cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Farnesol inhibits phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis in cultured cells by decreasing cholinephosphotransferase activity

The mechanism of inhibition of phosphatidylcholine (PC) biosynthesis by the isoprenoid farnesol was investigated in the human leukaemic CEM-C1 cell line. Cells were preincubated with 20 microM farnesol for up to 2 h and pulsed with [3H]choline. PC biosynthesis was inhibited to one-quarter at the step catalysed by cholinephosphotransferase (CPT). CPT activity in cellular homogenates from farnesol-treated cells was significantly decreased, but no changes in cytidylyltransferase activity or diacylglycerol concentration were observed. Measurements of CPT activity in the experiments in which farnesol was added directly to the homogenates or microsomal fractions demonstrated that farnesol did not affect CPT activity. However, cytosol from farnesol-treated samples decreased microsomal CPT activity almost twice as much as did cytosol from controls. This effect was found to be heat-stable, and disappeared after dialysis, but could not be attributed to farnesol present in the cytosol. The effect of farnesol was specific when compared with other structurally similar isoprenoids. We conclude that farnesol brings about changes in cultured cells, leading to decreased CPT activity, and thus to the inhibition of PC biosynthesis.
Screening of glucose intolerance with fasting blood samples

Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) has been accepted as the standard test for screening of glucose intolerance in spite of its poor reproducibility, especially, in the impaired glucose intolerance (IGT). There have been widely assessed the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus with using glycemic control markers such as HbA1c, 1,5-AG, and FRA as an alternative method, which are not so much affected by sampling conditions. However, it has been found a wide overlap of the glycemic control marker's values between the normal and the IGT. In OGTT, subjects with lower blood glucose values 2 hours after glucose load turned out to be the normal glucose tolerance at the second examination as well. Therefore, it might be reasonable to identify people with a higher blood glucose value 2 hours after glucose load as a high risk group by the screening with fasting blood samples. We have evaluated the combination test of FBG, HbA1c and 1,5-AG for screening of the diabetes and the high risk IGT, and this combination revealed to be durable for screening. But it would be important to elucidate the natural history and the extent of the risk of the IGT, and select a proper test with a clear cut-off value for screening of impaired glucose intolerance at risk.
“A Kind of Eloquence of the Body”: Quintilian’s Advice on Delivery for the Twenty-First-Century Rhetor

ABSTRACTThis essay makes the case that the account of delivery featured in the Institutio Oratoria remains germane to contemporary speech pedagogy. Quintilian emphasizes that (1) powerful delivery is central to eloquent public speaking; (2) delivery functions in concert with the other canons of rhetoric; and (3) delivery is governed by general rhetorical concepts such as decorum and ethos. Furthermore, scrutiny of Quintilian’s perspectives on gender and power can lead to fruitful rethinking of current pedagogy’s traditionalist tendencies.
The Use of Simulation to Improve Resident Communication and Personal Experience at End-of-Life Care

Pediatric residents report they are not sufficiently trained to communicate with families at a child's death. We performed a study to prove feasibility and assess whether simulation improves their communication and experience. Residents were assigned to intervention using simulation or control group. Communication was assessed by standardized patients and audiotapes of simulated encounters when they delivered bad news. Residents' perceptions of their communication were polled. The majority reported they never witnessed end-of-life discussions. All residents perceived themselves to be more capable at pronouncing the death of a child, and informing a family of a death after participating in either the interventional simulation or a bereavement retreat. Despite training within a pediatric intensive care unit, pediatric residents have little exposure to end-of-life discussions. Pediatric end-of-life simulation increases exposure of residents to end-of-life care and improves residents' perceptions of their communication.
Near-Instantaneous Classification of Perceptual States from Cortical Surface Recordings

Human visual processing is of such complexity that, despite decades of focused research, many basic questions remain unanswered. Although we know that the inferotemporal cortex is a key region in object recognition, we don’t fully understand its physiologic role in brain function, nor do we have the full set of tools to explore this question. Here we show that electrical potentials from the surface of the human brain contain enough information to decode a subject’s perceptual state accurately, and with fine temporal precision. Electrocorticographic (ECoG) arrays were placed over the inferotemporal cortical areas of seven subjects. Pictures of faces and houses were quickly presented while each subject performed a simple visual task. Results showed that two well-known types of brain signals—event-averaged broadband power and event-averaged raw potential—can independently or together be used to classify the presented image. When applied to continuously recorded brain activity, our decoding technique could accurately predict whether each stimulus was a face, house, or neither, with ~20 ms timing error. These results provide a roadmap for improved brain-computer interfacing tools to help neurosurgeons, research scientists, engineers, and, ultimately, patients.
Spin and the Coulomb gap in the half-filled lowest Landau level

