cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Do Regular Cholesterol Screenings Lead to Lower Cholesterol Levels and Better Health Behaviors for All? Spotlight on Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the United States

Objective: This study investigates how the causal effects of cholesterol screening differ by likelihood of using this preventive care service in terms of accessibility gaps and effects on health-related outcomes across groups with advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds. Method: We use propensity score matching to analyze a nationally representative sample using data from 2008, 2010, and 2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (N = 3,907). Results: We find that respondents who are least likely to get their cholesterol tested benefit most from the use of cholesterol screening when they do use it, while its effects are smallest for those who are most likely to use this service. Discussion: Understanding the heterogeneous effects of preventive health service has important policy implications, particularly in terms of how to maximize the public health benefits of preventive care.
Shifting Concepts: The Realignment of Dharmakīrti on Concepts and the Error of Subject/Object Duality in Pratyabhijñā Śaiva Thought

Contemporary scholars have begun to document the extensive influence of the sixth to seventh century Buddhist philosopher Dharmakīrti on Pratyabhijnā Śaiva thought. Utpaladeva (925–975) and Abhinavagupta’s (975–1025) adaptation of Dharmakīrti’s apoha (exclusion) theory provides a striking instance of the creative ways in which these Śaivas use Dharmakīrti’s ideas to argue for positions that Dharmakīrti would emphatically reject. Both Dharmakīrti and these Śaivas emphasize that the formation of a concept involves both objective and subjective factors. Working within a certain perceptual environment, factors such as a subject’s desires, habits, and conditioning lead him or her to form a concept (vikalpa) based on excluding what is not relevant to the accomplishment of his or her goal. However, the two differ in their account of the relationship between concepts and subject/object duality itself. While Dharmakīrti claims that the division of a cognition into subject, object, and awareness is nonconceptual, the subtly shifted definition of a concept that these Śaivas employ allows them to claim that the error of subject/object duality is actually conceptual. This seemingly small difference in their respective evaluations of the nature of subject/object error has surprisingly large consequences. If, as these Śaivas claim, any awareness involving a duality is conceptual, then subject and object are concepts. Moreover, if the formation of a concept requires desire, then some kind of desire must be inherent to consciousness itself before the formation of a limited subject/object pair. In short, ultimate consciousness must be Śiva, who possesses the freedom to will any and all possible realities.
Early open reduction for congenital dislocation of the hip

We have reviewed 82 children with congenital dislocation of the hip, after treatment by anterior open reduction followed by derotation femoral osteotomy. The clinical and radiological results were significantly better in the group that had open reduction before the appearance of the capital femoral epiphysis; this group also had a lower incidence of avascular necrosis. We conclude that, when it is clearly indicated, the earlier an open reduction is carried out the better the results.
Fall Diapause and Spring Emergence of Heliothis virescens , H. subflexa , and Backcrosses of Their Hybrid

Heliothis virescens (F.), H. sublfexa (Guenee), and the backcross 8 larval progeny of [( H. subflexa ♀ × H. virescens ♂) × H. virescens male … 7] produced diapausing pupal populations in the fall that survived the winter and emerged as adults the following year. Emergence curves were unique for each parent species; that of the backcrosses was influenced by the paternal parent. Spring emergence of BC8 was in close synchrony with that of H. virescens . The percentage of BC8 insects to survive the winter and emerge the following year was as high as that of H. virescens . Once infused into the native population, the sterile male trait should be perpetuated through diapause from year to year until the native population is suppressed.
Methodological Aide in Correlating Personality Descriptions Using the Marks Q Sort

S~immary.-An aide for correlations based on Marks' Q-sort is presented. The Q-sort approach to personality study was presented in detail by Stephenson ( 1753). The advantages and disadvantages of the technique were explained by Nunnally (1759) and Block (1961). Few of the studies which have used Q methodology have employed a common set of items, which severely limics che comparabiliry of the results. Stagner (1965) characterized the Q sort as an "under-utilized" procedure. There is a Q array currently in use (Marks & Seman, 1963) which has undergone extensive refining and verifying. This process has taken place over a period of years and a vsr~ery of populations (Marks, 1961; Marks & Seeman, 1762a, 1762b, 1962~). It may be cons~dered a thoroughly screened set of 108 statements of known usefulness. The Marks sort employs nine categories of 12 items each. The items included in this Q set may be found in Marks' 1762 (a) article. Using this Q array should provide data which can be compared with the data of Marks and Seeman, but, more important, it increases the likelihood of relating these data to future studies. A major obstacle in researzh of this nature is the calculation of the correlation between TABLE 1
Assessment of transient changes in corneal hydration using confocal Raman spectroscopy.

