cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Global identification of targets of the Arabidopsis MADS domain protein AGAMOUS-Like15.

AGAMOUS-Like15 (AGL15) is a MADS domain transcriptional regulator that promotes somatic embryogenesis by binding DNA and regulating gene expression. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis previously identified DNA fragments with which AGL15 associates in vivo, and a low-throughput approach revealed a role for AGL15 in gibberellic acid catabolism that is relevant to embryogenesis. However, higher throughput methods are needed to identify targets of AGL15. Here, we mapped AGL15 in vivo binding sites using a ChIP-chip approach and the Affymetrix tiling arrays for Arabidopsis thaliana and found that ∼2000 sites represented in three biological replicates of the experiment are annotated to nearby genes. These results were combined with high-throughput measurement of gene expression in response to AGL15 accumulation to discriminate responsive direct targets from those further downstream in the network. LEAFY COTYLEDON2, FUSCA3, and ABA INSENSITIVE3, which encode B3 domain transcription factors that are key regulators of embryogenesis, were identified and verified as direct target genes of AGL15. Genes identified as targets of the B3 genes are also targets of AGL15, and we found that INDOLEACETIC ACID-INDUCED PROTEIN30 is involved in promotion of somatic embryo development. The data presented here and elsewhere suggest that much cross-regulation occurs in gene regulatory networks underpinning embryogenesis.
Early Versus Delayed Antiretroviral Therapy and Cerebrospinal Fluid Fungal Clearance in Adults With HIV and Cryptococcal Meningitis

Background The burden of Cryptococcus neoformans in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) predicts clinical outcomes in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated cryptococcal meningitis (CM) and is lower in patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). This study tested the hypothesis that initiation of ART during initial treatment of HIV/CM would improve CSF clearance of C. neoformans. Methods A randomized treatment-strategy trial was conducted in Botswana. HIV-infected, ART-naive adults aged≥21 years initiating amphotericin B treatment for CM were randomized to ART initiation within 7 (intervention) vs after 28 days (control) of randomization, and the primary outcome of the rate of CSF clearance of C. neoformans over the subsequent 4 weeks was compared. Adverse events, including CM immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (CM-IRIS), and immunologic and virologic responses were compared over 24 weeks. Results Among 27 subjects enrolled (13 intervention and 14 control), [corrected] the median times to ART initiation were 7 (interquartile range [IQR], 5–10) and 32days (IQR, 28–36), respectively. The estimated rate of CSF clearance did not differ significantly by treatment strategy (-0.32 log10 colony-forming units [CFU]/mL/day±0.20 intervention and -0.52 log10 CFUs/mL/day (±0.48) control, P=.4). Two of 13 (15%) and 5 of 14 (36%) subjects died in the intervention and control arms, respectively (P=0.39). Seven of 13 subjects (54%) in the intervention arm vs 0 of 14 in the control arm experienced CM-IRIS (P=.002). Conclusions Early ART was not associated with improved CSF fungal clearance, but resulted in a high risk of CM-IRIS. Further research on optimal incorporation of ART into CM care is needed. Clinical trials registration NCT00976040.
Inferring cloud deposition to a forest canopy using a passive cloudwater collector

A widely used passive cloudwater collector was operated continuously along with an automated canopy water throughfall measurement system at a high elevation spruce forest site. Cloudwater collection rate (Rc) and throughfall (TF) rate were examined to determine their interrelationship. In addition, the use of the cloudwater collector for inferring cloud liquid water content was examined. The degree of direct hourly correlation was fairly good between Rc and canopy TF rate for non-rain periods when the canopy was saturated (the former explained 58% of the variance in the latter). The correlation was even better (R² = 0.84) when TF rate was time-lagged one hour. Estimated liquid water content, using collector data, was characterized by a large degree of uncertainty. This uncertainty appears to be caused, to a large extent, by the inability of the estimation method to account for the variation in cloudwater collection efficiency as a function of wind speed and droplet size.
A parallel sort merge join algorithm for managing data skew

A parallel sort-merge-join algorithm which uses a divide-and-conquer approach to address the data skew problem is proposed. The proposed algorithm adds an extra, low-cost scheduling phase to the usual sort, transfer, and join phases. During the scheduling phase, a parallelizable optimization algorithm, using the output of the sort phase, attempts to balance the load across the multiple processors in the subsequent join phase. The algorithm naturally identifies the largest skew elements, and assigns each of them to an optimal number of processors. Assuming a Zipf-like distribution of data skew, the algorithm is demonstrated to achieve very good load balancing for the join phase, and is shown to be very robust relative, among other things, to the degree of data skew and the total number of processors. >
Mortality risks during extreme temperature events (ETEs) using a distributed lag non-linear model

