cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Studying a Rare Disease Using Multi-Institutional Research Collaborations vs Big Data: Where Lies the Truth?

Background Multi-institutional collaborations provide granularity lacking in epidemiologic data sets to enable in-depth study of rare diseases. For patients with superficial, high-grade soft tissue sarcomas of the trunk and extremity, the value of radiation therapy (RT) is not clear. We aimed to use the 7-institution US Sarcoma Collaborative (USSC) and the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to investigate this issue. Study Design All adult patients with superficial truncal and extremity high-grade soft tissue sarcomas who underwent primary curative-intent resection from 2000 to 2016 at USSC institutions or were included in the NCDB from 2004 to 2013 were analyzed. Propensity score matching was performed. End points were locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS), overall survival (OS), and disease-specific survival (DSS). Results Of 4,153 patients in the USSC, 169 patients with superficial high-grade tumors underwent primary curative-intent resection, 38% of which received RT. On multivariable Cox-regression analysis, RT was not associated with improved LRFS (p = 0.56), OS (p = 0.31), or DSS (p = 0.20). On analysis of 51 propensity score-matched pairs, RT was still not associated with increased LRFS, OS, or DSS. Analysis of 631 propensity score-matched pairs in the NCDB demonstrated improved 5-year OS rate associated with RT (80% vs 70%; p = 0.02). The LRFS and DSS rates were not evaluable. Conclusions Granular data afforded by collaborative research enables in-depth analysis of patient outcomes. The NCDB, although powered with large numbers, cannot assess many relevant outcomes (eg recurrence, DSS, or complications). In this study, the approaches yielded conflicting results. The USSC data suggested no value of radiation and the NCDB demonstrated improved OS, contradicting all randomized controlled trials in sarcoma. The pros and cons of either approach must be considered when applying results to clinical practice, and underscore the importance of randomized controlled trials.
Social Capital, Social Policy, and Health Disparities: A Legacy of Political Advocacy in African-American Communities

This chapter examines the ways in which social capital has been used for political advocacy and civic engagement in health, focusing on the African-American experience. Further, it will give context to how African-Americans have wielded collective efficacy to combat racism, discrimination and its harmful by-products on health and access to health services. We highlight important historical and current developments within many African-American communities to build and sustain social capital. Many of these efforts are endemic to African American communities across the U.S., and others required multi-racial cooperation to build partnerships or vertical relationships (linking social capital) to influence policy change. Social capital movements have driven the state of African-American health in the post-slavery era, yet we argue that race/ethnicity has been left out of the conversation in research on social capital and health.
A Continuous-Time Replication Strategy for Efficient Multicast in Asynchronous NoCs

Multicast communication (one-to-many) is common in parallel architectures and emerging areas, such as neuromorphic computing. However, there is very limited research in supporting multicast in asynchronous networks-on-chip (NoCs). This paper proposes a new parallel multicast asynchronous NoC with a 2-D mesh topology. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first general-purpose asynchronous NoC to support multicast in 2-D meshes. A critical feature of this NoC is the use of a new continuous-time replication strategy, where the flits of a multicast packet are routed through the distinct outputs of the router according to each output’s own rate, in parallel, and in continuous time. This unique asynchronous continuous-time replication, not discretized to clock cycles, can handle subtle variations in network congestion and exploit “subcycle” differentials in operating speeds. A new continuous-time multiway read (CMR) buffer is proposed to enable this replication strategy. Only a single CMR buffer is used per input port, with multiple independent read pointers, which is accessed by different outputs. For diverse multicast benchmarks, the new parallel multicast network is achieved significant latency and throughput gains over a serial baseline. Interestingly, consistent latency improvements were observed for unicast, in spite of the extra instrumentation.
Secondhand smoke exposure in Latin America: measuring air nicotine to advance smoke-free environments

Background: Secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) remains a major global health problem. In Latin America, Objective SHS monitoring conducted in the last 10 years has contributed to document levels of SHS...
Eleven Years of Cataract Surgery in Veterans Without Pre-existing Ocular Comorbidities.

Introduction In 2017, over 75,000 cataract surgeries were performed within the Veterans Health Administration System (VHA). Previous reports of outcomes of cataract surgery in veterans include patients with pre-existing ocular disease, which can affect vision. To exclude the confounding factor of pre-existing ocular comorbidities, we investigated the long-term visual outcomes and complications associated with small incision cataract surgery performed on veterans without any pre-existing eye disease. Materials and methods Institutional Review Board approved cohort study with detailed retrospective chart review of all phacoemulsification (small incision) cataract surgeries performed at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington D.C. over 11 years, including all pre-and postoperative visits until postoperative month 12. Results A total of 1,513 consecutive surgical cases without any pre-existing ocular disease except the cataract were included. Vision improved significantly after cataract surgery compared to the preoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) (p = 0.0001) and remained stable over the first intra- and postoperative year. All eyes without complicated surgery and 99.1% of eyes with complications achieved 20/40 or better final vision postoperatively. The most common intra-and postoperative complications were vitreous loss (3.1%) and cystoid macular edema (CME; 1.4%). Patients with complications achieved final mean BCVA of 0.04 (20/22, vitreous loss) and 0.06 (20/23, CME) mean logMAR (Snellen). Conclusion Analysis of 11 years of small incision cataract surgery in eyes without pre-existing ocular disease within the VHA showed significant improvement in vision and stability 12 months after uncomplicated and complicated surgery in veterans.
100.49 Mechanical Circulatory Support Prior to Elective High-Risk Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

