cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Perceived social cohesion and prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases

Background: Although physical attributes have been shown to be associated with sexually transmitted disease (SD) rates, there is little information about the association between social attributes and STD rates. Goal: The objective of this study was to determine the association between gonorrhea prevalence and perceptions of social cohesion in impoverished, urban neighborhoods. Study Design: We conducted a street-based survey of 18- to 24year-olds residing in selected census block groups in Baltimore City, Maryland. Census block groups eligible for selection were defined as impoverished (greater than 20% in poverty) and unstable (lowest 25th percentile for stability). From the eligible census block groups, 5 from high gonorrhea rate (greater than the 75th percentile) census block groups and 5 from the lower gonorrhea rate (lowest 25th percentile to equal or greater than the 75th percentile) census block groups were randomly selected. Participants within the 10 selected census block groups were recruited using a street-intercept method. Participants were asked about perceived social cohesion and control. Results: Results showed that for young adults 18 to 24 years of age residing in high gonorrhea census block groups, the mean social cohesion index scores were 1.7 points lower than mean social cohesion index scores of the participants residing in the low gonorrhea census block groups (P <0.01). Conclusion: Future research needs to be conducted to determine the temporal association between gonorrhea prevalence and local social cohesion dynamics.
Public Services and Outreach in Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Libraries

Rare books, manuscript, and special collections libraries remain both more difficult and more forbidding to use than any other parts of most libraries. A shift from an ethos that emphasized acquisition, cataloging, and preservation has brought into new prominence issues generally grouped together under the rubric of promotion. This essay considers some of the ways in which this addition to the ethos of special collections has the potential to change for the better the ways such libraries are perceived and used.
Learning to make racism funny in the ‘color-blind’ era: Stand-up comedy students, performance strategies, and the (re)production of racist jokes in public

This article contends performance comedy serves as a mechanism for expressing ethnic and racial stereotypes in public and presents a challenge to studies of contemporary racial discourse which sugg...
Development of an Electrostatic Precipitator to Remove Martian Atmospheric Dust From ISRU Gas Intakes During Planetary Exploration Missions

Manned exploration missions to Mars will need dependable in situ resource utilization (ISRU) for oxygen production. The Martian atmosphere is composed of 95.3% CO2, other gases, and 0.13% O2 at ~ 9 mbar (1% of the Earth's pressure). However, it also contains 2-10- μm dust uploaded by dust devils and high winds. Oxygen extraction requires removal of the dust with little pressure drop (Δp). An electrostatic precipitator (ESP) has lower Δp than a filter, but the low pressure causes an electrical breakdown at electric fields ( ~ 1 kV/cm) ~ 30× lower than on Earth, making implementation challenging. Molecular mean free paths (λ = 4 μm) and ion mobility values (b = 0.008 m2/V·s) are ~ 100× larger than at Earth's pressure (λ = 44 nm) and (b = 8.4 ×10-5). The large λ lowers Stokes drag, particularly for smaller particles. Pauthenier field charging dominates for particles with and diffusion charging for d<;2 μm. The low E proportionally decreases both Pauthenier particle charging and the F = qE collection force. This greatly reduces the particle migration velocities (w), e.g., for d = 10 μm, w = 0.01 m/s compared with 0.4 m/s on Earth. However, for small particles (d = 1 μm), this is compensated by diffusion charging and reduced drag ( w = 0.04 m/s on Mars, 0.05 m/s on Earth). The Martian atmosphere was simulated with 95% CO2/5% humid air at 9 mbar. Paschen curves were measured, and I- V curves ( I ~ 5 - 300 μA for V ~ 1.3 - 2.3 kV) were obtained for 5-10-cm-diameter wire/rod-cylinder ESPs. Only positive polarity yielded stable uniform corona. Charging of 0.5-1.3-cm-diameter spheres agreed with the Pauthenier theory. A Martian dust simulant collection efficiency test is in progress.
DEPENDENCE ON CACTI AND AGAVES IN NECTAR-FEEDING BATS FROM VENEZUELAN ARID ZONES

We used stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses to test the hypothesis that nectarfeeding bats Leptonycteris curasoae and Glossophaga longirostris depend on cacti and agaves as food sources in Venezuelan arid zones and to compare their trophic positions. We measured the isotopic compositions of muscle tissue in the 2 species during 1 year at 3 arid locations. Overall carbon isotopic composition ( ] 13 C) of L. curasoae (211.76‰) and G. longirostris (213.28‰) resembled values characteristic of columnar cacti and agaves (212.47‰), which have in common the crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthetic pathway. L. curasoae appears to be more dependent on cacti and agaves (98% CAM in the diet) than G. longirostris (85% CAM in the diet). CAM dependence, as we designate dependence on cacti and agaves, was evidenced across sites. Level of CAM dependence slightly varied over the year only in G. longirostris. We concluded that the 2 species of bats mainly rely on CAM plants in Venezuelan arid zones. Overall nitrogen isotopic composition ( ] 15 N) did not differ between L. curasoae (15.87‰) and G. longirostris (15.37‰). Although our results suggest that the 2 bats occupy the same trophic position, no conclusive evidence supported this observation. The strong interdependence between these bats and their host CAM plants in northern South America suggests that a disturbance affecting 1 component of the interaction would have a strong effect on the other.
Growth Hormone Improves Body Mass Recovery with Refeeding after Chronic Undernutrition-Induced Muscle Atrophy in Aging Male Rats

