cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Safety Considerations with the Use of Corticosteroids and Biologic Therapies in Mild-to-Moderate Ulcerative Colitis.

Background The risk of corticosteroid-associated adverse events can limit the use of systemic corticosteroids. Oral, topically acting, second-generation corticosteroids that deliver drug to the site of inflammation, and biologic therapies, are effective treatment alternatives. The aim of this review was to evaluate the safety and tolerability of topically acting corticosteroids and biologic therapies versus oral systemic corticosteroids for ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods The PubMed database was searched for clinical and observational trials, systematic reviews, and case reports/series published between January 1950 and September 30, 2016. Search terms used included "corticosteroids," "beclomethasone dipropionate," "budesonide," "infliximab," "adalimumab," "golimumab," and "vedolizumab" in combination with "ulcerative colitis" or "inflammatory bowel disease." Results A total of 582 studies were identified from PubMed searches. Only 1 direct comparative trial for oral topically acting corticosteroids and systemic corticosteroids was available, and no comparative trials versus biologic therapies were identified. In patients with mild-to-moderate UC, short-term (4-8 wk) oral beclomethasone dipropionate or oral budesonide multimatrix system demonstrated safety profiles comparable with placebo with few corticosteroid-related adverse events reported. Based on long-term data in patients with moderate-to-severe UC, biologics have a generally tolerable adverse event profile, although infections, infusion reactions, and autoimmune disorders were frequently reported. Conclusions Second-generation corticosteroids, beclomethasone dipropionate and budesonide multimatrix system, exhibited a favorable safety profile in patients with mild-to-moderate UC. For biologics, which are only indicated in moderate-to-severe UC, additional studies are needed to further ascertain the benefit to risk profile of these agents in patients with mild-to-moderate disease (see Video Abstract, Supplemental Digital Content, http://links.lww.com/IBD/B653).
Micropropagation of ‘Amethyst’ Purple Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis L. x R. idaeus L. ‘Amethyst’)

Abstract A micropropagation method was developed for a cold hardy purple raspberry cultivar (Rubus occidentalis × R. idaeus ‘Amethyst’). In vitro shoot cultures were initiated from shoot tips of a 30-year old ‘Amethyst’ plant. The effects of basal medium, plant growth regulator, and temperature on shoot proliferation were investigated. Shoots were produced from explants in both Murashige and Skoog (MS) and Driver-Kuniyuki Walnut (DKW) media supplemented with different concentrations of thidiazuron (TDZ) and benzyladenine (BA), solely or combined. One micro molar TDZ gave rise to the maximum proliferation rate. Interactions between BA and medium or TDZ were significant. Shoots produced on media with 1.0 μM TDZ had thick stems and small, dark green leaves whether BA was absent or present. Shoots can be rooted both in vitro and ex vitro with or without IBA at 0 to 1.0 μM. However, combination of rooting and shoot multiplication by adding a low level of TDZ to rooting medium produced multi-cane plants resulti...
Paraneoplastic Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome With Limbic Encephalitis: Clinical Correlation With the Coexistence of Anti-VGCC and Anti-GABAB Receptor Antibodies.

AbstractObjective:To characterize Lambert–Eaton myasthenic syndrome and limbic encephalitis with coexistent voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC) antibody and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) B receptor antibody.Methods:Case study.Results:A 57-year-old man presented with 6 months of weakness, unsteadiness,
Understanding health-related quality of life in adult women with metastatic cancer who have dependent children

BACKGROUND Cancer is a leading cause of death among women of parenting age in the United States. Women living with advanced or incurable cancer who have dependent children experience high rates of depression and anxiety as well as unique parenting challenges. To the authors' knowledge, few studies to date have examined the parenting factors associated with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in women with advanced cancer. METHODS The authors conducted a cross-sectional, Web-based survey of the psychosocial concerns of 224 women with a tumor-node-metastasis staging system of the AJCC stage IV solid tumor malignancy who had at least 1 child aged <18 years. Participants completed validated measures of HRQOL (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General [FACT-G]); depression and anxiety symptom severity; functional status; parenting concerns; and investigator-designed questions to assess demographic, communication, and parenting characteristics. Multiple linear regression models were estimated to identify factors associated with FACT-G total and subscale scores. RESULTS The mean FACT-G score was 66 (standard deviation, 16). The mean Emotional Well-Being subscale scores were particularly low (13; standard deviation, 5). In multivariable linear regression models, parenting variables explained nearly 40% of the HRQOL model variance. In the fully adjusted model, parenting concerns and the absence of parental prognostic communication with children both were found to be significantly associated with HRQOL scores. For each 1-point increase in parenting concern severity, FACT-G scores decreased by 4 points (P = .003). CONCLUSIONS Women with metastatic cancer who are parents of dependent children are at risk of high psychological distress and low HRQOL. Parenting factors may have a negative influence on HRQOL in this patient population. Cancer 2018;124:2629-36. © 2018 American Cancer Society.
Serendipitous Discovery of Factor VII Deficiency and the Ensuing Dilemma.

