cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
TRAINEES' CONJUGAL FAMILY EXPERIENCE, CURRENT INTERGENERATIONAL FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS, AND THE THERAPEUTIC ALLIANCE

This study examines the relationship between trainees' conjugal family experience, current intergenerational family relationships, and the client's perception of the therapeutic alliance. Participants were 74 first practicum family therapy trainees, representing two family therapy programs, and 90 clients. Results indicated a moderately significant relationship between conjugal family experience and trainees' reported intergenerational intimacy with parents. Additionally, clients whose therapists had conjugal family experience reported a slightly more favorable therapeutic alliance than clients whose therapists did not have conjugal family experience. Additionally, trainees with conjugal family experience reported more current intimacy and individuation than nonconjugal trainees and felt less intimidated by their parents.
Collagen Type II enhances chondrogenic differentiation in agarose-based modular microtissues.

Abstract Background aims Cell-based therapies have made an impact on the treatment of osteoarthritis; however, the repair and regeneration of thick cartilage defects is an important and growing clinical problem. Next-generation therapies that combine cells with biomaterials may provide improved outcomes. We have developed modular microenvironments that mimic the composition of articular cartilage as a delivery system for consistently differentiated cells. Methods Human bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) were embedded in modular microbeads consisting of agarose (AG) supplemented with 0%, 10% and 20% collagen Type II (COL-II) using a water-in-oil emulsion technique. AG and AG/COL-II microbeads were characterized in terms of their structural integrity, size distribution and protein content. The viability of embedded MSC and their ability to differentiate into osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic lineages over 3 weeks in culture were also assessed. Results Microbeads made with Conclusions Inclusion of collagen Type II in agarose matrices in microbead format can potentiate chondrogenic differentiation of human MSC. Such compositionally tailored microtissues may find utility for cell delivery in next-generation cartilage repair therapies.
Bayesian variable selection for binary outcomes in high-dimensional genomic studies using non-local priors

Motivation: The advent of new genomic technologies has resulted in the production of massive data sets. Analyses of these data require new statistical and computational methods. In this article, we propose one such method that is useful in selecting explanatory variables for prediction of a binary response. Although this problem has recently been addressed using penalized likelihood methods, we adopt a Bayesian approach that utilizes a mixture of non-local prior densities and point masses on the binary regression coefficient vectors. Results: The resulting method, which we call iMOMLogit, provides improved performance in identifying true models and reducing estimation and prediction error in a number of simulation studies. More importantly, its application to several genomic datasets produces predictions that have high accuracy using far fewer explanatory variables than competing methods. We also describe a novel approach for setting prior hyperparameters by examining the total variation distance between the prior distributions on the regression parameters and the distribution of the maximum likelihood estimator under the null distribution. Finally, we describe a computational algorithm that can be used to implement iMOMLogit in ultrahigh-dimensional settings (p>>n) and provide diagnostics to assess the probability that this algorithm has identified the highest posterior probability model. Availability and implementation: Software to implement this method can be downloaded at: http://www.stat.tamu.edu/∼amir/code.html. Contact: gro.nosrednadm@7gnaww or ude.umat.tats@nosnhojv Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Overcoming the Cause of Failure and the Role of Issue Salience: Toward a Comprehensive Theory for Nonprofit Activity and Competition in a Three-Sector Economy

This paper extends the theoretical framework of nonprofit activity in three-sector economies. Perspectives from existing theories on nonprofit organizations and the agenda setting literature are simultaneously considered. The nonprofit form provides one solution to the causes of market failure that are inherent to the different classes of goods discussed by previous theory. However, issue salience can lead to public policies that correct market failures. Such policies can lead to greater competition for tax-supported funding and to for-profit entry. This combined framework allows for the integration of the various theories on the existence of nonprofit organizations under one theoretical lens. It also yields a framework to empirically analyze industry dynamics and inter-organizational competition specifically within nonprofit and mixed-sector markets. The temporal variation and relative strength of issue salience in various mission areas in which nonprofits participate are particularly considered. This theoretical perspective leads to several important implications for industrial structure, nonprofit competition for resources and market share, public policy, advocacy, contracting, and public–private partnerships as the issues nonprofits address evolve over time.
Florida and Puerto Rico Secondary Science Teachers’ Knowledge and Teaching of Climate Change Science

