cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reforming the Processes for Challenging Voluntary Acknowledgments of Paternity

Voluntary acknowledgements of paternity (VAPs) significantly determine male legal parentage at birth for many children born of sex to unwed mothers in the United States. VAP processes are chiefly dictated by the federal Social Security Act, which places certain mandates on states participating in federally-subsidized welfare programs. These processes include norms on effective VAP establishments and on VAP disestablishments, either via early rescissions (within 60 days) by signatories or via later contests (after 60 days) by challengers, including signatories. The norms are driven by the Act’s desire to increase reimbursements of state child welfare payments from unwed fathers regardless of whether the fathers are childrearing.These VAP processes are significantly employed by states for all children of unwed parents, regardless of any welfare assistance, and for childcare as well as child support purposes. Such uses create tensions since legal parentage often has nothing to do with welfare. Further, as to VAP contests, notwithstanding the Act’s promotion of uniform norms, there are significant variations in American state laws. Differences on VAP contests arise regarding who may challenge; what proof is required for an effective challenge; and what time limits exist for any challenge. These variations can prompt troubling results that should be mitigated through reforms of VAP challenge processes undertaken at the federal level. Because parentage establishments and contests are usually undertaken with no focus on welfare reimbursement and much focus on the childcare interests of parents and the wellbeing of children, American states should create separate parental acknowledgment processes operating outside of the Social Security Act. Such processes, at a minimum, should allow acknowledgments by alleged parents who claim to have met state de facto (and comparable) parent standards, including both men and women. Deemphasizing welfare reimbursements, and emphasizing child wellbeing, will better ensure that beneficial (if not constitutionally protected) parent-child relations continue.
Production and characterization of bacterial cellulose fabrics

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of using BC nonwoven as textile fabrics to make consumer products. The objectives were: 1) to study the influences of fermentation conditions on the production of BC fabric; 2) to investigate the physical and mechanical properties of BC nonwovens (thickness, weight, tensile strength, tearing strength, and stiffness); and 3) to study the possibility of producing inherently colored BC nonwovens.
An analysis of roof bolter fatalities and injuries in U.S. mining

Roof bolting typically follows the extraction of a commodity to help keep the roof from collapsing. During 2004 to 2013, roof bolter operators had the highest number of machinery-related injuries, accounting for 64.7 percent, at underground coal mines. This paper analyzes U.S. roof bolter fatal and nonfatal lost-time injury data at underground work locations for all commodities from 2004 through 2013 and determines risk indices for six roof bolting tasks. For fatal and nonfatal incidences combined, the roof bolting tasks in order of the highest to lowest risk index were bolting, handling of materials, setting the temporary roof support (TRS), drilling, tramming, and traversing. For fatalities, the roof bolting tasks in order of the highest to lowest risk index were handling of materials, setting the TRS, bolting, drilling, traversing, and tramming. Age was found to be a significant factor. Severity of injury, indicated by days lost, was found to increase with increasing age as well as with increasing experience, largely due to the confounding of age and experience. The operation of the roof bolting machine used in underground mining should be a research priority given the high frequency and severity of incidents. The results also suggest that temporal factors may exist, so additional research is warranted to better understand these factors and potentially develop interventions. This research provides a data-driven foundation from which future research can be conducted for safety interventions to reduce the frequency and severity of incidences involving the roof bolter activities of bolting, handling of materials, and setting the TRS.
Discovering, assessing, and mitigating data bias in social media

Abstract Social media has generated a wealth of data. Billions of people tweet, sharing, post, and discuss everyday. Due to this increased activity, social media platforms provide new opportunities for research about human behavior, information diffusion, and influence propagation at a scale that is otherwise impossible. Social media data is a new treasure trove for data mining and predictive analytics. Since social media data differs from conventional data, it is imperative to study its unique characteristics. This work investigates data collection bias associated with social media. In particular, we propose computational methods to assess if there is bias due to the way a social media site makes its data available, to detect bias from data samples without access to the full data, and to mitigate bias by designing data collection strategies that maximize coverage to minimize bias. We also present a new kind of data bias stemming from API attacks with both algorithms, data, and validation results. This work demonstrates how some characteristics of social media data can be extensively studied and verified and how corresponding intervention mechanisms can be designed to overcome negative effects. The methods and findings of this work could be helpful in studying different characteristics of social media data.
Mothers of Infants With Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Describe "Breastfeeding" in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: "As Long as It's My Milk, I'm Happy".

