cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spaces of Labor Activism, Mexican‐American Women and the Farm Worker Movement in South Texas Since 1966

This paper studies the farm worker unionization experience and the historical development of Mexican-American women's activism in South Texas to elaborate more precisely the relationship among socio-spatial practices, political activism and labor's geography. Drawing upon archival documents and interviews, the paper describes how Mexican-American farm workers used public space for political activity; however, radical unionization efforts also domesticized other spaces for women's activities. The paper chronicles how Mexican-American women in South Texas transformed the farm worker center from a “domesticated space” into one of empowerment. In short, women in the union made the farm worker center into a space that challenged both the class-based structure of larger South Texas society and masculinist practices within the larger farm worker movement. The analysis advances the imperative to better understand how workers “make space” to ensure their own survival. The paper advances the study of labor geography by arguing that working class mobilization reconstitutes dynamic social geographies within laboring communities themselves. In arguing this point, the paper illustrates the limitations of activism based solely on the use of public space and argues for more attention to the significance of other socio-political spaces for labor mobilization.
CT-guided liver biopsy: correlation of procedure time and radiation dose with patient size, weight, and lesion volume and depth

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the effect of various factors, including overall patient size, weight, and individual lesion characteristics, on the radiation dose and procedure time required to successfully perform computed tomography (CT)-guided liver lesion biopsies. Materials and Methods This Institutional-Review-Board-approved study included 209 patients (average age, 59 years; range, 19–86 years; 105 males, 104 females) who underwent CT-guided liver lesion biopsy on a four-slice multidetector row CT scanner (LightSpeed Qx/i; GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI). Medical records and images were retrospectively reviewed to obtain the following data: (a) patient weight, (b) patient size, (c) lesion volume, (d) lesion depth, (e) CT dose index (CTDI) and effective radiation dose, and (f) procedure time. Statistical analysis was performed with multiple linear regression to assess the effect of various parameters on radiation dose and procedure time. Results CTDI was significantly correlated with patient weight ( P P =.03), and lesion volume ( P P P P P r 2 =.57). Conclusion In the current study, CT-guided liver lesion biopsy patient radiation dose was associated with both overall patient-specific features (weight and size) and specific lesion characteristics; however, the procedure duration was determined by lesion characteristics (lesion volume and depth) alone.
Longevity projections for human females using excess entropy production (EEP)

The life's course for a human system can be tracked by tracing Excess Entropy Production with age. For the average female, this relationship is linear and diminishes to zero at about age 100, which is the longevity potential for the average female who ages without catastrophic, life-altering events.
Two-stage hierarchical group testing for multiple infections with application to the infertility prevention project.

Screening for sexually transmitted diseases has benefited greatly from the use of group testing (pooled testing) to lower costs. With the development of assays that detect multiple infections, screening practices now involve testing pools of individuals for multiple infections simultaneously. Building on the research for single infection group testing procedures, we examine the performance of group testing for multiple infections. Our work is motivated by chlamydia and gonorrhea testing for the Infertility Prevention Project (IPP), a national program in the United States. We consider a two-stage pooling algorithm currently used to perform testing for the IPP. We first derive the operating characteristics of this algorithm for classification purposes (e.g., expected number of tests, misclassification probabilities, etc.) and identify pool sizes that minimize the expected number of tests. We then develop an expectation-maximization algorithm to estimate probabilities of infection using both group and individual retest responses. Our research shows that group testing can offer large cost savings when classifying individuals for multiple infections and can provide prevalence estimates that are actually more efficient than those from individual testing.
Richter Syndrome in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

The term Richter syndrome (RS) indicates the transformation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) into an aggressive lymphoma. RS is a rare complication with an aggressive clinical course, bearing an unfavorable prognosis. In the majority of cases, CLL transforms into RS as diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and a clonal relation between the two processes can be found. However, clonally unrelated RS can occur and transformations to other histologies beside DLBCL have been described. Recent data have shed some light on genetic characteristics that can influence and drive the transformation from CLL to RS. This molecular information has not been translated yet into significant treatment advances, and currently the therapy regimens for RS continue to rely on intensive chemotherapy combinations followed by stem cell transplant in suitable candidates. Based on the rapid pace of discoveries in the field of hematological malignancies and on the recent revolution in the therapeutic landscape for CLL and B cell lymphomas, new therapeutic options for RS might be available in the upcoming years.
High-Resolution DNA Melting Analysis in Plant Research

Genetic and genomic studies provide valuable insight into the inheritance, structure, organization, and function of genes. The knowledge gained from the analysis of plant genes is beneficial to all aspects of plant research, including crop improvement. New methods and tools are continually being developed to facilitate rapid and accurate mapping, sequencing, and analyzing of genes. Here, I review the recent progress in the application of high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis of DNA, a method that allows detecting polymorphism in double-stranded DNA by comparing profiles of melting curves. Use of HRM has expanded considerably in the past few years as the method was successfully applied for high-throughput genotyping, mapping genes, testing food products and seeds, and other areas of plant research.
The Ξ (1530) hyperon

