cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Aristocratic Writers and New Continents: Lawrence and Tocqueville on Democracy

This short essay attempts to bring D.H. Lawrence and Alexis de Tocqueville into the same field of vision via a comparative assessment of the former's 1922 novel entitled 'Kangaroo' and the latter's classic study of the politics of the New World, 'Democracy in America.' It argues that as 'Good Europeans' the two writers were seeking both to learn from, as well as to teach about the meaning of modern civilization's transition to Democracy via the example provided by a specific national experiment 'in the field' - in Tocqueville's case as a result of his visit to America in the 1830's and in Lawrence's case as a result of his stay in Australia in the 1920's. The suggestion is that what Tocqueville's 'Democracy' is to America, so too Lawrence's 'Kangaroo'' is to Australia, which is to say that it is a book intended as a careful portrait of an 'actual democracy' (to use Lord Bryce's phrase) which is of universal significance in terms of the future of all societies moving in the direction of liberal freedom and democratic equality. In other words, the essay assumes that Lawrence's 'Kangaroo' may be taken as an 'update' of Tocqueville's classic study of democracy from almost a century before, even as Lord Bryce's 'The American Commonwealth' has always been so taken since its emergence about half way between the comparable studies of the 19th Century French 'sociologist' on the one hand and the 20th Century English novelist and the other.
Impact of IT Auditors’ Involvement in Financial Audits

Based on the FBI, the majority of corporate fraud cases involve acounting schemes designed to deceive investors, auditors, and analysts about the true financial condition of a corporation. Investigations have determined that companies manipulated their financial systems to fraudulently inflate financial information. Surprisingly, there is limited relevant research requiring the involvement of information technology auditors in financial audits. According to the literature, information technology auditors are underused (or not used at all) in financial audits, allowing for opportunitites of manipulation, abuse, and/or misreport of financial data. It has been argued that information technology auditors are more likely to effectively understand and test organizations' technology environments than financial auditors. This research investigates whether a relationship exists between inclusion of information technology auditors in financial audits and detecting manipulated financial information in organizations. Results suggest a positive correlation between the above variables, and prompt for additional work to extend the results identified herein.
Rabies surveillance in rabies clinic affiliated to Jiaxing Prefecture Center for Disease Control and Prevention,2009-2014

Objective To understand the incidence of rabies exposure in Jiaxing and provide evidence for rabies control and prevention. Methods The incidence data of rabies exposure were collected in the rabies clinic affiliated to Jiaxing Prefecture Center for Disease Control and Prevention( CDC) to establish the rabies surveillance database. Results A total of 23 361 rabies exposure cases were treated in clinic from 2009 to 2014. The rabies exposure mainly occurred in people aged 20 years,accounting for 21. 29%. The rabies exposure cases in local farmers accounted for 35. 87%. The incidence peak of rabies exposure was during July-August,and 79. 29% of the exposures were caused by dog bite. Up to85. 88% of the exposure cases were treated within 24 hours. The complete vaccination rate of Essen schedule group and Zagreb schedule group were 93. 40% and 95. 19% respectively. Only 20. 51% of the class Ⅲ exposure cases received rabies immunoglobulin injection. Conclusion Rabies exposures increased with year in Jiaxing. It is necessary to strengthen rabies surveillance and conduct targeted health education. And it is suggested to vaccinate domestic animals regularly,standardize rabies exposure treatment and reduce treatment cost.
Radar Study of Precipitation Development in Thunderclouds

A sudden growth of precipitation has often been observed in association with lightning in electrified clouds. The quantitative assessment of this process has been hampered by the lack of resolution and slow scan rate of most meteorological radars, by the absence of rain intensity data necessary to define the rain shaft at the ground, and by lack of definition of the lightning channel in structure and time with respect to the rapidly growing region of precipitation.
The Generalized Beta Distribution as a Model for the Distribution of Income: Estimation of Related Measures of Inequality

The generalized beta (GB) is considered as a model for the distribution of income. It is well known that its special cases include Dagum’s distribution along with the Singh-Maddala distribution. Related measures of inequality such as the Gini Coefficient, Pietra Index, or Theil Index are expressed in terms of the parameters of the generalized beta. This paper also explores the use of numerical integration techniques for calculating inequality indexes. Numerical integration may be useful since in some cases it may be computationally very difficult to evaluate the equations that have been derived or the equations are not available. We provide examples from the distribution of family income in the United States for the year 2000.
Hypofrontality and Posterior Hyperactivity in Early Schizophrenia: Imaging and Behavior in a Preclinical Model.

