cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract A140: Chemoprevention of familial adenomatous polyposis by a flexible‐heteroarotinoid (Flex‐Het), SHetA2, in APCMin mice

Colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer in the western world with 1 million new cases worldwide each year. Flexible Heteroarotinoids (Flex‐Hets) are a promising new class of anticancer compounds that regulate cell cycle progression, differentiation and apoptosis, as well as xenograft tumor growth and angiogenesis in many cancer types. The lead Flex‐Het, Sulfur heteroarotinoid A2 (SHetA2), prevents DMBA‐induced transformation in endometrial organotypic cultures in vitro and is currently in preclinical testing in the NCI RAPID program. In this study, the potential in vivo chemopreventive effects of SHetA2 were evaluated in APCmin/+ mice. Six‐week old APCmin/+ mice were assigned to three different treatment groups with normalized distributions of males and females. Drug was dissolved in corn oil (0 ‐ placebo, 30 mg/kg SHetA2, 60 mg/kg SHetA2) and administered by gavage five days per week for 12 weeks. There was no statistically significant difference in body weight between any of the treatment groups and controls. All mice were killed and the total number and size of tumors along the entire length of the intestine and colon were visually counted using a magnified lens. SHetA2‐treated groups exhibited dramatic reductions in the total number of intestinal tumors at both doses (SHetA2 30 mg/kg ‐ 60%, SHetA2 60 mg/kg ‐ 54%, P 2 mm), medium (1–2 mm) and small ( Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2010;3(1 Suppl):A140.
Developmental response of nymphs of Podisus maculiventris (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) reared with low numbers of prey

Effects of maternal diet, maternal age, and nymphal diet on developmental time and survivorship of nymphs of Podisus maculiventris (Say) were studied using Mexican bean beetle, Epilachna varivestis Mulsant as prey. Developmental time of nymphs was shorter if nymphs were well fed and came from well fed and young mothers than if nymphs were poorly fed and came from poorly fed and older mothers. Nymphal survival was related to nymphal diet. Well-fed nymphs showed higher survivorship than poorly fed nymphs. Nymphs supplied prey at the lowest rates failed to reach adulthood and died, usually in the act of molting. Body sizes of adults from well-fed nymphs were larger than those from poorly fed nymphs. Impact of maternal effects on population dynamics of P. maculiventris is discussed.
Diffusion Tractography in Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery: A Review.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is believed to exert its therapeutic effects through modulation of brain circuitry, yet conventional preoperative planning does not allow direct targeting or visualization of white matter pathways. Diffusion MRI tractography (DT) is virtually the only non-invasive method of visualizing structural connectivity in the brain, leading many to suggest its use to guide DBS targeting. DT-guided DBS not only has the potential to allow direct white matter targeting for established applications (e.g. Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, dystonia), but may also aid in the discovery of new therapeutic targets for a variety of other neurologic and psychiatric diseases. Despite these exciting opportunities, DT lacks standardization and rigorous anatomic validation, raising significant concern for the use of such data in stereotactic brain surgery. This review covers the technical details, proposed methods, and initial clinical data for the use of DT in DBS surgery. Rather than focusing on specific disease applications, this review focuses on methods that can be applied to virtually any DBS target.
Dimensionality Reduction of Features using Multi Resolution Representation of Decomposed Images

A common objective in multi class, image analysis is to reduce the dimensionality of input data, and capture the most discriminant features in the projected space. In this work, we investigate a system that first finds clusters of similar points in feature space, using a nearest neighbor, graph based decomposition algorithm. This process transforms the original image data on to a subspace of identical dimensionality, but at a much flatter, color gamut. The intermediate representation of the segmented image, follows an effective, local descriptor operator that yields a marked compact feature vector, compared to the one obtained from a descriptor, immediately succeeding the native image. For evaluation, we study a generalized, multi resolution representation of decomposed images, parameterized by a broad range of a decreasing number of clusters. We conduct experiments on both non and correlated image sets, expressed in raw feature vectors of one million elements each, and demonstrate robust accuracy in applying our features to a linear SVM classifier.
Animal Models of Induced Apoptotic Death in the Substantia Nigra

Apoptosis is a form of cell death in which genetically regulated programs intrinsic to the cell bring about its own demise. In recent years, there has been a tremendous growth of interest in apoptosis as a mechanism of disease in a wide range of human disorders including the neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease (PD) (1). This growth of interest has spawned an extraordinary number of recent discoveries about the molecular basis of apoptosis. It is important to emphasize, however, that much of this new knowledge has been attained in the study of relatively simple systems, such as invertebrate models or mammalian nonneural cell culture systems. Less is known about these mechanisms in neural cells, and much of what is known is based on studies of peripheral neural cells (such as sympathetic ganglia and PC 12 cells) in tissue culture. Much less is known about central neurons; in particular, we know little about the regulation of apoptotic death in central neurons in living animals. It is especially important to try to identify the mechanisms of cell death in central neurons of known phenotype, particularly those implicated in human neurodegenerative disease, such as the dopamine neurons in PD. The purpose of the models we have developed of induced apoptosis in dopamine neurons of the substantia nigra (SN) is to try to translate what is being learned about the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis in simpler systems to these neurons.
Some Extensions to a Direct Optimization Method