The Ξ (1530) or Ξ* was seen by Pjerrou et al. (1962) and by Bertanza et al. (1962 a). We consider first the experiment by Pjerrou et al., in which 1.8 GeV/c incident K- mesons produced Ξ particles in the reactions $$\begin{array}{*{20}{c}} {{K^ - } + p \to {\Xi ^ - } + {\pi ^0} + {K^ + }} \\ { \to {\Xi ^ - } + {\pi ^ + } + {K^0}.} \end{array}$$ (27.1)
One-Pot Enzymatic Conversion of Sucrose to Synthetic Amylose by using Enzyme Cascades

Synthetic amylose could be a very important compound as a precursor of low-oxygen diffusion biodegradable plastic films, a healthy food additive, and a potential high-density hydrogen carrier. In this study, one-pot reactions composed of sucrose phosphorylase and potato alpha-glucan phosphorylase or supplemented with the three other enzymes (i.e., glucose isomerase, glucose oxidase, and catalase) were carried out to convert cheap sucrose to synthetic amylose, whereas one glucose unit from sucrose was added into the nonreducing end of the primer—maltodextrin. A thermostable sucrose phosphorylase was cloned from a thermophilic bacterium Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum JW/SL-YS485. The values of kcat and Km on sucrose were 15.1 s–1 and 20.2 mM, respectively, at 37 °C. The half-life time of this enzyme was 3.1 h at 70 °C. The yield of synthetic amylose was not significantly improved when glucose isomerase, glucose oxidase, and catalase were used to remove fructose, which was an inhibitor to sucros...
Nanoporous Energy Absorption Systems

In a system consisting of hydrophobic nanoporous materials immersed in water, as the pressure increases the water can be forced into the nanopores, accompanied by a large increase in system free energy. As the pressure is reduced, however, in some nanoporous materials the defiltration is difficult and thus the excess solid-liquid interface energy can be regarded as being absorbed. Due to the ultrahigh surface area of the nanoporous material, the energy absorption efficiency of this system can be higher than that of conventional protection materials by orders of magnitude. This phenomenon has great potential in developing advanced energy absorption and damping systems such as soldier armors, protection layers, blast resistant containers, etc.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Personality Variables and the Consumer Decision Process

This article suggests that personality variables should only differ for brand choice among people who see high-performance risk in the product. This theory suggests the hypothesis that personality ...
Accessibility of Academic Plastic Surgeons as Mentors to Medical Students: Reply.

BACKGROUND Determining a field of specialty can be a difficult decision for medical students. Career plans are often fostered through exposure to the field and mentorship, but it is often hard to identify accessible mentors. The purposes of this study were to determine the prevalence of accessible mentors among academic plastic surgery faculty and to characterize predictors of accessibility. METHODS An audit was conducted of academic plastic surgeon faculty affiliated with integrated and combined residency programs. A request for mentorship was sent from a medical student enrolled at the faculty member's affiliated medical school. Sources for e-mail addresses included residency program Web sites, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Web site, and a manual PubMed search. Independent predictors of accessible mentors were determined. RESULTS There were 498 e-mails delivered and 363 responses received (response rate of 73%). In total, there were 283 positive responses, resulting in 56.8% of plastic surgeons contacted identifying themselves as accessible for mentorship. Younger age [odds ratio (OR), 1.72; P = 0.005], Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (OR, 1.49; P = 0.035), and faculty members of medical schools ranked in the top 20 (OR, 1.75; P = 0.003) were associated with an increased odds of accessibility. CONCLUSIONS Most academic plastic surgeons are accessible as mentors (78%). Medical students enrolled at a highly ranked medical school seeking younger faculty mentors may have the greatest access to research opportunities and career advice. Encouraging faculty to participate in mentorship is important in developing the next generation of plastic surgeons.
Probing the Coverage Dependence of Site and Adsorbate Configurational Correlations on (111) Surfaces of Late Transition Metals

Correlations between adsorption energies allow for the prediction of a large set of adsorption energies from a few quantum-chemical calculations, enabling quick evaluations of the catalytic activity of surfaces for multistep reactions. A critical question is whether these correlations—initially established at low coverage on geometrically similar surfaces—are useful at high coverage and in various geometric environments, which are the relevant industrial conditions of real catalysts. To answer this question, we use density functional theory to calculate almost 900 adsorption energies of several atomic adsorbates on late transition metal fcc (111) surfaces at a variety of coverages and configurations. We observe strict requirements of the geometric similarity between adsorption sites for the existence of correlations in adsorption energies. We also find that the introduction of higher coverages generally weakens and changes the correlations. We use our results to assess a simple model constructed from prev...
Application of Quest3D in Power System Simulation Training