This study investigates the relationship between all-cause mortality and extreme temperature events (ETEs) from 1975 to 2004. For 50 U.S. locations, these heat and cold events were defined based on location-specific thresholds of daily mean apparent temperature. Heat days were defined by a 3-day mean apparent temperature greater than the 95th percentile while extreme heat days were greater than the 97.5th percentile. Similarly, calculations for cold and extreme cold days relied upon the 5th and 2.5th percentiles. A distributed lag non-linear model assessed the relationship between mortality and ETEs for a cumulative 14-day period following exposure. Subsets for season and duration effect denote the differences between early- and late-season as well as short and long ETEs. While longer-lasting heat days resulted in elevated mortality, early season events also impacted mortality outcomes. Over the course of the summer season, heat-related risk decreased, though prolonged heat days still had a greater influence on mortality. Unlike heat, cold-related risk was greatest in more southerly locations. Risk was highest for early season cold events and decreased over the course of the winter season. Statistically, short episodes of cold showed the highest relative risk, suggesting unsettled weather conditions may have some relationship to cold-related mortality. For both heat and cold, results indicate higher risk to the more extreme thresholds. Risk values provide further insight into the role of adaptation, geographical variability, and acclimatization with respect to ETEs.
Landlord Weapon or Tenant Shield? A Proposal to Reform North Dakota's Residential Security Deposit Statute

This article reviews North Dakota’s existing security deposit legislation and proposes amendments the author believes are necessary to carry through its original purpose of shifting “some of the security” over to the tenant. To allow for proper consideration of the existing law and the proposed changes, the article first explores the historical foundations of residential landlord-tenant law in America, detailing the disproportionate treatment tenants uniformly received at common law and describing the evolution of lease security as a mechanism with the exclusive goal of protecting the landlord. The article goes further to consider the progressive national context in which the North Dakota Legislature enacted the state’s security deposit statute in 1977, placing particular focus on the paradigm shift of the 1960s and early 1970s, in which courts and legislators throughout the United States took steps to protect tenants from overreaching landlords. After highlighting the pro-tenant motivations that led to the enactment of the North Dakota security deposit legislation, the article then reviews the existing statute’s specific provisions. Ultimately, the article identifies relevant shortcomings and ambiguities in the current provisions, and proposes specific amendments to the legislation for consideration by North Dakota lawmakers.
Flexible Design of Systems Considering Time-Dependent Reliability

Many repairable systems degrade with time and are subjected to time-varying loads. Their characteristics may change over time considerably, making the assessment of their performance and hence their design difficult. To address this issue, we introduce in this paper the concept of flexible design of repairable systems under time-dependent reliability considerations. In flexible design, the system can be modified in the future to accommodate uncertain events. As a result, regardless of how uncertainty resolves itself, a modification is available that will keep the system close to optimal provided failure events have been properly characterized. We discuss how flexible design of repairable systems requires a fundamentally new approach and demonstrate its advantages using the design of a hydrokinetic turbine. Our results show that long-term metrics are improved when time-dependent characteristics and flexibility are considered together.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Neonatal Screening for Phenylketonuria: Evaluation of an Automated Enzymatic Method

An enzymatic assay for phenylalanine using phenylalanine dehydrogenase is available in kit form (Quantase™) for use with dried blood spot specimens and microtitre plates. The method has been automated by use of a sample processor and its performance and suitability for neonatal screening for phenylketonuria has been evaluated by comparison with the Guthrie bacteriological inhibition assay. The enzymatic method performed well with regard to precision and accuracy. It was able to differentiate between normal and raised phenylalanine concentrations for the purpose of screening, thus greatly reducing the repeat rate for equivocal results. There were, however, some concerns about its robustness for screening and its detection limit. The Quantase assay has the potential to be used as a large-scale routine neonatal screening method, if its use can be shown to be cost-effective.
Topological defects in flat geometry: The role of density inhomogeneity

Topological defects are found in particles confined to planar disks interacting via the $1/r$ Coulomb potential. The total interior topological charge is found to monotonically converge to a negative value as the energy decreases during the relaxation process regardless of initial configurations; it is more negative in a larger cluster. The comparison with a uniform hyperbolic tessellation reveals an underlying hyperbolic structure in a low-energy configuration where the particle density increases from the center of the disk to its boundary. An elliptic structure is identified in an opposite particle distribution where the particle density decreases from the center to the edge of the disk. The novel mechanism of density inhomogeneity driven topological defects as well as the underlying geometric structure may shed light in understanding a wide variety of relevant systems.
Institutional Allyship for LGBT Equality: Underlying Processes and Potentials for Change

Discussions of outgroup activism in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality reflect two shortcomings. First, such discussions generally present uncritically positive views of ally activism; second, research on ally activism has overly focused on individual allies. The aim of this article is twofold: to suggest that action toward LGBT equality may often be influenced by sexual prejudice and may thus recapitulate longstanding power dynamics between majority and sexual minority groups, and to expand our understanding of ally behavior beyond individuals by presenting an ethnographic study exploring the development of institutional ally identity in a mainstream church that underwent a marked shift from an explicit anti-LGBT to an expressly LGBT-supportive stance. The study employed critical discourse analysis to examine interview, textual, and participant-observation data. Dimensions of individual and institutional ally activism, and potential pitfalls in each, are explored. Suggestions for promoting more constructive collective action are offered.
Alcoholism prevalence and utilization of medical services by Mexican Americans.

