-1 (SRC-1) is a transcriptional coactivator for nuclear receptors including estrogen receptor (ER). SRC-1 can interact with ER in an estrogen binding-depe...
Acute Infective Endocarditis

Acute infective endocarditis is a complex disease with changing epidemiology and a rapidly evolving knowledge base. To consistently achieve optimal outcomes in the management of infective endocarditis, the clinical team must have an understanding of the epidemiology, microbiology, and natural history of infective endocarditis, as well as a grasp of guiding principles of diagnosis and medical and surgical management. The focus of this review is acute infective endocarditis, though many studies of diagnosis and treatment do not differentiate between acute and subacute disease, and indeed many principles of diagnosis and management of infective endocarditis for acute and subacute disease are identical.
Performance analysis for DOA estimation algorithms using physical parameters

Subspace-based direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation has attracted many excellent performance studies, but limitations such as the analysis of individual algorithms generally exist in these performance studies. The authors previously proposed a unified performance analysis based on a finite amount of data, and achieved a tractable expression for the mean-squared DOA estimation error for the MUSIC, Min-Norm, ESPRIT, and state-space realization algorithms. However, this expression uses the singular values and vectors of a data matrix. Thus, the effects of the original data parameters such as numbers of sensors and snapshots, source coherence, and separations were not explicitly analyzed. In this work, the authors have further unified and simplified their previous results and derived a unified expression based on the original data parameters. >
Field measurement of specific growth rate, biomass, and primary production of benthic diatoms of Savin Hill Cove, Boston

C-labeling of chlorophyll a and subsequent extraction by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) was adapted for field measurement of both specific growth rate and biomass of diatom films found on muddy intertidal sediments of Savin Hill Cove, a small embayment of northwest Dorchester Bay, Boston Harbor. Primary production was measured concurrently via 14C uptake into total cellular C. An incubation apparatus that incorporates stirring to enhance sediment-water gas exchange was used at both low and high tides. Over the year-long study period (August 1987- August 1988) measured specific growth rates were low (0.06-0.27 d-l) while biomass estimates were high (2.21 x 10m4 to 1.54 x lo--' g C cm-'). C:Chl ratios varied from 18.7 to 60.4. The highest biomass values and C : Chl ratios were found during the 1988 spring bloom. The very low specific growth rates measured during the spring bloom (0.06 and 0.09 d-l) coupled with spring increases in the numbers of grazers may explain the steep decline in biomass that followed the spring bloom in 1986-1988.
The Health Informatics Center of Acadiana--informing health policymaking in post-Katrina/Rita Louisiana.

A "healthy communities" initiative in Louisiana led to creation of the Health Informatics Center of Acadiana(HICA) at The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, in the south central United States. Since hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Louisiana coast in 2005, HICA's role has taken on heightened significance. HICA identifies vulnerable populations, documents their risk factors, and evaluates interventions intended to improve community health. HICA collaborates with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and the Lafayette Community Health Consortium (LCHC), the latter formed for coordination among local healthcare providers and agencies. Both HICA and LCHC were created when "Bonne Sante a Lafayette!"--a locally developed community health improvement plan--was implemented. This paper reports on methods and experiences of HICA and LCHC, offering these as models for addressing community concerns elsewhere. Of special interest is the discussion of Louisiana HABITS, a consumer survey methodology that HICA has developed to measure healthcare access barriers, to provide information that healthcare organizations and governments need to implement workable business strategy and public policy.
Clay Mineral Composition of Recent Sediments from the Mississippi River Delta

ABSTRACT The clay mineral composition of Recent sediments from the modern Mississippi River Delta and offshore regions in the vicinity of the Delta is reported. Montmorillonite is the dominant clay mineral being deposited in the Delta region. A small amount of this component changes to illite and chlorite. It is suggested that this material represents degraded micaceous material undergoing regradation, and thus represents the approximate contribution of the Ohio River drainage system to clay mineral assemblage. The bulk of the montmorillonite, presumably bentonitic in character, undergoes no apparent diagenesis. It is suggested that this material represents the approximate contribution of the drainage basin of the Missouri River system.
Explaining South Africa's Racial Census

In all South African elections since 1994, race has been an overwhelming predictor of voting behavior for most of the South African electorate. This paper evaluates three explanations for this outcome: an expressive hypothesis, which sees voting as an act of identity expression; a politics-as-usual approach, which points to standard factors like policy preferences or performance evaluations; and a racial heuristics approach, which suggests that voters use race as a cognitive shortcut during elections. It finds that racial heuristics, combined with performance evaluations, provide the best explanation for South Africa's racial census.
Computational design of new scintillator chemistries and defect structures

