cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
421 THE LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE BINDING PROTEIN RESPONSE TO INTRATRACHEAL LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE

Lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP) is an acute-phase glycoprotein that facilitates lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activation of immune cells through interactions with CD14 and toll-like receptor 4. In response to conditions such as sepsis, trauma, and ARDS, LBP concentrations increase in both plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Less is known, however, about the role or distribution of this protein in response to localized intrapulmonary infection. The purpose of our current study was to characterize the local and systemic LBP responses to intratracheal (i.t.) LPS. C3HEN mice received i.t. LPS (10 μg) and were sacrificed at 0 h, 4 h, 8 h, 24 h, and 48 h. BALF and plasma were collected at each time point and analyzed for the content of LBP and several proinflammatory cytokines, including granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Livers and spleens were harvested for analysis of LBP mRNA. LBP concentrations were increased in plasma by 8 h after i.t. LPS and remained elevated throughout the entire observation period. Changes in plasma LBP paralleled similar increases in liver LBP mRNA expression. TNF, G-CSF, and IL-6 were all increased in BALF following the i.t. LPS challenge. However, while the TNF response remained compartmentalized within the alveolar space, G-CSF and IL-6 levels were elevated both locally in BALF and systemically in plasma. From these data, we conclude that LBP is systemically expressed in response to i.t. LPS. Furthermore, we speculate that the systemic LBP response may be initiated in the liver by pulmonary-derived IL-6, a cytokine known to potently induce hepatic LBP synthesis.
Gender, parent-child relations and normative obligations

This article reports the perspective, design and major findings of a large-scale study of the parent-child relationship across the life course, drawing on data from a probability sample of 1 390 residents in the Boston Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA), together with spin-off samples of parents and adult children of these respondents. Parent-child relations are analyzed with attention given to the gender of parent and child. The highest level of interaction, affection, shared values and help exchange is found between mothers and daughters, and the least between fathers and sons, with opposite-sex parent-child pairs falling between. Special attention is given to a unique method of studying normative obligations to a wide array of kin and non-kin - the factorial, or vignette technique. This method permits a comparison of the degree of obligation felt toward parents and children with numerous relatives, each specified in terms of gender and marital status, facing four types of crisis events and three types of celebratory events. Analysis shows a symmetry largely determined by degree of relatedness to the 74 kin and non-kin types, with the gender of both vignette person and respondent tipping the balance toward higher scores on the obligation scale for women than for men. Findings relating to gender differences are discussed in terms of their social policy implications.
The Black Bug Myth: Selective photodestruction of pigmented pathogens.

Background and objective It is commonly believed that pigmented pathogens are selectively targeted by dental lasers. To test this notion optical diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS) was used to obtain absorption spectra for the periodontal pathogens, Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) and Prevotella intermedia (Pi). Materials and methods Spectra from 400 to 1,100 nm wavelengths of Pg colonies cultured with different concentrations of hemin were obtained to test the hypothesis that "visual pigmentation" predicts absorption of near-infrared (IR) dental laser energy. Ablation threshold at 1,064 nm [1] was measured for the pathogenic fungus, Candida albicans (Ca). Results The hypothesis was demonstrated to be true at 810 nm, it was false at 1,064 nm. Diode laser (810 nm) efficacy and "depth of kill" is dependent on hemin availability from 400 to about 900 nm. Pg and Pi absorption at 1,064 nm (µa = 7.7 ± 2.6 cm(-1) ) is independent of hemin availability but is determined by another unknown chromophore. Ca is non-pigmented but very sensitive to 1,064 nm irradiation. Conclusions The amount of visual pigmentation does not necessarily predict sensitivity to dental laser irradiation. Spectra in visible and near-IR wavelengths demonstrate a large difference in absorption between soft tissue and Pg or Pi. This difference represents a host/pathogen differential sensitivity to laser irradiation, the basis for selective photoantisepsis. Lasers Surg. Med. 48:706-714, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
An efficient I/sub DDQ/ test generation scheme for bridging faults in CMOS digital circuits

In a previous work on test generation for I/sub DDQ/ bridging faults in CMOS circuits, a genetic algorithm (GA) based approach targeting the all-pair bridging fault set stored in a compact-list data structure was used. In this paper, we target a reduced fault set, such as the one extracted from circuit layout. The reduced fault set is O(N) versus O(N/sup 2/) for the all-pair set, where N is the number of nodes in the transistor netlist. For test generation purposes, a linear-list data structure is found to be more efficient than the compact-list when a reduced fault list is targeted. We report on results for benchmark circuits that illustrate that test generation using a reduced fault list takes less time and results in more compact I/sub DDQ/ test sets with higher fault coverage of targeted bridging faults. The effects of GA sequence lengths on test generation times and test set quality are also considered.
Duration of commute travel changes in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy using accelerated failure time modeling