BACKGROUND Alcoholism is a common disorder that often results in increased use of medical services. Research describing alcoholism among both outpatients and ethnic minorities has been sparse. METHODS In this study, the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test was used as part of a health screening interview of patients attending a South Texas family health clinic. Screening was used to detect alcoholism and identify the health care needs in this predominantly Mexican American population. RESULTS Consistent with other studies, alcoholism was more prevalent among men than among women. The prevalence of 24.4% among Mexican American men was similar to that among men from other ethnic backgrounds. The 4.2% prevalence among Mexican American women was comparable to that among other women. Equal percentages of alcoholics were identified in the primary care clinic and the "walk-in" clinic. Compared with nonalcoholic patients, alcoholic patients were more often unemployed or disabled, and reported more hospitalizations during the previous year. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that alcoholism is as prevalent and costly a disease among Mexican Americans as it is in other ethnic groups in our society. Alcoholism can readily be detected in a variety of outpatient settings when screening is used. Employment status might serve as an indicator for alcoholism screening, but ethnicity did not. Research into socio-economic and cultural influences on alcoholism may improve the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment of this prevalent disease.
Helpful Local Surtaxes? Florida and Disadvantaged Families

ABSTRACTWell-intended tax policy often produces unintended consequences. In this article, we look at one such tax policy, specialised surtaxes in the State of Florida. Surtaxes are frequently adopted to provide financial assistance to poverty-based local programmes and services. Despite the intended benefits, we show that the contributors of the tax have been able to capitalise the cost into the residential property market, ultimately placing the burden of the surtax upon the population its revenue intends to help.
Impact of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) on opioid utilization among Medicare beneficiaries in 10 US States

Background and aims Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) are a principal strategy used in the United States to address prescription drug abuse. We (1) compared opioid use pre- and post-PDMP implementation and (2) estimated differences of PDMP impact by reason for Medicare eligibility and plan type. Design Analysis of opioid prescription claims in US states that implemented PDMPs relative to non-PDMP states during 2007-12. Setting Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Vermont, Georgia, Wisconsin, Maryland, New Hampshire and Arkansas, USA. Participants A total of 310 105 disabled and older adult Medicare enrolees. Measurements Primary outcomes were monthly total opioid volume, mean daily morphine milligram equivalent (MME) dose per prescription and number of opioid prescriptions dispensed. The key predictors were PDMP status and time. Tests for moderation examined PDMP impact by Medicare eligibility (disability versus age) and drug plan [privately provided Medicare Advantage (MAPD) versus fee-for-service (PDP)]. Findings Overall, PDMP implementation was associated with reduced opioid volume [-2.36 kg/month, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -3.44, -1.28] and no changes in mean MMEs or opioid prescriptions 12 months after implementation compared with non-PDMP states. We found evidence of strong moderation effects. In PDMP states, estimated monthly opioid volumes decreased 1.67 kg (95% CI = -2.38, -0.96) and 0.75 kg (95% CI = -1.32, -0.18) among disabled and older adults, respectively, and 1.2 kg, regardless of plan type. MME reductions were 3.73 mg/prescription (95% CI = -6.22, -1.24) in disabled and 3.02 mg/prescription (95% CI = -3.86, -2.18) in MAPD beneficiaries, but there were no changes in older adults and PDP beneficiaries. Dispensed prescriptions increased 259/month (95% CI = 39, 479) among the disabled and decreased 610/month (95% CI = -953, -257) among MAPD beneficiaries. Conclusions Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are associated with reductions in opioid use, measured by volume, among disabled and older adult Medicare beneficiaries in the United States compared with states that do not have PDMPs. PDMP impact on daily doses and daily prescriptions varied by reason for eligibility and plan type. These findings cannot be generalized beyond the 10 US states studied.
The “s” in Bioethics: Past, Present and Future