Background:Very little is known about the breastfeeding experience of mothers of infants born with congenital anomalies and cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Often, studies related to breastfeeding and lactation in the NICU setting are focused on the mothers of late preterm, preterm, low-birth-weight, and very-low-birth-weight infants. Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is an anatomic malformation of the diaphragm and affects 1 in every 2,000 to 4,000 live births. Currently, there are no studies examining the health outcomes of infants with CDH and the effect of human milk.Research aim:This study aimed to describe the breastfeeding experience of mothers of infants with CDH cared for in the NICU.Methods:A prospective, longitudinal qualitative descriptive design was used. Phased interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 11 CDH infant–mother dyads from a level 3 NICU in a children’s hospital.Results:Six themes emerged from the data: (a) hopeful for breastfeeding, (b) latchin...
Property Outlaws: How Squatters, Pirates, and Protesters Improve the Law of Ownership

Property Outlaws puts forth the intriguingly counterintuitive proposition that, in the case of both tangible and intellectual property law, disobedience can often lead to an improvement in legal regulation. The authors argue that in property law there is a tension between the competing demands of stability and dynamism, but its tendency is to become static and fall out of step with the needs of society.The authors employ wide-ranging examples of the behaviors of “property outlaws” - the trespasser, squatter, pirate, or file-sharer-to show how specific behaviors have induced legal innovation. They also delineate the similarities between the actions of property outlaws in the spheres of tangible and intellectual property. An important conclusion of the book is that a dynamic between the activities of “property outlaws” and legal innovation should be cultivated in order to maintain this avenue of legal reform.
Damage detection and reconstruction algorithm in repairing compressor blade by direct metal deposition

Aero-engine blade repair is challenging due to its complicated geometry and unique defects after serving in a harsh environment. Traditional manual-based remanufacturing processes are not capable of yielding consistently repaired part quality, significantly limiting the application of repair technologies. For building up materials on damaged blades, it is required to detect and extract the repair volume and generate corresponding tool path for additive manufacturing. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to propose an automated damage detection and reconstruction algorithm for jet engine blade repair. Reverse engineering was utilized to reconstruct models of nominal and damaged blades. The reconstructed damaged model was best fitted with the nominal model by transformation matrix and using overlapping area comparison method. Through area comparison method, the damaged blade was separated into intact section and damaged section. A set of parallel and equidistant casting rays were used to intersect with damaged layers to extract the repair volume. Laser scanning tracks were generated according to the extracted geometry. The laser-assisted direct metal deposition process was performed to deposit Ti-6Al-4V particles on the damaged region. Finally, microstructure analysis was carried out to evaluate the repaired part quality. The repair experiment validated that the proposed algorithm is suitable and efficient for automated repair of curved blades.
Comparing the Bioburden Measured by Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) Luminescence Technology to Contact Plate–Based Microbiologic Sampling to Assess the Cleanliness of the Patient Care Environment

The correlation between ATP concentration and bacterial burden in the patient care environment was assessed. These findings suggest that a correlation exists between ATP concentration and bacterial burden, and they generally support ATP technology manufacturer-recommended cutoff values. Despite relatively modest discriminative ability, this technology may serve as a useful proxy for cleanliness.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2018;39:622–624
USE OF PROTEK DUO TANDEM HEART FOR PERCUTANEOUS RIGHT VENTRICULAR SUPPORT IN VARIOUS CLINICAL SETTINGS: A CASE SERIES

The Protek Duo is a novel dual lumen cannula that is inserted percutaneously via internal jugular (IJ) venous access. The proximal inflow lumen is positioned in the right atrium and the distal outflow lumen is positioned in the main pulmonary artery. These lumens are connected with the para-
Conformational plasticity in the selectivity filter of the TRPV2 ion channel.

Transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) channels are activated by ligands and heat and are involved in various physiological processes. In contrast to the architecturally related voltage-gated cation channels, TRPV1 and TRPV2 subtypes possess another activation gate at the selectivity filter that can open widely enough to permeate large organic cations. Despite recent structural advances, the mechanism of selectivity filter gating and permeation for both metal ions and large molecules by TRPV1 or TRPV2 is not well known. Here, we determined two crystal structures of rabbit TRPV2 in its Ca2+-bound and resiniferatoxin (RTx)- and Ca2+-bound forms, to 3.9 A and 3.1 A, respectively. Notably, our structures show that RTx binding leads to two-fold symmetric opening of the selectivity filter of TRPV2 that is wide enough for large organic cation permeation. Combined with functional characterizations, our studies reveal a structural basis for permeation of Ca2+ and large organic cations in TRPV2.
Medication Regimens for Managing COPD Exacerbations

Exacerbations are a hallmark feature of COPD and contribute to morbidity and mortality. There is general agreement that the pharmacotherapy of COPD exacerbations includes bronchodilators, corticosteroids, and antibiotics. Strong evidence exists for the benefit of corticosteroids for exacerbations and of antibiotics in the acute hospital setting. There remains considerable uncertainty, however, in the best drug selection, dose, route, and duration of treatment. This article reviews the evidence base and expert recommendations for drug treatment of COPD exacerbations in the out-patient and in-patient settings.
Iron deficiency, febrile seizures and brain development.

