cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Marginal Structural Models with Counterfactual Effect Modifiers

In health and social sciences, research questions often involve systematic assessment of the modification of treatment causal effect by patient characteristics. In longitudinal settings, time-varying or post-intervention effect modifiers are also of interest. In this work, we investigate the robust and efficient estimation of the Counterfactual-History-Adjusted Marginal Structural Model (van der Laan MJ, Petersen M. Statistical learning of origin-specific statically optimal individualized treatment rules. Int J Biostat. 2007;3), which models the conditional intervention-specific mean outcome given a counterfactual modifier history in an ideal experiment. We establish the semiparametric efficiency theory for these models, and present a substitution-based, semiparametric efficient and doubly robust estimator using the targeted maximum likelihood estimation methodology (TMLE, e.g. van der Laan MJ, Rubin DB. Targeted maximum likelihood learning. Int J Biostat. 2006;2, van der Laan MJ, Rose S. Targeted learning: causal inference for observational and experimental data, 1st ed. Springer Series in Statistics. Springer, 2011). To facilitate implementation in applications where the effect modifier is high dimensional, our third contribution is a projected influence function (and the corresponding projected TMLE estimator), which retains most of the robustness of its efficient peer and can be easily implemented in applications where the use of the efficient influence function becomes taxing. We compare the projected TMLE estimator with an Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighted estimator (e.g. Robins JM. Marginal structural models. In: Proceedings of the American Statistical Association. Section on Bayesian Statistical Science, 1-10. 1997a, Hernan MA, Brumback B, Robins JM. Marginal structural models to estimate the causal effect of zidovudine on the survival of HIV-positive men. Epidemiology 2000;11:561-570), and a non-targeted G-computation estimator (Robins JM. A new approach to causal inference in mortality studies with sustained exposure periods - application to control of the healthy worker survivor effect. Math Modell. 1986;7:1393-1512.). The comparative performance of these estimators is assessed in a simulation study. The use of the projected TMLE estimator is illustrated in a secondary data analysis for the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) trial where effect modifiers are subject to missing at random.
Marx on Finance

Fredric Jameson’s new reading of Marx’s Capital, vol. 1 uses Marx’s account of the accumulation of capital in the form of producer goods to argue that a rising rate of structural unemployment is a ...
DIABETES MELLITUS IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN. L. MANAGEMENT OF ACIDOSIS DURING THE FIRST 24 HOURS.

Diabetes mellitus may be diagnosed before clinical symptoms appear only by early application of the glucose tolerance test or testing for glucose in the urine following the evening meal, or both.The author explains the natural course of diabetes mellitus and discusses specific laboratory procedures which should be carried out for accurate appraisal of the patient's condition.Specific objectives of therapy are to restore normal fluid and electrolyte balance and cardiovascular and renal function and to establish normal glucose metabolism.Calculation of specific fluid and electrolyte needs is based on the combination of daily maintenance needs and replacement of abnormal losses.
Decreased cerebral response to inhibitory neurotransmission in alcoholics.

OBJECTIVE Changes in gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-benzodiazepine receptor function have been implicated in alcohol tolerance, withdrawal, and dependence. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether recently detoxified alcoholic subjects had abnormalities in brain GABA-benzodiazepine receptor function. METHOD The effect of 30 micrograms/kg of lorazepam on regional brain glucose metabolism was studied in 12 normal subjects and 10 alcoholic subjects with the use of positron emission tomography and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose. RESULTS Lorazepam decreased whole brain glucose metabolism in both the normal subjects (13% change) and the alcoholic subjects (10% change), and the response was correlated with the concentration of lorazepam in plasma. Whereas the normal and alcoholic subjects showed similar responses to lorazepam in occipital and cerebellar metabolism, the alcoholic subjects showed significantly less of a response than the comparison subjects in the thalamus, basal ganglia, and orbitofrontal cortex. The rate of response in the orbitofrontal cortex was significantly correlated with cerebellar metabolism at baseline. CONCLUSIONS The alcoholic subjects had a blunted response to lorazepam that was specific to certain brain regions. The association between cerebellar metabolism and response to lorazepam suggests that the cerebellum may contribute to the decreased sensitivity to lorazepam which was seen in the alcoholic subjects.
Should we still use vitamin A to prevent bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is associated with significant short- and long-term morbidity in preterm infants, and it can be prevented in some infants with vitamin A prophylaxis. Vitamin A, once widely used in neonatal intensive care, was scarce for the last few years, but has become available again at a much higher price, leading to dilemmas about its routine use. In this review we discuss experimental, clinical and socioeconomic evidence related to BPD, and provide a framework for clinicians and policy-makers to evaluate the value of vitamin A treatment and make decisions about its use for prevention of BPD.
An Analysis of Library Web Sites at Colleges and Universities Serving Distance Education Students

