cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Automatic construction of 3D structural motifs for protein function prediction

Structural genomics initiatives are on the verge of generating a vast number of protein structures. The biological roles for many of these proteins are still unknown, and high-throughput methods for determining their function are necessary. Understanding the function of these proteins will have profound impact in drug development and protein engineering. Current methods for protein function prediction on structures require manual creation of structural motifs. Thus only few structural motifs are available. The lack of structural motifs limits the use of these methods for function prediction at a structural-genomics scale. To overcome this limitation, we describe a method for automatically creating a library of three dimensional structural motifs. Automatically generating a library of structural motifs can be used for structural-genomic scale function prediction on protein structures.
A New Face of Poverty?: Economic Crises and Poverty Discourses

This paper explores how economic downturns shape poverty knowledge. Utilizing a content analysis of 293 articles from three major newspapers from 2008-2019, this paper examines how the current economic crisis in the United State has shaped discourses on the meaning and causes of poverty. I find that contemporary accounts of people in poverty employ a structural/contextual narrative more often than a psychological/moral narrative and focus more on the symbolic, rather than material, aspects of poverty. This study highlights how economics crisis create a space for new poverty discourses to emerge that challenge the hegemonic narrative, which stigmatizes and Otherizes people in poverty. However, representations of poverty remain racialized and gendered as the “new poor” are portrayed as fundamentally different and more deserving of policy action than those who were in poverty prior to the economic crisis.
New antiplatelet therapies in development.

Purpose. The efficacy and safety of new antiplatelet therapies, as well as antiplatelet therapies in development, are reviewed. Summary. Variability in the response to treatment with aspirin has been recognized for more than 40 years. Thienopyridine antiplatelet agents are now a standard pharmacologic component in the management of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and stent placement. However, investigators have recently described wide inter-individual variability in the level of platelet inhibition following treatment with the thienopyridine clopidogrel, with a small number of patients classified as “non-responders” or “resistant.” Such variability in response is likely to have important clinical implications, because antiplatelet therapy plays a key role in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease, For example, recent studies have demonstrated that diminished response to clopidogrel may be associated with increased cardiac events after PCI. Even with larger-than-approved loading doses, clopidogrel requires several hours to reach a steady-state effect, and therapy must be discontinued for several days prior to surgery in order to avoid major bleeding events. Clinical trials of prasugrel, a new oral thienopyridine with a more rapid onset of platelet inhibition, have demonstrated significant reductions in adverse cardiovascular outcomes and stent thrombosis; however, there is an increased risk for major bleeding events with prasugrel in some subgroups of the study populations. These limitations have led to development of agents that may potentially overcome such clinical challenges. AZD6140, a novel, potent oral P2Y12 antagonist, demonstrated more effective platelet inhibition versus clopidogrel in a large randomized trial of patients with acute coronary syndrome. However, patients taking AZD6140 reported dyspnea significantly more frequently than those taking clopidogrel. Cangrelor, a novel intravenous P2Y12 receptor antagonist with a rapid onset of action and complete reversibility of platelet inhibition within 20–50 minutes of administration, may offer advantages over currently approved antiplatelet therapies. A new oral antiplatelet thrombin-receptor antagonist, TRA-SCH 530348, is in early clinical trials. Unlike currently available drugs, TRA-SCH 530348 effectively prevents thrombin-induced activation of platelets. Conclusion. Each new class of antiplatelet therapies has the potential for specific benefits and adverse effects in clinical use.
Modeling and processing speech with sums of AM-FM formant models

We describe a new approach to decomposing signals that are modeled as a sum of jointly amplitude and frequency modulated cosines with slowing-varying center frequencies observed in noise based on statistical nonlinear filtering ideas. We demonstrate the ideas on a formant tracking problem for the sentence "Where were you while we were away".
Principles and applications of fluctuation analysis: a nonmathematical introduction

The mechanisms underlying many of the processes studied by membrane biophysicists are inherently probabilistic, and therefore exhibit random fluctuations around the mean of behavior. These fluctuations reflect the underlying probabilistic mechanism and therefore can sometimes provide information, not otherwise available, about these mechanisms. Fluctuations may be characterized by their spectra which are obtained from a Fourier analysis of the experimental records. When a theory for membrane processes is available, it makes predictions about fluctuation spectra and therefore may be tested by examining these spectra. Theories about gating behavior at the frog neuromuscular junction have been tested in this way, and it has been possible, in addition, to estimate the conductance of one open channel, a quantity not susceptible to direct measurements. Various physical pictures are capable of yielding the same macroscopic behavior for axon membranes, that is, the Hodgkin-Huxley equations, but these various mechanisms predict that the current fluctuations around their mean values should have different characteristics. Fluctuation analysis may, then, be of value in elucidating the physical basis for axon conductance changes.—Stevens, C. F. Principles and applications of fluctuation analysis: a nonmathematical introduction. Federation Proc. 34: 1364–1369, 1975.
Gain scheduled controllers with guaranteed linearization properties