Congenital factor VII deficiency is a challenging disorder to manage, as it is associated with varied genotypes that do not clinically correlate with a bleeding phenotype. Individuals with severe factor VII deficiency (FVII: c 5%) may experience severe hemorrhages. In modern medicine, due to extensive routine pre-operative laboratory testing, clinically asymptomatic patients without any bleeding history might be incidentally discovered, raising clinical dilemmas. Careful consideration of bleeding versus thrombosis risk has to be made in such cases, especially in the elderly. Clinical history of no prior bleeding complications may be a reassuring factor. Minimal required replacement dosing of recombinant activated factor VII can be given peri-operatively in such situations, with close monitoring.
Computational Analysis of Collective Behaviors via Agent-Based Modeling

Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a common computational analysis tool to study system dynamics. In the framework of ABM, the system consists of multiple autonomous and interacting agents. We can explore emergent collective patterns by simulating the individual operations and interactions between agents. As a case study, we present an experiment using an agent-based model to study how competition for limited user attention in a social network results in collective patterns of meme popularity. The model is inspired by the long tradition that represents information spreading as an epidemic process, where infection is passed along the edges of the underlying social network. The model also builds upon empirical observations on how individual humans behave online. The combination of social network structure and finite agent attention is sufficient for the emergence of broad diversity in meme popularity and lifetime. The case study illustrates how one can analyze the kind of emergent human computation that makes some memes very popular.
El Gran Papel Del Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) En La Reciente Crisis Financiera Mundial (The Formidable Role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the Recent Global Financial Crisis)

Desde el estallido de la crisis economica mundial en 2007, el FMI se ha movilizado en numerosos frentes para brindar respaldo a sus 188 paises miembros. Incremento y desplego la potencia de fuego de sus prestamos, aprovecho su experiencia en diferentes paises para ofrecer soluciones de politica economica e inicio procesos de reforma orientados a responder mejor a las necesidades de los paises. Since the outbreak of the global economic crisis in 2007, the IMF has mobilized itself on many fronts to help its 188 member countries: it has increased and expanded its lending capacity, used its international experience to offer solutions to national authorities, as well as carried out internal reforms to address more efficiently, the needs of individual countries.
What is the role of water in the geopolymerization of metakaolin

Abstract Despite the significant advances in understanding the structure of geopolymers in the last decades, the role of water in the geopolymerization of aluminosilicates and within the structure of geopolymers remains elusive. The present paper investigates the role of water in the geopolymerization of metakaolin, a low calcium aluminosilicate. We differentiate between different states of water in these materials and discuss the nature and the origin of non-evaporable (chemically bound) water, and evaporable water. We propose a conceptual model for the microstructure of metakaolin based geopolymers that accounts for different states of water within their structure and discuss the implications of their composition on pore size distribution.
Sterilization and contraceptive services in Catholic hospitals

Sterilization and contraceptive practices in United States Catholic hospitals were surveyed by anonymous mail questionnaires, obtaining a 57% response rate (340 of 598). Twenty per cent of the hospitals permitted medically indicated sterilization operations. Forty-seven per cent of those hospitals not allowing sterilization procedures reported that their medical staffs were interested in performing medically indicated sterilizations. The types of contraceptive services offered varied widely. The rhythm method was most frequently available, with oral contraceptives in second place; many hospitals did not provide any family-planning services; 13% utilized all types of contraception. The thesis is advanced that improvement in availability of sterilization and contraceptive services is a duty of hospital medical staffs.
Business Intelligence als strategische Grundlage der Unternehmenssteuerung

Lange wurden Messgrosen und Kennzahlen zur Steuerung von Unternehmen dezentral und nicht integriert als strategisches Verfahren zur Leistungssteigerung in Unternehmen eingesetzt. Nun wendet sich das Blatt zusehends: Corporate Performance Management (CPM) gewinnt zunehmend an Bedeutung. Der von der Gartner Group gepragte Begriff steht fur die Zusammenfuhrung und Integration aller Kennzahlen, Prozesse, Methoden und analytischer Anwendungen zur Unternehmenssteuerung. Hierbei erganzt das Corporate Performance Management bestehende Business Intelligence Ansatze um zukunftsbezogene Prozesse fur Planung, Budgetierung und Forecast.
Living related liver transplantation.