Purpose. The degree of corneal hydration has been linked to excimer laser corneal ablation rates. Enhanced precision with excimer laser refractive surgery may result from a better understanding of the transient changes in corneal hydration. To better understand the dynamic nature of corneal hydration, bovine corneas were investigated under different surface treatments. Methods. Confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy was used to quantify corneal hydration. Water and acetone solutions were used to establish a quantitative response of the relative OH/CH Raman bands, which are consistent with the water and collagen protein bands in cornea, respectively. Intact bovine corneas were manually debrided (designated MD group) or lamellar flaps were created to expose stromal tissue (designated lamellar keratectomy or LK group). Raman spectra were recorded every 30 seconds for 6 minutes while the prepared cornea surfaces were exposed to quiescent air or to a forced nitrogen gas flow across the surface. Results. The OH and CH Raman bands yielded a linear response while the percentage of acetone was varied from 0% to 100%. For the bovine cornea under forced flow drying, the OH/CH Raman band ratio was found to decrease by 41% from the initial value for both the MD and LK treatment groups. These decreases were significantly more (p = 0.0051 and 0.054, respectively) than the 26% decrease in the OH/CH band ratio measured for the control corneas. In quiescent air, the control and MD groups exhibited a 7% and 6% decrease in the OH/CH ratio, respectively, while the LK treatment group revealed a 19% decrease in the OH/CH ratio. Conclusions. The bovine eye experiments demonstrate that significant changes in corneal hydration are realized under different drying conditions and treatment methodologies. This study elucidates the nature of transient changes in corneal hydration in a bovine model and suggests the need for further study of the role of such variations in surgical outcome for excimer laser corneal refractive procedures.
Colony sex ratios, conflict between queens and workers, and apparent queen control in the ant Pheidole desertorum

Sex-ratio conflict between queens and workers was explored in a study of colony sex ratios, relatedness, and population investment in the ant Pheidole desertorum. Colony reproductive broods consist of only females, only males, or have a sex ratio that is extremely male biased. Colonies producing females (female specialists) and colonies producing males (male specialists) occur at near equal frequency in the population. Most colonies apparently specialize in producing one reproductive sex throughout their life. Allozyme analyses show that relatedness does not differ within male-specialist and female-specialist colonies and they do not appear to differ in available resources. In the population, workers are nearly three times more closely related to females than males; however, the investment sex ratio is near equal (1.01, female/male), which is consistent with queen control. Selection should be strong on workers to increase investment in reproductive females, so why do workers in male-specialist colonies produce only (or nearly only) males? One hypothesis is that queens in male-specialist colonies prevent the occurrence of reproductive females, perhaps by producing worker-biased female eggs. An earlier simulation study of genetic evolution of sex ratios in social Hymenoptera (Pamilo 1982b) predicts that such mechanisms can result in the evolution of bimodal colony sex ratios and queen control. Results on P. desertorum are generally consistent with that study; however, information is not currently available to test some of the model's predictions and assumptions.
Community and Collaboration in an All-female, Immersive Computer Science Program (Abstract Only)

Girls Who Code is a national nonprofit that operates after-school and summer programs to engage female students with computer science with the goal of reaching gender parity in the field. The Girls Who Code teaching philosophy and curriculum is designed around four major components: (1) developing a breadth of technical and computational thinking skills, (2) building on students' prior interests, (3) providing authentic exposure to mentors and real computer science projects, and (4) cultivating a community-focused classroom. Using qualitative and quantitative data collected from more than 1,500 students that have participated, this work explores the impact of Girls Who Code's intervention and the value of building community for effective computer science education.
Stimulation of in vitro renal organic acid and base transport by rabbit serum.

SummaryAddition of rabbit serum to PAH-NMN medium (1:6 or 1:12 dilution) enhanced the accumulation of both the organic acid PAH and the organic base NMN by adult rat kidney cortical slices. Addition of rabbit serum to PAH-NMN medium containing rabbit kidney slices stimulated PAH uptake only. Adult rabbit serum retained its stimulatory effect on PAH-NMN accumulation by rat kidney slices after ultrafiltration of the serum, but the stimulatory effect was lost after dialysis, suggesting that low molecular weight substances were responsible for the observed results. These findings suggest that serum composition influences renal organic ion transport. The magnitude and specificity of serum-induced changes in PAH-NMN transport can provide information about the mechanisms involved in renal organic ion transport.
National Priorities and the Physical Habitat: Focus of Continuing Controversy

Ever since arresting the progressive deterioration of the physical habitat emerged as a live political issue in the United States in the early 1960s, it has been a subject of continuing disputation—both as to the urgency of repair and protection, and as to who should bear responsibility for deciding what and how much to undertake or to leave undone. Since all societies, especially industrial societies, are exposed to proliferating damage and hazards from diverse sources, environmental programs compete for support with a multiplicity of other claims on disposable resources. Since nearly everything that is done to maintain a decently livable physical habitat affects to some extent the distribution of income within and among nations, public authority has become increasingly the focus of environmental repair and protection, and the budgetary decisions of government the core of that focus—claims of some economists and other specialists to the contrary notwithstanding. The four books compared in this article consider these and related issues from various perspectives, both domestic and international.
Experiment on the Treatment of Flutolanils Wastewater by Fenton's Reagent and Zeolite with Fly Ash