What is bioethics? Who is a bioethicist? Is bioethics an area of inquiry, a discipline, or a field? Are bioethicists members of a distinct profession? Some see bioethics as an area where individuals from different professions “meet” to inquire about ethical issues associated with science, medicine, technology, and health care. Some see bioethicists as professionals who share goals, and have specific socially recognized roles and functions for which they ought to be certified, accredited or at least bound by a code of ethics. Others hold that we ought to work toward such a state in which bioethicists are professionals with a defined and robust ethos, shared goals and perhaps even advocate for particular moral positions together through their professional organization. Each of these views proposes a particular meaning for bioethics and its practitioners. In this chapter, we first argue that such views represent a desire for bioethics to mean something very particular. Second, we argue that bioethics cannot live up to this expectation, given its history, its functional and disciplinary diversity, and so forth. In short, we demonstrate that there are multiple ways in which bioethics is plural or diverse. Each of these has implications for bioethics education and for the life of an organization such as the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH). We argue that any general discussion of what it means to educate bioethicists would be comparable to having a conversation about educating teachers without specifying whether we are educating teachers who will teach particular age groups or subjects, children with special needs, and so forth. Similarly, to talk about the appropriate goals and scope of a large bioethics organization would be like discussing an organization that includes anyone who is a teacher, or even anyone who has an interest in education, e.g., public school teachers, Montessori teachers, Waldorf teachers, homeschooling parents, dance teachers, scholars who study educational systems or pedagogy and so on. Third, we argue that this diversity is to be respected and protected. The “s” in bioethics is significant not merely because it describes the current state of the enterprise but it describes an appropriate future for the enterprise.
Variations on a Transcultural Phenomenon: The Potion Scene in Four Film Versions of the Legend of Tristan and Iseult

The legend of Tristan and Iseult has had widespread and enduring appeal from the twelfth century all the way through to the twenty-first. There have been at least thirteen film versions, starting almost with the birth of cinema. The French have produced the most versions, no doubt owing to the combined influence of Joseph Bedier’s Romance of Tristan and Iseut (published in 1900) and of Wagner’s opera (first performed in 1865), which had a huge impact on them. Italy has contributed two film versions, and various other countries—Spain, Ireland, Germany, Iceland, Denmark, and finally the United States—have each made one. Great Britain is not represented: the British are more attracted to King Arthur as a topic, and if they were to single out one love story, it would be that of Lancelot and Guenevere, rather than Tristan and Iseult. The Tristan films reflect a variety of approaches that critics have taken toward the legend in modern times. One of the most telling ways in which these films distinguish themselves is their treatment of the central motif of the love potion. In this chapter, I explore this aspect specifically in four film versions of the legend shaped by four different cultures: Jean Delannoy/Jean Cocteau’s L’Eternel Retour (France,1943), Tom Donovan’s Lovespell (Ireland, 1979), Hrafn Gunnlaugsson’s I Skugga Hrafnsina (The Shadow of the Raven—Iceland,1988), and Kevin Reynolds’s Tristan and Isolde (United States, 2006).
The Relapse into Medievalism

The continued dominance of the medieval conception of Plato in England before 1485 is apparent even in the bare statistics regarding copies of Plato’s works. Most of the new dialogues of Plato that were brought in between 1423 and 1483 were given by their owners to libraries at Oxford; libraries elsewhere continued to own only the Calcidius Timaeus. Indeed, one of the dialogues that Whethamstede himself brought back from Italy in 1423 was a copy of the Calcidius Timaeus (Appendix 1, #1); that copy continued to be recorded in the catalogues of St. Albans.
Markets in Islam

This chapter seeks to examine the notion of an ideal market market as informed and envisioned by Islamic scripture and tradition. The chapter highlights key institutional and behavioral characteristics of this Islamic notion, under the headings of exchange and character, respectively. An Islamic formulation of markets is essentially religious in nature, where market participants are primarily driven by their faith and piety.
Some Terpenoid Insect Antifeedants from Tropical Plants