Misconceptions about climate change science are pervasive among the US public. This study investigated the possibility that these misconceptions may be reflective of science teachers’ knowledge and teaching of climate change science. Florida and Puerto Rico secondary science teachers who claim to teach extensively about climate change were surveyed in regard to their conceptions of climate change science and the climate change-related topics they teach. Results show that many teachers hold naive views about climate change (e.g. that ozone layer depletion is a primary cause of climate change) and climate change science (e.g. that it must be based on controlled experiments for it to be valid). In addition, teachers in both groups neglect crucial topics such as how evidence for climate change is developed and the social, political, and economic dimensions of climate change. Our results suggest the need for teachers to understand how to teach climate change and the nature of climate change science using authentic contexts that promote effective socioscientific decision-making and climate change mitigation.
The Role of Modern Statistics in Analyzing Farm Management Data

T HE purposes of this paper are: (1) to discuss briefly the relationship of statistics to quantitative scientific research, (2) to outline some of the uses of statistics in farm management research, and (3) to list and discuss some of the arguments given for not using modern statistical methods in collecting and interpreting farm management data. Many writers, including some who have written textbooks on statistics, have confused the discussion of the use of statistical methods by classifying statistics as a method of research on the level with experimentation and other methods. On the contrary statistics is a tool which is used in all quantitative research. It is true, of course, that the statistical methods used may be simple or complex; they may be efficient or inefficient and they may give biassed or unbiassed estimates, tests, or predictions. At the minimum, data are usually summarized by averages of one sort or another. These averages are statistics and are estimates of some population values or parameters. Since the data are usually based on samples, these estimates have a sampling error. In other words, the estimates would vary from sample to sample. Appropriate statistical methods for analyzing farm management data cannot be discussed intelligently without considering the objectives of a study, the specific hypotheses to be tested and the sources of data. Statistics can make an important contribution to the success of a research study in the planning stage. A majority of the studies that end in disappointment failed in their conception and design. Other studies fail because of improper analysis and interpretation of the data obtained, but these are relatively few in number compared to the former. The main steps in scientific quantitative research might be classified as follows:
Atmospheric absorption versus deep ultraviolet (pre-)resonance in Raman lidar measurements

The Raman scattering of several liquids and solid materials has been investigated near the deep ultraviolet absorption features corresponding to the electron energy states of the chemical species present. It is found to provide significant enhancement, but is always accompanied by absorption due to that or other species along the path. We investigate this trade-off for water vapor, although the results for liquid water and ice will be quantitatively very similar. An optical parametric oscillator (OPO) was pumped by the third harmonic of a Nd:YAG laser, and the output frequency doubled to generate a tunable excitation beam in the 215-600 nm range. We use the tunable laser excitation beam to investigate pre-resonance and resonance Raman spectroscopy near an absorption band of ice. A significant enhancement in the Raman signal was observed. The A-term of the Raman scattering tensor, which describes the pre-resonant enhancement of the spectra, is also used to find the primary observed intensities as a function of incident beam energy, although a wide resonance structure near the final-state-effect related absorption in ice is also found. The results suggest that use of pre-resonant or resonant Raman LIDAR could increase the sensitivity to improve spatial and temporal resolution of atmospheric water vapor measurements. However, these shorter wavelengths also exhibit higher ozone absorption. These opposing effects are modeled using MODTRAN for several configurations relevant for studies of boundary layer water and in the vicinity of clouds. Such data could be used in studies of the measurement of energy flow at the water-air and cloud-air interface, and may help with understanding some of the major uncertainties in current global climate models.
High-pressure mercury are lamp excited cw alexandrite lasers

Continuous laser operation is readily achieved from alexandrite when it is pumped by ac or de driven mercury lamps.1 In recent experiments output in excess of 50 W is obtained from a 10-cm×3-mm diam rod with both modes of excitation. Slope efficiencies of 2.5 % and overall efficiencies of 1 % have been observed when a single-lamp el­liptical enclosure is used. This performance is superior to that obtained with conventional de xenon arc lamps having arc diameters ~3X larger. The differences are probably due to the spectral power distribution in the lamp and the arc diameter. The output also depends on rod diameter and Cr3+concentration, and these influences will be briefly described.
Normal Childhood Development from Birth to Five Years

The first 5 years of life are a time of remarkable change in the competence and independence of children. From a state of almost total helplessness, neonates quickly develop capacities needed to function more independently. Babies soon learn to organize information about their world and to signal and respond to signals. With time, they learn to move through their world without help, exploring it and then retreating to the security of laps or knees of parents or other caregivers.
“When Is Short, Sweet?” Selection Uncertainty and Online Review Presentations

ABSTRACTOnline customer reviews are an important part of e-commerce product selection. When used effectively, online reviews may reduce the uncertainty inherent in making product selection decisions online, but how best to deal with thousands of online customer reviews? Past research considers online review summarization, where reviews are reduced to numeric ratings, key phrases, keywords or product characteristics. However, in their original form, online reviews contain the carefully crafted narratives of past customers, elements of which may not be amenable to summarization. In this research, we present findings of a laboratory experiment which examines the impact of review summarization when evaluating different types of products online. Key findings include evidence that perceptions of product selection uncertainty depend on online review presentation format and the category of the product under consideration. Additionally, the study provides evidence that the e-commerce retailers may benefit from var...
Retrograde Flushing of Living Donor Renal Allografts via the Renal Vein: A Simple, Effective Technique.