The Coulomb gap observed in tunneling between parallel two-dimensional electron systems, each at half-filling of the lowest Landau level, is found to depend sensitively on the presence of an in-plane magnetic field. Especially at low electron density, the width of the Coulomb gap at first increases sharply with in-plane field, but then abruptly levels off. This behavior appears to coincide with the known transition from partial to complete spin polarization of the half-filled lowest Landau level. The tunneling gap therefore opens a window onto the spin configuration of two-dimensional electron systems at high magnetic field.
Chemistry: some basic concepts

This chapter assumes that the student has had little or no chemistry. First, recognize that chemicals are not something “out there.” The whole Earth is composed of chemicals. So is your body. You breathe in chemicals with each breath, you eat chemicals – all food is composed of chemicals – and you excrete chemicals. So chemicals are not just synthetic chemicals, i.e., not just chemical pollutants. Rather, everything you touch, taste, or smell is chemical in nature. After introducing necessary concepts, the chapter selects several pollution issues from earlier chapters in this text and explains them from a simple chemical perspective. Section I introduces the atom and its subatomic particles, as well as isotopes; and then goes on to chemical bonds and valence. Section II overviews organic and inorganic chemicals, and then moves on to free radicals and their capability to sometimes help solve pollution problems but, in other cases worsening them. Section III looks at oxidation reactions from the perspective of burning fossil fuels. Avogadro's constant and the mole are also introduced. Finally, Section IV uses simple chemistry to overview two major acid pollution problems: acid deposition and ocean acidification. SECTION I Atoms An element is the fundamental form of matter. Each element is composed of atoms, which cannot be further subdivided. There are 92 natural elements. Among them are familiar names such as iron, gold, sodium, calcium, and carbon. ▪ The atom of every element contains a nucleus and a shell of electrons.
Evaluation of the Arthritis Foundation's Camine Con Gusto Program for Hispanic Adults With Arthritis.

Introduction:Camine Con Gusto (CCG) is the Hispanic version of an evidence-based walking program for people with arthritis. This study examined CCG outcomes, feasibility, tolerability, safety, and ...
Design of a bio-inspired pneumatic artificial muscle with self-contained sensing

Pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) are one of the most famous linear actuators in bio-inspired robotics. They can generate relatively high linear force considering their form factors and weights. Furthermore, PAMs are inexpensive compared with traditional electromagnetic actuators (e.g. DC motors) and also inherently light and compliant. In robotics applications, however, they typically require external sensing mechanisms due to their nonlinear behaviors, which may make the entire mechanical system bulky and complicated, limiting their use in simple systems. This study presents the design and fabrication of a low-cost McKibben-type PAM with a self-contained displacement and force sensing capability that does not require any external sensing elements. The proposed PAM can detect axial contraction force and displacement at the same time. In this study, the design of a traditional McKibben muscle was modified to include an inductive coil surrounding the muscle fibers. Then, a thin, soft silicone layer was coated outside of the muscle to protect and hold the sensing coil on the actuator. This novel design measures coil inductance change to determine the contraction force and the displacement. The process can be applied to a variety of existing McKibben actuator designs without significantly changing the rigidity of the actuator while minimizing the device's footprint.
Equity through Learning to Listen: The Case of Public Discussion on Body-Worn Cameras in Madison, Wisconsin

This article analyzes practitioners’ attempt to achieve equity in a public input process on a local racial justice issue: whether or not the police department should implement body-worn video cameras. The insights of the two practitioners who led the public input process reveal 4 main lessons. First, equity in public deliberation is achieved sometimes by intentionally excluding some voices. Second, members of marginalized groups are motivated at times by the potential to be heard. Third, the case suggests that for some people public talk is not about achieving democracy; it is instead about life and survival. Finally, the case suggests that in order for deliberation to contribute to greater equity in democracy, people in power need to learn to listen to previously marginalized voices.
Recovery of Calcium Activity and Contraction in Models of Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the most common form of systolic heart failure, causing progressive ventricular dilation and loss of systolic function. A transgenic mouse model of DCM, with a missense mutation in alpha-tropomyosin (D230N-Tm), is characteristic of the defects in contraction and calcium handling. Calcium transients and contraction are also depressed in cardiomyocytes from infarcted hearts. We have previously shown that dATP improves contraction of heart muscle from dogs with DCM. We have also shown that small increases in intracellular dATP, achieved by over-expressing ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) via an adeno-associated virus type 6 (AAV6-RNR), significantly improves cardiomyocyte contraction and left ventricular function of infarcted rodent and pig hearts. This study evaluated whether RNR over-expression can improve contraction and calcium handling in the D230N-Tm and infarct models of DCM. Four-month-old D230N-Tm mice were systemically injected with AAV6-RNR. Four months post-injection, cardiomyocytes were isolated to measure contraction, calcium handling, and dATP content using LC-MS. Western blots confirmed over-expression of RNR. We found a significant increase in sarcomere fractional shortening of cells isolated from injected mice compared to their transgenic, un-injected littermates (8.62±0.4 vs. 6.99±0.4 %, P<0.05). Calcium transient amplitude was decreased in DCM compared to WT mice (1.60±0.03 vs. 1.74±0.02, P<0.05), and was restored post-injection (1.69±0.02 vs. 1.60±0.03, P<0.05). In separate studies, four weeks following myocardial infarction we isolated cardiomyocytes from rat hearts and transduced them with AV-RNR vectors. Similar to the transgenic model, infarction reduced fractional shortening and calcium transients. AV-RNR rescued calcium transients to non-infarcted levels and fractional shortening was increased beyond that of non-infarcted levels. Our data demonstrates that over-expression of RNR recovers both contraction and calcium handling in these DCM disease models and suggests that, in addition to myosin, a second target of dATP may be SERCA2a.
What is wrong with topic modeling? And how to fix it using search-based software engineering