The effects of growth hormone (GH) administration and refeeding after chronic undernutrition (UN) were investigated in Fischer 344 male rats aging into senescence (24.5 mo of age) during UN initiated at 12.5 mo of age that produced muscle atrophy and a 50% decrease in body mass. Muscle mass, protein, myosin heavy-chain (MHC) composition and circulating testosterone levels were measured and compared to controls with free access to food. Within 9 wk, refeeding + GH restored body mass to control levels, whereas it was still decreased with refeeding alone. By 24.5 mo of age, refeeding alone restored body mass, while addition of GH resulted in overshoot. UN uniformly decreased mass of the gastrocnemius, extensor digitorum longus, soleus and diaphragm muscles to 50-60% of controls. Refeeding and refeeding + GH restored these losses with some overshoot of gastrocnemius muscle suggesting hypertrophy. UN more than doubled slow Type I MHC composition and approximately halved fast Type IIB and IIX MHC in the deep gastrocnemius muscle while it increased Type IIA MHC in the diaphragm. Refeeding and refeeding + GH reversed these shifts. MHC shifts in the extensor digitorum longus and soleus muscles were not statistically significant, whereas UN increased fast Type IIA MHC followed by decrease with refeeding + GH. UN decreased testosterone levels to nearly zero followed by restoration with refeeding and refeeding + GH. We conclude that the phenotype of mixed-MHC muscles such as the gastrocnemius and diaphragm are most affected by chronic UN, which is reversible with refeeding and refeeding + GH. These alterations were associated with changes in circulating testosterone, which may be a key regulatory element in these processes.
Ultrafast Intramolecular Electron and Proton Transfer in Bis(imino)isoindole Derivatives.

Concerted motion of electrons and protons in the excited state is pertinent to a wide range of chemical phenomena, including those relevant for solar-to-fuel light harvesting. The excited state dynamics of small proton-bearing molecules are expected to serve as models for better understanding such phenomena. In particular, for designing the next generation of multielectron and multiproton redox catalysts, understanding the dynamics of more than one proton in the excited state is important. Toward this goal, we have measured the ultrafast dynamics of intramolecular excited state proton transfer in a recently synthesized dye with two equivalent transferable protons. We have used a visible ultrafast pump to initiate the proton transfer in the excited state, and have probed the transient absorption of the molecule over a wide bandwidth in the visible range. The measurement shows that the signal which is characteristic of proton transfer emerges within ∼710 fs. To identify whether both protons were transferred...
Cultivating Metal Whiskers by Surface Plasmon Polariton Excitation

This work presents a preliminary experimental study on the possibility to initiate growth of whiskers on the surfaces of some technologically important metals utilizing the enhanced electric field of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). The results provide evidence that a relatively high concentration of what appear to be whisker nuclei form in the region where SPPs were excited, whereas no such changes are observed on the untreated surface.
Exploring the Impact of Inaccessible Redesign and Updates

For many blind users, updated software versions or revised websites, apps, and operating systems can create a situation where an interface that may have been accessible is no longer accessible, more difficult to use, or confusing. Websites, apps, and cloud-based software are modified on a frequent basis, and many organizations do not have a formal process in place to ensure that those changes comply with accessibility requirements. A web-based survey was conducted to collect feedback from users who are blind to learn more about the impact that website, software, and mobile app updates can have on accessibility and use. The results of the survey illustrate the negative impact that inaccessible updates and revisions can have on users with disabilities.
Victorious rebels and postwar politics

AbstractWhy do victorious rebels sometimes form powerful postwar political parties and other times collapse into weak, factionalized organizations? This paper examines cases of rebel victories in civil wars in Africa and traces the links between war duration, the extent of external intervention, and whether or not the war was fought in a compact area with the nature of the postwar political parties. It argues that protracted wars in confined territory with little external assistance have different organizational legacies than quick wars fought over expansive territory with significant international involvement. Four cases – Uganda, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Libya – are used to illustrate the argument.
Accelerometry-Derived Physical Activity of First Through Third Grade Children During the Segmented School Day