BACKGROUND Prograde flushing (PF) of living donor renal allografts with preservation solution via the renal artery or arteries is standard practice. PF may be difficult and potentially injurious to the donor kidney, especially in grafts with small or multiple arteries. In this report, we present our experience with retrograde flushing (RF) of 7 living donor kidneys via the renal vein. METHODS Retrospective review of 7 consecutive living donor renal transplants performed using the RF technique was performed. The 7 preceding living donor renal transplants performed using the standard arterial PF technique served as a control group. RESULTS All 7 recipients of RF kidneys experienced immediate graft function. At postoperative days 3 and 30, there was no difference in estimated glomerular filtration rate between the RF study group and PF controls. CONCLUSIONS The RF technique is simple and safe, with results equivalent to the PF technique. The RF technique may be especially useful after recovering kidneys with small and/or multiple arteries.
Non-energy benefits: Workhorse or unicorn of energy efficiency programs?

Abstract Non-energy benefits of energy efficiency programs have been studied as early as 1993, and there have been hundreds of papers and reports published since then, many of them finding that NEB are significant. Yet many U.S. states do not include NEB in their cost-benefit analyses. This article tries to provide some insight into this mismatch between the findings of NEB research and policy by analyzing the empirical basis of such research.
Increased Pilus Production Conferred by a Naturally Occurring Mutation Alters Host-Pathogen Interaction in Favor of Carriage in Streptococcus pyogenes

Studies of the human pathogen group A Streptococcus (GAS) define the carrier phenotype to be an increased ability to adhere to and persist on epithelial surfaces and a decreased ability to cause disease. We tested the hypothesis that a single amino acid change (Arg135Gly) in a highly conserved sensor kinase (LiaS) of a poorly defined GAS regulatory system contributes to a carrier phenotype through increased pilus production. When introduced into an emm serotype-matched invasive strain, the carrier allele (the gene encoding the LiaS protein with an arginine-to-glycine change at position 135 [liaSR135G]) recapitulated a carrier phenotype defined by an increased ability to adhere to mucosal surfaces and a decreased ability to cause disease. Gene transcript analyses revealed that the liaS mutation significantly altered transcription of the genes encoding pilus in the presence of bacitracin. Elimination of pilus production in the isogenic carrier mutant decreased its ability to colonize the mouse nasopharynx and to adhere to and be internalized by cultured human epithelial cells and restored the virulence phenotype in a mouse model of necrotizing fasciitis. We also observed significantly reduced survival of the isogenic carrier mutant compared to that of the parental invasive strain after exposure to human neutrophils. Elimination of pilus in the isogenic carrier mutant increased the level of survival after exposure to human neutrophils to that for the parental invasive strain. Together, our data demonstrate that the carrier mutation (liaSR135G) affects pilus expression. Our data suggest new mechanisms of pilus gene regulation in GAS and that the invasiveness associated with pilus gene regulation in GAS differs from the enhanced invasiveness associated with increased pilus production in other bacterial pathogens.
Examining Development of E-Government in Russia and China: A Comparative Approach

E-government has been an emerging trend in recent decades, inviting interest from policy makers, bureaucrats, citizens, and public administration researchers. The purpose of this article is to trac...
Open-path C 2 H 6 sensor for fast, low-power, measurement of natural gas emissions

An open-path, ICL-based ethane sensor is developed with low power consumption (24 W) and fast response (1 Hz). Use on a mobile laboratory allows for discriminating between thermogenic (fossil fuels) and biogenic (wetlands, agriculture) methane.
Infrared detection using plasmonically enhanced thermomechanically actuated nanowire arrays

A plasmo-thermomechanical IR detector based on suspended bilayer nanowire array is demonstrated. The detector exhibits an absorption coefficient of 0.0494. The maximum difference in S 21 between the radiation on and off states is 0.013 with a radiation intensity of 0.1 mW/μm2.
Synthesis, spectroscopic characterization and antimicrobial activity evaluation of new tridentate Schiff bases and their Co(II) complexes

Abstract A series of Schiff base tridentate ligands and their respective Co(II) complexes have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, magnetic susceptibility, IR, NMR and UV–Visible spectra, thermal studies. The IR spectral data suggested that all the ligands acted as monobasic tridentate towards central Co(II) ion with an ONO donor atoms sequentially. Analytical data and magnetic susceptibility revealed 1:2 metal to ligand stoichiometry and octahedral geometry for all Co(II) complexes. All the prepared compounds were also screened for antimicrobial activity against 5 ESBL (Extended Spectrum β-lactamase) and 5 MBL (Metallo β-lactamase) producing uropathogens and for antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (H37Rv strain).
Remote Time Calibrations via the NIST Time Measurement and Analysis Service