A direct method for the global extremization of a class of integrals, introduced in Refs. 1–3, is generalized to allow for constraints in the form of differential conditions and by considering the so-called infinite-horizon case.
Fast Bayesian techniques for attenuation corrected whole-body PET

The authors describe conjugate gradient algorithms for reconstruction of transmission and emission PET images. The reconstructions are based on a Bayesian formulation where the data are modeled as a collection of independent Poisson random variables and the image is modeled using a Markov random field. To ensure non-negativity of the solution a penalty function is used to convert the problem to one of unconstrained optimization. Preconditioners are used to enhance convergence rates. These methods generally achieve effective convergence in 15-25 iterations. Reconstructions are presented of an /sup 18/FDG whole body scan from data collected using a Siemens/CTI ECAT931 whole body system. These results indicate significant improvements in emission image quality using the Bayesian approach, in comparison to filtered backprojection, particularly when reprojections of the MAP transmission image are used in place of the standard attenuation correction factors. >
Covert Communication: The Intelligibility and Credibility of Signaling in Secret

Can states credibly communicate their intentions through covert policy tools, despite the absence of credibility-enhancing publicity? Most extant research suggests covert action and secrecy in gene...
Copper: Basic Physiological and Nutritional Aspects

Abstract Copper is an essential dietary nutrient for humans and other mammalian species. Consistent with its definition as a trace mineral, human tissues and body fluids contain copper at concentrations in the microgram per gram (i.e., parts per million) to the nanogram per gram (i.e., parts per billion) range. It is also now clear that high or low body copper levels lead to severe pathological consequences, as observed in including Wilson's disease and Menkes disease. Adequate dietary copper is required for normal development and function of the CNS. Several well-established symptoms of copper deficiency relate to alterations in the activity of copper-dependent enzymes. Copper-dependent proteins include: superoxide dismutases, cytochrome C oxidase, dopamine β-monoxygenase, tyrosinase, amine oxidases, vascular adhesion protein-1, monoamine and diamine oxidases, and lysyl oxidase. Ceruloplasmin (CP) is a liver-derived, circulating multicopper ferroxidase that mediates iron release from many tissues. Hephaestin (HEPH) is a membrane-anchored intestinal ferroxidase required for intestinal iron absorption. This chapter provides a brief introduction to copper biology in humans, and details the consequences of high or low body copper levels. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of methods used to quantify the copper content of biologic samples or food, including atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy, graphite furnace AAS, and mass spectrometry.
Adaptive cloud offloading for vehicular applications

The growing number of sensor-based interactive applications and services are pushing the limits of the on-board computing resources in vehicles. With vehicles increasingly being connected to the Internet, offloading the computation to cloud-computing infrastructures is an attractive solution. However, the large sensory data inputs of interactive applications makes offloading challenging across dynamic network conditions, and different application requirements or policies. To address this challenge, we design a system to adaptively offload specific vehicular application components or modules to the cloud. We particularly develop heuristic mechanisms for the placement and scheduling of modules on the On-Board Unit (OBU) and a cloud server under dynamic networking conditions during driving. Through an experimental evaluation of the end-end application response time using our prototype vehicular cloud offloading system, we show that our mechanism can help meet application response time constraints.
Racial differences in circulating levels of the soluble receptor for advanced glycation endproducts in middle-aged and older adults

Abstract Background Low levels of the soluble receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (sRAGE) have been implicated in a number of chronic diseases. Previous studies indicate that sRAGE levels are ~ 30% lower in Blacks compared to Whites. However, the reasons for these differences are unclear. Purpose We aimed to identify predictors of circulating sRAGE biomarkers among Black and White adults at high cardiac risk. Methods Serum levels of total sRAGE, endogenous secretory RAGE (esRAGE), carboxymethyl-lysine (CML, a major RAGE ligand), and their ratios were measured in 99 Blacks and 454 Whites. Results Blacks had a more adverse cardiovascular risk profile, as well as lower median levels of total sRAGE (972 vs. 1564 pg/ml) and esRAGE (474 vs. 710 pg/ml) compared to Whites (p Conclusions We identified several independent predictors of sRAGE biomarkers. Notably, Black race was associated with an adverse AGE/RAGE profile, including lower sRAGE and higher CML/sRAGE ratios.
Pulmonary mucormycosis: clinical features and outcomes

