cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Is It Difficult to Concentrate During the 3rd Trimester and Postpartum

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine changes in women's directed attention, the ability to focus or concentrate, during the last trimester of pregnancy and during 1 st week postpartum. Design Pregnant women were tested at enrollment (during the 3rd trimester), at 37 weeks gestation, and during the 1st postpartum week for this descriptive, repeated measures study. Setting Women were recruited from childbirth education classes in southwestern Michigan. Participants Fifty-seven women in their 3rd trimester of pregnancy. Main Outcome Measures Directed attention was measured objectively by the Digits Span Forward and Backward, Trailmaking A and B, and Category Matching tests. Subjective measures were the Attentional Function Index and Mental Effort in Tasks tests. Results Participant means on the objective measures were within the normal range at all three time points. Some individuals, however, showed limitations in the capacity to direct their attention. Ability to use directed attention was lowest at enrollment and improved during the study, with statistically significant changes from Times 1 to 2 on several measures. Subjectively, the participants felt that they had moderately low competence on tasks that required directed attention throughout the study. Conclusions Women had the greatest difficulty focusing during the 3rd trimester. Some individuals had problems with tasks requiring directed attention at all three time points. Many participants perceived that their ability to pay attention was lower than normal. Some women may benefit from nursing interventions to reduce attentional demands during the 3rd trimester and early postpartum period. JOGNN, 29, 378–389; 2000.
Monoalkyl sulfates as alkylating agents in water, alkylsulfatase rate enhancements, and the “energy-rich” nature of sulfate half-esters

Alkyl sulfate monoesters are involved in cell signaling and structure. Alkyl sulfates are also present in many commercial detergents. Here, we show that monomethyl sulfate acts as an efficient alkylating agent in water, reacting spontaneously with oxygen nucleophiles >100-fold more rapidly than do alkylsulfonium ions, the usual methyl donors in living organisms. These reactions of methyl sulfate, which are much more rapid than its hydrolysis, are insensitive to the nature of the attacking nucleophile, with a Bronsted βnuc value of −0.01. Experiments at elevated temperatures indicate a rate constant of 2 × 10−11 s−1 for the uncatalyzed hydrolysis of methyl sulfate at 25°C (t1/2 = 1,100 y), corresponding to a rate enhancement of ≈1011-fold by a human alkylsulfatase. Equilibria of formation of methyl sulfate from methanol and sodium hydrogen sulfate indicate a group transfer potential (ΔG′pH7) of −8.9 kcal/mol for sulfate ester hydrolysis. The magnitude of that value, involving release of the strong acid HSO4−, helps to explain the need for harnessing the free energy of hydrolysis of two ATP molecules in activating sulfate for the biosynthesis of sulfate monoesters. The “energy-rich” nature of monoalkyl sulfate esters, coupled with their marked resistance to hydrolysis, renders them capable of acting as sulfating or alkylating agents under relatively mild conditions. These findings raise the possibility that, under appropriate circumstances, alkyl groups may undergo transfer from alkyl sulfate monoesters to biological target molecules.
Unexpected Severe Calcification After Transplantation of Bone Marrow Cells in Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background— There has been a rapid increase in the number of clinical trials using unselected bone marrow (BM) cells or the mononuclear fraction of BM cells for treating ischemic heart diseases. Thus far, no significant deleterious effects or complications have been reported in any studies using BM-derived cells for treatment of various cardiac diseases. Methods and Results— Seven-week-old female Fisher-344 rats underwent surgery to induce acute myocardial infarction and were randomized into 3 groups of 16 rats, each receiving intramyocardial injection of either 7×105 DiI-labeled total BM cells (TBMCs), the same number of DiI-labeled, clonally expanded BM multipotent stem cells, or the same volume of phosphate-buffered saline in the peri-infarct area. Echocardiography 2 weeks after cell transplantation indicated intramyocardial calcification in 4 of 14 surviving rats (28.5%) in the TBMC group. Histological examination with hematoxylin and eosin staining and von Kossa staining confirmed the presence of ext...
Treatment advances in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) encompass a heterogeneous group of lymphoid malignancies with varying natural histories and prognoses. Recent classifications for NHL have defined distinct lymphoma entities based on morphology, immunophenotype, genetic features, clonal cell lineage and clinical features. These new, more precise classifications and characterizations of NHL will be essential in developing new targeted therapies. However, for this brief review, we will continue describe NHL primarily as indolent or aggressive. Treatment options for patients with indolent, but generally incurable, lymphomas include a 'watch and wait' approach, single agent alkylators, nucleoside analogues, combination chemotherapy, immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, radiolabelled monoclonal antibodies, or interferon (IFN). Vaccine therapy for indolent lymphomas is currently under intense investigation. For aggressive lymphomas, combination chemotherapy remains the standard of care. Major advances in the management of aggressive lymphomas include validation of the international prognostic index and clarification of the role of high-dose therapy with bone marrow or stem cell transplant in patients with relapsed aggressive lymphomas. Multiple randomised pilot trials of high dose therapy as initial therapy for aggressive lymphomas have shown conflicting results and await confirmatory studies.
Social Regulation of Human Gene Expression

