cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spiroligozymes for transesterifications: design and relationship of structure to activity.

Transesterification catalysts based on stereochemically defined, modular, functionalized ladder-molecules (named spiroligozymes) were designed, using the “inside-out” design strategy, and mutated synthetically to improve catalysis. A series of stereochemically and regiochemically diverse bifunctional spiroligozymes were first synthesized to identify the best arrangement of a pyridine as a general base catalyst and an alcohol nucleophile to accelerate attack on vinyl trifluoroacetate as an electrophile. The best bifunctional spiroligozyme reacted with vinyl trifluoroacetate to form an acyl-spiroligozyme conjugate 2.7 × 103-fold faster than the background reaction with a benzyl alcohol. Two trifunctional spiroligozymes were then synthesized that combined a urea with the pyridine and alcohol to act as an oxyanion hole and activate the bound acyl-spiroligozyme intermediate to enable acyl-transfer to methanol. The best trifunctional spiroligozyme carries out multiple turnovers and acts as a transesterification...
Introducing Invited Articles

SOME YEARS AGO the Annals' editors suggested that distinguished scientists be invited to write articles on new ideas and developments in fields of general interest to Annals' readers. The idea was refined by the Annals' Editorial Board, then chaired by C. A. Tauber; and, in 1989, the ESA's Governing Board approved it. Two articles will appear each year, their subjects and authors (not necessarily members of the Society) determined by the Annals Editorial Board, and the invitations made by the editors. The first two feature articles appear on the following pages.
ADAPTABILITY RESEARCH OF LUBRICATION SYS- TEM AND SEALING OF PETROLEUM EQUIPMENT IN THE PLATEAU OF NORTH TIBET

In this paper, introduces the physical environment and climate in the plateau of north Tibet was introduced, the selection and cooling of the lubrication oil of petroleum equipment under the condition of low temperature in the plateau, and the affect of petroleum equipment in the climate of the plateau of north Tibet were discussed. It has the practicality significance of reconstruction and renovation of petroleum equipment in the plateau for the future
Toward a Patient-Centered Value Framework in Oncology.

Cancer drugs are toxic and expensive. Their benefits are often difficult to measure, vary substantially between patients, and too often are quite modest in improving outcomes. Multiple approaches have been developed recently to quantify and combine these treatment characteristics (harms, costs, and benefits) into composite “value” metrics that enable crosstreatment comparisons, formulary prioritization, and assessments of whether pricing is reasonable. In their Viewpoint in this issue of JAMA, Chandra and colleagues1 compare 5 such frameworks for assessing the value of cancer drugs: the American Society of Clinical Oncology “Value Framework” (ASCO)2; the European Society for Medical Oncology “Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale” (ESMO)3; the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review “Value Assessment Framework” (ICER)4; the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center “Drug Abacus” (MSK)5; and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network “Evidence Blocks” (NCCN)
Postoperative outcomes according to preoperative medical and functional status after infrainguinal revascularization for critical limb ischemia in patients 80 years and older.

The purpose of this study was to provide outcomes after intervention for critical limb ischemia (CLI) in elderly patients (≥80 years) according to medical and functional status at presentation. From January 1998 to September 2003, 140 limbs/122 patients (age range 80-97 years) were treated (57 patients/66 limbs, infrainguinal bypass; 65 patients/74 limbs, infrainguinal angioplasty) for CLI. At presentation, 71 (58.2%) patients were functionally ambulatory, 41 (33.6%) were homebound ambulators, and 10 (8.2%) were transfer-only ambulators. Overall end points after treatment as well as outcomes according to type of treatment and preoperative medical and functional status were determined. End points included reconstruction patency, limb salvage, survival, amputation-free survival, and maintenance of ambulatory and independent living status. Results for the 140 limbs/122 patients at 3 years (Kaplan-Meier curves) include primary patency, 55.3%; secondary patency, 73.2%; limb salvage, 78.3%; survival, 62.5%; amputation-free survival, 49.7%; maintenance of ambulation, 77.8%; and maintenance of independent living status, 82.9%. There was essentially no difference in outcomes based on type of treatment (endovascular vs open operation). When analyzing 2-year outcomes by functional status (ambulatory vs homebound vs transfer), there was deterioration in outcomes according to declining functional status at presentation for mortality (84.7% vs 66.4% vs 42%; P < 0.001), amputation-free survival (73.3% vs 48.2% vs 36.9%; P < 0.001), limb salvage (86% vs 66.5% vs 71.9%; P = 0.022), and secondary patency (84.3% vs 61.5% vs 69.2%; P = 0.005) regardless of treatment. Homebound ambulators were two times and transfer-only patients five times more likely to experience death (Cox hazard model); diabetics were four times more likely to lose a limb and experience a decline in ambulation and living status. Overall medical and functional status at presentation predicts postoperative functional outcomes. These data support a policy of aggressive vascular intervention in the functional elderly and clinical restraint in the functionally impaired patient with CLI.
SU-F-T-401: Three-Dimensional Conformal Planning Using Low-Segment Multi-Criteria Optimization for Hippocampal Avoidance Whole Brain Radiotherapy