Since 1988, there has been a rapid increase in both the number of centers performing liver transplantation and the number of patients being transplanted, with more than 2000 recipients receiving livers in 120 centers last year in the United States.1 This dramatic increase is in large part due to the improving results seen following liver transplantation, and has resulted in a tripling of the number of patients on the waiting list. Despite this increase in demand, the number of cadaveric donors has remained stagnant over a similar time period.2 Consequently, there has been an increasing organ donor shortage with an alarming increase in the number of patients dying while awaiting transplantation. Unfortunately no adequate solutions have been identified which could potentially eliminate this severe shortage of donor organs.
Origin and Provenance of the Voynich Codex

The bizarre Voynich Codex, discovered in 1912 in Italy by the Polish book dealer Wilfrid Voynich (1865–1930), consists of illustrations and text in a symbolic language. Although encyclopedic in scope, the work is largely an herbal, with approximately 359 images of plants. The text has eluded decipherment, despite repeated attempts by world-renowned cryptologists. The origin of the work remains obscure, but the provenance has been traced to the court of Rudolf II (1552–1612). It has generally been considered to be an early fifteenth century European work based on the carbon dating of the vellum; however, identification of New World plants by Hugh O’Neill and animals infers a sixteenth century Mexican origin, i.e., a palimpsest. The literature of the Voynich Codex is extensive, with a huge web presence and controversy regarding its origin, language, decipherment, and meaning.
Thick-Filament Extensibility in Intact Skeletal Muscle.

Abstract Myofilament extensibility is a key structural parameter for interpreting myosin cross-bridge kinetics in striated muscle. Previous studies reported much higher thick-filament extensibility at low tension than the better-known and commonly used values at high tension, but in interpreting mechanical studies of muscle, a single value for thick-filament extensibility has usually been assumed. Here, we established the complete thick-filament force-extension curve from actively contracting, intact vertebrate skeletal muscle. To access a wide range of tetanic forces, the myosin inhibitor blebbistatin was used to induce low tetanic forces in addition to the higher tensions obtained from tetanic contractions of the untreated muscle. We show that the force/extensibility curve of the thick filament is nonlinear, so assuming a single value for thick-filament extensibility at all force levels is not justified. We also show that independent of whether tension is generated passively by sarcomere stretch or actively by cross-bridges, the thick-filament extensibility is nonlinear. Myosin head periodicity, however, only changes when active tension is generated under calcium-activated conditions. The nonlinear thick-filament force-extension curve in skeletal muscle, therefore, reflects a purely passive response to either titin-based force or actomyosin-based force, and it does not include a thick-filament activation mechanism. In contrast, the transition of myosin head periodicity to an active configuration appears to only occur in response to increased active force when calcium is present.
Variability of Accounting Restatement Measurement in Audit Quality Research

In this research note, we examine the application of three methods used to operationalize the financial restatement variable in empirical archival accounting literature. Research exploring financial reporting and audit quality often employs financial restatements as a proxy for low audit quality. A review of recent articles reveals three distinct variations in operationalizing the restatement variable: announcement date, first occurrence and all occurrences. Using a typical audit quality model and restatement data from 2003-2014 we find statistically distinct results from each of the three measurement choices evaluated. The results suggest an incorrect choice may subject research findings to reductions in explanatory power, risk of type 1 and type 2 errors, and altered direction (sign) of coefficients. Suggestions for applying the findings to select an appropriate measurement approach for a given research question are discussed.
Machine learning methods for leveraging baseline covariate information to improve the efficiency of clinical trials

Clinical trials are widely considered the gold standard for treatment evaluation, and they can be highly expensive in terms of time and money. The efficiency of clinical trials can be improved by incorporating information from baseline covariates that are related to clinical outcomes. This can be done by modifying an unadjusted treatment effect estimator with an augmentation term that involves a function of covariates. The optimal augmentation is well characterized in theory but must be estimated in practice. In this article, we investigate the use of machine learning methods to estimate the optimal augmentation. We consider and compare an indirect approach based on an estimated regression function and a direct approach that aims directly to minimize the asymptotic variance of the treatment effect estimator. Theoretical considerations and simulation results indicate that the direct approach is generally preferable over the indirect approach. The direct approach can be implemented using any existing prediction algorithm that can minimize a weighted sum of squared prediction errors. Many such prediction algorithms are available, and the super learning principle can be used to combine multiple algorithms into a super learner under the direct approach. The resulting direct super learner has a desirable oracle property, is easy to implement, and performs well in realistic settings. The proposed methodology is illustrated with real data from a stroke trial.
Primary Care Tracks in Medical Schools.

