cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Risk Factors for Adolescent Sex Offender Recidivism: Evaluation of Predictive Factors and Comparison of Three Groups Based Upon Victim Type

This study investigated differences in recidivism risk factors and traits associated with psychopathy among 3 groups of male adolescent sexual offenders (N=156): offenders against children, offenders against peers or adults, and mixed type offenders. Furthermore, those same variables were examined for their association with sexual and nonsexual recidivism and the 3 groups were compared for differences in rates of recidivism. Based upon both juvenile and adult recidivism data, 6.4% of the sample reoffended sexually and 30.1% reoffended nonsexually. Retrospective risk assessments were completed using the Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II (JSOAP-II) and the Psychopathy Checklist:Youth Version (PCL:YV). Comparisons of the 3 preexisting groups for differences on scale and factor scores were conducted using analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Differences among groups for recidivism were measured using survival curve analysis. Associations between risk scales and recidivism were measured using Cox regression analyses. Results suggest significant differences among the 3 offender groups on multiple scales of the JSOAP-II and PCL:YV, with mixed type offenders consistently producing higher risk scores as compared to those who exclusively offend against children or peers/adults. The Impulsive/Antisocial Behavior scale of the JSOAP-II and the Interpersonal and Antisocial factors of the PCL:YV were significant predictors of sexual recidivism. The Behavioral and Antisocial factors of the PCL:YV were significant predictors of nonsexual recidivism. Results supported previous research indicating that most adolescents who sexually offend do not continue offending into adulthood. Such results can lead to improved treatment by targeting specific risk factors for intervention and better use of risk management resources in the community, while preserving the most restrictive treatment options for the highest risk offenders.
Corneal epithelial permeability: ethnic differences between Asians and non-Asians.

Abstract Purpose To ascertain whether a difference in the permeability of the corneal epithelium to fluorescein (Pdc) exists between Asians and non-Asians. Methods From a multi-study database we extracted 632 records of baseline, open-eye Pdc measurements taken on both eyes of 176 subjects. Subjects were awake for a minimum of 4 h before measurement, and were free of ocular disease and central corneal staining. Pdc was transformed by natural logarithm to better approximate normality for statistical tests. Results The mean ln(Pdc) in the Asian group was significantly greater than in the non-Asian group [−2.34 ln(nm/s) vs. −2.58 ln(nm/s); p Conclusions Compared with non-Asians, Asians exhibited a less negative ln(Pdc), which translates to a higher Pdc and a more permeable corneal epithelium. We speculate that this may be related to anatomic differences responsible for greater eyelid tension in Asians.
Ligand-Binding Pathways in a Glutamate Receptor

Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) are ligand-gated ion channels that play a central role in brain function. They are important in neuronal communication and are implicated in a host of neurological disorders such as schizophrenia and depression. The free energy of agonist binding to the ligand-binding domains (LBDs) of iGluRs is converted into useful work to induce conformational changes that cause receptor activation. The free energies associated with ligand docking and large-scale LBD conformational transitions have previously been computed using an approach that evaluates the two processes separately. Here, we employ a computational approach that treats ligand docking and LBD conformational transitions in a collective fashion. This enables the free energy along a physical ligand-binding pathway to be evaluated. The kinetics associated with segments of this pathway are also evaluated.
Protein family classification using structural and sequence information

Protein family classification usually relies on sequence information (as in the case of hidden Markov models and position-specific scoring matrices) or on structural information where some sort of average positional error between the atomic locations is used. The positional error method requires that the structure of all the proteins to be classified is known. Sequence methods have the advantage that a much larger number of proteins can be classified (since far more sequences are know than structures). However, sequence methods discard a large amount of useful information contained in the structures of the subset of proteins in the family for which structures are known. A protein family classification system is presented which uses both structural and sequence information and combines this information in a way consistent with fuzzy systems theory. The nonlinear fuzzy-theory-based method is found to perform better than either an equally-weighted linear combination of the sequence and structural information or the sequence information alone.
13CNMR studies of glucose metabolism in human leukemic CEM‐C7 and CEM‐C1 cells

Glucose metabolism of human leukemic cell lines CEM-C7 and CEM-C1 was investigated in vivo by 13C NMR using 13C-labeled glucose. Exact knowledge of glucose concentration, cell count, and cell viability of the cell suspensions made it possible to analyze glucose metabolism in detail. In both cell lines aerobic glycolysis accounts for virtually all glucose consumption. The use of D-[13C2] glucose provided a simple method to measure the glucose flux through the pentose phosphate pathway as 9% (CEM-C1) and 11% (CEM-C7) of glucose channeled into glycolysis. The dexamethasone-sensitive CEM-C7 cells consume glucose at a rate about 50% higher than the dexamethasone-resistant CEM-CI cells. It is shown that this higher consumption correlates with a larger size of the CEM-C7 cells. Therefore in CEM cells the development of drug resistance does not seem to involve related changes in cell energetics. © 1992 Academic Press, Inc.
Neutron stars, fast pulsars, supernovae and the equation of state of dense matter