With the application of computer multimedia technology in power system training,power system training tends to digitize and diversification.Taking power system live line work training for an example,as an important design tool,Quest3D is introduced to power system simulation training.Quest3D is used to build a complete simulation training system.It achieves 10kV live line replacing the pin insulator simulation training by reasonable combination of scenes,models,action figures and constraint rules.
Statins Associated With Decreased Risk of New Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Objectives:Prior studies suggest that medication exposures may be associated with new onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to determine the effect of statins on the risk of new onset IBD in a large United States health claims database.Methods:We conducted a retrospective
Predation on Brachiopods

If someone were to have written a chapter reviewing brachiopod predation thirty years ago, the paper would have been quite short. Since then, numerous papers have been written on the subject, including many excellent case studies. Nonetheless, despite a growing body of literature on the topic, there are certain questions related to brachiopod predation that I am often asked. So the first part of this review will attempt to answer these questions.
Expanding the List of Dysregulated Immunosuppressive Cells in Psoriasis

Traditionally, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) have been studied in regard to their increased numbers of circulating cells in cancer patients. Recent research efforts have also increased awareness of MDSC in non-malignant inflammatory diseases, including asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, and arthritis. Psoriasis can now be added to the growing list of inflammatory disorders with an MDSC component. Cao et al. report increased numbers of monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (Mo-MDSC) in psoriasis patients and examine the implication of dysregulated Mo-MDSC function. Cao et al. describe psoriatic Mo-MDSC that produce increased IL-23, IL-1b, and CCL4 cytokines compared to Mo-MDSC from healthy controls. These results complement previous research demonstrating psoriatic Mo-MDSC are unable to suppress autologous and heterologous CD8 T-cell proliferations, display decreased expression levels of PD-1 as well as PD-L1, and fail to produce effective immuno-competent regulatory T cells (Tregs). Cao et al. also identify the unique expression of the surface protein DC-HIL on psoriatic Mo-MDSC. The expanded population of DC-HIL + Mo-MDSC in psoriasis patients, however, display inferior suppressive capabilities compared to DC-HIL + Mo-MDSC found in melanoma patients, suggesting contextual signaling as a potential contributing factor to Mo-MDSC function.
A Bethe unit

Following the death of Hans Bethe last year, I have proposed a new unit called the bethe, where 1 B is 1051 ergs or 1044 J.
Juvenile Court Practitioners’ Construction of and Response to Sex Trafficking of Justice System Involved Girls

ABSTRACTThe commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a growing domestic health and policy concern. Exploited girls may be at heightened risk for entering the juvenile justice system. The purpose of this study was to explore the needs of CSEC victims and resources available for system-involved girls. The data from this study included semistructured interviews, case discussions, and residential placement meeting observations with juvenile justice personnel. Findings revealed labeling issues related to (1) how court workers construct female victims of CSEC through exploitation myths, (2) the importance of trauma history and relational contexts, and (3) system-level barriers. Recommendations for practice are discussed.
I Am Sure to Grow Old: Mindfulness-Based Elder Care

Abstract Worldwide the population is aging. More people live with disability for longer periods, and this has important personal, political, and economic implications. Formal (paid) and informal (unpaid) caregivers are essential elements of elder care. The wellbeing of frail elders and their caregivers is interdependent, and both suffer from physical and emotional stressors. Chronic and complex conditions are best addressed by a holistic, multifaceted approach. Mindfulness-based interventions have shown promise for reducing suffering and improving the quality of life for older populations. Mindfulness-based applications, however, need to be flexible, creative, and fluid to meet the needs of a population with physical and cognitive frailties as well as their overwhelmed caregivers. This chapter describes mindfulness-based elder care, a flexible approach to adapting mindfulness and acceptance practices for these populations.
Susceptibility of Representative Great Lakes Fish Species to the North Carolina Strain of Spring Viremia of Carp Virus (SVCV).

AbstractSpring viremia of carp virus (SVCV) is a notifiable pathogen of the World Organization of Animal Health. Since SVCV was isolated in Lake Ontario in 2007, concern has grown about its spread in the Great Lakes basin and its potential negative impacts on fish species of importance in stock enhancement programs basinwide. The susceptibility of representative fish species from the families Cyprinidae (Fathead Minnow Pimephales promelas, Golden Shiner Notemigonus crysoleucas, Spotfin Shiner Cyprinella spiloptera, and Creek Chub Semotilus atromaculatus), Centrarchidae (Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides), Percidae (Walleye Sander vitreus), Salmonidae (Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss), and Esocidae (Muskellunge Esox masquinongy) to SVCV was evaluated by experimental infection under laboratory conditions. Morbidity and mortality were recorded, and virus re-isolation, seminested reverse transcription PCR, and histopathological assessments were performed. Using intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection, Fathead ...
Long-term spatiotemporal variability of southwest Florida whiting events from MODIS observations

