cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Simplified Methods for Plane Failure

The purpose of this chapter is to present some simple equations for determining the safety factor of slopes with plane failure surfaces. Only three simple cases will be considered: one involving an infinite slope with a failure plane parallel to the slope surface, one involving a triangular cross section with a single failure plane, and the other involving a trapezoidal cross section with two failure planes (Huang, 1977a, 1978b). For three failure planes, the computerized method presented in Chap. 8 should be used.
Stapled peptides: How to be quick on the uptake.

Stapled helices are promising compounds for inhibiting intracellular protein–protein interactions, but the discovery of peptides with the key property of cellular uptake has taken place largely through trial and error. A new study defines physicochemical parameters for designing hydrocarbon-stapled helices with a greater likelihood of cellular uptake.
Predicting the running times of parallel programs by simulation

Predicting the running time of a parallel program is useful for determining the optimal values for the parameters of the implementation and the optimal mapping of data on processors. However deriving an explicit formula for the running time of a certain parallel program is a difficult task. The authors present a new method for the analysis of parallel programs: simulating the execution of parallel programs by following their control flow and by determining, for each processor; the sequence of send and receive operations according to the LogGP model. They developed two algorithms to simulate the LogGP communication between processors and tested them on the blocked parallel version of the Gaussian elimination algorithm on the Meiko CS-2 parallel machine. The implementation showed that the LogGP simulation is able to detect the nonlinear behavior of the program running times, to indicate the differences in running times for different data layouts and to find the local optimal value of the block size with acceptable precision.
Disability, Disease, and the “Philosophick Heroism” of Samuel Johnson in Boswell's Life of Johnson

(1991). Disability, Disease, and the “Philosophick Heroism” of Samuel Johnson in Boswell's Life of Johnson. a/b: Auto/Biography Studies: Vol. 6, Illness, Disability, and Lifewriting, pp. 8-16.
Abstract P222: Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Hospitals Without Surgery on Site: One Year Follow-Up From a Longitudinal Registry

Background: The safety of performing elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in hospitals without surgery on site (SOS) has been questioned. We assessed the safety of this practice in a one year follow up study. Methods: 485 patients underwent elective (PCI) in two network hospitals without (SOS) were followed for one-year in a longitudinal registry. Baseline demographics, hemodynamics, and renal function were recorded for each patient before and after PCI. Clinical data were obtained at 6 weeks, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Results: Baseline demographics: Mean age was 68±12 years, 67% were male, BMI: 28.9±5.3. Comorbidities included heart failure-8.4%, carotid artery disease-7%, hypertension-80%, IDDM-9%, NIDDM-20%, PAD-6%, smoking-22%, prior PCI-31%. Systolic BP: 146±24 mmHg, diastolic BP: 79±15 mmHg, creatinine: 1.1±0.7mg/dl, Total Cholesterol: 157±40 mg/dl, EF: 52±14%. Total number of stents used was 558 (28% Bare-metal stents and 72% Drug eluted stents). Death, all cause readmissions, repeat PCI, CABG, and angina symptoms were recorded at each time interval (See [table1][1]). At one year 95% were taking aspirin and 89% were taking clopidogrel. No correlation was noted between clopidrogel use and repeat PCI. Conclusions: One year follow up after PCI in hospitals without SOS demonstrates acceptable rates of immediate complications and long term outcomes. The data suggest that elective PCI can be performed safely in hospitals without surgery on site. | Time Interval | Death | Readmit | Repeat PCI | CABG | Angina Symptoms | |:-------------:| ----- | ------- | ---------- | ---- | --------------- | | 6 weeks | 1% | 7% | 1.2% | 1% | 6.4% | | 3 months | 0.4% | 5% | 0.6% | 1% | 6.9% | | 6 months | 0.8% | 7% | 1.1% | 0% | 9.4% | | 9 months | 0.4% | 4% | 9.3% | 1% | 10.4% | | 12 months | 0.4% | 3% | 6.8% | 0% | 7.4% | [1]: #T1
Genomic signatures of Mannheimia haemolytica that associate with the lungs of cattle with respiratory disease, an integrative conjugative element, and antibiotic resistance genes

Mannheimia haemolytica typically resides in cattle as a commensal member of the upper respiratory tract microbiome. However, some strains can invade their lungs and cause respiratory disease and death, including those with multi-drug resistance. A nucleotide polymorphism typing system was developed for M. haemolytica from the genome sequences of 1133 North American isolates, and used to identify genetic differences between isolates from the lungs and upper respiratory tract of cattle with and without clinical signs of respiratory disease. A total of 26,081 nucleotide polymorphisms were characterized after quality control filtering of 48,403 putative polymorphisms. Phylogenetic analyses of nucleotide polymorphism genotypes split M. haemolytica into two major genotypes (1 and 2) that each were further divided into multiple subtypes. Multiple polymorphisms were identified with alleles that tagged genotypes 1 or 2, and their respective subtypes. Only genotype 2 M. haemolytica associated with the lungs of diseased cattle and the sequence of a particular integrative and conjugative element (ICE). Additionally, isolates belonging to one subtype of genotype 2 (2b), had the majority of antibiotic resistance genes detected in this study, which were assorted into seven combinations that ranged from 1 to 12 resistance genes. Typing of diverse M. haemolytica by nucleotide polymorphism genotypes successfully identified associations with diseased cattle lungs, ICE sequence, and antibiotic resistance genes. Management of cattle by their carriage of M. haemolytica could be an effective intervention strategy to reduce the prevalence of respiratory disease and supplemental needs for antibiotic treatments in North American herds.
Bayesian Inference of Stochastic Pursuit Models from Basketball Tracking Data

