cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparative genomics of two closely related Wolbachia with different reproductive effects on hosts

Wolbachia pipientis are obligate intracellular bacteria commonly found in many arthropods. They can induce various reproductive alterations in hosts, including cytoplasmic incompatibility, male-killing, feminization, and parthenogenetic development, and can provide host protection against some viruses and other pathogens. Wolbachia differ from many other primary endosymbionts in arthropods because they undergo frequent horizontal transmission between hosts and are well known for an abundance of mobile elements and relatively high recombination rates. Here, we compare the genomes of two closely related Wolbachia (with 0.57% genome-wide synonymous divergence) that differ in their reproductive effects on hosts. wVitA induces a sperm–egg incompatibility (also known as cytoplasmic incompatibility) in the parasitoid insect Nasonia vitripennis, whereas wUni causes parthenogenetic development in a different parasitoid, Muscidifurax uniraptor. Although these bacteria are closely related, the genomic comparison reveals rampant rearrangements, protein truncations (particularly in proteins predicted to be secreted), and elevated substitution rates. These changes occur predominantly in the wUni lineage, and may be due in part to adaptations by wUni to a new host environment, or its phenotypic shift to parthenogenesis induction. However, we conclude that the approximately 8-fold elevated synonymous substitution rate in wUni is due to a either an elevated mutation rate or a greater number of generations per year in wUni, which occurs in semitropical host species. We identify a set of genes whose loss or pseudogenization in the wUni lineage implicates them in the phenotypic shift from cytoplasmic incompatibility to parthenogenesis induction. Finally, comparison of these closely related strains allows us to determine the fine-scale mutation patterns in Wolbachia. Although Wolbachia are AT rich, mutation probabilities estimated from 4-fold degenerate sites are not AT biased, and predict an equilibrium AT content much less biased than observed (57–50% AT predicted vs. 76% current content at degenerate sites genome wide). The contrast suggests selection for increased AT content within Wolbachia genomes.
How to build simple inexpensive biofeedback systems. Suggestion from the field.

Biofeedback used selectively can be a valuable adjunct to a physical therapy program. Biofeedback systems can be electronically sophisticated and can report immediate changes in the body such as muscle electrical activity, respiration, blood pressure, and heart rate. Less complex feedback systems have been designed to indicate limb loading pressures,* heel contact during gait, and head position in space.†,‡ Other effective, yet electronically simple, inexpensive feedback systems can be constructed easily by the inexperienced person. These simple feedback systems can be used to reinforce desired behaviors such as head or trunk position and heel contact at initial stance or to encourage active movement in the severely developmentally disabled person. The systems can also be used to remind a patient not to bear weight or load a certain structure, move a joint too much, or sit in a harmful posture.
Design of LED Power Supply Based on Single-ended Primary Inductance Converter

The converter of single-ended primary inductance converter(SEPIC)topology structure with high efficiency can achieve boost and buck,so it is used as the driving power for LED.Firstly,the requirements of the power driving LED are discussed,and the working principles of the three models in the SEPIC are introduced,such as CCM,TM and DCM.It focuses on the working mechanism of the TM.Secondly,it expounds the SEPIC topology parameter selection principles of circuit device.On the basis of the principles,through designing a SEPIC circuit and the relevant control chip to accomplish PWM and PFC,the experimental results prove the correctness of the analysis.
NURSING CHALLENGES OF CARING FOR PATIENTS WITH HIV-RELATED MALIGNANCIES

As many as 40% of individuals infected with HIV will be diagnosed with a malignancy during the course of their illness. Although neoplasms of all organ systems have been reported in infected patients, Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma, and invasive squamous cell cervical carcinoma are considered to be diagnostic of AIDS in the presence of HIV infection. The rapidity with which these malignancies are diagnosed can affect the morbidity experienced by patients. The management of patients with AIDS-related malignancies poses several challenges for oncology nurses. First, most such patients are treated with either chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and use of these modalities is complicated by the underlying HIV infection. Second, patients with AIDS-related malignancies experience numerous symptoms, and again, management of these symptoms is compounded by the underlying disease. By applying their knowledge and experience, oncology nurses can greatly lessen morbidity in these patients.
Effect of secretin and cholecystokinin on pentagastrin-stimulated gastric secretion in man.

