cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Feeling like part of a team: Perceived parenting agreement among first-time parents

Prior research has established the importance of co-parenting for child outcomes, yet little is known about how co-parenting influences parents themselves. The current study expands on the prior literature by examining an important aspect of co-parenting, perceived parenting agreement, and exploring the longitudinal association of perceived parenting agreement with new parents’ depression, positive affect, and relationship satisfaction during the transition to parenthood. Using a dyadic approach, results indicated there were significant actor effects of parenting agreement on both mothers’ and fathers’ mental health outcomes, such that greater agreement predicted better subsequent mental health. Perceived parenting agreement was also significantly associated with subsequent relationship satisfaction for mothers only, such that greater perceived agreement by both the mother (actor effect) and the father (partner effect) predicted greater subsequent maternal relationship satisfaction. Our results suggest pe...
Changes in Support Networks in Late Middle Age: The Extension of Gender and Educational Differences

Objectives. This paper tests whether dif ferences by gender and by educational attainment in contact with friends and family and in support expected from friends and family narrow or widen in late middle age. Methods. The data are drawn from about 4,800 members of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Survey who answered questions about their frequency of contact with social ties and expectations of 3 kinds of help in both 1993, when they were in their early 50s, and again in 2004. Results. Using lagged dependent v ariable models, we find that between their 50s and 60s women’s network advantages over men and college graduates’ network advantages over high school graduates in frequency of social contact widened. The same was roughly true as well for expectations of social support, although here the divergences depended partly on the type of the support: Women gained relative to men in “talk” support and in help from nonkin if ill, but lost ground in financial support. The college-educated gained ground in all sorts of support from nonkin. Discussion. These results reinforce concern that late middle age is a period when men and the less educated become yet more disadv antaged in social support, making attention to connectedness yet more critical.
Evidence that Partially Desialylated Variants of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) Are the Factors in Crude hCG that Inhibit the Response to Thyrotropin in Human Thyroid Membranes

Previous studies have revealed that pure unmodified hCG (hCGp) has little potency to inhibit the binding of bovine TSH (bTSH) to human thyroid membranes and to either stimulate adenylate cyclase or inhibit TSH-stimulated adenylate cyclase therein. On the other hand, preparations of crude hCG (hCGc) as well as enzymatically desialylated hCGp (asialo-hCGp) are relatively potent inhibitors of bTSH binding (TBI activity) and bTSH-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in human thyroid membrane preparations. In the present studies we have sought to identify and characterize the inhibitory moieties in crude hCG that are responsible for these inhibitory activities and to elucidate the properties of their interaction with the TSH receptor in human thyroid membranes. Preparations of hCGc were processed by DEAE-52 chromatography; this separated components of interest, which were not adsorbed, from intact hCGp, which was adsorbed to the column. The former were then subjected to gel filtration on Sephadex G- 100, and ...
Canine brucellosis: Outbreaks and compliance

Canine infertility has many causes that must be considered during evaluation of abnormal reproductive function. An important infectious agent is Brucella canis. Classically deemed a major reason of abortion, this organism also produces infertility in stud dogs and poses a potential health hazard to dogs and humans. The State of Georgia has, out of necessity, instigated regulations to manage outbreaks and seek compliance by educating the pet owner population about this disease. A review of its etiology, methods of transmission, pathophysiology, clinical signs, diagnosis, serology and culture, pathology, treatment options, and regulated prevention featured by Georgia, are presented.
A conformal retrodirective array for radar applications using a heterodyne phased scattering element

A 6 GHz retrodirective antenna array has been developed for use in radar and backscatter-mode communication systems. The array is based on a novel microstrip mixer-antenna element that provides the conjugate phase shift necessary for retro-reflection of incident signals, and which responds to all polarizations. >
Practical online retrieval evaluation

Online evaluation is amongst the few evaluation techniques available to the information retrieval community that is guaranteed to reflect how users actually respond to improvements developed by the community. Broadly speaking, online evaluation refers to any evaluation of retrieval quality conducted while observing user behavior in a natural context. However, it is rarely employed outside of large commercial search engines due primarily to a perception that it is impractical at small scales. The goal of this tutorial is to familiarize information retrieval researchers with state-of-the-art techniques in evaluating information retrieval systems based on natural user clicking behavior, as well as to show how such methods can be practically deployed. In particular, our focus will be on demonstrating how the Interleaving approach and other click based techniques contrast with traditional offline evaluation, and how these online methods can be effectively used in academic-scale research. In addition to lecture notes, we will also provide sample software and code walk-throughs to showcase the ease with which Interleaving and other click-based methods can be employed by students, academics and other researchers.
African American Women and Obesity: From Explanations to Prevention

This article reviews the literature on African American women’s obesity and physical inactivity with the goals of analyzing common themes and explanations in order to develop and provide better prevention. In addition, literature about body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and body size satisfaction is included in this review. These factors have importance in gaining an understanding about obesity and inactivity among African American women. The author introduces the other articles that are included in this special issue of the Journal of African American Studies that are related to African American health, specifically the health of African American women.
Nuclear inelastic x-ray scattering of FeO to 48 GPa.

