cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Epidemic ological Analysis on the trend of group A and group B infectious diseases from 1961 to 2005 in Shanghai Fengxian district

[Objective] To analyze the incidence trend of group A and group B infectious diseases in the past 45 years in Shanghai Fengxian District in order to provide preventive and control strategy.[Methods] Descriptive epidemiological method was used to analyze the epidemic trend of group A and group B infectious disease from 1961 to 2005 in Fengxian.[Results] The highest morbidity was 7628.83/100,000 in 1962.It showed an incidence peak owing to a sharp increase of malaria.Afterwards,the epidemic situation receded.Because of the high incidence of faecal-oral transmitted diseases(acute viral hepatitis,bacterial dysentery),the morbidity climbed to a small peak in the 1970s and started to recede steadily in the 1980s.in the 1990s the morbidity remained approximately stable and it reached the lowest point of 235.08/100,000 in 1992.Although fluctuating,the morbidity had a downward tendency.The vector-borne parasitic diseases were the chief infectious diseases in which malaria ranked the first in the 1960s.In the 1970s-1980s faecal-oral transmitted diseases occupied the absolute superiority and acute viral hepatitis ranked the first.The incidence of faecal-oral transmitted diseases receded in the 1990s,but acute viral hepatitis still occupied the first place.Since the 1990s sexually transmitted diseases were asked to be reported.It had an increase trend and had occupied the first place by the 21 century.In 1999 the first case of AIDS was reported.[Conclusion] The spectrum of infectious diseases in Fengxian has already changed radically,so we should keep pace with time to transform simple infectious diseases report to active surveillance and to adapt the unceasingly change of epidemic situation.
RESEARCH ON MODERN AGRICULTURE DEMONSTRATION AREA CONSTRUCTION PROBLEMS AND COUNTERMEASURES IN HEBEI PROVINCE

The paper based on open interviews、questionnaire survey,uses agricultural park data,modern agriculture demonstration survey data as the foundation to analyze the problem of modern agricultural demonstration zone in Hebei province and to formation reasons and put forward the countermeasures to improve the efficiency. Modern agricultural demonstration zones in the construction in Hebei province have many problems like :the slowly land circulation、the rigidity of the input mechanism,the lacking of main cultivation,the seriously of the shadow effect,and so on; The efficient demonstration zones must have the appropriate construction scale,scientific function,reasonable functional partition,developed technology and the management of organization. During the construction we must pay attention to the speeding up the land circulation,the development of characteristic agriculture,the strengthen demonstration drive,the strengthen of the scientific and technological support,and guide the various resources,the improvement of the input mechanism,etc.
PROOXIDANT ACTION OF CRYSTALLINE SERUM ALBUMIN IN LIPID PEROXIDATION DURING INCUBATION OF RAT ADIPOSE TISSUE IN VITRO.

During in vitro incubation of rat adipose tissue in a medium containing crystalline serum albumin, a thiobarbituric acid-reacting chromogen (presumably malonaldehyde) appears in the medium, reflecting peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the tissue. Albumin which has been dialyzed, treated with EDTA and dialyzed, or subjected to gel filtration shows a markedly decreased ability to support malonaldehyde production. Prooxidant activity is found in the dialysate and in protein-free fractions appearing after albumin in the gel filtration. The prooxidant that contaminates albumin has been identified as iron and citrate, the latter acting by forming a soluble complex with the iron.
LONGITUDINAL STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN LATE-ONSET RETINAL DEGENERATION.

Purpose:To characterize longitudinal structural changes in early stages of late-onset retinal degeneration to investigate pathogenic mechanisms.Methods:Two affected siblings, both with a S163R missense mutation in the causative gene C1QTNF5, were followed for 8+ years. Color fundus photos, fundus au
Novel trends in pair distribution function approaches on bulk systems with nanoscale heterogeneities

Novel materials for high performance applications increasingly exhibit structural order on the nanometer length scale; a domain where crystallography, the basis of Rietveld refinement, fails [1]. In such instances the total scattering approach, which treats Bragg and diffuse scattering on an equal basis, is a powerful approach. In recent years, the analysis of the total scattering data became an invaluable tool and the gold standard for studying nanocrystalline, nanoporous, and disordered crystalline materials. The data may be analyzed in reciprocal space directly, or Fourier transformed to the real-space atomic pair distribution function (PDF) and this intuitive function examined for local structural information. Here we give a number of illustrative examples, for convenience picked from our own work, of recent developments and applications of total scattering and PDF analysis to novel complex materials. There are many other wonderful examples from the work of others.
How Integration Matters: An Alternative Vision for Urban Education in an Era of the Market