The focus of this thesis is computationally designing inorganic scintillators previously predicted by informatics, which have not been validated computationally. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were performed to (1) select garnet host lattices that are good scintillators, thereby down selecting from compounds previously identified via informatics, and (2) identify co-dopant chemistries in perovskites which enhance scintillator property. In this thesis, the property of focus is bandgap, which in general has an inverse correlation to light yield. The total energy code Cambridge Sequential Total Energy Package (CASTEP) was used for performing DFT calculations, taking advantage of its speed in modeling the electronic structure of the complex inorganic scintillators. From our calculations, Tb3Al2Ga3O12 was identified as forming a stable garnet structure and having a modeled direct bandgap corresponding with light yield better than other similar garnet host lattices. Further, from our calculations, we find four co-dopant chemistries which improve the bandgap from singly doped perovskites.
Is Hedging Foreign Currency Bids with Options Desirable? An Applied Analysis for Small Firms

Companies that submit bids denominated in foreign currency but will not be informed of the winner of the bid for some time are exposed to foreign exchange gains or losses during the bid to award period. This paper explores the use of currency put options to hedge such a bid in euros, and evaluates the desirability of the hedge using a stylized empirical probability distribution as well as simulated data from actual results from 2008-2012. Both approaches indicate that an out-of-the-money hedge is often beneficial, and in particular a 10-delta put (which is the least costly of the most widely options) is recommended from this analysis.
Healthcare Workers' Attitudes Toward Patients With Ebola Virus Disease in The United States

Background. We assessed healthcare workers' (HCWs) attitudes toward care of patients with Ebola virus disease (EVD). Methods. We provided a self-administered questionnaire-based cross-sectional study of HCWs at 2 urban hospitals. Results. Of 428 HCWs surveyed, 25.1% believed it was ethical to refuse care to patients with EVD; 25.9% were unwilling to provide care to them. In a multivariate analysis, female gender (32.9% vs 11.9%; odds ratio [OR], 3.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-7.7), nursing profession (43.6% vs 12.8%; OR, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.4-5.2), ethical beliefs about refusing care to patients with EVD (39.1% vs 21.3%; OR, 3.71; 95% CI, 2.0-7.0), and increased concern about putting family, friends, and coworkers at risk (28.2% vs 0%; P = .003; OR, 11.1) were independent predictors of unwillingness to care for patients with EVD. Although beliefs about the ethics of refusing care were independently associated with willingness to care for patients with EVD, 21.3% of those who thought it was unethical to refuse care would be unwilling to care for patients with EVD. Healthcare workers in our study had concerns about potentially exposing their families and friends to EVD (90%), which was out of proportion to their degree of concern for personal risk (16.8%). Conclusion. Healthcare workers' willingness to care for patients with Ebola patients did not precisely mirror their beliefs about the ethics of refusing to provide care, although they were strongly influenced by those beliefs. Healthcare workers may be balancing ethical beliefs about patient care with beliefs about risks entailed in rendering care and consequent risks to their families. Providing a safe work environment and measures to reduce risks to family, perhaps by arranging child care or providing temporary quarters, may help alleviate HCW's concerns.
The Value of Life Saving: Lessons from the Cigarette Market

This paper reports the results of a study of the cigarette market designed to measure what consumers are willing to pay for increased life expectancy. The spread of information on the health effects of smoking has dramatically transformed the cigarette market in the last 30 years. Using survey evidence on consumer beliefs together with reductions in cigarette demand gives a direct estimate of consumers’ valuation of safety. The average “value of life” is estimated to be $460,000 (1985$), but consumers are found to differ considerably in their valuations. Moreover, there appears to be a skewness to the value of life distribution; the median value of life is approximately $380,000, compared to the mean of $460,000.
Justice Indicators for Post-Conflict Settings: A Review

Over the last two decades, there has been a proliferation of indicators designed to measure and quantify the delivery of justice services. This paper describes the range of justice system indicator instruments that are currently in use and the data sources and measures that they employ. The authors identify 53 instruments assessing various aspects of the rule of law and a subset of 31 instruments that specifically address the operation of law enforcement agencies, judicial systems, corrections, and informal justice mechanisms. This review, conducted for the United Nations as part of the Rule of Law Indicators Project, considers the strengths and shortcomings of existing justice indicators in the light of common challenges facing countries recovering from conflict, including: political instability, problems of legitimacy and corruption; safety and security; and, challenges relating to capacity and infrastructure. We conclude with suggestions for supplementing existing indicators to develop measures that can inform efforts to enhance the rule of law in post-conflict settings.
Towards an Understanding of the Reaction Sequences in Brazed Joints: Investigation of the Ti-Cu-O Ternary at 945°C.

