cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
HIGH REPETITION JUMP TRAINING COUPLED WITH BODY WEIGHT SUPPORT IN A PATIENT WITH KNEE PAIN AND PRIOR HISTORY OF ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT RECONSTRUCTION: A CASE REPORT.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Patients frequently experience long-term deficits in functional activity following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, and commonly present with decreased confidence and poor weight acceptance in the surgical knee. Adaptation of neuromuscular behaviors may be possible through plyometric training. Body weight support decreases intensity of landing sufficiently to allow increased training repetition. The purpose of this case report is to report the outcomes of a subject with a previous history of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction treated with high repetition jump training coupled with body weight support (BWS) as a primary intervention strategy. CASE DESCRIPTION A 23-year old female, who had right ACL reconstruction seven years prior, presented with anterior knee pain and effusion following initiation of a running program. Following visual assessment of poor mechanics in single leg closed chain activities, landing mechanics were assessed using 3-D motion analysis of single leg landing off a 20 cm box. She then participated in an eight-week plyometric training program using a custom-designed body weight support system. The International Knee Documentation Committee Subjective Knee Form (IKDC) and the ACL-Return to Sport Index (ACL-RSI) were administered at the start and end of treatment as well as at follow-up testing. OUTCOMES The subject's IKDC and ACL-RSI scores increased with training from 68% and 43% to 90% and 84%, respectively, and were retained at follow-up testing. Peak knee and hip flexion angles during landing increased from 47 ° and 53 ° to 72 ° and 80 ° respectively. Vertical ground reaction forces in landing decreased with training from 3.8 N/kg to 3.2 N/kg. All changes were retained two months following completion of training. DISCUSSION The subject experienced meaningful changes in overall function. Retention of mechanical changes suggests that her new landing strategy had become a habitual pattern. Success with high volume plyometric training is possible when using BWS. Clinical investigation into the efficacy of body weight support as a training mechanism is needed. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level 4 - Case Report.
Diet and acne: an exploratory survey study of patient beliefs.

Background: In the past, medical literature reflected that diet was not a proven cause of acne. However, studies in recent years have substantiated a link between certain dietary factors and acne. It is unclear whether patients are aware of recent research findings.
The Future of Reproductive Rights in the Age of Human Rights

Chapter 6 of the book discusses future implications of the use of third-party strategy by the pro-life movement, and especially its framing after Hobby Lobby. Following Citizens United, the human rights discourse is expanded to include nonhuman entities, thus dehumanizing the concept. This strategy also challenges the concept of science, using scientific language and data in a way that is similar to the way the antienvironmentalist movement uses it in the debate over climate change. Following Obergefell v. Hodges, the religious freedom argument has been affecting legislation, especially regarding same-sex marriage and LGBTQ protections. Thus, it provides a possible answer to the tension between conservative and libertarians within the GOP, with policies designed to restrict rights to the LGBTQ population through limiting interference in religious liberty.
Synaptic transmission at the endbulb of Held deteriorates during age-related hearing loss.

Key points Synaptic transmission at the endbulb of Held was assessed by whole-cell patch clamp recordings from auditory neurons in mature (2-4 months) and aged (20-26 months) mice. Synaptic transmission is degraded in aged mice, which may contribute to the decline in neural processing of the central auditory system during age-related hearing loss. The changes in synaptic transmission in aged mice can be partially rescued by improving calcium buffering, or decreasing action potential-evoked calcium influx. These experiments suggest potential mechanisms, such as regulating intraterminal calcium, that could be manipulated to improve the fidelity of transmission at the aged endbulb of Held. Abstract Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is associated with changes to the auditory periphery that raise sensory thresholds and alter coding, and is accompanied by alterations in excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission, and intrinsic excitability in the circuits of the central auditory system. However, it remains unclear how synaptic transmission changes at the first central auditory synapses during ARHL. Using mature (2-4 months) and old (20-26 months) CBA/CaJ mice, we studied synaptic transmission at the endbulb of Held. Mature and old mice showed no difference in either spontaneous quantal synaptic transmission or low frequency evoked synaptic transmission at the endbulb of Held. However, when challenged with sustained high frequency stimulation, synapses in old mice exhibited increased asynchronous transmitter release and reduced synchronous release. This suggests that the transmission of temporally precise information is degraded at the endbulb during ARHL. Increasing intraterminal calcium buffering with EGTA-AM or decreasing calcium influx with ω-agatoxin IVA decreased the amount of asynchronous release and restored synchronous release in old mice. In addition, recovery from depression following high frequency trains was faster in old mice, but was restored to a normal time course by EGTA-AM treatment. These results suggest that intraterminal calcium in old endbulbs may rise to abnormally high levels during high rates of auditory nerve firing, or that calcium-dependent processes involved in release are altered with age. These observations suggest that ARHL is associated with a decrease in temporal precision of synaptic release at the first central auditory synapse, which may contribute to perceptual deficits in hearing.
The Effect of Career and Technical Education on Human Capital Accumulation: Causal Evidence from Massachusetts

