cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dilated eye examination screening guideline compliance among patients with diabetes without a diabetic retinopathy diagnosis: the role of geographic access.

Objective To estimate the prevalence of, and factors associated with, dilated eye examination guideline compliance among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), but without diabetic retinopathy. Research design and methods Utilizing the computerized billing records database, we identified patients with International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9 diagnoses of DM, but without any ocular diagnoses. The available medical records of patients in 2007–2008 were reviewed for demographic and ocular information, including visits through 2010 (n=200). Patients were considered guideline compliant if they returned at least every 15 months for screening. Participant street addresses were assigned latitude and longitude coordinates to assess their neighborhood socioeconomic status (using the 2000 US census data), distance to the screening facility, and public transportation access. Patients not compliant, based on the medical record review, were contacted by phone or mail and asked to complete a follow-up survey to determine if screening took place at other locations. Results The overall screening compliance rate was 31%. Patient sociodemographic characteristics, insurance status, and neighborhood socioeconomic measures were not significantly associated with compliance. However, in separate multivariable logistic regression models, those living eight or more miles from the screening facility were significantly less likely to be compliant relative to those living within eight miles (OR=0.36 (95% CI 0.14 to 0.86)), while public transit access quality was positively associated with screening compliance (1.34 (1.07 to 1.68)). Conclusions Less than one-third of patients returned for diabetic retinopathy screening at least every 15 months, with transportation challenges associated with noncompliance. Our results suggest that reducing transportation barriers or utilizing community-based screening strategies may improve compliance.
ORGANIZATION OF THE CHLOROPLAST GENOME OF THE FRESHWATER CENTRIC DIATOM CYCLOTELLA MENEGHINIANA1

We constructed a complete physical map and a partial gene map of the chloroplast genome of Cyclotella meneghiniana Kutzing clone 1020-1a (Bacillariophyceae). The 128-kb circular molecule contains a 17-kb inverted repeat, which divides the genome into single copy regions of65 kb and 29 kb. This is the largest genome and inverted repeat found in any diatom examined to date. In addition to the 16S and 23S ribosomal RNA genes, the inverted repeat contains both the ndhD gene (as yet unexamined in other diatoms) and the psbA gene (located similarly in one of two other examined diatoms). The Cyclotella chloroplast genome exists as two equimolar populations of inversion isomers that differ in the relative orientation of their single copy sequences. This inversion heterogeneity presumably results from intramolecular recombination within the inverted repeat. For the first time, we map the ndhD, psaC, rpofi, rpoCl, and rpoC2 genes to the chloroplast genome of a chlorophyll c-containing alga. While the Cyclotella chloroplast genome retains some prokaryotic and land plant gene clusters and operons, it contains a highly rearranged gene order in the large and small single copy regions compared to all other examined diatom, algal, and land plant chloroplast genomes.
Determination of the coupling length in directional couplers from spectral response

A novel technique to determine the coupling length as a function of wavelength in directional couplers, especially in the case of weakly coupled, symmetrical directional couplers is described. The technique is illustrated by using Ag/sup +/-Na/sup +/ ion-exchanged directional couplers in BK7 glass. Application of this technique to asymmetrical directional couplers is also addressed. >
Competing Ontologies: A Primer for Public Administration

A growing number of public administration theorists are taking up the question of ontology—the nature of existence. This primer on the topic provides a basic explanation of ontology, describes the fundamental debates in the competing ontologies of Western philosophy, and discusses why ontology is important to social and political theory, as well as to public administration theory and practice. Using an ideal-type approach, the author analyzes how different ontologies imply particular political forms that undergird public administration theories and practices. This ideal-type model can be used to identify the ontological assumptions in these theories and practices. The article concludes with an invitation for personal reflection on the part of scholars and practitioners in regard to which ontology best fits their experience and beliefs and the alternatives that we might pursue for a better future.
Active learning of hyperspectral data with spatially dependent label acquisition costs

Supervised learners can be used to automatically classify many types of spatially distributed data. For example, land cover classification by hyperspectral image data analysis is an important remote sensing task where a supervised learner is trained on a large set of labeled data. However, while gathering unlabeled samples may be relatively easy, labeling large amounts of data can be very costly. Acting learning is one approach to reduce the amount of labeled data required to build a supervised learner that performs well. However, most active learning approaches assume that the cost of acquiring labels for all points is uniform. For spatially distributed data that requires physical access to spatial locations in order to assign labels, label acquisition costs become proportional to distance traveled in order to label a point. In this paper, we present results for applying a novel active learning method which takes variable label acquisition costs into account on two hyperspectral datasets.
The Relevance of Sport and Exercise Psychology in Undergraduate Course Curriculum.

