cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The absolute power of relative risk in debates on repeat cesareans and home birth in the United States.

Background Changes in policies and practices related to repeat cesareans and home birth in the U.S. have been influenced by different interpretations of the risk of poor outcomes. Methods This article examines two cases—vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) and home birth to illustrate how an emphasis on relative over absolute risk has been used to characterize outcomes associated with these practices. The case studies will rely on reviews of the research literature and examination of data on birth trends and outcomes. Results
Osteochondral Allograft Transplantation For: “Surgical Techniques in Cartilage Repair Surgery”

The fundamental concept governing fresh osteochondral allografting is the transplantation of architecturally mature hyaline cartilage with living chondrocytes that survive transplantation and are thus capable of supporting the cartilage matrix [1]. Hyaline cartilage possesses characteristics that make it attractive for transplantation. It is an avascular tissue and therefore does not require a blood supply, meeting its metabolic needs through diffusion from synovial fluid. It is an aneural structure and does not require innervation for function. Thirdly, articular cartilage is relatively immunoprivileged, as the chondrocytes are imbedded within a matrix and are relatively protected from host immune surveillance. The second component of the osteochondral allograft is the osseous portion. This functions generally as a support for the articular cartilage, as well as a vehicle to allow attachment and fixation of the graft to the host. The osseous portion of the graft is quite different from the hyaline portion, as it is a vascularized tissue and cells are not thought to survive transplantation; rather, the osseous structure functions as a scaffold for healing to the host by creeping substitution (similar to other types of bone graft). Generally, the osseous portion of the graft is limited to a few millimeters. It is helpful to consider a fresh osteochondral allograft as a composite graft of both bone and cartilage, with a living mature hyaline cartilage portion and a nonliving subchondral bone portion. It is also helpful to understand the allografting procedure in the context of a tissue or organ transplantation, as the graft essentially is transplanted as an intact structural and functional unit replacing a diseased or absent component in the recipient joint. The transplantation of mature hyaline cartilage obviates the need to rely on techniques that induce cells to form cartilage tissue, which are central to other restorative procedures.
The limits of qualitative simulation

Qualitative simulation is a key inference process in qualitative causal reasoning, In this paper, we present the QSIM algorithm, a new algorithm for qualitative simulation that generalizes the best features of existing algorithms, and allows direct comparisons among alternate approaches. QSIM is an efficient constraint-satisfaction algorithm that can follow either its standard semantics allowing the creation of new landmarks, or the {+, 0, -} semantics where 0 is the only landmark value, by changing a table of legal state-transitions. We argue that the QSIM semantics make more appropriate qualitative distinctions since the {+, 0, -} semantics can collapse the distinction among increasing, stable, or decreasing oscillation. We also show that (a) qualitative simulation algorithms can be proved to produce every actual behavior of the mechanism being modeled, but (b) existing qualitative simulation algorithms, because of their local points of view, can predict spurious behaviors not produced by any mechanism satisfying the structural description. These observations suggest specific types of care that must be taken in designing applications of qualitative causal reasoning systems, and in constructing and validating a knowledge base of mechanism descriptions.
Automating Interictal Spike Detection: Revisiting A Simple Threshold Rule

Interictal spikes (IIS) are bursts of neuronal depolarization observed electrographically between periods of seizure activity in epilepsy patients. However, IISs are difficult to characterize morphologically and their effects on neurophysiology and cognitive function are poorly understood. Currently, IIS detection requires laborious manual assessment and marking of electroencephalography (EEG/iEEG) data. This practice is also subjective as the clinician has to select the mental threshold that EEG activity must exceed in order to be considered a spike. The work presented here details the development and implementation of a simple automated IIS detection algorithm. This preliminary study utilized intracranial EEG recordings collected from 7 epilepsy patients, and IISs were marked by a single physician for a total of 1339 IISs across 68 active electrodes. The proposed algorithm implements a simple threshold rule that scans through iEEG data and identifies IISs using various normalization techniques that eliminate the need for a more complex detector. The efficacy of the algorithm was determined by evaluating the sensitivity and specificity of the detector across a range of thresholds, and an approximate optimal threshold was determined using these results. With an average true positive rate of over 98% and a false positive rate of below 2%, the accuracy of this algorithm speaks to its use as a reliable diagnostic tool to detect IISs, which has direct applications in localizing where seizures start, detecting when seizures start, and in understanding cognitive impairment due to IISs. Furthermore, due to its speed and simplicity, this algorithm can be used for real-time detection of IIS that will ultimately allow physicians to study their clinical implications with high temporal resolution and individual adaptation.
Brief History of the EML Symposia: 1980–2018

Following the pioneering research studies by individual inventors and teams from the 1840s to the 1960s on various aspects of electromagnetic launch using railguns, coilguns, and linear motors, there has been an explosion of interest since the 1970s. Much of this growth has been discussed at the International Electro-Magnetic Launcher Symposia that have taken place approximately every two years from 1980 to 2018. A brief description and a summary of the early work of pioneers in this field as well as the symposia is provided here. Selected papers from the symposia have been archived in the IEEE Transactions on Magnetics and the IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science.
Real-world study of hepatitis C treatment with direct-acting antivirals in patients with drug abuse and opioid agonist therapy.