Abstract Context Topic modeling finds human-readable structures in unstructured textual data. A widely used topic modeling technique is Latent Dirichlet allocation. When running on different datasets, LDA suffers from “order effects”, i.e., different topics are generated if the order of training data is shuffled. Such order effects introduce a systematic error for any study. This error can relate to misleading results; specifically, inaccurate topic descriptions and a reduction in the efficacy of text mining classification results. Objective To provide a method in which distributions generated by LDA are more stable and can be used for further analysis. Method We use LDADE, a search-based software engineering tool which uses Differential Evolution (DE) to tune the LDA’s parameters. LDADE is evaluated on data from a programmer information exchange site (Stackoverflow), title and abstract text of thousands of Software Engineering (SE) papers, and software defect reports from NASA. Results were collected across different implementations of LDA (Python+Scikit-Learn, Scala+Spark) across Linux platform and for different kinds of LDAs (VEM, Gibbs sampling). Results were scored via topic stability and text mining classification accuracy. Results In all treatments: (i) standard LDA exhibits very large topic instability; (ii) LDADE’s tunings dramatically reduce cluster instability; (iii) LDADE also leads to improved performances for supervised as well as unsupervised learning. Conclusion Due to topic instability, using standard LDA with its “off-the-shelf” settings should now be depreciated. Also, in future, we should require SE papers that use LDA to test and (if needed) mitigate LDA topic instability. Finally, LDADE is a candidate technology for effectively and efficiently reducing that instability.
Strong Evidence for a Buried Active Galactic Nucleus in UGC 5101: Implications for Liner-Type Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies

Abstract : We report on the results of 3-4 micrometers spectroscopy of the ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) UGC 5101. It has a cool far-infrared color and a LINER-type optical spectrum and so, based on a view gaining some currency, would be regarded as dominated by star formation. However, we find that it has strong 3.4 micrometers carbonaceous dust absorption, low equivalent width 3.3 micrometers polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission, and a small 3.3 micrometers PAH to far-infrared luminosity ratio. This favors an alternative scenario, in which an energetically dominant active galactic nucleus (AGN) is present behind obscuring dust. The AGN is plausibly obscured along all lines of sight (a "buried AGN") rather than merely obscured along our particular line of sight. Such buried AGNs have previously been found in thermal infrared studies of the ULIRGs IRAS 08572 3915 and IRAS F00183-7111, both classified optically as LINERs. We argue that buried AGNs can produce LINER-type optical spectra and that at least some fraction of LINER-type ULIRGs are predominantly powered by buried AGNs.
Unpacking Response Contingent Positive Reinforcement: Reward Probability, but Not Environmental Suppressors, Prospectively Predicts Depressive Symptoms via Behavioral Activation

Behavioral models of depression conceptualize the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms as occurring within a system of response-contingent positive reinforcement (RCPR). Such models propose a negative cycle in which a decrease in positive reinforcement of adaptive, approach-oriented behaviors (i.e., RCPR) results in reduced behavioral activation and increased depressive symptoms, which in turn feeds back into further decreases in positive reinforcement and maintains the cycle. Previous research indicates that RCPR has two lower-order constructs, reward probability and environmental suppressors. The present study evaluated a hypothesized mediational model in which the paths from each of the two domains of RCPR to depressive symptoms are mediated by behavioral activation. The sample consisted of 150 college students (78.0% women), ranging in age from 18 to 47 years (M = 20.81, SD = 3.96), who endorsed moderate to severe depressive symptoms at a baseline (time 1) evaluation. Findings from a path analysis provide support for the mediated path between reward probability at time 1 and depressive symptoms at time 3, via behavioral activation at time 2. In contrast, environmental suppressors at time 1 demonstrated a direct impact on depressive symptoms at time 3, and this relationship was not mediated by behavioral activation at time 2. These findings provide a partial test of behavioral frameworks and provide evidence of separate pathways between domains of RCPR and depressive symptoms.
An empirical investigation of the financialization convergence hypothesis

Claims of global homogenization towards a singular model of finance capitalism constitute a “financialization convergence hypothesis” that has not been subject to systematic empirical scrutiny. Usi...
Physical layer deep learning of encodings for the MIMO fading channel