Relationships between genes and social behavior have historically been construed as a one-way street, with genes in control. Recent analyses have challenged this view by discovering broad alterations in the expression of human genes as a function of differing socio-environmental conditions. The emerging field of social genomics has begun to identity the types of genes subject to social regulation, the biological signaling pathways mediating those effects, and the genetic polymorphisms that moderate socio-environmental influences on human gene expression.
Origin Sites of Calcium Release and Calcium Oscillations in Frog Sympathetic Neurons

In many neurons, Ca 2+ signaling depends on efflux of Ca 2+ from intracellular stores into the cytoplasm via caffeine-sensitive ryanodine receptors (RyRs) of the endoplasmic reticulum. We have used high-speed confocal microscopy to image depolarization- and caffeine-evoked increases in cytoplasmic Ca 2+ levels in individual cultured frog sympathetic neurons. Although caffeine-evoked Ca 2+ wave fronts propagated throughout the cell, in most cells the initial Ca 2+ release was from one or more discrete sites that were several micrometers wide and located at the cell edge, even in Ca 2+ -free external solution. During cell-wide cytoplasmic [Ca 2+ ] oscillations triggered by continual caffeine application, the initial Ca 2+ release that began each Ca 2+ peak was from the same subcellular site or sites. The Ca 2+ wave fronts propagated with constant amplitude; the spread was mostly via calcium-induced calcium release. Propagation was faster around the cell periphery than radially inward. Local Ca 2+ levels within the cell body could increase or decrease independently of neighboring regions, suggesting independent action of spatially separate Ca 2+ stores. Confocal imaging of fluorescent analogs of ryanodine and thapsigargin, and of MitoTracker, showed potential structural correlates to the patterns of Ca 2+ release and propagation. High densities of RyRs were found in a ring around the cell periphery, mitochondria in a broader ring just inside the RyRs, and sarco-endoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+ ATPase pumps in hot spots at the cell edge. Discrete sites at the cell edge primed to release Ca 2+ from intracellular stores might preferentially convert Ca 2+ influx through a local area of plasma membrane into a cell-wide Ca 2+ increase.
Circuit partitioning into small sets: a tool to support testing with further applications

The authors consider a general partitioning problem, namely how to partition the elements of a circuit into sets of size less than a small constant, so that the number of nets which connect elements in different sets is minimized. One application is in the design for testability of VLSI chips and printed circuit boards. The authors consider two different versions of a bottom-up iterative approach. In the first version they present an efficient heuristic. In an alternative version, the heuristic is used as a subroutine to an approximation (provably good) algorithm, resulting in comparably good solutions. The authors compare both approaches with the familiar top-down approach which uses a well known bisection heuristic as a subroutine. These solutions outperform the top-down partitioning approach. >
A case for sustainable security systems engineering: Integrating national, human, energy and environmental security

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, there is a growing sense of insecurity felt by many citizens around the world. Sustainable security, with roots in the sustainable development and human security literature, seeks positive transformations for the co-evolving and mutually dependent human-environmental condition by integrating (and subsuming) national, human, environmental, and energy security concerns and capitalizing on opportunities provided by human creativity, diplomatic openings, modernization and environmental change. The field of Sustainable Security Systems Engineering is proposed for protecting, restoring, designing, and implementing a set of integrated natural and man-made processes that equitably and responsibly meet the biophysical needs of human communities, while maintaining long-term security, respecting financial constraints, meeting ecological limits, and improving institutional arrangements for transparent and effective governance. Scenario planning is shown to help promote sustainable security by identifying the preconditions of instability and helping to proactively address them in an increasingly complex and uncertain world. The six papers published in this featured collection cross policy domains, geographic, political, and sectoral boundaries and were discussed at forums sponsored by the Systems Engineering and Global Policy group. Collectively, they demonstrate the quality, breadth and depth of systems engineering methodologies that are used to promote sustainable security.
Transition and Turbulence Modeling for Blunt-Body Wake Flows