Whiting events, or waters with high concentrations of fine-grained calcium carbonate, have been previously reported in southwest Florida using three years of observations from the Moderate Resoluti...
Traversing the Intermezzo: Demonic Archetypes in Jesús Carrasco's Intemperie

ABSTRACTThis article analyzes Jesus Carrasco's debut novel, Intemperie, with emphasis on its relationship to demonic imagery and space. Set in an unidentifiable Spanish locus and time, the novel portrays a dystopian world bereft of hope for a young boy and an elderly shepherd who flee through the desert from a repressive local sheriff. Carrasco's highly allegorical work presents the plight of the boy who continually negotiates the open moral ground symbolized by the imposing wasteland throughout the text. My study highlights the ways in which demonic archetypes outlined by Northrop Frye, as well as writings by Gilles Deleuze, Felix Guattari, and Henri Lefebvre on space and nomadology, inform Carrasco's narrative vision. The smooth space of the intermezzo, a world “in-between,” stands apart from the strictures of striated space and serves as the backdrop for Intemperie. I conclude that Carrasco fashions a wasteland freighted with disorder and injustice.
Comment on “Comparison of Low-Frequency Internal Climate Variability in CMIP5 Models and Observations”

AbstractIn a recent article, Cheung et al. applied a semiempirical methodology to isolate internal climate variability (ICV) in CMIP5 models and observations. The essence of their methodology is to subtract the scaled CMIP5 multimodel ensemble mean (MMEM) from individual model simulations and from the observed time series of several surface temperature indices. Cheung et al. detected large differences in both the magnitude and spatial patterns of the observed and simulated ICV, as well as large differences between the historical (simulated) ICV and preindustrial (PI) control CMIP5 simulations. Here it is shown that subtraction of the scaled MMEM from CMIP5 historical simulations produces a poor estimate of the modeled ICV due to the difference between the scaled MMEM and a given model’s true forced signal masquerading as ICV. The resulting phase and amplitude errors of the ICV so estimated are large, which compromises most of Cheung et al.’s conclusions pertaining to characterization of ICV in the histori...
Functional Anatomy of the Kidneys and Overview of Kidney Function

The paired kidneys claim 20% of the cardiac output, entering off the abdominal aorta through the renal artery and returning through the renal vein to the vena cava. The blood supply within the kidneys is traced. The path of urine flow is also traced. The function of the kidney is carried out in miniature by each nephron, and the microscopic structure of the nephron is discussed. The differences between cortical and juxtamedullary nephrons are shown. The microscopic path of urine flow is also traced. The nonexcretory functions of the kidney (vitamin D activation, gluconeogenesis, secretion of erythropoietin, and degradation of many hormones) are discussed.
Selecting Failure Monitoring Times for an Exponential Life Distribution

In certain situations in life testing, it is more practical to record whether a unit fails in an interval instead of measuring failure times exactly. This paper considers the analysis of life data from the exponential distribution with the use of period..
Idiopathic bladder rupture

Deaths due to hemoperitoneum are not rare and can result from a variety of underlying pathologic processes, including natural disease as well as trauma. Whenever hemoperitoneum is identified at autopsy, it is incumbent upon the pathologist to identify the source of the hemorrhage. The authors present a case of probable traumatic rupture of the urinary bladder that resulted in lethal intra-abdominal hemorrhage, occurring in a young man who was found dead the morning after drinking heavily.
Calorimetry of explosive thermal decomposition of graphite oxide

Graphite oxide (GO) has shown immense potential in energy storage and composite filler applications, and large-scale production of GO is of increasing commercial and academic interest. However, prior studies show that GO has the potential to undergo explosive decomposition. In this study, Advanced Reactive System Screening Tool was used to track the temperature and pressure of the explosive decomposition of GO. The data showed that the explosive decomposition temperature of GO strongly depends on sample size. The temperature and pressure generation are on the order of 1000s of °C per minute and 1000s of psig per minute respectively for less than a gram of material. Therefore, the rapid decomposition of bulk GO can lead to catastrophic consequences. The paper further compared the thermal stability of GO from different sources and found that the GO surface area has significant effects on GO stability. Finally, the Frank-Kamenetskii model was used to predict the critical mass necessary for GO to undergo explosive decomposition, the model predicted the mass within a factor of experimental data. The results of this study are beneficial in assessing and predicting the hazards of bulk GO during storage and handling.
Stability of Stochastic Functional Differential Equations with Regime-Switching: Analysis Using Dupire’s Functional Itô Formula

This work focuses on almost sure and Lp stability of stochastic functional differential equations by using Lyapunov functionals with the help of the recently developed Dupire’s functional Ito formula. Novel conditions for stability, which are different from those in the existing literature, are given in terms of Lyapunov functionals. It is demonstrated that the conditions are useful for stochastic stabilization. It is also shown that adding a diffusion term can stabilize an unstable system of deterministic differential equations with Markov switching. Furthermore, a robustness result is obtained, which states that the stability of stochastic differential equations with regime-switching is preserved under delayed perturbations when the delay is small enough.
Tumor Control and Visual Acuity Outcomes in Vitreoretinal Lymphoma with and without Sub–Retinal Pigment Epithelium Infiltration: Analysis of 125 Eyes of 70 Patients at a Single Ocular Oncology Center