Abstract Earlier work demonstrates that career and technical education (CTE) can provide long-term financial benefits to participants, yet few have explored potential academic impacts with none in the era of high-stakes accountability. In this paper I investigate the causal impact of participating in a specialized high school-based CTE delivery system on high-school persistence, completion, earning professional certifications, and standardized test scores with a focus on individuals from low-income families, a group that is overrepresented in CTE and high-school non-completers. Using administrative data from Massachusetts I combine OLS with a regression-discontinuity design that capitalizes on admissions data at three schools that are oversubscribed. All estimates suggest that participating in a high-quality CTE program boosts the probability of on-time graduation from high school by seven to ten percentage-points for higher income students and suggestively larger effects for their lower income peers, and...
The Abl Carboxyl Terminal Region Is Required for the Induction of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia by V-Abl but Not for the Induction of Myeloproliferative Disease by BCR/ABL or V-Abl.

The BCR/ABL oncogene, generated by the t(9;22)(q34;q11) chromosomal translocations known as the Philadelphia chromosome (Ph), is associated with virtually all human chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), and is also associated with 20% of the adult and 5% of the pediatric cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). v-Abl, the oncogene of the Abelson murine leukemia virus (A-MuLV) originally found to cause pre-B cell leukemia/lymphoma when introduced into newborn mice by intraperitoneal or intravenous injection, was created by a recombination event that fused viral gag sequences to c-abl sequences, deleting the Abl SH3 domain and accumulating point mutations in the process. Using a mouse bone marrow transduction and transplantation model, we have previously shown that expression of BCR/ABL in mouse bone marrow cells rapidly (in approximately 3 weeks) induced a myeloproliferative disease (MPD) resembling human CML, while v-Abl rapidly (in approximately 4 weeks) induced B-ALL along with a minor expansion of v-Abl-infected myeloid cells. It has long been shown that the Abl carboxyl terminal region is required for the lymphoid cell transformation by v-Abl both in vivo and in vitro. We decided to investigate the role of the Abl carboxyl terminal region in BCR/ABL- and v-Abl-leukemogenesis using the mouse bone marrow transduction and transplantation model. We found that the Abl carboxyl terminal region is required for v-Abl-induced B-ALL, as expected. But, interestingly, v-Abl without C-terminus (v-Abl/p160/ΔC) induced a MPD in mice, similar to that induced by BCR/ABL, with a relative long latency (approximately 3 months in average). On the other hand, BCR/ABLΔC still induced MPD efficiently, similar as wild type BCR/ABL. These results demonstrated the Abl carboxyl terminal region is required for the induction of acute lymphoblastic leukemia by v-Abl but not for the induction of MPD by BCR/ABL or v-Abl. The results also suggested that v-Abl has a capacity to induce MPD, albeit much weaker than that of BCR/ABL and much weaker than v-Abl’s capacity to induce B-ALL. The role of the ABL carboxyl terminal region in BCR/ABL-induced B-ALL and the mechanism by which the Abl carboxyl terminal region contributes to the lineage-specific transformation are under investigation. Such research will shed lights into the mechanism of lineage-specific leukemogenesis and help to identify therapeutic targets for lymphoid malignancies.
Review: Viollet-le-Duc: Les visions d’un architecte

Viollet-le-Duc: Les visions d’un architecte Cite de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, Palais de Chaillot, Paris 20 November 2014–9 March 2015 Organized to mark the bicentennial of Eugene Viollet-le-Duc’s birth as well as to showcase an important archival donation, Viollet-le-Duc: Les visions d’un architecte challenged received notions of the rationalist practitioner rooted in positivist thought and natural science. An enormous assembly of drawings, objects, personal writings, and ephemera returned Viollet to his romantic roots and centered his oeuvre on a lifelong series of hallucinatory visions. While reflective of a recent romantic turn in Viollet studies, the show failed to represent the full complexity of that scholarship. For instance, Martin Bressani’s Architecture and the Historical Imagination (2014) deploys a psychoanalytic reading of early personal loss to position Viollet within larger historical processes and events.1 Although this exhibition similarly delved into biography to reframe the prolific and polyvalent nature of Viollet’s practice, its consistent recourse to a reductive literary romanticism ultimately occluded his implication in the full breadth of nineteenth-century intellectual and social development. The exhibition best promoted the “visionary” in its treatment of Viollet’s decisive encounter with Prosper Merimee and his series of youthful voyages in pursuit of the sublime and folkloric. However, when presented beside his companions’ travel albums, the obsessive detail of Viollet’s drawings—whether focused on architecture, local costume, or geological formation—suggested a …
Studies at the ionizable position of cephalosporins and penicillins: hydroxamates as substitutes for the traditional carboxylate group.