Abstract Background Schizophrenia is a debilitating neuropsychiatric disorder typically diagnosed from late adolescence to adulthood. Subthreshold behavioral symptoms (e.g., cognitive deficits and substance abuse) often precede the clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia. However, these prodromal symptoms have not been consistently associated with structural and functional brain biomarkers, limiting the chance of early diagnosis of schizophrenia. Methods Using an extensively multimodal range of magnetic resonance methods (for anatomy, metabolism, and function), we screened early biomarkers in a methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) rat model of schizophrenia and saline-treated control (SHAM) rats, in conjunction with immunohistochemistry, myelin staining, and a novel three-choice, reversal-learning task to identify early behavioral markers corresponding the subthreshold symptoms. Results MAM (vs. SHAM) rats had lower/higher structural connectivity in anterior/posterior corpus callosum. The orbitofrontal cortex of MAM rats showed lower resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging functional connectivity in conjunction with lower neuronal density, lower glucose oxidation, and attenuated neurotransmission (hypofrontality). In contrast, these measures were all higher in visual cortex of MAM rats (posterior hyperactivity), which might parallel perceptual problems in schizophrenia. In behavioral studies, MAM (vs. SHAM) rats displayed abnormal orbitofrontal cortex–mediated decision-making processes, resulting in a novel reward-sensitive hyperflexible phenotype, which might reflect vulnerability of prodromal patients to substance abuse. Conclusions We identified two novel biomarkers of early schizophrenia in a preclinical rat model: hypofrontality associated with the hyperflexible phenotype, and posterior hyperactivity. Because each of these magnetic resonance methods is clinically translatable, these markers could contribute to early diagnosis and the development of novel therapies of schizophrenia.
Abnormal hippocampal-thalamic white matter tract development and positive symptom course in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis.

Abnormal development of the hippocampus has been reported in adolescents at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis and thalamic abnormalities have been found. However, the white matter connections between the hippocampus and the thalamus have not been studied. The connections between these regions are of key importance to our understanding of the pathophysiology of psychosis. Twenty-six UHR and 21 healthy age-matched controls were tested at a baseline assessment and 12 months later. Symptoms were assessed at both the time points and all the participants underwent diffusion tensor imaging scans. We used tractography to trace the white matter connections in each individual between the thalamus and hippocampus and then extracted fractional anisotropy (FA) to assess white matter structural integrity. There was a significant group by time interaction indicating that FA decreased in UHR, and increased in controls over 12 months. Across both groups, baseline FA of the thalamic–hippocampal tract was predictive of positive symptoms at 12-month follow-up. Critically, this pattern remained significant in UHR individual group alone. At baseline, those with higher FA, indicative of abnormal white matter development, show higher positive symptoms 1 year later. Here, we provide evidence to indicate that there are differences in white matter development in hippocampal–thalamic connections, both of which are important nodes in networks associated with schizophrenia. Furthermore, abnormal developmental patterns in UHR individuals are associated with positive symptom course. The structure of the nerve tracts connecting two brain regions associated with schizophrenia can predict the severity of psychotic symptoms. Abnormalities in the development and function of the thalamus and hippocampus have been reported in patients with schizophrenia. Jessica Bernard and colleagues at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA, examined the nerve fiber tracts that connect these two regions in 26 adolescents at high risk of developing psychosis and 21 age-matched controls using diffusion tensor imaging. They found a decrease in the structural integrity of these connections in the individuals at risk over a 12-month period. More interestingly, those with the highest connectivity at baseline developed worse hallucinations and delusions one year on. These findings suggest that brain connectivity measuremnets in patients at risk of schizophrenia could help predict the course of disease.
Antibiotics administered for acute otitis media have modest benefits and adverse effects

Commentary on: Venekamp RP, Sanders SL, Glasziou PP, Del Mar CB, Rovers MM. Antibiotics for acute otitis media in children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2015;(6):CD000219. Acute otitis media (AOM) is a highly prevalent condition, with 50–85% of children affected by 3 years of age.1 Cases may spontaneously remit, but may also culminate in pain, fever, tympanic membrane perforation or mastoiditis. Antibiotic usage varies worldwide, and these data inform this decision by assessing the impact of: (1) antibiotics compared to placebo, (2) immediate antibiotics compared to expectant observation and (3) potential effect modifiers. This systematic review included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) focused on patient-relevant outcomes. Primary outcomes were the proportion of children with: (1) pain at 1, 2–3, 4–7 and 10–14 days, and (2) adverse effects (vomiting/diarrhoea/rash). Secondary outcomes included abnormal tympanometry, tympanic membrane perforation, contralateral AOM, complications of AOM and long-term healthcare utilisation. Searches were undertaken in a litany of databases, and independent extraction was performed. Study quality was assessed according to possible allocation/performance/attrition/other biases; a grading of recommendation, …
Exploring aging deceleration in FinFET-based multi-core systems

