cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cryptosporidium serpentis Oocysts and Microsporidian Spores in Feces of Captive Snakes

Fecal smears of 90 snakes, 29 lizards, and 8 turtles and tortoises were tested for Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts and microsporidian spores. Microsporidian spores measured x = 3.7 µm in length and x = 2.3 µm in width and were present in feces of 19 snakes and 1 lizard (16%); 13 of these snakes also shed Cryptosporidium serpentis oocysts. The oocysts were numerous in all positive samples, whereas microsporidian spores were always sparse, irrespective if whether fecal samples contained the oocysts. Retrospective examination of reptile clinical records revealed that all animals shedding microsporidian spores died naturally due to diseases, pathologic conditions, and clinical problems or were killed due to severe cryptosporidiosis. The present study indicates that microsporidian infections in reptiles have the features of an opportunistic infection.
Low to moderate quality evidence demonstrates the potential benefits and adverse events of cannabinoids for certain medical indications.

Commentary on : Whiting PF, Wolff RF, Deshpande S, et al. Cannabinoids for medical use: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA 2015;313:2456–73.[OpenUrl][1][CrossRef][2][PubMed][3] As of September 2015, 23 states and the District of Columbia in the USA legalised the medicinal use of marijuana, underscoring the need for physicians to understand the science underlying medical marijuana as well as the practical issues associated with it. For years policymakers, scientists and physicians alike have debated the potential risks associated with marijuana use.1 Now marijuana's utility as a treatment for certain medical indications has taken focus. Patients are turning to physicians to answer marijuana-related questions and to learn about its potential risks and benefits.2 This review examines the potential benefits along with associated adverse events (AEs) of cannabinoids, in different forms, for various … [1]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DJAMA%26rft.volume%253D313%26rft.spage%253D2456%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1001%252Fjama.2015.6358%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F26103030%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1001/jama.2015.6358&link_type=DOI [3]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=26103030&link_type=MED&atom=%2Febmed%2F21%2F1%2F17.atom
Institutional Investor Activism: Follow the Leaders?

Michael Jensen of the Harvard Business School, recently quoted in The Wall Street Journal, noted that "institutional activism is never going to amount to anything." A sharply contrasting view is evident from Fortune which held that the power of such groups "will be one of the most important business forces of the nineties." This apparent difference of opinion would appear to matter: Institutional investors, primarily private and public pension funds, currently control more than 50 percent of corporate equity. Certain activist institutions have been successful in changing some aspect of target corporations. Examples would include insisting on boards of directors with more outside, independent directors, the elimination of some anti-takeover provisions, separation of the role of CEO from that of the chairperson of the board, and elements of executive compensation. While many of these changes were sought and attained by some activist institutions, the issue had remained unsettled whether such strategies result in bottom line financial performance of the institutions' equity holdings. In this study of 200 Fortune 500 companies, a total of 975 separate institutional investors were listed as holding stock in these 200 firms. The thirty-six firms representing pension funds for city, state, and federal employees were classified as public. This is an important distinction as it is these public pension funds which have been the most activist of the institutional investors. Moreover, 13 institutional investors that sponsored or co-sponsored one or more shareholder proposals or proxy fights from 1986 to 1994 were identified, including California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) fund, College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF), and New York State Common Retirement Fund. This, too, is an indication of institutional activism. The results of this study, relying on both accounting and market financial returns over a four-year period, indicate that, on average, firms with higher proportions of their equity held by institutional investors do not enjoy higher performance. Moreover, these is no evidence that the firms targeted by the activist funds through shareholder proposals or proxy fights were characterized by higher financial performance.
The Defense Mechanism Manual

In this chapter, a new approach to the assessment of defense mechanisms is described. The choice of this approach was based on several considerations. A defense mechanism is a thought process that may take different forms and be expressed through a variety of content. For these reasons, the assessment method should allow for thought processes to be revealed in an unhampered and undirected fashion, in an open-ended format where no stereotyped response is readily available. Although these thought processes may not be observed directly, they can be inferred from verbal behavior. Because defense mechanisms are rather complex mental processes, they are more likely to be revealed in relatively extensive samples of verbal behavior than in single-word responses. Finally, some means must be available for two or more independent observers to decide whether or not a defense was used. The method that most closely approximates these various requirements is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), for which a manual designed to score defenses was especially developed.1 The manual may also be used with the Children’s Apperception Test (CAT).
Future Role of Youth Programs