High-risk percutaneous coronary intervention (HRPCI) carries an elevated mortality risk, for which mechanical circulatory support (MCS) is often required. Severe left ventricular (LV) impairment was the primary risk surrogate for HRPCI defined by the two main prospective randomized trials on MCS in
Introduction: After the 15M

This introduction frames the main changes in the political sphere since the Great Recession that began in 2007–2008, including the 15M Movement in 2011 and concluding with the general elections in Andalusia in 2018. The chapter also emphasizes the transformation of the political imaginary, which entails a critical look at the process surrounding the Second Bourbon Restoration, as well as a critique of the mainstream cultural phenomena from that period, especially the hedonism and depoliticization associated with la Movida in Madrid during the 1980s. Some important aspects include new processes of self-managed initiatives, new political agents and political parties, the problematic accommodation of the diverse cultural nations that make up Spain and the economic and political integration of Spain in Europe. Chapter summaries are also included.
Sex differences in the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and opioid misuse among adults with chronic pain.

Abstract The opioid epidemic is a significant public health concern linked to chronic pain. Despite efforts to change opioid prescribing practices for chronic pain, opioid-involved overdoses remain at an all-time high. Research focused on identifying individual difference factors for problematic opioid misuse in the context of chronic pain have identified certain psychological variables that may confer heightened risk for opioid-related problems. Anxiety sensitivity, or fear of anxiety-related physical sensations, has been linked to opioid-related problems among adults with chronic pain. Yet, it is possible that these relations may not be distributed equally in society, and sex differences may be one avenue by which these relations differ. Therefore, the current study examined the moderating role of sex on the relation between anxiety sensitivity, current opioid misuse, and severity of opioid dependence among 428 adults (74.9% female, Mage = 38.28 years, SD = 11.06) with chronic pain. Results indicated that the relation between anxiety sensitivity and current opioid misuse (ΔR2 = 0.005, B = 0.12, SE = 0.06, p = 0.04), and opioid dependence (ΔR2 = 0.01, B = 0.04, SE = 0.02, p = 0.007) was stronger for males compared to females. These results suggest that anxiety sensitivity may be associated with opioid-related problems to a greater extent for males than females. Continued research is needed to examine how these sex differences may impact clinical treatment for opioid-related problems.
The Platform Economy and Geography: Restructuring the Space of Capitalist Accumulation

Digital online platform firms are reorganizing the geography of how value is created, who captures it, and where. This essay argues that economic geographers have underestimated the power of platform and the firms that control them. We further demonstrate the remarkable concentration of these firms on the U.S. West Coast even while they organize global ecosystems. We suggest that a new spatial fix for the core of the global capitalist economy is emerging. We build upon a taxonomy of platform economy labor types and the location of the various types of labor and the implications of the ability of platforms to extract value from this labor. To illustrate, the impact on the geography of value creation, we undertake cases studies of two platforms, Amazon and Google Maps to explicate their effects upon the location of economic activity. Platforms are increasingly reorganizing labor and the location of value creation We argue that platforms are a new organizational form that is the result of an asymmetric power relationship between a platform and an ecosystem of complementers and users that interact and transact through platform. These platform leaders have the largest data sets and have created enormous teams of the best AI, machine learning researchers, and, finally, have enormous reservoirs of capital with which to capture new technologies that may threaten them.
CHAPTER VIII – Wake Flow

Publisher Summary This chapter presents an overview of wake flow. It discusses the problem of the wake flow in terms of wake flow at subsonic speeds and wake flow at super and hypersonic speeds. The wake flow is a very complicated phenomenon. There are two wake regions based upon the downstream distance from the body surface, namely, near and far wakes. In the central region, the variation of the turbulent kinetic energy, the dissipation, and the eddy viscosity are slight and turbulence is practically homogeneous and continuous with respect to time; therefore, this region is called the central continuous turbulent region. The chapter also discusses wake flow at subsonic speeds and the wake flow at supersonic and hypersonic speeds.
Vocabulary-learning cues used on children’s bilingual programming

This study is a content analysis of bilingual children’s television through the lens of bilingual language learning. In this study, we examined the content of five popular children’s television sho...
Peritransplantation Use of Ruxolitinib in Myelofibrosis