Power and thermal issues are the main constraints for high-performance multi-core systems. As the current technology of choice, FinFET is observed to have lower delay under higher temperature in super-threshold voltage region, an effect called temperature effect inversion (TEI). While it has been shown that system performance can be improved under power constraints, as technology aggressively scales down to sub-20nm nodes, thermal issues also emerge as important reliability concerns throughout the system lifetime. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to provide a comprehensive evaluation of both TEI and aging effects on the performance and power of FinFET-based multi-core systems with multiple voltage/frequency levels. Our experimental results show that aging effects can be reduced by up to 53.59% by exploiting the TEI effect. Based on a combined multivariate objective for power and aging, this work proposes an aging-aware algorithm, dubbed AgingMin, to select the optimal TEI-aware voltage/frequency operation points for decelerating the aging effect. Experimental results show that AgingMin improves the classic 10-year system lifetime by an average of 1.61 years while introducing less than 1% power overhead when compared to existing state-of-the-art techniques.
Beyond Correlational Analysis: Recent Innovations in Theory and Method

Correlational analysis is the basis for much explanation in contemporary sociology. Mainstream sociologists often infer causation through the use of quantitative techniques that depend, in one way or another, on the existence of bivariate correlations. Even sophisticated multivariate statistical methods that allow for the parceling of variables and the estimation of average net causal effects ultimately rely on such correlations. Correlational analysis so is central to explanation that many sociologists simply take it for granted, assuming that the existence of a correlation is a basic component of causality. The two books reviewed in this essay, however, argue that correlational analysis is by itself an inadequate mode of causal assessment. The problems identified are not simply familiar themes such as a correlation fails to represent causation because it might be spurious or because the time order of correlated variables may not be clear. Rather, these works suggest that even nonspurious correlations in which the time order of variables is well-established may be inherently limited representations of causal processes.
ALLIANCE RATINGS AS A PART OF TRAINEE EVALUATIONS WITHIN FAMILY THERAPY TRAINING

Client-reported therapeutic alliance scores were examined as a measure of improvement in therapeutic skills across master's-level marriage and family therapy (MFT) training. The results indicate significant correlations between alliance ratings and training variables, with the number of cumulative clinical hours identified as a significant predictor of alliance ratings according to a regression analysis. Trainees lacking the expected number of clinical contact hours in each level of training were found to be more likely to receive consistently marginal alliance ratings. Additionally, alliance ratings were especially useful in identifying trainees who were functioning at minimal levels of competency.
Late Holocene forager-fisher and pastoralist interactions along the Lake Victoria shores, Kenya: Perspectives from portable XRF of obsidian artifacts

Abstract The East African Rift system created one of the world's most obsidian-rich landscapes, where this volcanic glass has been used to make tools for nearly two million years. In Kenya alone, there are > 80 chemically distinct obsidians along a 800-km north-south transect. Recently Brown et al. (2013) published their Kenyan obsidian database assembled since the 1980s. Specifically, they report elemental data measured by EMPA, ICP-MS, and WDXRF, providing a rich basis for future sourcing studies. Here we report our use of portable XRF (pXRF), calibrated specifically and directly to the database in Brown et al. (2013), to examine interactions between Later Stone Age forager-fishers and pastoralists near Lake Victoria. Regarding our calibration to the WDXRF and EMPA datasets of Brown et al. (2013), the elements of interest have very high correlations (R 2 = 0.96–0.99) to our pXRF values, which show, on average, only a 2–5% relative difference from the published values. Use of pXRF data specifically calibrated to the datasets from Brown et al. (2013) greatly expands the impact of their work over three decades to catalog and characterize a multitude of Kenyan obsidians. Our focus here is investigating social contacts and exchange between late Holocene populations that included Kansyore forager-fishers and Elmenteitan pastoralists. Similarities and differences in their obsidian access provide new insights into long-term interactions between foragers and food producers in eastern Africa. We report new sourcing results for obsidian artifacts from six late Holocene rock shelters along the Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria. The patterns in obsidian access are consistent with changing interaction spheres that are relevant to understanding forager-fisher social identities and subsistence strategies during periods of economic and demographic change.
Current chemotherapeutic regimens for brain metastases treatment

Brain metastasis is a common complication in advanced systemic cancer, with an increasing incidence. The diagnosis of brain metastasis historically portended a dismal prognosis. The successful development of effective treatments for patients with brain metastasis is complicated by the differences among cancer subtypes, the limited understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of BM, the impact of the blood-brain barrier, and other factors. There is now renewed interest in treating this often devastating complication of cancer, and in understanding the underlying mechanisms of disease in this "sanctuary" site. Promising treatment strategies include brain-penetrant targeted therapies and immunotherapy, and strategies for enhanced delivery of therapy. This review highlights a selection of these approaches.
Close Reading and Movement: A Lesson on Student Engagement and the Four Cs

