cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 as a Surrogate for Salmonella During Extrusion of Low-Moisture Food

Salmonella in low-moisture foods is an emerging challenge due to numerous food product recalls and foodborne illness outbreaks. Identification of suitable surrogate is critical for process validation at industry level due to implementation of new Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011. The objective of this study was to evaluate Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 as a surrogate for Salmonella during the extrusion of low-moisture food. Oat flour, a low-moisture food, was adjusted to different moisture (14% to 26% wet basis) and fat (5% to 15% w/w) contents and was inoculated with E. faecium NRRL B-2354. Inoculated material was then extruded in a lab-scale single-screw extruder running at different screw speeds (75 to 225 rpm) and different temperatures (75, 85, and 95 °C). A split-plot central composite 2nd order response surface design was used, with the central point replicated six times. The data from the selective media (m-Enterococcus agar) was used to build the response surface model for inactivation of E. faecium NRRL B-2354. Results indicated that E. faecium NRRL B-2354 always had higher heat resistance compared to Salmonella at all conditions evaluated in this study. However, the patterns of contour plots showing the effect of various product and process parameters on inactivation of E. faecium NRRL B-2354 was different from that of Salmonella. Although E. faecium NRRL B-2354 may be an acceptable surrogate for extrusion of low-moisture products due to higher resistance than Salmonella, another surrogate with similar inactivation behavior may be preferred and needs to be identified. Practical application Food Safety Modernization Act requires the food industry to validate processing interventions. This study validated extrusion processing and demonstrated that E. faecium NRRL B-2354 is an acceptable surrogate for extrusion of low-moisture products. The developed response surface model allows the industry to identify process conditions to achieve a desired lethality for their products based on composition.
Piloting an Online Module for Interprofessional Education to Introduce First-Year Students to Health Behavior Change

Objective: To meet the needs of patients with behavioral health problems, health professional students require training in helping patients contemplate and move towards behavior change. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is one such intervention. This novel online training module was developed for groups of interprofessional education (IPE) students. Design: Thirty-eight first-year health-professions students were trained using an online introduction to MI. This was followed by cases with questions where students were asked to provide MI consistent responses. Case participation was done through an online discussion board, where all students could respond to case questions, and to their peers. The discussion board was monitored by a faculty member skilled in the practice of MI and another skilled in interprofessional education/development. Conclusions: Students reported the course to be valuable and an acceptable way to begin learning new communication skills, and about other health-professions. Students’ self-rating of empathy and understanding of patients who do not readily commit to behavior change improved significantly from pre-module to post-module. This online MI module for IPE appeared to be a success. Conflict of Interest None to report Treatment of Human Subjects: IRB review/approval required and obtained Type: Note
Over-expression of the citrus gene CtNH1 confers resistance to bacterial canker disease

Abstract Citrus canker is a devastating disease, caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (Xac). It is well established that the NPR1 gene plays a pivotal role in systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in Arabidopsis. In this study, we report the isolation and characterization of an NPR1 homolog from citrus, namely Citrus NPR1 homolog 1 (CtNH1). Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis indicate that CtNH1 is closely-related to the Arabidopsis NPR1 gene and its orthologs from rice, grapevine, and cacao. When over-expressed in citrus, CtNH1 confers resistance to Xac and leads to constitutive expression of the pathogenesis-related (PR) gene chitinase 1 (Chi1), suggesting that CtNH1 is orthologous to NPR1.
Crop Energy Conservation

Today the food-producing capacity of American agriculture is unsurpassed by that of any foreign power. The efforts of farmers and agricultural scientists over the last 40 years are responsible for this great achievement. Since 1950 these efforts have resulted in a doubling of productivity and a halving of agricultural labor (Price 1981). Much of the increase can be attributed to increased use of fertilizers and advances in pest control, plant and animal breeding, and mechanization. With the exception of results based upon plant and animal genetics, most of the efforts that increased productivity were energy dependent. The price of doubled agricultural productivity is high: a four-fold increase of energy input (Price 1981).
Decomposition of Systems of Ordinary Differential Equations

Let us consider the following differential equation: $$\frac{{dy}}{{dt}} = A(t)y,$$ (2.1) where y is n dimensional vector and A(t) is the matrix with elements which are the real functions \({a_{ij}}\left( t \right),i,j = \overline {1,n}\) continuous on the segment of the real axis [t 0 , t c ]. Assume that y(t 0 ) = y 0 .
Participating in Supervision in School Psychology: A National Survey of Practices and Training.