The effect of secretin and cholecystokinin on pentagastrin-stimulated acid and pepsin secretion was studied in human subjects. Reflux of duodenal contents into the stomach was effectively prevented by a duodenal balloon and suction. Pure natural secretin, 2 U per kg-hr, produced 21% inhibition of acid output (P
Síndrome de Gorlin-Goltz: Una presentación atípica

El sindrome de Gorlin-Goltz o sindrome de carcinoma de nevo baso celular es un desorden autosomico dominante caracterizado principalmente por multiples carcinomas baso celular, queratoquistes y defectos del desarrollo. El queratoquiste odontogenico es una de las lesiones mas constantes de este sindrome y con localizacion en el seno maxilar, se presenta habitualmente de manera asintomatico y como hallazgo en examenes radiologicos, sin embargo, puede presentarse de forma atipica, dando sintomatologia secundaria a la compresion de estructuras vecinas, ya sea oculares o en la region facial. Ademas se debe realizar la evaluacion genetica y estudio de toda la familia. El tratamiento quirurgico realizado por equipo con experiencia en este territorio anatomico, debe ser el menos agresivo considerando su alta tasa de recurrencia local.
Ductile Connections for Precast Concrete Frame Systems

This paper describes a research program to investigate the behavior of ductile connections between precast beam-column elements. The objectives of the program are to provide rational design recommendations for engineers to detail precast frame connections for use in regions of seismic risk, and to develop analytical models, based on the behavioral information, to investigate the behavior of complete precast frame systems.
Aggressive Variants of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma and Poorly Differentiated Carcinoma

This chapter will discuss the salient pathologic features of aggressive variants of papillary thyroid carcinoma and poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Thyroid papillary carcinoma, the most common endocrine malignancy, is a tumor of such indolent biological and clinical behavior that the survival rate for patients with this tumor is equal or almost equal to that of individuals who never had cancer. Only a small percentage of patients with papillary carcinoma of the thyroid are affected by tumors of considerable clinical aggressiveness. Some experts have referred to these papillary carcinoma variants as “real carcinomas” of the thyroid (LiVolsi Mod Pathol 24(Suppl 2):S1–S9, 2011). These include tall-cell, columnar-cell, and diffuse sclerosing variants and the hobnail variant.
Codeine use among children in the United States: a nationally representative study from 1996 to 2013

SummaryBackground Concerns regarding the safety of codeine have been raised. Cases of life-threatening respiratory depression and death in children have been attributed to codeine's polymorphic metabolic pathway. International health agencies recommend restricted use of codeine in children. Despite these recommendations, the epidemiology of codeine use among children remains unknown. Aims Our objective was to examine patterns of codeine use in the US among children. Methods A cross-sectional analysis of children of age 0–17 years from 1996 to 2013 in the US was performed. Data were extracted from MEPS, a nationally representative set of health care surveys. Prevalence rates of codeine use between 1996 and 2013 were examined. Multivariable logistic regression examined relationships between codeine use and patient demographics. Results Codeine use remained largely unchanged from 1996 to 2013 (1.08 vs 1.03 million children, respectively). Odds of codeine use was higher in ages 12–17 (OR, 1.40; [1.21–1.61]), outside of the Northeastern US, and among those with poor physical health status (OR, 3.29 [1.79–6.03]). Codeine use was lower in children whose ethnicity was not white and those uninsured (OR, 0.47 [0.34–0.63]). Codeine was most frequently prescribed by emergency physicians (18%) and dentists (14%). The most common condition associated with codeine use was trauma-related pain. Conclusions Pediatric codeine use has declined since 1996; however, more than 1 million children still used codeine in 2013. Health care providers must be made aware of guidelines advising against the use of codeine in children. Codeine is potentially hazardous and safer alternatives to treat children's pain are available.
Treatment, outcomes, and clinical trial participation in very elderly patients (pts) with metastatic pancreas cancer (mPC).

4119 Background: PC has a median age at diagnosis of 72 years. Aldoss et al. (Veterans Affairs Cancer Registry) and Vijayvergia et al. have reported that elderly pts are less likely to receive stan...
Towards Recovering Allele-Specific Cancer Genome Graphs

Integrated analysis of structural variants (SVs) and copy number alterations (CNAs) in aneuploid cancer genomes is key to understanding the tumor genome complexity. A recently developed new algorithm Weaver can estimate, for the first time, allele-specific copy number of SVs and their interconnectivity in aneuploid cancer genomes. However, one major limitation is that not all SVs identified by Weaver are phased. In this paper, we develop a general convex programming framework that predicts the interconnectivity of unphased SVs with possibly noisy allele-specific copy number estimations as input. We demonstrated through applications to both simulated data and the HeLa whole-genome sequencing data that our method is robust to the noise in the input copy numbers and can predict SV phasings with high specificity. We found that our method can make consistent predictions with Weaver even if a large proportion of the input variants are unphased. We also applied our method to TCGA ovarian cancer whole-genome sequencing samples to phase unphased SVs obtained by Weaver. Our work provides an important new algorithmic framework for recovering more complete allele-specific cancer genome graphs.
Association of Inpatient Antimicrobial Utilization Measures with Antimicrobial Stewardship Activities and Facility Characteristics of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers.