Iron deficiency anemia is one of the most prevalent micronutrient deficiencies in young children in India and other parts of the world, and it is strongly associated with persistent cognitive and motor delays even after the anemia and iron deficit have been repaired. Madan, et al. [1] reported recently that children aged 6-23 months with moderate to severe iron deficiency anemia had lower mental and psychomotor scores that persisted to as long as 19 years of age. These children also had lower scholastic achievement and needed more special education assistance than iron sufficient children. These impairments may be related to several effects of iron deficiency in the developing brain including altered development of neurons in the hippocampus that encodes memories, impaired energy metabolism, delayed maturation of myelin, and slowed visual and auditory evoked potentials [2]. Iron deficiency has also been associated with alterations in synaptic neurotransmitter systems including norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). In addition, a paper by Kumari, et al. [3] in this issue of Indian Pediatrics provides evidence that iron deficiency is also a risk factor for febrile seizures in children 6 months to three years of age. This carefully done case-control study with a large sample size showed a highly significant association between iron deficiency and febrile seizures. As expected, a family history of febrile seizures or epilepsy in first degree relatives was also linked to the occurrence of febrile seizures in these children. The findings are consistent with another recent case-control study from Kenya of children 3-156 months of age, which reported that iron deficiency is a risk factor for simple febrile seizures but not for other types of acute seizures [4]. An important practical lesson from this study is that preventing iron deficiency may be an effective way to reduce the incidence of febrile seizures.
Mechanisms of Stem Cell Ageing

There are many definitions of the term “ageing” and perhaps even more theories that seek to explain its causes (Balcombe and Sinclair 2001). From a physiological standpoint, ageing beyond reproductive maturity is often viewed as a progression of multisystem deficits in tissue function. In adult mammals, tissue homeostasis is maintained by stem cell populations that reside in, or migrate between, a variety of adult tissues. These stem cells ensure proper tissue function by generating new cells to replace those lost or damaged over time. Despite the presence of adult stem cells in muscle, nervous, gastrointestinal, hematopoietic, and other tissues, each of these systems exhibit functional decline with age (Edwards et al. 2002, Campisi 2003, Kondo et al. 2003, Penninx et al. 2003, Pinto et al. 2003, Linton and Dorshkind 2004, Balducci and Ershler 2005, Fulle et al. 2005, Kamminga 2005, Bauer et al. 2006, Keller 2006, Theise 2006). It is compelling to consider that functional changes in the stem cell compartment of adult tissues precedes and perhaps contributes to the manifestation of ageing phenotypes. In this chapter we will review literature describing the effects of ageing on the well-characterized stem cells of the hematopoietic system. In this system, ageing is accompanied by immune compromise, anemia, and a dramatic increase in the incidence of malignancy (Edwards et al. 2002, Campisi 2003, Penninx et al. 2003, Pinto et al. 2003, Linton and Dorshkind 2004, Balducci and Ershler 2005). Several studies support the hypothesis that these ageing phenotypes stem from functional changes in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs).
Pond Bottom Management

Soil properties and relationships among pond soils, water quality, and aquacultural production have been discussed. It has been shown that initial soil condition in new ponds sometimes is unsatisfactory, and the condition of pond soils may deteriorate over time in response to demands imposed on them by aquaculture. Some pond management schemes cause less degradation of soil condition than others, and a few treatments are available for improving soil condition. This chapter discusses pond management and soil treatment techniques for improving or maintaining the condition of pond soils. Application of these techniques can enhance soil condition and water quality, improve production efficiency, and prolong the useful life of ponds.
Metabolism and Toxicity of 9-β-D-Arabinofuranosyladenine in Human Malignant T Cells and B Cells in Tissue Culture

In humans, a genetic deficiency of the enzyme adenosine deaminase (ADA) leads to the specific impairment of the development of the lymphoid system, with resulting immunodeficiency disease1. Recent studies have suggested that the remarkable lymphospecific toxicity seen in ADA deficiency may result from the selective accumulation of deoxyadenosine nucleotides in lymphoid tissues, particularly the thymus, which when compared to other tissues have high deoxyadenosine phosphorylating activity, and low deoxyribo-nucleotide dephosphorylating activity2–5. The dATP thereby produced inhibits DNA synthesis, probably by inhibiting ribonucleotide reductase and perhaps via other as yet undescribed mechanisms.
Microbial Desalination Systems for Energy and Resource Recovery