This paper was focused on the research of treatment effect of the wastewater containing flutolanils by the Fenton's reagent and fly ash.The processing efficiency of the hydrogen peroxide,ferrous sulfate heptahydrate,zedite with fly ash dosage,pH value and the time of the adsorption were tested.The results demonstrated that when ferrous sulfate heptahydrate dosage was 2 g/L,the hydrogen peroxide dosage was 2 mL/L,the zectite with fly ash dosage was 50 g/L,pH value was 5,adsorption time was 40 min,adsorption temperature was 30℃,the removal rate of CODCr was 91.94%,the removal rate of color was 90.00%,the removal rate of SS was 85.77%.
Unitary Interests and Black Political Insurgency: How are the Lessons of Black Power Relevant to Black Lives Matter?

Black Lives Matters as a political intervention shares theoretical features of Black Power of the late-1960s. Black Lives proponents start with a view of unitary racial interests, albeit one informed by “intersectional” perspectives. They also begin with an insistence that conventional means of political engagement and social transformation are not adequate to the task of addressing racial inequality. Both assumptions were prevalent in the Black Power era of black politics in the United States. This paper offers an appraisal of the contemporary movement in relation post-1965 developments in black politics in the United States. Key to the assessment of Black Lives in relations to Black Power is the question of whether proponents can advance strategies that challenge the economic underpinnings of racial, gender, and other forms of ascriptive inequality in light of the fragmented nature of US political institutions, and the logic of contemporary neo-liberalism.
Effect of 308-nm XeCI laser pulse duration on fiber-optic transmission and biologic tissue ablation

Our studies of pulsed laser ablation of calcified and noncalcified cadaverous aortic tissue as ad function of wavelength have indicated an energy fluence threshold for tissue ablation which decreases as one uses shorter wavelengths in the UV region.
The case for low blood pressure targets

The "totality" of hypertension clinical trial endpoint data has shown that the absolute benefit of pharmacological blood pressure (BP) lowering is directly related to the BP level and baseline cardiovascular risk, albeit with attenuation of the relative risk reduction per unit of BP lowering in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Absolute risk reductions with pharmacological treatment are greater with advancing age. Cardiovascular risk and mortality reductions attributable to pharmacological BP lowering have been demonstrated for progressively lower BP levels extending well below the conventional BP threshold (140/90mm Hg) for hypertension. Hypertension endpoint trials have shifted from determining the relative clinical benefits of various antihypertensive drugs to exploring whether lower than conventional BP targets in persons with BP levels spanning the prehypertensive to much higher BP strata confer clinical benefit. The more recent of these trials were "relatively" agnostic to the drugs used for BP lowering although several trials provided, but did not mandate the use of, specific agents. Pharmacological treatment benefit has been demonstrated at pretreatment BP levels even lower than the intensive SPRINT BP target (<120mm Hg) and a growing body of evidence suggests that substantial risk reduction can be achieved by maintaining a normal BP over time (rather than waiting for BP to exceed 140/90mm Hg before treating). Thus there is a compelling rationale to lower the BP threshold not just for a therapeutic goal but also for the initiation of pharmacological intervention.
The CONSORT guidelines for noninferiority trials should be updated to go beyond the absolute risk difference.

• Noninferiority clinical trials create important ethical challenges, and a wide societal discussion of those challenges appears warranted.
Associations of Calcium and Milk Product Intakes with Incident, Sporadic Colorectal Adenomas

Calcium intake has been consistently, modestly inversely associated with colorectal neoplasms, and supplemental calcium reduced adenoma recurrence in clinical trials. Milk products are the major source of dietary calcium in the United States, but their associations with colorectal neoplasms are unclear. Data pooled from three colonoscopy-based case-control studies of incident, sporadic colorectal adenoma (n = 807 cases, 2,185 controls) were analyzed using multivariable unconditional logistic regression. Residuals from linear regression models of milk with dietary calcium were estimated as the noncalcium, insulin-like growth factor 1-containing component of milk. For total, dietary, and supplemental calcium intakes, the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) comparing the highest to the lowest intake quintiles were 0.94 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69-1.30), 0.86 (CI 0.62-1.20), and 0.99 (CI 0.77-1.27), respectively. The corresponding ORs for consumption of total milk products, total milk, nonfat milk, total milk product residuals, and nonfat milk residuals were, respectively, 0.99, 0.90, 0.92, 0.94, and 0.95; all CIs included 1.0. For those who consumed any whole milk relative to those who consumed none, the OR was 1.15 (CI 0.89-1.49). These results are consistent with previous findings of modest inverse associations of calcium intakes with colorectal adenoma, but suggest that milk products may not be associated with adenoma.
Distributed Voronoi Neighbor Identification From Inter-Robot Distances