ABSTRACTThe widespread assumption in the United States today is that traditional urban public schools are failing. Market-based solutions, particularly charter schools, are seen as the way to improve urban education. How then can we understand a large urban district where educational actors have furthered a locally popular alternative vision? This article analyzes the comparison of Indianapolis, IN and Louisville, KY to demonstrate how four-decades-old desegregation orders continue to matter for the perceptions of urban school districts. The analysis shows how actors in Louisville utilized more favorable perceptions to fight for a compelling alternative narrative–integration–and against charter schools.
Towards a Total Workplace Innovation Concept Based on Sociotechnical Systems Design

This chapter aims at developing a more comprehensive design theory for stakeholders who are involved in design processes aimed at workplace innovation, by starting from sociotechnical design and by exploring how we can broaden that perspective with other approaches, to also cover issues such as IT-design and HR-design. This chapter will focus on STS-D theory for the design of the division of labour as developed in the Lowlands (Netherlands and Belgium). In addition to STS-D theory, other theories and practices for designing control, coordination and support systems have been developed, such as Lean Thinking, Total Productive Maintenance, HRM theories, Relation Coordination theory, ICT theories, the practice of the New World of Work (time and place independent work) and Sociocracy for participative strategic decision making. In this chapter we will outline a start for combining these approaches with STS-D theory to develop a systemic concept of Total Workplace Innovation (TWIN). As such, this chapter is an essayist and conceptualising approach to organisational design theory.
BRCA1–BARD1 promotes RAD51-mediated homologous DNA pairing

The tumour suppressor complex BRCA1-BARD1 functions in the repair of DNA double-stranded breaks by homologous recombination. During this process, BRCA1-BARD1 facilitates the nucleolytic resection of DNA ends to generate a single-stranded template for the recruitment of another tumour suppressor complex, BRCA2-PALB2, and the recombinase RAD51. Here, by examining purified wild-type and mutant BRCA1-BARD1, we show that both BRCA1 and BARD1 bind DNA and interact with RAD51, and that BRCA1-BARD1 enhances the recombinase activity of RAD51. Mechanistically, BRCA1-BARD1 promotes the assembly of the synaptic complex, an essential intermediate in RAD51-mediated DNA joint formation. We provide evidence that BRCA1 and BARD1 are indispensable for RAD51 stimulation. Notably, BRCA1-BARD1 mutants with weakened RAD51 interactions show compromised DNA joint formation and impaired mediation of homologous recombination and DNA repair in cells. Our results identify a late role of BRCA1-BARD1 in homologous recombination, an attribute of the tumour suppressor complex that could be targeted in cancer therapy.
Two-phase spray cooling with HFC-134a and HFO-1234yf on practical enhanced surfaces

Abstract An experimental study was conducted to characterize the spray cooling performance of HFC-134a and HFO-1234yf refrigerants using enhanced surfaces produced by simple processes with implications for active two-phase cooling of automotive power electronics. Experimental setup involved a closed loop spray cooling system featuring a pressure atomized spray nozzle and a 1-cm2 heater sample that simulated a high heat flux device. Heat transfer surfaces consisted of three modified surfaces, namely, electroplated-microporous, sanded, and blasted surfaces, along with a smooth surface that served as a reference. Tests were performed with saturated working fluids at room temperature (22 °C) using a range of liquid flow rates (2.5–4.5 ml/cm2 s). Based on the results, HFC-134a provided a better performance through higher heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and critical heat flux (CHF) values compared to HFO-1234yf that can mainly be attributed to the thermophysical properties and their effect on two-phase heat transfer process. The electroplated-microporous surface achieved the highest heat transfer enhancement among the tested surfaces. Overall, this study provided a framework for two-phase spray cooling performance of the current and next-generation refrigerants aimed for advanced thermal management of automotive power inverter modules towards achieving cost, size and weight reduction.
Fidelity-preserving coefficient truncation method for wavelet-based compressors for biomedical IoT applications

A common approach in the realization of wavelet-based compressors for ECG signals makes use of truncation methods, whereby wavelet coefficients are truncated (i.e., thrown away) if they're deemed insignificant. A popular truncation strategy applied in these compressors is to truncate based on Energy Packing Efficiency or EPE, which tends to favor coefficients at higher scales because their energy contribution (either in squared or absolute-value sense) is itself insignificant. In this paper, we present four rudimentary truncation strategies to analyze and demonstrate how the choice of truncation strategy can affect the signal in terms of compression ratio (CR) and signal fidelity. Of these, a truncation strategy we call ‘ScaleRelativeMAX’ is proposed, which exhibits some useful properties for sensitive biomedical applications. Simulation results are presented using representative select ECG records from PhysioNet's database to show that some truncation methods — in particular, our proposed truncation strategy — allows for fine-grained fidelity and CR control than others and offer nearly linear reconstruction error growth as a function of the truncation threshold in comparison to other strategies that are more aggressive in favoring CR over signal fidelity. Such fidelity-first strategies are useful in biomedical communication architectures for emerging Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications that employ compressors to minimize energy transmission costs in Body Area Sensor Networks (BASNs) and similar wearable devices. Such signals carry diagnostic information that are of clinical significance, and whose reconstruction of clinical features should take priority and is in stark contrast to ordinary multimedia class signals, which generally tend to favor CR over signal fidelity.
DETERMINANTS OF LITHUANIAN PATERNAL AND SPOUSAL TIME ALLOCATION WITH CHILDREN