Background: Limited data exist evaluating the treatment outcomes with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) in patients with drug use in the community setting. We aim to assess the treatment response of ...
Systematic Control of the Orientation of Organic Phosphorescent Pt Complexes in Thin Films for Increased Optical Outcoupling

Orienting light-emitting molecules relative to the substrate is an effective method to enhance the optical outcoupling of organic light-emitting devices. Platinum(II) phosphorescent complexes enable facile control of the molecular alignment due to their planar structures. Here, the orientation of Pt(II) complexes during the growth of emissive layers is controlled by two different methods: modifying the molecular structure and using structural templating. Molecules whose structures are modified by adjusting the diketonate ligand of the Pt complex, dibenzo-(f,h)quinoxaline Pt dipivaloylmethane, (dbx)Pt(dpm), show an ≈20% increased fraction of horizontally aligned transition dipole moments compared to (dbx)Pt(dpm) doped into a 4,4'-bis(N-carbazolyl)-1,1'-biphenyl, CBP, host. Alternatively, a template composed of highly ordered 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride monolayers is predeposited to drive the alignment of a subsequently deposited emissive layer comprising (2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethyl)-21H,23H-porphyrinplatinum(II) doped into triindolotriazine. This results in a 60% increase in horizontally aligned transition dipole moments compared to the film deposited in the absence of the template. The findings provide a systematic route for controlling molecular alignment during layer growth, and ultimately to increase the optical outcoupling in organic light-emitting diodes.
Determining water-use-efficient irrigation strategies for cotton using the DSSAT CSM CROPGRO-cotton model evaluated with in-season data

Abstract The Texas High Plains (THP) region, a vital part of U.S. grain and fiber production, is experiencing the effects of conflicting interests in the diminishing Ogallala Aquifer, making necessary the adoption of more efficient irrigation strategies. Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) is a process-based model that uses meteorological, soil, and crop management data to predict crop growth, development, and yield. A well-evaluated DSSAT model is useful for simulation of efficient crop and irrigation management strategies. This study details the evaluation of CROPGRO-Cotton module in the DSSAT model based on measured in-season biomass and canopy height, and crop yield data from a field study as well as the use of the evaluated model for determining the best irrigation strategy for cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. var. hirsutum) in terms of crop yield and irrigation water use efficiency. Irrigation simulation experiments were conducted over a testing range for four separate irrigation scheduling strategies —Time Temperature Threshold (TTT)-5.5 h, TTT-7.5 h, Daily Irrigation (DI), and percent ET replacement —to determine the most efficient irrigation strategy that results in maximum yield with minimum irrigation water input. The DSSAT CROPGRO-Cotton model demonstrated potential to simulate the effects of various irrigation strategies on cotton yield and water use efficiency. The 12 mm, 7.5 h TTT strategy was found to be the best strategy to achieve a maximized yield with the greatest irrigation water use efficiency, with a modelled yield of 5887 kg ha−1 using 195 mm of irrigation throughout the season.
Neurological Etiologies and Pathophysiology of Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome

Cyclic vomiting syndrome is an idiopathic chronic periodic disorder of childhood which may persist into the adult years. Although cyclic vomiting syndrome is considered a central nervous system disorder, it is often managed by a pediatric gastroenterologist. The practitioner should not assume a gastrointestinal or non-neurological cause of symptoms especially if there are coexisting neurological symptoms and signs or if vomiting does not bring relief; this suggests a possible central nervous system cause, which may necessitate a pediatric neurology consultation. Examples of central nervous system causes of cyclic vomiting syndrome that can have subjective and objective neurological findings include abdominal migraine, certain types of epilepsy, structural lesions (tumors, Chiari malformation, demyelinating disease), mitochondrial disease, autonomic disorders, fatty acid/organic acid disorders, urea cycle defects, and cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. Improved familiarity with cyclic vomiting syndrome and its mimics may improve the time to appropriate diagnosis and may reduce morbidity related to cyclic vomiting syndrome.
The Rheumatic Diseases: A Primer

The rheumatic diseases are an important category of chronic illness. Affecting many millions of Americans, these conditions are a leading cause of disability and contribute significantly to premature mortality in those afflicted. Given their prevalence, the rheumatic diseases contribute disproportionately to the population of patients who will require orthopedic surgery. This chapter presents a broad overview of these conditions and their underlying pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment.
Genome Sequences of Two F1 Subcluster Bacteriophages, Burwell21 and Nivrat, Isolated Using the Bacterial Host Mycobacterium smegmatis

ABSTRACT The mycobacteriophages Burwell21 and Nivrat are two F1 cluster bacteriophages isolated from different soil samples in Charlotte, NC. Burwell21 has a 58,098-base-pair double-stranded DNA genome, with 99 protein-coding genes predicted, whereas Nivrat has a 58,009-base-pair genome, with 102 protein-coding genes predicted.
Strategies to Improve Neural Electrode Performance

