cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Third-party reimbursement

SOCIAL WORK The social work profession is pres ently struggling for recognition from indi viduals and groups key to its continued via bility and success as a clinical profession: that is, with state and federal agencies, private insurance carriers, and members of the Congress and state legislatures. Policies and programs related to health care for the American people have gradually given in creased attention to mental health. How ever, the decision-makers have not looked to social work as an equal partner in providing mental health care either in institutional
The Political Construction of a Natural Disaster: The Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1853

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the media and politicians constructed a story of racism in America. Americans watched day after day as New Orleans residents, mostly African Americans, suffered. From the left end of the political spectrum came arguments that the storm revealed entrenched institutional racism. From the right came the retort that such talk obscured the far more destructive individual behavior of a seg ment of the African American community. To conservatives the real racists have been those who have perpetuated dependence and a destructive sense of victimization in the black community.1 To the historian, none of this should be surprising, for the past is full of examples of the kind of political construction we have observed in the aftermath of Hurricane Ka trina. This essay examines one such example, the yellow fever epidemic that New Orleans experienced in 1853. Politicians and other local leaders, concerned about local political corruption and its negative effect on commercial development, constructed a narrative designed to mobilize support for antiparty reform and publicly funded internal improve ments.2 The story of the epidemic, as they told it, emphasized the failures of political par ties to unite citizens behind public projects that, they believed, served the interests of the entire community. They were contending with nativists, who blamed Irish and German immigrants for creating a public health crisis by practicing bad hygiene, and Democrats, who alleged that all reformers wanted to use the epidemic as justification for disfranchis ing immigrants. As has been true of reactions to Hurricane Katrina, politicians in the 1850s framed the disaster to advance their own long-standing agenda. Historians have done so as well.
Making the Connection: Spirituality, Trauma and Resiliency

Spirituality is increasingly identified as a significant component of resiliency. A model of individual resiliency from family based trauma is described. The characteristics from this model are explored for their compatibility with spiritual practices. Written from a practitioner's experiences, case examples from various practice settings are given to exemplify application of spiritual or religious practices to development of the resiliency traits. Implications for practice include increased understanding of the use of spirituality as a tool to enhance adaptability and coping.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer: upsetting the normalcy of the late-night talk show.

For the most part, the late-night talk/variety television genre has been analyzed as little more than a promotional device for producers of popular culture products. Using concepts of dialogic discourse borrowed from M.M. Bakhtin and of star discourse theorized by Jimmie Reeves, this paper explores the ideological complexity available in the content of late-night programming. The various inflections of Dr. Ruth Westheimer within the broadcast context of the late-night talk/variety genre provide the focus of this analysis.
Apical Functionalization of Chiral Heterohelicenes

We describe a synthetic protocol to selectively functionalize chiral bridged triarylamines at the apical position using regioselective copper-catalyzed amination reaction. This protocol allows the coupling of diphenylamines with a sterically hindered but electronically activated aryl–Br bond in the presence of a sterically unhindered but electronically unactivated aryl–Br bond. The unactivated aryl–Br bond was utilized further to synthesize a chiral heterohelicene homodimer using Stille coupling.
Abstract 268: Regulation and function of ERBB3 signaling pathway in clear cell sarcoma

Clear Cell Sarcoma (CCS), a soft tissue malignancy of tendons and aponeuroses in children and young adults, is notoriously resistant to radiation and chemotherapy, and new approaches to treatment are needed. We recently demonstrated the involvement of the MET receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) in regulation of the growth, migration, and invasion of CCS cells. However, pharmacologic agents targeting the HGF:MET axis could neither completely inhibit cell growth nor significantly induce apoptosis. To determine whether other RTKs might cooperate with MET in control of survival and proliferation of CCS cells, we used phospho-RTK arrays to assess the activation status of RTKs in three CCS cell lines (CCS292, DTC1, SU-CCS-1). We found that in addition to MET, ERBB3 was strongly activated in CCS. Western blot analysis confirmed constitutive activation of ERBB3 in CCS292 and DTC-1 cell lines and expression in all three lines. Since ERBB3 lacks intrinsic kinase activity, we searched for potential heterodimerization partners. Interestingly, we found that the activation of ERBB3 in different CCS cell lines relied on different partners: ERBB2 as a pivotal partner in CCS292, and MET as a pivotal partner in DTC-1. Moreover, we explored the possibility of a linkage between the CCS pathognomonic EWS-ATF1 fusion product and ERBB3 activation. We found that EWS-ATF1 knockdown resulted in both decreased expression of the ERBB3 ligand Neuregulin 1 and less ERBB3 phosphorylation in CCS292 cells, but had no effects on ERBB3 phosphorylation in DTC-1 cells. To explore the biological function of ERBB3, we applied siRNA or small molecule inhibitors of RTKs to CCS cell lines and determined the biological consequences by cell viability, cell cycle and apoptosis assays; these studies show that ERBB3 in conjunction with MET played an important regulatory role in the proliferation and survival of CCS cells. These data suggest that combined inhibition of the MET and EGFR signaling pathways may be a rationally designed strategy for treatment of patients with advanced CCS. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 268.
Completion Lymph Node Dissection Based on Risk of Nonsentinel Metastasis in Cutaneous Melanoma of the Head and Neck