BACKGROUND Schools should provide children 30 minutes/day of moderate-to-vigorous-physical-activity (MVPA). Determining school day segments that contribute to children's MVPA can inform school-based activity promotion. The purpose of this paper was to identify the proportion of children accumulating 30 minutes/day of school-based MVPA, and to identify school day segments' contribution to children's MVPA. METHODS First-third graders (N = 323 [173 girls and 150 boys]) accelerometer-derived sedentary behaviors, light activity, and MVPA were measured for 1 to 5 school days. Children's activity was estimated during class time, lunch, physical education (PE), and recess. To explore disparities in MVPA, children were stratified into high/low-active groups. RESULTS Girls and boys accumulated 30.4 and 34.4 minutes/day of MVPA on PE days and 23.5 and 27.3 minutes/day of MVPA on non-PE days. This translated to 36.5 and 44.1% of girls and boys accumulating 30 minutes of MVPA on PE days and 16.3 and 36.5% on non-PE days. On PE days, PE contributed the most MVPA for girls and boys (11.8 and 13.0 minutes/day), followed by class time (11.4 and 12.5 minutes/day), recess (5.2 and 6.5 minutes/day), and lunch (2.0 and 2.4 minutes/day). Disparities between high/low children were greatest during PE and class time. CONCLUSIONS Most children were not accumulating 30 minutes/day of MVPA. PE and class time are promising school day segments for promoting MVPA.
The Roles of Immunity in the Prevention and Evolution of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

This Perspective provides an in depth overview of the many aspects of inflammation which are associated with many forms of severe pulmonary hypertension.Details of the pathobiology of severe pulmonary hypertension are discussed in the context of the multicellular inflammatory vascular infiltrates which represent a lung vessel response to injury and and a localized immune response.The important question whether inflammation is cause or consequence of pulmonary hypertension should not distract from designing and conducting clinical pilot studies which examine the efficacy of existing immune system modulating drugs.
Risk of Extreme Flood Losses under Uncertain Physical Conditions

Risk-based design for mitigating flood losses using extreme value theory can account for a varying or uncertain physical condition, such as the impact of a potential climate change on the return period of catastrophic floods. New results will be presented for characterizing the extreme tails of a flood loss probability distribution when the underlying distribution of flood peak discharge and the flood loss function are uncertain. Taking the conditional expected value of loss — given exceedance of a selected threshold as a measure of the risk of extreme events — the significance of an uncertain physical condition to the risk of extremes is quantifiable using the new results. Design actions can minimize the risk of extreme flood losses while accounting for inexact knowledge of the physical condition.
Combined treatment planning and therapy using 153Sm-EDTMP RPT with XRT in pediatric metastatic osteosarcoma patients

341 Objectives Metastatic osteosarcoma is a cancer of adolescents and young adults which has a low survival rate. We present results and describe a methodology related to an ongoing trial designed to boost the radiation dose to lesions in cases where XRT is limited by normal organ toxicity. We combine RPT using 153Sm-EDTMP a FDA approved bone seeking calcium mimetic with XRT, and provide a treatment plan that incorporates the dose from both modalities. Methods We illustrate the methodology using data from the last patient treated. The treatment protocol is myeloablative and patients first undergo stem cell harvesting. The last patient treated was injected with a 58 mCi pre-dose of 153Sm-EDTMP and imaged at 4, 24 and 48 h p.i. The RPT treatment planning system, 3D-RD, was used to establish the maximum safe administered activity based on normal tissues absorbed dose (AD) constraints derived from RPT and the projected XRT treatment plan. One week after the pre-dose, a therapeutic dose of 600 mCi 153Sm-EDTMP was administered, and the patient was imaged at 4, 24 and 48 h p.i. The images were reconstructed including a count-rate saturation correction. AD-maps and DVHs were generated using 3D-RD for the RPT part of the treatment. These were entered into the XRT treatment planning system, which was used to create a combined RPT/XRT treatment plan. Results The AD delivered to the tumor by RPT was 25.5 Gy. The XRT plan was created based on the RPT plan and 51.3 Gy was delivered to the tumor by XRT, resulting in a total AD of 76.8 Gy. The AD to adjacent spinal cord from the combined treatments was 30.9 Gy. Conclusions The created treatment planning protocol combining RPT and XRT for metastatic osteosarcoma in pediatric patients showed great promise reducing the AD to the adjacent spinal cord with 13.6 Gy compared with using only XRT.
The Development and Psychology of Young Minds: Communities Can Prevent Exploitation and Facilitate Rehabilitation

This chapter begins with an exploration of the context of adolescent development in the USA and a review of the current health outcomes of this population, including those related to trafficking and exploitation. The text provides an overview of the social, emotional, cognitive, and neurobiological development of adolescence and young adulthood. The authors discuss how trauma impacts development and ways to promote the development of resilience, to mitigate the impacts of toxic stress. From a public health perspective, the chapter shares information about relationship and community-level promising practices, interventions, and strategies that may help to reduce the incidence of trafficking. Finally, recommendations are made about how communities can integrate what science and experience teach about how to prevent negative health outcomes, including the prevention of trafficking and exploitation of our nation’s youth.
17.6 Rapid and energy-efficient molecular sensing using dual mm-Wave combs in 65nm CMOS: A 220-to-320GHz spectrometer with 5.2mW radiated power and 14.6-to-19.5dB noise figure

