cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Nationwide Rise in the Use of Stents for Benign Esophageal Perforation

Background Surgical repair or drainage is the standard treatment for benign esophageal perforation. The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of esophageal stents for the management of malignant esophageal stricture or fistula, or both. We hypothesize that increasing enthusiasm and experience with esophageal stents has led to greater use of stents for the management of benign esophageal perforation. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study (2007 to 2014) of patients with benign esophageal perforation using MarketScan (Thomson Reuters, New York, NY), a commercial claims database. Patients had 6 months of follow-up. Regression was used for risk-adjustment. Results Benign esophageal perforation was treated in 659 patients (mean age, 49 years; 41% women), comprising surgical repair in 449 (69%), surgical drainage in 110 (17%), and stent in 100 (15%). Stent use increased from 7% in 2007 to 30% in 2014 ( p p = 0.001 for trend), but surgical drainage did not change ( p = 0.24). After adjustment for other factors that could vary over time, stent use increased by 28% per year (incidence rate ratio, 1.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.17 to 1.39). Changes in risk-adjusted deaths, discharges home, readmissions, or costs over the same period were not significant (all p > 0.05 for trend). Conclusions The use of stents for the management of benign esophageal perforation has increased by over fourfold in just 8 years, but short-term outcomes have not changed over time for this population of patients. A national registry for off-label use of esophageal stents may clarify the indications for and risks and benefits of stenting benign esophageal perforations.
Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) Control and Soil Seedbank Composition Fifteen Years after Release of Aphthona Biological Control Agents

Aphthona spp. flea beetles were released in two ecological sites of the Little Missouri National Grasslands in southwestern North Dakota in 1999 to control leafy spurge. The change in leafy spurge density and soil seedbank composition was monitored to evaluate the effectiveness of the biological weed control agent and the associated change in plant communities 5, 10, and 15 yr after release in loamy overflow (valleys) and loamy sites (ridges). In 2014, 15 yr after release, leafy spurge stem density had decreased 94% from 110 to 7 stems m−2 in the loamy overflow sites and 88% from 78 to 9 stems m−2 in the loamy sites. Leafy spurge represented only 2% and 6% of the loamy overflow and loamy seedbanks in 2004, respectively, compared with nearly 67% and 70%, respectively, in 1999. There was a slow shift to reintroduction of native species into the seedbank over the last 15 yr. The number of desirable species increased to 21 by 2014 (more than three times the number of species in 1999) in the loamy overflow sites, and doubled to 14 species in the loamy sites, while less desirable forb species doubled in both sites. Desirable grass species doubled in the loamy overflow sites by 2014 but remained unchanged in loamy sites. Aphthona spp. successfully controlled leafy spurge for more than 15 yr without any additional control methods or costs to land managers and resulted in the slow return of a subset of native species.Nomenclature: Leafy spurge, Euphorbia esula L.
Twist-Coupled Kirigami Cellular Metamaterials and Mechanisms

Manipulation of thin sheets by folding and cutting offers opportunity to engineer structures with novel mechanical properties, and to prescribe complex force-displacement relationships via material elasticity in combination with the trajectory imposed by the fold topology. We study the mechanics of cellular Kirigami that rotates upon compression, which we call Flexigami; the addition of diagonal cuts to an equivalent closed cell permits its reversible collapse without incurring significant tensile strains in its panels. Using finite-element modeling and experiment we show how the mechanics of flexigami is governed by the coupled rigidity of the panels and hinges and we design flexigami to achieve reversible force response ranging from smooth mono-stability to sharp bi-stability. We then demonstrate the use of flexigami to construct laminates with multi-stable behavior, a rotary-linear boom actuator, and self-deploying cells with activated hinges. Advanced digital fabrication methods can enable the practical use of flexigami and other metamaterials that share its underlying principles, for applications such as morphing structures, soft robotics and medical devices.
Information Transfer and the Hospital Discharge Summary: National Primary Care Provider Perspectives of Challenges and Opportunities.

Purpose The hospital discharge summary (HDS) serves as a critical method of patient information transfer between hospitalist and primary care provider (PCP). This study was designed to increase our understanding of PCP preferences for, and perceived deficiencies in, the discharge summary. Methods We designed a mail survey that was sent to a random sample of 800 American Academy of Family Physicians members nationally. The survey response rate was 59%. We analyzed the availability of summaries at hospital followup, whether all desired information was contained in the summary and whether certain specific items were completed. Provider subgroup analysis was performed. Results The strongest predictor of discharge summary availability at posthospital followup is direct access to inpatient data. Respondents (27.5%) had a summary available 0% to 40% of the time, 41.4% noted availability 41% to 80% of the time and 31.1% >80% of the time; if a provider had access to inpatient data they tended to have a discharge summary available to them (P 80% of the time. Specific summary items considered "very important" by providers included medication list (94% of respondents), diagnosis list (89%), and treatment provided (87%). Conclusions Opportunities remain in timely delivery of a complete HDS to the PCP. Further multifaceted practice redesign should be directed at optimizing this critical information transfer tool, potentially encompassing electronic medical record utilization and specific training for clinicians preparing summaries. Initial efforts should focus on ensuring availability of a complete summary (containing items deemed important by PCPs including medication list, diagnosis list, and treatment provided) at the posthospital follow-up visit.
Prolongation of the survival time of the corpus luteum.