This study attempts to improve the modeling and computational prediction of high-speed transitional wake flows. The recently developed k - z (Enstrophy) turbulence model is coupled with a newly developed transition prediction method and implemented in an implicit flow solver well-suited to hypersonic flows. In this model, transition onset is determined as part of the solution. Results obtained using the new model for a 70 degree blunted cone/sting geometry demonstrate better agreement with experimental heat transfer measurements when compared to laminar calculations as well as solutions using the k - w mode. Results are also presented for the situation where transition onset is preselected. It is shown that, in this case, results are quite sensitive to location of the transition point.
Standpoint: Cameras on trial: The “O. J. Show”; turns the tide

(1995). Standpoint: Cameras on trial: The “O. J. Show”; turns the tide. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media: Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 562-568.
Elucidating Interactions Between Ionic Liquids and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Quantum Chemical Calculations

Using quantum mechanical calculations performed at the density functional level of theory, the present study explores the binding energetics, orbital energies, and charge transfer behavior accompanying sorption of 12 different ionic liquids (ILs) onto 6 archetypal polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The ILs were based on combinations of three different onium cations (i.e., 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium, 1-butylpyridinium, 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium) paired with four common anions, that is, bromide, tetrafluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate, and bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide. In general, the size of the anion as well as interaction of the butyl side chain present on the cation with the paired anion exerted significant influence over the cation ring orientation with respect to the PAH surface. A smaller highest occupied molecular orbital–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO–LUMO) energy band gap was observed for pyridinium-based ILs upon adsorption on the PAH surface in comparison to imidazolium and py...
Isolation and characterization of 24 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the study of genetic population structure of the sheepshead Archosargus probatocephalus (Actinopterygii, Perciformes, Sparidae).

Background The sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus) is found in nearshore waters from Nova Scotia, Canada, to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In the southeastern United States two subspecies are recognized based on a number of meristic characters, primarily counts of melanistic pigment bars. The only previous study based on mtDNA control-region sequence found limited divergence between those subspecies and isolation by distance among 15 locations from Florida (Atlantic Ocean) to Texas (Gulf of Mexico). In the same study, using six sparid microsatellite markers, Bayesian analysis showed that the Gulf and Atlantic sheepshead form a single population. To reinvestigate the fine-scale genetic population structure and examine genetic support for the morphologically classified subspecies, a set of species-specific microsatellite markers was needed.
Growth of a Solid D-T Crystal from the Liquid inside Inertial Confinement Fusion Targets

The accepted mechanism for the formation of a deuterium-tritium (D-T) ice layer is that mass evaporates (sublimes) from the warmer regions of the shell and deposits in the cooler regions. Recent ob...
Language use in a ‘one parent–one language’ Mandarin–English bilingual family: noun versus verb use and language mixing compared to maternal perception

Via naturalistic observations, parent interview, and direct assessments, we examined language proficiency, language use, and differentiation of a 3-year, 4-month-old bilingual child exposed to Mandarin and English via the ‘one parent-one language’ principle. Although noun versus verb dominance has been explored across verb-based (Mandarin) and noun-based (English) languages in a between-subjects manner with monolinguals, it has not been explored within bilingual children learning both languages from birth. Three 15-minute sessions were recorded in the home: child–mother Mandarin interaction, child–father English interaction, and two parent–child bilingual interactions. The child was dominant in Mandarin according to number of words used, mean length of utterance, and receptive vocabulary. The child used the two languages discriminately depending on the interactive contexts. However, the languages used by all three members of the family contained more language mixing than was perceived by the mother during...
Effects of receipt of Social Security retirement benefits on older women’s employment

ABSTRACTLabor force participation of women has declined since 1999; however, labor force participation of women 62+ has increased. The 2000–2006 waves of Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data, the initial years of the continuing upward trajectory, were used to test the effects of receipt of Social Security retirement benefits on older women’s employment. The models tested: (a) the effect of receipt of Social Security retirement benefits on whether employed; and (b) for women receiving Social Security retirement benefits, the effect of age elected receipt of benefits on whether employed. Both models included the effects of human capital characteristics and income sources. Receipt of Social Security benefits, pension income, and current age reduced the likelihood of employment; while educational level, good to excellent health, and nonmarried marital status increased the likelihood of employment. The older the woman was when she elected Social Security benefits, the more likely she was to be employed.
Economic opportunity, health behaviours, and health outcomes in the USA: a population-based cross-sectional study