ObjectiveTheoretically, completion lymph node dissection (CNLD) should have the lowest benefit in the absence of nonsentinel lymph node (NSLN) metastases. For this reason, substantial research efforts have attempted to define specific criteria that are associated with a low-enough risk of NSLN positivity so that CLND can be deferred. Our objectives were (1) to identify features associated with low risk of NSLN positivity in sentinel lymph node–positive cutaneous melanoma of the head and neck (CMHN) and (2) to analyze the effect of CLND on 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) among subgroups stratified by risk of NSLN metastasis.Study DesignRetrospective analysis of population-based data.SettingSEER database.Subjects and MethodsPatients with sentinel lymph node–positive CMHN were categorized according to lymph node treatment following sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB): 210 underwent CLND and 140 deferred. Clinicopathologic characteristics and survival were compared between SLNB+CLND and SLNB-only groups....
Cytotoxicity of bevacizumab is enhanced by β-glucan in tumors expressing membrane-bound VEGF

3060 Background: Bevacizumab (B-Mab) is a murine-derived monoclonal antibody with human IgG1 framework against vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Soluble PGG β -glucan functions with comple...
Equalized Plot Scales for Exploring Seismicity Data

Online Material: Alternate magnitude versus time plots and FORTRAN code. All earthquake catalogs share three features: the earthquakes cluster in space and time, the small earthquakes greatly outnumber the big ones, and many earthquakes that actually happened are missing. The first two features are natural, but the third, the incompleteness of the catalog, is not: which earthquakes are missed depends both on such natural features as attenuation and noise and on such man‐made ones as where data are collected and how they are converted to a list of earthquakes. For almost all catalogs, the complicated history of the data collection and analysis causes the catalog completeness to vary with time. Because the completeness affects all other analyses, any study of an earthquake catalog must first determine it, by finding an earthquake magnitude above which no earthquakes are thought to be missing. Many different methods have been proposed to determine this value (Mignan and Woessner, 2012). Some use the catalog itself, comparing the distribution of magnitudes with the Gutenberg–Richter distribution (for example see Wiemer and Wyss, 2000; Kagan, 2003; Woessner and Wiemer, 2005; Mignan et al. , 2011; Mignan, 2012; Michael, 2014) or examining the daily variation in seismicity caused by time‐varying noise (Rydelek and Sacks, 1989). Others use additional information, whether measurements of noise levels (Gomberg, 1991; Kvaerna et al. , 2002a,b) or the record of which earthquakes were detected at each station (Schorlemmer and Woessner, 2008; Nanjo et al. , 2010). All these methods implicitly assume a constant completeness magnitude over whatever time period is analyzed—an assumption that must itself be checked before estimating this magnitude. Some statistical methods (Albarello et al. , 2001; Hakimhashemi and Grunthal, 2012) seek to estimate time‐varying completeness, but such an initial step should probably be regarded as …
L2 Learners Find the South Bronx: Hip-Hop, Globalization, and Identity Construction

In Pennycook's, Global Englishes, Rip Slyme, and Permativity, he argues for a critical stance on the globalization process, looking beyond the notion that standard forms of English are only tied to certain "limiting domains." English is actually transforming its identity through the globalization process, constructing languages in various ways within local communities. However, the varieties of English that are being transplanted through globalization are not acting simply as hegemonic languages, or seamlessly entering into a culture's Identity. Local identities are being transformed, raising questions regarding community and language influence. An exploration of the globalization process in relation to language needs to take place in order to discover English's affect on individual's identity, specifically second language learners. How are globalized Englishes influencing second language learners and what are the implications? My paper explores this question by examining Hip-hop culture as a vehicle for the English language, focusing on Hip-Hop pedagogy and its relation to second language acquisition. Hip-hop has helped give rise to the notion of glocalization: engaging the intersections of global and local dynamics that reframe cultural forms through local appropriations of a globally acceptable cultural model which then transform into a new social context. This new social context engages language-learning contexts, generating new languages that are outside of the local community. By reviewing Pennycook's notion of Performativity and Ibrahhim's argument on Hip-Hop as a platform for "positive identity formation," my manuscript explores the relationship L2 learners have with Hip-Hop within a local community and its pedagogical implications.
Limiting the risk of injury through safety guidelines in a physical education setting