An interesting finding of prolongation of corpora lutea after radiation is described. By histologic appearance the corpora lutea were noted to be more active and in a state of preservation much earlier than would be expected from their expected date of formation. The possible reason for this finding is discussed and seems related to the timing of the radiation. Prolongation of corpora lutea in general in both animals and women is discussed.
Electropermeabilization of cells by closely spaced paired nanosecond-range pulses.

Abstract Decreasing the time gap between two identical electric pulses is expected to render bioeffects similar to those of a single pulse of equivalent total duration. In this study, we show that it is not necessarily true, and that the effects vary for different permeabilization markers. We exposed individual CHO or NG108 cells to one 300-ns pulse (3.7–11.6 kV/cm), or a pair of such pulses (0.4–1000 μs interval), or to a single 600-ns pulse of the same amplitude. Electropermeabilization was evaluated (a) by the uptake of YO-PRO-1 (YP) dye; (b) by the amplitude of elicited Ca2+ transients, and (c) by the entry of Tl+ ions. For YP uptake, applying a 600-ns pulse or a pair of 300-ns pulses doubled the effect of a single 300-ns pulse; this additive effect did not depend on the time interval between pulses or the electric field, indicating that already permeabilized cells are as susceptible to electropermeabilization as naive cells. In contrast, Ca2+ transients and Tl+ uptake increased in a supra-additive fashion when two pulses were delivered instead of one. Paired pulses at 3.7 kV/cm with minimal separation (0.4 and 1 μs) elicited 50–100% larger Ca2+ transients than either a single 600-ns pulse or paired pulses with longer separation (10–1000 μs). This paradoxically high efficiency of the closest spaced pulses was emphasized when Ca2+ transients were elicited in a Ca2+-free solution (when the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) was the sole significant source of Ca2+), but was eliminated by Ca2+ depletion from the ER and was not observed for Tl+ entry through the electropermeabilized membrane. We conclude that closely spaced paired pulses specifically target ER, by either permeabilizing it to a greater extent than a single double-duration pulse thus causing more Ca2+ leak, or by amplifying Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release by an unknown mechanism.
A transcript-wide association study in physical activity intervention implicates molecular pathways in chronic disease

Background: Physical activity is associated with decreased risk for several chronic and acute conditions including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, mental health and aging. However, the biological mechanisms associated with this decreased risk are elusive. One way to ascertain biological changes influenced by physical activity is by monitoring changes in how genes are expressed. In this investigation, we conducted a transcriptome-wide association study of physical activity, meta-analyzing 20 independent studies to increase power for discovery of genes expressed before and after physical activity. Further, we hypothesize that genes identified in physical activity are expressed in obesity, inflammation, major depressive disorder and healthy aging. Results: Our analysis identified thirty (30) transcripts induced by physical activity (PA signature), at an FDR < 0.05. Twenty (20) of these transcripts, including COL4A3, CAMKD1, SLC4A5, EPS15L1, RBM33, and CACNG1, are up-regulated and ten (10) transcripts including CRY1, ZNF346, SDF4, ANXA1 and YWHAZ are down-regulated. We find that several of these physical activity transcripts are associated and biologically concordant in direction with body mass index, white blood cell count, and healthy aging. Conclusions: powerful approach, we found thirty genes that were putatively influenced by physical activity, eight of which are inversely associated with body mass index, thirteen inversely associated with white blood cell count, and three associated and concordant with healthy aging. One gene was significant and concordant with major depressive disorder. These results highlight the potential molecular basis for the protective benefit of physical activity for a broad set of chronic conditions.
Effects of Induced Acoustic Sources on the Impedance of a Cylindrical Dipole in a Warm Plasma

In determining the impedance of a cylindrical dipole in intimate contact with a plasma, the effect of the induced acoustic sources (force and fluid flux distributions) on the antenna surface must be accounted for in addition to the effects of the induced current distribution. This is accomplished by the derivation of a suitable stationary formula for impedance which accounts for the effects of all the induced sources. In this variational formulation it is only necessary to know the functional form of the induced sources and not their relative magnitudes in order to obtain impedance values. In general, the effect of the acoustic sources on impedance was found to be quite small for the current and force distribution used.
Delirium: A Barometer for Quality of Hospital Care

(2001). Delirium: A Barometer for Quality of Hospital Care. Hospital Practice: Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 15-18.
The Parent-Society Contract