Astrophysical constraints on the equation of state are imposed by three sources, (1) masses of neutron stars, (2) rotational frequencies of very fast pulsars (neutron stars), and (3) supernovae. Of the three, the theoritical and observational status of the first is most secure. For the second, a half millisecond pulse over an eight hour period was reported in January but not seen agian two weeks later at the next turn at the telescope, nor at any time since. If substantiated it would be the fastest known pulsar. If it can be interpreted aas neutron star rotation, then thoery seems to indicate that it provides very stringent conditions on the equation of state when combines with the mass constraint. The physics of supernova invloves so many factors of comparable importance but high uncertainty, that they cannot be said to provide any constraint at the present time. Indeed the consensus is that it is not known whether supernovae can explode by the prompt bounce mechanism [1, 2]. no simulation whose physics has been agreed upon have been successful and earlier claims to success of the prompt explosion of 1.35M⊙ iron core progenitors have been later withdrawn [3, 4]. The delayed explosion mechanism produces only small explosions so far, and may be the means by which some stars explode, but not evidently the one by which all type II starts explode.
A ROLE OF POLYMORPHONUCLEAR LEUKOCYTES AND COMPLEMENT IN NEPHROTOXIC NEPHRITIS.

In acute nephrotoxic nephritis, polymorphonuclear leukocytes (polymorphs) accumulated in large numbers in the glomeruli in the first 12 hours. The endothelial cells were dislodged by the polymorphs which then came to lie immediately adjacent to the glomerular basement membranes. Ultrastructural changes in neither polymorphs nor basement membranes were observed. Depletion of polymorphs in both rats and rabbits prevented the development of proteinuria. This occurred when doses of nephrotoxic globulin were employed that produced proteinurias of as much as 1800 mg/kg/24 hours in intact rabbits, or enough to yield near maximal immediate proteinuria in intact rats. In addition, measurable glomerular damage was frequently averted until the onset of the secondary stage of NTN. Controls indicated that the polymorph depleted animals exhibited minimal non-specific changes in the blood, that the ability of their vascular beds to react to stimuli was not affected, and that deposition of nephrotoxic antibody and C' in the glomeruli was not inhibited. Elimination of polymorphs from the circulation was only partially effective in preventing glomerular damage when large doses of nephrotoxic globulin were used. This indicated that under these circumstances, a polymorph independent glomerular injury may also take place in first stage nephrotoxic nephritis. An indirect role of C', i.e ., the accumulation of polymorphs, in bringing about glomerular injury in first stage nephrotoxic nephritis was apparent. When rabbit nephrotoxic globulin was injected into rats depleted of C', or when duck nephrotoxic globulin that fixed C' poorly was injected into normal rats, C' failed to bind with the antibody along glomerular basement membranes and polymorphs did not accumulate.
Assessment of suicidal children and adolescents

This article describes approaches to assessment of suicidal youth. Of paramount concern is that a clinician have up-to-date knowledge obtained from reports of empirical studies about the factors associated with suicidal risk in children and adolescents. These factors, which are outlined in this article, involve psychiatric, biologic, psychosocial, and sociocultural variables.
The Psychodynamics of Factitious Sexual Harassment Claims

AbstractFalse allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace can be made for a variety of reasons, some of which may fall into the realm of ‘factitious’ claims. Factitious sexual harassment claims are those in which the plaintiff's wish for victim designation is a major driving force behind the claim. Being aware of potential internal and external incentives in these evaluations may be of assistance to the mental health expert when considering alternative explanations for the plaintiff's perception of events. This article proposes the use of psychodynamic principles to aid the forensic evaluator in considering the conscious and unconscious factors that may be operating to contribute to the development of a false sexual harassment claim. The concepts of repetition compulsion, displacement, denial, misattribution and reaction formation will be used as a framework to explore potential internal incentives operating in a plaintiff to bring about such claims.
Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine: A Review of Pharmacoeconomic Evaluations in Australia, Europe and North America