The results of a national survey (n = 331) examining the training and involvement of school psychologists in supervision indicate that one-quarter of the sample had some graduate coursework or trai...
Data-driven Simulation Modelling for Progressive Care Units in Hospitals

Abstract Nowadays, simulation is extensively used in healthcare as a decision-making tool. However, the traditional simulation models made in the past require an operation research analyst or a person who is familiar with the simulation background. To address this shortcoming, the focus of this study is creation of data-driven simulation modeling framework for progressive care units in health care. In data-driven modeling, the simulation model is automatically generated from the data using templates and add-ins. In this research two add-in are designed in Simio: data table generator and model object importer and C# is used as a coding language to create the add-ins. Data table generator is add-in that creates the structure of data files in Simio, while model object importer generates all model objects using the data imported from an external file or database. The data-driven modeling framework is then validated by building the simulation model of PCU which has components as specified in the external files. The proposed simulation model can be reused to create any other PCU model. The test model is then run for a prescribed time period and its results are recorded. The data-driven simulation model would help the inpatient unit managers in determining the number of resources in the unit in a rapid fashion without duplicating the work of model logic building.
Drift Counteraction and Control of Downsized and Underactuated Systems: What MPC Has to Offer?

Abstract Motivated by practical applications, the paper highlights MPC formulations suitable for counteracting system drift and the effects of large measured disturbances/set-point changes, and for overcoming limitations of underactuation. For drift counteraction, where the objective is to maximize the time or yield until the system trajectory exits a prescribed set, defined by system safety constraints, operating limits and/or efficiency requirements, MPC, based on mixed integer or conventional linear programming, can lead to effective solutions for higher order systems than possible with dynamic programming and value iterations based methods. Such solutions can have broad applicability including for fuel optimal Geostationary Orbit (GEO) station keeping, spacecraft Low Earth Orbit (LEO) maintenance, underactuated spacecraft attitude control, hybrid electric propulsion energy management, glider flight management, and the development of driving policies for adaptive cruise control and autonomous driving. The paper also highlights the capability of MPC to achieve non-smooth local stabilization of underactuated systems that can be exploited for attitude control of underactuated spacecraft with reaction wheel failures. Related results for systems that cannot be globally stabilized by continuous feedback are also mentioned. Finally, opportunities to handle large load and set-point changes with reference governors are discussed.
Learning Affordance Segmentation for Real-World Robotic Manipulation via Synthetic Images

This letter presents a deep learning framework to predict the affordances of object parts for robotic manipulation. The framework segments affordance maps by jointly detecting and localizing candidate regions within an image. Rather than requiring annotated real-world images, the framework learns from synthetic data and adapts to real-world data without supervision. The method learns domain-invariant region proposal networks and task-level domain adaptation components with regularization on the predicted domains. A synthetic version of the UMD data set is collected for autogenerating annotated, synthetic input data. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms an unsupervised baseline, and achieves performance close to state-of-the-art supervised approaches. An ablation study establishes the performance gap between the proposed method and the supervised equivalent (30%). Real-world manipulation experiments demonstrate use of the affordance segmentations for task execution, which achieves the same performance with supervised approaches.
Social and Environmental Neighborhood Typologies and Lung Function in a Low-Income, Urban Population

Consensus is growing on the need to investigate the joint impact of neighborhood-level social factors and environmental hazards on respiratory health. This study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to empirically identify distinct neighborhood subtypes according to a clustering of social factors and environmental hazards, and to examine whether those subtypes are associated with lung function. The study included 182 low-income participants who were enrolled in the Colorado Home Energy Efficiency and Respiratory Health (CHEER) study during the years 2015–2017. Distinct neighborhood typologies were identified based on analyses of 632 census tracts in the Denver-Metro and Front Range area of Colorado; neighborhood characteristics used to identify typologies included green space, traffic-related air pollution, violent and property crime, racial/ethnic composition, and socioeconomic status (SES). Generalized estimating equations were used to examine the association between neighborhood typology and lung function. We found four distinct neighborhood typologies and provide evidence that these social and environmental aspects of neighborhoods cluster along lines of advantage/disadvantage. We provide suggestive evidence of a double jeopardy situation where low-income populations living in disadvantaged neighborhoods may have decreased lung function. Using LPA with social and environmental characteristics may help to identify meaningful neighborhood subtypes and inform research on the mechanisms by which neighborhoods influence health.
US DOE Tri-Lab Production Effort to Provide Accelerator-Produced 225Ac for Radiotherapy: 2019 Update

1612 Objectives: The current availability of accelerator-produced 225Ac from the US Department of Energy Isotope Program’s Tri-Lab (ORNL, BNL, LANL) Production Effort to Provide Accelerator-Produced 225Ac for Radiotherapy will be presented. The goal of this effort is to supply 225Ac in sufficient quantity and quality to support a variety of preclinical and clinical applications. Specifics regarding production methodology, preparations for Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP) level of radio-chemical processing, development of a supporting QA/QC framework including submission of a Drug Master File (DMF) will also be presented.
Trans-Neptunian binaries as evidence for planetesimal formation by the streaming instability

