cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Gene-environment interactions: The road less traveled by in asthma genetics

The genetics of asthma and allergy has come to a crossroads. After a period of incremental progress fueled by classical association and linkage studies, the year 2007 witnessed a quantum leap in genotype-phenotype association analyses with the publication of the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) for an asthma trait (childhood asthma). GWASs rely on dense sets of single nucleotide polymorphisms across the genome to survey the most common genetic variants for a role in disease or to identify the heritable quantitative traits that are risk factors for disease. Very few new approaches in biology and medicine have elicited as much enthusiasm and as much expectation as GWASs. The main strength of these studies lies in their ability to discover truly novel disease candidate genes, especially those associated with moderate risks and common variants. On the other hand, effect sizes for common variants are typically modest, and given the need to exceed stringent statistical thresholds, the power to discover novel associations has been relatively low. Another intriguing complication, rooted in biology as much as in statistics, also looms large and is clearly illustrated by the outcome of the first asthma GWAS and its aftermath. This study identified a strong association between variants at chromosome 17q21 and an increased risk of asthma. Because the region of association on chromosome 17q21.1 spanned 206 kb and included 19 annotated genes, the identification of the gene or genes responsible for the association was pursued by profiling transcription of the genes located within the relevant genomic interval. The rationale underlying this approach was that variation in gene transcription might mediate disease susceptibility and transcript abundance might be directly modified by
Dendritic Cells Retrovirally Transduced with a Model Antigen Gene Are Therapeutically Effective against Established Pulmonary Metastases

Dendritic cells (DCs) are bone marrow–derived leukocytes that function as potent antigen presenting cells capable of initiating T cell–dependent responses from quiescent lymphocytes. DC pulsed with tumor-associated antigen (TAA) peptide or protein have recently been demonstrated to elicit antigen-specific protective antitumor immunity in a number of murine models. Transduction of DCs with TAA genes may allow stable, prolonged antigen expression as well as the potential for presentation of multiple, or unidentified, epitopes in association with major histocompatibility complex class I and/or class II molecules. To evaluate the potential efficacy of retrovirally transduced DCs, bone marrow cells harvested from BALB/c mice were transduced with either a model antigen gene encoding β-galactosidase (β-gal) or a control gene encoding rat HER-2/neu (Neu) by coculture with irradiated ecotropic retroviral producer lines. Bone marrow cells were differentiated into DC in vitro using granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin-4. After 7 d in culture, cells were 45–78% double positive for DC phenotypic cell surface markers by FACS® analysis, and DC transduced with β-gal were 41–72% positive for β-gal expression by X-gal staining. In addition, coculture of β-gal transduced DC with a β-gal–specific T cell line (CTLx) resulted in the production of large amounts of interferon-γ, demonstrating that transduced DCs could process and present endogenously expressed β-gal. DC transduced with β-gal and control rat HER-2/neu were then used to treat 3-d lung metastases in mice bearing an experimental murine tumor CT26.CL25, expressing the model antigen, β-gal. Treatment with β-gal–transduced DC significantly reduced the number of pulmonary metastatic nodules compared with treatment with Hank's balanced salt solution or DCs transduced with rat HER-2/neu. In addition, immunization with β-gal–transduced DCs resulted in the generation of antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), which were significantly more reactive against relevant tumor targets than CTLs generated from mice immunized with DCs pulsed with the Ld-restricted β-gal peptide. The results observed in this rapidly lethal tumor model suggest that DCs transduced with TAA may be a useful treatment modality in tumor immunotherapy.
Taking Topic Detection From Evaluation to Practice

The Topic Detection and Tracking (TDT) research community investigates information retrieval methods for organizing a constantly arriving stream of news articles by the events that they discuss. Our best system for the open evaluations of TDT has used an approach that turned out to be problematic when the cluster detection technology was deployed in a real world setting. To avoid generating "garbage" clusters, we had to revert to a different approach and to explore engineering solutions that were not motivated by the model. Our experiences also led us to propose extensions to the formal TDT evaluation.
Plasma Osmolality Reference Values in African Grey Parrots (Psittacus erithacus erithacus), Hispaniolan Amazon Parrots (Amazona ventralis), and Red-fronted Macaws (Ara rubrogenys)

Abstract Birds are routinely presented to veterinarians for dehydration. Success with these cases ultimately depends on providing replacement fluids and re-establishing fluid homeostasis. Few studies have been done to determine reference ranges for plasma osmolality in birds. The goals of this study were to determine reference values for plasma osmolality in 3 species of parrots and to provide recommendations on fluid selection for replacement therapy in these species. Blood samples were collected from 21 adult Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis), 21 Congo African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus erithacus), and 9 red-fronted macaws (Ara rubrogenys), and were placed into lithium heparin containers. Plasma osmolality was measured in duplicate with a freezing point depression osmometer. Summary statistics were computed from the average values. Reference ranges, calculated by using the robust method, were 288–324, 308–345, and 223–369 mOsm/kg in African grey parrots, Hispaniolan Amazon parrots, a...
Contributions of altered sensation and feedback responses to changes in coordination of postural control due to aging.