For all dependent parents, parenthood is an undesirable lifestyle. As a society, we actively try to prevent undesirable lifestyles. When behavior harms others, as with sexually transmitted diseases, public health and law enforcement systems intervene. Adolescent and dependent adult parenthood has repercussions far beyond the parents. Its short- and long-term effects harm their babies, their families, and our society.
First-principles study of impurity segregation in zirconia, hafnia, and yttria-stabilized-zirconia grain boundaries

Abstract The impurity segregation behavior in symmetric tilt Σ5 (310)/[001] grain boundaries (GBs) of cubic ZrO2, HfO2, and yttria-stabilized ZrO2 (YSZ) were studied using first-principles calculations. The substitutional impurities, including divalent (Mg, Ca), trivalent (Al, Y), and tetravalent (Si, Ti) elements, were considered. It is found that divalent and trivalent impurities tend to segregate to a narrow region within 4 A of the GB plane, while the tetravalent impurities have a much more scattered segregation profile extending 8–15 A from the GB plane. For ZrO2 GB, the calculated grain boundary impurity enrichment factor for yttrium dopant is about 1.7, which is in good agreement with the experimental value of 1.9. For YSZ GB, there exist a strong GB segregation tendency for Mg, Ca, and Si, and a very weak segregation tendency for Ti in the YSZ GB, which is consistent with experimental findings.
A Novel Curriculum to Prepare Internal Medicine Residents for Fellowship Interviews.

Background:Applications to the Fellowship Match through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) Specialties Matching Service (SMS) are at an all-time high. Data regarding the preparedness of ...
Energy dissipation rate and kinetic relations for Eshelby transformations

Abstract Vasoya et al. (J. Appl. Mech., 86, 051005, 2019) gave a general expression for the dissipation associated with a single transforming Eshelby inclusion in a linear elastic solid and showed that requiring the dissipation to be non-negative provides a strong limit on the maximum value of the transformation strain magnitude. Non-negative dissipation is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for satisfying the Clausius–Duhem inequality which requires the dissipation rate to be non-negative. Here, a general expression is given for the dissipation rate with multiple transforming Eshelby inclusions. When specialized to a single transforming Eshelby inclusion in an infinite solid, the limit on the magnitude of transformation strain for non-negative dissipation rate is one half that for non-negative dissipation. The condition for non-negative dissipation rate is expressed as the product of a configurational force, analogous to the Peach–Koehler force for dislocations and to the J-integral for cracks, times the transformation strain rate. This gives a natural framework for specifying kinetic relations that guarantee a non-negative dissipation rate for Eshelby inclusions. Simple kinetic relations are proposed for the mesoscale modeling of the shear transformation zone (STZ) mechanism of plastic deformation in amorphous solids. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate implementation in a computational framework of a kinetic relation that guarantees a non-negative dissipation rate. Possible limitations of a linear elastic Eshelby inclusion model for the STZ plasticity mechanism are discussed in light of results from atomistic analyses.
OSA and Neurocognitive Impairment in Children With Congenital Heart Disease

Background Children with congenital heart disease (CHD) have an increased risk of neurocognitive impairment. No prior studies have evaluated the role of OSA, which is associated with neurocognitive impairment in children without CHD. Research Question Is OSA is associated with neurocognitive impairment in children with CHD? Study Design and Methods Children aged 6 to 17 years with corrected moderate to complex CHD without syndromes that may affect neurocognition were recruited from the pediatric cardiology clinic. Participants underwent home sleep testing and neurocognitive testing, including a validated Intellectual Quotient (IQ) test as well as validated tests of memory (Paired Associates Learning test), executive function (Intra-Extra Dimensional set shift test), and attention (Simple Reaction Test) from the CANTAB neurocognitive testing battery. Results Complete results were available for 30 children. Seventeen children (57%) were found to have OSA. Total IQ was markedly lower in children with CHD and comorbid OSA compared with children with CHD without comorbid OSA (mean, 86 ± 12 vs 98 ± 11; P = .01). Children with CHD and OSA did significantly worse on the Paired Associates Learning test, with a median of eight total errors (interquartile range [IQR], 2.25-15) compared with children with CHD without OSA (median total errors, 2, IQR, 1-8; P = .02). Interpretation Children with CHD and comorbid OSA have impaired neurocognition compared with children with CHD without comorbid OSA. OSA may be a reversible cause of neurocognitive impairment in children with CHD. Further research is needed to evaluate the effects of OSA treatment on neurocognitive impairment in children with CHD.
Optimizing the driving trajectories for guided ultrasonic wave excitation using iterative learning control

