cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Predictors of Breastfeeding Confidence in the Early Postpartum Period

Abstract Objective To identify factors related to breastfeeding self-efficacy, an important psychological variable in sustained breastfeeding, in the postpartum period. Design Descriptive correlational study. Setting Data were collected on the mother–baby unit of an academic medical center in the Northeastern United States. Participants This convenience sample (N = 107) was composed of women in the first 4 days postpartum and included nearly equal numbers of primiparas (49.5%, n = 53) and multiparas (50.5%, n = 54). Methods Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale–10, Birth Satisfaction Scale–Revised, Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale–Short Form, and a demographic questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Results Breastfeeding self-efficacy was positively correlated with birth satisfaction, number of children, partner support of breastfeeding, intention to breastfeed, intention to breastfeed exclusively for 6 months, and feeling prepared for birth. Breastfeeding self-efficacy was greater in women with previous breastfeeding experience and lower in mothers of newborns who received in-hospital formula supplementation. A standard multiple linear regression explained approximately 38.5% of the variance in self-efficacy scores. Conclusion Nurses can apply our findings to inform strategies to increase breastfeeding confidence, such as promoting birth satisfaction, involving partners in breastfeeding education, and limiting the use of in-hospital formula supplementation.
Evaluation of in-situ analysis strategies at scale for power efficiency and scalability

The increasing gap between available compute power and I/O capabilities is resulting in simulation pipelines running on leadership computing facilities being reformulated. In particular, in-situ processing is complementing conventional post-process analysis, however, it can be performed by using the same compute resources as the simulation or using secondary dedicated resources. In this paper, we focus on three different in-situ analysis strategies, which use the same compute resources as the ongoing simulation but different data movement strategies. We evaluate the costs incurred by these strategies in terms of run time, scalability and power/energy consumption. Furthermore, we extrapolate power behavior to peta-scale and investigate different design choices through projections. Experimental evaluation at full machine scale on Titan supports that using fewer cores per node for in-situ analysis is the optimum choice in terms of scalability. Hence, further research effort should be devoted towards developing in-situ analysis techniques following this strategy in future high-end systems.
Migration, Marriage, And Ethnicity

Historical narratives have consistently overlooked the role of marriage in the process leading to the Islamization of the Casamance, the southwestern part of Senegal.1 This negligence is a clear reflection of the minor role played by this region in the historiography of Senegambia as a whole. Instead of exploring the early development of Islam throughout the Casamance, this chapter focuses on the interwoven relationships between migration, marriage, and ethnic identity transformation in the Middle Casamance. Its chronological focus is the period between the first half of the seventeenth century, when the original Muslim settlements began to emerge, and the mid-nineteenth century, when the balance of religious power was dramatically shifting in favor of Muslims.
Timing of Insecticide Application for Cabbage Maggot1 Control in Seeded Turnip on the Central Coast of California

Abstract. Because infestation by cabbage maggot, Delia radicum (L.), does not peak immediately after planting seeds, experiments in 2014 and 2015 determined the effect of timing insecticide application for control on direct-seeded turnip, Brassica rapa var. rapa (L.). Treatments were one chlorpyrifos application either at planting or 2 weeks after planting. Twenty turnip roots were sampled three times starting 2 weeks after the second application. Roots were evaluated for the number of roots infested with cabbage maggots and severity of damage on a scale of 0 = no injury, through 9 = no root hairs or >90% root destroyed. In both years, incidence of cabbage maggot was significantly less in turnip roots treated with insecticide 2 weeks after planting than at planting. Implications of these results for management of cabbage maggot on the Central Coast of California are discussed.
A Novel Mechanism of GLI2 Mediated Regulation of IgM Secretion in Waldenström Macroglobulinemia

Immunoglobulin (Ig) secretion by terminally differentiated B-cells is important in the immune response to pathogens. Its over production is a defining characteristic of many B-cell malignancies, including Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia (WM), where elevated IgM is associated with significant morbidity and poor prognosis. Thus, the identification and characterization of the mechanisms controlling Ig secretion are of great importance for the development of future therapeutic approaches for these diseases. Here, we define a novel pathway involving the oncogenic transcription factor, GLI2, modulating IgM secretion via regulation of IL-6 receptor alpha subunit (IL6Rα) expression in WM cells. We have previously identified components of the Hedgehog (HH)-GLI pathway as modulators of Ig secretion. Pharmacological (GANT61) and genetic (shRNA) inhibition of GLI proteins resulted in no significant effect on cell proliferation or viability, while there was a significant reduction in IgM secretion (60%) in BCWM.1 (p<0.0001), (55%) in MWCL-1 (p<0.0001) and (50%) in RPCI-WM1 (p<0.0001) cells. Interestingly, this occurred independent of HH signaling as manipulation of HH had no effect on IgM secretion, cell growth or viability. Screening for a mechanism identified IL6Rα as a downstream direct target of GLI activity. GANT61 treatment significantly reduces IL6Rα promoter activity in BCWM.1 (p=0.0002), MWCL-1 (P=0.0003) and RPCI-WM1 (p<0.0001) cells. GLI2 knockdown using two independent shGLI2 constructs resulted in reduced IL6Rα mRNA expression (p<0.0001) determined by qPCR, and IL6Rα protein expression examined by FACS analysis. Similarly, GLI2 knockdown diminished IL6Rα promoter activity in BCWM.1 (p=0.0218), MWCL-1 (p=0.0008) and RPCI-WM1 (p=0.0002) cells. Using bioinformatics analysis, we identified three candidate GLI2 binding sites in the IL6Rα promoter region. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation assay (ChIP) followed by qPCR, we confirmed that GLI2 directly binds to the IL6Rα promoter region (-1294 / -1065). Finally, we were able to rescue the reduction in IgM secretion in GLI2 knockdown group by overexpressing IL6Rα (p=0.0142). Taken together, these data reveal a novel mechanism where GLI2 modulates IgM secretion in WM through the regulation of IL6Rα expression. Given the poor prognosis associated with elevated IgM in WM patients, components of this new signaling axis could be important therapeutic targets. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Long distance truck tracking from advanced point detectors using a selective weighted Bayesian model