Close reading is a reading instruction strategy. The author combined movement with close reading to engage fourth-grade students in meaning-making of new academic vocabulary words. Through the experience, students assessed new and multiple meanings of words and participated in collaborative, academic discussions of vocabulary words using human sculptures. Findings from the lesson suggest: an increase in student interest in vocabulary development when combined with movement, an instructional method that made sense to students, and a nonthreatening way to engage English learners in text-dependent inquiries. Future investigations may explore the lesson’s feasibility with students in the middle and secondary grades.
Dynamics of Sendai Virus Spread, Clearance, and Immunotherapeutic Efficacy after Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Imaged Noninvasively in Mice

There are no approved vaccines or virus-specific treatments for human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs), which have recently been reclassified into the species Human respirovirus 1, Human respirovirus 3, Human rubulavirus 2, and Human rubulavirus 4 These viruses cause morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients, including those undergoing hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT). No small-animal models for noninvasive imaging of respiratory virus infection in the HCT host exist, despite the utility that such a system would offer to monitor prolonged infection, its clearance, and treatment options. We used a luciferase-expressing reporter virus to noninvasively image in mice the infection of murine respirovirus (strain Sendai virus [SeV]), the murine counterpart of HPIV1. Independent of disease severity, the clearance of infection began approximately 21 days after HCT, largely due to the recovery of CD8+ T cells. Immunotherapy with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and adoptive transfer of natural killer (NK) cells provided a limited therapeutic benefit. Treatment with a fusion (F) protein-specific monoclonal antibody arrested the spread of lung infection and reduced the disease severity even when treatment was delayed to up to 10 days postinfection but had little observable effect on upper respiratory tract infection. Adoptive transfer of virus-specific T cells at 10 days postinfection accelerated the clearance by 5 days, reduced the extent of infection throughout the respiratory tract, and reduced the disease severity. Overall, the results support investigation of the clinical treatment of respiratory virus infection in the HCT host with monoclonal antibodies and adoptive T-cell transfer; the imaging system should be extendable to other respiratory viruses, such as respiratory syncytial virus and influenza virus.IMPORTANCE Parainfluenza viruses are a major cause of disease and death due to respiratory virus infection in the immunocompromised host, including those undergoing bone marrow transplantation. There are currently no effective treatment measures. We noninvasively imaged mice that were undergoing a bone marrow transplant and infected with Sendai virus, a murine parainfluenza virus (respirovirus). For the first time, we show the therapeutic windows of adoptive T-cell therapy and treatment with a monoclonal antibody to the fusion (F) protein in clearing Sendai virus from the respiratory tract and reducing disease severity. Mice tolerated these treatments without any detectable toxicity. These findings pave the way for studies assessing the safety of T-cell therapy against parainfluenza virus in humans. Adoptive T-cell therapy against other blood-borne viruses in humans has been shown to be safe and effective. Our model of noninvasive imaging in mice that had undergone a bone marrow transplant may be well suited to track other respiratory virus infections and develop novel preventive and therapeutic strategies.
Why Do People Hurt Themselves? A New Conceptual Model of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury:

The motivation to avoid pain and injury is a fundamental instinct, crucial to the survival of individuals and species. Yet, each year, millions of people purposefully and directly injure themselves...
Extracurricular Activities and Disadvantaged Youth: A Complicated—But Promising—Story:

Increased political and research interest in extracurricular activities stems, in part, from the claim that these programs especially benefit disadvantaged youth. However, little literature has syn...
Catholic minds/bodies–souls: Catholic schools and eugenic inspired educational reforms in the United States, 1915–1952

Social efficiency shaped much of public schooling in the United States during the early twentieth century. Simultaneously, Roman Catholic schools proliferated and became increasingly regulated by s...
Environmentally friendly disposition decisions for end-of-life electrical and electronic products: The case of computer remanufacture

Abstract Increasing concerns about environmental sustainability strategies, take-back laws and natural resource limitation has highlighted the impact of disposing end-of-life (EOL) electrical and electronic products. To cope with this challenge, manufacturers have integrated reverse logistics into their supply chain or chosen to outsource product recovery activities to third parties. This research studies the remanufacturing processes of reusable products and parts, cost and demand of remanufactured products and parts to determine return quality thresholds during multiple production period. We present a general framework for a third party remanufacturer, where the remanufacturer has the alternative of supplying parts to external suppliers or bringing the disassembled parts to ‘as new’ conditions. The problem is formulated as a mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) problem, where with proposed discretization, the problem turns into a quadratic mixed integer programming (QMIP) problem. Finally, the impact of the quantity of returns, operational cost and upper bound disposal rate using a case numerical study of a personal computer (PC) remanufacturing facility has been studied.
Isotopic study of the reaction of methane with the lattice oxygen of a NiO/MgO solid solution

