cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Beliefs about Genetically Targeted Care in African Americans.

Abstract We examined beliefs about genetically targeted care (GTC) among African American men and women in a hospital-based sample and identified sociodemographic, cultural, and clinical factors having significant independent associations with these beliefs. Specifically, beliefs about GTC were evaluated after respondents were randomly primed with a racial or non-racial cue about race and genetics. Despite priming with a racial or non-racial cue, many respondents had positive beliefs about GTC. But, 49% believed that GTC would limit access to medical treatment, 46% believed that people will not trust GTC, and 20% believed that people like them would not benefit from GTC. Racial and non-racial priming did not have significant associations with negative beliefs about GTC. However, cultural beliefs related to temporal orientation were associated significantly with believing that genetically targeted care will limit access to medical treatment. Greater levels of future temporal orientation were associated with a reduced likelihood of endorsing this belief (OR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.49, 1.01, p = 0.05). Respondents who had a chronic medical condition had an almost three-fold greater likelihood of believing that they would not benefit from GTC (OR = 2.90, 95% CI = 1.00, 8.37, p = 0.05). Greater exposure to information about genetic testing for chronic conditions was also associated with a reduced likelihood of believing that they would not benefit from GTC (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.64, 0.91, p = 0.02). African Americans have diverse beliefs about GTC that should be considered as genetic and genomic services are offered.
A Review of Analysis and Sample Size Calculation Considerations for Wilcoxon Tests

When a study uses an ordinal outcome measure with unknown differences in the anchors and a small range such as 4 or 7, use of the Wilcoxon rank sum test or the Wilcoxon signed rank test may be most appropriate. However, because nonparametric methods are at best indirect functions of standard measures of location such as means or medians, the choice of the most appropriate summary measure can be difficult. The issues underlying use of these tests are discussed. The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney odds directly reflects the quantity that the rank sum procedure actually tests, and thus it can be a superior summary measure. Unlike the means and medians, its value will have a one-to-one correspondence with the Wilcoxon rank sum test result. The companion article appearing in this issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia ("Aromatherapy as Treatment for Postoperative Nausea: A Randomized Trial") illustrates these issues and provides an example of a situation for which the medians imply no difference between 2 groups, even though the groups are, in fact, quite different. The trial cited also provides an example of a single sample that has a median of zero, yet there is a substantial shift for much of the nonzero data, and the Wilcoxon signed rank test is quite significant. These examples highlight the potential discordance between medians and Wilcoxon test results. Along with the issues surrounding the choice of a summary measure, there are considerations for the computation of sample size and power, confidence intervals, and multiple comparison adjustment. In addition, despite the increased robustness of the Wilcoxon procedures relative to parametric tests, some circumstances in which the Wilcoxon tests may perform poorly are noted, along with alternative versions of the procedures that correct for such limitations.
Notes on Chicoreus (Mollusca: Gastropoda) From the Cenozoic of the Western Atlantic Region, with the Description of New Species

Three new species of fossil Chicoreus and two new Recent species are described from the western Atlantic region. The fossil species are: C. elusivus, from the late lower Miocene Chipola Formation of northwestern Florida; C. xestos, from the middle Pliocene Pinecrest beds of southwestern Florida; and C. prolixus from the Pleistocene Mom Formation of Costa Rica. The Recent species are C. mergus and C. bullisi. In addition, a form that occurs in the Recent fauna of the Gulf of Mexico, here identified as C. dilectus variety, becomes the first record of the genus in the early Pliocene Agueguexquite Formation of Veracruz, Mexico. The earliest occurrence of C. brevifrons is noted in the middle Miocene (?) Encanto Formation of Mexico. Chicoreus argo is shown to be a synonym of C. spectrum, a Caribbean Recent species.
Critique [of Thinking Woman’s Children and the Bomb by Helen Jaskoski]

These days, most literary criticism, like the world view that spawned it, is obsolete, a luxury we can no longer afford. Too much of it is esoteric, egotistical, and trivial. While the world balances on the edge of annihilation, we count semicolons on our computers.
Formula Feeding Exposure Not Homogenous.