Studies at the ionizable position of cephalosporins and penicillins: hydroxamates as substitutes for the traditional carboxylate group
Ion Channeling Revisited.

A MS Excel program has been written that calculates accidental, or unintentional, ion channeling in cubic bcc, fcc and diamond lattice crystals or polycrystalline materials. This becomes an important issue when simulating the creation by energetic neutrons of point displacement damage and extended defects using beams of ions. All of the tables and graphs in the three Ion Beam Analysis Handbooks that previously had to be manually looked up and read from were programed into Excel in handy lookup tables, or parameterized, for the case of the graphs, using rather simple exponential functions with different powers of the argument. The program then offers an extremely convenient way to calculate axial and planar half-angles and minimum yield or dechanneling probabilities, effects on half-angles of amorphous overlayers, accidental channeling probabilities for randomly oriented crystals or crystallites, and finally a way to automatically generate stereographic projections of axial and planar channeling half-angles. The program can generate these projections and calculate these probabilities for axes and [hkl] planes up to (555).
Questions Remain Regarding the Effectiveness of Many Commonly Used Autism Treatments

* Abbreviation: ASD — : autism spectrum disorder Parents of newly diagnosed children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are faced with a dizzying array of treatments that promise to improve their child’s autism symptoms, cognitive and language abilities, and health. Desperate to leave no stone unturned as they strive to help their child have the best possible future, many parents spend countless hours and large amounts of money on unproven therapies. Unfortunately, as the 2 systematic reviews published in this issue of Pediatrics describe, the scientific field has not done enough to provide definitive answers about the effectiveness of many commonly used treatments. The first article, by Sathe et al1 (“Nutritional and Dietary Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review”), provides a detailed review of studies on the effects of various supplements, including omega-3 fatty acids, digestive enzymes, methyl-B12, levocarnitine, and gluten- or casein-free diets. The results of the existing studies were mixed, with some studies finding positive results and others finding no benefit. The available studies are small and short-term, precluding any definitive answer about whether nutritional supplements or dietary therapies are helpful for children with ASD. This is unfortunate in light of the fact that special diets and dietary supplements are the most commonly used complementary and alternative treatment by children and adolescents … Address correspondence to Geraldine Dawson, PhD, 2608 Erwin Rd, Suite 300, Durham, NC 27705. E-mail: geraldine.dawson{at}duke.edu
Empowering trainees to promote professionalism.

SummaryBackground Unprofessional behaviour can interfere with patient care. Empowering trainees to address each other's unprofessional behaviour can help address a larger number of incidents that may not be witnessed by supervisors, as well as promote a culture of professionalism in a teaching programme. The goal of the study was to teach trainees to effectively address observed unprofessional behaviour and to assess the impact of this exercise on the percentage of cases directly addressed, reported or ignored 6–12 months after the initial training. Methods Eighty-four trainees participated in objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) cases designed to address a colleague's inappropriate behaviour. Baseline and follow-up surveys performed 6–12 months after the OSCE were completed detailing the number of incidents witnessed in colleagues and the method employed to address those incidents: personally address (with level of satisfaction), report or ignore. Results There was a significant increase in the number of unprofessional incidents identified after the OSCE (pre-OSCE, 1.12 per resident; post-OSCE, 1.69 per resident; t = 2.27, p = 0.029). Of the 72 incidents at baseline, 43 per cent were addressed directly and 43 per cent of those had a satisfactory resolution. Of the 71 incidents described 6–12 months later, 61 per cent were addressed directly and 79 per cent of those had a satisfactory resolution. Trainees were more likely to address rather than to report unprofessional behaviour χ2(2, 58) = 13, p = 0.001. Empowering trainees to address each other's unprofessional behaviour can help promote a culture of professionalism Discussion The intervention had a significant impact on the percentage of trainees that addressed any observed unprofessional behaviour, and the rate of satisfaction after doing so. It did not change the percentage of cases that were neither addressed nor reported.
Reconfigurable Metasurface Apertures for Computational Imaging

We present the concept of a reconfigurable metasurface aperture for volumetric microwave imaging. The aperture multiplexes scene information through a set of radiation patterns with low correlation, which are generated by a reconfigurable holographic aperture.
Health and well-being of middle age Indonesians: An application of seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) models

Abstract Objective This study used multiple indicators of health simultaneously to examine how the socio-demographic characteristics of an individual (age, gender, education, marital status, etc.) affect health and well-being in Indonesia. Methods The empirical work of this study is based on data from the 2007 Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS4). This study used seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) to examine how the socio-demographic characteristics of an individual (age, gender, education, marital status, etc.) affect health and well-being in Indonesia. Results Findings from the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) suggest that physical, cognitive, and mental health functioning problems co-occur more commonly than expected. Conclusion: Indonesian women, those with two or more comorbid conditions, smokers, those who are divorced or separated, and those with low education should be the main targets of policy interventions designed to reduce health inequality because they experience more barriers to health and socioeconomic well-being.
Planning for a sustainable desert city: The potential water buffering capacity of urban green infrastructure