Abstract Truck flow patterns are known to vary by season and time-of-day, and to have important implications for freight modeling, highway infrastructure design and operation, and energy and environmental impacts. However, such variations cannot be captured by current truck data sources such as surveys or point detectors. To facilitate development of detailed truck flow pattern data, this paper describes a new truck tracking algorithm that was developed to estimate path flows of trucks by adopting a linear data fusion method utilizing weigh-in-motion (WIM) and inductive loop point detectors. A Selective Weighted Bayesian Model (SWBM) was developed to match individual vehicles between two detector locations using truck physical attributes and inductive waveform signatures. Key feature variables were identified and weighted via Bayesian modeling to improve vehicle matching performance. Data for model development were collected from two WIM sites spanning 26 miles in California where only 11 percent of trucks observed at the downstream site traversed the whole corridor. The tracking model showed 81 percent of correct matching rate to the trucks declared as through trucks from the algorithm. This high accuracy showed that the tracking model is capable of not only correctly matching through vehicles but also successfully filtering out non-through vehicles on this relatively long distance corridor. In addition, the results showed that a Bayesian approach with full integration of two complementary detector data types could successfully track trucks over long distances by minimizing the impacts of measurement variations or errors from the detection systems employed in the tracking process. In a separate case study, the algorithm was implemented over an even longer 65-mile freeway section and demonstrated that the proposed algorithm is capable of providing valuable insights into truck travel patterns and industrial affiliation to yield a comprehensive truck activity data source.
Approximate solutions to factored Markov decision processes via greedy search in the space of finite state controllers

In stochastic planning problems formulated as factored Markov decision processes (MDPs), also called dynamic belief network MDPs (DBN-MDPs) (Boutilier, Dean, & Hanks 1999), finding the best policy (or conditional plan) is NP-hard. One of the difficulties comes from the fact that the number of conditionals required to specify the policy can grow to be exponential in the size of the representation for the MDP. Several recent algorithms have focused on finding an approximate policy by restricting the representation of conditionals using decision trees. We propose an alternative policy representation for Factored MDPs in terms of finite-state machine (FSM) controllers. Since practically speaking we are forced to limit the number of conditionals, we claim that there is a benefit to be had in using FSM controllers given that these controllers can use their internal state to maintain context information that might otherwise require a large conditional table or decision tree. Although the optimal policy might not be representable as a finite-state controller with a fixed amount of memory, we will be satisfied with finding a "good" policy; to that end, we derive a stochastic greedy-search algorithm based on recent developments in reinforcement learning (Baird & Moore 1999) and then demonstrate its performance in some example domains.
Behavioural Physiology of the Colonial Hydroid Obelia : II. Stimulus-Initiated Electrical Activity and Bioluminescence

1. Electrical, mechanical or chemical (KC1) stimuli produce similar luminescent flashing in Obelia geniculata . Hydranth withdrawal also occurs upon electrical or mechanical stimulation. 2. Luminescent flashes in response to individual stimuli occur in bursts. The first few flashes of the burst facilitate in intensity and then decline. Successive flashes within each burst show a constant shape and duration but a variable intensity. 3. The decay phase of the luminescent flash has a rate constant of 50 s -1 at 20±1 °C and 29 s -1 at 127plusmn; 1 °C. From these figures an energy of activation of about 12 kcal can be calculated. 4. Upon stimulation, an excitation system, the luminescent potential (LP) system, initiates the luminescent effector flashing. The LPs are monophasic, positive, and slow (duration about 120 ms) and are distinguishable from contraction potentials (KPs) mouth-opening potentials (MOPs) and tentacle contraction potentials (TKPs). LPs are all-or-none, non-decremental, through-conducting (at least over short distances) and show non-polar spread. 5. The LP systems can drive the KPs at the LP frequency. Coupling varies from none to very tight, and the degree of coupling is determined at each hydranth. 6. Several other campanulariids and probably most, if not all, luminescent hydroids possess similar physiological mechanisms for controlling stimulus-initiated luminescent responses.
Implementation of Topology Optimization Using OpenMDAO