ABSTRACT Ruxolitinib is an oral JAK1/2 inhibitor that is approved for use in patients with intermediate and high-risk myelofibrosis (MF) based on its proven spleen and symptom burden reduction. Its impact on hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) outcomes is largely unknown, however. A significant number of patients proceeding to HSCT have been treated with ruxolitinib, and the specifics of its peritransplantation use vary widely in the published literature. Here we review the currently published data and experience to guide management of patients with MF on ruxolitinib proceeding to HSCT.
Body adiposity and oral feeding outcomes in infants: a pilot study

BACKGROUND Prevalence of oral feeding difficulties in high-risk infants is increasing. Desire to take orally can be influenced by hunger and satiety, which may influence growth and body fat. OBJECTIVE To determine the association between body adiposity and infant oral feeding. METHODS Retrospective case-control study of infants ≥37-week postmenstrual age (PMA). Infants on tube feeding (cases) compared to birth gestation-matched infants on full oral feeding (controls). Body composition was determined by air displacement plethysmography. RESULTS Overall, 16 cases vs. 16 controls. At study, cases vs. controls had similar PMA, weight and length z-scores, and calorie intake. The mean oral intake was significantly less in cases vs. controls (66 vs. 168 ml/kg/day, p < 0.001). Cases had significantly higher percentage of fat mass (18.7 vs. 10.9) and fat-mass z-score (1.62 vs. 0.08) (p < 0.05), but similar fat-free mass vs. controls. Five case infants required gastrostomy. CONCLUSIONS Higher body adiposity may worsen the infant oral feeding outcomes.
Resilient Ultra Stable CMOS-MEMS Oscillator with Receiver in Intel 22FFL Technology

A frequency-scalable reference oscillator based on a Scandium doped Aluminum Nitride-on-silicon contour-mode micromechanical resonator is demonstrated for the first time which utilizes an oscillator receiver implemented in Intel 22FFL node. The oscillator operates at 95 MHz, with a total power consumption of 1 mW including the amplitude/bias control and the shaper circuitry (@1.2 V supply). A phase noise of -107 dBc/Hz @ 1 kHz offset and an RMS jitter of 870 fs over the frequency range of 12kHz-5MHz are measured for this oscillator. Aging is also studied over a period of 25 days with a promising frequency drift of less than 4 ppm. The temperature compensated ScAlN on silicon resonator exhibited a quality factor of 5k and maximum frequency vs temperature variation of 450 ppm over the -40 °C to 125 °C temperature range making the oscillator a viable alternative for reference crystal oscillators in computing systems.
Optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters versus thermoluminescence dosimeters accuracy in a PET facility

1860 Objectives: Dosimetry is the measurement of radiation doses and is important to monitor personnel exposure levels to maintain the as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) philosophy. Radiation dosimeters used to measure absorbed radiation are thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD’s) or optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLD’s). Accuracy refers to how close data comes to the accepted value. Dosimeter readings must be accurate so radiation workers have a definitive assessment of exposure. The aim of this study is to compare the accuracy of TLD’s and OSLD’s under identical conditions. Methods: One OSLD and one TLD were attached to the top of the Discovery VCT PET/CT scanner at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and Washington Hospital (dosimeter set 1: four dosimeters comprising two of each type at each facility). After thirty patients, the dosimeters were removed and another pair (set 2) was placed for an additional thirty patients at each facility. Both facilities use [Fluorine-18]fludeoxyglucose FDG, and Hillman also uses [Gallium-68] dotatate. Key information from each scan included radiopharmaceutical and dose, bed number, and whether the CT was for attenuation or diagnostic purposes. The eight exposed dosimeters and control dosimeters were sent to Laundauer to be read. Results: Although eight dosimeters were analyzed, only a report for set 2 was received. For comparison to the reported results, predicted baseline exposure values were calculated for each patient using the PET dosage, bed number, and exposure rate formula, and the results were summed for each set of thirty patients to produce total baseline values. The predicted baseline and reported values are detailed in Table 1 showing lower predicted values and higher OSLD vs. TLD results. Table 1. Conclusions: The difference between predicted and actual values was unexpected. It was realized that the predicted values based only on PET dosages did not include the CT contribution or decay effects from injection time to scan time, both of which would have been difficult to calculate. Therefore, it is not possible from this study to make a definitive assessment of relative dosimeter accuracy. The higher OSLD values, however, are consistent with literature that OSLD’s are more sensitive than TLD’s. These results show that great care must be taken in the design of experiments to understand as much as possible the effect of input variables on predicted results, in this case the combined contribution CT dosages and radioisotope decay on the baseline PET predictions. Such understanding is important to ensure all critical experimental factors are accounted for.
Hot and sour: parasite adaptations to honey bee body temperature and pH