Higher education, and in particular libraries, have changed significantly over the last decade due to the adoption of technological advancements such as the Internet and the World Wide Web. The multitude of ways patrons can interact with librarians and library resources has been only the latest step in a very long process which started with traditional snail mail and the phone. As educators, librarians have always been interested in using new tools to improve services. These services are increasingly being made available to patrons who do not physically enter a library building. This paper looks at what library services are currently being offered to students at a distance in order to better plan for the future.
The Next Great Task: Agricultural Growth with Equity

Agriculture is the base of Ethiopia’s economy. It provides employment for 85 per cent of the labour force and accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the GDP. Agricultural exports (mainly coffee, hides and skins, pulses, oilseeds and cotton) provide 90 per cent of Ethiopia’s foreign exchange, and taxes on coffee are the largest single source of government revenue. Most importantly, agriculture provides food for Ethiopia’s large and expanding population.
Pure titanium particle loaded nanocomposites: study on the polymer/filler interface and hMSC biocompatibility.

The integration of inorganic nanoparticles into polymer matrices allows for the modification of physical properties as well as the implementation of new features for unexplored application fields. Here, we propose the study of a new metal/polymer nanocomposite fabricated by dispersing pure Ti nanoparticles into a poly(methylmetacrilate) matrix via solvent casting process, to investigate its potential use as new biomaterial for biomedical applications. We demonstrated that Ti nanoparticles embedded in the poly(methylmetacrilate) matrix can act as reinforcing agent, not negatively influencing the biological response of human mesenchymal stem cell in terms of cytotoxicity and cell viability. As a function of relative amount and surface treatment, Ti nanoparticles may enhance mechanical strength of the composite—ranging from 31.1 ± 2.5 to 43.7 ± 0.7 MPa—also contributing to biological response in terms of adhesion and proliferation mechanisms. In particular, for 1 wt% Ti, treated Ti nanoparticles improve cell materials recognition, as confirmed by higher cell spreading-quantified in terms of cell area via image analysis—locally promoting stronger interactions at cell matrix interface. At this stage, these preliminary results suggest a promising use of pure Ti nanoparticles as filler in polymer composites for biomedical applications.
A computational study on convolutional feature combination strategies for grade classification in colon cancer using fluorescence microscopy data

The cancer diagnostic workflow is typically performed by highly specialized and trained pathologists, for which analysis is expensive both in terms of time and money. This work focuses on grade classification in colon cancer. The analysis is performed over 3 protein markers; namely E-cadherin, beta actin and colagenIV. In addition, we also use a virtual Hematoxylin and Eosin (HE) stain. This study involves a comparison of various ways in which we can manipulate the information over the 4 different images of the tissue samples and come up with a coherent and unified response based on the data at our disposal. Pre- trained convolutional neural networks (CNNs) is the method of choice for feature extraction. The AlexNet architecture trained on the ImageNet database is used for this purpose. We extract a 4096 dimensional feature vector corresponding to the 6th layer in the network. Linear SVM is used to classify the data. The information from the 4 different images pertaining to a particular tissue sample; are combined using the following techniques: soft voting, hard voting, multiplication, addition, linear combination, concatenation and multi-channel feature extraction. We observe that we obtain better results in general than when we use a linear combination of the feature representations. We use 5-fold cross validation to perform the experiments. The best results are obtained when the various features are linearly combined together resulting in a mean accuracy of 91.27%.
The meaning and importance of cultural construction for global development

The impetus for this Special Issue was multifaceted and informed by critiques of existing research in psychology and international development initiatives. The cultural relevance of psychology rese...
DO INVESTORS CARE ABOUT PRESIDENTIAL COMPANY-SPECIFIC TWEETS?

When the president of the United States tweets, do investors respond? We analyze the impact of tweets from President Donald J. Trump's official Twitter accounts from November 9, 2016 to December 31, 2017 that include names of publicly traded companies. We find that these tweets move company stock prices and increase trading volume, volatility, and institutional investor attention, with a stronger impact before the presidential inauguration. There is some evidence that the initial impact of the presidential tweets on stock prices is reversed in the next few trading days.
Agonist anti-GITR antibody significantly enhances the therapeutic efficacy of Listeria monocytogenes -based immunotherapy