Abstract Throughout history, poultry keeping was the responsibility of the women of the household. The mother often shared these duties with her children. With the institution of educational programs in poultry production, women and children were naturally seen as the primary audience. Some of the first activities outlined for the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs, the forerunners of the 4-H program, were poultry projects. These youth programs successfully introduced new techniques and information to the rural community. In 1914 youth programs became an official part of the newly created Cooperative Extension Service. Since the establishment of the youth programs in poultry, there has been a great change in the demographics of the American population. Today it is a small minority of young people who live on a farm and are exposed to a family or commercial flock of birds. However, a recent survey of poultry departments indicated that the majority of the students in those Departments had either farm, 4-H, or Future Farmers of America (FAA) experience. Students are vital to the maintenance of and justification for poultry faculty. Graduates are needed both for positions in our growing industry and university faculties. Given that the percentage of our population living on the farm continues to decrease, youth programs are the major way of exposing young people to poultry production. Youth programs must be encouraged and supported if there is to be a steady flow of undergraduates into poultry departments.
The Mexican Genus Gargaropsis (Homoptera: Cicadellidae: Iassinae)

Five new species of Gargaropsis are described and illustrated: G. confinis, adibilis, filialis, painteri, and wilburi. A key to all species is included.
Isotopic Fractionation in Wintertime Orographic Clouds

AbstractThe Isotopic Fractionation in Snow (IFRACS) study was conducted at Storm Peak Laboratory (SPL) in northwestern Colorado during the winter of 2014 to elucidate snow growth processes in mixed-phase clouds. The isotopic composition (δ18O and δD) of water vapor, cloud water, and snow in mixed-phase orographic clouds were measured simultaneously for the first time. The depletion of heavy isotopes [18O and deuterium (D)] was greatest for vapor, followed by snow, then cloud. The vapor, cloud, and snow compositions were highly correlated, suggesting similar cloud processes throughout the experiment. The isotopic composition of the water vapor was directly related to its concentration. Isotopic fractionation during condensation of vapor to cloud drops was accurately reproduced assuming equilibrium fractionation. This was not the case for snow, which grows by riming and vapor deposition. This implies stratification of vapor with altitude. The relationship between temperature at SPL and δ18O was used to show...
Clofarabine Plus Busulfan is an Effective Conditioning Regimen for Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Long-Term Study Results.

Abstract We investigated the long-term safety and disease control data obtained with i.v. busulfan (Bu) combined with clofarabine (Clo) in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). A total of 107 patients, median age 38 years (range, 19 to 64 years) received a matched sibling donor (n = 52) or matched unrelated donor (n = 55) transplant for ALL in first complete remission (n = 62), second complete remission (n = 28), or more advanced disease (n = 17). Nearly one-half of the patients had a high-risk cytogenetic profile as defined by the presence of t(9;22) (n = 34), t(4;11) (n = 4), or complex cytogenetics (n = 7). Clo 40 mg/m2 was given once daily, with each dose followed by pharmacokinetically dosed Bu infused over 3 hours daily for 4 days, followed by hematopoietic cell infusion after 2 days of rest. The Bu dose was based on the drug clearance as determined by a test Bu dose of 32 mg/m2. The target daily area under the curve was 5500 µmol/min for patients aged 59 years. With a median follow-up of 3.3 years among surviving patients (range, 1 to 5.8 years), the 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) for patients undergoing HSCT in first complete remission (CR1), second complete remission (CR2), or more advanced disease was 62%, 34%, and 35%, respectively. The regimen was well tolerated, with nonrelapse mortality (NRM) of 10% at 100 days and 31% at 2 years post-HSCT. The incidence of grade II-IV and III-IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was 35% and 10%, respectively; 18% patients developed extensive chronic GVHD. The 2-year overall survival (OS) for patients undergoing HSCT in CR1, CR2, or more advanced disease was 70%, 57%, and 35%, respectively. Among 11 patients aged >59 years treated with reduced-dose Bu in CR1 (n = 7) or CR2 (n = 4), 4 remain alive and disease-free, with a median follow-up of 2.6 years (range, 2 to 4.7 years). Only the presence of minimal residual disease at the time of transplantation was associated with significantly worse PFS and OS in multivariate analysis. Our data indicate that the Clo-Bu combination provides effective disease control while maintaining a favorable safety profile. OS and NRM rates compare favorably with those for traditional myeloablative total body irradiation-based conditioning regimens.
Structural and biochemical analyses of the DEAD-box ATPase Sub2 in association with THO or Yra1

mRNA is cotranscrptionally processed and packaged into messenger ribonucleoprotein particles (mRNPs) in the nucleus. Prior to export through the nuclear pore, mRNPs undergo several obligatory remodeling reactions. In yeast, one of these reactions involves loading of the mRNA-binding protein Yra1 by the DEAD-box ATPase Sub2 as assisted by the hetero-pentameric THO complex. To obtain molecular insights into reaction mechanisms, we determined crystal structures of two relevant complexes: a THO hetero-pentamer bound to Sub2 at 6.0 A resolution; and Sub2 associated with an ATP analogue, RNA, and a C-terminal fragment of Yra1 (Yra1-C) at 2.6 A resolution. We found that the 25 nm long THO clamps Sub2 in a half-open configuration; in contrast, when bound to the ATP analogue, RNA and Yra1-C, Sub2 assumes a closed conformation. Both THO and Yra1-C stimulated Sub2’s intrinsic ATPase activity. We propose that THO surveys common landmarks in each nuclear mRNP to localize Sub2 for targeted loading of Yra1.
Predictors of Renal Insufficiency in Sickle Cell Disease.