All breastfeeding research faces the age-old challenge of innate selection bias. Girard et al1 recently used advanced quasi-experimental techniques to mimic randomization in combination with a large contemporary cohort, making a novel contribution to the field. This study has received significant press attention, mainly because the findings contradict previous researchers who reported positive relationships between breastfeeding and offspring cognitive development and/or performance. However, there is a crucial lack of discussion about a potentially critical contributing factor to these conflicting results: the exposure (formula-fed) group is not homogeneous. Infant formula feeding options are incredibly vast and differ between cultures. Combining all formula-fed infants into one single exposure diminishes … E-mail: bridget.young{at}ucdenver.edu
Underutilization of Statins When Indicated in HIV-Seropositive and Seronegative Women

Abstract Increased life expectancy of persons living with HIV infection receiving antiretroviral therapy heightens the importance of preventing and treating chronic comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease. While guidelines have increasingly advocated more aggressive use of statins for low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol reduction, it is unclear whether people with HIV, especially women, are receiving statins when indicated, and whether their HIV disease is a factor in access. We assessed the cumulative incidence of statin use after an indication in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), from 2000 to 2014. Additionally, we used weighted proportional hazards regression to estimate the effect of HIV serostatus on the time to initiation of a statin after an indication. Cumulative incidence of statin use 5 years after an indication was low: 38% in HIV-seropositive women and 30% in HIV-seronegative women. Compared to HIV-seronegative women, the weighted hazard ratio for initiation of a statin for ...
Laser Resonance Induced Plasma with Extreme Properties of Collective Coupling and Possibilities of Quasi-Superconductivity

Irradiating alkali vapor with 1 to 100 mW tunable laser light of resonance frequencies results in intensely emitting plasmas of high electron density and very low electron temperatures. We show how furthermore the conditions of plasmas with strong coupling (very small Λ in the Coulomb logarithm in Λ) can be produced in order to study the multiparticle theory of low temperature plasmas of Pines et al. The exotic plasmas should have long recombination times and at full ionization, a conductivity approaching superconductors. The theory of drowning of spectral lines is evaluated for the conditions of the exotic plasmas and a remarkable increase of the plasma polarization shift shown.
Comparison of reproductive protection against bovine viral diarrhea virus provided by multivalent viral vaccines containing inactivated fractions of bovine viral diarrhea virus 1 and 2.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is an important viral cause of reproductive disease, immune suppression and clinical disease in cattle. The objective of this study was to compare reproductive protection in cattle against the impacts of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) provided by three different multivalent vaccines containing inactivated BVDV. BVDV negative beef heifers and cows (n = 122) were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Groups A-C (n = 34/group) received two pre-breeding doses of one of three commercially available multivalent vaccines containing inactivated fractions of BVDV 1 and BVDV 2, and Group D (n = 20) served as negative control and received two doses of saline prior to breeding. Animals were bred, and following pregnancy diagnosis, 110 cattle [Group A (n = 31); Group B (n = 32); Group C (n = 31); Group D (n = 16)] were subjected to a 28-day exposure to cattle persistently infected (PI) with BVDV (1a, 1b and 2a). Of the 110 pregnancies, 6 pregnancies resulted in fetal resorption with no material for testing. From the resultant 104 pregnancies, BVDV transplacental infections were demonstrated in 73 pregnancies. The BVDV fetal infection rate (FI) was calculated at 13/30 (43%) for Group A cows, 27/29 (93%) for Group B cows, 18/30 (60%) for Group C cows, and 15/15 (100%) for Group D cows. Statistical differences were observed between groups with respect to post-vaccination antibody titers, presence and duration of viremia in pregnant cattle, and fetal infection rates in offspring from BVDV-exposed cows. Group A vaccination resulted in significant protection against BVDV infection as compared to all other groups based upon outcome measurements, while Group B vaccination did not differ in protection against BVDV infection from control Group D. Ability of inactivated BVDV vaccines to provide protection against BVDV fetal infection varies significantly among commercially available products; however, in this challenge model, the inactivated vaccines provided unacceptable levels of BVDV FI protection.
Natural Colonization of Rice by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Different Production Areas

Abstract: Interactions between plants and soil microorganisms can influence the other interactions in which plants participate, including interactions with herbivores. Many fungi, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), form symbiotic relationships with the roots they inhabit, and potentially alter defense against pests. The objective of this study was to document the extent of root colonization by AMF on non-flooded rice plants grown under conditions typical of commercial fields. We hypothesized that AMF naturally colonized rice plants in different rice producing field locations. Rice plant samples were collected from areas across the southern United States, including Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas and two research stations in Louisiana. We quantified the amount of AMF colonization in insecticide-free rice plants over three consecutive years (2014⿿2016). The results revealed natural colonization of AMF in all rice producing areas. In all the three years of survey, rice-AMF associations were the greatest in Arkansas followed by Mississippi and Texas. This research will help draw attention to natural colonization of AMF in rice producing areas that can impact future rice research and production by facilitating agricultural exploitation of the symbiosis.
Cross-cultural training effectiveness: Does when the training is delivered matter?