Host temperature and gut chemistry can shape resistance to parasite infection. Heat and acidity can limit trypanosomatid infection in warm-blooded hosts, and could shape infection resistance in insects as well. The colony-level endothermy and acidic guts of social bees provide unique opportunities to study how temperature and acidity shape insect-parasite associations. We compared temperature and pH tolerance between three trypanosomatid parasites from social bees and a related trypanosomatid from poikilothermic mosquitoes, which have alkaline guts. Relative to the mosquito parasites, all three bee parasites had higher heat tolerance that reflected levels of endothermy in hosts. Heat tolerance of the honey bee parasite Crithidia mellificae was exceptional for its genus, implicating honey bee endothermy as a filter of parasite establishment. The lesser heat tolerance of the emerging Lotmaria passim suggests possible spillover from a less endothermic host. Whereas both honey bee parasites tolerated the acidic pH9s found in bee intestines, mosquito parasites tolerated the alkaline conditions found in mosquito midguts, suggesting that both gut pH and temperature could structure host-parasite specificity. Elucidating how host temperature and gut pH affect infection—and corresponding parasite adaptations to these factors—could help explain trypanosomatids9 distribution among insects and invasion of mammals. Keywords : thermal performance curve, metabolic theory of ecology, infectious disease ecology, thermoregulation, Apis mellifera, Leishmania
The Yellow Journalist

Competition amongst the British newspapers often really heats up. No longer content with lurid stories of political peccadillos, sex scandal, labor unrest, punk rock and teenage gang warfare, the various dailies are offering gigantic cash prizes for various and sundry game winners.
Who Gets Stitches? The Effects of Rewarding Whistleblowers and Protecting Their Identity on Subsequent Cooperation

Companies are strongly encouraged to implement whistleblowing programs to help detect and deter misconduct in organizations. Rewarding the whistleblower and protecting the whistleblower’s identity are two highly recommended features of whistleblowing programs. Across two experiments, I examine the spillover effects of these whistleblowing program features on how willing employees are to cooperate with their co-workers. I find that employees prefer to cooperate less with a whistleblower than with a neutral co-worker (the “whistleblower effect”) and that providing a reward to the whistleblower results in employees choosing to cooperate even less with the whistleblower (the “reward effect”). I also find that protecting the whistleblower’s identity removes the reward effect but does not remove the whistleblower effect. As a result, when employees do not know the identity of the whistleblower, they act as though all of their co-workers are whistleblowers and, thus, are less willing to cooperate with all of their co-workers.
Ion exchange removal and resin regeneration to treat per- and polyfluoroalkyl ether acids and other emerging PFAS in drinking water.

Abstract Ion exchange (IX) is a promising technology to remove legacy anionic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water. As increasing numbers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl ether acids (PFEA) and other emerging PFAS were detected in the environment, it is necessary to understand how well IX resins remove these emerging PFAS for drinking water treatment. In this study, nine commercially available IX resins were tested to treat a drinking water source spiked with 40 legacy and emerging PFAS at 600 ng/L, including PFEA, perfluoroalkyl carboxylic and sulfonic acids, fluorotelomer sulfonic acids, perfluoroalkane sulfonamides, perfluoroalkane sulfonamidoacetic acids, and zwitterionic species. With limited contact time (15 min), PFAS properties such as the fluorinated chain length, charge, and functional groups all affected PFAS adsorption to resins. However, the impact of PFAS properties on PFAS removal became less pronounced when the contact time increased beyond 2 h, while the resin polymer matrix became the critical factor for PFAS removal. All five tested polystyrene-divinylbenzene (PS-DVB) resins achieved more than 90% removal in 24 h of 35 PFAS compounds, while polymethacrylate and polyacrylic resins achieved >90% removal for less than half of the compounds. Regenerating PS-DVB resin was investigated using different salt species, regenerant pH, brine concentrations, and methanol contents. Sodium chloride and ammonium chloride were found the best brines for regenerating the tested resins. Increasing brine concentrations enhanced the regeneration efficiency, especially for short-chain PFAS. Using simple salt regenerants, up to 94% of selected short-chain PFAS was released from resins designed for general water treatment, but no meaningful regeneration was achieved for long-chain PFAS or PFAS-specific resins when the organic solvent content was less than 20%.
Gravure-Printed Sol-Gels on Flexible Glass: A Scalable Route to Additively Patterned Transparent Conductors

Gravure printing is an attractive technique for patterning high-resolution features ( 1 m/s), but its electronic applications have largely been limited to depositing nanoparticle inks and polymer solutions on plastic. Here, we extend the scope of gravure to a new class of materials and on to new substrates by developing viscous sol–gel precursors for printing fine lines and films of leading transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) on flexible glass. We explore two strategies for controlling sol–gel rheology: tuning the precursor concentration and tuning the content of viscous stabilizing agents. The sol–gel chemistries studied yield printable inks with viscosities of 20–160 cP. The morphology of printed lines of antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) and tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) is studied as a function of ink formulation for lines as narrow as 35 μm, showing that concentrated inks form thicker lines with smoother edge morphologies. The electrical and optical properties of printed TCOs are ...
Outcomes of Parent Education Programs Based on Reevaluation Counseling

