cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
DESIGNING ETHICAL PRACTICE IN BIOSURVEILLANCE

Biosurveillance entails the collection and analysis of information needed to provide early warning of outbreaks of infectious disease, both naturally occurring and intentionally introduced. Data derived from repositories containing various types of sensitive information may be required for this purpose, including individually identifiable, copyrighted, and proprietary information. The Project Argus Biosurveillance Doctrine was developed to ensure that ethical and legal principles guide the collection and handling of such information. Project Argus does not, however, use individually identifiable information or any material derived from individually identifiable information for any phase of the project. Further, Project Argus is not used for purposes of law enforcement, counterterrorism, or public health surveillance. This chapter details why and how the doctrine was developed and summarizes its guiding principles and key elements.
Distributed power-management techniques for wireless network video systems

Wireless sensor networks operating on limited energy resources need to be power efficient to extend the system lifetime. This is especially challenging for video sensor networks due to the large volumes of data they need to process in short periods of time. Towards this end, this paper proposes two coordinated power management policies for video sensor networks. These policies are scalable as the system grows and flexible to video parameters and network characteristics. In addition to simulation results, our prototype demonstrates the feasibility of implementing these policies. Finally, the analytical framework we provide gives an upper bound for the achievable sleep fraction and insight into how adjusting select parameters will affect the performance of the power management policies.
Late-lie drinking among women

Abstract Although alcoholism exists among older people, the number of cases is unknown, and many alcoholics, particularly women, are unidentified. Late-onset alcoholism is a risk condition for older women. Nurses are in a strategic position to recognize this underidentified condition and to assist affected women in understanding what caused them to rely on alcohol.
Administration of Combined Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Pertussis Vaccine, Hepatitis B Vaccine, and Haemophilus influenzae Type b (Hib) Vaccine to Infants and Response to a Booster Dose of Hib Conjugate Vaccine

We compared antibody levels following separate but simultaneous administration of diphtheria and tetanus toxoids with acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP) containing pertussis toxoid, filamentous hemagglutinin, and pertactin (PRN); hepatitis B vaccine; and Haemophilus influenzae type b polysaccharide (polyribosylribitol phosphate; PRP) vaccine conjugated to tetanus toxoid (PRP-T) with those following administration of a combination of a DTaP-hepatitis B vaccine-PRP-T to infants at 2, 4, and 6 months of age. The antibody response to a booster dose of PRP conjugate vaccine (CRM197-OS) in infants with low (< 1 microgram/mL) or undetectable (< 0.10 microgram/mL) postpriming levels of antibody to PRP was also studied. Antibody levels were quantitated before and after dose 3 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, radioimmunoassay, or neutralization assay. Seroresponse rates were not different between the two vaccine groups except for rates of response to PRP. There was a trend that levels of antibody to all the antigens included in the combination vaccine were lower than those of antibody to antigens in separate vaccines; for levels of antibody to diphtheria toxoid (P = .001), PRN (P < .0001), and PRP (P < .0001), the differences were significant. Despite low or undetectable postpriming levels of antibody to PRP, high-titered (geometric mean concentration, 9.02 micrograms/mL; range, 1.0-81.5 micrograms/mL), immunoglobulin G-predominant antibody to PRP was produced following a booster dose of CRM197-OS, a finding consistent with a memory response.
Late Cretaceous gravitational collapse of the southern Sierra Nevada batholith, California

The Sierra Nevada batholith is an ∼600-km-long, NNW-trending composite arc assemblage consisting of a myriad of plutons exhibiting a distinct transverse zonation in structural, petrologic, geochronologic, and isotopic patterns. This zonation is most clearly expressed by a west-to-east variation from mafic to felsic plutonic assemblages. South of 35.5°N, the depth of exposure increases markedly, and fragments of shallow-level eastern Sierra Nevada batholith affinity rocks overlie deeper-level western zone rocks and subjacent subduction accretion assemblages along a major Late Cretaceous detachment system. The magnitude of displacement along this detachment system is assessed here by palinspastic reconstruction of vertical piercing points provided by batholithic and metamorphic pendant structure and stratigraphy. Integration of new and published U-Pb zircon geochronologic, thermobarometric, (U-Th)/He thermochronometric, and geochemical data from plutonic and metamorphic framework assemblages in the southern Sierra Nevada batholith reveal seven potential correlations between dispersed crustal fragments and the Sierra Nevada batholith autochthon. Each correlation suggests at least 50 km of south- to southwest-directed transport and tectonic excision of ∼5–10 km of crust along the Late Cretaceous detachment system. The timing and pattern of regional dispersion of crustal fragments in the southern Sierra Nevada batholith is most consistent with Late Cretaceous collapse above the underplated accretionary complex. We infer, from data presented herein (1) a high degree of coupling between the shallow and deep crust during extension, and (2) that the development of modern landscape in southern California was greatly preconditioned by Late Cretaceous tectonics.
Extracellular Matrix as a Bioscaffold for Tissue Engineering