Summary Background Inequality of opportunity, defined as differences in the prospects for upward social mobility, might have important consequences for health. Diminished opportunity can lower the motivation to invest in future health by reducing economic returns to health investments and undermining hope. We estimated the association between county-level economic opportunity and individual-level health in young adults in the general US population. Methods In this population-based cross-sectional study, we used individual-level data from the 2009–12 United States Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Surveys. Our primary outcomes were current self-reported overall health and the number of days of poor physical and mental health in the last month. Economic opportunity was measured by the county-averaged national income rank attained by individuals born to families in the lowest income quartile. We restricted our sample to adults aged 25–35 years old to match the data used to assign exposure. Multivariable ordinary least squares and probit models were used to estimate the association between the outcomes and economic opportunity. We adjusted for a range of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, including age, sex, race, education, income, access to health care, area income inequality, segregation, and social capital. Findings We assessed nearly 147 000 individuals between the ages of 25 years and 35 years surveyed from 2009 to 2012. In models adjusting for individual-level demographics and county-level socioeconomic characteristics, increases in county-level economic opportunity were associated with greater self-reported overall health. An interdecile increase in economic opportunity was associated with 0·76 fewer days of poor mental health (95% CI −1·26 to −0·25) and 0·53 fewer days of poor physical health (−0·96 to −0·09) in the last month. The results were robust to sensitivity analyses. Interpretation Economic opportunity is independently associated with self-reported health and health behaviours. Policies seeking to expand economic opportunities might have important spillover effects on health. Funding Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholars Program.
Healthcare Providers’ Formative Experiences with Race and Black Male Patients in Urban Hospital Environments

We explored health providers’ formative personal and professional experiences with race and Black men as a way to assess their potential influence on interactions with Black male patients. Utilizing convenience sampling with snowballing techniques, we identified healthcare providers in two urban university hospitals. We compared Black and White providers’ experiences based on race and level of training. We used the Gardener’s Tale to conceptualize how racism may lead to racial health disparities. A semi-structured interview guide was used to conduct in-person interviews (n = 16). Using the grounded theory approach, we conducted three types of coding to examine data patterns. We found two themes reflective of personally mediated racism: (1) perception of Black males accompanied by two subthemes (a) biased care and (b) fear and discomfort and (2) cognitive dissonance. While this latter theme is more reflective of Jones’s internalized racism level, we present its results because its novelty is compelling. Perception of Black males and cognitive dissonance appear to influence providers’ approaches with Black male patients. This study suggests the need to develop initiatives and curricula in health professional schools that address provider racial bias. Understanding the dynamics operating in the patient-provider encounter enhances the ability to address and reduce health disparities.
Linking socioeconomic development, sea level rise, and climate change impacts on urban growth in New York City with a fuzzy cellular automata-based Markov chain model

This study aims to conduct a multi-temporal change analysis of land use and land cover in New York City via a cellular automata-based Markov chain model that uses fuzzy set theory and multi-criteria evaluation to predict the city’s future land use changes for 2030 and 2050 under potential sea level rise and long-term rainfall-runoff flooding impacts driven by climate change. To determine the future natural forcing impacts on land use in New York City, this study highlights the need for integrating spatiotemporal modeling analyses, such as a statistical downscaling model driven by climate change with remote sensing and GIS to support urban growth assessment. The research findings indicate that the mean rainfall will increase in the future and sea levels will rise near New York City; however, open space is expected to decrease by 1.51% and 2.51% and the urban area is expected to expand by about 1.36% and 2.63% in 2030 and 2050 respectively, taking into account the climate change and sea level rise.
Canagliflozin: Cui Bono?

Article, see p 323 Cardiovascular disease accounts for the majority of excess deaths seen in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D).1 Thus, to improve outcomes in this population, clinicians should focus on therapies that decrease the risk of subsequent cardiovascular events. Over the last 2 years, randomized controlled clinical trials have identified several agents that decrease cardiovascular events in patients with T2D with or at high risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD)—effects likely unrelated to glucose lowering, the indication for which they were originally developed.2–5 One of these therapies (empagliflozin), a sodium glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor (SGLT-2i), was found to reduce the risks of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), cardiovascular death, hospitalization for heart failure, and progression of nephropathy in patients with CVD.2 However, it is unknown whether SGLT-2i can also reduce cardiovascular events in the lower risk population of patients with T2D but without established CVD. The majority of patients with T2D do not have established CVD.6 Although in general their risk of adverse cardiac events is lower than that of patients with T2D and CVD, this population remains at substantial lifetime risk of future ischemic events.7 Furthermore, cardiovascular events that may not be directly mediated by ischemia, such as heart failure, are also important and occur in patients with and without established CVD.7 In an analysis of the global REACH registry (Reduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health) of ≈20 000 patients with T2D, 1 of 20 patients with T2D and only risk factors for atherosclerosis were hospitalized with heart failure over 4 years of follow-up. Furthermore, there is substantial heterogeneity of risk in patients with T2D without known CVD. In the SAVOR-TIMI 53 …
Taeniasis and Cysticercosis