BACKGROUND: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) has been licensed for use in many countries. It reduces disease in vaccinated children and may reduce disease in unvaccinated persons. Cost-effectiveness studies of the vaccine have been performed in the United States, Canada, Australia, and a number of countries in Europe. METHODS: We reviewed 16 English-language cost-effectiveness analyses published between 2000 and 2006. We analyzed, summarized and compared the assumptions and results of the base-case"analyses reported in these papers. RESULTS: Assumptions regarding disease incidence varied significantly across studies - more than is likely due to true differences in epidemiology these different populations. Invasive pneumococcal disease episodes prevented per 1000 children vaccinated ranged from 0.23 to 3.86, and life-years saved ranged from 0.43 to 6.75, before taking the herd effect into account. Differences in assumptions regarding pneumonia and otitis media were also substantial. Cost per life year saved from the health care system perspective ranged from $29,000 to $381,000, with an average of $130,000. Eleven studies reported costs per life year saved from the societal perspective. Two of these studies found the vaccine to be cost saving. Among the remaining studies, cost per life year saved from the societal perspective ranged from $32,000 to $166,000, with an average of $83,000. Two studies estimated cost-effectiveness from the societal perspective while including estimated herd effects. The inclusion of herd effects resulted in a decrease in the cost per life-year saved from $80,000 to $7,500 in one study, and $152,000 to $71,000 in the other. In three studies where quality of life adjustments for all pneumococcal conditions were included, the cost per quality-adjusted life-year saved changed from $80,000 to $4,000, from $166,000 to $36,000, and from $152,000 to $69,000. CONCLUSION: In high-income countries, the PCV likely falls within the range generally considered cost-effective if reductions in morbidity and/or herd effects are taken into account.
Predictor Operator in Pursuit and Compensatory Tracking

The predictor operator is a well established property of a human controller in manual control systems with a pursuit display. For periodic inputs, the human controller has been shown to use what is...
At the Crossroads of Cancer Stem Cells, Radiation Biology, and Radiation Oncology

Reports that a small subset of tumor cells initiate and sustain tumor growth, are resistant to radiation and drugs, and bear specific markers have led to an explosion of cancer stem cell research. These reports imply that the evaluation of therapeutic response by changes in tumor volume is misleading, as volume changes reflect the response of the sensitive rather than the resistant tumorigenic cell population. The reports further suggest that the marker-based selection of the tumor cell population will facilitate the development of radiation treatment schedules, sensitizers, and drugs that specifically target the resistant tumorigenic cells that give rise to treatment failure. This review presents evidence that contests the observations that cancer stem cell markers reliably identify the subset of tumor cells that sustain tumor growth and that the marker-identified population is radioresistant relative to the marker-negative cells. Experimental studies show that cells and tumors that survive large radiation doses are not more radioresistant than unirradiated cells and tumors, and also show that the intrinsic radiosensitivity of unsorted colony-forming tumor cells, in combination with the fraction of unsorted tumor cells that are tumor initiating, predicts tumor radiocurability.
Critical review of mathematical approaches for quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) of Legionella in engineered water systems: research gaps and a new framework

Legionella has been identified as the responsible agent for two-thirds of waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States from 2011–2012. The prevention of Legionella in engineered systems presents complex challenges for the drinking water industry due to its persistence, resistance to disinfection, and complex microbial ecology. Not all species of Legionella are of concern for human health, however, certain environmental conditions can cause human-virulent species such as L. pneumophila to proliferate, or modulate the distribution of virulence characteristics for relevant strains such that health risks are presented. Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) is a tool for integrating information on pathogen occurrence, infectivity, and exposure for guiding water quality management strategies. A standardized QMRA approach for Legionella has not been developed, and exposure models are highly varied based on scenario- and site-specific conditions. Detailed discussion of these varied mathematical approaches has been limited, but can aid in identifying research gaps for further QMRA development and public health risk management strategies. A summary of 18 studies that utilize Legionella exposure models for sewage treatment plants, cooling towers, drinking water distribution systems, whirlpool spas, showering, and recreational water scenarios are discussed here. Ten of these studies conducted a full QMRA, and provided human infection estimates. The summarized models utilized Gaussian dispersion, volumetric estimation, occupational hygiene, and aerosol science approaches. Parameters, implications, and limitations of each of these mathematical approaches are discussed, and a QMRA framework to address the identified limitations is proposed. This framework provides a comprehensive overview of key steps within an idealized Legionella QMRA model from exposure to risk characterization, including biofilm impacts, aerosol generation, survival and transport of bacteria within size-resolved water droplets, and interaction with a human receptor.
The International Economic Interests of U.S. States

During the 1970s, global interdependence penetrated deeply into the U.S. economy, drawing state governments into novel international trade and investment activities. State promotional programs sought to capture revenue and job creation benefits from export expansion and foreign investment inflows, while other state actions attempted to minimize costly local disruptions associated with import competition andforeign control of resources. As foreign and domestic economic factors intertwined, national jurisdiction in matters of foreign affairs increasingly overlapped traditional state government prerogatives concerning economic development and citizen welfare. State governments began direct lobbying on international issues, leading to both complementary and conflictual national-state positions. As the United States adjusts to an interdependent global economy, a new international dimension will be added to federal relationships. National and state officials must fashion creative new instruments to accommodate diverse domestic political and economic needs while still exerting positive Iladership in international economic forums.
Fractal mechanism of blasting seismic wave