We used multivariate kinematics and joint torque measurements during dynamic posturography to determine the relative contributions of changes in overall control gain, relative weighting of sensors, and noise-like effects on posture control in the elderly. Our results show that sway coordination and amplitude both change with age, but that changes in overall feedback gains do not explain these differences. We propose that increased sway of elderly subjects in platform sway-referenced conditions is due to sensory noise or decreased ability to detect small motions of the platform, while increased sway during visual sway-referencing is due to re-weighting of the various sensors.
Soybean Looper (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Oviposition on Cotton and Soybean of Different Growth Stages: Influence of Olfactory Stimuli

Soybean looper, Pseudoplusia includens (Walker), oviposition in cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., and soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr., of various stages of plant phenological development was evaluated in field cages in 1994, 1995, and 1996. Overall, females preferred to oviposit on soybean over cotton when both crops were compared in vegetative or prebloom stages, when both crops were blooming, and when soybean was blooming or in early pod stage compared with prebloom cotton. Females preferred to deposit eggs on the lower leaf surface in the upper two-thirds of the plant canopy in cotton and soybean. Oviposition in upper and middle canopy levels varied with plant growth stage. Females tended to lay more eggs in the upper canopy compared with the middle canopy in prebloom cotton and vegetative soybean; more eggs were laid in the middle canopy of blooming cotton and reproductive stages of soybean. Females responded to both cotton and soybean volatiles in an olfactometer. There was no significant difference in response to the two sources of volatiles.
Accusatory and exculpatory moves in the hunting for "Racists" language game

Race talk in the US frequently singles out individuals as “racists,” positioning them as outliers in a society that has supposedly moved beyond race. However, this type of “language game” is premised upon a narrow understanding of racism that reduces it to individual bigotry while ignoring its systemic dimensions. This article examines the accusatory and exculpatory moves in this language game by analyzing three cases that received mainstream media attention. The analysis shows that the discursive moves ultimately work to reproduce dominant ideological assumptions, doing more to protect white privilege than to dismantle racism. This occurs even as speakers engage in ostensibly anti-racist talk. 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Journalism and the Perfect Heat Wave: Assessing the Reportage of North America's Worst Heat Wave, July-August 1936

Abstract By most any standard, the monumental heat wave of July and August 1936 represents the most severe protracted weather event in North America s recorded history. To better understand the social and historical impact of this significant weather phenomenon, this critical-historical analysis examines the manner in which select major newspapers framed the heat wave in terms of an integral relationship between news values and news stories. The analysis reveals that despite the event's epic dimensions, reportage generally treated the heat wave as a transient event without long-term significance. In general, stories overemphasized agricultural concerns and ongoing drought conditions, while coverage failed to adequately address germane urban issues related to the heat. Further, stories focused excessively on New Deal solutions to Dust Bowl era social problems at the expense of addressing key emergent private-sector technologies such as air conditioning.
CREST Cost of Renewable Energy Spreadsheet Tool: A Model for Developing Cost-Based Incentives in the United States; User Manual Version 4, August 2009 - March 2011 (Updated July 2013)

The objective of this document is to help model users understand how to use the CREST model to support renewable energy incentives, FITs, and other renewable energy rate-setting processes. This user manual will walk the reader through the spreadsheet tool, including its layout and conventions, offering context on how and why it was created. This user manual will also provide instructions on how to populate the model with inputs that are appropriate for a specific jurisdiction's policymaking objectives and context. Finally, the user manual will describe the results and outline how these results may inform decisions about long-term renewable energy support programs.
The Right of Access to Information: Exploring Gender Inequities

The right of access to information is a fundamental and universal right, necessary for economic empowerment and the fulfilment of other rights. However, the recent study discussed in this article demonstrates that women are not able to exercise this right with the same frequency, ease and rate of success as men. The article examines the issue of gender inequity in the exercise of the right of access to information by exploring the legislative framework underpinning the right for women, detailing the value of information for women, describing the principal obstacles that propagate information asymmetries, and exploring potential responses to advance a more universal right to information.
Revisiting the Determinants of Futures Contracts: The Curious Case of Distillers' Dried Grains

A futures market for distillers' dried grains (DDGs) was introduced on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in early 2010, but the market became inactive only four months after its inception. While many new futures contracts do not develop into high-volume traders, significant interest from DDG cash market participants seemed to indicate that this contract would be successful. This study examines whether it might have been possible to predict the ineffectiveness of the DDG contract. We test multiple factors found in previous literature to affect the success of futures contracts, as well as the impact of market participants and the activeness of supporting futures markets. In particular, we empirically determine whether lack of activity in the ethanol futures market contributed to the ineffectiveness of the DDG contract. While the existing literature would have predicted a high likelihood of success for a DDG futures contract, our estimation results draw a conflicting conclusion and indicate that a primary reason was an inactive supporting ethanol futures market.
Divalent Ion Parameterization Strongly Affects Conformation and Interactions of an Anionic Biomimetic Polymer.