Abstract Microbial desalination cells (MDCs) have evolved as a promising technology in recent years to treat both wastewater and saline water sources simultaneously in a bioelectrochemical system with numerous possibilities for energy, water, and resource recovery. The premise for MDC operation is based on the principles that electroactive bacteria convert organic matter contained in wastewaters into treated effluents accompanied by electricity production, and the ionic species migration (i.e., protons) within the system facilitates desalination. This chapter discusses recent research studies that utilize microbial-mediated desalination principle as a platform technology for developing energy-positive wastewater treatment and desalination systems. Evolution of microbial desalination process through various process configurations, integrated bioelectrochemical, processes and resource recovery applications is presented. Current challenges and future research needs are also discussed in detail.
Mapping Postcolonial Masculinity in Sarnath Banerjee’s The Barn Owl’s Wondrous Capers

Sarnath Banerjee’s second graphic novel The Barn Owl’s Wondrous Capers (New Delhi: Penguin, 2007) offers a new perspective on postcolonial masculinity in South Asia, embroiled simultaneously in the...
Gastrointestinal hormones and regulation of gastric emptying.

Purpose of reviewThis review examines the hormonal regulation of gastric emptying, a topic of increasing relevance, given the fact that medications that are analogs of some of these hormones or act as agonists at the hormonal receptors, are used in clinical practice for optimizing metabolic control
Staking the Subject: The Self's Own Gamble with Art*

Devoted to the Freud-Signorelli case, this study by French art-historian/philosopher Hubert Damisch offers an in-depth analysis of “the implication of the subject in the various dimensions of perce...
Application of Precision Medicine in Heart Transplant Induction Delivers on Outcomes

Purpose While induction immunosuppression is commonly employed by heart transplant (HT) centers, its impact on patient survival remains controversial. Optimal use of a risk stratification methodology balancing risk versus benefit to determine induction is also unknown. Our team sought to analyze the impact of a risk stratified approach to induction on outcomes after HT. Methods Historically, our program has utilized basiliximab routinely on HT recipients. In 2017, we implemented a risk stratified approach to induction categorized into four groups. Stratification was based on age, race, re-transplant status, virtual crossmatch data, pre-transplant C1q data, panel reactive antibodies, and need for pre-transplant desensitization. Low risk patients received no induction, moderate risk basiliximab, specialty risk anti-thymocyte globulin and high risk plasmapheresis/bortezomib/IVIG/anti-thymocyte globulin. We performed a retrospective analysis of adult HTs performed in 2016 (historical cohort) and 2017 (risk stratified cohort). One-year outcomes compared included mortality, biopsy proven ACR and AMR, DSA, graft dysfunction, and infectious complications. Results Baseline demographics were similar between groups. The low risk category represented 91% of the risk stratified cohort. Use of basiliximab decreased by 65.2% in risk stratified group. Incidence of acute cellular rejection (ACR) was similar in both cohorts and there were no cases of antibody mediated rejection (AMR). There was a trend towards higher DSA development in the historical cohort. While the trend for treated CMV was higher in the risk-stratified cohort, there was no difference in rate of infections requiring hospitalizations. There was no significant difference in survival. Conclusion This personalized approach to induction in HT led to similar rejection, mortality and infectious outcomes, in addition to cost savings from decreased overall use of induction therapy.
Voter Registration and Jail-Incarcerated Women: Are Justice-Involved Women Civically Engaged?

Civic engagement, like the broader phenomenon of social engagement, seems out of keeping with the alienating ethos of incarceration. We sought to learn which demographic and contextual factors pred...
Novel Treatments for Lymphoma

Lymphoma is a common disease in companion animals. Although conventional chemotherapy has the potential to induce remission and prolong life, relapse is common, and novel treatments are needed to improve outcome. This review discusses recent modifications/adjustments to conventional standard of care therapy for canine and feline lymphoma, as well as cutting-edge immunotherapy and small-molecule-based approaches that are in varying stages of regulatory approval.
Situational Fusion of Visual Representation for Visual Navigation

A complex visual navigation task puts an agent in different situations which call for a diverse range of visual perception abilities. For example, to "go to the nearest chair", the agent might need to identify a chair in a living room using semantics, follow along a hallway using vanishing point cues, and avoid obstacles using depth. Therefore, utilizing the appropriate visual perception abilities based on a situational understanding of the visual environment can empower these navigation models in unseen visual environments. We propose to train an agent to fuse a large set of visual representations that correspond to diverse visual perception abilities. To fully utilize each representation, we develop an action-level representation fusion scheme, which predicts an action candidate from each representation and adaptively consolidate these action candidates into the final action. Furthermore, we employ a data-driven inter-task affinity regularization to reduce redundancies and improve generalization. Our approach leads to a significantly improved performance in novel environments over ImageNet-pretrained baseline and other fusion methods.
A chemically-controlled system for activating RAS GTPases