The partial density of vibrational states has been measured for Fe in compressed FeO (wustite) using nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering. Substantial changes have been observed in the overall shape of the density of states close to the magnetic transition around 20 GPa from the paramagnetic (low pressure) to the antiferromagnetic (high pressure) state. The results indicate that strong magnetoelastic coupling in FeO is the driving force behind the changes in the phonon spectrum of FeO. The paper presents the first observation of changes in the density of terahertz acoustic phonon states under magnetic transition at high pressure. The study of the electronic and magnetic properties of simple transition-metal compounds is an important topic in diverse fields ranging from solid-state physics to Earth sciences. Iron oxide FeO (wustite) belongs to the group of highly correlated transition metal oxides, being an archetypal insulating antiferromagnetic material at zero temperature. NiO, CoO, and MnO fall in the same group of materials, which are still not well understood by theory. Here we present a study of the vibrational density of states of isotope-enriched Fe0.947O using high-resolution nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering. We observe changes in the density of states that are consistent with the softening of the aggregate shear sound wave velocity of wustite under pressure [1], which we associate with the phase transition from the cubic paramagnetic phase to the rhombohedrally distorted antiferromagnetic phase stable at higher pressures. We show that the phonon density of states is affected by magnetoelastic coupling between phonon and spin subsystems in FeO. The influence of magnetoelastic interaction on sound velocity is well studied up to GHz frequency range. This Letter presents the first observation of changes in density of Terahertz acoustic phonons in the vicinity of the magnetic transition under pressure. Experiments were performed at the synchrotron beam line SRI-CAT 3ID of the Advanced Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory. The details of the diamond cell and the experimental setup are reported elsewhere [2]. The sample was 25 mm in diameter (loaded without pressure medium), and diamonds with flat 400 mm culets were used. The maximum counting rate in the phonon wing ranged from 10 cps at 0.9 GPa to 2 cps at 48 GPa. The measured spectra, i.e., count rate as a function of the
Multiple Signal Detection Digital Wideband Receiver using Hardware Accelerators

A three gigasample per second (GSPS) digital wideband receiver that operates in a 1.25-GHz instantaneous bandwidth (IBW) is proposed. In addition to building such systems, offloading of computation-intensive tasks to a combination of specialized hardware accelerators such as graphics processing units (GPUs) and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to increase the overall receiver's dynamic performance is analyzed. The receiver detects up to 15 signals with a maximum attainable instantaneous dynamic range (IDR) of 62.5 dB before the next set of data arrives for processing.
Impact of Obesity on Ovotoxicity Induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene in Mice

Insulin, elevated during obesity, regulates xenobiotic biotransformation enzymes, potentially through phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling, in extraovarian tissues. PI3K regulates oocyte viability, follicular activation, and ovarian chemical biotransformation. 7,12-Dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), a carcinogen and ovotoxicant, destroys all stages of follicles, leading to premature ovarian failure. Obesity has been reported to promote DMBA-induced tumors, but it remains unknown whether obesity affects ovarian xenobiotic metabolism. Therefore, we investigated ovarian expression of xenobiotic metabolism genes—microsomal epoxide hydrolase (Ephx1), glutathione S-transferase (GST) class Pi (Gstp1) and class mu 1 (Gstm1), and PI3K-signaling members (protein kinase B [AKT] alpha [Akt1], beta [Akt2], and the forkhead transcription factor subfamily 3 [Foxo3])—in lean and obese female mice after DMBA exposure (1 mg/kg; intraperitoneal injection for 14 days). Relative to lean, obese mice had decreased (P < 0.05) healthy primordial and primary follicle numbers but increased (P < 0.05) secondary and preovulatory follicles numbers. Obesity increased (P < 0.05) Akt1, Akt2, Gstm1, and Ephx1 mRNA and pAKTSer473/Thr308, GSTM1, GSTP1, and EPHX1 protein levels. DMBA decreased (P < 0.05) ovarian weight in lean and obese mice, however, obese DMBA-treated females had a greater reduction (P < 0.05) in ovarian weight. In both lean and obese mice, DMBA decreased (P < 0.05) all stages of healthy follicle numbers, increased Gstp1 and Ephx1 mRNA as well as GSTM1, GSTP1, and EPHX1 protein levels, and decreased Akt1 and Akt2 mRNA as well as pAKTSer473 or pAKTThr308, FOXO3, and pFOXO3Ser253 protein expression. There was an additive effect between obesity and DMBA exposure for increased Gstm1 and Ephx1 mRNA as well as GSTM1 and EPHX1 protein expression.
CT appearance of the spleen following conservative management of traumatic injury

