cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Breastfeeding as obesity prevention in the United States: A sibling difference model

In light of the growing prevalence of obesity in the United States, and the health risks associated with childhood obesity in particular, it is critical to identify avenues for obesity prevention. This study tests the hypothesis that breastfeeding serves as one protective factor against children's subsequent development of obesity. We used linear-, logistic-, and sibling fixed-effects regression models to evaluate the association between infant feeding history and body mass index (BMI) in late childhood or adolescence (9-19 years, mean = 14 years). Complete data were available for 976 participants (488 sibling pairs) in the 2002 Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a nationally representative survey of families in the United States. In sibling pairs in which only one sibling was breastfed, the breastfed sibling had an adolescent BMI that was 0.39 standard deviations lower than his or her sibling, controlling for child-specific factors that may have influenced parents' feeding decisions. This effect is equivalent to a difference of more than 13 pounds for a 14-year-old child of average height. Furthermore, fixed-effects logistic regressions predicting overweight and obese status showed that breastfed siblings were less likely to reach those BMI thresholds. We therefore conclude that breastfeeding in infancy may be an important protective factor against the development of obesity in the United States. The application of a sibling fixed-effects model provides stronger evidence of a causal relationship than prior research reporting similar patterns of association.
Round-off error propagation in Durbin's, Levinson's, and Trench's algorithms

The subject matter of this paper concerns the round-off error propagation in order n2algorithms for solving problems involving Toeplitz matrices. Since linear predictive techniques owe much of their appeal to the computational efficiency of Durbin's, Levinson's, and Trench's algorithms, it is important to understand the accuracy of these methods. In what appears to be the first analysis of its kind, we derive bounds on the errors due to round-off and discuss their merits and tightness. In particular, it is shown that these errors enjoy certain stability properties and do not grow as quickly as may be feared. Simulations are presented to illustrate the results.
The Religious Feelings of the American People, 1845-1935: A British View

British travelers have swarmed along American shores in vast numbers ever since the early years of the new republic. During the nineteenth century they erected a model of the United States, resembling Tocqueville's, with which they nearly always came to understand America. It was built around two generalizations. First, Americans believe in the principle of equality, or more precisely, the belief that all men deserve equal opportunities to rise, no matter what their inherited rank in society. And, second, Americans make an heroic effort to incorporate this principle into the daily institutional fabric of their national life—into the public schools, into family relationships in the homes, into a political life which revolves around the universal ballot, into their adoring attitude towards women and children, into their respectful treatment of “help,” and into the fluid class structure itself.
To screen or to vaccinate? A decision analysis for rubella prevention on campus.

Abstract Rubella is common among young adults. The most important consequences of rubella are fetal anomalies resulting from maternal rubella infection in early pregnancy. Health officials strongly advocate a mandatory rubella immunization policy for college students, leaving school officials the dilemma of deciding how to implement it. To effectively prevent a rubella outbreak, a herd immunity of ≥ 95% is needed. This can be accomplished either by: 1) screening all students who do not provide a valid rubella immunization certificate and giving the vaccine to those with negative titers, or 2) vaccinating all of them without prior testing. At the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), we have shifted our approach of rubella prevention from “screening first” to “vaccinating without prior testing.” We analyzed data from the past 6 years of our rubella prevention program and found that the latter approach was safe and simpler to administer. Decision analysis reveals that this approach can achieve an identical her...
Obstructive Sleep Apnea—Implications for Procedural Sedation

Abstract Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) represents a significant problem, especially in the growing population of obese patients having radiological, medical and surgical procedures requiring sedation. Due to the increased risk of loss of airway and difficulty in securing an adequate airway in OSA patients, particularly during emergency situations, it is very important to understand the condition of OSA, the associated anatomic and physiologic variations, the potential problems, as well as the effective management strategies.
A Preliminary Evaluation of Atmospheric Pollution as a Cause of the Global Temperature Fluctuation of the Past Century

Two globally extensive forms of atmospheric pollution (carbon dioxide and particulate loading) are each considered from the viewpoint of long-term changes in their world-average abundance, and the relevance of these to the observed fluctuation of planetary average temperatures in the past century.
E.S.R. Study of Spin-trapped Radicals Formed during the Photolysis of Aqueous Solutions of Acid Amides and H2O2

Free radicals formed by the reactions of OH radicals with amides and their N-methylated derivatives in aqueous solutions have been studied. The OH radicals were produced by U.V.-photolysis of H2O2, and the short-lived amide radicals were converted to more stable nitroxide radicals by addition to a spin-trap, tert-nitrosobutane. The spin-trapped radicals were identified by e.s.r. spectroscopy. For acetamide, chloroacetamide, malonamide, succinamide and propionamide, the observed radicals were formed by H-abstraction from the carbon atoms attached to the carbonyl group. The H atom attached to the carbonyl group was abstracted in formamide. For N-methyl acetamide, N,N-dimethyl acetamide and the corresponding formamide derivatives, H-abstraction occurred only from the N-methyl group. The non-equivalency of the amide protons was observed in the spin-trapped radicals for acetamide, formamide, malonamide, succinamide and propionamide. The identification of the site of OH attack on N-methyl amides is helpful for the study of radical formation in peptides and proteins.
Does Caring for a Spouse With Dementia Accelerate Cognitive Decline? Findings From the Health and Retirement Study

Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to expand our recent work, which showed that spousal dementia caregivers compared to spousal nondementia caregivers experience an accelerated rate of frailty over time, by exploring cognitive health outcomes between dementia and nondementia caregivers. Design and Methods Using 8 biannual waves of the Health and Retirement Study data and performance on the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status, we examined changes in cognitive health among surviving spousal caregivers (N = 1,255) of individuals with dementia (n = 192) and without dementia (n = 1,063), 2 waves prior and 2 waves following the death of the care recipient. Results Controlling for baseline health and contextual factors (e.g., frailty status, age, education), results revealed that dementia caregivers had significantly greater cognitive decline (p < .01) compared to nondementia caregivers. Relative to 2 waves prior to the death of their spouse, dementia caregivers declined by 1.77 points relative to nondementia caregivers (0.87 points) at the time their spouses' deaths were reported and 1.89 relative to the 1.18 points at the wave following these deaths, respectively. Implications The findings from this study show that spousal caregivers of persons with dementia experience accelerated cognitive decline themselves compared to nondementia caregivers. These results, along with our previous study findings, suggest that this vulnerable group could benefit from early cognitive screening and psychosocial interventions designed to help dementia caregivers better maintain their cognitive and physical health during and following their intensive caregiving responsibilities.
Lipid peroxidationin vivo

Under a rather rigidly defined set of empirical conditions, the kinetics of production of a specific tocopherol-deficiency sign, creatinuria, in the rat were comparable to the kinetics of the autoxidation of pure polyunsaturated fatty acids in model systemsin vitro. The tocopherol requirement of the rat under these conditions was clearly related to the kinetics of lipid peroxidation. Dietary, biologically available selenium decreased the rate of production of creatinuria and the rate of disappearance of tissue polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) equally and, therefore, may have functioned as a lipid antioxidantin vivo. A hypothetical model of lipid peroxidation was prepared in an attempt to describe the interaction of PUFA, tocopherol, biologically available selenium, and sulfur amino acids.
British Columbia Marine Fisheries Catch Reconstruction: 1873 to 2011

This short communication synthesizes the available catch information for British Columbia marine fisheries from 1873 to present and presents an electronic database consistent with the Atlas of Fisheries Impacts in preparation by the Sea Around Project at the University of British Columbia. Included in the estimates are targeted landings (both reported and unreported), bycatch, discards, and illegal catch for industrial, recreational and subsistence fisheries. Governmental and non-governmental data sources are utilized, as well as previous catch reconstructions and estimates of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fisheries. Catch estimates are compared to data in FAO Fishery and Aquaculture statistics. Unreported catch rates increased slowly and consistently throughout the early history of BC’s fisheries, peaking in 1963 at about 700,000 tonnes per year. The rate dropped in the 1970s and 1980s to about half that amount, then rose again to a second similar peak in the late 1990s. The rate subsequently declined to about 200,000 tonnes per year. Contemporary FAO catch statistics document about 80% of total landings.
Prosthodontic Management of Angular Cheilitis and Persistent Drooling: A Case Report

This article describes a case of persistent saliva drooling, and the accompanying chronic angular cheilitis, that is not uncommon in the elderly patient population. A drug therapy and the temporomandibular joint aspect of vertical dimension of occlusion during prosthodontic evaluation and construction are presented. Also described is a method to incorporate a canula into the denture prosthesis to channel the saliva toward the oropharyngeal area for geriatric and handicapped patients who suffer from chronic drooling and angular cheilitis.
Effects of Heat Treatment on the Microstructure of a Fully Simulated Nuclear Waste Glass

Samples of a fully simulated nuclear waste glass under consideration for use in the West Valley Demonstration Project were isothermally heat treated and studied by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Both fully oxidized and partially reduced specimens were heat treated for 3 hours at 600°C, 700°C, 800°C and 900°C and for 45 days at 10°C above Tg (447°C–461°C) and at 10°C below TB (427°C -441°C). Microstructural features in untreated as well as the heat-treated glasses were studied using STEM. Analysis by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was used to identify the elemental compositions of the features observed. p]The predominant crystalline phase present in the samples heat treated for 3 hours was an Fe3O4 type spinel with Ni and Cr substituting for some of the Fe. The spinels varied in size from 0.02 to 10.0 μm, the larger crystals present at higher heat-treatment temperatures. Long term heat treatment above Tg resulted in the formation of small iron-containing crystals ranging in size from 10 to 35 nm. Heat treatment below Tg produced no crystalline or amorphous phases.
Impact of Algae Biofuel on In-Use Gaseous and Particulate Emissions from a Marine Vessel