Millimeter-wave/terahertz rotational spectroscopy offers ultra-wide-detection range of gas molecules for chemical and biomedical sensing. Therefore, wideband, energy-efficient, and fast-scanning CMOS spectrometers are in demand. Spectrometers using narrow-pulse sources and electromagnetic scattering [1] are broadband, but their resolutions do not meet the requirement (<10kHz) of the absolute specificity. Alternatively, a scheme using a single tunable tone exhibits significant trade-off between bandwidth and performance. The 245GHz spectrometer in [2] presents 4mW radiated power, but only has a 14GHz bandwidth. In [3] and [4], broader bandwidths are achieved at the expense of degraded radiated power (0.1mW) and noise figure (NF=18.4 to ∼23.5dB). In addition, given a typical 10kHz resolution and 1ms integration time, scanning a 100GHz bandwidth with a single tone takes as long as 3 hours. This paper reports a rapid, energy-efficient spectrometer architecture based on dual-frequency-comb scanning. A 220-to-320GHz CMOS spectrometer prototype based on this architecture is demonstrated with a total radiated power of 5.2mW and a NF of 14.6 to ∼19.5dB.
Breast Tomosynthesis: Practical Considerations

Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is rapidly becoming the new standard of care for breast cancer screening. DBT has improved on the limitations of traditional digital mammography by increasing cancer detection and decreasing false-positive examinations. Interpretation of DBT is slightly different than digital mammography and therefore experience with the technology is paramount to achieve best performance. Examples of malignancies that should be recalled and benign findings that are safely called as benign are provided in this article. Additionally, practical interpretation methods and implementation protocols are explained.
Reversible transformation of NiGe in mechanically alloyed Ni-Ge powders

We report the first observation of reversible equilibrium crystalline–metastable crystalline phase transformation in mechanically alloyed Ni–Ge powder mixtures. The formation of the equilibrium NiGe and metastable NiGe2 phases was investigated using x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy methods. It was clearly shown that milling of the blended elemental powders first resulted in the formation of the equilibrium NiGe phase and continued milling led to the formation of the metastable NiGe2 phase. However, on milling for a longer time, the metastable phase transformed back to the equilibrium NiGe phase. The formation mechanisms of the stable and metastable phases and the reversibility of the phase transformations have been explained on the basis of the thermodynamic stability of the different phases and the contribution of defect concentration and surface energy effects to the free energy of the milled powder.
High Power Picosecond Laser Pulse Recirculation

We designed and constructed a nonlinear crystal-based short pulse recirculation cavity that traps the second harmonic of an incident high power laser. This scheme aims to increase the efficiency of Compton-scattering based light sources.
Multicomponent droplet combustion with rapid internal mixing

Abstract Two models are proposed to describe the gas-phase diffusion-controlled, unsteady combustion of a multicomponent droplet in a stagnant, unbounded atmosphere. The first, termed the Ideal-Mixture Model, assumes that the mixture behaves as an ideal mixture in its phase change characteristics, and that the composition and temperature within the droplet are spatially uniform but temporally varying. Expressions are obtained for the droplet vaporization rate and other quantities of interest. Sample solutions indicate that the components vaporize approximately sequentially in the order of their relative volatilities, and that the vaporization rate is insensitive to the mixture composition during combustion as well as during pure vaporization in hot environments. Available experimental evidence supports the theoretical model. The second model, termed the Shell Model, assumes a shelled distribution of the components such that quasi-steady, single-component vaporization prevails for each shell. Simplified solutions are derived and are shown to closely approximate the bulk vaporization behavior described by the more detailed Ideal-Mixture Model, particularly for the prediction of the total vaporization time.
Pseudorehearsal Approach for Incremental Learning of Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

Deep Convolutional Neural Networks, like most connectionist models, suffers from catastrophic forgetting while training for a new, unknown task. One of the simplest solutions to this issue is adding samples of previous data, with the drawback of increasingly having to store training data; or generating patterns that evoke similar responses of the previous task.
Increase in brain atrophy after subdural hematoma to rates greater than associated with dementia