A critical step toward the emergence of planets in a protoplanetary disk is the accretion of planetesimals, bodies 1–1,000 km in size, from smaller disk constituents. This process is poorly understood, partly because we lack good observational constraints on the complex physical processes that contribute to planetesimal formation1. In the outer Solar System, the best place to look for clues is the Kuiper belt, where icy planetesimals survive to this day. Here we report evidence that Kuiper belt planetesimals formed by the streaming instability, a process in which aerodynamically concentrated clumps of pebbles gravitationally collapse into 100-kilometre-class bodies2. Gravitational collapse has previously been suggested to explain the ubiquity of equal-sized binaries in the Kuiper belt3–5. We analyse new hydrodynamical simulations of the streaming instability to determine the model expectations for the spatial orientation of binary orbits. The predicted broad inclination distribution with approximately 80% of prograde binary orbits matches the observations of trans-Neptunian binaries6. The formation models that imply predominantly retrograde binary orbits (for example, ref. 7) can be ruled out. Given its applicability over a wide range of protoplanetary disk conditions8, it is expected that the streaming instability also seeded planetesimal formation elsewhere in the Solar System, and beyond. The predominantly prograde orientation and broad inclination distribution of trans-Neptunian binary objects is reproduced by a three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulation of planetesimal formation driven by the streaming instability, showing evidence of the activation of the streaming instability in the solar protoplanetary disk.
Dual-Mode FRET and BRET Sensors for Detecting cAMP Dynamics.

Genetically encoded fluorescent and luminescent indicators have revolutionized our ability to monitor physiology in real time, but the separate development of new sensors for each of these imaging ...
The Effect of Cohesive Features in Integrated and Independent L2 Writing Quality and Text Classification

Cohesion features were calculated for a corpus of 960 essays by 480 test-takers from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) in order to examine differences in the use of cohesion devices between integrated (source-based) writing and independent writing samples. Cohesion indices were measured using an automated textual analysis tool, the Tool for the Automatic Assessment of Cohesion (TAACO). A discriminant function analysis correctly classified essays as either integrated or independent in 92.3 per cent of cases. Integrated writing was marked by higher use of specific connectives and greater lexical overlap of content words between textual units, whereas independent writing was marked by greater lexical overlap of function words, especially pronouns. Regression analyses found that cohesive indices which distinguish tasks predict writing quality judgments more strongly in independent writing. However, the strongest predictor of human judgments was the same for both tasks: lexical overlap of function words. The findings demonstrate that text cohesion is a multidimensional construct shaped by the writing task, yet the measures of cohesion which affect human judgments of writing quality are not entirely different across tasks. These analyses allow us to better understand cohesive features in writing tasks and implications for automated writing assessment.
Swallows as it is: The Distortion of National Muffler

In Swallows Holding Ltd. v. Commissioner, a reviewed opinion in early 2006, the Tax Court invalidated a Treasury Department tax regulation involving return filing by certain foreign corporations. The Tax Court's decision is wrong because it misread the precedents on which it relied and misperceived the roles of Treasury and the courts in filling gaps Congress left in tax statutes. This article maintains that the Tax Court misapplied the standard on which it relied: the National Muffler line of cases on deference to tax rules and regulations. Another of the author's articles, "Swallows as It Might Have Been: Regulations Revising Case Law," maintains that the Tax Court failed to appreciate the teaching of the Supreme Court in the Chevron and Brand X cases. Thus, either on National Muffler grounds or on Chevron and Brand X grounds, the Swallows Holding decision should be reversed. [Subsequent to publication of this article, a panel of the Third Circuit did reverse Swallows Holding.]
Iodine deficiency disorders in Beijing in 2011: an analysis of survey results

Objective To thoroughly know the changing trends of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) and key populations' iodine nutritional status in Beijing.Methods Survey sites were determined by the method of population proportion sampling in each county,and then thirty schools were selected by random sampling to conduct the survey.Forty students aged 8-10 were selected by cluster sampling in each school; thyroids of these students were examined by B-mode ultrasonography and their household salt iodine content was determined.Fifteen students were randomly selected from these students for urinary iodine detection and salt intake survey; two tap water samples were collected from each school for determination of water iodine,and 15 pregnant women and 15 lactating women were randomly selected at surrounding areas of each school to detect urinary iodine content.Urinary iodine and water iodine were measured by As3+-Ce4+ catalytic spectrophotometry; household salt iodine was measured using direct titration stipulated by the standard of GB/T 13025.7-1999; 3 days weighing method was used to investigate the average salt intake per day.Results The prevalence of goiter in children aged 8-10 was 0.1％ (1/1 218) of 1 218 students examined; the medians of urinary iodine of 444 students,450 pregnant women and 451 lactating women were 178.9,155.2 and 127.8 μg/L,respectively; the coverage rate of iodized salt was 89.1％(1 085/1 218) and the consumption rate of qualified iodized salt was 86.4％(1 052/1 218) of 1 218 samples detected; the water iodine median was 2.6 μg/L of 60 samples detected; and the daily salt intake was 11.8 g.Conclusions Iodine deficiency disorders in Beijing has been effectively controlled.Focus groups are on the good nutrition status of iodine.However,universal salt iodization (USI) should be further strengthened as an important control measure,and the surveillance of key population should be enhanced at the same time. Key words: Iodine; Deficiency diseases; Urine; Data collection
Decoding Intent With Control Theory: Comparing Muscle Versus Manual Interface Performance