Author(s): Graber, Christopher J; Jones, Makoto M; Chou, Ann F; Zhang, Yue; Goetz, Matthew Bidwell; Madaras-Kelly, Karl; Samore, Matthew H; Glassman, Peter A | Abstract: BackgroundAntimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) have been advocated to improve antimicrobial utilization, but program implementation is variable. Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) have been advocated to improve antimicrobial utilization, but program implementation is variable.ObjectiveTo determine associations between ASPs and facility characteristics, and inpatient antimicrobial utilization measures in the Veterans Affairs (VA) system in 2012.DesignIn 2012, VA administered a survey on antimicrobial stewardship practices to designated ASP contacts at VA acute care hospitals. From the survey, we identified 34 variables across 3 domains (evidence, organizational context, and facilitation) that were assessed using multivariable least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression against 4 antimicrobial utilization measures from 2012: aggregate acute care antimicrobial use, antimicrobial use in patients with non-infectious primary discharge diagnoses, missed opportunities to convert from parenteral to oral antimicrobial therapy, and double anaerobic coverage.SettingAll 130 VA facilities with acute care services.ResultsVariables associated with at least 3 favorable changes in antimicrobial utilization included presence of postgraduate physician/pharmacy training programs, number of antimicrobial-specific order sets, frequency of systematic de-escalation review, presence of pharmacists and/or infectious diseases (ID) attendings on acute care ward teams, and formal ID training of the lead ASP pharmacist. Variables associated with 2 unfavorable measures included bed size, the level of engagement with VA Antimicrobial Stewardship Task Force online resources, and utilization of antimicrobial stop orders.ConclusionsFormalization of ASP processes and presence of pharmacy and ID expertise are associated with favorable utilization. Systematic de-escalation review and order set establishment may be high-yield interventions. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2017;12:301-309.
A sharp interface Cartesian grid method for viscous simulation of shocked particle-laden flows

ABSTRACTA Cartesian grid-based sharp interface method is presented for viscous simulations of shocked particle-laden flows. The moving solid–fluid interfaces are represented using level sets. A moving least-squares reconstruction is developed to apply the no-slip boundary condition at solid–fluid interfaces and to supply viscous stresses to the fluid. The algorithms developed in this paper are benchmarked against similarity solutions for the boundary layer over a fixed flat plate and against numerical solutions for moving interface problems such as shock-induced lift-off of a cylinder in a channel. The framework is extended to 3D and applied to calculate low Reynolds number steady supersonic flow over a sphere. Viscous simulation of the interaction of a particle cloud with an incident planar shock is demonstrated; the average drag on the particles and the vorticity field in the cloud are compared to the inviscid case to elucidate the effects of viscosity on momentum transfer between the particle and fluid...
Heme-pigment nephropathy after transurethral resection of prostate cancer:

Introduction:Transurethral resection of the prostate is one of the most common surgical procedures performed in men to relieve bladder outlet obstruction, most often due to benign prostatic hyperpl...
Maximizing Output During Ramp by Integrating Capacity and Velocity

In the semi-conductor industry, factories ramp their production capacity in parallel with tool (machine) installations. Ramp capacity, and subsequently wafer starts, are aligned with additional installs of the most expensive tool. Subsequently, starts are set to the full capacity of that limiting toolset. In this paper, we argue that this may not be best method to maximize output over the ramp period and that by keeping ramp starts below constraint capacity, increased levels of cumulative output can be achieved for a desired planning horizon (e.g., the first year of production). A mathematical framework of the problem is provided to support our hypothesis, together with numerical examples and a set of simulation experiments.
Robust Estimation and Inference for Heavy Tailed Nonlinear GARCH

We develop new tail-trimmed QML estimators for nonlinear GARCH models with possibly heavy tailed errors. Tail-trimming allows both identification of the true parameter and asymptotic normality. In heavy tailed cases the rate of convergence is below but arbitrarily close to root-n, the highest possible amongst M-estimators for GARCH with errors that have an infinite fourth moment, and faster than QML. We present a consistent estimator of the covariance matrix that permits classic inference without knowledge of the rate of convergence. Finally, a simulation study shows our estimators trump existing ones for sharpness and approximate normality, and we apply them to financial returns data.
Effets of Muscle Vibration and Joint Oscillation on Human Motor Mechanisms

Summary The tonic vibration reflex (TVR) affects a joint's response to sinusoidal oscillation in the same facilitatory manner that is seen with tonic voluntary contraction. In contrast, tonic voluntary contraction facilitates the myotatic reflex while the TVR inhibits it in the soleus muscle. The degree of myotatic reflex inhibition is input frequency dependent. In discrete tracking task, vibration increases simple and choice reaction times. However, the error correction time is not influenced.
Hormonstörungen durch Schleudertrauma