Abstract Urban green infrastructure offers arid cities an attractive means of mitigation/adaptation to environmental challenges of elevated thermal stress, but imposes the requirement of outdoor irrigation that aggravates the stress of water resource management. Future development of cities is inevitably constrained by the limited availability of water resources, under challenges of emergent climate change and continuous population growth. This study used the Weather Research and Forecasting model with urban dynamics to assess the potential water buffering capacity of urban green infrastructure in arid environments and its implications for sustainable urban planning. The Phoenix metropolitan area, Arizona, United States, is adopted as a testbed with water-saving and fully-greening scenarios investigated. Modifications of the existing green infrastructure and irrigation practices are found to significantly influence the thermal environment of Phoenix. In particular, water saving by xeriscaping (0.77 ± 0.05 × 108 m3) allows the region to support 19.8% of the annual water consumption by the projected 2.62 million population growth by 2050, at a cost of an increase in urban ambient temperature of about 1 °C.
Playing with Quantum Toys: Julian Schwinger’s Measurement Algebra and the Material Culture of Quantum Mechanics Pedagogy at Harvard in the 1960s

In the early 1960s, a PhD student in physics, Costas Papaliolios, designed a simple—and playful—system of Polaroid polarizer filters with a specific goal in mind: explaining the core principles behind Julian Schwinger’s quantum mechanical measurement algebra, developed at Harvard in the late 1940s and based on the Stern-Gerlach experiment confirming the quantization of electron spin. Papaliolios dubbed his invention “quantum toys.” This article looks at the origins and function of this amusing pedagogical device, which landed half a century later in the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments at Harvard University. Rendering the abstract tangible was one of Papaliolios’s demonstration tactics in reforming basic teaching of quantum mechanics. This article contends that Papaliolios’s motivation in creating the quantum toys came from a renowned endeavor aimed, inter alia, at reforming high-school physics training in the United States: Harvard Project Physics. The pedagogical study of these quantum toys, finally, compels us to revisit the central role playful discovery performs in pedagogy, at all levels of training and in all fields of knowledge.
Accelerated tert-butyloxycarbonyl deprotection of amines in microdroplets produced by a pneumatic spray

Abstract Protection and deprotection of organic compounds in multistep reactions using functional groups such as tert-butoxycarbonyl (Boc), is widely performed in synthetic organic chemistry. Reaction rate acceleration studies in spray-based ionization methods (electrosonic spray, paper spray, nanospray) have become increasingly common. Here, we demonstrate reaction rate acceleration of Boc deprotection using easy ambient sonic-spray ionization (EASI), a pneumatic technique which does not involve an applied voltage, in a teaching laboratory setting. The goal of this laboratory exercise was to explore acceleration in a previously unexplored spray-based reaction, while emphasizing in a pedagogic setting the importance of protecting groups for multistep synthesis. Rate acceleration factors of more than an order of magnitude were observed in the uncharged micron-sized droplets generated by EASI. The effect of reaction conditions on reaction acceleration was examined including changes in the type of acid, reagent concentration ratios and syringe pump flow rates. Student knowledge was assessed by pre-laboratory assignments, post-laboratory reports and oral interviews.
Experimental Studies on the Role of Backfill and Pipeline Characteristics in the Application of Acoustic Leak Location to Underground Pipelines

In response to numerous releases of hazardous substances from leaks in underground storage tanks and pipelines, the EPA requires monitoring so that leaks are detected, located and repaired as quickly as possible. Acoustic leak location offers the possibility of locating leaks which have been identified by other methods but which are not appropriate for performing location. The successful application of acoustic leak location requires that existing data analysis approaches be improved so that the smallest leaks of interest be locatable with the widest possible sensor spacing. Part of developing such approaches requires that the physical conditions which affect the amplitude, frequency, and dispersion of the leak signal as it propagates between source and sensor be better understood.
Preparation and purification of ФX-RF component I

The replicative form (RF) of bacteriophage ΦX174 DNA is known to serve as a template for progeny phage DNA and phage specific mRNA. RF has two forms: RF component I (two closed DNA strands) and RF component II (one closed and one open strand). The isolation and purification of RF have been performed by several investigators.
Public Purpose Under Pressure: Examining the Effects of Neoliberal Public Policy on the Missions of Regional Comprehensive Universities