Gain scheduling based on plant linearizations about equilibria implicitly imposes a linearization requirement on the controller. This paper presents an approach for gain scheduling that yields controllers that automatically possess the appropriate linearization property and that can also assume a linear parameter-varying (LPV) form. The approach is a modification of the so-called /spl Dscr/ method described in the literature wherein the need for time-derivatives of certain controller inputs is avoided. A gain scheduled controller is designed for the ball and beam experiment to illustrate the technique.
Quantity and size distribution of cough-generated aerosol particles produced by influenza patients during and after illness.

The question of whether influenza is transmitted to a significant degree by aerosols remains controversial, in part, because little is known about the quantity and size of potentially infectious airborne particles produced by people with influenza. In this study, the size and amount of aerosol particles produced by nine subjects during coughing were measured while they had influenza and after they had recovered, using a laser aerosol particle spectrometer with a size range of 0.35 to 10 μm. Individuals with influenza produce a significantly greater volume of aerosol when ill compared with afterward (p = 0.0143). When the patients had influenza, their average cough aerosol volume was 38.3 picoliters (pL) of particles per cough (SD 43.7); after patients recovered, the average volume was 26.4 pL per cough (SD 45.6). The number of particles produced per cough was also higher when subjects had influenza (average 75,400 particles/cough, SD 97,300) compared with afterward (average 52,200, SD 98,600), although th...
The Infocockpit: providing location and place to aid human memory

Our work focuses on building and evaluating computer system interfaces that make information memorable. Psychology research tells us people remember spatially distributed information based on its location relative to their body, as well as the environment in which the information was learned. We apply these principles in the implementation of a multimodal prototype system, the Infocockpit (for "Information Cockpit"). The Infocockpit not only uses multiple monitors surrounding the user to engage human memory for location, but also provides ambient visual and auditory displays to engage human memory for place. We report a user study demonstrating a 56% increase in memory for information presented with our Infocockpit system as compared to a standard desktop system.
Towards Obesity Causes, Prevalence and Prevention

Obesity is simply defined as the condition of being significantly overweight. It's the state where an individual weight is greater than and exceeding the healthy weight. Obesity and overweight has become the fastest growing epidemic affecting not only Americans but also the entire population in the world. Now, The question is how to fight Obesity? Surely there are numerous effective, safe and natural ways to fight obesity but why don't we being educated, informed or even alarmed that our body might gain unneeded extra weight? To avoid reaching such a condition, an individual needs to detect early causes to prevent overweight from happening, there are many causes that will lead to gain weight but there are two parameters that are strongly considered vital factors in weight gaining, these two are the amount of food intake and the physical activity. Our study will focus on the previously mentioned factors to help individuals to take immediate response to their current state.
Natural resources in Afghanistan: geographic and geologic perspectives on centuries of conflict

Dr Shroder knows a great deal about Afghanistan, having invested decades of effort in geological studies and related activities. But his attempt at summarizing ‘Natural Resources in Afghanistan’ fa...
M-shell x-ray-production cross sections in thin targets of /sub 79/Au, /sub 82/Pb, /sub 83/Bi, and /sub 92/U by (0. 3--2. 6)-MeV /sub 1//sup 1/H/sup +/ and /sub 2//sup 4/He/sup +/ ions

M-shell x-ray-production cross sections are reported for /sub 1//sup 1/H/sup +/ protons and /sub 2//sup 4/He/sup +/ ions incident on thin targets of /sub 79/Au, /sub 82/Pb, /sub 83/Bi, and /sub 92/U. The energy of the ions ranged from 0.3 to 2.6 MeV in increments of 0.1 MeV. The first Born calculations overpredict the data at all energies studied. The perturbed-stationary-state calculations with energy loss, Coulomb deflection, and relativistic effects agree with the present data for both /sub 1//sup 1/H/sup +/ and /sub 2//sup 4/H/sup +/ ions at approx.0.35 MeV/u, overpredict the data at higher E/sub 1//A/sub 1/, and underpredict the data at lower E/sub 1//A/sub 1/. The electron-capture contribution to the target ionization is calculated to be less than 3.5% for the targets, projectiles, and energies reported in this work.
Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 Interacts with Phospholipid Vesicles via a Surface-Disposed Hydrophobic α-Helix

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) plays important roles in both the inhibition and promotion of inflammation in human disease. It catalyzes the hydrolytic inactivation of plasma pla...
CHARACTERIZATION OF EXPOSURES TO WORKERS COVERED UNDER THE U.S. ENERGY EMPLOYEES COMPENSATION ACT