Renal insufficiency is the source of significant morbidity and mortality in adults with sickle cell disease (SCD). A population of adult patients with SCD and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring hemodialysis was examined for factors that predict ESRD. ESRD patients (mean age 36.8 +/− 7.74) were compared with patients without ESRD over 50 years old (mean age 59.3 +/− 8.31). We found that the ESRD population was characterized by more males (14 males, 8 females ESRD vs. 4 males, 15 females non-ESRD), a higher occurrence of the CAR beta-like globin cluster haplotype (44 % ESRD vs. 11 % non-ESRD) and relatively lower fetal hemoglobin levels (3.6 +/− 2.16 ESRD vs. 8.6 +/− 6.35 non-ESRD). In order to further examine potential predictors of renal disease, including genetic modifiers unlinked to the beta-globin cluster, we examined a broader population of patients with elevated creatinine, defined as levels greater than 1.0 mg/dl, who did or did not require hemodialysis. We hypothesize that gender, beta-like globin cluster haplotype, fetal hemoglobin levels and polymorphisms in critical regulators of vasomotor tone are predictors of renal insufficiency in SCD. Genotyping of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS or NOS3) and an insertion/deletion polymorphism (I/D) in the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene will allow us to determine if these polymorphisms are over-represented in this cohort. The eNOS T-786C SNP alters the level of transcription of the eNOS gene and the amount of eNOS activity. We recently showed that this polymorphism was associated with a history of acute chest syndrome in females with SCD (Br. J. Haematol., 2004, 124:240). The ACE I/D polymorphism has been associated with altered plasma ACE levels. Twenty-one adult patients with sickle cell disease with renal insufficiency and 25 age- and gender-matched control patients seen at Thomas Jefferson University are being examined. Genotype results and statistical analysis will be presented. It is hoped that identification of predictors of renal insufficiency in patients with SCD might lead to early identification of at-risk patients, allowing for therapeutic intervention.
USING EXPLORATORY DATA ANALYSIS TO MONITOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA QUALITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses some of the problems faced by data collection systems in developing countries. It discusses some exploratory data analysis (EDA) techniques that are well suited in meeting these problems. The chapter provides some examples taken from two large data collection projects in developing countries. Field research in developing countries poses special problems, many of which endanger the quality of the data collected. Often it is difficult to monitor data collection or check data automatically as they are collected. EDA methods are resistant to the effects of extraordinary observations. They are often easy to compute by hand and can usually be taught to people without college-level mathematics training. They provide graphical displays that are easy to interpret and that are designed to highlight extraordinary data points. EDA methods can provide a valuable first step in standard statistical analyses. In addition to being computable by hand, EDA methods are now readily available on a wide variety of computers in several languages. They are generally inexpensive computationally, even for moderately large sets of data. Often they can be placed on inexpensive microcomputers. EDA methods have been used in teaching statistics for the past 10 years, but only more recently has their value to research been widely recognized.
Driver Response to Phase Termination at Signalized Intersections at Signalized Intersections: Are Driving Simulator Results Valid?

Type-II dilemma zones are the segment of roadway approaching an intersection where drivers have difficulty deciding to stop or proceed at the onset of the circular yellow indication. Signalized intersection safety is improved when dilemma zones are correctly identified and steps are taken to reduce the likelihood that vehicles are caught in such zones. This research purports that using driving simulator as a means to collect driver response data at the onset of the circular yellow indication is a valid methodology to augment our analysis of decisions and reactions made within the dilemma zone. The data obtained was compared against that from previous experiments documented in the literature and the evidence suggests that driving simulation is a valid mechanism for describing driver behavior under the given conditions.
Head and Neck Pathology