This article analyzes paternal time allocation with children in Lithuania and explores paternal and spousal cross effects in time investment. Effects of paternal health status, alcohol consumption and health insurance status on paternal-child time allocation are also examined. The research finds a modest after-tax family income effect for paternal time, but not when examining paternal-spousal cross effects for child time investment. Regarding paternal-spousal cross effects, while both are very highly significant statistically, this research finds almost twice the complementarity for the Lithuanian paternal hour with children for spousal time with children than for a spousal hour for paternal time with children. The paper identifies several possible factors in the Lithuanian context contributing to a complementary effect and away from a substitutionary effect. Spousal age and educational effects – the former negative, the latter positive – are found for spousal time allocation with children but not found significant paternally. To our knowledge this is the first study to examine paternal time allocation in Lithuania for children including health status, alcohol consumption, insurance status and paternal/spousal cross effects for time allocation with children. Compared to our previous research, it also supports caution against assuming that parental cross effects on time allocation in a Lithuanian social context mirror such in the U.S. KEYWORDS: parental-child time allocation, household income modeling, household labor gender effects, labor market.
Should Rich Nations Help the Poor

Acknowledgements 1 Why Worry About the Distant Poor? 2 The Limits of Foreign Aid 3 What Can Be Done? 4 Climate Change and Inequality 5 From Broken Promises to Global Partnership Further Reading
New analysis of the Apollo 17 surface electrical properties experiment

Abstract The Surface Electrical Properties (SEP) experiment deployed at the Apollo 17 landing site in the Taurus-Littrow valley was a continuous-wave, radiofrequency (1–32 MHz) interferometer designed to probe the subsurface from depths of meters to kilometers. Signals were transmitted by orthogonal electric dipoles laid out near the lunar module and three components of the magnetic field were measured on the lunar rover at useful distances up to 1.6 km. The gross range decay of the signals is well fit by a simple equation combining spherical spreading, first-order interference, and attenuation. The derived loss tangents ∼0.01 are consistent with laboratory-measured radiofrequency absorption in Apollo 17 basalts. Thus the attenuation in the SEP data can be explained by absorption with negligible small-scale scattering; the latter can be quantified as a dearth of 10-m scale lateral heterogeneity and a mean-free path of kilometers. Numerical modeling was used to compare predicted vs. observed waveforms and to invert for vertically varying dielectric structure. The dielectric constant is readily converted to density and porosity for lunar rocks. The preferred model shows a sharp decrease in porosity in the top 20 − 30 m, with little change below 300 m. This likely tracks the transition from fully gardened regolith, to impact-fractured rock, to largely intact 3.7-Ga basalt. The bottom of the basalt was not detected by the SEP to a depth of ∼2 km or more, which is consistent with reanalysis of Apollo 17 seismic and gravity data.
Simulation: An Effective Method of Teaching Cosmetic Botulinum Toxin Injection Technique.

Background Learning to inject botulinum toxin for cosmetic purposes is difficult for beginners, given the nature of the procedure and patient population. Simulation training is an effective modality for medical professionals to acquire skills in an environment that provides low stress and ample opportunity for questions and correction of mistakes. Objectives Compare posttraining comfort, knowledge, and practical botulinum toxin injection scores among trainees who underwent simulation vs video training only. Methods A total of 20 nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and resident physicians underwent cosmetic botulinum toxin injection training either through lecture and video, or lecture and hands-on simulation training. Comfort, knowledge, and practical test scores were recorded and compared between the groups. Results There was no evidence of a statistically significant difference in comfort or knowledge scores between simulation and video groups. The median (range) practical score was significantly higher in the simulation group compared to the video group (59.0 [31-60] vs 44.5 [27-57]; P Conclusions Despite feeling similarly comfortable and having similar written knowledge test scores, the trainees who underwent simulation training had significantly higher hands-on practical test scores compared to trainees who underwent video training only for cosmetic botulinum toxin injections.
Symptom Severity and Number of Previous Psychiatric Admissions as Predictors of Readmission