The description of peptides and the use of molecular dynamics simulations to refine structures and investigate the dynamics on an atomistic scale are well developed. Through a consensus in this community over multiple decades, parameters were developed for molecular interactions that only require the sequence of amino-acids and an initial guess for the three-dimensional structure. The recent discovery of peptoids will require a retooling of the currently available interaction potentials in order to have the same level of confidence in the predicted structures and pathways as there is presently in the peptide counterparts. Here we present modeling of peptoids using a combination of ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) and atomistic resolution classical force field (FF) to span the relevant time and length scales. To properly account for the dominant forces that stabilize ordered structures of peptoids, namely steric-, electrostatic, and hydrophobic interactions mediated through side chain–side chain interac...
Sequential Covariance-Matrix Estimation with Application to Mitigating Catastrophic Forgetting

Catastrophic forgetting is a problem encountered with neural networks as well as other learning systems whereby past representations are lost as new representations are learned. It has been shown that catastrophic forgetting can be mitigated in neural networks by using a neuron selection technique, dubbed "cluster-select," which performs online clustering over the network inputs to partition the network such that only a subset of neurons are used for a given input vector. Cluster-select can benefit by using Mahalanobis distance which relies on an inverse covariance estimate. Unfortunately, covariance estimation is problematic when lacking a very large number of samples relative to the number of input dimensions. One way to tackle this problem is through the use of a shrinkage estimator that offers a compromise between the sample covariance matrix and a well-conditioned matrix with the aim of minimizing the mean-squared error (MSE). In online environments, such as those in which catastrophic forgetting can occur, data arrives sequentially, requiring the covariance matrix to be estimated sequentially. Therefore, in this work we derive sequential update rules for the shrinkage estimator and approximate it's related inverse. The online covariance estimator is applied to the cluster-select technique with results that demonstrate further improvements in terms of effectively mitigating catastrophic forgetting.
Abstract 1634: Reduced NIMA-related kinase 2 (Nek2) expression levels enhance paclitaxel sensitivity in breast cancer cells

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC While many clinical trials have shown that the taxane, paclitaxel (Taxol™), is a very powerful anticancer drug, paclitaxel is still controversial in its applicability for cancer treatment because of the resistance of tumor cells to its effects. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine whether the sensitivity of paclitaxel is improved with the addition of antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) against NIMA related kinase 2 (Nek2) in the breast cancer cells. Nek2, a serine/threonine kinase is a gene emerging as important to cancer development because of its regulatory role in mammalian cell mitosis. Moreover, abnormally increased Nek2 expression and activity levels are the main trait of various cancer cells. For these reasons, regulation of the Nek2 expression levels may prove important as a target for cancer treatment. Studies suggest that depletion of Nek2 results in mitotic arrest and ultimately leads to apoptosis in cancer cells. Because many cancer cells have demonstrated resistance to anticancer drugs, more effective therapeutic treatments for cancer patients are necessary. To overcome this treatment resistance, gene silencing through ASO has emerged as an attractive alternative. ASO are able to inhibit cancer progression because they bind to and depress, the expression of genes targeted for their involvement in tumor development. There are currently clinical trials using ASO for cancer patients suffering from a variety of cancers such as breast, colon, and prostate. In this study, we investigated drug sensitivity by using plus ASOs targeted against Nek2 to treat breast cancer cells. MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells transfected with Nek2 ASO were treated with paclitaxel to evaluate cell proliferation, cell cycle distribution, and apoptosis. We detected that MDA-MB-468 cells treated together with Nek2 ASO and paclitaxel showed more synergistic results compared with either agent alone. Nek2 ASO worked with paclitaxel in the arrest of the cell cycle at the G2-M phase and lead to apoptosis as well. This study suggests that Nek2 ASO and paclitaxel combination treatment of cancer cells may strongly improve the sensitivity of cancer cells. Thus, these results possibly provide a new strategy for the treatment of breast cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1634.
On the matching conditions for a spherical shell subjected to external pressure

The method of variational calculus with variable matching points was utilized to properly formulate a spherical shell subjected to external pressure. It has been demonstrated how this method yields the proper differential equations, boundary conditions, and matching conditions when two adjoining regions governed by linear and nonlinear theory are assumed. The results obtained show that it is mathematically incorrect to make the a priori assumption that the shell's membrane stresses are zero at the matching line which separates the uniformly compressed region from the dimpled or buckled region. It is also shown that by utilizing this variational approach, the need to define the buckled region of the shell, as was done in Ref. [5], is not required.
Beyond Impervious: Urban Land-Cover Pattern Variation and Implications for Watershed Management