Cestodes, or tapeworms, vary greatly in size and behavior but have similar morphology consisting of a head, called a scolex, a neck, and a worm body, called a strobila, which is formed by body segments called proglottids. T. saginata, T. solium, and T. asiatica. The life cycles of these Taenia species are similar. As definitive host, humans acquire intestinal infection with these cestodes by ingestion of undercooked meat—pork in the case of T. solium and T. asiatica and beef in the case of T. saginata—containing encysted larvae termed cysticercus. This tapeworm infection is called taeniasis. As intermediate host, humans acquire tissue infection of cysticerci by ingestion of T. solium eggs. After ingestion, the eggs mature into metacestodes, which are infective larvae capable of encysting in tissues. This infection is called cysticercosis. T. solium is the only species known to cause significant human pathology; most commonly larvae encyst in the central nervous system (CNS), which is called neurocysticercosis. T. saginata and T. asiatica are similar morphologically and closely related genetically. They cause limited pathology in humans but significant economic losses in the livestock industry.
‘Que cherchent-ils au Ciel?’: Seeing with the Blind in Bruegel, Baudelaire and Maeterlinck

This article examines depictions of blindness across painting, poetry and theatre. Bruegel’s sixteenth-century painting, The Parable of the Blind, strongly resonates with Baudelaire’s and Maeterlin...
The adoption and use of GSS in project teams: toward more participative processes and outcomes

This paper reports the results of a field study of six medical project teams that worked together in meetings over a seven-week period to develop plans to improve customer service within a hospital. Half the teams used a group support system (GSS), while the other half used traditional processes that were the habitual norms for this organization. In the teams using traditional project team processes, the leaders defined the teams' project goal, directed discussions, recorded and controlled the teams' notes, assigned tasks to team members, and prepared and presented the teams' report. In the GSS teams, the leaders faced leadership challenges or abdicated, regular members participated to a greater extent, the project goal emerged from team discussion, and the teams' notes were open and widely distributed. In short, processes in the GSS teams were more participatory and democratic. At first, teams found the GSS-based meeting processes very uncomfortable and returned to traditional verbal discussion-based processes. Once they returned to these traditional processes, however, they found them uncomfortable and moved back to include more electronic communication-based processes. Participants' attitudes (satisfaction, perceived effectiveness, and cohesiveness) were initially lower in GSS teams, but gradually increased, until they equaled those of the traditional teams. There were significant differences in overall project outcomes: traditional teams developed conservative projects that met the unstated project agenda perceived by the team leaders. In contrast, GSS teams developed projects more closely aligned to the interests of team members.
Cashing It In: Private-Company Exchanges and Employee Stock Sales Prior to IPO

Companies in the United States are staying private longer, and this trend has important implications for companies and their employees. Employees holding equity awards in private companies are restricted from monetizing an illiquid asset that they might need to support their living expenses. They are also exposed to a concentrated investment portfolio with no readily accessible public market mechanism through which to diversify. To satisfy these needs, a number of private-company marketplace have evolved to facilitate transactions between sellers and qualified buyers. This Closer Look examines the practice of allowing employees to sell vested equity awards and the pricing employees receive in such transactions. We rely on two unique data sets: a survey of private (pre-IPO) companies and transaction data from SharesPost, a leading private-company marketplace. We ask: • Should private companies allow their employees to sell equity prior to IPO? • If so, what restrictions should companies put in place to ensure that employee sales transactions do not significantly alter the incentive structure of variable compensation? • Who within the company should determine the timing, scope, and terms of a sales program? • Should the SEC take steps to boost the size and liquidity of secondary private-company exchanges to reduce the discount that employees receive for selling their shares? • Would an expansion of secondary private-company discourage more companies from going private by providing an attractive, alternative means of providing liquidity to employees and inside investors? Note: The Stanford Closer Look series is a collection of short case studies through which we explore topics, issues, and controversies in corporate governance and executive leadership. In each study, we take a targeted look at a specific issue that is relevant to the current debate on governance and explain why it is so important. Larcker and Tayan are co-authors of the books Corporate Governance Matters and A Real Look at Real World Corporate Governance.
Analytical procedure to assess the performance characteristics of a non-spectroscopic infrared optical sensor for discrimination of chemical vapors

An optical-filter-based sensor that was designed to mimic human color vision was recently developed. This sensor uses three mid-infrared optical filters to discriminate between chemicals with similar, strongly overlapping mid-infrared absorption bands. This non-spectroscopic technique requires no spectral scanning. This paper defines the selectivity and specificity of this biomimetic sensor. Receiver operating characteristic curves are presented for each target chemical. These results demonstrate that the sensor is highly selective and can provide discrimination with no false positives for three similar target chemicals-acetone, hexane, and fuel oil-while rejecting potential interferents.
Unequal Exceptions: Zoning Relief in New York City, 1998–2017:

Zoning relief, the process of exempting individual properties from land-use regulations, is a widespread yet underexplored planning practice. A mixed-methods analysis of applications to the Board o...
Association Between Duration of Untreated Psychosis and Frontostriatal Connectivity During Maintenance of Visuospatial Working Memory.