We report two studies in which a parent education program based on Reevaluation Counseling was field-tested on mothers randomly assigned to treatment groups or equivalent, no-treatment comparison groups. The goal was to evaluate the program's viability, whether there were measurable effects, whether those effects were sustained over time, and whether the program was effective among diverse populations. The first study involved middle income, married mothers (n = 25) with at least one child younger than age five. Eleven members of the no-treatment group participated in the program three months later. Pretest, posttest, and follow-up measures included a parental attitude survey and a parenting stress index. The second study involved 18 black mothers with children enrolled in Head Start. Six members of the no-treatment group participated in the program two months later. Added to the pretest, posttest, and follow-up measures were a parent attitude research instrument and a parenting practices questionnaire. Results were replicated within and across studies. Significant effects suggest that the program can reduce parenting-related stress, improve parental attitudes, and encourage authoritative parenting practices, although some effects tend to diminish somewhat over time. The program appears viable with mothers of various social status groups.
Antibacterial activities of phenolic benzaldehydes and benzoic acids against Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella enterica.

We evaluated the bactericidal activities of 35 benzaldehydes, 34 benzoic acids, and 1 benzoic acid methyl ester against Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella enterica when these compounds were substituted on the benzene ring with 0, 1, 2, or 3 hydroxy (OH) and/or methoxy (OCH3) groups in a pH 7.0 buffer. Dose-response plots were used to determine the percentage of the sample that induced a 50% decrease in CFU after 60 min (BA50). Of the 70 compounds tested, 24 were found to be active against all four pathogens, and additional 4, 10, and 12 were found to be active against three, two, and one of the pathogens, respectively. C. jejuni was approximately 100 times as sensitive as the other three pathogens. The 10 compounds that were most active against the four pathogens (with average BA50 values ranging from 0.026 to 0.166) and are candidates for studies of activity in foods or for disinfections were 2,4,6-trihydroxybenzaldehyde, 2,5-dihydroxybenzaldehyde, 2,3,4-trihydroxybenzaldehyde, 2-hydroxy-5-methoxybenzaldehyde, 2,3-dihydroxybenzaldehyde, 2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, 4-hydroxy-2,6-dimethoxybenzaldehyde, 2,5-dihydroxybenzaldehyde, 2,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde. and 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde. Comparison of the chemical structures of the test compounds and their activities revealed that (i) the aldehyde (CHO) group was more active than the carboxyl (COOH) group whether or not OH groups were present; (ii) compounds were most active with trisubstituted OH > disubstituted OH > monosubstituted OH; (iii) for disubstituted derivatives, 2-OH enhanced activities were exhibited by benzaldehyde but not by benzoic acid; (iv) compounds were more active with OH than with OCH3, irrespective of the position of substitution on the benzene ring; (v) compounds with mixed OH and OCH3 groups exhibited variable results, i.e., in some cases OCH3 groups enhanced activity and in other cases they did not; (vi) methoxybenzoic acids were largely inactive; and (vii) gallic acid was 20 times as active against S. enterica at pH 7.0 as it was at pH 3.7, suggesting that the ionization of its OH groups may enhance bactericidal activity.
Prediction of accommodative optical response in prepresbyopic subjects using ultrasound biomicroscopy.

Purpose To determine whether relatively low-resolution ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) can be used to predict the accommodative optical response in prepresbyopic eyes as well as in a previous study of young phakic subjects, despite lower accommodative amplitudes. Setting College of Optometry, University of Houston, Houston, USA. Design Observational cross-sectional study. Methods Static accommodative optical response was measured with infrared photorefraction and an autorefractor (WR-5100K) in subjects aged 36 to 46 years. A 35 MHz UBM device (Vumax, Sonomed Escalon) was used to image the left eye, while the right eye viewed accommodative stimuli. Custom-developed Matlab image-analysis software was used to perform automated analysis of UBM images to measure the ocular biometry parameters. The accommodative optical response was predicted from biometry parameters using linear regression, 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and 95% prediction intervals. Results The study evaluated 25 subjects. Per-diopter (D) accommodative changes in anterior chamber depth (ACD), lens thickness, anterior and posterior lens radii of curvature, and anterior segment length were similar to previous values from young subjects. The standard deviations (SDs) of accommodative optical response predicted from linear regressions for UBM-measured biometry parameters were ACD, 0.15 D; lens thickness, 0.25 D; anterior lens radii of curvature, 0.09 D; posterior lens radii of curvature, 0.37 D; and anterior segment length, 0.42 D. Conclusions Ultrasound biomicroscopy parameters can, on average, predict accommodative optical responses with SDs of less than 0.55 D using linear regressions and 95% CIs. Ultrasound biomicroscopy can be used to visualize and quantify accommodative biometric changes and predict accommodative optical response in prepresbyopic eyes. Financial Disclosure Neither author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
The Problem with Making AIDS Comfortable