Key to conventional methods of interfacing with the nervous system, current clinical electrode technology still suffers from many challenges, both technological and biological in nature. Traditionally made of stiff, non-biocompatible materials, electrode insertion initiates the body’s immune response. This response can lead to the formation of scar tissue around the electrode causing degradation of recording and stimulation signal integrity. In order to circumvent these issues, new flexible and biocompatible materials such as conductive polymers and graphene are being explored as both potential electrode coatings and the electrode material itself. Less damaging electrode shapes (e.g., tip shape and sharpness) and new insertion methods are also emerging to improve the overall electrode performance. Additionally, new electrode designs such as a syringe-injectable mesh electrode are being explored to better integrate with the existing biological environment and thus mitigate the immune response.
Dengue virus-derived piRNAs in Aedes albopictus

Objective To screen and analyze Dengue virus-derived vsRNAs and piRNAs in Aedes albopictus.Methods Female adults Aedes albopictus were collected 2-4 days post-emergence and were injected with Dengue type 2 virus NGC strain,while control group were injected with equal volume of physiological saline.Total RNA was isolated,and small RNAs ranging up to 30 nt in length were excised and analyzed using Illumina HiSeq 2000.After removing adaptor sequences and contaminated reads,Clean reads were aligned to Dengue virus genome and its complementary sequence by SOAP2.The length,strand ratio nucleotide bias and genome distribution of Dengue virus-derived vsRNAs and vpiRNAs were further analyzed.Results Total,3835 vsRNAs and 395 vpiRNAs unique tags were obtained,among them 94.99％ vpiRNAs were derived from virus genome strand,and distributed across the viral genome,but with an enrichment at several "hot-spots".Except weak bias for adenine at position 10 (10A)in the sense molecules as the feature of secondary piRNA,other signature piRNA characteristics were not observed,including a preference for a uridine at their 5'-end,which were main characteristics of primary piRNAs,and a significant 10 nt overlap (Ping-Pong)between sense and antisense piRNA.Conclusion Dengue virusderived piRNAs were indentified in Dengue virus infected Ae.albopictus. Key words: Dengue virus ; Aedes ; RNA
Mechanism design for on-demand first-mile ridesharing

Abstract Ridesharing emerges as a viable way to bridge the first-mile accessibility gap to public transit. There is particularly a high demand for the first-mile ridesharing service in transit-intensive metropolitan areas. This paper studies the mechanism design problem in order to promote passengers’ participation in the on-demand first-mile ridesharing accounting for passengers’ mobility preferences, including passengers’ requirements on arrival deadlines, maximum willing-to-pay prices, and detour tolerances. A rolling horizon planning approach is used to process spontaneous on-demand passenger requests. We propose a novel mechanism, namely “Mobility-Preference-Based Mechanism with Baseline Price Control” (MPMBPC), which adapts the traditional Vickrey–Clarke–Groves (VCG) mechanism and incorporates a baseline price control component. MPMBPC is proved to satisfy several important mechanism design properties, including “individual rationality”, “incentive compatibility”, “price controllability”, and “detour discounting reasonability”. In comparison with the traditional general-purpose VCG mechanism, MPMBPC can avoid unreasonably low prices and prevent carriers’ deficits. A computationally efficient heuristic algorithm called Solution Pooling Approach (SPA) is developed to solve large-scale ridesharing mechanism design problems. Numerical examples are developed to demonstrate that SPA can solve large-scale ridesharing mechanism design problems in a computationally efficient way, with satisfactory solution qualities.
Acute Oral Lesions

A variety of acute oral lesions may be encountered in the scope of dermatology. Oral lesions may be single or multiple; may arise secondary to infectious, immune, congenital, medication use, or idiopathic causes; and may take a variety of forms. A thorough evaluation of the oral cavity is required to assess patients with oral lesions. Affected patients may be monitored, treated, or referred to an appropriate specialist for further management as needed. Many acute oral lesions are self-limiting in nature and patients may require only assessment and reassurance. Several common acute oral lesions are discussed in this article.
Can confidence help account for and redress the effects of reading inaccurate information

Being exposed to inaccurate information in fiction can negatively influence post-reading judgments and decisions. For example, people make more errors judging the validity of statements after reading stories containing related inaccurate as compared to related accurate assertions. While these effects have been demonstrated in a variety of studies, people’s confidence in their post-reading judgments has received little attention. The current experiments examined whether exposure to accurate and inaccurate information embedded in fiction influences readers’ confidence in judging the validity of related claims. Participants read an extended story containing accurate and inaccurate assertions about the world (Experiment 1a) or a control story omitting those assertions (Experiment 1b). Afterwards they judged the validity of single statements related to the critical assertions and provided confidence ratings for each judgment. While participants made more judgment errors after having read inaccurate assertions than after having read accurate assertions or stories without assertions, they were overall less confident in their incorrect as compared to correct judgments. Given the observed relationship between confidence and judgment accuracy, in Experiments 2 and 3 we tested whether allowing and instructing participants to withhold responses might reduce judgment errors. This withholding option reduced participants’ incorrect and correct judgments, failing to specifically eliminate the negative consequences of exposure to inaccurate assertions. These findings are discussed with respect to accounts documenting the influence of inaccurate information, and highlight confidence as a relevant but understudied factor in previous empirical demonstrations of such effects.
Adapting to drought and extreme climate: Hunger Safety Net Programme, Kenya