Since the mid-1940s, hundreds of thousands of workers have been engaged in nuclear weapons-related activities for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies. In 2000, Congress promulgated the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA), which provides monetary compensation and medical benefits to certain energy employees who have developed cancer. Under Part B of EEOICPA, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is required to estimate radiation doses for those workers who have filed a claim, or whose survivors have filed a claim, under Part B of the Act. To date, over 39,000 dose reconstructions have been completed for workers from more than 200 facilities. These reconstructions have included assessment of both internal and external exposure at all major DOE facilities, as well as at a large number of private companies [known as Atomic Weapons Employer (AWE) facilities in the Act] that engaged in contract work for the DOE and its predecessor agencies. To complete these dose reconstructions, NIOSH has captured and reviewed thousands of historical documents related to site operations and worker/workplace monitoring practices at these facilities. Using the data collected and reviewed pursuant to NIOSH’s role under EEOICPA, this presentation will characterize historical internal and external exposures received by workers at DOE and AWE facilities. To the extent possible, use will be made of facility specific coworker models to highlight changes in exposure patterns over time. In addition, the effects that these exposures have on compensation rates for workers are discussed.
A Novel Approach to Fostering Employee Engagement and Defect Reduction in a High-Volume Clinical Laboratory

Medical laboratories are complex organizations with myriad processes. Staff engagement is a direct contributor to a laboratory’s productivity. Often, our employees are disengaged because they perceive a limited ability to highlight and improve process inefficiencies (and waste) within their work areas. We devised a novel and online approach to address this gap. Through this, we captured objective feedback …
When Is It Appropriate to Use Arginine in Critical Illness

In health, arginine is considered a nonessential amino acid but can become an essential amino acid (ie, conditionally essential amino acid) during periods of metabolic or traumatic stress as endogenous arginine supply is inadequate to meet physiologic demands. Arginine depletion in critical illness is associated with impairments in microcirculatory blood flow, impaired wound healing, and T-cell dysfunction. The purpose of this review is to (1) describe arginine metabolism and role in health and critical illness, (2) describe the relationship between arginine and asymmetric dimethylarginine, and (3) review studies of supplemental arginine in critically ill patients.
Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair: Transabdominal Preperitoneal (TAPP) Approach

Inguinal hernias are one of the most common problems seen in surgical clinics across the world. While hernias may be repaired by a variety of open and laparoscopic techniques, this chapter we will review our technique for the laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal repair of an inguinal hernia.
CERN, the US and the W

"The discovery of the W was a turning point for CERN from the point of view of the self-confidence of its physicists, the confidence of its fund-raisers, and its reputation in the US,"says John Krige, a historian at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "And it shows why competition meant different things for the Europeans and the Americans."
Time-Accurate Conjugate Analysis of Transient Measurements of Heat Transfer Coefficients

Time-accurate and steady conjugate computational fluid dynamics analyses were performed to examine a class of transient methods, known as the one-equation and the two-equation methods, for measurin...
Thin Filament-Mediated Modulation of Mouse Cardiac Cross-Bridge Kinetics by Ca2+-Sensitizing Mutation CTNC-A8V or Bepridil

Recent genetic and functional data with the Ala8Val missense mutation in cardiac troponin C (cTnC-A8V) suggest its pathogenicity for the development of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in humans and mice. Previous functional studies performed using cTnC-A8V knock-in mice revealed increased Ca2+-sensitivity of contraction and impaired kinetics of cardiac muscle relaxation of skinned and intact cardiomyocytes. This study aims to further understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie the development of HCM caused by the cTnC-A8V mutation by measuring the kinetics of tension redevelopment (kTR) and sinusoidal stiffness at two distinct sarcomere lengths (SL). Papillary muscles were isolated from the left ventricle of cTnC-A8V knock-in homozygote and WT mice. SL of skinned preparations was set to 1.9µm or 2.1µm using HeNe laser diffraction after the ends were chemically fixed with glutaraldehyde to minimize end-compliance. SL dependent changes in mechanical properties were similar in WT and cTnC-A8V preparations: increased pCa50, with increased stiffness and decreased kTR at any given activation level. However, regardless of SL, cTnC-A8V preparations exhibited an increased pCa50, kTR and sinusoidal stiffness at submaximum Ca2+ levels relative to WT. Maximum sinusoidal stiffness increased 2x in WT preparations stretched from SL 1.9µm to 2.1µm, while for the cTnC-A8V preparations the SL-dependent increase in maximum sinusoidal stiffness was blunted. To determine whether the difference in cross-bridge kinetics at SL 2.1µm between cTnC-A8V and WT were due to the increased Ca2+-sensitivity of cTnC, WT preparations were treated with 300μM Bepridil, a Ca2+-sensitizer. As seen with the cTnC-A8V, sensitizing the thin filament with Bepridil resulted in an increased pCa50 and kTR. These data suggest an important role of the thin filament controlling not only the number of cross-bridges during Ca2+-activation, but may also influence cross-bridge kinetics.
Tailored Approach to Surgical Exposure Reduces Surgical Site Complications after Bilateral Lung Transplantation.