Abstract In this work, iterative learning control (ILC) is used to generate precise, guided ultrasonic wave pulses for nondestructive testing (NDT) purposes. The premise of ILC is that the performance of a system, which is repetitively executing the same task, can be improved by learning from previous attempts. In order to develop a systematic approach for the ILC design, an H ∞ -synthesis method is employed. To this end, an experimental modal analysis is conducted for commonly used guided ultrasound transducers, and a low-order model is fitted to the resulting data near the transducer’s peak frequency. Based on this model, appropriate L- and Q-filters are synthesized and the ILC is trained to generate the desired wave packet in simulation. The simulation results indicate convergence of the proposed ILC algorithm to the optimal driving trajectory. By employing this trajectory in laboratory experiments, it is shown that ringing effects, i.e. distortions of the induced wave packets, are significantly reduced. The ILC is also trained in the experiment, and robustness and convergence are discussed. Lastly, to demonstrate the impact of such an improvement to the induced guided ultrasonic waveform, NDT experiments in the form of edge and delamination detection are performed. It is shown that a significant improvement in reliability can be achieved using the proposed approach. For the MSSP Special Issue in Honor of Professor Lothar Gaul.
Energy metabolism and sources of oxidative stress in wooden breast - a review

Modern broilers show dramatic growth over a short interval and contribute directly to the success of the poultry meat industry. The growth performance of commercial broilers is a result of genetic selection for "performance traits", such as body size, meat yield, and feed conversion rate. However, due to the rapid growth rate of modern commercial broilers, several growth-related conditions have arisen, increasing economic losses and consumer concerns. Among the most economically consequential is the muscle disorder called wooden breast. Together with associated myopathies such as white striping and spaghetti meat, wooden breast is causing losses of $200 million a year in the U.S. alone and occurs worldwide. No causative factors are known for wooden breast to date. Wooden breast can affect over 80% of broilers in a flock, yet no methods of amelioration are currently available. Overall, the evidence suggests that wooden breast is a genetic, age-dependent condition associated with fast growth rate. The primary features of wooden breast are muscle degeneration and fibrosis, high levels of oxidative stress, hypoxia, and altered energy metabolism. Recent work has also implicated reduced pectoral vessel density in the pathogenesis of wooden breast. This review examines the history of myopathies in commercial broilers and the relationship of myopathies to metabolism and oxidative performance. This review summarizes the foundational knowledge of wooden breast and provides a platform for further investigation of wooden breast.
Greater mortality variability in the United States in comparison with peer countries.

Background Over the past several decades, US mortality declines have lagged behind other high-income countries. However, scant attention has been devoted to how US mortality variability compares with other countries. Objective We examine trends in mortality and mortality variability in the US and 16 peer countries from 1980 through 2016. Methods We employ the Human Mortality Database and demographic techniques - with a focus on patterns in the interquartile (IQR), interdecile (IDR), and intercentile (ICR) ranges of survivorship - to better understand US mortality and mortality variability trends in comparative perspective. Results Compared to other high-income countries, the US: (1) mortality ranking has slipped for nearly all age groups; (2) is losing its old age mortality advantage; (3) has seen growth in relative age-specific mortality gaps from infancy through midlife; and (4) exhibits greater concentrations of deaths from infancy through adulthood, resulting in much greater mortality variability. Conclusions We contribute to calls for renewed attention to the relatively low and lagging US life expectancy. The ICR draws particular attention to the comparatively high US early and midlife mortality. Contribution We find comparatively high variability in US mortality. Further reductions in early and midlife mortality could diminish variability, reduce years of potential life lost, and increase life expectancy. Consistent with previous research, we encourage policymakers to focus on reducing the unacceptably high early and midlife mortality in the US. And we urge researchers to more frequently monitor and track mortality variation in conjunction with mortality rates and life expectancy estimates.
Parental Leave Policy for Ophthalmology Residents: Results of a Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study of Program Directors

Background Many residents become parents during residency and the adequacy of parental leave is integrally related to resident wellness. Objective To understand current parental leave policies in ophthalmology residency programs and program director perceptions of the impact of parental leave on trainees. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Multicenter among all U.S. ophthalmology residency programs. Participants Ophthalmology residency program directors during the 2017 to 2018 academic year. Results Sixty-eight percent (82/120) program directors participated in this study. The majority of programs had written maternity leave policies (89%) and partner leave policies (72%). The typical duration of maternity leave taken ranged from 4 to 6 weeks while typical partner leave duration taken ranged from 1 day to 2 weeks. Residents who take leave may need to extend training at 72% of programs. Program directors perceived that parental leave negatively impacts resident scholarly activities and surgical skills and volume. Male program directors, relative to female program directors, perceived that becoming a childbearing parent negatively impacts resident dedication to patient care. Program directors raised concerns including local support and policy, extension of residency, impact on residents, impact on programs, consistency and fairness, and desire for national policy change. Conclusions Parental leave practices vary significantly among ophthalmology training programs with residents typically taking less leave than permitted. Program directors are challenged to accommodate parental leave while balancing resident training and wellness for all trainees in their program.
FM-Hop: An Automatic Car Radio Station Tuning System