Given the growth of Sport and Exercise Psychology (SEP) in recent decades, and the interdisciplinary nature of research and practice in the field, it may be particularly relevant in undergraduate courses and textbooks. However, no studies to date have examined the relative presence of the field. Accordingly, a primary aim of the study described in this article was to examine the salience of SEP in academia. Results revealed that instructors generally do not include the field in their courses. Several factors were cited for the lack of inclusion. A secondary aim of this article is to advocate for the relevant inclusion of SEP in such courses. Thus, findings are discussed in relation to their importance for students and professionals, and recommendations are made in order for the field to be included more broadly in courses.
Quantification of Information Flow in a Smart Grid

The key to computer security is the notion of information flow. Information flow occurs either explicitly or implicitly in a system. In cyber-physical systems (CPSs), complicated interactions occur frequently between computational components and physical components. Thus, detecting and quantifying information flow in these systems is more difficult than it is in purely cyber systems. In CPSs, failures and attacks are either from the physical infrastructure, or from cyber part of data management and communication protocol, or a combination of both. As the physical infrastructure is inherently observable, aggregated physical observations can lead to unintended cyber information leakage. The computational portion of a CPS is driven by algorithms. Within algorithmic theory, the online problem considers input that arrives one by one and deals with extracting the algorithmic solution through an advice tape without knowing some parts of input. In this paper, a smart grid CPS is examined from an information flow perspective, physical values constitute an advice tape. As such, system confidentiality is violated through cyber to physical information flow. An approach is generalized to quantify the information flow in a CPS.
Targeting of voltage-gated potassium channel isoforms to distinct cell surface microdomains.

Voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels regulate action potential duration in nerve and muscle; therefore changes in the number and location of surface channels can profoundly influence electrical excitability. To investigate trafficking of Kv2.1, 1.4 and 1.3 within the plasma membrane, we combined the expression of fluorescent protein-tagged Kv channels with live cell confocal imaging. Kv2.1 exhibited a clustered distribution in HEK cells similar to that seen in hippocampal neurons, whereas Kv1.4 and Kv1.3 were evenly distributed over the plasma membrane. Using FRAP, surface Kv2.1 displayed limited mobility; approximately 40% of the fluorescence recovered within 20 minutes of photobleach (M f =0.41±0.04). Recovery occurred not by diffusion from adjacent membrane but probably by transport of nascent channel from within the cell. By contrast, the Kv1 family members Kv1.4 and Kv1.3 were highly mobile, both showing approximately 80% recovery (Kv 1.4 M f =0.78±0.07; Kv1.3 M f =0.78±0.04; without correction for photobleach); unlike Kv2.1, recovery was consistent with diffusion of channel from membrane adjacent to the bleach region. Studies using PA-GFP-tagged channels were consistent with the FRAP results. Following photoactivation of a small region of plasma membrane PA-GFP-Kv2.1 remained restricted to the photoactivation ROI, while PA-GFP-Kv1.4 rapidly diffused throughout the cell surface. Additionally, PA-GFP-Kv2.1 moved into regions of the cell membrane not adjacent to the original photoactivation ROI. Sucrose density gradient analysis indicated that half of Kv2.1 is part of a large, macromolecular complex while Kv1.4 sediments as predicted for the tetrameric channel complex. Disruption of membrane cholesterol by cyclodextrin minimally altered Kv2.1 mobility (M f =0.32±0.03), but significantly increased surface cluster size by at least fourfold. By comparison, the mobility of Kv1.4 decreased following cholesterol depletion with no change in surface distribution. The mobility of Kv1.3 was slightly increased following cyclodextrin treatment. These results indicate that (1) Kv2.1, Kv1.4 and Kv1.3 exist in distinct compartments that exhibit different trafficking properties, (2) membrane cholesterol levels differentially modulate the trafficking and localization of Kv channels and (3) Kv2.1 expressed in HEK cells exhibits a surface distribution similar to that seen in native cells.
Angiogenic activity in damaged skeletal muscle.

AbstractAfter a muscle is damaged, blood vessels spontaneously grow into the injured region as the muscle fibers regenerate. The stimulus for this vascular ingrowth is currently unknown. We hypothesized that the damaged muscle releases a factor(s) capable of stimulating this revascularization. To test this theory, extracts were prepared from rabbit hind limb muscles and incorporated into Hydron, a slow-release polymer. Pellets of the extract containing Hydron were implanted between the layers of the rabbit corneal stroma as an assay for angiogenic activity. The normally avascular corneas were examined 7 days after surgery for the presence of new blood vessels. Skeletal muscle-derived extract from rabbits elicited positive angiogenic responses in a dose-dependent manner. Four hundred to 500 μg of the skeletal muscle-derived extract were required to produce maximum vessel ingrowth. The control, Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline in Hydron, failed to stimulate neovascularization.
An approach to supervisory control of multi-stage processes via fuzzy logic

In this paper an approach to supervisory control of multi-stage industrial control systems is presented. This approach is based on the notion of an internal reference model, and further makes use of a fuzzy multi-objective optimization strategy to compute the control action via an iterative approach. This framework has been shown to be effective in the operation of an energy management and control system (EMCS) used in climate control and may offer similar advantages in other situations as well. >
"You Get What You Give, or Do You? An Examination of Resource Sharing among Entrepreneurs"