In order to study the fractal characteristic of blasting seismic wave,the box-dimension model was established based on the fractal theory.In this model,the characteristic and propagation rule of blasting seismic wave were considered.By using the test data of the deep-hole blasting experiments carried out at a rock site,the fractal box-dimension values D of blasting seismic signals were calculated according to this model.By analyzing the mathematical meaning of box-dimension values D and its relationship with medium characteristic,the fractal mechanism of blasting seismic wave was discussed.The result indicates that fractal box-dimension value D of the blasting seismic wave can reflect the rock characteristic information of blasting seismic wave's propagation medium.So it can be used as an important new parameter to describe the blasting seismic wave.In this way,the box-dimension research of blasting seismic wave lays a foundation to design more effective blasting vibration response forecast models.
A Critical Role of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) α in Experimental Group A Streptococcal (GAS) Bacteremia

In the last decade, there has been an increase in the incidence of Group A streptococcal (GAS) infections associated with bacteremia, shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), renal failure, aggressive soft tissue destruction and high mortality. These severe infections have now been described throughout the world. The most characteristic clinical finding in Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (StrepTSS) is hypotension with associated multi-organ failure occurring early in the course of infection, sometimes even before an identifiable focus of infection can be ascertained (reviewed in5). Renal failure is common in StrepTSS (80%) and may precede hypotension in 50% of patients. ARDS occurs in 60% of these patients, a frequency which is among the highest of any infectious etiology. Finally, in spite of antibiotics, ventilator support, dialysis, pressors and aggressive fluid replacement, death rates range from 30% to as high as 80% (reviewed in5).
Obesity, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Diseases: A Compendium.

Excess body weight, a burgeoning problem worldwide, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Diabetes affects >180 million people around the world, and the number of patients is anticipated to increase to 300 million by 2025.1 Recent data indicate that diabetes prevalence in adults has increased since 1980 virtually in every country of the world; the end-result is a near quadrupling of the number of adults worldwide with diabetes.2 Within this escalating healthcare problem of monumental proportions, obesity-associated type 2 diabetes accounts for 90% to 95% of all diagnosed diabetes cases in adults.1 In fact, diabetes and insulin resistance are powerful predictors of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and each is an independent risk factor for death in patients with heart failure. Yet, the complex mechanisms underlying the deleterious impact of diabetes on the heart and the vasculature are poorly characterized. Diabetes-associated cardiovascular diseases arise by a variety of mechanisms. Atherosclerotic disease often emerges in multiple vascular beds. Also, patients with diabetes are often hypertensive. Obesity is associated with a proinflammatory state marked by chronic elevations of systemic adrenergic activity, dyslipidemia, and hyperglycemia. Circulating levels of a variety of bioactive molecules are perturbed. Clearly, the underlying pathophysiology is complex. Constant and unremitting metabolic stress on the heart leads over time to progressive deterioration of myocardial structure and function, and heart failure is a typical end-result. Sadly, current therapies are insufficient to arrest the progression of heart failure, and developing new therapies will require greater understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying pathological cardiac remodeling. This suggests that therapeutic interventions early in the disease, targeting specific metabolic and structural derangements, may be required. This is …
Diminished bile acid pool size in patients with gallstones.

The total and component bile acid pools were determined in 8 patients with gallstones and 9 patients without known gallstones by isotope dilution following the administration of 14C-cholic acid. Cholic acid half-life and production rate were calculated from the specific activity decay curves. Patients with gallstones were found to have significantly smaller total, cholic, and chenodeoxycholic acid pools than patients without gallstones. The average total bile acid pool was 1.29 g in patients with gallstones and 2.38 g in control patients without gallstones. Cholic acid production was significantly lower in patients with gallstones (206 mg per day) than in the control patients (358 mg per day). There was no significant difference in the cholic acid half-life between the groups. A mechanism responsible for the reduction in the bile salt pool in patients with gallstones is probably related to the inability of the liver to produce adequate amounts of bile acids to compensate for bile salt excretion. The findings of the present study also offer the interesting possibility that a diminished bile salt pool may be an important factor contributing to the production of the abnormal bile found in patients with cholesterol gallstones.
Rituximab for Refractory Myasthenia Gravis in a Pregnant Patient (P2.165)