Abstract Background: We evaluated the effects of tailoring the operative approach on major surgical site complications and outcomes in lung transplant recipients. Patients and Methods: Beginning in...
Scalable and massively parallel Monte Carlo photon transport simulations for heterogeneous computing platforms

We present a highly scalable Monte Carlo (MC) three-dimensional photon transport simulation platform designed for heterogeneous computing systems. Through the development of a massively parallel MC algorithm using the Open Computing Language framework, this research extends our existing graphics processing unit (GPU)-accelerated MC technique to a highly scalable vendor-independent heterogeneous computing environment, achieving significantly improved performance and software portability. A number of parallel computing techniques are investigated to achieve portable performance over a wide range of computing hardware. Furthermore, multiple thread-level and device-level load-balancing strategies are developed to obtain efficient simulations using multiple central processing units and GPUs.
Concurrent child history and contextual predictors of children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in foster care.

Abstract This study contributes to current research on the behavior problems of children in foster care by analyzing a more comprehensive set of concurrent child history and contextual predictors. Kinship home status and sibling status (i.e., whether the sibling is a biological sibling to the foster child) were evaluated as moderators of significant associations. Data were collected at the baseline of a foster parent training intervention program prior to any intervention services using parent phone interviews (N = 310, 51.6% male, M age = 7.57 years). Two linear hierarchical regressions were used to evaluate each set of predictors' association with behavior problems as well as each individual predictor's contribution. Results indicated that as a set, the contextual variables predicted a significant and unique amount of variability in the child's internalizing and externalizing behavior scores, whereas the child history variables did not. Specifically, the child's placement in a non-kinship home, being in a non-ethnically matched child-parent pair, higher parent stress scores, a greater number of prior group home placements, and higher internalizing behavior scores for the child predicted higher child externalizing scores. Higher parent stress scores, higher focal sibling externalizing behavior scores, and higher externalizing behavior scores for the child predicted higher internalizing scores for the child. The association between focal sibling externalizing behavior scores and child internalizing scores was moderated by kinship home status, such that there was a stronger association between the focal sibling's externalizing score and the child's internalizing score if the child was in a kinship compared to a non-kinship home. Implications for intervention services are discussed, particularly the importance of assessing the child's foster home environment when addressing the child's behavior problems.
Legal and Public Policy Strategies to Reduce or Ban School Corporal Punishment

Internationally and within the U.S., school corporal punishment is on the decline both in frequency of use and in its legality, trends which suggest the practice will be abandoned and/or abolished in all countries in the near future. For the 19 states in the U.S. in which school corporal punishment remains legal, how will bans come about? There are three main mechanisms for such a change in educational practice: legal remedies, changes to public policy , and advocacy and educational efforts. The first two will be discussed in this chapter; the third will be considered in Chapter 8.
Why Does Evidence Matter So Little to Economic Theory

Let me begin with two apologies. First, this essay1 is not fully self-contained. It addresses shortcomings in the position I defend in my 1992 book, The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics, and in some parts it relies on arguments made there. Second, my title is misleading. It suggests that it is useful and sensible to generalize about economics as a whole. I doubt this. Economists do many different things. In parts of economics evidence matters as much as it possibly could anywhere. It would have been more accurate to give this paper the title, “Why Does Evidence Matter So Little to General Equilibrium Theory and Theoretical Orthodox Microeconomic Theory?” But that would have been a very long title. Let me call this branch of economics — that is, general equilibrium theory and theoretical orthodox microeconomics “equilibrium economics”. The name may be confusing, because other economists are concerned with equilibria, too, but I cannot think of a better one. My question is: Why does evidence matter so little to equilibrium theory?
Differentiation, Growth, and Maturation of Neurons

The control of cell differentiation in eukaryotes is exerted at many levels: DNA replication, transcription, and translation, activation of enzymes, and control of membrane permeability by hormones or other intercellular transmitters. Transcriptional control is particularly important in eukaryotes because of the presence of the cytoplasm, which can store and sequestrate factors that control gene expression, and because of the presence in eukaryote chromatin of some proteins that inhibit transcription and others that activate it. As Britten and Davidson (1969, 1971) have recognized, the histones produce a nonspecific, general repression of transcription, whereas differential gene action consists largely of counteracting this repression by means of activators that are specific with respect to their time of action and with respect to the gene loci that they activate. These activators may be hormone-protein complexes and cytoplasmic factors that enter the nucleus and become bound to acidic, nonhistone proteins in the chromosomes (Davidson and Britten, 1973).
Cellular Action Currents