Abstract This paper used survey data from 397 commuters in the New York City area to determine the transportation-related disruptions and socio-demographic characteristics associated with the duration of home to work commute travel changes after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The durations examined included those associated with working schedule/location alterations, home-to-work trip delays, telecommuting time, and the alteration of commuting patterns. Accelerated failure time fully parametric duration models, based on the Weibull distribution were used. The models’ significant variables differed. Commuters with higher income or who were highly educated were more likely to prolong the time to return to normal working schedules and increase telecommuting duration. Longer commutes under normal circumstances (based on trip time) prolonged trip delays and the number of days that the commute was changed. Prolonged service recovery periods increased the duration of commute changes and delays, emphasizing the importance of timely transit service restoration. Policies like gas purchase restrictions were found to have trade-offs, since they can prolong the duration of commute changes and create queues at gas stations. Telecommuting can allow commuters to keep their productivity levels high during post-disaster periods.
Transversus abdominis plane block with liposomal bupivacaine compared to oral opioids alone for acute postoperative pain after laparoscopic hysterectomy for early endometrial cancer: a cost-effectiveness analysis

To determine the cost-effectiveness of transversus abdominis plane block with liposomal bupivacaine (TAP) compared to oral opioids alone for acute postoperative pain after laparoscopic hysterectomy for early endometrial cancer. A cost-effectiveness analysis using a decision tree structure with a 30.5 day time-horizon was used to calculate incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) values per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). Base-case costs, probabilities, and QALY values were identified from recently published all-payer national database studies, 2017 Medicare fee-schedules, randomized trials, institutional case series, or assumed, when published values were not available. One-way, two-way and multiple probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. The TAP strategy dominated the oral opioid-only strategy, with decreased costs and increased effectiveness. Specifically, the TAP strategy saved $235.90 under the base-case assumptions. Threshold analyses demonstrated that if the relative same-day discharge probability was ≥ 12% higher in the TAP group, then TAP was cost-saving over oral opioids-alone. Similarly, TAP was cost-saving whenever the costs saved by same-day discharge compared to admission were ≥ $1115.22. Cost-effectiveness of the TAP strategy was highly robust of a variety of sensitivity analyses. TAP with liposomal bupivacaine was robustly cost-effective at conventional willingness-to-pay thresholds. Further, TAP was cost-saving compared to opioids-only when the same-day discharge rate among TAP users was greater than among opioid-only users.
Microevolution and Macroevolution: A New Evolutionary Synthesis?

The evolution of organisms has become the central organizing concept of biology. The theory of evolution has advanced consistently for more than a century and a half. But the causes of evolution and the patterning of the processes that bring it about are far from completely understood. Much has become understood by investigating the evolution of species, genera, and higher groups of organisms in terms of microevolution, the processes that take place in individual organisms and their relationships with other individuals of the same species. Macroevolution is an autonomous field of research: the development of autonomous hypotheses and theories that account for the processes occurring at the level of higher groups of organisms and their history through time.
Ability to Reach Low-Income Smokers Enrolled in a Randomised Controlled Trial Varies with Time of Month.

Introduction: Because of financial pressures, low-income individuals sometimes run out of cellphone service towards the end of the month.Aims: To determine if the time of month affects ability to reach low-income smokers by telephone.Methods: We reviewed data from a completed trial in the United States of emergency department (ED)-initiated tobacco dependence treatment for low-income smokers at a busy, academic ED in an urban community. We recorded the date of each one-month follow-up call, and divided each month into four time blocks: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, and Week 4.Results: A total of 2,049 phone calls were made to reach 769 participants. Of these calls, 677 (33%) resulted in contact; 88% of all participants were contacted. Using generalised estimating equations with Week 4 as reference, the odds of a successful contact at Weeks 1, 2, and 3 were, respectively, 1.52 (95% CI 1.18, 1.96), 1.30 (95% CI 1.01, 1.66), and 1.37 (95% CI 1.07, 1.76).Conclusions: Study participants became progressively difficult to reach. This result may reflect low-income smokers’ decreased rates of active telephone service later in the month and suggests a mechanism to improve follow-up rates in future studies of low-income populations.
Charter School Leadership and Exclusionary Discipline: Navigating the Intersection of Autonomy, Equity, and Accountability:

Against the backdrop of the debate around exclusionary discipline practices, this case study asks readers to consider how leaders must balance autonomy with concerns about accountability and equity...
Spin-1 topological monopoles in the parameter space of ultracold atoms

Magnetic monopole, a hypothetical elementary particle with isolated magnetic pole, is crucial for the quantization of electric charge. In recent years, analogues of magnetic monopoles, represented by topological defects in parameter spaces, have been studied in a wide range of physical systems. These works mainly focused on Abelian Dirac monopoles in spin-1/2 or non-Abelian Yang monopoles in spin-3/2 systems. Here we propose to realize three types of spin-1 topological monopoles and study their geometric properties using the parameter space formed by three hyperfine states of ultracold atoms coupled by radio-frequency fields. These spin-1 monopoles, characterized by different monopole charges, possess distinct Berry curvature fields and spin textures, which are directly measurable in experiments. The topological phase transitions between different monopoles are accompanied by the emergence of spin "vortex", and can be intuitively visualized using Majorana's stellar representation. We show how to determine the Berry curvature, hence the geometric phase and monopole charge from dynamical effects. Our scheme provides a simple and highly tunable platform for observing and manipulating spin-1 topological monopoles, paving the way for exploring new topological quantum matter.
Isometric Deformations of Compact Hypersurfaces