We previously demonstrated that in addition to generating an antigen-specific immune response, Listeria monocytogenes (Lm)-based immunotherapy significantly reduces the ratio of regulatory T cells (Tregs)/CD4+ and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in the tumor microenvironment. Since Lm-based immunotherapy is able to inhibit the immune suppressive environment, we hypothesized that combining this treatment with agonist antibody to a co-stimulatory receptor that would further boost the effector arm of immunity will result in significant improvement of anti-tumor efficacy of treatment. Here we tested the immune and therapeutic efficacy of Listeria-based immunotherapy combination with agonist antibody to glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor-related protein (GITR) in TC-1 mouse tumor model. We evaluated the potency of combination on tumor growth and survival of treated animals and profiled tumor microenvironment for effector and suppressor cell populations. We demonstrate that combination of Listeria-based immunotherapy with agonist antibody to GITR synergizes to improve immune and therapeutic efficacy of treatment in a mouse tumor model. We show that this combinational treatment leads to significant inhibition of tumor-growth, prolongs survival and leads to complete regression of established tumors in 60% of treated animals. We determined that this therapeutic benefit of combinational treatment is due to a significant increase in tumor infiltrating effector CD4+ and CD8+ T cells along with a decrease of inhibitory cells. To our knowledge, this is the first study that exploits Lm-based immunotherapy combined with agonist anti-GITR antibody as a potent treatment strategy that simultaneously targets both the effector and suppressor arms of the immune system, leading to significantly improved anti-tumor efficacy. We believe that our findings depicted in this manuscript provide a promising and translatable strategy that can enhance the overall efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.
Efficient GPU-accelerated computation of isosurface similarity maps

We present an efficient GPU-based solution to compute isosurface similarity maps for scientific volume data sets. Our approach first replaces exact isosurface extraction with a binary volume indicating whether each voxel intersects the surface or not. We then employ bounding volume hierarchy (BVH)-trees to speed up the distance field computation. Finally, a self-similarity map is generated from which we identify representative isosurfaces. We apply our approach to compute isosurface similarity maps from different volume data sets of varying sizes and characteristics. The results demonstrate significant speed gain with acceptable loss of accuracy, showing the potential of our solution for handling large-scale time-varying multivariate data sets.
Spinoza in Retrospect

Anxiety about the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune is scarcely sensible for one who believes that all events are determined by eternal laws. He will find it futile to worry about anything beyond that for which he is personally responsible, and if he is responsible only for actions based on, and expressive of, clear and distinct knowledge, he will not be given to futile remorse or unproductive regrets about passionate and unwise conduct committed in the past. Responsible action, moreover, will be simply the natural and unimpeded activity of the intellect following its own laws and principles — free, in the sense that it is self-determined and unimpeded by passion, not in any sense of indeterminate arbitrament. The free man, cognizant of the wholeness of nature and the over-riding importance of synoptic awareness, will be unmoved by the trivial inconveniences of daily occurrence, which seem frustrating only by reference to shortsighted affective judgement. He will be tolerant of his neighbour’s petty misdemeanours and recalcitrance. He will be generous and charitable and will in consequence enjoy peace of mind. Such joyous tranquillity, neither ascetic nor libidinous, is what Spinoza’s philosophy offers. It has much in common with, though it also differs in significant ways from, the doctrine of the Stoics, whom Spinoza admired; but how far is it acceptable to the modern mind? How far is it a dated outlook restricted to the conditions and limitations of a bygone age? How far an impossible ideal founded upon a misconception of the nature of man and the world?
Elevating Student Affairs Practice in Community College Redesign

The current national community college redesign effort, Guided Pathways, focuses on the need for “clearer, more educationally coherent programs of study that simplify students’ choices without limi...
Multipulse subspace detectors

In this paper we frame a fairly comprehensive set of spacetime detection problems, where a subspace signal modulates the mean-value vector of a multivariate normal measurement and nonstationary additive noise determines the covariance matrix. The measured spacetime data matrix consists of multiple measurements in time. As time advances, the signal component moves around in a subspace and the noise covariance matrix changes in scale.
Host Defense Against Foodborne Pathogens

To understand the pathogenic mechanism of microbial infection, one has to have a clear knowledge of immune response, both innate and adaptive, that are in place to protect the host against infective agents. Microbial dominance results in the disease, while successful host response averts the full-blown infection. Foodborne pathogens affect primarily the digestive system; therefore, the natural immunity of the gastrointestinal tract is the most important protective immune response. Moreover, the onset of symptoms for some diseases (i.e., intoxication) is very fast – appearing within 30 min to an hour. Thus, protection by adaptive immune response would have little impact since it is slow to develop, typically requiring 4–7 days. However, the adaptive immune response is essential for foodborne pathogens that have a prolonged incubation time and are responsible for systemic infection such as Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella spp., Campylobacter spp., Salmonella enterica, Yersinia spp., hepatitis A virus, Toxoplasma gondii, Trichinella species, and so forth. In innate immunity, gastric acids, bile, antimicrobial peptides, mucus, natural microflora, macrophages, neutrophils, NK cells, interferons, and complement proteins play a critical role. In the adaptive immune response, T and B lymphocytes produce cytokines and antibodies, respectively. CD4+ T cells are most important for protection against extracellular bacterial infections and their exotoxins, while CD8+ T cells are involved in the elimination of intracellular bacterial, viral, and parasitic infective agents. Antibodies neutralize pathogens or toxins by preventing them from binding to the host cell receptors, so they become the target for elimination by macrophages and neutrophils. An antibody–antigen complex also activates complement for inactivation of pathogens via opsonization. However, the immune system sometimes fails to protect the host. It is because pathogens have developed strategies to overcome immune defense by producing virulence factors that ensure their invasion, survival, replication, and spread inside the tissues. It is important to recognize that the pathogenic action by foodborne exotoxins is very quick and the host has literally no time to mount any immune response; thus, a majority suffers from this form of food poisoning (intoxication) irrespective of their health status or immune response.
Surround vision --- a hand-held screen for accessing peripheral content around a main screen