Abstract Drought and extreme weather conditions adversely affect the capacity of rural communities to support their livelihoods. They are also major causes of food scarcity in Northern Kenya. Inability to adapt to variable and changing local climate conditions and low levels of resilience have driven hunger and malnutrition-related diseases, affecting children and elderly in particular because of their high vulnerability in the population. In response to these conditions, the Government of Kenya in 2009 established the Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP), now in Phase III of its implementation. The HSNP is one of the central components of the national development program, Kenya Vision 2030. Its main objectives are to achieve food security for all and promote financial inclusion through cash transfers, funded substantially by international agencies. Enlarged access to cash transfers benefits vulnerable households that have lost access to natural and agricultural resources owing both to extreme weather conditions and as a result of changing socio-economic forces. In these circumstances, those who are natural resource dependent are not able to ensure their own current and future welfare. Since implementation began in 2009, HSNP has covered 31% of the population in the poorest regions, providing support to 69,000 households. Its expansion through additional financial resources will enable a larger number of highly vulnerable households to improve their resilience, address climate risks more effectively, and safeguard their future wellbeing. To this end, future domestic and international investments resources should target insurance programs, technical assistance, disaster risk reduction laws, natural capital protection, and compensation programs.
Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic for Federalism and Infrastructure: A Call to Action

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented many challenges to governments around the world. The federal structure within the United States has further complicated effective responses to mitigate the perso...
Number Representation and Arithmetic in the Human Brain

The human brain as a platform for number representation and arithmetic is a complex system that involves a large bilateral network spanning multiple aspects of cognition. Numbers are encoded in the so-called “triple code” that entails verbal, quantitative, and written forms. A healthy individual's brain typically activates these regions in various capacities when performing calculations with multiplication vs. addition, exact computation vs. approximation, and large vs. small operands. In comparison to artificial systems, a human brain is likely to rely more on memorization than counting or sequential arithmetic. This review is motivated by the fact that all the attributes just cited hold potentially valuable lessons for computer engineers aiming for compact, efficient, and energy-frugal system design.
Digital Citizenship and Digital Communities: How Technology Matters for Individuals and Communities

Over the past decade, the vision of smart cities filled with technological innovation and digitally engaged citizens has been pursued around the globe, but not all city residents have a chance to participate in or benefit from these innovations. Connectivity is unequally distributed across cities and neighborhoods, and these disparities have costs not only for individuals, but for communities, as COVID-19 so aptly demonstrated. There is a need to examine uses and outcomes for broadband across cities and neighborhoods as digital human capital in communities. Two studies summarized here show that like other human capital, technology use conveys economic benefits for communities. Broadband adoption over time is related to prosperity and growth in the 50 largest metros. Big data on the density of domain name websites shows that this measure of technology use is likewise a significant predictor of prosperity and median income, controlling for other factors. We conclude with a research agenda on digital human capital and community outcomes.
Public Disclosure and Bank Failures

This paper examines how public disclosure of banks` risk exposure affects banks` risk-taking incentives and assesses how the presence of informed depositors influences the soundness of the banking system. It finds that, when banks have complete control over the volatility of their loan portfolios, public disclosure reduces the probability of banking crises. However, when banks do not control their risk exposure, the presence of informed depositors may increase the probability of bank failures.
Project ACCLAIM: Intervention Effect on Community Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs of Maternal and Child Health and HIV/AIDS in Eswatini, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The ACCLAIM Study aimed to assess the effect of a package of community interventions on the demand for, uptake of, and retention of HIV-positive pregnant/postpartum women in maternal and child health (MCH) and prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) services. The study occurred from 2013 to 2015 in Eswatini, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The three interventions were: (1) a social learning and action component for community leaders, (2) community days, and (3) peer discussion groups. Household cross-sectional surveys on community members’ MCH and PMTCT knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs were analyzed pre- and post-intervention, using MCH, HIV stigma, and gender-equitable men (GEM) indicators. We used t-tests to measure the significance of mean pre- vs. post-intervention score changes stratified by gender within each intervention arm and generalized linear models to compare mean score changes of the cumulative intervention arms with the community leaders-only intervention. Response rates were over 85% for both surveys for men and women, with a total of 3337 pre-intervention and 3162 post-intervention responses. The combined package of three interventions demonstrated a significantly greater increase in MCH scores for both women (diff = 1.34, p ≤ 0.001) and men (diff = 2.03, p < 0.001). The arms that included interventions for both community leader engagement and community days (arms 2 and 3)led to a greater increase in mean GEM scores compared to the community leader engagement intervention alone (arm 1), for both women (diff = 1.32, p = 0.002) and men (diff = 1.37, p = 0.004). Our findings suggest that a package of community interventions may be most effective in increasing community MCH/HIV knowledge and improving gender-equitable norms.
Abstract PR-003: Radiosensitization by targeting the NPM1/RAD51 axis