In 1955 N. Kuiper and J. Nash proved that given a C∞ embeddingF of a C∞ Riemannian n -manifold (M,g) in En+1 which is short in the sense that the metric induced by F is less thang, there is a C1 isometric embedding which is arbitrarily C0-close to F. We extend the Nash--Kuiper result for compact M to the case of deformations. In other words, we prove that given a continuous family of short C∞ embeddings \(F(s):M \to E^{n + 1} \) (\(s \in [0,1]\)) of a compact Riemannian n-manifold M , there is an isometric deformation through C1 embeddings which is C0 -close to F. With more assumptions which are typically met in practice, this result is shown to hold in the more difficult case where F(s) is short for s>0 andF(0) is isometric. We use this to prove that if a C∞ convex hypersurface is sufficiently close to being planar in an average sense (e.g. an oblate spheroid in E3 with axis ratio more than \(\sqrt {8/3} \), then it admits an isometric deformation which increases the enclosed volume.
Cognitive Science: History

This article describes the development of cognitive science as a collaborative endeavor of psychology, computer science, neuroscience, linguistics, and related fields, emphasizing how the collaboration began in the 1950s and the subsequent interactions between the collaborators. Key early developments, which were featured at a conference in 1956, were Newell and Simon's program for proving logic theorems, Chomsky's generative grammar, and Miller's behavior research on cognitive interference and limits of short-term memory. Major developments in subsequent decades include the development of list-processing program languages and production systems as well as larger-scale knowledge structures such as frames and scripts in AI, attempts to employ linguistic grammars in psycholinguistic research, and development of information processing models of many cognitive activities. In the mid-1970s the Sloan Foundation and the System Development Foundation both began supporting cognitive science research. In 1977 the journal Cognitive Science was established, and in 1979 the Cognitive Science Society began, providing institutional identities for cognitive science. The identity of cognitive science, though, has been changing in the 1980s and 1990s, especially with the development of cognitive neuroscience and with the emergence of a situated, embodied focus in some cognitive science research.
InP-Based Power HEMTs

In recent years research in the development of InP-based HEMT’s for microwave and millimeter wave power applications has increased dramatically. This has led to the development of InP-based power HEMT’s with state-of-the-art performance. A review of the development of InP-based HEMT’s for microwave and millimeter wave power applications along with some of the most recent results on InP-based power HEMT MMICs are presented in this work.
Exploring the Role of Attribution and Emotion in Whistleblowing

While the rational and cognitive predictors of whistleblowing have been studied extensively, there has been comparatively little attempt to understand the role of attribution and emotions in whistl...
Addressing Relay Attacks Without Distance-Bounding in RFID Tag Inclusion/Exclusion Scenarios

With the widespread adoption and use of RFID tags, a valid scenario is one in which an RFID-tagged object includes several components that each have their own individual RFID tags. Under such a context, each of the components are bound to be included in or excluded from the main object over its lifetime. In order for only the tags that are a part of the main object to be authenticated by the main object, there is a need for a secure protocol that ensures that no other tag has access to the shared secrets among the main object and the component objects. Moreover, there is also a need to address relay attacks by adversaries under such scenarios. Existing authentication protocols address relay attacks through round-trip distance measurements in such inclusion/exclusion scenarios. While this works in principle, distance-bounding approaches are not always reliable. We consider another approach for inclusion/exclusion scenarios and develop a protocol sketch for this context. We also provide related security analysis.
Missed Opportunities to Build Rapport: A Pragmalinguistic Analysis of Interpreted Medical Conversations with Spanish-Speaking Patients.

Interpreted medical discourse presents significant challenges for communication because portions of the original message are often reduced, omitted, or revised, particularly by untrained interprete...
Carotenoids Upregulate Cell-to-Cell Communication and Connexin43 Gene Expression in Human Dermal Fibroblast Cells