OBJECTIVEChronic subdural hematoma (cSDH) is a highly morbid condition associated with brain atrophy in the elderly. It has a reported 30% 1-year mortality rate. Approximately half of afflicted individuals report either no or relatively unremarkable trauma preceding their diagnosis, raising the possibility that cSDH is a manifestation of degenerative or inflammatory disease rather than trauma. The purpose of this study was to compare the rates of cerebral atrophy before and after cSDH to determine whether it is more likely that cSDH causes atrophy or that atrophy causes cSDH. The authors also compared atrophy rates in patients with cSDH to the rates in patients with and without dementia.METHODSThe authors developed algorithmic segmentation analysis software to measure whole-brain, CSF, and intracranial space volumes. They then identified military veterans who had undergone at least 4 brain CT scans over a period of 10 years. Within this database, the authors identified 146 patients with 962 head CT scans who had received diagnoses of either cSDH, dementia, or no known dementia condition. Volumetric analyses of brains in 45 patients with dementia (dementia group) and 73 patients without dementia (nondementia group), in whom 262 and 519 head CT scans were obtained, respectively, were compared with 11 patients in whom 81 CT scans were obtained a mean of 4.21 years before a cSDH diagnosis and 17 patients in whom 100 scans were obtained a mean of 4.24 years after SDH. Longitudinal measures were then related to disease status and the time since first scan by using hierarchical models, and atrophy rates between the groups were compared.RESULTSHead CT scans from patients were obtained for an average time period of 4.21 years (SD 1.69) starting at a mean patient age of 74 years. Absolute brain volume loss for the 17 patients in the post-SDH group (13 were treated surgically) was significantly greater, at 16.32 ml/year, compared with 6.61 ml/year in patients with dementia, 5.33 ml/year in patients without dementia, and 3.57 ml/year in pre-SDH patients. The atrophy rate for these individuals prior to enrollment in the study was 2.32 ml/year (p = 0.001). In terms of brain volume normalized to cranial cavity size, the post-SDH group had an atrophy rate of 0.7801%/year, compared with 0.4467%/year in patients with dementia, 0.3474%/year in patients without dementia, and 0.2135%/year in the pre-SDH group.CONCLUSIONSPrior to development of a cSDH, the atrophy rates in patients who ultimately develop cSDH are similar to those of patients without dementia. After development of a cSDH, the atrophy rates increase to more than twice those of patients with dementia. Chronic subdural hematoma is thus associated with a significant increase in brain atrophy rate. These findings suggest the neurotoxic consequences of cSDH and may have implications for better understanding of the pathophysiology of cerebral atrophy and dementia.
Innovations and advancements with prosthetic breast reconstruction

Prosthetic breast reconstruction has evolved over the years to provide results that now mimic that of a natural breast. This is due to a variety of innovations and advancements related to mastectomy techniques, acellular dermal matrices, autologous fat grafting, and improved breast implants. The evolution of prosthetic breast reconstruction has gone full-circle and included prepectoral placement in the 1970s and 80s, partial or total subpectoral placement from 1985 to 2015, and now gradually trending back to prepectoral. There are several techniques and strategies that now allow for patients to achieve results that are superior to any time over the past 50 years. This manuscript will review the salient aspects of prosthetic breast reconstruction and how its evolution has progressed over the years.
Effects of Proud Large Osteochondral Plugs on Contact Forces and Knee Kinematics: A Robotic Study.

Background:Osteochondral allograft (OCA) transplantation is used to treat large focal femoral condylar articular cartilage defects. A proud plug could affect graft survival by altering contact forc...
Bureaucracy and Democracy: Accountability and Performance, 3rd ed.

(2014). Bureaucracy and Democracy: Accountability and Performance, 3rd ed. Journal of Public Affairs Education: Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 139-140.
Slaughter and fabrication/boning processes and procedures.

Publisher Summary The commercial slaughter process for animals is generally uniform across the industry. However, many customizations, innovations, techniques, and practices exist that make each plant unique in its processes. The objective of the slaughter, fabrication, and boning process is to efficiently convert live animals into carcasses and subsequently into a food product, while simultaneously harvesting valuable dress-off items and offals. This chapter focuses on the processes that occur during the slaughter and fabrication operations that when performed result in a live animal being converted into muscle meat. The sequence in which these processes are encountered by animals and carcasses as harvesting proceeds may vary between species and facilities due to space limitations, slaughter line configuration, and dressing procedures. There can also be numerous modifications and variations to each process as Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) are tailored within each facility and at each processing step to result in sanitary conversion of live animals to carcasses.
Increased Genetic Instability and Accelerated Progression of Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer through Intestinal Epithelium–specific Deletion of Klf4

Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4), a zinc finger transcription factor, regulates homeostasis of the intestinal epithelium. Previously, it was reported that KLF4 functions as a tumor suppressor in colorectal cancer. Here, evidence demonstrates that KLF4 mitigates the development and progression of colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC) in a murine model. Mice with intestinal epithelium-specific deletion of Klf4 (Klf4ΔIS ) and control mice (Klf4fl/fl ) were used to explore the role of KLF4 in the development of azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced CAC. Upon AOM and DSS treatment, KLF4 expression was progressively lost in colonic tissues of Klf4fl/fl mice during tumor development. Klf4ΔIS mice treated with AOM/DSS developed significantly more adenomatous polyps and carcinomas in situ in comparison with treated Klf4fl/fl mice. Adenomatous polyps, but not normal-appearing mucosa, from colonic tissues of treated Klf4ΔIS mice contained a significantly increased number of mitotic cells with more than 2 centrosomes relative to treated control mice. KLF4 and p53 colocalize to the centrosomes in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF). Absence of KLF4 in Klf4-/- MEFs inhibits and its overexpression restores p53 localization to the centrosomes in Klf4-/- MEFs. IMPLICATIONS: Taken together, these results indicate that KLF4 plays a protective role against progression of CAC by guarding against genetic instability.
Risk-adapted therapy for advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma

More than 80% of patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma are now cured with contemporary treatment approaches. The ongoing challenge is how to further improve outcomes by identifying both high-risk patients who may benefit from more intensive frontline therapy to reduce the risk of relapse as well as lower-risk patients who may do just as well with less intensive therapy. Numerous trials have used an interim positron emission tomography (PET) response-adapted approach to evaluate early escalation or deescalation of therapy for patients with a positive or negative interim PET scan, respectively. Recent trials have incorporated novel agents, including brentuximab vedotin (BV) and the immune checkpoint inhibitors, in the frontline setting. Based on results of the ECHELON-1 trial, the Food and Drug Administration approved BV in combination with adriamycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine chemotherapy for stage III to IV Hodgkin lymphoma. Improved methods to assess higher risk at diagnosis using quantitative PET metrics, such as metabolic tumor volume and total lesion glycolysis, and incorporation of emerging biomarkers may further refine patient selection for more intensive upfront therapy. The ultimate goal is to achieve the highest level of efficacy for an individual patient while minimizing the short- and long-term toxicities.
Terminating Terrorism with Negotiations: A Divided Path Toward Progress

Traditional knowledge regarding states engaging in talks with terrorist and insurgent organizations suggests that the process of negotiations will be accompanied by an increase in violence, as it signals that violence will encourage the state to make concessions. While this understanding appears to generally hold true, it does not properly isolate the driving mechanism for the elevated level of violence. This research analyses the source and motivation for the rise in violence seen alongside a peace process. Contrary to previous work, this evaluation separates the violent actions from Participating Groups—with a vested interest in the success of the negotiations, and the Excluded Groups—that were not permitted a seat at the bargaining table and therefore have little to gain, and much to lose, from a successful peace accord. Analyzing the violence stemming from the Islamic independence movement in the Mindanao region of the Philippines, and separating the attacks between the Participating and Excluded Groups, a distinct divide appears in the frequency and intensity of violence from each. Participating Groups are found to have a decline in attacks and casualties during times of negotiations, while Excluded Groups have a steep increase during the process. This suggests that negotiations served to reduce violence by Participating Organizations, and these organizations engaged in the peace process in good faith, seeking to reconcile with the government and terminate their violent campaign.
Hong Kong's vehicles of democracy: The vernacular monumentality of buses during the Umbrella Revolution

Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution saw some of the city's busiest streets transformed into temporary sites of artistic expression and freedom. This essay explores the everyday items were turned into i...
Molecular Imaging and Therapy for Neuroendocrine Tumors.

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are relatively rare, with 12,000–15,000 new cases diagnosed annually in the USA. Although NETs are a diverse group of neoplasms, they share common molecular targets that can be exploited using nuclear medicine techniques for both imaging and therapy. NETs have traditionally been imaged with SPECT imaging using 111In-labeled octreotide analogs to detect neoplasms with somatostatin receptors. In addition, certain NETs (pheochromocytomas, paragangliomas, and neuroblastomas) are also effectively imaged using 123I- or 131I-labeled metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG), an analog of guanethidine. More recently, PET imaging with 68Ga-labeled somatostatin receptor (SSR) analogs allows neuroendocrine tumors to be imaged with much higher sensitivity. 68Ga-DOTATATE was approved as a PET tracer by the FDA in June 2016. In addition to imaging, both MIBG and DOTATATE can be labeled with therapeutic radionuclides to deliver targeted radiation selectively to macroscopic and microscopic tumor sites. The incorporation of the same molecular probe for imaging and therapy provides a radio-theranostic approach to identifying, targeting, and treating tumors. Over the years, several centers have experience treating NETs with high-dose 131I-MIBG. 177Lu-DOTATATE was approved by the FDA in 2018 for treatment of gastroenteropancreatic NETs and constitutes a major advancement in the treatment of these diseases. In this paper, we provide an overview of imaging and treating neuroendocrine tumors using MIBG and SSR probes. Although uncommon, neuroendocrine tumors have provided the largest experience for targeted radionuclide imaging and therapy (with the exception of radioiodine treatment for thyroid disease). In addition to benefitting patients with these rare tumors, the knowledge gained provides a blueprint for the development of future paired diagnostic/therapeutic probes for treating other diseases, such as prostate cancer.
Growth and nutritional status of children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years in Henan Province from 2010 to 2013