NPM1 is a chaperone involved in base excision, translesion synthesis and homologous recombination (HR). In the presence of DNA DSBs pT199 NPM1 co-localizes with H2AX foci, a consequence of binding to K63-linked ubiquitinated histones that surround DSBs via its pT199 domain comprised of an acidic tract and adjacent ubiquitin interacting motif-like domain (1-3). SUMOlyated K263 NPM1 binds to and promotes Rad51 loading onto resected 3-prime DNA at the DSB. Failure to SUMOlyate K263NPM or inhibition of NPM1 reduces Rad51 filament formation, thus inhibiting HR (4). A major effort is underway to develop DNA damage response inhibitors. The novel chemical entity YTR107 is a 5-((N-benzyl-1H-indol-3-yl) methylene) pyrimidine-2, 4,6(1H,3H,5H) trione developed using forward chemical genetics and structure/function screening (5). Colony formation assays revealed that YTR107 radiosensitized 7 NSCLC lines (dose modifying factors of 1.5). Radiosensitization was NPM1-dependent as YTR107 did not radiosensitize an NPM1 null mouse embryo fibroblast cell line (3). Here we show that YTR107 inhibits radiation-induced NPM1 binding to Rad51, Rad 51 foci formation and repair of DNA DSBs.Tumor initiating cells (TICs) were radiosensitized by YTR107. YTR107 inhibited tumor growth (P = 0.027, 2-way ANOVA) and increased the survival of A549 tumor-bearing mice, determined 70 days after the last treatment. Survival of tumor-bearing mice was 60% for mice treated with YTR107and 2.2 Gy(q.d. x 7) vs 20% for mice treated with 2.2 Gy alone (q.d.x 7). Cox Proportional log rank hazard ratio for irradiated vs unirradiated tumor-bearing mice was 0.24 (P = 0.0034) while the log rank hazard ratio for YTR107 plus irradiation vs unirradiated (± YTR107) tumor-bearing mice was 0.17 (P = 0.0023). Thus, these data provide support for development of YTR107 as a therapeutic radiation sensitizer. Supported in part by R44CA228756. 1.Koike A, Nishikawa H, Wu W, Okada Y, Venkitaraman AR, Ohta T.Cancer Res 2010;70:6746-56 2. Sekhar KR, Benamar M, Venkateswaran A, Sasi S, Penthala NR, Crooks PA, et al. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2014;89:1106-14 3. Sekhar KR, Reddy YT, Reddy PN, Crooks PA, Venkateswaran A, McDonald WH, et al. Clin Cancer Res 2011;17:6490-9 4. Xu R, Yu S, Zhu D, Huang X, Xu Y, Lao Y, et al. Nat Commun 2019;10:3812 5. Reddy YT, Sekhar KR, Sasi N, Reddy PN, Freeman ML, Crooks PA. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2010;20:600-2 Citation Format: Michael L. Freeman, Geri Traver, Konjeti R. Sekhar, Peter A. Crooks. Radiosensitization by targeting the NPM1/RAD51 axis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference on Radiation Science and Medicine; 2021 Mar 2-3. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2021;27(8_Suppl):Abstract nr PR-003.
Dialysis Nonadherence and Kidney Transplant Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Abstract Rationale and Objective Concerns about non-adherent behaviors often prevent dialysis patients from entering waitlists for transplantation, despite an inconsistent association with posttransplant outcomes. We examined the association between plausible metrics of non-adherence related to dialysis treatment and posttransplant outcomes. Study Design Retrospective cohort. We linked national dialysis treatment data with transplant registry data. Setting and Participants Adult patients on maintenance hemodialysis from 1/1/2004-12/31/2014 who received a kidney transplant at US centers. Exposures We examined five nonadherence metrics: serum potassium (≥5.2 mEq/L), serum phosphorus (>5.5 mg/dL), intradialytic weight gain (IDWG, ≥5 L), shortened treatments (≥30 minutes) and missed treatments (≥1); missed treatment data was only available for 2004-2009. These metrics were characterized as the proportion of time under observation. Dialysis observation time was divided into 3-month intervals (quarters) and the number of “non-adherent” measurements in each domain was calculated for each quarter. Outcomes Allograft loss; mortality; and acute rejection in the first posttransplant year. Analytical approach Using Cox proportional hazards and logistic regression, we estimated the hazard ratios (HRs) for graft loss and mortality, and odds ratios (OR) for rejection. Results 9543 patients met inclusion criteria. In our primary model, hyperphosphatemia (aHR 1.27, 05% CI 1.08-1.49), IDWG (aHR 1.39, 95% CI 1.23-1.59) and shortened treatments (aHR 1.54, 95% CI 1.12-2.13) were associated with greater rates of allograft loss but hyperkalemia was not. IDWG (aHR 1.49, 95% CI 1.29-1.73) and shortened treatments (aHR 1.34, 95% CI 1.13-1.58) were associated with mortality while hyperkalemia and hyperphosphatemia were not. Only shortened treatments was associated with an increased risk of acute rejection (aOR 3.88, 95% CI 1.98-7.58). In models limited to the years 2004 to 2009 that included missed treatments, missed treatments were only associated with mortality. Limitations Unmeasured confounding (e.g., dietary data); adherence metrics used may have multiple, complex causes. Conclusions Plausible measures of dialysis nonadherence have long-term associations with allograft and patient survival. Behavioral metrics were more closely associated with outcomes than laboratory markers. The implications of non-adherent behaviors for dialysis patients must be carefully considered before excluding patients from transplantation.
Mechanics of mechanochemically responsive elastomers