We develop a Metropolis algorithm to perform Bayesian inference for models given by coupled stochastic differential equations. A key challenge in developing practical algorithms is the computation of the likelihood. We address this problem through the use of a fast method to track the probability density function of the stochastic differential equation. The method applies quadrature to the Chapman–Kolmogorov equation associated with a temporal discretization of the stochastic differential equation. The inference method can be adapted to scenarios in which we have multiple observations at one time, multiple time series, or observations with large and/or irregular temporal spacing. Computational tests show that the resulting Metropolis algorithm is capable of efficient inference for an electrical oscillator model.
Against Pay Secrecy

Many firms keep pay secret. They do not make information about what their employees are paid available inside or outside of the firm, i.e. to other employees or to the public at large. Indeed, many firms discourage their employees from, or sanction them for, disclosing their pay. Against this, I argue that there are good moral reasons for firms to be transparent about pay. Pay transparency prevents injustice, promotes autonomy, and increases efficiency. After presenting the positive case for pay transparency, I defend it against objections, including the most common reasons firms give for keeping pay secret.
Abstract 4469: Targeting the tri-snRNP complex for triple-negative breast cancer therapy

Triple negative breast cancers (TNBC) account for ~15% of all breast cancers and the majority of breast cancers in women carrying a BRCA1 germline mutation. Due to the inadequacy of existing treatment, here we sought to identify shared genetic dependencies across different TNBC cell lines with the ultimate goal of uncovering novel therapeutic targets. To this end, we performed a targeted siRNA lethality screen across 11 human breast cell lines focusing on 154 genes, which we previously identified as selectively essential to a genetically-defined TNBC progenitor cell line (BPLER) relative to a myoepithelial-like isogenic cell line (HMLER). Thirty genes scored as recurrently and selectively required for survival of progenitor-like (or basal-A) TNBC lines compared to differentiated cell lines. Genes for proteins involved in RNA splicing were prominent shared dependencies among basal-A TNBC cell lines. Of particular note were those associated with the U4/U6.U5 tri-snRNP complex, including PRPF8 and PRPF38A. Transcriptome-wide RNA-seq analysis of the knockdown of either led to widespread intronic retention, expression of immune system genes and aberrant splicing of transcripts involved in protein translation, proteasome function, mitosis and apoptosis, including the TNBC dependency gene MCL1. As the proteasome and mitosis are also established TNBC vulnerabilities, we have identified specific classes of transcripts that are both particularly susceptible to perturbation of tri-snRNP activity and selectively essential for TNBC, making the tri-snRNP complex an attractive target for downstream drug development. Citation Format: Stefanie Chan, Praveen Sridhar, Ying-Jie Lock, Fabio Petrocca. Targeting the tri-snRNP complex for triple-negative breast cancer therapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4469. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-4469
Systems engineering analysis of the use of nanosatellites to observe temporal evolution of storm systems

Use of small satellites termed CubeSats to provide new capabilities for global observations of temperature, humidity, clouds and precipitation is gaining momentum. The use of CubeSats is steadily increasing and offers a relatively less expensive (compared to traditionally-sized satellites) means of collecting atmospheric data to augment existing weather observations and provide additional global data to increase the fidelity of existing climate models. The research community's interest in using CubeSats poses the question if the instrument performance constrained to a CubeSat form factor will be sufficient to collect the required atmospheric data. To address this question representative cloud and precipitation data was analyzed to confirm that systemlevel instrument requirements are achievable within a CubeSat form factor.
Application of Multimedia Pollutant Transport Models to Risk Analysis

The impact of a toxic substance on public health depends upon its inherent toxicity, the size and location of the source term, its behavior once released to the environment, the number and type of exposure pathways, and the susceptibility of the exposed population. Because the process of quantifying impact through this sequence of events is inherently uncertain, we refer to the estimated impact using the concept risk. Thus, regulating toxic risks requires consideration of the source, chemical fate, exposure routes, human susceptibility and combined health effects of an ever-increasing list of chemicals. The very magnitude of this list precludes a detailed assessment of each chemical of concern. For this reason there is a demand for comprehensive but not necessarily precise models for quantifying human exposure. Multimedia transport models fill this demand, As Herman Daly (1980) notes, “[i]t is better to deal incompletely with the whole than wholly with the incomplete.”
Tissue Angiotensin Converting Enzyme