Abstract Background A longer duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) has been linked with poor clinical outcomes and variation in resting-state striatal connectivity with central executive regions. However, the link between DUP and task-based activation of executive neurocognition has not previously been examined. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study examined the association between DUP and both activation and frontostriatal functional connectivity during a visual working memory (WM) paradigm in patients with first-episode psychosis. Methods Patients with first-episode psychosis (n = 37) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning while performing a visual WM task. At the single-subject level, task conditions were modeled; at the group level, each condition was examined along with DUP. Activation was examined within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a primary region supporting visual WM activation. Frontostriatal functional connectivity during the WM was examined via psychophysical interaction between the dorsal caudate and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Results were compared with a reference range of connectivity values in a matched group of healthy volunteers (n = 25). Task performance was also examined in relation to neuroimaging findings. Results No significant association was observed between DUP and WM activation. Longer DUP showed less functional frontostriatal connectivity with the maintenance of increasing WM load. Results were not related to task performance measures, consistent with previous work. Conclusions Our data suggest that DUP may affect frontostriatal circuitry that supports executive functioning. Future work is necessary to examine if these findings contribute to the mechanism underlying the relationship between DUP and worsened clinical outcomes.
Race-related differences in functional antibody response to pneumococcal vaccination in HIV-infected individuals

Abstract Background Both HIV positivity and African American (AA) ethnicity are associated with increased incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Poor immune response to pneumococcal polysaccharide-based vaccines may contribute to the race related increased frequency of IPD in African American HIV positive individuals. Methods Caucasian and AA HIV-infected (HIV+) individuals 40–65 years old with CD4+ T cells/µl (CD4) >200 on antiretroviral therapy (ART) received either the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) followed by the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) or PPV only. Serum IgG, IgM and opsonophagocytic antibody responses to serotypes 14 and 23F as well as serum IgG and opsonophagocytic antibody responses to serotype 19A were measured pre- and post-vaccination. We measured serum markers of inflammation in all participants and performed single cell gene expression profiling at the baseline by HD Biomark in Caucasians and African Americans. Results There were no significant differences in pre-immunization inflammatory markers or post-vaccination IgG and IgM concentrations between Caucasian and African American participants. However, we found significantly lower opsonophagocytic activity in response to serotypes 14 and 19A in the AA group compared to the Caucasian group. There was no association between inflammatory markers and immune response to vaccination, however we found extensive biomodal variation in gene expression levels in single IgM+ memory B cells. Differentially expressed genes may be related to differences in the immune response between ethnic groups. Conclusions Distinct racial differences were found in the functional immune response following either PPV and/or PCV/PPV immunization in HIV-positive adults, although these differences were serotype dependent. Decreased ability to respond to vaccination may in part explain racial disparities in pneumococcal disease epidemiology. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03039491.
Open Distal Tibial Allograft Augmentation

Isolated soft tissue stabilization procedures for treatment of recurrent shoulder instability are often not appropriate when the patient demonstrates bone loss of greater than 15% and in situations where there is recurrent instability after multiple attempts at arthroscopic stabilization. Current techniques for glenoid reconstruction include autografts with coracoid transfers, both Latarjet and Bristow techniques, autografts from the iliac crest, and allografts. Recent focus is on the use of distal tibial allografts for glenoid reconstruction. Distal tibial allografts provide a nearly identical radius of curvature to the glenoid with the addition of a thick cartilaginous surface that helps to restore the natural arc of the glenoid, ultimately leading to improved contact pressures by increasing the contact area. Additionally, these grafts are readily available and offer exceptional bone strength for fixation with a screw. This article discusses the surgical technique of distal tibial allograft augmentation for recurrent shoulder instability as well as the pre- and postoperative management of these patients.
Conflict Resolution: How to Successfully Manage Conflict

Conflict in the workplace is inevitable and can manifest itself in many forms, including interpersonal conflicts as well as how things get done or what work needs to be done. Some degree of conflict can actually be beneficial by disrupting complacency and by fostering innovation and creativity. Nevertheless, no one truly enjoys conflict, the ability to feel comfortable with conflict and come to successful resolution is a key leadership skill. This chapter highlights some of the key aspects of conflict management, including necessary communication skills.
Goal-conditioned Imitation Learning