Objective: To describe the long-term changes in the traumatized spleen following conservative man- agement in pediatric patients. Methods: Between 1991 and 1997, 92 children were imaged with splenic trauma. The study population includes the 25 boys and 11 girls with follow-up computed tomography (CT) imaging at our institution. The follow-up CT studies were evalu- ated to determine the evolution of splenic injury. Re- sults: On initial CT there were 6 grade I, 12 grade II, 9 grade III, and 9 grade IV-V splenic injuries. In follow- up 11 spleens were normal (30 %), including at least one in each grade of severity of injury. Splenic abnor- malities were identified on follow-up in 25 children. These findings comprised clefts in 8 children, small cysts in 4, and devascularized segments involving less than 1c m 3 in 6, 1-2 cm 3 in 2, and 2-4 cm 3 in 5 children. Con- clusions: All grades of splenic injury can resolve com- pletely on subsequent CT imaging. In this series 30 % of patients had a normal follow-up CT. The most com- mon persistent abnormalities included clefts and devas- cularized areas less than 4 cm 3 .
Protecting boundaries of consent in clinical research: Implications for improvement

Successful clinical research outcomes are essential for improving patient care. Achieving this goal, however, implies an effective informed consent process for potential research participants. This article traces the development of ethical and legal requirements of informed consent and examines the effectiveness of past and current practice. The authors propose the use of innovative monitoring methodologies to improve outcomes while safeguarding consent relationships and activities. Additional rigorous research will help direct policy efforts at standardizing quality improvement processes.
Career Assessment With African-American Clients:

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of issues related to using career assessment with African-American clients. We first discuss the philosophy and practice of career assessment, ...
Optical Properties of Heavily Doped n-type CdSe Quantum Dots for Intersubband Device Applications

In this research, interband and intersubband optical properties of heavily doped n-type CdSe quantum dots were investigated by temperature dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, picosecond time-resolved PL spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Two doped and one undoped CdSe quantum dot samples with multiple QD layers were grown over ZnCdMgSe barrier layers on InP (001) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. Heavy doping leads to decreasing of activation energy of nonradiative recombination centers, however, does not affect the luminescence efficiency of doped quantum wells. Time resolved PL experiments show that the PL decay times of the doped samples have weak dependence on well width and are much longer than that of the undoped sample. The two doped CdSe QD samples show strong Intersubband IR absorption that peaked at 2.54 μm, 2.69 μm and 3.51 μm. The ISB absorption is found to be strongly polarization dependent due to the large size of the QDs.
En echelon ruptures during the Great Bolivian Earthquake of 1994

Rupture during this event has two characteristics. First, bursts of major moment release (subevents) have a component of eastward movement from the epicenter. Second, later subevents show northward directivity. These observations lead to a model with four subevents, the latter three being line sources propagating within approximately ±30° of north. This model has en echelon regions of moment release over sub-horizontal plane(s) and rupture speeds up to 3.5±0.5 km/s within subevents. Moment release over en echelon regions can accommodate high moment release over a limited seismogenic volume within subducted lithosphere. Depending on the exact geometry of the Wadati-Benioff zone and the precise direction of rupture propagation, lower bounds on the thickness of the seismogenic zone during this event range approximately 10-40 km. While several aspects of the en echelon rupture model dovetail with predictions based on the anticrack model for deep-focus seismicity, one must also allow for the possibility that the rupture zone extended beyond the expected thickness of metastable olivine wedge.
Teaching Law Students, Judges, and the Community: Rational Sentencing Policies

I devoted a great deal of my teaching energy during the last ten years of my tenure at the University of Minnesota Law School to a course I called the Sentencing Workshop. The Workshop provided a unique opportunity for law students and judges to learn from each other about the intricacies, the successes and failures of the American criminal justice sentencing structure and practice. I will describe it in three phases: initially, to give some context, I will report a dramatic Workshop discussion which occurred the fifth or sixth year the course was offered. A short summary of the program’s mechanics follows, followed by an anecdotal and analytic picture of the Workshop’s pursuit of its several educational missions.
The Nature and Scope of Biological Control

Biological control is a natural phenomenon—the regulation of plant and animal numbers by natural enemies (biotic mortality agents), It is a major element of that force, natural control, that keeps all living creatures (except possibly man) in a state of balance with their environment. We will use the term biological control in our discussion to encompass both the introduction and manipulation of natural enemies by man to control pests* (applied biological control) and control that occurs without man’s intervention (natural biological control).
Evaluating natural and anthropogenic trace element inputs along an alpine to urban gradient in the Provo River, Utah, USA