Biochemical, immunohistochemical, and molecular biologic evidence indicates that all components of the renin-angiotensin system (renin, angiotensinogen, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), angiotensin peptides and angiotensin receptors) are found in a variety of tissues, including heart, kidney, brain and vasculature. The renin-angiotensin system plays an important role in the maintenance of blood pressure and volume homeostasis and of cardiovascular structure in normotensive subjects without obvious cardiovascular disease and in various disease states, including systemic hypertension and congestive heart failure (Oparil and Haber, 1974; Gibbons and Dzau, 1994). Renin (EN 3.4.23.15), a highly selective serine protease, cleaves its substrate, angiotensinogen, to produce the biologically inactive decapeptide, angiotensin I (ANG I) (Figure 1). The peptidyl dipeptide hydrolase angiotensin- converting enzyme (ACE; EN 3.4.15.1) removes the carboxyl terminal His-Leu from ANG I to produce the octapeptide angiotensin II (ANG II). In addition, ACE inactivates bradykinin, a vasodilator peptide/mediator of inflammation, as well as substance P, enkephalins and endorphins. ANG I and ANG II are both rapidly hydrolyzed to inactive products by a number of proteolytic enzymes, the angiotensinases (Regoli et al., 1975).
Stereoselective Synthesis and Reactions of a Diol-Epoxide Derived from Benzo[a]pyrene

In the course of examining the metabolism-induced binding of benzo[a]pyrene (BP) to DNA in the presence of active liver microsomes, Borgen et al. (1) made the intriguing observation that further metabolism of trans-7,8-dihydroxy-7,8-dihydro-BP resulted in much more extensive binding to DNA than that observed with two other metabolic dihydrodiols or with BP itself. Subsequently, Sims et al. (2) suggested that the facile binding of this dihydrodiol was mediated by formation of an oxide at the 9,10-double bond. Synthesis of the suspected binding agent, 7,8-dihydroxy-9,10-epoxy,7,8,9,10-tetrahydro-BP, was claimed to result from the action of m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid on the parent dihydrodiol (2). We have considered the possibility that the suspected high chemical reactivity of this diol-epoxide from BP might well be due to anchimeric assistance (3,4) by the neighboring hydroxyl group at C-7.
Loss of Gene Body Methylation in Eutrema salsugineum Is Associated with Reduced Gene Expression

Gene body methylation (gbM) is typically characterized by DNA methylation in the CG context within coding regions and is associated with constitutive genes that have moderate to high expression levels. A recent study discovered the loss of gbM in two plant species (Eutrema salsugineum and Conringia planisiliqua), illustrating that gbM is not necessary for survival and reproduction. The same paper stated there was no detectable effect of gbM loss on gene expression (GE). Here, we reanalyzed the GE data and accounted for experimental variability in expression level estimates. We show that the loss of gbM in E. salsugineum is associated with a small but highly significant decrease in GE relative to the closely related species Arabidospis thaliana. Our results are consistent with various evolutionary analyses that suggest gbM has a function, perhaps as a homeostatic effect on GE.
Surveillance PET 100 Days after Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Identifies Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma Patients with Extremely Poor Survival

Introduction The utility of surveillance imaging following auto-HCT in relapsed/refractory DLBCL remains unclear. Imaging is costly and exposes patients to radiation. Novel interventions are now available for patients relapsing after auto-HCT making early disease recognition crucial to intervene prior to clinical progression. We analyzed a cohort of auto-HCT recipients who were uniformly monitored with surveillance (18)F-FDG-PET CT at day 100 (Interquartile range (IQR): 97-103 days) post-HCT. Objectives We explored the PET parameters including Deauville (D) and total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV) as predictors of relapse and survival after auto-HCT. In addition, we assessed outcomes of patients with clinically versus radiographically detected relapsed DLBCL after auto-HCT. Methods/Results We included 131 DLBCL patients (median age 56 years) with available day 100 PET scan treated with auto-HCT between 2006-2016. Median follow-up was 3.3 years. Five-year cumulative incidence of relapse after auto-HCT was 50%, (95%CI 39 to 59) and overall survival (OS) was 51% (95% CI 41 to 63). Twelve (9%) relapsed prior to day 100 and 91 patients underwent surveillance PET/CT imaging at day 100. At time of surveillance re-staging most patients' scores were D1 (22%) or D2 (55%) and 21 (23%) had a D≥3. Patients with D5 (n=12) had higher TMTV (137 cm3) compared to D4 (n=9, TMTV 12.5 cm3). 5-year OS in post-HCT D4 and D5 were only 37% (95%CI=14 to 100) and 25% (95%CI=43 to 89), respectively, whereas those with post-transplant D1 and D2 both had 5-year OS of 62%. Median survival in years for D1, D2, D4 and D5 were 6.0, 6.8, 4.7, and 1.2, respectively. Risk of death was 4 times higher in D5 patients relative to D1 (HR 4.10, 95%CI =1.56 to 10.77; p ≤ 0.01). The hazard ratio for death following relapse was 2-fold higher (HR 1.8 [95% CI 0.9 to 3.4]; p=0.08) if relapse was detected clinically versus only radiographically over a median follow-up time period of 3.3 years. Conclusion In patients with relapsed/refractory DLBCL, PET scan D5 in day 100 post-HCT PET is associated with extremely poor survival ∼ 1 year. Identifying this high-risk cohort can potentially highlight patients that might benefit from cell therapy or other rescue treatment strategies.
From coal to cool: Reordering nature in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan

The article studies the transformation of a Kyrgyz coal-mining village into a tourism destination. By combining political ecology research approaches with concepts borrowed from Actor Network Theor...
Chemical Composition of Rock Salt Brine Compared with Brine from Oil and Gas Wells

AbstractThe overall mass of sodium chloride salt used to treat icy roads can be significantly reduced by pretreating roads or prewetting dry rock salt with concentrated brine solutions. Brine solut...
Painting with CATS: Camera-Aided Texture Synthesis

We present CATS, a digital painting system that synthesizes textures from live video in real-time, short-cutting the typical brush- and texture- gathering workflow. Through the use of boundary-aware texture synthesis, CATS produces strokes that are non-repeating and blend smoothly with each other. This allows CATS to produce paintings that would be difficult to create with traditional art supplies or existing software. We evaluated the effectiveness of CATS by asking artists to integrate the tool into their creative practice for two weeks; their paintings and feedback demonstrate that CATS is an expressive tool which can be used to create richly textured paintings.
Above-Octave Supercontinuum Generation in a Hybrid Nonlinear Waveguide for On-Chip Cascaded Third- and Second-Order Nonlinear-Optic Applications

It is shown that over 1.25 octaves supercontinuum is attainable in a hybrid chalcogenide-glass/lithium-niobate miniaturized waveguide platform that allows cascaded third- and second-order optical nonlinearities on a monolithic chip, particularly for frequency-stabilized integrated comb sources.
Nonparametric tests for strategic interaction effects with rationalizability

Abstract We introduce the first nonparametric tests for the presence and the sign of strategic interaction effects in discrete 2 × 2 games of complete information under the assumption of rationalizable behavior, which includes Nash Equilibrium as a special case but allows for incorrect beliefs. Our tests assume the existence of an observable covariate with a positive stochastic relationship with the payoffs of a particular player.
Predicting Hospital Return After Discharge from the Pediatric Inpatient Service

Purpose – Patients that re-visit after hospital discharge represent a high-risk population that are considered a surrogate metric for quality of care. They are associated with higher cost, greater resource utilization with potential for claims denials. Since the inception of financial disincentives by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, hospitals have focused on reducing 30-day re-admissions. There is paucity of data on factors associated with re-visits after discharge in pediatric patients. Our study sought to identify variables associated with return to the hospital within 7 days and …
Effects of lecture video styles on engagement and learning

Lecture videos are an integral part of distance education. Much has been done to investigate the effects of lecture video styles, but many of the studies have methodological issues and confounding variables. The current study focused on the amount of motion in two types of lecture videos (hand-drawn and narration-over-PowerPoint) and investigated motion’s effect on learners’ perceived engagement and learning outcome. Participants watched lecture videos with varying amount of within-video motion, rated the engagement levels of the videos, and completed recall and knowledge transfer tasks. The study was conducted in a laboratory setting that simulated an online learning environment. Our findings indicate that a hand-drawn type of lecture video was rated as most engaging and supported recall performance of individuals with low prior knowledge of content materials. Knowledge transfer performance was affected by learners’ prior knowledge but not by the amount of motion in lecture videos. Pedagogical implications are described in the discussion section.
Designing Dynamic Machines With Large-Scale Root Finding

Achieving high-performance dynamic behavior in a robot requires careful design of morphology. However, searching for a global optimum morphology in an intensely nonlinear design space is difficult, especially if stochastic seeding is used. In contrast to optimization, we encode design requirements into a polynomial system with a huge number of isolated roots. Each root describes an alternate robot morphology in the design space. Following this, the computation of nearly all isolated roots constitutes design space exploration. Previously, these systems were intractable, due to the heavy burden of degenerate roots. We relieve this burden by using the finite root generation (FRG) method to enable the discovery of nearly all isolated roots for a certain six-bar design problem for the first time. The FRG synthesis method enables the design of a transmission function from motor dynamics to a loaded end effector to influence the overall dynamic behavior. In an example, we formulate synthesis equations which were previously intractable, obtain 1 528 608 isolated roots (estimated 99.0%), and find 3764 physical designs. Design options are compared according to their sensitivity to joint errors.
The Holistic Approach to Stress Fracture Treatment