Manual device interaction requires precise coordination which may be difficult for users with motor impairments. Muscle interfaces provide alternative interaction methods that may enhance performance, but have not yet been evaluated for simple (eg. mouse tracking) and complex (eg. driving) continuous tasks. Control theory enables us to probe continuous task performance by separating user input into intent and error correction to quantify how motor impairments impact device interaction. We compared the effectiveness of a manual versus a muscle interface for eleven users without and three users with motor impairments performing continuous tasks. Both user groups preferred and performed better with the muscle versus the manual interface for the complex continuous task. These results suggest muscle interfaces and algorithms that can detect and augment user intent may be especially useful for future design of interfaces for continuous tasks.
Reducing Opioid Prescriptions Lowers Consumption Without Detriment to Patient-Reported Pain Interference Scores After Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasties.

Abstract Background Opioid addiction is endemic in the United States. We developed a standardized opioid-prescribing schedule (SOPS) after total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and evaluated opioid usage alongside Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) pain interference scores. We hypothesized that opioid usage would be less than prescribed and reducing prescription would decrease consumption without negatively impacting the PROMIS scores. Methods A prospective observational study was performed on all patients undergoing primary THA and TKA from April 7, 2018, to August 10, 2019. Opioid consumption and pain interference were determined 2 weeks after discharge via telephone and email surveys. SOPSs were implemented during the study. Outcomes were compared in patients before and after the SOPS. Results A total of 715 patients met inclusion criteria; 201 patients completed surveys. Before the SOPS, the mean opioid prescription was 81.2 ± 15.3 tablets for THA and 82.9 ± 10.6 for TKA. The mean usage was 35.1 ± 29.4 tablets and 35.4 ± 33.4, respectively. After the SOPS, the mean usage decreased to 19.4 ± 16.8 (P = .04) and 31.6 ± 20.9 (P = .52), respectively. After implementation of a second SOPS for THA, the mean number of tablets consumed was 21.5 ± 18.6 (P = .05 compared with pre-SOPS). The PROMIS 6B responses in patients who underwent THA demonstrated no significant changes. PROMIS 6B responses for TKA showed an increase in interference with recreational activities (P = .04) and tasks away from home (P = .04), but otherwise had no significant impact on reported scores. Conclusions Implementation of the SOPS reduced postoperative opioid prescription and consumption without significantly impacting the reported pain interference, supporting the need to decrease opioid prescription after THA and TKA.
Superselective carotid body tumor embolization with platinum-based coils.

Abstract Resection of Shamblin II and III carotid body tumors can be challenging owing to the potential for significant blood loss. Prophylactic use of liquid embolic agents poses a risk of inflammatory reactions and nontarget embolization. On the other hand, coil embolization has traditionally been limited to cases involving external carotid artery sacrifice. Herein we demonstrate that superselective targeting of tumor-feeding vessels using platinum based, fully detachable packing coils is effective at sustained devascularization of Shamblin II and III carotid body tumors without subsequent inflammation, allowing for a longer interval between embolization and tumor resection, and potentially reducing blood loss without need for ligation or reconstruction of the internal or external carotid artery.
The Application of Electron Backscatter Diffraction for Investigating Intra-Particle Grain Architectures and Boundaries in Lithium Ion Electrodes

The performance and degradation of layered cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries are largely governed by their morphological and crystallographic properties. A comprehensive tool to spatially characterize grain architectures in electrode particles is needed to understand solid-state lithium transport and the efficacy of particles to avoid lithiation heterogeneities and strain-induced degradation. Here, we apply electron backscatter diffraction on LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2 particle cross-sections to spatially describe intra-particle grain architectures. A method for segmenting, labelling, and quantifying morphological properties of distinct grains is developed and applied. Crystallographic orientations are measured for each grain and the spatial distribution of grain orientations is quantified with a specific focus on describing the plane along which lithium transports, accounting for inter-grain lithiation barriers and for favorable inward lithiation of the particle. The extension from 2D to 3D descriptions of grain morphologies and orientations to predict lithiation inefficiencies is discussed, as well as a method to quantify the ideality of grain architectures for high-rate and efficient operation.
Targeting the Dysfunctional Placenta to Improve Pregnancy Outcomes Based on Lessons Learned in Cancer