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) now offers a new remote calibration service designed to assist laboratories that maintain an accurate local time standard. The service moni...
Reducing SSD read latency via NAND flash program and erase suspension

In NAND flash memory, once a page program or block erase (P/E) command is issued to a NAND flash chip, the subsequent read requests have to wait until the time-consuming P/E operation to complete. Preliminary results show that the lengthy P/E operations may increase the read latency by 2x on average. As NAND flash-based SSDs enter the enterprise server storage, this increased read latency caused by the contention may significantly degrade the overall system performance. Inspired by the internal mechanism of NAND flash P/E algorithms, we propose in this paper a low-overhead P/E suspension scheme, which suspends the on-going P/E to service pending reads and resumes the suspended P/E afterwards. In our experiments, we simulate a realistic SSD model that adopts multi-chip/channel and evaluate both SLC and MLC NAND flash as storage materials of diverse performance. Our experimental results show that the proposed technique achieves a near-optimal performance gain on servicing read requests. Specifically, the read latency is reduced on average by 50.5% compared to RPS and 75.4% compared to FIFO at cost of less than 4% overhead on write requests.
Helping Therapists Cope

Two of the most significant occupational hazards for mental health professionals are patient suicide and burnout. Recent statistics suggest that throughout their career, therapists have a one in four chance of having a patient in treatment actually kill themselves.
What is Scientific Realism

Decades of debate about scientific realism notwithstanding, we find ourselves bemused by what different philosophers appear to think it is, exactly. Does it require any sort of belief in relation to scientific theories and, if so, what sort? Is it rather typified by a certain understanding of the rationality of such beliefs? In the following dialogue we explore these questions in hopes of clarifying some convictions about what scientific realism is, and what it could or should be. En route, we encounter some profoundly divergent conceptions of the nature of science and of philosophy.
Influence of Aging and Malignant Transformation on Keratinocyte Gene Expression

Skin cancer is the most common malignancy in humans (Yuspa 1987). Most skin cancers are strongly linked to UV exposure (Aubry and MacGibbon 1985; Stoll and Schwartz 1987; Streilein 1991), but other agents such as chemical carcinogens and immunosuppressants (Yuspa et al. 1980) may also contribute. In addition, age-specific skin cancer incidence rises exponentially during adulthood and available data suggest that advanced age itself, independent of exposure history, may be a risk factor (Lin et al. 1989).
MPI-DB, a parallel database services software library for scientific computing

Large-scale scientific simulations generate petascale data sets subsequently analyzed by groups of researchers, often in databases. We developed a software library, MPI-DB, to provide database services to scientific computing applications. As a bridge between CPU-intensive and data-intensive computations, MPI-DB exploits massive parallelism within large databases to provide scalable, fast service. It is built as a client-server framework, using MPI, with MPI-DB server acting as an intermediary between the user application running an MPI-DB client and the database servers. MPI-DB provides high-level objects such as multi-dimensional arrays, acting as an abstraction layer that effectively hides the database from the end user.
Preoperative and postoperative prediction of long-term meningioma outcomes.

Author(s): Gennatas, Efstathios D; Wu, Ashley; Braunstein, Steve E; Morin, Olivier; Chen, William C; Magill, Stephen T; Gopinath, Chetna; Villaneueva-Meyer, Javier E; Perry, Arie; McDermott, Michael W; Solberg, Timothy D; Valdes, Gilmer; Raleigh, David R | Abstract: BackgroundMeningiomas are stratified according to tumor grade and extent of resection, often in isolation of other clinical variables. Here, we use machine learning (ML) to integrate demographic, clinical, radiographic and pathologic data to develop predictive models for meningioma outcomes.Methods and findingsWe developed a comprehensive database containing information from 235 patients who underwent surgery for 257 meningiomas at a single institution from 1990 to 2015. The median follow-up was 4.3 years, and resection specimens were re-evaluated according to current diagnostic criteria, revealing 128 WHO grade I, 104 grade II and 25 grade III meningiomas. A series of ML algorithms were trained and tuned by nested resampling to create models based on preoperative features, conventional postoperative features, or both. We compared different algorithms' accuracy as well as the unique insights they offered into the data. Machine learning models restricted to preoperative information, such as patient demographics and radiographic features, had similar accuracy for predicting local failure (AUC = 0.74) or overall survival (AUC = 0.68) as models based on meningioma grade and extent of resection (AUC = 0.73 and AUC = 0.72, respectively). Integrated models incorporating all available demographic, clinical, radiographic and pathologic data provided the most accurate estimates (AUC = 0.78 and AUC = 0.74, respectively). From these models, we developed decision trees and nomograms to estimate the risks of local failure or overall survival for meningioma patients.ConclusionsClinical information has been historically underutilized in the prediction of meningioma outcomes. Predictive models trained on preoperative clinical data perform comparably to conventional models trained on meningioma grade and extent of resection. Combination of all available information can help stratify meningioma patients more accurately.
Sex differences influencing micro- and macrovascular endothelial phenotype in vitro.