The joining of ceramics using active metal braze alloys is an attractive technique and has been used for a variety of material systems. The braze alloys usually contain an active element such as Ti which can reduce the ceramic and form a strong bond across the interface. Microstructural characterizations of brazed interfaces have been widely reported, though reasons for the formation of reaction products and their sequence is not clear due to the lack of thermodynamic information on the phases formed. The Ag-Cu-Ti/Al2O3 system contains an interface where Ti, the active element in the braze alloy, reduces Al2O3 to form layers of reaction products which include (Ti,Cu,Al)6O, an M6X type compound. In this study we have looked at the Ti-Cu-O system as a first step towards understanding the Ag-Cu-Ti/Al2O3 system. A section of the Ti-Cu-O ternary was investigated at 945°C. The system contains two M6X type compounds, Ti4Cu2O and Ti3CU3O, which have independent single phase fields. A Ti activity diagram was generated from the available thermodynamic information and the knowledge of the ternary section. The two reaction sequences reported for such interfaces were analyzed based on the activity diagram.
Metabolism of Benzene Hexachloride Isomers and Related Compounds In Vitro. II. Purification and Stereospecificity of House Fly Enzymes

Attempts were made to purify the house fly, Musca domestica L., enzymes that metabolize the α- and γ-isomers of 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexachlorocyclohexane (BHC) and the γ- and δ-isomers of 1,3,4,5,6- pentachlorocyclohex -1 - ene (PCCH) to unknown water-soluble substances in the presence of glutathione. Quantitative analyses of effluents from ion exchange columns indicated at least 3 enzyme systems that metabolize both α-BHC and γ-PCCH, with different ratios of metabolizing activity for the 2 substrates. The activity of enzymes from various ages of adult house flies demonstrated enzyme stereospecificity in the metabolism of α- and γ-BHC. The development of enzyme activity with the age of adult flies had no correlation with the lethal dosage of γ-BHC to flies of the same age. No large changes of enzyme activity for metabolism 7-PCCH were found through all stages of metamorphosis, α- and γ-BHC metabolizing enzymes were predominant in the adult stage only. DDT was dehydrochlorinated to DDE (2,2-bis-(pchlorophenyl) -1,1-dichloroethylene) with the enzymatic reaction system used for BHC. Several inhibition studies did not differentiate enzymes causing dehydrochlorination of DDT from those metabolizing BHC.
TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION.

Treating a depressed patient is not yet a simple matter of prescribing an antidepressant. Success depends on early recognition, administration of therapeutic amounts of the most effective drugs, cl...
Convex Optimization for DES Planning and Operation in Radial Distribution Systems With High Penetration of Photovoltaic Resources

In this paper, distributed energy storage (DES) devices, like batteries and ultra-capacitors, are used to alleviate detrimental impacts of high penetration photovoltaic (PV) resources on distribution systems. The impacts are studied at mainly two time resolutions—one minute and one hour. To determine accurately the size of the required DES for the purpose of mitigating the impacts of large-scale distributed PV, sizing procedures based on OpenDSS are proposed. After determining the total size of the required DES, optimization techniques can be used to choose the optimal locations for the DES along the feeder, which is a continuous optimization problem taking into account equality constraints of the AC power flow. The continuity of the problem and the radial network structure make it possible to apply a convex optimization technique called second order cone programming (SOCP) relaxation to obtain the globally optimal solution and avoid the problem of NP-hardness. The exactness of the introduced SOCP relaxation is sensitive to the chosen objective function and additional quadratic equalities. The necessary and sufficient condition of exactness for the SOCP relaxation of the DES optimal allocation and operation in radial distribution systems is studied. The proposed methods are applied to an actual feeder in the southwestern US with high penetration of PV using actual measured data. The simulation results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approaches.
67 AUTOIMMUNE HEPATITIS IN A CASE OF ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes a loss of CD4+ T cells and a decline of the immune status. It is the leading cause of death in the 25-44 age group as a result of opportunistic infections and malignancy that occur due to a weak immune system. HIV can affect any organ system, including the hepatobiliary system. Hepatomegaly and abnormal LFTs are common during the course of HIV. This is a result of drugs, infections, or, in some instances, autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). We report a rare case of AIH in a patient infected with HIV. A 27-year-old AA female with a history of HIV, presented with fatigue, pruritis, and elevated transaminases for 3 months. The patient had been on HAART. Drug and alcohol history was negative, and an evaluation was unrevealing. A liver biopsy was performed and read as possible drug-induced injury, and HAART therapy was held for possible drug-induced hepatitis. Her liver profile did not improve and she developed jaundice with a high AST (above 2,000 IU/L). The patient9s workup was repeated. All studies were negative except for a hypergammaglobulinemia. The biopsy was reviewed and based on the presence of plasma cells with neutrophils in addition to the clinical picture a presumptive diagnosis of seronegative AIH was made. The patient was started on steroids. Within 3 weeks her labs normalized and the bilirubin normalized. Eventually her steroids were tapered to 5 mg qd and the LFTs remained normal. AIH is an unresolving inflammation of the liver caused by abnormal activation of immune system characterized by hypergammaglobulinemia and autoantibodies. There is evidence to suggest that CD4 cells predispose to AIH by mediating abnormal immune system activation. Our case is unusual as we present an immunosuppressed patient with a disease in which the immune system is supposed to be hyperactive. HIV has been associated with various autoimmune conditions. In a genetically predisposed individual, HIV can lead to autoimmune diseases by up-regulation of costimulators on antigen-presenting cells or by molecular mimicracy. In patients susceptible to AIH with HIV, if the CD4+ count is low, a person may not mount an autoimmune response to develop AIH. In our case, treatment resulted in a normal CD4 count causing an autoimmune response with high enzymes and histological findings of AIH. In HIV, when a patient has elevated liver enzymes one should exclude drugs and infectious processes and if negative, AIH can be considered.
Successful Management of Neobladder Variceal Bleeding