Abstract- A summarized account is given on the insect antifeedants of terpenoid nature which have been isolated from tropical plants is given. The armyworms Spodoptera exempta , S. littoralis and S. eridania , and the Mexican bean beetle Epilachna varivestis have been employed for the leaf-disk method of bioassay. The ten or so terpenoid antifeedants summarized here (published and unpublished data) exhibit activities other than insect antifeedant. The rationale for this result together with some of the difficulties which inherently accompany the search of bioactive compounds from natural sources are discussed.
Abstract LB-178: Oxidation markers in relation to prostate cancer and BPH and progression of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the leading cancer affecting men of all races in the U.S. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is prostate enlargement and is not malignant. BPH and PCa have similar symptoms and both have elevated PSA levels. A biomarker which can distinguish PCa from BPH will help the diagnosis of PCa and avoid unnecessary biopsies. Further, many PCa patients after prostatectomy can have recurrence. Currently, PSA is the only monitoring marker for recurrence; however, the underlying mechanism for recurrence is unknown. A mechanistic marker that can predict the progression and recurrence this will allow us to design prevention strategies. Many animal studies have linked oxidative stress with PCa progression and recurrence. The aim of this study is to compare the levels of several oxidation markers between PCa and BPH, and compare the levels of oxidation marker in different stages of PCa and determine their associations with PSA velocities after prostatectomy. We have measured multiple oxidation markers including lipid, protein, DNA, carbohydrate and global oxidation markers. We have collected blood samples among 15 BPH and 22 prostate cancer patients who have prostatectomy. We have found that levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), a marker of glucose oxidation, formed under nonenzymatic glycation of lipids and proteins, are higher in PCa patients than BPH. However, among PCa patients, AGEs levels are lower among those with Gleason score higher than 7 than those with Gleason score less than 7. Finally, we have found F2-isoprostanes, a well-established lipid oxidation marker, are associated with PSA velocities among PCa patients who had prostatectomy. Our results suggest that AGEs can help distinguish BPH and PCa but are associated with lower grade PCa. Measurement of F2-isoprostanes, a marker of lipid oxidation can predict PCa progression among men with prostatectomy. Citation Format: Tianying Wu, Bruce Bracken, Susan Kasper. Oxidation markers in relation to prostate cancer and BPH and progression of prostate cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-178.
Conflicting Roles of Mismatch and Nucleotide Excision Repair in Cellular Susceptibility to Anticancer Drugs

In most cases DNA repair is a key means by which cells resist the toxic effects of a DNA damaging drug. When the activity of a DNA repair system is compromised or inhibited, extreme sensitivity to such compounds results. By this same reasoning, if mutations or other circumstances arise that make repair systems more effective, resistance to the anticancer drug emerges, which can result in clinical failure. As an interesting and unexpected event, it is also found that DNA repair systems can sometimes be actively involved in sensitizing cells to a DNA damaging agent. In this case, the loss of the repair system is the event that may lead to clinical resistance. Both alkylating agents and a therapeutic metal complex discussed in this review appear to incorporate this unusual mechanism into their overall mode of action. In both of these scenarios, a DNA repair pathway serves as potent modulator of the cellular response to anticancer drugs.
Pew’s Portrait of American Jewry: A Reassessment of the Assimilation Narrative

New analyses by the authors of the Pew Research Center’s, Portrait of Jewish Americans, critically reexamine the prevalent narrative drawn from the report of decline and assimilation in the American Jewish community. Comparisons of the Pew findings to NJPS 1990 and 2000-2001 demonstrate a substantial increase in the US Jewish population and stable levels of belonging to the Jewish people, observance of Jewish ritual, and connection to Israel. The overall population increase is driven primarily by higher-than-expected retention of young adult children of intermarriage, most of whom were raised without Jewish religious identity and disproportionately identify as Jews of no religion. Nonetheless, the engagement of the next generation of adult children of intermarriage is lower than that of other American Jews. Intermarriage, thus, presents both a challenge and an opportunity.
Acyl-CoA oxidase contains two targeting sequences each of which can mediate protein import into peroxisomes.

Abstract Acyl-CoA oxidase is a major induced enzyme in peroxisomes of Candida tropicalis grown on fatty acids. The gene, POX4, encoding acyl-CoA oxidase was expressed in vitro, and the resulting polypeptide was imported into purified peroxisomes in a temperature-dependent fashion. Plasmids containing fragments of POX4 were prepared, expressed and the polypeptides tested for import into peroxisomes. We identified two regions of acyl-CoA oxidase (amino acids 1-118 and 309-427) that contained information that specifically targeted fragments of acyl-CoA oxidase to peroxisomes. The corresponding regions of the gene were fused to cDNA encoding the cytosolic enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), and the expressed fusion proteins were likewise imported into peroxisomes. DHFR itself neither bound to, nor was imported into peroxisomes. Thus, there are at least two regions of peroxisomal targeting information in the acyl-CoA oxidase gene.
Correlation of Exhaled Nasal Nitric Oxide With Sinus Computed Tomography and Sinonasal Outcome Test Scores: A Cross-sectional Pilot Study:

BackgroundComputed tomography (CT) of the paranasal sinuses is the diagnostic reference standard for chronic rhinosinusitis and related inflammatory sinus pathology. Nasal nitric oxide (nNO) levels...
Cervical seatbelt sign is not associated with blunt cerebrovascular injury in children: A review of the national trauma databank.