This paper describes a system that situates the viewer at the center of a surrounding video space. The system proposes that the main program on an ordinary television screen be augmented with content that is accessible through an orientation-aware hand-held viewing device.
Test of auditory comprehension: a comparison of hearing-impaired and normal-hearing listeners.

Normal-hearing (NH) children (N:35) aged 9-11 yrs in regular classrooms were given all 10 subtests of the Test of Auditory Comprehension (TAC) (Trammel, 1976). Group means of raw scores, measures of dispersion, and of internal consistency, alpha, and of test-retest reliability, r, were computed and are presented here for the first time for NH Ss. These data were compared with TAC norms published for a group of 750 hearing-impaired (HI) children with moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss. Group means for the NH Ss were substantially higher (p less than or equal to .05) on 9 of the 10 subtests than for the HI Ss, but the dispersion was always substantially greater. Furthermore, estimates of alpha and of r were greater on 8 of the 10 subtests for alpha and on 8 for r, the 8 tests not altogether overlapping. The implication is that different auditory processing information may be used by the two different populations, generally supporting the use in the clinic of only those tests specifically designed and demonstrated to be applicable for specific populations.
A Residual Theorem Approach Applied to Stokes’ Problems with Generally Periodic Boundary Conditions including a Pressure Gradient Term

The differential problem given by a parabolic equation describing the purely viscous flow generated by a constant or an oscillating motion of a boundary is the well-known Stokes’ problem. The one-dimensional equation is generally solved for unbounded or bounded domains; for the latter, either free slip (i.e., zero normal gradient) or no-slip (i.e., zero velocity) conditions are enforced on one boundary. Generally, the analytical strategy to solve these problems is based on finding the solutions of the Laplace-transformed (in time) equation and on inverting these solutions. In the present paper this problem is solved by making use of the residuals theorem; as it will be shown, this strategy allows achieving the solutions of First and Second Stokes’ problems in both infinite and finite depth. The extension to generally periodic boundaries with the presence of a periodic pressure gradient is also presented. This approach allows getting closed form solutions in the time domain in a rather fast and simple way. An ad hoc numerical algorithm, based on a finite difference approximation of the differential equation, has been developed to check the correctness of the analytical solutions.
Sex Differences in the Genetic Architecture of Alzheimer's Disease.

Summarize sex-specific contributors to the genetic architecture of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). There are sex differences in the effects of apolipoprotein E (APOE), genes along the APOE pathway, and genes along the neurotrophic signaling pathway in predicting AD. Reported sex differences are largely driven by stronger associations among females. Evidence also suggests that genetic predictors of amyloidosis are largely shared across sexes, while sex-specific genetic effects emerge downstream of amyloidosis and drive the clinical manifestation of AD. There is a lack of comprehensive assessments of sex differences in genome-wide analyses of AD and a need for more systematic reporting of sex-stratified genetic effects. The emerging emphasis on sex as a biological variable provides an opportunity for transdisciplinary collaborations aimed at addressing major analytical challenges that have hampered advancements in the field. Ultimately, sex-specific genetic association studies represent a logical first step towards precision medicine.
Building a risk model for data incidents: A guide to assist businesses in making ethical data decisions

Abstract Data protection is important to businesses, and increasingly so as the paper-based world fades into memory. Information safeguards that were sufficient in the past no longer are in the current digitized environment. It is incumbent upon companies to keep their data secure, but what constitutes reasonable protection? In this installment of Business Law & Ethics Corner, we tackle this question and proffer Draper’s Catastrophe Value Curve as an assessment tool toward that end.
The Upcoming U.S. Health Care Cost Debate — The Public’s Views

The Upcoming U.S. Health Care Cost Debate More than two thirds (69%) of the U.S. public has said that reducing health care costs should be a top priority for the president and Congress. A review of...
A New, More Efficient, and Effective Process for the Synthesis of a Key Pentacyclic Intermediate for Production of Ecteinascidin and Phthalascidin Antitumor Agents

An efficient process is described for the synthesis of 5, a key intermediate for the synthesis of the potent antitumor agents ecteinascidin 743 (1) and phthalascidin (2) from the readily available building blocks 3b and 4.
Non-parallel transcriptional divergence during parallel adaptation