OBJECTIVE To analyze the height, weight and BMI of children and adolescents aged 6-17 in different sex, age and area in Henan Province from 2010 to2013. METHODS Based on the monitoring of nutrition and health status of Chinese residents conducted in 9 urban and rural monitoring points in Henan Province from October 2010 to December 2013, 3221 aged 6-17 children and adolescents were selected by multi-stage stratification and population proportional random sampling method, including 1660 male students and 1561 female students; 420 in large cities, 628 in small and medium-sized cities, 1460 in rural areas, and 713 in poor rural areas. Family members basic information questionnaires were used to collect basic information, measured height, weight to obtain data, after weighted to analyze the height, weight, body mass index(BMI), stunting, wasting, overweight and obesity. RESULTS In 2010-2013, the development of children and adolescents aged 6-17 in Henan Province were in line with the general principles. The height and weight development of urban students were generally better than those of rural students. The difference between urban and rural areas had been narrowed in BMI. The overall malnutrition rate in the province was 6. 89%. A total of 89 children and adolescents had stunting with a stunting rate of 2. 76%. In addition to stunting, there were 59 moderate-serve wasting(1. 83%) and 74 mild wasting(2. 30%). The malnutrition of rural students was more serious than that of cities. The overweight and obesity rates of children and adolescents in big cities, small and mediumsized cities, ordinary rural areas and poor rural areas were 10. 0%, 9. 69%, 5. 47%, 4. 56%, and 9. 02%, 9. 34%, 3. 40% and 4. 10%, respectively. The overweight and obese were more serious in urban than rural areas. Especially the obesity was epidemic in low-age primary school students. CONCLUSION In view of the double burden coexists in stunting, wasting, overweight and obesity of children and adolescents in Henan Province, and meanwhile, the feature that malnutrition in rural students more serious, overweight and obese in urban students more critical, scientific and effective preventive measures should be carried out in time to ensure the healthy growth of children and adolescents, especially more attention on lower grade children in primary school.
Molecular Dynamics Ensemble Refinement of Intrinsically Disordered Peptides According to Deconvoluted Spectra from Circular Dichroism

We have developed a computational method of atomistically refining the structural ensemble of intrinsically disordered peptides (IDPs) facilitated by experimental measurements using circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD). A major challenge surrounding this approach stems from the deconvolution of experimental CD spectra into secondary structure features of the IDP ensemble. Currently available algorithms for CD deconvolution were designed to analyze the spectra of proteins with stable secondary structures. Herein, our work aims to minimize any bias from the peptide deconvolution analysis by implementing a non-negative linear least-squares fitting algorithm in conjunction with a CD reference data set that contains soluble and denatured proteins (SDP48). The non-negative linear least-squares method yields the best results for deconvolution of proteins with higher disordered content than currently available methods, according to a validation analysis of a set of protein spectra with Protein Data Bank entries. We subsequently used this analysis to deconvolute our experimental CD data to refine our computational model of the peptide secondary structure ensemble produced by all-atom molecular dynamics simulations with implicit solvent. We applied this approach to determine the ensemble structures of a set of short IDPs, that mimic the calmodulin binding domain of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and its 1-amino-acid and 3-amino-acid mutants. Our study offers a, to our knowledge, novel way to solve the ensemble secondary structures of IDPs in solution, which is important to advance the understanding of their roles in regulating signaling pathways through the formation of complexes with multiple partners.
A general 11 C-labeling approach enabled by fluoride-mediated desilylation of organosilanes

Carbon-11 (11C) is one of the most ideal positron emitters for labeling bioactive molecules for molecular imaging studies. The lack of convenient and fast incorporation methods to introduce 11C into organic molecules often hampers the use of this radioisotope. Here, a fluoride-mediated desilylation (FMDS) 11C-labeling approach is reported. This method relies on thermodynamically favored Si-F bond formation to generate a carbanion, therefore enabling the highly efficient and speedy incorporation of [11C]CO2 and [11C]CH3I into molecules with diversified structures. It provides facile and rapid access to 11C-labeled compounds with carbon-11 attached at various hybridized carbons as well as oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen atoms with broad functional group tolerance. The exemplified syntheses of several biologically and clinically important radiotracers illustrates the potentials of this methodology.
Biological Co-treatment of H2S and reduction of CO2 to methane in an anoxic biological trickling filter upgrading biogas.

Abstract This study investigated the feasibility of co-treating H2S and CO2 in a biological trickling filter (BTF) inoculated with hydrogenotrophic methanogens (HMs) and nitrate-reducing, sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. This was accomplished by introducing a pure culture of Thiobacillus denitrificans in a BTF that was successfully upgrading a biogas mimic (60:40 CH4:CO2) to >97% methane using an enriched HM consortium. Nitrate was fed as the electron acceptor to oxidize H2S. The results revealed that a severe competition for hydrogen’s electrons occurred between carbon dioxide and nitrate. Due to this competition, N:S loading rates of 16:1 were required to achieve >98% H2S removal, a ratio which is four times greater than the theoretical N:S ratio for complete sulfur oxidation. However, such high nitrate loading rates (>50 g N–NO3- m−3 h−1) had a negative impact on the BTF’s biogas upgrading performance. An electron balance illustrated the increasing diversion of H2 electrons towards nitrate reduction as nitrate loading increased. Overall, this study showed that simultaneous biogas upgrading and H2S removal in a single bioreactor is possible, but that achieving high yields for both reactions requires further research in process and culture optimization.
Competitiveness of Egyptian grapes exports to the most important markets of the European Union