Objective: To report the first ever case of successful pregnancy outcome in a patient who received Rituximab infusion for refractory Myasthenia Gravis Background: Rituximab (RTX) is a chimeric Immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal anti-CD-20 antibody. Traditionally, RTX has been used for hematological malignancies and autoimmune disorders. Recently, there have been reports which have shown benefit of RTX in refractory Myasthenia Gravis (MG). There is little data available regarding safety of RTX during pregnancy. Method: 23 years-old female suffering from refractory MG (non-responsive to thymectomy, plasmapharesis, intravenous immunoglobilins and mycophenolate) was started on RTX infusion (375 mg/m2) with daily pyridostigmine maintenance. After two infusions, she demonstrated a favorable response. She conceived six months after the second infusion. . Result:Pregnancy was complicated by Pre-Eclempsia at 39 weeks. Spontaneous vaginal delivery of a healthy 3039 g boy at 39 weeks. Post-partum period was complicated by a single eclemptic seizure which responded to intravenous magnesium. Baby showed no evidence of weakness or immunosuppression on follow up visits. Conclusion:We present the first case of a successful pregnancy in a patient treated with RTX infusion for refractory MG. Auto-reactive B cells are appropriate candidates for targeted drug therapy as they play an important role in the pathogenesis of MG. RTX global drug safety database contains only 153 pregnancy outcomes out of which none of them were MG patients. There were 90 live births with 22 preterm deliveries, 33 spontaneous abortions, 1 still birth and 1 maternal death. There were higher rates of preterm deliveries and first trimester losses compared to general population. There were two reports of congenital anomalies (club foot and cardiac malformation). Despite lack of strong evidence of teratogenesis, limited cohort size prevents drawing conclusions regarding safety of RTX. It is still recommended to use effective contraception during and for 12 months after treatment. Disclosure: Dr. Girotra has nothing to disclose. Dr. Baki has nothing to disclose. Dr. Grover has nothing to disclose.
Analogy of the Approximate Methods

So far we have seen that calculus of variations and the finite element method both refer to the integral equations. The finite difference method on the other hand deals primarily with the differential equations. At any stage of the problem however, these three methods follow very analogous paths. In order to illustrate the similarities between them, let us consider an elementary problem such as a simple prismatic beam subject to a distributed transverse load p (x). The integral and the differential equations of this problem are, respectively, (5.1) and (5.2) .
Dam Building and Treaty Breaking: The Kinzua Dam Controversy, 1936-1958

On September 16,1966, the Kinzua Dam became operational, flooding thousands of acres in northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed the dam, at a cost of $125 million, to provide flood control and low-water control on the Allegheny River for the communities in the Allegheny Valley and the city of Pittsburgh. The U.S. government named the attendant reservoir the Allegheny Reservoir. The Seneca Nation called it the Lake of Perfidy. The federal government's decision to build the Kinzua Dam resulted in the gutting of the Seneca Nation's reservation; it submerged over 9,000 acres of the Seneca's habitable land, their ancestral homes, farms, community centers, and burial plots, including the Cornplanter tract located in Pennsylvania, and their hunting and fishing grounds. In the process the federal government abrogated the Pickering Treaty of 1794, the nation's oldest treaty "still in force,"1 and coerced nearly 700 Seneca to relocate to a new housing development. Their reconstituted community would be divided by a new state highway several years later. For their land and their troubles the Seneca Nation received $15,000,053 in 1964 when President Johnson signed Public Law 88-533; the money compensated the Seneca for direct damages, indirect damages, community rehabilitation, and legal fees.
Recent advances in the field of ovarian tissue cryopreservation and opportunities for research

The purpose of this study was to summarize the latest advances and successes in the field of ovarian tissue cryopreservation while identifying gaps in current knowledge that suggest opportunities for future research. A systematic review was performed according to PRISMA guidelines for all relevant full-text articles in PubMed published in English that reviewed or studied historical or current advancements in ovarian tissue cryopreservation and auto-transplantation techniques. Ovarian tissue auto-transplantation in post-pubertal women is capable of restoring fertility with over 80 live births currently reported with a corresponding pregnancy rate of 23 to 37%. The recently reported successes of live births from transplants, both in orthotopic and heterotopic locations, as well as the emerging methods of in vitro maturation (IVM), in vitro culture of primordial follicles, and possibility of in vitro activation (IVA) suggest new fertility options for many women and girls. Vitrification, as an ovarian tissue cryopreservation technique, has also demonstrated successful live births and may be a more cost-effective method to freezing with less tissue injury. Further, transplantation via the artificial ovary with an extracellular tissue matrix (ECTM) scaffolding as well as the effects of sphingosine-1-phosphate (SIP) and fibrin modified with heparin-binding peptide (HBP), heparin, and a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) have demonstrated important advancements in fertility preservation. As a fertility preservation method, ovarian tissue cryopreservation and auto-transplantation are currently considered experimental, but future research may pave the way for these modalities to become a standard of care for women facing the prospect of sterility from ovarian damage.
Career decisions of immigrants: Role of identity and social embeddedness

