cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Outcome Following Isolated Osteochondral Allograft Transplantation of the Femoral Trochlea

Objectives: Osteochondral allograft (OCA) transplantation is a recognized treatment modality for cartilage damage in the knee. Few reports on outcomes of OCA in the patellofemoral joint and no reports on lesions isolated to the femoral trochlea are available. The goal of this study was to evaluate graft survivorship and clinical outcomes in patients who had an OCA of the femoral trochlea.
Production of Aortic Aneurysms in Turkeys and Effect of Various Compounds in Potentiating Induced Aortic Ruptures.

SummaryA number of compounds were tested for lathyrogenic activity, while others were investigated for their ability to potentiate BAPN induced aortic rupture in turkeys. β-Mercaptoethylamine hydrochloride when fed together with 1-isonicotinyl-2-isopropyl hydrazine phosphate was toxic, causing massive internal hemorrhages, and slower growth. Diaminobutyric acid and methyl 3-aminopropyl sulfide induced no aortic lesions. N-Glycyl-BAPN induced characteristic BAPN toxicity symptoms while 2 other acyl derivatives, N-pantoyl-BAPN and N-glutaryl-BAPN, did not. Furazolidone and Parnate sulfate, when fed together with BAPN, markedly enhanced the toxicity symptoms induced by BAPN. Additions of 3% L-lysine monohydrochloride, 3% L-cystine, or 2% taurine also potentiated BAPN toxicity in young turkeys.
On the presence and organization of open reading frames of the nonmotile pathogen Brucella abortus similar to class II, III, and IV flagellar genes and to LcrD virulence superfamily.

Brucellae are pathogenic, nonmotile bacteria that are facultative intracellular parasites. Little is known about the genetics of these bacteria. Open reading frames from Brucella abortus with similarity to the flagellili, M-ring, and hook of related bacteria were discovered. The open reading frames encode proteins of three of the four flagellum gene classes, namely II, III, and IV. A homolog of the LcrD virulence superfamily was also found. This superfamily is involved in type III protein secretion. B. abortus has the potential for motility and type III secretion.
A Simple Method of Generating Complex DNA Profiles Utilizing Alu-based Markers with Applications in Forensics, Paternity, Genetic Mapping, Population Studies and Ancestry

As DNA profiling systems become more complex, advancements to a relatively simple technique are presented that promote greater accessibility and usefulness for a variety of applications. In contrast, other simple tools commonly used to teach students about forensics and human populations have notable drawbacks. Two Alutetraplex systems, utilizing four Alu presence/absence variants in a single reaction were therefore developed to provide a simple methodology to generate complex profiles. A third Alutetraplex system is presented, escalating the number of possible genotypes to 531,441, with all alleles of the 12 dimorphic markers being relatively common. Reproducible results were attained even with the use of crude DNA preparations stored frozen for several years with multiple freeze thaws. The incorporation of GelRed DNA stain instead of the highly toxic ethidium bromide promotes greater accessibility, particularly in a classroom setting. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of this profiling system as a simple but informative methodology to analyze paternity, genetic mapping of human traits, and provides data to illustrate its potential in assessing ancestry or geographic origins of an individual.
Some aspects of the natural history and treatment of chronic glomerulonephritis.

Inapparent streptococcal infection may be complicated by equally inapparent (latent) glomerulonephritis which leads eventually to active chronic glomerulonephritis. Photomicrographs are presented illustrating the progression, in one year, from latent glomerulonephritis related to type 12 streptococci to an early nephrotic state with hypertension. The discouraging outlook of nephrotic glomerulonephritis in adults forces the consideration of heroic therapy with massive doses of corticosteroids, but it is not yet established whether or not such therapy is justified in latent chronic glomerulonephritis without the nephrotic state.
College of pharmacy-teaching hospital relationships: building strength

Perhaps the most important factor to focus on is that organizations work because of the people in them; also, they don't work because of the people in them. Perhaps some people in some of our organizations need changing. Hospitals and colleges face similar issues that need to be worked on together. The philosophy of collaboration needs adopting because competition will not provide the success desired by the college or the hospital. Without a strong commitment on the part of decision makers, time and effort will be wasted. There must be an active process. It can't be talked about only once a year. There should also be an ongoing, active process at the national level. We must build on our mutual needs. We must use positive approaches rather than developing more negative arguments. The key to success is to concentrate more heavily on communications, visibility, and accountability. F. Scott Fitzgerald put it this way: The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. We have three ideas that at times are in opposition. Service, education, and research can be integrated by applying the intelligence found in every teaching hospital and college of pharmacy.
Isolation of Plant DNA for Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis

A prerequisite for physical mapping by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) is the saturation of a given genome or chromosomal region with single copy markers. One possible way to achieve this goal is by construction of a saturated restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) map. Although RFLP maps are now available for many plant species, only a few systems provide the high density of markers (at least one marker every 1000 kb) required for long-range physical mapping using PFGE. At present, only four plant systems, Arubidofm (1,2), tomato (3), potato (4,5), and rice (6), have a sufftcient density of markers. These species are characterized by relatively small genomes when compared to other plants, with an average distance between individual RFLP markers of 400-800 kb. PFGE in combination with the digestion of DNA, using rare-cutting restriction enzymes, is able to bridge these gaps, and will allow the construction of long-range physical maps for regions of these plant genomes (7). PFGE has already been used in a number of species to construct long-range restriction maps of a number of gene families and repeated DNA sequences (8-12).
How have global financial institutions responded to the challenges of the post-crisis era?

ABSTRACTThe study examines the largely unexplored effect of changes in the competitive landscape for large, global financial institutions on their ability to take risks, as well as deploy capital and labour in an efficient manner based on a novel measure of inefficiency. The analysis shows during 2001–2013 that inefficiency peaked during the 2008 crisis period and has fallen back to levels close to pre-crisis periods. The model also performs well in out-of-sample forecasts of the financial firms’ future market values. These results suggest that large financial firms have been adjusting to the ‘new normal’ of the post-crisis period and thus are able to use capital and labour more efficiently within the constraints of current market conditions. In addition, a non-linear pattern between inefficiency and a firm’s asset size suggests that there might be an optimal scale for such firms in the $450–650 billion range.
Humeral Shaft Fractures

Humeral shaft fractures are common in elderly osteoporotic patients with low-energy injuries or young patients with high-energy injuries. Fractures of the humerus account for 3–5% of all fractures. Most may be treated with splints and bracing, but open fractures, vascular injuries, and associated brachial plexus injuries do better with operative treatment. Outcomes are similar with plating versus IM nails, but nailing has a higher incidence of shoulder pain and nerve injury. The radial nerve is at increased risk with oblique distal humeral fractures but is usually neuropraxias.
Long-term use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors protects against bone loss in African-American elderly men

Greater bone mineral density was observed after treating hypertension using angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi). We report decreased rate of bone loss in hypertensive black men using ACEi for 9 years. There may be a gender- and race-specific effect of ACEi in the prevention of age-associated bone loss. There is evidence of bone mass preservation in patients receiving ACEis, commonly used to treat hypertension. However, limitations of previous studies include being cross-sectional or only including a short-term follow-up of patients using ACEi and including patients with diabetes, which affects bone metabolism. None of the previous studies described effects of ACEi stratified by race. The objective of this study was to investigate differences in changes in bone mineral density (BMD) in older adults who suffer from hypertension and had reported ACEi use during each study visit for at least 9 years during the study, stratified by gender and race. We used data from the Dynamics of Health, Aging and Body Composition (HABC) study, which enrolled 3075 community-dwelling older white and black individuals. We compared changes in femoral neck, total hip, and whole-body BMD after either no use of ACEi (n = 580) or long-term use (at least 9 years) of ACEi (n = 239) in HABC participants with hypertension and no known diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. Overall, BMD values significantly decreased for all subgroups over time. In the stratified multivariate analysis, long-term use of ACEi was associated with a reduced rate of decline for all three BMD measures among black men, but no significant effect was observed in the other subgroups. Our findings show a gender- and race-specific effect of ACEi in the prevention of age-associated bone loss that warrants further evaluation.
Reducing Toxic Chemical Pollution in Response to Multiple Information Signals: The 33/50 Voluntary Program and Toxicity Disclosures

Abstract We study firms' responses to two US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) information-based interventions. First, the EPA disclosed toxicity information on the chemicals listed in the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Second, it grouped 17 of the TRI chemicals in the 33/50 voluntary program and challenged firms participating in this program to aggressively reduce their aggregate emissions. Firms therefore faced “twin” signals: focus on the most toxic chemicals, and focus on 33/50 targeted chemicals. We use a novel set of instruments to estimate the causal effects of these twin signals on chemical releases of U.S. manufacturing firms during the life of the 33/50 program (1991–1995), and after the program ended (1996–2013). We examine both “raw” emissions (in pounds) and “weighted” emissions (weighted by toxicity scores) of both 33/50-targeted and non-targeted chemicals. We find that 33/50 program participants reduced weighted emissions of 33/50-targeted chemicals only, with no effects on “raw” emissions or non-targeted chemicals. We also find that these reductions persisted after the program ended in 1995. These results suggest that firms are not unconditional greenwashers or environmental stewards. Rather, firms strategically invest resources to pursue environmental stewardship while taking into account multiple signals from their key stakeholders such as the EPA.
GuideMe: Routes coordination of participating agents in mobile crowd sensing platforms