Purpose: Hippocampus avoidance whole brain radiotherapy (HA-WBRT) has been shown to reduce the risk of neurocognitive dysfunction. This type of treatment has the potential of insurance company payment denial due to increased cost of intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), while the accepted modality for WBRT is three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT). The purpose of this study is to assess HA-WBRT treatment plans using 3DCRT and multi-criteria optimization (MCO) that meets the RTOG 0933 criteria. Methods: Ten patients with brain metastases at least 0.5cm away from the hippocampal avoidance region as defined in RTOG 0933 were selected in this study. HA-WBRT treatment plans with MCO 3DCRT technique (MCO-3D) was generated with beam arrangements and dose constraints following the RTOG 0933 guidelines. MCO-3D plans were compared with plans using MCO IMRT techniques (MCO-IMRT) with same beam arrangements and dose constraints. Evaluation parameters included D98% D2% and dose homogeneity index of PTV, and Dmax and D100% of the hippocampi. The OAR doses were also evaluated. Results: For MCO-IMRT plans, PTV D2% and hippocampi Dmax and D100% met RTOG 0933 objectives in all ten patients (PTV D2% 25Gy) and 9/10 patients met acceptable variation (PTV D98%<25Gy). For MCO-3D plans, PTV D2% met RTOG 0933 objective for all patients; 1/10 patient for PTV D98% and 6/10 patients for Hippocampi Dmax and 7/10 patients for hippocampi D100% met RTOG 0933 objective. All the other patients met the RTOG 0933 acceptable variation requirement. (PTV D98%<25Gy; Hippocampi Dmax<17Gy and D100%<10Gy). Conclusion: All dosimetric parameters of MCO-3D plans met the criteria of at least acceptable variation per RTOG 0933. This may be helpful in cases where there is denial of patient's medical insurance coverage due to the use of IMRT for HA-WBRT.
Worship Spaces: 751–1000 Seats

Temple Israel is a Reform synagogue located on a 14-acre parcel in Omaha, NE. The Sanctuary, which seats 900, expresses itself to the exterior via luminous material in the upper portion of the room that glows like a beacon in the park. The building also features a Community Court, a 125-seat Chapel, a large Social Hall, and a range of other public and support spaces.
Abstract 308: iHeart Failure: Using Innovative Methodologies From Technology And Manufacturing Companies To Reduce Readmissions

Background: Heart failure patients have high 30-day readmission rates with high cost and poor quality of life. To address this issue, we created a framework using Lean Sigma (developed by Toyota and Motorola to improve efficiency and reduce defects), design thinking (championed by Apple and IDEO to improve user experience), and Lean Startup (pioneered in Silicon Valley to create technology companies). We assessed the impact of this approach on all-cause 30-day readmissions in heart failure. Methods: We used Lean Sigma’s Define Measure Analyze Improve Control or DMAIC framework to define the scope of the problem, measure key determinants and analyze root causes. A design thinking workshop held with support from IDEO augmented the improve phase to brainstorm possible interventions. A Lean Startup approach was also leveraged to create minimal viable products to test the promising interventions. The most viable interventions were piloted and scaled up including improvements in access to care, patient self-management, treatment algorithms, and patient education and provider training. Results: At baseline (fiscal year [FY] 2011), the readmission rate was 24.9% among 631 HF discharges (average age 70 (± 15) years, 53% women, length of stay 5.3 days (± 5) and 50% diabetes). Interventions were implemented in the second quarter of 2012, and the 30-day readmission rate declined to 19.3% in the subsequent three quarters (p<0.01). As a result, an estimated 35 readmissions prevented annually, saving payers about $419,000, much lower than the annual cost of implementation ($200,000, p<0.01). Further reductions in readmissions are expected in the coming quarters as more interventions move beyond the pilot phase. Conclusion: Methodologies from technology and manufacturing companies cost-effectively reduced 30-day readmissions in heart failure demonstrating their potential to improve chronic disease care. ![Graphic][1] [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif
Phenome-Wide Association Study of Rheumatoid Arthritis Subgroups Identifies Association Between Seronegative Disease and Fibromyalgia.

Objective The differences between seronegative and seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have not been widely reported. We performed electronic health record (EHR)–based phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS) to identify disease associations in seropositive and seronegative RA. Methods A validated algorithm identified RA subjects from the de-identified version of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center EHR. Serotypes were determined by rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti–cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA) values. We tested EHR-derived phenotypes using PheWAS comparing seropositive RA and seronegative RA, yielding disease associations. PheWAS was also performed in RF-positive versus RF-negative subjects and ACPA-positive versus ACPA-negative subjects. Following PheWAS, select phenotypes were then manually reviewed, and fibromyalgia was specifically evaluated using a validated algorithm. Results A total of 2,199 RA individuals with either RF or ACPA testing were identified. Of these, 1,382 patients (63%) were classified as seropositive. Seronegative RA was associated with myalgia and myositis (odds ratio [OR] 2.1, P = 3.7 × 10−10) and back pain. A manual review of the health record showed that among subjects coded for Myalgia and Myositis, ∼80% had fibromyalgia. Follow-up with a specific EHR algorithm for fibromyalgia confirmed that seronegative RA was associated with fibromyalgia (OR 1.8, P = 4.0 × 10−6). Seropositive RA was associated with chronic airway obstruction (OR 2.2, P = 1.4 × 10−4) and tobacco use (OR 2.2, P = 7.0 × 10−4). Conclusion This PheWAS of RA patients identifies a strong association between seronegativity and fibromyalgia. It also affirms relationships between seropositivity and chronic airway obstruction and between seropositivity and tobacco use. These findings demonstrate the utility of the PheWAS approach to discover novel phenotype associations within different subgroups of a disease.
Associations of adolescent emotional and loss of control eating with 1-year changes in disordered eating, weight, and adiposity.