Purpose To investigate outcomes in vitreoretinal lymphoma (VRL) presenting with or without sub–retinal pigment epithelial (sub-RPE) infiltration. Design Retrospective, comparative analysis. Subjects Patients with VRL at a single center from January 1, 1984, through July 30, 2018. Methods Record review was conducted for clinical features, treatments, and outcomes of tumor control, visual acuity (VA), and death. Main Outcome Measures Ocular tumor control and VA outcome. Results The study involved 168 eyes of 95 patients with VRL, of which 45 (27%) eyes of 32 patients had sub-RPE infiltration. Comparison (of patients with vs. without sub-RPE infiltration) showed similar presenting features of mean patient age (65 vs. 68 years, P = 0.30), percentage of males (53% vs. 56%, P = 0.83), white race (84% vs. 87%, P = 0.77), bilateral ocular involvement (78% vs. 75%, P = 0.80), and VA of 20/40 or better (40% vs. 50%, P = 0.30), 20/50 to 20/200 (42% vs. 31%, P = 0.20), or worse than 20/200 (18% vs. 19%, P = 0.99). Lymphoma subtype was diffuse large B cell (59% vs. 52%) or unspecified (41% vs. 44%, P = 0.85). Follow-up data were available for 125 eyes of 70 patients. Overall treatment included systemic chemotherapy (53% vs. 64%, P = 0.29), intravitreal chemotherapy (59% vs. 28%, P = 0.005), and external beam radiotherapy (59% vs. 94%, P Conclusion Sub-RPE infiltration in VRL is associated with more persistent or recurrent ocular tumor and poorer VA outcome, but no difference in frequency of central nervous system/systemic lymphoma or death. Further studies are required to determine whether earlier, more aggressive, or prolonged ocular therapy for patients with VRL presenting with sub-RPE infiltration could improve these factors.
Artemisia annua and Artemisia afra Essential Oils and Their Therapeutic Potential

Known for its production of the antimalarial drug, artemisinin, Artemisia annua L. contains a plethora of other phytochemicals and is a rich source of essential oils. Oil content and compositions vary considerably among cultivars, change throughout plant development, and vary with the geographic region. Many of the oils have antimicrobial activity and repel insects. Although numerous oil constituents have therapeutic properties, the response varies with mode of oil delivery to the patient, affecting both bioavailability of other compounds and their therapeutic efficacy. Depending on type and concentration, some oil constituents are also toxic to livestock and humans. Here, the essential oil contents of mainly A. annua, but also its close cousin, A. afra, which also has antimalarial capability, are discussed in relation to variations in the plant and eventual cost-effective use for a number of different therapeutic purposes including for treatment of many parasitic and microbial diseases, some viral diseases, and a variety of cancers.
Patient-Specific Organ and Effective Dose Estimates in Adult Oncologic CT

OBJECTIVE. Patient-specific organ and effective dose provides essential information for CT protocol optimization. However, such information is not readily available in the scan records. The purpose of this study was to develop a method to obtain accurate examination- and patient-specific organ and effective dose estimates by use of available scan data and patient body size information for a large cohort of patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The data were randomly collected for 1200 patients who underwent CT in a 2-year period. Physical characteristics of the patients and CT technique were processed as inputs for the dose estimator. Organ and effective doses were estimated by use of the inputs and computational human phantoms matched to patients on the basis of sex and effective diameter. Size-based ratios were applied to correct for patient-phantom body size differences. RESULTS. Patients received a mean of 59.9 mGy to the lens of the eye per brain scan, 10.1 mGy to the thyroid per chest scan, 17.5 mGy to the liver per abdomen and pelvis scan, and 19.0 mGy to the liver per body scan. A factor of 2 difference in dose estimates was observed between patients of various habitus. CONCLUSION. Examination- and patient-specific organ and effective doses were estimated for 1200 adult oncology patients undergoing CT. The dose conversion factors calculated facilitate rapid organ and effective dose estimation in clinics. Compared with nonspecific dose estimation methods, patient dose estimations with data specific to the patient and examination can differ by a factor of 2.
Factors associated with repeat rectal Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis screening following inconclusive nucleic acid amplification testing: A potential missed opportunity for screening