Algorithms for identifying Voronoi neighbors and constructing Voronoi regions are useful in many distributed robotics applications. Existing methods that perform these tasks using only the distances between robots assign coordinates to each potential neighbor before applying another algorithm to find the Voronoi neighbors. Our method finds the Voronoi neighbors more efficiently; identification occurs directly from inter-robot distances, without first assigning coordinates. We prove the algorithm's correctness, analyze its computational complexity, and demonstrate its effectiveness in the presence of noise via simulation with an experimentally validated sensor model.
Molecular material in the Bubble of the Galactic Center

The Galactic Center (GC) is one of the more extreme environments in the Galaxy. The so call Bubble of the GC presents structures that do not match with the general behavior of the inner Central Molecular Zone (CMZ). In this work we study the molecular emission related to the observable ionized gas emitted by this Bubble. We find dense pockets of gas and bubble like structures in the velocity domain.
Trends in atrial flutter and atrial tachycardia research

Abstract Background Atrial flutter and atrial tachycardia are frequently observed arrhythmias that can be difficult to treat effectively with catheter ablation. It would be of interest to know the research directions for these arrhythmias in order to plan future efficacious studies. Method The MEDLINE search tool was used to determine the number of articles per year published in the biomedical literature on atrial flutter and atrial tachycardia. It was also used to determine how many articles were published concerning both of these arrhythmias in association with related keywords. The search was done for the years 1960–2013 inclusive. An in-house developed software program was utilized to structure the data into number of publications in each year. The results were graphed, and linear regression analysis was used to show trends. Results Overall, there were 6926 publications in the biomedical literature containing the keyword ‘atrial flutter’. The number of atrial flutter publications increased by an average of 3.58 per year from 1960 to 2013. However, there was a dip in the number of such publications during the years 1970−1990. By comparison, there were 2526 publications in the biomedical literature containing the keyword ‘atrial tachycardia’. The number of atrial tachycardia publications increased by an average of 1.95 per year from 1960 to 2013. Most keywords associated with both atrial flutter and atrial tachycardia trended upward in number of publications per year. However many keywords peaked around the year 2004. Conclusions There have been marked changes in the types and numbers of research foci for both atrial flutter and atrial tachycardia, based on studies published in the biomedical literature.
Magnetostructural phase transitions and magnetocaloric effects in as-cast Mn1-xAlxCoGe compounds

Abstract The structural and magnetic properties of as-cast Mn 1-x Al x CoGe (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.05) have been studied by X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and magnetization measurements. The partial substitution of Al for Mn in Mn 1-x Al x CoGe results in a decrease in the martensitic transition temperature T M . For the concentration range 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.01, T M was found to coincide with ferromagnetic transition temperature (T C ) resulting in a first-order magnetostructural transition (MST). A further increase in aluminum concentration resulted in a splitting of the phase transition temperatures, which included a drastic decrease in the martensitic temperature. The compounds with x > 0.02 showed a single transition at T C . The maximum values of the magnetic entropy changes (-ΔS M ) were ∼18 J/kgK, 12 J/kgK, and 7 J/kgK for ΔH = 5T at 313 K (x = 0.00), 286 K (x = 0.01), and 220 K (x = 0.02), respectively. The maximum value of the relative cooling power (RCP) was found to be 303 J/kg for x = 0.01 at T = 286 K for ΔH = 5T. It has been established that as-cast samples of this system show large value of MCE near room temperature making this system a promising material for magnetic cooling technologies.
Biologics, Biosimilars and Other Idiosyncrasies

The pressure to make biologics more widely accessible has resulted in the emergence of laws in Europe, the United States, Japan, India, Canada, Australia, and a handful of other countries aimed at creating pathways for the approval of follow-on versions of existing biological products. This chapter discusses these laws and the “track record” of the regulatory pathways that they have created, highlighting prominent features of these regimes. It provides a short review of biologics- and biosimilars-specific sections in international trade agreements and some recommendations for countries seeking to create their own regulatory pathways for the approval of biologics and follow-on versions thereof. In Australia, new biologics are evaluated and approved by the Therapeutics Goods Administration in the Department of Health based on their quality, safety, and efficacy. As the significance of biologics and their proportion among pharmaceuticals available to treat patients increases, it also becomes more important to create and streamline regulatory pathways for the approval of biologics and biosimilars.
The Current State of Left Main Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

While coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remains the standard of care, advances in stenting technology and procedural technique are changing the role of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the treatment of severe left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease. We review contemporary evidence comparing PCI and CABG for the treatment of severe LMCA disease, discuss optimal techniques during left main PCI, and provide guidance on studied revascularization strategies within specific patient subgroups. Results from randomized control trials of patients treated with PCI or CABG for severe LMCA disease demonstrate comparable short- and mid-term rates of death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke, but increased rates of repeat or target-vessel revascularization after PCI. Though extended follow-up data has suggested lower long-term rates of MI and stroke in patients with severe LMCA disease treated with CABG, results from patients undergoing PCI with second-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) demonstrate non-inferiority in these outcomes. These findings are generalizable to patients with severe LMCA disease having low to intermediate anatomic complexity. Intravascular ultrasound and double kissing (DK) crush stenting also reduce adverse event rates among patients undergoing left main PCI and improve long-term outcomes. In patients with severe LMCA disease having low to intermediate anatomic complexity, both CABG and PCI with second-generation DES are effective methods of revascularization with comparable long-term rates of death, MI, and stroke. The roles of multi-vessel coronary artery disease and anatomic complexity on long-term outcomes after CABG or PCI for severe LMCA disease remain under investigation.
Estimating dual headed time in food production with implications for SNAP benefit adequacy