Objective Adolescent emotional-eating, referring to eating in response to negative affective states, is frequently reported by those with loss of control (LOC) eating. Although LOC eating has been shown to predict exacerbated disordered eating and excess weight/adiposity gain, the extent to which emotional-eating, either alone or in combination with LOC, predicts adverse outcomes has not been determined. Thus, we examined associations of baseline emotional-eating with changes in disordered eating, BMI, and adiposity over 1-year, and to what degree the presence or absence of baseline LOC moderated these associations. Methods 189 non-treatment-seeking youth (15.4 ± 1.4y; 66% female; 67% non-Hispanic White, 38% overweight [BMI ≥85th %ile]) completed the emotional-eating Scale for Children/Adolescents and the Eating Disorder Examination interview at baseline and again at 1-year. Air displacement plethysmography assessed adiposity at both time points. Results Baseline emotional-eating alone was not significantly associated with the development of objective binge eating or changes in disordered eating attitudes, BMI or adiposity 1-year later. However, baseline emotional-eating interacted with the presence of baseline LOC in the prediction of 1-year outcomes. Among adolescents with LOC eating, greater baseline emotional-eating was related to increased disordered eating attitudes (P = 0.03), BMI (P = 0.04), and adiposity (P = 0.04) at 1-year, after correcting for false discovery rate. Discussion Emotional-eating among youth also reporting LOC was associated with adverse outcomes over 1-year. Adolescents who report both behaviors may represent a subset of individuals at especially high risk for exacerbated disordered eating and excess weight gain. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.(Int J Eat Disord 2016)
Patterns of relapse and second malignancy after adjuvant external beam radiation therapy for stage I-II seminoma.

428Background: To determine relapse rate, patterns of relapse and risk of second malignancy (SM) from a large single institution experience of adjuvant external beam radiation therapy (RT) for stag...
Devotees, Pretenders and Wannabes: Two Cases of Factitious Disability Disorder

Despite having been described for more than a century, there is no understanding of the origin of the attractions, desires and behaviors of devotees, pretenders and wannabes (DPW's). Devotees are non-disabled people who are sexually attracted to people with disabilities, pretenders are non-disabled people who act as if they have a disability by using assistive devices and wannabes actually want to become disabled, sometimes going to extraordinary lengths to have a limb amputated. Two cases are presented in an effort to understand the psychology of DPW's and to suggest one psychologic concept—that of Factitious Disability Disorders—that may explain not only the obsession to be with disabled persons, but also the desire to pretend to be disabled and even the compulsion to become disabled. Also presented is a combined cognitive-behavioral approach to modify DPW's obsessions and compulsive, intrusive, illegal and sometimes self-injurious behaviors.
Framework for Dynamic Web Services Composition Guided by Live Testing

Web services allow businesses to offer their services and consumers to retrieve and use them. Businesses own some services and can reuse services that belong to other businesses to perform new transactional activities. By doing this, they achieve outsourcing, cost, and resources optimization. The advances in design principles, architectures, protocols and languages have helped to solve some of the problems related to the composition of business applications. Web service composition technology emerged as a new approach for efficient automation and integration of business processes based on Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). SOA provides a set of principles to create distributed computing systems that support the creation of loosely coupled applications in heterogeneous and distributed environment. Service computing or engineering covers the entire lifecycle of services that include: modeling, creation, realization, deployment, publication, discovery, composition, delivery, collaboration, monitoring, adaptation, optimization, and management. In this paper we propose an architecture for dynamic composition of web services that is guided by live testing technique. The main focus is on the framework and composition requirements.
How Much Do rRNA Gene Surveys Underestimate Extant Bacterial Diversity