Hematuria from a neobladder can occur due to a variety of pathologies including tumors, stones, and fistulas. Variceal bleeding in a neobladder is a very rare condition with only one case reported in literature. We present a case of a patient with cirrhosis and portal hypertension and an ileocolic orthotopic neobladder presenting with hematuria. Computed tomographic angiography showed dilated varices around the neobladder which were successfully embolized. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report case of variceal bleeding in a neobladder successfully managed with the combination of TIPS (transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt) procedure and embolization.
Relation of the Extracellular [Bicarbonate]/[Chloride] Ratio to Erythrocyte Sodium Content: A Possible New Control System

1. Erythrocytes were incubated in buffers with different [bicarbonate]/[chloride] ratios. 2. The erythrocyte sodium content was higher in buffers with higher [bicarbonate]/ [chloride] ratios. 3. The rise in erythrocyte sodium concentration with increase in [bicarbonate]/[chloride] ratio was independent of the effects of ouabain and ouabain plus ethacrynic acid. Primaquine-induced changes in membrane permeability, ATP depletion by starvation and the use of potassium-free buffers did not change the effect. 4. The results may demonstrate a system which either increases the permeability of erythrocytes to sodium or regulates the sodium content of erythrocytes by a carrier system which is independent of ATP.
Impact of Hospital Teaching Status on Mortality, Length of Stay and Cost Among Patients With Cardiac Arrest in the United States

Limited data exist regarding the in-hospital outcomes in patients with cardiac arrest (CA) in teaching versus nonteaching hospital settings. Using the Nationwide (National) Inpatient Sample (2008 to 2012), 731,107 cases of CA were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition codes. Among these patients, 348,368 (47.6%) were managed in teaching hospitals and 376,035 (51.4%) in nonteaching hospitals. Patients in teaching hospitals with CA were younger (62.42 vs 68.08 years old), had less co-morbidities (p <0.001), were less likely to be white (54.6% vs 65.5%) and more likely to be uninsured (9.1% vs 7.6%). Mortality in patients with CA was significantly lower in teaching hospitals than in nonteaching hospitals (55.3% vs 58.8%; all p <0.001). The mortality remained significantly lower after adjusting for baseline patient and hospital characteristics (odds ratio 0.917, CI 0.899 to 0.937, p <0.001). However, the survival benefit was no longer present after adjusting for in-hospital procedures (OR 0.997, CI 0.974 to 1.02, p = 0.779). In conclusion, teaching status of the hospital was associated with decreased in-hospital mortality in patients with CA. The differences in mortality disappeared after adjusting for in-hospital procedures, indicating that routine application of novel therapeutic methods in patients with CA in teaching hospitals could translate into improved survival outcomes.
Three Perspectives on Evidence-Based Practice

This chapter will examine evidence-based practice (EBP) from three different vantage points. As discussed in Chapter 1, there are several definitions of EBP, often shaped by the role the individual has within the EBP process. To clinical social workers, EBP is most often understood as a practice decision-making process. This is indeed one key application of EBP. But clinical social workers also understand the impact of EBP in other related contexts. We find it useful to think of EBP from three different perspectives: (1) its application in practice decision making, (2) its applications to health care policy and administration, and (3) its impact on research methods and research funding. To limit discussion of EBP solely to its practice application omits attention to other, broader, issues of interest to clinical social workers. The policies that shape practice delivery, the day-to-day administration of clinical social work practice, and the kinds of research evidence valued in making policy choices are also being affected by EBP. This is the context in which EBP is changing clinical social work practice.
Aerodynamic Properties of Rough Surfaces with High Aspect-Ratio Roughness Elements: Effect of Aspect Ratio and Arrangements