This paper enhances our understanding of differential benefits to actors from social ties by examining the effect of both diffuse and, what I define as, localized status characteristics on the resources actors receive from their alters. It is well established that while networks provide actors with benefits, these benefits are not equal for men and women with female actors receiving fewer, and less valuable, resources. Extant research has attributed gender differences in network benefits to network structure, arguing that men and women are embedded in fundamentally different networks. To the extent that the benefits of social ties are contingent on an actor’s ability to mobilize the resources possessed by alters (Smith 2005, 2007; Marin 2011), this focus on network structure provides a limited explanation. This paper draws on status theory, specifically status characteristics theory, to address this gap. Specifically, I examine whether particular status characteristics result in differences in an actor’s ...
Bioinformatics Approach for Exploring MS/MS Proteomics Data

The use of computer tools and technologies is unavoidable when it comes to conducting mass spectrometry (MS) research at any significant level. This is mainly due to the large volume of MS data and the processing rates required. Most of the existing tools focus on one particular task: be it storing and maintaining the data or visualizing the dataset to draw inferences from the data. But for the researcher the problem of manually retrieving a large dataset from a datasource and customizing it for a particular visualization application is a daunting task in itself. This paper describes the Computational Cell Environment (CCE) which is a problem-solving environment for systems biology that provides uniform and integrated access to distributed, heterogeneous biological data sources and analysis applications, through a multi-tiered architecture. This paper also illustrates the necessity for such a tool by discussing its usage in proteomics research being performed on the diseased and normal states of Deinococcus Radiodurans along with corresponding curated data collected from community resources.
SPREE: Object Prefetching for Mobile Computers

Mobile platforms combined with large databases promise new opportunities for mobile applications. However, mobile computing devices may experience frequent communication loss while in the field. In order to support database applications, mobile platforms are required to cache portions of the available data which can speed access over slow communication channels and mitigate communication disruptions. We present a new prefetching technique for databases in mobile environments based on program analysis. SPREE generates maps of a client program’s use of structured data to be used by our prefetching runtime system. We apply SPREE in the context of mobile programming for object structured databases demonstrating an effective way to prefetch/hoard over unreliable networks with speedups up to 80% over other techniques.
Compositional study of PLZT rainbow ceramics for piezo actuators

On-going studies have shown that the PLZT I compositional system is one which yields materials possessing some of the highest coefficients for piezoelectric and electrostrictive actuators. It has also been found that PLZT ceramics are near ideal for achieving the ultra-high displacements recently reported for the Rainbow (Reduced and INternally Biased Oxide Wafer) actuators. In order to determine the optimum composition or compositions for these Rainbow actuators, a study was conducted by preparing and processing selected formulations throughout the PLZT system. Results from this study indicate that, like the conventional direct extensional-mode materials, the maximum Rainbow bending displacements occur in materials located compositionally at the morphotropic (FE/sub rhomb/-FE/sub ter/) and Curie point (FE-PE, PE-AFE) phase boundaries. Examples of specific compositions for each of these regions are 2/53/47, 9/65/35 and 8.5/70/30 (La/Zr/Ti), respectively. Microstructural (grain size), electrical (dielectric constant, dissipation factor) and electromechanical (axial displacement) data are presented for selected compositions in the system.
Bacteriophage inactivation at the air-water-solid interface in dynamic batch systems.

Bacteriophages have been widely used as surrogates for human enteric viruses in many studies on virus transport and fate. In this investigation, the fates of three bacteriophages, MS2, R17, and φX174, were studied in a series of dynamic batch experiments. Both MS2 and R17 readily underwent inactivation in batch experiments where solutions of each phage were percolated through tubes packed with varying ratios of glass and Teflon beads. MS2 and R17 inactivation was the result of exposure to destructive forces at the dynamic air-water-solid interface. φX174, however, did not undergo inactivation in similar studies, suggesting that this phage does not accumulate at air-water interfaces or is not affected by interfacial forces in the same manner. Other batch experiments showed that MS2 and R17 were increasingly inactivated during mixing in polypropylene tubes as the ionic strength of the solution was raised (φX174 was not affected). By the addition of Tween 80 to suspensions of MS2 and R17, phage inactivation was prevented. Our data suggest that viral inactivation in simple dynamic batch experiments is dependent upon (i) the presence of a dynamic air-water-solid interface (where the solid is a hydrophobic surface), (ii) the ionic strength of the solution, (iii) the concentration of surface active compounds in the solution, and (iv) the type of virus used.
Foreign-Born Emigration: A New Approach and Estimates Based on Matched CPS Files