Topology optimization is one of the widely known branches among the structural optimization, and it distinguishes itself by a large design domain and versatility. It can determine the optimal design out of an infinite number of configurations, thereby drawing interest from both industry and academia with regards to its applicability to additive manufacturing. However, its implementation is often a daunting task for engineers in practice. One of the issues is the programming effort required whenever the implementation requires any changes, ranging from subtle tweaks to drastic changes in the problem definition, and the derivative computation must be correspondingly updated after any change. The implementation, therefore, is not only time-consuming but also repetitive and susceptible to human-induced errors. In this regard, topology optimization implementations stand to benefit from reusability, ease of restructuring, and modularity. In this work, we propose OpenMDAO, a computational framework for multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO), as a generic platform for topology optimization. Two widely used topology optimization techniquesâ€"density-based and level-setâ€"are implemented as a demonstration. These techniques are implemented in a decomposed manner, with the aid of the modular architecture of OpenMDAO as well as state-of-the-art numerical methods. Variations on the density-based topology optimization approach are shown to demonstrate the modularity and automation for derivative computation that OpenMDAO provides.
Optical Measurements for Scientists and Engineers : A Practical Guide

With this accessible, introductory guide, you will quickly learn how to use and apply optical spectroscopy and optical microscopy techniques. Focusing on day-to-day implementation and offering practical lab tips throughout, it provides step-by-step instructions on how to select the best technique for a particular application, how to set up and customize new optical systems, and how to analyze optical data. You will gain an intuitive understanding of the full range of standard optical techniques, from fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy to super resolution microscopy. Understand how to navigate around an optics lab with clear descriptions of the most common optical components and tools. Including explanations of basic optics and photonics, and easy-to-understand mathematics, this is an invaluable resource for graduate students, instructors, researchers and professionals who use or teach optical measurements in laboratories.
Dusukasi-The Heart That Cries: An Idiom of Mental Distress Among Perinatal Women in Rural Mali.

Perinatal mental health problems such as depression and anxiety are prevalent in low and middle-income countries. In Mali, the lack of mental health care is compounded by few studies on mental health needs, including in the perinatal period. This paper examines the ways in which perinatal women experience and express mental distress in rural Mali. We describe a process, relying on several different qualitative research methods, to identify understandings of mental distress specific to the Malian context. Participants included perinatal women, maternal health providers, and community health workers in rural southwest Mali. Participants articulated several idioms of distress, including geleya (difficulties), tooro (pain, suffering), hamin (worries, concerns), and dusukasi (crying heart), that occur within a context of poverty, interpersonal conflict, and gender inequality. These idioms of distress were described as sharing many key features and operating on a continuum of severity that could progress over time, both within and across idioms. Our findings highlight the context dependent nature of experiences and expressions of distress among perinatal women in Mali.
The Thermal Conductivity of Ti-5Al-2.5 Sn between 1.2 and 35 K: The Effect of Plastic Deformation

Measurements of the thermal conductivity of swaged and annealed samples of Ti-5A1-2.5 Sn have been made between 1.2 and 35 K. The thermal conductivity of the annealed material increases uniformly from a value of 1.67 × 10−3 w cm−1 K−1 at 2 K to 28.3 × 10−3 w cm−1 K−1 at 30 K. The thermal conductivities of the swaged specimens are roughly 65% of those of the annealed throughout this temperature range. The measured thermal conductivities. The difference between the lattice thermal conductivities of the swaged and annealed samples cannot be explained in terms of phonon scattering by a random arrangement of sessile dislocations.
Einige endokrinologische Besonderheiten der Vögel