Numerous natural and anthropogenic processes in a watershed produce the geochemical composition of a river, which can be altered over time by snowmelt and rainfall events and by built infrastructure (i.e., dams and diversions). Trace element concentrations coupled with isotopic ratios offer valuable insights to disentangle the effects of these processes on water quality. In this study, we measured a suite of 40+ trace and major elements (including As, Cd, Ce, Cr, Cs, Fe, La, Li, Mo, Pb, Rb, Sb, Se, Sr, Ti, Tl, U, and Zn), Sr isotopes (87Sr/86Sr), and stable isotopes of H and O (δD and δ18O) to investigate natural and anthropogenic processes impacting the Provo River in northern Utah, USA. The river starts as a pristine mountain stream and passes through agricultural and urban areas, with two major reservoirs and several major diversions to and from the river. We sampled the entire 120 km length of the Provo River at 13 locations from the Uinta Mountains to Utah Valley, as well as two important tributaries, across the range of hydrologic conditions from low flow to snowmelt runoff during the 2013 water year. We also sampled the furthest downstream site in the Utah Valley urban area during a major flood event. Trace element concentrations indicate that a variety of factors potentially influence Provo River chemistry, including inputs from weathering of carbonate/siliciclastic rocks (Sr) and black shales (Se and U), geothermal groundwater (As, Cs, Li, and Rb), soil erosion during snowmelt runoff (Ce, Cr, Fe, La, Pb, and Ti), legacy mining operations (Mo, Sb, and Tl), and urban runoff (Cr, Pb, and Zn). Although specific elements overlap between different groups, the combination of different elements together with isotopic measurements and streamflow observations may act as diagnostic tools to identify sources. 87Sr/86Sr ratios indicate a strong influence of siliciclastic bedrock in the headwaters with values exceeding 0.714 and carbonate bedrock in the lower reaches of the river with values approaching 0.709. δD and δ18O changed little throughout the year in the Provo River, suggesting that the river is primarily fed by snowmelt during spring runoff and snowmelt-fed groundwater during baseflow. Based on nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS) water chemistry was unique across the upper, middle, and lower portions of the river, with high temporal variability above the first reservoir but minimal temporal variability below the reservoir. Thus, the results show that dams alter water chemistry by allowing for settling of particle-associated elements and also by homogenizing inflows throughout the year to minimize dilution during snowmelt runoff. Taken together, trace element concentrations and isotopic measurements can be used to evaluate the complex geochemical patterns of rivers and their variability in space and time. These measurements are critical for identifying natural and anthropogenic impacts on river systems.
State Neutrality and Stem Cell Policy

In 2001, President Bush announced a new policy to govern the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. That policy subsidized research on the sixty existing stem-cell lines, thereby promoting, on the one hand, secular values of scientific progress and integrity. But it also withheld funding for research on the hundreds of thousands of unused embryos whose stem cells had not already been harvested, thereby promoting, on the other hand, that value of respect which holds that if potential life can still be saved, then it should not be destroyed even to serve very noble goals that are at odds with its own development into a born person.This Article uses the Bush Administration's stem cell policy to examine the argument that society can express a moral attitude of respect human embryos by permitting or even promoting certain kinds of conduct that destroys it. People of diverse worldviews would agree that it disrespects the embryo to destroy it for trivial purposes like producing cosmetics, or even perhaps for teaching high school biology. The more difficult question that stem cell research presents is whether and to what extent it disrespects embryos to destroy them for a weightier purpose like seeking to relieve human suffering and loss of life. I argue that the answer to this question depends on the therapeutic benefit of research that destroys embryos relative to the benefit of available research that does not.
4,4’-Methylenedianiline: Risk Assessment and Risk Management

Risks associated with the production, use and disposal of 4,4′methylenedianiline (4,4′-MDA) have been under study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 4,4′-MDA was the first chemical to trigger section 4(f) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and EPA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have been working to find the most effective way to control the chemical’s risks. Limited information on dermal penetration rates and exposure levels have introduced uncertainty into the dose side of the dose-response equation. A cancer bioassay, on the other hand, has provided good data for estimating response, at least within the tested dose range.
Novel carbohydrate conjugates as potential prodrugs of acyclovir

Fifteen novel carbohydrate conjugates of desciclovir {2-[(2-amino-9H-purin-9-yl]-methoxy]ethanol} were synthesized and evaluated as potential double prodrugs for acyclovir. The compounds were prepared by an acid-catalyzed reaction between reducing sugars and the 2-amino group of desciclovir. Spectral data indicated that the carbohydrate moieties in the products were predominately in the pyranose form. The suitability of each analogue as a double prodrug of acyclovir was evaluated by the urinary recovery of acyclovir from rats after oral dosing. The results showed that these highly water-soluble conjugates were poor prodrugs. Similar results were obtained with the glucose conjugate of acyclovir itself. A comparison of intraperitoneal vs. oral administration for six of the conjugates suggested that the unsuitability of these conjugates as prodrugs results from poor gastrointestinal absorption as well as inefficient metabolic removal of the carbohydrate moieties.
Nonuniform image motion estimation from noisy and blurred image sequences

AbstractThis paper develops, presents, and evaluates a new iterative algorithm to estimate image motion from noisy-blurred image sequences. This algorithm seeks the maximum-likelihood estimate of image motion coefficients in an arbitrary transformed domain directly from noisy-blurred data. The range of the convergence parameters that control the speed of convergence is also presented. Simulation experiments demonstrate the validity of the motion estimator. Additional experiments investigate the algorithm's sensitivity to the extent of blur and noise. We also show the potential application of the estimated motion to image sequence restoration.
Endoscopic Nd:YAG laser therapy as palliation for esophagogastric cancer: Parameters affecting initial outcome