The reaction between methane and the lattice oxygen of a NiO/MgO (1/1.85) solid solution was investigated by an isotopic pulse-GCMS method. During a single-pulse reaction of CH4/CD4 (1/1) with the lattice oxygen, besides CH4, CD4, carbon monoxide and water, very small amounts of CHD3, CH2D2 and CH3D were detected in the exit gas. Because the isotopic kinetic effect (KH/KD) was 1.01, the dissociation of CH4 cannot constitute the rate-determining step. The rate-determining step is the reaction with the lattice oxygen, because of the high stability of the lattice oxygen in the NiO/MgO solid solutions.
“A New Spelling of My Name”: Becoming a (Black, Feminist, Immigrant) Autoethnographer Through Zami:

In this article, I provide the historical context for the reception of Audre Lorde’s biomythography Zami’s by Black women across the African diaspora as a backdrop for my own autoethnographic engag...
Water delivery systems

Abstract The urban cloud has been proposed for rerouting and treating in each house and building as the source of water supply for the modern urban system. Because electrostatic force has the tendency to tug the water down, thus, a tank creating static electricity has been proposed for installation at each building and house to capture the urban cloud and treat it in site by applying UV technology to meet the daily water demand for a modern urban system.
Like Autism, Representation Falls on a Spectrum.

We live in a representative democracy. We presumably have the franchise to elect who will represent our interests. Moreover, we live in a society with a range of organizations that advocate for cer...
Effects of continuing care on children patients with leukemia during maintenance treatment period

Objective To explore the method of continuing care for children patients with leukemia and to observe its effects to offer reference for continuing care research. Methods Totally 160 children patients with leukemia who received maintenance chemotherapy and deep vein indwelling catheterization between November 2016 and January 2018 in Children's Hospital, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, were selected by convenient sampling and divided into the observation group and the control group based on the admission time. A total of 80 children patients admitted between November 2016 and January 2017 were divided into the control group who received continuing care in the form of conventional discharge guidance and telephone follow-up, while the other 80 patients admitted from November 2017 to January 2018 were divided into the observation group who received the multielement, whole-course and high-quality continuing care as designed by the department. The awareness rate of health education knowledge, the incidence rate of deep vein catheter-associated complications and the satisfaction degree of continuing care service were compared between the two groups. Results The awareness rate of health education knowledge was 85.0% in the observation group, significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.01) , which was 61.3%; the incidence rate of deep vein catheter-associated complications was 6.25% in the observation group, lower than that of the control group (P<0.01) , which was 28.75%; and the satisfaction of the parents of the observation group with continuing care service was 97.50%, higher than that of the control group (P<0.01) , which was 83.75%. Conclusions Continuing care is of critical importance for treatment and rehabilitation of children patients with leukemia. The continuing care practice is effective and worth promoting in clinical practice. Key words: Leukemia; Children; Continuing care; Maintenance treatment period
The OsABCI7 Transporter Interacts with OsHCF222 to Stabilize the Thylakoid Membrane in Rice

The thylakoid membrane is a highly complex membrane system in plants and plays crucial roles in the biogenesis of the photosynthetic apparatus and plant development. However, the genetic factors involved in chloroplast development and its relationship with intracellular metabolites are largely unknown. Here, a rice (Oryza sativa) chlorotic and necrotic leaf1 (cnl1) mutant was identified and map-based cloning revealed that a single base substitution followed by a 6-bp deletion in the ATP-binding cassette transporter I family member7 (OsABCI7) resulted in chlorotic and necrotic leaves with thylakoid membrane degradation, chlorophyll breakdown, photosynthesis impairment, and cell death in cnl1. Furthermore, the expression of OsABCI7 was inducible under lower temperatures, which severely affected cnl1 chloroplast development, and etiolated cnl1 seedlings were unable to recover to a normal green state under light conditions. Functional complementation and overexpression showed that OsABCI7 could rescue the cnl1 chlorotic and necrotic phenotype. OsABCI7 interacted with HIGH CHLOROPHYLL FLUORESCENCE222 (OsHCF222) to regulate cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis for thylakoid membrane stability. OsABCI7 localized to thylakoid membranes, while OsHCF222 targeted to endoplasmic reticulum and chloroplasts. Exogenous application of ascorbic acid eased the yellowish leaf phenotype by increasing chlorophyll content and alleviating ROS stress in cnl1. Unlike cnl1, the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated OsHCF222 knockout lines showed chlorotic leaves but were seedling lethal. Our results provide insight into the functions of ABC transporters in rice, especially within the relationship between ROS homeostasis and stability of thylakoid membranes.
Public Reactions towards the COVID-19 Pandemic on Twitter in the United Kingdom and the United States