KEY POINTS Endothelial dysfunction is an early hallmark of multiple disease states that also display sex differences with respect to age of onset, frequency and severity. Results of in vivo studies of basal and stimulated microvascular barrier function revealed sex differences that are difficult to ascribe to specific cells or environmental factors. The present study evaluated endothelial cells (EC) isolated from macro- and/or microvessels of reproductively mature rats under the controlled conditions of low-passage culture aiming to test the assumption that EC phenotype would be sex independent. The primary finding was that EC, regardless of where they are derived, retain a sex-bias in low-passage culture, independent of varying levels of reproductive hormones. The implications of the present study include the fallacy of expecting a universal set of mechanisms derived from study of EC from one sex and/or one vascular origin to apply uniformly to all EC under unstimulated conditions, and no less in disease. ABSTRACT Vascular endothelial cells (EC) are heterogeneous with respect to phenotype, reflecting at least the organ of origin, location within the vascular network and physical forces. As an independent influence on EC functions in health or aetiology, susceptibility, and progression of dysfunction in numerous disease states, sex has been largely ignored. The present study focussed on EC isolated from aorta (macrovascular) and skeletal muscle vessels (microvascular) of age-matched male and female rats under identical conditions of short-term (passage 4) culture. We tested the hypothesis that genomic sex would not influence endothelial growth, wound healing, morphology, lactate production, or messenger RNA and protein expression of key proteins (sex hormone receptors for androgen and oestrogens α and β; platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 and vascular endothelial cadherin mediating barrier function; αv β3 and N-cadherin influencing matrix interactions; intracellular adhesion molecule-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 mediating EC/white cell adhesion). The hypothesis was rejected because the EC origin (macro- vs. microvessel) and sex influenced multiple phenotypic characteristics. Statistical model analysis of EC growth demonstrated an hierarchy of variable importance, recapitulated for other phenotypic characteristics, with predictions assuming EC homogeneity < sex < vessel origin < sex and vessel origin. Furthermore, patterns of EC mRNA expression by vessel origin and by sex did not predict protein expression. Overall, the present study demonstrated that accurate assessment of sex-linked EC dysfunction first requires an understanding of EC function by position in the vascular tree and by sex. The results from a single EC tissue source/species/sex cannot provide universal insight into the mechanisms regulating in vivo endothelial function in health, and no less in disease.
Diagnosis of Pouch Disorders: Laboratory Tests

Abstract Restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) remains the surgical treatment of choice for patients with medically refractory ulcerative colitis (UC) or UC with dysplasia. There are risks for the development of complications following IPAA, including pouchitis. There are limited data available on laboratory markers in the evaluation and diagnosis of pouch disorders. Immunogenotypic markers such as genetic polymorphisms of IL-1 receptor antagonist, NOD2/CARD15, toll-like receptor, and tumor necrosis factor-α, are found to be associated with the risk of developing pouchitis. Fecal markers including lactoferrin and calprotectin are useful to diagnose inflammatory conditions affecting the pouch. Laboratory evaluation has provided information on the etiology and pathogenesis of pouchitis and also helps practicing clinicians for accurate diagnosis, differential diagnosis, disease stratification, and management of ileal pouch disorders.
Rapid Microbial Identification and Antibiotic Resistance Detection by Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Membrane Lipids.

Infectious diseases have a substantial global health impact. Clinicians need rapid and accurate diagnoses of infections to direct patient treatment and improve antibiotic stewardship. Current technologies employed in routine diagnostics are based on bacterial culture followed by morphological trait differentiation and biochemical testing, which can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. With advances in mass spectrometry (MS) for clinical diagnostics, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved two microbial identification platforms based on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) MS analysis of microbial proteins. We recently reported a novel and complementary approach by comparing MALDI-TOF mass spectra of microbial membrane lipid fingerprints to identify ESKAPE pathogens. However, this lipid-based approach used a sample preparation method that required more than a working day from sample collection to identification. Here, we report a new method that extracts lipid...
US-Centric vs. International Personally Identifiable Information: A Comparison Using the UT CID Identity Ecosystem