The most common practice in studying and cataloguing prokaryotic diversity involves the grouping of sequences into operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at the 97% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity level, often using partial gene sequences, such as PCR-generated amplicons. Due to the high sequence conservation of rRNA genes, organisms belonging to closely related yet distinct species may be grouped under the same OTU. However, it remains unclear how much diversity has been underestimated by this practice. To address this question, we compared the OTUs of genomes defined at the 97% or 98.5% 16S rRNA gene identity level against OTUs of the same genomes defined at the 95% whole-genome average nucleotide identity (ANI), which is a much more accurate proxy for species. Our results show that OTUs resulting from a 98.5% 16S rRNA gene identity cutoff are more accurate than 97% compared to 95% ANI (90.5% versus 89.9% accuracy) but indistinguishable from any other threshold in the 98.29 to 98.78% range. Even with the more stringent thresholds, however, the 16S rRNA gene-based approach commonly underestimates the number of OTUs by ∼12%, on average, compared to the ANI-based approach (∼14% underestimation when using the 97% identity threshold). More importantly, the degree of underestimation can become 50% or more for certain taxa, such as the genera Pseudomonas, Burkholderia, Escherichia, Campylobacter, and Citrobacter These results provide a quantitative view of the degree of underestimation of extant prokaryotic diversity by 16S rRNA gene-defined OTUs and suggest that genomic resolution is often necessary.IMPORTANCE Species diversity is one of the most fundamental pieces of information for community ecology and conservational biology. Therefore, employing accurate proxies for what a species or the unit of diversity is are cornerstones for a large set of microbial ecology and diversity studies. The most common proxies currently used rely on the clustering of 16S rRNA gene sequences at some threshold of nucleotide identity, typically 97% or 98.5%. Here, we explore how well this strategy reflects the more accurate whole-genome-based proxies and determine the frequency with which the high conservation of 16S rRNA sequences masks substantial species-level diversity.
Does Experiencing a Crash Make All the Difference? An Experiment on the Depression Babies Hypothesis:

Do people who lived through the depression take fewer financial risks because of the negative returns experienced? More generally, what is the importance of historical return streams on current inv...
Paracyclophanes II: The Paternò-Büchi Reaction

This chapter presents the second study of a bimolecular photochemical reaction realized using the [2.2] paracyclophane scaffold. The reaction, a cycloaddition between a photoexcited carbonyl group and an alkene to form a four-membered cyclic ether (oxetane), is named the Paterno-Buchi (PB) reaction [1, 2]. The experiments realizing the first fs time-resolved investigation of the PB reaction, were performed using the Ottawa magnetic bottle spectrometer (Sect. 6.2.2, page 70). Readers interested in specific experimental and computational details are referred to Ref. III.
PERIODATE-INDUCED BLAST TRANSFORMATION IN MIXTURES OF RAT LYMPHOID CELLS

Publisher Summary This chapter explores periodate-induced blast transformation in mixtures of rat lymphoid cells. In a study described in the chapter, lymphoid cell populations from Lewis rats were prepared. Cells were cultured in RPMI-1640 containing 20% heat-inactivated horse serum in Microtest II plates. Mixing experiments were performed at constant total cell concentration by varying the proportions of the two cell populations over the entire range between the two pure populations. Incorporation of 3H-dT was determined by pulse-labeling under flooding conditions with low specific activity material to minimize possible complications because of variable endogenous cold dT pools. It was verified at all time points that 3H-dT incorporation was a linear function of cell concentration and that there was no depletion of culture nutrients. Chromosome analysis of colchicine-arrested cells was based on the procedures of Hungerford and Hungerford and Nowell. The results showed that rat lymph node cells (LNC), thoracic duct lymphocytes (TDL), and thymocytes each responded optimally after treatment with 1.2 mM periodate and exhibited identical kinetics with a peak of 3H-dT incorporation between 48 and 54 h. However, LNC incorporated 10–20 times more 3H-dT than TDL or thymocytes.
Monetary Policy and Exchange Rates: Guiding Principles for a Sustainable Regime

Is there an optimal monetary/exchange rate system for Latin America? An analysis of the evidence leads us to conclude that "one size does not fit all", but that with the exception of a few countries, more rather than less exchange rate flexibility is desired. However, facing a set of constraints particular to Latin America, "pure flexibility" is not the right choice. Inflation targeting combined with managed floating, involving clear and limited instances for intervention in the foreign exchange market, appears to be an appropriate choice for most of the region's countries, at least in the short run. Accumulation of foreign liquidity in the banking sector and in government-managed funds is also a necessary complement. The true long-term challenge, however, lies in removing the constraints that limit the options of viable exchange rate regimes.
Children's control of reference systems in spatial tasks: Foundations of spatial cognitive skill?

Two experiments are presented, one that focused on the abilities of 3- through 8-year-old children to use frames of reference as means for solving a search task in a small-scale perceived space and one that focused on the abilities of 8- through 11-year-old children to use different frames of reference to answer questions about the locations of objects in an environment they had read about. Experiment 1 revealed developmental improvement in the consistent application of object-, place-, and viewer-based frames of reference, with scale of space impacting the pattern of age-related improvement. Experiment 2 showed that young readers' first successes with switching from one reference system to another in representational space involved a vantage point perspective, a viewer-based ``gaze tour'' of a small-scale area. Although disparate in focus and method, the studies point to the need for a new theoretical framework for examining developmental issues in the application of spatial frames of reference.
Islets Protect Sensitive IoT Information: Verifiably Ending Use of Sensitive IoT Information for Mass Surveillance Can Foster (International) Commerce and Law Enforcement