Carotenoids are plant pigments found in vegetables and fruits as common components of the human diet. Evidence from epidemiological and experimental studies has shown that carotenoids have anticancer action. However, their mode of action is unknown. We have previously reported that carotenoids, which inhibit carcinogen-induced neoplastic transformation of mouse fibroblast cells, increase gap junctional communication (GJC) [Carcinogenesis, 12:2109 (1991)], induce the gene expression of connexin43 (Cx43), a gene coding for a major gap junctional protein in various cells and tissues, and this activity is highly correlated with their ability to inhibit transformation. Here, we extend these carotenoid effects on murine cells to human dermal fibroblasts. Using a dye microinjection method, we found that carotenoids, β-carotene and canthaxanthin, strongly enhance GJC in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Northern and Western blotting revealed that this enhanced communication was accompanied by an increase in the levels of Cx43 mRNA and protein. Immunofluorescence microscopy using a connexin43 antibody demonstrated that carotenoids induced many junctional plaques in regions of cell-to-cell contact. Since GJC plays an important role in cell growth control, we propose that much of the chemopreventive action of carotenoids in humans could be explained by the enhanced intercellular transfer of growth regulatory signals. Since canthaxanthin, a nonprovitamin A carotenoid, is as active as the provitamin A carotenoid, β-carotene, the induction of GJC and Cx43 gene expression by carotenoids is unlikely to be due to provitamin A properties.
In-Flight Adaptive PID Sliding Mode Position and Attitude Controller

Future spacecraft operations, such as debris capture and autonomous in-orbit servicing, will require spacecraft to interact with objects with poorly defined inertial properties which introduce a large degree of uncertainty into the dynamics of such operations. To handle this uncertainty, this paper describes the development and validation of a mass property-resilient controller for position and attitude control of a free-flying spacecraft. Specifically, the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) sliding mode controller (SMC) was developed to account for inaccurate knowledge of mass properties of small spacecraft, using sliding mode variables for each axis and an adaptive determination of the appropriate integral and derivative gains to achieve a commanded motion. The controller was validated both in simulation and in ground-based tests on the SPHERES (Syn-chronized Position Hold Engage Reorient Experimental Satellites) platform, small free-floating autonomous satellites used to study precision navigation and maneuvering. The SPHERES was commanded to follow a specified series of maneuvers using the PID SMC, to assess the convergence time of the sliding variables, gain values and commanded state parameters in each maneuver. The PID SMC performed well in simulation, with the sliding variables associated with position converging to the desired zero value within the span of one maneuver, while the attitude controller exhibited some chattering. In hardware tests, the position sliding variables exhibited slight chatter, consistent with slow convergence to the desired zero value, whereas the attitude sliding variables had significant chattering. The same tests were run using a static PID controller designed with inaccurate mass property knowledge, and the results were compared to those of the PID SMC. From this comparison, it is evident that the PID SMC offers superior performance under mass property uncertainy. Future work will attempt to address the PID SMC's chattering issues with the introduction of a boundary layer in the attitude sliding variable.
Studies on the Action of Yellow Fever Virus in Mice

(1930). Studies on the Action of Yellow Fever Virus in Mice. Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology: Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 249-272.
1501 Vaporization and Coagulation Techniques for Excision and Ablation of Endometriosis

Study Objective To demonstrate technical problems from the 1980s that resurfaced in 2018. Design Review of published reports. Setting Literature and web review. Patients or Participants Cases previously published. Interventions Laparoscopic laser and non-laser vaporization and coagulation. Measurements and Main Results A 2018 YouTube on non-laser vaporization demonstrated a problem with field distortion and incomplete vaporization that was seen in the 1980s with lasers. This presentation uses images and illustrations to review and discuss what we learned 30 years ago and how that applies to laser, electrosurgical, and kinetic energy by contrasting the outcomes for superficial and deep endometriosis. Those observations encouraged some of us adopted Kurt Semm's 1980 approach to excision of deep nodules. The discussion includes single finger exams, exam under anesthesia before initiating surgery, exam during surgery, exam after ablation or excision, delineation of margins, appropriate power density, thermal damage, carbonization, techniques that obscure endometriosis, and complications including unnecessary repeat surgery. Single finger exam, discussed as early as 1869, was taught by Richard “Pete” Hollis (ACOG president 1993) by 1985 and reinforced in Steege & Siedhoff's 2014 approach to pelvic pain evaluation. Dr. Hollis discussed this with respect to excision of endometriotic nodules at laparotomy using vaginal examination before excision to localize a nodule, during excision to push lesions into the field, and after excision to confirm removal. It is important to use techniques that adequately identify and remove deep endometriosis. Low power density laser and non-laser techniques can create problems including thermal burn, inconsistent depth, and carbonization that can increase the chance of leaving endometriosis behind. Carbonization can obscure endometriosis at initial surgery, increase the chance of reoperation, and obscure endometriosis at subsequent surgery. Conclusion Vaporization and coagulation techniques may be useful for small, focal, endometriotic lesions, but can be inadequate for deep infiltrating endometriosis.
Practical Knowledge: Sustaining Massively-Multiplayer Innovation

Governments and universities are pouring money into more ‘practical’ research – ‘translational’ medicine and ‘evidence-based’ policies in education, public health and economic development, for instance. But just translating or applying science rarely produces practical advances – and an inflexible adherence to the methods of natural or social scientists can do more harm than good. Instead, I propose a general approach – and specific research topics – to advance practical knowledge and study its distinctive contemporary nature. My proposal is implicit in this syllabus (of a seminar I have been teaching since 2013.)
An alternatively spliced, non-signaling insulin receptor modulates insulin sensitivity via insulin peptide sequestration in C. elegans