Abstract Background Blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) is a rare consequence of blunt trauma. There appears to be benefit to an aggressive approach to screening for BCVI due to catastrophic sequelae of unrecognized injury. However, screening for BCVI carries extensive cost and oncologic risk to young patients. Foundational BCVI studies examined adults primarily, leaving question to the effectiveness of these criteria in children. We sought to evaluate BCVI screening criteria developed in primarily adult populations using a nationally representative pediatric dataset. Methods We queried the 2008–2014 National Trauma Data Bank for patients with BCVI. Patients were stratified by age (adults>18yrs, pediatric≤18yrs). Screening factors from the Modified Denver Criteria and Modified Memphis Criteria (GCS≤8, C1 C3 cervical fracture, cervical subluxation, seatbelt sign, basilar skull fracture, mid-facial fracture, mandibular fracture, significant blood loss, coma, stroke, and hanging) were examined using univariate analysis and backwards-stepwise logistic regression to verify predictors of BCVI. Results Blunt injury occurred in 2,174,244 adults and 422,181 children; 5970 adults and 809 children sustained BCVI. In univariate analysis, all screening factors correlated with BCVI in both groups (p Conclusion Many adult-associated BCVI risk factors apply to children. Although children more commonly experience seatbelt sign, it does not independently cause increased BCVI risk. Given the rarity of pediatric BCVI, prospective multi-institutional studies are warranted to establish screening criteria specific to children.
Quantitative phase imaging of fiber Bragg gratings in multicore fibers

Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) and multi-core fibers (MCFs) have independently demonstrated high levels of performance in numerous diverse applications. When integrated together, the devices can offer enhanced performance as well as open more applications. In all of these cases, the refractive index (RI) characterization of the FBGs is crucial in monitoring and validating the fabricated devices. To accomplish this, quantitative phase imaging (QPI) is a promising RI characterization candidate satisfying all of the requirements: noninvasive measurement, quantitative characterization, sub-micrometer resolution, no a priori knowledge, and 3D reconstruction. In this paper, we propose a new QPI method for characterization of the RI distribution of multiple FBGs in a single MCF. We have identified the key challenges associated with this approach: the pixel integration effect, aliasing effect, numerical aperture requirement, and characteristic functions recovery. We have further identified approaches for overcoming each of these challenges that have previously impeded this direction of research. The proposed method is supported by simulations of 2D and 3D gratings.
Extra-Employment Speech

There are at least three approaches we might imagine for determining the constitutional protection of public employee speech that is made on the employee's own time and unrelated to his job, which I dub "extra-employment speech." One option is to treat extra-employment speech - which includes everything from writing op-eds to running a personal website to speaking at a political rally - just like other employee speech. That means first determining whether the speech is on a matter of "public concern" as described by the Supreme Court in Connick v. Myers. If the speech is on a matter of public concern, the reviewing court proceeds to the balancing test set out in Pickering v. Board of Education, where it weighs the restricted speech's value against its detriment to the employer. If not, the speech is left completely unprotected from employer restriction or discipline. A second option is to exempt extra-employment speech from the step-one Connick inquiry. The speech would simply be shuffled right along to the Pickering balancing test, where its value would be compared with its disruptiveness. Finally, extra-employment speech might be removed from both the step-one Connick analysis and the step-two Pickering analysis, requiring a new analytical rubric tailored to its unique characteristics. The conventional wisdom is that the modern doctrine embraces option number one; there is no recognized exception for extra-employment speech, which is analyzed under the same two-step approach as other employee expressions. If the speaker can show that his speech was on a matter of public concern, he might be able to rely on the off-the-job character of the speech as affecting the step-two Pickering balancing test. But the overarching analytical rubric remains unchanged. Recent statements by the Supreme Court, however, suggest a revision to the conventional wisdom. In this essay, I make a case for reading the Court's pronouncements as adopting the second option described above: Connick's threshold public concern requirement does not apply to extra-employment speech. The significance of this reading is potentially considerable. As a theoretical matter, such a doctrinal revision would give us a better idea of what the Court is driving at with its public employee speech jurisprudence. More practically, the revision would be important for litigants, who would find themselves with an alternative avenue for arguing that extra-employment speech is protected by the First Amendment even if it could not satisfy the Connick public concern requirement.
What we aren't when we are Penn state: dissociation strategies in the Penn state sexual abuse scandal.

This article examines organizational rhetoric from Penn State University leadership in the immediate aftermath of the 2011 sexual abuse scandal. The article focuses on this rhetoric as apologia, em...
The Development and Assessment of Crayons that Produce Textured Lines for Individuals Who Are Visually Impaired

Introduction:This article describes the development and initial assessment of a set of tactile crayons that can produce different textured lines and areas on standard paper.Method:An assessment of ...
Blockchain Token Economics: A Mean-Field-Type Game Perspective

This paper studies the blockchain cryptographic tokens by means of mean-field-type game theory. It introduces the variance-aware utility function per decision-maker to capture the risk of cryptographic tokens associated with the uncertainties of technology adoption, network security, regulatory legislation, and market volatility. We establish a relationship between the network characteristics, token price, number of token holders, and token supply. Both in-chain diversification and cross-chain diversification among tokens are examined by using a mean-variance approach. The results suggest that the number of tokens in circulation needs to be adjusted in order to capture risk-awareness and self-regulatory behavior in blockchain token economics. The Sharpe and Modigliani ratios for cryptographic tokens are revisited.
Book Note: 'The Struggle for Auto Safety'