Mucormycosis encompasses a group of opportunistic fungal infections caused by Zygomycetes, order Mucorales. Mucormycosis can manifest as rhino-orbito-cerebral, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, cutaneous, and disseminated infections. Pulmonary mucormycosis is the second most common presentation. This manuscript characterizes the demographics, clinical presentation, diagnostic procedures, radiologic findings, therapeutic interventions, and outcome in pulmonary mucormycosis. We retrospectively reviewed clinical data of 35 patients with pulmonary mucormycosis from 2000 to 2015. Microbiologic diagnosis was based on positive culture from a sterile site or findings on histopathology consistent with mucormycosis. Independent predictors of 28-day mortality were assessed using logistic regression. Survival curves were estimated using Kaplan–Meier method. There was male predominance with a mean age of 55 ± 15 years. Analysis of predisposing conditions revealed the prevailing presence of malignancy. Sixty-six percent of patients were receiving immunosuppressive agents. Common presenting clinical findings were fever, neutropenia, dyspnea, and cough. Radiologic findings included pleural effusion and nodules. All patients received medical therapy and 43% underwent additional surgical intervention. Twenty eight day mortality was 29% with concurrent bacteremia found as the sole independent predictor. Similar survival from pulmonary mucormycosis was noted over time. Pulmonary mucormycosis is an opportunistic angioinvasive fungal infection. Physicians must have a high level of suspicion in immunocompromised patients with fever and respiratory symptoms refractory to antibiotics. A low threshold should be had for performing an invasive procedure to gain reliable diagnosis, as early, aggressive medical and surgical interventions are needed for successful treatment.
Duet: An adaptive algorithm for the coexistence of LTE-U and WiFi in Unlicensed spectrum

LTE in Unlicensed band (LTE-U) has gained intensive attention recently due to its capability to offload mobile data to unlicensed bands. In order to use unlicensed band, LTE-U has to coexist with WiFi - another wireless technology that operates in unlicensed bands. This coexistence is riddled with several challenges as these technologies use different core networks, backhauls and deployment plans. Within this broad paradigm, we present Duet, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer solution that enables both LTE-U and WiFi nodes to operate fairly and efficiently, with the following properties: (1) no changes in WiFi framework, (2) high performance of LTE-U and WiFi networks within static and dynamic load scenarios, and (3) robustness to fully and partially connected networks. Using ns-3, we simulate Duet in various scenarios and show that Duet can improve the overall network throughput by up to 74%.
SEC Enforcement Attorneys: Should I Stay of Should I Go?

The gender gap is a much debated labor market phenomenon. Our article seeks to examine it in a context where it has received less attention: government attorneys. Using data on lawyers from the Enforcement Division of the SEC, we find the following: First, men receive more of the assignments that lead to high-profile allegations. Second, men receive greater pay increases than women. Third, men are both more likely to move laterally than women, and more likely to move to lucrative private sector jobs. The question we address is what is causing these gaps in pay and assignments. The primary explanation for the gender gap from the extant literature is the gender differential in childcare responsibilities. Employing a novel methodology to gather data on children, we do not find substantial evidence that children affect pay and assignments at the SEC. The presence of children, however, does seem to affect the behavior of men and women differently in deciding when to leave the SEC. We also report evidence that changes in the work environment at the SEC reduce the gender gap by inducing some women to leave the SEC.
Conflicts of Conscience for Catholic Healthcare Professionals

First, this paper will review some of the recent controversies that involve accusations and even lawsuits that the Catholic Church is imposing its religious beliefs on non-believers in the area of medical practice, particularly on issues dealing with so-called “reproductive rights”—e.g., contraception, sterilization, and abortion. Secondly, the nature of a Catholic moral conscience will be described, especially as it is understood in recent magisterial documents. Thirdly, it will give an overview of the various moral strategies—e.g., the “principle of cooperation with evil,” the “principle of double-effect,” etc.—employed by the Tradition for handling conflicts of conscience. Fourthly, the nature of Catholic healthcare itself—i.e., its goals, purposes, virtues, principles, and norms—will be described. Finally, some suggestions will be offered for how to deal practically with conflicts of conscience in the Catholic healthcare setting on both the individual and institutional level.
Black Disembodiment in the Age of Ferguson

One of the more striking features of the Black Lives Matter movement against racialized police brutality has been the focus on violence inflicted on “black bodies.” On one hand, the language of “bl...
Performance and Reliability of Electrowetting-on-Dielectric (EWOD) Systems Based on Tantalum Oxide

The electrowetting-on-dielectric behavior of Cytop/Tantalum oxide (TaOx) bilayers is studied by measuring their response vs applied voltage and under prolonged periodic cycling, below and above the threshold voltage VT corresponding to the breakdown field for the oxide. TaOx exhibits symmetric solid state I–V characteristics, with electronic conduction dominated by Schottky, Poole–Frenkel emission; conduction is attributed to oxygen vacancies (6 × 1016 cm–3), resulting in large currents at low bias. Electrolyte/Metal Oxide/Metal I–V characteristics show oxide degradation at (<5 V) cathodic bias; anodic bias in contrast results in stable characteristics until reaching the anodization voltage, where the oxide thickens, leading eventually to breakdown and oxygen production at the electrode. Electrowetting angle vs applied voltage undergoes three different stages: a parabolic variation of contact angle (CA) with applied voltage, CA saturation, and rebound of the CA to higher values due to degradation of the p...
Fluorous-Phase Approach to α-Hydroxytropolone Synthesis