Abstract This essay presents a narrative of U.S. AIDS policy which highlights the ways that people with AIDS (PWAs) have been categorized throughout the epidemic. I argue that PWAs have been broadly categorized as either “innocent” or “guilty” in the public discourse about AIDS, and that these distinctions have greatly influenced the way that policies are designed and justified. An examination of the Ryan White CARE Act of 1990 shows that policy rationales of lawmakers overwhelmingly relied on rhetoric which focused on the most sympathetic PWAs: “innocent” women and children. While this rhetorical strategy helped gain passage of the law, it effectively shut out the concerns of the majority of PWAs who fell into less sympathetic categories and resulted in policy decisions which often work against the stated goals of lawmakers.
Closed-loop voltage-mode-controlled PWM flyback dc-dc converter for CCM with integral-lead controller

This paper presents an analysis of a closed-loop voltage-mode-controlled pulse-width-modulated (PWM) flyback dc-dc converter for continuous conduction mode with an integral-lead controller. An integral-lead controller is designed so that it completely meets the system specifications. The closed-loop dynamic performance of the system is analyzed. The Bode plots are illustrated for closed-loop control-to-output transfer function, input-to-output transfer function, input impedance, and output impedance. Tile system stability is evaluated with the results of 45/spl deg/ for the phase margin at the crossover frequency of 2.5 kHz, and 6 dB for the gain margin at a frequency of 5 kHz at a duty cycle of 0.45.
Effect of nutritional obesity on the induction of CYP2B enzymes following phenobarbital treatment

Human obesity is associated with a number of pathophysiologic processes, such as fatty infiltration and fibrosis of the liver. Although obesity has been shown to alter the metabolism of various xenobiotics, its effect on hepatic cytochromes P-450 is not known. In this study, the overfed rat was used as a model for examining the influence of obesity on the expression and regulation of hepatic cytochrome P-450 2B1/2B2. Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a standard diet or an energy-dense diet for 32 weeks. The energy-dense diet resulted in a significant increase in body weight, serum triglyceride levels, and liver lipid content. Obesity did not influence baseline levels of spectral cytochrome P-450 content. Similar baseline activities of CYP2B1/2B2 (16 beta-testosterone hydroxylase and pentoxyresorufin O-dealkylation)--comparative protein levels of CYP2B1/2B2 (Western blot), and mRNA (slot blot)--were found in rats fed either diet. Half of the animals in each group were given 20 mg phenobarbital (intraperitoneal injection)/animal every 12 hr for three consecutive days. This resulted in similar phenobarbital plasma concentrations in both groups. Phenobarbital treatment increased the concentrations of cytochrome P-450 in both groups to the same extent. However, greater CYP2B1/2B2 activity was found in control rats following phenobarbital administration, whereas the amount of protein and mRNA was similar in each treated group. In conclusion, obesity did not affect the regulation of CYP2B1/2B2 enzymes. However, changes in the lipid environment associated with obesity may have affected the activity of these proteins.
Early-onset fearful panic attack: a possible prodrome of early-onset severe psychopathology.

To determine whether early-onset panic attack (< or =20 years) with fear at onset represents a possible prodrome of early-onset severe psychopathology, we drew data from the National Comorbidity Survey (N = 8,098), a probability sample drawn from respondents age 18 to 54 in the 48 contiguous United States. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine differences in age of onset of comorbid mental disorders, familial psychopathology, and lethality of suicide attempts between those with early-onset panic attacks with fear at onset compared with individuals with panic attacks that do not meet this criteria. Logistic regression analyses revealed that respondents with early-onset panic attack with fear at onset (n = 86) had significantly earlier onset of almost every comorbid mental disorder, higher rates of familial psychopathology, and increased risk and lethality of suicide attempt compared with those with other panic attacks (n = 336). These findings provide preliminary evidence to suggest that early-onset fearful panic attack may be a marker of risk of a lengthy course of severe psychopathology, which is predicted by familial mental illness, and is characterized by early onset and increased risk of serious suicidal behavior. Replication of these findings in other epidemiologic and clinical samples is needed.
Evaluation of liver tissue damage and grasp stability using finite element analysis