In-use emission rates for a marine vessel operating on hydrotreated algae biofuel are reported for the first time. Emission measurements were made on a four-stroke marine diesel engine from a Stalwart class vessel to compare the emission profile from burning ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) to a 50:50 blend of ULSD and algae biofuel (A50). In-use emission measurements followed the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 8178-4 D2 certification test cycle protocol. Particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO2) were sampled in accordance with the ISO 8178-2 protocol for each mode of the test cycle. Switching fuel from ULSD to A50 resulted in significant ∼35% lower PM2.5 emissions for 25 and 50% load and an overall weighted PM2.5 reduction of ∼25%. Overall reductions of 30 and 20% were observed in elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC), respectively. PM2.5 was dominated by OC (77–94%) for both fuels. NOx emissions were reduced by ∼10% on s...
Development of Automatic Characteristics Testing System for AC/DC Contactor

Based on PCI-1716L data acquisition card,the characteristics testing system for AC/DC contactor can control the stepping movement by counting impulse numbers in order to complete the automatic static characteristics test,and can control the switch on-off based on the data acquisition card,high-speed sample,to finish the dynamic characteristics test.This testing system provides friendly human machine interface and data storage function.
A Blended Chinese-as-a-Foreign-Language Short Course: Design and Perceptions

This study investigated learners' perceived effectiveness of a blended Chinese non-credit bearing short course designed for engineering students with no prior knowledge about Chinese language. Few studies have examined how to design blended Chinese courses for beginning learners. The design of this study was based on the framework of parameters proposed by Neumeier 2005. Bloom's taxonomy of learning objectives in the cognitive domain was adopted in deciding on the time distribution to the two modes Face-To-Face and online, and on sequencing the two modes. FTF was the lead mode with activities that help learners apply and practice what they learned creatively. Online activities were designed mainly to help learners memorize vocabularies, analyze word order, and comprehend culture. Data were collected through a survey and an informal interview. The findings show that the design is effective but improvements are needed.
Hate Propaganda and International Human Rights Law

Hate propaganda can create conditions that foment widespread, sometimes genocidal violence. Those conditions can become so firmly entrenched and reinforced by propaganda that the propagandist speech cannot be offset simply by “more speech” or by speech advocating tolerance. Where such deeply etched speech-inspired hatred exists, the result can be the loss of thousands or millions of lives. This is the lesson that the drafters of international and regional human rights treaties drew from the Nazi regime, which led the prohibition of hate speech to be incorporated into treaties protecting human rights.Do these treaty provisions then provide legal space for international bodies to take multilateral action, or for a state to take unilateral extraterritorial action, to limit the media within another state's boundaries? This paper argues that, under international human rights law, unilateral or multilateral intervention against media engaged in inciting racial or ethnic hatred can constitute a permissible limitation on free expression and on the right to receive and impart information and ideas. In this essay, I explore the development of international human rights principles on speech and hate propaganda that govern individual states and that might, by extension, relate to the actions of the United Nations, NATO, or a state acting out of humanitarian concern to prevent violence and racial or ethnic conflict in neighboring or other states.
Genetic structure in two Phascolosoma species in the Pacific Ocean

ABSTRACTPhascolosoma agassizii, a commonly reported species of sipunculan worm, occurs at various depths throughout the north Pacific. However, previous studies have shown that this nominal species is actually comprised of two genetically divergent lineages. Phascolosoma agassizii is isolated to the eastern Pacific, whereas a second species, here referred to Phascolosoma sp., is located in the western Pacific and represents a unique, non-sister taxon to P. agassizii. Both species exhibit the same developmental mode with a long-lived, planktotrophic, pelagosphera larval stage, which may facilitate long-distance dispersal, although developmental timing differs. Using an inter-simple sequence repeat polymerase chain reaction (ISSR-PCR) genetic fingerprinting approach, this study examines non-coding polymorphic regions of the nuclear genomes of P. agassizii from four eastern Pacific populations and of Phascolosoma sp. from six western Pacific locations. Small-scale spatial genetic variation was analysed separ...
LRS2: design, assembly, testing, and commissioning of the second-generation low-resolution spectrograph for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope

The second generation Low Resolution Spectrograph (LRS2) is a new facility instrument for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) at McDonald Observatory. Designed as a powerful spectroscopic follow-up platform, LRS2 is based on the design of the HETs new Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS) and provides integral field spectroscopy for two seeing-limited fields of 6”×12” with unity fill factor. The replicable design of VIRUS has been leveraged for LRS2 to gain broad wavelength coverage from 370 nm to 1.0 μm, spread between two fiber-fed dual-channel spectrographs that operate in unison but observe independent fields that are separated by 100”. The blue spectrograph pair, LRS2-B, covers 364≤λ (nm) ≤ 467 and 454 ≤ λ (nm)≤700 at fixed resolving powers of R =λ/δλ≈2500 and 1400, respectively, while the red spectrograph pair, LRS2-R, covers 643≤λ (nm)≤845 and 823≤λ (nm)≤1056 with both of its channels having R≈2500. In this paper, a detailed description of the instrument's design, assembly, and laboratory testing is provided in which the focus is placed on the departures from the basic framework of the design and processes previously established for VIRUS. Both LRS2 spectrograph pairs have been successfully deployed on the HET, and commissioning efforts are ongoing. Using on-sky data, the performance of the spectrograph is compared to models of the instrumental sensitivity. The measured performance of LRS2 indicates that the instrument will provide efficient spectroscopic follow-up observations of individual targets, and will be especially powerful when combined with the extensive survey capabilities of VIRUS for HETDEX.
Effects of Administered Ethanol and Methamphetamine on Glial Glutamate Transporters in Rat Striatum and Hippocampus

Exposure to ethanol (EtOH) or methamphetamine (MA) can lead to increase in extracellular glutamate concentration in the brain. Although studies from ours showed the effects of EtOH exposure on key glial glutamate transporters, little is known about the effects of sequential exposure to EtOH and MA or MA alone on certain glial glutamate transporters. In this study, we investigated the effects of sequential exposure to EtOH and MA on the expression of the major glutamate transporters, glutamate transporter 1 (GLT-1), as well as cystine/glutamate antiporter (xCT) and glutamate aspartate transporter (GLAST) in striatum and hippocampus. We also tested the effects of ceftriaxone (CEF), known to upregulate GLT-1, in animals administered EtOH and MA. Wistar rats were orally gavaged with EtOH (6 g/kg) or water for 7 days. On the following day (day 8), the rats received four intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of MA (10 mg/kg) or saline (vehicle) occurring every 2 h. The rats were then treated with CEF (200 mg/kg/day, i.p.) or saline on days 8, 9, and 10. EtOH or MA exposure caused a significant downregulation of GLT-1 expression as compared to control groups in striatum and hippocampus. Furthermore, sequential exposure of EtOH and MA caused a significant downregulation of GLT-1 expression as compared to either drug administered alone in both brain regions. Importantly, GLT-1 expression was restored following CEF treatment. There were no significant differences on xCT and GLAST expression in striatum and hippocampus between all groups. These findings demonstrated that sequential exposure to EtOH and MA has additive effect in downregulation of GLT-1 and this effect can be attenuated by CEF treatment.
Probing Enhanced Double-Strand Break Formation at Abasic Sites within Clustered Lesions in Nucleosome Core Particles.

DNA is rapidly cleaved under mild alkaline conditions at apyrimidinic/apurinic sites, but the half-life is several weeks in phosphate buffer (pH 7.5). However, abasic sites are ∼100-fold more reactive within nucleosome core particles (NCPs). Histone proteins catalyze the strand scission, and at superhelical location 1.5, the histone H4 tail is largely responsible for the accelerated cleavage. The rate constant for strand scission at an abasic site is enhanced further in a nucleosome core particle when it is part of a bistranded lesion containing a proximal strand break. Cleavage of this form results in a highly deleterious double-strand break. This acceleration is dependent upon the position of the abasic lesion in the NCP and its structure. The enhancement in cleavage rate at an apurinic/apyrimidinic site rapidly drops off as the distance between the strand break and abasic site increases and is negligible once the two forms of damage are separated by 7 bp. However, the enhancement of the rate of double-...
A single-center, prospective, double-blind, sham-controlled, randomized study of the effect of a vibrating capsule on colonic transit in patients with chronic constipation.

Background In an open-label study of 26 patients with IBS-C and chronic constipation, treatment with a vibrating (VIBRANT) capsule twice a week for 7.5 weeks resulted in 88.5% responders. Effects on colonic transit are unclear. We aimed to compare effects of VIBRANT and sham capsule treatment on colonic transit in patients with functional constipation. Methods Patients with functional constipation (Rome III criteria) were randomized to VIBRANT or sham capsule treatment for 8 weeks and underwent scintigraphic colonic transit measurements during week 8. We estimated the overall rate of colonic transit from the slope of progression of colonic geometric center over 48 hours. The capsule was activated 8 hours after ingestion, and the vibration sequence included 240 cycles. Key Results There were no significant group differences in overall colonic transit [GC48, 2.76 (IQR 2.42-4.03) for sham group and 3.46 (2.55-4.61) for active treatment group (P=.13)]. Additionally, the progression of the isotope through the colon was numerically faster, though not significantly different (slope, P=.14) in the VIBRANT capsule group compared to the sham group. Three participants in the VIBRANT capsule group had accelerated colonic transit at 32 hours and faster colonic transit slope compared to the 95th percentile of the sham group. Conclusions and Inferences Although there were no group differences between VIBRANT and sham capsule treatment on colonic transit, at least one (and possibly three) of 12 patients receiving the VIBRANT capsule had faster colonic transit. The vibration parameters to accelerate colonic transit in patients with functional constipation require further optimization.
CRISPR Editing in Biological and Biomedical Investigation