In the nematode C. elegans, insulin signaling regulates development and aging in response to the secretion of numerous insulin peptides. Here, we describe a novel, non-signaling isoform of the nematode insulin receptor (IR), DAF-2B, that modulates insulin signaling by sequestration of insulin peptides. DAF-2B arises via alternative splicing and retains the extracellular ligand binding domain but lacks the intracellular signaling domain. A daf-2b splicing reporter revealed active regulation of this transcript through development, particularly in the dauer larva, a diapause stage associated with longevity. CRISPR knock-in of mScarlet into the daf-2b genomic locus confirmed that DAF-2B is expressed in vivo and is likely secreted. Genetic studies indicate that DAF-2B influences dauer entry, dauer recovery and adult lifespan by altering insulin sensitivity according to the prevailing insulin milieu. Thus, in C. elegans alternative splicing at the daf-2 locus generates a truncated IR that fine-tunes insulin signaling in response to the environment.
Microwave spectrum and structure of the SO3−SO2 weakly bound complex

Abstract The microwave spectrum and structure of the weakly bound complex SO3–SO2 are reported. The parent species, as well as the isotopologues with 34S and 33S single substitution on each sulfur atom have been observed. Together with the measured 33S nuclear quadrupole coupling constants, the structure of the complex has been determined. MP2/6-311++G(3df) calculations identify two nearly isoenergetic conformations, one of which corresponds to the observed structure. In the observed complex, an oxygen atom of the SO2 approaches the sulfur of the SO3 with an intermolecular S⋯O distance of 2.635(28) A. The experimental S⋯S distance is 3.7517(83) A, and the SO2 is positioned so as to direct an oxygen lone electron pair roughly along the C3 axis of the SO3. This structure reflects the strong acidity of SO3 insofar as it is suggestive of incipient electron pair donation from the SO2 oxygen to the acidic site of the SO3.
An Error-Aware Incremental Planar Motion Estimation Method Using Paired Vertical Lines for Small Robots in Urban Areas

Abstract We report on our development of a monocular visual odometry system based on vertical lines such as vertical edges of buildings and poles in urban areas. Because vertical lines are easy to extract, insensitive to lighting conditions/shadows, and sensitive to robot movements on a ground plane, they are excellent landmarks. We derive an incremental visual odometry method based on vertical line pairs. We analyze how errors are introduced and propagated in the continuous odometry process by deriving the closed-form representation of a covariance matrix. We formulate the minimum variance ego-motion estimation problem and present two different algorithms. The two algorithms have been extensively tested in physical experiments. The error-aware odometry method has also been compared with two popular methods and consistently outperforms these two counterparts in robustness, speed, and accuracy. The relative errors of the odometry are less than 2% in physical experiments.
Attitudes on Prophylactic Antibiotic Use in Dermatologic Surgery: A Survey Study of American College of Mohs Surgery Members.

Background Antibiotic prescriptions associated with dermatologic surgical visits are increasing and prescribing practices vary among surgeons. Objective To describe dermatologic surgeons' attitudes and practices regarding prophylactic antibiotic use for surgical site infection (SSI), to compare current prescribing practices to those of a 2012 survey, and to determine surgeons' interest in clinical trial data on the utility of prophylactic antibiotics. Materials and methods This was a cross-sectional online survey of the American College of Mohs Surgery (ACMS) members. Survey items were adapted from a 2012 survey of ACMS members. Results The survey was initiated by 101 ACMS members. 75.25% (76/101) of surgeons reported routinely prescribing prophylactic antibiotics to reduce SSI risk. The use of prophylactic antibiotics varied with clinical scenario. Most providers (84.21%, 64/76) prescribe postoperative antibiotics, with an average course of 6.56 days. 40.21% (39/97) of respondents were uncertain if prophylaxis prevents SSI, and up to 90.63% (87/96) indicated interest in clinical trial data evaluating the efficacy of oral antibiotics for SSI prevention. Conclusion Dermatologic surgeons continue to report varied attitudes and practices for SSI prophylaxis. Evidence from clinical trials is desired by surgeons to guide clinical practice.
A conversation with Ella Peltonen: why theoretical machine learning and distributed systems researchers should find a common language

In this interview, Ubiquity's senior editor Dr. Bushra Anjum chats with Dr. Ella Peltonen, a research scientist with the Center for Ubiquitous Computing, University of Oulu, Finland, about the traditional divide between theoretical machine learning and the more applied fields of distributed systems. They then discuss the need for environments and opportunities where researchers from both theory and application areas can discuss, share their latest findings, and understand each other.
Towards scaling Twitter for digital epidemiology of birth defects.