In The Struggle for Auto Safety, Jerry L. Mashaw and David L. Harfst trace the development of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") from its inception to the present. The story they tell reveals a beleagured agency involved in one failure after another. They argue that the agency, hindered by its legal environment and internal divisiveness, lost sight of its original technology-forcing goal and chose, instead, to regulate through forced automobile recalls. The result, they argue, is an agency entwined in red tape and incapable of dictating anything to powerful automobile manufacturers, and unwilling even to try.
Duration of antibiotic treatment for common infections frequently exceeds recommended guidelines, potentially impacting antimicrobial resistance

Commentary on : Pouwels KB, Hopkins S, Llewelyn MJ, et al . Duration of antibiotic treatment for common infections in English primary care: cross sectional analysis and comparison with guidelines. BMJ 2019;364:l440. doi: 10.1136/bmj.l440 The realisation that antibiotic overuse can be harmful has shaped modern global movements of antibiotic prophylaxis and stewardship. Furthermore, nursing has had an established role in this movement.1 As a result, adherence to guidelines for antibiotic treatment for numerous common infections is a …
Adherence in Patients with Comorbidities

Patients with multiple concurrent conditions are becoming the rule rather than the exception. These individuals are more likely to experience longer hospital stays, increased morbidity, and higher health care expenditures compared to patients with a single chronic disease. Nonadherence is especially prevalent in these patients. Polypharmacy, fragmented medical care, and comorbid conditions amplify barriers to adherence. Despite the increasing number of patients with multiple chronic conditions, few studies have evaluated interventions to increase patient adherence. Patient education and care-coordination interventions have the greatest potential for improving health outcomes in these patients. Other strategies include simplifying treatment regimens, providing packaging interventions, and treatment of depression. Future interventions are likely to be complex if they are to address the varied needs of individuals managing multiple chronic conditions.
Dissenting Statement of Commissioner Gail Heriot in In the Name of Hate: Examining the Federal Government's Role in Responding to Hate Crimes , a Report of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

On November 13, 2019, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights released a report entitled In the Name of Hate: Examining the Federal Government’s Role in Responding to Hate Crimes. This Commissioner Statement is part of that report. The Statement discusses the problems of (1) hate crime hoaxes; (2) overbroad definitions of hate crimes; and (3) double jeopardy issues raised when the federal government seeks to re-prosecute under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act a defendant who has already been acquitted in state court.
Traumatic Facial Tattoo Injuries From Gunpowder and Ammunition: A Case Series.

Background and Overview:Gunpowder inclusion injuries are rare occurrences in the civilian sector but are more frequently encountered in the military setting. The authors report a case series of 3 a...
Towards Composing Optimized Bi-Directional Multi-Ported Memories for Next-Generation FPGAs

With the proliferation of embedded computing, there has been a dramatic increase in utilization of FPGAs to accelerate real-time compute/data-intensive applications on embedded platforms. FPGA-based designs typically achieve high speed-performance by leveraging parallelism in computations, which require simultaneous multiple reads/writes from/to the on-chip memory. However, current FPGAs only comprise dual-port on-chip memories, which hinder simultaneous multiple read/write (R/W) operations needed for parallel computing. Although several multi-ported memories are proposed in the literature, these designs become complex due to the extra logic and routing used for techniques/architectures to provide an arbitrary number of R/W ports for simultaneous multiple R/W operations. Furthermore, most of the existing multi-ported memories only provide an arbitrary number of uni-directional R/W ports. There is only one existing multi-ported memory design in the literature that provides bi-directional R/W ports. Unlike uni-directional ones, bi-directional multi-ported memories give more flexibility to the designers, since the number of read and write transactions can be changed as needed on-the-fly at any time. Previously, we introduced unique and efficient uni-directional multi-ported memories, which were created in such a way to significantly reduce the design and routing complexity. In this research work, we introduce novel, unique, and efficient bi-directional multi-ported memory architectures to provide an arbitrary number of bi-directional R/W ports. Our proposed bi-directional multi-ported memories are designed in such a way to dramatically reduce the design and routing complexity by eliminating the circular paths that typically exists in the current multi-ported memories in the literature, while enhancing operating frequency and area-efficiency. To the best of our knowledge, no similar work exists in the literature that provide multi-ported memory designs without the circular paths. Experiments are performed to evaluate the feasibility and efficiency of our bi-directional multi-ported memory designs. These results and analyses illustrate that our bi-directional multi-ported memories are far more efficient compared to the existing ones in the literature. Due to lower design and routing complexity compared to the existing ones, our simplified memories would enable seamless integration to the next-generation FPGAs with minimal design cost.
Probiotic-enriched milk and dairy products increase the gut microbiota diversity: A comparative study