The revolutionary technology for genome editing known as the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system has sparked advancements in biological and biomedical research. The scientific breakthrough of the development of CRISPR-Cas9 technology has allowed us to recapitulate human diseases by generating animal models of interest ranging from zebrafish to non-human primates. The CRISPR-Cas9 system can also be used to delineate the mechanisms underlying the development of human disorders and to precisely correct disease-causing mutations. Repurposing this technology enables wider applications in transcriptome and epigenome manipulation and holds promise to reach the clinic. In this review, we highlight the latest advances of the CRISPR-Cas9 system in different platforms and discuss the hurdles and challenges this technology is facing. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 4152-4162, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Optimal use of Rapid Diagnostics in Infection Control and Prevention

Abstract Clinical laboratories have implemented rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for the identification of bacterial pathogens, with subsequent improvements in antimicrobial stewardship, but these tests may also have a role in infection prevention. Early identification of pathogens by RDTs should allow faster implementation of infection prevention strategies with the goal of reducing transmission. In this review, we assess the use of RDTs as an infection control tool by exploring their role in screening, as well as diagnosis, of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), carbapenem-resistant gram-negative organisms, Clostridium difficile , and Mycobacterium tuberculosis . This assessment highlights the fact that implementation of RDTs to improve infection prevention will require ongoing collaboration between clinical laboratory personnel, infection prevention departments, and clinicians.
Influence of standards organizations and regulatory agencies in the mechanical testing of orthopaedic implants

Abstract Most implantable orthopaedic medical devices marketed in the United States must first obtain clearance or approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Similar regulatory groups control the marketing of medical devices in other countries and regions. In order to obtain clearance or approval to market a medical device, manufacturers must address the safety and effectiveness of the device. With load bearing orthopaedic implants, safety is often coupled with the ability of the device to withstand the mechanical forces applied in daily life. Mechanical testing of orthopaedic implants is a critical part of the regulatory analysis process. The purpose of this chapter is to provide the reader a simple introduction to consensus standards organizations and the standards that they develop as well as how the requirements for device testing by the FDA interplay with consensus standards development and use. This chapter is not a comprehensive description of either consensus standards organizations or regulatory agencies and does not purport to represent these groups in any way. There are many excellent websites and books that provide intricate details of the workings of these groups beyond their influence on mechanical testing practices of orthopaedic implants.
Do investors value the FDA orphan drug designation

The Orphan Drug Act is an important piece of legislation that uses financial incentives to encourage the development of drugs that treat rare diseases. This analysis studies the effects of a portion of the Orphan Drug Act, the orphan drug designation. Specifically, it studies the value that investors place on the orphan drug designation, by investigating how investors react to companies’ announcing that their product has received the designation. The results, on average, show that the stock price of a company increases by 3.36% after the announcement of the designation, increasing the value of the company. The results are more pronounced for oncology drugs, and drugs being developed by the smallest companies. The orphan designation appears to be successful at generating positive value for companies, as seen by the positive and significant average increases in stock price.
Nanophotonic Materials and Devices for Optical System Integration

Nanophotonic materials and devices are used to construct birefringent, dispersive and resonant materials, photonic crystals with defects for spectral filtering and field localization to enhance nonlinearities. Compatibility with standard nanofabrication echniques allows on-chip optical system integration.
ROLE OF STRESS IN THE REGULATION OF CENTRAL EPINEPHRINE SYNTHESIS

ABSTRACT Phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) activity in the rat brainstem, unlike adrenal PNMT activity, is elevated following acute stress. Neonatal dexamethasone further increases this effect of stress on brain PNMT activity. Stress also enhances the action of specific PNMT inhibitors in brain but not in adrenals; this enhancement is independent of glucocorticoid levels. The data suggest a concept of dynamic regulation of brain epinephrine synthesis in response to environmental stimuli.
Characterization of surface structures of dealkalized soda lime silica glass using X-ray photoelectron, specular reflection infrared, attenuated total reflection infrared and sum frequency generation spectroscopies

Abstract This paper reports a comprehensive spectroscopic characterization of soda lime silica (SLS) glass surfaces with various thermal histories and dealkalization chemical treatments. While many studies have investigated elemental composition changes after dealkalization treatments, the work reported here focuses on identification and quantification of the associated structural changes in terms of non-bridging oxygen (NBO), bridging oxygen (BO) and hydrous species (Si OH and H 2 O). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to determine the average areal densities of BOs, NBOs, and OH groups at the top 10 nm of the surface. Specular reflection infrared (SR-IR) spectroscopy was used to probe the Si O Si asymmetric stretch vibration mode of the silicate network of the top
A Practical and Efficient Algorithm for the k-mismatch Shortest Unique Substring Finding Problem