We introduce a novel physical layer scheme for Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) communications based on unsupervised deep learning using an autoencoder. This method extends prior work on the joint optimization of physical layer representation and encoding and decoding processes as a single end-to-end task by expanding the transmitter and receiver to the multi-antenna case. We introduce a domain appropriate wireless channel impairment model (the multi-input multi-output Rayleigh fading channel), into the autoencoder optimization problem in order to directly learn a system which optimizes for it. This approach demonstrates significant potential for learning schemes which achieve and exceed performance of current day methods which are widely used in existing wireless MIMO systems. We discuss how the scheme can be easily adapted for open-loop and closed-loop operation in spatial multiplexing modes as well as spatial diversity modes. Each of these modes is learned and realized using the same simple and compact approach.
Religious Integration and Psychological Distress: Different Patterns in Emerging Adult Males and Females

This study examined differences between male and female emerging adults on low, moderate, and high levels of religious integration in relation to psychological distress. Participants were recruited from undergraduate courses at a religiously affiliated, Midwestern university and completed the integration scale of the Personal Religious Inventory and the Langner Symptom Survey. Due to significantly higher reports of religious integration in female participants, the sample was separated by sex. A significant, negative correlation between religious integration and psychological distress was found only for females. Similarly, females in the low religious integration group reported significantly higher levels of psychological distress than females high in religious integration, while no differences were found among males. This study corroborates previous research suggesting a general link between religion and mental health, but further suggests religious integration and psychological distress are uniquely related for males and females. Possible reasons and future areas of study are noted.
Solution, pollution, and the pollution solution

Almost all the chemical processes which occur in nature, whether in animal or vegetable organisms, or in the non-living surface of the earth, and also those processes which are carried out in the laboratory, take place between substances in solution.
5-HT6 receptor agonist EMD386088 impairs behavioral flexibility and working memory.

Abstract Serotonin 6 (5-HT6) receptors are primarily expressed in the central nervous system and to an even further extent brain regions responsible for learning and memory. Recent studies have demonstrated 5-HT6 receptor involvement in pathophysiological processes highlighting their therapeutic possibilities. Most research concerning the effects of 5-HT6 receptor modulation has focused on blockade despite paradoxical findings that 5-HT6 agonists and antagonists can both have pro-cognitive effects. The current experiments examine the effects of the 5-HT6 receptor agonist EMD386088 on behavioral flexibility and working memory. C57BL/6J mice received systemic injections of either 0, 2, or 4 mg/kg EMD386088 before being tested on probabilistic reversal learning, spontaneous alternation, and locomotor activity. In the probabilistic reversal learning task, the high dose of 4 mg/kg significantly impaired performance requiring more trials to reach criterion. The same dose significantly increased perseverative type errors, suggesting that the probabilistic reversal learning impairment was due to an inability to inhibit the previously learned choice pattern, rather than maintaining the new optimal choice pattern. Acute EMD386088 administration at 2 mg/kg significantly impaired spontaneous alternation performance, while the high dose of 4 mg/kg did not reach significance. These learning impairments were not due to an overall locomotor impairment as evidenced by comparable locomotor activity scores. Acute systemic 5-HT6 receptor activation with EMD386088 led to impaired behavior flexibility and working memory performance. Current findings support previous research suggesting that novel therapeutics directed at down regulation of 5-HT6 receptors may be effective in attenuating working memory and behavioral flexibility impairments commonly found in neuropsychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia.
Prevalence of HIV Viral Load Suppression Among Psychiatric Inpatients with Comorbid Substance Use Disorders.

A consistently suppressed viral load enables HIV (+) patients to live longer, healthier lives and reduces the probability of transmitting the virus. Since the prevalence of HIV is four times higher among those with psychiatric disorders than in the general population, it is likely that this group would also have greater difficulty remaining in care and achieving viral suppression. A secondary data analysis utilizing screening data from the Preventing AIDS Through Health (PATH) for Triples (PFT) Study were examined to assess HIV load suppression among 254 psychiatric inpatients with comorbid substance use disorders in Philadelphia. Viral load results from the past 12 months were obtained from medical records for 63 inpatients identified as HIV (+). The sample was predominately African American (76%), male (56%), and the average age was 43 years. Psychiatric disorders included depression (64%), schizophrenia (21%), and bipolar disorder (13%) with patients reporting use of alcohol (73%), cocaine (64%), cannabis (29%) and opioids (16%) prior to admission. Among this high risk sample of HIV (+) patients, about one-half (52%) achieved viral suppression, with recent opioid users six times more likely to have a detectable viral load than non-opioid users (OR 6.0; CI 1.1–31.7, p = .035). The 52% viral load suppression rate among psychiatric inpatient was higher than expected, given that the CDC’s national suppression rate among those diagnosed with HIV in the general population is 58%. However, individuals with mental illness and substance use disorders require constant surveillance, monitoring, and supportive services to achieve viral suppression. Many of those who were virally suppressed were engaged in Philadelphia’s extensive treatment network, whereas those who were detectable and enrolled in the PFT intervention were often homeless with unstable psychiatric symptoms and current substance use disorders, particularly opioid abuse.
International Negotiation and Emotional Intelligence