Social media has recently been used to identify and study a small cohort of Twitter users whose pregnancies with birth defect outcomes—the leading cause of infant mortality—could be observed via their publicly available tweets. In this study, we exploit social media on a larger scale by developing natural language processing (NLP) methods to automatically detect, among thousands of users, a cohort of mothers reporting that their child has a birth defect. We used 22,999 annotated tweets to train and evaluate supervised machine learning algorithms—feature-engineered and deep learning-based classifiers—that automatically distinguish tweets referring to the user’s pregnancy outcome from tweets that merely mention birth defects. Because 90% of the tweets merely mention birth defects, we experimented with under-sampling and over-sampling approaches to address this class imbalance. An SVM classifier achieved the best performance for the two positive classes: an F1-score of 0.65 for the “defect” class and 0.51 for the “possible defect” class. We deployed the classifier on 20,457 unlabeled tweets that mention birth defects, which helped identify 542 additional users for potential inclusion in our cohort. Contributions of this study include (1) NLP methods for automatically detecting tweets by users reporting their birth defect outcomes, (2) findings that an SVM classifier can outperform a deep neural network-based classifier for highly imbalanced social media data, (3) evidence that automatic classification can be used to identify additional users for potential inclusion in our cohort, and (4) a publicly available corpus for training and evaluating supervised machine learning algorithms.
Experiences of Persons With Serious Mental Illness During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: This study aimed to characterize the experiences of persons with serious mental illness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Adults with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressi...
Conceptual and analytical overlap between allostatic load and systemic biological aging measures: Analyses from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States.

Background Indices quantifying allostatic load (AL) and biological aging (BA) have independently received widespread use in epidemiological literature. However, little attention has been paid to their conceptual and quantitative overlap. By reviewing literature utilizing measures of AL and BA, and conducting comparative analysis, we highlight similarities and differences in biological markers employed and approach toward scale construction. Further, we outline opportunities where both types of indices might be improved by adopting methodological features of the other. Methods Using data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (N=2,055, age=26-86), we constructed three AL indices: one common literature standard, and two alternative formulations informed by previous work with measures of BA. The performance of AL indices was juxtaposed against two commonly employed BA indices: Klemera-Doubal Method Biological Age and Homeostatic Dysregulation. Results All indices correlated with chronological age. Participants with higher AL and older BA performed worse on tests of physical and subjective functioning. Further, participants with increased life-course risk exposure exhibited higher AL and BA. Notably, alternative AL formulations tended to exhibit effect-sizes equivalent to or larger than those observed for BA measures, and displayed superior mortality prediction. Conclusions In addition to their conceptual similarity, AL and BA indices also exhibit significant analytical similarity. Further, BA measures are robust to construction using a panel of biomarkers not observed in previous iterations, including carotenoids indexing antioxidant capacity. In turn, AL indices could benefit by adopting the methodological rigor formalized within BA composites, such as applying biomarker down-selection criteria.
The Persistence and Uncertain Future of the Public Interest Class Action

Cases against government defendants for large-scale injunctive relief often turn on the class certification decision. From the modern class action’s early days until 2011, these “public interest class actions” enjoyed marked success in the federal courts. This procedural favor seemed to lapse when the U.S. Supreme Court decided Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes. The decision tightened the requirements that govern class certification in public interest cases. In Wal-Mart’s immediate wake, several courts of appeals vacated certified classes in important structural reform lawsuits. This litigation seemed to face a tough road ahead. But the public interest class action has persisted. In this symposium contribution, I report quantitative and qualitative findings from my analysis of every reported decision on class certification in a federal public interest case from June 21, 2011 to March 31, 2020. About 75% of district court decisions favor plaintiffs, and appellate judges continue to vote for plaintiffs at a high rate. I use a typology of public interest class actions to explain the reasons for Wal-Mart’s modest impact. The case has proven irrelevant to two of the public interest class actions’ three major types. Wal-Mart has changed litigation practice in the third, a type involving structural reform lawsuits challenging systemic government maladministration. The decision has forced litigants and courts to clarify the nature of the substantive rights at stake with more precision. These efforts have prompted a “group rights” jurisprudence to crystallize. Courts have come to understand that the substantive law in these cases protects plaintiffs not as individuals but as undifferentiated group members. As such, this law is not just amenable to class-wide adjudication. It requires class action procedure for its vindication.
Reflections on a Competency-Based Physics Course

Physics courses that focus on developing and assessing student competency through the use of standards have successfully been implemented in the past. It appears to be the case that not enough practical information is available to instructors planning to engage on this modality.
Sleep Pose Recognition in an ICU Using Multimodal Data and Environmental Feedback