Physical activity involves risk and thus the physical education classroom requires safety standards to be established and maintained to ensure safety. The number of physical education related injuries in elementary, middle school, and high school increased 150% from 1997 to 2007 and they have continued to rise in the last decade as well. The classroom teacher must employ the highest level of organization and management in order to limit their risk. Working together with administration to establish policy and review safety standards ensures that multiple entities are involved in ensuring safety. Having safety guidelines within a physical education setting could potentially help protect the students from unnecessary injuries and may prevent the school district from legal action in the case of an injury.
Progammable CMS for computer architecture and assembly language

A Programmable Course Management System (PCMS) was developed with Object-Oriented Programming Language (OOPL) as a teaching method to introduce students to solid programmable learning units and promote independent study in Computer Architecture and Assembly Language (CAAL). PCMS enables instructors to computerize learning topics into programmable units of OOP objects/classes or Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) and present the topics as electronically operational processes, or knowledge-based questions. Based on the specified programmable OOP units, PCMS allows instructors or students to develop their own specific assembly language (AL) as a set of new OOP units to support them in writing, compiling, executing, and debugging their AL programs.
Numerical Methods of Statistics: Algorithms and Computers

Introduction Discussing algorithms before computers emphasizes the point that algorithms are valuable mathematical constructs in themselves and exist even in the absence of computers. An algorithm is a list of instructions for the completion of a task. The best examples of algorithms in everyday life are cooking recipes, which specify how a list of ingredients are to be manipulated to produce a desired result. For example, consider the somewhat trivial recipe for cooking a three-minute egg. The recipe (or algorithm) for such a task exemplifies the need to take nothing for granted in the list of instructions. Algorithm Three-Minute Egg Put water in a pan. Turn on the heat. When the water boils, flip over the egg timer. When the timer has run out, turn off the heat. Pour some cold water in the pan to cool the water. Remove egg. Although this algorithm may appear trivial to most readers, detailed examination further emphasizes (or belabors) how clear and unambiguous an algorithm must be. First, the receiver of these instructions, call it the actor, must recognize all of the jargon of food preparation: water, pan, egg, egg timer, boil, and so forth. The actor must recognize constructions: “put ____ in ____”; “when ____, do ____.” Some parts of these instructions are unnecessary: “to cool the water.” If the actor is an adult who understands English, this may be a fine algorithm. To continue to belabor the point, the actor can only do what the instructions say.
The Emotional Constructs of Trust: A Practical Approach

This article seeks to add to the existing body of knowledge about trust; but more specifically, it attempts to increase a leader’s self-awareness by examining a seldom considered aspect of trust – the emotional construct. We assert that it is the emotional aspects of trust that are the most difficult to build; but it is also the emotional aspects of trust that have the greatest impact on mission, organization, and leader-follower relationships. To make our case, we will define trust, consider the link between truth and trust, delve more deeply into the emotional constructs of trust, and finally offer leaders some practical actions for trust-building and trust maintenance with followers.
Demystifying governance and its role for transitions in urban social-ecological systems

Governance is key to sustainable urban transitions. Governance is a system of social, power, and decision-making processes that acts as a key driver of resource allocation and use, yet ecologists—even urban ecologists–seldom consider governance concepts in their work. Transitions to more sustainable futures are becoming increasingly important to the management of many ecosystems and landscapes, and particularly so for urban systems. We briefly identify and synthesize important governance dimensions of urban sustainability transitions, using illustrations from cities in which long-term social–ecological governance research is underway. This article concludes with a call to ecologists who are interested in environmental stewardship, and to urban ecologists in particular, to consider the role of governance as a driver in the dynamics of the systems they study.
The Audio-Tutorial System--Successes and Failures:

One of the earliest and most noteworthy applications of media to improve instruction, Postlethwait's system has been imitated across the country in all sorts of settings and with greatly varying degrees of success. This article, therefore, considers the problems of replication.
Vitamin D3 supplementation in obese, African-American, vitamin D deficient adolescents

Abstract Objectives Obese, African-American (AA) adolescents are at increased risk for vitamin D deficiency. The primary objective of this pilot study was to examine the effect of vitamin D supplementation upon 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD) levels in obese, AA adolescents. Methods A randomized, double-blinded, controlled pilot study included 26 obese (BMI ≥ 95%ile), vitamin D deficient (25OHD Results Of 39 subjects enrolled, 26 (67%) were vitamin D deficient (mean 25OHD 12.0 ± 3.8 ng/mL) at baseline and were randomized, with 22 completing the study. Sex, age, season, pubertal stage, BMI, insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and 25OHD were similar at baseline between the 1000 IU and 5000 IU groups. Post-treatment, 25OHD increased less in the 1000 IU group (5.6 ng/mL, p = 0.03) vs. the 5000 IU group (15.6 ng/mL, p = 0.002). 83% of the 5000 IU group and 30% of the 1000 IU group reached post-treatment 25OHD ≥ 20 ng/mL (p = 0.01); 50% of the 5000 IU group, but no subject from the 1000 IU group, achieved 25OHD ≥ 30 ng/mL (p = 0.009). We detected no group differences in mineral metabolites or cardiometabolic risk markers following supplementation. Conclusions Cholecalciferol dosing in excess of the current Institute of Medicine dietary reference intakes was required to achieve 25OHD levels ≥20 ng/mL in obese, AA adolescents. Supplementation of 5000 IU may be required to achieve the desired goal.
The Role of Lex Specialis in the Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations

The International Law Commission’s (ILC) recent endeavor to progressively develop principles of responsibility applicable to international organizations (IOs) reignited an old debate: do IOs share a common set of core attributes? Or are they fundamentally sui generis, given their great variations in mandate, size, and power vis a vis member states? The comments submitted by IOs to the ILC demonstrate that there is very little consensus on the genus of IO, and consequently on the application of general rules to these increasingly important and pervasive bodies. Indeed, most IOs took the position that the founding premise of the international legal framework applicable to IOs should be speciality not generality.
Comparative biogeography: innovations and the rise to dominance of the North Pacific biota

The North Pacific is the largest cold-water source of lineages spreading to other modern marine temperate biotas. How this status was achieved remains unclear. One hypothesis is that functional inn...
Understanding the role of macrophages in lung inflammation through mathematical modeling

Abstract Respiratory infections, such as the novel coronavirus (SARS-COV-2), and other lung injuries infect and damage the pulmonary epithelium. In the most severe cases this leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Due to respiratory failure associated with ARDS, the clinical intervention is the use of mechanical ventilation. Despite the benefits of mechanical ventilators, pro-longed or misuse of these ventilators may lead to ventilation-induced lung injury (VILI). Damage caused to epithelial cells within the alveoli can lead to various types of complications and increased mortality rates. A key component of the immune response is recruitment of macrophages, immune cells that differentiate into phenotypes with unique pro- and/or anti-inflammatory roles based on the surrounding environment. An imbalance in pro- and anti-inflammatory responses can have deleterious effects on the individual’s health. To gain a greater understanding of the mechanisms of the immune response to VILI and post-ventilation outcomes, we develop a mathematical model of interactions between the immune system and site of damage while accounting for macrophage polarization. Through Latin Hypercube Sampling and available data, we generate a virtual cohort of patients with biologically feasible dynamics. We use a variety of methods to analyze the results, including a random forest decision tree algorithm and parameter sensitivity with eFAST. Analysis shows that parameters and properties of transients related to epithelial repair and M1 activation and de-activation best predicted outcome. Using this new information, we hypothesize interventions and use these treatment strategies to modulate damage in select virtual patients.
Religion and the aging process: The frontier of the church's ministry has shifted to older rather than younger people

This paper attempts to set forth what the author regards as the two closely inter-related basic principles. These have to do with a dialectical (as against a merely discrete) point of view on the place of “expansion” and “contraction” in human fulfillment, and toward a dialectical “theology of aging” which transcends both the sour and the sweet views of aging. Both these last, in fact, are suggested to be similar under the skin, and to be equally inadequate for essentially the same reasons.
Trailing limb angle is a surrogate for propulsive limb forces during walking post-stroke.

Abstract Background Propulsive deficits following stroke have been attributed to reduced plantarflexion moments and a reduced trailing limb angle. We sought to determine the validity of the trailing limb angle as a surrogate measure of the anterior ground reaction force, as well as to determine the anatomical landmarks for the trailing limb angle that best approximate the orientation of the ground reaction force. Methods Forty-four participants with chronic stroke walked on a treadmill. At peak propulsion, we computed the trailing limb angle, the anterior orientation of the ground reaction force (the gold standard), and the hip extension angle for correlational analyses. Further, we compared the absolute error of the various trailing limb angle computations to determine which landmarks provided the most accurate representation of the anterior angle of the ground reaction force. Findings For the paretic and non-paretic limbs, the anterior angle of the ground reaction force was related to all measures of trailing limb angle as well as the peak propulsive force. The hip extension angle, however, was not related to the angle of the ground reaction force. Only the choice of distal landmarks significantly influenced the error between trailing limb angle and the anterior angle of the ground reaction force. Interpretation These data suggest that measuring the sagittal plane orientation of the entire limb serves as a suitable surrogate for measuring the anterior angle of the ground reaction force. Although greater errors were observed with kinematic measures of orientation, the magnitude of the error is likely within acceptable ranges.
Experiences Flipping Academic Reading and Writing