Anhand neuer embryologischer, morphologischer, physiologischer und biochemischer Befunde werden die vogelspezifischen Eigentumlichkeiten von drei endokrinen Systemen diskutiert: Pinealkomplex, hypothalamo-hypophysares System und gastrointestinales Endokrinium. Trotz der allgemein besonders starken Beeinflusbarkeit der Vogel durch photoperiodische Veranderungen ist bei ihnen der Pinealkomplex zu einer intracranialen endokrinen Druse reduziert. Diese Epiphyse (Pinealorgan) zeigt unter experimentellen Bedingungen eine auserordentliche Unabhangigkeit von photoperiodischer Steuerung. Das vollige Fehlen des Pinealkomplexes bei den relativ nahe verwandten Krokodilen deutet auf die Moglichkeit hin, das dies wohl eher phylogenetisch als funktionell zu erklaren ist. Das hypothalamo-hypophysare System ist im wesentlichen reptilienartig, zeigt aber drei auffallende Spezialisierungen: 1. Eine hochentwickelte Eminentia mediana, welche aus zwei getrennten Regionen besteht. 2. Die Pars distalis ist mit der Eminentia so verbunden, das ihre beiden Unterabteilungen (cephaler und caudaler Lappen) von beiden Regionen der Eminentia uber getrennte Portalgefase versorgt werden. 3. Den Vogeln als Gruppe fehlt die Pars intermedia. Die auffallendsten Besonderheiten des gastrointestinalen Endokriniums stehen mit dem Inselorgan in Verbindung: insulinproduzierende B-Zellen und glukagonbildende A-Zellen sind weitgehend in besondere Inseln getrennt. Im Gegensatz zu dem der anderen Tetrapoden ist das Fettgewebe der Vogel insulin-unempfindlich. Die endokrine Kontrolle des Fettgewebes erfolgt uber eine indirekte anabole Route (durch prolaktinstimulierte Lipogenese in der Leber) sowie eine direkte katabole Route durch Pankreasglukagon. Bei einem Vergleich mit anderen Gnathostomengruppen zeigen Epiphyse, Adenohypophyse und Inselorgan einen besonders starken Trend zur Unabhangigkeit von direkter Innervation. In bezug auf Adenohypophyse und Inselorgan reprasentieren dabei die Vogel das entgegengesetzte Extrem zu den Knochenfischen (Teleostier), bei denen diese Drusen besonders stark innerviert sind. Die Vogel und Teleostier werden kurz mit den Myxiniden verglichen, deren endokrines System besonders schwach entwickelt ist. Die Unterschiede zwischen den drei Gruppen werden durch drei verschiedene Wege der Anpassung an Umweltbedingungen gedeutet: 1. Aktive Anpassung durch ein hochentwickeltes neuro-endokrines Kontrollsystem (Teleostier). 2. Passive, osmokonforme Anpassung, welche ein stark entwickeltes Endokrinium uberflussig macht (Myxiniden). 3. Vermeidung ungunstiger Umweltbedingungen durch Flugvermogen; eine verfeinerte, sekretomotorische Kontrolle der endokrinen Drusen des normalen Stoffwechsels ist unnotig (Vogel).
Influence of pretransplant midodrine use on outcomes after kidney transplantation.

Evaluation of potential kidney transplant recipients is important to identify and treat conditions that may influence graft or patient survival after transplantation. We performed a single-center, observational cohort study to determine whether pretransplant midodrine use influences outcomes after kidney transplantation. We analyzed graft and patient outcomes for adult patients who underwent a kidney-only transplantation at Barnes-Jewish Hospital from January 1999 to December 2015. We quantified adjusted associations of pretransplant midodrine use with post-transplant complications by multivariable Cox regression. Among the 2621 kidney transplant recipients analyzed, 37 (1.4%) were taking midodrine immediately prior to transplantation. Midodrine users were more commonly older (56.5 vs 50.4 years) and obese (67.6% vs 33.6%). Midodrine users were also more likely to be on hemodialysis (86.5% vs 59.2%), to have a longer duration of dialysis dependence (646 months vs 577 months), and to have higher levels of sensitization (peak panel reactive antibody >20%, 32.4% vs 15.8%) compared to nonusers. Pretransplant midodrine users had significantly higher rates of delayed graft function (DGF) (32.4% vs 6.7%, P < 0.001). No difference in the incidence of DGF was observed based on the midodrine dosing regimen. After multivariable adjustment for recipient and donor characteristics, pretransplant midodrine use was independently associated with graft failure at 1 year (adjusted hazard ratio, 5.11; 95% confidence interval, 2.09-12.49).
Picoanalysis of Drugs in Biofluids with Quantitative Label-Free Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

The enormous increase of Raman signal in the vicinity of metal nanoparticles allows surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to be employed for label-free detection of substances at extremely low concentrations. However, the ultimate potential of label-free SERS to identify pharmaceutical compounds at low concentrations, especially in relation to biofluid sensing, is far from being fully realized. Opioids are a particular challenge for rapid clinical identification because their molecular structural similarities prevent their differentiation with immunolabeling approaches. In this paper, a new method called quantitative label-free SERS (QLF-SERS) which involves the formation of halide-conjugated gold nanoclusters trapping the analyte of interest near the SERS hot spots is reported, and it is demonstrated that it yields a 105 fold improvement in the detection limit over previously reported results for the entire class of clinically relevant opioids and their metabolites. Measurements of opioid concentrations in multicomponent mixtures are also demonstrated. QLF-SERS has comparable detection limits as currently existing laboratory urine drug testing techniques but is significantly faster and inexpensive and, therefore, can be easily adapted as part of a rapid clinical laboratory routine.
Technology Commercialization Strategy Dynamics and Entrepreneurial Performance

Abstract: How do technology entrepreneurs formulate a commercialization strategy, and how do those choices impact performance? We present evidence from all entrants into the speech recognition industry, where a “greenfield” commercialization environment affords wide latitude in strategic choice. While the initial choice of commercialization strategy does not predict performance, subsequently “pivoting” to another strategy strongly increases the hazard of a liquidity event. Intra-industry spinoffs are particularly likely to pivot. Results are confirmed when we instrument for pivoting with the unanticipated 2001 demise of the industry’s largest technology licensor following an accounting scandal. Our results extend the literature on commercialization strategies, both by examining the dynamics of strategy-making and their impact on ultimate outcomes. They also suggest a novel mechanism underlying the success of spinoffs and indicate a possible role for dynamic capabilities in small firms.
Multimedia applications

As multimedia proliferate throughout the computing domain, ever more documents are being made using semantically rich audiovisual media. Consequently, mining knowledge hidden in multimedia documents is a complex task that involves fusing data from many media and depends upon basic capabilities of identifying basic features in audio and video streams. Existing work in this area mines for cinematic structures, interesting audiovisual sequences and spatiotemporal rules, and medical imaging.
Increasing Medical Student Interest in Nephrology.