The utility of postcensal population estimates depends on the adequate measurement of four major components of demographic change: fertility, mortality, immigration, and emigration. Of the four components, emigration, especially of the foreign-born, has proved the most difficult to gauge. Without “direct” methods (i.e., methods identifying who emigrates and when), demographers have relied on indirect approaches, such as residual methods. Residual estimates, however, are sensitive to inaccuracies in their constituent parts and are particularly ill-suited for measuring the emigration of recent arrivals. Here we introduce a new method for estimating foreign-born emigration that takes advantage of the sample design of the Current Population Survey (CPS): repeated interviews of persons in the same housing units over a period of 16 months. Individuals appearing in a first March Supplement to the CPS but not the next include those who died in the intervening year, those who moved within the country, and those who emigrated. We use statistical methods to estimate the proportion of emigrants among those not present in the follow-up interview. Our method produces emigration estimates that are comparable to those from residual methods in the case of longer-term residents (immigrants who arrived more than 10 years ago), but yields higher—and what appear to be more accurate—estimates for recent arrivals. Although somewhat constrained by sample size, we also generate estimates by age, sex, region of birth, and duration of residence in the United States.
Nanomaterial Risk Assessment and Risk Management

Managing emerging risks, such as those posed by nanotechnology, is a challenge that requires carefully balancing largely unknown benefits and risks. Here we review current nanomaterial risk management frameworks and related documents, with a focus on identifying and assessing gaps in their coverage. We do so using a regulatory pyramid, with self-regulation at the pyramid base and prescriptive legislation at its apex. We find that appropriate regulatory tools, especially at the bottom of the regulatory pyramid, are largely lacking. In addition, we recommend that regulatory agencies employ an adaptive, tiered framework to manage nanotechnology risk. The framework should utilize multiple tools at different levels of the pyramid, with specific tools chosen on a case-by-case basis.
Investigation of Calcium Aluminate Cement Phases Under High Gaseous Pressure.

The chemical degradation of refractory cement castable liners is important in the coal gasification process. The system CaO-Al2O3-H2O has been investigated at high temperature and pressure. A pseudobinary reaction diagram was constructed for the system CaO-Al2O3-H2O in steam at 1000 psig. Several experiments were conducted in the CaO-Al2O3-H2O system in CO2, CH4, and CO.
Finite Element Modeling of the Progressive Failure of a Low-Rise Building under Uniform Uplift Pressure

Hurricane is the most financially devastative natural hazard. However, the prediction accuracy of the current two public hurricane damage prediction models for low-rise residential buildings is constrained by the modified ASCE code version and the predefined load distribution among the load bearing components. The current study proposed a rigorous Finite Element model that enables not only to accommodate the wind tunnel test or field test database, but also to update the progressively damaged building portion during the wind-structure interaction. The building envelope, including the sheathing panels and the nailing connections that were witnessed as the most vulnerable portion of the building, was modeled with extensive details. Shear failure of the roof sheathing was found to be one initiative failure mechanism and the hot spots agree well with the damaged roof sheathing by the post disaster survey. Under the same uniform uplift pressure, the building did experience the progressive failure after the initiation of the envelope damage. CE Database Subject Headings: Wind loads; Buildings; Low-rise; FE analysis; Progressive failure ______________________________________ (a) Research Assistant, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, 3418 Patrick Taylor Hall, Nicholson Extension Dr., Baton Rouge, 70803 LA, USA, fpan1@lsu.edu (b) Edwin B. and Norma S. McNeil Distinguished Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, 3505B Patrick Taylor Hall, Nicholson Extension Dr., Baton Rouge, 70803 LA, USA, cscai@lsu.edu
Electronic reporting of all reference laboratory results: An important step toward a truly all-encompassing, integrated health record.

Results from reference laboratories are often not easily available in electronic health records. This article describes a multi-pronged, long-term approach that includes bringing send-out tests in-...
Robust Trajectory Optimization for Dynamic Soaring

Robust and optimal trajectories are computed for a dynamic soaring unmanned aerial vehicle. Dynamic soaring is technique for extracting energy from atmospheric wind gradients that large seabirds such as the albatross use as their primary means of propulsive power. The stochastic nature of the soaring problem is explicitly included in the optimization formulation by using an uncertainty quantication technique known as stochastic collocation. This non-intrusive method can generate accurate estimates of solution statistics with signicantly fewer samples than a Monte Carlo based approach. An analysis of variance is rst performed to determine which environmental parameters, aircraft properties, and initial conditions contribute most to nal energy and altitude variance. Robust dynamic soaring trajectories are then computed by using stochastic collocation over carefully chosen nested sparse grids.
T Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity of Influenza Virus-Infected Cells

As discussed by Cerottini and Brunner (1974), and Doherty et al. (1976), cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) constitute part of the immunologic response to tissue grafts, tumor cells, and virus infections. It is thought that CTL interact directly with the surface of the foreign or virus-modified cells in a process which results in lysis of the target cells. This phenomenon can be demonstrated in vitro using a modification of the 51Cr release assay described by Lightbody (1971 and 1976). In this Exercise cultured fibroblast cells will be infected with influenza virus, and exposed to spleen cells of mice immunized to influenza virus. The modification of the cytotoxicity assay as described here has been elaborated and made available for this Manual by Ann Marschak.
Secondary pancreatic infections: are they distinct clinical entities?