In the first three chapters, we laid the foundation for implementing the basic principles of flipped learning. In this chapter, we focus more specifically on our experiences teaching academic reading and writing. We begin with a brief description of the skills that are typically covered in the academic reading and writing course that one of the authors (Ilka) teaches and oversees. Drawing from the theories presented in Chaps. 1– 3, we then illustrate how three topics were traditionally taught and how they have been flipped. As the chapter demonstrates, flipped learning can allow more time for students to learn less cognitively demanding skills at home (e.g., definition, comprehension) and more time in class for Bloom’s higher-order thinking skills (e.g., analysis, synthesis, evaluation).
Re: Signs and Symptoms That Rule Out Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Outpatient Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

To the Editor: Dr. Marchello et al[1][1] make an important contribution to clinical medicine and patient care by creating evidence for how to combine key clinical findings to confidently position the possibility of pneumonia in adults further down in the differential diagnosis in patients with acute
How Should U.S. Hospitals Prepare for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)?

Estimates suggest that COVID-19 will stress bed capacity, equipment, and health care personnel in U.S. hospitals in ways not previously experienced. How can health systems prepare to care for a lar...
Bayesian Probabilistic Analysis of DEER Spectroscopy Data Using Parametric Distance Distribution Models

Double electron-electron resonance (DEER) spectroscopy measures distance distributions between spin labels in proteins, yielding important structural and energetic information about conformational landscapes. Analysis of an experimental DEER signal in terms of a distance distribution is a nontrivial task due to the ill-posed nature of the underlying mathematical inversion problem. This work introduces a Bayesian probabilistic inference approach to analyze DEER data, using a multi-Gauss mixture model for the distance distribution. The method uses Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling to determine a posterior probability distribution over model parameter space. This distribution contains all the information available from the data, including a full quantification of the uncertainty about the parameters. The corresponding uncertainty about the distance distribution is captured via an ensemble of posterior predictive distributions. Several synthetic examples illustrate the method. An experimental example shows the importance of model checking and comparison using residual analysis and Bayes factors. Overall, the Bayesian approach allows for more robust inference about protein conformations from DEER spectroscopy.
Ceramic raw materials: how to establish the technological suitability of a raw material

The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of raw materials in the production of ceramic artefacts. A brief but in-depth explanation is provided to emphasise the connections between raw materials and ceramic products. A step by step approach is developed with the aim of illustrating the different ceramic raw materials and their features and describing the effects of each component on the characteristics of the end products with particular attention to their function and use. When a potter makes an object in fact, this was already conceived thinking for a specific purpose.
Expanding the Role of Preambles to Support User-defined Functionality in MIMO-based WLANs

As the Wi-Fi technology goes through its sixth generation (Wi-Fi 6), there is a growing consensus on the need to support security and coordination functions at the Physical (PHY) layer, beyond traditional functions such as frame detection and rate adaptation. In contrast to the costly approach of extending the PHY-layer header to support new functions (e.g., Target Wake Time field in 802.11ax), we propose to turn a specific part of the frame preamble into a data field while maintaining its primary functions. Specifically, in this paper, we develop a scheme called extensible preamble modulation (ePMod) for the MIMO-based 802.11ac protocol. For each frame, eP-Mod can embed up to 20 bits into the 802.11ac preamble under 1 × 2 or 2 × 1 MIMO transmission modes to support the operations of a given PHY-layer function. The proposed scheme enables several promising PHY-layer services, such as PHY-layer encryption and channel/device authentication, PHYlayer signaling, etc. At the same time, it allows legacy (eP-Modunaware) devices to continue to process the received preamble as normal by guaranteeing that our proposed preamble waveforms satisfy the structural properties of a standardized preamble. Through numerical analysis, extensive simulations, and hardware experiments, we validate the practicality and reliability of ePMod.
Multiple signals predict male mating success in the lek-mating lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus)