With the recent trend in Mobile Crowd Sensing (MCS), i.e., using the power of crowds to assist in completing spatio-temporal sensory tasks, the pool of resources suitable for sensor systems has expanded to include already roaming devices. In this work, we present a model of MCS, in which agents share their journey information and allow the platform to guide them through their journey, completing spatio-temporal tasks on their way, in return for monetary rewards. In this paper, we formulate the task allocation problem as a routes coordination problem for participating agents. We define an optimal routing algorithm for a single agent, with an objective to maximize the rewards collected from performing tasks, which is used to define a 1/2-approximation algorithm to coordinate the routes of multiple agents. The algorithm is accompanied with an incentive compatible, rational, and cash-positive payment mechanism, which guarantees that an agent's truthful participation is an ex-post Nash equilibrium strategy, in an optimal setting. Finally, we analyze the defined mechanisms theoretically, and evaluate their performance experimentally using real mobility traces from urban environments.
Association of Health Insurance Status and Vaccination Coverage among Adolescents 13-17 Years of Age.

Objective To assess selected vaccination coverage among adolescents by health insurance status and other access-to-care characteristics. Study design The 2015 National Immunization Survey-Teen data were used to assess vaccination coverage disparities among adolescents by health insurance status and other access-to-care variables. Multivariable logistic regression analysis and a predictive marginal modeling were conducted to evaluate associations between health insurance status and vaccination coverage. Results Overall, vaccination coverage was significantly lower among uninsured compared with insured adolescents for all vaccines assessed for except ≥3 doses of human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) among male adolescents. Among adolescents 13-17 years of age, vaccination of uninsured compared with insured adolescents, respectively, for tetanus toxoid, reduced content diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis vaccine was 77.4% vs 86.8%; for ≥1 dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine was 72.9% vs 81.7%; for ≥1 dose of HPV was 38.8% vs 50.2% among male and 42.9% vs 63.8% among female adolescents; for 3 doses of HPV was 24.9% vs 42.8% among female adolescents. In addition, vaccination coverage differed by the following: type of insurance among insured adolescents, having a well-child visit at 11-12 years of age, and number of healthcare provider contacts in the past year. Uninsured were less likely than insured adolescents to be vaccinated for HPV (female: ≥1 dose and 3 doses; and male: ≥1 doses) after adjusting for confounding variables. Conclusions Overall, vaccination coverage was lower among uninsured adolescents. HPV vaccination coverage was lower than tetanus toxoid, reduced content diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis vaccine Tdap and meningococcal conjugate vaccine in both insured and uninsured adolescents. Wider implementation of effective evidence-based strategies is needed to help improve vaccination coverage among adolescents, particularly for those who are uninsured. Limitation of current federally funded vaccination programs or access to healthcare would be expected to erode vaccine coverage of adolescents.
Adverse childhood experiences, religious/spiritual struggles, and mental health symptoms: examination of mediation models

ABSTRACTEmerging research has documented greater risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among young adults with prior adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Building upon prior...
Spatial Data Warehouse and Spatial OLAP in Indoor/Outdoor Cultural Environments

This work was carried out in a working research project funded by the Ministry of Economic Development; the name of project is MUS&O. This activity involved the design and development of a Spatial Data Warehous and Spatial OLAP prototype. The completed project shows how it is possible to provide the user with a complete analysis tool. The aim of the prototype is to show on innovative instruments (smartphone or tablet), the localization of environments and cultural sites together with the specific information of the cultural element, near which the user is located. The aim was to create a database containing more information, and at the same time more detailed information about the cultural heritage that the visitor intends to explore. The design and implementation of the software application for both the SOLAP cube and the OLAP cube provides the visitor user with a support tool for the analysis of heterogeneous data and sources.
Dynamics of Martensitic Interfaces

The basic dynamic behavior of martensitic interfaces has been analyzed within the framework of lattice dislocation dynamics. Two limiting cases of the martensitic interface structure have been considered: (a) the case when the interface can be appropriately described in terms of an array of non-interacting (well-spaced) interfacial dislocations and; (b) the case when the interfacial dislocations are so closely spaced that the interface can be approximated by a continuous distribution of dislocations. In the first case, it was demonstrated that, after the inclusion of a "chemical" driving force in the equation of motion, the dynamics of lattice dislocations can be directly applied to analyze the interfacial dynamics. In the second case, on the other hand, while the lattice dislocation dynamics is still quite relevant, several parameters in the equation of motion have to be redefined to reflect the fact that the interface now acts as a planar defect. For both of the cases of interfacial dislocation structure, we have analyzed the two basic modes of interfacial motion: (a) the continuous mode in which the motion is controlled by various energy-dissipative processes (e.g., phonon and electron drag) and; (b) the discontinuous or jerky mode in which the motion is controlled by the thermal activation of the interface/obstacle interactions.
Cone monochromacy: a case report