Abstract Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread globally since December 2019. Twitter is a popular social media platform with active discussions about the COVID-19 pandemic. The public reactions on Twitter about the COVID-19 pandemic in different countries have not been studied. This study aims to compare the public reactions towards the COVID-19 pandemic between the United Kingdom and the United States from March 6, 2020 to April 2, 2020. Data The numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom and the United States were obtained from the 1Point3Acres website. Twitter data were collected using COVID-19 related keywords from March 6, 2020 to April 2, 2020. Methods Temporal analyses were performed on COVID-19 related Twitter posts (tweets) during the study period to show daily trends and hourly trends. The sentiment scores of the tweets on COVID-19 were analyzed and associated with the policy announcements and the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Topic modeling was conducted to identify related topics discussed with COVID-19 in the United Kingdom and the United States. Results The number of daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom was significantly lower than that in the United States during our study period. There were 3,556,442 COVID-19 tweets in the United Kingdom and 16,280,065 tweets in the United States during the study period. The number of COVID-19 tweets per 10,000 Twitter users in the United Kingdom was lower than that in the United States. The sentiment scores of COVID-19 tweets in the United Kingdom were less negative than those in the United States. The topics discussed in COVID-19 tweets in the United Kingdom were mostly about the gratitude to government and health workers, while the topics in the United States were mostly about the global COVID-19 pandemic situation. Conclusion Our study showed correlations between the public reactions towards the COVID-19 pandemic on Twitter and the confirmed COVID-19 cases as well as the policies related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Prevalence and trends of chronic kidney disease and its risk factors among US adults: An analysis of NHANES 2003-18.

Abstract Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a leading cause of mortalities, morbidities, and health-care costs in the United States; however, limited number of recent studies estimated the burden of CKD and its risk factors together. This cross-sectional study estimated the age-adjusted prevalence and trends of CKD and its risk factors, and the prevalence and trends of CKD according to presence of risk factors. We analyzed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003–18 data. Individuals aged ≥20 years with albumin-creatinine ratio ≥30 mg/g or glomerular filtration rate The age-adjusted prevalence (95% confidence interval) for CKD was 14.1% (13.1%–15.0%), 13.0% (12.3%–13.8%), 14.0% (13.0%–15.1%), and 13.3% (12.3%–14.4%) in 2003–06, 2007–10, 2011–14, and 2015–18, respectively (p[trend] = 0.24, N = 39569). This prevalence change was also minimal for most CKD stages. Non-Hispanic blacks and low-income people had a higher prevalence than all other races/ethnicities and income groups in most periods. Among risk factors, the prevalence of diabetes, high triglyceride, high total cholesterol, low HDL, obesity, abdominal obesity, and metabolic syndrome increased (p[trend] The age-adjusted prevalence of CKD has plateaued; however, the prevalence of some risk factors is increasing. Reducing the burden of these risk factors is also essential to reduce the prevalence of CKD.
Neuronal tracing and analysis by multispectral tracing in densely labeled mouse brain

Accurate and complete neuronal wiring diagrams are necessary for understanding brain function at many scales from long-range interregional projections to microcircuits. Traditionally, light microscopy-based anatomical reconstructions use monochromatic labeling and therefore necessitate sparse labeling to eliminate tracing ambiguity between intermingled neurons. Consequently, our knowledge of neuronal morphology has largely been based on averaged estimations across many samples. Recently developed second-generation Brainbow tools promise to circumvent this limitation by revealing fine anatomical details of many unambiguously identifiable neurons in densely labeled samples. Yet, a means to quantify and analyze the information is currently lacking. Therefore, we developed nTracer, an ImageJ plug-in capable of rapidly and accurately reconstructing whole-cell morphology of large neuronal populations in densely labeled brains.
Nonlinear modeling and vibration mitigation of combined vortex-induced and base vibrations through energy harvesting absorbers

Abstract This study derives a nonlinear reduced-order model in order to evaluate the efficacy of an energy harvesting absorber at controlling base excitations, vortex-induced vibrations, and simultaneous base excitations and vortex-induced vibrations. Vibration absorbers are secondary systems that couple with a primary structure to dissipate the mechanical energy of vibrations. An energy harvesting absorber turns a portion of that dissipated energy into useful electrical energy which can be used to power small systems. The effects of various design parameters of the energy harvesting absorber on the behavior of the system is examined under different excitations. Next, an investigation of increasing the stiffness of the absorber is carried out with a goal of increasing the range in which meaningful energy can be harvested. Designs for the energy harvesting absorber are compared for their control of the system and their energy output when the system is subjected to concurrent base excitations and vortex-induced vibrations. Using an energy harvesting absorber tuned for vortex-induced vibrations provides the greatest reduction in amplitude and the most even power output over the range of wind speeds and base excitations.
Do Benzodiazepines Impair Motor and Nonmotor Symptoms in a Sample of Parkinson's Disease Patients?