α-Hydroxytropolones (αHTs) are troponoids that demonstrate inhibition against an array of therapeutically significant targets, making them potential drug leads for several human diseases. We have utilized a recently discovered one-pot three-component oxidopyrylium cycloaddition in a solid-supported synthesis of αHTs. Though the procedure is time efficient and generates assay-ready molecules, the system suffers from low yields and an inability to perform reaction modifications on resin-bound intermediates. In order to combat these issues with the solid-phase platform, we incorporated fluorous tags into our synthetic route. Through the implementation of fluorous phase chemistry, we demonstrate a substantial increase in the overall yield of αHTs, as well as an ability to execute metal-catalyzed cross coupling and amide coupling on fluorous tagged intermediates. We also show that tagged molecules can be separated from nonfluorous impurities, and vice versa, by utilizing fluorous liquid-liquid and solid-phase extractions. Hence, these proof-of-principle investigations describe the viability of a fluorous phase approach to αHT synthesis and its potential to serve as a combinatorial technique to produce structurally diverse substrates.
Seeing Mission Work through a Gendered Lens: Nellie Arnott’s Personal Portrayal of Women’s Work in Angola

Nellie Arnott, who served as a Congregational mission teacher in the highlands of Angola from 1905–1912, left a rich archival record of her personal experiences, including private diaries and publications for women’s mission magazines. Her writings trace her evolving attitude toward gender roles for missionaries and for Umbundu women whom she taught. Arnott provides a highly personalized and feminized glimpse into a changing central Angola, as Portuguese authority extended into the region. As Arnott left Angola in 1912, her goal was to establish a girls’ boarding school there, but, while home on furlough, she married her long-time fiance and did not return to Africa. Her candid personal writings allow a window into the development of her own social agency and a glimpse into the lives of Umbundu women (and men) as they negotiated evolving gender roles within an environment shaped by Portuguese political control as well as Congregational mission work.
Implementing multiple identities in IMS/VoLTE networks using implicit registration

A new way to use an existing IMS feature — implicit registration — is discussed and demonstrated as a simple and practical mechanism to fully support multiple public identities (e.g., telephone numbers) on an IMS/VoLTE connected endpoint. Combining implicit registration with IMS functionality allowing multiple devices to share the same identity enables telephony services (voice/video/messaging/etc.) to support a many-to-many mapping between identities and endpoints. This breaks the traditional 1:1 mapping of identity to endpoint (phone number to device), and provides parity with conventional (IP connected) applications that support a many-to-many relationship between identities and endpoints or clients. Two new services that provide multiple telephone numbers simultaneously on native VoLTE smartphones and on other VoLTE clients (IMS desk-phones, voice activated telephony appliances, PC and OTT clients, etc.) have been prototyped and demonstrated on a commercial IMS mobile network: a Bring Your Own Device business communication service, and a consumer service that converges 5G residential endpoints with 4G mobile endpoints.
Genetic distance predicts trait differentiation at the subpopulation but not the individual level in eelgrass, Zostera marina

Ecological studies often assume that genetically similar individuals will be more similar in phenotypic traits, such that genetic diversity can serve as a proxy for trait diversity. Here, we explicitly test the relationship between genetic relatedness and trait distance using 40 eelgrass (Zostera marina) genotypes from five sites within Bodega Harbor, CA. We measured traits related to nutrient uptake, morphology, biomass and growth, photosynthesis, and chemical deterrents for all genotypes. We used these trait measurements to calculate a multivariate pairwise trait distance for all possible genotype combinations. We then estimated pairwise relatedness from 11 microsatellite markers. We found significant trait variation among genotypes for nearly every measured trait; however, there was no evidence of a significant correlation between pairwise genetic relatedness and multivariate trait distance among individuals. However, at the subpopulation level (sites within a harbor), genetic (FST) and trait differentiation were positively correlated. Our work suggests that pairwise relatedness estimated from neutral marker loci is a poor proxy for trait differentiation between individual genotypes. It remains to be seen whether genomewide measures of genetic differentiation or easily measured "master" traits (like body size) might provide good predictions of overall trait differentiation.
Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a multisystem disorder combining features of both autoimmunity and immunodeficiency. It is a common and serious complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), and rarely solid organ transplantation, transfusion, and donor lymphocyte infusion. Because of its complex pathophysiology and diverse clinical manifestations, management of this challenging disease requires a multidisciplinary approach. Skin findings are the most common presenting sign, and they found in all forms of GVHD; therefore, the dermatologist plays an important role in diagnosis and therapy.
The Gastrointestinal System and Spinal Cord Injury

Changes in the gastrointestinal system after spinal cord injury are a result of interruption of the sympathetics and sacral parasympa-thetics. Adynamic ileus is followed by alterations in upper and lower tract motility as well as of compliance of the left colon. Diagnosis of abdominal emergencies is complicated by the absence of normal symptoms and signs. Fecal incontinence secondary to neurogenic bowel is treated by the establishment of a patient-specific bowel program. With appropriate management, patients can function normally in society.
Nutrition and Skeletal Health in Other Racial/Ethnic Groups