Impervious surfaces degrade urban water quality, but their over-coverage has not explained the persistent water quality variation observed among catchments with similar rates of imperviousness. Land-cover patterns likely explain much of this variation, although little is known about how they vary among watersheds. Our goal was to analyze a series of urban catchments within a range of impervious cover to evaluate how land-cover varies among them. We then highlight examples from the literature to explore the potential effects of land-cover pattern variability for urban watershed management. High-resolution (1 m(2)) land-cover data were used to quantify 23 land-cover pattern and stormwater infrastructure metrics within 32 catchments across the Triangle Region of North Carolina. These metrics were used to analyze variability in land-cover patterns among the study catchments. We used hierarchical clustering to organize the catchments into four groups, each with a distinct landscape pattern. Among these groups, the connectivity of combined land-cover patches accounted for 40 %, and the size and shape of lawns and buildings accounted for 20 %, of the overall variation in land-cover patterns among catchments. Storm water infrastructure metrics accounted for 8 % of the remaining variation. Our analysis demonstrates that land-cover patterns do vary among urban catchments, and that trees and grass (lawns) are divergent cover types in urban systems. The complex interactions among land-covers have several direct implications for the ongoing management of urban watersheds.
Classification of the Web: Challenges and Inquiries

Mai, Jens-Erik. (2004). Classification of the Web: Challenges and Inquiries. Knowledge Organization, 31(2). 92-97. 33 refs. ABSTRACT: This paper discusses the challenges faced by investigations into the classification of the Web and outlines inquir- ies that are needed to use principles for bibliographic classification to construct classifications of the Web. This paper suggests that the classification of the Web meets challenges that call for inquiries into the theoretical foundation of bibliographic classi- fication theory.
Using multiple models to understand data

A human's ability to diagnose errors, gather data, and generate features in order to build better models is largely untapped. We hypothesize that analyzing results from multiple models can help people diagnose errors by understanding relationships among data, features, and algorithms. These relationships might otherwise be masked by the bias inherent to any individual model. We demonstrate this approach in our Prospect system, show how multiple models can be used to detect label noise and aid in generating new features, and validate our methods in a pair of experiments.
Comparison of Fluid Volumes with Whole Bowel Irrigation in a Simulated Overdose of Ibuprofen

Objective:To determine the effect of 2 different fluid volumes of polyethylene glycol whole bowel irrigation (WBI) solution on absorption of an ingested toxin in a simulated overdose model.Design:Prospective, randomized, crossover trial.Setting:Clinical research unit.Participants:Nine adult men.Interventions:On 2 separate days, volunteers ingested approximately 75 mg/kg of ibuprofen. In treatment 1, 30 minutes after ingestion of ibuprofen, a 3-L WBI at 2 L/h was begun. This procedure was repeated in treatment 2 with an 8-L WBI administered at 2 L/h. Fourteen timed serum samples were collected prior to and after drug ingestion for a 24-hour period and analyzed for ibuprofen concentration. The peak serum concentration, time to peak concentration, total area under the serum concentration-time curve (AUC), clearance, and volume of distribution were compared.Results:The mean ± SD AUCs did not differ between the 3-L (1185.3 ± 216.9 mg·h/L) and 8-L (1153.5 ± 251.5 mg·h/L) treatments (p = 0.710). Time to peak ser...
Queueing Theory Applications in the Analysis of Computer and Communication Systems

Queueing theory has been widely used to analyze computer systems and communication networks. This chaptcr introduces the use or simple queucing networks for modeling communication and computer systems. We show models based on both closed and open nctworks. Such simplified models can be used to obtain reasonable measures or performance and reliabilily of these systems. This Chapter also introduces techniques that can be analyzed using oomputational tools. One such technique is the Mean Value Analysis (MVA), which is often used with closed queueing network. MVA along with convolution techniques as well as approximate solutions can be used to analyze a large-scale compuler and communication systems. It sbould be noted that, Cloud computing systems or Iarge interconnected computers involve very complex network and interactions, and arc too difficult to model using queueing nctworks. Discrete event simulations are often used for such systems.
Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes, and the Conclusion of Milton’s Career

While one might think that writing Paradise Lost would have fulfilled Milton’s poetic ambitions, all passion spent by the time he reached the wondrous concluding lines, “They hand in hand with wandring steps and slow, / Through Eden took thir solitarie way” (12.648–9), evidently, he had still more to say,1 and, in 1671, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes appeared in one volume.2 Yet, these poems are not discrete efforts.3 Together, they form a coherent thematic unit tied together by many verbal parallels and echoes. Both poems also contain so many allusions to Milton’s earlier work, that it seems as if Milton intended his final poems as a summa of his life’s work—a crowning achievement that summons all his previous writings on stage for a final, brilliant affirmation and curtain call.4 The matter, however, is much more complicated, for in Paradise Regained, he conjures up the presence of his earlier work not to confirm, but to dismiss it, and Samson Agonistes undoes whatever certainties Paradise Regained achieves.
A new eimerian (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae), from ornate box turtle, Terrapene ornata (Agassiz) (Testudines: Emydidae) from northwest Arkansas, USA.