Abstract Mechanochemically responsive (MCR) polymers have been synthesized by incorporating mechanophores – molecules whose chemical reactions are triggered by mechanical force – into conventional polymer networks. Deformation of the MCR polymers applies force on the mechanophores and triggers their reactions, which manifest as phenomena such as changing colors, varying fluorescence and releasing molecules. While the activation of most existing MCR polymers requires irreversible plastic deformation or fracture of the polymers, we covalently coupled mechanophores into the backbone chains of elastomer networks, achieving MCR elastomers that can be repeatedly activated over multiple cycles of large and reversible deformations. This paper reports a microphysical model of MCR elastomers, which quantitatively captures the interplay between the macroscopic deformation of the MCR elastomers and the reversible activation of mechanophores on polymer chains with non-uniform lengths. Our model consistently predicts both the stress–strain behaviors and the color or fluorescence variation of the MCR elastomers under large deformations. We quantitatively explain that MCR elastomers with time-independent stress–strain behaviors can give time-dependent variation of color or fluorescence due to the kinetics of mechanophore activation and that MCR elastomers with different chain-length distributions can exhibit similar stress–strain behaviors but very different colors or fluorescence. Implementing the model into ABAQUS subroutine further demonstrates our model's capability in guiding the design of MCR elastomeric devices for applications such as large-strain imaging and color and fluorescence displays.
2-Edge-Connectivity and 2-Vertex-Connectivity with Fault Containment

Self-stabilization for non-masking fault-tolerant distributed system has received considerable research interest over the last decade. In this paper, we propose a self-stabilizing algorithm for 2-edge-connectivity and 2-vertex-connectivity of an asynchronous distributed computer network. It is based on a self-stabilizing depth-first search, and is not a composite algorithm in the sense that it is not composed of a number of self-stabilizing algorithms that run concurrently. The time and space complexities of the algorithm are the same as those of the underlying self-stabilizing depth-first search algorithm. Type of Report: Other Department of Computer Science & Engineering Washington University in St. Louis Campus Box 1045 St. Louis, MO 63130 ph: (314) 935-6160 2-Edge-Connectivity and 2-Vertex-Connectivity with Fault Containment Abusayeed Saifullah Computer Science and Engineering Washington University in St Louis saifullaha@cse.wustl.edu ABSTRACT Self-stabilization for non-masking fault-tolerant distributed system has received considerable research interest over the last decade. In this paper, we propose a self-stabilizing algorithm for 2-edge-connectivity and 2-vertex-connectivity of an asynchronous distributed computer network. It is based on a self-stabilizing depth-first search, and is not a composite algorithm in the sense that it is not composed of a number of self-stabilizing algorithms that run concurrently. The time and space complexities of the algorithm are the same as those of the underlying self-stabilizing depth-first search algorithm which are O(dn∆) rounds and O(n log ∆) bits per processor, respectively, where ∆(≤ n) is an upper bound on the degree of a node, d(≤ n) is the diameter of the graph, and n is the number of nodes in the network.Self-stabilization for non-masking fault-tolerant distributed system has received considerable research interest over the last decade. In this paper, we propose a self-stabilizing algorithm for 2-edge-connectivity and 2-vertex-connectivity of an asynchronous distributed computer network. It is based on a self-stabilizing depth-first search, and is not a composite algorithm in the sense that it is not composed of a number of self-stabilizing algorithms that run concurrently. The time and space complexities of the algorithm are the same as those of the underlying self-stabilizing depth-first search algorithm which are O(dn∆) rounds and O(n log ∆) bits per processor, respectively, where ∆(≤ n) is an upper bound on the degree of a node, d(≤ n) is the diameter of the graph, and n is the number of nodes in the network.
Labor in the American Negro