In recent decades, our understanding of the disrupted mechanisms that contribute to major obstetrical diseases, including preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction, preterm birth, and gestational diabetes, has increased exponentially. Common to many of these obstetric diseases is placental maldevelopment and dysfunction; the placenta is a significant component of the maternal-fetal interface involved in coordinating, facilitating, and regulating maternal and fetal nutrient, oxygen and waste exchange, and hormone and cytokine production. Despite the advances in our understanding of placental development and function, there are currently no treatments for placental maldevelopment and dysfunction. However, given the transient nature and accessibility from the maternal circulation, the placenta offers a unique opportunity to develop targeted therapeutics for routine obstetric practices. Furthermore, given the similar developmental paradigms between the placenta and cancer, there is an opportunity to appropriate current knowledge from advances in targeted therapeutics in cancer treatments. In this review, we highlight the similarities between early placental development and cancer and introduce a number of targeted therapies currently being explored in cancer and pregnancy. We also propose a number of new effectors currently being targeted in cancer research that have the potential to be targeted in the development of treatments for pregnancy complications. Finally, we describe a method for targeting the placenta using nonviral polymers that are capable of delivering plasmids, small interfering RNA, and other effector nucleic acids, which could ultimately improve fetal and maternal outcomes from complicated pregnancies.
Dissertations and Theses in Top Nursing Publications: A Bibliometric Study

Objective - To investigate the overall prevalence of citations to theses and dissertations, as well as their prevalence in feature articles, editorials, and review articles in top research nursing journals. To evaluate differences between journals and to determine whether there was a change in use over time. Methods - Journals were selected from the Medical Library Association’s Nursing and Allied Health Resource Section’s 2012 Selected List of Nursing Journals. An evaluation was conducted of citations from 3,711 articles published in 2011 and 2018 in 7 top nursing journals. Thesis and dissertation citations were identified and categorized by type of scholarly communication: feature articles, reviews, and editorials. Analysis was conducted for the prevalence of citations for theses and dissertations based on percentage of overall citations and the percentage of articles with a thesis and dissertation citation. Results - Thesis and dissertation citations accounted for 0.41% of all citations. However, 9.43% of the articles contained at least one thesis and dissertation citation. Feature articles contained more thesis and dissertation citations than review articles and editorials. The Journal of Advanced Nursing, Journal of Clinical Nursing, and the Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences published a higher percentage of articles with at least one thesis and dissertation citation. Conclusion - The overall use of theses and dissertations in nursing scholarship is comparatively low compared to other forms of scholarly communication. However, this unique form of scholarship viewed from its impact on the percentage of scholarly articles in nursing demonstrates that theses and dissertations have made more of a contribution than previously reported. Our research provides libraries and the nursing academy with empirical evidence for the value of theses and dissertations. It provides librarians and the nursing academy justification for continuing efforts to preserve, enhance access through digital repositories, and to continue to explore strategies to promote the use of theses and dissertations in research.
Epidemiology of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms.

Abstract Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms, although rare, continue to be associated with high morbidity and mortality in the modern era of vascular surgery, and knowledge of this disease is essential for those in clinical practice. Given the clinically silent nature of the disease, it is difficult to determine disease incidence, with most epidemiologic recommendations not made based on evidence regarding those diagnosed with the disease, but extrapolated from data on surgical outcomes. It appears that although men are more likely to develop thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms, the distribution is not as skewed as in abdominal aortic aneurysms. Current evidence suggests that Black and Hispanic patients continue to have disproportionately poor disease outcomes, mostly attributed to later presentation and undergoing interventions at lower-volume centers. Although select patients meet criteria for disease screening based on personal or family history of aneurysmal disease, general population screening has not been recommended by any professional organization to date. Vascular surgeons need to continue to be at the forefront of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm management, especially as care becomes centered around comprehensive “aortic care centers” and as more endovascular therapies become available.
Dietary patterns and PFAS plasma concentrations in childhood: Project Viva, USA.