Emotions are front and center in negotiations and even more so when negotiating across different cultures. Emotions communicate information and are a form of data, and people differ in their ability to read emotions accurately, to understand their causes and trajectory, and to successfully manage their own and other’s emotions. The ability model of emotional intelligence (EI) suggests that EI is a standard intelligence, can be measured objectively, and can be applied to international negotiations to increase the effectiveness of those working in the field.
63 NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL DYSFUNCTION IN CHILDREN WITH “SILENT” LEAD EXPOSURE

Lead exposure in a cohort of “normal” first and second grade children (N=1411) was determined by dentine lead analysis in shed primary teeth. Children in the highest and lowest ranges for lead were then examined blindly with a comprehensive neuropsychologic battery. Thirty covariates known to affect measured outcome (SES, race, birthweight, etc.) were scaled. High lead children did not differ significantly on any control variables from low lead children, but tended to be slightly older and of slightly lower SES. Analysis of covariance, controlling for age and SES was performed on 83 low and 33 high lead subjects. Children with low birthweight, history of lead intoxication, or head injury were excluded from the analysis. Significant differences favoring low lead children were found on 13 of the 37 outcome measures (2-tailed test, ANACOVA. P values indicated in parentheses). WISC-R: Full Scale (.017), Verbal (.009), Subtests: Information (.018), Similarities (.040), Vocabulary (.016), Digit Span (.009), Block Design (.009). Other tests which showed significant differences were: Seashore Rhythm (.003), Math Achievement (.008), Reading Comprehension (.014), Sentence Repetition (.003), Token Test of Lanquage (.01) and Piagetian Conservation (.007). Eight other tests showed differences not reaching significance, (P<.05), but favoring the low lead group.
Thermal Sensing and Anomaly Detection

Thermal remote sensing directs our attention to the role of temperature and an indicator of land surface conditions and contrasts (Diak 1995; Xian and Crane 2006; Quattrochi and Luvall 1999). Recognizing that all surface objects with temperatures above absolute zero (0K) emit electromagnetic radiation, thermal remote sensing concentrates on the techniques involved in measuring the electromagnetic energy emitted by objects at the surface and the physical mechanisms that influence how object behave within the thermal portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Our interest in temperature as an environmental indicator and medium for land surface characterization is somewhat analogous to the role temperature plays in the diagnosis of human health. Features and surface objects that comprise the environmental system emit radiant energy as a function of their temperature, should the thermal characteristics of surface objects deviate from an ambient state, numerous questions can be entertained to account for the observed thermal differences and the spatial patterns they create (Kustas and Anderson 2009; Weng 2009).
SOME COMMENTS ON METHODS OF REDUCING AND RECONSTRUCTING IRREGULAR FATIGUE LOADING HISTORIES

The methods of irregular fatigue loading history characterization and reconstruction are briefly reviewed for use in life prediction and efficient laboratory testing. The use of Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) models is introduced.
Multifunctional Enzyme Packaging and Catalysis in the Qβ Protein Nanoparticle

The simultaneous expression in Escherichia coli cells of the Qβ virus-like particle (VLP) capsid protein and protein “cargo” tagged with a positively charged Rev peptide sequence leads to the spontaneous self-assembly of VLPs with multiple copies of the cargo inside. We report the packaging of four new enzymes with potential applications in medicine and chemical manufacturing. The captured enzymes are active while inside the nanoparticle shell and are protected from environmental conditions that lead to free-enzyme destruction. We also describe genetic modifications to the packaging scheme that shed light on the self-assembly mechanism of this system and allow indirect control over the internal packaging density of cargo. The technology was extended to create, via self-assembly, VLPs that simultaneously display protein ligands on the exterior and contain enzymes within. Inverse relationships were observed between the size of both the packaged and externally displayed protein or domains and nanoparticle yi...
Rationale and study design of an intervention of increased energy intake in women with exercise-associated menstrual disturbances to improve menstrual function and bone health: The REFUEL study.

Abstract Purpose Exercising women who consume inadequate energy relative to expenditure are at risk for downstream health consequences, such as menstrual cycle disturbances and poor bone health. Collectively, these conditions are known as the Female Athlete Triad (Triad). Clinicians often prescribe hormonal contraceptives to address this issue; however, the recommended treatment is reversal of the energy deficit. This paper describes the design of the REFUEL study, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) that explored the effectiveness of a 12-month intervention of increased energy intake on the reversal of an unhealthy energetic status and menstrual dysfunction and subsequent improvements in bone health in exercising women with severe menstrual cycle disturbances. Methods Women between the ages of 18–35 years and participating in at least 2 h/week of purposeful exercise were recruited. Those who reported irregular or absent menstrual cycles and were determined to have an exercise-associated menstrual disturbance (EAMD) were randomized into either the treatment group (EAMD + Cal), which was instructed to increase caloric intake throughout the intervention, or a control group (EAMD Control). Women who reported eumenorrhea were eligible for the ovulatory (OV) Control group. Repeated measures of energetic and metabolic status, reproductive status, and skeletal health were obtained. Discussion The REFUEL study is the first RCT to explore a non-pharmacological treatment approach among exercising women with the Triad. 118 women were randomized, and 55 women completed the entire study. The findings of this study have the potential to inform and alter clinical practice for exercising young women who present with this condition.
Global Gender Justice: Human Rights and Political Responsibility*