Author(s): Blair, Cherie S; Garner, Omai B; Pedone, Bettina; Elias, Sam; Comulada, W Scott; Landovitz, Raphael J | Abstract: OBJECTIVE:Given rising incidence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis (GC/CT), development of efficacious screening strategies is critical to interruption of the infection cycle. However, a small proportion of nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) results are inconclusive-resulting in delays in diagnosis and treatment. As such, this study seeks to evaluate factors associated with inconclusive rectal GC/CT NAAT. METHODS:This is a retrospective chart review of individuals who received an inconclusive rectal GC/CT NAAT result at a single institution from 3/2016-6/2018. Inconclusive GC/CT NAAT was defined as presence of PCR amplification inhibitors using Roche Cobas v2.0 CT/NG assay. Clinical charts were abstracted for age, gender, HIV status, GC/CT (urogenital, rectal, pharyngeal) and syphilis screening results during the study period, clinic type (HIV clinic, university student health center, other), and whether repeat testing occurred within 6 months following an inconclusive result. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate adjusted and unadjusted odds ratios of factors associated with receipt of repeat testing following an inconclusive rectal GC/CT NAAT result. RESULTS:During the study period, 6.1% (852/14,015) of rectal GC/CT NAAT were inconclusive for one or both of GC and CT. Among the 413 patients whose inconclusive rectal GC/CT NAAT results that were included in our analysis, 66.6% (275/413) received repeat testing within 6 months, of which 8.7% (24/275) were positive (compared to 5.4% positivity rate of all rectal samples). In multivariable analysis, individuals living with HIV had lower odds of receiving repeat testing following inconclusive rectal GC/CT NAAT compared to HIV uninfected individuals (adj OR 0.25; p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:Despite being disproportionately affected by the STI epidemic, individuals living with HIV had 75% lower odds of receiving repeat testing following inconclusive rectal GC/CT NAAT compared to HIV-uninfected individuals, representing potentially missed opportunities for treatment and prevention of ongoing STI transmission.
Color discrimination, occupational prestige, and skin color in Brazil

Existing literature pertaining to discrimination in Brazil often uses education and income as measures of class, but seldom includes occupational prestige. However, occupation, an aspect of daily l...
The Humanitarian as Negotiator: Developing Capacity across the Sector

This paper examines the dynamics at play in ongoing efforts to cultivate negotiation capacity among professionals working in the humanitarian sector. Based on extensive interviews conducted with humanitarian practitioners, this paper addresses three overarching issues. The first is humanitarian professionals' current understanding of humanitarian negotiation as a concept. On this issue, the paper examines the difficulties of defining humanitarian negotiation and the competing answers to the question of how to conceptually delineate humanitarian negotiation as an activity. The second is the types of negotiation capacity — cognitive, emotional, social, and cultural — that humanitarian practitioners deem to be relevant to their work. The third is the difficulties likely to be faced as capacity building efforts in this field continue to unfold. Overall, this paper aims to paint a portrait of the state of humanitarian negotiation capacity building, as well as what will be needed moving forward.
Towards a vertically separated broadband infrastructure: The potential role of voluntary separation:

Public policymakers face the challenge of maintaining incentives for investments in fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) infrastructure while simultaneously enabling effective competition. In that regard, ...
Automatic brain arteriovenous malformations segmentation on contrast CT images using combined region proposal network and V-Net

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is widely used to obliterate arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). Its performance relies on the accuracy of delineating the target AVM. Manual segmentation during a framed SRS procedure is timeconsuming and subject to inter- and intra-observer variation. Therefore, it is important to develop an automatic segmentation method to delineate the AVM target from CT images. In this study, we retrospectively investigated 80 patients who were treated with SRS. Ground truth was manually generated by an experienced physician using both DSA and CT images. A fast region proposal network was first trained to propose a bounding box that contains the AVM lesion for detection. The bounding box was then used to guide image patch sampling process for V-Net training. In the testing stage, possible AVM locations were first proposed by the region proposal network. Subsequently, V-Net was used for the final label prediction. Both the region proposal network and V-Net were trained using 60 patients and tested using 20 patients. The mean Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) was calculated to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed method. The automatic contours were in very good agreement to the ground truth contours with an average DSC < 0.85.
Neurofibromatosis and a Portrait of 1 in 3000

Neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that occurs in 1 in 3000 births, can cause tumors to grow anywhere on or in the body. The first author (RM), an artist-researcher and mother of a son living with neurofibromatosis, has painted and exhibited more than 200 portraits of people living with neurofibromatosis to raise awareness of and resources for this little-known disorder. Among many stories shared through RM's works is the story of Ashok, a Nepali man who has undergone 3 surgeries to remove facially disfiguring tumors that developed as a result of neurofibromatosis. This article analyzes portraits of Ashok and interviews that the senior author (RI) conducted with Ashok and RM during each phase of his surgical process to present a case study of their lived experience at the intersection of art and medicine that illustrates the power of portraiture as medicine.
Clinician Perspectives and Design Implications in Using Patient-Generated Health Data to Improve Mental Health Practices: Mixed Methods Study