Abstract A longitudinal field quasi-experiment was conducted to examine the effect of timing of delivery on a cross-cultural training program. Participants were 61 new international graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) enrolled in one of the two mandatory English class sections. The two class sessions were randomly assigned to either an early training condition, in which GTAs received the training two weeks into the fall semester, or a delayed training condition, in which GTAs received the identical training two months into the fall semester. It was hypothesized that the Delayed Group should benefit more from the training than the Early Group. A process model was proposed that specified the temporal order of various training outcomes. Results showed that the delayed training group reported higher utility perceptions immediately after the training and had better cross-cultural adjustment two years later than the early training group. A path analysis largely supported the hypothesized process model, yielding several significant indirect effects among various training outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.
Determinants of National Health Expenditure

Important determinants of health expenditures include how health systems are organized and managed, the health needs of the population, the level of economic development and per capita income, the presence of health insurance, the behavior of health providers, and technology. . . The magnitude and share of these determinants in health expenditures vary across countries. Most of the research to date has focused on high-income or developed countries. There is a need to study this issue more systematically in the context of low- and middle-income countries as well.
Genetic Algorithms II

This paper describes the application of genetic algorithms, or GAs, to the problem of species distribution modelling. The first section describes the GA algorithm, and a theoretical basis for applying it to spatial predictive modelling. The stages of analysis of a particular GA application follows. The Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Production, or GARP, is described: including preparation of the base data, species location data, development of a set of models using GARP algorithm, verification and prediction. The final section contains two applications with ecological interpretations. The first is the prediction and explanation of the abundance of the Greater Glider Petauroides volons in Waratah Creek, Australia. The second is the prediction of the distribution of the Cerulean Warbler Dendroica cerulea through climate modelling in the continental United States.
THE EXPRESSION AND PERCEPTION OF EMOTIONS: COMPARING ASSESSMENTS OF SELF VERSUS OTHERS

In the study of expressive speech communication, it is commonly accepted that the emotion perceived by the listener is a good approximation of the intended emotion conveyed by the speaker. This paper analyzes the validity of this assumption by comparing the mismatches between the assessments made by naive listeners and by the speakers that generated the data. The analysis is based on the hypothesis that people are better decoders of their own emotions. Therefore, self-assessments will be closer to the intended emotions. Using the IEMOCAP database, discrete (categorical) and continuous (attribute) emotional assessments evaluated by the actors and naive listeners are compared. The results indicate that there is a mismatch between the expression and perception of emotion. The speakers in the database assigned their own emotions to more specific emotional categories, which led to more extreme values in the activation-valence space.
Career Sustaining Competencies for Managing Disruptions and Innovative Problem Solving in a Digitized World

In this poster session we showcase an innovative curriculum model for engineering education by using digital reflection journals, real problem scenarios and instructor's iterative feedback to develop students' 21st century skills and career sustaining non-technical competencies for managing disruptions and innovative problem solving in the emerging 21 century digitized world.
Variations in Dissolved Nitrate, Chloride, and Sulfate in Precipitation, Reservoir, and Tap Waters, Columbus, Ohio

Urban potable waters can be very susceptible to human activities that can impact water quality and, hence, public health. Columbus, Ohio, is currently the 14th largest city in the United States with an estimated population of ~860,000. Much of the urban population receives its water supply from a series of reservoirs located north of the city proper. These reservoirs are fed by river systems that drain either large agricultural lands, or rapidly growing suburban areas, or both. The agricultural activities introduce dissolved nitrate, and increased usage of de-icing salts on roads and highways within the drainage area introduce chloride into the river/reservoir systems. High nitrate in drinking water poses a potential health risk, particularly to infants, while high chloride, applied as halite, in drinking water can aid in the development of cardiovascular disease. In this work, we present a 19-month time series measuring nitrate, chloride, and sulfate in local precipitation, reservoir and household tap waters in order to better understand the relationship of the hydrologic residence time on the tap water chemistry, as well as to evaluate the anion concentrations. The highest chloride tap water concentration, 6.9 mM, occurred in early February 2011, while increases in nitrate occurred in both early summer and the middle of winter. In general, the anion concentrations in the precipitation are all equal to or lower than the reservoir waters. Similarly, the tap water had concentrations of chloride and sulfate higher than reservoir water, while nitrate was similar to reservoir water. Tap water had higher fluoride and sulfate concentrations, suggesting that they are added during the treatment of the reservoir water prior to residential distribution. These data clearly demonstrate the importance of watershed lands on the quality of water in the human distribution system.
“The Vietnam War: A Reckoning?”