ABSTRACTI argue that Iris Marion Young’s concept of political responsibility is well suited for transnational feminism analyses. Young’s work reveals the intersections of ethical, social, and polit...
Barnes-Hut Approximation for Point SetGeodesic Shooting

Geodesic shooting has been successfully applied to diffeo-morphic registration of point sets. Exact computation of the geodesicshooting between point sets, however, requiresO(N2) calculations each time step on the number of points in the point set. We proposean approximation approach based on the Barnes-Hut algorithm to speedup point set geodesic shooting. This approximation can reduce the al-gorithm complexity toO(N b+N logN). The evaluation of the proposedmethod in both simulated images and the medial temporal lobe thick-ness analysis demonstrates a comparable accuracy to the exact point set geodesic shooting while offering up to 3-fold speed up. This improvementopens up a range of clinical research studies and practical problems towhich the method can be effectively applied.
Intelligent technologies to optimize performance: Augmenting cognitive capacity and supporting self-regulation of critical thinking skills in decision-making

Abstract The purpose of the present paper is to (a) discuss how intelligent systems can augment cognitive capacity, and through self-regulation, assist learners to engage in critical thinking and (b) provide an example that highlights the information-rich context of the work environment and the role of self-regulation in working in partnership with technology to achieve peak performance. Self-regulation from a social cognitive perspective is conceptualized as a fluid, cyclical process whereby learners use externally provided or self-generated feedback to evaluate and adjust their learning strategies. With advances in technology, this paper attempts to illustrate how workers in jobs of the future will be supported in new ways to analyze data, make interpretations and draw inferences, evaluate situations, and make decisions within a work context before, during, and post-work. Educational implications will be discussed.
Does Health Information Technology Promote Healthy Behaviors? The Mediating Role of Self-Regulation.

Health information technology (health IT) has the potential to facilitate the self-regulation of fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) and physical activity (PA). This study explores whether using healt...
Evaluation of digital ear scanning for custom hearing protection devices

Custom earpieces (e.g., hearing aids, insert hearing protection devices) are traditionally made using physical earmold impressions. Advances in technologies have led to the development of digital methods to capture ear canal geometries for the production of custom earpieces. Three different optical scanning technologies were evaluated and compared to traditional custom earplug fabrication methods. Custom earplugs were made for 20 volunteers from each of the three digital scanning methods, physical earmold impressions, and digital scans of the earmold impressions. A 3-D printing method was also used to produce custom earplugs from the digital scans. Using a within-subjects design, the hearing protection of each custom earplug was evaluated according to standard methodologies described in ANSI/ASA S12.6-2016, Method A. Subjective questionnaires were used for each custom earplug to assess perceived comfort. Results indicate custom earplugs made from traditional physical earmold impressions were significantly...
Indicators of potential health-related social needs and the association with perceived health and well-being outcomes among community-dwelling medicare beneficiaries.

Health-related social needs (HRSNs) can make older adults’ more vulnerable and impact their health, well-being, and ability to age-in-place. The current study assessed the prevalence of potential HRSNs (pHRSNs) across several domains (e.g., transportation, social isolation) and explored the associations with health and well-being outcomes in a sample of Medicare beneficiaries. Cross-sectional analyses were conducted with a representative sample of community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries (N = 5758) from the 2012 National Health and Aging Trends Study. Binary indicators of pHRSNs were created for five domains: medical and utility financial needs (MUFN), housing, nutrition, social isolation, and transportation. Outcomes were depression/anxiety, self-rated health, meaning/satisfaction, perceived control/adaptability. Variables were weighted, and multivariate regression models assessed associations between pHRSN variables and outcomes, controlling for sociodemographics and health conditions. Of the estimated 32 million community-dwelling beneficiaries, approximately 13.3 million were positive for ≥ 1 pHRSN and 11.4 million for ≥ 2 pHRSNs. The prevalence by domain was 7% for housing, 8% for transportation, 12% for UMFN and nutrition, and 33% for social isolation. Each domain, except for housing, was significantly (p < .05) associated with at least two of the four outcomes, where being positive for a pHRSN was associated with greater depression/anxiety and poorer self-rated general health. Over 40% of Medicare beneficiaries had ≥ 1 pHRSN indicators, which means they are more vulnerable and that may limit their ability to age-in-place. Given the growing aging population, better measures and methods are needed to identify, monitor, and address HRSNs. For example, leveraging existing community-based services through coordinated care may be an effective strategy to address older adults’ HRSNs.
Intimidades transgresoras: una lectura política de Lazos de familia de Clarice Lispector