OBJECTIVE The study examined factors predicting early readmission (within 30 days of discharge) to a state hospital. METHODS A total of 189 patients with acute symptoms who were admitted to a state hospital were evaluated at discharge using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Nurses Observation Scale for Inpatient Evaluation (NOSIE). Patients who were readmitted within 30 days were compared with those who were not on BPRS and NOSIE ratings and on other variables, including length of stay, number of previous admissions, demographic characteristics, and diagnosis. RESULTS Scores on the thought disorder factor and self-neglect question on the BPRS and the number of previous admissions were significantly higher among patients who where readmitted within 30 days of discharge. The variables correctly predicted readmission for 86 percent of cases in the study. CONCLUSIONS The characteristics of high scores at discharge on the BPRS thought disorder factor and the BPRS item on self-neglect, along with a high number of previous admission, may be helpful in identifying patients at risk for readmission to inpatient psychiatric settings.
Using Twitter to identify healthcare consumer sentiment

Introduction/Background Twitter is a social networking service, founded in 2006, and now with over 400 million monthly active users. This study was designed to assess the utility of Twitter as a tool for the assessment and comparison of healthcare systems. Material and method Java and R programs were used to capture, analyze, and compare Tweets posted about one academic university hospital system and two community hospital systems in a large metro area in the Southeastern United States throughout 2016. Natural language processing with sentimental analysis was used in conjunction with an object clustering algorithm to categorize and quantify positive versus negative posts regarding care received at these facilities. An analysis of the positive and negative tweets for the academic facility was completed. Results Among the 12,579 Tweets captured for 2016, 89.4% were associated with the academic medical center, 9.7% with community hospital #1, and 0.9% with community hospital #2. Relative to annual patient visits, the use of Twitter was 0.31% for the academic hospital, 0.34% for community hospital #1, and 0.03% for community hospital #2. A majority of Tweets were positive for all three hospital systems. Hospital system #2 received the highest percentage of positive and the lowest percentage of negative tweets ( Table 1 ). The subject of positive comments concerning the academic facility were hospital staff, hospital facilities, and hospital services, while the negative comments focused on appointments, wait time, and emergency room visits. Conclusion This study demonstrates the utility of Twitter to determine the overall sentiment of a segment of users of competing healthcare systems. In our initial analysis, we were able to compare the largest competitors of our academic system and to assess the topics of the positive and negative comments made by our healthcare system users. Further study and development of computing techniques are needed to fully maximize the potential this tool offers.
EFFECT OF VISUAL CUEING ON TWO-LEGGED HOPPING VARIABILITY IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: A PILOT STUDY

Background: Motor deficits in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are highly prevalent. High variability of motor output is commonly reported in children with ASD. Visual cueing using an exergame may be an effective intervention to reduce motor variability in children with ASD. Aim: To examine the effect of visual cueing on two-legged hopping variability in children with ASD. Methods: Four children with ASD and six age-matched TD controls performed three 20-s hopping trials with no visual cueing (no cue = NC) and with a 2 Hz visual cue (visual cue = VC). Three-dimensional kinematic data of the sacrum marker and ground reaction force were collected during each hopping trial. Variability was determined using the intra-trial coefficient of variation (CoV) of hopping frequency, hop height, and negative sacral displacement. Results: A marginally significant interaction between GROUP (ASD/TD) and CUE type (NC/VC) was observed for hopping frequency variability (p = 0.06) indicating greater impairment in the ASD group vs. TD group with visual vs. no-cueing. The main effect of group showed a statistically significant difference in hopping frequency (p = 0.037), hopping frequency variability (p = 0.008), and negative sacrum displacement variability (p = 0.04). Conclusion: This pilot study confirmed high motor variability in the amplitude and frequency of repetitive movements in children with ASD. However, visual cueing was ineffective and amplified the variability of motor output in children with autism.
Application of the Adaptive Validation Design to estimate the association between transmasculine/transfeminine status and self-inflicted injury among transgender and gender-nonconforming children and adolescents

Abstract Background An internal validation substudy compares an imperfect measurement of a variable with a gold standard measurement in a subset of the study population. Validation data permit calculation of a bias-adjusted estimate, expected to equal the association that would have been observed had the gold standard measurement been available for the entire study population. Guidance on optimal sampling of participants to include in validation substudies has not considered monitoring validation data as they accrue. In this paper, we develop and apply the framework of Bayesian monitoring to determine when sufficient validation data have been collected to yield a bias-adjusted estimate of association with a prespecified level of precision. Methods We demonstrate the utility of this method using the Study of Transition, Outcomes and Gender—a cohort study of transgender and gender non-conforming children and adolescents. Transmasculine and transfeminine status were determined from the gender code in the electronic medical record at cohort enrollment. This status is known to be misclassified because it can indicate either gender identity or sex recorded at birth. Our interest is in the association between transmasculine and transfeminine status and self-inflicted injury. To address possible exposure misclassification, we demonstrate the method’s ability to determine when sufficient validation data have been collected to calculate a bias-adjusted estimate of association that is less than 80% greater than the precision of the conventional estimate. Results In the conventional age-adjusted analysis, we observed that transmasculine children and adolescents were 1.80-fold more likely to inflict self-harm than transfeminine youths (95%CI 1.27, 2.55). Using the adaptive validation approach, 200 cohort members were required for validation to yield a bias-adjusted estimate of OR=3.03 (95%CI 1.76, 5.56), which was similar to the bias-adjusted estimate using complete validation data (OR=2.63, 95%CI 1.67, 4.23). Conclusions Our method provides a novel approach to effective and efficient estimation of classification parameters as validation data accrue. This method can be applied within the context of any parent epidemiologic study design, and modified to meet alternative criteria given specific study or validation study objectives.
The Duke Hotspotting Initiative: Providing Meaningful Clinical Experiences and Improving Clinical Readiness for First-Year Medical Students.