This paper revisits the k-mismatch shortest unique substring finding problem and demonstrates that a technique recently presented in the context of solving the k-mismatch average common substring problem can be adapted and combined with parts of the existing solution, resulting in a new algorithm which has expected time complexity of $O(nlog^k n )$, while maintaining a practical space complexity at $O(kn)$, where n is the string length. When $k>0$, which is the hard case, our new proposal significantly improves the any-case $O(n^2)$ time complexity of the prior best method for k-mismatch shortest unique substring finding. Experimental study shows that our new algorithm is practical to implement and demonstrates significant improvements in processing time compared to the prior best solution's implementation when k is small relative to n. For example, our method processes a 200KB sample DNA sequence with $k=1$ in just 0.18 seconds compared to 174.37 seconds with the prior best solution. Further, it is observed that significant portions of the adapted technique can be executed in parallel, using two different simple concurrency models, resulting in further significant practical performance improvement. As an example, when using 8 cores, the parallel implementations both achieved processing times that are less than $1/4$ that of the serial implementation, when processing a 10MB sample DNA sequence with $k=2$. In an age where instances with thousands of gigabytes of RAM are readily available for use through Cloud infrastructure providers, it is likely that the trade-off of additional memory usage for significantly improved processing times will be desirable and needed by many users. For example, the best prior solution may spend years to finish a DNA sample of 200MB for any $k>0$, while this new proposal, using 24 cores, can finish processing a sample of this size with $k=1$ in $206.376$ seconds with a peak memory usage of 46GB, which is both easily available and affordable on Cloud for many users. It is expected that this new efficient and practical algorithm for k-mismatch shortest unique substring finding will prove useful to those using the measure on long sequences in fields such as computational biology.
Ecocriticism and Narrative Theory: An Introduction

This collection of essays follows upon the success of a previous special issue of English Studies focused on ecocriticism, edited by Astrid Bracke and Marguerite Corporaal and published in November...
The enneagram: An innovative approach

The enneagram (pronounced any-a-gram) is a tool consisting of nine points that depict personality styles. It is a tool that can be integrated into theoretical counseling approaches to better serve ...
BIOCHEMICAL DYNAMICS OF UNTREATED PRIMARY HYPERPARATHYROIDISM: AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY.

Objective: The natural biochemical history of untreated primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of biochemical fluctuations in patients with PHPT. Methods: Retrospective cohort study from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 2014. Serum calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels in patients with classic (Ca >10.5 mg/dL, PTH >65 pg/mL) and nonclassic (Ca >10.5 mg/dL, PTH 40 to 65 pg/mL) PHPT were followed longitudinally at 1, 2, and 5 years. Biochemical profiles in follow-up were ranked in descending biochemical severity as classic PHPT, nonclassic PHPT, normal calcium with elevated PTH (Ca 65 pg/mL), possible PHPT (Ca >10.5 mg/dL, PTH 21 to 40 pg/mL), or absent PHPT (Ca >10.5 mg/dL, PTH <21 pg/mL or Ca <10.5 mg/dL, PTH <65 pg/mL). Results: Of 10,598 patients, 1,570 were treated with parathyroidectomy (n = 1,433) or medications (n = 137), and 4,367 were censored due to study closure, disenrollment, or death. In the remaining 4,661 untreated patients with 5 years of follow-up, 235 (5.0%) progressed to a state of increased biochemical severity, whereas 972 (20.8%) remained the same, and 3,454 (74.1%) regressed to milder biochemical states. In 2,522 untreated patients with classic PHPT, patients most frequently transitioned to the normal calcium with elevated PTH group (n = 1,257, 49.8%). In 2,139 untreated patients with nonclassic PHPT, patients most frequently transitioned to the absent PHPT group (n = 1,354, 63.3%). Conclusion: PHPT is a biochemically dynamic disease with significant numbers of patients exhibiting both increases and decreases in biochemical severity. Abbreviations: IQR = interquartile range; KPSC = Kaiser Permanente Southern California; PHPT = primary hyperparathyroidism; PTH = parathyroid hormone; PTx = parathyroidectomy.
Pyrrolic-Type Nitrogen-Doped Hierarchical Macro/Mesoporous Carbon as a Bifunctional Host for High-Performance Thick Cathodes for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are highly considered as a next-generation energy storage device due to their high theoretical energy density. For practical viability, reasonable active-material loading of >4.0 mg cm-2 must be employed, at a cost to the intrinsic instability of sulfur cathodes. The incursion of lithium polysulfides (LiPS) at higher sulfur loadings results in low active material utilization and poor cell cycling capability. The use of high-surface-area hierarchical macro/mesoporous inverse opal (IOP) carbons to investigate the effects of pore volume and surface area on the electrochemical stability of high-loading, high-thickness cathodes for Li-S batteries is presented here. The IOP carbons are additionally doped with pyrrolic-type nitrogen groups (N-IOP) to act as a polar polysulfide mediator and enhance the active-material reutilization. With a high sulfur loading of 6.0 mg cm-2 , the Li-S cells assembled with IOP and N-IOP carbons are able to attain a high specific capacity of, respectively, 1242 and 1162 mA h g-1 . The N-IOP enables the Li-S cells to demonstrate good electrochemical performance over 300 cycles.
Wefunder: Leading the Growth of a New Industry:

In early 2018, Nick Tommarello could be proud of what he and his partners had accomplished. Their company, Wefunder, Inc., was the acknowledged leader in the equity crowdfunding industry, an indust...
Convergence or divergence: Exploring different mechanisms driving children’s rights organizations’ offline versus online interorganizational alliance building

Abstract NGOs today increasingly use multiple technology platforms to build and maintain relationships with other organizations. However, the extent to which these platforms enhance NGOs’ networking capacity beyond their offline connections is not well understood. Focusing on the status seeking versus resource-exchange logic, this paper asks what mechanism drives NGOs’ networking behaviors across three different platforms by comparing the offline alliance network with two forms of online networks among a group of international children’s rights NGOs and their NGO/IGO partners: (a) hyperlink network that emerges from organizational websites, and (b) Twitter follower-followee network. Exponential Random Graph Modeling (ERGM) analysis shows that NGOs are more likely to connect to high-status organizations both offline and online. Meanwhile, whereas NGOs are more likely to connect with geographically proximate others offline, online relationships are not constrained by geographic distance. Our findings confirm the boundary-spanning capacity of information and communication technologies (ICTs), which enables NGOs to expand existing interorganizational networks.
Corporate Recruiters and Alumni: Perceptions of Professional Courses

Corporate recruiters and alumni of the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at Northern Arizona University were asked their perceptions of hospitality professional courses. The study investigates the importance that these groups attribute to 22 professional courses commonly offered in institutions of higher education. This article is available in Hospitality Review: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/hospitalityreview/vol11/iss1/9 Corporate Recruiters and Alumni: Perceptions of Professional Courses
Using Time-Frequency Analysis to Characterize Altered Knee Dynamics in Post ACL Reconstruction Individuals

More than 250,000 individuals suffer an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in the United States each year requiring surgery and rehabilitation. However, despite exhaustive rehabilitation individuals are often plagued by neuromuscular deficits that lead to detrimental knee loading and knee osteoarthritis. Traditionally, time domain-based metrics like peak sagittal plane knee angle are used to quantify differences in knee mechanics; however, additional information can potentially be elucidated from time-frequency analyses. Here Smoothed Pseudo Wigner-Ville (SPWV), a time-frequency analysis technique, was used to investigate differences in knee loading dynamics between healthy controls and post ACL reconstruction individuals during running. The results indicated that post ACL reconstruction individuals adopt significantly different loading strategies in their injured limb than their non-injured limb. Individuals adopt a stiffer, more restrictive movement strategy delineated by a stronger low frequency to high frequency (LF/HF) ratio while the non-injured limb exhibit a more oscillatory motion (p<0.001). The time domain metrics were unable to identify differences between the ACL injured and non-injured limbs. The ability of SPWV to provide both quantitative and visual means to detect these differences supports its use as a clinical tool to track and monitor joint health.
Reaching beyond the Pale: Towards an Understanding of African-Americans' Mental Models of Museums.

The ability of US museums to attract and engage ethnically diverse audiences, including African Americans is a problem that has plagued museums for decades (Falk, 1993; Philipp, 1999). Scholars hav...
Measuring Up: Better baby contests in China, 1917–45

This article charts the Chinese indigenization of better baby contests, from Christian health services offered by the YWCA to positive models of nourishment organized by Chinese philanthropic organizations and local and central governments. American missionaries and milk-powder companies played a large role in sponsoring the contests in China. Influenced by the rise of scientific measurement and ‘national rejuvenation’ as promoted by the New Culture Movement in 1915, Chinese organizers tended to focus on liveliness, gender equality, and statistics that pointed to the need for public reform. As in the United States of America, scientific criteria sometimes also challenged conventional notions of plump cuteness. These goals sometimes conflicted with the implicit aims of corporate sponsors. Contests thus celebrated new material conditions and public hygiene facilitated by modern industry, but was at the same time circumscribed by commercial advertisers, reticent evangelists, or other sponsors.
How effective are campus-wide smoking bans? A comparison of two small colleges.

Objective: The current study tracked attitudinal and behavioral changes related to a campus-wide smoking ban. Participants: Students from 2 colleges in Massachusetts (N = 418; April 2014; N = 640 A...
Evaluating Feature Selection and Anomaly Detection Methods of Hard Drive Failure Prediction