President Barack Obama’s unveiling of the Pentagon’s 10-year-long “Vietnam War Commemoration”1 1 The commemoration lists five objectives: thanking and honoring veterans of the war, highlighting the...
Investigation of a case of suspected transfusion‐transmitted malaria

Background Transfusion-transmitted malaria (TTM) is a rare occurrence with serious consequences for the recipient. A case study is presented as an example of best practices for conducting a TTM investigation. Case report A 15-year-old male with a history of sickle cell disease developed fever after a blood transfusion. He was diagnosed with Plasmodium falciparum malaria and was successfully treated. The American Red Cross, New York State Department of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated the eight donors who provided components to the transfusion. The investigation to identify a malaria-positive donor included trace back of donors, serologic methods to identify donor(s) with a history of malaria exposure, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, microsatellite analysis to identify the parasite in a donor and match its genotype to the parasite in the recipient, and reinterview of all donors to clarify malaria risk factors. Results One donor had evidence of infection with P. falciparum by PCR, elevated antibody titers, and previously undisclosed malaria risk factors. Reinterview revealed that the donor immigrated to the United States from Togo just short of 3 years before the blood donation. The donor was treated for asymptomatic low parasitemia infection. Conclusion This investigation used standard procedures for investigating TTM but also demonstrated the importance of applying sensitive laboratory techniques to identify the infected donor, especially a donor with asymptomatic infection with low parasitemia. Repeat interview of all donors identified as having contributed to the transfused component provides complementary epidemiologic information to confirm the infected donor.
The activity of ruxolitinib in controlling the disease manifestations and improving the quality of life in systemic mastocytosis.

e18025 Background: Systemic mastocytosis (SM) is characterized by proliferation of malignant mast cells (MC), and MC degranulation resulting in chronic and episodic release of cytokines which resul...
A dileucine motif in the COOH-terminal domain of NKCC1 targets the cotransporter to the plasma membrane.

Na+-K+-2Cl− cotransporter-1 (NKCC1) mediates the electroneutral transport of Na+, K+, and Cl− and is normally localized to the basolateral membrane of polarized epithelial cells. We recently report...
The vortex of multiculturalism in South Korea: a critical discourse analysis of the characterization of “multicultural children” in three newspapers

This study investigates how multicultural children have been portrayed by the Korean media, where the term is typically used to mean a child of an underprivileged Korean man and a female marriage m...
Complications of Regional Anesthesia for Obstetrics

Systemic toxic reaction, hypotension, headache, and neurologic sequelae may all occur with obstetric regional anesthesia. When their causes are understood, these complications can often be prevented. If complications do occur, early diagnosis and appropriate treatment should achieve a satisfactory outcome.
Increasing Oral Communication Self-Efficacy Improves Oral Communication and General Academic Performance:

In order for students to effectively transfer oral communication skills from academic to professional settings, they must have high oral communication self-efficacy. We significantly increased oral...
From Quantification to Visualization: A Taxonomy of Uncertainty Visualization Approaches

Quantifying uncertainty is an increasingly important topic across many domains. The uncertainties present in data come with many diverse representations having originated from a wide variety of disciplines. Communicating these uncertainties is a task often left to visualization without clear connection between the quantification and visualization. In this paper, we first identify frequently occurring types of uncertainty. Second, we connect those uncertainty representations to ones commonly used in visualization. We then look at various approaches to visualizing this uncertainty by partitioning the work based on the dimensionality of the data and the dimensionality of the uncertainty. We also discuss noteworthy exceptions to our taxonomy along with future research directions for the uncertainty visualization community.
Metropolis on the water: Varieties of development logics along the Seine

Scholars writing about the influence of the “neoliberal turn” suggest that, in response to global competition and a declining welfare state, cities have committed to using urban development projects for the purpose of investment attraction through spatially isolated interventions, particularly on key sites such as riverfronts. But is that really the case, or do project programming and design offer opportunities to combat inequality and increase links to the surrounding city? I explore this question through a study of postwar waterside development in Paris, examining planning documents and statements by government representatives. While officials have promoted their city’s global status, I show that they have also increasingly emphasized the provision of affordable housing; meanwhile, they have encouraged new approaches to urban design that prioritize local needs over those of tourists and create new links between existing neighborhoods. This suggests that Paris’ projects reflect a diversity of development logics—that is, goals with respect to certain planning policies—including some conducive to promoting social equity and community cohesion. This finding challenges expectations about project creation as commonly understood through the lens of the neoliberal turn. It suggests that contemporary urbanism is not converging to a uniform, regressive outcome. I identify institutional and political changes—respectively, the devolution of power to the local government in 1977 and the election of left-wing councils beginning in 2001—as the primary explanations for Paris’ history.
Does Reporting Risks of Material Misstatement in the Audit Report Impact Audit Adjustments? Experimental Evidence from U.K. Audit Partners and Senior Managers