Introduction With the estimated future shortage of primary care physicians there is a need to recruit more medical students into family medicine. Longitudinal programs or primary care tracks in medical schools have been shown to successfully recruit students into primary care. The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of primary care tracks in departments of family medicine. Methods Data were collected as part of the 2016 CERA Family Medicine Clerkship Director Survey. The survey included questions regarding the presence and description of available primary care tracks as well as the clerkship director's perception of impact. The survey was distributed via email to 125 US and 16 Canadian family medicine clerkship directors. Results The response rate was 86%. Thirty-five respondents (29%) reported offering a longitudinal primary care track. The majority of tracks select students on a competitive basis, are directed by family medicine educators, and include a wide variety of activities. Longitudinal experience in primary care ambulatory settings and primary care faculty mentorship were the most common activities. Almost 70% of clerkship directors believe there is a positive impact on students entering primary care. Conclusions The current tracks are diverse in what they offer and could be tailored to the missions of individual medical schools. The majority of clerkship directors reported that they do have a positive impact on students entering primary care.
Commentary on the Current Guidelines for the Diagnosis of Lupus Nephritis Flare.

Lupus nephritis flare is a frequent complication in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Recognizing disease activity is crucial in lupus nephritis management. Proteinuria magnitude and urine sediment change are major clinical indicators of lupus nephritis activity. This work updates these insights in light of recent findings regarding proteinuria quantification and urine sediment analyses. Currently, BILAG and SLEDAI estimate proteinuria magnitude based on the protein/creatinine ratio of “spot” (single void collections) or “intended” 24-h urine collections without specifying the extent to which the collection approaches a 24-h collection. As discussed here, and based on our recently published work, these approaches often incur serious errors that can adversely affect SLE patient management. Also incorporated into this work is a new analysis of the clinical significance of urine sediment hematuria and pyuria changes with regard to recent-onset SLE glomerulonephritis (GN) flare. This analysis is based on a prospective study of urine sediment changes in the Ohio SLE Study, which was an NIH-sponsored prospective observational study of SLE GN patients with SLE flare of recent onset. We propose that BILAG and SLEDAI renal flare criteria can be made more rigorous by incorporating recently published insights into proteinuria quantification using the protein/creatinine ratio of an intended 24-h urine collection that is at least 50% complete based on its creatinine content. Also proposed are new insights into the interpretation of urine sediment hematuria and pyuria based on findings from the Ohio SLE Study.
Christianizing the Planetary Week and Globalizing the Seven-Day Cycle

Early Christians adopted a numeric week from Judaism, but wherever their communities spread they encountered the planetary week invented by Hellenistic astrologers. Greek Christians replaced that week with their own in the fourth century C.E., but Latin Christians were only partly successful in doing the same. A timeline for the Christianization of the planetary week between the third and seventh centuries is provided by a database of Greek and Latin documents dated by both an annual calendar and one of the two weeks. The documentary evidence is supplemented by analyses of literary and legal references to the two weeks from the same period. These show that Greek authors were accommodating toward the planetary week while Latin authors were often hostile. Latin hostility was engendered by the presence of non-Christian social practices tied to the planetary week that threatened Christian religious identity. These practices included worship of the planetary deities, rest on the Day of Jupiter rather than on the Lord9s Day, and the reservation of activities like marriage, travel, and personal grooming to certain planetary weekdays. A brief survey of the spread of the two weeks throughout much of Afro-Eurasia contextualizes the changes occurring in the Mediterranean and shows that the Latin conflict was unique. That conflict was likely a product of the relatively slow pace of Christianization in some parts of Western Europe and the integration of the planetary week into the Roman calendar to produce a coherent cycle of pagan time which was difficult to replace.
Structures and Energetics of Some Silicon-Phosphorus Compounds: SiHmPHn, SiHmPHnSiHo, and (SiH3)3P. An ab Initio Molecular Orbital Study

The geometries of 48 isomers of SiHmPHn (m + n = 0−5), SiHmPHnSiHo (m + n + o = 0−7), and (SiH3)3P have been optimized at the MP2/6-31G(d) level of theory. Silylenes and cyclic structures dominate the compounds with low numbers of hydrogens; nevertheless, there are several examples of silicon−phosphorus multiple bonding. Relative energies, heats of formation, and bond dissociation energies have been calculated at the G2 level of theory. Two empirical schemes have been constructed to fit the atomization energies. A simple bond additivity approach reproduces the data with a mean absolute deviation of 5.3 kcal/mol. Better results are obtained with a group additivity scheme which gives a mean absolute deviation of 3.4 kcal/mol.
The role of PTSD and TBI in post-deployment sleep outcomes

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the main and interaction effects of PTSD and TBI on sleep outcomes in veterans. Post-deployment combat veterans (N = 293, 87.37% male) completed cl...
A Parametric Analysis of a Protocol to Induce Bidirectional Naming: Effects of Protocol Intensity