Background Interest in nephrology careers is declining, possibly due to perceptions of the field and/or training aspects. Understanding practices of medical schools successfully instilling nephrology interest could inform efforts to attract leading candidates to the specialty. Methods The American Society of Nephrology Workforce Committee's Best Practices Project was one of several initiatives to increase nephrology career interest. Board-certified nephrologists graduating medical school between 2002 and 2009 were identified in the American Medical Association Masterfile and their medical schools ranked by production. Renal educators from the top 10 producing institutions participated in directed focus groups inquiring about key factors in creating nephrology career interest, including aspects of their renal courses, clinical rotations, research activities, and faculty interactions. Thematic content analysis of the transcripts (with inductive reasoning implementing grounded theory) was performed to identify factors contributing to their programs' success. Results The 10 schools identified were geographically representative, with similar proportions of graduates choosing internal medicine (mean 26%) as the national graduating class (26% in the 2017 residency Match). Eighteen educators from 9 of these 10 institutions participated. Four major themes were identified contributing to these schools' success: (1) nephrology faculty interaction with medical students; (2) clinical exposure to nephrology and clinical relevance of renal pathophysiology materials; (3) use of novel educational modalities; and (4) exposure, in particular early exposure, to the breadth of nephrology practice. Conclusion Early and consistent exposure to a range of clinical nephrology experiences and nephrology faculty contact with medical students are important to help generate interest in the specialty.
Smoking cessation behaviors among older U.S. adults

Abstract Smoking cessation is a critical component of cancer prevention among older adults (age ≥ 65 years). Understanding smoking cessation behaviors among older adults can inform clinical and community efforts to increase successful cessation. We provide current, national prevalence estimates for smoking cessation behaviors among older adults, including interest in quitting, quitting attempts, quitting successes, receiving advice to quit from a healthcare provider, and use of evidence-based tobacco cessation treatments. The 2015 National Health Interview Survey and Cancer Control Supplement were used to estimate cigarette smoking status and cessation behaviors among older US adults across selected socio-demographic and health characteristics. We found that four in five older adults who had ever smoked cigarettes had quit and more than half who currently smoked were interested in quitting but fewer than half made a past-year quit attempt. Two-thirds of older adults said that a healthcare provider advised them to quit smoking, but just over one-third who tried to quit used evidence-based tobacco cessation treatments and only one in 20 successfully quit in the past year. Prevalence estimates for smoking cessation behaviors were similar across most characteristics. Our study demonstrates that few older adults, across most levels of characteristics examined, successfully quit smoking, underscoring the importance of assisting smoking cessation efforts. Healthcare providers can help older adults quit smoking by offering or referring evidence-based cessation treatments. States and communities can implement population-based interventions including tobacco price increases, comprehensive smoke-free policies, high-impact tobacco education media campaigns, and barrier-free access to evidence-based tobacco cessation counseling and medications.
Interdependent Metal-Metal Bonding and Ligand Redox-Activity in a Series of Dinuclear Macrocyclic Complexes of Iron, Cobalt, and Nickel.

This report describes an isostructural series of dinuclear iron, cobalt, and nickel complexes bound by a redox-active macrocyclic ligand. The series spans five redox levels (34–38 e–/cluster core),...
Structural Interaction of Apolipoprotein A-I Mimetic Peptide with Amyloid-β Generates Toxic Hetero-oligomers.

Abstract Apolipoproteins are involved in pathological conditions of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and it has been reported that truncated apolipoprotein fragments and β-amyloid (Aβ) peptides coexist as neurotoxic heteromers within the plaques. Therefore, it is important to investigate these complexes at the molecular level to better understand their properties and roles in the pathology of AD. Here, we present a mechanistic insight into such heteromerization using a structurally homologue apolipoprotein fragment of apoA-I (4F) complexed with Aβ(M1-42) and characterize their toxicity. The 4F peptide slows down the aggregation kinetics of Aβ(M1-42) by constraining its structural plasticity. NMR and CD experiments identified 4F-Aβ(M1-42) heteromers comprised of unstructured Aβ(M1-42) and helical 4F. A uniform two-fold reduction in 15N/1H NMR signal intensities of Aβ(M1-42) with no observable chemical shift perturbation indicated the formation of a large complex, which was further confirmed by diffusion NMR experiments. Microsecond-scale atomistic molecular dynamics simulations showed that 4F interaction with Aβ(M1-42) is electrostatically driven and induces unfolding of Aβ(M1-42). Neurotoxicity profiling of Aβ(M1-42) complexed with 4F confirms a significant reduction in cell viability and neurite growth. Thus, the molecular architecture of heteromerization between 4F and Aβ(M1-42) discovered in this study provides evidence toward our understanding of the role of apolipoproteins or their truncated fragments in exacerbating AD pathology.
Competitive Mirror Descent.