We examine the effect of varying roughness-element aspect ratio on the mean velocity distributions of turbulent flow over arrays of rectangular-prism-shaped elements. Large-eddy simulations (LES) in conjunction with a sharp-interface immersed boundary method are used to simulate spatially-growing turbulent boundary layers over these rough surfaces. Arrays of aligned and staggered rectangular roughness elements with aspect ratio >1 are considered. First the temporally- and spatially-averaged velocity profiles are used to illustrate the aspect-ratio effects. For aligned prisms, the roughness length ( $$z_\mathrm{o}$$ ) and the friction velocity ( $$u_*$$ ) increase initially with an increase in the roughness-element aspect ratio, until the values reach a plateau at a particular aspect ratio. The exact value of this aspect ratio depends on the coverage density. Further increase in the aspect ratio changes neither $$z_\mathrm{o}$$ , $$u_*$$ nor the bulk flow above the roughness elements. For the staggered cases, $$z_\mathrm{o}$$ and $$u_*$$ continue to increase for the surface coverage density and the aspect ratios investigated. To model the flow response to variations in roughness aspect ratio, we turn to a previously developed phenomenological volumetric sheltering model (Yang et al., in J Fluid Mech 789:127–165, 2016), which was intended for low to moderate aspect-ratio roughness elements. Here, we extend this model to account for high aspect-ratio roughness elements. We find that for aligned cases, the model predicts strong mutual sheltering among the roughness elements, while the effect is much weaker for staggered cases. The model-predicted $$z_\mathrm{o}$$ and $$u_*$$ agree well with the LES results. Results show that the model, which takes explicit account of the mutual sheltering effects, provides a rapid and reliable prediction method of roughness effects in turbulent boundary-layer flows over arrays of rectangular-prism roughness elements.
Towards Identifying Leading Indicators of Smoking Cessation Attempts from Social Media

Understanding when and why people choose to attempt smoking cessation can provide guidance for targeted intervention and public health campaign strategies. Online social networks provide a real-time, open ended data source with which to explore these questions. This paper presents preliminary methods and results to identify social media messages that are leading indicators of smoking cessation attempts.
A risk assessment method for production part approval process

Production part approval process (PPAP) is originally designed and used in the automotive industry to assure supplier parts integrity and manufacturing processes maturity. As an effective risk reduction process prior to product/service release, PPAP has been widely used in many other industries including aerospace industry. In this research, the existing method of assessing part risks for PPAP implementation within the United Technology Corporation (UTC) is investigated. Risk assessment has been based on seven risk categories of a part and a multiplicative risk calculation algorithm is used to determine if a PPAP is needed or not. A refined risk assessment algorithm based on logistic regression is proposed using the seven risk categories which include both quantitative and qualitative risk measurements. The logistic regression risk assessment model is trained and tested using past program PPAP data sets. The advantages of the proposed risk assessment method are illustrated through economic analyses of the two PPAP risk methods under the cost estimates of the PPAP standard and elements being practiced at UTC.
Low Resting Heart Rate and Stalking Perpetration

There is consistent evidence to suggest that individuals with low resting heart rate are more likely to engage in a variety of antisocial behaviors. The present study examines whether this finding can be extended to stalking perpetration. Drawing from fearlessness theory and stimulation-seeking theory, as well as conceptual work of Meloy and Fisher, we find that individuals with low resting heart rates had significantly greater odds of engaging in stalking behavior, net of controls for sex, age, race, self-control, parental affection, delinquent peers, attitudes/beliefs toward crime, and aggression. When disaggregated by sex, the heart rate–stalking relationship was found to be significant for males, but not for females. The implications of these findings are discussed from a biosocial perspective.
Physical Activity of Mexican-Heritage Youth During the Summer and School-Year: The Role of Parenting Strategies.

Mexican-heritage youth living along the U.S.-Mexico border have higher rates of obesity than non-Hispanic Whites. Parenting strategies may influence youth physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviors (SB) mitigating these obesity rates; however, parenting strategies have not been well examined in Hispanic cultures. Therefore, we examined relationships between parenting strategies and PA and SB of Mexican-heritage youth. Mother-child dyads (n = 121 dyads) were surveyed during the summer and school-year. Quantile regression estimated relationships between parenting strategies, and PA and SB. Summer. Reinforcement was negatively associated with moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) among more active youth (β = −364.4); limit setting was negatively associated with SB among less sedentary youth (β = −23.3); and use of discipline was negatively associated with sedentary screen time in youth reporting less screen use (β = −3.2). School-year. Males reported more MVPA (773.9 min/week) than females (738.7 min/week). Reinforcement was positively associated with weekly MVPA among more active youth (β = 173.6), fewer sedentary minutes/week among all youth, and fewer sedentary screen time minutes among less sedentary youth (β = −6.4). Parenting strategies are related with PA and SB. Investigators should focus on identifying modifiable parenting strategies to address the various needs presented during summertime and school-year for Mexican-heritage youth.
With a little help from my friends?: racial and gender differences in the role of social support in later-life depression medication adherence