Abstract The present chapter discusses mammalian extracellular matrix (ECM) as a biologic scaffold material for tissue engineering applications. ECM has been used as a surgically implantable bioscaffold for the reconstruction of injured or missing tissues. Biologic scaffolds composed of ECM alter the default mammalian injury response and promote constructive tissue remodeling. The present chapter reviews ECM scaffold preparation and mechanisms of action. Commercially available ECM bioscaffolds as well as recent clinical translations are also discussed.
Effect of native oxide layers on copper thin-film tensile properties: A reactive molecular dynamics study

Metal-oxide layers are likely to be present on metallic nano-structures due to either environmental exposure during use, or high temperature processing techniques such as annealing. It is well known that nano-structured metals have vastly different mechanical properties from bulk metals; however, difficulties in modeling the transition between metallic and ionic bonding have prevented the computational investigation of the effects of oxide surface layers. Newly developed charge-optimized many body [Liang et al., Mater. Sci. Eng., R 74, 255 (2013)] potentials are used to perform fully reactive molecular dynamics simulations which elucidate the effects that metal-oxide layers have on the mechanical properties of a copper thin-film. Simulated tensile tests are performed on thin-films while using different strain-rates, temperatures, and oxide thicknesses to evaluate changes in yield stress, modulus, and failure mechanisms. Findings indicate that copper-thin film mechanical properties are strongly affected by...
PKD signaling and pancreatitis

Background Acute pancreatitis is a serious medical disorder with no current therapies directed to the molecular pathogenesis of the disorder. Inflammation, inappropriate intracellular activation of digestive enzymes, and parenchymal acinar cell death by necrosis are the critical pathophysiologic processes of acute pancreatitis. Thus, it is necessary to elucidate the key molecular signals that mediate these pathobiologic processes and develop new therapeutic strategies to attenuate the appropriate signaling pathways in order to improve outcomes for this disease. A novel serine/threonine protein kinase D (PKD) family has emerged as key participants in signal transduction, and this family is increasingly being implicated in the regulation of multiple cellular functions and diseases.
Modeling Niemann Pick type C1 using human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells

Data generated in Niemann Pick type C1 (NPC1) human embryonic and human induced pluripotent stem cell derived neurons complement on-going studies in animal models and provide the first example, in disease-relevant human cells, of processes that underlie preferential neuronal defects in a NPC1. Our work and that of other investigators in human neurons derived from stem cells highlight the importance of performing rigorous mechanistic studies in relevant cell types to guide drug discovery and therapeutic development, alongside of existing animal models. Through the use of human stem cell-derived models of disease, we can identify and discover or repurpose drugs that revert early events that lead to neuronal failure in NPC1. Together with the study of disease pathogenesis and efficacy of therapies in animal models, these strategies will fulfill the promise of stem cell technology in the development of new treatments for human diseases. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Exploiting human neurons.
Publishing by United States Court of Appeals Judges: Before and After Bork

This article empirically evaluates the publication habits of United States Court of Appeals judges before and after the 1987 Bork hearings by examining publishing trends during the years 1983 to 1992 and then, by performing a multiple regression analysis on the collected data. The analysis shows that publishing by Court of Appeals judges declined significantly following the Bork hearings.
A Century of Municipal Reform in the United States A Legacy of Success, Adaptation, and the Impulse to Improve

In this article, we examine the legacy of four progressive reforms intended to secure “good” government—the model city charter, the council-manager plan, city management professionalism, and bureau...
A Device for Measuring and Recording the Amount and Duration of Free Water on Vegetation in the Field

A portable electronic apparatus was constructed to measure the quantity of moisture and its duration on citrus foliage. It consists of a sensor and recorder in a balanced circuit independently powered with direct current. Current flowing through the sensor was recorded as an impulse on a recording chart. The more moisture on the sensor, within limits, the lower the electrical resistance and the higher the scale deflection. Duration of moisture was determined as the time between the first and last impulses and from the chart speed. A single sensor situated beyond the tree canopy and elevated to about 4 ft above ground simulated overall leaf conditions most closely. Sensors performed adequately for 6 months, but generally were changed after 4 months.
Evolution of a 90-day model of care for bundled episodic payments for congestive heart failure in home care.

ABSTRACTThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center’s Episode-Based Payment initiatives propose a large opportunity to reduce cost from waste and variation and stand to align hospitals, physicians, and postacute providers in the redesign of care that achieves savings and improve quality. Community-based organizations are at the forefront of this care redesign through innovative models of care aimed at bridging gaps in care coordination and reducing hospital readmissions. This article describes a community-based provider’s approach to participation under the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative and a 90-day model of care for congestive heart failure in home care.
Immersive second language acquisition in narrow domains: a prototype ISLAND dialogue system.