Designing rewards for Reinforcement Learning (RL) is challenging because it needs to convey the desired task, be efficient to optimize, and be easy to compute. The latter is particularly problematic when applying RL to robotics, where detecting whether the desired configuration is reached might require considerable supervision and instrumentation. Furthermore, we are often interested in being able to reach a wide range of configurations, hence setting up a different reward every time might be unpractical. Methods like Hindsight Experience Replay (HER) have recently shown promise to learn policies able to reach many goals, without the need of a reward. Unfortunately, without tricks like resetting to points along the trajectory, HER might require many samples to discover how to reach certain areas of the state-space. In this work we propose a novel algorithm goalGAIL, which incorporates demonstrations to drastically speed up the convergence to a policy able to reach any goal, surpassing the performance of an agent trained with other Imitation Learning algorithms. Furthermore, we show our method can also be used when the available expert trajectories do not contain the actions or when the expert is suboptimal, which makes it applicable when only kinesthetic, third person or noisy demonstration is available.
Prebiotic Phosphorylation of Uridine using Diamidophosphate in Aerosols.

One of the most challenging fundamental problems in establishing prebiotically plausible routes for phosphorylation reactions using phosphate is that they are thermodynamically unfavorable in aqueous conditions. Diamidophosphate (DAP), a potentially prebiotically relevant compound, was shown to phosphorylate nucleosides in aqueous medium, albeit at a very slow rate (days/weeks). Here, we demonstrate that performing these reactions within an aerosol environment, a suitable model for the early Earth ocean-air interface, yields higher reaction rates when compared to bulk solution, thus overcoming these rate limitations. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate the effective conversion (~6.5–10%) of uridine to uridine-2′,3′-cyclophosphate in less than 1 h. These results suggest that aerosol environments are a possible scenario in which prebiotic phosphorylation could have occurred despite unfavorable rates in bulk solution.
Thrust makes it easy to introduce parallel processing on GPUs into a research project or college course: faculty poster abstract

Thrust is a high-level parallel programming library similar to the C++ Standard Template Library (STL) that makes it easy to introduce parallel programming on GPUs into a research project or a college course. Parallel processing is becoming increasingly essential to fully utilize the capabilities of modern hardware. The clock speed of a single core on the CPU has pretty much leveled off. Modern CPUs have 2--8 cores running in parallel that a single-threaded program can't take advantage of. Some programs that fully utilize that capability could run 2--8 times faster using multiple threads. On the other hand, a powerful graphics processing unit (GPU) on a graphics card has 200--3000 cores that run in parallel. When fully utilized, speedups compared to a serial CPU program can equal or exceed the number of cores. GPU cores are not equivalent to CPU cores. They don't perform independent tasks efficiently. They need a lot of parallelism, regular patterns in memory access, and computationally-intensive tasks involving single-precision floating point numbers to best demonstrate their potential.
Natural Language Processing Combined with ICD-9-CM Codes as a Novel Method to Study the Epidemiology of Allergic Drug Reactions.

Background Allergic drug reaction epidemiologic data are sparse because it remains difficult to identify true cases in large data sets using manual chart review. Objective To develop and validate a novel informatics method based on natural language processing (NLP) in combination with International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes that identifies allergic drug reactions in the electronic health record. Methods Previously studied and high-yield ICD-9-CM codes were used to screen for possible allergic drug reactions among all inpatients admitted in 2007 and 2008. A random sample was selected for manual chart review to identify true cases of allergic drug reactions. A rule-based NLP algorithm was then developed to identify allergic drug reactions using free-text clinical notes and discharge summaries from the filtered cases. The performance of using manual chart review of ICD-9-CM codes alone was compared with ICD-9-CM codes in combination with NLP. Results Of 3907 cases identified by ICD-9-CM codes, 725 (19%) were randomly selected for manual chart review; 335 were confirmed as allergic drug reactions, resulting in a positive predictive value (PPV) of 46% (range: 18%-79%) when using ICD-9-CM codes alone. Our NLP algorithm in combination with ICD-9-CM codes achieved a PPV of 86% (range: 69%-100%). Among the 335 confirmed positive cases, NLP identified 259 true cases, resulting in a recall/sensitivity of 77% (range: 26%-100%). Among the 390 negative cases, NLP achieved a specificity of 89% (range: 69%-100%). Conclusion Using NLP with ICD-9-CM codes improved identification of allergic drug reactions. The resulting decrease in manual chart review effort will facilitate large epidemiology studies of this understudied area.
Enhancement of Natriuretic Peptides in Rejected Human Renal Graft