Series Foreword Preface Acknowledgements 1. Squamous Cell Carcinoma - Variants: 1.1 Adenosquamous Carcinoa, 1.2 Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma, 1.3 hybrid verucous carcinoma, 1.4 Spindle cell squamous carcinoma, 1.5 Verrucous carcinoma - papillary keratosis 2. Salivary Glands: 2.1 Acinic cell carcinoma, 2.2 Adenoid cyst carcinoma with high-grade transformation, 2.3 Chronic sclerosing sialadenitis (Kuttner tumor), 2.4 Epithelial - myoepithelial carcinoma, 2.5 Keratocystoma, 2.6 Low-grade salivery duct carcinoma (low-grade cribiform cystadenocarcinoma), 2.7 Oncocytic mucoepidermoid carcinoma, 2.8 polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma, 2.9 Salivary duct carcinoma, 2.10 Salivary gland sebaceous carcinoma, 2.11 Sclerosing polycystic adenosis, 2.12 Sialadenoma papilliferum 3. Sinonasal Tract- Nasopharynx: 3.1 Exophytic schneiderian papilloma, 3.2 Nasophatyngeal carcinoma, 3.3 respiratory epithelial adenomatoid hamartoma - inverted papilloma 4. Dental Lesions: 4.1 Calcifying cystic adontogenic tumor, 4.2 Calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor (Pindborg Tumor), 4.3 Dental follicle - dental papilla - myxoma, 4.4 Glandular odontogenic cyst, 4.5 Keratocystic odontogenic tumor (odontogenic keratocyst) 5. Neural - Neuroctodermal Lesions: 5.1 Craniopharyngioma, 5.2 Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor, 5.3 Middle ear adenoma - paraganglioma - otitis media with glandular metaplasia, 5.4 Mixed olfactory neuroplastoma - carcinoma, 5.5 Mucosal melanoma, 5.6 Secretory Meningioma 6. Soft Tissue Tumors: 6.1 angiosarcoma, 6.2 Glomangiopericytoma - solitary fibrous tumor, 6.3 Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor, 6.4 Lobular capillary hemangioma, 6.5 Synovial sarcoma 7. Bone Tumors: 7.1 Cnetral giant cell granuloma, 7.2 Chordoma, 7.3 Ossifying fibroma (conventional type) 8. Endocrine Tumors: 8.1 Carcinoma metastatic to thyroid, 8.2 Mixed medullary - papillary thyroid carcinoma, 8.3 Paraganglioma of thyroid, 8.4 parathyroid adenoma 9. Miscellaneous Lesions: 9.1 Branchial cleft cyst - carcinoma 9.2 Eosinophilic angiocentric fibrosis, 9.3 Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma, 9.4 histoplasmosis, 9.5 Median rhomboid glossitis, 9.6 Rosai - Dorfman disease - rhinoscleroma, 9.7 Wegner's granulomatosis
Risk of Radiation from Computerized Tomography Urography in the Evaluation of Asymptomatic Microscopic Hematuria

Purpose: The AUA (American Urological Association) guidelines for asymptomatic microscopic hematuria recommend that patients undergo computerized tomography urography, which is associated with high doses of ionizing radiation. To our knowledge the associated risk of secondary malignancy and mortality remains unknown. We modeled the risk of malignancy and associated mortality due to ionizing radiation from computerized tomography urography relative to the additional diagnostic benefit offered over renal ultrasound.Materials and Methods: We performed a PubMed® based literature search to identify model inputs. We obtained estimates of age and gender specific radiation induced secondary malignancy and mortality rates from the BEIR (Biologic Effects of Ionizing Radiation) VII Phase 2 report with dose extrapolation using the linear no threshold model.Results: Patients with asymptomatic microscopic hematuria had a 0.053% and 0.48% prevalence of upper tract urothelial carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma, respectiv...
Liver resection. Preoperative and postoperative care.

Liver resection is an increasingly common procedure. Despite the wide variety of indications, the preoperative and postoperative care are similar. Recent work has brought to light the significant alterations in fluid and electrolytes, hemostasis, metabolism, and pulmonary function that may occur, and a thorough understanding of these changes is required to minimize the morbidity and mortality rates. Postoperative hepatic failure is a devastating complication, and careful patient selection is required to avoid this. Better methods of evaluating functional hepatic reserve are needed.
B — Non-Human Primate Models for HIV-1 Infection

The only animal species readily infectable with HIV-1 is the chimpanzee. However, following infection with most HIV-1 isolates, chimpanzees do not develop disease [28]. Infection with some HIV-1 isolates results in seroconversion, but barely detectable plasma viral RNA. In these infected animals, virus isolations from peripheral blood are achievable only for a few weeks following HIV-1 inoculation [29]. Infection with other HIV-1 isolates results in a more intense viraemia with readily measurable viral RNA in the plasma and persistantly isolatable virus from the peripheral blood. However, the extent of viral replication in vivo with any of these usual HIV-1 isolates appears to decline over the first months following infection, resulting in an infectious process with a low level of viral replication and no disease pathogenesis.
Machine Learning for the Developing World

Researchers from across the social and computer sciences are increasingly using machine learning to study and address global development challenges. This article examines the burgeoning field of machine learning for the developing world (ML4D). First, we present a review of prominent literature. Next, we suggest best practices drawn from the literature for ensuring that ML4D projects are relevant to the advancement of development objectives. Finally, we discuss how developing world challenges can motivate the design of novel machine learning methodologies. This article provides insights into systematic differences between ML4D and more traditional machine learning applications. It also discusses how technical complications of ML4D can be treated as novel research questions, how ML4D can motivate new research directions, and where machine learning can be most useful.
Intervening on the Indian Renaissance, or a User’s Guide to the Dreary Sands of Dead Habit

In response to the publication of a lively new volume on modern Indian philosophy during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this essay offers four brief interventions intended to prompt further critical reflection on the concept of the Indian Renaissance.
Small molecule studies: the fourth wave of muscle research.