How underlying mechanisms bias evolution toward predictable outcomes remains an area of active debate. In this study, we leveraged phenotypic plasticity and parallel adaptation across independent lineages of Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) to assess the predictability of gene expression evolution during parallel adaptation. Trinidadian guppies have repeatedly and independently adapted to high- and low-predation environments in the wild. We combined this natural experiment with a laboratory breeding design to attribute transcriptional variation to the genetic influences of population of origin and developmental plasticity in response to rearing with or without predators. We observed substantial gene expression plasticity as well as the evolution of expression plasticity itself across populations. Genes exhibiting expression plasticity within populations were more likely to also differ in expression between populations, with the direction of population differences more likely to be opposite those of plasticity. While we found more overlap than expected by chance in genes differentially expressed between high- and low-predation populations from distinct evolutionary lineages, the majority of differentially expressed genes were not shared between lineages. Our data suggest alternative transcriptional configurations associated with shared phenotypes, highlighting a role for transcriptional flexibility in the parallel phenotypic evolution of a species known for rapid adaptation.
Modeling uncertainty with Measure Differential Equations

Recently, a new type of evolution equations for measures, called Measure Differential Equations (briefly MDE), was introduced, based on the concept of Probability Vector Field. The latter is a map associating to a probability measure on a manifold a probability measure on the tangent bundle, whose projection on the base is the original measure. Such approach allows the modeling of finite-speed diffusion, thus provides a new approach to uncertainty for differential equations. After showing some explicit examples of modeling uncertainty with finite-speed diffusion, the theory of MDEs is extended to the time-varying case. This allows the application to control systems, including basic results on disturbance rejection.
Real-world experiences with direct-acting antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis C treatment.

As direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents become more readily available for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, it is important to understand real-world treatment experiences. In order to assess the effectiveness of DAA regimens and factors that influence sustained virologic response (SVR) rates in the Veterans Affairs healthcare system, we retrospectively identified veterans with chronic hepatitis C who were treated with DAAs from January 2014 to June 2015. We determined SVR rates and collected data on demographics, genotype (GT), previous interferon-based treatment, antiviral regimens, and co-morbidities (HIV, prior solid organ transplant, haemodialysis) for analysis. Of 15 720 veterans, the majority were infected with genotype 1a (GT1a, 60.5%). Excluding the special populations, the overall cohort SVR rate was 92%. Compared to treatment-experienced patients, treatment-naive patients had significantly higher SVR rates (90% vs 92%, P = .006). Subgroups associated with lower likelihood of achieving SVR-included African Americans (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.69-0.91), GT3 (OR 0.65, CI 0.50-0.86), and cirrhosis (OR 0.91, CI 0.84-0.99) or decompensated cirrhosis (ascites: OR 0.78, CI 0.67-0.91, variceal bleed: OR 0.75, CI 0.57-0.99). The only treatment regimen independently associated with lower SVR rates was SOF+RBV+IFN (OR 0.65, CI 0.50-0.84). Special populations achieved high SVR rates: HIV 92%, haemodialysis 93%, liver transplant 96% and renal transplant 94%. In conclusion, overall SVR rates were comparable to those reported in clinical trials and carried over to historically more difficult-to-treat patients. Several patient- and treatment-related factors were identified as independent predictors of treatment failure and suggest subgroups to target for efforts to improve therapeutic strategies.
Transforming the carbon economy: challenges and opportunities in the convergence of low-cost electricity and reductive CO2 utilization

The increasing availability of renewable electricity at costs competitive with, and even lower than, electricity from fossil sources along with growing interest and recent technological advancements in reducing carbon emissions through CO2 capture is challenging the status quo in the way that we produce and consume energy and products. Renewable electricity can be leveraged to produce fuels and chemicals from CO2, offering sustainable routes to reduce the carbon intensity of our energy and products-driven economy. A number of approaches have been developed for the electron-driven reduction of CO2 to products, including both direct and indirect (via an energy carrier such as H2) pathways and spanning from electrochemical to biological to thermocatalytic conversion. While these approaches are at various stages of development, there are technical barriers related to each core conversion technology that need to be addressed in order to accelerate commercialization and drive the transition towards a circular carbon economy. In this perspective, we assess and characterize the top technical barriers for utilizing renewable electricity for CO2 reduction across five different conversion approaches (direct electrochemical, direct bioelectrochemical, direct non-thermal plasma, indirect bioelectrochemical, and indirect thermochemical) under state-of-technology conditions, outline the R&D needs to overcome each barrier, and identify the most promising C1–C3 hydrocarbons and oxygenates based on their relative ease of formation, economic viability, CO2 utilization potential, and energy storage capacity. Our analysis suggests, based on current reported states of technology, that indirect pathways paired with the formation of C1 products offer the most technically feasible approach for electron driven CO2 reduction in the near term. However, as we strive for longer carbon chain molecules, and as technologies continue to advance, there are a multitude of advantages and limitations to be considered for all five approaches.
Quantum Control of Entanglement Using Spin States in Rydberg Atoms