RAS GTPases are involved in a number of dynamic signaling processes and have been a major focus of research due to the prevalence of activating RAS mutations in cancer. However, despite decades of research, some fundamental aspects of RAS biology are still not well understood. Difficulty in fully defining RAS-driven signaling stems from the overall complexity of downstream pathways and a lack of tools for specifically perturbing RAS function. To better characterize RAS-driven signaling, we recently developed a chemical genetic system for activating endogenous RAS with a small molecule. In this chapter, we describe the use of chemically inducible activator of RAS (CIAR), a single-protein, chemical genetic system that allows the rapid and dose-dependent activation of endogenous RAS. Methods in this chapter also describe the validation of RAS activation with CIAR through the analysis of downstream signaling.
Rapidly Solidified Superconducting Film on Metallic Wire

For technological applications of high-Tc superconductors, it will be necessary to overcome the inherent problem of brittleness, to develop materials with high current carrying capacity, and to devise ways of joining superconductors with other materials. This article attempts to address these aspects by focusing on superconducting films coated on metallic wires by solidification from melt. The composite systems are expected to produce flexible wires with desirable properties. Results of some preliminary investigations are reported.
Incorporating Complex Fiscal Rules in Strategic Planning of Offshore Oil and Gas Fields

Abstract In this paper, we extend a recently proposed multi-field site strategic planning model for offshore oil and gas fields to include the complex fiscal rules, specifically sliding scale production sharing agreements (PSAs). The proposed multiperiod MINLP model maximizes NPV after paying royalties, profit share, etc. to the host government. The model can be reformulated into an MILP using linearization techniques to solve it to global optimality. It is shown that the computational cost increases significantly by adding the sliding scale PSA contracts in contrast to a simple NPV based optimization. However, the model yields improved investment and operations decisions due to the explicit consideration of the fiscal terms within development planning.
A content analysis case study of media and public trust in Japan: After the quake

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 (Mw) earthquake off the Pacific coast of Honshu, Japan, caused a devastating tsunami, killing thousands of people. The 2011 Great Eastern Japan Earthquake also created a partial meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, operated by TEPCO. TEPCO’s and Japan’s government response during this tragedy is the focus of this study. How institutions handle crises impacts public trust in institutions, which is a central theme. Using Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) as a framework, a content analysis of a U.S. national newspaper and a Japan-based English language newspaper was conducted covering a period of three months following the disaster. The primary objectives were to determine the nature of TEPCO’s communication and the extent to which unethical crisis communication patterns were revealed in the news sources. Key findings included a) TEPCO maintaining the role of victim throughout the early stages of the crisis, thus accepting no responsibility for the radiation problems; and b) TEPCO minimizing the risk of radiation in the early weeks of the crisis, while it had more concrete data suggesting otherwise. Other findings including differences in content as a function of newspaper source and crisis stage are also reported.
Restoring Responsible Government by Cutting Federal Aid to the States

The federal government has a large presence in state and local policy activities such as education, housing, and transportation. That presence is facilitated by “grants-in-aid” programs, which are subsidies to state and local governments accompanied by top-down regulations. Federal aid spending was $697 billion in 2018, which was distributed through an estimated 1,386 separate programs. The number of programs has tripled since the 1980s, indicating that the scope of federal activities has expanded as spending has grown. Rather than being a positive feature of American federalism, the aid system produces irresponsible policymaking. It encourages excessive and misallocated spending. It reduces accountability for failures while generating costly bureaucracy and regulations. And it stifles policy diversity and undermines democratic control. Cutting federal aid would reduce federal budget deficits, but more importantly it would improve the performance of federal, state, and local governments. The idea that federal experts can efficiently solve local problems with rule-laden subsidy programs is misguided. Decades of experience in many policy areas show that federal aid often produces harmful results and displaces state, local, and private policy solutions. This study describes the advantages of cutting federal aid. It discusses 18 reasons why it is better to fund state activities with state revenues rather than with aid from Washington. Shrinking the aid system would improve American governance along many dimensions.
Online Task Allocation and Flying Control in Fog-Aided Internet of Drones

Fog-aided Internet of Drones (IoD) networks employ fog nodes to provide computing resources for the delay-sensitive tasks offloaded from drones. In IoD networks, drones are launched to complete a journey in which several locations of interest are visited. At each location, a drone collects the ground information, generates computing tasks and offloads them to the fog nodes for processing. In our work, we consider both the task allocation (which distributes tasks to different fog nodes) and the flying control (which adjusts the drone's flying speed) to minimize the drone‘s journey completion time constrained by the drone's battery capacity and task completion deadlines. We formulate this joint optimization problem as a mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) problem. In consideration of the practical scenario that the future task information is difficult to obtain, we design an online algorithm to provide strategies for task allocation and flying control when the drone visits each location without knowing the future. The performances of our proposed online algorithm are demonstrated via extensive simulations.
Rare-Earth Doped Semiconductors for Linear and Nonlinear Optical Applications