Spectral sensitivities and results of clinical colour tests were obtained for a 28-year-old male who exhibited a complete absence of colour perception, normal visual acuity, no nystagmus and no photophobia. Increment-threshold spectral sensitivities showed multiple peaks, suggesting the presence of more than one photopigment in the middle to long wavelength region. The absolute values of the increment-threshold spectral sensitivities were lower than those in individuals with normal colour vision, with a marked sensitivity loss at short wavelengths, suggesting reduced or complete absence of the short wavelength sensitive cones. Spectral sensitivity to rapid flicker (25 Hz) was spectrally broad, indicating the presence of more than one cone type in the middle and long wavelengths, but again with reduced sensitivity.
Reduced carbon use efficiency and increased microbial turnover with soil warming

Global soil carbon (C) stocks are expected to decline with warming, and changes in microbial processes are key to this projection. However, warming responses of critical microbial parameters such as carbon use efficiency (CUE) and biomass turnover (rB) are not well understood. Here, we determine these parameters using a probabilistic inversion approach that integrates a microbial-enzyme model with 22 years of carbon cycling measurements at Harvard Forest. We find that increasing temperature reduces CUE but increases rB, and that two decades of soil warming increases the temperature sensitivities of CUE and rB. These temperature sensitivities, which are derived from decades-long field observations, contrast with values obtained from short-term laboratory experiments. We also show that long-term soil C flux and pool changes in response to warming are more dependent on the temperature sensitivity of CUE than that of rB. Using the inversion-derived parameters, we project that chronic soil warming at Harvard Forest over six decades will result in soil C gain of <1.0% on average (1st and 3rd quartiles: 3.0% loss and 10.5% gain) in the surface mineral horizon. Our results demonstrate that estimates of temperature sensitivity of microbial CUE and rB can be obtained and evaluated rigorously by integrating multidecadal datasets. This approach can potentially be applied in broader spatiotemporal scales to improve long-term projections of soil C feedbacks to climate warming.
Knowledge of Legal Protections and Employment-Related Resources Among Young Adults with Cancer

Purpose: Young adults (aged 18–39 years) who have received a cancer diagnosis can encounter significant barriers in their transition to employment. American young adults' familiarity with federal l...
Risk attitudes affect livestock biosecurity decisions with ramifications for disease control in a simulated production system

Hog producers’ operational decisions can be informed by an awareness of risks associated with emergent and endemic diseases. Outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) have been re-occurring every year since the first onset in 2013 with substantial losses across the hog production supply chain. Interestingly, a decreasing trend in PEDv incidence is visible. We assert that changes in human behaviors may underlie this trend. Disease prevention using biosecurity practices is used to minimize risk of infection but its efficacy is conditional on human behavior and risk attitude. Standard epidemiological models bring important insights into disease dynamics but have limited predictive ability. Since research shows that human behavior plays a driving role in the disease spread process, the explicit inclusion of human behavior into models adds an important dimension to understanding disease spread. Here we analyze PEDv incidence emerging from an agent-based model (ABM) that uses both epidemiological dynamics and algorithms that incorporate heterogeneous human decisions. We investigate the effects of shifting fractions of hog producers between risk tolerant and risk averse positions. These shifts affect the dynamics describing willingness to increase biosecurity as a response to disease threats and, indirectly, change infection probabilities and the resultant intensity and impact of the disease outbreak. Our ABM generates empirically verifiable patterns of PEDv transmission. Scenario results show that relatively small shifts (10% of the producer agents) towards a risk averse position can lead to a significant decrease in total incidence. For significantly steeper decreases in disease incidence, the model’s hog producer population needed at least 37.5% of risk averse. Our study provides insight into the link between risk attitude, decisions related to biosecurity and consequent spread of disease within a livestock production system. We suggest that it is possible to create positive, lasting changes in animal health by nudging the population of livestock producers towards more risk averse behaviors. We make a case for integrating social and epidemiological aspects in disease spread models to test intervention strategies intended to improve biosecurity and animal health at the system scale.
A New Model for Studying the Dissemination of Myeloma Cells throughout the Bone Marrow Using Embryonic Zebrafish