Problem Many medical schools now incorporate meaningful clinical experiences for first-year medical students (MS1s). However, these clinical placements often fail to teach components of the physician experience, including health care logistics, cost-conscious care, longitudinal patient care, and interaction with an interprofessional team. The Duke Hotspotting Initiative (DHSI) is a student-led elective longitudinal experience for MS1s to serve as a patient's health care liaison to encourage proactive health management and efficient use of resources. Approach DHSI is a combined didactic-clinical experience at Duke University School of Medicine. Students complete a didactic curriculum to develop relevant skills and maintain weekly contact with a patient in Durham, North Carolina, for the duration of the academic year. In their meetings with patients, students help them set and monitor health goals, identify and address barriers to health resources, and efficiently access primary care. Across 2 academic years (2017-2018 and 2018-2019), 54 MS1s were surveyed electronically before and after their participation in DHSI. They were asked about their comfort navigating various patient management scenarios, using communication tools, and assuming clinical responsibilities. Outcomes DHSI offers MS1s a unique immersive opportunity to gain experience applying the clinical skills they will need in their future careers. Based on comparisons of responses from the 48 students (89%) who completed the pre-DHSI survey and 40 students (74%) who completed the post-DHSI survey, there was a significant increase in comfort with communication and patient advising, managing common chronic diseases, using interview skills, and assuming clinical responsibilities. Next steps DHSI continues to expand in both size and scope, with the goal of incorporating team members from other health professions training programs at multiple institutions. Future analysis will investigate the longer-term impact of the program on students' professional development, objective changes in clinical skills, and outcomes for patients involved with DHSI.
Isolation and characterization of diverse microbial representatives from the human skin microbiome.

The skin micro-environment varies across the body, but all sites are host to microorganisms that can impact skin health. Some of these organisms are true commensals which colonize a unique niche on the skin, while open exposure of the skin to the environment also results in the transient presence of diverse microbes with unknown influences on skin health. Culture-based studies of skin microbiota suggest that skin microbes can affect skin properties, immune responses, pathogen growth, and wound healing. In this work, we greatly expanded the diversity of available commensal organisms by collecting > 800 organisms from 3 body sites of 17 individuals. Our collection includes > 30 bacterial genera and 14 fungal genera, with Staphylococcus and Micrococcus as the most prevalent isolates. We characterized a subset of skin isolates for the utilization of carbon compounds found on the skin surface. We observed that members of the skin microbiota have the capacity to metabolize amino acids, steroids, lipids, and sugars, as well as compounds originating from personal care products. This collection is a resource that will support skin microbiome research with the potential for discovery of novel small molecules, development of novel therapeutics, and insight into the metabolic activities of the skin microbiota. We believe this unique resource will inform skin microbiome management to benefit skin health.
Assessment of Early Childhood Reading and Evaluation of its Barriers in the Children’s Hospital Outpatient Center

There is a vast amount of research over decades that demonstrates the importance of early childhood reading on development of both receptive and expressive language skills in children. The evidence supporting early literacy and its impact of school readiness and educational success sparked the development of an exceptional program: Reach Out and Read (ROAR). This program encourages pediatricians to incorporate discussions about the importance of reading and how to read with a child as an integral part of well child examinations. The Children’s Hospital Outpatient Center …
“Motherhood Is Beautiful”: Maternalism in the West German New Women's Movement between Eroticization and Ecological Protest

This article traces changing conceptions of maternalism in the West German New Women's Movement from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. I argue that there were two moments in which the concept of motherhood was heatedly discussed and transformed. First, from the mid-1970s onward and within the broader cultural currents of “New Inwardness” (Neue Innerlichkeit) and “New Sensuality” (Neue Sinnlichkeit)—both of which permeated the New Left—motherhood became sensualized, eroticized, and sexualized. Second, these trends were intensified and at the same time drawn into new directions after the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe. For while the focus on female corporeality was consolidated, a growing ecofeminist strand successfully reimagined motherhood as tightly bound to nature and life itself. Serving also as a means to deal with the Nazi past, this late 1980s conception of motherhood was marked by a more pessimistic, even apocalyptic outlook.
School Resource Officers’ Roles Differ in the Prediction of Nonviolent and Serious Violent Incidents