Distracted driving is commonly referred to as the new drunk driving. It is responsible for taking human lives on a daily basis, teens' in particular. Smartphone use, particularly texting while driving, is the most dangerous form of distracted driving. In this paper, we aim to utilize smartphones to save human lives instead. In particular, one of the most common forms of distracted driving is adjusting the car radio while driving. We propose FM-Hop, a car radio station tuning system, which automatically adjusts stations on drivers' behalf, yet without any user involvement. FM-Hop utilizes an FM receiver in a driver's smartphone to scan available FM stations and automatically tune the car FM receiver, based on user preferences. Given that FM-Hop requires no external equipment to measure user distraction, it could be seamlessly deployed in existing vehicular environments. To evaluate FM-Hop on a large scale, we deploy a web-based framework, which enables us to tap into a large crowd-sourced user base. Our tests, conducted by more than 600 paid participants, show that FM-Hop reduces the number of station switches by 3.25X. Most importantly, we explicitly demonstrate that FM-Hop strictly reduces driver distraction.
China–India Studies: Emergence, Development, and State of the Field

This essay traces the development of China–India studies from the mid-nineteenth century to the present in order to take stock of the field, which has witnessed a surge in publication over the past two decades. The assessment presented here weaves the main shifts in China–India political relations with the emergence of various strands of China–India scholarship, since the two aspects often intersect. The major lacuna in the field, this essay argues, is a framework needed to analyze the complex connections and the pertinent comparisons between China and India. It contends that research on China–India topics should ideally attempt to combine comparative and connective frameworks with analyses that transcend geographic, temporal, and disciplinary boundaries to address this lacuna.
Supporting Evidence-based Parenting Behaviors in Primary Care Clinics Serving Low-Income Communities: RCT of Sit Down and Play

Background: Recognized by public health agencies as a target to promote developmental and educational equity, the primary care setting offers an ideal opportunity to reach millions of children who live in low-income communities. However, how to more efficiently leverage the primary care setting to deliver a sustainable and effective preventive intervention to promote positive parenting behaviors that encourage early childhood development remains a challenge. We designed Sit Down …
Measuring Workplace Harassment Based on Gender Nonconformity

The rise of research on workplace mistreatment in the past twenty years can be attributed to the realization that workplace mistreatment is associated with a host of deleterious outcomes for both the individual targets of the mistreatment and the organizations in which they work. However, the extant literature is failing to capture the full range of sex-based mistreatment that people may experience through a tendency to focus solely on sexual harassment and sex discrimination, which are very specific types of behavior based on one’s sex and gender stereotypes. This study introduces the construct of Not Woman Enough Harassment, or the extent to which women perceive that they are treated unfavorably because they do not meet traditionally held stereotypes of femininity. A scale was developed and validated in order to measure this type of harassment. Results demonstrated that not woman enough harassment was experienced by approximately 32.5% of the sample. The scale showed good psychometric properties, with two distinct factors of harassment based on physical and non-physical traits. Not woman enough harassment was demonstrated to be distinct from other forms of sexual and workplace harassment. Results: Before examining the factor structure, the 45 items written for the Not Woman Enough Harassment Scale were examined for initial acceptability. The 13 items that participants endorsed as “not applicable” were dropped from the scale to ensure that the final items were applicable to a broad range of women. The remaining 33 items demonstrated acceptable inter-item correlations with none falling below .40. Further, all 33 items were endorsed by at least 5% of the sample. Thus, all remaining items met the suggested guidelines set by Hinkin [55]. Discussion: “This study was designed to address the gap in the extant literature on workplace sex-based harassment that fails to capture mistreatment based on deviation from gender stereotypes for women. To that end, the construct of not woman enough harassment, or mistreatment that occurs when women do not meet traditionally held stereotypes of femininity, was proposed in order to expand the conceptualization of harassment experienced by women in the workplace. In order to measure this construct, the Not Woman Enough Harassment Scale was created, in which two types of not woman enough harassment emerged: harassment based on physical characteristics (e.g., hair and attire) and harassment based on non-physical characteristics (e.g., assertiveness and humor). The results showed that not woman enough harassment is an issue faced by women in the workplace. In fact, it is likely a larger issue than the present data of university students captured, as full-time employment significantly predicted not woman enough harassment, and the majority of the present sample were part-time workers.
POS0173 METABOLOMIC PROFILING AND SYMPTOM BURDEN IN BLACK WOMEN WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