Osteoporotic fractures are a major public health problem and skeletal health varies widely across ethnic, racial, and geographic groups. In the USA, population growth among minority groups has been more rapid compared to whites over the last decade. Therefore, understanding factors contributing to skeletal health in non-white racial/ethnic populations is imperative. Studies of areal bone mineral density (aBMD) generally indicate the highest aBMD in African Americans followed by Hispanics, whites, and Native Americans, with the lowest aBMD in Asian Americans. However, racial differences in fracture risk do not necessarily parallel racial differences in aBMD. In general, the lowest fracture risk is observed among African Americans, followed by Asian Americans and Hispanics, with the highest fracture risk in non-Hispanic whites and Native Americans. The paradoxical low fracture risk in Asian Americans despite low aBMD may be due to differences in bone microarchitecture, bone geometry, or non-skeletal factors.
Edgy Animal Welfare

Legal animal welfare proponents should not reject out-of-hand reforms that may be celebrated by some as steps toward a radical version of animal rights. Rather, animal welfare proponents should consider the costs, risks, and benefits of all potential reforms. Some potential reforms’ risks and costs outweigh their benefits. But, both to improve animals’ welfare and to avoid irrelevance in an evolving society, legal animal welfare advocates should be willing to tolerate some costs and risks. Walking on the edge of slippery slopes is in some situations better than avoiding the slopes altogether. Connecticut’s 2016 animal advocacy statute provides an illustration of legal reform that legal animal welfare proponents should embrace even though it presents some risks of being perceived as a step toward a radical legal personhood rights paradigm.
Thermal convection in horizontal rectangular enclosures at moderate Rayleigh numbers: Effect of sidewall conductance and aspect ratio

Abstract Moderate Rayleigh number thermal convection for horizontal rectangular enclosure is experimentally studied for 1.85 × 10 6 ⩽ Ra ⩽ 1.04 × 10 11 . The best fit for the investigated range of Rayleigh numbers is found to be Nu = 0.067 Ra 0.330 when a sidewall material of very low thermal conductivity is employed. The effect of sidewall conductance and aspect ratio on the Nu - Ra relationship is also scrutinized.
Dual mTOR/HDAC Inhibition: Preclinical Development of a Novel Breast Cancer Therapy

v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv INTRODUCTION 1 Clinical Subtypes in Breast cancer 1 HER2 and the PI3Kinase/Akt/mTOR signaling pathways in breast cancer 3 Mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors 7 Histone Deacetylases (HDACs) and their inhibition 7 Research Goals 10 MATERIALS and METHODS 11 Cell Culture 11 Drugs 11 Cell Viability Assay 12 Western Blotting Analysis 13 Polysome Fractionation 14 Apoptosis Assay 15 RESULTS 16 Combination of TORC1/2 and pan-HDAC inhibitors synergistically 16 decreases breast cancer cell viability TORC1/2 inhibitor blocks downstream signaling effectors 17 Inhibitors of TORC1/2 and HDACs decrease polysome formation 19 Combined treatment with TORC1/2 and HDAC inhibitors induces 20 apoptosis in breast cancer cells Class I HDACi showed greater reduction in breast cancer cell viability compared to class II HDACi 21 DISCUSSION 22 CONCLUSION 26 FIGURES 27 REFERENCES 39
Weed control in pastures

Abstract A weed by definition is “a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth.” In pasture systems, weeds can reduce carrying capacity, compete with desired forage for moisture and nutrients, and some may pose a health risk to livestock. Using an integrated approach that combines cultural, mechanical, and chemical methods can help manage weed populations. Deciding which method to use depends on the weed(s) being controlled and the infestation level. When using chemicals to control weeds the herbicide label should be closely followed with respect to application rate and follow-up cleanup instructions.
Remote Sensing for Assessing Natural Capital in Inclusive Wealth of Nations: Current Capabilities and Gaps

The Inclusive Wealth Index has been proposed as a suitable measurement of sustainable growth and development of nations. This index consists of natural, produced, and human capital. A systematic and verifiable assessment of natural capital across countries has proven to be challenging. This paper proposes that natural capital be evaluated in a consistent manner through the use of earth observation satellites. 96 and 110 instruments were identified to observe forest and agricultural resources, respectively, thus a strong capability exists for these natural capital categories. However, current remote sensing capabilities can only go so far. Only 20 instruments were identified that can potentially be used for fish stock assessment. Although 72 instruments were identified to have mineral observation capabilities, data post processing is needed to accurately assess mineral stocks. 35 instruments were identified to assist in fossil fuel observation, but given that supply data exists for fossil fuels, this capability gap is not considered critical. By examining these capability gaps, scientists can direct their attention to payloads that will enable remote sensing technologies to assist in the measurement of the Inclusive Wealth Index.
What Drives Support for Transgender Rights? Assessing the Effects of Biological Attribution on U.S. Public Opinion of Transgender Rights