School resource officers’ (SROs) presence (e.g., engagement in patrol, carrying firearms, etc.) and prevention (e.g., mentoring, teaching) roles have not been distinguished in investigations of SRO...
Confidence interval methods for antimicrobial resistance surveillance data

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest global health challenges today, but burden assessment is hindered by uncertainty of AMR prevalence estimates. Geographical representation of AMR estimates typically pools data collected from several laboratories; however, these aggregations may introduce bias by not accounting for the heterogeneity of the population that each laboratory represents. We used AMR data from up to 381 laboratories in the United States from The Surveillance Network to evaluate methods for estimating uncertainty of AMR prevalence estimates. We constructed confidence intervals for the proportion of resistant isolates using (1) methods that account for the clustered structure of the data, and (2) standard methods that assume data independence. Using samples of the full dataset with increasing facility coverage levels, we examined how likely the estimated confidence intervals were to include the population mean. Methods constructing 95% confidence intervals while accounting for possible within-cluster correlations (Survey and standard methods adjusted to employ cluster-robust errors), were more likely to include the sample mean than standard methods (Logit, Wilson score and Jeffreys interval) operating under the assumption of independence. While increased geographical coverage improved the probability of encompassing the mean for all methods, large samples still did not compensate for the bias introduced from the violation of the data independence assumption. General methods for estimating the confidence intervals of AMR rates that assume data are independent, are likely to produce biased results. When feasible, the clustered structure of the data and any possible intra-cluster variation should be accounted for when calculating confidence intervals around AMR estimates, in order to better capture the uncertainty of prevalence estimates.
Demography of the Appalachian Spotted Skunk (Spilogale putorius putorius)

Spilogale putorius (Eastern Spotted Skunk) is a small, secretive carnivore that has substantially declined throughout the eastern United States since the mid-1900s. To better understand the current status of Eastern Spotted Skunks, we studied survival and reproduction of the S. p. putorius (Appalachian Spotted Skunk) subspecies across 4 states in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains from 2014 to 2020. Using encounter histories from 99 radio-collared Appalachian Spotted Skunks in a Kaplan–Meier known-fate survival analysis, we calculated a mean annual adult survival rate of 0.58. We did not find support for this survival rate varying by sex, predator cover (canopy cover and topographic ruggedness), or climate. Compared to estimates of survival from previous research, our data suggest that Appalachian Spotted Skunk survival is intermediate to the S. p. interrupta (Plains Spotted Skunk) and S. p. ambarvalis (Florida Spotted Skunk) subspecies of Eastern Spotted Skunk. We located 11 Appalachian Spotted Skunk natal dens and estimated mean litter size to be 2.8 juveniles per female. We used a Lefkovitch matrix to identify the most important demographic rates and found that adult survivorship had the largest impact on the population growth rate. These results provide important demographic information for future Eastern Spotted Skunk population viability analyses and can serve as a baseline for future comparative assessments of the effects of management interventions on the species.
Decentralized Secure State-Tracking in Multi-Agent Systems

This paper addresses the problem of decentralized state-tracking in the presence of sensor attacks. We consider a network of nodes where each node has the objective of tracking the state of a linear dynamical system based on its measurements and messages exchanged with neighboring nodes notwithstanding some measurements being spoofed by an adversary. We propose a novel decentralized attack-resilient state-tracking algorithm based on the simple observation that a compressed version of all the network measurements suffices to reconstruct the state. This motivates a 2-step solution to the decentralized secure state-tracking problem: (1) each node tracks the compressed version of all the network measurements, and (2) each node asymptotically reconstructs the state from the output of step (1). We prove that, under mild technical assumptions, our algorithm enables each node to track the state of the linear system and thus solves the decentralized secure state-tracking problem.
Predawn respiration rates during flowering are highly predictive of yield response in Gossypium hirsutum when yield variability is water-induced

Respiratory carbon evolution by leaves under abiotic stress is implicated as a major limitation to crop productivity; however, respiration rates of fully expanded leaves are positively associated with plant growth rates. Given the substantial sensitivity of plant growth to drought, it was hypothesized that predawn respiration rates (RPD) would be (1) more sensitive to drought than photosynthetic processes and (2) highly predictive of water-induced yield variability in Gossypium hirsutum. Two studies (at Tifton and Camilla Georgia) addressed these hypotheses. At Tifton, drought was imposed beginning at the onset of flowering (first flower) and continuing for three weeks (peak bloom) followed by a recovery period, and predawn water potential (ΨPD), RPD, net photosynthesis (AN) and maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) were measured throughout the study period. At Camilla, plants were exposed to five different irrigation regimes throughout the growing season, and average ΨPD and RPD were determined between first flower and peak bloom for all treatments. For both sites, fiber yield was assessed at crop maturity. The relationships between ΨPD, RPD and yield were assessed via non-linear regression. It was concluded for field-grown G. hirsutum that (1) RPD is exceptionally sensitive to progressive drought (more so than AN or Fv/Fm) and (2) average RPD from first flower to peak bloom is highly predictive of water-induced yield variability.
A deterministic displacement theorem for Poisson processes.