Minimizing tissue damage and maintaining grasp stability are essential considerations in surgical grasper design. Most past and current research analyzing graspers used for tissue manipulation in minimally invasive surgery is based on in vitro experiments. Most previous work assessed tissue injury and grasp security by visual inspection; only a few studies have quantified it. The goal of the present work is to develop a methodology with which to compute tissue damage magnitude and grasp quality that is appropriate for a wide range of grasper-tissue interaction. Using finite element analysis (FEA), four graspers with varying radii of curvature and four graspers with different tooth sizes were analyzed while squeezing and pulling liver tissue. All graspers were treated as surgical steel with linear elastic material properties. Nonlinear material properties of tissue used in the FEA as well as damage evaluation were derived from previously reported in vivo experiments. Computed peak stress, integrated stress, and tissue damage were compared. Applied displacement is vertical and then horizontal to the tissue surface to represent grasp and retraction. A close examination of the contact status of each node within the grasper-tissue interaction surface was carried out to investigate grasp stability. The results indicate less tissue damage with increasing radius of curvature. A smooth wave pattern reduced tissue damage at the cost of inducing higher percentage of slipping area. This methodology may be useful for researchers to develop and test various designs of graspers. Also it could improve surgical simulator performance by reflecting more realistic tissue material properties and predicting tissue damage for the student.
Absorption Corrections and Concentration Optimization for Absorbing Samples in Resonance Raman Spectroscopy

For Raman scattering studies of absorbing samples, e.g., in resonance Raman spectroscopy, it is frequently important to optimize the concentration and to correct for self-absorption effects on the observed intensities. These question are explored for 90°
Operation of a radio-frequency ion source in a tandem electrostatic accelerator

Abstract A radio-frequency ion source using electrostatic inflection has been operated in the terminal of a model FN tandem Van de Graaff accelerator. This arrangement is useful for high resolution resonance experiments in atomic and low energy nuclear physics and for hydrogen profiling using the the 6.4 MeV 1 H( 15 N, αγ) 12 C reaction.
The theory of uranium enrichment by the gas centrifuge

Onsager's analysis of the hydrodynamics of fluid circulation in the boundary layer on the rotor wall of a gas centrifuge is reviewed. The description of the flow in the boundary layers on the top and bottom end caps due to Carrier and Maslen is summarized. The method developed by Wood and Morton of coupling the flow models in the rotor wall and end cap boundary layers to complete the hydrodynamic analysis of the centrifuge is presented. Mechanical and thermal methods of driving the internal gas circulation are described. The isotope enrichment which results from the superposition of the elementary separation effect due to the centrifugal field in the gas and its internal circulation is analyzed by the Onsager-Cohen theory. The performance function representing the optimized separative power of a centrifuge as a function of throughput and cut is calculated for several simplified internal flow models. The use of asymmetric ideal cascades to exploit the distinctive features of centrifuge performance functions is illustrated.
Tensor hypercontracted ppRPA: Reducing the cost of the particle-particle random phase approximation from O(r 6) to O(r 4)

In recent years, interest in the random-phase approximation (RPA) has grown rapidly. At the same time, tensor hypercontraction has emerged as an intriguing method to reduce the computational cost of electronic structure algorithms. In this paper, we combine the particle-particle random phase approximation with tensor hypercontraction to produce the tensor-hypercontracted particle-particle RPA (THC-ppRPA) algorithm. Unlike previous implementations of ppRPA which scale as O(r(6)), the THC-ppRPA algorithm scales asymptotically as only O(r(4)), albeit with a much larger prefactor than the traditional algorithm. We apply THC-ppRPA to several model systems and show that it yields the same results as traditional ppRPA to within mH accuracy. Our method opens the door to the development of post-Kohn Sham functionals based on ppRPA without the excessive asymptotic cost of traditional ppRPA implementations.
Behavioral Differences in School Age Children after Perinatal Stroke

Little is known about the influence of the right hemisphere (RH) on social and emotional development in children. In order to examine the effect of RH damage on behavioral function, the Personality Inventory for Children was administered to parents of 17 children who had suffered perinatal strokes and 23 control children. Children with focal brain lesions, regardless of hemisphere, had higher T scores (indicating greater abnormality) than controls on scales measuring social competence, emotional behavior, cognitive and academic development. Children with lesions involving the frontal lobe obtained higher T scores than did those with nonfrontal lesions or controls on scales related to cognitive function. The nonfrontal group had higher T scores than those with frontal lesions on measures of social competence and behavior. The data suggest that any focal brain lesion of early onset may predispose one to social and cognitive deficits. The site of the lesion within the hemisphere may be of importance in deter...
CobLE: Confidence-Based Learning Ensembles

Combining information from a variety of sources greatly improves the classification accuracy compared with a single source. When the information sources are asynchronous (i.e., the combined feature set has missing values) and training data is limited, the accuracy of existing classification approaches are reduced. In this paper we present CobLE, an approach for creating an ensemble of classifiers. Each classifier operates on data from a single source and a "confidence" function is approximated for each classifier over its feature space. Classifier outputs are aggregated using weighted voting where the weight for each classifier is estimated from its confidence function. We present a theoretical analysis and extensive experimental results demonstrating significant improvement over existing ensemble learning and data fusion approaches, especially with asynchronous data sources. We also present a thorough evaluation of the effects of CobLE's internal parameters on performance.
Modified Microtiter count method for viable cell counts from pure cultures and food model samples

Abstract A modified Microtiter count method was designed to assess viable cell counts in a rapid, easy, and accurate way. A Spiral plate method was used for comparison with the modified Microtiter count method. There was a strong correlation between the two methods in microbial counts from pure cultures (Escherichia coli O157:H7, R 2 = 0.984 ; Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, R 2 = 0.995 ; and Listeria monocytogenes, R 2 = 0.994 ) and food samples ( R 2 = 0.897 ). This study suggests that a modified Microtiter count method can be used to determine viable bacterial cell counts.
Variants inducible for glutamine synthetase in V79-56 cells.