Abstract Multiple myeloma develops from a pre-malignant clonal proliferation of plasma cells. The dissemination of myeloma cells throughout the bone marrow (BM) is an important early step in myeloma pathogenesis. Studies of myeloma cell homing in mouse models are not quantitative and cannot be used for functional genomics or drug screening. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a novel in vivo model to assess multiple myeloma (MM) cell homing, that takes advantage of the optical clarity of zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos. We performed intra-cardiac (i.c.) injection of GFP+MM.1S cells into zebrafish embryos 48 hpf, and assessed the ability of the injected cells to enter the peripheral circulation and then traced their homing to the trunk region of zebrafish embryos, an area referred as the caudal hematopoietic tissue (CHT), by using intra-vital confocal microscopy. We next injected primary CD138+ cells derived from MM patient BM that had been stained with either DiO or DiD and demonstrated that they also homed to CHT. As a control, we injected DiO-labeled CD41-GFPlow zebrafish hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that are known to home to the CHT hematopoietic niche; and observed that zebrafish-derived CD41-HSCs homed to the same area as MM cells. We next analyzed changes in the transcriptome of those MM cells that homed to the CHT-niche. We dissected the zebrafish embryos to separate the CHT from other tissue containing non-adherent MM cells and performed whole human exome enrichment prior to sequencing of total RNA. We had an alignment rate of 10-15%, with a high intragenic rate an exonic rate (> 95%) and a low mismatch rate (~0.5%). RNAseq revealed that the MM cells that homed to the CHT were enriched in transcripts important for cytokine/chemokine mediated signaling, the IL-6 signalling pathway, cell-cell adhesion and angiogenesis (FDR These findings demonstrate that zebrafish can be used to study the homing of human myeloma cells to a hematopoietic niche. The rapidity of homing to CHT, which occurs within seconds of cell injection, suggests that a fraction of the CD138+ harvested from patient bone marrow already express those RNA transcripts and proteins needed for stable adhesion and residence in CHT. This hypothesis is confirmed by the RNA seq and qRT-PCR studies which directly demonstrate increased expression of relevant transcripts in adherent cells. This zebrafish model may provide new insights into the pathogenesis of MM and may be useful as a means to screen for agents which can disrupt homing and dissemination of MM cells. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Feasibility of Using Woodchip Bioreactors to Treat Legacy Nitrogen to Meet Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Goals.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has established aggressive nutrient reduction goals to achieve water quality objectives for the Chesapeake Bay estuary. Nitrogen (N) reduction goals are proving particularly difficult to meet with an additional 20.4 million kg of annual nitrogen reductions needed by 2025, and many of the easily achievable and low-cost N reductions have been realized. We assess the feasibility of employing woodchip denitrifying bioreactors to treat legacy N derived from spring discharge in the Mid-Atlantic region. We estimate that in excess of 6100 kg of soluble N is discharged daily from United States Geological Survey identified springs in four Mid-Atlantic states within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Based on typical bioreactor removal efficiency (30–55%) and potentially treatable flows (<6000 m3/d), widespread adoption of bioreactors to treat legacy N from 231 springs could conservatively result in 420–770 kg N removed per day, while strategic adoption targeting 48 sprin...
Lament: An Interactive Cabaret Song

Lament is an interactive cabaret song in which skeletal upper body motion capture of the vocalist drives musical outcomes. The cabaret context in part drives the musical content of the work, which draws from popular, experimental, and minimalist musical traditions. The performer movements are influenced by both flamenco and Argentine tango dance technique, but are representative of neither. While some melodic and harmonic content is fixed, the system employs machine learning techniques to generate melodies in real-time. Other harmonic and melodic content is determined by the relationship between one part of the performer's body and another.
Impact of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors and methotrexate on diabetes mellitus among patients with inflammatory arthritis.

To determine whether initiation of a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) or methotrexate improves hemoglobin A1c in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), or ankylosing spondylitis (AS) who also have diabetes mellitus (DM). A retrospective cohort study was conducted in Optum’s de-identified Clinformatics® Data Mart Database, an administrative claims database, using data from 2000 to 2014. Patients with PsA, RA, or AS, with DM (defined by ICD-9-CM codes) and/or HbA1c ≥7%, who newly initiated either a TNFi, MTX, or metformin (positive control) were identified. The change in HbA1c after drug initiation was calculated. Statistical differences in the change in HbA1c between drugs were assessed using the Wilcoxon rank sum test and linear regression models adjusting for potential confounders. Among 10,389 drug initiations in 9541 patients with PsA, RA, or AS, and available HbA1c values, HbA1c was ≥7 at baseline in 254 (35%) TNFi initiations, 361(37%) MTX initiations, and 2144 (50%) metformin initiations. Median HbA1c change was − 0.35 (IQR -1.10, 0.30) after TNFi initiation, − 0.40 (IQR -1.20, 0.30) after MTX initiation, and − 0.80 (IQR -1.60, − 0.10) after metformin initiation. In adjusted analyses, TNFi initiators had less of a decrease in HbA1c compared to MTX initiators (β 0.22, 95% CI: 0.004, 0.43), p = 0.046. Metformin initiators had a significantly greater decrease in HbA1c than MTX, β − 0.38 (95% CI: − 0.52, − 0.23), p < 0.001. Glucocorticoid use was not accounted for in the models. HbA1c decreased with TNFi initiation or MTX initiation. Reductions in HbA1c after initiation of a TNFi or MTX are about half (~ 0.4 units) the decrease observed after initiation of metformin.
Successive Projection for Solving Systems of Nonlinear Equations/Inequalities.