Islets is a system for users to coordinate with IoT devices and other users. They serve two important functions 1) protect sensitive citizen information and 2) foster international commerce.IoT poses extreme challenges for sensitive personal information, including psychological, sexual, social, financial, legal, and medical. Enormous amounts of sensitive information is being stored in datacenters controlled by foreign-domiciled companies and extensively sold on the market by data brokers.Consumer health and medical IoT are becoming ever more intimate. Many people have pacemakers and even more have insulin pumps. Soon mixed reality glasses are likely to become as common as cell phones because they offer heads-up, hands-free, transparent operation. DARPA is developing an implantable neural interface able to provide unprecedented signal resolution and data-transfer bandwidth between the human brain and the digital world. Before long, many workers and military personnel may not be competitive unless they have brain implants.IoT will soon be in almost all manufactured devices thereby threatening the economic survival of tans-national manufacturers as well as Internet companies because of their current Internet business model of storing information in their datacenters. EU, China, and other nations are absolutely determined to verifiably end mass surveillance of the their citizens by foreign intelligence agencies using datacenters of foreign-domiciled companies. However, information stored in the datacenters of foreign domiciled corporations will inevitably become accessible to the government in which the company is domiciled. Consequently corporations that store sensitive information in their datacenters must be domestically incorporated to ensure that foreign intelligence agencies do not have bulk access to the information. Islets provide a means for trans-national companies to escape this trap by storing sensitive information of users IoT in Islets and only storing non-sensitive information in their datacenters.
Important Dimensions and Unanswered Questions

In this chapter we draw on all of our empirical results (reported in Chapters 2, 3 and 4), our thorough review of the disparate literature (Chapters 5 and 6), and the theoretical framework we created (Chapter 7) to present a list of the most important dimensions of external memory for further study, as proposed previously by others and as proposed by us. We also discuss other exciting and important unanswered questions, including the question of whether technology is making internal memory worse. Internal and external memory have mutually shaped each other for tens of thousands of years and will continue to do so into the future. It is important to keep documenting and seeking to understand this interplay. With this book we have laid the groundwork for much-needed future work, both empirical and theoretical.
Listening Difficulties in Children With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: More Than a Problem of Audibility.

Purpose Data from standardized caregiver questionnaires indicate that children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) frequently exhibit atypical auditory behaviors, including reduced responsivity to spoken stimuli. Another body of evidence suggests that prenatal alcohol exposure may result in auditory dysfunction involving loss of audibility (i.e., hearing loss) and/or impaired processing of clearly audible, “suprathreshold” sounds necessary for sound-in-noise listening. Yet, the nexus between atypical auditory behavior and underlying auditory dysfunction in children with FASDs remains largely unexplored. Method To investigate atypical auditory behaviors in FASDs and explore their potential physiological bases, we examined clinical data from 325 children diagnosed with FASDs at the University of Washington using the FASD 4-Digit Diagnostic Code. Atypical behaviors reported on the “auditory filtering” domain of the Short Sensory Profile were assessed to document their prevalence across FASD diagnos...
Mouse Watch: A Cautionary Tale.

In this issue of Immunity, Chisolm et al. (2019) issue a "three-alarm fire" warning to the immunology research community of unexpectedly widespread genetic variation in widely used congenic mouse strains and provide a simple method to identify such a variation through a re-analysis of existing RNA-seq and ChIP-seq datasets.
Two-color pulse collapse events in dispersive media

It is well known that an intense pulse sent through a medium with an intensity-dependent index will acquire a stationary shape (spatial soliton) while focusing and collapsing into a point. Many nonlinear phenomena, such as THz generation, require the simultaneous propagation and collapse at two wavelengths. It is shown here that the Kerr effect introduces a coupling between pulses sent co-propagating into a transparent medium with a nonlinear index. Because of this coupling, the pulses at the different wavelengths reshape towards a stationary pair that evolves towards a common focus in time and space. The effect of normal and anomalous dispersion on two-color pulse collapse is investigated numerically. The model to be considered here is an extension of (2+1)-dimensional nonlinear Schrodinger equations (NLSEs) by inclusion of dispersion and for a beam consisting of two frequencies. As such, our study centers on a system of coupled (3+1)-D NLSEs describing the co-propagation of two pulses in the non-resonant regime under self-focusing. We should emphasize that this model gives new insight on the initial dynamics of the two-color filament. While inclusion of the small normal dispersion tends to a temporal split of the beam, anomalous dispersion facilitates collapse. In considering initial “short” (fs) and “long” (ps–ns) temporal pulses, our results present different scenarios of the initial evolution that include the role dispersion may have.
“It Sometimes Doesn’t Even Work”: Patient Opioid Assessments as Clues to Therapeutic Flexibility in Primary Care