Neoliberal ideology that narrows higher education’s purpose to strengthening the economy is a threat to the civic engagement agenda and public purposes of U.S. higher education. Regional comprehensive universities (RCUs) are broad-access institutions founded to embody public purposes of student-centeredness, access, and civic and economic engagement. These institutions educate 20% of all college students, including large proportions of low-income, first-generation, minoritized, nontraditional, and veteran students. This article presents a qualitative case study of four RCUs grappling with their public purposes within a state policy and funding context shaped by neoliberal ideology. Despite administrators’ efforts, the universities abandoned aspects of their public purposes to address neoliberal demands from state policymakers. Given the important role these institutions play in expanding educational opportunity and strengthening regional civic life, these findings carry long-term implications for the future of community-engaged research, the civic education of students, and the public purposes of higher education.
Contributors to knee loading deficits during gait in individuals following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Abstract Background Altered gait mechanics following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLr) are commonly reported in the surgical limb 2–3 months post-surgery when normalization of gait is expected clinically. Specifically, deficits in knee extensor moment during loading response of gait are found to persist long-term; however, the mechanisms by which individuals reduce sagittal plane knee loading during gait are not well understood. Research question: This study investigated between limb asymmetries in knee flexion range of motion, shank angular velocity, and ground reaction forces to determine the strongest predictor of knee extensor moment asymmetries during gait. Methods Thirty individuals 108 ± 17 days post-ACLr performed walking gait at a self-selected speed and peak knee extensor moment, peak vertical and posterior ground reaction force, and peak anterior shank angular velocity were identified during loading response. Paired t-tests compared limbs; Pearson's correlations determined associations between variables in surgical and non-surgical limbs; and stepwise linear regression determined the best predictor of knee extensor moment asymmetries during gait. Results Reduced vertical and posterior ground reaction forces and shank angular velocity were strongly associated with reduced knee extensor moment in both limbs (r = 0.499-0.917, p Significance Modulation of kinetics and kinematics contribute to decreases in knee extensor moments during gait and provide direction for targeted interventions to restore gait mechanics.
Trends in Incidence of ACL Reconstruction and Concomitant Procedures Among Commercially Insured Individuals in the United States, 2002-2014:

Background:Few population-based descriptive studies on the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction and concomitant pathology exist.Hypothesis:Incidence of ACL reconstruction ha...
Using social-context matching to improve spatial function-transfer performance for cultural ecosystem service models

Abstract Recreational and aesthetic enjoyment of public lands is increasing across a wide range of activities, highlighting the need to assess and adapt management to accommodate these uses. Despite a growing number of studies on mapping cultural ecosystem services, most are local-scale assessments that rely on costly and time-consuming primary data collection. As a result, the availability of spatial information on non-market values associated with cultural ecosystem services (social values) remains limited. Spatial function transfer, if it could be justified for social-value models, would expedite the development of social-value information and promote its more regular inclusion in ecosystem service assessments. We used survey data from six national forests in Colorado and Wyoming to explore the potential for transferring cultural ecosystem service models between forests and specifically to test the hypothesis that transfer performance increases with social-context similarity between transferring and receiving areas. Results confirm this relationship but fall just short of being able to predict with certainty when transferred models will meet the minimum performance criterion needed for defensible use by managers. Our results suggest that with the right combination of indicators spatial function transfer can become a defensible means of generating social-value information when primary data collection is not feasible.
Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With Heart Failure.

What are the benefits and harms of catheter ablation versus drug therapy alone for patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure? This meta-analysis of 6 trials provides the answers.
Dendritic Cells Drive Osteosarcomagenesis through Newly Identified Oncogene and Tumor Suppressor

GRM4, a GWAS-suspected tumor suppressor, is tested in a mouse model of osteosarcomagenesis as well as the putative oncogene it suppresses, IL23. Both are expressed in and exert the bulk of their influence among tumor-infiltrating myeloid-derived antigen-presenting cells, rather than osteosarcoma cells.See related article by Kansara et al., p. 1511.
Junctional dilatation of the basilar tip: A Normal anatomical variant with a benign natural history.