Generation of W and GHZ states is demonstrated via two-photon adiabatic passage using overlapping chirped pulses and interplay of Rabi frequency, one-photon detuning, and Rydberg-Rydberg interactions. The entanglement is then transferred from atoms to radiation.
Sociology and Sisyphus: postcolonialism, anti-positivism, and modernist narrative in Patterson’s oeuvre

This article argues that Orlando Patterson is a key contributor to postcolonial fiction and postcolonial theory as well as historical sociology and social theory, whose work contains crucial lessons for sociology in general. Patterson has coined striking concepts such as social death and human parasitism and made original historical interpretations such as the origins of freedom in the experiences of female slaves. Patterson has contributed to historical knowledge, social theory, and an alternative epistemology of interpretive social science. And through his fiction, he exemplifies an alternative understanding of the metier of the social scientist, in which literary-aesthetic sensuousness and lyrical pleasure are combined with analytic rigor. The first part of the article suggests that Patterson’s work represents an overlooked foundation for postcolonial sociology. Demonstrating this involves reconstructing Patterson’s early intellectual context and then tracing the interplay between fiction and social analysis in his work. The article then analyses Patterson’s fictional writing, arguing that it is a crucial part of his overall production of social knowledge. The article’s final section argues that Patterson’s work lays out a non-positivist foundation for historical sociology and sociology as a whole.
Capitalism as a space of reasons: Analytic, neo-Hegelian Marxism?:

I suggest that we can read Marx in the light of recent analytic, neo-Hegelian thought. I summarize the Pittsburgh School philosophers’ claims about the myth of the given, the claim that human exper...
Machine Learning to Predict Lower Extremity Musculoskeletal Injury Risk in Student Athletes.

Injury rates in student athletes are high and often unpredictable. Injury risk factors are not agreed upon and often not validated. Here, we present a random-forest machine learning methodology for identifying the most significant injury risk factors and develop a model of lower extremity musculoskeletal injury risk in student athletes with physical performance metrics spanning joint strength measured with force transducers, postural stability measured using a force plate, and flexibility, measured with a goniometer, combined with previous injury metrics and athlete demographics. We tested our model in a population of 122 student athletes with performance metrics for the lower extremity musculoskeletal system and achieved an injury risk accuracy of 79% and identified significant injury risk factors, that could be used to increase accuracy of injury risk assessments, implement timely interventions, and decrease the number of career-ending or chronic injuries among student athletes.
State Medical Board Policy and Opioid Prescribing: A Controlled Interrupted Time Series

Introduction In March 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued opioid prescribing guidelines for chronic noncancer pain. In response, in April 2016, the North Carolina Medical Board launched the Safe Opioid Prescribing Initiative, an investigative program intended to limit the overprescribing of opioids. This study focuses on the association of the Safe Opioid Prescribing Initiative with immediate and sustained changes in opioid prescribing among all patients who received opioid and opioid discontinuation and tapering among patients who received high-dose (>90 milligrams of morphine equivalents), long-term (>90 days) opioid therapy. Methods Controlled and single interrupted time series analysis of opioid prescribing outcomes before and after the implementation of Safe Opioid Prescribing Initiative was conducted using deidentified data from the North Carolina Controlled Substances Reporting System from January 2010 through March 2017. Analysis was conducted in 2019–2020. Results In an average study month, 513,717 patients, including patients who received 47,842 high-dose, long-term opioid therapy, received 660,912 opioid prescriptions at 1.3 prescriptions per patient. There was a 0.52% absolute decline (95% CI= −0.87, −0.19) in patients receiving opioid prescriptions in the month after Safe Opioid Prescribing Initiative implementation. Abrupt discontinuation, rapid tapering, and gradual tapering of opioids among patients who received high-dose, long-term opioid therapy increased by 1% (95% CI= −0.22, 2.23), 2.2% (95% CI=0.91, 3.47), and 1.3% (95% CI=0.96, 1.57), respectively, in the month after Safe Opioid Prescribing Initiative implementation. Conclusions Although Safe Opioid Prescribing Initiative implementation was associated with an immediate decline in overall opioid prescribing, it was also associated with an unintended immediate increase in discontinuations and rapid tapering among patients who received high-dose, long-term opioid therapy. Better policy communication and prescriber education regarding opioid tapering best practices may help mitigate unintended consequences of statewide policies.
Total Femur Antibiotic Spacers: Effective Salvage for Complex Periprosthetic Joint Infections.