BACKGROUND Infected pseudocysts, pancreatic abscesses, and infected pancreatic necroses have been proposed as distinct clinical entities in terms of treatment and outcome. To evaluate this classification, we reviewed the clinical course and bacteriologic findings of pancreatic infections. METHODS Of 1299 patients with pancreatitis or a related complication admitted over a 7-year period, 64 (4.9%) with culture-documented secondary pancreatic infections were reviewed with regard to cause, clinical course, bacteriologic findings, and outcomes. RESULTS Group I consisted of 23 patients with infected pseudocysts; group II, 20 patients with pancreatic abscesses; and group III, 21 patients with infected pancreatic necrosis. The causes were alcohol in 36%, biliary tract disease in 30%, and postoperative in 16%, with no significant difference between groups. Patients in group I had abdominal pain or a mass without accompanying signs of sepsis, whereas patients in groups II and III had sepsis. In group I, 15 patients were treated with internal drainage, four with percutaneous drainage, and four with external drainage. In group II, three had percutaneous drainage, 15 operative drainage, and two open packing. In group III, 19 patients had operative drainage and two had open packing. Morbidity occurred in 26% of patients in group I, 40% in group II, and 90% in group III (p less than 0.001). Mortality rates were 9% in group I, 25% in group II, and 48% in group III (p less than 0.01). Enteric organisms were present in 66% of isolates, with no difference between groups, suggesting a common mode of infection. CONCLUSIONS Despite similar bacteriologic findings, infected pseudocysts, pancreatic abscesses, and infected pancreatic necroses have significantly different presentations, clinical courses, and outcomes, confirming that they are distinct entities. This distinction is important when therapeutic outcomes are compared.
Extragenital Infections Caused by Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae: A Review of the Literature.

In the United States, sexually transmitted diseases due to Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae continue to be a major public health burden. Screening of extragenital sites including the oropharynx and rectum is an emerging practice based on recent studies highlighting the prevalence of infection at these sites. We reviewed studies reporting the prevalence of extragenital infections in women, men who have sex with men (MSM), and men who have sex only with women (MSW), including distribution by anatomical site. Among women, prevalence was found to be 0.6–35.8% for rectal gonorrhea (median reported prevalence 1.9%), 0–29.6% for pharyngeal gonorrhea (median 2.1%), 2.0–77.3% for rectal chlamydia (median 8.7%), and 0.2–3.2% for pharyngeal chlamydia (median 1.7%). Among MSM, prevalence was found to be 0.2–24.0% for rectal gonorrhea (median 5.9%), 0.5–16.5% for pharyngeal gonorrhea (median 4.6%), 2.1–23.0% for rectal chlamydia (median 8.9%), and 0–3.6% for pharyngeal chlamydia (median 1.7%). Among MSW, the prevalence was found to be 0–5.7% for rectal gonorrhea (median 3.4%), 0.4–15.5% for pharyngeal gonorrhea (median 2.2%), 0–11.8% for rectal chlamydia (median 7.7%), and 0–22.0% for pharyngeal chlamydia (median 1.6%). Extragenital infections are often asymptomatic and found in the absence of reported risk behaviors, such as receptive anal and oral intercourse. We discuss current clinical recommendations and future directions for research.
Quantification of Multifidus Atrophy and Fatty Infiltration Following a Minimally Invasive Microdiscectomy.

Background Multifidus muscle degeneration and atrophy have been demonstrated following traditional open spine surgery. The purpose of this study was to quantify multifidus muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration following a 1-level minimally invasive (MIS) lumbar discectomy. Methods Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 24 patients who underwent a primary 1-level MIS microdiscectomy were reviewed. Demographics, operative levels, and time from surgery to imaging were assessed. Total and lean cross-sectional areas (CSA), T1-signal intensity ratio between the multifidus and psoas muscles, and lean-to-total CSA ratio were measured. Pre- and postoperative values were compared within each patient utilizing paired sample T-tests. Results The mean age was 47.8±14.2 years. MRI was obtained 182.5±194.4 days following index surgery. On the ipsilateral side, total CSA decreased at the index level (-4.9%) and the lean CSA decreased at the index (-6.2%), inferior pedicle (-13.0%), and inferior disc levels (-18.6%). On the contralateral side, no significant decreases in total or lean CSA were demonstrated. T1-signal intensity ratios increased at all levels, but the differences were not statistically significant. The lean-to-total CSA ratio was decreased at the superior disc (-5.2%), inferior pedicle (-8.4%), and inferior disc levels (-17.2%) on the ipsilateral side and at the contralateral inferior disc level (-5.3%). Conclusions Primary 1-level MIS discectomy results in minimal short-term atrophy and fatty infiltration of the multifidus at the index level. Total CSA atrophy was mainly confined to the ipsilateral side at the index level. Lean CSA atrophy was observed mainly at and below the index level on the ipsilateral side. Fatty infiltration, as measured by the lean-to-total CSA ratio, ranged 1.2-17.2% on the ipsilateral and 0-5.3% on the contralateral side with greater fat content demonstrated caudally to the surgical level. Clinical Relevance Overall, the majority of the multifidus muscle appears to be radiographically preserved following an MIS lumbar discectomy.
Cooperative Communities: The Future of Water Management