This study examines the competitiveness of the Egyptian grape exports to the most important markets of the European Union through (market share index, market penetration rate, the price index, geographical concentration index, and the composite index of competitiveness) during the period (2000-2017), study the external demand for grape exports to the most important EU markets. The standard estimation of the target level for grape exports to the major EU markets. The trend of the amount of Egyptian agricultural exports to the EU markets showed an increase of 8.7%, while the quantity, value and export price of grapes was shown to increase at an increasing rate of 10.9%, 14.3% and 9.2% during the average period (2000-2017.( The results of the estimation of the external demand function for the export of grapes to the most important markets of the European countries showed a positive relationship between the quantity of Egyptian exports of grapes and the total local production of grapes. It was found that changing one unit in the quantity of local production of grapes leads to a change in the same direction for grape exports to the UK, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Belgium were about 0.321, 0.148, 0.158, 0.073, 0.056 tons respectively. There is an inverse relationship between the quantity of Egyptian exports of grapes for most important European markets, and both the total domestic consumption of grapes, the average price of exporting grapes, it was found that the change of one unit in the amount of local consumption of grapes lead to a change in the opposite direction for grape exports to the UK, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Belgium was about 0.263, 0.142, 0.082, 0.075, 0.052 tons respectively. One unit change in the export price of grapes lead to a change in the opposite direction for the amount of grape exports to the UK and Belgium was about 17.35, 2.908 tons respectively. The results of standard estimation of the target level for grape exports to the major EU markets by using Nerlove's partial adjustment model, showed that the most important determinants of grape exports were local grape production and local consumption of grapes, it was found that a change of 1% in the quantity of local grape production leads to a change in the same direction for the Egyptian grape exports to the UK, Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Belgium reached about 16.23%, 11.96%, 19.49%, 24.23%, 14.35% respectively. While the 1% change in the local consumption of grapes leads to a change in the reverse direction for the Egyptian grape exports to the UK, Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Belgium reached about 3.35%, 5.94%, 2.39%, 10.16% respectively. The results of the forecasting of the quantity of Egyptian grapes exports to the major European markets until 2023 indicate that they are expected to increase by about 39.8%, 17.5% and 59% in 2017 to the UK, Netherlands and Germany respectively, while they are will decline by about 82.9% and 78.7% for Italy and Belgium respectively.
Hyperbolic triangular prisms with one ideal vertex

We classify all of the five-sided three-dimensional hyperbolic polyhedra with one ideal vertex, which have the shape of a triangular prism, and which give rise to a discrete reflection group. We show how to find each such polyhedron in the upper half-space model by considering lines and circles in the plane. Finally, we give matrix generators in PSL2(ℂ) for the orientation-preserving subgroup of each corresponding reflection group.
Glycemic Response to Oral Dexamethasone Predicts Incident Prediabetes in Normoglycemic Subjects With Parental Diabetes.

Background Prediabetes, an often unrecognized precursor of type 2 diabetes (T2DM), is associated with cardiometabolic complications. Here, we investigated the utility of dexamethasone challenge in predicting incident prediabetes among normoglycemic subjects with parental T2DM enrolled in the prospective Pathobiology of Prediabetes in a Biracial Cohort study. Design and Methods After documenting normoglycemic status with an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), participants ingested dexamethasone (2 mg) at 10:00 pm, and fasting plasma glucose (FPG-Dex) and cortisol were measured at 8:00 am the next day. Subjects were followed quarterly for 5 years, the primary outcome being incident prediabetes. Serial assessments included body composition, blood chemistry, OGTT, insulin sensitivity, and secretion. Results We analyzed data from 190 participants (107 Black, 83 white; mean age 44.7 ± 10.0 years; body mass index [BMI] 29.8 ± 6.8 kg/m2; fasting plasma glucose [FPG] 90.9 ± 5.7 mg/dL). Following dexamethasone ingestion, plasma cortisol was < 5 µg/dL; FPG-Dex levels displayed marked variability (81-145 mg/dL) as did delta FPG (-7 to +48 mg/dL). During 5 years of follow-up, 58 of 190 subjects (30.5%) progressed to prediabetes. FPG-Dex (116.8 ± 10.9 vs 106.9 ± 10.8 mg/dL, P < 0.0001) and delta FPG (23.4 ± 10.1 vs 17.0 ± 10.2 mg/dL, P < 0.0001) were higher in progressors than nonprogressors. FPG-Dex (P = 0.007) was an independent predictor of incident prediabetes in a multivariate model that included age, race, gender, BMI, waist circumference, FPG, insulin sensitivity, and secretion. In further analyses, an FPG-Dex level ≥ 107 mg/dL predicted incident prediabetes with 88% sensitivity and 49% specificity. Conclusions The glycemic response to dexamethasone significantly predicted incident prediabetes among offspring of parents with T2DM, and may be a tool for uncovering latent risk of dysglycemia.