Abstract Background Diet is thought to account for most adult human exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Children are particularly vulnerable to adverse health effects of PFAS and may have different eating habits than adults. However, studies of dietary patterns and PFAS in children are limited. Methods We studied 548 Boston-area children with food frequency questionnaire data (89 food items) in early childhood (median age 3.3 years) and plasma concentrations of 6 PFAS quantified in mid-childhood (median age 7.7 years). We used univariate linear regression to examine associations between each food item and PFAS, accounting for multiple comparisons. We next used reduced rank regression (RRR) to estimate overall percent variation in PFAS explained by diet and identify dietary patterns most correlated with PFAS. All models were adjusted for race/ethnicity, maternal education, and household income. Results In univariate analyses, 2-(N-methyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamide) acetate (MeFOSAA) plasma concentrations were 17.8% (95% CI: 7.2, 29.5) and 17.0% (95% CI: 6.4, 28.7) higher per SD increment in intake of ice cream and soda, respectively. RRR identified 6 dietary patterns that together explained 18% variation in the plasma concentrations of the 6 PFAS, of which 50% was explained by a dietary pattern consisting of primarily packaged foods (including ice cream and soda) and fish. Children with higher intake of the packaged foods and fish dietary pattern had higher plasma concentrations of all PFAS, particularly MeFOSAA and PFOS. Conclusions Our analysis examined food intake in association with several PFAS in children and identified dietary determinants that may be sources of PFAS exposure or reflect correlated lifestyle or toxicokinetic factors. Further investigation may help inform measures to modify childhood PFAS exposure.
Parental stress and adolescent bullying perpetration and victimization: The mediating role of adolescent anxiety and family resilience

Although past research suggests that parental stress can heighten adolescents' risk for bullying perpetration and victimization, the mechanisms underlying such a potential link and that may involve child psychological wellbeing remain unclear. Parental stress may heighten adolescents' risk for bullying involvement by elevating adolescents' anxiety and interfering with family functioning. Therefore, the current study investigated the role of adolescent anxiety and family resilience as mediators linking parental stress with adolescent bullying involvement. Sex differences in these associations were also explored. Analyses relied on data collected from 11,244 parents who participated in the 2019 National Survey of Children's Health. Parents completed surveys assessing parental stress, adolescent anxiety, family resilience, and adolescents' involvement in bullying perpetration as well as victimization. Results from structural equation models indicated that a higher level of parental stress was related to greater bullying perpetration and victimization among both male and female adolescents. Moreover, parental stress was indirectly related to bullying victimization via elevated adolescent anxiety for both girls and boys, whereas parental stress was indirectly related to bullying perpetration via reduced family resilience for boys but not girls. The findings highlight connections between adolescents' family and peer contexts and implicate adolescent anxiety and family resilience as putative mechanisms linking parental stress and bullying involvement.
Reduction of same-day inpatient surgical cancellations with preoperative risk stratification

Abstract Background The role of preoperative clinics in improving surgical outcomes, reducing rate of surgical delays and case cancellations for patients undergoing outpatient elective surgery is well established. However, the impact of preoperative evaluation and risk assessment of inpatients undergoing surgery is less clear. We hypothesized that utilizing a standardized risk stratification method could reduce the rate of Same-Day Inpatient Cancellations (SDICs) in patients undergoing inpatient surgery. Methods This was a single center study conducted at an academic tertiary care hospital. An inpatient surgery form (ISF) that included a “risk stratification matrix” was completed for all inpatients undergoing non-emergent surgery. ISF was implemented at our institution over a three-year period (July 2014- March 2017). ISF stratified patients into “low,” “intermediate,” and “high” risk groups, which prompted hospitalist and anesthesia consultations based on the patient's risk category. We evaluated the difference in median SDIC rates during the four phases and differences in median proportions of SDICs attributable to Medical Related cancellations (MRCs) and Process-related cancellations (PRCs). Results Of 17,177 inpatient cases included for analysis, the average SDIC rate over the study was 9.5%. The Post-ISF SDIC rate was significantly less than the Pre-ISF SDIC rate (8.0% vs. 9.7%, p = 0.004). The proportion of MRCs during Post-ISF was also less than the Pre-ISF proportion of MRCs (47.1% vs. 60%, p = 0.02). Conclusion Standardized approach to preoperative risk stratification combined with timely pre-operative assessment and medical optimization of inpatients requiring surgery reduces the overall rate of inpatient surgical case cancellations.
Reduced Order Dynamical Models For Complex Dynamics in Manufacturing and Natural Systems Using Machine Learning.