Clinical evidence suggests that sleep pose analysis can shed light onto patient recovery rates and responses to therapies. In this work, we introduce a formulation that combines features from multimodal data to classify human sleep poses in an Intensive Care Unit ICU environment. As opposed to the current methods that combine data from multiple sensors to generate a single feature, we extract features independently. We then use these features to estimate candidate labels and infer a pose. Our method uses modality trusts --- each modality's classification ability --- to handle variable scene conditions and to deal with sensor malfunctions. Specifically, we exploit shape and appearance features extracted from three sensor modalities: RGB, depth, and pressure. Classification results indicate that our method achieves 100i?ź% accuracy outperforming previous techniques by 6i?ź% in bright and clear ideal scenes, 70i?ź% in poorly illuminated scenes, and 90i?ź% in occluded ones.
Glycoproteins and Proteoglycans

Glycosaminoglycans are high-molecular-weight linear carbohydrate polymers that are generally composed of disaccharide repeating units of a uronic acid (D-glucuronic acid or L-iduronic acid) and a hexosamine (N-acetylglucosamine or N-acetylgalactosamine). Chondroitin sulfate and heparan sulfate occur as proteoglycans in which the Polysaccharide chains are covalently linked at their reducing ends to the hydroxyl groups of serine residues in a protein moiety.
Singular Self-Adjoint Multipoint Boundary Value Problems: Solutions and Approximations

Let Λ be a linear, self-adjoint, possibly singular differential operator with real valued coefficients of the form.
Are Partners Fiduciaries

The proliferation of partnership-type entities raises many questions about how the traditional rules of business entities will be tailored for these new contexts. This includes questions concerning default fiduciary duties in partnership-type firms. In particular, should fiduciary duties apply to manager-owners as well as to managers in firms with passive owners? In contrast to Justice Cardozo's famous dictum in Meinhard v. Salmon, Professor Ribstein concludes that partners, as such, are not fiduciaries because they do not delegate open-ended control to their co-partners. Extending fiduciary relationships beyond this specific situation would increase litigation and contracting costs, decrease the effectiveness of owners' governance rights, and dilute true fiduciaries' legal and extralegal incentives.
Prevention of Perinatal Group B Streptococcal Disease

The 2002 Prevention of Perinatal Group B Streptococcal Disease guidelines from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) represents a revision of a prior set of guidelines represented by the CDC in 1996. Group B streptococcus (GBS) remains a leading cause of serious neonatal infection despite the significant efforts in the disease prevention through the 1990s, including recommendations presented by the CDC, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The updated 2002 guidelines were based on clinical evidence and expert opinions gathered since the 1996 recommendations (1). Significant changes in the newer guidelines included a recommendation for universal prenatal screening for GBS; detailed instructions on specimen collection, processing and testing; updated prophylaxis regimens for penicillin-allergic women; recommendations against routine antipartum antibiotic prophylaxis for GBS-colonized women undergoing planned cesarean deliveries prior to the onset of labor or the rupture of membranes; a suggested algorithm for management of threatened preterm delivery; and an updated algorithm for the management of newborns exposed to intrapartum antibiotics.
Neighborhood Crime Prevention

Neighborhood crime prevention has become a major aspect of crime prevention. This chapter focuses on the basic idea of neighborhood crime prevention as a means of combating crime and the fear of crime, and discusses various neighborhood crime prevention approaches such as neighborhood/block watch, community anti-drugs programs, citizen patrols, and police-community development. These programs seek to involve the citizens in actions that should engender community/neighborhood cohesion, a sense of control, territoriality, and other factors that affects both fear and crime. Many neighborhood watch programs include citizen patrols, whistle-stop programs, education programs, neighborhood advocacy, neighborhood clean-up, physical design changes, and property identification. The chapter discusses the problems and issues that hamper the evaluation of neighborhood crime prevention programs, research findings on domains of crime prevention, and the problematic assumptions underlying neighborhood watch. The chapter also tabulates the conceptual framework of neighborhood based crime prevention including the associated problems, strategies, intervening factors, intermediate factors, and long-term outcomes.
Potential contribution of CHAMP occultation to pressure field improvement for gravity recovery

This paper studies one aspect of use of the CHAMP GPS occultation data, namely the improvement of the atmospheric pressure field, particularly over Antarctica. Previous studies indicate that pressure differences between ECMWF and ground truth data reach 5.18 hPa RMS over Antarctica [Ge et al., 2003]. In this study, comparisons of pressure profiles (January–March 2003) from data (CHAMP occultation and radiosonde) and models (ECMWF and NCEP), indicate large discrepancies over different regions, notably over southern polar region. Global pressure differences between CHAMP and radiosonde and model outputs reach 4 hPa RMS at 1 km above MSL. We found a positive bias in CHAMP data (CHAMP measures larger pressure values) when comparing with both radiosonde and ECMWF. Analysis shows the lack of adequate penetration of CHAMP occultation data in the planetary boundary layer particularly in the tropical region (only ∼10% signal is within 1 km above MSL), as compared to ∼80% penetration in Arctic and Antarctica. However, CHAMP provides improved data coverage in temporal, spatial and vertical resolution globally. We conclude that the CHAMP occultation data could potentially improve the surface pressure modeling to benefit temporal gravity recovery, in particular over data sparse region such as Antarctica.
Alien Hand Syndrome: Ethical Issues