Constrained competitive optimization involves multiple agents trying to minimize conflicting objectives, subject to constraints. This is a highly expressive modeling language that subsumes most of modern machine learning. In this work we propose competitive mirror descent (CMD): a general method for solving such problems based on first order information that can be obtained by automatic differentiation. First, by adding Lagrange multipliers, we obtain a simplified constraint set with an associated Bregman potential. At each iteration, we then solve for the Nash equilibrium of a regularized bilinear approximation of the full problem to obtain a direction of movement of the agents. Finally, we obtain the next iterate by following this direction according to the dual geometry induced by the Bregman potential. By using the dual geometry we obtain feasible iterates despite only solving a linear system at each iteration, eliminating the need for projection steps while still accounting for the global nonlinear structure of the constraint set. As a special case we obtain a novel competitive multiplicative weights algorithm for problems on the positive cone.
Materials and manufacturing renaissance: Additive manufacturing of high-entropy alloys

The disruptive potential of additive manufacturing (AM) relies on its ability to make customized products with considerable weight savings through geometries that are difficult or impossible to produce by conventional methods. Despite its versatility, applications of AM have been restricted due to the formation of columnar grains, resulting in solidification defects and anisotropy in properties. To achieve fine equiaxed grains in AM, alloy design and solidification conditions have been optimized in various alloy systems. In this review paper, the microstructure of high-entropy alloy (HEA) parts produced by selective laser melting and powder-based directed energy deposition is investigated. Solidification maps based on laser process parameters (as opposed to most commonly used solidification velocity and temperature gradient) are constructed by compiling available literature for single-phase face-centered cubic, body-centered cubic, and multiphase HEAs. These maps could guide printing of HEAs and provide an insight into the design of novel HEAs for AM.
Effects of a randomized controlled trial of a brief, student-nurse led, parent-based sexual health intervention on parental protective factors and HPV vaccination uptake

Parents play a pivotal role in adolescent sexual health and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Nurses are on the frontlines of healthcare and play a critical role in promoting HPV vaccination and parent-child sexual health communication. We enhanced the Families Talking Together (FTT) parent-based sexual health curriculum to include adolescent vaccinations herein, FTT + HPV, and trained student nurses to provide a strong HPV vaccination and parent-child sexual health communication endorsement. Using a randomized attention-controlled trial design, we examined the efficacy of FTT + HPV among 519 parents and their 11–14 year old youth recruited from medically underserved communities between 2015 and 2018. Participants were recruited from 22 after-school programs (e.g., Boys and Girls Clubs) and 19 charter schools. For parents, we examined protective factors including parent-child sexual health communication and parental involvement. For youth, we examined sexual health knowledge, parent-child sexual health communication, and parent-child connectedness. To assess HPV vaccination initiation and completion, we searched IMMTRAC immunization registry records for 85% of youth and used parental report for youth without registry records. Group differences were calculated using the estimated mean difference at one- and six months post-intervention with significance set at the p < 0.05 level. Baseline rates of HPV vaccination were low at 55.7%. No significant difference between the groups was seen in vaccination initiation or completion rates by one-month post-intervention. However, by six-months post intervention, there was a significant difference between the groups with 70.3% of the intervention group initiating the HPV vaccination series vs. 60.6% for the control group (p = 0.02). No difference between the groups was found for HPV series completion at six-months. There were significant differences in condom knowledge (p = 0.04), parent-child connectedness (p = 0.04), and communication frequency (p = 0.001) with greater improvement in the intervention vs. the control group. Rates of sexual activity remained low in both groups throughout the six-month follow-up period. A brief parent-based adolescent sexual health and HPV vaccination intervention delivered by student nurses can improve sexual health outcomes including protective parental factors, adolescent sexual health knowledge, and HPV vaccination initiation rates. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02600884 . Prospectively registered September 1, 2015.
System Design for Data Analysis with Multiscale Entropy

An engineered lightweight architecture has been used on the server side for different purposes. One of them was to provide an environment for data collection and analysis. Since most of the data analysis is static- and post-process, there is a challenge to apply existing data analysis to data collected in real time. In this paper, we propose an architecture that uses the multiscale entropy analysis (MSE) method to analyze data. This system was used to analyze real electrocardiogram (ECG) data in pseudo real-time. The architecture is divided into three parts: (1) a lightweight back-end system that includes Node.js, MongoDB, Nginx, (2) the use of physiological data from PhysioNet to simulate a real-time environment, and (3) the use of MSE to analyze the simulated data. The current findings are beneficial to the community of health science since it removes the necessity of setting up a real-time environment in order to run the tests on new algorithms and methods.
Long-Term Trajectories of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction in Patients With Chronic Inflammatory Diseases and Heart Failure: An Analysis of Electronic Health Records.