Abstract Recent years have witnessed an increase in the number of individuals who leave their nation of origin and immigrate to live in other nations. The acculturation literature has noted several issues immigrants face in their host nation. Amongst these, establishing a career is of considerable importance. However, existing career theories have been criticized for their failure to identify the antecedents and explain the mechanism which underlies immigrants' career decision making. Importantly, these theories ignore the role of social identity in this process. To this end, this paper develops an identity-centric framework to explain the manner in which immigrants' social identity influences their career decisions and provides an understanding of the psychological, sociological and cognitive mechanism that underlies this process.
Cold War Challenges, Unrest and Rebellion, and a Shift in the Federal Role in Higher Education

The 1960s and 1970s were a tumultuous period in higher education history. The Higher Education Act (1965) was passed, requiring universities to change administrative practices related to federal assistance, creating an intentional connection between the government and higher education, resulting in a paradigm shift. At the same time, students and faculty criticized the government’s engagement in armed Cold War conflicts. This prompted negative attention yet positive legislation passed supporting the universities, representing the maintenance of a positive relationship between the federal government and higher education. Thus, at this pivotal juncture in higher education’s history, unrest and rebellion are at the center, reflective of the greater social history. Criticism withstanding, presidential administrations called higher education to support the US’s position among nations and economic stability.
Classification of Gaussian trajectories with missing data in Boolean gene regulatory networks

This paper studies the classification of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) modeled by probabilistic Boolean networks (PBNs). After observing Gaussian expression values of n genes at m consecutive time points, with consideration of missing data, an algorithm based on expectation maximization (EM) is proposed to estimate the parameters and infer the unknown parts of the networks in the maximum likelihood (ML) sense. Then the estimated values are plugged in to the Bayes classifier, which is optimal, and the performance of the classifier is investigated through various simulations.
Overcoming the barriers to green procurement in the county: Interest groups and administrative professionalism

Scholars and practitioners have come to understand the important role of local governments in the causes and effects of climate change. The literature has examined both the substantive and symbolic determinants of urban sustainability policies in addition to the implementation issues associated with those policies. At the heart of these policies is the idea that local governments have the desire and ability to engage in socially and environmentally responsible practices to mitigate climate change. While important, these studies are missing a key component in the investigation of local government involvement in sustainability policies: government purchasing power. This study examines the effect of administrative professionalism and interest group presence on the determinants of green procurement in the understudied context of counties in the United States.
Analysis of the Random Direction Mobility Model with a Sense-and-Avoid Protocol

Random mobility models (RMMs) capture the random movement patterns of mobile agents, and have been widely used in the evaluation and design of mobile networks. Existing RMMs (e.g. random walk and random direction) assume every mobile agent to move independently. Unmanned aerial systems (UASs), on the other hand, need to maintain a separation distance for the safety of the airspace, and hence their mobility patterns violate the independent movement assumption of existing RMMs. In this paper, for the first time in the literature per knowledge of authors, we enhance the Random Direction RMM through equipping it with a commonly used decentralized sense and avoid protocol-- sense-and-stop (S&S). We provide analytical results on critical networking statistics such as stationary node distribution and inter-vehicle distance distribution in a two-dimensional (2-D) space using the Markov type of analysis. The analysis and simulation studies lead to interesting insights such as that the commonly used S&S protocol is not effective when the randomness of UAV mobility is high, as it increases the probability for a UAS to stay within the collision distance.
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)

Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) is a national support, education, and advocacy nonprofit organization that advocates for equal rights for LGBT people. In emphasizing family values and family relationships as an organization, PFLAG challenges culturally accepted, traditional notions of what it means to be a good family. Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays acknowledges that it can be difficult for straight parents of LGBT children to come to terms with their child's sexual orientation, thus they encourage parents to go through a coming out process. An important part of the parents' coming out process is involvement in LGBT causes and advocacy, such as walking with PFLAG in a LGBT Pride Parade. Although PFLAG engages with the religious right on discourse over the family and values, it is ultimately unclear as to whether PFLAG is sustaining or subverting meanings of the traditional family. Keywords: advocacy; parent; parenting; sexual orientation; social movements and social change
Entropic Control of Receptor Recycling Using Engineered Ligands