Background: Black individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), who are predominantly women, have disproportionately poorer health outcomes across the trajectory of their disease including increased mortality, higher symptom burden, and poor quality of life than non-Hispanic Whites. The heterogeneity of immunopathology and biochemical complexity of SLE create major knowledge gaps around the mechanisms of disease and differences in SLE symptom expression. Metabolomics may reveal biochemical dysregulation that underlies SLE symptoms and provide novel metabolic targets for precision symptom interventions. Objectives: We conducted untargeted metabolomic plasma profiling of Black females with SLE and Black female non-SLE controls to gain insight into metabolic disturbances associated with SLE. Methods: We analyzed blood specimens collected from 23 Black female patients with diagnosis of SLE during a routine outpatient rheumatology visit and from 21 Black female non-SLE controls whose data were collected as part of another study of obese caregivers. Data collection for both cases and controls was completed with harmonized protocols. Clinical data for cases were obtained via chart review and both cases and controls completed identical, reliable and valid measures of fatigue, depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance. A commercial metabolomics analysis company within the US conducted untargeted metabolomics on the 44 plasma samples using ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry along with metabolite identification and quantification to examine differences between SLE/non-SLE groups. Results: All SLE subjects met 2019 EULAR/ACR criteria (Aringer et al., 2019). SLE subjects were significantly (p Conclusion: Black women with SLE had biochemical profiles consistent with reduced energy production which has implications for the high burden of fatigue and other symptoms in this population. Future work with larger sample sizes should involve integrating symptom and metabolomics data to identify potential biomarkers of symptom burden. References: Aringer, M., Costenbader, K., Daikh, D. et al. (2019). 2019 European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus. Ann Rheum Dis, 78,1151-1159. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by a research re-entry supplement to L. Kimble under the parent award 1P30NR018090-02S1 Center for the Study of Symptom Science, Metabolomics, and Multiple Chronic Conditions (Song, PI) funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, USA. Disclosure of Interests: Laura P. Kimble: None declared, Arezou Khosroshahi Consultant of: Have received honorarium for advisory board but has no relationship with this work., Grant/research support from: Have received a research grant from Pfizer; but has no relationship with this work., Ronald C. Eldridge: None declared, Glenna S. Brewster: None declared, Nicole S. Carlson: None declared, Elizabeth J. Corwin: None declared
Flux-Limited Diffusion Approximation Models of Giant Planet Formation by Disk Instability. II. Quadrupled Spatial Resolution

While collisional accumulation is nearly universally accepted as the formation mechanism of rock and ice worlds, the situation regarding gas giant planet formation is more nuanced. Gas accretion by solid cores formed by collisional accumulation is the generally favored mechanism, but observations increasingly suggest that gas disk gravitational instability might explain the formation of at least the massive or wide-orbit gas giant exoplanets. This paper continues a series aimed at refining three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamical models of disk instabilities, where the handling of the gas thermodynamics is a crucial factor. Boss (2017, 2019, 2021) used the $\beta$ cooling approximation (Gammie 2001) to calculate 3D models of disks with initial masses of 0.091 $M_\odot$ extending from 4 to 20 au around 1 $M_\odot$ protostars. Here we employ 3D flux-limited diffusion (FLD) approximation models of the same disks, in order to provide a superior treatment of disk gas thermodynamics. The new models have quadrupled spatial resolution compared to previous 3D FLD models (Boss 2008, 2012), in both the radial and azimuthal spherical coordinates, resulting in the highest spatial resolution 3D FLD models to date. The new models continue to support the hypothesis that such disks can form self-gravitating, dense clumps capable of contracting to form gas giant protoplanets, and suggest that the FLD models yield similar numbers of clumps as $\beta$ cooling models with $\beta \sim$ 1 to $\sim$ 10, including the critical value of $\beta$ = 3 for fragmentation proposed by Gammie (2001).
CINmetrics: An R package for chromosomal instability analysis

Genomic instability has been an important hallmark in cancer and more recently in neurodegenrative diseases. Chromosomal instability, as a measure of genomic instability, has been used to characterize clinical and biological phenotypes associated with these diseases by measuring structural and numerical chromosomal alterations. There have been multiple Chromosomal Instability Scores developed across many studies in the literature; however, these scores have not been compared because of a lack of single tool available to calculate these various metrics. Here, we provide an R package CINmetrics, that calculates six different chromosomal instability scores and allows direct comparison between them. We also show how these scores differ by applying CINmetrics to breast cancer data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Availability: The package is available on CRAN at https://cran.r-project.org/package=CINmetrics and on github at https://github.com/lasseignelab/CINmetrics
Other Pests in No-Tillage and Their Control

Innate doubts associated with any major change of accepted cultural practices tend to surface during the early years of adoption. This is especially true when research data and grower experience are lacking or at best limited. Major concerns in the 1960s were raised relative to mulch buildup and the anticipated potential increase in severity of insect infestations and disease problems. Many of the recommendations on pest control were based on deep coverage of crop residues by plowing and clean cultivation. No-tillage reversed this concept and the idea of leaving mulch and crop residues on the soil surface appeared to present an ominous situation. In addition, germinating and growing plants to be desiccated with herbicides were present in the field and could also serve as host plants for pests.
Effects of Residual Stresses on Crack Growth in Aluminum Alloys