This chapter focuses on the human right to water. Over the past 50 years, the UN has defined human rights, many of which concern issues of environmental justice. UN General Comment No. 15 served to refine the human right to water, recognizing it as “a public good fundamental for life and health.” It is estimated that women spend a combined total of 200 million hours per day collecting water, making them subject to violence on long treks and susceptible to water-borne illness. Other global initiatives have addressed issues of gender equality and equality for minorities. We summarize our suggestions for water managers. Representatives of public trust, water managers ought to represent community values. In doing so, they can serve the tenets of “water democracy.”
Performance Factors in a Mountain Ultramarathon

This study aimed to determine mountain ultra-marathon (MUM) performance factors in a large group of endurance mountain runners. Maximal aerobic speed (MAS) was assessed one week prior to the MUM. The level and graded (10%) energy cost of running, stiffness, knee extensors force (KEf), and jump height on a counter movement jump (CMJ) were measured in 24 male ultra runners before (pre) and immediately after (post) the Interlacs Trail (75 km and 3 930/3 700 m d+/d-). Performance time was correlated with MAS (r=- 0.74, p<0.001), fraction of MAS (FMAS) sustained (r=- 0.89, p<0.001), KEf (r=- 0.51, p<0.05), and KEf loss (r=- 0.51, p<0.05). A multiple regression analysis was performed using performance time in minutes (T) and the calculated individual characteristics, resulting in T=- 11.852×FMAS-37.195×MAS-0.118×KEf+2090.581 (R2=0.98, with 95% confidence interval). Contrary to expectations, performance was neither correlated to the level or uphill energy cost of running nor to the changes of these costs post-MUM. To perform in a MUM, training should take into account muscle strength of the KE, MAS and FMAS.
Melanoma in an Active Duty Marine.

ABSTRACT Given that the majority of active duty service members are young and healthy, potentially malignant diagnoses such as skin cancer may be overlooked. Although melanoma accounts for only approximately 1% of skin cancers, it causes the greatest majority of skin cancer deaths. We present the case of a 27-year-old active duty Marine who presented with a hyperpigmented macule at his lateral neck that was a malignant melanoma in situ. This article reviews risk factors for the development of melanoma, offers guidelines for primary care providers, reviews resources for providers in a deployed or austere environment, offers recommendations for prevention and early diagnosis, and discusses follow up.
Individual indicators of self-reported victimization among elementary school-age students: A latent class analysis

Abstract Peer victimization, in physical, verbal, or relational forms, can lead to significant developmental challenges with up to 60% of children being exposed to victimization during elementary school. Few studies to date have used person-centered approaches to understand this problem among elementary school samples. The present study aimed to investigate peer victimization exposure using Latent Class Analysis among a sample of 3rd–5th grade students and to examine differences in individual level characteristics among classes. From the analysis, three classes emerged including a non-victimized, a generally victimized, and a relationally victimized class. Students in the generally victimized class evidenced the worst individual outcomes. These results suggest that early intervention with peer victimization may help to mitigate negative developmental impacts for those victimized by multiple forms and universal and targeted interventions may be particularly useful for this age group.
Problems Associated with Dimensional Analysis of Electroencephalogram Data

We begin with a basic introduction to the electroencephalogram and discuss some of the EEG’s clinical uses. Next we introduce a practical application of dimensional analysis to the EEG by asking the question: How does the “dimension” of the EEG change with general anesthesia? Finally we discuss major problems associated with dimensional analysis of the EEG.
Binding of Pyrimethamine to Human Plasma Proteins and Erythrocytes

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay was developed for pyrimethamine in plasma, red blood cells (RBCs), and buffer for the purpose of studying its plasma protein binding and RBC partitioning. Pyrimethamine (1000 ng/ml) was 94% bound to plasma proteins on average, depending on the pH of plasma. A comparison of the lower and upper range of plasma concentrations that would be achieved after a malaria prophylaxis dosing regimen (25 mg/week) showed that the fraction unbound was significantly lower at 120 ng/ml than at the upper plasma concentration of 360 ng/ml, 3.5 vs 4.9%, respectively. Nonlinear regression of the effect of albumin concentration (g/L) on plasma binding yielded the equation: fraction unbound = 1/[(0.421 * albumin concentration) + 1] (R2 = 0.99). There was no binding to normal levels of alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AAG). The mean ratio of the concentration of pyrimethamine in RBCs to that in plasma (RBC:plasma ratio) was 0.42, while the mean RBC:buffer ratio was 5.2. Binding to hemolysate did not account for all of the RBC uptake, suggesting that binding to or partitioning into RBC membranes may be important. Because pyrimethamine binding depends on both albumin concentration and pyrimethamine concentration in the plasma, these studies predict greater free fractions of pyrimethamine associated with the higher doses given for toxoplasmosis (75 mg/day) and with the hypoalbuminemia associated with AIDS and malaria.
Economic Approaches to School Efficiency