Background Social support has been shown to be an important factor in improving depression symptom outcomes, yet less is known regarding its impact on antidepressant medication adherence. This study sought to evaluate the role of perceived social support on adherence to new antidepressant medication prescriptions in later-life depression. Methods Data from two prospective observational studies of participants ≥60 years old, diagnosed with depression, and recently prescribed a new antidepressant (N = 452). Perceived social support was measured using a subscale of the Duke Social Support Index and medication adherence was assessed using a validated self-report measure. Results At four-month follow up, 68% of patients reported that they were adherent to antidepressant medication. Examining the overall sample, logistic regression analysis demonstrated no significant relationship between perceived social support and medication adherence. However, when stratifying the sample by social support, race, and gender, adherence significantly differed by race and gender in those with inadequate social support: Among those with low social support, African-American females were significantly less likely to adhere to depression treatment than white females (OR = 4.82, 95% CI = 1.14-20.28, p = 0.032) and white males (OR = 3.50, 95% CI = 1.03-11.92, p = 0.045). Conclusions There is a significant difference in antidepressant medication adherence by race and gender in those with inadequate social support. Tailored treatment interventions for low social support should be sensitive to racial and gender differences.
Online Learning with Transductive Regret

We study online learning with the general notion of transductive regret, that is regret with modification rules applying to expert sequences (as opposed to single experts) that are representable by weighted finite-state transducers. We show how transductive regret generalizes existing notions of regret, including: (1) external regret; (2) internal regret; (3) swap regret; and (4) conditional swap regret. We present a general and efficient online learning algorithm for minimizing transductive regret. We further extend that to design efficient algorithms for the time-selection and sleeping expert settings. A by-product of our study is an algorithm for swap regret, which, under mild assumptions, is more efficient than existing ones, and a substantially more efficient algorithm for time selection swap regret.
Methacrylate based cross-linkers for improved thermomechanical properties and retention of radiation detection response in plastic scintillators

Abstract Pulse shape discrimination (PSD) is an important method that can efficiently sort and separate neutron and gamma radiation signals. PSD is currently achieved in plastic scintillators by over-doping poly(vinyl toluene) (PVT) matrices with fluorescent molecules. Meaningful separation of the signals requires addition of >20 wt% 2,5-diphenyloxazole (PPO) fluor in PVT. At these concentrations PPO acts as a plasticizer, negatively affecting the physical properties of the final plastic such as hardness, machinability, and thermomechanical stability. This work addresses these issues by implementing a cost-effective solution using cross-linking chemistry via commercially available bisphenol A dimethacrylate (BPA-DM), and a synthesized fluorinated analogue. Both improve the physical properties of over-doped PPO based plastic scintillators without degrading the measured light yield or PSD and Figure of Merit (FoM). In addition, the fluorinated analogue appears to enhance the hydrophobicity of the surface of the plastic scintillators, which may improve the scintillators’ resistance to water diffusion and subsequent radiation response degradation. The new formulations improve the feasibility of widely deploying long lifetime PSD capable plastic scintillators in large area coverage assemblies.
Squeezing Farmers in the Poultry Capital of the World

First paragraphs: Today, Americans consume an average of 91 pounds (41 kilograms) of chicken annually, up from 28 pounds (13 kg) in 1960 (National Chicken Council, 2017). This growth was achieved through industry concentration and the transformation of farming. Between 1950 and 2007, the number of poultry farms decreased from 1.6 million to 27,000, even as chicken production increased from 580 million to 9 billion birds raised per year (Pew Envi­ronment Group, 2011, p. 6). The average chicken farm now raises over 330,000 birds annually, as compared to 363 birds in 1950, with nearly all production under contract (Chrisman, 2016). Monica Gisolfi’s The Takeover: Chicken Farming and the Roots of American Agribusiness documents the poultry industry’s “silent revolution” in upcountry Georgia. This revolution provided the model for contemporary forms of capital-intensive industrial agriculture. Popular narratives depict the rapid transformation of poultry production from small “yard flocks” to today’s multibillion-dollar industry, as the result of the work of so-called “innovators” and “pioneers” like Jesse Jewell and John Tyson. Gisolfi paints a more critical picture, documenting the legacy of the cotton crop-lien system, discrim­inatory federal policies, and the industry’s growth and consolidation through quasivertical integration. The result has been abundant profits for com­panies like Tyson, Purdue, and Pilgrim’s Pride at the expense of contract growers and rural liveli­hoods. Industrial poultry’s growth has exacerbated social inequali­ties and ecological degradation while simultane­ously setting the blueprint for the expan­sion of industrial agriculture globally.
Advances in Meningeal Immunity