Solving large-scale systems of nonlinear equations/inequalities is a fundamental problem in computing and optimization. In this paper, we propose a generic successive projection (SP) framework for this problem. The SP sequentially projects the current iterate onto the constraint set corresponding to each nonlinear (in)equality. It extends von Neumann's alternating projection for finding a point in the intersection of two linear subspaces, Bregman's method for finding a common point of convex sets and the Kaczmarz method for solving systems of linear equations to the more general case of multiple nonlinear and nonconvex sets. The existing convergence analyses on randomized Kaczmarz are merely applicable to linear case. There are no theoretical convergence results of the SP for solving nonlinear equations. This paper presents the first proof that the SP locally converges to a solution of nonlinear equations/inequalities at a linear rate. Our work establishes the convergence theory of the SP for the case of multiple nonlinear and nonconvex sets. Besides cyclic and randomized projections, we devise two new greedy projection approaches that significantly accelerate the convergence. Furthermore, the theoretical bounds of the convergence rates are derived. We reveal that the convergence rates are related to the Hoffman constants of the Jacobian matrix of the nonlinear functions at the solution. Applying the SP to solve the graph realization problem, which attracts much attention in theoretical computer science, is discussed.
Restoration of deficient DNA Repair Genes Mitigates Genome Instability and Increases Productivity of Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells

Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells are the primary host used for manufacturing of therapeutic proteins. However, production instability of high-titer cell lines is a major problem and is associated with genome instability, as chromosomal aberrations reduce transgene copy number and decrease protein titer. We analyzed whole-genome sequencing data from 11 CHO cell lines and found deleterious single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in DNA repair genes. Comparison with other mammalian cells confirmed DNA repair is compromised in CHO. Restoration of key DNA repair genes by SNP reversal or expression of intact cDNAs improved DNA repair and genome stability. Moreover, the restoration of LIG4 and XRCC6 in a CHO cell line expressing secreted alkaline phosphatase mitigated transgene copy loss and improved protein titer retention. These results show for the first time that correction of key DNA repair genes yields considerable improvements in stability and protein expression in CHO, and provide new opportunities for cell line development and a more efficient and sustainable production of therapeutic proteins.
A Novel Mixed Methods Approach Combining Geospatial Mapping and Qualitative Inquiry to Identify Multilevel Policy Targets: The Focused Rapid Assessment Process (fRAP) Applied to Cancer Survivorship:

Multilevel perspectives across communities, medical systems and policy environments are needed, but few methods are available for health services researchers with limited resources. We developed a ...
Tolerance of face coverings for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Healthcare professionals and government officials have advised the use of personal protective equipment, such as face masks and face shields, to assist with limiting the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). Due to the prevalence of challenging behavior associated with other medical routines, the present study evaluated a treatment package composed of graduated exposure, prompts, reinforcement, and escape extinction on tolerance of wearing a face covering for up to 5 min for 12 children with ASD in a systematic replication of Cox et al. (2017) and Sivaraman et al. (2020). We also extended previous research by measuring generalization of face covering type (i.e., face shield) and the efficacy of a treatment extension for tolerating a face covering for up to 15 min during the participants' trial-based instruction and play periods.
Incidence of essential hypertension but not echocardiographic abnormalities at four years with a history of preeclampsia with severe features.