The loose connection between school resources and school outcomes has given rise to a substantial literature examining the nature and causes of school inefficiency. This article discusses the econometric approaches used to measure educational inefficiency, the data and specifications used for such analyses, and the general findings of the literature regarding the extent and determinants of school inefficiency.
Programmatic and Surgeon Specialization Improves Mortality in Isolated Coronary Bypass Grafting.

Background Throughout surgery, specialization in a procedure has been shown to improve outcomes. Currently, there is no evidence for or against subspecialization in coronary surgery. Tasked with the goal of improving outcomes after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), our institution sought to determine whether the development of a subspecialized coronary surgery program would improve morbidity and mortality. Methods All isolated CABG operations at a single institution were retrospectively examined in two distinct periods, 2002 to 2013 and 2013 to 2016, before and after the implementation of a subspecialized coronary surgery program. Improved policies included leadership and subspecialization of a program director, standardization of surgical technique and postoperative care, and monthly multidisciplinary quality review. Outcomes were collected and compared. Results Between 2002 and 2013, 3,256 CABG operations were done by 16 surgeons, the most frequent surgeon doing 33%. Between 2013 and 2016, 1,283 operations were done by 10 surgeons, 70% by the coronary program director. CABGs done in the specialized era had shorter bypass and clamps times and increased use of bilateral internal mammary arteries. Blood transfusion and complication rates, including permanent stroke and prolonged ventilation, were significantly decreased after implementation of the coronary program. Likewise, overall operative mortality (2.67% vs 1.48%, p = 0.02) was significantly reduced. Conclusions Subspecialization in CABG and dedicated coronary surgery programs may lead to faster operations, increased use of bilateral internal mammary arteries, fewer complications, and improved survival after isolated CABG.
Abstract 2752: EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor limits tumor relapse through enhancing anti-tumor T cell responses

EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been clinically considered as the first line therapy for EGFR-driven tumor patients. Although the initial outcome of patients has significantly improved, almost all patients eventually relapse. Fully understanding the mechanisms of the anti-tumor effect of EGFR TKIs will help promote the clinical development of more efficient therapeutic strategies. The traditional view of the main mechanism is that the inhibitors can directly inhibit EGFR downstream signaling pathways to induce tumor cell death. Whether and how EGFR TKIs affect the host immune system is largely unknown. In current study, we have established syngeneic murine tumor models that are sensitive to EGFR TKIs treatment. To our surprise, we revealed that EGFR TKI treatment could control tumor growth and limit tumor relapse in T cells dependent manner. Mechanistically, EGFR TKI triggers type I IFN and its stimulation gene CXCL10 production through the Myd88 signaling pathway to enhance tumor specific T cells infiltration and activation. However, EGFR TKI cannot efficiently limit tumor relapse in advanced tumor models because of PD-L1 upregulation in the tumor microenvironment after treatment. We have observed that anti-PDL1 blockade can synergize with EGFR TKI to control advanced tumors. Our study will challenge the current regimen of EGFR TKI in clinic and provide new efficient therapeutic strategies for EGFR dependent cancer patients. Citation Format: Zhida Liu, Chuanhui Han, Aijun Shen, Chunbo Dong, Jian Qiao, Yang-Xin Fu. EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor limits tumor relapse through enhancing anti-tumor T cell responses [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2752.
Graph Modularity and Randomness Measures : A Comparative Study

The human brain connectome exhibits a specific structure diagram that is understood to not be wired for randomness. However, aberrant connectivity has been detected and moreover linked to multiple neuropsychiatric and neurological diseases. Graph theory has provided a set of methods to evaluate disruption of brain structure organization. An alternative approach evaluates the difference between brain connectivity matrices and random matrices aiming at assessing randomness. This work compares both approaches within the context of random connectivity. Results indicate the correlation between the two assessments depends on the degree and can be as high as 0.3. Consequently, the two concepts can be treated as complementary, but addressing different aspects of randomness.
Experimental Demonstration of mmWave Multi-Beam Forming by SiN Photonic Integrated Circuits for Elastic RF-Optical Networking