The study of muscle and contractility is an unusual scientific endeavour since it has from the start been focussed on one problem—What makes muscle work?—and yet has needed a vast range of different approaches and techniques to study it. Its uniqueness lies in the fundamental fascination of a large scale molecular machine that converts chemical energy into mechanical energy at ambient temperature and with high efficiency that is also controlled by an exquisitely intricate yet utterly reliable regulatory system and is an essential component of animal life. The investigation of muscle is as innovative as any other field of research. As soon as one approach appears to be played out another comes along. It is instructive to consider this as a series of waves of novel and heightened activity starting in the 1950s. The thesis of this article is that we are approaching the fourth wave with the recent rise of interest in small molecules as research tools and possible therapies for muscle diseases.
Airframe digital twin technology adaptability assessment and technology demonstration

Abstract The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) is currently reviewing and assessing the airframe digital twin (ADT) framework being developed by the United States Air Force (USAF). The goal is to investigate the adaptability and potential application of the ADT for reducing maintenance cost and maximize availability of the existing and future fleets of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The USAF ADT framework is based on a probabilistic and prognostic individual aircraft tracking approach, which intends to improve the current individual aircraft tracking (IAT) program by quantifying and updating the uncertainties of some IAT parameters in airframe fatigue life assessment. This paper presents the results from recent work at NRC, including: (1) a review and evaluation of the digital twin and digital thread concepts, especially the USAF ADT framework, methods/tool, (2) a brief survey of structural lifing methods and IAT systems of selected RCAF aircraft, (3) a feasibility and adaptability study of the ADT to RCAF aircraft, and (4) the development of NRC ADT technologies, including Bayesian updating algorithms and a demonstration case being developed based on a CF-188 full-scale component test. In conclusion, the NRC review and assessment show that the USAF ADT framework can be adapted to support the RCAF fleets that are managed using IAT-based programs. The NRC models and tools developed from previous projects can be expanded to serve as the core of an ADT framework that can be implemented for RCAF fleets. Some short-term and long-term benefits are identified and discussed in this paper for future research and application.
Race, Gender, and Homelessness Stigma: Effects of Perceived Blameworthiness and Dangerousness

Males and black persons are overrepresented among the homeless population and experience differential trajectories in homelessness and access to services. However, research has not fully examined t...
Contracting Jurisdiction: Arbitration of Noncompetition Disputes in Employment Agreements

The law surrounding noncompetition agreements varies greatly among states. How broad can such an agreement be? What type of work can it cover? How long can it be enforced, if at all? Different states express vastly different policy preferences on the scope and enforceability of noncompetition agreements through legislation and common law. This creates uncertainty for both employers and employees. Increasingly, with support from the U.S. Supreme Court, arbitration clauses are being used to override the laws of particular states by contracting for the substantive law that will govern an eventual noncompetition dispute between employer and employee. This Article examines the ways in which noncompetition clauses and arbitration clauses must be drafted and read together within an employment agreement. It further explores the implications for the increasingly federalized nature of this aspect of employment law, analyzing recent state and federal case law. On balance, arbitration greatly bolsters the enforceability of noncompetition agreements by selecting favorable and predictable governing law. This reality has important implications for both employers and employees.
(Un)special Favors: Gratitude for Group-Based Benefits

Because humans are social creatures, we often experience benefits on a group-level. Yet gratitude research has focused on single recipients largely to the exclusion of groups. Do people still exper...
Abstract P285: Sociodemographic and Metabolic Risk Characteristics Associated with Metabolic Weight Categories in the Women's Health Initiative

Introduction: To identify sociodemographic and metabolic correlates of weight categories in postmenopausal women. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that postmenopausal women with metabolically...
A Comparison of Isogenic Homozygous Clone and Wildtype Zebrafish (Danio rerio): Survival and Developmental Responses to Low pH Conditions

The value of bioassays as analytical methods for assessing the potency of particular stressors on live animal models depends on the precision of their results, which are greatly influenced by the c...
COVID-19: A Closer Lens

Generations of nurses to come, now called heroes in the media, will have challenges in providing care for persons during this global pandemic. COVID-19 has impacted all demographics, regardless of race, gender, or socioeconomic class globally. African Americans have experienced a disproportionate number of deaths related to COVID-19 in the New Orleans and surrounding Metropolitan areas. According to the Louisiana Department of Health (2020), fifty-seven percent (57.40%) of the deaths in Louisiana related to COVID-19 have been African American (Black) and fifty-five percent (55.2%) have been males as of May 11, 2020. Social determinants of health are the conditions in which people age and the conditions they are born, grow, age and work. These conditions include neighborhoods, schools, and places of employment. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power, and resources at global, national, and local levels (World Health Organization, 2020). Years later the same community that comprised "pre-and post-Katrina" are now facing this pandemic.
Neuromorphic Computing Systems with Emerging Nonvolatile Memories: A Circuits and Systems Perspective