Researchers have identified protocols to induce verbal behavior cusps and capabilities that put an individual’s repertoires in contact with new contingencies and allows the individual to learn in new ways; however, little is known about the relationship between different intensities (i.e., doses) of the protocols and inducing important repertoires. The Intensive Tact Instruction (ITI) has been found to reliably induce Bidirectional Naming (BiN), a capability whereby an individual is able to function simultaneously as a speaker and a listener, to acquire language incidentally after exposure to word–object relations in the environment. We matched eight participants into four dyads and participants in dyads experienced different intensities of the ITI protocol. The full intensity protocol included 100 additional tact learning opportunities each day and the accelerated intensity included 50 daily learning opportunities. We found varied results dependent on a participant’s degree of BiN at the onset of the intervention. Participants with Unidirectional Naming (UniN) acquired BiN under both intensities, but participants in the accelerated condition did so with fewer learning opportunities, suggesting the efficiency of the accelerated protocol. Students that demonstrated No-incidental Naming (NiN) demonstrated mixed results from the intervention, regardless of intervention intensity. The outcomes are discussed in terms of efficiency and cost effectiveness.
EVALUATION OF CONVERTING LANDSAT DN TO TA AND SR VALUES ON SELECT SPECTRAL INDICES

Abstract. The complete archive of images collected across all Landsat missions has been reprocessed and categorized by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) into a three-tiered architecture: Real-time, Tier-1, and Tier-2. This tiered architecture ensures data compatibility and is convenient for acquiring high quality scenes for pixel-by-pixel change analyses. However, it is important to evaluate the effects of converting older Landsat images from digital numbers (DN) to top-of-the-atmosphere (TA) and surface reflectance (SR) values that are equivalent to more recent Landsat data. This study evaluated the effects of this conversion on spectral indices derived from Tier-1 (the highest quality) Landsat 5 and 8 scenes collected in 30 m spatial resolution. Spectral brightness and reflectance of mixed conifers, Northern Mixed Grass Prairie, deep water, shallow water, and edge water were extracted as DNs, TA, and SR values, respectively. Spectral indices were estimated and compared to determine if the analysis of these land cover classes or their conditions would differ depending on which preprocessed image type was used (DN, TA, or SR). Results from this study will be informative for others making use of indices with images from multiple Landsat satellites as well as for engineers planning to reprocess images for future Landsat collections. This time-series study showed that there was a significant difference between index values derived from three levels of pre-processing. Average index values of vegetation cover classes were consistently significantly different between levels of pre-processing whereas average water index values showed inconsistent significant differences between pre-processing levels.
National trends and perioperative outcomes of robotic oesophagectomy following induction chemoradiation therapy: a National Cancer Database propensity-matched analysis.

OBJECTIVES Oesophagectomy following induction chemoradiation therapy (CRT) is technically challenging. To date, little data exist to describe the feasibility of a robotic approach in this setting. In this study, we assessed national trends and outcomes of robotic oesophagectomy following induction CRT compared to the traditional open approach. METHODS The National Cancer Database was queried for patients who underwent oesophagectomy following induction CRT (2010-2014). Trends of robotic utilization were assessed by a Mantel-Haenszel test of trend. Propensity matching controlled for differences in age, gender, comorbidity, stage, histology and tumour location between the robotic and open groups. Overall survival was estimated by Kaplan-Meier analysis and compared by a log-rank test. RESULTS Oesophagectomy following induction CRT was performed in 6958 patients. Of them, 555 patients (8%) underwent robotic surgery (5% converted to an open approach). Between 2010 and 2014, utilization of a robotic approach increased from 3% to 11% (Mantel-Haenszel, P < 0.001) and the number of hospitals performing at least 1 robotic oesophagectomy increased from 23 to 57. Compared to the traditional open approach, robotic oesophagectomy was used more frequently at academic hospitals (76% vs 60%, P < 0.001), and in patients living in metropolitan areas (85% vs 77%, P < 0.001) and those living in the Midwest (41% vs 33%, P < 0.001). In the matched groups, a robotic approach was associated with shorter median hospital stay (9 vs 10 days, P = 0.004) and dissection of more lymph nodes (median, 16 vs 12, P < 0.001). However, there were no differences in rates of positive margin resection (5% for both groups, P = 0.95), 30-day readmissions (5% vs 7%, P = 0.18), 30-day mortality (2.5% vs 4%, P = 0.79), 90-day mortality (9% vs 8.5%, P = 0.89) or 5-year overall survival (42% vs 39%, P = 0.19) between patients undergoing robotic and open surgery, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Robotic oesophagectomy after induction CRT is feasible and associated with shorter hospitalization compared to an open approach, and does not compromise the adequacy of oncological resection, perioperative outcomes or long-term survival.
Testing ecological theories in the Anthropocene: alteration of succession by an invasive marine species