It is well known that mechanical surface treatments such as shot peening can significantly improve the fatigue behavior of highly stressed metallic components. This increase in fatigue and corrosion performance occurs because of the thin layer of residual stresses created by the shot peening process. Literature [1, 2 & 3] is replete with information on the increase in fatigue life with peening but there is little information in open literature on the crack initiation and growth in the shot peened materials. The measurement of fatigue crack growth through this layer of compressive stress field which is less than 0.01” (~ 0.6mm) thick is a challenge. The present study highlights the attempts to detect crack initiation and measure crack growth in the heavily deformed surface layers, using several measurement techniques of the following aluminum alloys: 7050-T7451 & 7075-T7351. To produce specimens with short cracks several specimen geometries proposed by Suresh & Ritchie [3] were prospected and after several tests it was found that the hourglass coupon with a scratch, the Eccentrically Loaded Single Edge Notched Coupons ESE(T) coupons and the double edge notch coupons DENT(T) similar to the one used by Everett et al [4] would be most appropriate. Several measurement techniques were used in order to detect crack initiation in the hourglass coupons. It was found that the ACPD and eddy current methods were more reliable than the non-contact surface measurement techniques used. The ESE(T) coupons were used to determine the effects of shot peening on crack growth rates, and the results indicate that the effects of peening did not sufficiently retard crack growth for the specimen geometry chosen. Currently work is being conducted to fabricate specimens such that the initial crack is fully embedded in a zone of compressive stresses using the DENT(T) specimen geometry. Understanding the influence of compressive residual stresses and how it affects the fracture mode is central to any investigation on how it may be utilized to improve fatigue resistance of the material. Thus, quantifying and measurement of the residual stress field was also conducted to help better understand its influence on crack growth.
An Evaluation of Affine Invariant-Based Classification for Image Matching

This paper presents a detailed evaluation of a new approach that uses affine invariants for wide baseline image matching. Previously published work presented a new approach to classify tentative feature matches as inliers or outliers during wide baseline image matching. After typical feature matching algorithms are run and tentative matches are created, the approach is used to classify matches as inliers or outliers to a transformation model. The approach uses the affine invariant property that ratios of areas of shapes are constant under an affine transformation. Thus, by randomly sampling corresponding shapes in the image pair a histogram of ratios of areas can be generated. The matches that contribute to the maximum histogram value are then candidate inliers. This paper evaluates the robustness of the approach under varying degrees of incorrect matches, localization error and perspective rotation often encountered during wide baseline matching. The evaluation shows the affine invariant approach provides similar accuracy as RANSAC under a wide range of conditions while maintaining an order of magnitude increase in efficiency.
Philosophy of Natural Science

In section 3.3 of [i]Philosophy of Natural Science[/i], Hempel argues that crucial tests are not sufficient enough to prove a given hypothesis or to disprove them. Hempel states what some may believe why a crucial test can prove or disprove a hypothesis. If there are two competing hypothesis which involve the same subject and no available evidence favors one or the other, then there exists a test, which will produce conflicting outcomes for the different hypotheses. This test is the so-called crucial test would then presumably refute one hypothesis while supporting the other. Hempel then presents his side of this argument using an example of past experiments involving the nature of light. He describes how Foucault performed an experiment involving the velocity of light through air and water. This experiment was meant to show whether light consists of waves or extremely small particles as presented by Newton. Foucault’s experiment was performed and the resulting outcome was used to refute Newton’s view of light as small particles traveling at a high velocity. Hempel believed that this test was not strong enough to completely support or refute either view of light. The experiment relied on the assumption that light as waves would travel faster in air than in water. However Hempel argues that the conception of light as streams of particles was too indefinite to assume that it would travel slower in air without additional assumptions about the motion of particles and their surrounding medium. So even though the results may seem to support and prove the wave hypothesis, it doesn’t necessarily disprove the particle theory. In fact Einstein later proposed a theory, which eliminated the classical wave theory, using support from an experiment by Lenard in 1903. But again as in the previous example one of the hypotheses was not definitely refuted, in this case being the wave theory. M.-M. V.
Conditional survival in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma resected with curative intent

BACKGROUND Prognosis after surgery for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is typically reported from the date of surgery. Survival estimates, however, are dynamic and may change based on the time already survived. The authors sought to assess conditional survival among a large cohort of patients who underwent resection of PDAC.
Data Mining in Quality and Reliability

Data mining techniques can be separated into two primary areas: those using supervised algorithms and those using unsupervised algorithms. Supervised data mining techniques most closely resemble standard statistical modeling because they are predictive, while unsupervised data mining techniques are associative and are used to examine relationships between variables and may or may not have an implied direction in the relationship. This article uses a large healthcare trial in which data mining techniques provided the only way to analyze the dataset for data quality. Keywords: auditing; anomaly detection; CHAID ; Ca RT ; C5.0
13.3: Submillisecond GraytoGray Response Time of PolymerStabilized Blue Phase Liquid Crystals