Desde los anos 60, la literatura latinoamericana viene planteando las posibilidades politicas de la representacion de lo no humano. En sus cuentos “La imitacion de la rosa” y “El bufalo”, Clarice Lispector aborda y entreteje las implicaciones politicas de dos elementos: la intimidad y lo no humano. Suele reconocerse en el libro Lazos de familia la consideracion de ordenes sociales, tales como la familia, cuyos vinculos afectivos estan desgastados, corroidos, son predecibles. Sin embargo, sostengo que Lispector va un paso mas alla: en estos textos, las mujeres transgreden esos ordenes sociales avasalladores a traves de la expansion de vinculos intimos con lo no humano. “La imitacion de la rosa” remite al problema de la construccion de la intimidad y del tiempo de la intimidad de cara a una reflexion sobre lo bello y sobre el deber ser femenino. “El bufalo” aborda la relacion horizontal mujer-animal y la necesidad de la salida de la intimidad hacia un espacio publico que nada tiene que ver con lo domestico. El giro animal y la politica cultural de los afectos permiten la consideracion, en estos textos, de la carga politica del vinculo intimo con lo no humano: las mujeres quiebran los limites del espacio que se supone que debe ocupar, que son la casa o la interioridad.
Abstract 269: Increasing Accuracy of Non-ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction Diagnosis Through Use of an Educational App Based on the Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction

Background: There is a misconception among medicine trainees that an elevated troponin alone indicates a myocardial infarction (MI) even in the absence of ECG changes, imaging abnormalities, and/or...
The Relationship Between Inflammatory Cytokines and Calciotropic Hormones in South Asian and Caucasian Men

Objectives The study objective was to identify the differences in inflammatory profile, and possible predictors of vitamin D and parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations between South Asian Indians (SAIs) and Caucasians.
What retailers need to understand about website inaccessibility and disabled consumers: Challenges and opportunities

This research uniquely contributes to the marketing policy literature by illuminating the widespread yet seldom studied problem of online inaccessibility of retail websites affecting approximately 30 million disabled Americans. When a website is not designed to be navigated easily or is not compatible with assistive technology such as a screen‐reader, these potential customers are not able to independently search for information and conduct transactions. Blind and low vision participants in an empirical study provide their opinions regarding accessibility policy issues and reveal that their frustrations with inaccessible retail websites may result, not only in avoidance of the retailer in its different sales channels but also in antifirm behaviors driven by negative attitudes toward perceived retailer accessibility/disability policy that spur feelings of online marketplace discrimination. Using two different evaluation tools, the top 100 retailers in the United States were evaluated on the accessibility of their websites over the past 4 years (2015–2018). Results show that most websites contain many design errors making navigation very difficult or even impossible for vision impaired consumers. The argument is made that online retailers who proactively address these inaccessibility issues on their websites may significantly increase their customer base and profitability.
M-SID: An IoT-based Edge-intelligent Framework for Suicidal Ideation Detection

Suicide is a negative outcome of combination of complex personal, social and mental health factors, which forces the individual to consider it as the only way out to their problems. Suicide has become one of the most significant causes of death in the United States. A major cause of this ominous event is due to mental illnesses such as major depression and bipolar depression. With an aim to increase the awareness of suicide and improve the quality of life of people who are vulnerable or prone to suicidal ideation, this research focuses on developing an IoT-based framework that can help in continuously monitoring phys-iological and behavioral signals of the individual. The proposed framework, M-SID, is designed based on a hypothesis to capture rapid variation of suicidal ideation using physiological signals. The proposed research is validated with the help of a custom-built hardware and the results are verified using a commercially available wrist band.
Rare-earth-free ferrimagnetic Mn4N sub-20 nm thin films as potential high-temperature spintronic material

Ferrimagnetic alloy thin films that exhibit perpendicular (out-of-plane) magnetic anisotropy (PMA) with low saturation magnetization, such as GdCo and Mn4N, were predicted to be favorable for hosting small Neel skyrmions for room temperature applications. Due to the exponential decay of interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction and the limited range of spin–orbit torques, which can be used to drive skyrmion motion, the thickness of the ferrimagnetic layer has to be small, preferably under 20 nm. While there are examples of sub-20 nm, rare earth-transition metal (RE-TM), ferrimagnetic thin films fabricated by sputter deposition, to date, rare-earth-free sub-20 nm Mn4N films with PMA have only been reported to be achieved by molecular beam epitaxy, which is not suitable for massive production. Here, we report the epitaxial growth of sub-20 nm Mn4N films with PMA at 400 °C–450 °C substrate temperatures on MgO substrates by reactive sputtering. The Mn4N films were achieved by reducing the surface roughness of MgO substrate through a high-temperature vacuum annealing process. The optimal films showed low saturation magnetization (Ms = 43 emu/cc), low magnetic anisotropy energy (0.7 Merg/cc), and a remanent magnetization to saturation magnetization ratio (Mr/Ms) near 1 at room temperature. Preliminary ab initio density functional theory calculations have confirmed the ferrimagnetic ground state of Mn4N grown on MgO. The magnetic properties, along with the high thermal stability of Mn4N thin films in comparison with RE-TM thin films, provide the platform for future studies of practical skyrmion-based spintronic materials.
Simulations of increased glomerular capillary wall strain in the 5/6-nephrectomized rat.