This experimental study examines whether requiring auditors to report risks of material misstatement (and related auditor findings) affects audit adjustments. Experienced audit partners and senior managers in the United Kingdom proposed audit adjustments under three different reporting regimes: (a) an audit report where no risks are disclosed, (b) a report where risks of material misstatement are disclosed, and (c) a report where risks of misstatement are disclosed, augmented with the auditor’s findings with respect to those risks. Our results indicate that disclosing risks of material misstatement without findings has no effect on audit adjustments, but that lower audit adjustments occur when the disclosure also includes findings, and that this result is driven by auditors requiring particularly low adjustments when they indicate a finding that the post-audit account balance is “mildly optimistic” (as opposed to “reasonable”). Results also suggest that this tendency is unintentional. Overall, these findings indicate that auditors unintentionally trade off audit adjustments for disclosures, consistent with increased detailed disclosure providing an opportunity for “moral licensing” that enables auditors to satisfy client demands while also complying with professional standards. From a practice perspective, these results suggest that disclosure of critical or key audit matters as recently required by U.S. and international standard setters may not affect auditor behavior, but that allowing disclosure of additional findings as done voluntarily in some jurisdictions may have the unintended consequence of reducing the size of audit adjustments that auditors require.
Data Collection and Analysis in Response-to-Intervention: a Survey of School Psychologists

Response-to-intervention (RtI) is a multi-tiered framework designed to prevent academic difficulties by facilitating robust, research-based instruction and providing targeted or individualized short-term interventions for students at-risk per periodic screening and progress monitoring data. The cornerstone of RtI is data-based decision-making to guide system-wide practices as well as ensure appropriate student-level academic supports and accurate decisions. However, a 2010 survey of administrators representing over 1000 districts suggest that most schools do not use data-based decisions and research-based interventions. As such, the extent to which RtI generally and data-driven best practices, specifically, occur in schools is unknown. To that end, we surveyed school psychologists to evaluate the extent to which RtI and data-driven practices are implemented. Further, we asked about related training. Findings suggest that although screening data is collected frequently, academic progress monitoring is not and, overall, using data to make instructional or intervention decisions is not part of regular practice.
Review of Steve McIntosh's Book: Integral Consciousness and the Future of Evolution

Steve McIntosh's "Integral Consciousness and the Future of Evolution" brings a new perspective to integral philosophy. McIntosh breaks new ground beyond Ken Wilber. McIntosh takes the primary values and translates them into feeling, thought and will, thereby providing an overall structure upon which Wilber's plurality of lines (the psychorgraph model) may find their expression. McIntosh adheres to his view of development and evolution as a dialectical spiral, driven by a cosmogenetic organizing principle. The interpenetrating forces of differentiation and integration can be seen functioning in the whole and its parts. McIntosh moves away from Darwin's evolution that is seen empty of purpose. You can find this book at Amazon: Integral Consciousness and the Future of Evolution .
Influence-Based Community Detection and Ranking

A Leader-follower algorithm is proposed to detect the communities of varying sizes. Leaders are determined using distance centrality and followers are associated with their leaders using cosine similarity method. The entities are ranked by a combination of their local (PageRank) and global (Betweenness Centrality) importance in the network. The communities formed are admissible if the calculated modularity is 0.3 or higher. The Leader-follower approach outperforms similarity-based clustering methods in terms of modularity values. From the ranking algorithm, the top-ranked entities were interpreted as entities with membership across communities and low-ranked entities were interpreted as outliers (using Gephi as the visualization tool).
At the Click of a Button

A number of browser extension tools have emerged in the past decade aimed at helping information seekers find open versions of scholarly articles when they hit a paywall, including Open Access Button, Lazy Scholar, Kopernio, and Unpaywall. While librarians have written numerous reviews of these products, no one has yet conducted a usability study on these tools. This article details a usability study involving six undergraduate students and six faculty at a large public research university in the United States. Participants were tasked with installing each of the four tools as well as trying them out on three test articles. Both students and faculty tended to favor simple, clean design elements and straightforward functionality that enabled them to use the tools with limited instruction. Participants familiar with other browser extensions gravitated towards tools like Open Access Button, whereas those less experienced with other extensions preferred tools that load automatically, such as Unpaywall.
Dux facilitates post-implantation development, but is not essential for zygotic genome activation

Double homeobox genes are unique to eutherian mammals. It has been proposed that the DUXC clade of the double homeobox gene family, which is present in multicopy long tandem arrays, plays an essential role in zygotic genome activation (ZGA). We generated a deletion of the tandem array encoding the DUXC gene of mouse, Double homeobox (Dux), and found it surprisingly to be homozygous viable and fertile. We characterize the embryonic development and ZGA profile of knockout (KO) embryos, finding that zygotic genome activation still occurs, with only modest alterations in 2-cell embryo gene expression, no defect in in vivo preimplantation development, but an increased likelihood of post-implantation developmental failure, leading to correspondingly smaller litter sizes in the KO strain. While all known 2-cell specific Dux target genes are still expressed in the KO, a subset is expressed at lower levels. These include numerous genes involved in methylation, blastocyst development, and trophectoderm/placental development. We propose that rather than driving ZGA, which is a process common throughout the animal kingdom, DUXC genes facilitate a process unique to eutherian mammals, namely the post-implantation development enabled by an invasive placenta.
GeoSparkViz : a cluster computing system for visualizing massive-scale geospatial data