Background Anxiety and sleep disturbances are prevalent in Parkinson's disease (PD). Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are commonly used to treat these symptoms; however, they are associated with unfavorable side effects such as falls and cognitive slowing in the general non-PD population. Examining the effects of BZDs in PD is imperative as these medications could pose an increased risk to PD patients who are already vulnerable to falls and cognitive deficits. Methods Eighty-four patients diagnosed with idiopathic PD, of which 60% were Hispanic, underwent clinical evaluations including the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and comprehensive neuropsychological testing examining global cognition, language, visuospatial skills, memory, executive function, mood, and sleep quality. Thirty-six patients taking BZDs (BZD+) were compared to forty-eight patients not using any BZDs (BZD-) employing appropriate statistical tests depending on the measures' characteristics. Results BZD+ PD patients performed below the BZD- group on short-term memory but not on delayed recall, and performed better on a measure of visuospatial judgment. The BZD+ group endorsed more symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as poorer sleep quality. No significant differences were noted on other measures of cognition or motor function. Conclusion PD patients taking BZDs may experience select changes in cognition and mood. These changes are isolated and mild, and suggest that for some patients, BZDs may be a viable pharmacologic intervention that does not alter cognitive and motor function compared to those not taking these medications.
Arteriovenous Access Type and Risk of Mortality, Hospitalization, and Sepsis Among Elderly Hemodialysis Patients: A Target Trial Emulation Approach.

Rationale & Objective Evidence is mixed regarding the optimal choice of the first permanent vascular access for elderly patients receiving hemodialysis (HD). Lacking data from randomized controlled trials, we used a target trial emulation approach to compare arteriovenous fistula (AVF) versus arteriovenous graft (AVG) creation among elderly patients receiving HD. Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting & Participants Elderly patients included in the US Renal Data System who initiated HD with a catheter and had an AVF or AVG created within 6 months of starting HD. Exposure Creation of an AVF versus an AVG as the incident arteriovenous access. Outcomes All-cause mortality, all-cause and cause-specific hospitalization, and sepsis. Analytical Approach Target trial emulation approach, high-dimensional propensity score and inverse probability of treatment weighting, and instrumental variable analysis using the proclivity of the operating physician to create a fistula as the instrumental variable. Results A total of 19,867 patients were included, with 80.1% receiving an AVF and 19.9% an AVG. In unweighted analysis, AVF creation was associated with significantly lower risks of mortality and hospitalization, especially within 6 months after vascular access creation. In inverse probability of treatment weighting analysis, AVF creation was associated with lower incidences of mortality and hospitalization within 6 months after creation (hazard ratios of 0.82 [95% CI, 0.75-0.91] and 0.82 [95% CI, 0.78-0.87] for mortality and all-cause hospitalization, respectively), but not between 6 months and 3 years after access creation. No association between AVF creation and mortality, sepsis, or all-cause, cardiovascular disease–related, or infection-related hospitalization was found in instrumental variable analyses. However, AVF creation was associated with a lower risk of access-related hospitalization not due to infection. Limitations Potential for unmeasured confounding, analyses limited to elderly patients, and absence of data on actual access use during follow-up. Conclusions Using observational data to emulate a target randomized controlled trial, the type of initial arteriovenous access created was not associated with the risks of mortality, sepsis, or all-cause, cardiovascular disease–related, or infection-related hospitalization among elderly patients who initiated HD with a catheter.
A validated analysis pipeline for mass spectrometry-based vitreous proteomics: new insights into proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

BACKGROUND Vitreous is an accessible, information-rich biofluid that has recently been studied as a source of retinal disease-related proteins and pathways. However, the number of samples required to confidently identify perturbed pathways remains unknown. In order to confidently identify these pathways, power analysis must be performed to determine the number of samples required, and sample preparation and analysis must be rigorously defined. METHODS Control (n = 27) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (n = 23) vitreous samples were treated as biologically distinct individuals or pooled together and aliquoted into technical replicates. Quantitative mass spectrometry with tandem mass tag labeling was used to identify proteins in individual or pooled control samples to determine technical and biological variability. To determine effect size and perform power analysis, control and proliferative diabetic retinopathy samples were analyzed across four 10-plexes. Pooled samples were used to normalize the data across plexes and generate a single data matrix for downstream analysis. RESULTS The total number of unique proteins identified was 1152 in experiment 1, 989 of which were measured in all samples. In experiment 2, 1191 proteins were identified, 727 of which were measured across all samples in all plexes. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD025986. Spearman correlations of protein abundance estimations revealed minimal technical (0.99-1.00) and biological (0.94-0.98) variability. Each plex contained two unique pooled samples: one for normalizing across each 10-plex, and one to internally validate the normalization algorithm. Spearman correlation of the validation pool following normalization was 0.86-0.90. Principal component analysis revealed stratification of samples by disease and not by plex. Subsequent differential expression and pathway analyses demonstrated significant activation of metabolic pathways and inhibition of neuroprotective pathways in proliferative diabetic retinopathy samples relative to controls. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates a feasible, rigorous, and scalable method that can be applied to future proteomic studies of vitreous and identifies previously unrecognized metabolic pathways that advance understanding of diabetic retinopathy.
Total and free testosterone during pregnancy