Scholars have a limited understanding of what drives opinion on transgender rights. The present study begins to fill this gap by applying attribution theory to data from a national quota-based (U.S. Census approximation) online survey of 1000 U.S. citizens to evaluate how individuals’ beliefs about the biological origin of a person’s transgender status influence support for transgender rights, including employment, housing, healthcare, and bathroom protections. Across all models, we find that believing transgender status is biological is correlated with increased support for transgender rights. Importantly, our results suggest that although political conservatives appear to be less likely to believe in biological attribution, when they do, the belief has a more dramatic impact on support for rights than it does among liberals. Our analysis builds on existing research demonstrating the importance of biological attribution for support of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) rights and extends our understanding of public opinion on transgender rights. Our findings have important implications for policy experts interested in approaches to addressing transgender rights as well as scholars and practitioners interested in better understanding opinion formation regarding transgender rights because they suggest that providing a biological basis for transgender status may be a way to increase support for protections, particularly among more conservative individuals.
The Effect of Taking an Affectionate Approach to Discharge Education in the Pediatric Ward

BACKGROUND & PROBLEMS From January to March 2013, only 36.7% of pediatric patients in our hospital were given health education by nurses and only 47.1% of patient families indicated feeling "good" about the health education that they had received. After analyzing the situation, we identified the following key issues: (1) Lack of an SOP; (2) Inconsistent nursing guidelines; (3) Difficulties in comprehending health education tools; and (4) Poor caregiver adoption of TPN skills. PURPOSE Our aim was to apply "impressive service" at our pediatric department to improve the effect of post-discharge health education in order to enhance the quality of care received by patients and their families. RESOLUTIONS A variety of measures were implemented to improve the satisfaction rate of post-discharge health education. These measures included: reinforcing advocacy during hospitalization, developing an SOP on health education and an auditing system, manufacturing an "Impressive Service Card" and a "Pamphlet for hospitalized children", and employing a health education method and leaflets that were beneficial to the caregiver. RESULTS The result of our practice increased the rate of health education to 100% and a rate of satisfaction of 99.4%. These significant improvements indicate that the "Impressive Service" program may be an effective strategy to improve the quality and effectiveness of post-discharge health education. CONCLUSIONS This program was implemented as part of standard discharge procedures as a strategy to improve the attitudes of nursing staff, to enhance the satisfaction of pediatric patients and their family members, and the enhance the image of our hospital and nursing personnel.
DiffNets: Self-supervised deep learning to identify the mechanistic basis for biochemical differences between protein variants

A mechanistic understanding of how mutations modulate proteins9 biochemical properties would advance our understanding of biology, provide insight for engineering proteins with particular functions, and facilitate efforts in precision medicine. However, such mechanistic insight remains elusive in many cases. For example, experimentally-derived structures of protein variants with dramatically different behaviors are often nearly identical, suggesting that one must consider the entire ensemble of structures that a protein adopts. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations provide access to such ensembles, but identifying the relevant features of these complex entities remains difficult. Here we develop DiffNets, a deep learning framework that combines supervised autoencoders with expectation maximization to identify the structural preferences that are responsible for the biochemical differences between protein variants. As a proof of principle, we show that DiffNets identify the important structural preferences that confer increased stability to TEM β-lactamase variants without any a priori knowledge of the relevant structural features.
Race, Language, and the Passive Voice: Hardship narratives in U.S. Social Studies Textbooks from 1860 to the present

While United States historians’ inclination to write in affect-inducing ways has waxed and waned throughout the past 150 years, racial biases concerning such writing have persisted through today. Adapting Mark Phillips’ (2013) concept of historical distance coupled with a form of linguistic analysis known as stylistics, I examine 50 U.S. history textbooks from 1860 to 2016 in order to analyze which individuals and groups are discussed as experiencing sufferin­g and whether or not these hardship narratives are apt to elicit compassion from their readers. I find that textbooks published after the Civil War consistently contain discourses that encourage readers to be concerned with the welfare of elites and whites, at first exclusively focusing on white elites’ hardships and then eventually including all whites. At the same time, these texts consistently neglect to acknowledge the hardship experiences of domestic marginalized groups and, when textbooks do discuss their hardships, their narrative style is likely to limit readers’ capacity to have concern for their oppression. Specifically, I find that the most enduring textbook writing characteristic for U.S. textbook authors from the mid-19 th century through the present day is to discuss acts of violence by non-white groups using the active voice while describing violence by white Americans towards non-whites in the passive voice, which impacts readers’ capacity to recall and empathize with the hardship narratives. Understanding how history textbooks continue to propagate these selective uses of compassionate discourses has significant implications for understanding and addressing not only history instruction, but for contemporary civil rights struggles as well.
When I Say…self-conscious emotions.

Imagine you are an intern intubating a patient when you are suddenly interrupted by the blaring sirens and flashing lights of the hospital's fire alarm. How would this make you feel? You would likely experience surprise, fear, and panic, all of which are basic emotions intended to generate a "fight-or-flight" response towards the nearest exit.
Understanding the Main Predictors of Length of Stay After Total Hip Arthroplasty: Patient-Related or Procedure-Related Risk Factors?