The central nervous system (CNS) is an immunologically specialized tissue protected by a blood–brain barrier. The CNS parenchyma is enveloped by a series of overlapping membranes that are collectively referred to as the meninges. The meninges provide an additional CNS barrier, harbor a diverse array of resident immune cells, and serve as a crucial interface with the periphery. Recent studies have significantly advanced our understanding of meningeal immunity, demonstrating how a complex immune landscape influences CNS functions under steady-state and inflammatory conditions. The location and activation state of meningeal immune cells can profoundly influence CNS homeostasis and contribute to neurological disorders, but these cells are also well equipped to protect the CNS from pathogens. In this review, we discuss advances in our understanding of the meningeal immune repertoire and provide insights into how this CNS barrier operates immunologically under conditions ranging from neurocognition to inflammatory diseases.
Why Weight? An Analytic Review of Obesity Management, Diabetes Prevention, and Cardiovascular Risk Reduction

In this review, we examine one of the ironies of American health care—that we pay more for disease management than disease prevention. Instead of preventing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) by treating its precursor, obesity, we fail to provide sufficient insurance coverage for weight management only to fund the more costly burden of overt T2DM. There is a vital need for expanded insurance coverage to help foster a weight-centric approach to T2DM management. This includes broader coverage of anti-diabetic medications with evidence of cardiovascular risk reduction and mortality benefit, anti-obesity pharmacotherapy, bariatric surgery, weight loss devices, endoscopic bariatric therapies, and lifestyle interventions for the treatment of obesity. The fundamental question to ask is why weight? Why wait to go after obesity until its end-stage sequelae cause intractable conditions? Instead of managing the complications of T2DM, consider preventing them by tackling obesity.
Workpiece orientation correction with a robot arm using visual information

If robots had the capability of supplying machines with workpieces which are not preoriented, there would be a substantial increase in the number of robots used in industry. A significant contribution to this development would be a method which yields a trajectory whereby such a robot held workpiece can be transported from its receptacle to a machine fixture without a collision. An algorithm is described to find such a trajectory. This algorithm employs refinement of an initial estimate of the position and orientation of a robot held workpiece. The refinement procedure uses visual information. With the refined estimate of the hand-to-workpiece transformation, the workpiece can be moved through a safe trajectory, which was established during a prior instruction phase.
Glycaemia Control in Diabetes Mellitus

The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial and the Stockholm Study have conclusively demonstrated that improving the blood glucose control in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) reduces the risk of developing retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy. Each patient with IDDM should be carefully evaluated for the appropriateness of institution of an intensive insulin treatment programme. In particular, the risk of severe hypoglycaemia must be considered and the goals modified if necessary to reduce the risk. Successful implementation of an intensive treatment programme requires an experienced healthcare team and a knowledgeable and well motivated cooperative patient. Several variations of intensive treatment programmes can be used, with no definite superiority of one treatment method over the others. Individualisation is the key to success. Each programme has the same general principles. Regular insulin is used to control the postprandial glucose excursion and a slow infusion of regular insulin by a pump or injected intermediate or long-acting insulin is used to balance fasting glucose utilisation and production. The treatment will not be successful without self-monitoring of blood glucose by the patient and frequent adjustment of the insulin doses to compensate for variations in blood glucose levels, diet and activity. The treatment should be followed with quarterly glycated haemoglobin determinations and a regular follow-up plan. During follow-up the main challenge for the healthcare team will be to maintain motivation in the patient and to assist with behaviour modification. A detailed understanding of intensive treatment programmes may be beyond the skill of the average primary care physician, but any physician caring for patients with diabetes will benefit from an understanding of the general treatment principles outlined in this article.
Dynamic diffusion-weighted hyperpolarized 13 C imaging based on a slice-selective double spin echo sequence for measurements of cellular transport.

Purpose To develop a pulse sequence to dynamically measure the ADC of hyperpolarized substrates during their perfusion, metabolic conversion, and transport. Methods We proposed a slice-selective double spin echo sequence for dynamic hyperpolarized 13 C diffusion-weighted imaging. The proposed pulse sequence was optimized for a high field preclinical scanner through theoretical analysis and simulation. The performance of the method was compared to non-slice-selective double spin echo via in vivo studies. We also validated the sequence for dynamic ADC measurement in both phantom studies and transgenic mouse model of prostate cancer studies. Results The optimized pulse sequence outperforms the traditional sequence with smaller saturation effects on the magnetization of hyperpolarized compounds that allowed more dynamic imaging frames covering a longer imaging time window. In pre-clinical studies (N = 8), the dynamic hyperpolarized lactate ADC maps of 6 studies in the prostate tumors showed an increase measured ADC over time, which might be related to lactate efflux from the tumor cells. Conclusions The proposed sequence was validated and shown to improve dynamic diffusion weighted imaging compared to the traditional double spin echo sequence, providing ADC maps of lactate through time.
Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in edible fish species from Charleston Harbor and tributaries, South Carolina, United States: Exposure and risk assessment