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) refers to any information that can be used to trace or identify an individual. A Javelin Strategy and Research Report stated that PII misuse and fraud hits record high with 15.4 million US victims in 2016, about 16% more than the previous year. A comprehensive analysis of PII attributes and their relationships is necessary to protect users from identity theft. However, identity theft and fraud are not just a US problem. According to a new report from Risk Based Security, in 2016, there were 4,149 confirmed breaches exposing more than 4.2 billion records globally. That is approximately 3.2 billion more records than were exposed in 2013, the previous all-time high. In this paper, we extend the mathematical representation and implementation model of the UT CID Identity Ecosystem representing PII attributes and relationships to incorporate international PII. Previously, the UT CID Identity Ecosystem model has been primarily populated using data about US theft and fraud cases to include PII attributes used to transact crime as well as accidental exposure of PII attributes. Statistics are also calculated and associated with respective PII attributes such as the frequency of exposure occurrences for respective PII attributes, monetization value of PII (i.e. financial consequences of the crime), and strength of relationships between PII attributes. This research describes how the content of the UT CID Identity Ecosystem and resulting analysis change when PII attributes from international identity theft and fraud cases are incorporated. Not only are the PII attributes different in an international UT CID Identity Ecosystem, the relationships between PII attributes change, the monetization value of PII attributes change, and the risk of exposure change when worldwide identity theft and fraud cases are considered.
Childhood Obesity: Health Policies and Interventions

Abstract Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the last decade becoming one of the most serious health concerns in both developed and developing nations. The rapid growth of global economies, as a result of industrialization and urbanization, has resulted in the widespread adoption of a more sedentary lifestyle with increased propensities for the consumption of processed and calorically dense foods. Still, there are several other contributive factors to heightened childhood obesity rates as well, including more frequent food promotions/advertisements, technology use, and lack of sleep, prenatal, and infant care. Such rampant childhood obesity has resulted in more instances of bullying (causing long-term psychological effects), poorer productivity in academic spheres, and, most seriously, diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Consequently, the increases in health costs and associated mortality rates have significantly intensified pressure within the health care sector. A change in youth lifestyle is necessary, led specifically by involved parents/caretakers, to limit the intake of sugar-laden foods while encouraging higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, regular exercise, and frequent check-ups by pediatricians—all of which can prevent a child from becoming overweight or obese. Interventions and preventions by the local, state, and federal governments are required to design and implement policies to benefit the target population(s). Current government interventions have already shown substantial progress, plateauing the increase of childhood obesity in urban centers. However, to have a truly healthier community in the long run (balanced in both nutrition and activity), many more policies need to be executed on, controlling for socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, accessibility, gender, and age.
Cancer-related Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors within the Latino Faith Community in South Los Angeles.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to establish relationships with Latino churches in South Los Angeles and to collect data from parishioners regarding their access to care, cancer risk factors, and cancer-related knowledge, attitudes and screening. Methods: In 2014, we approached five La­tino churches. All allowed us to describe the study and to consent potential respondents at a designated time during the church service. Results: 398 Latino respondents (75% female) completed the survey in English (15%) or Spanish (85%). Most respondents were born in Mexico (63%). Only 56% had health insurance and 51% had a regular doctor. Based on self-reported height and weight, 33% were overweight and 51% were obese. However, only 42% of obese respondents had been told by their doctor that they were obese. Although it is well-established that obesity is a major cancer risk factor, respondents lacked knowledge about the important role of nutrition and exercise in cancer prevention. Among women, adherence to national screening guidelines was 88% for cervical cancer, 72% for breast cancer and 58% for colorectal cancer. However, they were quite willing to undergo cancer screening if recommended by a physician and reported few barriers to colorectal cancer screening. Conclusions: Our data suggest a need to focus on both primary and secondary cancer prevention by promoting healthy lifestyles to curb the obesity epidemic and by promoting colorectal cancer screening. These data will inform future interventions to promote wellness in South Los Ange­les in collaboration with the Latino faith community. Ethn Dis. 2019;29(2):239-246; doi:10.18865/ed.29.2.239
Dust Extinction Curves and Ly-alpha Forest Flux Deficits for Use in Modeling GRB Afterglows and All Other Extragalactic Point Sources