Abstract Endoscopic neodymium:yttrium aluminum garnet laser therapy has been shown to be a technically feasible treatment option for relieving blockage in patients with malignant obstruction of the esophagus or gastric cardia. In an attempt to identify factors that would predict clinical benefit or risk, or both, 60 patients were evaluated retrospectively. Thirty-five patients (mean age 65.3 yr, range 47–89 yr) with biopsy-proven squamous cell carcinoma and 25 patients (mean age 61.1 yr, range 47–82 yr) with adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia were evaluated. Most patients had had previous radiotherapy or surgery, and all had incurable disease. The following parameters were assessed: (a) tumor histology, (b) endoscopic appearance, (c) location, (d) clinical setting. There was no difference in response to treatment between squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Technically it was easier to treat mucosal tumors than to treat submucosal tumors. Also, the outcome was better in mucosal tumors. Results were least good and the technical difficulty greatest for tumors of the cervical esophagus. Tumors at the gastroesophageal junction were problematic if there was horizontal angulation. The best response occurred for tumors in a straight segment of midesophagus and distal esophagus, particularly if they were ⩽5 cm in length. It is possible to identify parameters that affect the initial outcome.
Multi-stage transmission expansion planning with consideration of large-area outage risk

A method of multi-stage TEP(Transmission Expansion Planning) considering large-area outage risk is proposed and an index of PTR(Power-law Tail Risk) is defined. The large-area outage risk is evaluated by the variation trend of outage area tail distribution. An OPA model is developed based on the SOC(SelfOrganized Criticality) theory to obtain the statistic outage data corresponding to multi-stage TEP,which considers the coupling relation between adjacent stages in the slow dynamics and the hidden failures in the fast dynamics,respectively reflecting the impact of the TEP behaviors in the long time scale and the cascading failure behaviors in the short time scale on the global dynamic characteristics of power system. The long-term evolutionary behaviors based on the average effect are cancelled in the slow dynamics and the Monte Carlo simulation is used in the fast dynamics to obtain sufficient statistic outage data. The importance sampling technique and bi-level optimization strategy are applied in the proposed method to lower the computational load of each level. Case study for Garver 6-bus system confirms its effectiveness.
Angiography of the complex congenital heart disease after Bi-directional Glenn procedure

Objective To investigate the changes of the pulmonary artery and coherent anatomies after Bi-directional Glenn procedure with angiography.Methods Angiography data of 32 complex congenital heart disease patients underwent Bi-directional Glenn procedure were retrospectively analyzed.Changes of pre-surgery and post-surgery of 22 patients were compared,including pulmonary artery,cavopulmonary anastomotic stoma,main aorto-pulmonary collateral arteries(MAPCA)and complications.Results Of all 32 patients,31 cavopulmonary anastomotic stomas were clear and smooth,1 was stenosis with suspected thrombus;28 pulmonary arteries were well-developed and bilateral symmetry,3 were uni-lateral stenosis,1 was poor-developed.Pulmonary arteriovenous fistula and pleural effusion was detected in 1 patient respectively.Changes of pulmonary artery size and McGoon rate were significant between pre-surgery and post-surgery:MAPCA increased post-surgery in 36.36%(8/22),while 18.75%(6/32)superior cavo-pulmonary collateral arteries occurred after Glenn procedure.Conclusion Angiography can accurately display the changes of the pulmonary artery and coherent anatomies after Bi-directional Glenn procedure.
Information Super Highway: Who's Driving? Black History's Global Presence

Launched in 2006, the Avoice Virtual Library project is the only online source for history of black legislators in the United States Congress. This virtual exhibit captures and preserves thousands of documents, photos and audio artifacts that tells the story of African-Americans who served in Congress and their influence in the legislative history of the United States. Currently Avoice houses eight online exhibits, all of which are paired with a lesson unit for educators. Each exhibit is designed to highlight the contributions of blacks in Congress towards the fulfillment of specific legislation or movements that have impacted the social fabric of our nations. To date we have published: The Origins of the Congressional Black Caucus, The Voting Rights Act, Martin Luther King Jr Holiday Bill, Anti-Apartheid Movement, Women of the Congressional Black Caucus, Environmental Justice, Education Policy and Criminal Justice. To date, the Avoice website has had over 17 million hits and from January 2013 through August 2013, the site has received 1,773,167 hits. Avoice’s global reach has been expanding which ultimately suggest a desire to know the history of black legislators across the globe. This proposed discussion will seek to dissect reasons for this increased craving of knowledge in various places and address how best we can use tools like Avoice to engage on the global stage. We will use a snap shot of how Avoice operates and its response since to 2006 to build a timeline that aids to translate how information is received. Panelists would also be assigned the task to analyzing how impactful historical preservation has been in black politics.This year’s conference theme would allow us to highlight how Avoice is used the share the work of black in Congress throughout the global black community in the shape of round table discussion. Founded in 1971, the CBC continues to be an advocate for African-Americans and other underrepresented people. Since its inception until present, members of the CBC have remained at the forefront of fights involving blacks across the globe. From civil rights in Alabama to human rights in South Africa and Haiti, legislation introduced by African-Americans in Congress has shaped some of the most important movements in black history today. We hope to examine those efforts through various lenses that would highlight how Avoice interfaces with black politics, its users and possibly give insight into the future.
Dynamics of Lipid Biosynthesis and Redistribution in the Marine Diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum Under Nitrate Deprivation