Abstract Background A simultaneous periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) of an ipsilateral hip and knee arthroplasty is a challenging complication of lower extremity reconstructive surgery. We evaluated the use of total femur antibiotic-impregnated polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement spacers in the staged treatment of such limb-threatening PJIs. Methods Thirteen patients were treated with a total femur antibiotic spacer. The mean age at the time of spacer placement was 65 years. Nine patients had polymicrobial PJIs. All spacers incorporated vancomycin (3.0 g/40 g PMMA) and gentamicin (3.6 g/40 g PMMA), while 8 also included amphotericin (150 mg/40 g PMMA). Eleven spacers were biarticular. Twelve spacers were implanted through one longitudinal incision, while 8 of 12 reimplantations occurred through 2 smaller, separate hip and knee incisions. Mean follow-up after reimplantation was 3 years. Results Twelve (92%) patients underwent reimplantation of a total femur prosthesis at a mean of 26 weeks. One patient died of medical complications 41 days after spacer placement. At latest follow-up, 3 patients had experienced PJI recurrence managed with irrigation and debridement. One required acetabular component revision for instability. All 12 reimplanted patients retained the total femur prosthesis with no amputations. Eleven (91%) were ambulatory, and 7 (58%) remained on suppressive antibiotics. Conclusion Total femur antibiotic spacers are a viable, but technically demanding, limb-salvage option for complex PJIs involving the ipsilateral hip and knee. In the largest series to date, there were no amputations and 75% of reimplanted patients remained infection-free. Radical debridement, antimicrobial diversity, prolonged spacer retention, and limiting recurrent soft tissue violation are potential tenets of success. Level of Evidence IV.
Adult-Onset ADHD: A Critical Analysis and Alternative Explanations

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized as a neurodevelopmental disorder. However, data from several recent studies suggest that there may be adults who meet current criteria for ADHD, yet did not experience symptoms until adulthood (i.e., "adult-onset ADHD"). This systematic review evaluated and synthesized the empirical evidence on adult-onset ADHD to answer the question: Is the extant literature strong enough to evaluate adult-onset ADHD? Nine studies met strict inclusion/exclusion criteria. Results suggest that the methodologies of the extant studies were not strong enough to evaluate adult-onset ADHD. Insufficient methodologies provide presently unclear information about the nature of late-onset symptoms. These symptoms seem to exist but their source could be (1) adult-emergent symptoms that were previously surpassed due to lower environmental demands/supportive facilitators, (2) mimics that were not properly assessed, or (3) childhood-onset symptoms that were not detected earlier due to failure to come to clinical attention. Future directions, clinical recommendations, and limitations of the literature and the current review are discussed.
The Concept of Capacity

The recent stress test of American governance raises questions of administrative capacity, a concept that runs the risk of oversimplification. Capacity has induced wide-ranging studies in organization, public administration, and political science. Synthesizing the ideas from the literature and anchoring them in the knowledge of American political development let us arrive at a definition that captures the complex challenges of modern administration. In this chapter's theoretical foray, the core dimensions of capacity and resilience as the goal of capacity building are identified and set against the backdrop of political change.
Can Omics Help in Prognostic Machine Learning Interpretability

Purpose/Objective(s) This study aims to address a question on the potential role of omics in machine learning (ML) interpretability. Materials/Methods We performed a retrospective study to investigate the association between clinical features and overall survival (OS) in 778 patients with stage III or IV head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), who participated in the RTOG 0522 randomized trial, by using an interpretable ML model known as the Explainable Boosting Machine (EBM). By extracting and adding omics (radiomics and dosiomics) features to the clinical features, we attempted to determine the potential role of omics with respect to the interpretability of the ML model for predicting OS. Results The EBM model showed clear details of the contribution of each feature to OS prediction and supported the primary findings in RTOG 0522 that the primary tumor site, N2b-3 category, T4 tumor, smoking history ≥ 10 pack-years of cigarette, age > 50 years, and Zubrod performance status are strong predictors of poor OS. The interpretable model also predicted a 2-year survival with 69% and a 5-year survival with 72% in accuracy in the test dataset, despite not having certain critical features such as human papillomavirus status due to significant missing values. The performance of the EBM model for predicting 2-year and 5-year survival achieved the area under the curve of 0.69 and 0.73, respectively. When dosiomics information was added to the dose-volume histogram parameters, we observed a clearer trend in the model's explanations on risk scores for clinical features, illustrating that omics could promote the development of personalized medicine. Conclusion Our findings contribute to the evidence that the addition of omics in prognostic models can improve ML interpretability.
The regulator of G-protein signaling 18 regulates platelet aggregation, hemostasis and thrombosis.