Stress fractures are overuse injuries of bone that result from an imbalance of training, healing, nutrition, hormones, and biomechanics. They present most commonly in the lower extremities of runners and military personnel but can also occur in the upper extremity and spine depending on the causative activity. Stress fractures occur along a continuum of severity with no two stress fractures exhibiting the same behavior. A detailed history that includes training frequency and intensity, dietary habits, menstruation, and rest/sleep along with a thorough physical examination and proper imaging are required for diagnosing and risk stratifying these injuries. Treatment of stress fractures requires nutritional and emotional support, rest from the causative activity, and surgical stabilization in the case of high-risk sites. In recent years, orthobiologic treatment options to enhance the healing potential of bone have been developed and have shown promise for the treatment of stress fractures in the future.
Entrepreneurial Intention and Gender: The Role of Psychopathy in Overcoming Gender Role Expectations

This study examines the moderating effect of psychopathy on the relationship between gender and entrepreneurial intentions. Psychopathy is an antisocial personality trait that enables individuals t...
Single balloon dilation of symptomatic duodenal web: Long-term success

Abstract Duodenal webs in neonates and infants have been traditionally managed with open or laparoscopic surgery. Surgical management has been associated with high morbidity and mortality and prolonged length of stay. Other treatments include endoscopic resection of the web with cautery or laser energy. This modality carries a high risk of perforation. Endoscopic balloon dilatation has been recently reported with good clinical outcome. Most of the patients reported in the literature required serial balloon dilatations to achieve resolution of the symptoms. We report a 10-month-old infant with duodenal obstruction secondary to a congenital duodenal web. He was successfully managed with a single high-pressure balloon dilatation using an interventional radiology technique. He tolerated liquid diet on day 2 post procedure and was discharged home on day 3. He has remained asymptomatic after 4 years of follow-up.
Building affective infrastructures: a review of Gestures of Concern : by Chris Ingraham, Durham, Duke University Press, 2020, 264 pages, $27 (paperback), ISBN: 9781478009511

I read Chris Ingraham's book Gestures of Concern in the closing days of the US election, as the global Coronavirus pandemic surged through fall and into winter. These and many other events througho...
Observing Protest: Media Use and Student Involvement on April 7, 2010 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Individuals in and around protests are generally classified as either participants or nonparticipants. However, observers witnessing protests can also play an important role in collective actions by sharing their experiences. This paper explores the characteristics of observers during the April 7, 2010 demonstrations in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Based on data collected via a survey of university students, I demonstrate that protest observers differed from nonparticipants on a range of variables. A key factor differentiating student observers from nonparticipants was their online activity prior to the protests. Logistic regression modeling shows that students with higher rates of online activity were significantly and substantially more likely to be protest observers than nonparticipants. These findings provide empirical evidence for categorizing observation as a distinct level of protest participation, shed light on demonstration involvement in Bishkek on April 7, 2010, and suggest that examining online activity can contribute to a better understanding of protest involvement levels.
iPhantom: an automated framework in generating personalized computational phantoms for organ-based radiation dosimetry

We propose an automated framework to generate 3D detailed person-specific computational phantoms directly from patient medical images. We investigate the feasibility of this framework in terms of accurately generating patient-specific phantoms and the clinical utility in estimating patient-specific organ dose for CT images. The proposed framework generates 3D volumetric phantoms with a comprehensive set of radiosensitive organs, by fusing patient image data with prior anatomical knowledge from a library of computational phantoms in a two-stage approach. In the first stage, the framework segments a selected set of organs from patient medical images as anchors. In the second stage, conditioned on the segmented organs, the framework generates unsegmented anatomies through mappings between anchor and nonanchor organs learned from libraries of phantoms with rich anatomy. We applied this framework to clinical CT images and demonstrated its utility for patient-specific organ dosimetry. The result showed the framework generates patientspecific phantoms in ~10 seconds and provides Monte Carlo based organ dose estimation in ~30 seconds with organ dose errors <10% for the majority of organs. The framework shows the potential for large scale and real-time clinic analysis, standardization, and optimization.
Short-term impact of nursing home SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations on new infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.

OBJECTIVE: To compare rates of incident SARS-CoV-2 infection and 30-day hospitalization or death among residents with confirmed infection in nursing homes with earlier versus later SARS-CoV-2 vaccine clinics. DESIGN: Matched pairs analysis of nursing homes that had their initial vaccine clinics between December 18, 2020, and January 2, 2021, versus between January 3, 2021, and January 18, 2021. Matched facilities had their initial vaccine clinics between 12 and 16 days apart. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred and eighty nursing homes in 21 states owned and operated by the largest long-term care provider in the United States. MEASUREMENTS: Incident SARS-CoV-2 infections per 100 at-risk residents per week; hospital transfers and/or deaths per 100 residents with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection per day, averaged over a week. RESULTS: The early vaccinated group included 136 facilities with 12,157 residents; the late vaccinated group included 144 facilities with 13,221 residents. After 1 week, early vaccinated facilities had a predicted 2.5 fewer incident SARS-CoV-2 infections per 100 at-risk residents per week (95% CI: 1.2-4.0) compared with what would have been expected based on the experience of the late vaccinated facilities. The rates remained significantly lower for several weeks. Cumulatively over 5 weeks, the predicted reduction in new infections was 5.2 cases per 100 at-risk residents (95% CI: 3.2-7.3). By 5 to 8 weeks post-vaccine clinic, early vaccinated facilities had a predicted 1.1 to 3.8 fewer hospitalizations and/or deaths per 100 infected residents per day, averaged by week than expected based on late vaccinated facilities' experience for a cumulative on average difference of 5 events per 100 infected residents per day. CONCLUSIONS: The SARS-CoV-2 vaccines seem to have accelerated the rate of decline of incident infections, morbidity, and mortality in this large multi-state nursing home population.
Kinship navigation: Facilitating permanency and equity for youth in child welfare