Sexual selection theory maintains that traits under selection honestly advertise qualities of signaling individuals and that only individuals in the best condition can survive while displaying maximally elaborated secondary sexual ornaments. Recent trends in mate choice studies have favored the consideration of the effects of multiple traits on mating success, including suites of traits transmitted in different sensory modalities. Sexual selection is expected to be especially strong in lek-mating species. The lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) is a grouse species which breeds on leks. Males of this species perform audio and locomotor displays and exhibit two pairs of brightly colored ornaments. We performed an observational study of mate choice in spring 2016–2018 and noted 40 copulations on seven leks. We quantified behavioral, territorial, and morphological characteristics of males along with ornament color properties. We found that variables from all categories considered predicted female choice. Age had the strongest effect, with adult males experiencing higher female choice relative to yearlings. Allocation of aggressive behavior and comb color properties were also strongly correlated with female choice. Our results show that modulating behavior depending on whether females are present contributes to male mating success and highlight the importance of the size and color properties of secondary ornaments. Further research is required to determine how the variables most strongly associated with mate choice relate to one another and which aspects of individual quality, if any, are signaled by color ornaments. Future studies could also incorporate variables related to females to determine if selection on females occurs. The choice of a mate can help determine the survival and reproductive success of offspring. In species where males do not care for offspring, mate choice can be highly consistent among females, and mate choice decisions are often based on the evaluation of multiple traits such as vocalizations, behavior, and morphological trait size. Based on measurements of captured males and observations of breeding behavior, we demonstrate that mate choice in lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) correlates with male behavior, morphology, skin patch color, and territorial characteristics. Our findings represent a rare demonstration of mating success being influenced by how male behavior (including aggression) changes when females are present or absent. Our results show how multiple traits can transmit information about individual quality and support theoretical links between mate choice and increased male age or male-male competition.
The Role of the Social Vulnerability Index in Personal Protective Equipment Shortages, Number of Cases, and Associated Mortality During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Michigan Skilled Nursing Facilities

The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) is used to stratify community need for support during disasters. We evaluated relationships between the SVI and personal protective equipment shortages, COVID-19 caseload, and mortality rates in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). In SVI quartile 4, personal protective equipment shortages were 2.3 times those in SNFs in quartile 1; COVID-19 case loads were 1.6 times those of SNFs in quartile 1; and mortality rates in were 1.9 times those of SNFs in SVI quartile 1.
EUKARYOTIC SNARE VAMP3 DYNAMICALLY INTERACTS WITH MULTIPLE CHLAMYDIAL INCLUSION MEMBRANE PROTEINS

Chlamydia trachomatis, an obligate intracellular pathogen, undergoes a biphasic developmental cycle within a membrane-bound vacuole called the chlamydial inclusion. To facilitate interactions with the host cell, Chlamydia modifies the inclusion membrane with type III secreted proteins, called Incs. As with all chlamydial proteins, Incs are temporally expressed, modifying the chlamydial inclusion during the early- and mid-developmental cycle. VAMP3 and VAMP4 are eukaryotic SNARE proteins that mediate membrane fusion and are recruited to the inclusion to facilitate inclusion expansion. Their recruitment requires de novo chlamydial protein synthesis during the mid-developmental cycle. Thus, we hypothesize that VAMPs 3 and 4 are recruited by Incs. In chlamydial infected cells, identifying Inc binding partners for SNARE proteins specifically has been elusive. To date, most studies examining chlamydial Inc-eukaryotic proteins have benefitted from stable interacting partners or a robust interaction at a specific time point post-infection. While these types of interactions are the predominant class that have been identified, they are likely the 'exception' to chlamydial-host interactions. Therefore, we applied two separate but complementary experimental systems to identify candidate chlamydial Inc binding partners for VAMPs. Based on these results, we created transformed strains of C. trachomatis serovar L2 to inducibly express a candidate Inc-FLAG protein. In chlamydial infected cells, we found that five Incs temporally and transiently interact with VAMP3. Further, loss of incA or ct813 expression altered VAMP3 localization to the inclusion. For the first time, our studies demonstrate the transient nature of certain host protein-Inc interactions that contribute to the chlamydial developmental cycle.
Carrier density oscillation in the photoexcited semiconductor

The perturbation of a semiconductor from the thermodynamic equilibrium often leads to the display of nonlinear dynamics and formation of spatiotemporal patterns due to the spontaneous generation of competing processes. Here, we describe the ultrafast imaging of nonlinear carrier transport in silicon, excited by an intense femtosecond laser pulse. We use scanning ultrafast electron microscopy (SUEM) to show that, at a sufficiently high excitation fluence, the transport of photoexcited carriers slows down by turning into an oscillatory process. We attribute this nonlinear response to the electric field, generated by the spatial separation of these carriers under intrinsic and photo-induced fields; we then provide an advection-diffusion model that mimics the experimental observation. Our finding provides a direct imaging evidence for the electrostatic oscillation of hot carriers in highly excited semiconductors and offers new insights into their spatiotemporal evolution as the equilibrium is recovered.
Accounting for 16S rRNA copy number prediction uncertainty and its implications in microbial diversity analyses