Abstract Regulators of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins are known to interact with and negatively regulate/turn-off G protein activation. RGS18 is identified as an R4 subfamily member of this family with specific expression in hematopoietic progenitors, myeloerythroid cells, megakaryocytes and platelets. Studies focused on understanding its function in platelet biology have been limited, in part, due to lack of pharmacological inhibitors. Thus, the present study investigated the function of RGS18 in platelets, using the RGS18 knockout mouse model (RGS18 −/− ). We identified phenotypic differences between RGS18 −/− and wild-type (WT) mice, and show that RGS18 plays a significant role in hemostasis and thrombosis. Hence, RGS18 deficiency markedly shortened bleeding as well as occlusion times ( in vivo ). Furthermore, RGS18 −/− platelets displayed hyper-responsiveness with regards to agonist induced aggregation ( in vitro ). This gain of function phenotype may serve as the mechanism or explain, at least in part, the enhanced hemostasis and thrombosis phenotype observed in the RGS18 deletion mice. Collectively, our findings provide valuable insight and highlight a critical and direct role for RGS18 in modulating platelet function.
Sexual Health Concerns Among Cancer Survivors: Testing a Novel Information-Need Measure Among Breast and Prostate Cancer Patients

While it is recognized that cancer treatment can contribute to problems in sexual function, much less is currently known about the specific sexual health concerns and information needs of cancer survivors. This study tested a new instrument to measure cancer survivors’ sexual health concerns and needs for sexual information after cancer treatment. The Information on Sexual Health: Your Needs after Cancer (InSYNC), developed by a multidisciplinary team of experts, is a novel 12-item questionnaire to measure sexual health concerns and information needs of cancer survivors. We tested the measure with a sample of breast and prostate cancer survivors. A convenience sample of 114 cancer survivors (58 breast, 56 prostate) was enrolled. Results of the InSYNC questionnaire showed high levels of sexual concern among cancer survivors. Areas of concern differed by cancer type. Prostate cancer survivors were most concerned about being able to satisfy their partners (57 %) while breast cancer survivors were most concerned with changes in how their bodies worked sexually (46 %). Approximately 35 % of all cancer survivors wanted more information about sexual health. Sexual health concerns and unmet information needs are common among breast and prostate cancer survivors, varying in some aspects by type of cancer. Routine screening for sexual health concerns should be included in comprehensive cancer survivorship care to appropriately address health care needs. The InSYNC questionnaire is one tool that may help clinicians identify concerns facing their patients.
Reproducibility of results in preclinical studies: a perspective from the bone field.

The biomedical research enterprise—and the public support for it—is predicated on the belief that discoveries and the conclusions drawn from them can be trusted to build a body of knowledge which will be used to improve human health. As in all other areas of scientific inquiry, knowledge and understanding grow by layering new discoveries upon earlier ones. The process self-corrects and distills knowledge by discarding false ideas and unsubstantiated claims. Although self-correction is inexorable in the long-term, in recent years biomedical scientists and the public alike have become alarmed and deeply troubled by the fact that many published results cannot be reproduced. The chorus of concern reached a high pitch with a recent commentary from the NIH Director, Francis S. Collins, and Principal Deputy Director, Lawrence A. Tabak, and their announcement of specific plans to enhance reproducibility of preclinical research that relies on animal models. In this invited perspective, we highlight the magnitude of the problem across biomedical fields and address the relevance of these concerns to the field of bone and mineral metabolism. We also suggest how our specialty journals, our scientific organizations, and our community of bone and mineral researchers can help to overcome this troubling trend. © 2014 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Qualitative research methods in public administration: Introduction to the symposium

A discussion on including qualitative research methods in the public administration curriculum led to the development of this symposium. Qualitative research goes beyond “non-quantitative” to consider interpretive, non-positivistic and post-modern research. Submitted manuscripts reflect the wide variation in what qualitative methods are and how they are practiced in the study of public administration. This symposium embraces different forms of qualitative research-- case studies approached from an “objectivist” perspective, interpretive experiences, action research, and nonpositivistic, post-modern narrative analysis. Each author included detail about the methodology, in line with prescriptions to judge research quality with information on the process of research. Left for future considerations are such issues as the standards to be applied to such studies and how these research processes are best taught, learned and practiced.
Characterization of F-Box Gene At1g61340 in Abiotic Stress Responses of Arabidopsis thaliana. (LB294)

The Ubiquitin-26S Proteasome System (UPS) degrades key regulatory proteins in eukaryotic cells. Within the UPS, F-box proteins recruit specific targets to an SKIP/CULLIN/F-BOX (SCF) complex for ubi...
Electrospun Ultrafine Fiber Composites Containing Fumed Silica: From Solution Rheology to Materials with Tunable Wetting

Fumed silica (FS) particles with hydrophobic (R805) or hydrophilic (A150) surface functionalities are incorporated in polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers by electrospinning to produce mats with controlled wettability. Rheological measurements are conducted to elucidate the particle–polymer interactions and characterize the system while microscopic and analytic tools are used to examine FS location within both fibers and films to aid in the fundamental understanding of wetting behavior. Unlike traditional polymers, we find these systems to be gel-like, yet electrospinnable; the fumed silica networks break down into smaller aggregates during the electrospinning process and disperse both within and on the surface of the fibers. Composite nanofiber mats containing R805 FS exhibit an apparent contact angle over 130° and remain hydrophobic over 30 min, while similar mats with A150 display rapid surface-wetting with a static contact angle of ∼30°. Wicking experiments reveal that the water absorption properties can be...