Abstract Kinship care has come to be seen as a way to potentially minimize some risks of traditional foster care, provide an opportunity for youth to remain connected to their extended families, and facilitate ongoing relationships and development. Previous work has suggested potential benefits of kinship placements for youth, but also challenges in identifying viable kin caregivers and providing adequate supports and guidance for these families. Kinship Navigation has been developed to formally and systematically assure placement options and supports for caregivers. At present, however, there is relatively little empirical work on the benefits and outcomes of Kinship Navigation programs. This manuscript examines permanency outcomes for youth served by one kinship care agency: A Second Chance, Inc. (ASCI). Countywide data are used to compare episode-of-care permanency outcomes for youth served by ASCI’s Kinship Navigator program with those served by other agencies without Kinship Navigation, who were removed from their homes during the same 27-month period (January 2017 – March 2020). The sample includes 1108 youth (471 served via ASCI KN; 637 in non-KN programs). Kinship Navigation was associated with significantly higher rates of Permanent Legal Custodianship and decreased disparities in outcomes between African American and White youth. These results suggest that ASCI’s Kinship Navigator program is promising for securing family-centered permanency and increasing positive outcomes for African American children and adolescents. Additional work is needed to more fully explore the key processes, families’ experiences, and broader outcomes.
What Is a Racially and Culturally Nondiscriminatory Test

Public Law 94-142 (Section 612[5] [C] of the Education of the Handicapped Act) mandated, for the first time, racially and culturally nondiscriminatory assessment procedures in the identification of “handicapped” children to be served by federally funded programs. Each state is to establish procedures to assure that testing and evaluation materials and procedures utilized for the purposes of evaluation and placement of handicapped children will be selected and administered so as not to be racially or culturally discriminatory. Such materials or procedures shall be provided and administered in the child’s native language or mode of communication, unless it clearly is not feasible to do so, and no single procedure shall be the sole criterion for determining an appropriate educational program for a child.
COPLINK: visualization for crime analysis

We have applied various visualization techniques to assist crime analysis. These techniques include a hierarchical list, a hyperbolic tree, a time line tool, a periodic pattern tool, a GIS tool and a self-organizing map. We have integrated some of these techniques into a single tool in order to display different and synchronized views of the same data. This tool is flexible and scalable to allow for the incorporation of other visualization techniques in the future. This paper describes the various visualization techniques we have applied in the law enforcement domain and that we are integrating into our ongoing COPLINK project.
School-Based Decision Making and the Empowerment of Secondary School Teachers.

The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher empowerment in high schools that had a school council over varying lengths of time (either zero, one, two, or three years). Teachers in this stu...
Message-passing algorithms for large structured decentralized POMDPs

Decentralized POMDPs provide a rigorous framework for multi-agent decision-theoretic planning. However, their high complexity has limited scalability. In this work, we present a promising new class of algorithms based on probabilistic inference for infinite-horizon ND-POMDPs---a restricted Dec-POMDP model. We first transform the policy optimization problem to that of likelihood maximization in a mixture of dynamic Bayes nets (DBNs). We then develop the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm for maximizing the likelihood in this representation. The EM algorithm for ND-POMDPs lends itself naturally to a simple message-passing paradigm guided by the agent interaction graph. It is thus highly scalable w.r.t. the number of agents, can be easily parallelized, and produces good quality solutions.
DE LA DISCO AL CASERÍO: URBAN SPATIAL AESTHETICS AND POLICY TO THE BEAT OF REGGAETÓN

Formato ISO 690-2 (Articulos de revistas electronicas) Dinzey-Flores, Zaire Zenit, DE LA DISCO AL CASERIO: URBAN SPATIAL AESTHETICS AND POLICY TO THE BEAT OF REGGAETONCentro Journal [en linea] 2008, XX (Sin mes) : [Fecha de consulta: 24 de noviembre de 2017] Disponible en: ISSN 1538-6279
The Roosevelt-Cardozo Way: The Case for Bar Eligibility After Two Years of Law School