Submillisecond graytogray GTG response time of a polymerstabilized bluephase liquid crystal cell is demonstrated experimentally. Analytical equations describing the GTG response time fit experimental data well. This fast switching time is particularly attractive for color sequential displays with significantly suppressed color breakup.
Factors controlling hair-cell regeneration/repair in the inner ear

Damaged hair cells in the avian basilar papilla are replaced by regenerative proliferation of supporting cells and transdifferentiation of supporting cells into hair cells. In the mammalian vestibular system, transdifferentiation and, possibly, the repair of damaged hair cells appear to play significant roles. Several growth factors have been found to be associated with the regeneration/repair process: insulin, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), and fibroblast growth factors are important for avian inner ear regeneration/repair, whereas epidermal growth factor, transforming growth factor α, insulin, IGF-1, and IGF-2 are important for regeneration/repair in the mammalian labyrinth. Increasing evidence suggests that regeneration/repair of mammalian auditory hair cells is possible during the early neonatal period and may exist to a very limited degree at later times.
Catalyzing Methanolysis of Alkyl Halides in the Interior of an Amphiphilic Molecular Basket

A molecular basket with four cholate units assembled on a cone-shaped calix[4]arene assumed reversed micelle-like conformation in 5% methanol/carbon tetrachloride. The inwardly facing hydroxyl groups on the cholates concentrated the polar solvent from the mostly nonpolar mixture. Methanolysis of alkyl halides benefited from the concentrated pocket of methanol if the substrate was capable of entering the basket. Substrates that were too large or too hydrophobic to fit within the basket showed no rate acceleration.
Derepression of mitochondria and their enzymes in yeast: Regulatory aspects☆

Abstract We have performed a detailed analysis of the properties of glucose-repressed cells of a commercial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. They contain measurable amounts of the respiratory enzymes NADH oxidase, cytochrome c oxidase, succinate dehydrogenase, succinate:cytochrome c reductase and NADH:cytochrome c reductase (antimycin A-sensitive) as well as the dehydrogenases for l -malate, l -glutamate, and l 8-isocitrate. Cytochromes b, c1, and aa3 are present in amounts that may be in excess of those required for cytochrome-linked enzyme activities. Enzymes and cytochromes are localized in large, presumably mitochondrial organelles among which no compositional or functional heterogeneity could be detected. We have also analyzed the kinetics of synthesis of respiratory enzymes and cytochromes during the release from catabolite(glucose) repression. All activities assayed except for cytochrome c oxidase begin their derepression before the external glucose concentration falls below 0.4%; derepression of cytochrome oxidase occurs only after the glucose concentration falls below 0.1%. The earlier events comprise the “fermentative” phase of derepression while the later events comprise the “oxidative” phase. The two phases can be distinguished operationally by their sensitivity to antimycin A. Only the oxidative phase is blocked by the inhibitor. Respiratory enzymes and cytochromes appear to fall into two classes distinguishable by their increase during derepression. An apparently constitutive one consists of cytochrome c oxidase, ATPase, and cytochromes aa3, b, and c1; these entities increase in amount per cell but not in amount per unit of mitochondrial mass and are of the order of 5-fold or less. The second class consists of those activities that increase by more than 6-fold and may be considered derepressible in the strict sense. Thus, proliferation and differentiation of mitochondria both contribute to the cellular changes associated with derepression. The fermentative phase of derepression does not require mitochondrial function, mitochondrial protein, or RNA synthesis, or the gradual accumulation of regulatory elements for either its initiation or persistence. This phase of derepression also occurs in cytoplasmic petites. In contrast, the oxidative phase of derepression requires mitochondrial function. Mitochondrial gene expression is required for the biogenesis of fully functional mitochondria but, except for cytochrome c, it plays little or no role in regulating the expression of nuclear genes the products of which are localized in mitochondria.
The Role of Pre-Operative and Post-Operative Glucose Control in Surgical-Site Infections and Mortality

Background and Objective The impact of glucose control on surgical-site infection (SSI) and death remains unclear. We examined how pre- and post-operative glucose levels and their variability are associated with the risk of SSI or in-hospital death.
New fluors for radiation tolerant scintillators

The new generation of high energy accelerators -- LHC, CEBAF, RHIC -- have encouraged the development of more robust plastic scintillators. Monitors and detectors for these machines will require plastic scintillator with greater radiation tolerance. Although the major cause of radiation damage in plastic scintillator is the creation of color centers in the base plastic, the most successful approach to date has been to utilize fluors which circumvent, rather than solve, the radiation damage problem. Two techniques have been found to be useful. First, increase the concentration of fluors so that the optical density of the fluors for absorption of the scintillation photons remains much higher than the optical density of the radiation induced color centers. Second, use fluors which emit at longer wavelengths than traditional fluors, thus avoiding radiation induced color centers. The present work attempts to meet these requirements by modifying the structure of the 3-HF molecule.