In the last decade, geospatial data which is extracted from GPS traces and satellites image has become ubiquitous. GeoVisual analytics, abbr. GeoViz, is the science of analytical reasoning assisted by geospatial map interfaces. GeoViz involves two phases: (1) spatial data processing: that loads spatial data and executes spatial queries to return the set of spatial objects to be visualized. (2) Map visualization: that applies a map visualization effect, e.g., Heatmap, on the spatial objects produced in the first phase. Existing GeoViz system architectures decouple these two phases, which lose the opportunity to co-optimize the data processing and map visualization phases in the same cluster. To remedy this, the paper presents GeoSparkViz, a full-fledged system that allows the user to load, process, integrate and execute GeoViz tasks on spatial data at scale. GeoSparkViz extends a state-of-the-art distributed data management system to provide native support for general geospatial map visualization. The system encapsulates the main steps of the map visualization process, e.g., pixelize spatial objects, pixel aggregation, and map tile rendering into a set of massively parallelized map building operators. This allows the system to co-optimize the spatial query operators and map building operators side by side. GeoSparkViz is also equipped with a GeoViz-aware spatial partitioning operator that achieves load balancing for GeoViz workloads among all nodes in the cluster. Experiments based on an implementation in Spark show that GeoSparkViz achieves up to an order of magnitude less data-to-visualization time than its counterparts when running visual analytics tasks over large-scale spatial data extracted from the NYC taxi dataset and OpenStreetMaps.
Detection of African swine fever virus in feed dust collected from experimentally inoculated complete feed using quantitative PCR and virus titration assays

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a current threat to global pork production due to its high case fatality rate, lack of efficacious vaccine and recent transboundary spread into new regions of the world. Preventing introduction and further spread of ASFV is critical for countries currently negative for the virus. ASFV is stable in feed ingredients subjected to transoceanic conditions and transmission occurs through the natural consumption of contaminated feed. In this study, we investigated the use of feed dust collected from experimentally inoculated feed as a novel diagnostic sample type for ASFV detection. Moist swabs were used to collect dust from creep feeders after natural consumption of feed inoculated with 3.1-5.4 log10 TCID50 /g ASFV Georgia 2007 in the presence and absence of antimicrobial feed additives. Results validate the potential use of feed dust swabs as a novel diagnostic surveillance tool for detection and quantification of viral nucleic acid and infectious virus titre in ASFV-contaminated feed.
Oncogenic RABL6A promotes NF1-associated MPNST progression in vivo

BackgroundMalignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) are aggressive sarcomas that display complex molecular and genetic alterations. Powerful tumor suppressors CDKN2A and TP53 are commonly disrupted in these lesions along with NF1, a gene that encodes a negative regulator of Ras. Many additional factors have been implicated in MPNST pathogenesis. A greater understanding of critical drivers of the disease is needed to guide more informed targeted therapies for patients. RABL6A is a newly identified driver of MPNST cell survival and proliferation whose in vivo role in the disease is unknown. MethodsUsing CRISPR-Cas9 targeting of Nf1+Cdkn2a or Nf1+Tp53 in the sciatic nerve to form de novo MPNSTs, we investigated the biological significance of RABL6A in MPNST development. Molecular evaluation of terminal tumors (western blot, qRT-PCR, immunohistochemistry) yielded several insights. ResultsMice lacking Rabl6 displayed slower tumor growth and extended survival relative to wildtype animals in both genetic contexts. YAP oncogenic activity was selectively downregulated in RABL6A-null, Nf1+Cdkn2a lesions but not in RABL6A-null, Nf1+Tp53 tumors. Regardless of genetic context, loss of RABL6A caused upregulation of the CDK inhibitor, p27 in tumors. Paradoxically, both models displayed elevated Myc protein expression and Ki67 staining in terminal tumors lacking RABL6A. ConclusionsThese findings demonstrate RABL6A is required for optimal tumor progression of NF1 mutant MPNSTs in vivo in both Cdkn2a and p53 inactivated settings. However, sustained RABL6A loss may provide selective pressure for molecular alterations, such as Myc upregulation, that ultimately promote an unwanted, hyper-proliferative tumor phenotype akin to drug resistant lesions. Importance of the StudyMPNSTs are aggressive, deadly, and challenging to treat tumors due to location around nerves and high mutational burden. Many factors implicated in MPNST genesis have yet to be fully tested for biological significance in disease formation. We establish a critical physiological role for a new oncoprotein, RABL6A, in promoting NF1-associated MPNST progression. We identify novel RABL6A-regulated pathways that likely contribute to tumor growth, specifically YAP and Myc signaling, and found that sustained RABL6A loss eventually yields more proliferative tumors. We liken RABL6A deficient tumors to those being treated with therapies targeting RABL6A effectors, such as CDKs. Therefore, those lesions should provide a powerful platform to uncover key mediators of drug resistance. Our data suggest oncogenic YAP and Myc could be such mediators of resistance. This study provides a novel system to examine one of the most pressing clinical challenges, drug resistant tumor growth and relapse, in cancer therapy.
One Semester, Two Languages: How to Teach R and Python to Business School Students?