Intrahousehold resource allocations have important implications for policies targeted at household resources and thus household welfare. Recent literature has shown, for single headed households, that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits may be inadequate to reach a nutritious diet due to a “time deficit” gap in food production. This paper first develops a simple theoretically based time adjustment multiplier to address this benefit inadequacy for single and dual headed households. A method is then developed for estimating spousal time in food production with limited data. The estimated time deficit gap and time adjustment multiplier are smaller for dual headed households than single headed households. For single headed households, the time adjusted benefits are about $107 per household per week higher than the unadjusted benefits. For dual headed households, ignoring the spousal time contribution, the time adjusted benefits are about $73 per household per week higher than the unadjusted benefits. However, by including the spousal time contribution, this benefit shortfall is reduced by about $50. These findings demonstrate the importance of taking into account intrahousehold time allocation in evaluating the adequacy of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
Analog CMOS Circuits

Analog CMOS circuits provide for direct on-chip interfacing with digital networks. The most obvious application would be in D/A and A/D converters. However, the field of analog CMOS opens up new areas which are being rapidly studied and implemented.
Age, experience, and rare-male mating advantages in Drosophila pseudoobscura.

Because published experiments documenting frequency-dependent sexual selection have exclusively used young virgins, we endeavored to test for this same phenomenon in females who differed in age and in previous mating experiences. Direct observation tests were conducted employingDrosophila pseudoobscura females of the previously described Arrowhead (AR) and Chiricahua (CH) homokaryotypes. Four-day-old virgin females confer mating advantages on all tested rare males, i.e.,or. AR, and CH. Females who had a previous mating experience when younger award a rare-male advantage only when the rare male is of the same genotype of karyotype as their first mate, and matings are random when the first-mate type males are common. Equivalently aged (11 days) virgin females mate significantly more than expected with minority males if they are of the same karyotype as the females themselves. whereas matings are near random when the males are different. Frequency-dependent mating, therefore, is both age and experience dependent.
Anticancer applications of allosteric inhibitors of proteasome.

e23066Background: Proteasome as a hub protease of the ubiquitin proteasome pathway is an established anticancer drug target. Several drugs that inhibit proteasome are currently used to successfully...
Using lightfields to simulate the performance of optical systems

The light field describes the radiance at a given point from a ray coming from a particular direction. Total irradiance comes from all rays passing the point. For a static scene, the light field is unique. Cameras integrate the light field. Each camera pixel sees the integration of the light field over the entrance pupil for ray directions associated with lens aberrations. Images of this scene for any lens can then be simulated if the light field is known at its entrance pupil. Freeware rendering software was used to create a scene’s light field and images for real camera lenses with different aberrations are simulated.
Urolithin A, a Gut Metabolite, Improves Insulin Sensitivity through Augmentation of Mitochondrial Function and Biogenesis

Objective Urolithin A (UroA) is a major metabolite of ellagic acid produced following microbial catabolism in the gut. Emerging evidence has suggested that UroA modulates energy metabolism in various cells. However, UroA's physiological functions related to obesity and insulin resistance remain unclear. Methods Male mice were intraperitoneally administrated either UroA or dimethyl sulfoxide (vehicle) along with a high-fat diet for 12 weeks. Insulin sensitivity was evaluated via glucose and insulin tolerance tests and acute insulin signaling. The effects of UroA on hepatic triglyceride accumulation, adipocyte size, mitochondrial DNA content, and proinflammatory gene expressions were determined. The impact of UroA on macrophage polarization and mitochondrial respiration were assessed in bone marrow-derived macrophages. Results Administration of UroA (1) improved systemic insulin sensitivity, (2) attenuated triglyceride accumulation and elevated mitochondrial biogenesis in the liver, (3) reduced adipocyte hypertrophy and macrophage infiltration into the adipose tissue, and (4) altered M1/M2 polarization in peritoneal macrophages. In addition, UroA favored macrophage M2 polarization and mitochondrial respiration in bone marrow-derived macrophages. Conclusions UroA plays a direct role in improving systemic insulin sensitivity independent of its parental compounds. This work supports UroA's role in the metabolic benefits of ellagic acid-rich foods and highlights the significance of its microbial transformation in the gut.
Generalizations of the arithmetic case of Blackwell’s renewal theorem