Abstract Purpose The intracranial arterial vasculature has numerous anatomical variants, which vary from largely benign to having remarkable clinical implications. The significance of a lesser known variant described as a junctional dilatation of the basilar artery tip has not yet been described in the literature. Methods Retrospective query of radiology imaging reports was performed for vascular specific imaging of the head, which included descriptions related to the basilar junctional dilatation variant from 2005 to 2019 at a single institution. Imaging studies were individually scrutinized for true presence of the variant, and were assessed for any change in appearance over time. Primary data-points collected included length of time between imaging studies with stable appearance, intracranial aneurysm incidence, and frequency of hemorrhage associated with aneurysm rupture. Results Fifty patients with multiple vascular exams were found to have the typical appearance of the basilar junctional dilatation variant. The variant was found to be stable over time in all patients, without interval expansion or basilar tip aneurysm development. Interval follow-up ranged from 1 to 156 months, with a mean follow-up length of 3.83 years, and total patient-years of follow-up of 192. No adverse neurological events were found which could be attributed to the basilar junctional dilatation variant. Conclusion Junctional dilatation of the basilar artery tip is a benign, normal variant of the posterior intracranial arterial circulation. It is important for both radiologists and clinicians to recognize its characteristic appearance and benign nature, as misdiagnosis may lead to unnecessary work-up, imaging, and/or treatment.
Choice of library preparation and its effects on sequence quality, genome assembly, and precise in silico prediction of virulence genes in shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) provides essential public health information and is used worldwide for pathogen surveillance, epidemiology, and source tracking. The sequencing of foodborne pathogens is commonly performed with Illumina sequencing chemistry to obtain data with high accuracy. The choice of library preparation method for highly complex organisms is very critical and can affect the final data output. The majority of Illumina sequencing platforms use rapid library preparation such as Nextera XT (transposon-based technology) (Illumina San Diego, CA), but this preparation has the potential to miss randomly distributed segments of genomes that might be important for downstream analyses. The Illumina Nextera DNA Prep library preparation kit, the successor of Nextera XT, shows better overall coverage of the complete genome. This study compared the quality of sequence data generated using Nextera XT and Nextera DNA Prep kits for DNA library preparation on an Illumina MiSeq, using a set of 30 O121:H19 shiga-toxin positive Escherichia coli strains isolated from flour during a 2016 outbreak. The performance of the two kits were evaluated using several metrics including sequencing quality, assembly quality, uniformity of genome coverage, and virulence gene identification. Overall, the results showed that in all of the analysed metrics, the Nextera DNA Prep kit performed outstanding in comparison to Nextera XT. The Nextera DNA Prep kit allowed for comprehensive detection of all virulence genes, which is of extremely high importance for making an educated assessment of the virulence potential of Escherichia coli . This comprehensive side-by-side comparison will be of significance for those interested in improving their sequencing workflow for STECs and the determination of health risks using WGS data.
Impact of Tai Chi on global connectivity in geriatric depression

Introduction Depression is generally associated with dysconnectivity among brain regions. Mind-body interventions such as Tai Chi can improve stress, and thus, comprise a promising adjunct treatment to antidepressants. We tested the effect of twelve weekly Tai Chi lessons on global connectivity in older depressed adults (aged >60 years). Methods Forty older adults with major depressive disorder under concurrent antidepressant treatment were randomized to receive Tai Chi training (N=21; 17 women; age, 67.1±7.4 years) or health education (N=19; 15 women; age, 68.2±5.6 years), and completed baseline and 12-week follow-up resting state magnetic resonance imaging scans. Fine-grained parcellation of the brain into 718 cortical and subcortical parcels, with each parcel assigned to one of 12 major networks, was performed using the CAB-NP atlas. Pairwise correlations between parcel timeseries were computed, and the change in connectivity (post–pre) was submitted to general linear modeling, with correction for multiple comparisons (1000 permutations; false discovery rate) and adjustment for sex and age. Results There were few significant increases with health education (∼0.03% of ∼257K pairwise connections; post vs pre). In the Tai Chi group, connectivity changes mainly reflected increased connectivity (∼0.3% of all pairwise connections; post vs pre), with the increase in connectivity reaching significance in the comparison between groups (Tai Chi post-pre vs control post-pre) for 194 connections, which were highly concentrated (48/194; 25%) within the default mode network (DMN; Figure 1), followed by connections between DMN and frontoparietal network regions (12/194; 6%). Within-DMN connections that significantly increased with Tai Chi and showed a significant group difference in the increase in connectivity are shown in Figure 1. The 718 nodes of the CAB-NP atlas are shown in the figure, with regions assigned to the DMN in purple and regions assigned to other networks in blue. Conclusions Tai Chi as an adjunct to antidepressants is effective in reorganizing the brain toward greater global connectivity, especially affecting DMN connectivity, in older depressed adults. DMN within-network connectivity has been implicated in depression, mainly in terms of dysconnectivity, and connectivity between the DMN and a subsystem of the frontoparietal control network is thought to be involved in the regulation of introspective processes. Our previous study suggested that symptom improvement with combined pharmacological treatment is associated with increased connectivity of core DMN nodes. The present study further supports the importance of the DMN in depression, and suggests that non-pharmacological adjuncts can also enhance DMN functional reorganization in geriatric depression. Funding Sponsored by NIH grant AT008383 and National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) UCLA CTSI Grant Number UL1TR001881.
Multiracial Identity and Political Preferences

Increases in racial minority populations are profoundly reshaping the composition of the American electorate, and multiracial identifiers are one of the fastest growing groups. Yet little is known ...
Real-Time Activity Recognition With Instantaneous Characteristic Features of Thigh Kinematics