Ecologists employ a diverse body of theory to help explain patterns and processes in ecological systems, with the consistency of ecological theories tested against an increasingly altered world. The global redistribution of species is a prominent impact of climate change and human‐mediated biological invasions and often results in negative impacts to ecosystems. Recently, a species of colonial tunicate not previously present, Clavelina oblonga, has become prominent within the marine fouling community of Beaufort, North Carolina, USA. Fifty years ago, researchers tested theories of ecological succession developed in terrestrial systems and found that this marine community was characterized by a heterogeneous mixture of species that varied inter‐annually (i.e., multiple community states) and increased in diversity over time. A recent follow‐up study found that the fouling community is dominated by C. oblonga with patterns of community development and structure that led to the loss of alternative community states, domination by C. oblonga, and reduced species diversity. The present study addressed the question: Will patterns of community development identified over 50 yr ago still operate under reduced cover of invasive C. oblonga? This study also quantified the impacts of two large‐scale environmental disturbances (extremely cold winter and hurricane) on the abundance of C. oblonga and the resulting fouling community. Clavelina oblonga remains a dominant component of the fouling community due to its rapid growth and strong seasonal recruitment. Under conditions of reduced percent cover of C. oblonga, the local fouling community displayed unique community states that became even more distinct over time, consistent with the pattern of multiple community states identified by researchers over 50 yr ago, and that were dependent upon date of disturbance. Natural disturbances in this study caused by a harsh winter and a hurricane greatly reduced the presence of C. oblonga. This experiment advanced our understanding of marine community ecology by testing whether the concept of multiple community states identified over 50 yr ago is still operable in the absence of invasive C. oblonga, and highlights how natural environment disturbances can potentially moderate the spread of this invasive tunicate.
Benefits of Surveillance Testing and Quarantine in a SARS-CoV-2 Vaccinated Population of Students on a University Campus

Surveillance testing and quarantine have been effective measures for limiting SARS-CoV-2 transmission on university campuses. However, the importance of these measures needs to be re-evaluated in the context of a complex and rapidly changing environment that includes vaccines, variants, and waning immunity. Also, recent guidelines from the CDC suggest that vaccinated students do not need to participate in surveillance testing. We used an agent-based SEIR model to evaluate the utility of surveillance testing and quarantine in a fully vaccinated student population where vaccine effectiveness may be impacted by the type of vaccination, the presence of variants, and the loss of vaccine-induced or natural immunity over time. We found that weekly surveillance testing at 90% vaccine effectiveness only marginally reduces viral transmission as compared to no testing. However, at 50%-75% effectiveness, surveillance testing can provide over 10-fold reduction in the number of infections on campus over the course of the semester. We also show that a 10-day quarantine protocol for exposures has limited effect on infections until vaccine effectiveness drops to 50%, and that increased surveillance testing for exposures is at least as effective as quarantine at limiting infections. Together these findings provide a foundation for universities to design appropriate mitigation protocols for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Coordinated modulation of multiple processes through phase variation of a c-di-GMP phosphodiesterase in Clostridioides difficile

The opportunistic nosocomial pathogen Clostridioides difficile exhibits phenotypic heterogeneity through phase variation, a stochastic, reversible process that modulates expression. In C. difficile, multiple sequences in the genome undergo inversion through site-specific recombination. Two such loci lie upstream of pdcB and pdcC, which encode phosphodiesterases (PDEs) that degrade the signaling molecule c-di-GMP. Numerous phenotypes are influenced by c-di-GMP in C. difficile including cell and colony morphology, motility, colonization, and virulence. In this study, we aimed to assess whether PdcB phase varies, identify the mechanism of regulation, and determine the effects on intracellular c-di-GMP levels and regulated phenotypes. We found that expression of pdcB is heterogeneous and the orientation of the invertible sequence, or pdcB switch, determines expression. The pdcB switch contains a promoter that when properly oriented promotes pdcB expression. Expression is augmented by an additional promoter upstream of the pdcB switch. Mutation of nucleotides at the site of recombination resulted in phase-locked strains with significant differences in pdcB expression. Characterization of these mutants showed that the pdcB locked-ON mutant has reduced intracellular c-di-GMP compared to the locked-OFF mutant, consistent with increased and decreased PdcB activity, respectively. These alterations in c-di-GMP had concomitant effects on multiple known c-di-GMP regulated processes. These results indicate that phase variation of PdcB allows C. difficile to coordinately diversify multiple phenotypes in the population to enhance survival.
Out-patient obstetrics

Abstract 1. 1. This report covers a series of 6,863 cases, of which 6,537 were delivered in poorly furnished, unsanitary homes during a period of two years. 2. 2. The operative incidence was approximately 4 per cent, on which 74 per cent were forceps deliveries. 3. 3. There were 45 cesarean sections, or one in 152 deliveries, an incidence of 0.65 per cent. 4. 4. One hundred and four babies were lost, a fetal mortality of 1.6 per cent. The fetal mortality for forceps was 5.2 per cent; versions, 34.6 per cent; prolapsed cord, 29 per cent; rupture of the uterus, 100 per cent; breech presentation, 7.7 per cent; and cesarean section. 20 per cent. 5. 5. Twelve mothers died, 3 in their own homes, a maternal mortality of 0.17 per cent.
DRY MONTHS IN AN AGRICULTURAL REGION OF THE STATE OF SÃO PAULO: AN STUDY BASED ON THE EXTREME VALUE THEORY