OBJECTIVE Chronic glomerular hypertension is associated with glomerular injury and sclerosis; however, the mechanism by which increases in pressure damage glomerular podocytes remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that increases in glomerular pressure may deleteriously affect podocyte structural integrity by increasing the strain of the glomerular capillary walls, and that glomerular capillary wall strain may play a significant role in the perpetuation of glomerular injury in disease states that are associated with glomerular hypertension. METHODS We developed an anatomically accurate mathematical model of a compliant, filtering rat glomerulus to quantify the strain of the glomerular capillary walls in a remnant glomerulus of the 5/6-nephrectomized rat model of chronic kidney disease. In terms of estimating the mechanical stresses and strains in the glomerular capillaries, this mathematical model is a substantial improvement over previous models which do not consider pressure-induced alterations in glomerular capillary diameters in distributing plasma and erythrocytes throughout the network. RESULTS Using previously reported data from experiments measuring the change of glomerular volume as a function of perfusion pressure, we estimated the Young's modulus of the glomerular capillary walls in both control and 5/6-nephrectomized conditions. We found that in 5/6-nephrectomized conditions, the Young's modulus increased to 8.6 MPa from 7.8 MPa in control conditions, but the compliance of the capillaries increased in 5/6-nephrectomized conditions due to a 23.3% increase in the baseline glomerular capillary diameters. We found that glomerular capillary wall strain was increased approximately threefold in 5/6-nephrectomized conditions over control, which may deleteriously affect both mesangial cells and podocytes. The magnitudes of strain in model simulations of 5/6-nephrectomized conditions were consistent with magnitudes of strain that elicit podocyte hypertrophy and actin cytoskeleton reorganization in vitro. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that glomerular capillary wall strain may deleteriously affect podocytes directly, as well as act in concert with other mechanical changes and environmental factors inherent to the in vivo setting to potentiate glomerular injury in severe renoprival conditions.
Characterizing Natural Recovery of People with Initial Motor Complete Tetraplegia.

Abstract Objective To determine the differences in neurological recovery in persons with initial cervical ASIA Impairment Scale (AIS) grades A and B over time. Design Retrospective analysis of data from people with traumatic cervical SCI enrolled in the National Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems (SCIMS) database between 2011-2019. Setting SCIMS centers. Participants Individuals (N=187) with traumatic cervical (C1-C7 motor level) SCI admitted with initial AIS grade A and B injuries within 30 days of injury, age ≥16 years, upper extremity motor score (UEMS) ≤20 on both sides, and complete neurological data at admission and follow-up between 6 months and two years. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Conversion in AIS grades, UEMS and lower extremity motor scores (LEMS), and sensory scores. Results Mean time to initial and follow-up exams were 16.1 ±7.3 days and 377.5 ±93.4 days respectively. Conversion from an initial cervical AIS grades A and B to motor incomplete status was 13.4% and 50.0% respectively. The mean UEMS change for people with initial AIS grades A and B did not differ (7.8±6.5 and 8.8±6.1; p=0.307) but people with AIS grade B experienced significantly higher means of LEMS change (2.3 ±7.4 and 8.8±13.9 (p= Conclusions While UEMS recovery is similar in persons with initial AIS grades A and B, the rate of conversion to motor incomplete status, LEMS, and sensory recovery are significantly different. This information is important for clinical as well as research considerations.
Automated colorimetric blood culture systems in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis

Blood cultures are one of the most significant single tests performed in the clinical microbiology laboratory and can account for up to 10% of the total microbiology supplies budget [1]. Despite advances in polymerase chain reaction-and antigen-based technologies, the blood culture remains the gold standard for diagnosis of bacteremia. In newborns, evaluation for bacteremia (“rule-out sepsis”) frequently is prompted by one of two circumstances. In the first instance, there may be perinatal risk factors for sepsis. Often prematurity alone can be a sufficient risk. In the second instance, the neonate appears ill. The limited repertoire of neonatal signs possibly indicating infection may include derangements of the cardiovascular, neurologic, gastrointestinal or respiratory systems. Beginning in the 1990s, an increasingly popular blood culture system in developed countries has become the BacT/Alert and BacT/Alert 3D (bioMerieux, Marcy l’Etoile, France; Organon Teknika, Inc., Durham, N.C., USA). These automated microbial detection systems are based on the colorimetric detection of CO2 produced by growing microorganisms. The original BacT/Alert proprietary soybean-casein broth media was designed to support growth of aerobic, microaerophilic, and fastidious bacteria and common yeasts; a second broth was optimized for growing anaerobic bacteria. More recently, the manufac-