Abstract Using elementary techniques, for discrete-time renewal processes, we provide asymptotic results for the probability of renewal at time n using the binomial moments of the underlying discrete distribution. Using these results, we also provide an alternative derivation of the asymptotics for the first two moments of the number of renewals up to time n .
Association of C-reactive Protein and Cardiovascular Disease in Obese Patients

C- reactive protein (CRP) is an acute phase reactant and nonspecific marker of inflammation that is predominantly produced in the liver in response to proinflammatory cytokines, particularly interleukin 6 (IL-6). It has been recognized that approximately 30% of IL-6 originates from adipose tissue and its concentration increases with increasing obesity. This study investigated the association of CRP with cardiovascular disease in obese patients, utilizing National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) data on adults aged ≥40 years of age. Mean CRP levels were significantly higher (p 30 kg/m²) compared to Normal. However, CRP levels were not significantly different (p=0.0575) in patients with self-reported history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to those that did not report CVD. Moreover, the overall association between cardiovascular disease status and C-reactive protein levels in obese patients was not significant (p=0.0575). This study also examined if obesity is a risk factor for high CRP levels using logistic regression and found that Individuals with high CRP levels were more likely to be obese (p
"TEACHING TABLE:" Teaching S.O.S.

Bring your questions about students, assignments, class design, time management, evaluation, or other Mason teaching challenges.
An Adaptive Multivariate Two-Sample Test With Application to Microbiome Differential Abundance Analysis.

Differential abundance analysis is a crucial task in many microbiome studies, where the central goal is to identify microbiome taxa associated with certain biological or clinical conditions. There are two different modes of microbiome differential abundance analysis: the individual-based univariate differential abundance analysis and the group-based multivariate differential abundance analysis. The univariate analysis identifies differentially abundant microbiome taxa subject to multiple correction under certain statistical error measurements such as false discovery rate, which is typically complicated by the high-dimensionality of taxa and complex correlation structure among taxa. The multivariate analysis evaluates the overall shift in the abundance of microbiome composition between two conditions, which provides useful preliminary differential information for the necessity of follow-up validation studies. In this paper, we present a novel \textbf{A}daptive multivariate two-sample test for \textbf{M}icrobiome \textbf{D}ifferential \textbf{A}nalysis (\textbf{AMDA}) to examine whether the composition of a taxa-set are different between two conditions. Our simulation studies and real data applications demonstrated that the AMDA test was often more powerful than several competing methods while preserving the correct type I error rate. A free implementation of our AMDA method in R software is available at \url{https://github.com/xyz5074/AMDA}.
Differing Surgical Outcomes in a Multiethnic Cohort Suggest Racial Phenotypes in Moyamoya Disease.

Background Variable Moyamoya disease (MMD) genotypes and phenotypes between different races have been suggested previously. This study investigates differences in surgical complications and response to revascularization among Asian patients with MMD compared with other ethnicities in North America. Methods From a database of 185 patients with moyamoya presenting to our institution between 1994 and 2015, 85 patients with MMD underwent surgery and constituted the study cohort. Baseline characteristics before surgery, procedure-related complications, length of hospital stay, and outcome variables including stroke and functional outcome were compared between Asian and non-Asian patients. Kaplan−Meier survival analyses were used to compare time to ipsilateral stroke and any cerebrovascular event after bypass. Results Our surgical cohort consisted of 27% (23/85) Asian and 73% (62/85) non-Asian patients with MMD with a bimodal age distribution. Among the subset of patients who presented with stroke (n = 55), hemorrhage was significantly more common among Asian patients (P = 0.007). In 120 revascularization procedures, per-operative complication rates were greater among Asian patients while controlling for age, type of surgery, and stroke history (odds ratio 2.94; 95% confidence interval 1.16–7.48; P = 0.02). The mean follow-up time after surgery was 4.57 years. Ipsilateral cerebrovascular event rates were 4.77 per 100 person-years in non-Asian patients and 6.51 per 100 person-years in Asians (P = 0.66). Unfavorable modified Rankin Scale scores (>2) were found in 22% of Asian patients and 8% of non-Asian patients on last follow-up (P = 0.13). Conclusions Asian patients with MMD may be more susceptible to surgical complications and may differ from other races in their response to revascularization. Further long-term prospective studies are needed to investigate these findings.
Does the Duration of Cervical Radicular Symptoms Impact Outcomes After Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion

STUDY DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE To compare clinical outcomes after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) based on preoperative duration of radiculopathy symptoms. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA There is no clear indication of when outcomes after ACDF become less effective in the setting of acute versus chronic symptoms from cervical nerve root compression. MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients who underwent an ACDF between 2008 and 2015 for radiculopathy was performed. Patients were divided into 3 groups: radicular symptoms lasting for 6 months, there were no differences in final clinical outcomes across groups.
Patient Outcomes Following Interhospital Care Fragmentation: A Systematic Review