One of the most conceptually difficult problems in biomagnetism has been to understand the relation between the electric and magnetic fields produced by bioelectric current sources. The ideal method to test our understanding of the relationship between the two fields is to record both fields and to use one to predict the other. This process requires two steps: the solution of the inverse problem for one field to obtain a description of the current sources, and a solution of the forward problem, using these sources, to obtain the other field. Many theoretical and experimental studies have addressed the inverse problem as it relates to the magnetocardiogram. Because of the non-uniqueness of the inverse problem, these studies have generally used equivalent generators based on either multipole expansions or a limited number of discrete current dipoles, rather than physiologically accurate models involving cellular action currents. Similarly, what modeling that has been used to understand the magnetoencephalogram has been limited to one current dipole or a planar distribution of current dipoles.
AN OPTIMIZATION PROBLEM ARISING FROM TEARING METHODS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses an optimixation problem arising from tearing methods. It presents a graph theoretic interpretation of the problem, based on a bipartite graph. Because of the particular structure of A, a large, sparse, nonsingular, non-symmetric matrix, sometimes it is possible to save computation time and/or storage requirements implementing tearing methods. Tearing consists mainly of two parts: at first, the solution of the system A*x = b is computed, where A* has been obtained from A zeroing some elements; then, this solution are modified to take into account the real structure of the original system. This method may be necessary, even though not convenient, when it is not possible to process the original system Ax = b because of its dimension w.r.t. the dimension of the available computer. Further work is needed to determine how far it is the solution given by the heuristic algorithm from the optimum one. It is important to devise new heuristic procedures such that more flexibility is allowed introducing the possibility of limited backtracking. The parallelism between the nonsymmetric permutation problem and the symmetric permutation one suggests that some optimal reduction rules can be successfully implemented.
The Invisible Court: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and Its Depiction on Government Websites

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is a federal court of nationwide jurisdiction that was created by statute in 1978. Its function and purpose is to review applications for “warrants” for domestic surveillance of persons suspected of having connections with foreign governments and/or terrorist organizations. The court is highly unusual in that its location is secret, its proceedings are ex parte, and virtually all of its orders and opinions are classified, and may not be published or otherwise disclosed. The government justifies this secrecy on the basis of national security. Nevertheless, certain limited information about the court is available on government websites, including information that is designed to inform the public about the court and its functions. This chapter examines the content of these websites in which the government depicts an otherwise invisible court. I argue that the information provided on these government websites constructs the court as legitimate by minimizing or omitting problematic aspects of the court’s operation, while framing it as a duly constituted Article III court. Through this publicly available information posted on its websites, the government thus advances a particular vision of a court whose operations and decisions remain invisible.
Downsizing the molecular spring of the giant protein titin reveals that skeletal muscle titin determines passive stiffness and drives longitudinal hypertrophy.

Titin, the largest protein known, forms an elastic myofilament in the striated muscle sarcomere. To establish titin’s contribution to skeletal muscle passive stiffness, relative to that of the extracellular matrix, a mouse model was created in which titin’s molecular spring region was shortened by deleting 47 exons, the TtnΔ112-158 model. RNA sequencing and super-resolution microscopy predicts a much stiffer titin molecule. Mechanical studies with this novel mouse model support that titin is the main determinant of skeletal muscle passive stiffness. Unexpectedly, the in vivo sarcomere length working range was shifted to shorter lengths in TtnΔ112-158 mice, due to a ~ 30% increase in the number of sarcomeres in series (longitudinal hypertrophy). The expected effect of this shift on active force generation was minimized through a shortening of thin filaments that was discovered in TtnΔ112-158 mice. Thus, skeletal muscle titin is the dominant determinant of physiological passive stiffness and drives longitudinal hypertrophy. Editorial note: This article has been through an editorial process in which the authors decide how to respond to the issues raised during peer review. The Reviewing Editor's assessment is that all the issues have been addressed (see decision letter).
Symposium: Hostility to Hospitality: Do I Need Mercy to be a Physician?