Abstract Background Removing total hip arthroplasty (THA) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) inpatient-only list allows Medicare to cover outpatient THA, driving hospitals to recommend outpatient surgery for appropriate patients and raising safety concerns over which patients’ admissions should remain inpatient. Thus, we aimed to determine the influence of patient-related and procedure-related risk factors as predictors of >1-day Length of Stay (LOS) after THA. Methods A prospective cohort of 5281 patients underwent primary THA from 2016 to 2019. Risk factors were categorized as patient-related or procedure-related. Multivariable cumulative link models identified significant predictors for 1-day, 2-day, and ≥3-day LOS. Discriminating 1-day LOS from >1-day LOS, we compared performance between two regression models. Results A>1-day LOS was significantly associated with age, female gender, higher body mass index, higher Charlson Comorbidity Index, Medicare status, and higher Hip disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Physical Function Shortform(HOOS-PS) and lower Veterans RAND12 Mental Component (VR-12 MCS) scores via the initial regression model that contained patient factors only. A second regression model included procedure-related risk factors and indicated that procedure-related risk factors explain LOS more effectively than patient-related risk factors alone, as Akaike information criterion (AIC) increased by approximately 1100 units upon removal from the model. Conclusion Although patient-related risk factors alone provide predictive value for LOS following THA, procedure-related risk factors remain the main drivers of predicting LOS. These findings encourage examination of which specific procedural risk factors should be targeted to optimize LOS when choosing between inpatient and outpatient THA, especially within a Medicare population.
Robustly Learning Mixtures of k Arbitrary Gaussians.

We give a polynomial-time algorithm for the problem of robustly estimating a mixture of $k$ arbitrary Gaussians in $\mathbb{R}^d$, for any fixed $k$, in the presence of a constant fraction of arbitrary corruptions. This resolves the main open problem in several previous works on algorithmic robust statistics, which addressed the special cases of robustly estimating (a) a single Gaussian, (b) a mixture of TV-distance separated Gaussians, and (c) a uniform mixture of two Gaussians. Our main tools are an efficient \emph{partial clustering} algorithm that relies on the sum-of-squares method, and a novel \emph{tensor decomposition} algorithm that allows errors in both Frobenius norm and low-rank terms.
Electrochemical Performance and Structures of Chromium and Molybdenum-Doped ε-LixVOPO4 Predicted as Promising Cathodes for Next Generation Lithium-Ion Batteries

We report here the predicted structural and electrochemical characteristics of e-LixVOPO4 doped with 25% Cr or Mo using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We predict the charging potenti...
Neuroscience-Inspired Algorithms for the Predictive Maintenance of Manufacturing Systems

If machine failures can be detected preemptively, then maintenance and repairs can be performed more efficiently, reducing production costs. Many machine learning techniques for performing early failure detection using vibration data have been proposed; however, these methods are often power and data-hungry, susceptible to noise, and require large amounts of data preprocessing. Also, training is usually only performed once before inference, so they do not learn and adapt as the machine ages. In this article, we propose a method of performing online, real-time anomaly detection for predictive maintenance using hierarchical temporal memory (HTM). Inspired by the human neocortex, HTMs learn and adapt continuously and are robust to noise. Using the Numenta Anomaly Benchmark, we empirically demonstrate that our approach outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms at preemptively detecting real-world cases of bearing failures and simulated 3-D printer failures. Our approach achieves an average score of 64.71, surpassing state-of-the-art deep-learning (49.38) and statistical (61.06) methods.
Cultivating Inclusion: Belonging and Agency in Young Black Men through Civic Action Research.

This paper examines how community-based civic action research can cultivate civic engagement, civic belonging, and shifts in civic stakeholders’ perceptions of racially and economically minoritized youth’s civic agency. Specifically, this paper examines the implementation of Youth, Research and Plan (YRP) – a community-based research methodology that cultivates equitable relationships between schools, cities, and communities by situating disenfranchised youth and their schools at the center of civic and urban planning – in a unique academic program focused on the development of Black manhood and achievement in a public high school. Using a Critical Race Theoretical application of Communities of Practice and drawing on qualitative data gathered over the course of two years, we show how YRP was instrumental in the development of three interrelated communities of practice that supported the youth’s academic endeavors and civic agency and yielded important shifts in civic stakeholders’ perceptions of and relations with Black urban youth.
Conclusions and Future Works

In this chapter, we summarize the main results presented in this monograph and highlight future research directions.
Solar System Data Mules: Analysis for Mars and Jupiter