Interhospital fragmentation of care occurs when patients are admitted to different, disconnected hospitals. It has been hypothesized that this type of care fragmentation decreases the quality of care received and increases hospital costs and healthcare utilization. This systematic review aims to synthesize the existing literature exploring the association between interhospital fragmentation of care and patient outcomes. MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and the Science Citation Index were systematically searched for studies published up to April 30, 2018 reporting the association between interhospital fragmentation of care and patient outcomes. We included peer-reviewed observational studies conducted in adults that reported measures of association between interhospital care fragmentation and one or more of the following patient outcomes: mortality, hospital length of stay, cost, and subsequent hospital readmission. Seventy-nine full texts were reviewed and 22 met inclusion criteria. Nearly all studies defined fragmentation of care as a readmission to a different hospital than the patient was previously discharged from. The strongest association reported was that between a fragmented readmission and in-hospital or short-term mortality (adjusted odds ratio range 0.95–3.62). Over half of the studies reporting length-of-stay showed longer length of stay in fragmented readmissions. All three studies that investigated healthcare utilization suggested an association between fragmented care and odds of subsequent readmission. The study populations and exposures were too heterogenous to perform a meta-analysis. Our review suggests that fragmented hospital readmissions contribute to increased mortality, longer length-of-stay, and increased risk of readmission to the hospital.
Theories of Juvenile Delinquency

Multiple theories exist that help our understanding of the emergence, development and trajectories of juvenile crime. This chapter examines the creation and refinement of some of the most influential theories of delinquency. Crime and delinquency are presented from historical and contemporary perspectives. Macro-level (e.g., Strain) and individual-level (e.g., Moffitt’s dual taxonomy) theories of delinquency provide a framework to better understand current trends, risk factors and treatment and prevention efforts. The progression towards a more comprehensive theoretical framework is delineated.
Small Business Post–COVID-19: Motivational Needs through Uncertain Times

Small businesses have been significantly impacted by the effects of COVID-19. Not only have many needed to close their physical doors, but now there are extra health standards and social distancing...
A Comparison of Classification Techniques to Predict Brain-Computer Interfaces Accuracy Using Classifier-Based Latency Estimation

P300-based Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) performance is vulnerable to latency jitter. To investigate the role of latency jitter on BCI system performance, we proposed the classifier-based latency estimation (CBLE) method. In our previous study, CBLE was based on least-squares (LS) and stepwise linear discriminant analysis (SWLDA) classifiers. Here, we aim to extend the CBLE method using sparse autoencoders (SAE) to compare the SAE-based CBLE method with LS- and SWLDA-based CBLE. The newly-developed SAE-based CBLE and previously used methods are also applied to a newly-collected dataset to reduce the possibility of spurious correlations. Our results showed a significant (p<0.001) negative correlation between BCI accuracy and estimated latency jitter. Furthermore, we also examined the effect of the number of electrodes on each classification technique. Our results showed that on the whole, CBLE worked regardless of the classification method and electrode count; by contrast the effect of the number of electrodes on BCI performance was classifier dependent.
Characterization of Listeria monocytogenes isolates from lactating dairy cows in a Wisconsin farm: Antibiotic resistance, mammalian cell infection, and effects on the fecal microbiota

Listeria monocytogenes is an invasive foodborne pathogen that is ubiquitously present in the dairy farm environment. Although cattle are a reservoir of L. monocytogenes, most adult animals do not exhibit clinical symptoms, suggesting a homeostasis between this pathogen and the bovine gastrointestinal ecosystem. Nevertheless, substantial prevalence of L. monocytogenes fecal shedding by dairy cattle has been reported in many studies, posing threats of transmission within the herd and contamination of the human food supply. Accordingly, understanding the L. monocytogenes ecology within the bovine gastrointestinal tract is important to prevent clinical illness in the animal host, reduce transmission, and guide intervention strategies. In this study, we conducted a longitudinal sampling of fecal samples from 20 lactating dairy cows in one Wisconsin farm over a 29-d period and found a strikingly high incidence of L. monocytogenes shedding, in 90% of sampled animals. The L. monocytogenes isolates were genetically diverse, representing all common serotypes previously identified from cattle. Additionally, most tested isolates were resistant to ampicillin, and a few were also resistant to gentamicin or trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Most isolates effectively infected human epithelial cells (Caco-2) and murine fibroblasts (L2), suggesting that they are all capable of causing systemic infection if the intestinal barrier is breached. Finally, we investigated the effects of L. monocytogenes colonization on the gastrointestinal tract microbiota by analyzing the fecal bacterial communities of some shedding and nonshedding cows. Whereas L. monocytogenes did not affect the α and β diversity of tested animals, a subset of shedding cows exhibited different abundances of certain operational taxonomic units within the Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes phyla compared with nonshedding cows. Overall, our findings highlight the threat of antibiotic resistance among some L. monocytogenes isolates, emphasize the need for a strain-specific approach in listeriosis treatment, and suggest the potential negative influence of subclinical L. monocytogenes carriage on animal gut health.
Mechanical Responses of Single-Layer Borophene Under Nanoindentation Using Molecular Dynamics