Background: Patient-generated health data (PGHD) have been largely collected through mobile health (mHealth) apps and wearable devices. PGHD can be especially helpful in mental health, as patients’ illness history and symptom narratives are vital to developing diagnoses and treatment plans. However, the extent to which clinicians use mental health–related PGHD is unknown. Objective: A mixed methods study was conducted to understand clinicians’ perspectives on PGHD and current mental health apps. This approach uses information gathered from semistructured interviews, workflow analysis, and user-written mental health app reviews to answer the following research questions: (1) What is the current workflow of mental health practice and how are PGHD integrated into this workflow, (2) what are clinicians’ perspectives on PGHD and how do they choose mobile apps for their patients, (3) and what are the features of current mobile apps in terms of interpreting and sharing PGHD? Methods: The study consists of semistructured interviews with 12 psychiatrists and clinical psychologists from a large academic hospital. These interviews were thematically and qualitatively analyzed for common themes and workflow elements. User-posted reviews of 56 sleep and mood tracking apps were analyzed to understand app features in comparison with the information gathered from interviews. Results: The results showed that PGHD have been part of the workflow, but its integration and use are not optimized. Mental health clinicians supported the use of PGHD but had concerns regarding data reliability and accuracy. They also identified challenges in selecting suitable apps for their patients. From the app review, it was discovered that mHealth apps had limited features to support personalization and collaborative care as well as data interpretation and sharing. Conclusions: This study investigates clinicians’ perspectives on PGHD use and explored existing app features using the app review data in the mental health setting. A total of 3 design guidelines were generated: (1) improve data interpretation and sharing mechanisms, (2) consider clinical workflow and electronic health record integration, and (3) support personalized and collaborative care. More research is needed to demonstrate the best practices of PGHD use and to evaluate their effectiveness in improving patient outcomes.
Evaluation of an automated serologic test for syphilis.

Physicians are requesting decreasing numbers of serologic tests for syphilis for hospitalized patients. The possibility of performing a larger volume of serologic tests for syphilis for screening purposes easily and economically led to a comparison of the automated reagin test and the VDRL slide test. Five thousand sera were tested by both methods. Half the specimens were from patients for whom serologic tests for syphilis had been ordered and the other half from patients for whom such tests had not been requested. The incidence of reactives was greater among the patients for whom tests had been ordered, although two cases of latent syphilis were discovered and treated in the latter group. The two tests had comparable sensitivity and specificity. The automated procedure is easier to perform. The convenience of interpretation of results and lesser technical skill required for performance of the tests were considered advantageous for laboratories performing a hundred or more serologic tests for syphilis daily.
Neural Networks and Brains

All cells in life systems are capable of communication between cells by the use of signaling molecules such as hormones. The speed of this form of communication is limited by diffusion rates. Multicellular animals early in evolution took advantage of the much faster internal electric signaling to coordinate their activities. Neurons are the specialized cells for this purpose. For quick analysis of inputs, using short connections, a concentrated network of neurons becames ganglions, and then brains. A brain consists of a set of interconnected neurons, each acting to process a set of inputs to produce one output. As such, a set of interconnected electronic gates is capable of acting as a brain (Turing’s lemma), and is the basis of modern-day computers. We can envision even more powerful computers using quantum coherent states, but our own brain seems to be acting classically, with ‘free-will’ coming from the complexity in the brain and the almost chaotic nature of its inputs.
The influence of organizational climate and process on youth outcomes: a case study of a community youth sport organization

Given the environmental risks that impede positive youth development, community youth sport organizations serving vulnerable youth are critical. Organizational behaviour theory postulates there is ...
Explaining the negative impact of workplace incivility on work and non-work outcomes: The roles of negative rumination and organizational support.

Research studies have shown that workplace incivility is associated with numerous negative work and non-work outcomes. The underlying mechanisms explaining why workplace incivility is associated with these outcomes, as well as contextual buffers of these relationships, have received less attention. This study extends workplace incivility research by examining the mediating role of negative rumination as a potential factor undergirding the relationship between experiences of incivility from colleagues at work and detrimental outcomes. We also investigated perceived organizational support and family supportive work environment as potential mitigators of the indirect relationship between incivility and negative outcomes. Data were collected from 154 university faculty members on two occasions. The results showed that negative rumination mediated the relationships between workplace incivility and both work (job satisfaction, burnout) and non-work (work-to-family conflict, life satisfaction) outcomes. Furthermore, results from the moderated mediation analyses revealed that perceived organizational support buffered the mediated effect of negative rumination and job satisfaction and a family-supportive work environment buffered the mediated effect of negative rumination on work-to-family conflict. Overall, the results demonstrate that negative rumination helps explain why workplace incivility negatively affects both work and non-work outcomes and underscores the important role of organizational context as buffers for these relationships.
El Palacio. Historiography and new perspectives on a pre-Tarascan city of Northern Michoacán, Mexico, Paris Monographs in American Archaeology 53