A new species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875 (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) collected from an ornate box turtle, Terrapene ornata (Agassiz) from Arkansas, USA, is described. Oocysts of Eimeria doddi n. sp. are ovoidal to ellipsoidal with a smooth, light to darker brown, bi-layered wall, measure 21.1 × 14.0 µm, and have a length/width (L/W) ratio of 1.5; both micropyle and oocyst residuum are absent, but a polar granule is present. Sporocysts are ellipsoidal, 9.9 × 6.1 µm, L/W 1.6; the Stieda body is present, but the sub-Stieda and para-Stieda bodies are absent and the sporocyst residuum is composed of small granules in a cluster. Sporozoites have a spheroidal anterior refractile body, a subspheroidal posterior refractile body, and one centrally-located nucleus. This is the third description of an eimerian from the turtle genus Terrapene Merrem and the second from T. ornata. In addition, we report Eimeria ornata McAllister & Upton, 1989 from T. ornata from Texas.
Aberrant cGMP signaling persists during recovery in mice with oxygen-induced pulmonary hypertension

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a common complication of preterm birth, is associated with pulmonary hypertension (PH) in 25% of infants with moderate to severe BPD. Neonatal mice exposed to hyperoxia for 14d develop lung disease similar to BPD, with evidence of associated PH. The cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) signaling pathway has not been well studied in BPD-associated PH. In addition, there is little data about the natural history of hyperoxia-induced PH in mice or the utility of phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibition in established disease. C57BL/6 mice were placed in room air or 75% O2 within 24h of birth for 14d, followed by recovery in room air for an additional 7 days (21d). Additional pups were treated with either vehicle or sildenafil for 7d during room air recovery. Mean alveolar area, pulmonary artery (PA) medial wall thickness (MWT), RVH, and vessel density were evaluated at 21d. PA protein from 21d animals was analyzed for soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) activity, PDE5 activity, and cGMP levels. Neonatal hyperoxia exposure results in persistent alveolar simplification, RVH, decreased vessel density, increased MWT, and disrupted cGMP signaling despite a period of room air recovery. Delayed treatment with sildenafil during room air recovery is associated with improved RVH and decreased PA PDE5 activity, but does not have significant effects on alveolar simplification, PA remodeling, or vessel density. These data are consistent with clinical studies suggesting inconsistent effects of sildenafil treatment in infants with BPD-associated PH.
Post-Processing Methods for Improving Coding Gain in Belief Propagation Decoding of Polar Codes

Belief propagation (BP) is a high-throughput, low- latency decoding algorithm for polar codes, but the error-correcting performance is known to be inferior than successive cancellation (SC) decoding. To improve the error-correcting performance of BP decoding, we design post- processing methods targeting false converged errors, oscillation errors, and unconverged errors that determine the performance of BP decoding. False convergence can be resolved by perturbing, or gradually freezing the information bits, followed by error cleanup using BP. Oscillations can be resolved by enhancing the stable bits and perturbing the unstable bits, followed by error cleanup using BP. Unconverged errors can be resolved by enhancing the reliably stable bits and weakening the unstable bits. Results show that the error rates of BP decoding can be improved by an order of magnitude or more, allowing it to overtake SC in error rate and coding gain. Post-processing can be implemented very efficiently, costing less than 4.3% overhead in silicon area, and it does not affect the throughput or latency of BP decoding.
Federalism, Fiscal Authority, and Centralization in Latin America: THE OFFICIAL PARTY AS A REGIONAL COMPROMISE

Party Politics and Regional Fragmentation The previous chapter has shown that the debates surrounding the efforts toward centralization of the tax system during the 1920s and 1930s reflected underlying political differences between national and regional leaders. A fragmented fiscal system remained the status quo, imposing economic losses on both the state and federal governments. The origins of this economic failure were political . A successful resolution came only in subsequent decades as Mexican politicians crafted an institutional innovation, namely a hegemonic corporatist political party, that provided means to solve the problems that had bedeviled the fiscal regime. The party brought about political stability and limited taxation through fiscal integration, but ultimately at the cost of undermining democracy and federalism. In terms of the logic spelled out by the theoretical account in Chapter 1, the party created a commitment mechanism that made transfers credible. During the early postrevolutionary years, thousands of regional political “parties,” mere personal organizations centered around revolutionary leaders, competed for local and national offices. Local elections were characterized by postelectoral conflict in which contenders declared victory regardless of the vote count, resorting to arms in order to settle their disputes. The lack of national political integration was reflected in the federal legislature, which, providing veto power to regional politicians, often proved ineffective in national policymaking. The establishment of the PRI's predecessor, the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (PNR), in 1929 represented an explicit attempt to address the problems of regional fragmentation.
The Neurosurgery Healthcare Team