This paper argues for a revision of the rules of the New York Court of Appeals to allow students to sit for the bar after two years of law school classes. This revision, reflecting what the rule had been when both President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Associate Justice Benjamin Cardozo attended Columbia Law School, would cut the costs of legal education for many students by 1/3, hence addressing in part the concern that law school debt drives down the availability of public service lawyers. Moreover, such a move would put pressure on law schools to deliver educational services more attuned to the practical needs of their students in order to secure their enrollment for the third year. This is a matter of considerable importance at a time many law schools place fewer than half of their graduates in full-time positions requiring legal training. Although the proposal does not address what law schools do or should do, reducing the law school study requirement for bar eligibility from three to two years may encourage some law schools to embrace a more professional than rather purely academic orientation that should in turn lead to enhanced skills training for students likely to be practising on their own or in small firms not capable of providing sustained training. A better trained solo or small-firm practitioner will better serve the legal needs of Americans of average means.
The structure of a molybdopterin precursor. Characterization of a stable, oxidized derivative

An oxidized pterin species, termed compound Z, has been isolated from molybdenum cofactor-deficient mutants of Escherichia coli and shown to be the direct product of oxidation of a molybdopterin precursor which accumulates in these mutants. The complete structural characterization of compound Z has been accomplished. A carbonyl function at C-1' of the 6-alkyl side chain can be reacted with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine to yield a phenylhydrazone and can be reduced with borohydride, producing a mixture of two enantiomers, each with a hydroxyl group on C-1'. Compound Z contains one phosphate/pterin and no sulfur. The phosphate group is insensitive to alkaline phosphatase and to a number of phosphodiesterases but is quantitatively released as inorganic phosphate by mild acid hydrolysis. From 31P and 1H NMR of compound Z it was inferred that the phosphate is bound to C-2' and C-4' of a 4-carbon side chain, forming a 6-membered cyclic structure. Mass spectral analysis showed an MH+ ion with an exact mass of 344.0401 corresponding to the molecular formula C10H11N5O7P, confirming the proposed structure.
The impact of MEMS and NEMS on biotechnology in the 21st century

The combination of natural polymers such as proteins and nucleic acids with MEMS and NEMS promises the advent of a totally new class of devices such as sensors and actuators with applications in diagnostics, responsive drug delivery, biocompatibility, self-assembly etc. This combination has become possible as today both top-down traditional manufacturing (e.g., MEMS and NEMS) and novel bottom-up manufacturing can realize components overlapping in size. Examples to illustrate the tremendous potential of merging top-down and bottom-up manufacturing techniques will be presented. These examples are called from the fields of molecular diagnostics, responsive drug delivery systems, protein and DNA structural elements and sensors and actuators and molecular self-assembly.
Workflow for the use of a high-resolution image detector in endovascular interventional procedures

Endovascular image-guided intervention (EIGI) has become the primary interventional therapy for the most widespread vascular diseases. These procedures involve the insertion of a catheter into the femoral artery, which is then threaded under fluoroscopic guidance to the site of the pathology to be treated. Flat Panel Detectors (FPDs) are normally used for EIGIs; however, once the catheter is guided to the pathological site, high-resolution imaging capabilities can be used for accurately guiding a successful endovascular treatment. The Micro-Angiographic Fluoroscope (MAF) detector provides needed high-resolution, high-sensitivity, and real-time imaging capabilities. An experimental MAF enabled with a Control, Acquisition, Processing, Image Display and Storage (CAPIDS) system was installed and aligned on a detector changer attached to the C-arm of a clinical angiographic unit. The CAPIDS system was developed and implemented using LabVIEW software and provides a user-friendly interface that enables control of several clinical radiographic imaging modes of the MAF including: fluoroscopy, roadmap, radiography, and digital-subtraction-angiography (DSA). Using the automatic controls, the MAF detector can be moved to the deployed position, in front of a standard FPD, whenever higher resolution is needed during angiographic or interventional vascular imaging procedures. To minimize any possible negative impact to image guidance with the two detector systems, it is essential to have a well-designed workflow that enables smooth deployment of the MAF at critical stages of clinical procedures. For the ultimate success of this new imaging capability, a clear understanding of the workflow design is essential. This presentation provides a detailed description and demonstration of such a workflow design.
Spindle cell carcinoma of penis

Abstract Spindle cell carcinoma of the penis has been documented only twice in the literature. We report a case illustrating the clinical and pathologic features with emphasis on the histologic difference from the squamous cell lesions.
Cost consequences of sentinel lymph node biopsy in the treatment of breast cancer. A preliminary analysis.

Objectives: To assess whether sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), an alternative to axillary lymph node dissection in treating female breast cancer, affords any cost savings. Methods: We profile cumulative treatment costs of 811 breast cancer patients, 555 of whom received SLNB. Univariate and multivariate statistical tests are used to appraise whether these cost profiles differ between SLNB and other patients. Results: The statistical results are mixed. However, none supports the conjecture that SLNB necessarily lowers the cost of treating the average breast patient. Conclusions: SLNB may be cost-effective, but longer term costs and outcomes must be estimated before firm conclusions can be reached.
The protein topography of the E. coli 30S ribosomal subunit: a preliminary model E. coli/30S subunit/ribosome/spatial arrangement of proteins.