“Do I Need Mercy to be a Physician?” is the title of a reflection Dr. Berra offered of his own work as a physician during the “2016 Jubilee of Mercy” in Rome. Mercy, patient-physician relationship, medical education and mentorship are presented in relations to patients’ encounters and life experiences.
Some Remarks on Pattern Formation in Vertebrate Embryology

A model of somite formation in vertebrates is presented in which a biochemical wave selects alternating regions of vertebra and somite production. It does so by imposing expression of a relevant gene in the underlying DNA in the form of a relaxation oscillation.
DNA repair deficiency association with prognosis in pancreatic cancer: A single-institution experience.

e15798Background: Understanding survival outcomes of various pathogenic mutations helps guide treatment decision making for patients. Classic pancreatic cancer mutations such as KRAS and TP53 have ...
Making Multi-platform VR Development More Accessible: A Platform Agnostic VR Framework

Virtual Reality offers developers an immersive and engaging new medium to create simulation applications, training tools, and educational games. One of the first decisions a VR developer will face is which platform to target. In 2014 consumer choice was limited to Google Cardboard. By 2016 this had expanded to six devices, including popular platforms such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PSVR. Today there are not only more platforms, but even more variation in platform hardware, input devices, and interaction methods. This overwhelming amount of variance can be daunting for developers who want to create a VR application where the goal is to develop and deliver for multiple platforms, typically to reach the largest audience. With applications in so many fields like medical, educational, and cyber security, it is becoming more important that VR experiences can run on multiple platforms in different environments. Therefore, we present and apply our approach to unify these differences with a platform agnostic framework for the Unity game engine that allows developers to focus on creating their vision, without worrying about individual SDKs and the intricacies of each platform.
An objective structured clinical examination to assess competency acquired during an introductory pharmacy practice experience

Objective. To evaluate the use of an objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) to assess clinical competency acquired during an off-campus introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE). Methods. Third-year pharmacy students completed an IPPE in transitions of care and completed 24 experiential contact hours at one of 17 practice sites. Students were assessed using two OSCEs, the first occurring prior to beginning an off-site IPPE (pre-experience OSCE) and the second occurring after completion of the off-site IPPE (post-experience OSCE). Each OSCE consisted of 10 stations and covered five graded competency domains. The primary outcome was the degree of change in student performance from the pre-experience OSCE to the post-experience OSCE. Secondary outcomes included changes in each graded domain, OSCE pass rate, and failure conversion rate. Results. Of 111 students, 109 completed both the pre- and post-experience OSCE. Significant improvements were observed in overall score and cohort pass rate. Overall scores improved from 80 for the pre-experience OSCE to 87 for the post-experience OSCE. The OSCE pass rate also improved from 47% to 84%. Conclusion. Although preceptor evaluations have traditionally served as the primary summative assessment for IPPE and APPE, this study indicates that OSCEs may be a reliable alternative to assess clinical competency acquired from off-site practice experiences.
Racial/Ethnic Differences in Diet Quality and Eating Habits Among WIC Pregnant Women: Implications for Policy and Practice.

Purpose:One of the major federal food assistance programs, the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), serves approximately 1.5 million low-income pregnant women per ye...
Sex Related Differences in Retinal Pigment Epithelium and Retinal Disease

Sex-related differences have been identified in various ophthalmic disorders. Sex hormone receptors, such as estrogen receptors, have been found throughout the eye including retina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), indicating the importance of hormone regulation in these tissues. In this chapter we will discuss sex differences within the eye and how they relate to retina and RPE health and function. As many autoimmune diseases occur more often in women, we will also examine autoimmune diseases and the secondary effects that may arise within the eye. In addition, the role estrogen plays in systemic inflammation may help in understanding the role of estrogen in the eye. By further understanding the differences between males and females in ocular health, we can provide more tailored treatments for disease and design preventative care aimed at regaining hormonal balance.
A Guide for Population-based Analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study Baseline Data

Abstract ABCD is a longitudinal, observational study of U.S. children, ages 9-10 at baseline, recruited at random from the household populations in defined catchment areas for each of 21 study sites. The 21 geographic locations that comprise the ABCD research sites are nationally distributed and generally represent the range of demographic and socio-economic diversity of the U.S. birth cohorts that comprise the ABCD study population. The clustering of participants and the potential for selection bias in study site selection and enrollment are features of the ABCD observational study design that are informative for statistical estimation and inference. Both multi-level modeling and robust survey design-based methods can be used to account for clustering of sampled ABCD children in the 21 study sites. Covariate controls in analytical models and propensity weighting methods that calibrate ABCD weighted distributions to nationally-representative controls from the American Community Survey (ACS) can be employed in analysis to account for known informative sample design features or to attenuate potential demographic and socio-economic selection bias in the national sampling and recruitment of eligible children. This guide will present results of an empirical investigation of the ABCD baseline data that compares the statistical efficiency of multi-level modeling and distribution-free design-based approaches—both weighted and unweighted--to analyses of the ABCD baseline data. Specific recommendations will be provided for researchers on robust, efficient approaches to both descriptive and multivariate analyses of the ABCD baseline data.
The ‘production’ of education: the turn from equity to efficiency in U.S. federal education policy