Current supervised learning or deep learning-based activity recognition classifiers can achieve high accuracy in recognizing locomotion activities. Most available techniques use a high-dimensional space of features, e.g., combinations of EMG, kinematics and kinetics, and transformations over those signals. The associated classification rules are therefore complex; the machine tries to understand the human, but the human does not understand the machine. This paper presents an activity recognition system that uses signals from a thigh-mounted IMU and a force sensitive resistor to classify transitions between sitting, walking, stair ascending, and stair descending. The system uses the thigh’s orientation and velocity with foot contact information at specific moments within a given activity as the features to classify transitions to other activities. We call these Instantaneous Characteristic Features (ICFs). Because these ICFs are biomechanically intuitive, they are easy for the user to understand and thus control the activity transitions of wearable robots. We assessed our classification algorithm offline using an existing dataset with 10 able-bodied subjects and online with another 10 able-bodied subjects wearing a real-time system. The offline study analyzed the effect of subject-dependency and ramp inclinations. The real-time classification accuracy was evaluated before and after training the subjects on the ICFs. The real-time system achieved overall pre-subject-training and post-subject-training error rates of 0.59% ± 0.24% and 0.56% ± 0.20%, respectively. We also evaluated the feasibility of our ICFs for amputee ambulation by analyzing a public dataset with the open-source bionic leg. The simplicity of these classification rules demonstrates a new paradigm for activity recognition where the human can understand the machine and vice-versa.
The Havana Syndrome and Microwave Weapons [Health Matters]

Every few months, if not weeks, another mysterious attack on U.S. diplomatic and intelligence personnel is reported. Some of the attacks occurred years ago, while others were recounted as recently as July 2021 [1] – [3] . Over the past four or five years, nearly 200 U.S. personnel have reported similar attacks while working in places like Havana, Guangzhou, London, Moscow, Vienna, and Washington, D.C. The acute symptoms include headache and nausea immediately following the sounds of loud buzzing or bursts. The illness and symptoms have been called the “Havana Syndrome” after the place where cases were first reported. It refers to the range of symptoms first experienced by U.S. State Department personnel overseas.
Gender and the Labour Market: An International Perspective and the Case of Italy

This paper provides an overview of the literature on international differences in the gender wage gap. It then focuses on the Italian case and analyzes differentials in gender wage and employment gaps across regions. The cross-regional variation reproduces the negative correlation between gender wage and employment gaps observed at the cross-country level. Using the methodology in Olivetti and Petrongolo (2008), the paper shows the importance of regional differentials in sample selection induced by non-employment in accounting for this phenomenon.
Competing Theories of Committees: Maltzman's Conditional Theory Reexamined

Forrest Maltzman (1995) proposed a conditional model of committee behavior which argued that the principal that a committee serves as an agent for in Congress varies systematically over time and across committees depending on the salience of the committee’s jurisdiction compared to that of other committees. However, due to changes in the salience of policy issues over time, there is reason to believe that salience within the committee changes over time to reflect current public opinion and political agendas. Change in issue salience should affect the agency of the committee over time within the committee just as Maltzman demonstrated that the level of salience alters the principal among different committees. Using data from the Policy Agendas Project for the policy areas of education and labor, I will show how the salience of the issues considered by the House Education and Labor Committee changes over time. Data comparing NOMINATE scores of the committee members to the scores of the whole chamber and the party caucuses will be used to test Maltzman’s conditional theory within one committee over time. The ideological makeup of the committee will indicate that the committee’s principal is the full chamber when the salience of issues is high, but in times of lower salience the scores will show that the parties are the main principals of the committee. This finding supports Maltzman's conditional theory, but expands it to show that there is systematic variation principal-agent relationship between a committee, the chamber, and the parties over time based on the salience of the committee’s jurisdiction.
Keepers of the culture

The women's movement in Canada has affected gender roles and opportunity structures for women and men. In spite of these changes, many women lead their daily lives within the context of traditional cultures that make up the Canadian mosaic. Using data from interviews conducted with women in several distinct cultural communities (Scottish, Mennonite, and Iroquois), I explore ways in which women are selectively incorporating the impact of the women's movement into everyday life. Acceptance of role equality rather than pervasive role change, and women's rights rather than full-scale women'sliberation, reflects resistance to feminism and a women's movement that often appears not to include women of color, immigrant women, Native women, and women who live in rural isolation.
SU-E-T-170: Characterization of the Location, Extent, and Proximity to Critical Structures of Target Volumes Provides Detail for Improved Outcome Predictions Among Pancreatic Cancer Patients