Background: Immune regulation and inflammation play a role in the pathogenesis and progression of acute and chronic heart failure (HF). Although the clinical course of acute, severe inflammatory ca...
The Ethical Implications of Using Social Media to Engage and Retain Justice-Involved Youth in Behavioral Health Research:

Given its popularity among youth ages 13-17, social media is a promising avenue for engaging and retaining historically hard-to-reach youth in longitudinal research. Social media use in longitudinal research involving youth, however, has preceded development of best practices for ethical use. This article describes the ethical challenges and considerations of using social media to engage and retain youth within the context of a randomized controlled trial of a group-based adolescent substance use intervention. Best practices for addressing ethical challenges are also provided using the Belmont Principle as a guiding framework. As social media becomes more commonly used to engage and retain youth in clinical research studies, researchers must address emerging ethical concerns within project protocols.
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MAGNESIUM LEVELS AND THE SEVERITY OF ACNE VULGARIS

Introduction : Acne vulgaris is a cosmetic problem that often occurs in 80% of the population, especially reproductive age (12-25 years). Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease of pilosebaceous follicles with multifactorial causes and clinical manifestations of blackheads, papules, pustules, nodules, and cysts. Magnesium plays a role in increasing skin hydration, increasing skin permeability, barrier repair, and facilitating skin proliferation and epidermal differentiation to reduce inflammation. Hypomagnesium is thought to increase inflammation and affect androgen hormones, especially testosterone, which plays a role in increasing the hyperactivity of the sebaceous glands in the pathogenesis of Acne Vulgaris. Purpose : To determine the difference in magnesium levels in each severity degree of acne vulgaris, namely mild, moderate, and severe. Method : This study is an analytic observational study with a cross-sectional design. The sampling technique is purposive sampling with a total sample of 30 people. Data retrieval in this study was carried out using photo taking of three sides of the face (front, right oblique, left oblique). Then proceed with a three cc venous blood draw to measure magnesium levels in the blood. Results : This study found a significant difference between magnesium levels and the severity of acne vulgaris with a value of p = 0.032 ( p <0.05). Magnesium levels in severe acne vulgaris were higher than moderate and mild acne vulgaris. However, magnesium levels in all samples were still within the normal range. There was a moderate positive correlation between the two variables with a p-value = 0.016 ( p <0.05). Conclusion : There was a significant difference between magnesium levels and the severity of acne vulgaris, and there is a moderate positive correlation between magnesium levels and the severity of acne vulgaris, which means that the higher the magnesium level, the more severe the degree of acne vulgaris.
Uterine transplantation: A maternal-fetal medicine perspective

Abstract Uterine transplantation is a novel approach to solving a clinical problem faced by women with uterine factor infertility whose desire to parent includes a desire to give birth. The ethical precepts used for other solid organ transplants are helpful in developing normative frameworks for understanding this experimental therapy. Nevertheless, both fetal and neonatal risks complicate this calculus and therefore it is useful to incorporate analyses used in other realms of maternal-fetal medicine to understand and justify this research. Preliminary data on maternal and neonatal outcomes from the many centers exploring this technique are encouraging, but as these techniques move into mainstream care, ongoing vigilance will be necessary to ensure that women and their families are afforded similar protections required of research protocols. Uterine transplantation is a captivating topic for the myriad ethical issues it raises. Many of these issues have been analyzed extensively in the literature since the marvel of solid organ transplantation was first realized in the 1950s. But we have now been collecting data on uterine transplantation since the first successful birth in 2015 1 and the questions raised have morphed very quickly from “Can we do this?” to “Should we do this?” and “How should we do this?” The good news for patients and the public is that bioethicists have been front and center in participating in and helping to inform the rolling out of this innovative treatment for rare forms of infertility. The model for such an integrative role of ethics in uterine transplantation programs grew out of similar programs in high risk obstetrical procedures such as the repair of fetal meningomyelocele trials. 2 The goal of this review is to outline some of the key issues these transplantations raise from the perspective of maternal-fetal medicine, a field well acquainted with the dilemmas that may arise in maximizing outcomes for both pregnant women and their fetuses.
Colorado Potato Beetle

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses Colorado potato beetle or Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), which is the most devastating, defoliating insect pest of potato (Solanum tuberosum ). The potato beetle is important because of the damage it causes to potato and some related crops, as well as its extraordinary ability to evolve resistance to insecticides used in its control. The host range of the Colorado potato beetle is largely restricted to plants in the genus Solanum. The Colorado potato beetle is primarily a pest of potatoes but may also damage tomato (Solanum esculentum) and eggplant (S. melongena ). In potato, yield reductions are related to both the amount of defoliation and the stage of plant growth during which it occurs. Yield reductions in tomato and eggplant result from feeding injury to the fruits as well as from defoliation. A series of insecticides was used in previous studies to control the beetle but they developed resistance to each of them. This stimulated a burst of research activity, which resulted in development of more holistic pest management approaches but none of them succeeded. Over time, it is likely that these concerns will diminish and transgenic potatoes will become an important tool for managing Colorado potato beetle.
Some Observations on 2-way Probabilistic Finite Automata