Much of the second language acquisition (SLA) scholarship suggests that conversational skills are best acquired through communication in the target language. Although in recent decades communicative approaches to language teaching have seen widespread adoption in the classroom, it remains exceedingly difficult to assign conversational homework with the tools currently available. This reality has created a gap between the way in which foreign language courses are often implemented and the manner in which the SLA theory community might recommend. It is our belief that automatic speech recognition technology in general and spoken dialogue systems in particular have the potential to bridge this gap. In this paper, we lay out some principles behind dialogue system design in this context, and introduce a prototype language learning dialogue system in Mandarin Chinese.
Focusing on Human Responsibility Rather than Legal Personhood for Nonhuman Animals

This essay supports an emphasis on evolving standards of human responsibility for animals’ welfare and critiques the concept of legal personhood for chimpanzees set forth in the plaintiff’s brief in the State of New York Supreme Court, County of New York lawsuit The Nonhuman Rights Project, Inc. v. Lavery. The essay is being published alongside a brief by Professor Laurence Tribe supporting concepts in the lawsuit and alongside the Nonhuman Rights Project’s case brief.
A conceptual model of ego depletion and alcohol-related aggression

Abstract The primary purpose of the current paper is to review existing literature on alcohol-related aggression and propose a cohesive model to advance our understanding of this behavior. Experimental research highlights that a drinker's level of self-control impacts the aggression inducing effects of alcohol, however, assessments used to measure this type of aggression are limited. Extant investigations utilize trait self-control only, neglecting the influence of state self-regulation. Daily variation in self-regulatory demands has been found to inhibit impulse control, however, methodological techniques to assess self-regulation variation have not been applied to help explain alcohol-related aggression. The current paper argues for a conceptual model of alcohol-related aggression that integrates both trait and state levels of regulatory control. The proposed cohesive model is suggested to help explain alcohol consumption, aggressive behavior, and alcohol-related aggression. Recommendations for testing the model as well as implications of the model are discussed.
Strategies of Spontaneous, Divergent, and Academic Art Students

(1963). Strategies of Spontaneous, Divergent, and Academic Art Students. Studies in Art Education: Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 20-41.
Improving Performance Metrics of Ultraviolet Photodissociation Mass Spectrometry by Selective Precursor Ejection.

Confident protein identifications derived from high-throughput bottom-up and top-down proteomics workflows depend on acquisition of thousands of tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) spectra with adequate signal-to-noise and accurate mass assignments of the fragment ions. Ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) using 193 nm photons has proven to be well-suited for activation and fragmentation of peptides and proteins in ion trap mass spectrometers, but the spectral signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) is typically lower than that obtained from collisional activation methods. The lower S/N is attributed to the dispersion of ion current among numerous fragment ion channels (a,b,c,x,y,z ions). In addition, frequently UVPD is performed such that a relatively large population of precursor ions remains undissociated after the UV photoactivation period in order to prevent overdissociation into small uninformative or internal fragment ions. Here we report a method to improve spectral S/N and increase the accuracy of mass assignme...
Facilitating the delivery of patient-centered cancer care: Insights from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute's (PCORI) cancer portfolio.

e18234Background: PCORI funds comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) that aims to produce evidence-based information to help people make informed health care decisions and improve outcom...
An agglutinative reaction for hemophilus pertussis: II. Its relation to clinical immunity

Summary The relationship between clinical immunity and the agglutinin titerin children given H. pertussis vaccines was studied over a period of four years. Periodic tests in a group of 554 children were made. Seventy-nine indoor exposures, twenty-four of which were familial, occurred. Ten cases of pertussis (six from familial exposures) resulted. Among the sixty-nine individuals who escaped, the last agglutinative titer prior to exposure varied from 0 to 1:2560. Forty-six had titers of 1:320 or higher. Among the ten individuals who were attacked with pertussis, the pre-exposure titers varied from 0 to 1:160. These observations suggest that whereas immunity may exist in the absence of demonstrable agglutinins, susceptibility does not occur in the presence of agglutinins in high titer. The clinical application of these findings is discussed.
Discovering Patterns of Collaboration for Recommendation.