Natriuretic peptides include atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP). ANP, BNP and CNP are structure related but genetic distinct 1 natriuretic peptide family. ANP and BNP are cardiac cell origin and CNP are endothelial cell and kidney origin. Natriuretic peptides have potent vasoactive and natriuretic actions through generation of cGMP. On the other hand, renal graft rejection is major problem after kidney transplantation with severe renal damage and renal vasoconstriction. We hypothesized that renal tissue level of natriuretic peptides increase in renal graft rejection through compensatory mechanism. Therefore, the present study was designed to determine the expression of natriuretic peptides by immunohistochemical staining (IHCS) in human renal tissue with rejection and compare with normal renal tissue.Human renal biopsy (n=5) were obtained after kidney transplantation with mild and moderate renal rejection. Normal kidney biopsy was obtained during nephrectomy. ANP, BNP and CNP levels in renal tissue were determined by IHCS.
Value-Based Payment Reforms in Cardiovascular Care: Progress to Date and Next Steps

In an effort to curb excessive health care spending and incentivize high-quality care, many payers have implemented value-based payment reforms designed to pay for the quality rather than the quantity of health care services. Medicare, the largest payer in the United States, has implemented numerous value-based payment policies over the past decade, many of which affect cardiovascular care. In this review, we discuss some of these major nationwide value-based payment reforms as they relate to cardiovascular care and what we may expect in the future from cardiovascular value-based policies.
Comparison of Medium-Voltage Oscilloscope Probes for Evaluating Silicon-Carbide Multi-Chip Power Modules

Continuous improvements in silicon carbide (SiC) technology has led to the development of medium-voltage (MV) SiC MOSFETs that support significantly higher edge rates and operating frequencies than those supported by MV silicon technology. Before these MV semiconductors can reach large-scale adoption, their behavior must be accurately characterized and modeled. This characterization process requires high-fidelity time-domain measurements to capture the high-frequency behavior of these semiconductors. Many publications discuss the challenges associated with performing such measurements for low-voltage (LV) SiC MOSFETs operating below 1.2 kV. The challenges associated with accurately characterizing MV SiC MOSFETs have received less treatment in the literature. The LV challenges are heightened at MV since probe attenuation is increased and probe bandwidth is decreased. This paper provides a detailed comparison of commercially available MV oscilloscope voltage probes. A subset of the available MV voltage probes is compared experimentally up to 5.0 kV and the results are analyzed using a simple oscilloscope probe model. Finally, the relative performance of the probes under consideration is discussed, and guidelines are provided for selecting a suitable MV oscilloscope voltage probe.
The design related issue debug by static fault isolation methodology

As semiconductor technology keeps developing, failure analysis and device characterizations become more and more challenging. Global fault isolation without detailed circuit information comprises the majority of foundry EFA cases. That's why static fault isolation is majority part of the foundry EFA methodology. Limited pins will be biased with the static condition to access and trigger the defect, finally visualize it. Since the limited access pin and info were provided the static fault isolation has its intrinsic limitation, especially for the functionally failed unit analysis. So the different indirect methodologies were applied in the static analysis. The conventional and straightforward practice is to adjust the different bias condition to access and trigger the detect, trial and error. The other method is trying to select suitable and representative units for analysis. As long as some signal was triggered the subsequent analysis can be proceed on. For the functional fail the situation will be even worse because the failure mode is difficult to verify by the DC bias condition. In this paper a functional fail prototype issue was analyzed. DC bias shows normal for the units which customer's feedback show leakage under the functional testinge After the studying of the customer provided layout and circuit of the suspected block, we repetitively switch on and off of the power we biased on some of the pin. We manage to trigger the leakage mentioned by customer. With this kind of leakage hot spot was successfully observed. Combined with different hot spot of different bias condition and layout/circuit study, the failure mechanism was come out. It is a design related problem which was also accepted by the designer.
COVID-19 Antibodies and Outcomes among Outpatient Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients

Background Patients on maintenance hemodialysis are particularly vulnerable to infection and hospitalization from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Due to immunocompromised patients and the clustering that occurs in outpatient dialysis units, the seroprevalence of COVID-19 antibodies in this population is unknown and has significant implications for public health. Also, little is known about their risk factors for hospitalization. Methods Three outpatient maintenance hemodialysis units affiliated with a major teaching hospital in the New York area were studied. We determined rates of SARS-CoV-2 positivity via nasopharyngeal, real-time, reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR); SARS-CoV-2 IgG seropositivity; hospitalization; and mortality. Results Of 367 patients, 28% had either SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity or PCR positivity. Prevalence across the three respective units was 7%, 32%, and 70%. Those who were either antibody or PCR positive were significantly younger (65 versus 69 years, P=0.05), and had a higher prevalence of Black race (43% versus 30%, P=0.001) and Hispanic ethnicity (32% versus 12%, P Conclusions We observed significant differences in rates of COVID-19 infection within three outpatient dialysis units, with universal seroconversion. Among patients with ESKD, rates of asymptomatic infection appear to be high, as do hospitalization and mortality rates.