Viele Patienten klagen nach einem Schleudertrauma uber Storungen in der Aufmerksamkeit, schnelle Erschopfbarkeit, Anderungen im Schlaf- Wach-Rhythmus [16]. Sie haben das Problem, dass diese Beschwerden oft nicht als Folge des Schleudertraumas anerkannt werden [6]. Die Literaturubersicht ergibt wenig aussagekraftige Daten, so dass die geschilderten Beschwerden auf einen kulturellen und psychosozialen Hintergrund reduziert werden [9]. Versicherungen vermuten unangebrachte Aggravierung mit unberechtigten Forderungen der Verletzten [12].
Future Robotic Systems: Microrobotics and Autonomous Robots

Current robotic systems for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) offer many advantages over traditional laparoscopic and open procedures; however, there is still much room for improvement among these systems. MIS robots allow for limited degrees of freedom and require multiple incisions, resulting in more pain for the patient and greater surgeon fatigue. The future of MIS is trending toward smaller, more dexterous robots with the ability to autonomously perform surgical procedures and perform incisionless surgery, diminishing these shortfalls. The robots presented in this chapter each take a different approach to combatting current problems in MIS. These future MIS systems were developed within the last 5 years and are still in the early stages of development and testing but offer much promise of improving the current technologies. They include robots for colonoscopy, capsule endoscopy, teleoperated single-incision and incisionless surgical robots, and autonomous systems. Each of these advancements is a crucial step toward extending the reach of advanced healthcare to all people and improving the quality of care in MIS.
Effect of an opioid management program for Colorado workers’ compensation providers on adherence to treatment guidelines for chronic pain

Objective The aim of this study was to examine adherence of state guidelines for Colorado workers' compensation physicians/providers treating individuals as injured workers with chronic pain after initiation of an opioid management program and provider incentives. Methods A retrospective cohort of chronic, non-cancer pain claims was constructed from the Colorado's workers' compensation database. Adherence to treatment guidelines and opioid prescribing practices were evaluated during implementation of a new billing code to incentivize adherence. Results Overall, less than 33% of claims showed evidence of opioid management. Comprehensive opioid management was observed in only 4.4% of claims. In 2010, after implementing the new billing code, the ratio of long acting opioids to short acting opioids decreased from 0.2 to 0.13; returning to 0.2 in one year. Similarly, morphine equivalent doses declined for a short period. Conclusions Incentivizing physicians to adhere to chronic pain management guidelines only temporarily improves prescribing practices.
The Innovative Health Tourism’s Environmental Management Sustainable Design Facilities Assessment Capability

One important domain has been evolving along parallel pathways in tourism studies which is community-based tourism (CBT). This poses significant challenges to those interested in community health tourism and their building infrastructures, research and practice in the sustainable development design and environmental management facilities in the sector of health tourism. An assessment capability is taking place for project management, monitoring schemes and actions that promote innovation at Health Tourism’s construction infrastructures to minimize outdoor pollution threats next to community health centers from brownfields (i.e. waste water units and associated sanitary units, landfills etc.). This paper is presenting an integrated framework based on a comprehensive and analysis of the community health centers and sustainable design facilities in health tourism related facilities. The study reveals not just common ground and differences that might be anticipated, but also important sustainability dimensions that are lagging or require much greater attention, such as environmental management, sustainable designs, monitoring and public health protection of tourists. A preliminary framework of “sustainable community-based tourism” (SCBT) is forwarded that attempts to provide innovative operational solutions in Health Tourism’s facilities. Critical directions are presented making useful conclusions to progress research and development in sustainability-oriented practices towards more effective sustainable designs and operational management of tourism facilities in Greece and the surrounded Mediterranean region.
The Association between Obesity and Health-Related Quality of Life among Urban Latinos

Methods: Including the entire study cohort, ttests were used to determine the unadjusted difference between obese and non-obese participants on SF-12 physical and mental functioning scores (PCS and MCS, respectively). Linear regression was used to estimate the adjusted difference in SF-12 scores between obese and non-obese participants after adjusting for potential confounders. The association between obesity status and HRQL summary scores were then assessed separately in men and women both with and without adjustment for potential confounders. Results: There was a small but statistically significant unadjusted difference between obese and non-obese participants in the physical functioning domain of HRQL (22.2, 95% CI 24.0, 2.4), which was no longer significant in multivariate analysis (difference 21.5, 95% CI 23.3, .3). There were no significant differences in mental functioning scores in unadjusted or adjusted analyses. Sex did not moderate the relationship between obesity status and HRQL scores in stratified analyses. Conclusions: Our results in an under-studied population suggest that obesity may have little impact on HRQL in urban Latinos.Future studies with larger and more diverse Latino populations are needed to further investigate the relationship between obesity and HRQL, and explore how acculturation impacts the association between these two factors. (Ethn Dis. 2014;24[1]:14–18)
Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy for Unresectable/Locally Recurrent Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