Rare-earth doped semiconductors are of interest for a number of linear and nonlinear optical applications. These include solid-state lasers and optically active waveguides. We have been investigating Er doped III–V semiconductor thin films. The optical properties of these materials have been examined for a range of alloy compositions. The mechanisms of rare-earth luminescence excitation and quenching have been determined and a model developed. The relationship between rare-earth luminescence efficiency and semiconductor host is discussed.
Abstract 393: Addressing The Gap In Outpatient Guideline Directed Medical Therapy Dosing In Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: Preliminary Findings

Background: The benefit of guideline directed medical therapy (GDMT) in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is well established in the medical literature and clinical practice guid...
The Furrow and Us: Essays on Soil and Sentiment

Review of: "The Furrow and Us: Essays on Soil and Sentiment," by Walter Thomas Jack, edited by Zachary Michael Jack.
Declining Trend in the Initial SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load During the Pandemic: Preliminary Observations from Detroit, Michigan

Abstract We report a downward trend in the initial SARS-CoV-2 viral load in nasopharyngeal swab samples of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Detroit, Michigan, coinciding with a decrease in the number of deaths during April-June 2020. A gradual decrease in the initial viral load reflected the downward progression of the pandemic.
Design and Implementation of Automatic Startup and Shutdown Control System for Large Condenser Units

Combined with the double water inner cooled synchronous condenser that has been put into operation at the UHV converter station, this paper introduces the system structure and design ideas of the automatic startup and shutdown control system for the large condenser units, and analyzes the key technical points in the APS system. It has a certain reference significance for the optimization and promotion of the automation control system of the similar units.
Towards Personalized Fairness based on Causal Notion

Recommender systems are gaining increasing and critical impacts on human and society since a growing number of users use them for information seeking and decision making. Therefore, it is crucial to address the potential unfairness problems in recommendations. Just like users have personalized preferences on items, users' demands for fairness are also personalized in many scenarios. Therefore, it is important to providepersonalized fair recommendations for users to satisfy theirpersonalized fairness demands. Besides, previous works on fair recommendation mainly focus on association-based fairness. However, it is important to advance from associative fairness notions to causal fairness notions for assessing fairness more properly in recommender systems. Based on the above considerations, this paper focuses on achieving personalized counterfactual fairness for users in recommender systems. To this end, we introduce a framework for achieving counterfactually fair recommendations through adversary learning by generating feature-independent user embeddings for recommendation. The framework allows recommender systems to achieve personalized fairness for users while also covering non-personalized situations. Experiments on two real-world datasets with shallow and deep recommendation algorithms show that our method can generate fairer recommendations for users with a desirable recommendation performance.
Invasive Burmese pythons alter host use and virus infection in the vector of a zoonotic virus.

The composition of wildlife communities can have strong effects on transmission of zoonotic vector-borne pathogens, with more diverse communities often supporting lower infection prevalence in vectors (dilution effect). The introduced Burmese python, Python bivittatus, is eliminating large and medium-sized mammals throughout southern Florida, USA, impacting local communities and the ecology of zoonotic pathogens. We investigated invasive predator-mediated impacts on ecology of Everglades virus (EVEV), a zoonotic pathogen endemic to Florida that circulates in mosquito-rodent cycle. Using binomial generalized linear mixed effects models of field data at areas of high and low python densities, we show that increasing diversity of dilution host (non-rodent mammals) is associated with decreasing blood meals on amplifying hosts (cotton rats), and that increasing cotton rat host use is associated with increasing EVEV infection in vector mosquitoes. The Burmese python has caused a dramatic decrease in mammal diversity in southern Florida, which has shifted vector host use towards EVEV amplifying hosts (rodents), resulting in an indirect increase in EVEV infection prevalence in vector mosquitoes, putatively elevating human transmission risk. Our results indicate that an invasive predator can impact wildlife communities in ways that indirectly affect human health, highlighting the need for conserving biological diversity and natural communities. Burkett-Cadena et al. use a combination of field survey methods, citizen science data, and molecular analysis to determine how the invasive Burmese python distribution affects mammal host use and virus infection by vector mosquitoes. This study shows how python predation has shifted vector host use towards virus-amplifying rodents, increasing virus infection rates, and illustrates the indirect effects an invasive species has on the disease ecology of wildlife and public health.
Patient Perceptions of Receiving COVID-19 Test Results via an Online Patient Portal: An Open Results Survey.