Collaboration between research scientists, particularly those with diverse backgrounds, is a driver of scientific innovation. However, finding the right collaborator is often an unscientific process that is subject to chance. This paper explores recommending collaborators based on repeating patterns of previous successful collaboration experiences, what we term prototypical collaborations. We investigate a method for discovering such prototypes to use them as a basis to guide the recommendation of new collaborations. To this end, we also examine two methods for matching collaboration seekers to these prototypical collaborations. Our initial studies reveal that though promising, improving collaborations through recommendation is a complex goal.
The improbable city: adaptations of an Arctic metropolis

ABSTRACTStarting as a remote and isolated Soviet Arctic outpost in the 1920s, development of Norilsk occurred rapidly after the discovery of vast amounts of nickel and other metal ores. Despite being located in one of the most extreme cold climates on Earth, the city's population increased from a few hundred to over 180,000 over the course of about 50 years, making it the largest and most densely inhabited Arctic city built on permafrost. Serving as a de facto full-scale Arctic laboratory for architecture, urban design, and construction techniques, progress occurred at great cost to the workers and prisoners who built the city. The result – a hybrid of socialist classicism and modernist architecture and city planning adapted to extreme conditions – is in many ways as improbable and extreme as the Arctic environment itself. But beneath the apparently singular and uncompromising form of Norilsk lies an important legacy of effort to create a functional, efficient, and livable city in the Arctic. In this arti...
Robert e. collin: A tribute to his professional accomplishents

Robert E. Collin was a distinguished university researcher and educator. He made significant research contributions in antenna theory and microwave engineering and he is widely known for his classic textbooks on field theory of guided waves, microwave engineering foundations and antenna theory.
Landscape physiognomy influences abundance of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (Ixodida: Ixodidae), in Ozark forests.

The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum Linnaeus (Ixodida: Ixodidae), is emerging as an important human disease vector in the United States. While some recent studies have modeled broad-scale (regional or county-level) distribution patterns of A. americanum, less is known about how local-scale habitat characteristics drive A. americanum abundance. Such local-scale information is vital to identify targets for tick population control measures within land management units. We investigated how habitat features predict host-seeking A. americanum adult and nymph abundance within a 12-ha oak-hickory forest plot in the Missouri Ozarks. We trapped ticks using CO2-baited traps at 40 evenly spaced locations for three 24-h periods during the summer of 2015, and we measured biotic and abiotic variables surrounding each location. Of 2,008 A. americanum captured, 1,009 were nymphs, and 999 were adults. We observed spatial heterogeneity in local tick abundance (min = 0 ticks, max = 112 ticks, mean = 16.7 ticks per trap night). Using generalized linear mixed models, we found that both nymphs and adults had greater abundance in valleys as well as on northern-facing aspects. Moreover, nymph abundance was negatively related to temperature variance, while adult abundance had a negative relationship with elevation. These results demonstrate that managers in this region may be able to predict local tick abundance through simple physiognomic factors and use these parameters for targeted management action.
Cauda Equina Syndrome and Neurogenic Claudication

Cauda equina syndrome and neurogenic claudication are two medical entities that result from the compression of the lumbosacral nerve roots. Neurogenic claudication mainly causes pain radiating down the legs, weakness, numbness, and tingling in the lower extremities. The cauda equina syndrome usually manifests rapid onset of saddle anesthesia, urinary and bowel sphincter dysfunction, severe bilateral sciatic pain, and significant bilateral weakness. In both diseases, magnetic resonance imaging helps to identify the source of nerve compression. If conservative treatment fails, patients with neurogenic claudication tend to fare well when treated with lumbar laminectomy. In cauda equine syndrome, early identification cannot be overemphasized because prompt surgery is required.
Primary Endoscopic Dacryocystorhinostomy

Many patients present to the specialist complaining of tearing. Although a variety of etiologies have been associated with epiphora, nasolacrimal duct obstructions are one of the most common. Blockage of the nasolacrimal system can be associated with chronic tearing, discharge, and irritation, which are often quite debilitating. A dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) creates an alternate passageway between the lacrimal sac and nasal cavity, thus bypassing the obstructed nasolacrimal duct. DCR can be performed either by an external approach that utilizes a cutaneous incision, or through an endoscopic approach, which includes an incision in the nasal cavity. An endonasal approach was initially described by Caldwell in 1893 [1]. Shortly thereafter, Toti described an external approach in 1904 [1].
Primary T-cell-rich B-cell lymphoma of the ethmoid sinus. A case report with 5 years of follow-up.

c T-cell‐rich B-cell lymphoma (TCRBCL) is an uncommon and recently recognized variant of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma characterized by a few large neoplastic B cells amid a predominant population of reactive T lymphocytes and variable numbers of histiocytes. Morphologically, TCRBCL resembles a variety of non-Hodgkin lymphomas and Hodgkin disease. Accurate diagnosis and proper treatment are essential to assure a favorable prognosis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of ethmoid sinus presentation of TCRBCL in an Epstein-Barr virus‐negative 51year-old man. Combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy were administered based on the correct diagnosis. The patient has had a complete response with no recurrence during the 5-year follow-up. (Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2000;124:1213‐1216)
INTERACTION BETWEEN KETONE-BODY AND CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM IN PERIPHERAL TISSUE