The aim of this study was to evaluate outcomes for patients with unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) treated with hypofractionated proton or photon radiation therapy (HF-RT). We retrospectively identified 66 patients with ICC who were treated with HF-RT from 2008 to 2018. Median age at RT was 76 years (range 30–92), including 27 patients (41%) aged ≥ 80 years. Median RT dose was 58.05 Gy (range 37.5–67.5), all delivered in 15 daily fractions. Thirty-two patients received proton RT and 34 patients received photon RT. Median follow-up times from diagnosis and RT start were 21 months and 14 months, respectively. In total, five patients (7.6%) developed local failure. The 2-year outcomes were 84% local control (LC) and 58% OS. Among the 51 patients treated with definitive intent, the 2-year LC rate was 93% and the OS rate was 62%. On multivariate analysis for LC, older age was associated with a lower risk of local failure [hazard ratio (HR) 0.91; p = 0.02], while prior surgery (HR 16.5; p = 0.04) and macrovascular invasion (HR 123.93; p = 0.02) were independently associated with an increased risk of local failure. On multivariate analysis for OS, female sex (HR 0.33; p = 0.001) and prior chemotherapy (HR 0.38; p = 0.003) remained significantly associated with OS. On multivariate analysis for OS, compared with photon RT, there was a trend towards improved survival with proton RT (HR 0.50; p = 0.05). The rate of overall grade 3 + toxicity was 11%. One patient developed radiation-induced liver disease and was treated with corticosteroids. HF-RT yields high rates of local control and is an effective modality to optimize biliary control for unresectable/locally recurrent ICC.
An Examination of Women’s Experiences with Reporting Sexual Victimization Behind Prison Walls:

Women inmates in a southern women’s minimum security facility were interviewed to explore their perceptions of and experiences with reporting sexual victimization in the context of the post-PREA er...
AO DIVER: Development of a three-dimensional adaptive optics system to advance the depth limits of multiphoton imaging

Multiphoton microscopy (MPM) can non-invasively measure the dynamic biochemical properties deep in scattering biological samples and has the potential to accelerate clinical research with advances in deep tissue imaging. However, in most samples, the imaging depth of MPM is limited to fractions of a millimeter due to blurring caused by refractive index mismatching throughout tissue and background fluorescence, overshadowing the signal in conventional MPM. To overcome these challenges, we developed a novel 3D adaptive optics (AO) system that uses an interpolated network of endogenous guide stars to focus laser light more efficiently into highly scattering samples. The synergistic combination of our AO system with DIVER detection technology enables millimeter-scale imaging with diffraction-limited resolution with optimization times between 15 s and 65 s. We characterized the algorithm and wavefront interpolation performance in a flat 2D sample and in 3D using fluorescent beads embedded in gels of various optical heterogeneity. We also tested the system in biological tissue, improving image brightness by a factor of 5 at depths of ∼0.4 mm in the fresh green fluorescent protein-tagged mouse skin and ∼2 mm in a formalin-fixed yellow fluorescent protein-tagged mouse brain. By collecting forward and back-scattered fluorescence light to optimize the excitation wavefront, AO DIVER allows imaging of the tissue architecture at depths that are inaccessible to conventional multiphoton microscopes.
Opportunities for crowdsourcing in urban flood monitoring

Abstract Flooding is the most common natural hazard, leading to property damage, injuries, and death. Despite the potential for major consequences, urban flooding remains difficult to forecast, largely due to a lack of data availability at fine spatial scales and associated predictive capabilities. Crowdsourcing of public webcams, social media, and citizen science represent potentially important data sources for obtaining fine-scale hydrological data, but also raise novel challenges related to data reliability and consistency. We provide a review of literature and analysis of existing databases regarding the availability and quality of these unconventional sources that then drives a discussion of their potential to support fine-grained urban flood modelling and prediction. Our review and analysis suggest that crowdsourced data are increasingly available in urban contexts and have considerable potential. Integration of crowdsourced data could help ameliorate quality and completeness issues in any one source. Yet, substantial weaknesses and challenges remain to be addressed.
Experiences Migrating the Agave Platform to A Kubernetes Native System on the Jetstream Cloud

The Agave Platform is a Science-as-a-Service (ScaaS) platform for reproducible science. The current production deployments of the platform are deployed and managed using Ansible and Docker Compose. While capable, this has historically led to operational complexity for those adopting the platform. Over the last year, we have worked to migrate the platform to a Kubernetes native deployment. In this paper we discuss our experiences evolving the platform, its architecture, and getting the most out of the Jetstream cloud.
La Política Cultural Cubana (y su Cuestionamiento) en la Narrativa Cubana Contemporánea: La grieta (2018), Las palabras perdidas (1992), Las voces y los ecos (2004) y La noria (2013).