The renaissance of artificial intelligence highlights the tremendous need for computational power as well as higher computing efficiency in both high performance computing and embedded applications. [1] To meet this demand, neuromorphic computing systems (NCS) that are inspired by the biological neural systems circumvent the von Neumann bottleneck by integrating computation and memory in the same place with reduced data traffic. The NCS can be efficiently implemented using emerging nonvolatile memories such as memristor crossbar arrays, which provide fast, analog matrix-vector multiplications (MVM). This paradigm is also called “in-memory computing” or “processing in memory”. [2]
Gabra2 is a genetic modifier of Scn8a encephalopathy in the mouse

Objective SCN8A encephalopathy is a developmental epileptic encephalopathy typically caused by de novo gain-of-function mutations in Nav 1.6. Severely affected individuals exhibit refractory seizures, developmental delay, cognitive disabilities, movement disorders, and elevated risk of sudden death. Patients with the identical SCN8A variant can differ in clinical course, suggesting a role for modifier genes in determining disease severity. The identification of genetic modifiers contributes to understanding disease pathogenesis and suggesting therapeutic interventions. Methods We generated F1 and F2 crosses between inbred mouse strains and mice carrying the human pathogenic variants SCN8A-R1872W and SCN8A-N1768D. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of seizure-related phenotypes was used for chromosomal mapping of modifier loci. Results In an F2 cross between strain SJL/J and C57BL/6J mice carrying the patient mutation R1872W, we identified a major QTL on chromosome 5 containing the Gabra2 gene. Strain C57BL/6J carries a splice site mutation that reduces expression of Gabra2, encoding the α2 subunit of the aminobutyric acid type A receptor. The protective wild-type allele of Gabra2 from strain SJL/J delays the age at seizure onset and extends life span of the Scn8a mutant mice. Additional Scn8a modifiers were observed in the F2 cross and in an F1 cross with strain C3HeB/FeJ. Significance These studies demonstrate that the SJL/J strain carries multiple modifiers with protective effects against seizures induced by gain-of-function mutations in Scn8a. Homozygosity for the hypomorphic variant of Gabra2 in strain C57BL/6J is associated with early seizure onset and short life span. GABRA2 is a potential therapeutic target for SCN8A encephalopathy.
Magnetic field distribution of a highly focused radially-polarized light beam: comment.

This is a comment in response to the claims made in a recent paper by Zhang and Ding [Opt. Express 17, 22235-22239 (2009)]. The authors claimed that an error has been found in a previous paper [Opt. Express 12, 3377-3382 (2004)] and provided a “guess” of how the Poynting vector was calculated. These claims are incorrect and are based on a misconception.
Strong complete mappings for 3-groups

Abstract A strong complete mapping for a group G is a bijection φ : G → G such that the maps x ↦ x φ ( x ) and x ↦ x − 1 φ ( x ) are also bijections. Groups admitting a strong complete mapping are important to the study of orthogonality problems for Latin squares and group sequencings, among other applications. A.B. Evans [6] showed that a finite abelian group admits a strong complete mapping if and only if both its 2-Sylow subgroup and its 3-Sylow subgroup are either trivial or noncyclic. Nilpotent groups resemble abelian groups in that they also possess the property of being the direct product of their Sylow subgroups; therefore, it is natural to begin consideration of the nonabelian case by asking which nilpotent groups admit strong complete mappings. As the function x ↦ x 2 furnishes a strong complete mapping for finite groups of order relatively prime to 6, we need only consider 2-groups and 3-groups. As a step in this direction, we prove that every noncyclic 3-group admits a strong complete mapping, except possibly those in the infinite family L r = 〈 a , b | a 3 r − 1 = b 3 = 1 , b a b − 1 = a 1 + 3 r − 2 〉 , r ≥ 4 .
Urban Networks, Micro-agriculture, and Community Food Security

The white paper first outlines the state of inequity in food security/sovereignty in our area of focus, taking into account historical context as well as emerging and ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and community and policy responses to it. We then discuss a food acquisition intervention, structured as a longitudinal, collaborative research, and service-learning effort known as Everybody Eats. The white paper provides detailed discussion of competing understandings of agriculture, horticulture, and the social problem of food insecurity; the preliminary data that has led to a current collaborative effort to enhance the skillset of people previously not understood as food producers and provisioners, but only as end-user consumers; and the new iteration of the project wherein specific sets of expertise from diverse disciplines are deployed both to offer a more robust intervention, and bring new methodologies to bear in assessing the ecology of a local foodshed. We propose mobilizing existing resources and expertise of the Land Grant/Cooperative Extension system to act as a regional hub for facilitating full community food security (caloric and nutritional adequacy) and food sovereignty (participatory decision-making regarding living spaces and culturally appropriate foodways). Finally, we illustrate how a nexus of faculty, working from a service-learning advocacy perspective and embedded in a participatory action framework, provides a mechanism for bringing together and sustaining a community of intellectually diverse researchers and stakeholders.
Exercise Responses after Inactivity