Background: 16S rRNA gene has been widely used in microbial diversity studies to determine the community composition and structure. 16S rRNA gene copy number (16S GCN) varies among microbial species and this variation introduces biases to the relative cell abundance estimated using 16S rRNA read counts. To correct the biases, methods (e.g., PICRUST2) have been developed to predict 16S GCN. 16S GCN predictions come with inherent uncertainty, which is often ignored in the downstream analyses. However, a recent study suggests that the uncertainty can be so great that copy number correction is not justified in practice. Despite the significant implications in 16S rRNA based microbial diversity studies, the uncertainty associated with 16S GCN predictions has not been well characterized and its impact on microbial diversity studies needs to be investigated. Results: Here we develop RasperGade16S, a novel method and software to better model and capture the inherent uncertainty in 16S rRNA GCN prediction. RasperGade16S implements a maximum likelihood framework of pulsed evolution model and explicitly accounts for intraspecific GCN variation and heterogeneous GCN evolution rates among species. Using cross validation, we show that our method provides robust confidence estimates for the GCN predictions and outperforms PICRUST2 in both precision and recall. We have predicted GCN for 592605 OTUs in the SILVA database and tested 113842 bacterial communities that represent an exhaustive and diverse list of engineered and natural environments. We found that the prediction uncertainty is small enough for 99% of the communities that 16S GCN correction should improve their compositional and functional profiles estimated using 16S rRNA reads. On the other hand, we found that GCN variation has limited impacts on beta-diversity analyses such as PCoA, PERMANOVA and random forest test. Conclusion: We have developed a method to accurately account for uncertainty in 16S rRNA GCN predictions and the downstream analyses. For almost all 16S rRNA surveyed bacterial communities, correction of 16S GCN should improve the results when estimating their compositional and functional profiles. However, such correction is not necessary for beta-diversity analyses.
Regulation TL;DR: Adversarial Text Summarization of Federal Register Articles

Short on time with a reduced attention span, people disengage from reading long text with a "too long, didn't read" justification. While a useful heuristic of managing reading resources, we believe that "tl;dr" is prone to adversarial manipulation. In a seemingly noble effort to produce a bite-sized segments of information fitting social media posts, an adversity could reduce a long text to a short but polarizing summary. In this paper we demonstrate an adversarial text summarization that reduces Federal Register long texts to summaries with obvious liberal or conservative leanings. Contextualizing summaries to a political agenda is hardly new, but a barrage of polarizing "tl;dr" social media posts could derail the public debate about important public policy matters with an unprecedented lack of effort. We show and elaborate on such example "tl;dr" posts to showcase a new and relatively unexplored avenue for information operations on social media.
13C Nuclear Relaxation in the Normal State of the K3C60 Superconductor

13C NMR results on K3C60 showing that nuclear relaxation is nonexponential below 250 K. The nonexponential nuclear relaxation at low temperatures is an intrinsic property of the frozen molecular motion state and is associated with intramolecular variations of the electron spin density distribution. Dipolar coupling to the electron spins at the Fermi level of the carbon pn- tlu band is identified as the dominant source of 13C relaxation. The measured mean value of (T1T)−1 is determined not only by the total density-of-states at the Fermi level but also by the intramolecular electron spin density distribution.
Experiences with subjective/objective correlation

Practical knowledge acquired during a decade of devising methods for the correlation of sensory evaluation for flavor with gas-liquid chromatographic analysis of food volatiles is described. The evolution of methods, precautions that should be taken with each method, limitations of the methods, and minimizing of experimental error on the sensory and objective sides are discussed.
Nevi of the Conjunctiva

The conjunctiva is frequently involved by congenital and acquired benign melanocytic proliferations. The entities we discuss herein are: congenital, racial and acquired epithelial pigmentations, ocular-dermal melanocytoses and melanocytic nevi.
Characterization of shrubland ecosystem components as continuous fields in the northwest United States

Abstract Accurate and consistent estimates of shrubland ecosystem components are crucial to a better understanding of ecosystem conditions in arid and semiarid lands. An innovative approach was developed by integrating multiple sources of information to quantify shrubland components as continuous field products within the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). The approach consists of several procedures including field sample collections, high-resolution mapping of shrubland components using WorldView-2 imagery and regression tree models, Landsat 8 radiometric balancing and phenological mosaicking, medium resolution estimates of shrubland components following different climate zones using Landsat 8 phenological mosaics and regression tree models, and product validation. Fractional covers of nine shrubland components were estimated: annual herbaceous, bare ground, big sagebrush, herbaceous, litter, sagebrush, shrub, sagebrush height, and shrub height. Our study area included the footprint of six Landsat 8 scenes in the northwestern United States. Results show that most components have relatively significant correlations with validation data, have small normalized root mean square errors, and correspond well with expected ecological gradients. While some uncertainties remain with height estimates, the model formulated in this study provides a cross-validated, unbiased, and cost effective approach to quantify shrubland components at a regional scale and advances knowledge of horizontal and vertical variability of these components.
Stimuli-Responsive Self-Organized Liquid Crystalline Nanostructures: From 1D to 3D Photonic Crystals