This paper explores the ability to ferry data between Mars and Earth, and Jupiter and Earth, using a network of small spacecraft (termed “data mules”) placed in phase-shifted cycler orbits between both planets. These cycler orbits enable the data mules to periodically visit the destination planet without requiring large amounts of fuel. However, their long periodicity also limits the cadence of visits since several years may elapse between consecutive data mule flybys. To increase total data return to Earth, we compare two alternative concepts of operations. First, we assume that each data mule carries an optical terminal capable of establishing a very high-rate inter-satellite link with a spacecraft orbiting Mars and Jupiter (where all data to be returned is stored). This inter-satellite link operates for a short period of time, nominally during 1 day around closest approach of the data mule to the planetary body of interest. This is compared to normal Deep Space Network (DSN) operations, in which we optimistically assume a continuous direct-to-Earth link with a ground antenna. Through our analysis, we show that the concept of data mules can substantially increase the total amount of data returnable from planetary bodies when used as a complement to current DSN support. We also show how the system performance, measured in terms of total returnable data volume or amortized yearly data rate, depends on technological constraints to implement the deep space and proximity links, as well as geometrical constraints imposed by cycler orbits and the solar system.
Stercoral perforation of the colon: Case report and review of the literature

A case of stercoral ulceration with perforation in a colostomy patient is presented, and the literature of stercoral ulcers is reviewed. Significant features of this illness include preceding history of constipation, its presentation as an acute abdomen, radiologic signs of a perforated viscus, and a distinctive histologic picture. Treatment of choice is surgery with exteriorization and colostomy. The condition is rate and has a high mortality, although preoperative diagnosis may play a role in greater survival.
Pulmonary Hypertension an Independent Risk Factor for Death in Intensive Care Unit: Correlation of Hemodynamic Factors with Mortality.

Objective: Critically ill patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) pose additional challenges due to the existence of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of hemodynamic factors on the outcome. Methods: We reviewed the records of patients with a diagnosis of PH admitted to the intensive care unit. In addition to evaluating traditional hemodynamic parameters, we defined severe PH as right atrial pressure >20 mmHg, mean pulmonary artery pressure >55 mmHg, or cardiac index (CI) <2 L/min/m2. We also defined the RV functional index (RFI) as pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) adjusted for CI as PASP/CI; increasing values reflect RV dysfunction. Results: Fifty-three patients (mean age 60 years, 72% women, 79% Blacks), were included in the study. Severe PH was present in 68% of patients who had higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score (6.8 ± 3.3 vs 3.8 ± 1.6; P = 0.001) and overall in-hospital mortality (36% vs 6%; P = 0.02) compared to nonsevere patients, although Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scores (19.9 ± 7.5 vs 18.5 ± 6.04; P = 0.52) were similar and sepsis was more frequent among nonsevere PH patients (31 vs 64%; P = 0.02). Severe PH (P = 0.04), lower mean arterial pressure (P = 0.04), and CI (P = 0.01); need for invasive ventilation (P = 0.02) and vasopressors (P = 0.03); and higher SOFA (P = 0.001), APACHE II (P = 0.03), pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI) (P = 0.01), and RFI (P = 0.004) were associated with increased mortality. In a multivariate model, SOFA [OR = 1.45, 95% confidence interval (C.I.) = 1.09–1.93; P = 0.01], PVRI (OR = 1.12, 95% C.I. = 1.02–1.24; P = 0.02), and increasing RFI (OR = 1.06, 95% C.I. = 1.01–1.11; P = 0.01) were independently associated with mortality. Conclusion: PH is an independent risk factor for mortality in critically ill patients. Composite factors rather than individual hemodynamic parameters are better predictors of outcome. Monitoring of RV function using composite hemodynamic factors resulting in specific interventions is likely to improve survival and needs to be studied further.
Constructing groups of acoustically confusable words

Method for constructing groups of acoustically similar words in a large vocabulary speech recognition system are studied. The study is based on the idea that given a dictionary of words one should be able to take each word and construct a reasonably short list of words from the vocabulary that sound similar to the chosen word. Groups of acoustically similar words are constructed using the hidden Markov models for the words. They are then used in a fast match scheme in an isolated utterance recognition system. The experiments show that a short list of words can be constructed during recognition in a very quick fashion using this scheme and that the list will contain the correct word with a high probability. >
Electrical properties of p-type electronic defects in the protonic conductor SrCe 0.95 Eu 0.05 O 3-δ

The electrical properties of SrCe{sub 0.95}Eu{sub 0.05}O{sub 3-{delta}} were studied as a function of both oxygen partial pressure and water vapor partial pressure in the temperature range of 500-800 C, and the partial conductivities of protons, holes, and oxygen vacancies were calculated from the proposed defect model. P-type conduction was dominant in an oxidative atmosphere. It was shown that, in a wet atmosphere, SrCe{sub 0.95}Eu{sub 0.05}O{sub 3-{delta}} is a mixed conductor of protons, holes, and oxygen ions. A conduction transition from protons to holes and/or oxygen ions was found as temperature increased. The calculated activation energy of oxygen ion transport was 0.67 eV; standard solution enthalpy of water dissolution was -164 kJ/mole, which is larger than that of SrCe{sub 0.95}Eu{sub 0.05}O{sub 3-{delta}}. The effect of dopants on the conduction mechanism is explained by a hopping mechanism.