Targeting gut microbiota with probiotics has emerged as a promising nutritional approach for the prevention of obesity and metabolic syndrome. Cultured dairy products can be effectively employed for the delivery of probiotics to the gut as well as for the support of growth and survival of probiotic bacteria. The purpose of this study was to characterize the effects of probiotic-enriched pasteurized milk and dairy products (Greek-style yogurt and cottage cheese) of different origins (cow, goat, and camel) on taxonomic composition of the mouse gut microbiota. We hypothesized that cultured dairy products can be an effective vector for the delivery of probiotics to the gut because of its nutritional value, acidic nature, and long shelf-life. Mice were fed a standard low fat, plant polysaccharide-rich (LF/PP) diet supplemented with the probiotic-enriched milk and dairy products for 5 weeks. Next generation sequencing of DNA from mouse fecal samples was used to characterize the bacterial relative abundance. Mice fed a diet supplemented with camel milk demonstrated characteristic changes in the gut microbiota, which included an increase in relative abundance of order Clostridiales and genus Anaerostipes. Mice fed a diet supplemented with the probiotic-enriched cow cheese exhibited an increase in the relative abundance of order Clostridiales, family Ruminococcaceae, and family Lachnospiraceae. The results obtained and their bioinformatics analysis support the conclusion that camel milk and the probiotic cow cheese induce changes in the mouse gut microbiota, which can be characterized as potentially beneficial to health compared to the changes associated with a standard diet. These findings imply that probiotic-enriched milk and dairy products can be highly effective for the delivery and support of probiotic bacteria of the gut.
Aspect ratio controlled synthesis of tellurium nanowires for photovoltaic applications

Here, we report an aspect ratio-controlled synthesis of tellurium (Te) nanowires (NWs) utilizing a hot-injection colloidal method. The synthetic method uses low cost materials – specifically, tellurium oxide (TeO2) as the tellurium source, environmentally benign ethylene glycol as a solvent, and ascorbic acid as a reducing agent. Analysis of scanning electron micrographs confirms that the NWs show narrow distributions for length, diameter, and therefore also aspect ratio. For example, we have prepared Te NWs exhibiting aspect ratios of 28.0 and 55.4. X-ray diffraction studies confirm a hexagonal crystal structure for the synthesized Te NWs. Based on Raman spectroscopy, Stokes lines were observed at 117.0 and 136.1 cm−1 for A1 and E2 modes of vibration. Fabrication of Te NW thin films demonstrated their suitability as a hole transport layer at the back contact of cadmium sulfide/cadmium telluride (CdS/CdTe) solar cells, yielding enhanced open-circuit voltage (Voc = 0.846 V) and fill factor (FF = 77.8%), and an efficiency of 14.6%; the control device has an efficiency of 13.1% (Voc = 0.825 mV, FF 74.0%).
Analysis of Noisy Radiometer Data from ISS Reduced Gravity Droplet Combustion Experiments

Reduced gravity droplet combustion experiments were performed on the International Space Station (ISS). The data from these droplet combustion experiments have been made publicly available by NASA. These experiments utilized narrow-band and wide-band radiometers to measure thermal radiation heat fluxes from flames. The initial set of radiometers, which were used in 80 experiments, exhibited large noise levels, making interpretation of data from these experiments difficult. The noisy radiometers were replaced by NASA with a second set of radiometers that had significantly less noise. The work presented here is focused on: (1) evaluating methods to “denoise” the data from the initial (noisy) set of radiometers with a goal of detecting flame oscillations; and (2) making these denoising methods available to other researchers who would like to analyze the noisy radiometer data. The denoising efforts employed local polynomial regression analysis with a Gaussian kernel as well as frequency-based low-pass filters. Windowed Fourier transform and wavelet transform approaches were also employed to detect flame oscillations in radiometer data. Comparison of results from these approaches showed that local polynomial analyses and also wavelet transforms can detect the presence of flame oscillations in noisy radiometer data. Uncertainties in the noisy radiometer data were evaluated using a Monte Carlo bootstrapping approach.
Improving the predictive value of bioaccessibility assays and their use to provide mechanistic insights into bioavailability for toxic metals/metalloids – A research prospectus

Widespread contamination of soil, dust, and food with toxic metal(loid)s pose a significant public health concern. Only a portion of orally ingested metal(loid) contaminants are bioavailable, which...
Preschool Parents’ Views of Distance Learning during COVID-19

Research findings: While research is beginning to emerge about the educational landscape during COVID-19, little attention has been paid to preschool. This mainly descriptive study examined U.S. pa...