The exercise response after bed rest inactivity is a reduction in the physical work capacity and is manifested by significant decreases in oxygen uptake. The magnitude of decrease in maximal oxygen intake V(dot)O2max is related to the duration of confinement and the pre-bed-rest level of aerobic fitness; these relationships are relatively independent of age and gender. The reduced exercise performance and V(dot)O2max following bed rest are associated with various physiological adaptations including reductions in blood volume, submaximal and maximal stroke volume, maximal cardiac output, sceletal muscle tone and strength, and aerobic enzyme capacities, as well as increases in venous compliance and submaximal and maximal heart rate. This reduction in physiological capacity can be partially restored by specific countermeasures that provide regular muscular activity or orhtostatic stress or both during the bed rest exposure. The understanding of these physiological and physical responses to exercise following bed rest inactivity has important implications for the solution to safety and health problems that arise in clinical medicine, aerospace medicine, sedentary living, and aging.
Adult Neuronal Regeneration Induced by Transgenic Integrin Expression

In a variety of adult CNS injury models, embryonic neurons exhibit superior regenerative performance when compared with adult neurons. It is unknown how young neurons extend axons in the injured adult brain, in which adult neurons fail to regenerate. This study shows that cultured adult neurons do not adapt to conditions that are characteristic of the injured adult CNS: low levels of growth-promoting molecules and the presence of inhibitory proteoglycans. In contrast, young neurons readily adapt to these same conditions, and adaptation is accompanied by an increase in the expression of receptors for growth-promoting molecules (receptors of the integrin family). Surprisingly, the regenerative performance of adult neurons can be restored to that of young neurons by gene transfer-mediated expression of a single alpha-integrin.
Database resources relevant to yeast biology.

Publisher Summary There is a wealth of information about yeast biology in many publicly available databases. Some resources offer general information about genomic, biological, and functional aspects of yeast biology. Other sites provide access to more specialized information, such as introns or protein-protein interactions. A third class of resources consists of information gathered from gene expression experiments. There are also sites with information about species of yeast other than Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The final class of resources, although not limited to yeast, contains a substantial amount of useful information about yeast. This chapter provides an overview of many of the resources highlighting unique features of each database and methods of access to the information.
Better Living Through Legislation: The Control of Mind-Altering Drugs

Mind-altering drugs have probably always been a concern to human society. During the past several years, however, public concern about the use of mind-altering drugs has risen sharply. The public debate over mind-altering drugs has dealt with many different questions, including the drugs' medical, psychological, and sociological effects, as well as the appropriate societal responses. These questions are closely related and have often been confused with one another. This article will deal in some measure with all of them, but will address itself ultimately to the proper legislative response to the question of what controls should be imposed. This article generally takes an approach that has been called social cost-accounting. The premise of social cost-accounting is that every law that seeks to control human behavior entails social costs, as well as social benefits, and that laws should be chosen to maximize the excess of benefits over costs. The clear implication is that, at the least, we should choose controls that entail more benefits than costs - or we should have no controls at all. This article does will not attempt to give the proper legislative response to any of the presently troublesome mind-altering drugs; rather, it attempts to provide the beginnings of a calculus by means of which the proper responses can be determined.
A Guadagni-Little Likelihood Can Have Multiple Maxima

Despite many advances in marketing models, the Guadagni–Little (1983) model is still in widespread use by both practitioners and academics. For many new marketing models, the Guadagni–Little model serves as a benchmark. The key variable that allows the Guadagni–Little model to accurately fit data is the loyalty variable, which is an exponential smoothing of past purchases. In this paper, I show that inclusion of this variable in the logit model may result in a likelihood function that can have multiple maxima. I am able to demonstrate this using simulated data and actual household scanner panel data. In addition, I document a systematic relationship between the loyalty coefficient and the loyalty smoothing parameter. Insight for this systematic relationship and the multiple maxima is obtained by recognizing a trade-off between capturing household heterogeneity and state dependence. Finally, in the Guadagni–Little model extreme parameter values capture two different idealized forms of consumer behavior. However, reported studies rarely find these extreme parameter values. I show that procedures commonly used to initialize loyalty biases against these extreme parameter values. This bias offers some explanation for the observed empirical regularity in Guadagni–Little parameter estimates and suggests that researchers should be cautious concluding these parameters capture regularity in consumer behavior.
Cordotomy for relief of pain in incurable squamouscell carcinoma of the cervix uteri.