This study surveyed the mechanical characteristics of a single-layer borophene under nanoindentation by using molecular dynamics. These simulations used a spherical and a conical diamond as indenters, the indenters moved at a velocity of 10 m/s and a temperature of 300 K. Some results indicated that the spherical indenter causes greater force, deformation, shear strain, and von Mises than the conical one. With the spherical indenter, the maximum indentation force is 24.05 nN. While the maximum indentation force of the conical tip is 7.62 nN. Both the spherical and conical indenters generated the same crack shape that develops along the armchair direction first and then continues with the zigzag direction of the borophene film. However, the conical indenter created a larger crack than the spherical one. Notably, under the indentation process of a spherical tip, after the initial appearance of the crack, the von Mises stress experienced a dramatic reduction. These results shed more light on the mechanical responses of the borophene film.
Joy is a News Value

This paper proposes that journalism scholars adopt joy as an explicit news value and adjust their epistemological and methodological approaches to news accordingly. Establishing that normative conc...
Tur\'an Numbers of Hypergraph Suspensions of Even Cycles

For fixed $k\ge 2$, determining the order of magnitude of the number of edges in an $n$-vertex bipartite graph not containing $C_{2k}$, the cycle of length $2k$, is a long-standing open problem. We consider an extension of this problem to triple systems. In particular, we prove that the number of triples in an $n$-vertex triple system which does not contain a $C_6$ in the link of any vertex, has order of magnitude $n^{7/3}$. Additionally, we construct new families of dense $C_6$-free bipartite graphs with $n$ vertices and $n^{4/3}$ edges in order of magnitude.
Phase II Single-arm Study of Durvalumab and Tremelimumab with Concurrent Radiotherapy in Patients with Mismatch Repair-proficient Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

Purpose: Immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) alone is not active in mismatch repair-proficient (MMR-P) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), nor does radiotherapy (RT) alone result in objective systemic benefit. However, combined RT plus ICI can induce systemic anti-tumor immunity in pre-clinical and clinical models. Experimental Design: In this single-center, phase II study, patients with chemotherapy-refractory MMR-P mCRC received durvalumab 1500 mg plus tremelimumab 75 mg every 4 weeks plus RT. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) in non-irradiated lesions. Treatment and efficacy were correlated with peripheral immune cell profiles. Results: We enrolled 24 patients, and report outcomes after a median follow up of 21.8 (range: 15.9 to 26.3) months. The ORR was 8.3% (2 patients) (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0% to 27.0%). The median progression-free survival was 1.8 (95% CI, 1.7 to 1.9) months, median overall survival was 11.4 (95% CI, 10.1 to 17.4) months. Twenty five percent of patients (n=6) had treatment-related grade 3-4 adverse events. We observed increased circulating CD8+ T lymphocyte activation, differentiation, and proliferation in patients with objective response. Conclusion: This combination of RT plus ICI study did not meet the prespecified end point criteria to be considered worthwhile for further study. However, rare instances of systemic immune augmentation and regression in non-irradiated lesions were observed (an abscopal response). Combination durvalumab and tremelimumab plus RT is feasible in MMR-P mCRC with a manageable safety profile. Further studies of novel immunotherapy combinations, and identification of biomarkers predictive of abscopal response are warranted.
A REVIEW OF 164 CHILDREN WITH MECONIUM ILEUS SEEN AT THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER, BOSTON

Meconium ileus is a complication of cystic fibrosis which still causes a high mortality rate in the first year of life. The condition is frequently complicated by meconium peritonitis, volvulus, and/or atresia, but these complications are not necessarily fatal. In the last ten years, the mortality rate for babies with meconium ileus has been about 40%. Thirty-five percent of children who survived the operation died from pneumonia in the first 6 months of life. Children who lived to 6 months had a prognosis similar to other children with cystic fibrosis who did not suffer from meconium ileus, and this will depend on the degree of pulmonary involvement. Some children with meconium ileus may have few pulmonary symptoms and, with good medical care reach adult life. Close cooperation between the surgeon and pediatrician and the early application of an intensive prophylactic and therapeutic pulmonary program are essential if we are to improve the mortality and morbidity in this disease.
Photoionization mass spectrometry

Abstract A high resolution photoion yield curve for CO2+ near threshold has been obtained utilizing a molecular beam sampling system and synchrotron radiation. Direct ionization processes leading to both the 2π 3 2 and 2π 1 2 ground states of the ion have been resolved. The ionization potentials of these states are observed to be 13.774±0.003 eV (900.1±0.2 A) and 13.788±0.003 eV (899.2±0.2 A) respectively. Strong autoionization features are observed near threshold which can be fitted to heretofore unassigned Rydberg series. The appearance potential curve for the production of O+ from CO2 has also been obtained and is analyzed in terms of a predissociative process.