Since gamma-ray burst afterglows were first detected in 1997, the relativistic fireball model has emerged as the leading theoretical explanation of the afterglows. In this paper, we present a very general, Bayesian inference formalism with which this, or any other, afterglow model can be tested, and with which the parameter values of acceptable models can be constrained, given the available photometry. However, before model comparison or parameter estimation can be attempted, one must also consider the physical processes that affect the afterglow as it propagates along the line of sight from the burst source to the observer. Namely, how does extinction by dust, both in the host galaxy and in our galaxy, and absorption by the Ly-alpha forest and by H I in the host galaxy, change the intrinsic spectrum of the afterglow? Consequently, we also present in this paper a very general, eight-parameter dust extinction curve model, and a two-parameter model of the Ly-alpha forest flux deficit versus redshift distribution. Using fitted extinction curves from Milky Way and Magellanic Cloud lines of sight, and measurements of Ly-alpha forest flux deficits from quasar absorption line systems, we construct a Bayesian prior probability distribution that weights this additional, but necessary, parameter space such that the volume of the solution space is reduced significantly, a priori. Finally, we discuss the broad applicability of these results to the modeling of light from all other extragalactic point sources, such as Type Ia supernovae.
Autonomous Agent Teammate-Likeness: Scale Development and Validation

The current paper examined the construct of Autonomy Agent Teammate Likeness (AAT). Advanced technologies have the potential to serve as teammates versus as mere tools during tasks involving human partners, yet little research has been done to quantify the factors that shape teaming perceptions in a human-machine domain. The current study used a large online sample to test a set of candidate measures related to the AAT model. Psychometric analyses were used to gauge their utility. The results demonstrate initial support for the validity of the AAT model.
Conductive Polymers and Hydrogels for Neural Tissue Engineering

Conventional approaches for the rescue and repair of the damaged neural tissue generally remain ineffective and do not provide functional recovery due to the difficulties in mimicking the complex anatomical functioning of the nervous system. Mimicking the natural microenvironment of the glial, neuronal, and stromal cells of the nervous system through the use of functional biomaterials-based platforms, and further combining these platforms with stem cell-based therapies has been considered as a promising alternative strategy for the efficient regeneration and functional recovery of the damaged neural tissue. The functionalities of biomaterial-based platforms provide 3D matrices with desired pore sizes, porosities, elasticities, and wettability along with various chemical, biological, and topographical cues that favor cellular attachment, growth, proliferation, directed alignment, and differentiation as well as proper nutrient flow for neural tissue regeneration. In addition, considering the inherent presence of electrical fields and synapses in the nervous system, application of electrical stimuli through conductive biomaterials-based platforms in the form of films, hydrogels, fibers, composites, and flexible electronic interfaces has also been used to enhance the nerve regeneration process. These platforms providing electrical stimuli have been particularly used for controlling neurite extension, directed migration of neuronal and glial cells, and differentiation of stem cells. In this review, we will summarize the recent advances in conductive biomaterials-based platforms and the use of electrical stimuli to control cellular behavior to enable neural regeneration.
Exercise and Neural Adaptations: Designing a Novel Treatment for Alcohol Addiction.

Context Multiple forms of behavioral therapies have been developed to treat alcohol abuse disorders (AUDs). Despite positive outcomes during and immediately after behavioral treatment, 60% to 90% of patients relapse in the year after treatment. Combined approaches have also been developed, but similar high relapse rates have occurred. Aerobic exercise may be an appropriate complimentary treatment for behavioral therapy in AUDs. However, it is critical to identify the appropriate dose of exercise to gain maximal benefit. Objective This literature review intended to explore the neural components of alcohol addiction, identify the mechanisms by which exercise might influence brain function, characterize the appropriate exercise intervention for AUDs, and ascertain strategies for implementing exercise into behavioral therapy treatment. Design The research team searched the literature for systematic reviews, descriptive studies, case reports, cross-sectional, along with experimental design studies (both randomized controlled trials and nonrandomized single group). Mechanisms of AUD, neurophysiological adaptations to physical exercise, and exercise interventions in AUD treatment were the primary areas of interest. PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases were searched between 1970 and 2019. Results Neural mechanisms of AUD identified included abnormal neurotransmission, prefrontal cortex function, and neurogenic processes. Exercise may serve the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms of AUD, and this has been demonstrated in a handful of exercise therapies studied among alcohol abusers. Conclusions Given the current reviews findings on the neural mechanisms of alcohol addiction, the neurophysiological basis of exercise treatment, and the results of exercise interventions during alcohol treatment the current research team has developed a novel approach to treatment of alcohol addiction by incorporating aerobic interval exercise into traditional, evidence-based, cognitive behavioral therapy. The benefits of exercise may promote and compliment CBT treatment and lead to reduced drinking outcomes.
The Many-Headed Hydra of Theory vs. the Unifying Mission of Teaching