Physicians’ fear of difficult patient interactions is an important barrier to discontinuing long-term opioid therapy. To identify patient statements about opioids that indicate potential openness to tapering opioids or trying non-opioid pain treatments This is an observational study of regularly scheduled primary care visits involving discussion of chronic pain management. A coding system to characterize patient assessments about opioids, physician responses to assessments, and patient-endorsed opioid side effects was developed and applied to transcripts of video-recorded visits. All visits were independently coded by 2 authors. Eighty-six established adult patients taking opioids for chronic pain; 49 physicians in 2 academic primary care clinics Frequency and topic of patients’ opioid assessments; proportion of opioid assessments classified as clues (assessments indicating potential willingness to consider non-opioid pain treatments or lower opioid doses); physician responses to patient clues; frequency and type of patient-endorsed side effects Patients made a mean of 3.2 opioid assessments (median 2) per visit. The most common assessment topics were pain relief (51%), effect on function (21%), and opioid safety (14%). Forty-seven percent of opioid assessments (mean 1.5 per visit) were classified as clues. Fifty-three percent of visits included ≥ 1 clue; 21% of visits contained ≥ 3 clues. Physicians responded to patient clues with no/minimal response 43% of the time, sympathetic/empathetic statements 14% of the time, and further explored clues 43% of the time. Fifty-eight percent of patients endorsed ≥ 1 opioid-related side effect; 10% endorsed ≥ 3 side effects. The most commonly endorsed side effects were constipation (15% of patients), sedation (15%), withdrawal symptoms (13%), and nausea (12%). Patient statements suggesting openness to non-opioid pain treatments or lower opioid doses are common during routine primary care visits. Listening for and exploring these clues may be a patient-centered strategy for broaching difficult topics with patients on long-term opioid therapy.
Real‐World Toxicity Experience with BRAF/MEK Inhibitors in Patients with Erdheim‐Chester Disease

Background Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis. The BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for patients with ECD harboring a BRAF V600E mutation. Successful treatment has also been reported with MEK-targeted therapies, likely because of the fact that BRAF mutant-negative patients harbor MEK pathway alterations. In our Rare Tumor Clinic, we noted that these patients have frequent drug-related toxicity, consistent with previous reports indicating the need to markedly lower doses of interferon-alpha when that agent is used in these patients. Patients and methods We performed a review of ten patients with ECD seen at the Rare Tumor Clinic at University of California San Diego receiving 16 regimens of targeted BRAF, MEK, or combined therapies. Results The median age of the ten patients with ECD was 53 years (range, 29-77); seven were men. The median dose percentage (percent of FDA-approved dose) tolerated was 25% (range, 25%-50%). The most common clinically significant adverse effects resulting in dose adjustments of targeted therapies were rash, arthralgias, and uveitis. Renal toxicity and congestive heart failure were seen in one patient each. In spite of these issues, eight of ten patients (80%) achieved a partial remission on therapy. Discussion Patients with ECD appear to require substantially reduced doses of BRAF and MEK inhibitors but are responsive to these lower doses.
Large landscape conservation in a mixed ownership region: Opportunities and barriers for putting the pieces together

Abstract The spatial overlap between large landscape conservation designs and existing land protections is not always clear, especially in regions where private ownerships and small parcel sizes are typical. In this case study, we used geospatial analyses to compare a new state-level conservation design, Vermont Conservation Design, with formally protected lands in Vermont, USA. We found that roughly one third of the design's highest priority landscape-level targets have already been met through formal land protections. Public agencies are the primary interest holders for a majority of protected highest priority interior forest block and connectivity block targets. Conversely, private nonprofits play an important role as the dominant interest holders in protected riparian connectivity and highest priority surface water and riparian area targets, which are also the most underrepresented among protected landscape-level targets in the state. There was notable variation in highest priority design targets met via formal land protections at the county level. Some counties containing large public or former corporate timberland tracts also display relatively high percentages of design targets protected, whereas those dominated by family forest owners generally have lower percentages of protected targets. Our study suggests that achievement of large landscape conservation designs will occur more readily in landscapes containing large blocks of public or former timber industry forestlands. Our results also highlight strategies that could focus efforts to fulfill large landscape conservation initiatives in places where mixed private and public land ownership is the norm. Such strategies include continued support for collaboration between public and private partners in conservation; planning for the capacity to respond quickly to large, one-time land sales that are important design targets; increased support for nonprofits in acquiring protections for underrepresented surface waters and riparian connectivity targets; and an increased focus on the protection of low elevation targets in large landscape conservation designs.
Reproductive technologies and the persistence of eugenics

This book offers a steady philosophical examination of what race and racism do in the realm of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and practices. The author assembles a robust analytical frame...
Lithium and Chlorine-Rich Preparation of Mechanochemically Activated Antiperovskite Composites for Solid-State Batteries

Assembling all-solid-state batteries presents a unique challenge due to chemical and electrochemical complexities of interfaces between a solid electrolyte and electrodes. While the interface stability is dictated by thermodynamics, making use of passivation materials often delays interfacial degradation and extends the cycle life of all-solid cells. In this work, we investigated antiperovskite lithium oxychloride, Li3OCl, as a promising passivation material that can engineer the properties of solid electrolyte-Li metal interfaces. Our experiment to obtain stoichiometric Li3OCl focuses on how the starting ratios of lithium and chlorine and mechanochemical activation affect the phase stability. For substantial LiCl excess conditions, the antiperovskite phase was found to form by simple melt-quenching and subsequent high-energy ball-milling. Li3OCl prepared with 100% excess LiCl exhibits ionic conductivity of 3.2 × 10-5 S cm-1 at room temperature, as well as cathodic stability against Li metal upon the extended number of cycling. With a conductivity comparable to other passivation layers, and stable interface properties, our Li3OCl/LiCl composite has the potential to stably passivate the solid-solid interfaces in all-solid-state batteries.
Transformer-Based Neural Text Generation with Syntactic Guidance.