As vast amounts of data are saved, hard drive failure prediction is critical to reducing the cost of data loss and backup. Most existing studies used to detect the anomalous status of a hard drive using self-monitoring, analysis, and reporting technology (SMART) attributes, and then predicted whether the drive would have an impending failure. However, as most researchers focus on a specific model of hard drives, existing studies do not apply to different models due to the model-to-model variations. Furthermore, as anomaly detection algorithms were the focus in the literature, feature selection methods were less compared. This article proposes an evaluation methodology to compare feature selection methods and anomaly detection algorithms for hard drive failure prediction. It can quickly select the optimal algorithms for a specific model of drives. It contains an evaluation mechanism to assess feature selection methods from the perspectives of performance and robustness and assess the performance, the robustness, the efficiency, and the generalization of anomaly detection algorithms. Experiments on two data sets are implemented for validation, and the proposed method can achieve better performance than the existing approaches in the literature.
Randomized Trial of a Year-Long USMLE Step 1 Preparation Near-Peer Teaching Program

Near-peer teaching (NPT) is a peer-assisted learning method that has been adopted by medical schools as studies have reported benefits to both tutors and tutees. Published studies suggest students may benefit from NPT programs when preparing for the US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 exam, but they did not use a randomized controlled trial methodology. To determine the impact of a year-long NPT preparation program for the Step 1 examination, we conducted a randomized-controlled trial among second-year medical students at New York Medical College during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 academic years. Students who enrolled in the study were invited to complete a post-exam survey, and Step 1 examination scores of intervention and control groups were compared, controlling for preexisting academic differences and demographic traits. While the majority of students reported NPT program participation was a valuable use of their time, we found no significant difference in Step 1 scores between intervention and control groups. Notably, students identifying as female, underrepresented in medicine (UIM) or socioeconomically disadvantaged (SED) enrolled in higher proportions compared to the combined M2 student body of the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 academic years. Our results may highlight the limitations of NPT programs for board examination preparation and inform the future design of peer-assisted learning programs within medical schools.
Neurophysiological contributors to advantageous risk-taking: an experimental psychopharmacological investigation.

The ability to learn from experience is critical for determining when to take risks and when to play it safe. However, we know little about how within-person state changes, such as an individual's degree of neurophysiological arousal, may impact the ability to learn which risks are most likely to fail vs succeed. To test this, we used a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design to pharmacologically manipulate neurophysiological arousal and assess its causal impact on risk-related learning and performance. Eighty-seven adults (45% female, Mage = 20.1 ± 1.46 years) took either propranolol (n = 42), a beta-adrenergic receptor blocker that attenuates sympathetic nervous system-related signaling, or a placebo (n = 45). Participants then completed the Balloon Emotional Learning Task, a risk-taking task wherein experiential learning is necessary for task success. We found that individuals on propranolol, relative to placebo, earned fewer points on the task, suggesting that they were less effective risk-takers. This effect was mediated by the fact that those on propranolol made less optimal decisions in the final phase of the task on trials with the greatest opportunity for advantageous risk-taking. These findings highlight that neurophysiological arousal supports risk-related learning and, in turn, more advantageous decision-making and optimal behavior under conditions of risk.
Chaperonin-Containing TCP1 Complex (CCT) Promotes Breast Cancer Growth Through Correlations With Key Cell Cycle Regulators

Uncontrolled proliferation as a result of dysregulated cell cycling is one of the hallmarks of cancer. Therapeutically targeting pathways that control the cell cycle would improve patient outcomes. However, the development of drug resistance and a limited number of inhibitors that target multiple cell cycle modulators are challenges that impede stopping the deregulated growth that leads to malignancy. To advance the discovery of new druggable targets for cell cycle inhibition, we investigated the role of Chaperonin-Containing TCP1 (CCT or TRiC) in breast cancer cells. CCT, a type II chaperonin, is a multi-subunit protein-folding complex that interacts with many oncoproteins and mutant tumor suppressors. CCT subunits are highly expressed in a number of cancers, including breast cancer. We found that expression of one of the CCT subunits, CCT2, inversely correlates with breast cancer patient survival and is subject to copy number alterations through genomic amplification. To investigate a role for CCT2 in the regulation of the cell cycle, we expressed an exogenous CCT2-FLAG construct in T47D and MCF7 luminal A breast cancer cells and examined cell proliferation under conditions of two-dimensional (2D) monolayer and three-dimensional (3D) spheroid cultures. Exogenous CCT2 increased the proliferation of cancer cells, resulting in larger and multiple spheroids as compared to control cells. CCT2-expressing cells were also able to undergo spheroid growth reversal, re-attaching, and resuming growth in 2D cultures. Such cells gained anchorage-independent growth. CCT2 expression in cells correlated with increased expression of MYC, especially in spheroid cultures, and other cell cycle regulators like CCND1 and CDK2, indicative of a novel activity that could contribute to the increase in cell growth. Statistically significant correlations between CCT2, MYC, and CCND1 were shown. Since CCT2 is located on chromosome 12q15, an amplicon frequently found in soft tissue cancers as well as breast cancer, CCT2 may have the basic characteristics of an oncogene. Our findings suggest that CCT2 could be an essential driver of cell division that may be a node through which pathways involving MYC, cyclin D1 and other proliferative factors could converge. Hence the therapeutic inhibition of CCT2 may have the potential to achieve multi-target inhibition, overcoming the limitations associated with single agent inhibitors.