One approach to achieve continuous overproduction of lipids in microalgal “cell factories” relies upon depletion or removal of nutrients that act as competing electron sinks (e.g., nitrate and sulfate). However, this strategy can only be effective for bioenergy applications if lipid is synthesized primarily de novo (from CO2 fixation) rather than from the breakdown and interconversion of essential cellular components. In the marine diatom, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, it was determined, using 13C-bicarbonate, that cell growth in nitrate (NO 3 − )-deprived cultures resulted predominantly in de novo lipid synthesis (60 % over 3 days), and this new lipid consisted primarily of triacylglycerides (TAGs). Nearly complete preservation of 12C occurred in all previously existing TAGs in NO 3 − -deprived cultures and thus, further TAG accumulation would not be expected from inhibition of TAG lipolysis. In contrast, both high turnover and depletion of membrane lipids, phosphatidylcholines (PCs), were observed in NO 3 − -deprived cultures (both the headgroups and fatty acid chains), while less turnover was observed in NO 3 − replete cultures. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry mass spectra and 13C labeling patterns of PC headgroups provided insight into lipid synthesis in marine diatoms, including suggestion of an internal pool of glycine betaine that feeds choline synthesis. It was also observed that 16C fatty acid chains incorporated into TAGs and PCs contained an average of 14 13C carbons, indicating substantial incorporation of 13C-bicarbonate into fatty acid chains under both nutrient states.
Space-weather debate flares up

In her article on "space weather", Janet Luhmann describes the effect that the solar wind and the Sun's magnetic field have on the region beyond the Earth's stratosphere and discusses the damaging consequences that the intense bursts of solar radiation that occur during "magnetic storms" can have on Earth (July pp31–36).
Metrics-based Integrated Predictive Performance Models for Optimized Sustainable Product Design

Implementing sustainable manufacturing principles and practices leads to innovation and sustainable value creation at product, process and system levels. In recent years, with the exponential growth in sustainable manufacturing research to meet the rapidly growing needs of industry and society, significant emphasis has been placed on designing innovative sustainable products and developing and implementing novel and advanced sustainable manufacturing processes to produce such sustainable products in automotive, aerospace, consumer products, biomedical and power industries. Sustainable manufacturing has been recognized as the driver for innovation in the manufacturing industrial sector. Achieving sustainable manufacturing targets inevitably requires a metrics-based analysis of sustainable manufacturing at product, process and systems levels.
Infliximab trough concentrations during maintenance therapy are associated with endoscopic and histologic healing in ulcerative colitis

BACKGROUND Endoscopic and histologic healing are emerging as new therapeutic goals in ulcerative colitis (UC), as these endpoints are associated with less relapse, hospitalization and colectomy. AIM To investigate the association of serum infliximab trough concentrations during maintenance therapy with endoscopic or histologic healing in UC. METHODS In this multi-center retrospective cohort study, we included consecutive patients with moderate-to-severe UC on infliximab maintenance therapy who had an endoscopic evaluation and underwent therapeutic drug monitoring within three months of the colonoscopy, between February 2008 and March 2016. Per event analysis was performed. Endoscopic healing was defined as Mayo endoscopic sub-score of ≤1. Histologic healing was defined as no or only focal mild active inflammation. RESULTS Seventy colonoscopies from 56 patients were evaluated. Infliximab trough concentrations (median [interquartile range]) were significantly higher in patients with endoscopic (11.3 [7.6-14.5] vs 6.3 [0-9.8] μg/mL, P < .001) or histologic (11.1 [6.7-14.5] vs 6.7 [0-9.9] μg/mL, P = .002) healing, respectively, compared to patients without healing. Receiver-operating characteristic analyses identified infliximab trough concentration thresholds of 7.5 (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.758) and 10.5 (AUC: 0.721) μg/mL to be associated with endoscopic and histologic healing, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified infliximab trough concentration ≥7.5 (P = .013; odds ratio [OR]: 4.3; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.4-13.3) and ≥10.5 μg/mL (P = .013; OR: 3.8; 95% CI: 1.3-11) as independent factors associated with endoscopic and histologic healing, respectively. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that infliximab trough concentrations during maintenance therapy are associated with endoscopic and histologic healing in patients with UC.
A Novel Cost Minimization Approach for Data Transaction in the Context of IoT