It is crazy to teach business students both R and Python at the same time! It was my thought when asked to teach such a course in 2020. However, after one-semester’s heavy struggle together with my students, I found that such a course is not only possible, but also desirable. In this paper, my teaching experiences are summarized into several areas: 1) write my own lecture notes; 2) use concepts and formulae suitable for business students; 3) tons of in-class exercises; 4) use the same formulae, data sets or even the same exercises several times; 5) recording my own video for each chapter even for a face-to-face lecture; 6) over 1,000 small programs; 7) many useful utility functions, and 8) teach R first, then compare Python with R constantly.
Clinical Factors Associated With Post-Treatment Aspiration in Patients Receiving Radiotherapy for Squamous Cell Carcinomas of the Head and Neck.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S) Radiotherapy (RT) is an integral component of curative treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Compromise of dysphagia/aspiration-related structures remains a clinically significant, and potentially life threatening, treatment complication. We hypothesized that treatment intensification might increase the long term risk of aspiration events, and investigated clinical factors contributing to this risk. MATERIALS/METHODS A single institution database of patients who received curative-intent RT for HNSCC from 1996 to 2018 was queried. Included patients had laryngeal/hypopharyngeal, oral cavity, or oropharyngeal cancers and did not experience locoregional failure. An aspiration event was defined as aspiration on modified barium swallow, or aspiration pneumonia, > 3 months after RT. 324 patients were eligible, with a median follow up of 42 months (range 4-195). Independent variables investigated included age, primary site, sex, T stage, N stage, overall stage, IMRT vs 3D RT, standard vs altered fractionation, prior vs never smoker, definitive vs post-operative RT, and the use of chemotherapy with RT. Univariate logistic regression was used to identify statistically significant risk factors and multivariate regression was then used to derive the final model. Kaplan Meier analysis was used to assess time to last aspiration event; significance was assessed via the log-rank test. RESULTS On univariate analysis patients who received chemotherapy (P = 0.007), were treated using 3D RT (P = 0.0009), or were prior smokers (P = 0.02) had a significantly increased risk of an aspiration event. No differences were seen with respect to age, sex, site, overall stage, T stage, N stage, postoperative vs definitive therapy, or fractionation. On multivariate analysis the use of chemotherapy [P = 0.004, OR 3.5 (95% CI 1.5 - 8.2)] and prior smoking [P = 0.03, OR 2.7 (95% CI 1.1 - 6.7)] remained significantly associated with increased risk, while use of IMRT significantly diminished risk [P = 0.001, OR 0.35 (0.19 - 0.35)]. In patients who received chemotherapy, the actuarial risk of aspiration via Kaplan Meier was 24% at five years, as opposed to 8% for RT alone (P = 0.007). Of the six patients who died secondary to aspiration pneumonia, five received chemotherapy with RT. CONCLUSION In this analysis the use of chemotherapy, prior smoking, and the use of 3D RT increased the odds of aspiration in patients receiving RT for HNSCC. Of note, use of chemotherapy increased this risk almost three-fold; this risk persisted long term, supporting the hypothesis that treatment intensification has a significant, persistent clinical impact on dysphagia-related structures. These data highlight the need to refine criteria for the use of chemotherapy with RT in the adjuvant setting, and support diminished dysphagia risk seen in de-intensification trials in HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancers.
Predictors of Evaluative Criteria

A segmentation model based on automobile buyer product specifications is defined in this study. The best descriptor, buyer level of education is positively correlated with the complexity of specifications. There are implications for communications.
Rescue the Americans with Disabilities Act from Restrictive Interpretations: Alcoholism as an Illustration

This article will examine the disease of alcoholism generally in Section II, the ADA generally in Section III, and Supreme Court cases interpreting the ADA and the lower court cases concerning alcoholism and the ADA in Section IV. These sections will show that judicial interpretations have virtually eliminated alcoholism as a disability, contrary to obvious Congressional intent. While this phenomenon is not limited to alcoholism, it is a useful illustration of the damage judicial activism has caused in this area.Section V will analyze and propose a solution that can be accomplished without a change in the legislation. Requiring the plaintiff to prove that he has an impairment that significantly limits a major life activity has become an obstacle for most plaintiffs, but there are two alternatives to entry into the protected class of disabled persons: being regarded as disabled or having a record of a disability. These provisions should be interpreted more generously to prevent people from being discriminated against because of perceived disabilities. People who are regarded as disabled or who have a record of a disability are people who can work but are being discriminated against because the employer thinks they cannot do the job. Congress was very clear that this was the type of discrimination that was intended to be especially prevented.Section VI concludes that once employers discover that their employees with impairments such as alcoholism are no longer protected by the ADA, such employees may be terminated with impunity. The cost of this eventuality is high in economic, as well as human, terms.
Parallel Fiber Coding in the Cerebellum for Life-Long Learning