Applying the Extreme Value Theory (EVT) to model the probability of occurrence of extreme low Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) values leads to an increase of the knowledge related to the occurrence of extreme dry months. This sort of analysis can be carried out by means of two approaches: the block maxima (BM; associated with the General Extreme Value distribution) and the peaks-over-threshold (POT; associated with the Generalized Pareto distribution). Each of these procedures has its own advantages and drawbacks. Thus, the main goal of this study is to compare the performance of BM and POT in characterizing the probability of occurrence of extreme dry SPI values obtained from the weather station of Ribeirao Preto-SP (1937-2012). According to the goodness-of-fit tests, both BM and POT can be used to assess the probability of occurrence of the aforementioned extreme dry SPI monthly values. However, the scalar measures of accuracy and the return level plots indicate that POT provides the best fit distribution. The study also reveled that the uncertainties in the parameters estimates of a probabilistic model should be taken into account when the probability associated with a severe/extreme dry event is being assessed.
Fat metabolism in higher plants. XXXIX. Properties of a soluble fatty acid synthesizing system from lettuce chloroplasts.

Abstract Fatty acid synthesis from malonyl-CoA was found to be greatly stimulated by the addition of acyl carrier protein (ACP), prepared from either lyophilized Escherichia coli cells or from avocado mesocarp. Likewise, heat-stable protein preparations from butter lettuce chloroplasts or butter lettuce leaves stimulate fatty acid synthesis. A heat-stable protein fraction termed lettuce ACP was prepared from butter lettuce leaves; it was active in the malonyl-CoA-CO2 exchange reaction with E. coli enzymes and stimulated fatty acid synthesis with butter lettuce chloroplast-soluble enzymes. The ACP preparations from E. coli, butter lettuce, and avocado were all found to be similar in their activities in the CO2 exchange reaction and in fatty acid synthesis. Preliminary evidence has been obtained which indicates that the fatty acid synthesizing system in butter head lettuce chloroplast-soluble enzymes preparation, as in E. coli extracts, can be resolved into a number of separate protein fractions which must be recombined for fatty acid synthesis.
Sex, Lies and Cyber-Crime Surveys

Much of the information we have on cyber-crime losses is derived from surveys. We examine some of the difficulties of forming an accurate estimate by survey. First, losses are extremely concentrated, so that representative sampling of the population does not give representative sampling of the losses. Second, losses are based on unverified self-reported numbers. Not only is it possible for a single outlier to distort the result, we find evidence that most surveys are dominated by a minority of responses in the upper tail (i.e., a majority of the estimate is coming from as few as one or two responses). Finally, the fact that losses are confined to a small segment of the population magnifies the difficulties of refusal rate and small sample sizes. Far from being broadly-based estimates of losses across the population, the cyber-crime estimates that we have appear to be largely the answers of a handful of people extrapolated to the whole population. A single individual who claims $50,000 losses, in an N = 1, 000 person survey, is all it takes to generate a $10 billion loss over the population. One unverified claim of $7,500 in phishing losses translates into $1.5 billion.
A realistic look at putnam's argument against realism

Putnam's ``model-theoretic'' argument against metaphysical realism presupposes that an ideal scientific theory is expressible in a first order language. The central aim of this paper is to show that Putnam's ``first orderization'' of science, although unchallenged by numerous critics, makes his argument unsound even for adequate theories, never mind an ideal one. To this end, I will argue that quantitative theories, which dominate the natural sciences, can be adequately interpreted and evaluated only with the help of so-called theories of measurement whose epistemological and methodological purpose is to justify systematic assignments of quantitative values to objects in the world. And, in order to fulfill this purpose, theories of measurement must have an essentially higher order logical structure. As a result, Putnam's argument fails because much of science turns out to rest on essentially higher order theoretical assumptions about the world.
Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the phosphorus(v) pesticides : A rapid determination of the isomer ratio of systox

Abstract The integration circuit of the Varian A-60 nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer is used in conjunction with vapor phase chromatography, to develop a rapid analysis technique for the determination of isomer ratios in technical Systox-Sulfotepp mixtures. The complete analysis requires less than 0.1 g of sample and only 15 min. The isomer ratio in the sample may be determined to an accuracy of ±1.5% and the undamaged sample may be recovered.
Silicon carbide microresonators with high optical Q and large Kerr nonlinearity for nonlinear optics

We demonstrate an amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) microresonator with optical Q up to 1.3 × 105. This enables us to characterize the third-order nonlinearity of a-SiC with n2 = (5.9 ± 0.7) × 10−15 cm2/W in the telecom band.
Learning Subjective Adjectives from Corpora