Dynamical analysis of manufacturing and natural systems provides critical information about production of manufactured and natural resources respectively, thus playing an important role in assessing sustainability of these systems. However, current dynamic models for these systems exist as mechanistic models, simulation of which is computationally intensive and does not provide a simplified understanding of the mechanisms driving the overall dynamics. For such systems, lower-order models can prove useful to enable sustainability analysis through coupled dynamical analysis. There have been few attempts at finding low-order models of manufacturing and natural systems, with existing work focused on model development of individual mechanism level. This work seeks to fill this current gap in the literature of developing simplified dynamical models for these systems by developing reduced-order models using a machine learning (ML) approach. The approach is demonstrated on an entire soybean-oil to soybean-diesel process plant and a lake system. We use a grey-box ML method with a standard nonlinear optimization approach to identify relevant models of governing dynamics as ODEs using the data simulated from mechanistic models. Results show that the method identifies a high accuracy linear ODE models for the process plant, reflective of underlying linear stoichiometric mechanisms and mass balance driving the dynamics. For the natural systems, we modify the ML approach to include the effect of past dynamics, which gives non-linear ODE. While the modified approach provides a better match to dynamics of stream flow, it falls short of completely recreating the dynamics. We conclude that the proposed ML approach work well for systems where dynamics is smooth, such as in manufacturing plant whereas does not work perfectly well in case of chaotic dynamics such as water stream flow.
Field Guide to Challenges and Opportunities in Antibody-Drug Conjugates for Chemists.

Antibody–drug conjugates have attracted a great amount of attention as a therapeutic strategy for diseases where targeting specific tissues and cells are critical components, such as in cancer therapy. Although promising, the number of approved ADC drugs is relatively limited. This emanates from the challenges associated with generating the conjugates and the complexities associated with the stability requirements for these conjugates during circulation and after reaching the target. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the design challenges facing the ADC field. These challenges also provide several unique research and development opportunities, which are also highlighted throughout the review.
Senate Delay of Minority Nominees to the Federal Judiciary: A Look at Race, Gender, and Experience

The author examines whether race, gender, or experience correlate with delay of lower federal court judicial nominations by the U.S. Senate. President Clinton and Eleanor Holmes Norton claimed that Clinton's minority judicial nominees were being unfairly delayed. The evidence suggests that these claims were unfounded when comparing Clinton's nominees to those of past presidents. There was, however, significantly enhanced and widespread delay of President Clinton's nominations in general and overall. Female judges were confirmed more slowly than their male counterparts. Female candidates were rated lower by the ABA than male candidates even though they generally had more judicial and prosecutorial experience than male candidates.
Can Selection Explain the Presbyterians

Darwin9s Cathedral Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society. David Sloan Wilson. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2002. 276 pp. $25, £16. ISBN 0-226-90134-3. According to Wilson, human societies can be thought of as organisms and religion and morality are best understood as complex adaptations of these units.
A new look at the reliability of thin film metallizations for microelectronic devices

A brief reivew on the failure modes in thin film metallizations is given emphasizing electromigration, thermomigration, and thermal grooving of the grain boundaries. The most important parameters which influence the failures, such as grain boundaries, grain boundary gradients, temperature gradients, activation energy for ion migration, etc., are discussed. Alternate methods which improve the electromigration resistance in metallizations such as films consisting of gold or copper, or of ionized cluster beam deposited aluminum are described. Finally, a model is presented which enables one to evaluate electromigration under pulsed conditions.
A situation assessment framework for cyber security information relevance reasoning

Cyber security is one of the most serious economic and national challenges faced by nations all over the world. When a cyber security incident occurs, the critical question that security administrators are concerned about is: What has happened? Cyber situation assessment is critical to making correct and timely defense decisions by the analysts. STIX ontology, which was developed by taking advantage of existing cyber security related standards, is used to represent cyber threat information and infer important features of the cyber situation that help decision makers form their situational awareness. However, due to the widespread application of information technology, security analysts face a challenge in information overload. There are still huge volumes of low level observations captured by various sensors and network tools that need to be used to derive the high level intelligence queries such as potential courses of action and future impact. Therefore, identification of the relevant cyber threat information for a specific query is a crucial procedure for cyber situation assessment. In this paper, we leverage the STIX ontology to represent cyber threat information in a logical framework. In order to recognize specific situation types and identify the minimal and sufficient information for answering a query automatically, we propose an information relevance reasoning mechanism based on situation theory. Finally, we implement our proposed framework using a dataset generated by Skaion corporation.
Domain-specific CLIR of english, german and russian using fusion and subject metadata for query expansion

This paper describes the combined submissions of the Berkeley group for the domain-specific track at CLEF 2005. The data fusion technique being tested is the fusion of multiple probabilistic searches against different XML components using both Logistic Regression (LR) algorithms and a version of the Okapi BM-25 algorithm. We also combine multiple translations of queries in cross-language searching. The second technique analyzed is query enhancement with domain-specific metadata (thesaurus terms). We describe our technique of Entry Vocabulary Modules, which associates query words with thesaurus terms and suggest its use for monolingual as well as bilingual retrieval. Different weighting and merging schemes for adding keywords to queries as well as translation techniques are described.
Identifying sources of sorbing solutes in groundwater using backward location probabilities conditioned on measured concentrations