In the novels that concern us —La grieta, Las palabras perdidas, Las voces y los ecos y La noria—, the characters try to carry out their artistic and professional purposes under the pressure of a State Apparatus that sanctions or makes them illegitimate. The problematic relationship between the Cuban State and artistic creation since the Quinquenio Gris allows, through fiction, a questioning of Cuban Cultural Politics that began in the sixties, and a reflection on the role of the intellectuals on the island. The conflictive relationship between the artist and the Cuban State finds its most repressive stage in the so-called years of the Quinquenio Gris (1971-1976). This persecution of artists left a dent in the society of the moment but also in later generations of writers, who will take it up again in their novels from different perspectives.
Efficiency of coronavirus inactivation on environmental surfaces: A comparison study of two available disinfectants

Background: There are many coronaviruses of significant medical and veterinary concern, all of which are the result of spillover from another species. Disinfection of healthcare and veterinary environments is an important factor in limiting the transmission of coronaviruses. Disinfection agents for coronaviruses use bleach, quaternary compounds, hydrogen peroxide, and sodium hydroxide. Product labels list contact times that range from 10-30 minutes for total inactivation. Decon7 is a combination disinfectant that is currently used in the food and agriculture, medical facilities, and other industries. While Decon7 has been shown to inactivate a variety of pathogens and disrupt biofilms, its effectiveness and rate of coronavirus inactivation has not been evaluated. Objective: This project sought to evaluate Decon7’s effectiveness and rate of coronavirus inactivation. Methods: This study evaluated the disinfection efficacy of Decon7 (diluted at 1:4) and bleach (diluted at 1:10) after 3 coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2, HCoV OC43, and HCoV NL63) were inoculated onto up to sixteen environmental surface materials. Results: A 1:4 dilution of Decon7 inactivated all coronaviruses on all surfaces with 1 minute contact time. A 1:10 dilution of bleach was not effective in inactivating coronaviruses with a contact time of 1 minute on all surfaces. Conclusions: New technologies and chemistries may offer more efficient inactivation of pathogens on environmental surfaces. These disinfection methods and materials, which require less than 10 minutes contact time, may improve the efficacy of cleaning and disinfecting surfaces in the built environment.
A Systematic Review of Intervention Intensity in Pivotal Response Training and Scripting Research

Special education researchers have for decades emphasized the importance of intervention effectiveness and procedural fidelity, but relatively little attention has been directed toward understanding intervention intensity. This review focused on extracting details of intervention intensity as reported in peer-reviewed studies of scripting and pivotal response training (PRT), two different evidence-based practices for learners with autism. We coded 24 scripting and 18 PRT studies and synthesized results according to four constructs of intervention intensity. Results indicated varied reporting of intervention intensity within and between studies. Only seven (29%) of scripting studies and one (6%) PRT study reported information sufficient to determine intervention intensity. Scripting and PRT researchers reported similar rates of opportunities to respond. Implications for researchers and professionals are discussed along with limitations and instructions for future study.
SU-E-T-155: Calibration of Variable Longitudinal Strength 103Pd Brachytherapy Sources

Purpose: Brachytherapy sources with variable longitudinal strength (VLS) allow for a customized intensity along the length of the source. These have applications in focal brachytherapy treatments of prostate cancer where dose boosting can be achieved through modulation of intra-source strengths. This work focused on development of a calibration methodology for VLS sources based on measurements and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of five 1 cm 1⁰ 3Pd sources each containing four regions of variable 1⁰3Pd strength. Methods: The air-kerma strengths of the sources were measured with a variable-aperture free-air chamber (VAFAC). Source strengths were also measured using a well chamber. The in-air azimuthal and polar anisotropy of the sources were measured by rotating them in front of a NaI scintillation detector and were calculated with MC simulations. Azimuthal anisotropy results were normalized to their mean intensity values. Polar anisotropy results were normalized to their average transverse axis intensity values. The relative longitudinal strengths of the sources were measured via on-contact irradiations with radiochromic film, and were calculated with MC simulations. Results: The variable 1⁰3Pd loading of the sources was validated by VAFAC and well chamber measurements. Ratios of VAFAC air-kerma strengths and well chamber responses were within ±1.3% for all sources. Azimuthal anisotropy results indicated that ≥95% of the normalized values for all sources were within ±1.7% of the mean values. Polar anisotropy results indicated variations within ±0.3% for a ±7.6° angular region with respect to the source transverse axis. Locations and intensities of the 1⁰3Pd regions were validated by radiochromic film measurements and MC simulations. Conclusion: The calibration methodology developed in this work confirms that the VLS sources investigated have a high level of polar uniformity, and that the strength and longitudinal intensity can be verified experimentally and through MC simulations. 103Pd sources were provided by CivaTech Oncology, Inc.
Successful treatment of recurrent non-immune hydrops secondary to fetal hyperthyroidism