Subjectivity tagging is distinguishing sentences used to present opinions and evaluations from sentences used to objectively present factual information. There are numerous applications for which subjectivity tagging is relevant, including information extraction and information retrieval. This paper identifies strong clues of subjectivity using the results of a method for clustering words according to distributional similarity (Lin 1998), seeded by a small amount of detailed manual annotation. These features are then further refined with the addition of lexical semantic features of adjectives, specifically polarity and gradability (Hatzivassiloglou & McKeown 1997), which can be automatically learned from corpora. In 10-fold cross validation experiments, features based on both similarity clusters and the lexical semantic features are shown to have higher precision than features based on each alone.
Aqueous misdirection after glaucoma drainage device implantation.

Abstract Objective To describe the clinical presentation, outcome, and possible underlying mechanism of aqueous misdirection after glaucoma drainage device implantation. Design Retrospective, noncomparative, interventional case series. Participants Ten eyes (five primary open-angle glaucoma, four chronic angle-closure glaucoma, one nanophthalmos) of nine patients with a mean age of 68.5 ± 12.0 years (range, 43–83 years). Intervention The authors reviewed the medical records of all patients with a clinical diagnosis of aqueous misdirection after Baerveldt glaucoma drainage device implantation at two tertiary care referral centers from October 1992 to October 1997. Surgery was performed in a standardized fashion; all drainage tubes were inserted in the anterior chamber and occluded with an external 7–0 polyglactin ligature. All eyes were treated with topical corticosteroids, cycloplegia, and aqueous suppressants. Eyes with persistent aqueous misdirection received neodymium:YAG (Nd:YAG) hyaloidotomy or pars plana vitrectomy. Main outcome measures Visual acuity, intraocular pressure, biomicroscopic anterior chamber depth, and antiglaucomatous medication. Results All eyes had axial shallowing of the anterior chamber, one or more patent iridotomies, and no ophthalmoscopic or B-scan ultrasonographic evidence of serous or hemorrhagic ciliochoroidal detachment. Median time to the development of angle-closure glaucoma was 33.5 days (range, 1–343 days) and mean intraocular pressure at diagnosis was 27.7 ± 18.7 mmHg (range, 10–62 mmHg). Normalization of anterior segment anatomy was achieved with aqueous suppression and cycloplegia (one eye); Nd:YAG capsulotomy (four eyes); pars plana vitrectomy alone (two eyes) or with lensectomy (one eye), and pars plana vitrectomy with intraocular lens explanation (two eyes). Mean final intraocular pressure was 14.1 ± 6.0 mmHg at a mean follow-up of 9.1 ± 7.8 months after the development of aqueous misdirection (range, 1–23 months). Conclusions Aqueous misdirection may develop days to months after glaucoma drainage device implantation. In this series, there was a poor response to medical therapy, and normalization in anterior chamber depth required aggressive laser and surgical therapy.
Taking History Seriously: Reflections on a Critique of Amar’s Treatment of the Ninth Amendment in His Work on the Bill of Rights

Dean William Treanor critiques constitutional textualism, contending that it pays too much attention to the words, grammar, and placement of clauses in the Constitution, and too little to the history leading to the adoption of the interpreted language. An important illustration is Professor Amar's treatment of the Ninth Amendment in his well-known book on the Bill of Rights. This treatment shares the perspective that history frequently sheds light on the meaning of constitutional text, but contends that the history yielding the Ninth Amendment demonstrates that it was drafted to secure the rights retained by the granting of limited federal powers -- and hence the collective right of the people of the states to make decisions about government, including the extent to which rights were to be protected. The modern debate over the original meaning of the Ninth Amendment, moreover, reflects and embodies that the debate concerns the appropriate reading of a positivist Constitution.
Exploring laparoscopic surgery training with Cable-driven ARm EXoskeleton (CAREX-M)

Laparoscopic surgery is a challenging task for surgeons. The challenges include: (i) lack of depth perception, (ii) inverted motion of the hand instrument. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of using CAREX-M, a Cable-driven Arm Exoskeleton - Mobile, to train subjects using laparoscopic tool to do a simple task. CAREX-M uses an assist-as-needed controller that generates assistive force that helps the subjects to move the laparoscopic tool along a prescribed trajectory. An experiment was conducted which trains the subjects to use the laparascopic tool to follow a straight path. Two groups of subjects (experiment and control) participated in the experiment. The experiment group received assistance from CAREX-M during the training, while the control group did not receive any assistance. The results show that the experiment group gained significantly larger performance improvement from training than the control group. This shows that CAREX-M is effective in training of laparascopic tool manipulation. A further analysis shows that the improvement in the performance comes from the reduced error along the depth direction. This suggests that CAREX-M can improve the depth perception of the subjects.