R. Freivalds [Fr81] initiated a study of 2-way probabilistic finite automata (2-pfa's) with bounded error by proving the surprising result that such an automaton can recognize the nonregular language {On1n¦n ≥ 1}. A number of interesting results have hence been obtained about 2-pfa's, notably by Greenberg and Weiss [Gr86], Dwork and Stockmeyer [Dw89], [Dw90] and Condon and Lipton [Co89]. In this work, we present new results about the class 2-PFA, the class of languages accepted by 2-pfa's including the following: (i) 2-PFA includes all the bounded semilinear languages, and (ii) 2-PFA includes all languages accepted by deterministic blind counter machines. We also show that a pebble enhances the power of a 2-pfa with unbounded error probability. We study the closure properties of the class 2-PFA and in that context, identify a (possibly) nontrivial subclass of 2-PFA. We conclude with some open problems and directions for further work.
Yannoni, Costantino S.: A Magnetic Resonance Potpourri

The sections in this article are 1 Prologue 2 Graduate Work at Columbia (1960–66): Failed at Solids, Bailed out by Liquid Crystals 3 Union Carbide and ‘Tickling’ Experiments (1966–67) 4 IBM Yorktown (1967): Trying NMR of Reactive Intermediates—BOOM!! 5 Double Resonance in the Rotating Frame (1970): The Bleich/Redfield Scheme 6 High-Resolution NMR of Rare Spins in Solids (1971): The First 13C Results 7 IBM San Jose (1971) 8 Modulation-Induced Dipolar Line Narrowing (1975) 9 Variable Temperature Magic Angle Spinning (1977) 10 Finally, Matrix Isolation NMR (1980): 13C Spectra of Reactive Carbonium Ions in the Solid State and Resolution of the Norbornyl Cation Controversy 11 Accurate Measurement of Bond Lengths by NMR (1981): Nutation NMR Spectroscopy 12 Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (1984) 13 Magic Angle Spinning at Liquid Helium Temperatures (1986) 14 Coherent Raman Beats in Magnetic Resonance (1986) 15 Buckminsterfullerene (1990): A Dream for NMR Spectroscopists 16 New Growth on the Evergreen (1991): Force Detection of Magnetic Resonance—Will it be Possible to Detect One Spin at a Time? 17 Epilogue 18 Biographical Sketch
Multi-Parameter Yield Zone Model for Predicting Spectrum Crack Growth

A systematic technique is presented for modeling crack growth load interaction effects due to spectrum loading. The Multi-Parameter Yield Zone (MPYZ) model accounts for crack growth retardation, acceleration, and underload effects. The load interactions are attributed to the residual stress intensity due to the plastic deformation at the crack tip. Fatigue crack growth was predicted and compared with test data for a variety of spectrum loadings.
Investigation of Fiber/Matrix Interfacial Mechanical Behavior in Ceramic Matrix Composites by Cyclic Fiber Push‐In Testing

Cyclic fiber push-in testing is used to examine the stability of interfacial frictional sliding stresses and fiber debond lengths with continued push-in load/unload cycles. The measured response to applying load cycling to a single fiber reveals the susceptibility of the fiber/matrix interface to degrade under cyclic loading conditions, and thus, helps evaluate the contribution of the interface to the cyclic fatigue behavior of the composite after the occurrence of matrix cracks. From cyclic push-in testing in room temperature air, decreasing interfacial sliding stresses and increasing debond lengths are observed with continued load cycling for SCS-6 SiC fiber reinforced reaction-bonded silicon nitride (SCS-6/RBSN), whereas stable interfacial sliding stresses and no increase in debond lengths are observed with continued load cycling for SCS-6 SiC fiber reinforced strontium aluminosilicate (SCS-6/SAS). These results indicate that fiber-bridged matrix cracks should be stable under cyclic fatigue loading conditions in SCS-6/SAS, but should exhibit increasing crack opening displacements and fiber pull-out with continued cycling in SCS-6/RBSN. In addition, changing the test environment from room air to nitrogen significantly affects the cyclic push-in test results for SCS-6/RBSN, but not for SCS-6/SAS. The different responses to this change in test environment are attributed to different locations of interfacial failure.
Can We Keep Independent Hip-Hop Lowkey?: Using Content Analysis to Analyze Glocalization in Lowkey's Lyrics

Despite much literature on glocalization, independent hip-hop artist Lowkey has yet to be studied for his contributions to UK hip-hop. Through content analysis, this article examines Lowkey’s lyrics to demonstrate how the process of glocalization is used to appropriate US hip-hop culture to address salient social issues both within the context of UK hip-hop culture and globally. Utilizing this approach, this article uncovers three themes: 1) addressing issues of capitalism both locally and globally, 2) expounding upon the notion of false consciousness and how it disproportionately hurts the masses, and 3) utilizing independent UK hip-hop to promote ideas of social change and revolution.