ABSTRACT Ketone bodies inhibit glucose uptake and glycolysis in heart; however, they have not been demonstrated to alter these processes in the perfused rat hindquarter, a preparation composed predominantly of skeletal muscle. The hind-quarter contains a mixture of slow- and fast-twitch red and white muscle fibers. To explore the possibility that ketone bodies inhibit glucose utilization and glycolysis only in some of these fibers, the effect of acetoacetate on glucose metabolism was studied in incubated soleus (85% slow-twitch red) and extensor digitorum longus (50% white, 50% fast-twitch red) muscles. When the soleus was incubated with insulin and 5 mM glucose, acetoacetate inhibited glucose uptake, stimulated glycogen formation and caused an increase in tissue citrate, exactly as it does in heart. Likewise, glycolysis was inhibited at the level of phosphofructokinase. Except for a small increase in citrate, these effects were not observed in the extensor digitorum longus. Basal rates of glycolysis were five times greater in the incubated muscles than in either resting muscle in vivo or in the perfused hind-quarter. When glucose was omitted from the medium bathing the soleus, its rate of glycolysis was similar to that of the perfused hindquarter and acetoacetate failed to affect either the rate of glycolysis or the tissue concentration of citrate. Tissue malate was also diminished. In conclusion, the data suggest that (1) acetoacetate inhibits glucose uptake and glycolysis only in red muscle, and (2) that the accumulation of citrate by the soleus is linked to the rate of glycolysis, possibly through several mechanisms. In this respect, glycolysis appears to be autoregulatory.
Endogenous Substances as Drugs

Cytokines are the protein products of cells which regulate proliferation, differentiation and functional activation. The potent biological properties of these proteins have led to their introduction into clinical medicine as pharmacological agents. The cytokines most studied to date include the interferons, some of the interleukins and the haematopoietic growth factors. Although they have most often been studied in cancer patients, widespread application of these agents in many other fields is likely. Despite the fact that these are recombinant proteins of defined sequence, their intricate biology complicates clinical investigation. Proteins may be of native or mutated sequence and their degree of glycosylation is further affected by the expression system used for their production. Furthermore, although these cytokines interact with specific cell surface receptors, pleotropic biological consequences may follow from the interaction of ligand with receptors. As a consequence, significant dose and schedule dependency exists for these agents, and the particular administration regimen as well as the route of delivery may greatly affect the biological and clinical characteristics of these drugs. Thus, direct comparisons of different cytokine problems may be difficult. These issues reinforce the need for increased biological understanding of cytokines if these agents are to be used rationally and safely in clinical medicine.
International Cartels and Bilateral Trade An Empirical Investigation

This study evaluates the eect of international cartels on the volume of bilateral trade by relying on the gravity model of trade and the Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimator. Using a rich cartel data set that contains information on 170 discovered and prosecuted international cartels as well as the most disaggregated bilateral trade data for all OECD countries for the period from 1988 until 2012, I estimate the eect of each cartel on trade individually and find that the impact of cartels on international trade flows is quite heterogeneous across and within sectors. About 50% of the cartels in my sample exert a statistically significant eect on international trade with approximately half of these eects being positive. In a
A Survey of Consumers’ Perceptions Toward Medical Tourism (2011 Study)

This paper identified demographic groups who are likely to participate in medical tourism and further identified three components (risk-related, social-related, vacation-related) that explain their motivation to travel abroad for treatment. Street-intercept sampling was conducted in six locations in southeastern North Carolina between June to December of 2010. Respondents provided 522 samples, which included socio-economic data and data about their perceptions toward medical tourism. The paper tested several hypotheses about Americans' motivation to use medical tourism by regressing the three components to various demographic variables. Among the paper's major findings are: The uninsured, low-income, and Black consumers are more sensitive to risk-related factors than the well-insured, middle- to high-income groups, and white consumers; The older and the married consumers are more motivated by social-related factors than the young adults aged 18-21 and single (never married); Surprisingly, the more proficient one is in a foreign language, the less one is motivated by social-related factors. This study can help medical tourism agents to refine their marketing strategies and the employers and insurance companies to better partner with foreign healthcare providers to encourage participation in medical tourism. Medical tourism has the potential to ease the strain the healthcare systems of developed countries and to restrain healthcare inflation. How well it does this will depend on how policy makers address these various factors.
Individual gender and group gender composition as predictors of differential benefit from mindfulness-based relapse prevention for substance use disorders.

Mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) is an effective group-based aftercare treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs), yet few studies have examined moderators of MBRP efficacy. This secondary data analysis evaluated individual gender and group gender composition (e.g., proportion of women relative to men in each therapy group) as treatment moderators of MBRP. The analysis sample included 186 individuals with SUDs randomized to MBRP or relapse prevention (RP) as an aftercare treatment. Outcomes included number of heavy drinking days and drug use days at the 12-month follow-up. There were no treatment moderation effects for models with heavy drinking days as the outcome (all ps > .05). Group gender composition, but not individual gender, moderated the effect of treatment condition on drug use days (p < .01). Individuals who received MBRP had significantly fewer drug use days at 12 months than those who received RP, but only among individuals in therapy groups comprising one-third or more women (p < 0.0001). Specifically, all women and men who received MBRP in groups with one third or more women were abstinent from drugs at month 12, whereas those in RP groups with one third or more women had an average of about eight drug use days at month 12 (corresponding to a large between-treatment condition effect size). Group-based MBRP may be more efficacious than group-based RP, particularly when women compose at least one third of the therapy group. Further research is warranted on gender and group gender composition as moderators of MBRP.
Efficacy and Safety of Crisaborole Ointment, 2%, for the Treatment of Mild-to-Moderate Atopic Dermatitis Across Racial and Ethnic Groups

Atopic dermatitis is highly prevalent in black/African American, Asian, and Hispanic patients, making assessment of these populations in clinical trials important. Crisaborole ointment, 2%, is a nonsteroidal phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor for the treatment of mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis. In two pivotal phase III clinical trials in patients aged ≥ 2 years, crisaborole was superior to vehicle in reducing global disease severity. The most common treatment-related adverse event was application site pain. The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of crisaborole according to patient race and ethnicity. A pooled post hoc analysis by race and ethnicity of the two pivotal trials and a safety extension trial was performed. Race included white or nonwhite (encompassing Asian/native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander, black/African American, and other/American Indian/Alaskan native); ethnicity included Hispanic/Latino or not Hispanic/Latino. In white, nonwhite, Hispanic/Latino, and not Hispanic/Latino groups at day 29, more crisaborole- than vehicle-treated patients achieved improvements in global disease severity [Investigator’s Static Global Assessment of clear/almost clear with a ≥ 2-grade improvement (white: 33.5% vs. 22.3%, nominal p < 0.001; nonwhite: 30.0% vs. 21.3%, nominal p < 0.05; Hispanic/Latino: 35.4% vs. 18.2%, nominal p < 0.01; not Hispanic/Latino: 31.3% vs. 22.8%, nominal p < 0.01)]. Crisaborole treatment also improved atopic dermatitis signs/symptoms and quality of life. Frequency of crisaborole-related adverse events was 7.1–8.5% in the pivotal trials. Across races and ethnicities, crisaborole demonstrated efficacy for the treatment of mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis, with a low frequency of treatment-related adverse events.
The People’s College: A Review of Local Community College Governing Boards through the Lens of Descriptive Representation

ABSTRACTThis article examines the long-overlooked governmental body, the local community college governing board, through the lens of descriptive representation, to assess what variables are associ...
Tickborne Diseases in Children in the United States

1. Jennifer S. Read, MD, MS, MPH, DTM&H*,† 1. *Department of Pediatrics, University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT 2. †Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Vermont Department of Health, Burlington, VT * Abbreviations: CSF: : cerebrospinal fluid EM: : erythema chronicum migrans IFA: : immunofluorescent antibody Ig: : immunoglobulin RMSF: : Rocky Mountain spotted fever PCR: : polymerase chain reaction The most common tick-borne infections in the United States are Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and babesiosis. The epidemiology of these infections in the United States is integrally related to the geographic distribution and seasonality of the tick vector of each of the infections. Because these infections can be very serious and sometimes fatal, and because of the inherent delay in obtaining laboratory confirmation (especially with serologic assays requiring acute and convalescent titers), considering early implementation of empirical treatment based on the patient’s clinical presentation is extremely important. Prevention of acquisition of tick-borne diseases requires avoiding tick-infested areas or, if this is not possible or desired, implementing steps to decrease the likelihood of tick bites and the duration of tick attachment. After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Understand the etiologic organisms and the associated ticks responsible for transmission, the geographic distribution of and the reported infections associated with the ticks in the United States, and the seasonality and incubation periods of tick-borne infections in the United States. 2. Recognize the clinical manifestations and laboratory abnormalities associated with the infections, especially as they relate to children. 3. Plan for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of these infections. Vector-borne diseases, caused by microorganisms transmitted by insects and ticks, are major causes of morbidity and mortality globally. In the United States, vector-borne diseases are occurring more frequently and represent a significant public health concern. (1) The numbers of reported vector-borne disease cases in the United States (tick-borne, mosquito-borne, and flea-borne diseases) are shown in Table 1. (1) The reported incidence of vector-borne diseases most likely significantly underestimates the actual occurrence …
Gridlock Economy: How Too Much Ownership Wrecks Markets, Stops Innovation, and Costs Lives (Introduction)