Background : Non-immune fetal hydrops is a heterogeneous disorder with a mortality rate of 50–98%. Resolution of non-immune fetal hydrops is rare but has been reported to occur spontaneously or after targeted therapeutic measures. Case : A euthyroid gravida with Graves disease presented with a history of three prior perinatal deaths between 26 and 28 weeks' gestation, all associated with fetal hydrops. In the current pregnancy, the fetus developed hydrops at 24 weeks' gestation. Fetal hyperthyroidism, with high-output cardiac failure, was diagnosed with fetal blood sampling. After maternal therapy with propylthiouracil, resolution of the non-immune hydrops was documented and a healthy neonate subsequently delivered at term. The neonate developed transient hyperthyroidism after delivery, which required treatment for 10 weeks. Conclusion : Non-immune hydrops occurring as a result of fetal hyperthyroidism with high output cardiac failure is treatable with propylthiouracil.
Mental Content: Externalism vs. Internalism

Externalism about mental content is now widely accepted. It is therefore surprising that there is no established definition of externalism. I believe that this is a symptom of an unrecognized fact: that the labels 'mental content externalism' - and its complement 'mental content internalism' - are profoundly ambiguous. Under each of these labels falls a hodgepodge of sometimes conflicting claims about the organism's contribution to thought contents, the nature of the self, relations between the individual and her community, and the epistemic availability of thoughts. This situation stems from the fact that contributors to debates about externalism differ in how they understand 'internal property'; these differences reveal (or, perhaps, generate) disparate conceptions of what is at issue in these debates. I argue that this situation is irremediable. There is no way to understand 'internal property' that will conform with prevailing beliefs about the nature of internalism and externalism, and with the usual taxonomy of leading positions. This ambiguity carries a heavy price: participants in these debates often argue at cross-purposes, disagreeing even on the nature of the evidence that could settle the question of externalism. Progress on the broad range of issues associated with these debates requires that we abandon the categories 'internalism' and 'externalism'. I close by suggesting a promising avenue for future research related to these issues.
A CMOS-MEMS lateral-axis gyroscope

This paper reports on the experimental results from the first design of a CMOS lateral-axis vibratory gyroscope that utilizes comb fingers for both actuation and sensing. The fabrication is compatible with standard CMOS processes and the design has an integrated, fully-differential capacitive interface circuit. This gyroscope design uses integrated comb drives for out-of-plane actuation, and is motivated by the desire to integrate three-axis gyroscopes on a single chip. The packaged gyroscope operates at atmospheric pressure with a sensitivity of 0.12 mV/deg/s and the resonant frequency of the drive mode is thermomechanically tuned between 4.2-5.1 kHz. Resonant frequency matching between the drive and sense modes is realized by integrating a polysilicon heater inside the spring beams.
Hardware Implementations of Fixed-Point Atan2

The atan2 function computes the polar angle arctan(y/x) of a point given by its cartesian coordinates. It is widely used in digital signal processing to recover the phase of a signal. This article studies for this context the implementation of atan2 with fixed-point inputs and outputs. It compares the prevalent CORDIC shift-and-add algorithm to two multiplier-based techniques. The first one computes the bivariate atan2 function as the composition of two univariate functions: the reciprocal, and the arctangent, each evaluated using bipartite or polynomial approximation methods. The second technique directly uses piecewise bivariate polynomial approximations of degree 1 or 2. Each of these approaches requires a relevant argument reduction, which is also discussed. All the algorithms are last-bit accurate, and implemented with similar care in the open-source FloPoCo framework. Based on synthesis results on FPGAs, their relevance domains are discussed.
Molecular Insight into Dengue Virus Pathogenesis and Its Implications for Disease Control

Dengue virus (DENV) is a mosquito-transmitted RNA virus that infects an estimated 390 million humans each year. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of the biology of DENV and describe knowledge gaps that have impacted the development of effective vaccines and therapeutics.
Cluster-Based Generation of Hierarchical Surface Models

We present a highly efficient, automatic method for the generation of hierarchical surface triangulations. Given a set of scattered points in three-dimensional space, without known connectivity information, our method reconstructs a valid triangulated surface model in a two-step procedure. First, we apply clustering to the set of given points and identify point subsets in locally nearly planar regions. Second, we construct a surface triangulation from the output of the clustering step. The output of the clustering step is a set of 2-manifold tiles, which locally approximate the underlying, unknown surface. We construct the triangulation of the entire surface by triangulating the individual tiles and triangulating the gaps between the tiles. Since we apply point clustering in a hierarchical fashion we can generate model hierarchies by triangulating various levels resulting from the hierarchical clustering step.
Prediction of O2 Dissociation Kinetics on LaMnO3-Based Cathode Materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