With the advent of pervasive computing and ubiquitous services in today’s life, there are numerous data-centric services boosted by IoT. Moreover, mobile devices and their utility have resulted in a huge amount of digital data content which fails to maintain QoS. Standalone IoT cannot handle all these huge data, which resulted in the merging of IoT with cloud computing. Similarly, the retrieval of required data has become more time-consuming with the exponential increase of IoT devices. In order to remove these shortcomings, we propose an IoT-enabled three-layered architecture to process huge data and support high-end processing, which is completely suitable for data transaction supporting IoT services. In this three-layered novel architecture, each layer is collectively responsible for data emission, data retrieval, or data processing, thus completing the data transaction process. A case study on smart healthcare system presents the efficacy of the model.
Bayesian nonparametric regression models for modeling and predicting healthcare claims

Abstract Standard regression models are often insufficient to describe the complex relationships that exist in healthcare claims. A Bayesian nonparametric regression approach is presented as a flexible regression model that relaxes the assumption of Gaussianity. The details for implementation are presented. Bayesian nonparametric regression is applied to a dataset of claims by episode treatment group (ETG) with a specific focus on prediction of new observations. It is shown that the predictive accuracy improves when compared both to standard linear model assumptions and the more flexible Generalized Beta regression. Of the 347 different ETGs, the nonparametric regression outperformed both the standard linear and generalized beta regression on all but 11. By studying Conjunctivitis and Lung Transplants specifically, it is shown that this approach can handle complex characteristics of the regression error distribution such as skewness, thick tails, outliers, and bimodality.
Finite-Element Methods for Free-Surface Flow

The finite element method for free surface flows is described. The topics presented include: the use of elements to discretize the solution domain, shape functions to interpolate values within these elements (with emphasis on linear and quadratic shape functions for one-and two-dimensional problems), application of Galerkin’s method to a simple differential equation, as well as to the Navier-Stokes and continuity equations, integration by parts, coordinate transformations, numerical integration, boundary conditions, solution of non-linear equations, and integrating the unsteady term. These methods are applied to the evaluation of the Galerkin integral for the continuity equation.
An epidemiologic study of smoking and primary infertility in women

Objective To determine the relationship between cigarette smoking and primary female infertility. Design Retrospective, case-control study. Setting Population-based and randomly selected from eight geographic areas in the United States. Participants Women, 20 to 54 years of age, who were randomly selected to serve as the control group of the Cancer and Steroid Hormone Study were used for this study. Within this group, there were 483 women who were classified as having experienced primary infertility and 2,231 women eligible to serve as controls. Primary infertility, defined as 24 consecutive months of unprotected intercourse without conception, was documented from a calendar of each woman's reproductive and contraceptive history. Results Smoking one pack of cigarettes per day (odds ratio=1.36) and starting to smoke before 18 years of age (odds ratio=1.30) were significantly associated with increased risk of infertility. Life table and proportional hazards analysis indicated that smoking did not significantly increase the time required to conceive among infertile women. Conclusions Number of cigarettes smoked and age when the woman began smoking contributed to infertility in this study. It is reasonable, therefore, to recommend that women stop smoking when they are attempting to become pregnant.
Baseline psychiatric diagnoses are associated with early readmissions and long hospital length of stay after bariatric surgery.

The impact of well-controlled or historical psychiatric diagnoses in patients seeking bariatric surgery (BS) on perioperative outcomes is unclear. The primary objective of this study was to determine the impact of psychiatric diagnoses on hospital length of stay (LOS), 30-day readmission rates after BS, and post-operative weight loss outcomes. Patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRNYGB) from 2014 to 2016 at a single academic institution were retrospectively reviewed. Baseline demographic data and psychiatric history including depression, anxiety, and/or bipolar disorder (DAB) were obtained from the electronic medical record. Hospital LOS, 30-day readmissions, and % excess body weight loss (%EBWL) were obtained on all patients and compared between DAB patients and those without any psychiatric history. During the study period, 354 patients were reviewed, of which 78% were female; 60% underwent LSG. The mean preoperative BMI was 48.9 ± 8.4 m/kg2. Major depression was the leading diagnosis (42%), and 13% had both depression and anxiety. The 30-day readmission rate was significantly higher than the control (10.5% vs. 3.7%, p = 0.02). Mean hospital LOS and the incidence of long hospital LOS (≥ 4 days) was not different between the groups, although within LSG patients, the incidence of long hospital LOS trended towards being higher for DAB patients (9.2% vs. 4%, p = 0.10). Patients with depression and anxiety had a higher incidence of long LOS (23.4% vs. 9.2%, p < 0.005). While 6-month %EBWL was significantly lower for DAB patients (41% vs. 46%, p = 0.004), 1-year weight loss outcomes were not different, even when adjusting for surgical procedure. Patients with baseline or historical DAB had significantly higher early readmission rates, and those with multiple diagnoses were associated with a hospital LOS ≥ 4 days. Future studies should focus on elucidating the impact of psychiatric diagnoses on these quality metrics.
Optimal Variable Speed Limit Control in Connected Autonomous Vehicle Environment for Relieving Freeway Congestion