If contamination is observed in an aquifer, a backward probability model can be used to obtain information about the prior position of the observed contamination or the source location. Backward location probability describes the possible prior positions of the observed contaminant particle at a specified time in the past. If the source release time is known or can be estimated, the backward location probability can be used to identify possible source locations. For sorbing solutes, the location probability depends on the phase (aqueous or sorbed) of the observed contamination and on the phase of the contamination at the source. We present a two-step approach for obtaining backward location probabilities that are conditioned on the observed concentrations. In the first step, a backward location probability distribution is obtained that depends only on the observation locations, on the phase of the observed contamination, and on the transport properties of the aquifer and solute. This unconditioned backward location probability distribution is obtained by solving the adjoint of a forward contaminant transport equation. The second step is to condition this backward location probability distribution on the measured concentrations using an equation based on Bayes' theorem. The conditioned probability distribution has a smaller variance than the unconditioned distribution, and it is more accurate.
Tolvaptan in hospitalized cancer patients with hyponatremia: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial on efficacy and safety

BACKGROUND The rate of hyponatremia is higher in hospitalized cancer patients than in hospitalized patients without cancer and is associated with poor clinical outcomes. The availability of V2 receptor antagonists has been a major breakthrough in the management of hyponatremia, but its efficacy and safety in treating hyponatremia in patients with cancer is not known. METHODS Adult patients with cancer who were admitted to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center with nonhypovolemic hyponatremia (125-130 mmol/L) were randomized to receive either tolvaptan or placebo in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, adaptive, randomized trial. Both groups received the standard of care for hyponatremia, except that patients were allowed to drink to thirst. RESULTS A preplanned Data Safety Monitoring Board analysis of 30 of 48 randomized patients who completed the study revealed that the primary endpoint of hyponatremia correction was met by 16 of 17 patients who received tolvaptan and by 1 of 13 patients who received placebo (94% vs 8%; P 12 mmol/L per day) was noted in the tolvaptan group, and the main adverse events noted were dry mouth, polydipsia, and polyuria, leading to 13% study withdrawal. CONCLUSIONS Although tolvaptan was effective for correcting hyponatremia in patients with cancer, studies with a larger sample size will be required to confirm the current findings, including the outcomes of secondary endpoints. Cancer 2014;120:744–751. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Job Accessibility of the Poor in Los Angeles

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Kain's Spatial Mismatch Hypothesis (SMH) suggests that disadvantaged groups who reside in inner-city neighborhoods have low access to regional jobs. We continue to debate this assertion because empirical studies over decades have conflicting results. This research examines whether the poor face spatial mismatch and how suburbanization has changed their job accessibility, in the Los Angeles region between 1990 and 2007–2011. I define spatial mismatch as occurring when the poor in the inner city have lower job accessibility than their suburban counterparts. I estimate job accessibility based on the spatial distribution of jobs and job seekers traveling via private automobiles. My results present a complicated picture: Inner-city poor job seekers have higher job accessibility than their suburban counterparts because many jobs remain in the inner city; thus, the inner-city poor do not face spatial mismatch. Moreover, suburbanization has evened out the differences in t...
Pedagogical Strategies For Incorporating Behavioral Finance Concepts In Investment Courses

The traditional approach to teaching a course in investments is predicated upon the efficient market hypothesis, modern portfolio theory, and the assumption that decision-makers are rational, wealth optimizing entities. Recent developments in the arena of behavioral finance (BF) have raised questions about this approach. Although the idea of efficient markets is widely accepted in academic circles, financial markets often fail to behave as predicted by the theory. For the teacher of undergraduate investments, these divergent views create significant pedagogical challenges and opportunities. BF has particular implications for investing in financial markets, where the faith in rational behavior is perhaps the greatest. This paper identifies alternative strategies for dealing with these issues in the classroom.
Preoperative Plasma Levels of Transforming Growth Factor Beta1 (TGF-β1) Strongly Predict Progression in Patients Undergoing Radical Prostatectomy

PURPOSE: Elevated local and circulating levels of transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-β1) have been associated with prostate cancer invasion and metastasis. We tested the hypothesis that preoperative plasma TGF-β1 levels would independently predict cancer stage and prognosis in patients who undergo radical prostatectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study group consisted of 120 consecutive patients who underwent radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer (median follow-up, 53.8 months). Preoperative plasma levels of TGF-β1 were measured and correlated with pathologic parameters and clinical outcomes. TGF-β1 levels also were measured in 44 healthy men without cancer, in 19 men with prostate cancer metastatic to regional lymph nodes, and in 10 men with prostate cancer metastatic to bone. RESULTS: Plasma TGF-β1 levels in patients with lymph node metastases (14.2 ± 2.6 ng/mL) and bone metastases (15.5 ± 2.4 ng/mL) were higher than those in radical prostatectomy patients (5.2 ± 1.3 ng/mL) an...