Total and free testosterone levels were measured throughout pregnancy and were compared with values found in nonpregnant women to determine whether the increase in plasma testosterone levels during pregnancy can be accounted for entirely by an increase in sex hormone-binding globulin or by an increase in testosterone production that would be reflected by an elevation in plasma free testosterone. The study employed a practical and precise method of determining free testosterone by means of equilibrium dialysis. Even though the testosterone level increased significantly throughout pregnancy, the free testosterone level remained within the range for nonpregnant women until week 28, after which time it was significantly elevated. This indicates that the increase in the total testosterone level before week 28 is due to a decrease in metabolic clearance rate, but after week 28 the production rate is increased. The source of this increase is unknown, but it might be fetal.
Flexural and Torsional Resonances of Ceramic Tiles via Impulse Excitation of Vibration

A practice was demonstrated that could independently determine, with high resolution, bulk E, G, and v of disk, square, hexagonal, and half-hexagonal ceramic tiles or plates. The method combines modal finite element analysis and the flexural and torsional resonance values (measured by impulse excitation of vibration) for a given geometry and material. The consideration of both resonances is important in this practice because v is able to be explicitly determined as a consequence and its value does not need to be assumed to determine E and G (as would occur when only one of their resonant frequency values is known).
Charcot Marie Tooth disease (CMT): historical perspectives and evolution

Prior to Charcot and Marie’s and Tooth’s reports, patients with peroneal muscular atrophy had been described by Virchow, Eulenburg, Friedreich, Osler, and others. In February 1886, Charcot and Marie published their original description of five patients who had what they called Progressive Muscular Atrophy. They surmised that the lesion could be in the spinal cord. Three months later, Tooth presented his M.D. degree thesis entitled “Peroneal Type of Progressive Muscular Atrophy”, to the University of Cambridge, UK. Tooth localized the pathology to the peripheral nerves. Dyck and Lambert (Arch Neurol 18:619–625, 1968) classified several CMT kinships based on differences in modes of inheritance, natural history, biochemical features, nerve conduction velocity, and pathologic characteristics. This article will focus on historical landmarks and major discoveries pertinent to the disease since its original description through the second half of the twentieth century.
Dye-loaded polymers on semiconductor electrodes

Abstract The effect of surface modification of an n-type semiconductor on the electrochemical behavior of a soluble ferrocene derivative is reported. The incorporation of an anionic dye (croconate violet) into poly(vinylpyridine)-coated polycrystalline SnO 2 electrodes produces significant alteration of the kinetics of electrooxidation of solution phase redox couples. A mechanism involving diffusion of the electroactive substrate and/or an electron through the dye-loaded polymer film is suggested.
Pituitary responses to LRH in the postpartum periods.

Abstract Pituitary responses to luteinizing-hormone-releasing-hormone (LRH) in the postpartum periods were studied. Following a subcutaneous injection of 100 μg of synthetic LRH to postpartum subjects, no statistically significant changes in the levels of LH and FSH could be demonstrated in five subjects on postpartum day 1 or 3 and in three subjects on postpartum day 8. A normal elevation of LH and FSH following LRH was demonstrated in one subject 36 days post partum. The findings are in agreement with previous studies demonstrating a persistence of pituitary suppression during the early postpartum period. No correlation could be drawn between the pituitary responses to LRH and the plasma levels of estradiol-17β and progesterone.
Coronary pressure-blood flow relations. The effect of norepinephrine.

Abstract Coronary pressure-blood flow relations were studied in anesthetized dogs by changing blood flow in the left main coronary artery and measuring coronary pressure before, during and after intracoronary norepinephrine infusion. Norepinephrine produced an increase in coronary vascular resistance in 10 of 28 experiments, usually in experimental preparations with a low initial coronary resistance. This increase in resistance occurred at different blood flow rates and was therefore not dependent on the rate of blood flow. Prior to norepinephrine infusion, coronary pressure-blood flow curves were curvilinear, convex to the pressure axis, showing a decrease in resistance with increasing blood flow except in those preparations with a low resistance in the control period. In these, resistance did not fall as flow increased from the low to the mid-flow range, but did fall as blood flow increased further.
Practical process in high frequency distribution transformer design

This paper details the practical, step-by-step experience encountered in the design and development of a 2 kHz, 3.5 kVA distribution transformer. Two conventional design methods were used respectively for the design: the Area Product approach, and the Core Geometry approach. The Area Product approach uses the product of the Core Window area and the Core sectional area as the principal design criteria, while the Core Geometry approach uses voltage regulation as the principal design criterion. When a common criterion was used for the design process, both approaches yielded an identical end result.