We announce a deterministic analog of Bartlett’s displacement theorem. The result is that a Poisson property is stable with respect to deterministic Hamiltonian displacements. While the random point configurations move according to an n-body evolution, the mean measure P satisfies a nonlinear Vlasov type equation Ṗ + y · ∇xP − ∇y · E(P ) = 0. Combined with Bartlett’s theorem, the result generalizes to interacting Brownian particles, where the mean measure satisfies a McKean-Vlasov type diffusion equation Ṗ + y · ∇xP −∇y ·E(P )− c∆P = 0. 1. Poisson processes Some families of distributions in probability theory are natural because they appear in central limit theorems, because they maximize entropy and because they are invariant under convolutions. An example is the Gaussian distribution on R: adding and then normalizing independent random variables of the same distribution give a new distribution with larger relative entropy except at the attractive Gaussian fixed point of this renormalization map. A similar fixed point on discrete distributions is the Poisson distribution on N. While the Gaussian distribution gives rise to stochastic processes like Brownian motion, the Poisson distribution occurs in random point processes like the Poisson process which is defined as follows: let S be some Euclidean space and let P be a finite measure on S. A Poisson process consists of a collection of random finite sets Π(ω) for which the random variables NB(ω) = |Π(ω)∩B| counting the relative number of points in a Borel set B ⊂ S are Poisson distributed with mean P [B] and such that NBj are independent for disjoint sets Bj ⊂ S. The mean measure P determines the process because a typical point set Π(ω) is obtained by picking randomly a natural number d = d(ω) with probability e−P [S](d!)−1, choosing then independently d random points a1(ω), . . . , ad(ω) from S with law P and forming the set Π(ω) = {a1(ω), . . . , ad(ω)}. We call P (ω) the counting measure on the finite set Π(ω). It satisfies P (ω)[B] = NB(ω). Poisson processes occur frequently in applications, for example as models for traffic on freeways, stars in galaxies or populations of plants. What happens if the point sets are evolved in time possibly with interaction? To have the displaced process also as a Poisson process is useful: the mean measure P t at a later time Received by the editors July 28, 1997. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 58F05, 82C22, 60G55; Secondary 70H05, 60K35, 60J60.
pH Measurement In Vivo in Whole Body Systems

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Vectorized Solution of ODEs in Matlab

Vectorization is very important to the efficiency of computation in the popular problem-solving environment Matlab. It is shown that a class of Runge-Kutta methods investigated by Milne and Rosser that compute a block of new values at each step are well-suited to vectorization. Local error estimates and continuous extensions that require no additional function evaluations are derived. A (7,8) pair is derived and implemented in a program BV78 that is shown to perform quite well when compared to the well-known Matlab ODE solver ode45 which is based on a (4,5) pair.
Plentiful PtdIns5P from scanty PtdIns(3,5)P2 or from ample PtdIns? PIKfyve-dependent models: Evidence and speculation (response to: DOI 10.1002/bies.201300012)

Recently, we have presented data supporting the notion that PIKfyve not only produces the majority of constitutive phosphatidylinositol 5-phosphate (PtdIns5P) in mammalian cells but that it does so through direct synthesis from PtdIns. Another group, albeit obtaining similar data, suggests an alternative pathway whereby the low-abundance PtdIns(3,5)P2 undergoes hydrolysis by unidentified 3-phosphatases, thereby serving as a precursor for most of PtdIns5P. Here, we review the experimental evidence supporting constitutive synthesis of PtdIns5P from PtdIns by PIKfyve. We further emphasize that the experiments presented in support of the alternative pathway are also compatible with a direct mechanism for PIKfyve-catalyzed synthesis of PtdIns5P. While agreeing with the authors that constitutive PtdIns5P could theoretically be produced from PtdIns(3,5)P2 by 3-dephosphorylation, we argue that until direct evidence for such an alternative pathway is obtained, we should adhere to the existing experimental evidence and quantitative considerations, which favor direct PIKfyve-catalyzed synthesis for most constitutive PtdIns5P.
Routing flexibility and production scheduling in a flexible manufacturing system

Abstract A multiproduct, multiperiod, multistage network model is presented for the planning of order release and production scheduling in a flexible manufacturing system environment under the existence of alternate routings. It is assumed that premanufacturing decisions such as machine grouping and tool loading have been made, so that setup costs and setup times are neglible and can be included in the processing times. The decision process addressed by the model is the disaggregation of weekly production requirments to daily production requirments, the determination of production batch sizes for each operation of each part type, and the daily assignment of each batch to machine groups given the flexibility of alternate routings. The model also provides the interface and linkage between an MRP component planning system and the shop scheduling system. The model is solved using a price-directive decomposition technique with column generation. Experimentation is performed with the model for varying problem sizes to determine the impact of shop flexibility on total cost, inventory levels, existence of bottlenecks, shop utilization, and the number of setups and split lot production. The results indicate important cost-benefit trade-off implications for system design and acquisition. For example, if in fact setup costs and times are nonnegligible, then it is shown that increasing the routing flexibility of a system without a parallel decrease in setup costs and times is unlikely to reap significant benefits.
Evaluation and Sensitivity Analysis of an Ocean Model Response to Hurricane Ivan