Twenty-five new runways would eliminate most air travel delays in America; fifty patent owners are blocking a major drug company from creating a cancer cure; 90 percent of our broadcast spectrum sits idle while American cell phone service suffers. These problems have solutions that can jump-start innovation and help save our troubled economy. So, what's holding us back?
Mitigating the Bias in Empathy Detection

Different levels of human emotion detection and analysis is the basis of affective computing. To facilitate the research there has been extensive work in collecting and analysing huge amount of data. Many times, when collecting data, bias can be present (e.g, gender, ethnicity, age). Considering this my research will identify the factors on which bias is based and develop approaches and datasets to mitigate some of this bias. I am currently investigating the influence of action units on emotions and how they can be used for accurately recognising emotions and vice versa. In this paper, I detail why understanding biases is important, my overall research vision, a plan for my research moving forward, and I conclude with future work, challenges, and potential solutions to solve them.
Perturbation of Nuclear Hormone Receptors by Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: Mechanisms and Pathological Consequences of Exposure

Much of the early work on Nuclear Hormone Receptors (NHRs) focused on their essential roles as mediators of sex steroid hormone signaling in reproductive development and function, and thyroid hormone-dependent formation of the central nervous system. However, as NHRs display tissue-specific distributions and activities, it is not surprising that they are involved and vital in numerous aspects of human development and essential for homeostasis of all organ systems. Much attention has recently been focused on the role of NHRs in energy balance, metabolism, and lipid homeostasis. Dysregulation of NHR function has been implicated in numerous pathologies including cancers, metabolic obesity and syndrome, Type II diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, hyperlipidemia, male and female infertility and other reproductive disorders. This review will discuss the dysregulation of NHR function by environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), and the associated pathological consequences of exposure in numerous tissues and organ systems, as revealed by experimental, clinical, and epidemiological studies.
Optimization of a liquid-phase plasma discharge process for biodiesel synthesis from pure oleic acid

Abstract A novel liquid phase plasma discharge (LPPD) process was developed and optimized for converting pure oleic acid to biodiesel. Independent variables including weight ratio of H2SO4 to oleic acid (CAT, %) at 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4% and the methanol to oleic acid molar ratio (MOMR) at 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 were chosen and examined. Central Composite Design (CCD) coupled with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used for optimizing the conversion rate, Rconv. Results showed that in 4 min treatment, the LPPD process could achieve an optimal Rconv of 80.78% at CAT 2.38% and MOMR 8.02. Also, Rconv was found to be affected significantly by the CAT (p = 0.0039), but not by MOMR (p = 0.9027). A quadratic regression model for adequately describing the LPPD process performance was established with a p value of 0.0022. The uncertainty analysis further confirmed the model accuracy within a low error range of from 1.2% to 0.66% of the modeled value within examined CAT and MOMR ranges. The data suggested that the novel LPPD process could break the current status quo of lacking effective techniques to convert substrates containing high levels of FFAs to biodiesel.
Common and Co-Occurring Symptoms Experienced by Patients With Gastric Cancer.

Problem identification Patients with gastric cancer experience multiple disease- and treatment-related symptoms. The purpose of this review was to describe the common and co-occurring symptoms experienced by patients with gastric cancer. Literature search Search terms, such as gastric cancer, symptoms, and experience, were used to search PubMed®, CINAHL®, and PsycINFO® for empirical papers published from January 1990 to July 2019. Data evaluation The search yielded 1,259 articles; 25 studies (21 observational and 4 interventional) were included in this review. Each study was systematically evaluated. Synthesis The most common symptoms were categorized into physical and affective/cognitive domains. Three to 17 (median = 7) symptoms occurred concurrently. The severity of most symptoms was reported as mild to moderate. However, patients experienced varying levels of symptom severity following treatment trajectories. Older age, female gender, advanced cancer stage, low socioeconomic status, and total gastrectomy were associated with a greater number and severity of symptoms. Implications for practice Future research of symptom clusters may clarify the phenotypes and relationship between multiple co-occurring symptoms in patients with gastric cancer to develop targeted interventions that support symptom self-management for this population.
Radial Basis Function Network: Its Robustness and Ability to Mitigate Adversarial Examples

this work is a continuation of an ongoing effort to increase the robustness of the deep neural network, and thus mitigate possible adversarial examples. In our previous work, the emphasis was placed on denoising the input dataset by adding colored noise before processing. In that work, the evaluation made with the empirical robustness score, resulted in a 1% improvement on average for individual noise and a 3.74% improvement on average for ensemble noise. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the effective robustness of a well-designed radial basis function neural network in tackling adversarial examples. With the empirical robustness as a metric, the results show a 72.5% increase with Fast Gradient Sign Method (FGSM) attack on the MNIST dataset in comparison to a simple deep network and a 6.4 % increase with FGSM on the CIFAR10 dataset.
In Reply: Protective Effects of Obstructive Sleep Apnea on Outcomes After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Nationwide Analysis.