Abstract Introduction Women with preeclampsia are more likely to have abnormal echocardiographic parameters at the time of diagnosis and are more likely to have hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases (CVD) later in life. Screening for future CVD in preeclamptic women would assist in appropriately risk stratifying and identifying high risk women for preventive management; however, the timing of screening and the screening factors are unknown. Objective The objectives of this project are to 1) assess incidence of essential hypertension 4 years after pregnancy in preeclampsia with severe features (PEC) 2) identify predictive echocardiographic variables at the time of PEC diagnosis and 3) assess the rate of echocardiographic abnormalities 4 years after developing PEC. Study Design This is a prospective longitudinal study observing the incidence of essential hypertension in women within 4 years of a pregnancy complicated by PEC. We further looked at echocardiographic variables at the time of PEC diagnosis and at 4 years after PEC pregnancy in women with and without subsequent incident essential hypertension. The primary outcome measure is the incidence of essential hypertension within 4 years of PEC pregnancy, defined as a systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure ≥ 80 mmHg. Secondary imaging outcomes include the persistence of abnormal echocardiographic parameters. Clinical secondary outcomes are new diagnoses of severe CVD, including coronary artery disease, stroke, arrhythmia, heart failure, or inpatient hospital admission for CVD. Results Of the 33 enrolled women with PEC, 48% (16/33) developed incident essential hypertension within 4 years of delivery. These women had thicker left ventricular posterior walls on their initial antenatal echocardiogram when compared to the 52% (17/33) who did not develop hypertension (1.0 cm [0.9–1.1 cm] vs 0.9 cm [0.7–0.9 cm]. p Conclusion Women who develop PEC have a high incidence of essential hypertension within 4 years of delivery. The group who develops essential hypertension are more likely to have evidence of adverse cardiac remodeling at the time of PEC diagnosis; however, neither group have cardiac echocardiographic abnormalities 4 years postpartum. Because this is a small study, larger long-term cohort studies are needed to confirm these echocardiographic and clinical findings.
Saving Our Environment from Washington: How Congress Grabs Power, Shirks Responsibility, and Shortchanges the People

Congress empowered the Environmental Protection Agency on the theory that only a national agency that is insulated from accountability to voters could produce the scientifically-grounded pollution rules needed to save a careless public from its own filth. In this provocative book, David Schoenbrod explains how his experience as an environmental advocate brought him to this startling realization: letting EPA dictate to the nation is a mistake. Through a series of gripping and illuminating anecdotes from his own career, the author reveals the EPA to be an agency that, under Democrats and Republicans alike, delays good rules, imposes bad ones, and is so big, muscle-bound, and remote that it does unnecessary damage to our society. EPA stays in power, he says, because it enables elected legislators to evade responsibility by hiding behind appointed bureaucrats. The best environmental rules, those that have done the most good, have come when Congress had to take responsibility or from states and localities rather than the EPA. "Schoenbrod succeeds admirably in presenting a provocative analysis of the contemporary state of environmental law and policy. He makes a strong challenge to conventional wisdom." Richard B. Stewart, School of Law, Center on Environment and Land Use Law, New York University "This engaging book brings environmental policy analysis alive with personal experiences pithy examples, and human interest stories. It challenges blithe acceptance of the status quo." Terry L. Anderson, executive director, PERC, and senior fellow, Hoover Institution
Experiments on an Election Algorithm for Decision Element Failures in 4D Future Internet Architecture

A novel 4D architecture has been presented in [1], [3] for the future Internet, advocating a decomposition of network control functions into three distinct planes: decision, dissemination, and discovery, along with a streamlined data plane, to achieve more predictable network performance. An underlying concern with the 4D architecture is that the decision making is centralized at a single entity called Decision Element (DE), whose failure may disrupt the whole network [2]. A simple approach has been proposed to increase the reliability of the system by attaching a few hot stand-by DEs to the network. These hot stand-by DEs collect information from other network elements and perform computation in the same manner as the master DE. In this work, we have created a set of experiments to verify the performance of the election algorithm based on the prototype of the 4D architecture, and experimentally evaluate the re-convergence time required for the election algorithm after a failure of the master DE.
Hyperparathyroidism in Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia

Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) describes a group of syndromes characterized by neoplasms in two or more endocrine organs. Neoplasms can be benign, malignant, and in some cases nonsecretory. To date there are seven MEN syndromes, which includes MEN 1, MEN 2, MEN 4, Carney Complex, McCune–Albright syndrome, Von Hippel–Lindau disease, and neurofibromatosis type 1. This chapter focuses on those syndromes in which primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) has been described: MEN 1, MEN 2, and MEN 4 [1]. MEN 1 and MEN 2 are neoplastic syndromes which demonstrate an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. Due to the unique expression, evaluation, and management of PHPT and the associated endocrine neoplasms in these hereditary syndromes, special discussion on these disorders is deserved.
African-American Urban Clergy's Literacy of Alzheimer's Disease

The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine urban African-American clergy's awareness of Alzheimer's disease and willingness to provide support to elders and their family/caregivers. Interviews were conducted with nine African-American clergy who presided over churches in central Kentucky. Collectively, all clergy had previous experience providing pastoral care to adults with Alzheimer's disease and were literate regarding its treatment. Study findings also revealed clergy were inclined to partner with their internal “health care” ministries and/or members with specialized knowledge of mental health services in an effort to provide education and emotional support to congregants in need. These findings have implications for social workers building collaborative community treatment relationships.
Surface properties of zwitterionic surfactants: III. Effect of halide ions on properties of a betaine and its interaction with cationic surfactants