We study the problem of using (partial) constituency parse trees as syntactic guidance for controlled text generation. Existing approaches to this problem use recurrent structures, which not only suffer from the long-term dependency problem but also falls short in modeling the tree structure of the syntactic guidance. We propose to leverage the parallelism of Transformer to better incorporate parse trees. Our method first expands a partial template constituency parse tree to a full-fledged parse tree tailored for the input source text, and then uses the expanded tree to guide text generation. The effectiveness of our model in this process hinges upon two new attention mechanisms: 1) a path attention mechanism that forces one node to attend to only other nodes located in its path in the syntax tree to better incorporate syntax guidance; 2) a multi-encoder attention mechanism that allows the decoder to dynamically attend to information from multiple encoders. Our experiments in the controlled paraphrasing task show that our method outperforms SOTA models both semantically and syntactically, improving the best baseline's BLEU score from 11.83 to 26.27.
Not from Concentrate: Collusion in Collaborative Industries

It is a core principle of antitrust law and theory that reduced market concentration lowers the risk of anticompetitive behavior. We demonstrate that this principle is fundamentally incomplete. Traditional models assume that firms interact only as competitors. We examine and model “Collaborative Industries,” which afford rival firms opportunities to meaningfully collaborate. For example, in some industries, firms compete to win business, but then work together to complete production (e.g., through subcontracting). Firms in Collaborative Industries have powerful ways to reward or punish each other beyond raising or lowering the prices they offer to customers. These mechanisms create much greater scope for collusion than economic models conventionally recognize. We show that Collaborative Industries can sustain anticompetitive collusive behavior no matter how unconcentrated the industry becomes. In some instances, lower market concentration makes collusion easier; smaller firms may be more dependent on collaboration with rivals and thus may be easier to punish if they undercut collusion. These results run directly counter to the conventional wisdom, gleaned from models of non-Collaborative Industries, that permeates antitrust law.
Clustering Hypergraphs via the MapEquation

A hypergraph is a generalization of a graph in that the restriction of pairwise affinity scores is lifted in favor of affinity scores that can be evaluated between an arbitrary number of inputs. Hypergraphs clustering is the process of finding groups in which members of a given hypergraph exhibit a high similarity and dissimilarity with members outside their group. In this paper, we generalize the well-known MapEquation, an optimization equation used in the clustering of nonhypergraphs, for hypergraphs. We develop an agglomerative algorithm, Hypergraph Random Walks (HRW), to find an approximate solution to the generalized MapEquation. Our algorithm requires neither hyperparameter setting nor any restriction on the underlying hypergraph. We show that our algorithm has a strong theoretical performance on the newly defined ring of hyper cliques and demonstrate that our algorithm scales to hypergraphs with large edge sets.
Creating More Inclusive Research Environments for Undergraduates

Although there are numerous evidence-based benefits to undergraduate research for new-majority students (students who are from traditionally underrepresented ethnicities, first-generation college students, students from lower-income families, or transfer students) (Hurtado, S. et al., 2011; Kinzie et al., 2008a; Lopatto, 2007), they are less likely to participate or stay in mentored research experiences (Finley & McNair, 2013; Haeger et al., 2015). In order to determine not only who has access to undergraduate research, but to also identify what barriers to full-inclusion exist for new-majority students, we conducted a mixed methods study at a public, Hispanic Serving Institution. We analyzed institutional data to explore who participates in research and who does not. We also specifically sampled a group of students who expressed an interest in research experiences but who never actually participated for our student survey (N=96). Additionally, we conducted five focus groups with students, staff, and faculty (N~30). We found positive results in the analysis of patterns of participation and found no significant or substantial differences between students who did or did not participate in undergraduate research in terms of race/ethnicity, gender, or first-generation status. The undergraduate researcher population did have significantly more STEM majors and Pell grant recipients. The qualitative analysis identified barriers to participation in research in the following areas: access to research opportunities, programmatic structures, research culture and norms, and campus climate. We present these findings along with descriptions of initiatives that have been successful in diversifying research participation and strategies to create more inclusive research environments.
Ag/ZSM-5 traps for C2H4 and C7H8 adsorption under cold-start conditions