Background In the United States, attention has been focused on “open notes” and “open results” since the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology implemented the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule on information blocking. Open notes is an established best practice, but open results remains controversial, especially for diseases associated with stigma, morbidity, and mortality. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with all three of these effects and represents an ideal disease for the study of open results for sensitive test results. Objectives This study evaluates patient perspectives related to receiving COVID-19 test results via an online patient portal prior to discussion with a clinician. Methods We surveyed adults who underwent COVID-19 testing between March 1, 2020 and October 21, 2020 who agreed to be directly contacted about COVID-19-related research about their perspectives on receiving test results via a patient portal. We evaluated user roles (i.e., patient vs. care partner), demographic information, ease of use, impact of immediate release, notification of results, impact of viewing results on health management, and importance of sharing results with others. Results Users were mostly patients themselves. Users found the portal easy to use but expressed mixed preferences about the means of notification of result availability (e.g., email, text, or phone call). Users found immediate access to results useful for managing their health, employment, and family/childcare. Many users shared their results and encouraged others to get tested. Our cohort consisted mostly of non-Hispanic white, highly educated, English-speaking patients. Conclusion Overall, patients found open results useful for COVID-19 testing and few expressed increased worries from receiving their results via the patient portal. The demographics of our cohort highlight the need for further research in patient portal equity in the age of open results.
Handwashing Results in Incomplete Nicotine Removal from Fingers of Individuals who Smoke: A Randomized Controlled Experiment.

Objective: Tobacco residue, also known as third-hand smoke (THS), contains toxicants and lingers in dust and on surfaces and clothes. THS also remains on hands of individuals who smoke, with potential transfer to infants during visitation while infants are hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), raising concerns (e.g., hindered respiratory development) for vulnerable infants. Previously unexplored, this study tested handwashing (HW) and sanitization efficacy for finger-nicotine removal in a sample of adults who smoked and were visiting infants in an NICU. Study Design: A cross-sectional sample was recruited to complete an interview, carbon monoxide breath samples, and three nicotine wipes of separate fingers (thumb, index, and middle). Eligible participants (n = 14) reported current smoking (verified with breath samples) and were randomly assigned to 30 seconds of HW (n = 7) or alcohol-based sanitization (n = 7), with the order of finger wipes both counterbalanced and randomly assigned. After randomization, the first finger was wiped for nicotine. Participants then washed or sanitized their hands and finger two was wiped 5 minutes later. An interview assessing tobacco/nicotine use and exposure was then administered, followed by a second breath sample and the final finger wipe (40–60 minutes after washing/sanitizing). Results: Generalized linear mixed models found that HW was more effective than sanitizer for nicotine removal but failed to completely remove nicotine. Conclusions: Without proper protections (e.g., wearing gloves and gowns), NICU visitors who smoke may inadvertently expose infants to THS. Research on cleaning protocols are needed to protect vulnerable medical populations from THS and associated risks. Key Points
Urbanization in a developing country: city size and population composition.

Abstract In developing countries typically there is a very high correlation between city size and educational attainment of the local population, which is less pronounced or even absent in developed countries such as Canada, the U.S.A., or the U.K. Two explanations are examined. First, the types of goods produced in larger cities require relatively high skill labor inputs. Second, public and perhaps private services demanded by higher skill people are only offered in larger cities. The paper econometrically tests these hypotheses for Brazil, estimating the elasticities of substitution (or typically complementarity) between high and low skill labor and the ‘bright lights’ effect for high versus low skill labor.
The Life Cycle of Test Cases in a CBR System

In this article, a case-based approach for managing cases with a life cycle is introduced. The authors present an application for the accompaniment and support of software engineers in their work of specifying test cases. Some general aspects of corporate knowledge editing are discussed. The model of life cycles provides a solution for editing and retrieving cases with several degrees of maturity. It is realised by persistent case numbers, explicit revision states, and a multi-layered similarity function. Some experiments are performed with a prototypical system.
Oral papillomas. Clinicopathologic evaluation and retrospective examination for dyskeratosis in 110 lesions.

Abstract A series of 110 oral papillomas is reviewed in order to ascertain incidence pertinent to age, sex, site, and recurrence. The tumors are found to occur most often in adults with an average age of 38 years. The tongue is the most frequent location, and females are affected slightly more often than males. Dyskeratosis is used as a barometer of premalignant change in the histologic evaluation of the lesions and is found to be conspicuously absent in all cases. These lesions seldom recur if properly excised.
Abstract T P12: Pretreatment With IV tPA Does Not Impact Outcome in Patients Undergoing Endovascular Stroke Treatment