Continuous and real-time learning is a difficult problem in robotics. To learn efficiently, it is important to recognize the current situation and learn appropriately for that context. To be effective, this requires the integration of a large number of sensorimotor and cognitive signals. So far, few principles on how to perform this integration have been proposed. Another limitation is the difficulty to include the complete contextual information to avoid destructive interference while learning different tasks. We suggest that a vertebrate brain structure important for sensorimotor coordination, the cerebellum, may provide answers to these difficult problems. We investigate how learning in the input layer of the cerebellum may successfully encode contextual knowledge in a representation useful for coordination and life-long learning. We propose that a sparsely-distributed and statistically-independent representation provides a valid criterion for the self-organizing classification and integration of context signals. A biologically motivated unsupervised learning algorithm that approximate such a representation is derived from maximum likelihood. This representation is beneficial for learning in the cerebellum by simplifying the credit assignment problem between what must be learned and the relevant signals in the current context for learning it. Due to its statistical independence, this representation is also beneficial for life-long learning} by reducing the destructive interference across tasks, while retaining the ability to generalize. The benefits of the learning algorithm are investigated in a spiking model that learns to generate predictive smooth pursuit eye movements to follow target trajectories.
The Role of Women in Mediation and Conflict Resolution: Lessons for UN Security Council Resolution 1325

The impact of war on women is often disproportionate and distinct from the effect it has on men. Given the second-class status of women in many societies, their skills and contributions are often under-valued and under-utilized. UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR1325) recognizes the importance of increasing the role of women in all aspects of maintaining international peace and security, including encouraging women to take an active role in resolving conflicts (sections 2, 8b and 16 of SCR1325). This last aspect of SCR1325 reflects an increasing recognition of the effect of gender in conflict resolution. This paper draws upon academic studies of gender behaviour in mediation and negotiation to better understand the implications of SCR1325, including recent examples of the role of women in international conflict resolution. The questions I address are – How does gender play a role in negotiation and mediation? How do these differences affect international conflict mediations? How have women differed in their approach to mediating international disputes? Finally, what do these lessons suggest in support, or in criticism, of SCR1325?
Antabuse and Other Drugs for Treating Alcoholism

Antabuse (disulfiram), a drug used as a supplementary therapy for alcoholism, was originally used in the manufacture of rubber. When the chemical got into the air in one factory and settled on the workers' skin, many developed dermatitis. If they inhaled it, they discovered that they could no longer tolerate alcohol. Beginning in the 1940s, therapists tried using the drug as a therapy for alcoholism, on the theory that alcoholics who drank alcohol after taking Antabuse would experience unpleasant effects and thereby learn an aversion to alcohol.
Large variations in vent fluid CO2/3He ratios signal rapid changes in magma chemistry at Loihi seamount, Hawaii

Loihi seamount, an active submarine volcano situated about 30 km south of the island of Hawaii, is the youngest manifestation of the hotspot responsible for the Emperor–Hawaiian seamount chain and Hawaiian islands. This seamount has been the focus of numerous studies characterizing the geophysical, geochemical and biological features of an active intraplate volcano1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14. In July–August 1996, Loihi seamount experienced the most intense period of seismic activity yet recorded for any Hawaiian volcano1. Within two months of the ‘seismic crisis’, summit and flank hydrothermal vent fluids were collected using a manned submersible. Here we report data from these samples that indicate large and systematic changes in the CO2/3He ratios of the vent fluids compared to pre-seismic-crisis values2,3. These changes are consistent with an abrupt transition from alkalic to tholeiitic basaltic magma having supplied volatiles to the vents. This rapid change in magma chemistry has been discernible only through CO2/3He monitoring, and suggests that the anticipated evolution of the Hawaiian plume to a phase of shield-building tholeiitic magmatism is highly episodic at Loihi and not yet complete.
Wave measurements from NDBC buoys and C-MAN stations

Since the U.S. National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) deployed the first wave measuring buoy in 1973, its wave measurement network has grown very quickly. Now, all of NDBC's 71 moored buoys and 6 of its C-MAN stations measure and report ocean waves. Nineteen of the 71 buoys also measure directional waves. Over the years, NDBC has collected a huge amount of wave data. This paper briefly reviews the history of NDBC wave measurements. The basic concepts and theories of operations of NDBC wave systems are also discussed. Then, the current status and future plans for the NDBC wave measurement network are presented.