At the nexus of theories of mind and the science of the brain is alien hand syndrome, a rare neurologic disorder in which one hand displays complex nonvolitional behaviours. The causative lesion disconnects brain regions that initiate hand movement from those needed for conscious recognition of volition. The aberrant behaviours may be unwilled and automatic, or in other cases they may be unconsciously willed yet unrecognised as the patient's own. Although sometimes touted as proof that free will does not exist, scientific descriptions of alien hand phenomenon are neutral in regard to competing philosophical theories attributing human decision to free agency or to determined physical processes. How one thinks about the nature of free will is important for ethics, which respects the validity of personal autonomy in moral decision making. Demonstration that some purposeful actions may be unwilled does not mean that all thoughts are predetermined. Therefore, neuroscientific explanations of alien hand syndrome can help to inform but do not dismantle traditional approaches to biomedical ethics. Key Concepts: Alien hand syndrome is a neurologic condition in which the affected hand exhibits complex nonvolitional behaviours. It results from disconnection of brain regions that control the hand from those that signal conscious recognition of volition. Other clinical examples of complex involuntary behaviours are recognised. Purposeful yet nonvolitional behaviour calls into question common understandings of free will. If no human decisions were freely made, then the ethical principle of respect for autonomy would be meaningless. Personal culpability for unwilled harmful actions is ethically and legally diminished. Just because some actions may be unwilled does not mean that all are. Scientific accounts of alien hand syndrome are philosophically neutral with respect to theories of agency versus determinism. Some instances of alien hand syndrome may be a form of agnosia of agency. Keywords: alien hand syndrome; free will; autonomy; automatism; mind brain problem
Polarization vision helps detect transparent prey

Transparency enables aquatic organisms to avoid detection by visual predators. But we have found that this camouflage can be broken using a visual mode evolved by several predators, such as squid. Under partially linearly polarized lighting, squid detect zooplankton prey at a distance 70% greater than those achieved under non-polarized illumination. The role of polarization sensitivity in predation is confirmed by squid's preference for transparent, yet polarization-active, targets that mimic their prey.
The Two Faces of miRNA

MicroRNAs can enhance or repress messenger RNA translation, depending on whether cells are proliferating or arrested in the cell cycle.
Regulatory T Cells in Patients with Cancer

Current monitoring for the presence of regulatory T cells (Treg) in cancer patients’ body fluids is challenging, largely because of the lack of markers specific for this minor subset of CD4+ T cells. Further, current evidence is conflicted by observations that CD4+FOXP3+CD25high T cells accumulating at tumor sites may have either beneficial or unfavorable effects on prognosis. The presence in tumor-associated inflammatory infiltrates of two Treg subsets with distinct phenotypic and functional profiles might, in part, explain these results. The division of labor exists between natural (n) Treg, normally responsible for maintaining peripheral tolerance and inducible (i) Treg arising by tumor-driven conversion of conventional CD4+ T cells, which are responsible for down-regulating anti-tumor immune responses and promoting tumor progression. This suggests that Treg might be a highly diverse subpopulation of CD4+ T cells. In cancer, the type, frequency and suppression levels of accumulating Treg are regulated by the tumor. Thus, it is iTreg that play a critical role in disease, and attention needs to be focused on monitoring their frequency and activity.
Effect of Energy Concentration of Milk on Voluntary Intake of Lean and Obese Piglets

Voluntary intake responses of neonatal lean and obese pigs, fed high and low energy diets, were measured. Piglets were maintained in individual cages from 4 to 22 days of age. The 18-day trial was divided into six 3-day ad libitum feeding periods. All piglets received a purified high energy diet (1.12 kcal/ml) in periods 1, 3, 5, and low energy diet (0.57 kcal/ml) in periods 2, 4, and 6. Average daily volume intakes for periods 1 to 6 were 36.8, 55.2, 41.4, 56.2, 38.4, and 47.8 ml/100 g body weight (BW), respectively. Average daily energy intakes were 40.5, 28.7, 45.5, 29.2, 42.2, and 24.9 kcal/100 g BW. Even though piglets consumed greater volumes of low energy diet, energy intake was not maintained during periods 2, 4, and 6. It is possible that gastrointestinal capacity limited intake before energy demand was met. Compared to lean piglets, obese piglets were hyperphagic and consumed more volume (52.0 versus 39.8 ml/100 g BW/day) and more energy (40.0 versus 30.4 kcal/100 g BW/day). It is conclused that neonatal lean and obese piglets possess a sensitive mechanism (s) to control food intake in response to changes in energy content of the diet. The control mechanism in the obese piglets appears to function at a higher level of energy demand than in the lean piglets.
STRESS AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM.

This article attempts to penetrate the difficult problem of children with severe character disorders who show what appears to be an acquired immunity to stress. It discusses how the staff of a residential treatment center tries to work with these children. A hypothesis of treatment is posed that needs further study and experimentation.