Neurosurgery is comprised of a diverse range of disease conditions involving the brain, spine, peripheral nerves, and blood vessels that supply these vital structures. The care of neurosurgery patients involves an equally complex and mutually integrative group of health care professionals. While each individual serves a slightly different role, effective communication between the team, the patient, and family is crucial to maximizing safe and efficient care.
PREDICTING GRAIN, FLOUR, AND BREAD QUALITY USING NIR SPECTROSCOPY

ABSTRACT Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is used throughout the grain industry to rapidly measure characteristics of whole grain and flour, and recent research also shows that it can be used to study bread staling. We will report the accuracy of NIR and Fourier Transform (FT) NIR technology for measuring the quality of whole grain, flour, and bread. NIR and FTNIR instruments tested include the Foss 6500, Foss 1241, Perten 7200, Perten DA7000, and Cognis QTA FTNIR spectrometers. For the whole grain analysis, we will report the accuracy of using the NIR and FTNIR instruments for measuring grain quality. We will also report the correlations of NIR and FTNIR measurements to flour quality measurements conducted on the same samples after milling. The same samples were then baked and we will report the accuracy of predicting bread quality from the NIR and FTNIR spectra collected from the flour and whole grain. We also used NIRS to study starch, protein, and temperature effects on bread staling, and we compared NIRS to the texture analyzer as a means of studying bread staling. The results presented in this paper should provide the grain industry with the potential and limitations of NIR and FTNIR technology for predicting grain, flour, and bread quality.
Asymptotics of $L_\lambda$-Norms of ARCH(p) Innovation Density Estimators

In this paper we consider, under L\(_{\lambda}\)-norm, the global property for a residual-based kernel estimator of the innovation density estimator in ARCH time series. For any \(1 \leq \lambda 1\), this quantity is shown to be small enough so that the asymptotic distribution for the \(L_\lambda\)-norm of the difference between the innovation-based kernel estimator and the innovation density (which is known from the i.i.d. case) carries over to the difference between the residual-based kernel estimator and the innovation density. For \(\lambda=1\), this is no longer the case as the above quantity is then of the same magnitude as the L 1-norn of the difference between the innovation-based kernel estimator and the innovation density.
Research on Methods Courses and Field Experiences Renee T. Clift and Patricia Brady, University of Illinois

E nglis hT he or et ic al“F ra m ewor k”R el at io nshi p W it hor P os it io n inFi el dD at a Sour ce s, D urat io n ofSt udy, Impa ctC la ims E xam in edA ut hors ,Dat eP ar ti ci pant sof R es ea rc hP ar ti ci pant san d D at a A naly si san d Fi ndin gsA gee, J. (1 997) R esea rche r w hoob serv edan dpa rt ic ipat edso mew hat, but d idno ttea chC it esso ci al iz at io nth eory and cogn it ive theo ry,p lus com peti ngth eori esof how tote ach liter at ure and the impa ctof cult ure onte achi nglit erat ureTw o mid d le -c la ssun d ergr adua tese cond aryedfe mal e pres ervi cete ache rs(1 A fr ic anA mer ic an, 1 Whi te ), 1 mal eas si st antp rofe ssorO bser vati ons and fi el dno te son the seco ndar y met hod scl ass, ta pes ofw hole -c la ssan dsm al lgrou pd is cuss io ns;i nter view s w it hth e st uden tsan dth epr ofes sor; 3 read ing prot ocol s,co urse sylla bi, and assi gnm ents d urin g the met hod s sem este r;vi d eota pes ofst uden tte achi ng;d ebri ef ing inte rvie w s;ot her inte rvie w s;an dlo gsd urin g st uden tte achi ngD at a w ere cod edfo rst at emen tsab outr ead ers and st uden tsof liter at ure and for soci al iz at io n into te achi ngba sed onop enco d ing ofd at a and aco nsta ntco mpa rati vean al ysis ,pre serv edin asp eake r turn form atin the d at abas e,fo llow edby axia lco d ing toid enti fyov erar chin g cate gori esan dch ange over ti me.
In Utero Diagnoses of Strikingly Similar Presentations of Complete Atrioventricular Septal Defects in a Pair of Dizygotic Twins Concordant for Trisomy 21

Trisomy 21, or Down syndrome (DS), is a genetic disorder affecting approximately 1 in 500-750 live births. The prevalence of DS has increased over the past two decades, correlating with a rise in the proportion of pregnancies complicated by advanced maternal age. There is also a correlation between advanced maternal age and dizygotic twinning rates. There is an increased risk of at least one twin being affected in dizygotic pregnancies compared to singletons. However, despite this greater relative risk, reports of concordance of DS in both dizygotic twins are very rare. Congenital heart disease (CHD) occurs in roughly 40% of individuals with DS, but there can be considerable phenotypic variation. The most common, atrioventricular septal defect accounts for only 40% of CHD seen in DS. There is also a higher incidence of CHD in twins, but also with a low incidence of concordance. There have been only five reported cases of concordant DS in dizygotic twins with confirmed chromosomal analyses; none of which describe concordant congenital heart disease. Here, we describe an unusual case of dizygotic twins of differing genders concordant for both Down syndrome and congenital heart disease of a strikingly similar presentation.
Guidance for the Clinical Management of Thirdhand Smoke Exposure in the Child Health Care Setting.