A three dimensional model is presented which shows the spatial arrangement of 20 of the 21 proteins of the 30S ribosomal subunit ofEscherichia coli. The model fulfills several purposes: (a) It summarizes currently available structural and functional data on ribosomal proteins; (b) It suggests an interesting correlation between stoichiometry and function. Functional proteins are both clustered and fractional; (c) It can be evaluated in relation to new data, and it may predict relationships or point out critical experiments by which it can be tested.
The prediction of neuropsychological impairment in polydrug abusers.

Abstract Previous research has found a significant proportion of polydrug abusers to be neuropsychologically impaired and has implicated depressant and opiate use as contributing to the observed impairment. This investigation assessed the relative contribution of drug use, demographic, and personality variables to the prediction of impairment in polydrug users. Acknowledgment of drug use consequences and drug use style were found to be better predictors of neuropsychological impairment than amount of drug use or personality.
Strategy for solar-ultraviolet instrument comparisons

Several different monitoring networks using spectroradiometers are being developed to detect changes in the solar ultraviolet irradiance at the surface of the earth due to stratospheric ozone depletion. To ensure the accurate, long-term measurements that are required from these networks, a strategy for instrument intercomparisons is necessary. This involves the characterization of the instrument parameters which affect measurements of solar ultraviolet irradiance, particularly the linearity, wavelength accuracy, irradiance responsivity, slit- scattering function, and cosine response of the instrument. We have developed laboratory techniques for determining each of these parameters and have used them to characterize a specific spectroradiometer. These techniques and results are being used to develop a strategy for a planned field intercomparison of instruments from several monitoring networks.
Adjustment of Measured Precipitation for Gage Undercatch

Abstract The application of a climatic water balance model is shown to be useful in the estimation of representative regional precipitation. Often the precipitation recording network does not accurately represent the average conditions of a region due to gage height, exposure, and the degree to which the individual sample points represent true variations in precipitation. A comparison of calculated and measured regional runoff is made to assess inaccuracies in the measured hydrologic regime of the study area in western New York State. Discrepancies between calculated and measured runoff are shown to be related to problems of precipitation measurement, producing a consistent gage undercatch. It is shown that a water balance model might be used to adjust regional precipitation values to better represent the average condition over the total region.
SLOW AND STOPPED LIGHT 'Slow' and 'fast' light in resonator-coupled waveguides

We describe a device constructed of a sequence of microresonators coupled to an optical waveguide. The influence of these resonators is to enhance nonlinearities and to induce strong dispersive effects, leading to exotic optical properties including slow and superluminal group velocities of propagation.
Structural changes in the protein and carbohydrate components of glomerular basement membrane in aminonucleoside nephrosis.

Abstract The glomerular basement membranes of normal and amino nucleoside nephrotic rats were analyzed chemically. Glomerular basement membrane from nephrotic rats contained significantly less hydroxylysine, hydroxyproline and glycine than the normal. The collagen extracted from glomerular basement membrane of nephrotic rats with 5% trichloroacetic acid contained 1/3 less hydroxylysine, and hydroxyproline and 2/3 more lysine and 1/3 more proline than the normal. No differences were noted in total carbohydrate. However, the glycopeptide from nephrotic rats had a ratio of glucose:galactose:hydroxylysinelrhar22:1:1 compared with a ratio of 1:1:1 from normal rats. These structural differences could account for the functional alterations of nephrotic glomerular basement membrane.
Gastrointestinal and systemic candidosis in immunocompromised mice

Oral-intragastric inoculation of 6-day-old outbred Crl:CFW(SW) BR mice with Candida albicans can lead to colonization of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. We have shown that in the absence of an immunocompromising treatment, Candida is primarily localized in the stomach and intestines of mice at 20 days post-inoculation. Cultures of homogenates of the esophagus of most animals tested, and homogenates of the liver, lungs, spleen and kidneys of all animals tested, proved negative for C. albicans. Previous histological examinations of the GI tract of these colonized, non-immunocompromised mice showed hyphal elements associated with the stratified, squamous epithelium of the stomach in the region of the cardialatrium fold. In this study, mice were immunocompromised by intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide and cortisone acetate 11–14 days after oral-intragastric challenge with C. albicans and then sacrificed 20 days post-challenge. A high density of invasive hyphae was observed in the same, cardial-atri...
Highly Sensitive and Selective Explosive Detector Based on Nanoporous Silicon Photonic Crystal Infiltrated with Emissive Organics [Nanoproducts]

Emitech Inc. (www.emitechinc.com) is developing a porous silicon (PSi) microcavity (MC)-based fluorescent detector for explosives. It was initially funded by the Army Small Business Innovation Research Phase II contract (Figure 1). The sensory part of the device is composed of a nano-PSi photonic crystal with MC, infiltrated with fluorescent organics that are specific to target explosive vapors and particulates. It is important that the nanodevice structure provides an extremely large interfacial area between the sensory material and the analyte vapors leading to its highest sensitivity, which is critical for fast trace detection of low vapor pressure explosives. An important feature of the nanodevice is the real-time sampling system (integrated with sensory head) based on the proprietary thermal air-jet technology.