Receptor internalization by endocytosis regulates diverse cellular processes, from the rate of nutrient uptake to the timescale of essential signaling events. The established view is that internalization is tightly controlled by specific protein-binding interactions. However, recent work suggests that physical aspects of receptors influence the process in ways that cannot be explained by biochemistry alone. Specifically, work from several groups suggests that increasing the steric bulk of receptors may inhibit their uptake by multiple types of trafficking vesicles. How do biochemical and biophysical factors work together to control internalization? Here, we show that receptor uptake is well described by a thermodynamic trade-off between receptor-vesicle binding energy and the entropic cost of confining receptors within endocytic vesicles. Specifically, using large ligands to acutely increase the size of engineered variants of the transferrin receptor, we demonstrate that an increase in the steric bulk of a receptor dramatically decreases its probability of uptake by clathrin-coated structures. Further, in agreement with a simple thermodynamic analysis, all data collapse onto a single trend relating fractional occupancy of the endocytic structure to fractional occupancy of the surrounding plasma membrane, independent of receptor size. This fundamental scaling law provides a simple tool for predicting the impact of receptor expression level, steric bulk, and the size of endocytic structures on receptor uptake. More broadly, this work suggests that bulky ligands could be used to drive the accumulation of specific receptors at the plasma membrane surface, providing a biophysical tool for targeted modulation of signaling and metabolism from outside the cell.
Diachronic degradation of language models: Insights from social media

Natural languages change over time because they evolve to the needs of their users and the socio-technological environment. This study investigates the diachronic accuracy of pre-trained language models for downstream tasks in machine learning and user profiling. It asks the question: given that the social media platform and its users remain the same, how is language changing over time? How can these differences be used to track the changes in the affect around a particular topic? To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that it is possible to measure diachronic semantic drifts within social media and within the span of a few years.
Prevention of Lead in Drinking Water

The problem with lead in drinking water is not new. As a matter of fact, it was known more than a hundred years ago. This quote from the Lancet, the noted British Journal of Medicine, clearly indicated the problem in England (White, 1886).
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): Disease Mechanisms

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common adult-onset motor neuron disease. It is reported that each year 5600 people in the United States receive the life-altering diagnosis of ALS – with as many as 30 000 Americans suffering from this insidious disease at any given time. There is no cure for this progressive and fatal disease. Current research efforts are focused on understanding the underlying biological mechanisms mediating the selective killing of motor neurons, the pathological hallmark of the disease. Excitotoxicity, mitochondrial dysfunction, protein aggregation, defective axonal transport, aberrant trophic support, and neuroinflammation have all been implicated in the disease process.
Effects of the Melatonin Receptor Antagonist (MT2)/Inverse Agonist (MT1) Luzindole on Re-entrainment of Wheel Running Activity and Spontaneous Homecage Behaviors in C3H/HeN Mice

Activation of MT1 receptors by melatonin accelerates the re-entrainment of circadian rhythms of wheel running activity after an abrupt advance of the dark cycle (Dubocovich et al., 2005). Here, we ...
Expectations and Achievement

The above quote illustrates the trajectory this teen would use to reach her personal and professional future goals. Children begin to acquire a sense of their future during the period of early to mid adolescence. During this developmental period, they develop hopes, dreams, and aspirations for their future. Life-course expectations influence the goals that girls set for themselves and the actions they choose to reach these goals. If a girl expects to go to college after graduating from high school, her behavior will be directed toward getting good grades and delaying parenthood. If on the other hand, there are no college role models and/or expectations from others for her to attend college, then good grades and academic accomplishment may not be as important.
Concurrent Design of Linear Control with Input Shaping for a Two-Link Flexible Manipulator Arm

Abstract Input shaping is an effective vibration control technique for flexible systems with known dynamic characteristics. However, due to its open-loop nature, it must be combined with a feedback controller to enable rejection of unknown disturbances. Although a number of researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of combining input shaping and feedback control methods, performance gains can be made by cooperatively designing the feedback gains and input shaping sequence. This paper presents a preliminary investigation of such a control method on a two-link flexible manipulator. This formulation allows for energy-efficient point-to-point motion while simultaneously minimizing command-induced vibration. Simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of this preliminary work.
Mid Century Carbon Free Sustainable Energy Development Based on Fusion Breeding

Fusion has often been billed as the ultimate 21st century sustainable energy source. However, not only is the pace of the program glacially slow, it seems to recede further and further into the future. For instance, when the ITER Tokamak was approved in 2005, the date for the first plasma was 2016. As this is written in 2018, the date has moved back to 2025. It has receded nearly one year for every calendar year! Furthermore, even if ITER is successful, there are many, many fundamental obstacles between it and a commercial, sustainable pure fusion reactor. This paper shows that fusion breeding is a better way, one that could lead to substantial fusion power not too long after midcentury. The reason is that the requirements for a fusion breeder reactor are much relaxed from those of a pure fusion reactor. Fusion breeding is the use of fusion neutrons both to boil water and to breed nuclear fuel for thermal nuclear reactors. Pure fusion is only the former. Fusion breeding’s transition to a power source for the economy could follow rapidly a success by ITER, the National Ignition Facility or both. This paper summarizes years of effort and advocacy for fusion breeding instead of conventional fusion.
State-level differences in personality and geographic disparities in access to palliative care: Findings on openness.