Abstract An ocean model response to Hurricane Ivan (2004) over the northwest Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico is evaluated to guide strategies for improving performance during strong forcing events in a region with energetic ocean features with the ultimate goal of improving coupled tropical cyclone forecasts. Based on prior experience, a control experiment is performed using quasi-optimal choices of initial ocean fields, atmospheric forcing fields, air–sea flux parameterizations, vertical mixing parameterizations, and both horizontal and vertical resolutions. Alternate experiments are conducted by altering one single model attribute and comparing the results to SST analyses and moored ADCP current measurements to quantify the sensitivity to that attribute and identify where to concentrate model improvement efforts. Atmospheric forcing that does not resolve the eye and eyewall of the storm (scales >10 km) substantially degrades the ocean response. Ordering other model attributes from greatest to least sen...
Immunohistochemical identification of alpha-1-antitrypsin, alpha-1-antichymotrypsin, and lysozyme in focal hyperplastic gingivitis

Tissues from twenty-four patients with focal hyperplastic gingival lesions containing calcification were stained for lysozyme (muramidase), alpha-1-antitrypsin, and alpha-1-antichymotrypsin. In eighteen of the twenty-four cases the tissues stained positively for lysozyme, and in all instances the tissues stained positively for alpha-1-antitrypsin and alpha-1-antichymotrypsin. These data suggest that the fibrous components of these lesions are derived from tissue histiocytes.
Managing a year 2000 programme

The year 2000 computing problem is the greatest crisis to hit the IT industry since its conception. The inability of most computers to correctly calculate the year 2000 as a result of two-digit date programming has massive implications for global businesses. The management of such a programme is consequently a daunting undertaking for many companies, and it is important to understand that it is not just a technical task. Rather it is a massive logistics exercise, with a company's whole business at risk. Computing underwrites many business processes, which all need to be examined, and many firms utilise products which contain embedded systems, such as FAX machines, security doors, laboratory equipment and automated production lines-all of these can contain day, date and year logic which can lead to year 2000 failure. This means that the programme must be given the right priority within the company. As if the computing crisis were not enough, year 2000 has also a business and social focus. It is a target date for all sorts of initiatives, such that there are already competing priorities without having the computing problem as well. Year 2000 has almost a magical significance-it has become a convenient goal for setting the completion of various projects. Organisations, if not careful, could be on a collision course of projects and initiatives towards 2000. The author discusses scoping the programme, management roles, and programme implementation.
Cadmium-induced malignant transformation in rat liver cells: role of aberrant oncogene expression and minimal role of oxidative stress

Our study examined the role of oxidative stress and aberrant gene expression in malignant transformation induced by chronic, low-level cadmium exposure in non-tumorigenic rat liver epithelial cell line, TRL 1215. Cells were cultured in 1.0 μM cadmium (as CdCl2) for up to 28 weeks and compared to passage-matched control cells. The level of cadmium used for transformation produced no evidence of increased superoxide (O2− ·) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels in the early stages of exposure (≤24 hr). The chronic cadmium exposed liver epithelial cells (CCE-LE) were hyperproliferative with a growth rate about 3-fold higher than control cells. CCE-LE cells produced highly aggressive tumors upon inoculation into mice confirming malignant transformation. Analysis of cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) showed that CCE-LE cells possessed markedly lower basal levels of intracellular O2− ·and H2O2 and were very tolerant to high-dose (50 μM) cadmium-induced ROS. Time course studies showed the production of ROS by high-dose cadmium was abolished well in advance of malignant transformation. In contrast, marked overexpression of the oncogenes c-myc and c-jun occurred in transformed CCE-LE cells as evidenced by up to 10-fold increases in both transcript and protein. A significant increase in DNA-binding activity of the transcription factors AP-1 and NF-κB occurred in CCE-LE cells. Increases in oncogene expression and transcription factor activity occurred concurrently with malignant transformation. Thus, cadmium-induced ROS occurs as an early, high-dose event but is abolished well in advance of malignant transformation. Low-level chronic cadmium triggers oncogene overexpression possibly by altering critical transcription factor activity. Such changes in cellular gene expression likely culminate in the loss of growth control and cadmium-induced neoplastic transformation in CCE-LE cells, whereas generation of ROS by cadmium seemed to play a minimal role in this transformation. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.