V79-56 cells have an absolute requirement for exogenous glutamine and are not inducible for glutamine synthetase. Prototrophs arise spontaneously at approximately 1.0 × 10−5 per cell per generation as measured by fluctuation tests. Higher frequencies of glutamine-independent variants may be obtained by treatment with the mutagen ethyl methane sulfonate, as well as by exposure to 5-azacytidine and sodium butyrate, which act primarily by affecting gene expression. Variants of all types show marked elevation of glutamine synthetase activity. Although this activity declines toward constitutive levels in the presence of glutamine, it is still inducible in variant cells. These populations, after a lag, regain the ability for progressive growth in glutamine-free medium. Thus, the stable variation seen here is in the potential for induction, rather than steady-state expression of glutamine synthetase at a higher level.
Transmission expansion via maximization of the volume of feasible bus injections

Abstract The predicted turnover in North America's fleet of electric generation, and the diverse sources (e.g., natural gas, nuclear, coal, wind, photovoltaic, solar thermal) suggests great uncertainty in both type and geographic location of the future generation mix. This presents huge challenges to existing methods in transmission expansion planning that rely on assembly of detailed scenarios for assumed types and locations of future generation and load growth. As a fundamentally different philosophy, this paper seeks a quantitative measure of transmission system performance that is intrinsic to the network itself. In particular, we examine the impact of network expansion on the generalized volume of bus power injections feasible under line flow. Using the standard construct of the dc power flow approximation, this paper demonstrates that such a measure is easily defined analytically. From knowledge only of the base case network's bus susceptance matrix, the approaches in this paper yield computationally efficient algorithms for siting and sizing transmission links: line siting and sizing via minimization of line effective resistance and maximization of the volume of feasible power injections. While a wide range of other policy, environmental, and engineering issues will remain important to transmission planning, the methods here will enhance planning by providing quantitative ranking of candidate network additions with respect to overall transmission system performance. The algorithms are illustrated for the IEEE 300-bus test system.
An algorithm for finding the natural frequencies of a randomly supported string

Abstract An algorithm is developed for the determination of the natural frequencies of a finite stretched string which is supported, subject to a critical probability, by linear springs at uniform intervals between its fixed ends. The algorithm is derived by the use of transfer matrices. Examples of its implementation are presented.
Mycorrhizal mediated feedbacks influence net carbon gain and nutrient uptake in Andropogon gerardii

Summary • The carbon sink strength of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) was investigated by comparing the growth dynamics of mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal Andropogon gerardii plants over a wide range of equivalent tissue phosphorus : nitrogen (P : N) ratios. • Host growth, apparent photosynthesis (Anet), net C gain (Cn) and P and N uptake were evaluated in sequential harvests of mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal A. gerardii plants. Response curves were used to assess the effect of assimilate supply on the mycorrhizal symbiosis in relation to the association of C with N and P. • Mycorrhizal plants had higher Cn than nonmycorrhizal plants at equivalent shoot P : N ratios even though colonization did not affect plant dry mass. The higher Cn in mycorrhizal plants was related to both an increase in specific leaf area and enhanced photosynthesis. The additional carbon gain associated with the mycorrhizal condition was not allocated to root biomass. The Cn in the mycorrhizal plants was positively related to the proportion of active colonization in the roots. • The calculated difference between Cn values in mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal plants, Cdiff, appeared to correspond to the sink strength of the AMF and was not an indirect result of enhanced nutrition in mycorrhizal plants.
Effect of deletion of the prostaglandin EP4 receptor on stimulation of calcium release from cultured mouse calvariae: Impaired responsiveness in heterozygotes

The ability of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), selective receptor agonists for EP2 and EP4 receptors (EP2A and EP4A) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) to stimulate calcium release from cultured fetal mouse calvariae was compared in wild type (WT) mice and in mice heterozygous (HET) or homozygous (KO) for deletion of the EP4 receptor. Calvariae from 19 day fetal mice were used in order to avoid the problem of high neonatal mortality. Calcium release was increased by PGE2, EP4A or PTH in WT mice, but EP2A had no significant effect. There was a significant decrease in calcium release in response to PGE2, EP4A and PTH in calvariae from HET mice compared to WT mice. The response to PGE2 and EP4A was abrogated and the response to PTH was further diminished in EP4 receptor KO mice. These results suggest that the EP4 receptor may be rate limiting not only for PGE2 stimulated resorption but also for resorption stimulated by other agonists, like PTH that induce PGE2 production.