57Background: There are geographic disparities in access to palliative care that cause unnecessary suffering near the end of life in low-access U.S. states. The psychological mechanisms explaining ...
Selective Internal Radiation Therapy in the Multidisciplinary Management of Liver Metastases From Colorectal Carcinoma

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most common cancer in the United States. Most patients diagnosed with CRC will eventually develop metastases. The liver is the most common site of metastases from CRC and liver metastases are the most common cause of death for patients with CRC. Selective internal radiotherapy (SIRT) using yttrium 90 microspheres has emerged as a safe and effective treatment modality for controlling hepatic tumor burden in inoperable patients with liver-only or liver-predominant metastatic CRC. This article serves to review the available data on SIRT in the treatment of liver metastases from CRC in the salvage and first-line setting. Recently published phase III randomized data showing a significant improvement in liver progression-free survival from the addition of SIRT to standard chemotherapy in the first-line setting, while demonstrating no significant improvement in overall survival, will be reviewed. In addition, the present article examines the role of SIRT in the management of CRC liver metastases from right-sided colon cancers in which SIRT has been shown to improve overall survival when combined with chemotherapy in the first-line setting and explores appropriate patient selection for future studies.
H-Atom Product Channel in the Ultraviolet Photodissociation of the Thiomethoxy Radical (CH3S) via the B̃2A2 State.

The photodissociation dynamics of jet-cooled thiomethoxy radical (CH3S) via the B2A2 ← X2E transition was studied in the ultraviolet region of 216-225 nm using the high-n Rydberg H-atom time-of-flight (HRTOF) technique. The H-atom product channel was directly observed from the H-atom TOF spectra (using both dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl sulfide precursors). The H-atom photofragment yield spectrum showed a broad feature in the region of 216-225 nm and three B2A2 vibronic peaks at 217.7, 220.3, and 221.5 nm. Several H-atom dissociation pathways were identified. The excited-state CH3S had a repulsive, prompt dissociation pathway to the ground-state H2CS(X1A1) + H products, with the product translational energy peaking near the maximum available energy, a predominant C-S stretch vibrational excitation in H2CS(X1A1), and an anisotropic angular distribution. The main pathway was the H2CS(X1A1) + H product channel via the unimolecular dissociation of internally hot CH3S radical in the ground electronic state after internal conversion from the electronic excited state, with a modest translational energy release (peaking at a low translational energy of ∼11 kcal/mol and extending near the maximum available energy) and a nearly isotropic angular distribution. The H + H2CS(A1A2) and H + H2CS(a3A2) product channels were also observed but were minor channels. The C-H bond dissociation energy of CH3S to the H + H2CS(X1A1) products was determined to be 48.8 ± 0.7 kcal/mol.
Decreasing Colectomy Rate for Ulcerative Colitis in the United States Between 2007 and 2016: A Time Trend Analysis

BACKGROUND Improved treatment approaches for ulcerative colitis (UC), including novel medications, might reduce the need for colectomy. We performed a retrospective cohort study of adult patients (age 18-64) with UC in the United States to examine time trends for colectomy and biologic use from 2007 to 2016. METHODS We estimated quarterly rates for colectomy and biologic use using the IQVIA Legacy PharMetrics Adjudicated Claims Database. We used interrupted time series methods with segmented regression to assess time trends with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for biologic use and colectomy before and after the emergence of newly available biologic therapies in 2014. RESULTS Among 93,930 patients with UC, 2275 (2.4%) underwent colectomy from 2007 to 2016. Biologic use rates increased significantly from 2007 to 2016, from 131 per 1000 person-years in 2007 (95% CI, 121 to 140) to 589 per 1000 person-years in 2016 (95% CI, 575 to 604; P < 0.001). Colectomy rates decreased significantly between 2007 and 2016, from 7.8 per 1000 person-years (95% CI, 7.4 to 8.2) to 4.2 per 1000 person-years in 2016 (95% CI, 3.2 to 5.1; P < 0.001). An interruption in 2014 was associated with a positive trend deflection for biologic use (+72 treatments per 1000 person-years per year (95% CI, 61 to 83) and a negative trend deflection for colectomy (-0.76 per 1000 person-years per year; 95% CI, -1.47 to -0.05). CONCLUSIONS Among commercially insured patients in the United States from 2007 to 2016, biologic use rates increased, colectomy rates decreased, and both trends were impacted by the interruption in 2014. These findings suggest that new biologic therapies may have contributed to decreased colectomy rates.