English professors humanized the world with thrice-weekly doses of literary instruction, exchanged witty conversation and recondite literary allusions at the Friday afternoon sherry hour, and generally agreed with each other about which books to teach, how to teach them, and the importance of teaching them. This golden age must have ended right before I entered the field. My whole history within the discipline suggests that getting English professionals to agree in large numbers about almost anything is nearly as difficult as herding cats or training king cobras to hiss the "Hallelujah Chorus" in four-part harmony. I do not intend to rehearse the causes of our winter's discontent-Gerald Graff and others have amply analyzed our disciplinary doings and undoings-but it is useful to observe that even when we are merely describing "the condition of our discipline" (rather than analyzing it), our constant themes are loss and gain, change and resistance to change, and the nature of the professional and intellectual anxieties produced by all of the above. John Bassett in a College English essay thoughtfully identifies what he takes to be the "major changes [that] have redirected the discipline," the most significant of which is surely our "redirection" toward becoming another kind of discipline altogether: "the explosion of interest in theory.., .has been the key to the movement of literary study toward the social sciences" (321; emphasis added). Bassett shows steelier nerves than most of us in his willingness to understate our disciplinary disunity. He sees us as being merely "redirected"
Modeling Voters in Multi-Winner Approval Voting

In many real world situations, collective decisions are made using voting and, in scenarios such as committee or board elections, employing voting rules that return multiple winners. In multi-winner approval voting (AV), an agent submits a ballot consisting of approvals for as many candidates as they wish, and winners are chosen by tallying up the votes and choosing the top-$k$ candidates receiving the most approvals. In many scenarios, an agent may manipulate the ballot they submit in order to achieve a better outcome by voting in a way that does not reflect their true preferences. In complex and uncertain situations, agents may use heuristics instead of incurring the additional effort required to compute the manipulation which most favors them. In this paper, we examine voting behavior in single-winner and multi-winner approval voting scenarios with varying degrees of uncertainty using behavioral data obtained from Mechanical Turk. We find that people generally manipulate their vote to obtain a better outcome, but often do not identify the optimal manipulation. There are a number of predictive models of agent behavior in the COMSOC and psychology literature that are based on cognitively plausible heuristic strategies. We show that the existing approaches do not adequately model real-world data. We propose a novel model that takes into account the size of the winning set and human cognitive constraints, and demonstrate that this model is more effective at capturing real-world behaviors in multi-winner approval voting scenarios.
Choroid plexus epithelial cells as a model to study nongenomic steroid signaling and its effect on ion channel function

The choroid plexus (CP) is an epithelial tissue primarily responsible for the secretion of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Choroid plexuses are found in each of the four brain ventricles: two laterals, third and fourth. They ensure continuous production of CSF to provide nutrients, remove waste products and provide a mechanical buffer to protect the brain. Tight junctions in the CP epithelium form a barrier between the blood plasma and the CSF, which allow channels and transporters in the CP to establish a highly regulated concentration gradient of ions between the two fluids, thereby controlling the composition of CSF. CP plays an important part in healthy brain homeostasis, as its failure to maintain adequate CSF perfusion is implicated in Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury. And yet, the physiology of CP and the mechanism of its age-related functional decline is one of the most understudied areas of neurobiology. Here, we describe a protocol to isolate and identify individual choroid plexus epithelial cells (CPEC) from murine brain for whole-cell patch-clamp recordings and ion channel identification. Using the recording from the inwardly rectifying potassium channel Kir7.1 and TRPM3 that are abundant in CP, we demonstrate a technique to study the regulators of ion channels in the choroid plexus.
Interneuronal dynamics facilitate the initiation of cortical spreading depression

Cortical spreading depression (CSD) is thought to precede migraine attacks with aura and is characterized by a slowly traveling wave of inactivity through cortical pyramidal cells. During CSD, pyramidal cells experience hyperexcitation with rapidly increasing firing rates, major changes in electrochemistry, and ultimately spike block that propagates slowly across the cortex. While the identifying characteristic of CSD is the pyramidal cell hyperexcitation and subsequent spike block, it is currently unknown how the dynamics of the cortical microcircuits and inhibitory interneurons affect the initiation of CSD. We tested the contribution of cortical inhibitory interneurons to the initiation of spike block using a cortical microcircuit model that takes into account changes in ion concentrations that result from neuronal firing. Our results show that interneuronal inhibition provides a wider dynamic range to the circuit and generally improves stability against spike block. Despite these beneficial effects, strong interneuronal firing contributed to rapidly changing extracellular ion concentrations, which facilitated hyperexcitation and led to spike block first in the interneuron and then in the pyramidal cell. In all cases, a loss of interneuronal firing triggered pyramidal cell spike block. However, preventing interneuronal spike block was insufficient to rescue the pyramidal cell from spike block. Our data thus demonstrate that while the role of interneurons in cortical microcircuits is complex, they are critical to the initiation of pyramidal cell spike block and CSD. We discuss the implications that localized effects on cortical interneurons have beyond the isolated microcircuit.