Bottom-up fabrication of photonic nanostructures from self-organizing soft materials with tailored optical properties is currently a burgeoning area of research. The liquid crystals capable of forming self-organized, tunable one-dimensional (1D) or three-dimensional (3D) photonic nanostructures represent such an elegant system because of their unique ability to control the propagation of light by various external stimuli. This chapter is confined to survey the recent progress in the stimuli-responsive self-organized liquid crystalline nanostructures for 1D and 3D photonic applications. For the 1D self-organized liquid crystalline photonic crystals, i.e. cholesteric liquid crystals, they show Bragg reflection of circularly polarized light. Their tunable properties under different stimuli, such as heat, light, electric field, and chemical environment, are mainly introduced. For the 3D self-organized liquid crystalline photonic crystals, we focus on their tunable cubic nanostructures derived from blue phase liquid crystals and tunable spherically symmetric nanostructures based on liquid crystal microdroplets.
Model Reference Robust Control of A Class of SISO Systems

In this paper, a new control design technique, model reference robust control, is introduced for a class of SISO systems which contain unknown parameters, possible nonlinearities, and additive bounded disturbances. The proposed design methodology is a natural but nontrivial extension of model reference adaptive control. Such an extension is not only essential to achieve robust stability and performance for linear time-invariant systems but also presents a further step toward achieving robust stability for time-varying or even nonlinear systems. The designed model reference robust control requires only input and output measurements of the system, compared with the full state feedback and structural conditions on uncertainties required by existing robust control results.
Abstract T P311: Prospective Assessment of Medical Decision-Making Capacity in Stroke Patients using a Rapid Standardized Questionnaire: Can My Patient Consent for Treatment or Clinical Trial?

Background and Objective: Stroke deficits frequently alter patient medical decision-making capacity ( MDC ) resulting in lost trial recruitment and reducing validity of qualitative outcome measures. Since no standardized tool exists for MDC evaluation in stroke, we tested a validated standardized questionnaire used for medical patients, the Aid to Capacity Evaluation ( ACE ), vs. independent clinician assessment in mild-to-moderate severity stroke patients. We hypothesized that the ACE would show similar agreement with clinicians and therefore be appropriate for rapid bedside screening for MDC. Methods: Ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke patients underwent 3 independent capacity assessments by a medical student (ACE), psychiatrist ( PS ) and neuropsychologist ( NP ). Inter-rater reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation ( ICC ) and Cohen’s kappa. Assuming the clinician as the gold-standard, we tested sensitivity and specificity vs. ACE. Results: All planned 30 patients (90% ischemic; mean age 67.8; 60% male; median NIHSS = 6) were prospectively enrolled between 7/13- 8/13. The median time from stroke onset to first capacity assessment was 3.3 days. 11 (37%) had aphasia and/or neglect and 38% had left hemispheric stroke (see table). ACE agreed with PS and NP in 59% (kappa 0.293; 95% CI 0.08-0.51) and 76% (kappa 0.494; 95% CI 0.19-0.80) of cases, respectively. Despite low sensitivity and NPV, specificity and PPV of ACE vs. clinicians ranged 88-100%; only classifying 1 patient capable when clinicians scored incapable. ICC among all raters was 0.474 (95% CI 0.25-0.68). Conclusions: There was fair overall agreement between a standardized questionnaire and expert clinicians. The ACE was highly specific in identifying mild-to-moderate severity stroke patients who lacked MDC. The ACE might be a useful screening tool to determine lack of capacity in stroke patients, but low sensitivity for identifying presence of capacity warrants caution and further study. ![][1] [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
Connections and Higher-Order Logic

Theorem proving is difficult and deals with complex phenomena. The difficulties seem to be compounded when one works with higher-order logic, but the rich expressive power of Church's formulation [10] [3] of this language makes research on theorem proving in this realm very worthwhile. In order to make significant progress on this problem, we need to try many approaches and ideas, and explore many questions. A highly relevant question is "What makes a logical formula valid?".
DNA Nanotubes: Construction and Characterization of Filaments Composed of TX-tile Lattice

DNA-based nanotechnology is currently being developed for use in biomolecular computation, fabrication of 2D tile lattices, and engineering of 3D periodic matter. Here we present recent results on the construction and characterization of DNA nanotubes - a new self-assembling superstructure composed of DNA tiles. Triple-crossover (TAO) tiles modified with thiol-containing dsDNA stems projected out of the tile plane were utilized as the basic building block. TAO nanotubes display a constant diameter of approximately 25 nm and have been observed with lengths up to 20 microns. We present high resolution images of the constructs from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) as well as preliminary data on successful metallization of the nanotubes. DNA nanotubes represent a potentialb reakthrough in the self-assembly of nanometer scale circuits for electronics layout since they can be targeted to connect at specific locations on largerscale structures and can subsequently be metallized to form nanometer scale wires. The dimensions of these nanotubes are also perfectly suited for applications involving interconnection of molecular scale devices with macroscale components fabricated by conventional photolithographic methods.