Abstract Careful analysis of consecutive labors of 4,103 white patients and 6,041 Negro patients reveals some interesting points: 1. 1. Of all the major complications of pregnancy, only the late toxemias are more frequent in the Negro race, 5.2 per cent versus 3.1 per cent. 2. 2. Premature labor (infants under 2,500 grams) is more frequent in the Negro race (10.1 per cent contrasted with 6.4 per cent) but caused only a slightly greater loss of all babies (1.05 per cent contrasted with 0.95 per cent) because of the consistently lower mortality rate of the Negro infants in each premature weight group from 1,000 to 2,495 grams. 3. 3. The first stage of labor is consistently longer in the Negro patients. In primigravidas this difference approximates 2 hours and is something less than one hour in multigravidas. 4. 4. The second stage of labor, both descent and pelvic floor phases, is definitely shorter in the Negro patient. These differences are small. 5. 5. Blood loss in the third stage is markedly less. Blood loss of 500 c.c. or more occurred in about 6 per cent of the white patients. and in only 2 per cent of the Negro patients. 6. 6. Fetal perinatal mortality is higher (1.98 in contrast to 1.58 per cent) among Negroes. 7. 7. Maternal morbidity is some 30 per cent higher in Negro patients.
Gene therapy for haemophilia: a long and winding road.

Summary. Background: Cure, or improvement of disease phenotype, has been a long-term goal in the treatment of haemophilia. An obvious strategy for achieving this goal is the use of gene therapy. Objectives: This paper summarises prior and current clinical trials of gene therapy for haemophilia A and B, and briefly describes additional strategies in pre-clinical development. Results and Conclusions: Approximately 50 human subjects with severe haemophilia A or B have been enrolled in seven different trials of gene therapy. These have used plasmids, retroviral, adenoviral, and AAV vectors, directed to autologous fibroblasts, skeletal muscle, liver, and other target cell types accessed by intravenous injection of vector. Four separate trials have used AAV vectors, three of these targeting liver. Data from animal models suggest that several different gene replacement strategies may eventually yield long-term expression of factor at therapeutic levels, and that in situ correction of gene defects in hepatocytes may eventually be a therapeutic option.
So-called traumatic (hemorrhagic) bone cysts of the jaws: Review of the literature and report of two unusual cases

Abstract A review of the literature on traumatic bone cysts indicates that this lesion is relatively rare. Two new cases are presented, one showing the relationship of a traumatic bone cyst to a previously existing giant-cell reparative granuloma and the other illustrating the unusual occurrence of two separate lesions on one side of the mandible.
Existence of Resonances for Metric Scattering in Even Dimensions

Suppose Δ g is the (negative) Laplace–Beltrami operator of a Riemannian metric g on \(\mathbb{R}\) n which is Euclidean outside some compact set. It is known that the resolvent R(λ)=(−Δ g −λ2)−1, as the operator from L 2 comp(\(\mathbb{R}\) n ) to H 2 loc(\(\mathbb{R}\) n ), has a meromorphic extension from the lower half plane to the complex plane or the logarithmic plane when n is odd or even, respectively. Resonances are defined to be the poles of this meromorphic extension. We prove that when n is 4 or 6, there always exist infinitely many resonances provided that g is not flat. When n is greater than 6 and even, we prove the same result under the condition that the metric is conformally Euclidean or is close to the Euclidean metric.
A tale of two pesticides: how common insecticides affect aquatic communities

Summary 1. Recent ecotoxicology studies show that pesticide exposure can alter community composition, structure and function. Generally, community responses to pesticides are driven by trait- and density-mediated indirect effects resulting from sublethal and lethal effects of pesticide exposure on vulnerable taxa. These effects depend upon the concentration of the pesticide and the frequency of exposure. 2. While more research is needed to understand community-level responses to pesticide exposure, testing the effects of multitudes of registered chemicals on ecologically relevant communities is overwhelming. Recent reviews suggest that contaminants with similar modes of action should produce comparable community-level responses because they have similar direct effects and, as a result, similar indirect effects; this hypothesis remains largely untested. 3. We subjected pond communities [containing zooplankton, phytoplankton, periphyton and leopard frog tadpoles (Rana pipiens)] to several applications (single applications of medium or high concentrations or weekly applications of a lower concentration) of two acetylcholine esterase inhibiting insecticides, malathion and carbaryl that have comparable toxicity for aquatic organisms. 4. We found that both insecticides cause comparable trophic cascades that affect zooplankton and phytoplankton abundances; however, their effects on amphibians diverged, especially when exposed to higher concentrations of insecticides. Malathion caused a trophic cascade beginning with a decline in cladocerans followed by increases in phytoplankton. At a medium concentration, this cascade also caused a subsequent decrease in periphyton. Carbaryl caused a similar trophic cascade with the highest application, a weak trophic cascade with the medium application and no cascade with smallest application. Malathion directly reduced tadpole survival at all concentrations. Survivors in the two higher treatments were larger at metamorphosis while survivors in the lowest treatments were smaller and developed slowly. In contrast, carbaryl was not directly toxic to tadpoles, but indirectly reduced survival because slow growth and development prevented some tadpoles from metamorphosing before the mesocosms dried at medium and low applications. 5. These results suggest that these common pesticides, which share the same mode of action, have similar effects on zooplankton and algae, but differences in the strength and timing of their effects on tadpoles reduce the generality of responses at higher trophic levels. Overall, general predictive models of contaminant effects could be improved by incorporating the relative timing of direct and indirect effects of exposure.
Abstract 13777: Relationship of Office and Ambulatory Blood Pressure with Left Ventricular Global Longitudinal Strain