Abstract A series of Ag ion-exchanged ZSM-5 (Si/Al = 11.5) zeolites with different Ag loadings (0.5, 0.8, 1.6, 3.0, 4.6 wt%) were investigated for their ability to adsorb and desorb C2H4 and C7H8 under simulated diesel exhaust conditions. Ion-exchanging ZSM-5 zeolites with Ag (Ag(0.8)/ZSM-5) led to an increase in the adsorption capacities of C2H4 and C7H8 compared to HZSM-5 in the absence of H2O. The C2H4 and C7H8 adsorption capacities of Ag(0.8)/ZSM-5 slightly decreased in the presence of H2O, indicating that H2O competes with both C2H4 and C7H8 for adsorption sites. Minor competitive adsorption between C2H4 and C7H8 was observed. Density functional theory calculations suggested that C2H4 is preferentially adsorbed in the sinusoidal channel of ZSM-5, while C2H4 and C7H8 are competing at the straight channels and the intersection of the sinusoidal and straight channels. With an increase in Ag loading from 0.5 to 4.6 wt% both C2H4 and C7H8 adsorption capacities increased from 38 to 163 and from 127 to 304 μmol/g, respectively. Temperature programmed desorption experiments indicated that an increase in Ag loading can lead to an increase in C2H4 and C7H8 desorption temperatures. During desorption the adsorbed C7H8 reacted to form CO, CH2O and C6H6, while C2H4 desorbed as is. Reductive pretreatments at 200 and 600 °C over Ag(4.6)/ZSM-5 resulted to a 33 and 58% decrease in C2H4 adsorption capacity, respectively, compared to its oxidized form. The C2H4 adsorption capacity can be mostly recovered after oxidation treatments at 600 °C, indicating that Ag+ reduction is reversible in ZSM-5 zeolites. Reductive pretreatments did not alter the C7H8 adsorption capacity.
Rare Variants in RPPH1 Real-Time Quantitative PCR Control Assay Binding Sites Result in Incorrect Copy Number Calls

Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) using RPPH1 as a reference gene is a standard method for assessment and validation of genomic copy number variations. However, variants in the reference amplicon may cause errors, which was investigated herein. While conducting copy number variation validations for birth defects research studies, 13 of 1634 specimens with multiple loci that appeared to be present as three copies were unexpectedly detected. This apparent trisomy was hypothesized to be an amplification artifact caused by a variant in the RPPH1 amplicon. Sequencing revealed all 13 individuals carried one of four different variants within the RPPH1 amplicon. These variants could produce allelic dropout or altered reaction efficiency, causing an inaccurate measurement of copy number. Additional genotyping predicted a low frequency of the most common variant (rs3093876; 14/3562 alleles; minor allele frequency, 0.39%). Laboratories should recognize the potential for inaccurate results when using a single qPCR control assay. Overestimated CFTR and SMN2 copy numbers identified during newborn screening that otherwise would have been incorrectly called were also detected. Variants in reference loci may produce false-negative normal results for test loci when real deletions are present. For clinical laboratories screening for heterozygous deletions for diagnostic testing or prenatal/carrier screening via qPCR, the most cost-effective solution to maximize sensitivity is to run triplex reactions targeting the region of interest with two control genes.
Sustained Neutrons Production from a Sheared-Flow Stablizied Z-Pinch

The sheared-flow stabilized Z-pinch has demonstrated long-lived plasmas with fusion-relevant plasma parameters. Experimental demonstration of sustained neutron production from the Fusion Z-pinch Experiments (FuZE) at the University of Washington, operated with a 20% deuterium mixture, has been reported. Neutron emissions lasting ~5 us are reproducibly observed with peak pinch currents of ~200 kA. The lower limit on the yield is estimated to be 106 neutrons/pulse. Coincident with peak neutron signal, plasma temperatures of 2 keV, and densities of 1017 cm-3 with 3 mm radii are measured with fully integrated diagnostics. Details of the experiment setup, diagnostics, and experimental results will be presented.
Biofouling of filtration membranes in wastewater reuse: In situ visualization with confocal laser scanning microscopy

Abstract The filtration membranes utilized in advanced treatment of municipal wastewater are prone to biological fouling. Permeability loss and water recovery limitations due to fouling necessitate additional pretreatment and membrane cleaning, which raise the cost of water reuse. Better fouling mitigation calls for a deeper understanding of biofilm behavior on water reuse membranes. This study uses confocal microscopy to monitor biofouling under realistic conditions. To simulate water reuse, a miniature flow cell with microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes was operated under typical filtration conditions using secondary effluent from California’s East Bay Municipal Utility District. The growing biofilms were stained for extracellular polymeric substances and live and dead cells, and they were monitored in situ under filtration conditions with a confocal laser scanning microscope to produce 2-D and 3-D images. In situ image series revealed biofilm growth and removal processes including internal and external fouling, extracellular polymeric substance production, wrinkling, delamination, and film re-deposition. Additionally, changes in biofilm morphology between in situ and ex situ images highlighted limitations of ex situ imaging. These results provide insight into the physical and biological mechanisms of biofouling in hopes of informing the development of improved techniques for biofouling mitigation.
The Education System and Racism

To move toward reducing racism and other injustices, it is suggested we move toward integrating society by moving towards integrating all persons and things. Quality learning does this through facilitating self-healing and creativity, cultivating heightened compassion and wisdom, reducing self-criticism, and learning to tolerate greater range of feeling through self-awareness.