The U.S. federal government has played a growing role in setting nationwide education policy since the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965. This Act, along with the...
A Transformative Impact of Theory in Clinical Practice: A Study in a Cardiogenetics Clinic.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE This qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of family members who have been referred to a cardiogenetics clinic following the loss of a family member to sudden cardiac death (SCD). These family members were evaluated in a Cardiogenetics Clinic in a Children's Hospital in the New York region, which utilizes an interprofessional approach to care. METHODS A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to explore the lived experience of family members that were referred following the SCD of a family member. The researcher used hermeneutic dialectics and interviewed family members that attended the Cardiogenetics Clinic. RESULTS Insights gained through discussion were discussed in the following themes: stories of feelings being heard, stories of meaningfulness, and stories of mutual process. This led to the transformation of the typical linear clinic process to a transformative and dynamic model for integrated delivery of care. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE This interprofessional model of care offers information regarding SCD, a genetic profile to determine risk for SCD, an integrative collaborative approach to care as well as nursing, medical interventions, psychological support, and counseling for families.
Applying Ability-Based Design Principles to Adaptive Outdoor Activities

Effective design is essential to creating adaptive outdoor activities. Ability-Based Design (ABD) is an approach to accessible design in the HCI literature that we found to be most appealing for this endeavour. ABD focuses on making systems adaptable to users' needs and abilities rather than making the user con-form to system requirements. We explore the principles of ABD in the context of two adaptive outdoor experiences: Tetra-Ski and Tetra-Sail. We found that while the general approach of ABD is useful in this context, some of the basic tenants of ABD can be confounded by: (1) activity risk, (2) dynamic sport environments, and (3) the role of psychological flow during the activity. To accommodate these restrictions on ABD principles and provide a usable experience we developedShared-Control as a collaborative approach to implementation. This paper explores using Shared-Control and ABD principles in the context of these two adaptive recreation systems for individuals with acquired tetraplegia. This perspective reveals tensions between ABD guidelines and designing for adaptive outdoor activities. We reflect on these tensions, potential additions to ABD, and our own usage of Shared-Control as a mechanism for adhering to ABD principles in this context.
Preparing Children for International Travel.

1. Hiba Chehab, MD, FAAP* 2. Philip R. Fischer, MD, FAAP†,‡ 3. John C. Christenson, MD, FAAP* 1. *Ryan White Center for Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Global Health, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 2. †Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 3. ‡Pediatrics Department, Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates * Abbreviations: CDC : : Centers for Disease Control and Prevention DEET N : : N-diethyl-m-toluamide HACE : : high-altitude cerebral edema HAI : : high-altitude illness HAPE : : high-altitude pulmonary edema MenACWY : : meningococcal quadrivalent conjugate vaccine MMR : : measles-mumps-rubella PCR : : polymerase chain reaction TD : : traveler’s diarrhea 1. Pediatricians may be unfamiliar with agents that are most effective for antimalarial prophylaxis for a young infant traveler. 2. Pediatricians may not realize that measles-mumps-rubella and hepatitis A vaccines are recommended for infant travelers 6 months and older. After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Select the most appropriate antimalarial prophylaxis agent according to high-risk regions. 2. Use insect bite prevention strategies to prevent malaria, dengue, and other vector-borne diseases. 3. Recognize which vaccines are necessary for the young pediatric traveler. Traveling with a child can be emotionally and educationally rewarding but challenging as well. Children are traveling from North America and Europe to most parts of the world, including Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. The most common reasons to travel are for leisure and to visit friends and relatives. (1) Children also accompany their families for pilgrimages, study abroad experiences, and parental work. Older children and adolescents travel as part of educational tours and humanitarian mission trips. Similar to adults, children traveling to potentially high-risk regions of the world expose themselves to risks of acquiring malaria, dengue, and diarrheal diseases. These diseases, followed by dermatologic conditions such as cellulitis, bites, and cutaneous larva migrans, are among the most common problems observed in pediatric travelers. Travelers visiting friends and relatives are at a greater risk because most do not visit travel clinics for advice or immunizations. (2)(3) They also tend to visit more remote parts of high-risk countries and stay for longer durations. Although at-risk children may not visit a travel clinic, they may be seen by their primary care health provider. Pediatricians, through setting …
Characterization of findings on prostate cancer tumor sequencing that should prompt consideration for germline testing.