Introduction: High blood pressure (BP) is a strong risk factor for heart failure. Ambulatory BP (ABP) is a better predictor of cardiovascular events, including heart failure, than office BP. Left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) can detect early subclinical cardiac dysfunction even when LV ejection fraction (EF) is normal. We investigated the relationship of ABP with GLS in a community-based cohort with normal LVEF. Methods: Two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography and 24-hour ABP monitoring were performed in 577 participants (mean age 70 ± 9 years; 60% women) with normal LVEF (≥50%) from the Cardiovascular Abnormalities and Brain Lesions (CABL) study. Results: Higher BP values, both ABP and office BP, were consistently associated with lower (i.e., less negative) GLS. After adjustment for pertinent covariates (age, sex, race/ethnicity, body mass index, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, LV mass index, and antihypertensive medication), office diastolic BP [B (SE)=0.04 (0.01), p=0.003] and 24-hour systolic and diastolic ABP [B (SE)=0.04 (0.01), p Conclusions: Higher ABP values are strongly associated with lower GLS in subjects with normal LVEF, independent of cardiovascular risk factors and office BP. ABP monitoring may be of value for the early identification of subjects at increased risk of developing heart failure.
Do Firms Respond to Immigration

Research generally focuses on how immigration affects native workers, while the impact of immigration on domestic firms is often overlooked. This paper addresses this important omission by examining whether firms respond to immigration by adjusting the location of their production activities. Consistent with the predictions of the model, the results indicate that low skilled immigration decreases and high skilled immigration increases the relocation of production activities at both the extensive and intensive margins. These results explain why the impact of immigration on the wages of native workers is often found to be quite small.
The Market for Legal Education & Freedom of Association: Why the 'Solomon Amendment' is Constitutional and Law Schools Aren't Expressive Associations

This Term the Supreme Court will confront the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment, which mandates equal access for military recruiters at universities which accept federal funding. The Third Circuit previously held the statute unconstitutional. This Article argues that the Court should reverse and uphold the statute because the lower court failed to consider the cartelized nature of legal education and so incorrectly assumed that law schools are "expressive associations" entitled to assert First Amendment claims, failed to give proper deference to Congress's exercise of its Article I power to raise and support armies, and over-valued law faculties' interest in career services offices.
Predictors of Postoperative Aftercare Attrition among Gastric Bypass Patients

Background: Poor adherence to post-bariatric surgery aftercare continues to challenge surgical practices. The objective of this study was to identify factors that predict poor aftercare attendance among patients who underwent Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) surgery. Method: A retrospective medical chart review of patients who underwent RYGB from 2002 to 2011 was conducted. Patients with four visits or more in the first 2 years (>50%) were categorized as “acceptable follow-up” and with ≤50% as “poor follow-up.” Demographics, presurgical body mass index (BMI), and comorbidities were compared using multivariate analysis. Results: Out of 2,658 patients, 1,092 (41.1%) had acceptable follow-up. Preoperative factors that predicted acceptable follow-up included female gender (odds ratio [OR] 1.41 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15–1.72]), older age (OR 1.03 [95% CI 1.03–1.04]), higher BMI at surgery (OR 1.02 [95% CI 1.01–1.03]), and Hispanic ethnicity (OR 1.40 [95% CI 1.15–1.72]). Conversely, presence of diabetes...
Integration of Heterogeneous Web Services for Event-Based Social Networks

Event-based online social networks are Internet-based services that enable users to participate in real world experiences together. Event-based social networks can be created by a community of end-users based on their own interests in specific types of event and sources of event information. We propose a method to create such event-based social networks through integration of existing online information sources of events using a Semantic Web framework. In order to match people with common interests in such activities to self-organize into a social network, we integrate information from heterogeneous information sources related to event schedules, ticket purchases, and group attendance from multiple online sources. The Semantic Web framework is used to represent these heterogeneous datasets and unstructured online data is converted into ontologies. Links between event information in different sources are discovered using both the syntactic similarity and semantic similarity between ontology classes. We use an approach based on Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) over the space of topics related to each event and user profiles for event recommendation. This enables the event-based social network to recommend friends based on shared interest in an event -- online friendship is established after mutual attendance of the same event. We demonstrate this approach with EasyGo, a web-based mashup application which integrates information of events such as concerts, sports, theatres, as well as tickets and group purchase from multiple online sources.
Change without Difference: School Restructuring in Historical Perspective

In this article, Jesse Goodman examines the current "third wave" school restructuring movement and its attempt to reform U.S. schools based on the perceived needs of the information age. Goodman places this school reform movement in historical context and explores the way it emerged from the interrelated fields of educational technology, instructional design, and systems theory. Goodman argues that four core principles that underlie the third wave school restructuring movement — social functionalism, efficiency and productivity, individualism, and expertism — will likely reinforce existing school practices and values instead of substantively transforming teaching and learning in U.S. classrooms.