Objective To explain the concept of thirdhand smoke and how it can be used to protect the health of children and improve delivery of tobacco control interventions for parents in the child health care setting. Methods Review of the literature and descriptive report. Results The thirdhand smoke concept has been used in the CEASE intervention to improve the delivery of tobacco control counseling and services to parents. Materials and techniques have been developed for the child health care setting that use the concept of thirdhand smoke. Scientific findings demonstrate that thirdhand smoke exposure is harmful and establishes the need for clinicians to communicate the cessation imperative: the only way to protect non-smoking household members from thirdhand smoke is for all household smokers to quit smoking completely. As the scientific knowledge of thirdhand smoke increases, advocates will likely rely on it to encourage completely smoke-free places. Conclusion Recent scientific studies on thirdhand smoke are impelling further research on the topic, spurring the creation of tobacco control policies to protect people from thirdhand smoke and stimulating improvements to the delivery of tobacco control counseling and services to parents in child health care settings.
Virtual Savings: Patient-Reported Time and Money Savings from a VA National Telehealth Tablet Initiative

Virtual care holds promise for offering services to Veterans Affairs (VA) patients who have barriers to accessing care. In 2016, the VA began issuing video-enabled tablets to Veterans with geographic, clinical, and/or social barriers to in-person care. To complement a national evaluation of system-level implementation and effectiveness of these tablets, we sought to understand whether the VA-issued tablets generated money and/or time savings for patients. We distributed a survey to 2,120 Veterans who received tablets and administered a follow-up survey 3-6 months later. The final analysis included 594 and 399 patients who responded to questions about money and time savings, respectively. We used poststratification survey weighting methods to address potential selection and nonresponse bias. In multinomial logistic regressions and logistic regressions, we examined patient characteristics associated with reported money and time savings. A majority of survey respondents reported that the tablets saved them money (89%) and time (71%). Respondents were more likely to report monetary savings if they lived at a greater distance from the VA, if they experienced travel barriers, and if they did not have a mental health condition. Respondents were more likely to report time savings if they were <45 or ≥65 years of age, employed, and reported more overall technology experience. Findings may inform policy decisions regarding patient targeting and training as VA aims to expand its use of video telehealth technology.
Tuning the Redox Activity of Metal−Organic Frameworks for Enhanced, Selective O2 Binding: Design Rules and Ambient Temperature O2 Chemisorption in a Cobalt−Triazolate Framework

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with coordinatively unsaturated metal sites are appealing as adsorbent materials due to their tunable functionality and ability to selectively bind small molecules. Through the use of computational screening methods based on periodic density functional theory, we investigate O2 and N2 adsorption at the coordinatively unsaturated metal sites of several MOF families. A variety of design handles are identified that can be used to modify the redox activity of the metal centers, including changing the functionalization of the linkers (replacing oxido donors with sulfido donors), anion exchange of bridging ligands (considering μ-Br-, μ-Cl-, μ-F-, μ-SH-, or μ-OH- groups), and altering the formal oxidation state of the metal. As a result, we show that it is possible to tune the O2 affinity at the open metal sites of MOFs for applications involving the strong and/or selective binding of O2. In contrast with O2 adsorption, N2 adsorption at open metal sites is predicted to be relatively weak across the MOF dataset, with the exception of MOFs containing synthetically elusive V2+ open metal sites. As one example from the screening study, we predicted that exchanging the μ-Cl- ligands of M2Cl2(BBTA) (H2BBTA = 1H,5H-benzo(1,2-d:4,5-d')bistriazole) with μ-OH- groups would significantly enhance the strength of O2 adsorption at the open metal sites without a corresponding increase in the N2 affinity. Experimental investigation of Co2Cl2(BBTA) and Co2(OH)2(BBTA) confirms that the former exhibits weak physisorption of both N2 and O2, whereas the latter is capable of chemisorbing O2 at room temperature in a highly selective manner. The O2 chemisorption behavior is attributed to the greater electron-donating character of the μ-OH- ligands and the presence of H-bonding interactions between the μ-OH- bridging ligands and the reduced O2 adsorbate.
Risk factors and effects of Hypocalcemia prior to discharge following thyroidectomy