Abstract The effects of halide ions on the surface properties of N -dodecyl- N -benzyl- N -methylglycine (C 12 BMG) and on the interaction of C 12 BMG with cationic surfactants are described. The addition of HCl decreases the surface activity of C 12 BMG, while the addition of halide ion at constant pH increases it in the order Cl − − . The observed effect of halide ions is similar to their effect on cationic surfactants and is explained as the result of: (1) displacement of the C 12 BMG-C 12 BMGH + equilibrium in a forward direction and (2) compression of the electrical double layer. Instructions between the two surfactants in aqueous C 12 BMG-cationic mixtures in the presence of halide ions, measured by β σ and β M , the molecular interaction parameters for mixed monolayer and mixed micelle formation, respectively, show two effects that are opposite to that observed in C 12 BMG-nonionic mixtures: (1) an increase in interaction in the presence of 0.1 N sodium halide and (2) greater interaction in the presence of Br − than Cl − . These effects are believed to be due to increased lateral interactions as a result of closer packing of the surfactant molecules at the interface.
Toward simulating realistic pursuit-evasion using a roadmap-based approach

In this work, we describe an approach for modeling and simulating group behaviors for pursuit-evasion that uses a graph-based representation of the environment and integrates multi-agent simulation with roadmap-based path planning. We demonstrate the utility of this approach for a variety of scenarios including pursuit-evasion on terrains, in multi-level buildings, and in crowds.
Rates of straying by hatchery-produced Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) differ among species, life history types, and populations

Here we ask whether straying differs among species, life history types, and populations of adult hatchery-produced Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Columbia River basin. Previous estimates of straying have been confounded by various factors influencing the probability of individuals returning to non-natal sites (e.g., off-station releases), whereas analyses undertaken here of nearly a quarter million coded-wire tag recoveries control for these factors. Our results revealed large and generally consistent differences in the propensity to stray among species, life history types within species, and populations. Paired releases indicated that (i) Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) strayed more (mean population range 0.11%–34.6%) than coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) (0.08%–0.94%); (ii) ocean-type Chinook (5.2%–18.6%) strayed more than stream-type Chinook (0.11%–10%); and Chinook salmon (0.90%–54.9%) strayed more than steelhead (0.30%–2.3%). We conclude thes...
Venous thromboembolism in colorectal surgery: skip SCIP or comply?

The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) includes recommendations for mechanical and pharmacologic venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis after colorectal surgery. Compliance with these recommendations is publicly reported and included in current pay for performance plans. Presently, there is limited evidence to support compliance with these recommendations. To determine the incidence of venous thromboembolic events in colorectal surgery patients who did or did not receive the recommended pharmacologic prophylaxis. We performed a retrospective analysis of prospectively accrued data from a single-center, tertiary care, colorectal surgery department. The main outcome measure was the occurrence of venous thromboembolic events and the need for blood transfusion after surgery. Of 674 patients, 613(91 %) received the recommended pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis and 61 (9 %) did not. Diagnosis, patient variables, and type of surgery performed were similar in each group while operative time was increased in the compliant group (251 vs. 194 min, p < 0.05). In the compliant and noncompliant groups, the incidence of extremity deep venous thrombosis was 2.8 and 8.2 % (p = 0.04), the incidence of pulmonary embolus 1.1 and 3.3 % (p = 0.19), the incidence of portomesenteric venous thrombosis 2.6 and 4.9 % (p = 0.38), and the incidence of any VTE 5.4 and 13.1 % (p = 0.02), respectively. The use of perioperative red blood cell transfusions in the two groups was 9.1 and 14.8 %, p = 0.17. In the subgroup analysis of open cases, there were no statistical differences in the occurrence of any type or combination of VTE. Compliance with SCIP recommendations for pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis decreased the incidence of VTE after colorectal surgery with no increase in the use of perioperative transfusion. Colorectal surgeons who elect to skip these recommendations may jeopardize both the reputational score and financial reimbursement of their hospital and may put their patients at unnecessary risk for a preventable postoperative complication.
Auxin Inactivation Systems of Nemic Origin

Some fifteen plant-parasitic and fungal feeding nematodes obtained from field populations and greenhouse or laboratory cultures were investigated for their capacity to release auxins or auxin inactivating systems into their environment. Over half the nematode species tested did release a heat labile auxin inactivating system; none released detectable quantities of auxin.
The effects of verbal responses on the laboratory detection of deception.

Ss were given one of three different response tasks to perform in a detection of deception experiment using the galvanic skin response (GSR). The first group was told to say nothing as they heard each question, the second group to say “no” to each question, and the third group to make a word association to each question. Questions were presented in both a random order and a known sequential order. There were over-all differences among the three groups for both conditions of question presentation. The second group was most frequently detected, the first group next, and the third group was detected least frequently. Differences between experimental procedures used in this study and other studies using word association do not permit comparison of the results of this study with other studies.