Abstract Concentrations of 11 PFASs were determined in muscle and whole fish for six species collected from Charleston, South Carolina (SC) for the assessment of potential health risks to humans and wildlife. Across all species and capture locations, total PFAS levels in whole fish were significantly higher than fillets by a factor of two- to three-fold. Mean ∑PFAS concentrations varied from 12.7 to 33.0 ng/g wet weight (ww) in whole fish and 6.2–12.7 ng/g ww in fillets. For individual whole fish, ∑PFASs ranged from 12.7 ng/g ww in striped mullet to 85.4 ng/g ww in spotted seatrout, and in fillets individual values ranged from 6.2 ng/g ww in striped mullet to 27.9 ng/g ww in spot. The most abundant compound in each species was perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), comprising 25.5–69.6% of the ∑PFASs. Striped mullet had significantly lower relative amounts of PFOS compared to all other species and higher relative amounts of PFUnDA compared to Atlantic croaker, spotted seatrout, and spot. Unlike whole fish, PFAS levels in fillets varied significantly by location with higher ∑PFOS from the Ashley River than the Cooper River and Charleston Harbor, which reflects the levels of PFASs contamination in these systems. In whole fish, differences in relative concentrations of PFOS, PFNA, and PFDA occurred by capture location, suggestive of different sources. PFOS concentrations for southern flounder and spotted seatrout fillets were within the advisory range to limit fish consumption to 4 meals a month. PFOS levels exceeded screening values to protect mammals in 83% of whole fish examined and represent a potential risk to wildlife predators such as dolphins.
Does resource-based view explain outsourcing intention: Revenue management perspective:

Revenue management (RM) in the hotel industry is fundamental as a revenue enhancer, and it is an integral part of the overall strategy of many hotel properties. However, considering the complex, te...
Reliability of ultrasonography used to guide selection of uncuffed endotracheal tube size for pediatric patients

Objective To evaluate the reliability of ultrasonography used to guide the selection of uncuffed endotracheal tube(ETT)size for pediatric patients. Methods Eighty pediatric patients requiring endotracheal intubation for elective surgery under general anesthesia, aged 2-6 yr, of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical statusⅠ or Ⅱ, were randomized into 2 groups(n=40 each)using a random number table: control group and ultrasonography group.In control group, the internal diameter of an uncuffed ETT was determined according to age-based formulas.In ultrasonography group, the outer diameter of an uncuffed ETT was determined according to the transverse diameter of the subglottic airway at the level of the cricoids cartilage measured by ultrasonography.The air leak test was performed after intubation, and either a larger or a smaller size of ETT selected was considered as a failure of intubation.The failure of intubation and postoperative complications related to intubation were recorded. Results Compared with control group, the total failure rate of intubation and failure rate due to the smaller size of ETT selected were significantly decreased in ultrasonography group(P 0.05). Conclusion Ultrasonography can be used to guide the selection of ETT size for pediatric patients. Key words: Ultrasonography; Children; Intubation, intratracheal
Advanced Deep Learning Techniques Applied to Automated Femoral Neck Fracture Detection and Classification

To use deep learning with advanced data augmentation to accurately diagnose and classify femoral neck fractures. A retrospective study of patients with femoral neck fractures was performed. One thousand sixty-three AP hip radiographs were obtained from 550 patients. Ground truth labels of Garden fracture classification were applied as follows: (1) 127 Garden I and II fracture radiographs, (2) 610 Garden III and IV fracture radiographs, and (3) 326 normal hip radiographs. After localization by an initial network, a second CNN classified the images as Garden I/II fracture, Garden III/IV fracture, or no fracture. Advanced data augmentation techniques expanded the training set: (1) generative adversarial network (GAN); (2) digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs) from preoperative hip CT scans. In all, 9063 images, real and generated, were available for training and testing. A deep neural network was designed and tuned based on a 20% validation group. A holdout test dataset consisted of 105 real images, 35 in each class. Two class prediction of fracture versus no fracture (AUC 0.92): accuracy 92.3%, sensitivity 0.91, specificity 0.93, PPV 0.96, NPV 0.86. Three class prediction of Garden I/II, Garden III/IV, or normal (AUC 0.96): accuracy 86.0%, sensitivity 0.79, specificity 0.90, PPV 0.80, NPV 0.90. Without any advanced augmentation, the AUC for two-class prediction was 0.80. With DRR as the only advanced augmentation, AUC was 0.91 and with GAN only AUC was 0.87. GANs and DRRs can be used to improve the accuracy of a tool to diagnose and classify femoral neck fractures.