Abstract Purpose To find patient and surgical characteristics associated with hypocalcemia prior to discharge (HPTD) in thyroidectomy patients. Materials and methods In a retrospective analysis of the 2016–2017 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, eligible total thyroidectomy patients were stratified into cohorts based on development of HPTD. We identified demographic and surgical risk factors for the development of hypocalcemia via binary logistic regression and identified the negative sequelae of HPTD utilizing univariate and multivariate methods. Results We identified a total of 6519 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy, of which 450 (6.9%) had HPTD. Predictors associated with an increased incidence of HPTD included female sex (OR: 1.737 [95% CI: 1.319–2.288]; p Conclusion Obesity, increased age, and intra-operative VSD use were significantly associated with decreased rates of HPTD after total thyroidectomy. Female sex, longer operations, and central neck dissections were associated with HPTD. Delineating risk factors and protective factors for HPTD in total thyroidectomy patients is important as patients with HPTD were found to be at a significantly higher risk for longer post-operative stays, increased odds of 30-day readmission, and increased hypocalcemia-related event.
Examination of the Correlation Between Physical and Psychological Measures in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Introduction The purpose of this study was to determine if correlations exist between strength and mobility and psychological measures of anxiety and depression in community-dwelling older adults. Methods One hundred and eleven participants randomly completed trials of grip strength (GS), the Timed Up and Go (TUG), the 10-meter walk test (10MWT), the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS), and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) in a prospective, correlational study. Results This study found significant correlations between and within physical measures of strength and mobility and psychological measures. Age, GS, GDS, and education were significant predictors of gait speed (10MWT). Age, GS, and GDS were predictors of TUG scores. Grip strength was found to be a significant predictor of fall status; fallers had significantly weaker GS than non-fallers. Symptoms of anxiety (GAS) were predictive of symptoms of depression. Discussion Objective measures of physical performance can provide information regarding an individual's symptoms of anxiety and depression. Health professionals should understand the correlations between mood and physical ability to better treat their patients.
Psychopharmacology of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Increasingly, pharmacologic agents are used in treatment for children with ASD for related behaviors. This chapter describes trends in psychopharmacology related to ASD and the evidence base for its use in treatment. For each common medication group, mechanisms of action, possible symptom targets, adverse effects, and research base are discussed. The chapter then ends with recommendations for practitioners.
Actively working to be more antiracist in the employee assistance field

In addition to the ongoing response to the Novel Coronavirus Disease–2019 (COVID-19), workplaces are addressing and beginning in many cases to dismantle long-standing systems and structures that up...
Phase transformation in boron under shock compression

Abstract Using first-principles molecular dynamics, we calculated the equation of state and shock Hugoniot of various boron phases. We find a large mismatch between Hugoniots based on existing knowledge of the equilibrium phase diagram and those measured by shock experiments, which could be reconciled if the α-B12/β phases are significantly over-pressurized in boron under shock compression. Our results also indicate that there exist an anomaly and negative Clapeyron slope along the melting curve of boron at 100 GPa and 1500–3000 K. These results enable an in-depth understanding of matter under shock compression, in particular the significance of compression-rate dependence of phase transitions and kinetic effects in experimental measurements.
Quantifying the Incidence of a Global Oil Price Shock in Nigeria: A Roy Model with Non-Homothetic Preferences and Endogenous Transfers

In this paper, I explore the distributional effects of a negative terms-of-trade shock to an oil-exporting country. Specifically, I begin by developing a computable Roy model of the Nigerian economy with non-homothetic preferences, after-tax income effects, and government endogenous transfers through oil subsidies. I then use this model to simulate the impact of the global oil price shock that hits the Nigerian economy in 2016. In doing so, I focus on differential impacts across workers due to their different skills, locations, and comparative advantages. I find that the oil shock led to a reverse Dutch disease characterized by increases of real output, relative wage and labor in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. Further, the combination of the shock and subsidies removal affected poor and rich income groups differently, in accordance with their labor specialization patterns across sectors and differences in the consumption bundles they consumed. More precisely, I show that the shock causes aggregate welfare losses that are concentrated in high-income groups, as they tend to specialize in the crude oil and service sectors, the most hit by the shock. Next, using a series of government budget-balancing tax policy counterfactuals, I first show that the removal of the subsidies was the best response to the shock regarding the welfare outcomes of low-income workers. Second, I show that while removing the subsidies, the government can use fiscally neutral progressive tax redistribution schemes to lessen the extent of the welfare losses, particularly on the poor populations. Finally, I show that not accounting for heterogeneity in the expenditure behavior would introduce biases in the magnitude of the welfare changes.
Liquidity, Solvency and Stability (Presentation Slides)

Post crisis regulatory reform has focused on higher capital requirements and the implementation of liquidity requirements of two kinds.Is the post-crisis focus on both liquidity and capital requirements optimal, given the twin objectives of economic growth and financial stability? The answer depends on what you believe caused the financial crisis. Was it an insolvency crisis or a liquidity crisis? It is argued that post-crisis regulatory reform should focus on: Higher capital requirements; Lower or no liquidity requirements; Restricting consumer leverage; Improving financial literacy; Focusing on bank culture.