In the centuries that preceded the European conquest in 1521, the central-northern region of the state of Michoacan, West Mexico, was a place of significant socio-political changes materialized by important transformations of settlement pattern and material culture. The archaeological site of El Palacio (also known as La Crucita or Mich. 23), located in the Zacapu Basin, constituted a major center throughout these regional events. The site has been mentioned in the archaeological literature as early as the end of the nineteenth century, and dispersed subsequent research has documented changes in site morphology, function, and degree of integration into interregional networks of cultural interaction. The present volume offers the first monographic publication about El Palacio. It is composed of a series of eleven contributions looking at both legacy and archive data (1896–1995) and results derived from recent archaeological investigations (2012–2017). The systematic review and analysis of the chrono-stratigraphy, material culture, urbanism, and economic and ritual practices at the site yields critical information that allows discussion of the role of El Palacio and the context of its development at both local and extra-local scales, between A.D. 850 and 1521. Beyond this central concern, this volume provides extended material for cultural comparisons with West, Northwest and Central Mexico during this time period, as well as for broader discussions about the complex social mechanisms involved in the rise, transformation, and fall of premodern urban centers.
Dynamic Visualization in Modelling and Optimization of Ill Defined Problems

We consider visualization as a decision optimization tool in problems where the model and/or the objectives are not well defined. We investigate four specific problems representing different degrees of determination. The first problem concerns a smooth dynamic representation of data collected at fixed locations. In the example we want to minimize the deviations from a desired temperature over space and time. The second and third problems are the dynamic representation of observations in the form of averages over regions in space and time, and they are exemplified by epidemiological data. We are looking for spatial-temporal patterns that can suggest the most efficient ways of prevention and control. The fourth problem may be referred to as visual indexing. We perform exploratory analysis of a large collection of complex objects. The example is a dynamic index to a collection of 30,000 images. We search for the“most interesting” subsets of images via visual inspection of the index. In all cases we define appropriate techniques for the visual representation. We describe the software and hardware.
Caught in the act: core-powered mass-loss predictions for observing atmospheric escape

Past studies have demonstrated that atmospheric escape by the core-powered mass-loss mechanism can explain a multitude of observations associated with the radius valley that separates the super-Earth and sub-Neptune planet populations. Complementing such studies, in this work, we present a shortlist of planets that could be losing their atmospheres today if their evolution is indeed primarily dictated by core-powered mass-loss. We use Bayesian inference analysis on our planet evolution and mass-loss model to estimate the posteriors of the parameters that encapsulate the current state of a given planet, given their published masses, radii and host star properties. Our models predict that the following planets could be losing their atmospheres today at a rate $\gtrsim 10^7$ g/s at 50\% confidence level: pi Men c, Kepler-60 d, Kepler-60 b, HD 86226 c, EPIC 249893012 b, Kepler-107 c, HD 219134 b, Kepler-80 e, Kepler-138 d and GJ 9827 d. As a by-product of our Bayesian inference analysis, we were also able to identify planets that most-likely harbor either secondary atmospheres abundant with high mean-molecular weight species, low-density interiors abundant with ices, or both. The planets belonging to this second category are WASP-47 e, Kepler-78 b, Kepler-10 b, CoRoT-7 b, HD 80653 b, 55 Cnc e and Kepler-36 b. While the aforementioned lists are by no means exhaustive, we believe that candidates presented here can serve as useful input for target selection for future surveys and for testing the importance of core-powered mass-loss in individual planetary systems.
COVID-19 imaging: Diagnostic approaches, challenges, and evolving advances

The role of radiology and the radiologist have evolved throughout the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Early on, chest computed tomography was used for screening and diagnosis of COVID-19; however, it is now indicated for high-risk patients, those with severe disease, or in areas where polymerase chain reaction testing is sparsely available. Chest radiography is now utilized mainly for monitoring disease progression in hospitalized patients showing signs of worsening clinical status. Additionally, many challenges at the operational level have been overcome within the field of radiology throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of teleradiology and virtual care clinics greatly enhanced our ability to socially distance and both are likely to remain important mediums for diagnostic imaging delivery and patient care. Opportunities to better utilize of imaging for detection of extrapulmonary manifestations and complications of COVID-19 disease will continue to arise as a more detailed understanding of the pathophysiology of the virus continues to be uncovered and identification of predisposing risk factors for complication development continue to be better understood. Furthermore, unidentified advancements in areas such as standardized imaging reporting, point-of-care ultrasound, and artificial intelligence offer exciting discovery pathways that will inevitably lead to improved care for patients with COVID-19.
The Mysteries of the Age-Old Pulse

In ancient times, the pulse had a lofty position in medical practice. Physicians viewed it not only as a surrogate for the heart but also as evidence of the health of other organs. In this chapter, the historical significance of the pulse in ancient Egypt, China and India, Greek and Rome, and Medieval Europe and the modern understanding of the pulse are discussed.