Objective: We sought to compare the clinical outcomes of patients who underwent Intra-arterial Treatment (IAT) IAT with or without IV tPA pretreatment at our center. METHODS: We reviewed records of AIS patients who underwent IAT at our center from July 2012 - Jul 2013. The following data were collected and analyzed: patients’ demographics, baseline characteristics, treatment times and methods, rate of symptomatic and asymptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage, and favorable clinical outcome defined as modified Rankin score (mRS) ≤ 2 at 90 days or at last observation for patients treated within the last 89 days RESULTS: Seventy consecutive patients who underwent IAT were identified. Overall 33 (47.1%) patients had favorable outcome. There were 15/70 (21.4%) asymptomatic and 2/70 (2.8%) symptomatic hemorrhages following IAT. Pretreatment with IV tPA 32/70 (45.7%) had no significant impact on the rate of asymptomatic (6/32, 18.7% versus 9/38, 23.6%) or symptomatic (1/32, 0.03% versus 1/38, 0.03%) ICH, p=0.8. There were no instances of retroperitoneal or groin hemorrhagic complications in either group. Rate of recanalization was comparable between the IV tPA (26/32, 81.2%) and non-IV tPA groups (32/38, 84.2%).Also the rate of favorable outcome was comparable between the IV tPA pretreatment (15/32, 46.8%) and non-IV tPA (18/38, 47.3%) groups. In a multivariate analysis, young age was the only predictor of favorable clinical outcome in this cohort (OR: 0.93; 95%CI: 0.88-0.99; p=0.03). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that IV tPA pretreatment has no impact on eventual patient outcome following endovascular stroke treatment. This finding may be helpful in designing future randomized trials. ![][1] [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
A complex wavelet domain Markov model for image denoising

Wavelet domain hidden Markov models (WHMMs) provide a powerful approach for image modeling and processing because of the clustering and persistence properties of wavelet coefficients. However, the shift-variance of real wavelet transforms degrades the accuracy of the WHMMs. To overcome this problem, we propose a hidden Markov model based on the dual-tree complex wavelet transform that is approximately shift-invariant. Context information is used in this model to indicate the local correlation among wavelet coefficients. According to different visual attributes, several contexts based on frequency, orientation and scale are applied to capture both intrascale and interscale dependencies. The parameters of this model are estimated by an EM algorithm. Applications to image denoising are presented. The denoising performance is among the best state-of-the-art techniques, and outperforms models, which are based on real discrete wavelet transforms (DWTs).
MADS-box out of the black box.

The compelling elegance of using genome-wide scans to detect the signature of selection is difficult to resist, but is countered by the low demonstrated efficacy of pinpointing the actual genes and traits that are the targets of selection in nonmodel species. While the difficulty of going from a suggestive signature to a functional nucleotide polymorphism should not prevent researchers from using genome scans, it does lessen their long-term utility within and across study systems. In a new study published in this issue of Molecular Ecology (Mariac et al. 2011), researchers have gone a long way towards increasing the relevance of genome-wide scans for selection via two approaches: (i) they tailored the markers used in the scan to target a family of developmental genes that were good candidates for controlling a trait of interest and (ii) they used an independent mapping population to confirm the association of the gene with polymorphism in the trait of interest. All of this was completed in the nonmodel system of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and may provide a road map for other researchers hoping to pin down solid candidate genes for selected traits in natural or cultivated systems. Outside of these broad methodological innovations, the paper specifically focuses on a trait (flowering time) that varies across an environmental gradient (rainfall). This environmental gradient potentially serves as a model for environmental change over time, and allele frequencies at the gene can therefore be used to track how populations of pearl millet will adapt to future climate shifts at the genetic level.
Admixture Enhanced Controlled Low-Strength Material for Direct Underwater Injection With Minimal Cross-Contamination

Commercially available admixtures have been developed for placing traditional concrete products under water. This paper evaluates adapting anti-washout admixture (AWA) and high range water reducing admixture (HRWRA) products to enhance controlled low-strength materials (CLSMs) for underwater placement. A simple experimental scale model (based on dynamic and geometric similitude) of typical grout pump emplacement equipment has been developed to determine the percentage of cementing material washed out. The objective of this study was to identify proportions of admixtures and underwater CLSM emplacement procedures which would minimize the cross-contamination of the displaced water while maintaining the advantages of CLSM. Since the displaced water from radioactively contaminated systems must be subsequently treated prior to release to the environment, the amount of cross-contamination is important for cases in which cementing material could form hard sludges in a water treatment facility and contaminate the in-place CLSM stabilization medium.
Specific Heat of Disordered 3He

Porous aerogel is a source of elastic scattering in superfluid 3He and modifies the properties of the superfluid, suppressing the transition temperature and order parameter. The specific heat jumps for the B‐phase of superfluid 3He in aerogel have been measured as a function of pressure and interpreted using the homogeneous and inhomogeneous isotropic scattering models. The specific heat jumps for others p‐wave states are estimated for comparison.