We present a two-beam 24-GHz mmWave spatial-division multiplexing demonstration using multi-layer SiN photonic integrated circuits for elastic RF-Optical 5G networking. The total system throughput can reach 8-Gbps over 1 GHz bandwidth with 16-QAM signals.
FlatFlash: Exploiting the Byte-Accessibility of SSDs within a Unified Memory-Storage Hierarchy

Using flash-based solid state drives (SSDs) as main memory has been proposed as a practical solution towards scaling memory capacity for data-intensive applications. However, almost all existing approaches rely on the paging mechanism to move data between SSDs and host DRAM. This inevitably incurs significant performance overhead and extra I/O traffic. Thanks to the byte-addressability supported by the PCIe interconnect and the internal memory in SSD controllers, it is feasible to access SSDs in both byte and block granularity today. Exploiting the benefits of SSD's byte-accessibility in today's memory-storage hierarchy is, however, challenging as it lacks systems support and abstractions for programs. In this paper, we present FlatFlash, an optimized unified memory-storage hierarchy, to efficiently use byte-addressable SSD as part of the main memory. We extend the virtual memory management to provide a unified memory interface so that programs can access data across SSD and DRAM in byte granularity seamlessly. We propose a lightweight, adaptive page promotion mechanism between SSD and DRAM to gain benefits from both the byte-addressable large SSD and fast DRAM concurrently and transparently, while avoiding unnecessary page movements. Furthermore, we propose an abstraction of byte-granular data persistence to exploit the persistence nature of SSDs, upon which we rethink the design primitives of crash consistency of several representative software systems that require data persistence, such as file systems and databases. Our evaluation with a variety of applications demonstrates that, compared to the current unified memory-storage systems, FlatFlash improves the performance for memory-intensive applications by up to 2.3x, reduces the tail latency for latency-critical applications by up to 2.8x, scales the throughput for transactional database by up to 3.0x, and decreases the meta-data persistence overhead for file systems by up to 18.9x. FlatFlash also improves the cost-effectiveness by up to 3.8x compared to DRAM-only systems, while enhancing the SSD lifetime significantly.
Buffon, Jefferson and the theory of New World degeneracy

In his magnum opus, Natural History: General and Particular, Count Buffon, one of the leading natural historians of the 18th century, argued that all life in the New World, particularly North America, was degenerate—weaker, smaller and feebler—than life in the Old World. This work tapped into pre-existing fears in Europe that America might emerge as a rival on the world stage, and so both the leaders, like Fredrick the Great, and the people of Europe (Natural History was a best seller), embraced what became known as the theory of New World degeneracy. In the fledgling United States, Thomas Jefferson and others took the lead to debunk this theory. Despite Jefferson’s refutation, the theory of degeneracy far outlived Buffon and Jefferson. It continued to be debated for nearly 100 years, in scientific, literary and political circles. Eventually the degeneracy argument died; but it did not die an easy death.
Agronomic and economic performance of organic forage, quinoa, and grain crop rotations in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest, USA

Abstract Volatile crop prices and a desire for sustainability have farmers considering alternative practices to increase revenue diversity and protect soil health. Organic management is rapidly expanding as an alternative to conventional agriculture, and quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a potential new crop for organic systems in the Pacific Northwest. Here we tested the agronomic and economic effects of diversifying dryland crop rotations with organic quinoa in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Eight 3-year grain cropping sequences were compared based on metrics of crop productivity, crop quality, and economic performance. While the crop sequences affected these metrics, crop yields and quality were mediated primarily by weather across growing seasons. Cumulative yields were higher for crop sequences that started with chickpea compared to barley. Organic quinoa yields were lower than the yield potential for the region, but some 3-year sequences with quinoa produced similar net returns to some sequences with wheat. Mean returns over variable costs were $324 ha−1 yr−1 for the 3-year sequence treatments; each treatment averaged positive net returns to variable costs despite some individual years having negative returns. The highest net returns to variable costs were in sequences that grew wheat and those that started with chickpea. Returns over total costs for the 3-year sequence treatments averaged -$33 ha−1 yr−1. The organic cropping systems (the total 8-year crop rotations including 5 years of organic alfalfa) produced higher returns over variable and total costs ($615 ha−1 yr−1 and $168 ha−1 yr−1, respectively) than a typical conventional rotation with county average yields during the same 8-year period ($477 ha−1 yr−1 and $82 ha−1 yr−1). Our results show that premiums for organic alfalfa and grains make these organic cropping systems economically viable for dryland production in the Pacific Northwest. Advances in organic weed control and regionally adapted quinoa varieties would further reduce the risk for farmers attempting this cropping system diversification.
Tracking Fluctuations in Psychological States Using Social Media Language: A Case Study of Weekly Emotion

Personality psychologists are increasingly documenting dynamic, within–person processes. Big data methodologies can augment this endeavour by allowing for the collection of naturalistic and persona...
Mobility Optimism in an Age of Rising Inequality

Four decades of rising incomes at the top, combined with income stagnation and declining intergenerational social mobility for the majority of American households, have combined to produce what has...