AbstractThis study presents an optimal variable speed limit (VSL) strategy in a connected autonomous vehicle (CAV) environment for a freeway corridor with multiple bottlenecks. The VSL control was ...
Structural deformations and mechanical properties of Si 2 BN under uniaxial and uniform biaxial strain in comparison with graphene: An ab initio study

${\mathrm{Si}}_{2}\mathrm{BN}$ has been recently predicted theoretically as a new entirely planar two-dimensional material with a honeycomblike structure (like graphene), which is stable even at $Tg1000\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$. In the present paper, we study the structural deformations and mechanical properties of ${\mathrm{Si}}_{2}\mathrm{BN}$ and graphene under both uniaxial (along the direction of the arm chair and zigzag chains) and uniform biaxial tensile strain till the fracture limit and we compare those properties of the two structures with each other. According to our findings, in the ${\mathrm{Si}}_{2}\mathrm{BN}$ structure, Si--Si and Si--B bonds are weaker than B--N and Si--N bonds, respectively, contrary to graphene bonds, which all have the same strength. In particular, B--N bond lengths of ${\mathrm{Si}}_{2}\mathrm{BN}$ remain almost unchanged under the strain conditions we studied, not exceeding $\ensuremath{\approx}6%$ of their initial length. ${\mathrm{Si}}_{2}\mathrm{BN}$ was found to be anisotropic, exhibiting large Young's and biaxial modulus values of the order of 1/3 and 2/5 of that of graphene, respectively. The different bond strengths in ${\mathrm{Si}}_{2}\mathrm{BN}$ explains its anisotropy and makes it behave very differently under strain when compared to graphene.
Noninvasive imaging of renal urea handling by CEST-MRI.

Purpose Renal function is characterized by concentration of urea for removal in urine. We tested urea as a CEST-MRI contrast agent for measurement of the concentrating capacity of distinct renal anatomical regions. Methods The CEST contrast of urea was examined using phantoms with different concentrations and pH levels. Ten C57BL/6J mice were scanned twice at 7 T, once following intraperitoneal injection of 2M 150 µL urea and separately following an identical volume of saline. Kidneys were segmented into regions encompassing the cortex, outer medulla, and inner medulla and papilla to monitor spatially varying urea concentration. Z-spectra were acquired before and 20 minutes after injection, with dynamic scanning of urea handling performed in between via serial acquisition of CEST images acquired following saturation at +1 ppm. Results Phantom experiments revealed concentration and pH-dependent CEST contrast of urea that was both acid- and base-catalyzed. Z-spectra acquired before injection showed significantly higher CEST contrast in the inner medulla and papilla (2.3% ± 1.9%) compared with the cortex (0.15% ± 0.75%, P = .011) and outer medulla (0.12% ± 0.58%, P = .008). Urea infusion increased CEST contrast in the inner medulla and papilla by 2.1% ± 1.9% (absolute), whereas saline infusion decreased CEST contrast by -0.5% ± 2.0% (absolute, P = .028 versus urea). Dynamic scanning revealed that thermal drift and diuretic status are confounding factors. Conclusion Urea CEST has a potential of monitoring renal function by capturing the spatially varying urea concentrating ability of the kidneys.
Fever and inflammatory markers do not predict infection in pediatric ventricular assist device recipient

Abstract Objective We sought to assess the relationship between serious infections and fever, white blood cell count (WBC), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in children on ventricular assist device (VAD). Methods We retrospectively reviewed all children who underwent VAD placement from 2006 to 2014 at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Daily maximum temperature, maximum WBC, CRP levels, microbiologic data and antibiotic use were abstracted from the electronic health record. Serious infection was defined as bacteremia, mediastinitis and/or driveline infection. Results Thirty-six consecutive patients underwent VAD placement with mean age of 7.1 years ±6.3 years (range 9 days −18.1 years). The median duration of VAD support was 24 days (1–102 days). Patients were on antibiotics for 58% of total VAD days. We found no drive line infections or mediastinitis and only 5 episodes of blood stream infections in 4 patients (11%) during 1167 total days. Fever was present on 23% of total VAD days and nearly all (35/36) patients had at least one day of fever. CRP was elevated in 298 of 318 (94%) of all samples tested. 53% (448/851) of the total WBC assessments were elevated. On detailed analysis of confirmed bloodstream infection, only 2 of the 5 episodes were associated with fever within 24 h of the positive culture. WBC and CRP levels (drawn within 24 h of positive culture) were normal in 2/5 (40%). Conclusions Despite a low prevalence of serious infection in our pediatric VAD cohort, we found that fever, elevated WBC and CRP were common. This suggests that traditional markers of infection are unreliable. Fever, elevated WBC count and elevated CRP were poorly predictive of serious bacterial infection in our pediatric VAD cohort. Their presence alone should not be an indication for long-term antibiotics.