Abstract Anterolateral spinothalamic tractotomy has been performed on 40 patients at the University of Minnesota Hospitals since Jan. 1, 1937, for relief of pain due to hopeless recurrent carcinoma of the cervix. Some of the clinical features of these cases are reviewed. It has proved to be remarkably effective in the relief of intractable pain. Undesirable side effects and, in particular, loss of urinary control were rarely produced. It is the method of choice in the therapy of intractable pain in recurrent or untreatable carcinoma of the cervix.
The presence of the past: Negotiating the politics of collective memory

What are the political implications of a complex image of time, where time does not unfold progressively in a neat linear structure, but where the past is always present and the future impinges on the now? If the past is inescapably present, how do societies that live with grievously injured pasts come to terms with them in the present for the sake of the future? How do they try to address the collective memories of their people, when such memories are marked by violence and conflict, without resorting to vengeance? Drawing from the philosophical writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, this article examines the way in which two countries have recently attempted to negotiate the politics of memory – Algeria and Rwanda. It poses such questions as how much should be forgotten and how much should be remembered? It also asks the difficult question of how such pasts can be overcome and transfigured in the present for the sake of the politics of an affirmative politics of the future.
Influence of maternal epinephrine on behavior of offspring

Abstract In order to observe the influence of maternal epinephrine on fetal outcome, two groups of 10 rats each received epinephrine during different periods of gestation. A third group served as controls. In the group receiving the drug during the first 6 days, 6 failed to produce any offspring. Newborn weight was significantly lower in this group also. A sample of the offspring of rats receiving epinephrine on the seventh to twelfth day of gestation revealed significant behavioral differences compared to control group offspring. The etiologic factor thought to be responsible for these findings was intrauterine fetal anoxia secondary to placental vasoconstriction produced by epinephrine.
Total Environmental Warming Impact (TEWI) Calculations for Alternative Automotive Air-Conditioning Systems

The Montreal Protocol phase-out of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) has required manufacturers to develop refrigeration and air-conditioning systems that use refrigerants that can not damage stratospheric ozone. Most refrigeration industries have adapted their designs to use hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) or hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants; new automobile air- conditioning systems use HFC-134a. These industries are now being affected by scientific investigations of greenhouse warming and questions about the effects of refrigerants on global warming. Automobile air-conditioning has three separate impacts on global warming; (1) the effects of refrigerant inadvertently released to the atmosphere from accidents, servicing, and leakage; (2) the efficiency of the cooling equipment (due to the emission of C0{sub 2} from burning fuel to power the system); and (3) the emission of C0{sub 2} from burning fuel to transport the system. The Total Equivalent Warming Impact (TEWI) is an index that should be used to compare the global warming effects of alternative air-conditioning systems because it includes these contributions from the refrigerant, cooling efficiency, and weight. This paper compares the TEWI of current air-conditioning systems using HFC-134a with that of transcritical vapor compression system using carbon dioxide and systems using flammable refrigerants with secondary heat transfer loops. Results are found to depend on both climate and projected efficiency of C0{sub 2}systems. Performance data on manufacturing prototype systems are needed to verify the potential reductions in TEWI. Extensive field testing is also required to determine the performance, reliability, and ``serviceability`` of each alternative to HFC-134a to establish whether the potential reduction of TEWI can be achieved in a viable consumer product.
Nutritional supplements and infection in the elderly: why do the findings conflict?

Background Most of the randomized placebo-controlled trials that have examined the clinical effects of multivitamin-mineral supplements on infection in the elderly have shown no significant effect. The exceptions are three such trials, all using a supplement with the same composition, and all claiming dramatic benefits: a frequently cited study published in 1992, which reported a 50% reduction in the number of days of infection (NDI), and two 2002 replication studies. Questions have been raised about the 1992 report; a second report in 2001 based on the same trial, but describing effects of the supplement on cognitive functions, has been retracted by Nutrition. The primary purpose of the present paper is to evaluate the claims about the effects of supplements on NDI in the two replication reports.
A Weighted Random Forests Approach to Improve Predictive Performance

Identifying genetic variants associated with complex disease in high-dimensional data is a challenging problem, and complicated etiologies such as gene-gene interactions are often ignored in analyses. The data-mining method Random Forests (RF) can handle high-dimensions; however, in high-dimensional data, RF is not an effective filter for identifying risk factors associated with the disease trait via complex genetic models such as gene-gene interactions without strong marginal components. Here we propose an extension called Weighted Random Forests (wRF), which incorporates tree-level weights to emphasize more accurate trees in prediction and calculation of variable importance. We demonstrate through simulation and application to data from a genetic study of addiction that wRF can outperform RF in high-dimensional data, although the improvements are modest and limited to situations with effect sizes that are larger than what is realistic in genetics of complex disease. Thus, the current implementation of wRF is unlikely to improve detection of relevant predictors in high-dimensional genetic data, but may be applicable in other situations where larger effect sizes are anticipated.