5022Background: Tumor sequencing is increasingly used for therapeutic selection in men with advanced prostate cancer (PC). If tumor-only sequencing is performed without matched germline, identified...
SU-F-303-05: DCE-MRI Before and During Treatment for Prediction of Concurrent Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy Response in Head and Neck Cancer

Purpose: To determine the ability of pharmacokinetic parameters derived from dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE- MRI) acquired before and during concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy to predict clinical response in patients with head and neck cancer. Methods: Eleven patients underwent a DCE-MRI scan at three time points: 1–2 weeks before treatment, 4–5 weeks after treatment initiation, and 3–4 months after treatment completion. Post-processing of MRI data included correction to reduce motion artifacts. The arterial input function was obtained by measuring the dynamic tracer concentration in the jugular veins. The volume transfer constant (Ktrans), extracellular extravascular volume fraction (ve), rate constant (Kep; Kep = Ktrans/ve), and plasma volume fraction (vp) were computed for primary tumors and cervical nodal masses. Patients were categorized into two groups based on response to therapy at 3–4 months: responders (no evidence of disease) and partial responders (regression of disease). Responses of the primary tumor and nodes were evaluated separately. A linear classifier and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were used to determine the best model for discrimination of responders from partial responders. Results: When the above pharmacokinetic parameters of the primary tumor measured before and during treatment were incorporated into the linear classifier, a discriminative accuracy of 88.9%, with sensitivity =100% and specificity = 66.7%, was observed between responders (n=6) and partial responders (n=3) for the primary tumor with the corresponding accuracy = 44.4%, sensitivity = 66.7%, and specificity of 0% for nodal masses. When only pre-treatment parameters were used, the accuracy decreased to 66.7%, with sensitivity = 66.7% and specificity = 66.7% for the primary tumor and decreased to 33.3%, sensitivity of 50%, and specificity of 0% for nodal masses. Conclusion: Higher accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were obtained using DCE-MRI-derived pharmacokinetic parameters acquired before and during treatment as compared with those derived from the pre-treatment time-point, exclusively.
The activity of tyrosine hydroxylase and related enzymes of catecholamine biosynthesis and metabolism in dog kidney. Effects of denervation.

Abstract Renal denervation resulted in the disappearance of norepinephrine and tyrosine hydroxylase activity from both cortex and medulla, while the activities of the other enzymes of norepinephrine biosynthesis and metabolism were unaffected. Of the enzymes which were successfully assayed, only tyrosine hydroxylase was exclusively intraneuronal; the others were mainly extrancuronal. Endogenous inhibitors in the crude homogenates interfered with the assay of dopamine-β-hydroxylase. The relatively high concentration of the regulatory biosynthetic enzyme in the renal medulla suggests that the sympathetic nervous system has an undefined but specific role in this tissue.
Does Religion Deserve Our Respect

This article enumerates several different possible construals of the idea that religion is owed respect. It asks: 1. how religion might be an object of respect; 2. what sorts of respect religion might command; and 3. whose respect might be at stake in complaints about and demands for religious recognition. By distinguishing various ways in which these questions can be interpreted, the discussion aims to introduce some clarity to a notoriously controversial and knotty area of public discussion. Although the article does not propose any particular answer to the question ‘Does religion deserve our respect?’, it does urge that theorists give greater attention to the neglected way in which religions have a ‘public presence’ that engenders distinctive sorts of social respect. I suggest that the popularity among academic political theorists and philosophers of a ‘liberal’ paradigm emphasising the importance of freedom of conscience and ‘respect for persons’ has led them to ignore the implications of ‘public presence’ for debates over the place of religion in modern secular societies.
'If You Let Me Play': The Effects of Participation in High School Athletics on Students' Educational and Labor Market Success

The recent NIKE advertisement titled "If You Let Me Play," claims many benefits for girls who play sports. In contrast, there exists a hypothesis that today's society overemphasizes the role of sports to the detriment of some students, in particular inner-city minority males. This paper examines the effects of participating in high school athletics on students' educational and labor market success in order to test these two theories. I make three contributions to the literature. First, I allow the athletics effect to vary across specific team and individual sports. Second, I use instrumental variables estimation to control for self-selection into sports. Finally, I use measures of peer involvement in sports, similar to other work on neighborhood effects, to instrument each individual student's athlete status. Using nationally representative samples from High School and Beyond and the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, OLS results show that athletics contributes positively to educational and labor market success for all students except minority females. Controlling for the endogeneity of athletic participation, however, I find significant positive effects only for white students with respect to educational outcomes. This suggests that some of the seemingly beneficial effect of sports reflects underlying differences between athletes and non-athletes.
A positive methacholine challenge test in the absence of symptoms.

A 20-year-old white female nonsmoker presented to the pulmonary function laboratory for a methacholine challenge test. The patient denied wheezing, dyspnea, cough, or chest tightness. In fact, she competes in collegiate basketball and softball without respiratory complaints. She stated that her primary care physician wanted to “screen her for asthma,” because her father is asthmatic. Her medical history was remarkable only for allergic rhinitis. She denied recent or active chest infections. Table 1 shows her baseline spirometry values. She had a substantial bronchospastic response to methacholine inhalation; the provocation concentration (PC20) that caused a 20% decline in forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) was 3.95 mg/mL.