Background Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is typically associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Recent studies, however, have suggested that hypercapnia and chronic intermittent hypoxia may potentially provide protection against ischemic events like stroke. Objective To evaluate the impact of OSA with presentation, hospital course, and treatment outcomes of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Methods Data for patients with SAH between the years 2011 and 2015 were extracted from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) and stratified based on diagnosis codes for OSA. Univariate analysis was used to assess the prevalence of comorbidities in OSA patients diagnosed with SAH and several covariates, including patient demographics, aneurysmal treatment, in-hospital morality rate, length of stay, and costs. Multivariate logistic regression models analyzed the relationship between several comorbidities, including OSA, tobacco use, and hypertension, and poor outcomes after SAH. Results Data from 49 265 SAH patients were used in this study, of which 2408 (4.9%) also had a concomitant OSA diagnosis. Patients with OSA compared to all other SAH patients had a significantly lower in-hospital mortality rate, as well as statistically significant lower odds of vasospasm, stroke, and poor outcomes. Additionally, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, and tobacco use disorder were also associated with more favorable outcomes. Conclusion SAH patients with OSA are significantly less likely to have a poor outcome when compared to non-OSA patients, despite having an increased risk of several comorbidities.
Secure XSEDE Information APIs

Modern research increasingly relies on network accessible data, execution, security, and information access digital services. These services often provide web based user interfaces and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). By invoking APIs software developers can create increasingly advanced research enhancing digital services. For example, researchers can access Science Gateways and Portals using a web browser to do analysis, simulations, machine learning, and visualizations that seamlessly combines gateway functionality with remote API accessible digital services. XSEDE’s Mission is to “Substantially enhance the productivity of a growing community of scholars, researchers, and engineers through access to advanced digital services that support open research; and coordinate and add significant value to the leading cyberinfrastructure resources funded by the NSF and other agencies.”. The XSEDE Cyberinfrastructure Integration (XCI) team’s mission is to “integrate, adapt, and disseminate software tools and related services across the national CI community… and to enable the creation of an integrated national cyberinfrastructure.” XCI introduces two new secure XSEDE information access APIs and propose that the OAuth 2.0 API security they use can accelerate development of powerful research enhancing digital services by breaking down services-to-service interactions barriers.
Sarcopenia is Associated with Nonunion of Open Tibia and Ankle Fractures.

Background Sarcopenia is a clinical syndrome of diminished muscle mass and function associated with disability, poor surgical outcomes, and mortality. Open fractures of the tibia and ankle have a high risk for complications including nonunion and surgical site infection (SSI). The purpose of this study is to determine if sarcopenia is associated with SSI and nonunion in individuals that sustain open fractures of the tibia and ankle. Methods 111 consecutive adults who underwent operative fixation of open fractures of the tibia or ankle from 2006-2017 with preoperative CT of the abdomen and pelvis were retrospectively identified at a single institution. Eleven patients were lost to follow-up. The psoas index (PI = (RPA+LPA)/ height2 (cm2/m2)) was calculated from bilateral psoas cross sectional areas measured on axial CT scans at the L3 pedicle. Patients were stratified by the presence of sarcopenia as defined by established gender specific PI cut-offs of Results 16/100 (16%) patients met gender specific criteria for the diagnosis of sarcopenia by PI. There was no difference in gender, age, or burden of medical comorbidity according to CCI between the sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic groups (all p>0.05). Nonunion occurred in 6 patients with sarcopenia (38%) and 12 without sarcopenia (18%) (Relative risk=2.42, 95%C!=1.08-5.43, p=0.0314). No association was found between sarcopenia and SSI, BMI, smoking status, ISS, and Gustilo and Anderson (GA) classification of open fracture (all p>0.2). GA classification was strongly associated with infection, with each successive classification having a nearly 3-fold increase in risk (p=0.0217). Conclusion Sarcopenia is an independent risk factor for fracture nonunion following operative fixation of open tibia or ankle fracture, but is not predictive of surgical site infection. Gustilo Anderson classification is strongly associated with SSI risk. Psoas index is a straightforward and objective method of identifying sarcopenia in patients with open fractures. Diagnosing sarcopenia in these individuals can inform medical decision making and patient counseling regarding risk for nonunion. Further work is needed to identify effective interventions to improve outcomes in these patients.Level of Evidence: III.