First-principles and statistical-theory calculations were applied to examine the interactions between oxygen molecules and the (100) surfaces of LaMnO3 and La0.5Sr0.5MnO2.75, one of the most-used cathode materials in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). To predict the rate constants for the interactions between O2 and LaMnO3 or La0.5Sr0.5MnO2.75, potential energy profiles were constructed using the nudged elastic band (NEB) method. Predicted rate constants for the dissociation of adsorbed oxygen species on LaMnO3 (lm) and La0.5Sr0.5MnO2.75 (lsm) can be expressed as kdiss,lm ) 2.35 × 1012 exp(-0.50 eV/RT) s-1 and kdiss,lsm ) 2.15 × 1012 exp(-0.23 eV/RT) s-1, respectively, in the temperature range of 873-1273 K at 1 atm. Because the activation energy for oxygen dissociation on La0.5Sr0.5MnO2.75 (0.23 eV) is much smaller than that on LaMnO3 (0.50 eV), oxygen vacancies greatly enhance O2 dissociation kinetics. The kinetic and mechanistic studies for the interactions at the molecular level are imperative to gaining a fundamental understanding of oxygen reduction kinetics on cathode materials and to providing important insight into the rational design of more catalytically active cathode materials for SOFCs.
Mapping blood oxygen saturation using a multispectral imaging system

Recent advances in imaging spectroscopy provide the opportunity for mapping the oxygen saturation of blood in skin with high accuracy, large spatial coverage, small spatial resolution, and high update rate. A four-wavelength algorithm, specifically designed to compute the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin, in vivo, from a set of narrow-band visible images was used to analyze various skin tissue disorders. To illustrate the spatial capability of this algorithm, mapping of the oxygen saturation of normal skin, hypoxic tissue and various skin lesions was performed using reflectance spectroscopy, demonstrating the spatial resolution of the images of blood oxygen in the tissues. To explore the accuracy of the algorithm, Monte-Carlo modeling was used to generate reflectivities of skin with known parameters. These reflectivities were used to evaluate the limiting effects of quantization error, photon noise, and finite filter bandwidth on the accuracy of the algorithm. In addition, a signal-to-noise analysis was performed to determine the illumination requirements. It is shown that accurate maps of blood oxygen can be produced with good spatial resolution.
Hope for Haiti: An analysis of Facebook and Twitter usage during the earthquake relief efforts

Abstract The Haitian earthquake devastated the small island of Hispaniola, leaving thousands dead and billions of dollars in property damage. The earthquake also ignited a firestorm of social media use by organizations. By applying framing theory to the analysis of Facebook posts and tweets sent by nonprofits and media organizations, this study discovered differences between nonprofits and media in terms of social media use. Nonprofits and media organizations used information dissemination and disclosure effectively, but failed to capitalize on the innate two-way communication nature of social media.
Lithium ion conduction in substituted Li5MO4, M = Al, Fe

Abstract The ionic conductivity of substituted Li5AlO4 and Li5FeO4 phases was measured by a complex impedance method. The high-temperature β phase was obtained in quenched Li5AlO4 but not in Li5FeO4. The Zn-substituted quenched samples form β-type phases in both systems and show much higher conductivities than those of pure Li5MO4. The best conductivities at 300°C are 1.5 × 10−3 and 7.0 × 10−3 (Ω-cm)−1 for Li5.9Al0.1Zn0.9O4 and Li5.5Fe0.5Zn0.5O4, respectively. The results are discussed in relation to the structural properties.
On the Formation of Interitem Associative Links in Person Memory

Abstract This research examined the formation of interbehavior associative links in memory in an impression formation task. As subjects read a series of expectancy-congruent, -incongruent, and -irrelevant behaviors describing a target person, they were periodically probed with a recognition task. Across two experiments and four trait replications, recognition latencies for previously encountered behaviors were faster when this task followed the presentation of an incongruent item than when it followed a congruent or irrelevant item. These results demonstrate that the encoding of incongruent information causes previously encountered information to be activated and brought into working memory. This process is most likely responsible for the formation of the interbehavior links between incongruent behaviors and other behaviors that cause incongruent behaviors to be recalled particularly well. A third experiment demonstrated that these results are dependent on subjects′ ability to attend carefully to the incongruent behaviors during encoding. These results provide support for a previously untested assumption of current models of person memory.
Feasibility study of activity measurement of positron emitters based on gamma–gamma coincident detection by two NaI(Tl) detectors

Detection of two and more γ-rays in coincidence by two NaI(Tl) detectors with almost 4π geometry allows absolute characterization of radionuclides emitting coincidence gammas. The method is a generalization of the Eldridge-Crowther method developed originally for x-rays and low energy γ-rays. This method is applied to the case of (94)Nb decay with two coincident gamma-rays emitted in one cascade. The application of this method for the case of coincident positron-gamma emission ((22)Na and (26)Al sources) meets some difficulties. In these decays, two 511 keV gamma quanta produced in positron annihilation are strongly correlated. Despite the fact that the third gamma emitted in (22)Na and (26)Al decays is not correlated with two annihilation quanta, the number of independent observables for (22)Na and (26)Al decays is less than the number of unknowns. The small parameter ω(00), the probability that both annihilation quanta escape detection in both NaI(Tl) detectors, cannot be determined. However, if this parameter is defined from experimental data for one source with known activity ((22)Na), the activity of the other source ((26)Al) can be calculated from experimental data for (26)Al decay.