Purpose: In radiotherapy, size, location and proximity of the target to critical structures influence treatment decisions. It has been shown that proximity of the target predicts dosimetric sparing of critical structures. In addition to dosimetry, precise location of disease has further implications such as tumor invasion, or proximity to major arteries that inhibit surgery. Knowledge of which patients can be converted to surgical candidates by radiation may have high impact on future treat/no-treat decisions. We propose a method to improve our characterization of the location of pancreatic cancer and treatment volume extent with respect to nearby arteries with the goal of developing features to improve clinical predictions and decisions. Methods: Oncospace is a local learning health system that systematically captures clinical outcomes and all aspects of radiotherapy treatment plans, including overlap volume histograms (OVH) – a measure of spatial relationships between two structures. Minimum and maximum distances of PTV and OARs based on OVH, PTV volume, anatomic location by ICD-9 code, and surgical outcome were queried. Normalized distance to center from the left and right kidney was calculated to indicate tumor location and laterality. Distance to critical arteries (celiac, superior mesenteric, common hepatic) is validated by surgical status (borderline resectable, locally advanced converted to resectable). Results: There were 205 pancreas stereotactic body radiotherapy patients treated from 2009–2015 queried. Location/laterality of tumor based on kidney OVH show strong trends between location by OVH and by ICD-9. Compared to the locally advanced group, the borderline resectable group showed larger geometrical distance from critical arteries (p=0.03). Conclusion: Our platform enabled analysis of shape/size-location relationships. These data suggest that PTV volume and attention to distance between PTVs and surrounding OARs and major arteries may be promising for improving characterization of treatment anatomy that can refine our ability for outcome predictions and decision making. Elekta, Toshiba
The Nature and Extent of Cerebellar Atrophy in Chronic Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Summary Purpose: Research indicates that patients with chronic temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) exhibit cerebellar atrophy compared to healthy controls, but the degree to which specific regions of the cerebellum are affected remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to characterize the extent and lateralization of atrophy in individual cerebellar lobes and subregions in unilateral TLE using advanced quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Methods: Study participants were 46 persons with TLE and 31 age- and gender- matched healthy controls. All participants underwent high-resolution MRI with manual tracing of the cerebellum yielding gray and white matter volumes of the right and left anterior lobes, superior posterior lobes, inferior posterior lobes, and corpus medullare. The degree to which asymmetric versus generalized abnormalities was evident in unilateral chronic TLE was determined and related to selected clinical seizure features (age of onset, duration of disorder). Key Findings: There were no lateralized abnormalities in cerebellar gray matter or white matter in patients with right or left TLE (all p’s > 0.2). Compared with controls, unilateral TLE was associated with significant bilateral reductions in the superior (p = 0.032) and inferior (p = 0.023) posterior lobes, whereas volume was significantly increased in the anterior lobes (p = 0.002), especially in patients with early onset TLE, and not significantly different in the corpus medullare (p = 0.71). Total superior cerebellar tissue volumes were reduced in association with increasing duration of epilepsy. Significance: Patients with unilateral TLE exhibit a pattern of bilateral cerebellar pathology characterized by atrophy of the superior and inferior posterior lobes, hypertrophy of the anterior lobe, and no effect on the corpus medullare. Cross-sectional analyses show that specific aspects of cerebellar pathology are associated with neurodevelopmental (anterior lobe) or chronicity-related (superior posterior lobe) features of the disorder.
What Explains Industrial Country Sovereign Spreads

Using currency swap rates, I measure US dollar-denominated benchmark government bond yields for Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and the UK. All countries pay large and variable yield premiums, or "sovereign spreads." Like those of Emerging Markets, the industrial country sovereign spreads I measure are highly correlated across countries and increase sharply in the fall of 1998. Harnessing recent advances in data availability, I investigate the degree to which they can be explained by: (i) default risk, (ii) liquidity premiums, and (iii) segmented markets. Proxy variables for each explain nearly three-quarters of the variation in de-meaned sovereign spreads but signs are inconsistent with the default risk and liquidity premium explanations. Even the world's largest bond markets appear segmented. Credit risk and liquidity constraints limit arbitrageurs' ability to eliminate yield differences that result.
The Undergraduate Economic Review

The Undergraduate Economic Review is the Illinois Wesleyan University Economics Department's newest endeavor. It is an on-line journal meant to compliment the Park Place Economist, but reach out to more students. The Undergraduate Economic Review accepts articles from students at different colleges and universities across the United States. This news and commentary is available in The Park Place Economist: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/parkplace/vol13/iss1/8
It takes guts to grow a brain: Increasing evidence of the important role of the intestinal microflora in neuro- and immune-modulatory functions during development and adulthood.

A new study entitled “Normal gut microbiota modulates brain development and behavior”, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, requires that we reconsider the notion that the brain is an immune-privileged site. The authors demonstrate that intestinal microbiota must be present within a set time-frame for normal synaptogenesis to occur in the brain. In the absence of intestinal microbiota, histopathological and behavioral abnormalities arise. These observations necessitate a new look at the many interconnections of the immune system and the brain, suggesting new frontiers for research and new therapeutic strategies for neurodevelopmental diseases.